#i legitmately love him

[boxwinebaddie]

my favorite baby style ncu continuity is cute tiny hopeless romantic kindergarten disney prince stan falling in love with kyle broflovski at first sight and buying every flavor of ring pop trying to propose to him like 'you are...the most Beautiful person i've ever seen.'

and evil feral kindergarten nj kyle threatening to bite him, fight him and end his pitiful life like 'and you are...so Gahdamn WEIRD. stay the hell away from me, yA FREAK!' and trying to bear mace him skdhs

— but then k-garten stan doing something incredibly wholesome, mindboggling stupid and storybook chivalrous to save k-garten kyle's life, the ice around his cold black heart melting, bein forever changed and falling head over heels in love w boy hero k-garten stan...

...all to take the fATTEST L OF ALL FUCKING TIME because he is too emotionally constipated to confess his feelings and end up gettin stuck in the super best friend zone FOREVER bc every day perfect stan marsh gets lovelier, handsomer and....Fucking STUPIDER.

[autumn-may]

love thinking of sad traumatized edgy characters in normal situations but not in a ‘how do you think X event affected the way they handle everyday life’ kinda way but in a ‘what do you think 358/2 days rikus hair care routine is like’ kinda way

[wayward-wren]

Listening to Spare Parts and had to stop and TAKE A SECOND because this Frank character really asked NYSSA who she's ever lost. Nyssa.

Aside from the fact that she's having Adric's death thrown in her face over and over due to the cyberman presence here, SHE LOST HER WHOLE PLANET. Every single person she KNOWS. Her father's FACE WAS STOLEN.

I am Fuming on her behalf what do you know Frank. She is so strong for not responding to that.

[no1ryomafan]

I finally got my one long time mega man friend to play gravity circuit who’s suspecting nega to be the main villain and I’m having to hold myself back from spoiling anything because holy FUCK nega is one of the best twist characters I have ever fucking seen.

[lecliss]

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaa I finally got to Red's introduction!!!!! I knew Max Mittelman was gonna do a good job as Red but Im so used to energetic voices from him like Ryuji and Agnum that a deep chill voice was like, really unexpected for me. I barely even recognized it as him, but that just goes to show how good of a VA he is!!!!! And hes voicing the Mr. Fuzzy Wuzzy Fluffy Boy aaaaaaaaaaaaaa

[bl00dlight]

SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 8 LEAKS. DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU WANT MAJOR HELAEMOND SPOILERS.

I just wanna say. Once again the Helaegons prove their media illiteracy if they think that Aemond literally going to make amends with his sister, with TEARS IN HIS EYES... reaching for her ARM.... and him speaking so... softly.... when he says "come with me." AND HE SAYS IT LIKE THAT? PLEADING SOFTLY? AND HE ABOUT TO CRY? AND HE IS SO ANGRY AND VUNERABLE AND GUILT RIDDEN BUT IS SO HURT BY HER VISION THAT HE RESORTS TO WHAT HE ALWAYS DOES. AND THIS IS THE FIRST TIME WE'VE SEEN AEMOND ACT THIS WAY TO ANYONE. YALL SAYING HELAEGON WON?

When he reaches for her and GRAZES HER WRIST AND THEN STOPS HIMSELF AND PUTS HIS HEAD DOWN. BECAUSE HE CLEARLY FEELS SOME LEVEL OF GUILT FOR HIS ACTIONS???

Helaemond got the complicated tension simmering arc of misunderstanding helaegons wanted. If this was a Helaegon scene they'd be over the moon. Its only because mfs lack the understanding that Helaemond was never about soft squishy love and was always about yearning. And look at AEMOND YALL CANT SAY THEY DIDNT DO IT FOR HELAEMOND!!!! THE YEARNING!!! And I'm living for it. There is clearly context missing in those scenes, possibly that we might get Aemond and Helaena sort of teaming up in a scene or him pursuing her dreams/taking comfort in her like leaks said. Because when he comes into her room she sort of looks up at him softly and she doesn't seem angry or uncomfortable until he asks her to ride. + There is an established idea that Aemond requires her service again. And then in the balcony scene when she tells him the prophecy, it seems like he already knows about her dreams. So I suspect it's established earlier in the episode that Aemond and Hel have been having some sort of interaction about them.

Which I think is what makes the balcony scene so heartbreaking. We can see there is a connection that Aemond has, that when Helaena assumes he will hurt her, he visibly gets upset and goes into that defence mode again. He comes to her... with tears in his eyes... saying they SHARE THE SAME BLOOD AND THEIR MOTHER CAN'T UNDERSTAND AND... AND... THAT THEY SHARE A TRUER CALL TOGETHER?????? And helaegons are claiming they've won... why because she tells him the ending of the war? Because she refuses to fight?

The way she speaks so softly and gently and despondently about him dying.... I think we've got it Helaemonds. It's heartbreaking. And the idea of Aemond wanting Hel to join him at Harrenhal???? To bring Daemon down together???

Again I'm hoping those aren't the only scenes we are getting cause that would legitmately not make fucking sense but you never know with HOTD.

But still the fact we got Aemond going up with tears in his eye... and his FACEEE and the way the tear goes away at the end when she walks away and instantly he goes back to hardening up. I'm SORRY BUT OHHHH GODDDD THE PAIN!! The way he begins to tear up exactly when he asks her for help too... when he asks her to come with him... I'M DYING....

And then HOW HIS FACE CHANGES WHEN HE GETS HURT BY WHAT SHE SAYS.

And HER FACE.... WHEN SHE TELLS HIM HE IS GOING TO DIE... and HE VOICE... HOW SHE SAYS IT SUPER SOFTLY AND HER VOICE BREAKS.

And then when she says that her death won't change anything...

And that's what Hel meant by was it worth the price? Yall notice how the entire scene is about Helaena telling him his pursuit of power is his downfall...

Notice how she didn't really care about Aegon nearly dying, it was the fact AEMOND did it. The fact AEMOND is losing himself, and she asks "will you do the same to me?"

And you can see how vunerable he is and hurt and how his defences are all the way down and all he can do is whisper out that she is speaking treason. And when he threatens her... he doesn't do it harshly or in the same way he did to Aegon. He says it as if it's hurting him. He's got a tear in his eye as he says he could have her killed.

Which he clearly would never do. But he says it. Why? Because he is struggling to maintain his defence around her. Struggling to cope with the fact he hurt her to the point of her rejecting HELPING HIM. OH MY GODDDD.

I don't know what else yall were expecting, but uh in my opinion we've won. We hit all the points

Yearning

Aemond being vulnerable

Begging

Misunderstanding

Targcest vibes with the whole Valryian supremacy lines

Helaena telling him about his own death

The hesitancy towards physical touch

[hotvintagepoll]

Can someone please explain why Cary Grant is hot? I love him as an actor but he literally has next to no sex appeal for me. And people compare george clooney to him and it's the same thing for me. I enjoy classically masculine looking men, there are even men who have similar features to Grant but Grant himself just doesn't do it for me. I am legitmately asking. When he's a romantic lead in something the chemistry is great, and his personality sells it and he can be cute..but i legit think this is my most unpopular opinion.

Again not anti propoganda I love cary grant, i am just clueless about this..

As admin I have to stay neutral (not that I always manage), but boosting so the Cary Grant fans can find you!

Cary Grant vs Vincent Price

[toon-topaz]

FIrst batch of Narrator requests hehe. For those who didn't get drawn yet, don't worry, I will get to your lil guys eventually :3

@unorchido adorable little guy, just a creature

@finnleyandsillys silly lil shadow dude

@lazy-b1rdy sweet lil grumpypants

@tsp-obsesser24 pretty guy, with bonus Stanley because the floofy hair is an ADORABLE design

@sketchygoober legitmately so charming, I love when designs make him fat <3

@emilightniing just a scruffy scrunkly guy, cutie pie

@employee052 go grandpa!!!

@robygoonn cat energy, just staring with them big ol eyes

@thatgirlwithasquid big lad, he so funky lookin /pos

@bullpup-blog ayyyy we share the idea of giving them floating heads!! shaking ur hand over the cutie

[anonomi]

Trucks n' vans is so real y'all. I was on Enclosure right, on Engineer, on defense. My team is kicking BLU's ass hard and I'm feeling bad but I know my sentry's the only thing stopping their 3 scouts from rushing the cart, so I stick to Engie. Anyway we have a Sniper on our team and I tell you the SYNERGY I felt with him was crazy. While everyone else was running around loose, this man was all the way back here with me, siphoning my dispenser and I swear he was my guardian angel because he was protecting me with his life.

A soldier appears and tries to shoot my shit from afar? Sniper snaps him. A demo tries sticky bombing me? This Sniper glances at him and he's gone. The enemy Scout tries pistoling my sentry for some reason, should've never stayed still.

But most of all was this spy. This poor, poor blu spy wanted to take me out so badly. He was on me like red on a barn, he'd run in, sap my shit and jump me with everything he had. Didn't matter if it was in the middle of a firefight or if it was all quiet on the front, he would always ALWAYS show up. Legit this man even flew off the roof (zero idea how he even got up there) to assassin creed my ass. He wanted me six feet deep.

But if he was like red on a barn, our sniper was like gasoline-fueled fire on that barn, cause holy hell. This man was out for this french boy. Like, I'm real used to fighting spies off by myself cause everybody's prancing around in the middle of nowhere and I'm all alone on the left side of nowhere, but this sniper would jump in and tear this spy apart himself. Everytime he showed up, our sniper would jump him hard. He'd quickscope him, shoot him, knife him, jarate him, it was like watching the spy go through the seven layers of hell.

I'm very spy attuned, but it felt like this sniper and I were connected on a wavelength, cause he seriously always knew when I was in trouble, and he especially knew when it was trouble from the spy. Like I have never seen a sniper be as spy hungry as me and legitmately fight by my side like that. We would make eye contact and we would trample the spy together.

It was on the same level as playing medic and having a pocket who understands you so well you swear you are telepathically communicating. I've been playing engineer for years and I never felt or expected that from a sniper. Usually they use my dispenser and then run off, but this man was planted by my side. I felt cared for. I felt protected. I felt like Australian Jesus was watching me with a rifle at the ready. Much love to the snipers on my team use my dispenser anytime you want

[bonnieisaway]

bickering with my boyfriend abt this frame because i find it interesting that clove, a very no struggles seeming type of joyful character so far has this image left of them in the realm they go to where they die. because he thinks these are just past memories but these have to be impressions left by clove the previous times they were in this realm

becus they do it legitmately SECONDS before. and i just wanna know ... what happened that caused clove to die and end up back here and be in this state in this realm - long enough to sit there and sob, because they don't like staying in this realm, which we know by the build the world tweet -

and it frightens them that it becomes harder to return. and like also notably, most of the impressions left by them are by the return to life

where they have been the most often and probably run through this realm quite quickly sometimes to return, to the point where the impression of them is left scattered by the return. so like,,, what happened to them that one time? that they were upset after dying- because dying itself shouldn't upset them, because they always come back.

i also think these impressions are why it becomes harder for clove to return, i don't think they have any control over when they're left or the fact that they are in the first place. i think these are pieces of cloves being left behind, similar to how omen leaves pieces of himself behind when he teleports and he asks yoru if this is true for him too. they can't come back if nothing is left if this realm eats away at them slowly.

and god they seem so sad when they turn and see that old impression of them again. like it's such a painful memory for them. what happened to them? how are they related to the scions? why were they at that library and in that fight? what was in that book?

anyways i love clove valorant i might be mentally ill

[rubythecrimsonwriter]

Tim as Robin has the solemn gravitas of children labeled old souls, the smarts of the people who say we can do this but don't consider why we shouldn't, and the wisdom of the average four year old who can and will lie to your face about some things and then will tell you all about the legitmately most batshit insane thing to have ever happened to a human. And then he gets shaken like a two liter of over carbonated Coke and everyone wonders why he bottles things up when whenever he tries to let off a little pressure, things like Gun Batman happen. I love him, Your Honor.

[outrunningthedark]

i hope my 'doubling down on eddie's heterosexuality' anon knows i think of them every time something happens now 🤯 the show could have given us helena and ramón meeting marisol, questioning what their son is doing with her and forcing him to confront their incompatibility. but no. eddie cheats. and not with buck. the show could have had eddie legitmately romanticizing his relationship with shannon so someone else (his parents? buck?) could come in like "need i remind of you of this, this, this, and this" to help him see that they weren't good together. but no. just talking about shannon with someone not only helped that person see that shannon was the great love of his life, eddie actually admitted it. Choices!

[blues-of-randomness]

Jotting down my thoughts/favorite moments for Gobb 6 as I watch Th3Badd3st's stream vod

how long can Flynn sleep for and has he always been this lazy??

One thing I will say, the music is so much better

I think Toadster had some abandonment issues he needs to work out

"I was found the by the Queen and Bittergiggle and a few others" Interesting...

"Be careful up there!" "SHUT THE FUCK UP-"

Apparently there's a weird void pig thing now??

Is toadster legitmately just a gas-lighter now or was he just holding out on the fact that HE imprisoned Banbaleena so that she'd be on their side, Also "Incredibly clever, Good at what he does, and he's very handsome." Toadster, honey, You're ego is showing

BANBALEENA IS MRS MASON???

I saw this whole chair puzzle part when I tried watching it live and I just wanna say I love Ty's performance as Bittergiggle and how he just watches us do the puzzle while having no knowledge of what's going on just like us

I actually really like the Dadaroo voicea nd the fact you can hear the kids calling out "DADA!" at some points

Why is Flynn even smaller now?!

"How do you even talk?! Jellyfish have no brain!" I love this line, I like Flynn but I'm sick of hearing him whine

Did the seriously tease the torn in half Bittergiggle clone just for an anitclimatic agurment??

This did open up a rabbit hole of questions though. So the bittergiggles ARE made up of two halves like we orginally thought and they can talk as two as seen with that Bittergiggle...then why do 3 of the bittergiggles only talk as one? Is one half talking and they other staying silent for some reason?? can they only talk as two if they're split apart?

Bitterggigle coming in clutch to save us and that scream of pain was PERFECT!

am I the one that thinks the delivery on "Hold up, let's stay together.." was adorable. I know he's supposed to be dizzy but they way he says it sounds like he's talking to a small child (in an affectionate way) and it just sounds so cozy

although the minigame with the lights is a lot to pay attention to, it's kinda creative

The naughty one's laughed at Bittergiggles joke that's so wholesome-

Awww kittysaurus is Bittergiggles friend!

so the pipes drained Flynn of his Givanium...ok that makes sense?

"Quit whining, you're not the only one." Look who's talkin Flynn

I feel like these "flashbacks" of Flynn's are just hims dissociating and trying to dream of a normal day out with his friends but it keeps turning into a nightmare

i kinda enjoy the little emotion in Banban's "THE CAPTAIN GOT KIDNAPPED!" and "NABNAB!" it's so satisfying to hear fsr-

also did Nabnab try to chase after the bus and they got hit??

......and then we get obliterated by a bus....

The lollipop collecting was another part I saw while trying to watch it live but the lil guys are so cute, I'll just call them "Mini zolphius twins" until we learn their names

Mr kabob man saying "bird up" sounded so funny-

I....Almost got legitmately upset thinking we killed little beak...but thank god they're ok!

HOW MANY FREAKING CLONES DID BITTERGIGGLE MAKE!? There were 4 perfectly good clones that i *thought* where shown in the release trailer why not use them??

BANBAN MUTATED NABNAB!? WE WASN'T HUNTING US DOWN!?

Bittergiggle just went down the sewerslide cause they appreciated his jokes-

I....have more questions than answers....can Dadadoo corrupt people?? or something....

I had really hoped this chapter would be the jumpstart I needed for my rewrite but I'm just more confused...

[polysyndetonaddictsupportgroup]

i love you expanding on the zenin’s & megumi’s dynamic because like — there had to be so much more than gojo just getting megumi. it had to involve more politics, more manipulation, etc & you added to that.

( i always like that detail about gojo teaching megumi everything from the gojo playbook. like it made me realize that megumi was more gojo than zenin, which probably pissed off the zenin )

what made you expand on the great custody battle between gojo & the zenins for megumi? like the visitation rights? did gojo know how badly megumi was going to be treated? also how would you describe megumi dynamic with each prominent zenin clan member (ex. naoya, mai, naobito, maki.)

I am sooo convinced there’s an entire child custody battle political drama lurking beneath canon but gege denies me

Visitation rights:

The decision that the Zenin clan briefly got visitation rights was a combination of where Gojo was at that point in life and what a sheer, unmitigated shitshow adopting Megumi must have caused.

The thing is that the Zenin and the Gojo clan are established in canon as rivals at best and enemies at worst. Gojo swanning in like "I have discovered the Magic of teenaged fatherhood and want to teach this spunky, angry little dude how to Throw A Baseball. Btw he's zenin and the clan already sort of “”””””purchased”””””” him, meaning they already consider him property even more than they usually do with their kids. i will be keeping him tho. xoxoxoxoxo" must have been insulting to the Zenin. It must have been even more insulting that he could legitmately do that and overpower their entire clan without having to even try. It's bad even if megumi is just like, the run of the mill sorcerer. But he had the most powerful techinque in their bloodline. I legitimately think that Gojo almost started a war when he decided that his boyfriend had dumped him and he needed to immediately adopt a child about it.

The thing is that I think gojo really must have been committing the ultimate taboo for a society he was raised within. Older, traditional mindsets tend to think of children as property, and the clans are established to be almost exclusively self governed. Gojo making a Zenin boy his business would stomp right over that standard. Add in the complication of inherited techniques being viewed as almost a highly treasured clan heirloom within the invidual families, and you have a perfect recipe for the entire world being very very angry at Gojo for doing this.

And the thing is that present-day Gojo would have absolutely told everyone to get fucked, he does what he wants.

But this isn't present-day Gojo. This is seventeen year old Gojo. And he's just coming off three of the biggest failures of his life: 1) Riko's death, 2) Haibara's death and 3) Geto's defection.

Gojo has always been extremely self-assured as a character, but teenagers tend to be a little bit more uncertain and vulnerable than their adult counterparts, and Gojo, again, had just been hit by failure after failure. If there was ever a time in his life where he would have been looking for outside guidance, it was this one.

And the number one most likely candidate to guide him in this was Yaga.

I've talked in other posts about how Principal Yaga's dynamic with Gojo suggests he's not in the inner circle of trust the way that Nanami, Shoko, or even Ijichi is. I've also discussed how I think he compromises too much with the higher ups, why that works with his character but ultimately comes to the detriment of the students, and how he ultimately fails to protect the students in his charge.

The thing is that if Yaga was making the decision, he absolutely would have compromised with the Zenin.

Yaga very consistently is shown to care about the students, but to not protect them. It's also established that the most likely cause of that is the fact that he panders to the higher ups, even if he is more progressively minded than someone like Gakuganji.

In the past arc, geto and gojo have a throwaway line in a conversation about how Yaga's busy campaigning to be principal with the higher ups. we also have him 1) excluded from the people who know about Yuuji's survival, which 2) he later punishes Gojo for, albeit partially because of the disrespect towards Gakuganji and for hiding his survival.

That being said, if I was the principal of a school where my sister school's principal set up my entire first year class to die, i would not be punishing a teacher for disrespecting that man. I would be too busy beating him to death with my bare hands. Good luck trying some shit with my fucking students again you dead fuck.

i would simply not make it as an educator in this world.

Gojo would have had the entire world up in arms at him when he took megumi and refused to give him back. The Zenin, for obvious reasons--but also the higher ups trying to preserve the status quo and the other clans, who want to maintain their ability to rear and keep their children without outside interference. He would have most likely said to give Megumi back entirely, but I don't think Gojo would go for that complete of a surrender of him, especially after Megumi asked him to keep him with Tsumiki and to keep them in a place she could be happy.

But very limited visitation would 1) at least somewhat soothe ruffled feathers, even if they are still furious, 2) give megumi access to information on his technique that he could not possibly get otherwise, and 3) supposedly cause minimal damage, since they only get him for a few days a month and are supposed to love him more than anyone. It's the sort of compromise I could see Yaga pitching in the best possible faith--and it's the sort of compromise that I see blowing up spectacularly, because the Zenin are fucking insane.

When I'm dealing with past versions of characters with very defined personalities, I sort of like to trace in the roots of their present-day selves in any backstory i make for them. Gojo of the present day is completely uncompromising when it comes to protecting his students and their youth. He is not afraid to butt heads with the higher ups and ruffle feathers to do it. So i decided to make that because he compromised when he was seventeen and doing his best, and Megumi paid the price, and he is so, so goddamn sorry for that. He doesn't let Yaga into the inner circle by the time we make it to canon because he was in the inner circle, and taking his advice directly resulted in Gojo's absolute biggest regret, which was letting the Zenin have unsupervised access to Megumi.

I think Gojo as a character is someone who refuses to repeat old mistakes, and what happened when Megumi was a child is something that he won't ever forgive or forget. A part of him still blames Yaga for convincing him to compromise with the Zenin and iced him out by the time we hit canon as a result.

Gojo and Megumi's treatment:

He had absolutely no idea how bad it would be for Megumi.

The thing is that Gojo approached it with the severely biased mindset of someone who thought he knew exactly how Megumi would be treated when he was with the clan, because it was supposed to be how he was treated growing up. The Six Eyes/Limitless user and the Ten Shadows were supposed to be corollaries. Megumi was meant to be to the Zenin what Gojo was to his clan, and if anything, the issue with his clan was that they treasured him too much. Gojo get up as this much beloved, much revered godling who was put on a pedestal and had all the distance of it.

In my mind, the issue with his childhood was that he was indulged to the point of being deprived of actual human connection or intimacy that he didn't truly get until Geto and Shoko.

In Gojo's mind, the biggest danger was that Megumi would be treated with too much reverence and distance, but he was spending the vast majority of the month with his big sister and the teen parenting trio. He would get plenty of normal interaction and intimacy from them. He thought that there would be no one in the Zenin clan who would dare raise a finger against him, because no one would have ever done that to him as a child. He never imagined that the Zenin would be legitimately dangerous to Megumi, and there were a lot of red flags he overlooked when the worst of it was going on because he assumed he already knew what was happening. When this was happening, he was completely burnt out, overwhelmed, mourning more than one friend, and struggling to meet the burden of being the strongest alone. He thought Megumi was acting out because 1) megumi already was getting in fights at school, and he made the mistake of thinking that Megumi was just a stubborn kid going through a sort of angry phase and 2) that Megumi hated them so much because visitation days meant he couldn’t stay with his sister. He didn’t realize that Megumi was fighting so hard to not go on visits because he was legitimately afraid of what the Zenin clan would do to him when he got there. For a lot of reasons that I won’t get into now, Megumi thought that putting up with the abuse was the cost of getting to keep his sister. He asked for help, told them that he didn’t like it at the Zenin compound and didn’t want to go, but he didn’t have the words to really explain what they were doing to him and gojo didn’t understand how bad it was. Megumi read this as “knowing and not caring” and thought the teen parenting trio knew how bad it was and that he just had to suffer through it or they’d take his sister away from him. By the time they realized what was really going on, it had escalated beyond the point of repair. Gojo has a lot of regrets.

Megumi's dynamic:

Naobito: Disturbed.

Naobito was the one who initially purchased Megumi from his father. And if Gojo hadn't had intervened, he would have personally taken Megumi into his household and raised him as the Zenin clan heir. He didn't really give a shit about Megumi until he realized he was the Ten Shadows, and after that, he felt completely entitled to him.

I think Naobito was always sort of insulted by Gojo's existence. He predated Gojo, is the thing, and he's the most powerful character that we know of in the pre-Gojo era other than Yuki Tsukomo, who wasn't an active fighter for the higher ups. As far as we know, he was the strongest until Gojo and Geto came along. Gojo potentially represented an immediate and violent shift of power from the Zenin clan to the Gojo, and it definitely would sting to be upstaged by a literal child.

The Ten Shadows returning to the clan represented a chance to correct that balance again.

If we accept that the Ten Shadows is a technique that can rival the Six Eyes/Limitless user, as well as the idea that the universe introduces “balances” to the birth of beings of power, then we at least have an environment where the Zenin may believe that whoever is next born with the Ten Shadows would be Gojo Satoru’s equal. Considering they value strength above all else, that gives them major incentive to desire the assimilation of whoever has the ten shadows technique into the clan.

But this was made a lot worse by the fact that the last ten shadows died.

The timeline in this is generally:

Second to last ten shadows: the one who got in the duel with the six eyes that gojo discussed in canon (~500 years ago)

Last ten shadows: child that was killed within months of discovering his technique (~200-300 years ago)

Current ten shadows: Megumi.

So they had just come off an overwhelmingly powerful Ten Shadows user, only to hurtle into the shame and humiliation of not being able to protect the next one. I like the idea that the six eyes and the ten shadows tend to pop up at the same time, so that means that the last six eyes got to grow and gain power while the Zenin were still licking their wounds from their heir being offed at a very young age. It’s insult to injury.

In the modern age, Naobito is coming off the humiliation of having been replaced by a literal child as the strongest sorcerer. He’s still harboring the ancestral humiliation of having lost the last ten shadows. And then gojo hits the humiliation of taking the new one right out from under his nose. Naobito bears that humiliation personally, because he’s the clan leader who should have brought Megumi into the fold and didn’t.

As a result, he’s just about obsessed with Megumi. He absolutely refuses to give up on bringing him back into the clan and grooming him to be the perfect, promised heir whose idea he’s been clinging to since before Megumi was even born.

There’s just something about how, in canon, Naobito had a clause in his will locked and loaded to make Megumi heir if anything happened to take gojo out of commission. I think that losing Megumi to gojo was personal to him, and that he’s almost fixated on Megumi as a result.

For his part, Megumi hates him and is a little afraid of him, though he’d never admit it. All of his interactions with the Zenin clan are skewed through the lens of “he was fucking six and just thought they were crazy motherfuckers who were weird about blood.” Megumi legitimately does not understand how important his technique is to them—he thinks they’d be possessive with any inherited technique, and he has sort of explained away any weirdness particular to him as it being because of what went down with gojo.

The Zenin view what they do to him as love. He’s the inheritor of their most treasured technique, and the only good thing toji did was name him blessing. It’s like Maki said—any resistance he has to them is attributed to Gojo’s influence, and they’re banking on overcoming it one day and returning him to the clan. Things like wearing the kimono and being called the ten shadows is a sign of genuine honor for them.

Megumi views it as a constant, persistent humiliation that’s probably just meant to spite gojo. They bought him because they’d buy any kid who inherited a technique, and then gojo saved him, which embarrassed the clan, so they’ve been getting back at him for it ever since. They can’t actually hurt gojo, so they hurt the kid he saved.

He’s dressed up like a doll in the kimono to mock him. Being called the ten shadows isn’t an honor to him—it’s dehumanizing. He has a name and they refuse to call him anything but his technique, which is why they bought him to begin with. From his perspective, it’d be like if you were hired for being Microsoft proficient and your boss refused to call you anything but “excel spreadsheet” because that’s all you were to them.

Naobito is the one who had “custody” of him as a kid in the clan, and he’s the one who called a lot of the shots with how he was treated. Megumi remembers him as the source of some of his most painful moments in childhood, and it’s undercut with this growing fear that Naobito won’t let him go. He’s sort of picked up on how obsessed Naobito is with him, and it scares him even if he doesn’t want to admit it.

Naoya: about as bad as can be.

Megumi really hits all of naoya’s inferiority/superiority complex hard. The thing is that Naoya kind of is sour he didn’t get the ten shadows. He was born right after gojo satoru, to the heir of the clan. He wants to be strong more than anything, and the ten shadows is supposed to be one of the strongest things in the world. Megumi is toji’s son, who he’s got that weird obsession with. And everyone sort of presumes Megumi would be heir if gojo hadn’t stolen him, which is a position Naoya would kill for.

In my mind, Naoya was one of megumis biggest abusers as a child. It made him feel strong to be able to hurt him. It made him feel strong to be able to make Megumi feel weak. His father was obsessed with Megumi, but Naoya was just cruel to him.

Megumi is legitimately terrified of Naoya. There was a time in his life where he genuinely thought Naoya would kill him one day.

Mai: A missed opportunity.

Megumi does remember Maki and Mai. Playing with them was the only good memory he has from that part of his life. He thinks of them as fondly as he can think of anything that happened in that place, and occasionally hopes they're okay, but he doesn’t really think of having a relationship with her ever. That would require going back to the Zenin, and he won’t ever willingly do that.

I’ve talked about how Mai thinks of Megumi in other posts, but he really does occupy a slightly less bitter version of the space Maki occupies in her mind. He was kind to her when no one else was, and it really was something that meant the world to her. There was a time in her life where she wished desperately he would come back and be her friend again. He was the ten shadows and the presumed heir to the clan, and he didn’t let anyone hurt her or Maki and agreed that they could all be friends. He sort of fueled her hope that things would get better one day, and when he went no contact, it sort of crashed her into a realization that it never would.

Maki: potential for growth

Maki turned her back on her entire family so she wouldn’t be crushed down, and that’s not something that didn’t hurt her. She convinced herself she would be absolutely alone for the rest of her life, but it would be fine because she would be strong enough to stand alone. It wouldn’t hurt.

(It did hurt.)

The other first years actually started to pull her back from that. It’s that moment after her talk with Yuuta, where she tells herself that she shouldn’t fall for it and go thinking she’s actually been accepted. She thought she would be alone and suddenly, for the first time, she’s not.

Megumi was a half remembered child she played with one time growing up. He didn’t mean the same to her that he did to Mai, because she didn't consider him a source of hope that things would get better the way that Mai did.

At the beginning of the fic, he was a bit of a sore spot, but not because of anything about him. I tried to very lightly hint that she had a bit of a sore spot around the Ten Shadows because there was a time in her life that people used to think that maybe she'd get it.

From birth, people knew Gojo would be the six eyes and limitless user. I like to think the Ten Shadows is the antithesis of the Six Eyes in almost every possible way, so in my mind, the ten shadows is notoriously hard to spot.

And i think that there is some canon to suggest this. Namely, the fact that they didn't know Megumi would have the ten shadows (or they wouldn't have been waiting to see what technique he had), the fact that megumi's cursed energy aura canonically changes with the shikigami summoned (re: his entire cursed energy output changing when he summoned mahoraga for the first time), and the fact that a huge part of his technique is stealth. With Gojo, you feel him from the other side of the block, but Megumi can be hiding in your own goddamn shadow and you don't know it.

I also like the idea that the Six Eyes and Ten Shadows tend to show up within the same lifetime. So from the second that Gojo Satoru was born, the zenin had an eye on the ten shadows finally returning to the clan once more.

Maki is from a branch of the clan that appears to be pretty high in the zenin clan hierarchy. By the time that she would have been developing a technique, if any, Naoya would have been confirmed as having not gotten it. Maki and Mai were the only other kids in that upper hierarchy that we know of. Canonically, it's implied you don't see curses from birth (if i have the right translation, Gojo at one point asks Megumi if he's started to see them, implying it doesn't happen right away, and when the Zenin buy megumi, they talk about how they think he has potential, implying there's an uncertain period where you don't know if a kid will be able to see curses). The clan probably had a lot of hope for them.

At one point, Kamo mentions that it would have been better if maki or mai had inherited Megumi's techinque, and I like to think that was a shared sentiment. Gojo was seventeen and had already usurped their clan as the strongest. They were getting desperate for the ten shadows to return, and a lot of people looked to maki and Mai for potentially inheriting it. And out of the two of them, Maki is the one that came off as having power (because she did--it was just a heavenly pact). Maki was certain, and confident, and moved like someone strong. People really, really wanted it to be her for a while. When she talks about how her dad used to take her to see the kimono a lot, it's because he was hoping she would wear it one day.

Maki was never jealous of Megumi. She's better off without her family anyway, and she's confident in who she is. But at the start, he was a little bit of a reminder of the sort of fall she had from the Zenin clan's greatest hope to their biggest disappointment. She never held any of it against him, but he reminded her of bad memories and set her on edge.

That turned on a dime while talking with Tsumiki in chapter 5, when she started piecing everything together. And megumi sort of became this chance to heal from old regrets.

Megumi will never be what Mai was to her, but a part of Maki still hasn't healed from leaving mai behind and losing her. Her sister hates her, and probably always will, and maki doesn't regret what she did but she does regret that it blew back on mai. She couldn't stay for mai, but she doesn't have to stay to help Megumi. She's sort of been ushered into a perfect opportunity to protect him from her family the way she could never protect mai, and he already means more to her than she really wants to admit out loud. She genuinely wants to protect him from her family, and a bit part of that is so that way she can finally protect someone from them, instead of just... failing and losing them.

For megumi's part, it's the same as mai--he barely remembers Maki, but he did think of her as the source of the only good memory he had in the clan.

He ran off with Mai, and Maki tracked them both down. He stomped his stupid clan clothes into the mud, and they didn't hurt him for it, not even a little bit. They played together, and playing is something he never had time to do anymore. Mai was the damsel, and Maki was the brave warrior coming to save her, and megumi's dogs played the part of the terrible monsters who had stolen mai away. Maki bullied Megumi into carrying her "swords" for her, and megumi honestly didn't mind, because all people did was make him fight at that stupid compound, and he just was relieved no one was hitting him for once. it was one of the greatest days he can remember from that phase of his life, and Maki has since been one of the only two zenin he missed. He hasn't thought of her in a while. He'd be glad to hear she got out.

[mastcrmarksman]

favorite teammates.

Okay, so Clint has had a lot of teams and team ups; so going from each one would be a lot. Teamwise he has been on (and I am sure I am missing some smaller, more obscure canon) try asking about specific eras / teams instead of this broad cast

Avengers (multiple eras)

West Coast Avengers (original & kate's)

Thunderbolts (original and luke's nyc tbolts)

Great Lake Avengers

New Avengers (underground)

New Avengers (A.I.M Avengers)

Secret Avengers (three iterations)

Avengers Academy

Defenders (briefly)

Wild Pack (briefly)

World Counter-terrorism Agency (briefly)

this team from Occupy Avengers

Shield teams

Clint has been around the block, been around a lot of different team, and eras. He knows a lot of people. So I will say that the most obvious favorites of Clint's will in fact be his first, the originals and kind of the people who made him. A lot of his favorites tend to start off on the wrong foot with Clint.

All of that, and it is hard for Clint to divorce his personal feelings. His favorites as the originals, his favorites are his best friends; but this is a guy wwho actually has a lot of love for a lot of people, who he wants to be on a team where cohension is, where they work out and can sit by the pool together, go out for a bite together. If a teammate can be a friend, they are his favorite, for that reason.

His favorites, I would say, are people he would absolutely want to be around outside of "work" / "superheroing" // clint's favorite's list is long, and think of this. if he had to tap the absolute best for a team. these are his candidates. also natasha, bobbi, and jess are this list but his deep romantic entanglement is why they aren't listed.

Tony Stark // he wouldn't be where he is without Iron Man, by that extension without Tony. Sure, Clint may have naively tried to be a hero, because he wa jealous and in awe of the fame of Iron Man, but Tony's the first to vouch for Clint. Despite all their differences and times they are at odds, Tony's a man he deeply aspects and admires. If he and Tony can be on the same team, it's a good day. (legitmately top of the top for clint)

Steve Rogers // another man who made him who is he is today; there is so much love and respect for this man. Clint's distraught that it affects his personal relationship with Natasha when Steve quits the Avengers. One of the best fighting partners Clint has ever had andd will ever have is Steve; with how Steve worked him, trained him. They fight in sync so well, and again, Steve's one of his favorites to get a rise out of too. (legitmately top of the top for clint)

Hank // that's another very old teammate of clint's; that's another one (like steve actually) that Clint did not start off on the right foot with. It took them a long tim, but its pretty clear that by the time of Hank's death in canon. Clint's obviously regarded Hank as one of the best, and help such a love, respect, admiration for the man, despite everything, and has an almost unwavering faith in.

Wanda Maximoff // absolutely influenced by his crush on her, but simply she is his friend. they go way back with each other. no matter what they've been through, despite the actual pain, of them literally killing the other (house of m; it was a thing); she's still his frind, a good teammate to have to back you up.

Greer Nelson // another big player, now from his west coast ddays, that absolutely is someone who if you look at the text; she had been one who he has fought fiercely for. Its anothre example of someone who made him, this time made him while he was leading, he's taking a shot on her, he believed so much in her after Greer had left the Avengers after beeing on the team for like only a couple of months or less, because she didn't believe in herself. Starting this West Coast branch? When he was looking for members and not coming up with many. That's a big leap to take on someone, when her history is quitting due to confidence issues; that means that Clint did see she had what it takes.

Melissa Gold // from his Thunderbolts era and a little more some; she is the stand out among the rest (now that may in part be due to marvel comics and writers) but she is by far someone that Clint would vouch for (even with all the double/triple crossing with AIM stuff and how she hurt him; which the amount she did tells you a lot. favorites hurt most when they betray you). He's someone he came to trust, to admire, and felt so proud of to watch her grow, watch her redeem herself from her past and make something of her life.

Kate Bishop // I mean, duh, does this have to be said. She is top of the top of the top. She's his first mentee that he took on personally, one on one, and I mean this girl gets vouched for, by, Captain Amereica, by Steve who was Clint's final and best mentor. She is evereything, his favorite that he can say full-stop. ( legimately top of the top for clint / number one )

Now for least favorites; that's hard because with Clint? He's a prickly pear, a cactus to deal with at first. A lot of his frienshipss, working relaitonships, and dynamic start off as hostile or rivals or rubbing each other the wrong way. I mean Clint does not like a lot of people at first (literally so many people are like this for him)

People he didn't like at first and now he is solid with / likes: Pietro, Hank, Steve, Jennifer (she-hulk), Carol Danvers, Sam Wilson, Hulk, Jessica Drew, Vision, Deadpool, Daredevil, Bucky Barnes, etc etc (do you get how the list goes on? literally any newbie he usually dislikes at first and then development/growth happens and he loves them)

I will say this, Clint may jokingly say Pietro is; but Pietro is far from being low on the favorites list, far from being a least favorit. That is his brother, excuse you very much. He actually loves the guy.

The most notable and only least favorite I will name is the most obviouss one; it's Clint's famous grudge.

John Walker // he hates this guy, even when this guy is on the "right" side and "doing good" he hates this guy; he may have said Freefall he feels bad for shooting him the back, but come on, Clint, with how may times you've fought John or attacked him off the cuff? This guy is his least favorite peron to be around on a team aand you will know it. He will try to get along, but he does not trust John, he will never respect him truly. They will not be friends or get along. He will tolerate at best if he ha ss to work with him. He is the least favoritee.

[bl00dlight]

Idk if you've answered this already but do you believe Aemond genuinely cares about his family/other people or that he only cares about himself in the end?

I have gone in depth in this ask.

But I'll answer this one too! So yes I do think Aemond does legitmately love and care for some of his family members. But as with all traumatised children who grow up in dysfunctional families. He has a problem expressing that and associates vunerablity with weakness. In order to care/love you need to be vulnerable. And Aemond won't let himself do that.

He forced Alicent out of the council because she makes him vunerable.

He threatened Helaena/ got mad with her because she makes him vunerable.

It's very common, espeically with someone like Aemond who grew up in a HYPER PATRIARCHAL society, that yes... he would struggle expressing his emotions and instead ops for stoicism or rage.

Whenever he feels any inkling of vunerablity, he goes to those two things. Have you noticed how angry he is towards Alicent? How hateful he is? It's because he cares, basically and doesn't have the tools to express those very comforting emotions healthily.

The same with Helaena, he grabs her and then threatens her? Because he cares, because he feels weak and on top of that very scared.

Abused animals are the same way, it doesn't matter if you have taken that animal in and care for it and it knows it is safe with you. The animal will probably have care/love for you too. But if you trigger it's trauma it's going to attack, because it's all it knows.

Apply that with Aemond. He is capable of love and care, he feels it. But it's frightening to him. He feels abandoned and hurt so he has learnt to abandon and hurt others in response.