#people who go onto a tag just to shit on a character piss me off

[harukamitsuki]

Okay... I am currently back on my Voltron bullshit and continuing my rewrite of Voltron. And I'm constantly reminding of HOW MUCH I HATE LANCE.

Don't get me wrong. I am still treating Lance fairly in my fic, making sure he gets screen-time and a proper character acr and stuff.

But by GODS. This man pisses me off so much and that's only made worse by his stans. I was scrolling through Keith's tag here on tumblr. I also have Kl@nce filtered out. I cannot see a single post without at least three pages of scrolling and then it's only ONE POST. AND IT'S STILL KLANCE BECAUSE IT HASN'T BEEN TAGGED CORRECTLY.

Anyway. Onto the actual things I hate about Lance and not just his fandom.

Lance is a fucking asshole. I mean that on the deepest level. Let's go through it chronologically because I cannot rank it from least to most assholery, because some things are on the same level.

1 - Allura wakes up from the cryopod and Lances catches her. She's confused and dazed and the first thing you should do is ask if she's alright. Oh, but Lance is above that. Instead, he flirts with her. Karma given immediately as she calls his ears hideous and puts him in a submission hold, which is why I kept that scene in my fic, but that was still wrong. I know it was played for comedic effect, but that doesn't make it not canon. It's canonically accurate that if you've awoken from a coma, Lance's first instinct is to flirt with you if you're pretty.

2 - Literally throws Hunk into the middle of a battle. I get that Hunk was supposed to leave the Lion anyway, but just shoving him out when there are lasers everywhere and Hunk has no protection? Yeah. So much for 'best friend'. Add on the fact that Lance never really treats Hunk like a friend. At all.

3 - Okay. Season 1 Lance isn't bad outside of those two examples, even if he has his dumb moments, so let's jump to Season 2. Starting shit with Keith for no reason. People can go 'oh, Keith obviously did something to him at the Garrison' but he DIDN'T. The writers themselves confirmed that Keith did nothing to Lance, he just started shit with Keith all the fucking time. Like accussing Keith of wanting Blue and cutting him off when he tried to explain what was actually happening, even though Lance is the one who was outraged initially that Keith had Red. Or how about Lance getting up in Shiro's face and screaming his head off about how Keith would rather kill people than listen to them, as if he knew Keith at all after bullying him the entire time.

4 - Okay. This one pissed me off the most and is the biggest reason I'm making this post. The fact that Lance used Shiro's death/disappearance against Keith. Keith outwardly expresses his lack of desire to become the leader and accidentally let it slip that Shiro wanted him to do it. To which Lance is all 'convenient that you say that when Shiro's gone'. What. What the fuck. Stans really say that Lance is precious but how the hell are you justifying that? A blind man could see how much Keith loves Shiro, and Lance has the fucking gall the say that Keith is USING his death/disappearance for a position he doesn't want? He didn't even apologise for it. He just told Keith to suck it up later on. This is one of the reasons I hated Lance as the Red Paladin, the others being explained in an earlier post of mine.

5 - Oh, yeah. We're not done. Because after Keith, it's Allura. Allur@nce is probably the worst ship that could have happened, apart from Kl@nce. If you wanted a straight ship, how about what was canon for the past Voltron series? Kallura? Anyway. Yeah, Lance treats Allura like a prize instead of a person. He's posessive in a way that he has no right to be because they were not together. He glares at Matt for flirting with Allura, something he only does once. He gets mad at Lotor and tries to stop them from spending time together, EVEN THOUGH LOTOR IS HELPING ALLURA AND BONDING THROUGH ALTEAN THINGS. HELPING HER KEEP IN TOUCH WITH ALTEAN CULTURE. In Season 8, he literally yells that it should be Lance and Allura?? What a fucking weirdo?? You can't claim that you're destined to be with someone without being together. That's not how healthy relationships work. That's how a stalker's mind works. Lance is constantly flirting with Allura throughout all of Voltron and she never once reciprocated until Season 8 where it's so obvious that Lance is just a rebound but the writers wanna make it so that it's 'true love' and they want Lance to be happier than anyone so they just gift her to him like some sort of trophy. Lance didn't care about loving Allura, he cared about winning her. At least Lotor actually cared for and respected her. I still don't like canon Lotor, but that's mostly because the writers didn't want to deal with gray morality. Cowards.

1 - Honestly the worst example of a leader. It's shown from episode one. Now, there is the argument of learning to become one, but Lance just never learns? He's never facing the consequences of his actions and, if he is lectured, he ignores it. Keith actually takes lessons to heart and tries to improve and he does. If Lance became the Black Paladin, the universe would have been doomed because he can't get over himself for a single moment to even bother listening to anyone else's advice.

So. Yeah. Those are the main reasons why Lance is an asshole. Now to make the Lance stans really pissed.

Reasons why Lance would have been a terrible leader and could never have been the Black Paladin.

Remember episode one? Remember how the hydraulic stabiliser was out in the simulator and Lance still tried to push on, even though Pidge and Hunk advised him not to? Totally great leadership qualities there. There's nothing better than a leader that refuses to listen to you. 'Oh, but Keith is stubborn and didn't listen--' yes he did. He's stubborn and unrelenting at first, but he eventually realises that they're right.

Remember episode three? Remember when Lance bragged about kicking, which made Voltron fall, then proceeded to try it again and failed again even when Keith advised him not to? Yeah. Lance does not make good decisions and does not listen to any advise. Even from the leader's right hand man.

Remember Season 1 Episode 12? Remember how they were waiting for Shiro and Allura to get back and then Keith saw someone taking quintessence so he decided to follow them? Remember how Lance said no and was ignored but did nothing more to stop Keith? He has no authority and no charisma to keep anyone at bay. Pidge herself mocks Lance for being the pinnacle for leadership. Sarcastically. Because he's far from it.

Pidge doesn't respect Lance as a leader, Keith never would considering Lance treats him like shit, Allura can't take Lance seriously with him hitting on her every ten seconds, and Hunk is always questioning Lance's decisions. If nobody respects you, you cannot be a good leader.

2 - Easily distracted. Yes, it's a very popular headcanon that Lance has ADHD, and I agree with that, but that doesn't make it okay. And he's distracted in the easiest ways. Just shove a pretty girl and he'll instantly get distracted and lead the entire team to doom. Remember Nyma and how easy it was for her to steal the Blue Lion? How he didn't even warn anyone that he was taking her out for a ride because he didn't want anyone contesting his conquest? Yeah.

Don't get me wrong. It's fine to have ADHD or get distracted easily. Monkey D. Luffy from One Piece is a great example of a leader who gets easily distracted, but the second he sets his mind on something, he blocks everything out. Lance just doesn't have the capability to do that, nor do I think he'd be able to learn how to.

3 - Gets jealous really easily. As in. Really fucking easily. He's jealous of Keith from the get-go, starting a one-sided rivalry that he's constantly on the losing side of because Keith doesn't care. He gets jealous of Matt when he flirts a bit with Allura. He gets extremely jealous of Lotor for having actual chemistry with Allura. He's constantly jealous and a good leader is only ever in competition with himself. A good leader will only strive to become better for the sake of the team, not to say that they're better than someone else, much less if they're someone that you are in charge of. It's a horrible trait to have.

Jealousy in and of itself is not a bad thing. It's when that jealousy overrides your logic and controls you, instead of you controlling your jealousy: which Lance struggles with a lot. And getting jealous over anyone who even looks at your crush is a very bad thing to do because you do not own your crush. It's okay to be jealous, but not posessively like Lance is. Not to the extent of trying to scare off any potential suitors.

4 - Nowhere near as skilled as Keith or Shiro. Sure, the writers may claim that he is better, but the proof is in the pudding. Keith and Shiro are fucking unmatched. I've defended Lance's skills in a previous post, but I also said in that post that, while he is skilled, he is nowhere near Shiro or Keith's level. I mean, Shiro was the golden child of the Garrison and set so many records. He was known as the best pilot. Keith beat those records and his flying capabilities are always, always noted. I haven't heard a single character comment on Lance's skills, other than to point out how bad they are. Keith was the only one who could have flew through the astroid field, he was the only one who could fly into the Marmora base which was in a blue star surrounded by two black holes, he was able to fly a Galra jet just by pushing the right buttons and knowing what the do, and he's the one who unlocks the warping abilities of the Black Lion. Shiro was able to connect with the Black Lion far before anyone else, able to see through Black and connect with Black to the point of his soul being saved by her.

Lance hasn't done anything spectacular. And, no. He was not 'done dirty'. He was given almost everything he wanted except the Black Lion. The writers claim he's the best pilot, but have not shown it at all. In my eyes, Keith and Shiro will always be the best.

5 - Selfish. Again. Nothing against being selfish. It's perfectly fine to be selfish, so long as it doesn't actively harm others. But for a leader? You should be as selfless as you can be. The team comes before you. And that's exactly what Lance isn't.

Lance is selfish and that's okay, but it's not leadership material. The whole reason Black rejected him is because he wanted the position out of selfish reasons. When he enters Black, he says 'Come on, Lance. You can do this'. In other words, he wants to pilot her because he wants to prove himself. He wants the acknowledgement. He wants the title of the Black Paladin and leader. Black accepted Keith, both at the start of Season 2 and Season 3, because he piloted her for purely selfless reasons. For Shiro.

Lance wants things for himself. Keith wanted things for Shiro. It was only after Shiro came back, (or so they thought), that Keith started focusing more on himself. Even then, he put everyone else before him. He distanced himself from the team so that Shiro could pilot Black again, and he was constantly risking his life for the Blades.

Lance just... isn't the type. He has put others before himself, but he expect things out of it. He expects a parade and acknowledgement. Nobody knew what Shiro went through to rid Zarkon of his connection to the Black Lion. Nobody knew what Shiro went through in his imprisonment because he doesn't want to burden anyone with that. Nobody knew what Keith went through to save Black and Shiro from Zarkon. Nobody knew what Keith went through when they were all mad at him for missing an attack. Lance doesn't withold that sort of stuff. The only thing he doesn't talk about is his insecurities, which he ends up spilling to the mice and Laika (the Yupper) anyway.

6 - Last one. Promise.

Nothing fucking happened. While Keith was gone, nothing of importance happened surrounding Voltron specifically. There was the Lion mind meld and Lotor joining, but all that served to prove was, with the mind meld, if Keith was there, he would have heard Shiro. And with Lotor joining, all it proved was how immature Lance was.

The second Keith gets back, things start happening again. Lotor gets outed as cruel and manipulative (still an ass-pull, by the way), Shiro gets outed as a clone, and so on. If Lance was leading, they all probably would have died ages ago. I'm talking Season 3 Episode 2, ages ago. Because Lance just isn't cut out for it.

So. Yeah. Those are the main reasons I hate Lance and why Black Paladin Lance is an awful idea. Screw the people who believe in it. It is awful.

Like I said, this won't affect my treatment of Lance in my rewrite, because I can fix those issues that come up. I don't have an issue with Season 1 Lance, it's later on that gets problematic. I just hate people building Lance up by bashing all the other characters, then claiming that Lance is the most traumatised, sad character when SHIRO AND KEITH ARE RIGHT THERE. NOT TO MENTION ALLURA, WHO LOST HER ENTIRE SPECIES, AND CORAN WHO LOST EVERYONE INCLUDING ALLURA AND NEVER GOT TO SAY GOODBYE TO HER.

Fuck. I hate Voltron so much but I can't help but love it.

[actuallycassidyiambusy]

Duuuude you're brave for posting your art on Twitter. People over there are fucking crybabies and will literally harass you for drawing fake people in a way they don't like.

I'm not one of them. I love your art and the way you draw. Bluffy is my new favorite ship because of you. I'm just saying you're bold as fuck and I seriously envy your courage.

This pisses me off for several reasons. First, I'll be clear. Anon, you did not piss me off in any way, so do not be put off by the aggression of my reply.

Nobody should be fucking scared to post their art anywhere. Art of fictional characters doing WHATEVER is exactly what it is. Art and fiction. I am so goddamn tired of these prissy fucking babies coming at artists who are simply enjoying themselves. "Antis" and the whole "proship dni" community who base their morality on how you portray fiction can suck a fat fucking cock. They so desperately tell us not to interact with them, but the moment we post something we're proud of, all of a sudden they wanna talk. All of a sudden, interaction is okay. As long as it's an attack from THEM. As long as they can degrade, threaten and make us feel like we don't have any right to enjoy something that literally doesn't fucking hurt them.

They can come at me from right and fucking left, I'll still fucking post whatever the hell I want. They know where the block button is. They know how to filter tags. If they'd rather come onto my post that had nothing to do with them in the first place, and bitch at me, I'll gladly post more. Shit, I'll post it AGAIN and tag them if they want to play around. I don't put up with hate and I certainly don't put up with people who wanna cry and come at me for something that's fucking FAKE.

LET PEOPLE FUCKING ENJOY THINGS. FOR FUCK'S SAKE. Anons come into my inbox or people dm me asking me to light someone up for bullying or threatening that they receive. What do you fuckers gain by screenshotting and blasting artists who don't even fucking know you? What do you gain by bitching and crying at artists who just want to enjoy their ships or literally anything else? Screenshot me, bitch. Go ahead. Post your petty little comments about how wrong I am and how you're morally superior because you would NEVER. Go off about a fictional piece that "hurts" you while you continue to hurt the artist who created it even more. OR, and this is just a mere suggestion, you can move on from your high school stage, grow the fuck up, and learn how to scroll past shit you don't like. It's the fucking internet, sweetheart.

Post whatever the fuck you want. INDULGE in that shit. Enjoy your kinks and your fantasies. Enjoy your fictional characters kissing and falling in love in seventeen different ways. Draw it, write it, read it, post it. And if someone wants to bother you, hell, you know where the block button is too. No shame in blocking people and keeping your peace. Surround yourself with people who fucking encourage you and all your weird shit. It makes you happy. That's what matters.

Once again anon, I am not mad at you lmao. I'm mad at people who can't separate fiction from reality, and feel the need to drag those who CAN through the mud.

[skellymom]

"UNFORTUNATE TURN OF EVENTS"

Hunter, Wrecker, Fennec Shand One Shot Alt Universe Fic

 SPOILERS FOR SEASON 3, EP 8-YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Word Count: 537

Background: Hunter and Wrecker take a job with Fennec Shand in exchange for Intel on the Empire...with an unfortunate turn of events. For whom?

Warning: Swearing, canon-typical violence. SPOILERS S3!

(Credit: Cool moving star dividers by @4ngelic-wh1spers )

From the very beginning Hunter and Wrecker had misgivings about working with Fennec Shand. 

Aside from her trying to maim or kill Hunter she took off with Omega, a terrified child.

He never knew where her loyalties lay. And she didn’t believe in even a smidgen of selflessness. 

Now being rudely ordered around by this cold woman on some swampy ass crack of a planet for intel...that he wasn’t sure they’d ever see. 

But he and Wrecker really had nothing to bargain with. 

Now she was giving them both crap about losing Omega. 

Honey, you don't know shit about where we’ve been or what we’ve experienced to protect our family. 

Plus, she was willing to kidnap A KID for MONEY. 

Fennec claimed to stop going after the bounty when whomever hired Fennec thought Omega would be safer with them. And she refused to tell them who that was.  

Mighty nice of you, sweetheart. 

“Guess they were wrong about that.” She taunted them. 

Wrecker shot back “Guess you’ll work for anybody, as long as you get paid.” 

Hunter was starting to lose his patience...and a bit of his empathy. At least for sketchy characters who dangled important info that would help a cause or an innocent person’s quality of life, just out of reach. 

He knew he was becoming bitter. Compassion Fatigue. 

“Good guys or bad guys, their money is all the same.” She trotted out THAT platitude. 

“Well, money isn’t everything.” Hunter countered. 

“Spoken by someone who doesn't have any.” Fennec sneered. 

Under the helmet Hunter ground his teeth. She had no right to judge him and his brothers this way. Surely, she started from nothing? Didn’t most of the galaxy? 

The bounty was bagged and brought back into Fennec’s ship. 

“Pleasure doing business with you.” 

“Hang on. You promised information.” Hunter angrily demanded. 

“I didn’t say I had it with me. But I’ll get it.” Fennec stared down at them. “After I deliver Sylar to my client."

“That’s NOT what we agreed on.” Hunter and Wrecker were PISSED, it showed on their faces. 

“You can either fight me or trust me. Take your pick.” 

Hunter and Wrecker glanced at one another stone faced. 

She’s fucking with us. 

“Good choice. I’ll be in touch.” 

Then the confident, cold-blooded Fennec Shand made a HUGE mistake. 

She turned her back on Hunter. 

He shot her, his blaster was NOT set to stun. 

She fell onto the gangplank, still somewhat alive. Instantly regretting that she mistook both clones for harmless fools. 

Hunter stepped up and leaned down to face Fennec. 

“You’re right, we’re credit-less. That’ll change when we turn in your bounty and scrap your ship. We also have your contacts and intel now, too.” 

Fennec gasped, clinging onto the last shred of life. 

“Too late for YOU to learn a valuable lesson: Don’t FUCK with people who have loved ones...cause we’ll do ANYTHING to secure their safety.” 

Wrecker yanked up Fennecs dying body from the gangplank so he could pilot her ship. “Heh, didn’t she say something earlier about eventually everyone’s luck runs out?” 

“Guess she thought it didn’t apply to HER.” Hunter walked off to pilot the Marauder. 

Maker help ANYONE standing in the way of Clone Force-99. 

PLEASE like, comment, and/or REBLOG!

IF YOU WISH TO BE ADDED OR DROPPED FROM MY TAG LIST, PLEASE MESSAGE ME! Don't just comment as I might miss it. Thanks!!! <3

[utilitycaster]

I feel like a lot of people are projecting their own feelings towards what Taliesin did onto the cast as they seemed to me more stressed than necessarily angry at Taliesin but I don't actually play DnD so I thought I might ask you if what Taliesin did really was extreme enough to have actually made the cast as other playerd mad. I've just seen the claim that the cast is mad at x before, with Sam having scanlan leave or Bowlgate or Liam handing over the beacon and then the cast weren't actually mad at all.

Hi anon,

So just a blanket statement for the various questions I have received: until like, Wednesday, today was supposed to be a work from home day, as I often try to make my Fridays; I was pulled in to help an injured coworker briefly this morning, which I understand and which was relatively painless and would have left me free to work from home after 10 am, which is entirely reasonable. I then was sent to a last minute additional site and it turned out they were completely unprepared; this wasted about two and a half hours of my time and I'm now, understandably, extremely annoyed. This may bleed into my responses, though by and large I'm going to specify if I'm annoyed at you or not. Anyway, anon, I'm not annoyed at you at all and any "you" I say below is addressed to the fandom on the whole; this is a valid question.

Yeah the cast is mad. Yeah that's valid; as Matt pointed out there were extensive warnings specifically indicating that this would be a bad idea for Ashton to do. The cast is attached to each other's characters! They were, in fact, mad about Scanlan leaving and Tary showing up, because they care about Scanlan and that was an intense scene; Liam genuinely thought Sam was leaving the show. They were mad about this! They are also, probably going to get over it pretty quickly, or be "mad" about it in the way that your friends still roast you in the group chat over a typo years later. This isn't really even a D&D thing other than that Matt had Evontra'vir and Allura repeatedly say "you might fucking shatter." It's an anger born of concern that Ashton might have been permanently killed. But they weren't, and even if they were, it's fine. (The cast was not remotely mad about bowlgate though; see following paragraph.)

Which brings me to my next point. I have really only checked the blogs of people I follow because of aforementioned work problems and have barely glanced at the tag, and this is in conversation not just with this episode and that discourse and me being pissed off over real-world personal inconveniences, but also the larger discussion of "must stories have conflict?" and the fact that all the people who until quite recently insisted that actually Bells Hells are ROCK SOLID TIGHTLY BONDED and shat repeatedly on the astute point that Bells Hells are actually very surface level pleasant and don't ever discuss their issues have done a 180 that they will never acknowledge. Anyway:

It's extremely normal to be mad at people you care about, and to have arguments with them, and in fact it's likely more unhealthy to not have disagreements and get mad ever, and some of you sound like you've never been outside or had any friends. Like really that's it in the end. Actually believing Marisha and Liam were mad at each other? Friendless behavior. It's completely fine to wonder if this anger was valid, but like, honestly, people get mad over dumb shit every day and the point is that even if it's a stupid thing for the cast to be mad at (obviously, I think it's fine), be fucking normal and recognize that friends can be mad over dumb shit or valid shit and talk through it. Like. Some of you have no conflict resolution skills because you see all forms of confrontation as inherently evil and couldn't be me. I get in fights all the time and I get out of them and it's great. I am glad I no longer live in the midwest but god I cut swathes through problems there because I had zero investment in being Minnesota Nice when I was angry. Somehow this has turned into life advice, which is not what I thought it would be, but anyway. It's okay to be mad at your friends and expressing it in the way the cast did is super normal and they will probably all go out for drinks; as a person who has never chilled once in her entire life, I think we should all chill.

[malarkgirlypop]

MEDIC Part 18 (Donald Malarkey x Fem!OC)

Ah yes my favourite gif of all time finally has come into play, how exciting! We're in France Baby! It's a change of pace and scenery how fun! I feel we are nearing the end and then remember how much I have actually written and then I'm like oh nope we still got a bit bahaha. I'm doing a short chapter cause I was writing it and it was like a good 4k words so I thought it best to just split it into two, I know some people prefer shorter chapters.

Based on the HBO show and the actors who portray the characters, no hate to anyone involved.

Tag list: @next-autopsy, @panzershrike-pretz, @xxluckystrike, @bucky32557038ww2 (if you want to be added let me know🥰)

The cold wind whipped at my face making me hunch further down into my jacket. We had finally arrived in Haguenau after the long journey, everyone seemed to be restless. Keen to be indoors and out of the biting elements. Don stood in the back of the truck, his mood appearing low. I wanted to ask him what seemed to be troubling him but there was no privacy on the back of the vehicle. His smiles weren’t as bright, not quite reaching his eyes. I chewed my lip nervously watching the man. They had made him Staff Sergeant, but he didn’t seem pleased. 

“Hey guys.” A cheery voice called from behind me. I turned to look at the man who spoke. I didn’t recognise him. But he surely hadn’t been with us before. He looked healthy, clean, and happy. Compared to the sorry sacks who rode on the back of the truck, myself included. Was he a replacement?

“Some Lieutenant told me to report to 2nd.” The man informed us. I glanced across the truck at Lieb who shrugged. I rolled my eyes, why I looked to him for information I have no idea, he’s no help. I leant back resting on the seat between Grant and Jackson.  

“Your name’s Jackson right?” The soldier asked the young man beside me. God he was so young, he assured me he was 19 but I don’t believe him, he looks like a kid.    

“That’s right.” Jackson replied. 

“Who’s leading the platoon?” He asked, Jackson’s eyes flicked to Don who was still standing. 

“Sergeant Malarkey is.” He tells the soldier. 

“What no officers?” I tilt my head while looking at the man while he talks, his face seems so familiar. 

“I guess you didn’t hear.” Lieb said. 

“No, what's that?” He turned his attention onto Joe. 

“They’re making Malarkey a Lieutenant. He’s on the fast track now.” He says while fiddling with his lighter. A tell that he was lying, the little shit. No one said anything about his blatant lie.  

“Really? That’s great.” It’s bugging me, I swear I know this dude. He probably thinks I’m a weirdo as he glances at me staring at him. 

“Jackson, help me up will you?” He swings his bag onto the back of the truck, pulling himself up to sit next to Jackson. I move from my spot, not having enough room on the bench anymore without me basically sitting in Grant’s lap. I sit in between Babe and Lieb. Continuing to stare at the private. This is going to drive me insane, who is this guy?

 The truck jolts forward, almost sending him flying out again. I hide my laughter behind my hand. 

“So, uh, you come from the hospital?” Jackson asks him.

“Must’ve liked that hospital, cause’ we left Holland four months ago.” I nudge Lieb, silently scolding him for being mean.  

“Who is this guy?” I whispered to Babe.

“Webster, I think.” My mouth flew open, that’s where I knew him from, I think I met him on my first night. Babe reaches out, shutting my mouth, “Close your mouth, you’ll catch flies.”

“Well I wasn’t there the whole time. There was rehabilitation, then the replacement depot.” Webster explained. 

“Well, I’m sure you tried to bust out and help us in Bastogne, Web.” Lieb was pissed off. Lieb would’ve come back and helped, like a lot of the other men did. But they can’t all be like them. Webster got off the line and had a holiday, can’t blame the man for not wanting to come back in a hurry. This was war for god sake, no one wishes to be here. Well I hope not. I mean I do but I have my reasons ok!

“I don’t know how I would’ve done that.” Webster defended himself. I looked at Babe, he seemed to notice the tension, I made a face showing my discomfort. Hiding my look behind my hand. He gave me the same look back. I chuckled and bumped him with my shoulder trying to ease the cringe we both felt in our chests. Like going over to a friends house and having to sit there and watch them be told off. So awkward. 

“That’s funny cause Popeye found a way. So did Alley, right, back in Holland? And Guarnere and –” Lieb turned to Babe and I, we both nodded silently, not wanting to be dragged into the passive aggressive conversation. Lieb was the king of passive aggressiveness, let me tell you. Don’t piss off that guy. He will subtly degrade you and wear you down.   

“Yeah, where is Guarnere? He still your platoon Sergeant?“ Webster asked. I could feel both Lieb and Babe stiffen next to me. I stilled too. It was hard being dragged back to that place of memories. So we didn’t mention it, and kept moving forward. So for Web to come in asking where people were, hit a nerve. It was an unspoken rule not to really speak of those who we had lost. It just made it so much harder, we didn’t have time to process or grieve really. It was for later, after this was all done and we were safe then we could process everything that had happened. 

“No. He got hit.” Jackson said with a huff. Webster was not picking up on the social cues being hurled at him. How did he not see or feel the tension as soon as he mentioned Bill’s name, it was so thick you could cut it with a knife. 

The truck stopped moving as we stood. Lieb held out his hand for me to grab to help me jump down. I took his hand, hopping down and landing beside him, “Thank you.” I said giving him a smile, but I could tell Webster had put him in a sour mood. I waited for Babe to hop down as well. He stood up in the truck, “Yeah, Bill got hit. Blew his whole leg off.” Babe said to Webster. Great now he’s made both of them mad. Babe jumped down, walking in stride with me. We walked alongside the trucks that had parked.

“Spread out. Hold along this line till I figure out where we’re going.” Don said, striding forward from behind us. Making his way over to where Captain Speirs was talking to another officer. I hung back as the men kept walking. Waiting by the trucks for instructions, no good me holding the line with no weapon. 

“Sarge.” Web called from behind me, I turned to look at the man as he walked. He brushed past me, his rifle still in its bag clocking me right in the head. I stumbled backwards, tripping over rubble on the floor. I landed on the ground with a hard thud. Ow! Fucking dick! I rubbed my head, grimacing in pain. He didn’t even realise he had done it, continuing to walk towards Malarkey. I got to my feet, brushing the dirt from my hands. I glared at the man, great now he’s pissed me off too. The sounds of shells being fired whistled through the air. I ducked my head down barely trying to cover myself. I watched with pure shock as Webster dove onto the ground face planting into the snow. I covered my mouth trying to muffle the laughter escaping my lips. Malarkey turned around to see his soldier lying in the snow. I giggled furiously behind the men. 

“What’s the matter there, Webster? Nervous in the service?” Don asked the man. I almost fell to the floor again in a fit of hysterics, wiping the tears from my eyes. The scene of Webster flying through the air replaying in my head. Well I’m not mad at him anymore. 

Don finished talking to Webster, sending him off to speak with Captain Speirs. “Em, you’re with me, let’s go.” Don called to me as he passed. I hurried after him, trailing behind a little so that he could speak to others if he needed. 

I split from the group needing to find Lip, I saw him slink away into one of the houses they were setting up CP in. I hurried in watching Lip take a seat on one of the couches. 

“Lip, how are you feeling?” I asked the man coming to kneel beside the couch he rested on. 

“Great.” He smiled. I placed my hand on his forehead, he was running a fever. His skin was clammy and hot. His complexion was pallor in colour, and even from here I could hear the evident wheeze in his chest. He coughed into a handkerchief, producing a greenish yellow phlegm. George laid a blanket over the man as I assessed him. I pulled the stethoscope from my bag, Lip leaned forward knowing the drill. I untucked his top from the back, sliding my hand under his shirt to press the diaphragm of the stethoscope to his back. 

He winced, “Sorry cold hands.” I apologised from my freezing fingers that touched his warm skin. 

“Deep breath in.” He inhaled for me as I listened in one spot. “And out.” He exhaled. I could hear the rattle in his chest clearly, as he exhaled. I moved the diaphragm around listening to different parts of the lungs, from the top of the lung field to the bottom. I removed my hand from under his shirt, tucking it back in. 

“How does it sound?” He asked, reading over a paper George had handed him. 

“Well Lip it sounds better than last time I checked, but there is still fluid present in the lungs. So you need to rest. If you keep going you’re going to crash. They have this handled, you need to go lie down. There are beds in the back, go sleep. And remember at least three pillows, you need your head elevated.” I tried to explain to him, but even when he first got sick he refused to rest, saying there was too much work to do. I could only drag a horse to water.  

“George, have you had any word about if they will send us some antibiotics?” I asked Luz as he moved around the room organising things. 

“No, sorry Em.” I sighed, frustrated, he needed that medication. 

“Hey, look who it is. Nice digs, huh, Lip?” I tucked the blanket into Lip’s side knowing he would refuse to move and go to bed. I looked over to Webster who stood in the passageway. 

“Sergeant Lipton? Feeling alright?” Webster asked the man.

“He’s got pneumonia.” George informed the curious soldier. I still knelt beside him, concern apparent on my features. He gave me his sorry-I-will-go-rest-soon-face. 

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Webster shared his apologies. 

“What are you sorry about? He’s alive. Got a couch, a goddamn blanket, snug as a bug.” George said cigarette hanging from his mouth. I stood from my position, placing my stethoscope back into my bag. 

“Sergeant Malarkey said to check with the CO if I should be in 2nd platoon.” Webster said. 

“Have a seat, Webster. We’ll get you situated.” Lipton ushered the man to sit. He took a place at the old piano. 

“How long have you been sick?” Webster inquired. 

“Long enough.” I patted the man on his shoulder. Poor guy had been ill for a while. He had a cold at first, which I said in the first place for him to rest and let it pass. But being the caring man that he is couldn’t leave his soldiers. So he worked still, causing the cold to become worse and then it deteriorated into pneumonia. Still even with that he refused to lie still and do nothing. Which I encouraged him to do so many times, I had given up. 

“And when did nurses start helping on the frontlines?” He turned and asked me. 

“Ah, I’m a medic.” I answered. 

“Oh, that’s right! I recognise you now.” He smiled, “Yeah, wow, I’m surprised you’re still alive.” We all stilled. I sent him a disbelieving look, surely he didn’t just say that to me.

“Um… thanks?” I wasn’t sure what to say. 

“Of course Em is still alive, she’s tough as nails. Huh Em?” George came and stood beside me wrapping an arm around me as he gave me a squeeze. I smiled at Luz, nodding my head. 

“Sure am.” I turned to look at Webster, who assessed the interaction. He seemed to be puzzled at the closeness we shared. Too bad for him, it was a common sentiment I shared with all the Easy men. 

Footsteps sounded from the doorway. A young man appeared in the room. “Is this the CP for Easy company?” He asked, looking lost. 

“Yes, sir.” Lip said, moving to sit up on the couch. Everyone else in the room stood as well. I inspected the man closer, recognising the dash on his helmet showing he was a ranking officer. 

“As you were.” He told the men who stood at his arrival. “Lieutenant Jones looking for Captain Speirs.” 

“He’s on his way, sir. Why don’t you sit down.” Lip told the Lieutenant. I moved from my position standing next to Lip’s couch. I gave Luz a small wave heading for the door. Captain Speirs strolled in right as I was about to leave. He gave me a warm smile as we passed. 

“Listen, for Christ’s sake, will you go back in the back and sack out? There’s some beds back there with fresh sheets.” I heard Ron tell Lip. 

“I told him that sir, he wouldn’t listen.” I called over my shoulder. 

“Listen to Emily, she's the medic.” I laughed as Ron scolded him. I left the CP heading to where 2nd platoon had been placed. I passed Winters and Nix on my way out as well. 

“Emily! You’re looking well.” Nixon called to me, I smiled brightly at the man as I hadn’t seen him in a while. He moved forward arms wide, I stepped into his tight hug. I pulled away from Nix. Winters smiled at me, giving me a loving squeeze on the arm, as I grinned at him.  

“It’s good to see you both.” I told them happily. The exchange was brief before they set off again in the direction I had just come from. 

------------------------------------

Chapter 19

[carmenized-onions]

HEY LOVELY!!!! Now this, THIS, was worth every day i waited. IT WAS FUCKING AMAZING. Everything i dreamed it to be and more.

Tony and Mikey scenes? HEARTBREAKING. Every moment they have together, no matter sad or happy, is slowly chipping away at my soul.

Carmen getting a therapist? Genius. Don't know why the writers haven't given him one, boy does he need it.

Syd and Richie making sure Tony is taken care of by sorting Carmen out before he see's her again? Everything. I need them as friends, right now. NOW.

(still pissed at Carmen, though.)

The way you write characters reactions to grief is, like, stunning. STUNNING.

ALSO, as someone with a brother who struggles with drugs, seeing Mikey being portrayed as a nice person with loving friendships is really amazing to see. (the fact i have another brother called Mikey too, freaky? probably not. BUT IM A DRAMATIC PERSON OKAY?)

Anyway, i am genuinely in love with this series. You should be so incredibly proud of your self. Would i be able to get onto the tag list?

He congratulates you.

the absolutely shattered render quality of this image really fucking makes it. packing update: I've just got the desk and closet left! and also my billion plants.... i really don't want to think about the plants...

SO GLAD it was worth the wait, I hope chapter 14 also is. I'm not the most happy with the ending scenes right now... Happier than I was yesterday... but maybe I just need to stop looking at it, honestly. I'm transforming into S3 Carmen changing that menu every 5 fucking minutes AH.

CHIPPING away you say? not funny. I'd had these scenes in my head for a minute, but I was so worried about being off-base with Mikey's character because all I had to go off of was Fishes, so thank you God for Napkins I would've been so fucked.

SPEAKING OF S3, I know,,, it makes sense that he doesn't have one I mean he hesitated so much to just go to al-anon but even fucking al-anon in S3 he's reverted to just not fuckin' talking which SUCKS !! DON'T SUBTRACT !! PLEASE STOP SUBTRACTING IM BEGGIN YOU!!

I love Syd and Richie and the way they combine forces when it comes to their Shared Work Wife. I think what's so fun about it is that without this being for Chip, Syd wouldn't be so direct, and Richie would be so much fucking meaner, but because it's for her, they actually make an effort to sort Carmen the fuck out. And also beat his ass. two things can be true.

And THANK YOU I write a fuck ton of grief poetry and I think I just went to like. a lot of funerals as a kid. an unexpected consequence of having a kid a lot later than everyone else. It's in my bones. but like in a fun way.

Also, when I read this for the first time, I remember being SO confused because I was like. "There was another option?" And forgot that people fucking suck and see people struggling or in recovery as something that is other. Fucking ew. I never had any intention of portraying Mikey other than the really fucking good brother he is, who also just so happens to be struggling. Don't applaud a fish for swimming! People are people and they should be written as fuckin' people!!!! But I am glad my portrayal was appreciated none the less. YOU'RE NOT DRAMATIC!!

Of COURSE you can be added!! Though I will say, sometimes it doesn't always work when I tag people. So I am. sorry. I think it's something in tumblr settings? Gotta set your shit public or taggable or something? regardless. i'll fuckin put your name in there for sure!! thank you for your thoughts m'love!!

back to packing.... desk or closet desk or closet.... flipped a coin i got desk mannnn... wish me luck!! do i have anything from chapter 14 i can give you?

is this spoilery? c'est la vie, take it. kisses kisses see you in ideally less than an hour when i finish desk packing.

[nihility-zel]

It doesn't matter. Not really.

“It’s all pointless. Nothing matters, so I’m just going to do whatever I want! We’ll all die anyway, so who cares?”  

— ZEL

An eccentric young man who appeared from nowhere. He is either seen laughing or crying, lamenting about the fact that there is no meaning to the universe or embracing it. His moods swing and vary drastically, and why he is like this, and how he came to be, is entirely unknown. He tends to show up at the most inopportune moments, and enjoys speaking to the Masked Fools. 

AGE: ???

SPECIES: ???

PRONOUNS: He, it, they. 

FACTIONS: N/A???

PATH: The Nihility. 

ELEMENT: Ice. 

— NOTES ABOUT THE CHARACTER

THIS is his lore doc! Includes character descriptions, stories, voice lines, and more!

Zel tends to change the way that he acts depending on who he's talking with. He has a multitude of identity issues and finds that since nothing matters, neither does the person that he truly is. He's lost himself.

Zel is unlabeled and single, without much desire to find a partner.

Zel will generally either not react or laugh when aggression is directed towards him. He is usually more happy than he is hopeless, so he will most likely joke around and make humour of serious topics. He prefers to laugh rather than cry, yet, he is constantly aware of the fact that his own existence has no meaning and that is able to bring his mood down if he ends up expanding on his thought process.

Zel has no surviving family… or at least, that is what he says. 

Zel is incredibly out of touch with his own emotions, despite feeling them vividly and deeply. He prefers to ignore them after he has to “go through the motions of experiencing them”, but this is actually just a poor coping mechanism. He only knows sadness or joy, and anything that isn’t one of those two things is usually pushed away into the back of his mind. 

Zel enjoys pissing other people off and playing pranks on them, singing about the idea of death with a cheery tone. He loves nothing more than talking to people and making them question themselves. He is not necessarily malicious, but what he says can end up being incredibly mean as he has a rather pessimistic outlook on life. 

— TAGGING SYSTEM

a touch of ice . ❄️ | for in-character posts & reblogs.

a useless thought . 🎐 | for random thoughts

meaninglessness . 🌑 | answering asks

call of the void . ⚫ | for interactions with other nihility characters!

a familiar face? . 🩹 | for interactions with canon characters

beyond the stars . ♬ | for interactions with ocs

she walked the path . 💫 | for mentions/interactions with acheron

philosophies of the end . ⭐ | for interactions with aventurine

whiskey on the rocks? . 🥃 | for starters and writing bits.

beyond my words . ✒ | ooc!

— NOTES FROM THE MOD 

Art credits to @ hthwm on lofter !

I am a minor! 

I use they/them prns.

No NSFW. I will toss you into a wall. 

PLEASE LET ME INTERACT WITH YOUR OCS 

I am incredibly normal 

I don’t bite, if you wanna rp a specific situation you’re free to! 

I sometimes get wordy with my replies. Author stuff 😔- no pressure to match my energy!

I respond quickly most of the time. Yes, I’m chronically online. Help.

I love interacting with anybody. Feel free to send shit into the inbox!

NO FLIRTING WITH ME I AM TAKEN THANKS GUYS THOUGH! 

Will add onto this later. 

I mod @yingchens-writings , @dreamingmachinery & @robbery-dollie so the format isn't stolen!

If you want to use my format, PLEASE ASK FIRST.

[badpostureart]

Message in a Bottle (pt. 2)

For anon, who asked my thoughts about secondary characters in Free! (continued).

I like Natsuya, I really do, but the guy needs to smarten up! While it’s totally understandable that he wanted his little brother to step out from his shadow and become his own person, I think it’s unwise to just throw Ikuya in the proverbial deep end, watch him almost drown himself, and refuse to help him. It’s obvious that Natsuya cares a lot about Ikuya, but he seems to struggle with actually being there for him. I don’t know why as an older brother, knowing your baby brother is shy, you wouldn’t try and introduce him to other kids or offer to do things together. It sounds like he just stopped showing up for Ikuya and didn’t explain to him why. Now, it isn’t Natsuya’s fault that Ikuya became a moody son-of-a-bitch as he got older, but he made it so that Ikuya didn’t feel comfortable confiding in him anymore. There would be no need to strap Hiyori with the responsibility of looking out for Ikuya and giving him updates about how he’s doing if Natsuya would just show up. Then again, it wasn’t until recently that Natsuya even considered showing up for himself and thinking seriously about what he wants to do with his life…maybe he thinks commitment is scary, hm?

I don’t think Natsuya purposely withheld love/affirmation from his brother. Maybe he just underestimated how badly he needed it or felt too awkward to say how proud of him he was. How all of this became Haru’s fault of all people is beyond me, and maybe that’s why seeing the Kirishimas actually reconcile and start to communicate felt…just meh. I’m not sure Natsuya understood the gravity of what he did, nor do I think Ikuya directed his hurt at the right person. They’re in a much better place than they were, but I’m not sure either brother fully owned up to anything, does that make sense?

Which segways to Ikuya himself. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that some of my frustrations with this kid may simply be due to projection. I too was once a moody son-of-a-bitch, so I get it, I do. And because I get it, I know that at a certain point, you gotta own up to it. You gotta say, “My attitude is shit. Yeah, people have let me down, and I feel lonely and angry, but I can’t keep holding onto all this shit and being miserable. I have to do something about it.”

In Dive to the Future, Ikuya expressed wanting to be a hero like Haru: “Not a hero that fights evil and stuff, but the kind that everyone looks up to. The kind that helps out whenever someone is lost or stuck.” But the only “heroic” thing Ikuya seemed to have done since smiling at another kid in kindergarten was convincing his university team captain to put Hiyori on the relay team with him at regionals—which they should have been doing together the whole time anyway! Then in the Final Stroke, Ikuya tells Rin, “Back then, I looked at the stars with Haru like this…as I made a wish to be able to swim faster.” So, was he just saying that “hero” stuff to look good? Or does he think that people admire Haru simply because he is a fast swimmer?! See, here I go getting pissed off again!

This is perhaps a bit off-topic, but something that both frustrated and interested me was Ikuya’s curiosity about the nature of Haru’s relationship with Rin. He’s straightforward in asking Rin if he’s happy to see Haru win or finds it frustrating, he tags along with them to see the venue in Sydney despite being “well aware…that this is an important place to you [two],” and asks Rin if he was okay not being in the room with Haru after he collapsed for the nth time. It seems as though the primary reason Ikuya wanted to start spending time with Rin was to try and sus out why he’s so important to Haru. On the one hand, it feels like he’s intruding and being nosy. But on the other hand, the more he pries, the more Rin talks about how much he adores Haru and the more it’s made plain that Haru feels the same way…and as a member of the Rinharu propaganda department, I hoard those moments like treasure! 

Ikuya certainly pisses me off, but he’s not a bad person, y’know? Just dramatic! But so am I for getting so worked up over his shenanigans!!

For someone who has always been “mature for his age,” Hiyori has a really warped understanding of how friendships work. Ikuya was patient and reached out to Hiyori when nobody else seemed to give him the time of day and from thenceforth, he became this glorified hero figure in Hiyori’s eyes that he wanted to hoard for himself. He actively chased away people who tried to get close to Ikuya, dubbing them unworthy of being his friend, even though those people would probably become his friends too if he wasn’t such a territorial weirdo. Even after Ikuya reconciles with his old relay team (despite Hiyori’s attempts at preventing this), Hiyori remains weirdly possessive over Ikuya. When Sousuke compliments Ikuya’s strength as a swimmer in light of Sydney’s prelims, Hiyori thanks him. Sousuke, reasonably enough, wonders why he’s saying thank you. I don’t think it was because Hiyori was trying to take credit for Ikuya’s strength or to thank Sousuke on his behalf, but more likely that he means to say thanks for complimenting his Ikuya. Hiyori seriously gives me the heebie-jeebies!

Also, I still can’t believe he got away without so much as a bloody nose after telling Haru that “everyone who swims with you ends up suffering somehow, huh?” The sheer audacity is baffling!

Ryuuji, much like Haru, has unorthodox methods and is a bit of a weirdo, so I think he’s a good fit as his coach. However, I also think he’s sometimes too hard on Haru and his advice that he should “throw things away” to become a better swimmer is fucking awful. I won’t go as far as saying that Haru’s falling out with Rin after Sydney is Ryuuji’s fault, and I don’t think he was wrong to tell Rin that he needed to fix things himself, but Ryuuji was the one to tell Haru that “the only ones who make it are the ones who don’t waver an inch, even if something happens to someone they care about.” Or in other words, one shouldn’t let things in their personal life affect their swimming, no matter how dear or important. This logic operates under the assumption that swimming is (and should be) completely divorced from everything and everyone else, which is directly contrarian to how Haru swims! It’s literally what sets Haru apart from someone like Albert! Moreover, if your athlete calls you in the middle of the night out in the pouring rain and tells you he’s ready to sacrifice everything to improve despite explicitly saying previously that he won’t do that, you’d probably think something must’ve happened, right? Then you watch him over-exert himself because he’s in a hurry against his own anatomy and your solution is to shove Rin against a wall and tell him that it’s his responsibility to fix things with Haru?

I’ve never been in sports myself, so I can’t say for sure to what degree a good coach should be involved in their athlete’s personal life when it’s clearly affecting how they perform. Still, I don’t know how realistic it is to expect Haru to just forget everything while he swims—because on the one hand, it’s important to focus on himself as he is instead of pushing himself too hard in order to surpass others, but on the other, distancing himself from the people that he cares about so he can spend all his time and energy training is counterintuitive because his bonds are where he draws his strength from. I suppose this is why the expression “don’t mix business and pleasure” exists because swimming simply isn’t “just a job” for Haru, nor is it separate from everything else he cares about. This is his life we’re talking about here! I hate the idea that life is supposed to stop just because a person has a job to do!

And hell, maybe I’m misinterpreting things and Ryuuji’s stupid advice to Haru had no impact on his decision to throw himself into a self-destructive spiral. But if Ryuuji wants Haru to avoid the mistakes he once made, I think it's unwise to advise him to stop concerning himself with people he cares about. Y’know that shit Ryuuji told Rin? That he needs to “grab on to what’s important” to him “and not let it go”? That’s the advice he needs to give Haru too. He doesn’t need to give up anything—all he’s ever had to be is himself. Wait, shut up. Just as I’m typing this out, I realized that Rin pulling Haru into an embrace in the night pool is literally grabbing on to what’s important and not letting go. Oh! I’m gonna make myself cry! GOD, I LOVE RINHARU! Much like Haru’s personal life being intertwined with swimming, BadPosture’s Free!meta is never without Rinharu!

Kinjou is an arrogant son-of-a-bitch with a history with Ikuya and Hiyori that I am completely oblivious to. I’m seriously wondering if there was another movie or something that I missed because I don’t know what’s going on with them. He shows up for the first time at the end of Road to the World to tell Hiyori that he thinks he’s worse off being friends with Ikuya and to call him “Hiyori Crybaby.” I don’t remember Hiyori’s character ever being established as a crybaby, so I’m not sure where this nickname came from. Then in the first part of the Final Stroke, we see that Hiyori and Kinjou met as kids, but something else must’ve happened between then and university because kid-Hiyori moving away suddenly doesn’t explain Kinjou’s animosity towards Ikuya.

At the prelims, Kinjou calls Ikuya “Mermaid Princess Hero,” which means he’s probably heard Ikuya’s claim that he “gave up his heart in order to get stronger,” but “couldn’t become human.” Who’s to say if he knows anything about Haru? Anyway, he also brought over another breaststroke swimmer named Kotetsu Sudou to intimidate Ikuya, saying, “You might always be pushing Hiyori and your brother around…but don’t get full of yourself.” So…Kinjou bullies Ikuya because he doesn’t want him going around thinking he’s hot shit? I was gonna say that this is pretty unnecessary, but I just remembered the whole “Bullying Ikuya For Sport” thing, so I guess I’m not one to talk… Anyway, he goes on to say something rather curious about Ikuya’s performance at prelims: “Don’t show me such mediocre swimming. There’s too big of a gap between you and Sudou…even though there’s someone rooting for you.” Does he think that Ikuya’s performance should be enhanced knowing that he has Hiyori back home rooting for him? While that’s an awfully romantic statement, it’s not exactly realistic! Then later, Kinjou confides to Hiyori that he’s jealous of Ikuya because he’s “blessed” …presumedly in the form of cheerleaders Natsuya and Hiyori. Perhaps knowing that Ikuya takes his support system for granted is what makes Kinjou dislike him. (And perhaps he and I have more in common than I thought!) Then again, in the second part of the Final Stroke, Kinjou apologizes to Ikuya for “always lashing out” at him and Hiyori, effectively resolving the matter less than two minutes into the movie. So…that’s that?  

Then there’s the business with Kinjou’s cousin, Kiyo. What the hell happened to him? Is he even still alive? Because I know next to nothing about this mystery relative, Kinjou’s conversation with Ryuuji about him “going through a lot” is really confusing! And then in the next movie, Ryuuji says to Kinjou, “I’ll save you someday, too!” LIKE I’M SUPPOSED TO KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS. (And in case you forgot, Ryuuji, your only charge ends up in rehab after one season of you coaching him! You aren’t in any position to be saving anybody, bitch!!) Anyway, it’s obvious that Kinjou’s arrogance is his way of overcompensating for the fact that he’s a lot more sensitive and cares more than he wants to let on. He’s something of a tsundere whose actions run contrarian to his words—because while he keeps saying that he’s only swimming for himself, he joins the Haru protection squad and swims to give Haru a chance at competing in the final. So, in short, I think Kinjou is alright, but I haven’t spent enough time with him to get to know him, y’know?

Albert is something of an enigma, but mostly because I have no idea what his motivations are. He’s an ominous figure in the world of swimming, with the nickname “Odin” instead of the usual animal motif. Mikhail cautions Rin that his swimming is “out of this world” and Isuzu says there are rumours that anyone who swims with him “feels their mind being torn apart.” But when he meets Haru, he seems…nice? He’s not arrogant like Kinjou and he actually seemed to be kind of free-spirited. We see that he’s an exceptionally quick learner and he acknowledges Haru as a swimmer. Nevertheless, competing against Albert disrupted Haru’s subconsciousness (in that the answer to the big “why do you swim” question gets fuzzy in his mind) …but I’m not exactly sure why. Mind you, Albert’s interactions with Haru after they met are just downright bizarre. He says such cryptic shit like, “The water favours you, I can tell,” but he seemed so genuinely pleased that I can’t get a proper read on him at all!

It’s my understanding that Albert’s team manager is living vicariously through him, and so Albert has been strapped with the expectations and dreams of someone else. I can understand why he’s a clinical swimmer because the only things that matter to his team are his appearances and results. With that all said, I wonder if Albert chose to miss the finals in Sydney partly as an act of defiance against his manager and partly to fuck with the psyche of other swimmers—especially after dismissing Kinjou completely before the semi-finals and telling Haru that he’s “not swimming for fun today. I’m just going out there to do my job.”

Feeling as though he had to take on Albert alone is what made Haru “throw everything away” (in the form of a dissociative episode where he breaks things off with Rin), and then launch himself into self-destructive training under Ryuuji. The second part of the Final Stroke is all about Haru recanting that idea and accepting the support of others. Meanwhile, Albert is hardly in this movie at all! I think my biggest question is whether or not Albert likes or wants to break the spirits of other swimmers. I honestly don’t think he does, so I can’t help but feel bad for him. Still, his general cadence is so fucking weird! I have no clue what he’s thinking at all!

[toxic-ship-tournament]

ROUND 2 / SIDE A / POLL 2

Esmerelda Poofenplotz x Alice Luoja (@cantdanceflynn) vs Res x Leo (@adanaac)

who makes up your ship?:

Esmeralda Poofenplotz(Canon Phineas and Ferb character(although I draw her differently from canon)) and Alice Luoja(Background character turned Phineas and Ferb oc)

why does your ship deserve to be considered the most toxic?:

THEY BASICALLY STARTED OUT AS TWO DUMBASS TOXIC AF TEENAGERS GOING TO EVIL SCIENCE HIGH SCHOOL TOGETHER AND BEING THE TERRORS OF THE SCHOOL(POOFENPLOTZ BC SHES BIG ON BEAUTY AND WOULD BASICALLY DESTROY EVERYONE'S SELF ESTEEM AND ALICE BC. SHES WILLING TO KILL ANYONE WHO RLY FUCKS W HER), AND WHILE THEY ORIGINALLY HAD A RIVALRY IT GOT A LIL TOO HOMOEROTIC VERY QUICKLY AND THEY DON'T RLY KNOW HOW BUT THEY ENDED UP DATING. THEY ENDED UP, SURPRISE SURPRISE, RUINING EACH OTHER EVEN FURTHER THEN THE TWO OF THEM WERE ALREADY TRAUMATIZED!!!! A TYPICAL INTERACTION BETWEEN EM PRETTY MUCH WENT ALONG THE LINES OF POOFENPLOTZ POKING FUN AT SOMETHING ABOUT ALICES BODY OR PERSONALITY SHE KNEW WOULD TICK ALICE OFF("YOU KNOW, I'M NOT SAYING YOU NEED TO LOSE WEIGHT, BUT THROWING UP YOUR LUNCH LATER COULDN'T HURT"), ALICE GETTING PISSED OFF AND PULLING A KNIFE ON HER("YOU KNOW, MAYBE THIS TIME I'LL CHOP OFF YOUR TONGUE, STOP THAT HORRIBLE NOISE YOU CALL A VOICE"), AND THEN SOMETHING WOULD HAPPEN OR ONE OF THEM WOULD FUMBLE OR FLIRT AND THEY'D JUST GO BACK TO NORMAL BANTER AND TERRORIZING PEOPLE. THEY DID CARE ABOUT EACH OTHER, AND WHATEVER THEY WERE EXPERIENCING CERTAINLY FIT SOMEWHERE WITHIN THE STRANGE AND NEBULOUS RANGE OF ROMANTIC LOVE, LIKE THEY DEFINITELY LIKED EACH OTHER, THEY WERE JUST TOXIC AS SHIT AND HAVING THEIR BEHAVIORS EXPANDED UPON OR REINFORCED BY THEIR ENVIRONMENT. EVENTUALLY ALICES OBSESSION W GODHOOD AND HER IDEA OF PERFECTION (ONE THAT HAD ALWAYS BEEN THERE, EVEN IF POOFENPLOTZ MADE IT MORE PHYSICAL) ENDED UP DRIVING THE TWO APART, WITH HOW HORRIBLE ALICES DECLINE WAS, AND POOFENPLOTZ ENDED UP BASICALLY LEAVING AND IGNORING HER AS A DESPERATE ATTEMPT TO SNAP HER OUT OF HER DECLINE BUT ONLY PULLED HER FURTHER IN. AS IT STANDS NOW IN THE PRESENT, THEIR RELATIONSHIP IS A COMPLICATED SPIRAL OF "POOFENPLOTZ ACTUALLY HEALED AND REALIZED HOW AWFUL SHE WAS BEING AND WHILE SHE STILL HAD A DEGREE IN EVIL SCIENCE SHE HAD TO USE SO SHE MIGHT AS WELL GET A JOB DOING THAT, SHES ALSO RLY TRYING TO FIGURE OUT EVERYTHING W THE CAST AND HELP THEM, ESPECIALLY MILLIE AND PINKY, WHILE ALSO DEALING W " WHOOPS YOUR EX IS BACK IN TOWN AND SHES NOW BEEN RESPONSIBLE FOR MORE DEATHS THEN MOST FULL ON TERRORISM COMBINED, BUT SHE IS ALSO STILL KINDA HOT SO *NONCOMMITTAL HAND GESTURE*, YA KNOW?", MEANWHILE ALICE IS "OH RIGHT. SHE QUALIFIES FOR LOVEMUFFIN TOO. IM ALLOWED TO DENY ON HER ON TERMS OF HER BEING MY EX, RIGHT? BUT ALSO IM STILL GONNA INVITE HER TO OUR MEETINGS AND ALSO OFFER TO LET HER " LEAD" THE CULT IVE MADE THAT CONSISTS BASICALLY JUST OF MY VERY ABUSED OWN SON AND A VERY ABUSED TEENAGER WITH ME BC IF I CAN CHANGE HER MIND I CAN CHANGE ANYONES!"

ship tags/playlists/pinterest boards?:

Esmeralice, https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnP0Xop8gS5VdFNCP4Uetvq2pM5A9NZTe <- BAD PLAYLIST BY MY STANDARDS OF USUALLY A HUNDRED SONGS AT LEAST BUT ITLL DO FOR NOW

****

who makes up your ship?:

Res and Leo

why does your ship deserve to be considered the most toxic?:

Leo can’t remember anything that has happened to him before the age of twelve. All anyone knows is that he was in an accident that should have killed him, then he returned with an indestructible body and a void where his personality should be. He cannot comprehend good or evil, does not understand the concept known as ‘choice’, and cannot envision an existence where Res isn’t his Master. He imprinted onto Res the moment he met the other man and pushed himself into Res’ life without considering whether or not Res might want it. His first Master did not pass, he simply changed how he looked, and what he looks like now is Res. Period. He has nothing to offer, nothing to say, no emotions and no heart to give. All he knows are the facts, and the facts tell him that there is no Leo without Res. So he’ll make sure that there’s no Res without Leo. Res has always been very into science, but he isn’t too fond of how there are a bit too many restrictions on the experiments he can perform, and he’s even less fond of how they die whenever he tries some of his more ‘exciting’ stuff. Thankfully he has Leo, his little obedient puppy who will obey his every word and donate his body for research. Of course, he’s never asked him whether he was okay with that, but signing a consent form is so old school. He believes that we should be doers, not dreamers, and he’s always wanted to see what the insides of Leo’s body looked like. And all the resistance it’s putting up just makes it all the more exciting. Leo spells unending excitement, and that’s all the reason Res needs to make sure no one else has him. Res is life, but he is not Leo’s purpose for living, because Leo has not questioned whether or not life has a purpose. He doesn’t need to. Res is Leo’s Master, and Leo’s Master is the very concept of life itself. Without his Master, the earth does not spin, and the sun does not shine. Why would it be anything else? Leo is not a person, he is Res’ dream. The dream of a creature that would do nothing but obey his every word, and the dream of an anomaly that he could endlessly explore without an expiration date. A thing that Res will never get bored of. To Res, Leo is just an adorable lab rat who happens to be the only one in the world who can fulfill his dreams. He does not care for Leo, the person, because Leo is not a person, but he does care about Leo, the humanoid playground that belongs to Res, and Res alone. This is love, because love is when someone makes your heart race, and love is when someone makes you feel like you’re free-falling into obsession. Res loves him, loves him, loves him loves him loves himloveshim. Just as we don’t get emotionally attached to the oxygen that keeps our heart beating, Leo does not get emotionally attached to Res, and he doesn’t need to. This isn’t love, it’s something more than that. Love can change, fade and evolve- it’s fickle, fleeting and easily manipulated. What Leo and Res have is a constant. Res belongs with Leo, and Leo belongs with Res. Don’t argue with the facts. Because you’re wrong, and Leo will make sure you know you’re wrong, no matter who you are. It’s a good thing they’re with each other, and no one else. (Leo is Uno's oc, Res is Canada's oc. Above description written by Uno. Canada's description below) They're basically like those AITA stories where both are the asshole and its a good thing they're together and making each other worse. btw Res is the short pink one and Leo is the tall one.

ship tags/playlists/pinterest boards?:

[afaramir]

6, 13 and 22 for the ask game?

hi friend!!! thank u for sending these<3 i was gonna ask you if you wanted to send different questions bc there’s a couple repeats from the last ask but then i came up with new answers. if you still wanna send diff ones though i will answer them as well

6. which ship fans are the most annoying

ACTUALLY LMFAO I LIED IN THE LAST ONE. i think (hope?) you’ll find this one funny lol well the 0.5 people in the denethorongil ao3 tag who are just there for crack. girl the psychic situationship. that is so fucking interesting. this is like the reverse answer. which ship NON fans are the most annoying. Anyway. i think it just pisses me off whenever a dynamic that could be so thematically (and dramatically) intriguing gets dismissed or made into a joke bc like. come on is that the best we can do? perhaps i just frequently lack a sense of humour about this kind of thing. or maybe people mostly are not funny…who can say.

13. worst blorbofication…TWO!

now is my time to SHINE baby….little pathetic baby faramir is SUCH a textbook fucking case of blorbofication. that shit is ridiculous. yeah the idea of a punching bag dad to take shit out on and/or guy bending over backwards just for his dad's approval appeals to you. unrelatedly how is your relationship with your dad. but i swear to god i KNOW that there are other characters out there that fit this archetype better. there are PLENTY of sad little people pleasers out there. dont take one of the greatest bitchest craziest men in the whole wide green world and make him your little crybaby. if you read the denethor faramir relationship as abusive you gotta also understand that he is right there punching back at it all. goddamn. he had gone on the orders of the lord of the city indeed. peter jackson im gonna fucking get you. this is a guy that first blamed his brothers death on their father and THEN promptly forced said father to order him to his probable death for the sake of his own moral code he has never once laid down and taken it in his LIFE. he’s been arguing back since he was like seven years old or something. in MANY THINGS he displeased his father! he is not a doormat he is a motherfucking doorstop and he WILL make it your problem! also i don’t have anywhere else to put this opinion so it’s gonna go here. it hit me sometime yesterday that the desperate-to-please faramir narrative almost works better with canon denethor. i mean film faramir is a totally different guy so like im not even sure if he would have the same history with his father but like just bear with me here. if he knows that his father trusts him as a commander and yet cannot (seem to express, although failing to express for long enough is basically equivalent) love him as a son…that he has memories of… actually just kidding this doesn’t fucking work at all. because the POINT of it all is that denethor and faramir are the same until they’re not. sly and tactical and cunning and so so so numenorean that elros tar-minyatur would WEEP. while i think film faramir and book denethor are - if not diametric opposites, at least not. so similar. i mean peter jackson literally blorbified him himself. here is my new guy with maybe one of his key traits preserved. man when i reblog a film faramir gif im just imagining book faramir’s personality. i hope you all understand this. i just. i DO love david wenham’s faramir face. he put so so so much 100% home grown bitch energy into the capturing frodo and sam scene faramir and i am simply imagining him translating all that onto "on one occasion at least your counsel has prevailed, not long ago. it was the lord of the city that gave the errand to him." now THAT…oh captain my captain. do you get it

22. your favourite part of canon that everyone else ignores

on one occasion at least your counsel has prevailed not long ago/stir not the bitterness in the cup i poured for myself. people LOOOVE you wish now that our places had been exchanged but read two more lines girlypop IT GETS BETTER. i mean people smarter than me have figured it out already but "restraint"…the idea of faramir having been holding this back for a long time. perhaps even since he first realized boromir was dead and thinking oh. oh, father sent him, or agreed to let him go, or however it went down, and now he is dead and it is father's fault. jesus christ that makes me crazy. and denethor basically saying what else do you think i have been thinking about for weeks. do you dare to think this is new news to me im not the heartless bitch you think i am. of course i blame myself. ARE YOU KIDDING? this is like the entire dynamic contained in two lines of dialogue. i had a runner-up answer but im too sleepy to write it all out but ill tell you what it is and its how WEIRD denethor and faramir are. theyre so weird you guys. i am psychic and prophetic and i WILL make it your problem.

[nosetoons]

i dont want 2 turn my art blog into a whiny vent post and debate blog so yeah. this is cursedbeasts and i probs should have set that post to npt be reblogged lmao.

l think we were talking about 2 different situations in my post & the reblog. I had a string of toxic one on one friendships over the span of several years all originating in the same fandom. that combined with irl shit resulted in me isolating myself with yet another toxic person. and it all culminated in that person essentially telling everyone around im a horrible person and a whole bunch of people piled onto me like the Not One Of Us song number in Lion King 2.

i dont know your situation & i genuinely hope you didnt go through what I did.

But I can understand seeing a toxic fandom and being discouraged.

But also, you do know you can enjoy a thing without engaging with the fandom?

its what ive been doing post swtor for the most part. and also i think you need to learn to curate your online experience. dpnt go into tags if you know you will see something that angers you. block people whose takes piss you off. dont stew in being buttmad or you will end up like the person who bullied me out of the swtor fandom and completely tainted my fav characters.

i am serious. i have been in this constantly mad outraged place myself right alongside that person. and it was MISERABLE. and its completely preventable.

sit down and ask yourself: should i worry and be mad about other people's takes online that i cant control whatsoever? the answer is FUCKING NO. block, blacklist, and move on. leave twitter and tik tok if you need to cuz theyre cesspits lol.

being outraged all the time is not good for your health, be it mental or physical.

Ironically I just had the exact same talk with my mom lol

I've already made up my mind as well with the conversation. I'm going to block websites that have this issue (such as Twitter and Metacritic) and will give Invincible one more shot...without associating with the fandom.

And I was afraid I missed the point of the blog because I have a bad habit of doing so X-X

Also I can just make a Vyond magnum opus of making fun of that shit like I'm doing rn with grifters.

Anyways, yeah. Fandoms are ass. End of story.

[dangerous-disposition]

My favourite thing in the whole world is how I can spend a week in capitalism hell while literally getting frostbite and then I come onto my little escapism apps to go teehee haha with the gays in my phone about FICTIONAL GODDAMN CHARACTERS to find out that the same fucking ppl are stirring up bullshit drama for no fucking reason and being rude to my friends like please actually grow up.

Like ppl are out here outright fucking lying about shit and why? Bc you don't like someone's headcanon? Youve decided people are Having Fun Wrong? Bc it's not the same way you're having fun? Like ppl are out here MINDING THEIR BUSINESS and creating events FOR THEMSELVES AND LIKE MINDED PPL and you're gonna be out there being rude and belittling ppl or even literally lying about what the mods said about an OPTIONAL EVENT that isn't about or for you???? Like literally do you have NOTHING ELSE GOING ON in your life that you have time to actually care SO MUCH about what other people are doing???? Especially to be MEAN about it?

Genuinely this is the last I'm gonna say I'm just especially pissed bc while fandom shit-stirrers be stirring shit always, this time shit was stirred with ppl I consider friends and I'm peeved. Like literally grow up, we're all just goofing off.

And this is just a general statement I've made a million times: being publicly mean and condescending about ppl having harmless fun, even as a fucking joke, makes you a mean fucking person. Like genuinely, you are an unpleasant, mean person and that's something you're gonna have to come to terms with and maybe hopefully fix that in yourself or at least fucking admit you're mean and unpleasant.

There's a lot of shit that ppl hc that personally? I dislike! But I don't get mean and bitchy about it on my blog where ppl who enjoy those things might see it and feel like I'm making fun of them! I filter tags or words so I don't see that shit! Or I unfollow ppl! Or I just scroll past! And if I rly wanna vent about it, I go to a friend who agrees with me about my feelings on the matter, and we privately bitch about it! But at the end of the day, people are having harmless fucking fun and I'm not gonna fucking yuck their yum where they will likely fucking see it!!! Bc that's how you conduct yourself! Like a fucking kind person!!! In a shared space!!!

Anyway. I've said my piece. This is all I'm saying on it.

Put all that hater energy into shit you actually enjoy and maybe you'll feel fucking better about yourself. Be fucking nice to each other, the world's fucking cruel enough without y'all adding to it, goddamn.

[primetimes-primetime]

alright. so, i know ive already made a post about this on my main, but im stupid and went to the original tweet and just made myself angry again.

TW// T-CEST UNDER THE CUT

alright, so a couple days ago i rbed a screenshot of a certain story board artist's tweet about being the one to put tcest in the show.

i dont know why or how, but i found my way onto twitter and to the original tweet that this guy made.

for context, sheldon here was a storyboard artist for Rise and the scene they are talking about here is this one from the Lair Games episode-

i partially explain again why this is horrible and disgusting and partially why i dont believe or accept sheldon's... i dont even know what to call it. his response (the top post in the first screenshot)

part one

since i literally just rbed something about this, im just going to copy/paste my rb and add onto it a little.

" no but when i found out that some of the artists who originally worked on Rise were t-cesters and proshippers i was actually so fucking pissed off.

there are part of this community that are actually god damn disgusting, and im not afriad to say that tcest is fucking rancid and if you support it i dont want you near the content that i create.

first of all, it is literally incest. it says so right in the name. which, i really hope i dont have to explain why incest is bas in the ripe year of 2022. I don't care that they arent "blood-related". They were fucking raised as brothers, treated like brothers, and think of each other as brothers. No matter how hard you try to spin it, no matter how hard you argue that they arent technically related, you have to understand that they see and think of each other as brothers, which should be enough to make this incest.

this show was amazing when it came to family dynamics and brotherly love/trust/bonds. i can say with confidence that the brothers in Rise are much more brotherly/closer than any other previous versions. it's obvious to see that they love and care and want to protect one another. to turn platonic and love for one's family into something so gross and vile is taking all of the healthy emotional bonds between these characters and throwing it out the window.

i cant fuckung believe i have to say this every time i come back into the tmnt fandom, but-

THEY ARE MINORS.

sure, with the recent Rise movie we saw an adult leo, but heres the thing- that version of leo is fucking dead. he literally got fucking beamed out of existence.

the fact that every one of these brothers are under the age of 18 and i still see so much nsfw art is absolutely horrid.

finally, it's a kid's show. sure, many of us in the community are teens, later teens, and grown adults, but that does not change that this show was originally created to bring the tmnt franchise into yet another generation of kids. again, i sincerely hope that i dont need to explain why implying incest in kids shows (or really any TVs shows, for that matter) is morally wrong and vile.

literally yesterday me and some of my mutuals had to go through a lot of our content to re-tag a whole bunch of our posts tagged with "tcest dni" because tumblr's tagging system is actual shit. there shouldnt even be a tcest community, outside of it impeding on the rest of us Rise fans.

sorry this is such a long post but im so tired of seeing / hearing about tcest. its gross, disgusting, icky, etc etc. it is 6:30 am and i woke up and saw this and decided to fucking say something, because tcest has actively made my experience coming back into the tmnt community and fandom worse. "

and i still stand by that. seeing so much tcest- and from the artists on the rise crew, no less- is making my journy back into the tmnt fandom so, so much worse. it is actively hurting a lot of people- which brings me to one specific tweet from this thread.

so, to start- i do not, i repeat- DO NOT condone or promote sending death threats to people or telling them to kill themselves.

second- it isnt. harmless. reminder, again, that this is a

CHILDREN'S. SHOW.

you are talking about MINORS IN INCESTUAL RELATIONSHIPS. "harmless fiction" my ass.

part two

ok. so as you can see in the original screenshot, you can see that sheldon is passing this off as a joke. but i honestly cannot believe him when he says this.

why, i hear you asking. well,

look at the time stamp. 2020, nearly three years ago now, when the Lair Games episode had just come out.

why didn't he say it was a joke three years ago, when he first posted the storyboard clip? because he isnt fucking joking. either that or he is just really so fucking dense that he doesn't realize that what he's doing is not funny in any way, shape or form.

which brings me to my next point.

even if it is all just a joke,

why the fuck are you joking about minors participating in fucking incest?

its fucking nasty even if it is a joke. i genuinely shouldnt need to say anymore on why this is fucking horrid.

well. ive taken up enough of your time- i appreciate you reading to the end and i apologize for making this so long. a quick, final word in case you got this far and are a tcester or support tcest-

kindly fuck off, do not interact with me, unfollow me, and block me :] i dont want your nasty ass incest anywhere fucking near me or this blog.

thanks ! :D

[miraakulous-cloud-district]

PREPARE YOURSELF, HERE THEY COME: 👊 PUNCH - are they quick to violence?

☕️ HOT BEVERAGE - do they prefer hot or cold drinks? what is their favourite drink?

🌌 MILKY WAY - what was the inspiration behind your oc? what was the first thing you decided about them?

🍼 BABY BOTTLE - what are their thoughts on children?

🎵 MUSIC NOTE - what is their playlist like? their favourite artists? do you associate a particular song with them?

All these for the loveliest bard of our hearts, Ravonna!!! <3 <3 <3

Thank you so much for these! I love this ask game so much!

👊 PUNCH - are they quick to violence?

Not really. She generally resorts to violence only in self-defense or if someone pissed her off really bad. She loves to talk shit and destroy someone with words, in true bard fashion, be petty or write a song/poem about someone who really angered her and spread the art throughout all of Tamriel so that everyone knows that person is a jackass!

☕️ HOT BEVERAGE - do they prefer hot or cold drinks? what is their favourite drink?

As a nord, she does prefer colder drinks. She doesn’t mind hot tea or coffee, but nothing compares to the beautiful simplicity of nord mead, and its effects upon her! Sujamma also always comforts her, reminding her of simpler times at the inn that she grew up in, back in Morrowind.

🌌 MILKY WAY - what was the inspiration behind your oc? what was the first thing you decided about them?

The very first think I decided about her was that I was finally going to make a mage character after modding Skyrim thoroughly so that the magic system would be cooler. I made her and played around with the racemenu until I got exactly what I wanted, which was a sarcastic black-haired, green-eyed nord! It was also the first time playing Skyrim as a nord, and it felt so right to make her my canon Skyrim oc, which was going to end up with Miraak anyway, because I could never kill him! I got the Lucien and Inigo mods and was absolutely obsessed with Rumarin at the time! It was also at this time that I made my tumblr account to consume even more TES media :)). I was reblogging lots of stuff and then someone tagged me to make a picrew of her, and I did! And when I tried to describe her my hand slipped and made an entire backstory for her! After that I got tagged in another tag game, I believe it was a wip Wednesday sort of thing, but the problem was that I had no wip! So I opened a word document and started typing, and I couldn’t stop! I was listening to this song and I kept imagining stuff and banter with the fellowship and them singing the song! I love sea shanties and decided to project this love of mine onto her, so then I made her a bard! And I thought that she has to be funny and jolly and not very serious! And so the very beginning of my fic came to be! With them singing, drunk in a dinghy searching for treasure, at the dawn of a new day, because it marked the dawn of this wonderful adventure I’m having right now, writing and sharing it with you all and meeting other wonderful, wonderful people in the TES community! This is already a huge block of text, so I should stop, but I’m very emotional and nostalgic about this question because I love my Ravonna and everyone in this fic dearly! So the bottom line is... tag people in stuff, make your own tag games, you never know what kind of spark you might start in someone!

🍼 BABY BOTTLE - what are their thoughts on children?

They’re okay I guess… from afar, and when they already grow up and aren’t children anymore… yeah maybe she doesn’t like kids that much. She grew up in a tavern, surrounded by adults, and only left for the guild of mages in Vivec when she was a young adult herself. It’s not that she hates kids or anything, she’s just not that kind of person. She definitely doesn’t want kids of her own. A mother is the last thing she sees herself as.

🎵 MUSIC NOTE - what is their playlist like? their favourite artists? do you associate a particular song with them?

OOOH BOY, I LOVE THIS QUESTION! In a modern AU? She would definitely be a metalhead. In the world of Skyrim? She has a whole notebook that is split in two: one half with favourite collected songs. I see Tamriel bards sharing songs with each other so that more people get to hear their compositions, so long as you give proper credit. But if you don’t give credit, you’re considered dishonorable, and you’re not worthy of the ‘bard’ title. She hates people who don’t give credit with a passion and is sure to rat them out every time. The other half is with her own songs, written and composed by her! She’s definitely that person who would stop in a fight and scribble something in there if that’s when inspiration strikes! It’s not easy being a bard and saving the world…

Her favourite artist, or bard is, of course, Hjaldir. She grew up with that man. She fell asleep to the sound of his singing voice, she learnt to play so many instruments from him, she listened to so many amazing and captivating tales from his pirate days, they sang together so much! She looks up to him and wishes to be as successful of a bard as he is! Being an ex-pirate, he is very well known throughout the whole continent. His shanties are sung in countless inns! And people know of his tales and shenanigans. Something tells me that she will be just like that by the end of the fic, even more than that 😉

I’ve associated my girl with lots of different songs! From 'This Wandering Day', to 'The Wizard', but lately this song (I also imagine her voice sounding something like this) has stood out, because I’m thinking of incorporating this song in my fic, as if she wrote it! The lyrics make lots of sense with what I want to do in the story, but essentially, she had a bit of a warning, or a spoiler, if you will, about the whole ‘Dovahkiin’ prophecy when she was little and had a weird dream. Akatosh works in mysterious ways, but you’ll see what I’m talking about when we’ll be several chapters deep in this fic!

And since I’ve already rambled so much, what’s a little more? Especially when talking about music. I associate ‘Follow You’ with the whole fellowship, as they would follow her through hell and back, no matter what. I also see ‘So What’ as a Ravonna song! She is a rockstar.

Thank you so much for the ask, and sorry for the HUGE block of text that turned out to be my answer! I'm always extremely grateful for these, and you have no idea just how helpful these are about the whole writing thing!

[undertheknightwing]

you mentioned in the tags of this post that you think Gar and Jane would have been chaotic besties, and I would love to hear any headcanons or thoughts you have about those two, if you'd be open to share? Or I'd love to hear more about your thoughts on Gar and Jinx if you'd rather talk about that

(also! hi! we haven't talked but my teen titans blog is bilingual-beast-boy. it's really great to find another blog who loves gar :) )

hi! thank you for the ask,, I love talking about my hcs for Gar and his relationships with other characters lol

for Jane (if she was in the Titansverse that is), I can't imagine she was very happy when she learned Chief brought a kid to Doom Manor and that it was his next "save" because they all know what it really means when Chief "saves" someone. He probably caused their accident and now is gonna use/treat them like an animal.

Ya know, "not being very happy" is an understatement. Jane would be PISSED. She's extremely protective of children because of what happened to her. And then here's the Chief strolling back into the manor with some sickly, terrified-looking thirteen year old boy with green hair at his side, that he informed will be living with them now. If that didn't make her upset, learning that Chief completely stripped this kid's humanity away and turned him into something beyond science's understanding, ruining an innocent kid's childhood, sure would make her want to put her fist through Chief's face.

I can see her threatening Chief too, telling him if she finds out he's been using Gar as a lab rat or gets his gross hands anywhere near him for anything besides check ups on his powers, she'll bash his face into the pavement.

since Jane is permanently in her 20s, she'd be the member closest to Gar's age (13 at arrival) so she takes up the role of big - probably.. maybe.. not the best influence - sister, who makes sure Chief stays the fuck in line.

Out of all the Doom Patrol's powers I always thought Gar's matched Jane's in a sort of way since he also has a bunch of different beings living inside him that are able to affect his thoughts/actions. They're just animals with their own feelings and thoughts instead of differently personalities.

and since Gar went years without having his powers, he was very overwhelmed and scared when they started giving him animal urges and the animals themselves began to communicate with him in their way. Because only Jane could put herself in his shoes, understand how he was feeling- at least a little, she was the one to help him quiet all the voices in his head and teach him how to live with it since his powers aren't going anywhere.

For the chaotic hcs:

-Gar's favorite swear of "bullshit" he picked up from Jane. She said it A LOT, especially to Cliff. Like she and Cliff will be arguing about something, Jane will end it with "That's such bullshit, Cliff. Fuck off, you metal dick!" before leaving and Gar, who was in the room, has to add "It was bullshit, man", which makes Cliff snap at him with "Don't you start, you little shit!" and then Gar follows after Jane with a dumb grin on his face.

-Jane taught Gar how to sneak out and very much encouraged him to keep doing it with a "Niles can go fuck himself, go out and have fun" and would add "If you need me to buy you a 6 pack or anything else, I will" which Gar always declined. When Gar started filling his room with stolen stuff and Jane found out, she just gave him a fist bump, telling him "Keep up the good work, your room looks sick". then suggested easy places to steal from.

-And speaking of sneaking out, Gar would often follow Jane when she'd leave Doom Manor and join in whatever she was doing.. sometimes. If what she was doing is something he's comfortable with, he'll join, but stand and ignore it if he wasn't.

now onto Jinx, there isn't as much as Jane but I can see her getting a kick out of messing with people but gets annoyed when she can't get under Dick or Rachel's skin, so moves onto the softie Gar Logan, sure she'll be able to bug him. Surprise, surprise, she can't bug Gar because Gar is also secretly just as chaotic as her and isn't bothered by her jabs at all.

So instead of Jinx seeing him as someone to mess with, she lowkey sees him as a teammate and lets him add his sarcastic comments and jokes after hers, which gets on Dick's nerves.

If they went on a duo mission, something would probably be caught on fire or blown up, even if by accident. Like Jinx would call Nightwing, tell him "Hey Grayson, something happened on our mission and now we're stuck in an elevator" and in the background Gar is laughing his ass off because he's the reason they're in that situation. If something chaotic and dumb was gonna happen on a mission, it'd be to them. Neither Gar nor Jinx have the best luck.

While Rachel and Tim are investigating the proper way, Jinx would be spray painting "if you're evil and a part of a cult please call this number, I wanna join" on a building's wall while Gar helps.

Dick and Kory wouldn't like how Jinx is influencing Gar and Rachel would be jealous (in a "hey, wait, that's my best friend" way, not a romantic way) Gar has buddied up with someone else to joke around with instead of her.

if Gar was a villain, he and Jinx could absolutely be partners in crime tbh so i'mma add Jinx to the list of villains Gar would vibe with, right below Poison Ivy, who's definitely number one.

sorry about the wait! This was so much fun to write! also I love your Beast Boy blog!! It's always nice to meet someone who loves Gar as well 💚

[tallochar]

Stephanie's behavior in Robin #80, Robin #82 and Robin #83 (all three from 2000) just pisses me off on so many levels and then Bruce adds in during Robin #84 and then in Robin #87 post Officer down and he pisses me off SO MUCH TOO.

This is just me grumbling about it, so you are all welcome to skip this, I am putting it under a cut and I'm not tagging it with any character names so it won't show up in her tag.

I mean, I am 1000% sure Tim never finds out what she did, because she'd never admit to it and also he's in Nassau on the Danny Temple storyline at that point so he's not around for it, but I am pissed off about it.

Starting from her barging all over his boundaries when he tells her not to follow him (repeatedly and yes, he addresses her as Spoiler first and then when he gets frustrated he uses her name, which is not okay, especially in the field, especially in that era, even if they are alone it's very much something wrong he did and she does call him out on it, which she should have done so good on her for that!) and just disregarding all the repetition about not going along completely and then how callously she just assumes he's 'two-timing' her (yeah because god forbid someone gets shot on Tim's watch and this is not about him cheating on Steph) and then the she beats up her ex not because her ex did anything to deserve it but because she's pissed at Robin (she straight up says to her mom her ex wasn't the one she was pissed off at).

Then she refuses all attempts of Robin to communicate (first tells her to not contact her, then freezes him out for a while, then when, after a few days, he does try to phone her she hangs up on him, refuses to answer his email except for one where she tells him to get lost, and even throws a shoe at his head [which hits him] when he tries to go visit her) because she's still so sure he's cheating on her and goes to pretend to be a nurse in hospital to try and get clues to his identity.

(Before Tim leaves for Nassau, around this point, he tries to ask Dick if he thinks Bruce might let him tell her and before he's even finished speaking Dick goes "Never!" and Tim's like "yeah, I knew that" because it's not that Tim doesn't WANT to tell Steph, it's that he's literally bound into secrecy, because this was back when secret IDs were important and most people only knew who a few other people did and it was A Big Deal)

She sees something signed T.D. then a guy called Tito enters the room and she assumes it's Robin, follows the guy around, intervenes in a shady deal the guy's doing (while thinking about how she is going to have something to hold over him now, because this clearly justify all the gross boundaries crossing she has been doing) and when he runs away she STILL assumes it's Robin, calls him "the boy-coward" because she is fully 1000% fully ready to believe that that is what Tim would do, run away and leave her in a heap of trouble with people firing at her and then tackles the boy onto the ground, grabs him and stands poised above him with a fist ready to go and smack into him (possibly sending his head back to thump into the ground, given the positions) while going, I quote:

"What's the deal Robin? You've never run from a fight before. Are we really that over that you'd leave me to die?"

Says the girl who has refused to talk to her boyfriend, threw a shoe at his head, told him to get lost, etc. is now about to beat who she thinks is that boyfriend up, while Tim is in Nassau telling Danny that he does have a girlfriend, but things are rocky between them now, a trip that he took, in part, on advice from Dick to go and leave Steph space and time.

"Or is your stupid secret identity so important that it's okay I get killed to keep it hush-hush? Which is it, Robin?"

Emphasis from the comic.

You are the one who decided you were over, despite all of your boyfriends attempts to communicate with you, Stephanie and you are the one who believes this shit of Tim, who has shown himself to be capable of nothing of the sort so far.

(Wondering how much of this is projection your part, Stephanie)

And it's not his "stupid secret identity", it's his identity and all the people you can connect to him through it and him being under mandate from Batman to keep it from you (which she knows because she tells as much to her mother in the next issue, Robin #84 [2000]) because it would affect way way way way more than just Tim and it's something you were told from the get go you were not going to get.

(Also loose lips sink ships and look what Steph immediately did, when stressed, she told her mom that she had a boyfriend and that boyfriend was Robin, Batman's Robin, and that the boy could not tell her his identity because Batman forbid him and then went into saying they were over because Robin just cares about Star and then ran upstairs and congrats Steph, you just dropped so fucking much on a civilian and I don't care that she's your mom, you have no idea what she could or might do with all that information you just handed over because you needed to have your teenage fit).

If this is a deal breaker, sure go and break up with Tim (which if she did do that, or considered them broken up, she decided that on her own and never bothered to inform Tim about it) but this does not entitle you to all of this shit behavior and choices or to throw shoes at his head and treat him like shit.

Tim's secrets are NOT automatically yours to have just because now you've decided you want them.

Also note that in this comic (Robin #84 [2000]) she assumes that she and Tim are over because "he only cares about that other girl" aka Star aka the civilian that got injured on Tim's watch and he'd care about even if she wasn't his friend and that he told you back in #80 that he couldn't specify to you how he knew her, because it was too close to his secret identity thing (which you immediately took as a reason to go pretend to be a nurse so you could try to figure out said secret identity to try and beat him up).

This is all a fantasy trip she's made up in her mind and while I am actually cutting her some slack for being a teenager, me understanding where she might be coming from (hell this kind of fantasy trip is not even just a teenager thing, it's an all ages thing from what I've seen) does not cut her any slack for her actions and choices.

And then Bruce tells Steph about Tim's identity (in Robin #87 [2000], because he and Alfred are not talking and he'd rather do this massive breach of trust and betrayal than fucking risk having to talk to Alfred, whom he knows is with Tim and could get him in touch with Tim) and she immediately goes to find him and goes, I quote again:

"Um hi, Robin. Or can I call you Tim?"

"Steph?"

Tim's reaction as this is happening:

No.

This isn't happening.

My worlds collide.

Spoken, by Tim: I -- I --

My heart's racing, my mind's in a spin.

Spoken, by Steph: Batman said it's time I joined you guys. I hope you're all right with that.

I feel trapped, I feel like I have to get away.

Spoken, by Steph, as Tim grapples off and away in a panic: ROBIN!

Tim's thought bubbles as he runs away and she goes after him:

It's too late to run.

It's too late to hide.

This can't be undone.

But I just can't deal with it.

Which means he's having a panic attack, retreating away from her and she's running after him, not giving him any of the space he gave to her.

And as we will soon see, it's to immediately tell him that they can be together, because that's what matters to Steph, that SHE decided they were broken up and he cheated her and then that SHE decided that they weren't broken up anymore and that SHE decided that they could only be together if she knew his ID and then that SHE decided they are together now, with no input from Tim and no interest in his opinion or anything he might have to say to her, because she doesn't really care about his opinion, as long as SHE has her way.

At which point Bruce steps in (notice that the point of all this was for Bruce to contact Tim through Steph without risking running into Alfred, as Tim is about to point out, but Bruce came along NONETHELESS, thus making this even worse).

Spoken, by Bruce, as he holds out a hand to stop Tim mid-run: Stop Robin. It was my decision.

Which is the moment where Steph, all the thoughts about Star potentially being Tim's girlfriend forgotten and abandoned because now she knows Tim's secret identity (something she, as mentioned before, in an earlier comic considered something "I could hold above his head") now she can have it all, goes:

Spoken, by Steph: We can be together now.

As if she didn't did all of the awful stuff above and treated Tim like shit and ignored him and decided they were over and didn't tell him and that he cheated and didn't tell him and like fucking damn it if it was me I wouldn't just have done what Tim did which is:

Spoken, by Tim, warding her off with a swipe of his hand that is wide off her chest: NO!

Spoken, by Steph, in the background of this panel where Tim is forefront and pissed off: What?

And Tim immediately takes Bruce to fucking task about all of this rather than talking to Steph anymore (which is way more gracious than I'd have been)

Spoken by Tim, spreading his left arm out in a clearly angry gesture: I vowed LOYALTY to you. Your word is THE word. But that goes for Robin, NOT Tim Drake. You had no RIGHT to reveal my secret. I've kept YOUR secret. Sometimes at the risk of my LIFE. You sent her here alone because you were afraid you'd run into ALFRED.

Spoken, by Tim, as he bares his teeth at Bruce: This is MY life. It was MY decision.

At which point we are reminded / informed by the editor's box that "Bats & Alfred had a falling out in Officer Down"

Spoken, by Tim, while the panel focus on Bruce as Batman being impassive: And that would blow YOUR secret.

Spoken, by Tim, as he walks off raising his left arm in a denial gesture: So you just GAVE mine away.

Spoken, by Tim, in the same panel: FORGET it. There's NOTHING you can say...

Spoken, by Bruce, in the same panel as the previous line as Tim walks away from him and Steph: Robin...

"This has happened before. Each Robin has a time when he rebels. Sometimes it ends well. Other times..."

And then Bruce tells Steph to let Tim go because Tim is feeling betrayed (making me want to throw hands and hit him with a clue by four or a wrench), Steph argues that Tim has been betrayed by both of them (good on her that at least she is realizing that now but also too little too late insofar, and a bit too much metaphorical crocodile tears to me, as far as I'm concerned) and Bruce immediately goes, making me want to smack him hard enough to give him a concussion:

And then, after a few more bubbles of dialogue, the comic ends with Steph asking who's Alfred.

Because Bruce did not tell her his own identity, did not tell her about Alfred, did not tell her anything except Tim's own fucking civilian identity that he refused to allow Tim permission to disclose to her prior to this and who he didn't even allow Tim to reveal to YJ, Tim go to reveal his face to them before he could his name.

You know why Tim wasn't ready? Because you didn't give him permission to share Bruce so he could not come at it in his own way and in his own time, you did not allow him that grace and the way you immediately shrug off any responsability and then compare Tim reacting WAY LESS BADLY than he could have to this utter betrayal of him and his dedication to you and all the sacrifices he's made and all the stress he's put himself through to what happened with Dick and Jason.

This whole arc pisses me off so fucking much, both Bruce and Steph do in it and I cut neither of them any slack over it. I could barely stand to go over their parts in the comics this makes me so viscerally angry.

And Bruce being this level of absolute dick about how he went about this has no impact on Steph's actions prior to Bruce needing to find Tim.

God the levels of invasion of privacy, disregarding of boundaries, the shitty way Tim is treated .... god fucking damn it I hate this side of this goddamn arc so fucking much.

I would throw the comic at the wall except I don't do that in RL, but god I wish I would.

Imma go punch my pillow a few times and then take a shower and then sleep because I work tomorrow.

This fucking arc I fucking swear.