#and in a show so about how characters responding to a horrible situation it then becomes esp notable

[wackywatchdotcom]

one of the first few things i remember noting about the show when i watched it all for the first time (i dont quite count when i initially watched the pilot a yr ago cus i dont think i was giving it enough attention) was the idea that a person adapting fast to the circus is Weird. like it doesnt mean that the person likes it so much as it implies the person either 1. is just adaptable, thats a factor, or 2. they already are used to awful situations and adapting to this one IS still likely a challenge, but their ability to slot into the setting can sorta imply a person was already used to despair or fear, potentially to an extreme. and i remember noting how pomni adapted fast. like she definitely hasnt fully gotten used to it and i think that will take a Long While. but i think her ability to treat it as Life, her ability to give up on leaving so fast speaks to the idea that i feel like she gives off that she was absolutely miserable or had a history of being absolutely miserable before the circus....

[redr0sewrites]

omg lowkey having a shitass day and i’m too tired to write for my comfort character and your my fav so 😭😭 literally just any fluffy vox headcanons. literally any! could be only one paragraph IDC i just think it’s so cute how you write him 🙏🙏

OFCCCC!!!!! heres some hcs ab vox comforting u after a long day ♥️

🥀 Cw: none, just fluff!

vox is no stranger to long, tiring days. he's had his fair share of shitty work days and when he comes home to see you exhausted, he immediately notices what's wrong.

vox is very goofy, he's good at reading people and can immediately know if someone's upset, but it's how he reacts that throws him off. like he'll notice something is wrong but won't know how to respond.

he's so used to manipulating people (such as valentino) or just shoving down his own emotions to put on a persona that he isn't great at verbally comforting someone, but his actions make up for it.

he pulls you onto his lap and will run his hand up and down your back to soothe you. while his claws are sharp, he would never hurt you with them, and its much more of a ticklish sensation then anything

speaking of, vox loves it when you laugh. if you're pissed at someone in particular, he will definitely make fun of them to help cheer you up. don't be surprised if they "disappear".... he is an overlord after all. he'd only do this if you want him too tho

vox claims he isn't insecure, but in reality he knows exactly how it feels to feel shitty about everything around you. he's surprisingly empathetic, if you're in a relationship with him he definitely cares about you a lot and i genuinely see him being upset in the situation that you're upset

if you cry, vox may be a little awkward but will go to get you a glass of water. he'll also dim the light of his screen to make sure he doesn't give you a headache and, if you're really upset or tired, he may even take the day off of work to comfort you

vox is the type to turn on soft music when you're sad and pull you into a slow dance right in the middle of your apartment. he doesn't care that you're bleary eyed and that you keep stepping on his feet, he doesn't care that its sappy or that it makes him seem vulnerable to care about you so much. as long as he gets to see you smile and giggle as you both clumsily swirl around eachother, he's content in staying in this moment forever.

if you're ever angry/frustrated and take it out on him, he may be a little pissy but he can take it, especially if you feel really bad afterwards. he doesn't take it to heart if you have a bad day and snap at him, hell, he does it all the time. he may be a little pouty if you don't apologize but don't worry he'll get over it in a few minutes once he sees how tired you are

while vox is a little chaotic, he's a genuinely good person to vent too because he will literally always agree with you no matter what. you murder someone? its their fault for walking into your knife. he absolutely supports your rights (and wrongs) no matter what

he's also a pretty good listener in general because he just. listens. he doesn't give unnecessary input, he doesn't try to play devils advocate, he just listens and shows interest in what you have to say and comforts you when necessary. he doesn't see why thats such a big deal, but he genuinely is a pretty decent listener.

vox is also a yapper though, if you need to get your mind off of your day just tell him and he'll start explaining the most random things to you. oh, you had something really embarrassing happen today and you want to forget about it? well now you're going to listen to 500 shark facts while also hearing the entire princess bride lore. sorry not sorry.

vox would find the shittiest movie with the worst cgi imaginable for you both to watch after a long day, he loves curling up with you on the couch and making fun of horribly animated graphics together

i also think he's (secretly) a fan of corny romance films and/or romcoms, and would want to recreate cute scenes with you (but would literally never tell you that) so you both may end up watching cutesy romance movies too

(this is the song i had in mind bc its soo vox, so u can listen to this for the "full experience")

"aw c'mon bub, don't tell me your too mopey to dance?" vox extended his hand to you, yet his smile was a little more forced than usual. his eyes were wide on his screen, almost concerned about the teats staining your cheeks.

"m' fine voxy.." you mutter, turning away. "it was just a bad day." vox pouts, grabbing your chin and forcing you to look at him.

"trust me, this will make you feel better," he assured, pulling you to your feet. vox snapped his fingers and a bright, upbeat tune began to play in the background. pulling you in close, vox twirled you around before stepping back, switching to a simple slow dance.

you can't help a soft smile from creeping onto your face as vox continues to exaggeratedly spin and pull you around. hell, if anyone could see you both now, they'd be shocked.

"who knew that the overlord of technology was such a sap?" you giggle, pulling vox down by his tie to give him a kiss, and he chuckles in response. vox pouts, yet his eyes crinkle a bit as a genuine smile graces his features. "only for you!!".

i saw this and immediately opened my drafts 🫡 it is a CRIME that i haven't written any vox fluff when he's literally one of my fav pookies. i have literally only written smut for him 😭 anyways, i hope this made ur day at least a bit better!!!! sending lots of love ur way ♥️♥️♥️♥️

also i am SO honored to be called ur favorite bc hello??? ur my favorite too?????

[definitelynotanalien]

So um I’ve kinda been stuck on epic the musical lately? Always been a fan of greek mythos — had books since I was little — and I adore Percy Jackson as well. Yet I read a few too many of the [character] with porn plots, and I made one for Hermes?

It’s a bit horrid, and I think it’s a tad unrealistic for an irl scenario, but it is meant to be a porn plot? So enjoy.

tw; smut, cheating, implied emotionally abusive relationship, kinda dubcon? don’t rlly think so but labelling it just to be safe, female reader

HOT MAILMAN ALMOST CAUGHT FUCKING CLIENTS SEXY WIFE!? (so funny i’m sry)

“I’m playing games with my friends, get the door!” Your lazy husband calls out from his ‘office’ — really his gaming room after he was fired half a year ago.

You sigh from your spot in the living room, the thin walls barely hiding your disappointment as you walk on new wooden floors, mentally prepared for whichever salesman is here to scam your money.

The light of another bright sunday morning fills your house as you spot the handsome mailman standing on your porch. His eye catching on your lazy pyjamas, your shirt showing off your collarbone and the lack of marks on it.

“I’ve got a parcel for you,” he announces, not passing the box into your hands as he lingers at the door.

He’s a new delivery man, not your usual old guy. He’s young, fit, and more handsome than you'd like to admit. The type of guy who would have you twirled around his finger with his brown curls and tan, as well as his wing earrings. Cute, with a face practically carved from marble.

The dark haired man gives you a fake-confused look as you silently wave him to give you the delivery, motioning him to pass it over, then he walks forward and steps into your home with a sly smile.

As soon as he enters, it starts raining outside — heavy rain — and you notice his lack of other deliveries. You close the door behind him, agreeing that the poor gorgeous man shouldn’t suffer in this presumably short burst of rain.

He notices your wedding ring.

“Have a husband?” He asks, with a knowing smirk.

The name Hermes adorns his name tag, along with fantastical little embellishments that you’re sure aren’t typical for a mailman.

You respond stiffly, “I do.”

“Don’t sound too sure about that.”

You scoff and turn, in a horrible mood because of your bum-of-a-husband and this messenger who seems to be rubbing your lacking marriage in.

“Y’know, we might be stuck inside for a while, how about we get to know eachother better.” He suggests with a friendly tone, approaching you.

You turn around sharply, “My life is per-“, you’re interrupted by a slip on the wooden floors — a new install that wasn’t fully worn in yet. A horrible decision resulting in you landing on top of the golden eyed mailman.

There’s nothing inherently bad about the situation, aside from the fact that you seem to have landed with your crotch on his pelvis. You let out a light, fluttery breath, one that could easily be mistaken for a moan.

You shouldn’t have worn these thin, flimsy pyjamas pants today, and his short-shorts seem less and less appealing as the seconds stretch on.

He grins. He doesn’t smile or smirk, he grins. A cocky, boyish grin that spreads across his face as you pin him beneath you. “When I said we should get to know eachother better, I didn’t mean like this.”

You groan, feeling his growing hardness beneath you as you seem to get soaked from his teasing words.

While this isn’t what you initially expected when you saw that handsome mailman outside your door, you wouldn’t object to this.

You’re a lonely, desperate wife, who’s husband only lazes around and doesn’t give you the pleasure you deserve, and you can feel Hermes’s large ‘package’ beneath you, so you just need more of it.

“Shut up and pull your shorts off.” You command, already unbuttoning the top button. Your rubbing yourself onto him whilst doing so, relentless in your search for completion.

He gladly obliges, unzipping and pulling them off with his boxers, you practically drool at the sight of him, reaching to grab it before he stops you.

Yanking down your pants, he rips off your undergarments and flips the position all at once. It’s impressive, a trick he learnt throughout the years you presume, allowing him to pin your hands by the side of your head.

You’re finally filled after what seems like years of waiting, getting relentlessly pounded into as your now sticky body is pushed up and down against your floorboard, pure thundering pleasure fills your soul. If you had lower-floor neighbours they’d surely complain, luckily you live in a house, unluckily your husband is in the next few rooms over playing video games with his loser friends, and if he hears you then you’re dead. You get wetter.

Hermes makes small, barely audible hums as he fucks you. It’s as if this has no effect on him whatsoever as you writhe beneath him, making more than audible moans.

It feels like finally being whole, united with the one pleasure you've always wanted — needed — in your years of marriage.

“I’ve been wanting to do this for a while,” The dark haired man admits as you desperately claw at his back, it’s a weird sentence seeing as you’ve literally never seen him before, but he doesn’t elaborate.

He lifts you up, literally lifts you into the air with his strong muscled forearms as he stands up, pushing you against the dining table and destroying you on the spot your husband would eat, you wonder how he knows this. Your back is on the table as he stands, giving him easy access to rub his fingers against your clit.

He makes you see stars, pure utter ecstasy. You can feel your vagina throb like a heartbeat as he satisfies your deepest urges. He continues like this for a few moments, when you hear the sounds of video games in the distance stop, and you bite your tongue.

Hermes continues pushing himself in and out of you as you hold your delicious whines back, his golden eyes flickering with a hint of annoyance.

“You're gonna get us caught.” You moan out between breaths, desperately holding your other noises back.

Hermes pouts. Pouts. It’s a bit funny, but what's not funny is how his pace immediately increases. Pounding you with new, god-like speed.

“Let him catch us. Let him see you’re mine.” A bit possessive for a guy you just met, but you suppose you've had worse.

[juniperpyre]

canon lily evans: who is she? part 1

there have been many fanon iterations of lily j. evans over the past two decades. she's been a perfect mother and wife, a goody two shoes who plays by the rules and makes sure everyone else does, she's been a kind, intelligent, beautiful dream girl, a genuis, fighting badass who takes no shit and solves everyone's problems, she's been a bitch, she's been an incubator.

it's hard to make an argument for or against any of these traits. we see little of her in canon, and much of it from highly biased sources (petunia, severus). nonetheless, lily j. evans has a canon foundation. let us explore.

we first hear of lily as she is mourned by professor mcgonagall, hagrid, and dumbledore. we see little to no characterization beyond the intensity of sadness all three feel over lily and james' deaths. plenty of people have died in the war, but lily and james' death seem to hit hard.

we hear lily's voice with harry for the first time in the third book, as she begs voldemort to spare her son.

we do not hear about her again besides references to harry's eyes until the 5th book.

snape's worst memory

we first see lily from snape's perspective, in his memories.

what an introduction. lily and james are at odds and it's lily that broke her way into the confrontation. she does not hesitate to command james, or to show her anger. but she also speaks cooly. she only shouts once to get james' attention as she's walking over and then chooses her words carefully. her goal is to hurt james, to shame him enough that he backs down.

we can see from her multiple insults to james—unnecessary, she could simple tell him to stop more, or appeal to his good nature, or get a teacher, or try to disarm him—that she is choosing cruelty in this moment. she believes james is behaving badly (unjustly, perhaps) and her method to stop him is publicly insulting him. the punishment matches the crime.

this all shows a decisiveness to lily's actions. she is sure of herself, quick thinking, she values justice more than popularity, and she is okay with being mean. if someone, james in this instance, has transgressed far enough outside of morality she is fine with using immoral behavior to put them in their place.

we could argue that insulting james is not immoral behavior, or that lily does not believe it is. but the fact is lily is trying to (emotionally) hurt james to protect snape when she has by-the-book options. she is not an idealist, and does not seem a goody-two shoes. (of course, she could've attacked him, but that wouldn't de-escalate. she's not a violent person, or too impulsive).

and then we come to this moment. still in the introduction to lily's character, snape calls her a Mudblood.

lily does not shout. she blinks. she responds with an insult meant to further humiliate snape.

james shouts. james is ready to attack over the use of a slur, but lily is not. perhaps this is because the consequences will always be worse for her. perhaps she knows reacting will give the bigots watching satisfaction. perhaps her emotions are too private for this moment. whatever reason, lily is in control, and she uses insults to regain her power.

"you're as bad as he is"

i rarely see this line worked through in jily fics. this line shows the deepest insight into lily's perspective. it is the first time she shouts, it's an emotional reaction. comparing james to snape may be a cruel statement designed to hurt james, but because lily did not deliver this line cooly, with foresight, i believe it is her true feelings.

she proceeds to insult james with, imo, fairly trivial bullshit, aside from the hexing. it's not that these actions are so horrible; lily is angry at james for his attitude. james gets to walk the halls without a care in the world and he clearly carries a sense of superiority. he isn't thinking about how his actions affect others. he doesn't have think about the sociopolitics of a situation until someone is shouting Mudblood in his face.

this is why lily sees james as bad as snape. james thinks he's a good guy, but he's contributing to a school environment where two rich pureblood boys get to torment whoever they like! he's not fighting bigotry just because he doesn't use slurs. james is ignorant and doing harm, like most teenagers.

lily sees the way both boys are hurting people, many of them vulnerable, and can't see a true difference. fair enough!

the next we hear of this is confirmation from remus and sirius that lily did not hate james, and that james became less of a dick. I'm sure both of these men remember james and lily overly-fondly. however, i believe their statements create a sketch of what happened off the page. james matured. there isn't a comment on lily maturing, however.

the memory highlights lily's self-control, her Machiavellian perspective on combating wrongdoing, her deep rooted anger and morals, her wit, and her strong sense of loyalty.

it isn't until the 6th book that we receive more insight into lily's character. this comes from horace slughorn, her potions master.

horace slughorn & lily evans

he remembers lily as one of the brightest students he ever had. vivacious means full of life, animated. though it also indicates attractiveness, i find it meaningful that slughorn isn't commenting primarily on lily's appearance or her kindness but on her passions and spirit. it leads me to believe that slughorn did care about lily as a person.

slughorn also says lily is charming and cheeky. all of his descriptors point towards an attractive and friendly personality, but not one with a strong fondness for rules. she's cheeky to a teacher, and that is not the trait of a goody-two shoes, a stick in the mud, or a doormat of a housewife. lily has beliefs that she will be made known, even if it may go against the grain.

we saw in snape's worst memory that lily used insults to keep control of a situation and express discontent without showing too much emotion. she had a sharp tongue and a quick mind that she used in all situations. though she showed parts of herself and her beliefs that were not popular, she was keeping aspects of herself guarded. this is shrewd and indicates a keen understanding of social politics, and possibly unhealthy emotional repression.

furthermore, slughorn believes she could have been in slytherin. he could tell that she used social manipulation. i do not think lily put on a mask, but she was particular with what parts of herself she allowed people to see. this also leads me to believe lily did not play by the rules when it came to success, that she showed ambition and cunning. slughorn liked successful students—even in the horrible political climate he saw her going somewhere.

in a highly emotional moment, slughorn says that lily is very brave and very funny. he can't imagine someone not liking her. people are better remembered in death, but slughorn is consistent in highlighting her humor. we also see a mention of her bravery. perhaps this is something he realized once she'd died. more likely he saw it in her during her school years.

the repeated traits we see from teenage lily in severus' memories and slughorn's recollection are being quick-witted, humorous, and brave/justice-seeking. she has a playful disposition and seems to have a secure sense of boundaries and decent emotional regulation for a teenager.

in her negative traits, we observe a propensity to use cruelty as a tool. however, we only see this in an intense moment. lily is not openly shown as someone with true bad traits, or as someone who changes over time, in the first six books.

james is given that complexity. snape's worst memory shows a pivotal moment for both men. this is the scene's point in the narrative: to offer complexity to these men. but is it a pivotal moment for lily? she is used to further both men's character development, but we see no change in her.

part 2 will discuss what we learn about lily in the 7th book.

[shadycomputerpolice]

No offence to the posters but men are not as good at deception as women claim they are. Granted, they do pretend to be less horrible than they actually are in the beginning but they are not successfully pretending to be good people.

If we are using the wolf in sheep's clothing analogy, their claws and teeth are very much visible despite the sheep skin they put on. Furthermore, their voice (not bleating like a sheep) also gives them away.

The fact is women for whatever reason (social conditioning or scarcity mindset) ignore very obvious red flags and continue relationships. For example, I told a friend not to date a guy because he litters and doesn't clean up after himself. She said it was no big deal. Tell me why she is now complaining about his lack of consideration for her.

For a man to be a good romantic partner, he first has to be a good person but many women believe a man can be a awful person and still be a good romantic partner because women are obsessed with the idea of men changing for them (taming the brute fantasy).

Also, you truly don't know a person's character until you tell them no: how they respond to your boundaries tells you their true character. From my experiences touching grass and interacting with "normal women", the women are people pleasing doormats in their relationships so their men are "nice" but when they stop being the people pleasing doormats that the men have become accustomed to due to motherhood or some other reason, the men show them their true characters (which again, they weren't doing a very good job of hiding in the first place). Men aren't doing 180 degrees change in personality, they are doing maximum of 30 degrees.

This is why when OSA radical feminists encourage women to date men as long as the man is "good' I am horrified because due to socialisation, women's definition of a "good man" is rubbish. In Nigeria, if a man isn't physically abusive and he provides financially, he is considered a "good man". In many other cultures, the socially accepted standards of a good man is below the earth.

Before telling women to date men, define what a good man is so that they can avoid the wolves in sheep's clothing and reduce their likelihood of ending up in similar situations to the posters.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Is there a reason Marinette’s lying to Adrien about Gabriel doesn’t make sense to you from a character-standpoint? She’s lied a fair bit in the show for reasons other than keeping her identity or crush on Adrien a secret, and her love for Adrien has consistently created a blind spot for her in terms of her “general” morals/behavior.

Is there something more specific to Marinette’s pattern of behavior that indicates how her lying about Gabe would be OOC, or is the lie something you believe Canon!Marinette should recognize as too egregious to take part in?

(The closest alternative explanation I’ve seen thus far is that she shouldn’t have any reason to lie for Gabe because they share zero good will, but if we interpret it as lying for Adrien, then I’m not sure if that explanation fits.)

I have, admittedly, not gone through the show and tracked every lie that Marinette has ever told to see if I can weave together a pattern that backs Marinette's behavior at the end of season five. It's possible that there's a lie that I'm forgetting that would totally change my stance and, if you think that's the case, then feel free to respond to this with a comment or an ask on that topic! My "this is BS" stance is based on the overall story of the show and the ways that I've seen people try to justify the season five lies as those are the arguments that I've thought through and found lacking.

We'll start by discussing the two lies people use to try to back Marinette's behavior at the end of season five: the scarf and Chat Blanc. Then I'll talk about the story's lead up to the season five lies and why it makes for a horribly unsatisfying story in my eyes. If someone gave this to me, I'd be suggesting some major edits to make it work on a technical level.

The Scarf

For those who don't remember, the season one episode The Bubbler sees Marinette make Adrien a scarf for his birthday. She drops the scarf off at the Agreste mansion with a note for Adrien and the hope that this will get him to finally notice her. Nathalie then takes the scarf and uses it as a gift from Gabriel instead. Marinette learns about this during this exchange at the very end of the episode:

Alya: Yo, nice scarf, Adrien. Off the chain. Adrien: Yeah, can you believe my dad got this for me? (Marinette looks surprised) it's so awesome. He's been giving me the same lame pen for three years in a row.... Alya:(to Marinette) You gotta tell him you were the one who knitted the scarf. Marinette: But he seems so happy about his dad. I don't want to spoil it for him. Alya: Aw, Marinette. (they hug.) You're amazing, girl. You know that, right? And someday Adrien will figure it out too. Promise.

I can see why someone would look at this and call it a setup for the end of season five. There are some parallels here. The problem is that there are a lot of massive differences, too. Differences that make this a really crappy setup:

Marinette does not lie in this scene. She simply overhears a lie and doesn't correct it. Remove her and Alya from the scene and nothing changes. The lie still exists. Meanwhile, without Marinette, the season five lies would never have come to be.

Marinette knows about the scarf lie for about a minute on screen. She hears about it and tells Alya to let it go within the same scene. That's a gut reaction, not a carefully planned and considered deceit. Once again, wildly different from what season five gives us.

Adrien and Marinette aren't shown to be close friends in season one. They rarely talk to the point that I didn't even know that they were supposed to be friends until we got to Origins. That complicates correcting the scarf lie. How does Marinette approach a random classmate and explain a situation that she doesn't even fully understand herself? That's very different from Ladybug telling a lie to a civilian or Marinette lying to her boyfriend.

Season one Marinette has no idea how messed up Adrien's home life is. All she knows is that Adrien liked her gift, but that he thinks it came from a different person. She doesn't even know that a lie was involved in this confusion! As far as she's aware, this could just be a minor misunderstanding that she'd rather let go because does it really matter who the gift is from? This is extra true because the scarf never comes up again, meaning that this is not an ongoing or damaging lie as far as canon is concerned.

That last point and the issue of Marinette never actually telling the lie herself are probably the biggest points in Marinette's favor. If Adrien wore the scarf all the time and used it as a comfort when he was fighting with his dad, then you'd have a solid case for Marinette needing to say something because the lie is arguably doing actual harm. This is especially true if you let Adrien say things like, "I wear this to remember that my father loves me," to Marinette. But that's not what canon did.

As far as canon is concerned, the scarf lie exists for all of a minute. A minute in which Adrien expresses delight in the gift, but gives it very tepid weight in terms of what it means for his relationship with his father. (Adrien's room is full of nice gifts, I don't think a scarf was going to make-or-break their relationship.) After that, the scarf never comes up again, meaning that Marinette's gut reaction to not immediately destroy Adrien's happiness is all we get. That's hardly a great setup for her being the source of massive ongoing lies about Adrien's personhood and the truth of his father's abuse.

I'll also remind you that this all happened at the very start of the show. The Bubbler is one of the first episodes people see. If this is your best argument for Marinette's behavior five seasons later, then we have a major writing problem on our hands. You should not have to dig back to the very start of the show to justify a major character beat like this. There should be more relevant material. We'll circle back to that problem in a minute. First let's quickly touch on lie two and why it also falls flat.

Chat Blanc

Another thing people point to as foreshadowing for the season five lies is the fact that Ladybug kept Chat Blanc from Chat Noir and, if Chat Blanc was actually affecting her, then I would agree with this take. However, that doesn't seem to be the case. The official story is that Ladybug's actions in season four had nothing to do with Chat Blanc. It was just guardian stress! If that's true, then I don't think she should tell Chat Noir about Chat Blanc.

Why?

Since when do we tell people about all the awful things they did while they were akumatized? There's no point to that. It's cruel. Do you think that Ladybug also needs to walk him through everything he did while under the control of various akumas like Dark Cupid? If no, then how is Chat Blanc any different? What's the value in telling Chat Noir the gory details of what will happen if he ever has a moment of weakness and becomes akumatized? He already knows that it will be bad! Why tell him exactly how bad it will be? I can't come up with a single good canonical reason.

Ladybug has no idea what caused Chat Blanc, so she can't warn Chat Noir what he needs to avoid. You can't even use the "he should know about Bunnyx" argument because that wasn't Bunnyx's debut. Canonically speaking, the only reason that Ladybug should talk to Chat Noir about Chat Blanc or any other bad thing that he's done while under the power of an akuma is if it's effecting her or their partnership and it's apparently not! That's why Marinette never reacts to Chat Noir getting a white makeover (see: the Paris special & Jubilation) and why Chat Blanc is never discussed in the show outside of that one brief nightmare callback in Sentibubbler.

To be clear, I think that's an asinine choice as Chat Blanc's memory hurting Ladynoir would have been semi-decent foreshadowing for the season five lies, but the writers decided to go another route. They also let Chat Blanc haunt Adrien even though he doesn't know about it, which I don't even know how to dissect because it's such terrible writing! If you don't know what I'm talking about, this is the official explanation for why Adrien couldn't make it to the final fight. The reason for the white-and-blue Chat Noir that haunted his nightmares:

Mélanie says that he "could become Chat Blanc" and the others add that even though he does not remember and has never lived it, Chat Blanc still has an influence on his actions.

Quality writing here folks. Quality writing. At the very least have season five Adrien be freaked out about the fact that he cataclysmed a human! That would make this make at least a little sense, but we don't get that. Instead we get Adrien almost cataclysming several akumas like it's no big deal while having nightmares about a thing he's never even been told about (see: Derision and Jubilation and probably other's I'm forgetting.)

The Events of Season Four and Five

As you can hopefully see, we don't have a great, ongoing pre-end-of-season-five lie to point to as proof that Marinette would decide to tell the massive lies that she does. That's a pretty big writing flaw, but it's not a show stopper. A lie like this could still fit her character if the story sets it up right.

The problem is that the story doesn't do that. It actually sets Marinette up to be primed to want to tell the truth.

For all Miraculous' nonsensical and wacky writing, the season five lie still comes at the end of two seasons with relatively clear messages. Those messages were to trust others and avoid lies. Let me show you what I mean.

While season four's writing is an absolute disaster, we cannot ignore the fact that the stated lesson in Strikeback is that Marinette learned to trust others, give up control, and stop lying:

Ladybug: Why don't you just give up on me? I've lost ALL the Miraculous! I'm the worst Guardian EVER! I wanted to control everything, I didn't listen to you, I lied to you, I kept you at a distance! Every time you offered me a helping hand, I never took it! I really made a mess of EVERYTHING! (continues sobbing)

This is what Marinette says to Chat Noir directly after losing the Kwamis. This is the lesson that she supposedly learned. The end note of the season. The word of god meant to be internalized by children everywhere. The show even goes so far as to have Ladybug give Chat Noir more responsibility in the first episode of season five (Evolution):

Cat Noir: Catch, m'lady! (throws the Rabbit Miraculous at Ladybug and she catches it) Only the holder of the Rabbit Miraculous can open a time portal. Ladybug: (contemplates shortly then places the Rabbit Miraculous on his chest, smiling) You do it, kitty. Cat Noir: You want me to control time? Ladybug: It's you and me, remember?

Really driving home this idea that Ladybug is going to be more trusting and open with others moving forward.

The meat of season five sees Marinette and Adrien start dating. During this arc, Marinette learns to be more open with her feelings around Adrien while also being confronted with the reality of just how messed up Adrien's home life is. Marinette and Gabriel clash with each other over Adrien with Marinette fighting for Adrien's freedom and Gabriel trying to control everything:

Gabriel: I don't think you understand, child, so let me put things differently. Life is like fashion. You think you have a choice, but all you have is the illusion of choice. And I decide what choices are given to you. Marinette: You're wrong! (Shows Gabriel her sketchbook.) Fashion is about listening to people, it's about understanding who they are, what excites them and creating the clothes that will help them express their inner world. Help them connect with others and make their dreams come true.

This conflict means that Marinette and Gabriel do not have a single positive interaction in the entire season outside of maybe the final. We also see Adrien defy his father more than ever before. This is not the kind of setup you write if you want Marinette to tell Adrien that his father was a hero. Why in the world would she think that he'd want to be told that kind of lie? Why would he even buy it after all of the things that Gabriel has done? The final literally sees Adrien locked in a padded prison cell!!! Writers, what are you doing??? Why did you write this???

There's also the fact that season five has a major theme of lies = bad. It's the season where Lila's lies are finally outed, but only after they almost cost Marinette's friends their futures. For those who need a reminder: Lila tried to mess with the forms that stated where everyone wanted to go for lycée and would have succeeded in pulling off that harm and blaming it on Marinette were it not for the lies being outed.

On top of that, we also see Adrien keeping the plan to ship him off to London from Marinette, ending in this exchange:

Marinette: (on the video call) Adrien! Adrien: (voice breaking; in tears) Marinette, I should've told you sooner, but... up until the last minute, I thought I'd find a solution. I tried everything, I swear. Marinette: (on the video call) Adrien, what's... what's going on? Adrien: I have to leave Paris. (his voice breaks) I'm not worthy of your love. I feel terrible for hurting you.

Adrien kept the truth from Marinette to try to keep her from being hurt and ended up hurting her more than he otherwise would have because they don't even get a proper goodbye.

None of this is a solid setup for Marinette turning around and lying to Adrien about his father. Why would she do that after all of the harm lies and Gabriel caused in season five? Between this and season four, she has not been setup to want to lie to Adrien. Season five needs massive rewrites to make that choice work! (Note: I have yet to see the London special, but based on everything I've heard, I think it's just going to cement my annoyance at Marinette's wishy-washy writing by continuing to ignore the plot of the seasons leading up to the final and the special.)

Final Thoughts

I don't think that Marinette lying to Adrien about his dad is a terrible idea. It's a believable struggle! It just doesn't fit her character's journey. They've failed to have her tell that type of lie before and they had her tell this lie after two seasons where the main lessons were how much lies have hurt her and the people that she loves. If she hasn't gotten the message that you shouldn't lie by now, then when exactly is she going to learn it? It's incredibly hard for me to get invested in characters that aren't allowed to grow and learn from their mistakes and Miraculous has made it abundantly clear that it will not let these characters grow if growth messes with the plot that the writers want to tell.

I will openly admit that I think that Marinette's lie was a last minute retcon to make there be a cliffhanger to season six, but let's ignore that and give a quick three-point plan of how you could make this ending work:

Really lean into the negative consequences of people knowing the truth about things. Nino knowing Alya's identity outing Alya. Luka getting shipped off to Brazil. Make the truth hurt Marinette at every turn. Basically remove all lies = bad consequences and have Ladybug see losing the miraculous be the result of trusting others because she trusted "Adrien" and lost, leading her to keep pushing people away

Don't let Lila be outed. Have Lila be a good president and make that part of her big plan for the next season.

Have Gabriel and Marinette get along. Gabriel has said that Adrien is like Emilie, let Gabriel see himself in Marinette, leading Gabriel to trust Marinette to be Adrien's support should the worst happen. Let the final fight be a heartbreaking moment between two people who have an actual relationship built around loving Adrien. Have Adrien going to London be a "convenient" trip to get him out of the way on the day of the evil plot and not a prison sentence so that Gabriel doesn't look cartoonishly evil. Make it feel like he cares! Sell the redemption!

Do that and, yeah, I'd buy Marinette's choice even without setup lies because you don't need setup lies! Setup lies don't matter anywhere near as much as selling this lie and the writers simply didn't do that. I don't believe for a second that Marinette would lie for Gabriel or think that this was what Adrien wanted based on the relationship season five gave us for those three characters. It is so glaringly obvious that this is nothing more than a stalling tactic that has nothing to do with Marinette's character and everything to do with the show's rule that "there must always be a secret between Adrien and Marinette." I genuinely struggle to understand how anyone sees it as anything else.

[ganertys]

Jin Kougasaki Headcanons.

characters ➸ Kougasaki Jin (Tougen Anki) x reader.

cw ➸ none.

a/n ➸ spoilers for Jin's story below! English is not my first language, so I apologize if anything seems confusing or wrong. Enjoy!

wc ➸ 1.3K

• The two of you met on the first day of school right after Shiki, with a bloody nose, entered the classroom.

• You remember sitting quietly at your desk, lost in thought about your unlikely future when you first heard him speak.

• It was a beautiful voice, you thought. But a beautiful voice would be of no use to such an arrogant person, who in the few words he said, had already demonstrated that he felt superior to all of you.

• You were always a polite person, but you didn't tolerate offenses and seeing that boy call you all idiots just for showing your horns made your blood boil.

• And, of course, you sided with the boy with the bloody nose who looked ready to fight, who you only later found out was called Shiki.

• The blond boy, whose name you had only belatedly discovered, looked at you with contempt because of the interruption.

• Needless to say, a small argument broke out between the three of you, and honestly if it weren't for Mudano's interruption, you couldn't tell what direction the conversation would take.

• But you particularly liked to imagine that it ended with him holding his own bloody nose.

• Anyway.

• You didn't really like the idea of ​​spending a lot of time in his presence, as you thought he was a self-centered and arrogant person, although you kept those opinions to yourself.

• The turning point in your view of him was when he saved the lives of those two sisters from being run over on the avenue.

• You honestly didn't expect someone like him to care about helping two strangers, even though his action left your group at risk, but that strangely noble gesture lingered in your head.

• Curious, you went to him to ask why, to which he just responded with: "I couldn't sit still and do nothing."

• That little sentence was enough for you to realize that, perhaps, Kougasaki wasn't a bad person at all, just a kind person who maintained a facade of arrogance for unknown reasons.

• You smiled at him and, for the first time since joining Rasetsu, Jin didn't know what to say or how to act.

• After that, you found yourself wanting to get closer to the masked boy. You were always an extroverted person by nature, and although he made a few jabs here and there and wasn't usually kind with his own words, you knew he didn't sincerely mean those things.

• Little by little, as he became more comfortable with your presence, he began to show that he cared about you in the most subtle ways.

• Did you get dizzy after using too much Oni blood? Jin was readily by your side to support you if you passed out, calling you an idiot for trying so hard without thinking about the consequences.

• If you were particularly sad or discouraged about a situation, he would tell you that you shouldn't worry so much about it. He would be honest, however; Jin wouldn't lie just to make you feel more relieved and give you a false sense of reassurance only to be disappointed later, he would tell you what he really thought, but he would indirectly assure you that he would be around, and that everything would work out. He would pull away soon after, of course, but you would still feel better.

• If you were on a mission where he was in command, he would make sure you didn't expose yourself to too much danger, saying that you would be more useful to everyone if you were doing something he considered more "safe", although he wouldn't say that to no one, not even Shiki.

• If the two of you were in the middle of a fight with Momotarou, even if he wasn't near you, he would wonder how you were, rushing to find you, all the while wishing you were okay.

• Is someone bothering you? Well, that person can consider themselves dead, because Jin isn't going to let them get away with saying horrible things to you. Maybe he'll break some bones, depending, but he won't tell you what he did, he'll just talk it out and make sure it doesn't happen again.

• Shiki, of course, would notice that he was being more affectionate towards you, and would tease him when you were alone. Kougasaki would say some sharp comments to Kishin, which would make the two boys fight.

• Kougasaki is a smart boy, so I believe it won't take long for him to understand that what he really feels for you goes beyond genuine concern between two friends. However, I feel like he will try to suppress these emotions as much as possible.

• He lost his mother and older sister in the worst way possible, and knowing that you could also be killed by a Momo at any moment didn't help at all. I think he would be very afraid to allow himself to be so vulnerable only to lose another person he cared about again.

• So I don't think he would make the first move. He is a boy with a kind heart beneath this facade of indifference, and who is afraid of losing the people who are important to him again. The first move would have to come from you.

• When you finally mustered up the courage and confessed your true feelings to him, he would widen his eyes a little and blush slightly beneath his mask, which is a shame, as it would be a very beautiful sight.

• He would be much more protective of you now that the two of you are in a relationship, and that means he would also be much stricter with you.

• Don't take it the wrong way, however; He only does this because he wants you to know how to take care of yourself, and he couldn't bear to lose you too.

• Not a big fan of PDA in public, preferring to initiate any gesture when both are alone. He has a reputation to maintain, after all, but his kisses are very passionate and affectionate in return.

• I feel like he would be very direct with you about anything, although he tries to soften his words a little. He knows he's not very good at expressing what he feels out loud, but he would try for you.

• You would be his first kiss, and the first person he would allow himself to be so vulnerable to. Although he has no experience in this matter, he learns quickly, observing the things you like and doing them with you.

• Whenever he did something for you or gave you a gift, he would act like it was no big deal, but seeing you look so happy makes him happy too. Your happiness is his happiness.

• He doesn't care what other people think about his scars, but he gets anxious when it comes to you. Which would lead you to assure him that you don't care about them, and that you love every part of him, because that's what makes him himself.

• He will tell you about his sister, his mother and how he wants to kill his father for everything he did to them, so he can finally fill some of the sadness and anger he feels.

• Jin can be a little stubborn and act a little stupid sometimes, which can lead you two to argue sometimes, but you always resolve the issue on the same day.

• He doesn't usually say he loves you, preferring to show it through actions – but whenever he says these words, he tries his best to avoid letting you see his embarrassed face.

• In general, he is an excellent boyfriend, who puts your priorities above his own and would do anything for you, even the little things he considers ridiculous, just to see you smile.

[youngpettyqueen]

💚: What does everyone else get wrong about your favorite character?

For DS9 <3

cracks my knuckles

alright so ive kinda covered the infantilization of Julian Bashir in my last answer and this is somewhat related because when people do this with him they also tend to make him out to be a lot more insecure than he is in canon, and in relation to that they also make him a total doormat who just lets people walk all over him which is. absolutely not what he's like. at all

Julian does have some degree of self-loathing and imposter syndrome but I think its vitally important to understand this as his anger and loathing being directed towards what was done to him. its not as simple as him hating himself- he hates what was done to him, so while there is a degree of self-loathing, that anger is also directed outwards at his parents and every doctor who had a part in augmenting him

I think takes where Julian is deeply insecure about being, like, really talkative are just incorrect. I dont read that from him at all. Julian is very unapologetically and loudly himself and he doesnt apologize for any of it. his confidence in himself is one of his defining character traits. ive seen takes that all of that is a front and I just dont agree with those takes. I agree that he has some degree of insecurity and that is related to his augmentations and some imposter syndrome based on that, but when it comes to things like how much he talks, his difficulties with reading social cues, I dont think he's particularly insecure. again, this is in relation to the very popular headcanon that Julian is autistic, and people take the traits he has that are common autistic traits, and make him insecure about them, and that tends to lead straight into takes I see where people make him out to be a doormat who cant stand up for himself

I genuinely have no idea where the fanon version of Julian that is incapable of sticking up for himself comes from. ive seen it in some fics, and in some headcanons, and it makes me wonder if we watched the same show. I dont think Julian cares all that much about jokes made at his expense about how chatty he is or how childish he can be. the one time I can think of that we see him get even slightly upset by jokes of that nature is when everyone is ganging up on him for his holosuite programs, and even then, he's not insecure about it he's annoyed cause he's being ganged up on by multiple people. Miles makes a lot of jokes at his expense and thats their general banter- Julian gives it back as good as he gets. same with Garak. ive seen people act like Miles telling Julian the Changeling was better was a horrible heartless thing and sure, it wasn't a great thing to say, but thats just. how they talk to each other. the cornerstone of their dynamic is them ribbing each other. same with how Miles and especially Garak will joke about Julian's augmentations- ive seen people act like this is horrible on their ends, while I read it as its their way of normalizing it for Julian and showing their acceptance of it. and if Julian really didnt like it, he would say something. he's not shy!

idk I feel like some of that might come from The Wire in how Julian sits back and takes Garak's yelling at him and attacking him, but to me thats just Julian being really good at handling a crisis situation. as someone who deals with crisis situations as part of my job, what Julian is doing is just trying to de-escalate the situation. he's keeping himself very neutral and letting Garak rant- if he were to snap back in that moment, it would only escalate things further, which he was trying to avoid. this is exactly what youre supposed to do when faced with someone in crisis. its also worth mentioning that Garak was going through agonizing withdrawals, so I doubt Julian was taking anything Garak was saying to heart. he responds to him like he's taking him seriously, for the purpose of de-escalating the situation and trying to calm Garak down. thats not an indication that Julian is incapable of standing up for himself and will just let himself be walked over, but rather that he just. knows how to handle a crisis

the infantilized oh-so-innocent deeply insecure eternally bullied Julian Bashir that I see exist in some fanon circles is just. so bizarre to me. it takes so much of nuance away from his character and im not sure what for? ive seen it used in some fics to bolster Garak up as this protector for him and im not a fan of twisting their dynamic to be like that, it takes a lot of the intricacies of their dynamic away in favour of loading them up with tropes. I think people forget that Julian very successfully kept his augmentations hidden for over half his life and would've continued to keep them hidden if his parents hadn't fucked it all up. I also think people forget that Julian is perfectly capable of and WILL stick up for himself, and that a lot of his anger at his situation is directed outward. turning him into this weird version of himself that is very woe-is-me just does nothing for me and is very divorced from how he actually is. he's snappy and rude as hell when he wants to be, he's not taking shit lying down, doesnt matter who it comes from

also a smaller thing but it annoys me every time cause I get it in notes on my posts. when people say Julian's self-sacrificing tendencies come from his need to be useful I wanna whack them with a rolled up newspaper. its because he wants to SAVE PEOPLE it is explicitly about SAVING PEOPLE he isnt trying to die to be useful his goal when he runs through fire is to help and to save because he is, at his core, a doctor and a healer!! its about the preservation of life and doing everything he can!! its not about this weird complex fanon gives him where he needs to be useful or die trying to justify his existence or whatever I dont read that at all from him. he's just that determined to save lives

hope you enjoyed this ramble I have many thoughts and feelings on this

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

you once said that the ZK do not allow the canonical Zuko to show real, sometimes ugly signs of trauma. can you write more about this? because that's what I always felt when I came across their terrible takes, but I couldn't express it.

Gladly! But first, I need to mention the sign of trauma that Zuko usually lacks - and that, for some reason, the fandom insists defines his character:

Fear

Don't get wrong, I'm not saying Zuko never experienced fear. We all saw that poor boy on his knees, crying, begging his father not to hurt him.

But in "Zuko Alone" we also see 10-year-old Zuko get bitter that only his younger sister was expected to show off her firebending skills, and deciding that he would go against his father and demonstrate his own skills to the Fire Lord - that despite the fact that he knew Azula was better at it than he was. Even when it goes wrong, he is upset, but doesn't look afraid of the consequences.

That same episode shows Azula mocking him for playing with knives despite not even being good at it, and even though the fandom insists she was his worst fear ever since he was a child, Zuko responds with a "Put an apple on your head and we'll see how good I am." That little guy has exactly zero chill.

Let's not forget why he was banished either: Despite being considered too young to be in that war meeting, Zuko demanded to be there, eventually got his way, and despite having been told not to say anything, the second he hears a general suggest using their own men as "fresh meat" to lure the enemy, Zuko speaks out against it. And at the start of the Agni Kai, he looked 100% ready to fight a grown ass man with battle experience - until he saw it was his father/Fire Lord.

Let's not forget his Agni Kai with Zhao, which was his idea and that he actually won - and before that, he openly calls Ozai a fool, to which Zhao points out that banishment clearly not teach Zuko to watch his mouth. Or the time he openly challenged Azula in Ba Sing Se and they only didn't fight then and there because Azula knew she'd have the advantage by using the Dai Li. Hell, at the start of that very season, after she tried to lure him to a trap, Zuko's first reaction is to charge at her, fire-daggers in hand. That boy is the definition of "Fuck around and find out."

He has also done things like choosing to save his uncle from earthbenders instead of chasing Aang, crossing a blockade and going into actual Fire Nation territory even though he legally is no longer allowed to do that, and helped rescue Aang from Zhao as the Blue Spirit. It shows us that Zuko doesn't have an issue with temporarely deviating from his mission because of something HE deems important even though his father doesn't, openly disregarding Ozai's orders, and even basically saying "My father will have the Avatar as a prisoner only if I'm the one to capture him"

And, of course, on the day of the eclipse, Zuko grabs his swords and directly threatens Ozai, telling that bastard to sit the fuck down, shut up, and listen to his list of reasons why he sucks as a parent, ruler and person.

Zuko is brave. Unbelievably so. He is fierce, proud, and impulsive to the point of getting himself in situations that he should have known would not go his way (like fighting a waterbender in the snow, in the full moon) because he is very much a "act first, think later" kind of guy. So the fandom's insistence that he is constantly paralyzed by fear is a gross over-simplification of how his trauma affects him.

We only see him genuinely afraid of Ozai twice. During the Agni Kai itself, and then again when he WANTS to speak out against his father's plan to burn the Earth Kingdom to the ground, but can't bring himself to because he remembers what happened last time he spoke out against that kind of horrible thing during a war meeting, at that very room. It took something THAT triggering to make him cower before a challenge.

However, fear wasn't the only reason why didn't speak out during that moment, and that takes us to the first "ugly" sign of trauma that the fandom as a whole likes to pretend Zuko wasn't repeatedly shown to experience:

"My father is right about me, actually"

Zuko doesn't think Ozai was wrong to disfigure and banish him. How could he? Nobody in that entire room stood up to at least try to support him, not even his uncle - who also once said "Why would your father have banished you if he didn't care about you?" because, surprise surprise, nobody in that family knows how to help someone through trauma because they're all dealing with their own shit. Even his crew, who WAS sympathetic to him after finding out how he got that scar, were still 100% willing to not only support Ozai, but risk their lives for him.

Zuko isn't just trying to heal from abuse, he is trying to heal from victim-blaming, and to go against YEARS of indoctrination that say the Fire Lord can do no wrong. That's part of why it was so difficult for Iroh and others to help him: Zuko didn't believe that he needed or deserved help.

And that is also one of his three major unhealthy coping mechanisms. Claiming that HE needs to prove himself to Ozai, that HE needs to make up for HIS mistakes, not the other way around.

It might seem strange that this could be a way to cope, but look at it this way: If it WAS his fault instead of Ozai's, then that means his dad is not an unfair, abusive piece of shit that is unbelievably cruel and impossible to please. Zuko just needs to accomplish this mission of capturing the Avatar and everything will be fine, they'll be a normal family again, and he won't have to be afraid of someone he thought he could trust.

It was like Iroh said: Things are never going to be the same ever agin, but the Avatar gives Zuko HOPE. And that hope that his abuser will one day have a change of heart and be a loving father to him again is both what allows Zuko not to give into despair - and what keeps him trapped in that awful situation.

Misplaced Anger

Another "unpleasant" sign of trauma that Zuko has is how he clearly has an anger problem. Sure, he's a moody teenager with a short fuse, but we see over and over again that he tends to blow things way out of proportion, and that when faced a fact or opinion he doesn't like, he is quick to lash out at someone with VERY cruel words (see him calling Iroh a lazy, shallow, jealous old man in "Avatar State", or calling him crazy and saying if he wasn't in prison, he'd be sleeping in a gutter in "The Headband").

Through the entire show, many people faced Zuko's wrath - Iroh, Aang and friends, his crew, Azula, innocent people of the Earth Kingdom, Mai, Ty Lee, that one rando that talked to Mai, and even Zuko himself.

The one person that usually escapes said wrath is, ironically, Ozai. In "Zuko Alone" he refuses to believe his father would ever be capable of harming him, in "Avatar State" he snaps at Iroh for doubting that Ozai really changed his mind about the whole banishment thing.

He is mad at Aang for being too difficult to capture, and at Zhao for stealing his one chance to come home. He never stops to question if it's fair that his father had him chase someone that was presumed dead, aka an impossible task, as the condition to bring him home. He also never addresses how he feels about the reason WHY said banishment happened until the Day Of Black Sun.

He is mad at Azula for lying to him and trying to take him home as a prisoner. He never gets mad at his father for not only wanting to lock him away forever because ZHAO screwed up at the North Pole, nor how messed up it was that he put Azula in charge of said mission.

For fuck's sake, in the day of the eclipse, we find out that Zuko legit believed his mother was DEAD - and the entire circumstance was shady as hell and put Ozai in a very bad light. Yet Zuko still wanted his love, still wanted to be a "worthy" son.

He HAS to direct his anger at other people, otherwise he'll realize that no, his father, the adult that was meant to care for him, is a complete monster.

Everytime Zuko lashes out at other people before confronting Ozai, he's basically acting like someone who is drowning and, in a panic, is trying to pull the nearest person under so he can try to breathe. It is one of the most accurate and honest representations of trauma and abuse, and it makes me SO mad when people erase it in their fics because "poor, innocent, helpless turtleduck that can do no wrong" makes Zuko look like less of a dick - and also completely strips him of his agency.

And that isn't even the thing that fans ignore the most. That "honor" goes to the simple fact that Zuko, as expected of a child raised to believe the Fire Lord can do no wrong, decided that Azula had the right idea and that the best way to avoid being a victim again was...

Copying His Abuser

Zuko has REPEATEDLY let his "inner Ozai" out through the show.

He is all manipulative by not letting the pirates know he was chasing the Avatar who was worth A LOT more than the scrowl they'd get as a reward for helping him, and by using Katara's necklace as a way to try and get her to say where Aang was.

He repeatedly steals stuff from innocent people (including some who helped him, like Song) because, in his own words "These people should just be giving stuff to us" - aka he's very much an entitled prince.

He betrays his uncle by joining Azula in Ba Sing Se, leading to Iroh being thrown in prison. He also doesn't give a shit when Katara says "I thought you had changed!" and he sends a freaking assassin after the Gaang. Even him refusing to tell Azula that there was a chance Aang could still be alive works both as a "Zuko doesn't trust Azula to not use that against him, and for good reason" and "Zuko did not even stop to think that, since Azula was the one who killed Aang, him coming back also puts HER in danger, because he's too focused on his own problems to notice anybody else's."

More importantly, he rejected a chance of a ceasefire with the Gaang three times (The Blue Spirit, The Chase, Crossroads of Destiny), much like Ozai refused his shot at ending the war in the finale before his battle with Aang, and not only did he challenge Zhao to an Agni Kai and seriously consider burning him, he also threatened one of his crewmen by saying he'd "teach him respect" - which we found out later that episode was what Ozai right before disfiguring poor Zuko.

For fuck's sake, Ozai was literally designed to look like an older Zuko. One without a scar, one that was never banished, one that never had to see first-hand all the death and suffering war brings and reflect on the role he plays in it.

Finally, we have the war meetings in "Nightmares And Daydreams", in which Zuko doesn't speak out against his father's completely inhumane plans to deal with the Earth Kingdom. When talking about it with Mai, he says "I was the perfect prince, the son my father wanted. But I wasn't me."

That is the turning point for Zuko for a reason. It's him finally being forced to acknowledge that, to become Ozai's ideal son, to earn his (conditional) love, to not be his victim he has to be just as bad as he is, just as cruel, just as unfair - and we see in Azula's breakdown how Zuko likely would have ended up if he accepted that path.

But he didn't, and that was not easy because even though it was the morally correct choice, it'd require him to sacrifice everything - his title as a prince, his right to be in the Fire Nation, his relationship with Mai, his (extremelly complicated, sometimes good, often awful) bond with Azula, the "easy" way to get literally anything he wanted at everyone else's expense, and, of course, accept that his father was never going to love him, was never going to change, and was never going to feel sorry for abusing him.

Erasing such a central conflict of his character for the sake of denying he ever did anything wrong is, ironically, removing one of Zuko's most noble character traits: his inability to just live with himself after doing something horrible. There's a reason he is in deep conflict even after getting everything he wanted after the fall of Ba Sing Se - he knows he doesn't deserve it after what he's done.

If you ignore his mistakes and the horrible consequences it had for other people, you also ignore Zuko's growth. This puts him more in the position of a good guy being held hostage by the evil villain, not of a troubled child that redeems himself as he matures.

No flaws, no mistakes, no growth, no arc.

Trauma Doesn't Just Go Away

This one is, by far, the bad trope regarding Zuko's trauma that Zutarians are the most guilt of: assuming that if he just gets enough comforting hugs (mainly from Katara), all of his inner turmoil will suddenly be healed. No more sadness, no more fear, no more of the ugly traits they never acknowledge in the first place. Just a happy, fully recovered Zuko.

But that's just not how these things work. Having the support of a loved one helps victims feel better, but it won't magically make everything okay. Trauma is a really difficult thing to handle. There's good days, bad days, relapses, bad habits that are difficult to move past from. And not only are there cases in which people take YEARS to recover, there are also cases in which they never fully heal, and instead just learn to live with that burden that is still very much present.

I understand the desire to show in fics and headcanons that Zuko will eventually be fully healed and happy, but the way Zutarians make Katara act as not just his girlfriend, but as basically his therapist that needs to find miracle solutions for every single one of his problems, comfort him whenever any minor inconvenience happens until he's gotten enough hugs to be magically okay doesn't just reveal how hypocritical they are, since they insist Kataang is about Katara being Aang's girlfriend/mom/baby-sitter, but also that they legit do not understand a damn thing about trauma and how it works.

Which takes me to:

How Mai Actually Did Right By Zuko

Poor, poor Mai. She gets blamed for "bring out the worst in Zuko", for not being "supportive", for being too cold and unemotional, for not "seeing the real him" - yet she's one of the characters that CONSISTENLY help put Zuko back on his track.

She offers him emotional support and lots of signs of affection over and over again - telling him not worry when they're arriving at the Fire Nation, pointing out she doesn't hate him when she says she's beautiful when she hates the world, explicitly saying she cares about him in The Beach, being incredibly sweet and loving to him during all of Nightmares and Daydreams, and then again in the finale by helping him get dressed up and acting all cute as they get back together.

But she also holds him accountable when he screws up. She doesn't let him use his difficult life as an excuse to be a jerk and calls him out when he's being unreasonable, or when she feels mistreated/like he's making a mistake (see The Beach and Boiling Rock Part 2).

But since the fandom loves to completely erase Zuko's mistakes AND to not let go of a stupid ship war, this completely changes the context, making Mai out to be this awful, bitchy girlfriend, when in reality, she did a great job handling Zuko - sometimes even better than the fan favorite and mentor figure Zuko had through most of his arc.

Uncle Iroh Fucked Up

Before all of you try to kill me, let me make one thing clear here: I love Uncle Iroh. He is one of the most awesome characters in the show, and I fully believe he was trying his best to help Zuko.

But he is still a human being that makes mistakes, and he was raised in the same dysfunctional family Zuko was, meaning he often had NO IDEA how to handle his deeply traumatized teenage nephew/son.

Him spending all of book 1 trying to help Zuko capture Aang so he could go back to living with the guy that disfigured him is already bad enough, but we also have the episode "Avatar State" in which Iroh asks "Why would your father banish you if he didn't care about you?"

Obviously he only did these things because he didn't want Zuko give into despair and depression - but he is still, at best, ignoring the issue, and at worst actively making excuses for Ozai's abuse of his own son. This backfires on him spectacularly, as Zuko sides with Azula over him both in the first and last episode of the season specifically because he believes that appeasing Ozai is the right thing to do, as he was only banished "for his own good."

But THE biggest mistake Iroh made when it came to helping Zuko was his refusal to accept that no, Zuko was never going to be happy by living a quiet, simple life in Ba Sing Se - even after Zuko explicitly said as much to his face.

Obviously, to some extent, Iroh HAS to make Zuko accept that he won't ever be able to come back home after Ozai literally ordered Azula to capture him, but he could have tried to find some kind of middle ground with Zuko, since being a waiter clearly wasn't making him happy.

"Oh, but what about how Zuko started acting after his metamorphosis? He was so happy about working on the tea-shop with his uncle, and that was supposed to reveal his true self!"

Yes, it was supposed to do that. But we saw how Zuko acted after actually dealing with his trauma and redeeming himself. He was obviously in a much healthier place, both mentally and spiritually, but he was still moody, still sarcastic, still as proud as ever, and even Iroh recognized that he was meant to be Fire Lord.

Zuko's arc has a lot to do with identity, with how he sees himself. At that point, the only thing he still had in life was his uncle - so he was acting like him, because there seemed to be no other role model, no other path. Seeing that weird, cheery, relaxed, always-seeing-the-good-side-of-things version of Zuko was honestly unnerving.

And Iroh thought that Zuko basically giving himself the Lake Laogai treatment was okay because he following in his footsteps, doing what helped IROH heal and change - he didn't realize it was never gonna be able to do the same for Zuko.

The very second Azula shows up, even when she's being hostile, Zuko drops the facade, because she's a reminder of both his old life and what he thought his future would be. And when she offers him "redemption" Iroh tried to advice Zuko against joining her by saying "The redemption she offers is not for you" (as in not for someone who is doing better and doesn't need to return to the Fire Nation) and "It's time for you to choose. It's time for you to choose good." How is it a choice if Iroh is explicitly saying which option Zuko cannot pick, essentially making the decision for him?

Iroh didn't just get the way to help Zuko wrong - he didn't realize his nephew didn't believe he needed help. They were not on the same page at all, and that contribuited to Zuko betraying him.

Though, thankfully, it ended up being for the best, as Zuko found his own way to redemption by himself.

Conclusion

This fandom as a whole tends to not understand Zuko at all and just eat up a bunch of fanon while pretending to be so intellectual, which I very much resent it for.

[wings-of-ink]

Hi!! I have a bit of constructive criticism, if I may 😅 English is not my first language, so pardon me if I sound rude, it's definitely not my intention!

Something that confuses me is how people act when the MC has to lift their shirt, when in comparison characters like Oswin and Duri can be shirtless/completely naked and people not batting an eye at it. It's funny and confusing why people jump at MC taking out their shirt as if it's scandalous 😅. I guess if that was the reaction to all the characters it wouldn't be as weird, but MC seems to be singled out. For example, on that scene where the characters ask to analyze MC's mark and they say "I can just cover what I'm not comfortable showing", that answer doesn't really make sense to MC's who consider "it's just skin", as can be stated if you choose to take a bath on the river after meeting Nathan; I'd imagine my MC just lifting it naturally, or even taking out his shirt completely without any problems, going as far as being confused as to why Oswin is making a big deal of it. This is just one example of something that happens some other times, if you want I can list them, so it's easier for you to check them out! The characters reactions seem pretty on point, tho! Zahn and Duri don't seem to mind anyone naked, Rune is respectful regardless, and Oswin seems to only be affected by MC's nakedness (which can be explained by his apparent feelings for MC? I'm not on his route but it looks like he has a crush on MC, I could be wrong😆). The problem comes mostly to how MC responds, I think? As in, couldn't they be as comfortable about being naked as Duri is? So just a bit of a twist on MC's answers and it would flow naturally! Coding wise, maybe putting a choice of how comfortable your MC is with showing their body at some point in game/the beginning? Like, "never comfortable", "uncomfortable with strangers", "choose as happens if they're comfortable or not", "always comfortable", etc.

Anyways, sorry for the long text and thank you for your time! I absolutely love the game and constantly replay it, thank you for your hard work and good job! :)

Hello dear and thanks for stopping by! And not to worry, I didn't think your message was rude. Below I've explained where my thinking is in the way I've written what you're discussing.

The reason those parts are written that way is not because it is intended to seem "scandalous." Nudity in general isn't really considered as such in the world and it's entirely up to personal preference. The reason those scenes are written in such a way is that I'm writing from the eyes of many MCs with many different possible comfort-levels. I didn't find it necessary to track code for the MC's feelings on being exposed when it is easier to write a general statement that suggest the MC does or does not cover themselves and the like (where I could, I added reaction choices). And sometimes, it's better to error on the MC being a little bit discreet because of that. Could I add code for this? Yes, but overall I didn't see the purpose in it (I have a mountain of variables as is and some things just need to be trimmed).

I also need to consider that situationally, each MC will react different. With the variety of situations in the story, even when MC is comfortable, there could be situations that they would not be. Getting an exam from a stranger is different from your crush walking in on you or you wanting to tease and such.

During the forest-bathing scene, the MC also needed to take consideration for keeping their mark concealed. Oswin was cautious because they just met Zahn and he knows that Nathan has a unique curiosity for magical goods. As we learn in later chapters, this is wisdom since some people covet magical things and are willing to do horrible things to get them.

Oswin also has a particular protectiveness over MC, especially depending on a few choices about MC's feelings for him he may react different in certain scenes.

I hope that covers it in a satisfactory way. At least for now, I don't think I will set any code variable for this at least for the time being. I'm not sure how often MC will end up nude either, lol. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me! I'm glad you're enjoying the game! ^_^

[renthony]

🏳️‍🌈 (queer media rec please !)

(Drop a 🏳️‍🌈 in my inbox and I’ll respond with a queer media recommendation!)

I've been sticking to indie or less-popular works for these recommendations, but the most recent Interview With the Vampire episode destroyed me and I need to get more people in on this sweet, sweet suffering.

AMC's television adaptation of Anne Rice's Interview With the Vampire is phenomenal. The season 2 finale airs next week, and I'm hoping very much for more. It's officially available via AMC+, and if you're at all into queer gothic horror, you have to check it out.

The basic premise is that an immortal Vampire named Louis tells his tragic story to a human reporter named Daniel. We learn all about Louis' life as a human, how he was turned into a vampire by his vampire lover Lestat, and how the two created a child vampire named Claudia to be their daughter. It's a messy domestic drama where every single narrator is unreliable, it's a horror show, it's tragic, it's queer as hell, and it's perfect for people who want to see mean, petty, mentally unwell, horny queer characters waging psychological warfare on each other.

Here's the trailer for season 1:

I was very, very nervous when the adaptation was first announced. I'm a huge Vampire Chronicles fan, I was absolutely obsessed with Lestat as a teenager (...and also now...), and I was pretty firmly on the side of folks who were thinking, "we did this already, Queen of the Damned was a horrible (albeit still pretty fun) movie, we can just let the books stand on their own after that one."

When the casting announcements for Lestat (Sam Reid) and Louis (Jacob Anderson) were made, I got even more nervous. In the book, Louis is a white slave owner born in the late 1700s, and I was worried that the showrunners would just make Louis a Black character without examining or unpacking any of the anti-Blackness in the source material. I'd enjoyed Jacob Anderson's performance in Game of Thrones, and I didn't have any ill will against him, but I was genuinely worried a Black Louis was going to be in poor taste at best.

Instead of presenting Louis as a Black slave owner, though, the show reworked his backstory to make him a Black businessman in 1910s New Orleans. We get to know his family and his situation, and the dynamics of a queer interracial romance in turn-of-the-Century New Orleans add quite a lot of new depth to the story. Jacob Anderson deserves basically every award ever, because his performance as Louis is just...goddamn. He is the definitive Louis for me.

The show feels like a love letter to both the book series and the 1994 film. In the show, the interview takes place in 2022, and is framed as a second, "do-over" interview. It makes meta-commentary on the film and the books, and it's a real treat as a fan of the prior works. The constant little book references and hints for future plots are fantastic. The show loves the source material just as much as the audience does, and it never tries to say, "the old version sucks, we're doing it better." It's a loving tribute to my favorite messy queer vampires, and I need everybody to go lavish attention on it so it gets more seasons.

Edit 6/27/24:

Season 3 has been confirmed, babes!!!

[mikuni14]

Jack & Joker - Ep 8

I finished the remake of Love Mechanics on Sunday, and a new episode of J&J on Monday - what can I say, watching War's characters not having the best time is a whole experience 💀

Another really good episode of J&J, this show is great, although the first crack in this perfect picture has appeared, which I hope won't go in the direction I predict.

This is of course the introduction of the most infuriating trope in the form of the relationship between Joke and his father (and brother). This is such bullshit. Everything here is wrong and it pisses me off. The gaslighting, that Joke's feelings are invalid and wrong, that he's corrected, told what he 's supposed to feel 😬 The father who is openly cruel and says things that no child should ever hear from their parent. The pathetic attempt to whitewash him by saying that he secretly loves Joke with his stash of soups as a proof, and that he ultimately ate the meal prepared by Joke (ignoring the fact that he did this only and exclusively because he was hungry), after rejecting his peace offering and insulting him again. The Oppan series has shown such a father, who is horrible at the beginning and says horrible things, although in reality he truly loves his children and wants good for them. And what does that father do when he sees that with his intentions alone he will not rebuild the relationship with his children? He apologizes, lets go of his expectations and prejudice, learns how to be a good father, even buys books! And seeing HIS efforts, his children respond to them and to him! Except in J&J it is not even that: Joke's father loves an idealized version of his sons, and the one who fits into this version is always praised and basks in the light of acceptance and parental love, and the one who doesn't fit into this image is an outcast, constantly rejected, mocked and criticized. Loving your child in secret, and rejecting him publicly and to his face is NOT good parenting ffs!! I REALLY don't want to see Joke and his father reconcile, especially if they build their relationship on the conditional love of the father and on Joke's self-sacrifice, trying to fit into his terms.

..............

I'm very happy that first Joke

and then Grandma

said exactly what I think and what irritated me so much about Jack's behavior in the last episode. Jack made the decision himself, without talking to his loved ones, making the decision for them without asking for their consent. It's good that the series addressed this.

I love Joke's pure love, when even in the greatest anger he's able to stop and react to Jack's suffering. I love the scene when Joke is clearly agitated and sees Jack trying to hide the agony he is going through - and suddenly Joke's face changes and he reaches out to Jack… War is such a good actor ✨

Yin is also great. I really like how he shows with his whole body how Jack feels in a given situation. For example, how apathetic he is in scenes when Joke gets mad at him, how his arms hang lifelessly when Joke shakes him or screams at him, how he gives in to Joke's anger.. Also when he is with Rose, how he reacts to her, to physical contact with her, how stiff and reluctant he is, which can be seen for example in the dance scene (although he can also comfort her, which is a natural reflex for him). I like how he hesitates when leaving Joke, following Rose, how he can't help but look at him one last time. Jack also, even when he receives all of Joke's anger, doesn't get angry at him or offended and his protective and caring instincts also take over when Joke is hurt.

And how he embraces Joke WITH ALL OF HIMSELF, melting into him, adjusting to his body. Oh boys... Everyone knows you are together, you even sleep like lovers, who are you fooling 🥺

I also like how you can see that Jack is suffocating with what he has to do, how you can see from him, how he tries at all costs to show that everything is ok, and how it's getting harder and harder for him to act in front of Rose and Joke - that's how I interpreted his stony face during the argument with Joke in the hospital, his sudden silence, because if he let go of his emotions for even a second, he could have let go of all his iron control, on which his sanity now hangs.

The juxtaposition of the cruel games played by the demoralized rich with the kind game played by the grandma was also shown very nicely.

I'm very happy that the episode ended with this scene this time. Very lovely and very natural cuddling, their conversation and behavior very much in their character (very VeeMark too lol). I'm also very happy that we have probably finished the era of the depressed, rejected, abandoned, constantly insulted, jealous, lonely Joke.

(What's with that manhandling Joke's body, Jack? And what about letting him do that Joke? 🤔🤨 not.fooling.anyone.)

(I love them so much.)

[the-ferocious-kittyrose]

Stuff I wish we could’ve seen in HOTD

1. Alicent comforting Rhaenyra after her mother’s death

There’s a deleted scene that shows Rhaenyra returning to her room after her mother’s funeral, to find Alicent there waiting for her. As soon as she sees Alicent her strong facade breaks and she bursts into tears. She falls into Alicent's arms, and they sink to the floor together.

Rhaenyra has a tendency to mask her emotions when upset, and Alicent seems to be one of the few people she feels safe being vulnerable around.

2. Rhaenyra confronting Alicent about the engagement.

There’s a somewhat infamous deleted scene that shows Rhaenyra confronting Alicent about her engagement to Viserys.

She asks how long Alicent has been meeting with her father without her knowing. When Alicent says it’s been going on ever since the queen died, she is furious and calls her a whore, accusing her of seducing him.

A lot of people shit on Rhaenyra for this, saying she’s victim blaming, which, yeah, she is, but it’s also a very realistic reaction. She’s not only dealing with the fact that her father is remarrying, she’s now dealing with the fact that her best friend is gonna be her new step mom and their relationship will never be the same again. She’s probably also afraid of the possibility that her friendship with Alicent was never real and that Alicent was just using her to get power.

Alicent immediately denies it, saying they never talked about marriage, and Rhaenyra responds, saying she should’ve known it was leading to marriage since she was visiting him alone in his chambers. She asks what she expected to happen, and Alicent doesn’t answer.

Because she did know. From the moment her father told her to where her mother’s dress she knew. But their conversations were so casual and non sexual that she convinced herself that it was purely platonic, as a way of protecting herself from the horrible truth of the situation.

Instead of answering the question, she deflects, and says that she did it at her father’s command, and when Rhaenyra says she should’ve just refused him, she snaps back that not everyone can get away with doing whatever they want like she does.

This seems to be the moment Rhaenyra accepts that this isn’t Alicent’s fault and that she’s lashing out at the wrong person.

Rhaenyra says they (Otto and Visarys) can’t do this. That she is the princess and she will have it annulled.

Rhaenyra obviously doesn’t have the power to do that, and she knows it, but she’s not used to having problems that she can’t snap her fingers and have fixed. She’s also putting on a strong confident facade, saying, “don’t worry, I’ll fix it,” partly to comfort Alicent, and partly to comfort herself.

But when Alicent doesn’t seem comforted by this, Rhaenyra begins to realize that Alicent hasn’t protested the marriage. So she asks her if this is what she wants, and Alicent, who’s resigned to her role as a woman, says it doesn’t matter what she wants.

This is the key difference in their characters. Rhaenyra wants to fight against the restrictions imposed on her as a woman, while Alicent accepts them. Alicent has been groomed her entire life by a misogynistic society to view this unfair patriarchal system as the natural order of things, and to believe that her submission to it is a virtue.

3. Alicent and Viserys’s wedding

There is a deleted wedding scene that we don’t know a ton about, but it would’ve been nice to see. And by nice, I mean incredibly depressing and uncomfortable.

There are pictures of Rhaenyra helping dress Alicent for the wedding, mirroring Alicent dressing Rhaenyra for her heir announcement ceremony thing. It’s a reflection of their respective positions in the kingdom. Rhaenyra is destined to rule, while Alicent is destined to marry.

Also the sad finality of it. This is the last time they will get to be just friends. After this is done, they will be step mother and step daughter.

Also, disturbingly, in the book, Rhaenyra was at the bedding ceremony and was one of the ones who undressed Viserys. I can’t imagine how disgusting that would be. Not only having to undress your father so he can have sex with your best friend who clearly doesn’t want him, but also having to stand and watch him rape her, knowing that there’s nothing you can do to stop it.

4. Rhaenyra and Harwin Strong’s relationship

I’m not the only person devastated that we didn’t get to see Rhaenyra and Harwin’s relationship begin. We saw him eyeing her up when she was covered in blood, but that was about it.

Was they’re relationship a purely sexual fwb situation, or were they in love? I like to believe they fell in love, but the show doesn’t tell us. How did Harwin feel about not being allowed to openly claim his sons? That shit has to eat away at you after a while.

How many times did he want to tell them? When he was killed in the fire at Harrenhal, did he think of his boys? That he would never get the chance to tell them the truth? That he could never tell them he loved them?

Harwin’s sisters also become Rhaenyra’s ladies-in-waiting in the book. It would’ve been nice to see her befriending them and them being aunts to the boys.

5. Rhaenyra trying to have a good relationship with her half siblings

There is a deleted scene of Rhaenyra holding baby Aegon on her lap and trying to teach him to say her name.

Not only would Rhaenyra trying to bond with her siblings make what ends up happening even more tragic, but it also makes since politically. She doesn’t want her siblings to see her as an enemy and be tempted to usurp her in the future. So she tries to win their affection through gifts and teaching them how to ride their dragons. In the book, Aegon even says, “what kind of brother steals his sister’s throne?” But that could’ve just been sarcasm.

And Rhaenyra always wanted a sister, so you can’t convince me she didn’t try to have a relationship with Helaena. Even if she grew to be less than fond of Aegon and Aemond as they grew older, I believe she loved her sweet sister.

Of course on the opposite side you have Alicent who has Otto trying to convince her that Rhaenyra is untrustworthy and is a threat to her children. At first Alicent doesn’t buy it, but as time goes on she begins to believe it more and more, and her subtly mounting paranoia leads her to isolate her children from their half sister.

Then you have the whole thing with the fight at Driftmark, and I could go on and on about that. It was so needlessly cruel and stupid of Rhaenyra to order Aemond be interrogated about where he heard a rumor that everyone and their mother knows about. I know that’s what they say happened in the book, but I feel like it could’ve been done better.

Like, Alicent gives Rhaenyra grief about the pig incident, so she lectures the boys about how just because Aegon is allowed to bully Aemond, that doesn’t mean they can too. Aegon is not a person they should emulate. She may not be overly fond of Aemond herself, but it doesn’t matter if he’s mean and mopey, he is their uncle and they’ll treat him with respect because that’s what’s expected of them, and them acting out makes her look bad.

So at Driftmark tensions between the kids and Rhaenyra and Alicent are high, so she tries to do some damage control by going to Viserys and Alicent and suggesting that, because there are so many dragons and eggs here, they should try and get Aemond a dragon, and of course Visarys agrees.

But Aemond doesn’t want just any dragon or a lousy egg. He wants the biggest dragon in the world. He sneaks away to claim Vhagar in secret, but Rhaena (who wants to claim her mother’s dragon just like her dad wanted to claim Meleys) try’s to stop him only to be shoved by this much larger boy into a pile of dragon dung (like Joffrey in the book.) Aemond claims Vhegar, and Rhaena goes to get Baela and the boys. When Aemond lands, the fight happens like it did in the show.

When Rhaenyra finds out what happened, she’s not focused on the bastard thing, the kids care more about that stuff, instead she’s focused on the fact that Aemond, her half brother who she was just trying to help claim a dragon, threatened to kill her sons with dragonfire, and tried to bash their heads in with a rock.

Alicent demands Luke’s eye be cut out, and Rhaenyra and Viserys both refuse, with Rhaenyra angrily insisting that her sons will not be punished for defending themselves and their betrothed. Instead, she blames Aemond, saying, “Words of war become acts of war. Better he learns that now before he loses more than his eye.”

And that’s when Alicent grabs the dagger.

Idk, I’m not a writer, I’m just spitballing.

6. Laena and Rhaenyra’s friendship

In the book, after Baela and Rhaena are born, Daemon writes to Viserys and asks if he may bring them and Laena back to Kingslanding, and, of course, Viserys accepts them with open arms.

When Laena comes to Kingslanding, she and Rhaenyra become close friends. Laena and Daemon choose to live at Driftmark, but Laena and Rhaenyra still fly to visit eachother often, and would race their dragons from castle to castle.

When Rhaenyra heard Laena was in labor, she flew to Driftmark and stayed with her through her three day labor. In the show, when it becomes clear Laena won’t survive the birth, the maester overseeing the birth suggests a forced caesarean. The same thing done to Queen Aemma. I can only imagine the hell Rhaenyra would’ve raised to prevent her friend from suffering the same horrible fate her mother did.

After Laena’s death, Rhaenyra and Daemon mourn together. It’s not romantic, it’s not sexual, it’s just two people who just lost someone they both loved.

[redpenreport]

Smear-campaign of @queenlilithprime

Hey everyone, Nearly a month ago, a user by the name of @the-n109-zone made a hit piece on Lilith, accusing them of being a racist, ableist, stalker, and bully. I’ve decided to make a post of my own, picking apart all of these allegations and their "evidence." (The post in question: https://www.tumblr.com/the-n109-zone/781459318628335616/tw-racism-ableism-homophobia-stalking)

(I’ve been on Tumblr for years, but I’ve never actually made a post before so bear with me if I post like a boomer.)

"They showed ignorance as a developer and made homophobia accusations towards the developers of Love & Deepspace."

Yes, Lilith did call the devs homophobic. And? It was their personal opinion, shared as an explanation for why they didn’t want that game mentioned on their server. It wasn’t a callout or a hit piece. Do you really expect them to create a PowerPoint presentation over a brief explanation of why something made them uncomfortable? This argument is completely unserious.

"They made most of these claims on their developer accounts, which has many impressionable followers."

Lilith was asked a question and responded by setting a boundary in their community. As far as you've shown, there’s only been one post about Love & Deepspace on their RH account, where they simply explained their stance. And let’s be real: their audience is made up of adults, fully capable of looking into the situation and forming their own opinions. Infantilizing adult followers is insulting. Lilith should not be attacked for expressing an opinion and establishing a boundary.

"They have spoken poorly about the developer of YOU and HIM behind their back."

The screenshot you provided shows light criticism at best. Lilith expressed concern and frustration. There was no trash talk, no insults. What exactly is the issue here?

"They have shown stalkerish behavior regarding 14 Days With You. Lilith has an obsession with digging up old posts made by 14dayswithyou and scrutinizing them for any flaws."

So... exactly what you’re doing to Lilith? Do you not see the hypocrisy? The so-called “stalkerish behavior” you’ve provided is weak. The first post has no context and doesn't even mention 14Days or Cutiesai. The second is a vent post on a vent account. Lilith was clearly upset about feeling misled by a game they were invested in. The horror. The third post? No context at all. I can only assume it's about 14Days, but even then, it’s just a snarky comment. And the last one? Lilith states that a narrative being spread about a situation they were part of is misinformation. That’s not stalking. This whole argument is a reach.

"They are obsessed with the downfall of 14dayswithyou to the point where they weaponized and used creatingblackcharacters to reach their goal."

This entire claim hinges on the assumption that Lilith is Galacticglados, based only on writing style and mutual interactions. That’s flimsy at best. But even if they were the same person, what’s the worst you’ve got? Pettiness? That's not stalking. It’s frustrating how casually people throw around a term like “stalker” when they clearly don’t understand its seriousness.

"They're a racist who assumes all dark-skinned people are Black."

Most people will assume a dark-skinned character with no cultural markers is black. I’d bet you thought the same until you saw a clarification post. Are we supposed to wait for creator confirmation every time before referring to a character as black? Come on. Lilith made a mistake. That point is ridiculous.

"They're ableist and made a horrible joke about cancer."

It was dark humor, and they apologized. Come on, you're fishing for any tiny thing Lilith has said to justify condemning them. Be for real.

"They're a virtue signaller who tries to get in the good graces of mainstream accounts despite being a hypocrite."

I disagree. I’ve been in this community from nearly the start, and I’ve seen Lilith engage with just about everyone. Many of the smaller creators either quit or abandoned their accounts. Of course Lilith isn’t still interacting with them. And Lilith has a stalker that has harassed them as well as other creators for years. They may not feel safe interacting with people outside of their already established friend group anymore.

"Lilith supported proshipping after reblogging a statement from fantasia-kitt, despite stating 'no proshipping' on their blog and not apologizing for banning my friend on Discord for liking similar content."

“Anti-proshipping” is vague and debated, and definitions vary wildly. From what I’ve seen, it's usually people against pedophilia and incest. Neither of which are endorsed by The Kid At The Back. The post they reblogged was about fans romanticizing soft yanderes and getting upset when the character turns out to be actually unhinged. That isn’t a proship debate. Also, your claim that your friend was banned makes the whole point feel incredibly biased. You’ve shown no proof of why they were banned. For all we know, they weren’t honest with you about the reason.

"Testimonies from other people: These will be from aggrieved Discord members since that is where most of my friends are active, but I can add anonymous Tumblr testimonies too."

So, no actual evidence. Just opinions from your own circle, who you've already said are upset with Lilith. Great. Listen, I don’t know Lilith personally, and maybe there’s something deeper going on behind the scenes, but you can’t make such monstrous allegations with the laughably flimsy evidence you’ve provided. This shit is serious. If you can’t properly back up your claims, then don’t post them publicly.

If what you’ve said does turn out to be true, then I’m more than willing to take my stance back and admit that I'm wrong. But you actually have to prove it.

[artist-issues]

What Even Are Disney Princesses?

I think two things make Disney Princesses super-successful. The first thing is that they’re “One of Us.” The second thing is, they’re “Examples of Superheroic Character.” Not as in “super-power,” but as in, “strength of values.” Just like the best super-heroes (like Spidey) usually are. The difference is, Disney Princesses don’t (usually) have superpowers that show off their strength of character—so how they respond to circumstances is what shows off their strength of character, instead.

For example:

Ariel’s One of Us

It’s ironic but it’s true. She’s the modern catalyst for this idea. She’s “the girl next door.” Every single person can relate to wanting more than what you have even if what you have is wonderful; every single person who’s been a teenager can relate to wanting to be understood, and feeling this horrible tension between loving what they’ve got but feeling like what they’ve got doesn’t fit anymore as they grow up.

She’s got these sweet little moments where she doesn’t know how a fork works but she’s so excited to see one and then embarrassed when she gets funny looks for brushing her hair with it. She sobs and runs away from an argument where her dad isn’t listening to her. She laughs at herself for pretending to be engaged to Eric’s statue. And tiny changes are made so that we think of her less as a mermaid or a princess and more as one of us—nobody ever calls her “Princess” regularly, except the bad guy. AND

Ariel’s Superheroic Character

Ariel has a strength of faith that many of us can only dream of. She learns a tiny piece of truth—that humans make wonderful things—and from that, she chooses to believe that all of her culture’s history, everything her dad says, and even the fact that her own mother was killed by humans, is wrong. When she says, “I don’t see how a world that makes such wonderful things could be bad,” she’s doing what so few of us are capable of: she’s taking truth, and acting upon it, instead of going with the crowd and listening to the popular opinion.

She does the same thing when she learns that Eric is a selfless, noble, self-sacrificial human—she knows those things are true, so she chooses to love him and sacrifice for him, against all odds and hard circumstances. We’d all like to be the kind of people who can do that, so that’s why she’s a good example.

Another example!

Belle’s One of Us

We can all relate to feeling lonely, and out of place. To feeling like we want what we see in stories—adventure, big, epic lives—and then finding out that what we really want is the thing that makes those stories worthwhile: love, simple and plain. Love that sees our inner world and meets us there.

She has these tiny moments of trying to talk to people about what she’s really excited and passionate about in her stories, but people who can only see the work and day-to-day in front of their noses don’t get it. She’s charmed and excited by things that are charming, like dancing silverware. She rages to herself about annoying suitors while she does her chores. She’s afraid of things that make sense to be afraid of, like hungry wolves and horrifying beasts. And she misses her father, even when she’s living the storybook adventure she’s always dreamed of, and she isn’t afraid to show it.

AND

Belle’s Superheroic Character

Belle has this almost-unattainable, inspiring character trait of self-sacrifice. She’s read books about heroes her whole life. She’s dreamt of freedom and adventure. But she gives it all up for her father, and sacrifices her independence, her home, her only source of love, to be like the heroes in her storybooks, even though she’s done nothing deserving of that fate. And considering her relationship with Gaston, we know that what she’s really giving up is every dream and every love to live with her worst nightmare—chained to a tyrant who’s cruel and self-focused.

But she does it anyway. And she doesn’t stop there. She makes the most of her situation—not by breaking her word and trying to get free, but by being willing to see that there’s more to that self-focused tyrant than she originally thought. By believing, once he shows her that he has enough good in him to save her life, that that good can be coaxed out and strengthened, and even loved. She’s this high ideal of self-sacrifice at every decision she makes.

I could add to this post with every single Disney Princess from Snow White to Moana, but I don’t have to. You guys know what I mean! The Disney Princesses have hearts that are everything we wish we could be—and because they’re also relatable humans, they make us believe that we could one day have the same hearts, too.

It’s never about their ability to sing, or have tiny waists, or big eyes, or healing hair and freezing powers and magic mermaid voices. It’s about their strength of character.

[usuimisaki]

How Do I (Not) Love Thee? Let Me Count the Ways

Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun is insane. It’s a gag manga built on misunderstandings, mostly accomplished by the fact that the entire cast has two brain cells put together. The main joke of the manga is how everyone is always acting like they’re in a romantic relationship—without any of the romance. In the beginning, the joke was facilitated by the fact that Nozaki is always trying to simulate being in a romantic situation for research purposes for the shoujo manga that he writes, but then other characters got involved and they’re even more ridiculous than he is.

Horikashi

Omg, where do I begin?

Kashima constantly talks about how to get Hori to dote on her. For some reason, despite the advice of Sakura, Mikoshiba, and a drunk Hori himself, she can’t bring herself to go to club regularly. Hori should just go back to telling Kashima he likes her/giving her head pats/just kiss her already to properly motivate her.

Kashima has a rivalry with Nozaki since Hori said that Nozaki was his favorite kouhai, so Kashima gets angry when Hori gives Nozaki snacks or when she thinks Nozaki is going to text Hori before her. She also stole all of the head pats that Hori was going to give to Nozaki even though they were play acting.

Nevertheless, they do spend a lot of time together in club, and club members hilariously either get or misinterpret their dynamic. Like, they understand that Kashima wanted to show off her legs to get Hori’s attention since she might have been jealous of Hori liking a pair of legs in a picture (actually her legs).

On the other hand, when Hori freaking HUGGED Kashima to comfort her after she got upset, the drama club members just interpret this as ad-libbing.

They hang out together outside of club too, to the point that when they couldn’t even go HALF A DAY without talking without a) Kashima complaining about how painful it was and b) Hori going into shock. As a follow-up, Hori started meeting Kashima at the train station in the morning.

When Kashima went on a school trip, she texted Hori constantly.

When trying to make conversation with Mikoshiba before Mikoshiba knew Hori was the backgrounds guy, Mikoshiba thought the backgrounds buy was a Kashima stalker (once he knew that the backgrounds guy was Hori, he felt relieved)

Whenever anyone gets praised around Hori, he has to check to make sure that that person isn’t better than Kashima. He also realizes that Kashima is his ideal girl as well as guy.

When Kashima invades Hori’s personal space, he either responds by gazing at her beautiful face or noticing that her eyes are red.

Kashima, to the extent that she listens to anybody, listens to Hori. One notable example is when she passed the basketball to him when he said to EVEN THOUGH HE WAS ON THE OPPOSITE TEAM.

Hori went around telling Kashima (but also other people) that he liked/loved her for a while.

Hori actually likes listening to Kashima’s horrible singing, even though he knows it’s objectively bad. He even records it specifically so he can fall asleep to it at night. WTF?

Seowaka

These guys . . . these guys are almost as bad.

Technically, the reason Waka goes out with Seo so much is to spare his kouhais the pain of spending time with Seo, but that does translate into them going out a lot. At one point the basketball club tries to get Seo a boyfriend so she’ll be . . . less Seo-like, and in the end they just rely on Waka.

Waka got pretty upset when he thought that Seo had a boyfriend though (turned out to be Kashima).

Seo realized that she likes bullying Waka specifically.

Whenever Waka is NOT allowed to interact with Seo, such as when she accidentally had a card turned to not being bothered, he gets morose.

He also got morose when Seo didn’t text him while on the school trip.

He got morose when Seo didn’t hang to hang out with him right after she got back from the school trip.

It’s pretty established that he says he loves Lorelei (whom he doesn’t know is Seo), but even once he does know, he gives her all these gifts, like food and earrings.

But . . . the food is not a big deal considering Seo is always making Waka go out to buy her food anyway.

The whole interaction between Waka and Seo now that he knows she’s Lorelei is a little weird, since he’s said so many times that he loves Lorelai—but it seems more like the love for an idol instead of actual romantic love. The main change is that Waka now accepts Seo’s orders more willingly.

Waka told Seo that he liked her for some reason (to freak her out?) and it worked, but then he had to tell her it was a joke to make up with her since they had arranged to see a movie together. He sometimes still says it because he likes how freaked out she gets about it.

NozaChiyo (Sakuzaki)

Well, can’t leave out the title character. This is the only couple where one of them actually acknowledges their feelings as romantic. Lately they’ve been getting some air-time, with Nozaki actually reciprocating but in denial.

Even though Sakura’s confession doesn’t go anywhere romantic, she does become Nozaki’s mangaka assistant, which entails spending lots of time at his apartment. This is turned into a joke later on when Nozaki’s classmates invite her along to visit his place since everyone knows she has a massive crush on him and she has to pretend she’s never been there.

Even early on, Nozaki said that he’d be shocked if Sakura abandoned him (though the fact that Hori is more irreplaceable as a manga assistant is a frequent source of jealousy for Sakura).

Nozaki feeds Sakura a lot. It’s not like he doesn’t feed his other assistants, but he especially feeds Sakura, even outside of his apartment. Nozaki even realizes this, to the point that he tells Kashima that’s how they got close (prompting Kashima to feed Hori the notorious brandy cake)

Nozaki even made Sakura oven mitts for her cooking project (where she was baking cookies for him).

Nozaki (and Seo) got jealous when Sakura hugged the Wakamatsu doll Nozaki made for Seo (so he made a Sakura doll for her).

Nozaki really wanted to hold Sakura’s hand after she got “lost.” Of course Nozaki asked Kashima for advice about this and she told him it was a motherly feeling. I’m not sure if this actually counts since it’s actually romantic as opposed to non-romantic. I guess as long as there’s plausible deniability it counts.

Main vectors of romance-adjacent behavior

Spending stupid amounts of time together (but they could just be club buddies/coworkers).

Jealousy—I was going to say that Horikashi was an exception, but Kashima is jealous of Nozaki. Hori is annoyed at fangirls if they prevent Kashima from going to club.

Touch (this is mostly Horikashi, but Seo has started rubbing Waka’s head, but let us not forget that Sakura once sat in Nozaki’s lap—prompting Seo to do the same with Waka. Hori has given Kashima a lap-pillow a couple of times, once for Mikoshiba’s sake, and once during the king game)

Knowing a huge amount about the other person (Sakura is an acknowledged stalker, but Hori and Kashima come close)

Feeding (Nozaki, Kashima, and Waka)

Obedience (Kashima listens to Hori, Waka listens to Seo—Sakura and Nozaki actually have a mutually respectful relationship)

Telling them that they like them (Hori demotes this behavior by just telling everyone he likes them, Sakura’s confessions always go awry, and Waka as a joke)

Tolerating the other person’s terrible behavior (Waka obviously (poor kid has Stockholm Syndrome), Hori for Kashima’s singing (he kind of puts up with her other terrible behavior, but also smacks her for it), Sakura putting up with Nozaki’s eccentricities)

Other special treatment (Hori praising Kashima, Kashima hovering around Hori, Seo bullying Waka, Waka idolizing Lorelai but also thinking about Seo (as a troublemaker) a lot, Sakura for almost anything regarding Nozaki, Nozaki mothering Sakura)

Being cheered on by another member of the cast (everyone knows about Sakura’s crush, Mikoshiba is the biggest Horikashi supporter, and even Hori supports Seowaka for the sake of Nozaki’s manga)