#he just wants to have some agency

[discountsoysauce]

I talk about Victor and Eli a lot but like. I wanna take a minute to talk about Stell. Mostly bc I'm thinking of my fic rn and how helpless he is to his situation despite being the director of EON. He's supposed to be in charge of the entire operation and yet there are constantly things he either has no knowledge of or no control over. And that's So interesting to me

[wishesofeternity]

The thing about HotD is that it while it absolutely minimizes the agency and ambition of both Rhaenyra and Alicent, this is specifically used to glorify Rhaenyra and frame her as righteous while condemning Alicent and framing her lacking. That's the key difference in both their textual portrayals that has directly led to 90% of the fandom hailing Rhaenyra as the second coming of Christ while spewing the most hateful vitriol at Alicent just for existing. But y'all are not prepared for that conversation.

[shorthaltsjester]

free my complex female character, she did the same thing as complex male characters but the fandom takes Any analysis of her actions/choices/motivations that doesn’t strip her of all of her agency in bad faith and claims that only misogynists would dare to critique the things that they’ve noticed in her character because she’s a woman, completely ignoring the over-presence of discourse about similarly traited male characters in their fandom.

[stellar-collective]

Hello there!

A big fan of your art (your drawings are so funny and heartwarming) If I you still take requests,could you please draw the Agency making a party for Reggie,because... It is "Handler week"!!!🧡 A whole week dedicated to our favorite leading support agent Reginald Crane!! 💛💛💛

P. S. Could you please add hot dogs, cause Reggie loves them.

thank you!! i’m a bit sad that i couldn’t do more for handler week, but i’m glad i got to at least do this!

[moonshynecybin]

i do think. as much of a deal i make about marc being a lil weird about his pain. that the motogp press establishment is infinitely more obsessed with taking his pain and lionizing it. narrativizing it. making it a monument to racers (and often marc specifically) being sort of. superhuman beings who can white knuckle through any injury because their noble devotion to the sport can overcome it all. which is of course a very flawed line of thinking to propagate amongst the fans and employees of a sport that involves people flinging themselves off of motorcycles at 300kmh. but nonetheless it helps create this sporting narrative (frequently FULLY endorsed by a lot of the fans, the press/media, the motogp DOCTORS, and the riders themselves) that takes very stupid decisions concerning the health and safety and well-being of these people and transform those decisions into something to be rewarded as the ultimate ideal of what it means to be a motorcycle racer. no pain no gain, even when you literally don’t even gain anything !! and it’s not unique to motogp whatsoever but it IS still weird and i don’t think it should be glossed over

[bougiebutchbitch]

every time I see a take that flattens Ed's character into this boring perfect angel who can do no wrong and has 0 agency because literally every choice he makes is determined by the actions of white men, I add another sentence to my stories where he's a sympathetic, complex and multifaceted trauma victim - but also an abuser who made terrible mistakes of his own volition, who seriously hurt people he cares about and left them traumatised, who feels crushed beneath the terrifying hypermasculine persona he built for himself (which he is still figuring out how to escape/incorporate into his new self/define himself around). A desperate, affection-starved, suicidal man who struggles hugely with his mental health, who deserves a loving support system (just not from his victims unless they want to be a part of it), who can grow and change and do better, who can work on himself and explore himself and find love and happiness.

but y'know, maybe I'm the one who 'hates his character' lmaoooo

[galedekarios]

i wish ppl would stop making every boundary gale sets for himself about mystra or his perceived insecurities from his relationship with mystra

[dekubreaksbones]

You know those old AUs where Dabi/Touya trained at the HPSC?

That, but with Natsuo.

Losing both his brother and mother leads Natsuo to have a mental break, resulting in a stress mutation of his quirk. Makes it stronger; currently thinking his ice becomes unmeltable, and certain parts of his body turn completely into ice, such as his arms and jaw. He can regrow the ice and change its formation on his body. The HPSC already had an interest in Endeavor's children, but only after this incident are they able to get their hands on one of them.

He's not the same as Hawks; the commission doesn't own him, it's more of a "boarding school" type thing, and after he becomes a Hero, he's only so on paper. He doesn't have an agency, doesn't patrol, is mostly unknown. He doesn't assassinate people like Lady Nagant and Hawks, they keep his business mostly legal. He's just,,, a hero working specifically and directly for the Commission, called in on certain raids or jobs as the HPSC sees fit.

Outside of that though, he tries to have a normal life. Moves out at 18, attends college, keeps his civilian and hero identities separate. He doesn't have many connections in the hero world; everyone knows he's a Commission plant.

Anyway. Just something i'm thinking really hard of rn. Will probably do some art later

[adobe-outdesign]

GameFreak's Pokemon dialogue simulator

[emrys-merlin]

Maybe it's an unpopular opinion, but I think the argument that Merlin could have turned Morgana away from evil a) overexaggerates their friendship, and b) underestimates the appeal and manipulative abilities of Morgause. Merlin would have helped her in the short run, but eventually, Morgause would have come into the picture, said and did the right things to manipulate a vulnerable Morgana. Merlin telling her wouldn't have done any good. Morgana would still have remained resentful and angry at Uther's cruelty, ultimately leading to her turning against him by seeking out HER SISTER. Merlin didn't want to kill Uther (for Arthur), unlike Morgause AND Morgana.

Morgana was already isolated and raging against Uther in the pilot. Uther is Uther, Arthur at this stage is almost Uther 2.0, and Morgana stands alone and (she believes) without family. By the time Merlin arrives she's already bitter and angry, albeit justifiably so.

Morgana is drawn into her fate with an inevitability that only the dragon predicts. Her instantaneous connections with both Mordred and Morgause are strong evidence that the forces of destiny are working basically /within/ her. Merlin, on the other hand, is separated from her by status and by the proprieties of gender. Even if he did confide in her, I don't think that would have tempered the radicalising effect of what she saw Mordred suffer through, and the kindred spirit/mentor/family she found in Morgause. Not to mention the fact that the first time she leaves with Morgause after being poisoned by Merlin, she doesn't even go of her own free will - she was genuinely clueless that she was the one putting everyone to sleep so that an invasion could be carried out.  Merlin's persuasive abilities had nothing to do with that situation, and those events are the ones where Morgana is truly removed from Camelot and fully radicalised into the personality transformation that we see between the end of season 2/beginning of season 3. There was very little that Merlin could have hoped to have done to remedy it. By S3, Morgana is a lost cause. 

Additionally, Morgana finding out she's Uther's biological daughter was what really pushed her over the edge. I think she would have felt betrayed by that revelation whether Morgause or Merlin were there for her. At that point, she wanted what was rightfully hers. If she had turned to Merlin for help with it, he would not have told her what she wanted to hear, which was try to claim the throne or have Camelot know she was a Pendragon too.

Merlin would never have chosen Morgana over Arthur. And Morgana would never have chosen Merlin over Morgause/the throne.

Telling Morgana would have been a colossally stupid mistake. It can work in the world of fanfiction, where we soften character personalities to better enable development or alternate timelines, but in the continuity of the show and her character, she was always going to end up walking down that path.

Also, Merlin doesn't owe anyone telling a secret about himself that could get him killed - except possibly Arthur. But that's a rant for another time.

[lotus-pear]

THE NEW BSD CHAPTER?????? HELLO?????? EHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK FYODOR

[viiinz]

everyday I think about him (Ippolit Terentyev)

[thedailydescent]

going off of what dwreader and ghostfoolish have been saying better than i can:

why do people think louis will still be a believable victim and it won't be racist if the show just has armand mess with louis's memories regarding 1x05 and how claudia died, and also be controlling him throughout the entire interview/relationship? like not only does it paint victims of abuse as unreliable and unstable, therefore not be trusted with anything*, but it also, just, shifts most if not all the blame from a white man to a poc? we've asking this the entire time, but they still don't have an answer for that.

*like statistically speaking victims of abuses' memories might be muddled/repressed from the trauma, so even though they know the abuse happened, people will use the fact that they might not be able to describe an entire fight in specific detail, or got some dates mixed up, or did not speak up sooner, to paint them as mentally ill liars, or even abusers themselves. which is why i think giving louis false memories in 1x05 is still victim blaming in a way, because it encourages the trend of victims not being believed.

[ssruis]

Ruikasa posting that got away from me (again). You guys can’t be mean to me pandemonium is on engsekai in like five days. don’t blame me blame colopale.

Ruikasa is very interesting for me 2 think abt wrt rui and his hang ups bc Rui is very single-minded in going after what interests him - he taught himself robotics/engineering/a million other things, he pursued directing on his own, he would rather stick to his own paths and do what he wants to do instead of do what would make him more palatable to his peers

Rui: I wouldn't be expending my energy on something I don't intend on doing.

Tsukasa: Yes. That's the kind of person you are. You wouldn't be doing something if you didn't really want to...

Rui: right?

(Wonder Halloween)

(Area dialogue)

I don’t feel like hunting down every instance of kids around him going “we don’t want to play with you because it’s dangerous/we think you’re weird” I think I’ve done that enough times. But my point with those instances is that he valued what he loved over attempting to become someone who would fit in.

Desiring to connect with a person beyond the level of just friendship/wanting to know way more about someone is different than studying & learning a subject though, bc it’s

1) typically a two way street in that it’s reliant on the other person to want to share things and want to connect with you in return

2) also reliant on you not fucking up the relationship, which is pretty easy to do if you come out guns blazing like “hey you fascinate me & I want to know what makes you tick. And also everything else about you.”

Both points being something rui has zero experience with. Which is also why I think he opted to ask other people about tsukasa instead of talking to him directly.

(Kaito initial 2*)

(Area conversation)

He’s still very curious about Whatever The Fuck is up with tsukasa tenma but he’s obviously pursuing knowledge a little less intensely/overtly than he does for other stuff

(After talking about movie directing techniques) Director Ohara: … Well, that might not be useful to you as someone who’s aiming to become a stage director.

Rui: …No.

Rui: I’d rather be taught more specific techniques.

Director Ohara: …Huh?

Rui: What I want to create is a show that everyone can enjoy regardless of any limits.

Rui: In order to make that dream come true, I want to learn about direction in all kinds of media.

Director Ohara: …Oh?

Rui: That’s why I want to absorb any ideas and ways of thinking from any field.

Rui: All of the methods you know — please teach them to me.

(Backlight lens flare - TL haruka’s penguin)

All of that to say Rui is very clearly interested in learning more about Tsukasa, but also (imo) very wary of overstepping any social boundaries that would damage their current relationship.

He mentions that he tended to rely on shows to connect to other people around him in Pandemonium -

Rui: I had always thought that I could never properly understand everyone around me.

Rui: As I started doing shows at Wonder Stage with everyone, my way of thinking and feelings began to change.

Rui: Now, I am able to understand and connect with someone without relying on shows, and I’ve come to value the beauty of laughing alongside others.

Rui: that’s why — tsukasa-kun. Thank you for giving me the chance to change.

(Pandemonium - TL tsukasa’s #3 fan)

- which is also the event where he & tsukasa connect more *outside* of shows, and the event that both he and tsukasa acknowledge as an event that made them grow a lot closer. (more recent connect live, wrt them talking abt performing fixer, iirc. I hate to “source: trust me” but we’ve reached my limit for hunting down sources & it’s finding a tweet from forever ago where someone translated what they were talking about)

Anyways. Sorry. I just love that quote & what it says about Rui. I’ll spare you the “directing as a one way street/settling for the closest thing to a connection/laughing *alongside* others instead of providing a show for the audience to laugh at (ensekai if you change that specific sentiment I’ll be so mad)” thoughts. Back to the original point.

It’s interesting to think about how rui’s hang ups wrt friendships and his very intense curiosity/very determined pursuit of knowledge on the subjects that interest him intersect. Like. Before this point, whenever he was interested in something he could just go online and read everything he needed to know and satisfy his curiosity to his heart’s content.

Having to both navigate something completely foreign and pump the brakes on obsessively learning everything he can would be a novel experience for Rui. To say the least. “If I pursue this with as much intensity as I do with any other endeavor I am going to fuck something up (he is suffering)” kind of situation.

Being interested in a *person* is so much different & so much trickier and scarier to navigate. Especially with how much Rui values his relationship to Tsukasa as someone Who Matches His Freak.

and with Rui’s whole “I should be satisfied with what I have and if I’m not then it’s because I’m greedy/selfish” :

Rui: (… Geez, I really lack a backbone. When will the time come when I find myself satisfied with the way things are?)

(…)

Rui: (While working to make my dream come true, together with everyone, I will make their dreams come true. A way to do that — let me think of one.)

Rui: (fufu, how greedy of me.)

(Curtain call - TL Arven Oven & tsukasa’s #3 fan)

(Talking abt wanting to keep doing shows with wxs and his actions in OHE) Rui: Now that I think about it, I’ve been pretty selfish.

(World link - TL haruka’s penguin)

I think Rui’s approach to it would be very “I’m asking for more when I already have a great friendship I’m The Most Selfish Person Alive & must never say anything” which, tbf, would be his reaction wrt having feelings for literally anyone, not just tsukasa. However. Since this is a ruikasa post. unfortunately. I will say that what would be exclusive to Tsukasa is “he’s already given me so much and I still want more… I’m The Most Selfish Person Alive & must never say anything.” Rui is dramatic like that.

[kyouka-supremacy]

[badolmen]

I can fix him*

*bad writing, underutilized gameplay mechanics, characters with unfulfilled potential, funded by bootlickers