#where it IS that dynamic but the 'princess' is the one doing the saving (emotionally lol)

[strawberri-draws]

astralyn wip (my iPad died I can avoid hw no longer...)

[theamityelf]

Have you ever done RoD class 78 AND class 77 together before I genuinely cannot remember? I know you have a story about RoD class 78 on AO3 but it's not both classes together. Anyways like your previous idea everyone except Makoto is in despair and they keep him around because he is simultaneously their hope amd despair. Despair because he has to watch his friends do things they would have never done, and hope because some of them are waiting for him to join them.

How would the RoD of class 77 view their situation and what would their dynamic be now that they're both fighting for Junko's affection?

This is really cool!!

The envy over class 78 perpetually having more of Junko's attention and favor than them would be such great despair for the 77th class.

Mondo's "every biker gang in Japan" and Fuyuhiko's, ya know, yakuza, are constantly fighting over turf, because now there's factions within the Ultimate Despair. This lawlessness benefits their side, of course. When it doesn't benefit them to be at odds, they're allies. But they all want to be the ones to earn Junko's approval, and her classmates know her better and she cares about them more. Officially, though, the 77th class has "double seniority", because they're upperclassmen and they were initiated as despair first.

Basically, by objective measures of rank and usefulness, the 77th class should be the favorites; they have a princess controlling kingdoms on Junko's behalf, for despair's sake! They worship her way more than her class does. But she simply doesn't like them as much, and that hurts.

Okay, now Makoto!

He is hanging on to his morals, but naturally his mental health is in shambles. Basically, it's the status quo of Despair's Throbbing Heart, for him; he is keeping layers of denial and dissociation between himself and the horrors and surfacing from that state when there's someone he can save or influence.

The arrangement he's in would be different, in this AU.

The 77th class like to make fun of the 78th class for the fact that their luckster is still on "that good guy BS". They even point to Nagito proudly, like, "Look at our luckster! He set a convenience store on fire yesterday. What's your guy been doing?"

Nagito loves this. His class has never been so supportive and affectionate toward him.

The 78th class's response to this is largely defensive. Like, "Stop bullying Makoto! He's just a late bloomer!" Meanwhile, they all do their best to get him into despair. (Hifumi is the most creative about it.) At first, he meets every attempt with yelling protestations and passionate insistence that they're not like this! He knows them, and they're not like this! After they've done it enough, he loses the energy for such displays, but that doesn't mean he's given up. Every time they do a horrible thing in front of him and he shuts down emotionally, they wait eagerly for him to start laughing or pawing curiously at the ashes or something to indicate he's enjoying it, but he just shuts down for a while and, when his mind considers it safe to resurface, changes the subject.

He still argues and protests what they're doing, but now that he's no longer shocked every time, he can ration his energy so that he's subtle when he needs to be subtle and insistent when he needs to be insistent.

Junko lowkey loves it. When she visits her friends, there will be at least one time where she beckons Makoto over to sit with her and just kind of guides his head to rest on her...chest. Strokes his hair with her long nails and calls him a freak of nature and tells him he disgusts her. Sayaka's cuddled up against his other side, sometimes, but sometimes Junko takes care to get him alone. Quietly, in an alternatingly sweet, cruel, and emotionless tone, she tries to wear him down by talking at length about the futility of his resistance and how much happier he and everyone will be if he just gives in to despair.

He's sometimes trembling with fury while she does this, and sometimes he's just staring into space. Either way, he's managing his energy. He can't fight what she's doing to others if he wastes energy defending himself. And she knows it.

He seems not to be listening, but he saves her words in his mind. Sometimes they're useful, to get his friends to spare people based on little loopholes or slants in what Junko said.

The 77th class repeatedly offers to borrow Makoto for a weekend, claiming they can get him to despair, where his own class has failed. The 78th class tries to refuse, but Junko tells them to let the senpais try. So, sometimes Makoto visits them.

They think he's adorable and weird.

He gravitates toward the ones who do the least horrible stuff in front of him (Ibuki doesn't seem to personally kill anyone.) and the ones who seem the most capable of uncomplicated affection (Akane treats him like a younger sibling, and there doesn't seem to be any edge of weird, fond cruelty to it.).

Nagito and Izuru are fascinated with him.

Both the hope and despair in Nagito are delighted by Makoto. Makoto causes Nagito's class to view him favorably, to take pride in him. But also, Makoto has shown himself to be the best of them, somehow. There is a light within him that cannot be extinguished. It's a precious gift that he simultaneously wants to see destroyed and protected. Literally, any direction that Makoto goes will make Nagito happy, either from the perverse glee of seeing someone so amazing finally falling to despair, or the wholesome glee of seeing him continue to soar above the filth that has claimed everyone else. Either way, he is transfixed. After they've spent more time together, he'll probably start to care about personally protecting the good in Makoto, but at first he's just watching the fireworks with his hands behind his back.

Izuru is likewise fascinated by the unexpected fortitude. Since Makoto is subject to more avenues of attack to his morale, in this AU, than he is in Despair's Throbbing Heart, he's less overtly friendly in this AU than in that fic. He's kind, but he's more careful about who he opens himself up to, meaning the side of himself that he shares with Izuru is less an immediate friendliness than a quiet kindness. Still, Izuru is intrigued by it, and a part of him he doesn't consciously recognize is starved for kindness.

Both Nagito and Izuru are pretty overt about these feelings.

Sometimes Makoto wakes up to see a shadowy figure standing over his bed. "Kamukura?" he guesses from the long hair.

"I was walking past your door, and I heard you having a nightmare. I was curious, so I came to watch."

"...Okay." Makoto rolls over and goes back to sleep.

When Junko has her weird cuddle sessions with Makoto, Nagito will post up to watch, like it is a critically-acclaimed one-act play.

Both of them are constantly commenting on Makoto's behavior out loud in front of him, like they're the Twitch chat of his life.

Occasionally, someone like Akane or Taka will ask Makoto if those guys are bothering him, but he always says no.

(They don't know enough about Izuru to know that there wouldn't be much they could do about it if he was.)

[immobiliter]

 “⭐️” for whoever you want and as many or as few as you want: neuvillette and Furina, neuvillette and navia, Lyney and navia, al-haitham and dehya, kazuha and beidou! (Did I miss anyone -)

for each “⭐️” I get, I’ll write a headcanon about our muses / @apocryphis

ventium ily for naming all of our dynamics, i'm gonna try to give you one for each~

⭐️ i like to think that very early on in furina & neuvillette's working relationship, shortly after he was invited to fontaine, furina took a very keen — not controlling per se but definitely her brand of obnoxious — interest in how he was presented to the people and was responsible for the design and colour scheme of his first set of robes as iudex ( the concept of which she described in painstaking detail to the poor seamstress granted the honour ). it was partly a power play as she had to prove to the hydro sovereign that she was the one in control and pulling the strings, but there were some good intentions behind it as furina saw how much of an outsider he was ( particularly as he brought the melusines with him and we know the initial trouble that caused ) and wanted to help him assimilate into fontainian society as smoothly as possible. she became less overbearing over time but those first months involved a number of these "teaching" moments as she attempted to instruct him in the way fontainians dressed, ate, conducted business, pursued their hobbies etc etc. imagine it's like the princess diaries and furina is julie andrews lmaooo

⭐️being a social butterfly herself, navia does struggle, particularly early on in their partnership post-AQ, with neuvillette's solitary and emotionally distant nature, and i think she quickly deduces that this makes him a rather lonely individual, too. so she will try to counter this by spontaneously turning up at the palais mermonia from time to time ( without an appointment, naturally, and yes she will interrupt whatever business he has at that particular moment ), not on official business but just to bring him the newest batch of macarons that she has baked or to ask him about his day/tell him about hers. the palais feels like such a cold, lonely building so navia will try to fill it with as much warmth as possible whenever she is visiting.

⭐️ i think out of all three house siblings, navia gets on the best with lyney and as they bond post-AQ/during the poisson rebuild, they both instinctively recognise a kinship as being two young people who carry the burdens of their respective institutions and all of the pressure that brings. but navia is also not blind to the house's secrets and is capricious by nature so these two have definitely been awake until late playing cards or other tabletop-esque games trying to wheedle information out of one another. navia never ever succeeds in getting lyney to divulge his secrets, but she puts up an admirable fight.

⭐️ while it is true that dehya will rarely, if ever, compliment alhaitham to his face out of fear of inflating his ego and never ever living it down, if she is ever in a situation ( either with alhaitham present or in the presence of others ) where she feels he is facing unfair criticism, she will always stand up for him or back him up. his direct manner is something she greatly respects, even if it is a little harsh at times, and he has certainly done enough over the course of the AQ to earn her loyalty.

⭐️ beidou will always ensure that the alcor is a home and safe haven for kazuha for as long as he wants it to be, but a part of the kinship these two share is understanding that neither can be tied down permanently to one place. so if kazuha were to ever come to her and say that he wanted to leave and move on, there would be no hard feelings whatsoever and beidou would do whatever she could to make that transition as smooth as possible. her one and only condition for kazuha leaving is that he remains in contact with her by letter to save her worrying over him like a mother hen.

[toxic-mothers-tourney]

Toxic propaganda: Shadow Weaver (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power)

Exemplifies Gaslight Gatekeep Girlboss, threatened one of the small children she was raising with murder, tried to sacrifice her other daughter figure to save the world/get her more power, excessively rancid

She raises Adora and Catra up from babies, making Catra believe she's unworthy and completely unlovable by her, and praising Adora, even going as far as to punish Catra when Adora does something wrong. She's horrible and conniving and steals a precious gemstone from Scorpia, another girl she raises to believe her parents are dead and Shadow Weaver saved her, using the gem she stole for power. And all in all, she doesn't even apologize for any of it

She put two kids in a golden child-scapegoat dynamic, to the point where the scapegoat (Catra) tried to end the world just so the golden child (Adora) couldn’t save it. She taught Adora that Adora couldn’t want things for herself, and her only purpose was to be useful. She taught Catra that her only worth is in Adora’s support, and if Adora isn’t around then she is worth nothing. She manipulated Adora and Catra over and over again every time they gave her a chance to change. In the end, she died to save them, but her dying words, rather than her character foil’s dying words “take care of each other,” were “your welcome.” One last time rubbing in how much power she had over them, that only she could save them.

She is the defacto mother to the kids training to be solders for the horde, she pitted them against each and is generally very manlupitiv. And well she is training them to be child soldiers for the "evil empire" I think that is pretty bad in it self 🤷‍♀️

Really just out there be homophobic coded in the celebration of lesbianism that is SPOP. She's out there killing two birds with one stone: abusing and neglecting Catra, telling her she's worthless until our girl tries to destroy the world about it. IN THE SAME BREATH she manipulates Adora into thinking her only value is in what she can do for others until she tries to die for everyone. She's literally in their heads right up until the moment of her death when she tells them "you're welcome". Like, the audacity. Not to mention that all the children she is responsible for raising have most likely been kidnapped and are being raised as child soldiers, so that's not great.

Raised two girls and constantly compared them, creating a toxic competitive atmosphere between them, typical "golden child" and "scapegoat" emotionally abusive scenario.

Gatekeep Gaslight Gworst parental figure that manipulated and terrorized several children and teenagers and pretended she did them a favor

[austencollins]

day 22 kodansha daily review challenge

Today's Manga Is: A Fragrant Flower Blooms With Dignity

This is a cute little high school romance manga. I liked the art, although I don't know why they keep drawing the edge of the eye socket in some scenes (ex the line underneath the male lead's eyes in the panel above).

The main characters feel unique, although they're not really breaking the mold on hetero romance couples: the guy is a tall, macho-looking dude with a heart of gold underneath a rough reputation, and the girl is a teensy itty bitty doe-eyed lady with flowing princess-y hair and the sweetest most generous kind hearted disposition imaginable. It's not really my kink, and I wish the heroine was a bit less doll-like & perfect-girlfriend/wife-y; but I think it works here because the story emphasizes the conflict between one's real self and what other people think is (or ought to be) your real self.

The male lead, Rintaro, is clearly pretty sensitive to what other people think of him -- and pessimistic about the odds of other people (particularly girls) perceiving the version of him that's not scary or intimidating. Which, given Rintaro's intimidation tactics boil down to simply being tall at people, when he absolutely has to... feels like a reasonable perspective for a teenager to adopt. Rintaro seems to vacillate between leaning into what others expect of him based on his appearance (he's bleached his hair, & attends a high school with a reputation for having deliquent, rowdy students), and working hard to prevent people from feeling scared or intimidated by him (mostly by keeping his distance from them, which also serves to protect him emotionally from feeling hurt when they react negatively to him).

Kaoruko, otoh, comes across as a bit head-in-the-clouds; with her appearance-related struggle being that people don't take her seriously -- particularly when she's advocating against writing people like Rintaro off because of their appearance. We don't see as much of her in this first chapter, so it's hard to say if I'm right about her though! Still, it seems like the leads bond over their belief in staying open-minded and welcoming towards new people -- and that the main obstacle in their romance is going to come from various different people at their schools who dislike intermingling with people who look and act differently (and are from different backgrounds). TBH I felt like the conflict between the schools was unfairly weighted in favor of the male lead & his school of underperforming ruffians, since we barely see them actually do anything wrong, whereas we see random no-name students from the heroine's girls' school behave rudely for no reason when the hero's friend simply picks up their handkerchief.

All of this stuff could have been presented in a more over-the-top, comedic way. Which might've suited my tastes better -- I think the commitment to a slightly more serious, realistic approach made the more tropey, romcom moments (like when Rintaro saves Kaoruko from being harassed on her way home) stand out and felt forced in comparison as a result -- but mainly I think it would have made the story feel a bit less boring if one or both leads were a bit less agreeable, passive & reflective, and a bit more zany and extra (or surrounded by people who were more obviously Out There).

But that's just me! And it's very possible I'm just complaining that this isn't just like Lovely Complex, which is definitely top of my fave shojo romcom manga list. Nothing wrong with romances that feature conflict-free, well-suited, non-toxic-relationship-dynamics. I just feel like those kinds of sweet little romances, where the audience can relax and indulge vicariously in the warm fuzzies without ever being in danger of thinking that maybe the main couple would be better off separate, are best when there's a clear ending, or when there's something other than the romance driving the plot forward (for ex, the Thin Man movies have murder shenanigans). And I'm not sure whether A Fragrant Flower can avoid dragging after the couple gets together, which is perhaps why I didn't give it a lot of opportunities to hook me into reading beyond this first chapter.

[nox-lux]

Thank you I love you.

Princess Elise's character suffers greatly in Sonic 2006 for multiple reasons, in my opinion

Uncanny, realistic design

Rushed and Flat Writing

The romance subplot/her relationship with Sonic

The lack of agency

Elise had great potential, but it was just executed so horribly; much like everything else with 06.

Her base concept of "Emotionally Repressed Princess who, if she cries, releases satan", is a good base I will attempt to build off off.

1. Her Design

Her being a human ultimately isn't the problem, but when paired with it being a awfully realistic design and her having a romantic plot with sonic, it tends to be rather uncomfortable.

I think to fix her design you'd have to make her a more stylized human; which I actually have an official reference for!

Awhile back Sega released official art of her and Silver

Where in which she's much more fitting in with the art style of Sonic. That design? That's her canon one now. She fits in. She'd not uncanny.

Another fix could be making her mobian; perhaps a Phoenix which would fit well with her and the themes of fire within the game- as well as the plot of them having to reset everything.

I think the best option is to give her the swan princess treatment.

Originally a human; when iblis gets trapped inside of her she gains the ability to change into a Phoenix mobian. She hides it from her people due to some prejudice against the Mobians; which she finds difficult as she's a phoenix mobian all day before turning back human at night.

2. Rushed and Flat Writing (+ Agency)

For the most part, backstory stays the same; the major difference being granted with powers/A mobian form by iblis inside of her

In the game Elise spends her time getting kidnapped. There are moments where her character gets to shine a bit- but they are fleeting.

I think a better route would've been to make her a playable character (especially when going with the half mobian half human aspect) and give her own story outside of Sonics. She does get kidnapped- but only once or twice at most. You play her as she tries to escape but also gain info and destroy eggmans things in the process. The first time, she manages to get out by herself before being helped by sonic.

The second, I would say she gets helped by someone else- specifically, Mephiles. Someone who's technically her other half. They're both half of Iblis; and Mephiles tells her he wants to help her rid of Iblis once and for all. To be free- so they both can be free. Don't they deserve that?

Shes wary; she does want to be rid of iblis, however, she doesn't want to release him either. Mephiles tries to assure her they won't free him; just permanently get rid of him. He can't do it without her help. She doesn't know if she can trust him because it sounds too good to be true- however...he did just save her life. He gives her the instructions on what to get so they can finally rid of him.

Then sonic comes in, kind of ruins the whole moment and Mephiles disappears for now. Her story is about traveling around with sonic as her sidekick and getting those items because she wants iblis gone.

3. Romantic Subplot with Sonic

First of all? Their relationship changes to platonic. Entirely platonic. Sonic is her friend who helps her realize the freedom she wants and deserves. The freedom that motivates her to listen to Mephiles about being able to rid of Iblis.

They're close and just have a more sisterly and brotherly dynamic. He helps her learn to accept the mobian part of herself rather than be distraught by it.

Sonics death becomes more or less her fault- purely by the manipulation of Mephiles who wanted her to finally cry. But instead of her just Releasing Iblis- in her distraught she becomes him (whereas Mephiles thought it'd be the opposite). You have to fight her.

This is kind of mess sorry shsjs

Someone. Please. Ask me how I'd fix elise

[gch1995]

"Obi-Wan consistently has been portrayed as not being able to do that as a character." Yeah, Obi-Wan was never a good protagonist... because it wasn't anyone's intention to make him a protagonist previously. No shit, Sherlock. That supposed flaw wasn't a flaw, that was a feature.

Okay, but the thing is that the writers of the Obi-Wan Show clearly don’t seem to be putting an effort into making his character an interesting protagonist in his own right on his show either. They are picking up right where his character left off after Revenge of the Sith, and having him fight a duel with Vader. We’re not seeing a backstory about him, seeing him growing up, seeing him deal with family or not knowing family, or seeing him struggling between good and evil.

Any sort of “growth” they do give Obi-Wan will contradict his deep flaws in previously established canon, too. The Obi-Wan of both the OT and PT movies being so stagnantly flawed in his stubborn denial of the old Jedi way he grew up with being “right” actually served a purpose in the narrative of the OT and PT movies. Believe it or not, even if the audience isn’t supposed to get too deeply interested in their lives and stories, flat and static characters like Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Palpatine do serve a purpose to an overall story.

Not every character needs to be a complex, deep, dynamic, and round protagonist/antagonist type character like Luke and Anakin/Vader, the Beast, the Phantom, Jaimie Lannister, Mr. Rochester, Shrek, Princess Fiona, Snape, Anne Shirley, Jane Eyre, Elsa, Anna, and so on. Complex and dynamic protagonists and antagonists need side characters who have just one or two significant traits explained, but largely remain exactly who they’ve always been from beginning to end, for better or worse, so they can either act as a foil, symbol, or support to an overarching theme in the main protagonist and/or antagonist’s journey of character development or regression.

Unless, the writers decided to go back in time to the point before Obi-Wan ever met either of the Skywalkers as a child, or explore his reaction after he sees Anakin sacrifice his life to save Luke when his son offered him empathy 23 years later, I can’t see a story of individual and satisfying character development that will make sense with his role in the story in the timeline between the end of Revenge of the Sith up until the end of Return of the Jedi.. He and Yoda are flat, emotionally repressed, and infuriatingly stubborn characters in their insistence that the old Jedi way is “absolutely right” in Anakin’s and Luke’s lives is because they are supposed to be that way to tell an overarching theme in Star Wars that Luke and Anakin both subvert as emotionally driven male protagonists/antagonists with strong individual personal beliefs, feelings, and relationships with other people, which either act as their saving grace at best or both theirs and the rest of the world’s undoing, depending on how they deal with them, healthily or not.

The whole point of Obi-Wan and Yoda was to show the audience that, even if they did their best to follow all the rules of their masters, towed the party line to fit in, and never went dark, the best of the old Jedi Order were still toxic messes as adults because they were too afraid, too isolated, too emotionally/individually repressed, too manipulative, and too distrusting and paranoid about the outside world to admit that the system they were indoctrinated into from birth could be fucked up.

So yeah, I’m not excited about Obi-Wan being a protagonist in his own show in the same timeline as Luke and Anakin after the end of Revenge of the Sith because his narrative purpose was never meant to be that compelling, dynamic, and relatable protagonist/antagonist character in their timeline. He was meant to be a flat and static foil to them who showed the audience that even the “best” of the old Jedi Order was still deeply flawed, in spite of their good intentions.

@tragicfantasy-girl

@riana-one

@the-chosen-anakin

@blackbelles

@mynameisanakin

[redspiderling]

MCU Breakdown: Black Widow, Part 1

I can’t believe this is happening 😭

First of all, congratulations to all of you who’ve been here all these years. We got it. We begged for years, and it’s finally here.

For once I wasn't dreading revisiting this film to write down what I got from it. I felt more like I might not do it justice. This film is so special to me, but here it is, the MCU Breakdown of Black Widow, part 1 (of who knows how many).

I remember back when I started running this blog and talking about a hypothetical Black Widow movie that had never been announced, always "yeah, we would be happy to do it, maybe, someday in the future", and arguing that it would be important for women and girls, no matter its content. I'm so glad we got it like this. So, so glad.

The rest under the cut.

Let's start with some technical details. The film has a lot of setups and callbacks, nothing is done in chance. For example, I love how the light, and the sounds we hear when we first, and last, see Natasha in the film, are the same. We greet her in bright -birds cheeping- morning light, while she's riding her bike home, to her family

and we leave her in bright -birds cheeping- morning light, while she's riding her bike home, to her family (I'm using the term family very liberally here in reference to the Avengers for the sake of the movie, bear with me, you know how I feel about those dudes).

It's signifying new beginnings, each time, not endings. Notice how, what we see is natural light, which makes this scene pop out, and look more real because the light is coming from the sun, and isn’t artificially made on VFX software. You will notice the stark differences in colours and lighting when the emotions and the atmosphere change in this film, because there is a visual language being employed here, the director has a story to say, and she uses all the tools she has to tell it. The light is exactly the same in those 2 scenes, because Cate wants us to make that connection, even if we make it unconsciously.

Natasha is placed in such a positive way, both at the start and the end of the film. There's this discussion about how "real" their little family was, but it was the characters that muddled up that image. The reality of their lives in Ohio is presented in a happy way, that had deep rivers under the surface, for sure. This wasn't accidental, for a lot of reasons.

First of all, if you take it the literal way, they were spies, and had to present themselves as normal. If you take it the allegorical way, any girl could fall victim to trafficking, and if you take it the character way, both Scarlett and Cate wanted to showcase that Natasha is human. They also wanted to give her something that wasn't always dripping with pain and sadness. They were both parts of her life, yes, but there was also joy, and light, and once upon a time she had been a kid, playing with her sister.

Also, and this has been mentioned before but it bears repeating: I love the actress they chose for young Natasha, and I love how they presented her character. She's allowed to be a young teenage girl. She's not sexualised. She's at that gangly stage between childhood and adulthood, and there's nothing sexual about it, no provocative clothing, no excessive makeup. She's a kid.

Plus, I know Cate said the actress already had her hair dyed blue and they just decided to let her have it, but I think it works well for Natasha's character. That small act of defiance, even that early on, against the system that wanted to break her. Also, the film gives us such great character moments, because they let the camera roll and don't rush through scenes, look at Natasha looking at Melina comforting Yelena. We can see the pain, the fear, where she knows that this isn't going to last, and wonders about what will become of them once their lives begin to unravel.

We also get to see the joy on her face, the wonder of discovering the world, how often do you get to see Marvel characters do this, just live in the moment?

Bioluminescence: the production and emission of light by a living organism. Or how Natasha is a bright light, that shines from within. Not my words, Cate Shortland's words. I felt it when I was watching this scene, but it was lovely to have it verified in one of her interviews. I wish I could meet her, and tell her that everything she wanted to put on screen came through, incandescent and crystal clear. Fireflies are a symbol for Natasha, as a bright light that shines from within, and never dies.

Small details that I love, the magnet on the fridge: Don't forget, above a picture of Natasha. LIKE WE EVER COULD, CATE.

We have another setup here, where the family gathers up to have dinner together. Even the sitting arrangement is the same as later on in the film.

Notice also how both young, and adult version of Natasha, communicate so well with Melina, just with their eyes. It doesn't necessary show a deep history between them, but it does show a bone deep level of understanding. Not just of their current circumstance, but of their future, and of what it will do to them. Melina knows what's coming and she's says it "I'm sorry", but they're both resigned to their fate, Melina because she doesn't see a way out, and Natasha because, well, here she's a kid, and therefore is powerless.

The dynamics between Yelena and Alexei is so different. Yelena is young and doesn't understand, so they're speaking about completely different things. "I don't have my shoes" is what she says, and it's heartbreaking in its innocence, as Alexei is loading his gun and reading himself for battle. We can still see that he's not indifferent to her, telling her she can have "fruit loops in the car". He's not a monster, he just doesn't have a choice (or at least, he thinks he doesn't).

Also, notice how the camera angles are employed here: Natasha and Melina look each other eye to eye, Yelena looks up to Alexei, Alexei looks down on her, there is an imbalance of power and understanding in the second set of images, and the camera tells us that.

Melina doesn't let Natasha take the photo album. For one thing, it's certain that Natasha wouldn't be able to keep it. For another, Melina wanted the memories, and probably didn't want anyone else to realise/think that they cared about their little family unit.

There's just a lot of thought that's been put in the details of the script, to show us their bond, their attempts to hide it, to show the characters' personality in everything around them (notice the plants that are ever present in Melina's home, in Ohio and later in Saint Petersburg). She might seem cold, she has been through a lot, but she cares. And that care has brought her pain. And we have to see that pain, because we get the quiet moments like this one, where she stands alone in an empty home knowing that part of her life is over, never to return.

The mission, is the last thing Melina asks about. The last thing Alexei mentions, the last thing either of them cares about. First, she refused to accept that they had completed the mission and were now hunted, then she accepted it and they loaded their family in the car, and then she asked about the leaked files.

Also, notice how that shot is framed. Both images silhouetted by the light because it’s the moment and the prop smack down in the middle of the frame that’s important, now what they’re going through, emotionally, they’re not themselves in that moment, they’re nameless, tools of the trade, expendable in front of that tiny floppy disk.

Yelena is singing while the rest are plunging in despair, but still humour her and play her song.

I found this shot a bit... Jarring. I get it that for American audiences this would show that they're actually leaving "home" behind, but for the rest of us... Eeeh, I'll give it a pass because it is an American production and this is just something to be expected. I mean, Yelena's song was American Pie. We get it, you still love America, just because you're making a film about Russian spies doesn't mean you're a commie Marvel, it's ok.

But in any case, the setup for the action scene here was excellent. Happy, familiar music playing, car is on the main road, car goes off the main road familiar music gets toned down and eventually completely lost in the darkness.

Yelena knows what to do, we see it, so that we know that this 6 year old girl who holds her stuffed animal and walks barefoot has practiced for this moment.

By the way, Natasha did take another item with her along with the photobooth pictures (it also looks like a photo album with Disney princesses on it), it didn't survive the trip. We are informed of this for a very specific reason: Melina didn’t ask Natasha not to take the photo album out of malice, or just because she wanted to keep it for herself. She knew it wouldn’t survive the trip in Natasha’s hands. We also get a close shot of the image strip (and we get it again, during the credits), because it will be important, later on.

Bet y'all also forgot you were watching a superhero movie until this happened? That wasn't accidental, they wanted us to see them as normal people, this is the moment when that ends.

Natasha saved her family, even though she was a terrified kid.

I know that they did the huge titles thing to connect this film to Civil War but... Listen, Civil War needed the huge titles because that script and the way that movie was directed was a complete disaster. We needed to know where the characters were each time with huge ass title because there was NO OTHER WAY TO TELL. Between complete lack of a timeline, and the fact that you couldn't even tell what time of the day it was due to the horrible lighting, you definitely couldn't tell what the location was because it was irrelevant to the plot like, 90% of the time. Not to mention the title cards in Civil War were usually followed by dimly lit grey corridors so, yeah, give us a title so we know at least where they are, generally.

This film. Didn't Need That. For the most part anyway, there are 2 locations where the titles worked. First one was Ohio, the other I'll reveal later.

But here. Guys, they're Russian spies escaping from the US on a small plane... Where else would they go if not to Cuba?!?! This is the Black Widow movie paying for the sins of Civil War, in a small way in this instance.

Yelena tells Melina that pain only makes you stronger, Natasha cries, and they setup my heartbreak for later.

Natasha protecting Yelena, terrified, and staring men down the barrel of her gun anyway. Such a badass and heartbreaking callback.

Notice how this scene makes us look at how men view this. There's an allegory here as well, but I'll address what's actually happening in the film:

Dreykov notices Natasha's natural instinct to protect herself and her sister, and all he sees is something he can use. A tool for violence, instead of sex, in this case. But the implication is there. Not a person, or a terrified girl, just an object to be used by men.

So glad that piece of shit got blown up and never mentioned again. Any man looking for exposition on Dreykov to feel the "loss" when the villain is gone: Fuck you. Go get some therapy.

Moving on from that piece of shit, difference between Melina and Alexei: Melina apologised. Alexei lied, but he also tried to give them hope. We can see the devastation, because the soldiers never thought of them as girls like he did, and didn't blink before drugging them and taking them away.

Yet another setup, of Natasha and Yelena, drugged and powerless as they are taken away. Because it wasn't enough that they were kids, they took away all their choices, and rendered them unconscious.

What can I possibly say about this credits scene.

It's very real, probably the realest minutes in the entire MCU, and it's merciless. They don't try to sugar-coat what's happening, and there are no jokes to diffuse the drama. These are girls being trafficked from all over the world. I don't know about you but I felt the switch from true parallel to real life traffic victims like this shot that looks like footage from Interpol

to Red Room victims as being a clear shift, and I was actually grateful for it. Because here I could put my back against the fact that the red room wasn't real, otherwise I would have broken down before the credit sequence even ended.

It was a stroke of genius to create an introduction to this entire world like that. We rarely see credit sequences anymore and it's a shame, because when they're well done they tell stories in and of themselves, and this is one of the best I've seen.

Even the villain is set up here. He's pointing at girls and saying "that one, and her", like he's picking pigs for slaughter. How much more setup than that do you need, to want to murder that man dead? Not any more, that was enough.

Nobody speak to me I’m crying.

Subtle, but there. Trafficking (and traffickers) exists because it IS being tolerated by governments around the world.

Unnecessary title aside, who else says Natasha looks at herself in the mirror hear and repeats "pain only makes you stronger", as she's being hunted away from yet another family.

Then she's saying it again because it bears repeating and Natasha has been through A Lot these past few years. I love how unfiltered our first image of her is. After all she's been through, we basically see her stripped of all her tricks in a moment where she’s alone with herself and her thoughts(something we later learn she tries not to do much), and she's just a woman having a tiny breakdown in a semi-public bathroom. Again, human.

This is where I will leave you for this first part. Hey, I got through the intro, I count that as a win given just how long this breakdown has already been. If you’ve gotten this far, thank you for reading, come yell at me in my inbox whenever, see you for the next one xo

[delu-jean]

hi! so I just wanted to send in an Erwin x reader ask where basically Erwin survive shiganshina and they basically end up becoming parental figures for historia and guide her. thanks!

𝐄𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐚 (𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚)

(Erwin x fem!/reader) -> Mentions of Historia! -> Fluff -> 1.6k 

Request: hi! so I just wanted to send in an Erwin x reader ask where basically Erwin survive shiganshina and they basically end up becoming parental figures for historia and guide her. thanks!

Notes: After the interaction the two had (somewhere in season three), I literally head cannoned him being her father! The chemistry between the two would be so sweet if they were!! The concept for this request was so adorable!! Thanks for the request, and enjoy! ^^

“We did it...we have the colossal now,” you’d say, knees shaking after all of the casualties. Erwin then caught you. Seeing how shocked you were, he tried to calm you down the best he could. 

“Yes Y/n...we did...but at a great cost.”

“Was it really one worth all of this trouble?” You said being unsure with such a loss. 

“Of course it was. For the sake of humanity.” 

“Right...for the sake of Humanity.” 

---

Many had died during the mission to Shiganshina. A lot of your comrades lost, along with your dearest friends. You mourned over such a thing, but ultimately, were glad for the ones who had survived. Levi, Hange, your dearest and most closest friends, still breathing as you spoke. And Erwin, your lover for gosh knows how long. Even after the stunt that was pulled, he still managed to survive. You were relieved that such a chaotic man...had escaped such a brutal mess. 

You were also glad that he saw what he had eagerly wanted to see. The basement that Eren had the key to. After hearing about some vague details from the commander, along with the other four who had entered, it gave you a mix of emotions. Both ecstatic to know there was more out there, yet terrified that such things were most likely forgein obstacles. Ones that would be hard to get rid of. 

Regardless, you were now heading back. Delivering both the books, along with yourselves, and whatever else you had left. At the entrance of wall Sina, there you see Historia waiting. She seemed ecstatic yet composed when greeting you all. And when seeing both you and Erwin, she seemed even more pleased. 

You see, even though Historia had her own birth parents, they never felt like her actual ones (based on the tragedies they caused). She’d been neglected...never feeling like she had someone to look up to. But when entering the Survey Corps, though it took a while to warm up to you, she ultimately did. It wasn’t that she couldn’t talk to you, rather, it took some time for her to see you as a mother figure. 

You were maybe 15 years older than her, but even that being the case, you saw her as your own. Though she wasn’t calling you “mom,” nor were you calling her “your daughter,” you both had the relationship. Labels weren’t needed to understand such a thing. 

Since she grew up without the affection of her mom, she took your affection very seriously. She was thankful to say the least. Thankful for the nights you would console her, give her advice, and hear her out. Though Ymir had done the same, the difference was that you spoke the words of a mother. Erwin had also come around to this concept, and tried getting to know Historia on a more personal level. 

He saw how attached you were to such an extraordinary girl. That being the case, he too wanted to experience the joy you two shared. You of course encouraged such a thing, and therefore, he did his best when getting to know her. It was a good practice for him since for most (if not all of ) his soldiers, he considered them pawns. So that being the case, you took this as an opportunity for him to think otherwise. 

Another reason as to why Erwin was doing this, was because of his own personal experience. Though he did have his father, he was (eventually) taken away from him at a young age. He didn’t want Historia to go astray like he did in his teenage years. So, he tried building a connection. Hoping his input could help her in the best way. 

Though it wasn’t as easy going compared to the both of you, he did his best, and she appreciated the effort put in. He’d usually have conversations with her about life. The most simple, yet complicated philosophy out there. Maybe he would even pop in his childhood memories, and theories he had. Truly making the most of their time. And she enjoyed their interactions. You adored how close the two were. Though one was more tense than the other, the affection was clearly there. Just seeing them together, made you wonder as to how Erwin would be with his own children. Possibly yours if we’re being specific. 

Erwin then approached the girl on his steed. Bowing to the queen to be, along with the rest of you. 

“Princess Historia, we made many discoveries during our mission. Ones that we can discuss privately whenever it is to your liking,” Erwin said, composed with a respectful tone. 

“Of course Commander. Before we do, I think you could all rest. It’ll be best if you do, after all...it seems as if you could use it,” she took note of the lack of numbers, but decided not to bring it up. 

“Of course,” Erwin agreed and everyone left. Well...except the both of you. Hirstoria then invited you both into the castle. The three of you sat in a room, the two of you on one couch, while she sat on the other. Face to face as she took a sip of tea. 

“Forget about formalities, I’m glad you’re both alive,” she smiled and you did the same. 

“I don’t think it’s appropriate if we do...after all, you will be the Queen soon.” 

“Nonsense. Even when that does happen, nothing will change between the three of us.” 

“I guess not,” Erwin chuckled as she sighed in relief. 

“Now that that’s over with, let’s discuss the details over your findings.” 

“Sounds good, Queen Historia.” 

“Oh stop it Y/n,” she pestered as you giggled. 

“So, Historia…”

Erwin then went on about their findings. How there was an entire civilization across from them, how you all were subjects of Ymir, about the nine titans, and whatever else they had left to say. He seemed stern during his conversation, not only that, but you could sound the passion which rang through his words. He looked somewhat relieved that he saw such an extraordinary finding. Not only was it one step closer to saving humanity, but one step closer to fulfilling both his wants, and needs. 

You didn’t know what you would have done if he hadn’t made it out alive. The guilt of him not being able to see such a sight, nor Historia...would’ve crushed you if anything. You know that the both of you would have missed him dearly...and if anything, she would have felt responsible for his death. Something that was never predicted, yet under the control of the Scout regiment. A power that she had ruled over. 

Though this thought lingered, it was one that had not come true. And hopefully, things would stay that way. He was here with you. Safe and sound. Maybe a little bruised but hey, handsome either way. You then put your head on his shoulder, caressing his thumb. Though he tried keeping composure, he eventually gave in. Relaxing his body while in the warmth of your touch. 

“I see, interesting…” she nod to then say:

“Erwin, Y/n, you know how much I love the both of you. Because of that...when I do become queen...please don’t let our dynamic change. I find comfort in it, and hope that we can continue to have the relations set.” 

To your surprise, Erwin spoke first. His eyes soft, and his speech gentle. Staring at the young girl before him, who was now becoming an adult. 

“Of course. If that is what the Queen allows, I’ll be sure to do my part. For both humanity, but importantly, you Historia,” you then placed your own cup down, accompanying Erwin: 

“I agree. Of course, our manners will have to prosper when needed...but if we’re alone, or even if we’re not, feel free to come to either of us. We’ll care for you no matter what, okay?” she teared up a bit and then walked to the both of you. You both stood up, and grasped her. The mood felt both joyful, yet teary. 

“I’m glad you both made it. Please be careful out there,” Erwin, though reluctant, then placed a hand (A/n: the only one-) on her head. 

“Don’t worry, you can count on us, your majesty.” 

‘Ah my little girl...so grown and mature,’ she tightened her grip on your torso, as your arms were still wrapped around her.

“Yes...don’t worry. You can most definitely count on us.” 

---

As time progressed Historia got crowned. That being the case, she had more responsibilities on hand. Constantly working her hardest to help her people. You were glad to see such a young person blossom into such a strong woman. Though she did most things on her own, you and Erwin guided her when possible. Even when it came to the little things like if her drapes should be red, or green. 

There would also be moments where it was just the three of you, or you two alone. Now that she was queen, her time was of value. So you tried to spend it in the wisest way possible. Talking about politics could wait, those were the times where you all could express things heart to heart. Being honest about how she felt, versus how things ran. Expressing her love for the people she rules, and even the deep thoughts that kept her up at night. 

Both Erwin and you did your best to guide her through these emotions. Wanting to teach her both politically, and most importantly, emotionally. Prepping her for the duties she would have as both Queen, and herself. Raising her to be the person she wanted to be, and supporting her to the utmost of your abilities. 

“I think I understand now, what we have to do against Marely. Though it is just one step, it’s one step closer to saving the people of Ymir.” 

“Yes, yes it is...Historia,�� Erwin said as he held your hand. 

“It definitely is...Historia.” 

[papers4me]

Fruits Basket, Se3, ep11 (part 1)

Breaking toxic bonds & accepting healthy ones isn’t a miracle. A bond that started with love could end up chained & toxic, another that started wrong could’ve become the joy of a life time. You can do it. Break the cycle of abuse & stand up for yourself, it is easy yet so difficult, you aren’t alone, tho, loved ones stand nearby cheering. Be kind on yourself, otherwise you’ll throw your life away. Life isn’t just happiness & joy, it’s also sadness & loneliness. Break free from the shackles that held you down. Embrace life & Live.

-Tohru’s “ I’m okay” mask is finally shattered! (the Importance of kyo’s rejection for her development):

This is the last part of tohru’s character development! The last few eps were abt her role in Akito’s redemption & their similarities. she staood up for herself & choose a path away from her mom while keeping her mom’s memory in a healthy manner. No more planning my life according to mom’s wishes, no more talking to mom ‘s picture 24/7. Now, I’ll plan my life & move forward even if it is with the guy mom said she cant forgive. even If it is without him, I’ll move forward. I love him so much, yet I won’t force our bond & let go. So easy yet so difficult!. tohru doesnt know anything abt kyo after her fall. All she remembers is his heart-broken face as he wept beside her. Those tears on his face, she caused them. He cried cuz it is too painful to see her hurt. She was a burden to him! tohru restored to her old coping mechanism of pretending “ i’m Okay” & smiling. She did so numerous times before. Always worked. No one noticed. Except him. Se02, ep7. he urged her to show her true fears. Now, she’s faced with a pain so big she can’t pretend no more. the pain of loosing him. She cried in front of yuki! The smile & chatting abt chores couldn’t conceal the running tears! Yuki’s first time seeing her like that. Se01, ep14, yuki wondered how could tohru smile after her mom’s death. She can’t pretend no more! She’ll have to wear her feelings on her sleeve! cuz it IS ok to do so! She tells kyo to give her a moment to compose herself. She couldn’t lie & pretend like she did with yuki. Here she either run away or just try to compose myself! I LOVE THAT! This way, whenever kyo/tohru fight or have any misunderstanding in the future as a couple, you’ll know tohru won’t just bear it & pretend, “ i;m okay” No! she’ll talk to kyo & express herself! I LOVE THIS SO MUCH! It gives her so much strength as a human & I’m happy all the obstacles & set backs in kyo/tohru’s romantic journey has led them to be better ppl little by little to build healthier & more realistic love! 

-The mechanics of writing a compelling slow-burn romance:

1. Igniting the romantic feelings slowly: Slow burns don’t work with love at 1st sight. It must first sparkle naturally, slowly & subtly. Both kyo & tohru repeatedly stated they don’t know exactly when they first fell in love. The author’s decision to create an environment where the two live together is a genius way to start & nurture their romance quietly & subtly. Kyo was tricked to stay in shigure’s house while tohru had to stay cuz she had no home, Natural reasons that force the two to spend days together & get to know each other gradually.

2. Dynamics of their personalities: For slow burns to work, the two characters need to be similar yet opposites! Kyo & tohru are both kind, endearing, innocent, good at chores, independent & hardworking. They both have history with their mothers that is filled with love yet traumas. However, tohru is calm yet prefer maneuvering around subjects, can’t stand up for herself, reads ppl easily, tends to trust ppl easily & disregard herself. Kyo is fierce, strong, tends to distrust ppl, despite ppl loving his spontaneous character, he has hard time figuring out if they’re mocking him or teasing him, very straightforward with his words & actions. The similarities helps them understand each other, however, the differences creates chances to clash & come even closer thro various situation. Ex, se01, ep2, kyo apologizing for hitting her head with the table which created the situation where she needed to confess she always loved the cat zodiac! It is HER gush of emotions that struck kyo. ppl really want my friendship? the cat is loved? Thro those difference they learned to better themselves so they won’t hurt the other, kyo toning down his anger for her, tohru desiring to know him even more as he becomes even more awkward.

3. Creating natural, realistic  & convincing obstacles that prevents them from being together:  This is the most important part! Slow-burn is two characters in love & cant be together despite everyone wanting them to be! if the reason that stops them from uniting is trivial, stupid, one-sided, can easily be solved, then the slow-burn would be a fillery & no one would cheer for it! Takaya-san is a genius!

Kyo can’t be with tohru cuz he thinks (a) he killed her mom! we saw thr flashback, he could’ve saved her & couldn’t save her. It was a split of a second difference & he hates himsef for NOT trying! that split of a second also prevented from thinking of better ways to save her than holding her! it happened to fast, he couldn't think of a better alternative cuz this was his 2nd time loosing someone (b) his mom’s sucide being pinned as his fault created this immense guilt & defeated feeling that “ no matter what, I just cause death & misery! There’s (c) too!, he knew tohru! thinks she deserves the world & cuz he didnt save her mom, he watched tohru talk to a freaking picture for two years! heck! he is the only one who can see thro tohru’s “ i;m okay” mask, so in se01, ep 14 in the grave yard! kyo wasnt the only one who is sad! tohru was too! & kyo could tell! (d) her mom’s death is the reason tohru is accepting shigure’s offer to stay with them rent-free in exchange of doing housework! (e)? he saw her confess crying her heart out abt missing her mom so much that she imitated her dad! so tragicly sad! (f) he saw her die in his nightmare!! how can he accept her love,now? Perfectly orchestrated obstacles! 

Tohru, unfortunately, in the anime it wasn't that clear due to shortening her backstories & trauma in se03, ep6. But she too couldn’t see herself confessing love to kyo. Tohru is has low self-esteem, always thinks she’s a burden to others, an orphan who just wants her mom, so scared, lonely & sad! we the audience believed the mask! we saw her work her motherly charm yuki, isusuz, kisa & believe her issues are not that deep.  tohru wont cry for herself but shed rivers for others! grief is so ugly it broke her! I cant let go of mom, must keep her always in my heart, such a hard emotions to write & I believe 100% the director couldn’t understand her grief & decided to split ep6 between her, kyo, isuzu & shigure. But Tohru struggling to confess to kyo is no laughing matter. ppl who are grieving find it the hardest to live after the loved ones die. they wont mostly commit suicide, they are alive, but they arent living. they just go thro the motions & live for the sake of those around them but not themselves. Tohru deciding to confess to kyo is her deciding to live for herself.

4. Writing a perfect psychologically & emotionally packed climax: I dont need to explain how perfect kyo’s rejection of tohru in se03 ep9 was. How much we felt for him yet were mad at him. He we were “ ugh! kyo no!!!! I mean I get why you do that , but you idiot no! come back! poor kyo! He was just so sad & broken! OMG he’ll kill himself after finding tohru’s injured body!! he totally would! his nightmare came true! But Tohru reached him! she wanted him to be okay! he wont kill himself but still feels hella guilty! but so utterly in love with her that his instinct upon seeing her come to life after near death is kiss her! Perfect display of psychology & emotions! filled with right, wrong, sad, happy, guilty, innocent! basically so human~ As the audience you MUST have this mixture of feelings of wanting to hug him so bad cuz this boy has been killing himself for years now yet want him to stop & just see that he was a good boy afterall. Tohru is THE best girl & if the audience are cheering for kyo to be with her, kyo really deserves her! The only problem is for kyo to see that now.

5. The Perfect wrap up of all romance: If you make your audience suffer the slow-burn this long, you gotta reward them good! & Takaya-san delivered! Just like how the entire romantic story is realistic, the reunion must be as realistic too! Tohru is hurt by kyo;s words. Facts remain his words were hurtful to her. I love that was addressed! tohru gets to tell her side, too! If you love someone, you are bound to be hurt by them as much as be happy with them. Simply cuz they matter so much to you! you arent one person, but two ppl coming together. Kyo must work hard for this confession. Must run & chase her. Must earn her proper! He gets on his knees, I cant express how important that is! he is way taller than her, Imagine apologizing while she looks way up & he looks down? He gets on his knees & apologize like a man, for every mistake, all while not loathing himself. He aint going back to that deep abyss again. He did wrong by her & he is owning up to his mistakes. Give me one chance. I’m not gonna force you with persistence or guilt you into taking me. Give me ONE chance cuz i deserve it & no more. The choice is yours. She asks to confirm, he shows her, they kiss, they hug, they are rewarded with a blessing from the heavens! One of the most simple yet emotionally fulfilling confessions in anime!

- Hugs over kisses: (And her kiss hugs her & the curse was lifted):

Prince charming kisses the princess & she wakes up~ they live ever after~ except furuba is all abt “ eternal ever after is not true, real life is where the real love is”

Kyo kissed tohru once, she didnt wake up, she didnt even think he loved her back. didnt even remember the kiss.

Kyo hugged tohru once. se01, e024, He initiated it, tohru was all in tears, surprised, happy & so utterly in love. he called her name for the first time ever, for a brief moment, they both connected, they both comforted each other. The rain stopped, he became a man not a monster, she got him back. She got her kyo that she fought for with none other than kyo himself.

kyo hugged her again, se03, ep6. They both initiated it. He made the first move, pulling her just a little closer, she made the second move & hugged him hard, he transformed, it was a moment were they both connected, both so sad & broken, both feeling needy for the other, both desperate for the other, both just living the moment. the result is them coming closer, her wanting him more, him realizing her love, there is no escape. Admit it. she loves you. You can tell.

Kyo hugs her again today. He asks permission. No spur of the moment feeling. But a long lasting permission to be together. To hug. He wants to hear her acceptance of his cursed body. “ is ok to hug you? this body will cause you pain as it wont be able to fulfill your wishes of constant hugs & intimacy”. She responds, permission granted, for love, for hugs, for a life long acceptance of you as a whole. weakness & strength, sadness & happiness. I accept you all in better & worse! we’re invincible. Why? cuz we understand love isnt magic. It is a path for us to walk together~~~ reward curse break!

Every time kyoru are closer it is a hug. The one thing the zodiacs cant do. A hug. They can kiss. But cant hug. comes this Zodiac Ruler girl so lonely, away from ppl, so sad, meets a cat boy who comes to the house she’s living in, a house away from ppl, the boy is drawn to the girl, However, when the boy needed to leave, the girl was able to let go despite loving him, the boy comes again, this time wanting to stay, the girl accepts the boy. They both accept the realistic reality of life. Embrace the obstacles & the achievements, celebrates the weakness above the strength. Both so imperfect. Both so endearingly dumb! that’s why the girl’s hug broke the boy’s curse. The girl’s acceptance of the cat broke all curses.

Side Note:

Kyo’s confession is so kyo! so straightforward, so direct, & so physical. He’s on his knees, holding her hands, looking at her eyes. “ i want to be WITH you. If I’m gona live, I want to to do it with you & no one else! cuz I love you” that’s it. That’s all.  So sincere & so romantic!

it is crazy how different tohru & kyo are now after the confession! she stood confidently & happily & said “dont you know, I love you!” all while teasing him, her giggle is so girlish & cute! my girl is a happy woman in love! long buried the angelic mother image of se02! YES! also, kyo’s happy face is love! Dude! when was the last time he smiled so freely? Did he ever do that? He smiled in se01, ep4 with kazmua, but not like this! T_T. my son is healing~

Kyo’s “ i wont ever feel afraid if you’re with me” is a huge growth from his “ I want to protect her” mindset. Now he realizes it is two-sided mutual desire. She gives him strength as much as he does! <3

I dont like open eye while kissing, but here it is so perfect for tohru in this moment! cuz she spent days thinking kyo rejected her & even ran away as soon as she saw him, now he’s not only confessing, apologizing, admitting she is his life, but also kissing her signaling they’re romantic couple. kissing on lips is so personal, what more evidence she needs? still, her thoughts? “ it’s like a dream?” aww~~~ tohru~~~ my precious girl! she just cant believe all her suffering is over, now? She was just practicing “ i’m okay” smile & now she’s an official girlfriend to the man of her dreams? He just bent da kneeee~ go for it queen!

yuki’s face when tohru cried is exactly what I meant of “ allowing yuki to have strong facial expressions”! XD these types of faces humanize yuki so much into the teenage boy he is! Unfortunately the anime team only sees him as the pretty prince in most times. That’s why fave yuki is when he’s with kakeru. He becomes so un-princly as he should be.

Speaking of yuki, I see you anime team~ postponing his moment into next ep so him & machi wont be overshadowed by the long awaited kyoru!! While this defies the perfection of all cursed zodiacs breaking on the same ep making akito’s breakdown less perfect & poetic, I take it as the anime team admitting they underdeveloped yuchi & decided let’s give them more screen time & not putting them in close distance from any couple. A week later ep is enough with lots of time. I dont mind at all, I’m just saying more time after/while confession is not what i was hoping for~~ sigh~ At least I hope yuki would say sth along the lines” all this time I was looking at you, i realized i love you” to imply he was thinking of her as a lover not his kindness for someone he helped. I just dont want their love to be sudden simply cuz yuki needs happy ending. oh well~ I’m sure whatever it will be, the anime will give it utmost attention.

That sad moment when kagura wasnt allowed a moving image. lol. girl was given a still image that didnt even move with the breeze! T_T

Not gonna lie... the scene with kazuma & kyo was underwhelming. Why the wide shot? I mean you dont need budget for that. Just give me a closeup from the waist up with kyo head buried in kazuma’s chest. Dont need to waste budget on kazuma’s face, either.... do the old trick of hair covering eyes & show me glittery tears~  why the awkward shot of kazma towering in his own house! how tall is this man & why cant he he fix his roof?...lol

Also, shigure, you got scars man... who can hurt shigure? akito? gotta be her. I dont think hatori scratches...lol.. Aya? nah~ too busy with Mine! yup, akito... another steamy night? could be, she’s changed as he wish now. But scratching a face is weird while..um..kissing? a quarrel? but why? I bet she wants him now & we know he wants her....

More on part 2! especially abt the curse’s lore~

[scrawnytreedemon]

Zelink for the ship bingo? :0 any game!

OH GOD, THIS IS?? Gonna be a doozy. Buckle in.

SkSw:

WW-PH: Link/Tetra:

Spirit Tracks(in theory! I haven't seen the game yet, can't speak personally):

Nearly all other instances:

RIGHT! getting onto individual analysis,

1, SkSw: By far my favourite of the bunch, and a longtime delight. Whether you construe their relationship as romantic or not, doesn't matter-- They've got such a wonderful arc of trust and unbreakable love. Zelda starts off incredibly worried for Link, constantly fretting and deeply unsure of his abilities. She steps in to defend him, willing to go up against Big Boys like Groose to do so. As the game progresses, however, and Link grows, in strength and in character, Zelda, and everyone else for the matter, put more trust in him-- By the end of the game, they're on equal footing, and, oh god, oh man, I'm gonna crybhfgjfhdgkjdjd--

2, WW-PH: Nothing to say except, tough girl, sweet boy? Phuck yeah!

Jokes aside, Link and Tetra's arc is also one of trust and vulnerability, but from a different angle. Tetra's a hard-as-nails, independent, morally dubious young girl who's landed herself as captain of a ship full of Big Boys, and sees Link as little more than a useful, if rather weak coincidence she can use to her advantage. However, as the pair grow,(really as Link grows and Tetra is thrown out onto the sidelines as her royal heritage is revealed and she's forced to take on a 'princess' role, one that notably feminises her and lightens her skin), again there's that theme of growth of trust! They take down Ganondorf together, build a new Hyrule together, and isn't that just what dreams are made of?

3, Spirit Tracks: Nothing much to say, other than the dynamic looks super sweet, and there's an interesting play with gender and presentation on Zelda's end? Love it to bits, 12/10.

Now... Onto the potatoes of this, I think. Get your gravy.

This... There's going to be more objective analysis and criticism, obviously, but alot of this is also going to be deeply coloured by my own personal experiences of heteronormativity and alienation. This isn't a commentary on anyone else's enjoyment of the dynamic-- I hope I've made that clear --But, just... I guess I should get to it.

Link and Zelda,

Zelink.

As one anon put it, the vanilla icecream of shipping.

Mild, sweet,

And incredibly heteronormative.

The Golden Relationship; the one toted by fans and Nintendo alike as "the ship".

Everything else, anyone else, is a deviation. It slots neatly into the expected hero-damsel dynamic that we've had, since, well, the beginning of time, almost. It's almost as dust of the earth as it gets. The issue for me being... They don't spend time much, really. Link is barely characterised half the time as little more than a slightly lackadaisical vessel for the player, and Zelda is a sort of guiding light; a dignified keeper of the plot, Righteous Guardian of Hyrule--

The culmination of all Hyrule presents itself as: wise, smart, beautiful, dainty but compitent, ready to lead a charge should need be... but rarely unruly. Rarely ever. Always right.

Obviously, it goes without saying how Breath of the Wild's iteration of this duo changes it up immensely. Zelda is a far more flawed, and in her attempt to put on a strong face, a far more emotionally vulnerable character than any of her gentle predecessors could ever hope to be. While this pairing and her character fail to hit that particular sweet spot in me, it's deeply intriguing, and I hope, perhaps vainly, that they'll develop her and her relationship with Link even more in the sequel-- Honestly, when it comes to this? An equality between her and Link is, I think, what would be best. A mutual understanding; vulnerability.

I think that's what puts me off from Zelink, on the whole. Link is bound to her, by destiny, by guidance, ever-performing his knightly duties, and Zelda is bound to him for strength, for protection. There's little emotional substance, half the time, save for small, precious moments, many with another face, because it's a dynamic inherently dependent on the war-- On danger.

It's all impartial, situational. There's nothing personal here.

And if that were it, if this were truly explored from that angle(as it is, to an extent, in BotW), then I think I'd like that-- Especially if it weren't romantic, I feel.

But that's not the vibe we're told to get: not from the fans... not from Nintendo.

Nintendo tends to be largely neutral on certain matters, such as pairings-- Honest to god, for the best, in my opinion-- But Zelink is that one blind spot where that ethos falls away. Here, Nintendo expects us to see it as some grand, destiny-bound romance, I feel,

And the pre-Skyward Sword manga, from what I know, cements this best.

It's why, quite frankly, I don't care for the idea of it being canon. Genuinely.

It undermines what little weight Ganondorf via Demise had on all of this, this horrific cycle of blood, pain and despair, always bracing for the next wave, of the sisyphian climb of this civilisation, and turns it all into a grand goddess' love for a boy bound to her by fate and destiny manifest.

I hate that.

For something like this, something where no one has any choice, where greatness is thrusted upon them, this endless state of being used that Skyward Sword even condemned, to be seen as good.

To get onto personal experience, before this blog, and this "persona," as it were, I used to have an art account where I largely posted TLoZ, frequented by my family. My very Christian, somewhat socially-conservative family. I would perform straightness, in the form of either pushing aside or pursuing M/F romance, because I was extremely uneasy about the types of conversations anything otherwise would arouse.

This was at a time where I wasn't even sure if I was bisexual, let alone divergent in my gender, so I felt a constant pressure to tamp it down and keep it out of the spotlight, relegating my explorations via art to DMs with the friends I'd make.

Here, on Tumblr, where peppy-queerness is the status quo, there's this tendency to gloss over unpleasant things and make them soft; sweet.

I think I've talked enough at length why that alienates me.

So, yeah... I guess, Zelink on a wider scale kinda just, sums up my unease about the often hegemonic status-quo of shipping, and on the whole I'm just kinda eh about it all.

Again, I think it should be very clear that this is not a reflection on my opinions of people who create Zelink content, who are attached to these characters. That sort of weirdly-tribalistic thinking is awful, and only brings about needless conflict-- Early 2000s-2010s kinda shit, y'feel me?

I hope this all made sense, kinda. I've just got... alot of feelings.

[uzunofu]

My dash brought me several posts on the same topic at once, and since I couldn't choose which one to reblog, I decided to make a separate one and tag the OPs, lol. @jaebald @withinsnow @grewlikefancyflowers

I love both vers and switch!wangxian (a friendly reminder that switch and vers are different terms) because reading the same kind of smut over and over is boring and I start skipping, but initially I was in favor of switching them precisely because of power dynamics. And not WWX being the badass YLLZ and thus being the one more suited to topping (what even is that logic, heavens) — no, it was about how during the course of the book we see WWX vulnerable physically and emotionally, injured, distressed, needing help. (Even more so in the show, but CQL has a different relationship dynamic altogether, and since their preferences in CQL aren't expressed, I can vibe with nearly anything.) We see him like that way more than we see LWJ like that. LWJ is the love interest who, in the present timeline, swoops in and saves him, who takes care of him, who is the rock WWX can lean on. In the past timeline, the Xuanwu cave is the only time we see LWJ in distress.

Thematically, it fits that in his second life WWX finally gets that one person in his corner, finally has someone who will help him and stand by his side. Thematically, WWX can fight his own battles, but it's nice when he doesn't have to. I can acknowledge all of that and still wish that we had more moments of LWJ in a position of vulnerability and WWX being his rock.

For me, it's not about their power objectively. They're both shown as badass during the plot. It's about how LWJ, despite his adorable drunk shenanigans and offended princess act, fulfills the narrative role of the LI saving the MC. That's why I adore WWX's tendency to swoon over LWJ being soft and cute, to call him a good boy, to fuss over his dirtied robes, to treat him like a spoiled princess. It evens it out somewhat.

It's also why I like their sexual dynamic as it is presented in the book (chapters 111 and 112, I didn't read the incense burner extras) — despite WWX physically bottoming, he is the one who takes initiative, who tells LWJ what he wants him to do ("Wouldn’t it be convenient if you take off your forehead ribbon and tie my hands up?"), who plays at being a helpless victim with gleeful abandon. He plays at it. He blabbers not because he wants LWJ to shut him up but because he wants to egg him on. He laughs, he has fun, he doesn't take any of it seriously even in the heat of the moment. Their dynamic isn't the typical dom/sub you see in fics, or the typical smut, which is why fics that have them as vers or switches tend to get it right more often since they throw "typical" out of the window. Funnily enough, I have seen more BJYX (the actors' CP, if you're out of the circle) fics nail that exact dynamic than actual wangxian fics.

Sometimes people have physical preferences, and maybe WWX isn't into sticking it in or LWJ isn't into taking it. Sometimes people have psychological preferences, and maybe WWX isn't into doing the work, he wants to be a pillow princess and feel pampered (hello to LWJ bathing and dressing him, that man is the best, WWX really lucked out). Sometimes those two overlap, which is why people tend to conflate top/bottom with dom/sub and probably why the "YLLZ is a top" take exists — when you're into someone being forceful and powerful in life and you want to see them behave that way in bed, it doesn't usually translate to envisioning them topping from the bottom. When I see that take, it usually comes across as someone wanting WWX to be absolutely in control and drive the encounter. But if we look at MXTX's books, the ship that is the most traditional one in this sense is actually hualian. From the glimpses we get of Xie Lian remembering their first time, it was exactly that.

I'm not into telling people what they should or should write, nor am I into judging other people's fanons. Fandom is transformative. It makes sense that people would change stuff to their liking. But when you take a canonical dynamic that is subverting the stereotypes both from a "personality" perspective (the reserved one topping, the bold one bottoming) and from a smut perspective (the top taking cues, the bottom remaining himself instead of getting overwhelmed and lost in his own head) and try to claim it homophobic, that's where I draw the line.

[justgottafinishthischapter]

Writing Romance: Opposites Attract

One of the most widespread among romantic tropes is opposites attract, and with good reason. When a couple are opposites, they’re meant to be one of a few things to each other: 1. An inverse reflection of each other. 2. Compliment each other 3. Cover each other’s shortcomings

In a sense, a good Opposites Attract serves to turn two incomplete people into one solid force. If they’re a battle couple, they’ll tend to fight very well together, often balancing force and finesse, melee and ranged, or physical and magical abilities. If the show or book has a lot of time dedicated to foils and character moments, they are more likely to be the ones that each other lean on, since their opposing characters makes them interesting to react off one another. Their roles, story arcs, and backstories tend to run opposite or parallel to one another depending on the series. If one character’s arc is to mature and become more responsible, likely their partner’s arc might be to learn to loosen up and have fun, learn to trust people, or to face a trauma in their past that made them so mature at a young age.

In terms of design, opposites attract partners tend to be inverse in color schemes. Light and dark hair or eyes, warm and cool color schemes, clashing or complimentary fashion styles, etc. The degree in opposition also varies. Some opposites attract look very similar with only a slight difference, indicating that something small is what set them on different paths in life but are otherwise very similar, almost as two sides of the same coin. Other couples are stark contrasts with virtually nothing in common to really emphasize their differences so that they can better make each other whole, as shown very literally through the character of Garnet in Steven Universe. 

Femme and Butch

While typically, you’re mostly going to see this in femmeslash/yuri pairings, this dynamic is actually fairly universal. This divide focuses on a pairing where each couple reflects the values of masculinity and femininity. Although mostly used as lesbian terms, a femme and butch pairing can also be gay or heterosexual. A fashion-loving twink who cries during romantic movies dating a jock who likes sports and drinks beer is still an example of Femme and Butch. Heterosexual is rather obvious, but can also be inversed, with a tough, assertive woman partnered with a sweet, sensitive man, such as Calhoun and Felix in Wreck-It Ralph. A Femme and Butch pairing doesn’t need to check off every box on this list of traits, but these traits tend to be common in these types of relationships.

Brains and Brawn

Also known as Jock and Nerd, this romantic dynamic prioritizes the usefulness of both intelligence and brute strength. Another variation is Book Smarts vs Street Smarts. The Brains will be good at doing research, organizing, and will tend to fight more strategically while the Brawn is primarily going to be good at fighting and likely protecting the Brains from serious harm. Princess and Bodyguard is another possible example of this dynamic, albeit a little less directly.

Hot and Cold

Hot or Warm characters tend to be friendly, outgoing, upbeat, loudmouthed, temperamental, boisterous, and battle-ready. Cold or Cool personalities tend to be shy, calm, quiet, logical, reserved, serious, and emotionally withdrawn. However, while these extreme opposites of hot-head and cold-shoulder balance each other out, it’s worth discussing same heat relationships. Kiribaku is an example of a Hot/Warm relationship, as Bakugou Katsuki is an angry little spitfire with an aggressive streak, while Kirishima Eijirou is a happy-go-lucky sweetheart with a good attitude. This is sort of the same concept, just that both boys are on the warm side of the spectrum, with Kirishima being the cooler counter to Bakugou’s temperamental hot-head. This also works inversely, as the ship Tododeku is a Cold/Cool relationship. Midoriya is a shy, but upbeat young man who tends not to draw too much attention to himself, while Todoroki is stoic, logical, and a bit dense socially. In this case, Midoriya is Cool while Todoriki is Cold, with Midoriya serving as the “Hot” aspect of their relationship as the more friendly and outgoing of the two.  

Light and Shadow

This archetype is often used as a “opposite sides of the same coin” format, where the characters serve as foils to one another. In Teen Titans, Raven’s powers are dark and demonic, while Starfire’s are bright and extraterrestrial. Both girls get their powers from their emotions, but where Starfire revels in her emotions to make her powerful, Raven must suppress her emotions to retain control of her powers. As the only two girls, they stick out as the obvious foils of the group. Many times, when this trope appears, it’s in the form of Classic Paragon Hero vs Cynical Anti-Hero. Superman and Batman are a great example. Superman is a boyscout token good guy, while Batman is a brooding loner. One is the hope for justice and goodness to always triumph while the other acknowledges that people are flawed, and maybe not everyone deserves to be saved. Naruto is interesting because he has two dark reflections. The first is Sasuke. While Naruto is the golden-haired idealist who befriends villains almost as often as Steven Universe, Sasuke is a dark counter consumed by a thirst for vengeance and the power to exact it. Naruto’s other dark counter however is Gaara. Both are Jinchuriki, but whereas Naruto eventually found friends and love in his fellow genin, Gaara was very much still alone when he met Naruto, reflecting what Naruto could have become without that love and support in this life.

Protagonist and Rival

Another case of “two sides of the same coin”, most anime protagonists and their rival tend to either have very similar backstories, very similar motivations, or very similar personalities, if not some combination of the three. Both Naruto and Sasuke were abandoned in the world at a young age with the Hokage looking out for them from afar. Naruto started off having nobody, and was always reaching out hoping to connect with anyone. Meanwhile, Sasuke started with a family and lost it, and decided to keep everyone at arm’s length and isolate himself further. Rin Okumura and Ryuji Suguro are practically the same person. Both lost their families and homes due to Satan, both are strong-willed loudmouthed tough guys with a knack for leadership, and both share the goal of killing Satan. Natsu Dragneel is immature and battle-ready, but while Grey Fullbuster at least pretends to be above it, he’ll jump into a fight with Natsu practically unprompted. The main appeal of the anime protagonist and his rival is that they push each other to succeed, often coming from very similar roots, but where they end up is entirely up to the effort they put in and the path they choose to take. They both refuse to lose to each other, and that propells them to constantly want to out-do each other.

Sweet and Sour

My best friend and I are polar opposites in this sense. When we met, she was far too trusting, submissive, and far too forgiving. Meanwhile, I was a lot more cynical, mean-spirited, and unfortunately, a little more closed-minded than I’d like to admit. After five years of friendship, my friend is far more assertive, has a lot more confidence in herself, is a lot better at handling criticism, and rather than just submitting in an argument, she now has the nerve to get in someone’s face and make her point heard. Because of her, I’ve become less stand-offish, more patient and polite, less of a control freak, more aware of valuing other people’s emotions, and more tolerant of a group I hadn’t realized I’d been intolerant toward. We saw the world in such distinctly different ways that we have managed to rub off on each other, and now we’re both such stronger and more complete people for having known each other.

Serious and Goofball

A classic comedy duo, the comedian and the straight man. The Goofball character tends to be immature, a knucklehead, a jokester, and comes off as a bit inexperienced. Meanwhile, the Serious character tends to be mature, responsible, disciplined, but comes off as a bit aloof. The Goofball reminds the Serious character to have a little fun every once in a while, while the Serious character reins in the Goofball before they hurt themselves or somebody else.

Hero and Sidekick

The hero has their act together and the sidekick is just doing their best. This happens a lot in Action movies where the handsome tough guy and the hapless damsel (who he kidnaps a little too often for my liking) is just kind of along for the ride. The two live in entirely different worlds. Sometimes this comes in the variant of Starlet and Manager where one in the relationship takes center stage while the other is content to help them run their life, promote their career, and help them. Another variation is Superstar and Random Extra, wherein one person leads a very visible life in the public eye being adored by millions of fans while their partner works 9-5 in an office dealing with insurance claims. Although they coe from very different worlds and lead very different lives, that doesn’t mean they still haven’t found love in an unlikely place. Often, the reason the hero or big shot loves this random nobody is because they fell in love with them before they ever became famous, or they didn’t know/care who the celebrity was and just liked them as a person without interest in using their celebrity to climb the social ladder.

Loud and Quiet

She’s quirky, outgoing, bubbly, energetic, and talkative. Too talkative. She never shuts up. He’s quiet, simple, down-to-earth, and calm. Too Calm. He never gets excited. This pairing works to push and pull each other until they’ve harmonized. The Quiet one will be pulled out of their shell and learn to be more open and talkative, while the Loud one will learn to think before they act. This couple is divided along lines of Introversion and Extroversion, and together can navigate the anxiety-triggering unease of a social gathering, and finding joy and pleasure in just enjoying each other’s company without needing to fill the silence with pointless chatter.

To be fair, many Opposites Attract couples will fit into more than one of these archetypes, and there’s probably more I didn’t list. But if you’re wanting to create a couple that balances each other out, I hope you find this helpful to you in your writing.

[incomprehensiblelentils]

@loved-the-stars-too-fondly​ tagged me in a ship meme! I will try to make this interesting lol.

1. First ship

It’s a tie between Aladdin/Jasmine and Simba/Nala, because I saw both of these movies about the same time as a little kid. And my sixth birthday cake had a picture of Aladdin and Jasmine on it, and I used to tell stories about them to myself on the playground, but I had plushies of baby Simba and Nala with magnetic noses that could “kiss.” 

2. First OTP

I am taking this to mean “first fic you felt strongly enough about to produce content for or engage with in a creative/fandom way,” in which case that would be Michael/Mia from The Princess Diaries. I wrote one (1) bad fanfic when I was 13 (about how Michael proposed and then Grandmere threw a fit BUT then he saved her life while they were horseback riding) that’s still on ff dot net somewhere, and I read basically every fanfic for them that was available on ff dot net. I still have an enormous soft spot for them and I reread the books every few years.

3. Current favorite ship

Since I’m on a Dimension 20 kick right now, even though I haven’t read much fanfic yet I’m going to say both Fig/Ayda from Fantasy High and Ricky/Esther/Sofia from The Unsleeping City. Fig/Ayda is incredibly cute because Fig is a tiefling with shapechanging ability who had a string of questionable romantic encounters with much older men before meeting Ayda, the teenage curator of a magic library who is also an autistic Black phoenix. Fig is very impulsive and brash, but also emotionally closed-off and insecure, but she starts bonding with Ayda because Ayda thinks she’s really cool and admires her bravado. Fig doesn’t know what to do with someone who’s so intimidating but cool who seems to really like her, and, well, you can watch this scene where they get together, it’s very good. It contains Fig vomiting into a bush, then saying “I think you’re perfect the way you are,” then skateboarding away in a panic. It’s maybe the most accurate sapphic rep I’ve ever seen.

Ricky/Esther are just two incredibly nice people who get together in The Unsleeping City, but I think that they should also get together with their friend Sofia because of reasons. I genuinely think the canon supports this reading quite a bit.

4. Your ship since the first minute

I have a fun story for this, which is that literally since day 1 of Korra, I wanted her to have a girlfriend (post date: 12/7/11), and the second Asami showed up I was like eyes emoji. And then I dropped off the show after the first season for a few reasons, kind of assuming they would never do an f/f couple and casually shipping Korrasami sort of out of spite, but THEN my friend messaged me immediately after the finale like DUDE YOU’LL NEVER BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENED. And that was honestly one of the emotional high points of my fandom life.

5. Ship(s) you wish had been endgame

I have...many! Bering and Wells from Warehouse 13 is paramount, obviously, because that is a wound in my soul from which I will never recover. Cartinelli from Agent Carter slightly less so, but I think that was truly the last time that I had real hope for a canon f/f ship. I think Matt/Foggy/Karen should have all been romantic together because Matt/Karen by themselves has weird vibes and I don’t like it. Obviously I think Fitz should have died in the series finale and Skimmons should have been canon, and as far as I’m concerned he died of a brain tumor after that and then they got together. (Daniel is also involved still, he’s a chill dude and I like him and it’s fine.) 

6. Ship you wish was canon

Grace/Dani from Terminator: Dark Fate, because wow did they shoehorn in an incredibly hilarious attempt at mommyzoning Dani (didn’t work, it’s still gay fuckos). But it would’ve been nice if they’d just leaned into it and let the horny lesbian ghost that possessed the screenwriters make it explicitly gay. Also I think Cameron/Donna and Gordon/Joe from Halt and Catch Fire should have been canon because that show is already basically about the world’s messiest polycule anyway, and Joe is canon bi and already treats Gordon like a booty call, and Cameron and Donna act like either romantic partners or bitter/awkward exes, so like. c’mon. Also I think Daisy/Robbie should have been a thing.

7. Ship that most of the fandom hates but you love

Natasha/Bruce is cute COME AT ME. Age of Ultron is a bad movie but they could have been cute!!!!

8. You don’t even watch the show, but you ship it

Uhhhh. Most things I end up secondhand shipping I end up consuming the canon for eventually lol. I was secondhand shipping Cameron/Donna from Halt and Catch Fire last year because my friend was watching it but then I just...also watched it lol. Uhhhh. The Killing Eve lesbians seem fun I guess? I’ll get to that eventually.

9. Ship you wish had a different storyline

I’m digging deep for this one, but Buffy/Faith from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I think they had SUCH a cool dynamic that kind of stopped getting explored after season 4, and it’s a bummer. I don’t think they’re like, endgame or true love or anything, but I think they’re sort of the messy pair that can’t completely disentangle from each other, and maybe they don’t even really want to? I think that they couldn’t live in the same house or anything but that they meet up and hang out and probably fuck every couple years, and it’s good.

10. Favorite ship(s) that’s endgame

GAMBIT/ROGUE GOT MARRIED IN THE COMICS. I’M SO PSYCHED. I don’t know if Karolina/Nico from Runaways counts as endgame but I love them, and I also love Gert/Chase. I’m rewatching Nikita and am delighted to know that Michael/Nikita is still very good. Priya/Tony from Dollhouse is also very good. Daisy/Daniel was honestly the best outcome SHIELD could have realistically given me and I was quite happy with it. I don’t know if Magnus Archives ships count but I really like Georgie/Melanie (we stan sapphic accidental apocalypse cult leaders). Oh and I like all the canon Avatar: The Last Airbender ships too.

EDIT: I FORGOT MY BELOVED ARAGORN/ARWEN AND WILL/ELIZABETH (PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN).

I’m tagging @swiftzeldas @toriasimmons @dollsome-does-tumblr @theomenroom @zenithofdork if you wanna!

[frumfrumfroo]

Tbh I don't want to shade people who enjoy them but I've tried reading fics where Rey is a rich heiress or a Palpatine/another legacy from the beginning and it feels like a different character, like you could just name her Kira and call her an OC with the same actress. Modern fics where she's rich Rey Palpatine raised by her grandfather for example, too many factors are different in her upbringing to make her inner conflict and dynamic with Ben different too, so it feels all OC-ish to me

Exactly, people can write whatever fic they want, but it does make her a fundamentally different character. It makes the reylo dynamic something completely different as well.

And just on principle, I now utterly refuse to read anything that has Rey born to or adopted by any kind of legacy as a premise. It never fit, but post-tros it’s basically a squick for me. People constantly plug them into rich girl/poor boy shit and it’s the wrongest wrong that ever wronged. One of my earliest reylo posts was complaining that the Titanic AU was always the wrong way around. HE is ROSE, SHE is Jack. Sure, he still does all the active emotional work in their relationship- as Jack does- but being trapped, isolated, and traumatised by the alleged privilege to which he was born is HIS WHOLE DEAL. If she were allowed to be a real protagonist she would have saved him the way Jack saves Rose.

People doing reylo aus where Ben is just a guy and Rey is a mermaid/elf/vampire/princess, couldn’t care less. Will never click. It doesn’t work because Rey has no ‘monster’ allegory and it doesn’t make sense for her emotionally (them trying to weld this onto her in tros was an embarrassing failure). She’s not burdened by birth or legacy, she carries no ‘curse’. There is the Force as the ‘thing inside of her’ that’s now awake, but that’s pretty weaksauce. The Force is a galactic Gaia, it’s intrinsic and natural. That’s more a part of her whole throughline of refusing the call and not being able to see herself as The Hero and the one who will take action. She keeps trying to get other people to step up so she won’t have to, but she has to take responsibility. She has to accept that she’s a grown up and her parents aren’t coming back etc. Her entire conflict is that she’s not ‘born special’ and has no family; there is no ready made identity waiting for her, she has to decide who she is herself.

Making her a princess or a magical creature where Ben is a normal person destroys their complementary arcs and it makes her a cipher. She can’t be vindicated in her refusal to grow up and her denial.

And, you know, she is an essentially feral garbage collector where Ben is a literal prince. Any dynamic where she has social power/privilege/class and he is a rustic/rube/pauper is doing it wrong. He is stiff, formal, canonically dorky, and implied to be highly educated or at least well-read as well as being a politician’s son. And royalty. And a Jedi. He grew up in a very structured hierarchical cult and then a rigid military dictatorship; boy is uptight and it’s no wonder his sense of humour is dry as dust. Rey was ‘raised by sand’ as an asshole famously said and grew up in a free-for-all dog-eat-dog wasteland with no structure or order beyond survival of the fittest. She has very few social skills besides her emotional perceptiveness and is extremely blunt. These are the things which define their characters and personalities, and while you never need a direct 1-to-1 analogy for an AU to work, you sort of need to keep the dynamic somewhere in the ballpark if you want them to be recognisable.

[randombtsprincessa]

Content Tag Game!

Tagged by my babies Dia and Maria ( @yoonia​ and @joyfulhopelox​) to answer these content queries and dish some dirt on me whoops!

Here we go!

1. what fandoms have you written for (but do not currently)? 

Well I for one thought that I would never write for Twilight again. I wrote Touch in the Worlds as a practice and just to get the feel of how writing and the posting worked online. I was very sure I wouldn’t visit the fandom again for obvious reasons, but yeah, I have recently gotten another idea for it for another character that many asked for in comments.

2. what fandoms are you currently writing for? 

I am writing for Kpop (BTS) and currently have two works for Harry Potter!

3. how long have you been writing? on this blog? 

I began writing in 4th grade. Silly me also tried to make a club out of it with a few friends but yeah lol, that tanked. I mostly tried to write Horror back then because I was a hardcore Goosebumps fan. Writing kind of took a back seat to my music and dancing before making a vicious comeback. 

I made this blog to follow SuperWhoLock and other shows. Before I refurbished it to accomodate my writings. Then in 2017, I purged it again at the same time as Tumblr underwent it’s own mess of thingy.

4. on which platforms do you post your stories? 

I post on FF.net, Wattpad, Tumblr, Ao3 and Inkitt.

5. what is your favourite genre to write? 

I love smangst with fluff. Of course, like any deprived emotionally person I do do fluff because where would we be in life without it. I love the tropes of E2L, Estranged Lovers coming together, balancing otherwise unbalanced dynamics etc. Also woman empowerment because hell yes.

6. are you a pantser or a planner? 

I’ a firm swinger between the two. Usually for writing projects, like NANO i have a plan but well, when I get an idea hit, I usually just write how I see it in my head (I’m a visual imaginator). Series require more planning than one-shots.  

7. one shot or multi-chapter? 

Depends on the stories I cook up. Many of them might be finished and reach the proper catharsis in one chapter but many others aren’t stories that can be wrapped up in one sitting.

8. what is the perfect chapter length in your opinion? 

Don’t ask me. I have a problem with word counts. Ask my undergrad professors.

9. what is your longest published story? is it complete? 

I still think my longest is Touch in the Worlds. Its four books and over 200k so. Yep, it’s done and over with.

10. which story did you enjoy working on the most?

I. ADORE writing Autumn Leaves, mostly because my MC is lowkey brilliant. She’s a living embodiment of all the mistakes the HP characters made corrected. For BTS, I loved writing Aberrations. I’m going to have the same fun when I get to the ‘part’ in Achilles Heart. hehehe...otherwise in the future some works are *satan grins*

11. favourite request you’ve have written and why (if any?) 

I wasn’t sure if I was going to be writing a sequel for Bed Bereft. But people have asked and yep it’s coming (plotted already and I will enjoy it)

12. are there reoccurring themes in your stories? 

I’ve been told I write women in relationships well. Honestly if I wanted a break down of what I as a writer have done nicely in my BTS fics it would be a question for people like @jimins-ass-eater, @stealth-liberal and @cuziloveyou7

13. current number of wips? 

Outrageous and increasing. I have a lot of chapters to upload lol.

14. three things you have noticed about your own writing? 

Some fics I have noticed are purely for a particular mindset. I wrote Asylum in my down time and Ambrosia is going to be the same. I tend to aim to be realistic. I am 23 years old, I have seen a few things that deserve to be addressed and I do that in my fics. Oh, and if I am writing for Namjoon, you can expect my philosophical side to jump right out and ramble in that fic. 

15. a quote you like from a published story.

● Series:

There was nothing soothing about people watching.

Or maybe there was and it required some form of inner peace to find the charm in it.

You didn’t have that sort of inner peace; neither did you have the patience for it.

- Belladonna, Chapter 1

● One-shot:

All the stories that showed that Princesses would be rescued fell short at one crucial juncture.

No one told the story about the cursed princess who was ugly, who was a monster, who wasn’t the pale skinned beauty in a glass case or silk bed.

No, nobody came to save the ugly princess and over time you learned to see yourself just that.

This man – this Jimin, would be no exception.

“After all, what’s to love?” You muttered.

You vowed not to weep. Not for a man, not for the humanity that judged who was worthy of love.

- Blackthorn Creek

16. a quote from an unpublished story.

Jimin didn’t reply, carefully placing a donut on a small, pristine white plate. “I don’t think there’s anyone who just was born wrong. Everyone has reasons, everyone has stories. Things that happen to people to make them the way they are at present. It’s harsh to judge a person’s future for what the past did to them in the present.”

His eyes flickered up to glance out the window. At the edge of the park, right along the lines separating the background of the city from the forefront stood an old Honda. On it was perched a single girl.

“Like her.”

- Brownie Points

17. space for you to say something to your readers. 

I want to thank each and every single one of them. On tumblr and out of it. I know I miss out on a lot of interaction but I want you all to know that you always have an ear and shoulder available on my blog. I want you to know that these fics I write are for more than just your enjoyment. It’s for them to maybe find a part of them resonating inside of you and if I achieve that then that would be my biggest achievement. I love you all and your encouragement is literally the reason I and many other content creators are still here.

Tagging: @avveh @serooks @softyoongiionly @hobidreams @jungkxook @joonscypher @hobiwonder @bangtanhome @joheunsaram @kookdiaries @ressjeon @kithtaehyung-main @vyduan @rosietae @kookingtae and anyone else who wants to do this!