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howlsofbloodhounds · 3 months ago

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might be a controversial/unpopular opinion but i headcanon that any classic variant of sans has some sort of superiority complex going on. maybe not exactly that, but they're some flavor of self-righteous, i guess?

OKAY LISTEN. i'm not saying sans is a bad guy or anything (i love him very much i swear). canon sans is written really well in the sense that he's intentionally very vague and mysterious so we can speculate a lot on his past and intentions throughout the story. idk, maybe my reading is completely off but sans appears to me as a lovable asshole, especially to someone who is a child (frisk). he likes playing around with frisk - yeah it's harmless but still his advice tends to be vague, especially when it comes to battle tips lmao. just imagine in-universe how terrible his advice comes off to a child.

and like, the restaurant scene. sans is intentionally acting all blithe about letting a child die on his watch, under a promise - like i know it's supposed to be a funny off-hand comment to the player, but in-universe again he addresses this to a child. it's just- lmao this guy has some problems for sure.

i think being self-righteous is just tied to his role as a judge as well. he's always 'right' in his judgement, because that's what he is. i think it's just interesting to explore that particular aspect of sans' personality, that he acts in what he thinks is right, and he's always right, isn't he? maybe that's why i tend to enjoy undertale stories where sans somewhat assumes the role of the antagonist - it creates some fantastic dynamic with people around him who it seems like he never really connects well.

~ crowshipping anon

Crow!! Yayy!!

And I honestly kinda vibe with this interpretation honestly. I haven’t completely finished playing all the Undertale games myself (curse my lack of motivation 😭), but I watched a few playthroughs here and there, and it seems like something that could make sense.

Especially when he’s given such an important position like a being a Judge, his opinions and judgements are likely taken seriously by Asgore.

And the thing is, you can also make an argument for this with our most popular classic variants; the Murder Time Trio. Murder justifies what he does as being better that he does it instead of the human, justifies it with that he will eventually stop the human.

Really, he may even argue that his current actions don’t really even go against his job as the Judge; he has judged that the human must be stopped, and he has to do it because he’s the only one who can. I’ve even seen some ideas going around that maybe he views himself as the Angel from the Prophecy, having judged that the Underground will be free by death.

Horror is the entire reason his Underground started eating humans, and he is also the reason that the Core is damaged beyond repair. He didn’t want to sacrifice himself for the Underground, and he survived the event that took his eye, yet he still judged that Undyne and Alphys had to pay for their betrayal—and in doing so he decided that the rest of the Underground would be doomed to starvation or eating people.

He decided to trick Horror Papyrus into eating human meat even though Papyrus very clearly did not want to, and Horror doesn’t seem all too guilty about it—even as Papyrus goes out of his way to prevent Horror from eating humans at his own request.

I’ve even seen around by bigger Horror/Horrortale fans than me that Horror’s reasons for starving himself may not even be entirely selfless—such as for a moral reason or wanting others to have more food than him. But rather because he views it as beneath him and he won’t go “that low.” How canon that is, im not sure, but it’s interesting.

Then meanwhile there’s Killer. He sneers at Swap and threatens to kill him if he ever attempts to compare himself to Killer again, he holds the beliefs and mindsets of his human that were taught to him very closely and looks down on anyone who views things differently with contempt—especially if they attempt to “force” him to view things differently.

Things like mercy or kindness or hesitation are seen as weakness and things to take advantage of in his mind. Even himself is not free from this nihilistic, fatalistic, violence and apathetic driven worldview—-looking down on himself in Stage 1.

He will go out of his way to prove himself and his views right, even if that means doing exactly what Chara did and coercing/provoking someone into killing, attacking, hurting, etc, either themselves, others, or even him.

This is exactly what he was supposed to be, and it’s pointless to try and change or hope for anything more than what he or anyone else deserves. He probably finds Murder’s attempts to justify his genocides absolutely ridiculous. And Horror to be absolutely hypocritical. (Which is why Color’s specific way of approaching Stage 2, wanting to show him a better life—something new—rather than trying to change or fix him, worked so well.)

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mysteriouslybluepirate · 1 year ago

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hi bestie saw ur post and im kinda curious about this since it's something not a lot of ppl are talking about next to ed's arc and izzy's death and all— what do you think about how they handled stede in the finale? I felt like a lot of the "incompetent wannabe pirate" jokes undermined his progress this season and also him deciding to stay at the inn with ed felt odd as he expressed he wanted to be a pirate and sail the sea. just wondering what other people think about that

[Oct 31, 2023]

Before we get into it, you are allowed to enjoy this show! My past (and next few) responses WILL be negative, but you aren't wrong for agreeing or disagreeing with most posts. Thanks to all the people who have already sent in messages! I can't wait to respond!!

I am an Izzy fan first and foremost, but how a show handles it's protagonist says a LOT about how it handles it' characters overall!

TLDR for this post: In any character-centric media, explore your characters as characters first. Develop your plot around them and their arcs. Don't treat an ensemble cast as faceless props for the story you're trying to tell. Stede's arc is weird because Stede is shoved in places where it feels like he doesn't fit anymore.

Creating a narrative focused on central character conflicts can work. This is how S1 was written. Stede and his actions directly lead to revealing truths of the world that push the plot forward. This worked because I'd argue the strongest part of OFMD overall is its characters. S2 misses out on this strongest aspect by only referencing its characters when it needs something from them.

S1 We went from Stede killing a guy-> The Act of Grace. S2 Stede tells a guy he shouldn't be an idiot and leave behind a calling card -> burning down the Republic of Pirates and killing Izzy. S2 doesn't feel as tied to Stede's arc of growing into a pirate. But Stede isn't the only person this has fucked over.

Each crew member has their role established from S1, we fans know how they work as a family. But in S2 most of the cast can be swapped out interchangeably unless its something that features this side character NICHE (Wee John in drag being good with fabrics, Roach being a cook).

Sadly, by focusing on the larger Zheng vs. Military arc, a story our characters BARELY caused, the audience misses out on potential character development. Instead of our characters facing the consequences of their actions, our favorite side characters are used as faceless narrative tools. This is largely why the crew was abandoned this season unless they had a romantic side plot. Seeing The Revenge sail off in episode 8, it feels like we barely care about them at all anymore.

As seen from @the-buttspie 's comment, even Stede's arc isn't left out of the firing range. His characterization in episode 8 is constantly thrown back and forth between 'Captain doing his best' and 'Village idiot' if the scene needs it.

Analyzing WHY I started to dislike Stede post episode 4 is FASCINATING, and I feel that digging all the way back to the beginning is a smart way to look at his character growth this season.

FRAMING: Stede's early story get's fucked over pacing-wise because his storyline happens side by side to that of Ed/Izzy.

Any dramatic moment is cut short to show just how much the other crew is NOT about to die. Every time I watch S2 with a new person, for episodes 1-3, they'll comment on how much they don't care about Stede's plot. Which is not a thing you'd want for your protagonist in a season of TV that's only 8 episodes long.

Stede goes through a really strong arc from S1 to the start of S2. For the first three episodes of S2, he puts the needs of his crew before the needs of himself. Literally making sure his crew is safe before going down to see Ed's corpse. I genuinely enjoyed how Stede stepped up for his family. How he doesn't blame the Revenge crew for killing Ed, realizing that yes. Ed is the love of his life and also a man who has seriously hurt so many people.

Eps 4-5: From that we see him trying to talk it through with Ed. While both of them aren't telling the whole truth, it's a good start! We're midway through the season, so we should expect things to get fleshed out more soon.

Until Stede decides 'I'm going to bring a man that tortured my family for 80+ days onboard less than 24 hours after my crew voted him off' Yes. Stede loves Ed to a stupid extent, but this starts the trend for Stede to be dangerously selfish this season using his power as captain to overwrite the want of his crew, a habit of his that partially gets Izzy killed.

I really enjoyed Stede in episode 5, and for me, this felt most like the Stede we recognize growing into a real Captain with hints of who he was. I think it says a lot that Stede still misses his layers and silks. That he craves the softness he used to have in the form of that cursed jacket. But as soon as Izzy is like 'you idiot, please listen to them, they will mutiny' Stede gives it up!!!! He's grown. He's listening to Izzy, he's talking with his crew! This episode did the one thing I wish the season did more of, show the reunited crew just living their lives.

This is where Stede stands out, it lets him be a bit more of a leader to the crew. Let him find his groove again. I loved it!!

Now: Killing Ned Low.

Stede choosing to kill Ned Low is the first time Stede killing someone counts. Yes, he burned down the ship French ship. But this is the first time the audience is supposed to care. I think this moment WAS in character and a really important moment for Stede. He chose this. This wasn't up to crew vote, Ned insulted Ed so fuck him, he deserves to die. Ned walks the plank, also referencing historical Bonnet's tendency to do the same thing.

This is where both Ed and Stede make an in-character mistake, having their first time after the rush of 'oh shit, I'm still alive, and I'm hurting and you're here too'. They don't regret their first time, clearly, they both enjoyed it, but both of them can't ignore what fueled it. Stede has had 3 episodes to re-establish himself with his crew, and now has very little time for the rest of the season with them to show off his growth. That's why, after the party, we don't feel like this show is showing off a family anymore. Even when reunited, they barely feel like a united front.

But from this point on, I personally feel that Stede should have toned down the humor a bit and act like he did in episode 3. Well, I'm getting a bit ahead of myself so-

Episode 7: Stede enjoys being popular, following in Ed's footsteps. He holds his ground against Ed, and overall this feels like a natural progression of his arc from episode 5. He knows what he wants in life and Ed not communicating is genuinely frustrating for him. Him being heartbroken and trying to fight Zheng like she's Izzy is one of the few callbacks I feel that works. As it compares a Stede who was supported by his crew, to this Stede who feels totally alone. I loved Stede this episode, only to be disappointed by-

Episode 8:

Where Ed is allowed to have his silly moments in private, I feel that Stede fluctuates between silly and serious WAY too much for us to take him seriously. Stede's response to Ed telling him he loved him being 'I know' also felt off to me.

"You're not a dick, life's a dick" This line is frustrating to me as it's Stede's response to Ed apologizing. Genuinely apologizing for his actions in the previous episode. This could have been a moment for us to feel like Stede and Ed were a united front but Stede's constant joking and not taking shit semi-seriously. Yes. He feels more comfortable around his family which is amazing.

But I can't help but point out how Stede chooses to go along with a plan the rest of the crew doesn't like. What NARRATIVE purpose was there for Stede trying to sell the captain? He has money, clearly. With the loot they still have, and a future alliance with Zheng.

Stede fucks up. His choice a plan that gets Izzy killed. The writers sacrificed Stede being a competent Captain who cares about his crew into what is described as a 'suicide mission' to push Izzy into his rushed death. A disservice to both characters.

ONTO:

Stede abandons piracy

I'm not shocked they did this, not after the other flubs of the episode, but I hate that it wasn't a conversation held between Ed and Stede.

They could cut the stupid joke about Ed being bad at fishing at the beginning and have these two idiots talking about their issues. Maybe establish that, yeah, piracy is a lot, and they deserve to settle down and get to know each other. Even if they return to the sea, this frames it as Ed finally finding peace and Stede getting pulled along, going against his character growth this season.

I'm surprised that they're setting this up now and not at the end of Season 3. Hell, I used to think S3 would be focused on Ed and Stede avoiding/faking their historical deaths. Given all the bullshit they'll have to clean up to wrap up all the loose ends established this season- S3 will be VERY Ed/Stede focused, I think the crew will still be inserted in without care or arc. Characters like Jim and Oluwande will be prioritized as they are in a relationship before our nonromantic characters like Wee John and Frenchie.

Stede and Ed's relationship, the driving force of the plot, still falls flat because after everything it still feels like puppy love. They've spent at most two months in person together, and two weeks in a serious relationship. I don't really feel convinced that they actually love each other. Ed still doesn't know that Stede was kidnapped at the end of S1, or why he struggles to talk about his feelings. Ed still hasn't talked about why he feels he needs to leave piracy, or his issues feeling like he doesn't belong anywhere in life. Their habit of running away the MOMENT things get hard just makes me not care about them.

I blame the size of the Izzy fandom on the fact that if you don't buy into the leads, there's almost nothing left here to sink your teeth into. The moment the show seems like they'll talk about it they hard pivot.

I hope S3ep1 happens after a LONG time jump. I want these fuckers to be snippy like two people snowed into a cabin for months. Sick of each other and bitching back and forth like no tomorrow. S3 is about genuinely breaking down their walls. Until then, I'll stick with Izzy, the Canyon, and his depressing version of this reality.

#stede bonnet #I'm a bit worried this post will reach all the Stede fans directly and they'll feel attacked. Please don't feel that way!#I genuinely enjoyed where he was going until episode 8 where Stede seemed emotionally distant the entire episode #I just wish Stede had more impact to his own central story #ofmd critical #ofmd meta #ofmd season 2 #ofmd s2 spoilers #stede bonnet critical #IDK if thats a tag #stede critical #?#ofmd s2 finale #ofmd s2

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animentality · 11 months ago

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(Leaps in askbox now its clear) Howdy! I'm curious about your opinions on the companions, like initial thoughts and now that you've clocked in an unhealthy (affectionate) amount of hours? We know what you'd change but how about everyone as is? Thanks!

Alrighty, I can finally answer this one...

Ok.

Man. This is gonna be a long one.

We're gonna start with the shorter opinions first.

Minthara:

I have not done a run where Minthara was alive in Act 2. I literally know almost nothing about her.

I think she's hot and has the sexiest voice of all the female characters, but I know nothing about her story, other than she was a lesbian with Orin. I do wanna try and romance her, but.

Who knows if I'll ever get around to it.

Minsc:

I get that he's a fan favorite from the old games, but I kind of hate him. He feels like fanservice, and I didn't get a nostalgia boner for him, so he does nothing for me as a character.

I honestly kill him. Not out of malice, just more out of, why even have him be here?

Plus I tend to go through the entire game without swapping my party members, because I'm pretending it's a real dnd campaign.

And I ain't changing my team comp for this weirdo who only shows up at the very end.

Sorry to his hamster when I kill him, though.

Jaheira:

She's ok. I don't hate her, but she doesn't do it for me. I don't get why she's Russian. And apparently the only Russian in the whole game.

She also feels like fanservice.

Plus she fucking drops ice storms on everyone's goddamn HEADS when they're already in Hunger of Hadar, and honestly?

We have beef. I let her die sometimes, for that crime specifically. I also skip her house, because it doesn't have good loot, besides the scimitars, and I don't play races or classes that use scimitars. like ever.

Halsin:

I like Halsin generally, he's inoffensive to me, but his "romance" is so bad. It's shallow, it feels tacked on, which it was, and everyone knows how much I HATE how little his sexual trauma is focused on.

I romanced him twice, and both times, I was underwhelmed and kind of shrugged him off.

He should just be a fling option like Mizora. He shouldn't have become a "romance" option. It's fine for him to be a big buff bear hippie that you can fuck, but a companion?

He's got nothing to do with Act 3. It's a detriment to his character and the game, tbh.

Ok, that's the smaller ones out of the way. Now mains:

Astarion:

I got into BG3 for Astarion.

I fully admit it. I saw a scene of him screaming at Tav for blasting him with the sun beam from the githyanki creche, and it was funny as fuck.

Neil Newbon is highly charismatic, and truly elevates a character I don't find that physically attractive. His personality and enthusiasm shine through, and his voice acting is superb. And I am a sucker for angst and redemption and themes of abuse and breaking free of toxic relationships. And darkly, I admit. I do like the more twisted nature of his backstory, the way he had to use his body to survive, has a bad relationship with sex, and was tortured repeatedly. As anyone who reads my writing knows...I am a disgusting sadistic pervert.

That being said.

I no longer like Astarion. Well. No. I like Astarion.

I don't like his fans, or his rhetoric. Astarion has the better writing of BG3, but the lack of nuance from his fans annoys the shit out of me, and overexposure to him as a character, since Tumblr and TikTok are obsessed with him?

No me gusta. I don't hate him as a character, but I can't stand to see Astarion is so perfect posts. He's not, and that's the whole point. He's awful, but you people don't appreciate that. I don't want to see Astarion x Tav headcanons. And I especially do not care about the BookTok crowd being obsessed with him because they just like a dommy vampire, and disrespect his narrative with absolutely no self awareness.

BookTok Astarion is SO GODDAMN BORING. They really just reduce him to a hot dommy vampire daddy, and that's why I never take BookTok recs. Pure garbage.

So. TL;DR - I got BG3 for him, but overexposure to his fans made me be significantly less interested in him. It's a good thing. If I was obsessed with Astarion, I'd be forced to interact with his fans. Thank god for Gortash... I'm free of that prison.

Lae'zel:

I loved Lae'zel the minute she was mean to me.

She's hot as fuck, like seriously, so hot, her neck makes me sweat something fierce, and her voice is sultry and raspy and hostile. just how i like my women.

But I admit...she's too fucking meta. gameplay wise, she's probably the strongest companion you can have for DPS...so I admit...I've had her on my teams so much, that I am sick of her.

And again! It's not because she's badly written. I actually think her character is really strong, and really awesome. I also think her arc is amazing, going from this devoted cult member to basically saying I'm going to fucking kill a god.

I actually teared up a little at the creche this one time, when I had to beg her to stay, and she was like, you knew I had no other path to follow, but this one, or something like that.

But.

But I have beaten the game with her in my party like three times. I've had her in my party on Honor mode like...a million times.

So, tl;dr - I love her to death, but gameplay wise, she's so strong that I can't play her anymore.

Shadowheart:

Ok...I admit it.

I don't like Shadowheart. I find her boring visually, because she's just this generically hot white girl. She was designed to be the companion that all straight cis white men would want to see naked, and that's fine but uh.

Does absolutely nothing for me.

I don't care for her personality either. I don't like her lines, all coy and vaguely condescending. I don't really like how mean she is to you, and it's different from Lae'zel, because at least Lae'zel came from a warrior culture that doesn't put much value on flowery language. Lae'zel makes sense.

Shadowheart is an amnesiac who's just mean to you because.

I also don't care for her story, at all.

Don't care about Shar's Gauntlet or her kidnapped backstory. Don't give a shit about her parents. Don't care that she's scared of wolves or that her hand hurts.

I like the overarching thematic bridge that her character exists on, specifically that the gods will demand everything of you, and will hurt you for their own amusement.

But as a companion...no.

I have never been interested in romancing her. I never have her on the party, except to get that achievement.

I also don't like clerics. I think they're kind of weak, tbh. They're heal bots. They're really only good for spirit guardians, glyph of warding, and removing status effects. Just don't care for that. I'm an all dps team, we have no room for healers.

TL;DR: I don't think Shadowheart is interesting design wise, story wise, or gameplay wise.

Karlach:

I loved Karlach the moment I saw her, I fell deeper in love with her the second I heard her voice, and I knew I would die and kill for her, when I saw her excited "I love you" confession scene.

Seriously.

I have said this before, and I will say it again.

Out of all of these characters, romanceable or not...

I would only marry Karlach in REAL LIFE. I'd never date a man like Gortash or Astarion. I might be friends with Gale, but he's too smart to be my boyfriend.

But Karlach. She brings the wife energy. She could throw me over her shoulder and bash me against the concrete, and I would say thank you, ma'am.

she's also so fucking fun to play. barbarian options in bg3 are so goddamn funny. you can intimidate everyone and just break shit. it's great. you can also constantly throw people AT PEOPLE. And it's great. She's way more fun than Lae'zel because of it.

No notes. Top tier character design. My wife.

But also FUCK the developers for only giving her two fucking quests, one of which is a FETCH IT quest and the other is just a lame boss fight.

And FUCK THEM for only originally giving her an ending where she either dies or becomes a mindflayer. WHY.

And the Avernus ending still annoys me, because the ENTIRE PARTY should be there too.

FUCK YOU LARIAN. Why do you hate Karlach???? You're monsters. She's never done anything wrong, and yet all you do, is wrong her.

Bullshit.

Wyll:

Ok.

Hard truth time.

Wyll is the hottest male companion.

Like.

No cap. Everyone who says Gale, or Astarion, or Halsin-

Incorrect. It's Wyll. He is literally so hot, with the white eye and those sexy throat scars. Hrrrrrrr.

Also, controversial opinion. I actually like his devil form.

I think it makes him even hotter. I do wish he had wilder hair, though.

That being said...

He's horribly underwritten.

I went in, thinking, he's so kind and nice and hot...and then I was disappointed by how little they gave him.

He, like Karlach, got hit with the cut content curse.

And it's so ugly.

And gross.

And honestly, I suspect it's racist.

But yeah.

I think he's really sweet and I like romancing him and all. But they didn't dedicate any time or effort to his romance, and I hate that. But not him. Never him.

TL;DR - my first impression of Wyll was wow, he's hot, I wanna know more about him, and my last impression is, wow, he's so hot, I hate that he has nothing going on because Larian simply didn't bother to give him shit to do.

Gale

Alright, I left Gale for last, because he has the MOST complicated relationship with me.

So I initially missed Gale, because my friend failed the strength check to get him out of the portal.

So for a while, I didn't even know he existed.

Then I started to see more of him on Tiktok and Tumblr, and I was like oh...ok. So...we missed him. Damn.

So I decided to try romancing him fairly early on....only to find out...

I absolutely despised that when he dies, he killed me with necrotic damage.

That pissed me off. In the early days, when I was new to the game, I think I once had a whole team wipe, because Gale and Lae'zel went down, and then Karlach went rampaging, set me on fire, and then died to Gale's necrotic...which is funny in hindsight, but it was annoying at the time.

The eating magical items thing was mildly annoying, but that was far worse.

I pretty much never ran Gale for a long period of time.

As the Dark Urge, I'd often kill him, in fact, just so I wouldn't have to deal with his Arcane Hunger.

And honestly, initially, I kind of disliked his personality too.

I think the first scene I ever saw of him was when you tell him he's ok in bed, and his response is like, I guess I'll go kill myself.

And honestly, I thought he had incel vibes because of it. Then add to the fact that he's rude to you, no matter what, when he needs his third item...and also add that to the annoying gameplay, PLUS the fact.

That I was rocking Sorceror and Warlock for most of my early runs, so didn't need a wizard...I said, no. No Gale.

I don't like Gale.

BUT.

Here's the thing, right?

I got into Gortash... and then I stepped away from Astarion. Started being obsessed with the Dark Urge...

And then I noticed that all of my Durgetash friends were super into Gale, and I didn't get why...

But then weavewithshadow specifically alerted me to the fact that... there are Gale and Gortash parallels...specifically, that they're both brilliant, scruffy, are blinded by ambition, can't appreciate the things they have, and keep chasing after things they can't quite reach.

And then I was like...ok, maybe I've been harsh on him...

So I did his romance...and I felt bad.

Because he's actually very sweet.

And his voice is reallllly lovely when it's soft and fond.

He's a poet...and then I felt bad for all the times I had chewed off his arm.

And honestly, with experience...I now know what to feed him. Mostly garbage magic items like Komira's dumb locket or the ring of color spray from the harpies' nest, or those dumb boots that electrify the water you stand in.

Plus, I'm smart enough to know how to keep Gale alive now, so the necrotic thing isn't an issue.

So.

So. TL;DR I had a very complicated relationship with Gale, first with his mechanics, then with this random out of context scene where he's kind of nasty to you. But I came around, and honestly...right now...I like him more than Astarion.

All he wants to do is...live.

And I relate to that.

And his romance scenes are nice, and he has more of an arc than most of the other companions, Astarion aside.

So there you go, anon.

This took forever to write.

Thanks for the ask, though.

#baldurs gate 3 #bg3

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inadvisablebutinevitable · 3 months ago

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hellooo how would you rank the aftg characters personally? like in order of favorite to least favorite?

bestie I actually wrote a whole thesis essay response before realizing how unhinged it is so here is the abridged version: (note this is all for the canon versions of these characters, fanon ratings would probably be different)

Neil Josten

David Wymack

Nicky Hemmick (I know I know but it will take me 1000000 years to explain all my Nicky thoughts)

Kevin Day

Matt Boyd

Andrew Minyard (WHY IS HE THIS LOW?? Guys I don’t know I do love him I promise I would do anything for him)

Allison Reynolds

Jean Moreau (once again should be higher I love him I do)

Danielle Wilds (her and Allison could also swap places and I’d still be like “yeah that’s right” bc I love them both)

Catalina Alvarez (my fave tsc character besides Jean she means everything to me you don’t understand)

Jeremy Knox (I love him I do I just know nothing abt him)

Renee Walker (it physically hurts me to put her this low I love her so much I would die for her)

Laila Dermott

Aaron Minyard (don’t come at me pls I like him and I love fanon Aaron I just wasn’t Aaron’s number one fan in canon but I still have so much love and respect for him I swear)

Seth Gordon

I don’t really hate any of these characters I swear (except Riko he’s ranked so low he didn’t deserve a spot on the list) ((he’s a compelling villain tho)) (((Tetsuji is ranked like -100000000 I will never forgive Tetsuji ever)))

if you really want my never ending thoughts here they are under the cut:

warning for a long ass post I’m so sorry because sometimes even I can’t focus enough to read my own long posts

I have spent so long staring at this ask and trying to figure out how I can pit my children against each other but here is my best try: (this is in order of how much I enjoyed their characters personally when I was reading. The list would prob be different if I was ranking them as people and not as characters):

Neil Josten. It’s always gonna be Neil I’m sorry. Recency bias means that I’m currently thinking (and posting) abt Jean 24/7 but Neil Josten will always take the cake for me in ways I can’t even articulate. His dry humour and narrative choices always have me in stitches. He’s got so much trauma but he doesn’t want to do anything about it but push it down until he meets people he cares about and they found family him into actually healing. He cares so deeply and loves in such a subtle but incredibly strong way. I don’t know how to even express this without saying that the reason I can’t put aftg down every time I pick it up is because of Neil. He tells the story in a way that makes me want to know everything about literally every scene. It’s all Nora ofc but the personality between the lines is how I define “Neil” and I will never not love it. You’ve got me going and now I’m not gonna stop. I can’t even apologize for the length bc I will never apologize for yapping about Neil Josten I say that shit with my FULL CHEST

David Wymack. Do I even have to explain myself here? Those are his fucking KIDS and he would do ANYTHING for them while being a SASSY LITTLE SHIT about it the whole time plus he’s a DILF I would kill and die for him.

Nicky Hemmick don't shoot me pls LOOK do I think what he did to Neil in Edens was at all ok? Absolutely not. When I first read tfc I was HARDCORE hating on Nicky and then trk and tkm made him one of my favourite characters. I don’t think he’s perfect but I love the way he loves. It isn’t hard for him, none of the monsters had to prove themselves to Nicky, or even try to be a decent friend for Nicky to automatically decide that these were his people and that he cares about them. When we meet him Aaron is a homophobic dick to him and Andrew literally pulls a knife on him and yet we immediately find out that he willingly dropped everything and moved an ocean away from his home and his boyfriend to raise them both in the US and not ONCE does he act like he seriously regrets it. Me? I would be holding that shit over their heads every time they act disrespectful but for Nicky loving them despite the shit they put him through is not even a question. It’s not even just the twins too. That one scene where Neil asks “are we? Friends?” And Nicky is SO SHOCKED that Neil didn’t know and goes “oh kiddo of course!!” is my Roman Empire. Plus he’s hilarious obviously.

Kevin Day guys I love him ok, the first two books he compelled me but TKM he POPPED OFF. “I’ve never been skiiing” BANGER “I’m gonna be the deadliest piece on the board” GOOSEBUMPS, “My father comes to all my games” HAD ME IN TEARS. Don’t even get me STARTED on that sexy ass racquet hand switch at championships I’m going to combust. I love that he’s literally obsessed with exy and has the most complicated relationships with the mc’s of every book and yet steals the show every time. Kevin Day I love you.

Matt Boyd. I love him because he would love me for putting Neil first and kill me for not putting Dan before him. He loves his girlfriend and his homies and his sport and cars in that order. He’s a golden retriever who saw a team full of scary-ass wolves and still tries to be friends with them. He wasn’t a part of the “clique” that Neil was in but he did not let that affect his perception or love for Neil in any way. He’s been to hell and came out with just as much love in his heart as he did when he came in. He told Neil that he didn’t know if Andrew would be good for him but then he saw that Andrew fought Kevin for him and decided that he approved bc all that mattered to him was that Neil had someone who would defend him the way Matt would. Then he immediately becomes the #1 wingman right before the shower scene bc he would rather die than cockblock his homie. I love him so much

Andrew Minyard. Like Nicky, I was absolutely a HATER in book one and then he became one of my faves. I like that he’s brave and determined, standing despite everything when the world tried to put him down, but not without his flaws. I really appreciate that Andrew isn’t perfect, he struggles, he’s violent when it’s necessary and sometimes when it’s not. I love how he was always willing to protect Neil, despite everything in him telling him that Neil couldn’t be trusted. He’s a flawed man, but at his core, a good one.

Allison Reynolds is that girl. She reminds me of Andrew (both of them would kill me for saying that) because she takes no shit and gives no fucks. She’s who 16 year old me wanted to be when I grew up. She goes through every emotion in these books and comes out full of righteous anger and uses that to kick the raven’s ASSES and I’m so here for that

Jean Moreau. It’s weird to me that he’s so low because I love him he’s my special boy. I thought that he was interesting in TRK but Riko was a more compelling villain to me. Then ofc we learn that he was never meant to be the villain and he was ranked just below Kevin for me because I just wanted him to be happy. Then tsc happened and he became my hyper fixation. He has a VERY similar sense of humor as Neil except for Neil his jokes were directed at abnormal behaviour, and for Jean he just gets so appalled at the most normal things. I digress about his humor I love Jean and if u want to know why just read literally any of my posts

Danielle Wilds is my GIRL. Her story compels me so much and I really wish we got more backstory for her (obvs we got plenty considering the cast of characters is so huge but still… I want more). She loves her team so much despite everything and she works so hard to keep them together I wanna give her a hug and a kiss. (That scene in TKM right after Andrew breaks Riko’s arm Dan was the FIRST one to find Neil and she was so concerned about him she cares about him so much STOP they’re FAMILY I LOVE THEM)

Catalina Alvarez was my favourite character in tsc (aside from Jean) because I love her so much. @theresalwaysafiresomewhere said that cat reminds her of me and it was still to this day the best compliment I’ve ever received. I cannot name a single thing abt cat I don’t like so I’m just gonna keep going.

Jeremy Knox is only this low bc I still know nothing about this man. Reading his pov and seeing him thru Jean’s eyes was helpful in securing him a spot in my list of faves tho, I want to know everything about him please Nora please

Renee Walker also should not be this low it physically hurts me to put her here but like most other characters in this half of the list, she didn’t compel me as much until tkm. Just a personal thing I guess. I do love her though and I wish she got more time with Jean. It still bothers me that she loved Jean but was the bigger person about it and knew that they weren’t at the right place in their lives, and yet we don’t get to see how making this decision affects her. I think she deserves to be loved more. I hope she gets a happy ending the same way Jean does.

Laila Dermott I love her I just don’t really know enough abt her

Aaron Minyard I like him I promise I do he’s got some of the best one-liners! He killed drake did all that in college with an gf and all the power to him but really I think that fanon aaron just appealed to me way more. Canon Aaron just annoyed me because— gunshots actually you know what maybe it’s once again because unreliable narrator Neil hated him and Neil’s my fave so I had to be a hater too 😔

Seth. I know some fans love him and I respect that but I just… idk I don’t see the appeal. Fanon Seth is great tho I’m a fan.

Canon Thea is somewhere on this list near Laila again bc I love her but I don’t know enough about her to be like “yeah she’s my fave”. The version of Thea I created in my head based on the crumbs the books and the ec gave us, on the other hand… she’d probably be somewhere up there with Kevin

#long post #aftg #all for the game #the ask and the answer #asks #In this house we Stan Neil Josten

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tvrningout-a · 1 year ago

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i’ve arrived to talk about tengen folks!! spoilers for the entertainment district arc of course!! so let’s talk about how tengen tells the kamaboko squad “ i am a god! ” : )

personal blogs, do not reblog!

tengen’s introduction is definitely “ flashy, ” as he’d say, considering he’s first attempting to whisk away aoi and then declaring he’s a god to tanjiro and co. it’s pretty easy to get caught up in the comedy of it all, but there’s more to this scene than tengen boasting!

for a while, i wondered why tengen gives inosuke such a weird look when he tells him he’s king of the mountain. he doesn’t insult him or poke fun or anything bc here’s this kid trying to put himself on the same level as him. tengen genuinely goes, “ what are you talking about?? ” and then calls him creepy asdfgh but the reason for that, i think, is because tengen’s “ i am a god! ” bit is exactly that -- a bit. he does think somewhat highly of himself, but it’s more so his way of “ flamboyantly ” telling the boys that they need to do exactly as he says bc where they’re going is dangerous. he knows it’s dangerous bc his wives all stopped writing to him, and they’re kunoichi who were trained for stealth. so if he tells them to become monkeys, dogs, whatever the heck, they need to listen to him so that they can be safe.

they’re only kanoe at that point, they’re children, and tengen’s likely taking them with him only bc he’s desperate. he pretty much admits this later on after zenitsu doesn’t show up to swap info. he was worried for his wives who could potentially die if he didn’t act fast ( if they weren’t already dead ), and he couldn’t get anywhere by himself, so the kamaboko squad was his best option. but he understands before they depart that the danger is great, so he puts on a big show so the kids will hopefully listen to him. to plainly say “ this is gonna be dangerous so be careful and listen to me!! ” just isn’t tengen’s style.

y’all i just!!! love this!!! very much!!! like it’s kind of a small detail that’s easy to miss bc that whole first interaction is so funny, but right from the get go, we’re getting a feel for what tengen means by “ flashy/flamboyant. ” it isn’t necessarily being over the top, but don’t be so plain or unenthusiastic about it, like how kanao simply grabbed hold of tengen to stop him. we all know that took a lot for her to do that, but for tengen, it may have come off half-hearted, and he doesn’t like it. put your whole heart into it, or don’t do it at all, basically!! and i think i’m gonna touch on this more, but in a different headcanon bc this has gotten kind of long already :’ )

#okay i'm instantly posting this one bc it's still one of my favorite headcanons asdf #like it's such a lil detail and i love it to pieces :' ))#tengen is such a fun character to think about and write and just!!! i love he <3 #headcanons | tengen

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mdhwrites · 2 years ago

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Do you have any thoughts on that Boscha and Amity confrontation from s3? I don't watch s3 because of lost interest but I look for scraps out of investment or just to see my faves.

The fandom treats it like a two exes fighting thing, I wonder where they got that idea from. Closeted boschamity shippers? 👀

Boscha smashes the door to the closet down before glaring at the crowd of people there. "How dare you hide anything about your queen!? Don't you know how incredible I am? How much better I would have been for Amity? In fact, I bet I'm great enough I could date both them at o-" "Oh, hey, Boscha!" "Boscha, aren't you trying to stop bullying people?" A strange, high pitched noise comes from the pit of Boscha's soul as she turns to look at Luz and Amity. She then takes a step forward straight into the closet, grabs the door and slams it back into place. She then turns to all the shippers and states, "Say anything and die."

So I've seen the clip and something about how Amity says "Boscha, stop, you're hurting me," rubs me the wrong way in a DEEP way. Other than that, it's a good scene and I think entirely understandable from Boscha's standpoint. I'm not actually even going to say it has to be romantic. It works platonically too. We have to remember for the context of the scene that Boscha and Amity were friends for nine years. Not only that but Amity is the only person Boscha doesn't make fun of. In fact, she seems to have been the only person Boscha was willing to delegate any sort of power and control too. Thus their interactions are usually more led by Amity, much friendlier than Boscha's interactions with others (even Skara), and it helps explain why Amity seems to lead their friend group despite how Boscha acts about loss of power in Once Upon a Swap. It also means that how the group acts was likely influenced by Amity. And, well... If the show is correct and they're just all bad people then that reflects poorly on Amity. Worse yet, Hooty's Moving Hassle pushes the idea that Amity hid whatever positive side of hers there might be from her friends (though, you know, still hosted the sleepover at her place for some reason. Almost like they actually were friends...). So the friend group's image of Amity is that of a controlling, cool headed, logical bitch (affectionately). Someone who pushed Willow way harder than any of them did with their own targets and was aspirational as the most popular girl in school. And then in the span of like a week, everything changed. You need to remember that the episode order is literally: Understanding Willow, into Grom, into Winging it. And that is the major pivot point for Amity's character and who she's interacting with socially. I honestly wish we had ANYONE'S reaction to Amity hanging out with Luz and crew at Grom since that should have raised some eyebrows amongst her friend group. But people might have dismissed it as a fluke or because Luz for some reason took Amity's place as Grom Queen. Maybe even blackmail to make it make sense. There's no way of doing that with the Grudgby match though. And that Grudgby match will be the closest she comes to caring about ANY of them again. So in the span of like two weeks at most, Boscha not only lost her best friend but had her entire reality shatter about what she believed in about her. What she had known to be true all turning to ash in an instant. No wonder she was willing to get so aggressive as to start losing control of her strength and actually manage to break someone's leg.

Worse yet is actually Sport in a Storm. Boscha is there. Alone. And not repping the Grudgby team. Now yes, the season might already be over (though that'd be an extremely short season) but you'd still think the captain of the team would be trying to recruit people and the like. Maybe even just forced by the coach to be there. But she's not. Almost like she's possibly been kicked out but wanted to show up anyways because she got used to being a part of events like this. Part of them... With Amity. Who's now got a book club going on. So when Amity comes back and Boscha is desperate, in a world so much scarier than the one she's used to, barely holding onto any shred of control and power she has been given by Kikimora and the other students. She wants a return to what she sees as better times. To times that made more sense. To times when Amity made sense. To when there was someone Boscha could trust enough to rule beside, if not possibly serve as a knight. Not that ANY of this is likely intentional by the show. The scene is meant to show Boscha's desperation but it's meant more to contrast against where Amity is now. A theoretical call to her past self WELL past when that would have been resonant in anyway. There's a reason why Sasha trying to will Anne back into her old self, the one who didn't care about people, hits hard because Anne is at the turning point of her character between those two sides. Amity had her turning points though with a weirdly flippant response in both Winging it Like Witches and Escaping Expulsion. Sure, there's drama to the statements Amity makes but a lack of a real reason to go back to who she was (unlike the obvious luxuries and comforts Sasha presents) and a lack of build up to make the choice seem painful or hard for Amity. It just came down to "Luz is in danger, I love Luz, so fuck these people." So for as neat as it is to have a scene between Boscha and Amity at this point... Too Little Too Late is a statement that applies to a lot of the elements of the show and knowing that Dana felt there was a pressure to have Lumity happen as fast as possible, it's not really surprising either. It was their number one priority, no matter how many character and plot threads went fallow during the pursuit of it. And that includes any chance for something truly meaningful with Boscha.

Adding a reminder that I do have Lumischa works that explore Boscha a lot. A Future for Lumischa does a bit of it with them as adults while The Power of Love does it mostly from the perspective of between S1 and 2.

#Boscha #Amity #Rambles #Lumischa #Briefly

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walkingstackofbooks · 2 years ago

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DS9 3x17 Visionary thoughts (I'm re-watching, so there may be future spoilers)

This is the one where Miles keeps seeing himself dying? #MilesO'BrienMustSuffer

"Light duty means light." They know O'Brien well XD

It's always surprising but nice when you hear an alien talk in an alien language.

This looked like the guards releasing the Romulans only when Sisko turned up - are visitors usually kept in their ships until the command team arrive? Haven't noticed that before.

The Romulans' shoulders are hilariously big.

Love how we see the progression of the Darts Board from cargo bay last episode to bar this one. Did O'Brien want to get in practice before getting more people involved?

Quark throwing all the darts before Miles can stop him, the Chief's terrified "No!", and them landing on a nonplussed Morn - beautiful.

"My doors are always open to you, Chief." :3

I thought the cloaking device had turned out to be a private loan? Oh, I can't keep up.

"They also want access to our personal logs!" I love Kira's outraged voice

"This is one puppet who doesn't like her strings pulled."We know, Kira. And I love you for it.

"And Major, when you're in with the Romulans, try to be diplomatic." "I'm always diplomatic." ... I'm betting this is not going to end diplomatically XD In next scene, even!

CALLED IT.

"That is the most RIDICULOUS thing I ever heard, and I resent the implication!" Watch out, it's going to get more "ridiculous"

"Has Odo ever shown some kind of physical interest in you, Major?"" That's it. You rip the cloaking device out of the Defiant right now." I love her I love her I lover her. She has no cool with annoying people and it's wonderful.

"If it makes you feel any better I'll beat you at another ten games." I love how now they've introsuced the darts board it's in every episode.

Miles' smirk at himself for saving his life

"You're going to be fine." "No, I'm not. In a few hours I'm going to be dead."

"You think Quark had something to do with this?" Odo's outrage as though he's been personally affronted. "I always investigate Quark!"

"Well, it could've been worse. It could've been me." XD

It's really interesting how Julian acts upon seeing O'Brien. It's almost detached, he barely shows any sign of having been upset while he's spouting medical jargon until he says "before... this happens". And then stares at the body for a few seconds until Miles starts ribbing him about letting him die. His reactions to Bareil dying and being alive again a few episodes ago seemed much more visible, but I can imagine that for the last few hours he's been burying himself in professionalism and refusing to acknowledge his emotions about Miles being dead.

"But then I contacted a friend at Starfleet Intelligence who used to be assigned to the Federation Embassy on the Klingon Homeworld. He put me in contact with a former Klingon operative who's out of favour with the current administration. This former operative sent me a series of reports." This is so similar to Odo's Carrington Award gossip XD

"Sometimes I have to remind you just how good I am." XD Was that what he was doing last episode, too?

"There is no careful way to question a Klingon."

"I, I haven't given up. I won't give up." Oh, Miles <3 It's gonna be okay!

I love how things keep escalating in the future. The universe really seems to want Miles dead today - it's lucky he had the time-travelling accident, really, or he would be dead, right?

He didn't faint this time!

The Miles-swap is so weiiird. This O'Brien will have slightly different memories.... That's odd as anything

Why are shields not always up? Does it just take too much energy or something? It just seems like it would be a good thing to be able to do?

"Why that's remarkable." Julian could hit any number he wanted. Did he try and aim for something else and miss? Was 20 the number he already had in mind, he just delayed his reaction?

"Quark. Dabo." "Dabo?" Miles' chuckle XD

Does everyone have super good memories? Miles remembering Julian's first throw and exactly when a dabo would happen? Bc right now it would make sense for Miles to have an augment background too xD

#ds9 visionary #ds9 3x17 #andi watches ds9 #WSB

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etirabys · 1 year ago

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book review: he who drowned the world

Very disappointed by the sequel; it seems like the author threw darts at a board to determine who would die, who would be granted redemption, who would end up in a bizarre second marriage to whom, and who would enter an intense nonsexual kink relationship with whom. And then used GPT3.5 to execute on a lot of it.

(...okay, fine, I liked the intense nonsexual kink relationship. X is having psychological issues that they're managing with self harm, and their unlikely ally Y starts biting them in private for a bit of harm reduction.)

Example of a GPTish excerpt:

He recoiled from the memory. His self-hate was as intense as pain; it swallowed him whole. A flicker of humanness returned to Ouyang’s eyes, a consciousness pressing back against the dark. Not sympathy, but an understanding. It was the last weak vibration of the kinship they’d shared, amidst their hate and resentment and jealousy, that had come from loving Esen.

This feels like a book that started from a solid plot & emotional beats outline that subsequently had no life breathed into it. It's littered with lines that literally just say "X and Y had such a connection", "X knew that Y was feeling Z", "X could not help but understand that Y's doing Z was inevitable" with the variables swapped out.

(The good prose is reserved for descriptions of landscapes, which I enjoyed far more than usual.)

Starting off from vibes-based relationship or character outlines are hard, because if you work backwards to figure out the material facts or events are that produced those vibes you'll frequently end up with vibes different from the ones you cared about depicting in the first place. The author chooses to solve this problem by having the vibes, like, run in parallel to the plot, only loosely tethered to what's going on, and then literally telling you about the vibes over and over again.

I am not a fan of this approach.

(specific spoilers begin)

There were a couple of points where the vibes-events decoupling went from uninspired to actually egregious:

Near the end, Zhu asks Ma to do something difficult, and Ma – bizarrely – tells Zhu not to ask or to command, but to give Ma a choice? This exchange is given a lot of narrative gravity, but the request literally makes no sense. Ma says, "But you didn’t make us [help you]. That’s why I didn’t want you to ask me to help you. Didn’t you wonder why Xu Da never asked you to stop, even when he had his doubts about your methods? He didn’t want to risk you ordering him to continue." => What the heck is this? Is this a scene that used to make sense in the first draft but was mangled by editing? "Your friend wanted to act of his own free will, so he did things he didn't want to do so he wouldn't be explicitly ordered by you?" "I don't want to be asked, I don't want to be told, I want a secret third thing that maximally preserves my sense of choosing" – what? Cut this nonsense. I'd say kill your darlings but I'm appalled by how anyone could treasure this

Ending your career??? as a brutal warlord?? by granting clemency to your most dangerous enemy? Telling him to find a different life path when he has no positive vision? This is such an unearned and bizarre pivot to Western superhero morality, WHAT ARE YOU DOING

The "Ma becomes Baoxiang's concubine, Zhu becomes Madame Zhang's handmaiden" thing was so awful and goofy. required suspension of disbelief from me as a reader that I could not give

Ma stops functioning as a moral check on Zhu by the way. Zhu ~personally kills another child and it never even comes up with Ma, which is a strange choice because this caused a major rift with them in the first book. Zhu just does what she wants and Ma somehow continues being a good influence. In parallel. In the vibes universe

But here's my most serious issue with this book:

The supposed reason Zhu is different from her rivals is that she will change the world for the better. But in the course of these two books, we almost never see her change the world except by ruling it – and she doesn't rule particularly differently from her rivals. I buy that once she's emperor she'll pass some more progressive laws or whatever, but when she's on page she doesn't change the world that she moves through, and that's a serious problem thematically! She never changes anyone's mind. Not even the one guy she was trying really hard to change. He goes off the rails right on the schedule that he promised himself in book 1.

I am personally satisfied with a protagonist who wages personal rather than class warfare – is it not enough that she can nonbinary napalm narrativize her own insane path through the Yuan dynasty?– but the book promises on the vibes level that she is in the latter class while totally betraying us in the material realm where characters actually act, talk, and kill.

book review: she who became the sun

Woohoo, this stacked well with reading the "end of Ming, early Qing" stretch of The Search for Modern China. It's set in a similar time period, and Zhu, the "random peasant who turned out to have an amazing knack for leading a rebellion" protagonist, fits neatly into the historical period where many peasants or failed bureaucrats were discovering that this was their calling.

GOOD novel. Chewy. It's good. Had enough crazy brilliant protagonist energy to remind me of the Vorkosigan saga:

"That monk knows exactly what he wants. The night before the battle at Yao River, he asked me to make that gong for him. I made it, he used it, and he won,” Jiao said. “I’ve met his type before. They either go far or die early. And either way, they have a tendency to make collateral damage of normal people.” He raised his eyebrows at Yuchun. “Are you special, little brother? Because if you’re not, I’d watch out."

Will definitely be buying the sequel.

(At this point the review becomes spoilery.)

One of the most gorgeous blood feud I've ever seen! The players in the blood feud are:

- Ouyang, the sole survivor of the massacre of his Han family – begged for his life as a child, was spared but castrated, and has grown up into a fearsome Mongol general

- Chaghan, the high ranking Mongol military commander who did the massacreing

- Esen, Chaghan's son who conforms perfectly to Mongol masculine warrior ideals. Loves Ouyang as a best friend but fails to see, at all, how bitter Ouyang is with his life and how set he is on revenge.

- Wang, Chaghan's half-Han nephew whom he adopted as a son.

Each pair of the above either outright hates each other, OR is plotting the other's destruction despite great love, except Chaghan and Esen. It's fabulous! Ouyang is... oh, just read this short post about CS Lewis's definition of damnation. Ouyang is very damned.

Oh, Ouyang. Women are terrible! The politics.” He groaned. “Consider yourself lucky you’ll never have to suffer this kind of torment.” Esen never meant to hurt, and Ouyang had always taken care to pretend matter-of-fact acceptance about his exclusion from family life. Why should he blame Esen for not reading his mind to see the anger and pain there? But the truth was: he did blame Esen. Blamed him even more than he would a stranger, because it hurt more that someone so beloved should not see the truth of him. And he blamed and hated himself, for hiding that truth.

Ouyang's arc is a superbly executed tragedy. The climax, I think, physically winded me slightly.

And Wang –

This book is primarily about people-who-are-not-fully-men by the Mongol standards of manhood, and of the GNC characters, Wang was the one who struck me as queerest by nature/volition rather than circumstance. His gender is Accountant Who Loves The Arts, and his Manchu relatives HATE him for it. His gender noncompliance seems like "I'm doing this because I really want to and anything else is painful" rather than "I'm doing this because I was castrated" (Ouyang) or "I'm doing this because I was going to literally starve to death unless I latched on to the niche that was meant to be my dead brother's" (the protagonist).

Said GNC people sniff each other out quickly and feel Weird Magnetism. "Like calls to like" is an italicized refrain. In fact, Zhu's nonbinarydar is so advanced that she intuits Ouyang's emotional damage within minutes of meeting him, and feels a magnetic pull to him for the rest of the book. As a shipper, I'm a huge fan. (What I want: Ouyang/Zhu/Ma triad fic.) As a person who yearns for anyone to understand Ouyang, I'm a huge fan. But I'm an anti-fan of "these two people who are very different are of the Same Kind because they don't fit into mainstream culture". Such groupings are politically expedient but I feel allergic to seeing them painted as intrinsic similarities – to say, these two things are the same because they are not X, seems to ontologically center "X vs not X" when the political project should be to dissolve the salience of that division.

Through that strange quiver of connection to the Yuan’s eunuch general, she had seen beneath that carved-jade mask to his shame and self-hate and anger. He had a wound for a heart, and that made him a more dangerous opponent than anyone here realized.

I feel weird writing a paragraph about this, but the book is really explicit that these radically different GNC people are on the same wavelength and I'm like, NO, they're really not!... they could have grown into the weird intense soulmate enemy bond they immediately have in book 1, and that would have felt narratively rewarding to me – recognition through inquiry and (reluctant) empathy and reflection, not, Nonbinary Frog Pheromones

Finally: I loved Zhu's romance arc and childhood trauma and fucking everything. She's ten years old when her father is kicked to death by bandits for not offering them enough food (the whole region is some years into a famine), and by the time she's an adult this feels so faraway that... well, as an adult she sees a food seller at a market being extorted, and the scene goes like this:

“Hey, granny!” Well, less hope for some. Zhu, observing the unfolding human drama, felt a stirring of unease: the memory of something witnessed so long ago that it might as well have been in a past life.

Seriously, the kicked to death thing never comes up again, and the elision is vast and leaves a lot of room for echoes. Similarly – several minutes before being kicked to death, the desperate father, who devalues girl children in a culturally unexceptional way, offers ten year old Zhu as food for the bandits so they'll leave him and his son alone. (This whole scene is amazingly written, and does not get in the way of the inherent intensity and awfulness of this event.) Zhu does not process this onscreen At All. Once her entire family is dead she starts rolling on her journey to becoming a warlord like a polished marble. Said journey involves her taking her brother's place at a monastery and playing at being a not-girl so well that even the heavens won't notice that she's of the Grindable To Nothingness gender, all while having ZERO thoughts about the "eat my daughter and leave us alone" incident. Fucking fantastic.

Anyway, at the beginning of becoming a warlord, she meets Ma, a Girl Who Is Somehow Nice Despite The World Making This Very Hard:

in her face there was such a depth of raw and innocent emotion that Zhu’s eye was drawn as if to the scene of an accident

and

Zhu, watching Ma with an alien ache in her heart, saw the girl turn away at the critical moment [of someone she cares about being executed]. There was nobody to comfort her. She simply folded over onto herself in the middle of that empty bubble in the crowd, crying. Zhu felt a strong protective urge rise up in her at the sight. With alarm she realized it was a new desire, already rooted alongside that other desire that defined everything she was and did. It felt as dangerous as an arrowhead lodged in her body, as though at any moment it might work its way in deeper and cause some fatal injury.

and marries her. I love this, because I'm a huge sucker for "I am a very bad person and I love you and hope you will keep me in line" ships, and this is explicitly part of their deal!

However, after fights about less taboo atrocities, Ma comes back to Zhu after Zhu kills an eight year old Ma is attached to (for being a ?dalai lama? who is inconvenient to Zhu's goals), so it's a little unclear to me how much Ma is going to keep this function.

#she who became the sun #he who drowned the world

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cc-mr-vip · 3 years ago

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Season 4 - Initial Thoughts & Review

- ℂ𝔸𝕄ℙ ℂℝ𝔼𝕋𝔸ℂ𝔼𝕆𝕌𝕊 𝕊ℙ𝕆𝕀𝕃𝔼ℝ𝕊 𝔸ℍ𝔼𝔸𝔻-

I have to say, I’m pretty disappointed by this season, for many reasons. While it’s not an absolute disaster, I felt aspects of what made the show interesting was cheapened thanks to decision’s they made. This is personally my least favorite of all the seasons.

As you could probably tell by the name of this blog, I’m a huge Kenji fan. And the biggest part I enjoyed about Kenji was his big brother instincts. I had originally perceived that his greatest flaw was his innate fear of being alone, which made him act out and cope.

The surprise romance with Brooklynn...personally for me, it felt like it really cheapened the character arc that I thought he was having. I don’t know everyone else, but last season, I had perceived the reason why he was so angry at Darius was because he valued everyone’s safety over Darius’ ‘We gotta do the right thing for the dinos!’, which I thought was a very interesting conflict. In fact, that’s what was inferred in the first episode.

But a few episodes later, the reason was suddenly changed to ‘Oh, I was only angry at you because I like Brooklynn’? I felt that completely erased what was interesting about his character, that he was a jock who had insecurities about being alone and just wanted friends. I found myself cringing during every single ‘romance’ scene and I can’t say that I’m very fond of Kenji’s character now. Seems like he was just ‘after the girl’ the whole time :/

youtube

Also the quality of this season was...all over the place? I don’t know if anyone else noticed, but there were so many moments where I noticed they used the wrong model for some of the shots. In the first episode alone, my friends and I noticed characters switching from their ‘clean’ model and her ‘dirty’ models. In an important scene with Darius, Kenji swapped to his Season 1 model and then back to his current model. I didn’t see this happen in the previous season, so what happened this time? The quality control just went...way down...?

I’m honestly glad that I have other shows I’m watching at the moment and don’t particularly care about Camp Cretaceous as much as I used to.

Despite all things I dislike about this season, I will have to say that Yasmina got some great arcs this season. She’s obviously suffering from PTSD and it’s portrayed in an incredibly realistic way, a bit too real for me honestly, but it was great and realistic. I also like how they tackle that even though she’s better after talking it out, that it just doesn’t magically make things better. It’s a step-by-step process and this character moment is probably the highlight of this season for me.

As for other minor things, they succeeded in making Kash the most unlikable character in existence. If he doesn’t die by next season I’ll jump in there and do it myself. I like Mae’s character, she’s fun and I’m glad she’s looking out for the kids. I like Ben and Firecracker’s friendship, it’s really cute. I feel so sorry for Bumpy, who obviously misses him. Is Darius’ bro gonna do something?

I will say, the ending hook is rather interesting. Kenji’s dad being the leader of Mantah Corp is an interesting dynamic and I’m curious to see how they run with it. But I am disappointed of what became of Kenji, I may make this a Yasmina blog instead lol. Can’t say I’m terribly excited for the next season.

I feel like Camp Cretaceous has really gone on longer than it should. The series should have ended with Season 3 with them getting off the island, it would have been a better ending. Personally, Season 1 still ranks the best season, for being the most realistic and grounded in reality. Now it’s just your typical kid’s show narrative with secret plots and Sci-Fi robots. Tbh, I’m fine with it all, though I kinda miss the realism of Season 1.

#jurassic world #jurassic world camp cretaceous #camp cretaceous #jwcc #kenji kon #brooklynn #Darius Bowman #ben pincus #yasmina fadoula #camp cretaceous season 4 #camp cretaceous season 4 spoilers #spoilers

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tsutsumi-kaina · 3 years ago

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Theory: AFO Gave Tomura Decay (Part 2)

Continued from this post (link!)

Warning: This post has spoilers for both the most recent chapters of MHA (up to ch. 316) as well as spoilers for Vigilantes (up to ch. 109).

Straight to the point:

5. Tomura’s eyes and hair change color with the activation of Decay

It’s easy to write this one off as the anime making questionable choices about Tomura’s color scheme yet again (five years of baby blue hair ya’ll)— but just for giggles, let’s just assume that Horikoshi did intend for Tenko's natural eye color to be black, just like Nana and Kotaro.

Now, there's a theory that Decay's activation destroyed all of Tomura's melanin, which is a theory I enjoy because it totally tracks (albinos lack pigmentation and they have "red eyes" because we're seeing their blood vessels rather than the actual color of their irises). I also like the “his hair went white from the trauma” and “he straight up went super saiyan” theories, because I’m a sucker that kind of specifically anime bullshit.

But what if none of those theories are right? What if there was another reason why Tomura's hair and eyes change color? What if the change was meant to foreshadow something just a bit more... sinister?

Presented Without Comment

Through Dabi/Touya’s story we know that quirk factors do have an effect on things like hair color, and can even change a person's hair color upon activation— when Rei’s quirk factor becomes “dominant,” we see that Touya's hair gradually begins to turn white as his body changes to become more suited to an ice quirk despite his own quirk being fire-based.

That sound familiar?

So, Tomura's change to red eyes and white hair specifically starts to look more than a little insidious if we assume that A) AFO has always planned to turn Tenko into a new vessel, and B) Tenko actually got his first “dose” of AFO in the form of Decay + a pseudo-vestige, and his body has been gradually changing to become more hospitable for AFO's quirk factor. Exposure to AFO’s quirk factor (and it raging around inside of him like a damn virus) may be the true cause of Tomura’s palette swap.

6. Tenko is 5 when decay manifests, even though it’s been repeatedly stated that age 4 is the latest age that quirks manifest.

This point has also been discussed to death, with people arguing that Tomura simply had to amass enough hatred for Decay to fully manifest (see point 2 on why this “explanation” was most likely just AFO being a gigantic fucking troll). I’ll instead encourage folks to evaluate this point from a narrative standpoint— Hori drew attention to Tenko’s age and his quirklessness for a reason.

“Will he like me if I get my quirk!?” Uhhh....

And Tenko likely having been born quirkless leads to the next point:

7. Tenko, The Quirkless Wonder (or: how having a quirkless vessel is an integral part of AFO’s plan to snatch OFA and not straight up fucking die in the process)

Tenko being born quirkless makes him a perfect candidate to tolerate the simultaneous burden of both OFA/AFO without his lifespan getting completely drained in the process-- the nomufication surgery was more likely just a measure that was taken to make sure Tomura's body was strong enough to make use of both quirks right away.

8. You know what? *beats the dead horse anyway*

Man, isn’t there a sale at Men’s Warehouse you’re late to???

I know I said I wouldn’t touch on this point but come the fuck on, mister twenty-four-seven biz cas isn’t even trying to hide it

Bonus Points:

Machia's sense of smell - Machia tracks others through scent, and is somehow able to locate Tomura after the LOV has hidden themselves deep within the mountains. This is in spite the fact that they've never met before (Machia literally asks Tomura "Are you the one who succeeded AFO?"-- so we can assume he was not secretly tracking or observing Tomura from afar). We know that if Machia's never met a person before, he obviously can't track them via scent-- we see this when he has to stop and literally ask Mina for directions during a flashback. But he still manages to track down the LOV when not even the police/heroes had any inkling of their location. So. If Machia and Tomura have never met before, how was Machia able to find him? As funny as it is to imagine AFO rubbing a pair of dirty sneakers in Machia's face like he's an overgrown bloodhound, I'll put forth the following theory-- Machia was sniffing out Decay's quirk factor rather than Tomura himself. If Decay was formerly in the possession of AFO, and/or if a part of AFO’s quirk factor already exists inside Tomura, then tracking him down is a cinch for Machia.

AFO's pasttime is villain creation - There's a whole scene in Vigilantes where AFO discusses the true nature of a "villain," then brags about being able to create villains by causing imbalances in one's quirk + giving people unsuitable quirks + stimulating quirks with a "violent will" and forcing them to go haywire. It's, uh. Fairly damning, to say the least.

AFO may have used Decay to kill Nana - This one is more conspiracy theory than actual theory, and it may seem like a huge stretch, but hear me out! In its untrained form, we see that Decay reduces people to chunks instead of dusting them-- but it leaves their hands perfectly intact. It feels far too coincidental that AFO just so happened to leave Nana’s hand intact after killing her, and apparently decided to preserve that hand for 30 years on a total whim— and then, wouldn’tcha know it, Tenko just so happens to manifest a quirk that pulps everything but miraculously leaves the hands of those victims perfectly intact. And AFO being sick enough to give a little boy who wants to be a hero the same quirk that killed his hero grandma is a given at this point.

- - - - - - - - -

Anyway, I get that a lot of folks dislike this theory because it takes away a lot of Tomura’s agency-- but honestly, his entire character arc has been about him trying to rediscover his true self and reclaiming his agency after a lifetime of having his identity abused out of him by pretty much everyone he’s ever met. AFO was always going to be the final boss of that character arc, which has been less about “becoming the greatest villain” (and hoo boy people on twitter are reeeeally hung up on this particular misconception about Tomura’s arc) and more about discovering his true convictions and “becoming his own person”-- Just as Izuku’s character arc is about becoming his own person and learning to actually value himself, rather than him just becoming All Might 2.0 who acts as a hero at the complete expense of his own personhood.

I don’t feel that Decay being an implant from AFO harms Tomura’s character arc in any way-- rather, confronting the lie that he was somehow “born evil” and exists as a slave to Decay’s destructive impulse feels like the next hurdle Tomura needs to overcome before he can truly reclaim his agency.

#mha spoilers #shimura tenko #shigaraki tomura #AFO #my hero academia

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tvrningout-archived · 2 years ago

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i’ve arrived to talk about tengen folks!! spoilers for the entertainment district arc of course!! personal blogs do not reblog!

so let’s talk about how tengen tells the kamaboko squad “ i am a god! ” : )

#there's so much more for me to talk about but this already turned into a three paragraph post oh my gosh #but hi i love tengen and it's very fun thinking about his character :' )))))#headcanons | tengen #i forgot to tag this at first asdfgh i never did a tag drop for him ahhh

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squeiky · 2 years ago

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I like that he says this, after you play the fight for awhile. Much like that Eggman's line in Shadow's spinoff game, where you play the game for awhile you'll be told that Eggman was lying about the whole robot thing just to manipulate shadow.

For some reason, despite taking Eggman's line as basically canon and everyone seems to know that, everyone (and by everyone I mean people in my social circle) seems to not know this or just slide it under the rug.

I like this line.

This is the final act, he's probably going to die. The two boys are putting in their all, on a time limit- and its now or never type moment.

I'd say, after everything those two went through? yeah this is a pretty reasonable response.

He doesn't really say "You're the ultimate life-form sonic" directly. He says he "discovered" it (what is he? a scientist?). Which is still happens to be an "oh" moment. It also implies he never really knew who the "ultimate life-form" was until now. He was just going along with what people called him, what they expected of him. Never really understanding what it meant.

I like this line.

Its character growth. stuff happens and people change.

The most bitter sweet part about it? Is that after this, sonic calls Shadow.. well.. Shadow the hedgehog. Not Shadow the ultimate life-form, or something made by Gerald, or some robot, or some alien, or whatever.

Not only that but he calls him a "brave and heroic hedgehog" (which, just makes the scene more eye teary.)

They swap titles, "Sonic the ultimate life-form" "Shadow the hedgehog"

It only lasts for this moment. Like a capsule in time. The last minutes of the game, the closing sequence/cut scene. To me? this is my little memory.

Personally, I resonate with Sonic during his melancholic stares into the spacey abyss. He mutters the words "ultimate life-form", in contemplation and so do I. Thinking of the word itself and the man who once held it. Along with the connotations behind it.

I like this line.

I don't know why.

i hate when people say "shadow hates sonic!!!" or "sonic and shadow hate eachother!!!" becaus if he hated him whu woul he asay thiis😢

#reblog #idk #yehgaaebvakwfbev

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monstas1ut2 · 4 years ago

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Diabolik Lovers x POC!Reader!

~Warnings~

•Mention of Biting

•Hints At Sex

•Cursing

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Being His Girlfriend”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-Shu Sakamaki

-What He Loves About You?Physically and Mentally?- : The blonde loves your thighs, there's so many things he imagines with them.. let that be innocent or devilish. He just wants you to sandwich his face, though he won't say that outloud. Now, what he loves mentally? You being sassy, or loud.. Now listen to this, he has a love hate relationship with your loudness when you get angry or when you laugh... He thinks it's hot when your angry... he thinks it's funny when you laugh... but he wants to push his earbuds in his ear very far sometimes...

-How He Kisses You?- : Shu tends to lazily poke his lips out a little, just a tiny bit. It flutters your heart when he does it because you know he wants a kiss. Shu cannot get enough of your lips, especially if you have lip gloss on.. it kinda turns him on in this odd way.. anyways, his kisses are soft, though they can also be sloppy with light touches.. swapping of saliva... his huge hand slapping your ass occasionally... yeah you two are... sexual at times...

-How He Hugs You- : He doesn't hug you on pure instinct... though if you come over to his mansion, he's very protective... so he immediately teleports down and wraps a lazy arm around you and disappears with you to his room. That's the most you get, unless you hug him.. in which he would take this opportunity to lean down and smell the nice products in your hair.

-How He Deals With Your Sass/Slang- : Shu doesn't mind the way you speak, he thinks it's unique and he understands the shortening of words because it's lazy to say the whole thing. Though about your sass, he normally shuts you up by smacking your ass pretty hard, or kissing you harshly... Shu always says he doesn't have time for your bratty attitude.. but he high key lives for it, especially when you're doing it to someone else.

-Dealing With His Vampire Tendencies- : Shu is one of the brothers that didn't drink from Yui much when she was living with them.. but when he got with you... he started to want blood every week... it wasn't annoying since you actually liked the feeling, but it was annoying to him.... He'd get annoyed if you wore that perfume he loves so much... he can't resist.. that smell mixed with your blood.. he-...

-Comforting Him- : Okay, Shu has a sad backstory, all the brothers do... we know that.. But you're his girlfriend, and the way you comfort him when he feels this way is just laying with him in bed.. his head near your heart as you give him a nice little scalp massage with your nails. Sometimes you'd talk with him, to get it off his chest... and after his mind is off of it.. you two don't talk about it any longer.... And he really does appreciate you... he just never says it.

-Reiji Sakamaki

-What He Loves About You? Physically and Mentally?- : This vampire loves... loves your skin... he unlocked a new kink he never thought he had... an interracial kink... He just loves the way your darker skin contrasts with his... He isn't afraid to say things about your skin, and he normally keeps your skin clear... Anyways, mentally... he loves your determination... You never back down unless you want to, not to please anyone else. You also have guts.. and he praises you for that.

-How He Kisses You- : Reiji Kisses you on the back of your hand, after that.. he may kiss you on your lips.. only if you beg though. He likes when you initiate things, even though it'll end up with him being the dom... he just loves seeing you so bold... So this means your kisses can go any way... It could be soft today, but completely slutty and sex filled the next with you giving out soft sounds.

-How He Hugs You- : Mister Reiji doesn't hug... you hug him... so his hands are always at his sides.. not making any move to lean forward or anything... though one day he thought you were sad... he thought you were crying and someone was about to die that day.. though he hugged you... it felt so weird but felt so right... he just held your head to his body with his gloved hand. Reiji wanted to stay like that forever but you looked up pretty shocked.. and he was annoyed that you tricked him... but lucky you... he gives you a hug once a month now.

-How He Deals With Your Sass/Slang- : Reiji absolutely hated the way you talked, but ya know... he got used to it... and when you get used to something, sometimes you start to love it. Reiji won't say this but he thinks your slang is sexy. Only because it comes out harshly when you're angry. We all know Reiji loves seeing you being messy with girls who tried speaking with him. He'd interfere, yes.. but he'd let you run your mouth before you could jump on the chick.. he won't say he likes it though. But if it's towards him, he gets sadistic, he wants to see you crumble and act right... and he can get you to act right in 0.001 seconds...

-Dealing With His Vampire Tendencies- : Reiji drinks blood when he wants to, and when you came around.. that stayed the same. He wasn't going to drain you, no... the only times he drinks blood from you is when he needs it and when you are being very rude and bratty. He has only done that once and it shut you up for a week because we all know Reiji is harsh with his bites...

-Comforting Him- : Reiji won't admit that he's down, or that he's thinking of the past. But you know him... you knew something was up. Comforting him is quite easy, you just hug him tightly... and you reassure him that he's number one in your book... you reassure him that you're never going to leave him... and that you understand...

-Ayato Sakamaki

-What He Loves About You? Physically and Mentally?- : This high ego vampire loves your boobs... this isn't going to change for anyone... he just loves boobs.. whether they are small or huge.. There's a big difference from your boobs and the boobs he'd seen before... Your boobs were like chocolate chips... and he would occasionally bite them, not your nipple though, he did that once and got slapped. What he likes about you mentally? Is your skills in volleyball. He has never seen a female as aggressive as you in any game really.. so it's fun to see you accidentally harm someone on the other team..

-How He Kisses You- : Ayato doesnt give warnings... you both could be on your way to class... or you could be going to practice... or even walking through the classroom door and here this redhead comes, pushing his lips onto yours.. Ayato's kisses are surprisingly soft, and not long at all unless he's getting riled up.. maybe because he's a secret tsundere... just a tiny bit.. But when he gets riled up, expect your lips to be bruised and your lip gloss all gone...

-How He Hugs You- : Ayato is just one of those guys, you know.. the one that has his arm around you 24/7.. so it's not necessarily a real loving hug but behind the scenes.. when you two are alone.. just open your arms and he's there... Hugs with him aren't quick whatsoever either... even better

-How He Deals With Your Sass/Slang- : Okay, so Ayato doesn't deal with your sass... simple.. if you're cursing someone out like a dog, he lets you. If you're cursing at him like a dog, he just curses back.. he high key thinks it's entertaining anyways so why stop you?

-Dealing With His Vampire Tendencies- : Ayato probably drinks more blood than all of his brothers. So when you came into his life with that caramel/chocolate goodness, he died inside and came back to life... devouring you every other day. He actually doesn't take a lot in one day, he knows his boundaries... but it's mostly everyday that he drinks your blood.

-Comforting Him- : Ayato tries to keep everything inside and hidden, so speaking about his problems mostly ends with him getting annoyed and angry.. though one day he let you comfort him and it didn't stop after that... He just loves the way you'd speak to him and the way you'd intertwine your fingers with his. He won't say it but he's absolutely soft for you... because he knows he's mentally safe..

-Laito Sakamaki

-What He Loves About You? Physically and Mentally?- : He... loves your ass... like... your ass... the way it jiggles in leggings, shorts... jeans... why does it move so much? He never seen such a thing where he used to live so... but yours was so.... nice... he usually has a hand on one of your ass cheeks 24/7. Now, mentally? He loves how bold you are, how blunt you could be... he recalls the moment you two met... it was like you were a stripper-..

-How He Kisses You- : Laito's kisses are obviously pretty heated, but he's so skilled it looks like those sexy movie kisses where they just.. dive right in... Though Laito loves cute pecks a lot... he'd take those as well.. just to have your affection.. his hands usually slides to your ass still though..

-How He Hugs You- : His hugs are tight and always loving. No matter the time of day, if you wanted a hug, Laito was right there giving you one. He just loves personal touch... and it had to take him awhile to get used to this whole relationship thing but you straightened that out.. for sure...

-How He Deals With Your Sass/Slang- : Laito didn't even notice your slang at first until he noticed he didn't know what you were saying sometimes... And he wouldn't say anything since it didn't bother him but he'd do little things to tick you off just so he could hear your voice... honestly your voice to him was sexy... Now... your sass? He loves it, he indulges in it and he sometimes gets girls to flirt with him just so he can see you about to take the hoops out-.... He's an ass... but he really means no harm.

-Dealing With His Vampire Tendencies- : Laito is probably the second brother who takes so much blood from their s/o... He usually does it during the time when you two kiss. He tends to do it on your lower body a lot and he actually does try to be gentle but that's kinda impossible.

-Comforting Him- : Laito probably had the most traumatic experience as a child? Being completely ripped of his innocence... So, of course it comes back to haunt him... He usually ends up not wanting to touch you, as you give him that space until he's ready to come back to you. When he does, you wrap your arms around him and you place his fedora on the side table and you lightly rub at his hair..

-Kanato Sakamaki

-What He Loves About You? Physically and Mentally?- : Kanato loves your face, how it glows in the sunlight.. he honestly debated about turning you into a doll but you reassured him that he could stare at you for as long as he wanted... Mentally, he loves your caring soul... You may be rude at times and mean but not to him-and Teddy- and that's what gets him happy...

-How He Kisses You- : Kanato didn't kiss you all the time, he used to prefer cheek kisses from your lips... but when he smelt cotton candy out of the blue he gripped your face and noticed your lip gloss was that smell. He figured he could taste it too so he kissed you.. his kisses are harsh of course because he never been in a relationship before.. so expect to have bruised lips.

-How He Hugs You- : Kanato doesn't really hug you... though he tends to place Teddy to the side and he doesn't let go of you in bed. But he's not doing that in public...

-How He Deals With Your Sass/Slang- : Kanato doesn't really care about your slang as much as the others. He does love your sass but, definitely NOT towards him though. If it's towards him he's going to straight lay you out... But if it's towards someone else he's smirking, and watching you let them have it...

-Dealing With His Vampire Tendencies- : Kanato is probably the third that drinks a lot... the triplets are literally just... wild... Anyways, he drinks a lot from you, mostly if he craves it or if you act sassy towards him... he isn't soft either.. so let's not curse mister Kanato out....

-Comforting Him- : Kanato would sometimes get angry at you for no reason and what you do is just let him... he then notices himself that he's doing his for no reason and he just let you embrace him. Usually Teddy is discarded and he's laying his head on your breasts.

-Subaru Sakamaki

-What He Loves About You? Physically and Mentally?- : Subaru loves your hair, he would ask to touch it, and you've told him plenty of times that he could considering he's your boyfriend... you told him that you don't let others touch it because you don't know where their hands been and you don't want them messing anything up. Mentally, Subaru loves your happiness... and your jokes.. he's so used to being depressed and angry.. so when you brightened up his life.. he was appreciative.

-How He Kisses You- : You have to initiate the kiss, if you don't... you just won't get kisses.. he acts like your so fragile and he tends to say terrible things about himself... So you usually initiate the kissing, he loves feeling your darker hands on his face while you do kiss him. He also surprisingly loves when you sit on his lap while you do so... it's always a soft kiss with him... he only does harsh kisses when he's pissed.

-How He Hugs You- : Subaru still believes you're fragile so he doesn't really touch you at all unless you touch him first.. so you initiate the hugs as well. He blushes of course and tends to hug back lightly, and one time you tackled him and he blushed so hard he actually looked like he was going to burst... he felt your ass on his crotch and he bout-...

-How He Deals With Your Sass/Slang- : Subaru doesn't mind your slang, he thinks it's entertaining, though your sass is something he won't deal with.. he usually shuts you up by wrapping that rough hand around your throat... and telling you to shut up... he.... he apologizes later..

-Dealing With His Vampire Tendencies- : Subaru is probably the brother that doesn't drink much. He doesn't like hurting you, but when he realized how strong you were.. he'd be a little alright with it.. and he'd bite at your shoulder or your wrist. He is actually pretty soft, and he tends to get your mind off of it... by doing something... bold.. with his fingers..

-Comforting Him- : Dealing with the whole mom thing.. having mommy and daddy issues like the rest of his brothers is... Subaru lets you comfort him, he lets you curl up beside him and he wraps his arms around you and doesn't let you go... this is comfort for Subaru because this way.. he knows you won't turn on him and you won't leave him so suddenly...

-Karlheinz

-What He Loves About You? Physically and Mentally?- : This dangerous man loves your figure... Mixed with that skin color of yours.. He just wants to eat you up... he may be acting like his purple haired wife who was absolutely obsessed with him... He's your biggest fan.. and everytime you come to work.. he's either staring at your new hairstyle, staring at your new acrylic set... or staring at your new clothes... Mentally, he loves how powerful of a woman you are.. some may say he won't like a powerful woman and honestly he didn't.. he knows he can still overpower you but nobody else can..

-How He kisses You- : Karlheinz usually wraps his arm around your midsection and leans down to you. He's always kissing you, and kissing on your neck. He just loves the taste, and it's like he's edging himself for a bite. His kisses are usually sexual most of the time, and it leaves you wanting more.

-How He Hugs You- : This man will kiss the back of your hand first before placing his hands on your waist... pulling you close while you try to wrap your arms around his neck but he's tall... even with your heels on..

-How He Deals With Your Sass/Slang- : Karlheinz is the one who looks up everything you say to understand what you mean... Though when he finds out, it's imprinted in his mind and eventually he can understand everything you say. You rarely talk that way in the work setting, but when alone with him... you let it all go. If you're sassy with him, he usually doesn't do much.. but if he is annoyed by it, he lets you know and lets you know you're on a thin line... if you pass that line even more he would give you some.. harsh slaps on the ass and force you to say sorry.. but if it's towards someone else.. best believe he's right there being petty with you.

-Dealing With His Vampire Tendencies- : Karl tends to be pretty calm with it.. he's powerful so he can get blood anywhere without having to bite into anyone. But he bites you for punishment sometimes, and would drain you completely so you could go to sleep... aka, pass out and not bother him... he loves you though.. really. If he needs your blood quickly he tells you that before biting where he wants... and his bites are unusually soft.

-Comforting Him- : There is no comforting this man...

~•~

#diabolik lovers scenarios #Diabolik lovers #shu sakamaki #reiji sakamaki #ayato sakamaki #laito sakamaki #kanato sakamaki #subaru sakamaki #karlheinz #boyfriend scenarios #poc reader #black reader

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canary3d-obsessed · 4 years ago

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Restless Rewatch: The Untamed Episode 14 first part

(RR The Untamed Masterpost) (Canary’s Pinboard - more Masterposts)

Warning: Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!

Murder Turtle, Continued

Lan Wangji wakes up after a good night's sleep leaning against a rock wall, to find that his leg is no longer splinted, and his perfectly clean and unbloody headband has been put back on his head while he was sleeping.

Leaving aside the "not waking up" part of things, how, exactly, did Wei Wuxian get his headband on without mussing his hair? Did he bring a crochet hook?

Wei Wuxian gives him a sitrep and then they cozy up and have an extended conversation about the nature and history of the Tortoise of Slaughter. Wei Wuxian is interested in everything Lan Wangji has to say, and Lan Wangji talks a lot more than usual; they are completely on the same wavelength here and are enjoying swapping obscure knowledge.

Lan Wangji: My lacerated leg and I are actually super aware that it has big teeth, but thanks for the reminder.

In the course of the conversation, Wei Wuxian mentions his plan to 1. sneak into the tortoise's shell and 2. drive it out of its shell so they can attack it.

OP did a little tortoise research and learned that the only species of turtle that can leave its shell is the Koopa Troopa.

Good news for Wei Wuxian: If you jump on its shell in the right spot, you can rack up a pile of extra lives.

Does that make the Tortoise of Slaughter a giant Koopa Troopa? Perhaps...the king of the Koopa Troopas?

I'm gonna say yes.

(More after the cut)

Let’s Go Killing

Wei Wuxian is exhilarated by the idea of fighting a giant dangerous monster with Lan Wangji. Some day Wei Wuxian will found the Nike clan, because his motto is definitely "Just do it."

It's sweet how, in his romantic notions about chivalry and Lan Wangji, he's completely elided the original reason they were (sort of) told to venture together.

Wei Wuxian: I'm still on the "find the Yin Iron" quest; I'm just skipping the "suppress it" part.

Wei Wuxian weighs up their chances against Bowser and tells Lan Wangji that even if they die, it will be badass to be killed by a famous monster, so they won't have to feel embarrassed.

This is the exact moment that Lan Wangji's feelings for Wei Wuxian go from "smitten" to "gagging for it."

Lan Wangji: as soon as we get out of here I'm going to borrow a whole lot of books from Nie Huaisang

The boys come up with a plan that involves a rather long montage of collecting archery equipment and deconstructing it. This potentially-dull montage is fun to watch because they are both very, very good looking.

Artists who want to draw Wang Yibo as an elven archer, this is your episode.

Now we suddenly have, with zero explanation, telepathy. Ok, sure. It seems to work kind of like a phone conversation, in which they say specific things to each other, rather than like Cherry Magic telepathy where you can hear everything the other person is thinking. Or at least, neither of them is embarrassed, so I assume they are maintaining some mental privacy.

Club Ruohan

Same, Wen Chao, same

At some point there is a boring sequence at Club Ruohan. Wen Ruohan doesn't know where Xue Yang is, but really wants his hunk of Yin Iron. Wen Chao thinks that WRH's 3 pieces of Yin Iron should be able to beat Xue Yang's 1 piece, but apparently he is dumb and that is not how math works. O...kay? OP does not understand this either but whatever, Wen Ruohan is boring, moving on. This scene is really just here to make us think about Yin Iron before Wei Wuxian jumps into Bowser's shell.

Bigger On The Inside

So then Wei Wuxian climbs into Bowser's shell, which is, to quote The 12th Doctor, bigger on the inside.

Bowser’s shell is the approximate size of my entire house. It is also bathed in a hellish pure red photo filter, which OP has done her best to remove for these gifs, because it gives me eye strain and it obscures Xiao Zhan's hotness.

Camera Operator: What did I do?

Wei Wuxian wanders around inside, finding random corpses encased in slime cocoons. Tortoise, spider, xenomorph, whatever. There are also random curtain things hanging all over, and then at one point Wei Wuxian stares into the face of a corpse, and then does a jump scare response at the camera operator even though nothing particular happened.

I imagine the corpse was supposed to open its eyes and say "killl meeee" but it got censored. He also makes about 8 other faces at the camera operator, so we get that the inside of this TARDIS-like tortoise shell (must...resist...temptation...to...say...TORDIS) is yucky.

Lan Wangji waits outside listening to Wei Wuxian telepathically complain about the smell. He is anxiously clenching a bundle of string and an arrow, and wishing he could clench Wei Wuxian Bichen instead.

Serendipitous Yin Iron

Wei Wuxian backs his way through the TORDIS until his butt bumps into a sword that is steaming with resentful energy. That's right: Wei Wuxian is about to pull a piece of Yin Iron almost literally out of his ass.

He grabs it and is overwhelmed by its screaming resentful energy and has to let it go again.

So this is what a vibrator with 4 batteries feels like

When Bowser comes looking for him, however, he quickly decides to go for it, grabbing the sword and singing "I've Got the Power (Gonna Make You Sweat)"

Wei Wuxian plunges the sword into Bowser's lower jaw, and Bowser pulls his entire head out of his shell with Wei Wuxian attached, while leaving the rest of his body and all rational laws of physics inside the shell.

Gamera Versus the Cultivators

What follows is one of the more ridiculous action sequences in the history of the world, and I say that as someone who likes Mothra movies.

Wei Wuxian hovers in a perfect horizontal plank while “hanging from” the sword, which is held well below the level of his torso. While Bowser spins him around. For much of the time, Bowser keeps his head still and just waves his neck around.

Lan Wangji and the camera operator do everything they possibly can to make "guy pulls on string" look interesting.

Everybody tries really, really hard and the actors are great at pretending something is there when it isn't, but this whole sequence is just horribly conceived.

What works well, though, is the Yin energy and Wei Wuxian's wrangling of it. He starts off being frightened and overwhelmed, and looking like it's too much for him; I dont' know if they made his face puffy on purpose or if that's just what happens when you spend days hanging from the ceiling fighting an imaginary monster. But he looks slack and unwell as he grapples with the iron sword.

Which makes this moment, when he gets control of it, deliciously creepy. He uses the power of the Yin Iron to stick a bunch of pokey things into Bowser's neck.

Lan Wangji has seen him struggling and now sees him...not struggling. Which scares the piss out of him, and he moves to finish the fight as quickly as possible, slicing up his hand and breaking the string. Combined with the pokey things, this does the trick and Bowser dies while Wei Wuxian faints and falls into the water.

Do the Whumpty Whump

Lan Wangji rescues him and wakes him up, and Wei Wuxian clutches the Yin Iron sword and tells Lan Wangji that he was knocked out by the screaming of disembodied voices.

This certainly sounds like a strange and dangerous phenomenon, so Lan Wangji carefully asks him to explain everything.

Ha ha ha j/k. Lan Wangji asks him exactly nothing about the strange sword or the black smoke or his weird evil smile or his new power over pointy objects. Lan Wangji appears to have a Star Trek: TNG level of unconcern about strange phenomena happening directly under his nose. But in fact he has noticed what's up, which is why he will be instantly distressed when he sees Wei Wuxian's flute moves at the Wen Corporate Headquarters.

Wei Wuxian has a fever (stay positive test negative) and comments on Lan Wangji's being so nice to him.

Wei Wuxian: I could never have imagined Lan Er Gongzi acting this concerned about me. Lan Wangji: what else have you never imagined me doing, while we're on the subject?

Lan Wangji transfers a stream of spiritual energy to him. Lan Wangji has so much spiritual power he can be a battery for Wei Wuxian without breaking a sweat or, like, noticing whether Wei Wuxian has a golden core or not, for that matter.

Wei Wuxian basks in the nice feeling of gigajoules for a while but then decides he's bored. So then he pouts, whines, and cajoles Lan Wangji in exactly, EXACTLY the way he whines at Jiang Yanli. I think this, while annoying of him, is a leap forward in his relationship with Lan Wangji.

He's letting his guard down and not just allowing Lan Wangji to take care of him; he's demanding to be cared for on multiple vectors, when he asks the guy who's already busy healing him to sing to him as well.

Lan Wangji obliges, singing him the song he composed about their love cultivation journey, while Wei Wuxian (or possibly Lan Wangji) (or possibly both) has a flashback to assorted sexy interactions that they've had so far.

Wei Wuxian memorizes the song perfectly on one hearing, before passing out.

Writing Prompt: Baldur’s Gate III / Untamed Crossover AU featuring elf archer Lan Wangji

I DARE YOU

Soundtrack: 1. Everybody Dance Now by C+C Music Factory 2. Paradise by the Dashboard Light by Meatloaf

Wei Wuxian fainting tally (cumulative): 3

#fytheuntamed #the untamed #wangxian #the untamed gifs #the untamed meta #the untamed spoilers #restless rewatch the untamed #my gifs #canary3d-original #asian whump

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emmafreakecreations · 2 years ago

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Reading ACOSF for the first time

I enjoyed this one, it was nice to see Nesta have some sort of character development. This book was too long though and the plot other than Nesta's healing was non-existent. I'll be honest I think the only appeal of this book for most ppl would be the spice. I'm just gonna write random thoughts in bullet points bc i feel like i don't remember most of what happened.

The House of Wind is my new favorite character. When Nesta first started living there the house was like "EAT DAMMIT AND YEAH YOU ONLY GET WATER" and heated her room instead of giving her a fire. Also the fact that it would give her romance books *chef's kiss*

I know Nesta spending a ton of Rhys's money was bad and a cry for help but I felt like all the character's reaction to it was silly bc it's like you guys established in the novella that you guys are so wealthy that buying a ton of expensive jewels for Amren wouldn't put a dent in you r coffers so I have no pity for you having to pay a tavern that much

It's stupid that Feyre and Rhys made that bargin. Like did Rhys and Feyre not think that through and the consequences if they died before peace was found. These two have become just annoying to me as a couple since the novella.

While reading this book I was thinking why do I feel less stressed out and angry while reading this and then Tamlin showed up. Then I was like oh that's why this book has been so stress free. I have said before that I wish he could have some sort of redemption and healing process but the fact that I was enjoying the book until he showed his furry self really says something.

I Love Gwyn and Emmerie and their close female friendship with Nesta. Swapping books, having sleepovers and making friendship bracelets. I love it.

Nesta was calling ppl out, like saying to Elain when did you get interesting and calling Rhys and Feyre out for the ridiculous amount of wealth. I do acknowledge that Nesta revealing Feyre going to die was a low blow bc she did it out of anger to get back at her, but she had a point that it was fucked up that they were keeping that from Feyre. They were keeping information about Feyre's OWN BODY FROM HER and that they were looking for a way to fix it-something she should have been involved in since you know IT'S HER OWN BODY. I appreciate that Feyre understood that it wasn't Nesta's fault and she wasn't angry at her she was angry at Rhys.

I understand Rhys's concern about the enemies knowing Feyre is pregnant but I really feel the shield was overkill, weird, and overprotective. It made me uncomfy. Seems like Ryhs is acting like a certain someone from book 2

I just love that Nesta just keeps getting proposed to in this book. Like Eris and Lanthys see Nesta and are like "omg this females is just so powerful and owns it. She must be my Queen."

THE DANCE SCENE WITH ERIS OMG

Mor at first was not being helpful and took it to far being mean to Nesta. I did like her teaching Nesta the dances and realizing they needed a dress for her. And Nesta told her that she didn't want anything too revealing like what Mor wears bc she is not comfortable. And I think it just clicked in Mor's head what Nesta meant when they first met that she wouldn't wear Mor's dress. It's not like she didn't like it, it just wasn't something Nesta would wear and Mor was really nice and accommodating. And I'm glad these two can be civil now.

I'm tired of reading fae being able to smell arousal and pregnancy. It's weird they are like werewolves. Like other series and books I have read with fae don't have an acute sense of smell

I'm mad that Nesta lost her powers it feels like SJM was like "sorry no one can be more powerful than Rhys and Feyre"

I felt like Nesta kinda lost her snarkyness and smiled too much at the end. (she's the type of person who smiles occasionally but with no teeth) I also think she wouldn't have wanted a big mating ceremony- maybe like a courthouse one with her friends and family. I also don't see her wanting children and just being content with being an aunt. I feel like she turned into Feyre towards the end.

I miss book 1 Lucien

I have a book recommendation too. If you want a story similar to ACOTAR but the main character actually deals with her family trauma then A Dance with the Fae Prince by Elise Kova is your book. The set up is similar to cinderella- abusive step-mom and step-sister- and the myth of Eros and Psyche- bc of debt the step-mom sells mc hand in marriage, but when the mc gets to her new husbands house she is not allowed to see him. Also the main guy is amazing and I love him. oh and the are actually fae and not just hot humans with magic.

#acosf #rhysand #feyre #nesta archeron #mor #emerie of illyria #amren #gwyn acotar #cassian

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