#//This was just supposed to be an HC/analysis kind of post.

[kingspuppet]

Due to the environment and trauma that Goro was brought up with he had to mature very quickly. For his mother's sake there was no time to be a child, and the harsh reality that followed her passing would only serve to harden the shell that he was slowly building around himself. No adult wanted to deal with a whining child anyway. He'd either be reprimanded or ignored, bullied and unwanted by the adults (and even some of the kids) that were supposed to protect him. Showing any signs of weakness, emotional or otherwise, was deemed undesirable. It didn't matter what kind of meltdown Goro was having or the reasons behind it, because every time it was met with annoyance and anger. Due to this it was never a matter of if they would discard him, it was only a matter of when. It was a pattern that he came to expect, and he stamped out any trace of hurt that came with it. Goro had to grow and accept that he was a burden to everyone, and in doing so meant becoming independent. There was no one else he could rely on and absolutely no one he could trust. This realization coupled with the continuous heartbreak and trauma to his heart made donning a mask of a grown, self-sustaining, matured adult all too easy. No one looked beyond his appearance to the rotting structure beneath anyhow. As long as the real Goro was buried six feet beneath in the darkest depths of his gaping, rage filled heart his presence was tolerable to the world. Unfortunately, his best attempts at maintaining physical maturity couldn't ever make up for his lack of emotional maturity. Anger became a second skin as if it were armor. It was comfortable and easier to deal with than pain, loss, sadness, and even love. Complex puzzles and cases were fun, but complex emotions were foreign and terrifying. He lashes out at others, at himself, in an attempt to manage the intense emotions he's not equipped to deal with. It's the only way he knows how to handle these moments so he doesn't shatter like a broken mirror. Even if it doesn't make him feel better about himself or the situation it at least gives him a semblance of control. It's better to know that he's making choices for himself and that no one will ever get the chance to hurt him first again. After all, no one can torment you if you don't let them close enough to try. For Goro, it's easier to be angry to protect the tiny child that lingers, frightened, within him.

[jahiera]

How To Know If Your Evil Vampire Boygirlfriend Really Likes You (a meta on Astarion's manipulations of Tav deeper into the romance.)

Okay, this was supposed to be a response to this ask right here, and it got so long I decided to just put it in its own thing for slightly easier reading. Thank you again to the asker for giving me an excuse to go off the rails talking about THE BOY. This also got long enough that it needs. Subheadings. And it is [checks notes] 3.6k words long. If you're interested in skipping the act 2 Scene Breakdown and going straight for the character analysis of Act 3 specifically, you can jump to the uhhh 3. Yeah He's Manipulative (Trauma Edition) subheading.

Prefacing that this is just my personal interpretation of Astarion here, the game leaves several moments ambiguous on purpose & I'd be super intrigued to hear what anyone else thinks is going on in this rancid little lad's head. This became more of a process of breaking down what I think he's doing in each scene than anything else, so I hope it's interesting to... you? reader? Since it's a bit long-winded and a lot of speculation and interpretation on my part for his wild ass behavior.

(Also, I haven't played far enough with an ascended Astarion to properly break down the differences between both--he'll have his own playthrough for sure but since I haven't gone far enough in that path, all of this is with no-ritual Astarion in mind) (I also don't have screenshots for everything but hopefully that's alright. just trust me bro.)

Fair warning, I didn't proof-read this & I moved paragraphs around so if it sounds incoherent that's a feature not a bug. Now. Let's get into the EVIDENCE.

1. but did he mean the kisses????

So, before the hug scene, the game leaves us a bit of room to interpret the progression of the relationship. I kind of wish we had one extra scene to sort of solidify his growing feelings in the in-between period of his "I'm just sleeping with you to secure my safety here," era (pre-confession as we'll call it) and his "oh shit I actually kind of care about you," era (post-confession, pre-ritual), but I understand why it wasn't included. Game mechanics & cost aside, the space between these two periods is left entirely up to player interpretation, & has lots of room for HC up to each individual player & Tav.

To address the easiest examples the asker gave, the repeatable kiss dialogues are all ones I'm going to mark under "sincere." Mostly because those are all post-confession, and after Astarion has acknowledged to himself (& the player) that he doesn't want to do anything sexual, but presumably kissing is fine (given that he's enthusiastic about the kisses & will shut down sex/intimacy acts otherwise.)

There's not really a logic to him being slinky here, and I didn't interpret any of his post-kiss repeated dialogues as insincere, much more so playful or coy or cheeky. The voice acting is subtle here, but I found it to be much more playful than his annoying little, for lack of a better word, purring "hello, beautiful" etc etc in act 1 / early act 2. Also, all these dialogues stay the same after the ritual happens, and your romance has been solidified in the grave scene, where he wholly says:

"I feel safe with you. Seen. And whatever the future holds for me, I don't want to lose that."

^ Not a lie. So I think we can mark off those particular dialogue as sincere.

In act 2, there aren't really a lot of places for Astarion to actually get into his manipulative tendencies. He overtly needs your aid with Yurgir (Repeat after me: thank you for helping me. It was very kind.) so he doesn't really manipulate you at... all...? in my opinion? Act 2 shows you his most sincere moment yet in the confession/hug scene. He is not lying. He is more honest in those moments than he has been in the entire game, and it shows in his wording, his body language. He's uncertain of himself, maybe. He doesn't know what to make of the situation yet. He says as much to Tav when you ask him "What are we?" and he says:

"I don't know. But isn't it nice? Not to know. You're not a victim. Not a target. Not just one night it's better to forget. But then... whatever in the world could you be?"

He has no reason to say that without sincerity. He could say you're his specialest babygirl if he wanted to keep up the lie. And other than helping him with Raphael, there's really not a moment where Astarion has an opportunity to manipulate you....

EXCEPT.

EXCEPT. For this moment in particular. which is one of my FAVORITE Astarion ones because it is gloriously bitchy.

2. what if we took over a cult, babe.

Context first: I played a paladin of devotion, rough around the edges but fairly good-aligned Tav. She was a bit of a jerk but she saved people for free, and I adhered to her dialogue roleplay hard, choosing the "destroy the Absolute" dialogues at every turn. I don't have a save for this scene sadly otherwise I'd replay it and compare/contrast answers like a pepe silvia meme, so I'm only able to break this scene down from that particular lens.

Secondary context: This scene is important because it highlights Astarion's manipulative routine while still with a Tav he's very fond of (exceptional approval in this scene) and the way he lays it out is necessary to understand the moments later where he tries to manipulate Tav again, since it has components of the same themes, ideas, and tendencies that go on.

So, Astarion will hit you with this hot take early-ish on.

"You know. I feel a connection between us. Like we're two souls walking the same path (...)" Astarion establishes emotional connection, and a foundation of similarity/commonality/shareed interest. This is pretty standard fare for him. He does the same thing a lot early in act one, where he's almost CONSTANTLY asking you to "trust him," (when you really should not.)

"You might be a little naive in the ways of the world, but I see promise in you. Ambition." - He kind of snidely reveals what he actually thinks--you're a bit naive, you "have a big heart,"--he's hoping that his emotional cloying and little comment and connection with Tav will be enough to sway them over to what he wants to do, and they'll give him what he wants because We're So Similar, See?

"So I was thinking, what would be the right thing do when we get to Moonrise Towers?" - He wields his language carefully. The right thing to do. That's a language he thinks Tav speaks. An interest in doing the Right Thing; so, he adjusts accordingly. He wants to do the right thing too, you see, and the right thing conveniently lines up with what he actually wants, which is real power. Astarion confesses he's not a details guy, yada yada, then--

"If we can take that control from them, imagine the power we'd wield." <- He lets slip what he's actually interested in. Astarion generally can't keep a charade up for too long. His real thoughts always come through, and he reveals his hand in conversations often, but usually in offhanded ways and, well--he's never made a secret really of where his actual interests lie. His attempts at currying your favor and persuading you (and you can really feel the persuasion here) are prettyyyyy overt, but still, he's trying anyways.

"I'm just saying there's an opportunity here. If we can control the tadpoles, we can keep ourselves safe and liberate the world from this evil." <- He brings the conversation back around to what's more neutral than Absolute Power -- keeping ourselves safe. He uses the We and Us language a lot when he wants to convince other people of anything, really. "We're all such good, trusting friends!" he'll say, lying through his FUCKING teeth. His manipulations here are like.... pretty clear, but he still gets an A for effort for trying to align himself with Tav & Tav's perceived goals & see if he can wriggle in his own in the process, put "become god-cult-leader" up as a Reasonable and Rational thing to Want to achieve.

The actual question here: does he care about Tav at this point? Up for interpretation, but I'm going to say yes with... the caveat that I don't think he's fully acknowledged it to himself, and I don't think it's love here. It is high approval though. I do think he cares about Tav, I do think he's including Tav in longer-term goals, he's depending on Tav at this point as an ally he can count on, and he's starting to get chipped away at.

I don't even really think it's a lie that he on some level would like to see Tav safe, and takes their wellbeing into account. He's been with them long enough to worry over their safety to some extent, and to at least partially lump it in with his own (in my opinion). Is that love? I don't think so. "We can finally be safe," is a reoccurring theme in the other scene I'm going to break down in just a second. And it's interesting for a lot of reasons.

And furthermore: you can care about someone and still be manipulative toward them. That's a core thing going on here, I think, with Astarion.

3. Yeah He's Manipulative (Trauma Edition).

"Is Astarion Manipulating Me In Act 3? " YES. A little bit. And here's why it's INTERESTING.

So, the confession scene in act two has already happened. Astarion has confessed some of his big mushy feelings to you. He likes you. You've slammed the "can I kiss you?" dialogue 100 times already because you're really super normal about the vampire twink. He doesn't know what to make of his caring about Tav yet. See: his "what are we??" dialogue.

MOVING ON. Astarion is also, a manipulative little shit, and he will NOT change his ways just because he likes you a lot and giggles when you give him a little kissy kiss.

Astarion is deeply, deeply traumatized, and his trauma has in his own words makes him act out the same cycles of behavior that he did prior to escaping Cazador. In its most obvious format, one of those behaviors was seducing Tav because that was the kind of behavior he knew, and it was the only thing he could think of to secure his own safety. By act 2, he's somewhat aware of the cycle, but--

Traumatic behaviors, like anything relating to surviving abuse & getting out of it, come and go in waves. You'll likely not find a survivor of abuse who doesn't revert back to coping mechanisms at times, especially in moments or episodes of heightened stress, or being put back into the old environment again. ->

Astarion going back to Baldur's Gate--and specifically with killing cazador in mind--is him going back to that same place where traumatic events occurred... almost constantly. Thus, he goes back to his old behaviors. Not to the exact same level, but it is there.

Safety. THIS is a word that comes back a lot with Astarion, it is one of his most reoccurring (if not the most) themes. He wants to feel safe. He associates power with safety, because the safest person in the world--as in, literally safe, not "safe for other people"--in his mind, is Cazador, who is powerful enough to repel any threats to himself & what he owns, has, possesses, and keeps.

Astarion is still, at his core, no matter what, self-serving. He will do what's best for himself first and foremost in almost every circumstance you put him in. Or at least, he will want to--if Tav or someone else stands in his way, and he sticks it out, it'll be begrudgingly. That's a fundamental aspect of his character & to try and do away with it makes no sense.

And in case it got lost, I'll reiterate that I do think Astarion's actual feelings for Tav at this stage are entirely genuine, & deeply felt. It shows, and it's obvious. He's just got several layers of behavior going on in the process.

"But I thought astarion liked me??? why would he consciously choose to manipulate me??" The thing is, once again, you can like someone and still try to manipulate them, pull on their heartstrings, or quite frankly guilt trip them into helping you kill like, a lot of fucking people so you can become godlord supreme emperor of mortals and vampire kind.

Let's get into the second scene I want to break down. Keeping all of what we've established above about how Astarion goes about establishing connection & togetherness & the idea of shared safety to sway Tav over to his side.

So let's set up one thing for sure. It's pretty obvious, everyone gets this scene, but let's set it up anyways.

"What's a handful of the wretch's servants? IF they're anything like me when I was enslaved, they'll all be begging for death anyways." <- apathy toward others, generally motivated by self-interest, lack of empathy for others' plights, a callousness that is fairly unrepetant. He's fairly sure this is what he wants, and--

"After two hundred years of pure shit, I think I deserve something better." Again, Astarion tells us exactly what he's thinking. And what he believes. And he's not wrong! He does deserve something better than what he had before. Or, at least, he doesn't deserve the level of cruelty he endured at Cazador's hands. However.

And then he follows it up with, "I know you do [care]. It matters to me too. I want to be able to protect you too." <- finally, we come back around to the reoccurring theme he'll use to sway Tav over to his side. He sees the soft point of Tav in the conversation--they care about him--and he needles that in; they care about him, he cares about them, they should help him complete the ritual for it, it's what's best for everyone. Except for the 7000 spawn, but. You know.

NEXT IMPORTANT SCENE. let's take a look at the scene that follows after you confront his fellow vampire spawn in the tavern.

I'm keeping the full screencap so I can keep his shifty little look in here. It's not the best format, I wish I'd kept videos, the body language & voice acting adds a lot to this moment, but. Neil you're so good at balancing Astarion's careful shiftiness, his gleeful/vindictive revelry at being so close to his end goal & confronting his siblings without flinching, his coy little pleading, and his near desperate watchfulness. He needs Tav. He cares about Tav, yes, but he needs Tav to help him.

Astarion is, again, fairly callous about the deaths of his brethren. You have to remind him time & again to maybe empathize with their suffering & similarity to him. But each time he reverts back to, "their lives" serving a greater purpose.

Astarion then follows that up with "But we're a team. If I become all powerful, then we become all-powerful." <- I think he genuinely does think of himself & Tav as a team, and as a good one at that. More than anything, Tav is the first person Astarion, in his own words, feels he truly cares for. They've killed a few gods chosens together, Tav has given him respect, patience, care. He feels fairly assured of their presence & kindness at this point. And assurance tends to breed............. let's call it, taking for granted?

I believe he's trying to again emotionally bid for their help & loyalty as much as gauge if they're still with him, as he does by going -> "We are a team after all. You're still with me?" Once again, the easiest way to secure aid is through emotional connections; someone's attraction to you, or better yet, their care for your well-being, are easy strings to pull on to try and entice someone to do what you want them to do. It's not necessarily maliciously intended, but it is a kind of manipulation.

"But Astarion just genuinely wants to know you're on his side!" Yes. And he also really wants you to help him with the ritual. ANY arguments against the idea that he's benignly trying to manipulate Tav's feelings, I'm just gonna put up this screencap right here, one of the last times he bids for Tav's affection & loyalty in this, in this particular conversation:

Look at his stupid pouty face and his "You want what's best for me, surely?" and oh god the voice acting. We're smacked right in the face with Act 1 Astarion's slinky, whiny little "truuuuust me it'll just be a taste I promise &lt;3333" voice. That PURE "I'm trying so hard to connive my way into your good will because I REALLY want this." voice.

His strength is your strength. And he will pleading face emoji his way through getting you over to his side if he needs to. It's honestly so funny, how the writing plays out, because SEVERAL times you can choose to fully fall for it, "yes of course I want whats best for you / want you to be safe / feel good" and every time, he's like "I know I know <333 and I want YOU to feel safe too <3333" and I don't even think that's a lie! I don't think it's a LIE, I just think it's the same pattern of manipulative behavior he's exhibited time and again even when he cares for you.

Astarion is still Astarion. He is very willing to kill, lie, and cheat his way through just about anything to protect himself, & all of that makes PERFECT sense for him. And if you're not on board with his plans, of course he will use every tool at his disposal to get you on board. It is, after all, what's best for both you and him. His power is your power.

4. "I'm doing this for you too." He said, lying. Or genuinely believing that but lying to himself too and executing it in the weirdest way imaginable.

So, this is probably my favorite interaction in the entire Astarion romance. Love the grave scene. Love the horny evil vampire turning. But this moment in particular is fucking brilliant, because it illustrates the dilemma here perfectly.

Astarion outright tells us exactly why he is the way he is, and why he cares for Tav while being able to be so cruel and callous about others. "No one ever looked out for me [...] you're the only one." Tav is exceptional--as in, THE EXCEPTION to the rule--because they cared for him in a way no one else ever has. He has ZERO reason to even bother lifting a finger for anyone else besides himself, because in his mind, none of them ever bothered to help him, why should he bother with them. But TAV. Tav he can make promises too.

On some level, I do kind of believe him when he says things like "I'm doing this for you too." -- As in, I believe that he believes that he's taken Tav into account here as well. I do think he genuinely thinks they'll be an even more magnificent duo of glorious bastards together once he's God Vampire Emperor Of Eternity. And on some level, he's probably right. They do take over the world together in some endings, so. Good for them.

However, do I think he's primarily motivated by anything but himself? No. Tav also benefitting from his mega vampire powers is just a bonus in a laundry list of reasons why Astarion wants to ascend at this point in the game. Why Astarion is willing to pull out every guilt-trippy, pleading face to get Tav to help him, if they show even a hint of reluctance. More than anything: Astarion is a survivor, and a survivor of severe abuse that pretty quickly explain why he is the way he is. Does that excuse what he does in the aftermath of that abuse, when it comes to harming other people? Not really. But it explains it pretty clearly.

Because Astarion is back where he came from, he's immediately thrust back into the cycles of behavior that both traumatized him & were what he had to do. The pattern of behavior, coping mechanisms, rooted in traumatic cycles, that he has done time and time and time again that has successfully gotten him, not what he wants, but what he needs to survive. Does his manipulation of Tav here mean he doesn't care? Not at all. It's just that he needs this work. He needs his allies to help him make it work, and he's willing to pull out every stop to see Cazador dead and himself with enough power to never feel so helpless or vulnerable again.

Astarion can love you & still be himself. He will never stop being a bit bitchy, a bit conniving, extremely focused on self-preservation at all costs. He might not seek out active maliciousness, but even in act 3 after the ritual, he still approves of generally being a sneaky bastard, taking short cuts, taking easy ways out. And none of this is necessarily... a problem? It isn't ""moral"", sure, but it's not really a problem. In some endings, he can pursue ""better"" paths, but his general deceivery and typical behavior aren't going away. Feature, not a bug. How each Tav feels about his ... fairly obvious deep romance manipulations is up to each player though, and that is what's interesting for each playthrough.

There are five more essays to write in here. There's the Astarion after the ritual, who agrees that fine, killing 7000 people is wrong. And there's the Astarion after the ascension, who is now fully entrenched in the idea that Power Is Everything, and all that means for him afterward, and his visceral, intense, obsessive controlling dynamic with Tav where they descend into Chaotic Vampire Evil Marriage. And there's Astarion and Tav together finally, honestly, openly, with the heart-wrenching intimacy of the grave scene. And this is almost 4000 words so I'm shutting the fuck up here.

So. I will end this by saying I'm peeling him like an onion rn I'm obsessed with him. He's gods horrible princess and he's never going to die.

[luvring]

mmm i hope im understanding this character ask game right.. how about 1, 2, 6, 8, 9, 24 for the last legacy trio

(chara ask game) Oh Mamma Mia. i'm back in the fawking building ?! my memory of everything is so So minimal i'm gonna hope i can answer these. they might be incredibly sad looking answers though

1. Why do you like or dislike this character? — i don't remember specific moments or dialogue really but in general. i thought all of them were good-looking first of all. LOL. and they had rlly interesting plots!! the way they changed based on our choices (e.g. felix's treatment of rime in the last chapters) was just ?? so interesting to me?? even if i Was fawking it up. Idk guys I love character analysis and development. liked how their issues existed/manifested outside of their relationship w mc

felix: i thought he was kind of unique?? as an LI... with his personality and interests and the whole Necromancy thing. liked how he could be super smart and powerful but also be silly and. read smut. LOL. i could relate to him and found him endearing

anisa: i always thought she was lovely but realizing she's also silly and a mess at times made me more affectionate !! something about her star choices really hit. the dialogue and vibes Oh man she was everything. i think the thing was anisa trusting herself or mc but i can't remember which one we were supposed to aim for. i think i'd replay her route first if i ever installed again

sage: meow meow. IDK it takes..a lot.. for me to Really feel for charas like sage (flirty/charming + emotional vulnerability issues).. like i empathize but i always end up caring more about another chara. but he got me. he did. i think chapter 12-14 definitely made me like him more because you don't usually see Shit get Fucked AND try to help recover after. like that's usually It y'know. bad ending. so. i miss sage. goddmyogdn

2. Favorite canon thing about this character? — ...... ruh roh. someoneheplp.

felix: EXISTENCE! Chapter 12 Cg

anisa: EXISTENCE! Chapter 4 Cg

sage: EXISTENCE! and Loud Purr :3c Chapter 6/12/13 Cgs.

6. What's something you have in common with this character?

felix: ....we like to read... BDJGBJBSJD

anisa: #GIRLS and I, too, like shrimp.

sage: ...my god. i love sage i couldn't tell you what we have in common. problems with vulnerability and long hair

8. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise? — ...my memory truly evades me. i also didn't pay much attention to. fandom things. Habit of mine. i know felix could've been treated better with the babygirling thing. i think i was asked to write smth where he was jealous (or something??) and i was like . this feels ooc. but. that was my bad and about all i got..

9. Could you be roommates with this character?

felix: yes!!

anisa: yes!! i would like 2 be her roommate :3

sage: .... ? i feel like i wouldn't end up in a situation where this would happen. going to say. no? i mean maybe? sage isn't my first choice if it's only one other roommate...

24. What other character from another fandom of yours that reminds you of them? — I'm blanking So hard on All of my interests rn. i think if i couldn't think of stuff for sage hcs i'd look at kuroo posts. maybe?? like for energy and dialogue. i'm blanking so hard My god

[sneezemonster15]

So this has to be the longest reblog tags I have ever gotten yet.

Another Sakura apologist. Sigh...

Okay, here goes.

Tags - Op seems to be anti Sakura and I absolutely disagree with that.

Me - Lulz. Don't care. ❤️. It doesn't matter what you agree or disagree with. I interpret Sakura as she was supposed to be seen. By the author. Look for it Here. Here. Here. Here. Here. Here. Here. Here. Here. Here. And there's much more. You can go through my blog.

And more is coming, believe it! :)

Just because You don't see things doesn't mean they aren't there. Heh.

Tag - Instead of tormenting the author, write something on the basis of your own hc. Policing etc.

Me - This Argument is just lulz. 😹

Argument - If you are so unhappy with the corrupt and cruel leadership of your country, why don't you become the president instead? Who are you to criticize?

Lmao. No. ❤️. This is a fandom and this is necessarily a platform about communication and sharing ideas. A fandom is a collection of fans. I reserve my right to criticize or discuss anything pertaining to it. There can be no fanfic without FANS. Who read them and actually make them a FANfic. And they have an inherent right to judge them. I am not tormenting anyone, I didn't tag them, didn't call them names. I simply wrote an objective analysis without bad mouthing anyone. Because that's how it's done.❤️ Policing, lol. Oh yeah, throw catchphrases and silly token words around, that will prove your point. Lol. I am not forcing anyone to follow me, in fact what I am doing, is giving them a well reasoned and well researched perspective. Take advantage of it, don't cry about it. Learn and absorb. It's called growth. I am sure of my stuff because I have the knowledge to back it up, I don't throw useless words around. Please be naive somewhere else. Lol. I write an analysis blog and I do my research. If you write a fic that you claim as 'in character', I have a right to judge and I will talk about it with other fans, and I will do it with Authority. No one can take that away from ME. Also, not my HC. These are FACTS. I read the manga as the author wants me to, I make a strict point of it. When I don't understand something, I invest time and effort to find out about it, like any other credible blogger does. When I write hc, I mention it accordingly. Take it however you want. I honestly don't care. ❤️ Heh.

Tags - Interpretations might differ. Blah blah.

Me - Hahahahha. SuBjeCtiVe inTerpREtaTIon.

Nope. You are wrong. ❤️ Here. Here. Here. Here. Here. Here. And much more, just go through my blog etc etc. I don't have the energy to explain it here.

Tags - I don't think Kishi is intentional about making Naruto gay........but if makes perfect sense.

Me - Seriously, people don't see the contradictions in their own arguments. Did you read the tagline of my blog? No? Read it. Unintentional, lolol. Shows how much you are mistaken. Regardless, you are so very wrong. ❤️ Here. Here. Here. Here. Here. Here. Here. And there will be more, I promise.

Tags - Kishi is homophobic and heteronormative blah blah.

Me - Sigh..... I am so sick of this absolutely stupid ass argument. Here. Here. There is much more, just go through.... Etc.

Finally. Yeah, people are liable to judge me here because I also reserve my right to judge. But when you are given valid arguments, evidence and objective analysis, listen. Pay attention. At least do a cursory checkup. See whether it makes sense or not. I do and anyone who makes sense in this crazy fandom also does. Do your part before giving criticism. Otherwise your words will hold no value and it will show. No one, absolutely no one judges me more harshly than I judge myself. It's a thing with me. I make communication and media my profession. Literally. I sound the way I sound because I am extremely anal about things, I speak from experience and reason fortification is my jam. Step by step. I have been told so many times that I write long ass posts, and it's kind of like a private joke but there's a reason for that. I tend to over explain because I don't want there to be any miscommunication, I want my intent to come out properly. I can understand that random people wouldn't know that about me. But it doesn't matter. Pay attention to what is said and do your fact check up. Doubt everything. And come to your conclusions after seeing it, reasoning it out for yourself.

I may be intense. And I am. About this media. About my boys. Which is why I inject so much of my time and effort into it. I am also flexible when I am given a reasonable argument, I can change my opinion if you talk sense to me. On my level. I work on my stuff and I won't demean it for anything less. But I am glad there are people in this fandom that are also like me. And I feel encouraged. It's upon you if you want to take it or leave it. No skin off my nose. This media inspires motivation and effort and deep thought and as long as it exists, I will keep finding kindered souls in here, like I have till now. Couple of them are good friends. I don't need or want approval but it certainly is nice to connect with people regardless. For what I do regarding this media, so do others and I appreciate them for that, even if you aren't one of them. And I am thankful for that. 🙂

Thank you for your other kind words towards me. The contradiction in your tags is not lost on me. Your sweet passive aggression. But well, that's fine. I have been in this fandom for over a year now and I have had worse. All sorts of hypocrisy and ignorance. You aren't saying anything to me that I haven't already heard. Heh. :)

[amiharana]

more revalink hcs from this post part 4

previous revalink hcs here: x x x

full disclosure i rearranged and took out some of the questions around because a handful of them were related to cooking/eating and it's like. what else can i say other than link is disaster gay who can cook and revali is disaster gay who can drive

who’s the first to wake up in the morning

if you've read the sleepy link x coddler revali fic, you know what's up but here's a quick recap:

at first it was link because of his insomnia, hypervigilance, or his nightmares, and it would end up waking revali up too, because revali is a light sleeper

but gradually, link relearns how to sleep in again, comforted by the warmth and steadiness of revali's embrace, and now revali is the one who wakes up first by default and he stays in bed with link cuddled up on his chest, admiring how soft and peaceful his beloved songbird is <3

who’s the one to make breakfast:

revali is the type of person who doesn't eat breakfast because he can't stomach food that early in the morning (i'm projecting again) and him and link wake up pretty early as per the previous concept

but link always makes him eat a little bit because he's a firm believer that breakfast is the most important meal of the day!

(in the future, link is the type to cook a big meal for every mealtime to sit down and eat with revali and their babies, because food is his love language 🥹)

who orders lunch

if link isn't around to make his food, it's revali

bitch would be living on that hellofresh shit if it weren't for link making their food all the time

could you imagine youtuber!revali doing a hellofresh sponsor

"yes, well, i suppose i should offer the proper gratitude for the sponsor of today's video, hellofresh. without my boyfriend or you, i might have starved to death and left the world one less god for its mortals to walk with."

who steals food from the other’s plate without asking

link LMFAO he's just a hungry little guy

"link, you have your own plate with twice the amount of servings on it."

"i cooked the food, i can eat whatever i want even if it's on your plate!"

revali is so soft for him though, he'll let link eat as much as he wants

revalink but they're the yoonkook moment where yoongi says watching jungkook eat makes him feel full

who cleans up the kitchen afterwards

revali cleans because he feels bad that he is a disaster in the kitchen and cannot help whatsoever during the actual creation of the meals; he is not allowed near the cooking pot 👍

will straight up snatch the plates from link's hands and insists on cleaning and link will smile at him fondly as revali aggressively scrubs the dishes

who curls up next to the other and falls asleep due to a full tummy

link for sure because he eats so fast and so much

revali will roll his eyes but continue eating as link snuggles into his lap for a quick food-induced power nap because revali will still make him get up to go take a shower and get ready for bed properly

who would suggest a quickie in the morning before work

LINK LMFAO WHO ELSE

he's already straddling revali's lap before revali can even register what link just said and then— oop. revali is going to be 30 minutes late to work now

who suggests they both ditch work to lay around all day

neither of them would actually because they both have really strong self-discipline

they only suggest ditching when they notice the other being really tired or burnt out, and then suddenly link is at the receptionist's desk at revali's workplace demanding they let revali go home early like he's a parent pulling their kid out of class for an appointment

who chooses the movies

revali hands down

he's the type of guy who took theatre, film history, movie analysis, and all those kinds of classes as general eds in college

he has a letterboxd account where he frequently updates his list of watched movies and heavily critical reviews. he's amassed a small cult following there because of how out of pocket-ly mean his reviews are 😭 to the point where people start using his reviews as memes KDJFHKDJHF

link is one of the people who use it as a meme and is the one that tells revali that he's a internet microcelebrity now. revali facepalms (but secretly his ego has been stroked)

who initiates kissing during the movie, thus distracting the other from the movie all together

both of them HAHA

it's mostly link, but if link chose the movie and revali's not into it, he'll start slowly making moves on link KJDHFKJD

"come on link, is the movie really more interesting than me~?"

"shh revali, singing killed his grandma 🥺🥺🥺🥺" KJDHFKDHFKDJHFKDJ

who distracts the other from trying to work at home

mostly link because he gets pretty needy

revali does it more often than you would expect though, they're almost equally very needy and clingy to each other

link just keeps barging into revali's office to the point where revali has to lock the door

then link is just sliding down to the floor against the door screaming the lyrics to Gotta go my own way from High school musical until revali unlocks the door again and begrudgingly lets link sit on his lap while he works

if it's revali, he will straight up just pick link up from his work even if link complains, carries link to their room to flop link on the bed, lie down on top of him, and then cuddle ❤️

who asks to go get ice cream like a five year old

it's absolutely link

if revali says no, link books it after the ice cream truck with revali yelling and running after him

revali pays for link's fucked up spongebob popsicle though 🥺 and link makes him get a fucked up patrick popsicle to match

revali also the type to be like "we have ice cream at home" only for link to respond with "nuh uh i ate it all"

revali: what? we had like 2 huge buckets of ice cream in the freezer. what do you mean you ate it all

link: 🥺

who takes pictures of their partner eating ice cream

revali. link made him take like 30 pics and post at least one on his instagram story

(revali keeps the other 29 pictures of link though in his folder of cute link pics to look at later)

who makes a sexual joke about the dripping ice cream on their partner’s face

you're not gonna believe this but it's revali

it slipped out he didn't actually mean to say it out loud

but link stares at him with wide eyes and mouth agape, then suddenly downs the rest of his ice cream, and then starts dragging revali home so he can jump him in the bedroom

link is just 😭 a horny little creature idk how revali keeps up with him

who stays up until 2 reading

it's revali, you know damn well he got those reading glasses and one of those lamps you clip onto the back of the book

he tried leaving the whole room light on at first but link was like i sleep in here too dickhead Close the damn light

the book-clip lamp was actually a gift from link because he did Not want revali to be contributing even more to their electricity bill

link has tried to join in but he's such a sleepy little guy he falls asleep with the book on his face and he felt bad (revali didn't really care but link was nearly gonna cry from being so guilty)

so instead, revali will read some of his own book aloud to link to make him feel involved until link falls asleep to his voice and also clinging to revali's side

who stares at their partner while their sleeping

revali of course but he doesn't do it in the creepy twilight edward way

when revali notices that link has fallen asleep to his reading, he'll put his bookmark in and set the book on the table to comb his fingers through link's hair

he just stares fondly at link, wondering how he was blessed to have a gift of a person like link because revali thinks of himself as a difficult person to love. how does link put up with him? why did link choose to stay with him? i guess he'll never know

(that's a lie; revali voiced these insecurities to him once and link got so mad he yelled at revali about how much he loved him and why, then locked himself in the office for the rest of the night only for revali to wake up the next morning to an entire powerpoint presentation from link on why revali is the most lovable person in the world)

who kisses their partner while they sleep

also revali but not in the creepy sleeping beauty way

revali is a big fan of forehead kisses especially because he's taller than link so he often likes to pull link closer and kiss his forehead before they leave for work or something

and he does the same as he's gazing upon link's sleeping face, wondering how he was blessed to have such an angel of a human being for a lover

revali will cup link's face with one hand and start with one kiss on link's forehead, a second one on his nose, and the last one being a very soft, chaste kiss on his lips 🤍 he's just so soft for link y'all 😭🥹

one time link woke up during the second kiss but didn't open his eyes until revali kissed him on the mouth, and then immediately pushed revali onto the bed to kiss him back harder. like i said 😭 horny little creacher

[writingforfun0714]

Bad Batch Trailer

So I did a breakdown of the new Bad Batch trailer here but I decided I wanted to include screenshots along with an analysis/deep-dive into what the story is for S2.

Warnings: LONG AF post, spoilers (obviously), slight headcanons maybe, lemme know if I need to add more

**Screencaps are read up to down then left to right**

Opening Beach Scene:

The trailer opens up to a beautiful beach, but a bunch of giant crabs race out, chasing Hunter, Wrecker and Echo. Echo is annoyed w/ Wrecker, saying that they went over the plan 5 times. That indicates Wrecker may have compromised them during a mission. Wrecker argues that he at least got the package while Hunter contacts Tech for a pickup. Tech, flying the Marauder, flies in and tells Omega to grab the tow line. We see Omega running after the line as the crabs run at her. She draws her bow and fires at one, hitting it’s shell, stunning it briefly to use as a step. She jumps off the crab and grabs the line.

Hiding Briefly Scene:

The next scene is shown very briefly. It looks like Hunter and Wrecker are hiding in wreckage/rubble as 2 former Republic gunships fly by overhead. If I had to guess, I’d say this is set as the Batch go to rescue Gungi, but this is just a guess and not confirmed or anything. Judging from the background with the ruined building, it looks like an industrial place.

New Character Intro:

The next scene introduces a new character named Phee Genoa (turn on CC on Youtube). From her dialog, it’s clear that she knows Cid and Cid has told her about CF99 (despite her agreement to keep them a secret). I’m sure that’ll cause Hunter some conflict with Cid. It’s unclear if she’s a mercenary or if she’s a rebel (or some new surviving Jedi or something-considering Cid was a contact for the Jedi and that’s how the Batch came to know her). I’m pretty certain she’s voiced by Wanda Sykes. I could see her being a Rebel leader or even possibly knowing Saw Gerrera (allowing him to show up again).

Quick Shots:

I decided to include screencaps from 3 different scenes because they all go by in about half a second. The 1st screencap shows the Marauder flying to a pale green planet that could be Kashyyyk (Idk if we’ve ever seen it from space). The next shot is focused on a door as what appears to be workers run by. I’m assuming the door is how the Batch sneak in or something. The last shot is of an Imperial officer with 6 stormtroopers flanking him. They are shown later on.

Doing More Scene:

This is also a rather small scene, but I thought it was incredibly important. Echo tells Hunter that they should be doing more. Now there’s a few ways to take this. Echo could be talking about helping form the Rebellion. Echo, as the reg of the group, could be talking about rescuing more chipped clones. They already rescued Gregor (while Rex presumably went after Wolffe) so he could be talking about rescuing Howzer (since he was arrested at the end of the Ryloth arc) or just clone brothers in general. I definitely think this season Echo will get the Batch to open up/be more respectful towards regs. I suppose he could also be talking about Omega and wanting to do more for her, to make sure she’s prepared/can handle herself (though I think this option is the least likely). I really hope Echo is talking about rescuing other chipped clones cuz I HC that the Rebellion started w/ Ahsoka+Rex (and Bail) and a bunch of un- chipped clones plus the beginnings of people wanting to step up and fight—like Saw Gerrera.

The Beast Scene:

The next scene shows this giant mech walking, causing an explosion. I can’t tell if it’s pure robot like Kuvira’s mechasuit in Legend of Korra or if it’s an armored animal of some kind. I did see a theory related to this creature. The theory is that it’s an armored clone of the Zillobeast. The Zillobeast arc is only 2 episodes and ends with the creature dying and Palpy wanting a clone of it. Nothing ever came of it during CW so BB S2 would be a great time to bring back cloning (especially since Tipoca City is destroyed). I actually do agree with the theory and think it’s pretty possible that it is a clone of the Zillobeast but I also think there’s a good chance it’s something unrelated so we’ll have to see. It cuts to the Batch+Rex infiltrating an Imperial room (the windows). The way the trailer is cut, at first, I thought they were inside the giant beast, but w/ the cityscape in the distance in the windows and the barren landscape the beast is shown on, I don’t believe they are related.

Having a Future Scene:

The next shot is of Cid saying that the Batch can have a future (if they pull off a heist) and as Cid says ‘future’ it cuts to the shot of Omega. It’s a quick scene but I think it’s important, especially the transition between Cid and Omega. The Batch struggled to figure out what they wanted to be (both as characters and as a show) and the fact that Omega has been shown to be more capable than she already was, makes me think that Omega growing into more of a soldier will translate to being a rebel/part of the rebellion.

Disobedience Scene:

The next scene has Cody’s voice narrating over it before showing Cody with Crosshair. He tells the sniper that more and more clones have been questioning the order (showing clones running). Crosshair replies with ‘they are traitors like the jedi’. If you look at their faces, you can see the different emotions they feel. Look at the doubt on Cody’s face. He’s obviously thinking about Obi and he looks conflicted about what he’s done. Cross looks sad!!! Look at his face! He’s probably relating the clones Cody’s talking about to CF99.

Good Soldiers Follow Orders Scene:

The next scene has Cross’ voice saying ‘good soldiers follow orders’ over him firing off a sniper bullet. It transitions to a battle tank with a still-active battle droid getting hit and exploding. This is the first time we see battle droids post O66 in BB that are still active and on their own. We do see battle droids in ep6 Decommissioned, but most were in pieces and all were deactivated. They were reactivated and helped the Batch fight off the security droids, but this is the first time we’ll see them still active/at a battle.

Burning a Forest:

The explosion from the battle tank is cut w/ fire from a flamethrower used by a Trandoshan (possibly a Trandoshan hunter). I personally think this is how Gungi got captured. With all the foliage and plant life, I’m assuming this is Kashyyyk. I’m wondering if the Trandoshans captured Gungi and sold him into slavery (with the droids). 

The Right Choice:

The next scene is of Omega sitting with her legs pulled up and she’s clearly upset. She’s with Echo and she tells him that ‘you all gave up everything for me’. Echo tells her that they made the right choice, and it cuts to Tech, Wrecker and Omega, with Wrecker and Omega looking at Tech as if to say ‘good job’. That last screencap is probably after Tech’s race that’s shown later.

Helping Others:

When talking with Omega, Echo tells her that there are others that ‘need our help’. These are the people that are shown when Echo talks. They are laborers, probably being mistreated. I don’t know what planet this is, if we’ve seen it before, but the closest one I can relate it to is Geonosis. It’d be interesting if this did turn out to be said planet (but I’m not sure how likely that is so I wouldn’t put too much stock into that theory).

Stay Back:

The next scene shows Omega, Gungi and Echo being cornered by some new droids I don’t think we’ve seen before. When CC is on, it says the main droid is called Axis Leader. When Axis Leader questions what’s going on intimidatingly, Omega draws her bow and shouts ‘stay back!’. Gungi lowers his blaster and uses the Force to grab his lightsaber from the droid.

Wrecker and Tech:

The next few shots are of Wrecker and Tech. The 1st one is of Wrecker and he has a rocket launcher (or something similar-I’m not good at identifying weapons/ships). He fires it at what appears to be an early-model TIE fighter, hitting it’s right wing, shooting the ship down. Then it cuts to a race that seems similar to pod-racing (from TPM). Tech is shown inside one of the pods, looking serious, before it cuts to Wrecker fighting off some aggressive creature. Since Tech is the pilot, it makes sense he’d be the one to do something like racing (I’m reminded of the entrance they made in CW S7 when Tech speeds the Marauder in and clones have to dive out of the way). I’m interested as to why this is actually happening. Could it be related to a job for Cid or the new character Phee Genoa? Is it just some characters that show up in an episode (like Roland/the Pykes).

Shooting:

This is an interesting scene. We get a couple shots of what appear to be the same area. The 1st shot is of Tech and Echo. Echo fires at the ceiling while Tech aims. They appear to be underground somewhere. It could be deeper inside Ord Mantel given that they have mining tunnels or it could be somewhere totally different (or a planet we’ve been to before, just not Ord Mantel). The next shot is of Omega also firing up at the ceiling (I believe that’s Phee Genoa with her-but I could totally be wrong—I can’t really tell who it is tbh). I’m guessing that they are in some underground maze of caverns or something and they get separated. Echo and Omega appear to be doing the same thing which is interesting. I don’t think they’re firing on creatures but up on a rocky ceiling, either trying to shoot their way out, or trying to see how high it goes (considering their bullets/arrows are lights). If that is Phee Genoa w/ Omega, I’m wondering if that’ll be when we get her backstory. The Batch obviously got separated from Omega so it’d be interesting if the 2 started talking or something (like how Roland was talking w/ Omega about his mom when they were handcuffed). 

The next scene shows a group of battle droids get hit with a grenade or something that causes an explosion. It changes to Cody and a few clones, also in gray armor, fighting the droids. It then cuts to a close up of Cody in his helmet. Cody says ‘we are not the enemy’ over the video.

The Imperial Officer:

The Imperial officer with the 6 stormtroopers appears from earlier. They stand in front of 3 masked individuals who are either in charge or hired for protection of the settlement they’re at. ‘The Empire seeks to establish peace and order throughout the galaxy’, Cody’s voice narrates over the video. Honestly I have no idea who these people are/could be. I’m assuming they are new characters as far as I’m concerned. The starship flying above some industrial area could be related to the masked people here or the laborers/workers shown earlier. Uniformed workers help load boxes for stormtroopers before switching to one of the masked people pointing a blaster at the officer.

Peace Was Never an Option:

Another new character named Tawni Ames is introduced, though we only hear her voice as she narrates over this scene. ‘Peace?’ She asks, appearing to talk to Cody (when talking about not being the enemy). ‘Peace was never an option’ she says. As she talks, Emperor Palpatine is shown in the Senate room. During his POV shot, out in the seats/the things they sit in, it appears as if someone is looking at Palpatine. If I’m being honest I only saw one theory about why we see Palps here and it’s Boba. The theory is that Boba ends up meeting Omega and sneaking her into the building and that’s why she sees Palps. The theory is that Boba learns about CF99 and another ‘pure Jango’ clone and ‘kidnaps’ Omega. Under false pretenses, he befriends her, but he really wants to turn her in to Palps for a reward. As they spend time together, she slowly gets under his skin (kinda like Cross) and Boba ends up choosing not to give her up. As for the new character, based on dialog alone, it seems like she’s actually talking w/ Cody, meaning this is someone Cody knows. I wonder if this is someone he and Obi-wan saved during the war or something.

Escaping the Droids/Bail Cameo:

The next few scenes happen pretty quick. The first is with Tech and Hunter. They appear to be escaping the droids (like Axis Leader). Presumably this is after Gungi grabs his lightsaber and they have to fight their way out. The next shot is of an Imperial industrial factory looking place exploding and what appear to be clones running. The next shot is of Gungi and Omega. They appear to be talking before something gets their attention. They could either be talking about the droids/what’s going on, or the other padawans. In the other trailer released about 6mo ago, there’s a boy who looks like an older Pietro (Pedro?), the cocky padawan with Omega when she says ‘let’s go’. There is also the rumor going around that Katooni, the Tholothian padawan, is a love interest/crush for Omega so they definitely could be talking about the other padawans. I also think Hondo will be mentioned and/or appear. He knows Boba and was able to convince the boy to do the right thing so it’d be interesting if he meets Omega as well. The next shot is a quick moment with Bail. He showed up in TotJ so honestly, I’m not surprised to see him again (don’t get me wrong, I’m really happy to see him again, I just wasn’t surprised). The next shot is of someone escaping on a speederbike on what appears to be Coruscant (but could be a different planet). I don’t know who it is, but it’d be cool if it was Bail (though I think his model has a different body shape—thicker/broader) cuz we don’t get a lot of action shots of him (since he’s a Senator). Crosshair’s voice narrates over the speederbike scene at the end with his ‘We do what needs to be done’ line. 

Infiltration Scene:

The next scene seems to be the Batch+Rex sneaking in (presumably the heist job Cid talks about earlier) and seems to be related to the scene shown earlier with the Batch+Rex sneaking around a room as Tech grabs some sort of black case. The next shot is of clones in a doorway, firing, probably at CF99+Rex.

Our Differences:

The next shot is of Hunter and Echo, presumably set during the scene when Echo tells Hunter they should be doing more. Hunter asks Echo ‘you know what makes us different? We make our own choices’. I wonder if Hunter is talking about clones v droids or CF99 v reg clones. The former would make sense just because of the video edit. Hunter is attacking a droid and still-active battle droids are also shown, adding a possible threat. The latter would make sense because we have the introduction of Cody. Hunter could be talking about CF99 vs regular clones because it looks like they will fight clones again. 

Rex’s Mission:

One of the last scenes shown is a hologram of Rex on the Marauder. Echo asks him what he needs. Rex asks them if he can use them for a mission. Omega looks to Echo, who in turn, looks to Hunter, the 2 clearly wanting to help. Tech looks at Hunter, unsure.

Last Scene:

The last scene is one of my favorites tbh. Tech and Omega outrun an explosion. The last 2 shots show Tech grabbing and shielding Omega from the explosion, which also reminds me of the other trailer where Omega is falling and Hunter catches her.

What I’m expecting to like:

—Rescuing more chipped clones obviously

—More Echo/Tech bonding time w/ Omega

—Gungi’s arc—In relation to the Katooni rumor, I do think it fits Omega to be gay. Her friendship w/ Hera proved that Omega works well with a female character. Although I will say I hope it’s kept rather tame, at least at first. More bonding/friendship type stuff before kissing. Like a lingering hug and a double hand squeeze (like Asami and Korra in the finale) would be adorable I think. Plus Omega is super sheltered and would be inexperienced in that area so I think any kind of social relationship would be friendship-turned more kind of thing.

—I really hope that Boba rumor is true. He doesn’t even have to be related to the Emperor or anything. I just wanna see him show up and meet Omega. But I’m so nervous with how he’ll look. Each time we see him he’s more and more whitewashed (including TBoB—w/ the skin bleaching Tem had to do). I don’t dislike much about CW, but Boba’s design in the Rako Hardeen arc killed me specifically because of Boba’s whitewashed design. 

—Cody. That’s it. Cody. Everything about him.

—Crosshair’s choice. I’d honestly be pretty surprised if Crosshair decides to rejoin CF99 when they meet up again. I really think the better choice would be to go off on his own for a bit before returning to CF99.

—I noticed AZ wasn’t in any trailer footage (of either trailer) but I hope he recovers memories of Fives and Echo grieves properly. Echo was done so dirty and even though it seems like he’ll get a more prominent role, along with Tech, I still don’t like that he hasn’t acknowledged Fives.

—I’m curious about the new characters introduced: Phee Genoa and Tawni Ames. Phee definitely seems like a rebel leader based on her design, but as I said earlier, she could be a mercenary. I believe the ‘heist’ Cid talks about is Phee’s idea/plan. The other character is only heard so we don’t know what she look like, but she says THE LINE!

What I’m more 😒/upset about because they didn’t show—IMPORTANT—THIS COULD CHANGE so don’t come at me. Trailer footage isn’t meant to reveal too much about the story so anything mentioned here could show up.

—HOWZER!! WHERE IS HE!? IS HE ALRIGHT!?! IS HE SAFE!?!

—The clone cadets on Kamino. I believe one of them asked Nala Se if they’d still be soldiers after being sent somewhere else. ARE THE CHILDREN OK!?

—I hope Hondo shows up. He hasn’t really been mentioned when I search BB S2 stuff but I’ve always enjoyed him/his character.

—The armor/clothes change. I wanna see the clothes shopping and armor painting. PLEASE!! More domestic scenes please. There were so many explosion scenes/action shots. Like yes, we get it, you do action-y stuff, but a nice, cute scene is always appreciated.

I think those are most of my thoughts on this upcoming season. Honestly, this show gives me mixed feelings (the whitewashing). Their character models always gets to me when I try rewatching S1. And this is a serious question—

They seem different compared to S7 of CW—am I crazy/is it real? Like Wrecker is excited when they get shot down in CW but he’s fuckin terrified in BB?? Like they all just seem…different in CW compared to BB. Lemme know if I’m being stupid or something.

Hope you liked the analysis and a BIG THANK YOU to anyone/everyone that likes/reblogs!! Let’s talk Bad Batch!❤️

[thatonesongyouretryingtoremember]

Thoughts and opinions on aro steve? 🤨

Aro Steve my beloved

Sorry it took me so long to get to it, but here it is :)

Yes. Absolutely. (BTW I hc him as aromantic bisexual) there's a bunch more stuff ab him that suggests completely different, and ofc all headcanons are valid, this is just how I like to interpret I'm not trying to, like, prove aro Steve canon. I'll start with how he acts in canon and then move on to some headcanons after. The first part of the post is about my canon analysis but it has a kind of overall theme of heteronormativity, so caution but it isn't that that heavy. If you want, you can skip to the second part, which is just some headcanons. I'll make the title orange so you know when to stop scrolling.

Canon:

starting with season three:

Steve was essentially weighing pros and cons of dating ppl. He knew exactly how to get someone to like him, but Dustin's "choose someone who you like dating" concept was foreign. In not dating he couldn't have a multitude of other reasons for dating popular girls, but specifically the analytical approach he was taking is what comes off to me as aromantic. "Oh, romance was supposed to be a feeling? Since WHEN!?" -me after finding out alloros exist. Another thing is that Steve doesn't even consider Robin a romantic interest, it doesn't even cross his mind, until Dustin brings it up. Consider- Robin opens up to him while they're drugged. "I was obsessed". And *this* while speech is what Steve considered to be a romantic confession. Only after this does he say that he has a crush on Robin. Not only this, he says that having a crush on Robin is why he isn't still in love with Nancy- which just isn't how that works (see: Boyce/Jopper). All of this shows an understanding of "courting rituals" so to speak, but not of romance.

Season four:

Steddie is fanon.

"I would date her, but.. nevermind" honestly, I hate this line so fucking much. I think it was put in to make a *point* out of not outing Robin, which I appreciate but it OBVIOUSLY sucks. (What I appreciate way more is him talking to Dustin generally and just ✨️not✨️) what I see is him being "caught" and his first instinct was to scapegoat Robin. There isn't any reason for him to feel defensive about not wanting to date someone- unless those two experiences are associated. "Of course I want a girlfriend, look, there's a girl". In the beginning of season four, what Steve says is "do I want to start another relationship just for sex?" Which is a valid thing to say, it's okay to prefer relationships that are mostly about romance, but in Steve's case, there could be more to it. Looking back at season one, the way Tommy and Carol talk about Nancy is like the first time they've interpreted Steve's advances towards a girl as romantic. Up until that point, Steve had been able to "get away with" not being romantic with anyone and still come of as "normal" by continuing this pattern. Imo he was totally fine with it, and the reason he isn't still is because he falsely associates those type of relationships with the entirety of that phase of his life. Likewise, he associates his relationship with Nancy with the time he started actually making friends and being a better person, unconsciously tying his image of the guy he wants to be with being someone who can hold down a romantic relationship. Consider how Robin phrases his problem, "you go on a million dates and have no clue what you want!". Because Steve has an idea of romance that he's aiming for, but he doesn't really feel romantically towards anyone. Even his vision for the future: I think it's unanimous that nobody thought "six little nuggets" was romantic. I think of Sieve was being honest with himself when he decided to make a move on Nancy (if he was even trying to) be would have described the "wife" more than the kids. "Me, my beautiful wife, and our family" doesn't sound Nancy's style at all, but it's still far more romance-oriented than "six kids and um also you btw".

Headcanons:

Steve still wants his huge family, he's someone who thrives having several types of platonic relationships in his life

I'm adopting the fanon/hc that Steve learns all he can abt the LGBTQ+ community and is super involved with the local queer community

Every time he sees a love triangle on TV he just points and says "those two should just get together, that person is tired and I don't think they want to date either of them", while Robin is a big fan of "they should just all date".

He doesn't really like the aro flag once he eventually finds out about it. (Don't crucify me I fucking love the aro flag) he just doesn't like the colors. He does like the bi flag, but he just has the rainbow.

He probably continues using the eight stripe rainbow on like, pins an bracelets and whatnot as well as having one in his house once he has one. He uses the eight stripe rainbow right up until he eventually finds out about the progress flag with the chevron thing.

He puts rainbows subtly on himself all the time, like bracelets and pins, but also coloring his shoes, picking which hair clips to wear, on his socks and pretty much any item he owns so ppl feel safer around him

He gets married to someone at some point and idk if it's before or after adopting his kids, but I just feel like Steve is someone who likes the idea of marriage

He definitely thought everyone felt the same way as him for the longest time

He pronounces it "Ay-ro-mantic" not "air-romantic" and is like, far too insistent on it.

(While writing this I literally just realized how different he and I are bc most of these are not true about me as an aro person lol)

If you have questions, you can ask and I might answer, probably in the comments bc this post is pretty long and I don't want it clogging my blog by reblogging alot.

[ahmar-bakra]

@azra-ambarih demands justice for their inbox

Why Seto, and not Seth ? Familial relations aside, aren't they more or less the same person ?

hc random questions || always OPEN

headcanon summary: Atem r/s with Seth vs with Seto Ancient Egyptian understanding of a soul

When watching/reading Yu-Gi-Oh!, it always struck me that Atem recognizes Seto as someone from his memories but when he met Seth in Memory World it's more about similarities than being same person. And so, I started to dig on how Ancient Egyptian views soul.

According to it, human being soul is combained from five different parts of soul - Ka, Ba, Sheut, Jb, Ren. Here you can read a genius post about it with analysis according to Yu-Gi-Oh and I will focus on putting it in simpler words.

Atem and Seth fought a lot but it was fighting within boundaries of staying friends until war with Thief King/Zorc happened. Takahashi mentioned that originally, Seth was supposed to lead third party/rebellion after Kisara's death in Memory Arc but it was cut off because of deadlines. I like to take it as their original life canon events. Because of how bitter their parting was, Seth wished to mend things which we can see in Epitaph he wrote for Atem.

Thousands years after Atem meets Seto and their souls recognizes each other instantly, even if none of them posess that memories. Their rivalry spark is instant and it pushes them to continue their battle, to pick it up from where it was left in the past.

But Seto is not Seth. He shares few souls/one soul with his counterpart but not all. And Atem is no longer the same Atem as well - his soul changes thanks to Yugi, as Yugi and Atem also shares parts of soul. Thanks to Yugi, Atem gains a lot of patience and kindness that allows him to take a moment to understand Seto's situation before a rapid judgement.

Because of those changes, Seto and Atem can meet on the battefield by each other sides instead of against each other just as Seth wished for. They both share remains of previous lives, more or less but they both built something new on top of it.

Atem's and Seto's duels are literally their shared past and future clashing.

[myreygn]

random hcs for parker’s ocs

HAPPY BIRTHDAY @knizmokat, i hope you have the most amazing day, ilysm!!

i really hope you like these because trust me when i say random i mean random, but i tried my best for you! <3

(also it’s almost 3am here so if my brain isn’t fully fried it’s your birthday already, I AM POSTING THIS NOW)

.....

SASHA

unable to draw anything aside from stick figures and even those are ugly af

his art teacher insisted that everyone can draw until she saw sasha’s work

when the rest of the class gets a new assignment, she allows him to write an analysis over a painting of his choice instead and sasha is more than fine with that

almost always has his hair in a pony tail but unable to do a bun

asahi tried to teach him for 30 minutes and almost cried because it just kept felling apart for no apparent reason

picks the most terrifying stuff you could think of for movie night

managed to scare suga with one of his horror movie picks and has been banned from choosing anything other than u-rated movies ever since

physically unable to sleep without his kirby plushie

a gymnastically talented little mf, can do cartwheels and splits and walk on his hands like it’s nbd

once made a front flip over his hands during practice, scoring a point for his team by hitting the ball over the net with his feet

the absolute proudest moment of his life and he’s still mad that no one has it on video

RYUZAKI

unfazed by tragic movies but fucking bawled his eyes out over encanto (you know why parker)

has all of his fineliners sorted by color and will never ever let noya borrow them in class after doing it once and almost getting a stroke from the sheer chaos that ensued

a little control freak in general

all of his stuff has a designated place and if it’s not where it’s supposed to be he’ll die

open to all kinds of music but an absolute elitist when it comes to “the big ones”

do not talk to him about the history of rock and metal unless you’ve memorized every dio song in existence

also has zero tolerance for any so called disrespect towards his greatest musical inspirations

blocked tanaka for saying “poison? the rita ora song?” and only unblocked him after daichi scolded him for being an idiot

cannot handle horror at all

can and will sucker punch noya for giving him a scare in a devil mask out of reflex

halloween is the bane of his existence

KOGANEI

an absolute athletic multi talent

there’s no sport in existence this man can’t do

show him how to swing a baseball bat and he says “oh like this?” and scores a homerun

he’s also a theatre kid but only the dancey stuff so newsies is right up his alley

can do the entire choreography for king of new york and also hit the high note in santa fe

sails through all his classes as we’ve already established and once sang the build up from before the breakdown from we are the tigers under his breath, making akaashi cry

“‘cause you’re the score you got on sats...” - “YOU GOT A FUCKING 110 I’M BEGGING YOU TO SHUT THE HELL UP”

can do a perfect impression of kermit the frog and it’s a hit at parties

an adrenaline junkie at amusement parks (same tho he has good taste)

it cannot be high, fast or dangerous enough

“there’s no such thing as too many loopings!”

laughs at dad jokes

KUROSAKI

quotes old movies like it’s nobody’s business

once muttered “see how love flies out the door” at the sight of yamamoto and lev fighting for the last piece of roast beef and got absolutely ecstatic when kuroo turned around and went “did you just make a cabaret reference”

literally don’t ask him if he’s seen any movie made after the 90s. he hasn’t.

knows a shit ton of stuff about astrology

knew everyone’s sun and moon sign by their personalities alone

“wow so you believe in that?!” “nah”

can nap everywhere and it’s a gift until one day he falls asleep during a practice match and gets one of bokuto’s spikes in the face

he’s in the hospital for two days but he claims it was worth it

also a theatre kid but only for the classics

thinks west side story is an unmatched masterpiece and will not listen to anyone who has a different opinion

lactose intolerant but cheese is too good

KEITA

really into scrapbooking

has tons of scrapbooks for all kinds of stuff he likes

made one for each third year about their time on the team together and gives it to them at the end of the year (they all cry)

has the most beautiful handwriting known to man

he once gave goshiki his notes for studying and goshiki thought he had used some super fancy font on microsoft word

will not leave the house without nail polish on and always has a spare bottle with him

would rather die than admit it but he loves ghibli movies

the tale of the princess kaguya is his favorite (BECAUSE HE HAS TASTE) and he has very strong opinions about ponyo

like. way too strong opinions, considering that it’s ponyo.

it makes him cry

refuses to participate in tendou’s whistling contests and claims it’s stupid but actually just can’t whistle and is too ashamed to admit it

snorts when he laughs too hard which absolutely infuriates him

DAISUKE

this man can fucking BAKE

brings a bunch of cupcakes to practice to surprise iwaizumi on his birthday and everyone is floored

they look like pinterest photos fr

creates his own recipes and sometimes posts them online, they all have at least 4.8 stars

people always assume he’s all bark no bite but he’ll try to fuck you up if you’re mean to his friends (only he’s allowed to be!!)

got into a fight over some jackasses making fun of watari and lost because it was five against one so kyoutani saved him and soaked all of them

no regrets

participates in a poetry slam when he loses a bet against matsuhana and reads one of his raps as if it was a simple poem

comes in first place, rubs their noses into it for weeks

oikawa tried to get him into musicals but he only likes hamilton because of the rap in it and oikawa is not amused

scribbles little comics all over his notes and it kills his teachers (which is part of the reason why he does it)

[hermette-historian]

I’ve been watching a huge variety of other mcyt creators lately (people that I had never heard of until I just started a deep dive down the rabbit hole), in order to more or less get a feel for where the community is today in terms of culture outside of the HC/Empires/Legacy/DSMP/their respective spinoffs group we tend to fixate on. These will be herefore referred to as our spotlight series.

I started this post just intending to make a joke about how excited I get whenever I see someone use a clip of a Hermit in their video as an example or a reaction (I’ve seen Gemini’s building timelapse from god-knows-when and about two frames of S7 Keralis from a TikTok so far) but I suppose I may as well present my findings because as always, I’ve taken notes.

I took a group of creators at complete random from the Minecraft topic page and a deep dive down the related algorithm. This is by no means a perfectly random sample of the community, but I feel it is a good show of what the YouTube algorithm is choosing to show a random viewer (I did clear all cookies and my watch history for that profile before I started). In total, my analysis includes a group of ~50 creators ranging from 10K to 3M subscribers; In order to keep track, I did subscribe to all of them. RIP my sub feed that I definitely don’t ever use anyway.

Here’s What I Found.

Demographics. While the spotlight series seem to have made large strides in the progress of inclusivity in the past few years, I’m saddened to report that the greater community does not appear to follow this trend. Every creator in my sample group was a man, and with the exception of one that I know to be black and a small handful that I suspect may be of Asian identities a very large majority are clearly white. They also all appeared to be between the ages of 15 and 30, but this is expected of people getting their start in mcyt within the last few years. A large majority contained sponsorships.

Content. Because I didn’t go in with the intention of doing a deep dive analysis but just out of my own curiosity, I had few expectations regarding what kind of content these creators would be putting out. And while there were certainly some obvious correlations and trends, I was impressed by the range that I saw. By far the biggest genres were mod videos and 100 days challenges, usually combined and always in hardcore mode. I know this to be the biggest trend on the platform right now so it wasn’t by any means surprising-just a data point. Other prevalent types included informational videos (have been around forever and are still relevant) reaction videos (ranging from cute to nostalgic to pure secondhand embarrassment fuel) some variation on Manhunt (not near as common as you would think) and a genre I like to call spotlight analysis (commentaries on any of the spotlight series, explaining or analyzing them in various levels of detail). Mr. Beast gets his own category, since he showed up just enough toward the end that I was concerned he would ruin my data. I also stumbled across two full-fledged SMPs for which I found multiple creators. One was an anarchy server called the LifeSteal SMP that is pretty much what exactly what the name implies and looked like fun, but was brought to its knees by cheaters and shady admins. The other was an idyllic society that I don’t believe actually has a name, characterized by big, beautiful builds (the pirate ship was particularly gorgeous) and harmless prankage.

Quality. I was seriously impressed by the video production quality of some of the smaller channels. Many of the 100 days challenges had thoroughly crafted lore behind them, voice acting, replay mod timelapses and cinematic shots. I would consider a large majority of the videos well-edited, the audio quality overall was clear and professional—these people clearly take pride in their work. There were a few glaring traits, however, that separate them from what I feel set the spotlight series apart. 100%, and I mean 100%, of the videos were voiceovers. Zero live commentary. I have no idea why this is the popular stylistic choice—I would guess it has something to do with the 100 days challenges—but I will emphasize that it does not work for every video format. It causes the second issue I found: scripted voiceovers. If you’re reading from a script, it sounds like you’re reading from a a script. Sometimes this works. Most of the time it becomes a monotone news report that can be hard to watch.

In conclusion, I’ve found that the greater mcyt community is thriving just as much as it was ten years ago albeit differently. There are some trends that will never go away, some creators whose legacies will never die. I do think there is room for improvement and variety, but I don’t think it’s fair to reduce smaller creators to teenaged dsmp copycats. It’s worth branching out and looking for something new. It’s also worth creating it yourself.

Go forth, my dear time travelers, and find something new.

[drops mic] Wynnie out.

[halcyonstorm]

Hey! I hope you're well. I started watching AOT and realized that levihan was a ship. And after reading the manga Ive come to the conclusion that they were more than friends if not just friends. Mostly because I saw Levi act with Isabella, a friend and a sister of sorts even Farlan. But with Hange he was just different. And thats what made me feel maybe it really was something more. He was a different Levi with her. All the teasing and the overprotectiveness, the unnecessary sass and hostility sometimes, but that makes me wonder WHY? Why was he like this towards her? And when was the moment he fell for her or decided to befriend her that way that yes I will tease this person from now on. At first I thought its because of how they met maybe but their first meeting was so sweet. Hange seemed impressed by him and he even thanked her for her compliments. I didnt think their interaction would lead to something like this. So what are your thoughts because I wonder alot on this. Also can someon pls tell me why Levi looks at her that way in aot 4 when hange meets the kids with him and says if they dont understand us we'll meet them and teach them. Like. What happened? Thank you !

Hi! I am well, thanks! And thank you for leaving me an ask! I always appreciate hearing what people have to say. I’m gonna try my best to answer your question without going on any tangents lol (but I can’t promise I won’t). This is going to be long.

Mostly because I saw Levi act with Isabella, a friend and a sister of sorts even Farlan. But with Hange he was just different. And thats what made me feel maybe it really was something more.

I 100% agree with this. When I read the manga and watched the anime, I thought maybe Isabel was a love interest (AT FIRST). When I realized she would call him “aniki” (brother) and the way he acted around her (patting her head), I knew there was a different relationship between Isabel and Levi. He saw her as a little sister and was always trying to avoid his two friends from getting into trouble. That’s why he decided for all of them to join the SC after all.

But with Hange he was just different. And thats what made me feel maybe it really was something more. He was a different Levi with her. All the teasing and the overprotectiveness, the unnecessary sass and hostility sometimes, but that makes me wonder WHY? Why was he like this towards her?

I think that the reason Levi had always acted different with her than anyone else was because of their first interaction. It was not in the anime but it WAS in the manga where Hange approaches the trio saying “I was watching you at that crucial moment!” (Not to mention the chapter Hange appears for the first time is called “Hearts” and in 139 we see “...hearts” over her head). At this point, Levi, Farlan, and Isabel were ready to kill Hange since they thought she found out about their plan to kill Erwin. What actually happened was she had seen how cool they all were and wanted to pay them a compliment. Ever since that trio left the underground, Hange was the first person to show them kindness. I don’t think this is something Levi would forget or take lightly. If it were me, I’d definitely remember that moment. I know there is a post somewhere comparing how Levi looked at Hange for the first time vs how he admired the nature outside the walls for the first time. After Farlan and Isabel died, who did he have? Practically no one. It’s my own HC but I’d like to think that Hange stuck by his side. Levi and Hange both have lost so many comrades that they found solace in each other. They bonded through grief I suppose. Also, I think Levi was intrigued by Hange’s personality. Their personalities complement each other: Hange is extroverted, loud, messy; Levi is introverted, quiet, reserved, clean.

When I first saw them, I definitely felt some romantic attraction of sorts. We eventually learn he is a clean freak, yet he has no issue grabbing her hair (which probably was greasy and unclean). Also, I believe that wasn’t in the manga and Isym requested it be added? I can be wrong with that, but I think that if there was nothing planned for their relationship, he wouldn’t have requested it. From the second I saw them, they reminded me of an old married couple. The way they bickered and how Hange never felt threatened by him.

One of my favorite scenes is when Hange enters the room that Levi’s squad is in at the castle.

E: Oh, I’m not sure if I have the authority to help you.

H: Levi, what is Eren doing tomorrow?

L: Cleaning the courtyard.

H: Okay! It’s settled!

See how she doesn’t ask permission? See how Levi doesn’t retaliate? If it were anyone else, I’m sure that 1) someone wouldn't ask that and 2) Levi wouldn’t have responded that way. We have seen all throughout the anime and manga that he usually goes along with whatever she wants to do. Remember in the OVA where Levi grabs her and yells at her? She doesn’t retaliate from his tone either. She SMILES at him. Why? Because he is expressing concern for her. He is showing he cares about her (also he’s grabbing her and bringing her close again). Eventually at the end of the OVA, we see how Levi tells Hange that Erwin agreed to capture titans for experimenting.

And when was the moment he fell for her or decided to befriend her that way that yes I will tease this person from now on… Also can someon pls tell me why Levi looks at her that way in aot 4 when hange meets the kids with him and says if they dont understand us we'll meet them and teach them. Like. What happened? Thank you !

I am not sure if there was a specific moment, but I do believe it definitely developed over time. One specific moment is the one you mentioned later on in your message, “If you don’t know something, go figure it out. Isn’t that what the Survey Corps is all about?” Levi looks at Hange almost in a surprised manner. In my biased LH eyes, it shows that Hange really is a brilliant and wonderful Commander, and Levi is appreciating her and her intelligence. In reality, it is most likely because it is something similar to what Erwin would have said as Commander. In all seriousness, her statement is entirely true. I think we can all learn from and use that statement in our everyday lives. But I think that in this moment, he possibly starts to realize how much he admires the Commander. We can also see Hange taking her own advice in chapter 126? 127? Where she forms the alliance with Pieck. She is not sure how to stop the Rumbling, so she goes to figure out how she can by talking with Pieck. As it turns out, she is successful in forming the alliance.

Overall, I think that Hange and Levi complement each other perfectly. Even if you aren’t looking too deep, I think their relationship is quite obvious. I mean… why would you ask someone to live with you if you didn’t care for them or even love them? I think that this is one of the points that other shippers bring up to break up LH (how L dislikes H or vice versa). Levi didn’t reject her. If Isym wanted him to reject her, he would’ve made him say something similar to Erwin’s “Give up on your dreams and die” statement when Erwin stated his selfish dream and was willing to sacrifice all of humanity for his selfish desire. Hange told him while he was unconscious and “not listening”, and he didn’t reject her. He says “if we run and hide, what will that get us?” and “I know you aren’t able to stay out of the action” when he sees her building the cart. We also see Levi “confess” or “respond” in 132 to Hange’s statement in 126. “Dedicate your heart”?? OMG Do not get me started on that lol.

Getting back on track, the pair is almost always together in the anime. They’re together in the manga panels when they don’t have to be. They don’t even need to speak actual words to communicate. They are the sun and moon, two wings of a bird. Levi is almost always looking at Hange in the official fanarts. We know from the smartpass AU’s that Hange says “he is a good guy” and “he doesn’t say what he means.” That’s why I think they use nicknames frequently. Four-eyes could be seen as an endearing comment coming from him. Also, Levi making Hange chocolates in the Junior High manga?!?!! Oh, yeah, its definitely to shut her up.

Im sorry for the huge tangent but I hope some of this answered your question. I enjoy reading the levihan analysis’ from other blogs. Thank you for reading if you did read this far. Have a good day/afternoon/night <3

[hualianff]

ASMR/Streamer AU

Thinking about an AU with video-game streamer HC and ASMRist XL. Both have huge followings on Youtube and other social media; both never show their faces.

On his channel, MantouASMR, XL uses audio from everyday things like cutting fruit or typing at his computer. Other times, he plans out a general script to help his viewers sleep or motivate them for the day. XL writes and reads his own poetry, as well as sings on his channel too.

XL strives to be the most attentive and considerate content creator. He is constantly reading his viewers’ comments and taking up their suggestions for future videos. Anything to help his viewers get through their day or lift their mood.

(One time, XL read a comment from the parent of a child who was MantouASMR’s superfan. XL’s voice apparently helped their son sleep when he’s scared of the monster under his bed. In his next “Time to Sleep” video, XL iterated a short thank you message for the son and his parent for listening and watching his videos, and he hoped he could continue helping in the future.)

(Another time, XL read a comment from a student who said his voice helped her concentrate on her maths homework—though she mentioned she still doesn’t understand integrals and derivatives. The following day, XL uploaded an ASMR math lesson.)

XL’s voice is known to be very soothing, his whispers as airy and delicate as a spring breeze. His lower register is smooth like honey, and anyone who happens to hear his melodious laughs on a live stream instantly falls in love with his character.

On the other hand, HC’s voice is enticingly deep but has a deadly edge to it. He has no shortage of vulgar language, especially when it comes to playing with other streamers. When HC posts an occasional video that’s not video-game-related such as a rare Q&A, he’s somewhat more pleasant.

Of course, HC is incredibly grateful for his followers’ support. He just finds himself involved in too much internet bullshit even when he respectfully minds his own business. HC supposes that it comes with being China’s number one video game streamer—Crimson Rain Ghost King—watched by millions all around the globe. However, this doesn’t stop HC from being vocal about his opinions and expressing himself without giving a fuck what others thought.

Naturally, HC and XL are in completely separate circles on the Youtube platform. As far as their fans are concerned, a mellow ASMRist and a brash gamer don’t interact with each other...

Here’s the catch: Hualian are secretly married.

XL and HC have been together for over ten years now—married for just under three years. They felt no need to disclose their full relationship when HC began gaining popularity as a streamer, nor when XL’s channel tripled in size a few years later.

In his lives, XL often mentions his mysterious husband a lot. For the third anniversary of his channel, XL retells his wedding day. The picture for the video is of HC’s and his intertwined hands with a red string attaching their middle fingers.

HC was the first one to subscribe to XL’s channel (from a side account). He never fails to remind XL that “Gege has many gifts to share with the world.”

Out of nowhere, a trashy review journal bashes XL’s videos, calling them unoriginal and lowkey creepy because XL is “...a full-grown man whispering random shit that people love for some reason.” HC tries to keep XL from reading the article, but he’s too late. What’s worse is that other media sites speculate XL’s identity after, trying to expose him.

XL has experienced media backlash in the past. This event has him revisiting trauma where he nearly lost everyone in his life. He also went through severe depression and has developed major anxiety since then. One of the main reasons XL started his Youtube channel was because he wanted to be the person of comfort he wished he had had during those dark times.

Witnessing how affected XL is by the article and online hate, HC’s already-thin patience is close to snapping. That specific journal does nothing but writes drama-seeking shit about creators with a notable platform–HC included. Not that he gives a fuck about it.

Except they made XL their next target, and that is unacceptable. HC promptly makes a video grilling the hell out of the journal and the writer who published the article, making it very clear that, “Whoever reads and supports this bullshit are the scum of the Earth.”

HC uploads the video, then proceeds to make a XL-care-burrito. He feeds his husband, keeps him warm, and cuddles him all day. After dinner, XL feels renewed with energy, thoroughly enjoying his Saturday with his biggest, most devoted fan. XL decisively unwraps himself from the burrito and goes to make that sewing tutorial ASMR video he planned for the weekend.

HC’s viewers are once again curious as to if he has connections to XL. They begin digging up evidence but after the short investigation, it seems not to be the case.

Of the two instances XL couldn’t edit out him saying his husband’s name on live, no one seemed to agree on what the two muffled syllables were. XL never shows above his chest (he wears a facemask in case of a slip-up) or goes into too much detail with his stories. Both XL and HC’s other social media accounts are squeaky clean. Plus, you can count on one hand how many times HC has mentioned anything about his personal life.

Their fans stop their analysis, for the most part; XL’s viewers adamant about protecting his privacy and HC’s viewers not wanting to piss their idol off.

With Youtube being an important and time-consuming side of their life, XL and HC make sure to balance their personal, professional, and romantic lives as best as they can, or re-evaluate priorities when things begin to go downhill.

In addition to streaming, HC works as an animator for a respectable company. He has flexible work conditions and schedules.

HC during his stream debuting a new popular game: “I helped make this game, of course I know what I’m doing.” XL watches from the side wearing an adoring and proud smile.

XL is an open and free-spirited soul, so he switches side jobs often such as a barista, salesman, model, etc.

HC’s other hobbies include photography, music, traditional art, and bowling. (He has impeccable aim for obvious reasons.) XL enjoys seeing his friends (SQX, MUA; MQ, lawyer; FX, lawyer), cooking, reading, and skateboarding.

Extras:

-HC often streams with XL in his lap.

-Hualian create NSFW ASMR for themselves.

-(HC in their bed, listening to one of XL’s ASMR videos...

XL, smiling like a minx and slipping into bed shirtless: “Why watch my video when you have the real thing right here?”)

-Someone edits a comedic video with XL and HC’s voices, comparing their styles and approaches to speech. It garners lots of attention for their respective channels, the hashtag #mantouxcrimson ??? trending for a few days.

Video title: You’re friends with both Mantou Gege and Crimson Rain

(In the video)

Situation 1: You haven’t started your homework and it’s already midnight.

XL’s voice: “Whatever you do, don’t put too much pressure on yourself. You can’t do things well if your mind is unwell. Try to finish the things that need to be done, but be kind to yourself~~”

HC’s voice: “You little fucker, what have you been doing this whole time!? If you don’t do your job in the next five seconds, I’ll make sure to bury your worthless dead body where no one can find you-“

(Brainchild with @no-one-says-hi)

[kirisaki-daichi-scenarios]

Can we get more beach trip headcannons except this time with female! manager, Thank you I love your work❤️❤️❤️

original beach training camp hcs here - worth reading for context

look at my ass saying ‘context’ as if this is some literary analysis

on the one hand, with the manager around, hanamiya’s no longer the only adult there to look after everything

on the other hand, manager-chan has to be a little mad to be even be working with the boys, and thus she’s only going to be adding to the chaos

for example, half the time, she’s telling hara that no he can’t just claim he has to protect her from the ‘’renowned okinawan beach ghost’ in order to get out of practice, and the other half of the time, she’s plotting with him at 2am about how they terrorise the others and make them think that the beach ghost does exist

side note: seto doesn’t believe in ghosts or anything that’s not explained by science; hanamiya’s the same but he pretends he worships satan every once in a while just for the sake of freaking people out; who knows if furuhashi believes in them in not, but, even if he saw a ghost, he wouldn’t be impressed

and yamazaki’s the type of say they’re stupid, and then start fucking screaming as he goes through a haunted house and then, once he’s out of there, claim that he was never phased in the slightest, and that it was furuhashi grabbing onto everyone’s arms (furuhashi’s a good target cause he’s not a large enough dick to dispute it and embarrass yamazaki; he just kinda raises an eyebrow and moves on)

road trip fic where everyone visits a haunted house and does all kinds of stupid shit when?

anyway that’s why yamazaki’s sitting in on the “reviving beach ghost” conversation (you can’t get scared if you are the ghost, am i right?)

the plan with the ghost is simple and is supposed to involve a) manager dressing up as the ghost (long black dress, hair over her face, etc), b) yamazaki making ghostly sounds (he’s good at sound effects, it’s not as stupid an idea as it sounds), c) hara’s gonna film it all (and also buy the necessary supplies, like fake blood etc)

the problem is that discussing satanically plans at 2am, after you’ve had a full day of practice (or a full day of dealing with these idiots), is that you’re not going to be awake at 7am

which is when hanamiya storms in wondering why half the team are missing

although the sight of people covered in dark cloaks (they’re just blankets; it got cold in the night) and pages filled with drawings of pentagrams (it took zaki that many tries before he could draw it without it it being wonky) may be a little unnerving

nothing is more terrifying than a fuming hanamiya dragging you out of bed when you’re still half asleep

and he also finds the written plans so, all in all, mission failed

Moving On

this is already fucking long and i’ve only just started shit

given that seto never plays in full matches, his fitness plan is a little more lenient - aka, sometimes when everyone else is off running and dribbling and whatnot, it’s just manager-chan and seto on the beach, enjoying their holiday

this is helpful as a) it prevents seto from being forgotten (see previous training camp post), and b) it gives their manager the time to very helpfully apply suncream for him, probably in a pattern, so he gets the image of a flower sunburnt to his stomach

the best part of it is that seto doesn’t even give a shit

catch him floating off on his back to the middle of the philippine sea with the flower shining against the sun like a message from god

actually that raises a very important point about the boy’s swimming abilities so,

yamazaki + hara: good swimmers, neither ever took lessons so their strokes aren’t too polished, but they can goof around in the sea and try to drown one another without anyone actually drowning (or, at least, that’s what the manager’s there for)

furuhashi: very good swimmer, even better diver. disappears without making a single ripple in the water, no bubbles either. he just appears all of a sudden from underneath your feet like “this is a pretty shell, isn’t it?” as if his dark presence at the sea bed hadn’t just made several people think there’s a shark about

seto’s real good at floating, and at a mediocre backstroke, and that’s all he ever does - or is bothered to do

matsumoto takes pride in the fact he’s a faster swimmer than anyone else on the team (except for furu that is), and he likes to do the butterfly stroke angrily up and down the shore to get rid of all his pent up stress (hanamiya never comments on it, cause hey it’s just extra fitness training)

and finally hanamiya was unable to swim for a very long time (and there is many a photo of him with swimming armbands, hidden in his bedroom, from when everyone was coming over, and he couldn’t let them know that he has a weakness

however, one time, hara had a pool party when hanamiya still couldn’t swim, and hara threw him into the pool, and he just somehow learned how to in those few seconds? talk about survival instinct

alright back to our scheduled program

furuhashi is damn good at fishing. like damn good, like doesn’t even need a rod, he just shoves his arm in, somehow grabs one, and guts it and prepares the meal there on the beach

having to eat dinner with a furuhashi whose hands and some of his chest are stained with blood (normally he’d wash it off, but he’s a little emo at heart. went through a phase as a child where he was really into blood vials, and satanic witchcraft and all that) may be a little disconcerting, but it’s also a lovely time :)

picture the scene, dear reader

all the lads, surrounded by the sunset, the evening tide and the lush green in the background, sat by a little stove fire over which furuhashi is frying the fish

matsumoto and the manager chatting about the competitions scheduled for after the team gets back (you’d think hanamiya would be involved in this discussion, but Coach Time TM is over, and now he and hara are challenging one another to watch over hot coals, as furuhashi patiently warms up more stones for them)

seto probably helping furuhashi out; either that, or telling yamazaki all the many illnesses he might catch from the ocean, as zaki takes a massive bite of seaweed and then spits it all out

everyone eventually getting dragged into the hot coals battle

someone almost definitely gets burnt (spoiler alert it’s zaki) and manager-chan has to bandage him up as he yells at a laughing hara that he was sabotaged and that he can handle heat better than anyone else here

he dives on the hot coals as if to make his point

and thus matsumoto and furuhashi have to carry him back to the hotel, cause now he’s got even more burns (and he’s also a little baby who doesn’t like pain, but don’t let him here you say that)

oh the woes of training camps when two of your group have very high IQs, and yet there is still only 1 brain cell being shared between 7 people

[palmett-hoes]

per your post "every single one of the monsters is autistic and/or adhd" will you elaborate on that?, if you do i will love you forever (not that i wont if you dont do it)

oh boy i would love to!!! unironically nothing brings me more joy than writing long, convoluted character analysis posts

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okay so i’ve written several posts before about why andrew is autistic. his moral code, the roundabout way he communicates, his body language, his stimulation-seeking behavior, his strict adherence to transactional deals, the emphasis on honesty, and a dozen other details. at this point i just take andrew being autistic as fact, not just an interpretation

h o w e v e r  i also hc that andrew is dyslexic, which is also a neurodiverse condition

- - -

similarly, i’ve seen more than one person interpret kevin as autistic, and i absolutely agree that it fits. not just the hyperfocus on exy but mostly the way he communicates. he’s very indirect, especially in his affection but very direct with his opinions. he tries to be helpful in a material way to the people he cares about, even if he comes off as negative. he wants the people he cares about to be safe and successful so he pushes them to work hard and reminds them in measurable ways how to stay healthy. he doesn’t factor in a lot of room for emotions, so instead he focuses on quantifiable things that he can improve. i personally act very similarly. approaching someone emotionally is hard for me, so when the people i care about have problems all i can think to do is try offering solutions, check up on their well-being, etc. practicality instead of conventional sentiment is extremely common with asd

- - -

so now let’s talk about neil. i had to think on this one for a WHILE but ultimately came to the conclusion that neil is adhd, probably hyperactive type. 

like obviously neil is high energy. i would say he probably does the most exercise of anyone on the team. morning run, morning practice, afternoon practice, night practice with kevin and andrew, plus he doesn’t have a car so he runs to class (on a BIG ass campus), and goes for an extra run when he feels stressed. that’s... insane, honestly.

neil reminds me SO MUCH of this post that goes:

“Was just informed by my mom that I do in fact have ADHD and the reason I thought I didn’t was because ever since I was seven whenever I got super energetic my mom would have me go chop wood so now when I’m feeling The ADHD I go chop wood”

(phenomenal post) and that’s neil to a t. tell me this isn’t exactly how neil handles his problems and also exactly what mary would have had to do to keep her unmedicated and very energetic son focused on the task of staying alive

neil also definitely has that ADHD on/off switch with his interest. the obvious being exy which is like the definition of a hyperfixation, but you can see it in other things: the way he runs totally hot or totally cold with people, his complete disinterest in his schoolwork, the way he can’t seem to sit still long enough to follow movies. but then there’s also the hyperfocus. doing the same drill for hours on end. watching exy game after exy game. staring at andrew until time falls away

what’s more, neil on many occasions shows racing thoughts, both in an anxiety way (and anxiety often goes hand-and-hand with adhd) but also as a way to quickly and accurately take in details about people to build a character profile of them. this is what allows him to connect with the foxes, how he manages to get through andrew’s puzzles, and even how he knows what to say in order to knock riko down a peg. his brain just works so fast and it takes in a lot of very specific details and disparate information to make connections.

but also like,, neil has a HUGE problem with time blindness. like the instant he didn’t have his mother around to manage and direct him anymore he lost all sense of time. he stayed in Millport for a YEAR. and what did he keep telling himself during that time? basically “i really need to move on, but not just yet.” for a YEAR! then he gets to palmetto and he’s like “i’ll cut and run in a month or two” then he doesn’t “i’ll be gone by halloween” wrong again “i’ll leave by the raven’s game” nope. like,, the boy just has NO sense of time and he can’t seem to make himself DO anything outside of an externally enforced schedule. and even then,,, HE HAD 48 FUCKING DAYS TO FIGURE OUT SOMETHING TO DO TO NOT GET MURDERED! 48 WHOLE DAYS. he didn’t make a plan, he didn’t write down any letters with goodbyes, he didn’t GO TO THE FBI LIKE HE’D INTENDED TO THE WHOLE TIME! nah he just made out with andrew and when he finally got to zero he was just like “ah shit, that was fast. oh well guess i’ll die” and that’s time blindness, babey!

---

let’s move on to nicky. 

now i think it would be really easy to say nicky is just adhd because he’s high energy and forgetful but tbh,, i don’t think that’s all of it. like if you really look at nicky’s character and especially at his problems, he has asd problems just as much as he has adhd problems.

so nicky is dual diagnosis asd and adhd. also nicky reminds me a lot of a girl i used to know who was autistic/adhd

so, adhd:

very generally speaking, ppl with adhd will struggle with sitting still, listening to and following instructions, planning/organization, following a schedule, and some social boundaries like “appropriate” times and topics of conversation

i would say you see hints of this with nicky. he’s definitely a rambunctious personality, constantly on the move, constantly stimulation seeking. he’s very tactile. he likes to dance, he likes to party, he complains about it but he’s an elite-level athlete. he’s also decidedly very chatty, and doesn’t seem to really pay attention to what he’s saying. he distracts himself and the people around him have to keep him on track. he has some trouble with boundaries. he’s a little all over the place. he’s almost a bit of an adhd stereotype

also one thing i find interesting is that when neil sees him in the library doing work neil is surprised to see he’s capable of that, especially bc when we see the upperclassmen doing work they generally do it in their dorms or on the bus and/or with other people around. that hyper-social nicky would be alone in a quiet place is weird. but this is like the most common tip for dealing with adhd. don’t do it in a familiar space. have a designated space and time to do work. limit distractions. just a lil detail

so now, asd:

in all honesty, most of nicky’s actual problems in the narrative could be viewed as stemming from asd symptoms. his number one issue being that he has a lot of trouble with nonverbal cues (and tbh, verbal ones too). the twins are mostly quiet. andrew especially (when he’s sober) communicates primarily nonverbally, and nicky seems to have a lot of trouble with this. despite knowing them for the longest on the team, nicky honestly seems to have the least insight into the way either of the twins actually thinks or processes things. he loves them, and he’s very forgiving of them, but he fundamentally doesn’t understand them. 

the twins, andrew especially, put up a LOT of nonverbal boundaries, and nicky sort of inadvertently keeps trampling all over them. he’s touchy in a way they don’t like. he talks a lot about their personal lives to other people. he treats them like they’re joking when they’re serious. etc. and like,,, you kind of get the sense that the upperclassmen feel similarly about him. beyond the homophobia, beyond the fact that he’s loyal to andrew, the upperclassmen still treat him with this sense of,, bafflement, i suppose? it’s clear that they don’t really understand him and he doesn’t really understand them. although, nicky IS curious about the upperclassmen, while the upperclassmen are pretty dismissive of him. it reminds me of when my sweet, floppy dog tries to play with my cat. their body language is different; they’re each receiving different signals than they believe they’re sending out

only,, nicky loves people!! he likes being around them, he likes talking to them. he’s interested in their lives and stories, but it’s very clear that he can’t read between the lines on people. he has an incredibly hard time with people who expect their actions to speak for them, which is most people, but is especially his cousins.

actually this is very much also an issue that i have: things need to be spelled out for me. the way i deal with it is i ask a lot of questions. ‘how do you want me to react to this potential situation?’ ‘what are specific things that make you most comfortable?’ ‘please explain to me exactly how you feel and what has prompted those feelings?’ and i’m always communicating vice versa like that with other people. a lot of specifics in both questions and answers

and the interesting thing is, when i was skimming through the books reviewing dialogue styles for another ask, i noticed that, actually, nicky DOES do this. with neil and the upperclassmen, nicky asks a LOT of quick, clarifying questions. things that ask after tone, that ask after intent. it’s kinda sad that he does this for communicating with acquaintances, but with the twins, the people he’s closest to, he makes a lot more assumptions. and i’m really proud of nicky for having this coping skill, because i can’t imagine it’s something he grew up doing. there’s no way he was raised in an environment that fostered this kind of open communication so it must have been something he learned about much later, probably in germany with the kloses, which would also explain why he’s a lil imperfect about it

---

now last but not least, aaron

this is another one i had to think through for a long time before it felt like it fit

much like how i felt that it would be easy to read nicky as simply adhd rather than also asd, i think it would be easy to say aaron is autistic simply because he is quieter, less rambunctious. however, i actually think he’s adhd, likely primarily inattentive type

in all honesty, aaron’s #1 character trait for the first two books is basically that he’s disconnected. detached. separated both from his family and his team. not in the same forcefully apathetic way that andrew is, more,, spaced out. he’s just kind,, there. not really paying attention to what’s going on, tuning in every once in a while only if something really catches his eye/ear then tuning right back out again. just sits in his corner and plays on his phone. and the thing is, from the moments when he does tune in, you can tell that he actually does care. he backs nicky when seth insults him in tfc, and we know he cares deeply about andrew even if he’s become disillusioned with their fraught relationship. he even hangs with his family, doesn’t seem to really try and slip away to other friends besides katelyn, he’s fine spending his leisure time with the monsters. so it’s not totally apathy, he’s just,,, tuned out most of the time

and, yea, that sounds like adhd. it’s not the type that most people are familiar with, and for a lot of people this causes it to slip under the radar. it can make it hard to get help or a dx because it doesn’t fit with how adhd “should” look or how someone “should” act, but difficulty focusing your thoughts and staying in tune with the current moment is absolutely part of adhd

addiction is also a huge problem for people with adhd. a lot of stimulants affect people with adhd very differently than neurotypicals, especially in small doses, and an adhd kid who’s struggled their whole lives with the disorder might try speed or god-forbid meth or fuck even coffee and suddenly find that things are a lot easier for them. they start to self-medicate, they don’t actually know what they’re doing, and then they’re addicted, and everything spirals out of control. we don’t know too many details about aaron’s addiction other than that his mother enabled him, but wouldn’t this fit? it’s also an explanation for aaron still taking drugs at eden’s, given that cracker dust seems to be a mild amphetamine. (aaron talk to betsy about the neurocog and get an actual prescription please)

(total throw away but aaron plays videogames and videogames are like,, adhd culture)

[margarethx]

I have some slightly controversial take about Sam Wilson fandom here, so maybe don’t reblog this post... Comment if you want, but I really don’t want to start arguing with anyone. I just need to vent and will probably delete the whole rant later.

So...

I know that Sam’s fans complain a lot about the treatment he gets in the fandom... I still do that from time to time and I probably will continue doing it in the future. But I’m starting to feel very, very tired with the people who act like their love for Sam can only be expressed through:

1) criticizing other people’s content,

2) hatered/dislike for Bucky or Sambucky,

3) complaining about other people in the fandom.

It’s so weird. We criticize the people who make Bucky-centric content with barely any mention of Sam and tag it with his name, because it’s annoying, but at the same time there is quite a big number of fans, whose posts in Sam Wilson tag are basically:

“omg he never gets recognition”, “MCU fandom hates Sam”, “Everything is about Bucky, where is Sam?!” “some of you only like sam when he’s with bucky :/”

And... sure. There’s a lot of truth to these statements. But saying that over and over again won’t fix the problem, especially if you yourself don’t do ANYTHING to remedy the situation. You’re flooding the tag too... Just in a different way. A few months ago I had this habit that I liked to follow people who wrote posts like these. Because I had this assumption that: if you complain about Sam being treated badly you probably love him a lot, so we should get along. I love him too!

But I realized that a lot of those people literally complain for the sake of complaining and than don’t even try to post Sam-centric content on their own. Why not??? You don’t have to be an amazing creator to make a good post. It’s not just about realistic fanart and 30k words fanfic with a complicated plot. You might write some weird HCs about Sam instead. Or a joke. Incorrect quotes. Ideas for fics you’ll never finish, but might inspire other people. Doodles that took 2 minutes of drawing. Edited photos. Favourite screenshots. Prompts. Learn to make poor-quality gifs of Sam’s cool fightigh style. Write a short scene analysis. Or ask other people how they analyse some scenes to start a discussion. Link some edits from YouTube.

And if you cannot think of a single thing to make on your own? Well. You can always promote art made by other people. Go through the tag and reblog things you loved. Find a good blog and search throught their archives to find older content. You can compile a post with fic recommendations so other people read what you enjoyed and see how good the content about Sam might be. Or recommend your favourite creators in general. Send encouraging asks to artists who you love so they feel motivated.

--- ----- ---

But these people do none of that. I can scroll throught their blog for 10 minutes and everything about Sam Wilson I see is complaining that people like Bucky more. Or that Sambucky is popular. (As if all the best Sambucky stories aren’t just fans expressing their love towards Sam through Bucky’s eyes...) I’m not trying to say that you have to be a creator to criticize the fandom, but it’s weird when you only yell at others for not posting enough about Sam when you didn’t post anything about him either unless it’s complaining. Kind of ironic...

Also! If you don’t promote other people’s content they get discoraged from posting. It’s a fact. I have probably over 80 different half-made and finished drawings with Sam Wilson on my tablet, but I have zero incentive to post any of them, because every attempt in the past ended with these posts getting 4 notes. Or 10 at best. So why bother? I can look at them alone. And I don’t remember these people who complained about the lack of Sam content supporting my Sam-centric art with nice comments.

You cannot expect the fandom to mass-produce content for you if you don’t encourage it. I got no feedback, so now I just sort of... write or draw for myself, because I enjoy it and have no incentive to publish any of that when no one’s interested. Instead I just make writing prompts or analysis of tfatws, because there’s a bigger chance I’ll have an interesting disussion with other fans in the comments or I’ll inspire other creators to make more art by posting that. I enjoy both of those things very much, but one evokes a reaction I want and the other just... doesn’t. (It’s not even about validation... even if it’s nice to get compliments. It’s just: “when other people are clearly not interested, why make the art public at all?”.)

--- ----- ---

Like I said. I’m not going to call out any specific person here. But there were a few people who harshly criticized me in asks or in private messages for “pretending to love Sam” just because I like Sambucky too. But if you scroll through my blog you’ll find that at least 95% of the posts are about Sam. And if you scroll through theirs it’s 3 posts - all of them about fandom not loving Sam enough. (I just checked.)

But I guess I’m a “disgrace to the fandom”, because I acknowledge that Sam might have a love interest while you said you hate Bucky, so... Apparently your love for Sam Wilson is more real if you despise more popular characters he interacts with. ...Be honest with yourselves. Some of you just like to whine and complain, but prefer to disguise it behind love for Sam, so it sounds justified.

And yes. There should be more content that is only about Sam. Or about Sam’s non-romantic relationships. Sure. But if my two choices are: “get a Sambucky fic about Bucky loving Sam very much” or “get a post where someone cries about Sam not being loved enough for the 10th time”... then pardon me for preferring the first option.

If any of you spent half the energy you waste on complaining on making a single post about your supposed love for Sam the tag would be much more full of good content. But it seems like making actual content requires more effort and talent, so you just stay there whining that other people don’t provide you with what you want and demand. And give zero encouragement and promotion to those who do the work.

So continue doing that if you wish. But I won’t waste all my energy on making my weekly “this fandom fucking sucks” post. I prefer promoting cool art other users made (now or years ago) and creating my own posts that might not be always 100% about only Sam... but are still focused on him. Because I like this fictional little guy. I’m not going to let this weird purity tests ruin my enjoyment. If the pretty drawing of Sam has Bucky on the other side of the canvas I still have a cool drawing of Sam to admire. So it’s a win for me.

--- ----- ---

[Reminder: please don’t reblog this. I really just need to vent. Comments are okay, I can discuss this. I just don’t want some peope to see that and go yell at me all over again. I was already harassed for allowing Bucky or Steve on my mostly Sam-Wilson-centric blog...]

[Also... if you think this is hypocritical of me to complain about complaining... Maybe. I don’t think it’s comparable here, but whatever.]

[l4tedawns]

Saw the analysis post you made about each of the Badham kids having their own "thing" that colored their interactions with Freddy and later were used in the attacks, (thank you for that btw, don't think I won't use that to fuel further fic ideas) and I was wondering if you had any possible thoughts on what Marcus Yeon's might be? I know we barely see him at all so it's not like there's much to go on, but I love seeing what you wrote up for the others and if you have any thoughts on him as well, I'd love to see them!

(I implore you use them and just yell about “that guy on tumblr who got too invested” aka me. And then tell me about your fics. >:D)

It’s even harder to tell with Marcus than it was with Dean. At least with Dean, we saw Freddy attack him, y’know? Marcus’ video diaries (and the few glimpses of him as a kid that we see) really don’t give much to go off of, but hey when has that ever stopped me </3

These kind of are in line with Jesse’s, in a way, where it’s not so evidence driven and it’s more just drawing inspiration from vague elements of his scenes/lines, but anyway! You get two options

Marcus - Red Light, Green Light ; Give me some leeway here, but Marcus’ death is shown from an outsiders perspective. We don’t see what’s happening to him in his Nightmare World, just what his motion camera picks up. Every time he stops moving, we lose sight of him, and when he jerks or shifts in his sleep, the camera feed starts up again, up to his final moments. It is a weird sort of opposite of the game, given you’re supposed to stop when seen, and move undetected until the person turns around. Maybe it was a favorite game with Freddy, even with a group of kids (I imagine he and Quentin were buddies as kids, specifically because I hc them wearing the same coat to school one day and just “:0” “:0”). Maybe Marcus was a little too eager and always ended up getting caught by the leader (probably Freddy) because he couldn’t stop moving even when they were ‘at a red light’.

Marcus - Pirates ; In a more direct fashion, Marcus had mapped and analyzed his dreams, specifically of the preschool. In both the film and the original script, this helps Nancy and Quentin find the school and reveal the truth (in the script, Nancy even says “why didn’t we think of that?”) The map’s described as ‘a large POSTER tacked to his wall, with a variety of lines, sketches, and landmarks in black and red markers’. I can imagine a little Marcus spending his recess scribbling away creating a map to find ‘treasure’ and enlisting Freddy’s help (mostly to find a good hiding spot, or to dig up a shallow hole to hide the item if possible) (also to make the map look old).

I started just rambling but honestly I just feel bad for Marcus homie was smart for making a blog even at the risk of just,, everything,, smarty mcsmart man <3