#i have never once see a father in media treated the same way

[thehollowwriter]

I think we should talk more about the mysgony when it comes to parents in media, and how fathers are favoured and praised for the most the most basic shit while mothers are demonised for making mistakes or being bad. This is gonna be a long one, buckle up.

I hate Mrs Rosehearts as much as the next guy, but it's unfair that Mr Rosehearts is not given similar criticism for allowing his wife to treat Riddle the way he does. I hardly see people bring him up apart from mentioning that Riddle's parents probably have an unhappy marriage, and some people say something along the lines of "poor Mr Rosehearts, struggling with a wife like that".

Of course, we don't know enough about his character to gauge how Mrs Rosehearts treats him, bit it's clear he just passively stands to the side when it comes to whatever Mrs Rosehearts wants to do with Riddle. That itself is very harmful and it's own form of abuse, imo.

The same applies to Alador Blight from the Owl House. He's praised for being a wonderful dad that finally came through and stood up to his "horrible wretched bitch of a wife" (who, if she was a guy, would probably have more people analysing her and trying to find ways to sympathise with her just saying)..

And while, yes, he did stand up to her and that's a good thing, the general consensus is he was a brilliant dad from the start that was held back by his wife's wicked ways. But... that's not true? His first appearance is him telling Amity to stop being friends with Willow. He ignores his children constantly, and, like Mr Rosehearts, stands passively to the side when Odaliah treats her children like her property.

He's a neglectful parent at best and just as concerned with image and status at Odaliah at worst. But... that stuff is just forgotten. Most people just say "we thought he was bad but it turns out he was manipulated by his wife". He is HIS OWN PERSON. You cannot just blame everything on his "evil manipulative wife" (which is also smt that sometimes happens irl when both parents are abusive). He is still fully capable of making his own decisions.

And again, it's unfortunate, but if Odaliah were to be given his treatment or if Alador were a woman, the general response would be "That's sad but not an excuse! I can't believe she was forgiven!"

The worst I can think of atm, is Silco and Vi from Arcane. Now ofc they're not married. But the circumstances are similar.

Silco is praised to the high heavens for being one of the best dads in animation (#1 goes to Doofenshmirtz ofc, which I agree with) and the reasons for this are because he... shows his care, puts Jinx first, and loves her. Wow. Fucking groundbreaking am I right. The bar is soooo high/s

The thing is, Jinx is a child soldier. She works for Silco, protects his shipments of Shimmer, takes out the enemies that need taken out, etc. He found her as a young child, and when we cut to the present, she's murdering people without so much as flinching, even delighting in it, and suffering badly from trauma and hallucinations.

Obviously, Jinx was not given the care she needed, and was instead trained to assist Silco.

Am I denying Silco loves her? Of course not! He clearly does. But that's just not good enough. He's a loving dad, but not a good one. He's not the father that neither Jinx nor Powder needed.

Meanwhile, we have Vi. Vi loves Powder, protects her, cares for her, tries to keep her out of harm, stands up for her, and so on. She cares so deeply for Powder, and you can see it. The moment she got out of prison, her first goal was to find Powder.

However, because she hit Powder once, and shouted at her, she's apparently an abusive monster who never cared about Powder. Reminder, she hit Powder because her entire family was killed in front of her and then she learned Powder was the reason that happened. She was like... 14? And she immediately left to calm down. She did not abandon Powder, she left to take a breather because she realised she was too angry. And when she came back, she was drugged and arrested.

Silco is a grown adult who purposefully flooded the streets of the Undercity with a highly addictive drug, turned Powder into a soldier, and is generally a terrible person, even if he is a three dimensional amd well written antagonist.

Vi started the story as a teenager suffering poverty and discrimination just like Silco, had to deal with her own parents death, then her adoptive family was killed in front of her, and then she was forcefully taken from her sister. And yet, people are convinced Vi is a terrible and abusive sister who never loved Powder?

The only example worse than this, methinks, is Stella and Stolas from Helluva Boss.

Stella is a shitty mother who ignores her daughter, which the the audience is shown via a scene were Octavia is having a nightmare and she tells Stolas to deal with it. She frequently screams and swears at Stolas and throws things at him, with no regard for her daughter's presence or feelings.

This is pretty terrible, right? Of course! Everyone knows Stella is a horrible mother.

Stolas on the other hand, is praised for being such an loving and caring father, who tries his best. He even has a song with Octavia!

Well, he also: openly talks about having sex with Blitz and how much he likes it while she was right there, told her people want her money and her body, generally doesn't pay much attention to her either bc he's wallowing about Blitz not loving him back, and doesn't give her feelings much regard.

And yet, the misogyny extends beyond just Stella because people generally agree that Octavia is ungrateful and doesn't appreciate Stolas enough. They get mad at her for disliking the fact that Stolas is cheating on her mother with an imp who's been nothing but rude to her and ruining their family further, and even mock her for feeling unloved. Hell even Brandon, one of the creators, has allegedly recently called her a "cockblocking slut" which, frankly, is a disgusting thing to say about a 17 year old girl.

Idk man I'm just tired.

[whorekneecentral]

"do you know how long I've been hard?" With Charles Leclerc please

this one fucks so hard and as a treat, it's x sainz!reader :)) // prompt: "do you know how long I've been hard?"

Being the daughter of a rally driver, you grew up in the spotlight; you pulled away at a certain age but with your older brother getting into formula one and him bringing you along, it's like you never left.

Everyone is constantly in your face, asking you what you're doing, who your'e dating, who your brother is dating; you were just there to support your brother, Carlos. You could care less about other drivers and whatever else was going on in the paddock; everything you carried about was in the same garage so you had no worries.

You sat in the hospitality building, the little red dress stopped mid thigh, the hot Spanish sun burnt your skin in a good way - it was nice to be home.

Your father and cousin, both named Carlos coincidentally, sat with you while your brother was doing his media rounds. Your phone chimed on your lap, a message from his teammate.

From Charles <3: driver's room, 5 minutes.

To Charles <3: okay

You get up, your father looking over at you. "Where are you going?" The man asks, you nod to the stairs.

"Gonna lay down in Carlos's room, I have a headache."

"You need anything?" His hand reaches for yours and you smile. "I'm okay, I'll see you later." You lean down and kiss his cheek before walking up the stairs.

You knocked on his door, the CL on the front. The door opens and you can't even say hello before you're getting pulled into his room.

The man hugs you from behind, his hand wandering all over your stomach, down to your hips and thighs. "What's gotten into you?" You giggled, feeling his lips on your neck.

"Do you know how long I've been hard?" He asked, pulling you flat against him so you can feel him.

You giggled once again, a hand on top of his as he walked you over to the table.

His hand wandered, pulling your dress up over your hips. "Driving me crazy with this all this," he gave your hip a little pinch, you can't help but roll your eyes. "Not my fault you can't control yourself."

"Oh shut up," he mumbles.

He lifts you onto the table, your legs on either side of him as he steps between them. Rubbing up your thigh with one hand, the other pulls you by your chin to look at him. Your eyes find his, watching as he sinks to his knees in front of you.

Your hands are flat on the table as you feel his tongue against you. Charles's arms hook around your thighs, pulling you closer to him. Your hips jut forward when you feel his tongue against your clit, your hand gripping on his brown hair.

Charles glances up at you and you’re like an angel on earth to him right now; head tossed back, skin glistening under the white light of his driver's room, his head buried between your legs.

The hand on your thigh shifts to between your legs, two fingers slowly pushing into you. You feel him curl his fingers slowly. “Charles- fuck, there.” You pull on his hair, getting him to do what he did again.

He mimicked his actions again until he can feel your legs shake, your grip on his hair tighter than before, his name strung along with the explicits leaving your mouth.

He gives you a minute to catch your breath as he kisses his way back up to your face.

"Should get you worked up more often," you mumbled against his lips, earning a smile from him.

[fumifooms]

Ok maybe kinda of a weird question you don't have to answer if you don't want to but I've seen some people saying that Chilchuck is canonically misogynistic so, as the Chilchuck especialist, do you have an opinion about that?

Anon you are brave and I love you. Listen if you, person reading this, get peeved or upset when people say Chilchuck might have had not insignificant flaws as a father and husband then probably stop reading here, we will be looking at Chilchuck like a petri dish and defile his pristine allure. Tldr: yes but actually no but really both at the same time aka people & social dynamics are complex and please let your blorbos be flawed. With that said I will be pretty casual and playful if that wasn’t clear already, sorry.

"Aren’t you happy to be in a harem party" "No it’s soul-crushing save me". Toshiro has been drinking his fear women juice since he was young, surrounded by an assassin nanny and her fellow assassin girlies, meanwhile Chilchuck having flashbacks of getting wrung out by his 4 women household…

Waiting on people is something we see he hates doing a couple times throughout canon and extras, here and how he says "it’s not a date" -bless his summer child heart- he frames being slow to get ready as a gendered trait to have? But I can forgive him for this one because honestly the framing of the whole page leans into that, it’s kinda questionable if we’re being highly critical of anything misogynistic or regressive. But it itself is the classic subversive "Women are desirable wallflowers— Wrong! They are a monstrous ruthless force that wears on the mind, body and soul" trope. I don’t fault Kui though I got giggles from it, it makes sense for everyone’s characters, and Kui has never shied from gendered dynamics in her worldbuilding & characters so it’s not like she’ll write as if sex changes nothing and no one has opinions about it.

Alright alright let’s step back from analyzing this page specifically and get back to the question, is Chilchuck canonically misogynistic? It’s a complex question not because we don’t have hints but because it’s a very black and white answer to give and because misogynistic can be very wide or pretty narrow depending on how the term is applied.

What I would say? Yes, he is, in a realistic way that doesn’t automatically make him a piece of shit, though that doesn’t mean it isn’t uncomfortable or harmful. On the spectrum of misogyny he classifies to me as "It’s in the normalized lighthearted way of being a horny uncle who’s a little too loose about it around the dinner table", he’s a solid "He wants to treat women as pieces of meat and jokes about it but in actuality he’s a gentleman and a family careerman who has a job so he don’t really care about that rn".

Going back to Toshiro’s party, Chilchuck being weird about it being full of women doesn’t even happen only once but TWICE. I made a compilation of every time he’s crass, happens less than you might expect but the overall picture it gives throughout reading the manga is pretty straightforward. Repeatedly he’s shown to be dirty-minded and objectify & sexualize women lightheartedly unprompted. They’re a punchline and they’re eye candy and it’s "of COURSE my succubus would be young women, of COURSE women would desire a muscled statue’s [redacted], of COURSE women are sexual beings and of course I am attracted to them".

Dungeon Meshi doesn’t bring up sexuality much and gendered dynamics tend to be more subtle than you’d expect from media in general, so there’s that, but I honestly struggle to think of any character that acts less normal about women existing than him. Like yeah he’s joking but Hien, Benichidori, Inutade and Maizuru were just breathing and doing their jobs. Who else’s misogynistic uhh, that guy working for the shadow governor that licks Cithis’ ear when she’s bound in ropes? The sheer jump from ‘makes demeaning jokes about women’ to ‘assaulter’ between these two, god.

Honestly it does feel odd to me that he’d be kinda demeaning like that about women even in a workplace setting —Chilchuck the union man out of everyone?— but Kui has spoken man idk, think what you will don’t shoot the messenger. It’s not like he’s weird about Namari? I guess he respects her too much- Wait that sounded wrong. Maybe it’s literally just because she and the other women party members are his direct coworkers, in line with his rule and all? But yeah, even if he canonically had a thing for blondes and pretty young women he has managed to only tease Marcille ceaselessly for fun & entertainment and make her hair extra shiny as his shapeshifter, you get a good behavior star there Chilchuck. He complains on waiting for Marcille to get ready in the barometz chapter but he also does with Laios when he’s late to meet up the party in extras. He constantly pulls on Marcille to get her to safety as if she can’t protect herself but she’s referred to as clumsy a lot so he has that justified reasoning. He constantly berates everyone so no point to make there. He undermines Marcille’s opinions often but it’s because he dislikes mages and elves and idealism. Clearly Chilchuck knows women can be capable and clearly he can have women coworkers (and friends! Again, Namari) without belittling or sexualizing them, clearly he can be normal about women and knows that some of his attitude can be inappropriate. It’s just harmless fun to him, that he keeps for occasional playful banter and taverns and the ‘right’ moods.

And as I mentioned earlier! Chilchuck is also pretty gentlemanly and protective. As always desires vs wants and instinct vs rationality show up as themes. Yes his succubus aka his ideal, the deepest allure he can imagine, is beautiful naked women, but a chapter just before that was the bicorn, all about how faithful and virtuous he is, how his heart’s in the right place. His brain is virtuous but his heart is monkey. My point is that when it counts, aka 90% of the time and when things are serious, we don’t see signs of sexist bias and he treats women well. Often takes on a protector role or at the least takes them seriously, even Benichidori. He doesn’t want to hurt women or thinks they’re insignificant or anything. He’ll give a handkerchief to a woman in need with a slimy face.

Okay okay this is really entering speculation territory but in my own tally, the way he dismissed his wife’s ‘bad mood’ as some meaningless tantrum that he shouldn’t think any more deeply about, him starting out not reaching out to her as a resentful silent treatment, and her getting dissatisfied in the first place enough to leave makes me think he took her for granted and was kinda dismissive of her in general. Marcille’s theorical scenario is hypothetical and factually untrue at least in parts, but if we do follow it, him forgetting he’s out with his wife for once (in the precious counted time he’s home spending time with her) and not paying attention to her all outing, resulting in her being left out of conversations and just an ornament beside him the way she might have felt for a long time as his housewife waiting home for him to come back………

Half-foots seem to be patriarchal. The last section of this essay’s chapter (not by me!) + combing through the half-foot chapter should give you insight on that if you want. It’s in their patronymic, it’s in the way marriage seems very important especially for women, and it’s in the implied gender roles, being a housewife whose life revolves around raising her husband’s kids and taling care of the family home waiting for her husband who’s out working to come back. I think Chilchuck is a bit a result of his environment and upbringing in that way, that most of the misogyny is internalized and subconscious and passive, it’s taking his wife for granted because not only does she trust her, his most precious person he’s known since he was a kid, but because she’s his wife, his woman, conceptually something that’s unwaveringly devoted, something that is very valued and enforced in half-foot communities. Here’s a short post on half-foot family bonds culturally + here’s a post on marriage and half-foots for more. The community aspect of half-foots is very strong, which makes sense especially for how empoverished and discriminated against they are, which does come at the expense of not unlike dwarves (dwarves which half-foots idolize) having more pressure to fit in and have a good reputation to not be cast out and have no support lines. By being scared and needing stability people will often be more conservative, etc etc, though the reverse is also often true, like Chilchuck with his union. But yes Chilchuck seems to have many biases he clings onto, harsh on especially Marcille and Laios, Marcille for her idealism, race and magic meanwhile Laios for his lack of social skills and ‘reckless’ behavior.

He also does the classic "Don’t you dare date my daughter!!", though it’s a bit up in the air because he only gets agitated about coworkers being suitors, not nearly as hostile to the idea when it’s some nameless dwarf. But y’know when a guy assumes every men is as horny and sleazy as they are so they’re like "never trust men"… Chilchuck does embody a lot the tropes of just, the everyday flawed middle aged man. The absentee father and careerman husband who does care despite it all. Disillusioned grumpy old man. Old divorced drunkard joe with a thing for cute young blonde women, as a friend put it.

We know Kui subverses tropes a lot, I definitely think Kui leans into these if nothing else for the bit. He’s tropes of the strict family Father, man doing inappropriate jokes around a beer with his drinking buddies, working man exhausted and frustrated by his job, midlife crisis. Also because of how he acts with Marcille, I always say he’s the boy on the playground pulling on the pigtails of his girl friend bc he thinks it’s funny. Because he thinks she’s pretty.

So point blank, Chilchuck respects women as individuals but he can get a little lost in the sauce when thinking about women in general and jumps to sexualizing them in ways that can be objectifying and dismissive. Casual lowkey misogyny for the bit that may or may not slip into non-jokes as well sometimes when it comes to seeing women as something inherently to defend or take for granted, though he’s well-meaning. He engages in gender roles of "men should be strong and burly" and "daughters should listen to their fathers’ opinion before dating a guy". A guy engaging in patriarchy without thinking much of it y’know, more or less passive and unaware. He’s good in economic and human rights issues but would not win the political correctness medal (though he does care about optics and is very conscious of appearing as upstanding and innocent with the elves or Toshiro’s and Kabru’s parties to avoid getting thrown in jail. Overcompensating for half-foot criminal reputations etc etc. Post on that here).

Do I believe Chilchuck would march for women’s rights? Yes. Do I believe he would make ‘ye old ball and chain’ and ‘my wife’ and ‘ah women’ jokes? Yes. Do I believe he would punch anyone making one such jokes about his wife or daughters? Yes.

I was pretty flippant bc honestly Chilchuck the Sleazy Horny Old Man is hilarious to me but yes hopefully the post was decent. "How could I be sexist? I love bitches"

[rottonfishie]

Hello! I love your au and art!! :D

My question is what is Ne Zha's relationship with the Immortals (Chang'e, Erlang, Sun Wu Kong, Macaque, Lady Ivory ect)

(these are optional so if you don't want to answer them it's fine)

Does he have a tv show like Chang'e? Maybe his own channel?

Also will/did he and his brothers (Mu Zha and Jin Zha) resolve after the "trying to kill their dad" thing?

Thank you! Sorry for deleting your original ask 😅

Question 1 :

Nezha & Wukong

Nezha's and Wukong's relationship is complicated. The best way I can explain it is a one-sided brotherly relationship. Nezha sees Wukong as an older brother figure, Wukong just sees Nezha as a child.

Wukong does love Nezha in his own way. He recognises that Nezha is a child, so for his sake, he entertains Nezha's attachment to him.

(Wukong has himself formed an attachment to Nezha in an attempt to keep himself sane. Nezha absence after the whole burning event was a breaking point for Wukong 😀)

Nezha & Macaque

Nezha's knowledge of Macaque is slim. Most of what he knows is from stories that Wukong would tell him. Though, Nezha does think that Wukong may have glorified Macaque a lot more in his stories..

Macaque doesn't know much about Nezha except his history and what Wukong has babbled about. He doesn't really care enough to find anyone more information about him.

Nezha & Erlang

Nezha didn't actually like Erlang. He was very protective over Wukong and hated Erlang being close to him because he was the nephew of Master Yuzhiqin. However, he did get over it when he realised Erlang wasn't a threat.

Erlang worked hard to gain Nezha's trust. He was one of the very few celestials in the realm to recognise that Nezha is a child. Erlang does care about Nezha. He feels bad for his circumstances, so he gives Nezha gifts and treats as an "apology" to him. (He does the same with Wukong.)

Nezha & Chang'e

Nezha and Chang'e's relationship is basically a mother-son relationship. Nezha admired Chang'e since she first defended him against a celestial. Nezha loves Chang'e and cares a lot about her. He shows this by making her sweet treats and making her gifts. (Paintings, bracelets, etc.)

Chang'e has always wanted children with her husband, Hou Yi. They never had the chance, however. Chang'e never thought about kids after her husband died, paying more attention to her new purpose. But that changed once she met Nezha. Nezha is like a son to her, and she would do anything to protect him.

Question 2 :

Nezha has a social media account that he posts recipes and images of his desserts! He doesn't show his face on his account at all. His user name is Flaminglotus.

And, yes, Queenie does follow Nezha.

Question 3 :

Muzha was much angerer with Nezha than Jinzha was, since Muzha was a bit of daddy's boy. Muzha anger quickly turned into guilt when he saw the torture his brother was enduring...he can't look Nezha in the eye anymore.

Jinzha did speak to Nezha during the time he was in the celestial realm. Though, it was quick conversations that he couldn't uphold for very long without feeling guilt.

Hope that answers all your questions. I'm sorry this took so long!

Oh, a little dose of pain for the day, Nezha looks the most like his Father :)

[fizziepopangel]

Hey! I really liked your helluva boss headcanons, they're very interesting and realistic! Do you have any for Stolas? 😀

I do actually have a few! Ask and you shall receive, my friend! I hope you enjoy😋

“Oh shit. Am I in danger right now?”

When he was young, the prince built little communities for the toads and frogs that he found within the garden sometimes. This is what sparked his joy for being in the garden and he still tries his best to make the palace garden comfortable for the small amphibians that he sometimes comes across there.

Despite being a powerful demon, Stolas hates horror movies because he scares far easier than he cares to admit.

He has bald spots from where he's pulled out his feathers during panic attacks or times of overwhelming stress but learned to hide them well over the years.

Stolas is easily excited by small things which can easily be seen through his daughter’s social media where she frequently posts pictures of her father reacting in childlike wonder to things most people wouldn’t think twice about.

Baby Stolas was bathed in a bird bath the same way babies are bathed in the sink sometimes when they're really small.

Sometimes Stolas will sleep with his old stuffed animal. It brought him comfort as a child and though he's a bit embarrassed to admit it to most people, it still brings him comfort after nightmares.

He understands his duties as a member of the Goetia family, but he always wanted to be an artist or botanist rather than a prince.

Stolas’ primary love language is physical touch which tends to make him a wonderful, affectionate partner and friend…. Unfortunately, the prince also experiences touch starvation quite easily.

The abuse he took from Stella worsened after she became pregnant with Octavia because she soon found he would give in to any demand she had if it meant keeping their daughter safe if she even acted as if she might threaten the child in some way. 

He suffers from migraines due to poor vision because he's struggled with focusing both sets of his eyes at once since he was a kid. His father never took him seriously and he was often teased by others about having one set of eyes closed to both help him focus on things and get rid of his migraines…. He still does this sometimes when he's alone because he's still afraid of being teased or seen as weak.

He has a deep appreciation for classical music, but he loves dancing around to trashy pop music more than he likes listening to the classics people are used to hearing him listen to.

Blitz can be quite rough with him in bed and despite enjoying it for the most part, he wants something more… sensual sometimes. He had hoped it would be after their date at Ozzie's.

He's put off teaching Via magic because he doesn't want her to grow up just yet but he's found that their magic lessons are often some of their best bonding activities and he learns much more than he thought he would about his daughter with each lesson they stumble through. 

The demon prince is still afraid of the dark. Only his daughter knows.

He uses his human form to attend pride parades in the human realm. He loves it and has made many human friends in the years he’s attended.

Stolas doesn’t use his full demon form very often because despite how well he hides it, it takes a lot of energy and it leaves him fairly exhausted.

Unbeknownst to everyone aside from Blitz, Stolas keeps a journal of poetry he writes.

Despite the fact that they are one of the lowest classes species in hell, Stolas doesn’t necessarily view imps in that manner because he sees himself as having been raised by them since he was raised more so by the imps who served his family than his parents.

He has a major sweet tooth and chocolate ice cream with whipped cream and cherries on top is his favorite sweet treat.

Stolas tends to his garden daily and has named each and every one of the plants he cares for.

[kooktrash]

hey now that the requests are open i would like to ask you for a part 2 of fighting heart ???!!!!! Maybe her family dealing with the relationship, lots of jk being whipped for y/n of course, him being happy for once???? (hes been through a lot). I was thinking maybe a scene with y/n being jealous since he is a boxer and theres a lot of girls into him (??) and some smut plss. (never made a request before so i hope this is okay)

idk if you wanted fluff but it’s what fighting heart!jk deserves 😤

fighting heart | jeon jungkook

REQUESTS OPEN

warnings: 1.4K words. fluff. just fluff.

also no smut, but I do have other FH!JK requests with smut so don’t you worry

Jungkook had never worn such an expensive suit in his life. It was more than three times his rent and just being in it made him feel like he was betraying his family. The money used for the suit should’ve gone toward paying off their debt, but it didn’t. He was actually happy it didn’t, he can’t remember the last time anything was done for him. It definitely wasn’t before you came into his life.

You’re the one who got him this suit anyway, it was a present for his first mini press conference. At first he rejected it, he’s still waiting for the day he can do things for you instead of the other way around but soon he’ll get there. He’s already gotten so many calls for agencies but he’s sticking to his roots. He’s keeping Jin around, and his usual team of rough housers. He’s even brought Hoseok along in his journey as his trainer and he couldn’t be happier and nervous at the same time.

He was on stage, a few reporters in front of him and camera flashes highlighting the bruise on his eye. He’s still getting some good hits but his defense has definitely improved since he started training correctly. He squinted with the brightness of the light but he tried to speak through a shaky voice, “You know, I’m grateful for everyone here tonight and honestly, I wouldn’t even be up here if it wasn’t for my beautiful girlfriend, Y/n L/n.”

An eruption of cheers echoed through the walls of the banquet hall as Jungkook then pointed his hand to the person next to you, “And of course, Mr. L/n for providing me with this opportunity to grow as a fighter—“ more cheers “—and for creating the person I love.” Some laughter at that.

Everyone was loud in the way they cheered but it wasn’t a surprise. The press conference was being held at one of the many L/n hotels. This is technically the first time Jungkook has met your father and he’s praying that his win tonight was enough to impress the man to approve of your relationship. By the time the questions came to an end, he was immediately bombarded by spectators who watched the fight.

You stood back letting him get some limelight as your father was next to you and Jin on the other side. You looked up at him nervously, he’s let you organize this event but he’s yet to tell you how he really feels about your boyfriend. He took a stride toward Jungkook who was surrounded by new fans waiting for his autograph—something he never experienced before—but with his growing presence in the media and industry, he’s becoming popular quick.

Jungkook looked up nervously, “Sir—“

“You did good tonight Jungkook,” your father said sternly, “You’ve brought in a lot of press for the hotel and I’ve gotten offers to sponsor more fighters. You also seem to be treating my only daughter well… You aren’t the type I expected Y/n to want to be with.”

Jungkook’s heart was racing listening to the man continue. “But, I can see that you value her and appreciate everything she’s helped you with.”

“Dad…” “I do sir,” Jungkook admitted before you could tell your dad to cut things short, “I love Y/n with my everything.” You smiled shyly as he said that. Your dad seemed pleased, “I’m looking forward to sponsoring you in the future, Jungkook, and you’re welcome to join us on our trip to New York next month, we’ll schedule a visit to Madison Square Garden.”

Jungkook’s jaw dropped at the prospect, eyes shifting to yours as you gave him a proud smile. Your dad turned toward Jin, “Come on, let’s work to write up a contract for upcoming fights.” Jin nodded, giving a thumbs up to Jungkook and following after him. Jin was going to be his main manager and with his law degree help, he’ll be able to find him all the right resources he needs.

You went to join Jungkook, finally, when you were cut off by a group of girls who flocked around him like pigeons. They were in his face telling him how good he was, how hot he was, if he could sign an autograph. Jungkook looked overwhelmed, struggling to speak and you just watched.

“Wow, you’re so fit, you handled your opponent so well.”

“If you need someone to take care of all your wounds, I’ll give you my number, feel free to call me at any time.”

“Do you sign autographs? Can I get your signature?”

It was unbelievable, truly. These women must have completely tuned out the part where Jungkook mentioned you in the conference, or even now that he had talked to your father. They turned a blind eye to you, throwing themselves at Jungkook and you weren’t having it.

Without thinking, you pushed through the crowd of at least six women and joined him. Immediately he wrapped an arm around your waist noticing the cute furrow in your brows and pout on your lips. He visibly frowned, eyes softening and that little sparkle appearing in his irises, “What’s wrong, baby?”

“I’m going to have to share you now with all your new fans,” you said in a whiny voice that only someone spoiled would use. He looked at the girls around him who had stepped back but were still clearly hovering. He pulled you into his chest, “Awe baby, I’m only ever going to be yours, fans or no fans.” He whispered as he tilted your chin up to plant an extremely soft kiss on your lips.

You smiled, eyes closing for a second as he did it again, and then another one. He kissed your cheek making you smile, then your other cheek. He pressed a kiss to your nose, and forehead, speeding up his pace as he bombarded your face and neck with little pecks of a kiss. You couldn’t help but laugh, fighting him off but he only hugged you tighter, “Jungkook,” you whined when you heard the clicking of cameras again, all aimed toward the two of you.

He smiled, finally stopping but holding you close. You just smiled, “My dad likes you, and now I’m so excited for you to stay at my apartment in New York!”

“Yours?” He asked, making you nod, he looked back to where your father had just walked off to me, “Does he really like me? I wanted to impress him so badly but I was so nervous up there. You know I’ve never been in a situation like that.”

“Yes, he liked you, silly,” you said, fixing his suit, “Plus you looked so handsome up there nobody even noticed you were nervous.” He smiled, feeling his heart swell with warmth and shyness as he dug his face into your hair. A huge, scary, fighter like Jungkook, shy when you compliment him.

“Oh and I’d like to say, welcome,” his brows furrowed in confusion as you smirked, “To the Nepo life. My dad’s going to work all his connections to get your career up there.”

“Baby, I don’t want you or him to feel like I’m usi—“ “I know! But you’re a good fighter, all you need is the good connections, everything else you’re doing on your own. You’re the one stepping into the ring, you’re the one at the press conferences, you’re the one in the media. Everything is you, since the beginning. Since Jin saw the potential in you, not of what he could make you.”

Jungkook listened to your words of affirmation, always feeling like enough whenever you talked to him. He smiled softly as you leaned forward to press a kiss against his cheek. It was wet, traveling toward his ear as you wrapped your arms around his shoulders.

You nipped at his earlobe, “And you’re free to use me… however you want, especially if my clothes are off.”

He visibly shuddered, looking around nervously to see if anyone can see what you’re doing to him. The only person he saw staring was Hoseok, who flashed him a thumbs up and some facial expressions that told Jungkook the guy knew what was happening between you too.

He took your hand, “Let’s go, I want my real prize for winning tonight.”

“Your real prize?” You asked, following after him, little kitten heels clacking with each step on the marble floor. He nodded, giddy as he said, “You.”

taglist: @nikkiordonez12 2 @blushblossomsblog @fandems @whosaero o @purpleunicorn051 @rerefundslocals s @shaybts-blog @hobiseightbracelet t @beautifulsunghoon @piscesbunnny @bitemejjk: @asking4-sanity @guvgguk @jiminshi20 @thvhoe @notmyfaultbutours @kimyishin @libra04 @cherrysainttt @potatocheesebites s @zaedynnn @thvlover @thvlover7 idk @kooromiwrld @saweetspoiled @sugaluvmyg @cherrymonlightt

[curry-and-gunpowder]

Okay so I have some stuff to get off my chest, might get a bit heated, but I mean no disrespect to anyone, just expressing my genuine confusion and frustration and trying to make my stance on some matters clear.

Clearly I ship Odazai. But that does not mean I reject other interpretations of their relationship. Be it platonic, queerplatonic, brotherly, it's all lovely to me - I genuinely just enjoy their unique dynamic.

However, I am constantly on the brink of losing it over hearing them referred to as a father/son pair by so many people in the fandom. And I'm gonna attempt to break down why this interpretation bothers me so much.

Firstly, it just flies in the face of my personal experience of intergenerational friendships - I'm a young-ish Millennial with many Gen Z friends. And I find it completely incomprehensible to try and force people who are relatively close in age into such a dynamic. I'm aware that a lot of bsd fans are teens or young adults who maybe don't have much social contact with people outside their age range. But as a 30+ person on the Internet, let me tell you, five years? That's nothing. The plain truth is, the older you get, the less age starts to matter. Once you get out of school, you will interact with people of all ages regularly and you will have friends who are older or younger than you and nobody fucking cares. The thought of seeing any of my younger friends as my children is, pardon my french, fucking ridiculous.

Secondly, and I've spoken about this before, the fandom's tendency to parentify Odasaku way beyond what the text ever implies. It's easy to put him into the role, considering the way he cares for his orphans. In that way, he has some parental traits - but it's only a facet of his personality, and, i would argue, one that the fandom puts way too much emphasis on, imho. I'll gladly write some more meta on that at a later time, but doing that here would make the post even longer than it already is. Just to quickly reiterate, for anyone who hasn't read the dark era lightnovel - Oda does explicitly NOT treat the kids like his children. Why then would he treat Dazai like one? Dazai, whom he explicitly invites to go drinking with him in TDIPUD? How does that track? Is he supposed to be just a shitty parent? Or could it maybe indicate that he sees Dazai as his equal more than anything?

(Tangentially, I would argue that Oda's perception of what constitutes a child/an adult is horrendously skewed, considering his own past.)

Thirdly, and this is probably gonna be the one that might get me into hot water with some people, the thing I like to call the Cope. The tendency in fandom to manifest a hard line between groups of characters that somehow should never be crossed when shipping, otherwise that makes the ship badwrongtoxic. This is a phenomenon I've observed developing more and more in recent years, and it's ngl pretty worrying, because it's generally used to present one's own ship as "superior", and all "rival ships" as less than/bad. Ships with "significant" age gaps tend to fall into that category relatively often, but I suspect very few people actually genuinely care about the characters' ages, but rather use it as a shield to justify why these relationships are To Be Avoided. Odazai is an absolute stellar example of such a ship - by all means it should be way more popular than it is, considering the themes that surround it and the way its absolutely center to the nareative of bsd. But without fail, when I look up media for the ship, be it YouTube videos or simply browsing the tag on tumblr or pinterest, I see the same mantra repeated over and over - "how can you ship them, they're like father and son!"

(I'm concerned about the relationship you have with your parents, I say to myself in response.)

And its, quite frankly, just not the case. I cannot for the life of me find any indication of this so-called parental relationship anywhere in the text. All I can see is two people who are friends who have a deep and sincere love for each other.

In conclusion, not every relationship has to fall into the category of familial or romantic. Sometimes... people are just friends. Sometimes friends are some years apart in age. It's not shocking or special or anything, it literally happens all the time.

Just let them be friends. It's fine, really, it's allowed.

[krikeymate]

What if…

…Papa Carpenter had taken Tara with him when he left? Do you think Sam would have stayed in Woodsboro with her mom? Or would she have left even earlier? Would she try to hunt down Tara? Or would she tell herself that it’s for the better? Would Christina fight for custody? Or would she just not really care?

I’d imagine that Tara would have grown up more sheltered. Mr Carpenter probably wasn’t a bad father (although A GOOD ONE would not just leave his daughter(s)). Maybe he gets married again and his new wife treats Tara well. Maybe they even have more kids and Tara gets a bunch of younger siblings. Away from her Woodsboro friends, Tara might never get involved in the Ghostface attacks.

Even if he doesn’t get married again, they could just be a super cute single-dad-daughter duo. I actually think that this would have been the „best case scenario“ for Tara. She would have missed Sam of course, but she was still young enough to eventually move on, cause kids usually move on pretty quickly.

I also think that it would pretty much be a worst case scenario for Sam, though. Although she probably started pulling away from Tara after the diary incident so maybe she’d have simply accepted it…

Do you have any thoughts on this?

I feel like I've touched on this topic before, but I can't find it so we start from scratch!

So, easy answer is he takes her away and that's that. But that's boring. There also wouldn't be a story! Because Sam would have nothing tying her to Woodsboro and her mother, and once she leaves, that's it. Tara's 8, she's helpless in that situation. Maybe she'll think about her mother and her sister, but what can she do? By the time she's old enough to do anything, it's already far too late. Maybe they're able to reconnect as adults, through social media. Maybe Sam sees the notification, maybe she ignores it, thinks it's better that way. Maybe she never stops drinking, maybe she still takes drugs, without a sister waiting for her to get better. Maybe she never lives that long at all, without her reason for living.

So, fuck that.

Tara's a good kid. She's always known that acting out will get her a box around the ear, her mother won't take any shit from her if she remembers she exists, and she never has a reason to act out when Sam's looking after her.

But Tara's spunky. Her father grabs her arm and drags her away from her screaming mother and crying sister, and she won't have it. She struggles and yells at him to let her go. She cries out for her sister. He doesn't like that she's fighting him. He didn't mean to knock her out, it was an accident. It doesn't stop him from taking advantage of the situation. He throws Sam back off of his arm, where she tries to push past him, grabs the smaller girl and leaves.

All the neighbours are watching from their doorways. They'd been loud. They watch Christina Carpenter turn on her daughter and scream about how this is all her fault. Sam runs to her room, slamming the door shut behind her.

When Tara wakes up, her father tries to apologise, to explain. Her mother's a whore he says. Tara doesn't know what that means, but she knows he says it with anger and disgust. (Like the time last summer when mother found her and Sam napping together in their underwear. Mother said some words she didn't understand either in the same way.)

Then he says Sam's not really her sister, the she's just a monster, that he had to take her away because Sam would hurt her.

He's a liar. He's the monster, Tara knows. He hurt her. She wants her sister.

She remembers the advice her sister had told her once, if someone tried to take her and she didn't want to go, to scream. So she does. She kicks out at him, knocks over the dresser, and screams and shouts and continues to do so right up until the police knock on the motel door. Her chest is hurting so much by then, and she begs the officer to take her home, that she needs her sister, that she wants her inhaler.

"You've got that the wrong way round there, huh?" he says kindly, holding her on his hip, hand rubbing her back. "Nu-uh," she mumbles, wheezing into his shoulder.

He takes her to the hospital, and sends an officer to the Carpenter house for more information on the domestic They come back with a distraught 13-year-old, who barrels into her sister and clings to her. The smaller girl clings back just as hard.

The officer tells Mr Carpenter that if he's got a custody dispute, he can take it up in court.

Tara bounces between her mother and her father. He uses the unsafe home argument, to claim he should get full custody. "Then you should take your elder girl as well," the courts declare. He can't bring himself to admit the truth, that he was deceived, cuckolded, for so many years. That he was raising a tainted child. He drops the case, too proud.

Sam misses her sister every moment she's away, and holds her tight every time she's there. Tara gets clingy. She hates having to leave Sam.

Sam goes to parties when she's alone, to forget for a little while, but the very first time she's offered something a little stronger, she thinks about the argument her fa- he used. All he had to say was she's not my daughter, and she could have lost her sister forever, all because her mother likes to drink, to take those pills. She goes home early and vows to do nothing that will risk her sister being able to come home.

She can't lose her. She won't lose her.

[dramat-ique]

Okay so I’m thinking about the differences in the way that fandom treats Dick’s relationship with his parents opposed to how they treat Jason’s relationship with his.

When talking about the Graysons relevance to the batfamily they’re held very preciously. Even when a media portrays Bruce as Dick’s father it’s with the understanding that he will never replace them, and they are respected as people who will always be a massive and important part of Dick’s life despite not being there for him anymore. They helped shape him into the amazing man he became yada yada. With Jason we see this a lot less so. I basically never see the Todds talked about in how they will always be Jason’s family, or how Bruce could never replace them. Their role in Jason’s life is diminished, as well as his personal connection to him. When their importance to him is recognised it seems only to be for how they damaged him, how they failed him.

(Side note: I find it interesting how many fics I have read where a Jason calls Bruce “Dad” when Dick never calls him anything but Bruce)

There’s a lot of reasons why that probably is. Largely I imagine it’s got a big part to do with more recent rewriting of Jason’s parents (by this I mean the Todd's, since Sheila is written out of most of these entirely. A decision I disagree with but isn’t really relevant here since I’m talking about the family that raised him) to be more terrible people than they originally were. I also would wager a lot of it is a certain kind of classism, but that’s also the underlying factor in the decision to rewrite the Todds as well (Reading Scott Lobdell’s Red Hood books reeks of a man who has only a cartoonish understanding of poverty and addiction. Just look what he did to Roy as well).

When Jason’s parents are portrayed to be the physically abusive drug dealer father and the lost it drug addicted mother who showed up drunk to prenatal classes, I understand why people would but less weight on their importance in Jason’s life after their deaths. No one wants to think about a child holding the parents who hurt them as important people in their heart once they have the support of a wealthy, loving father to replace them.

But that’s not what Catherine and Willis were meant to be. And their reduction to that pisses me off to no end.

I’m not giving anyone unheard of information when I say that originally (well, originally if you ignore the brief time when the Todds were just Grayson ripoffs) the Todd’s were more vaguely portrayed as people who were down on their luck. Willis was a small time criminal who grew up in poverty, jailed for crimes committed trying to provide for his family, and Catherine died to, quote “A disease that just didn’t care how much love she had in her heart.” I’ve seen that interpreted as a literal disease, the disease of addiction, or a combination of illness that forced her to self medicate to manage. But for the sake of this let’s chose to interpret that Catherine struggled with Addiction.

Jason’s parents couldn’t provide much for Jason. He likely suffered a lot because of it. Willis choosing crime as a way to provide would have made life rough. Catherine’s addiction and following death would have been deeply traumatising. But they loved him. And he loved them. And it feels weird to act as if they would stop being important to him in the same way that Dick’s parents are to him.

Jason’s story as robin is, famously among his fans, misinterpreted a lot. Everyone knows at this point the way more modern comics have misrepresented him as “the angry Robin”. And it feels very significant to me that the same comics that push that idea also push the idea that Willis and Catherine were just straight up bad people. The statement ends up being “Jason Todd’s parents were bad so Jason was always going to be bad.” and “Poor people are poor because of their own life choices” WHEN IT SHOULD BE “Jason’s parents were in an impossible position and unable to provide all the opportunities that would have allowed Jason to be a happy, carefree kid.” and “Poor people often turn to crime and addiction because they are the only accessible options.”

To me, the appeal of Jason’s time as Robin is getting to see a child, who due to the affects of generational poverty and tragedy was forced to grow up too fast to survive, getting the chance to be a child again. Not because he is free of his terrible parents, but because someone with the resources to provide helped him. And this allows him to go on and be happy and actively do good rather than perpetuate the cycle of crime and poverty. It’s not that Jason chose to “do the right thing”, he was given the resources that made doing the right thing an option in the first place!

Jason is not “bad” because his parents were, and he wasn’t “good” in spite of his parents. But they were important to him. So much so that he struggled to talk about them, to the point where Bruce was very concerned about Jason’s inability to process the loss of them at the end of his time as Robin. Jason’s feelings about his parents are allowed to be complicated. Loving or not there were likely a lot of problems in his homelife. But that does not mean they don’t have value to him or that they shouldn’t.

To act like they are less important to him than the Graysons are to Dick just really doesn’t sit right with me. Especially when we see people in real life think the best solution for children in poverty is to remove them from the families they love and who love them, rather than provide support and resources to struggling families. Impoverished parents are not villains, the systems that create poverty are.

And I know that’s a bit of an intense complaint when talking about how much fandom values the parents of a fictional character. To be clear I’m not saying that people who don’t place value on Jason’s parents are contributing to some evil system opressing the poor. Because obviously not. Mostly the problem is that Catherine and Willis Todd don’t even come up that much in can material to begin with, and the bad writing overpowers the good. whatever. But what I am saying is that this kind of thing both represents current and effects future perception of these issues.

When I complained earlier in this post about Scott Lobdell’s piss poor writing of these subjects, I do so knowing that he probably does that because that IS the popular perception of poverty.

Anyway I have no point to saying all of this. Mostly I was just observing things and talking out my ass. Basically just. more people should write Jason’s family as important parts of his character I guess.

[fullmetal-scar-simping]

Finding your blog is a blessing because I have ALWAYS been a Scar fan; and while I do generally prefer brotherhood's overall storyline, every time they bring up Ishvalans I have to prevent myself from committing violence because they bungled the imperial/genocide plotline so bad😭😭😭

And look not to be on the crazy agenda but it does deeply bother me that the only named Ishavalan we have in the series is Major Miles, whose father is likely Amestrian and that makes his surname also Amestrian.

And fine okay my babygirl Scar abandoned his name out of religious belief but damn...brotherhood gave me NOTHING about Ishvalans (except solidifying their ethnic features- after a lifetime of white silver-blond people in fantasy, it's sooo good to see brown people, who actually deserve white hair because they still have brows fhsjfj)

And look I like Miles. I genuinely do like him and enjoy the Briggs arc in mangahood, but he could have been such an interesting insight into the nuances of race politics because we know his Ishvalan grandfather and Ishvalan relatives were slaughtered during the war (and still he stays in the military😐); but what about his half-Ishvalan mother?

Was she spared the racial persecution because of her diluted blood in the same way Miles must have avoided going with the way of other Ishvalan soldiers? Or are you telling me Miles really hears that his Ishvalan family members, including his mother, were shot dead for being Ishvalans and decided that he's #different and he could totally liberal utopia his way into a Better Amestris😭

And I have the toughest life in the world because I am unfortunately a Miles/Scar shipper if only because I experience catharsis at the thought of Miles' third eye finally opening and he's no longer part of the Amestrian sheeple chsjdhsj

Again I do broadly speaking prefer mangahood (although I'll admit that opinion is changing with age), mangahood fans have to stop talking shit about 03 because that adaptation was phenomenal in its handling of the genocide that fmab conveniently forgets🙄

Chill mangahood fans who can recognize the pro-imperialism/militarism and racist politics in their fave media are always welcome here. I'm glad this blog feels like a blessing, even with how much I vent about mangahood and general fan wank. (o^-')b✨

I'll join you in committing violence on behalf of the Ishvalans. Hell, I'll encourage it even! I can never endure Broho again because of how they're treated, ignored, and written.

[Rant incoming]

Yeah, Arakawa, I have no doubt the various Ishvalan refugee settlements are living happily in spite of being displaced from their homes and carrying the horrors of a genocide fresh in their minds. Nothing bad happens to refugee camps and settlements at the hands of the dominant nation they've been forced to hide within. Scar's just unreasonably angry and violent, unlike all other Ishvalans who are nice and placid. (Being anti-racist is when you insist most people in an ethnic group would never raise a finger against fascists, right?)

Except also Scar states that the Ishvalans aiding the coup are "[H]ere to bring change... without resorting to terrorism." This both reads as Scar flagellating himself before his Amestrian 'allies', while simultaneously implying that all Ishvalan actions outside of quietly rotting in Amestris' margins was all terrorism (or more accurately, a 'negative' method of addressing their own oppression and occupation).

(This is why I argue that mangahood Scar's characterization once he's apprehended in Briggs is completely off. Arakawa derails the character she setup to instead force feed us a "redemption" arc that reforms the military. No one who watched their lives and loved ones get mercilessly slaughtered before their eyes would ever think that their murderers 'had some valid points' about how the relations between oppressor and oppressed ought to be run. This isn't what a character like Scar would say or believe, it's Arakawa's politic, boldly out in the open.)

Ahem.

For as much as I, rightfully, drag mangahood through the mud for how an ethnically oppressed group is (under)written, I do have to say that 03 could have also been better in many areas too! I wish there were more named Ishbalans, period. Especially named Ishbalan women with a major presence in the story (Lust is the only one we get, and as fantastic as her arc is, her Dante-gifted sin name is not her Ishbalan name). But I really appreciate that Ishbalans in 03 have diverse features AND opinions, unlike the Ishvalans in Broho. Both all have the unifying feature of red eyes, but for some reason Brotherhood makes it so that every single Ishvalan has the same hair colour and skin tone. They try to reflect this during the genocide flashbacks with the Amestrians being all blond and blue-eyed, but as we can see with both Amestrian civilians and the soldiers/war criminals, that's not true at all.

I'm on the same page regarding Scar (any version) relinquishing his previous name as working within motivations that align well with his character. On the one hand I like to think mangahood Scar does eventually take on a new name rather than giving others free real estate over how he's referred to. On the other, the sense of mystery is fun- until the recollection of the myriad ways he's dehumanized and mistreated throughout Broho come crashing in and I end up seeing his indifference towards deciding a name for himself as just another way to give ownership over himself to Amestris.

(Decent arguments can be made that this is his way to keep his future open, and that this could even be Scar intending to give himself space to create himself anew; only then would a new name become necessary. At least these are my more good faith theories on the matter.)

And hey, for all my ire about mangahood, Miles, and even Miles/Scar, I don't begrudge people liking any of the above. I'm not gonna shit on anyone for liking what I don't, even when I routinely express my dislike.

Miles is a maddening character for me precisely because of the incongruence of his backstory, familial line, his opinions on the military, his participation in their oppression, and how he sees Scar's actions in comparison to his own. I've said it before, but Miles feels less like a character to me and more like Arakawa's mouthpiece (one of many, Ed being the main one). There's no conflict in him regarding his position in the very military that destroyed his own family, no moment where he actually has to reassess everything he's done and believed, and make a decision on whether he wants to continue being Amestris' preaching lapdog or not. This is why I can't simply view him as a complex character with warped politics who makes atrocious decisions, but instead a token oppressed strawman for Arakawa to defend her fictitious militia.

Hard not to wonder though: how would Miles' arc go if he was written by someone who wasn't disturbed by radical actions against the state? There was potential for something far less insulting and racist, but that's not what we got. I can see why Miles fans like yourself would be conflicted with how he's used in mangahood, and I can also understand what potential he held that you folks see in him.

"I experience catharsis at the thought of Miles' third eye finally opening," honestly? Based. If Miles/Scar shippers have Miles finally enter his anti-military era, and both he and Scar shed their liberalism henceforth, then I'm here for it. May they both tear apart the ongoing Amestrian regime, brick-by-brick!

Anyway, bless you for this ask! I have no beef with mangahood enjoyers who aren't talking out their ass (in general and at us 03 fans). I may not post much about mangahood outside of my routine complaints, but we at least have a love of Scar to unite us. 🤝

[coffeewithcutcaffeine]

are there any parallels that fascinate you while working on voievod?

(missing you like hell my beloved lin, hope life's treating you well ❤️)

My beloved Lizzie, thank you endlessly for sending this question my way, it definitely made me sit down and think hard about it! I am not sure if I mention all the parallels (more will definitely appear with time), but I will try to elaborate on at least a few that occupy my mind at the moment. ❤️ I am sending the biggest hug your way, my dear, and I hope you are taking good care of yourself! I miss you so so much! 🥰️

Now that I finished reading Mehmed’s biography, I was struck by the remarkable similarities between his and Vlad’s personalities. Both were natural rebels, active and restless souls, brave visionaries. They both displayed a paradoxical blend of cruelty and generosity. What sets them apart are the subtle nuances, the different shades and hues of their personalities, that shape these similar traits into something uniquely their own. This is a fascinating thing to explore in writing because typically when two figures stand on opposite sides (as enemies, opponents, rivals, you name it), they are often portrayed as respective polar opposites. In media, the “hero” is typically portrayed as the antithesis of the “villain”, and vice versa. This is different because both men are viewed as heroes and villains simultaneously, their perception shifting based on the observer’s perspective. I also find it fascinating that, from their initial encounters, the tension between them stems not from their differences but from their similarities. Had they ever chosen to collaborate, their combined strength would have made them unstoppable. It is the core values they both strongly stick to that leave them no choice but to stand in opposition to each other.

There are delicious parallels in the family dynamics of both Vlad and Mehmed! This is so much fun to work with because the events within both royal houses show how we often unknowingly echo the missteps of those who came before us. Without giving much away so that I do not spoil the crucial moments, Vlad’s father was sent away from home as a small child. As a result, he retained few memories of either parent. When he becomes a father, he chooses to shield his children from such a life and consciously strives to be a more present parent. Nevertheless, circumstances compel him to send his two sons away from home, forcing him to retrace his father’s steps, no matter how much that decision torments him. When Vlad becomes a father himself, he is determined not to repeat the mistakes of his grandfather and father and also consciously strives to be a better parent, yet circumstances once again force his son to be sent away from home. The fatalism in this is so powerful because each generation tries to undo the wrongs they suffered in childhood and, while they do make progress and become better, life’s circumstances (though vastly different in each case) inevitably push them to do what they have sworn to avoid at all costs.

In Mehmed’s case, it’s the tragic deaths of the favourite sons. His father, Murad II, abdicated and left the throne to the then twelve-year-old Mehmed because he was so stricken with grief over the death of his son, Şehzade Alaeddin Ali (who died at eighteen), that he simply could not bear the burdens of ruling any longer. Mehmed deals with the situation in his own way, viewing his father’s response as a weakness throughout his life… until he faces the same situation and must lay his own son Mustafa to rest. Unlike his father, Mehmed did not abdicate, but Mustafa’s death reportedly wrecked him. It shows life’s cruel irony that is imposed on us sometimes — Mehmed could never connect with his father and scorned him for many things, only to finally sympathise with him when struck by the same horrible tragedy his father experienced.

As for more universal parallels, it is interesting to see how many of the themes I explore in Voievod are still present in our lives today. Six centuries later, we still witness nations bleeding just to carve out a path toward self-determination. Not all countries are treated equally, some people still face being looked down upon, while others continue to fight for the right to shape their future course and their destiny for themselves, without others dictating to them what to do and what not to do. The methods have changed, we do not live as violent times as the Middle Ages were (but Vlad’s methods must be taken into consideration through the context of that period), but it is not difficult to relate to Vlad’s dreams and objectives, to loving your country so much you would die just so the future generations can live in freedom of being able to choose, of being able to decide for themselves, of prospering on their own. Also, power continues to leave its mark on people’s character today, much as it did then — if not outright corrupt them.

[notafraidofredyellowandblue]

I have a question about Reesh but it may come off as a bit too intrusive 😩 if it is, just ignore it. I don't want to start anything or disrespect anyone, I'm just being curious.

I've just noticed that, at least to my knowledge, there are no pics of Richard with his son when he was young. There's plenty with Khira and them being so close to age, I'd assume there'd be some but..

I know they have a good relationship now, quite a few pics with Maxime.. so it just makes me wonder, was he not in Merlin's life back then? I know that him and his mother was more or less just a one night hook up.

Again, if this is too much, just ignore it.

Hi! Well, i'm no expert on this topic Richard and kids and their mothers, but i think the most important thing to start with is what Richard mentioned in this interview

Apart from your seven year old daughter Maxime you have two adult kids. What are you like as a dad?

Becoming a dad agin in my mid 40's, is very different than at 23, which was relatively early. You always make mistakes, but today I'm much calmer and enjoy the time I spend with my daughter.

Are you still together with Maxime's mother Margaux Bossieux, who sings on „A Million Degrees“ too?

No. I'm not the classical family man. I have three kids with three women. I think I'm too polygamous for a longterm relationship. By the way my adult daughter also lives here in the house.

----

Now the parts i do from memory, so please treat with a grain of salt as to the accuracy:

In another interview he mentioned that he became a dad in his 20's, in his 30's and in his 40's, but his son is actually almost the same age as the oldest daughter (i think there's a year between them).

In most biographies the phrasing is something like "he had a daughter Khira Li with Mareike Lindemann, and a daughter Maxime with Margaux Bossieux. He is also the father of Tatjana Besson's son Merlin."

And the third thing i read somewhere is that he didn't know he was the father of Tatjana's son until Merlin was about 10 years old.

So piecing that together, my impression is that with Khira-Li he was actually involved from when she was born (think of the story when she got ill as a little girl and he slept in the hallway of the hospital to be with her), at least until the time that he migrated to New York. With Maxime, when Margaux was pregnant (or just had the baby) they moved back to Berlin, because Richard thought that a better city to bring up a child, and is actually involved in her life. With Merlin he probably didn't have much contact until a lot later, maybe even only when he moved back to Berlin.

----

I think Richard really loves all his kids, not as a traditional dad (just like he'll never be a traditional husband to anyone), family is very important to him, and his kids certainly are. Maybe the family really came together when Maxime was born and they all lived in Berlin again; there are certainly photos around of the kids visiting a Rammstein show together, and from the whole family hanging out at home (the latter probably swiped from their social media accounts, so i'm not going to post them here, but if you google you can easily find them). I think they all dote on Maxime, just like Richard in the Emigrate video "You are so beautiful" 💕

And he dedicated songs to each of them, see a quote from this interview

A couple of songs are on the 'major' side (note: referring to the music phrase Major as opposed to minor), „You’re So Beautiful“ on the prior album, „Come Over“ on the new one.

Interesting, that you mention specifically those two songs. You see, those are songs that I dedicated to my kids. They have the power to pull me out from dark worlds.

i think it's:

You're so Beautiful - is i think for Maxime

Come over - for Merlin (he mentioned in another interview that was for his son)

Babe - Khira-Li once mentioned that was for her on her ig

---

A whole lot of text, so i'll end this post with these pics, that i think are lovely, all three of Richard's kids, with their mothers photographed together

Khira-Li with Mareike Lindemann

Merlin with Tatjana Besson

Maxime with Margaux Bossieux

🥰

[aajjks]

mommy issues!JK

nara looks at jungkook confused.

“shut up. what are you in here for? and quit talking about my medication. quit acting like you give a fuck about me”

it’s true. nara’s father has never liked jungkook, especially her mother. despite them being close with the jeon’s there was something about jungkook that seemed off. once the jang’s caught wind of jungkook’s mistake, they signed the official documents to cease any ties with the jeon’s in case his secret became public.

thankfully, it never happened but jungkook was disowned by his family and left to raise his infant child on his own. when nara heard he was working for a banking company, she hired someone to track jungkook’s records which led her to becoming the CEO of his company after begging her father to buy it.

when she laid eyes on jungkook, she couldn’t believe it was really him. he wasn’t the same scrawny kid she was engaged to. he was a man, a grown man. his body was lean, built, and his face, despite still looking baby-like, had matured as well. someone who looked like him by her side would surely turn heads and her theory was proven correct at the charity ball.

both of their faces were plastered all over the media and some news outlets labeled them ‘korea’s best looking couple.’ putting fame aside, she still wanted jungkook. she knew she could treat him better than anyone ever has no matter what her family would say.

but then there’s you.

you who was obviously not interested in jungkook at the charity event. you who was obviously using him. you who stole his heart before she was given a fair chance.

nara will always hate ever fiber of your being. you don’t deserve him and you’ll never understand him like she can. you’re just a pretty face with a smoking body, that’s it. but nara knows she’s prettier, she’s hotter, and more deserving of jungkook than you. he just doesn’t see it. he just doesn’t know it.

“you won’t be telling my father anything, jungkook. this is between me and you. you fucked up when you went against my orders and kissed that bitch. it’s all YOUR fault” nara exclaims as she sets her pen and paper down and gets closer to jungkook.

“i dare you to tell my parents because if you do, i’ll tell your father and mother about your whereabouts. i’ll tell them you lied to your son about his mother and i’ll tell y/n that you killed—,”

before nara could finish her venomous sentence, she hears loud bangs coming from outside her window.

*BANG*

*BANG*

*BANG*

nara goes to her window to inspect what’s going on outside and what she sees has her heart sinking into her stomach: you. with a metal bat. her rolls royce. “WHAT THE FUCK?!!! THAT’S MY CAR!!!” yells nara. she pushes past jungkook and leaves the office in a hurry.

“duuuudeee!!! is that y/n?” gasps eunwoo who was quite surprised to see you vandalizing; demolishing her expensive vehicle.

the windows are shattered, the paint is scratched, you sliced her tires, and you even fucked up the interior of her car. the cherry on top? white spray paint that reads: NARA IS A WHORE.

“YOU BITCH!!!!”

“come near my workplace again and your car won’t be the only thing i fuck up. it’ll be you next”

~🫧

This is so embarrassing and all of this is escalating way too fast for his liking. He didn’t expect you coming to his workplace.

But this is what she deserves. She had no right to embarrass you like that, it’s about time that someone puts her in her place.

“Y-Yn- come with me.” Jungkook tries to approach you but you look really scary right now, Jungkook walks past Nara and grabs your hand.

“You shouldn’t have taken it to such a cheap level. Fucking cheap!” Jungkook glares at Nara because she started this.

Eunwoo winks at the both of you, as he greets you. “Hi yn… honestly I like you a lot.” He says, giving you his approval.

Nara is busy glaring at the three of you. Jungkook takes you to the parking lot because if he took you into the office, Nara will cause a whole fucking scene and he cannot afford more drama right now

“OK calm down she deserved it. I’m so proud of you.” Jungkook takes you to the side, Nara is a bitch.

You don’t look like the type to invite drama but you won’t hesitate to finish it.

But as he’s talking to you, he sees Nara glaring at you, rushing towards you both.

Oh no.

[bridgertonbabe]

Here are a couple of honourary mentions which didn't fit into my three TED Talks haha

First, these two photos of Jacques & Gabriella of Monaco. Not sure what's going on, I just know that it's very on-brand for the Monaco royals

Second, I was gonna say that this could serve as inspo for Newton. But that felt like a bit of an insult towards the main character of season 2. Anywho, the Thai royals have way too much money but at least Siri offers entertainment in how much she spoils her dog

Third, we have my favourite royal, His Royal Cuteness Prince Charles of Luxembourg. The hardest-working baby in the world who's about to become a big brother next year! No real reason, I just want everyone to see how adorable he is

For those wondering, His Royal Cuteness together with Prince Alexander have been cast by me as Charlie (yes I know they look very different, never said my casting was gonna be logical), Prince Gabriel as Alex (let's pretend Alex was blonde the first couple of years) & now when we have better photos of Prince Julian, I have an excuse to picture him as Will. Haven't decided on anyone for Eddie, Miles, Mary & Vivi yet, suggestions are welcome! But, I nominate Princess Adrienne as Lottie.

Jacques and Gabriella of Monaco are definitely giving cheeky Prince Gregory and Princess Hyacinth vibes, though I could also imagine Princess Charlotte and Prince William having the sassy little troublemakers look about them. In the Royals AU they were born hours apart in the same hospital with their fathers running out into the corridor of opposite rooms to high-five each other when they were welcomed into the world. It would have been the only time Sophie had presented one of her newborns to the world, knowing there would be no chance of sneaking out of the hospital with the media camped outside waiting to be introduced to the new Princess Royal. She had found the prospect of the media interest invasive and had opted not to parade Charlie and Alex around hours after giving birth to them as a result, but seeing as William was her third baby and she didn't feel as overwhelmed as she had done as a brand new mother, she reckoned she could handle showing one of her babies to the world just this once. Then when Kate hopped into the hospital bed with her as they snuggled their newborns, she asked if Sophie would like to appear on the steps of the hospital with her and show their babies off together, and realising she wouldn't have to do it alone made Sophie agree to the offer instantly. She even had a bit of fun as Kate's glam squad dressed and made her up side by side with the queen while their royal husbands doted on their infants, before they treated the public to the four of them appearing on the steps of the hospital to introduce the newest little prince and princess of the family.

I could definitely see Newton ending up as the main star of the royal family's Instagram account. He's included in photos for Kate and Anthony's engagement, their wedding, pregnancy announcements, first baby pics, and of course their official Christmas cards. When they meet members of the public Kate and Anthony are always asked about Newton and the general demand of more Newton leads the royal family Insta stories to be filled with the corgi's day to day activities and general fluffy cuteness. (There's even a joke petition to make Newton the national animal of the country or for him to at least be knighted for his adorable services to the nation.)

Prince Charles of Luxembourg is the cutest!!! I can for sure see him as baby Charlie and while Benedict is thrilled that his hair initially appears blonde like his mother, Sophie is sure his locks will darken to the chestnut that the rest of the Bridgertons possess and much to Benedict's chagrin she's right. I can also totally see (your logic of) Prince Alexander as a bigger version of Charlie, with Charlie not wanting his hair cut so he can look just like his father (I'm envisioning Benedict growing his hair out for a time after Sophie one day mused that she fancied him when he was younger with his teenage floppy hair, and being the simp that he is he wanted to make his wife's teenage dreams come true).

[asthma-michael-myers]

I’m certainly not done talking about Du’Met (7/???)

There are heavy influences of other serial killers I see in Du’Met. (Not H.H.Holmes, because that guy never did what they say he did in the game. He didn’t even have a „Murder Castle. Did he kill people in his hotel? Yes, probably. But not to the extent that the game [and some other media] wants to make us believe.)

So, what real murderer could have been an inspiration for Du’Met/Hector Munday (for the sake of understandability I treat them as one single person)?

First and foremost I would say, Ed Kemper. Kemper had an abusive (alcohol – addicted) mother who blamed him for her problems, and let him live in the boiler room in the cellar because his appearance was „unbearable“ for her and his sisters additionally they felt unsave and sexually molested by Kemper.

It is assumed (a fandom theory) that Hector Munday was also insulted for his looks by his mother.

While Kempers violent fantasies intensified, he also developed an affinity for justice and police work. Kemper is known for his cooperativity with the police and helping to lay the foundation for criminal profiling (with the FBI-Agenten Ressler und Douglas). His knowledge about psychology was attained during his stay in the Atascadero State Hospital after he killed his grandparents, where he was allowed to help and listen to sessions with other criminals. Also he developed own psychological tests with the corresponding items. Later Kemper used his knowledge to manipulate his victims.

Munday was an FBI profiler. About why he chose that career path can only be speculated. Although he took another way than Kemper, Munday specialized in psychology; and seeing his success, he understood that subject well. So well he used it later to analyze his victims and use the information against them.

During the first murders, Kemper described that he wanted the girls to trust him, that it was not bearable for him that one girls knew that he had just killed her friend. At moments he was not even able to look at her face. All in all Kemper was, well, bashful. When he accidentally touched the breast of his (assumed) third victim, he apologized. Like he was not going to kill and rape her. Kemper reflected on that, that if he had met her earlier in his life, this all might have not happened. It is questionable how true that is since Kemper was convinced that no one could ever love him (,again. Once he was in a relationship but that was spoiled by his mother). So, he wanted complete control over the situation and his partner (also seen by other serial killers like Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy, Dean Corll, etc.).

This is more going into the fandom theories, that while Du’Met is dominant and determined while killing people, he is sexually quite inexperienced. But in almost every situation, he wants control over his partner (mostly based on other people's headcanons, personally I see it differently). However, he canoncally wants to control every situation during his hunting.

The last similarity I want to point out is, the murders Kemper did regarding his own family. As mentioned before, Kemper killed his grandparents. His grandmother had to die because she reminded him so much of his mother and he couldn’t handle all her nagging anymore (about shooting birds and such). The same day Kemper killed his grandfather, this time however it was out of mercy so his demented grandfather didn’t have to see his dead wife. Last but not least, Kemper finally killed his mother. 

Munday also killed his mother, in contrast to Kemper, not out of hate, but out of mercy (like Kemper did with his grandfather), so she wouldn’t have to suffer from the effects of cancer.

That’s it with Ed Kemper, On to the next. Ed Gein. This one is less about his murders, and more about his other crimes and relationship to his mother. Geins father was an alcohol addict who would beat up his wife and Geins mother only mocked her husband for that. It was her, who made the decisions in the family. Furthermore his mother saw sexuality as a sin and impure. 

There is not much told about Hectors father. Only that he left Lucinda when Hector was not born yet or very young. So it could be that Clarence also was an alcoholic, or Lucinda scared him off. Also it is just speculation what Lucinda thought about sexuality, but going along with headcanons, Du’Met seems timid regarding his own sexual needs.

Despite her behaviour of his mother towards Gein, he loved her idolatrously. Which may stem from his mothers indoctrination that every woman was a whore and not to be looked at or even noticed, so Geins desire and love were directed at his mother. The relationship only strengthened when Geins mother suffered a stroke after the death of Geins brother and she became dependent on his help. 

Mundays mother was also abusive. However, instead of leaving her, he visited her regularly and supervised her transfer to the senior home. Even there he came to visit her, more or less, regularly. Before that, she might have been dependent on Hectors help. After Lucinda was diagnosed with cancer, Munday did kill her (as mentioned above out of mercy, it was an act out of love). Furthermore, Munday mourned her death, so it even affected his work as a profiler.

As I said, this is less about Geins murders and more about his other crimes. Gein exhumed bodies (he confessed to 40) and built furniture and made clothes out of them. 

Du’Met exhumed the bodies of his mother and Sherman to build animatronics out of them. That reminds me more of Anatoly Yuryevich Moskvin and his corpse dolls.

[grimbeak]

For that little ask game if you want to!! 2, 4 and 10 for Kevin! :)

Under the cut cuz it got long lol

2. ADMIRATION. Is there anyone they idolize or look towards as a model? (Or, is there someone that might admire this character one way or another?)

I think Kevin sort of looks up to Cecil and Charles both, probably because he just doesn't understand why they're both so... good. I feel like during his time with Carlos he was hearing Cecil over the phone (I feel like Cecil talks so loud over the phone you can hear him from a mile away, like my grandma lol) and then just. imitating him. Whether that was a trauma response to the Strex shit slowly leaving his system or him trying to make Carlos like him better, he's really not sure. I also think Donovan looks up to him, and Kevin's batshit terrified of that. Not only does he desperately not want Donovan to have to go down the same path he did, he's terrified of turning out like his own father.

4. FORGIVENESS. Are there things that they could never excuse regardless of justification? Can they easily forgive, or are there long-held grudges?

I feel like a lot of media (idk if there's a lot i cant think of any examples i just feel like that's a Thing That Happens Often) focuses on the first step to being a "better person" is forgiveness, and I think he follows that far too much. I think the only reason Kevin wouldn't forgive someone would be if they hurt someone he cared about. Otherwise, I feel like he'd even forgive Strex before Charles knocked some sense into him. He totally forgives the Smiling God FAR too much, like he could be torn apart and put back together by It, and he'd forgive It. I think he's trying so hard to be a good person that it's destroying him.

10. PUBLIC OPINION. What do other characters think of this one? ...And, if applicable, how are they treated by both the community and media they're sourced from?

I think it's sooooo interesting that Kevin is pretty much fucking despised by his entire town. Like. According to triptych he pretty much let Strex tear him apart before he let them hurt anyone, and then he was made into the one doing the hurting. I wonder how long it took his town to change their opinion of him. How long it took before their opinion of him became so permanent that even once he has the Strex out of his system, they still hate him. I think soooooooo fucking hard ab Charles being like. the only one to look past his appearance and see that he's trying. Charles not showing hatred and instead showing genuine interest and that being so fucking foreign to Kevin at that point.

also slightly less angsty but like. I def think Kevin thinks a lot of people are his friends. Like his personal friend list is: Charles, Donovan, Grandma Josephine, Lauren, Carlos, Cecil, his coworkers, Intern Vanessa, all of the town

Charles's response to that is: We're married, that's your son, that's your mom, she sprayed acid on you, you have not talked in decades, he has your number blocked and has said several times that he hates you, they have told me that they only work with you because you're the prophet, Kevin are you serious they send you death threats every single day.