#it’s also important to Johnny

[kenshimybeloved]

Part 8.5! Actually talking about my thoughts on Kenshi losing his eyes and how I think it gets a little oversimplified!

I think there’s kind of a big misconception that Kenshi losing his eyes was some big sacrifice he made for Johnny and that’s why that scene is so important in their relationship but I just ,,,, don’t think that’s the case…. Kenshi couldn’t have possibly known that Mileena was going to stab his eyes because everything in that scene happens so quickly- not even Mileena knows she’s gonna do it until she’s literally doing it. Kenshi approaches Mileena to assure her she’s safe since they intervened and didn’t let Shang Tsung use the needle (an antidote, but Kenshi is under the impression it was to infect her) on her, Mileena then is visibly upset and the Tarkat begins to take over her mind and body. Kenshi then calls Johnny over for backup while Kung Lao watches Shang Tsung/Rain/Tanya. In this moment, Kenshi is worried about the mission and Johnny is “worried about us [Johnny/Kenshi/Kung Lao].” The two basically go back and forth between saving each other from Mileena multiple times, just buying time until they can figure out an actual plan or until Mileena tired herself out. When Kenshi grabs Mileena off of Johnny he isn’t thinking to himself ‘alright! Here’s my sacrifice! To save Johnny I’m gonna let Mileena rip my fuckin eyes out!’ He’s more likely thinking something along the lines of ‘im not going to let Mileena hurt Johnny despite my distaste for him- nobody deserves to die by getting eaten alive [as that was what Mileena was attempting.]’ IMO, this is more telling of Kenshis character than it is his specific relationship with Johnny- he’d do this for just about anybody. BUT! This is where I believe it starts becoming more relevant to their relationship than it is just Kenshis character development alone. Johnnys reaction- albeit justified given it’s not every day you see somebody’s eyes stabbed out of their face- is notably more disturbed than Kung Lao’s. Similarly, he’s having a moment of ‘God I may not get along with this person, but what a horrible thing to experience’ as well as ‘that could’ve been ME’ and ‘if it has to be between him and me, it SHOULD’VE been me.’ Johnnys been an asshole to Kenshi quite a bit at this point, even if he makes efforts in between him being a dick to reach a hand out to Kenshi. If anyone deserved this life changing injury it was the guy who used somebody’s horribly traumatic family history against them just to get a rise out of him. The amount of instant guilt he feels is enough of a final push for him towards maturity and selflessness (particularly in regard to Kenshi). It’s at this point that the both of them just tear down every wall that they’ve built in between each other almost instantaneously and simultaneously. And it’s just so much more special than ‘oh no Johnny!! Here Mileena- take my eyes, not his!’

[shipperofunderratedships]

I wish gay ppl were real

As much as i love jonshi mileena and tanya are also so adorable im so happy mk gave so many lines and moments to show they’re a couple. (I wish i saw more fanart of my girls!!)

Also just jonshi fluff (leave it to me to make fluff out of a couple with washed up actor whose wife left him and an ex member of the yakuza with self worth issues)

Also also kung lao!! He is so cute!! Aww

[mas-y-menos]

i want johnny and forge to have a nuanced philosophical discussion about human nature/connection but they are each talking The Way They Do (Forge's formality and Johnny's slangy middle school speech)

[merge-conflict]

I was embarrassingly cringe fist-pumping and laughing with superiority to hear these lines, even though they aren't exactly rocket science concepts that I reverse-engineered here, y'know?

It’s how it’s supposed to go. Some gonk kid dies in Nicaragua and Johnny Silverhand wakes up in NUSA. Built– just like the tower. An entire fucking spectacle, for the world to see. For the world to wake up.

Just... it's good to confirm that that's how Johnny sees it too. The person he used to be died, and then he became someone else. But then he died again, so I wonder sometimes... how does he see himself now? How many resurrections is he going to live through?

[genderqueerpond]

IF 👏 YOU 👏 DIDN'T 👏 READ 👏 THE 👏 FOOTNOTES 👏 YOU 👏 HAVEN'T 👏 READ 👏 HOUSE 👏 OF 👏 LEAVES 👏 (you have read The Navidson Record)

[skyf0ckz]

“No. No. I don’t like it.” Johnny chokes out, tongue threatening to peek out a lick his lips clean.

He can just sense he’s smiling. “Okay, pretty boy.”

A drawing for @zappedbyzabka 's Scream inspired fic(and requested by @russolaw 🤭)

[blusandbirds]

robby keene, kyoto

kyoto (phoebe bridgers) // strike first // cobra kai never dies // mercy // no mercy // now you're gonna pay // december 19 // the rise // the rise // downward spiral // taikai // match point // taikai // let's begin // bad eggs // long, long way from home

[slimslamflimflam]

sbr doodles because cowboys cool

yeehaw am i right gamers *a semi truck collides into my home at high speeds, killing me instantly*

[variousqueerthings]

the nature of being a johnny lawrence fan, is that it is often indistinguishable from being a johnny lawrence hater, and I don't think I have that with any other character. usually I'm very protective of my faves (including in cobra kai, daniel, sam, kreese, and tsilver), but johnny, I very much enjoy reading all the reasons people dislike his character, nodding along like "yeah what an inconsistent mess, you're so right, carmen pls u deserve better narrative to work with, terry silver was telling the truth when he mocked his fatherhood abilities, but alas the writing will never support it"

[darrysfav]

honestly if se had actually shown how much the gang were assholes i would’ve liked the movie and book more yk

[ballisterboldheart]

you bark like your blond dog.

[quickhacked]

// oc in 15.

tagged by; @devilbrakers, thank you so much!! tagging; @reaperkiller, @vvanessaives, @hibernationsuit, @katsigian, @adelaidedrubman, @dickytwister, @rindemption, @noirapocalypto and YOU!

rules: share 15 or fewer lines of dialogue from an oc, ideally lines that capture the character/personality/vibe of the oc. bonus points for just using dialogue without other details about the scene, but you're free to include those as well!

decided to do this for vincent since he is the main character of my cyberpunk universe and it's been a hot sec since i talked about him! these bits are all from various fics including the broker which is a long fic that i'll never shut up about. sorry. i've included more than just the dialogue since a lot of vincent's manner of speech is also in his body language and internal monologue :^) his voice claim is basically masc v from in-game but with very distinct southern flair

from chapter 7 of the broker:

‘Here we are,’ Vincent repeated, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his jacket and flinching lightly when he heard an explosion in the distance. ‘Just another fuckin’ day in Night City.’

from an unreleased fic i still need to finish and post:

‘The Deckhead?' Vincent asked. 'Fried to a crisp. Found ‘im hooked up to the Net high off his tits- he had an intruder alarm set up but it caused him to panic, ‘n he disconnected himself too soon. Lights went out before I could do anything.’

paraphrased from this fic, showing that vincent can and will talk to johnny out loud whenever he wants:

‘What the fuck,’ Vincent blurted out, voice shaky as he took another step back. […] Johnny raised a hand and gestured vaguely at Vincent, and himself, and the space between them. ‘You don’t have to speak out loud when you- I feel like I’ve said this before.’

from an unreleased fic:

‘Maelstrom wasn’t too happy I was running off with their toys,’ Vincent answered, eyes lingering on the bruise on Vitali’s face. ‘Had to flatline half of ‘em before I could get out.’

from chapter 11 of the broker:

‘Peachy,’ Vincent said and gave him a thumbs up. His mantis blade was still deployed and he nearly cut himself with it.

from chapter 16 of the broker:

‘Right.’ He stepped back, visibly biting the inside of his cheek as his eyes wandered off into the rest of the living room and he did a mocking salute in Vitali’s direction. ‘Yessir.’

from chapter 2 of the broker:

‘Pleased to make your acquaintance?’ Vincent said, the sentence more a question than a statement, and he frowned slightly as he watched Dupoint walk around the desk and sit down opposite of him while unbuttoning the jacket of his slightly too big suit.

from an unreleased fic:

‘Yep, that was me,’ Vincent said in response, his voice suddenly a couple of octaves higher. Smooth talkin’, you fucking airhead. You sound like a damn high schooler.

from this fic, talking to johnny out loud again:

‘Right, ‘cuz apologizing means everything is instantly forgiven and forgotten,’ Vincent snapped, accidentally startling an old lady he passed by; he quickly raised his hand to her as an apology and fastened his pace.

from an unreleased fic:

‘Born ‘n raised in the Glen, yeah,’ Vincent answered, flinching when he noticed the edge of someone’s umbrella get dangerously close to his face. ‘Won’t find the nicest people there but at least they generally know they’re not the only gonk on the fucking road.’

from this fic:

‘Headache that comes and goes-’ Vincent paused and glared at Johnny. ‘- but yeah, peachy. And you’re right. Worrying doesn’t help anyone.’

from chapter 2 of the broker:

‘V has had a lot of things on his mind, as of late,’ Vincent dryly said. ‘Please do enlighten me.’

from this fic, talking to johnny out loud again:

‘Alright, speaking rights fucking revoked,’ Vincent cut him off, visibly startling Vitali who had just slightly leaned in to Vincent’s touch. ‘Piss off, Johnny. Jesus.’

from chapter 15 of the broker:

Grant Armitage. Some seemingly random Arasaka exec with “his greasy little fingers stuck right up Yorinobu’s golden ass”, as Vincent had described him a few days prior.

from chapter 2 of the broker:

‘A fully opened center.’ Dupoint paused, raised an eyebrow, and glanced back at Vincent. ‘Do you know what that move is called, V?’ Vincent shrugged, and swallowed his laughter. ‘Dunno. The American Nutcracker?’

[boysborntodie]

Latino!Johnny is super popular in the fandom and my headcanon too but I wanted to elaborate a little bit on why I think it's important to both the narrative and his character for Johnny to be so (no matter what SE Hinton says).

(Also I am not Latino or American, and all my information is second-hand so if I'm wrong about something or said something insensitively, I apologise and please correct me!!)

While Greaser is now mostly used to in reference to the subculture, the word 'Greaser' was often used as a slur against Mexican/Hispanic American, especially in the Southwest.

Greaser subculture itself is heavily rooted in ethnic groups such as Italian, Greek, Latino and Hispanic Americans, both influencing the subculture itself while being the main demographic (at least at first, having later spread around to lower class Americans in general and becoming a sort of movement).

Johnny’s main reason as being depicted as a POC seems to be the scene where he tells Ponyboy his skin is too dark for him to have blond hair. But I think it goes beyond just that and that race is a theme ever-present in Johnny’s progression throughout the book.

Now with Johnny, his entire character is, at first, summed up as 'poor kid who's been kicked down too many times'. He’s got no prospects. He’s bad at school. His parents despise him and he’s, for the most part, homeless.

We later learn that Johnny isn’t actually unintelligent in academic matters. He’s able to pick up themes and details quite easily. The education system is very flawed and has failed many students for centuries. Students of colour have often been neglects and even abused by teachers (esp in the past eras). This is espec true of children whose first language isn’t English.

One thing that I’m a little hesitant to get into but I think it important is that Johnny’s constantly noted to use a lot of grease, more so than any other character. He also keeps his hair quite long and unkempt. Hair is a status symbol and sign of pride for greasers but Italian, Greek, Hispanic and Latino people have been stereotyped as unhygienic and unkempt, especially in regards to their hair.

At one point, Johnny and Ponyboy find themselves in need of directions. Johnny suggests Ponyboy pretend to be a farmboy.

Ponyboy’s constantly says that Johnny looks like a kicked puppy and pretty much harmless. But here he notes that Johnny looks threatening to a stranger. I think this is another scene with racial connotations.

A major event in Johnny’s life was the time he was attacked by Bob and his friends. Johnny’s been noted to have developed PTSD, paranoia and anxiety since then. The suddenness of his attack and extent of violence is unusual. Ponyboy also notes that Johnny isn’t afraid of getting hurt due to his abusive father, so it wasn’t the pain but rather it was the fear they made him feel that affected him. Johnny being a POC adds another layer to this entire incident and especially to his paranoia afterwards, especially with the details that are left vague.

The last point I want to bring up is that Johnny’s character is of one who’s deeply embedded into the Greaser subculture. He’s never been outside of Tulsa and doesn’t expect to ever leave. He’s put against character like the Curtises (who are white) who have the power to leave Tulsa (and the class dynamics it symbolises) and even those like Dally who have that power but are too deep to ever use it. Johnny being a POC makes this lack of freedom his other white friends have give his character even more complexity

TL;DR: That is a Latino man.

[johnny-jhonny]

hi guys. happyay new years 🎉 and 8 years (1/1/16) of johnny (technically) being a spectral. i giuess.

[cienie-isengardu]

[daisyachain]

Restorative or Transformative?: Homoerotic Subtext, The Closet, and Ciphers in Pop Culture. The nature of commercial art is that it’s sometimes bad and inconsistent. Notably it’s also misogynistic. One way in which audiences try to reconcile massive plot holes or gaps in character motivation is by reading secrets or hidden information into a plot.

Commonly, male characters are interpreted as closeted gay or bisexual to reconcile the absence of women from commercial narratives with the generally stunted and poorly-written male characters that form the focus on said texts. This reading has become especially common among a non-heterosexual milieu. Rather than transforming the original text into some radically different new form, this closeted interpretation seeks to make the original text stand on its own as a story rather than a Swiss cheese of dumb writing decisions.

This interpretation only works for a specific type of pop, usually genre fiction. Any story in which tortured male leads eschew women in favour of male-male bonds (because female characters are constantly killed off, written sparsely, or written out, because the production team keeps casting their male buddies, because actors demand to keep having scenes with their bros, whatever) can become a sounder structure if you put one of them in a closet.

The gay interpretation is the natural consequence of shoddy misogynistic writing from ventures like Supernatural, Naruto, all the biggest hits. It’s also the natural consequence of more benignly misogynistic writing like The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes or The Lord of the Rings, where women aren’t necessarily rejected but are simply absent from the worlds of the protagonists. When the emotional crux of the story falls on male-male interactions, this reads as romantic because society at large priorities (definitively heterosexual) romance as the pinnacle of human connection. Two forces are in conflict, the primacy of heterosexuality (read as: romance) and the primacy of men.

Anyway. All that is to say that the typical gay or bisexual reading of male characters in pop fiction comes from a very real place. But, in some places, that’s the default interpretation. Angst, insecurity, secrets, double lives, fatigue, disappointment, restrained passion, stunted personal growth, anyone living in the closet can tell you that it impacts and defines your whole life to know that you live in a way fundamentally incompatible with The Proper Way that life is structured around down to tax law and superstore prices (which assume a heterosexual nuclear family unit). Characters in fiction also tend to have personal problems because that makes them interesting and tasty.

If you’ve grown up on stories with the specific type of misogyny that can be papered over with a closeted interpretation of the male leads, carrying this interpretation over to any male character will make sense more often than not. Even a bit of angst or insecurity? Well of course that makes sense if a character is closeted.

Except that’s hurt a normal part of fiction, and sometimes the closeted interpretation takes away from the point of a character. If a male character is on another axis of marginalization, the closeted interpretation imposed by the slash reading community downplays or trivializes the effects of that marginalization in the plot by overwriting it with another type of marginalization. Alternately, sometimes a character’s heterosexuality is a part of the story. There are some sorts of critiques or investigations of misogyny or masculinity that don’t work if the character has an ‘opt out’ of the cisheteropatriarchal perspective. Not that gay/bisexual men aren’t except from misogyny, but misogyny masculinity and heterosexuality are so tightly linked that it sort of defeats the point if you interpret that character outside of heterosexuality.

All that is to say—the closet interpretation is a quick and easy spice to apply to the weaker parts of action-adventure genre fiction to make it taste better. It draws from a large enough sample of art that it’s pretty widely applicable. Because of that, it’s part of some people’s [my] default interpretation package just because the semi-dull macho show at least gets less dull if you imagine there’s a reason for there to be no girls besides simple hatred. That then forms its own problem where the interpretation that works with your average genre work gets then blanket-applied to all genre works and obscures the places where the closet interpretation doesn’t fix the work, and actually makes it less interesting.