#which is why when I see people call him an egoist for wanting to prove himself

[yourlowkeyidiot3]

I know that I probably seem like extremely chronically online with my Ford defending posts and that I might be extremely defensive of a fictional character but I swear to god I actually have a reason for why I'm so defensive of him

[space--cadet-glow]

Theory: Vaati's Petty Little Plans

AKA, I couldn't think of a better title. Sorry. Anyway, this was something I was noticing pertaining to the manga version of "The Minish Cap". It's the half-conversation that Ezlo and Vaati have about Vaati's plan to steal the Light Force (I say "half conversation" because Ezlo basically mocks Vaati, then Vaati has one off-hand comment about Ezlo's mocking, and then it changes subject to the Great Fairy of Mayflies being corrupted).

I just wanted to see how the different translations I have differ. And if they did differ, how and possibly why. And an analysis on why each translation makes this conversation so heart-wrenching.

ENGLISH:

"Fool! I don't care about returning to normal!! But, I won't let you go unchecked! I'll see to it that your petty little plans are thwarted!"

""Petty little plans", you say? You always did underestimate me! Let me prove again how much better I am than you!"

So, Ezlo is much more concerned with stopping Vaati than he is returning to normal, which is honestly quite depressing. Ezlo also calls Vaati's plans "petty" and "little"-- "little" of which is quite consistently used in the English translation to insult Vaati (since being reminded that he's a Minish seems to be what ticks him off the most). But, Vaati's response to this is that Ezlo always "underestimated" him... Which is a bit odd, since he was just an apprentice. Ezlo didn't really have a reason to think that Vaati would be more powerful than a newcomer/beginner. So, Vaati's response seems like it came a bit out of nowhere (for how it was worded, that is). Which is even weirder considering that Vaati goes on to claim that he's "better" than Ezlo-- which, may I point out-- is technically not true, since Vaati is, ohhh... I don't know... USING THE HAT THAT EZLO MADE. HE'S NOT BETTER THAN EZLO BECAUSE HE'S USING EZLO'S MAGIC.

GERMAN:

"Freeing me from the curse is not even my wish! But we will stop you!! We will thwart your wicked plans!!"

"Wicked, you say?! You always did consider me a fool... But now, I will show my superiority!"

Oh, boy. Ezlo is a bit more dramatic here, claiming that his one "wish" is not to return to normal, but to stop Vaati. Ouch. He then calls Vaati's plans "wicked"-- not "petty" like English Ezlo did. This makes it seem like Ezlo really knew/realised that even the hat he created was capable of evil magic and not just "good" magic. And then, there's Vaati's response. According to him, Ezlo always treated him like he was a "fool". That is horrible, because Ezlo is supposed to be a TEACHER. What sort of teacher thinks his student is a "fool"? EZLO, YOU'RE THE ONE TEACHING HIM! He's not improving his magic because you're not giving him an opportunity to! Which segues right into Vaati's comment on "superiority". It's not that he's improved with the Magic Hat-- it's the fact that he's now using Ezlo's own creation against him. He's "superior" because of the hat-- and this line really makes it seem like Vaati has some insecurity issues. This is why I think this translation makes everything a bit more clear than the English version. The German version isn't trying to sugar-coat everything. Also, another thing that the German version did that breaks my heart: Vaati consistently refers to Ezlo as "Sie"-- the formal "you". And continues to do it even when trying to tell him off... As if he was too scared to switch to "du" to insult Ezlo right in his face. This sticks out like a sore thumb because he sasses the Royal Family by calling them "du" without hesitation... Which is really implying that, deep-down, Vaati is honestly kind of scared of Ezlo.

JAPANESE:

"First of all, I don't want to return to normal!! However, I can't leave you as-is! I'll put an end to your petty ambitions without fail!!"

"Petty ambitions... Are they? You always did think I was an idiot... Let me show you again. How I am better than you!!"

...Well, I can see where both English and German got their ideas. So, Ezlo again claims that he doesn't want to return to his Minish form, but then... We have something that was sort of impossible to translate. The word that Ezlo uses for "you"-- the one he refers to Vaati as-- is "kisama"... Which is an extremely rude and impolite way of saying "you". Basically, Ezlo is pretty furious at Vaati here. Like English, he calls Vaati's plans "petty"... And says that he's determined to stop them. BUT THEN, like German... Rather than "underestimating" Vaati... EZLO THINKS VAATI IS STUPID. Or, at least, that's what Vaati thinks Ezlo thinks about him. GOOD. LORD. And then the Japanese version does something that the German in-game translation did... Make Vaati sound uncertain by breaking up his sentences to make it seem like he paused-- as if he's unsure about himself. Notice the pause between "...show you again" and "how I am..."? That's what I mean. It's almost like Vaati choked when saying that. And that breaks my heart.

FRENCH:

"It doesn't matter to me if I return to my original appearance! On the other hand, I'll do everything to teach you a good lesson! Your insolence and your impudence have limits! You will pay dearly for your egoistic ambitions!"

"My egoistic ambitions? Master, you have always taken me for a nobody... Perhaps this time. I'll show you how much better I am than you!"

I have no words other than-- holy crap, French version... Stab me in the heart, why don't you? It's amazing how many liberties they took with the wordings... Yet somehow kept in-style with the story and somehow made it sound BETTER. Like seriously. This is a real tear-gusher. First, we have Ezlo reminding us that he's a teacher with practically making a pun on the word "lesson"... Then, he adds another comment saying that Vaati was "insolent" (disrespectful) and "impudent" (cocky and shameless). Big yikes. But then, he goes on to describe Vaati's plans as "egoistic"... NOT "egotistic". This is important because this implies that Vaati does (or Ezlo THINKS he does) have a very inflated ego and thinks he's oh-so high-and-mighty. Then, we get to a line that honestly tripped me up a bit. "Moins que rien" means "next-to-nothing"... But it's a bit idiomatic and the line could also mean anything from "Master, you have always thought lesser of me" to "Master, you have always taken me for less-than-nothing" or "Master, you have always taken me for next-to-nothing". No matter how you translate it, that line hurts. Also, another thing I just realised: there's a level of irony with Ezlo saying that the plans were "egoistic" (self-important) when Vaati claims that Ezlo thought he was a "nobody". Those words have complete opposite meanings! And note how he pauses on the last two lines again like in the Japanese version. A second's worth of hesitation. Ouch, my heart.

SPANISH:

"I don't mind not being able to be who I was again! But, I will not allow you to go about as you please. I will cut your ambitions at the root!"

"Cut my ambitions? You never believed I was capable of anything, right? I will show you now that I am far superior to you!"

Okay. Ezlo sort of lessens the stakes of his curse by saying that he "doesn't mind" being stuck in hat-form. But then, he uses what basically amounts to the Spanish equivalent of "nip it in the bud". So, he's saying that he'll put an end to Vaati's scheming before it even starts. ...Which is a bit odd considering that Vaati already has the Magic Hat, but... Then, we get another heart-wrenching reply from Vaati. "You never believed I was capable of anything, did you?" is another viable translation. And that's just depressing. Either way, it sounds like a cross between the French line "a nobody" and the English line "underestimate me". And then, like German, the word "superior" crops up. Spanish really seems like it took inspiration from every translation out there.

ITALIAN:

"Idiot! I don't care about turning back to normal! But, I won't let you wander unchecked! I'll make sure your stupid, petty plans are ruined!"

""Stupid, petty plans"... You say? Let me show you again how much better I am than you!"

...Can you tell that Italian translated off of the English version? And that it dropped probably the best line, the "underestimate"/"fool"/etc line? I really wonder why they did that. Although, I bet that's why they added in the "stupid" part before "petty plans". Maybe they did that so having Vaati claim that Ezlo thought he was stupid TWICE wouldn't happen. I don't know. This translation basically says what all the others did, with the addition of Ezlo repeatedly calling Vaati "stupid" in some fashion.

So, what does this all mean? This means that I am pretty much insane for having six copies of the same thing. BUT. I always had a motto pertaining to these translations.

If you want something different out of the manga translations of "The Minish Cap"... Go to English for cutesy fluff. Go to German for accuracy to the original Japanese. Go to Japanese to the most accurate version possible. Go to French for theatrics (both emotions and drama). Go to Spanish for sounding natural (ie, it really sounds like people just talking like we do). And skip the Italian manga entirely and go to the Italian GAME version, which is infinitely much better.

Every translation has its strengths. I just think Italian got the short end of the stick by translating off of the "kiddified" English version.

[nolongeravalidhuman]

𝑻𝒐 𝑭𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑾𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔

𝑻𝒂𝒈𝒔: 𝑨𝒏𝒈𝒔𝒕(?) 𝑯𝒖𝒓𝒕, 𝑻𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒓!𝑫𝒂𝒛𝒂𝒊 𝑶𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒖 & 𝑺𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕!𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓

𝑾𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔: 𝑺𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕, 𝒔𝒂𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓

𝑺𝒚𝒏𝒐𝒑𝒔𝒊𝒔: 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒆𝒓��𝒆 𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍𝑖𝑛𝑔

𝑨/𝑵: I seriously cant judge my own work, so I'm not sure if this is good, but this spawned from the idea that Dazai is a teacher, so yea. This is also kinda inspired by the song Egoist by flower, and a chapter from tbhk. Lastly, I put some of my feelings into this and so please be nice!^·^ enjoy!

⇥The peaceful lull of sleep left your body lethargic as the feeling of a thin object hits your head. You uncross your arms and look out the large window to the left of the classroom, but keep your arms folded, head laying on them.

"Say, y/n, are you awake? Bad question, I know I know, but it's the most usual, ya' know?" Sensei inquires and his ruler is still prodding at your hair, ruffling it up even further. The bandages uncomfortably prick your cheek but you ignore it. The sun fell, and the only thing remaining was the pumpkin moon, almost mocking in how far it was. 

Maybe you could reach it one day? "I won't inquire about you napping in class, it happens to the best of us, in fact, it happened to me quite often when I was still in school!" He chuckles seemingly in thought, but you ignore him. 

The chill and silence of the classroom make it clear it's only you two, so perhaps he was grading papers while you were unconscious.

A distant part of your mind thinks of what you could've gotten on the latest quiz, but the more logical part tells you it doesn't matter, it isn't like you did it. It isn't as if you did classwork, and it was a miracle you showed up to school. You seemed to be getting sick more often, which gave a good excuse on why you were absent, but no matter how many people you fool, the one person you can never fool is yourself. Why didn't you just drop already? Patience is important, mother always said, so perhaps you just hadn't gotten your "career call", the "fated work" you were to do for the rest of your life, but patience is worthless in the real world, not when you would get trampled on for showing emotions, not when you'd be spat on for letting others go first.

"Say, y/n are you not even listening to me? That's not very nice!" He pouted and walked so his waist was in your field of vision. I know, you wanted to say, but the world isn't nice, you also wanted to rebut. He crouched down so you could see his face, which lacked the usual bandages. His dark chocolate hair framed his face, and his abyssal eyes were an enigma; they never seemed to cease.

In the end, it didn't matter what you said now, not in the long run when you'd be forced to choose a job you didn't like, forced to fit into society like some puzzle piece with jagged edges. " Sorry Dazai-sensei," you mutter, then turn your head so you can see the exit door. 

It looked so enticing to just leave, but if you were to get up now and all this ended up being some sick fantasy--it wasn't night, it was still class time-- then you'd be outed as a weirdo more than you already were, transferring late in the school year. People would whisper about you when they believe you are not in earshot when in reality you were sitting right behind them.

"Aw no need to apologize y/n-kun~!" He singed, and then put himself in your view. "Well, then, now that we got all that put away, mind telling me why you were sleeping?" Immediately his eyes turned colder, and the room's temperature dropped, but it was only for a split second because now his eyes were laced with a strange emotion, one you couldn't name, but one that made his eyebrow crease, his eyes soften. They didn't seem so distant, you observed, now they looked a normal sensei's, not one founded in mystery.

 "It doesn't matter, I was tired." It did matter. You wanted so desperately to tell him what was wrong, how the anguish would never disappear, no matter what you did, how much you smiled nor how much you laughed. But you couldn't not unless he prompted; you didn't want to speak unless spoken to, but when asked, you remained quiet. Why? Why? You asked yourself; Why was life so complicated and full of contradictions? You wanted to be part of the friend group too, wanted to be invited to walk home with classmates, yet when asked, you deny. Was it because of fear? But what were you afraid of in the first place? Rejection? Humiliation? It didn't make any sense, none at all.

"I'd beg to differ, the health of a beloved student is very important in my opinion, and if you're falling asleep in class, that isn't very good." Compared to his usually cheery tone previously used, this was passive. He walked over to the large window that covered the wall and threw it open. The night air filtered through the classroom and you regretted numbly not bringing a jacket. The large moon taunted you, about how you'd never go far, how you were forever stuck in your one miserable spot for the rest of your life. "Humans were created with curiosity. If you don't exploit all your options, then you will stay stuck on the ground." Dazai smiled a grim, sardonic smile, that represented his view of humanity; selfishness.

"If you continue to wallow in sadness, your life will be miserable, y/n-kun. We all long for freedom, so why not grow a pair of wings and talk when you want to," he stepped on the window frame, " work what you want to," a breeze passed through him and fluttered his hair, which alerted you of how high up he was. This was the fourth-story of the building, so if he slipped then-, " and live how you want to live!" He finished and then plopped himself on the frame. The adrenaline slowly wore down, and you sat back into your chair with a dull thud. No matter how you looked at it, he was strange. Having a high chance of dying just to prove a point, "Dazai-sensei, why risk your life just for a showy performance?" "Hah, let's just say, I don't want to stay stuck here, on this earth." 

Dazai was strange, life was stranger, and this new resolve was strangest. You smiled, and for once it was true," okay sensei."

 What an eerie night this was. 

[rosecorcoranwrites]

Villain Motivation and the Banality of Evil

Motivation in Fact and Fiction

As you know by now, I am a huge true crime fan. I've read books by FBI profilers and crime historians, am addicted to the Investigation Discovery channel, and have even attended a semester of my local police departments "citizens police academy". This is a professional as well as a personal interest, given that I am currently outlining a mystery WIP set in an alternate version of our world. Thus, I want to understand crime investigation, different types of evidence, and, of course, motive. It's this last one—the motivation behind a villain's acts—that many authors, not just those who write mystery—concern themselves with. And, after examining hundreds of real-life crimes, I'm here to tell you that it's not that important.

Ok, it's a little important, in that a villain needs a motive, but it's not important that it be extremely groundbreaking, or extremely relatable, or extremely anything. Motives tend to be common place, not extreme, no matter how shocking the other aspects of a crime.

For example, the excellent book The Father of Forensics: The Groundbreaking Cases of Sir Bernard Spilsbury and the Beginnings of Modern CSI, which I raved about previously, contains a number of sensational cases where the bodies were either hideously mutilated or, conversely, found without any scratch on them. To add intrigue to injury, the murders happened in the early days of forensics, when procedures for dealing with evidence were still being worked out and when more modern investigative tools like AFIS, DNA testing, and psychological profiling were still decades away. Every case was fascinating in its details and in its eventual solution. Almost every case had, as a motive, either money or getting out of an unwanted relationship. That was it. The oddities of the bodies were the killers' attempts at not being caught, but the reasons for there being bodies in the first place were as average as could be.

In fact, the three main motives, according to Lt. Joe Kenda, of ID channel fame, are money, revenge, and sex. The more headline-catching serial-killer crimes happen, it seems, due to a desire for power or a thrill. I would say these five motives sum up most murders, maybe even most crimes. Once you cut away the mystery and the gore, all you're left with are some pretty average human desires: money/stuff, vengeance/justice, sex, power/control, and thrill/excitement. When people talk about the banality of evil, this is what they mean.

Take the motive of "money". We're all familiar with the idea, in real and fictional crime, of robbing banks or killing someone for their life insurance. Writers seem to find this an acceptable plot point: villain wants a lot of money and thus does very bad things. Yet, if you watch enough crime TV, you will know that real murders happen for sums as low as $400 or even $40. There was an episode of Homicide Hunter: Lt. Joe Kenda where a man was shot and almost killed over an argument about 25 cents!

It also needn't be money, but material possessions. In one of the citizen's police academy classes, we learned about a local case where three teenagers broke into a man's house and stole, among other things, his corncob pipe. This pipe was the item he was most upset about, and often discussed in subsequent weeks. So the man lured one of the teenagers out to the woods and shot him execution-style. He was planning to do the same to the other two, and blame the whole crime on his teenaged lover. So that was one life ruined—and it would have been three others, had he not been caught—with the motive of revenge for a lost corncob pipe!

The Gap Between Good and Evil

I thus wonder why it is that we, as writers, tend to overlook such commonplace motivations. There's an unspoken assumption that the motivation of a villain must scale with their actions, so while sub-bosses or henchmen might get away with being in it for the money or the thrill, the Big Bad needs a more exciting or deep motivation. There's also a more recent idea being bandied about in internet circles that the villain should think he's the hero. I think both of these concepts are flawed, but let's take them one at a time.

Although I personally love "True Believer" villains that really do believe they are doing what is right, I don't think it's fair to say that all villains must be this way. After all, a great many real-life villains don't think they're doing something good; they just don't care. They want what they want and do what they can to get it without worrying about morality. I think the reason that this second sort of villain--the thrill-killer, the evil sorcerer, the bully--get a bad rap is that people (both readers and writers), don't understand evil. Yes, a villain who only desires evil is unrealistic, because, in fact, it's impossible to desire evil. But maybe I'm getting ahead of myself.

In the Catholic tradition, we hold that evil doesn't exist; it has no metaphysical reality. Evil is a privation, or absence, of good, similar to how a shadow doesn't exist, but is a privation, or absence, of light. Thus, a person cannot desire evil in and of itself, because they would be desiring nothing. Every evil act is done because someone is desiring something good, but disproportionately, or in a way that removes part of the good from that thing. Again, look at the five motives for murder. Each of those is a good, in and of themselves, but none justifies violating another person.

And thus we come to the other assumption about villains, that their actions must scale with their motives. I think, in fact, the opposite tends to make a more interesting villain. The motive can be something small--wanting revenge for some slight, or a peaceful life, or to be like everyone else. These might even be the same goods that the hero desires. What makes the villain villainous, and what can make them even more interesting, is what they are willing to do to fulfill these desires. Who or what are they willing to throw away? What rules are they willing to break? That distance, between what they want and how they get it is what separates them from the hero.

Types of Villains

This principle, that a villain must desire a good, but desire it disproportionately, can work for any type of villain.

Take the True Believer types: those that believe they are doing what's right. In this category, I would put people like Thanos (Avengers: Infinity War), as well as A.I.s like Agent Smith (The Matrix), VIKI (iRobot), and the Terminators (Terminator... obviously). Thanos is widely lauded as one of Marvel's best villains because he really does think he's doing the right thing. He is willing to throw away half of all sapient beings, plus the one person who he actually cares about, in order to save the other half. What he wants--peace and prosperity--is understandable, but while the gap between that and his genocidal actions is mathematically non-existent, it is morally huge. Similarly, the three A.I.s I mentioned are trying to save either robot-kind or human-kind, but are willing to murder thousands or even billions of humans in order to do it. Essentially, these villains are doing the classic Utilitarian trolley problem, but on a massive scale. They think they are the heroes, and truly do desire a good outcome, but the actions taken to bring that about are inexcusably evil.

Similar to the True Believers are a type of villain I will call the Desperate. These people are also trying to bring about good, but know that what they are doing is wrong. Mr. Freeze (Batman) is a classic example, as he commits crimes to get money and technology to save his wife. Actually, there are a whole slew of villains, mostly in anime and JRPGs, whose entire motivation is to save or resurrect a dead wife or girlfriend. They're trying to save someone they love, but they rarely brand themselves as saviors or heroes; Desperate types hold no such illusions. Sebastian, in my own series, is such a villain, in that he is willing to betray his friends and ally himself to bad people in order to save Chiaroscuro and make up for his past sins. He's willing to do evil that good may come of it, and actually uses the "I'm a bad person anyway" excuse as a justification for his actions.

On the flip side are those who don't care about whether or not they're doing good, which I will divide into three types: Dark Lords, Thrill Killers, and Egoists.

Dark Lords, obviously, include literal Dark Lords, such as Sauron and Voldemort, but I'm also going to throw in your average serial killer into this category. Why? Because they all want the same thing: power. The books I've read by FBI profilers chronicle the most gruesome crimes with motives ranging from rage to lust, but there is an ever present need of the killers to control, whether that's controlling their victims, the situation, or the police and firefighters (in the case of arsonists). Control is related to power, and power, in and of itself, is a good. This, in fact, is why it's wrong for these villains to take away the power or freedom of their victims. While a True Believer like Thanos sought balance, Dark Lords seek an imbalance, and want everything for themselves in an attempt to prove to themselves that they are more powerful, and thus better, than everyone else. These types of villains are, sadly, very realistic, but don't lend themselves to stories requiring a strong interpersonal conflict between hero and villain. They tend to act as a force of nature the hero must work against--whether in a fantasy against a Dark Lord or in a thriller against a serial murderer--and thus don't do much in the way of interpersonal conflict.

Better, in my opinion, are the Thrill Killer types, who see the world as a game, and are willing to do whatever it takes to have fun. Example of this are The Joker (Batman) and Mr. Sato (Ajin). Though The Joker is a bank-robbing thug, he's mostly in it for the laughs, and cares very deeply about whether or not things are funny. That doesn't make him any less abusive or violent, but the gap between his humor and his barbarity is what make him an interesting character. Mr. Sato, similarly, sees the world like one huge videogame, in which he has been given extra lives. Fun and games are a normal and natural good, but his villainy stems from what he is willing to do in this "game". Mr. Sato has absolutely no concern for human life, even his own, and kills hundreds of people (including himself, on multiple occasions!). The interest in this type of villain comes from watching their crazy schemes and then trying to figure out how the hero can possibly beat them. These villains are similar to Dark Lords in that they are something like a force of nature, but different in that the hero usually has to face off against them personally, outwit them, and deal with them as an individual person.

Finally, there are those who want something personally good, but have no regard for others. Technically, this could also describe Dark Lords and Thrill Killers, but here I mean really personal, as in specific to that person. Rather than something big like power or a crazy thrill, they tend to desire the utterly ordinary. Take the robot in Ex Machina. I'm not sure everyone would classify her as a villain, though she certainly did some evil things (it's up to interpretation whether she understands good and evil, though). What was her motivation? She wanted to go watch a crowd. She was, essentially, created to gather information, so that's what she went to go do. It makes sense that that's what she wants, but it doesn't justify what she did to the main character (even if he was kind of a doofus). Or Rezo the Red Priest (Slayers), who, in my opinion, has one of the best motivations of any villain ever. He was born blind and wanted to see. That's a totally understandable motivation. But he's willing to sacrifice the entire world to a demon lord in order to get that wish. Now that is a heckofa gap between a good desire and an evil action! And yet, is it really all that different from the sort of selfishness present in a man who would murder three teenagers over a corncob pipe? Real evil motivations are banal, and real evil actions are completely disproportionate to those motivations. Art, in the case of these last villains, is simply imitating life.

Asking What the Villains Want

Obviously, there are a million different ways of combining these villain type and motivations. Some villains want money so they can save a dying loved one. Some villains desire revenge because they truly believe they have been wronged. A Thrill Killer might find excitement in killing criminals. There is no one right way to write a villain, and there is no one motivation that is the only interesting kind. To anyone trying to write a villain, I suggest reading about or watching shows on real life criminals, from the Big Bads like Hitler, Stalin, and Mao to famous killers like Jack the Ripper and Ted Bundy to run of the mill criminals in your local newspaper. People don't become mass murderers or even petty thieves for no reason, but they also don't just do evil because it's the evil thing to do. Even the most gruesome atrocities were rooted in the desire for misplaced revenge, or disproportionate control, or a false belief in some so-called greater good. Then, I suggest reading and watching your favorite stories and asking what makes these villains tick. Is it the same as in real life? Is it different? What makes a great villain so great? You'll may just find that it's simply a matter of proportion.

[eleutheramina]

Jack Atlas Analysis - Part 1

I think most people would agree that Jack Atlas changes from the FC arc to the DS arc of 5D’s. Some think this change is a positive, natural, even necessary development whereas some thing it is rushed, sloppy, uninteresting, and ultimately worse for Jack’s character. I fall somewhere between those two opinions. 

I recently re-watched the FC arc and wanted to write up some observations about who Jack is then and then how he is characterized later on. Not sure how active the 5D’s fandom is, and this is more for my processing than anything else, but I welcome discussion from anyone who has the time to read my massive amounts of text. 

Spoilers for episodes 1-64 of 5D’s. I don’t care for/didn’t watch a lot of post-64 5D’s, so I’m not touching on how Jack is characterized in those seasons.

I’m posting this in 3 parts:

Who is FC arc Jack? - here

How about DS arc Jack?

How could the DS arc have done better with regards to Jack?

Part 1: Who is FC arc Jack?

FC!Jack is king. It is probably unsurprising to hear that he’s egotistical, ambitious, and a loner during this arc. But I’d also argue that he actually grows somewhat in his understanding of his situation even before he ultimately loses again to Yusei. 

FC Jack is King. (Or at least, he believes himself to be.) I’d argue this is the most important part of Jack’s character (both in the FC and DS arc). From his first appearance, Jack’s conception of himself as King is established. Not only is he King of Riding Duels, but he also sees himself as King even when he’s still in Satellite—he calls himself King, he has turf that he defends, he sits on a throne.

There are a lot of potential connotations of kings. In episode 2, it’s clear that Jack sees his Kingship as meaning he’s unbeatable and powerful. When he duels against Yusei in the past, his being King is the reason why he won’t lose. When he and Yusei ride together at the start of episode 4, the aspects of his kingdom that Jack chooses to flaunt are the skyscrapers, the glamorous and unending traits of Neo Domino City. At the risk of reading too much into things, I wanted to comment on Jack spending half of the arc overlooking the tournament from above — like in a throne room.

If this were a mathematical statement, it would be, Jack is King if and only if he is undefeated. So when he loses to Yusei in episode 4-5, it’s not surprising that Jack’s main motivation in the FC is to rematch and defeat Yusei and regain his rightful Kingship. 

Something I was also interested to notice was how much Godwin evokes and weaves the narrative that Jack tells himself about his Kingship. In episode 2, he tells Jack that living in Satellite was a “trial allotted to [him] by God” (something that Jack seems to accept without dispute). Jack also tells himself similar narratives—he says in episode 26 that his initial loss to Yusei was nothing more than an “allusion to dramatize the fact that [he is] the true King.” There is a sense that Jack is always supposed to be King and everything that may seek to challenge that--coming from Satellite, losing to Yusei--is only part of the path of the King. 

Indeed, being a real King is something that is important to Jack. He is “King” in Satellite, but Neo Domino City seems more real to him--or at least Jaeger suggests that it is more real. He tells Godwin later that he wanted to be “the King he truly desired to be,” suggesting that he already considers his being the Duel King a sham. 

Jack is egoistical. Jack is primarily concerned about his own perception of things and reaffirming his way of doing things; other people’s opinions matter insomuch as they help to affirm what he already believes. This is clear when he is brooding about his loss to Yusei.  Godwin tries to comfort him by saying that no one knows about his loss, but Jack knows, so he’s still upset. Even when Mikage says he should be King, in episode 8, Jack is not comforted; his fans' cheers feel hollow to him like they never have before because he knows he’s not the unbeatable king they think he is. Although Jack does have a passing mention of missing his audience when he and Yusei duel in episode 4, I’d say that has more to do with Jack’s love of attention than a care for the members of the audience themselves. Indeed, his interactions with his fans is not something that’s given focus.

Jack’s egoism affects how he perceives and interacts with other people. FC!Jack is a jerk, plain and simple. One of his first actions in the series is snatching the mic out of the MC’s hands so that he can brag about himself. Jack evaluates people based on their merit in his eyes (which in YGO = dueling prowess, mostly). He (mostly) respects Yusei because Yusei can actually beat him in a duel and has demonstrated to him his skills. When Bommer gets defeated by Yusei, he has a line, “Your mission ran shallow after all,” which suggests that Bommer’s loss confirmed his lowly evaluation of Bommer. When Jack trounces people in a duel, he only has condescension for the losers, using his words to put down his opponents.

Jack’s ego also leads him to be quite temperamental at times--his lowkey tantrum in episode 6, his outburst at Mikage in episode 8, his punch at Bommer in episode 20. In these instances, pressure is being put on his ego, or who he believes himself to be. And he does not spare his energy on what he does not deem worth his time, including people. Himuro tries to be friendly to him but Jack doesn’t give him a word. He even comes to see Satellite as worthless and even goes as far as to say that “It would be best if societies like that just died out.” (Yes, Jack is lowkey a Social Darwinist--in contrast to Yusei, who believes there’s no one who’s useless.)

Jack is ambitious. Jack is always seeking more power and to better his situation. It’s why he chooses to leave Satellite in the first place. When Godwin tells him about his destiny as a Signer and the Crimson Dragon, a literal god, Jack says, “The King will bring the Crimson Dragon into submission.” He sees the dragon as another thing to conquer. He gives Yusei Stardust Dragon back so that he can beat Yusei at his strongest and “obtain even greater power.”

Jack is a loner. Episode 25, “The Lonely King, Jack Atlas,” is probably the most revelatory as far as Jack’s character goes, showing exactly how he betrayed and abandoned his friends to obtain something greater. 

This isn’t to say that Jack is a monster. He’s surprised and visibly disgusted when Bommer shares what happened to his village, and he is on his guard when Godwin’s metal arm is revealed. He also is the one to order Godwin to release Rally and co. You could argue that this is so that Yusei won’t be “shackled” and thus will be at his strongest--and while that’s probably true, I also think that it says something about where Jack draws the line. 

Jack is obviously contrasted with Yusei quite a bit--Yusei values his bonds and his hometown of Satellite more than anything; he goes to obtain Stardust because it represents communal hope. Jack chose the path of the King, and Yusei chooses his friends. 

The implication is that the path of the King is lonely (hence the title of the episode). But then Yusei seems to threaten to shatter this dichotomy by walking the path of the King without giving anything up--something Jack cannot tolerate.

Yusei winning against Jack again doesn’t just oust Jack from his formal position as Duel King, nor does it further taint his record. It also proves that the resolve with which Jack had left Stardust two years before--that he had to give everything up (his hometown, his friends) in order to be King, was wrong.

Jack is. . . dynamic? I used to consider Jack a fairly static character in the FC arc, but I think learning about the Signers and the Crimson Dragon made him realize Godwin’s true intentions. Indeed, sometime between episodes 7 and 25, Jack realizes that he has been manipulated by Godwin (/Jeager’s) praise and enticement of being a King, that their reason for inviting him to the City wasn’t even for himself, but to bait Yusei into going to Neo Domino.

A lot of this happens offscreen - my guess is that perhaps this realization comes in part because of learning that his birthmark, which Jaeger had originally called “the mark of the king” when inviting him to Neo Domino City, is not actually just his/doesn’t actually have the meaning Jaeger alleged it had. Sure, it makes him special, but it’s also not unique to him.

[daomaikeng]

@ot3flopped

I AM COMING AT YOU

First of all, this is nothing personal, I just hate you. Read this whole thing with a cool brain for once.

Because you keep popping in my feed when I don't even follow you and I've reported you at least 5 times.

You are without a doubt going to find loopholes or grammatical/spelling mistakes in this rant and you're going to attack me for it, but that's only because you're too egoistic to accept that you're an idiot. You may even ignore the main point i'm trying to make and focus on one sentence or whatever. You'll get stuck on one out of place or irrelevant sentence. I may have started a war and you may report me as many times as you like for whatever, but I don't care. I'm proud that I stood up for what I believe in. People do see your posts and hate them, but at least I did something about it.

I honestly think you need help. You should maybe show your blog to a professional and then let's see if they call it "a lovely place" and "the best thing I've seen during quarantine". I don't know how your filthy followers think your blog is a lovely place. And also no wonder you don't have many followers because people actually love ot3. It is NOT ok to bully anyone, even celebs.

The people you insult are someone's idols. Someone has remained alive because of them. They've helped someone through their dark days. You don't get any right to insult the person or their fans because simply, it's got NOTHING to do with you.

I don't like Justin Bieber, Lizzo and Billie Eilish, but I don't insult them. They all have massive fandoms, and they mean so much to each and every fan. Just because I don't like them, doesn't give me the right to humiliate and make fun of them. Just because I don't agree with it doesn't give me the right to call their fans crazy. It may mean the world to the fans. And you know, when you speak about ot3 the way you do, it hurts. It actually really hurts. Ngl, I cried last night after stalking you [which was probably a mistake but yeah, it happened. It made me sick.]

Harry Styles is not the most perfect person on this planet. He has flaws too, just like everyone else. I could say so many bad, false things about H or Zayn, but I won't, because I love them and accept them for who they are. And also I won't stoop down to your level.

You don't believe in Larry. Understandable. But that does NOT mean that you can insult fans or shippers. If you need to know, I'm the same anon who asked you what you're going to do when Larry come out, and you called me deluded. No worries. I'm used to it. I'm a Larry shipper.

I also asked you that your blog can simply be a Harry Styles fan blog, but you don't need to drag ot3 down. You replied saying that it is indeed a Harry fan blog. NO. It's not. It's a place where you simply hate on ot3 and try to prove your point by using rumours and irrelevant words.

If you are indeed a Harrie, I'm assuming you believe in treating people with kindness. Even though you may not like the song, he's your 'idol' (who I'm not going to insult because I'm not a jerk) and you are most probably going to hang on to his every word.

You say that Harry hated his bandmates and similar shit. [Once again, you are going to attack me saying "I NEVER SAID THAT STOP TWISTING MY WORDS"] Yeah whatever. According to you, Harry was the only good person in One Direction and he believed they were foolish idiots and so he distanced himself from them but he's still humble. Bullshit. BULLSHIT.

Harry loved and to this day loves each and every single one of them. I'm not going to believe your baseless facts.

If you do believe in tpwk (which, even if you don't, you should, you dumbfuck) then why the hell is Liam the exception to your so-called kindness? He said he was suicidal, he said his mental health is deteriorating, and if he's finally doing something that makes him happy {the YT weekly things that made you call him a clown}, then why do you have to ruin it? We are loving it!

LP1 was definitely not his best work, he could have done better, but hey, it makes him happy. He's experimenting with new music, he's getting a chance to make music his way, however he wants, so why poke your nose in between? Don't listen to the album if you don't want to, easy as that.

And he's doing it so casually, he's enjoying himself, we're enjoying watching him, WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM?

Not everyone has to be a perfect YouTuber. It's ok if Zayn's tattoo artist made a mistake in the poem. Just because you think you're perfect (jokes on you mate, you're not) does not mean people are not allowed to make mistakes.

Everybody makes mistakes. And everybody is allowed to make them. It's part of being human. People make mistakes. They're forgiven. Big deal?

So what if Niall is half naked on Instagram and he shows his chest hair? If you don't want to watch it, don't. Easy shit. No one is forcing you to look at him. So what if he slid into some Arabella's DMs? His life bruh smh

It's so easy to bully a celebrity. You think it's ok because they'll never see them. Maybe they'll never see those posts, but that does not mean it's ok to bully them. They already have such low self esteem because of staying in the limelight 24/7, and just when they get it back, there's people like you waiting.

I made 4 drafts trying to speak to you properly, but I've decided to fight fire with fire. Maybe it wasn't the best decision, but I'm willing to take the risk. Maybe I shouldn't be wasting my time doing this, writing to you when you'll stop reading after the first paragraph, but I will not let you spread hate. I'll report you and I will END you if it's the last thing I do.

Most of the times, I don't call out hateful people on the internet, because I assume they're having a bad day and yk sometimes it happens.. I'm not perfect either. But you do this everyday. Every single post. You might have low self esteem and you channel that hate on your blog. You are a bully.

I honestly don't want to be mean and I didn't want to generalise (also no offence to solo Harries who are not jerks) but you are the definition of a solo Harrie. Hear me out, I'm not saying every single one of you is bad, some of them are actually really good. But there's lots like you who believe Harry Styles is the best gift this universe gave us and no one else on the planet compares to him because he's perfect. I love him endlessly but his fans are obnoxious. It's people like you who feel the need to interfere everywhere. Like for example, that Billie-Zayn-Louis drama. What the hell did Harries have to do with anything?? You think you guys own the Internet. Sorry to burst your bubble, you don't. It's people like you who hate on ot4/ot3 and you shut down his social media presence. It's now used only for promotions. Poor kid's been in the spotlight for 10 years, give him a damn break.

Do you ever think Harry sees the tweets about his bandmates and feels his heart break? Harry and Zayn were not the only members of One Direction. Each one of ot5 made One Direction what it was. It would've been hella different if even one of them wasn't there. One Direction never was and never will be Harry&Co.

You guys are also in love with Modest! management, and I will not even go there because this rant will be twice as long. All I can say is, you're blind. You're fucking blind.

So what if Louis acted like a kid and he comes across as immature? He can be whatever the fuck he wants to be, he doesn't need your approval. He's been through so much shit and he'd give his life for the 1D boys. I can't imagine how someone can be this rude and hateful. And I saw an anon on your blog about the Torn performance, where Louis was lip-syncing. Like, bruh, duh! He missed rehearsals and Harry carried it, big deal! Everyone knows he lip-synced, even Simon, and everyone knows the reason why. They didn't even try to hide it.

I don't expect you to immediately fall in love with ot3 and start stanning them [here's the part where you say "as if I'd ever like those losers" in that case FUCK YOU YOU FUCKING HYPOCRITE] but I tried. If you feel even a bit of remorse, a tiny drop of regret [which I know you will though you'll never admit it] and if you have even a bit of feelings and kindness and compassion left in you, I succeeded.

Please -I'm not begging you, simply asking- spread love. As I said, make your blog a Harry fan blog, which you can do even if you don't hate on ot3. To prove your devotion to Harry, you don't need to hate on his bandmates.

Thank you for reading this.

I hope the best for you. Truly.

[alienatedchic]

Know them

Sirius Black. Black. The name was enough to make witches and wizards bow their heads before him. Why not? He was a Black! The Black family is the most ancient and purest blood family in the Wizarding world; they were one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight. They were most respected and honored in the society and had highest status. Their wealth was unlimited; generations could stay unemployed and yet will have enough money for luxuries. Sirius was raised to feel proud for who he is, his family and his name. His dear mother, Walburga Black, was always there to remind him and his younger brother, Regulus, of how pure they were, how handsome and perfect they were, how much worthier and better they were than half-bloods and muggle-borns (“scums and mudbloods” in her wording). However Sirius never bought any of this. Deep down, Sirius was always curious about muggles and why blood purity mattered so much. And if he ever mistakenly thought of it loudly, he would receive another deep cut on his small back. He and his brother was taught only about blood status and how important it was for them to keep it safe and pure as they were the only male Blacks born in their generation.

Being a rebellious kid, Sirius decided to break generations of Black tradition by getting sorted to different house but Slytherin when he received his Hogwarts acceptance letter. Though he allowed his mother to coo at what a handsome Slytherin he’ll be and that green and silver matched so well with him, Sirius in his mind had no intention of being a part of his family’s tradition or beliefs.

 James Potter. Another rebellious pure-blood of the generation with wealth and fame- his father had invented the internationally famous hair potion. As James came very late in his parents’ lives and was also the only child, the amount of love he received was limitless. He grew up in a big house with big yard and no scarcity to materials. Thus he grew up to become arrogant and egoistic as his parents never made him feel down or unimportant. Yet, he was the most generous and protective of his loved ones without much to his notice.

No one was as excited about receiving the Hogwrtas letter as James was. He was going to learn magic! Most importantly, he was going to have his own Quidditch team to play with! After getting attacked with kisses from his mother and hugs from his father, James hurried off into the Hogwarts Express and looked for an empty compartment. Finally, he found one, except it wasn’t empty. A girl with dark red hair was sitting beside the window, her head pressed against the window sill.

“Do you mind if I sit?”

“No”

She didn’t turn to look at him; her eyes were fixed outside of the window and on the station where families were still waving off to their kids and shouting last reminders. James heaved his trunk into the compartment and slid the door shut-waiting for the train to start. Within a minute, the compartment door slid open and a tall, dark haired boy poked his head in, scanned the compartment and his eyes landed on James’s

“Uh…other compartments are full…can I sit here…?”

“Yes.”

“Sure.”

The red haired girl (without turning her head to look) and James replied at once. Both James and the black haired boy stared at the girl. Shrugging, James gestured the boy to enter and helped him with the trunk.

“I’m James. James Potter.”

“I’m Sirius Black,” said Sirius, a little taken aback at how normal James was when he said his name-he just smiled and nodded.

Within a minute, James and Sirius started taking interest in each other. They talked about Quidditch and other random topics as the train started to move. The red-haired girl, finally, tore her eyes away from the window and leaned her head on the head of the couch, sighing.

A moment later, Severus hurried out of his compartment to look for Lily. Where was she? He looked into almost every compartment until he finally found her sitting beside a window, her eyes closed. “There you are!” He sat in front of her and grinned at her but she didn’t return the smile; she turned away.

Severus Snape was never taken care of and received little or any affection. His life at home was filled with constant arguments of his parents as he lay forgotten on the corner of his small house, praying desperately for another family. Severus would forget about his trouble and abuse at home whenever he would have the chance to stay with Lily Evans, a pretty red-haired girl from the muggle town, who, thankfully, showed signs of magic. They built quite a very strong bond and became best friends within weeks. Severus filled Lily with all the information he knew about Hogwarts and the Wizarding World while Lily marveled and waited longingly for her Hogwarts acceptance letter.

As their friendship grew stronger, Severus’s dislike towards Lily’s sister, Petunia Evans, also grew deeper. Petunia also had no liking toward Severus so she wouldn’t miss an opportunity to discourage Lily to not talk to “the boy from Spinner’s End”. However, Lily refused to listen to her, “So what if he’s from the Spinner’s End? What if he’s poor and has ugly clothes? He didn’t get to choose his life, you know.” Severus couldn’t help but melt at how sweet and kind this muggleborn girl was.

Lily Evans was a bright, small and cheery girl with thick, dark red hair. She was a lovely daughter to her parents and an amazing friend to her elder sister, Petunia. Petunia and Lily shared a very stable and strong friendship; they would share their silly secrets, treats and help eachother to steal their mother’s make up. While Lily was playful and a bit clumsy, Petunia was a well kept girl and liked to stick to the rules. Nevertheless, this didn’t stop them from being the most dynamic duo. Petunia always cared for her sister and, even though she would complain it wasn’t right to do, would help Lily pull pranks and jokes. They were best friends!

Until he came. . .

Until he became more interesting than Petunia because he was just as ‘magical’ as Lily. . .

Until the letter came. . .

Until Lily was labeled as the ‘special’ one. . .

Until Petunia called Lily a “Freak!”

No words could express the sorrow Lily felt in her small, young heart. No one knew how horrible Lily felt when the word, “Freak” left Petunia’s lips. I’m not a freak! Tears gushed from Lily’s eyes and ran down her cheeks as she bit her lower lip. She turned around when she saw a messy, black haired boy draw near her compartment. Another boy also entered the compartment later but she didn’t turn to look at them-she couldn’t let them see her red, puffy eyes.

“There you are!”

A wave of frustration rushed through Lily when she heard the familiar voice as the compartment door slid open for the third time.

“I don’t want to talk to you.”

“Why not?”

“Tuney h-hates me. Because we saw that letter from Dumbledore.”

“So what?”

“So she’s my sister!”

She couldn’t believe it. You don’t care about my relationship with my sister!?

The other boys took no notice in Lily and Severus until the latter mentioned Slytherin.

“Slytherin? Who wants to be in Slytherin?”

James was in shock. People really want to be in Slytherin? How nasty!  

“ ‘Gryffindore, where dwell the brave at heart.’ Like my dad,” James replied when Sirius asked which house he preferred.

Severus snickered at him.

“Got a problem with that?” James asked, coldly.

“No. If you’d rather be brawny than brainy-

Brawny or brainy? I can be both. I will be both. I’ll prove it, you little-

Before James could reply, Sirius spat, “Where’re you hoping to go, seeing as you’re neither?”

James roared with laughter.

Lily was shocked at how Severus mocked the two strangers and how they talked back! She took Severus’s hand and left the compartment, disgusted at the two boys, who called him “Snivellus”. How rude. Really, I thought magical people would at least know some manners!

Beside this compartment was another compartment filled with a different group of first year students. Amongst them was a small, mousy haired boy, sitting beside the window. His face was hidden behind a large book. There were deep cuts on his face and scratches on his skinny forearms.

“Hi, I’m Peter Pettigrew,” said a round, watery-eyed boy to him.

Looking from the top of his book, the mousy haired boy muttered, “I’m Remus Lupin.”

“Anything from the trolley, dears?” the compartment door slid open and the trolley women came in. At the sight of the lady, Remus dropped his book and shot up.

“Me.”

Peter’s mouth fell open as he got to see Remus’s face clearly for the first time.

“Oh, it’s just a bad accident,” Remus said, waving a careless hand when he realized Peter staring at his scars.

Was it really a ‘bad accident’?

Remus Lupin was attacked by a werewolf named Fenrir Greyback when he was only five years old. Fenrir attacked Remus to take revenge on Lyall Lupin, Remus’s father. Lyall Lupin was working against werewolves and believed that werewolves did not deserve living in the world. Little Remus had to suffer for his father’s mistakes. He couldn’t understand why his parents moved to an isolated place to live, why his parents forbade him to befriend anyone, why he would once a month wake up naked in their warehouse, why his body ached all over, why his small, skinny body had innumerable cuts or how and why his fragile bones crack into a vicious monster, every month.

Until Remus was seven year old, when he was fully able to read and write. He would read anything and everything he found. He was so smart for his age that big volumes of books were a piece of cake for him. That is when Remus learned about his lycanthropy.

“Mum. . .wh-what am I?”

The words crushed Mrs Lupin’s heart. She couldn’t look at her son-her beautiful, smart, innocent son. She dropped whatever was in her hands and ran over to her son and hugged him tight. Oh no. She could feel her son’s bones crushing under her arms.

“Wh-what d-do you mean?” Mrs Lupin muttered.

“Mum, am I a monster? Am I bad?”

NO, love, no! You’re my son, not a monster! Mrs Lupin wanted to shout it to her son but she felt she lost her voice. Her boy was facing a crucial reality not even adults deserve to. He’s just a boy!

“N-n-no, son. Remus, my sweet boy, you’re the best boy I’ve ever met. You can NEVER be bad.”

“Then I’m a monster? I. . .I know I am, mum. . .”

Sitting across the kitchen table was Mr Lupin, hiding his face behind the newspaper as silent tears fell from his eyes. He couldn’t take it anymore. His boy was suffering the worst punishment. . .

From then on, Remus started building the worst inferiority complex by isolating himself, even from his parents. He would preoccupy himself with books and lock himself up in his room. Before every full moon, he would go to their warehouse alone and return once the full moon was over. Remus Lupin was small, fragile and innocent but his world was harsh and old.

 After buying almost all the chocolate frogs from the trolley lady, Remus settled himself in his sit and started unwrapping chocolates. Peter, meanwhile, bought packs of Every flavoured beans and cauldron cakes. Remus and Peter started trading chocolates and cakes as Remus took interest in the quiet, shy boy. Their conversations wouldn’t last long for Remus wasn’t the best at socializing and Peter would get nervous for talking too long and would busy himself to finish his cakes.

Peter Pettigrew would always chew on his fingernails and bite his lips. When he was young boy, he showed signs of magic very late than average. His family almost counted him as a Squib so they would try and force magic out of him. Though Peter did prove himself to be a wizard, his family’s mocking of him being slow made him to actually believe he was stupid and that Hogwarts would never accept a half-squib like him. However, fortunately, he did receive the acceptance letter which, though delighted his family, didn’t help Peter gain any confidence in himself.

[youngerdaniel]

MAKE SPACE GREAT AGAIN

They were out in the middle of nowhere’s nowhere, studying a black hole named Jeff who only spoke in the screaming pain of matter being crushed into oblivion.

The only known image of Jeff the Black Hole.

It was a complicated relationship, but that wasn’t the point. The point was, the lozenge shaped ship named the U.S.S. TRASH-FIRE was going down. What’s down in space, you may ask? Well, it’s probably in the direction of the cosmic sink drain named Fred. I could tell you to ask the scientists, but we already know what you’ll do. The problem was pretty simple in its construction: They were coming far too very close to the black hole. Fred invited them in the same way it did with all matter -- “C’mon in, I’ll turn you to spaghetti and crush you like a tomato when we’re through.” “Stage ship left by eight and a half bearings,” said the captain. He was ugly, and looked a bit like in an Oompa Loompa had bred with a pilling scarecrow. Most of the crew found covering their eyes the best way to deal with him. “Sir, that would put us directly on the event horizon.” “I disagree. In fact, I’m not even convinced this event horizon thing even exists. Who found it? Who’s actually seen it?” “No one, sir. That’s literally why we’re out here. To see it for the first time.” “Right. So how are we supposed to prove it’s out there if we don’t cross it?”

“We could throw something in it?”

“If we fly in, that’s what we’d be doing.” “Sir, the consequences could be catastrophic... And I mean turned into a string of matter and stretched out for eternity like a really chatty noodle, bad.” “Again, I haven’t seen proof. I say we go in.” “Hang on,” said the first mate. He used to be handsome, but in his years dealing with the captain’s style of management (the lack-thereof style), he’d gone mostly gray. His voice, once a reedy but robust Brooklyn baritone, now sounded a bit like if someone turned the L-train into a kazoo. “We have plenty of theoretical proof, and we’re already way too close. Let’s be careful.” “I eat careful for breakfast!” said the Captain. It was true, too. He’d put a piece of space tape over all of his food stores and written the word “CAREFUL” on it. Because his colleagues weren’t idiots, they always assumed it was a warning not to eat the food and just didn’t ask questions. But not asking questions, it turned out, was the most dangerous thing you could do with an ignoramus flying a spaceship “Cap, didn’t you read the report? This could be pretty serious. Another four degrees without reverse-thrusters and we’ll cross over.” “Read? Who reads anymore? It’s the 23rd Century.”

The first mate hung his head. This was an hourly ritual, but because even his own life was on the line now, it was growing in intensity. Soon, he thought, I’m going to look exactly like one of those bobble heads on car dashboards.

The thought of mutiny crossed his mind. After all, they were on the ragged edge. The ship was crashing, and nobody would be angry if it saved their lives... right? But he believed, wholeheartedly, in the construct of order -- and believed, though there is in fact no evidence for this in all of human existence, that somehow, protocol would weed out the bad eggs. The Captain was a bad egg, and if you were brave enough to crawl into the worming barrel of cats that was his brain, you’d learn that he actually believed this was a good thing. He wanted to see what would happen, and there was nothing -- no sense, reason, protocol, or anything else that would get in the way of his curiosity. After all, wasn’t that what science was? Brave leaps by brave men into the unknown. If they died, they’d be heroes, and there’s no better way to die than as a hero. There was even an inkling of hope that things would go differently -- because it was him out here. The folly of the narcissist: Thinking just showing up will make things work out. The problem was this: Gravity did not care about this. It didn’t care what the Captain’s ratings were, didn’t care how many lightyears he’d flown, didn’t give a dark-matter shit who he thought he was... Human constructs don’t matter to supermassive black holes, mostly because they’re not stupid enough to think they’re true.  “Captain, please.” the first mate’s voice began to tremble. “I can get us out of here, but we have to act now. We have to clock the reverse thrusters at exactly 42 parsecs. If you could just”

“Wait, wait, wait. A few moments ago you said it was just dangerous. Now you’re telling me this is life and death?” “It’s called development, Captain. You should try it sometime.” “Oh, right. Of course! Now the little kazoo voice guy’s going to try and question my cognitive abilities. I’m cognitively there, you know.” “Cognitively where? You can’t even speak English.” “It’s going out of style.” “You’re an idiot!” “I’m in control. I am in complete, total, air-lock level control.” “That’s kind of the problem,” said the first mate. He didn’t realize yet that calling the captain names had no point. This is in fact a strange truth of all matters in the universe. It turns out, when you call an egoist names and belittle them, you’re actually playing on their level -- and you’re giving them the home field advantage. 

It’s a bit like pointing out there’s a problem and thinking this is the same thing as providing a solution. “You know what, first mate? I never liked you. I never respected anything you’ve ever said in your life, and I’d like to see what makes your PhD in astrophysics so much more of a credential than my frequent flyer card? I get receipts!” “Institutions, academia...” “Blah, blah, blah. You never get to be the captain because you’re too afraid to take the joystick.” “It’s called a yoke.” “It looks like a joystick to me. Have you ever played Halo? I love it.”

This guy would love to take the controls... but he’s waiting for someone to let him. At this moment, all the light in the craft went red. A voice blared over the loudspeakers: “ALERT. ALERT. EVENT HORIZON PROXIMITY CRITICAL.” The captain hit mute. Rather than finally take the controls here, the first mate just stared out the window. He believed until the last minute -- which incidentally lasted for eternity -- that somehow, the rigors of the rules he believed in would leap out from beyond the console and brain the idiot captain into a blueberry smoothie... But that’s the problem with rules. They’re given to you by people who break them, to keep you from figuring out that you’ve been duped. The ship and everyone in it crossed the threshold. It wasn’t weird, it wasn’t fantastic. It was a few moments of absolute agony for the rest of perceivable time... But at least they spotted the problem. Although it defies all manner of explanation, a scrap of the last few minutes of the craft were transmitted back to NASA:

For matters of national security, the exact quotes must be withheld, but it’s been said on good authority that the captain can be heard reciting the titles of popular television programs, perhaps as orders, or perhaps to make himself feel like he invented them. Small people cause huge problems.

[gg-astrology]

hi dear! i love how complete and entertaining your readings are. could you please talk about got7’s yugyeom natal chart? i’m always amazed by all the duality in his personality

Hey there!! 💞💞 Thank u so much sdnfkns I lov him so much my toll tree baby I’ll do my best for a brief outlook ok 💞

[GOT7 Yugyeom’s Brief Outlook]

ok lets pull up his chart??

Scorpio Sun | Gemini Moon | Sagittarius Mercury | Capricorn Venus-Mars oooof!  

Wanna talk about that Capricorn Venus/Mars first, dedicated and serious. Preserving, when he loves something he dedicates so much of his time/effort into perfecting it even if it’s minuscule 

Anything that he’s criticized on is just something he’ll push forward/more effort into. With Capricorn there’s a preservation and resilience about them, objectively– they’re one of those combination that can make you love deeply and strongly, but may often want to ‘prove/show’ it instead of boast about themselves

Which is common, because they’re not much for words when it comes to something they truly feel deeply about. If they start talking about it, they might worry it becomes boastful, egoistic or overstating themselves more than they should be.

So demonstrating/self-expressing, putting in quiet effort and behind-the-scene work is mostly how Capricorn Venus/Mars might often ‘perfect’ their skills

The idea of Capricorn wanting recognition is true– but it’s more like, they’re afraid of saying/eating their own feet if people start criticizing/doubting them. If they can show someone what they have, and be praised for it. Then they’ll take as much as they can get, y know?

Like ‘I’ll bring the work, you call the price however you see fit’ because they believe in integrity of character. 

That’s Capricorn Venus/Mars– so much resilience, wants to have healthy confidence/pride in themselves, quiet but resolute. Stand strong on their own legs/skill-set so that they can’t be doubted. 

With Capricorn/Scorpio combination there’s a lot of loyalty here, personal integrity and devotion. Not just to their craft, but to people as well. They can be hilarious character, if they open up a little more about themselves (but might not like talking about personal/vulnerabilities/issues) 

They are however– there for others when they need them. And can dedicate a lot of effort helping/stabilizing someone out even if they don’t need to be (something we can all learn to save/work healthier in) 

Next is that combination of Sagittarius Mercury and Gemini Moon, this is a contrast against the Capricorn/Scorpio seriousness sometimes. Like there’s a side that is truly loyal, devoted, dedicated. Yet at the same time, he may come across as someone who’s a jokester, mischevious, a little more perky and light-hearted (can be moody/irritated someones) but never really like– Mad mad y know?

Just stern sometimes. But yeah, with Sagittarius Mercury and Gemini Moon there’s a side that is truly devoted to learning. Communicating and humbling himself in a really organic/natural way that others around him can connect to him genuinely/sincerely. 

They may often have an anxious/nervous energy about them that might make someone stay up late sometimes, wonder ‘why did i do that?’ when things doesn’t go as planned (impulsivity) can be serious one moment and then carefree (or appear to be carefree) the next.

Underneath all that is just a person who is often thriving to learn more, a life-long student who continues to think he may have prestige in certain area (is healthily confident in skills) but there are things that would still humble him/keep him on his toes learning still. It’s amazing?

They may be a little scatter-minded sometimes, Cap/Scorp doesn’t save that from them. When he’s on a roll, he’s on a roll. But when he gets distracted, everything kinda drops (kinda like wind) 

There’s an element of being chatty when they’re comfortable, although the rest of his placement might point to shyness– this Gemini Moon can share a lot with others if they are comfortable with them. 

Making people who know him well going ‘where was the shy boy from before?’ – he’s still there, that’s a part of him. It’s just that Gemini Moon may often ‘switch things up’, a natural worrier, but also speaks so much and not about the things they should be speaking about/is bothering them sometimes as well. It can be developed, so no worries though

Lots of versatility with this Gemini Moon, great analysis, doesn’t need big words in order to express their point across. In fact he might prefer strong pointed words that gets the point across rather than walking around the subject, there’s a straight-forwardness to these placements. Sometimes even lacking tact if he’s agitated/snappy about something. 

With Sagittarius Mercury there’s might be having strong morals/beliefs in certain subjects, possibly religion/higher-education/values. These people are great at getting others to open up/talking about deeper stuff, but they counterbalance it with a certain lightness.

It’s a game, the conversation is a game. There’ll be tests sometimes, like ‘what your true values are’ slipping in and out of it, but at the same time they enjoy interactions that are natural and varied. People who can talk about various subjects with them with the same kind of bounce/energy is fun to be around for these natives.

Teasing, a lot of good feels, but also at the same time– dedicated and passionate spirit y know? Passionate Scorpio and Sagittarius, can be quite rebellious that helps push the ‘mischievous’ nature up a bit more. 

Combine with Capricorn he can sometimes be strict/stern when things don’t align with his moral/values/belief– if someone is uselessly complaining, sleazy, insincere. He won’t like that at all. (Prefers effort, dedication, sincerity and is semi-good at self-expression or getting others to open up, which is really nice) 

With Scorpio in the mix, he can be very observant, patience/tolerant occasionally, critical and comes through a lot as someone who likes to self-express themselves. 

Scorpio likes to have fun, once you have your base set (fixed) you can be mischievous when you want to be. The idea is that certain things are reactive, evoke a reaction. Certain things are ‘whatever’ but when you need them the most, they are stable, dependable and reliable/comes through for you. 

Bratty occasionally, as opposed to Capricorn’s seriousness. With Scorpio they can often handle themselves, but also needs appreciation/affection from others in order to grow as well (transform/regenerate) 

A Scorpio that is often self-deprecating themselves will often exhibit the darker side to others, becoming actions that hurts others (willfully) stemming from strong ego. However, a Scorpio who is nurtured and uses this energy for healthier transformation– can often be someone who protects, guides and heal others as well.  

Sun/Neptune sextile (also sextile Lilith) evoke a stronger sense of compassion and understanding in his character. Sometimes rose-tinted glasses/gets hurt easily (because they may believe in integrity of characters) but most of the time, they can be sensitive and caring individual with a lot of creative potential.

Self-expression is the main theme here, a lot of the time Sun/Neptune are one of those people are often dreamy or imaginative, has a lot of things to give and thus– putting it out there and expressing that outwards is something that’s – uhh, something they desire to do but can be scared of criticism as well (considering everything else?) 

Soft-hearted with this combination, but he grows from experience y know

Moon/Mars opposition – in this case, it’s because his Gemini Moon is at 27′ (with the unknown birth time) it could’ve been moved into Cancer. Making it aspect Capricorn Mars at 5′. Anyways, Moon/Mars people might find themselves often being physically expressive on certain subjects- particularly, using their body to communicate their feelings outwards. Once they’re excited about something, their arms/limb might start moving. But with his placement in particular, it might be likely that it’s less flailing limbs but more comforting touches. 

Security, guarding, letting people know he’s there for them. These kind of physical touches might be more common in order to express himself/show people that he cares for them. This kinda works in combination with the Sun/Neptune earlier– he may often guard his vulnerabilities by putting on a non-affected front (Capricorn Mars) even if he is sensitive inside. 

Detachment may be a coping mechanism, in order to handle things. Analyzing things from a distance instead of in the situation/circumstance, he may be ‘strong’ in some areas but his feelings run deep and it does hurt when things/people he cares about are hurt as well. 

Competitive spirit may be common, but sometimes not– said outright. Like there’s an idea of getting moody if certain things affect his emotions/values of himself, and thus he pushes it into physically doing better, being better. In order to ‘test’ if it really does work or if he still needs improvement (see if he can do it or not) 

Sometimes it can make someone focus so much on themselves/what they do that their bluntness can become offensive. Even if they’re just stating out their opinion, there’s a possibility that Moon/Mars can make like– a whirl pool inside so much it becomes self-absorption instead (if you have this, make sure to guard against it as well).   

Anyways, he also has some pretty good Mercury aspects as well!

Mercury/Jupiter sextile, Mercury/Pluto conjunction, Mercury/Saturn trine.

Mercury/Jupiter really helps enhance how versatile and flexible he can be, particularly when it comes to learning about other cultures, different view points, talking it out and education. 

I was thinking about this already with Gemini Moon– because it can make a person really smart, but with Mercury/Jupiter combination it can make someone extremely generous and thoughtful when they actually apply it. Even if the execution is crass or ‘needs work’ sometimes, the intention is often good and it makes them well-liked by people around them (individually very popular) 

They’re great learners, often someone who would benefit a lot from talking/discussing things with others – particularly different variety of people. Maybe even of different backgrounds, religion, culture as well. Jupiter is expansive, when applied to the Mind (especially in Sagittarius) it makes a person enthusiastic, a curious learner – some of it might have to do with Mercury/Pluto conjunct, making him observant/quick to pick things up as well. 

There’s potential to be good at learning languages, or guiding others. If he really puts his mind to it – this can be? hard to do since it’s scattered, but unconventional style of learning/just from experience and exposure can help a lot. 

Ah and also— since Saturn is in Aries, if he learns something and put his effort into it but then discontinued it– it’s quite common? But also doing something out of spite– of someone else trying to tell him what to do would just push him to find an alternative as well skdjnjs

That makes way into Venus, Venus/Saturn square specifically. Sometimes when he wants to do something, dedicate a lot of time/effort into it he can sometimes find himself pushing, challenging, working so hard to achieve recognition for it.

His self-expression wants to be acknowledged, yet at the same time he may have an attitude of being hyper-critical and blunt with his thoughts that it tends to intimidate/come across as – well, rude sometimes if he doesn’t learn tact. 

At the same time,  there can be trouble expressing vulnerabilities. Deeper thoughts and care for others may be categorized as ‘vulnerabilities’ and thus– when his Capricorn Venus meets with Aries Saturn, it can make for someone who shuts down emotionally ‘Im fine’ just to get the work done y know?

It’s not that big of a deal, but sometimes they may have paranoia/think others are against them thus– their approach is always on the defensive. Defending themselves, even if they could get places if they learn how to use some more venusian tactics in their approach

Venus/Mars conjunction can make for a pretty strong personality. Particularly, Capricorn traits. With it in these placements, the individual may be someone who ‘shuts down’ when they’re mad/need to concentrate. Being quiet, often a little intense/intimidating even if they didn’t know they are. They may often offer advice, be a shoulder to cry on for others since they seem so ‘stable’ – yet at the same time, they are powerful individuals themselves

I think that’s it?? He doesn’t have as many aspect, I left out Jupiter/Saturn sextile, Jupiter/Uranus conjunct and Uranus/Neptune conjunct, but briefly – Jupiter/Saturn might amplify the earlier Capricorn traits. A little bit more Aquarian in nature as well – since his Jupiter is in Aquarius. 

As an ending ment: strong intensity, may prefer the work to speak for itself, can be charming/chatty when he wants to be– but certain instances his patience may become ‘impatience’ instead. There’s moments where he knows exactly what he wants and other times where he’s just clueless to where he’s wandering. Dichotomies even if he isn’t necessarily making aspects between these placements, it’s really cool to look at this! 

Alrighty, feel like this one’s kind of…. basic?? I’m trying to get into the groove of it again, but I hope this is nice enough for you💞💞

[cimmerianbrain]

okay can we talk about this pls???

i want to **carefully **look at this, first off all look at how _SHOCKED _Pidge is about Shiro suddenly attacking everyone & taking Lotor away, it seriously makes NO SENSE TO HER

she eventually realizes she has to move because something is wrong, so she’s ready to attack Shiro but still she stays still, i couldn’t help but stare at this moment because usually Pidge is super fast to move, if there is something wrong she’s quick to adapt to the situation and doesn’t take time to think about what to do, she relies on her instinct, but for some reasons she _can’t _now

then, Shiro stares at her

and she finally gives up

she can’t attack Shiro no matter what, not only because they are friends but because Shiro was there for her so many times, i will never stop saying it: Shiro shaped Pidge in the person she’s today, with this I don’t mean to say he ****made**** her who she’s today but that he pushed her to simply find the courage to be who she already was, so if you ask me she deeply respects him and considers him part of her family. also because that’s the same role her brother had in her life

this is the exact moment Pidge realizes it’s Shiro’s fault if the Castle is being attacked by a virus and this scene HURT me so much because you can totally see how hard she’s trying to not admit it to herself, but she eventually does.

& this is the exact moment in which she is going to use the antivirus she created from Shiro’s scanning arm - or whatever you call it, i am super ignorant when it comes to these things - but the thing is, she is being indecisive, she doesn’t know what to do, because using that program it’s like admitting for good that Shiro is a betrayer, it might have not been said it the whole season but that’s the case, everyone is trying to think of another reason why, first Keith then Allura, they both point out how Shiro would never do anything like this, but in the end he did it so using the program to stop the virus from shutting down the Castle means Shiro is the one behind it.

In fact, look at this. This is Pidge’s face after she used the antivirus, and I just want to point out how her eyes are closed. It’s not only resignation, she’s unable to admit what just happened, human beings close their eyes when they don’t want to face the truth & for someone as Pidge, who has shown more than once the strength of going through any hardship - it fucking means so much. I just love it because I love their relationship & Pidge’s feelings are surely not the main focus of the season but the people Shiro was closer to were indeed Keith, Lance & Pidge, so letting her completely out of it would be stupid.

here she’s explaining what just happened to the others and she’s visibly hurt.

the her eyes are again shut down and i am just dying in my own feelings.

this is more than enough to prove how much he means to her but i seriously would have loved to see her reaction to his “death”, it was beautiful to see Lance cry over it but Pidge needed obviously a scene because her and Shiro’s relationship was developed so much since Season 1. I am not saying it a shidge shipper, I might be influenced from it of course, but I mean to say as both a fan of their characters and relationship. Pidge has grown so much in the past seasons and this would just had been another good opportunity to show it - from her being really egoistic at the very start - but that’s cool the same.

I am out.

[derhaifischderhattraenen]

tagged by: @kernprovinz

tagging: @radiomayak @fury-of-argos @tsarnarozite @gebrochener-adler​ @a-lion-roars​ @zdravstvuysclntse​

FULL NAME: Michael Arwin Schröder, he was named by the members of the German order upon its foundation. Schröder however was his last name since birth.

GENDER AND SEXUALITY: male, bisexual but so far into the closet he lives in Narnia and throws a fit if people merely joke about him having a thing with guys

ETHNICITY AND SPECIES: Northern German, representative/nation

BIRTHPLACE AND BIRTHDAY: He was born at the west coast of modern Germany in the area of the state of Niedersachsen. Michi hardly remembers his old home. As far as birthday goes he has no idea when the date is and never bothered to set one. He celebrates his name day, which is on September 29, according to his patron saint Archangel Michael .

GUILTY PLEASURES: If asked directly Michael would state that he has no guilty pleasures. He either does things he openly admits to doing or he does things that he is extremely insecure about and you shouldn’t poke fun at him for it or it’ll end badly.

That said there are quite a few things he does other people would call sinful. Like the fact that he shamelessly wears socks in sandals and loudly listens to 80s disco music. Then there is his obsession for overly expensive cars. He doesn’t even drive all of them but he buys them anyway and throws loads out money out the window! 

PHOBIAS AND FEARS: One of his prime fears is the fear of being unloved by his little sister. He knows he has been a shit person in his life and a shit brother and while he would never openly admit to it there is a small voice in his head telling him that she resents him for the misfortune he has caused her. In connection to this another thing he fears is that he was still the person who committed all of those horrible acts, that being a warmongering monster was his true nature.

FAVOURITE BOOK GENRE: As silly as it sounds but he loves non-tropey fantasy novels and stories about the medieval era. You’d think he would know better because he lived through the hardships of that time but he feels absolutely nostalgic about the middle ages. Another sort of genre he loves is sci-fi, especially scientific ones. The ideas for new inventions, the strange alien creatures and stories about distant planets. He just sucks it all up.

WHAT THEY WOULD BE INFAMOUS FOR: Michi is infamous for his temper tantrums, his shit sensibility in conversations, his rude manners and the fact that he always was more of a peasant soldier than suited to be a kingdom. He is also infamous for his sort of military obsession, though today he tries to fight that.

WHAT HAVE THEY/WOULD THEY BE ARRESTED FOR: Most of all war crimes and murder. He has killed a lot in the name of Religion. On top of this during the GDR era he willingly committed repeated acts of vandalism, rebellion, revolting, smuggling (items and humans), digging tunnels under the border, listening to illegal music, holding illegal meetings and many other crimes. Michael is also still frequently arrested for starting bar fights.

CHARACTER MOST LIKELY TO MURDER THEM: France and/or Bavaria

CHARACTER(S) YOU SHIP THEM WITH: I don’t really have an OTP for him. It’s like if our muses get along then heck yes lets try it. Though of course I can’t deny that there has been a muse where I especially enjoyed their mess of a relationship. In the end I just don’t see any particular match as his go to ship.

WHY SOMEONE MIGHT LOVE THEM: Michael has an air of confidence and boldness about himself. He is honest, straightforward and not afraid of backing down or saying what was on his mind. Frequently there have been characters that admired there traits about him. I would also say his dedication and ability to persistently work towards a goal are to be inspiring.

On a more personal level what makes him even more likeable is how social he is. Michi will talk to anyone, try to get to know them, have a pleasant conversation and hope to seem approachable. Unless something grave happened he tends to have a cheerful manner about himself and encourage people to join him. Even more so when you gain his friendship he becomes very attached, helpful and kind. Michi would die for his friends and family and he doesn’t hesitate to do the world for them.

WHY SOMEONE MIGHT HATE THEM: He has a strong tendency for throwing fits and going into tirades about the dumbest things. This can be caused by just the tiniest of comments! Overstep his boundaries and you die. Ironically however Michael will not give a damn about overstepping the boundaries of other people. If they can’t take it then they “are too sensitive” and “need to stop being whiny pussies”. He is also in general very unpleasant for timid characters for he straight up refuses to have respect for them. 

Another very infuriating feature of Michael is that he tends to believe he can’t be wrong about things. Especially when he is upset it takes quite a lot of hitting his head until he understands that he may have been overreaction and that he probably has seen things in the wrong light. 

HOW THEY CHANGE: Boi this is a looong story lemme tell ya.... When Michi started out as a wee lil kiddie he was actually a quite sweet obedient child, although he did give his guardians quite a bit of a headache with his shenanigans. However as he grew older and gained more lands as the German Order he really escalated into this whole idea of “I am the divine chosen one, the incarnation of Archangel Michael, who shall bring salvation to this world!!” and he just got... so intense! He was extremely invested in his goals and actually quite arrogant and a know it all.

Then all of it came crashing down when the order was destroyed by the enemy and he spend so many years just sulking over it. Once he accepted his fate and started working for Poland he more of less became a good boy again, he was living his life satisfied with what he has instead of loosing himself in some mad fantasy. Nevertheless he was a cocky young man and childishly egoistic, straight up refusing to do anything for anyone from the German nations because he was still salty about them not helping him when the German Order needed it. 

At the time he quite frankly did not the deserve the kingdom title but he took it and spitted on anyone who was mad about it. He didn’t know at all what the heck he was doing though so Michi had to learn to cooperate and be less of a shit. So I’d say he became pretty nice for a while though there, albeit still a stupid lil’ shit. Then Napoleon happened and it really messed him up. As it all went down he became quite mature but also cold and power-hungry and more angry than before. He started to have this ambition of proving everyone how powerful he was and literary walked over corpses and suppressed people to get what he wanted. It all just escalated the more successful he was until it came crashing down on him starting with the first world war. Then thanks to the second one he spend quite a bit of time on a depression trip. But once he got over it Michi developed to wanting to make up for what he broke and be a better person. Not saying he has become an angel but he really did change for the better. 

WHY YOU LOVE THEM: I mean first of all I gotta admit I love asshole characters. I just love writing a muse with glaring flaws and problems. In this case it’s the way how intense he can be about certain things. Push the wrong button and he goes off and you can’t get out of it, he just keeps going. Also how he is just such a goddamn hypocrite at times. The way he talks can just be atrocious and it makes him so fun to write. But while Michi is a jerk he is also quite sweet and endearing. He can turn to sugar when talking to the right people! And he has the right notions that steer him towards wanting to do the right thing despite his angry fits and idiocy.

Speaking of which one thing I also love about him is his idealism that very often fights his own desires. He is very much immersed in his belief system and wants to stick to the rules as good as possible but sometimes he just.... well. Michael is very much emotional and can’t resist at times. 

Another thing I love is his brutal honesty. Sometimes I seriously can only call him stupid for what he says but no matter what he refuses to back down from it. Michi is just the head-through-the-wall sorta type. He don’t give a shit if there was an open down right next to it, he chose the wall!! Fuck what anyone else is saying!

There is so much more but I think I already typed long enough of a novel here...

[fistofthesun]

2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10, 17, 18, 19, 24, 25, 29, 30, 34, 35, 36, 40, 43, and 44.~

                  Character Development Questions: Hard Mode. | accepting.

I kept this short on purpose because… safcjk. Have to put it under read more too because it’s hella long.

2. What is/was your character’s relationship with their mother like?Like most children Khashin had always adored his mother who took good care of him despite of her rather weak health condition. She taught him the practical things of life - at least those aspects he needed as young boy – for example how to take care of their cattle or how to sew basics things. She was surprisingly soft for being an oroniri woman; yet somewhat childish which can be explained due to her extremely young age.  

Khashin really loved these few years with her. She was always nice to him –not as strict as his father- and after his daily work she would always set down with him to play for him on her Morin Khuur and also sing for him. Or, what she also loved to do, was to play hide-and-seek which often ended with her scolding her son for running too far away during their play. Yet this was that part of the day he was always looking forward to; these moments when he could laugh with his mother.

Her death when he was just scarcely six years old was a true shock for him. It was the last day when he had shed tears.

3. What is/was your character’s relationship with their father like?His father is well respected within the Oronir’s tribe – known for his formidable hunting skills and his archery. He was called a prodigy with the fine art of archery ever since a young age, albeit his hunting did not improve until he had already grown into a man. Nonetheless, albeit he is not the strongest, he has received the honor to be invited to the Dawn Throne. Suffice to say, his father had always been strict with Khashin. He had expected him to become as good in using the bow like he was – yet Khashin had no talent for it whatsoever. Unfortunately his father was blind for this very truth for very long; only frustrating his son and himself with his harsh training methods. Of course Khashin started to dislike the very usage of the bow very quickly, though he bore it until very late.

After the death of his mother and the birth of his younger sister, his father took over the responsibility to take care over her instead. Khashin, at this point already six years old, was expected to live on his own now. The boy often suffered hunger and wounds no one took care of – and his father never asked him for his well-being as well. In fact, considering how much of a disappointment Khashin had been as son until then, he was not allowed to get too close to his sister until he can prove himself worthy. Nonetheless Khashin never felt hatred towards his father, obeying to him. For the boy it sounded perfectly normal that his newborn sister required more attention; and naturally, as oroniri boy, he understood well enough that he had to become stronger.

Since Khashin proved to be completely worthless in the usage of the bow even many years later (partly the reason why he completely gave up on it), his father never spoke to him anymore. The relationship is still incredibly complicated.

4. Has your character ever witnessed something that fundamentally changed them? If so, does anyone else know?

Generally speaking, he had two of these moments who ‘changed’ him. His mother’s death had been quite traumatic to him, naturally – but it was not what ultimately changed him. It was the moment when he realized that he was no good but still had to struggle; the moment when he realized that he needed a complete different approach if he wants to keep his mother’s promise. This moment was when he was covered in mud laying in front of his entire tribe, defeated. They were not laughing, but their piercing eyes on him and the disappointment inside his father’s eyes is something he will never forget. He was twelve years old then.

The second moment was when he realized that he lost any feeling inside both of his hands. Before that point he had been relentlessly honed his skills, albeit he was still quite naïve to think that he could obtain true strength without sacrifices. After losing any feeling, however, noticing that he had completely worn out himself and broken his bones maybe too often, he started to care even less about himself. Before that point he was slightly egoistical, maybe, becoming selfless by not caring too much about himself, anyone’s opinion of him or whether he is alive or dead.

As Warrior of Light there were several of these moments. It is why I roleplay him differently compared to any other verse then; even his traveling one. Khashin, in his original-verse (Steppe) but also in his travelling lacks some compassion. Not that it is not there – because it is there – but he rarely shows it. He lacks a general kindness in his actions and words towards strangers, which is what he quickly changes as Warrior of Light, however. He sees too much pain, despair and regret along the way and wants to treat (most) people with kindness therefore.

5. On an average day, what can be found in your character’s pockets?Steppe/Traveling: He always has a knife to skin beasts. He never has too many things with him; not even in the traveling verse. WoL: He does not have too many different things on him as well. It highly depends on the timeline/area. Sometimes he carries a few potions with him to give it to other people who might need it.

7. Does your character have recurring themes in their nightmares?Khashin rarely does dream to begin with. As child he had them more frequently; and particularly after his mother’s death he would often see her pale, cold face in front of him. For a boy, who loved his mother above anything, this was truly a nightmare. As he became older, however, he was becoming used to rarely sleep at all and if only little. Mayhap due to this he was not truly able to dream at all; but his nightmares, if happening, are always a dark, pitch black pit he is falling in with his loved one’s faces fading.

10. Does your character feel more comfortable with more clothing, or with less clothing?Generally he does enjoy to wear little clothes. This is easily explained that he loves to have more freedom for his movements; often finding the clothes unfitting for his style of combat. Naturally he is most of time, particularly in the Steppe-verse which is often very cold as well, wearing clothes – but he often finds himself stripping at least his top for fighting.

17. What was your character’s favorite toy as a child?Like many children Khashin took a liking to ‘Ail ger’, a game played with only stones. Basically it is a ‘doll game’, just with stones. You place stones in a circle to represent the yurt and then play with the other stones accordingly. His mother often played this with him, often finding new, unique stones to add to their collection.  

18. Is your character more likely to admire wisdom, or ambition in others?As someone who was born as Oronir, he highly values to have ambition. Without it none of them would become worthy of their Dawn Father’s radiance. Naturally this also applies to other people – even in his non-Steppe verses. Wisdom becomes more important to him once he left the Steppe, but it plays overall still a minor role unless he is WoL.

19. What is your character’s biggest relationship flaw? Has this flaw destroyed relationships for them before?His biggest flaw is probably the very fact that he is a quite jealous and possessive type of person. It is not that he forbids his partner to have super deep friendships with others or meeting them, not at all, but if he’s there he likes to ‘show’ who his partner truly belongs to. If someone touches his partner with the attempt of flirting with them, this person has to be prepared to face the consequences – which usually are broken bones. In fact Khashin becomes quite…intimidating, not to say scary, when it comes to chasing people away from them who might become romantically or sexually interested in his partner.

Since Khashin never had a relationship before, it was not an issue yet LOL.

24. How quick is your character to trust someone else?Trust is only proved by loyalty and actions over time. Particularly Steppe-Khashin does not easily trust people and they have to earn his trust first. He’s like this in his traveling-verse as well; in his Warrior of Light-verse he’s only for a little trusting everyone a bit more from the start.

25. How quick is your character to suspect someone else? Does this change if they are close with that person?He is, by nature, a semi-skeptical person to begin with. Since he does not get emotionally attached to anyone for extremely long, he is quite neutral and open to all ends. If actions prove as much, he will draw the natural conclusion and suspect someone. However, he is extremely loyal towards his friends and loved ones. Something extremely major needs to happen for him to suspect them then. He does not easily trust people to begin with, after all.

29. What did your character dream of being or doing as a child? Did that dream come true?He always wanted to become respected among the Oronir. This has yet to be fulfilled.

30. What does your character find repulsive or disgusting?There is barely anything he finds disgusting to begin with. Even things which most might find disgusting are fine with him, considering his background. He’s kinda tough in that sense.

34. Is your character more likely to keep trying a solution/method that didn’t work the first time, or immediately move on to a different solution/method?One has to know that Khashin is incredibly stubborn. If there is a door, he’ll use the wall at times instead. He will stick to his principles and methods, no matter what. Unless it really does not work his way – then he’ll adapt to different methods.

35. How does your character behave around people they like?Khashin is a really closed up person; he’ll more frequently talk about himself with people he likes. His arrogant façade is also dropping, at least a little, and he does show this extreme caring side of him he wasn’t before. Also, one will realize that his constant teasing is also a way to show his affection. Particularly since his way to tease people is slightly changing once he starts to like them.

36. How does your character behave around people they dislike?He’s literally arrogant asshole. And will threaten them.

40. How does your character treat people in service jobs?He’s not unfriendly to them. He in fact never is, not even to strangers – albeit this probably depends on how one interprets his arrogance and sass.

43. Has your character ever had a dependent figure who was not related to them?Esugen really helped him out when he was much smaller. When his mother died, Esugen was already a young man who was quite used to everyone belittling him. Fortunately he is  quite kind by nature, especially for an oroniri man, so he often took care for Khashin when no one else was. He was of course not able to replace the family Khashin had lost, but he will never forget his kindness.

44. How easy or difficult is it for your character to say “I love you?” Can they say it without meaning it?Khashin has an incredibly tough time to even fall in love with someone; let alone realizing that he is in love. This is not due to his oroniri beliefs, as one could assume – albeit, to admit as much, he had always thought that someday he will marry –but because he is also not looking for anyone. He does not waste any thoughts to this, which also shows that he merely has flings in his traveling/WoL-verses as well. This is by no means an intentional thought – as I said, he does not think about it – but he would consider himself quite unworthy of anyone as he is right now. In most verses, partly even in his WoL-verse, he still seeks strength. His life is dedicated to his tribe, his family – his sister to be precise; and unless he has proven that he is capable of protecting the remaining persons he loves, he will not waste too many thoughts about it. He also has literally zero experience when it comes to be or fall in love, so if it happens he will not realize it. To realize as much will take him the longest time ever as well.

[pacegerld1989]

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[leportraitducadavre]

First of all= ? Why are you replying to me using arguments as if I was a NaruSaku shipper? For your information, I’m not. I’m definetly not.

What if Minato and Kushina who decided to sacrifice their lives for their son are also eguistas?

What? When did I brought up Minato or Kushina? Furthermore, when did I even mentioned Hinata’s “attempt” to “save” Naruto during the Pain arc? Did you just mentioned that so you could copy-past your already prepared response, which you use to spam every anti N/H post you see? You seem to be that kind of blog.

You’re probably hating her just because she calls Naruto Naruto Kun Almost everyone calls him that and it never bothered him how Hinata speaks if Naruto had not seen her as a stalker.

Hahaha, what? When did I say that I hated the way she called Naruto, “Naruto-kun”, I made fun of her stutter, which... not every character has.

Her father was that bad, he insulted Hinata in front of her sensei and openly called her loser and said the clan didn’t need Hinata when she was going on about the dangers being a genin no different then saying it was alright for Hinata to die. This was Hinata’s own father do have any idea how somthing like that would affect a child.

And? What’s your point? What did she did with that? How did she grew from it? What did she do against it? What has anything to do with her being egoistical?

Also it was known through out the whole clan meaning every relative of Hinata’s knew how her father saw her and treats her the same way these were the people she lives with and spends most of her time around. Even someone like Neji who was in the side branch is allowed to get away with saying stuff about her when normally they wouldn’t even consider having such thoughts.

Also you can’t say him not marking her means anything as Japanese tradition usually only allows men to start a branch family. If that wasn’t the case then Hanabi would have gotten the curse seal when she was three and not have had the chance to prove herself.

You then have the fact that even Neji treats Hinata badly and even willing to go as far as to almost kill her. He even plays mind games using all her insecurities to try and break her down.

You are seriously comparing a boy that is forced into slavery and gets punished by a seal that destroys his brain and doujutsu with a girl that gets yelled at by her father? And justifying it by “Neji almosts kills her uwu” when it’s literally pointed out in the manga how FOUR jönin jumped to help Hinata before Neji could do any vital damage BECAUSE she was from the main branch?

As for social anxiety Hinata has always been shy and had trouble expressing herself. Hinata was never close with the others in her class socially nor is shown even being friends with anyone during their pre genin days. Is insecure about her ability and being compared to her sister. Fears being criticised, avoid eye contact and has low self esteem.  Sweating, trembling and a pounding heartbeat are also symptoms of social anxiety while it was caused by Neji’s words it does not change that it shows the insecurities she has and is worried about  appearing incompetent.

Her shyness affected everyday activities, self confidence, relationships and school life this is beyond the point of simple shyness. If she wasn’t able to approach Naruto or befriend any one in class it shows she has a problem socialising with others which would be due to feeling fear before, during or after social situations which is social anxiety.

I never talked about her shyness, but I guess you brought it up because it’s a copy-pasted response.

Naruto is barely home and wants to go with Sasuke is he? Baby you are need  find life and to be adult  it is just a FACKING manga😑😑😑

Uhm... aren’t you the one who’s scrolling through the anti tag of your ship to paste your already made response? Using -literally- memes and collages pictures of the Boruto anime? I’m an adult babe, I work, I have a degree, and most importantly, I’m not obsessed with a ship.

Also, this was tagged on the anti ship tag for a reason, so why don’t we show some respect for the fans of that pairing and keep it that way?

At least Hinata can actually get her man to not leave her for over a decade and Naruto didn't try and kill her, Sakura is such a soy-filled cuck that she just lets Sasuke run her over. They're not even in the same league. NaruHina: Relationship GOALS

Oh my god you still have energy for this? Bitch were did you get the idea that I like SAS*SAKU?! I fucking loathe that ship, and guess what? I hate Nar*Hina too! So you can stop comparing them both because both are trash, both are awful, and both Naruto and Sasuke deserve better than those two fan girls who did nothing but pitty them into fuck them.

Go to your little ship tag to enjoy the fillers that you desperately need in order to give Hinata something close to a freaking good characterization, and leave me, my blog, and my readers alone.

Look at you, you're so insecure that you need to come to an anti blog to start an argument about why your ship is better than the garbage of SS, like I fucking care. Hinata is an awful person who manipulated Naruto emotionally so he would give two fucks about her, but hilariously she ended up needing a spin off to actually do it. Great work there, hime.

Hinata is an EGOISTICAL character who only cared for her feelings for Naruto, letting her clan SLAVE people like Neji, having the nerve of calling him brother while she did NOTHING about the seal that FORCED him to obey her.

Don't come here trying to make me believe that the "Na-Na-Naruto-kun" stalker had some relevance for the plot or is better than Sakura, because even Shino had more depth than her.

I tag correctly my posts, and even indulged you by replying to you respectfully, but no, you still come at me with the stupidest come backs like I fucking ship SS. How delusional are you? I really hope you're a troll, because other wise I worry about your health, honestly.

Like I said, you need to literally compare NH to the worst possible ship in existence on the Narutoverse to see SOME positive light on it. Naruto doesn't care for Hinata, or his offsprings, he didn't go away for ten years (Yey!) He's still barely home, he even wants to go with Sasuke.

If NH is your "relationship goals" then honey, I need to tell you, you are aspiring for the bare minimum. Oh, Naruto doesn't cheat on her! Oh, then that must mean he loves her and that he's happy! Like LMAO, do you even know what a healthy relationship is? Do you think not arguing makes them better? Pf, please.

[atamascolily]

I've been catching up on the MCU films (well, let's be honest, most of them) in preparation for Spiderman: Homecoming, Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War, all of which I am excited about after watching numerous tumblr gifs.  (Thanks, tumblr!) I was inspired by a Vox article ranking the films by quality, so I watched them out of order, which was actually quite interesting in a very meta way. I'd seen the original Iron Man, and some of my friends in college had filled me in on the intricate details of the Marvel universe back in the mid-2000s, so I had a pretty basic idea of the situation with HYDRA, SHIELD, Nick Fury, etc, etc, and could just jump right into the middle of the action without needing too much more context.

So here are my off the cuff thoughts:

Captain America: the Winter Soldier:

My favorite movie of all of them (so far, anyway) and the one I watched first - no regrets! Has everything I want in an MCU movie - great action sequence, a decent but not overwhelming number of characters, Steve Rogers, Sam Wilson and Natasha Romanoff starring in their own movie, plus a gripping plot and great action sequences. Nick Fury proves he is a total badass, with Maria Hill not far behind. Also, I'll confess a soft spot because the movie is mostly set in DC, which I am more familiar with than New York. The Smithsonian scenes were ON POINT.

Oh, and I totally ship Romanogers after watching this film. Not sorry at all. I know the writers are actually trying to ship him with Sharon Carter, but I'm really not a fan. I mean, it's just a little creepy that she's Peggy's niece, and even though he didn't know that when they first met and flirted and got to know each other a bit - I still find that a bit too much Replacement Goldfish for me. While it's tragic that Peggy aged and Steve didn't and she doesn't really remember him, eventually Steve is going to have to move on. Sharon is a lot like Peggy, but so is Natasha - at least in terms of badass competence - and I love the working dynamic between Steve and Natasha - they know each other well, they trust each other, they have each other's backs, and I love their casual banter. Also, I'm a sucker for Contrasting Opposite pairings - and the morally ambiguous former Russian sleeper agent Black Widow with the honorable, square Captain America is full of it.

The deep irony is that Black Widow is canonically with Hawkeye and the Winter Soldier in the comics, neither of which is ever even remotely hinted at in these movies. But that's okay because I really don't ship those pairings! Yay, movie continuity... because let's face it, sometimes the comics are really weird.

Major thing I would change: NO MORE MALE GAZE SHOTS OF NATASHA, OKAY?

The Avengers:

Surprisingly, not a huge fan, despite rave reviews from Vox and others. I can't even put my finger on what it is, exactly, but things just feel "off" to me here. Maybe it's the Joss Whedon touch? Because that scene with a shoeless Natasha taking out Russian mobsters while tied to a chair really just screamed Joss Whedon to me. Although I did enjoy the look on Phil Coulson's face when she puts him on "hold".

Also, Phil Coulson was a badass and I'm sorry they killed him off (though apparently Nick Fury brings him back to life in the TV series because Nick Fury doesn't believe in death? It's the sort of thing Nick Fury would do.) Nick Fury and Maria Hill continue to be badasses. Surprisingly, I find Loki somewhat tedious and Thor charming when I really expected it to be the other way around. I enjoy watching Bruce and Tony exchange science banter, but I'm really not into the Hulk. And while Tony Stark continues to be the king of sarcastic wit - to the point where I refer to him as "Tony Snark" - and I'm normally a big fan of that (and I enjoyed the original Iron Man when it originally came out), I'm somehow no longer interested in watching the antics of an egoistic billionaire playboy who makes crazy science weapons and then is surprised when bad people use them, especially compared to Captain America.

I do like the Chitauri giant fish weapons and how organic they are but Thanos and the rest of the Chitauri stuff just feels over the top.

I did love the post-credits scene at the Shawarma joint, though; definitely more than Tony's post-battle shawarma ravings in the film proper.

Captain America: The First Avenger

Probably could have skipped this one, but I enjoyed learning more about Captain America's backstory, even if it wasn't really necessary. Peggy Carter is such a badass, and it really make the events of The Winter Soldier all the more tragic when you watch Steve with Peggy and Bucky, and learn that SHIELD has been infiltrated by HYDRA from the get-go. Also, I thought I was going to hate Howard Stark because his son is frequently a jerk, but he was surprisingly endearing. Red Skull is kinda annoying, and having Captain America stuck in the cryofreeze unit.... wasn't really explained.... but I did love the awakening scene in New York at the end. Nick Fury continues to be a badass.  

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Still didn't like this as much as a lot of people seem to (probably the Joss Whedon thing?) - while lots of individual pieces were good, the movie felt weird as a whole thing. Watching Steve and the Avengers take on a European HYDRA base was an interesting callback to the 1940s with Steve and the Howling Commandos - probably the happiest time we see with Steve in the post-SHIELD era, honestly, and right before it all goes to hell. Tony Stark's "yay" as he opened the secret door was fun, although I don't think Wanda (I feel weird calling her "Scarlet Witch") could have snuck up on him and kick-started the plot if he hadn't taken off his suit for no obvious reason.

I hate Tony's decorating skills - all the modern uncomfortable furniture and clear glass - and fancy dress parties full of rich people. Loved the drinking and banter about Mjollnir and Thor's reaction to Captain America being able to move it just a bit. Glad all of Cap's surviving friends from the 1940s showed up, though - warms my heart.  

NOT a fan of the plot shipping Natasha and Bruce together. I like them individually, hate them together. But I was really happy to see Hawkeye has a family and a real life outside of the Avengers he never told anyone about - and his family knows about what he does and supports him. Hawkeye gets a lot of crap from people both in and out of the films, but I think he's one of the more stable and balanced characters, and frankly, by my standards, one of the most successful and happiest ones. Go Hawkeye! You've got your priorities straight.

My favorite action moment is Black Widow using Captain America's shield for a minute in the Seoul action scenes before tossing it back to Captain America, hands down. Why doesn't this sort of double-teaming happen more often?

Also, I like how Thor just decides to leave to follow a vision, is bad at fitting in with the human world, and does his own thing in bringing Vision to life, AND at the end going off to figure out the whole Infinity Stone business. I'm still confused by all the Asgardian references, but not sure I really want to watch the Thor movies to figure it out, so I rely mostly on my knowledge of Norse mythology, which actually gets you most of the way there.

I love Hawkeye and Wanda's relationship - it confirms my feeling that Hawkeye is a mature adult. Also, I enjoy the way that Vision just casually swings Thor's hammer... and everyone is suprised and then decides not to wonder about his ultimate allegiance... and a delighted Thor has someone to discuss his hammer with.... and Vision is just a few notes shy of Uncanny Valley territory (and could be downright creepy if he didn't have JARVIS's voice).

Best part of the movie for me is the end scene at the new Avengers headquarters - thankfully they've moved out of New York! - with Steve and Natasha training the new crew of Avengers, because shipping.  

Captain America: Civil War:

Liked it much better than both the Avengers movies, probably because Joss Whedon wasn't involved. Despite the Sharon/Steve kiss, there's nothing in here canonically that messes with my preferred Romanogers pairing in the long run. I like how Natasha tries to talk sense into both of them (though she fails, which is really not her fault). Too bad Peggy Carter dies and isn't able to talk sense into Tony and Steve and get the government off their backs because you know she would have if she could have. Also, Black Panther and the Wakandans are awesome, T'Challa does the mature adult thing at the end, and watching Peter Parker geek out with Tony Stark makes me like Tony so much better than I previously have, despite the fact that I think he acts like an idiot even though I agree with most of his basic points in the film.

Great action sequences, throughout the film, especially the Berlin chase sequence and the airport battle. Not so into Iron Man vs. Captain America, honestly. Watching Wanda grow is great; Hawkeye gets some great lines and actions; the ending is bittersweet but hopeful. Apparently, Tony broke up with Pepper, which makes everybody sad except for me, who was kind of "meh" about the pairing anyway. Watching Tony flirt with May was hilarious although I don't ship it - just shows Tony's still got a bit of the playboy in him (or maybe that was just a ruse so he could talk to Peter alone? Either way, funny).

Really sad about War Machine, though... glad he survived. Love Falcon and Redwing, watching the opening scene in "Lagos" (really, it was filmed in Georgia). Also glad the whole "Winter Soldiers" business turned out to be a red herring and the real plot was actually something else. Though it breaks my heart that Howard Stark recognized Bucky and calls him out by name.... only to die at Bucky's hands a moment later. So tragic. I didn't catch the name of the villain, but apparently, his name was Zemo - doesn't really matter, his plan was brilliant. Also not clear: who filmed that footage of Bucky murdering the Starks and why?

I think Vision may have a point about the number of enhanced humans increasing the possibility of catastrophe. Though, to be fair, Loki probably would have conquered the earth unchecked if the Avengers hadn't been there, and that just opened the doors for more weird shit to keep occurring. Though Vision may not know about all of the crazy HYDRA plots that went down PRIOR to Tony Stark becoming Iron Man when he made that comment.... or does he? Hard to know what Vision does and doesn't know.  

Mixed feelings on Martin Freeman as Everett Ross - maybe he'll be better in Black Panther, but in this movie, I can't really figure out what his deal is (and didn't catch his name until reading the wiki afterwards). On the other hand, Benedict Cumberbatch is in the MCU universe as Dr. Strange, which means at some point they'll probably have an in-universe meeting, which pleases me on some deep level since I enjoyed their dynamic together in Sherlock.

Also, the Avengers headquarters is actually the Porsche headquarters in Georgia and I cannot take it seriously now that I know this.

Other movies:

-Probably not going to watch the first two Thor movies, might be persuaded to watch Ragnarok depending on fan reactions and the overall quality of tumblr gifs. Since tumblr gifs are what inspired me to watch the mcu films in the first place, it seems only appropriate. Likewise with Ant-Man and the Wasp and Captain Marvel.   - I'm probably not going to watch Ant-Man or The Incredible Hulk either. I'll probably watch the scenes with Black Widow/Natasha in Iron Man 2 and skip the rest of the movie. Likewise, going to skip Iron Man 3 because Tony Stark is only bearable if he has someone to counter him, and I'm pretty sure that's not the case in that movie. -On the fence about Doctor Strange - probably will watch it, but it's not a high priority right now. -Guardians of the Galaxy - these are supposed to be good, and will probably be helpful context for Infinity Wars, BUT Chris Pratt is not my favorite actors and I'm not really interested in the side characters enough for it to be worth it. (I did enjoy Jurassic World, but I was in it way more for the dinosaurs, although his raptor training / racing raptors on motorcycles through a jungle was just crazy enough to be awesome - and also since it was on the DVD cover, I knew exactly what I was signing up for. I HATE how that movie treats Claire, and the inevitable romance between her and Chris Pratt's character... so I'll say I enjoyed Jurassic World in spite of Chris Pratt and not because of him. Don't hate the dude, just not interested in his movies or the style of humor that seems to run through the Guardians movies.) If I find their appearances in Infinity Wars to be good, I'll consider watching them.

Predictions for Infinity Wars:

-Cliffhanger ending to Part One, with all/most of main characters dead/dying as in Tony's vision back in Age of Ultron. -Vision gets the yellow infinity stone ripped out of his head and dies, at least until they can figure out how to bring him back to life -Iron Man's heroic sacrifice, since apparently Robert Downey Jr is getting tired of playing Tony Stark in these movies and is looking for a way out. Someone else will take over the suit eventually, though.

I think Steve Rogers might die, too, but I'm really not happy about this. Gamora, Peter Parker and many of the next Gen Avengers will probably survive, since Marvel will want to make more movies after all this is over. I think Black Panther will be one of them.

I'm secretly hoping that we get a reference at the beginning of Infinity War that Natasha was helping Steve bust into the Rift and get everybody out. Because that's exactly the sort of thing they'd do together. There's so much going on in Infinity War, though, and so many characters, I'd understand if it wasn't included. But it would be a nice nod if they did.

[laylamorriganaspasia]

Interesting... why Miranda is your favourite? I'm just curious, no hating, because I see Miranda isn't so much loved...

I’m happy you’re curious (hating and fandom wars are not welcome in my world), I’ll gladly answer to your question.

I don’t know if there is one right way to view Miranda (and of course all the characters), but I can explain how I feel about her and the reason why I adore her.

In short, one of the reasons is that I emphatize a lot with Miranda, her attitude and her feelings, because we have something in common*.

Miranda is cold, reserved, complicated; she’s a woman who doesn’t have a romantic narrative arc which can be resumed with “I found someone who completes me and I now am softer”. I appreciate that.

Miranda is also mistrustful, in the way she doesn’t trust people at all, and this can be explained in many ways: she doesn’t trust people because of her father, because of her gifts, because of her stand-offish attitude (partly molded by the first two reason I said). She likes staying on her own, she doesn’t want making friends and for example, she isn’t surprised about Wilson’s betrayal; it seems she expected a gesture like that, and this, for a logical and mistrustful person, is a key that intensifies the “trust no one” and “I am always right” thoughts (in this way I can say Miranda is very intuitive and using MBTI I can say she is an INTJ, just like me). This makes also Miranda very proud of herself, very self-confident, because she can handle everything on her own or, at least, she thinks so, resulting in an arrogant attitude.   Maybe she rejects the idea of being intimate with someone, like the Shadow Broker dossier about her suggests speaking about her way of dealing with booty calls.Staying on her own, however, doesn’t make Miranda “bossy”, because she follows Shepard even if she doesn’t agree with Shepard’s decisions, she stays focused on her job and she does it well.

But Miranda isn’t only a “cold hearted cheerleader” (I hate this definition) because she has feelings, both good and bad.

Oriana is the core of Miranda’s existence and also the way to gain her trust and her friendship. When Oriana is in danger Miranda finds herself dealing with a situation she can’t deal with on her own so she has to swallow her pride, asking Shepard for help. By experience, I can tell that swallowing your own pride, asking someone for help if you always deal with situations on your own is awkward, strange, and also seen as a way to “show weakness”, because one of the first thoughts can be: “what can happen if I ask someone’s help and people take advantage of my moment of need?”. For a rational person, who gathers information and makes associations, this can be an occasion for overthinking, which isn’t always good.  

Keeping Oriana safe is her ultimate goal, because she loves her, and she will do everything for her. She is capable to prove feelings. Her mission proves she isn’t egoistic at all.Moreover if Shepard decides to help Miranda saying “you’re part of my crew, how can I help?” I feel the shock in Miranda’s guts (empathy, yes) because being mistrustful makes you think “really? Is Shepard really kind to me without thinking hidden personal profits?”, but she needs help and she tries to trust Shepard.

I love the fact you save Oriana together with Miranda, as a team; Miranda in this way doesn’t become a “damsel in distress”, and I am grateful for that.

During the mission Miranda opens up to Shepard revealing how she escaped, how she made Oriana safe from here before now, how she’s angry because Niket’s betrayal. She thought he never would have betrayed her and this was a great shock for her. This demonstrate Miranda isn’t perfect, at all. She is human and she makes mistakes, like everyone. But she can be stronger, because she now really trusts Shepard and she sees Shepard as an equal, as a friend, especially if Shepard talks with her and supports her. Even if she’s now friend with Shepard she doesn’t revolutionize her behaviour, she never did it before with her father, and she will never do that in the future. Having a friend helps you to be a better person, but you are still yourself, being part of the family you found. She’s willing to listen, and grow, and trust, all while still being the secret agent and the skillful scientist we met at the very beginning. And yes, she can show warmth and affection (in her own way) once you’ve earned it.

Miranda shows her fragility (which makes her human) because she is  tortured by all of her gifts, seeing in them constant evidence of her father’s influence. She thinks that the only thing she can really make on her own is her mistakes. This shows the fact that, even she is proud of her gifts and she uses her gift because she has them, they don’t make her happy. She struggles with her nature, as she doesn’t know when the-created-Miranda stops and the-living-Miranda starts, because she was influenced, pressed into being really perfect. And she doubts herself because she isn’t afraid that she isn’t enough, that she isn’t herself. She has the looks, the body, the brains, but… what about everything else? These are “gifts” from her father, an extension of him on her life. She constantly challenge herself in order to prove herself she exists.

Her way of acting, when you meet her, is a way to protect herself.

Speaking about Cerberus she admits that Cererus’s ideals have consensus among xenophobic people, but xenophobia isn’t the reason why she joined Cerberus (she joined Cerberus escaping from her father, seeking protection). She shows an interest in promote humankind rather than persecuting aliens and she doesn’t agree with The Illusive Man’s methods. And she says goodbye when she finds out that TIM’s ideas are too much and in ME3 she helps the Alliance.

I love her friendship with Female Shepard: both are two extremely capable, talented, and brave women. None of them fit traditional models of femininity and both aren’t woman whose goal is finding love or change a lot because of love. From Miranda’s “I’m not looking from friends, Shepard” to their reciprocal trust and to the mutual “be careful” before the last battle… I am very touched.

A little digression: Miranda and Oriana are two “speaking names”, if we consider their etymology. Miranda is a name which derives from Latin, especially passive periphrastic construction, that is a construction forthe idea of obligation, of “must” or “ought”.Miranda stand for: this person must be admired. Well, a perfect name for the daughter of an ambitious man whose main thought is “having a legacy”. Miranda has beauty, intelligence, skills… all things people must admire in her and therefore Lawson sr.Oriana derives from “aurum” (gold), a precious, rare and expensive metal and, by comparison with Miranda, this name can be translated with the meaning “the perfection… perfected”.*My personal digression: my mother is similar to Miranda’s father, in a certain way. Since when I was very young she wanted I took extra classes, in order to be the cleverest girl, the best student, the best daughter of all. She poured all her ambitions in me and I struggled with my whole life because I didn’t know if I was living my own life or the life she wanted for me. This led me to a mistrustful attitude, being alone and a bit arrogant, trusting only myself and my knowlegde, the only thing I felt I had, even if it was the result of my mother’s ambitions. I can relate very much with Miranda’s feeling.Miranda took the chance to go away and she never changed for her father, she rebelled against his ambitions, trying to live her own life at the best she could.That’s the reason why I love her, because I admire her: she succedeed.