#I know it isn't a huge ship but literally have not seen even a SINGLE peice of Johale art.

[mellarked-katnisseverdeen]

So happened to be writing some Johale, and now I crave Johanna x Gale fannart. Have yet to see even a single peice of it and never have I felt so much rage that I can't art.

[lockandkeycake]

Ignore this post, my HoTD moots, this is going to be a long post you don't care about.

it's PJO/HoO rant time.

What can I say, Tumblr brings me back to the simpler times of 2016.

Y'all baby Frank too much. Like. Way too much.

Leo was a dick at times, no doubt. But I think y'all forget Frank was absolutely being antagonistic because he was paranoid over Leo looking like Hazel's ex. You can argue it's because Leo fired on New Rome, but Frank himself counters that claim and Leo is initially grateful Frank didn't blame him.

Frank was also the first one to bring up Sammy, not Hazel, just before that. Later, all before Leo says anything against Frank, Piper thinks Frank's behavior is because it seems like Leo and Hazel had a history. This is a longer bit of a book scene, but I feel like it gets ignored.

This is still before Leo says anything against Frank. I will be saying that a number of more times. Leo just complimented his ability and Frank responds with a pretty catty comment about Leo's physical abilities. You can see the difference in how he reacts even more clearly in a scene before, when Hazel is commenting on Frank turning into a dragon

Frank doesn't counter the idea to become a dragon, he just has an issue with leaving Hazel with Leo. Leo again, so far, isn't upset with Frank. He wants to prove he's trustworthy.

When Piper does her fun little exorcism on the lads, this happens. I have to say yet again. Leo has not insulted Frank at this point. Not a huge issue, Frank was a bit shaken up, but it was still kind of a dick move to just. Let him hit the dirt. I'll excuse it because it is very funny.

Later when they find out about Nico, this scene below happens. Leo has still not said anything against Frank at this point - Jason even agrees repeatedly with Leo, but Frank only glares at Leo.

After this, when Hazel is upset and leaves, Leo starts to likely say he should go apologize, but Frank cuts him off saying, "you've done enough."

We're a few hundred pages through the book now at this point. Frank has insulted Leo, he doesn't trust him, doesn't want Hazel around him, singles him out, and literally let him fall to the ground. Leo has not said anything against him yet.

Even Percy notes that Frank's mood is tied to his relationship with Hazel, and Leo seemingly threatening that.

(and for those who are curious - baleful means threateningly, or to wish harm)

This is when, after a good chunk into the novel, we reach Leo's first dig at Frank.

Then ~the iguana incident~ comes not long after, but if you're going to call this Leo bullying him, you'd have to include... Everyone. Since they literally all laughed at Frank turning into a lizard to get out of the finger trap. Hazel, Percy, Annabeth, everyone. Not a fun moment for Frank, I sympathize with him there, but I wouldn't personally call this pointed bullying. You may disagree but I do not think at the very least that Riordan intended it to be seen as bullying. This is followed by Leo sending Frank's dirty laundry out on Buford for awhile (though he does claim that it would be cleaned and returned to him, eventually we do learn the laundry is lost. This was not a planned thing by Leo, and I don't understand why this is characterized by some people as him purposely throwing away Frank's clothes.)

All this eventually leads to this exchange.

Gee, I don't know, Frank. Maybe because you keep glaring at him anytime you're around him to the point even Percy was like oh boy I got to get him off the ship before he folds Leo like a pretzel.

Later, Frank actually helps save Leo in eagle form, but ends up injured in the process - and drops Leo. I really don't think Frank meant to drop him, but Leo thinks Frank dropped him on purpose. That's kind of a big thing, even though it's a minor line.

Then, Frank is back to being untrusting of Leo. He's glowering, glaring, and again - doesn't want to leave Leo with Hazel.

When Hazel is alone with Leo, she finally takes the time to defend Frank.

So, clearly, Frank scares Leo.

Leo scares Frank.

It's a fun horrible little wicked web! It's almost like the author intended them to buttheads! Shocking!

I've run out of pictures to add!

I could and probably will continue this nonsense, but the general point of this rant is Frank is not just some totally sweet big guy who has never done anything wrong in his entire life, and characterizing him as such just makes him boring. He's self conscious, insecure, and lashes out at- boy, doesn't that sound familiar. Anyway.

He was kind of a dick to Leo, and Leo was kind of a dick to him in turn.

I'm pretty sure I had a better ending for this originally, that summed everything up, but now I'm distracted and just bitter they didn't kiss.

I didn't even have time to reach their interactions underwater.

[ultfreakme]

Zuko's character arc is not lost it's clickbait

*Tired sigh* EarlyGame released an article saying "Zuko's character arc is lost!" in the live action and have said that Zuko's character motivation has shifted from chasing Aang to restore his honor to now chasing Aang to help the FN win the war. They use the short promo clip of Dallas Liu's Zuko writing a letter/journal about the Avatar to say that, especially when he says the line "it is my duty to capture the Avatar".

First of all, I read the article, because I got concerned too. Honor is a large pat of his motivation, we also got a trailer clip of Zuko telling Aang "You are the enemy of the Fire Nation!". We know Zuko didn't hunt Aang for the war.

Except.

New audiences do not know that Zuko's chasing Aang for his honor. The first premise we as an audience knew when we watched the cartoon was this;

Fire Nation is taking over the world

Aang is the only one who can stop them

The Fire Prince is chasing Aang and getting in his way

When we are introduced to Zuko, Sokka talks about invaders and spies from the Fire Nation. Zuko then attacks the village and destroys Sokka's wall with his ship and fights him. From all of this, we get the impression that Zuko's here with animosity towards SWT along with the goal to capture the avatar for the FN.

We, the OG viewers, did NOT know Zuko was doing this as a necessity due to his banishment until The Storm, halfway through the series. We thought he's just in competition with Zhao and being an asshole FN Prince. It was a huge twist and a spoiler that contributed heavily to us sympathizing with Zuko when we learned the real reason.

The Live Action isn't just for the original fans, it's for everyone. What is blatantly obvious to us is not for those who are going to watch it with brand new eyes. Zuko doing this due to his banishment is a surprise and they're 100% trying to maintain it for the live action too.

Zuko's arc of honor is also impossible to be removed btw, because we SEE clips of Ozai attacking Zuko, Zhao is still his competition. These characters and incidents are the bedrock of establishing the 'honor' motivation so no it's not gone.

In addition, it makes sense for Zuko to at least tell other people that he's trying to capture Aang for the Fire Nation. In the og series he didn't give a shit about the war, which makes sense, but Zuko is a Prince, an heir to the throne. He would've been deep in the propaganda. It's like;

Father wants to win the war -> Father has banished me-> The Avatar is a huge obstacle in the way of the war -> He has assigned me the task of capturing the Avatar -> I AM important to the war! -> So war= avatar's capture= me being vital -> The war and capturing the avatar, an honor mission, become one and the same.

If Zuko frames his mission as serving the Fire Nation, despite his banishment, he can think himself as still being a part of the royal family.

Nothing has drastically changed, I honestly think it's a good addition to include Zuko's thoughts on the war itself because of course the PRINCE of the FIRE NATION would have an opinion on the war. It is impossible for him to not think the Fire Nation is deserving of their victories.

Literally every single time I've seen people freak out over things, it's over a clickbait title, the article writers badly misinterpreting things, or people going into this convinced that the Live Action is bad. A conclusion has been made, and people are desperately searching for evidence even if it's false.

[mrs-monaghan]

Hey. How are you?

Well this is not really an ask but I just wanted to share something. If we're talking about jkk Or tkk then let's for once forget about romance and just focus on friendship.

IMO I believe that jk and tae are good friends but they are not really best friends. Meanwhile jkk are close and we all know that both jm and jk are very private, so just because they don't share it on SM doesn't mean they're not close. There were a lot of instances where if we wouldn't have got a picture then we would never know that it even happened.

Now what I wanted to share :

Okay so I have two college friends. And I have one best friend who isn't in the same college. So I am with my two college friends almost during the whole college time obviously, I hangout with them a lot too. But my best friend has been busy for the past few months but that's coz she's preparing for an entrance exam. Now I only hangout with my college friends and me and my best friend rarely hangout these days( we still talk obv)

But even though I hangout with those two friends, I still wouldn't say that they're my best friends. Everyone in our college thinks we're bsf but I know that we're not. It just doesn't feel like that, like I don't actually feel the connection with them but I still hangout with them because it's cool we don't have to be best of friends with everyone yk.

While my bsf, though we rarely hang out these days but whenever we meet it's like nothing has changed. We vibe perfectly well together. It's like she understands the real me and I understand her and the distance has done nothing to ruin our friendship. We don't meet regularly these days but when we do, it's just like old times.

And that's what I'm trying to say, let's keep the romantic ships aside for now. But we all have seen that jm and jk are very emotionally connected to each other and these types of bonds doesn't fade away that easily unless they had a huge fight which we can clearly see is not the case.

I'm not saying tkk are not close, they are. But imo their relationship is different from jkk. Like it's not even a comparison. Tkk are like those buddy friendships where they hangout, play games and all. But jkk has that deep emotional type of friendship where they can have those heart to hearts and a deeper conversation.

I think the reason why jikookers are insecure about tkk is not because they actually see something in them both but because of the way the whole fandom overhypes literally the smallest thing that tkk do. Tae and jk both have done much more things with other members but nobody even bat an eye but the moment tkk even stands next to each other everyone goes psycho like what's even the big deal?

Anyways everyone is entitled to their own opinion but I just wanted to share mine.

Btw love your blog. <333

Let's for once forget about romance and just focus on friendship.

Lets keep romantic ships aside for now.

Ngl anon... thats gonna be hard for me

Forgive me anon but I wanna use your ask to say something then I'll go back to your ask. If you're new u will notice when I talk about Jikook, it sounds like their relationship has been confirmed. I, believe Jikook is real. They are a couple. They kiss, they fuck, they do everything under the sun that couples do. I, believe this to be fact. I, will not be using words like if Jikook are real when I talk about them. I, will not be saying things like; assuming Jikook are a couple bla bla bla. Nah, fam. I, believe they are a couple and have been a couple for a long long time. I, do not have a 1% doubt left for just incase. In my eyes Jikook are together 110%. No, ifs, no maybes, no buts. In future if they come out dating other people, I will read that as them having broken up (God forbid) not that they've never been together. I'm sorry but any other alternatives don't make sense to me. Not when they do shit like this. Alright? We together? Good ☺☺☺

Back to anon. I agree with every single thing that you said. 1000%

-Just because we don't see it, doesn't mean it ain't happening. Facts.

- Tkk are definitely not closer than Jkk. True.

-Jkk didn't see each other as often as they used to when Jimin was working on his album. But when they reunited it's like they were never apart. True

-Tkk is overrated. Agreed.

Thanks for sharing Anon. I'm glad u like it here 😘

[kristailine]

On Jun Kazama's personality

I have an on and off recurring tekken / kazujun phase ever since I shipped them when I was 7 years old lol. Whenever this phase occurs, I have the sudden urge to read and re-read all the kazujun fanfics and consume some canon content crumbs.

Besides this, a part of me still finds it difficult to conceptualize Jun's personality that is independent from all her ties with the supernatural and her relationship with Kazuya and Jin. The lack of information on the source material itself really allows for people to interpret her in different ways, mostly by making sense out of implicative instances and subtleties that's written in canon. I noticed the differences in interpretations mostly on fanfics.

Like I have read a ton of kazujun fanfics (fanfiction dot net, ao3, heck even tumblr and some on that dead tekken dojo website that was shut down a few years ago. You name it all) and almost all of them have in some way a very unique characterization of Jun.

Some older works stick with the orthodox, depicting her as like the purest and most tranquil person to have ever graced the Earth who also possesses little to no flaws. She's also often written as innocent and naive but has a strong willpower. I believe this kind of personality of hers was brought about thanks to the Tekken Motion Picture anime wherein Jun is very persistent about freeing Kazuya from his hatred and all that.

Other works that were made in the mid 2000s until early 2010s give her a little more dimension by making her a bit more playful and adventurous. Just like what a 22 year old woman would be (now I can somehow relate to this because I finally reached that early 20s age too and all I wanna do is explore and have fun in life).

It's not such an out of character kind of characterization to Jun when she's always been depicted as someone who's pure and tranquil. In fact, I do find this an interesting layer on her personality. Like imagine living in a remote island in Japan, learning martial arts, then probably relocating to the capital to study college (??) and get a job and become a wildlife officer then to join a freaking fighting tournament and become attracted to a man who's literally got the devil inside of him. Like if that does not scream adventurous to you then better read all that again. Miss girlie lived many lives lol. So I believe Jun being adventurous is not at all that oc, and it also adds to her fearless persona as it can be seen that she can manage change and foreign situations well (which also makes more sense how she even managed to bear with Kazuya)

Moving onto the more contemporary projections of Jun's personality as what I have observed in the mid 2010s to present fanfics. There's a theme in making her much more mature, kind of like someone who is very attuned to the ways of life. But despite that, they also show more of her humane side and her flaws (kind of like the opposite of how she's written in older fic works).

Now, I think this huge shift in how she's interpreted is because of the Tekken 6 monologue wherein Kazuya talks briefly about Jun. Then we also have Jun in TTT2. Lastly, I think Tekken Bloodline also played a role in solidifying this mature Jun personality (but to be fair tho, Jun's already a mother who's been raising her 15 year old son as a single parent on that show. I guess it's just appropriate that she becomes mature).

Anyway, I'm on this talk because all the interpreted Jun personality varies a lot and kind of clashes with one another. I only ever just realized how much I know nothing about Jun when I tried writing kazujun fanfics and realized how Jun's internal monologue keeps on having tone changes as if she isn't one person. Kinda felt like my interpretation of her is influenced by all the aforementioned personalities that I have observed in fanfics, but they all kinda clash so I need to straighten this out and try to flesh her out more so I can continue writing my drafts.

However, I do find it interesting that although the fandom really isn't given that much information about Jun, it's still very entertaining to see how different people would write and play her out in fanfics.

Tekken 8 better deliver a backstory about Jun hopefully, and also some good storytelling as well. Supporters of the franchise are long overdue with quality storytelling that provides answers to the many mysteries that surround Tekken. Most especially Jun because of her disappearance.

[charmixpower]

bloom/valtor, aisha/stella and riven/brandon for the ask game?

Once again I'm not a huge fan of hero/VILLAN ships

I'm not going to talk as long for this one. If just writing that much about Blicy kicked up my hyper empathy to make me start crying I don't wanna know what this is gonna do

Anyways he attempted to genocide her entire planet and thats like my biggest dislike of this ship. That an Valtor would absolutely be manipulating and gaslighting Bloom for the rest of her life

From what I've seen of Winx fics Bloom/Valtor tend to be dark fics (duh, he's pure evil and is only not trying to kill her like everyone else because she's currently useful, and she's already more naive than the average person because she was not born in the magical dimension) and I don't like dark fic! It makes me extremely uncomfortable

I react to fiction a LOT differently due to my over active empathy, I empathize with fictional characters a lot more than a normal person. So you can see why someone with "can't stop imagining themselves in others shoes" disorder would NOT like ships that literally can't not have a huge power imbalance that one party intends to take advantage of to control the other

This ship is why I'm probably gonna overhaul Valtor completely, it's just better for my mental health like this

This ship is so moon themed

Can I just say this is the ultimate ocean couple??? Fairy of liquids and the fairy of sun and moon. Ocean and the moon pushing and pulling the tides!! So cute!!

Tbh they are very cute but I think they're reactions to being famous and raised surrounded by other people with high expectations would cause problems. Stella, obviously, loves the attention, and tries her best to reach the expectations even if she struggles. Aisha jumped out the window and ran away as soon as she cool to avoid more manners classes

These differentiating opinions on being princesses would cause problems. That in they really don't share anything in common?? Like even if you look at Tecna and Flora, they share a love of science in common, but Aisha and Stella really have no middle ground

I don't think it would be impossible for a relationship to start, but it's pull isn't as strong as my other Winx/Winx ships

Btw Stella is number one friend and first to help and Aisha is number one hyper independent much to her determent, and Stella being the first one she accepts help from and then they kiss is rlly cute

BRIVEN

BRIVEN IS IMPORTANT AND EVERYTHING TO ME

1) RIVEN HATES SKY AND RESPECTS BRANDON EVEN WHEN THERE IDENTITIES ARE SWITCHED

2) BRANDON IS ONE OF THE FEW PEOPLE WHO SEEM TO UNDERSTAND HOW THIS DUMBASS THINKS

3) BRANDON DOES FLIRT WITH PEOPLE FOR FUN

4) RIVEN CANT PROCESS A SINGLE EMOTION AND WOULD BE VERY FUNNY TO FLIRT WITH

5) BRANDON HAS A NATURAL RESISTANCE TO RIVEN BULLSHIT

6) RIVEN WOULD BE BEST EQUIPPED TO DEAL WITH AND EMPATHIZE WITH BRANDON'S WHOLE CHILD SOLDIER THING

7) SKY AND TIMMY DON'T LIKE RIVEN SO WHO DO YOU THINK KEEPS INVITING RIVEN TO THINGS??? BRANDON

8) WHATS MORE ROMANTIC THAN KISSING THE FIRST PERSON YOU'VE BEGUN TO TRUST IN A LONG TIME???

20000000/20000000 SHIP, PERFECT, NO NOTES

[staliaqueen]

Do you ship scalia or is it just something that you don’t mind seeing?

I ship scalia in a vacuum. I think it's a sweet dynamic with a lot of potential. Shelley and Tyler do have a lot of chemistry, so I can see why the writers wanted to explore that pairing. They have a very similar awkwardness/cluelessness that feeds into each other well (I think the same can be said about stira, which is a ship I like in a similar way, actually even more because of the tricksters/kitsune angle in their dynamic, and I also think there's some sciles meta in there about how they both got girlfriends that are so similar to the other lol) and I'm happy with how they really utilised that during their scenes in 6B. I've only seen the season once, so I can't even recall what the scene was about, but I remember the scene that sold them the most to me as a couple was that Malia face palm one lol. Where Malia is trying to communicate something but they're both just totally clueless.

This one:

The problem is the circumstances of when this pairing was explored. The messy way stalia broke up, the unfair way Malia's feelings about st/ydia was completely disregarded. Granted, this makes a part of me go "Stiles unfairly dumped you and got with Lydia without asking how you'd feel about it? Fuck yeah you should get with his best friend! Give him a taste of his own medicine! Fair is fair!" but that's more about me being a Malia stan than having to do with any ships lol. When viewing the show as a whole, it's just impossible NOT to compare scalia and stalia, and when you do, scalia so obviously comes in short.

Like, every single argument I can come up with for scalia potentially working better is disproven by what stalia was in canon. Like, "oh maybe Scott could help her with her werecoyote struggles and do it better because as a werewolf he knows what it feels like" but we literally saw Stiles help Malia with that and he did it perfectly! After hammering in for 2 and a half seasons that Stiles is Malia's anchor I can't see anyone buying how Scott could just replace him in that aspect. Also "Scott is so good and anti violence that he could help Malia get over her kill first ask questions never coyote thing in a way Stiles can't because he's very similar to Malia in that regard" doesn't work for me either. We saw throughout their relationship that Stiles and Malia felt the best about their violent tendencies and trust issues with each other because the other one could understand. They could tell each other "You're still a good person" and the other could actually believe it for once. They opened up to each other and told the other aspects of their trauma that they never discussed with anyone else! "But when I came through it, I learned something else... Control is overrated." "I said, 'I wish you were all dead.'"

Then there's the scira of it all too! I'm not gonna go too much into it since I'm mainly a stalia stan lol, but the way Kira was pushed out of the show is honestly so horrible, and the fact that scira was so huge and how Tyler and Arden kept talking about how in love they were AND the fact that the writers said that they didn't actually break up and Scott was gonna wait for her... it's all very frustrating. Add the fact that Shelley is a white woman and Arden isn't and, yeah... it's all very bad.

Plus the way season 6 not only sucked in general, but also how the writing was really bad at actually selling st/ydia and scalia. I really like what @bericas said in the tags of this post: #like on a real level#i just don’t understand what they wrote it like this#like#why would you do this#6a outside of the narrative telling us stydia showed stalia and scydia like crazy#and it’s so weird#if you’re gonna lie to me at least do it well. If they really wanted to make the endgames make sense, they really needed more time to do it. You can’t just decide to completely change your character dynamics for the last season of the show. Don’t know what the writers were on during that decision. 

TLDR: I think they’re a nice ship in theory but they just don’t work in canon. 

[wrylu]

yes I'd like to hear all your ship opinions if you please

alrighty!! ima copy n paste from the fandom ship wiki to do this cus uhhh i can't list all of them off the top of my head (not gonna do the ones i already mentioned)

VVVV

alegraves - i don't ship graves with anyone soo

aleoap - i'm not familliar with it like at all but it doesn't seem bad 🤷‍♂️

ghodolfo - screams in ghost being aroace

ghostgaz - ngl i used to ship this but i've moved on to gazfarahalex and thought, 'huh lowkey ghost seems aroace' 😔

ghostgraves - (again) i don't ship graves with anyone and i hc ghost as aroace

ghravesoap - AGAAAAAAAIIIIINNNN i don't ship anyone with graves

ghostwell -

kate x kate's wife - canon ship!!! 💗

körangi - i've seen a few fanarts on this and it's actually kinda cute

phillip x shadow company members - again i don't ship graves w anyone 😔

priceghost - don't ship it and i know i said this for literally every single ghost ship but i headcanon him as aroace

pricesoap - .... no (isn't price like 37 (canonically) and soap is like 26 (not canon BUT LIKE STILL) that's ELEVEN YEARS)

pricewell - laswell is married canonically so i don't ship it but if she wasn't it would be acceptable (despite me being a huge nikpricer) like it would be okay. if that makes sense. they're such good besties though

soadolfo - i've done a (requested) fanart on soaprudy actually it seems so adorable n wholesome

soapkönig - have they even met? (sidenote: i haven't played a cod game in my life. don't come at me)

soapwell -

valedolfo - compared to the one i just did, this one is.... ok at most

valejandrodolfo - i've heard people say that alain confirmed that alejandro is in love with valeria and rudy so... 🤔

valeoap - uhhh

anyway. enough of my shenanigans...

thank you for ur lovely ask anon <3

[autismtana]

time to talk about this insta post

(because i have time on my hands and i hate myself)

So I've seen a few people react to this post and wanted to add my thoughts as someone who identifies as part of the LGBTQ+ community (i'm a nonbinary ace lesbian).

I realise the person who made the insta post is probably very young but they're also a cishet person talking about queer stories and queer experiences in a somewhat insensitive way and I wanted to add my two cents as someone who joined this fandom as a fifteen-year-old and at 29 is now a fandom "elder".

(update: since writing this post, i have learned that not only is the original poster 22 years old of age, but also incredibly racist, antisemitic and insensitive about people's deaths, so yeah we're not gonna be charitable to them)

firstly, as the person who made the post is cishet, it's not their place to dictate what is and isn't "good" trans representation. it's also not their place to dictate whether or not they are "a transphobic". when discussing issues around trans representation, if you aren't a part of that community, you should sit back and listen to trans people (and you might learn something so you don't look so ignorant)

it's also super weird to say sheldon bieste shouldn't be trans because "they could have just focused on unique instead". you can have more than one trans character!!! ALL the characters could be trans if you want!

i can't believe i even need to say this but ... gay and bi trans men exist. non-heterosexual trans people of all genders exist.

"i know lots of people ship them and i'm not trying to cancel your opinions..." and yet here you are, trying and failing to convince people not to ship them.

listen friend - crackships exist. shippers gonna ship. sometimes people just don't like the canon ships and that's ok.

"Klaine may have some problems but it doesn't mean there is a need to ship them with another guy" - has it occurred to you that the people who ship Kurtbastian and Seblaine don't like Klaine?

*the next point is about Kurt in Laryngitis and I don't really have anything to say about it

this is the one that I sort of agree with but I didn't like Dani (she gave me Arielle Scarcella fan vibes and was probably a TERF) so I'm biased. at the risk of sounding like one of those people who defends their fave even when they're being kind of dickbags ... the biphobia started with Dani/Santana wanting to "impress" Dani who is (a) maybe the first out lesbian she's ever met and (b) openly biphobic. I also headcanon Santana as having ADHD and think Dani was kind of a hyperfixation of hers

...if quinn not into girls why dianna play her so gay?

"i always wondered what it would be like to be with a woman" is a very fruity thing for a straight person to say let's be real

here's a fun idea though: how about let's not just assume that everyone is straight?

(again, the above image was posted by a cis straight person)

😬

honestly this section to me feels like one big huge lump of text that my audhd brain is not absorbing in the way i want it to soooooo...

ok i'm gonna try here...

"i don't get why santana tries to get brittany while she is dating artie" ummmm because she has a crush on brittany ... what, is she supposed to just turn off her feelings just because brittany's dating someone else? she is neurodivergent and a minor a 16 year old child homie, give her a break jfc...

(obviously she didn't go about her feelings towards brittany in s2 or s4 in the best way but she was also young at the time and not great at communicating but i think it's important to recognise that she did get better as the series went on and brittana grew stronger as a couple in the long run)

as for "santana doesn't recognise brittany as bi" ... santana literally said in her proposal to brittany that doing it in front of the glee club would "upset all the single guys and gals" so obviously she is aware that brittany is attracted to people of different genders and openly acknowledges it.

i genuinely don't know what to say about this... i'm more of a casual klaine enjoyer so we're not at the level of deep philosophical analysis yet but if anyone wants to take this one (looking at you, scout) be my guest.

"i don't understand the hate towards klaine in s4 as a couple" ... i mean they weren't really a couple because they were broken up for most of season 4

blaine has really grown on me recently but "i needed you and you weren't there" wasn't much of an apology

the OP of the post has also said some sketchy things about race to a twitter mutual of mine, i.e. saying mercedes is racist against white people, which ......

so ... in summary

headcanons exist. webster defines headcanon as "something that a fan imagines to be true about a character even though no information supporting that belief is spelled out in the text"

while we live in a cisheteronormative society, we should refrain from assuming everyone is cis and/or straight.

it's okay for fans to prefer a crack couple over a canon couple (as long as they tag appropriately).

if you're a cishet person in a queer space, you need to approach queer stories with care and respect, and sometimes that involves not talking when you don't have experience with something

reverse racism doesn't exist

don't be racist or antisemitic, and definitely don't say insensitive shit about people's deaths

eat the rich and fuck the patriarchy

[iamnotawomanimagod]

aaaah the "curtains are blue" thing lol. like. I need people to understand that sometimes the level of thought put in is "the curtains are blue because that matches the general color palatte for this set which is either that way for mood or for personality of character or to match time period/style" not "the curtains are blue because it matches the color the love interest wore so it's a symbol for her" or whatever. like yes there IS intention in making them blue, but it's not always.....this says something Deep and foreshadows something intention, you know? (also sometimes the curtains are blue because the set decorator likes blue.)

10000000%. Sometimes it means something, many times it means nothing other than "that looks good."

I think the key problem really lies in fandom not being able to let go of an idea once they've grasped onto it. I don't have any problem with over-analyzing details, I definitely do it too. It can be a very fun part of fandom and of consuming shows/movies/etc. And it's so satisfying to pick up on a hint or detail early on and be proven right when it pans out.

But like, I also try to accept when I made a wrong prediction, y'know? I don't really understand when people latch onto a theory, are proven otherwise, and then just double-down.

We've seen it in many fandoms over the years, of course. I definitely first started noticing it happening the most in The 100. I think that was where I truly realized that, so often, fandom will write a version of the story in their head, and then get super mad when the story goes a different way. It's the insistence that they were somehow tricked or misled that really baffles me. And that was true for the whole show, even outside of those two hugely popular, controversial ships that shall not be named on this blog.

So thank you for sharing your experience on sets and reminding people that it's literally impossible for every little tiny detail to be meaningful. I think fans have a perception of film sets that's a little unrealistic and doesn't always take into account just how much work and time goes into things like set dressing already. It's not feasible to convey a big message in every single little detail for every single shot. There isn't enough time or labor in the world to make that happen on already over-worked sets that are running on a strict deadline.

[stregoniconiconii]

for the character ask: el and robin

el <333

1: sexuality headcanon: hmm I feel like el isn't the type to label her sexuality, I do think she's some sort of sapphic tho <3 I do think her first idea of romance was informed by television tho so there's some unlearning to do. she's a huge romantic. I also really like the idea of her Choosing to be a girl/woman after being reduced to an experiment for so long, whether that be her being a trans woman or a cis woman On Purpose

2: otp: I very rarely think of romances for the younger generation but I actually do enjoy elmike sometimes. love a good elmax moment too or elumax as an ot3. won't lie also slightly intrigued by the idea of eldustin

3: brotp: god I can't pick! elmax first girl best friendship is so special and el's friendship with the og party is so good, the sibling relationship she has with will and Jonathan is also so good (in my heart Steve is also part of this little sibling love fest lol she's the baby sister of the family) god also her relationship with both joyce and hop...like those are her parents <3 I also really like her relationship with kali and im really hoping we get to see more of it

4: notp: ive seen some grossss ships for el...anything that's with adults is no bueno for me.

5: first headcanon that pops into my head: ive been talking about this recently actually but since millie is half deaf ive thought about el also being half deaf and how she can possibly use her powers as an aide

6: favorite line from this character: the delivery of "I dump your ass" is unparalleled imo love it when she screams too <3

7: one way in which I relate to this character: hmmm idk we dont have much in common . we both love max

8: thing that gives me second hand embarrassment about this character: nothing she's perfect

9: cinnamon roll or problematic fave?: ignore all the ppl she's killed they deserved it. cinnamon roll

robin <333

1: sexuality headcanon: that's a genuine canonical lesbian!!! I do think she's a bit demisexual tho like she'll hang out with a girl for months maybe even years and then suddenly go oh. wait. this is a crush. and promptly freak out about it lol . I think robin is also a bit gender weird! definitely gets more gender nonconforming as time goes on, my baby butch <3

2: otp: robin and vickie <3 that's my endgame couple right there! ive seen a lot of fanon ships for her and some are more intriguing than others for me. buckingham is cute!

3: brotp: hmmm im not sure....lmao obviously stobin they're platonically married and share a mind . I know if nobody got me stobin do . I did really like that she got a friendship with Nancy started tho I dont think they'll ever be Super close. in the Lucas tie in novel she had some really nice interactions with Lucas that made me all <333 I also think she's close with erica!!!

4: notp: any romantic ship with a man. ronance..they just do not seem compatible to me <3

5: first headcanon that pops into my head: she's a vegetarian, her parents are too! she has eaten meat a few times, and her mom used to try and make it to fit in with small town America but it was never very good. the last time she ate something with meat in it was when Steve made them some pasta that had like anchovies in it and he nearly knocked her fork out of her hand (he cares more about her sticking to her vegetarian diet than her lmao)

6: favorite line from this character: ohhh her ears are little geniuses...my genius baby <3 also the whole bathroom coming out scene was perfect I literally would not change a single thing about it

7: one way in which I relate to this character: we are both soooo gay

8: thing that gives me second hand embarrassment about this character: ahhhmm idk I think she's perfect <3 kinda cringe to encourage her bestie to get with a girl in a relationship tho :/

9: cinnamon roll or problematic fave?: cinnamon roll <33

[izzy-b-hands]

I know it's gonna drive up his BP, but I so much want for Izzy in s2 to just. Admit and Feel and Let Himself Feel without shame or wanting to make up for taking that time for himself. Sit with those feelings and act on them if needed/appropriate or let the other crew members be there to help while the feeling passes. Like, I can't seem to get fic out rn for this, but Ideas that I'm v aware would not happen like this in canon if at all:

Admit his feelings for Ed. I don't see Ed getting upset or laughing in like? a malicious way? But I could see him joking abt it to sort of relieve the tension and lighten the mood but for Izzy that would be like. Oh. Okay. Thanks for that. I regret every single moment of this.

He comes out from the captains' quarters willing himself not to cry until he's back in his room (the Worst Feeling bc idk abt y'all but I never make it to somewhere private before the tears fall) and there's an odd number of the crew laying about on the deck, all sort of watching him carefully.

He anticipates a mob and to be thrown overboard. Not for this moment in particular, necessarily. But it's always in the back of his mind now.

They let him pass by without a word. He knows they know what he was going in there to do, bc it was a comment by Stede ("Some things never do change; I'm back and Izzy is still looking at Ed Like That. Maybe some things could change though. Should change. Quickly, now that the ship has both her captains, and one that's quite skillful with a blade now, I must say...") that sets him off and has him break down and angrily tell Stede not to worry; he'll change things right now. Because what's the point if Ed barely wants him around either way, why not let any and everything out and fucking implode the bridge along with burning it (not actually true abt Ed not wanting him around, but that's how it's been coming off to Izzy, They Need To Talk so badly!)

And he stomps off towards the quarters he knows Ed is in and figures if it goes worse than he expects (god he hopes that isn't possible) then he'll just throw himself overboard right after and hope for a hungry shark.

And then. They finally fucking talk lmao.

Over the next few days as much as he Hates how it went with Ed (tho he does appreciate that they are slowly approaching something like their old normal since, like back to the earliest days of sailing together normal. They can joke and plot and go about the day more easily. It feels comfortable and safe, even as he fights the urge to roll his eyes at some of Bonnet's ideas)

He decides to do it again. This time, an admission and apology to the crew for his various fuck ups. He can't make eye contact with anyone the entire time and by the end is literally staring at the deck bc Huge Crowd of Crew in front of him and all their eyes on him and that's the way this should be, probably, but jfc-

A hand claps him on the back and awkwardly jokes not to do any of it again, and maybe they can give him a chance.

He looks up to find Olu who shrugs and is like 'actually it's kind of weird that you felt the need to almost beg on your knees like this in front of us just to like. stay here? I mean thank u for the apology and tbh we still don't...like u all that much. But you're a crew member all the same.'

(cut to frenchie & jim who've spent time with him now who wince bc they're the outliers here. They don't maybe love Izzy, but they've seen a different side of Ed and Izzy and how the dynamics change based on crew size & other factors, and he's... he's okay. He's trying)

Finally, over a week later, the crew pushes Izzy to talk to Stede bc holy shit you two don't have to like each other but y'all are absolutely creating a hostile work environment with how you talk to one another. Fix that shit.

They wind up pulling Ed in who makes a joke abt how he's a little shocked Stede didn't glom onto Izzy first with his leather and his swordsmanship and overall Badass Pirate Aesthetic.

It's like a fucking lightbulb goes off. Had they not immediately been bitchy to each other...they might have mildly gotten along. Maybe fucked. Probably the former more, but who can say?

Ed giggles and tells him where Stede is and wishes him luck (bc he would like them to get along. He really would.)

Stede sits on the floor in the captains' quarters, with parchment and ink (he's trying to write out what he remembers of his fave books that got thrown out) beside him. He has to keep adjusting bc it's not v comfy and they still need to buy and/or steal new furniture.

Izzy walks in to this and panics slightly. He knows he could do something nice for Bonnet here, but he wouldn't be surprised if Stede takes it poorly anyway.

But he told Ed he would do this. He knows, finally, that he should.

Bonnet's comment, though sort of rude, wasn't entirely wrong.

He sneaks back out and below deck to where he and Frenchie have started a project sewing up floor cushions (they understand why Ed didn't want any of Stede's things around at the time but also. Ed everything is made of wood on this ship why couldn't we have kept An Chair at least. But to be fair to Ed, he was going thru it at the time & we all fuck up in those moments sometimes)

Brings a finished one back up that's in this yellow silk with beading (they raided a French ship & it was wonderful for their diversifying their sewing supplies) and sort of bops Stede on the arm with it bc fuck how does he start this?!

Stede turns and frowns to see Izzy there, but there's a flash of confusion at being offered the cushion (that he takes and sits on immediately bc fucking hell his joints hurt his back hurts his ass hurts and that one is the worst bc it was the floor that did it, not anything fun with Ed)

And that sets Izzy off.

He sits and looks at the parchment on the floor, the whorls of the wooden floor itself, anything else that isn't Bonnet. It's always too hard to look at people with things like this, for Izzy. He doesn't know quite why.

It pours out. How Stede doesn't get that the rest of them didn't get to treat piracy like a fancy adventure, they didn't get to bring along all their fave clothes and things (most of them probably didn't have much at all. Izzy knows he didn't.) They watched other pirates now and again, sailing about and dying and dying and dying young, Bonnet, so fucking young, which sure that's the risk you take, but what about when every path elsewhere is as risky as staying put, and none of them really guarantee your safety, let alone your happiness, and even if you find both something or someone might come along to threaten it-

He freezes at Stede's hand on his shoulder, and expects some snarky comment and to be told to fuck off.

Stede tells him to keep going (he can hear doug and mary in his head telling him to shut the fuck up and let Izzy talk. Lovingly, but bluntly.)

So he does. Izzy tells him everything he can remember, of his own life, of the young start with Ed as pirates ("almost as shitty of pirates as you were, Bonnet. Almost.") Of Ed, of Ed, of Ed, so much about Ed. In laughs and giggles and occasionally tears. Years of time spent together.

And the lightbulb clicks for Stede then.

That one talk doesn't make things amazing between them. But it helps. The days that follow help too.

And Izzy finds that Ed and Stede, when they aren't spending time together, spend more time with him and the crew. He gets invited by Ed or Stede, then Olu too and Jim, until even Olivia is angrily pecking his shoulder until he goes to join the latest chapter read before bed or arts and crafts project on the deck

They might even actually want him there. It feels uncertain and almost scary?

But he likes it.

(Tho he does disagree with Stede on how many beads and buttons should be used on a flag. He asked them to make new flags to celebrate being together again, and that means sometimes expressing yourself with maybe an alarming amount of silvery sparkling beads!!)

[thecreelhouse]

First anon here :)

What I meant with the 2 days later title card was simply it was a weird cop out and there are just so many unanswered questions that left me personally really disappointed. Now I know s4 and s5 go together, there are obviously things unanswered. However nobody but Dustin reacting to Eddie's death? Absolutely disgusting, we could have finally had an emotional Steve and Dustin moment but nope. Also I wanted to see their reactions to Max and how they got out of the UD. It was so underwhelming, all the theories what could have happened in vol 2 were so good but we got this lame ass time jump. I'm not even mad that Eddie died really, I'm in the minority with this one because I saw it coming and tbh I'm not overly attached to his character. Also the time skip just shows ST is more action based than actually letting the characters breathe and process their emotions in a normal, human way. Everybody, but Dustin, Lucas and El were smiling goofing around as if not two of their friends just died it was so weird to watch.

As for Steve and his plotline this season I wouldn't even be so mad at Stancy if his other relationships wouldn't have suffered because of it. They forced this in such an uncomfortable way I had to skip certain scenes lol. It's a crime we got a Eddie/Dustin hug before Steve/Dustin one, simply because the writers made Steve so mad at being the babysitter this season in favor of Stancy. Robin, Steve's bestie, pushing Nancy to persue Steve while knowing she has a bf and was also probably aware how badly things ended, was literally so OOC just for some Stancy time. Then Nancy jumping in before Robin, so Eddie could give his true love speech to Steve while we both know Robin is Steve's platonic bestie, but the relationship had to be watered down for the dead ship. Those are the reasons why I had a huge problem with it, they could have incorporated Stancy without fucking up Steve's greatest relationships.

I get Steve's perspective, she was his first love and I get why he said what he said to her in a moment of grave danger. What I don't get is Nancy not shutting it down immediately, this girl, in my opinion, never truly loved him the way he did and his dream of a huge family is her biggest nightmare. So why did she kept flirting with him while she has a boyfriend? I'm just sick of this war between the two guys which ended in s2 and was completely unnecessary to revive. Let Nancy be single next season lol.

Like you said it didn't make sense because Steve's arc in s3 was all about getting over her and moving on. I thought they would continue this trend by him realizing okay he doesn't need romantic love in order to happy, that he can form meaningful platonic relationships and be satisfied. Maybe even figure out his future, college plans etc instead he moved backwards. If Stancy is endgame after s2 I'm going to sue the Duffers lol.

As for shipping the kids in general, I never meant the chill shippers. I ship Lumax, I think they are cute and I hope they get their happy end. I was talking about the people my age and older who absolutely go overboard with it. I've seen people having small meltdowns over ships, fearing what would happen if their ship doesn't become canon. This is extremely concerning to me because those are still 14 year old kids you need to calm down a bit.

All in all the vibes of the fandom are kinda off, tumblr is still the superior social media site tho. Twitter and especially tiktok are the fucking worst let me tell you. The amount of bad takes and gross mischaracterisation of our beloved characters I've seen there made me sick. Especially when it comes to Steve, the people on tiktok really want him dead. Vol2 was out for a few days and we already got Steve dying theories. Mostly they are about oh Stancy is not going to be endgame so Steve has to die to resolve the love triangle plus he has nothing else going on (not my take). Or they theorize after the time jump he isn't needed as the babysitter anymore might as well just die. Meanwhile the Duffers confirmed next season we get to see Dustin grieving Eddie, why tf would they kill off Steve, Dustin's other big brother figure? The Duffers love Dustin they wouldn't do this to him. And to reduce Steve to just the babysitter when Dustin and Max view him as more than that is so disgusting. Okay I'm gonna stop now lmao I got way too heated with this.

Ohhhh okay, my bad, duh I should’ve known what that meant lol. Thank you for clarifying though!!

Yeah, I think the time jump was a little…. Unfulfilling? Underwhelming? Idk what to call it exactly, but to go from the intense chaos and carnage of everyone fighting vecna to just “lol here’s two days later, no we won’t elaborate about anything that happened in those two days”, that was frustrating. It would have been honestly more realistic to see someone else other than Dustin mourn Eddie, for sure. I know going through every character individually would have taken a bit, so I get not doing that, but they couldn’t show how Steve Nancy and Robin felt after reuniting with Dustin only to find him holding Eddie’s body? Idk maybe they thought that would’ve been too emotional or something, but it hasn’t stopped them from making us weep over deaths and loss before lol so….. yeah. I agree with you, that could’ve been handled a lot better.

As far as Eddie’s death, i feel similarly, aside from personally i just got super attached to his character like a lot of fans bc he was just so easily likable. But, you’re right, it was pretty obvious where they were going with it! I didn’t understand why some people were acting as if this blindsided them— upsetting? Yes absolutely, but it was set on a direct crash course to that outcome since e1 of this season.

The way everyone acted after losing Eddie and losing Max only to get her back hanging by a thread, I can understand the frustration seeing only a few characters upset, but also people do mourn in different ways. And maybe that’s a reach from me to assume the writers would go that in depth with characters’ emotions, but if we’re being real here, lots of folks mourn differently for an endless list of reasons. Some of them might have mourned in private, some might have bottled it up completely. Maybe I’m projecting; when a childhood bff lost their sibling when we were teens, we went to the funeral and cried and mourned but immediately after, my friends wanted to go bowling. It was a little jarring but that was when I realized people mourn in so many different ways. Sometimes people need distractions as they process emotions. That’s totally valid, but I wish they would have at least insinuated that they mourned in their own ways. Idk.

I can imagine Steve would have felt he had to hold it together for the kids’ sakes, y’know? He does everything he can to be strong for them, even when he acts like babysitting is a nuisance and a drag. But, of course, I could be reaching like I said lol. Either way, there should have been more signs of loss among more characters, not just a few.

Also yeah, I definitely agree it was odd how they kept pushing Stancy, even when Robin knew how hard that all hit Steve, and how far he came from the breakup. But at the same time too I wonder if it just had something to do with whatever pull the UD might have over them? That’s probably so far fetched and I could be reaching to try and justify it lol but idk. Still, really odd.

AND SERIOUSLY!! At this point Nancy needs to just be on her own. She clearly doesn’t know what she wants, and whether that’s due to trauma messing with her emotions or god knows what, this back and forth between Steve and Jonathan is getting old, and it’s not fair to just reduce those two down to “who will Nancy pick!!!” when their characters are so much more than just that. I agree, I don’t think Nancy loved Steve the way he loved her either. Personally, I loooooved Nancy and Jonathan’s characters so much this season, and I realized it was because they were apart. Not that I want them to break up for the show to continue pushing Stancy, but to me they’re insufferable as a couple, and clearly neither of them are fully happy or okay. They could use a break from each other imo, but not just for anyone to fill the void with anyone else’s company.

I didn’t even mind that they continued with Steve’s antics of always being a major flirt, and him regaining confidence to date again, even if it’s all casual stuff. It was a nice sign of normalcy imo, not that him being alone would be abnormal, but idk to me it felt like a continuation of part of his character, and the growth of him realizing he didn’t need romance with Nancy. Idk. I agree with you though, they should’ve continued to focus on his own growth and could have taken it in soooooo many more directions that didn’t involve trying to rekindle Stancy. I hope it’s not endgame too lol. I love their characters separately, but like with how I feel about Jancy, I feel similarly about Stancy. It’s unnecessary and these characters all have so much to offer on their own and in platonic relationships, idk why romance has to be pushed with everyone, especially those three. Longing for an ideal love for each of their situations? That i get. But this constant back and forth between the two ships is so tiring lol.

And my bad if I worded that weird as far as the kids go!! Listen, I’m a sap for some of the sweet and wholesome Mileven moments throughout the show, so I get it. Same with Lumax, and honestly even Dustin and Suzie are precious and I love the nerdy, long distance bond between the two of them. But when people go off the rails for ships with the kids, it’s…….. concerning. You’re absolutely right. They’re all are or are around 14 and to be a grown ass adult violently fighting strangers on the internet for a ship that that isn’t canon or is unpopular……. Is weird. To say the least. And I will say this: as far as Byler goes, I can understand younger fans wanting a mlm pairing they could relate to and feel some sort of representation from, but if you’re 18+ sending death threats to others over this ship, or any ship, it’s extremely concerning for sure. They’re kids. And I agree that Will is definitely not straight, that’s clear as day, but when adults our age are so intensely involved in a ship involving children, any children and any paring, it’s just weird. It doesn’t sit right with me at all.

Tumblr definitely is the best bet out of all of them as far as fandom communities go, I definitely agree. Somehow this clusterfuck hellsite has become the best experience on the internet for social media again lmao, never thought I’d say that but, it’s a lot nicer here than most everywhere else. Still, no matter where you go, there will be fans who take things too far, unfortunately. Also that’s honestly gross that people on TT are acting that way?? Like what in the fucking world? I stay far away from fandom shit on there, unless it’s something like silent hill where there’s maybe 10 fans on the entire site lmaoooo. Anyway.

I agree, and I felt that way too when we were waiting for vol. 2 and we were all worried about Steve. That’s when I realized they had to be playing it up, but of course it’s not like I knew for sure till the finale dropped, but I kept wondering if they’d be that cruel to leave Dustin abandoned if both Eddie and Steve died, or if one died this season and the other the next. I’d like to believe they wouldn’t do that, but like I always say, I could be wrong lol. I’d hope they wouldn’t give two older brother type figures just to rip them both away in the end. That’s too much trauma on top of everything these kids have gone through imo. Of course, real life isn’t so forgiving, but I’d hope they’d realize how important Steve is to the show, the characters- especially Dustin, and to the majority of the fandom. He’s way more than just the babysitter at this point, and I hope to god they don’t fuck that up in the end.

[fluffyferalkacchan]

Kacchan & Deku: Win to Save and Save to Win - A circular path of parallels (part 2.1)

I mentioned it in part 1, but Bakugou and Midoriya's character development relies heavily on them working on their basics flaws but also on removing their own internal shackles. Only after doing so, would they be able to properly become the hero they thrived to be.

In addition to the Win to Save and Save to Win transition they need to go through.

Midoriya must also work on mastering his quirk so that he could use it without hurting himself, and he must get rid of his shackles that is his admiration and idolization of All Might.

Bakugou on the other hand must also work on not acting on his own, in other words cooperating with people, and he must get rid of his shackles which is the huge Deku-complex he's got.

This post is going to showcase how Midoriya's and Bakugou's progress were nearly always mirrored and paralleled throughout the different big arcs.

Actually this post got way longer than I expected and I reached the 10 pictures/video/gifs per posts limit pretty quickly, so this part will only go until the Stain arc.

(more under the cut)

USJ

The USJ arc is where we see Midoriya and Bakugou taking their very first step from their respective starting lines (albeit a very small and almost accidental one).

In the first part of the USJ attack, Midoriya and Bakugou are thrown into a situation where they are outnumbered and surrounded by enemies.

Midoriya quickly comes to the conclusion that if they wanted to go and save the others, they'd have no choice but to fight and win. What is interesting to note is that Midoriya thought that in order to win this he needed to act like Bakugou, which of course led to the goldmine moment where he was leaping from the side of the ship yelling "DIE" to the villains.

This is also the first time we see Midoriya actively trying not to hurt himself with the "egg in the microwave" image, instead of just trying to minimize the damage to one small area like he did during the quirk assessment test. Well he didn't really succeed there but at least he's trying.

Bakugou on the other hands is seen working with Kirishima in order to defeat the villains. There were no real teamwork or cooperating moves worth speaking of there, as they were basically both doing their own thing independently. But what I think is worth noting is that moment where we saw them fighting back to back. I don't think at that point in time Bakugou truly trusted Kirishima completely with his back, it's a little too soon for that. But it was more probably something along the lines of "I acknowledge that if you got into UA then it must be for a reason, so better not mess up".

This is also the first time we see that Bakugou isn't just blindly trying to fight people who pissed him off, but he also have quite a rational and strategic mind.

As an aside, I think it is very telling that Midoriya's next move plan was to go help Aizawa, while Bakugou's was to go fight Kurogiri. It was two very diametral mentality and strategy that nevertheless led both of them to the very same place. (Story of their lives amiright?)

Speaking of them being in the same place... What we witness next is their first success...even if it's an accidental one.

Accidental quirk use success | Accidental saving success.

He had intended to smash Shigaraki and his punch just happened to be intercepted by a Nomu with a shock absorption quirk, so it was purely accidental. But this was still the very first time Midoriya used his quirk against someone else and didn't break his bones or hurt himself in anyway.

On the other hand, we've got Bakugou who blasted in and neutralized Kurogiri and he 'just so happened' to save Midoriya who had been recklessly rushing toward the villain. It might not have been completely intentional (though that's debatable) but this is the very first time we see Bakugou intercepting an attack for someone else.

Sports Festival

The sports festival arc is touch and go in term of characters growth for both Midoriya and Bakugou. But, what I think is really interesting with this arc (which is one of my favorite btw) is that the narrative - directly or indirectly - rewards/punishes them for their growth/regression.

Successful use of his quirk against Todoroki | Successful Cooperation against Monoma

This is the very first time Midoriya is purposely using his quirk against another human being, in a friendly-fighting/training context and he doesn't break his bones in the process. This successful use of OfA allowed him to one up Todoroki and to steal his headband (reward).

But as Midoriya himself noted "It hurts, but it's not broken", because using the quirk this way still hurts him in some way, it cannot be considered a full success. Plus, Midoriya wasn't really fully trying to control his quirk since "It's not going to touch [Todoroki] either way". And so Midoriya fails to get the headband he was truly aiming for (punishment).

On the other hand, we see Bakugou fully cooperating with his teammates for the very first time. It's not some half-assed attempt or anything but a fully thought-of quirk combo that allows him to literally blast his way through Monoma's defenses and get his and several other headbands (reward).

But, Bakugou only started to truly cooperate with his teammates at the very end. The rest of the times, he was seen jumping and attacking without really warning his own teammates. And so, Bakugou fails to get the first place position he was aiming for (punishment).

Successful hit against Todoroki | Successfully staying rational against Uraraka

So I mentioned above that Midoriya's use of OfA against Todoroki during the cavalry battle wasn't 100% successful because since he had no intention of touching/hitting Todoroki he didn't really bother to fully control his quirk. This is not the case here. In the Midoriya vs. Todoroki we see him truly hitting someone else. This is the first time his "egg in the microwave" imagery worked. And I guess that if Midoriya had not been recklessly breaking every single fingers of his, it might even not have hurt his arm. But well since he's a self-sacrificing dumbass who tried to punch someone with broken fingers *shrug*

As for Bakugou... I mentioned before that he has this huge, huge, Deku-complex. (It's this weird mixture of superiority and inferiority complex which atomically burst out whenever anything Deku-related is in proximity... so yeah. Deku-complex).

And here comes Uraraka, who was part of the Deku-Uravity combo winning against him in the training battle, who is Deku's friend, whose fighting strategy could be quite similar to Deku's at times. And as a reminder Bakugou went against her fully expecting that Deku might have given her some kind of secret strategy against him, so he went in fully expecting a Deku-proxy. (Which by the way is totally untrue 'cause Uraraka is a badass strategy queen who needs no Deku to think her battle for her thank you very much)

But regardless of all the deku-factor, Bakugou fought against Uraraka without underestimated her and being super focused from the beginning to the end. And more importantly he was 100% rational and had full control on his temper.

Midoriya vs. Todoroki | Bakugou vs. Todoroki

Okay so we can all agree that breaking and double-breaking one own fingers (and arm) in order to prove a point isn't really the epitome of self-care. So I don't think I need to comment on Midoriya's failure to control OfA here.

About Bakugou though... So of course Bakugou is pissed because he didn't manage to get the indisputable win he wanted, but raging and getting handsy at unconscious opponent like this? It's the first (and I think only time?) we see him so irrational and out of control with rage at someone who isn't Deku. But is it really unrelated to Deku though?

Bakugou was already pissed that at the beginning of the Sports Festival that Todoroki would recognize Deku as a threat and not Bakugou. Then the fact that Todoroki willingly used his fire against Deku despite his previous resolve not to use it, translated into Bakugou's mind as Todoroki recognizing Deku's strength. (Which as we know isn't really what it was about, but that's how Bakugou is interpreting it.) Bakugou even explicitly asked something along the lines of " Am I not strong enough to make you use it?" at Todoroki during the fight.

So his train of thought was probably something like this:

Half-and-half refused to use his fire quirk > Deku somehow managed to make the bastard use it > Deku is strong enough to force him to use it > the bastard won't use it against me > I am not strong enough to make him do it > Deku managed to do something I couldn't > I lost against Deku again

And well... is that really so surprising that his Deku-complex exploded after that? So yeah huge failure to control himself and deal appropriately with his complex Deku-related emotions here.

One of the reasons I absolutely love the Sports festival arc is the way the Bakugou-Todoroki and Midoriya-Todoroki dynamics really reflect the Win to Save and Save to Win situation.

Midoriya went into that fight fully intending on making Todoroki use his fire side in order to save him from his clearly traumatic issues (and if he managed to win the fight while doing so, it would be an amazing bonus).

On the other hand, Bakugou went into that fight fully intending on making Todoroki use is fire side in order to win against him (and if it somehow managed to save the half-and-half from his issues, well who the fuck cares).

They had the same task in mind, but they tried to solve it from two diametrically different directions of the spectrum. Why is why their results were diametrically different too.

Midoriya managed to reach and "save" Todoroki but he failed to win the fight, while Bakugou managed to win the fight but failed to "save" Todoroki and by extension failed to get his undisputed win.

Internship

During the internship/Stain arc, both Midoriya and Bakugou are confronted with a mentor figure who points out their flaws.

Gran Torino: You're stiff! And there's discord within your mind. [...] The way you used One For All in the cavalry battle and the tournament... You should already have realized it. But your admiration for All Might and your sense of duty are like shackles. You're thinking One For All is more special than it is.

Best Jeanist: I watched you at the sports festival. You were able to freely manipulate a Quirk with high potential, and had a good grasp of application as well. [...] However, you have a fatal flaw. You believe yourself to be the strongest, and you try to put in into practice not caring how that looks... you have a ferocious nature.

Here, their shackles are textually - and almost textually in Bakugou's case - laid out to them. (Best Jeanist has no way of knowing about the whole Deku thing so he went to address a tangential problem: Bakugou's "ferocious nature").

By the way, I think it's very interesting that Gran Torino chose to make his point by beating the shit out of/fighting Midoriya, while Best Jeanist chose to restrain and lecture Bakugou on "hero nature and moral". It really emphasizes on what they think their "mentees" currently lack.

And so thanks to Gran Torino nudging him into the right direction (and Midoriya's obsession with everything Kacchan), Midoriya manages to come up with Full Cowling, which is like one of his first major breakthrough in term of quirk mastery and fighting style. His All Might-shaped shackles is still very much there and he is still at a stage where he is imitating other's (Kacchan's, the incarnation of flexibility and versatility as far as he is concerned) rather than truly having his own yet, but it's a very huge progress in the right direction.

And it shows Bakugou had listened to BJ's previous words... Even if he was missing the point by a whole a mile, seeing as what BJ meant by 'deal with them properly' was to calm the kids down but well, at least Bakugou is trying. *shrug*u did manage to internalize some things that Best Jeanist tried to teach him.

"Your hero name is supposed to inspire hope. You do not yet see the world in that context. Once you return to my agency next year, I will hear your name out."

This is what Best Jeanist told Bakugou in a flashback (chapter 293) and I think this is when Bakugou started to seriously think about what a hero -and by extension the hero name - should mean to the public and civilians. Bakugou took Best Jeanist to heart which is why he wanted BJ to be the first one to know about his Hero Name once he found it.

Another sign of Bakugou listening, was a anime only scene in S2E19, where BJ told him that patrolling was important because it gave "the public peace of mind" and it built "a sense of trust between those who protect and those who are being protected". And right after that Bakugou is called out by three kids.

Kid A: Oh, I've seen him on TV before!

Bakugou, exasperatedly thinking: Is this going to be about the sports festival again?

Kid A: He was caught by a villain and looked like he was about to cry, right?

Bakugou, yelling: What did you just say?!!!

Cue kids crying.

BJ: Did you already forget what I taught you? Deal with them properly.

Bakugou, to the kids: Listen here, I wasn't caught by the villain back then, I was thinking about how to defeat him. It wasn't that I lost. I'm the man who'll become the number one hero! There's no reason for kids like you to worry about me --

*Kids crying harder*

Okay so, on the surface layer it seems as if Bakugou has not learned anything at all and is unable or unwilling to change. And true, he didn't manage to calm down the kids and even made the situation worse, but he was trying in his own way.

According to what the kids were saying, Bakugou was remembered and depicted as a "victim", someone in "need of protection" which is the opposite image of what he is trying to instill: a "hero", someone "protecting others". (And let's not forget that for Bakugou, the very essence of a hero is someone who always wins.)

How can they "trust" Bakugou to protect them if they still see him as someone who needs to be rescued? So in his own way Bakugou was trying to reassure those kids and reaffirmed his identity as a future "hero", so that they'll be able to trust him to protect them properly.

And it shows Bakugou had listenned to BJ's previous words... Even if he was missing the point by a whole a mile, seeing as what BJ meant by 'deal with them properly' was to calm the kids down but well, at least Bakugou is trying. *shrug*

The "coming back to normal hair when angry" thing is 100% a comical effect... but like 85% of Bakugou's seemingly comical behavior shows a more emotional and vulnerable aspect of him if analyzed seriously, so I'm taking the "comical effect" with a grain of salt.

Anyway what is interesting is that Bakugou's hair got stuck that way even if he'd tried washing it after the internship and the only way for it to go back to normal is for Bakugou to be super pissed off. But if it changed back, then it stayed that way. So we can deduce from that, that whenever it exploded back to "normal", BJ would have needed to tame it back again.

And I don't know how many times BJ needed to do that, but if I had to bet, I'd say not as many as we might imagine. Because Bakugou said that his hair "got used to it" which meant he spent more time with his hair "tamed" than spiky. Which meant that apart from the kid scenes from ep19, Bakugou probably didn't have a lot of "ferocious moments" and mostly tried to hold his temper like BJ instructed him to.

Anyway....

Like I said above, i'm going to stop here, because I reached the pictures per post limit. OTL

So yeah tldr: Midoriya externalizes while Bakugou internalizes, both of them are showing growth and development but they still have a long way to go.

Part 2.2 will be about how their progresses are faring while directly confronted with their respective shackles (spoiler alert: not well) during the final exam and then it will (hopefully) go until the Deku vs Kacchan 2 where they'll finally manage to remove their shackles.

[nagirambles]

What do you think would be other potential uses of Etherion Lacrima, if any? Like what if it was used as a source of power on an existing magic item? Would it act like a long lasting and high capacity battery for whatever it was attached to? Would it empower the magic? Could you even use it with a magic item? Would it explode under the crystal's sheer power? Alternatively, what if a magic item was made around it, like something that could shoot out magic lasers? Go nuts and ramble if you want.

I think the story said that the amount of magic it had was going to explode when put in a single place for a long time, but eh, maybe if we disassemble it quickly enough and bring it far far away from each other? Maybe if we found a way to break it to pieces, distribute them, and keep it static to use sparingly?

So the Etherion Lacrima. Sure, it's Etherion which is a bit more dangerous, but it's basically that, right? This.

Just a big ball of magic.

So according to the logic of Edolas, yeah, it could definitely be used as a big-ass generator. Just don't... smash it against an island and have it rain down for years, that seems like such a wasteful method of using your last fossil fuel honestly. Break it down and carefully ration/distribute it to populated regions and have it power the towns, Faust, ration your perishable resources! Anyways.

I think we only ever seen lacrima being used for conventional equipment in Edolas, so it's kinda like fossil fuels, but I think it's implied that everything in Earthland is powered by magic instead of electricity, so I kinda imagine in Earthland they all have a power gatherer in each building like solar panels but for magic. So honestly for Earthland it would most likely be used for weapons.

Honestly, thinking of Fairy Sphere, I suddenly realize that it's kinda dumb that our royal kingdom in this land of magic did not just literally invest in a couple huge magical barriers to protect the capital. Like, the ones from magi, or even the one in Tensura! There's just a couple huge barriers over the country to protect from outsiders at all times, and the one that cast it immediately knows when there's an intruder. I mean, I know FT doesn't have the usual 'huge wall+entry tax' sort of fantasy cliche, but still. When there are dragons coming there should be a failsafe. Also, wars.

So I think it's pretty dumb that something as simple as defensive magic is a Fairy Tail Three Greats. I'm not saying Fairy Sphere is bad, I'm just wondering why there is hardly defensive magic anywhere else at all. Let Sphere be the superior defensive magic-- where is the default defensive magic? It's dumb that there isn't one when this is a world of magic. Sure it'll use up a ton of power. So that's why if we do have a chunk of Etherion lacrima to spare, let it be the one sacred stone in the center of the castle that erects the barrier.

FT kind of feels like a peaceful world, but honestly I think it's just because we're stuck in Fiore. The war with Mavis for example, and then there are also wars mentioned here and there eg with that one guy Caprico summoned who was a war hero. So I definitely think they would make weapons with it. Heck, etherion itself is a weapon like that, isn't it? Where'd they get the magic for it?

If Fairy Heart, an eternal source of magic, was so valuable, then it would make complete sense if people hoarded Etherion lacrima as national treasures and stuff. It would function similarly, in a ‘there’s a lot until there’s none’ way. Even fake philosopher stones in FMA were pretty darn useful until they broke. Not too much since they're at risk of explosion, but definitely for stuff like-- like the Phantom Lord building or the Grimoire Heart ship. They powered it with mages, but what if they powered it with a literal magic stone generator instead? Honestly it could've been interchangeable.

I'd imagine dropping a lacrima like that on a town would be this world's equivalent of an atom bomb.

[resinatingbeauty]

In Memory of The Best Friend I Ever Had - RIP Shadow (assumed)- 4/30/2021

Shadow showed up at my parents house where I lived at the time, one night back in 2016. I had just gotten home from working at a local country club late in the evening, tired, and physically burnt out from working 40+ hours a week on top of going to college for my associates degree. I saw something pass by the driveway out of the corner of my eye. Something massively fluffy, tail straight up in the air, trotting along. There are many feral cat colonies in this town and many cat owners that lived on that street. Needless to say, I didn't expect this one to whip back around and start chirping at me, rubbing my legs after I called to her.

My mother was adamant when my last two cats had past 8 or so years prior that she wasn't looking for any more pets. My mom loves animals, but she also loves her home and was thinking about doing renovations before adopting any new companions. I knew I was in trouble when this cat came to me with nothing but affection, clearly malnourished, but strangely well groomed. I knew she had to be owned by someone, I had no idea who.

That night I went inside after spending some time enjoying her company. At the time, I was calling 'Charlemange'' as a play on 'Charlemagne'. I had been taking a medieval humanities course at the time and the name seemed fitting enough considering how much scraggly fur she had. Huge paws. Big, fluffy tail and mane. I had never seen a cat so gorgeous around the area. All the feral cats are short hairs, reinforcing my notion that she had to be someone's pet.

I watched through the window slit of the front door as Charlemange played with the moths and other bugs that were attracted to the lamp post my parents have at the end of the driveway and regretted leaving her out there.

I simply thought that Charlemange would return home where she belonged. When I went out to my back screened in patio, whom do you think was waiting for me? Meowing? Charlemange. To my mother's horror, she would launch herself at the screen and hang there to get our attention. Imagine this big ass cat hanging from your screened in porch you've been trying to renovate by all her claws.

She was persistent and Charlemange NEVER returned home, wherever home was.

Eventually, I sealed the deal, low key giving her a can of tuna. Now you see how Shadow went from Charlemange to Shadow.

For about a month, all I had to do was make a high pitched noise and Shadow would come out of wherever brush she was stalking, running and talking until she found me. One evening, I went to give her her dinner, and she shot in the front door.

Mortified, I watched as she scooted right into the one place that I dreaded her to go. My parent's room. That night, as a 20 something, I received a lecture from my father about how my mother felt about pets. 'She isn't a kitten, you know,' he said, 'thats a grown cat. Someone else's cat.'

I just listened and acknowledged what he was saying. I knew there was no point trying to explain what exactly happened. When my dad got done going off on the back porch and went back in to bed, I heard a meow from the patio door. Shadow had been standing at the door, waiting for him to leave , almost like she was saying, 'Hey, I'm really sorry about that, sis,'

Shadow would go on to live in or around the property for nearly a month. I made an effort to find her owners and return her to no avail. Eventually, a single mom I had been working as a private tutor for as a side hustle agreed that she would take Shadow. This would only last for a few months. The family had another cat, Karma, whom had been declawed (I abhor this) and two little girls who had no respect for animals (especially cats) because of this. I knew how the oldest handled Karma and my only solace in handing Shadow over was that I knew she wouldn't be hit by a car, would be fed, loved to a degree, and would scratch the shit out of them if they fucked up.

Their mother ended up calling me, giving me money to bring Shadow in to the humane society, saying she was a wonderful cat, just not the best fit for the girls. I could only imagine what Shadow went through at that house, because the time there changed her. The collar I had on her was returned to me snapped in two. It looked like it had been pulled off. I cringed thinking about it and never put another collar back on that cat. At the time, a woman had been busted hoarding 100+ cats that had all been relinquished to the humane society and local rescues. The humane society's solution for most was euthanasia and I wasn't about that for Shadow. Back to my backyard she went.

Eventually, Shadow won over my mother and my father, especially my father, whom you would never think would love that cat so much. When my mother brought Shadow to the vet, we were surprised to find she had a chip in her ear registered to someone on our block. As per protocol, animal control was sent out to investigate. The woman told animal control that she didn't want the cat. All she did was run away. Shadow's real name was Holly, but she was still Shadow to me.

Shadow became the best friend I ever knew. Not a night went by where she wasn't under my covers sharing the pillow with me, laying stretched out on her back or side as the little spoon. If she wasn't in my bed, she would sit at the door to the bedroom, guarding me or in a chair next to me, always watching. I could do no wrong in that cat's eyes. She was the highlight of my day when I got home from every crappy job I had since. A furry coat to soak up the tears shed during long nights of insomnia and depression. An inspiration for my art and spirituality. My familiar and kindred spirit. If I would talk to her, she would respond with chirps and meows like she knew exactly what I was saying. If someone else was in the room giving her attention and I walked in, she would perk up and run toward me like they never existed. Shadow was the second cat that chose me. I have never chosen a cat from a shelter or adoption / rescue facility. This is how I acquired both my childhood furry friend and Shadow.

It all began when I noticed Shadow's fur was sticky and stiff, like she had been sitting in honey. Just the end of her tail at first. She always had this silly habit of sitting in her food tray, so I cleaned it and her and thought nothing of it until the drooling started.

Shadow had always been a drooler, but not to this extent. Drool bubbles would pop from her left lip. One night, when I came home from work before I started my leave to focus on my Etsy shop, I was horrified to find her sitting on the couch with a bloody chin. Now, there wasn't a large amount of blood, but this alarmed me significantly. It was time to see a vet, like, yesterday. Thankfully, my shop sales had been great and I didn't have to fret over the bill- I was ready to pay whatever it was to make her feel better.

The vet confirmed what I knew deep down and didn't want to acknowledge because the thought was just too painful. Cancer. No chance of survival even if I wanted to go through the hell of treatment, which involved removal of the tongue and jaw. I brought Shadow home and cried, hoping for the best -that the antibiotic would work. The vet said she had been wrong before, it could just be an abscess and it would heal. Shadow was still doing cat things. Shadow was still my best friend, she still loved me, she was still trying to cuddle me at night and surrounding me with the reminder of death in the odor of her breath.

Yesterday, I brought Shadow in to be put to sleep. The decision was made when I looked up from making a rune set and saw puddles of blood on the floor, a stream of it from her face as she was sitting in the window sill. I have never felt so heartbroken. Not even at a family member's funeral. I asked to bring her home, burying her under the tree where I buried my last cat and childhood familiar, Elmo. When I saw the standard biohazard bag peeking up through the dirt, I knew that was where she belonged. With her sister. Yesterday, my heart was buried with that cat. Eleven years was not long enough but each one filled with so much love and happiness. I stood with her until the end. The only peace I feel is that I know that she is no longer hurting. I know she knew I loved her.

I miss you Shadow. To those of you who have recently lost your best friend, your familiar or the love of your life, my heart goes out to you. I hope that someone else can read this and share my pain. I understand that there was nothing I could do but love her. Love your pets. Love them as long and as well as you can- nothing is immortal. We accept this when we commit to caring for our (mostly) furry (sometimes scaly or feathery) friends. This doesn't mean that it hurts any less when we lose them.

To my customers, who have been patiently and diligently awaiting orders while Etsy forced hiatus on my shop, preventing sales during this crisis in addition to my sister in law's wedding and me poking my own eye out back and February- you all are really the best turn of luck I've had. You do not know how much I appreciate you allowing me the time to spend these last few precious moments with her. It truly means the world to me and I hope at the end you receive something worth your time and patience. I have not forsaken fulfillment, and orders are still shipping. Unfortunately, I NEED to reopen and accept new orders, as Etsy is demanding payment for $600 worth of shipping labels. My shop is still appearing as in hiatus at the moment, but I ask for all the support my friends, supporters and followers can offer at this time as I essentially will be working for free when I reopen to pay these fees. Great, right?

If you are awaiting refunds, there is literally no money in the account associated with Etsy. However, as the funds become available, I will be processing refunds / cancellations. I'm sorry for the delays, I never thought I would say I found success at the worst possible time. I urge the rest of you- if you have a deadline for your order for the love of goddess TELL ME. I am getting a little frustrated with buyers (who are frustrated with me, understandably, but still, my item descriptions are clear about relaying deadlines) who are upset or complaining about meeting gift deadlines or other deadlines I literally had no idea about. I'm a decent psychic, but not perfect.

~ Samantha

(Owner/Designer/Creator blursedbaubles.etsy.com)