#this doesn’t work without context of characters personalities and relationships

[chainnoli]

You get it!! Some more info…

The Wayne’s are all a religious household and they all just had uncanny ability to purify spirits and that kind of thing

I think Damian goes for priesthood because he doesn’t feel like he’ll actually fall in love with anyone or that anyone will love him so it kind of became a hyperfixation for him

So the Wayne’s are all part of the church, born and raised that way, just they were also raised to know how to fight demons as well. Not like Supernatural since the family are in fact all religious and part of said church, though I think Jason and Tim would be pretty agnostic yet still stick with the word since it works. They’re more of the belief that god exists and that’s why his image and words are able to be used but that humanity often twists things so not everything in the Bible is sound to them.

Damian on the other hand literally takes the Bible as gospel so there is a lot of religious guilt for him, but he also reads it so often he actually KNOWS what the Bible says so he’s not a bigot and doesn’t condone bigotry in the name of God.

(Cough cough… unlike modern day..)

This is going to take place in like fantasy 1920/30’s. I say fantasy because Damian would unfortunately be hate crimed but the setting and fashion of the 1920/30’s is what I imagine so creating a fantasy universe where the appearance is just of 1920/30’s like every isekai where they’re in medieval Germany or something LOL

Jon would 100% be over the moon about being in a contract with Damian, and he truly does think Damian now belongs to him and he belongs to Damian. So in his own demon brain they’re totally married. Even if Damian tells him they’re not. With suspiciously red cheeks…

Damian not seeing it, but when Jon fights other demons he’s always always protecting Dami.

He’s being mocked by other demons and threatened and Jon is just cocky and more dangerous about it.

Having no issues sending them back to hell, he doesn’t want to go back to a place without Damian.

Maybe he wanted to stay with humans because he just wanted freedom, but he found himself wanting to be shackled to this human that seems annoyed with his very existence

Also for people wondering about Bruce’s Jewish heritage, in this AU Martha was unfortunately converted through marriage as was the times, but Thomas was never forceful about it. Society is just crap when it comes to the religious views of others.

And most of them say they’re catholic but really they all have their personal relationships with religion and they just use the name Catholic because it’s easier and part of their duty.

It’s why Damian is “devout”, he 100% would explore other religions and even Martha’s history once he finds out, but he also carries a lot of pain and shame so he’s only devout as an excuse. As a shield.

Bruce wouldn’t mind if Damian wanted to be something else, but because he is a proud man and proud of the family business- Damian would never speak of it or mention it so it becomes a deep seeded shame even if Bruce isn’t even in the know.

Damian wouldn’t be a Catholic in any other context I don’t think either. What I like exploring about his character in my aus is finding different ways for him to exist in a way that I could believe.

Being born and raised into a family that are all religious and hold you to certain standards will have you conform to such things especially given the time period.

For him, he didn’t have a choice between following the family traditions or being excommunicated and losing his family.

He’s not catholic in the traditional sense, there’s a lot of religious guilt in place for things like that and also his sexuality.

In this au he researches many religions as a hobby but can’t actually convince himself to leave. It’s a huge mental block, and also it’s even harder to really decide what is the truth and what isn’t when he’s faced with demons every day so he focuses on what he can.

JonDami au but Damian is a devout catholic priest who goes around exorcising demons and ends up on a farm to stay the night on his journey but discovers that the son named Jon was dying until he got better seemingly overnight. It is revealed that Jon has been dead a while but a demon took over the body and enjoyed being a human and didn’t want to be a demon anymore and ‘Jon’ told him he could have his body since there wasn’t a need for it anymore and he just wanted to move on peacefully.

And Damian is like “you cannot stay with this family. You are a demon.”

But Jon doesn’t want to go back to hell, and he seems kind of desperate and adamant. Especially in the way where Damian can see it’s not for malicious reasons. Jon has a genuine fascination with the human world.

So the priest sighs and forms a contract with Jon (kissy kissyyy), making Jon his familiar and he had to help him with exorcisms and sending demons to hell.

It’s incredibly blasphemous, but the dynamic works, and Damian didn’t lose any holy power either. Still keeping his divinity as he has a new demonic partner.

[kommandonuovidiavoli]

When the whole family has your back…

I swear this is funny in my head with my context, ignore that I haven’t introduced adult au design for half these people, pretend you know who is who…

[apollo-just-ice]

Love that I had the thought “hmm well some of this stuff in my fic might not be completely accurate :/“

But then I reminded myself it’s like a totally self indulgent written for *me* thing,,, like yeah! It doesn’t have to be perfect, I am writing what makes my heart happy! That is all that should matter really!! And so now I feel okay, honestly. Good job, me.

That rly is an important thing to remember when creating things, is that foremost it should be making you happy, no matter inaccuracies or popularity or anything else

Also an essay of my thoughts about writing a pmd fic below in the tags hahah oops:

[lightseoul]

HOLD ME CLOSE (HOLD ME TIGHT) (3.8k)

pairing. k. bakugou x reader

synopsis. masaru has a stroke that nearly kills him. bakugou handles it well—until he doesn’t. (read on ao3)

cw. pro-hero!katsuki, aged-up (32), established relationship, mentions of illness, themes of grief, discussions of past trauma (bkg's)

a/n. i hope y'all cry because this made me cry lmao. writing really is easy if you take heavy inspiration from your personal experiences lol. this is written from bkg's pov, and serves as a mini character analysis as well ig?

bakugou remembers it clear as day.

it was only a few weeks after the two of you celebrated his 32nd birthday in a secluded resort out of town when he got the call.

he was in the middle of chastising his klutz of a sidekick’s ear off for forgetting to submit an important case report when his phone started ringing, and the very fact that it wasn’t your ringtone further soured his already worsening mood.

with a final reprimand laced with an hr-appropriate amount of expletives, he dismissed the rookie, leaving him alone in his pristine, corner office.

he recalls sighing in annoyance upon seeing the caller id, as well as his clipped tone when he greeted the old hag with a curt, “what.”

that annoyance was immediately replaced with alarm, however, when his usually bright mother spoke into the microphone, her typically level voice shaking with unmistakable fear.

“it’s your father, katsuki…” she started, and he instantly braced himself for the impact.

mitsuki takes a shaky inhale. “…he’s having a stroke. we’re on the way to the hospital. please, come here.”

he didn’t need to be told twice.

he remembers being on autopilot—the entire way to the suburban peripheries of musutafu where his parents decided to move after he got his own place at the age of 22. he’s not entirely sure—the journey over now a hazy blur—but he might’ve sent you the link to his location, because you magically arrived at the local hospital around fifteen minutes after him.

the moment he saw you burst into the entrance of the emergency room, a huge, tidal wave of relief immediately washed over him, he thought he could’ve collapsed. the second you lock eyes, he witnessed a whirlwind of emotions dance across your beautiful features, before you ran over to where he stood near the vending machine, unceremoniously crashing into his arms.

at that point, he had no idea what made you drop everything—including the precious work that you do—and just follow him based on an ambiguous gps locator he sent you without context, but he was glad you did.

because it was only as you held him so close to you all the while soothing his back and chanting soft ‘it’s okay’s’ in his ear did it hit him.

the fact that he’s fucking terrified.

it must’ve been at least three hours of stewing in tense silence in the emergency room’s waiting area before the two of you finally saw mitsuki.

he remembers the way his heart ached when he first laid eyes on his mother, someone who’s typically radiant and spirited and happy, now looking too frail and painfully vulnerable.

words weren’t exchanged as the three of you walked towards each other, and he promptly engulfed his mother into a tight hug before he could talk himself out of it.

“how is he?” he whispered into the side of her head, choosing to ask then, in the middle of a hug, because he didn’t know if he could stand the look on her face when she answered.

“he’s alive,” she managed to get out, but she said it so tentatively that he knew it was too soon to feel any sort of relief.

“but…?” he recalls asking with bated breath.

“it was a hemorrhagic stroke. it’s… it’s bad, katsuki.”

it wasn’t until a few more hours later, when the two of you were finally granted permission to enter masaru’s hospital room together with mitsuki, did he realize what bad meant.

some parts of this story are blurry now, but the way his stomach dropped at the sight of his father remains to be unforgettable.

the sight of him paralyzed, head to toe.

masaru remained confined in the hospital for a few weeks more after that. the three of you took turns—one would go home to clean up and catch some sleep while the remaining two kept watch and assisted the man.

you almost got booted out of there on the second day, with the nurse saying only immediate family was allowed due to overcrowding in the hospital, but bakugou was quick to step in and say you were practically married.

when the nurse politely pressed for more details while looking pointedly at your ring finger and the lack of a wedding band, he lied and said you forgot to wear it in your rush to get there.

she didn’t seem too convinced, but she thankfully let it go, probably because it was #2 pro-hero dynamight who said so, eventually exiting the room after checking masaru’s vitals.

he remembers you heaving a sigh of relief once the three of you were left alone, tossing him a small smile that sent a familiar shot of longing straight to his veins.

one day, he recalls thinking to himself, you will be married.

just—not now.

the first day home was as much of a nightmare as he expected it to be.

growing up, and until that moment, he never really found himself wanting siblings.

sure, it got pretty lonely during his childhood, but he almost always had kids following him around what with how flashy his quirk is, and he had izuku, which he can now admit was (and still is) his best friend.

plus, you always said you loved how he’d roughhouse you, which you chalked up to him being an only child and not having had the opportunity to do that with anyone else.

but, as the three of you struggled to lift masaru out of the car and into his newly minted wheelchair, he remembers wishing for a brother or a sister who could lend a helping hand and make sure all of masaru’s numb body parts were carefully looked out for.

it’s fucking hilarious, how he didn’t just lift his father all by himself with his pro-hero muscles, but the fear of accidentally hurting him even more turned out to be more paralyzing than he anticipated.

not that he would ever admit that to anyone.

not even you.

but as he watched you and his mother fluttering around, tending to masaru’s needs not even a minute you get in the house, it struck him that maybe he should.

you might not be his sibling (thank god, no), but you will most likely become his parents’ daughter if things go his way.

and, whether he liked it or not, he’s got to do something about the growing ache in his chest that’s only growing wider by the second.

the next few weeks he spent busying himself with the stuff that came with looking after a stroke patient.

mitsuki, who’s done nothing but throw herself into caring for her husband, insisted on helping him find the people they needed, but bakugou didn’t even let her get a word in.

when he tucked himself into bed right next to you later that night in his new bedroom (you moved in with him to his parents’ despite his protests), he recalls ranting about how the old hag was getting on his nerves with her inability to just let him handle shit.

“have i ever been incompetent?” he huffed, turning on his side so he could lie facing you. “it’s like she doesn’t even trust me.”

“i think the two of you just want the same for the other, kats,” came your steady yet gentle voice, not missing a beat and totally unfazed by his petulant behavior.

“…waddya mean?”

you reached out to caress his cheek, and he remembers how soft your fingers felt and how his eyes momentarily fluttered close at the warmth.

at the sight, you flashed him a sad smile before pressing on.

“you’re both hurting, but the two of you would rather carry the weight by yourselves instead of burdening the other. it’s how you and mitsuki show you care.”

he didn’t say anything after that.

at least, for a while.

finally, he spoke up. “…i just don’t like to be bossed around, is all.”

to that, you only tossed him a knowing look. “yup, just that. definitely. never mind your immense sense of responsibility and the stubborn yet admirable way you carry everybody’s bur—”

“yeah, yeah,” he cut you off before you could ramble any further. “i get it.”

seemingly satisfied, you grinned up at him before pulling him close, cradling his head by your chest.

with the new position, he could feel your familiar, rhythmic heartbeat.

your heartbeat that he liked to listen to for reassurance—telltale evidence that you’re alive and right next to him, and that no villain has wrestled you out of his firm grip.

and as he lay there snuggled into you and listening to the consistent pulse, he found his frantic, loud thoughts slowly but steadily being lulled to a hum.

thoughts that he knew you’d kick to the moon if you found out he’s been thinking them.

thoughts like maybe he’s just selfishly gatekeeping all the tasks so he could distract himself from the pain that’s threatening to swallow him whole.

thoughts like maybe he deserved this for all the wrong he’s done growing up.

thoughts like maybe his mother would be in far less pain if it were him instead of his saint of a father who had to go through this.

he fell into a fitted sleep that night.

after a few more weeks of searching for and screening applicants, and with your and mitsuki’s approval, he finally settled on a stay-in caregiver and physical therapist.

it took quite a while for the two to learn the ropes and master how he wanted things to be done around here, but they eventually got there, and when they did, they cleared a lot of stuff that has been on everybody’s plates ever since masaru had the stroke.

with that, mitsuki insisted the two of you go home to your shared condominium and get back into working full-time again, but neither of you relented. he tried to get you to return, not wanting to hold you back from the important things that you do, but you were quick to dismiss him.

he didn’t tell you then and there, but he secretly wished you would.

he’d never confess this to anybody, but he’d definitely crumble without you around.

he remembers one specific thursday, when you first started getting masaru into exercising his left, albeit non-dominant hand, by drawing.

it was silly, but he recalls not even being able to look his father in the eye as the two of you sat across from him who was plastered in his wheelchair, a small coffee table between you, on which sat a piece of paper, a pencil, a box of crayons, and an all might plushie you swiftly grabbed from his bedroom.

and as he sat there avoiding his father’s gaze, he watched you as you talked animatedly to the man, explaining the deceivingly simple activity: he just had to try and draw the plushie, after which, if he still had the energy, he could color in using the crayons you dug out from bakugou’s drawers.

but masaru wasn’t having it.

the man only stared at you in disinterest as you tried your best to engage him. despite himself, bakugou felt indignation creep up his spine.

he knew. fuck, he really did. after he made sure you’ve fallen asleep, he had spent nights researching his father’s condition, poring over mountains and mountains of information all in the name of being able to better understand and help him.

so he knew—he knew that strokes, especially severe ones, can cause noticeable changes in one’s personality, at least in the short term. it can turn someone sensitive and in tune with others’ emotions into someone who’s apathetic and seemingly self-absorbed.

still, that knowledge doesn’t stop him from jumping on his feet when masaru, his kind, sweet father, angrily wiped off the table with his left arm, sending the materials you worked hard to gather scattered all over the floor.

and, before he could stop himself: “hey!”

you were onto him in an instant, a soothing albeit restraining hold on his shoulder. “katsuki, it’s okay.”

he was about to open his mouth to spit venom when he felt you tighten your grip. he didn’t have to glance at you to know you were looking at him the way you always did when you were begging him to stay quiet.

and because he loved (loves) you, he did.

and as he wordlessly picked up the papers and pens in silence, he couldn’t help but mourn over his father, and the patience and calmness that characterized his being.

the very patience and calmness that he always wished he had, instead of his temper and aggressiveness, because that’s what you, of all people, deserved.

and then the all-too-familiar guilt hit him again.

because why was he acting like his father died, when he was still very much alive?

simple, bakugou thought to himself.

it’s because it feels like he has.

his relationship with masaru didn’t get better after that.

he’d been trying, he really had been. if not for you, who’d been tending to his father like he was your very own, then for his mother, whose fatigue and sadness have been chipping away at her by the minute.

he was washing the dishes in the kitchen after you’ve had dinner—all the while his parents watched tv in the living room—when you walked in, a couple more dirty plates in tow.

he wouldn’t have noticed he was glaring down at the brick of butter on the shelf if you didn’t point it out.

“a few more seconds and that’s gonna melt,” you quipped.

he looked back at you, gears in his head turning for a beat, before he chuckled half-heartedly and turned back to the sink.

behind him, he recalls hearing a click, which he now identifies as you putting down the plates on the kitchen island, before he felt your arms wrap around his middle, encasing him in a hug.

your voice was smooth when you drawled out, “what’s going on in that pretty little head of yours, baby?”

still, and despite all the shit that’s been going on in his life, he still found himself shuddering at the pet name.

“nothing.”

“really?” came your immediate response. “because i was getting kinda jealous with how hard you were staring at that butter.”

at that, bakugou couldn’t help but snort. you followed suit, that delightful laugh echoing across the small room.

“stupid,” he simply retorted, although both of you knew there was no bite to it.

you didn’t press him for more after that, choosing to just hold yourself against his back in comfortable silence—which he now knows he’s grateful for.

because at that time, he couldn’t have told you he was feeling nothing but resentment for his pitiful father.

his pitiful father who loved to put butter in virtually every dish he whipped up.

his pitiful father who probably wouldn’t be pitiful if he just led an active lifestyle, monitored his health, and made better choices so that his poor mother wouldn’t have to go through all this.

his train of thought was interrupted, however, when a pang of that same old guilt hit his chest, and then he was once again flooded with scalding shame.

because what else should he be feeling for his father aside from empathy, as someone who has had far too many brushes with death itself?

“…katsuki?”

he recalls jolting ever so minutely, before turning his head to look at you, who, by then, was already standing behind him, apparently already having released him from the hug.

“huh?”

“i was just asking you,” you continued as if he didn’t just zone out. “our friends want to come by and visit, if you’re okay with it. is that alright with you?”

the last thing he needed was for his nerd-ass friends to visit and witness his family’s dirty laundry, which would inevitably be aired out for them to see given the circumstances. his entire life, he always, always, kept those from prying eyes, even if they were his closest buddies’.

but, at the mention of his friends, he found his heart clenching in yearning despite himself.

and so, before he could talk himself out of it, he nodded in approval.

“…and so that’s how i saved the little girl who was convinced i was the bad guy!”

he remembers everyone in the room erupting in laughter at kirishima’s story, even masaru, who’s been steadily gaining control of the left side of his body back.

his right has seen little to no improvement, but you and mitsuki have been making it a point to celebrate every win, no matter how small.

at kirishima’s gag, bakugou himself couldn’t help the somewhat imperceptible smirk that encroached on his face, which izuku, unfortunately, caught sight of. the #1 pro-hero beamed at him, and it took bakugou every ounce of self-control not to roll his eyes at the nerd.

“what about you, midoriya-kun?” asked mitsuki, who’s seated on a stool right beside her husband, who’s nestled comfortably in the reclining chair you got him about a month ago.

at the call out, the green-haired man shifted his attention to the lady, before sheepishly retorting with: “oh, i just try to be funny.”

that granted him his round of laughter, and this time bakugou finally allowed himself to give into the visceral urge to roll his eyes.

he must’ve been being so obvious with his expressions, because it’s you who managed to catch him again, shooting him a chastising but nevertheless playful look.

before he could wink at you or do anything in response, though, he recalls mitsuki standing up quite abruptly, startling the five of you.

you shot her a question before anyone else could. “what is it, mitsuki-san?”

“i didn’t notice! we’ve run out of tea and snacks. sorry—” she leaned down to get the trays, “—let me get some mo—”

“i’ll do it!” volunteered the ever-good-natured izuku, who moved so fast the plates were on him before the rest could blink.

“i’ll help the nerd,” bakugou added, standing up before taking some of the cups from his rival lest the latter drops them.

at the uncharacteristically generous offer, izuku once again beamed at him, which bakugou immediately dismissed with a wave of a hand.

the short trek to the kitchen was quiet amidst the background noise, which has been brought up a notch thanks to kirishima’s vivid storytelling.

without a word, bakugou gestured where to get a refill on the snacks while he busied himself with brewing more tea.

the silence that engulfed them was comfortable—familiar—that was, until, izuku broke it.

“thanks again, kacchan.”

bakugou felt his eye twitch at the nickname. “for what?”

izuku turned on his feet to regard his best friend, a grateful smile gracing his boyish features. “for letting me and ei visit. i just wanted you to know i appreciate it. i’m sure it’s not easy having guests around while, you know…”

he wasn’t about to tell the nerd he and kirishima were the only ones he felt comfortable enough to visit at the moment, so he merely nodded.

(un)fortunately, the greenhead took it as a sign to continue.

“she’s been amazing, huh?”

bakugou met the man’s soft gaze, which was directed toward you.

“yeah,” came his sure reply. he remembers not even knowing where to start, so he just simply left it at that.

a pregnant pause.

“you’ve been doing great, too, kacchan.”

that caught him off guard.

he must’ve looked stunned, because izuku shrugged quite timidly, before: “we all see how hard you’re working.”

the #1 pro-hero hesitated for a moment, as if debating whether or not to say the next thing, ultimately deciding for it.

“…but don’t forget to take care of yourself, too, alright?”

and just as fast as he scooped the trays back in the living room, izuku patted him on the shoulder before taking the cups from him and waltzing rather clumsily out of the kitchen.

later that night, bakugou found himself unable to fall asleep.

it’s been ages since you both got into bed, and you were now on your side with your back turned against him, probably already fast asleep.

he recalls just staring up at the off-white ceiling, playing back in his head the earlier conversation he had with izuku again and again and again.

“you’ve been doing great, too, kacchan,” was what the nerd said.

if he only knew.

if he only knew the terrible thoughts that had been plaguing his mind since shit went down.

there’s a reason why he hasn’t said a single word about the things he’d been thinking since day one.

there’s a reason why he’s kept all of this shit to himself even though they were fucking heavy to carry all on his own.

it was because he was scared of them, and even more scared of what people would make of him when he finally verbalized them into existence.

what you would make of him.

he’s spent most of his life running away from who he used to be, that the mere thought that he might have just always been that guy this entire time is like a fucking 100% detroit smash to the gut.

he didn’t even notice he was crying until he felt a single tear go down the side of his face.

he quickly reached up to wipe it away.

to his horror, he felt you shift beside him, and he found himself frozen in fear as he waited for you to settle into another position in your sleep.

but that didn’t come.

instead, he remembers so, so clearly how you turned to face him—absolutely, evidently wide awake—with such a worried expression on your gorgeous face, and how he just completely lost it at the sight of you.

he remembers how you scooped him into your arms as ugly sobs finally wracked his body, how you led his arms to wrap around your waist to help anchor him as he cried into your chest.

he remembers the soothing circles you rubbed on his back as you started to cry with him, your sniffles the only thing he heard aside from his own weeping.

he remembers the way your voice cracked when you started whispering ‘i’m here’s’ in his ear. and, he doesn’t know if it’s because that line carries a massive fucking weight for him, or that it’s you—the love of his life—who’s saying them, but the words wash over the entirety of his exhausted body like a violent storm, leaving him shivering in its wake.

he remembers deciding then and there, that he was going to tell you everything.

maybe tomorrow, but not now.

for now, and in the safety of your arms, he finds himself finally allowing the grief—the grief that he’s unknowingly been trying to tamp down—to come forward and make itself known.

tagging. @bunnysaursushii @yawnzzzzzzzz @cholios @kashee-h @iluv-ace @lotuslovers @elarakive @sugurusmoon

˖⁺‧₊ as always, reblogs, replies, and tags are appreciated <3 have a nice day!

[caffinated-squid]

The Eltingville club- consumerism, control, and how they relate to Josh Levy

So initially I wasn’t going to talk about Josh because I have seen his archetype multiple times and it felt self explanatory, as well as not really having much to say on him as a character, but I still want to give it a shot. So I am going to talk about 2 things: what Josh represents in fandom, and how that intersects with his relationship with his parents.

Starting with the basics, even though all the characters collect figures and memorabilia, Josh is the most obsessive about it, which can be seen in how he goes to several fast food stores for toys to complete his collection, later tearing through several loaves of wonder bread for a card in Bread and Suck Asses, and refusing to eat anything other than Batman Kraft Mac n cheese in the hopes of getting a new figurine.

On surface level, a lot of Josh’s behaviors reflect the overconsumption aspects in toxic fandoms, the need to spend everything to finish a collection, even if it is something they don’t even like. But I also think that its a way for Josh to have something that he doesn’t have a lot of in his life: control.

As much as Josh owns and collects, as much as he knows about trivia, he is unable to control how other people view him, which becomes more of an emphasis when taken into account that Josh (next to Jerry) is usually bullied the most. He has no control over the club, as Bill constantly reinforces his status through making sure that he gets to decide how the day is planned and what they are going to do. No matter how much he knows about comics and sci fi, he will never get hired at Joes because Joe sees him just as another source to get money out of.

I think the collecting allows Josh to have some say in how things go, same with his writing of superhero fan fiction, it gives him the ability to decide what will happen without being questioned.

*This can also apply to how he treats people in customer service, considering how he talks to them and how he treated the seller from As Seen on TV. These people can't lash out because if they do, they will get fired, and only exist to Josh as someone who he can tear into without consequence.

In this case, it is probably why Josh never got better as a writer, along with his own entitlement, he probably saw any criticism as an attack on him, and he already gets shit on daily by pretty much everybody. The only way he could find a way around this was to force people to have to deal with it out of spite, which can be seen in the epilogue as he goes on a whole speech on how when he finally gets in with the desired group of people, he can finally force people to accept his work as canon.

Josh’s parents also play a role when it comes to his consumerism and how he interacts with people. Although they are never seen, the pieces of information given (Josh having the most money to spend on memorabilia, their willingness to let him keep spending money and continue his terrible diet, giving him punishments for his behavior but still being very forgiving as they still let him interact with the club even though that’s usually how he gets into trouble) give more context for why Josh is so quick to anger and entitled, he is used to getting what he wants with little to no resistance which is something that Bill constantly challenges.

Though there is definitely a shift in this behavior after the events in This Fan, This Monster. Out of all the characters that get yelled at, I would say that Josh’s is one of the worst. You can see that his parents have reached their breaking point, and possibly have a lot of built up resentment towards Josh that is finally being let loose as they tell him they would rather be dead and blame him for his mothers heart attack.(as well as their own regrets of how they raised Josh being blamed on him) It is a personal attack that is directed towards Josh, and this is one of the only times that he doesn’t respond with hostility.

The one thing that Josh lacked which he needed the most to improve was some degree of self-reflection, as well as needing to accept that he can be wrong. The epilogue shows he did neither of these and instead doubled down. He may have gained more power, but has not gained any sense of self or respect to others, and will probably be treated as just another disposable piece in the comic industry.

[bibliophilesince2003]

Transformers One In-Depth Review

Transformers One is a must watch.

I’m tired of seeing a bad review go towards a movie that is actually extremely well done, especially if the reviewer hadn’t taken the time to watch it or considered the trailers enough content to draw a review from.

Seriously, it was so refreshing to see a new take on a franchise that has been around for years. In my personal opinion, it’s better than re-makes that offer even less room for creativity.

I am a huge Transformers fan. I grew up with Transformers Prime, and when I was older, I watched the movies. I’ve watched other shows here and there, and while I may not be a complete expert, I know the lore well enough to have been heavily, emotionally impacted by Transformers One.

I’ll start with the "non-spoiler take" followed by the "spoiler take” which will be “hidden” for those who do not want to be spoiled.

"Non-spoiler" take...

Peter Cullen’s voice is legendary. Chris Hemsworth himself acknowledged this in an interview, mentioning that the goal was to “re-create” and “do something new.” He intended to represent a “youthful, brash, and cocky version” of Orion Pax before he was known as Optimus Prime. This is a realistic representation. In Transformers Prime, Ratchet states that Optimus Prime was more like Jack in his youth. For those of you who don’t know, Jack is a strong-willed, selfless, but slightly impulsive teenager, as all teenagers should be. It is clear that Hemsworth has evaluated “hints” that other movies and shows have provided. Hemsworth wanted to “lean into” a more serious voice towards the end of Transformers One. He insisted “he wouldn’t dare mimic Peter Cullen.” I highly respect his choices, and he does not deserve the amount of hate thrown at him. Now, Orion Pax also comes across as a humble, soft-spoken character in other movies and shows. However, I can see why they would lean into his impulsiveness to better highlight and contrast the relationship between Orion Pax and D-16, especially as D-16’s true colors show. More about that in the “spoiler” section, though!

No, it would not have made sense for Orion Pax to have a deep, majestic voice. That comes with experience; that comes with hard decisions. Quite honestly, Hemsworth is pretty close to what I had imagined Orion Pax to sound like. It’s still slightly deep, and very soothing.

The character development in this movie? Oh. My. Word. Guys, as a writer, I can say that subtle character development – the best kind – is not easy to do. In Transformers One, it flowed naturally. It made me smile. It broke my heart. If you’ve seen other Transformers movies and shows, brace yourself. If you haven’t, still brace yourself. Again, more about that in the “spoiler” section.

The humor in the trailers has been re-posted so heavily I think it’s beginning to lose its effect and people, not knowing the context, are quick to judge. Yes, Bee is funny. It’s Bee. He’s supposed to be lovable, humorous, loyal, and powerful. I found no issue with most of the humor coming from him. There is more humor that is not mentioned in the trailers that is really worth chuckling over.

Finally, the fight scenes were clean, the animation was captivating, and the incredible Brian Tyler produced musical masterpieces for most every scene, some of it connecting to other movies and shows.

"Spoiler" take, now!

I expected to dislike Elita. Really, I did. I knew she was the “love interest” for Optimus Prime beforehand and expected big things from her, because Optimus Prime never struck me as having a “love interest” in the past. Not only that, but I expected her to be the female character I seem to find everywhere these days who strives to be better than everyone else without a lick of experience, complaining about the male figures in her life.

Elita, however, is ambitious. She leads. She doesn’t have to prove anything; she’s simply willing to work hard and do her job. Understandably, she gets upset with Orion Pax and the others when they interrupt her progress, though I can’t help but be amused by Orion Pax’s shy attempt to get her attention and adored his subtle acts of kindness. Sure, she’s a tad bit aggressive – she did punch Orion Pax, after all – but I really enjoyed seeing her adapt. When Orion Pax was feeling hopeless, she was there to encourage him. If she had stopped talking immediately after saying “I’m better” I would have been frustrated. Orion Pax and D-16 are the main characters in Transformers One, after all. She didn’t stop there, though. She highlighted the most important aspects of Orion Pax; his good heart, selflessness, and bravery. She told Shockwave and the others to shut up and listen to Orion Pax when they doubted his plan. She encouraged him to speak louder when others couldn’t hear him. She leaned towards the pit when Orion Pax fell.

Not only that, but Orion Pax was incredibly patient with her. He woke her up when she was unconscious and immediately took a punch to the face like a champ. He gently, subtlety smiled at her when they traveled to the surface and Elita announced "it's beautiful." He cried out her name and pushed her out of the way to save her during a battle. He listened to her. He told her to beat Arachnid “gently” when Elita managed to detain her, proving he fully understood Elita’s personality.

I’m sorry, but this kind of relationship takes the cake. If they’re meant to be a couple, I can see the signs. I love how well they work together and build each other up.

Bee is an icon. One of my favorite scenes is him eagerly saying to Orion Pax “I’m going to go cut these guys up, watch! C’MERE!” It’s like a proud kid trying to get their parent to watch. I love how loyal he is to Orion Pax right off the bat.

While they changed some lore in Transformers One, they included everything that was important. Orion Pax and D-16 are miners, but it seems Orion Pax may have been a clerk beforehand. When he broke into the archives, he seemed to know where he was going. When he ran, I can’t remember exactly, but I believe he was muttering numbers? I don’t mind the small twists and can see how they were necessary for the story; key details are kept.

Jazz and Ratchet mention! I was so excited to hear their names. Kind of wish they had shown Ratchet, maybe shouting “I needed that!” to a fumbling worker. Sorry, Transformers Prime reference.

Arachnid had an incredible design.

Sentinel is a well-written, hate-worthy villain. I… did not expect D-16 to rip him in half, though.

Also… can I just mention how epic that particular scene was? The switch from D-16 reaching his peak character development – showing no mercy – while Orion Pax reached his – making the ultimate sacrifice to preserve life and do things the right way; receiving the Matrix of Leadership. The music, the animation, the slow-motion… everything was incredibly cinematic.

Obviously, D-16 took things too far. I appreciated the fact that he didn’t just wake up one day and decide to be evil. It took time. It took motivation. Obviously, any sane person would stand with Optimus Prime, though he does make mistakes from time to time, but it was incredibly neat to actually appreciate D-16’s insight in the beginning, then notice the shift and feel every bit of emotion Orion Pax felt.

People say the ending is rushed, or that D-16’s change came too abruptly without any good motivation. Sure, the ending may be a little rushed, but movies are typically structured this way. Falling action does not have a set speed; it just needs to be well done. Bad things happen in a rush, and this leaves ample opportunity for the “good guys” to react a little too slowly. As for D-16’s motivation… even a person can take their worship of an item or figure too far. Megatronus was someone to look up to in D-16’s eyes. He agreed to Orion Pax’s plans, or at least tolerated them, but his admiration for Megatronus was his own interest. Orion Pax threatened that vision. D-16 wanted to kill Sentinel to satisfy his own needs and desires, not to liberate others. Sentinel deserved death after committing murder, yes. He didn’t, however, deserve a public execution, especially as he tried to get away and was relatively defenseless. Remember, Sentinel told D-16 and Bee that he would execute them in front of everyone. We can acknowledge his promise as brutal, so shouldn't D-16's actions be considered brutal, too? No "reason" could ever justify it.

When D-16 let Orion Pax drop, he proved he no longer cared about loyalty. The least he could do was hoist Orion Pax’s body up or break down after losing what he once called his best friend, but he didn’t.

It’s ironic… D-16 said “I’m done saving you” when in reality, Orion Pax was trying to save D-16 from doing something he knew D-16 should have regretted doing. Normally, yes, D-16 is the voice of reason, but not in this case. For once, this is where Orion Pax’s true personality shines through. His spark – the spark of a Prime – is in the right place. Orion Pax puts joking aside when serious matters arise. It seems D-16 didn’t really know his friend after all. The actions D-16 committed, my friends, are not actions you want to celebrate.

I really, really hope Transformers One gains more attention. We need the sequel! Transformers fans, tell your friends. Give an honest review, which are of more value than the reviews given by those who didn’t take the time to watch it. Hype it up and roll out!

[veinsfullofstars]

For marxolor!

💝

💓

👀

🥄

Oh, wow… a whole batch of ‘em! Really giving me a run for my money, Anon, haha! (Maybe I should’ve put a cap on how many can be submitted at once… ^^’ ) Don’t worry about it, though, I think I can manage this one. Let’s see…

6. 💝 What is each person’s love language (words of affirmation, acts of service, giving gifts, quality time, and physical touch)?

18. 💓 How did they tell their friends that they were together/do their friends know or is their relationship a secret?

I haven’t really talked about how Marx and Magolor meet in the CFAU yet... mostly because it’s, like, a Whole Thing™. A story I was working on well before the CFAU was even conceptualized and practically a sub-AU in and of itself. It’s also… very work-in-progress and very not finished yet (kinda fell on the back burner once the other AUs took precedent, oops ^^’ ). Just know that the boys get the slow-burn treatment something fierce. Seriously, they don’t even get to the QPR stage until some time after Mags returns from purgatory, and even then only after some lingering baggage is dealt with…

Anyway, to make a long and incredibly complicated story short, they figure it out eventually (idiots-in-not-quite-love style), keeping it a poorly-guarded secret when they inevitably end up back on Popstar. Then - after a bunch of [REDACTED] happens, a crisis is narrowly averted, and things get sappy and cathartic - Marx just kind of… blurts it out, completely unbothered, tired of all the hiding and running and keeping secrets (at least for today). It leaves the Dream Land 4 in varying shades of surprised (or not surprised) and Magolor in a single shade of mortified… though not for too long. After all, it’s not like it’s the worst secret to even come out about him, and certainly not one he should be ashamed of.

When they have a moment to talk about it later, it might go something like this:

Mags: I can’t believe you did that. In front of everyone. Without even asking me first. Marx: Heh, sorry. Got caught up in the moment. I mean, you try keepin’ a secret like that after almost dyin’, hehe… Um. You’re not… actually mad about it, are you? Mags: … *sigh* No. It’s fine. I’ll be fine. Heh, honestly? It’s… kind of a relief.

9. 👀 What do other characters think of their relationship? Do they approve or disapprove?

To tie in with the previous question, how about some more ✨ non-canon interviews ✨? (Fair warning - this is happening after the end of a story I haven’t told or finished yet, so these answers are probably gonna be vague as hell and very out-of-context.)

Bonus interviews with some folks who find out much later:

22. 🥄 When they’re cuddling together who’s the big spoon and who’s the little spoon?

Marx has more of the “big-spoon energy” between them (though good luck getting Magolor to admit that), but trying to cuddle with his wings is… not ideal, as the raw magic that perpetually leaks from them is enough to overwhelm Magolor’s finely-tuned senses (like staring into a spotlight from inches away or walking into a very saturated perfume department). Besides, Magolor is the one with hands around here, so the role of big spoon tends to default to him anyway. Marx doesn’t mind so much, trusting the wizard enough to feel comfortable (even safe) curled up against him. Magolor - who’s still recovering from a life of being a socially-distant, touch-starved hermit - is always a little worried he’s doing it wrong but gets better about it with time, which is nice.

Sketch started 03/13/25, finished 03/18/25. | Kirby Ship Ask Game (made by @/sweetandglovelyart) and alternate questions | Childhood Friends AU Masterpost

[remus-poopin]

There's this underlying theme of motherhood being under-looked in Harry Potter - Voldemort underestimates Lily, Molly is seen as this frumpy housewife, etc... and JKR thinks she's blowing everyone out of the water by then making motherhood the single most important thing i the story!

Yet! Not a single working mother! In the entire series! "The struggles of motherhood" is JKR's favourite card to invalidate trans women's experiences, and yet she seems to have an (unsurprisingly) narrow mind when it comes to what motherhood can look like.

Here's an example that comes to mind: in the context of the second war, with Remus being a man persecuted by both the Ministry and Death Eaters for his condition and position in the Order, there was no reason for him to marry Tonks. I'm not talking about "building a family" or "being together", I'm talking about signing wedding papers.

Personally, I think JKR places a weird amount of value on traditional marriage, and upholds the ideal of a nuclear family above all things. She could not have Tonks giving birth a baby without being married to a man first.

YEP!

For the Tonks/Lupin issue you can’t even blame this fully on the fact it’s being written in a children’s book because JKR’s description of their relationship later on pottermore falls into the same traditional (and honestly puritanical) traps. And like you mentioned, this doesn’t even make sense for their story/relationship. (there’s an implication that they were only just friends until that confrontation in HBP and were never actually together or even hooking up. Most remadora shippers, like myself, tend to not like this version of events because it makes their whole marriage/relationship look a bit ridiculous. Tonks’ behavior in HBP comes off a lot different if they never had any romantic interactions at that point. It also seems odd that they would get married in less than a month of being together if they were strictly platonic up until that point)

And yes her view of motherhood is incredibly limiting and a bit revealing. In general it’s used as a tool which to measure her female characters by: The non maternal/improperly maternal women are clearly marked as villains (Rita Skeeter, Umbridge, Petunia, Bellatrix, Marge), the maternal ones are seen as demonstrating proper femininity and are therefore good (Lily, Molly, Tonks), women who were looked down upon previously get a redemption arc focusing around this (Narcissa) (Fleur can also fit into this category as she takes on a Molly like role in DH) and the women who don’t have kids but are still supposed to be seen positively look after kids to some capacity (McGonagall)

Her use of motherhood in the terf rhetoric she spreads is stemming from a similar idea. Gender essentialists tend to highlight female suffering as their primary justification for their exclusionary behavior, whether this suffering be biological or societal. Suffering and pain is used to define femininity itself. Suffering, female suffering, is noble, divine, inherent, and honorable. Motherhood, like you mentioned, is one of the biological sufferings they reference for their argument. The pain of giving birth and the sacrifice of your body and the rest of your life is noble, divine, inherent, and honorable.

In the books motherhood is suffering and motherhood is sacrifice. A woman who accepts this role of pain achieves righteousness. A woman who rejects it is selfish and wicked.

[communistkenobi]

brain damage mission impossible posting

okay there are 72 fics listed as Ethan/Julia on ao3 despite her being his canonical wife. Which like on a baseline level I understand because she’s not a character. she’s a symbol meant to represent Ethan’s desire for domestic quietude, something that is perpetually out of reach because he’s the mission impossible guy who saves the world. every time he tries to be a normal person some evil entity threatens to destroy his life by kidnapping his wife/parents/etc. But the idea of a hot/cold relationship with Julia, or them as perpetual lovers without any promise of marriage and family or even exclusivity, is never entertained in these movies, which I think cements Julia as firmly not a character. She’s not even really that important to Ethan when viewed in this context, because there’s no shades of grey allowed - he’s either a full time spy or he’s a retired husband. He won’t even take “scraps” in the form of casual sex or infrequent clandestine loving hook-ups, even in contexts where that wouldn’t put her in any danger. the only two horizons of possibility for him are marriage or volceldom. the films make the case that you can’t really have any work-life balance, but the “life” part of that equation is just full-package white heterosexuality. And they don’t even make it seem that appealing honestly, like in the third movie when Ethan tries to retire he’s clearly not comfortable and on edge all the time and abandons it at the drop of a hat (almost killing Julia in the process). But every time she appears in these films after they break up he is deeply distraught about it - like god does Tom Cruise sell the “we can never be together” look of abject longing he does whenever their characters collide. He sells the intense emotional stakes despite the lack of normative sexual desire to go with it.

Because what’s also crazy is that Ethan as a character doesn’t really express any sexuality in general - most of it is extremely restrained, confined to caressing a woman’s face or accidental physical closeness (like landing on top each other during a fall, etc). It’s always hinted at but never really develops into anything, and even in later films where it’s clearly shown that he and Ilsa have something going on, they barely touch. Like most of it is communicated through emotional glances and long pauses of them staring at each other. Clearly the misogynistic spectre of “men and women can’t be friends without eventually fucking/dating” is present in this, but the conclusion of that heteronormative configuration is never paid off with sex. And this is despite women’s bodies being shown off constantly in these films, like there are a lot of unjustifiable and disgusting shots of women’s asses and legs especially, but they are pure “eye candy” for the audience, they are rarely if ever framed as being attractive from the perspective of Ethan, the principle POV character of every film and the character that audiences are clearly supposed to connect with.

And in those moments where women’s bodies are on display but Ethan is not paying attention, there is a clear separation between the director’s and Tom Cruise’s vision of these films. Like he is entirely in control of them at this point given he is the driving force behind them, all of these films are sold on Cruise doing some insane stunt like holding his breath for six minutes or climbing the exterior of the tallest building in the world or him doing 109 HALO jumps to get the best footage for a mid-air struggle over Paris. He does shit no other actor does, he sells it by making it ‘real.’ The films also narratively revolve around him - he is, to use direct quotes, “the living manifestation of destiny,” “the embodiment of chaos itself” and so on. He is the emotional and narrative centre of gravity. Ethan’s emotional states, his desires, his tribulations and internal conflicts, they are all that matter in these films. Basically no one else is a character. And he doesn’t fuck in any of these movies! He's a hot-shot spy but he isn’t a ladies man. Women fall over themselves for him but he’s not interested in them. The only exception is Ilsa, but that is clearly the result of her saving his life multiple times and their emotional trust in one another. Like these films have action movie levels of misogyny, sexual objectification and narrative discarding of women and all of that, but our main hero doesn’t really “partake” in any spoils of triumph or whatever gross horseshit is usually in these things. So to me this indicates a general lack of desire on the part of Cruise to “indulge” in any of these tropes, something he has the money and power to force on screen if he wants it to happen (which is what happens in many movies! Including these ones, only you just see a woman’s ass disconnected from any character’s sexual intention - the sexual intention is purely presumed on behalf of the audience).

I think this is aesthetic evidence that Tom Cruise is gay. But I still don’t really care about any of the guy characters either because they also aren’t characters, so Benji/Ethan is entirely uncompelling to me in a way that Ethan/Julia isn’t, not because cookie-cutter heterosexuality is “more interesting” but because there is something weirdly restrained and emotionally repressed about it that feels strangely uncomfortable with its own cookie-cutterness. so personally if you want to do Benji/Ethan in an interesting way I think you need to contend with the bizarreness of Ethan/Julia, OR, you deal with the narrative tension of Ethan/Julia itself by focusing on it. I am obviously biased in that I am extremely partial to a good “lovers doomed to be forever apart” thing (and these movies are NOT good examples of this), but their relationship is purely emotional and purely based on repression of a desire for intimacy as opposed to sex, which feels weirdly out of place in an otherwise titanically normative action film series. AND ITS MAKING ME CRAZYYYYYY!!!!!!!

[fortemelody]

okay so like… imma say something maybe perhaps perchance controversial and hot-takey relating to sonic. and i’ve wanted to say this for awhile but didnt wanna get canceled becus it’s something that’s sorta difficult to convey through text…

i remember seeing a year or two ago that quite a few people thought shadamy was wrong simply becus amy reminded shadow of maria in SA2. so basically implying that like if amy is reminiscent of maria, this “inherently” means that shadow thinks of her also as his sibling of sorts.

but i honestly think this way of thinking isn’t correct. if you think about this in any context rather than this fandom then my point will be simpler to understand. for example, you can think to yourself “wow my partner has similar traits to {insert person here} in my family” WITHOUT thinking of them as the same person. acknowledging a parallel in personality should not be off limits when comparing someone you share romantic love with and someone you share platonic love with in my opinion, unless you’re the one constantly choosing to say/act upon that fact in an intentionally weird way.

we also don’t really know *exactly* what shadow was thinking in this exact moment, other than the fact that amy’s kind words changed his perspective and motives, which was the main point of that cutscene overall. it could very well be possible that shadow is experiencing some form of underdeveloped love for amy in that moment, but even he doesn’t know what kinda of love that may be becus he’s spent his whole life just traumatized and not exposed to relationship and friendship status quo of the outside world.

and may i remind you that shadamy is not the only ship to do this… so that argument really doesn’t even work?!? sonadow, probably the most popular ship ever in sonic, does this too. that official japanese art/story with shadow looking at the blue shoes references the parallels between sonic and maria i believe, along with MANY fan works i see regularly.

i’m glad the shift in shadamy has become apparent after TMOSTH and the twitter takeovers. i honestly change my opinion quite frequently between seeing this ship as more platonic or more romantic, but i wanted to still defend it nonetheless becus i find it quite ridiculous how much backlash it got for the stupidest things.

and in case this wasn’t clear- I DONT SUPPORT INCEST AND THIS POST IS NOT TRYING TO EXCUSE INCEST IN ANY WAY. i really just think that characters can be more complex than some people initially interpret them and so to quickly shame others based on these conclusions feels very odd to me.

[dramaticpandabear]

Alright so I want to add my own two cents to the latest Simon and Betty news from episode 8.

Already I’ve seen so many people talk about how their relationship could be toxic. However, to simply label it as such just because we got more detail completely misses the point of what their love story represents for both their characters. Their relationship isn’t toxic — it’s just a tragedy.

Yes, I agree with you guys — there is a bit of a power imbalance and implied age gap. But that doesn’t mean their relationship isn’t healthy. The main trait that is toxic is their co-dependency for one another as they become too blind in their passion that they cannot envision living without the other. Going to any extremes necessary to be together again.

That is the common theme of their story. This is why their love is a tragedy and it is what fuels both of their character arcs.

But we already know this. I personally love episode 8 because it gives us a glimpse of a “what if” for Simon and Betty. Besides the negatives we discuss earlier, they have mutual respect for one another. Betty idolizes him, but she also doesn’t shy away from pointing out new ways of thinking that he never considered. Simon doesn’t take advantage of this. In fact, he respects her knowledge and even goes along with her suggestions during their expeditions because they worked, even if they were a bit unconventional.

Also, to simply negate their relationship and label it “toxic” after being given this context completely undermines Betty’s character. She knew he would pick up the book they both reached for, so she left a note — knowing he would find it. And it worked.

Once they confessed, yeah, she could’ve still left for the Outback. I’m sure Simon would’ve let her go since they established they care for each other. He probably would’ve planned a trip to go after her. But the crucial detail is that she chose to stay.

And that is in line with her character. Time and time again, Betty has always chosen Simon before herself, even to her own downfall. There’s even an AT episode where they address this! To ignore this aspect of her character removes her agency. She chose Simon above all else, even at the start of their relationship! She chose him, and he chose her.

Who knows, maybe if the mushroom war never happened and the Simon never found the crown, they would’ve lived happily together. But their love story is not toxic — it’s a passion that would’ve been so lovely and pure had the circumstances been right. And that’s why it is a tragedy.

Not toxic, just a tragedy.

[transient-winds]

HI YES HELLO I’M ALIVE and the yapping is back (it never left)!!

Just when the summer bbq is concluding. 🥹

Uhh looking back at this post, it’s highkey a sako character analysis post in disguise. Spoilers Ahead for Wind Breaker Chapters 160 & 161! (as promised with doodles)

This last panel with everyone toasting to each other feels like the end to the Summer BBQ event, at least to me. *shakes and wails off into the corner*

So many friendships being strengthened, healing/healed and being made in this one event is making my heart do somersaults. GAHHH!! I would’ve loved if we stayed in this wholesome moment a little longer if it is the last but oh well at least these recent two chapters have given me two things to brainrot about for a while. 🤧

Sako Kota and his relationships

Hooray!! We finally get to see the (much needed) closure of HiraSako’s *gestures wildly* everything, in that moment my spirit synced up with Inugami. 

I’m sure it doesn’t take a genius to point out Sako had an unhealthy dependency towards Hiragi from when they were kids up ‘til the Shishitoren arc. On the surface level, Sako’s reasons for getting back at him may seem very immature and they are but I also see where it stemmed from. Hiragi was essentially the first to take a chance on him when he was at his lowest and gave him a chance to better himself.   Hiragi to him was the pinnacle of strength and security, his guiding light (Chapter 15). He likely thought that even when things change, he would always be by his side because with him, he’s safe—with him, he’s strong. Stronger than he was before, someone who wouldn’t let bullies trample over him.

So when the latter told him he was following Ume and that he should follow his own path, which is normally very inspiring, Sako took it as abandonment. In his eyes, his pillar of strength was no longer holding up the weight of his (Hiragi’s) own roof but rather someone else’s (Umemiya’s’) and he was left in the ruins (dramatic ass analogy I know but it works).

“If Hiragi had been the source of his strength, then if he beats Hiragi that means he’s reclaiming that strength as his own right?” was what probably went through his head when he started picking fights and joined Shishitoren.

His reliance on Hiragi was still there but now it was twisted and he likely started hating himself for having been content with remaining a follower. If you asked my personal thoughts about this, I would say it was unfair. Not just for Hiragi bearing the weight of his unreasonable expectations, but also for Sako himself whose helplessness as a child manifested into the ugly beast that is emotional dependency. 

Deep down, he was still the same hurt child who couldn’t fight back against his bullies and needed someone to support him. When that support came and fell through, he thought defeating Hiragi was his way of proving to himself that he can stand on his own without relying on others. The point when things finally climaxed (aka the Hiragi vs Sako fight) was the moment when Sako had begun letting go of his heart demons. Turns out he just needed to have a talk or two with Hiragi. Communication and respect are the keys to any healthy relationship after all, even if said communication is thru fists but they are delinquents so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. 

With that tangent on Sako’s previous ideologies out of the way, another thing I noticed in his official apology was that he called Inugami “kohai” and also like other things he said, but mainly that part. Maybe I’m reading into it or im late to the party, but me thinks he was somewhat of recluse in Shishitoren. Like sure, he wouldn’t be outright hostile but he wouldn’t be actively making friends either.

When Inugami first appeared and was very comfortable talking to him, it made me think “ah this is Sako’s new bestie when he came to Shishitoren, it’s good someone was there for him while he was gunning for Hiragi”.  But with this new context, in my head it makes sense if he only joined because he wanted revenge so he likely wouldn’t have reached out if he was so fixated on his goals. And with the whole uh pre-Shishitoren arc Choji and Togame thing going around, yeah I wouldn’t also be eager to make be friendly with them too. But somewhere along the way he got attached to them, he just didn’t realized it at the time.

After Bofurin bulldozes in with their life changing fists and kicks, Sako leaving wouldn’t have been a hard decision for him to make since (1) he’s got presumably no friends and (2) he wants to wallow in self pity alone for a good long while. Then comes crashing in sweet boy Inugami and honestly? I don’t blame Sako for spilling his entire backstory on the guy. I mean look at his face!! 

He’s Sako’s emotional support dog. 

Anyways, in my heart I’d like to believe Inugami was the second person to reach out to him. Offering him another chance to lean on support and start anew on learning to be okay with accepting a hand or two but not to the extreme. Trusting others and letting people in again, but also learning to trust in himself too.

And so far, things are going pretty well for him. Found family within Shishitoren, got someone who’s unafraid to keep him in check and repaired his relationship with Hiragi & his other childhood friends! Throwing all the confetti and sweets for him <3

HOO-WEE THAT WAS SO FUCKING LONG 😭😭 

I wanted to add more to this latter half of this discussion but the Sako-brainrot took over, so i’ll just briefly cover my thoughts on Sakura’s progress.

Two words: SAKURA’S GROWTH! 

HE IS BLOOMING IN THE SUMMER HEAT OF JULY, HE’S RADIANT AND HIS SKINS GLOWING AS HE SMILES, IM SMOTHERING HIM IN A PILE OF FLOWER BOUQUETS -*ahem*

Sakura really has come a really long way from the person he was 4 months ago and it’s a real tear-jerker. Even if he didn’t say it to their faces directly, he called his class his friends and he hangs out with the others (their allies) on his own whenever he has the time. Sakura’s getting comfortable with all of them and I cannot believe that after 160+ chapters this is the first canonical mention of the “stray cat” analogy. His first year and he already won the hearts of so many people, deserved really 🙌. 

Honorable mentions:

The Kanuma and Suo reunion I’ve been waiting for 👏👏. But it’s not enough,, so I’m gonna post a doodle of their mini interaction to satisfy my craving for enemies to friends and/or lovers suonuma 🏃🏃

!!Togame and Choji apologizing to Kaji!! I almost forgot Choji completely trashed him and other Furin students on his way to the school.  

This panel is my everything, it’s so sweet like y’ALL I’M HERE THINKING ABOUT WHO KNOWS HOW LONG YANAGIDA AND MATSUMOTO HAVEN’T SEEN AND TALKED TO THEIR CUTE KOHAI WHO FOLLOWED HIRAGI AROUND LIKE A DUCKLING. IM UGGHHH- *stumbles to the ground and wails pathetically*

Sugi? Sweet boy, what are you contemplating about 👀? If you asked me, I hope it’s about Sakura AND/OR will be relevant to the next arc of the series because my body is simultaneously ready and not ready for new antagonists.

—

Once again singing my praises to Nii-sensei, their team and the official english translation staff. My head is constantly in a spin for these characters and their interactions with one another. And thank y’all for being patient with me for this post and for reading til the end.

[wordpress-blaze-241687080]

American Arcadia Review: A Captivating Blend of Dystopia and Deception

Introduction

In a world where surveillance saturates every moment and freedom is a manufactured illusion, American Arcadia offers a vivid, unsettling exploration of human autonomy. It’s wrapped in an irresistible retro-futuristic aesthetic, one that immediately sets it apart from most modern puzzle-platformers.

Developed by Out of the Blue Games and published by Raw Fury, this cinematic experience was released in 2023 and is currently available on PC. It challenges players not just to survive, but to outwit a system built on layers of performance, manipulation, and control. The result is a compelling blend of narrative tension, mechanical precision, and visual storytelling.

Thinking of playing it? Grab American Arcadia on Fanatical. It supports the site and keeps the reviews coming.

Game Overview

American Arcadia is a hybrid experience: part side-scrolling puzzle-platformer, part first-person narrative adventure. Players switch between two protagonists. Trevor, an unassuming citizen of a simulated utopia, and Angela, a rebellious technician aiding his escape. This dual-perspective gameplay anchors the entire experience.

As their paths intertwine, the game explores themes of surveillance, media manipulation, and the illusion of choice. It’s not just a story about breaking out of a system, it’s about realizing you were part of a performance all along and choosing whether or not to keep playing the role you were given.

Gameplay Mechanics

The core gameplay loop in American Arcadia oscillates between tense platforming sequences and intricate environmental puzzles. Trevor’s segments are presented as classic 2.5D side-scrolling sequences that emphasize stealth, movement, and environmental awareness. His sections often involve avoiding drones, triggering setpieces, and manipulating objects to progress.

Angela’s gameplay shifts to a first-person perspective. Her role is more tactical, hacking systems, rerouting surveillance, and guiding Trevor from behind the scenes. The contrast between their gameplay styles adds a natural rhythm to the pacing, and the game smartly knows when to switch things up before either format wears thin.

What stands out most is the synergy between mechanics and narrative. Each action reinforces the game’s central premise: that everything you’re doing is being watched, measured, and framed for an audience you never agreed to perform for. Even the puzzles, while never overly difficult, carry thematic weight. They feel less like arbitrary obstacles and more like narrative extensions of the system Trevor is trapped in.

Art Style and Atmosphere

Visually, American Arcadia is striking. Its pastel-soaked, retro-futuristic palette recalls 1970s advertising and mid-century optimism, creating a world that’s both welcoming and unsettling. The city is clean, symmetrical, and full of charm on the surface, until you look a little closer and realize how artificial it all feels.

Trevor’s world is built to feel staged. Characters wear fixed smiles. Public screens flash with controlled messages. Every room looks designed by a set decorator rather than a city planner. In contrast, Angela’s side of the world is dark, sterile, and utilitarian. It’s a place of cables, concrete, and control panels— more backstage than reality.

Lighting plays a significant role in reinforcing this divide. Warm tones and natural light dominate Arcadia itself, while harsh fluorescents and cold hues define the control rooms Angela operates from. The game uses visual contrast not just for mood, but to reflect the broader themes of control, appearance, and authenticity.

Environment and World-Building

The world of American Arcadia doesn’t just support the narrative, it defines it. Every space Trevor inhabits is part of a controlled set, carefully maintained to serve the illusion. From parks to office buildings, each location feels overly polished, like a commercial for a city that doesn’t really exist.

NPCs behave like actors. Conversations feel rehearsed. Background characters repeat movements in ways that only become unsettling once you notice the patterns. They’re deliberate reminders that Trevor isn’t living a life. He’s performing in one.

As the story progresses, the environment begins to fracture. Cracks form in the clean veneer: protest graffiti, abandoned props, malfunctioning machines, and hidden passageways. These details aren't front and center—they’re embedded, subtle, and easy to miss unless you’re looking. But they sell the idea that Arcadia isn’t just a fake city but a failing show.

Angela’s spaces, on the other hand, serve as a stark counterpoint. She moves through tight corridors, security rooms, and server halls. It’s a world of utility and oversight, but also one with rebellion buried beneath the surface. The further you go, the more the environments shift from clean control to controlled chaos.

Sound and Music

The audio design in American Arcadia is as deliberate as its visuals. Period-appropriate tracks blend with ambient synth layers to create a soundscape that feels both familiar and uncanny.

The soundtrack shifts with the mood. Light funk and upbeat commercial jingles play in the public spaces of Arcadia, reinforcing the illusion of comfort and control. But during chase sequences or backstage segments, the score tightens. It moves into tense, layered electronic tones that mirror the narrative's unraveling.

Voice acting is strong across the board. Trevor's weariness and confusion feel grounded, while Angela’s urgency keeps the momentum going. Secondary voices, the studio director, background actors, even automated announcements, add to the world’s eerie sense of normalcy.

Every sound, from footsteps to system pings, is placed with intention. The game rarely overuses music or noise; instead, it allows silence and subtle cues to do the heavy lifting. That restraint gives weight to every shift in tone.

What Makes American Arcadia Unique

American Arcadia stands out through its seamless fusion of narrative and mechanics. It doesn’t just tell a story about surveillance — it makes you feel it. Every moment feels observed, manipulated, and framed. That tension, paired with the dual-protagonist structure, creates a tangible sense of dependence and trust. You’re never playing alone, even though you are.

Thematically, it cuts deep without being loud. It critiques entertainment culture, the erosion of privacy, and corporate overreach with a sense of style that feels deliberate rather than heavy-handed. The pacing is another high point. In a genre where narrative games often stall or drag, this one keeps its momentum and earns it.

What’s perhaps most striking is how much the game respects its players. It skips overlong exposition and lets the world speak for itself. Environments, systems, and setups do the narrative work. That quiet confidence in player intelligence is rare and it shows just how clearly the developers believed in their vision.

Areas for Improvement

As polished as American Arcadia is, there are small areas where the experience could stretch further. A few puzzles come across as overly straightforward. Once the solution clicks, there’s little resistance. This likely supports the game’s pacing, but a few deeper mechanical challenges could have added to the satisfaction.

There are also slight pacing dips — particularly in Angela’s early segments. These moments never drag for long, but the balance between exploration and urgency sometimes feels uneven. A tighter integration of her actions into the broader tension might have kept the stakes consistently high.

Conclusion

American Arcadia is a triumph in narrative-driven design. It blends sharp social commentary with responsive gameplay, a distinct visual identity, and storytelling that doesn’t just land but lingers. The switch between Trevor and Angela keeps the game feeling fresh without sacrificing cohesion. What begins as a satire of media control becomes a personal story about agency, trust, and escape.

One detail that sticks? Trevor’s voice. He’s played by Yuri Lowenthal, the same actor behind Insomniac’s Spider-Man. It’s impossible to un-hear once you notice it. And weirdly, it works. There’s something oddly moving about hearing Peter Parker’s voice coming from a mild-mannered office worker stuck in a dystopian broadcast. It adds warmth. Familiarity. Depth. So much so, we gave it a nod in our feature image.

If you're the kind of player who finishes a game and then spends hours unpacking it, what worked, what didn’t, and why, it’s going to stick with you. It’s smart. Focused. It gets in, says what it needs to, and doesn’t waste a frame doing it. In a space crowded with noise, American Arcadia chooses restraint. And that choice makes all the difference.

If you care about story-rich games, precision in design, or just want something that isn’t afraid to be strange and sincere — this one’s worth escaping into.

Source: American Arcadia Review: A Captivating Blend of Dystopia and Deception

[seilnakyle]

heeyyy, I know you're busy, so feel free to answer this whenever you want/can. why don't you like gcs? i don't read their comics so I'm curious

Hiii thank you for asking 💗

There is so much, “Gotham City Sirens” has ruined the complexity of their relationships with Selina, prior to the New 52, and is pretty much an industry plant friendship/team that made everything less interesting and usually mischaracterizes or abuses Selina for it. The name and playboy esq covers are the only iconic thing about it, and for some unfortunate reason it’s created the false perception that Harley, Ivy and Selina were friends and had always been, when in reality, before the New 52, they were NEVER friends.

Catwoman's first interaction with Harley involved her slicing Selina’s throat, drugging her, and trying to get her to kill Jim Gordon. For no particular reason.

Catwoman (1993) #82

Catwoman (1993) #83

Of course during the original Hush, Poison Ivy brainwashes Catwoman and forces her to commit crimes for her which leads to Selina almost getting killed by Killer Croc, then Harley Quinn shoots her 😭

Hush #3

THIS is toxic yuri.

I don’t hate the concept of Catwoman occasionally teaming up with rouges, or being friendly with them, but Ivy and Selina had real moral conflict too. No matter how far back we go in Selina’s history, even as a villain, she isn’t down with hurting innocent people. Harley and Ivy have different morals.

One of the more interesting Poison Ivy/Catwoman stories is from Catwoman (1993) #57, set during No Man’s Land. Where we see that theres a lot about Ivy that Selina admires, but she still wont let her hurt Gotham.

I mean Is this not already far more interesting than the “bestie” dynamic??

Following this and Hush, their relationship was shown to be on bad terms in the beginning of GCS. The “partnership” between the sirens was always meant to be temporary because Poison Ivy and Catwoman didn’t trust each other and Selina had ulterior motives for teaming up in the first place. Not to mention this whole book is just “Catwoman gets tortured, drugged, brainwashed and betrayed” 😭

But for some reason people think it’s a peak concept and want them all to be bestie weed smoking girlfriends bc they don’t have any context except the name and sexy covers. Who needs complexity?

The abuse is non stop in Sirens. Harley and Ivy torture Selina over Batman’s identity

Gotham City Sirens (2009) #2

Then she get’s kidnapped and mentally abused AGAIN for Bruce’s identity by Shrike and an old student of Ra’s Al Ghul. Because of this, Talia manages to convince an extremely gullible Zatanna, who was already in trouble for messing with memories, that the CATWOMAN the greatest thief in the world, is too easy to capture and needs to have the identity of the only man she loves (who VOLUNTARILY told her mind u) forcibly taken from her.

No, Talia doesn’t actually gaf abt “protecting Bruce’s identity” all of a sudden. This is specifically about eliminating a romantic rival and using a member of the JL to do it. Stupid.

Hating Gotham Sirens truly isn’t enough I need Selina get a gun and kill all the bitches in this book 😭

It wasn’t enough that they already tried to destroy ALL of Selina’s decades of character development by saying she was only a good person because Zatanna “fixed” her, they have to go ahead and rip away her memories of Bruce. Even the retcon of the spell only working because of Selina’s already existing good potential makes me FURIOUS bc what do you MEAN “She just couldn’t?” Without the mind theft???

CATWOMAN STOLE THINGS! And was NEVER on an evil team. WHY is she in the same conversation as villains like DR LIGHT my god why the fuck would the justice league want to mind wipe a young thief from Gotham this shit is so stupid

Anyway Zatanna, goes through with it again….

Zatanna then finds a memory of Selina and Talia that leads her to discovering she’s been played. About time.

They scrap for a second and Zatanna zaps her like a bug, Talia breaks her nose, Zatanna punches her in the face, and then Talia randomly fires missiles at Selina 😭 I hate this book man

It exploded and we see Ivy and Harley pretend to care for a second before it’s revealed she’s alive.

Zatanna returns Selina’s memories. But also offers to wipe her mind of Bruce with her consent this time. Selina rejects the offer, and things end rough between the two of them. Selina should have at least been allowed to curse everyone out tbh

Near the end of the series, we get to a point of what I think a good representation of the Sirens relationships should be like. Harley and Selina bond briefly over betrayal and love and are friendly enough. Selina and Ivy have a contentious alliance that ultimately breaks down.

After everything she’s been through, Selina “betrays” her “friends” and has them put in Arkham. Ivy is pissed and breaks herself and Harley out to kill Selina for revenge. All of this culminates into Selina explaining that She is the only reason the Bat hasn’t dealt with them himself and shes done nothing but try to help them, and we get this moment where Selina herself explains why “Gotham sirens” never made sense and was NEVER gonna work.

It ends with Selina once again dying on the cross for them as she lets them get away after attacking her and distracts Batman. If these two are supposed to be Selina’s “weed smoking girlfriends” as fanon says, then she is in an abusive ass relationship 😭

And modern Sirens content? Poison Ivy has been so defanged, Harley is Harley, and god help any character written around her, and Selina get’s mischaracterized as a selfish woman only out for herself (hq show Selina) While dc tries to give the anti-hero “villain with a heart” treatment to Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn.

Now apparently they’re going on space adventures in the new siren book. We’ve already known Dc has lost the plot when writing for Harley, but what are Ivy and Selina doing in space?! Why do we have to pause Catwoman’s already struggling solo for this slop that absolutely no one will be reading for the story 😭 It benefits none of these characters and only serves to regress Ivy and Catwoman once actually compelling relationship more.

Gotham City Sirens, they can never make me like you.

[caffinated-squid]

My Eltingville Club Crackpot Theory/Speculation

(I was thinking about this for a while but not sure if this falls under the misogyny argument. If it does, think of this as part 1/2)

I was thinking a lot about the Eltingville Club and how they became the way they were. In this case focusing on a very hyperspecific one rather than a broad summary.

In this case, this mini-essay will be less based on concrete details of the comics and more asking people to put on their tinfoil hats and listen to my crackpot theory. That being said, The Eltingville Club can be viewed through the lens of the failure of American sex ed, as well as adults not having an eye on their kids and the content they look into, all folding into how it warps their opinions on women and relationships.

There isn’t any information given on the school itself aside from characters like Bill being victims of bullying, but the US is mainly known for being shit when it comes to discussions of any type of sex ed, mainly because of the prioritization and emphasis on abstinence and scaring kids with STDs rather than actually talking about the topic itself.

* *The goal of being able to reduce sexual behavior through abstinence fails because it doesn’t actually delay said behavior, it just comes with the add on of reinforcing harmful gender stereotypes and people having no clue how their body works without it in a sexual context.

* **Also add in the context of Eltingville being a small suburb area, so these characters are stuck in a small town with nowhere to go aside from a comic shop, and probably social pariahs by everyone else not in their group of nerd friends.

It’s clear that the parents of the Eltingville Club aren’t really involved in their kids lives. Bills mom is a single mother and also implied to be abusive, Josh’s parents spoil him and lack personal responsibility for their actions, Pete’s parents both abuse and neglect him, and Jerry has neglectful parents as well. Aside from surface level, their parents don’t really want their children in their life, or wish that they were different from not meeting their expectations.

The only other adult in their life aside from their parents is Joe, who only lets them stick around because of the amount of money they drop on comics and collectibles in the store. His first appearance shows him selling adult content in the form of trading cards to children (maybe 10 years old), he doesn’t really care what he exposes to anyone of any age because the only important thing to him is profit.

From this, I would argue that Joe played a role in their lives by encouraging the club to look into content they shouldn’t be looking into, and because it is alongside content they already enjoy, it makes it easier to consume and gives them the desire to have more of it.

I partially bring this up because a lot of the stuff Pete is interested in (such as the gore/rape clips and gory comics) isn’t just something you find in the open, you have to go digging for it, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Joe was involved in helping to find said content/expose it to him.

With all of the factors combined, it has left the club brain rotted with a warped idea of women, specifically being that women aren’t actual people but just eye candy and mechanisms for pleasure while also having no fucking clue about sex itself (body parts being referred to as things or characters being confused at what the hell the comic is portraying come to mind.)

Joe can take part of the blame considering he has unrestricted adult content in the open, but he was probably not the sole cause of the characters turning out the way they did, again this is more of a tinfoil hat theory, it could have happened from chat forums or a variety of other things, this is just something that has been on my mind for a while.

Credit to @sapphicsandman for this as well, I referenced a lot of the things he had to say on the topic, so this did not come from my brain alone.

[merwgue]

Let’s talk about the impossible feat of loving Nesta while simultaneously shipping Nessian. Yes, it’s possible to admire Nesta’s fierce, complex, and deeply troubled character, but it becomes a mental gymnastics routine when people insist on pairing her with Cassian, the very character who consistently undermines her healing and mental health.

There’s a fundamental issue here: Nesta is on a self-destructive spiral for the majority of her arc in A Court of Silver Flames, and Cassian, the supposed "love interest," isn’t helping—he’s actually worsening the situation. Cassian doesn’t just harm Nesta emotionally; he’s also not great for himself, which turns this into the classic case of two people who are absolutely not ready for a relationship but are shoved into one for the sake of drama, attraction, or—let’s face it—trauma-bonding. So let’s get into why loving Nesta means rejecting the idea of Nessian, because at its core, this relationship is toxic.

Cassian's Actions: Love or Harm?

In what world is it okay for a man to force a woman into an intervention-style imprisonment because she’s hurting? That’s not love; that’s coercion. The moment Rhysand, Feyre, and Cassian decide to lock Nesta up in the House of Wind without any real professional help is the moment you realize how warped their perception of "helping" is. Cassian actively participates in this isolation, and no matter how it’s spun, that’s not caring for someone’s well-being—that’s control. Realistically speaking, throwing someone with severe PTSD, depression, and a ton of guilt into a glorified prison doesn’t scream "let’s heal together"; it screams "I don’t want to deal with your pain, so I’ll just shove you into a corner."

The thing with Cassian is that he keeps asserting dominance over Nesta under the guise of tough love, which, at best, is misguided and, at worst, is abusive. There’s emotional manipulation here that people often overlook. He’s constantly undermining her boundaries, trying to force her into situations she’s clearly not ready for. This isn’t about "challenging her to be better"—this is about someone refusing to accept where she is in her emotional journey and trying to rush her into healing on his timeline.

Relationships Aren't a Band-Aid for Self-Destruction

You can’t ship someone who is in the throes of their own personal turmoil into a romantic relationship and expect everything to work out. It’s not the 90s where "love heals all wounds" was a plausible relationship arc. Let’s get real: both Cassian and Nesta are deeply flawed, emotionally scarred people who are not in a position to bring out the best in each other. Cassian has his own guilt, his own trauma, and his own unresolved issues, which means that he is self-destructing in his own way too. How is a relationship built on two crumbling foundations supposed to thrive?

There’s this common trope that "relationships make people better." And sure, sometimes that’s true. The right partnership can encourage personal growth, offer support, and provide a stable ground for emotional healing. But here’s the kicker: that only works if both parties are in a place to actively support one another. Cassian and Nesta are both drowning in their own emotional baggage, and what happens when two people are drowning? They pull each other down.

It’s Not the Right Time—Or Maybe It’s Just Not Right

Let’s entertain the idea for a moment that Cassian and Nesta could be meant to be. Maybe, in another universe, under different circumstances, their dynamic could work. But in this current context, it's not just that it's not the right time—it's that Cassian is fundamentally bad for Nesta's mental health. Relationships take effort, mutual respect, and understanding. What Cassian offers is a kind of pseudo-support that's wrapped up in his own unresolved issues. He’s often dismissive of Nesta’s pain, or worse, he actively exacerbates it by belittling her coping mechanisms (however flawed they may be).

Cassian pushes her physically and emotionally when she’s clearly not in a place to handle it. This isn’t the "right person, wrong time" situation—it’s the "this relationship is unhealthy for both people" situation. To claim they’re good for each other is to completely disregard the damage they do to one another.

Cassian's Behavior: Emotional Manipulation or Love?

Cassian fans often try to justify his actions by claiming he’s trying to help Nesta get out of her destructive cycle, but let’s be real here: a lot of what he does is emotional manipulation. Cassian constantly tries to mold Nesta into the person he thinks she should be, without giving her the space to figure out who she actually is. Yes, Nesta is angry, grieving, and hurting, but instead of letting her process that pain on her own terms, Cassian’s solution is to insert himself into her healing journey as if he’s the one with the answer to all her problems.

The power dynamics here are wildly skewed. Nesta is at her most vulnerable, and Cassian—who should recognize that and proceed with caution—does the exact opposite. He forces her into situations she’s not ready for, whether it’s physical training or emotionally confronting things she hasn’t yet processed. This kind of forced "healing" is toxic. It's not love; it's domination.

Abuse Isn’t Just Physical—It’s Mental and Emotional Too

It’s easy to point out physical abuse and say "that’s wrong," but what people fail to recognize is that emotional and mental abuse are just as damaging. Cassian’s emotional manipulation—his constant pushing, his refusal to respect Nesta’s boundaries, his belief that he knows what’s best for her—are all forms of emotional abuse. He might not physically hurt her, but the way he chips away at her mental and emotional health is just as harmful.

Nesta deserves a partner who supports her healing in a way that’s compassionate and understanding—not someone who forces her into situations she’s not ready for because he thinks it’s the best course of action. Cassian, for all his good intentions, isn’t that partner. At least, not now, and maybe not ever.

Conclusion: You Can’t Love Nesta and Ship Nessian

Here’s the bottom line: you can’t claim to love Nesta while simultaneously shipping her with a man who actively harms her, emotionally manipulates her, and refuses to respect her boundaries. If you love Nesta, you want her to heal, to thrive, to grow—on her own terms. Cassian, in his current state, doesn’t support that growth. In fact, he stunts it. So no, you can’t love Nesta and ship Nessian at the same time. To do so is to fundamentally misunderstand what it means to love someone like Nesta: fiercely, without conditions, and with a respect for her autonomy.

Cassian might be good for someone else, or maybe even for Nesta in a different life. But in this one? He’s not the hero of her story—he’s the obstacle.

[shorthaltsjester]

fuuuuck your point about fjorjester fans who constantly compare them to Travis+Laura is something I’ve been trying to articulate why it bothers me for ages. Like yes, they are a very sweet couple and I love the behind-the-scenes shenanigans and discussions around the gradual development, but that’s pretty much confetti to Fjord and Jester themselves

sorry for the delay in responding to this, anon! i frequently forget that this inbox exists and this apps inconsistency w/ actually giving me notifications means it’s an uphill battle but ANYWAY. yeah no it’s truly like, it’s a similar phenomenon to some of the defences of cr3 where the parasocial aspects of cr fandom leads people to make claims about how it’s just a group of friends around a table — or in this case, just a married couple falling in love again. both of which completely dismiss the actual skills, talent, and effort which denote the successes of cr’s storytelling. because obviously the real people inform the characters in a unique way in actual play — i always think of brennan’s metaphor that characters in ttrpgs are like a kind of stained glass over the real person, a completely different and separate entity but an entity nonetheless made compelling and beautiful by the thing behind it — but to say that the success of fjord and jester comes down to the pre-existing relationship that exists between travis and laura, even when used as some kind of compliment or reason to enjoy the relationship rather than the dismissal it is often used as by fjorester dislikers, that (in addition to just, not being plausible) completely undersells how much character work both of them do to create characters who fall for each other in ways that Mean Something for the development of their characters — for example, the fact that jester spends the early campaign hard crushing on fjord but then doesn’t actually realize she capital L loves him until they’re in a relationship and she realizes that rather than the romance novel, huge sweeping romantic gestures (though fjord also gives her those) she’s learned growing up, love is being completely comfortable with the person she’s with is an excellent expression of jester’s ongoing character development with lessening her naivety while maintaining her love and whimsy. similarly, the fact that it’s two sets of Is It Too Late?s that prompt fjord into beginning to realize his feelings and then act on them; where as travis has mentioned at panels & in no longer available talks machina’s (whose number i could find for citations sake it so needed) fjord realized he might be losing something he hadn’t realized was really there during the jellyfish convo & that he was prompted to finally confess to jester and ask to kiss her because her life was at risk and that after vandran, fjord wasn’t about to let another person leave him without ensuring he told them what they mean to him, that’s all extremely important for fjords development as someone who cares for and takes notice of those around him in his role as the groups leader/diplomat/protector as well as his development towards being able to actually go and seek vandran out instead of just accepting that it might simply be the case that he’ll never get to tell him what he meant to him. none of the power of those character choices comes from the fact that laura and travis are actually married. and it’s consistently infuriating to see what is genuinely one of my favourite narrative love stories be reduced to a relationship that, aside from providing context for a crush that is also narratively grounded from the start of the campaign and (as both travis and laura have mentioned) provided travis with a lower barrier to entry re: romance in dnd, really has very little to do with the story that unfolds

anyway sorry for the word vomit op. it is early in the morning & im procrastinating grading at any and all cost. but yeah tldr: real fucking stupid to look at a story as good as fjord & jesters, as characters who develop in such a way that begets an extremely compelling relationship, and think that saying it’s bc of the real marriage of their creators is in any way a compliment.