#show other people you believe in the glory of your own characters and plots and we will come to you I promise

[squirrelno2]

people with ocs you ship with canon characters I am begging you to stop selling your characters short in your blurbs. I promise there's more to your character than who you ship them with, and telling me "here's a character you know and love. they have emotions about somebody." and then not elaborating on the somebody is a surefire way to get me to go "oh this is the kind of thing where you pretend you're dating the character"

which to be fair. live your dreams. but I know that's not actually what every fic out there is like and as somebody who doesn't ship like that I would love to have an easier time finding cool ocs with compelling canon romances

[best-underrated-anime]

[Test Poll] Format #3

This is to test what format would be best for the poll posts during the tournament. The media featured won’t be part of the tournament. They’re just shows I recently watched (and are not necessarily underrated), but please vote as if this were the actual tournament. (I wrote some serious propaganda just to make this test realistic, so pleeease.) I will gather some feedback later. You may also leave feedback in the replies of this post.

Best Underrated Anime – Group C Round 1: #C1 vs #C2

#C1: Good guy pulled into soccer “death game,” turns into your worst nightmare

#C2: Depressed genius detective pulled out of slump by naive police officer

Titles, summaries, propagandas, trailers, and poll under the cut!

#C1: Good guy pulled into soccer “death game,” turns into your worst nightmare

Title: Blue Lock / ブルーロック

Genres: Sports, shounen

Trigger warnings: none

Summary

After reflecting on the current state of Japanese soccer, the Japanese Football Association decides to hire the enigmatic and eccentric coach Jinpachi Ego to achieve their dream of winning the World Cup. Believing that Japan has lacked an egoistic striker hungry for goals, Ego initiates the Blue Lock—a prison-like facility where three hundred talented strikers from high schools all over Japan are isolated and pitted against each other. The sole survivor of Blue Lock will earn the right to become the national team’s striker, and those who are defeated shall be banned from joining the team forever.

Selected to join this risky project is Isagi Yoichi, a striker who failed to bring his high school soccer team to the national tournament. After choosing to pass to a teammate who missed instead of scoring on his own, he could not help but wonder if the results would have been different had he been more selfish. Using this golden opportunity given by the Blue Lock Project, Isagi aims to clear his doubts and chase his ultimate desire—to become the greatest striker in the world and lead Japan to World Cup glory.

(taken from MAL)

Propaganda

It’s different from all other sports anime I’ve watched before in that there is no “power of friendship” and “teamwork makes the dream work” bullshit. Blue Lock only cares about one thing, and that is winning. All those inspirational/comforting messages like “at least we had fun together” are dismissed to mere excuses right from the first episode.

Each episode is also full of hype, and there is no telling what will happen next. It subverts a lot of sports anime tropes, especially in the show’s second arc. I also love how it doesn’t follow typical sports anime arcs. They’re technically not in high school, so we don’t have “Nationals” or special training episodes. Just adrenaline-filled matches all the way through—not official matches, but it sure feels like it because of how high the stakes are (if you lose, your dreams are dead).

I especially enjoy seeing Isagi turn into something like a villain once the game starts. He’s so nice and polite off the field, but on the field he’s everybody’s nightmare. It’s also really refreshing to have a shounen protag revel in the act of breaking other people’s dreams.

But hype aside, it also does not lack on the emotional aspect. Characters are forced to break through their limits and let go of what’s important to them in order to move forward. That important thing could be a long-standing belief, an old dream, or even a friend. And the OST of this show really helps drive home the messages it sends. Some scenes would literally have orchestra music playing in the background, and each plot-relevant character also gets their own cool character soundtrack

Lastly, like all other shounen sports anime, expect some homoerotic stuff. You don’t even have to be a shipper to notice it. It’s really obvious in the second arc.

#C2: Depressed genius detective pulled out of slump by naive police officer

(Admin: I could not find a good trailer on youtube with english subs and none of the audio cut out, so I decided to edit the subs in myself…)

Title: Deranged Detective / Ron Kamonohashi’s Forbidden Deductions/ Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective / Kamonohashi Ron no Kindan Suiri / 鴨乃橋ロンの禁断推理

Genres: Comedy, mystery

Trigger Warnings: Just typical tw’s for a crime show… blood. murder, dead bodies, etc., but nothing extreme

Summary

Despite lacking the skills suited for his role on the Metropolitan Police Department investigative team, Isshiki Totomaru wants to solve murders and help people. Following the advice of one of his seniors, he ventures out to enlist the aid of the reclusive Kamonohashi Ron. Five years ago, Ron was the most promising detective from the illustrious Detective Training Academy Blue; yet for reasons unknown to the public, he sank into obscurity.

Totomaru expects a well-dressed, composed man; but what he gets is a messy-haired and uninhibited eccentric. After years in solitude, Ron barely resembles his former self and he refuses to even hear out the detective. However, as quickly as Ron rebuffs, he flips on a dime and dives headfirst into the current serial murder case.

The true reason Ron withdrew from the detective world was not from lack of desire, but rather from something out of his control—and Totomaru might just be the key for his return to his former calling. Together, the wide-eyed officer and deranged detective tackle each mystery that comes their way.

Propaganda

The anime is currently airing with only a few episodes out as of this moment, so my propaganda will be based more on the manga (which is by Akira Amano, the same person who made Katekyo Hitman Reborn).

The first few eps/chapters of Deranged Detective tackles some basic crimes, but later it will get more complex. Episode formulas are like that in Detective Conan, but they’re made more enjoyable with Ron’s eccentricity and the well-balanced comedy.

The plot is nothing mind-blowing, but it’s definitely solid and well-executed. We have this recluse detective who wants to get back to doing detective work, but then we find out that he’s not supposed to be playing detective. It would literally cost him his life if caught in the act. So now we have some tension as well as an overarching mystery—who wants Ron dead and why?

But Deranged Detective isn’t just about the mystery. It’s also about Ron and Toto. It’s about how Ron, who was depressed for five years, regains his life because of Toto. And it’s how Toto will always believe in him despite all doubts against him. Can’t really blame Ron for being so gay for him.

The animation is clean, and the OST is also good. The opening song is by the same band that made the iconic Kekkai Sensen ending song.

If you enjoy gay detectives, you should definitely check this out.

[hello-nichya-here]

Did these two new episodes finally change your mind about Team Black or do you still think Aegon is a usurper?

1 - Once again, Rhaenyra could have been the worst person who has ever lived and the entire series based on Saint Aegon fighting for the throne for the good of the people, it'd STILL make him an usurper. The king named her heir and everyone swore to her. We literally see the greens plotting to dethrone her long before Viserys supposedly told Alicent he "changed his mind", and Otto, Aemond and even Aegon himself have said they don't believe Viserys ever stopped supporting Rhaenyra. It doesn't matter if I, you, or anyone else thinks they're justified in stealing her throne, that is still what it is: stealing it.

2 - Fuck off with that "finally." Disagreeing with my interpretation is one thing, being all condescendent about it is another. I like the Greens as characters even if I'm not rooting for them, but bullshit like this is why I cannot stand most of the fans. You guys are entitled as fuck.

3 - What exactly was I supposed to see in these episodes that would make me hate Team Black? Daemon being reckless, impulsive and violent in pursue of glory/proof his misguided loyalty, and thus undermining (accidentally and intentionally) the ruler he supports and cares for in his own fucked up way? I saw that in episode one when he was maiming and killing people for crimes he HEARD they commited, without checking, knowing damn well Viserys, aka his brother and King, would not approve of it.

Rhaenyra being morally dubious, and potentialy putting herself in danger by keeping that guy around? Again, I've seen that from the start of the show. Corlys and Rhaenys being more allied to them for convenience because they'll put themselves first instead of any king/queen, even one they respect? Once again, stablished early on in the previous season.

The only new informations I got were about the GREENS.

Aemond clearly having some Mommy Issues that he indulges in with his lover/whore (probably because we canonically saw that his mom is the kind to turn around and go fuck a guard after seeing her son crying because his baby boy was murdered). Aegon showing some hints of compassion/love for other people. Alicent and Cole being even MORE hypocritical than they were before (which is saying a lot).

And, of course, Otto Hightower hearing that his great-grandson was murdered in quite a brutal, cowardly way, and reacting to the news by saying they'll blame Rhaenyra for it anyway, even if they discover she was not behind it - and he'll do it by PARADING THE CHILD'S CORPSE AROUND, with the (clearly neurodivergent/mentally unwell) mother and grandmother weeping. Even though this a disgusting thing to do and, like Aegon himself said, basically dragging this murdered child through the mud like a dog. Even though this is exploting and adding to the pain of his family, that he pretends to care about.

I gotta say, I knew this guy was a piece of shit since he sold his own daughter to a creepy old man, but DAMN, I did not see that one coming. It did make Aegon firing him from being Hand of The King all the more satisfying though, even if I know this will backfire on him.

[strangerficsxx]

Chapter Two: The Mall Rats

story:Midnight Rain wc: 2.3k with a sudden power outage, jennifer begins to suspect something bad is coming, suspecting the gate has been opened, things turn upside down when she go through a bought of depression -- hiding her feelings from steve.

[a/n: all characters, plot, etc. are not mine. The only thing I own is my original character. credit to gif owner.]

{June 29, 1985}

The next morning, Jennifer woke up in a dire mood as she lays in her bed. She stares at the ceiling before sighing, getting up and starting her day. Jennifer drove to the mall and entered, opening Scoops Ahoy before Robin and Steve arrived as she turns the lights on above, throwing her keys on the table in the back. Once when the mall open completely, people of different ages storm through and by the time Jennifer knows it, the mall is packed.

Leaning against the counter in between rooms, she watches as Robin hands off two cones to a man and woman as they turn to leave. Suddenly, Dusting shows up.

"Hey, someone's back from camp. How'd it go?"

Dustin looks around the female, glancing at his sister. "Good."

He looks at Robin.

"Hi,"

"Hi. I'm Dustin."

"I'm Robin,"

"Pleasure to meet you. Uh, is -- is he here?"

"I who here?" Jennifer asks.

Steve bursts through the door as he greets the younger boy, cheering and explaining but acting as a little kid. It makes Jennifer furrowed her brows, rolling her eyes before turning away.

"How many children are you friends with?"

Steve sighs in annoyance as Jennifer can tell just from hearing it from afar, walking out and towards Dustin as he greets her. They quickly hug before pulling back.

At a table, the three get situated as Robin continues at the counter. Jennifer sits on the end of the seat as she's beside Steve. Dustin plunges the spoon in a banana split, talking about how hot is girlfriend is plus how she looks like Phoebe Cates.

"Hotter than Phoebe Cates? No."

"Mm-hmm."

Dustin's eyes widen a like a little kid in a candy store as he continues on about this girl he was with at summer camp. Jennifer shifts, glancing toward her younger brother.

"Brilliant, too. And she doesn't even care that my real pearls are still coming in. She says kissing is better without teeth."

Steve nods, disgusted as he and Jennifer look at each other as she cringes. The silence is loud as the conversations around them are indistinct.

"Wow. That's great. Proud of you, man. That's ro-- That's kinda romantic."

Jennifer goes into her own world as she fumbles with Steve's sailor hat on the table, thinking as Dustin speaks. The sounds of a someone clearing their throat makes Jennifer come back to reality.

"Jennifer. you okay?" Steve asks as him and Dustin look at her with concern.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Did you say something, Dustin?"

"Yes, you working anywhere?"

"No, taking a break from stress."

He nods. "What about your relationship, Steve?"

"Good. We're still going strong."

"So do you really just get to eat as much of this as you want?"

"Yeah. I mean, sure. It's not really a good idea for me, though. I gotta keep in shape for the lad-- For Jennifer."

"Yeah, and how's that working out for you?"

"Ignore her."

"She seems cool."

"She's not. Where are the other knuckleheads?"

"Steve," She nudges him with her elbow.

"They ditched me yesterday,"

"No," Jennifer says.

"My first day back. Can you believe that shit?"

"Whoa. Seriously?"

"I swear to God. Mm. They're gonna regret it, though, big time, when they don't get to share in my glory."

"Glory? What Glory?" Jennifer asks.

Dustin scoots closer to Steve. "So, last night, we're trying to get in contact with Suzie.."

"Oh. Mm." Steve hums, looking at Jennifer as she smiles softly at him.

Dustin looks around. "I intercepted a secret Russian communication."

"What?" Steve and Jennifer say in unison.

Dustin clicks his tongue, inhaling deeply before exhaling before speaking softly. "I intercepted a secret Russian communication." Whilst covering his face.

Jennifer furrows her brows.

"Just speak louder."

"I intercepted a secret Russian communication." He speaks, louder this time as everyone in Scoops Ahoy looks at the three of them.

"Jeez, shh. Yeah, okay, that's what I thought you said."

They look around as Jennifer feels slightly embarrassed to be next to her brother and boyfriend. Steve leans against the table.

"What-- What does that mean?"

"It means, Steve, we could be heroes. True American heroes."

"Huh."

"Mm-hmm?"

"American heroes?" Jennifer asks, pretending to be excited.

"American heroes. You could have all of Jennifer you want and more."

"More? No, I have-- I have Jennifer. She's all I need."

"Oh."

"Why did you stammer?" Jennifer asks.

"I did-- I didn't."

"Yes, you did. And you did it again."

"Yeah, you did." Dustin adds.

Steve and Dustin lean in further to one another as Jennifer leans in as well.

"What's the catch?"

"No catch, I just need your and Jennifer's help."

"With what?" Jennifer questions.

Dustin doesn't say anything as he turns to his bag and unzips it, pulling out a small booklet and showing the two adults. It reads 'Romanov's Russian - English, English - Russian Dictionary'.

"Translation." Dustin smiles.

"Seriously Dustin?"

"Yeah,"

"How the hell are we gonna do that? It's gonna take forever since none of us know how to speak Russian, even if we do read the book. It's takes awhile to learn a new language."

"We can try,"

"Jesus,"

Jennifer and Steve rise as Dustin grabs his bag and follows after them into the back room. Behind the counter, she overhears Robin and a little girl. The female calls out to Steve, who is in the back room with Jennifer and Dustin. He paces back and forth as he takes a bite out of his banana as the voice of a male speaks in Russian on the recording. The recorder sits beside a book as Dustin is seated in a chair as well as his sister. A familiar tune plays as well. The kid stops the recorder.

"So what do you think?"

"It sounded familiar."

"What?"

"The music. The music right there at the end." He says, mouth full.

"Why are you listening to the music, Steve?" Jennifer asks.

"Listen to the Russian. We're translating Russian!"

"I'm trying to listen to the Russian, but there's music--"

"All right, babysitting time is over. You need to get out there."

Dustin and Jennifer stay in their places as Steve steps back. Robin walks toward her dry erase board.

"Hey, my board. That was important data, shitbirds."

"I'm not the one who cleared the board. Don't look at me,"

"Not you. Those two."

"I guarantee you, what we're doing is way more important than your data."

Steve nods, tossing the peel on the table below.

"Yeah? And how do you know these Russians are up to no good anyways?"

Dustin cranes his neck, looking at Steve. Jennifer lowers her head, pinching the bridge of her nose in annoyance almost wanting to side with Robin. She sighs.

"How does she know about the Russians?"

"I don't know."

"You told her about--"

"It wasn't me."

"It wasn't me either, doofus."

"Hello, I can hear you. Actually, I can hear everything. You both are extremely loud."

"I agree with that. I kept trying to quiet them down."

"You think you have evil Russians plotting against our country, on tape, and you're trying to translate, but haven't figured out a word because you didn't realize Russians use an entirely different alphabet. Sound about right?"

The room was silent. Robin leans into grab the recorder as Steve swoops in and yanks it away.

"Woah! What do you think you're doing?"

"I wanna hear it."

"Why?" Dustin and Steve ask at the same time.

"Cause maybe I can help. I'm fluent in four languages, you know."

"Russian?"

"Ou-yay are-yay umb-day."

The boys are immersed by Robin speaking another language as Jennifer sighs, lowering her head once again.

"Holy shit."

"Dustin,"

"Sorry."

"That was Pig Latin, dingus."

Steve smacks Dustin with his banana peel with one hand whilst holding the recorder in the other.

"Idiot."

"But I can speak Spanish and French and Italian and I've been in band for 12 years. My ears are little geniuses, trust me."

"Uh.."

"That's why you look familiar."

"Yeah." Robin says, glancing at Jennifer before the two boys. "Come on, it's your turn to sling ice cream, my turn to translate. I don't even want credit. I'm just bored."

She reaches toward Steve with the ice cream scoop. He sighs and the bell in front dings atop the counter. Steve exchanges the recorder for the scoop as she smiles.

~~

With listening and trying to comprehend the Russian language and the stance in the tape, Robin paces back and forth listening intently as Jennifer holds the recorder. The catchy and familiar tune plays once again. She stops, pointing at the recorder.

"Wait, that last part, just one more time."

Jennifer nods and rewinds the tape as the sentence repeats.

"Okay, that word. Um.. That word which is pronounced as Dlt-nna-ya.. which is spelled..."

Robin sighs, taking a seat beside Jennifer and grabbing a pen.

"D... D, D, D..." Dustin says, rising and walking toward the whiteboard. "The-- The chair. The chair-looking thingy."

"Yeah, okay." She says, writing the Russian letter down.

Jennifer stands and rushes toward the window, sliding it open and seeing Steve, who holds two cones in his hand.

"We got our first sentence,"

"Oh really?"

"Yeah."

Robin saunters over as Steve leans against the counter. She speaks in a russian accent. "The week is long."

"Weel, that's thrilling."

"I know. But, progress."

Robin turns and walks the other direction as Steve stands straight and brings over the two cones to Max and El. She closes the window shut, going back to the table.

~~

Late that night, Steve and Jennifer as well as Robin and Dustin stand in front of the whiteboard, staring at the newly formed sentence written on it.

"The week is long, the silver cat feeds, when blue meets yellow in the west."

"Okay that's a little odd."

They exit as Robin grabs her belongings as Jennifer holds her keys in her hands, waiting behind for Steve who locks up the shop for the night. They begin walking through the mall together.

"I mean, it just... it can't be right."

"It's right."

"Honestly, I think it's great news." Dustin says.

"How is this great news?" Jennifer questions. "I mean, so much for being American heroes. It's total nonsense."

"It's not nonsense. It's too specific. It's obviously a code."

"What do you mean a code?"

"Like a super secret spy code."

"That's a total stretch."

"I don't know, is it?"

"You're buying into this?" Jennifer asks Robin.

"Listen, just for kicks, let's entertain the possibility that it is a secret Russian transmission. What's you think they were gonna say, 'Fire the warhead at noon'?"

"Exactly."

"And my translation is correct. I know that for sure, so... 'The silver cat feeds.' Why would anyone talk like that unless they're trying to mask the true meaning of their message."

"Exactly," Dustin says once again.

Behind them, Steve and Jennifer follow as they stay silent. She laced her fingers with his, standing closer to him as they walk.

"Why would anyone mask the true meaning of their message unless the message was somehow sensitive?"

"Exactly."

Steve makes a face, silently mocking the two.

"So I guess that confirms your suspicion."

"Evil Russians."

"I can't believe I'm about to agree with this strange child, but, yeah, totally evil Russians."

"So how do we crack it?" Jennifer asks.

"Well, I guess we translate the rest and hopefully a pattern emerges."

"A pattern. Right, like maybe 'silver cat' is a meeting place?"

"Or a person."

"Or a weapon."

"It's probably gonna take a super genius to crack it, but... Where's Steve and Jennifer?"

She looks back at the two as they stand in front of the horse ride as Steve frantically searches his pockets for change. Coins clatter on the floor as Robin calls out his name.

"What are you doing?"

"Uh, it's a quarter. I need-- Do you have a quarter?"

Robin and Dustin approach the couple, standing behind them.

"Sure you're tall enough for that ride?"

"Quarter!"

Jennifer grabs her wallet and opens it, pulling out a quarter as Steve grabs it. He slides it in the coin slot as the rise moves and the familiar tune plays out as she recognizes it. Steve knelt on the floor, brows furrowed.

"You need help getting up, little Stevie?"

Dustin chuckles as he shushes the two.

"Would you two just shut up and listen?"

Everyone stays quiet as the songs continues playing as Dustin's calm exspression turns into an estatic one.

"Holy shit," He says. "The music."

"Yeah, it sounds very familiar."

Dustin throws off his back before kneeling in front of it and unzips the bag, pulling the recorder out and playing the tape. A male speaks over the tape as the same song plays in the recording. Dustin cranes his neck, looking at Robin.

"I don't understand."

"It's the exact same song on the recording."

"Maybe they have horses like this in Russia.

" 'Indiana Flyer'? I don't... I don't think so. This code, it... didn't come from Russia. It came from here."

Jennifer, Robin and Dustin stare at the ride intently.

~~

Outside, Steve and Jennifer stand at her car as she leans against the vehicle. His hand rests gently against Jennifer's hip.

"Do you believe any of this shit?"

"No, but who knows. There could be evil russians under the mall, you never know."

"Jennifer,"

"Yeah?"

"Are you sure you're okay? Ever since Wilhelmina's death, you've been sluggish lately. I know the anniversary of her death is nearing a year, but I wanna make sure you're not gonna hang yourself tonight when you get home."

"Ste- Yes, I've been sluggish. And no, I wouldn't hang myself over something so.. so.."

"Jen, please just talk to someone about this. I'm worried about you."

"I will do that."

"Please, do."

Jennifer unlocks the car and begins to slide in when Steve stops her, pressing a delicate kiss to her lips. They pull away after a few seconds before she enters the vehicle and closes the door behind her. She puts the keys in the ignition, pulling out of the lot and driving down the road.

[kingdarkstalker]

hello, I'm glad to have seen this since I don't really participate in online fandoms of media I enjoy, so sometimes I just form one opinion about a thing and then it never gets challenged. I read the first arc in elementary school, I'm a teenager now, and I guess I just want to know if, in your opinion, it would be weird or like, idk, bad, to reread the books I own. I mean, it's been a comfort series for so long. and I've been super oblivious to the fact that I somehow interpreted everything way differently than it was written. like how I thought the dragonets dealing with their abuse differently was just showing different coping things, and didn't even notice that sunny was rewarded for her reaction and everyone else wasn't. I thought Coral was meant to be a villain, Webs was meant to be pathetic and an enabling bystander, Darkstalker was meant to be morally gray, and every single character was meant to be flawed and would continue to change and grow off screen after the books. it seems silly or maybe cognitive dissonance for me to have just somehow convinced myself that like, there was an implication that all of the "solutions" to the conflict were not perfect and required continuous work to keep slowly improving over time. like it's so obvious now that the things I imagined happening off screen were headcanons, yet somehow I conflated them with the canon and convinced myself that glory broke up with deathbringer, sunny finally realized that kestrel dune and webs didn't have some sort of reason to abuse them and some people are terrible and not worth her compassion, everyone stopped being mean to stonemover, and everyone dismantled the monarchies, and the hivewings, even though they weren't killed (except for wasp), were held accountable and forced to confront the fact that they actively benefited from the societal oppression of silkwings and genocide of leaf wings and did nothing about it. also I really thought that clearsight taught pantalans her language but also learned their language and both sides exchanged knowledge of cultures. so now that I've finally realized that the canon is nothing like how I interpreted it, I don't know how to feel about the concept of rereading them or finding comfort in them. I mean I know I can like something and critique it but this is more than plot holes and mistakes. it's racist propaganda and I can't believe I never noticed. it's weird because I feel like I never want to read them again, but also like I want to reread them more with sticky notes and highlighters and change it to be what I want it to be. I also don't know how I'm going to interact with my friends that are fans of wof now... I'm scared of confrontation but I definitely feel like I need to tell them about it.

there is one thing that I disagree with you about. to me it seems like you are saying that people need to treat darkstalker with more nuance rather than just big bad guy, which, yes, I honestly didn't realize some people even thought he was 100% bad? but then you say that clearsight was awful and stuff, but she was also a child, with what I interpret as an anxiety disorder. and her paranoia about darkstalker becoming a murderer hurt him, but she wasn't...choosing to be paranoid, right? i see people on here wishing her death and I just don't see how that's different from people wishing darkstalker to be turned into peacemaker. and lots of people hate on indigo but she was also just very paranoid and distrusting of anyone (especially animi, except fathom) because of her and fathom's PTSD. like, is that not also valid? like can't they all be morally gray and nuanced? idk if I misinterpreted what you and other askers were saying though. also I acknowledge that I might not even have that opinion if I didn't relate to clearsight for a lot of the legends book.

overall I'm just so baffled at how i managed to do the mental gymnastics to believe that so many problematic things just... didn't happen? or were retconned off screen?? like how did my brain even do that? it's like I was reading different books entirely.

howdy, happy to have been able to provide a different perspective!

no, not at all. despite the problems with it, reading wings of fire does not make you a terrible person, nor does enjoying the story or the characters that tui created. i dont think WOF is necessarily as harmful as it could be, but what concerns me about new readers is simply that they may not read past tui's very surface level (and often incorrect) commentary about things like abuse and bigotry. but that doesnt mean you cant still enjoy the world imagined and the potential it holds. reading things with mistakes--especially re-reading them--can help you recognize what patterns to look for while reading and/or avoid while writing, etc

like you said though, re-reading it with the awareness of tui's misguided or sometimes even malicious messages is unpleasant. especially thinking about the great potential of it all. if you feel like you have the energy, i do encourage going back and making notes on what you'd change! you've already reflected on the problems very carefully, everything you summarized was very similar to how i felt on first realization

i truly hope your friends are understanding and willing to take a second look at WOF from a critical lens. it always feels horrible having a comfort media sort of dissolve so you can see its ugly bones (trust me ive gone through it too), but whats important is what you learn from that media and, if necessary, separate yourself from it, while taking the things that were comforting and making them your own

re: clearsight, i definitely agree with your points, and admittedly i have been bias in my earlier posts about her. she definitely was struggling with overwhelming anxiety, and any young teen who can see every future is going to have a different way of coping about it. clearsight isnt awful for being paranoid or trying to control things her own way (turning herself into a religion is another thing), she's an awful character because her flaws are rewarded instead of properly explored. i feel like moonwatcher was a better example of a character struggling with that kind of mental state and how it affects their loved ones

cause like, with clearsight, the problem i have isnt even the actions she took that were harmful as a child. darkstalker did plenty of that himself, they both together were an opportunity of how the same kind of mental instability is delt with. problem is, clearsight is portrayed by tui sutherland as Correct The Entire Time. like, she was right to be paranoid. she was right to think darkstalker was evil. she was right to have zero faith in him, because she was right that it was inevitable. this could have been a very self-fulfilling prophecy type of arc where both characters were destructive to each other, but clearsight is literally rewarded for her lifelong anxiety by essentially becoming a prophetic diety, and getting an exotic husband to have her dream kids with. this was the way tui sutherland wrote clearsight on purpose--to be a supposed underdog, to be the "good" mentally ill child (shes certainly not an abuse survivor like darkstalker, she has a healthy home life and support system) and she never acts out in the way darkstalker does, she in fact is portrayed as an underdog-turned-goddess. which would make for a great villain, but tui seems to write clearsight as a relatable and admirable figure, while reserving her narrative punishment for the problem children like darkstalker

TL;DR i dont think clearsight herself was awful as a child, just that she made awful decisions and is written awfully with an awful message lol

indigo i have less to say about because you're right, shes essentially just extremely traumatized for all the right reasons. i do think that the way tui justifies her fear and hatred towards animus magic (and therefore, an intrinsic part of who fathom is) as an ableist "theres only a matter of time before they snap" kind of implication that contributes to tui's weird "mentally unstable people are dangerous and will kill you" take. even if turtle later disproves this, indigo never grows past "all animus are evil and fathom must never do magic ever or hell be a monster" which i guess just doesnt feel fair to fathom

try not to feel so down on yourself though for not immediately recognizing all these problems, especially if you're young. we're all constantly learning new things, and not being aware of something doesnt mean you dont care about it. its never too late to go back and re-evaluate anything that you consume or create, with the new things that you've come to learn since then!

[guzhuangheaven]

Guzhuang Appreciation Month: badass dialogues

(but in the novel)

legend of ruyi :: ep 5 // ep 78

This drama is so amazing, demonstrated by these two scenes. Here you have Ruyi and Hongli watching the same play at two different stages in their lives. In episode 5, they are still clearly in love and are happy watching the play together, leaning lovingly against each other and moving in unison as one. They are also being watched fondly by Aruo, who has yet to have ideas of betraying Ruyi. Many years later, in episode 78, we have Ruyi and Hongli watching the same play, but they are physically far apart and their emotional distance from each other is also clear on their faces. They are literally being divided by the presence of Ling Yunche standing between them.

I find the parallel between the closeups of Aruo and Ling Yunche the most heartbreaking, because Aruo, despite how happy she looks for them in ep 5, would eventually try to break Ruyi and Hongli apart. And yet for all her efforts, she never succeeds because Hongli never actually believes her. On the other hand, Ling Yunche never tries to get in between Ruyi and Hongli, but just the mere presence of him is enough for Hongli to drive a wedge between himself and Ruyi. The presence of Aruo and Ling Yunche in this scene drives home the stark contrast in how the relationship has deteriorated between Ruyi and Hongli, and how Hongli went from trusting Ruyi despite all evidence against her to believing the worst of her despite no real evidence. 

What is even more heartbreaking is the play they are watching. It’s not made very clear in the drama, but the plot of the play has great significance in the novel. The play they are watching is called 墙头马上 / Over the Wall and Atop a Horse. The play is based on the poem 井底引银瓶 Silver Vase at the Bottom of the Well by Bai Juyi.

The poem by Bai Juyi, writes of a broken relationship/friendship where two people once lived happily in harmony, then one person wronged the other, causing the other person to leave and never come back; the relationship is thus severed. 

When the poem was adapted into the play 墙头马上 / Over the Wall and Atop a Horse, the play tells the story of Pei Shaojun falling in love at first sight with Li Qianjin when she was standing by a wall and he was on a horse riding by her house. The two then eloped, and lived together for seven years, having two children together, before they were discovered by Pei Shaojun’s father. Upon the discovery, Li Qianjin was condemned for getting into a clandestine relationship and Pei Shaojun caved to parental pressure and divorced her. She went back to her hometown. Many years later, after having achieved political success, Pei Shaojun went looking for Li Qianjin again, and just happened to discover that the two of them were actually engaged as children. In the play, they then reunited, got remarried and lived happily ever after.

There is however a plot point in the Ruyi novel, where Qingying does not like the ending of the play, feeling that the happy ending was forced. In the novel, Hongli and Qingying only know each other in passing at first. Then on the day that Hongli chooses his wives, Qingying is made to attend by her aunt. Before the selection ceremony, everyone is invited to watch a play, and Hongli chooses Over the Wall and Atop a Horse. Qingying, because she dislikes the happy ending, asks the theatre troupe to change the ending of the play so that in the end, Li Qianjin does not actually get back together with Pei Shaojun but stays firm in her resolve to end the relationship between them. After the play ends, Qingying leaves before the selection, but Hongli becomes intrigued by her changed ending and chases after her. This conversation below ensues, in which you can see clearly how Qingying’s belief on the matter stayed constant with her through the years. In fact, she practically predicts her own fate later with her changed ending.

~*~

Qingying stepped lightly ahead, her gown fluttering in the breeze like a white butterfly in flight. Aruo’s face was robbed of all colour and she was crying in despair. “Gege, what is wrong with you? Everything was well, why did you change the ending of the play? If Huang Hou Niang Niang hears about it, what will you do?”

Qingying shrugged. “At most, Aunt will just scold me a little. I just don’t like that ending. Today, I finally got to see how it should be played out. I’m so happy!”

“Gege might be happy,” Aruo said miserably, “but today is the consort selection. If Gege you are not chosen, then what would we do?”

Qingying’s aunt had already intended her to be the Third Prince’s bride, and now that was not successful, she should be pushed to the Fourth Prince instead? If they needed this one forced marriage to prolong their family’s glory, would that mean all women of the Ulanara clan were little better than slaves? It would be better this way. Regardless of whether she succeeded at being chosen to be a prince’s consort or not, she got to see things done her way, for once.  

She only managed a few steps more when suddenly a voice called behind her. “Qingying Meimei!”

No one had ever called her that before. Everyone in the palace simply called her “Qingying Gege”. Curious, she turned her head to find that Hongli was chasing after her.

Thinking that he must wish to reprimand her, Qingying made herself as small as possible.

Hongli only laughed. “I chased after you to comfort you. Xiyue Gege was rude in speech, I feared that you would be offended.”

“Offended? About what?” Qingying asked in a low voice. “Fourth Prince, do you mean to mention the fact that I was rejected by the Third Prince?”

Hongli nodded, frowning. “I only fear such talk will destroy your reputation.”

Qingying laughed, all her teeth showing, against all rules of decorum, which seemed to astonish Hongli.

“I don’t care!” she declared. “There are many things that women can’t necessarily decide for themselves, such as marriage, or family. But at least, I can decide whether to mind those mocking talks, whether to care about them and let them hurt me.”

Hongli looked sad for a moment, whispering, “Your family…” But then he trailed off. Then, with a humourless smile, he said, “Over the Wall and Atop a Horse is the play I chose myself, why did you not like the ending and asked them to change it? I pick a plum blossom, lean against the wall. / You ride off among the bending poplars*. Is that not a lovely image?”

“Yes, it is very nice, it’s just…” Qingying thought a moment then said, “Over the wall and atop a horse we gaze at each other. / I know you, too, must be heartbroken*. From this beginning, the play is full of conflicts, ups and downs, all very compelling, yet in the end, there is a forced happy ending, everyone is forced to be happy, I really don’t like it at all.”

[* excerpts from the poem by Bai Juyi]

Hongli looked displeased, asking, “To be able to mend a broken mirror, husband and wife reunited and at peace again, is that not good?”

“When Li Qianjin was being insulted by Pei Shaojun’s parents, he did not protect her. He watched her leave in humiliation and did not stop her, as if all the love and years they shared did not matter. Such a heartless and weak man who dares not protect his woman, why would Li Qianjin want to get back together with him?”

Her voice was soft, but also full of conviction. Even though it went against Hongli’s beliefs, he wanted to keep her talking.

“To be reunited and together in harmony is the wishes of all families on earth. If Pei Shaojun is willing to start over, why would Li Qianjin not forgive him?”

“Why must a woman always forgive a man for his failings? Wouldn’t that teach the man that it doesn’t matter what hurt he causes? I don’t care, if he hurt her, she shouldn’t forgive him.”

“Women must be soft and gentle, and give into her husband. If she sacrifices a little, bears a little hurt feeling, they can be reunited, isn’t that happiness?”

“If she must be hurt, must sacrifice herself for this forced reunion, then it is already not a good marriage,” Qingying said stubbornly. “In my eyes, Li Qianjin is a woman who is willing to walk away, to severe the relationship, because all trust is gone.”

“If she walks away, wouldn’t that mean she spends the rest of her life alone? Everyone has their own difficult moments, if Li Qianjin is so stubborn, Pei Shaojun is put in a difficult position too.”

“Who isn’t in a difficult position?” Qingying asked. “If the woman can understand the man’s difficulties, can a man not understand a woman’s pain of being cast aside and humiliated?”

Hongli thought for a moment then laughed. “Qingying Meimei, you are much too unbending.”

Qingying merely nodded. “It’s better to live the rest of your life alone, rather than live to old age with someone who already betrayed you once. So it might be harmonious today, but if a conflict arises, what is to say Pei Shaojun will not just forsake Li Qianjin again? It is easy to change mountains**, that is the principle here.”

[** there is a Chinese saying that it is easier to change the course of rivers and shapes of mountains than to change the character of a person… aka old habits die hard but with more stakes.]

Hongli still did not agree with her logic. “Women should place obedience before all and be pliable. If she does not restrain herself and be more accepting for the greater good, then she would just suffer.”

“If one must accept being humiliated for a so-called happy ending, then I don’t want that kind of happy ending,” Qingying repeated.

“Then is Over the wall and atop a horse we gaze at each other so easily forgotten?” Hongli asked, astonished.

Qingyin turned and stared at Hongli. “If it is not easily forgotten, then why didn’t Pei Shaojun protect Li Qianjin? Hasn’t he too forgotten how they once loved each other when he cast her aside?”

Hongli could not argue against her, and finally admitted defeat. “Meimei, you really are something, I don’t know what else to say.”

Qingying laughed in delight.

“Meimei,” Hongli said, stepping closer to her, “you argued so animatedly, you must love Over the Wall and Atop a Horse. Why don’t we go back and hear the play again?”

Qingying hesitated, thinking that it would be a great loss of face if she were to return now. But Hongli was looking at her so earnestly, she found it hard to immediately refuse.

“I’ll go back first, and prepare good tea to wait for you.”

He said ‘wait’, as if he would not move the day along if she did not come. Her heart softened, and she suddenly stopped in her path.

…

[And then of course Qingying comes back to attend the selection. Hongli, who had originally intended to choose Langhua, changes his mind and chose Qingying to be his di fujin, but then Yongzheng interfered and put a stop to it… But the play is one massive foreshadowing plot device that doesn’t get explained much in the drama, but packs a punch when you read this scene.] -h

[meara-eldestofthemall]

So in your opinion, why is it that Frank Miller’s the Dark Knight Returns gets more attention as the one book that ‘that gets Batman back to his traditional gothic roots and makes him the mature man’s superhero’ instead of the Dennis O’Neil, Neal Adams and Steve Englehart runs of the 70s?

Examples from the latter era include but are not limited to ‘The Laughing Fish’, the reintroduction of Two Face, the debut of ManBat and so many other elements that should be familiar to the casual Batfan.

Thank you for the fascinating ask!

Frank Miller and The Dark Knight Returns is something of a sore point for me. It's everything I loathe about comics - dark, angsty and depressing. While some fans consider it a seminal work, I honestly find the series highly over-rated. Frank Miller had begun to believe his own press by this point and it shows. Authors who do that can become lazy, as evidenced by Miller's sloppy and predictable storytelling throughout.

Set in the overused cliché of a dreadful dystopian future we see that Bruce is old and retired. He's also estranged from Dick (no surprise there).

Frank Miller writes Bruce as an old man driven solely by "The Mission." When Bruce puts on the cape and cowl again, he's not a character I recognize. In fact he comes off more like a sad man reliving his high school football glory days than Dark Knight of Gotham. He's a parody, a shell of a character that's painful to read.

For me the only saving grace in the series is Carrie Kelly as Robin...

…and the fact that even though Alfred appears to be about 105 years old, he hasn't lot his snark.

I've never been a fan of Frank Miller's art style. It does Bruce no favors in my opinion. He's big and bulky, giving the impression of a tank in tights and a cape.

You're very right that people don't give the 70s team of Dennis O’Neil and Neal Adams nearly enough credit. They saved Batman from the damage the 1966 TV series did to the character. They worked to elevate him from a completely campy laughing stock he'd become and laid the ground work to remold him into the Dark Knight we know today.

Let's talk about one of my favorite comic books, Batman #232 (June 1971), "Daughter of the Demon."

Written by Julius Schwartz and Denny O'Neil with art by Neal Adams, this was the first appearance of Ra's al Ghul. It was also the very first comic book I ever purchased (at the tender age of 13), so it has a special place in my heart.

We all know the story, so I won't reiterate it here yet again. The part people should pay attention is towards the end of the issue. We see Batman being a little more chatty that he is today. It's a nice transition from Adam West's campy Batman to something more cerebral.

Best of all, Batman is a Detective again. He follows the clues and put it all together seamlessly.

Denny O'Neil, Steve Englehart along with Neal Adams did some of their best work in the 70s. They were responsible for plot points and ideas Batman fans take for granted today, like the Lazarus Pit (in Batman #243).

Modern fandom doesn't give them nearly enough credit for taking Batman out of the kitschy 60s and reshaping him into a character that has grown to become DC's most popular and profitable intellectual property. They even managed to do that while poking fun at Marvel every now and then.

So yes, I will happily take a 70s comic done by these immortals over Frank Miller's ponderous "The Dark Knight Returns" any day of the week and twice on Sunday!

[bluetnabeat]

Yet Another Dolorous Dream

➪ Ship: HiyoEi/EiHiyo

➪ Tags: Unrequited Love, OOC?, Jealousy?, Eichi Tenshouin, Hiyori Tomoe, Ex-Fine

➪ CW: Very bad jokes/puns???

➪ Playlist:

➪ Word count: 2018

➪ A/N: I hope you guys enjoy, I had fun writing this and thinking abt the plot. I also didn't add any Good/Bad Hiyoris~★ because I'm not sure when to add them, so I'm sorry about that… Also sorry if the pacing sucks lmk your thoughts 🫠

—

“Yumenosaki Private Academy, a school where your dreams will come true… That's what they say at least. As you walk down these filthy, polluted halls, no one would believe that this school was once a prestigious school wherein you train to be your best self in the performing arts world. At the very least, it's not the school I had familiarised myself with, the once glimmering stage of Yumenosaki has turned into nothing but your average high school. Say, Hiyori Tomoe… Would you like to embark on the quest of redeeming the glory of this school?”

With sparkling eyes and a solemn smile, Eichi looked at Hiyori endearingly. In that moment that's when he understood, no matter how many times he denied it, he had fallen for the man who sat before him. Hiyori let out a light chuckle at his enlightenment, which confused the blonde. He faced Eichi affectionately and replied,

“Oh, Eichi-kun… I'll walk with you down whatever path you take.”

If only he understood then what Hiyori meant at that time. All that was in his mind was his goal being complete—having basically the strongest idol unit in Yumenosaki to take over the school. Knowing at least two of these people are willing to walk by his side for as long as he needed was reassuring to him. Hiyori signed the contract without even reading what was on it, for his love for Eichi was his drive; his reason to agree to whatever nonsensical objectives Eichi would give him.

—

For months on end, they trained together and participated in the idol competition called Dream Festivals otherwise known as DreamFes, and quickly climbed the ranks. Though from the perspective of outsiders they all seemed to be close, but truthfully they were more disconnected than the world without technology, for Tsumugi barely holds them together through whatever means necessary.

Eichi, on the other hand began to become even more deeply infatuated with a fellow whose name is Wataru Hibiki. As Eichi explored his feelings for the boy, Hiyori felt a tension rising between Eichi and himself. He hated himself for not making it more obvious to the man that he was slowly ripping himself apart for him whenever Eichi talked to him about Wataru. Every night and every day, he would curse himself for not showing himself off for Eichi to see and notice and curse Wataru for being the one Eichi truly adores. Soon Hiyori no longer felt like he could chase Eichi, the friendship he had with him, seemed like it was only a dolorous dream which was out of reach. He began to find ways and means to distract himself from the surge of negativity inside of him for one thing he feared more than Eichi hating him, was him being fully aware of his own self-hatred. It was unbecoming of him to start entertaining his female fans, leaving the two, Tsumugi and Eichi, baffled at his change of character. He never planned on hurting any of the girls by entertaining them of course, he only wanted something to distract him, distract him from his thoughts of Eichi, the only person he loved that wasn't himself.

Not only did he change in the way he acts, he also began to straight up ignore Eichi and only responds when money is offered to him. Eichi's confusion only led to more questions to ask Hiyori when he somehow managed to cross paths with him again. Then it happened, a week before their final dreamfes, there sat the two of them in the library yet again just as they did on the day Hiyori realised how deeply in love he was with Eichi.

“The other day somebody told me, the only vegetable that could make you cry are onions, so I threw a coconut at him.”

He grinned, thinking he kicked off their conversation remarkably. Hiyori heaved a disappointed sigh.

“You've gotten worse at those jokes of yours, your delivery made it sound like you were serious as well”

“Was I not egg-cellent enough to crack you up?”

“Please, stop with the puns.”

Hiyori sniggled at how Eichi was posing. A child-like gleeful smile, his hands behind his back as he slightly leaned to the left towards the window.

“In all seriousness, what do you think you've been doing?”

Eichi asks, his composure changing as he sat down. From the playful child he was, he turned disappointed and stern.

“Hm? Did I do something wrong?”

“You changed. That's what you did.”

“Changed? How so? I'm still the same Hiyori as I was back then.”

Truth be told, he didn't realise his own change, his emotions and heart buried the love he once had for Eichi. His seemingly blatant response didn't satisfy Eichi's hunger for the reason behind his sudden transformation in demeanor.

“No you're not, you weren't like this when I first got to know you. People also don't evolve in their mannerisms and actions this quickly, unless there was something that motivated them to. That's how I understand it at least.”

“I really don't know what you're talking about, Eichi-kun. If you have nothing else to ask me then may I leave now?”

“That's one thing that has changed. You've never lost interest in whatever I say, nor do you want to leave ever so quickly.”

“You don't need anything from me though, so I see no point in staying anymore.”

Hiyori immediately stood up from his chair and walked towards the door, just as swiftly as he began to walk away, Eichi stood up and pulled on his wrist.

“Hiyori-kun… Please, I am just utterly confused with your behaviour and I want to understand you, just as how you once understood me.”

Eichi kept a tight grip onto his wrist, but Hiyori didn't hear whatever Eichi said after he called his name. The memories he had and emotions he felt that were suppressed deep down in his heart rose up once again, the anguish, heartache, all his pain and his love for Eichi. His heart couldn't bear to hide his feelings anymore, his watering eyes met Eichi's for a brief moment but he quickly turned away and yanked his arm out of Eichi's grip and ran out as the tears began to stream down his cheeks leaving Eichi standing there shocked once more.

In the hallway as he ran, he crashed into another person. Sprawled on the ground Hiyori's lavender eyes kept shedding tears no matter how hard he tried to hold it in.

“Hiyori-kun? Are you alright?”

Tsumugi offered his hand to Hiyori to assist him in standing up but was completely ignored.

“I am a fool, a ridiculous fool, I am to blame for how stupid I had become…”

He muttered to himself over and over until Tsumugi grabbed his face by the cheeks and made him look at him for a second, then quickly released his grip, shocked from his own impulsive decision.

“I'm so sorry Hiyori-kun. I didn't mean to grab you like that, I swear.”

“It's alright Tsuum-Tsuum, I was in need of that…”

Tsumugi offers his hand out to Hiyori once again, who took it then wiped his tears with his handkerchief.

“Thanks for helping me come to my senses, there's something I have to take care of… I'll be going now, goodbye Tsumugi-kun!”

Perplexed, Tsumugi watched as Hiyori shakily ran out of the building.

Once Hiyori arrived home, he searched for his box of treasures in which he kept some photos he took with and of Eichi during the times they had spent together early in the creation of Fine. He couldn't help but express tenderness as he shuffled through the photos, reminiscing everything that happened during those days. After he had finished looking through the photos, he returned them to where he usually had them, hung up on his wall with his fairy lights, as he looked up at the photos in satisfaction Eichi's words from the hour prior entered his train of thought.

‘Just how much have I changed to become the ignorant clot I was?’

He asked himself as he looked through his phone, seeing it flooded with some messages from fans and many pictures with said fans. He felt really stupid. He knew Eichi didn't love him the way he loves Eichi, but he also loved seeing Eichi happy. Hiyori understood his selfish actions as something that brought concern to Eichi, therefore it wasn't something that made Eichi happy.

“Why must you be so stupid, Hiyori?”

He knew that scolding himself wouldn't help him but he still did it anyway. He curled up under his covers and let the tears he managed to hold in be cried out both for his anger towards himself and him finally coming to terms with the fact Eichi will never see him the same way.

—

A week later, Hiyori found himself standing on the stage with the rest of Fine as winners, the students chanting their names as they left the stage with their awards. Both he and Nagisa quickly went to the changing rooms together, but he couldn't find his phone so he went back to the standby area, but before he waltzed in, he heard Tsumugi and Eichi in the middle of a conversation.

“Well, I guess that's it for all of you. You're all free from me now.”

“Eichi-kun, we're bound to you by a contract but it doesn't mean we can't remain friends afterwards.”

“Would you like to remain friends with me? I only used you all to reach the top, to make a stand. Why would you want to stay with me?”

“So you never considered us friends?”

Tsumugi's heartbroken voice puzzled Eichi as he wasn't used to being called someone's friend, but from behind the curtain stood Hiyori, who once again was brought to tears finding out Eichi never saw any of them the same way Tsumugi sees him, and furthermore confirms that he will never see Hiyori in the same light. He quietly sobbed, walking back to the changing room and sat by the door, hanging his head between his knees, for the small hope that Eichi at least saw him as a friend had been smashed into pieces.

—

After a few years, Eichi built Ensemble Square and invited everyone from his generation of idols and afterwards to live a life with no bounds as an idol.

One day while walking around ES he sees Hiyori sitting down on a bench alone, his usual companion, Jun Sazanami, was nowhere to be seen.

“Do you mind if I sat here for a moment, Hiyori-kun?”

“Not at all, come sit.”

Hiyori pats the empty space next to him, gesturing to Eichi to sit beside him, which Eichi did.

“How's life been as the Executive and Representative of StarPro?”

“Really busy as always, though I had some time for a break today so I decided to go on a stroll.”

An awkward silence filled the air, Hiyori took a deep breath deciding it was finally time to confess.

“Eichi-kun, I have loved you since some time during our first year in high school. I really don't know when it started, but I haven't stopped loving you since it did. Yet, I don't think you'll fully understand what I mean because of how I believe you see the world.”

He looked at Eichi who was taken aback and confused with what he had just said.

“So I humbly confess to you today, that until the day I stop loving you in both platonic and romantic ways, I'm always by your side no matter near or far you may be from me.”

“Ohii-san! Goddamn. I've been searching for you for the past hour, you were here all along.”

A loud call made from Jun was made in the distance. Hiyori jumped off the bench and smiled at Eichi

“I'm off now, I'll see you around, Eichi-kun!”

He runs off to Jun and follows him back into the building as Eichi remains on the bench pondering about everything that had just been told to him by Hiyori.

[blind-rats]

The Rise & Fall of Joss Whedon; the Myth of the Hollywood Feminist Hero

By Kelly Faircloth

“I hate ‘feminist.’ Is this a good time to bring that up?” Joss Whedon asked. He paused knowingly, waiting for the laughs he knew would come at the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer making such a statement.

It was 2013, and Whedon was onstage at a fundraiser for Equality Now, a human rights organization dedicated to legal equality for women. Though Buffy had been off the air for more than a decade, its legacy still loomed large; Whedon was widely respected as a man with a predilection for making science fiction with strong women for protagonists. Whedon went on to outline why, precisely, he hated the term: “You can’t be born an ‘ist,’” he argued, therefore, “‘feminist’ includes the idea that believing men and women to be equal, believing all people to be people, is not a natural state, that we don’t emerge assuming that everybody in the human race is a human, that the idea of equality is just an idea that’s imposed on us.”

The speech was widely praised and helped cement his pop-cultural reputation as a feminist, in an era that was very keen on celebrity feminists. But it was also, in retrospect, perhaps the high water mark for Whedon’s ability to claim the title, and now, almost a decade later, that reputation is finally in tatters, prompting a reevaluation of not just Whedon’s work, but the narrative he sold about himself. 

In July 2020, actor Ray Fisher accused Whedon of being “gross, abusive, unprofessional, and completely unacceptable” on the Justice League set when Whedon took over for Zach Synder as director to finish the project. Charisma Carpenter then described her own experiences with Whedon in a long post to Twitter, hashtagged #IStandWithRayFisher.

On Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, Carpenter played Cordelia, a popular character who morphed from snob to hero—one of those strong female characters that made Whedon’s feminist reputation—before being unceremoniously written off the show in a plot that saw her thrust into a coma after getting pregnant with a demon. For years, fans have suspected that her disappearance was related to her real-life pregnancy. In her statement, Carpenter appeared to confirm the rumors. “Joss Whedon abused his power on numerous occasions while working on the sets of ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ and ‘Angel,’” she wrote, describing Fisher’s firing as the last straw that inspired her to go public.

Buffy was a landmark of late 1990s popular culture, beloved by many a burgeoning feminist, grad student, gender studies professor, and television critic for the heroine at the heart of the show, the beautiful blonde girl who balanced monster-killing with high school homework alongside ancillary characters like the shy, geeky Willow. Buffy was very nearly one of a kind, an icon of her era who spawned a generation of leather-pants-wearing urban fantasy badasses and women action heroes.

Buffy was so beloved, in fact, that she earned Whedon a similarly privileged place in fans’ hearts and a broader reputation as a man who championed empowered women characters. In the desert of late ’90s and early 2000s popular culture, Whedon was heralded as that rarest of birds—the feminist Hollywood man. For many, he was an example of what more equitable storytelling might look like, a model for how to create compelling women protagonists who were also very, very fun to watch. But Carpenter’s accusations appear to have finally imploded that particular bit of branding, revealing a different reality behind the scenes and prompting a reevaluation of the entire arc of Whedon’s career: who he was and what he was selling all along.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer premiered March 1997, midseason, on The WB, a two-year-old network targeting teens with shows like 7th Heaven. Its beginnings were not necessarily auspicious; it was a reboot of a not-particularly-blockbuster 1992 movie written by third-generation screenwriter Joss Whedon. (His grandfather wrote for The Donna Reed Show; his father wrote for Golden Girls.) The show followed the trials of a stereotypical teenage California girl who moved to a new town and a new school after her parents’ divorce—only, in a deliberate inversion of horror tropes, the entire town sat on top of the entrance to Hell and hence was overrun with demons. Buffy was a slayer, a young woman with the power and immense responsibility to fight them. After the movie turned out very differently than Whedon had originally envisioned, the show was a chance for a do-over, more of a Valley girl comedy than serious horror.

It was layered, it was campy, it was ironic and self-aware. It looked like it belonged on the WB rather than one of the bigger broadcast networks, unlike the slickly produced prestige TV that would follow a few years later. Buffy didn’t fixate on the gory glory of killing vampires—really, the monsters were metaphors for the entire experience of adolescence, in all its complicated misery. Almost immediately, a broad cross-section of viewers responded enthusiastically. Critics loved it, and it would be hugely influential on Whedon’s colleagues in television; many argue that it broke ground in terms of what you could do with a television show in terms of serialized storytelling, setting the stage for the modern TV era. Academics took it up, with the show attracting a tremendous amount of attention and discussion.

In 2002, the New York Times covered the first academic conference dedicated to the show. The organizer called Buffy “a tremendously rich text,” hence the flood of papers with titles like “Pain as Bright as Steel: The Monomyth and Light in ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer,’” which only gathered speed as the years passed. And while it was never the highest-rated show on television, it attracted an ardent core of fans.

But what stood out the most was the show’s protagonist: a young woman who stereotypically would have been a monster movie victim, with the script flipped: instead of screaming and swooning, she staked the vampires. This was deliberate, the core conceit of the concept, as Whedon said in many, many interviews. The helpless horror movie girl killed in the dark alley instead walks out victorious. He told Time in 1997 that the concept was born from the thought, “I would love to see a movie in which a blond wanders into a dark alley, takes care of herself and deploys her powers.” In Whedon’s framing, it was particularly important that it was a woman who walked out of that alley. He told another publication in 2002 that “the very first mission statement of the show” was “the joy of female power: having it, using it, sharing it.”

In 2021, when seemingly every new streaming property with a woman as its central character makes some half-baked claim to feminism, it’s easy to forget just how much Buffy stood out among its against its contemporaries. Action movies—with exceptions like Alien’s Ripley and Terminator 2's Sarah Conner—were ruled by hulking tough guys with macho swagger. When women appeared on screen opposite vampires, their primary job was to expose long, lovely, vulnerable necks. Stories and characters that bucked these larger currents inspired intense devotion, from Angela Chase of My So-Called Life to Dana Scully of The X-Files.

The broader landscape, too, was dismal. It was the conflicted era of girl power, a concept that sprang up in the wake of the successes of the second-wave feminist movement and the backlash that followed. Young women were constantly exposed to you-can-do-it messaging that juxtaposed uneasily with the reality of the world around them. This was the era of shitty, sexist jokes about every woman who came into Bill Clinton’s orbit and the leering response to the arrival of Britney Spears; Rush Limbaugh was a fairly mainstream figure.

At one point, Buffy competed against Ally McBeal, a show that dedicated an entire episode to a dancing computer-generated baby following around its lawyer main character, her biological clock made zanily literal. Consider this line from a New York Times review of the Buffy’s 1997 premiere: “Given to hot pants and boots that should guarantee the close attention of Humbert Humberts all over America, Buffy is just your average teen-ager, poutily obsessed with clothes and boys.”

Against that background, Buffy was a landmark. Besides the simple fact of its woman protagonist, there were unique plots, like the coming-out story for her friend Willow. An ambivalent 1999 piece in Bitch magazine, even as it explored the show’s tank-top heavy marketing, ultimately concluded, “In the end, it’s precisely this contextual conflict that sets Buffy apart from the rest and makes her an appealing icon. Frustrating as her contradictions may be, annoying as her babe quotient may be, Buffy still offers up a prime-time heroine like no other.”

A 2016 Atlantic piece, adapted from a book excerpt, makes the case that Buffy is perhaps best understood as an icon of third-wave feminism: “In its examination of individual and collective empowerment, its ambiguous politics of racial representation and its willing embrace of contradiction, Buffy is a quintessentially third-wave cultural production.” The show was vested with all the era’s longing for something better than what was available, something different, a champion for a conflicted “post-feminist” era—even if she was an imperfect or somewhat incongruous vessel. It wasn’t just Sunnydale that needed a chosen Slayer, it was an entire generation of women. That fact became intricately intertwined with Whedon himself.

Seemingly every interview involved a discussion of his fondness for stories about strong women. “I’ve always found strong women interesting, because they are not overly represented in the cinema,” he told New York for a 1997 piece that notes he studied both film and “gender and feminist issues” at Wesleyan; “I seem to be the guy for strong action women,’’ he told the New York Times in 1997 with an aw-shucks sort of shrug. ‘’A lot of writers are just terrible when it comes to writing female characters. They forget that they are people.’’ He often cited the influence of his strong, “hardcore feminist” mother, and even suggested that his protagonists served feminist ends in and of themselves: “If I can make teenage boys comfortable with a girl who takes charge of a situation without their knowing that’s what’s happening, it’s better than sitting down and selling them on feminism,” he told Time in 1997.

When he was honored by the organization Equality Now in 2006 for his “outstanding contribution to equality in film and television,” Whedon made his speech an extended riff on the fact that people just kept asking him about it, concluding with the ultimate answer: “Because you’re still asking me that question.” He presented strong women as a simple no-brainer, and he was seemingly always happy to say so, at a time when the entertainment business still seemed ruled by unapologetic misogynists. The internet of the mid-2010s only intensified Whedon’s anointment as a prototypical Hollywood ally, with reporters asking him things like how men could best support the feminist movement. 

Whedon’s response: “A guy who goes around saying ‘I’m a feminist’ usually has an agenda that is not feminist. A guy who behaves like one, who actually becomes involved in the movement, generally speaking, you can trust that. And it doesn’t just apply to the action that is activist. It applies to the way they treat the women they work with and they live with and they see on the street.” This remark takes on a great deal of irony in light of Carpenter’s statement.

In recent years, Whedon’s reputation as an ally began to wane. Partly, it was because of the work itself, which revealed more and more cracks as Buffy receded in the rearview mirror. Maybe it all started to sour with Dollhouse, a TV show that imagined Eliza Dushku as a young woman rented out to the rich and powerful, her mind wiped after every assignment, a concept that sat poorly with fans. (Though Whedon, while he was publicly unhappy with how the show had turned out after much push-and-pull with the corporate bosses at Fox, still argued the conceit was “the most pure feminist and empowering statement I’d ever made—somebody building themselves from nothing,” in a 2012 interview with Wired.)

After years of loud disappointment with the TV bosses at Fox on Firefly and Dollhouse, Whedon moved into big-budget Hollywood blockbusters. He helped birth the Marvel-dominated era of movies with his work as director of The Avengers. But his second Avengers movie, Age of Ultron, was heavily criticized for a moment in which Black Widow laid out her personal reproductive history for the Hulk, suggesting her sterilization somehow made her a “monster.” In June 2017, his un-filmed script for a Wonder Woman adaptation leaked, to widespread mockery. The script’s introduction of Diana was almost leering: “To say she is beautiful is almost to miss the point. She is elemental, as natural and wild as the luminous flora surrounding. Her dark hair waterfalls to her shoulders in soft arcs and curls. Her body is curvaceous, but taut as a drawn bow.”

But Whedon’s real fall from grace began in 2017, right before MeToo spurred a cultural reckoning. His ex-wife, Kai Cole, published a piece in The Wrap accusing him of cheating off and on throughout their relationship and calling him a hypocrite:

“Despite understanding, on some level, that what he was doing was wrong, he never conceded the hypocrisy of being out in the world preaching feminist ideals, while at the same time, taking away my right to make choices for my life and my body based on the truth. He deceived me for 15 years, so he could have everything he wanted. I believed, everyone believed, that he was one of the good guys, committed to fighting for women’s rights, committed to our marriage, and to the women he worked with. But I now see how he used his relationship with me as a shield, both during and after our marriage, so no one would question his relationships with other women or scrutinize his writing as anything other than feminist.”

But his reputation was just too strong; the accusation that he didn’t practice what he preached didn’t quite stick. A spokesperson for Whedon told the Wrap: “While this account includes inaccuracies and misrepresentations which can be harmful to their family, Joss is not commenting, out of concern for his children and out of respect for his ex-wife. Many minimized the essay on the basis that adultery doesn’t necessarily make you a bad feminist or erase a legacy. Whedon similarly seemed to shrug off Ray Fisher’s accusations of creating a toxic workplace; instead, Warner Media fired Fisher.

But Carpenter’s statement—which struck right at the heart of his Buffy-based legacy for progressivism—may finally change things. Even at the time, the plotline in which Charisma Carpenter was written off Angel—carrying a demon child that turned her into “Evil Cordelia,” ending the season in a coma, and quite simply never reappearing—was unpopular. Asked about what had happened in a 2009 panel at DragonCon, she said that “my relationship with Joss became strained,” continuing: “We all go through our stuff in general [behind the scenes], and I was going through my stuff, and then I became pregnant. And I guess in his mind, he had a different way of seeing the season go… in the fourth season.”

“I think Joss was, honestly, mad. I think he was mad at me and I say that in a loving way, which is—it’s a very complicated dynamic working for somebody for so many years, and expectations, and also being on a show for eight years, you gotta live your life. And sometimes living your life gets in the way of maybe the creator’s vision for the future. And that becomes conflict, and that was my experience.”

In her statement on Twitter, Carpenter alleged that after Whedon was informed of her pregnancy, he called her into a closed-door meeting and “asked me if I was ‘going to keep it,’ and manipulatively weaponized my womanhood and faith against me.” She added that “he proceeded to attack my character, mock my religious beliefs, accuse me of sabotaging the show, and then unceremoniously fired me following the season once I gave birth.” Carpenter said that he called her fat while she was four months pregnant and scheduled her to work at 1 a.m. while six months pregnant after her doctor had recommended shortening her hours, a move she describes as retaliatory. What Carpenter describes, in other words, is an absolutely textbook case of pregnancy discrimination in the workplace, the type of bullshit the feminist movement exists to fight—at the hands of the man who was for years lauded as a Hollywood feminist for his work on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel.

Many of Carpenter’s colleagues from Buffy and Angel spoke out in support, including Buffy herself, Sarah Michelle Gellar. “While I am proud to have my name associated with Buffy Summers, I don’t want to be forever associated with the name Joss Whedon,” she said in a statement. Just shy of a decade after that 2013 speech, many of the cast members on the show that put him on that stage are cutting ties.

Whedon garnered a reputation as pop culture’s ultimate feminist man because Buffy did stand out so much, an oasis in a wasteland. But in 2021, the idea of a lone man being responsible for creating women’s stories—one who told the New York Times, “I seem to be the guy for strong action women”—seems like a relic. It’s depressing to consider how many years Hollywood’s first instinct for “strong action women” wasn’t a woman, and to think about what other people could have done with those resources. When Wonder Woman finally reached the screen, to great acclaim, it was with a woman as director.

Besides, Whedon didn’t make Buffy all by himself—many, many women contributed, from the actresses to the writers to the stunt workers, and his reputation grew so large it eclipsed their part in the show’s creation. Even as he preached feminism, Whedon benefitted from one of the oldest, most sexist stereotypes: the man who’s a benevolent, creative genius. And Buffy, too, overshadowed all the other contributors who redefined who could be a hero on television and in speculative fiction, from individual actors like Gillian Anderson to the determined, creative women who wrote science fiction and fantasy over the last several decades to—perhaps most of all—the fans who craved different, better stories. Buffy helped change what you could put on TV, but it didn’t create the desire to see a character like her. It was that desire, as much as Whedon himself, that gave Buffy the Vampire Slayer her power.

[iliveiloveiwrite]

Millie’s Massive Fic Rec Post

To celebrate 700 followers I’m showing all the love, people. What you’ll find here are fics that were sent to me who I agree deserve a bit more love as well as fics I’ve read and adored. They’re split into characters so all you need to do is scroll to find your fave and bask in its glory. There is some swearing but it’s only because it’s the only way I know how to express my feelings. This is also my thank you to each of the authors involved for taking the time out of their day to write these fics for free. There are also some authors I know I’ve forgotten and I am so so sorry if I have, I promise you it wasn't intentional, I love you all very much.

As always, I love and appreciate you all. Let’s get started on this ridiculously long post!!

Harry Potter:

Don’t Walk Away - @kalimagik - THE ANGST. I was on the edge of my seat through it all; I knew what was coming but did I look away? No. I was completely sucked it and that ending... oh my god, I was broken. If you’re looking for an incredibly written piece of angst that has you in tears, then this is the fic.

Dandelions - @lupins-sweater - The first post of A Very Harry Potter Summer and it was kicked off so brilliantly!! This fic had me wishing for my very own Harry to take morning walks with. It’s so wonderful; it has you wanting a summery morning and dandelions to make wishes on.

Always You - @bl597 - inspired by Louis Tomlinson’s song Always You, so I was already sold on that front. It’s an angst piece - Harry pining from afar, regretting his decisions but with a happy ending. I love that it's written from his perspective, that he realises what he’s done. I really do love this fic, and I aim to work my way through her masterlist!

The Truth Behind The Kiss - @justauthoring​ - the anticipation from the first sentence, I was on the edge of my seat. I loved every single word of this fic, it’s written so well. I just, I need you all to read this fic bc it is SO GOOD. Harry, Triwizard tournament, feelings, fluff - it has it all. 

For how long? - @siriusly-addicted-to-writing​ - It seems for Harry fics I am drawn to angst even though I write nothing but fluff for him. This fic is no different. Dani, this fic is wonderful, I love it. You capture the angst brilliantly! Go read this everyone!

Ron Weasley:

“can we pretend I never said that?” - @hello-everyfandom - I love this so much! Ron calling himself ‘the snog master’ had me snorting out loud - it’s great. And then the dialogue continues to be brilliant. I really enjoyed this fic! Ron needs more attention people!!  

Crossing Lines - @kalimagik - ADORABLE. CUTE. WONDERFUL. Oh, Ron. Everything about this fic is marvellous. The relationship between Ron and the reader, the realisation, the meddling. It was perfect, so so perfect.

birthday - @lupinsdarling - FLUFFY AND CHAOTIC AND I LOVE IT. Why oh why doesn't Ron get more love? Why doesn't this fic have more attention? It’s so fluffy and Ron is so bloody cute that my heart physically hurt while reading this. It hurt because it was so PURE.

Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley:

Girls in one room - @eleven-times-lively - Hermione x Reader - oh my god I snorted at Ron, I love it. And the fluff? There’s so much fluff, I can't deal with the fluff. If you’re going to read a Hermione fic, read this one!

just as lovely - @vanillann - this is so pure! it’s so wonderful, and the relationship between Hermione and the reader is so cute! 

Hug ur friends drabble - @firewhisky-kisses - Ginny x Reader - it’s the cutest thing I’ve read, oh my god, is it cute! I love everything about this, Steph is so talented! But I go into that further down.

Neville Longbottom:

Never the Bride - @obsessedwithrandomthings - Dee’s fic reads as a rom com, it’s so brilliantly done. By the time you're at the end, you feel as if you’ve just watched a two hour rom com and need to squeal into your pillow because of the feels. I love this fic.

Moonlight Swim - @kalimagik - Neville. Oh, Neville. This fic stole my heart and it won't give me it back. The idea of a moonlight swim with Neville? Here for it. And the confession? *chefs kiss* incredible. 

Healing - @firewhisky-kisses - I cannot put into words how much I loved this fic,. Steph is just so incredibly talented and writes Neville so wonderfully. Healing is the first fic of two and that second part had me in happy tears because Neville deserves the world. I go back and reread this a lot when I need to boost my emotions, so thank you for this Steph.

Good News - @peachesandpinks - Let me explain something here, Ron repeatedly and without fail hypes up fic writers to the point where she makes me cry happy tears at her comments. Her writing (and I'm going to swear now) is fucking brilliant. I love it, I adore it. Ren has a way with words that I only hope to master. This fic? Marvellous, magnificent, wonderful - pick a synonym and go wild. It’s so sweet and wholesome - what more could you possibly want other than to be on her taglist?

Tally Marks - @obsessedwithrandomthings NEVILLE WITH TATTOOS PEOPLE! NEVILLE! WITH! TATTOOS! Do I need to say anymore? Yes? Okay. Dee is a fantastic writer but she writes Neville perfectly. We have had many conversations about her love for Neville and her love for him shines through in this fic. She writes with such care and I love reading everything.

Draco Malfoy: 

The Purist - @mxl-foy - This series is so good. Like, so good, that if it was a physical book, it would be sat on my shelves. I would religiously check her account every time I came onto Tumblr to see if a new chapter was posted, and if there was, you best believe there was a happy dance. It’s so incredibly thought out and plotted. And there’s going to be a part two! It’s so great!

Notes - @malfoys-demigod - This is so sweet! I live for fluffy Draco as you all know if you read my Draco fics, but I adore reading fluffy Draco as well. This fic is so adorable, I love it! 

Always so Cold - @teheharrypotter - Five times Draco gave you his sweater and the one time you accepted. I love these sort of fics, they’re my indulgence fics. Jealous!Draco is one of my favourite things to read as well. and he’s so dramatic. I couldn't ask for more in a fic, definitely one of my favourites. 

the distance between us - @sdicapriox - This is a genius idea. I love this idea, and I love how it was executed. Almost 10k words of brilliance. I love the reader and her first letter to Draco and her entire personality - fish funeral? genius. I really like how you portray Draco and the effort you put into his internal monologue, it really is something excellent. The ending as well, I won't spoil, I just urge people to read this. 

Heartbreak - @slytherinprincess03 - you have to have a little bit of angst in a Draco fic rec right? This fic has it but the ending is perfect and fluffy, gah! I love it!. Not to mention, Draco is such a gentlemen in it. I can't wait to see what else you write, lovely!!

Hardly A Date - @fanficflaneuse - I love this fic. I love it so much. I tend not to read sibling!reader but I adored this. The relationship between Harry and the reader, and then Draco and the reader. It’s amazing. I could rant for hours and hours about how much I love her work - her series are out of this world and she captures Draco’s character perfectly. 

George Weasley:

Red with Rage - @kalimagik - AGH ANOTHER OF MAGGIE’S FICS. The prank? Genius, and that end line - incredible. Her characterisation of the twins is so good, I love reading her fics. She deserves more than 300 followers! So if you don’t already follow her, go now!

When Everything Changes - @strawberriesonsummer - Based on the song Everything Has Changed by Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran. This is so pure, it’s so fluffy. George is adorable in this! I can't wait to read what else you write for George!

Come back to you - @dreamer821 - JJ, JJ, JJ. Ugh, this fic is a work of art and George is so bloody caring. I mention this a lot but the relationship between George and the reader is so important to get right and JJ does it flawlessly. My heart hurts for this fic and that last line, LOVE IT. I live for how JJ writes George, I could read her work all day. GO READ HER STUFF, YOU WON’T REGRET IT.

Fred Weasley:

The Right Bird - @dreamer821 - I’m not only just involving this because it was used in my writing challenge but oh my days, it is so wonderful. The relationship between Fred and the reader is just *chefs kiss* perfect. JJ has such a way with words and I just love how she depicts Fred.

Lost, are we? - @prongsies - I think I’m going to make my way through your masterlist because I loved this so much. The teasing was so cute, and Fred helping her at the beginning? Ahhhhh brilliant. 

Watermelon Sugar - @prongsies - COMPLETING THE FINEST SERVICE TO THE HP FANDOM AND WRITING FICS INSPIRED BY FINE LINE - I SALUTE YOU. This is so good, so so good. The references to the song are used so well and that little bit of fluff at the end? Amazing. If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to put the song on repeat now...

Percy Weasley: 

Nothing We Can’t Forgive -  @firewhisky-kisses - This series really does showcase Steph’s talent. She’s an incredible writer and this fic deserves all the attention it can possibly get. It’s the first Percy fic I’ve ever read and I’m already planning a reread. Steph captures Percy’s character flawlessly whilst also depicting his healing in a manner that is so relatable. I’ve linked the masterlist because once you start reading, you won't want to stop. 

Sight is Relative - @hufflefluff-writer - This fic has a blind reader which I think makes it all the more beautiful. Amelia’s characterisation of Percy really is wonder, she captures him brilliantly. The fic after they eat is quite literally breathtaking. The description of colours, the dialogue - it’s fantastic.

Hufflepuff!Reader Headcanons - @soft-nerdy-wolf - I loved this from the beginning where the reader was already helping Percy out of his comfort zone by disregarding curfew. Then the further, I read, I loved more and more because of how fluffy it is! And the confession? So so sweet! This needs more attention!

Bill Weasley: 

Estrellita - @fanficflaneuse and @hufflefluff-writer - It is a fic inspired by the Sound of Music, what more could you possibly want? It’s so delicate and incredibly written by two extremely talented writers. The relationship between Bill and the reader = adorable. The whole series is so fantastic, I’ve linked part one and you’ll find the rest on Amelia’s masterlist, which you’ll need because you’ll be reading the entire thing in one sitting, I swear.

Charlie Weasley:

As Family the First Time - @kalimagik - you’ll have noticed that Maggie features a lot here but that’s because she is so damned talented that I adore most of her fics. The first Charlie Weasley fic I read and I fell in love. It’s just so fluffy and humorous with features from the whole Weasley family. Basically, by the end of it I was ready to raise dragons in Romania with a certain Weasley.

Meeting the Weasleys - @soft-nerdy-wolf - This made smile all sorts of stupid. From the beginning, I wanted to own Hepaestus (the perfect name for a dragon in my opinion - Zeus’ own forger, amazing.) And the fluff with Charlie straight after? I love, love, love it as well as the fun relationship they have. And the pranks with Fred and George? Ah! I just love.

Dragons blurb - @hufflefluff-writer - I know it’s only a blurb but oh my god, I loved it, I love it. Jealous!Charlie and a buttload of fluff - the best to boost your mood.

Cedric Diggory:

A Ghost Story - @wondernimbus - So beautifully haunting. Ysa has a way with words that make you feel as if you're physically there, living the fic alongside the characters. There aren't really any words to describe how talented Ysa is - all I can do is urge to read her masterlist and discover for yourself. 

My Boys - @potterverseimagine - Cedric and dogs - I am in love. This fic is so sweet and pure and playful. Playful Cedric is so great omg and this fic is full to the brim with it. I just... ah I love this so much. AND HE’S ALIVE. I LOVE FICS WHERE HE’S ALIVE. Thank you for this!!

It’s a Date - @angelinathebook​ - Lena, this is so good. You need to write more Cedric! Ah, I hate those boys so much but I love Cedric!! This is so good! Cedric needs more love 100% - if you haven't read this already, you need to read it now!!

Sirius Black: 

Lost Time - @obsessedwithrandomthings - Reader standing up for who she loves against Bellatrix? Yes, we love that. Slow burn romance with Sirius? I love that even more. Dee never fails to astound me when she writes Sirius, and I know she won’t fail to astound you too. Seriously (lol), go through Dee’s masterlist, read her works, you won't regret it. She’s the loveliest.

Our Godson - @nebulablakemurphy - Christina is so talented. The letters!!! Are so good!!! AND WHEN THEY FINALLY MEET? My heart! Christina, it's as if you broke it and then rebuilt it again all in the span of 2.8k words especially with that ending. I love this fic, and you will love this fic. 

Curiosity - @siriusly-the-best-gryffindor​ - I don’t know what else to say that I haven't already said in my reblog but I love this fic. I am heavily pierced and heavily tattooed and I love seeing a reader as the same. I love all of this fic, it 100% needs more love!

The Jimmy Jab Games - @im-a-writer-right​ - A Sirius fic inspired by Brooklyn-99. I loved every single chapter, it made me so happy. And that final chapter, I was smiling like a fool throughout. Sirius is a dream through this, and that bet? I love! I’ve linked the masterlist because you won’t want to move as you read.  

Secrets and fears - @firewhisky-kisses​ - Steph does it again with the masterpieces. Honestly, I squeal a little whenever I see her in my notifications with a new fic because everything she writes is stellar, and this is no exception. If you’re going to read anything tonight, let it be her masterlist. If you haven't read her latest Sirius piece as well, you are sorely missing out. 

Remus Lupin:

Protect - @obsessedwithrandomthings - Oh man, this one hurt. There are so many feels to this fic, so many layers. The enemies to lovers? Amazing. That ending as well - so fucking good. Like everything Dee writes, so fucking good.

Sleeping Beauty - @poppin-potter - This is adorable. There’s no other words for it. The relationship between the reader and Remus is so cute, I was smiling all the way through it. Not to mention the relationship between the reader and the Marauders, so bloody good. And that ending? It was so peaceful, like I was reading and I was like yeah, I would’t mind a piece of that.

Pain of reality - @heloisedaphnebrightmore - I had to involve some Remus angst, and oh my word. You smashed my heart into pieces in the beginning and had put it back together by the end. Heloise is an incredible writer, so so talented. This is a Remus fic you cannot miss out on!

Bruise and Scars - @peachesandpinks - Soulmate AU and Marauders Era Remus. What more could you possibly want? It’s poetic. If you look to my Neville section, you’ll see why I love Ren’s writing so much but let me tell you, I am a SUCKER for Remus. Always have been, always will be. You will not regret reading this fic or any of Ren’s fics.

Nights like These - @teheharrypotter - another fic in A Very Harry Potter Summer and the description in this fic is so good! The way the summer night described has you feeling every moment of it. And the conversation between Remus and the reader is so beautiful, where they touch upon their grief. It’s a wonderfully written piece of work.

James Potter:

Numb Love - @heloisedaphnebrightmore - Unrequited love is like my guilty pleasure because I love the angst of it, and this fic. Oh this fic, it destroyed me and I loved every single minute of it. How this fic doesn't have more notes, I have no clue. It’s a masterpiece of emotions. 

Reading between the lines - @approved-by-dentists - ohhh this fic is great, I love the flirtation between the reader and James in the beginning all the way to end. It was one of the first James fics I read (I’m late to the party, I’m well aware) and omg I love it. Just go read the fic!

Book-thief - @wondernimbus - I’m going to repeat my words from earlier, there are no words to describe Ysa’s talent. James Potter and a bookshop and I was sold. She captures his character so brilliantly. Just... go binge her work.

Summer revelations - @pregnant-piggy - I keep saying this about all the fics I put on here but I love this fic! I love it! First, I love James. Second, I need those muffins - seriously, where can I get these muffins? And their realisations and confessions! It’s such a pure fic, I’m absolutely in love with your portrayal of James.

Newt Scamander:

Cheeky Niffler - @eleven-times-lively - reader is an archaeologist - from that moment, I was sold. I loved reading this, I loved the idea and I love Niffler as it is! I always need more Newt in my life and this is perfect.

Online Love - @strawberriesonsummer​ - Modern AU! I really loved this idea, I love the idea of Newt with a phone and ringing the wrong number. It’s such a wonderful fic, I haven't read Newt in so long so this was such a lovely one to read! I can’t wait to read what other Newt fics are posted!

desire - @blisfvll​ - I am a huge fan of their works; their Draco fics are incredible and their Newt fics are just the same. This had me feeling all sorts of emotions, and I loved every second of it.  

You stared Newt right in the eyes. - @fantasticnewtimagines​ - I didn't know what the title to this was so I just type out the first sentence, I hope you don't mind! This is a delicious piece of angst with a lovely, happy ending. I adore this piece so much because it conveys so much. I love it!!

MARVEL:

I want to take a moment to appeal to the followers of mine who also enjoy reading marvel. @shaynawrites23​ has started to write some marvel fics and even entered my writing challenge and her fics definitely deserve some attention! She’s a wonderful writer and her fics are so cute! If you’re a fan of Bucky, you’ll love these fics!

Catty

Soulmate

Rosy Proposal

[dazaisbiitch]

Mistress Of Evil

This is a My hero academia Oc story but it can also be read as an X Reader

All credits for the plot, storyline and characters go to Kohei Horikoshi, except the parts of the story that are my own and my own original character.

WARNINGS: May include adult themes, adult activity, hard language, intense or persistent violence, sexually-oriented nudity, drug abuse or other elements

Description:

"This is where my fun begins"

That's all she said that she took one step forward and off the tallest building in the area.

Only to land perfectly on her feet at the bottom, without okay in the world.

No one will be able to stop what's coming" 

Those were the final words of the night as she slipped away into the alleyways, as the sun began to rise signaling the start of a new day in the first day that she'd finally be her true self! 

Prologue

"You have to focus Rairaku, you have one of the most powerful quirks anyone has ever seen. You need to learn how to control and harvest the full and complete power of your quirk, then no villain will ever be able to get away from you. Once you're a hero, you will quickly rise in the ranks as a pro. Your quirk will make you a great hero someday, you will be respected by your colleagues and feared by every villain, you'll be able to open an agency to teach and guide others, just like I have with you… None of that will happen though if you don't focus on your training right now!"

"Yeah whatever, you really did a number on me, what would I have done without you to turn into a freak show. Do you think people are intimidated by other people's quirks? How insecure do you have to be in your own power to believe someone is better than you just because they have a better, stronger, flashier quirk than someone else? That's not how this shit works. No one gives a fuck if you have a strong quirk, they judge you before they know you… All this society cares about is if you have a quirk or not, if you do, well you have a chance to be a hero or a villain… Quirkless people are cast aside and left forgotten… You should take yourself as an example here, you had an amazing fire quirk, a villain came along, you lost a battle and lost your quirk, how quickly did the hero commission cast you aside as less than worthless? No one even remembers you as a hero, you only still have a hero license because you know a few tricks here and there that come in handy from time to time… The reality is that they don't care, no one does… You have this crazy idea that if you push me and push my quirk to its limits until my body collapses my quirk will be this superweapon you can offer to the commission on a silver platter, so much that at this point, I don't even know what my quirk can't do… nothing surprises me anymore!"

"That's the beauty of it, there's nothing it can't do. You have no limitations, except the ones you place on your own body essentially making it weak! You keep that strong quirk of yours trapped inside that weak and feeble body of yours, but fear, not I will fix that. You'll be training five more hours a day starting now, so back to training young lady!"

It's no use… My body can't take anymore, it needs a break, but this bitch is never going to give me one… This person should have never been a mother, thank god I'm adopted! I'm so fed up with this training. I don't remember a time I was not training my stupid quirk. I don't even want to be a hero and be just another puppet for the hero commission to control, I want to be free…

This whole shit show will soon end, if it's the last thing I do I'll make it end! I have exactly one month to come up with a plan, a month before I start attending U.A high school, the best hero school in the whole country. I got in through recommendations thanks to my dear old mother.

Making the executive decision to sneak out and try to find some way or idea to execute any sort of plan, but also have fun doing stuff that I probably shouldn't be doing, but who cares? I certainly don't.

Sneaking out has become very easy, living in a fancy neighbourhood isn't all that, live here long enough though and you learn to move in the shadows, allowing myself to become one with the darkness of the night and all that just so nosy neighbours don't see me and start commenting on my "behaviour"...

It's not the first time I've snuck out, certainly won't be the last, but this is the first time that I've gone into the city. Yokohama is truly a beautiful city, especially at night. I love to watch the nightlife, it's the time when villains shine the most, but at the same time, I cannot live among pigs that think they can drunkenly take advantage of an innocent woman just walking home.

Luckily I haven't encountered anything like that tonight, instead, I'm casually relaxing on a rooftop in the middle of the city, looking down at the world like God looking down at his subjects.

"What's someone so young doing up here?" an intimidating voice calls behind me. I already knew someone was approaching me minutes ago…

"Well, if I'm being honest I would say I'm thinking about the murder of a certain ex-pro hero… But better to be here and as far away from them as possible or who knows what I'd do to that bitch… I'm so tired of her living in glory as the world pities her for losing her quirk, while behind closed doors she's an abusive piece of shit!"

"Then jump. It will end all your tiredness, once and for all"

"As much as I'd love to, especially from up here, with this view, I can't, as soon as I start falling my quirk will just levitate back up here. Also even if I could, I'd just be proving her right, proving to her that I'm just as weak and pathetic as she thinks I am, so much that I took the cowards way out. No thank you. I'd suffer a while longer and have the satisfaction of watching her take her last breath. I will not die, not until I shove all her fake heroic ideologies down her stupid throat."

"Hmph… Perhaps then you shouldn't jump… I can however help you deal with her. This world must be cleansed of fake hero pretences and false ideologies. Back to the time where people knew the true meaning of what being a hero truly is!"

"So what? You'll kill her? If so then just go ahead and do it! No one will care about her death. To her, I am just another job the hero commission gave her, one she wasn't even qualified to do. If you do it, don't do it for me and my sad sob story. Do it because you truly believe in cleansing hypocritic heroes from this world. If that is indeed what your goal is I will give you all the information you need on her and all the other corrupt heroes in this society."

"What's your name kid?"

"Rairaku Ishii, you can call me Rai though. And I'd rather for you to not say your name out loud, you never know who could be listening, but I know exactly who you are, I'm telepathic, and it's a pleasure to meet you, I must say I'm a fan!"

"Good. Now about that information, you said you'd give me…"

"First ex-pro hero Pyro, she used to be very popular as Endeavour's sidekick, but now she's lost her quirk. She's basically useless, but people still praise her for some reason. Make it slow, she deserves a slow painful death, "heroes" should never abuse their power or others!"

"Are you sure? There's no turning back after this"

"I've never been more sure of anything in my life. She has to be punished for what she has done. Starting today, I'll be the person I want to be."

"And who might that be?"

"Don't know yet! I could be your accomplice, after all, it seems we'll be seeing a lot more of each other."

"Fine, just know it might take a while, I have pressing matters I need taking care of first"

"The longer you take will just make me kill her myself"

End of the day it really should be me. I should be the one to kill her, I should be the one to do it. After everything, she's put me through? After everything, she's done to me? Killing her… Would that make me a villain? What better than that, a villain goes against every hero ideal she's ever tried to engrave into my brain…

Yes, that's it. I'll be the worst type of villain this world has ever seen.

This is where my fun begins!

[make-me-imagine]

Pink Camellias: Longing for you

Valentines Special: Day Four

Day One: Morning Glories Day Two: Blue Salvias Day Three: Sunflowers - Day Five: Yellow Tulips

Plot: The reader keeps receiving flowers and sweet messages every day from an anonymous source leading up to Valentines Day. But who is sending them?

Choose your own character ending (coming on Valentines Day).

Gender!Neutral Reader x ???

Triggers: Very brief mention of a stalker/stalking (not serious)   

Words: 1,366

Marvel Taglist: @aquariuslavenderhoney, @thebookbakery, @groovyfluxie  Requested Taglist: @spuffyfan394, @gaitwae, @fablesrose, @kitkatd7, @thefallenbibliophilequote, @beksib, @destynelseclipsa, @criminaly-supernatural, @tammythompson-singslikea-muppet, @belloangelus, @snarky–starky, @saintbootlegloras, @wecallhimbrowneyess, @empath-bunny, @okkulta, @katinthemoon, @wecallhimbrowneyess, @ravennight41, @username23345, @hulkswitch, @theofficialzivadavid, @lainphotography, 

February 9th

It seemed that everyone now knew about the flowers that have been left for you the last three days. And everyone seems to know nothing about it. But someone must, it has to be one of them. You sat at your desk, trying to figure it out. Who could it be? 

Tony? Doesn’t seem to be his style, and he seemed way too amused at the thought, so maybe not him.

Bruce? Flowers and sweet words do seem like something the more bashful and shy man would do. But he is not the best actor or liar, and seemed to know nothing of it. 

Then there was Steve and Bucky. They seemed very interested in the bouquet that Natasha brought in the gym. But they couldn’t have left it at your door. Well, they had gone in and out during the time you were there...so maybe one of them dropped it off? They both seem like secret romantics. 

Natasha? She is very good at doing sneaky things, she was a spy after all. And she straight up handed you a bouquet, maybe she did not find it at your door, and instead thought it would be less suspicious that way. 

Thor and Loki have not been on Earth until yesterday, so they could not have left them...

Vision? Clint? They both seemed to have a knack for the romantic. But did they have feelings for you? 

Wanda? No, she hasn’t been around, and was too excited with the thought of helping you seek them out when she found out about it. She compared it to a scavenger hunt. 

You sighed as you leaned back in your chair, staring at the ceiling. Who the hell was it? It could be any of them, but maybe none of them at the same time. Maybe its just another SHIELD Agent that works in the tower that you know? With that thought, that brings the amount of people to near a hundred. 

Plus, there was the creepy thought that Tony and Natasha teasingly put into your head this morning. That it could be a delusional stalker that you met briefly once, but you doubted that. Though you did hate that the thought was still lingering.

Your thoughts halted when you heard a noise right outside your door. Your head snapping in its direction. Quickly getting up, you basically sprinted to the door before pulling it open quickly. 

The mixture of disappointment and relief at the sight of no one outside your door, was replaced with surprise as your eyes fell to the object sitting at your feet.

“What?” you asked in disbelief, before stepping over it and looking down the hall. There were no other people living on this floor, and the elevator had not opened nor closed. Moving quickly down the hall, you opened up the stairwell door, you listened intently for a few moments, but heard nothing.

You turned back and looked at the colorful bouquet on the floor. Moving back over to it, you picked it up, looking back down the hall you shook your head in disbelief “How?”

Looking at the delicate and beautiful flowers wrapped in a light brown paper tied with white twine, you smiled before walking back into your room, sparing one last glance down the empty hallway. You sat at your desk as you fiddled with the attached note for a moment before you opened it. Reading the words to yourself.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ Pink Camellias

These mean “Longing for you”. A bit dramatic, I know. And I hope you are not frightened by my gifts and words, that is not my intention. I just simply want you to know the feelings that I have been dealing with for a while now. I long for you to know them, I long to hear you tell me the same. But I promise you, if you do not feel the same, I will feel no ill will towards you. I simply wish you happiness and love. But more than that, I do hope, and long for the days I can be the one who gives them to you.  ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

When you finished reading the note you let out a breath you hadn’t been aware you had been holding in. Well, at least they seem kind, and not like a stalker.

“I hope I feel the same too” you muttered. You hated the idea of breaking someone’s heart, especially if they’re a friend. 

You thought back to how they were able to leave the flowers at your door without being seen. Maybe the noise you heard was them leaving and not arriving? No, it was right outside your door. Or maybe they had a way of getting in and out quickly that you didn’t know about, or they were just very fast. Or....they could walk through walls...

”Vision.”

After adding the camellias to the same vase as the Salvias, you left your room to seek out Vision. After searching his room, the main living area, and the kitchen., you headed to Steve and Tony’s lab. When walking in, you noticed the man standing near Tony, seemingly helping with something. 

“Boys” you greeted as you approached, you spotted Bruce in the room behind them. You were debating in this moment whether you wanted to know if it was Vision or not.

“Hello Y/n” Vision greeted with his usual smile and demeanor, as Tony nodded “What’s up, need something?”

You needed to know. Maybe he was delivering for someone else? “I just have a question for Vision.”

“What is it?” he asked.

“Did you happen deliver flowers outside my door, about five minutes ago?” 

Tony looked up at you before looking at Vision.

“No? Why? Did you receive another delivery from your apparent admirer?”

“Yes I did. But the thing is, I heard them, but by the time I got to the door, they were gone, which seemed somewhat impossible. Sort of like they could disappear, run very fast, or move through walls” you said while eyeing them.

“Ah, I see. You have the right to be suspicious, but I assure you Y/n, I did not deliver any flowers.”

You sighed, Vision hated lying, especially too you, so with the sincerity in his voice, you had to believe him “Okay, I believe you.”

“Is this frightening you Y/n?” Vision asked, worry evident in his voice.

“No, no. I’m not scared, just...very, very curious.” you said with a smile, “I’ll see you guys later” you said in parting before turning away.

“Aren’t you going to ask me if I did it?” Tony quipped.

You turned back and smiled “Last I checked you can’t move through walls nor turn invisible. And, you really aren’t that fast.” 

He gave you an offended look as you turned and left with a chuckle “I’ll remember that!” he called out as you left. 

As you walked down the hall you convinced yourself that what you heard must have been them already leaving, and it just seemed to be right outside your door through your excitement. 

Your mind landed on Loki. He has magic. Maybe he delivered them that way? But, he has only been here for two days...Maybe Wanda?

“Ugh” you exasperated as you made your way down the hall, earning a startled look from a nearby agent. 

Getting into the elevator, you began talking to yourself “I just need to stop thinking about it. I’m sure they will show themselves when they are ready, and I will deal with it then. Yeah.”

You had hoped you’d convinced yourself, but you still felt the clear lingering curiosity and doubt. There was no way you could stop thinking about it. There was someone in this building who was apparently very much in love with you, and you had no idea who. That could drive anyone insane. 

Tomorrow. There would surely be another delivery at some point. What would it be this time? Lillies? Roses? 

Tomorrow. You couldn’t tell if you were anxious because you were nervous, or because you were excited. Maybe both. Yeah probably both.

Lets just wait until tomorrow. Who knows what will happen. 

xx xx xx xx xx 

oooh, foreshadowing???? Maybe~

Let me know if you want to be tagged in the next parts (5 left)

[shihalyfie]

The Kaiser wasn’t very good at being a villain (and that’s the point, actually)

Ken’s journey of redemption is generally well-documented overall, and it was explicit enough in the series that there’s only so much you really need to explain it, but due to the blurred boundary of what was supernatural influence from the Dark Seed and what was Ken’s own emotional problems wreaking havoc, it’s somewhat more difficult to bridge that gap between the Kaiser and Ken, and how they can be the same person.

The easiest way to understand it comes from both directions. One is that Ken, even in his normal element, is much more assertive than he’s often given credit for -- it’s just that the Kaiser is a (fragile) manifestation of that very carefully cultivated to channel that in all of the wrong directions. The other has to do with the fact that the Kaiser is actually really terrible at being a villain, and the persona itself is very fragile and difficult for him to maintain.

Rewatching the first half of 02 shows multiple indications that, for all he seemed to be the stereotype “evil genius”, Ken was forcing himself into the mold. He was never cut out for it from day one. Even from the beginning, Ken’s actual nature as a lonely and inherently kind eleven-year-old child was tearing apart at the Kaiser persona, and the fateful episode 21 was not so much a single turning point for him as much as it was the last straw in a series of things tumbling down for him.

Before we continue: While all of the meta on this blog is only possible thanks to support and input from a handful of friends (whose names will not be disclosed on account of privacy requests), this one in particular arose from a long and extensive discussion with said friends that I am extremely grateful for. As always, I hope I was able to convey your points well.

Well, firstly, it’s important to understand that, much like nearly any other character in this series, Ken’s surface demeanor is a bit deceptive. The Crest of Kindness has the original Japanese name of yasashisa (優しさ), which has a secondary meaning of “gentleness” (lost in translation, but still apparent with the bubble metaphor in 02 episode 23). That also ties into the secondary meaning of “kind” -- it’s not just about being naturally “soft”, but actively choosing to be gentle with others even when you’re theoretically capable of not doing so. (For those of you who have seen Appmon, the entire point of that series was about what it means to consciously and deliberately choose to be kind, and, in fact, quite a few parallels could be made between Ken and Haru...)

The contrast between Daisuke and Ken goes far beyond just the surface. Daisuke’s surface demeanor is abrasive, but he’s not actually very good at being assertive until push comes to shove, and he otherwise tends to bend easily to others or get overwhelmed; in contrast, Ken has a more polite demeanor and for the most part seems non-confrontational, but has much stronger control of his emotions and is more easily able to be assertive than Daisuke is. (Of course, both of them share the common point of being like-minded when it’s something that really matters, but Ken is much better at imposing his will and getting what he wants done before Daisuke ever gets to that point, which is what fuels the whole punchline of Daisuke and Ken’s Shopping Carol.)

So, the point is: Daisuke is kind out of instinct and just “naturally” being so, but Ken is kind because he consciously believes in treating others well and not causing conflict, and not causing pain to others.

That’s not to say that Ken’s behavior is out of suppression or anything! It’s not a case like Takeru, who’s trying to push complicated emotions down while pretending they’re not boiling under the surface, nor is he like Hikari, who’s compulsively pressing her emotions down out of a desire not to burden others. Rather, even as early as 02 episode 26, he’s very straightforward about what his issue is and what he thinks about it. Ken’s “shyness” during the latter half of 02 is largely due to shame and hesitation from not knowing the other 02 kids well, but as the series goes on and as we go into post-02 material, he indicates that he’s perfectly wiling to be vocal about what he thinks without necessarily fighting any compulsion to suppress it. For someone who claims he doesn’t know much about his own heart, he arguably seems to have the best grip on understanding himself compared to a lot of this cast!

So in essence, the main take-home here is that Ken is theoretically capable of being strong-willed and assertive, and is very good at choosing when he wants to be assertive and when he wants to hold back. And he likes seeing people get along, and he wants everyone to be happy, and he doesn’t like seeing people be hurt or hurting others, and under normal circumstances, Ken has very good control of his emotions for the most part and quite a lot of self-awareness. That’s why Ken is the one to get the unique designation of this Crest; everyone in this cast can be said to be generous and supportive of others in some form, but there’s a difference between being a “natural” doormat who defers to others by default (Daisuke being a very good indicator of how this kind of mentality has a flip side of lack of self-esteem and high insecurity, and Tamers’s Takato being a good indication of how “being deferential” doesn’t necessarily preclude you from having tendencies towards selfishness or cowardice), versus choosing to be kind by understanding everything and still being gentle out of a belief that it’s the right thing to do (again: see Shinkai Haru). And it’s why Wormmon says in the 02 episode 23 flashback that Ken’s kindness can be used against him; being “kind” in this way requires a lot of mental fortitude, strength, and guts, all of which are things that could easily be very bad things when applied in the wrong direction.

This means that all the Dark Seed really needed to do in order to turn him into the Kaiser...was make him lose grip on that self-control.

Actually, Ken says it himself in less-than-subtle words in Spring 2003:

…It was revenge. But who was this revenge against? Did I want to triumph over the ones who made fun of me? The ones who looked down on me and used me? But… In the end, it was revenge against myself. I couldn’t do anything but deny the kind of human being that I was.

So in other words, the Kaiser persona was, effectively, a self-loathing eleven-year-old boy throwing a massive tantrum. A lot of the Kaiser’s actions in the first half of 02 are honestly rather petty -- he’s basically upset at the kids spoiling his holiday in 02 episode 6, he attempts torturing Daisuke out of a petty grudge over a soccer sliding tackle in 02 episode 8, and everything to do with expanding his territory and eventually (hopefully?) becoming ruler of the Digital World is frankly very sloppy. For all he’s said to be a genius, his genius only seems to extend to book smarts, and his “tactical planning abilities” never really expand beyond that of a soccer field sort of affair; his way of locking down control on other things is basically just “brainwash it harder” or “whip it harder” and applying harder brute force instead of doing something in the long-term like, say, trying to rule with charisma and recruiting allies.

(Again, bringing Appmon back into this, seeing Cloud in action will give you a much better example of a charismatic human villain who’s actually competent at his job. Or, heck, you can even look back at Savers’s Kurata, who at least was savvy enough to pull strings with people in powerful positions. Or even the Kaiser’s predecessor Saiba Neo from V-Tamer, who may have been openly sadistic but still had the sense to align himself with background power. Really, compared to all of these folks, the Kaiser is downright pathetic.)

Remembering that Ken fell into the Kaiser persona partially as a desperate attempt to become a “perfect person” like Osamu, Ken “imitated” Osamu’s cruelty to him because he felt that was how he could improve himself to become a “strong” person better than him. But the irony here is that Osamu’s “cruelty” was something that he himself never liked, and mainly came from lashing out at Ken due to feeling like he had a lack of control over his own life. So Osamu was never happy in that position, and Ken, who is indirectly pointed out via the bubble metaphor to be even more fundamentally inclined towards gentleness, is probably even more miserable.

Because everything Ken does as the Kaiser is “unfocused lashing out at everyone”, the Kaiser has less control over his emotions than Ken normally would. Takeru manages to emotionally pin him to a corner by confronting him with enough assertion in 02 episode 19 (this is before he punches him), and correctly points out that the Kaiser isn’t capable of winning with words (i.e. ideologically) and resorts to violence as the first thing he can think of. You’d think that if the Kaiser were actually someone with the self-confidence to consider the other Chosen Children beneath him, he wouldn’t even bother giving them the time of day, but Takeru just happening to be a little assertive is enough to make him lose his composure and start falling apart, and a lot of his shaken “insects!” yelling comes from him seeming pretty desperate to cling onto that rather than being all that confident about his natural superiority over anyone. 02 episode 20 establishes that he’s getting himself in over his head by tampering with the powers of darkness he can’t control, and while, on a plot level, it means that he’s misjudged his own capabilities, on a metaphorical level, it corresponds to the fact that even Ken himself is incapable of getting himself out of the emotional abyss he’s in.

And on the flip side, one of the biggest “tells” that Ken is still miserable during all of this is 02 episode 9, where he’s seen ruminating on the “glory” he’s getting in the real world despite having just decided to leave it all behind. The episode prior, after all, had been called “The Digimon Kaiser’s Loneliness”. The media is using him like some kind of “hot topic”, his parents’ affection (in his mind) is shallow and based only on his achievements, and he has no friends (how much of a role Akiyama Ryou played in his childhood is unclear, but either way, he’s no longer around now). With no emotional support coming from any direction in the real world, he’s resorting to at least trying to have some “fun” in what he perceives to be a “game”, and yet he’s still not having fun at all.

If you look carefully at a lot of the Kaiser’s actions during the first half of the series, one thing you’ll notice is that there are multiple indications that he’s not quite up to par to being as sadistic as you’d think he’d be. Recalling that we learn in 02 episodes 20-21 that the Kaiser is under the impression that the Digital World is like a game that he can “reset” and the Digimon in it not real living beings, it has interesting implications of the fact that he’s actually very hesitant to physically harm other human beings -- he certainly likes emotionally toying with them, but even when he’s trying to take petty revenge on Daisuke in 02 episode 8, he goes out of his way to set up a trap with Bakemon to torture him rather than, well, actually using the kids as hostages. That’s a hell of a lot of work to do, but he instead uses this extremely roundabout way to get them out of the picture in a somewhat less harmful way, risking having them escape (which is exactly what happens).

And in 02 episode 19, when Takeru confronts him and he ends up whipping him, you can hear a slight “...gh?” in the Japanese audio for a split second right after that, meaning that the Kaiser is, for some reason, having a hard time dealing with the fact that he just hit Takeru, and he does a very poor job defending himself against Takeru punching him out despite ostensibly being trained in judo. (Seriously, if you watch the animation of the scene, he’s just lying there while Takeru repeatedly punches the hell out of him, because he’s so out of it.) Regarding the Digimon, he’s convinced himself that they’re not living beings, but regarding the human Chosen Children, who undeniably are, no matter how much he might look down on them, he has a suspiciously hard time harming them as much as he could...

On top of that, one interesting question that might come up to one rewatching the first half of 02 is the strange “contradiction” of why the Kaiser ostensibly seems to hate Wormmon so much, calling him an unworthy idea of a partner in 02 episodes 10 and 19, and yet does remarkably little to get Wormmon away from him or off his case (he hates Wormmon calling him “Ken-chan”, yet doesn’t really try very hard to stop him). He could have easily locked Wormmon away in a cage or something if he really wanted to -- actually, there’s the question, why doesn’t he slap an Evil Ring on him? Because in the end, Wormmon is the only emotional support he’s really getting, and so it’s likely he unconsciously doesn’t want to lose that. Recalling that Digimon are fundamentally linked to the inner self, the Kaiser rejecting Wormmon for being “weak” is analogous to Ken rejecting his own self for being “weak” and “not perfect” -- which means that the fact he still keeps Wormmon around is analogous to the fact that Ken hasn’t really been able to bring himself to completely let his fundamental nature go. And, hence, it’s why he gets so initially incensed at Wormmon’s “betrayal” at 02 episode 10 (and yet still keeps him around despite that), and is ultimately emotionally destroyed by his death in 02 episode 21.

Although, actually, if you look carefully at 02 episode 21, it’s not quite Wormmon’s death that necessarily does it -- the turning point where he sheds the Kaiser persona is right before that (and in case you have any doubts, the animation puts highlights in his eyes for the first time in the series right at that point). Wormmon’s death is the first major consequence of his actions that he has to deal with, but what actually brought Ken back to his senses was his own realization that Digimon are living beings, that his actions have had permanent effects this whole time, and that he can’t take back anything he’d done.

Remember that 02 is a series that is largely about moving on and accepting that you can’t change the past, and that you have to move forward regardless of that. Ken’s fall into sadism was only possible by driving him into extremely deep-seated denial -- he was already starting to face the potential reality of Digimon being real, existing beings in the real world an episode prior. He says, outright, in 02 episode 21, that part of the reason he came to the Digital World to do all of this was escapism -- and, presumably, under the idea that any mistake he made could be rolled back and redone, unlike Osamu’s death. But the Digital World is not a place you can reset like a game, Ken will have to live with the consequences of his actions again, and moreover, every single one of the actions he’d been convincing himself were relatively meaningless had caused severe and permanent harm, and the entire thing overwhelms him.

It’s also important to point out that this was probably where the Dark Seed had to work a lot of magic to get Ken to embrace this kind of denial so easily -- after all, it’s established in the final quarter of the series that it does have a tangible impact on personality and puts a damper on one’s ability to feel empathy. In the flashback in 02 episode 23, regardless of whether Ken considered the Digital World to be a “game” or “able to be reversed” or not, he clearly still didn’t care and treated those around him with proper kindness (even if he did consider it to be all of that, it probably wouldn’t have been entirely unlike how a lot of us have a hard time picking rude choices in video games). It’s a very complicated chain reaction of events that allowed this to be even possible, and it was so against his fundamental nature that once the denial broke and Ken reached his limit, he wasn’t able to do it anymore. The Chosen Children’s main role in 02 episode 21 was really just cleaning up the massive mess he’d made in the form of Chimeramon, but as far as the whole thing about the Kaiser’s persona completely falling apart and Ken being forced to confront his own self goes, that was pretty much all Ken and Wormmon, in a series of dominoes that had already been collapsing for episodes on end.

The following episodes have Ken treat the 02 team with a certain amount of detachment, and this is often construed by a handful of people as being reflective of Ken being standoffish of some sort. The fact that Daisuke and Ken are often promoted in franchise materials as “rivals” mainly due to them being in the “protagonist and right-hand-man” position such characters are in might tempt you to think that way, but they are most definitely not!! (Considering that even saying that Taichi and Yamato fit that mold is a bit questionable, and neither Ruki nor Jian quite fulfill the expectations of the role in regards to the genre-subverting Tamers, Frontier, which is explicitly said to be deliberately written to be conventional, is probably the first proper execution of this trope in the form of Takuya and Kouji.) Ken’s detachment from the group at this time in the series is something he actually gives the reason for quite directly: he believes it’s his fault and doesn’t want to burden them with what he considers to be his job, and in the end Daisuke ultimately breaks through to him and they become completely normal friends who get along. “Rival” what?

Ken is, at worst, distant during this point of the series, but he’s actually very straightforward about what he wants and intends to do; it’s just that he’s being a bit blunt about it because he’s still drowning in his shame and not sure how to approach them. (Also, consider the fact he was rather lacking in friends or a support group before all of this; he doesn’t have a lot of experience in socializing, either.) So he keeps everyone at arm’s length, and the reason he comes off as so standoffish is because he’s so assertive! He directly and bluntly makes some very strong remarks about how he believes everyone else shouldn’t be getting involved! Again, when left to his own devices and not being manipulated into by a supernatural evil seed into multiple levels of denial, Ken is very in control of what he wants and thinks, and is even very open about speaking his mind.

That’s even when they’re not good decisions, mind you. Ken starts off the climax of 02 episode 26 being very firm about wanting to suicidally throw himself into the reactor in order to stop it, and 02 episode 30 has him consider himself a burden to the team after the fallout with Iori and try to stay out of it despite them very badly needing his presence, which Daisuke (of all people!) rightfully calls him out for being childish about. But he also listens to reason very quickly and acknowledges the others’ point very easily, with Daisuke reminding him in 02 episode 26 that his suicidal recklessness is actually pretty self-centered and short-sighted of him, since it’ll prevent him from doing anything else to take responsibility for his actions going forward, and Miyako, uh, slapping him in 02 episode 30. (But he comes quietly right away as if acknowledging his own idiocy, and never holds it against her thereafter.)

Nevertheless, the point is: you can see that this kind of assertiveness is the same kind of assertiveness he had as the Kaiser, just channeled in a different direction and for a different purpose. But as the Kaiser, he was angrily lashing out at anything and everything and stepping on anything he could just so he could have a show of power; once he comes back to his senses, he reserves that force for it being something he consciously believes is the right thing to do (regardless of whether it’s actually the right thing to do or not).

Because of the fact Ken spends a lot of the last quarter of 02 suffering and parsing a lot of trauma, a lot of people have tended to pin him as constantly sad and being a soft crybaby, but that couldn’t be further from the truth! Despite all the emotional pain he goes through, Ken has a hell of a ton of strength through all of this -- he even flings a well-aimed quip at Oikawa in 02 episode 44 despite being in a completely helpless situation, and in 02 episode 45 he himself is the one who volunteers to open the gate to the Dark Ocean, despite knowing exactly what it entails. That takes a lot of guts, and all things considered, his recovery from being the Kaiser spans only four months and is altogether incredibly fast given what he went through -- it did not take long for him to regain his bearings and get himself back on track. Again, it’s the same kind of “assertiveness” and capacity for action that fuels what the Kaiser did, just better controlled and in a direction Ken knows he actually wants.

This is also why I tend to object to insinuations that Ken would be overly touchy about or traumatized by the mere discussion of him being the Kaiser in the aftermath of 02, because the series itself, multiple times, portrayed him as being very able to talk about his experiences bluntly and honestly, at worst maybe considering it a bit of an awkward topic. He has no problems admitting that it was a thing that happened, especially if it involves discussing it as part of taking responsibility or preventing further damage -- it’s just that he of course doesn’t enjoy it either, and is equally as open about the shame he feels as a result. All of the times Ken loses his composure in the latter half of 02 involve either physical pain being inflicted on him, or a lot more actively vicious invocation of his memories and insecurities, and even then he gets himself back on his feet with a rather prompt amount of speed. Poorly timed of a statement as it may have been, Miyako is not incorrect when she says in 02 episode 31 that he has a certain amount of natural resilience that he carried from being the Kaiser.

All the way back in 02 episode 9, shortly after it was revealed to the group that Ken was the Kaiser, Iori, Hikari, and Takeru all label Ken as someone who doesn’t look like someone who could do something so horrible, and Hikari even says that his smile looks “gentle” (note that this is yasashisou, a word derived from the same root word used for his Crest). So in other words, even all three of them were able to catch on to his actual nature betraying himself even during that awful period of time. It’s still poking through, all things considered.

But we as the audience know he’s putting on that face for the camera, and his eyes are still as dead-eyed as they are for the first half of the series, and when Miyako accidentally makes him laugh during the Christmas party in 02 episode 38, it’s very much framed as probably the first time Ken has been this genuinely happy in a long while. He was never able to be this happy even when “satisfying” himself by stepping on others as the Kaiser.

And that’s why it’s so extremely unlikely that Ken will ever be able to lapse back into the Kaiser persona after the events of 02, even with the Dark Seed technically still inside his neck. He wasn’t enjoying it anyway; the Kaiser persona wasn’t a habit that he fell into out of emotional suppression or even catharsis, but rather him forcing himself into a role he was never comfortable in to begin with. He was never truly satisfied with anything he was getting out of it, and moreover, it took the combination of supernatural influence and a hell of a lot of denial to allow it to get that far in the first place, because of how far against his fundamental nature that was.  (Again, for those of you who have seen Appmon: think about what it would take to get Haru to embrace sadism.) Even Osamu wasn’t enjoying being cold; being kind and living your life with positivity is a lot more fulfilling and fun, anyway.

In 02 episode 48, Ken describes the influence of the Seed as “horrible” in retrospect; even if it didn’t involve physical pain and exhaustion the way it did for the Dark Seed children, the entire experience sucked even back then. And while Ken theorizes about the Dark Seed’s influence being countered by the power of love earlier in the episode, when you look at the whole of 02, it’s not just his family’s love -- Ken now has the emotional support of his family, and Wormmon, and his newfound friends, and that’s giving him all of the fulfillment he wanted that putting on a front of sadism wasn’t giving him, and he doesn’t really need anything else anymore.

02 itself is very much about the fact that it’s not a bad thing to rely on the support of others to be happy; the Ken and Kaiser are undoubtedly the same person, but the latter’s existence requires a very specific lineup of events and factors to happen, and one of the massive parts behind that was a severe lack of emotional support or anyone who properly understood him. And by the end of the series, Ken has more than enough strength of heart to accept everything that’s happened and move on, and to stop reaching out to denial and clinging onto the past, and he has emotional support and understanding from a whole new group of friends that thoroughly understand everything he did and went through, and wholeheartedly accept and love him anyway.

He is never going to have a gaping hole in his life like that again.

[enobariasdistrict2]

I am literally obsessed with your clato fic! I know you’re no longer as active within the clato fandom, but I couldn’t help but wonder how you plan or planned to complete the fic, sort the plot out. Again, your such a wonderful writer and I dearly appreciate your work.

this is literally such a nice compliment to give someone, thank you!!!!!!!!! ilysm for this tbh. and yeah i kinda stopped caring so much about clato after high school (even though clove always has a spot in my heart, my feral angry child), but i always keep wondering about that fic and whether i might ever truly finish it. i rarely finish any multichapter fic i start because it hits a dead end at some point lol, motivation is hard to find.

my plan for the fic was for cato and clove to decompress after the hunger games and then find a purpose or motivation outside of doing whatever an authority figure tells them to (which was what made them very static characters despite their vast potential, and at first largely disliked), and also to live a happy domestic life except with their own brand of violent and crazy :D i think they'd like one of those mountain vacation homes because district 2 is basically a mountain district, and there is a lot of fresh air/resources/space from civilization (given their leanings toward murder neither cato nor clove strikes me as a people person imo), and while weapons and combat in general is definitely going to remain a big part of their life (they were raised to be child soldiers during their formative years and sacrifice themselves for battle glory it's not just a mentality they could give up easily), i also think they could both create an aspect of their lifestyle that is nonviolent (basically something that's a healthy expression of their personalities that isn't....... murder alfjelfkdldjfjsk). what struck me about clove as a character even though she was a sidepiece with little to no characterization is that she could essentially be however i saw her, which is something i believed to be very cool, and i see her as someone who's volatile and insane and brutal and unkind and independent, stubborn and selfish and in private moments soft and vulnerable (or in public - like during the iconic singular clato scene in existence where she's on the verge of death and calls for him out of trust and fear). cato is violent and passionate as she is but she can also be clever and logical and levelheaded (cornucopia scene notwithstanding) which balances cato out and makes them the perfect murder team. their vicious and murderous mentalities complement each other and they'll come to realize that (after the initial conflict and angst because it hurts clove that he couldn't save her in time, and that hurts cato too, and they're both idiots who don't know how to process Feelings because a. teenagers and b. murderous upbringing). also they're not heroically battling against coin, not heroes at all, their primary concern is self preservation and each other (which surprises many of the Main Characters that pop up as meaningless side characters in my fic, to balance out the career tributes' lacking characterizations)

essentially think of them as a mini thg version of klayley if you've watched any tvdverse show (granted at the time i wrote the fic i don't think i had started watching tvd/the originals yet but klaus and hayley could totally be cato and clove in their fleshed out forms :D)

but regardless none of that really worked out and now one hastily worded chapter is now sitting on my ao3 untouched

[itachi-with-a-chicken]

Come be my teacher pt 2

Aish we're back

Link to part 1

Jung Hoseok nearly died to actually make publishable Yoongi's book

But eventually he made it

He hoped the day at the luna park was enough for Jungkook to be forgiven after spending nearly every afternoon with Namjoon and his kid brother

Mostly, he hoped Namjoon could forgive him to have to deal with both his child and his own kid brother

When he mentioned it, Namjoon has a variety of emotions.

Surprise, then recognition. Eventually softness.

"they have been good, all things considered." He laughs a little "Just warning you, Jungkook took a passion for Just Dance"

Well, Hoseok considers when he watches his son weirdly dancing in front of the television, there are worst things that could happen

Also, now that he has a life back, he can discard Min Yoongi in his man cave or whatever he likes to call his attic and go back to his routine

Which means, pick up and drive is kid to school

And see again the cute teacher

Not that he cares

But you know

He does

That day Kim Taehyung was wearing a dark green vest and a white shirt and looked as an absolute old man

His housemate confirmed it and if Kim Seokjin tells you you look bad, it's true

The thing is, Taehyung didn't want to look hot, he just wanted to look comfy and cozy to his kids

When he steps outside to collect the kids, he regretted every choice made that morning

Because there it was. In all his elegant glory. Jung Hoseok.

The two exchanged a small wave and Tae nearly forgot he has something to say to him

"Come on Taehyung" he tries to say to himself "he's just another parent. Nothing to worry about. Nothing special. Not a crush, no sir"

"Hoseok-ssi" he calls him. By his name, because the first thing Jung Hoseok told him as they met is "you're taking my son most of the week, we can at least call each other by our own names"

"yah?" He was already moving towards the car, dammit.

Stumbling at bit at the beginning, Tae tells him about the little recital he proposed to the school board that year

Hoseok beamed at him

"that sounds wonderful! kids will have loads of fun"

Taehyung was positively gloating, but tried to hide it

"so this week it's going to be parents-teachers conference, so we can explain every detail"

Nobody will pry from his cold hands the knowledge that the reason why it was happening that week was that Taehyung knew as a fact that Hoseok was busy until now

And also, that nobody knew about the meeting in the first place

The thing is, a meeting was supposed to happen at some point, and Taehyung was a very considerate teacher, okay?

He needed to tell the principal about the meeting, tho

Ugh

On the other hand, Hobi was quite serene.

The wonders of a full night sleep, he guessed

Nope nothing to do with the cute teacher and the cute vest that made him look cozy and cuddly and all the stuff a grown up should not look like

It would be a lie to say that it didn't do anything to Hoseok.

But then again, Hoseok can be a good liar

His phone chimed in, showing a text from Yoongi

"so did you ask him out?"

"who?" "What do you mean who" "i mean who would I ask out" "the teacher, dumbass"

Hoseok stared at the phone for a solid five seconds

"you don't even know what day of the week it is" "And yet I know you brought the little monster to school, so you've seen him"

For someone who forgets to eat, Yoongi can be really persistent about stuff

"why" he just asks, glancing away from his computer. If anything, he knows Yoongi has little to none interest in his love life by itself

Not after he finished all the people he could set him up, anyway

Including himself

That was so weird that both kinda decided it never happened

So back to the text, Hoseok patiently waited for whatever was the real reason behind such concern

"I may or may not started planning the next book based on whatever vibe you and your lovely teacher give off"

Hoseok shrieked, but just a little

"but you know!!! Most of the time the final product have nothing to do with the beginning!!!" Yoongi continues

Six exclamation point usually mean that he's either lying or trying to convince him of something he didn't actually believe in. So lying, after all.

"and what's the plot" hoseok asks, but then "no, nvm. Don't tell me. Just. Idk. No"

Yoongi didn't reply, but then his editorial instinct won over all his better judgement

"okay, tell me the plot"

Yoongi answer arrived after less then three minutes and it was a shit ton long. He basically already planned everything and all he needed was the main characters

"and they would be me and Kim Taehyung?" Was the only answer Hoseok managed to cave

Because yeah, if life was a written book maybe they could have been the perfect romance

Even by changing some basic stuff - "don't worry you're all idols here" - and making some unrealistic concessions - "your character is the greater dancer of all times" - the way Yoongi was telling the story

A story that didn't exist

makes him want to fall in love for real

But here's the catch: they were real people, and crush on your child's teacher is problematic at best, creepy at worst

So no, he won't be pursuing that. Thank you very much

(but gave yoongi permission to work on the story nevertheless because, you know, it's his job)

And he r e a l l y is set on his mind the day of the meeting after school

Doesn't matter that he exited work early just to go home and shower

And definitely didn't have anything to do with his choice of wardrobe that saw some neat jeans he had brought but never wore and his best fitting pastel red shirt

Along with a leather jacket because what the hell he was still young after all

And if some heads turned to check him out, when he entered the classroom, well. He couldn't blame them

He sat gingerly on his child desk and waited. Mr Kim still nowhere to be seen

Talking about Kim Taehyung

His day started the night before with his housemate that, in order to forget his impossible (only according to him) crush decided to have a drink

And since it would be too sad to drink alone, he had to bring Tae down with him

Little mattered he had to work the morning after and kids were not merciful with headache

He enters the room with the parents with eyes fixed on the floor, trying to remember everything he needed to say and--- oh

Of course Jung Hoseok was there

Of course he was stunning

And of cour-- no wait he was talking to Namjoon? What was he doing here?

Oh right. Mixed classes. His kids and mr Lee were together in this project.

Having the ten years old doing the talking and the eight years old doing the dancing was his idea after all

Mr Lee smiles at him, like the old turtle he was, and sat down, waiting for him to speak

The old turtle seemed frail and sweet but he remembered being a child with him. It was all a play

Which makes him perfect for this project, he guess

So, let's convince the parents he knew what he was doing and what he was talking about despite never producing any school play

It went fairly well for the most of it

Every time he met Hoseok's stare, the other man was smiling, and that made him feel both excited and incredibly shy

But mostly gives him enough confidence at least finish the presentation of the general idea

When parents asked questions - price, time needed, how the parts would have been distributed - he tries to be as clear as he can

And hopes nobody will actually spot how much he still doesn't know

Eventually, the questions are over and the meeting is too, with a copy of the project to take home and a promise to see each other as soon as possible

Tae was putting in order his papers, trying carefully to not perceive either Hoseok nor Namjoon, but of course karma hates him

So a few of his pages fly down the desk, right in front of. Well. Of course Hoseok. Who else

It's not like he could have the worst face in the history of faces and just have his life passing by

No, he had to live his 5-hours-sleep-10-hours-work while wearing his most anonymous clothes and have something less of a Idol staring at his face

Wait

He was staring

He said something

He said absolutely something and Tae was just too far away in his head to hear anything oh my--

"everything alright?" Hoseok asked, and the question clearly triggered Namjoon attention, because he came close too

"ye-what-ye sure. I'm sorry, I must be a bit tired. Hi, Namjoon-ah"

Hoseok smiles at him, but Taehyung makes a weird face at the other man

Well, they clearly knew each other enough to drop some honorifics

Probably wasn't the first time Namjoon came instead of his parents to school stuff like this, Hoseok always knew he was a good big brother

"You did great" the young man says, to which Taehyung smiles a little. Namjoon walks over them but doesn't stop, heading towards the door

"I gotta go now, Hoseok-ssi, see you Tuesday. Tae, see you around"

"Watch your steps" both Tae and Hoseok say, which surprised them, but proved them right when Namjoon bumped into a desk

Then it was only them. And Tae knew it's gonna be awkward really soon.

"so, how you know him?" He asks. Oh, Jungkook babysitter. Makes sense

"and you?"

Taehyung makes a weird face, half displeasure.

"I'll tell you in the parking lot, I'll feel less irresponsible if I'm not at work"

Hoseok felt he has to decline and go straight home

Also stop asking about the private life of his kid's teacher and babysitter

Because that was none of his business

But he was a nice person and nice people listen to what others have to say, right?

[hello-nichya-here]

Ok, so what in your opinion is the WORST mistake that the showrunners for Game of Thrones made in terms of content, either it's addition or redaction?

WARNING: Looooooong post ahead

Themes are for eighth-grade book reports

This absurd quote by one of the showrunners explains why exactly the show fell appart. They wanted to make a story... without themes. Anyone with a minimally functioning brain will tell that this is impossible because every story, even the simplest and least complicated story there ever, has a theme. Even a nihilistic story has a theme "Nothing matters". Every. Story. Has. A. Theme.

But Game Of Thrones didn't, at least not after the writers ran out of books to adapt and did their own thing. Everything every character did was no longer to build a narrative, but to essentially act as click-bait. The focus was to make people keep watching, not on making any content that was worth watching.

The first four seasons had it's problems, just like the books had it's problems, but Martin's writting was so brilliant that it managed to stay good even while being handled by absolute clowns. The moment season four ended was the moment the show stopped being an adaptation and became it's own thing - and like I explained before, said thing wasn't a story.

Shock

Both the show and the books had MANY shocking, heart-breaking and downright horrifying scenes: Daenerys being raped by Drogo; Bran being pushed out the window after accidentally seeing the queen fucking her brother; the whole deal with Craster and his daughters; the Dotrakhi destroying Mirri's village and her revenge against them and Daenerys; Ned's death; Melisandre giving birth to a shadow baby that killed Renly; The Red Wedding; Jeoffrey's death; Tyrion killing his father; Theon being tortured by Ramsay...

The difference is there were REASONS behind the shocking scenes Martin created. Even when you look at things like rape and torture scenes and threats of rape/torture - Martin used those scenes to remind us that the world he created is an EXTREMELY dangerous and downright vile place, and that the characters are never truly safe, and that there are WAY worse things than just being killed.

Dumb & Dumber on the other hand, gaves us scenes like an evil, former man of the night's watch evily making an evil speech to his fellow evil men, evily drinking whine from a human skull while nameless women were being raped in the background - but little does he know that Jon Snow, the hero, is about to wreck his shit. It takes something that could realistically happen (and that did happen in the books) and takes it up to eleven because the writers think shock is the same as quality and that the audience is SO STUPID that they need to practically make the actor jump out of the TV, grab us by the shoulders and scream "I'M EVIL! I'M THE BIG BAD! ROOT FOR THE HERO TO KILL ME!"

Pretty much every bad guy became a parody of Jeoffrey, ironically enough because the writers took Jeoffrey too seriously. He was a cruel, sadistic character, who had WAY too much power - but he was also a spoiled baby whose reply to Tyrion bitch-slapping him wasn't a threat, but "I'M TELLING MOM!" Jeoffrey worked because he was only allowed to do his thing whenever smarter, more competent characters like Tyrion and Tywin where not around, meaning his actions, while inhumane, never reached the point of no longer being believable.

The horrible things that happened to the characters no longer felt "right". For instance, Sansa had just been taken to the Eerie by Little Finger, who has a weird complex in which he sees her both as the daughter he never had with Catelyn AND as a replacement for Catelyn, and she was starting to truly be a player instead of a pawn... and then the writers realized "Oh shit, we should have not cut the Jeyne Pool/Fake Arya' plot, that was important" and forced it on Sansa, making Little Finger hand her on a silver plater to Ramsay and turning her into a victim AGAIN, this time to a man that dramatically fights his enemies without a shirt own, practically saying "come at me bro"

Compare this to Ned's beheading, or Catelyn and Rob being betrayed and killed by the Freys. These moments were shocking and downright depressing - but they were earned. The writting was on the wall for anyone to see: Ned was at the mercy of Jeoffrey, and the Starks had given the Freys, who are notoriously disloyal, a reason to resent them. These twists felt completely natural, were the only logical way for the situation the characters were in to play out, AND they had consequences to plot instead of just making the audience gasp and then being forgotten about.

Plot armor

It's kind of ironic and almost tragic that the show that became famous for killing characters later became the worst type of high-stakes series, putting the characters in situations they could NOT survive, not even if a goddamn miracle happened, and having them live anyway. What's even worse is that it happened repeatedly. If I had to see Jon Snow almost die and then survive anyway one more fucking time I was going to lose my mind.

There's no bigger proof that there were just no consequences for the "main" characters anymore than watching the second, third, and fourth episodes of season either. The first sets up that this battle against the night king and his army of undead is likely going to kill the majority of them, if they're lucky... and then in the third we see the plot armor in all of it's "glory", and then in the forth we find out that the Dotrakhi, who had ALL been killed, actually still have half the numbers they had the night before, somehow. Even red-shirts weren't dying anymore.

DORNE

This disaster needed it's own session because HOLY SHIT, it's a miracle/tragedy that everyone didn't go "Fuck it, I'm never watching another episode of this stupid show."

The Dorne plot in the books isn't perfect, but what the show did to it was so fucking bad that I'm pretty sure the writers didn't even read the Dorne chapters in the books, they just looked at a wiki, wrote down the names of a few characters and then did their own shitty thing.

In the books, Doran Martel is a clever, dangerous man, who pretends to be harmless so people will understimate him and step right into his trap. In the show, Doran Martel... died. That's it. I can't remember anything else that happened to him. Add him to the list of "Brilliant characters that became stupid due to shitty writing", I'm sure Tyrion, Varys and Little Finger will love making him company.

The sand-snakes, one of the main driving force of that plot, were all distinct characters in the books, with their personalities, goals, methods and motivations - basically they were created by a writer who knew what he is was doing. In the show they were all the same "character" who could be perfectly described by that horrible, cringy, PAINFUL line one of them (I can't even remember which) said to Bron "You want a good girl, but you need the bad pussy" (Seriously, if that actress ever kills the show-runners as revenge for having to say that, she'll be 100% justifyed in doing so)

And we cannot forget the driving force behind that unwatchable shit show: Ellaria Sand. In the books, the death of Oberyn made her believe that revenge only leads to more blood-shed. In the show, his death enraged to the point of wanting to avenge him and his family, and she did this... by killing his family. If that doesn't explain how insane and stupid this plot-line was, I don't know what will.

Hype = Character assassination

Many shows are based around the conflict between the bad guys and the good guys. Game Of Thrones is not one of these shows. Or at least it wasn't. As they ran out of ideas, the writers started mutilating every single character until they could be label as "Good" or "Bad", regardless of what felt right to the story and to the point that there was nothing left of said characters. Stannis's actor, Stephen Dillane, straight up said that the only thing he got from being on the show was money and that his character's motivations and decisions were nonsense - ironically enough, that kind of brutal honesty means that the writers had THE perfect actor play Stannis, and wasted his fucking time.

Here's a list of the characters that fell victims to this horrible fate: Catelyn Stark, Tyrion Lannister, Sansa Stark, Arya Stark, Jon Snow, Melisandre, Stannis, Jorah, Daenerys (bonus points for being mutilated into being both a generic, shitty "hero" and a generic, shitty "villain") Greyworm, Rhaegar Targaryen, Lyanna Stark...

Pretty much the only character who became more complex in the show than she was in the books was Cersei. While her book self was never just a "Generic Evil Queen", the show version of her was far more sympathetic, which made the stories she was part of interesting. Too bad the writers ran out of ideas of what to do with her after season six and just left her by the window drinking whine until Dany showed up to kill her. Which brings us to...

Why is this happening?

Cersei was seen as a threat in the last two seasons based on nothing but the things she HAD done. Her story just ended the very second season six did, but since she was still alive despite being one of the bad guys she had to die... I guess. She (and by extention Jaime) joined the list of characters that had nothing to do, but were still around: Davos, Theon, Yara, Melisandre, Bron, Sam, Gendry, Bran (the last one being SO unnecessary that he was cut from season five and no one noticed)

To combat that issue, the writers gave characters "motivations" that made no sense. For exemple: Sandor Clegane. His only reason to be in the show was so he could kill his brother. The problem was that Gregor was already dead. He was a walking corpse. There was nothing left of the abusive brother Sandor once knew, meaning he had no reason to fight him, and that, to keep Sandor around, the writers should have come up something new (like the redemption that book fans have been waiting for, and that has a lot of backing evidence). You might as well have had HIM be the one to randomly fly out of nowhere and kill the night king despite having no connection to him.

And since we're talking about the night king... Arya was the one to kill him. Why? Because the writers ruined Jaime's redemption arc, meaning that the only fitting ending for him was to die with Cersei, and so Arya could not kill Cersei despite wanting to, having the ability to do, AND having heard a prophecy that said she'd "Shutting brown eyes, blue eyes, and green eyes forever", the last one being the only one she had not done AND applying to Cersei. But Dumb & Dumber admitted they had no plan for this, so now that they were at the last season, they needed to do something with it, and they retconned it to mean Arya would kill the night king...

But Arya killing him meant Jon had nothing to do, so Dany had to go mad so he could kill her. To "hint" at that, they ignored all the not at all subtle foreshadowing the previous season had of Dany and Jon having a kid, and they even showed her getting jealous that he was technically the true heir... even though that made no sense since they were going to rule together anyway, and even after Dany went full "Mad Queen" she ASKED HIM TO RULE WITH HER. But anyways, he kills her and becomes king...

Except he doesn't actually become king and him being a secret Targaryen has no effect in the plot, because Bran needed to become king so there'd be a reason for him to be alive, because his magical powers turned into a plot-device. A plot-device that wasn't used at any goddamn point. Seriously, the only thing as bad as Bran becoming king was Euron's existence - dude was THE most useless villain ever AND the worst Jeoffrey parody.

A darker story (literally)

I could not end this rant without bitching about this. What is the point of spending an ungodly amount of money on sets, costumes, make-up, special effects... and then using such poor lighting that no one can see what the fucking is going on?

Anyway, this disaster of a series was so absurd it should be used as an exemple of what NOT to do.