#hate hate hate hate haaaate how relatable this character is

[bonefall]

Can you explain your thoughts about Nightheart. His character is probably my favorite to see how everyone perceives him, especially as the arcs gone on and the mindset shifts. I remember when he was the baby trans kitty ppl liked then became the bitchy boy he is today for many people

Personally I’m pretty neutral to him, I think he’s not very great and the writing in certain areas does not help this at all. Also all the unreasonable hate he gets form the surrounding characters makes no sense but that’s just the writers bending their characters to make the male lead seem semi reasonable (to me)

Sure!

I think what really separates my feelings for Nightheart apart from others in the fandom is that I do not think his surrounding characters are being unreasonable; and I like Nightheart because of his abrasive personality.

Before I continue: I don't legitimately accept the trans-coding theory. I think it makes a fun fandom idea but I do not use it when interpreting him.

Nightheart strikes me as a very young, very lonely person looking for validation. The problem of his character is that he refuses to self-reflect or consider his impact on the people around him, alienating his kin and clanmates, blaming all of his problems on the most immediate 'obstacle' on his mind. This is usually authority figures who enforce a consequence.

At first, this is Firestar's legacy itself, largely because people will tell him that he needs to hold himself to a standard. Then, he fails his assessment. At first he knows it's his fault, then over time, it morphs. Now it's about Lilyheart being unfair. The next assessment? He throws himself in front of a large predator. Now it's about Squirrelflight haaaating him.

Nightheart thinks he's a super special descendant of Firestar because it's what he's been told. Then when he acts like he IS special, overestimating himself, he causes trouble for himself and others. So he hates the idea of being special, but at the same time it is part of his identity, and he HAS to impress people, so if they AREN'T impressed, then-- then they must be being unfair!!

Nightheart is young, confused, and self-absorbed.

He doesn't register that people are mentioning Firestar to try and comfort or relate to him. He doesn't even consider the idea that Squirrelflight is concerned about him when he pulls the hawk stunt, nor does he take note of how many times his family has tried to reach him...

And the name ceremony. The name ceremony. Divorce yourself for a moment from the culture here on Tumblr where we (rightfully) accept a name change on the face of it-- names are extremely important to Clan society. Flamepaw did something that is already taboo to Clan cats; he rejected his name. EVERY time this has happened in WC outside of SkyClan, it's been met with shock and mutterings from the rest of the clan, even when it's completely respectful, a request to keep an old, beloved name

And Nightheart didn't do that. He halted the ceremony with an angry rant about Firestar, most beloved leader in the Forest, rejecting the name after BEGGING to take assessments before he was ready, saying he'd "Let you know" after he'd thought about what he'd like to be called.

And he can't even imagine why the Clan would be upset about that!

Why Sparkpelt, extremely proud of her legacy, who picked out 2 fire-related names with Larksong before their kits were even born, would be upset by this. Why Finchlight is upset she has to pick up his slack and he keeps snapping at their mother. Why Myrtlebloom suggests that the Clan sees him as spoiled for having such a stunt entertained.

Largely because he only has his own big, painful emotions on his mind. He's completely caught up in his own head, in his own re-telling of events. And... part of me can't fault a confused (kitty equivalent of an) 18-year-old for lashing out.

He isn't wise enough to untangle this web of emotions and he's desperate for someone, anyone to understand what's wrong with him, as this same behavior pushes away everyone who ever cared about him.

I can't fault any of them! Yeah, Nightheart's old enough to self-reflect, but I've been 18 and Angry and not known how to Stop Being Like That.

Sparkpelt shouldn't have dropped him so harshly after the name stunt, but did everyone expect her to just be cool after he'd loudly rejected her in public twice, thrice if you count the name ceremony?

Squirrelflight?? Whose biggest crime is telling Nightheart that he needs to learn caution because he threw himself in front of a FLYING DINOSAUR? Mad because he ranted about how he doesn't want to be compared to HER DAD in front of the whole clan?? After she tried to suggest special mother/son training sessions, sent him on the catmint journey, attended his second assessment because Bramblestar couldn't show up after making a promise???

He's interesting to me! All of his problems are of his own creation and he's looking for some magic fix to POOF! Make all his pain go away, if others just treated him "more fairly" or if he could "prove them wrong" this time-- but there ARE no magic solutions. He thinks ShadowClan will fix him and it won't! He wants Sunbeam to fill a hole in his heart and she can't!

I like it! I want to see where this goes! I wanna see the little guy wriggle and squirm and tie himself into a greasy knot of his own design. He's unreliable as a narrator. He's unpredictable as a protagonist. I cannot wait to see what kind of wrench he tosses into the dynamics in ShadowClan right now.

I'm compelled in a way I haven't been with the books in years. I just like Nightheart, that is all.

[mdhwrites]

I'm sure I'd be called crazy by the fandom for this but I actually feel bad for Belos.

After the (obvious) reveal that he was a human I didn't like him, rather I hated the idea than the character, because I much more preferred the mysterious figure he was in s1. However the Wittebane brothers conflict was an interesting concept I was curious about until it got no resolution on how things escalated to the current situations.

So I agree Belos is boring (become so to me since mid S2), but I can't hate him.

Especially when it's SO obvious that the writers want me to hate him and they're so insistent about it. It was the same thing with Odalia too, (and Boscha to some degree). And when I can see through the stupid decisions these characters are made to do, despite being nonsensical, it gives me the opposite effect and makes me pity them for the simple fact they've been done dirty. I may also do it out of spite because I hate when a show basically tells me what to do. In this case how I should feel about these characters because they are so evil~ , ok and? I get the idea, are you gonna do anything else besides this?

So the villains that I'm supposed to hate I don't hate. But (ironic) the villains that I'm not supposed to hate, I DO actually hate, which is the collector, for the same reasons you said before, he's really flawed as a character and that sad story of him being a misunderstood child didn't sell me shit, I rolled my eyes.

So this has me torn between talking about The Hand of the Author and kind of the sliding scale of villainy and its weird impact on your audience. I feel like this is mostly about Belos and why his actions never really sell you on him being a monster so let's talk about the inverted relationship between a villain's action and audience response. What am I talking about? Well... It's effectively why our response to someone killing a dog is "I'm so ready to see that fucker die," possibly even with a smile on our face while our response to someone grimacing at a person of color makes our blood boil but then the dude who kills a thousand people by destroying an entire town still needs to give us a reason to care. One is active aggression and the taking of a life while the other is a microaggression... But one that most people will actually relate to. And the last one is so beyond the realm of believability or resonance that it doesn't actually leave much of an impact. Boiled down: It's why the fandom absolutely despises Odalia and Bosch but this is the THIRD ASK where someone goes "I never got into Belos as the most evil thing there". Belos is evil to absurdity. He's killed a LOT of people for really BAD reasons so HATE HIM. Meanwhile, Boscha's just a bitch and not even that good of one and yet people HAAAATE HER. This is why it's an inverted relationship. The more a character is strictly evil, the less an audience is actually going to hate them because often times in order to do so, they become more of a caricature and their actions frankly get more absurd from a human standpoint. Meanwhile, a character who wouldn't even be tried for a crime in real life but is still doing harm is seen as much more evil because that's all too real to the human experience.

This isn't purely meta though. Part of it is that the more plainly evil a character is, the more subconsciously an audience knows they're going to get their comeuppance. This is probably part of why people hate the SU finale so much because these people have done such awful, horrendous, unforgivable things and instead of a punch out or punishment, they're talked down. I haven't seen the finale though so I can't say too much. Quick tangent: The other way around is almost as bad. I've seen Belos' death scene and I despise it because that is not Luz standing there. That is a commentary on "Happy Ever After" endings where even the villain gets to live or the main characters are just that kind hearted. TOH goes so far as to almost characterize even RAINE as being GLEEFUL in murdering this man who is already dying. There's a reason why more finales who want this will have the main character, who is good hearted enough to not want to see life lost, be pulled away by a more morally nuanced character who says it's better this way. Neither is expressing joy but they both recognize the danger needs to be dealt with so they can't save him. It keeps your good guys looking good while allowing for a final moment of moral complexity about when the kindness of the main character finally runs out. Then again, that implies Luz is an actually kind character who has endless amounts of love to give and is not just blessed by the author to make friends with anyone they want to.

Sorry. Back on track. This meta context makes it so that a pure evil villain, one who does things that are entirely unrepentant, is flagged as going to be taken down someday. There's no coming back for them. Someone with more nuance or does smaller aggressions though can still appear human which makes the actions feel less like the writer's evil thoughts made manifest and instead like a person who had the choice one day to be mean or kind... And chose mean. And that they may never choose kindness but that the chance is always there. And not only is that more compelling, it's far more painful to the audience. It's effectively what I HAVE to write a lot for Rich Witch because these characters claim to be friends but have been raised in a way that makes the inherent act of friendship almost toxic... But you can see glimpses of better. Moments like Igni and Azu talking about a book series they like. Blair and Pythia showing real care for each other. Azu opening up and taking risks with Daina even while she keeps such strict control over the rest of the friend group and even Daina. It's meant to be frustrating because that's where they're going to grow out of. And this is also why the show's attempts at humanizing Belos, at trying to pull back from him pure evil, is actually worse than him being one note. I've talked to MANY people about the fact that Rich Witch is a LONG series because these complications require time, effort and focus not only to make not all be lip service (Hi Hunter) or feel rushed (Hi Amity to some extent, because while Lumity doesn't feel rushed, your character development does). It is genuinely good sometimes to just have a one note, but fun, villain that an audience can be excited to see curb stomped. They don't need much fleshing out. They don't even need much screentime because they can set up their credentials REAL FAST. But then we get into the inherent issue with TOH: It knows one note villains are not something people praise... But it doesn't know why a show like Avatar still has Ozai. Because Ozai is not a complex villain. Any complexity comes from his children but we learn honestly very little about him throughout the series besides him being a bastard and that works GREAT. It gives us a moral opposite to Aang, who constantly tries to do right by everyone, his evil justifies Azula's evil and why we would go so far against his son and banish him and allows us to understand why the Fire Nation is as ruthless as it is... All without wasting much time! I'm pretty sure the closest we get to a real episode that is an equivalent to Hollow Mind for Ozai is pretty much during the invasion of the Black Sun when Zuko defects... AND IT'S STILL NOT EVEN MAIN PLOT OF THE EPISODE! Because what's important there is the deep villain, not the one note one. And yet TOH devoted so much time to Belos while ignoring Hunter besides backstory implications which is not how you flesh out one of your theoretically main characters at that point. Because it doesn't want to be accused of having a basic villain despite all the fun people have had with characters like the Joker.

And frankly, I feel like that comes down to not understanding either the importance of that inversion. Something going for horror or cruelty might try to humanize to cause discomfort in an audience. A reflection of our own reality but also broken is going to hurt more. But... If you're, I dunno, an adventure comedy, that sort of tone might not be useful for you. It might just be better to have someone who can facilitate really cool fights and let our heroes have a lot of Big Damn Hero Moments because those fit with the tone you're going for. It also sells us on why EVERYONE wants this fucker gone so we don't have to worry about the consequence of if the heroes murder him because you're curious why God himself has not struck him down. And not understanding this creates a problem like not understanding why simple, likable, mostly flawless main characters exist. Because sometimes that's just what's best for the story, especially if you have any sort of time limit to telling your story. But Belos only started getting spotlighted in S2B so the writers clearly didn't give a fuck about that expect, did they? So they went with what makes for a better video essay. Or blog in this case, even if it made for a worse story.

=========

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead, If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

And finally a Twitter you can follow too!

[stevethehairington]

overshare time!

tag 10 people you wanna know better!

thank you @stevesbipanic for the tag!! 💕

relationship status: haha single.

favorite color(s): purple! also teal and peach which are the color scheme of my room and have been since college lol

favorite food: suuuuushiiiiii mm mmm. i could eat sushi all dayyy

song stuck in my head: it's been bouncing back and forth between animals by nickelback LOL, rag doll by aerosmith, and black velvet by alannah myles ifor like the past week straight

last thing you googled: max greenfield LMAO

time: 5:41 pm

dream trip: i have been DYING to go to italy my whole life. or greece. or i would KILL to go to prague just so i can see the bone church

last book you read: the last book i read was misery by stephen king

last book you enjoyed reading: i did enjoy misery! it was very entertaining and classic sk lol which is always fun

last book you hated reading: ooh last book i hated reading hm. well haha. oh man i have some friends who are going to haaaate me for saying this but. probably piranesi by susanna clarke. i wouldn't say i hated it, but it just. kind of bored me. and i wanted so badly to like it because the whole concept behind the book is so cool! and some of the imagery in it really is gorgeous, but i just couldn't get into it for some reason :/

favorite to cook/bake: i actually love making homemade bagels, it's so fun and they taste even better than store bought (duh lol) and bagels are my favorite things so.

favorite craft to do in your free time: i suppose writing would fit here haha. but yeah i do a lot of writing in my free time if my inspiration and motivation will allow for it.

most niche dislike: i am SURE i have a niche dislike but i literally cannot think of anything rn that isn't like the common ones like the sound of people chewing or neighbors blasting music at 11pm at night.

opinion on circus(es): i don't really care for them one way or the other, they're just kind of things that exist that i haven't given much though to really.

do you have a sense of direction:  HAHA NO. or like. yes but not a good one haha. like i know my neighborhood pretty well and the streets around it, but ask me where the presidio is in relation to my apartment or how to get to the castro from work and im like uhhh idk? lol. i am also one of those people that can not tell you the names of what streets you take to get somewhere for the life or them but ABSOLUTELY can be like oh yeah you turn left at the giant rock! and then right at the combination kfc taco bell! which annoys my mom to no end hahaha. i also cannot tell you which way is n/s/w/e either like lol do not ask me that.

tell us about you D&D character: haha yeah so. i have only ever played dnd one (1) time rip, and i was kind of confused about the whole thing so my character is probably suuuper lame, but her name is Periwinkle, Peri for short, and she is a human rogue level 3 (we were asked to make our charactes human and level 3 for the oneshot, so that's why lol). she had a haunted past and can talk to spirits which is p cool. but uh yeah it's been a while and like i said it was for one oneshot lol so i don't really remember the backstory i gave her rip.

tagging:

@steviemunson @mostmetalmunson @pizzaqueen @aberfaeth @eddie-unbanished @stevethehairington @cherry-vamps @rippedkicks @oatflatwhite @tear-soaked-cheeksdonteverlast

[intergalacticaquarium]

When I first started writing Eddie fics I thought that y/m was the self insert but now I think it's become clear it's the other way around

[radicalposture]

hmmmmrrrghhhh do u ever like. ok you know when you start liking something (like an artist/a book/whatever) because you really connect with it in a Neurodivergent Way but then you find out that everybody (meaning like. popular opinion on here or irl) haaaates it. like actively despises it and mocks it all the time. and then after you do some soul searching you really have a clear conscience that there’s nothing “wrong” with it or “problematic” or w/e and it kind of drives home to you how little empathy people have for aberrant behaviour or ways of thinking.

what i mean is like, take a book or film that portrays a character who is displaying Neurodivergent Traits and you’re having a good time relating and ‘ha i do that’ and then you realise that public opinion despises that character for those very reasons. or an artist says or does something socially unacceptable and you think ‘ahhhh i could definitely see myself making that blunder and getting myself in trouble’ or ‘ouch i used to behave like that before i was diagnosed’ but no one has any empathy or flexibility or understanding at all and they’re completely written off. or someone’s like oh no reason i just hate their vibes when thats exactly what draws you towards them.

i know this seems unimportant and subtle but it’s something that bugs me so much like if you despise this fictional character for x reason or get irritated by that celebrity for y reason then i get this horrible sinking feeling because i am also x and y and you’re kind of telling me you’d hate me too

[strangertheory]

I agree with you about Karen but will reserve my right as a gay to pretend that Karen and Joyce are in love and Billy never happened djsjd. I also want to point out that I hate the writers for this, the 80s trope is why they did it and I hate that. I haaaate that I lvoe Karen and they just UGH. I get that at the time there probably was not as much education on 18 not meaning adult etc (at least for someone like her) but you’re releasing this in the 2010s? It just hurts that they did this to her

From a fanfiction perspective in which I allow myself to disregard the actual events of the series I have always enjoyed the idea of Karen and Joyce as a ship, too. I can relate. For a while I kept thinking to myself “Let’s have Karen leave Ted for Joyce already” but I don’t have that same affection for canon-Karen’s character anymore at this point following the events of season 3. I have a lot of fanfiction-esque “wouldn’t it be nice?” thoughts about this series and its characters. I try very hard to stay aware of my own biases and keep my wishful thinking separate from my analyses of what is actually happening in the show itself, however.

80s references and movie tropes are part of the masonry of Stranger Things, but the writers are still purposefully selecting how they use those tropes as building blocks within this new story and they are still actively deciding to which characters they assign these tropes. 

Karen’s subplot in which she considered sleeping with a teen lifeguard is both an 80s trope and now also inherently part of her characterization and storyline in Stranger Things whether we like it or not. Otherwise the writers could have created a new character for the purpose of that plotline. (Why not Heather’s mom, for example?) They decided to use Karen Wheeler and add this to her story. Maybe it’s trivial and was done casually without any greater narrative purpose, and maybe it wasn’t.

I never assume that any detail in an incomplete story is serving only one narrative or creative purpose until the story is complete and we can see the entire path of each characters' journeys and look back at the decisions made by the writers in hindsight. 

Will Dart return and will Dustin’s friendship with Dart have an impact on future plotpoints?  Does Karen’s behavior towards Billy matter within the context of a larger story being told, or is it only an 80s trope? We have to wait and see.

Dismissing a character's unusual behavior as unimportant or as a mistake made by the writers rather than first considering the possibility that the writers wanted us to recognize the character's behaviors as changing or as revealing something that we, the audience, had not been aware of previously might be undermining our ability to understand the story being told. Just because we dislike something does not mean it will not serve a greater purpose in the larger story eventually. It just means we'd rather that it didn't. And I can relate to that!

I have similar thoughts regarding the way that some fans blamed Hopper’s issues with his temper and patience on excessive 80s trope references rather than considering the possibility that the writers intended to characterize Hopper this way. Why not trust that the authors do have an intention in assigning those behaviors to Hopper? We might not understand why yet, but I think it’s unreasonable to dismiss things until we see where the writers are taking these types of plot-points later on in their story.

Karen and Billy can be paying tribute to an 80s trope while also existing as intentionally designed characters within their own story arcs in Stranger Things. These two things are not mutually exclusive.

Thank you for your message! I enjoyed hearing your thoughts. I share your appreciation for Karen/Joyce fanfiction, but my conception of fanfiction-Karen is very different from my thoughts about Karen in the series itself.

[jesstinsource]

Also more of what Brandon said: "I think I literally raced to [showrunner] Brian [Yorkey] right after the first table read and was like, "It's Justin isn't it?" Brian was one of those people who was like, "We can't kill off the character who's continually trying to be better." I was like, "Oh, yes we can." 🙃 he also talks about how the audience grieved his death too, tho i think they really didnt think about the impact it would have on people who relate to him.

brandon choke challenge. i love him but wow, imagine being gay and doing the whole gay/lgbt+ community so dirty with such a harmful fucking storyline and only creating more stigma around something so awful, then defending it. by all means i understand brandon knowing justin’s gonna die, and being okay with it...... but the way it was done? seriously?........ ugh i hate it. i haaaate it. what the fuck is “we can’t kill of the character continually trying to get better” and then “oh yes we can” brandon shut the fuck up. oh my god. 

everything he says is so contradictory? dylan said he and brandon wanted it to be justin. brandon said he found out a month in and he cried about it? why would he cry if he wanted it to happen? and now he says he wanted it to happen? ugh

[tellywoodtrash]

Hello TT! Hope you are doing good and thinking about Siddhant at all times. I was wondering, have you every watched Grey's Anatomy? Do you still follow it? If you used to watch, what made you give up? Also, your general take on most characters?

I have watched Grey’s! I gave up a little after Christina left, because she was my favourite character and her bond with Meredith was the highlight of the show for me. Plus the constant tragedy just got to me, man. Like how much can ONE set of people undergo!?! So I gave up at a place where I felt was a good endpoint for all my characters.

Meredith: Didn’t like her in the start, but she grew on me and I loved her by the end of my watch. I really really liked seeing a female lead struggling with her mental health and life’s BS and coming out stronger on most occasions. Very very relatable.

Derek: Dreamy and all, but quiiiiiite egotistic. So I oscillated between loving and hating him depending on what was happening in the episode.

Christina: After Kashaf Murtaza, Christina is probably the most “me” character in media. More than one female friend of mine calls me their Christina, because that’s the kinda person I am in a friendship. Unconditionally supporting, but also will give you the plain truth (though maybe not as tactlessly as her.) I’m so glad she got the perfect happy ending for her character.

Alex: Was quite an ass in the first few seasons, but quickly grew to be my fav. boy when he got soft. His friendship with Meredith after Christina left, and they were the only two of the OG group left, had all my heart.

Izzie + George: Hate. I haaaated them both. Just annoying to me till the day they died. The show got soooo much better to me once I didn’t have to tolerate the two of them.

Lexie: Annoying to me, most times but also endearing. A true younger sibling.

Mark: Started out mehhhh,but I was quite heartbroken to lose him by the end. A good bro to Derek/Arizona/Jackson.

Bailey: Bosssssssssssss bitch! Love her. I wanna see a female character of her caliber on ITV. I guess Dr. Kirti on DMG was the closest.

Jackson: Love love love. So dreamy. I was kinda hoping that brief spark he had with Christina would turn into something bigger, but ultimately they weren’t really right for each other. 

Arizona: Another one of my absolute fav characters. I loved watching her accept her sexuality and the friendship she had with Mark.

Callie: Loved her at first but then she cheated on Arizona and I could never get over it. That plus the whole thing about her leg. Like ugh. That character really annoyed me towards the end.

Dr. Webber: So many complicated emotions, but ultimately, Dad.

The rest of the characters are mostly too minor for me to remember after all these years, so meh.

PS - Along with Rumi, I also quoted this at my BFF in a letter I wrote for her wedding.

[bengalisasuke]

Hinata for the character thing!

ooooh man. here comes izzy’s inner misogynist about to jump out. 

How I feel about this character:

for the sake of this question, we’re going to go ahead and split hinata into three distinct characters because my feelings on her are so complicated i feel like i might be here for a while if we have to talk about her as one complete being but here we go. 

part 1 hinata was EASILY my fav i mean like who couldn’t relate to her shy girls #represent and her refusal to give up in the face of her clearly more talented cousin was inspiring! she was strong and brave and i loved that and the fact that she was one of the first characters to like...find strength in naruto’s words? iconic i really loved that little girl sm 

part 2...i dunno i dont think she was that relevant i liked the pain fight and how she stood up but ahwiujnsdlkwe if you want me to be honest? i...i didn’t like it that much because i remember my stomach literally dropping when i was watching it because i used to be a naruhina shipper but like. not like this! not like this! god not to sound like a hypocrite but we all say that naruto’s devotion to sasuke is unhealthy but also like...in an extent its kind of worse with hinata because from a narrative point of view she exists as nothing but naruto’s like. for his constant affirmation and adoration and love and love and she loses any semblance of personality after that she’s still the same blushing girl in shippuden despite her not having seen naruto for two and a half years and it was just...painful to see a young girl (who could have had the potential to still be strong!!!) be reduced to like. a blushing fainting and stammering mess when naruto so much as looked at her outside of combat situations ITS JUST. AGONIZING. like i dont care that she had a crush on naruto but to make it her ONLY defining trait when shes around the motherfucker gets on my nerves and i want to grab kishimoto by the balls and tell him that GIRLS ARENT LIKE THAT YOU STUPID BASTARD

the last and boruto and blank period: i hate i hate i haaaate what they did to her i hate the fucking titty belt i hate that she became a housewife i hate that whatever she had going for her was gone forever and ever i cant even be happy for her because she doesn’t have anything going for her like SHE GOT PREGNANT AT 20? 19? WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON? 

All the people I ship romantically with this character

sakura....but honestly kibahina should have been endgame i know that kiba had a crush on hinata i KNOW HE DID AND HE WAS SO NICE TO HER AND EVERYTHING and like...naruto...sorry man but naruto is just so ignorant of her i cant help but think she definitely deserves better like hinata is always so conscious of naruto’s needs but rarely the other way around i wanna like. DIE i hate that she’s become the perfect waifu so people can self-insert w naruto like. kibahina rights NOW

My non-romantic OTP for this character: 

naruhina i feel they’d be good friends tbh AND sakuhina...scream naruto and sakura egging hinata on to ask kiba out would be so cute 

My unpopular opinion about this character:

i think she can be very cruel sometimes like...to neji? like everything she said to him? screams. i wish we got to see more of that side of her instead of the rest of the series just softening her and like already warping her into this absolute caricature of a woman like. shoutout to girls who reclaim her but i absolutely cannot do it im sorry couldn’t be me 

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

literally end the fucking branch system like what’s going on what’s happening can we please get some common scents can we please get some plot development please she’s the love interest of the main guy youre gonna tell me she’s going to sit around and knit scarves and NOT DO ANYTHING? HELLO? 

[mmecolbert]

Tell us why you hate Luke's rant in Fall! I always hate him, so I'm biased.

ooh boy. this’ll get long, I just know it, but there are sooo many reasons, so I’m just gonna…

Lemme just start off by saying that I don’t like how SP acted it. I’m neverimpressed by Scott’s acting, but I particularly dislike his more emotionalscenes. I just find that every thing he emotes has an added layer of aggressionto it that always irks me. But I guess that’s a more personal preference/issue, so I’m not gonna dwell on that…

But beyond that, I feel that the content of the speech, whatit implies about Luke and their relationship, and what it ultimatelyaccomplishes leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

First, it bothers me that Luke just sort of unloads onLorelai as soon as she walks through the door. They haven’t spoken to eachother in weeks (or, let’s be honest, had any real communication between each other for years), and during this time Luke made a bunch of assumptions about Lorelai and their relationship withoutspeaking a word to her prior to this (spoke to Jess, tho, because he’s the right person to talk to in this situation, apparently), then Luke proceeds to not let her speak hermind when she tries to explain herself, and then lays out all he’s been feeling(based on false assumptions) before she can say a word. To me that implies continued lackof communication and Luke putting his feelings/need to express himself and his perspective ahead ofLorelai. I don’t like that.

Second, it bothers me that the theme of that speech isn’t“Lorelai, I love you, I think we’re great together, and I want to spend my lifewith you, and if you feel that we have problems then I’ll do my best to work onthem”; the actual theme is “Lorelai, I feel like you’re gonna leave me, butplease don’t because, hey, we’ve been together this long and I like a goodstatus quo, and we might as well keep it going until we die.” The first themeis romantic and suggests growth from Luke and could realistically lead to agreat marriage proposal. The second theme suggests that Luke’s biggest desireis for things to change as little as possible, he’s got no desire to grow, andhis idea of a relationship is physical presence, as opposed to love,communication, mutual growth, etc. I don’t hear Luke saying that he desperatelyloves Lorelai in that speech, I hear him saying that he doesn’t want her toleave because he doesn’t want things to change, and he wants to be with Lorelaibecause the other option seems logistically harder.

On a related note, I don’t like that Luke is pretty muchbegging Lorelai not to leave him in that speech, even though he’s doubting ifLorelai even loves him. Again, it speaks to Luke’s fear of change, but also tohow unfulfilling their relationship sounds. They have no communication skills,they share nothing in each other’s lives, they seem incapable of emotionalintimacy with each other, they don’t even share their finances (re: April’sEuro trip/schooling), Luke’s been inexplicably relegated to Sookie’s part-timereplacement at the inn, etc. Emily correctly points out that all that LL are isroommates. They’re not even partners. And in that speech Luke is desperatelytrying to hold on to even that. What does Luke even get out of this relationship? What in the world is romantic about the reality that he paints? Andsomehow them marrying each other will make all this better? 

Third, I haaaate Luke saying that they watched each other gofrom person to person until they finally settled on each other. Luke didn’thave to watch Lorelai go from Max to Chris to Jason to whoever else. Lorelaiowed him nothing. Lorelai had no idea what his feelings were. Lorelai wasn’tLuke’s property that Luke watched be passed around until she finally came backto where she belonged, with him. Luke could have told her how he felt and askedher out on a date instead of watching her. He also didn’t have to marry Nicoleif he had feelings for Lorelai. Their whole relationship could have feasiblystarted a lot earlier, without anyone pining for the other, if he had expressedhis feelings. But he didn’t. So this argument that he makes—that after somany years of them watching each other be with other people consequently makes them endingup together right or special or worth it or whatever—-is fucking stupid andwholly his fault.

Again, related to this, why does Luke even bring this up? Ifthis conversation had been had right after they got together in season 7, thenit would’ve made a modicum of sense. But Luke brings this up after he andLorelai had already been together for almost a decade, so him even bringing uppast exes seems completely out of place.

Finally, I hate that the whole speech resolves exactlynothing. Did the speech improve their communication problems? No. Did it ensurethat LL will share their feelings, finances, lives, etc. (like a normalcommitted couple would) from this moment forward? No. It didn’t even convinceLorelai to marry Luke—because obviously she’d already come to that decisionon her own during the Wild trip. So what exactly was the point of it? For Luketo remind us that he’ll always be there for Lorelai? We already know that. Shealready knows that. Luke is the guy who will never, ever, ever leave—not outof love or anything, but because he’s comfortable with staying in the same spotand not moving. He’s fully rooted and unmovable. That’s neither new information,nor a sign of his love for Lorelai, nor an illustration of his charactergrowth. If anything, it’s an illustration that he doesn’t and won’t change.That’s not a fantastic trait in a person who’s in a relationship that does needa lot of growth and personal change in order for it to start looking evenremotely healthy.

That speech didn’t show us that Luke has grown. That speechdidn’t show that Luke and Lorelai are going to grow and resolve their personaland relationship problems. That speech didn’t resolve any issue that Luke andLorelai have repeatedly shown to have from the very beginning of theirrelationship. All that speech did was give a cue for Lorelai to resignedly say,“I think we should get married.” Because, as Luke pretty much said, eehh they’vebeen together for so long, so they might as well.

So what am I supposed to get from that whole scene otherthan that Luke and Lorelai will continue to have the same problems, but nowthey’ll have a marriage certificate?

If I had any desire to revisit any part of AYITL or even more closely analyze that scene, I’d probably come up with more problems, because my reaction to it was so viscerally negative that I think there are more issues in it that I haven’t processed yet, nor do I want to. But overall, I felt that the issue highlighted the problems that LL have both individually and as a couple, that they are not at all on the road to resolving them but instead seem permanently stagnant, and that marriage is being used as the ultimate problem solver for everything. 

ok i think i’m done now, thanks for your time :)

[boethiahsboytoy]

🎭🎁 for sethsa :3 also tell me more abt her!! - esther

Thank you for asking abt her 🥺 Luv Sethsa so much she's fun for me 2 think abt I'm excited that anyone is interested in her !!!!!

🎭 - Does your OC show different sides of themselves to different people?

Oh definitely!! Part of it probably comes from trickery being part of Being A Thief, but she also feels like as a Demiprince she has a Reputation to uphold, even before the Guild knows that about her. So she wants them to see her as formal and slightly aloof.

Then around Chal (one of Toby's OCs and her best friend aside from Deathcry) she will Occasionally relax and be more chilled out. She even *gasp!* cracks jokes around him!! But there's an unspoken agreement between the two of them that any vulnerability or expressions of affection will Never Be Mentioned Again lmao.

Shes most affectionate around Deathcry, but to be fair she made(?/summoned?) Deathcry when she was Very little so she's been with Sethsa From The Start and has seen every side of her hehe uwu

🎁 - What kind of gift-giver are they? Do they give thoughtful gifts? Expensive gifts? Practical gifts?

She gives thoughtful but small gifts. Things that can be easily hidden away but still mean something dear to whoever she's giving them to. I think being part of the Thieves' Guild would definitely make giving small things like that sort of. Necessary?? Bc 1) you wouldn't want someone to see smthn n try n Yoink it and 2) can be easily hidden in an emergency and 3) doesn't take up valuable space. But also because Sethsa herself doesn't feel comfortable doing big, dramatic things for people so if she's getting someone a gift she'd like to quietly hand it over without making it a Whole Thing.

I think she would also make genuine, Enchanted With Some Daedric Shit, good luck charms to the Guild and her friends. Very practical for Thieves, but also a clear sign that she's looking out for them and wants them to be ok:') It's how she shows she cares, and the Guild knows it. Plus, they love the luck lmao!

Some Random Sethsa Facts too!!!:

-She has a sweet tooth and her favorite snack is bread with honey :3 she lets the honey soak into a bit so it's a little crunchy. If she's feeling REALLY self indulgent, she sprinkles a bit of cinnamon on top 😊

-Feels like it's a Little Weird for a Demiprince to worship Daedric Princes but still shows a great amount of Respect for Boethiah, Mephala, and Azura.

-Related to last: before I solidified her character at all I toyed with the idea of her being Boethiah's Champion!

-Has a really good maternal instinct! One of my first ideas for her was that she kills off Grelod and takes in all the kids at Honorhall (plus the lil dude trying to summon the Dark Brotherhood). Since they all seem to be Interested In Violence she would be delighted to start training them to be sneaky little killers lol. Even now she still loves kids and would never hurt, scare, steal from, etc. a child and also still kills Grelod before giving a shitton of money to Honorhall Orphanage.

-Somewhat related: She definitely has contact with the Dark Brotherhood (when I was first making her I actually had the Brotherhood Sort Of taking her in, with Babette being her favorite auntie) and is even on friendly terms with them!

-HAAAATES the cold. Hates it more than anything. Resents the mere Existence of snow.

-Actually very nervous in Dwemer ruins. And Falmer caves. Stays away from them.

-Terrified of drowning and hates the fact that Riften is just. Water n canals.

-Feels massive amounts of guilt over the Eyes of the Falmer. Hates that the Guild held onto them. Steals them again one night and goes back to where they were taken. Yes that particular cave was destroyed, but not everything else. She leaves them a little ways inside Irkngthand for the Falmer to find. She doesn't know if they care about the Eyes or will do anything with them, but they never should have been taken.

-(Her, Karliah, Brynjolf, and Boltu all snuck past the Falmer. Sethsa wouldn't allow the other three to harm them)

-Doesn't worship the Divines but appreciates the Priests of Mara. Makes anonymous donations to the Temple of Mara occasionally. I think if she met Erandur she'd think he's really cool. :)

-Modern AU! Sethsa loves pop music. Toby and I have joked that she and Chal met at and would go to One Direction concerts together. (She would have been INCONSOLABLE the day they broke up. Bad enough that the Guild collectively wonders if they should try summoning Nocturnal bc they have NEVER seen Sethsa cry) (disclaimer im not making fun of Directioners I cried so much when Daft Punk broke up and made my beef start to listen to their Entire discography with me and the next day I played their Alive 2007 album in the car and SOBBED like. I get it. IF THAT HAD HAPPENED WHEN I WAS A TEENAGER I would have had to be pulled out from school I WOULD NOT function like I Get It.)

-Secretly likes having her hair braided. Karliah braids it occasionally.

-Related: thinks Dwemer braids are sick as fuck but too nervous to admit it

-Also related: When she finally accepts Boltu is Guildmaster and a part of her family, she realizes that at his core he's a good dude with big dad energy. She's not sure how to tell him this so she asks him to braid her hair. She doesn't care if it looks nice or not, this time it's about the Meaning.

-I just think it would be neat if her eyes glowed naturally. No reason for it except glowing eyes r cool as hell.

-Hates wearing pants; dresses and skirts are where it's at!!!! (Ofc she knows not to wear a long ass dress when it's impractical, but when she's just hanging out or traveling she'll be wearing dresses or skirts)

-Related: she enjoys being feminine! And looking nice! Just because she's a shadowy thief n half Daedra doesn't mean she can't be pretty uwu

- Vaguely related: she likes soft fabrics like silk. Or velvet. Idk how lore accurate either of those things are but like *gestures at the things that Are In The Lore* can't be thay weird if they aren't!

-Likes touchin' flower petals. Especially if they make her fingers smell nice afterwards.

That's it for rn bc I'm Tired n can't thibk of anything else also im sorry that these Facts r pretty all over the place I just love thinking up random small details abt my OCs SO much

[spraklecat]

Amusing thoughts about Magnum XL-200

Because I’ve been thinking about him too much lately.  I’m not even that fond of the actual coaster, but I love how much personality the thing has and I’d love to give it more of a chance if/when I ever go to Cedar Point again.

(Some are a little nsfw and get kind of heavy)

-Actually a huge weeb since he was inspired by a Japanese coaster lol  He likes watching old anime with Vortex and more recently, city pop. 

-Wears too much spandex and otherwise overly revealing/tight clothing and SV usually has to tell him to put some real pants on because it's a family friendly park.

  -Honestly his fashion taste in general is best described as 50% space shuttle 50% dominatrix

-Has some fucking nice legs from jumping around so much.  Would be very good at steeplechase races since endurance running and jumping are 100% his thing

-Acts like like a crazy bouncy Lazytown character in general except naughtier and not very flexible or graceful but he makes up for it in his amusing antics and energy

-Fittingly, he fucking loves bananas and can't get enough of them.  He would crawl in through someone's window at night just to take their bananas if he was hungry enough. 

-He either loves or hates people, there's not much of an in between.  He's surprisingly judgemental and doesn't get along with most modern coasters, especially B&Ms, because of his experiences with Raptor and Rougarou, but is much more open towards wooden coasters and Togos, Vekomas, and other Arrows.  It's partly out of jealousy on his part, partly out of the fact that a lot of newer coasters don't like his abrasive personality.

-He's very loyal and almost clingy towards those he is close to, though, and is VERY hurt when people abandon him and it can be damn hard to fix those relations with people because he doesn't believe much in change. 

-He's really stuck in the past in general and has trouble with pretty much any kind of newer technology, which Vortex or SV usually help him with.  It's largely because as said before, he's scared of/tends to deny change.

-And he's a cocky bastard because of that mindset as well, still thinks he's the best damn coaster in the world and all other hypercoasters are just wanna-bes and challenging that is a good way to get on his bad side

-A lot of his persona is due to his insecurities, which he mostly deals with through denial.  See: his fondness for high heels and corests, his over the top public behavior, and rudeness towards newer coasters to prove he's not a gentle overengineered ride.

-He can be very moody and unpredictable,  but generally is most agreeable in the morning, gets cranky around midday, then just goes bonkers in the evening.  Because of his moodiness, others joke about him being an honorary wooden coaster since they're that way too (and his ride design was inspired by them).

  -When depressed, he tends to be even more dramatic than usual and laugh hysterically at everything, even if it's really not funny.  That or get really snippy and unusually withdrawn.

-If he ever looks normal, something's wrong.  His default state is wacky and outrageous and he loves to dress up so he only will go out in a normal shirt and jeans if he's actively trying to blend in or having a damn mental breakdown (or theoretically a physical one but being an Arrow, he's very durable in that regard).

-Well this is starting to get a little depressing.  His main close relations are SV(best friend), Vortex (his bf), his hyper siblings Desperado and Big One, and the other CP Arrows (they're like his adoptive family though their relationships have gotten strained).  And while he doesn't particularly like them, Gatekeeper and Valravn still keep trying to be nice to him and change him because they're sweet and optimistic like that.

-Him and Steel Phantom used to be a thing until she was modified and dumped him and distanced herself from a lot of the other Arrows realizing how toxic they could be.  He's still sort of raw from it and it's a big part of his fear of change and the two mutually agreed not to talk since.

-Okay, back to random silly stuff instead.  He's fond of poppier 80s metal and cheesy dance music which Vortex haaaates

-He's gotten a little soft in the middle and SV and Vortex like to poke it because he's ticklish and his reactions are funny.

-He is also always the big spoon because nobody wants all that hair in their face lol  Also because he's the protective type and his partners have always been smaller than him. 

-He used to love blowing kisses at people when he was younger and not so cranky and bitter. 

-Into some crazy shit but that's not appropriate for here :P

-His hugs are godawful don't do it he's so damn boney it's like hugging a small tree

-His appetite is completely disproportional to his appearance and either terrifying or hilarious depending on the person.  This is because the coaster is known as a real line-eating ride for its impressive rider capacity.  

-Has taken TTD under his wing and the two go around "borrowing" cars and going way too fast over speed bumps and bonding over their love of dirty jokes.  TTD doesn't quite know what to think of him and is frankly a little scared of him but he's pretty fun. 

-Don't call him a redhead, it's MOLY ORANGE IT'S THE NOT THE SAME THING DAMMIT HE HASN'T HAD ACTUALLY RED HAIR IN YEARS

[e1odin]

tag thing

i was tagged by @bookcub my friend, i thank you !

1. Did you have a book phase you are ashamed of?

hmm, honestly i wouldn’t go so far as to say ‘ashamed of’ but when i was rly into warriors and made shitty ocs and watched lol so random warrior spoofs and things im like... yikes...

2. How many books do you have marked as read on goodreads?

105 ! that doesn’t seem like a lot, but i’ only joined in september, and i didn’t bother putting in every book i had read prior to that, just the ones i particularly loved / hated lmao

3. Worst book you ever read?

if we’re talking books i didn’t finish, then i am number four by pittacus lore. if we’re talking books i did finish, the maze runner by ?? idk and im too lazy to check. god i hate those books. haaaate them. and i mean both are kinda ?? popular too im like... friends.... why...

4. What are you currently reading?

currently rereading the wise mans fear for the fourth time :,) but i just bought lord of the white hell and the child theif which i’m SO excited to read

5. What character do you look the most like?

my friend alex says i look like apollo from trials of apollo ! when he’s in human form of course, i am unfortunately not a god (yet?). and i mean i can agree w that lmao (also i love apollo he’s A+)

6. Do you have any book posters and if so, of what?

i have a hobbit poster, if that counts ! i got it in grade 7 when i was super into the hobbit and it was my pride and joy lmao. but i’d love more book posters 

7. What book do you want to become a movie/TV series (assuming it’s done well of course)?

oh definitely the secret history. oh lord that would be a beautiful movie. think of the cinematography. i’m going to faint. also ari and dante would be a fantastic tv series ahhh

8. What is the most quotable book in your opinion?

the secret history definitely has some gems, if you’re into pretentious quotes. the sacred lies of minnow bly does as well, and of course i have the say the kingkiller chronicle, with such gems as “his ass fell off”

9. What quote has stuck with you?

stuck with me... i liked the one from enders game when he was talking to the wolves, and he said “laugh all you like, [...] i know what you are” like when i read that in grade 8 i was like damb... that’s some deep shit... i also like elodins “quit grabbing my tits” lines, it’s got a good message (lmao). i like the “we think we have many desires, but in fact we only have one” “to live” “to live forever”  from the secret history too. and there’s the ever relatable “and i’ll keep repeating it doggedly until i die, till i fall over onto my ungrateful nihilistic face and am too weak to say it: better never born than born into this cesspool. sinkhole of hospital beds, coffins, and broken hearts” from the goldfinch

sorry i know you were probably asking for one but alas,

10. Who is your fictional hero?

my fictional hero.... a difficult question. my first thought is elodin, ah, what a guy. but he hasn’t done many heroic things that we’re aware of. i suppose then, laurent from captive prince. or francis from the secret history. for overcoming. 

11. Who is an author you avidly avoid?

i’m sorry to say it but rainbow rowell. i read carry on, and it was great, but from what i’ve seen of her.... i just.... don’t like her as a person.... but she’s the only one to come to mind, thankfully

my questions now !! 

1. A book character who you loved as a child?

2. If you could only read one genre for the rest of your life, what would you pick?

3. A book / series you wish had a bigger fanbase or more recognition?

4. Any book quotes you really disagree with?

5. A movie adaptation you actually like?

6. Do you listen to music while reading? If yes, what kind?

7. Any book / series conclusions that disappointed you?

8. Favourite classic? (if you don’t like classics, then least favourite?)

9. If you could meet any authour, which would you want to meet?

10. Favourite fictional couple? (canon or not)

11. Longest book you’ve ever read?

i tag @twostepsfromtemerant @zylinbiatheseeker @hummelhimmel @waves314 @etstrubal but if you don’t want to / have already done it, don’t bother !

[superhusbands4ever]

the relationship between tony and howard fucks me up a lot, especially since you don't really find out how bad it actually was unless you're down with the comics.. and im not American so i was introduced to marvel through the iron man movie, and obviously i was curious about Tony's past, and the way he gets betrayed by father figures so i dug deeper and I haven't stopped defending him since. Im so upset about how he always gets fucked over by marvel, either in the mcu or the comics

I have so many feelings about Howard Stark. Like, SO MANY. I’ve found that I always have to differentiate between when I’m talking about MCU Howard Stark and Comic Book Howard Stark because my feeling are so mixed up.

Dominic Cooper did an amazing job as Howard Stark in CATFA and in Agent Carter. Watching him as Howard Stark it was easy to see how this man would one day be the father of Tony Stark because they were similar in certain ways. Their mannerisms and certain aspects of their personalities were similar. And because Dominic Cooper made Howard so charming he was a likable character, which caused me a lot of consternation when watching Agent Carter because I knew what Howard was like as a father in the comics. I already had an opinion on Howard Stark as a character and it didn’t match what I saw on TV. I actually had a situation a couple months ago where I said I hated Howard Stark and had to distinguish that I was talking about comic!Howard because I forgot that some people don’t know about comic!Howard, they only know Dominic Cooper’s Howard and were a fan of that character. Which is understandable, Dominic Cooper was a great Howard Stark. But he was also the Howard Stark from before Tony was born, which is a different Howard Stark from after.

In the MCU they don’t really touch on it, what Howard was like as a father. We get glimpses of the relationship between Howard and Tony in Iron Man 2 and in CACW, and while they aren’t downright hostile to each other, you can sense some tension in their relationship. There are two scenes in particular that I think about a lot in regards to MCU Howard and Tony:

What is, and always will be, my greatest creation… is you. from IM2 and the scene in CACW when Tony is demonstrating the BARF technology: “You know whats about to happen. Say something now or you’ll regret it.” “I love you, dad. And I know you did the best you could.” and when the scene is over when Tony says “That’s what I wish had happened.”

It always gets to me when I think about Howard calling Tony his “greatest creation.” I don’t know whether to be angry or frustrated because it could be taken two different ways: Howard thinks of Tony as just another creation, another invention, another machine, and that’s why he gets angry or frustrated when Tony doesn’t behave or act the way Howard believes he should. That’s why Tony and Howard butt heads so much; because Howard doesn’t see Tony as his own person, he sees him as another one of his creations that should just do what Howard expects it or wants it to do. So maybe Tony wants to do his own thing, not follow in his fathers footsteps and make weapons but he wants to create, he wants to make things like JARVIS and Dum-E and the bots, technology to help humanity, not destroy it. And when Tony expresses this it goes against what Howard expects of Tony, of his creation, so he sees that creation as a failure or a disappointment, because that’s not what he created this thing to do. And because Tony is a human being and not just another thing Howard made, he picks up on those feelings and they affect him. And that makes me so mad to think about.

On a more optimistic side, it could just be that Howard (like tony tbh) has no idea how to navigate his feelings towards and his relationships with other people, so he relates them to the next best thing he can understand: his creations. An inventor is proud of his creations, he has some sort of connection to each one of them, some form of proud affection that connects him to each one. So maybe that’s just how he relates his feelings toward Tony, this strange familial affection he doesn’t understand, but understands the closest thing to it. Which is frustrating because it means he cares about Tony (in his own strange way), but can’t express it correctly, so it comes across as uncaring or indifferent, which is what Tony picks up on.

Like I said, they don’t touch on it much in the MCU because, honestly, it’s never really been too relevant to the plot. So with so little information to go on, I could see it going either way. Because either way Tony ends up thinking his father doesn’t love him or never cared, and Tony ends up being neglected as a child.

The scene in CW, I just don’t know what to think. There’s obviously some tension between Tony and Howard in that scene, but there’s some affection towards his father from Tony in his recreation of the memory as well. “I love you, dad. And I know you did the best you could.” It could be that Tony does care for his father in some way. Maybe he matured a bit, understood his father more after dealing with everything he has in his life; Stark Industries, Obadiah, Iron Man, The Avengers, Ultron, etc. Or maybe he just pretended to care because he was showing a bunch of 18-23 year olds a personal memory and he didn’t want to air his dirty laundry in front of everyone. I just don’t know. What I do know is that when Tony says “That’s what I wish had happened.” I can’t help but wonder what really did happen in that moment. Did they have a huge fight? Did he just not say anything, and the last interaction he had with his father was giving him the silent treatment? I don’t know but I dread to find out, I think about that scene ALL the time.

So I have a double understanding of Howard Stark and I struggle with it sometimes. When it comes to MCU!Howard, I believe that MCU!Howard did care about Tony in his own weird, convoluted way, he just didn’t know how to show it so there was some miscommunication between the two as a result.

On the other hand I loath comic book Howard Stark. He’s an alcoholic, physically abusive, emotionally manipulative asshole who does not deserve any type of affection from Tony. I was almost relived when I found out Tony was adopted because it meant he wasn’t related to that dickhead Howard. I have yet to meet a single comic book reader who genuinely likes Howard Stark, he’s so terrible.

But oh boy do I haaaate comic!Howard Stark, man that guy is a bag of dicks, fuck him. Telling Tony he’s not good enough? Always comparing him to Captain America and only acknowledging his mistakes and failures? Sending him to boarding school at 4? Forcing him to start drinking at nine years old?? Beating him, slapping him, punching him, tossing him around??? Fuck that, no thank you, please stay away from the precious child that is Tony Stark, thank you. I. Hate. Him.

[heart-of-dunbroch]

MERIDA DUNBROCH: CHARACTER SHEET 

Wishing, wanting for something more, always better than I had before. Who knew these dreams would come true? And I run the red, won't stop at night, I don't care for traffic lights. Things ain't moving quick enough for me. I guess I've been running round town leaving my tracks, burning out rubber, Driving too fast But I've gotta slow right down.

ORIGINS & FAMILY: Name: Merida Elinor DunBroch Nickname: Mer, Mera, Reason for name: “Oooooh, don’t remind me!” -Merida Merida’s parents had their honeymoon in a sea-side town in Spain where, after a day full of riding on the beach, swimming, dancing and too much drink, Merida was conceived. Her mother is the one who named her, paying homage to Spain while deriving the name from the gaelic “Maighread” meaning ‘pearl.’ Birthday: March 21, 1998  Age: 19 Gender: Female Place of birth: Inverness, Scotland Places lived since: Merida has never moved anywhere, but she has spent a fair amount of time in London, Inverness, Edinburgh, Glasgow and the wild forests and highlands of Scotland. Number of siblings: She has three brothers who are currently 8 years old (and have a long way to go before they can begin training!) They are triplets: Hubert, Hamish and Harris.

Relationship with family (close? estranged?):

Mum-- Ah, Merida and her mother. Welcome to World War 3. When Merida was younger, she got along much better with her mum, enjoying her various lessons because, hey, they were fun back then. She loved learning how to sing and play guitar, how to take care of the horses, she loved the stories and histories of the Order of the Prince too. Sure, Merida was always rascally and always cut lessons short, but they were really close until Mer got to be around 8 or 9 and she wanted to spend all her time riding, exploring, and practicing archery. Now, she can’t for the life of her understand her mum, nor can Elinor understand her. And Elinor has gotten stricter and stricter with Merida the more she acts out which just creates a vicious cycle.

Da- On the flip side, Merida adores her father. He began to teach Merida how to shoot a bow and arrow when she was a wee thing as he didn’t have a son. Merida shares Fergus’s sense of humour and is equally as mischievous. They have a running game of pranks, the two of them, that’s been going on for over a decade now.

Her brothers- aye, y’mean those three red-headed bampots? They were born when Merida was 11 years old, coming out of nowhere, surprising everyone. And if you ask Merida, they’re worse than her when it comes to making trouble, not that her mum even notices. No, they can get away with it because they’re boys. Sexism, Merida cries. Though-- that aside, and though they’re pure terrors, she can count on her brothers to keep her secrets so long as she pays up. Fair’s fair anyway.

Uncle Lachlan- Mer’s uncle, the younger brother of Fergus. He’s a bit of a jakey himself, and too harsh on Lachlan. His wife left him years ago because of his drinking problem.

Lachlan- Merida’s cousin (son of Fergus’s brother) who is just a few months younger than her. He’s expected to eventually rise to be the new patriarch of the Dunbroch brood, but for all the metal in Mer’s blood, he’s got none of it. His first solo hunt ended in disaster and he’s been too scared to hunt ever since. He shares Merida’s love for horses though and she loves Lachlan for his support and friendship.

Aunt and Uncle MacDonald: On her mum’s side, Merida’s got Uncle Harris, her mum’s big brother, and his wife, Aunt Tamra. Uncle Harris disapproves of Merida’s behavior though Merida says that’s just because she can beat his own sons at any sport there is-- just watch!

Innis and Iain MacDonald: Her twin cousins who are just nine months her senior, which means she would be beatin’ their arses in every training session, field trip and tourney if given the chance. Both of ‘em are your typical MacDonald Knight-bros-- aggressive, short-tempered, proud. Both are skilled with longswords and tridents and know how to handle some heavy artillery because they’re often out on the lake, lookin’ for Nessie. But neither’s slain their first monster.

Senga MacDonald: just 15 and already a nail in Merida’s bum. Her little cousin’s everything a proper lady of the Order should be and likes to tease Merida that if Mer doesn’t take over Castle Cawdor, then she sure will. She’s got a crush on Donald MacIntosh though (who’s got a thing for Mer), so Mer gets a small sense of victory.

Robert “Rabbie” MacDonald: Merida’s 13 year old cousin who is getting ready to start his years in the Order and worships Innis and Iain.

Aunt Aileen and Uncle Quinn MacIntosh: Her mum’s younger sister, Aunt Aileen, married the youngest of the MacIntosh boys. Her Uncle Quinn is unfortunately been put in a wheelchair from the same run-in with Mor’du that took her father’s leg and because of it, they’ve never had kids. Despite that, he remains good friends with Fergus and is kinder to Merida than the MacDonald side of the family. Aileen however is as stern as her mother.

Uncle Robert and Aunt Moira MacIntosh: Related by marriage only, the eldest MacIntosh brother hates Fergus and the rest of the Dunbrochs for the accident that crippled his little brother. He is the father of Donald MacIntosh.

Donald “Donnie” MacIntosh: Related by marriage only, Merida’s “cousin” has had a thing for her for a while. He’s one of those boys who gets turned on the more Merida pinches, pushes, and slaps him around. He’s also a total numpty, though not half bad a warrior-- she’s begrudingly let him give her swordfighting lessons in secret (under their parents’ noses both) which she knows he only does because he likes her. Yuck.

Uncle Domnhall MacIntosh: Never married, Prince MacIntosh is the middle brother and a seasoned hunter. He’s famously slain not one but two unicorns. He’s a bit of a legend, and Merida wishes he didn’t hate the Dunbrochs so much for the whole Quinn accident.

Happiest memory: It’s a pretty recent one honestly-- when she entered the joust and won her first match and everyone cheered for her, even though they thought they were cheering for Lachlan. Merida finally felt seen for all that she had worked for and all that she was capable of.

Childhood trauma:A family camping trip when Merida was only 5 years old was interrupted by Mor’du coming to seek his revenge. Fergus lost his leg, Merida’s Uncle Quinn broke his back, and the family is still feeling the effects of the day even now.

Merida dreams about it sometimes, and remembers how she ran off into the woods. In her dream, its the will-o-the-wisps that guided her to safety, then distracted Mor’du so he would not find her.

PHYSICAL Height: 5’9 (thats right) Weight: 135-ish probably- all muscle baby Build: She works out every day and not just cardio but-- strength training and lifting and climbing. She loves to rock climb, swim, and ride as her main kind of activities. Not super fan of the ‘gym’ though she will go. Nationality: SCOTTISH Disabilities (physical or mental, including mental illnesses): Merida does have some mild dyslexia which made her get middling grades in school and also makes studying harder. One of the reasons she hates it. Her mum had her tested for ADHD but sorry Elinor, it’s just her personality lol (thanks Mum). Complexion (freckles, acne, skin tone, birth marks): She’s freckly on her nose and shoulders definitely and has lovely pink skin.  Distinguishing facial features: Her hair-- always wild and curly with strands going this way and that-- are definitely her defining trait. She’s got lovely “cat eyes” though-- these squinty bright blue things that always got a hint of mischief in them. The freckles are cute too, though you got to get a bit closer to notice.   Hair color: GINGER. Usual hair style: Merida either puts it all the way up on her head or wears it completely down. Her mum french braids it-- she hates this. She also hates straightening it and hates CURLING it because what’s the point it’s already curly !!  Eye color: Gray-blue Glasses? Contacts?: No, she has very keen 20/20 vision.  Style of dress/typical outfit(s): Tomboy for she. She loves jeans and overalls and things she can get messy-- big long coats, flannels, t-shirts. She despises bras and wears a lot of camisoles because of this. She loves baggy cargo pants with pockets too. She wears boy shirts a lOT and is a big fan of hats because it’s so cold and rainy in scotland always and hats hide the frizz of her hair.   Course, she is often in riding pants because she’s on Angus so often. Typical style of shoes: Boots normally because she’s riding. She’s got a thing for all kinds of boots too and it’s one of the more girly things about her. She’ll do a nice boot with a strong block heel. On the flip side, no, get those other dressy heels back where they came from or so help me,,, Health (is this person usually sick? or very resilient?): Merida is a very healthy, robust girl, because she eats helluva lot of protein and is constantly very active. She is the type to deny when she is sick too because she hates just lying around.  Grooming (does she/he wear makeup? shower daily? wear only clean clothes? pluck her eyebrows?): Merida actually likes showers and baths and she takes one near every day but she haaaates other kinds of grooming. She also hates make-up and has gotten eye infections from it.   Jewelry? Tattoos? Piercings?: Merida got the family crest tattooed on her right hip where her mum couldn’t see (teehee). Her ears are pierced but she doesn’t wear earrings much. She also has a family ring that she fiddles with. Accent?: Very Strong. Sometimes you can’t understand her if she talks too fast.   Unique mannerisms/physical habits: She twists and chews and pulls on her hair. It drove her mum crazy. Athletic?: SUPER athletic.

INTELLECT Level of education: Going to uni

Level of self esteem: Merida’s got pretty healthy-ish self-esteem though that’s probably because she’s a deeply angry person who wants to prove people wrong about her. She’s been criticized all her life by her mum, aunts and uncles, and all the other people in the Order for not fitting into their standards. Mer’s innate sense of self though is too strong to take them that seriously, though she does feel a little ugly sometimes (not that she’d ever admit it) and isn’t very comfortable being a “girl” (she doesn’t even know what that means). In fact, in settings with other “girls” she can feel out of  place and comments can sting more than they should. She makes up for it by being a tomboy and rejecting a lot of these ‘girly’ things from the get-go. She assumes most girls are going to hate her honestly. 

Gifts/talents: Mer is a quick learner, especially when it comes to coordination if that makes sense (she’s surprisingly graceful). She’s handy with the sword (not her weapon of choice), can hold her own in hand-to-hand combat, and is one of the best archers+riders in her age-group. Her other talents are singing and blacksmithery-- she’s only patient when she’s working at the forge. She can play guitar, but nothing too fancy.

Shortcomings: So many--Sewing, weaving, maths and english, public speaking isn’t great mostly because she can’t stay on topic, is hotheaded, stubborn, aggressive, prejudiced, holds grudges, proud, can be blunt, no real art skills, can have a bit of a nasty sense of humor, quick to anger, disorganized when unmotivated.

Style of speech (loud, mumbler, articulate, etc.): Merida is naturally loud and a bit of a rambler. Her mum always had to shhh her because she was shouting before she knew it.

“Left brain” or “right brain” thinker?: Merida is actually left-brained. She is driven by rules and logic and is more of a strategist than someone driven by emotion. Her emotions CAN override this when she’s especially upset-- sort of like anyone.

Artistic?: Besides singing and blacksmithery (which CAN be an art form), not really. Mathematical?: Nope Languages? English, Gaelic, doric, and Latin (a smiiiiidge of Danish) Makes decisions based mostly on emotions, or on logic?: You’d think emotions, and sometimes, yes, she can be pretty impulsive. But usually Merida is more of a logic person when it comes to day-to-day. Neuroses: Does nooot shaving your legs and armpits count? Life philosophy: You are in charge of your own destiny. Religious stance: Protestant, but not really Cautious or daring?: Daring! Optimist or pessimist?: Optimist Extrovert or introvert?: Extrovert for sure. Level of comfort with technology: Merida didn’t get to use lots of technology because the Order doesn’t fuck with it a lot, but she has a phone and she uses Instagram mostly under her mum’s nose. Her mum forbid her from getting an FB or a twitter too.

RELATIONSHIPS Current marital/relationship status: Single Sexual orientation: You tell me ugh. She does like boys though? I think? She thinks she’s straight idk. Past relationships: 

She’s got this weird love/hate thing going on with Don, though it’s mostly hate on her side. She’s never dated because she’s not exactly permitted to, though she’s been asked out before from blokes outside the Order at her regular school because she’s ~not like other girls~

Her best friend Keegan and her kissed and could have been a thing but there was OOTP drama.

She also had a wee crush on Eric when he came to stay with her family for the summer, but it was mostly based on his skillz as a prince haha and she was so smol herself (11) it was sort of fanciful.

A social person? (popular, loner, some close friends, makes friends and then quickly drops them): Merida is quite social and did have some friends outside the Order, though they all thought she was a bit weird because she couldn’t do a lot of things they could do (like date or have an FB or go to school dances). She, strange enough, fit in more with nerds and geeks than the popular crowd because she was seen as ‘odd.’ She had a little group that liked to play tabletop games and cards, go hiking or swimming, and drink down at the pub-- Keegan (her best friend), Will, Aidan, and her lone female friend, Neve.

Most comfortable around (person): Lachlan, her cousin, is by far her favourite friend besides her own father and Keegan. Lachlan wins though because they are around the same age and he’s in the Order with her so she can feel free to be herself.

SECRETS Life goals: Be the very best like no one ever as-- aka to be a Prince and win the tourney for her da so the Dunbroch family can restore its honor!!!! Dreams: I mean same and honestly she always did kinda wanna go to just a regular ol college party… Greatest fears: That she’ll make everything worse for her family. That she isn’t good enough. That even her da will be disappointed in her. That ppl will see right through her/be right about her.

Most ashamed of: lowkey the fact she’s a girl? It’s fucked up as hell but there you have it. Also she really is uncomfortable with romance stuff, like she’s worried she’s a terrible kisser and doesn’t know how to Romance, not that she particularly wants to Romance.

Compulsions: Pulling/twisting her hair for sure.

Obsessions: Besides being a Prince? Uhhhh mmmm I don’t think she has -- Angus, she’s obsessed with Angus. Secret hobbies: Technically the whole training to be a prince thing is a massive secret-- I suppose her love for card games and stuff is kinda secret.

Secret skills: See: training to be a prince tho she’s not allowed

Crimes committed (and was he/she caught? charged?): It’s not a ‘real’ crime but training as a Prince is forbidden for girls and entering the joust was fraud and deception. She could have risked getting cut out of the Order completely. What he/she most wants to change about his/her current life: Merida desperately wants to be recognized for all that she can do-- not just her skills as a warrior, but as a leader and a voice that deserved to be heard. She would change her fate, she would make her family proud and respected within the Order too. What he/she most wants to change about his/her physical appearance: Merida mostly likes that she’s tall-- but also hates it. In her weakest moments, she wishes she was small, petite, feminine-- the stuff her mum wants for her. DETAILS/QUIRKS Night owl or early bird?: Early bird. She wakes up with the sun or even before it and is the first one to fall asleep at any parties. Light or heavy sleeper?: Overall pretty heavy because she exhausts herself but she does wake if she hears any too loud noise. Favorite food: A full Scottish breakfast-- sweetened porridge is her favourite bit of that, along with sausages. Least favorite food: Turnips, yuCK Favorite book: Merida is a bit of a history nerd so she likes reading nonfiction more than fiction. She really liked Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet (and its sequel World Without End) for being a really interesting mix of history with fiction.

She probably has read the Game of Thrones books if they exist which they probably do hehe (#HouseStark)

Least favorite book: Most books out there. She has a personal grudge against poetry because she is forced to memorize and recite poems at Order events. Favorite movie: She rarely watches them, but probably Lord of the Rings tbh. “I AM NO MAN.” Least favorite movie: She’s not big into movies anyway so like??? Most of them?? Pride and Prejudice??? Favorite song: "The Ballad of Mor’du” which is a story-song passed down in the DunBrochs for a thousand years. Families add their own verses if they have fought Mor’du so Fergus has his VERY OWN VERSE.  Least favorite song: idk like everything by ariana grande and like idk all those pop artists.  Crunchy or smooth peanut butter?: Neither, she doesn’t LIKE peanut butter Lefty or righty?: Righty Favorite color: Green Cusser?: Yes, it’s very unlady like. Smoker? Drinker? Drug user?: She has smoked before but only socially and if her mum ever found out, she’d KILL her. She drinks a fair bit as a social activity too.

Biggest regret: At this point, its probably something small-- losing her first kiss to some dweeb in the Order, somethin’ like that. 

Pets?: Angus is the only one that’s really hers, but the Dunbroch family had dogs too that she loved. Big animal girl.