#him and lived experiences and etc. but it doesn’t feel like a code he has to abide by or a list of commandments for himself

[designernishiki]

I will maybe make a bigger post at some point about other characters’ dnd classes but. thought about it. kiryu would be a battlemaster fighter multiclassed into oath of vengeance paladin. end of statement

[ecoterrorist-katara]

Zutara, romance novels, and the female gaze

Okay so I’ve been thinking about the female gaze a LOT so I checked out a subreddit about romance novels, despite never having read one. I came across this meme (which was initially a Tumblr post and then got posted to Instagram and then to Reddit and I’m now bringing back to Tumblr — Internet telephone, pls never change):

And…what is The Southern Raiders, if not a platonic grovel? Katara’s pain is central to the episode. It’s central to Zuko. Zuko asks Katara what he can do to make up for his betrayal; she demands the impossible. He reads between the lines, cockblocks her brother to get the necessary information, and then waits outside her door overnight (which he also did for Iroh, the one person we know for sure he loves). He basically makes himself a receptacle for her rage, and he holds space for her by coming with her on her revenge quest and carrying their bags and not saying a damn thing about what she should and should not do beyond like…asking her to rest. And obviously the grovel works! She forgives him and then they’re thick as thieves, bantering and fighting and saving each other’s lives, etc.

On a different note, I’ve been told that enemies to lovers is one of the biggest tropes in romance novels, similar to YA lit and fanfic. Here’s something else I found in the romance novel discourse:

And…yeah. In TSR, Katara really does show Zuko her worst self, because she doesn’t feel the need to perform for him. She doesn’t feel the need to perform moral perfection OR cold blooded vengeance. She bloodbends in front of him and he just goes with it. She doesn’t kill Yon Rha and he just goes with it. He doesn’t treat her any differently afterwards. Maybe they talk about it off screen, but I kind of like the idea that they don’t, because Katara doesn’t need to explain anything. And it’s so interesting, because some people in the ATLA fandom have a totally different read on TSR. They think Zuko was encouraging Katara to get revenge (by what, keeping his mouth shut?), and that Aang is the one who acts as her moral compass. I believe that either Bryan or Mike said in the DVD commentary that Aang is the angel on her shoulder the entire time. And this interpretation does make sense if you see it from the male gaze, where Katara as an object of affection is acting in an angry, irrational, threatening way. But if you see it from the female gaze, you recognize that actually it’s probably the most emotionally taxing experience Katara has to go through, and she doesn’t owe it to be nice or perfect to anybody. Katara’s formative trauma literally comes to a head, and she has to make a decision — no, a discovery — about who she is in relation to the tragedy that defines her life and even her identity (as a waterbender, as a parentified child who becomes the mom friend, as a genocide victim), and she’s accompanied by someone who trusts her judgement and validates her feelings.

I’m not saying TSR is explicitly romantically coded, but when it conforms so well to romance novel tropes…is it any wonder that so many people thought “yes this is her man?” And then he takes lightning in the heart for her and reaches for her when he’s literally dying, I will never be normal about that either

[miss-oranje-disco-dancer]

nsfw alphabet with chris

A is for aftercare - Chris is big into cuddling. He wants to wrap you up in his arms and fall asleep with you like that. However, he would insist on carrying you to the bathroom first because you should always pee after sex!

B is for body part - His dick is big, but he’s kind of shy about it. He's worried it will hurt you (and it might - but if it did, he’d stop or insist on going slower). As for you, he likes an ass that’s smackable (aka all asses!). 

C is for cum - Chris wants his partner to cum first, but there’s a secret trick to making him cum first if you want that to happen - tell him you want him to cum inside you and it exponentially speeds things up. It’s literally a cheat code. If he did cum first (I feel like he has a somewhat longer refractory period, especially when he gets older), he would still make sure you cum. Maybe his dick is soft now and he can’t fuck you for a bit, but that means it’s the perfect time to go down on you!

D is for dirty secret -  I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: when Chris was younger, they didn’t have the internet at home and he couldn’t just go out and rent videotapes or buy playboys because he was living with his parents growing up, so he used to jerk off to hot ladies in infomercials (and also the Sears catalog). If Flo from Progressive was around at the time, he would’ve been beating off to her. 

E is for experience - Chris does not have as much experience as you’d think. He can fuck, so you might expect that he’s experienced, but actually he’s only gotten it on with a few girls and a few guys over the years.

F is for favorite position - He thinks he likes to fuck from you behind until he’s introduced to the mating press and he becomes addicted to it. That’s not to say that you would never end up pressed face-first into the mattress because he would be into that too.

G is for goofy (serious or silly during sex) - Chris doesn’t joke around during sex, at least, not intentionally. But occasionally, something stupid will happen (ex. he’ll knock something over by accident in the heat of the moment) and you’ll end up laughing with him (or maybe a little bit at him).

H is for hair - Naturally, he is a hairy guy, but he trims - and not only down there, he also trims his chest hair.

I is for intimacy - He needs intimacy, and that’s one of the reasons that he doesn’t get around as much. He has a hard time having meaningless sex, and would rather wait to be in a relationship or at least go on a couple dates before sleeping with someone.

J is for jack off - He does it more than you'd think. But, he doesn’t always do it out of horniness. He’d do it to destress (and sometimes even out of boredom).

K is for kink - As I mentioned before, serious breeding kink. If you let him cum inside you, he’d fall in love. He’d also really like to watch you touch yourself - whether that be in person or over the phone.

L is for location - When he’s younger (STARS era), he would do it at work (in the office or in the cop car, in the supply closet). When he’s older, he would probably be less likely to do that - however, if he happened to be taking an important phone call, and you happened to be sucking him off…

M is for motivation - I think he gets angry boners. We know he can be hot-headed, and I think if he got stressed out about work/got into an argument, he would benefit highly from taking out that frustration sexually. If he came home from a rough mission, he would be all over you - kissing you, touching you, etc.

N is for no (what he wouldn't do) - I don’t think that he’d be into being submissive (or bottoming, if we’re talking about men). I think he prefers to be dominant and is 100% a top.

O is for oral - He likes giving, but loves receiving. He would be very gentle with you, always getting you a pillow for your knees or taking you to the bedroom, and he would not facefuck you - he’d let you set the pace. But, he loves looking down into your eyes while you’re going down on him. Also, he would be praising you the entire time. Telling you how you’re taking him so well, etc.

P is for pace -  He likes it slow, but deep. He would enjoy the intimacy of slower sex and he likes to savor the moment rather than getting it over with quickly.

Q is for quickie - He doesn't really like quickies. If his partner wanted one, he probably wouldn’t refuse, but if they had time to slow it down, he’d much prefer that. 

R is for risk - In terms of the risk of getting caught, he’s definitely willing to push some limits. When he’s younger and his sex drive is higher, he’d be down to fuck wherever and whenever (the office, the car, the bar bathroom, the park, etc). When he’s older, if you asked him hypothetically if he’s into semi-public sex, he’d say no. But, if you get him all hot and bothered, especially while he’s driving, he’d be like “if you don’t stop that I’m going to pull over” because he can’t focus otherwise. 

S is for stamina - He has high stamina. That man has been smoking cigarettes for decades and can still run with ease? He can fuck!

T is for toys - He probably wouldn't own toys because he just wouldn’t think to? He’d be like “my hand works, so if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” in terms of self-pleasure, but if you asked to bring a vibrator into the bedroom, he’d be down for it.

U is for unfair (how much he teases) - Teases until you beg him to stop. Wants to make you get all whiny before he actually fucks you. He would make you sit in his lap and grind on him or he might finger you.

V is for volume - He’s pretty quiet for the most part. Would definitely swear but wouldn’t moan super loudly. When he gets close, though, he probably says things (that are super hot) without even thinking, like he doesn’t dirty talk on purpose, but he loses himself in the moment and ends up doing it. 

W is for wild card (random headcanon) - Wants to tie you up (either tying you to the headboard or having you sit with your arms tied behind your back). Also, he’s a headboard grabber (and a headboard breaker).

X is for x-ray (what's he packin') - Big dick. That’s all I need to say. Statistically speaking, since he’s American, he’s probably circumcised. 

Y is for yearning - He’s kinda sappy so if he has a partner, he does miss them. In many ways. Another reason for him to have phone sex.

Z is for zzz - He will not fall asleep until you fall asleep. Due to his trauma, I honestly think he probably has trouble sleeping in general.

[sntafe]

i want to know more about your davey. what makes him tick! what music do you think he’d listen to! what are his pastimes and hobbies and what makes him like them so much!! PLEASEEE rant about your davey i love him!!

- @we-are-inevitable ✨

OH MY GOD. YES. OKAY. you just opened pandora’s box you have no clue. (btw most of this is based on my tattoo au although a lot of this stuff is just stuff i have connected to davey no matter the au)

okay. so. my davey is a high school english teacher and i think something that makes him really upset is when he sees his good students start skipping, not paying attention, etc. while i don’t think this would make him tick per say, i do think it would def make him anxious and on edge. he would absolutely come home and rant to jack about how he doesn’t know what he’s doing wrong and how he’s worried about them and how he wishes he can do more but all he is an english teacher. (and jack would assure him that he’s doing more than enough and just being there and noticing these things is all some kids need) (but davey would def pull them aside in class and just talk to them like they’re humans bc he knows some teachers treat their students as children and they hate that. so he will just talk and try to pick their brains and help them in literally whatever way he can)

MUSIC. okay so davey definitely tries a TON of different genres simply because he is curious and he wants to hear it all. (he wants to experience every bit of life that he can and that includes different genres of music.) at the end of the day tho he’s a slut for sad queer indie pop: hozier, lucy dacus, and kevin atwater are his favs. (i could go on a whole different rant about how davey coded some of kevin atwater’s songs are but i’ll refrain for now.) he grew up listening to billy joel and still listens to him when he’s feeling particularly nostalgic or homesick. the album “the stranger” is one of his favorites in the entire world. his parents had it on record, and one year in middle school for his birthday he was gifted a record player, so he was playing that shit NONSTOP. to read to, to study to, to hangout to, etc. les used to come and sit in davey's room while he was doing domestic tasks, like cleaning or homework, so les now has attached that album to davey. (they get a tattoo for vienna, their fav song on the album—davey gets “slow down, you’re doing fine” on his left forearm and les gets “you can’t be everything you wanna be before your time” on his right forearm) (done by jack of course)

jack listens to more alternative stuff, and although it’s not something davey listens to on his own, he finds himself humming along to the pierce the veil and green day songs on jack’s playlist 

as far as hobbies and stuff, obviously he reads. he’s always been an avid reader because he loves to get lost in other worlds and he likes to learn about things that he otherwise wouldn’t have had the opportunity to. he gets into reading slumps around midterms and finals because he’s grading sooooo many papers but like as SOON as that’s over he falls back into finishing a novel in a couple days and he absolutely loves it. it’s just so… refreshing in a way. (sometimes, when he’s particularly missing jack, he’ll go and just sit at the tattoo shop and read. he’s content to simply be in the same space with jack and he also loves sneaking glimpses of jack working.)

he also absolutely loves to cook. he grew up often helping his mother in the kitchen, so he’s sort of always loved it. once he moved out and began living by himself he found a whole new appreciation for it. it’s his way to decompress at the end of the day and … in a way food is his language?? like he will make meals based on what he’s feeling. if he’s really happy he doesn’t mind making something that takes a while. it’ll be bright and fresh. if he’s had a particularly rough day though, he’ll throw something frozen in the oven and call it a day. (over time, jack slowly realizes this, and can gauge what davey needs based on what he says they’re having for dinner. for example; if davey’s just making something frozen, jack will give him an extra long hug and force him to take a hot shower in order to relax. jack often takes over “cooking” on these days)

don’t even play on his animal crossing island. he likes the domestic video games with goals that he can take at any speed simply because they’re relaxing and cozy. he loves making his island all organized and pretty 

meanwhile jack is like begging for the switch to play mario kart 

thank you for letting me rant GOD I LOVE DAVID JACOBS if there’s anything else you want me to yap about PLEASE ask!!!

@we-are-inevitable :)

[whaliiwatching]

Caught up to the fic!! Absolutely fascinated by all the queer/punk/poc history here, since I don't know much myself. Very sweet chapter as well.

Unrelated question - mostly - but why is it common fanon to depict Noir as the more scarred up of various spiderpeople? Naturally everyone has their fair share of fights, though the only we see sustaining any marks is Peter B and his misaligned nose. Personally, I've taken it as Noir Peter not healing as cleanly due to it being Spider God stuff over Weird Radioactive Healing Factor stuff. Thoughts?

thank you so much!! i’m glad you liked it, & hope the ending was satisfying for ya <3

short answer: hot

long answer, plus a map of my idea of noir’s scars: under readmore :)

i’m not a devout spidey comic/movie fan or a doctor. this is based on conjecture and minimal research!

when i came up with my unmasked noir ideas, i wasn’t influenced by fanon—i hadn’t seen any other fan art, not even when itsv came out. but i can think of a good few reasons that scarred noir is a popular headcanon: evidence of what he’s been through makes him feel more tangible/relatable, the visual difference enhances his thematic individuality as distinct from other spider-people (especially other Peter Parkers), self-consciousness can explain why he doesn’t take off his mask in itsv even around other spiders.

all perfectly valid and interesting reasons! but the first two reasons are doylist and the last one is missing a crucial question: why does he have scars? unless a wound is severe, gets infected, or gets lucky, it won’t usually scar. facial injuries especially need to be really bad to leave a mark. and of course most if not all other spider-people have the healing factor. so what gives??

i like the spider god’s curse influences healing factor idea; it opens up some nice angsty possibilities regarding an inability to Be “Fixed;” no matter how much he tries, he can’t erase/forget what’s happened to him. but i also enjoy the bandaging someone up after a fight genre of fic, and am annoyingly pedantic, so my personal working theory is that the healing factor is not a doctor with ten plus years of experience and an accurate understanding of human anatomy. when a bone really badly breaks, it has to be reset or it’ll heal wrong. to me, the healing factor doesn’t know what ‘right’ is, only ‘fast’ and ‘effective.’ it’s an accelerant, not a substitute for medicine.

so let’s establish the baseline. modern spideys either receive modern medical attention or the injury is superficial enough that they don’t require it. even poverty-stricken peter parkers get rushed to the hospital, because fictional doctors Don’t Care About The Money and/or peter is dolled up in spider gear and who’s going to ignore a visibly beat-up celebrity hero?? plus i honestly believed peter b’s nose was just genetics or smthn. my nose is misaligned and it’s never been broken to my knowledge

to compare, noir lives in 1933 and, far as i can tell, doesn’t rlly garner the same fame and respect from the public as modern spideys do. in the 30s, medicine was meh (they had x-rays but didn’t rlly consider radiation much of a threat, penicillin was still in its infancy, polio was a huge threat, etc) but was also, more importantly, far too expensive for most people suffering during the Great Depression. whatever treatment noir receives after a fight, if any, would look way different from ours. that means his healing factor, which can’t differentiate scars from normal skin or a misaligned bone from a whole one, would be inefficiently assisted or left alone. it would leave its history behind.

on the infectious disease side of things, it’s probably much easier for even noir to recover from less physical ailments like the flu and pneumonia—spider healing factor likely remembers and codes for immunity better than regular immune systems—but without modern drug therapies he’d still be worse for wear, ie internal scarring. mans would have a shorter-than-average parker lifespan if not for the pseudo-immortality of the Spider God

anyway. all this to say, here’s my personal map of parker’s scars. crop tank and daisy dukes to keep tumblr off my ass <3

(tbh this is more for my reference than anyone else’s, i’m sick of looking through my art of Just His Forearms to keep my details consistent, but maybe someone will find it interesting lol)

[nalyra-dreaming]

Different anon, but I think it depends on the case. Some people really feel the need the assign feminine and masculine roles to them, who is the husband, wife, mother, father etc and I do think that's problematic. I also see some people calling their relationship patriarchal and I still don't get the thought process? But calling characters mother or babygirl, for example, those are technically feminine terms, but people use it in a neutral way and as a meme. It doesn't necessarily mean treating them as women. Also, gender is a spectrum and it doesn't always match people's ideas of how someone looks, dresses, behaves etc. I think vampires are all above these stereotypes, they live forever, gender roles change over time and they'll embrace and reject some of it based on how they feel. They'll never fully reproduce entirely masculine/feminine traits, but it will vary according to the moment. And maybe some would indeed identify as trans, something under the non-binary umbrella or just overall refuse labels. I see Lestat as an androgynous man, or an androgynous person, I don't see him as someone who really cares about labels, I think he just is. But he would probably admit he's mostly masc-aligned and yet has some strong feminine interests/traits too? Anyway, people has different takes on it, including queer people. I believe it's okay if people make HCs to feel better, because representation sucks, so if that warms their heart in a way, be it. I'm gender-fluid and personally don't think it makes a difference unless the character is really coded that way (like, apparently Gabrielle is, but they don't use any labels?), and I see Lestat mostly as an androgynous/gender nonconforming/fluid/fuck the rules I'll do what I want and I love defying the norms kind of dude, but a woman is unrealistic to me. But we know HCs aren't actual canon either, I guess. /lh /nm

Headcanons are totally fine and valid, and it is also just natural that we being our own experiences to the cases, and that we want to see ourselves reflected, too.

I just find the need for shoving them into boxes and then hating on whoever doesn’t align with those boxes a bit ludicrous.

In any case I have the feeling that Gabrielle will be a whole different kind of discourse 😩

[hymnic]

[runs up to you and holds a microphone terrifyingly close to your face] HELLLO HI YES HEY HOWDY HELLO COULD YOU SPARE SOME THOUGHTS ON THE STREAM TONIGHT BECAUSE IM SCROLLING THROUGH YOUR REBLOGS AND YOUR TAGS ARE SO INCREDIBLY BASED

HOWDY i know you from one of my sideblogs and you are very cool very based too. i’m not gonna lie this was the first charlie stream i’ve ever caught live simply because of timezones and MAN the experience is so different with a live chat, knowing i’m losing my shit along with everyone else.

i’m sure it’s been said but charlie’s just. the perfect target for the code. he’s already kinda isolated and is only just getting used to growing close to others again. wasn’t around for the gegg arc but i assume charlie still has yet to feel accepted for himself and not as gegg, so there’s that too. and on a meta level, he’s missed a lot of stuff esp to do with the federation and all (me too tho), so he definitely doesn’t know what he’s getting into with all the code stuff even if he was around for code chayanne and tallulah. and. like. his willingness to do absolutely anything to get flippa back, to just be around her is gonna play likely a huge role in not only isolating him from others but maybe also turning him against them, or at least getting charlie to be willing to do harm to other qsmpers. the code has something up its little ones-and-zeroes sleeves and i do not like it one bit.

also apart from the lore progression itself, charlie’s acting was SO good. like i did know prior that he can cry on demand but it doesn’t make the impact any less. i’m quite sure he was crying towards the end of the stream and. man. me when emotions. he also built up the suspense really well, like when the lights first started going off and all i got genuinely scared. his character’s cluelessness really played up the audience’s fear of the unknown i do think.

and just. oughg. slimey goopy guy feelings. it was a really good stream and quite a solid one to be my first ever live charlie stream, but it did leave me very much distraught and desolate. my heart is in pieces, crying sobbing etc. seeing the chat live was wonderful though, and the rest of the stream was really sweet. i hope charlie has the best birthday after putting on an insane performance for all of us at an even insaner hour.

[solarlotus]

Anakin

We rewatched The Phantom Menace last night and I tried to very objectively assess Anakin’s character, or rather his character flaws. We hear so much about how Anakin is full of existing character defects, such fear, anger etc. Watching TPM it’s pretty hard to see this. He’s a lovely kid, even more so considering his circumstances. 

Anakin is boastful to Padme, but I read this as he’s trying to impress her, given she’s beautiful, a straneger and he’s low station in life, plus he’s had a sudden sexual awakening! Even if he doesn’t understand that yet, he knows he likes her, even if he doesn’t know why. My son is almost the same age and is the same about a TV cake maker!

Anakin is generous, open, friendly and doesn’t show any fear until he’s in Coruscant and missing his mom in a strange environment. He shows no fear in inviting Qui Gon, Jar Jar and Padme home, he stands up to Sebulba when Jar Jar is is trouble, he has no hestitation in putting himself in harm’s way to help Qui Gon, he’s not afraid of the pod race. So this idea that Anakin is innately fearful I don’t buy. 

Anakin finds it hard to leave his mom as he loves her, this is the most normal thing in the world, most kids would be considerably more upset. I also think given he’s only 9, he does pretty well with the council, 12 adult strangers testing him, he has no parents with him, no experience of anything other than life as a slave on Tatooine. Of course he fears for his mom, they left her in slavery. It would be more worrying if he didn’t miss her. 

I think this is an example of the Jedi confusing not being attached with not having normal emotions, it’s part of the Jedi’s fall from grace and their undoing. They fail to recognise they have drifted into lack of emotion and coldness, rather than compassion without attachment. Anakin’s view on this is clear in AOTC. 

So, they took a sweet, kind boy, who wasn’t riddled with fear and hatred and ended up with AOTC Anakin, who the moment he’s let loose breaks every Jedi rule going and ends up having a murder sprey and getting married. WTF did they do to him in those 10 years?

I do think he’d have been a lot better off with movie Qui Gon, I love Obi Wan, but he was too young and too attached to the code to give Anakin the leeway he needed and too inexperienced in life outside the temple to understand how normal people live and feel. I think Obi Wan is at his best when he loves, when he loves Anakin, Luke and Leia and I think Anakin was great for him, but Anakin needed to be allowed to love and miss his mother. I think Qui Gon would have rescued her, we (my husband and I) think that Qui Gon was getting his feet under the table and quite fancied Shmi anyway! We think he probably has a woman in every port (which Obi Wan disapproves of). 

Anyway, I suppose my rambling is basically wtf did the Jedi do to poor little Anakin? I think my empathy for him is increased as he looks more than a bit like my boy and has that chatterbox mischief about him. Anakin of TPM should have been an engineer and racer, he’d have been brilliant. The Jedi is a monastic order he was totally unsuitable for and nobody except Qui Gon was prepared to bend for Anakin. And Qui Gon’s motivation wasn’t to rescue Anakin for his own good, but because he believed he was the Chosen One, if he was acting in Anakin’s interests he wouldn’t have pushed him to the order. 

[ladychandraofthemoone]

1/29

Nothing to see here folks!! Just a completely normal moody, rebellious, deadpan, snarky and sarcastic teenager with a totally not mysterious and very shady past he escaped from and not made a deal with a phantom he lives with.

Anywho here’s a quick doodle of Fred Casey Jones!  Lore Tidbits Down Below: 

Best way too describe him is a combo of Louie Duck, Fred and Casey Jones (heh pun) mixed with L and Donatello. (where did ya think I got his hairstyle from? And the bag eyes poor teen needs some proper sleep 💤)

Rumors say he’s was a delinquent who has worked underneath a certain mobster gang overlord as a delivery/errand boy after being taken in from the streets, he wore a mask (which I’ll draw later) and prefer to use his spiked baseball bat or hockey sticks packed with exploding smokebombs pucks that he made and decorated himself. 

A hacker and video game expert 🎮 and lover, has once accidentally hacked into the government. In his defense how was he suppose to know that the coding looked like a video game (his boss 100% approves and supports his interests growing up after staying for a while)later the spirits and the narrow gauge support him as well

 Ended up going in Sodor in order to help prepare for a plan and finds out about the supernatural after a encounter with a certain zero spirit made him realize that even though he’s super grateful for being rescued, he didn’t wish to live a life of crime especially after discovering what exactly his boss does(he was never told, they were hidden away, the details were lightened up to him, etc) his boss isn’t searching for him 

Ends up being sorta raised by the spirits after this (cough Tino and Lucy cough) while also being quite independent and wants to help them in return as a favor, feels a great deal of depth towards them and attempts to try and find  gold dust or anything on tino’s demise

Is secretly very torn about trying to help them move on since he fears about being left alone again, feels guilt over helping a crime boss but pushes on after witnessing how much pain they were in

Lies about his age and other parts(excellent at pretending and lying, years of experience) in order to work on the SKR later on, manages to keep up the act and get away with it cause he was taught many things, is a night owl so tends to work at night (which is good for him cause now he can get more of his plans done) and thus getting more sleeping in 

Rusty slightly suspicious of him for multiple reasons while Fred is suspicious of Kyle (after he’s separated from the lamp) since Zero mentions a bloke called Proteus many times and say he preferred to call Kyle, plus Kyle’s appearance, Fred puts two together very quickly  and is currently trying to get Kyle to wish his spiritual family or get gold dust 

Has a notebook containing multiple information on the supernatural occurrence thanks to Tino including things about the other ghosts and gods Tino and Lucy know, is extermely protective of it 

Speaking of Alfred hates him for extermely petty reasons but can’t do much cause one Fred doesn’t care and can snark back and two, Tino and Lucy will have his head while destroying his body apart (Alfred still uses it to riled up Tino though and this leads to squabbling something that distresses Fred)

Personality and outfits slightly remain the same, dresses punk-fessional, is nice underneath his cool prickly exterior yet is a tiny bit reckless determined (something that makes Tino feel a twinge on..memories on someone he once knew?) tends to speak out his mind, is very secretive and occasional moments of grumbling laziness, jerk with a heart of gold

[wistfulcynic]

to mark the anniversary of the historical Stede Bonnet’s birth I'd like to talk a bit about OFMD and age, specifically Stede and Ed’s ages. 

a lot has been made about this, and rightly so. The show gives us a beautiful love story, between two men in their 40s who have never been loved or in love before in their lives, who find their perfect matches in each other, who are so different but similar in key ways and who each idolise things the other sees as his flaws. It’s gorgeous, and it’s heartbreaking when they don’t see themselves as the other does, when they don’t communicate their feelings or even recognise them, and absolutely none of this would be as touching or, arguably, even possible if one or both of them were younger. It certainly wouldn’t be as impactful. 

yet we are clearly shown Stede’s gravestone, with the date of his birth. 29 July 1688, the actual date of the historical Stede Bonnet’s birth, which makes him 29 in 1717 when the story starts. This--showing the audience the grave and thereby making the birthdate canon--is such an interesting choice. For all that the show glories in anachronisms, its plot beats actually adhere pretty closely to the main historical events. Stede Bonnet did leave his wife and kids in 1717 to become a pirate, he did say he was uncomfortable in a married state. He did meet and form some sort of partnership with Blackbeard despite being a pretty useless pirate. The two sailed together for a time and then had a falling out, at which point Blackbeard did maroon some of Bonnet’s crew on a spit of sand. All of that is actual history, all OFMD did was say “okay but what if gay.” 

there is also a reasonably solid canon argument for Stede actually being 29. We see that his marriage is arranged, a thing that generally happened to younger people. His kids are young. It’s unlikely he’s been married longer than 10 years. His hair is blond, with no grey--in contrast to Ed’s salt-and-pepperbeard--and he has an exuberance that you could argue codes as relatively youthful, as well as his general naïveté, though of course that’s also a function of his sheltered life and privilege as a rich white man. 

if Stede is actually in his 40s then the timeline the show gives him simply doesn’t make sense. (What, for example, was he doing with his life in the 10+ years he’d have had to live as a full-fledged adult before being arranged into marriage?) Yet they choose to make an explicit point of it, while at the same time doing nothing to age down Rhys Darby other than dye his hair. Not only that but the character isn’t played as younger, not even a little bit, and that’s what makes this all super interesting for me. 

I'm a longtime reader of romance novels, and one of the most popular tropes especially in historical romances is the rake and the ingenue. The basic premise of this trope is that you have a man (in het romance it’s always the man) who’s world-weary, cynical, closed-off, emotionally cold (or stunted, or constipated, etc). He’s experienced in life but for some reason or other his experiences have been bad and that’s turned him into a dark, brooding sort of person who's miserable in a deeply dramatic way until the bright, sunshine-y heroine appears in his life and breaks through his shell to melt his icy heart. This heroine, the ingenue, is invariably young and innocent, frequently stubborn or hardheaded in a naive sort of way. She’s bright and optimistic or at least determined to do something highly impractical, which requires the rake to involve himself in order to “save” her from the consequences of her lack of worldly knowledge and experience. 

any of this sounding familiar? 

when done well the rake and the ingenue can be a compelling story but it is inherently unequal. The rake always has more money, experience, power, social capital than the ingenue. In OFMD of course Stede has more money and capital in certain social situations than Ed, but within the framework of the pirate world, Ed is vastly more experienced, more respected, more powerful and worldly. He knows how to pirate better than anyone, but he’s weary of it, grown bored and cynical. Until Stede shows up with his mad ideas and unique way of doing things and charms Ed, gives him a new perspective on things and a fresh breath of air in his stale life. It would be very easy to cast Ed in the role of rake and Stede as ingenue, but--and this is SUCH an interesting but--the show doesn’t do that. 

instead, they are portrayed as equals, very different but each in possession of something the other wants. Though they both idolise things about the other, there’s no imbalance in the way they approach each other, which is both absolutely a key factor in what makes their relationship so good but also something that wouldn’t work if there were a large age gap between them. 

historical Blackbeard was 8 years older than Bonnet, a biggish but not hugely significant gap. However we’re not shown his age in the show the way we are Stede’s, and Ed is quite clearly coded as mid-40s at least. Not just with the colour of his hair but also the reputation he’d need time first to build and then to grow bored by. A 29-year-old Stede and a 45-year-old Ed would look very different to an Ed and a Stede more or less of an age. It would look a lot more like a rake/ingenue scenario than the partnership of equals the show actually portrays. I’m very, very glad they chose the route they did. It was without question the correct decision. It just makes the decision to show Stede’s age while at the same time telling quite a different story a very, very interesting one. 

so happy birthday to OFMD Stede Bonnet and OFMD Stede Bonnet only (historical one please burn in hell) and his 45-is-the-new-29 vibe. Canon-typical paying-only-as-much-attention-to-history-as-we-decide-we-want-to, you love to see it.

[honeybellexox]

Arnav Singh Raizada MBTI Typing ISTJ

Arnav is all Introverted Sensing (Si) , he’s stuck in the past! His personality and mindset is influenced strongly from past events, any present occurrence is first processed and then referenced to what he’s already experienced, he recognises patterns of behaviours and relies on predictability (which isn’t always reliable as people are complex beings), these experiences shape his view on people (I.e he initially views Khushi as a money-hungry. saboteur who has lose morals ).

He ruminates intensely, analysing and brooding upon situations for long periods of time. He takes actions based on how he predicts a person is relying on his personal lived experience (Si-Te) so when he impulsively marries Khushi, it’s rooted from what he’s witnessed with his mother and he doesn’t want a repeat of events, not stopping to think that things might play out differently. A lighter show of his Si is when he uses it to try and win over Khushi, like when he begins to recreate their old moments and memories together! It’s also observed, that he likes to keep her momentos (like her anklet or pompom) which is very Si!.He remembers details about Khushi (her likes and dislikes) and he buys her personal gifts based on the knowledge he’s accumulated (she likes bangles so he buys her bangles, all the presents he buys her during her birthday are personal like the pearl necklace and Salman Khan poster, a little cute example is when he buys her channay because likes them etc). Once again , it’s highlighted that he doesn’t forget (and is hard to forgive) when it comes to other people’s past actions, he was one of the only people in the family to be disgusted and vocally against Shyam being allowed back into the home (Even moreso than Khushi who was a direct victim of Shyam!). He doesn’t trust Shyam not to try anything malicious again based on his past behaviour.

Arnav’s second function is Extroverted Thinking (Te), this is how he communicates to the world in direct, straightforward statements. Even when he questions, there’s a hidden command in his tone.His language is full of orders and demands ( “GET OUT! Shut up Khushi Kumari Gupta! …even his famous “what the…!”) He sees things for what they are it’s either black or white, right or wrong. A fact is a fact. He doesn’t further question or investigate when he sees Khushi and Shyam on the terrace, he accepts it as the brutal truth, a fact that his eyes and ears have witnessed (if he was an introverted thinker, he would have investigated or questioned this more) so he goes straight into reactionary behaviour, he comes up with a plan to marry Khushi and he implements it. When Khushi refuses to take their relationship further due to the lack of phere (a ceremonial Hindu marriage ritual) he picks her up and starts conducting the ritual there and then! A lot of his actions are like this ; there’s a crisis, here’s the soloution, problem solved. His Te shows through his work ethic, he’s the boss of a very successful fashion industry, he is methodical and organised and very good leader. His leadership qualities are very much present in his home life, as he is the patriarch of the Raizada family, his word is law and no one can go against him. Sure, they question and challenge him but at the end of the day it’s his way or the highway.

Arnav’s third function is Introverted Feeling (Fi), Arnav is intensely private about his emotions and inner turmoil, but his Fi start bleeding out when he realises how damaging his behaviour has been towards Khushi when she was under his employment; and then when he is rude to her, not knowing she’s also an orphan like himself, he is burdened with the need to apologise for his unjust behaviour. It’s his Fi that compels him to pay Khushi’s father’s hospital bill, to protect her and care for her, he has a strong moral code and sense of how he should be in his various relationships, for example he takes his role Khushi’s husband very seriously, he protects Khushi in public because that’s his duty as a husband regardless of the private conflict between him and his wife (but also because internally, he still deeply loves her) or when he stays at the Gupta house and he behaves accordingly as their son in law despite his differences with Khushi (his Fi shines during his stay there, another example being, when he stands up for Khushi’s friend at her wedding because he is against the discrimination and ridicule the in laws are inflicting, it’s against his personal values), his sense of duty and responsibility also extends itself into his relationship with his sister, Anjali, and the rest of his family, he is fiercely loyal and protective. He rarely says I love you especially in the beginning but his behaviour conveys his love, his actions reveal his heart. His Fi is more immature than Khushi’s , it’s one of his weaker functions but it beautifully develops and strengthens throughout the show.

Lastly, Arnav’s inferior function is Extroverted intuition (Ne) which is his spontaneity, his ability to see intuitive possibilities in his present environment and to pick up on things…Arnav isn’t the one who comes up with fun schemes and ideas, he’s more stuck in his routine and logic. He struggles being out of the box but this is something that draws him to Khushi, she’s full of Ne! It’s a quality that greatly charms and endears her to him. 💗

Enneagram: 8w9

Interestingly, Khushi and Arnav are complete opposites, each of their weaknesses is the other’s strength…Arnav lacks Ne, Khushi is overflowing with it (this is especially evident when they team up to set Payal and Akash up! Khushi is the one who comes up with the idea and Arnav implements it ..not without poking holes in the plan first, of course!) and Arnav is the voice of reason, he offers the practical and rational angle. Arnav’s realism (Si-Te) grounds Khushi’s idealism (Ne-Fi), they are complete mirrors to one another, each bringing a light to the other’s dark side.

Oooh and one last side note! I believe Arnav is stuck in a Si- Fi loop and his character development occurs when he finally gets out of it, which would be the pivotal moment during the remarriage, when he returns and finally steps out of his personal trauma.

[miss-kittyy]

Rewriting Briarlight and Longtail’s Deaths

So I am disabled, like very disabled, I am %50 of the teenagers ever diagnosed with my special combination of pain disorders, and I also unfortunately hyper fixated on warrior cats, which is bad news for me because warrior cats is super ableist, and to add insult to injury, the fandom can also be pretty ableist.

My biggest problem with the majority of “anti-ableist” AUs is that they “fix” the ableism stemming from the narrative and able bodied characters by making the disabled character less disabled, this so bad for many reasons. I’ve talked more about in other posts. The justification that real life disabled cats are less doesn’t make it not ableist, since when was warrior cats meant to be realistic? If you’re making an au where the disabled cats function like actual disabled cats you also have to make all the cats genetically accurate, and retcon Lionblaze lifting a tree.

My problem with warrior cats is not that the disabled characters cannot become full conventional warriors, I’d like it if they got to choose what duties the perform instead of being crammed into the medicine den, but I don’t care about Cinderpelt not being able to complete a marathon. Most of the fandom seems to think the issue is that the disabled character are not useful enough, instead of the way that able bodied characters deny of them agency and make remarks like “you wouldn’t want to return to a life like her’s would you?”. Disabled people do not need to be “useful” to be worthy and empowering.

It’s very obvious that most of the fandom just wants the disabled cats to be more palatable to abled bodied people, so I’ve decided to make my own rewrite instead to hopefully make myself feel better. A lot of these things are inspired by my own experiences and not every disabled person is looking for the same things in representation, this is totally self indulgent.

The goal of this AU is to highlight the many unique and valuable aspects disability and how being disabled does not infringe upon anyone’s worth, ever.

- Longtail doesn’t die in the storm, Briarpaw is still injured, but he’s found besides her, trying his best to help her cling to life.

- after Briarpaw begins to recover he stands up to Millie and other cats insulting her quality of life, he says her journey will be hard, but it is one worth taking.

- She asks him why he’s an elder, and he decides to request to have his warrior ship restored as Briarpaw is dreading the life of an elder.

- On his first patrol the cats accompanying him insist on speaking to him in an incredibly infantilism tone, and whispering amongst themselves over what he can or can’t do, without consulting him,

- He initially gives up on patrolling after that insufferable experience.

- Briarlight begins to create marks and blobs on the wall of the medicine den using crushed up dead herbs she asks him to retrieve some berries for her, and he complies.

- Jayfeather shows him how he navigates the territory with the help of some of the sighted cats, and Mousefur is quick to volunteer as his guide. He finds her company surprisingly empowering. He realizes that it was not his blindness which was limiting his abilities, but the other cats attitudes.

- Mousefur and Longtail return with mouthful of berries and herbs, Briarlight describes to him what she’s drawing on the side of the den and he helps he mound the materials into paint.

- The cats begin to pop into the medicine den to see Briarlights painting and soon Jayfeather has to kick her out occasionally so they’d stop crowding him, she’s given the walls of camp to decorate instead.

- She begins to illustrate Longtails stories of the old territory and Bloodclan, and this new form of storytelling becomes a tradition amongst Thunderclan.

- because more young cats are aware of the clans history it becomes harder for the dark forest to recruit them, unfortunately, Blossomfall’s resentment towards her sister means she never cared to listen.

- Ivypool is still recruited and trained like in canon, given her relationship with the dark forest was much more emotionally charged and manipulative than just plain lies.

- at a gathering Longtail meets Grasspelt who inquires about Briarlight, Longtail is surprised about how little he knows as the she-cat had mentioned how well they got along as apprentices. Despite Millie nagging him not to tell him the truth about her daughter he does anyways, but puts much more emphasis on how well she’s doing than Millie expected. Grasspelt thinks this sounds really cool and decides that he is going to see her and her paintings, and that nobody can stop him. Longtail makes sure to put any opposing cat in their place, but Briarlight is a very respected Clanmate, so most warriors don’t say anything.

- Briarlight is nervous and doesn’t want to come out of the medicine den at first, but when Grassheart darts into the den holding berries and flowers for her to paint with she quickly warms up to her visitor.

- Grassheart is happy to tell Briarlight that he’s never been able to be a “functioning” warrior, and that he has always imagined that his spirit is shaped different, the medicine cat says his body is normal, but he’s never been able to keep focus in a fight or react as quickly as he should be able to while hunting. (He’s autistic because I say so)

- As dusk nears he’s visually hesitant to return to Riverclan and when Longtail inquires on why he says that he hasn’t felt so “here” for a long time. On the way back he wanders off and comes back with a chipmunk, when returning to Riverclan territory his father, Mintfur, is shocked to see his catch. After talking with his family a bit he realizes that it was the noise from the river that was making him so tense and dissociated, Brackenfur, who was escorting him, notices that he keeps rubbing himself on the ground and wincing.

- For the next couple moons Grasspelt returned to Thunderclan to bring Briarlight plants that only grow in Riverclan territory, he begins trying to fish from the quite lazy stream in their territory and soon both him and Briarlight have got it down.

- Longtail notices the sadness present whenever Grasspelt left and exclaims that it’s rather stupid that he’s living somewhere so unsuited for him just because of words long repeated.

- Grasspelt confesses that he feels the same, but knew he wasn’t supposed to say anything. Briarlight tells Longtail that her and the Riverclan warrior had been thinking of each other as mates for moons.

- Longtail accompanies Jayfeather to the next half moon meeting where he proposes his addition to the warrior code, “no cat should be confined to laws which harm them due to an inherent physical or spiritual difference.” (Cats don’t really know how brains work, so they see mental disabilities as a difference within a cats spirit)

- A moon later the leaders meet to discuss this proposition, it is accepted and Grasspelt makes the journey to Thunderclan for the final time.

- Grasspelt is renamed Grassspirit when becoming a Thunderclan warrior, unlike prior renaming of disabled cats this is a celebration.

- Grassspirit spends most of his time taking care of the elders and kits, he’s incredibly compassionate especially with kits and is able to solve many problems within the nursery.

- When twigkit and Violetkit arrive in Thunderclan Briarlight and Grassspirit help raise them, after Violetkit is taken Briarlight and Twigkit paint her on the side of Thunderclan camp.

- Briarlight still gets sick and her illness progresses without any treatment, Grassspirit notices her trying to hide it and when Longtail finds out he’s very upset. Jayfeather frantically treats her, expressing his frustration that she didn’t tell them sooner, the second Millie steps out she breaks down and explains that she just wanted to deal with it herself, and perhaps if she were successful Millie would finally treat her like an adult.

- Longtail gives Millie a stern talking to, he tells her that Briarlight is a warrior of Thunderclan and as her clanmate she should show her some respect.

- Millie is inherently very reactionary, as she had not realized the full extent of her suffocation, but eventually after a couple moons her and Briarlight begin to rekindle their relationship, like adults.

- Blossomfall sees how Brairlight wasn’t basking in their mother’s attention like she imagined, and feels the urge to seek out an actual sisterhood after ignoring Briarlight for moons and moons.

- Briarlight isn’t really mad at her sister, and understands why she felt the way she did. Jayfeather suggests that Blossomfall help Briarlight with her painting, Blossomfall seems put off with the suggestion of being her sister’s assistant.

- The interactions that follow are less than ideal, Blossomfall commends Briarlight’s able friends (Thornclaw, Poppyfrost, Alderheart, etc) for being so nice to her, as if that’s not what friends do. She seems very sad the entire time, sighing when her sister dragged her legs around with her mouth to sit more comfortably, even though she was completely fine. When watching her paint she comments that it’s good she has “something to keep her busy”, and finally she expresses her view, of Briarlight’s injury and her (Blossomfall’s) suffering being all worth it because of her talents, as if her life was not worth living to begin with.

- Briarlight tells her that if that’s truly what she wants she’s going to have to put more effort into understanding and respecting her way of life, and that she won’t apologize for their mother’s actions.

- When Blossomfall has her kits they take a liking to Auntie Briarlight, and Blossomfall seems to have reflected on their past interactions, trusting her sister to watch her kits. Briarlight teases a bit, a subtle way of telling her not to rush things, but they do begin to feel like something close to sisters.

- Right before Briarlight’s Nieces and Nephews are made warriors Longtail dies of Greencough. Throughout the entirety of his sickness he kept his sense of humour, his mean streak, and his immense love for what he had made of his clan.

- At his vigil Grassspirit began whaling like a bird in new-leaf, he insists that the vigil is too sad, and that Longtail wouldn’t want everyone moping around, for Starclan’s sake, his life was good. Standing amongst them, Longtail’s spirit can feel every cat in Thunderclan standing around him, singing the song of a life well lived.

[writerbuddha]

Hey

Your blog is interesting. I do see where you're coming from in regards to Buddhism attachment and the Jedi and stuff. I do agree about them having no choice but to enter the war because of the implications. Although the Clones are legally slaves as they are considered possessions of the State. The Jedi might have respected them and not persoanlly enslaved them, but neither fact changes their status. However, I can see the other side as well. I understand why people have an issue with the whole "attachment" thing and how its applied. I mean the Jedi are in the right for joining the Clone Wars, despite the status of Clones, yet Anakin is bad and wicked and selfish and greedy for wanting to help his enslaved mom. The implication that leaving her to rot in slavery or die alone, scared and in agony at the hands of the Tuskens was the more "moral" or Jedi thing to do is very problematic for a lot of people. Or, the idea that he should have left his 14 year old Padawan to suffocate under rubble because rescuing her means he's "selfish and greedy" is similarly problematic. I think that both run contrary to the ethical code that many of us are raised with. The idea that you should help people, especially children, no matter what and never turn your back on a friend.

Sorry if this is a long ask and I don't mean to offend anyone.

Hey!

You said nothing offensive. I hear you.

That’s run contrary to my ethical code as well.

Anakin wasn’t bad, wicked or selfish or greedy for wanting to help his mom, leaving her in slavery wasn’t a moral or a Jedi thing to do at all. Nor that he should have left Ahsoka to die, wanting to rescue he wasn’t made him selfish. What you described is, at full extent, falls into the category of compassion, non-attached love. And that is genuine love, wanting others to be happy and free from suffering, covering what you described, helping people, especially children, no matter what and never turn your back on a friend.

I firmly believe the “attachment” thing is problematic because the majority of fans are not fully aware of the meaning of the concept. Attachment as George Lucas described it is inability to let go, possession, owning, having, getting, grasping, holding on. This is identical to the Buddhist use of the term. Because reality is temporary, things will come, things will go, everything is temporary. People, beauty, youth, money, everything will slide, at one time, they are in your life, and in the other time they move away from you. While they are in your life, love them. But you can’t attach to them in the other meaning of the word: “fastening” and an “external part attached to perform a particular function.” You must learn to let go, because if you can’t do it, you and your loved one both going to suffer. And the problem with attachment is that it’s always about you, it’s more the love of the self than the love of the beloved. You want to keep people around, because they make you happy. You won’t lose them because then you will suffer from you not having them. And this is why it is selfish and greedy. And because we all want everlasting joy, if you are attached, you will become afraid of losing your attachments, and it will lead you on a very dark path, ending in hate. And you will suffer, because you will spend your life being afraid, being angry, hateful. And that’s what Yoda was talking about, and that’s what they sensed in him about Shmi: “You afraid of losing her.” And that’s what Luminara said to him in that Clone Wars episode: “It’s not that I gave up, Skywalker, but unlike you, when the time comes, I am prepared to let my student go. Can you say the same?”

Listen to how Lars and Anakin say their final goodbye to Shmi: Lars last words to her: “Thank you.” Anakin’s last words to her: “I miss you so much.”

Whereas Shmi had non-attached love: her love for Anakin wasn’t how happy he makes her, but how happy Anakin is. And that’s why she was able to let him go. I’m always saying, Shmi is a “lay Jedi”.

Luminara is “at ease” when Barriss life is in danger, but I think it’s very important to notice that she always saying, she didn’t want Barriss to die, or she doesn’t care or she gave up. That’s why I don’t like Dave Filioni’s take on that episode, but he said it’s his personal reading, so I respect it. But I disagree. The problem is that many of us were almost encouraged to panic or fall to atoms in times like this, and the majority of movies and tv shows are outright glorifying hysteria as a measure of love. Ahsoka and Barriss wasn’t saved because Anakin started to run around in full panic mode, but because Ahsoka was able to come up with a plan. Luminara wasn’t giving up, nor she didn’t care that much about Barriss, but she accepted the fact that they might be too late, so she started to prepare herself for the worst. “If my Padawan has perished, I will mourn her, but I will celebrate her as well through her memory.”

The Jedi are trained to love people, but not to get attached to them, which is non-attachment – compassion. When you are compassionate, your love for your loved one, their happiness, their freedom from suffering gives you the feeling of being complete, gives you joy. And this is everlasting, because death can interrupt having, but not love. So it’s saying, I love you, so I want you to be free from suffering and I want you to be happy.” It’s genuine concern for others, manifesting itself in active engagement. But there is no fear of you losing, because you don’t have. When you love people, you won’t be afraid. You will be concerned for them, but that’s entirely focused on them, not on yourself. You can’t fear of the pain you will experience when you losing them. That’s a selfish desire for you keeping things and people who bring you joy. Attachment will make you afraid, what will make you hate and suffer.

And this kind of love can extend to all beings, even to their enemies. "don't lose a thousand lives just to save one" however, doesn't mean you must sacrifice your loved ones for the sake of others. The key is always that you should act out of compassion. Not out of fear of losing, the fear of not having.

Why the Jedi didn’t go to Tatooine to liberate slaves, that’s another question, but not because Anakin wasn’t allowed to care about his mother. A Jedi is a negotiator, ambassador, who is not going to war. They were not going to war until Attack of the Clones, as Lucas said, because they are not aggressive force. I always saw that their logic is that If they would go to Tatooine and liberate all slaves, they would have to fight a war against Jabba, pirates, the hutts, the crime empires etc. That’s not what they do. They did it once with Zygerria, but back then they weren’t alone, the Republic actually wanted to uphold its values, they made Zygerria to comply. But with the Republic corrupted, the Jedi wasn’t enough at all to uphold peace and justice. If the Republic would have function properly, they would enforce their laws on Tatooine, but the Republic didn’t care about them, so they didn’t have the support to function, too. They were overwhelmed, and they are not super people. Without the Republic, they go to Tatooine, defeat Jabba, then leave to help others. When they come back, there is a new Jabba, because free people on Tatooine didn’t really care and the Republic didn’t really care. All what happens is that they lose lives. But with the Clone Wars, all the galaxy caught fire, so they had to go to war anyway.

I am more than willing to accept that the Jedi wasn’t perfect, and I have to admit, I am glad to see that when people believe they advocated abandoning friends or family, they reject them so fiercely. But I can't help but think, their morals, choices and situations are often misunderstood. For example, I can't find any good reason why the Jedi wouldn't want to pursue the Senate to give the clones citizenship when the war was over. On the contrary. Their portrayal requires them to do so. Like Lucas said, they had good intentions, and they are going to war to save as many as they can. In the Clone Wars, you can see they care about clones as much as they care for non-clones.

Sorry for the even longer reply! XD I hope it's useful.

[redphlox]

Does it seem weird in bnha that, excluding the LOV, everyone's morality/moral standpoint is pretty much situational. I mean maybe shoto rises above that from where he came from, but I was never really clear on why he himself wanted to be a hero honestly. Deku too(?) But I understand him even less in how his hero heart works. When the league shows kindness it's them being more than where they came from, but I haven't seen that in the heroes/hero kids. Do you feel differently or similar?

I think there are 2 different concepts at play here: morality and heroism/professional ethics.

Morality: personal principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behavior.

Hero ethics: professional beliefs, written laws, rules, etc that govern how the person holding a hero title acts.

Professions usually have a code of ethics: medical doctors, nurses, physical therapists, etc. Most of these professions treat patients who often have harmful beliefs or cause harm to others. But it would be unethical to deny these patients treatment based on their morals, beliefs, actions, etc. That’s governed by the profession’s bylaws and also a belief most professionals hold. For example, I volunteer from time to time to build ramps for people who have disabilities so they can gain access to their homes. One time the person for whom we were building a ramp had the confederate flag hanging on their porch. I’m very much against that flag and all it stands for, but my professional belief is that I am there to help build a ramp because I care about that person’s accessibility needs. That’s it. I would consider myself unethical if I denied that person the help they need to get in and out of their home because that's what I signed up to do.

So, I think the problem with Heroism as a profession in BNHA is that its ethics are governed by unquantifiable moral standards. The heroes choose who to save and who isn’t worthy of saving based on stigma, social norms, etc. I think Deku and the UA kids are seeing these gaps and want to fill them in. Deku is learning that even villains need help and that their origins push them to do the things they do. No one has “pre-requisites” or “conditions” they need to fill before being good enough to save because they’re people and they have that human right. This is different from the current status quo and current pro hero’s thinking. See: Gran Torino dissuading All Might from reaching out to Shigaraki once he found out Shigarak is Nana's grandson.

As for the situational aspects you mentioned… The LOV’s morality is also situational, though. That’s part of the message Hori is conveying. The LOV members would be different people if the society they lived in was different. If Tenko had been helped by any of those civilians he wouldn’t have fallen into the hands of AFO. If Touya’s father hadn’t had children for the wrong reason and neglected him, he wouldn’t have turned into Dabi. If Toga had been accepted by society for the nature of her quirk, she wouldn’t have felt pressured to suppress it and pretend to be someone she’s not. Society creates its own villains.

Also, the LOV helping each other the way they do is Hori’s way of showing the readers that they ALSO all have an innate instinct to help others. Heroes haven’t helped them so they show each other the help and acceptance society hadn’t. It’s like lgbtq+ members or minorities sticking together - they see each other and can validate each other’s lived experiences, but that doesn’t mean it’s enough. Acceptance and inclusion by society as a whole is often a goal, which is why there are advocacy groups and civil rights movements. It’s nice to have your own community of people who are like you, but you also want to be seen, respected, and treated as equals in the society within which you exist.

As for the heroic heart – Hori’s message is that the true nature of heroism is innate. That’s established in the first chapter when All Might complains about the current Hero culture, and then emphasized again post raid when pro heroes started quitting in masses. Heroism started as a selfless act that turned into the business that is set in place today. So, there is no root to Shouto or Deku’s heroism because they’re true heroes. It’s just who they are. That’s the message behind the “my body moved before my mind did” that young Keigo, Bakugo during the war arc, and Deku vs the Sludge monster experienced.

Shouto wanted to be a hero as a young kid because he wanted to help people like his mother. Most young children living in a domestic abuse household feel like they have to intervene and save their family from the abuser, and I imagine Shouto was the same. Natsuo and Fuyumi went into their respective professions for the same reason. But how they went about doing this is different, because Shouto believes in heroes. Even Dabi is going about it in his way: changing society, exposing fake heroes, which is why Stain inspired him.

Deku wanted to be a hero because -- well, because. Something about All Might gave him and Bakugo and others hope, and they wanted to emulate that hope too. It’s something they were born with. For example, why does a civilian bystander spring into action to help someone trapped in their car after an accident? Because that’s just who they are. That’s how their hearts and minds work. Not everyone would run into a burning building to save strangers trapped inside. So, why does Deku want to save that crying little boy? Well, because, because. His instinct is to help people who need it no matter what. That’s it. That’s what a true hero is.

[catienet]

How Mike and Lucas try to fit in during Highschool.

Mike Wheeler and Lucas Sinclair have 1 thing that I find to be very similar between them. They both want to fit in, however WHERE they want to fit in is different.

Note: I am making observations based off of the fact that I believe Mike to be a queer-coded character

Through out the show it’s shown that the boy’s are harshly bullied both by their peers. As well as the older people around them. Lucas also experiences racism from Billy Hargrove.

That being said, let’s look at the differences and similarities of how Lucas and Mike try to fit in:

In S3 the setting is the summer before they enter Highschool. (Personally I see this as the beginning of Highschool rather than the end of Middle school) Both boy’s have girlfriends and seem to both have a habit of putting their girlfriends above their other friends in the priority list. This is mostly because a huge theme this season is puberty and growing up which is confirmed by the writers. 

Looking at this from the lens of growing up and kids who think that Highschool means they need to grow up this makes sense. When kids go into Highschool, growing into who they think will be their adult-selves is something they focus on a lot. This isn’t always good because it will most often cause strain in their friendships.

An example of this is the boys not really being interested in playing D&D with Will in Mike’s basement. This upsets Will, which leads to Mike going after him and them arguing about not being kids anymore. (We’ll get back to this argument later) 

Judging by the views that the Wheeler family have politically through the imagery of their house and yard in S2 (a 1984 Reagan political campaign sign, and the depiction of them being a well off suburban family) and Ted Wheelers dialog to the authority’s also in S2 after Eleven runs away and tries to go back to the Wheeler home (Something along the lines of “We’re all patriots in this house”) we can assume they are Republican Conservative’s.

Based of this view of the Wheeler Family we can assume that they often put the views of the adults into the views of the children, Whether the kids believe it is not known but based off common outcomes of these types of families we can assume they probably don’t. Now I’m looking at Mike through the view that he is most likely queer. Based on his argument in S3 with Will we can assume he is likely projecting onto his best friend, through him asking if Will thought they would play games in his basement the rest of their lives, and through the infamous “It’s not my fault you don’t like girls” line. 

Once we start S4 it’s clear that Mike and Lucas are still friends but somewhere between seasons they split off into two areas. Fitting in at school with the general public with Lucas being on the basketball team and wanting to be popular and to stop being bullied, partying with this crowd etc. (We unfortunately don’t see this too much with Lucas) And Mike who has seemingly decided to try and fit in more in a personal, family attribute.

Mike being queer and being in a family context like his home life would mean he has a lot of repressed feelings and emotions that he doesn’t let come out of him. He does have some rebellious things about him but mostly if he is queer, the obsession with being with Eleven would make sense here. His distance with Will would also make sense, seeing as they are the closest together out of everyone.

Okay, back to the scene in S3 when Mike is in my opinion projecting onto Will. In S4 during the van ride to find El, will says something about playing D&D and Nintendo together for the rest of their lives. Mike is clearly shown to like this idea, directly contrasting his lines in S3. I think this is mainly showing how Mike wanted to do the things he said Will wanted in S3 even if he showed outward dismissal to it. Being okay with it now shows the public, high school side of fitting in may still be there but it’s clearly not as important to Mike like last season. 

However through S4 you see Mike take things in a context that Will isn’t giving, like at Rink-o-Mania telling Will that they are “friends. we’re friends” seeming irritated and a little panicked. The things that would be most disapproved of in his home life is what he now shows dismay for. Not the things he originally associated with growing up. 

Lucas and Mike are both trying their hardest to fit in, but in different atmospheres.

[caelestis-composition]

killshot anon! YEAH i totally agree w/ your view on kaeya. it's so weird to me that people will blame him for his role in a situation he was forced into as a child through no choice of his own. that itself had to be traumatic, not to mention everything that happened later. i hate when people say he's untrustworthy - like yeah, he's lied, so has everyone? it's clear he does it mostly to protect himself. not to mention that (& sadism) can be symptoms of trauma. kaeya deserves nothing but happiness

take a seat folks it’s time for a “brynn should’ve been an english major” lesson! today we’re gonna learn some literary theory; specifically, we’re gonna apply psychoanalytical trauma theory to kaeya’s backstory and current character. killshot anon i bet you never thought this would result in a whole ass essay.

disclaimer one! you are allowed to dislike kaeya! i am not saying you need to like him or his character, you’re entitled to your opinion and i’m not here to change your mind.

disclaimer two! i am in no way an expert and this is all for fun! this is just my silly little analysis of one of my favorite characters as someone who’s studied literary theory and rhetoric and can also apply personal experience. seriously analysis is like a hobby to me and this is just an excuse for me to ramble about kaeya.

disclaimer three! this contains lots of spoilers! basically for everything we know in-game, general knowledge as well as stuff from his voicelines and character story. don’t read this if you don’t want spoilers.

since this is going to be filled with spoilers and is about to get really long, everything will be under a cut. for those who wanna read my dumb super informal essay: enjoy!

final note: yeah this is over 2000 words long can you tell i like analysis

⭒

let’s start by getting a quick rundown of trauma theory out of the way. to begin, what is “trauma?” in this case, trauma is going to refer to an experience that greatly affects and changes one’s life; attitudes, memories, behaviors, mental state, etc. while not all changes may be bad, per se, the overall effect of trauma is generally a negative one, which is why it’s so significant. literary trauma theory, then, explores these changes and the impact of trauma in literature. it analyzes the psychological and social effects of trauma, explaining what those effects are and why they happen. in the context of a specific character, trauma theory breaks down said character’s behaviors, feelings, and general mentality in relation to their past experiences; trauma theory hopes to explain to others the reasons for why a character may act or feel the way they do, all based upon the character’s experiences, particularly traumatic ones. our character today is the lovely kaeya alberich, with the “literature” being genshin impact. i’ll be referencing kaeya’s wiki page to ensure i get all details correct for his character story and voicelines.

it would be good to review kaeya’s backstory before delving into the actual analysis. though we don’t know much about his life before living in mondstadt, we’re told he was sent as an agent of khaenri’ah. and by “sent,” i mean his biological father abandoned him in a completely unfamiliar land to serve khaenri’ah’s interests and fullfil his mission—what this entirely entails hasn’t been revealed. mondstadt, however, welcomed kaeya “with open arms when they found him.” crepus ragnvindr took him in as his adopted son, with diluc as his adopted brother. kaeya and diluc were “almost like twins,” so close they “[knew] each other’s thoughts and intentions without a word.” he’d began a new life in mondstadt, one surrounded by friends and family that loved him; one that was completely shattered by crepus’s death. kaeya arrived at the scene of the disaster, and was led to believe diluc was the one who killed their father to “set his father free” from the effects of his delusion. there’d always been one big question in kaeya’s life: if it came down to it, who would he support? the nation that abandoned him, but he still felt loyal to, or the nation and family that took him in and really loved him? overrun with guilt, kaeya confessed his purpose to diluc, sparking a fight between the two brothers. in this fight, kaeya receives his cryo vision. though both brothers stepped away alive, they’ve never been able to make peace with one another. now, kaeya is the eccentric and charming cavalry captain of the knights of favonius; a man who gets his way by using any means necessary, regardless of whether or not it seems right.

kaeya’s not evil; he’s morally ambiguous, and that stems from what appears to be a general distrust of others. his life is one shrouded in secrecy. from the moment he stepped foot into mondstadt, he was surrounded by secrets. even now, he doesn’t talk about a lot of things, namely his past, vision, and feelings. though he’s always willing to get information out of others, kaeya never reveals anything about himself. he repeatedly tells the player they can confide in him, but whenever you try and pry into his life, he deflects your questions with some sort of witty comment or flirty remark. anything he does reveal is vague, or spoken in some sort of “code.” for example, his “interesting things” voiceline. he tells us about the owl of dragonspine, how it “seems to look right through you, while letting go of none of its own secrets,” and then tacks on a “quite fascinating, don’t you think?” it seems like an awfully accurate parallel to himself; kaeya does all he can to get information from others, but never gives anything about himself. now, this whole thing—his relationship with diluc falling apart and his need for secrecy—could have probably been avoided if he had just come clean about his mission years ago. so why didn’t he? to start, kaeya was a literal child. not only are children unable to properly tell the difference between right and wrong, but they’ll also typically follow their parents’ orders blindly. kaeya had just been abandoned, and he wouldn’t want to risk being cast out by mondstadt as well if he came clean right away. you see, there’s this thing about trauma, something that trauma theory states. traumatized people feel a sort of shame or guilt regarding their traumatic experience; they’ll keep quiet because they don’t want to cause problems or bother others with their issues. of course kaeya wouldn’t tell the truth about his past, he doesn’t want to destroy the genuinely loving relationships he’d built in mondstadt. his fight with diluc only proves what he was afraid of: if he’s honest, he’ll be abandoned again. and if kaeya’s used to all the lies, why should he bother changing?

another thing, if he’s not going to tell the truth, then why would he have initially gone along with his father’s plans? again, he was a child. he really had no choice, and was forced into a very wrong and cruel situation. there’s a good explanation for this, too, which is also stated in trauma theory; traumatized people will still do their best to please their abusers. especially if said abuser is a parent, that will drive traumatized people to work even harder to please them. although his father hurt him by ruthlessly abandoning him, kaeya still sought to make him and his homeland proud. he was willing to be used as a tool for their gain; that is, until he found people who actually cared about him. he was an impressionable child, of course he’s going to obey orders. but as he gets older, he feels torn. does he serve those who abandoned him, or those that took him in? his father—and arguably, khaenri’ah as a whole—hurt him, sure, but he still feels some loyalty and connection to his former home. instead of revealing anything, he lets the situation play out. that way, he can’t be blamed when things fall apart.

the thing about claiming he’s untrustworthy is that hardly anyone in-game believes that. he’s adored by the older folks in mondstadt, and foes and allies alike find him easy to talk to. despite seeming lazy and uninterested in work, kaeya takes his job very seriously. in fact, his story states that crepus’s death was the “first and only time kaeya failed in his duty.” the “only time” is especially important, because it signifies kaeya still fulfills his duties successfully. he’s had a total of one slip-up, and hasn’t failed since. no, kaeya is not untrustworthy. rather, kaeya finds everyone else untrustworthy. it’s not unlikely that this is a direct consequence of being abandoned as a child. although it’s been established that kaeya and diluc were very close as children, when crepus dies, kaeya assumes diluc is the one that killed him. in order to jump to such an extreme conclusion against someone he was so close to, there had to be some underlying sense of distrust. furthermore, kaeya expresses feeling as though he doesn’t belong anywhere. he was abandoned by khaenri’ah, and then worried he wouldn’t be accepted by mondstadt. he is, but there’s still that worry. if you place him in your teapot as a companion, he tells you that your home feels like someplace he belongs, following it up with a “heh, who’d have thought…” kaeya still feels as though he doesn’t belong in mondstadt; despite the fact that he’s a high-ranking knight of favonius and rather popular, he still feels like an outsider. he doesn’t trust that anyone actually wants him around, and he finds joy in testing peoples’ trustworthiness. it’s noted in his story and through his voicelines that the beloved cavalry captain has a rather sadistic nature. he likes putting people into difficult situations, to see what decisions they will make. he does this to both opponents and allies, testing to see who’s going to back out and who’ll keep fighting; in the sake of allies, who can he trust? or who will turn tail and abandon their teammates at the slightest hint of danger? i mentioned it previously, but kaeya doesn’t care what measures he has to take so long as his job gets done and he gets the answers he wants. it’s a sort of self-preserving mindset, putting himself above the safety of others. kaeya’s trying to protect himself, which makes sense with all he’s been through. he doesn’t want to be hurt, and instead finds pleasure in threatening harm upon others. it’s twisted, sure, but it’s because he can only trust himself in a world that he believes is out to get him. he’s got as many enemies—if not more—as he does allies; of course kaeya focuses on protecting himself first, whether physically or through keeping his secrets, well, secret.

his most obvious traumatic effect is definitely his alcoholism. but he uses it as a distraction, not just to wallow in self-pity. this is seen again in his story, particularly in story 3. it’s found that when his favorite drink, death after noon, is out of season, mondstadt’s crime rate is decreased drastically. at face value, this just means kaeya spends more time working when death after noon is low in supply. but kaeya doesn’t skip work to go to taverns; it’s already been established he takes his job very seriously, so this means he actually patrols and tracks down threats while off work when he can’t indulge in his favorite alcoholic drink. he doesn’t get drunk simply because he’s depressed. if he did, there wouldn’t be a drop in incidents when death after noon is out of season. no, kaeya uses both the alcohol and fighting to distract himself. after all, it’s a little hard to think about feeling sad when you’re either drunk out of your mind or fighting for your life.

despite being so secretive, kaeya gives us glimpses of his true emotions from time to time. as previously mentioned, his flirty attitude is nothing more than a mask to hide how he really feels; and kaeya is terribly, terribly lonely. that may be why he seems so extroverted. constantly being around people should, logically, drive away that feeling, but it doesn’t work like that. when he talks with the player, he frequently expresses disappointment when you have to leave. each time, though, he dampens the weight of his words with playful or flirty language. he’s lonely, but doesn’t want you to know that, like he’s afraid of asking you to stay. he takes the seriousness of his feelings, and basically bends it into some sort of lighthearted joke. kaeya hides his true feelings—negative feelings, to be exact—so that he doesn’t bother anyone. which is, again, something that happens with traumatized people. he displays that hesitance to reveal his true feelings, because there’s a shame or guilt that comes with his past. he doesn’t want to bother others or hold them back, so he puts on a smile and amps up the charisma. one other very important thing—but very small detail—i would like to note is his feelings toward family. his fell apart not even once, but twice, and kaeya still holds familial relationships in high regard. we know he doesn’t exactly care how he goes about getting his work done. he doesn’t pay attention to what’s “right” or “wrong,” so long as he gets what he needs. but one of his informants, vile, notes that the cavalry captain has one exception: he won’t work with those who threaten others’ families. in fact, kaeya claims those who do should be hunted down and destroyed. even though his own families have caused him so much pain—and he ended up estranged from both—he still understands the importance of having people who love you in your life. because he didn’t get that.

kaeya’s not evil. ultimately, as a knight of favonius, his goal is to protect others, because no one was there to protect him. and because no one was there to protect him, because he’s been hurt time and time again by people who were supposed to love him, kaeya has taken to protecting himself. he hides any and all negative feelings with a charismatic, friendly façade, because he thinks it’ll drive away his persistent loneliness. any “bad” actions of his were hardly his fault; he was forced into a life of secrecy and lies, and then abandoned by the first people who truly loved him. kaeya’s a multi-faceted, tragic character, one that toes the line between good and evil, and that’s what makes him so interesting.