#while everyone else was easily forgiven for their mistakes

[lurkingshan]

Dear Boston, I still love you even if this fucking show doesn’t. You didn’t deserve what you got in this finale.

[owlphibiaisthebest15]

Hi guys! I want to talk about a minor problem I have with Amphibia and how they could've been done better. I will not be talking about any of the big problems that people have already complained about, like Sasha and Marcy's lack of screentime, their character arcs, parents, nobody talking about Marcy after "True Colors", yada yada yada, because we don't need another post like that, and I want to keep this overdue rant as short as possible. This is based on my personal opinions along with a few others, but feel free to disagree with me if you want. But with further, let us begin...

Anne almost always gets way too easily forgiven for f*cking up.

Okay! This one may be a hot take because I have never seen another person complain about this. But this has been eating me away for MONTHS, and if no one else is going to say it, then I will. While this occasionally extends to some other characters depending on the episode. The one I want to talk about most is Anne. Now, at the start of the series, Anne was pretty much a jerk with a heart of gold. She was selfish, bratty, lazy, and irresponsible, but she did learn from the mistakes that she made and became a true hero by the end of the series. While some of these flaws and mistakes are not worth talking about, there are still others that are actually worse than what the show's narrative portrays them to be.

They may not be as bad as leading a toad army to invade the capital city, burying the only thing that could get Anne home, or sending your friends to another world on purpose. Anne has still made some pretty questionable decisions, even to the point where they often cross the line.

Here's a list of some of the worst things Anne Boonchuy has ever done from Season 1 and 2:

Breaking Hop Pop's favorite cane that also happens to be a keepsake of his father and grandfather all while making fun of him.

Manipulating Sprig into taking Bessie the family Snail on a Joyride without reading. Which is like someone taking a car out for a spin without a driver's permit.

Forcing Sprig to marry Maddie despite his obvious discomfort for Pizza Dough and later forces him to date Ivy while he's still engaged to Maddie.

Faking being sick to get out of farm duty, which led the Plantars getting sick themselves and even thought they were all going to die from red leg.

Slacking off while she was supposed to be protecting the frozen townsfolk, while aware of what happens to one of them while they're frozen. Which, of course, led to Polly almost getting eaten by a giant weasel.

Causes massive property damage with Polly while on the streets of Newtopia, and later breaks into Newtopia University in hopes of finding a rad college party. The second one was Polly's idea, but Anne had no problem going along with it.

A team effort along with her frog family. Sending a giant chicken to attack Wartwood. Which BTW can create tornadoes, breathe fire, and even turned their loved ones into stone, all because they forgot to buy everyone gifts. Sure, Anne was against the idea, but she still went along with it.

What do characters usually respond with when Anne admits her mess ups?! "It's okay! You're good! What you did was serious, but it doesn't matter that we almost died, as long as you learned your lesson."

Though Anne still at least got a lot better, as the worst things she's done in Season 3 were covering up some major plot points from her parents, robbing a museum to get a clue on how to find a way back to Amphibia, and tricking Blair the Balloonist into flying a hot air balloon. Though, the first one is still a little f*cked up, but she did have selfless reasons for doing these, and she came clean for 2/3 of these.

But still, 90% of this show is just a lighthearted slice of life cartoon, but when it shifts to its dark story driven and plot twisting side, this is where the narrative (and by some extent Anne herself) gets pretty hypocritical. It's pretty much when Anne messes up and lies to other characters. It's a simple error in judgment. But when other main characters such as Sasha, Marcy, and even Hop Pop do the same to her, first they gotta face hell for it, and then they get their redemption arc.

Yes! They did do some serious sh*t, and Anne had a right to be mad at them. But it seems that other characters are just not allowed to even stay mad at Anne when she does pretty similar sh*t. I mean, yes, she does try to make up for it, and yes, she admits what she's done most of the time, and eventually, she does become a better person from them. But so have Hop Pop, Sasha, and Marcy. But again, they didn't get the protagonists treatment. They got hurt and thrown around like ragdolls because of one or two big mistakes, and even that wasn't enough.

While Anne sometimes faces some consequences for her actions, like breaking Hop Pop's heirloom cane with HP giving her dish duty for a month (Cmon man! You should've given her way more than that!), gets banned from an arcade because she threatened to eat newt kids for cutting in line (which is not important), and most importantly, gets stranded in Amphibia after being peer pressured by her friends to shoplift it, all on her 13th birthday. Which I guess was enough for karma itself to feel so bad for her that she will hardly ever worry about facing any lasting consequences for her misdeeds ever again. While karma beats the cr*p out of others who would dare lie and betray our precious protagonists, even when they have sympathetic reasons for doing so.

Speaking of, this leads to me to clarify something that some fans have misinterpreted since the beginning of the series. The flashback scene in the second episode, "Best Fronds," was intended to show where Anne's distorted views on friendship and some of her toxic traits come from. Not to justify every single bad decision Anne has ever made, like what some fans think.

While I'm not gonna say that Anne was just as bad as Sasha before Amphibia, as it does show that Anne had her own personal flaws that she had to get through without depending on her friends. Who were more enabling her flaws than causing them.

However, while the show does try to show that Anne wasn't exactly much better in their friend dynamic than they were. For the reasons I mentioned earlier, it instead paints Anne as the least toxic one or not being toxic at all. With them only making a handful of moments that show that even after their betrayals, Anne still isn't much better than them. But the usual wacky slice of life narrative in her character development episodes downplays the severity of her actions, with Anne only just getting an emotional lesson after nearly getting everyone killed, and some of the said lessons being brought up in a few episodes to test her character or as examples to show others how much she has grown.

Now, I'm going to do some comparisons between Amphibia and The Owl House. While there are several things that Amphibia did better than TOH and about an equal amount of things TOH did better than Amphibia. One of those things that The Owl House did better than Amphibia was the writers treating each and every character fairly. The characters make mistakes and learn from them without the narrative downplaying the seriousness of their mistakes, and it isn't always "Okay! You're forgiven! What you did was serious, but it doesn't matter that we almost died. You learned your lesson, and that's what matters." While it doesn't give other characters the short end of the forgiveness stick for doing similar sh*t. With that, it also makes the character arcs a little bit better, in my opinion.

However, I'm not saying that Anne's character development was bad or that Matt Braly is treating Anne like how some see Alex Hirsch did with Mabel. The show did alright with changing a bratty teenager with flawed views of friendship into a true and selfless hero. All of what I described seems to what TV Tropes would call "Protagonist Centered Morality," and if I'm being honest, but because of that reason, I don't find Anne to be the most appealing character to me. I'm sorry! I know that a lot of you love her, and she's the second most popular character in the show; with the first being Marcy (my favorite), but I don't even dislike her either. I just feel that the narrative could've done better in treating the characters more fairly, like how TOH did with their characters. I really want to like Anne more than I do now, but for what I described, it makes it kinda hard for me to.

That's it for my opinions on this. This was longer than I thought, so if you read it this far or read it at all. You either think that I have a point and should do more of this or my analysis stinks, and I should never speak my dumb mind again. I'll probably see how this goes either way. If anybody else here still cares about this show.

[tenebraevesper]

Sonadow Moments in Sonic Cyber Revolution (The Starfall Arc & The Green Hill Zone Arc)

The Starfall Arc

[...]

''Minami is kinda right, Lucas. You almost ran into a tree because it was too dark to see anything before you,'' Sonic said, giving Lucas a teasing grin. Lucas just sighed, with everyone else looking slightly amused. Sonic then glanced at Shadow, who was just observing the scene before him, before turning away and looking at the starry sky. Sonic ran up to him, giving him a curious look. ''Hey, Shads, are you excited for The Starfall?''

''I suppose I am curious to see the meteor shower,'' Shadow replied as he sat down, only for him to narrow his eyes as Sonic sat right next to him with a big grin on his expression. However, instead of telling him to leave, Shadow just let him be. After all, there was something that had been on his mind over the past days, and he needed to talk to Sonic about it. ''Your persistence is as annoying as it is admirable.''

''What do you mean?'' Sonic asked, confused. Shadow sighed, his ears drooping.

''I don't believe that I have ever apologized to you for my outburst,'' he muttered. Sonic rose an eyebrow, at first not understanding what he was talking about, but then it dawned upon him.

''You mean the battle we had a few days ago?'' Sonic asked, with Shadow nodding, only for Sonic to smile in response. ''Don't worry about that, all is already forgiven and forgotten. After all, you were placed in a difficult situation and I wasn't exactly the most helpful person.''

''Yet, you helped more than anyone else. If it weren't for you, I don't think I would've snapped out of that broken mindset,'' Shadow responded, staring straight ahead as he closed his eyes. ''Thank you for being a thorn in my side.''

''Awww, Shads, you're welcome,'' Sonic said, prompting Shadow to look up at his rival, a bit irked to see a smirk on Sonic's expression. However, he knew that Sonic wasn't teasing him, but was instead just happy to see that Shadow doing well. ''I'm sure you'd do the same if I were in your shoes.''

''I would,'' Shadow replied, with Sonic just giving him a cheerful gaze. Shadow paused for a moment, observing Sonic, then lowered his gaze. ''I still have difficulty comprehending how easy it is for you to just move on from the past so easily.''

''Well, I just prefer to live in the present. Why should I worry over past mistakes when I can just focus on doing better now?'' Sonic responded. ''I'm just doing my best to live my life to the fullest. Mistakes will always happen, whether I want it or not, but I'm not going to lose sleep over that. No one is perfect.''

''I was created to be perfect,'' Shadow said in a serious tone, with Sonic giving him a sympathetic look. ''I wasn't supposed to fail, no matter under how much pressure I was. Yet, I did.''

''Shadow…'' Sonic placed his hand on Shadow's shoulder, drawing the dark hedgehog's attention. ''If you ever feel under pressure again, I'll gladly share the burden with you.''

''I know. You made that clear during our battle,'' Shadow said, glancing at Sonic's hand on his shoulder. Sonic's eyes suddenly flicked from Shadow to his hand, only for him to quickly take it off, while giving him a sheepish smile.

''Right, sorry. You don't like people intruding into your space,'' Sonic said, only to be surprised when he saw a smirk on Shadow's expression.

''Don't worry, I don't mind your presence,'' Shadow told him, with Sonic feeling genuinely happy to hear that. Shadow just stared at him, wondering if he should even say the next part. After all, he was already opening his heart to Sonic, telling him what was on his mind and showing vulnerability. He took a sharp breath, deciding to at least tell Sonic part of what he had been bothering him for a while now. ''I suppose you are someone I can trust with my life.''

Shadow noted Sonic's eyes widening in joy, if not even sparking as he looked quite excited. Shadow wondered if he was going to regret this, only to get an answer when Sonic gave him a knowing smirk, his eye-lids lowered, ''So, you want to admit that you see me as your friend? I didn't expect I'd see the day this would happen.''

''Don't make any mistake, we are rivals and teammates, nothing else. Don't expect any kind of special treatment,'' Shadow told him in a sharp tone, frowning at Sonic. However, it was clear that nothing he said would wipe that smile off of Sonic's expression.

''Don't worry, I know that you're not the type who likes to be buddy-buddy with other people. Still, I'm happy to hear that you trust me and that you want to keep up with our rivalry,'' Sonic replied. Shadow wanted to respond that he shouldn't think too much about it, but he kept quiet. He was aware that, while he would never voice it, he did indeed see Sonic as a friend.

''Hey, it has started!'' Touka suddenly shouted.

Sonic and Shadow looked at the sky, their eyes widening when they saw a burst of light, followed by a trail falling across the night sky like an arrow. Then, another appeared, followed by another, followed by two more.

The Green Hill Zone Arc

[...]

Sonic rung the bell, rocking back and forth on the balls of his toes, hoping that the person he was searching for was at home. He could hear steps on the other side, and then saw Shadow opening the door. The dark hedgehog's gaze was that of disinterest when he opened it first, only for him to frown when he saw that it was Sonic.

''What are you doing here, Sonic?'' Shadow asked, wavering between whether he wanted to know the answer or just close the door into Sonic's face.

''Hey, Shads! I was wondering, well…'' Sonic rubbed the back of his head, while Shadow just closed the door behind him and leaned against it, arms folded as he rose an eyebrow at Sonic. ''Uh, remember how we talked about how next time you feel like venting your frustrations through a battle to just ask me for a sparring match?''

''Yes, I do,'' Shadow replied, already having an idea where this was going.

''That's great, because I wanted to ask you whether you'd like to have a sparring match with me. You know, the two of hanging out together, beating each other up, but instead of you doing it because you have been traumatized again, we're just having fun. What do you say?'' Sonic asked, smiling widely. Shadow lowered his eye-lids.

''What if I don't want to fight you?'' he asked. Sonic gasped dramatically.

''Okay, who are you and what have you done to Shadow?'' he demanded, glaring at Shadow, who remained unperturbed. Sonic then snorted, unable to stay serious for too long. ''So, what do you say?''

Shadow was silent as he stared at Sonic, mulling over the proposal, but then nodded. ''Fine, but I want to know why you suddenly want to have a sparring match with me.''

''Hey, can't I just have a sparring match with you because I feel like it?'' Sonic asked, with Shadow giving him a doubtful look. Sonic groaned, rolling his eyes and wondering how was it possible that people saw through him so easily. But then, a sneaky thought crawled into his mind. ''Okay, I'll explain it to you if you manage to catch up to me.''

The moment he said that, Sonic ran off, startling Shadow, if only for a moment. The dark hedgehog immediately followed Sonic, both of them speeding through Eas. Sonic was grinning the whole time, only to get startled when Shadow appeared right next to him.

''Don't underestimate me!'' Shadow told him as he skated beside Sonic. Sonic flashed him a grin.

''Yeah, I had figured you'd catch up anyway,'' he replied.

''Where we you going to?'' Shadow asked him.

''Eh… I'm not really sure, I haven't thought about it,'' Sonic replied, trying to figure out a what would be a good place for a sparring match. ''How about Heizeru Park?''

Shadow nodded. ''Try keeping up, Faker!''

Much to Sonic's surprise, Shadow then sped up. Sonic chuckled, figuring that Shadow was getting a bit competitive and rest assured, he wasn't going to let his rival win. They ended up in Sentoraru, weaving through the crowds of humans and ARNavs, both being neck-to-neck. However, Sonic still had an ace up his glove and the moment the street cleared up and they got closer to Heizeru Park, he sped up again, using his Boost to gain an edge. Shadow was stunned to suddenly see Sonic turn into a blue blur, zooming past him and towards the park. Once Shadow arrived there, Sonic was already leaning with his hand against a tree, his other hand on his hip.

''What took you so long, Faker?'' Sonic asked in a teasing tone, a smirk on his expression and his eye-lids lowered.

''What was that?'' Shadow asked as he approached Sonic.

''I'm calling it 'Boost'. Impressive, huh?'' Sonic replied.

''I suppose it is a good asset to your current skillset,'' Shadow said, with Sonic grinning at him proudly. Shadow tilted his head. ''Is this why you asked me for a sparring match? To show off?''

''Well, to some extent,'' Sonic admitted.

''What is the other reason?'' Shadow asked.

''Do I really need one?'' Sonic asked, acting as if he didn't know what Shadow was asking about.

Shadow, in turn, just rolled his eyes, figuring that Sonic wasn't going to talk. He sighed and took a battle stance. ''Fine. Make your move.''

Sonic blinked in surprise, but then smirked. He charged at Shadow, attempting to punch him, but Shadow quickly side-stepped. Sonic turned back, now attempting to kick him, but Shadow side-stepped again, easily dodging the attack, a smug smirk on his lips.

''I thought you'd be more of a challenge,'' Shadow taunted Sonic, who gave him an annoyed look. Sonic charged once again at him, but Shadow managed to dodge it and kick him in the back. Sonic rolled back, but caught himself, curling up into a ball and launching at Shadow. Shadow did the same, with both clashing several times and flying back, grinding to a halt as they faced each other.

''How's that for a challenge?'' Sonic replied.

''Not bad,'' Shadow responded, adding in a taunting tone. ''Are you trying to prove something?''

''What are you talking about?'' Sonic asked.

''You wouldn't just challenge me to a sparring match for no reason,'' Shadow responded, then rose an eyebrow. ''Is this because you lost to Metal Sonic?''

Sonic groaned. ''Why is everyone assuming that?''

''Everyone?'' Shadow gave him a pointed look, with Sonic realizing that there's no way for him to come up with more excuses or avoid the topic. He sighed.

''Okay, I had realized that I'm not that good at close combat, especially in a confined space, and I asked Knux for some help. He and Lily gave me some pointers and I had figured that I could ask you about a sparring match,'' Sonic explained.

''You could've told me that earlier,'' Shadow told him, arms folded across his chest. Sonic rubbed the back of his head.

''I don't want people to worry about me,'' he said. ''Lucas is still blaming himself for not helping me when Metal Sonic attacked, even though I could handle the situation and there was a crisis that needed to be dealt with. I had told him I'm fine, but he he still feels guilty for not doing more.''

''Why don't you just talk to Lucas about it instead of acting like everything is fine?'' Shadow asked.

''I'm not acting like everything's…'' Sonic saw Shadow's doubtful look, then sighed, his ears drooping. ''Okay, I know I'm not good at expressing emotions, just like you,'' Sonic said, with Shadow glaring at him, torn between telling Sonic that he was quite open with Touka and the urge to smack him upside the head. The latter option was more appealing. ''But, I'm not going to let this hold me back. I want to be ready next time I fight Metal.''

Shadow observed him for a moment, then nodded. ''I can respect that.''

Sonic smiled back in response, then elbowed Shadow as he kept giving him a smug look. ''Aww, it's nice to see that you care.''

''Don't push it, Sonic,'' Shadow told him, frowning. However, Sonic kept smiling, leaving Shadow wondering what was going through his head. ''What?''

''Nothing, I'm just happy that we've managed to grow this close, especially with how things were in the beginning,'' Sonic said. Shadow hummed, having to admit that things really have changed over time, and while he wasn't to keen on being part of a team or just being around other people in general, he was content with his new life here. Shadow then suddenly felt an arm around his shoulder, noting Sonic smiling at him. ''I'm sure you feel the same.''

''How about we focus on the sparring match?'' Shadow responded, glaring at him. Sonic quickly stepped back, well aware what that glare meant and to respect Shadow's space. However, Shadow appeared just to be mildly annoyed, which Sonic took as a good sign.

''Alright, let's continue with the sparring match!'' Sonic said enthusiastically.

[...]

Sonic had no clue what had happened. One moment, he was exchanging blows with Shadow, and the next, he was racing across a green track with an invisible wall closing in on him. ''As if that thing could ever get me… huh?''

Sonic's eyes widened as he realized that the invisible wall was indeed getting closer, being able to sense it just behind him, almost touching his quills. He sped up, trying to escape it, but it seemed that, the faster he got, the faster the invisible wall was. ''That's not good!''

xXx

''Sonic?''

Shadow stepped back, having been caught off guard by Sonic's disappearance. He looked around, wondering if it was some kind of trick, waiting for Sonic to attack him, but nothing had happened. Suspicious, he walked over to where he saw Sonic vanishing, his eyes narrowing as he saw something translucent glimmering next to a bush. An AR Field? He walked over to it, placing his hand over it and realizing that he couldn't enter it, as it seemed as if there was a barrier. He looked down, noticing a device on the ground resembling the portable AR Field generator he had seen Warren and Tails carrying around. However, this one also had a strange marking on it, a wave in a white and black colour with five stars across it. He had no clue what it was doing here, but he had a bad feeling about this.

He tapped on his AR Visor, with a holographic screen appearing before him and calling Lucas. The teenager was quite surprised to see who had called him. ''Shadow?''

''Sonic has gone missing. I believe that this has something to do with his disappearance,'' Shadow showed Lucas the device. Lucas, in turn, was stunned, trying to process the sudden information dump.

''That looks like the device I had found when Tails had vanished,'' Warren said, suddenly appearing on the screen and holding up the same device. ''It seems to be a portable AR Field generator, but one that doesn't allow for anyone else to enter it.''

''I had figured that one out by myself,'' Shadow responded in a deadpan tone. ''I don't believe it was placed here or at the workshop by chance.''

''That's what we also assumed,'' Lucas said, glancing at the device Warren was holding, frowning at the familiarity of the markings on it. ''Someone placed it here deliberately, and I have a bad feeling in regards to who it is. Shadow, where are you now?''

''I'm at Heizeru Park,'' Shadow responded.

''Okay, stay there, I'll be there soon,'' Lucas said, grabbing his hoverboard and running off, the holographic screen closing. Shadow stepped back, glancing at the device in his hands, wondering where exactly Sonic was and what happened to him.

[...]

Before they could do anything, the portable AR Field generator suddenly short-circuited, resulting in a small explosion and causing Lucas to drop it, waving his hand as it had gotten burned. The AR Field then disappeared, with Sonic appearing on the ground before the two, breathing heavily and lying on his knees.

''Sonic, are you okay?'' Lucas asked, kneeling down next to the blue hedgehog.

''Y-Yeah… I'm f-fine…'' Sonic tried to get up, only to feel a sudden wave of dizziness and nausea, almost falling over. Luckily, Lucas caught him, with Shadow shooting him a glare. Sonic noticed it, rolling his eyes. ''Okay, maybe I'm not fine.''

''Good to see that you're finally being honest,'' Shadow snarked at him. Lucas gave the two a confused look, before turning to Sonic.

''Sonic, what happened? Shadow told me that you just vanished into an AR Field?'' he asked.

''So, that's what it was…'' Sonic muttered as he tried to sit up, placing his hand against his forehead. ''I just found myself on this field where I was forced to run as fast as possible. I had no idea what it was… what happened to your hand?''

Lucas looked down at the burn on his palm. It did hurt him, but it wasn't that bad. ''Don't worry, I'm fine.''

Shadow rose an eyebrow as he looked at Lucas, folding his arms across his chest. ''I suppose Sonic isn't the only one with a habit of downplaying his injuries.''

''Not now, Shadow,'' Sonic growled, now feeling annoyed on top of feeling nauseous, while Lucas was just confused. Sonic tried to get up, but his knees buckled and he almost fell over if it weren't for Lucas supporting him. However, he was determined to power through it, managing to eventually stand on his own. Lucas, who was still worried about Sonic's condition, took out a handkerchief of his pocket and wrapped it around his injured hand, trying to figure out what their next move should be. A moment later, he got a call not only from Warren, but also Lily.

[...]

''Blaze, Sana, these are my friends; Shadow and Touka!'' Sonic quickly introduced them. Sana waved at the two, both her and Blaze noting that neither Touka nor Shadow seemed to be keen on socializing.

''Wait, are you the…?'' Touka trailed off when she saw Lucas shaking his head, clearly not wanting her to say anything.

''Sonic and Lucas had been showing us around Neos City and suggested visiting the Solar Stadium,'' Blaze explained. ''I assume you two are hoverboard racers.''

''You're right, but someone else is currently hogging the track we wanted to race on,'' Touka said, slightly bitter. As if on cue, Chase and Jet emerged from the AR Field, shouting in victory. ''They've been at it for the past two hours.''

''Why don't you confront them about it?'' Blaze asked.

''We've actually been thinking about challenging them, but we'd prefer to wait until their arrogance has reached its peak to topple them,'' Shadow explained, with both Sana and Blaze giving them a confused look. Shadow then turned to Sonic, not looking all too happy. ''Jet wants to challenge you to another race.''

''What have you told him?'' Sonic asked.

''That I'm not your secretary and to ask you in person,'' Shadow growled, with Sonic sweatdropping, rubbing the back of his head.

''I'll keep that in mind.''

[...]

The platform they were standing on suddenly tilted, forcing the group to run towards the next platform. They were all breathing heavily, their surroundings becoming smaller and smaller as Sky Sanctuary was falling apart. They exchanged glances, only to get startled by a flash of blue light, with Sonic, Lucas, Amy and Minami appearing before them.

''Guys, are you-?'' Sonic was cut off by Shadow, who had managed to gather the Chaos Emeralds from Knuckles, Silver and Tails.

''Ask questions later, Sonic! We need to escape!'' he growled, with Sonic nodding, him and Amy giving up their own Chaos Emeralds. The seven gems started to surround Shadow as he focused on their energy, now far greater than the one he sensed from just one Chaos Emerald. A bright glow surrounded him and the rest of Team Neos as their surroundings grew darker and darker, turning into an unending void. ''CHAOS CONTROL!!!''

Links:

#Sonadow Moments in Sonic Cyber Revolution (The Final Haunt Arc)

#Sonadow Moments in Sonic Cyber Revolution (The Team Dark Arc)

#Sonic Cyber Revolution (Masterlist)

[fake-married-my-dead-fiance]

To me Jing Li's father is the absolute worst because everybody else had a motive to act the way they did, while he was simply a spinless man who waited for somebody else to tell him if and how much he had to love his daughter. He sent her away and never visited or wrote to her ( if I'm not mistaken only her grandmother did, even if her letters and her gifts didn't reach her, right?), he made her come back because of a scandal, he doubted her every word she said because her wife told him to, he valued her because she won the entry exam, he gave her the benefit of the doubt because she won the appeal case for the magistrate. Even during the showdown between Fangfei and the eldest princess, when he realized her accusation made sense and there was actually something that didn't add up with Jiang Li, he didn't push the matter further. He used his body as a shield to protect the family honor but as soon as the matter was solved he never worried to understand what was going on, if her daughter was really safe under his roof or if he needed to rescue her or at least give her a proper burial. He would have died with that doubt, but he would have never pursed the truth, because it could have harmed him. He is not even selfish, he is a self-serving character, which is worse in my opinion.

I mean, I just can't put his wrongs above murdering an actual child, personally (even though that would have been a manslaughter conviction instead of premeditated murder, I'm talking about the second wife and the first daughter). And just because someone has a motive doesn't make them more justified, the mom wants her daughter to be first, that's her whole motive. She caused the death of two children because she was that desperate for her daughter to be first. And her husband liked her! Her daughter was still going to get good things! She literally wanted everything.

The father is blind and easily led, but he did think that his daughter committed a pretty big sin (pushing the mom and causing a miscarriage) and none of the many servants around stood up for her as far as we know, so the evidence would have seemed clear. There were a bunch of witnesses.

Also, I interpreted the father not asking questions differently. I thought when everything clicked for him, he decided not to ask because he knew, and his silence was him respecting what Xue Fangfei was doing. He also told her he would defend her with the sexual assault accusation even though that would probably harm his family more than help, and when she suddenly took back the accusation. He gave her full support by the end even though he knew she wasn't his real daughter.

For me, the biggest villain ended up being Shen Murder Husband (who can't even murder properly). At first I felt sorry for him, but his turn around where he demands to be forgiven and throws blame on everyone else for what he ultimately decided to do (he had options, he could have refused or run away or something) made me hate him. Yes, he acted under duress, but he still attempted murder. Forgiveness must be given, not forced or demanded.

(The father here really reminded me of Sir Thomas, the father in Mansfield Park by Jane Austen, if you happen to have read it. He makes similar mistakes, he listens to the lies of his SIL, and also redeems himself by the end)

[lolhex12]

LitC brainrot

disclaimer: i'm not trying to romanticize this fucked up situation. it's just that a scenario popped into my head and i thought i'd share since there's very little LitC content on this platform and the hiatus is killing me.

end of chap 82, cirrus starts crying and apologizing after basically assaulting skylar. he realizes how fucked up what he's doing is and mentions how dirty he feels.

cirrus gets off him and curls up in the corner of the couch, apologizing repeatedly and profusely, tears pouring out like waterfalls, his breathing becoming more and more erratic by the second bc how could he do sth like that to anyone? especially skylar? so dirty and disgusting and he doesn't like to be like his old teacher. and he doesn't want skylar to leave him like everyone else but he keeps fucking everything up.

skylar, after his initial shock and distress, sobers up quickly when he realizes cirrus' spiral is serious. he'd rather run to his room and lock the door bc 'wtf was this guy doing', but he can't leave cirrus alone in the middle of an oncoming panic attack.

sitting up and getting closer to cirrus, who's still murmuring apologies, skylar reaches out for the hands covering cirrus' face. "hey. hey. breathe." the come more apologies and mentions of how 'he didn't mean to do that'. "stop. we'll talk abt that later. right now i need you to breathe"

cirrus gets pulled in and he's so glad he gets that much after what he'd done. that he gets pulled closer instead of pushed away despite his mistake(s). he goes to grab at skylar's torso, to hold onto the person he doesn't want to disappear, but the hands that pulled him in by the back of his head quickly move to his shoulders the second cirrus' hands brush the skylar's t-shirt.

"stop." cirrus freezes, hands in the air, less than an inch away from contact. skylar's hands on his shoulders push him away but never leave where they're touching him.

for a second, cirrus is confused. then emotion bubbles up when he realizes that he has been pushed away. the apologies and tears start anew as if a new dam broke.

skylar, brows pinched in concern: "no, don't do that. calm down." a pause where skylar's hands move from cirrus' shoulders to his airborne hands, grabs and crosses them together in cirrus' lap, where cirrus can hold on to himself if he needs to. "just stay like that and don't touch me"

as such, cirrus is not touching skylar, rather skylar is touching him.

skylar's hands then resume their initial route and pull cirrus back in by the back of his head. his forehead is touching skylar's collarbone, where he can hide his tears and muffle his apologies and cries. his fingernails are digging into his arms, holding on for dear life bc he can't afford to fuck up again by touching skylar without permission.

"breathe. i don't know what's gotten into you but you need to calm down and breathe." skylar says as one hand brushes through cirrus' hair and the other rubs circles into his back. his breath tickles cirrus' scalp where he his nose buried itself in his hair.

cirrus can't remember the last time someone held him like that. so close and firm. (<- skylar was actually lowkey trying/hoping to suffocate him here, and get rid of his biggest problem (=cirrus) lol)

after a while cirrus calmed down and passed out from exhaustion in skylar's arms.

(notice how skylar never said "it's ok" or "i forgive u" while comforting cirrus? bc it's not ok and it's not sth to be easily forgiven. that's why they'll "talk abt it later". also, i thought it was important for skylar to set the boundary of cirrus not touching him after what happened. idk, i tried to make a very fucked up and toxic situation a tad less toxic)

[autisticsupervillain]

It's Fictional Throwdown Friday!

This Week's Fighters...

Spongebob vs Kirby!

Conditions:

Speed Equalized.

Scenario:

Spongebob and Kirby are the final contestants in the cook-fight championship, where the contests have to simultaneously defeat their opponents in combat and cook a delicious meal better than their opponents and only one can take home the gold.

Analysis: Spongebob

Tell me.... WHO LIVES IN A PINEAPPLE UNDER THE SEA! OOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!

Ah, yes, Spongebob SquarePants. We love him, we meme him, and we remember him as the purest essence of childhood cartoon nostalgia. This goofy goober, nautical nincompoop, and asexual icon may seem like a harmless wimp on the surface... and to an extent, he kinda is. His life long dream is to work as a fry cook at a dead end fast food restaurant, he once struggled to lift a glass of water, and he's easily small enough to fit in your hand, regularly getting overpowered by ordinary humans. You'd be forgiven for mistaking Bikini Bottom's best fry cook for a harmless goofball, wing nut, or knucklehead mcspazatron. But just you wait, this fry cook has a lot more up his virtually nonexistent sleeves.

There are three acronyms that one must always remember when discussing Spongebob. E.V.I.L, P.O.O.P., and T.F.I.B. Don't recognize that last one? It stands for Toon Force Is Bullshit.

When Spongebob isn't struggling to lift Teddy Bears, he's effortlessly rotating the entire planet, sucking up the entirety of Earth's oceans, and absorbing enough water to replace the moon in the sky. We're in for some shit now.

As a sea sponge, or, really more of a kitchen sponge I guess, Spongebob is remarkably durable and flexible. He can freely shspeshift into nearly any form he can imagine, regenerate from getting reduced to dust, duplicate himself millions of times, and absorb any liquid or physical attack thrown at him. Like the time he was able to walk around getting punched all week without feeling any of it, or the time he literally laughed off being erased from existence.

Moreover, he's a master of nearly any hobby or job he picks up. He's so good at cooking Krabby Patties that they can become sentient, cancel mind control, and make people romantically attracted to them, while his bubble blowing skills let him create torpedoes, create sentient life, and create entire fuctioning societies out of bubbles. He's such a Rockstar that his music can physically assault you and free you from mind control and one time he was able to rock out so hard he transformed into the sun.

On top of that, Spongebob can create anything he can conceivably need in any situation, either by drawing it with the magic pencil (which, yes, later seasons show he still has), blowing bubbles, letting his tears come to life to revive him from the dead, or just by willing it into existence with his imagination. And not only can the pencil's eraser erasing things from reality, but he can even erase reality itself by pulling on a string and unraveling the entire universe.

And then... there's his ability... to break the fourth wall.

Not only can he ride on the scene transitions, not only can he exit the comic book he's in, but he can also rewrite the plot of his own story as it's happening. And that's without the magic book from the second movie. He can just... do that. On his own.

He's strong enough to fuse together with Patrick down to the level of his DNA by hugging him really hard, fast enough to watch Patrick run to the sun in back in seconds, and strong enough to defeat and capture everyone else in Bikini Bottom within a single night (albiet with Patrick's help).

While this all may sound unbeatable, there is one major issue for Mr. SquarePants. He can only survive out of water for so long and if exposed to extreme heats outside the water for too long, he risks drying up and suffocating to death. But, that's okay, because if that does happen, his tears will come to life and resurrect him from the dead anyways.

So next time you think to underestimate your childhood icon, you'd do well to remember... he's ready.

Analysis: Kirby

Kirby, Kirby, Kirby. It's the name you should know, they're the star of the show, Kirby's the one. While this impossibly powerful little puffball's backstory is by an large a mystery, the widely accepted explanation is that they are a reincarnation of the immense god-like being known as Void that came about as a result of Void interacting with positive emotions. They are the positive counterpart to Zero's and Void Termina's dark and hateful incarnations, who came into being as a result of Void interacting with powerful negative emotions.

As a result of this, Kirby is paradoxically both horrifyingly powerful and unrelentingly cute, cuddly, and friendly. They may aspire to no higher cause than eating cake, making friends, and sleeping, but I do not exaggerate in the slightest when I call their power godlike. Kirby has been stated several times to have infinite power and has defeated beings amped by the Master Crown, which was stated to have the same. This alone would make them universe level at least, but they have feats that put them well above that. The parallel dimension known as... Another Dimension (great name guys, not confusing at all) is shown to contain at least sixteen universes, with Magalor's defeat destroying all of them.

But Kirby has far more than just raw power on their side. As a matter of fact, they are well known for their versatility thanks to their Copy Ability. With it, they can inhale an enemy or object into their maw and transmute it into either a star shaped projectile or a copy ability, allowing them to copy a wide variety of powers from their defeated foes. They can combine these abilities, store them for later, or transform these powers into allies who can fight alongside them. And provided their opponent is too big for them to inhale, Kirby has ways of copying their powers anyways. By tossing their ability at their foe as an energy projectile, they can transmute enemies into copy abilities or they can just scan enemies outright with the copy ability known as... Copy.

These copy abilities come in a wide variety, ranging from those that grant Kirby mastery over a specific weapon to those who bestow Kirby with some form of elemental power. Notable ones include ice Kirby, who can freeze foes solid even if they can survive in space, cook Kirby who can transmute enemies into food, magic Kirby who can use magic for a variety of purposes, ranging from summoning food to summoning allies, and Copy Kirby, which can copy the powers of whoever Kirby scans. Their most powerful Abilities can even do damage to the fabric of reality itself, ranging from their Ultra Sword cutting holes into other universes to Time Crash, which creates an explosion so powerful that it damages time itself, effectively allowing Kirby to stop time.

Even without their Copy abilities, Kirby is remarkably tough. Their incredibly small size of a mere eight inches makes them remarkably tough to hit, they can regenerate from being impaled in an instant, can inflate themselves with air and fly through the sky, and summon a warp star to help them fly across the galaxy in seconds. And if all that sounds like a lot for one little pink puffball, Kirby can just speed dial up three other identical Kirby's to help kick your ass on command. Or throw a Friend Heart at you to forcibly befriend you.

And if you somehow make it through all of that and manage to kill Kirby? They can simply come back as a ghost, steal your life energy, and regenerate their body from nothing. Unless you can kill ghosts, Kirby's just gonna come straight back.

Having said all that, Kirby isn't perfect. While they are shown to be strangely technologically and scientifically adept, they have also shown to be incredibly naive. They've been manipulated into doing the villain's bidding on more than one occasion and they tend to simply jump headlong into situations without any kind of plan.

While Kirby may not be Nintendo's strongest character as is widely believed, they are every bit the godkiller you've heard they are. The next eldritch terror that steps foot on the peaceful planet of Popstar is gonna end up like all the rest, running for it's goddamn life.

Throwdown Theme:

Throwdown Breakdown:

This... is a tricky one.

Both of these pint sized power houses have absolutely massive arsenals to throw at each other, with several of their abilities simply canceling each other out. Both of these characters are small enough to fight inside the palm of your hand, are nigh-unkillable, can breathe underwater forever, and can duplicate themselves in numerous ways.

Going for the kill is grossly out of character for both of them, but Spongebob is the only one with a way to actually kill their opponent. Kirby can't destroy someone who can come back from nothing, whereas the Magic Pencil would leave them with nothing to come back from. Spongebob has the means to create anything he can imagine to fight Kirby with, but Kirby can just copy whatever he creates by inhaling it or using Copy. Similarly, Kirby can also create beings to fight on their behalf with their Artist (not to be confused with Paint) ability, handly countering out Spongebob's bubbles.

Spongebob has quite few counters to Kirby's tricks. He can simply shapeshift out of being turned into a copy ability or food, his absorbent abilities makes powers like Fighter and Water useless or detrimental, he can simply draw a portal to escape Kirby's stomach pocket reality, and krabby patties can cancel out the effects of the Friend Heart (as well as other times Spongebob has resisted mind control). But, by that same notion, Kirby's ice is more than capable of freezing people who can withstand the vacuum of space, meaning it should work fine on Spongebob, the Pure Hearts is better mind manipulation than what Spongebob has shown to resist (they can counter out the mind control powers of Void Termina, whose incarnations such as Dark Matter can control entire planets), and should be much stronger physically.

The reason I Equalized Speed for this fight initially was because I assumed Spongebob was exponentially faster. Then I realized that both of them can move even after time has been destroyed, placing both at about equal speed. That's gow close this matchup is and that's how overpowered both of them are. Which is not at all helped by how few options they have to out each other down.

However, there are a few things that just barely make this Kirby's game.

Kirby is stronger, smarter, and more experienced. Spongebob can destroy the universe, but Kirby can tank sixteen blowing up in their face. Both can be incredibly naive and overly trusting, but Kirby is smart enough to build a rocket ship by themself. And both are no stranger to saving the world, but only Kirby fights off eldritch abominations on a near daily basis.

Spongebob has some clear win conditions here. But the issue is actually being willing to use them in this context. Spongebob isn't going to murder his competition in a cooking competition, so the magic pencil is out. That leaves fourth wall breaking and plot manipulation. However, Spongebob has never used those abilities in a straight up fight before. Even in situations where his life or the world was at risk, Spongebob has never simply rewritten the plot so that he wins a fight or competition and he likely wouldn't do so here. Because this fight is, in context, a friendly competition and it's really not like Spongebob to willingly cheat.

Kirby, meanwhile, has a few ways of incapacitating Spongebob. Their ice and Friend Hearts should be more potent than what Spongebob and his resistance to such things can handle, their strength and greater experience would give them an advantage in combat, and they can match Spongebob's versatility.

This fight is genuinely the closest one we've had all year. But, I think Kirby has just enough to overcome their aquatic adversary.

Spongebob wins the cooking competition though. Not even Cook Kirby competes with that. If Neptune himself can't match Spongebob, I don't know what Kirby can do.

Does that make this a tie? Eh, Throwdown's the name of the game so that's what I'll count.

This Throwdown's Winner is....

Kirby!

[mariahisthewalkingdead]

maggie defense <3 (I'M NOT SORRY)

i hope after this finale that certain people can finally let go of being absolutely OBSESSED with maggie forgiving negan. ive always found that to be so incredibly disrespectful. every single point you can make to claim she's in the wrong can easily be rebutted by the fact that because of negan, glenn would never see his son. and by the fact that when she was sickly pregnant to the point of being carried on a cot, she was forced onto her knees by a man who would bash her baby's father's face in front of her and make fun of him while he did it. and by the fact that he didn't understand how she felt until he was in a "similar situation". it still irks me that he had the nerve to call his case (where he decided to sacrifice himself BY CHOICE) in any way "the same". he has known his wife for just a few months. and it took him being brought to his own knees to really understand what she felt? not to mention he'd lost his first wife before. there's no way he didn't know. he didn't feel even a third of what he put these people through. it should be more than enough for the rest of the group to like him, so why is almost everyone in the fandom so irritated by her choosing not to let it go? i think negan was a big baby for continuing to bother her with puppy dog eyes in the first place, but i'm especially annoyed with the fans who feel this way, because how could you? after knowing glenn all those years, i don't care how much time passed. we could've given the governor time to learn from his mistakes too, but that would still never erase what he did to hershel. " well, if it wasn't glenn, it would've been somebody else!!" and what makes you think that makes any sort of a difference? it also could've been carl. or daryl. do you think either of those deaths would have gone over smoothly or been forgiven? i would still feel this way. the people who were affected by it the most deserve to take as much time as they deem necessary to mourn. last time i checked this was called human decency, not rocket science. at the same time i feel this way, i also pity him. because he will never meet glenn and fully understand what he took from everyone. and he'll never know what he's missing by not knowing glenn. i love the person negan has become, but there's a fine line between us, the viewers, and a character like maggie who was directly impacted by his decision to do what he did. there was no way she was ever going to fully forgive him. it was sick of anyone to expect her to. and i ask you this... if the roles were flipped and it was maggie who was killed by negan, would ANYONE be annoyed by glenn's blame? would anyone be pressuring him to forgive? i really, HONESTLY don't think so. negan went through his own redemption arc, sure, but it had nothing to do with maggie and hershel. and on top of that, she wasn't even there to see it. why should his few good actions justify what he did? he's always gonna be that person to her, and that's to be expected. and btw, this is coming from me, a person who adores negan and jdm. please kindly separate your personal experiences from the way a show runs. i guarantee you'd be far worse than maggie if this had happened to you.

[cherokeecharles]

#Hottakes #9: All isn’t forgiven, Chris Brown

Happy Black History Month my loves. I hope everyone had the month they deserve. While celebrating Black History Month like the black queen that I am, I got to enjoy the Rihanna halftime performance. While I loved every minute of the Rihanna halftime performance, it seems like this subject never seems to fade while we’re talking about Rihanna which is Chris Brown. The ill-fated relationship rears its ugly head whenever Rihanna is the topic of conversation and I speak for all of us when I say, we’re tired. Chris Brown has a history of abuse that goes beyond what he did to Rihanna that affected others, his abusive tendencies never stopped yet here we are being policed to forgive someone who’s an all-around shitty person. Those who can’t seem to understand why abusers aren’t easily forgiven, I’ll help you understand.

Chris Brown has been a star since he was 19 years old. As everyone knows when you’re a teenager you make mistakes but that comes with the guarantee that we learn and grow from these mistakes. Since Grammy night in 2009, there hasn’t been much growth with Chris Brown with his violent behavior and it seemingly got worse. Two years after the Rihanna incident, Chris Brown had an interview on the Today Show with Robin Roberts. When asked about the domestic abuse case, he stormed off to his dressing room and proceeded to break a window. And the relationship post Rihanna with Karrueche Tran, they were together for four years and Karruche detailed abusive behaviors from Chris Brown. In 2014, they officially broke up because she found out that Chris had gotten another woman pregnant. In 2017, she filed a restraining order and come forward that she was abused by Chris Brown, and said that he threatened to kill her. She quoted “He said if no one else can have me, then he’s gonna ‘take me out.’” Singer KayCola came to Karrueche’s defense and confirmed in a series of tweets that she heard him beating Karruche and heard her screaming in agony and that she even called the police as she is also a victim of domestic violence. Karrueche details that Chris Brown punched her in the stomach and pushed her down the stairs a few years prior and no police report was filed as Chris Brown was still on probation for his assault on Rihanna in 2009. Karrueche has since filed a permanent restraining order against Chris Brown and won. Different from the rest but still notable Frank Ocean was also a victim of Chris Brown’s violent behavior. In 2013, it was reported that Chris Brown jumped Frank Ocean after Frank Ocean declined to shake his hand. It was reported that he punched the side of Frank Ocean’s face while two other men proceeded to jump Frank Ocean while calling him the f slur. Chris Brown also threatened to kill Frank Ocean during that occurrence.

The list goes on with abuse that women (and Frank Ocean) have faced at the hands of Chris Brown. Yet, we’re still being told that he was just a child and it was just a mistake and we should forgive him. Chris Brown has been forgiven his entire career and that’s why he still flourished even after he abused Rihanna. Around the time the attack against Rihanna happened, he was still invited to perform at the BET awards, and do a Michael Jackson tribute act where he broke down and cried because of his idol. He was coddled, protected, and loved even though she just had a domestic violence scandal. Within two weeks of the domestic violence scandal, he was still being talked about in black media. Chris Brown went on to have such a successful career after, he was still able to crank out music as if nothing happened, be in high social circles, and still be adorned in the black community. It was to point out that the abuse that he has committed on these people became a joke. As recent as 2022, Chris Brown received an American Music Award which Kelly accepted on his behalf. The Award was at first met with silence until Kelly Rowland said to ‘give him his flowers’. She then goes to TMZ and says “I believe that grace is very real, and we all need a dose of it,” and “And before we point fingers at anybody, we should realize how grateful we are for every moment that we get... I just think it’s important to remember to be human. We are humans.” She then says “We all need to be forgiven for anything that we could be doing. Anything that we’re thinking,” And that’s what bothers me, people like that who say he should be forgiven we all make mistakes. We as the outsiders looking in, owe Chris Brown absolutely, nothing. While celebrities should be looking at the people who he has abused and see if they actually forgive them, or how they feel about being abused by them. They’re hell-bent on saving his reputation and image to the public who choose not to support him. There are people who are hesitant on supporting him, but for the most part, he was met with open arms to flip the narrative and act like he was a troubled soul, and that he learned from his actions.

As any celebrity would, they have a fan base that defends them to the very end. Chris Brown has been defended by his own fans and celebrities throughout his entire career, some even comparing him to Michael Jackson (lol). I’ve noticed over the years that the people he has abused have always been painted in a negative light after having a run-in with him. With Rihanna, we always slut shamed immediately after and it was made to look like she provoked the fight and made him beat on her. Still to this day, there are people on social media apps that say that Rihanna admitted to her faults in the fight when that is not what she said. Karrueche was made a joke. When Chris Brown would stalk her, it would become a meme that people used all while her abuse is being documented and laughed at. And any woman who had something to say against Chris Brown was made out to be like she was a hater, or that she was lying, or that she was tearing a black man down. At what point do we say the facts? That he IS an abuser. Is everyone just lying to him? Why can no one step forward and be believed by the public? We are in an era of the #metoo movement and it’s obvious that we still have a long way to go with how we handle abusers.

Chris Brown has been an abuser as long as I have been tracking pop culture, and nothing has changed. Chris Brown and his celebrity acquaintances need to stop policing how we react toward abusers and instead search internally about why they aren’t getting much support. It goes beyond it, just being a support towards Rihanna, but rather not enabling toxic behavior in general, but more specifically in the black community. Abusers have been protected there, specially protected in Hollywood. When is enough, enough? When someone dies at the hands of a man who has never been held accountable? If we want to change, we had to hold people accountable as they come out with toxic traits. Yes, we are all human. But humans learn from their mistakes and we don’t make them again. To make the same mistake for 10+ years it’s obvious you have not learned anything, but instead, just learn to move on. I hope all domestic abuse survivors continue to come forward and continue to hold their abusers accountable and continue to make their voices be heard, and not be silenced by those who are in power or those who try to silence them.

That's all for today! I hope we move on from this conversation in the future because SHIT it's tiring to cover. Have an amazing rest of your black history and I'll see you guys next post!

Cherokee💓

[my-gf-is-kazuichi-soda]

The Kazuichi and Papyrus au I have is not just a wacky idea btw. It came to me when I realized that they are both autistic characters misrepresented by their fandoms for their autistic traits.

*btw if you're knew here, I headcanon Kazuichi as a trans girl and use she/her pronouns for the character. You'll have to get used to it.

*also, before it gets pointed out to me, Kazuichi is "canonically a 'stalker' " (in a loose sense of the word, she's a kid who has followed and spied on another kid she had a crush on during a school trip), but many other characters in Danganronpa are also stalkers and are more easily forgiven/forgotten by the fandom, including every Danganronpa protagonist. Autistic people, especially KIDS, can have trouble understanding boundaries, and nobody in the game actually approaches Kazuichi about this and tells her it's wrong, they just insult or make fun of her for being a weirdo. If an autistic person needs to be #cancelled for making neurotypicals uncomfortable, then...that cancels most autistic people, including myself. Autistic people deserve a chance to learn from their mistakes. And yes Kazuichi was also unfairly mean at times. Like I said she was on edge and scared all the time. It is not an excuse but it didnt warrant the harsh fandom treatment.

---

Kazuichi is an autistic person who's reaching her fucking limit. She has to perform hypermasculine behavior to keep herself safe, she tries to be a cool fun extroverted guy but her act is always falling apart, she has constant meltdowns, she is mean sometimes to get people to back off and stop hurting her, she is visibly frustrated that people dont appreciate her hard work and just see her as a weirdo. She publicly and vocally expresses how lonely she is and how much she wants people to like her. And thus she is villainized for her worst moments. And called an asshole. And an idiot. And a manchild. And pathetic for her loneliness and unrequited crush. And people assume malicious intent from everything she does. They call her a creep. They call her a freak. Have I mentioned that she's a kid? Because she is a kid! Parts of the fandom say they want to bully her. She gets fanart (that is NOT meant to be sympathetic) where she is openly excluded from her friendgroup, on the sidelines looking sad while they have fun without her, or her friends say the most horrible shit to her and gang up on her to kick her while she's on the floor crying. No this is not missing context, this fanart never has context of her doing *anything* to provoke this treatment, aside from sometimes asking her unrequited crush on a date, and yes it almost always is her asking her crush in a more innocent way than the games did, only to have their reaction be uncharacteristically cruel (I swear I could make a post about how Sonia gets mischaracterized and villainized this way while the fandom ironically thinks they are giving Sonia "girl power", barf).

Papyrus is an autistic person who puts on a similar, cool guy act, though is way better at it because he is not at his fucking limit. Even if he is depressed like everyone else from being underground, he is in a calm peaceful town where people mostly leave him alone and he is allowed to express his weird interests and be silly. He is not on guard all the time like Kazuichi. He feels comfortable and safe but still very lonely, but even when he vocalizes this loneliness he puts on an optimistic attitude, so it gets ignored or put in a superficial light. He makes himself and everyone else feel better with his optimism, but that optimism, combined with his weird behavior, makes some people think he is clueless. They call him silly. And an idiot. And a manchild. They think he cant take care of himself. They assume he is silly and dumb in everything he does. They ignore the moments that dont fit their narrow view of him as an always-happy, doesnt-know-what-sadness-is ignorant manchild. Parts of the fandom act like his overly-controlling parents. They dont let him swear or know what sex is or defend himself in a fight or do anything that an adult is capable of.

The way Kazuichi is treated is often how autistic people get treated when they are visibly frustrated, have meltdowns, make social blunders that hurt others, and make people uncomfortable. The way Papyrus is treated is often how autistic people get treated when they feel safer to be themselves, when they are fun for others to be around, when they make social blunders that make others laugh + dont hurt other people or make them uncomfortable, when they hide and downplay their loneliness and frustrations. And most autistic people have been both of them at some points in their life.

But the takeaway from this is that the treatment you deserve should not depend on how well you can hide your frustrations, how well you can handle social situations, mask your weirdness, how you appear to others, how you appease neurotypicals. Kazuichi deserves to be able to reach a safe feeling and be able to drop her guard and she deserves to be able to have her accomplishments recognized and be appreciated not just for how hard she works but for how sweet she is, because she is a really nice person when she's not spending her energy defending herself against bullies. She deserves to have friends and a partner or partners that love her back instead of being doomed by the narrative to chase people who dont understand or care about her. And she is NOT stupid, she is judged by the wrong standards. Papyrus deserves to be taken seriously and to get in the royal guard (or another respectable title for monsters if the royal guard is dismantled), he deserves to be taken seriously as an adult even when he's weird and silly, he deserves to reach a point where he doesnt have to act optimistic about the future because it's already gotten better. And he's not stupid either.

[exploringme2022]

I got 2-3 mszs again from saying sorry madam, it sounds so dihati not generous, how come i missed this dihati vibe, this is his true personality , and i don't think so any high value women will get impressed by him, i was dumb before not now, i ignored all these things, he was never my type, he used to make me feel cheap, he doesn't deserved my time, he was just a waste of time. He deserves a girl like her only proper dihati... But I wish him best to find someone worthy of his time and efforts. He thinks he cares so much about a girl he is the best but what I felt is bare minimum and whatever he did for that girl is nothing unique... it's very common... Girls want a boyfriend but he act as naukar or gulam... That's why I never felt in love with him deeply, don't know about that girl, he literally said mujhe accept krle i will be your naukar...he is cheap...

I got a dream that i trusted him again and i was in his flat, and he went out and i asked his friend where he went and i also go out in VBHC looking for him , and i found out he is wearing denim jacket bad boy look and on video call with someone and i start saying something about that girl but I couldn't see anyone on call, and he is not responding and i just woke up and i realised i can't trust him in my dreams again, how will I trust him in reality again.... Listen to your intitution.

He thinks everyone comes back to him and say sorry to him, well this was never the case he was the one who used to come back, me very rare... but still he thinks very high of him, it was intentional he changed his linkedin dp just because I liked his post.... he thinks i want to come back to him, while it was just me being supportive...well he doesn't even deserve that...

But now no more post about him, or anything else to boost his ego, it's all neutral now, he doesn't deserve my time and he never did....

I realised so much i don't need to do literally anything for the guy specially never pay the bill , don't arrange anything, let them arrange and decide, don't buy them gifts other than birthday Bo bhi keep it minimal, focus on keeping him happy by you not by gifts, let them plans date and everything, don't go easy on him, don't give him all your time, don't cancel your plans because of him, have your personal life without him, go out with other friends post pictures, show him that you are in demand, show him that there are so many in line, and don't be dependent on him, if he disrespect you or take you for granted more than once , leave the table right now and never look back , you gave so many fucking chances to aadi that's why he took you for granted...

You saw he is sorry for making me feel uncomfortable on my fake id he said almost 9-10times he just said doesn't felt it...don't forgive him easily at all.... if it was shefali she might have forgiven him...and this is the biggest mistake you have done in your relationship, you allowed him to disrespect you... that's why he did so much and blamed it on me, and he is not even sorry for that , he cheated on me and he said sorry only 2 times and he was like i am a fuckboy i will do like this only, forgive him in your mind to live your peacefully but not in reality...this tym you need to break his ego.. like that girl...by being S and A...

And Never ever trust aadi not his words, he is the biggest manipulator and liar of all time, if he comes for signature don't go easy on him.

[raenparade]

Thoughts on Undertale - 01/12/22

I was 15 when Undertale was released into the world. An RPG by the now-legendary Toby Fox that promises you the ability to complete the game without hurting a fly. Or a frog. Or any monster living in The Underground. I’ll admit to putting hundreds of hours into my various Pokémon save files throughout my childhood, and even more after Undertale’s release. Honestly that’s about as much RPG experience as I’d had until that point, but it still made Undertale’s message resonate with me quite a lot.

In Undertale, you do not need to hurt anyone. You’re initially encouraged to talk to your foe when thrust into a familiar-looking battle screen, and if you play it like I did, you never even click on the ‘Fight’ button. This is just an encouragement, however, you can slaughter to your heart’s content - and this is definitely a slaughter. Whenever I play video games, especially those that rely on player choices, I just can’t be mean! I stand my case and try to be fair in any judgements, but being actively mean genuinely makes me feel sick. 

I do find the way Toby presented Undertale’s mechanics extremely interesting, though. In Pokémon, for example, you don’t cause any death per se, the Pokémon faint. You can revive them easily enough, and this is just part of the world! I know in other RPG’s that this isn’t given much thought, the creatures, good or bad, don’t have much of an aftereffect when their health bar drops to zero. Your choices in Undertale are baked into the game’s code, with no real way to escape them. This isn’t explicitly stated, but does make for some pretty funny reactions when people realise they’re not going to be so easily forgiven for going back on a mistake. 

As an example, you meet a character called Flowey when you first start. He is, unsurprisingly, a flower. He beckons you, promising to explain how things work. Instead, he tries to kill you, and berates you for being so trusting. Luckily, you’re quickly rescued by the kind pseudo-goat lady, Toriel (her name being a pun on tutorial). From the very beginning Toby is telling the player to not get too comfortable with the game, their expectations solidified by previous games will serve them little purpose here. At the end of the first chapter, you are forced into a fight with Toriel, who doesn’t wish for you to leave the ruins she calls home in an attempt to spare your life from the horrors to come. Talking to her won’t work, despite that being all she told you to do to everyone else you encountered thus far. If you decide to fight her and succeed, she stays dead. She can be spared and will let you go, so long as you promise to never return. When you leave the ruins, Flowey appears again, berating you further, based on your choices up to that point.

Something interesting happens if you kill Toriel, but reload a save and choose to spare her.

Flowey remembers what you’ve done, and calls you out on it. 

While this never happened to me, because I refused to fight Toriel, I’ve seen plenty of videos of other players reacting to this, and honestly the reactions are priceless. It really does shake people to their core when something - saving - which we all think of as a typical game mechanic - is used against us and remembered. As dramatic as it sounds, it’s a bit chilling! The whole game is like this, in various ways, and there’s a lot of different endings between the two extremes. No matter what road you go down, all of this is built upon very nicely, although how satisfying it is depends on how much mercy you show to those you meet. 

In an interview with NPR, Toby Fox said how originally, the player had to kill Toriel to progress, but this was quickly changed. He also describes the game Shin Megami Tensei as an inspiration, specifically in terms of ‘pacifism’ within the game's mechanics and narrative. This led to the battle system of the game being the foundation of the story and themes. While some may think Undertale’s message is pretty black and white, I really like it since it’s playing to people’s expectations of how mechanics in RPGs work. It makes you more aware of your actions and thoughtful in your approach. Of course I don’t think anyone who plays these games is a ruthless killer, but Toby was able to very cleverly subvert the expectations of millions, which in turn has led to an explosion of fan-generated works, from fanfiction to fangames.

Irish Youtuber John Walsh, mostly known from his channel ‘Super Eyepatch Wolf’ released a video at the end of 2020 titled ‘What the Internet did to Undertale’ - describing how from the release of the game, fanworks simply exploded, to a point where they were almost indistinguishable from what they originated from. Despite mentioning Toby Fox’s fears about how big Undertale got, nowhere in the video does Walsh bemoan or demean those who’ve taken Undertale and made it their own. Especially as a lot of these creatives are, or were children when they started. This ties back to something I mentioned in my previous post, about using preestablished tropes, themes or media to build upon, like a creative scaffolding. Undertale really is a perfect example of this. While some call it cringey, if it wasn’t for Toby’s initial desire to subvert, a lot of people wouldn’t have developed themselves creatively! I almost feel like it answers my question pretty perfectly.

I often feel bad about relying on other people or things to use as a catalyst for my creativity, and I sometimes wonder if I’ll ever be able to make something on my own. Maybe not literally, but something that is mine - I think I can do this with my project I’m set to start next year, although ADHD-induced time blindness makes it a shaky concept to perceive. Thinking about how much Undertale gave in itself, and inspired in others makes me feel a bit better about what inspires me most days.

[cragsglu]

I think the reason the villains are often shown as children is not to excuse what they have done but to show WHY they are the way they are, that they were failed by society and never taught how to cope. And thus deep down they are still scared and confused children, their traumas have defined them and they are far too gone to ever live a normal life, it's a tragedy.

I think the manga is trying to say that we need to prevent these things from happening in the first place, to help the scared child and not abandon them. Tenko's entire backstory highlights this perfectly. the whole thing is fucked up to the core. And by abandoning those people, by not actually helping them, by claiming them to be bad at conception, what else do they have left but to be what everyone already told them they were? And thus the only thing left to do at that point for those people is to save them from themselves.

Toya's want for his father's love and attention became so twisted he would do anything for it, regardless of morals.

Himeko was called a monster and inherently wrong by everyone around her that she "became" the monster.

Shuichi was so mistreated by society that he doesn't even care about equality anymore and just wanted to not feel alone.

Jin was already someone struggling with mental health and made a single mistake that made his life spiral into madness.

And all of these things make up Tenko, who was taken in by the worst person possible at the worst possible moment because the "good," "normal" civilians abided by the cultural norms of Japanese society and left him alone.

I didn't bring up 2 other members of the league because well... Compress and Magne... that would take a lot of research and Compress also isn't all that applicable.

____________________________

Sorry, I wrote a whole thing here that idk if anyone would read but this story means a lot to me and while not perfectly executed has a lot to say about how we treat the mentally ill and those deemed different or "other". As someone with a lot of trauma-based (and some not) mental health problems, it's important to me.

Like I said before, the villains in mha can't be forgiven, but they are still people regardless. The whole story is about breaking the cycle of abuse (basically almost every arc is about this), I just wish the main character himself was more introspective on how he himself applies to this, as his backstory (as the fandom easily figured out) is perfect for a villain origin story, but was lucky enough to be freed from the cycle, but only due to privilege he gained from AM. It's almost as if Izuku was only THEN able to gain a better life after he became "normal," which is why characters like Ochako, Toshinori, Katsuki, etc are always saying how it's Izuku's character that makes him special, not OFA.

I just wanted to say that although Toga is an incredible written character and I love the conclusion of her arc so far that she has still done unforgivable things.

Yes she is still technically a minor but murder is murder and she is going to have to live with that for the rest of her life, Uraraka even says so herself that Toga's actions cannot be forgiven.

Pls stop trying to excuse the bad behaviour/actions of characters you like, I love Toga but I would never try to justify her actions, only explain. I see a lot of Dabi fans doing this too and I feel like you are missing the whole point of his arc being that a lot of the blame does lie on Enji, but not all of it. Especially since Toya IS an adult and blames his own crimes on his father as a tactic to take him down with him. Neither Dabi/Toya nor Enji can be forgiven, that's the point.

[thatweirdoleigh]

Socks (but i finish the fic)

Elijah Mikaelson x reader

Warnings; Eli’s a good husband, and the reader cries oh yeah and reader’s pregnant

a/n ; Here is the full thing!! Cause its cute and for once i actually like the thing that i made. 

Imma tag the people i think will enjoy this.

My moms  @elijahs-wife​ @hellotvshowtrash

The Murder aunts; @mikaelson-emma​ @dumble-daddy​

Other Family Members that i don’t really talk to but love and appreciate anyway!;  @xxwritemeastoryxx​  @ronniemikaelson​ @lady-salvatore @thatfanficstuff @zodiyack @auroracalisto​ @dizzydancingdreamer​ @imaginearyparties​ @alwaysfangirlingish​ 

The giggles of his sisters echoed through the halls and into the entry way as Elijah opened the front door and stepped into his family home. Hope’s laughter and the laughter of his brothers and their wives joining shortly after. Rebekah was telling stories again, of all the mishaps, mistakes and schemes from over the centuries. It made him smile. Today was a good day.

After everything that had happened over the centuries, particularly the past several decades, it seemed like a dream come true to finally feel like a family again. To feel the same humble happiness that they felt when they were all still human. Like touching the stars with their bare hands. So he savored the memories and the joy and the rest that it brought to himself and those he cared so dearly for.

Walking into the parlor he was greeted by the warm welcomes of his family.

“Brother!” Klaus, all but beamed, “Welcome home!” A chorus of welcome home and welcome back echoed behind him.

Elijah grinned, wholeheartedly approving of the laid back posture of his younger brother, his arm slung over the back of the couch behind the witch that Klaus had fallen in love with. It was a stark contrast to the rage and paranoia that plagued him for so many years. “Its good to be home!”

“How was your meeting with the contractor brother?” Finn queried, far more subdued than the others. Even though they had all forgiven him, and profusely apologized for 1000 years of pain, Finn still didn’t feel like he quite belonged with the rest of his family. A fact Elijah had been eager to fix once the realization had set in of exactly how shitty their treatment of him was. Courtesy of Camille, of course. However 900 years in a coffin is not forgotten overnight, so it was still a work in progress. So it further proved to warm Elijah’s heart when his eyes laid upon Finn and found him squished between Freya and Kol’s firecracker of a fiancé, instead of locked in his room.

Elijah smiled at Finn and placed his suit jacket over the back of an unoccupied chair, “It was good. We got all of the final details and planning done and now its we are just waiting for the town to give us a building permit”

“that’s good” Finn replied with a nod.

For context, Y/n was pregnant with Elijah’s child, a miracle given in the form of a spell cast as a wedding gift and created by Kol and Klaus’ wife. Y/n had all but declared that she wanted their children to have as normal lives as physically possible and while the Mikaelsons were hesitant to go along with this plan, it was agreed that perhaps living in a mansion with 4 witches, 6 vampires, and 3 hybrids was not a normal childhood. So it was agreed that they would own a separate family home to raise their children in while still visiting as often as physically possible.

As Elijah looked around and took in the the scene around him he noticed that y/n was not among his siblings and so begged the question as to where was his darling wife?

“If I may ask, where is y/n?”

It was Kol’s fiancé that pipped up. “She came rushing in with a bag, declared that she was going to enjoy her new socks and then she was taking a nap, You know how my twin is Elijah, she gets excited over the simplest things, and then she ran upstairs without another word. Imagine she is asleep by now. Probably has been for a while. ”

Elijah smiled and Keelin looked at her curiously, ”Socks?”

Elijah cleared her confusion “Yes Keelin. Socks. Its seems that my darling wife has developed an affinity for collecting and wearing the most colorful knee-high socks she can find”

“It is rather amusing to watch auntie y/ns excitement.” Hope testified from where she had tucked herself under her father’s other arm. “She rambled on about a pair she had found with neon green strips, all while eating a plate of bacon in the kitchen the other day”

Everyone laughed at the image, and Elijah just shook his head with mirth in his eyes, ”yes well, if you don’t mind I am going to join my wife and unborn child in bed. Goodnight to you all” and a chorus of goodnights followed him down the hall.

As Elijah climbed the stairs he couldn’t help but be reminded of how grateful of all of the things that life has granted him over the years. He had a beautiful wife that loved him and siblings that adored him and soon he would have children of his own.

As Elijah approached the door to his bedroom he couldn’t help but notice something was wrong. Stopping to listen he could hear sniffling and shaky breathes just beyond the door way.

“y/n?” he took the handle and pushed the door open.

There sitting in an armchair in the corner of their room was y/n. She was wearing one of Elijah’s Cambridge sweatshirts and a pair of his boxers. The sweatshirt was cream in color and it matched cream colored socks she held in her hand. While Elijah would normally fawn over how adorable she looked round with his child and dressed in his clothes he was more focused on the tears stains that and puffy red eyes that decorated the face of the love of his life.

Elijah was quick to kneel in front of her and cup her face in his hand “Y/n? Baby what’s wrong? Are you alright?” He placed his other hand on her belly and searched for some kind of injury to suggest that she was hurt.  

She looked at him with a watery smile, kissed his hand and said “I found a pair of socks that would match my favorite one of your sweatshirts and I got so excited to wear them.”

She held up the socks and gestured to her feet. “But I cant reach, so I cant put them on. And it made me so sad that I cried.”

Elijah’s face relaxed and he gave a sigh of relief, realizing it was something simple that he could easily fix. So he gently took the socks from her hands and unfolded them so he could put them on her. He rolled them up and then pulled them all the way up her legs to just below her knees and then gave a kiss to her nose. “there “ he whispered. “all better.”

“thank you ‘lijah.” She mumbled and then yawned.

“Oh. I think its bedtime.” He stated playfully.

“Im pregnant not two.” She grumbled with another yawn.

Elijah looked at her with nothing but adoration and said “baby you just cried over a pair of socks.” In response she pouted and Elijah couldn’t help but smile. 

“Alrighty. Bedtime!” He said scooping her up bridal-style. 

“you can’t be serious!” y/n scoffed. 

“Dead serious!” 

“Eli!” she whined, “don’t make puns when im annoyed at you! Then I can’t enjoy them!” 

Elijah only laughed, and then slowly spun her around in a circle. “wheeeeeee!” he said before gently tossing her on the bed. 

y/n looked up at her husband in exasperation as she watched him use vampire speed to strip to his underwear and climb onto the bed like a leopard on the prowl.  

“I love you.” he purred pressing a kiss to her swollen belly, eyes playfully looking up at her. 

She raised an eyebrow, “Me? Or your children?”. 

“Both” he replied, gently coercing her backwards onto the bed as he crawled farther up her body his hands rubbing circles into the sides of her stomach. y/n rolled her eyes and chuckled her amusement as he enveloped her in another kiss. 

Sighing happily y/n ran her hands through Elijah’s hair, as he eagerly deepened the kiss. However Elijah had to stop this blissful moment rather short. 

He furrowed his brow and pulled back slightly so he could see his wife’s eyes, “Children?” he questioned. “plural?” 

Now it was y/n’s turn to grin playfully. 

“I went to the doctors today.” She said eyes twinkling with mischief. “And i learned something rather interesting.”  

Elijah narrowed his eyes, recognizing that she was toying with him. “did you now?” 

“I did” she purred rubbing her hands down his neck and shoulders. “Apparently twins are not always magical miracle coincidences. More often than not they are genetic.” and as her smile grew bigger so did Elijah’s. “And considering that I am half of a set, I’d say the trait has passed on.” 

Elijah’s grinn was getting bigger by the second. “you mean to tell me. That not only am I getting one daughter.” he leaned in closer until their noses were touching. “I’m getting two?” 

“yes” she whispered seductively and elijah expressed his joy by kissing her again. 

“And do you wanna know what else I learned?” y/n said slyly as he trailed his kisses down her throat. He grunted quietly for her to continue and y/n leaned up and murmured in his ear, “Both of your ‘daughters’ are sons” 

Elijah groaned and pulled back up to her face, “damn. I was really hoping was really hoping for a mini you.” he admitted swallowing y/ns laughter in another kiss. 

Y/n pulled him to lay beside her as they both got under the duvet and settled comfortably for bed. y/n lay on her side facing Elijah and he buried his face in her hair his hands finding their way to her rounded abdomen, joyful and excited to meet his children in the nearby future. 

“Eli?” she said softly. “will you sing to me?” she asked looking up at him. 

“Of course, My love” and so Elijah sang the same nordic lullaby his mother taught him all those years ago and they both drifted off to sleep. 

[lizziethebibrid]

Finishing this ask:

ao3 link here

prompts list here

66. Do you know what you’re like when you’re drunk?

MG stumbled down the school corridors, thanking his vampire reflexes and strength for helping him out in his current predicament. He was still pretty amped up himself with finally getting a second to breathe, some time to relax after everything they had to go through that semester. It wasn’t often that they actually got time to themselves lately. Even if that was just to study and be normal - however normal they could be - students.

Having a party in the middle of a school week seemed like a good way to start.

“You know this, this is a whole other level,” a very drunk Ethan stated in awe from right next to him.

“What is?” MG humored the conversation as he tried to get him back to his room so he could pass out in peace.

“The school, the parties…” Ethan trailed off. “You know sometimes I just- I think I might miss being, like a normal person? But mostly I don’t? You know?”

“Uh, yeah, I guess. It’d be nice not having to drink blood to survive,” MG answered. He’d reconciled with being a vampire long ago, loved all the people he’d met because of it, but sometimes he couldn’t help but miss his human self. Imagine what it would have been like if he’d never turned.

“But you’re so awesome, dude!” Ethan insisted, falling further into MG’s side who struggled not to topple over. “I’ve always wanted to be like you. Even when I didn’t remember, I think I kind of did.”

MG couldn’t help but smile. It wasn’t exactly the life he’d wanted for Ethan, but it was still kind of nice to have him with them at the school. Even more convenient that he hadn’t had to die in order to become part of the supernatural community. MG might have accepted vampirism into his life, but he wouldn’t exactly impose it on other people like that, especially not someone he really cared about.

They eventually reached Ethan’s room, MG managing to hold him up while also opening the door and dragging him inside. He let him fall on his bed where he spent a couple of seconds with his face smushed into the pillow before turning around to stare at the ceiling.

“I think- I might be drunk,” Ethan eventually concluded.

“I think your perception skills are on point,” MG said with a chuckle.

“My mom would kill me if she found out,” he sighed. “But I could probably tell her I also turn invisible now and that would distract her from the underage drinking.”

“I think you should refrain from any big, life altering decisions until you’re sober again,” MG helpfully provided, taking a seat on the foot of the bed. He just wanted to make sure everything was fine before he left.

“Yeah…” Ethan sighed. “You know,” he continued, sluggishly pushing himself up until he was sitting in front of MG. “I’m really, really sorry for lying to you.”

“Ethan, we talked about that. We’re cool,” MG tried to reassure him even though he was pretty sure he wouldn’t remember it the next day.

“I know, but that, like- It wasn’t cool. Not to you,” Ethan said. “I shouldn’t have lied to you.”

MG wasn’t sure what more he could say, he’d already forgiven him, had brought him back to the school, promised he would be there for him even if no one else would be. He’d come to really care for Ethan and he knew how easily mistakes were made sometimes.

“It’s okay,” he said. “Lizzie asked you not to say anything and I know it’s not always easy to tell her no.”

Ethan snorted, looking down at the covers. “I thought it might have been right. Letting her do this, not putting  everyone in danger.” And MG really knew he hadn’t meant to hurt him, but it’d still stung that he’d gone behind his back. He wasn’t lying when he said they were cool, but he just… Felt like they were in a different place now. Maybe that was just him. They were friends. They were still ‘fighting’ over Lizzie.

“Well, for the record, everyone  is safe now, so we don’t really have to worry,” he said.

“Right. And we’re all alive. Which is good. And we can go back to where we were before,” Ethan stated solemnly.

“Which is a good thing,” MG finished for him, a crease in his brow. “No more threats hanging over our heads.”

“No, that is- that’s great, really great. Great for us. But like- can we- we’re not where we should be,” Ethan stumbled over his words. MG was honestly not sure how he hadn’t passed out yet, but he was struggling to make sense and the least he could do was try and follow.

“I’m not sure I understand…” he said.

“We are not okay,” Ethan tried to explain again, his words slurring a bit. “Between us.”

“You mean about Lizzie?” MG once again tried to make sense.

“Lizzie’s not the issue, man,” he insisted. “She’s not- This whole thing, it doesn’t exist!”

Either MG was drunk too or Ethan was just not making any sense anymore. “What doesn’t exist?”

“This,” Ethan insisted once more. “The whole- love triangle thing.”

“Oh.” Realization finally hit. “Wait. You’re saying, you’re not into Lizzie?”

“I was. Must have been. I think. She’s great, but she’s just…” he trailed off, staring back at MG. “Not the one I’ve been thinking about.”

Oh.

And maybe this wasn’t the greatest time because Ethan was drunk out of his mind and it was highly possible he wouldn’t remember any of that tomorrow, but MG couldn’t help but hold on to his words. Drunk or not, he wasn’t lying to him right now.

“I haven’t really been thinking about her like that either,” he eventually said.

No one said anything for a few seconds until Ethan gave a little nod. “That is… good to know,” he said, tilting only slightly to the left.

MG really wanted to finish the conversation, but it was getting more and more evident that it wouldn’t be exactly possible at this state. They would definitely be able to get further when they were all sober and aware of their surroundings.

“I think it might be time to go to sleep,” MG said.

“Yeah, probably,” Ethan sighed as he fell back on his side, hugging a pillow against him. “Good night.”

MG was itching to say more, but he was pretty sure anything he did wouldn’t process right now. It wasn’t the right time.

“Good night,” he said instead. 

He had hope that Ethan would actually remember their conversation the next morning, that maybe he also possessed some supernatural instinct of overriding big amounts of alcohol. Then again if that were true, he probably wouldn’t be drunk tonight.

And so next morning after Ethan had stumbled his way to breakfast - much like most of the other students - and sat opposite of MG, whispering a hi and shielding his face from the light coming in from the windows, MG couldn’t help but blurt out, “Do you know what you’re like when you’re drunk?”

“Oh God,” Ethan muttered. “I didn’t do anything stupid, did I?”

“No, not stupid,” MG said. “You don’t remember?”

“It’ll come back to me, I just need a second,” Ethan answered with a sigh. “And lots of coffee.”

MG couldn’t help but smile once more. He could wait for a second.

[little-elf-wanders]

is this just karma for being a solas hater, bioware? cause i'm doing this TO CHANGE. i'm doing this for the drama, for the tragedy. and to actually see if he can get a good redemption arc in the end that i'll find satisfying/show me the sides to him i did like. i want my Lavellan to be so close to getting him to open up, while not sacrificing her own values for his approval. i want her to genuinely love him. i want her to see the good in him but ultimately it not be enough for him.

she is going to be a proud dalish. she is going to be devastated his goal all along was to not actually see this new world for what it was. to now allow it to be anything but what he once saw. and to understand how painful it likely is for him, but that everyone since the history of ever have always had pains too and he can't force this because of his regrets - he caused it, he created it. he needs to accept things have changed. that things aren't just easily ripped apart because you don't like it. it takes effort to change things not a magic restart. and that no, ripping down the veil isn't the answer anymore because too much time has passed. too much has grown and developed and flourished because of it. that tearing it down is just attempted genocide.

because like it or not, that is what is happening, he just doesn't see it this way because he can't see people as people. he's justified it as a Wrong Reality, but it isn't. this isn't the same magic of the Hushed Whispers act - that was Dorian's and Alexius's magic. he doesn't get to believe this was anything similar because he isn't planning or even studying to follow that spell, besides the way that ended? the people had already lost. they all made the decision together, they all saw the horror of a life where Corynuts won, where he twisted the red lyrium to an unfixable point. and where the whole world was overran by demons.

that simply isn't the fate of thedas that Solas is in. it's not all terror and evil. it's not completely overran by demons. we're actively stopping that reality from happening. and we win it.

i want lexi to make him see that his precautions still has a body count and the casualties are way too high in numbers. that he needs to care about this world. the one they fought for together. but ultimately, he was fighting for the orb and not for the world. and he should regret that. he shouldn't regret his actions as an ancient elf who tore down his fellow corrupted leaders, freed slaves and made the veil to trap them - they were a genuine threat and he actually did right locking them away. he genuinely shouldn't regret that. what he SHOULD regret is everything he's tried to do to after this point when he woke up. because time had just... moved on. people evolved. magic evolved. cultures he set free evolved and some were even made from it. the ecosystem evolved. it all adapted and formed. and instead of seeing that, he see's a mistake to be corrected because he misses what had been.

he made corynuts a threat by giving him something to make a difference.

he gave him the damn orb, so yes, he was at fault for all of inquisitions problems regarding Corypheus and what he was able to accomplish. and frankly, all that could have been easily forgiven if he'd only gave people the fucking chance to form their opinions on it.

but he didn't.

he then ran alongside a group that directly disproved his views of a lost cause world, even found people who cared and loved him and who would have tried to help him if he'd only asked because he's seen them help everyone damn else - but it was his pride and his unwillingness to understand a new world. not a new reality, a new world.

he should have a lot of regrets, and i want my Lavellan to be able to say it to his face, "It was the lack of trust you gave any of us and the world that hurts the most out of all this. This isn't just about you anymore. I fought for a world to fucking live in, The Inquisition was making strides in forging and clawing a better future, I gave my arm for it, gave everything I had to give to try to right some mistakes and you've thrown all of that in my face. And not just mine. Varric's. Cassandra's. Iron Bull's. Everyone who ever looked at you with the trust to help make things right, to help mend and heal and be better - you decided we weren't enough. That you needed it all gone. And what if the world you create next isn't any better? What if it doesn't fix a single thing but just creates whole new problems? Because it'll happen, it'll go on and adapt and grow like we did, and you can't control that. You can't control how a world grows. So what if what comes next is worse, or something you also need to fix? Will you walk away then? If so, why couldn't you walk away now? What does it take for you to see that life isn't a fucking toy? It's complicated, harsh, sometimes horrific and traumatic. But it's good, too. It's thriving. And it's TRYING. And it's fighting every day to make things better. People rallying behind the Inquisition should have proved that there was hope for people."

i just need to have a Lavellan ex that isn't kissing Solas's ass about all of this. because yeah, he's tragic and it's sad, and I have sympathy for him but i am so beyond tired of people pretending everything he did wasn't selfish. he does care, i'm not saying he doesn't, that's not what i'm saying, but what he cares about isn't Thedas. not how it currently is, not what it grew into naturally. not what it could be if he'd only change those efforts into something more productive. could you imagine the force he'd be to reckon with if he actually gave a shit legitimately?

he's out there freeing so many slaves in Tevinter, and i LOVE that, but he's freeing them to rip down the fucking veil and have allies, not just to free them because they should be free. he's not dismantling the organisations that need dismantled, he's dismantling the fucking whole world in hopes it'll be a RESET. his magic might be able to safeguard the group of followers he's picked up but he sure as shit doesn't care about the rest??? the innocent folk in Minrathos being attacked by demons from his ritual???? hello???

"I took the precautions."

not he fuck you didn't. you just wanted to keep the two you jailed in that cell while you ripped down everything else. and that's the easiest option in the world to take because it puts less introspection on his own end. his own ego. his own regrets from what he did before. it takes GUTS to move forwards after creating the veil, and death, and spirits, and the fade.

but the world accepted it. the worlds whole ecosystem adapted around it. cultures did too. you can't just hit a reset button because you don't like the outcome.

if the spirits being twisted is a major issue, WORK TO FIX THAT RATIONALLY. create a group dedicated to teaching about the fade. create something to work on bettering the relationship between magic and spirits and the fade in the world as it is now. to where human emotions can't corrupt, or at least have them more educated on it. because you have the base already after the conclave. there's a chance to remake the world in a better way that doesn't involve bringing down the veil, my man. it just takes more EFFORT but it's there.

anyway. the dlc is downloading. i just... ugh. it's testament to the writing of this character that he can bring out a lot of feelings. from haters and lovers alike. i call myself a hater but it's just his attitude and plan i don't like. i understand it's how he is, but there are still things i like about him, it's just betrayed by his misguided sense of pride for the wrong things, it'd be interesting to have a genuine chance to see him show these regrets. (I also pray the message of the next game isn't 'let the world be changed by letting the veil destroy it' because that is...very Thanos.)

uninstalling inquisition on gamepass and getting it on steam, i guess, hopefully I'll have more luck

[jiminrings]

omg omg omg... what if jk sees yn WALKING TAE HOME?? like it looks like that but they’re just passing by his place or something and he’s actually walking yn home ?? and to make matters worse jk THOUGHT it wasn’t like that but someone told him “oh yeah she’s walking him home, she’s always done that with him” sorry if it’s not an original idea

cold senior!y/n x stem major!koo masterlist :D

it’s raining at a party and jungkook gets the wrong idea

“good evening.”

yoongi sQUAWKS at the shock that’s mere inches away from his face, having only woken up from his afternoon nap that ended up with him waking right before dinner

why were you all up in his face

what the fuck was that for ://

“god, never do that to me again,” he grumbles at the abrupt awakening even if it’s his system that told him to, only a convenience that you happen to be there when he was starting to shift in his now-shallow slumber

“guess what!!!”

oh you’re squealinG??? alright that must be good

it’s nice to hear you excited anyways because you haven’t been for a long time ever since j*ngkook lol

“just show me,” yoongi sits up fully from his position on the couch, rubbing the remaining sleep off his eyes

normally, you would be pissed instantly because him not guessing just spoils your whole excitement

but tHIS time you don’t look bothered at the slightest, proceeding to take his faux disinterest in stride

the door clicks open and seokjin strides in like he owns the place, trying to immerse himself in the situation he’s walked on as fast as possible

you squeal in regard, eyes now switching between him and yoongi before you whip out something from behind your back

“i got a lunchbox!!!!”

you thrust the lunchbox (you recreated it in the way you receiver it) to yoongi’s face and he flinches momentarily, eyes focusing on the lunchbox first before his mind processes your words

“that is a really shiny scarf it’s — wait what??”

you,,, gOT A LUNCHBOX????

..... and it’s not from him??

yoongi looks at seokjin and the way he looks perplex but definitely sure confirms that it isn’t him either

“so someone — you received a lunchbox. huh.”

WOOOOOOW

you nod earnestly, admiring the shiny scarf and the handiwork of an embroidery that’s your name on it

“yup! i was with taehyung when i noticed it on the corner of the room.”

oh god

seokjin scratches the back of his head and it’s a dead giveaway that yoongi notices, something sketchy definitely up in the air that shouldn’t be there

“yoongi! come here for a sec. i have a uh, question about weed :-)”

jin is nOT good when it comes to segues

he takes the liberty to pull aside a yoongi who has question marks knitted on his eyebrows, his gaze immediately trained on him once they’re far enough away from you

“long story but!!!!! that jungkook kid gave y/n the lunchbox. taehyung just happened to be there.”

you see

yoongi could only digest multiple things from a single sentence at once

but the problem is, he’s digesting EVERYTHING from jin’s sentence and he didn’t want to

he’s just gonna omit the parts he hates the most :D

“y/n. taehyung gave you that lunchbox. say thank you to him tomorrow morning.”

NO??????

jin sputters because that is clearly not the truth he’s just said

and apparently, you seem to think so to because you just laughed at his cutthroat statement

“no he didn’t,” you heartily laugh, putting down the lunchbox before crossing your arms across his chest

no way

both jin and yoongs freeze this time because does that mean you already know who gave the lunchbox to you??

and if you know who, and if you’re laughing right now,,,, does that mean you’ve already forgiven jungkook????

pls say no

“i already thanked taehyung, yoongs,” you smile at the fresh memory, “but two seconds later, he told me that he WASN’T the one who made it for me. he said he’s good at baking, but horrendous at cooking!!!!”

...

.....

“....... so you really don’t know who it is?”

“nope! not a clue :D”

whew

yoongi thinks you should never get to know who it is

jin thinks you shouldn’t know who it is tHIS early

yoongi dodges the topic easily to refrain from dwelling on it any longer, about to send an angry text full of queries to jin later on

“mmm. what was the lunch?”

“my favorite!!!” you beam and even whip out your phone to show them the picture of the food you ravaged hours ago

you turn your eyes to jin, giddy in excitement while yoongi’s holding your phone-holding hand to zoom into the picture

“and it’s just like your recipe!!!”

.. hehe

..... that’s because it his

goddamn jungkook managed to recreate it like his recipe???? hmm commendable

alright yoongi’s angrily looking at him rn

maybe he’ll send an angry paragraph text this time >:(

“weren’t you concerned like... since you don’t know the person? what if they poisoned your lunch?”

yoongi suggests in an attempt to make you think rationally, away from his insistence that you should nEVER know that jungkook made you your favorite

“then i got a good meal out of it.”

:O

that’s not,,,, that’s not a good answer

b-bestie ??????

both yoongi and jin are speechless and the former takes the lead once more, clearing his throat because the conflict of this lunchbox thing is presenting makes his head ache

“anyways, there’s another party tonight.”

you raise your hand quick in the prospect of unwinding for free

“i’m in!!”

“you should be. hoseok’s the host.”

that makes it even better!!!

it apparently doesn’t for mr. student affairs because jin groans in annoyance, not really digging his school official position because he’d need to sit this one out forcibly :///

“goddamn it. jung’s throwing it? his parties are sO good that it even reached our radar when i was still a senior!”

it it reaches senior-level status of approval then that’s like,,,, the only seal of approval you’d ever need

“no way,” you’re awed at the newfound fact, not expecting that hoseok was already an A+ party-thrower even before he became a senior this year

“even namjoon liked his parties.”

namjoon THEE student registrar??? the same namjoon as in your friend by extension because he’s sort of a friend to seokjin???? :O

“really? even namjoon found his parties great??? BUT HE’S LIKE-“ yoongi finds the right substitute words to a stick up his ass in the most respectful way possible because he’s sort of friends with the guy too, “he’s like namjoon,, he’s the antithesis to hoseok.”

jin shrugs because everyone knows the saying at this point

there’s something for everyone at jung’s

“wear a face mask?” yoongi suggests to jin so he wouldn’t be recognized, knowing he’s a lil upset that he can’t come to this party because the face he boasts about is known by everybody

“no. i’m gonna look like a fucking narc, yoongi.”

alright that makes sense

he bounces back from that, waving his hand to shoo you and yoongi off

“sucks. yeah whatever. i’ll hold the fort down, just don’t do anything stupid enough for me to pick you up.”

:)

you’re not gonna do anything stupid!! :)

jungkook’s too down to even focus at the moment

he’s at his desk and he’s supposed to study for a test tomorrow, and all the material needed for it is engraved in his mind already, but well

yeah his mind’s only fixed on you right now and not chemistry

“she thought it was someone else who gave her the lunchbox.”

jin flinches as his door bursts open, his lunch break sign posted rIGHT outside the door to avoid things like these happening

oh it’s jungkook

oh. it’s jungkook ://

“i keep telling you that counseling’s right next door, kid.”

jin himself digs the running joke but jungkook apparently doesn’t, a sorrowed look to his face that can’t be fixed by some teasing

jin ignored that obviously because it’s not like he’s on jeon’s side!! he’s just here to be as neutral and realistic as much as possible

“and besides, it’s not like you put your name on it, right?? wasn’t that your whole purpose? do it to her like she did to you?

”m-my name...,. i’ll put my name...?”

WAIT HOLD ON

jungkook jolts from his desk, an epiphany forming in his mind

he may not have understood the interaction he had with mr. kim hours ago, but after replaying it in his head for hours now (along with that part of you mistaking taehyung to be the giver), he fINALLY gets an idea

he rushes out of his room and right to the couch where jimin’s sprawled out and watching a movie

“hi jimin!!! is there a party tonight?”

jimin almost falls out of his seat from the surprise of seeing jungkook altogether, gripping his chest

“f-fuck! — yeah. yeah dude, there’s a party tonight...?”

wait why is he asking

“o-okay!! take me with you.”

WHAT

jimin’s surprised that jungkook wants to come with, let alone even ask in the first place

buuuut jimin’s a good friend and he’ll say his assurances first before he gets to asking the why aspect to this

“alright. by the way about last time, kook — i swear i won’t leave you alone this time!! i’m gonna hold my alcohol in and-“

“no, no!” jungkook interrupts and shakes his head strongly, spooking jimin for a second with how determined he looks

“you can leave me alone at the party!! i-i’ll be there on my own.”

this is his idea

he’s a man with a plan!!! he’s also a man who has your eyedrops and the various containers he made with it inside his gigantic hoodie pocket

he’s more comfortable now than he was the first time he came around at a party

he knows you’re here somewhere along the crowd and that alone brings him comfort :-)

“i’m gonna go outside. these vape juices are annoying.”

you huff the moment you get a whiff of sriracha-flavored vape juice one more time, the whole area where you happen to sit in being the most annoyingly-scented room in the whole house

who does that!!!!! who gets condiments as their fucking vape juice!!!!!

yoongi waves you off as he’s also nearing his limit too, his peeve being mint chocolate juice and he’s gonna dip as sOON as this dude at the corner tries blowing it into laughable smoke rings again

yeah that’s what fresh air smells like alright

.... and rain??

it’s raining???

wow you haven’t even noticed and practically no one else did

hoseok’s sound system must be too good for none of you to notice that it’s raining outside!! a light shower that looks like it’s gonna turn into buckets within a matter of minutes

“Y/N!!!”

a voice yells into the street and your eyes widen with how loud it is, squinting your eyes hard to try and see the source

is that-

“TAEHYUNG?!?!”

is he running towards you??

wait why is he running towards you

(tae actually found out about this party through yoongi and he heard that there were non-alcoholic jello shots and mini cake hors d’oeuvres which are his favorites so he’s sprinting)

the way that he’s running towards you and the water that puddles when he steps gives you anxiety, a worried lilt to your yell

“TAE?? BE CAREFUL IT’S-“

taehyung can’t register what you just yelled out because before he knows it, he slips

he slips suddenly in the rain and there’s a harsh twist to his ankle in doing so that makes him choke out

“WHAT DID YOU — FUCK!!^]%{^]”

oh my god

you grab the nearest umbrella in the rack from your right, speed-walking to where taehyung’s fallen on the ground

he’s visibly startled, blubbering when you get to him

“i-i’m not crying. it’s the rain.”

of course :-)

you lift taehyung without much help from him since it’s hard for him to shift his body weight into one foot, putting yourself underneath his arm

“yeah, i believe you,” you smile as to comfort him and he returns it in relief, knocking the side of his head to the top of yours because his adrenaline’s through the roof

“i’ll walk you home. or to the emergency room. your call.”

“ER please??? god, m-my roommate’s into crystals and i don’t think amethyst can help me with this.”

yeah lmao that’s your cue to start walking

you text seokjin to meet you at the hospital instead of here, having to consider the fact that an official from student affairs is picking you up and is indeed your best friend being enough of a shock for poor taehyung at the moment

jungkook’s been looking for you for the past minute ever since you stood up from the couch, following you out the door but uh,,, you’re not here??

who is here?

oh wait!!! that’s vernon at the bench by the front foor!!! he’s from his stem class :D

“was that y/n? a-and taehyung?”

jungkook doesn’t beat around the bush because he’s sort of friends with the guy too, the same guy who’s a lil giggly with the daiquiris at the moment

“hey jimin!! what’s up dude? yeah, that was y/n and taehyung.”

uhm what

jimin’s BLONDE!! how could he get mistaken for jimin?

jungkook ignores the mistaken identity, eyes anxiously pointing towards the road again

“she’s walking him home?”

“totally. she’s always done that with him.”

what

..... what

he’s trying to trust it on good faith that vernon absolutely doesn’t know what he’s talking about

jungkook’s hurt but god does that pain shoot through him instantly, getting out of the porch wistlessly

wAIT

that’s you!!! that’s still you!!!!

and you’re-

????

you’re holding up taehyung and he’s limping

your ears pick up on the sudden running behind you and that pANICS you and in turn panics tae

but that doesn’t matter

it shouldn’t.

the cabs are atleast three more blocks away and neither of you brought a car because the dorms are walking-distance

everyone that’s left at the party has got to be too intoxicated to even put a key in the ignition

the weight on your shoulder eases and it makes you stop in your tracks to see if tae’s suddenly regrouped

is that —

jungkook lifts taehyung by his other arm, the light shower of rain making his hair damp without an umbrella like yours

“taehyung’s hurt.”

it only registers now that you’re seeing jungkook and he’s right here, surprising you as a whole

jungkook’s as startled as you are, swallowing the nervousness upon seeing you to get his words out

“a-and i wanna talk to you.”