#he embodies how awful all of this actually is and what it does

[crestfallercanyon]

I don’t think I’ve seen two “ship” characters who embody “cat and dog” more than Len and Barry. I know I am certainly not the first person to think about this but I’m just thinking about it in depth today, i dunno.

Maybe it’s because most ships I’m part of don’t contain a hero and a literal thief/criminal but I digress—

Len is 100% like a cat. He gets into places he shouldn’t (how? And wait — why?). While he seems to have a grasp of how he feels and what’s going on, fuck off if anyone else does, he portrays himself as extremely mercurial. He is the type of guy to just push a glass of water off the table and let it shatter just to see you clean it up (Barry’s “don’t spill the salt” and him laying it flat on its side). Fiercely protective of his own food, will mooch off of others and get offended if he’s told to fuck off. Desperately vies for attention by any means necessary (from nuisance to straight up CRIMES) but when attention is on him when he doesn’t want it he hisses and claws and acts all ferocious. Loyal to those he loves but leaves them all wondering “do you even like me?” And he responds with essentially “can’t you tell?” And when they’re like “no, that’s why I’m asking,” he’s shrugs and goes with “well it must suck to be stupid,” and moves along and his loved ones still don’t know. Gets roped into shenanigans on the regular and is either faux-reluctant or genuinely reluctant. Cat behavior.

Barry, however, is SUCH a puppy. He’s high energy. He sticks his nose into everything. He constantly gets himself into situations and then looks at others with the big sad eyes asking “how he got here” and “I want out”. He wants to eat all the time and will steal food — but when bucked off he just kind of is like “aw, darn,” and may try again in two minutes. He’s got that neglected shelter dog rizz, he’s kind of sad sometimes and a little pitiful. If someone doesn’t like him, he just keeps trying until they do or they die. His relationship to cats is tenuous because they seem to tolerate him but he’s also fucking obnoxious and ruins their peace and quiet. Has a deep sense of right and wrong and it’s somewhat taught through commands and sometimes just instinct he acts on — like a dog who pulls its owner on a leash to investigate or run away from something. When he’s calm he’s very sweet and very nice and very cute but when he’s high energy he’s a menace. He overall looks super sweet but could fucking kill you. Sometimes he gets ferocious and barking and then he’s actually genuinely frightening and sends everything running. He doesn’t like being that though and typically just wants to hang out. He wants his people around him all the time and doesn’t like to be alone. Loves affection. Loves giving affection. Like, what a puppy man, I don’t know what to tell ya.

Anyway. There’s my coldflash thoughts of today.

[muzzleroars]

What if Michael had succeeded in riping his holy light from himself?

self-harm mentions /

if he had been successful, michael would have become a fallen angel of violence as violence toward the self is (unfortunately) considered a part of that layer, and it would go similarly to gabriel's fall - michael would initially survive for a time without his light, doing little more than praying as he awaits his death. notably, he would try to force himself not to plead for forgiveness, as he is determined to endure his punishment in hopes that god would deliver it personally - instead he begs over and over for fair judgment of his crime. unfortunately, this would prove ineffective as his last embers die out and he goes with them, only to wake some time later in his own tomb just the way gabriel did. the cathedral he lies in is colored a shocking red against the white stillness of violence, already painted by what michael has done. his wings would fail him, and his body itself would have turned a stark, bloodless white, but most importantly he would be filled with a need to consume blood (though unlike machines he can drink from the rivers that run through hell). yet all michael sees is that he has been left alone, that his fall was automated and god had no hand in it, not even for his most loyal servant. he cannot face the idea that god is dead, and so he determines instead they are all abandoned, as god once abandoned humanity in his disgust. all of this is wrong, all of this is flawed, it must be done away with because god can't stand to even look upon it any more. and michael will do that for him. he waits out his full transformation in his tomb, growing stone-like skin beside terrible teeth and claws (like to think the bottom half of his helmet breaks so he can you know. bite everybody lol) that he becomes accustomed to out of necessity. and when it's through, when his halo has finally fallen away, he is determined to wipe out the ragged remains of god's failed kingdom.

[stomach-bugg09]

what about neteyam bringing home someone (romantic) and fali and y/n just teasing the shit out of them in front of the family😭😭

summary: [y/n] knows neteyam’s big secret.

a/n: okay i’m actually crying this is so short but so sweet. like not only does it embody fali and [y/n]’s dynamic , but it’s a strong example of how much [y/n] loves her baby siblings. she would do anything for them , despite how much she teases them. i hope you all enjoy reading as much as i enjoyed writing !! reblogs + feedback are always appreciated !!

tags: @rafeslovergirl @wxnderingthoughts @liyahsocorro @bonnibuckets @hjkshshjkhklhkl @itssiaaax @grierpilots @fleurbeass @23victoria @nyotamalfoy

warnings: literally nothing, sm fluff, the cutest thing i have possibly ever written, healthy sibling relationships

words: 895 ( sorry y’all , it’s much shorter than i meant , but i didn’t wanna ruin it by adding too much !! )

baby brother’s got a girl

not once in her life could [y/n] have imagined any of her baby brothers bagging a girl.

sure, they had their father’s genes, but they also had their father’s stupidity, a trait that was communicated through their inability to woo any girl their age. trust me when i say that [y/n] has witnessed a multitude of failed attempts, especially back when they still lived in high camp.

as long as she knew her brothers, which was for about fourteen to sixteen years—roughly—she also knew they were a hot commodity based on their mere titles as the sons of the toruk makto. that always crashed and burned as soon as they talked due to the unfortunate fact that boys were just too awkward to flirt back.

that’s why [y/n] was absolutely floored when she found out lo'ak's attempts with tsireya were actually successful.

hey, she supposed. anything can happen in awa’atlu, right? i mean, i found love, which was thought impossible just a year ago.

but, there was a difference between impossible and just out of this goddamn world. it was just a few days ago that [y/n] realized, not only did lo’ak have a girl of his own, but neteyam did.

neteyam, of course, had no idea that [y/n] knew. he was trying to keep it a secret. only until they were, well, official past the mutual flirting stage. he also thought that he was being sly… he was not!

it was one night when, after neytiri and jake left to go meet up with some of the clan’s adults for some social thing ( the metkayina loved to party ), neteyam quietly tip-toed past where [y/n] laid stretched out on the ground, admiring the ceiling in complete and utter boredom.

“where are you going, bro?” [y/n] sat up with a grin.

he froze immediately, eyes closing in frustration. “uh, just… out.” neteyam slowly turned towards her with an innocent smile.

“out?” she questioned, eyes widening in amusement. when he only nodded, she pushed herself up off the ground, standing on her two feet. “so, this has nothing to do with ipey?”

“shit,” he cursed, head dropping in defeat.

“ahah!” [y/n] declared, pointing at him. at the sound of the rest of their siblings shifting in their sleep, she immediately quieted down. “ahah,” she repeated in a whisper.

“[y/n],” he bagged quietly, walking towards her and grabbing her shoulders. “please do not tell anyone. please!” neteyam pulled her in, nose to nose, and [y/n] had to keep herself from breaking into laughter. “i do not need mom and dad up my ass about this right now.”

[y/n] bit her bottom lip in amusement. “aw, poor baby boy and his private life.” neteyam only gave her an unamused look. “okay, okay!” [y/n] stepped backwards, hands raised in mock defense. “your secret’s safe with me.”

“thank you,” neteyam breathed out, relief flooding his voice.

“but!” he looked back up, eyes flaring in concern. “only if you don’t mind fali and me just… taking a casual stroll on the beach, maybe keeping an eye out for disobedient teenagers.”

“are you kidding?”

[y/n] only smiled. “not in the slightest!” at that, fali stepped out from the doorway where he’d been standing for the past few minutes to listen to the discussion.

“don’t worry, bud, we’re just gonna be out there to keep our favorite sully boy from doing anything gross.” fali grinned deviously.

at the same time that neteyam protested, “you are disgusting,” lo’ak’s voice called from where he slept. “hey!”

neteyam’s jaw-dropped at that. “now lo’ak knows?”

[y/n] only laughed. “oh, please, he already knew.”

“yeah!” he yelled from the back of the marui. “i’m the one who told [y/n] and fali in the first place.”

“he also told the rest of us,” kiri mumbled with a tired huff. tuk hummed in agreement.

neteyam dropped his head in defeat. “i hate all of you. like, every single one of you. so, so much.”

“aw, you don’t mean that, little brother!” [y/n] cried teasingly as he spun around and stomped out the door. “you love us!”

“stay safe, make good choices!” fali echoed, the couple laughing as he only shook his head, shoulders tense and full of annoyance.

they only watched from the dock as he made his way across the beach, disappearing once he turned the corner. [y/n] smiled from where she leaned against fali, his arm wrapped around her in comfort.

“you think he’s gonna be okay?” fali wondered quietly.

[y/n] only chuckled. “i hope so. i cannot handle a heart-broken neteyam. that would be, like, the worst thing in the entire world.”

“is it because you love your brother so much?” fali teased.

“uh, no,” she replied dryly. “it’s because i don’t want to deal with tears and snot.”

fali dropped her head back, letting out a loud stream of laughter at that. the vibrations of his chest sent a smile across [y/n]’s face, her body melting into his embrace even more.

“oh, please,” he whispered once he calmed down. “you would drop anything to make sure he’s okay.”

“i hate when you’re right.”

with that, he pressed a kiss on top of her head. “and yet, here we are.”

she nodded slowly, closing her eyes and leaning her head against him. “here we are.”

[golden-buddle]

Hey mutual, figure the third Omegaverse thing was startin to get long again lol. So I thought I'd respond here instead >:3 (Also have links to the previous ones for easy access lmao) 1_ 2_ 3_

You know what would be kind of adorable? If it was Tim who got all angry at the gossip magazines. Everyone else is used to it and finds it kind of funny after all, since as you said, people outside of Gotham don't know the nuances of Gothamite body language. But Tim has been slowly coaxed into acting like a pup, been reassured that him acting like that is okay and is perfectly natural. So seeing people trying to claim Bruce isn't a good caretaker in a way that straight up targets that behavior? Oh baby boi is going to throw a fit.

Also love the idea of even other Gothamites going, yeah, the bats are more than a little feral, even for us lol. They've seen it all from the gleeful murder-baby first Robin to the trying-to-bite-your-ears-off second Robin to gonna-jump-off-this-bridge-and-take-you-with-me Batgirl. To the big bat himself who will see what could account as a straight up mob worth of people and go yeah I can fight that, and actually does, and wins.

Like that's just utterly hilarious to me lol.

Actually, before I forget, I feel like Damian's and Tim's relationship would be better in this. Seeing as Damian is younger and both Tim and Dick are very familiar with being unfamiliar with pup behavior or being forced to try and stop doing it. Which thankfully it wasn't to the extent of Tim, but still. He's the itty bitty baby of the pack who doesn't want to let anyone go the moment he realizes they won't betray him. Similar to how Tim is once he finally realizes the Waynes won't leave him and actually want him to stay.

Also remind me to sketch out the different fangs when my hands aren't shaking lol

Oh Tim DEFINITELY rips into the gossip mags.

He may be a lil pup and semi-recently got placed with the Wayne Pack, but by GOD is he going to send some angry emails.

Honestly I can see him reaching out to the daily planet as ‘Bruce’ and setting up an interview to clear it all up.

But until that happens, Tim gets scruffed and brought into the nest SO often to calm him down.

Like. Calm down pup! You are TOO angy!

Speaking of Tim and Damian’s relationship- they have the best relationship by far in the Pack. Tim can and will throw down for his new little brother. And the brotherly instincts he never had before (and thusly never had to stifle before) doesn’t help either.

Dami is more or less constantly following either his Mum, Jason, or Tim.

If he has to, he’ll tag along with Dick and Alfred, but in order of his favorite pack members Tim is definitely up there with Jason and Bruce.

He can and will use the fact that he’s just an itty bitty pup and whine and whine to get carried around. He may be an independent pup, and he DOES like to wander around on his own, but he absolutely loves being engulfed by his packmate’s scents.

It’s so very different to when he first left the cloning pod and all he could smell was blood and sterile alcohols.

And finally for how Gotham views the Feral Bats??

It’s DEFINITELY like that. Gotham is in awe over their guardians (and I can’t help but see them putting the Batfamily up as embodiments of the city, Gothamites definitely definitely made shrines for the Batfamily that dot about the city)

The Agent, the one who walked the streets long before the Bat flew for the first time, who holds ears in the highest of places and knows far too much that he rarely shares with others. The one who was only connected to the bats far, far down the line.

The Motherly-Protective Bat who has claws like in the old days, who bares his fangs and rips into flesh with no hesitation to protect his city-pups and actual pups. Who dragged the first of the costumed rogues back to Arkham by sheer force and detective skills.

The First Robin who was gleefully blood thirsty, somehow the most animalistic of the pack as he chirped and trilled and danced in the air. Flying like his namesake as he bares his puppy fangs in a barely constrained aggressive smirk.

The Batgirl (Cuckoo) who nearly flew as well as the First Robin, the one who chirped and warbled and forced herself into the Bat’s nest and first showed the City what happened to those who hurts those the Bat holds dear and who showed what happened to who the Bat deems as unwelcome to his territory.

The Nightingale, the first of the robins to grow up, the one with fangs he never hid and a voice as sweet as his feathers. The one who talks as much as he growls, the one who shreds his enemies with enough cheer and electricity to drown a clown.

The Second Robin, (Cardinal, clad in blood reds and spiked feathers, somehow still in the familiar designs of the First Robin) the one taken far too soon who didn’t quite fly as he did glide. The one who hid in his mother’s cape, only leaving to fight and protect-protect-protect just like his mother. The one who showed what happened to those who ignore that they were chased out of the Bat’s territory.

The Third Robin (Crow, Clad in blacks and shiny feathers but still the familiar Robin design) The one who is too smart for his own good- the one who ended the grip that the Bat’s bloodstained claws held on the city. He clings to his mother, only leaving to find more of his pack.

The Forth Robin, (Starling, purples and blacks and shimmering feathers that seem to mirror your face back at you) The blending of Batgirl and Robin, the one who was dragged into the Bat Pack when Crow wandered too far from his mother and needed her help finding his way back to the nest. All the gracefulness of the Bats and the Aggressiveness of the Robins twirled into one sparkling purple attack.

The Cardinal, the second of the robins to grow up, the one who took the name that was whispered in the alleys as his own. Who came into the scene with a splash of blood as bright and soaking as his initial departure. Who’s eyes glow with Unseen bloodlust and protection that followed his mother’s steps.

[ninjakk]

I've been thinking of how JC attempts to sacrifice himself for WWX when they first run from the Wens after the fall of LP and his reasons/feelings for doing that and reconciling them with this person who acts so shamefully and is full of such hatred that he kills all 'demonic cultivators' after wwx's death. Even as WWX thinks of whether JC and JL are okay, I notice he calls JC "Sect Leader" out loud to others. I don't know how they could reconcile. Sorry lots of feelings.

Hi again anon 👋🏻

I've answered your two asks separately as they were addressing different aspects of the novel and my original response was getting rather long 😆

It certainly was an unexpected revelation when we found out that JC lured the searching Wen cultivators away from an unsuspecting WWX. Of course, I don't think it was his intention to get caught in the process, but he definitely thought about someone else other than himself for once - which was interesting. Although it was one of the very few selfless acts he did during the course of the novel, it still doesn't retract any of the awful things he has done, nor the way he treated WWX or his homophobic outburst.

Even after WWX has died, JC's bitterness remains very strong and he does indeed hunt down those that use the ghost path in hope of capturing WWX, should he return. Which I always find quite telling of just how little JCs actually knows and understands WWX - who would never actually do such a thing.

In all honesty, JC actually redeemed himself ever so slightly at the very end of the novel, when he decides not to tell WWX about how he really lost his golden core. Instead, he finally let him go, severing the very last thread of "debt" and "obligation" between them. It was actually a fitting character arc for him and it showed a glimmer of possible growth.

Even if JC had selfishly told WWX that particular fact, I don't think it would have changed much at all. WWX has already paid back his "debt" and "obligations" to the Jiang sect far beyond what was required or reasonable. There is nothing left to say between them and WWX literally has nothing left to give. Too much water has gone under the bridge. All of that is in the past and WWX always focuses on the present. So either way, nothing would have changed. I also think WWX would not want to associate with someone he thought his love for LWJ was disgusting and shameful regardless of anything else at play. He chooses love, happiness and freedom as his parents did before him.

JC and WWX are too different, in both personality and virtue. They would not have been friends or hung out in any other scenario bar the circumstance they found themselves in during the course of the novel. They both literally embody the traits that the other actually cannot stand! Their relationship was that of a master and subordinate, it was toxic and they are both better off giving each other a wide berth and moving on.

A reconciliation would never happen and it doesn't need to. WWX is entitled to a happy life for all his efforts in his previous life and JC needs to live with the consequences of his actions and learn from them in his own way.

I know it's probably not the response you were hoping for. But if you consider the above, they both got some form of a happy ending. JC is finally learning to let go of things that little bit more and WWX is free to move on and live his life how he always wanted. I honestly couldn't think of a more suitable and realistic ending.

[strqyr]

Sorry for bothering you but. Shoves my posts into your face. Oz parallels Darkness; he begs for humanity not to be punished for his actions like how Darkness didn't want the Jabberwalker punished for his. Destruction is not the enemy of Creation, destruction begets life (decay is an extent form of life), it's change. Oz embodies change to the highest degree and values it highly. He is demonized time and time again and he thinks he destroys everything he touches. He freely offers knowledge and especially choice. (<- this is all also why I think an allusion of his is Lucifer) Not only that, but he freely offers magic as well.

I just. Gestures wildly. Oz parallels Darkness so heavily that I'm so willing to bet that once Oz and Salem actually Talk, and Salem says something she believes about him, that he'll say "Is that truly what you think of me?" Or some form to parallel The Two Brothers. If he doesn't I'll fucking eat my hat and I don't even have one

yeah, oz definitely has more parallels with darkness than he does with light. like, while the gods don't embody only one specific gift, darkness is still associated more with destruction, and that is where oz's curse comes to play: he lives, he dies, and he reincarnates into a body of a like-minded soul, and with each life he's changed.

and i think what makes it even more poignant is that. . . it didn't necessarily have to be that way? if ozma's first reincarnation is anything to go by, he could have just taken over and remained unchanged, but he learned to live with each of his hosts, living their lives as much as they lived his.

in general i find oz's relationship with each gift quite fascinating. he uses the sword to end the bloodiest war in the history of remnant, and in the aftermath brings change. he uses the staff to raise atlas, making using it again quite a hurdle, highlighting the stagnancy of creation without destruction. he established the academies, institutions of knowledge and learning, but keeps the same secret close to his chest that brought him despair when he got his answer from jinn. he offers choice and encourages others to think it through instead of taking the first answer (as much as the circumstances were awful, at the time), but it is slightly undermined by the knowledge he keeps to himself that may or may not influence the choices others make.

and so much of it is informed by his own past, his own experiences, his own fear of what might happen that at times "slows" him down, where he doesn't quite follow the gifts as they should, while also following them in a different manner.

and, idk, it somehow makes me think of V9 and balance that isn't two forces locked in never-ending battle, but an ecosystem, an organism, a living breathing thing, that will find its own equilibrium, only requiring love and patience to see things through to the end.

and it's just. oz. that's oz, in a way. yes he's made mistakes and missteps along the way, but especially now that he's with oscar, he's closer than ever to finding the true balance, me thinks—and that's why it worries me that they were both fighting against the merge because that's. that's two (or more) forces locked in a battle of balance. "thus, balance cannot be restored with force or calculations" y'all i am concerned.

. . .where was i. i feel i got off the track lmao but yeah. yeah, i honestly think the like. biggest turn of events or something, words escape me, comes from salem because there's something she doesn't know about oz. it's the same as with everyone else—including ozma himself—learning about salem's immortality, just this time it's time for salem to learn something that changes her view of oz and that's where, yeah, something akin to "is that truly what you think of me?" might come out.

[cipheramnesia]

The Rob Zombie Halloween movies are not exactly good, but they have this little chestnut of an idea that's intriguing.

The original two Halloween movies hinge on the core premise that Michael Meyers is a kind of empty vessel which embodies evil. You have to buy into the idea a little, because if you don't, not only do the movies not work as well, but also the character of Dr. Loomis comes of as an unhinged, abusive monster of a doctor. Which feels like something Rob Zombie intentionally wanted his version to consider. Ultimately the movies are not successful, likely in some measure through studio interference, but this explains a good deal of decisions which put Zombie's Halloween at loggerheads with the original movies and the fandom.

The thing about Rob Zombie is that his fans are his worst critics, in that they don't want him to make anything except a carbon copy of House of 1000 Corpses or Devil's Rejects, and when he tries to do more interesting (and in the case of Lords of Salem, significantly better) movies, they piss all over themselves in outrage. When you combine his unusual take on Halloween with a stylistic departure as well, the movies has no chance.

The funny thing is, in retrospect, Zombie's changes are actually the better choice compared to the slavishly accurate recent Halloweens, or any of the sequels following Halloween 2. He gave Michael Meyers a voice, and a more complex history, and a human connection, and all these details which fans mostly hated, but which repositioned Michael from hollow monster to a person who was deeply failed by the world. And the thing of it is, there's nothing left to explore after Halloween 2, which means the only place to go if you want to be interesting about the character is a radically different direction.

That's what Rob Zombie did, his version wasn't supposed to be scary as a remorseless killing machine, but scary as someone who was formed into a terrible creature by the world deciding for him that he is a monster. You can see this most of all with how Malcolm McDowell portrays his version of Loomis as self centered, malicious, and incompetent by varying degrees. It's stating as loudly as possible to the audience hey, this person is terrible at helping people, he is awful and his characterization of Michael Meyers as "evil" is self serving and horrible. It's meant to make the audience step back and realize, no matter how terrible the things Michael does, he's a child and locking him up for his entire life is a fucked up thing to do.

Now, ultimately the films are a mess, and this little idea doesn't really hold together or develop. I believe it's intentional still, but winds up being incompatible with what, I assume through studio pressure, is a movie too close to the original Halloween to make room for a different approach. I couldn't necessarily recommend watching them, but as failures they're still interesting.

[simonsfish]

I want to talk about Sara, because there's this tendency to dismiss her part in her own relationship with August, like because she's maybe new to relationships and because she's neurodivergent, she got tricked into being with him or taken advantage of or something, and I'm just not seeing it.

At the end of s1, Sara is explicitly taking her own future in her hands. I think that's actually one of the reasons that August even considered her a possible partner - instead of acting in the interest of other people (namely, Simon), she cuts a deal with August that serves her own interests. I think he really values that attitude, that sometimes you need to sacrifice things to get ahead, and the importance of self-motivation to get the things you want. So in that moment, she's embodying in that moment the things he values.

I think the moment Sara gets interested in August is after he kisses her in the stables. She didn't care about him either way but once he shows that tiny bit of interest she starts to consider him. And Sara explicitly wants what Felice has in s1--she wants the fancy clothes and the living on campus and the rich people sensibilities and yeah, maybe the boyfriend, too. And then once she starts thinking about it, it's easy to want those things so badly that she starts acting in service of actually gaining those things, even if that means sacrificing something of her own moral compass.

By s2, she feels this connection with August because they're the only ones who know what he did, and the only ones who know what she did to get herself ahead and live at Hillerska. I think as she spends more time with the girls and gets more of the ideas of what you're supposed to feel with a boy you love, she wants to actually try that out. Like, in a really standard teen need to experience everything kind of way. Yeah, the fact that she's autistic (as am I, the author of this post) influences the fact that she doesn't know all of the things the other girls take for granted in re: sex and love and how to navigate things with boys. But it doesn't really have anything to do with her drive to want to experience those things, and it's not about innocence as much as her not having friends at her old school and being less experienced because of that (and I think probably Simon is a little too overprotective, a thing he can't be in s2 when she's living away from home).

I also think it's maybe worth mentioning, that the girls initially accept Sara into their friend group because Felice likes her but also because she's kind of an anomaly at this school--she's not rich, she does things differently, and she looks to them in a way they don't look at each other. So like when she's questioning things they all know, they're kind of treating it like aw, honey most of the time. Until she steps on a social norm that they don't like, and then it's well, she never knew how to act, of course not. (which, honestly kudos to YR because that is a very real experience)

Anyway, back to August. Sara has agency the whole way through, she's just making bad decisions. She goes to him because she wants to sleep with him, she spends time with him because she likes it. She's not a poor little girl who thinks she's in love but she's being taken advantage of, she's a girl in love who makes some bad decisions because of it. Like, teenage love is SO STRONG because it's usually a newer emotion, and YR shows how that strength of emotion can lead to both good and bad decisions.

Plus, August genuinely likes Sara, too. Partly that's because he assumes she's more like him than she actually is. And partly because it seems like his idea of dating is usually really tied into clout chasing (ahem, Felice) and how to hold his status. Sara doesn't offer him anything status-wise, she's just actually into him, and she might line up with him in terms of goals. That's gotta be refreshing. Also, I love the part where he calls himself King and her Queen before promising not to hurt her. Like, that just hammers home the idea that he sees her as an equal not in status but in terms of like. morals, I guess? And that she sees this kindness in him that she thinks only she gets to see because they're in love, not because he usually hides it away since it doesn't benefit him personally in the world he lives in.

This is reinforced when August buys Rousseau and thinks that will stop Sara from leaving him after she finds out how he's been threatening Simon and taking everything but accountability for his own actions. Legitimately, August seems to think that she will support him, because she supported him with this secret before, and because, like him, she wants the personal status gain and can understand why he acts the way he does. The horse should prove his love, and the other things are just par for the course, baby, you get it, right?

She doesn't, though, and this isn't the point where we should be going oh no, August has been tricking this poor girl and she just finally is taking her life in her hands. It's the point where both of them are like shit, you aren't the person I thought you were, and it's because both of them make these big sweeping assumptions because that's easier than questioning really strong feelings like love and potentially losing that love right away. Sara sees that he's not the person she thought, but in a lot of ways, her whole story has been in her control.

She's just like Simon--young and in love and making choices that might blow up in her face and might make her see she's been wearing those rose-colored love glasses. But hell, at the time, those choices were the only ones to make, those choices were hers to make. Just because she chose badly doesn't mean she wasn't really choosing.

I just really love Sara, and I love how her neurodivergence is woven into the fabric of her story lines, but it's not the biggest thing. It's just like, how she sees the world, but she's still responsible for her own actions, and she's acting on love just like everyone else. And in high school, sometimes that means being in love with a boy who genuinely isn't very good for you.

[hazbinhazbinhazbinreblog]

Actually, on the subject of pilot Vox and how he is more confident and collected.

That weirdly reminded me, I was, at one point, humoring my own 2P stuff with Alastor and Vox. I remember in the AU, I called Alastor Apricot (because his color scheme is orange) and he was a lot more tech savvy than canon Alastor as he has and had the habit of breaking things down because he was curious on how everything worked. His radio tower in the hotel is filled with broken machines and weird organic stuff too, like jars with embalming fluid with weird stuff (eyes, plants, organs, etc) in them and bones and skulls littering his selves. The reason he ended up in hell was because he legit tried to create disturbing human and radio hybrids/cyborgs in the name of science and his radio show, when alive, was like a Sci-Fi horror thing (think the Twilight Zone). He was a lot more bubbly and chaotic, semi forgetful. He is realistic yes, but he does believe in Charlie's dream. Also know he wasn't a cannibal, not for good moral reasons, but because it be a waste of materials.

As for Vox, I remember painting him as more cold and distant. The literal embodiment of lifeless TV. Basically like, the greed behind major studios and tech companies. You know, like the embodiment of how robotic a lot of things have become. He rarely emotes or even expresses emotions, besides maybe a grimace. I think I remember Val and Velvet being very put off by him? I think. I do remember his color scheme was very grey and silver, modern but like in the cold robotic way. I think also maybe he had a human head and the TV head was something he could put on? Idk remember that well as Apricot stood out to me more, but I know for the fact this 2P Vox had like hair (i think). You can tell I barely remember him as I didnt bother giving him an alt name.

I think their dynamic was a smidge different. I think. I vaguely remember Vox being annoyed at Apricot more because he saw him as destructive and childish, while Apricot saw him as more stuck up and assholeish. I think something about their dynamic was about living here the present while remembering the past vs being blindsided by the future and forgetting what you have currently.

Other Details I remember -Apricot is missing limbs, he has a steampunk prosthetic arm and leg. -I actually can't remember if Apricot was an overlord or not, I know he was feared as the Radio Demon still so I think he was? -Apricot is the only one who manages to piss off 2P!Vox -Apricot would build this radio bot things for his shadows to posses and move around with. He could also just turn into a deer and would do so to escape if in danger -2P!Vox's lair was a lot more grey and silver and very clinical lookin compared to canon

And that's really all. Thought I share this weird chaotic idea of a 2P AU and now I shall //goes back to focusing on Radio Guard

-⚔️ anon

Apricot is amazing and I love everything about him, how does your brain come up with so much amazing and creative stuff I'm legitimately in awe

[mdhwrites]

Five Reasons Why The Owl House Isn't Inclusive

Someone on Twitter asked me to elaborate on the concept of TOH not being inclusive beyond LGBTQIA+ labels, which I'm still happy it has, and I accidentally just made a five part list of them that helped bring together a lot of the points I've tackled not only recently but also in the past so... Why not? Let's actually make a kind of master post for this. These are five reasons why The Owl House isn't inclusive.

The demons

I don't entirely have an order for this, this isn't a top five thing, but we'll start with probably the thing that's the easiest to never even think about: It's treatment of the demons of the Isles of the DEMON REALM.

Every demon in the show is either a gag, a villain... Or the ones who get to have nuance or be good are the ones who pass the most for being 'human', much like how the witches are just humans with pointy ears. The first point is pretty obvious. A lot of random demons show up just to be made fun of for looking strange and then move on.

The villain accusation though is because like 90% of one off villains in this show, with no nuance or real personality and are obviously evil just because they're evil are demons. They also aren't allowed to be amongst the good guys for the most part. In the main cast, the only demon is Hooty who... Boy his treatment is AWFUL. It actually says TERRIBLE things about Luz that she treats him just as poorly as everyone else, especially when someone else manages to befriend him... Which the show uses as signaling to treat Lilith as lesser than the rest because now she's comic relief.

Finally the passing part. This is actually big for the fact that it's actually kind of racist in general. The only demons who are allowed actual nuance are the ones who look the most like witches or humans. Boscha and Steve are both theoretically demons as far as we know and they get kind of redemption arcs but much lesser ones than any more human character and both start as villains. Then there's Vee who is the only unequivocally 'good' demon and her whole thing is that she can pass for a witch or human. In fact, she's better at being human than LUZ is.

So point one and we've already got a weird undercurrent of an entire race being lesser than the conventional ones or... that'd be it if not for

1.5: Take a lot of what I said about demons and apply it to the guys of TOH because they're also treated like shit by the writers. They are either villains or jokes when they first appear and the only exceptions are either still pretty questionable for fitting one those roles... Or dead. You know, like Manny. I think Dell is literally the only ALIVE male character who isn't a joke or villain at one point.

2. Everyone's really fucking pretty. Like... period. Every character in the main cast is ready for the runway. The only main character who really comes close to being transgressive in their looks is Willow and like... Overwatch came out 7 years ago with Mei and that she wasn't a daring design choice then and Willow wasn't four years later. They're the definition of 'more to love'.

Admittedly, I'm normally fine with things just having pretty people. Yokotaro is based for giving an android a big ass because he likes pretty women. I don't think people should feel ashamed for that. It's just a problem when a lot of your contemporary competitors, or even old school competitors like Recess back in the NINETIES, who aren't even trying to preach inclusivity, have better body representation than the show that does.

And yes, that does tie back into the demon thing too as you might notice that all the demons who are accepted by the main cast or given more nuance are the ones who look the most conventionally attractive. Good job show.

3. Nothing here is actually transgressive.

So now we're getting away from looks and the like and actually getting into how well the show sells its theming and representation of those society rejects. The embodiment of this should be Luz if the show wishes to say that it accepts those with weird interests or behave oddly. The only problem is that Luz doesn't. At all. When she is, the things she's transgressive about are things like the safety of others and common human decency.

Luz never really defines herself by her interests after all. Azura exists sure but it gets like... A handful of forced references in S1 and then maybe a couple in S2, often not even by Luz eventually but Amity, which is literally what happens in S3 as she abandons the series effectively. This isn't technically bad. She has a healthy relationship to it for the most part. She doesn't hyperfixate or try to interject it into every part of her life. She's just a nerd... Which wasn't even a brave thing back when I was in High School a decade ago.

Straight up: I was a part of JROTC, the American school fast track into the military and people the first guy I ever heard squeal about how the Avengers were gonna happen, he swears, was a really dude in that ecosystem. He was more of a nerd than any of the drama kids I eventually hung out with and no one cared.

And Luz is less extreme than THAT. The only time she actually is is during her character introduction where she, you know, releases spiders on a classroom and also snakes that attack people. Or how about those fireworks? What was her plan with those? Set them off inside and kill burn down the whole building in the BEST CASE scenario? Because if she's been bullied so much, why would she expect her class to come outside for that? Regardless of the fact that you'd get expelled just for bringing that much gunpowder into school, let alone the other reasons she should have been expelled.

The worst part of all of this though is Lilith. Lilith actually hyperfixates. She cares a LOT about her interests and gets giddy about them... And it's almost always framed as mocking. Everything to do with her interest in history is almost always setup for a joke of some sort or to make her look smaller. She is also more genuinely interested in learning and excited about the Isles and its potential than Luz commonly but when she becomes that character, she isn't taken seriously anymore. She's a joke, just like her best friend Hooty.

So now we've rejected nerds. Can we really go deeper? Well, how about the oppressed themselves?

4: The oppressed are inconvenient to the show so they don't show up.

Because the Isles is meant to be bigotry free except for Belos (an ENTIRELY different topic that has bunches of problems of it own) the only people actually oppressed in the show, who are ever actually forced to conform and mind that conforming, are wild witches. But not only is their plight poorly shown but it's also inconsistent.

Eda is our ONLY representation of it and the show ever struggles to decide how genuinely illegal her presence is. She's allowed to just stroll into an Emperor's Coven funded school and enroll her student there. All it takes for her to be free for a day is burning some posters. But also on the other side, she is literally threatened with death ONLY for the crime of being a wild witch and not the rest of her rap sheet.

And why shouldn't it be? Systemic oppression isn't actually that bad by what the show depicts. Dana herself wrote Reaching Out where the coven system is treated like not going to college instead of a crime so severe as to have the death penalty. She also was one of two writers for The First Day where they treat the coven system as just tradition and not like multi-tracking is going to get these kids literally killed, if Bump himself isn't removed by Belos for enabling people to break the law in an episode where he SPECIFICALLY NEEDS GOVERNMENT FUNDING.

And as the coven system is the only form of oppression, no one has to actually deal with the social and sometimes legal pressures that makes one hide who they are. It can't say anything about those actually struggling because it's inconvenient. You can't just have Luz be accepted by all if her dream makes her illegal to most. You can't have her easily fall in love because that relationship is illegal. You can't have members of the government who have done literal witch hunts just turn around and be good guys because they are active participants in bigotry.

So the oppressed, the people actually other'd by the story that's being told, are pushed out of frame for the sake of the escapist fantasy of Luz getting to runaway to a magical world and save it. They exist solely to claim there IS a reason to fight but actually showing their struggle is one step too far apparently.

5. It leans into extremely harmful stereotypes of people with mental disorders and disabilities. Content warning for those topics until the BUT at the end.

This is the last one because not only do I think it's actually the most dangerous but it's also the most personal as someone who is literally disabled due to their depression. Who had to be really careful when writing about characters in crises not to peddle the same narratives most stories do. Extremely hazardous, painful narratives.

Hunter and Eda are both disabled by the logic of the world they live in. Both are incapable of magic in a world that expects it from them and it causes real difficulty in their lives, forcing them to require equipment and/or meds to aid them in dealing with the struggles these cause, doubly so for Eda because of the curse. It actually is good representation... Until you start thinking about and people start getting 'cured'.

Eda's is definitely more of a mental health disability with how much it's connected to emotions, stress, etc. like that than her physically being incapable of doing more. She suffers from not having enough spoons on any given day to do things with some being worse than others. Again, face value, this looks kind of nice.

Here's the insidious part: When she isn't medicated, when she isn't able to hold back her symptoms... she's literally a monster. Anytime she shows her pain, she is actively dangerous to those around her. Full stop. And there is no way to stop this except her murder. She will ALWAYS be a threat for the rest of her life, even after making peace with her diagnosis. After all, in the final episode she literally has to warn someone to get away because she's going to lose control. Worse yet, part of her getting a reprieve from it is to ruin another life. Lilith is made disabled because Eda's illness is so out of control that only through other people's sacrifices can she find help.

If none of this raises red flags, GOOD FOR YOU! You haven't ever had to be told you might lose your apartment just because they don't want to one day find you having done something terrible because they assume that will eventually happen, SOMETHING THAT HAS ACTUALLY HAPPENED TO ME. You've never been told to hide and lie about your condition, to pass as just a normal person, so you could get a job or just so you didn't appear wrong to others. So you don't seem like a ticking time bomb that will explode.

Hunter is a mixed bag comparatively. He's better because his disability, not having magic, isn't inherently dangerous. He's not going to kill anyone someday because of it. The problem is that he is still mostly framed as lesser because of his lack of magic and that he is helpless due to it minus one time he gets to show off his skills while without his staff... To no avail. Otherwise, everytime he doesn't have a staff, he is completely at the mercy of anyone around him. His heart to hear with Willow is even about feeling like less of a person due to it and how they've both struggled with the problem, which, you know, feels disingenuous when at the end the plant goddess forces him through the ground against his will because she has her own magic and is one of the strongest witches on the Isles. It's like telling someone missing an arm that yeah, when you were young you broke your arm too but you got better while the other person is still MISSING AN ARM.

And then he is cured... By the death of his best friend. At which point, he is whole, a complete person with his own magic... at the cost of a life. You know, just like how Eda only got the curse to back off by hurting someone she cared about too.

What the fuck?

And finally, for a bit more mental health rep: Luz. People like to claim that Luz is suffering from trauma, depression, anxiety, etc. in the second half of show and especially S3. The problem with this is that after S2A, Luz is just categorically is a worse person. This culminates in what most consider to be her lowest point, Thanks to Them when she has a speech in class that potentially hints at suicidal ideation. However, in the episode she decides that instead of taking responsibility and trying to fix her mistakes like she used to, she is going to just stay home and let an entire world die. Yes, she frames it as self sacrifice and having learned from her mistakes... but it's not. It's self preservation if anything.

Anyone on the Isles should be presumed dead or something akin to it with what she experienced during King's Tide. Anyone who goes back is going to fight a GOD to try to reclaim it. To have to beat someone who is leagues more powerful than any entity they've even fathomed before. Her friends have been trying to get home and planning for this all with the expectation that Luz would be by their side. But despite the fact that she explicitly blames herself for the situation, she's staying. There's no talk about how this means dooming her found family, how it means breaking up with Amity or anything like that. Her focus is entirely on herself and the mistake she made. They can all go rot while she gets to stay home with her mom.

This doesn't even go into Luz's lower empathy or her CONSTANT LYING that was more prevalent in the second half of the show. It all says one clear thing though in this context: Because she is damaged due to trauma and depression, she is a generally worse person. She cares less about others than a functional person would, as she was a better person before all of this, and loses her morality as she is willing to let people die instead of fix her mistakes.

All of this just makes it bluntly better if Luz isn't actually depressed during this time period and more is just being a bad person because things have gotten tough. Otherwise this feeds into a LOT of bad stereotypes for those who are mentally ill.

BUT.

I do not think any of this is done with malice. Any of the five points. It's just careless. I pointed out the narrative problems for properly including a couple of them and I could easily tell you why others regurgitate issues without blinking for many of the others. It's easy to make these sorts of mistakes if you're not thinking about it. If you're just taking tropes you like instead of trying to craft towards a genuinely coherent theme. It's made worse when you know you're in a landscape that is hungry for representation so being praised for it won't be hard so you don't need to fully commit.

As I said earlier though, this is kind of a problem for a show that wants to be about inclusivity. Who's main themes, at best, are about self actualization and self acceptance. About being who you are and finding the spaces that allow you to do that. And yet... So many are left to the wayside. Abandoned because the show has a very narrow definition of a 'correct' identity and if you don't fill those definitions, it will leave you behind.

If you want a show that actually accepts everyone, that allows for all parts of identity, I've seen only one season of Craig of the Creek and it is EXCEPTIONAL at it. All are welcome in the creek. No exceptions. If someone is alone, it's because of circumstance or self selection and even they are given chances to be a part of the community.

I wish TOH had believed in something even close to similar.

======+++++======

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.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[rkdhsdl]

Hello hello~ may I rq Denial with s/o the likes to kisses his check alone before going out to anywhere or before any of her duels begins and when he asks her why she does that and she is like " because your my lucky charm you always make me feel calm and relief in the same time and I need to somehow show you how much I appreciate it:)"

my four leaf clover

word count: 330 female reader character(s): daniel page TW/CW: none writer's notes: hellaur anon! this idea’s so cute i’m actually kicking my feet #relationship goals, this is set in the older years (from the fifth to seventh year) enjoy~!

you always kiss daniel on his cheek before you go on your merry way to do a duel, whether it be a duo duel or a solo duel. 

daniel doesn’t mind, but he does want to know why– not that he means any harm, though he didn’t ask once why you did so; he thought it became a habit for you to peck him on the cheek before your duels.

until the day he decided to ask once and for all what your kisses meant.

“love you, daniel! wish me luck in my duel today~” you say, pecking him on the cheek.

as always, his faces flushes a bright red, until he grips on your wrist.

“why do you always kiss me on the cheek before your duels?”

your eyes widen in surprise, soon closing into a bright smile.

“well, daniel, because you’re just like my lucky four leaf clover! you always make me feel comfortable and calm, and it’s one of my ways to show you how much i appreciate you~”

daniel’s face blushes more, ears burning as his grip becomes tighter on your wrist. you smile at him back, patting his shoulder for comfort.

he never expected your answer– until now he thought you kissed him on his cheek just as a habit, but it seemed that there was more to it that he didn’t seem to notice.

robyn, ivy, lottie and kevin look at the two of you in slight awe and shock.

“such a lovey dovey couple.” robyn whispers

“you’ve got to admit that it is cute though.” lottie replies.

“she’s quite the embodiment of joy, (y/n), isn’t she?” ivy adds in.

“sure is.” kevin chimes in.

on the otherhand, daniel lets your wrist go as he wishes you good luck, as he smiles like an idiot in love, mumbling incoherent phrases, walking back to his group of friends who had witnessed one of the most cutest scenes from a romance movie in real life.

[problemswithbooks]

So, watched live action One Piece and now I'm watching/reading the OG stuff. No where close to done but my brain decided to fixate on Arlong so I can't help but talk about him a bit.

Something that I find kind of interesting about Arlong is that if you read his backstory then go back to the main Arc he was in you actually realize he's way more mellow then he was in the past. Now, he's still awful but given what we're shown of him in Jinbe's flashbacks I think it kind of shows that he did, in a weird way (and not in the way Fisher Tiger would have wanted) changed due to Fisher Tiger's words on not killing humans.

In the past Arlong was constantly advocating for killing humans and terrorizing them so they'd learn their place. He never warms up to Koala despite the rest of the crew--including his own friends coming to like her. Everyone is sad to see her go even Kurobi who is later one of the worst in Arlong's crew.

After Fisher Tiger's Death it's clear Arlong was going to kill everyone in Koala's village (and no doubt would have killed Koala). He was stopped and put in Impel Down--a notoriously hellish prison (run by humans). It's not clear how long he was there, but probably at least a few months, which is a long time in a place like that.

After his pardon he leaves Jinbe and the Grand Line. Presumably he started taking over villages pretty soon after.

Now, what I find interesting is that this is by far the most justified Arlong is in his hate of humans, yet it's also the nicest we ever see him being to them. Before Fisher Tiger's death and reveal of being a slave, or his time in Impel Down Arlong hated humans because of things that although affected him were not things he himself suffered.

Arlong was never a slave, and at least Hachi, Chew and Kurobi were also never slaves. They were all orphans and this might have been the fault of human pirates who attacked Fish-Men Island, but we don't know that for sure, and it's never brought up as a grievance of theirs. They know Fish-men and mermaids are taken as slaves and they surely get racist treatment from the visiting humans, but they don't have first hand experience with human cruelty--like slavery or murder.

Not until Fisher Tiger is killed for helping a human girl go home after being a slave do they experience real loss due to humans. From there, Arlong is captured and imprisoned in Impel Down where he was surely treated terrible by humans during his time there (given they treat everyone bad there). Yet, despite saying he's the anger of the fish-men he does not actually kill nearly as many humans as you'd think, given how he acts in the past.

In fact in a lot of ways he seems to try not to kill humans if he can get away with other methods of control instead.

This is when he takes over Nami's village. This is not long after Fisher Tiger's death which Arlong wanted to kill an entire village for. Yet, now, despite a huge uprising happening, with nearly the entire village of humans trying to attack them, he's not going for the kill.

This is him probably less then a year before the panel above. He's furious and saying he embodies the rage of all Fish-Men. Yet he arrives to the village and tells his crew not to kill anyone despite their open hostility.

Yes, he wants money because he (supposedly) wants to take over the East Blue(world?) but he's already got his money and killing a few villagers should be no big deal--he plans on taking over more anyway.

In the end though, he does only kill Bell-mere due to her lack of money. She makes a good example, of course, but he was more then willing to let her live, despite her shoving a gun in his mouth before she used the money for Nami and her sister.

This is a huge change in a short amount of time.

This is another time he and his crew don't kill for zero reason. They have been attacked all day by members of Luffy's crew. Zoro absolutely beat the shit out of his guys earlier that day. He was furious when Usopp dared to fire on him (to the point of flipping a damn house) but now they just leave two strangers (so not cash cows) alive? Usopp--was worth Arlong's anger, but suddenly two other random humans doing the same thing aren't worth killing?

This is how he responds to Zoro being what I would assume is racist given what Arlong says. He does not know who this guy is--Zoro was found tied to a boat and just brought to him and his first words are racist. Yet, Arlong lets it 'slide once'. Again this is the guy who hit a child for no reason except she was human way before he lost Fisher Tiger or went to the human torture prison. Yet now he's putting up with a stranger calling him racist names?

Going back to Usopp, this is how furious Arlong was when he was attacked:

He's so furious that for a moment he's willing to destroy one of his money making villages, right after losing one not to long ago, just to kill one human guy who didn't actually hurt him, nor are they a rebelling villager.

Yet this is how he acts once Usopp gets caught.

This is after he comes back to Arlong Park to find most of his crew beaten to a pulp by Zoro. He flipped a house he was so pissed off at Usopp, ready to destroy an entire village that he gets good money from (and which he needs to keep Nami around) but suddenly after his crew is hurt he's not in the mood for killing Usopp ASAP?!

Also, he was only in Nami's village because he saw Genzo had a weapon. He thought the village was going to rebel like the last one and he wanted to nip it in the bud and kill Genzo before it got to far. That was the only reason he was there and yet, after Usopp makes him absolutely furious he and Kurobi leave Genzo alive.

Flashback Arlong, who was barely held back by Fisher Tiger would never have left any of these humans alive. They were in his eyes disrespectful, not fearing him like he wants, and most did not give him money--the only benefit he sees to keeping humans around. Yet, he lets all of them live--maybe he has plans to kill them later, but again, past Arlong would kill them ASAP.

I know that the most likely reason for this is because Oda didn't have everything with Arlong and Jinbe's past in his brain at this point (there's ten years or more between these parts in the story). Not only that he can't have important people like Usopp and Zoro being killed off. He also seemed less willing to kill characters off in the start of the manga, which is why Genzo and Zoro's friends lived (killing Genzo would also have been way to mean to Nami).

But from an in character perspective you could see this as Arlong being affected by Fisher Tiger's words of not killing humans. No, he can't fully follow that rule, let alone Fisher Tiger's orders to not treat humans badly. Arlong has hated humans for far to long, and he was barely managing to restrain himself for Fisher Tiger despite respecting/caring for the man with his whole heart.

He can't not kill humans or treat them like crap--but he can come up with excuses that limit how many he kills. A 'well, if they pay me, they can live', or a 'they're to weak to kill so I won't', or 'I'll give this guy a warning for insulting me before I kill him'.

He lets his crew drag him away from Nami's village because he doesn't really want to destroy it (for monetary gain not kindness obviously). Kurobi doesn't kill Genzo because he wasn't told to so he lets him off, despite that being the only reason they came in the first place (despite defiantly knowing killing him wouldn't get him in trouble and is Arlong's intention). That gives Arlong time to calm down and by the time Usopp is caught he's more willing to take the time to ask him what he's doing there and then let Nami deal with him.

Part of it might also be Arlong knowing Jinbe will come kick his ass as soon as he finds out he's been killing/terrifying humans. He can bribe the Marines, but only to a point. If he was slaughtering every human that looked at him wrong or said something racist he'd be to much of a threat for higher-up the Marines to ignore. Eventually they'd tell Jinbe to deal with him and Jinbe would. Arlong would know that and given he was beaten easily by Jinbe he also knows he'd lose immediately (and either be killed or sent back to Impel Down).

Either way, he's showing some restraint even though he doesn't have someone like Fisher Tiger, or Jinbe directly telling him to. For whatever reason Arlong is way more willing to keep humans alive if he can come up with an excuse for it. Which I find kind of fascinating and adds some depth to his character that I don't think was necessarily intentional, but is the strength of the writing that Oda was able to add something years down the line that somehow didn't conflict with what's already established.

[alargehunkofdebris]

Aziraphale’s Want Vs Need

Hello I must once more dive into Aziraphale’s character, because he’s such a complex case and I love it. I feel him on such a deep level, and I don’t want his character summed up as “an idiot, currently, for doing a dumb thing.” Crowley can absolutely feel that right now, but we’ve got the benefit of watching from a little farther away.

It is want, verses need, okay? Oldest story arc in the book.

And what Aziraphale wants (not knowing what he needs yet) is for things to finally be easy.

From the beginning, Aziraphale has not had things go easy. Neither has Crowley, but in a different way. For Aziraphale, he has been trained for his whole life to view God and Heaven as good, above all. And until he met Crowley, he’s never really had to challenge that belief. Even if he might’ve had some thoughts himself, he’s never said or heard anyone say them out loud.

And then here’s Crowley, a fellow angel, unashamedly pointing out the flaws in God and Heaven’s logic. From the moment Crowley first started asking questions, Aziraphale was there with a worried expression, pumping the breaks, trying to shave the edges off of Crowley’s defiance for fear of someone overhearing. Crowley has had it rough on the outside—no question, much rougher than Aziraphale—but he’s never been the person to censor himself, or to deny how he feels. That’s what lead to his fall, but it’s also what made him much surer of himself, much stabler, much less stressed about his own morality. He’s got it down pat. Even as a demon, he’s not bothered about breaking the “evil” rules—he’s worried about consequences, and doesn’t like being called nice, but he’s never battling with himself. He knows who he is. And he never has to feel guilt about rejecting his side, because his side is (mostly) awful. It’s Hell. No one is supposed to like Hell, that’s it’s primary function, to be hated. If he breaks a rule, he’s met with punishment, but he’s never punished inwardly.

On the other hand, Aziraphale has been trained to view any defiance of Heaven’s methods as sinful and wrong. There’s no wiggle room – you either agree, or you’re not an angel. And yet, he is faced, again and again, with examples of Heaven’s decisions being cruel, unjust, contradictory, uninformed, and just plain hypocritical. And every time, he’s forced to make that justification—it’s all ineffable, and he’s just not at the level at which he can understand. And any time he makes a decision that contradicts Heaven—the sword, the children of Job—another stone of guilt is added to his load, because even if he instinctually feels it’s the right thing, he’ll have that lifetime of training screaming in his ear, “No, you idiot, you traitor, there was a reason this was done, and you’ve ruined it.” Nothing is easy. No matter what he does, it’s never easy. His guilt comes from so many sides, but it’s all cumulative. All he feels is that ever-present weight, and he’s felt it from the moment Crowley introduced him to the concept of doubt.

So, when he’s offered the job in Heaven—to be the one making the rules, the one who can decide what is good—it’s the first time, ever, that things simplify in his head. With him at the helm, “good” can actually mean “good.” No more uncomfortable contradictions, where killing children is somehow both evil and God’s will. His logic will be sound; it will withstand scrutiny. He will allow questions because he’ll have answers, and if he doesn’t, he’ll learn the best answers. Finally, things are making sense. Things are becoming easy.

And Crowley…ah, Crowley. The biggest contradiction. A demon who is simultaneously sin embodied and the purest source of good in Aziraphale’s life. A person he should hate, but instead loves. That, too, can be made easy. He can make Crowley an angel again—he can restore Crowley to his true form. And there’s nothing complicated about working with, but most importantly loving another angel. It is, finally, how it should be. It will be so, so easy. No more guilt. No more weight.

And so, what Aziraphale thinks he wants is for things to be “easy.” But that’s not what he needs. Because in his vision, “easy” simply means “being myself while still pacifying Heaven.” And unfortunately for Aziraphale, this is just not possible. He’s chronically attaching his own morals to a corporation that lacks any scrap of it, but who simply has a God-level PR firm. It’s as oil and water as you can get, but Aziraphale keeps stirring. And unfortunately, he’s idealistic enough to fall for one more lie, because he craves the easy existence he never got—not one free of work, but free of mental burden as an angel of God.

This is still possible. This easing of the mental burden. But it won’t come from an easy solution. He doesn’t need things to be easy in the life he’s always known—he needs to unhitch himself from the life that’s made things hard. He needs to let go of any lingering hope that Heaven and God have something up their sleeve. He needs to fall.

Perhaps he won’t fall completely, or technically—there will probably be some lost paperwork that means he can keep the keycard into Heaven—but he will absolutely have to “fall” from his mental title of “Angel of Heaven, as it currently is, and of God, as She currently paints herself.” He tried being both himself and this impossible paradox of “Angel Who Does Evil That Is Somehow Good(?)”, and he’s failed. He will always fail.

Consequently, he also needs to do the one thing he’s both very good and very bad at doing. He needs to trust Crowley.

And he finds it oh so easy to trust Crowley when the decisions are simply regarding his own life. He trusts that Crowley will come to his rescue seconds before death. He trusts Crowley, a person who’s not held a gun in his life, to shoot him in the face. But the moment it comes to Heaven, Aziraphale shuts down. Because Heaven has done a very good job at selling itself as the most important thing in the universe. Of course Aziraphale would see his own life unimportant compared to Heaven. It’s what he’s learned.

But now, after 6000 years of proof that Heaven is not some all-knowing place that “does the right thing, in a way you just can’t understand,” Aziraphale needs to trust the person who’d clocked it from the start. Even if Crowley isn’t always right—he’ll always need that pull from Aziraphale to land on the best patch of middle ground—Crowley is still forever pointing in the right direction.

The final step to Crowley won’t be an easy one. It’s a mental step much bigger, much tougher than Crowley ever had to make. His fall was due to a simple question. A slip of paper in a suggestion box. There wasn’t this threat of losing angel status, of being cast into flame; he never even thought the punishment existed. It wasn’t a question of renouncing Heaven and their corrupted concept of “good” entirely. And Aziraphale has had many more years of brainwashing, gaslighting, and fear making this final step as hard as possible. But once there, Aziraphale’s mind will clear. For the first time in 6000 years, the shouting will disappear, the stones will lift, and the tension will slacken. Things will be easy.

[symbioticsimplicity]

@taddy-cat

You asked for the essay, you get the essay.

First and foremost, the premise of the show is that anyone, no matter how awful, can be redeemed. Based on that alone, there's already room for Alastor to make the cut. He would absolutely take the longest and I believe he'd be the last of the original cast to have done so, but I think its not only possible but plausible. From a writing perspective it would be brilliant should they carry it off.

But that's the Doylist answer, we're interested in the Watsonian one.

The first thing that makes me think so, is that we've already seen him change, in small ways, but its change nonetheless.

Turning away Mimzy, which while was most likely because he was trying to make Lucifer swallow the narrative that he was constructing, still showed him prioritizing the hotel.

Lending Charlie his Mic. THAT was a trust exercise. It didn't take place during one of the scheduled times, but make no mistake he placed a SHITTON of trust in Charlie then, he just didn't tell her. It was on his own terms, but like I said SMALL changes.

Threatening Husk. That sounds contradictory because how could threatening someone indicate a GOOD change? Because we very much have heard about Alastor being the type of person you don't fuck around with. People do everything they can to avoid him so much as NOTICING them. He's absolutely the type to kill without warning but he DIDN'T. He threatened because he LIKES Husk.

And of course him mentioning "One could become accustomed" to the rest of the Hazbin cast. First of all, that was right before a major battle, he could very well lose any of these people the next day. That's such a fond thing to say under those circumstances, especially for someone like him. (This is pure speculation, but remember what Mimzy said about him becoming a kitten after a drink or two?? What better time to drink than the eve before a major battle??? Alcohol loosens the tongue, ergo Alastor is an affectionate drunk. Honestly??? That would be fucking hilarious, and would explain why hes not visibly drunk around any of them despite liking alcohol)

Also!!! Rosie!!!! The fact that he DOES have the capacity for genuine friendship, however twisted, shows that he has the potential to cultivate even more relationships like those, perhaps in a healthier manner even.

That said, it will be HARD.

He will fight TOOTH AND NAIL. He is the embodiment of it gets worse before it gets better. He's gonna fuck up SO MUCH MORE before that even becomes a possibility. Because in order to get him to actually consciously make the decision to become better, he has to have remorse to work with. Right now Alastor feels none guilt about just about anything hes done up until this point. He's a monster and he knows and loves that about himself. He DOES have a moral code in there somewhere, its just wildly different than anyobody else's and he hasn't broken THAT once. He needs to be put in a position where he DOES.

Because for someone like him, redemption can't be an accident the way it was with Pentious. It needs to be an intentional goal that he has to work towards with the same kind of intensity he's put toward evil. And given the set up they have for him to betray the Hotel, I genuinely hope that's the catalyst. I hope its right after Charlie goes out of her way to do something genuinely meaningful for him (Like passing him a message from his Mother, because she sought her out while she was in Heaven. She knows how much he cares about her at that point, and made the effort to make contact and see if she could get smuggle a letter down for him. Maybe it even causes her some trouble too just to add fuel to the fire.)

But if that remorse were to begin, I think it would eat him alive. In the same way pain feels magnified when its not a frequent thing, Alastor has never felt guilt before so its crushing to him.

Alastor is also not the type of person to sit around and mope so after figuring out what the fuck is happening to him, he would be the type to force himself through whatever he thought necessary to deal with it. And the way to deal with it is to put himself through Charlie’s program.

He has to see his Mom, and he has to make things right.

And that fucker is driven.

[fandomfluffandfuck]

I finished your chris evans reader insert on archive AGAIN 😳🥵 can has another? 🥺👉👈 im in dire need of it 🤲 something related to the sluttiness chris has been embodying recently? 😍

related to my Chris Evans × Reader (both fem and masc chapters available) on AO3 called: "You Heard The Rumors 'Bout These Legs, Well I'm The One Who Spread 'Em"

Also, aw, thank you sweetheart, it's always lovely to hear that people go back and re-read my fics! I have my own fics that I read again and again and again so it's fun to be that for someone else <3

And, while not an entire fic (mostly because I don't know how to write anything brief haha)... you can certainly have a drabble! Inspired by all the recent sluttiness as you wish 😘

Chris Evans × Gender Neutral Reader (with dirty talk, grinding/humping, outdoor hooking up, and hand jobs) under the cut

"How're you doing, big guy?" You purr, climbing into Chris' lap and settling yourself there, one hand on his shoulder and the other carding through his fluffy hair. There's no gel in it today - keeping it slick and in place - instead, some of it has fallen out of its usual style and onto his forehead. Partly the reason there's no product in his hair is because he's been in and out of the pool all day. Swimming, lying in the sun, and running Dodger around the yard, playing chase, in just his swim trunks, sunglasses, and his pendant necklace swinging or hitting his tattooed, untrimmed chest- glinting in the sun. You told him earlier, jokingly, that he's gonna have a tan line from it if he keeps it on, he still hasn't taken it off though. Not that you mind. You take your hand out of his hair for a moment, righting the pendent to sit in the middle of the chain.

"Mmm-?" he hums, sitting up more now, propped on his elbows. You hadn't realized he was napping, eyes shut under those dark shades.

You chuckle, "sleepy?" you ask while ruffling his hair. Amused and so, so entranced. He's so handsome.

"A little." He breathes in hugely, impressive chest rising and falling deeply. You can't help but place both hands on his bare chest. You feel the thump, thump, thump of his heart and the soft scratch of his chest hair under your spread fingers and palms.

"I always pegged you as more of a dog, but here you are, sitting in the sun and stealing cat naps so I'm not so sure anymore..." you say, smiling. And you don't say it but you do think it- that it's fair for him to be sleepy. He's been working hard. Acting as he normally does but also voice acting, working tirelessly on his website, plus doing press for the on-screen acting and voice acting. You know well that press takes the most out of him. He deserves a lazy day in the sun.

"Yeah. 'S better with you here now though," he charms, sleep still clinging to his voice. He's playing with the waist of your shorts as he slips his hands around you. Encircling.

You haven't been out with him the whole day, some of it, sure, whenever you needed a break from your work-from-home job, but not the whole time. So you aren't dressed for swimming or lounging in the sun as he is. Still, his hands find your naked skin as if you are dressed to lay out, caressing your sides and back. The breadth of his hands on you is familiar and comforting.

"Is it?" You breathe, not thinking about what you're saying, just trying to get more of that deep, rumbling timbre out of his mouth and in your ears. His morning (or generally post-sleep) voice is fantastic.

"Always is," he murmurs back, sliding his hands out from under your clothes and up your back, over your shirt. Once his hands get to your shoulders he takes ahold of them to bring you down against him. And he sighs, satisfied when you're laid flat against each other. Chest to chest.

Chris' beard is soft and vaguely scratchy just like his chest hair. It tickles your face as you lean in for a slow, sun-melted kiss. Chris tastes like himself and a little like chlorine plus the beer he's been drinking all afternoon. And, actually, he might just smell like chlorine from swimming so much- sweat and chlorine and just the barest hint of his cologne that hasn't been washed off yet.

He kisses you harder. More force and more lust behind his intent. Waking up. Yeah... waking up more for sure.

One of you parts your lips, then the other.

Then you're licking into each other's mouths. Kissing harder. Kissing sloppier. Chris' beard rasps against your face. His lips are soft and plush against yours. It's intoxicating. His teeth nip at you teasingly. Your lungs burn, needing oxygen bad but you're unwilling to give this up. Not yet. Not without a fight. You push just a little harder.

Then break away, panting. Just for long enough to get enough air into your system, then you dive right back in- desperate. Starved for it.

Your noses hit together a little too hard. It doesn't stop either of you. You have to keep going. Keep going.

Amidst the ramping up kisses, getting hotter and hotter between you both, his hands slide down to your ass. They feel massive on you. His heavy hands.

His hands grope you through your clothes until he becomes too impatient and slips his hands underneath your shorts and underwear.

You rip your mouths apart to gasp. His hands on your bare skin makes you gasp. He pinches you. Just changing things up. You gasp again, louder this time. And he laughs, low and shiver-indusing with the how dangerous and teasing it feels. "Chriss-"

Against your mouth he rumbles, kissing again, just a passionate and burning, "what?" Then, "you got more work to do or somethin'? Somewhere you gotta run off to, huh, baby?"

"N-no," you pant hard against his mouth, wishing he was kissing you instead of using that wonderful mouth to talk.

"Then what?" He challenges.

"Nothing," you puff, "I- I just like saying your name." You haven't been out in the sun long enough to get burned but you feel like you might've been. Your cheeks flushed.

Chris' lips curl into a cocky smirk, "yeah?" He grabs you harder, his fingers digging into your ass and his impressive erection digging into your front. "Say it again then. C'mon sweet thing," he coos, "say my name."

"Chris-" you obey with a shiver.

Chris groans for your trouble, nosing your jaw. Leaning closer. You drop your head to reach his lips better, aching to kiss him more.

You kiss him hard. Gasping at the electric heat zapping between you and now pooling low in your stomach.

His tongue slips between your lips, fucking into your mouth. Wet and hot and- your toes curl as his mouth and hands envelope you wholly.

You can't think about anything but this.

Just this.

"Chris-" you say it right into his mouth this time. Barely audible and chasing the obscene sound of his name coming out of your lips by biting his lower lip. He makes another hungry sound, tilting his face up more to get more of your mouth. Hotly needy. Loving it when you both cut loose and get little rough.

You bite him again. You chase the hurt away with a flick of your tongue. He groans so lowly, so roughly it comes out as a growl.

Fuck.

Chris is restless underneath you. He's just woken up and he's moving up into you in an uncoordinated fashion, like he really did just get bumped out of his dreams. Early morning... moving with what feels good. Aninal. Instinctive.

His hips are twitching up against you like he can't control them. His breaths are coming out unsteady and rough from that huge, gorgeous chest. His lips haven't closed yet from his last groan- his last growl.

Now, he makes another little sound though. High and desperate. His face, neck, and chest are a beautiful, flushed pink. You squirm intentionally on top of him, grinding a little, panting at how hot and heavy and thick he is under you. His swim trunks do nothing to conceal his cock. You love it.

You run your fingers through his hair and then push his sunglasses up into his hair so you can see his eyes...

They're dark and heavily lidded, almost shut as he stares hungrily at you. He doesn't speak. Just stares, lips gaped and breathing heavily with his fingertips digging into your sides.

"Feel good?" You whisper, moving a hand between your grinding bodies so you can cup his heavy, hard cock.

"Uh-huh," he puffs, nodding jaggedly. Moaning when you grab him more firmly. He throbs in your hand.

You squeeze him harder through his swim trunks. You stroke the impressive length of him. Hot. Heavy. He lets out another moan, throwing his head back on the deck chair he's reclined on. The motion makes his sunglasses hit back down over his nose. You'd laugh at it, especially at the shocked look he suddenly makes, not expecting the shades to be there, but you're too focused on making him feel good. Massaging him. Thick, hot, and heavy under your hand.

You lean down enough to bite his bearded jaw.

He makes a wordless sound that almost could be your name.

Encouraging it, this obscene show he's putting on by just being him and enjoying himself, you keep using your mouth. Biting his jaw. Kissing his neck. Nipping his collarbones. Taking that stupidly attractive little pendant on his necklace between your teeth. And working your way lower, lower, lower. All the while you have one hand on his cock. Stroking him gently but mostly focusing on squeezing and drawing your thumb across where you know the sensitive head of his cock lies. You love the way he twitches when you touch that part of him. All of those nerve endings. Right there. Sensitive and red-hot.

"God," he pants and his hips jerk up hard. Your gut swoops with arousal. Between sloppy kisses over his clenching abs, you bite your lip.

Fuck.

He's so hot.

"C'mon baby," you murmur, lips to his skin, tasting of sunscreen and sweat and chlorine, "tell me about how you feel."

"Feels good," he breathes as you get to the waistband of his swim trunks. Kissing. Licking. Pulling at the damp fabric with your teeth only to let it snap back against him. He hisses. He gasps. His hips jokt forward, wordlessly begging for it. It's heady, making him react like that.

"What else?" You demand.

"Feels... feels good," he puffs, having a hard time keeping it together with one of his hands now in your hair and the other at his side, balled into a fist. "Your hand, oh God, baby, it feels so good." You massage his cock with the heel of your palm just for that. Making it good for him. More good. "And- and your mouth. Your mouth is- mmm, it's so good. It feels so good. You're doing so good for me. Please don't stop. Don't stop. Ngh-!" He rambles.

His slurred words and cute, outrageously attractive pleads don't go unnoticed. You pull the band of his shorts down, exposing his cock to your eager eyes and the open air. You make a fist around him, kissing his hip, his v-line tattoos, and intent to put your mouth around the crown of his cock to work at swallowing him all down (you always have to be gentle and go slow because of the size of him) but-

"Oh, oh, God, baby-!" He whines as you stroke him, convulsing as he busts. His hot, wet release gets on your face and neck and over his lower stomach as he moans, pants, and swears through his orgasm. You don't mind. You don't mind the free show even as he breathlessly apologizes for it, saying he doesn't know what came over him, he just got caught up and- he should've warned you. He should've let you blow him like you were gonna but-

It doesn't matter. Squeezing his flagging erection now that he's cum, you watch, gleefully, the way he twitches once or twice, sensitive, before you crawl back up his body. "I don't care," you purr, watching his eyes catch the stain of his release over you, claiming you, "I just wanted to make you feel good, big guy, and it's good to know that I don't even have to try." You wink. He blushes. "I got you there so easy you couldn't even stop yourself..."

"Shit, baby," Chris growls, grabbing you with weak hands, pawing at you, sliding you in close, "you talk like that an' I'm not gonna stay soft for long," he threatens, then launches into that overwhelmingly attractive tone of voice that only seems to come out at particularly... intense... situations, "you want it? You want your turn? Whaddya want, honey, I'll give it to you. You want my mouth? You want my dick in you? My fingers? C'mon, whaddya think? Whadd're you craving, baby?"

[chuckwon]

"They didn’t miraculously outsmart Chuck. It’s all his plan that unfolds like a magic trick, and it works. He takes away everything and everyone else in the world, ensuring that the one course of action left– his planned course of action–is the one that the brothers will take. They forget the power of their free will and feel they have no other choice.

Jack’s sacrifice is completed as he supposedly becomes the 'new God,' but he actually 'dies.' As he told Cas in 15x15, 'God and Amara will cease to exist, and I won’t survive,' and that’s still exactly what happens.

. . . This is where the rest comes in: regardless of the mechanics of the plot’s specifics in 15x19–whether Jack is literally dead, simply caged in his own mind as Chuck uses him as a vessel, altered/corrupted by the God powers within him, or some similar variation–Chuck’s influence remains. Chuck deliberately removes himself from the story, but nothing of significance changes, either in the structure of the universe he created or in the brothers’ lives. And not only does Chuck get the ending he orchestrated in regards to Jack, but his ending for the story also punishes the Winchesters shortly thereafter."

–THE HOW: Chuck’s Method of Victory

Deeply apologize for insufferably quoting my own meta, but it's for the sake of expediency because I just want to put this thought / clarification out there right now and I've only got a few minutes!

(Standard disclaimer that I'm speaking from solely my perspective on the mechanics of a potential "Chuck won" plotline, aka I do not have a monopoly on this analysis or theory and others are free to disagree with my POV. The fact that I have this blog does not mean I'm positioning myself as an Authority on the matter.)

In terms of the plot (as in the literal things and not the metaphorical)... the idea that Chuck won is not beholden to the idea that the way to convey that concept or run with must literally include Chuck being inside of Jack's body. That's one possibility, and it just happens to be one that I tend to gravitate to when imagining potential for storylines. But the exact “method” if you will has several options. Maybe Chuck took over Jack, or maybe he knew the God power would corrupt Jack, or so on and so forth.

The idea of Chuck winning (in terms of the literal events) is essentially that...

A) God power should not have personhood. The fact that it does at the "end" of the story is inherently a problem based on everything the Supernatural universe has put forth thematically, literally right up until the end in 15x17.

B) What happens to Jack–him becoming the "new god"–isn’t okay. It's awful and it was Chuck’s plan or aim all along as part of the "Abraham & Isaac" ending he desired: the father sacrificing his own son.

C) Therefore, Jack needs saving (in some fashion) through his family making it clear that he’s loved for who he is not what he is, and that he never needed to prove himself or earn their forgiveness. By "his family" I specifically mean Sam and Dean, as they are the ones who unintentionally sacrificed Jack. Or, to reference SPNWIN 1x06,

"So you had a friend stuck in a cycle of violence, and instead of helping him, you wielded him like some kind of weapon?"

Sam and Dean needed to have told Jack something along the lines of what Mary tells John in that episode:

"I still want to get out of hunting. I really do. But it's not gonna be at your expense."

D) What happens to Jack–WHATEVER the specifics–embodies the cycles of violence on the micro and macro levels. He is a son who is burdened with the expectations of his fathers. He is also the grandson of Chuck/God and in the end he could not escape the fate of becoming him.

Sam and Dean may not have meant to “kill” Jack, but they did anyway between 15x17 and 15x19 because Jack was sacrificed on the altar of their hopes, struggles, and expectations. It plays right into Chuck’s favorite themes and ideal ending. In Chuck’s words from 14x20, it’s “the father killing his own son,” otherwise known as “Abraham and Issac.”

Jack’s sacrifice fits perfectly into an unbroken cycle of violence that Chuck embodied and that was embedded into the DNA of Supernatural as a story from day one. Breaking that cycle once and for all was the only avenue to true victory, but in the end, the cycle remains intact. In-narrative and out-of-narrative, the story and characters were not allowed to fully grow beyond it —which is why it’s important to understand the breadth of these themes in order to understand the reasoning behind the writing of Chuck’s canonical victory.

How the future authors or any future sequel may or may not run with all of this in terms of a plot–is Chuck using Jack as a vessel, and if so, is Jack alive or dead? Or is Chuck not involved and this is a consequence he left behind as part of the tragedy, and the God power itself corrupting Jack and he has to be convinced into giving it up? etc.–the baseline idea is the same.

My point in bringing this up is that "something's wrong with Jack"–which I think many people are picking up on anew in the SPNWIN finale–is enough to be getting on with :)