#is he fit to make the right decisions with those morals? HELL NO!!! he's aware of those around him but he doesn't have all the intelligence

[saltedsolenoid]

i would do an analysis on sonic's character writing in sonic boom but that'd mean that i'd actually have to watch the show and i can't do that because everyone else's character writing sucks balls imo. peace and love

[lazyliars]

/rp

DreamXD actually slots very nicely into a working theory I've had for about two or so months now, mainly centering around one question:

What happened to Dream?

Namely, why did Dream change, when exactly did it happen, and was it solely an internal change, or was there an external force at play, specifically a preternatural one?

I think with DreamXD, we might finally have an answer.

Or at least some clues to follow. DreamXD presents a shift in every single paradigm the Dream SMP has had. Like, I think most of it is just being so utterly blind-sided by George Lore Real, but part of it is the massive ramifications of an Actual God* being present in the storyline.

((*On the other resident god of the server, Foolish:

DreamXD is different than Foolish, in that his characterization is so dramatically inhuman - Foolish talks and acts like a (somewhat eccentric) person, and his powers are, as far as we know, limited in comparison to the creative-mode godhood that DreamXD occupies. And whether that is because Foolish is not a "full" god (having been referred to as a demigod) or simply because he's spent so much time around humans, we don't know, but we do know that either way, DreamXD is NOT that.

DreamXD's voice is marked by glitches and dramatic shifts in tone, he seems to lack control over the different aspects of his personality, like the more "Dream" part vs. the darker one that threatens to eat peoples souls. The "normal" part even displays confusion when George references things that the "darker" part said, implying that it may not be fully aware of itself.

TLDR: Foolish acts more human than DreamXD, who has a very eldritch personality.))

To get right to the point:

The Dream we knew before November 16th, and the Dream we know now are not the same. Something changed, and it changed for the worse.

Consider: Dream was always antagonistic to the L'manbergians - he was always imperious to them, and he was responsible for starting a number of fights between his faction and theirs, just as many if not more than they were.

But, he was also not... evil. He'd pick fights with Tommy, the disc wars were still a thing, but the gravity of the spats they had weren't dire. They were fun. They were... actually a game. He wasn't like the way he is now. While in hindsight we can look at these events and detect a serious undertone knowing what's to come, at the time they were far from it.

There is an argument to be made that he had the same tendencies as now, just not expressed as loudly, and while I believe it's a valid argument, I disagree that it's proof of Dream always being the way he is now.

Sapnap, Badboyhalo, Sam. They all remember Dream as their friend - they remember someone who was, maybe a little aggressive and a lot competitive, but not cruel. Not needlessly murderous. Not someone who steals sentimental items and lines the walls of a disgusting museum to use against them.

Dream cut them out. Sapnap was totally blindsided. Bad doesn't seem to fully believe it. Sam blamed himself for not realizing and tried to take the weight of that crime on his own shoulders by becoming the Warden.

There's also the competing theory that what happened to Dream was purely psychological - either the circumstances slowly isolating him from his friends driving him to the do things he's done, or a desire for control that started early and continued to fester until it overshadowed everything else, or any combination of both.

And those theories are still valid, they could still be the case, but I haven't been able to shake the idea that there is something deeper at play. I can't overstate how the exile arc and everything after it have been so inhumane, so cruel, and... not exactly out of character in the sense that I could never see Dream doing them, but in the sense that I could never see him doing them for no reason.

And there really doesn't seem to be one. Dream says himself, it's like a game. He sees people as toys, puppets. And there just doesn't seem to be an inciting incident that could explain how he made the leap from semi-authoritarian leader who, despite being a warmonger, does love his friends, to heartless murderer who wants to reduce everyone he knows to dolls.

There's... ways, he could get there, but nothing that we've seen makes sense. There is a missing piece, something that must have happened from his POV that we didn't get to see because he doesn't stream.

And DreamXD could be it. This godly entity that claims that it is "a part of [Dream]" but that it isn't him entirely. That seems to share the lack of understanding of humanity that Dream has been displaying like when he asks if resurrecting Tommy was “cool.” But that still loves George. He still, despite apparently not having the same history as Dream, desperately wants to be George's friend.

If I had to pinpoint the moment Dream changed, it would be the day that he revealed that he switched sides, and was going to be fighting against Pogtopia. He was paid for this betrayal in the Revive Book.

I mark this as the turning point in my theory because it is the first time Dream mentions his affinity for chaos in the context of hurting others. However, we also know that this likely wasn't the day he actually made the decision to betray - as he revealed that there was a traitor among the Pogtopians, a fact that he likely would have learned before this.

Now, I mark George's lore stream as the introduction of DreamXD proper, and I want that on the record because it isn't technically his first appearance on the server.

Most people will remember him from Techno's stream, where he logged on to break the End Portal in a panic. I doubt the character was properly written into the lore at that time, but it fits neatly with the rest of what we know about him - a guardian of the server, and the keeper of it's rules. No contradictions.

What less people might know, is that DreamXD has made an even earlier appearance, and it's this one where things begin to get... interesting.

Around roughly October of 2020, Tubbo and Fundy did some improv'd streams centering around Demon Hunting, or rather, "Dreamon" Hunting, and it's during the first of these two streams that DreamXD makes an appearance.

The bare bones of it was - Tubbo is an experienced "Dreamon Hunter" and teaches Fundy his ways. They find Dream, and realize that he has a Dreamon inside of him, which is basically an evil version of him. They attempt to exorcise the Dreamon from Dream via various shenanigans, and eventually, they do a ceremony to free Dream. However, they apparently botch it, and unleash the Dreamon within. After more shenanigans, one attempt to fix it utilizing Fundy and Dream's wedding appears to work, but then DreamXD logs on, flys around at Tubbo and Fundy threateningly, and they end stream on the idea that there are probably more Dreamons to hunt.

Now. There's a lot to unpack here. I'm not gonna go into the nitty gritty details in this post, but I do recommend watching the Dreamon streams, as they have A LOT of details that, if this is getting incorporated into the main story line, could be important - especially the focus on duality, having TWO versions of Dream, which end up being potentially separated from each other.

(Also, they're just really funny streams. Tubbo and Fundy are at PEAK chaos and Dream plays along with their inane bit perfectly, it's just good content.)

At the time of the Dreamon streams airing, they were explicitly non-canon. IIRC Tubbo and Fundy referred to them as taking place In an “alternate universe,” which makes sense considering they would have been on opposite sides at the time (Manburg and Pogtopia.)

However.

And this is where I show you my wall of red string and newspaper clippings.

My singular piece of evidence for this comes from one line DreamXD drops. He simply says: “At least you're not hunting me.”

The Dreamon streams take place around early October. Dream reveals his betrayal of Pogtopia around November 6th-7th. The timeline of the Dreamon streams would line up perfectly with the idea that there was a catalyzing event that put Dream on the proverbial path to hell.

I do not believe that they intended the Dreamon arc to be anything other than a side story at the time, but considering that DreamXD himself was barely canon until now, I don't think it's out of the question that they took a look back at a fan-favorite minor arc, saw an opportunity to co-opt it into the current story line, and potentially fill in some holes regarding Dream's characterization all in one move.

On the question of whether this would be a GOOD storytelling move?

The Dreamon theories were prevalent during the exile arc, and I've got to say, I was never a huge fan. The detachment of Dream's actions from his intentions, and by extension his morality, never sat right with me. It feels cheap to make him a victim and say “a Dreamon did it!” in regards to all of the horrible things that he's done. It strips his agency and makes everything that happened less impactful in my opinion, and I stand by that reading.

BUT. With DreamXD introduced, I feel like it's necessary to look at this from all angles. And with the way DreamXD was characterized in George's stream, I don't think it necessarily ruins Dream's character to say that an external force was involved with his descent into evil.

Namely, the idea that whatever happened to Dream was not really a “possession” so much as a gradual loss of humanity, could be an interesting way to look at this. It implies that Dream was always capable of his actions, but grants us understanding as to why he would actually perform them, and why he might have become isolated enough from his friends that they would let this happen.

The Dream we know now could be an expression of his “worst self” brought to the surface by a Dreamon/DreamXD/other. It also begs the question of what would happen if that force were to leave him, and how it might cause yet another shift in character, especially if it were to be portrayed as less of a switch being flipped, and more of a withdrawal, with a gradual process of realizing how far gone he was.

To close this out, I've been stewing on the idea that Dream hasn't entirely been himself since the climax of the Exile Arc.

I think this theory holds water, but it's also not waterproof... there are plenty of holes, and a lot of that comes from the fact that Dream doesn't stream. We're left in the dark when deciphering his character, and what might appear to be the key, could just as easily be revealed as a red herring, or even nothing at all.

Regardless of the validity of the Dreamon theory, I think that DreamXD is one of the most interesting developments we've had on the SMP in a long time, if simply because his arrival coincides with fucking George Lore Real. God. I still don't know how to deal with that.

I always appreciate people adding to the discussion by the way! Feel free to reblog with additions if you like or leave them in the replies.

And if a single one of you comes to my blog on THIS. THE DAY OF MY DAUGHTER'S WEDDING. And calls ME a c!Dream Apologist to MY FACE..... I will be v sad.

[ironwoodprotectionsquad]

How would have a hypothetical "Ironwood redemption arc" have gone in your opinion?

That is a....complicated question anon. Because the way initially Volume 7 set up things James didn’t really need to be redeemed in any sense. Is leaving behind citizens in Mantel a good thing? Of course not. But James didn’t just leave everyone for giggles and shit or because he hated Mantel. He was in the middle of evacuating Mantel when he found out Salem was coming and was massively triggered and his trauma induced flight response kicked in. He was scared, more scared then we had ever seen him before, all he could think to do was run with what they had as fast as possible, and the question on whether that was the best choice is an interesting moral dilemma but not something either side would need a redemption arc for. Both RWBY and James where justified in their beliefs on both sides but at the time technically by defying James and actively trying to stop him that put RWBY more in the wrong.

The issue is the writers said they wanted a complex moral dilemma in volume 7 but then too many people agreed with James so they decided to backpedal and make James a monster rather then continue the compelling and complex moral dilemma they created. The way V7 was set up neither side was necessarily in need of redemption. They could have learned to work together better and James could learn that sometimes it’s worth it to take risks to save more lives and RWBY could have learned sometimes they can’t save everyone but that doesn’t make them bad people, it just means the bad guys are that, bad people who are willing to kill innocent people and sometimes they cause too much damage for them to save everyone but it’s not their fault or the fault of anyone trying to save those people when not everyone is saved. Sometimes they can do everything right and the bad guys still win.

But okay I know that’s not technically the ask but it’s hard for me because if I had my way so much of volume 8 would not have even happened so theirs nothing James would needed to have been redeemed for. Sure he might have learned that sometimes it is worth it to risk everything to save everyone but that’s not a redemption thing that’s a learning and maybe kind of recovering from severe trauma deal. For at least everything RWBY was willing to condemn him for (remember they told everyone James was untrustworthy when all he’d done that they where aware of was try and escape Salem with everyone on Atlas and leave those he couldn’t evacuate behind. Really James could argue at that point that he had a plan and no one else offered a better plan that was viable and he would be right. No one tried to come up with a doable plan and just threw a hissy fit when they told James to come up with something better and he couldn’t. This man is going through a major PTSD induced panic attack and is being triggered to hell and back all he can probably think to do is run he’s not in a mental state to come up with something better but it’s what everyone is demanding of him and are getting pissed when he can’t. But okay to make things simpler I’ll look at Volume 8 James in his complete OOC nonsense for a moment and work with that, but even so for a redemption arc to work their needs to be some major changes to the volume. (Beneath the link because I have a lot to say lolz)

So one issue I have with the idea of having to redeem James is that no one ever tries to reach out to James and give any sort of viable option to save everyone, they just tell him he has to save everyone and throws a hissy fit when he says he can’t. For this all to work instead we need to see the girls trying to reach him and talk to him and beg to stop for a moment and let them think and come up with something but James refuses insisting they have no time and can’t wait to come up with something or everyone will die.

In this version James would not kill Sleet, shoot down the SDC ships or threaten to bomb Mantel. Instead he arrests the council and tells them once they’re safe from Salem they can do with him whatever they please as long as everyone is safe. After Oscar blows up the whale James tells the team he has a bomb ready to drop on Salem when she starts t reform but the team realizes that dropping the bomb would likely kill civilians close to said bomb but in James’s mind it’s what has to be done to buy them time to escape but everyone refuses to go along with James’s plan.

I’m torn on James hacking Penny because I think it would violate her autonomy in a way I feel like James wouldn’t want to do but at the same time if he’s really set on doing whatever needs to be done to save the many he might do that so I guess the hacking Penny thing is a little up in the air for me. If we want to push James further into darker morally gray he would hack her but if we want to keep him from going to far he wouldn’t. If he does hack her his justification would be he needs the staff to save people and Penny is the only way he can get the staff. (Regardless Penny would not be turned human because that is BS).

When Ruby sends the SDC ships Grimm would instead tear them down and James would recuse to send ships to help because in his mind it would be a pointless waste and he can’t lost what few ships he has left to protect Atlas as it’s fleeing Salem so the Grimm destroy the ships meant to evacuate people.

After Atlas falls have him survive and be desperately trying to find any survivors and completely falling apart as he slowly realizes no one survived and everyone is dead. Have him break and when he’s found by the ace ops and Qrow he’s inconsolable.

Qrow wants to blame James for everything that went wrong and James just doesn’t care anymore, he’s broken and just wishes he had died as well because it’s what he deserved in his mind. All he had done every morally questionable thing he had done to save everyone only wound up killing them all. Have him loath himself and tell Qrow to just kill him and get it over with, have that be what finally snaps Qrow out of his anger and make him realize he also abandoned James and that at least some of this maybe could have been stopped if he’d actually been supporting. James the whole time. Have them both apologize to each other and accept that they both made mistakes and they both failed. Have them all make their way to Vacuo with James swearing to do better and do so.

When they reach Vacuo Winter and co not trust James and want to arrest or even kill him and have Qrow and the ace ops defend him and tell them they can trust him and that they are also to blame for Atlas and that they can’t just throw all t he blame on James, have James apologize for the things that crossed the line that he did, have him tell everyone about his semblance so they understand what happened so they can hold him accountable and catch him before he gets to far in the future.

Have James be in the streets doing whatever he can to help people, have him push himself to his limit trying to keep going as long as he can before completely crashing. Have him doubt and second guess himself every time he makes a decision wondering if he’s making the same mistakes again but Qrow is their to assure him he’s not.

But even this scenario isn’t really ideal I think it would be so much more interesting if it’s RWBY that needs to be “redeemed” for lack of better words. This would bring a lot of changes to volume 8 but I think it’s some needed changes. The girls have been just doing whatever they feel like the entire series and not really ever facing any consequences. Have that finally catch up to them. We would cut the whole James shooting Sleep, trying to bomb Mantel and him hacking Penny nonsense. Instead have James arrest the council explaining that he has no choice and they can do what they see fit to him once they’ve escaped Salem and everyone is safe. Have him when Oscar blows up the Whale have him try and reach out to them and tell them that they bought Mantel time and when the girls send the SDC ships have Grimm attack the ships instead and James is trying to help defend them but he also lost a lot of ships and firepower in the attack and he can only watch helplessly as the ships that would have continued evacuations get destroyed along with the few ships he had left. Have the girls think he intentionally let this happen and refuse to speak to him. Except for Penny who is torn on what to do but everyone is telling her not to trust James but she doesn’t know what to think anymore.

Meanwhile James is in Atlas trying to figure out what to do, he doesn’t want to leave people behind but with no ships left to evacuate and the girls refusing to speak to him so he can’t use the staff he doesn’t know what to do. Qrow escapes and goes to confront James because he’s broken about Clover dying (Qrow doesn’t side with Tyrian in this version) and wants someone to blame he can actually do something about and while fighting James is trying to reach to Qrow who has a breakdown and hates himself for Clover dying and hates his semblance and thinks he’s a curse and James has to remind him he’s not a curse and it’s not his fault and Qrow asks if the same applies to him but James just can’t respond because he does blame himself for how things have gotten and the girls not trusting him and Qrow realizing that it’s his fault because he didn’t stand up for James and he apologizes for letting the girls lie to him for so long and not saying anything. Have James apologize for not trusting others more to help and come up with ideas and trying to do it all on his own.

After this they try and contact the team again but the girls all think Qrow is being manipulated by James and refuse to listen and do their plan of tricking James and arresting him only this time Qrow is also arrested again. The whole portals thing can happen same as in the show with the show actually showing a lot of people died and didn’t make it through and James again survives because of Mettle and Qrow survives because he turns into a bird and flies away but comes back trying to find any survivors and finds James. After realizing their are no survivors they decide to go to Vacuo because that’s where Salem will go next and they find what remains of the survivors. Winter and co are exhausted trying to keep everyone safe on their own and they’ve lost a chunk of the few that made it through the portals.

When Ruby and co make it back from their vacation I mean the island they expect to find people thanking them in Vacuo but instead they’re met with anger. People who lost loved ones who would have survived with James’s plan, people who now have nothing and Vacuo is straining for enough resources and people are dying slowly because their just isn’t enough to sustain everyone.

I know the show would never go this route I just think it would have been interesting and then facing some consequences for their actions is long overdue at this point. I have a more realistic au I want to eventually do but that’s all in a different post.

So long story short, I just do not think James should have ever even gotten to the point of needing to be redeemed with our so called Hero’s RIGHT THEIR. They should have reached out to him and stopped him from spiraling out of control but CRWBY knew that if anyone reached out he might not have spiraled but the girls couldn’t have been the sole hero’s of the story and we can’t have that so they did....volume 8 instead not realizing the girls could have been the hero’s and James not screwed over if they actually tried to write a good and compelling story but just decided it was too much work.

Sorry this is long and rambling but I don’t have a computer right now and I don’t know when I’ll have it so I’m doing this on mobil (also app crashed and I lost my first draft of this so I may have lost some stuff that was in the original version rip)

[seven-oomen]

Breaking the cycle | How Teen Wolf portrays its traumatized fathers

First of, I would like to say that the following words are my take on this. I am a 29 year old trans man of Caucasian descend who is an domestic violence and abuse survivor. I am diagnosed with ADHD since 12 and diagnosed with CPTSD since this year. I understand trauma and I understand what it does to people. But I am not a professional. I am a fan.

Secondly, the characters I’ll be talking about today are specifically the fathers of some of the main characters in Teen Wolf. Namely Chris Argent, Peter Hale, and Noah Stilinski. 

I realize there are many more traumatized parents who would fit well in this essay and while I thought about including them, I decided that for now, these are the three characters I’m focusing on.

I would love to hear your thoughts about some of the other parents and how their traumatizing pasts might have contributed to the way they raised their children.

Sources are listed under the read more. The gifs I’m using are from Google.

I will be focusing on these characters, discuss what sort of trauma they have, how it affects them and how it affects the way they then raised their children. And why their stories are important for trauma and abuse survivors.

Let’s start with Noah Stilinski.

From Episode 3, Season 6 Sundowning we know the following about Noah’s homelife:

Elias was known for being both emotionally and physically abusive, and on at least one occasion, Noah stepped in to protect his mother from his abuse, causing his father to inadvertently throw him into a glass coffee table; his shoulder was scarred, and tiny fragments of glass remain under the now-healed wound even in the present day.

He even tells Scott: (While talking about a memory of him and Claudia in College.) “The kind of father I wish I had. The kind I... I hope to be."

In the same episode Noah also refers to the incident above as “That time.” Indicating that it wasn’t the first time this happened and it wasn’t the last either.

Piecing all the information together we can conclude that Noah was emotionally, psychologically, and physically abused by his father. We can also conclude that this abuse extended to his mother. Meaning he was also a victim of domestic violence.

There is also evidence in the episode that Elias might have abused Stiles, or at the very least has a very negative opinion of his grandson.  “ That's right! Act like I'm not even here! Go crawling back to your dead wife and loser son!”

This scarred Noah, both physically and mentally. We see evidence of this in episodes where he reacts violently and explosively any time his son is hurt. He immediately blows up and threatens physical violence against the people who hurt his son. 

A part of that is parental protection, but imagine that someone beat the living crap out of you and those you love every day of your life. Once you’re free of that person it leaves a mark and a smoldering fear of seeing the people around you getting hurt. When it happens you get angry, at the people who hurt your loved one, and at yourself. You weren’t there to protect them, you were too late.

Noah blames himself whenever Stiles gets hurt. I believe, based on his childhood home life that Noah corresponds his son getting hurt with failure as a parent. And knowing where he comes from, that’s an extra sore subject for him.

We have basis of it in canon.

We can also see that Noah’s guilt tends to eat at him if he ever has to discipline Stiles or yell at him. As shown in the following scene.

I believe that the abuse Noah endured makes him a very scared individual especially when it comes to raising his son. He’s constantly afraid he’s turning into his father, his afraid of making the same mistakes. He’s afraid he’ll scar and traumatize his own as he was traumatized himself.

The fact that Noah is aware of what he’s doing, that he stops when asked is enough of an indication to tell us, the audience, that he isn’t his father. Once Stiles indicates he’s okay, or simply tells his father to stop, Noah stops immediately. He usually hugs his son or initiates a kind physical contact right after. 

He stops, he reflects, realizes his mistake, and tries to do better.

This is one way to break the cycle. Noah’s not perfect at it, we can see him struggle many times. He insults Stiles or his intelligence without meaning to, passing it off as a joke, he’s constantly working and is not around as much as he should be. And those are valid criticisms of this character.

But deep at his core Noah’s trying to break a cycle of physical and emotional abuse, he’s trying to be there for Stiles. Tells him to go to school, tries to keep an eye on Stiles and tries to talk to him whenever he has the chance to explore Stiles’s wellbeing and feelings.

This is a man who went through hell as a child, became a father, and decided to do better.

Noah is a character who effectively broke a viscous cycle and has a wonderful and strong relationship with his son as a result. It’s not without flaws and Noah’s not perfect. But he’s generally not abusive or an abuser. And that is a step in the right direction.

It also shows us, the audience, that no matter what home life you come from, you can arise above your own traumas and do better for the next generation.

-

Now Chris Argent is an interesting one. I already talked about Chris and trauma in my daddy’s little soldier meta.

Considering the type of person Gerard is, and how he treats several teenagers in the show. I believe Chris is also a victim of emotional, psychological, and physical abuse. We don’t know much about his home life with his mother, so that I can not speculate on.

What we do know is, Gerard has no qualms about hurting children and teenagers. He’s admitted that he would kill his own son if it meant he survived. He’s raised his own son to be a weapon and to compartmentalize his emotions. I shudder to think as to what methods Gerard must have used on Chris. But as we never see them, I can only speculate.

So how did Chris break his cycle of abuse?

By not raising Allison to be a hunter. For the first seventeen years of her life, Allison didn’t know the Supernatural existed. She was kept out of her father’s life until it was no longer possible. She was never raised as a soldier, she wasn’t raised to hide her feelings. If anything, her father encouraged her and nurtured her to the best of his abilities. Chris tried to be there for his daughter. 

He even moved her to France to get her away from their lives. He quit something he was raised to do and did it successfully, just to protect his daughter. He grew up to be everything his father wasn’t.

And while Chris, too, is not perfect at it, he does try and breaks the cycle.

He’s aware of their problems, addresses them, and tries to do better. He even extends this nurturing and protective side to Isaac later down the line. 

Chris, a victim of abuse, sees the signs of abuse in Isaac, and decides; this one, this one I will nurture and protect too. Which he eventually accomplishes by bringing him to France and away from the craziness that is Beacon Hills. (Would have been nice to get a good plot about Chris adopting Isaac, but well, that’s another rant.)

Chris, like Noah, shows that even if you were raised in the worst circumstances, by being aware of your trauma and how that affects others, you can break the cycle and come out on top.

-

And last but not least we have someone who went through an horrific event and possibly emotional abuse from his family, discovered he was a father, and then had to adjust.

I’m talking about Peter Hale.

Now Peter is not a morally good character in general. He has no qualms about killing people who get in his way. From what we know about his childhood Peter also had anger issues as a small child and often broke his toys. 

However, the reason why I’m stating that Peter was most likely emotionally abused (I think by his sister Talia) is because we know that Talia, would not believe Peter about the fire and the Argents and waved his concerns away without considering them. She manipulated multiple of his memories and frequently hid the truth from him. And we know that their relationship from before the fire was strained.

We also know that Peter does care about his family. He cared for Cora in the hospital and he does care about whether Derek lives or dies and tends to keep an eye out for his nephew. In later seasons we also see Peter caring about his only daughter Malia and even express fear for her wellbeing when they go up against the Anuk-Ite. 

His love for Malia is eventually what frees him from the Ghost Riders control and his wish for her to live is what motivates his decisions in Season 6 to try and keep her safe, and when he can’t keep her away from the fight, he joins her and tries to protect her.

Now I believe that the Peter we see in S1,2, 3 and S6B are the real Peter Hale. A traumatized man who believes his only way to stay alive is through manipulation and careful planning. But he does genuinely seem to care about a few people, Cora, Derek, and Malia.

In Season 1 Peter is still coming out of his traumatic event (being burned alive and then being in a coma) and he has to navigate a new world. He kills Laura (or so it is speculated) for her Alpha power and to heal himself. Because to Peter, he is the only one who can avenge his family and resolve the traumatic event he went through.

Revenge, of course, is generally not a good way to resolve trauma and the plan doesn’t work. His trauma is not resolved by killing Kate and he dies that night.

When Peter comes back practically powerless he has to navigate carefully and he does so through manipulating the people around him. To Peter, manipulation is the only way to stay alive and get ahead. This idea of his, had to come from somewhere.

This is where my theory of emotional abuse kicks in. Because if Peter was emotionally abused by his sister (for which there is evidence in canon), he most likely picked up his tactic of manipulation as a survival tactic.

Now out of the list. Peter is the only person who doesn’t fully rise above his past. The past still haunts him as he becomes a protector of Beacon Hills in S6B. But I firmly think that if we got to see more of Peter past this point, we would have seen a man starting his journey to recognizing his toxic traits and trying to do better by them. But that of course, is just speculation.

Peter’s story teaches us that the road to healing and becoming a better person isn’t always linear. It’s not a given that you’ll heal if you aren’t ready to accept it. Or if you’re so focused on getting revenge that healing is impossible, it’s also not going to work. And usually, trying to heal requires a positive presence in your life (Malia), a support system (Malia and the pack), and a willingness to recognize what you’re doing wrong and to better yourself moving forward.

Sources:

Breaking the Cycle of Child Abuse - Article written by a psychologist and peer reviewed by a psychiatrist

The cycles of violence - Article written for the WHO by the University of Birmingham

The Teen Wolf Wiki - for all information and episodes of these characters

Teen Wolf - MTV tv show that owns the characters.

[foundthe8wing]

Okay, doing this over here because my main tumblr is usually a place for me to vibe and I don’t want all the bullshit tied to that account, but basically: I’m really angry and disappointed with the dndads cast for how they’ve put a lot of the minors in their fanbase in danger. Everything below is a repost from twitter (with permission from the OP, crypticjoy), and I’ll link the thread in a reblog. 

Under a cut because it’s long and potentially triggering (content warnings for grooming, sexualizing minors, and sexual assault)

[OP tagged the relevant cast accounts; I added slashes here bc I’m not sure if those same urls exist on tumblr and I don’t want to be randomly tagging people over here]

5:49 PM Sep 5, 2020

“I don’t usually do this, but: the way that the cast of @/dungeonsanddads engages with their audience is actively dangerous to minors, and they need to get it together. (cw for discussion of grooming, sexualizing minors, sexual assault)

First off, there are some iffy jokes and situations in the podcast itself. I’m not going to get into all of it right here, but have a google doc: [doc will also be linked in reblog]

Yes, the kids in #dndads are fictional, but that doesn’t mean this stuff doesn’t affect real kids listening. a. it normalizes talking/joking about kids in that way and b. There’s a lot of inconsistancy and confusion on the lines they draw--

Paeden saying “baby” is weird but Ron sitting in Terry Jr’s lap isn’t? I’m confused. You know who the fuck relies on that type of confusion and unclarity? Fucking predators

And I’m not saying every in-character decision has to be perfectly moral or acceptable, but the way the cast, out of character, discuss what’s weird and what’s not sends a lot of mixed messages. And that’s legitimately dangerous.

So then you take all of this, and you add a patron discord server that lets nsfw discussions run virtually unchecked--you create a fandom space that allows adults to discuss kinks, and porn searches, and just, all this other stuff, with teenagers...

... and it becomes a breeding ground for grooming and abuse.

The creators aren’t responsible for babysitting their fanbase or for how people engage with their content outside of their spaces (though, again, I’d urge them to be very careful about what kind of messages they’re sending)

But  they ARE responsible for taking basic steps to keep the spaces that THEY create and engage with safe.

“But the rules for the server say 18+!” The rules say you have to be 18 *or have parental permission.* They also say to keep things PG-13. That’s vastly different than establishing something as an adult-only/nsfw space.

“Minors shouldn’t be joining/listening anyway!” The cast can’t control who listens and neither can I, but there’s a difference between knowing teens are listening to you discuss sex with your adult friends vs facilitating conversations between teens and adults on those topics.

“If people are uncomfortable they can just leave.” First off, this situation isn’t just uncomfortable, it’s unSAFE. Second: fuck that. It’s not on minors to set and maintain boundaries about this stuff; a lot of them literally do not know how

Not because they’re stupid, but because they’re young and inexperienced. It’s the responsibility of adults to set and enforce healthy boundaries around sexual discussions, and this particular group of adults has done a fucking terrible job

(Maybe don’t encourage listeners to DM you about kinks! Maybe especially don’t do that when you’ve communicated, intentionally or not, that making and escalating sexual jokes is a really good way to get a reaction from you guys)

I get that they didn’t expect to have so many young listeners, but to be aware of that fact and make no adjustments whatsoever is irresponsible and it WILL lead to someone getting hurt. Does their “young, thirsty, female” audience only exist to them when they can laugh about it?

And let’s be absolutely 1000% clear: this isn’t an issue they’re unaware of. The stuff I’m talking about is an ongoing problem with how their server is run, but it came to a head with one specific situation very recently:

They released a bonus, patron-exclusive episode about the dads taking the bdsm test. Given the general state of the server, I was worried about where those discussions might lead, so before it dropped, I reached out to @/anthony_burch to express my concern

He told me he raised the issue with @/fwong and Ashley, meaning at least three members of the dndads team were aware of the situation, and decided it didn’t warrant any type of preemptive action on their part

(alternatively, it means Anthony lied, which would be a whole separate issue)

[Image ID: a discord DM conversation from Sep 1, 2020, between a crossed out username and reverendanthony. It reads: 

OP: heyyyyy have you guys considered that releasing an episode focused on the bdsm test is almost inevitably going to lead to a bunch of 15 year olds sharing their results in your server because you might want to get ahead of that before someone gets hurt

reverendanthony: oh holy shit, really good idea

OP: thanks, I know it's easy to veer into that territory just because of the nature of your show but I wanted to bring it to your attention because I figured you don't want to create a situation that's like, actively dangerous (and for the record I'm willing to discuss what I think would make it safer but I'm also not going to assume you want/need my input, obviously you can handle it however you see fit)

reverendanthony: No, thank you for bring it up, I really appreciate it -- I just raised the issue with Freddie and Ashley

OP: Good to know, thank you /End ID]

I’m not overreacting. I have seen this shit happen, to my friends and to myself, and watching the dndads cast take absolutely no meaningful action to prevent situations like that from occurring directly under their noses makes me fucking livid

I can guarantee that the #dungeonsanddaddies fanbase includes both predators and survivors of abuse, grooming, etc (including those currently living through it), and I need them to think very, very hard about which group they’re prioritizing.

And I need that choice to be evident through more than just their words, because it doesn’t fucking matter how much you “really appreciate” that I brought up my concerns if you do fuck-all to address them.

It doesn’t matter how many times you say the word “consent” if apparently everyone was okay that “Darryl gets sexually assaulted” was almost a plot point played for laughs.

(His dare from Scam  would have been rape, straight up. Just because no one said the word doesn’t mean it wasn’t coercive and gross).

I’d like to think the @/dungeonsanddads cast isn’t intentionally encouraging abuse, but they’re sure as hell enabling it, and they needed to get their shit together ages ago, because they’re not the ones their negligence hurts.”

Quote retweet by OP 6:51 PM Sep 7, 2020

“So, they updated the rules for the patron server, but I want to be really clear that from my perspective, it’s way too little, way too late. 

The new rules don’t adequately address the core issues and they certainly don’t absolve the cast of the harm they’ve already caused. 

[Tweet includes 2 screenshots: one of a bot asking people to click thumbs up to confirm they’re 18+ (or have a parent’s permission) and agree to the rules, and one that includes two of the rules. It reads: 

“This is an 18+ space. Them’s the rules: per Patreon’s policy, you must be 18+ or have parental permission.

Use language as if you’re at your parents dinner table. Don’t get people in trouble because of your SPICY POSTS. Keep conversation polite. NSFW content is not allowed!”]

(and before anyone says I should bring up my concerns privately, a quick refresher on how well that went last time I did it:) 

[links back to the “(alternatively, it means Anthony lied . . .)” tweet from the original thread]

So hey, @/fwong, some thoughts:

1.The rules are vague and unclear: what /exactly/ do you mean when you say “NSFW content is not allowed!” when the content of your show itself is so often nsfw? And how are you planning to enforce this?

Does it mean you’ll shut down the MBIC conversation that is literally just kink discussion? I need you to be clear on where the line is, because, again, predators rely on that confusion. Don’t give them a gray area to play in. 

For an example of a more clear policy, it’s pretty easy to say, “yep, ‘Henry gets pegged’ sure is a sentence we said on our show and you don’t have to pretend it’s not, but if you’d like to discuss it in any more detail at all, you need to move”

2. Remember how I said I needed to be clear on whether you’re prioritizing survivors or predators? While I doubt it was intentional, the language you’re using here is prioritizing predators.

It’s not “don’t get people in trouble,” it’s “don’t make people uncomfortable.” It’s “we all have a responsibility to make sure this space is safe for everyone, especially the younger members of the community.”

You’re setting people up to be afraid of expressing concerns for fear of “getting people in trouble” or “inciting unnecessary drama.” Even if it’s not what YOU meant, it’s very easy for those words to be manipulated, so +

You absolutely have to be explicitly clear that if someone expresses their discomfort, you’ve got their back. Being safe is more important than being polite. 

3. I need every cast member to take responsibility for their own actions. I’ve gotten no indication from any of you that you understand the ways in which the in-show things I brought up were harmful.

Acknowledging that harm is important not just because of the immediate effects of that content, but also because it implicitly sets an example for how similar complaints should be dealt with going forward.

When someone says “hey, I was uncomfortable that you seem fine with the Glennary ship, because she reads as very young to me,” I don’t need a dissertation on how the perception of characters can evolve due to your improvisational nature

I need to hear “oh, I interpreted her differently, but you’re right, we should have been more clear, and I’m sorry for making you uncomfortable.” Because your responses to your own mistakes set the tone for any other situations like that going forward.

How comfortable is someone going to be with coming to you, or Ash, or any of the mods about someone making them uncomfortable if they’ve seen that when people call YOU out, they’re argued with and shut down?

Don’t tell people you’ve “made it clear that you won’t go there” when they tell you that you ARE there. Listen to them and do better. 

Set the expectation that people will be respected when they raise their concerns. “If you want to come at me you have to bring the heat” is not an appropriate response on a subject that made people genuinely uncomfortable. 

In essence: set people up to be supported and protected, not dismissed. 

[It’s like a matriosche of tweets over here. This one links to another thread, also by crypticjoy. That thread reads:

A non-comprehensive guide to keeping discord servers safe for minors:

1. Make designated channels for nsfw/18+ discussion. Generally speaking, this is a lot more effective than banning those discussions altogether, because it’s a lot easier to say “hey, can you move this conversation?” than “hey, I need you to stop”

In fandom spaces, it’s usually a good idea to have separate channels for talking about nsfw fiction vs discussing your personal sex lives.

2. Give everyone minor/adult roles; make sure your 18+ channels are locked to people who don’t have an adult role. It’s important that there’s more of a barrier there than just checking a box.

3. NSFW channels shouldn’t necessarily be a free-for-all; be aware of people’s boundaries and respect them (for example, r*pe jokes aren’t funny or okay, even if you’re not making them around kids)

4. Explicitly state in your rules that people should feel free to come to mods if anyone is making them uncomfortable. Actually listen to people and resolve the situation if they do approach you.

5. Make it clear that creepy behavior via DMs or other means is also not tolerated--you can’t control what people do outside your server, but you can make the choice to not allow people like that in your space

6. Make sure mods are on top of things BEFORE people have to say anything; sometimes being a mod means being willing to be the “asshole” who shuts things down before they get out of hand, even if they’re not asked.

Be generally aware of signals that people are uncomfortable or that things are escalating too far, and address those situations sooner rather than later.

*It should be noted that safety involves a lot of components beyond just containing nsfw discussions; this thread just happens to be focused on that one specific element.

oh also! It's a good idea to provide resources on grooming so people know what to look out for [links to some resources; again, this’ll be in the reblog]]

So, @/dungeonsanddads, if you’re interested in anything beyond just having a flimsy excuse you can point to to cover your own ass, I’m gonna need you to try again.

Sorry I can’t be nicer about it, but I’ve given so many benefits of the doubt I could be running a successful charity, and this isn’t an issue I’m willing to drop. 

10:02 PM

Thought I was done but actually I've got a few more questions: to what extent were @/HeyBethMay, @/WillBCampos, and @/mattLarnold included in conversations about this issue/the new rules? Is this something your whole team is involved in?

Have you discussed what you're doing on a team and individual basis to keep your fan interactions safe, and are you on the same page about how much it matters? Are you holding each other accountable? Is everyone okay with where this ended up?”

[raziroo]

Chapter 3 | I Am Not At All Wise

Pairing: There's hints, but none

Genre: Angst?

Warnings: Overly Casual Mentions of Depression and Anxiety, Mentions of Trading of Lives

Word Count: 1,926

Author's Note: This might appear a little rushed, because I got this sudden surge of inspiration and sat down to write this and this isn't even proofread. Sorry, hehe.

‘Guys, what’s wrong with you?! This my father we’re talking about, my father! Why are you so hesitant to trade him for Lotor?’

The tense energy in the room only became even more suffocating when Pidge let that question, among others, loose like cannonballs. I was glad I was sitting even a bit away from the ongoing discussion, because the questions and not up to par answers were succeeding in making me uncomfortable. After all, the topic at hand wasn’t light at all – a topic such as trading of lives is one that questions your morals, your beliefs, literally everything you, as a person, stand for. I stared at Pidge, her absolutely enraged expression making me gulp nervously`. If Pidge didn’t get her father back now, after finding out his destination, then God knows how many shots are going to get fired at whom. And although I’m not saying that Pidge is wrong, she isn’t even right.

That’s confusing.

What I meant to say was, that although Pidge’s actions and fury and incredulousness were fully justified, it didn’t mean that we could all just nod heads in tandem and send Lotor off as some sort of pig for slaughter in exchange of Pidge’s dad. It wasn’t fair.

As my eyes lost focus, I recalled Captain America’s words – we don’t trade lives.

I snapped out of my thoughts. I couldn’t say anything. I didn’t want to. I wouldn’t, ultimately. Heading to my room now instead of just sitting there and making myself look like an unopinionated fool wasn’t helping me anyways, and neither was Lotor’s presence a couple feet beside me.

I decided to head to my room.

After all, that was what I was best at, wasn’t it? After finally accepting that I was a time traveler and couldn’t ever see my friends or family ever again and that aliens did actually exist, and not just on Mars (wait, did aliens exist on Mars? I never asked that), all I did for a good sum of time was hide in my room. Activities except hiding in my room included roaming through the castle and running to my room as soon as I deducted any trace of intelligent life near me, being strangely intimate with the white lion – intimacy including venting about how I was probably depressed, possibly had anxiety, caressing the lioness because she’s beautiful, and nestling in her cockpit because she felt like home – and running to my room when Shiro questioned me about my connection with White.

A bit after, when I felt more reassured and had begun craving human communication, I finally emerged from my cave, only to find that some of the Paladins didn’t seem too happy with my presence. Time went on, spirits fell, only to rise once again in blazing hopes of dethroning Zarkon, and my naturally social abilities helped me blend in with the Paladins soon. A lot of the comfort I felt among the Paladins, I owed to Shiro and Hunk. Those two were literally angels, especially to me. I couldn’t count on all the fingers of the Paladins and Allura combined how may times those two, and occasionally Lance, came to offer me a hug or talk to me when I looked glum. Even Allura and Pidge talked to meif they were free. The only person I had problems interacting with was Keith. But we’d nod to each other, say our greetings, and I accepted that. I couldn’t be besties with everyone. However, mine and Keith’s communication skills only worsened and problems only increased once Shiro disappeared. Keith straight up would refuse to pilot the Black Lion, and even when he finally agreed, he was so unorganized and his decisions so rash it was costing the coalition. When Lions started becoming unstable to fight after longer, tougher battles, White was expected to fill in. After all, it was the White Lion’s purpose – to be the mind of Voltron when the Paladins couldn’t, to keep the soul, fire, water, air and flora elements in check, Allura had once said to me. Only, White needed a pilot, a Paladin. And all expectations of being White’s pilot were pinned on me, naturally, because I was the one who seemingly materialized in her cockpit out of nowhere.

I, obviously, failed to do that. Because apparently (and quite obviously, if I do say so myself) even though White warmed up the cockpit for me when I slept there and seemed to purr when I caressed her face, I wasn’t worthy enough, in her gaze, to be a Paladin. And I truly had no qualms about that. The only issue was that Keith wasn’t satisfied with that. Pidge and Lance tried to hide it, but they too, felt that I should try harder. Hunk comforted me when I accidentally let the hurt I was feeling shine through. Allura tried to convince everyone that it wasn’t my fault at all, that the Lions only accepted whom they deemed fit to Pilot them, and the reason the White Lion even was the “extra” Lion in the first place was that it was hardest than any of the other Lions to convince to be Pilot of. It was simply too calculating and cynical and choosy – and I agreed with White wholly, because stepping in as the voice of reason, as the mind of Voltron when all these worthy, noble, brave people who were specifically selected to be the defender and judge of the universe when no one else could failed to do their jobs, then you needed to be one hell of a person to be honoured with the name “White Paladin of Voltron”.

When Shiro had come back, or as he said, when Keith brought him back, the Castle seemed to light up more. I understood why he was chosen to be the soul to combine the other elements and form Voltron. I was ecstatic, perhaps happier than some of the Paladins even, but that didn’t mean I didn’t notice – or rather, didn’t choose to shrug off - his strange and simply out of character behaviour at times. I wasn’t the only one that did. It was when I voiced to White about my concerns, and she glowed – literally glowed as if in agreement did I know that shit was serious. White, as weirdly impossible as it sounds, also noticed. She knew, too, that something wasn’t right with Shiro. It was beyond me how she did, but I didn’t get to ponder on that for too long.

Why?

Because Lotor happened. He arrived as our saviour at the most unexpected moment and in the most unexpected way, and then became unpredictability, unanswered questions, and uncertainty personified for us. How many rifts and arguments he alone had caused between the Paladins was the slightest bit alarming, but justified, in my opinion. Lotor had succeeded in messing up our functioning. It didn’t matter if it was only a tad – he was the anthropomorphic form of all the flaws and hesitancies and wrongs and uncertainties in the coalition that we’d turned a blind eye to.

And now Zarkon had offered us Pidge’s dad’s freedom in exchange of Lotor, but I would be lying if I said if I wasn’t the tiniest bit worried as to just what Zarkon would do to Lotor. I know, I know, I really was no one to be straining my brain for that, since Lotor was an alien Prince who had equal chances of being good and evil, was capable of killing us all if he wished to, and had probably endured worse than his father’s wrath. But that wasn’t even the biggest issue we had. Pidge getting fired up was reasonable enough, I was aware of how emotionally driven she could become at times despite being a genius. And her brain refusing to work when her family came into play was the reason I was bothered most – even if she convinced the other Paladins to go through with the exchange, there was absolutely no surety that Zarkon would keep his part of the deal. It was legit the dumbest, most irrational thing the protagonist could do. If that happened, we’d lose both Pidge’s father, and an extremely valuable asset to the coalition.

I didn’t really realize that during my very acceptable train of self-depreciating thoughts I’d changed my route and had instinctively begun for White. I guess it was only right, as I felt more at ease there than anywhere. It was only when I reached her and stroked her, she seemed to… close in on her herself. I furrowed my brow, a small frown on my lips.

I sighed. It was probably nothing.

Relaxing my facial muscles, I closed my eyes, leaned forward, and nudged White’s snout. I jumped back with a start when instead of the usual purr or whimper, she growled at me. The crease between my brows returned with a higher intensity.

‘What is it, girl? Hmm?’ I cooed at her, not risking touching her. ‘Is something wrong? Do you not want to talk? Should I go?’

Silence was what I received in exchange.

‘My love,’ yes I called White “my love”, “girl”, have and will continue to call her “babe”, and no you cannot do jack about it. ‘You need to tell me, please,’ I continued, my voice gentle as ever, ‘how am I supposed to know what you want to say? You’ve never growled at me before. I don’t know how to interpret that gesture. Do I take it as you being upset? Angry? Sad?’ She still didn’t answer. All the life seemed to leave her.

I tilted my head. My sigh bounced off the walls.

‘The White Lion is said to be the mind of Voltron,’ a naturally assertive, deep, thunder-like voice called. I was sure I jumped at least a foot before whipping my head to where the voice resonated from. Lotor. What -?

‘Forgive me if I scared you. I thought it wise to offer some assistance; you seemed to be in need of help.’

I didn’t answer. He took it as a “yes, I need your help”. ‘The most probable reason it is not responding to your calls, is because you are contradicting what the White Lion stands for, you aren’t being wise. That is, assuming the Lion does answer you typically.’

I turned back to White, my jaw setting. My lingering suspicion turned into certainty at Lotor’s remarks.

Well. As much as I cherished my relations with White, I wasn’t going to voice my thoughts and concerns regarding the life trade. I wasn’t particularly keen on getting involved. I wasn’t the White Paladin. I wasn’t the voice of reason. I couldn’t be. This was the exact reason as to why I couldn’t be the White Paladin. I had many a thought, but didn’t always think it wise to share them with others.

Especially not when “others” included a leader that was not being himself, a princess who wanted to get rid of the Galra empire and Zarkon as soon as possible no matter the cost, and a Paladin who was going feral and becoming blind by rage at the thought of not getting her father back when she was so close.

Yes. Now definitely not.

Without sparing Lotor or White another glance, I headed to my room, for real this time. I didn’t notice both of their piercing gazes aimed at my retreating figure.

[skybird13]

*sigh* Okay...

I’ve been debating on whether or not to make this post. Not because it doesn’t need to be made, but because I’m not sure I’m emotionally up for it. But at the end of the day, staying quiet is exactly what got us into this mess, and curling into a sad little ball isn’t going to change what happened, and this particular shit needs to be called out and acknowledged. 

I was asked to address something posted by Eddy Rivas, one of the writers of RWBY, on Reddit yesterday. It was a shortlived post because apparently he or someone who read it realized what a monumentally bad idea it was, but sadly for him, my fellow cockroach gays are pissed as hell and we have screenshot capabilities. I don’t care that he removed/edited the post. This was still his instinctive response to the absolute pain caused by him and the rest of CRWBY as a result of volume 7 episode 12:

I am so damn tired and so hurt. But I am going to do my best to address this in a civil and reasonable way. 

The Problem With Judgment Calls

First of all, to an extent, I understand the predicament Eddy describes. I really do. I get that being on the creative end of a popular web series is very different from being on the fandom end, and conventional wisdom dictates that creators should do their best to make sure the two don’t mix past a certain point. That necessary separation probably does make these kinds of judgment calls difficult. 

The problem is that several members of CRWBY (including writers, animators both former and current, social media managers, and the marketing team specifically) violated that boundary more than once long before episode 12 aired. There were so many things that factored into Fair Game gaining traction as quickly as it did, and many of those things came from the deliberate way that many members of CRWBY interacted with the fandom outside of the show itself. From the official RWBY Twitter account to the suggestive tweets made by a former animator, to the Twitter and Tumblr posts made by a current animator, this ship was heavily and unambiguously encouraged and leaned on multiple times over the course of this volume. 

Sure, you can make the claim that you can’t control the animators (especially if they no longer work for you), or that the creators and the marketing team are two separate entities and that the actions of one do not necessarily reflect the intentions of the other (both things also stated by Eddy Rivas in a series of Tweets). And perhaps some of that is accurate. It points towards a fundamental lack of oversight and cohesiveness in the organization that is Rooster Teeth, and that should absolutely be addressed moving forward, but quite frankly, in this case, it doesn’t even matter.

The fact of the matter, Mr. Rivas, is that the boundary was violated. Multiple times. On your end. These types of judgment calls are not a one size fits all, and the moment active members of CRWBY took action to encourage something you knew was going to cause pain, it should have been addressed. I’m not putting that on you personally, because as a writer I realize you probably don’t have that type of authority, but someone there should have put a stop to it. There is the matter of the personal responsibility shirked by the two animators who contributed to this mess, and frankly, they should have known better, but this does not excuse CRWBY’s collective silence.

The fact of the matter is that due to the actions taken by CRWBY both in and outside of the show (including the things you could and could not control) you absolutely reached a point where that boundary should have been purposefully crossed in order to mitigate damage. It doesn’t matter what got you or us there. It doesn’t matter whether or not it was intentionally done (it was, let’s not kid ourselves). Things built up, hopes were raised as a direct result of your actions, and you all reached a point where you were morally obligated to say something. Do I suggest a single individual should have taken this on? No. I understand the legal ramifications of that. But CRWBY as a whole and RT as the production studio absolutely should have stepped forward. Would that have fully removed the pain and the disappointment? No. But you wouldn’t be facing the backlash you are right now if you had. 

The Problem with One-Size-Fits-All

Closely related to the previous point is the fact that you, Mr. Rivas, seem to be under the impression that a single judgment call policy should and can apply to all situations equally. That’s not the case. We’re not talking about other ships here, hypothetical, canonical, realistic, unrealistic, or otherwise. We’re talking about this ship. 

The Fair Game ship was the first and only indication we had in seven volumes of RWBY that a prominent mlm relationship might be coming in to play. You have no other relationships of this nature in the show. You don’t even have other male characters who might be able to qualify as gay or bisexual who play major roles. Add on to that the fact that you planned to have one of these characters die in the most brutal and graphic death scene we have gotten to date in RWBY, and no. I’m sorry. That flimsy defense doesn’t stand. This ship was unique, it appealed to a very underserved segment of your fandom, and it should have been treated with the levity it deserved. 

You make the argument that saying something about this ship but not others wasn’t plausible. The issue with that, sir, is one of trust. Up to this point, I and a lot of people I know trusted you, which means you can get away with building up relationships without ever coming out to confirm or deny them offscreen. As long as you understand the narrative promises you’re making as a storyteller to your audience, and understand the importance of fulfilling them through narrative payoff at some point in the story, we’re usually pretty willing to follow you and watch it unfold. This is how writing works. You have to be aware of the promises you’re making and you have to be able to follow through on them in satisfying ways. This goes double if you plan to fulfill them in unexpected ways (note the word fulfilled still applies). If you don’t do that, trust is broken and you have a problem. 

Fair Game is unique in that you knew from the beginning that trust was going to not only be violated but brutally so. CRWBY made promises with Clover and Qrow that they never intended to keep, and that is one of the core issues here. If you want to cling to the excuse that it was all unintentional (again, one I do not buy), that only means you absolutely should have said something to that effect long before we ever got to this point. It would have given nothing about the plot away to let us know that wasn’t the intended direction and it would have calmed down the excitement that built up so quickly around the ship. It certainly would have prevented a lot of people from being emotionally and psychologically damaged as a result of having that trust destroyed. 

Not saying something about relationships that may or may not happen is VERY different from not saying something about a ship that you know is not going to happen because you plan to brutalize and murder one of the characters on screen in spite of the narrative promises made. Particularly when the ship in question would have offered rep to people who thus far in the show ( when we’re over halfway through the series) still have none. 

No rep to be found here...

I’m not sure I should even have to address this but apparently, it needs to be said. It will be short because it’s a pretty damn simple answer.

You want to know “how well [saying no rep to be found here would] have gone over?”  A hell of a lot better than the queerbaiting fest you have victimized us all to for the last three months.  Would you still have had disappointed fans on your hands? Absolutely. But the psychological and emotional damage you all caused in episode 12 could have been so easily avoided, and that should have taken precedence over whatever tension you wanted to maintain between these characters in the show. 

This should not have been a difficult decision, and quite frankly, the fact that you don’t understand this is a little alarming. 

We Are Not a Shopping Montage

Alright. Here is where my civility is going to deteriorate noticeably, so fair warning.

You had the audacity to compare the emotional trauma of hundreds of LGBTQ fans to the disappointment of not getting a fucking shopping montage??? You even acknowledge that on an emotional level these two things are nowhere near being the same thing, and you still tried to justify your actions and the actions of CRWBY with it? That emotional fallout is the thing that matters here. 

But there’s even more to it than that.

The hopes for a shopping montage came from a single Tweet from the official RWBY Twitter (if I remember right) about a montage scene being in volume 7. That was it. That was all fans had to go off of. This absolutely was a case of imaginations running wild and people hoping for a scene that, quite frankly, in light of the show’s trajectory since volume 3, wasn’t a reasonable expectation to begin with. CRWBY was in no way complicit in or responsible for this expectation that I know of, and even if you were.... It. Was. A. Shopping. Montage.

And you dare to compare that with the intentional queer coding of Qrow and Clover’s relationship in the writing, the animation choices, the character design for Clover, and the behavior of CRWBY on social media, only for Clover to die horrifically and for Qrow to be absolutely destroyed emotionally and mentally on-screen??? You dare to relate the disappointment of people who didn’t get a pointless shopping scene with the trauma of watching a loved character’s murder and another loved character’s emotional/mental destruction??? Really? That seemed like an appropriate thing to say?

I don’t even know what else to say to this except absolute world-shattering shame on you, sir. How dare you?

And then to top all of this off, instead of apologizing, instead of showing some contrition, you tried to delete this post and pretend you never said it. Did you hope we wouldn’t notice? That we wouldn’t react if you tried to take it down? Were you even the one who realized what you said or did you need it pointed out to you?

You should not be a writer, sir. You sure as hell should not be a creator of content that engages with people on an emotional level because you clearly have no respect for it and no understanding of the responsibility you bear because of it. 

What is wrong with you?

Tagging @fairgame-is-endgame​ who asked me to say something on this absolute bullshit. 

[lonelier-version-of-you]

So I just rewatched both parts of report to the mirror and I had some thoughts that I thought you might be interested in. First, how did I not pick up on the romantic connection of John and henrik, it’s so obvious and I completely missed it when I watched this episode at the time. Especially in the line “it’s time people saw the real you. Us” which is definitely not just a thing friends say. Then the scenes at the lake, when henrik says that he wanted something to believe in, it reminded me of the episode where he talks to roxanna about how his therapist wanted him to look to the future and then John took advantage by giving him something to believe. It’s so tragic. What’s even more tragic is that John drowned in the lake in the same way henrik’s mother did, and how he tried to before John saved him, the whole thing is so awful but beautifully tragic. My final thought is that the song “what difference does it make?” by the smiths really reminds me of John and henrik. Especially the opening lyrics “all men have secrets and here is mine/so let it be known/for we have been through hell and high tide/ I think I can rely on you”. Sorry if this is a ramble but I have so much more analysis on this two parter after a rewatch than I did the first time.

Can you believe my laptop fucking crashed right when I first tried to answer this, smh. But YES HI welcome to 'Report to the Mirror trash' hell with me, I think about that two-parter like 24/7 lol.

Honestly I don't know how anyone could have missed the romantic connection between John and Henrik by that point in the storyline, haha. Although I guess a lot of people were bored of the story by then and weren't paying much attention, so there's that. But at least you figured it out eventually, can't say that for a lot of this fandom. (I thought Henrik had a bit of a crush on John at first, but I didn't realise that 1. it was intentional, 2. it was more than a crush, they were madly in love, and 3. John reciprocated Henrik's feelings, until the flashback episode aired. That was so gay, any sense of plausible deniability was gone after that.)

The "it's time people saw you again, John, the real you - us" line really is just so blatant. Like, I don't know how people think Henrik being bi is up to debate when that line is literally right there? I've been trying to figure out a single possible platonic interpretation of it for 3 years now and I still haven't found one (nor have I found a platonic explanation for the "something positive" scene). Not only is it not a thing a friend would say, it's most certainly not a thing Henrik would say to anyone except someone he was in love with.

(Also, a fun fact: what Henrik says to Meena in part 1, "John Gaskell is a great friend of mine, he's a good man. But more importantly, for the medical world, he is on the verge of something incredible." is very, very similar to something his daughter-in-law Sara once said about Fredrik - "But he is a good father. And he's a good husband, my husband. And I stand by him." Those lines were written by the same writer, Andy Bayliss, so there's no way it wasn't intentional. So the show literally compared John and Henrik to a married couple.)

The lake scene is absolutely heartbreaking, isn't it? It fucks me up every single time. Even after everything John's done, Henrik still stands there and pleads for John to come out of the water. He even says "I can help you". 😭😭

As for the "I wanted something to believe in" line, that gets even sadder when you consider that the show implies Henrik lost his belief in God due to the trauma from the shooting. (In series 15 episode 52, several years before the shooting, he's shown praying before he does surgery on Chantelle, then talks with Serena about how he "made a pact with his god". Then in S20 E31, months after the shooting, he asks Roxanna "You still believe, do you? After what we've both been through?".) Consider the religious metaphors throughout the Gaskell storyline, to the point that the flashback episode is literally called One Man And His God, and... yeah. When Henrik said he wanted something to believe in, he really meant it. :( It's horribly tragic.

John choosing to drown himself in the lake is incredibly poetic but also incredibly sad, isn't it? And the way he asks Henrik to join him, too... goddd. It's all terribly romantic but in the worst, most toxic kind of way. (As my dad once put it - "no one has ever said "come drown with me, no homo"!")

And then there's Henrik's hallucinations from the MPTP, which include John caressing his face and telling him they're the same. There's so much to unpack there. (I still think hallucination!John was probably meant to kiss Henrik and it got cut out, but that's just a conspiracy theory of mine lol.)

And the way that, for the whole first part and most of the second, it's actually true! Henrik goes along with John's unethical decisions throughout both episodes (even though at this point he's been made completely aware of them), and at some points he defends John's actions even when John knows they're wrong. Report to the Mirror is Henrik at the most morally ambiguous we've ever seen him. He draws the line once he realises John has killed Roxanna, and when he (and Fletch, Ric and Sacha) find that John's left Lana cut open on the lab table, but everything up to that, he totally goes along with it. It's really fascinating to me, and shows just how bad their relationship is for each other.

And goddamn, that song is perfect for them! Personally I've always thought "I Knew You" by Future Islands fits Johnrik very well, especially the last chorus. ("Then I had to run / and now we'll leave it all said and done / What did you think he'd find? / Something in the cold of your eyes said "goodbye" / I knew you / I knew you as you were, not as you are / You knew me too / but it's not the same, not the way, the way, you used to...") "Twin Skeletons (Hotel in NYC)" by Fall Out Boy, too ("And I just need enough of you to dull the pain / just to get me through the night 'til we're twins again / 'til we're stripped down to our skeletons again / 'til we're saints just swimming in our sins again").

...I actually have a whole Spotify playlist of songs that remind me of Johnrik, if you or anyone else wants me to share it.

[sailtoafarawayland]

Self Promo Sunday

Today I’m sharing a complete story that I started a long time ago (back when Dark Swan was revealed, but we didn’t know anything about Dark Hook yet). I finished the third chapter just recently, and even though I have more popular stories, that chapter is probably my favorite thing I’ve ever written - so I really wanted to share it with everyone once again. 

Rated: Explicit  

Warnings: Heavy Angst, Suicidal Ideation 

A03 and FF

Darken the Horizon

Chapter One (2-3 at above links)

Killian holds his breath as he descends into the familiar space of his quarters aboard the Jolly Roger, uncertain of whether or not she will be waiting for him. He finds he is disappointed when memories of past deeds are the only thing that greets him. The scent of the cabin is comforting, notes of leather and wood layered upon years of parchment and books and ink. The atmosphere soothes him, his mind recalling memories he hadn't had much need to linger over lately—the raging sea as he clung to the helm, watching as the Dark Curse faded into nothingness only moments before it reached the stern of his ship, his haggard footsteps as he stumbled to his berth, dreams entangled with thoughts of how to get back to her.

To his Swan.

To his North.

When she startles him, he knows there are still lingering traces of joy in his gaze, his thoughts not having yet released their hold on the past—that moment when she drank the potion and remembered, when he knew all was not lost—Hook—and he'd never been happier to hear her say his name.

"It's not funny appearing like that."

There is a stirring of guilt in his gut. He should be wary, mistrustful, even, but Gods help him he is nothing but glad to see her, no matter the manner in which she arrived.

"Sorry."

The word sounds foreign falling from her tongue, and he realizes that she has yet to have formed regrets, or missteps. It must be freeing. He can remember a time when he was beyond those ordinary inconveniences, as well.

Bloody hell, being this close to her, he could see it again.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"I know this has all been really confusing, and I haven't made it any easier. I wanted to apologize for overreacting last time. I know you're just trying to help, so I thought…we could just talk and have lunch, like old times."

He bites the inside of his lip, her words striking all the wrong chords. She sounds too much like Emma, but then again, not at all.

"I'd like nothing more, but this is hardly like old times."

It never will be, he realizes as he looks as her, the truth that had been lingering with him for days finally staking claim to his heart. He will never have his Emma back—the Emma who thought of others before herself, who taught him to love again. His heart clenched painfully, and he knew if he didn't let her go, it would shatter right there across the floor of his cabin. Instead, he would cling to the one piece of herself that she had left with him, the ability to love. He would love this new Emma, and perhaps together they could have an ending that he could live with, even if it wasn't happy, because as weak as he was, he couldn't live without some version of her. The decision is quick, and frighteningly easy to make, and he knows it's because he's been considering it for days, ever since that moment in the Dark One's house where she asked for his companionship.

He turns away from her then, dropping the bag of food on the table, and before he can turn back, everything changes. He feels the magic press against his skin, and when he looks down, he sees the familiar sight of a red checked tablecloth, the food arranged on delicate place settings. He waits for his heart to break, but it is curiously void of pain. He hears nothing behind him, but he is keenly aware that if he turns around, he will see her dressed as his old Emma—dressed as someone who is never coming back.

It was his last chance. He could look at her, drinking in the illusion as a marooned man would fresh water. It would reignite his hope, but with hope came misery and suffering, the long wait for a happy ending he would never get—because he was a villain, and villains don't get happy endings. They got the endings they deserved, and perhaps after hundreds of years bent on vengeance, the ending he deserved was by the Dark One's side. The irony of it all was fitting.

So he didn't turn around, keeping his eyes firmly focused on the corner of the red checked tablecloth.

"Don't." His voice was resolved, but lighter than it had been of late. "Let's leave memories of the past out of this."

The air in the cabin stirred, and he watched as the red checked cloth disappeared, leaving instead the knotted wood of his table, the food once again bagged.

He turned to her then, taking in the pale blonde hair smoothed tightly into an elegant bun, the curious tilt to her lips as she watched him. The dress he knew she was cloaked in only a moment before was thankfully gone, replaced with the severe black leather tunic she seemed to favor.

He didn't go looking for the pain in his heart, knowing that the burden had vanished with his new path laid out before him—standing before him. He took the few steps toward her that would close the distance between them, his hand reaching to take hers, studying his rings against the pale white of her skin.

"I have questions."

She didn't remove her hand from his, but her eyes shifted upward, meeting his, a moment of indecision reflected in their green depths.

"You don't want to know if I'm still the same Emma?"

"I already know that you're not. I don't care. I want to know why you're here, on my ship."

There was a long moment of silence, and he tightened his grip. Her eyes flashed with something he couldn't place, but he didn't ease up. If she wanted Hook, she was going to get all of him, Dark One or no, because Killian couldn't love this woman—but Hook could.

"I have a question for you, for once."

Her voice was frustratingly opaque, giving him no hint as to what type of answer she might expect.

"Do you love me?"

The Savior had loved the good in him, the long-forgotten morality of a young Lieutenant. She had stolen his heart and pulled him from the shadows. She had been his North, and therein lay the problem. His North was fluctuating, depending entirely on Emma, and now that she was gone, his North had changed.

The only thing left of it was the Dark One, and the one person she could love was the feral pirate, the man who plundered, schemed and ripped apart anything in his way. She was who he had left to him now, his new North, and so he would return to the shadows with her, and take love where he could.

"Aye."

"I need something that touched Rumplestiltskin when he was still a man. You knew him then. You can help me."

Hook didn't think anything of retrieving the cutlass from the shelf, it was what she needed. He held the blade against her cheek, a cold glimmer in the blue of his eyes as he spoke.

"I took this cutlass and put it to his head and taunted him. I'm assuming this will work, though he wasn't much of a man at that moment either, love."

It was surprising to him how quickly Killian slipped away, the guilt and sorrow lessening with each word that fell from his lips.

She raised an elegant hand, her wrist twisting before his eyes, and the cutlass disappeared in a cloud of grey smoke, his hand empty. He had the sudden urge to fill it, and so he did. His fingers found the pins in her hair easily enough, skillfully plucking them from her braids as she turned into him, her hands pressed into the edge of the table behind her, her eyes, dark and filled with desire, meeting his own.

She raised her hand again, and he was suddenly afraid that she would magic her hair into something he didn't want to see, something gold and beautiful, so he stopped her, his hook catching her wrist in midair and bringing it to his hip.

"Don't," he said firmly, tossing another pin to the ground. "If I'm going to have you—and I will. I want you just the way you are, no trickery."

He watched as her silver hair fell in waves around her shoulders, elegantly framing the smooth, pale expanse of her cheeks, her green eyes watching him like two moss-lined pools in the snow, ice gathering at their edges.

She was beautiful when she was undone.

He lingered for only a moment, wanting to feel something more than he wanted to memorize her, his lips finding hers with a brutality he had forgotten he possessed. She met him eagerly, her leg winding around his as she pressed fiercely into him, the leather they both wore an unwanted barrier.

She scratched her fingers roughly down the exposed skin of his chest before entwining them around his necklace, yanking his face to her neck. He nipped the sensitive skin at her throat roughly, the moan he drew from her lips making him throb painfully. He needed to be inside of her.

Something between a growl and a cry left his lips, and he found himself spinning her around forcefully, his left forearm pressing her roughly into the table, his hand moving to jerk her hips upward. He swore he could hear both of their hearts racing together, the air practically humming with unchecked need. Savoring the moment, the Dark One spread before him on the table, he set about solving the problem of that infuriating leather armor she chose to wear, his hook tearing down the back of her leather jacket before moving to her leggings. He didn't care if he damaged her—knowing that this Emma could handle those dangerous parts of him, the parts that took without caring.

Once he had her bared to him, her body shivering on the table, her breath coming in small, muted gasps, he moved his fingers to sweep against her center, the wet warmth of her calling out to him, begging for him to answer her need. He didn't bother with niceties, there would be more than enough time for that later—now, he simply needed to make her his, to claim her with all of the wild ferocity she had turned him back to.

The world around them seemed to still and shudder as he sheathed himself inside of her, their voices coming together in breathless abandon at the pure ecstasy of being joined. Before he had a chance to come back down from the moment, she was already pushing against him, her fingers digging into the tabletop as she strove toward him. He began to move then, long, punishing strokes that drove her body into the edge of the table—Hook falling from her lips over and over as he took her. Groaning wildly, he sought the tight bundle of nerves between her legs that he knew would be her undoing, sweeping his fingers roughly across it until she released, her muscles clenching around him.

In that moment, her nubile body writhing against him, pulling every last bit of his essence into her, he knew he was ruined.

Tagging: @justanother-unluckysoul @kmom0f4 @the-darkdragonfly @teamhook @zaharadessert @xarandomdreamx @jrob64 @wefoundloveunderthelight @tiganasummertree @pirateprincessofpizza @lfh1226-linda @alexa-fangirl-forever @alifeofdreams @superchocovian

[youngbugandtonystank]

Your analysis about tony in hoco is interesting!! I saw some people said he's not a good "mentor" for Peter but I think they failed to see Tony's character in depth, so your analysis really helped a lot! If you have time, could you please do for Peter in hoco as well? Thank you ❤

Hi!

I know other people asked different things but I’m going to respond to these ones first. Thank you for asking!

Ok, first I want to talk about three things people usually get wrong about MCU Peter:

1. He’s not poor.

2. He doesn’t blindly admire Tony. 

3. He’s not dumb.

1. He’s not poor. Now, this doesn’t mean he’s rich or a billionaire but Peter is not poor. He’s average or might be above average. I think the reason people choose to believe that he’s extremely poor is because of his relationship with Tony and his classmates. Tony is a billionaire and many of his classmates are rich kids. Peter goes to a very expensive school so you are obviously going to spot kids with cars and expensive clothes, that doesn’t mean Peter is dying of hunger.  

Of course, the kid can’t afford really expensive things like cars but if his aunt is capable of taking Peter out for food instead of cooking, capable of affording a Jansport Wasabi of 46$ multiple times, sneakers of 39 to 70$, capable of affording apartments like this then the kid is doing fine. 

He has an extensive wardrobe, hell, I even spotted Flash wearing the same shirt three times on different occasions and Flash is supposed to be rich. Peter is a dumpster diver because Peter always loses, breaks or ruins things when he’s Spiderman. He mentioned in hoco that he has the habit of losing his backpack and the movie demonstrates that Peter gradually breaks his phone till it’s in pieces. His aunt is not going to pay stuff multiple times for him and it’s not because she can’t afford it, is because Peter would never ask unless it’s a necessity like a backpack. Something he can’t build, so he fixes or makes the other stuff. 

2. He doesn’t blindly admire Tony and 3. He’s not dumb. The thing about their relationship is that people love to exaggerate the ‘’bad’’ parts to fit their ‘’Tony Stark is a villain’’ agenda. Peter knows Tony is not a perfect man, he’s a smart kid, he can tell. Tony’s life is constantly on the news, that includes his dumb decisions: like giving the villain his home address or his playboy party days. Peter knows about this too. 

When Toomes explains to Peter why he’s doing what he’s doing he tells him that Peter is the lesser guy to a man like Tony (something that is more of a reflection of toomes’ character and attitude more than an actual explanation as to why continuously being aware of hurting people and dealing with weapons illegally is a choice he /Toomes/ still makes) and that they’re usually the ones that eat their table scraps. What’s Peter’s answer? ‘’Why are you telling me this?’’ /= ‘’I’m aware of this, why are you telling me this?’’ 

Truth is, Peter doesn’t share his opinion. He sees Toomes for who he is. He sees someone who continuously makes bad decisions and chooses to act in a morally incorrect way to provide to his family and Peter understands that in the end, he’s going to end up hurting Liz (This is why he dropped out of a high school experience such as homecoming with the girl he likes, because Peter understands. ’’How could you do this to her?’’). He sees someone who got comfortable with wearing a profiteering two-faced skin, something Peter could never do. He knows Toomes is only using the ‘’tony stark is evil too’’ card to try and justify his actions. He’s basically saying: ‘’The hero did it, so why can’t I?’’ The hero changed, Toomes didn’t. That’s what makes him the villain.

People now more than ever have a hard time accepting the fact that Tony is, in fact, someone who grew out of a bad place/mentality/morality because they want him to stay as the ‘’bad guy’’ in their minds. It’s easier for them to hate him with this mentality. Truth is, he’s the definition of character development. Tony learns from his mistakes and makes an effort to correct those things. He rebuilds himself. He stops. He fixes things. Because when you do something wrong, you make things right. That’s how it is. And Peter also understands this. 

You see, Peter looks a little desperate in Homecoming to become an Avenger and it’s not because he wants to impress Tony Stark. Peter himself addressed the reason for this. 

He’s bored.

This is his face when entering the school.

And this is him getting out of it.

 ‘’So, how’s school? It’s boring. Got better things to do.’’ ‘’You want to be a high school dropout? I am so far beyond high school right now.’‘ ‘‘But we have a Spanish quiz. Ned, I’m probably never gonna come back here.’‘ He’s tired of school. This is proof of how smart this kid is, he doesn’t need to look at the board or pay attention in class because he already knows all the stuff the other kids are learning. He counts the hours to be able to leave the school. The principal knows Peter is a smart kid. His classmates begged him to stay on the decathlon team and doubted they could win a competition without Peter. School is not a challenge for him anymore.  After getting the experience he got in Civil War, he firmly believes he’s wasting his time in school and could be doing bigger things and his one-way ticket to do that is getting an official membership to the Avengers team. 

Look at him here, he’s having the time of his life.

For a hyperactive

genius kid

school must be hell. 

His motivation to be an Avenger is completely different than his relationship with Tony. He wants to change the pace of what he’s so tired of experiencing. High School. Now, he does want to impress Tony but not to prove his worth as an Avenger but because he looks up to the man. With all of his flaws and mistakes. He knows Tony is not perfect, he knows about Ultron, about his playboy days, about the Accords (you can see him receiving a full lecture in school about them: ‘’The Sokovia Accords were put into place…’’), about how he gave his address to the villain and how said villain destroyed Tony’s house, etc. All of this was on TV. All of it. 

When Peter said ’’I just wanted to be like you’’ he didn’t mean ‘’I wanted to be you’’. Peter wants to do great things, world-changing things, make a difference in someone’s life, help out on a bigger scale. Something Tony does. It’s easy for a kid like Peter to like those things about Tony because he wants the same. And he wants that because it’s who he wants to be. So why wouldn’t he want the approval of someone that does those things? 

‘’So you wanna look out for the little guy-

-you wanna do your part? 

Make the world a better place, all that, right?’’

‘’Yeah, just looking out for the little guy-

-That’s what it is.’’

Aaron Davis about Peter: ‘’The other night, you told that dude, “if you shoot somebody, shoot me.” That’s pretty ballsy.’’

Peter sees a great guy in Tony. Despite everything else. Someone who knew how to put himself together after surviving the grief and pain life presented for him. Peter can see through him and can tell this man has been through hell and back and Peter admires that. He can see strength in him and he wants that as well. If Peter thought Tony was a god almighty, he wouldn’t have stayed at the ship in IW claiming he ‘’thought about Tony’’ and decided to stick to the side of the ship to help his mentor. 

He got attached to Tony really fast. He thought of him as a guidance figure because that’s how Tony presented himself to Peter, since the beginning. He told Peter when he met him that he was there for a hundred-point restoration. He asked him why was he doing the superhero thing, what is his MO and what gets him of bed every morning. It’s natural that Peter got attached that fast, because Tony not only did his homework on him, he showed him that he was there to support him and that he understood him. When was the last time Peter got that from a male figure? That’s right, his previous father-figure, Ben Parker. So receiving that from Tony made him start looking at the man that way.

When we start seeing this? In here:

He challenges Tony when he believes the man is not listening to him, not caring enough about him. Thing is, Peter, had been way too involved in his own little world that never once stopped to pay attention to details like: ’’like that lady that bought you the churro.’‘ ‘‘Happy told me you quit band six weeks ago.’‘ ‘’My dad never really gave me a lot of support…and I’m trying to break the cycle of shame.’’

And like a typical teenager, he gets defensive when Tony proves him wrong.

Here, he starts to realize Tony means more than just the Avengers membership or the recognition. He gets way too upset and sad over something like what happened. He could easily offer an apology or use his old suit instead. He gets upset because he feels like his relationship with Tony is over.

‘’I just thought that I could work really hard and he could– He would– You know. But I screwed it up.’’  /=  ‘’I just thought that I could work really hard and he could see me as a hero, he would offer me a place on the team/his life- You know. But I screwed it up.’’

Peter was aware of all of this just after the ferry incident. Just like Tony, before that confrontation, he was doing this unaware of the personal feelings he was putting into the equation. He even complained to Ned about Tony like any kid would about their parents: 

‘’I’m sick of him treating me like a kid all the time.’’

‘’Why would I tell him about the churro?’‘ ‘’Can I please talk to Mr. Stark?’‘ ‘‘I don’t really want Mr. Stark to know about it.’‘ ‘‘Mr. Stark really overdid it.’‘ ‘‘Hey, Mr. Stark, could I do anything?’‘ ’‘I gotta tell Mr. Stark.’‘ 

He wants Tony in his life. He already thinks of him like he’s his father-figure.

He gets time to reflect on everything and does the right thing as he’s always done. He understands he needs to give Tony his space and that if he wants to be there for him, he needs to be patient. And he gets that at the end:

‘’Boss wants to see you.’’ ‘‘Give me a minute with the kid.’‘ ‘‘I gotta talk to the kid.‘’ ‘‘I was wrong about you.’‘ ‘‘I think, with a little more mentoring…’‘ ‘’Happy will show you to your room…’‘ ‘’You’ll fit right in.’‘ ‘‘See you around. Okay.’‘ ‘’He actually made a mature choice.’’

He wants to be more than what he is and he wants to stay around Tony because he wants the guidance and the feeling of comfort and security he gives him but he knows he needs to stay on the ground for the little people. That’s where he started, that’s where he stays. After getting crushed by a building, I think he is still a little unprepared for the big stuff. 

And at the end, he gets confirmation Tony is going to be there, no matter what choice he makes.  

Thank you!

[snkpolls]

SnK Episode 64 Poll Results (for Anime Only Watchers)

The poll closed with 60 responses. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Please note that these are the results for the Anime Only Watchers’ poll. If you wish to see the results for the Manga Readers’ poll, click here.

Anime only watchers, beware of spoilers if you venture over to the manga readers’ poll results.

---

RATE THE EPISODE 53 Responses

The poll closed with 54 responses. The overwhelmingly positive response to the season continues, with 97.9% of folks giving it a 4 or higher and not a single person giving a rating less than 3. 

10/10 acting, atmosphere and music

MAPPA couldn't have done a better job. Inhumanely impossible. 20/10.

Just pure hype

Amazing episode, one of the best in the entire series.

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING MOMENTS WAS YOUR FAVORITE? 53 Responses

The overwhelming majority of respondents enjoyed the last scene of the episode, with Eren transforming in the basement and assaulting just as Willy formally declares war on Paradis. Behind the climactic moment, the rest of the favored scenes were various moments throughout Eren and Reiner’s conversation prior.

WHICH INTERPRETATION (BY RBA) OF THE OLD MAN’S STORY DO YOU THINK IS CLOSEST TO WHAT THE MAN ACTUALLY THOUGHT? 54 Responses

The Old Man’s story and its motifs have been present all throughout this season, so it’s interesting to see how people see it. When it comes to understanding the Old Man’s thoughts specifically, the plurality (46.3%) agrees with Bertholdt’s interpretation. Others (35.2%) see more to Annie’s idea of the Old Man’s final thoughts. Only 18.5% believe that there’s little use in predicting what’ll never be known.

IN THE SAME VEIN, WHICH OF THE AFOREMENTIONED INTERPRETATION FITS REINER’S STATE OF MIND IN THE BASEMENT SCENE? 54 Responses

In that same vein, the plurality (42.6%) also believes that Reiner wanted to receive judgement, perhaps from Eren. Just a little under 26% believe that in addition to receiving judgement, Reiner also wants to receive forgiveness. Few believe Reiner solely wants forgiveness. Finally, a little under 15% simply aren’t sure what Reiner wants. 

He just cant take it anymore, he wanna die. If he stays alive he will become the reason of death of more people which he doesnt want

He wants it to be over 

He wants to be killed as an atonement because he can’t live with his contradictory feelings about what he’s done

He wants what happens after someone is judged- to be sentenced. Reiner already judged himself.

I dont care

WOULD YOU LIKE TO GET A HUG FROM PIECK? 54 Responses

An incredibly serious question with a lopsided result. Just under 69% would like to receive a hug from Pieck, in contrast to 13% who’d rather not. 18.5% don’t really care about stuff like this. 

DO YOU THINK HELOS ACTUALLY EXISTED? 53 Responses

The majority (little under 53%) believe Helos was a complete fabrication, down to his very existence. Some others (18.9%) think he existed, but wasn’t anybody special or (13.2%) think he existed and was actually involved with ending the Great Titan War. A bit over 15% just don’t care.

“I’M THE SAME AS YOU.” EREN SAID THIS TO REINER A FEW TIMES IN THE EPISODE. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THAT? DO YOU THINK EITHER OF THEM HARBOR A GRUDGE AGAINST THE OTHER? 29 Responses

One of the episode’s focuses was the meeting between Eren and Reiner, in addition to their general relationship. Here’s what a few people thought about the central motif of the meeting: 

At this point Eren's attitude is all like "It's nothing personal." 

Eren is in the same state of mind like reiner, he wanted to become the hero, yet he became a villan in the enemy's eyes

I think Eren's right. They're the same, and S1 and S4 parallel their actions in multiple ways. I honestly don't think Eren has any kind of grudge against Reiner anymore. I think he's moved on from his hatred and is just doing what he thinks he has to. And Reiner just seems ready to die so he doesn't have any kind of grudge either.

I think Eren is definitely holding a grudge, it’s not like him not too. 

Hell no, Reiner is an irredeemable monster. Based on the preview for the next episode, whatever Eren does from here on out is justified.

If Eren kills someone dear to Reiner, maybe Reiner will hold a grudge against Eren, otherwise they understand each other reasons.

I think they recognise each other’s efforts to protect their homelands (even if it means destruction) and their determination to do so, and that they have the same motivations and values. i think they don’t have a grudge against each other because they are able to see they are similar people who have just been placed on opposing sides, and that it is nothing more than their duties to bring down the enemy, but at heart, they hold the same values and morals.

I think it mainly shows how Eren has matured over the last few years. He knows Reiner’s intentions now, and he can admit that the two of them are similar without lashing out at him immediately and labeling him as a completely evil man (like he used to). I think Eren might still have some harsh feelings towards Reiner, but it definitely doesn’t seem like it’s his priority right now. Reiner doesn’t clearly display that he has a huge grudge against Eren (though I bet he still isn’t very fond of Eren). More than anything, Reiner seems to be struggling with his thoughts about his time in Paradis. It seems like he can’t accept the fact that Paradis Eldians are not all devils; he may be struggling to suppress this new perspective, and he forces himself to commit to his “honorary Marleyan identity” instead. Thus, I don’t think Reiner hates Eren as much as he used to, as he seems to be showing slight signs of sympathy towards the Paradis Eldians.

No Eren is now a grown ass adult when je was making his decision. Reiner was a kid he was like 11? 12? He didn't know he was an indoctrinated child and he suffered all his life for that. Eren isn't at all the same as Reiner. 

I feel like that emphasizes that the people of Marley and Eldia are no different from each other, just that they are on different sides. I do not think Eren and Reiner harbor a grudge against each other.

They’re both pretty fucking broken. I don’t think Eren or Reiner hate each other because Eren said “if it’s to save the world, then you didn’t have much of a choice.” But I also think part of Reiner wants Eren to hate him because he hates himself so much.

i think the old eren would hate him but it’s been 4 years and now i think he has realized that they are in fact very similar. i feel it is very interesting what happened but i think there would still be a minor grudge against each other

They both have the same purpose but different paths, to protect their loved ones from a threat. Since it's not really a personal issue but a bigger picture I don't think they resent each other, it's just a coincidence how they both ended up against each other.

DO YOU THINK THAT EREN AND REINER ARE EFFECTIVE FOILS TO EACH OTHER? 52 Responses

The vast majority (88.4%) seem to agree with the notion of Reiner being a foil to Eren, be it a complete or partial foil. 9.6% dissent and argue that there’s no comparison.

LADY KIYOMI OF THE AZUMABITO CLAN SEEMED TO NOT STICK AROUND FOR TYBUR’S THEATER PRODUCTION. WHY? 52 Responses

An interesting development came in Episode 5 in the form of Lady Kiyomi of the Azumabito leaving Tybur’s Play before it started. The majority (just under 52%) thought it meant that she had ties to Eren and/or the SC. A large minority (34.6%) on the other believe that although she somehow found out about the attack beforehand, she has no ties to Eren. Some others were either already spoiled, believe she got lucky or think she had her own plans of assaulting Tybur during the play.

MR. LEONHART SEEMED ADAMANT THAT ANNIE IS STILL ALIVE AND WILL COME BACK HOME. WHAT DO YOU THINK? 53 Responses

When it comes to Mr. Leonhart’s appearance and his convictions, the vast majority (83%) believe that Annie is alive. The major division comes about whether Annie will be able to reunite with her father or not. Some others believe that Annie is neither dead nor alive and is more permanently stuck in her crystalline state. Only one person believes she is simply dead and that’s that.

REINER IS SHOCKED BY EREN’S PRESENCE ON THE MAINLAND. WHAT’S THE FUNNIEST WAY YOU COULD ENVISION EREN GETTING ACROSS THE SEA? 52 Responses

A bit of a less serious question came out here. How could Eren get across the sea in a less serious manner? Some thought him walking on water would be rather amusing, others believed piggy-backing on Armin’s Colossal Titan would be most humorous. Other options included free-styling across the sea or kayaking. 

A ship? Maybe one of those Marley sent to Paradis in the last four years?

bOAT

Had armin yeet him across 

He rode on David Hasselhoff

Used one of the Marleyan ships that was sent to Paradis to go to Marley

WHO IS THAT LANKY SOLDIER WHO TRAPPED PIECK AND PORCO IN THE HOLE? 53 Responses

A plurality (45.3%) believes the lanky soldier who trapped Pieck and Porco is someone we already know. Though a little under 23% think that it’s actually a new character only Pieck knows. In a similar vein, 13.2% think that it’s a new character from the SC. 17% appear to have been spoiled, however.

MAGATH ASKS, “HAS IT BEGUN?” WHEN HE LEARNS THE WARRIORS HAVE GONE MISSING. WHAT “IT” IS MAGATH TALKING ABOUT? 51 Responses

Just shy of 50% think that Magath was already aware of Eren and/or SC’s presence in Marley when noting that “it” has already begun. Others believe that he either had some other plan created in conjunction with Willy or was waiting on an attack from the nation of Hizuru. A little under 20% just aren’t sure. 

He was anticipating enemy attack

DO YOU THINK WILLY WAS TRUTHFUL WHEN REVEALING THE “TRUTH” TO THE WORLD? 51 Responses

When it comes to Willy revealing the “truth” to the world, the vast majority (72.5%) believe that Lord Tybur was largely truthful when it came to dropping bombshells, but also made sure to twist certain things to get a favorable narrative. Some others think that he was either completely or only partially truthful.

WILLY ACCUSES EREN OF WANTING TO UNLEASH THE COLOSSAL TITANS UPON THE WORLD. DO YOU THINK HE IS JUST DEMONIZING HIM TO GET THE WORLD TO ATTACK PARADIS, OR DO YOU THINK THIS IS SOMETHING EREN IS CAPABLE OF DOING? 51 Responses

A rather noted accusation from Willy rained down upon Eren in this episode. And as a result, we gained a rather colorful pie chart to boot. In it, a slight plurality (23.5%) seemed to believe Tybur’s accusation when it came to discerning Eren’s future plans. Slightly less (19.6%) thought that Tybur was making up BS about Yeagerboy. The same percentage (19.6%) took a middle group, arguing that although Tybur actually believes this is Eren’s plan, Eren actually wants something different. Some others simply note that Eren couldn’t do that dastardly act, even if he wanted to due to lack of royal blood. 21.6% were spoiled about the story’s future. 

Pretty sure Eren wants to kill every last person outside of Paradis and is going to use Zeke’s royal blood to do so, but I think Zeke will be tricked or forced into it sonehow

ON A SCALE OF 1-5, HOW BADLY DO YOU FEEL FOR FALCO ABOUT THE WHOLE LETTER FIASCO? 52 Responses

When it comes to Falco and the whole letter fiasco, there is much sympathy for the boy. More than half gave a rating of either 4 or 5 and only 13.5% gave a rating of either 2 or 1. In conclusion, Eren is a mean poopy-head!

EREN TOLD FALCO LAST EPISODE THAT HE HOPED FALCO WOULD LIVE A LONG LIFE. YET HE TRANSFORMED ON TOP OF HIM IN THIS EPISODE. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? 52 Responses

Staying on the topic of Falco, and Eren’s actions being contradictory to his words, almost 56% believe that although Eren was honest with his words in regards to Falco’s future, he had no qualms about letting that get in the way of his plans. A noted minority (28.8%) think that Eren hoped Reiner would protect the young boy. A small percentage also thought that Eren was simply lying to Falco.

DID YOU EXPECT EREN TO TRANSFORM ON TOP OF REINER AFTER HIS SPEECH ABOUT THEIR SIMILARITIES? 51 Responses

When it came to the episode’s ending, the majority seemed to expect Eren’s transformation, be it because of spoilers or own predictions (58.8%). A noted minority (41.2%) did not expect it, however, predicting either a recruitment attempt from Eren or something else entirely.

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE EPISODE?

I loved the music. It made all so tense my heart was beating like crazy.

WILD AND AN EMOTIONAL ROLLARCOASTER

As an anime only, i think that the choice of ost in this episode was beyond good. I don't see why people are complaining about the ost. For me it was perfect because Eren's transformation was like a sudden turn and 2Volts is perfect for that just like when they reveal the owl as the Attack titan. Wayyy better that YSBG or any ost that these manga readers were hoping it to be. Mappa and the production crew doesn't deserve any of these hate. Done ranting fgs.

Grim Reminder 2.0, but with Marley and the Warriors finally getting what they deserve for what they've done? I'm DOWN for that!

I’m wondering whether Historia is still Queen and how much character development she had gone through as a monarch during war

The people who complain about the music choices of the directors are just pure titan idiots

Assuming he lives through this battle, I think Falco is going to be one of the main characters in season 4. He has been telling himself that he “does not want to fight anymore” and he was probably influenced by what Eren (Mr. Kruger) had said to him on the bench. I can see Falco maybe rebelling against Marley in the future, but for now he’s clearly still devoted to Marley. Overall, I loved this episode, and season 4 is finally picking up with the action. I was looking forward to seeing our protagonists (Eren and the Scouts) again, and I thought it was interesting how Eren seemed much more mature, yet still somewhat insane in this episode. I am very excited to see the next episode, particularly to see the rest of the Scouts and to see what happens in the “war” Eren starts. I am also curious to see if anyone from any other nations decide to side with the Eldians, or if all of them simply believe Willy and hate the Paradis Eldians too.

manga readers really need to shut up and put bigger spoiler warnings 😐 loved the episode despite getting spoiled.

It was one of the best episodes of AOT I have seen, I truly don’t understand why or how people could complain about it. I’ve seen the posts about the soundtrack not fitting the episode but I honestly do not agree. The whole episode was perfectly directed and had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. 

Ost's totally fine, so is the CG. I think most are too invested in the episode to give a fuck except Manga readers. 

I wish the Paradisians would have found another way to achieve their objectives instead of killing innocent civilians, like maybe targeted attacks on key military targets, or demonstrations of strength or public information campaigns to dissuade Marleyans and other people from wanting to go to war against them.

WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES? 48 Responses

Thanks again to everyone who participated! We’ll see you again next episode!

[baddyzarc]

5/7 Ruins: Legend of the Cursed Royal Palace

1 2 3 4a 4b x 6 7  

we like Vector. we’re not going to try to convince anyone that hes, like, a good person. Because he isn’t. But we do think he is a good character. Also we got the blog deleted while prepping this section so vector is cursed and we hate him

Vector is a spectacle. But he’s is a bit of an awkward character, at least for an Emperor. Unlike the rest of the Barian Emperors, who are morally gray at worst, Vector is pure evil for the sake of it. And generally, villains who are evil for no reason are considered weaker among the cast of villains. Yet he shines through in how yikes he is, and he does have one valid(ish) reason for his appalling behavior. 

Vector’s story is one of the most fun out of the Emperors due to how unhinged he is. He is the only Emperor with a near-complete tale. But his story also mixes deeply into Nasch and Merag’s Legend, which creates some problems in how to organize this thing.  

To begin, let’s go to his ruins. 

Vector’s ruins are located in a dilapidated castle on his island.

Personally, I have nothing to say about this location since this post already did an in-depth analysis on it. 

The advanced machinery and layout is interesting. It reminds of the Winchester Mystery House, but that's about it. 

Vector’s story is divided into two categories. First is the story of the Legend of the Cursed Palace. This consists of only the text provided within the palace. The second is all the additional information we obtain through Vector’s memories, Nasch’s memories, and Abyss’ intervention. Because of this, Vector’s past is the most vast out of all the Emperors. But is is also the most confusing due to conflicting information.

The Legend of the Cursed Royal Palace is told to us by Rio, and it is rather simple. 

Long ago, there lived a cruel prince in a palace. The prince was so cruel that everyone died. The end. Vector was a childish king who lacked faith in humanity. He executed anyone he doubted by beheading them as he watched. According to the legend, when he was “the last one standing” he took his own life by stabbing himself with his sword. 

That’s all the information from the ruins. This legend gets complicated with the rest of the story, so I’m gonna recount it as briefly as possible without any additional analysis. 

Starting all the way at the beginning, Vector was born as this little uggo peanut right here, and he was the herald of peace.

He came from two persons that are complete opposites of each other. One is a kindly mother who desires peace and the other is a ruthless warlord who wants war.

While sleeping in his crib, the Mythyrian Card “Number 65: Split-Decision Djinn - Judge Buster” fell onto him from the sky. Vector absorbed the Number into his body.

Years later, Vector’s father fell ill. Vector took over the kingdom, and he promised his mother and his citizens that he will bring peace to their kingdom. He did this by signing a peace treaty with the nations his father was warring against. 

Angered by this, his father pulled out his sword and attempted to kill Vector with it. His mother shielded Vector with her body to protect him, resulting in her death. His father then collapsed from his illness and died on the spot. 

Vector mourned for a brief moment before Don Thousand approached him. Don Thousand embedded the Over-Hundred Monster “Number 104: Masquerade Magician - Shining” in him to make him believe he killed his parents, thus saying the lovely line “You shall not be the prince of tragedy, but a prince of madness” and Vector followed suit, becoming cruel and sadistic. 

An unspecified amount of time passed before Vector ran into Nasch, Merag, and Durbe. 

Vector attacked Nasch’s kingdom with his fleet of ships and “Gorgonic Guardians”, which are Medusa-like monsters. Nasch counterattacks by using mirrors on them. As he was close to losing the battle, Vector performed a blood sacrifice to summon a god, which also happened to be Nasch’s Mythyrian Number “Number 73: Abyss Splash, the Roaring Waterfall Deity”. In order to purify Abyss, Merag sacrificed herself to summon another god, which is her Mythyrian Number “Number 94: Crystal Zero, the Princess of Polar Ice”.

Nasch gained control of both gods and used them to force Vector to retreat. Vector ran as Nasch and Durbe pursued him, destroying villages and kingdoms as he did so. 

Eventually, Vector was cornered in a Labyrinth, where he tricked Nasch into sending his army to their death via a Shadow Game. Regardless, Nasch defeated Vector again.

Vector fled back to his kingdom this time. In a fit of rage, he murdered everyone in his kingdom. Nasch followed him to the palace and found Vector surrounded by the dead bodies of his people.

They had a final showdown; Vector lost once more. Upon losing and in Nasch’s words, “... those you murdered... dragged you into Hell”. 

And that’s Vector’s story. 

Now, the only thing that is up for debate is how Vector died. The Legend of the Cursed Royal Palace stated that he committed suicide while Nasch’s recount said that the souls of his victims killed him. This may be a plot hole, but in the prior episode, both sides of this story were mentioned. Vector had a nightmare where he was being chased by the restless souls and Astral mentioned that the mad prince took his own life. Vector originally denies Nasch’s recount of his death at first, but quickly the souls manifest (because they were dueling on the field where Vector held his executions) to prove that this scenario did happen. This means that the writers are semi-aware of the situation, but they don’t state which is the true fate. 

Since it is unknown who scribed the legend onto the ruins, Nasch and Vector’s shared memories + the final scene in the Vector vs. Nasch Duel outweighs what is written in the palace. 

If anything, it’s possible that the tormented souls drove Vector to the tipping point of his madness, resulting in Vector taking his own life to escape them. Although, that is just my interpretation.  

But from here, we can finally discuss Vector because he is just full of it. 

Firstly, I want to talk about genetics. Specifically these lines right here. 

I find this extremely fun because there are two things at play here. First is that Zexal specifically states that his cruelty derives from his father—on the other hand, his kindness should derive from his mother—and second is that Don Thousand is able to kick this into overdrive. I doubt that the writers were thinking about any of this when they made this story, but this is a fun observation that I noticed (but if they were, kudos to them).  

Forcing some real-life concepts onto yugioh again, let’s talk about heritability. Heritability measures the variation between a trait of a parent (such as hair length, body size, temperament, ect.) and the traits of an offspring within a population of individuals. High heritability means that the phenotypes (physical characteristics) of the parents correlates to the phenotypes of the offspring, and vice-versa with low heritability. In humans, personality is a heritable trait, and in our species, one of the most heritable personalities is neuroticism. High neuroticism attributes to emotional instability and plays into emotions such as jealousy, loneliness, anxiety, anger, ect. 

There are four other major personalities, but for this, I’ll focus on neuroticism. Honestly, you could put any trait here since any of them loosely applies to this concept.

Okay. So does this mean that Vector was doomed to a life like his father. His genetics oughta leaned him that way. But NO, no because humans are far more complicated than that, and genetics is not the only thing that affects a person's behavior. But it does influence it some, and this is the basis of it’s influence.

What this says is that within a population, (genetics + environmental influence) = variation of a trait. Some phenotypes are heavily controlled by genetics while others are not. A simple example is if you have tall parents produce an offspring who have the genes for being tall (assume that it is moderately controlled by the environment). If the offspring grew up in a poor environment (less food or something) it will be short relative to the rest of the “tall” population. But if the offspring grew up in a good environment (more food), then it will be tall relative to the rest of the population. 

For the five different personalities in humans, each of them varies in how much it is influenced by genetics and how much of it is influenced by the environment (this is stingy since studying the effects of environmental influences on humans is very difficult and hard to replicate). But neuroticism is one that may have significant interactions between genetics and the environment. 

But enough science, let’s go back to Vector. Vector is really fun because his situation allows him to exist on all of the spectrums. He went from incredibly kind-hearted and peaceful to just not. This is possibly due to his inherited neuroticism and the environment he was exposed to.

It is likely that the “current” Vector’s neuroticism is rather high. Scoring high in neuroticism means that an individual tends to have low emotional stability, which attributes to frequent mood swings, high irritability, insecurity, and emotional volatility. This trait is more complex than that, but that’s the general gist of it. Most of this could be seen when it comes to how he treats others and how others treat him. 

With Vector, he hates it when other people mock him or control him. This is why he despises Nasch for being better than him and why he betrays Don Thousand for toying with him. He is someone who needs to be in full control of the situation; this could be because of his insecurity (like, he got really pissed when Merag gained the upper hand and began to insult him during their duel). Vector is also described as being incredibly untrusting of other individuals, hence why he kills anyone he doubts. These traits are similar to that of his volatile father, whom he also shares a similar vocabulary with when describing people they hate, or anyone against war.

On the other hand, scoring low in neuroticism means that an individual can handle stress very well. Often, they are calm and composed. This could only be seen in Vector prior to Don Thousand’s interference; i.e. when he was handling the kingdom after his father got ill. He also maintained his calm composure while his father scolded him and pulled a sword to kill him. 

His mother was kind and his father was not; Vector likely inherited some mix of neuroticism from them. Kindness and evilness was always inside Vector. And this allows him to exist as the kind “Rei Shingetsu” and the cruel “Vector” depending on the environment he was exposed to. 

So what were the different environments? I think it was the Mythyrian and Over-Hundred Numbers. 

Genetics played a role in shaping the core of Vector (“the same cruel blood as the king is running through you” and all) but it was the environmental influences added onto his core. Here’s a simple graphic. 

Vector is a baby who inherited his father and mother’s neuroticism (perhaps he has an intermediate; I do not know the mode of inheritance of this). The Mythyrian Number card pushed him hard into the low neuroticism section. The Over-Hundred Number pushed him into the high neuroticism section, and this was where he stayed until his death by Don Thousand. 

What I’m getting is that the “gentle prince” persona is not the actual Vector, but a Vector under the influence of a Number Monster (albeit a kind one). You could say the same with the “Prince of Madness” Vector, that he is also a false Vector influenced by an evil Number Monster, but there’s some glaring evidence that this evil Vector is closer to the actual Vector than the kind one. I’ll get to this later when I talk about his Guardian.

It’s highly possible that a “Vector” untouched by the Numbers would have existed somewhere in the middle since his mother and father would be the environmental influences in that case (or maybe they would’ve pushed him to one side too). The closest we get may be the one at the very end of the show, where Vector is “not evil” but still a trickster, mischievous type of guy. 

Overall, Vector is a character who had great potential for kindness, as stated by Don Thousand, but he also had the greatest potential for darkness as well. Don Thousand took advantage of this and gave Vector the environmental influence he needed to become the cruel, lovable character we know today. 

I just think it’s neat that Vector has a plausible reason why he went from baby to killer. 

Alrighty. So about those dang Number cards. 

Both of these cards and their respective Chaos upgrades represent the two sides of Vector. “Number 65: Split-Decision Djinn - Judge Buster” to “Chaos Number 65: Split-Decision Demon King - Judge Devil” and “Number 104: Masquerade Magician - Shining” to “Chaos Number 104: Masquerade Magician - Umbral”. There is one specific play with these two that makes me enjoy Vector so much.

But before I get to that, I need to talk about the influence of each monster on Vector and his Guardian.

As stated previously, these monsters altered Vector’s personality. “Masquerade Magician” is the more obvious of the monsters. It’s a masquerade; it hides under a mask and fools people. That’s just a normal Vector. A neat factoid is that the “Shining” to “Umbral” at the end of “Masquerade Magician” is related to the reveal of Shingetsu to Vector. Shining obviously means light (hence the light-attribute) while umbral means shadow (hence the dark-attribute). Number 104 and its Number c104 were first played when Vector revealed himself to Yuma during the Sargasso Arc. Light to Shadow, Shingetsu to Vector. 

“Judge Buster” is more difficult due to its relationship as a Mythyrian Number. It is a monster who altered Vector to be as good as he can be. It is supposed to be a fair and truthful judge, the polar opposite of “Masquerade Magician”.

But this is where things get very complicated. Despite being Vector’s “good” card, it is no different than the Over-Hundred that infected him. From the perspective of his father: 

Vector is a “cursed” child because he lacked any of the ruthless characteristics of his father. The way the Numbers “65” flashed on the screen is also similar to when other characters use or get possessed by a Number Monster. Vector was cursed, or possessed, to be a kind and gentle prince. In this case, despite being a very positive force on Vector’s life, the curse of a Number is still a curse. Eventually Vector loses his initial curse to inherit Don Thousand’s curse.

But the story of “Judge Buster” doesn’t end there. It continues into the story of Vector’s Guardian and it’s ascent into a Chaos Monster.

The Guardian of the Cursed Royal Palace is a very interesting one. Vector is unique because his Guardian is completely unrelated to his Mythyrian Number, unlike Jinlon and Abyss for example. Vector’s Guardian does not speak and can only be described as a feral, bloodthirsty beast.

This guy is based off of another card called “Minotaurus” or (“Battle Ox” in the TCG). Despite not being related to the Mythyrian Number like the other Guardians, Minotaurus is completely related to Vector’s story. It’s flavor states “A cattle monster with tremendous power. It mows down anything with a single axe swing.” 

Now, there are several things to note here. An obvious one is that the Guardian is a Minotaur. In real life, the Minotaur derives from Greek Mythology. It is a beast that commonly resides in Labyrinths waiting for sacrificial maidens. With this detail, there is a direct connection to Vector’s story in two ways. 

First is that Vector describes his palace as a “Labyrinth of Screams” and second is that he lured Nasch into a Labyrinth to kill him. Two very prominent settings in the Vector’s story. 

Minotaurus is a deliberate choice made by the writers to tie this theme together, but this is just a neat easter egg. It is the actions of Minotaurus is what counts. 

The other thing is that Minotaurus’ weapon of choice, its axe, is located on the execution slab where Vector beheads his enemies.

Finally, and the one that I think is the most interesting and peculiar, is that the axe has Vector’s Mythyrian Number embedded in it. 

This is highly significant because if we look at all the other low-grade Emperors, their Mythyrian Numbers were abandoned when Don Thousand infected them (and they died shortly afterwards while Vector lived a part of his life with his Over-Hundred inside of him). In the end, most of the Mythyrian Numbers we see are held on a pedestal, or given some type of reverence in the afterlife. 

Vector’s card has an axe going through it, like he was trying to get rid of it. 

There’s a lot of assumptions to be made here with the most basic argument being that this detail bears no significance to Vector. BUT my theory is that the spirit of the card manifested to him at some point after he became a ruthless warrior. “Judge Buster” may have been trying to help him, or it was trying to convince him that the Over-Hundred infected his mind. Since Vector is a character filled with doubt and trust-issues, he likely ordered his executioner (Minotaurus or someone else) to behead “Judge Buster”. 

(Also, Vector said he noticed that Don Thousand altered his memories “a long time ago”? It was never stated how Vector found out. I think that he may have gotten this critical information when “Judge Buster” manifested in his past life. Perhaps it told him everything that happened. This means that Vector known the truth about his fate since his past life, and given his slick shrewdness and foresight, perhaps)

So you know when I said that “evil” Vector is probably closer to the “true” Vector than the kind one? It’s due to his relationship with his Mythyrian Number. From this possible encounter in their past life, the end result is that Vector actively rejected the Mythyrian Number’s blessing to accept his cruel heritage, which is thoroughly reinforced in this scene. 

In his duel against Nasch, Vector used “XYZ Discharge” to give Nasch all of his monsters to feint surrender after he found out about his true past. Vector immediately turned around and used “Trick Buster” to blow them up and kill Nasch while his guard was down. This move tells us everything we need to know about Vector. Vector knows of his two lives as a “good” and “terrible” person, and he chose to actively ignore them. The card “Trick Buster” could be seen as a combination of his two curses and what Vector got out of it. “Trick” comes from the trickster nature of “Masquerade Magician” and “Buster” comes from “Judge Buster”. Like with his past encounter with “Judge Buster” (which should’ve been able to repel the curse of the Over-Hundred) Vector rejected and executed his Mythyrian Number as he did with this new, possible redemption. 

He made that choice. He made both of these choices on his own free will. This is a major reason why Vector is described as “evil for evil’s sake”. When given a chance at redemption after he “found out” about his true past, instead of rejecting the life that Don Thousand gave him, Vector staight up said he doesnt give a fuck if he was supposed to be a good person. It’s kind of incredible and I think that’s just,,, wow i love him. 

And to add onto this fact, we need to talk about the Mythyrian Chaos Numbers, which is an oxymoron in the Zexal universe. “Judge Buster” and “Abyss Splash” (Vector and Nasch’s Mythyrians respectively) are the only Mythyrians who become Chaos monsters as well as being the only Emperors who use their own Mythyrian Numbers (Gilag doesn’t count due to raccoon-related shenanigans). This holds some discussion between these two, but I can’t really talk about it until I talk about Nasch.

However, what I want to say is that Vector chooses to use his Mythyrian Number. Although he randomly summoned it with a card effect, Vector plays his Mythyrian Number. Likewise in my discussion with Alito’s ruins, the Mythyrian Numbers have a purifying effect on the Emperors. It reveals their true, unaltered personalities. By choosing to use a Mythyrian and subsequently revealing his true nature, the cruel person we see is just how Vector is. His usage of “Trick Buster” backs this up. I don’t think it's a coincidence that Vector and Nasch, arguably the strongest of the Emperors, are also the ones who accept their Mythyrian Numbers yet still end up in Barian World. They are also the only ones that were able to Chaosify their Mythyrians, with Nasch performing a proper Chaos summon while Vector pulled into “Chaos Number 65: Split-Decision Demon King - Judge Devil” by luck.

Because of his denial of the Mythyrian Number despite being aware of its existence, Vector is the only Emperor that isn’t described as heroic in his legend. By being an active participant in his descent into Barian World, Vector cannot have a heroic legend like the others. He is simply a vile person who likely deserved his spot in Barian World. 

Now that we got that down, why did Vector end up in Barian World despite being his “true personality”? A simple answer is that Barian World represents Hell, and Vector deserved to go there. However, it’s repeatedly stated in the show that Chaotic persons end up in Barian World, not bad persons. 

And Chaos is complex due to the range of characters it goes through.

Like, this is a massive list of personalities, and they are all canon Chaos creatures. 

And if you haven't noticed, I haven’t discussed the Cursed Royal Palace’s duel yet. This is because it occurred between Black Mist and Astral, and it has little relevance to Vector himself. However, that battle ties into the complexities of Chaos that I will continue with Nasch and Merag’s Legend, as well as the rest of Vector’s story.  

Bye.

[necroalx]

My problem with P5R new ending (spoilers)

I’ve been asked in my curiouscat about why I have problems with P5R ending a bunch of times by now, and honestly, I can't really put it in a way that wouldn't sound personal since my dislike over the matter comes from a personal appreciation of how the themes were handled in both versions.

With that being said feel free to ignore my POV:

First I would like to mention the things I loved about P5R (with spoilers ahead):

-The gameplay improvements were just perfect.

-Akechi's character arc was top notch for me, exactly what I wanted from him and I feel very satisfied with his new interactions.

-Sumire characterization during the first 8 ranks of her confidant were pretty cool.

-The individualization of the thieves until December, I loved the showtime attacks If anything I would have wanted they added more of those between more of the thieves too.

-Maruki is an incredibly well written character and Daiki Itoh's direction for relatable antagonists shines through him, he was really what P5 needed, the timing of the new semester events may be debatable for me, but I loved everything about him.

-Also loved Jose even we didn't get that much of him.

-The final boss fight was amazing!

Anyway My problem with the P5R ending is (Also, obvious spoilers for P5 and P5R):

-Retroactively diminishes the meaning of the original ending:

P5 vanilla original ending was in a way, the ultimate message about changing the world in the most healthy way possible, seeing it as the way it should be FIRST.

There were theories about this being an altered reality, and this is proven right by the events of the last semester in P5R.Also, with the mere existence of the events of P5R new content, the original ending becomes now an inconclusive story. Which makes it ultimately a lessened ending, because "this isn't the way the story should end".

-The theme of rebellion against an unjust society gets pointlessly messy and lost in transition:

Yes, I get the subject of facing reality is a way more important topic and way more down to earth, the thieves disbanding the way they did and going their own separate ways is indeed thematically fitting and shows some growth coming from their experiences in the new semester. Still, the game being written by a different person, plus having a scenery of "kids dreaming about their perfect world given to them by a overprotective father figure" seems to in a way tarnish and overwrite their experiences gained through the whole story.

I understand this is not the message meant to be conveyed by this new ending. I know and for sure love that in Royal the thieves don't exist just for Joker's sake was their whole characters aren't defined just by his actions anymore. BUT with those things mentioned above, all these change feels like a "correction" made to express how "japanese societal expectations were ultimately right all along things are not always like how we want and you have to deal with that" instead of the original ending's more positive outlook towards the future, that's now seen as a naive handled view of how things should be, and ultimately as I mentioned before, inconclusive.

Things are clear in that regard for me, (In the original, without Maruki's existence in the plot, the thieves were granted a world were they could do "whatever they wanted", between the limits of their own cognitive knowledge of how the world worked, after defeating Yaldabaoth and getting the holy grail treasure to basically "grant them that wish" as a reward after the fusion between mementos and the real world is finished. In P5R new ending, the change is made evident by having Morgana not steal the plug from the man in black chasing the thieves Van and the thieves not taking Joker home in the new ending to give the "more realistic" approach to that matter.)

This conclusion couldn't exist until P5R came out. Since now the entirety of the new Semester concept lies on the basis that the Phantom Thieves subconsciously granted Maruki his power and caused the whole "actualization event" through wishing someone could make those ideal realities for them, with Maruki being the only one capable of seeing the world the way they would've wanted to be because of their interactions with him. I actually give them credit for this since this is a brilliant detail and makes his tragic antagonistic role even more appealing.

But that leads me to my real and biggest problem with P5R new ending:

-The phantom thieves becoming secondary characters after being the main characters and vehicles to the story in the original game and through the 80% of P5R's story.Now people would call Kasumi waifu bait and other things, hell, even I memed about it before, the reality is, she's the most important tool Itoh and the new writers used to built this new ending, she is the most important character (besides Maruki himself obviously) to make the player empathize with Maruki's motives and actions, she is a victim of her circumstances just like the rest and she's "rescued" by this overprotective father figure character found in Maruki, but he was taking away her freedom as a consequence, thus making her relevant to the game's theme of rebellion. But then she faces that reality and she has to grow out of it by... "insert Itoh favorite writing trope of the protagonist beating the crap out of the heroine to make her come back to her senses" (Same thing he did with Marie in golden). Which is ok I guess, it can be a forgivable writing sin since the built to this was pretty well done. But then... there's nothing.Kasumi is presented and forced into scenes and moments so the player realizes "this character is important, more important than the rest" from very early on, it goes from scene to scene while the original events of the vanilla game still happen, and she was not the only one of coruse, Joker Akechi and Kasumi having their little arcs separated from the rest of the cast was obviously building towards something. But then going against everything Joker did in the original game, (and through 80% of P5R since those events are still in the game obviously) he chose both Kasumi and Akechi (twice in his case) over his other friends. Yes, the thieves were trapped on their fake realities, yes they came to the rescue in the end FOR Joker. But at this point they were: Not fully aware of who Kasumi really was and her involvement with these developments, not aware of the alliance between Joker and Crow, not aware of the weird palace that's been there the whole time. ALL because Joker and Mona kept these things secret from the rest, why? What's the sound logic behind this? Why would Joker not trust his friends with such important information after all they went through? Why are they reduced to convenient sidekicks after they saved his life and proved themselves capable of doing the impossible when they all decided to work together? Why? It makes no sense. They all have been through so much with him, just days before they all were inside the velvet room alongside Joker, finding out about his most intimate aspect and sharing an irreplaceable moment of realization and conviction of together. Just for them to become anticlimactically trapped on their dream worlds and completely forgetting about Joker and their true bond with him. Sure they come back to their senses AFTER Joker triggers their true memories with some words, but this SHOULDN'T have happened after all they went through after their fight with Yaldabaoth. Call it bad timing in the writing sense, but it was a testament of how separated they become from their original role in the new story, all for the sake of these new additions. And still, we can ignore that, I can see over that and say "well it's the ultimate tentation they were never tested through", but here's were the problem lies, besides the fact of Joker never telling his friends about the things I mentioned before, he is now a fully self insert character, when 80% of the original story (which is just the vanilla game honestly) he was written as Joker being his own entity, with his own sense of justice very clearly defined and a focus towards his friends as his most precious part of his life. This is suddenly thrown to the garbage in the new semester.

Why? Because now the player has to make a choice that the original Joker wouldn't make in the original, chose Akechi over the other phantom thieves. It honestly feels like a huge regression.Don't get me wrong, I appreciate Akechi's new confidant and his amazing dynamic with Joker being exploited the best way possible. I do, I am a fan of Akechi's character archetype and his characterization in both vanilla and his new scenes in royal. I am a sucker for antagonistic villainous characters getting a proper redemption arc in convincing ways. But the price was too high for my liking.

By the price I mean; You literally CAN'T get the new TRUE (complete) ending without choosing to keep your promise with Akechi, which means, you can't see the full extent of the story conclusion, Maruki's and Kasumi's arcs won't get any closure and you will only get a now "diminished" ending (the vanilla original ending), if you don't chose to keep your promise with Akechi. A "personal" promise and one you never told your friends about. The worst part of this decision is, the whole reason Joker and Akechi's dynamic works so well is because they were originally written as pretty oposite characters with their own unique distinguished quirks morals AND sense of justice. But then, suddenly, at the climax of the story, Joker is just a self insert blank state? That just does not work.

As for Sumire, once she's brought back and awakens again, her character arc ends, she becomes just another sidekick like the rest of the thieves, which makes all the built her character was used for... what? It's not really pointless, since it brings the story to this point, but what's left for her? What's her role now? She goes back to being Kasumi in the metaverse and the optional aspect of her confidant makes this transition to her going back to being Sumire feel kind of ambiguous and also inconclusive. Yes I know she is honoring the memory of her sister and that she has accepted her reality, that's true, but the development comes to a sudden turn when she suddenly becomes just another one in the crew behind Goro and Joker. All the phantom thieves had their roles cleared out beforehand soon after their insertion arcs were finished, Ann was the conscience of the team, always asking "are we doing the right thing?" Yusuke was the same, always second guessing every choice with a worst case scenario since as he said in his awakening "in order to see true authenticity, one has to be dispassionately realistic", Ryuji was always the one going for it and wanting things getting done he's the focus, Makoto is the advisor, so she became the clear headed tactician, Futaba was the tool device, she became the medium to the ends always finding ways to work around towards their goals, Mona is the heart and the hope representing their wish to inspire society through their actions, Haru was the kindness, a reminder of what are they trying to inspire and a source of tolerance the thieves were missing until she joined in. Sumire was... what? This honestly bothered me, made me feel the whole journey was just a bad joke, because now not only the phantom thieves were reduced to mere sidekicks, so was the one character with most promise in the story while Goro became the player's beating husband through Joker, a testament of the choice he made of choosing the image they made the player have of Akechi, the one person Joker couldn't save, the one who's beyond saving at thins point over the friends and family he did saved. By the way, as contradictory as it may sound, I loved the twist, having Akechi's life depending on the final choice for true freedom, it was clever, it added the right heart wrenching moment right before the climax, what I didn't like was how clear it was made at this point how little the other thieves mattered. Why? Have the phantom thieves ever sent a calling card without having giving their full agreement? Especially when a new important development could come up from their actions at the last moment? Not until this point, Goro's life was on the line here, he was an ally now, he was a phantom thief member, they all agreed to this. But were they informed of this last minute development by Joker, you know, so they could all agree to what was the right thing to do like they all had swear to do every time? No, because Joker made that decision himself, because all that mattered was the player decision the self insert decision. Hell not even a cheap text group chat scene, nothing.You can say "this is a personal thing between Joker and Goro and a personal choice for Akechi". Well sure, yet they were all about to put their lives at risk for this, like they've been doing this whole time. They would've argued they deserved to know this, even if they had reached the same conclusion at the end, but with this, in a story that focuses so much on details, whatever oath the phantom thieves had before this, became meaningless. The player can once again just like with Yaldabaoth chose to ruin everyone's chance for true freedom by choosing a selfish self inserted reasoning out of the blue to get a "bad end". Honestly, I also felt the original bad end in vanilla P5 was bad but this? This was worst, this took things to another level, sure the angst was well written and the suffering masked behind this fake happiness was very clever, but its also so cheapened because at this point, why would the player care about those other characters if you make this choice? They were sidelined so bad that their "happiness" becomes just flavor to the story and to be honest, the good decision was just as selfish because of this. I have no problems with the final boss fight, it was honestly amazing and almost made me forget all that happened before when I first played it because it was just so over the top and emotional, I honestly loved it. But then comes the final cut-scenes. Skip Joker going back to prison (why even bother with that though? He literally went just for 10 days and every value of the sacrifice he made in the original was now lost because of the new semester events), skip the the decisions the thieves made about their futures, their display of individuality was great but they don't matter at this point anyway. And here's the final insult, yes I am salty because the "main party" didn't take Joker home, but not because they didn't go through the action of taking him home, but because they weren't really doing anything relevant if anything at all after being the main characters the whole game (except for the new semester) No closure for them just quirkiness and flavor for the sake of a "reality" based message, felt cheap and dismissive, like someone not wanting to go through the trouble of writing something for characters they didn't create or even like. Why did I called the P5R ending lazy you ask? Because they didn't bother making an ending at all, but just to rewrite the original in a way the message of "reality" is settled over, sure their individuality is highlighted by not taking joker home and them being focused on their own different things on their lives, but so they were in the original, this ending and them being sent away was made at the price of the relevance of the thieves bonds with Joker once again, I would've been ok if we at least got to see more of THEM as individuals through the ending or even just as a group, hell this was the final time we'll see them and they were our most precious allies, maybe give us some time with them for the sake of the experiences we had, they did that with Golden's epilogue after all, why not here? But instead, we just see them just go around town being quirky and sneaky distracting the corrupt policemen while Joker gets his new cut-scenes goodbyes with the new characters in the game, because they deserve closure as well for sure, yet they do so over the others? In my opinion, at this point, no. But they did just that, they declared with this change that, the phantom thieves members weren't needed and their futures and story were irrelevant, it was all about Joker, Goro, Maruki and Kasumire, the rest were just sidekicks and these scenes were more important so the player can get what happens to these new favorites, all at the price of the original team relevance. That, was my problem with the new ending. Of course I'm happy to know about their futures and choices through the credits, but that's just lazy, they were more relevant than that in the original, but now they're just afterthoughts shown through credit scenes. No relevance whatsoever in their final moments in this story. It certainly hurt seeing them being this diminished after the original made me care about these characters so much.You can say to me "well, there's still the vanilla ending for you" but no, I said it before, retroactively that ending has become irrelevant and inconclusive, which means this is now how the phantom thieves are represented as, Joker's sidekicks, not a team of bandits and misfits working together as a unit like it was in the original. Again, this is my very personal take on the game new ending, feel free to disagree and call me a clown, but the original made a huge impact on me, the events of P5R ending wounded my appreciation for this story, not it's characters, not the theme, just the future they'll write for these characters from now on. That is all.

Sorry about this Essay lol, but this is the only way I could fully communicate everything It made me feel wrong about this new ending. It was not just a matter of preference for me.

[badedramay]

Pehli Si Muhabbat - epi2

WHERE TO START?!

The balance between the soft, romantic bits and the serious, dramatic bits really made the episode a wholesome watch. On one hand you had Rakhshi and Aslam re-connecting, yes RECONNECTING because hellooooo puranay padosis so they have known each other from before which oh god i am going to get to that, and the other hand you have Akram who is hell-bent on making sure Faizullah will not leave a peaceful life in the muhallah. Dramatic but in the world that Faiza Iftikhar has built..it is fitting.

I am really digging how the characters are being established here. Akram comes across as a villain of course but you see how his own mother chastises him for his actions and you realize that he is just an impulsive man whose moral code of living is threatened with Faizullah’s new marriage so he is doing anything he deems right to face the situation. Aslam’s mother has her own reservations but she is the adult in the house so her opinions are coming from the point of maturity that only age can give to one. Faizullah’s decision of marrying Nargis are..noble. And seeing how Nargis is actually thankful to Faizullah and really is doing her best to faithfully fulfill her duties as his wife..it becomes clear that this marriage might be disdainful for the outsiders but for the two people who are involved in it, it is a relationship that actually makes them happy and by all means it is a marriage that will surely be blessed by God as it did lead to one single man saving a woman from the murky life of sin by tying her to a halal relationship. The muhallay walas can protest and riot all they want..from a truly unbiased point of view..the marriage is not the dhabbha they think it to be.

All of this brings about interesting questions of right vs. wrong. Does an action that goes against your personal moral code really as wrong as you think it to be? How easy and simple it is to brush aside an action as “AYE HAYEE THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!!” all because it makes you uncomfortable? what’s really really interesting is that it is AKRAM who is making the biggest fuss. Akram with his namaz wali topi and his sajday ka nishaan. Akram the seemingly “Allah Walah” banda who goes around preaching about the religion and God’s commandments but it’s so clear how narrow, how superficial his understanding of the religion actually is. How absurd yet how...common this whole situation is, no?

Nargis’s past may be bad but the woman is practically showing how happy she is to be rid of that life. She willingly gave away her jewelery all for Faizullah’s own peace of mind. Her argument about the ornaments feeling like snakes on her body because of their origin is just..uff. This level of self-awareness about haraam and halal..how can someone with THIS level of self-awareness be a bad person @ Akram/muhallay walas???? Much to think about..much to ponder over.

AND THEN YOU HAVE THE TWO DUMB KIDS IN LOVE WHO TOOK MY HEART IN THEIR HANDS AND SQUEEZED IT TO MUSH BECAUSE RAKHSHI AND ASLAM JUST KILLED ME!!!!!

Starting from the flashback of Aslam, ever the careless awaara finding ways to get Rakhshi into trouble. Allaaaa hayyee he caused her to get punished by his mother (her Quran teacher) and that poor girl was left crying on her own. To which I think YOU DUMB STUPID ASLAM TERA PURA TRACK RECORD HI BEKAAR HAI!!! The very classic “grabbing the girl you like’s ponytail in the playground to get her attention” behavior. Urgh boys!! but Rakhshi..sweet sweet Rakhshi is mad at him for his actions yet she doesn’t hate them for it. AAAAHHHH!!! AMMI THEY HAVE BACHPAN WALA INFACTUATION!!!

Can I just say this is the FIRST TIME I have ever seen an imlee ka packet being used to show consent? (damn i used to eat them a lot when i was a kid chup chup ke akjdhadjkasdasd imleeeee!!! Faiza Iftikhar i love you who even remembers those cheap imlee packets anymore?!?!?!) Rakhshi going to Aslam’s place and discreetly throwing an imlee packet on the ground which Aslam does see when he gets back home but only realizes the actual worth and meaning of when he knows that Rakhshi had paid the house a visit. THE DETAILS OF THIS BIT!! Something insignificant..something he literally KICKED on his way in..that something turning into gold for him all because he learned where it had come from. Mind you by this time Rakhshi and Aslam haven’t had ONE single proper conversation and yet there’s this connection between them that they are actively chasing. Ajaksdhadjka PLS ASLAM CURSING HIS FRIEND AND HIS DAMNED BURGER CUZ IT MADE HIM LATE TO COME BACK HOME SO HE MISSED SEEING RAKHSHI LIKE BOIIIII MAAR HI DAALO YOU ARE SO SMITTEN!!!! And Rakhsi the super-sneaky (not) cheeti making up all kinds of lies to visit Aslam’s house and then even defending that household to her father. Can I just say i LOVE how Rakhshi has a tongue she isn’t afraid of using? Her lying to her father right after finishing the namaz...there’s so many deeper things at play here that are establishing the characters and their actions. it’s *chef kiss* beautiful.

The alarm laga ke subah subah uthna to get a glimpse of Rakhshi as she goes to her van. The jaan boojh ke ghar ke bahar bemaqsad khaday hone even turning his back to fresh lunch cuz he wants one more glimpse of Rakhshi when she returns home. the SHALWAR PE T-SHIRT PEHAN KE PHADPHADA KE BIKE VAN KA PEECHA KARNA JUST TO SEE RAKHSHI GET TO HER COLLEGE AND THEN BEING LAUGHED AT BY THE GIRLS THERE CUZ HIS HULIYAAA! Aslam has all my heart!! He’s so..carefree and such a dumb nautanki doing just anything and everything to get to his goal - Rakhshi. He just likes her, he wants to see her, he wants to talk to her. She has become his center of the universe and he couldn’t care less about anything else! And let me just say SHEHERYAR MUNAWAR is legit KILLING it as Aslam. The brattiness..the chaal dhaal..the kenchi ki tarah chalti zabaan as he curses his friend and his entire ancestry..the SMITTEN look he gives Rakhshi. He’s just..uff he has my heart.

And you have Rakhshi who isn’t saying anything but her eyes are all the permission he needs. To chase her, to seek her, to reach out to her. She doesn’t say much but she shows she cares. She hides the number he throws her, gets sad at losing it, can barely conceal her joy watching him follow her, sneaks glances at him whenever she can. She has her boundaries she doesn’t cross but while staying within them..she allows herself to both dream and work to achieve those dreams. Maya Ali is an absolute JOY for me and i MISSED her so much. The last scene when she realizes her father’s plans for her..that silent heartbreak of Rakhshi that Maya excellently portrayed...UFF!! THIS IS WHY I LOVE HER SO MUCH AND NEVER WANT TO STOP SEEING HER WORK!!!!

Theories about how their story will shape up has been thrown out of the window seeing the precap so i am VERY excited about how things will go from here. 3rd epi mein hi pata chal gaya Bushra ka toh bhayee ab pyaar kaise hoga? I couldn’t be happier for it though. BRING IT ON PSM! You have all my attention!

[chwrpg]

I burn! I pine! I perish! -- Cohen James

A NOTE FROM ADMIN B: Please welcome to the stage, Ash and New Calvin! (Sometimes I can still hear old Calvin’s voice....) I think it’ll be fun to see a new take on a character that has been a staple in Rosewood since day one, and we all know you can DELIVER so I can’t wait to see my new son on the dash!!!

OOC NAME/ALIAS, PREFERRED PRONOUNS, AGE & TIMEZONE:

Ash Thee Butch Queen, she/her, nice try, satan, EST

DESIRED CHARACTER:

Cohen James

HOW ACTIVE WILL YOU BE?

Hella to Kinda

SECONDARY CHOICE:

Omg, no

DESCRIBE THE CHARACTER:

Cohen is a guy who is always thinking on both a big picture level and about the small things, and he knows that about himself so to offset that, he often does the impulsive thing -  not because it comes naturally to him, but because he doesn’t ever want to overthink something so much that he’s paralyzed. He’s a free spirit and passionate to boot, so being stuck in any sense of the word didn’t appeal to him in the slightest. For the most part  Cohen likes to think the best of people, giving them a lot of grace; some people only gave you once chance to make a good impression, but Cohen was often known to give second and thirds because he’s more likely to think of a glass half full than half empty. He’s grateful for his lot in life, well aware that he and his family had more money than any of them could spend in a lifetime, but he refuses to bury his head in the sand just because he was born wealthy in  regards to the world around him. His heart is big and he shows it any way he knows how, and sometimes that means giving money to a person or cause without a second thought, but he also gives his time to do his part to leave the world a little better than he found it.  Because of his impulse, he doesn’t always make the best decisions the first time around, but he’ll always try to right his own wrongs. In other words, his moral compass has known to get out of whack every now and then, but he wasn’t to proud to course correct.  

SAMPLE WRITING:

The first time Cohen ran into Birdie, he literally ran into her. It was his first night in town and his cousin Cal along with Calvin’s best friend went to a bar called the Coyote Ugly in celebration of not only Cohen arriving, but also part of an apparently week long send off for his cousin who was shipping out for another 4 year bid in the USMC. He’d been in Rosewood in less than a day, and the bar that night was the first thing to really impress him despite both his cousin and friend going on and on about how much Cohen was going to love it here eventually. He didn’t know how much he believed that he’d find himself in Illinois of all places, but he was at least making himself be open to it

He was seven or 8 shots deep, jumping around on the dance floor with a group of people from some frat that despite the guys yelling it a lot, Cohen couldn’t remember when he declared loudly that he was getting the next round for everyone.

Spilling a girl’s drink wasn’t the most original meet cute, but Cohen figured it was okay since Birdie didn’t find it that cute anyway. Or rather, at all. His first glimpse of the aforementioned angel was that of an angel of fury, “Shit I’m sorry.” He told her after colliding with her, the girl leaving the bar just as he was approaching it. “Let me buy—” He looked up to see Birdie in her full annoyed glory and it was like he’d gotten hit by a 18-wheeler despite him being the one who did the colliding. ‘You should be!…’ she tore into him, really let him have it, but she at least let him get her another drink for not only her but the three friends she’d apparently come with, “Listen I’m new in town and I was wondering what you would think about you maybe showing me around? I’m Cohen.” Birdie snorted, and Cohen couldn’t decide if the face she was making while she looked him over was one of her being impressed by his nerve or off put. Either way liquid courage was a hell of a thing, and Cohen stood there with what he thought was a charming lopsided smile, but in all likelihood didn’t land the way he thought it did. 'I think I’d rather consume the drinks you spilled off off the ground. Watch where you’re going, Cohen.’ She breezed by him, and sure, getting rejected stung, but for some reason that he couldn’t and didn’t care to decipher, he wasn’t deterred – he just had a feeling that he’d see her again and when he did, he’d win her over for sure.

___

The next time he saw her, he was at the campus book store. He had a list of books he was needing for his classes, and had acquired all but one. It seemed luck was on his side though because the book store had exactly one copy left and it was all his. He decided to stick around for a bit, settling in to an empty table near the service desk while he scrolled through his instagram feed and he figured out how he wanted to spend the rest of his day. What had to be no more than 15 minutes later, a familiar, exasperated voice of an angel came from the very same service desk he’d been at. He hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, but in his defense, if he hadn’t then how would he have known that the universe was giving him a second chance at a first impression? Because as luck would have it, the book she needed was the book he’d bought.

He went back and forth with himself on if he should approach her, but his legs made their mind up before his brain could when he saw her about to leave. “Hey, wait up.” He said, practically sprinting to catch up to her and cut her off before she left, 'Are you stalking me or something? I carry pepper spray and I’m not in the mood’. “What? No, wow, straight to stalking, huh? No I go here.” He pointed to his new badge, on a Red and yellow 'The Flash’ lanyard around his neck. “I was picking up books but I think it’s a good thing I am here because ta-da.” He told her, presenting her the French book in question, “I bought the last copy a little while ago.”

'Of course, because life isn’t already unfair enough’ She muttered,

“Come on, you gotta think good thoughts, here. Today is both our lucky days. You get this book and I get to see you again. Take it.” He told her and she looked at him suspiciously.

'You want me to take it? What’s the catch?’ Birdie asked, eyes narrowed in his direction. She was highly suspicious of him, obviously, but he knew he could turn it around, he just needed a chance, and the fact that they’d run into each other wasn’t exactly one in a million, (the town was only so big, let alone the student population), but them being there on the same day in the same time frame was enough to think that he was given a second chance to make a good first impression for a reason. After all, Cohen had met plenty of girls, but none of them had had the instant effect on him that Birdie had - it was like Cupid shot him with an arrow or something. “No catch.”

'No catch?’ She parroted suspiciously,

“Okay well one catch. You give me another shot at meeting you.”

She scoffed,

“Look I probably came off as a tool like Peter Quill levels of douche bag that night, but I was really drunk, my cousin and his friend wanted to show me the town. And I know that maybe when I’m drunk and think I’m being charming I’m really being obnoxious, but believe or not, I don’t actually suck. My mom thinks I’m the coolest.” He gave Birdie a hopeful smile, but she didn’t answer. It did, however look like she was contemplating, so he took that and ran with it, almost literally, making a b-line for the outside. And as soon as he was out of the door he came back in and walked up to Birdie, running his fingers through his hair to get it out of his face, “Hey, I’m Cohen and I don’t know if you believe in fate or not, but I just have this crazy feeling that this book should belong with you and not me…” He once again held it out to her and reluctantly, she took it. Even more reluctantly, Cohen got a smile out of her after the 10th guarantee that there were no strings attached.

He could have ended the interaction there, but he tempted fate, asking Birdie out to dinner. She said no, but the way she’d said 'nice try, though’ wasn’t exactly discouraging.

___

He’d seen Birdie around a few times after that, but Cohen figured that there was a thin line between being charmingly persistent, and a creeper straight out of r/letsnotmeet, so he hadn’t approached her on any of those occasions. Besides, between school, being shown the ropes at HearstCorp, and still carving out time to do his own thing, Cohen had plenty of things to keep him occupied. And so what if he got a glimpse of the most beautiful brown eyes he’d ever seen every now and then that made his stomach morph into a pit of hungry moths? Plenty of people had pretty eyes, and a pretty frame that Cohen was convinced would fit perfectly with his own, pssh - he had a crush but he wasn’t Joe Goldberg.

So the next time he’d spoken to Birdie, it was because she approached him, not the other way around.

He hadn’t come to Rosewood with much in the way of clothing, figuring he could just pick up whatever he needed, and what he needed that day was not only a tux, but several business suits.

Cohen didn’t think it was needed, but there was a gala that his grandfather was putting on essentially announcing Cohen’s intent to one day take his grandfather’s place at the head of the company. It sounded like a whole lot of pomp and circumstance, but the excitement in which his grandparents spoke about it, made it impossible for him to shoot the notion down, (the way they talked about galas gave Cohen the inkling that they were like their Coachella) hence why he found himself at one of the upscale tailor’s on Rosewood’s main street.

'Cody’? It wasn’t his name, so while he’d heard it somewhere in the back of his mind, Cohen paid it no mind and continued on with his mirror selfies, waiting for the tailor to get back with his measurements and proposed alterations.

'Cody!’ The voice registered that time, and Cohen whipped his head around to see Birdie, “It’s…Cohen, you didn’t remember my name?”

'Cohen, right. Sorry’. Well that sucked, but she at least genuinely looked as if she’d regretted the faux pas. 'You clean up nice’.

He could feel a blush creeping up his neck as he watched her eyes roam over him; it more than made up for Cody, 'Is that Tom Ford?’

“Uhhh… yeah totally. Maybe, I don’t know. I liked the way the jacket looked. It gives me Bruce Wayne vibes, right? You really think it looks good? I have to go to this gala thing and I didn’t have anything to wear so my grandpa told me this was the place I wanted to be. Everybody’s real nice so I’m not mad at it. What are you doing here though?” He asked innocently, and it wasn’t lost on him that she didn’t answer his question, but he didn’t call her out - it was a little weird, but she was curious about him so he wasn’t going to mess that up…on purpose

'Gala, what gala? I’m pretty much up on every social function and there’s no gala on the calendar for at least the next three months.’

“I think invitations are going out today. It’s kind of for me technically. My grandpa’s just kind of stoked on me working with him on like some family business vibes so it’s gonna be a whole bunch of people who are really happy for me or maybe hate me who I have no idea who they are”. He chuckled, sending a sparkling, soft smile in Birdie’s direction.

He couldn’t exactly get a beat on what she thinking in her head; was he talking too much? Did he seem braggy? He didn’t want to seem braggy. Braggy was the worst.. Luckily, the tailor came back, and after a quick conversation, Cohen told the guy that he’d take the tux as well as the suits he’d picked out earlier. He pulled his wallet out and handed over a black card, polite to the tailor, but wanting to get back to his conversation with Birdie, “So anyw—”

'what kind of business does your family do?’ Birdie asked, and Cohen answered, “Publishing and media pretty much. It’s not all that interesting. Hey, so crazy idea and I swear it’s not me asking you on a date, but since you know so much about galas, maybe you’d want to come? No pressure if you don’t, it’s just I won’t know like 95% of the people there and you’d probably be helping me not chop my arm off just so I wouldn’t have to shake anymore hands.” He moved his arm up and down, and damn if he didn’t feel like a goddamn superhero for making Birdie laugh.

Things were going so well, so of course they had to be interrupted; this time by Birdie’s phone ringing. She took a look at her phone, muttered 'shit’, then focused her attention back to Cohen, her braids whipping around from the motion in a way that for sure wasn’t going to be a thing he thought about all the way home.

'Mmm, maybe. I’ll think about it. I’ve got to go though. See you later, Cohen.’

“Later days!” He called back when she was already just about out of the door, “Later days? What was that?” He berated himself only for his own phone to ping with a notification, and when he pulled it out of his pocket he saw 'From Instagram: Birdie Stratford started following you’

He spun in place, then gave his reflection a wink and the gun, powered by nothing less than pure elation, “Whooo I’m in the game, baybeee! Bruce Wayne who?”

ANYTHING ELSE?

Bro, why is this shit so long? Good luck reading through this BS. You should have never called me a fatass kelly price. 1985 or whatever. 

[lassieposting]

Do you have more thoughts about the ways that Lucifer is more demon then angel ( besides the ones you mentioned) ? Also what about times that Lucifer’s siblings (or maybe Amenideil, because he seems to be the sole one whom has had any contact with Lucifer) noticed just how much Demon he was, and how little Angel was left. And does he have any unchanging angel traits that make him stand out in Hell?

under the cut because, really really long post

ways lucifer is “too angel” for the demons

- lucifer is, by nature, friendly. demons are social creatures - most of them live in groups, they do raise their own young, etc - but in hell, interpersonal relationships are all about what you can get out of the other person. 

lucifer keeps his distance from people because a hundred lifetimes in hell have taught him that people can’t be trusted, and getting close to someone will inevitably result in betrayal. but underneath all the cynicism and abandonment issues and fear, he wants to reach out to people. whenever he comes to earth, the first thing he does is make friends (and then fuck those friends). his persona is, even pre-chloe, a very approachable, charming one. he wants to connect. 

whereas maze, for example, initially sees making friends as something she has to do to fit in, because her job is to protect lucifer and as long as he’s on earth, she’s stuck here too. she’s more open to human emotions than most demons because of her long association with lucifer, but she still didn’t initially have that inherent need for positive socialisation. 

─────────────────────────────────────────────────

- he’s moral. by human standards, lucifer is morally grey; his personal code of ethics line up with ours in some places and are wildly off in others. he abhors rape and is very big on consent, but is A-OK with being the third party in an affair, where the partner being cheated on absolutely did not consent to their partner sleeping with someone else. he won’t kill humans - cain aside, special circumstances, you understand - but doesn’t have the same standard for celestials; he won’t hesitate to explodify a demon for disobeying him or trying to rebel. 

(by angel standards, he’s an absolute deviant. disgusting. irredeemable. so much of the shit he does is a sin.)

but by demon standards? he’s actually got a bit of a stick up his ass. hell is a place where anything goes. it’s not just that the strong take whatever they want whenever they want from the weak; it’s their right to do so. honour and fairness Do Not Exist down there; those are things that get you killed. lucifer’s very rigid moral code - he never lies, has standards on what is and isn’t acceptable to kill, values traits like honesty and bravery - is bizarre and absolutely does not fit in down there. 

the devil is actually kind of a goody-two-shoes, and his advisors think he’s weird (they assume it’s because he’s foreign). 

─────────────────────────────────────────────────

- lucifer is also tactile. he needs to be touched. angels are that kind of social; they groom one another’s wings, hug their siblings, their parents held them as babies, etc. lucifer is incredibly touch-starved in hell, which is part of why he has so much sex on the surface. he’s fitting in as much touch as possible in the short period of time he can get it. you’ll notice that as he spends longer and longer on earth, and develops real relationships where he’s getting the love and touch and shit that he needs, he stops having quite as much meaningless sex. because he’s just doing it for fun, not to fill a need that’s being starved in hell. 

demons aren’t tactile. outside of fighting, torture and fucking, demons don’t actually touch much at all; if someone reaches for you, you’re more likely to grab a weapon than relax into a hug. there’s a wonderful gifset of lucifer getting used to being hugged that shows the progression from “very uncomfortable” to “soft snuggly devil loves his detective 10000%”, but even at the beginning you can see that his freezing up when his humans touch him is more inexperience and bewilderment than disgust. he’s not used to non-sexual touching. he’s still lowkey conditioned to see being grabbed as a danger. but he always hugs chloe back and like. gradually starts to relax and rest his cheek on her head and do the little back-thumb-strokey thing that she does to him. he’s been deprived for millions of years, but the instinct is still there. 

─────────────────────────────────────────────────

- he’s gentle. just. look at him. look at any of his interactions with his favourite humans. lucifer can be absolutely vicious and ruthless and violent, but he has such a massive capacity for kindness. his nature is gentle. hell makes him go against his nature; he’s harsh to survive, not because that’s how he wants to be. 

to most of the demons, having lived down there for so long and yet still retained that natural sweetness that he has would be utterly baffling. 

ways lucifer is too demon for the angels

- he’s aggressive. angels bicker like all siblings do, but real fights where someone gets badly injured are very, very rare. ultimately they’re all subordinate to Dad, doing what Dad told them to do, and following the orders of the angels who rank above them, so it’s a nice neat ordered system that allows them to be (mostly) peaceful. 

in hell, on the other hand, what amenadiel would call “a horrifying and brutal attack”, lucifer calls “tuesday”. demons fight over territory, over food, over sex partners, over the price of armor, over being looked at funny - you name it, they get aggressive over it. that is the social dynamic lucifer has spent most of his life in, so a lot of his everyday body language is, to an angel, super intimidating for no reason. he deliberately towers over people. he invades personal space. he gets what chloe affectionately calls ‘angry wings’, all ruffled up to make him look bigger - and a lot of the time, it’s not even deliberate, it’s just a habit from millions of years in hell, where looking bigger and meaner is never a bad thing. 

ultimately lucifer is a soft adorable dumbass who just wants to be loved but his body language says he wants to kill you and that doesn’t do much for improving his relationships with his siblings

─────────────────────────────────────────────────

- he’s independent. angels, generally speaking, are very much not; they rely on their Dad for purpose and instructions and live their lives as little extensions of Him. which works fine for them, and keeps the peace in the Silver City. 

demons on the other hand are notoriously independent and self-serving. lucifer has advisors, and they’re good ones - first he was a devil, and then the devil, and as he’s taken over clans he’s kind of accumulated the best of the best at his back - but he’s also got to constantly be aware that every single one of them has an agenda. every single one of them wants a shot at being the devil. he can never rely on them 100%. so ultimately, he listens to his advisors, takes what they say under consideration, but he is the one who calls the shots. he makes his own decisions. and he had to learn very, very quickly to make good ones, because making a bad call in hell can get you killed. 

when amenadiel doesn’t have instructions from god, he feels lost. he spends a lot of time soul-searching and introspecting over why he has no instructions, whether he’s failed his father, what he’s supposed to do now, how he’s meant to make his own choices. lucifer has always made his own choices, even in heaven, and honed that ability in hell. and if someone tells him to do something - and it’s not chloe - chances are he’s going to do the exact opposite on principle, which is utterly baffling to his dependent brother. 

─────────────────────────────────────────────────

- he’s sly. ‘devil’ is, historically, a ridiculously precarious and dangerous political position. everyone is out to get you, even the ones who seem to be most loyal. you have to keep your subordinates happy enough that they won’t defect to a competitor, without seeming too much of a pushover. you have to be strong and cruel and ruthless enough to defend your position, without being so bad that your own armies unite against you. every interaction he has is a subtle display of power and strength. he’s on a tightrope, constantly. he lives in a game of thrones-esque environment. so he’s become an expert at subtle manipulation, political power games, and strategy. 

angels are blunt, straightforward and lack concepts like guile. lucifer’s mojo doesn’t work on other angels, but he can give someone completely the wrong impression without ever lying once, can ambush amenadiel into spluttering out information he shouldn’t have mentioned, can corral any conversation exactly where he wants it to go. 

the downside of the silver city is that god has been in charge since the get-go. the angels have never needed to learn to play the kind of games that are lucifer’s bread and butter. he can run circles around them.  

─────────────────────────────────────────────────

- he’s promiscuous. each of the planes have a different view on sex. angels are - bar a few notable exceptions - virginal. sex isn’t really part of their culture; although angels of different nests and different classes are distantly related enough that it wouldn’t be disgusting by human standards for them to fall in love (see: aziraphale and crowley), it just doesn’t really happen. and when it does happen, the relationship is usually sexless, because the human way is messy and sweaty and weird, and they have other ways they prefer to show love.  

sex in hell is a lot more transactional. demons will fuck for fun, just like us, but they’ll also exchange sex for protection, for preferential treatment, for food. lucifer has adopted some of this attitude over the years; he used sex to buy allies when he had nothing else to offer, and as a young devil, most of his “most loyal” advisors were only loyal because he was sleeping with them. we also see him quite happily whore himself out for favours a lot during the time he’s on earth, so it’s safe to assume that he’s been doing that throughout human history. that would’ve been unthinkable to his angelic siblings, but for lucifer it was survival, and then it was survival with added fun. he hasn’t needed to sleep with his generals for a long time, but some of them are pretty good at it and there’s fuck all else to do in hell, so he still does when he’s bored

─────────────────────────────────────────────────

- he’s adaptable. angels tend towards being dedicated to a fault. once they have a mission to do, they keep going until they get it done, even when it’s pretty clear they’re bashing their head against a brick wall (case in point: amenadiel and trying to send lucifer back to hell, then later on with seeing lucifer as his test). they trust, absolutely, in god’s plan. some of them have learned to think for themselves a bit more, but most angels will assume an obstacle is something their dad has put in their path, rather than something that was just unforeseen and can be dodged around. 

lucifer on the other hand will change goals and strategies on a dime. everything in his life is about what he can get from it. once something is no longer valuable to him, he loses interest. if a tactic isn’t working for him, he’ll try something else, and keep going until he finds something that works. if Unforeseen Circumstances come between him and something he wants, he doesn’t waste time trying to pass whatever test dad has come up with like amenadiel, he just finds the fastest, most efficient way around it and gets on with business. 

─────────────────────────────────────────────────

(let’s be honest though. the freakiest thing about lucifer for both angels and demons is how human he is. he doesn’t fully fit in with either of them, but he fits in with us despite all his weirdness and non-human quirks and that’s something neither group finds particularly natural)