#this post is not to single out one individual or make anyone feel ashamed for their own opinions

[impish-ivy]

Nightbringer Lesson 17 spoilers

I’m going to be honest this does not make Asmo look good, like at all.

Let me first clarify that I don’t hate Asmo, and I do not condone the way Solomon forged his pact with him. Asmo is great and Solomon was absolutely in the wrong for how he forged a pact with him.

That being said, the fandom’s reaction is both overblowing and minimizing what actually actually happened.

I will be talking about sexual harassment and assault. If that makes you uncomfortable then please don’t read further. Fictional anime men aren’t worth your mental health and wellbeing.

None of what is being said is to demean or insinuate either Asmo or Solomon is worse than the other or that your own feelings on said character(s) is wrong.

I’m going to be honest, it was upsetting seeing so many people gloss over the implications of this interaction and Asmo’s actions.

This is sexual harassment.

Asmo is sexually harassing Solomon in these screenshots. Solomon is clearly uncomfortable and no, Asmo being drunk and upset isn’t an excuse. Asmo, even when intoxicated, is responsible for the way his actions affect others.

Let me make it clear, just because Asmo was sexually harassing Solomon does not give him the right in any way to forge a pact without his consent and it’s still wrong.

There’s also a heavy implication that Amso used his charming powers on this random human. Which is gross. People don’t say stuff like “I love you” to someone they‘ve just met. It’s very likely that’s why the priest/sorcerer chased him off. This was not a consensual encounter.

People talk about how icky this scene makes Solomon look but Asmo says/does icky things as well. I felt icky reading it.

Asmo even tries to seduce Solomon, and while we don’t know what he would’ve made Solomon do, it would obviously be against his consent. Asmo has tried to use his powers to seduce MC, and depending on your interpretation, Helene as well.

The tags are full of people (rightfully) discussing how wrong Solomon was and how unfair it was to Asmo to take advantage of him while intoxicated. But I think we also need to talk about how wrong Asmo is for trying to seduce humans against their will, to seemingly boost his own ego.

This is my issue here. What both of them did is wrong. But we’re only focusing one of their wrongs. By collectively ignoring what Asmo has done, we would be condoning it. And it shouldn’t be condoned. It genuinely felt like people didn’t care because they didn’t like Solomon and not because they actually cared about consent.

Obviously I’m not trying to imply Asmo is some predator, that feeds into very disgusting stereotypes about queer men that I want nothing to do with. Asmo is a sweetheart but if we’re gonna call out how icky Solomon we should also call out how icky Asmo was.

Both of them have moved on, we should to.

@melody-ruskin has a really good in-depth discussion about Solomon here, it was released before lesson 17 but it is incredibly well written and is definitely worth a read. I can’t recommend it enough!

Please feel free to disagree with me, share your thoughts, or even post your own counter arguments. Having open and honest discussions is integral to a welcoming and toxic-free fandom environment. My dms are open to anyone.

[hallucinateonpaperspines]

Do cybertronians know about psyhological illnesses, Like PTSD, AHAD, schizofrenia,...?

I remember Readingu a post about how they didn't know that was a think and were suprises when the humans showed them ?

Cybertonians definitely have some mental illnesses, but not quite the same outlook or range that Earth does.

I think the war definitely would, at the very least, introduce PTSD/CPTSD, which we can definitely see in Arcee in the show and infer it with a few other characters. A violent war tends to leave mental scars.

However, I think that most Cybertronians would have a very selective and limited idea of mental illness as a concept, (and almost none for neurodivergence.) Cybertron in its Golden Age, the time period everyone looks up to in some form, functioned *ha* with a caste system rooted in functionalism. Your form equates to your function which is equal to your job which is where your worth as an individual and member of society solely comes from.

With that in mind, it's my own personal headcanon that anything that could potentially impede the function your frame has dictated to you could basically jeopardize, not only your livelihood but potentially your life. Anything that could cause an individual to deviate from the norm and no longer be productive in the exact specification required from your predetermined role is a glitch in the system. An imperfection that would not be tolerated or cared for.

If you were well-off enough, or the "glitch" was minor enough, an individual might be able to get away with whatever mental illness they were suffering from. However, if you're on the wrong side of the social ladder? You are fragged.

Consequently, this would have resulted in an "erasure" of mental illnesses and less understanding of them. Think back to those dark days when a sad/emotional/uncooperative woman was automatically diagnosed with hysteria. Or when asylums thought shock therapy and lobotomies were legitimate treatments? That's what Cybertron would have been like. This is a planet where shadowplay was done to opposing political candidates just because they were difficult (I still have mixed feelings about Shockwave). Mental care means nothing because everyone and anyone could be regulated to a simple cog in the machine, and good cogs don't think.

And if those cogs don't run right? Just replace them with the next version that was just forged.

Just no bueno with mental care whatsoever.

Earth, meanwhile, actually has names, treatment plans, and support groups. Random strangers encourage each other. There's empathy, there's an understanding that your disease, the mental demons you fight, doesn't define you. That people have worth on the single virtue of them existing.

We make jokes about our mental states. We find the good even in our difficulties. We explore and figure out why our minds work like this. We get help, whether through, medication, therapy, or friends that hold us accountable. We bond over that dark humor because we all struggle in some way or form and we fight to remind ourselves and others that struggling is okay. It just means that you haven't given up your fight, so you should be proud.

For Earth, mental illness isn't something to be ashamed about and it shouldn't be demonized. It's just one more battle to fight on our Deathworld.

[carnivore-voyeur]

Re: the Dave Grohl situation, I understand the disappointment that people are feeling but this is also why I say you don’t really know anyone you idolize. It’s not healthy to put anyone on a pedestal as a morally and ethnically perfect individual. I think too many people end up fawning over real, famous people because they’ve been disappointed or legitimately let down throughout their life. I think about how many times I hear fans tell their favorite musicians, “you saved me.” While I’m glad that the impact of a celebrity can be “life saving,” it also puts a lot of pressure on the individual to be perfect all the time. So when they fail to uphold that standard, it throws fans into a grief spiral so hard that they don’t know what to do with their emotions. They rage. They blame. Some get on their high horse exclaiming that “they always knew” [insert villain of the week] was a bad person, which can make others feel ashamed for liking them.

Ultimately, though, this is a personal problem between him and his family. Yes, it sucks that he cheated on his wife and betrayed his children in doing so. I’ve dealt with that. My own father is a serial cheater. He’s also a musician. That’s why I’m not shocked to find out that yet another musician was found cheating on their spouse. It’s so commonplace. I know what it feels like for your family to fall apart due to one person’s actions. So, I understand the disappointment perhaps better than a lot of people. At the same time, that man’s family isn’t my business. My mental and physical wellbeing doesn’t depend on him being the perfect person. He’s not my hero, but he’s also not the most terrible person in the world. I feel bad for his wife. I feel bad for his children. However, I’m tired of seeing post after post now saying he was “supposed to” be one of the good guys. You don’t know him or most celebrities like that.

Manage your expectations. Most human beings say and do fucked up things. Barring extreme cases, it doesn’t mean they deserve to lose everything. It does mean they need to take accountability and work on themselves. You can decide to withdraw support from someone as a consequence of their words and actions. That’s well within your right, but at the same time if you find yourself stuck in a cycle idolizing someone to the point of projecting this image of perfection onto them and then absolutely losing it as soon as they fuck up to the point of turning them into the most evil person on earth while moving onto a new idol who you then position as the new “good one,” then that’s something you may want to work on… not saying this doesn’t hurt when it happens or that your feelings aren’t valid. I’m saying this because this particular manner of positioning real people at one extreme or another isn’t healthy… or good… for anyone.

This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have standards. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t care when they do something morally or ethically wrong. What it does mean is that you need to look at every single person including celebrities who you idolize as people first and foremost, and as such you need to realize that no human being is inherently good or bad. They just exist. They are shaped by a wide variety of experiences. Some are based in privilege or access. Some are based in oppression or trauma. Anyone can say and do good things. Anyone can say and do bad things. I’ve liked celebrities who ended up doing horrific unforgivable crimes that motivated me to stop supporting their work entirely, but I’ve also liked celebrities who just fuck up and that’s disappointing but that doesn’t necessarily mean I can’t look at them anymore or enjoy their work because most people fuck up somehow.

TL;DR: You need be prepared, mentally, for someone you like or “idolize” fucking up. Doing so helps you process your feelings much better, especially when it comes to reconciling the happiness that person gave you either directly or vicariously with the disappointment, grief, and anger you may feel towards their actions.

[soreiya]

Why can't people just ship and let others ship without calling each other pedophile or slurs?

They are the fandom equivalent of Chris Sonnenburg... Stalking, harassing, and telling other fans that they are wrong for not catering to someone else's personal preferences… It all reeks of entitlement and egoism.

I can't be the only one to see the parallels.

Many of these people are not even aware of how hypocritical they sound when they make these kinds of baseless accusations. It gives off the impression of “Do as I say, not as I do.”…

I’m open about liking Varipunzel. Canonically they have roughly a 4 year age gap. By the end of TtS Varian is 16 or 17. (Some people think season 3 was longer than a year.) So according to a few bossy people in the fandom, I should feel ashamed if I age him up a year or two for a post series plot? I’m also a terrible person if I enjoy the ship in AU’s where canon ages don’t apply to anyone. There is no winning here… People will look at me badly regardless of if my intent is pure or not... So why should I care? Why should I let them taint something that I enjoy?

So if we as a fandom can’t age Varian up to ship him in AU’s then... Hmm...

Boy do I have some bad news for Varigo shippers in this case. Hugo and Varian canonically have a 10 year age gap between their respective source materials. So the Vat7K AU would be deemed immoral based on the fandom’s self imposed shipping guidelines. I doubt they would take this well at all. Haha

All I gotta say is that people need to stop with these double standards. Feign obliviousness, make excuses all day, but don’t act righteous like some kind of saint. Since everyone is bound to like something that other people would deem weird or questionable in some way. You just might not be aware of it yet.

Even widely praised canon pairings like New Dream have glaring red flags. Things that wouldn’t fly very well IRL, but they work in fiction because you have transparency. Yes, I’m being serious… Think about how Rapunzel was fresh out of the tower and had no baseline on what healthy relationships with other people should be like. It would have been easy for her to get manipulated or taken advantage of. So when people say New Dream’s age gap is okay because Rapunzel is legal, they are ignoring the fact that she has less world experience than the average 18 year old. This is a common oversight in the community. I like New Dream and even I can admit that this is a bit sketchy.

The point I’m trying to make is that every single ship has faults. No pairing is going to be loved by everyone. We should cherish our individuality and learn to be more open minded and supportive. Even to those who think differently. I'm certain that with some patience we can come to some kind of understanding of one another.

So yeah, it’s perfectly reasonable to dislike something that doesn’t appeal to you for any reason. Go forth and write full on essays or analysis posts. Do some research to try to see if you are actually right, or simple vent your personal frustrations out into the void. Just don’t be mean or make ignorant assumptions about other fans who do not share your opinions. Since there is a fine line between being a critic and being a hater.

[sanini-panini]

i mentioned i was doing this oc ask game and some friends off tumblr threw questions at me but i thought i’d cross post here for funsies (part 3)

🙈 SEE-NO-EVIL - whats a side of your oc that they don't want to show other people?

this is for all nineteen of them so. it's long.

OLD GUARD

jinal - she is so often asked to be the voice of reason that she doesn't like to appear overly emotional in front of other people. she rarely ever gets angry in public, and up until imprisonment, only a single digit number of people had seen her cry in person (kai, minerva, ridwan, silpa). that said, kai and minerva tend to be her sounding boards when she does need to vent.

haku - do you want the short list? because the long list is at least a thousand pages long. haku wears an assortment of carefully curated masks in public, all with the intent of getting other people to hate them. they play the part of the aloof seer, but no one cares more than them. you will have to pry this truth from their cold, dead body.

minerva - she hates showing any sign of weakness--including her soft spot for cute things. those closest to her know that she likes baby animals and small children, but she puts up a front most of the time. she would never admit that these things reminder her of ven.

ven - ven is all smiles in public. they'll never show when they feel hurt or angry or scared or any of the hundreds of other negative emotions. it's not that they push these emotions down forever--they just save them for later, when they can vent in private.

kai - he does his best to hide his past. he really doesn't need everyone knowing he was raised as a prince. some of this still peeks through in his formal mannerisms, however.

mateen - his anger issues :) or, more accurately, his tendency to jump to extreme courses of action at the slightest provocation. he's pretty good at redirecting himself now, but sometimes when things are bad, his old habits shine through.

ridwan - the chismosa side. they are, for the most part, a very particular individual with a fairly serious demeanor, but they are actually such a gossip like don't even get them started.

silpa - silpa actually doesn't have nearly as much self-confidence as she pretends to have. she knows she's the best there is at making gadgets and gizmos, but she craves reassurance when it comes to other things. luckily, ridwan and jinal have caught onto this.

felix - he spends so much time trying to be self sufficient and not bother the others, but he actually likes being coddled and taken care of. he'd never admit it, but mateen and ridwan are smart enough to see through felix's facade.

NEW GUARD

ilia - she has a bit of a stubborn streak and a hint of rebellion in her, but she's been raised to be straight-laced and reticent, so she hides these things away.

morgan - vulnerability. moving on.

peter - uhhhh. dude. do you want the short list? the long list isn't as long as haku's, if only because it's more situational. he's an open book in terms of his opinions, but he's always hiding his true motives--not because he is ashamed of them, but because he does not trust the others to stay out of his way.

juli - basically identical to the ven problem. he is always smiling in public because he doesn't want to bring others down with his negative emotions.

lian - similar to the kai problem. they were raised as a rich kid, and though they've tried to scrub this away, sometimes it pops out. they hate the elitism tied to their upbringing and prefer to approach everyone on equal footing.

joshua - ahahaha well. we could go with vulnerability. but the real answer is the anger issues. he thinks he's a monster, fueled by murderous fury, and every time he gets angry in public, it's a reminder of this ugly irredeemable piece of him that he cannot leave behind.

rae - erm. also the anger issues. not because his anger is uncontrollable--but because it would be inconvenient for anyone to realize that he is anything more than a mild-mannered novice lawyer with bad music taste.

karyme - the tumblrina side. her media archival work is all on a public blog, but i think if anyone found her personal ao3 account she would pass out. no one needs to know that she was a mod in a superwholock rp server as a teen.

dani - dani spends so much time being a de-facto leader in the group, but he actually... prefers to be silly and have fun. if the fate of the world were not at stake she would be one of the first to vote for hsm sleepovers and homemade sundaes, bc she very much did not get to have that growing up.

auster - hrm... i think auster has a sassy side to him that he just hasn't gotten to show yet. he has wisecracks running in his veins, but he won't use them unless he feels comfortable enough to do so.

[my-child-is]

My Child is Neurotypical

So I made a few...dozen...posts on twitter about my experiences being neurodivergent. They’re a roughly 60/40 split between being autistic and having adhd with heavy overlap. They take the form of a parent in denial saying “My child is neurotypical” and the response of “Your child is X” where X is a common neurodivergent experience phrased as if coming from a teacher.

(I’ll be updating these as I make more)

Classroom

Your child was a pleasure to have in class

Your child can’t focus unless they’re playing with something

Your child has awful handwriting

Your child is tapping their foot through class

Your child just needs to apply themselves. They can clearly do the work but keep making silly mistakes

Your child had a breakdown over not getting all their homework done

Your child is quiet and struggling to stay on task

Your child thinks school was indistinguishable from torture but struggles without the structure

Your child needs outside structure or they can’t figure out what to do first

Sensory - Sound

Your child hears the CRT TV noise (double this if they hate it)

Your child needs to cover their ears any time you use a blender

Your child wants to know where that buzzing is coming from

Your child can tell if the fridge has been opened recently from the other room

Sensory - Touch

Your child can’t wear rough or slippery fabrics

Your child hates any texture beyond flannel (any other distinctive texture works too)

Your child hates tags on clothing

Your child overheats in thick socks

Your child wears sportswear but hates sports (@checkerfired1 on twitter)

Your child thinks water has a strange texture

Your child finds showering exhausting but also doesn’t want to get out at the end

Your child can’t stand the feeling of oil on their skin

Sensory - Light

Your child sat in the dark from noon til sunset before starting their day

Your child thinks sunlight is ‘too much’

Memory

Your child forgot they were hungry halfway through making dinner

Your child has had midnight new years pass by because they forgot to wait for it

Your child can’t keep a grasp on time

Your child is confused about how it’s already evening

Your child has over 50 tabs open in chrome

Your child can only ‘wing it’ because they always forget what they planned to say

Your child made a list of what they needed to do and forgot to check it

Your child came up with a ‘my child is neurotypical’ post but forgot

Stimulation

Your child can’t focus without background music

Your child thinks everybody is exhausted after conversations

Your child drinking caffeine is like a roulette wheel in its effects

Your child struggles thinking while seated

Your child likes to constantly be chewing on something

Your child finds crowds overwhelming

Your child finds existing at night less exhausting

Sleep

Your child is reading this in the middle of the night

All of your child’s friends live on the opposite side of the world because they can’t maintain a traditional sleep schedule

Your child had midnight new years pass by because they’re normally awake well past then even as an adult

Your child has trouble quieting their brain to sleep

Dyspraxia

Your child is extremely klutzy

Your child’s phone typing is riddled with typos

Empathy

Your child felt guilty for bumping into the table

Your child is painfully uncomfortable watching shows with awkward situations

Your child cries even thinking about somebody being in pain

Your child is extremely trusting with new people they just met

Emotions

Your child has lots of mood swings

Your child hates compliments because they’re sure they’ll disappoint and alienate anyone who thinks anything good about them (from @MaebyIsSweet on twitter)

Sharing

Your child shares extremely personal experiences with people they just met

Your child can talk for hours about the same subject without getting tired

Communication

Your child learned nonverbal communication from the family dog/cat

Your child gets frustrated because people can’t understand them

Your child has been discussing the same topic for 30 minutes without taking a break to breath

Your child tends to speak repetitively - they may feel somewhat scripted

Your child feels like an alien sent to observe humans

Your child cries when instructions aren’t clear enough

Your child communes with animals because they make more sense than people

Your child doesn’t see the point of small talk

Your child finds comfort in the scriptedness of small talk

Your child is anxious about misreading people’s intentions

Your child is anxious about contacting somebody because they think it’s too last second

Your child gets frustrated when instruction manuals skip steps

Your child is constantly anxious about misunderstanding

Your child needs subtitles to hear anything

Your child has times they struggle to make words

Consistency (Anxiety)

Your child asks for the same meal every time they come home

Your child watched a single movie more than 3 times in one day

Your child feels anxious watching new movies or tv shows

Your child nearly has a stress breakdown if plans change last second

Your child’s anxiety spikes every time you ask them a question

Your child has a favourite song they’ve listened to for a week straight

Your child finds split second decision making stressful

Your child gets anxious if they don’t exactly follow their daily routine

Masking

Your child can pick up accents easily

Your child grew up wishing they could just go live in the forest away from people

Your child gets anxious when you ask aabout their day

Your child emotionally relates to fictional characters more than real people

Your child has said ‘I just don’t have the energy to act human right now’

Your child has described people as ‘just too much’

Your child was so ashamed of being different they tried to reshape their personality so people would like them

Misc ones I haven’t really sorted yet

Your child is protective and doesn’t like anybody new coming into their room

Your child wishes it was easier to get up and do what they need to

Your child is confused by how other people relate to their gender

Your child thinks their functioning is an inconvenience to people

Your child is either ‘on’ or ‘off’ and there is no in between

Your child gets stuck in excitement feedback loops with their friends

Your child is convinced they just aren’t working hard enough

Your child is on their third hobby this week

Your child spaces out randomly during the day

Your child considers every step of getting dressed an individual task they have to do (from @sisi7304 on twitter)

Your child differentiates between food they like and food they think is good (@sweetmoonpigeon on twitter)

Your child has severe imposter syndrome about whether they’re neurodivergent ‘enough’

Your child isn’t sure what they’re supposed to do to be a man or a woman

Your child’s fingers and toes change colour in the cold

[makeste]

BnHA 323: “I Don’t Know How to Explain to You That You Should Care About Other People”

Previously on BnHA: Kacchan was all, “Izuku, I’m sorry.” Bakugou Stans were all, “[sobs for a week straight and tearfully awards him the Nobel Prize for character development].” Deku was all, “[faints in Kacchan’s arms].” Iida was all, “[trying to decide if Ochako genuinely tried to kill him a few minutes ago].” Horikoshi was all, “NO TIME FOR HUGS WE MUST GET BACK TO UA.” The civilians holed up at U.A. were all, “WE TOOK A VOTE AND DECIDED THAT WE’RE ALL GOING TO BE JERKS ABOUT THIS AND MAKE A BIG FUSS ABOUT YOU LETTING DEKU BACK INTO THE SCHOOL.” Deku was all “[stands there looking like he expected nothing less and breaking my heart more and more with each passing moment].” Ochako was all, “that does it, looks like I’m gonna have to do something about this... next chapter, that is.”

Today on BnHA: Flashback!Rat Principal is all “I just want you all to know that I spent nine million dollars turning U.A. into a giant Battleship-style grid that can burrow underground and zoom around in a giant subway maze because Horikoshi lacks a grounded understanding of both civil engineering and economics.” Back in the present day, Jeanist is all, “EVERYONE TAKE HEED, MY COMRADES AND I HAVE DEEMED IT EXPEDIENT TO CONVEY THIS AUSPICIOUS YOUTH BACK TO THIS STRONGHOLD. WE ANTICIPATE THAT WE MAY DEPEND UPON YOUR GOODWILL AND ACQUIESCENCE TO THESE TERMS.” The civilians were all, “NO.” Ochako was all, “EMPATHY, MOTHERFUCKERS, DO YOU SPEAK IT?!” The civilians were all, “oh shit.” Anyway so Ochako is a giant badass, but I’m a little worried that she’s going to get struck by lightning. Please come down from there.

so before we start this chapter, I would just like to apologize for having not posted the ch 321 recap yet, and would like to reassure everyone, and especially Iida who is staring at me with Sad Wobbly Guilt Trip Eyes, that I will get to that as soon as I can

OMG FLASHBACK??

yes please Horikoshi please show us more of class 1-A and their Deku intervention strategy jam sessions

oh dear

Iida you are too pure and good for this cruel world. [sprays the U.A. civilians with a water bottle] NO. BAD CIVILIANS! NO OSTRACIZING SCARED AND EXHAUSTED CHILDREN IN THE HOUSE

EXCUSE ME RAT PRINCIPAL WHAT’S WITH THESE MIXED MESSAGES

???

RAT PRINCIPAL: he’s free to return to us at any time!!

ALSO RAT PRINCIPAL: but it’s too risky for him to return to us

?? ??????? ?????????????????????

so now he’s going on about how strong the U.A. Barrier is, and how it’s comparable to the defensive capabilities of Tartarus. this would have sounded a lot more impressive before chapter 297 lol

OH!!!! HELLO, WHAT’S THIS!!!

A TIMELY CALLBACK TO A CERTAIN MYSTERIOUS EVENT WHICH HASN’T BEEN REFERENCED SINCE USJ? [U.A. TRAITOR MUSIC INTENSIFIES]

so now Rat Principal says he upgraded U.A.’s security systems with his own “modifications”, whatever the fuck that means. I mean look, I’ve been saying for a long time now that U.A. is the best place for everyone to hole up, don’t get me wrong. but that was mostly on account of there not being any other practical alternatives. but you’re making it sound like you figured out a way to actually make it Decay-proof or some wild shit like that

-- hold up, DID YOU ADD A FORCE FIELD. DID YOU TRICK THIS SCHOOL OUT WAKANDA-STYLE YOU CRAZY MARSUPIAL. HOLY SHIT. because that would actually be perfect

LMAO

WHAT KIND OF GALAXY BRAIN BULLSHIT. “NAH THERE’S NO NEED FOR A FORCE FIELD, LET’S JUST PUT WHEELS ON IT”

oh okay so the whole campus is basically capable of burrowing itself underground. that’s insane lol I wonder how they pulled that off. probably got poor Cementoss working overtime

blah blah blah so basically the entire campus is split into a grid and each section of the grid is capable of its own independent movement. lol this is just the Merone Base from KHR. you thought no one would notice this casual plagiarism ten years after the fact, but YOU UNDERESTIMATED YOUR AUDIENCE, HORIKOSHI

“joke’s on you imma just lampshade it” WELL ALL RIGHT THEN

“look at me I’m so fucking self-aware” fucking swear to god. I can’t believe this man is my favorite mangaka of all time smdh

“excuse me, I wasn’t finished describing all the rest of this bullshit yet,” Rat Principal breaks in impatiently. “we also added a steel wall all around the underground of the campus that’s 3000 steel plates thick. that’s fifteen fucking meters of solid fucking steel just fyi. and if anyone fucks around with any part of it the defense system will activate immediately! and also all of the plates are independently motorized, whatever the fuck that means!! in conclusion you’re gonna need a fucking tower crane to suspend all of your disbelief by the time I’m through with this paragraph”

“also Shiketsu is almost as reinforced as U.A. but not quite because we still had to make sure we were better.” but of course. and apparently the two schools are connected via a secret tunnel as Hagakure mentioned earlier

LSDKFJLSDKJFLK

“WAIT WHAT” LMAO YOU HEARD HIM, NOW INASA CAN VISIT YOU BOTH IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT AND TELL YOU ALL ABOUT THE WEIRD DREAM HE HAD. GOD BLESS YOU HORIKOSHI

(ETA: moment of appreciation for Shouto and Katsuki having the same thought at the same time and making Knowing Eye Contact and saying the exact same thing out loud in perfect unison like the best friends they are. what a blessed day.)

so Tokoyami is all “but wait if you engineered all this shit all the way back during the Band arc how did you even know that Tomura’s quirk awakening would become a thing, Horikoshi -- uh, I mean, Principal Nezu”

and Rat Principal is all “lol idk”

“basically I just woke up one morning and was all ‘say, you know what this school really needs? a fifteen-meter-thick underground steel wall, and the ability to break up into little pieces that individually zoom around wherever the fuck they want.’ jesus christ. lol if money and common sense were apparently no obstacle why didn’t you just teleport U.A. to the fucking moon or something. maybe I should shut up before I given him any ideas

dsfaelkjldkjgl

you heard it here first, folks, all of this cost a grand total of nine million U.S. dollars. well technically it cost “more than” nine million dollars. never has that distinction been more important lmao. are we sure this barrier was really made of steel and not cardboard? who the hell sold it to them, Ea-Nasir??

this is my favorite manga series of all time. yes I am ashamed

“in conclusion please do your best to reach Deku-kun” SO WHAT WAS ALL THAT NONSENSE ABOUT IT BEING TOO RISKY THEN. anyway thank you for this super informative and edifying flashback, Horikoshi. I will cherish it always. I don’t even want to read another translation of this absurdity lmao, there’s something special about it just the way it is. pretty sure Horikoshi just had a cracked out fever dream one night and transferred it to the pages of the manga verbatim

anyway so back to the unruly mob

not their finest moment. please excuse me while I cover poor Deku’s ears and give him a good shoosh pap

oh wow the parents are out here too

is Mitsuki trying to hold Inko back?? that’s the last thing this fandom needs right now is more Mitsuki discourse fffwlkjs. and even Jiroudad, scientifically proven to be the best dad in all of BnHA, is just standing there silently looking vaguely unhappy. way to rise to the moment you guys

MONOMA

so this settles it for me that Aizawa is not at UA. I know a lot of people have been wondering about his whereabouts, and if I had to wager a guess it would be that something happened with Shirakumo/Kurogiri. I can’t think of anything else -- even the loss of an eye and a limb -- that would keep him from his kids at a time like this

anyway but this is excellent Monoma content right here though. I love that he apparently adopted Eri after a single interaction with her. also WHERE IS SHINSOU DAMMIT. THE PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW

and Kouta’s there too looking like he wants to run over to Deku but Ragdoll won’t let him :/

it’s gotta be pretty upsetting for him to see his hero like this and not having anyone stand up for him. [taps megaphone] IS THIS THING ON. OKAY YEAH IT SEEMS TO BE WORKING. AHEM. PAGING URARAKA OCHAKO. GONNA NEED YOU TO GET OVER HERE ALREADY AND MAKE THAT BIG DRAMATIC SPEECH WHICH YOU ARE CLEARLY DYING TO MAKE. IF YOU DON’T DO IT SOON I’M GONNA HAVE TO STEP IN, AND YOU REALLY DON’T WANT ME TO DO THAT SINCE MY SPEECH WILL NOT BE VERY GOOD OR INSPIRING, AND WILL PROBABLY JUST CONSIST OF “HELLO, YOU ARE ALL STUPID, PLEASE SHUT UP AND GO AWAY”

so now Mic is telling them to calm down. at least someone’s speaking up here, geez

OH MY GOD

MY MAN JEANIST OUT HERE DOING WHAT HE DOES BEST: MAKING EVERYONE FEEL GUILTY AND JUDGED

OH MY GOD HE IS GIVING SUCH A LONG AND BORING SPEECH LMAO IS YOUR STRATEGY TO PUT THEM ALL TO SLEEP OR WHAT

truly in awe of this man’s ability to take messages which could easily be conveyed in ELI5-speak, and stubbornly convert them into incomprehensible language the likes of which you need a graduate degree in order to understand

“hey guys, so originally our plan was to use Deku as bait for the villains, but that didn’t really work and also we realized it was kinda dumb and was probably gonna get him killed, so we brought him back here instead.” was that really so hard, Jeanist. also are we all really just gonna sit back here and watch Jeanist take full credit for Bakugou’s plan just like that lmao

(ETA:

WHERE DID ENDEAVOR GO AND WHO IS THIS DIABOLICAL MASTER OF DISGUISE. lol I genuinely didn’t notice this because I was too busy digging through thesauruses trying to rewrite Jeanist’s speech; many thanks to @class1akids​ for pointing it out and making my day immeasurably better. take it easy there Dick Tracy.)

“anyway so please stop being dicks and let him fucking rest so he can save all your ungrateful asses” what an impassioned and inspiring plea. time to see if the masses will listen to reason

narrator: they did not listen to reason

oh my god finally Ochako is doing something. YEAH OCHAKO WOOOO SHOW THEM HOW IT’S DONE

hmm

this entire chapter is truly and utterly nonsensical to me lol

(ETA: on my second readthrough I’m fucking dying at how she stole the megaphone right out of Mic’s hand lmao. and how Kacchan is all “fuck yeah nothing I appreciate more than some quality fucking larceny.”)

oh I see she was jumping on top of the main building so as to scream down at them all more impressively

“ANYWAY DEKU IS PRETTY COOL ACTUALLY, YOU GUYS ARE JUST MEAN” couldn’t have said it better myself Ochako

lol uh

gotta say I did not have “Ochako reveals the secret of OFA to the entire U.A. Citizen Clown Parade” on my bingo card for this week. it’s a bold strategy cotton let’s see if it pays off

SDLFKJSL

“NO, SERIOUSLY, HAVE YOU LOOKED AT HIM YOU GUYS. YOU THINK HE LIKES RUNNING AROUND DRESSED LIKE A RUSTED OIL DRUM?? HE DID THAT FOR YOU YOU UNGRATEFUL SLOBS”

so she is basically explaining the entire Deku Angst arc to them and explaining what a good and selfless protagonist Deku is, YES, PREACH

OMG IT’S THE GIGANTIC FOX LADY

not to insinuate anything, but what exactly were you doing standing out here with the hysterical mob, Gigantic Fox Lady? you’re better than that

-- KACCHAN SIGHTING!!

sdlkfjl. thanks for weighing in with that helpful and important observation. where have you been for the last five minutes. were you asleep. was it Jeanist’s speech

never mind, now he’s yelling at the civilians so I instantly forgive him

THE FUTURE NUMBER ONE HERO, EVERYONE. THANK YOU, THANK YOU. HE’LL BE HERE ALL WEEK

“anyway so I’m just going to end the chapter here” lmao seventeen pages truly do go by so fast. at least he didn’t try to force in a cliffhanger at the end this time. dare I say, growth

so I guess the civilians are either gonna have a Kamino and/or Fukuoka-esque moment where they remember how to be decent people and apologize to this poor young man, or else they’ll remain unpersuaded, and so Kacchan will have to knock a few of their heads around until they become more inclined to be reasonable. either option is fine by me lol

[luna--reading]

[PICK A CARD] WHAT IS COMING IN FOR ME FOR JUNE 2021?

Hello lovelies~ ♡ 

I’m finally back, I’ve been taking a very long hiatus and I’m so sorry for that~ I hope you would continue to support me and my pick a card readings!

This is a pick a card reading for “What is coming in for me for June 2021”. Please do find peace if it doesn’t resonate with you~ ♡

So take a few minutes to mediate on these 3 piles:

Left to right: 1 – 3

Once you’re ready, just scroll below to find the reading that you have chosen!

You can always leave a comment or simply like the post if it resonates with you, thank you so much~ ♡♡♡

Pile 1

The Wild Offering: COMPANIONSHIP – When you fully bless and embrace your aloneness, you’re ready for the ones who are meant to be with you. May I welcome this solitude knowing it will open the way for all healthy relationships

Psychic Tarot for the Heart: MANIFEST – The Magician

Astrological: AQUARIUS

Angel Answers: WITHIN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS

Lovers Oracle: ONLY TIME WILL TELL

Tiny Tarot: 8 of Wands, 4 of Wands, Page of Cups

General outlook for June 2021:

With the Magician and the 2 of Cups, I feel like this month is all about manifestation coming into place, and I feel like this is something that you’ve been working on for the past few months. With the Manifest card as well as the Companionship card, I can’t help but feel that this month, connections are very significant in your life. I feel like you are creating this wonderful balance between yourself as well as the people around you. This also ties in with the Aquarius card which is usually tied to the 11th House. I feel like social connections are significant for you in this month. In fact, I feel like if you feel that socially, things weren’t that great for you, then darling, everything is going to come into place over the next few weeks. I strongly feel like social connections (be it romantic, platonic or familial) are very significant for this month, or in fact, over the next few weeks. This is definitely the time for you to build on those connections around you, but don’t be afraid to set healthy boundaries as well, darling!

Love outlook for June 2021:

For my singles, I feel like you’ve been in this period of isolation or just leaving the dating scene for quite some time already. And for those who are single but are dealing with someone, some kind of like a situation-ship, I feel like there has been a period of separation, or no-contact. But darling, this month, this tough cycle is coming to an end and that there would be a new beginning in regards to your love life. For those who are single (with no person of interest), I do feel that you would be meeting someone new and things might progress rather quickly for both of you this month. But it will just feel so right and it’ll make you realise that actually, that period of hermit mode wasn’t so bad after all. Because I feel that this period of hermit mode actually made you realise what is it that you truly wanted in a relationship and it only prepared you for this significant connection that the Universe had in store for you. As for those who are single (but you do have a person of interest, or are currently dealing with someone), I feel like this period of separation has led to certain enlightenment between you and that person. I do see this person wanting to come in with an offer of love and this might be especially so in terms of communication. For those who are waiting for certain communication coming in from your person, it is coming, and it will come over the next few weeks.

For those who are in a relationship, I feel that this month is definitely important for you to build on this connection with your significant other. I feel that you might be very busy balancing your other connections that you might sort of neglect your significant other and I do see that you are asked to constantly work on this partnership with them. I feel that some of you might be having certain doubts about this connection and you might feel that some time apart is needed. What I am getting from the Universe is that, you’re asked to communicate with your partner, be truthful about your own feelings. Present yourself in the rawest and most vulnerable position, darling, this person is your significant other (for some, I’m definitely getting a very strong soulmate energy), so there’s nothing to be ashamed of for you to express yourself freely. It’s going to be a roller-coaster ride, but darling, this month, it’s going to be worth it for you. I feel like through all of this expression of love, both of you would come to this realisation that you would want nobody else but your person.

Career and Finances outlook for June 2021:

Darling, honestly, I’m hearing “there’s nothing for you to worry about” when it comes to your career and finances. I see 2 scenarios here. Firstly, I feel like if you’ve been very obsessively thinking about a current financial situation, or obsessively worrying about this situation. There is really nothing for you to worry about when it comes to this situation because while it may seem like everything is rather bleak and dark right now, things will slowly brighten up over the next few weeks. In fact, I do feel like this worry that you have is rather unnecessary, and it’s only creating more blockages for you in regards to your career and financial situation. I do feel that partnerships are important for you as well, so why not focus on your work partnerships, instead of worrying about this future that has not yet arrive. Remember, nothing is yet set in stone, and you have the power to change your current future. As for the second scenario, I’m getting very strong Capricorn vibes, so you might be a Capricorn or have Capricorn strong in your chart. But the message that I’m getting is that you might be prone to overworking yourself, or wanting to overwork yourself this month because things might have been hard on you financially and it’s creating this anxiety within you. And darling, I feel like you’re asked to just take a break. Or in fact, the message that I’m getting is “it’s okay to take a break”. I feel like you’re asked to have that work-life balance and know that it’s okay for you to just simply have fun for this month. Everything will fall in place as it should. Don’t overwork yourself, darling!

Pile 2

The Wild Offering: POSITIVITY – If you can find even one thing to be grateful for, it will restore you to the light. Please, dear God, let me always feel gratitude for something, even a tiny thing, in even the hardest situations.

Psychic Tarot for the Heart: NURTURE – The Empress

Astrological: VIRGO

Angel Answers: BIG, HAPPY CHANGES

Lovers Oracle: Be careful for what you are projecting, for the qualities you admire in one another are qualities you both possess. Equally so, the qualities you don’t like are also your own reflection.

Tiny Tarot: Queen of Wands, The Sun, The Chariot

General outlook for June 2021:

I feel like things might not have been so great for you, in general, over the past few months. And I say it, in the sense that this kinds of feels like no matter how much you try, you just can’t seem to get out of negative situations and it acts as a vicious cycle. You just constantly get beaten down by life over the past few months. But darling, in this month, I do sense big, happy changes on its way and you are asked to be positive about your future. I know things have been hard for you and I’m not saying that I can fully understand because everyone goes through different things, but trust that this month, things are definitely changing for the better. I feel like whatever that you have been giving to the Universe, you will be receiving them back. So, why not try to present a positive outlook, and to raise your vibrations so that the Universe can match these vibrations and to give back this energy to you as well. I do feel with the Virgo card, that you might be a Virgo, or could be dealing with one, or someone who is a Virgo would be very significant for you this month. But what I’m getting is also this sense of discipline, very much tied in with the 6th House, it’s important for you to change your mindset and to set out this routine for yourself so that you are ready to receive all of this abundance that is coming in for you. Darling, mindset is very important, so please remain positive and you’ll start to see these changes coming in for you!

Love outlook for June 2021:

For my singles, I feel that there is going to be someone new coming in for you this month. And I do sense that this is someone that you already know. This doesn’t necessarily have to be an ex, or someone that you are currently dealing with. But what I’m getting is that this is someone who is working on things with you, on a very slow pace. You could be dealing with a Virgo or someone with strong Virgo in their chart. But I’m getting that this person is someone who is sort of a perfectionist and they want to make sure that everything is perfect before they bring things to a higher level as time goes by. This is why I feel that this is someone who is in your immediate circle, trying to set things right first before moving things along. As for those who are single but currently dealing with someone, one message (for a specific someone, I don’t know who has to hear this, but this is for you) is that someone has been trying to change you. I feel like this person feels that they are trying to bring you to your best capabilities but darling, you don’t have to change for anyone, if you don’t want to. I feel like deep down, this person might be insecure about themselves which is why, in the name of love, they try to change you to become “better” but I see that you know exactly where you stand, and please, don’t change yourself if you don’t want to. I see that you are that confident and powerful individual and this person will start to realise that their insecurities got the better of them. As for others, I feel that the dynamics might have change between the both of you and you are feeling a little confused as to why things have changed the way that it has. I do see that you are asked to reflect on your actions and to work on this partnership, if you would want to. It’s going to take some time to let this situation return to the way it was, but I do feel that this time round, it would be way more solid and stable than it was used to. Transformation is needed in this situation, so please don’t be afraid of this change!

For those in a relationship, I see that there might be a new level of commitment coming in for you, for some, this can be a proposal, or moving in, or even marriage. I feel like in the midst of this shift from one state of commitment to another, there might be some dilemma and conflict. But darling, I do see that you are asked to not be afraid of this conflict but to face them directly. Be truthful but be loving with your partner as well. I feel like through this conflict, or whatever that is coming in between the both of you, you would start to see new things and new perspective that you’ve not seen before. And for those who are in a separation with your partner, I do see big, happy changes on its way for this connection, and that is only if you want this reconciliation to take place. Remember, you are in power and if you don’t want this reconciliation, do take yourself into consideration and say no. But for those who want this reconciliation, I do feel that it is important for you to be truthful to not only your partner but yourself, as to why this ending would take place. Only then, can you both welcome this new beginning!

Career and Finances outlook for June 2021:

I feel like for this month, your hard work will be paying off and for those who are waiting to hear good news in regards to your job, it is coming! This can come in the form of a pay raise, a new job offer, a promotion and I do see travel involved in regards to this job for some of you. I feel like this is something that you’ve been waiting to hear as well and darling, I just see you feeling very completed within your career and finances. So, I feel like if things are not going smoothly for you in regards to your career, you are asked to continue working hard. Your effort will be paying off and big, happy changes are definitely on its way. I feel like for some of you, this is not going to happen immediately for this month, but it’s going to take a few months (especially during the next Virgo – Libra season) but this is going to be so worth it for you. So please, don’t give up now, darling!

Pile 3

The Wild Offering: ENJOYMENT – Striving and pushing makes life into endless hard work. The more you’re inviting Love to take over, the more enjoyment comes. Allow me to enjoy this life, dear Lord!

Psychic Tarot for the Heart: CONTROL – Strength

Astrological: SOL

Angel Answers: WITHIN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS

Lovers Oracle: TIME – You are trying too hard. Give it time.

Tiny Tarot: The Empress, Death, The Lovers

General outlook for June 2021:

I feel like for this month, you are asked to heal. Heal from your past wounds, past traumas, past hurts. I feel like a very strong message for you for this month is to “take a break”. Please take a break, darling, and please know that you deserve this break. I feel like with both the Star and the 4 of Swords, these 2 cards speak of inaction. To me, I see the Star as you taking a step back, retreating into the back scene and simply healing. And that’s what the 4 of Swords is all about, rest. I feel like you’ve been working too hard to want to fulfil something in your life, and you need to give it some time for this to come into fruition. So, why not take a break while the Universe works things in your favour. It’s time for you to enjoy life, darling. And honestly, I feel like this takes a lot of courage and strength to even try to take a break. In our current society, I feel like people might judge you for simply not doing anything but really, that’s all they see on the surface. Do they see the shadow work that you’re doing behind the scenes, or you simply trying to piece yourself back together after being torn apart repeatedly while trying to achieve your goals? No, they don’t. And you might feel fearful to even stop because you are afraid that you would be left behind. But darling, your goals are different from their goals. Everyone has a different set of goals that they have to achieve, so why do you want to be the same as others. Please, take a break and learn to enjoy life. Spend some time with your family, friends, your significant other and even your children or your pets. You need to take a break before you can move on to the next stage of your life.

Love outlook for June 2021:

For my singles, I feel like there has been something that you are holding on very tightly to. And this can refer to something that has already ended but you refused to let it go. Or this can also refer to something that you know should end but you just refused to move on. Whatever it is, this ending has to happen and this ending will happen whether you like it or not. But one thing about endings is that, endings can only bring about new beginnings and that is something that I like about Death. Honestly, I feel like this card when presented itself, is here to serve as a reminder that there are some things that we are holding on too tightly and that it’s causing a lot of decay and destruction in our lives. And darling, I feel like only by accepting this ending, can you then bring about a new beginning. And this new beginning will come. For those who are single (and not dealing with anyone), I feel like as soon as you let these past hurts go, as soon as you gain that strength and courage to move on from your past, this new person will come in and they will come in fast. I feel like it’s going to catch you by surprise, but it will be a pleasant surprise. And in fact, I feel like this new person could be a strong soulmate connection as well. As for those who are single (and dealing with someone), I feel like this can really go both ways – either this connection ends and a new person comes in, or as you start to put in the work on yourself, you welcome a new beginning within this connection. And this really depends on how things play out between the both of you within the month. But I do see promising beginnings coming in for all my singles out there over the next few months.

For those in a relationship, I feel like you have been holding on too tightly to something. This can be a past mistake, or a past hurt. I feel like some things were not addressed clearly and it has created this burden within you (or your partner, take as it resonates). And I feel like as time passes by, this feeling only accumulates further and it’s weighing heavily on your (or your person’s) mind. I do see that you are asked to let things go, but do things slowly. It’s not going to happen overnight. Because unlike the Tower, while Death brings about sudden endings, these endings don’t happen overnight. This kinds of ties in with the idea that due to these accumulations of heavy emotions, things are slowly decaying within this connection. But let go of these heavy feelings (if it’s you) and if it’s your partner, try to talk things out with them, truthfully but lovingly. I feel like you are asked to make a decision within this month and it’s going to take a lot of strength and courage to make this decision but trust that your angels are there to protect you. So, if things really need to end between the both of you, make that decision based on what your heart wants. Your heart space will feel so much freer as time goes by. Open up your heart space and be truthful to yourself, darling!

Career and Finances outlook for June 2021:

I feel like in regards to your career and finances, a wish fulfilment is definitely on its way and I feel like this is something that you’ve been wishing for. Or in fact, you have been working on it, and this reward is coming in, in the sense of a wish fulfilment for some of you. I feel like work connections are pretty significant for you this month and in fact, for some of you, I’m getting the message that you need to balance out your work and your romantic relationships well for this month. So, maybe that is the decision that you have to make in regards to your career and romance for this month. As for others, I feel like this month, you might be seen greatly under the spotlight and this will help to bring in more opportunities for you to expand your business (for those with your own businesses) or to simply upgrade yourself within your field. I feel like opportunities are going to come in for you but it’s really up to you to reach out and to catch these opportunities. One message that I’m getting is also to be careful for what you wish for. Things may have been working out in your favour and it might seem too good to be true, but that is only because you’ve put in the hard work previously and the Universe is rewarding you for them now. So, it’s going to require hard work on your end to achieve your goals and not to simply just wish for them to come true!

[phanhowell]

Why you should watch Julie and the Phantoms right now - A mostly spoiler free novel, by me 🕺💃

Warning: this is extremely long

Representation!!! Julie Molina, the main character of this show, is Latina and her actress Madison is Puerto Rican. A non-white female lead!!!!!! Julie and her family frequently throw around Spanish lines, and it is clearly shown that they’re proud of their culture. Julie’s best friend Flynn is black as well and there is absolutely no racism in the show, in fact them not being white isn’t brought up at all. Also on the topic of representation, a gay main character!!!!! And his story isn’t about being gay!!!! More about this later. So much representation yay! And the best part is none of it feels forced.

The PLOT. This show, oh my god. It has everything you could ever need. The plot may look simple on the surface, but has so many deeper meanings hidden in there. If you want to just watch a cheesy feel-good kids show, this is perfect for you. If you want a show that’s going to make you cry your eyes out while analysing every single detail, this is also perfect for you. Anyone can watch Julie and the Phantoms and have a good time, because this show is good for all ages. An extremely telling point that the plot is perfect is that there are absolutely no fix-it fics (that I’ve seen anyway). Unlike many other fandoms where the fans take it upon themselves to ‘fix’ the writing mistakes, JATP is already exactly the way we want it to be. 

Speaking of the fandom, my next point is not about the show but the fans themselves. 6 months after the show’s premiere, we still don’t have any confirmation of season 2, but posts just keep on coming! This fandom is crazy active, and somehow after all of this time people are still posting new and exciting things about it. I have never been in a fandom with so many amazing artists, authors, detectives, and meme makers. I have also never been in such a kind and supportive fandom, and it really feels like we’re all friends here. We’ve trended multiple times worldwide just because we can, not just on Tumblr but Twitter as well, and the Instagram and Tiktok fandoms are just as active. Every social media platform has its own fandom, and yes we have our differences but we’re honestly one big family. 

This next point is one I brought up earlier, and that is the gay icon Alex Mercer. Alex is one of the main characters in the show, and he’s gay. What makes him unique however, is that him being gay isn’t at all the plot of his story. There’s no big coming out scene or a homophobic bully or anything like that, Alex is gay and proud from the very beginning of the show. Nobody judges him for being who he is and his sexuality is only brought up during one single line in episode 2. Adding on to that, Alex and his ghost boyfriend are vital to the main plotline!!! Without them there literally wouldn’t be a plot for like half the show, and instead of being thrown to the side they are actively involved in the storyline, both together and individually. Alex Mercer is such an important character for kids to see onscreen, and he is the representation so many of us needed when we were younger.

While I’m talking about Alex I may as well also bring up the topic of mental health in this show. Something I didn’t expect when I first watched the show was how casually mental health issues were treated and normalised, and how nobody is judged for it. Alex has anxiety, something he is open about and not ashamed of at all. Owen, Alex’s actor, also deals with anxiety, so his portrayal of it in Alex feels incredibly real and accurate. It’s not over the top or dramatic, but rather can be seen through dialogue and small mannerisms in the character. Moving on, Julie deals with her own mental health struggles. After losing her mum a year ago, Julie is only just finding herself again, and there are heavy references that she possibly suffered from depression after her loss. It’s said multiple times that Julie couldn’t play music for an entire year while she was still grieving, and that she saw a therapist a few times a week. This is never brought up in a negative way, and an important note to make is that Julie does not get better overnight. She’s still struggling with grief in the last episode, but by then is able to look past it and do what she has to do. She hasn’t moved on, but is simply getting better at coping. 

Of course I couldn’t make this post without including the soundtrack. These songs S L A P. They’re all bops and there’s something for everyone. Pop? Check. Rock? Check. Jazzy villain song? Double check. No matter what you like to listen to there’s definitely a song in this show for you. Also!!! The cast actually recorded the songs themselves. Instruments and vocals were recorded by them, and the songs were brought to life using ideas from the cast members. Two of them (Charlie and Madison) even wrote one of the songs used in the show themselves, which is mind-boggling to me. The talent ahh!!!

Next up we have the cast of the show. Never have I ever fallen in love with an entire cast like this one. Not only are they real life besties, but they’re so interactive with the fans it feels like they’re besties with us as well. Kenny Ortega really popped off with his casting in this show. Whilst being insanely talented actors and musicians, this cast is also just a bunch of gen z kids living their best lives, which I love. Real teenagers were cast to play teenagers, and they’re allowed to act like it!! There’s no pressure to act older than they are or to change the way they look, and it pays off in the show. Instead of 30 year olds playing teenagers and ruining the immersion of the story, these teens add to the realistic element of the show, making it fun to watch and relate to. Plus they’re all so PRETTY OH MY GOD

LOOK HOW CUTE THEY ARE!!!! Anyway

Another reason to watch JATP is for the relationships between the characters. This show is full of unique and interesting friendship/relationship dynamics, with each one being just as loveable as the next. The friendship between Julie and Flynn is so pure it makes you melt, and it sets such a good example of healthy friendships for kids to learn from. The relationships between the boys and Julie are so healthy as well. There’s 0 toxic masculinity here - from the second the boys poof into the garage they are supportive and respectful of Julie and truly become her number 1 fans immediately after meeting for the first time. The boys themselves are their own little found family, completely unafraid of showing affection to each other and letting their feelings be known. The relationship between Carrie and Julie is a bit different as Carrie is very mean to Julie throughout the show. However, she has a reason. She’s not just bullying Julie for fun, she’s genuinely insecure and feels the need to deflect onto Julie, who used to be her best friend. As of right now, we don’t know what happened between them, but there are high hopes for a season 2 Carrie and Julie friendship. The family dynamics in this show are so healthy too. With her mum gone, Julie has just been living with her dad Ray and brother Carlos for the past year, with some extra help from her Tía Victoria. This family works well, and everyone in it clearly loves each other an awful lot. Everyone is supportive of Julie’s dreams, and do everything they can to help her achieve them, even if it may seem impossible. And finally of course I can’t talk about character relationships without talking about ships. Willex and Juke are 2 of the cutest almost-couples I’ve ever seen in my life, but even if you don’t ship them (silently judging you), put 2 characters together and wow a new ship that there is definitely a stan group for. Literally any ship from this show is adorable so no matter what you want there’s always content for you. 

Something that doesn’t get talked about enough in other shows - costumes!! Soyon An (the costume designer) truly popped off with JATP. Each character has their own style and colour, reflecting their personalities perfectly. The character wardrobes also draw from the actors’ own personal styles, meaning they were all wearing what they wanted to be wearing. The characters all have their own clothing/jewellery pieces that stay with them the whole show, such as Alex’s chain, Luke’s lucky rabbit foot, and Reggie’s necklace. These open up a world of backstory that just hasn’t been told yet. Another thing I love about the costuming is that the characters all just look like teenagers. Stylish teenagers, sure, but still teens. I honestly could just make an entire post about the costuming, but I’ll spare you this time and just provide these three images. Thank you as always to the CGC discord for helping me pick some favourite outfits. 

And lastly, I’m a sucker for some good choreography, and JATP does not fail to impress. Being a Kenny Ortega project, of course it was always going to be good, but wowza. This show really has it all, featuring cheesy High School Musical-esque dance sequences to (no spoilers) jazzy and fun performances at a very special club. The choreography team worked so hard on this show, and their love and passion clearly shine through on-screen. 

If you’ve read this far and are still not convinced, please. PLEASE. Just watch the show. I’ve resorted to begging ok we NEED a season 2. It’s so short just give it a try. You can literally watch the entire show in like 4 hours. Just play it in the background if you have to. I’ll give ya a smooch. Then when you watch it, watch it again. And tell your friends :)

Massive thank you to @mouse-fantoms @animated-stardust @fireflyingaway @vioislit @beethovensbitxh @aroallosupremacy and @bexxy​ for helping me with this post. ily all. even though it was so long ago you’ve probably forgotten i was making it 

[jellysharkbat]

I’m going to preface this with: I’m not a fan of call-out posts. I’m going to post on one topic in this post, and another topic in a different post. I put up a read more so you don’t all get slammed by a all of text. Because I like to think I’m polite like that. ;)

Adding a second preface: I’m probably going to reblog or like stuff from people you may not personally agree with. I’m liking and reblogging because I like the work, not because I’m in love with the creator. People still like John Lennon’s music and he beat women.

Anyways, here goes for anyone who wants to read.

Okay, as much as I hate confrontation and do my best to avoid it, I can’t let this one lay. It’s just unfair all so many levels. I’m going to focus on Cullen, since he’s one of my favorites, and I don’t know the other characters mentioned (and those not mentioned) as well.

My, like many others, blog is nsfw. It’s 18+. I’m going to assume that anyone who follows me is an adult. And I’m going to pretend that anyone who isn’t, doesn’t. I am going to post things that are violent in nature and- here’s the one everyone’s super focused on- sex. Because I’m an adult. If I want to read about sex, I will. If I want to write about sex, I will. Because I’m an adult. And there is nothing wrong with sex.

There have been some names named and shamed for portraying characters as “hypersexualized”.

I have one answer to that: so what?

It’s no big deal if Cullen is portrayed as virginal or a sex god. He is not real. I’m going to repeat that: Cullen Rutherford is fake. He is fictional. He does not exist. He, like everyone else, is a character from a video game. We love him, but he is not real. He doesn’t have thoughts of his own, he doesn’t have feelings, he doesn’t have a life. He is a work of fiction created by Bioware.

I’m going to say this one more time: Characters from Dragon Age are not real. Stop acting like they are real people.

The great thing about fandoms is that we can take a character we like, and do whatever we want with them. If we want to fix inconsistencies that the creators didn’t, we can. If we want to fill in the gaps about their lives, we can do that. If we want to pluck them out of their canonical universe and put them in a new one, we can do that. If we want to rewrite stuff about them, we can do that. We own that creativity.

One of the biggest reasons for this “outcry” is that Cullen Rutherford was sexually assaulted and/or raped.

As far as I am aware, there is no canonical evidence to support this claim. Please feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.

His sexual trauma is something we assumed happened. We imagine that a character from a video game was treated horribly. Is it likely that this happened? Sure. I think we can all agree that it’s probable that the desire demon did more than mess with his mind. The implication is there. But we can’t confirm it. We can’t look at something and point to it as hard-based evidence. Because there is none.

We made it up.

Just like Scout Jim, we created that trauma. We want that trauma to exist.

We created it, and we can take it away.

I’m also going to say this: even if canon supported our theory, it wouldn’t matter. As fanfic writers and artists, we can change whatever we want. We can portray Cullen Rutherford’s personality, and other characters, however we want. Because he’s not real.

But the sexual assault! What about that? 

You mean the sexual assault that never happened in real life? Because he’s not a real person? It doesn’t matter.

Should we approach the subject of sexual assault with respect to those who survived it? Yes. Because that is a real, traumatic experience a real individual went through. And their experience in such an attack should be handled according to that person’s wishes.

Does that mean the moment a work of fiction which may or may not involve it, it needs to be treated like glass? No. Because it didn’t happen in real life. And since it’s a work of fiction, we as creators don’t always need to pay attention to it or make it true for every single universe that includes Cullen Rutherford.

Some people might want to portray it as real as possible, others might want to eliminate it completely. There’s nothing wrong with either choice.

I’m going to assume that a most people have never experience sexual assault and/or rape. Have some people been harassed? Unfortunately, yes. But it is not true of the vast majority of us, and harassment (while a violation in its own right) is not the same as someone physically putting their hands on you. Most of us have no idea what it is like to be assaulted or raped. None. Nothing we imagine will ever compare to the real thing. We don’t know what it’s like, and therefore we will never portray it accurately. And quite frankly, I can’t imagine anyone who would want to know. I’m happy to keep the bad portrayals because it means no actual crime happened.

Even if we did know, real people react differently. Rape survivors do not all behave one way. They do not act one way, all the time. How they respond to anything will depend on their situation, their experience, their current circumstance, their comfort. You can stick two people in a room, have those people be raped in the same exact manner, and put them in a new situation which may or may not force them to think about what happened to them. And they’ll respond differently. Because they are different people. Sometimes they want no sex, sometimes they want all the sex. And that changes day to day, like it does for many people.

To tell them that they can never act any other way is an insult to them and what they survived. You should be ashamed of implying or outright stating that. How dare you slap them in the face.

That, however, is a real person. As I said, Cullen is not real. He is written and portrayed again and again by many different people. He is always going to be different from one portrayal to the next compared to his canonical, in-game self. Are there extremes? Sure. But I dare you to show me a fandom where there aren’t extremes. And in the end, it doesn’t matter if those extremes exist.

No one is actually being hurt (unless you’re a sick mofo and like writing your irl crimes…). It’s fiction. Fake. Not. Real.

If I want to write something about Cullen being violently raped, I can. If I want to pretend he was never abused in any way, I can. If I want to imagine him being sexually crazed, I can. If I want to rip off an arm and make him a eunuch, I can.

��Because it’s all fake.

The beauty of fiction is that we created ways so people aren’t surprised by stuff they may not want to see. We created filters. We created blacklists. We created tags. Did we have to? No. You don’t go to a library or a bookstore and expect to see tags or filters, do you? Because those things don’t exist for books. You would just pick up a book and accept whatever is written inside. We didn’t have to do that. But we did. Because we want people to be comfortable, and have fun.

If you don’t like the way someone is portraying how you think- ah. That bit is important. I’m going to repeat myself again: If you don’t like the way someone is portraying how you think they should, that is on you. You have the expectation of something. It is no one’s responsibility but your own to cater to that expectation.

People aren’t creating works involving characters like Cullen solely for your, individual pleasure. How arrogant for you to think so.We are creating many versions of a fictional person in hopes that someone else might like that version and will share their own. We should not go around pretending that only one version is the True Correct Version.

That’s the kind of shit religions do. They love purity crusades.And that’s exactly what this seems to be to me. It’s not outrage because of how people portray a fictional character, it’s an outrage because some people don’t want to admit that they have a problem with other people freely enjoying sex.

You don’t own any of Bioware’s characters. You alone do not have the final say on what happens to a character outside of canonical information, or how that character should behave 100% of the time. And you have no right to harass people because they don’t have the same Vision you do.

If something like sexual assault was truly triggering for you, and not just something offensive to your delicate sensibilities, I’m going to say you probably wouldn’t search for it. You’d find ways to filter it out. And you would accept that if something does slip through, it’s no one’s fault. People can write or draw characters in whatever situation they want. You need to acknowledge that sometimes there will be something that you won’t like and if you still see it, because no one is obligated to do anything for you.

But we will, and we try. Because in general, the majority of us care. We want to have fun. We can adjust some things if asked. Nicely. Because a lot of us realize that not everyone is going to like the same thing. People are different and will have different tastes.

One more, final point: What someone writes or draws is not indicative of who they are as a person. I write and think about a lot of stuff. I’m a curious person. I want to be able to imagine what would happen in whatever scenario I create, good or bad. I have favorite characters. Because I like those characters, I like sticking them in the scenarios I create because I want to know how they would react. It doesn’t matter if it’s something soft and sweet or a rape roleplay. What that is has nothing to do with who I am. That goes for everyone else.

So let me tell you a little something about myself, since you have no other way of knowing if I don’t specifically tell you:

I am shy. I am quiet. I don’t like picking fights. I don’t speak eloquently. I am a pushover.

And sometimes- a lot of the time- I want my favorite fictional character Cullen Rutherford to act out a “hypersexualized” fantasy of mine.

[drwcn]

discordance!verse part 8(2/2): there are consequences to their actions, consequences they can’t avoid.

in which wwx is lxc’s husband through political alliance, and there is an affair.

[8.1] | [7] | [6] | [5] | [4] | [3] | [2] | [1] [synopsis] OR

see [discau tag] or [discordance navigation page] for all installments  

Both 8.1 and 8.2 are posted on AO3 Chapter 4

The verdict came at dusk.

Yinzhu, Madam Yu's handmaid and bodyguard, bows to Jiang Yanli, "Da-xiao'jie, Wei-gongzi's presence is requested."

Over at jingshi, a senior Lan disciple does the same. "Zewu-jun, Hanguang-jun's presence is requested."

.

"Not to worry, A-Xian, we will go together."

"I shall go with you, Wangji."

.

"Da-xiao'jie -"

"Zewu-jun-"

.

"- the Elders request that he goes alone."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Wei Wuxian arrives at the Lan family's sacred ancestral hall, Lan Wangji is already there, kneeling alone before the altar, flanked by Gusu and Yunmeng's elders and their stern and silent gaze. He braves it without any signs of distress. His back is straight, his posture unbent and his spirit unbroken. Like him, Lan Zhan is dressed down in a plain white robe, no guan to hold up his hair, only a bare strip of white cloth.

To see him relatively well, Wei Wuxian releases the anxious breath he's been holding high in his chest. The last thing he remembers is passing out in Lan Zhan's arms in front of Songfeng Shuiyue. They were beating Lan Zhan with the whip…they were… And then Zewu-jun had arrived.

Of course Lan Zhan is fine. He is Hanguang-jun, Gusu's Second Jade, the second ranked cultivator of our generation…Lan Zhan is fine… he's fine…

Shijie tells him it's been seven days. Has it really? He wonders. Only just? Why does it feel like a lifetime has passed?

Eyes turn on him as he makes his first step into the abbey, and he's never more thankful for the potion the healers fed him pre-emptively than at that moment. He knows he must look a sight, as much as shijie has tried to clean him and make him proper. It could be so much worse; at least he is walking independently instead of being hoisted by disciples. The mixture of milk of poppy and cannabis extract dulls the fire burning along his back just enough for it to be bearable.

Shijie was none too unhappy that he has to trek all the way to the ancestral hall by himself, but Wei Wuxian is not so bothered. When one decides to bed one's husband's brother, it is only natural that one must prepare for the possibility that one's ass is going to get flayed. The situation as it is, his affair is a thing of public knowledge and his reputation is in tatters. Once, he had boasted to Xue Yang that if he, Wei Wuxian, is the second most shameless person in the cultivation world, then nobody would dare to be first.

It was truthfully a bit of an exaggeration, for he had been a beloved ward of Jiang Fengmian, Head Disciple of Yunmeng Jiang, the son of Cangse Sanren, and the fourth ranking cultivator of his generation.

Now… now he's just a problem. Even His mother would be ashamed.

Wei Wuxian stumbles, and the sound of his shuffling steps has Lan Wangji whipping around, eyes growing wide at the sight of him.

Do I really look so awful?

"Wei Ying!" He pushes to his feet but a single pulse of spiritual energy from an elder strikes him in the leg and forces his back onto his knees again. His porcelain mask crumbles and the raw pain underneath bleeds through.

A tinge of red seeps through the white of his robes, like a plum flower blooming amidst snow.

Wei Wuxian is suddenly acutely aware of the waning of Lan Zhan's cheeks and the pallor of his skin. Lan Zhan seems subdued somehow, almost as if… he's still confined by spiritual locks.

Without his cultivation, his wounds won't heal.

Worry lances Wei Wuxian in the chest, hot and sudden. Beneath his breast-bone, his physical heart aches within its cage. Struggling another three steps, he falls gracelessly onto his knees. His breath shakes, beads of cold sweat breaking across his temple and clinging to his hairline. The potion's numbness is starting to wear off, and the wave of pain rising inside him is almost enough to topple him to the ground. Still he holds on. He squeezes his eyes shut and gathers his breath, but he knows he must appear pathetic like this, half wasted before the Lan and Jiang Elders, Uncle, Madam Yu, and all of Gusu Lan's ancestors. No amount his usual shield of devil-may-care attitude could protect him now from his own sense of embarrassment.

"Wei Ying." Someone whispers his name. A firm grip finds his elbow, pulling him up.

Lan Zhan has shifted closer, so close in fact their thighs are almost touching. Cool, gentle fingers caress his face. He holds Lan Zhan's hand out of need and desperation.

Inexplicably, the elders allow this, but it doesn't bode well. Rather than perceiving it as leniency, Wei Wuxian is seized with dread.

Kindness is something one shows to a prisoner sentenced to die.

~~~

Lan Wangji is terrified.

The fact that the elders of Gusu Lan and Yunmeng Jiang are able to deliberate and come to a consensus within half a day, that Yu Ziyuan and Lan Qiren can peacefully tolerate each other's presence without devolving into a shouting match, that neither xiong’zhang nor Jin-xiao-fu'ren are permitted to attend - are reasons for his frightful premonition.

There are candles and oil lamps lit all along the hall, illuminating the tomb plaques stacked neatly one row above the next up the wall of names.

With a nod from Madam Yu, Uncle rises from his seat and approaches him and Wei Ying. His expression is sullen and sad.

"Wangji, Wuxian. The Elders have discussed at length. Initially we had considered xiu'fu to be the most direct solution, but Yunmeng Jiang Sect has made it clear a divorce is not acceptable. After some convincing, Gusu Lan Sect concedes. Despite the rumours and the gossips, we recognize that you are both equal participants in this affair. Neither one is more guilty than the other…and in any case, Xichen himself is not the least bit bothered by any of this. The dissolution of your marriage, Wuxian, is not why we've summoned you both here today before our family's ancestors."

With a permissive gesture, Uncle beckons a Lan healer to enter the hall.

Lan Wangji's blood grows cold as the healer stops before him and Wei Ying, bows once, hands a tray to Lan Qiren containing two identical jade cups filled with clear liquids, and shuffles out without glancing once at either of them.

He hears Wei Ying inhale sharply, the fingers laced between his own squeeze impossibly harder.

So this is what it shall be.

Two cups of poisons to end the scandal, to wash them of their sins, and to restore honour to its rightful place.

Lan Wangji looks to the man he loves with his entire being, and finds Wei Ying's equally panicked eyes staring back at him.

This can't be real.

"Shufu -" Lan Wangji inches forward on his knees. Wei Ying has already taken three hundred and one lashes for him and nearly lost his life in process. He's never owed Lan Wangji anything, and even if he did, surely the debt's been paid in full and then some. He doesn't deserve this. "Shufu - shufu, forgive Wei Ying! This is my fault - "

Lan Wangji is the instigator. Since that first night at the wedding banquet, he's lost control of himself. Wei Ying annoyed him, yes, but only a little. Even since day one, Lan Wangji was able to recognize that Wei Wuxian from Lotus Pier has wit, spontaneity, and heart. His talent with a sword impress even those that disliked him, and he wields it with a sense of right and wrong that is fluid and innate, and has nothing to do with the rigid precepts carved in stone.

Lan Wangji fell without realizing, without warning, slow and sudden all at once.

He envied Lan Xichen who had all of Wei Ying and didn't know it, didn't treasure it. He envied Jiang Wanyin who held Wei Wuxian's sworn loyalty as brother, as family. He envied Jiang Yanli, who could draw the light to Wei Ying's eyes with a simple well-wishing letter and a smile from his lips that was warmer than the hearth in a winter storm, than the sunrise on a summer day.

He envied them because they had so much of Wei Ying and he had so little and wanted so much, but now he has everything…

…and what a price his desires demand.

"Shufu - Madam Yu -" Lan Wangji turns to the matriarch of Yunmeng Jiang and knocks his forehead to the ground. "Please believe me, this is entirely Wangji's doing. Wei Ying is innocent! If anyone is guilty, it is Wangji!"

"No! Lies!" Wei Ying protests, pushing Lan Wangji out of the way to say, "Don't listen to him, it's my fault- I -"

"That's enough." Lan Zonghui interrupts the youngsters' panicked tirade, always the cold voice of reason. "Perhaps you should allow your uncle to finish."

Lan Qiren grimaces, as though he can't make himself continue. Tightening his grip on the tray, and he says, "This transgression goes beyond the breaking of vows or the marriage of two individuals. The dignity of two great sects are at jeopardy. Since you are the ones who started it, you must be the ones to finish it. You must've known the consequences of your sins when you both chose this insane course of action, so we ask nothing but that you find the decency and courage to face them. Neither Gusu Lan nor Yunmeng Jiang are the deciders of your fates. As you are both equally at fault, to blame one over the other would be unjust. Therefore," He presents them with the cups.

"Only one is laced with poison. Which one you choose to drink is entirely up to you."

Lan Wangji's head is light, and he barely thinks before he asks out right, "Why not both?"

Lan Zonghui tilts his head curiously. "Do you think you deserve to die together?"

Of course not. That would be too kind.

Wei Ying closes his eyes as tears fall.

"What do you intend to do with the other?" ask Lan Wangji, glaring up at Lan Zonghui with mutiny in his eyes.

"Seclusion, to repent for your sins -"

"Wei Ying!"

Lightning fast, Wei Wuxian has already swallowed the content of cup closest to him and is reaching for the second cup.

It did occur to Lan Wangji earlier that if he moves quickly enough, he can grab both and drink both, but while he wrangled with how to best execute his plan, Wei Wuxian is already in motion.

Lan Wangji shouts something incoherent as the others in the room gasp. His powers may be sealed, but Wei Wuxian is carrying the wound of three hundred lashes. Even now, they are evenly matched. Lan Wangji knocks his hand out of the way at the very last second, stealing the second cup right out from under his reach and downs it in one go.

The drink tastes like nothing. Like water.

No…

He stares at the cup in hand then up at Wei Ying, assuming the worst, but Wei Wuxian is staring back at him with equal terror, seemingly not in any kind of danger. He must've tasted water too.

Was it… was it a test?

Lan Wangji dares to hope. He looks to his uncle, "shuf-", but then he feels it.

It's not pain, but he feels it, crawling up from his belly and overtaking him inch by inch. He lurches forward, falling onto his palms, the jade cup clattering to the ground.

"Lan Zhan!" Wei Ying collects him in his arms and shakes him furiously. "Lan Zhan!! Stop fooling around! You can't die, they're not going to let you die, I'm not going to let you die, so - stop it! Stop messing with me!! Stop pretending - Lan Zh- Lan Wangji if you die now I will never forgive you!!"

Lan Wangji tries to say something, but he can't. Death is heavy, like a woolen shroud coiling tighter and tighter around his body. He's already lost sensation of his limbs, and even his vision is starting to blur. Whatever the poison is, it works fast.

Wei Ying is full on sobbing now, all pretenses of composure gone.

Wei Ying… I couldn't protect you when I should have.

He wishes he could speak these words aloud, or to touch that lovely face one more time, but he is relieved nevertheless that fate chose him. It is the intolerance of their world that demands one of their lives, but Lan Wangji finds he cannot regret his actions, despite his life coming to an end. To have met Wei Ying was a gift, to have loved him was a blessing, and to die for him now is an honour. Even when he's gone, he knows Wei Ying will be taken care of; xiong'zhang would ensure that much even if he is powerless to stop the will of the Elders.

It should shock Lan Wangji how quickly he's made his peace with death.

Wei Ying's cries drown out his senses, and he wishes again that he could somehow comfort him. Of all the things that has happened since Su She discovered them in the back mountains, his own demise is one which he willingly accepts. Above all else, he refuses to go with a broken heart, because then it would all have been for naught.

Lan Wangji smiles. To spend the last moment on this earth in Wei Ying's arms is indeed not so bad.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wei Wuxian feels it the second Lan Zhan grows still in his arms. Eyes closed, a smile lingers on his peerless face.

"L-Lan Zhan…Lan Zhan!! Lan Zhan!!"

He's still warm, pliant. Soon, soon he won't be. No, no Wei Wuxian refuses to let this be the end. It just can't.

Still holding onto Lan Zhan, he lunges forward and grasps onto Lan Zonghui's robe hem beseechingly. "Elder, elder please help him!" But Zonghui shakes him off.

Wei Wuxian glances frantically back and forth at the stone faces around him, desperation and despair brewing into hysteria inside him. Then, he finds it, the one pair of eyes not glaring at him in cold condemnation but pity.

Gently setting Lan Zhan on the ground, Wei Wuxian tries to get up, but his body does not obey. The back of his thin white robe is already soaked through, the vigor of his earlier movement having undone all of the healer's work. Too far gone to care now, Wei Wuxian crawls forward on his elbows and knees until he reaches Yu Ziyuan.

"Yu-fu'ren, please, please I’m begging you, give Lan Zhan the antidote! There has to be an antidote, right?! There can still be a chance - I'll die- I can die right now if you want me to! But save Lan Zhan, save him please! He is Gusu's Lan-er-gongzi, Gusu's Second Jade, my husband's little brother! I've already ruined my marriage, my reputation, my standing amongst the cultivators! Zewu-jun is kind and magnanimous, but even he won't want me now, especially if Lan Zhan is dead because of me! What is the point of letting me live?!! There is no future for me anywhere, but there still a future for Lan Zhan! Yu-fu'ren - no - shimu, shimu please, A-Xian has never begged you for anything in this life, please, if for nothing else than the fact I have been raised under you wings, help me save Lan Zhan, please…"

Madam Yu slowly bends down, hooking her index finger under Wei Wuxian's chin and lifts it up. "You would die for Lan Wangji?"

His face blotchy and snotty from sobbing, Wei Wuxian hiccups. "I - I would. Right now if you wish it."

There's a beat.

"Wangji isn't dead."

It is Lan Qiren that speaks. Yu Ziyuan releases him. Wei Wuxian twists around to see Uncle's hand pressed against Lan Wangji's left carotid. "Just out cold. You'd know if you thought to check instead of letting appearances fool you."

Disbelieving, Wei Wuxian struggles back to Lan Zhan's side to verify for himself. With trembling hands, he turns Lan Zhan over and gathers him in his arms. Though he knows there is nothing to fear, he still can't help pressing two digits to Lan Zhan's neck, checking to make sure the precious pulse is still there. Sure enough, Lan Zhan's heartbeat is strong and his breathing deep and unlaboured.

Alive.

Wei Wuxian blinks, still reeling from the mental whiplash of the sudden revelation, but the steady thrumming beneath his fingertip coupled with comforting sight of that warm, flushed cheeks give him the courage he needs to face what is to come.

Lan Zonghui steps up to him and says, "You said so yourself. There is no future for you. Now you understand now why it always has to be you." From his qiankun sleeve, he retrieves a small porcelain bottle.

The real poison. Wei Wuxian realizes, sagging in relief. The irony of his emotions is not lost on him.

"What did you actually give us?"

"A strong anesthetic."

"Then… how come I'm not affected."

"The antidote to the anesthetic was laced into your pain medicine, which the healers gave you before you were summoned," Lan Qiren explains.

Sleeping…he's just sleeping. Thank god, oh thank god.

Lan Zhan is alive. He's going to be fine. But…Wei Wuxian grows worried again, imagining how Lan Zhan will react to his death once he comes to.

"What will you tell him? When he wakes up, he's going to realize you've tricked him." Lan Wangji can be the most stubborn when he's fixated on a goal. There's no telling what he would do. "You have to… you have to protect him from himself."

"He won't know. We will tell him that one cup had the poison and the other an anesthetic. The poison is slow acting while the anesthetic is fast."

"He will question it. Why the anesthetic? Why the smoke and mirrors?"

Lan Zonghui looks from him to the boy lying unconscious cradled against him. "Does he really want to be awake to watch his lover die in his arms as you just assumed you did? We will tell him it's mercy, so that the remaining party won't have to watch the process happen. He will be allowed to say goodbye to you at the sect funeral. We will grant him that."

"Sect funeral?" Echoed Wei Wuxian, surprised. "You… Gusu Lan Sect would bury me with honour? Even after…"

"That is the compromise." It is a Jiang Elder - Jiang Liliang, Wei Wuxian believes -  who explains to him. "The Lans will recognize you as one of their own. No ceremony will be spared. In death, you will be given all honours and decorum befitting the husband of Sect Master Lan. The action of an individual should not affect the relations of two sects. This is a stance the elders of both our families unanimously share."

Wei Wuxian nods, understanding, finally calm after all that crying.

"I'm still worried about Lan Zhan. You must swear to -"

"Wangji will be under guard at all times until the funeral, after which he will be sent to sealed seclusion for three years. He won't have access to his powers or means to harm himself. Time dulls all pain. So too will Wangji's. Someday, you will just be a mistake of his youth."

A mistake of his youth…

Indeed.

Lan Zonghui picks up the cup Wei Wuxian had discarded on the ground and pours the content of the vial into it.

Wei Wuxian wonders what it actually is.

"Do you have any more questions?" Lan Qiren asks him, sullen but not unkind.

"None."

"Requests?"

Requests? Ah yes. Last rites. At least they let him have that, and if he may, there is in fact something he'd like to do.

"One."

"You may name it."

"Turn around."

"I beg your pardon?"

"I'd like to kiss Lan Zhan. One last time. So unless you'd rather watch me do it, turn around."

"Look around you, you insolent scoundrel!" One Lan Elder whose name he can't recall cries out in anger. "You're in the ancestral hall, Wei Wuxian! How dare you?!"

But Wei Wuxian hugs Lan Wangji close and swallows his pride. For what seems like the thousandth time since he arrived, he begs, not for himself, but for Lan Zhan.

"Please."

He expects that even after his death, he would be the smear in Hanguang-jun's otherwise pristine history, but he doesn't want to be just that, not completely. This, he will leave with Lan Zhan. Even if only one kiss out of their thousands is sanctioned, it will still be better than nothing.

One kiss, just one.

Perhaps they understood him, for Lan Qiren and Yu Ziyuan turn away without further protest, and Lan Zonghui too. Grumbling, the rest of the elders follow suit, displeased and somewhat disgusted by his shamelessness, but Wei Wuxian is due to die any second now, so they allow him this one offense.

"Sleep well, Lan-er-gege, I've gotta go now," he whispers for no one to hear.

Their last kiss is slow, chaste, and Wei Wuxian prays.

Lan Zhan, for yourself sake, I hope you can slowly feel less for me. I would hate to know you spent the rest of your very long life sad. But maybe...don't forget me completely? How does that sound? Or else I'd be a very sad ghost…

Lan Zhan... next life, let's not be brothers-in-law, hm? If you want, I'll wait for you, however long it takes I'll wait. When we meet again, I hope it's still at night. I never did tell you how beautiful you were under the moon.

I promised, I would never leave you, so I won't. You have me, as long as you want, you'll have me. As long as you want me with you, I am not gone.

Wei Wuxian says none of those things out loud, but the soft expression on his face as he smiles down at Lan Zhan must've spoken volumes. This is a man close to death, and yet his smile is kind, soft, and sincere.

Lan Qiren makes a low cough in the back of his throat, telling him time is up.

Wei Wuxian presses his lips one last time to Lan Zhan's forehead, and lets him go.

"I'm ready."

The healers on standby transport Lan Wangji's body to the infirmary.

Lan Zonghui stands before him with the solution to this disaster.

Wei Wuxian knows that as long as he dies, all of this can end. A decision unanimously agreed upon by Yunmeng Jiang and Gusu Lan, to all those who hear of his story, his death will not be an unfair sentence. There is no bias. No undeserved blame. It is...it is Wei Ying's lot in life to be the one chosen by fate to die. The gods must've seen that Lan Wangji is good and worthy of redemption. As long as he dies, faith and righteousness will be satisfied.

"What is it?" He asks Elder Zonghui curiously. 鹤顶红? Crane's crimson crown? Probably. That is the most likely.

"天子泪."

Emperor's Tears. Wei Wuxian almost laughs. Of course, of course it is.

"It tastes like Emperor's Smile, but it is not. It is a gentle poison and will take some time to take its effect."

It's funny, Wei Wuxian muses as the jade cup is presented to him, how such a lovely thing is to be the instrument that ends his life. He accepts it with both hands, obediently, bringing it close to his lips. The familiar aroma of the clear liquid makes him smile.

He bows thrice, properly, his forehead meeting the marbled ground with a dull thud each time.

Wei Wuxian takes his last drink with the same vigour as he took his first. Eyes closed, savouring every drop. Then, clasping his hands before his chest, he draws all the energy in his body and rights himself onto his knees, facing the altar.

"I, Wei Wuxian of Gusu Lan, repent before the forefathers. May you forgive my transgressions and release me from my mortal sins."

And protect Lan Zhan. He prays. For I will no longer be able to do it.

Briefly, he wonders if there are Gusu Lan forefathers with a sense of humour. For all this to play out front of them, surely the less uptight ancestors must be thoroughly entertained by the dramatics of it all. Death, he imagines, must get boring after a while. In any case, he'll find out soon for himself.

.

"I'd like to spend my last moments alone."

.

Lan Zonghui looks to Yu Ziyuan and then to Lan Qiren. An unspoken agreement passes between them. One after another, elders of the Lan and Jiang clan vacate the ancestral hall. The heavy doors grind against the hinge, a low somber moan, as it is pulled shut, leaving Wei Wuxian kneeling amongst the candlelight.

The slow poison is not so slow. Perhaps in his reduced state, its effect is amplified, for soon after he is left to himself the air in his lungs begins to burn. A gush of blood surges up his throat filling his mouth.

If he's honest…okay, he's a little scared. Just a tad.

Hey demons, it's me. Eighteenth level of hell here I come…

In his last conscious moments, his thoughts linger on the sweet tang of Gusu's Emperor's Tears, and of Lan Zhan that very first night standing alone under the eave, away from the wedding festivities, an ethereal figure basked in the moonlight. There is a force pulling him down, and he collapses under the weight of it, right there in front of the altar.

The world is dark before he even hit the ground.

.

He does not hear the clash of Shuoyue's energy against the entrance, blasting open the doors, but he does perhaps hear the fainting voice of his sister calling his name.

A-XIAN.

.

Dusk falls, night arrives, and Wei Wuxian is gone.

---

Note: 

[shimu 师母] - shi = teacher, mu = mother. The wife of one's shifu

[lobster-tales]

The Moon - Yueki

Day 6 of Winter ATLA Femslash Week. This work is available here on AO3. 

Prompt:  The Moon or Ten years later... / Post-Canon

Suki makes a choice that will save the world, but at a steep price. But what she must lose, Yue is grateful to gain. Also they totally fall in love. Based on the song "Hijo de la Luna" by Mecano

Night became necessary for Suki. Her days belonged to the Fire Lord and officials, ensuring the Kyoshi Warriors were at their posts. The only time she had for herself was bathed in darkness, when she scaled the walls of the palace and perched on the tiled roof. Most nights, she was content to sit under the stars, letting the sky swallow her whole. 

This was not one of those nights. Suki pulled her knees closer to her chest, her eyes downcast. Around anyone else, even her warriors, such a vulnerable posture would betray her, compromise her strength in their eyes. She could only let down her guard when she was alone. 

A cloud drifted past the strongest source of light. Suki looked up at the full moon, relaxing in the silver glow. Well, she was almost alone. 

“Hey Yue,” Suki said. “Me again. How are you?”

She was met with silence. Suki never received an answer from the elusive moon spirit, but she made sure to ask anyway. “I’m sorry, but I don’t really have any good news. Everything’s still the same. Fire Lord Zuko’s been bedridden for nearly a week now. Yesterday, he looked like he was getting better, but his fever went up again today.” Suki paused, unsure how to proceed. “Aang is a wreck. Katara has barely slept. She and the other healers have been working to find a cure, but so far they haven’t succeeded.”

Suki slid her hands down her calves, the fingers of her left hand gently grasping the wrist of her right. “I um… I overheard some officials in the hall. They were talking about who's next in line just in case…” She squeezed her eyes shut. “They mentioned Azula’s name, but she’s still recovering. She won’t be able to run the nation in her state. Which leaves… no one.

“I know what happens when there’s no one to take the throne. I’ve read about coups before, and even all of my warriors wouldn’t be enough to stop the Fire Nation officials, or at least,” Suki said darkly, “whoever poisoned Zuko.” 

A breeze ruffled her hair. In the distance, far beyond the palace walls, a dog barked. And still, the moon said nothing. 

Suki pressed her lips together, fighting back the wave of feelings. Tears already welled in her eyes as she said, “And… I don’t know what to do.” She looked skyward, her cheeks wet. “I know… you grew up during the war too, Yue. We all did. I don’t know what it was like in the Northern Water Tribe, but for the rest of us…” Suki began to shake, her voice trembling. “I don’t want it to happen again. It 

 I don’t think the world could survive another war. 

“And it’s not just that, it’s…” She began sobbing, burying her face in her knees. She whispered hoarsely, “Zuko’s my friend. And I don’t want him to die.”

Suki wept openly, letting the feelings tear through her. She had spent countless hours fending them off, forcing through the pain. She had to be a leader, to stay positive in front of everyone. Now, she could release those thoughts, each ragged breath a testament to her fear.

A hand pressed against her back, gliding gently across her shoulders in a show of comfort. Suki froze. Who could have followed her this high up? Maybe the Avatar?

She lifted her face, the cold light spilling across her features. Her mouth dropped. 

A girl sat beside her. Physically, she looked to be 16, but her eyes betrayed centuries of knowledge. Her white clothing contrasted her dark skin, the fabric floating around her. Her white hair was pulled into two loops, a water tribe band holding the style in place. The girl smiled, a hint of uncertainty in her blue eyes. “Hello Suki.”

Suki’s breath escaped her in a single word. “Yue!” She tried not to gawk, reigning in her expression like she did around the Fire Nation officials. Unsure how to address a spirit, Suki rose to her feet and bowed respectfully. 

Yue remained seated, nodding. “Please, sit.”

“Yes, your… spiritness.” Suki lowered herself onto the tile, crossing her legs beneath her and keeping her spine straight. 

“No, just… call me Yue. Please.” Yue considered her carefully. “I suppose you’re wondering why I’m here.”

“Yes. I am.” Blood rushed to Suki’s cheeks as she began to think. After the war, she’d spent countless nights beneath the moon’s glow, pouring out the feelings that she couldn’t share with anyone else. What had Yue heard? What secrets did she spill by accident?

“I know this must be a shock for you,” Yue murmured. “But… I know everything that’s going on. About Zuko, the poisoning, and I want to help.”

No amount of diplomacy training could stop Suki from staring. “You… want to help? I thought spirits didn’t interfere with human affairs.”

“I’m not all spirit,” Yue said. “I actually used to be human. Part of me still is. And as someone who used to live in the material world, I want to do something to protect it.”

Suki had heard the story before, of the water tribe princess who sacrificed herself to become the moon spirit. Yue’s act had been described like death. She never thought Yue had retained any of her humanity, much less enough to intervene. 

“How?” Suki asked. 

“Well, I actually can’t do it alone. You see, the moon spirit has the power to grant a wish.” She hesitated. “But at a steep price.”

Suki searched her face, trying to guess what a spirit could want, or even possess. “Anything.”

Turning her head, almost ashamed, Yue murmured, “For someone to get help from the moon spirit, they must give up their first born child.”

Dread washed over Suki. “Zuko can’t. His first born child… He needs an heir.”

Yue nodded slowly. “Anyone can make the wish to heal him. Anyone can make the deal.”

A thought struck her. One that put the sour taste of martyrdom in her mouth. She had told her pupils a thousand times: the greatest strength of a Kyoshi Warrior is her warrior’s heart, because not all battles needed weapons. 

Suki straightened her arms, hands on her knees, and she took a deep breath. “I’ll do it. In exchange for his life, I’ll give you my first born child.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

Yue bowed her head reverently. “Consider it done.” Suki expected her to disappear, but instead Yue leaned forward and embraced her. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “But also… thank you…” 

Her skin was cold, but Suki didn’t mind. Without thinking, she lifted her arms around Yue. The moon spirit stiffened at the human contact, then relaxed into her embrace. Yue pressed her nose into the crook of her neck. 

Suki asked, “Why do you say that?”

“Hmm?”

“Why did you thank me?”

“Oh!” Yue pulled away, averting her eyes. “I… Sorry, that was inappropriate.” She tucked a loose strand of white hair behind her ear. “I know it will pain you to lose the child, but… it gets lonely, up there.” She nodded towards the full moon. 

Suki searched Yue’s blue eyes. She realized the opportunity she’d been granted. After years of telling Yue all of her secrets, now she could return the favor. “Why don’t you tell me about it?”

Yue frowned. “What… it’s boring. Really.”

“Come on,” Suki said, a hint of a smile playing on her lips. “You already know everything about me. Now I want to know about you.”

“Oh.” Yue glanced at the sky, biting her lip. “Well… I guess I could stay for a few minutes…”

***

Violet dawn crept over the horizon. Yue surrendered to the hour, wrapping her arms around Suki again. Their laughter still hung in the air around them.

Suki murmured, “Will I see you again?”

“Only once, when you…” Yue paused. “When you… finish the deal.”

The thought sent a jolt through Suki. Over the last several hours, she’d forgotten the terms. Yue was such a lovely distraction. 

“Goodbye, Suki,” Yue whispered, and her form disintegrated. 

Suki lowered her hands. Yue’s smell lingered on her clothing, the soft scent of moss. When the first beams of sunlight touched Suki’s skin, she still faced the space Yue had taken up. She waited a few more seconds, exhaustion setting in. 

In the palace below, someone shouted Zuko’s name. Suki rose to her feet. She would go see him. Katara would cry, Aang would hug her. None of them would ever know the cost of his recovery. 

Suki looked at the moon, still hovering in the morning sky. Then she descended. 

***

The hills of Kyoshi Island were short relative to other ranges in the Earth Kingdom. The highest point on the island was shorter than the lowest in the nearby Patola Mountains, home of the now empty Southern Air Temple. This summit was named Hei-Ran Peak, after the mother of Avatar Kyoshi’s wife. A wooden hovel had been constructed on the flat top. Rumors said Kyoshi would meet with her enemies here, away from civilians. 

Suki sat several yards in front of the hovel, legs crossed, facing west to watch the sunset. The winds of early spring bit at her, but the bundle strapped across her chest kept her warm. The trek to this spot had rocked the child to sleep, and she could feel his steady breathing. 

A few minutes passed, then an hour. The sun and all it’s light disappeared. The stars became visible, and Suki saw her shadow lengthened by a brightness behind her. She remained seated, still. 

A hand pressed against her back, gliding gently across her shoulders in a show of comfort. Suki relaxed into the touch, rising to her feet and facing Yue. Two years had passed since their first meeting, but the moon spirit hadn’t aged at all.

Yue grinned, almost sheepishly. “Hello Suki.”

“Hey Yue. How are you?”

For the first time, she got an answer. “I’m good,” Yue said with a smile. 

Suki wasn’t sure how to proceed. She felt like there must be some ritual, some rite she had to perform, but hours of research on the subject had revealed nothing. Apparently, very few individuals in the history of the world had accepted the deal with the moon. “I brought him.”

Yue’s eyes widened, and she reached a hand towards the bundle across Suki’s chest. “Is this him?”

“Yep.” Suki carefully removed the fabric concealing his face. 

Yue leaned in, gasping at the sight. The infant had the dark skin of a water tribe descendant, with snow white hair. He slept soundly. 

“He’s… he’s beautiful,” Yue said. “Who’s the father?”

Suki chuckled to herself. The question was fair, but that part of the process had been the easiest. “Sokka.”

Yue froze, meeting Suki’s eyes. “Oh? I thought you two weren’t...”

“We’re not, but we kept in touch after the break up. Besides, I thought if you had the choice, that’s who you would have gone with.” Suki gazed down at the boy. Though she’d known his fate for years, no amount of preparation could soften the upcoming loss. “So um… how does this work?”

“We don’t have to do it right now,” Yue said. “I was thinking maybe we could… talk? Like last time?”

Relief washed over Suki. Not once in the last few years had Yue left her thoughts. In her dreams, she still heard the sound of Yue’s laughter, smelled her mossy scent. Suki outstretched her hand, indicating the hovel. “I can make us some tea?”

The night passed easily. Yue told Suki that the tea was delicious, withholding the fact that she’d long lost her sense of taste. A few hours in, the child woke up crying, and Suki showed Yue how to change his cloths and feed him. Yue learned diligently, though in the spirit world, he would not need any of those things. 

The three of them laid together on a bamboo mat, the boy in the middle. Yue had not stopped smiling, her eyes on the boy. Suki trained her gaze on Yue instead, focusing on her face, filling in the gaps of her memory. 

“Did you name him?” Yue asked.

“No. I thought you would want to.”

Yue considered for a moment. “How about Arnook? After my father?”

“You don’t have to ask me,” Suki said with a smile. “But that is a good name.”

A moment of stillness passed. 

“He made the deal, didn’t he?” Suki asked. “Both of your parents did.”

Yue pressed her lips together, her eyes solemn. “Yes.”

“But you grew up in the human world.”

“When I was born, the spirits gave my father a vision. He knew I would become the moon spirit,” Yue said. “So… he negotiated with the moon. I would get sixteen years in the material world, then spend the rest of eternity as a spirit.”

Suki nodded thoughtfully. “I see.”

A thought crossed Yue’s mind. “Did you want to? Negotiate, I mean.”

“No,” Suki said, tracing her fingers over the baby’s small hand. “He was never my son. Always yours.”

“He could be yours, too.”

Suki frowned at her. “What?”

Yue shifted, leaning on her elbow. “You could pass over to the spirit world, live with us there. Humans have done it before.” She tilted her head. “Actually, I know someone who is planning to, when his time here is done.”

“Who?”

“Zuko’s uncle, Iroh.”

“Iroh?” Suki’s eyes widened. “How do you know that?”

Yue smirked. “You think you’re the only one who talks to the moon?”

Heat raced across Suki’s face, but she pushed through the embarrassment. “Oh.”

“Do you want to? Live with us?” 

Yue looked at her so earnestly that Suki hated her next set of words. “I can’t, Yue. At least, not yet.” She sighed. “I still have work here, unfinished business.”

“Ah. I see.” Yue’s face fell. “Well, when you’re done… come find me.”

Suki grinned. “That won’t be a problem. You’re hard to miss.”

“How dare you.” A playful look flickered across Yue’s features. “It’s not polite to comment on a lady’s weight.”

They chuckled together. In a movement so natural that Suki felt she was born to make it, she leaned forward and pressed her lips to Yue’s. The kiss was soft, not hungry or needing, and Yue hummed contentedly. 

“The sun’s about to rise,” Yue whispered against her lips. 

“Damn.”

Yue scoffed, pulling away. “Not in front of the baby.”

“He can’t understand me,” Suki said, leaning in and kissing Yue again. 

“Suki,” Yue giggled. “I have to go.” She ran her fingers through Suki’s hair, murmuring, “I’ll see you again?”

“Of course.”

Yue reached for Arnook, taking the baby into her arms. “Say goodbye, Arnook.”

He gurgled at Suki, and she held up her hand in a lame wave as a response. 

“Goodbye, Suki.”

“Goodbye-” but both Yue and Arnook had already disappeared. 

Suki rolled onto her back, gazing up at the ceiling of the hovel. Sunlight peeked through a few holes in the wood. She closed her eyes, and slept. 

[godkilller]

          out of character.  I know in the past week or two I’ve posted a lot about fight threads / writing action, which is awesome and one of my favorite things to do with Gin, but I also feel like I’ve never mentioned the flip side; NOT picking a fight. Though he may seem to always be trying to rile others with his piece-of-shit attitude and approach, Gin’s not down to fight 24/7, especially with these particular characters.

PEOPLE GIN WOULD ABSOLUTELY AVOID FIGHTING:

  - Matsumoto Rangiku           A given. Unfortunately, Gin wouldn’t avoid the fight due to any fears or intimidation; he knows Rangiku’s strengths and weaknesses intimately and would feel confident in defeating her unhindered if he must. But he abhors the concept of meeting her in an actual fight as enemies, faced with the very real issue that he’ll inevitably have to use his power against her. This is something Gin loathes, it pulls him completely out of his typical mindset of avoiding her to a quite literal confrontation of his childish hypocrisy; fighting her, as her enemy... how in the fucking world is this protecting her? Was this what he wanted when he was a child all those years ago? How far has he fallen that he’s somehow twisted himself into believing that vengeance against Aizen is somehow worth doing this to her? No, Gin would much rather incapacitate her and avoid that internal conflict at all costs. 

  - Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni           Gin’s not keen on being scolded while also burnt to a crisp, despite feeling relatively comfortable about facing off against a man who is entirely likely to prolong the drawing of their own blade; better of a chance to snipe him before Ryujin Jakka makes an entrance... right? No... realistically, even if he got a killshot on the old man from the safest distance courtesy of his own Bankai, Gin feels that Yamamoto would still somehow find a way to wipe the floor with him. That’s his luck. Even though he was prepared to ‘help’ Aizen fight Yamamoto in Karakura Town, Gin preferred to simply watch... and quietly cheer for Yamamoto, despite knowing he wouldn’t win. If Yamamoto somehow did win, Gin would much rather hightail it than hang around and see what fate awaited him at the elder’s mercy.

  - Unohana Retsu           There’s a distinction in her aura, the way she carries herself akin to a predator lying in wait, that Gin’s relatively familiar / experienced with ... so he’s not fucking around with that. Aizen himself was sure to avoid anything dire involving her during their traitorous plots, so Gin’s content to follow in his example. He also sees no scenario in which he’d ever be faced with her wrath, regardless, since the Gotei 13 seem to be hellbent on keeping her out of conflicts. Gin doesn’t know what her history is, but from the indications Aizen gave him and the lengths he went to trick specifically her with his illusions, it’s not much fun. Best to not poke that beast. He’ll sooner play inept, incapable, than ever raise his sword at her.

  - Zaraki Kenpachi           Tousen had the pleasure of dealing with his absolute reckless and relentless mass of energy a while back. While there are age-old myths and stories surrounding speed vs. strength, Gin would rather not put himself into the spotlight by challenging someone that doesn’t even fight for anything other than the pure exhilaration of it all -- so really, what would be the point? They have no qualms with one another, anyway. If Kenpachi ran at Gin, Gin would simply give him the most boring and un-enticing avoidant fight of his life. Eventually he’d move along. Better than awakening that second wind of his; Shinso’s aim is staying relatively non-lethal as a precaution. Gin’s not too ashamed to Sentan Hakuja his way out of that mess.

PEOPLE GIN WOULD NOT ENJOY FIGHTING, BUT WOULD IF PUSHED:

  - Kurotsuchi Mayuri           It’s no secret that Mayuri is absolutely detestable when it comes to battle. Gin knows that even though Kamishini No Yari’s poison is a perfectly sealed secret as well as a non-negatable cell destroying attack, Mayuri’s the type to probably have some sort of annoying counter for it. Does he even have any organs for Gin to stab? Probably not. And Gin’s not interested in getting himself drugged by somehow puncturing some sack of gas replacing Mayuri’s left lung that’ll discreetly coat his blade and waft into his nose or some shit. No thanks. Why did Urahara release this disgusting maniac back out into the wild? Someone please put him back. Gin can really only guess at how to beat him if faced with the task: perhaps lopping off the captain’s head would do the trick? At the very least Gin wouldn’t have to listen to him rambling in that whiny voice at 5x slowed speeds whilst battling some kind of bad trip.

  - Ukitake Jūshirō           Not quite pity, but maybe something close to it; Gin would really prefer to talk things out with Ukitake. This man’s a kind soul, and far too non-violent for Gin to ever justify attacking in a malicious manner  ( that being said, Gin knows to aim for his lungs, they’re weak and once he succumbs to one of his fits, he’s down for the count )  ... it’s not something the traitor is particularly proud of, nor is he eager to seek violence against someone who has done their best to be a fatherly figure to the younger members of the Gotei 13. There’s sentiment, yet Gin can remove himself from that whisper of care if he must. At the very least, Shinso’s aim will be one of mercy; to make things end as quickly as possible for the older man.

  - Kira Izuru           Gin’s previous lieutenant of the Third Division has gone through enough, he’s not about to traumatize the boy further by facing him in battle. He’s not one to baby an individual, and Izuru’s not one to need babying, so if his ex-subordinate decides he’s ready to try and take down his betrayer, Gin will honor that request. Wabisuke’s unique ability calls for a battle to end swiftly, and with minimal to no strikes landing against the curved blade. Gin figures he can aim for his lieutenant’s arms, or hands in particular, and make it impossible or at the very least a great hindrance to swing his sword whilst those areas are injured. Nothing fatal or permanent, of course, there’s plenty of damage for Izuru to sort out as is. Gin’ll rip that band-aid off if he has to, he’ll even say sorry once his subordinate falls into that defeated and forlorn state.

  - Any of the Espada           The Espada are creations, pawns, willed into power by Aizen’s manipulative ways. Gin’s made sure to not seek out any particular attachment to beings who so devotedly outcry their loyalty to Aizen, whom he loathes. What could they possibly have in common with one another that could justify Gin giving a single damn? Nah, he’ll reluctantly deal with any of these powerhouses if need be... but they’re just so bothersome! Luckily, both Tousen and Gin are well-acquainted with their individual weaknesses, as well as various go-to methods in how to best subjugate them -- having been tasked with enforcing and maintaining control of Aizen’s Arrancar army. Gin doesn’t particularly fear or feel intimidated by any specific Espada, though battle against them seems tiresome and a great big ordeal that could be made significantly smaller if they just sat quiet and obeyed. Gin’s preference would be to kill these beasts before they can venture into their released states, lop their heads off or skewer their masks for ultimate imbalance, but otherwise he’ll simply chat them out of trying him.

PEOPLE GIN WOULD RATHER TALK HIS WAY OUT OF FIGHTING AGAINST

  - Your OC           Gin prefers harboring knowledge on his opponent before ever considering to draw his sword on them; he likes knowing more about them than they do about him. More often than not, Gin doesn’t know your OC, and is typically indifferent, nor is he generally challenged or threatened by an OC. He’ll carry on teasing and taunting them, though, to better get a read on their temperament, their perceived weaknesses, their own hubris revealed if Gin pokes and prods enough with his banter. There’s rarely a circumstance in which the ex-captain becomes bloodthirsty, especially against a character he hardly knows. Sleep soundly at night now knowing that Gin is less likely to hunt down your OC to murder them. Exceptions being characters who know personal information not feasible for them to know; like Gin’s desire to kill Aizen, or Gin’s connection / feelings for Rangiku. These are red flags to me, the mun, that there is godmodding happening. Realistically, I’ll just drop the thread / fade out, but if the stars align? Gin will kill your character for the breach in his secrecy. Don’t do it!

          If your character’s name is not on this list, assume Gin has no qualms fighting them, or is otherwise indifferent towards them. Gin isn’t necessarily EAGER to fight anyone, and would much rather observe from a safe distance, knowing Shinso could easily cut down an enemy he deemed to be too threatening to deal with himself -- he’s one to indulge the classic of surprise attacks, not in a properly announced manner indicating he’s entered the fight. Gin will graciously offer most characters an out if they find themselves a little too headstrong in attempting to fight him, but eventually he’ll deem the situation worthy of being properly dealt with.

[makoheadrush]

I hate it, but is my current reality. But hopefully not forever. I am honestly only 'out' as bisexual to a small handful of people IRL whom I trust. And I feel comfortable posting about it here, and discussing it among my online friends.

I skirted around the topic with my uber-Catholic mother many years ago when she noticed I was spending a lot of time with a particular friend who was pretty much openly bisexual - and this friend ended up introducing me to the first woman I ever kissed and had a romantic (but secret) relationship with. I am sure my mom suspected something, and she very weirdly brought it up one day. So I told her some, but not all, of what I was going through - though I am sure she thought it was some kind of phase I'd outgrow. (Spoiler alert: I haven't outgrown it yet, and I'm 48 years old).

Mom listened, she was sympathetic; and in the end, asked me not to tell my father. Her reasoning at the time was that he was ill and didn't want to 'upset' him. Of course, my dad had already been ill for a long time, and would continue to be ill - for many years thereafter. So I dropped it.

Overall, I dated more men than women when I was single. And I am a woman married to a man. So I'm told by some that I'm not really bisexual, because I can 'pass' as straight. But I am NOT straight. I have known this since I was 12 years old. And that was in 1983. When I didn't really know ANYthing about lesbians or gays or bisexuals. There was NO media representation of anyone like me.

So I stayed in the closet, confused and ashamed back then by what I felt. Because there was nobody I could even talk to about such things. And now? I SO want to fully come out. It's killing me that I don't. Things are so different now. But that shadow still follows me from years ago. The fear of judgment. The plea from my mother not to tell anyone. Rhetorical question: is there a right 'time' to come out to the entire world? It's an individual choice, of course. A personal one. And one I've been struggling with for 36 fucking years.

Next year I turn 50. Kind of a milestone. I really had hoped I would be OUT before then.  Like, REALLY out, 100% fucking out, not just...40% or whatever I am.   But then I think, what will it accomplish to make a big announcement like that? I am married, I 'pass' as straight - yep, a revelation like this is probably going to shock a lot of people who have always thought/assumed I was straight because I'm a woman married to a man.

But that's not who I am. I struggle with this, and I hope someday to be as brave as y'all who have just said fuck it, this is who I am.

Happy pride month, my friends.

[hellyeahheroes]

Marvel Teen Romance: Girls Edition Part 1

Solo Boys Edition

Romance is a dying art in superhero comics. 

In a medium rife with sexism, the idea of romance becomes tainted with unfortunate cliches in a wave of women’s empowerment. Terms like Damsel-in-Distress becomes less of a person benefiting of a hero’s altruism to ranging from the unfortunate burden of being the one who needs to be saved as a sign of a weakness.

Marvel best example of the romance is Peter Parker and Mary Jane. A romance rife with editorial backlash that never liked the former and did their damnest and are doing their damnest to demean the character for their own ideal partner for Spider-man or Peter. MJ was making grown ass men who resented their wives and marriages project onto Peter. If you want to see an example of the sexism of Marvel, look up Christopher Priest’s opinion of Peter Parker and MJ and then after you pick up your jaw, keep reading.

Now women in Marvel have to appeal to the girls reading them. They have to be strong and strength is often interpreted as independence from men. There is rarely moments of weakness or yearning for these characters. They do not fawn for men or anyone at all and if they do long for anyone, it is for another woman, Today’s Marvel female youth opt for solitude and hyperfocus on the mission because writers refuse to even approach the hormone addled teenaged girl which has been derided as a stereotype. There is no swooning or rarely hint of attraction towards anybody, especially the opposite sex.

The pros are that stories are more varied and page space is not wasted on smitten teen girls being smitten on useless boys.

The cons is that it creates an archetype of stereotypical strong independent female in which their only characteristic is that they are strong and/or independent which contrasts men because men can be more varied in attitude and personality while women writers opt not to even engage in romance while also not addressing the character’s sexuality. They are not allowed to be young or be emotional. 

Also, because of classism, the superhero woman opts for her equal in terms of status and usually only date men or women who are also superheroes while men, again are more varied. Men in romances with superheroic women are never powerless and usually fill an utility role. There is a need for them to want to help a perfectly capable woman. There is only one teenaged hero with a solo and a non-superhero partner and even then most of the male partners who aren’t have to be of use to the heroine in their vigilantism. They cannot just have their own lives separate from what the hero is doing like a Mary Jane Watson. They have to be hyper-competent and be apart of the heroines lives. Again, it wouldn’t be a problem if it weren’t for the implied sexism/classism. Spider-Gwen does not get the same fantasy as Peter Parker(will get to that later).

On a side note: To Mayday fans, Anya fans, Pei from Iron Fist fans, Moon Girl fans, Squirrel Girl fans, and any girl that I excluded from this post, they will definitely be in part two. I am sorry, but I just couldn’t. You will see how long this post is and this isn’t malicious on my part, but I hope you understand and forgive me. I mean I have to go back and update the boys edition. Cut me some slack. Anya and Pei were part of the original draft but shit got too long and it didn’t feel right to include them as a footnote.

Here are Marvel’s main solo teen women, romances, and romance history:

Kate Bishop a.k.a Hawkeye

Gender: Female

Orientation: ...Questioning? We’ll just say questioning

Love Interests: Johnny Watts aka Fuse(current), Noh-Var, Tommy Shepherd,  Eli Bradley(retconned), Clown

We are starting with Kate Bishop because she is the closest to a modern woman’s love life. She has a cult following made of predominantly white women because Kate is empowered white girl embodied. And her dating life is modern in that Kate is one of the few women in Marvel that has relationships like men and is never shamed for it. Of all the women on this list, Kate was never not the focus or seen as codependent one. In fact, she is the capable and strong personality in her current relationship with Johnny Watts. He plays the supporting role for her. However varied Kate’s romantic history is, it is the prototypical love life of a teenaged Marvel woman. Every single one of her romances are by definition superheroes or vigilantes or villains. She does not have ordinary men in her life.

Now you are probably thinking that Kate is a team character. You would be right, but I think I speak for all Kate fans is that she is exceptional in that she can and has held books before alone where her other Young Avengers can’t be assed to have an appearance. And I like Kate. She is my favorite white girl in Marvel. So here we go.

And no, I am not going to consider her rapists in Central Park as love interests, but I will say that her relationship with men and her overall independence from them even while she is in relationship with them is because of this assault. There...I said it.

Eli Bradley aka the Patriot. Kate and Eli started off from a rocky place. Kate wanting to be super strong and independent rich girl and Eli being super prideful and somewhat sexist. Eli wants to fulfill his grandfather’s legacy and feels that he has to immediately live up to him no matter what probably did not like Kate upstaging him, and Kate mistook what Eli was saying as sexist. It wasn’t that Kate was a girl that was the problem. It was that Kate was a rich white girl who chose to make rescuing herself and then making he and the Young Avengers look like idiots that was the problem. So they argue and fuss at each other all of the time.

Kate misinterprets Eli’s reluctance to have her and Cassie on the team as sexist when in fact, the team was constructed for a specific purpose and have a specific roster pool to draw from. Cassie and Kate just aren’t in it.

So Eli and Kate take each other apart and both take shots at each other.

So Kate and Eli have this tic for tac relationship which is something Kate seems to relish in while Eli seems to be abrupt with her about it.

And also, the two both have Strong Type A personalities. They both want to be the leader of the Young Avengers.

But during a fight with Kang the Conqueror, both Kate and Eli reach an impasse. 

Kate’s and Eli’s relationship starts to develop a bit and after some revelations about Eli come to the surface and the Avengers disband the Young Avengers only for the team to regroup out of spite of the Avengers. They start recruiting again, then come across Tommy Shepherd, Billy Kaplan’s brother and son of Wanda Maximoff.

And Eli doesn’t like him because Tommy seems to be a little too okay with murder and wanton acts of violence.

Kate and Eli start getting along to an extent. Eli is more of a stern individual and cuts Kate no slack. But Kate often challenges him.

And eventually they go on a date.

Uh. Excuse me. Not a date.

After getting jumped by Ronin on their Central Park, Not-A-Date carriage ride, Kate tried to calm him down after a disastrous evening.

So enough about Eli, let’s move on to Tommy.

Tommy Shepherd is the prototypical fun bad boy. He doesn’t challenge Kate to be better. He dares her to keep up. So after Kate loses her bow and arrow to the original Hawkeye aka Clint Barton in a shooting contest, she goes home feeling ashamed. Eli, still raw from their not-a-date, starts relentlessly criticizing her. Kate did not need that on-top of her embarrassment so she told Eli to fuck off and walked away. Tommy, being less stringent than Eli, talks to Kate. Tommy flirts with Kate, in front of Eli, and they both decide to go out. Tommy was not there for Eli’s and Kate’s fight so he has no idea what is going on. Kate catches him up to speed and well...

Tommy is such an awesome dude when he isn’t murderous. So Kate and Tommy break into Avengers manor and steal back her bow and arrows.

Fun and exciting, bad boy.

The two steal back her bow and arrows and it was a fun date.

Now this triangle business and Kate’s indecisiveness plays a role because eventually she starts teaming up with Clint Barton and she witnesses first hand how disastrous his love life is. But I’ll get to that later. But just to be clear, she doesn’t choose to be with either, Tommy or Eli.

Eli quit the Young Avengers after accidentally having a role in the death of Cassie Lang? It’s confusing. So with Eli’s departure, Young Avengers disbanded and thus Kate decided to team up with the other Hawkeye, Clint Barton, when the other members decided to quit.

Kate Bishop takes up an apprenticeship role under the tutelage of Clint and she helps him out on missions from time to time. There is some hint that Kate is somewhat attracted to him, but she realizes that is nasty and Clint is like twice her age. Clint, however, likes teaching her because Kate is a fast learner.

So this pairing of the Hawkeye’s became somewhat of sensation that propelled Kate to mainstream attraction. The crime busting duo became the bane of low level street thugs all over Brooklyn. But under his mentorship, Kate also saw how much of a wreck Clint’s life was. More specifically, his love life.

Clint was dating Jessica Drew at the time. But he slept with Penny, some woman he rescued, while he was dating her. Natasha is more of his work wife in a sense, you’ll have to ask Hawkeye fans if they ever dated, but she is more concerned with the fact that Clint robbed some gangsters and got arrested. Bobbi was Clint’s ex-wife...well at the time of the comic, she was his separated wife. She wants to find Clint to finalize their divorce. So Kate is dragged into this mess.

Kate witnesses what a mess Clint’s life is, and she gains one fear: to not be like Clint Barton.

Fast forward to the Young Avengers relaunch.

Kate wakes up from a booty call. And it is not some ordinary booty call. No-nonono.

Enter Noh-Varr. Like the narration says, she met Noh-Varr and he collectively kicked all of the Young Avengers asses. And I guess she is over that now and Kate and he hooked up. Noh-Varr is the silly himbo. Stupid but pretty as heck to look at.

It is hard to classify what she and Noh-Varr were because to me, they weren’t really an item as he was more like a one night stand that became a multiple night stand... Good dick is hard to find so if you find one, might as well hold on to it for awhile, am I right ladies?

Anyways, I couldn’t tell you the plot of Young Avengers 2015 because...even I was confused by it. Regardless, we are here for Kate’s love life.While facing the final...whatever the fuck they are fighting, Noh decides to confess to Kate.

And telling Kate that he was semi-seeing someone else on the side kind of drove the relationship to hell.

Anyways, we moving on. Also, America suggests something to Kate.

Another oddity in Kate’s love life is that most, if not all, of her lovers are bi. Juries out on Eli(and will probably stay that way), but both Johnny(we’ll get to him) and Noh-Varr, her only serious relationships, are bi and are attracted to each other. The irreverence that Kate has for dating should be dating because she rarely pontificates on her partners. There is no, “I wonder what X is doing.” It is all business, and rarely play. Also, we are not suggesting that women dating exclusively bi-women are bi by association. We are saying that Kate Bishop isn’t as straight as she thinks she is.

What she fears is having a love life like her mentor, Clint Barton: A fucking mess. Kate is the only young woman who has had multiple booty calls and has pulled the, “Well last night is fun, but you got to get the fuck up out of here” on a dude.

And by doing this, she is acting as self-destructive as Clint who is notorious for doing the same thing. Kate declares that she doesn’t need attachments and that the above boy was too clingy for wanting to hang out after knocking boots. He was a distraction for Kate. Miss America points out the irony of her saying something like that.

On top of everything, Kate decides to get away from Clint and heads out to Los Angeles to start a detective agency. She gets up to some high class hijinx there and in the midst of the chaos, she meets a boy.

Johnny Watts.

What I like about Johnny is that he isn’t overstepping of Kate. He is lax and is perfectly willing to step aside and let Kate be a hero and not let his male ego get wounded by the fact that his girlfriend is a kick ass superhero. Johnny also unlike Eli can keep up with Kate’s wit so their banter/flirtation is quick and rapid.

He is also supportive and understanding.

They hook up after Kate defeats Madame Masque again.

Johnny seems like a normal dude, right. There is nothing strange about him at all. So what is with the above preamble if the first Marvel heroine you mention has a normal boyfriend? Well...

Johnny absorbs the matter of anything he touches and can briefly become the item. It ranges from concrete to even vibranium. Why vibranium? Well he has a nose ring that is made of vibranium. Why does he have a nose ring made from a precious Wakandan resource? Johnny and his sister are Wakandan exiles and they kept a piece of vibranium as keepsakes.

So Johnny has powers like all of Kate’s other boyfriends and exes. When Kate forms the new West Coast Avengers, she enlists her boyfriend as her first recruit. He has issues adjusting into being a superhero, but he is learning. He takes up the alias as Fuse and he and Kate continue with their relationship without much trepidation. Until Noh-Varr comes back.

And Noh-Varr being a himbo doesn’t necessarily jive well with the relationship because Noh-Varr has no tact or grace. He is also really attractive and a pretty boy.

And then it dons on Kate that her boyfriend and her ex are attracted to one another.

All and all, Kate is the standard for super-heroine women in Marvel in.

Miss America Chavez

Gender: Female

Orientation: Lesbian

Love Interests: Ramone Watts(current),Lisa, Ultimate Nullifier

Yes, she is lesbian. Ultimate Nullifier was simply an experiment that she didn’t like after the first kiss. Like one kiss with a guy and she said, “umm nope.”

She is lesbian. She likes girls and from the general reception of the character, girls like her too.I am not going to bother covering her relationship with Ultimate Nullifier because who the fuck really cares about that guy?

I can’t tell you much about Lisa other than America isn’t necessarily a good girlfriend. 

Well she isn’t? Like there was this whole convoluted thing that made America break up with Lisa for a reason I can’t really explain and the narrative tried to paint America as in the right when she was a shitty girlfriend. I just wanted to put Lisa in there because I like to confirm that she existed and still doesn’t have a last name.

Anyways, on to the good shit.

America and Ramone met through mutual colleague and also shared friend, Kate Bishop. Kate was dating Ramone’s brother and America kept Kate around so Kate could ogle her. Anyways, Ramone was trapped in a collapsing building and America saved her and caused Ramone to have what could only be described as gay panic. So naturally, the two decided to date because...well have you seen Miss. America Chavez. If one could describe her, she would be the one woman “reason why I’m gay” justification for women.

That image alone just created like 10 lesbians.

Anyways, the two are just cute. Like I can’t even describe how the two are just cute around each other.

But no one wants to be like deadweight as Nero from Devil May Cry can attest to. So Ramone, like her brother, turn out to be exiles from Wakanda.

And then this happened.

And Allow was born. So after Alloy rescues America and the West Coast Avengers, let’s just say that America was very excited about the new development that her girlfriend has powers just like her.

And they lived happily ever after and are still the item until this day. 

Laura Kinney aka X-23 aka Wolverine

Orientation: Indecisive

Love Interests: Julian Keller,  Warren Worthington(ewwwwww)

tw: sex trafficking, rape, and incest mentions

I don’t know what I expect out of franchise spawned the likes of Wolverine being with anybody or the idea that Wanda and Pietro practicing incest or Professor Xavier being in love with Jean Grey. I honestly don’t know why I hoped they would handle this character with tact as she is the most popular X-character made in the past 20 years. God forbid I expected that the  franchise that insisted on Emma Frost mind raping Cyclops and then being an item  would actually think about Laura Kinney as a character and not do some inappropriate shit...but here we are.

Let me explain the life of one Laura Kinney in the Marvel comics and why everything about her being in a relationship with a man who is the same age physically as her father is a bad idea. We all know about the X-periment and how she was the gender flipped clone of Wolverine...or is she her biological daughter? Who the fuck knows or even cares, let me get to the point.

Laura Kinney is a victim of sex trafficking. She was pimped out and did some weird dark shitty shit and yes, it involved her claws. So her history with sex in general should be handled tactfully. Her life has been nothing but violence and death and dismemberment. And I am not saying that Laura should not find love. I am saying that a girl like Laura should not be with older men, but what do I know. It seems the X-men franchise seems to be looking for writers whose only criteria is that  you have to have a creepy fascination with Kitty Pryde.

Granted, Julian Keller aka Hellion had a relationship with Laura that allowed her to express emotions like a teenaged girl should be allowed to express without the influence of an older men. Julian’s relationship was born of resentment because Laura was not a real mutant, whatever that mean to fear that Laura was nothing but an assassin to admiration after witnessing how much Laura endured. Notice how Julian could never push or influence Laura to do things that she did not want to do. 

Warren is the same fucking age as Cyclops. If you are going to make a stink about Rachne being with Josh Foley, then why in the fuck is this 30+ year old man with a fresh faced teenaged abused girl?

I’m just saying that any character with rape and/or sex trafficking as their backstory should be handled as gracefully as possible in regards to romantic interests and sexuality. Her being with Adam is not handling gracefully.

Gwen Stacy aka Ghost Spider

Gender: Female

Orientation: ?

Love Interests: Peter Parker, Harry Osborn, Miles Morales, ...fuck it, I am going to go ahead in put Mary Jane Watson in here

Okay.

“But, Gwemj isn’t canon so why would you put that in here?”

First off, Spider-Gwen is the quintessential pinnacle of everything that is wrong with how Marvel deals with superhero romances with solo women. There is no reason why in the 4 years as of this writing, that you have yet to introduce a love interest that is Spider-man viable in the 50 issues she has starred in. There is no excuse that her first kiss was not with anybody within her supporting cast, but with another established hero. Spider-Gwen, you have an underdeveloped supporting cast and setting, and it fucking shows.

Second, it was clear that the original plan was Gwemj, but Gwen Stacy became popular and marketable so they derailed the sapphic train and landed on the most forced and out of theme romance in recent comic book history. Like for fuck’s sake, she is Spider-man for girls and women. You know how many superheroes Peter Parker dated, 3-4 if you count Kitty Pryde and every time it never worked out because they could never relate to Peter Parker.

That is the fucking point, Marvel/Latour/McGuire although the last person isn’t the biggest offender.

Giving Gwen a superhero love interest negates the fucking point of Spider-man. It is against theme and it is really sexist as shit because every male hero has a love interest that is not superpowered. Not a one woman can hook up with a non-powered boy if they are in hetero romances.

Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy is the most cynical pairing shill that I’ve ever seen.

The fact of the matter is that Gwen has the most chemistry with Mary Jane and most of her romances have been bouts of forced heterosexuality. And it is not that she is possibly heterosexual that is the problem. It is that you refuse to develop said romances and try to make sure the man involved is just as empowered as the girl for no fucking reason. 

It’s pure laziness.

Anyways, it’s hard to pindown where I should start this because the comic creates Gwen’s origin out of flashbacks so it’s hard to figure what came first.. And I guess it begins with Peter.

I’m working with assumption in trying to nail down the chronological order. Okay, Peter noted Gwen’s music in her headphones and identified it. Gwen was on that Neku Sakuraba tip except without the angry at the world attitude so she was this disheveled girl who listened to music openly and isolated herself from cast. But she wasn’t bullied or anything like Pete.

She was a cool loser.

So after their shared taste in music, Peter and Gwen become fast friends, but it is hinted that Peter had a crush on her and it more than platonic feeling for her. Anyways, Gwen’t and Peter’s duet became a 3 man band as they added residnet outcast, Harry Osborm to the crew.

Now do the math, two boys and one girl. 

It is obvious that both boys have a crush on the one girl. Now it is hard to discern Gwen’s feelings for either of the two boys because there isn’t a lot shown. But the main takeaway is that Peter was broken down by bullying. He channelled his inner Vergil because he wanted power. This universe’s Peter is the Peter we see in Ditko’s early Spider-man run without the powers and none of the growth he received later. Harry, on the otherhand, is well aware of how broken Peter is and resolves to not be like him while hoping to move in on the cute blonde.

“...They won’t break me like they broken [Peter]”

So Peter is not exactly the kid you’d say after a school shooting, no one would expect that he was the culprit. I’m pretty sure no one at Midtown would be surprised. So guess what sends Peter over the edge?

No surprise here that Peter Parker without the character growth of becoming Spider-man becomes an incel asshole.

Anyways, some time passes and Prom happens. Guess who is going stag?

No that is an actual question because I am not sure who went with whom. Did Gwen decide to go out with Harry? Are they dating? Who the fuck knows because there isn’t a lot to infer from these panels.

Judging by the clothes, Gwen isn’t dressed up or gussied up. She is wearing a white T-shirt at Prom. She doesn’t appear to be with anybody. Harry isn’t with anybody either and Peter definitely isn’t. And this is why when you make a character, you start at the beginning. This shouldn’t be background or filer. This is essential information because I assumed that we had a love triangle going on with two wayward boys pining after the same girl. It’s clear that Harry has a crush on Gwen. It’s implied that Peter had a crush on Gwen as well with his reaction and calling Harry a traitor.

It’s really unclear and it is a situation that defines Gwen’s story and stories going forward. We really don’t know what happened at prom and the first Midtown attack. We really don’t know exactly what led to Peter turning himself into the Lizard. There are inferences and implications, but nothing is concrete. This series is built on the idea that Peter Parker’s death matters without giving a reason why to care about Peter Parker. And just to remind you that while the Night Gwen Stacy Died didn’t focus on Gwen Stacy, you had nearly a hundred issues to care about her prior to her death. Gwen is not just some iconography and symbolism. She was an actual character. A bad one, but nonetheless, she had more than a few pages to get represent a character.

So after Prom was a murderous incel Lizard shitshow and Gwen stopped and accidentally killed the Lizard(Key word: accidentally because it’s not clear if Gwen killed him because it was weirdly effective punch and she toyed with him like she usually does), Spider-Gwen goes on a severe depression and isolation streak and doesn’t talk to anyone ever...possibly. Again, it is the case of Gwen’s origin not exactly being clear. We don’t know much and what we are shown was presented through flashbacks.

Until she gets wrapped up in Spider-verse and she meets several Spider-folks with most of them looking like her Peter Parker and falls into a depressive episode realizing that maybe her Peter should have been the one who was bittem and she was destined to be miserable all of her life. Following a confrontation with a grief-stricken 616 Peter Parker stating that she isn’t ‘his’ Gwen, Gwen just doesn’t want to deal with any Spider-men that look like Peter Parker or are Peter Parker. And also, she is still being tormented in her own universe by a smear campaign that unfairly places the blame of Peter’s death on her shoulders. Because of said campaign, Gwen is a fugitive and her enemy, Matthew Murderdock, is extorting her for her own powers that only he has access to and  her father’s life in exchange for working with him.

In summary, Gwen is stressed and is at a breaking point. She is miserable and facing an existential crisis that every adaptation of herself has died or suffered horrible consequences and questions if she is incapable of experiencing happiness. She has lost her Spider-power and has to rely on her sworn enemy to have them. And her whole city sees her as a murderer.

Enter Miles Morales.

I already explained why Miles was in E-65 in the previous post. I don’t need to repeat myself. But I can elaborate on why Miles was attractive to Gwen Stacy. For one, he is a Spider-man that doesn’t remind her of Peter Parker. So she isn’t feeling guilty and at least he isn’t a literal anthropomorphic pig. Two, Miles is around her age. This is debatable because in spite of what Bendis says, Miles was 15 at the time of this arc and he clearly aged Miles up so Gwen didn’t look like a cradle robber for daring to be interested in a kid4-5 years younger than she. And finally, this.

Miles presents the one alternate dimension where she is happy and with children. So combined with Miles being a nice if not horny kid and being overwhelmed with guilt and stress in her daily life. Miles starts becoming more attractive to Gwen. Which leads to....

Okey-doke.

I have made myself clear about how I feel about this ship. If you want a summary, I wish it never existed but here we are.

Anyways, Miles goes back and immediately starts pursuing more interesting love interests and Gwen continues to deal with being stressed. I am going to stop it here. But I want to posit a theory.

Spider-Gwen was supposed to be with Mary Jane or EmJay. For the longest, the tension between Mary Jane and Gwen was honestly the only non-superheroic related with the most tension and description outside of her own father and EmJay seemed focused on Gwen to an absurd degree. It wasn’t until it was reported that Marvel pinned Gwen for her popularity that they didn’t want to damage her marketability so being a lesbian superhero in Marvel is kind of a no-no in terms of profit. But GweMJ was and still is a popular ship so to appease fans, Latour basically threw MJ at Glory in a random and spontaneous manner if only to appease those fans.The issue is that Glory and MJ aren’t super prevalent in the book. I mean Glory Grant isn’t even that important to Spider-man mythos as a whole. So it became a case of pandering to the base while simultaneously throwing the lesbians away.

That is all I am going to say on this.

Kamala Khan aka Ms Marvel

Gender: Female

Orientation: Heterosexual

Love Interests: Bruno(current), Kamren, Dante Pertuz, Red Dagger, Miles Morales(one-sided), Sam Alexander(one-sided)

Ms. Marvel is a teenaged love story with superheroes. It is a romantic literature geared towards Muslim women or girls. It’s true. And I have earned the right to fucking say it. This is going to feel like I am harping on her religion, but Ms. Marvel’s religion is the core of her character and her story. Believe it or not, it is what makes her a hero. It is her “Great Power, Comes Great Responsibility.” So it’s important that we discuss how Kamala’s religion has to do with her love interests.

Anyways, let’s start from the beginning.

Bruno has had a childhood crush on Kamala Khan. This subplot is intertwined throughout the book. The struggle however isn’t because Kamala is irreproachable. Her religion is the obstacle.

Kamala’s parents would never accept Bruno Carrelli as a viable partner. In fact, homegirl is not even allowed to date without male supervision.

Kamala initially only sees Bruno as a friend. Her best friend. Don’t say ‘friend zone’ because...grow up honestly.  Kamala didn’t care for boys, but she does care about her independence. Freedom that her cultural mandated patriarchy did not afford her or at least was regimented. I am not Muslim nor a woman, but I would surmise that a lot of teenaged Muslim girls would rebel or want to rebel against such a strict culture especially when they live in America. Kamala strikes the core of conformity to the West being seen being against the Uniformity of Islam and she struggles with being too anti-Muslim to the point that she risks allowing Islamophobia or allowing the cultural misogyny of Islam to guide her and restrict her. That is the internal conflict or religious conflict that Kamala somewhat addresses and part of it has to do with marriage or partnership.

But what makes Kamala heroic is her religion and what makes her strong is her drive to be free.

“Whoever kills one person, it is as if he has killed all of mankind and whoever saves one person, it is as if he has saved all of mankind.

-the Quran

This part sticks with me because while she is quoting a heroic purpose from her religion’s text, she is using patriarchic language so that that quote isn’t referring to who she is not does it apply to her exactly.

Kamala takes the good of her culture and applies it to a purpose to be a hero while somewhat resenting the implied patriarchal stances. This is why Ms. Marvel took off and became the quintessential Muslim Western Hero and Sooraya sadly didn’t. Kamala addresses the internal conflict that a teenaged Pakistani American would have.

I am going to assume that almost every Muslim American girl knows that exact line Kamala’s mom is saying or at least a variation of it.

“But this has nothing to do with her love interests”

It does. Because if her parents control and has the final approval who she is allowed to see, that man is more than likely going to perpetuate the same cultural traditions onto her.

Feminism is a big thing for Kamala so she respects a man that doesn’t overrule her like her father does his mother and her. Which is why Bruno not being a superhero and also being her sidekick is something that she respects and desires. She wants him to assist her and not much else at first when she gained her powers. Bruno becomes her confidant and also her conduit to being Ms. Marvel.

For the bulk of the first volume of Ms. Marvel, Kamala is oblivious to Bruno’s feelings towards her. In fact, Kamala sees him as part of her aesthetic of being a superhero: he is her sidekick. I suspect Wilson didn’t want to have a girl portray a stereotype that girls constantly think of boys.So she flips it on the genders. It is Bruno whose every interaction has to do with Kamala. He is the smitten boy while Kamala is doing her Shounen hero routine. And it is not that she is oblivious to romance. She is just having too much fun being a superhero.

“Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier!”

I know it sounds bad and Bruno is absolutely correct, fellas. There is no such as a friend zone and seeing anyone like that shows that you really don’t care for them.

Apologetic moralizing aside, Kamala just did not see Bruno as anything, but a friend.

So Kamala simply is unaware of Bruno’s feelings. And Nakia kind of reinforces how her family feels about Kamala’s future prospects.It is less about the person and more about about the status.

Enter Kamren

Kamren came with a bit of controversy. The idea is that Kamren was supposed to be a classic villain love interest. The implication was that Muslim men are controlling and white men are liberating.

Normally, Kamala’s father and her brother, Aamir, would be seen as protective if they were in any other culture, but being Muslim and arranged marriages are a well-known and often scrutinized practice in Islam, Willow who is a white Muslim woman, unintentionally opened another can of worms: Commentary on Muslim men being evil.

Look, I am not Muslim and I know the bullet points of Islam. Never read the Quaran, but I understand that the Quaran is supposed to be read in Arabic which given the ideas of the Haj and other Muslim traditions, the religion focuses on tradition and a fidelity to that tradition. Coupled with Western Cultural Imperialism, Ms. Marvel faces the problem of delving into some muddy political waters that in every other book,would just be a typical romance trope.

So I suspect Willow meant no harm because she has been a substantial Muslim feminist champion in a political climate in which that would be an oxymoron to a lot people(Not me, but again, I understand 3rd World Feminism ideals of not seeing feminism in the same lens as the west). You can’t escape the notion that depictions matter and having Bruno, white Italian, being seen as the chief romantic interest while depicting the Muslim one as evil and controlling is going to raise an eyebrow or two.

Kamren was set up as an inevitability cultural and the narrative during this arc was made for the reader to sympathize with Bruno.

Bruno is Emineming this shit and Aamir gives him the cold hard reality.

Up to this point, Kamren has been portrayed as an otherwise decent guy. His only flaw was that he wasn’t Bruno. So of course, the facade of him being the perfect Bollywood male lead begins to come down.

“There’s no reason for you to keep wasting your energy to protect people who don’t believe what you believe.”

That is not an obvious parallel that implies some sort of cultural insensitivity. He is talking about Inhumans, but the cultural parallel to other Islamist radical groups is intentional. So swap Inhumanity with Jihadist Islam, then Kamren’s character becomes even more unsettling.

He uses victim-blaming tactics on Kamala in that she chose to be part of this InHumanist movement the moment she enetered the car with him as if he didn’t zap her body unconscious after he revealed his true intentions. Kamren is a disgusting individual and of course Kamala whoops that ass, but I wanted to point out the unfortunate implications of this romance before I moved on.

Meanwhile Bruno gets an SOS from Kamala and tries to save her. He fails miserably, but at least he has this moment.

This cover encapsulates everything about Kamala’s and Bruno’s relationship in Ms. Marvel Volume One.

And just before the end of the world, Bruno finally spits it out.

So that’s it, right? They are just friends, right? 

It’s a love story, you dumbasses. Read this like a teenaged romantic sitcom. This is just phase one.

So Volume 2 of Ms. Marvel kicks off and the world didn’t end. So you think after that awkward but somewhat romantic confession on the rooftop, Kamala and Bruno would hit it off, right?

Brno/s gay? He is with Mike now? Bruno just skyrocketed in popularity with Yaoi fangirls.

Oh, Mike’s a girl and her full name is Michaela Gutierrez ....AND SHE THICK

It’s over Kamala. You lose before you even knew that there was a game. Bruno took that no and went on and found Barbie Ferreira. Bruno figured out what a skinny girl can do that big girl can’t. Answer: Not a goddamn thing! Ahead of his time, really.

Nothing against Mike, she is delightful and honestly, I’m cool with it. Sure, she is destined for failure because she is in the way of the OTP, but goddammit, put both hands up for the big girls.

Kamala takes it personally and decides to give her not-boyfriend the cold shoulder.

Now, if you are a guy and you think Kamala is being a bit of a hypocrite, you are not thinking about this optically. Bruno confessed that he loved her on that rooftop. That is not some shit you just say capriciously especially to your best friend. It looks like on the surface that Bruno just happened to have a backup just in case Kamala said no thus making his confession not as genuine. If you are pursuing someone as much as Bruno was to the point that he confesses love to that person, you don’t have back-ups like that. It makes his confession seem less genuine.

And yes, Kamala is being jealous and she hates that Bruno unintentionally made a scenario to make her jealous. Because if she had known about Mike instead of being blindsided like she was, then maybe she could have managed that moment on the rooftop better, but it feels like to her that Bruno just gave up and it drives her crazy to see it rubbed in her face.

In defense of Bruno, there is no set time when you are expected to get over someone that rejected you after confessing something. And maybe 6 months is too soon for Kamala, but if she had a problem with him being with anyone and needing to be told, then maybe she isn’t being honest with herself.

Also, sidenote to all writers of superheroines: this dialogue about a sub-plot is what you miss out on if you refuse to approach romance.

Anyways, It sucks to realize that you love someone and possibly took them for granted when you see them with someone else.

Oh and now your best friend who confessed his love for you is now having safe sex with another woman(implied).

Yeah, I’d be a little miffed too.

Since Kamala and Bruno are on break, I’m going to touch and go on their situation because at this point, Kamala’s popularity afforded her several appearances and a lot boys from outside her comic book did a double take.In summary, Kamala’s milkshake brought all the boys to the yard.

First is Miles Morales.

Let me just say that Sara Pichelli draws a gorgeous Kamala Khan. I mean she just makes beautiful teenaged girls in general for some reason. The boys are always ordinary looking, but the girls are always trendy or fashionable or bombshells if not all three.

Anyways, Miles has a definite crush on Kamala, but unlike Sam who I will get to later, he is mostly lowkey about it when they interact. He is also a very supportive friend of hers and honestly her and Kamala are like Peter Parker and Johnny Storm.What is weird about it is that there is no on-page formal first meeting between the two. So we never see when or why Miles revealed his identity to Ms. Marvel. I guess there was a miscommunication between Bendis and Waid and Wilson.

There isn’t much on page thoughts from Kamala about Miles as she mostly kept the air living up to be a hero she admires the most, Carol Danvers. Again, Karol is the model of typical Marvel heroine. As far as I’ve read, Carol doesn’t really have much in the way of romance compared to Spider-man who as @traincat​ would say, is a Himbo(yes, I am going to keep plugging her so you guys can follow her because she is the only Peter Parker expert that I respect). So her and Miles relationship is professional friendship. There was a time when Bruno mentioned something that implied Kamala gushes about a Spider-man’s abs, but that could be just jealousy and it never states which Spider-man he was talking about. All in all, she is not interested in Miles and Miles is interested in her, but respects her too much to act on it. Until Miles confuses an Infinity Stone for a mood stone and spills the beans to her.

Kamala doesn’t return the gesture and it is seen as a way to lightly put Miles down which is okay because he handles it like a champ.

Next is Sam Alexander aka Nova.

He is a little less tactful than Miles about his attraction to Kamala since he immediately hits on her upon first meeting.

Kamala of course thinks he is a brash idiot who shows-off too much.

Sam is persistent in their first meeting, but keeps on hitting the wrong marks and saying the wrong things at inappropriate times.

Sam pretty much can’t take a hint and eventually catches Ms. Marvel in the middle of changing costumes.

*insert the sound of an airplane falling and crashing*

So Kamala and Sam don’t initially like each other as initially, Kamala thought she was being mean to Sam unintentionally and Sam thought he was being idiot. They are both right in their own way, but in the end, Sam sees Kamala as an uptight do-gooder personality and Kamala sees Sam as a reckless jerk. Which has a lot to do with their powersets because Sam is not really meant to be doing street level crime or protection.

And finally we have Dante Pertuz aka Inferno. Now this is one time where Kamala’s interested in a guy and not the other way around or at least it is implied by a third party.

Over the course of Secret Warriors, Kamala and Dante interact and while nothing is initially made out of it, Dante and Quake hook up and Kamala appears to be jealous and annoyed that Dante likes Quake mainly because Kamala does not like Daisy Johnson.

Now we could take Daisy’s word for it, but again, she is kind of a jaded jerk so take it with a pinch of salt. Kamala also denies it.

Ms. Kamala not only shoots down her own ships, but she also bombs other people’s, sheesh.

Now that is done, let’s get back to the main attraction.

Kamala and Bruno and now Mike pretty much go back and forth. Bruno makes kissey faces at Mike, and Mike returns them while Kamala dies a little inside. Bruno is pretty much that guy from the meme who is with his girlfriend, but he keeps looking at the girl they pass and Mike is not a moron and knows that she is pretty much the Cyrano and is conscious of this fact. It hurts because Mike is actually a cool character and her and Kamala become good friends in spite of having the same romantic attraction to Bruno. While Bruno did care for Mike, he could not help but be jealous of the men Kamala encounters as Ms. Marvel such as Spider-man(not sure which). 

Point is that this entire comic is a delicious mess and should be read with the same intention as the audience of Dawson’s Creek.

Eventually, Kamala starts to realize that her idol has a huge authoritarian streak and implements her version of Hitler Youth to patrol Ms. Marvel’s turf. And I think this is a something we need to address in regards to Carol. Yes, she is good, but she is socially aware as a....white woman. No really, she does not stop to think as to why people of color would not be too for a system that arrests people because they are foreseen to commit a crime. It’s profiling or in this case assisting in racial profiling. I always found it weird that of all people, a Pakistani first generation born American would idolize her. But that had to do with Kamala’s own self-hatred than anything Carol was.It is like being a Mexican Trump Supporter.

Anyways, Kamala is reluctant, but she joins Carol’s little SS and starts putting people in detention camps. And people are pissed. People like Bruno are pissed.

So Bruno decided to break Josh, who was wrongfully detained on the suspicion of wanting to bomb a school. Kamala goes and tries to stop him from breaking in the detention center.

Well....

Shit.

This haunts Kamala. You see, Bruno and Kamala are close obviously, but for once, it was her ambivalence that nearly got him killed. She wants so desperately to be her own ideal hero that she completely neglected her own support system in pursuit of being accepted by Carol.People like to point to Kamala’s fandom in superheroes as a main characteristic, but neglect to mention that it was Bruno introducing her to the world superheroes that started it in the first place. It was Bruno who introduced her to Ms. Marvel. 

Bruno becomes paralyzed on his left side.I haven’t mentioned this, but Bruno is an inventor. He creates things and he is also left handed. So his dream was in jeopardy because he was willing to help Kamala out with her dream. So Kamala feels guilty as fuck.

Bruno decides to take a trip to Wakanda and get some schooling. Thus making Bruno the first white boy to be legally allowed to learn in Wakanda.

I’m as surprised as you are. I mean Wakanda gives a scholarship to some white boy in New Jersey, but rejects Lunella Lafayette. Ain’t that some shit?

So just to recap on this drama, Kamala turned down Bruno in favor of superheroism. Bruno got with Mike. Kamala becomes jealous, but Mike is cool so can’t bring herself to hate her. Bruno is jealous that Kamala is hanging out with superhero studs like Spider-man. Mike is just tired of being overlooked for an apparently nice girl. Bruno is annoyed that Kamala is siding with Carol’s harebrained George Orwell fanfiction idea over her friends and decides to break everyone out. He gets injured in the process and leaves New Jersey, but not before lashing out at Kamala for not appreciating him.

A fucking teenaged love story, I tell you.

And the only person happy is the gay one. tsk...

So the two are basically apart at this point. Bruno is on a no-speaking terms with Kamala and Kamala is respecting that. This cover pretty much sums it up.

Kamala took Bruno for granted and Bruno resents Kamala for taking for granted. And of course, it did bomb his relationship with Mike because he is resenting a relationship with a girl that is not currently his girlfriend. But with Bruno in Wakanda getting reverse affirmative action, that means Ms. Marvel is taking a break from romance, right?

Kamala’s milkshake be bringing boys from across the ocean.

Okay, this is Red Dagger aka Kareem. Kamala first met Kareem when she visited her cousins in Pakistan with and without costume. Get your head out of the gutter, they met eachother while they were in civillian identity and superhero alias without connecting the two. Lareem eventually moved to New Jersey because he studied abroad from which Kamala quickly deduced that his identity.

So the two have a team-up from which Kamala feels uneeded so she runsaway and  attends a private school without anyone, even her parents knowing(and people wonder why I felt that Wilson’s Ms. Marvel read like a Saturday Morning Cartoon). Eventually she comes out of it with absolutely no consequences for abandoning her superhero duty because she felt unneeeded and forcing her friends to fight crime in New Jersey in her stead. Whatever, Red Dagger feels bad for making Kamala feel unappreciated and...

This is nice.

That is right, Kamala, You get over your ex, by getting underneath another person. I mean, girl you bold. You went to your boy interest’s former place of employment and hangout spot, and made out on top of the roof. Extra thot points for making him watch another man’s tongue down your throat.

I’m kidding, but yeah, ackwarrrrrrd.

Of course, Bruno and Kamala talk about that situation and Kamala swears that it didn’t happen to spite him in spite of it happening on top of Circle Q. They eventually reconcile and get back on speaking terms and then...

Mike catches the pair holding hands. Actually not what it looks like. Kamala was helping Bruno up the stairs. So much drama. 

Kamala freaks out because she thinks she is a two timing thot because she out here kissing men and thotting and shit. So she runs to her Masjid in hopes to get some spiritual help for her crisis.

So Kamala has a confessional with a third party and surprisingly, he subverts the entire stereotype of Muslim religious patriarch.

He tells her that he laments not teaching young Muslim people in his Masjid to not know how to properly be themselves and not know how to deal with their feeling. He also laments not teaching their parents to not give stern warnings in place of recalling what is like to feel like you are in love for the first time thus giving kids an echo chamber because they don’t feel safe to talk to their parents about this for fear of admonishment.

He tells Kamala to be true to herself unleash the inner thot....I’m kidding.

He tells her to be true to herself and be real with Bruno.

I think this is the most important scene in Ms. Marvel because too many times, media has used the Muslim patriarch as this oppressive tool to admonish Islam as a faith.Is it sexist? Yeah. I can’t lie about that shit, but ultimately it is up to those women who practice it to reform it and modern male muslims tend to be more open to feminism especially if it doesn’t come from white feminism brand that loves to target those cultures.

Anyways, back to the drama, Mike and Bruno break up. Kamala and Red Dagger end things amicably. And now it is a rat race to see how long it takes for Kamala and Bruno to finally hook up because why not? If you have been reading up to this point, you know what is about to happen so I’m going to get straight to the point.

Nadia Van Dyne aka Wasp

Gender: Female

Orientation: Not interested in boys in the very least, but girls who like science....that is a jam so...sapiosexual lesbian

Potential Love interests: Amber

So Nadia Van Dyne is the daughter of Hank Pym who took after the last of Hank Pym’s abused ex-wife, Janet Van Dyne.You should all read the first two volumes of Unstoppable Wasp because Nadia in general was a welcome, wholesome surprise for me. Regardless, I am not just here to gush about Nadia, but explore her love interests, but to be honest, she doesn’t have any so this will be pure speculation and subtext until otherwise stated.

So what is different about Nadia is her disinterest in all things of the opposite sex and her interest in all things about science. She was raised in an Assassin/Scientist school where Nadia was trained to be a super scientist assassin along with other young people. She is a genius, but Nadia developed a love for science. When she was freed from the Red Room, Nadia kept her love for science and sought to make sure all girls like herself could be allowed to express their love for science without a glass ceiling. So she wanted to recruit a science girl gang of sorts.

You could make an argument that Nadia is ace and I wouldn’t argue against you. However, as you can see, it is easy to write off character interactions as that when in actuality they are underdeveloped. I think Nadia is a sapiosexual lesbian because her attraction directly correlates with how intelligent a person the person is. And she hates overly intelligent scientific men like Peter Parker and somewhat resents her abusive father as they kept a glass ceiling in the intelligencia of academic science that chased women out. However, any woman with a compelling interest in science immediately piques her interest. And sure, we could say that this attitude is fostered due to her mission statement of uplifting women of science and girl geniuses in the place of attraction towards said girls, but sometimes we forget that no matter how wholesome Nadia is, she is still a teenager.

This Amber and I’d say that this was the first and only time Nadia exhibited an actual crush on somebody.And sure, Nadia’s innocence could be taken to mean that she was just being her normal bubbly self, I want to take note that she really didn’t ask about Amber’s scientific prowess. She complimented her looks first and then her tattoos and then she saw the Teleforce Tattoo. 

But just like the others on this list, Amber could not just be a normal girl. Nope, she had to be a supervillain.

I am just pointing out a pattern. Boys need their love interests to be non-superpowered and not necessarily the physical equal. Girls have to have their romantic counterparts be just as physically capable as them.

Amber aka Seeker becomes a rival to Nadia until they realized that they aren’t necessarily enemies of each other as the real threat was an Ultron merged Hank Pym who wants to take over the world or whatever does Ultron want to do anymore. Who knows?

So Seeker and her AIM Anti-Ultron think tank joined Nadia’s GIRL. And we never knew what happened between her and Nadia.

Riri Williams aka Ironheart

Gender: Female

Orientation: ?

Love Interests: Xavier King, Viv Vision

Okay, Riri is a bit complicated because her story goes as this: 

Girl goes to school.

Girl becomes bored with school.

Girl starts acting out because she is bored with school.

Girl gets tested and it is revealed that she is a super genius.

Parents of girl freak out because they realized that by boring her, they could have made the next super-villainess.

Girl is then handled with care to ensure that she is not alone all of the time thinking about her inventions and struggles to make human connections because she is smarter than everybody in her neighborhood.

Girl meets another girl who becomes her best friend.

Girl’s best friend and her super nice step dad die in a drive-bye shooting.

Girl decides to close herself off again and be stuck working on her inventions.

So it makes sense that Riri has problems making connections with people. Or Bendis didn’t really bother to give the girl a romantic interest so he hastily came up with one. Xavier King.

Xavier King didn’t get much characterization until Eve Ewing took over and he went from boy that Riri Williams might have fancied to being Riri Williams’ Ron Stoppable to her Kim Possible.

She is the hypercompetent woman and she is pretty much the silly sidekick. I can’t say that the two are dating or romantically inclined, but I can say that I love their friendship

Xavier doesn’t necessarily become a boyfriend. He has a better role: he is her best friend.

He makes her laugh and most importantly, she feel comfortable around him. Which leads us to someone who isn’t as warm....physically....or is she? What is the temperature of synthezoids?

When Riri joined the Champions, her communication skills continued to be sorely lacking. She kind of kept to herself and really only got along with Nadia, Amadeus, and Viv Vision. Just to be clear, she only got along with the geniuses as Miles was too friendly and somewhat got on her nerves. Kamala simply avoided Riri and gave her space and everyone else except for Miles apparently followed suit.  Viv on the other hand doesn’t quite have a grasp on social cues yet.

And the two socially awkward girls connect. Riri and Viv get along quite well. The girls didn’t really advance their friendship until Riri did something monumentally stupid: she tried to take on Thanos.

So after that humiliating shitkicking, Riri pretty much developed PTSD and our favorite synthezoid decided to check on her teammate.

And Viv consoled Riri and the two decide to make Riri a new Iron Man armor.

The end result.

Girls don’t want flowers. They want cool power armor.

Viv and Riri sort of connect more with Viv letting her pet synthezoid hang our with Riri and Riri being the most open to her. And Viv read too much into this cordial relationship between her and Riri...and well...

now I’d like to point out that this isn’t because Riri doesn’t swing that way. On the contrary, it isn’t the gender that Riri had a problem with in regards to Viv. It is the invasion of space that turned Riri off. You have to ask Eve Ewing and Jim Zub, but Riri never explicitly stated that it was orientation incapability that turned her away from Viv. It was because Viv made her feel uncomfortable.

And Viv’s unawareness as to why exactly kissing Riri was distressing to Riri didn’t help.

And this is why Riri actively stayed away from Champions’ related activities for the majority of the run. Viv made her uncomfortable and Riri decided to keep her distancing while still reaching out to Kamala and Nadia.Later Riri was mind controlled by Blackheart who brewed those fears and emotions towards Viv and made those insecurities toxic and violent. So under his manipulation, Riri knocked out Viv and the rest of the Champions.

Riri went for the killing blow, but Viv 2.0(long story) rebooted and took over for the then comatose Viv. 

THE GIRLS ARE FIGHTING!

Viv rounds up the remaining Champions and Blackheart mind controls the Champions that Riri took out. There was a final battle and Viv eventually took control of her own body and finally confessed to Riri and apologized.

So after the battle between the Champions and Blackheart, Riri and Viv have a heart-to-heart.

So this is all for part 1 for now. It took forever. I may do some updates on characters because it is a growing and developing story for characters. But this is mainly for Marvel. I don’t know if I want to tread the minefield that is DC love interests because that shit is crazy. I also have been trying to figure out wht to do with inner team romances like X-Men, Inhumans, Avengers Academy, Runaways, and etc. So those Nico and Karolina fans, I am aware of y’all and I didn’t forget. It is just that this takes time. Be patient.

Thanks for reading and I hope you have a great day.

@ubernegro​

[lamortexiii]

Shades and Shadows: The Art of Shadow Work: Integrating Your Dark Side

Shadow work is not a concept specific to the metaphysical, psychologists too have stressed the importance of the shadow. Given the massive scope of the shadow, there is only so much justice I can do the topic in a single blog post. There is a wealth of information available on what the shadow is, what shadow work is, how to do it, etc. What I mostly want to focus on is the art of integration, why that’s important and why it can be challenging.

I first learned of the shadow through Carl Jung when I briefly studied psychology in school. Basically, the shadow contains all the parts of ourselves that have been deemed unacceptable, for better or for worse. That’s what makes the shadow a bit tricky, it contains both negative and positive qualities. It’s easy to understand why we would throw our more negative qualities into the dark, hoping no one will ever have to witness them, but what about our more positive qualities that have been shamed in one way or another over time? What if some of our more negative qualities started out positive, or at the very least with the best intent, and slowly mutated over time into the monsters we begin to see them as? I jokingly refer to shadow work as having a tea party with your inner demons, but in a way it is rather like that. Shadow work is not always easy, but it can become especially hard when you don’t like yourself very much.

There are two parts to shadow work: the first step is recognizing the shadow, the second and perhaps more challenging step is integrating it. The shadow itself is usually easy enough to recognize. In my experience, triggers are the easiest way to spot the shadow, particularly what triggers you about other people. When looking at what triggers you about others, it’s not to say that they aren’t doing those things. The key here is that if it didn’t exist in your own shadow, you wouldn't be having such a strong reaction, or quite possibly wouldn’t even be having an interaction like that with someone. What’s obvious in others holds the key to our own subtleties. This is where something like journaling can come in handy, start taking note of what sets you off during the day. It’s not always easy to look at ourselves, and when we do spot something in another that really gets to us, it can be hard to come to terms with the fact that in a way we’re just like them. However, when you recognize the shadow at play and feel ashamed or even angry about it, you’re not in acceptance. Since the shadow is born of nonacceptance in the first place, you are essentially doubling the load and hindering the process to an extent. I say to an extent because that can also be part of the process. Awareness is at least half the battle, but just because we become aware of something doesn’t always mean it magically resolves itself in that instant. We often go through this period of catching ourselves and getting irritated because we feel we should know better. It’s getting stuck in that part of the process that can slow things for us, but doesn’t mean we won’t get there in the end.

Tarot is also great for gaining insight into your shadows, especially when used in conjunction with journaling. There is an incredible amount of different decks out there to choose from. In my opinion, it’s important to find a deck with imagery that resonates with you, but you can make any deck work. One of my current favorite decks to work with when engaging the shadow is the Azathoth Tarot. The images are still true to the original Rider-Waite, but in a more Lovecraft manner. The imagery of the Dark Grimoire Tarot is also phenomenal for shadow work, as are many other decks. Tarot can be used to have a conversation with your shadows by asking questions and seeing what comes up. It can also be used by noting which cards trigger certain or strong emotional responses. I have a tendency to get agitated with the Seven of Cups. For me it triggers this feeling of not knowing myself well enough to know what I truly want. It’s like I have all these things I think that I want, but everything seems so lofty and up in the air. There’s no clear direction or intention, and I feel like that comes down to me. It’s challenging to come to terms with not knowing who you are and what you want. On a much deeper level, what was really eating me about the Seven of Cups was this underlying current of self-loathing. How are you supposed to truly know yourself and what you want in life when you can’t even begin to look at yourself in a way that is remotely loving?

The number one rule of shadow work is that it is not to be forced. Antagonizing the shadow is a surefire way to make things worse, and only further damages your psyche. When I first got into shadow work, I went about it in the entirely wrong way. Rather than that tea party I mentioned earlier, it was more like a scene from American Horror Story (like that one from season five where all the serial killers gather ‘round the table for absinthe on Devil’s Night.) But even in going about things the wrong way, I look back on it now and understand what was actually coming to light at the time was the extent to which I hated myself. The trouble was, I didn’t really know what to do with that information. Of course the answer seems obvious, stop hating yourself and learn to love yourself, but I had no idea how to even begin going about that. It took me a very long time to even acknowledge that I had shadows, and when I did finally begin to recognize them, I could not for the life of me accept them. I began the practice of shadow work by bringing forth my shadows solely for the purpose of beating them back down again. As I’m sure you can imagine, this did nothing in terms of healing, which is ultimately the goal of shadow work.

This is where something like expression becomes a good practice to adopt. One way of integrating the shadow is to find a way of expressing it in a less harmful way. I found abstract painting to be my method of doing so, but of course there are a number of creative ways to express the shadow. Until I discovered abstract painting, I always had a hard time expressing myself. I had this fierce determination to never let people see what was behind the mask, or masks rather. What began to happen with painting is that I began to see myself in my paintings. I began to see the faces, the colors, the layers that covered up what I didn’t want people to see, and the underlying parts that bled through sometimes. I feel what really gives life to my paintings lies in what’s beneath the surface layer, not just in what you see. In a way it gives them a human quality. Many of us have these underlying feelings and secrets that make up who we present ourselves as, and as many of us know, sometimes those things bleed through the surface. Painting not only allowed me to see those aspects, but to actually look at them with a sense of compassion for the first time. The real art of shadow work lies in its integration, but that process can’t even begin if we aren’t able to face our demons with love and understanding. When we are able to do this, then we are much more able to let others off the hook because we’re able to let ourselves off the hook. At the end of the day, we’re all just trying to find those whose shadows play well with our own. Shadow work is a self-loving practice, and a bit unique to each individual. What I’ve covered in this post is barely the tip of the iceberg, so I would love to know in the comments if doing a series on shadow work in the future is something of interest to anyone.

Shades and Shadows Blog by @thecraftyvvitch

www.LaMorteXiii.com

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