#it’s so interesting to me how people forget to consider his motivations or feelings on ANYTHING

[aroanthy]

i love how fraught and complicated discourse around various utena characters ‘dying’ is when anthy is literally stabbed to death eternally by a million swords imbued with human hatred. and then utena gets stabbed to death by them also. like. ‘death’ is incredibly interesting in rgu because most of the time it’s this ambiguous figurative thing that has interesting implications re: ohtori as a closed-off world one can escape. we are all trapped in our coffins. mamiya is the only named character with a grave. nemuro memorial hall functions as one all the same. ruka is implied to have died in the hospital— was he dead all along? who was the boy we saw for these two episodes? is this dead boy the same boy, or is this just another coincidence from the shadow girls, cutting like a knife? it’s heavily implied that akio and anthy murder kanae by poisoning her, adding to the previous implication that they were poisoning mr ohtori too, but there are no perceptible consequences of this. kanae’s absence is not felt. she’s fed an apple slice. what happens to the bodies? we know what happened to the 100 boys, but what about everyone else? and so on and so forth. ‘death’ is a tricky thing in utena, i think it’s constantly functioning on figurative and literal levels in very different ways for very different purposes. dios died. dios was dying. dios didn’t die. he grew up. etc etc

[sabertoothwalrus]

I’ve seen you post some labru stuff and I’m curious what your thoughts on it are. personally I don’t see it? I can buy Kabru having feelings for Laios, but I think Laios wouldn’t be interested in Kabru, so it makes me wonder why so many people ship them. (Tbh I feel like Kabru has more chemistry with Mithrun anyway)

Sorry if this ask sounds rude, I just genuinely don’t understand the appeal of the ship, but I want to understand and I trust your analysis of characters very much :] maybe there’s something I’m missing

I really like both ships, actually!

For labru, there’s sooooo much I could talk about. The inherent homoeroticism of being narrative foils. The inherent homoeroticism of being the king’s advisor. All of chapter 76. The fact that Kabru has mask upon mask upon mask, and Laios is the first person that made his facade absolutely crumble.

Kabru struggles with being genuine!!! Everything he says and does is so perfectly calculated, even when he sort of means it. But since Laios doesn’t get social cues, Kabru gets thrown for a loop.

I get so frustrated when people act like Kabru still hates Laios by the end of the manga!!!!! He killed those corpse retrievers for being corrupt, and yet he couldn’t bring himself to kill Laios. He has such a strong sense of justice, and knew that killing Laios would be a mistake. Because, after meeting him, he could tell he wasn’t actually evil. He’s strange, sure, but not evil.

Kabru DEFINITELY wants to be friends with Laios!! He was not lying about this!!!

But this last comic shows how much Laios wants to be friends with Kabru, too. He’s so nervous after calling Kabru his friend 😭 he doesn’t want to be presumptuous and fuck it up again.

Laios does show an interest in Kabru, at least when Laios thinks he’s interested in eating monsters too. Like,, what was up with THIS

Laios’s gaze is LINGERING. Plus, (this is before that bit at Thistle’s house when he forgets his name) he brings up Kabru when they first form their plan to eat Falin.

And maybe this is just because of my own personal experiences, but Laios reminds me a lot of my own girlfriend. I think they have a similar flavor of gay/aspec & autism combo where, had I not asked her out first, she probably never would have considered being interested in me. But she was very down when I did.

The tricky part about labru is more the political aspect. Regardless of whether you see Laios as aroace or not, he’s in a situation where he will probably get married. He had a fiancée before he was age 13, likely betrothed since he was a baby. He’s already comfortable with the idea of getting married because He’s Supposed To.

However, Laios is king, and could make gay marriage legal if he wanted to (He would probably do this for his sister and Marcille before considering it for himself ). But at the same time, I think Kabru would object to Laios making whatever policies he wants without considering the repercussions of how other kingdoms might react, especially when they’re just getting Melini off the ground and need lots of support from other countries. Laios and Kabru getting gay married anyway and dealing with the aftermath could make for a really compelling story.

I do think Kabru would be a good ruler. He’s already fit for it. He speaks a dozen languages, he knows people and their motivations, and likes politics. The manga already joked about Chilchuck’s daughters trying to marry a king, so it seems like noble blood isn’t too important, but Kabru’s foster family IS nobility. When it comes to heirs, I do like trans Kabru headcanons, but at the same time, I think it’d be cute if they adopt anyway. Kabru seems like he’d have strong feelings about adoption given,,, yknow.

The alternative version of labru to this is Laios gets straight married out of obligation, and Kabru is his mistress hdhdhshsj. I don’t know if I could see Laios doing that? or if Kabru would risk the scandal of being outed as Royal Advisor and Regent trying to seduce the king. It could go SO downhill. but maybe that would be fun.

NOW FOR KABUMISU.

I knew people shipped them, and I could see the basis for it while reading, but I wasn’t really sold on it until the very end. There’s something about “I had no desires left. I decided to create new desires, and one of them is you” that’s really charming.

There’s also something funny about “the demon ate my heterosexuality so I’m gay now”

I think it’s interesting that Kabru hates elves. He was raised by them, and he hates them. He hates feeling patronized by them. He made absolutely sure that elves wouldn’t take control over Melini, not just for his sake, but for Rin’s.

But Mithrun’s interactions with Kabru are founded on more mutual respect. Though, that’s not to say that Mithrun doesn’t still have his biases towards short lived races..

Where Laios doesn’t understand social cues, Mithrun does but just doesn’t care. For that reason, I think Kabru would enjoy spending time with Mithrun. It’d give him a break from his compulsion to calculate all of his social interactions. But at the same time, Kabru is the KING at bottling his emotions. Mithrun is blunt, but also doesn’t care enough to pry. If Kabru had anything bothering him, I could imagine him seeking Mithrun’s company to avoid thinking about it. Could make for a fun dynamic.

I do think it’s funny that Milsiril 1) took care of Mithrun for potentially 20 years and 2) is only four years older than him. I imagine this could lead to funny situations.

I don’t ship things for no reason! I think both of these could work platonically, romantically, one-sided, or even “requited but they don’t do anything about it.” Their relationships compel me and I think it’s sort of bad faith to brush off either like they’re nothing more than baseless yaoi pair-the-spares. To me, I see just as much of a foundation in the source material as farcille.

After all, dungeon meshi isn’t a story about romance, but it IS a story about love. It’s a story about life and death and grief and the love that comes with it. Regardless of shipping, these characters love each other!!! And I love talking about it!!

[nekropsii]

ALPHA TROLLS RANKED BY HOW WRONG THE FANDOM AT LARGE IS ABOUT THEM:

This is a personal challenge, based entirely on my own experience and perspective, and also ranked from Most to Least Correct. I was bored, and thought this might be fun.

Putting this under a cut, because it's long as hell.

MEULIN LEIJON

People get her mostly correct, from what I’ve seen… Most of the time, fan content of Meulin is absolutely recognizable as Meulin, but her pride in her deafness + joy of learning new ways to interact with the world through/due to her disability is always removed, and I do not often see people tackle the Toxic Positivity aspect of her character. That seems less like character assassination, though, and more like a combination of people not actually playing through the Openbounds, people not being able to fathom disabled people (especially those who gained a disability later in life rather than being born disabled) being happy, and general fandom distaste for the idea of touching anything uncomfortable, especially when that uncomfortable topic is highly mundane, normalized, and potentially applicable to them or their loved ones. Meulin’s toxic positivity was, of course, commentary on Tumblr’s ecosystem at the time, so… It was much harder to touch back then.

ARANEA SERKET

People tend to get her general, broad strokes personality right, but unfortunately she gets treated pretty roughly for the crime of Being A Serket. People refuse to understand her motivations, and she often gets demonized for what she was doing around/during [S] Game Over, even though that was something she’d gotten pushed to and also was cool as fuck to watch. God forbid a woman do anything.

DAMARA MEGIDO

People are right about the racism, 100%. It is completely despicable, hard to look at, and extremely blatant. She does, however, have character outside of that. No, it isn’t “whore”, it’s more like “angry, dysfunctional abuse victim”, and she’s genuinely a very interesting and tragic character. But, again, people are right about the racism, so she gets to be placed way up here.

MEENAH PEIXES

She is such a chaotic little bastard. I love her. I really do. Please understand that she genuinely does not understand the concept of consequences. This girl didn’t have a Lusus, she didn’t have parents, it was functionally illegal to tell her “No, you can’t do that.” That would fuck up literally anyone’s moral compass. That’s not me hand waving away all the fucked up and bad shit she’s done, we all know what she did, but people tend to forget this aspect of her character and it pains me deeply, because it is a very genuinely interesting concept that I want to see more of. She’s capable of regret, we’ve seen her feel it, I just don’t think foresight is her forte. No one raised her to consider consequences, or help her experience them in a healthy way, because nobody raised her period.

Also, her ass is not butch, she is the girliest girl in the entire comic. She is about hot pink and glitter and kiss marks and unicorns and cute little puns and you will respect that. She is not masculine. Her ass is not masculine nor is she butch. Let her be her hyper-feminine self.

LATULA PYROPE

Please for the love of god there is more to her character than “Gamer Girl” and “Mituna’s Girlfriend”. You are falling for her fucking ruse. Please. Please. Please recognize that her entire character is about internalized misogyny, and being forced to overcompensate for misogyny in gaming circles as a gamer who happens to be a woman. Please. I’m begging.

KURLOZ MAKARA

His character is not that deep, it’s mostly just a string of events he is mysteriously, inexplicably involved with. The Makaras are extremely Function Over Form- their characters practically do not exist, they're mostly just plot devices that exist to push the story along. I'm sorry to Makara fans. You just invented a guy in your mind and decided he was real. He is also not that soft, though, and his relationships with both Meulin AND Mituna are not healthy. Hard to stop people from ascribing cutesy squishy lovey dynamics to random men who happened to have looked at each other once, though. Some people truly haven't graduated from 2012.

HORUSS ZAHHAK

I am begging people to consider that maybe the biggest issue here is not that he is “Bad Otherkin/Therian Representation” and is in fact maybe the fact that Hussie was actually making fun of Systems when he was writing Horuss. Because Horuss is canonically a system. He uses the word system. He uses the word switching. He uses the word host. He literally talks about his Plurality at length in extremely upfront, plain terms. I don’t know how him being “Bad Otherkin Representation” was and still is the main discourse about him. It makes me insane. That is a commentary that truly writes itself. Talk about having your priorities out of wack, honestly...

PORRIM MARYAM

No, she is not a MRA, she’s just a regular feminist who happens to live on a different planet with different politics and social hierarchies from Our Real World Earth’s USA. Whatever argument you’re about to pull out of your ass to say that she sucks is bad. She already explained what she meant by that, in more detail, very clearly, and she was right. Half the time she’s literally just giving you factual information about what Beforus was like, and literal plot synopses. She isn’t saying anything insane. She’s literally normal. I don’t know why people cannot handle or process this. Porrim has not ever said anything controversial. If you disagree with this you’re either misconstruing her on purpose or you fell for Kankri’s bait, and that’s just fucking sad at that point.

Also, she’s more than a sex object, and her tits are not huge. Honestly, half the shit she was saying was just “I am more than my sex life”, and so many people took that and made her main character trait her sex life. Just pathetic.

RUFIOH NITRAM

This man is a fucking war criminal and I will stop at nothing until he is behind bars for his crimes against Damara. Raging misogynist. Total fucking cunt. Just the worst. If I talk any more about this, this part will be 1,000 paragraphs long. But also, I’m begging people to recognize his relationship with disability, too. He was similar to Meulin in the sense that he didn’t mind his disability, and his biggest gripe with it was the way that Horuss tried to “fix” it… Which is an interesting way to expand upon how Beforus’s culling system is not only very explicitly ableist, but mimicking real world systemic ableism. I also want people to recognize that Hussie is actively having a conversation about the reclamation of slurs with Rufioh’s character, and how not letting people reclaim such language is doing nothing but giving the word power against them while stripping away their own personal agency. Rufioh’s a complicated guy, and he’s interesting and also the worst, and I am really tired of how he gets watered down to nothing but “Pretty Boy Victim Of His Inexplicably Psycho Ex”.

MITUNA CAPTOR

Holy Fucking Shit, You Guys Are Ableist.

KANKRI VANTAS

To this day I see people saying he was just Hussie making fun of SJWs. To this day. To this day people think Hussie was trying to make Every Tumblr Leftist look bad, and that he hates them Because They Are Leftists. When will people recognize him as a bootlicker to the oppressive class and the violently bigoted. When will people recognize that. When will people recognize that this is more of a commentary on the legitimate real flaws of Tumblr’s politics at the time. When. When.

When will people stop portraying him as a lovey-dovey Catholic Whore. I’m going to stab my fucking eyes out and then kill everyone in this building. Me when it's based and cool to ship an aroace character with a sexual predator. I GUESS.

CRONUS AMPORA

I say this with every ounce of sincerity I can possibly muster as a person: What the literal actual fuck.

[writing-about-current-obsessions]

Not okay

Pairings: Charles Leclerc x reader (requested)

Words: 1067

>Click here to check out my masterlist<  

Despite this year's car proving to be more challenging than expected, Charles was over the moon. He was optimistic and motivated, ready to take on the whole world. That invincible feeling may have something to do with a certain special person in his life. Well okay, it most certainly had something to do with his girlfriend.

She made everything in his life better. The unconditional support she gave him regarding his career and the way she cheered him on meant everything to Charles. But even beyond that, the way he could talk with her about anything and everything, the way they simply understood each other was something rare and Charles considered himself lucky to have found that with her.

On top of that, she just lit up every room she entered. Charles would certainly describe her as a social butterfly, because she was always surrounded by people who were either listening to her intently, laughing with her or joking around. She could always find common ground with anyone she met and start up a conversation, which Charles admired greatly. Especially because he thought of himself as awkward or shy at times, it was definitely a trait that he even envied her on.

Even now, when he was busy, she was conversing leisurely with the mechanics in the garage, passing time until Charles would be finished with work and they could get off the track together. He had just enough time to check up on her for a few minutes, wrapping an arm around her waist as he slipped into an easy conversation she was having with his co-workers.

At one point, Charles leaned closer to her ear, whispering a quick ‘I love you’ just for her to hear. She smiled wide, turning her head to look at her boyfriend, completely forgetting about the conversation she was previously immersed in.

“Can’t wait to get back.”, she whispered back. “I just want us to be alone for a while.”

“Me too, mon amour.”, Charles sighed, pressing a kiss on her cheek.

As if on cue, he was interrupted by his media manager. Before jumping in the car for another session, he had to meet up with some VIP guests at the garage. Since it was hard for him to actually unwrap his arm from his girlfriend, he included her in the conversation as well, basically dragging her with him and introducing her to everyone that just arrived. She didn’t complain and Charles didn’t realize it, but she was slowly but surely getting overwhelmed. As soon as she could, she extracted herself from the conversation, because everything was becoming too much; the people talking, the noises of the garage, the clicks of photos being taken and the cameras surrounding them. And that’s not even mentioning the energy she needed to keep up smiling and being nice to strangers she just met, trying to keep up conversations with everyone, crack a few jokes and try to be as charming as possible. Under the excuse of going to the bathroom, she escaped to the only room she knew that she will have some peace – Charles’ driver room.

She just needed a breather, that’s all. She sat on Charles’ bed, closing her eyes and taking a few deep breaths. Out of nowhere, horrible thoughts started swirling in her mind; how she wasn’t interesting enough and how people actually don’t want to hang out with her. She started overthinking about every single interaction she had that day, with every person she communicated with, her pesky head always making up reasons why she could’ve said something better. Her head was a mess and she felt like all of the noise from the garage was still there, although she was actually sitting in a quiet room.

Her head was in her hands, trailing her fingers through her hair while she tried to take deep breaths. She was so distracted that she didn’t hear when Charles came in until he called out her name. That made her open her eyes in shock and look up at him.

“Is everything okay?” Charles furrowed his eyebrows, looking at her intently as he closed the door behind him.

As he approached her, she just kept staring at him, not knowing what to say. Her eyes were watery and tears were threatening to spill down her cheeks, there was absolutely nothing she could do to stop them now. When Charles saw her expression, he kneeled next to her, his eyes roaming all over her in worry.

“What is it? Are you hurt?” Charles asked in a panicky voice. “Did someone do something to you?”

She shook her head no, the first tear rolling down her cheek.

“N-no…”, she answered with a shaky breath. “I’m okay.”

“You’re clearly not okay.”, Charles said, moving to sit on the bed next to her and take her into his embrace.

She allowed herself to fall into his arms, completely enveloped by his warmth. He kissed her temple softly and rubbed her back in soothing motions, letting her cry silently for a bit.

“Can you tell me what’s wrong?” Charles asked carefully after she calmed down a little.

She was silent, not knowing how to explain to Charles what the problem was. It was always hard for her to explain to her friends and family how lonely she felt. But, with a little goading from Charles and some encouraging words, she told him. In a quiet, unsure tone, she expressed her insecurities and the way she felt.

It was liberating. And what’s more, Charles was the best at comforting her; whether it was with his words or with physical touch. He hugged her close to him and peppered kisses all over her face, eliciting a few giggles out of her.  

“Mon amour.”, Charles said softly. “I had no idea you were feeling this way. I am so sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize, Charles.”, she tried to smile at him. “It’s not your fault.”

“I am glad that you told me.”, he pressed another kiss on her cheek. “Because now I can be more considerate and not put you into situations that make you uncomfortable.”

“You’re the best, Charles.”, she smiled wide, feeling like a huge weight has been lifted off her shoulders now that she confided in him about this.

“I am, aren’t I?” he smirked, cocking an eyebrow at her and making her laugh.

[drdemonprince]

Your blog is like a breath of fresh air. Thank you for all the wonderful thoughts and writing.

That said I actually have a question. I am pro-palestine(it feels stupid to call it that, as if it should even be a debate) and in a very left leaning friend group. But also a very white academic one. You know the type, read Marx, dream of the revolution but continue studying to end up in 9 to 5s instead of doing anything(I am guilty of it too, this isn't meant as insult just a description)

Anyways, as you can imagine they have been extremely hesitant when it comes to having any opinion on Israel or Palestine. That wouldn't be a problem in itself, I know how to start topics with them and get them thinking usually but in this case there is an additional problem. Whenever I try to broach the topic I get shutdown with "Look at all the shit that is going on here, our country is falling into fascism, I just don't have the energy to deal with this conflict. Please don't talk about it because it's triggering". And I have zero clue what to do. Forget getting them to go on protests with me, I can't even speak to them about it and feel really guilty. Its me bringing up a heavily triggering topic after all. It feels wrong to feel guilty though. I know at the end of the day it's not important if I could convince some people to give a fuck but do you have any advice? How to get over this guilt or maybe how to broach a topic with that considered?

My main problem is my fear of losing my friends because I have been ill for some time(as in physically unable to leave the house for more than a short grocery run, or my visits to the doctor, because of pain and my friends are what keep me alive) and losing their help would be not good.

My exact situation aside, do you have advice for someone to broach a topic that others describe as unpleasant/triggering without causing a huge rift in the group?

Thanks for your kind words and your question, Anon.

I think your friends suck and that you can do better than them. I think you should get out there and find yourself some Black, brown, working class anarchist and anarco-communist buds (and Marxists who show up for others in a real, observable way in their regular lives) as soon as you can.

I know that wasn't the answer you were looking for. But I have seen this kind of entirely theoretical, jaded, self-superior, passive, white well-off Marxist type a thousand times before, and I've failed to ever see them show up for other people in any kind of consistent way.

And it's not only the people systematically crushed beneath the wheel of Capital half a world away that they neglect, either. They tend to be pretty shitty friends and neighbors when it all comes down to it on the micro-level, too. Their smug over-intellectualism and dispassionate cynicism allows them to justify remaining disengaged and going along with the status quo in a way that ultimately serves capitalism very well.

There is a theoretical basis to this selfishness and disengagement, I will admit. This type of overly academic Marxist typically believes that the fall of capitalism is inevitable, that humans lack free will and only behave as befits their obvious material interests, and that there is nothing that one can do on a personal level to hasten any kind of Revolution, so there is nothing left to do but wait, and take care of oneself, and allow the future to unfold.

This is a perspective explicitly advocated for by people like the Chapo Trap House guys, and among academic white boy communist types, it is incredibly popular. I remember hearing Matt Christman saying on his vlogs that he essentially does not believe the conditions allowing capitalism to fall will happen in his lifetime, and so his only responsibility is to just take care of himself and his family and be comfortable.

Ultimately, these types wind up sounding and behaving exactly like capitalist economists who believe that everyone is rationally motivated only by increasing their personal wealth. They are disengaged from politics except insofar as they like to make snide jokes about current events for their own entertainment and enrichment, and they don't see themselves as having the capacity to exert a positive influence on the world, nor any obligation to. It's bleak shit.

At the same time, if your friends are in the circles that tend to read and listen to and promote this kind of stuff, surely they have also been exposed to popular leftist voices advocating loudly for the Palestinian cause. And yet still they have done nothing.

Hasan Piker has been vocally pro-Palestine his entire career, and his Twitch channel has been providing near constant coverage of Palestinian issues since October 7th. True Anon has had multiple episodes on the Israel Lobby, the suppression of pro-Palestinian activism and journalistic coverage, and has aired interviews with Normal Finkelstein. Palestine is the central topic of nearly every Trillbilly Worker's Party podcast for months now.

These are widely popular voices among the very types of Marxists that you say that your friends are, and many of these creators are close friends with the Chapo Trap House guys, whom your friends almost certainly are taking notes from. So it's nearly impossible to imagine that your friends have not encountered the near constant coverage of the struggle of the Palestinians that all the rest of us have. And yet still your friends do nothing. Still they do not care, and dismiss you when you share with them how despairing you feel.

Your friends have turned off an essential part of their hearts, I think. And I don't mean they lack empathy. Not having empathy is fine, I don't have it either -- but I make the conscious choice to care about the Palestinian cause and to advocate for it, because it aligns with my values. I give a fuck. My giving a fuck is conveyed through my actions, not through what I think about or how I feel.

Your friends are showing no interest in learning more about this genocide or doing anything about it. Perhaps some degree of ignorance or hesitancy could be justified early on because the Israeli apologist propaganda is so far reaching, but we're well past the point of that explaining away inaction by now. Over 100,000 people are missing and over 30,000 are known to be dead and little girls are being shot by snipers while seeking medical care while babies are left to rot in their NICU beds.

Your friends know this. Maybe not everyone in the world does, but if they're so well-read about leftist issues, your friends do. And they have chosen, for some reason, not to care. They've disconnected from the pain the Palestinian people are in, unplugged from the steady stream of upsetting information, sought comfort in a politics that says all too conveniently that nothing they do matters, and when you try to share with them how much anguish you are feeling about the mass deaths happening throughout the world, they're dismissive toward you.

Your friends suck. If acknowleding reality and confronting the horrors of a genocide is too tough and triggering for them, then a lot of horrors here at home will be too much for their fragile egos too. There are so many leftists you could be surrounding yourself with instead, I promise -- people who give back to their communities, people who are in the streets doing the tough work of feeding and housing and fighting for the release from prison of people every day, instead of using those local struggles as a shield for their inaction on a more global scale.

Fuck these people for real. This is a big glaring red flag and it will be relevant to your friendship and your life. One day many of them might see you and your problems and your human needs as too much of a distraction from their dry academic jerk-off sessions too. I've seen it a dozen times. Sorry to be so blunt. But you seem like a person who is putting their attention in all the right places and I don't want to see that compassion squandered on people who won't ever show you the same consideration. You can find people who actually walk the walk, they're everywhere.

[wordbunch]

the fellowship meeting their partner’s family

a/n: this brilliant idea was requested by @starlady66! I hope I did okay, let me know how it was 😄 and yes, of course I am including Faramir too. if you liked this fic, consider reblogging it so more people can potentially see it and enjoy 💕 it gives me motivation to write more!

ARAGORN:

is a little quiet at first, but not awkwardly quiet

remembers what you had told him about your family and then brings it up in conversation with the

very very respectful

offers to help with anything and everything, from cooking to cleaning or fixing something

your family thought he was initially just a little odd, but they warmed up to him very quickly

he’s invited to every family gathering right away, you insist that he doesn’t have to come if it’s too much, but he really wants to

💐

BOROMIR:

brings them flowers and a fancy drink at least

wants to bring even more gifts but you reassure him he’s already doing enough

he’s an absolute favorite among your younger siblings/cousins, they don’t want to let him go

and it warms your heart so much

he praises you in front of the family and makes you blush

they all liked him immediately and he was super charming and easygoing, you were the more nervous one

💐

FARAMIR:

not gonna lie, he IS stressed out, but you reassure him he’s perfect and has nothing to worry about

literally practices how he’ll introduce himself and all that

he manages to accidentally fumble something, but it’s a perfect ice-breaker because everybody is laughing

they love him instantly, even if he’s initially a bit quiet and awkward

he was going to bring them some little present, but he forgot

eventually gets so carried away talking and having some deep discussion that you almost fall asleep by his side

💐

FRODO:

simultaneously he’s a nervous wreck, but also knows that he generally makes a good impression on people

runs his hand through his hair a million times to make it look neater

offers to help with the food even though it’s not his strongest suit

asks a lot of questions after he gets comfortable, and listens with interest

accidentally takes a short nap after the meal and is SUPER embarrassed

but nobody takes it the wrong way, it just becomes an inside joke that runs forever

💐

GIMLI:

lots of gifts for everyone. EVERYONE.

you think it’s too much but he just really wants to make a great impression

you’re important to him, so, your family is too

they bonded so quickly that they almost forgot that you were also there (oops lmao)

lots of laughing, and they would be asking him to retell some fun adventures you had together

he compliments the food a lot and eventually they’d pack him some leftovers

💐

LEGOLAS:

you know the charming, charismatic elf that he is? well, you can forget about that, it seems

he feels extremely awkward, no idea why

regardless, your family likes him immediately, even if they do consider him a bit strange

you try to carry the conversation most of the time and he’s very grateful for it

eventually when he gets over himself, he will be very communicative and pleasant

your family asks him a bunch of questions; they’ve never had a guest like that before!

💐

MERRY:

charming and witty as ever, also brings flowers

fits in right away, as if he’s always been a part of the family

they all think he’s hilarious and can’t get enough of his stories

he wants to hear the stories about you when you were a small child (and will use the new information to poke fun at you for eternity)

compliments everyone and everything, loves all the food

also invited to all the family gatherings and events henceforth

💐

PIPPIN:

is nervous, but hides it decently well, or eases it through humor

really wanted to bring a little gift, but forgot

accidentally knocks something over or trips or something like that, but you all just have a laugh about it (he blushes)

he likes to talk about how great you are, so he will definitely comment on that in front of your family too

okay, maybe they did think he was a little too chaotic or immature, but he has a heart of gold and they know it!

you will overhear them commenting on the way he looks at you and how good he treats you

💐

SAM:

brings a half of his garden as a present: flowers, vegetables, you name it

maybe even he cooks/bakes something and then brings it over, then blushes at the compliments

they all love him immediately (who doesn’t!)

loves to listen to your family’s stories about you

offers to help with washing up

a younger sibling/relative of yours asks him something like “when are you going to marry [Y/N]?”

💐

everything taglist: @starlady66​ @lotrnonsense​ @lazyoswald​ @entishramblings​ @thesolarangel​ (ty all for wanting to be tagged and reading my stuff <3)

[szalnyshko]

(•Д•), Dunmeshi is over taking me!! [spoilers ahead!]

So, I’ve already finished the manga and I’m now waiting for the new episode but during the gap I’ve been consuming fandom content, as per use. Now, the character that I’ve been consuming the most fandom content is Laios cause he’s so jdjdjsjs, and this idea has been fluttering round my head because I’ve only seen THREE actual posts/works about this. Two being fics and one being a tumblr post.

The specific idea is a sibling swap, Falin and Laios, and I’m suffering from lack of content from it!! Only two fics and one tumblr post [ТдТ] One of the fics is Laios and making his desire to be to swap with Falin, and what he thinks will happen. The other is Falin going through the dungeon to save Laios and it’s specific the episode that’s coming out this Thursday, so chapter 27/28 in manga I think.

Like this concept really gets me going cause it changed the whole dynamic of how things would play out. Laios being there meant they met Senshi because Laios was interested in eating monsters. Falin, although she does have an interest, would not have that strong of an interest in eating monsters. I also feel she may not realise it’s hunger that caused them to fail because she was focused on protecting her brother and the party, literally letting herself get eaten to save her brother. She also would not have intimate knowledge of monsters so the party may have a harder time killing monsters.

I think Marcille and Chilchuck would still be in the party. Marcille doesn’t seem to have a deep connection with Laios at the start, with her clashing with Laios and his monster eating habits. Plus the prior encounter where she wanted to kill him for taking Falin away from magic school. This bond deepens between them as they go down the dungeon and she obviously cares for the rest of the party, feeling betrayed that Namari and Shuro [I keep forget your actual name] left. But I feel if it were Lauos to get eaten she wouldn’t be as motivated as she is with Falin [Lesbian icon!] because she doesn’t get to connect with him. This then brings into question, would she revive Laios and risk being jailed by the elves?

She probably would because it’s Falin who asked but there would be more hesitation. Especially with Chilchuck who is against it no matter what.

Talking about Chilchuck, I feel he would stay out of obligation. The same reason he stayed with Laios originally. I think his dynamic wouldn’t change that much but maybe he’d see Falin and Marcill closer to his daughters [?] or maybe he’d have a gripe cause of their relationship as we already know he doesn’t do inter party relationships.

Namari would still leave but I think Shuro would be more hesitant, his love for Falin possibly making him stay for a little bit.

Of course we have the problem with money and food but I think Falin has enough people skills to gather some things. But, because she lived with Laios for some time and heard about his monster fantasies, maybe she’d consider eating monsters. I feel people would be more likely to listen to her rather than Laios [sorry buddy] but still question it. However, Shuro did have a whole crew so maybe he’d help with that and we’d have a whole different crew dynamic.

Talking about that, I wonder how Kabru and his party would interact with Falin’s party. How’d the Namari reunion go? What would Falin’s desire be? How would the finale fight be? Would Laios have a cool chimera bod like Falin?

So many questions for my tiny brain….

[teenandbeyond]

So I saw your headcanons for Bakugou and Aizawa, what kind of boyfriend would Midoriya be?

Midoriya Imagine

What type of boyfriend he'd be

Want more from me? mAsterList

I was just thinking about this when considering him for a love interest for my OC, fortunately for you, this is still fresh on my mind lol

☆*: .｡. .｡.:*☆☆*: .｡. .｡.:*☆

An awkward romantic.

By this, I mean he's awkward about his romanticness.

"W-we can share a crepe if you want?"

"Am I allowed to k-kiss you?"

Very shy, even after he's dating you.

Takes you on cute, simple dates. But plans like a pro. Like if the date doesn't work out, he has a plan B, C, D...J, K...

Though he'd be a bit better about shyness once he gets used to you.

Insecure about himself deserving you.

You'll have to assure him when you notice.

He can be kinda hard on himself, including with you. If he feels like he's not doing enough, he will feel suuuper bad.

You will be a priority, but not his first. He can be a neglectful boyfriend sometimes due to him putting hero work first...and sometimes that's all he thinks about.

But he's observant, so after a while, he'll notice.

And he quickly notices when your emotions shift.

He catches on to your ticks, habits, etc.

And writes them down in a special notebook just for you.

Pegs me as the type to track your period if you have one

Like, the day of he'll stop by with stuff and you're like, "Um...how?"

Or if you have hair, he'll have most hair items/products you might've forgotten or needed

Or if you forget to eat in the mornings, without needing to ask he'll hand you a breakfast muffin or something.

I see him being insecure about his scars until you kiss them all and tell him they're beautiful, leaving him flushed red.

Will shyly let you count his freckles if you like.

Once he's comfortable enough, will join in when you do weird stuff.

Whatever it is.

Seriously.

Will make you laugh more often than you'd expect.

Will motivate you to do more in life, but doesn't hold it against you if you don't make drastic changes.

If you have long hair, he will have the urge to braid it.

He gives hair-touching vibes. If you allow him to.

His love languages are definitely acts of service and words of affirmation.

Will happily do things for you.

And will always make sure he tells you how great you are, how much he loves you, etc.

There will be conflict sometimes.

He's reckless and will easily toss his life away for a stranger. You have to tell him he can't do that, he needs to care more about his life, and he has people who need him here, including you.

You think he has such low value for his life due to him being Quirkless and from bullying. So you'll have to help him unlearn this mindset.

If he feels like he needs to protect you, he will distance himself every time.

He's...incredibly protective. One of the rare instances Midoriya will lose control of his anger is when he's protecting those he cares for.

And you never tell him you find it attractive.

He doesn't really get jealous as much as insecure about how he treats you.

"Maybe they might treat [Name] better..."

Once you get past that phase, though, he's okay.

The type of boyfriend to cry because you're crying, even if he doesn't know why you are.

I actually don't see Midoriya as being extremely affectionate but will give it to you based on the level you want.

He melts from your praise.

And takes your opinion almost more seriously than All Might's...and that's saying a lot.

He's patient but un-patient. He can be patient for you, but it takes a lot of effort, he likes to know things, to cheer you up, to make you happy.

DENSE.

Like, he learns as he goes along...but he starts out very dense.

Definitely supportive of what you do, but if it's something he doesn't particularly agree with, he will still voice his opinion on the matter.

I see your relationship being quiet, the little moments matter more...but then other times, you're either chaotic or nerding out.

Midoriya will often nerd out about heroes, so expect that. Like, you could be walking by a hero on the street and his energy will go ⬆

Communication is a must if you want a relationship to work with him. He has a lot of bad habits and he won't know unless you tell him. That, and he needs to get better at communicating himself, he has a hard time with that.

Gamer.

I feel he's a gamer in his free time and gamers can have potty mouths.

So I feel like he'd try to not curse as much around you, but will still let things slip if he, say, bumps his foot against a table or something.

He'd love it if you can do each other's hobbies together, he'd feel closer to you.

[kcwriter-blog]

Choice. Consequence. Blame.

Choice. Consequence. Blame. When I think about these concepts, I think about Solas and the blame he incurs for the choices he made. How do you apportion blame? How far back in time do we go? Those are interesting questions to me. My somewhat disorganized answers are under the cut. 

The concept of blame is universal. Someone makes a choice. That choice has consequences. If the outcome is good, the person is lauded. If the outcome is bad, the person is vilified. Context — the reasons why the person had to make that choice in the first place — is thrown out the window. 

How does this relate to Solas? Just about everyone agrees that his choice to create the Veil was responsible for what happened to the elves — even Solas. He is to blame. It’s a simplistic view. Choices are not made in a vacuum. 

What motivated Solas? He tells us. The Evanuris became corrupt. They lusted after power. They killed Mythal. We don’t know much beyond that, but we can theorize that Mythal was keeping the others in check. With her gone, they could pursue their own agenda. That would have destroyed the world.

Solas had to make a choice. He could do nothing, or he could do something. He chose to do something. 

Many people feel that Solas should have found an alternative to forming the Veil. That he didn’t look hard enough. Basically, he threw a temper tantrum over Mythal’s death and thoughtlessly did something he now regrets. Except that isn’t what happened.

Solas has a temper. We see that when he flambés the mages who killed Wisdom. He can be impulsive. We see that in his romance.

What people forget is that he is always able to master himself. It takes one word to keep him from roasting the mages. He doesn’t like it, but he does it.

In his romance he always stops himself before things can go too far. He didn’t create the Veil in a day. There was plenty of time for him to cool off. 

Solas tells us he considered alternatives. We don’t know what they were. We just know the consequences of those solutions were so dire, he chose to lock away his favorite place in the world — the Fade — instead. The wolf chews its leg off to escape the trap. 

Sometimes there are no good choices. Solas chose the best solution he could, given the information he had. The consequences? Bad.

Does that mean Solas should be the scapegoat? Is he 100 percent to blame for what happened to the elves?

I would argue no. What he did caused the elves to fight amongst themselves. It meant they could not protect themselves when Tevinter came calling. How the elves were treated once conquered, however, had nothing to do with Solas. 

Humans behaved toward elves the same way Europeans did when they encountered indigenous people on other continents. They could have done it differently. Solas didn’t make that choice for them. Humans decided that for themselves. 

Solas wasn’t responsible for the obliteration of Halamshiral. The Chantry was. Humans chose to force elves into slums, to take away their rights, to kill them if they felt like it.

Humans may not have taken immortality from the elves, but they did take away their language, history and cultural identity. Solas was not responsible for that. Humans bear part of the blame for what happened to the elves.

Which leads to my final point. How far back in time should we look when it comes to assigning blame? For most people, unless they are historians, probably not very far. Solas created the Veil. He is to blame. Simple. Except that it isn’t.

Would Solas have created the Veil if the Evanuris had not become corrupt? No, he wouldn't have.

The Evanuris are ultimately responsible for what happened to the elves. Solas did what he had to do, to prevent something worse from happening. He may view it as a mistake but it’s only a mistake if another, better solution was available to him, and he chose not to take it. 

The key to redeeming him might be helping him see that. 

[utilitycaster]

So I've felt a little bit like I'm struggling a bit to see for myself where you and others are recognizing Imogen's self-centeredness. Like, it makes sense for it to be there once it's pointed out to me, but she has a lot of moments where she DOES consider whether or not she or the party are potentially bringing harm to other people or animals—so it wasn't difficult for me to come away from her character, at a surface level, thinking that her biggest flaw is being a cynic and not letting people in, and I think between fanon and judging her by past Laura PCs, I have some trouble getting a read on her. What are you taking into consideration as you observe her character and her choices, and how much do you think Laura's leaning into those things intentionally?

So I do think that I probably cover her selfish moments more than I cover her on the whole, both because I find those moments a particularly interesting part of her character and in reaction to the bad fanon of her as a long-suffering victim deprived of choices. I should also note that I don't think she's a black hole of self absorption, so much as she tends to perhaps not consider that multiple options all have a chance of hurting people in a way I find insensitive.

Perhaps an overarching theme is the psychic powers in that I think she is so used to picking up people's thoughts that she doesn't realize the power imbalance this grants. Like...I think she sometimes forgets that a conversation needs to be a two-way street and is not solely her reading thoughts, but an opportunity for others to get information about her and hear her feelings, and also for her to express that curiosity about others. Which is a weird take on self-centeredness! I think most people think of self-centeredness as someone who only talks about themselves, and Imogen is not that. But at the same time...a good example is when she sees her father, who is pretty clearly desperately lonely and isolated and has been abandoned by both his wife and daughter due to them having powers well beyond what he understands. I don't think she picks up on all the visual cues, and while she could read what he's thinking, I think she forgets the impact of a simple "how are you?" or the responsibilities of both people to engage with conversation. Like...yes, you can understand someone's upset by reading their mind, but what about talking it through? What about the benefits the other person gains by having to put things into words? That's often lost in Imogen's interactions.

When she's focused on getting information, all the niceties fall away, and if she doesn't want the information she doesn't have that sense of give and take that would obligate most people to still carry on a conversation. (I suspect this is also why the two arguments she's had with Laudna have both fizzled out so unsatisfyingly; you have someone who will rapidly cover up any unhappiness and someone who - in my interpretation anyway - doesn't take that into consideration.)

The conversation leading up to the solstice is also a big one; I think again that the underlying motivation isn't ill-intentioned, per se, when she talks about whether the Vanguard might be right. I think that comes from, as I've said, an idea of hypocrisy of words vs. thoughts not matching, whereas most of us would think of hypocrisy as a mismatch of word and action. I don't think she intends to hurt people here. But at the same time it's immensely hurtful to bring this up to someone like Orym, who has lost his husband and his father figure and nearly his own life, or to Laudna, who could have been permanently killed by Otohan. It's not that it's not a valid line of discussion even though ideologically I'm opposed; it's that I don't think she has that sense of tact here. Which is also understandable, in that 18-year-old Imogen was never spared people's thoughts about her, but that doesn't mean it's not selfish. And it stands out because, again, I feel that people who talk to Imogen are not granted that opportunity to talk through their thoughts and use her as a sounding board, but she (again - possibly unwittingly) expects others to be available as one for her. Sort of to your point - I think she often thinks about whether the party is going to hurt people but I don't think she thinks about whether she, Imogen, is going to say something immensely hurtful to a party member.

I also find that she's just...not terribly pragmatic, and I'll admit that this is just a strong personal preference on my part in that I find adherence to pure ideology without a clear plan to be selfish at worst, though just extremely annoying at best. It feels she shoots down or criticizes a lot of plans with no better idea in mind (this happened a bunch in Uthodurn/Molaesmyr so this might be recency bias) and that always in real life makes me go "ok so if you're the one with the good ideas, have one." The "what about people who don't follow the gods" line after Deanna and FCG had direct visions really made me go "girl this is not about you;" it's not that it's not a valid question but for real, girl this is not about you and I don't know, what about them? Figure it out yourself.

Writing it out I think that this is honestly not that different from what you might call cynicism. I think Imogen just...doesn't always get that people are in fact more than their collections of thoughts, and hasn't put in the effort to really get a sense of how non-psychics might interact with the world.

As for intentionality: I have to admit I'm not sure how much is an intentional analysis of how a psychic might behave. I think the view of hypocrisy is on purpose, but I don't know if the conflict avoidance with Laudna is motivated by that or by something else. I also wonder, but am not sure, if some of the subtle changes with Imogen after getting the circlet are her adjusting to not reading people's thoughts. Like, that puts the interaction with Deanna killing the goat in a new light, because that's an interaction where I don't fault Imogen, and I think it works well as her being like "TRULY WHY THE FUCK DID YOU DO THAT I CAN'T READ YOUR MIND." But Laura's played it close to the vest on 4SD and I have some again kind of personal...maybe not biases, but definitely hunches and doubts regarding backstory for Imogen, and I don't know how much she's thought it out.

And finally, also through writing this out, I do think some of what I say is again a personal reaction to not just fanon but the very "this person is RIGHT and this person is WRONG" nature a lot of fanon, especially surrounding Imogen, has taken. I think if there were a fandom environment in which (for example) it was more common for people to say "Oh, it looks like Relvin is someone who tried hard but was limited by his own knowledge, and his attempt to protect Imogen by keeping her in the dark about Liliana made things worse, and Imogen in turn saw his distance and increased it, and these are two people who love each other but have hurt each other pretty badly and don't want to deal with it because for a long time they were all the other had, and frankly Imogen is still all Relvin has" instead of projecting their personal daddy issues onto it in the service of the stripped of choice innocent but all-powerful failgirl narrative, I'd have a more measured response myself. "Insensitive in a way that quite likely is unintentional but often comes off as all take and no give, particularly in her one-on-one interactions with others" is probably a better way to put it, and I think that her cynicism is part of why she's like this.

[captain-amadeus]

Do you think Cedric is overrated, or just given so much attention that the fandom forgets the other characters exist? /gen

Also, I couldn't agree more about how wrong it is to put Cedric on a pedestal to make Roland look terrible; the man is an amazing father, and I will die on that hill!!

My opinion on Cedric in the fandom isn't as interesting as my opinion on the fandom's one-sidedness with King Roland.

I know I talk about Roland a lot, but man, I have so much to say about him that just doesn't get said enough.

I have so much to say about how the fandom is so biased with him and Cedric. The fact that he can't be a character who makes mistakes and learns from them is insane, especially since Cedric isn't a perfect person himself.

Even if Cedric's motives to take over the kingdom are sympathetic, it doesn't justify his actions. He was wrong in wanting to take over the kingdom and in hurting others like Sofia in his attempts, but people like Roland were wrong for doubting him for so long and believing the notion that he's not capable of great things.

Although Roland wasn't the main driving force in Cedric wanting to get back at everyone, those rightfully go to Goodwyn and Cordelia, he failed in being a needed support for Cedric because of how he was raised off the idea that Cedric isn't capable of being like his father.

There is so much grey area where Roland has a reason for thinking and acting how he does, just like Cedric in how he thinks and acts. There is nuance to both of their characters that the fandom neglects with Roland in favor of making him this black and white character, and it ultimately makes him unrecognizable to how he was in canon to the point that I could mistake someone's depiction on him for Roland's father. That's what they all remind me of: his father, whose been said to have been a great king but not a great father.

I feel there's so much untapped potential in regards to Cedric and Roland having their fathers be emotionally absent and growing up to give their next generation what they didn't. It's more interesting than having Roland be a bad father without considering the things he did as a father in favor of Cedric being the only one to care for Sofia. (There is a difference between making stuff mainly about Cedric and Sofia and making Sofia's own family useless with Cedric being the only one who can help her. Really, Sofia loves her family and her family loves her.)

People just haven't thought about it as deeply with Roland as they do with Cedric when it comes to reasoning, and at worst, they intentionally interpret his actions in bad faith.

It is so easy to interpret Roland as someone with good intentions. I just don't get why people would willingly make a character bad in their heads, but it always circles back to Cedric because it's always him that replaces Roland as Sofia's father.

It's never Sofia being comforted by Miranda, or spending time with Amber and James, or even talking to her animal friends or visiting her best friends, Ruby and Jade.

And even when it is about them, they're always overshadowed by Cedric. It is so rare to see something focus on anything other than Cedric to the point where I wonder what's the point in having any of the other characters present when they are just props for Cedric.

And there's nothing wrong with liking Sofia and Cedric's bond, no matter how you view it (except if it's in a romantic way, in which you need to reconsider why you feel that a full grown adult and a child would, eww.) I just feel there could be more to having Cedric being the only focal point in things, and even have him be a supporting role instead of the main focus. Having him accompany Sofia but focusing more on her interactions and relations with other characters would be so refreshing. Even exploring Cedric with other characters (cough maybe with Roland) could be a good change of pace.

All in all, I don't have anything against others or how much Cedric is focused in the fandom because some people may just like Cedric better. And if I don't want everything to be about Cedric, then I can just make my own things about other characters. It just bums me out the things I've mentioned, and I hope to make it to where there's a bit more diversity in the fandom when it comes to other characters.

Also I love Miranda ok bye

[manyothermusingsofmine]

so huyandere posted this on twitter with the notion of like “did anyone write a detailed analysis of kristoph’s solitary cell already bc why is there a pink chair. Insane.” and like I don’t know if it counts as a detailed analysis but I certainly have Opinions about this. I’m a bit sick though so this is really rambly and not on track in the slightest. and if you click the read more it’s all there so uh like

Okay first of all I’m going to have to fact check this but I feel like the wiki told me Kristoph apparently talked the guards into getting him all this stuff?

-one wiki search later- “He managed to call in some favors to some of the prison guards whom he had befriended to get various items into the cell, turning it into something of an office.”

Okay yeah so that’s fucking terrifying? Kristoph already doesn’t strike me as the type to have legitimate friends because everyone is a means to an end with him, but- bro that’s not pulling favors that’s mafia boss behavior what the hell.

But like the bigger Thought I have about the whole thing that derails a little from huyandere’s original question is just. The fucking paralells between Simon and Kristoph? Like okay no hear me out actually.

They’re the same character archetype, in a way. They’re both cool, collected, kinda detached loners- arguably the flip side of each other’s coin because where their character wildly diverge is in motive. Kristoph’s whole motive in his story is greed and envy; wanting the fame and fortune others have and feeling like his rightful place in the spotlight is being usurped by people who don’t deserve it Simon on the other hand’s whole motive is undying loyalty to protecting someone he cares about. He’s on deathrow for a crime he didn’t commit, but can we not gloss over the fact that he’s doing so to protect Athena, who, at this point if the story gets spun in her direction, would befall the same faith? That’s -deskslam- why I’m so mad actually that Simon and Klavier don’t interact in Dual Destinies. Like, at all. And that’s a fucking crime because no matter how you spin that their dynamic would be so interesting! Like, would Simon’s similar demeanor freak Klavier out and does their coworkership therefor become kind of strained and uncomfortable? Or are you like me and do you think that Simon takes one look at Klavier and goes “-Markiplier voice- oh he’s traumatized” and instinctively adopts this weird rockstar prosecutor as his brother because eh what’s another adoptive sibling at this point. And in that case does Klavier look at Simon’s behavior and just go “well thats similar to what I was used to anyway so yeah you can stick around.”? Also I’m not done you clicked on this that was your choice entirely it’s even more fascinating to think about Simon and Kristoph spending even one day in the same jail establishment because first of all I feel like Simon would look around that jail cell and just go “show off” and leave it at that. And while I think the fandom has a point in that Simon probably wouldn’t like Kristoph, have we even considered how much Kristoph would fucking loathe Simon? Simon is pretty much the better version of him because Simon has honor and loyalty; things Kristoph definitely lacks. Furthermore with his background in psychology and just the general way he is Simon wouldn’t fall for any of Kristoph’s manipulation tactics, and there’s not much else Kristoph can do because there’s no way in hell that he would win in a physical fight against Simon; the man’s build like a fucking tank come on now. Do you have any idea how much it would piss Kristoph off that he has this absolute powerhouse of a man in a cell next to him and the bastard’s completely immune to his manipulation skills?! And before I forget the fucking?? paralell?? between Simon owning a trained hawk that I can only assume he trained himself which takes time and talent and trust and sfmdfmg the sprite of him petting Taka makes me feel things. Vs Kristoph having a dog where the general consensus seems to be that it’s a golden retriever, which makes me feel things as someone who has owned golden retrievers and who knows their unconditional love, because he wants to be loved unconditionally with no questions asked FDS,MFNSDFG,MNDF,GM-

[o-uncle-newt]

Cabin Pressure Advent Day 24: Xinzhou

To quote Stefon from SNL, this episode has everything! It's actually pretty crazy how much it manages to fit- seamlessly!- into less than half an hour. We have the introduction of such iconic concepts as Fizz Buzz and "here I am don't tread on me," the excellent Film Double Bills game, bacon shirt, baby chicken and baby lamb... I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but honestly the big things is that this all fits around SO many conversations that move the plot forward.

So many of the important things that we need to do before moving on toward the end of the show happen in this episode. We establish that Martin is dating Theresa (even if he won't put a label on it) and is invested enough to potentially want to choose a job in proximity to her. We know that Carolyn hasn't given Herc any kind of real answer and is pretty avoidant of the consequences. We know that Douglas did not know that Carolyn is essentially cutting his job out from under his feet.... and we know that Arthur doesn't know what multiples are. Oh, Arthur, I love you so.

It's interesting, because the arc of Douglas moving from being obnoxious to Martin about his interest in Swiss Airways is not super clearly laid out. What we do perceive is that he isn't necessarily being snarky at first because he genuinely has no confidence in Martin- he's having a knee jerk reaction to the idea of losing this situation. He's basically exactly where he wants to be- and I think to him that's the depressing part, because he has an image of himself as being so much more than he currently is and if he's happy regardless then that can feel like a weakness of its own... it's hard for him to admit he's really happy where he is. I think that what really changes his mind is realizing that Martin genuinely does have bigger dreams, and that those dreams have nothing to do with being a captain. As I've mentioned in one or two of these, Martin's motivating factor for trying to rescue MJN, every other episode when they have to work to save the day, is that nobody else will let him be a captain and being captain is massively important to him. But now, he's prioritizing flying airliners and being near the girl he's dating over that ego thing. He's grown up, and I think seeing that proves to Douglas how selfish his earlier thought is.

And Carolyn... it's so hard to know what Carolyn is thinking exactly. On the one hand, she's pushing Herc away by telling him not to consider her as he takes the Swiss Airways job, and at the same time she's encouraging Martin to leave for his betterment, which will eventually (as far as we now know) lead to the end of MJN Air. Is it some kind of weird self sabotage? Is it her being a more selfless person than one might imagine her being in S1? She's probably the most emotionally bound-up character, and it will of course be fun to see how she navigates the next few episodes...

But also, as already discussed, this episode has so many amazing amazing moments in it and I'm just so in awe of JF for pulling it off so flawlessly- while Limerick is the bomb, I think this one might be even more skillfully pulled off, with a lot more demanded of it. I also have a nice nostalgic memory related to Xinzhou as I made a friend through this episode! A friend and I were out for dinner with a group of people, some of whom we knew and some who we didn't, and someone (for some reason) mentioned baby food- possibly in the context of them liking to eat baby food? I don't recall. Anyway, I made a sotto voce comment to my friend about eating chicken flavored baby food and I suddenly heard a British accent a few seats down- "is that a Cabin Pressure reference?!" Turns out, she was IN THE AUDIENCE for Xinzhou and said it was even better in person, I was very jealous, and while we've drifted apart since then it was very nice to get to know her- and all because of a Cabin Pressure reference.

Next episode is Yverdon... can't believe this is almost over!!

[roninreverie]

Why Ahsoka's Thrawn isn't actually the real Thrawn

A theory by me, which I am going to be so annoying about for the foreseeable future, so let me just try to get most of it out of my system right here and now. 😅

---

So we all know by now that Thrawn is revving up to be the BIG BAD for the live action Star Wars series tying The Mandalorian into Ahsoka and working off of the Rebels finale.

I also remember hearing old rumors that they were going to be pulling a lot from legends lore for this show, and that Timothy Zahn was not really involved at all with the show itself. (Feel free to update me otherwise though.)

Now, the fact that they're calling him the "Heir to the Empire" in the teaser trailer is already a pretty decent confirmation that the legends lore nods are in full swing. So this raises red flags for Thrawn's character, who, as we know from the newer novels, has a bit more motivation to him than his legends counterpart, and while the two are not wholly dissimilar, there have been a few important updates to his character since the early 90's.

Not to mention, I've heard a lot of people saying "If Zahn isn't involved, it wouldn't really BE Thrawn, right?"

EXACTLY!

I have a very strong gut feeling that this Thrawn isn't actually going to be the Mitth'raw'nuruodo that we expect him to be, and here's why:

Evidence #1: The Beskar Spear

In Chapter 13 of Mando, we're introduced to Morgan Elsbeth who was apparently working so closely with Thrawn that Ahsoka Tano shows up to battle her and demand information on his wearabouts.

Do you really believe Grand Admiral Thrawn would think very highly of a woman who had tarnished the artistic craftsmanship and history of Mandalorian armor just to forge it into a spear?

Lest we forget how upset he got at Captain Slavin just for badmouthing Hera's kalikori in Rebels?

But Thrawn is a big-picture kind of guy, so swallowing his opinions on the dismissal to the value of art isn't necessarily out of character for him, and I'm not sure if they ever specified it was Elsbeth who had done the re-forging in the first place.

Moving on!

---

Evidence #2 Legends Lore and Fake Thrawns

There have been many versions of Thrawn since his creation in Zahn’s original trilogy/duology series, but did you know that there have also been multiple Thrawns existing in the Star Wars Legends universe?

I won't go into too much detail, but considering the Empire tried to keep Thrawn at arms reach up until he earned his Admiral status, and then some… they had quite a few backup plans to make sure the Chiss stuck around even after his “supposed” death.

Between Moff Vilim Disra hiring a con-artist actor named Flim, to fake the role and trick the galaxy... or the literal clone(s) who were set on backup timers and programmed with all of Thrawn's memories just in case of the Admiral’s untimely demise... it’s not as wild an assumption as you might think that there could be a few faux Thrawn’s roaming about in new canon. 

And we have been getting a lot of interesting nods to clones lately in the Bad Batch, especially concerning Mount Tantiss and the planet Wayland/Weyland.

Just some food for thought.

---

Evidence #3: Thrawn’s Death and Continuity

Though Legends and Canon Thrawn do have some similarities and ways to tie together their two universes, there have been updates to his story that cannot be ignored in the new canon, such as his inevitable death.

In legends, Thrawn was killed at the hands of his own Noghri bodyguard, Rukh, who was formally loyal to the Chiss until he learned that Thrawn had not been helping with the ecological disasters of his home planet as he'd promised, but instead had been purposefully keeping them present so that the Noghri people would remain indebted to the Empire. Discovering Thrawn's lies, Rukh stabs him through the chest in the ever-popular “it was so artistically done” scene, thus ending the deceitful Grand Admiral’s life in the old trilogy. 

Unfortunately for the latest iteration of Rukh, Garazeb Orrelios made sure that his new canon self's death was probably not the sort he would be able to get back up and brush off in a surprising twist down the road. 

This left the new-canon Thrawn without an assassin destined to carry out his death, and what many newer fans hoped would mean some sort of redemption arc, given the changes to the character since his reintroduction in Rebels.

I think it can also be stated that the newer version of Thrawn is a bit "kinder" for lack of a better word than his legend's self. Not enough to negate his antagonistic nature in Rebels of course, but maybe just not to the sinister degree as his past counterpart.

---

So in closing, I am going to be watching and taking notes, excited to see where this new "Thrawn" in the Ahsoka series, Mando, and heck... maybe even Bad Batch-- will play out.

I am going to be constantly thinking he's a fake until absolutely proven otherwise, hoping that the Thrawn I've spent all these years building up in my head is off saving the Chiss-Ascendancy with Ezra Bridger and Eli Vanto... and getting something of a redemption arc now that he's apart from the Empire.

Newer Thrawn never struck me as an irredeemable villain, especially in the novels, but I guess that's up to time to tell for sure?

I'm not going to let this theory ruin my expectations for the show and the character, of course, but I'll be super hype if this is the direction they've chosen to go with him.

Thanks for reading, if you did, and feel free to keep the discussion going in the replies/reblogs if you have anything to add!

[f0rtunes-fool]

(It's Fox psychoanalyses a silly Facebook game time again woo)

I wanna bring up Grimsborough case 41, more specifically the bit when Tess hypnotises Jones to try and get him to kill the player, and the trial afterwards. (Added screenshots so I can properly explain what I wanna say)

[The majority of the psychoanalysis is under the cut]

So we all know how Tess specifically targets people with deep insecurities, or otherwise had some negative feelings towards their victims - Misha was jealous of Rani because she was growing more popular than she was and was scared because of it, Penelope was worried that Lisa was was going to forget her and find new friends, leading her to go to drastic measures to keep that friendship with her, only to be exposed for it which would have ended their friendship anyway, and Taylor was furious at Aaliyah for only using the environmental protests to boost her reputation. With some encouragement from Tess and her hypnosis, the three killers were lead to be essentially pawns in her game, committing murders with their only motive being that "they did what they had to do." So that's what we know, that's the whole thing, that's what Tess does. Pretty simple. Concise, neat, and blunt.

So, back to the Jones Incident. In case 35, Tess makes a comment about how Jones "takes the credit for *insert player's* work," to which Jones immediately responds by saying that him and the player are a team. Now, here's the thing. Naturally, when you consider yourself to be a team with someone else, only for other people to praise your partner and not you, telling you that you "take credit for your partner's work," you begin to worry, right? You feel insecure. You begin to feel paranoid over whether you are putting enough work in, whether you are helping your partner enough. Hell, you might even begin to quietly resent your partner because they're getting the credit. You might feel paranoid over whether they are secretly revelling in all the praise and don't care about you, even if they do correct people and say that your work was a joint effort between the two of you. Do you communicate your feelings with your partner? Usually, the answer is no, as you are worried that if you voice your paranoia over the situation, they will think that you expect praise over everything and are majorly egotistical. So you keep quiet. You don't voice anything to anyone for fear of being seen as a bad person.

This can lead to a lot of negative feelings towards your partner and a lot of self-doubt - aka, the type of things that Tess Goodwin, as we know, looks for in her victims, leading me to believe that Tess fully knew what she was doing when she said that one, simple comment, as we already know that Tess is highly intelligent, manipulative, and very good at things like human psychology. She was sewing the seeds for her masterpiece, her metaphorical "checkmate," if you will. She took something that must have already been an insecurity for Jones (his usefulness in the police force, especially compared to the player) and made it grow, fanning the flames without really doing anything, waiting for the moment where she could fully take advantage of his negative feelings and try and get him to kill the player. Again, we all know this.

But during the trial, she says something I consider interesting.

Tess describes Jones as being essentially volatile, harbouring negative feelings towards the player - which ties into what I said above, the whole "paranoia leading to bottled-up feelings of resentment and jealousy" thing.

Knowing how Tess is, and how she subtly manipulates people, I have reason to believe that this was a further attempt to place feelings of doubt and anxiety between the player and Jones. After all, Jones has just attempted to kill the player, and Tess, again, specifically targets those who harbour insecurities and negative feelings towards their victims. So it stands to reason that the player may believe that Jones legitimately does have those negative feelings towards them, and may begin to feel worried that Jones might actually try something. Yes, Tess is a master manipulator, the player knows this, they know what Tess is doing. But there's got to be at least some paranoia, right? The whole "but what if...?" thing. Especially as Tess literally states that the player should be careful around Jones, insinuating that he might really kill (or at least, try to kill) the player, this time without being hypnotised into doing so.

So yeah. You really do have to love Tess and hate her in equal measure, because you have to admit, that girl is SMART.

[midorikawawas]

So, About Spirit of Justice…

I've been loving that game since I first played it back in 2017-2018, and at times, I wish to do a review for Spirit of Justice, at least the story aspects, because I consider it to be a game that not only isn't as bad or as incoherent as many people try to argue, but that actually made something while carrying the burden of trying to do a lot in a little time, even when we consider that it has one of the longest (if it isn't THE longest) final cases/chapters and pushed a lot of the mechanics and effects for a visual novel.

If anything, the worst sin committed by AA6 is being its own thing (same as Dual Destinies, but that's a different conversation….)

But idk, lots of personal observations under this.

Of course there are things that make me raise my eyebrow and that could've been done better, but if anything, I applaud the fact that the game has that replayability factor to it which is such… an AA thing, to keep the player interested and entertained, even when considering its downfalls. Like, talk about the little details that aren't explicitly said, but that were put in the script and manage to convey so much of what the characters and story have to say. If anything, SoJ is GOOD at the storytelling factor, at switching the setting and making it compelling.

It's visually engaging and the script is just so good (I wish to play the Japanese version one of these days, because I enjoyed the translation and I bet the og is as enjoyable.)

Then there are the characters... Which I don't know how people can't get out of their usual comparisons with other installments and ignore that the characters, their motivations, and even their emotions and inner lives are not as half-assed in this game as some people would like to say. Again, most things get insinuated between the lines, which I don't think it's lazy, rather is interesting instead of seeing a character blurting out everything, but that's a personal choice. I could have a whole field day with the whole royal family and the many things they represent or couldn't say explicitly.

Even though I agree that Apollo's backstory doesn't click as well (we can see it was a last minute thing) I don't believe it takes away from what his past was. From his rather tragic origins, and the charm of the strong familial bond he has with Dhurke, neither the care and wish to reconnect with Nahyuta and protect him, who's either a dear childhood friend or a brother (depending on the version) but still, both are part of the childhood Apollo thought as lost, and who then forced himself to forget. If you ask me, it's of my favorite parts of the game, and I wish that if we get AA7, we get a passing comment about the family Apollo now has in Khura'in.

I simply like Spirit of Justice a lot. It's not the best AA installment objectively, but it is my personal favorite for the ambience, the build up, the characters and script (I feel only the amazing AA4 wins over AA6 in the script department but come on... It's AA4, ofc it wins.) and the over the top story that somehow makes sense within the universe. It is such a joy to play and get invested in everything that's going on, to laugh and to cry, and that makes to me a wonderful game.

It doesn't deserve much of the hate that it gets or to be the butt of the joke (neither does Dual Destinies, but AGAIN, a different conversation) however, every time I see complaints against the game I feel like most people just had a different experience than me.

At least I enjoyed it!