#'is this a post-mountain hangup' it is a post-mountain hangup

[sunsage]

Send me a 📁

Send me a 📁 for a random small headcanon about my muse

He's not a fan of hot drinks, especially if it's something thick. Something like simple tea he can more or less stomach, but hot coffee or cocoa drinks make him queasy.

[hey-hey-j]

anyway it's 9pm no one will see this post but I am once again rambling about the BroZone breakup

specifically, about Floyd just kinda lingering in the background of the scene, not getting involved in the argument between JD, Bruce, and Clay until the end when they're all storming out

and how Bruce and Clay just kinda leave without giving Floyd much of a thought, and okay from a meta standpoint this is probably just condensed writing so that we can focus on the interaction between Floyd and Branch but from a headcanon standpoint.....

it feels like, by this point in the band, everyone is so used to Floyd making himself small and not interfering with their fights until things get heated, that they don't really think to ask Floyd how he feels about the situation. Not because they don't care, but more like.....

....they don't think Floyd is that fussed? Precisely because he's so good at stomping down his own feelings to focus on being the family therapist? It's the curse of being "the Sensitive One," the mediator, the glue that holds the whole family together. Not to quote Madagascar on a Trolls meta post, but it's like this: "you've helped me so often to see the bright side of my problems, that I don't think of you as having any"

and obviously this isn't to say that Bruce and Clay aren't aware that Floyd has his own issues going on within their family dynamic but I don't know, man! They have their own stuff going on! They're all suffocating and they're all young adults and they don't know how to resolve conflict healthily! And Floyd is the original baby of the family! They're not going to press him on those issues until much, much later, when they're all older and Floyd has an entirely new and different mountain of trauma on top of his lingering childhood hangups.

anyway the bottom line is that they all need a heaping helping of family therapy

[just--vi]

“Pick someone in here. Anyone. If you could sleep with anyone, who would you?” Remus twists in his seat to survey the tables. This is a hip place that tends to draw a hip crowd, mostly rich influencer types who are staying in the rooms upstairs, or not-so-rich wannabe types who will post pictures of the decor and pretend they are. Among them are a smattering of regulars, old school friends of his brother’s, chic Londoners here for their night cap. “Oh my god, I don’t know-” “Answer the question!” “Remus.” Regulus groans, dropping his head into his hands. “Stop thinking! Gun to your head. You have to fuck someone in this room. Who is it?” Regulus feels a bit like there really is a gun to his head, the way Remus is looking at him and speaking quickly and drumming his fingers on the table.  “James.” Remus blinks at him. “James…” he repeats slowly, turning to watch James behind the bar. He’s silent for an agonisingly long time, and then he nods and says, “James would definitely have sex with you.”

Regulus is a demisexual romance author who has one big hangup: Smut. After a mountain of bad reviews on his latest novel, an awkward meeting with his publisher, and a conversation with Remus, he decides to take the leap. Unfortunately the only person he really wants to sleep with is James Potter.

Alternative title: "The art of fucking your brother's best friend six ways from Sunday without falling in love in the process."

The Art of Getting Off - (on ao3)

[cinderella-ish]

Let's Talk About Kyoru!

I shared a little while ago (in my first-ever analysis post!) that I don't really have a lot in common with Tohru or Kyo, and I didn't really "get" them or their relationship right away. Today, someone asked on Reddit "What are your personal thoughts on Kyou x Tohru?" and I wrote out a long comment explaining how I grew to love them. So, here's an expanded and edited version of that comment, edited for Tumblr!

I loved both Tohru and Kyo as characters from the start. How could I not? Kyo is an endlessly meme-able, over-the-top tsundere cat-boy with a heart of gold, and Tohru is a lovable, overly-giving people-pleaser who's also a total space cadet prone to some very funny mishaps (that are maybe a little less funny once you understand her character).

What I didn't see at first was how their romantic relationship was an essential part of both Tohru's and Kyo's character development. Their arcs couldn't really have ended any other way, with how Takaya-sensei set them up.

See, Tohru begins the series in denial about the reality of her mother's death and unable to ask for or accept help, even from those closest to her, and even when people offer their help or support up front. She risks her own health and even her life to avoid burdening others, likewise risking herself to protect her memory of her mother (represented by the framed photo).

And Kyo begins the series convinced defeating Yuki will erase his past "sins," or alleviate his guilt from both Kyoko's and his mother's deaths. It's a Sisyphean task and he knows it, but he keeps at it because it's better than the alternative (actually dealing with his trauma) and possibly because he thinks he deserves to suffer defeat after defeat. He's in an extremely fragile place, having just returned from his trip to the mountains, and he truly believes he only hurts the people he loves.

I also think there's some small part of Kyo that's fighting to keep going, even from the start of the series. It's a twisted way to go about living, but he is still trying to live. He has the possibility of a life outside the Cat's House, and he's working his ass off to try and achieve it, even if it's most likely impossible. To me, that's not a character who's given up or accepted his fate.

Similarly, I think there's a small part of Tohru that knows she'll eventually need to accept that her mother is dead and make the decisions that are best for herself. It's harder to see this inner desire in Tohru than in Kyo, but I think it becomes clear when she chooses to stay with the Sohmas rather than return to her grandfather's house. She believed, at that point, that her grandfather was the only person left who knew and loved her mother, yet she knew she would be happier continuing to live with Kyo, Yuki, and Shigure. With the encouragement of her grandfather (and with Kyo and Yuki's heroic rescue mission), she moves forward on the path that will make her happiest.

It took me really digging deep and understanding each of their individual arcs to love them as a couple as much as I do now.

On first pass, it was obvious to me how much Tohru meant to Kyo, and the ways she directly countered his extremely low self-esteem and overwhelming guilt. However, I didn't really understand what Tohru liked about Kyo in a romantic sense.

I think this was probably due to my own anxiousness around men who yell, which strongly put me off of Kyo as a romantic lead. I also didn't like how he promised to protect Tohru again at the end, but that was again due to my own hangups. I have a strong dislike of being "protected" by my romantic partners (it feels patronizing and usually is done without asking or considering my own feelings about being protected). But I'll come back to that.

We know from the start that Tohru tends to reject attempts to care for her, or simply makes sure no one will be in a position to offer that care to her. She doesn't ask to stay with either of her best friends and she doesn't remain with her family during the renovations.

And Kyo is the only person who not only recognizes when Tohru's diminishing her own needs, but he's also the only person who consistently makes sure she has the support she needs, even if she initially refuses it. He tells her it's okay to get angry, asks her to vent her frustrations to him, and reminds her it's okay to be selfish.

I think with anyone else, she would have burned herself out and cut off most of her uncomfortable emotions. Kyo takes care of Tohru, and that's what she needs, because Tohru Honda has very different needs than I do (and that's okay!).

Also, Kyo doesn't yell nearly as much after the first season, but something I realized while writing my series on Kyo and Momiji's relationship is that most of Kyo's yelling is him trying to protect her and the others he cares for (like Momiji). He yelled because he was terrified of hurting her again, or of letting her get hurt through inaction. He'd yell at her when she did something that could've gotten her hurt, or he'd yell at others when they did something that could hurt her. That poor boy was carrying so much guilt over Kyoko's death, he made it his entire personality to try and protect Tohru, including from himself.

At Kyoko's grave, when he promised to protect Tohru for life, I initially read that as a step backwards for him. Wasn't that just a recipe for more guilt? After all, he couldn't possibly protect her from everything. But after some reflection, I think that was him finally internalizing the lesson from that last fight with Yuki: he was protecting her all along by making her smile and being there for her. That's Kyo recognizing that his presence is good for Tohru, and it's a huge shift in how he sees himself and his own self-worth.

So that's really why Kyo and Tohru are so perfect together. Kyo needed someone to help him see his own worth, and Tohru did that simply by needing him. Meanwhile, Tohru needed to prioritize her own needs and happiness, and she did that by admitting how much she needed Kyo. It's a loop that feeds back into itself. The more they care for each other, the more they overcome their initial mistaken beliefs about themselves.

I once shared in response to an ask that I believe Tohru needed Kyo even more than he needed her. Thinking of how badly she was suffering during the hospital arc, when she thought he'd rejected her, and how much she repressed her heartbreak during that time, I think it would've destroyed her if he hadn't decided to try and move forward with her. It would've taken a long, long time before she would've been able to open up to anyone like that again, and she may not have been able to ever again, given how hard it was for her to admit her feelings for Kyo in the first place.

So, I love them. Took me a while, but I'm fully aboard the Kyoru train now.

[randomfoggytiger]

Scully: Lies and Self-Edits

Scully's lies and self-edits stemmed from a desire to be believed in: she wanted trust, admiration, and respect, honing her self-image to a fine point in order to earn that belief.

What I found interesting was how she self-edited her image to others particularly; and how that reflected in her relationships with those closest to her.

**Note**: Will ghost edit later.

"Agent Scully"

To her peers, to coworkers, and bosses (and even in her early friendship with Skinner), Scully maintains an edge of unbreakable, unapproachable distance. Her life is her own; and she will not be broken by misogynistic assumptions (2Shy and D.P.O. and Never Again) or blinded by personal connections (Revelations, Orison, etc.)

Scully seeks to earn their belief through respect, self-editing to cover up her personal struggles and weaknesses.

"Dana, What Are You Doing At Work Getting Knocked Down?"

Bill Scully is shown only one aspect of his sister's chosen line of work: abductions, trauma, and loss of inter-familiar connection. Furthermore, he is hurt, angry, even jealous that Dana would rather go to work and die in silence than admit her failing health to the family, who would be ready and willing to support and lift her up.

What Bill fails to see in his own behavior (and which Scully is too polite to point out to him) is his lack of confidence, faith, and belief in his sister: that her decisions-- be it getting knocked down at work or trying to adopt a little girl she's known for only a few days-- are born from rationality and conviction, not irresponsibility and emotions. He has prejudged her-- unlike or more than he did Melissa, by all accounts-- as flighty and frivolous: climbing to greatness before tossing herself off the mountain to doom.

Scully seeks to earn his belief through rationality, self-editing to appear emotionally detached and logical in the face of his (half-merited, half wildly unfair) criticisms.

"You Were Always the Strong One"

We get a clear picture of Maggie Scully's reliance on her daughter in Beyond the Sea and Memento Mori, setting up one-half of the complicated dynamics of Scully's Starbuck complex. She openly grieves, openly weeps, and openly clings to her daughter-- "the strong one" of her children, boys included. That angle would reinforce Captain Scully's expectations and benevolence to Scully's achieving, self-sacrificing nature; and Scully has always bloomed towards praise, even after her personal revelation in all things.

Scully seeks to earn her unshakeable love, self-editing her own struggles out of a fear that her "cowardice" or failure will dry up Maggie's motherly love or belief.

"Other Fathers"

In Beyond the Sea, Captain Scully is prodded to ask his daughter about her job-- the very issue that fractured his and Scully's relationship from recruitment to field work (quite a long period.) Scully buries her insecurity, answering with a dutifully tight-lipped "It's good." But when her father walks away, she slumps, disappointed at his desire to move quickly away from that fulfilling part of her life.

At his funeral, she begs her mother: "Was he at all proud of me?" And works through her feelings of shame until her closure in One Breath. Still, the question haunts her; and she misinterprets her dissatisfaction and disillusionment in Never Again as a symptom of her "other fathers" hangup with Mulder. The truth she learns then was a different one-- post here-- but the similarities remain. Always patching holes back onto the ship, never pushing the captain too far.

Scully sought (seeks) to earn his pride through being a dutiful second mate, self-editing and downplaying her break for freedom in an attempt to win him back.

"A Source of Strength"

In Irresistible, Scully reveals to Karen Kosseff her realization: she relies on Mulder. She also recognizes her desire to never become a burden to him-- as she says in Fight the Future, "I've only held you back." She breaks down by the end, but that doesn't stop her inability to freely admit weakness until Milagro, and then not fully until after all things.

Scully seeks to earn his belief through attention: is he staring at the stars, forgetting her? Running off to the basement after perpetrators while her heart is being ripped out upstairs? More focused on his pursuit of the truth than her limitations? "You didn't need me, Mulder. I just held you back" is another way of crying out "I ruined your life by turning your focus away from what was more important-- from what is more important to you", after all. Scully self-edits her limitations to keep up with Mulder, be it physically shoulder-to-shoulder or mentally toe-to-toe.

"Life Is... Just a Path"

Melissa Scully, ironically, was the only relationship that needed nothing from Dana: only gave and gave and gave, pushed and pushed and pushed for her to become better. (A powerful storytelling tool, as well as a powerful relationship; and probably why Chris Carter kept acknowledging her influence in his mytharc episodes.)

Scully sought (seeks) to earn her belief through reassurance, self-editing her weaknesses to Melissa in an attempt to prove she is fine. However, she could never fool her sister, leaving them both frustrated and persistent.

THE TRUTH

Scully wants others to believe in her.

She will always face doubts in her chosen field of work; but she's won the belief of Skinner and a handful of others.

Bill may never fully trust or believe in her motives or actions, but her father jumped at his chance of redemption.

Mulder might not always give her the attention she craves but Maggie did; and Maggie might not always understand, but Mulder will.

Melissa's impact lives on, touching her life and propelling her to resolve those unsettled issues within herself; which, in turn, shifts her focus from denial to acceptance.

Thank you for reading~

Enjoy!

[freshlybakedspiderbread]

i can’t remember at all if i made a post sharing this exact thought, but for a long time now, I’ve always liked the thought of Mokou having a particular hangup about her status as a ‘noble’. The whole reason she has a grudge against Kaguya and set off on an angry trip up that mountain was because of a slight against her father, and I feel it’s natural for me to read that as the feelings of a young, really dignified noble who couldn’t stand such disrespect towards her high class family from some bamboo cutter’s daughter.

So over one thousand years later, ‘noble’ isn’t something anybody thinks when they look at Mokou, since she lives in a bamboo grove and probably eats dirt when she remembers to eat at all, and she herself probably doesn’t actively think about that aspect of her life or even remember much of that life anymore. But whenever it comes to interacting with the Eientei crew, especially Kaguya, all those old feelings and habits regarding her pride in the Fujiwara clan resurface like they never left, and she’ll be quick to point out that she’s of ‘inherently’ higher status on Earth than the supposed Kaguyahime is.

Reisen and Tewi probably just think Mokou is weird when she tries to claim to be of any pedigree, and Eirin maybe humours her? Actually I think its sweeter if Eirin one hundred accepts and understands Mokou’s words about how she remains a distinguished daughter of Fujiwara even if the clan no longer exists.

Just because its on my mind, I think Keine would encourage and support Mokou having this attachment to this aspect of her history, both because any history is worth remembering even if its only important to one person, and because Mokou otherwise doesn’t hold anything about herself in high regard.

But I think Kaguya would get heated and really invested whenever that kind of stuff is brought up, mostly because this always in turns makes Kaguya’s memories of being raised by her Earth family resurface like they never left, so she’s all too eager to argue that she has never done anything wrong in her life and anyone who can’t do her impossible tasks just suck.

So i guess to sum up, Mokou is just a hobo who lives in the woods, and has no delusions about that, but she hangs onto the pride of her family’s status even though its long in the past and will not hestiate to flaunt it for as long as she’s alive. And that in turn makes Kaguya feel like that ancient history on Earth still matters and is worth getting mad (and killing Mokou) for. And also Eirin likes Mokou because its nice to have someone remind them all of how they’re so ‘down-to-earth’ now.

[mxtxfanatic]

I've been reading through your mdzs meta (hope that's not too weird! I've loved your different takes on a lot of things!) And I was struck by the line "Jyl makes a choice (however coerced, but that can be another convo) to marry into the Jin" in post /690494124992937984. I never really got behind the ~romance~ of jyl/jzxn but I've only seen one other meta saying maybe they werent in love and tbh I find that idea fascinating for all that it implies

XuanLi is such an interesting couple in that we only learn about them through flashback and they’re mostly used by both the story and most of the people in the story to talk about the tragedy of their doomed lives rather than who they were as people. Now, I have no doubt they loved each other in the course of their very short marriage, as Jin Zixuan is said to confide in Jiang Yanli for everything, to the point of it leading to his death in the story. He is also willing to put aside his animosity towards Wei Wuxian to invite him to his son’s one-month celebration (or 100-day celebration? whichever one) because it would make his wife happy. Jiang Yanli also loves him, as she’s excited at the reinstating of her wedding when she comes to show off her wedding dress in that scene lacking self-awareness, and she genuinely mourns jzx’s death and cannot tell wwx in truth that she forgives him for his hand in killing her husband.However, how they got there? 🤷🏽‍♀️

Jk, I believe it’s in character for jyl to have given jzx another chance to prove himself to her after the debacle of the soup incident during the sunshot campaign that turned her off of him completely. Yet, mxtx does not write jyl softening towards jzx again. Instead, we get these scenes: 1) Madam Jin pressuring a reluctant jyl to spend alone time with jzx during the Phoenix Mountain hunt, who then chooses to leave the scene with wwx despite jzx confessing that actually, it was he who wanted to court her on his own, 2) Jiang Cheng, who before the ssc was moved to violence at any slight jzx visited upon his sister, suddenly deciding that jzx’s past (and current if we count him losing his temper at the hunt) actions towards jyl “don’t matter” because “she likes him, so what can we do 🤷🏻” conveniently as everyone is trying to curry favor from the Jin, and 3) jyl, herself, in every flashback after the soup incident but before the reinstatement of the engagement being shown to be reluctant to be in jzx’s presence or even discuss her feelings about him.

So while I don’t think their marriage was a loveless sham put together purely for politics, and while the couple actually do seem to hold genuine affection for each other in the short time they actually get to be a couple, the lead-up to their marriage after the war is posited as a political move on the part of others around them using their real past (for jyl) and present (for jzx) affections for each other to pretend as if the match was for the couple’s benefit and not for the others. If, theoretically, jyl had decided she didn’t want to marry jzx after all, I think those other characters still would have pressured her into it. On the other hand, if the story had been written that way, I don’t think wwx would have had the hangup of killing his shijie’s “beloved husband,” so we lose a plotpoint there.

[vegetarian-macan]

Macan’s Birthday 2021

As a lot of you know from following me or just watching me go completely off the rails, you’ll know that I’m very fond of Macan as a character. Unfortunately, he’s one of many characters that Lifewonders has introduced with an intriguing characterization that is shelved for the same joke over an over again. You know the one.

This post is going to be exploring that concept, and the ramifications it has on his character and how these beliefs affect him in his Date Quest. All information presented will be from his appearances that are lore-heavy, as well as some of my own inferences. Everything will be under the cut because this is going to be a little long.

And fair warning, I will be getting mentioning topics such as suicide and human trafficking as it is a part of his character, keep this in mind as you read.

First, let’s start with the lore that appears in his character quest (the first one, hoping for a second at some point), as that came first. The beginning starts with Macan speaking about how he woke up one day in a jungle with no memory besides the knowledge to find water, food and shelter, and the belief that if one consumes another, they will live on within you. He soon saw that he was a weretiger, with no recollection of how this transformation happened in the first place. In the scene in Chapter 3 where Macan and the MC are discussing himself, he brings up a theory of how this happened, saying that a tiger may have become human, or a human became a tiger. Either way, two beings were killed, and one was reborn from them.

He was unique in the world of Shangri-La, no one else was like him, as strong as him. He was unlike anything there, which made him truly and utterly alone. He hated what little time he spent as a weretiger in Shangri-La, being unable to speak to others as they were afraid of him, and with no one to talk to, he soon began to go mad. When the past Macan appears in his character quest, and the protagonist and the Macan from Tokyo have to fight him, he has a few lines of dialogue about how there’s no one around to answer his calls anymore, no one to listen to him. How he hates being alone.

After he is defeated, this past Macan cries about how he’s going to die alone, that he isn’t just another beast, he’s Someone. It is implied subtly in this scene that had he not been Summoned to Tokyo Macan would have either gone completely mad or committed suicide. Thankfully, this was avoided, although the result to being Summoned was less than ideal, which I will talk about later.

There is a scene in his character quest, right before Past Macan appears, that is explored in his date quest. While bathing in a lake together in the jungle, Macan brings up that with the protagonist there, being in Shangri-La is different. He’s more comfortable, he has someone to talk with now. He mentions that if he could, he’d want to go back to Shangri-La and live there forever with the MC, before stating that if he dies first, he’d want you to eat him.

As for his date quest, let’s set the scene with some lore provided in-game. It opens up with this: 

A world where the horizon is lost. This is the homeworld of Macan, Shangri-La. It is said that it is at the end of the mountain called Hourai "the end of Kunlun" and "behind Deva Loka". That is, it is "on the opposite side of the never-ending road" where people believe in "Reverse Reincarnation". In a world dominated by this faith, death does not mean the end of existence. They believed that even if the physical body was destroyed, the astral body and the spirit would continue living on in a separate state. They could continue living as long as the body, astral body and spirit were not all destroyed at the same time, which is the eternity that Shangri-La promised. 

Macan brings this fact up when he is introduced; those that he consume live on within him, and whoever shall consume him he will live on in them. This is the faith by which he lives his life. No living being is exempt from this rule in Shangri-La, which is most likely part of the reason that Macan has hangups over consuming animals like fish and livestock. They have no choice in how they die, and he cannot be comfortable eating them like that. 

As you may remember, Macan states, or rather implies, that he has eaten people that have lost in a duel against him before. He is completely comfortable with this aspect, seeing it as a natural result to things because, in his homeworld, it is. This is not shared by the residents of Tokyo and other worlds, however, with characters such as Suzuka and Nomad being put off by this. But there is a reason for why he fights the way he does.

Within Shangri-La there was a cycle that persisted up until the creation of the Macan we know, one that was completely broken by the actions of a single human. This cycle was the creation of the Weretiger King, and is explained in his Date Quest as follows:

The weretiger known as Macan Gadungan is also a believer of this faith [see above]. When a creature like him is created, a human is consumed by a beast. The human's spirit is then reborn in the body of this beast. The name of the magangadungan is known throughout Shangri-La as the king of the jungle where many monsters are said to roam. However, it is the opposite that is true. It is not the strongest magan becomes king, it is that the strongest king becomes a magan. Even the toughest bodies will eventually decay, and so even the strongest man will rise from his chair. But there was still a way in this world to make one's faith eternal. The way to accomplish this is to be eaten by a King and to become their flesh and blood. Even if one's body is consumed, as long as the rest lives on, so too will you. Therefore, it is the former king's fate to be eaten by a new king, and live on.* They will be reborn into a new body. The king of the jungle must then remain the best as well as fascinating target that everyone will want to eat. Until the day they too are consumed, no one can defeat them.

*(I’m aware of the contradiction here, but I will not know the correct translation of this section until it is translated officially)

Macan, or the human he once was, managed to stop this cycle, this loop, in its tracks by turning it on it’s head. The challenger is never supposed to defeat the King, and yet, he did. And so, every past King, every instance of this Weretiger King and the human Macan used to be were fused together, and became a new Weretiger King. One that hadn’t been seen before in that world. 

Soon after, he was Summoned to Tokyo, and sold on the black market run by Daikoku. His date quest explores as well, stating that his time as a prisoner was spent in a cage, shuffled between owners and trying to take pieces of him to use for medicine, leather, meat, anything they could take from him. And yet, he continued to live on, his immortality coming from the jungle of Shangri-La, and the former kings that now made up his existence.

He escaped by mauling one of his captors, and presumably picked up by Claude while he was on the run. Those captors of his wanted his flesh and blood, and it was something he would never give them willingly. 

The same cannot be said for the protagonist, or whoever he is paired with in his Date Quest.

During this quest, Macan’s beliefs are tested when he goes to finally consume the protagonist while they lay on the private beach, and he can’t go through with it. Even with his jaws around their throat, he cannot make the final push. Why?

You see, up until this point, Macan had lived by, essentially, the law of equivalent exchange. Give and take, in equal amounts. The bare minimum was given to him whenever someone interacted with him, and Macan gave the same back. So what happens when someone gives him more than that? What happens when he wants more than just the bare minimum? This part addresses that; his beliefs crumble under him.

Macan believes that he can’t ask for more than the bare minimum from others, their flesh and blood, because it would be going against the nature of the weretiger kings, to want nothing from others and also embracing your own personal desires to the fullest. This was what he learned in Shangri-La, the way to prove that he was alive and existed. It was simple, it was an easy world to live in with this belief. But it wasn’t enough for him, not when it came to the person he loved.

Macan wanted more from them; their flesh, blood, soul, everything. He wanted their time, their friendship, their love and adoration. But something deep in his being told him he didn’t deserve it, that they won’t reciprocate this need. The parts of himself, the human, the tiger, and the one that is neither and both, all want different things, and it confused him. Startled him. Scared him.

In the end, he realizes that if he were to kill and eat them, he would lose them. They would be apart of his existence from there on, but they wouldn’t be there. He would no longer be able to see them smile, sit with them on the beach, fight together with them. Which is a loss he couldn’t take, and was prepared to throw away his entire way of life to preserve that bliss. Were they to ask the same of him, he would give them everything he was without hesitation.

His date quest ends ambiguously, which is fitting. The player gets to decide how Macan and the one he has fallen for continue with their life. To follow one’s beliefs, or stop and reconsider when the price to pay is the one you love.

[thegreatobsesso]

Delaney School for Magicians, an introduction.

Inspired by my new friend @rosiewritesandrambles​, who I may or may not be in the works of developing an affiliate program with, given that our respective institutions for magicians are SO close together. ;D

--

Location: I haven’t committed to this in the text yet because I have some weird hangup about placing my story, but at least in my mind, Delaney is nestled in the mountains of New Hampshire, in a very weird weather pocket that actually exists that’s known for crazy temperature extremes but is, in general, extremely cold. “Summer” at Delaney, for those who stay, is about three weeks’ worth of thunderstorms followed by 1.5 warm days. ❄️

History: A rich family of magicians built the original castle right about when witches started getting burned in Salem. Things got evil and gross there through the generations; they took in what they thought were “purebloods”, built onto the castle to fit more magicians, shrouded it so no one would ever find it, and disposed of children with weak genes in the name of magic supremacy. A servant girl named Delphinia Delaney led an uprising and drove the awful people out in a way that no one can explain to this day, and turned it into a school where children could learn about their magic and be safe.

Those left over after the purge started the second magic school, Lyonall School of the Arcane. That’s a whole other post, tho. ;D

Ages: Kids are eligible to enroll at age 12, and can stay until they’re 18 if they can afford the tuition or have scholarships to cover it. Since the 70s, the general population has known magic actually exists and magicians are a thing, so there are indeed young magicians in America’s public school system, and parents who can only afford a year at Delaney or whatnot will have their kids placed back in public school once their time there is over, or at a different magic school (of which I got six). 

After 18, you can apply to the grad program, but it’s not an automatic acceptance like the rest of the years would be if tuition was paid. If you’re staying for grad, you’re either on a teaching track where you wanna be a teacher of magicians, or you’ve got some extraordinary skill that’s gonna benefit society at large. All age groups have their own wings they live in, and the only space that’s open to everyone in the castle at all times is the entrance hall. Here is that:

Education: Everything’s broken down by type of magic, i.e., Focused or Eclectic. 

If you’re Eclectic, you’re gonna be taught all about magical principles, because you can learn spells and rituals that allow you to do a wide variety of pretty cool stuff.

If you’re Focused, that means you have a natural ability in one of the six fields of magic that you don’t need to be taught. You’ll have to first pass a control course, and no judgement if that takes awhile - some kids get scholarships simply because they have trouble controlling their magic, and so it’s pretty expected that the bulk of their education is gonna focus on learning control.

For anyone else, it’s expanding and tine-tuning. If you’re real advanced you can get into field-shifting, where you learn to stretch your abilities into neighboring magic fields, but that’s always gonna produce comparatively weak results. Still, it’s an emerging field that people are getting interested in.

Everyone, Focused or Eclectic, has to take normal classes too, especially for coming in and out of the regular school system. Magic classes aside, one of the main functions of Delaney is produce good magician citizens, i.e., teach them they are not inherently superior just because they’re magicians.

Unlike Lyonall. ;D

Politics: Since one of my main POV characters is the headmaster, I get into a lot of how the funding works, how Delaney and my other schools relate to the magical community and the larger world, and how they are governed. Delaney runs on about 30% government funding, 60% tuition and 20% donations. As such, they can’t afford to take all the kids who’d like to go to magic school for a free ride, but they try to look at everyone on a case-by-case basis to determine best fits and who’s in the most need. They’d be more likely to take someone who was accidentally setting everything on fire than they would a kid whose magic was under control and came from a rich family. They hire only magician teachers for now, but some of their more progressive staff and board members think it’s worth letting non-magicians teach some of the non-magic classes to make sure students are getting exposed to varied perspectives. 

SISA: The Safety in Schools Act. Magic can’t be erased but it can be temporarily dampened to semi-permanently suppressed using skin-to-skin contacts with a certain kind of metal or drugs. The Safety in Schools Act ensures public schools are equipped to step in and stop a young magician not in control of their power who poses a threat. It’s not meant to be used as a way to discriminate against magicians and treat them unfairly, and it’s only in public schools, where they don’t have their own on-staff magicians to help in an emergency.

But such a thing would certainly never be weaponized and never actually implemented in a magic school itself. 

That would just be terrible.

Protection: Delaney’s various wings and classrooms and halls are all protected by wards. Everyone gets a key that’s “programmed” to open the wards to the areas they’re allowed to access and the location of all those keys can always be seen on a 3D magical hologram of the school owned by the current head wardsmith (think: Marauders’ Map + Tony Stark tech). The keys don’t go into actual holes - you just have to hold them out in the designated spot within the shimmery wards and they’re pull back to let you through. The appearance of the wards is largely determined by, again, the current head wardsmith. Ken’s wards take the look of computer circuitry, just because that’s the shape of her mind made manifest.

Also, I am obsessed with keys. Just obsessed with ‘em. So yes I get to have special keys for each one of my boos. 🗝

Dear lord there’s so much more but this is way too long already. If you’ve read this, bless your dear heart!

[femslashhistorian]

Cat / Kara / Lena Fic Recs

In this fanfiction recommendation I have collected my two favorite Kara Danvers/Cat Grant (SuperCat) and my four favorite Kara Danvers/Cat Grant/Lena Luthor (SuperCarp?, SuperCatCorp) stories and a complicated story that I love that is mostly Cat Grant/Lena Luthor (read the full rec).

SuperCat was one of the most popular ships in season one and continues to be popular. The chemistry between both Kara and Cat and Kara and Lena is undeniable and while Cat and Lena never met in canon, this has never stopped anyone from shipping them in a polyamorous relationship with Kara. While not hugely popular, there is a decent number of fics on AO3.

Cat/Lena is a rarepair but in some of the polyamorous stories Cat and Lena are in a relationship first.

Featured stories - Detailed recs and links after the cut

Kara Danvers/Cat Grant/Lena Luthor

Between Two Mountains by fiddle_stix04 *

With Love's Light Wings by writerstealth (orphan_account) *

Promise Not To Break by SpaceshipsAreCool  

I Wish I Could Carry You Away by PoppyCartinelli 

Cat Grant/Lena Luthor (it’s complicated)

Art is Expensive by DangersUntoldHardshipsUnnumbered *

Kara Danvers/Cat Grant (SuperCat)

Commander in Chief by fictorium

Asking Too Much by fictorium

Note: * are my favorites

Kara Danvers/Cat Grant/Lena Luthor

The first two fics are by favorites. They have a very different dynamics and settings:

With Love's Light Wings is an AU set post season 2 in which Cat returns to National City.  Between Two Mountains is set around season 5 (and diverges from canon then) and in this story Lena left National City, heartbroken because of Kara’s betrayal. Instead of the stupid things she did in canon, she does something much more sensible: she escapes to her ski resort.

 Between Two Mountains by fiddle_stix04

Cat Grant/Lena Luthor, Kara Danvers/Cat Grant/Lena Luthor

Completed, 3 chapters, 74k words, 2020

Mature; smut with story

Lena runs off to her Metropolis ski resort to put Kara out of her mind. Across the globe, Cat's grueling schedule is no longer working to distract her from where she really wants to be, and as luck would have it, Carter has found the perfect vacation spot in Metropolis. But he needs a babysitter while on the slopes. Since Kara's powers are fritzing while she nurses her own despair, a vacation away from the demands of National City would be just the thing.

 This story starts with a very hurt Lena and a fascinating look back on Cat and Kara's past, told from Cat's perspective. Cat and Lena meet for the first time and start an affair (or more?) before Kara can start her holiday.

I enjoyed this wonderful, very well written story. It is funny, witty, smutty and pretty much angst free. I especially loved Cat and Lena’s banter.

 Favorite quote

“You received my thank you note for your donation?”

Lena laughed and leaned back in her seat. “I seem to recall it saying something about not destroying your city, your hero, and your assistant. I don’t really remember much of a ‘thank you,’ however.”

“Then I suppose it was really just a note,” Cat shrugged, unconcerned. “But it’s the thought that counts,” Cat said, eyes twinkling.

  With Love's Light Wings by writerstealth (orphan_account)

Kara Danvers/Cat Grant/Lena Luthor

Completed, 19 chapters, 34k words, 2017

Explicit; ESP!Lena (Extrasensory perception); post Season 2 AU

Three women, each with their own sets of walls, find that they need each other to bring them down. Set about two years on from current S2 canon, Kara is a more seasoned reporter, more comfortable and mature. Her friendship with Lena Luthor has long teetered on the edge of becoming something more, but her lingering hangup on Cat Grant has kept it from even starting.

Lena Luthor is a lonely woman with ESP that she developed as a teenager after an accident in her brother's lab. The irony is bitter; she's subjected to everyone's feelings, like it or not, yet struggles to ever share her own. Cat Grant returns to National City to resume her role at CatCo, despite her own unresolved feelings for Kara, and things become complicated for all three of them as they realize that what they need is something different from what they ever thought or expected.

 This is an AU, although the premise of the story only really diverges from canon of Season 1 and early season 2 in Lena's powers and that Lena and Cat meet. After that, it obviously diverges more from canon.

I am always a bit skeptical when Lena gets (super)powers in a fic, but my concerns were unfounded. This is a great and beautifully written story.

 Favorite quote

“Lena was the first person who even began to make me think I could have something with someone anywhere near as good as you.”

Cat looked a little sad at that.  “So, you do love her, then.”

Kara nodded.  “Yeah.  She’s a lot like you in ways, but then… in others, not.  But… she’s been there for me so many times, and taken care of me, and tried to protect me, just like you.  You know, protect me in… in the ways I can’t do for myself.”  She smiled a little, then.  “And she needs so much love, just the way you do.”

She couldn’t stand the wistful look on Cat’s face, so she kissed her again, so lightly, so carefully, imagining her lips and tongue as a butterfly coming to rest on Cat’s mouth.

  Promise Not To Break by SpaceshipsAreCool

Cat Grant/Lena Luthor, Kara Danvers/Cat Grant/Lena Luthor

Completed, 8 chapters, 32k words, 2017

Explicit, dom!Cat, dom!Lena, sub!Kara

When Cat and Lena fell in love, they accepted that they would have to forgo certain desires in order to be together. For over five years they’ve been happy with that decision, but when Cat’s new assistant enters their lives, they can’t help but wonder if there’s another way.

What is really different in this story, is that Cat and Lena are together, have been married for years. I love their interaction. And their jealously and protectiveness for Kara. Cat and Lena are drawn to Kara, but they are afraid to start anything.

There is smut in the last chapters, but considering the tags, this story is really not that kinky. I enjoyed this well written story.

 Favorite quote

“Don’t tell me you fired that young blonde one, Cat, she was cute. Do you know she blushed the most delightful shade of red when I complimented her cardigan the last time you sent her to my office?”

Cat shook her head, standing up from her chair and coming around her desk to greet Lena with a soft kiss. […] “She doesn’t need any encouragement in that area, Lena, but don’t worry, I haven’t fired her, I just sent her to get me a fresh latte. Aside from her continued horrendous taste in clothes, for which I apparently have you to blame, she’s actually decent at her job. And no-” Cat raised a finger, shushing her wife before she could interject, “if you tell her I said that, I don’t care how ‘cute’ you think her reaction will be. I’ll fire her and you’ll be sleeping in the spare room for a month.”

   I Wish I Could Carry You Away by PoppyCartinelli

Kara Danvers/Cat Grant/Lena Luthor

Completed, 1 chapter, 7k words, 2018

General audiences

Disaster strikes, but our local heroine saves the day

 Lena and Cat get stuck in a remote cabin for a day or two. Set after Cat left national city to join the government. Cat and Lena know that Kara is Supergirl.

Nice medium length fic. Angst free, lighthearted and soft.

Cat Grant/Lena Luthor – it’s complicated

Art is Expensive by DangersUntoldHardshipsUnnumbered

Kara Danvers/Cat Grant, Cat Grant/Lena Luthor, Lena Luthor/Veronica Sinclair

Completed, 12 Chapters, 18k words, 2018

Mature; Cheating, infidelity, complicated relationships, end of relationships, angst; minor character death

Human disasters making a mess of things.

I have written about this story before, but I have expanded on my notes here.

Cat cheats on Kara with Lena (who is in a relationship with Veronica). Things get messy and complicated.

None of these are really my favorite ships and this is not something I knew I wanted, but I am mesmerized by this story. It is beautiful and so well written. It is told from Cats and Lena’s POV.

If you are looking for angst free, fluffy, and the usual Supergirl pairings, then this fic is not for you. But if you are open for an unexpected, bittersweet tour de force with a slightly unconventional happy ending, then definitely give this one a try.

Kara is asexual in this story, but while she has a role in this story, she is not the main protagonist. This is also not a happy story and while there is hope and some new beginnings, this is mostly a story about infidelity and the end of relationships.

And as this sums it up so much better than I could summarize it, let me also copy paste in a comment and the author’s response from AO3 here:

  Kara Danvers/Cat Grant (SuperCat)

Commander in Chief by fictorium

Kara Danvers/Cat Grant

Completed, 21 Chapters, 73k words, 2017-2018

Mature; No powers AU (Alternate Universe), President!Cat, Lobbyist!Kara

45th President of the United States, Catherine Jane Grant, is entering the third year of her first term. Enter Myriad International, the country's most formidable environmental lobbying group, and their newest recruit: Kara Danvers.

With an ill-timed remark in a White House meeting, Kara makes an impression on Cat, who isn't about to let being President stop her pursuing the first woman in years to intrigue her. Can they overcome their political conflict to get closer?

 Plot broadly lifted from Sorkin's 'The American President' :)

While it is (also) a story about Kara and Cat falling in love, it is probably more a fic about two people overcoming the first big crisis of their relationship.

While the point of view switches between Kara and Cat, I feel this is more a Cat than a Kara story, that Cat is the main protagonist.

While strictly speaking you don't need to know anything about the Supergirl TV show to enjoy this story you will probably enjoy it more if you do know it - in particular Season 1. I liked that many characters are featured and have small supporting roles: Hank, Alex, Winn, James (even Mon-El has a few scenes and gets what he deserves ;-) and especially Lena, Lucy, Astra and Sam - they are all written lovingly and their roles in the story nicely fit with their characters.

It is very well written and perfectly edited and very fast paced. I think it is mostly due to the quality of the writing that I liked this story a lot, even though I am not the biggest SuperCat shipper.

Notes:

This story has no relation to the short lived TV show of the same name (2005, with Gena Davies) that I actually enjoyed.

I have not seen the movie the author mentioned this story is based on

 Favorite quotes

She walks down the short corridor and finds herself joining a line of guests waiting to go through the metal detectors. Just like at the airport, Kara has a vague sense of unease, as though she might have forgotten putting a machete in her clutch, or a titanium rod in place of her shinbone.

Completely irrational, and yet she can feel a prickle of sweat at her hairline.

But she steps through without a single beep, and then she’s being greeted by none other than James Olsen, White House Press Secretary.

 The day is unbearably long, topped off by a trip to honor some… thing in Pennsylvania that Cat just hopes she was handed the right speech for. No one lost their mind on Air Force One on the way home, at least, and back from Allentown was only a short ride. It makes her too late for Carter’s goodnight, and that always darkens her mood. She looks in on him, pile of briefing memos in one hand, and smiles at how peaceful he is when he sleeps.

 Asking Too Much by fictorium

Kara Danvers/Cat Grant

Completed, 29 Chapters, 94k words, 2015-2016

Explicit; diverges strongly form canon as the story goes on

Anonymous said to fictorium:

Cat needs a date to a party, she convinces Kara to go with her ("You're my assistant, nobody will think anything of it").

That's how it began.

Only it's not Kara who steps out on the red carpet, but Supergirl. As they continue with the public deception, chaos erupts around them: battles fought, lives lost, enemies old and new. Somewhere in there Kara and Cat have to deal with what happens when pretend feelings become all too real, along with the additional complications from Superman and both of the sisters Lane.

Ultimately, Kara has to find a way to make her ever-changing life workable. Can she do that while keeping Cat, her secret identity, and her family intact?

 I am usually not that much into SuperCat but this story’s summery caught my eye. The premise is interesting, the power dynamics is quite intriguing and there is hot sex. The story goes far beyond the typical fake dating trope and is mostly about Kara. I was fascinated by her development, especially in the aspect of Kara’s vs Supergirl’s identity. This story drives this into a direction that is pretty uncommon in fics.

 Note: I had written about the last three fics before, but I have slightly updated the recs for this post.

There are a few additional Cat/Kara/Lena stories (which I have not read and most of which are incomplete) on the Polyamorous Femslash Fanfiction Masterlist on my WordPress blog

This was cross-posted to tumblr and my WordPress blog

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[sunsage]

[ 🔒 ] what are your muse’s most negative traits? how do these traits influence their lives? (ex. if a muse is aggressive, they may have trouble forming lasting friendships.)

[ ⛓ ] has your muse ever felt trapped? by what?

»        headcanon memes inspired by things i like, part 3           inspired by little hope

[ 🔒 ] what are your muse’s most negative traits? how do these traits influence their lives? (ex. if a muse is aggressive, they may have trouble forming lasting friendships.)

Now that's a million dollar question that I can talk about for hours... But let me try and summarize it to the best of my ability.

He's overly protective and tries to be a problem solver for people he cares about, which at the first glance doesn't seem like a negative trait but a) he tends to do it at the expense of his own mental and physical health, b) nobody asks him to do that anymore and c) this seriously affects his relationship with his successor as MK views it as his mentor not trusting him enough to do stuff on his own, but in his brain Monkey King is simply doing what he has to: protecting a person he loves.

Related to this, he doesn't know how to ask for help for himself because he's not able to process when he actually needs it anymore. Being immortal and invulnerable for so long combined with his... past experiences lead to him believe he simply doesn't have needs, not like other people do. He's here to help, not be helped.

(I want to make a separate post about that specifically cause I have Thoughts)

And stemming from all of the above, he's absolutely dogshit at communicating. Most of his thoughts are kept close to his chest and he doesn't want to or genuinely can't voice them. That causes a lot of issues for him and people around him and he actually is trying to work on it but... There is still a lot there he doesn't feel comfortable sharing.

[ ⛓ ] has your muse ever felt trapped? by what?

I mean... yeah. A lot of times, famously.

There's the big one - the mountain under which he spent 500 years. He doesn't really like thinking about it even now and sometimes he still gets nightmares about the time he spent there.

The one that preceded that was Laozi's furnace where he was trapped for fourty nine days. Also not fun, also didn't like it much. But he is a little bit proud still for having survived it.

Then there was the circlet that had him bound to Tang Sanzang. He got over most of that by now (at least somewhat) since the whole thing really did help him improve in the end, but he still loathes that circlet.

Mountain time number two, it was brief and it still sucked.

In the series itself he was trapped twice: one time within Spider Queen's mech, used as its power source (which he frankly didn't mind all that much if it didn't cut into the downtime he was spending with his successor).

And the second time, he was trapped inside his own body when Bone Demon possessed him and used him as her champion. That one was... rough. Even though he freed himself in the end, the whole experience seriously affected him.

tldr: it happened a lot and he's not a fan of it, to put it lightly. A lot of his hangups come specifically from these experiences.

[just--vi]

The art of getting off 😅 hilarious. Can I know more?

HAHA yes you absolutely can.

Think smutty Jegulus longfic. Regulus is a demisexual romance author who has one big hangup: smut. Because he's just not all that interested in sex and the one person he is sort of interested in happens to be his brother's best friend. Cut to an awkward meeting with his publisher and a mountain of bad reviews and well... it's a good thing James is a charitable guy, you know? Alternative title: "The art of fucking your brother's best friend six ways from Sunday and not falling in love in the process" (but it's a bit long isn't it....)

Or, Regulus is bad at writing smut, James agrees to a few helpful hookups for research purposes (obviously), and everything gets absolutely derailed.

I think this is the WIP I'm most excited to post dkfgjhfg bumping it to the top of the list.

@emjayeingray you asked about this one too, so here you go!!

[tangleweave]

💐- Do you like aesthetic posts/blogs? What would you say your ‘Aesthetic’ is? // 🎂- What’s your opinion on over-the-top competition shows like Chopped or The Amazing Race? {Matt <3}

I'm into aesthetic posts/blogs insofar as they're showing me material in an artistic fashion I hadn't thought to associate with them. For example, the hugely colorful MCU palette reduced to black/white, and suddenly everything is Fury Road. Or maybe a GIF's been snipped to draw attention to something that would never have dominated the scene on its own. Gifsets tuned to highlight certain colors or highlighting important moments in a character's evolution. I like all of that stuff, and I'm blown away by the creativity that goes into it.

As for my personal aesthetic... I like lightning, and anything to do with purple and silver. I like sweeping landscapes and scenes of epic mismatches... like a knight defiantly raising his sword to a dragon that's as tall as a mountain. He's toast, but damn, the balls on that guy.

I have to admit I'm not really a fan of that style of competition show on the whole. That said, there are exceptions. I thought the OG Iron Chef was the perfect blend of over-the-top ridiculousness and innovation -- and I had a blast watching MXC long long before Wipeout ever became a thing. Lately I've really been into The Masked Singer because it highlights the performer's vocal talent before all else... and the costuming is phenomenal.

Here's the hangup... shows like LEGO Masters, Survivor, or The Amazing Race kind of make me want to hide under my desk and change my name, because they tend to include elements of drama which go to an unnecessary level. Some of it is real but some of it is forced; there's no place this is more clear than in those cringe-worthy reunion episodes where the hosts are baiting and needling the contestants.

And finally, there are shows that I'll watch in spite of the drama that they gin up for television... among them, Ink Masters and Face Off. There's something about artists plying their craft that's just mesmerizing, and for that, I'll grant a little bit of leeway for bitchiness.

[hopeisour4letteredword]

Knock knock akishinji

gasp.... mr akishinji......... i was starting to think you weren’t coming to my party :0c

1- who makes the first move and how?

there are two potential courses of action and they are 1) middle school akihiko asks shinjiro for a good luck kiss before his boxing match as a “””joke””” and shinjiro Actually Does It, The Madman or 2) post-canon shinjiro is like ah fuck it i lived and now i have second chances at everything. hey asshole go out with me

2- who is the most insecure and what makes them feel better?

shinjiro likes to spend time with koromaru.... make him toys or good dog food, just be a positive influence on an innocent, loving creature in a way that isn’t even tangentially related to fighting. getting akihiko to unwind a little and laugh is also helpful, altho less reliable, since akihiko can be sort of high-strung

3- who is the most romantic?

it’s shinjiro actually

4- who can’t keep their hands to themselves?

akihiko, but only in private. they’re both pretty good at keeping their hands to themselves in public

5- who says ‘i love you’ first?

depends on the timeline. if confession option #1, akihiko. if confession option #2, shinjiro does it while asking akihiko out

6- who would they ask if they ever had a threesome?

i dunno?? akijun is okay but i can’t see shinjiro going for that, whereas i���m not sure aki would be too pumped about akishinhamu since i HC akihiko as gay...

7- what do they get up to on a night out?

movies and/or long walks with koromaru!

8- what do they like in bed?

shinjiro’s deepest fantasy is that they’ll figure out a way for him to cuddle up to akihiko at night without a) getting elbowed in the sternum and b) getting woken up at ass o clock when akihiko gets up to go jog. they’ve figured out that akihiko as little spoon solves A, still working out a mutually agreeable solution to B

9- what is the most embarrassing thing they have done in front of each other?

well, we know that akihiko has a long history of crying in front of shinjiro... shinjiro has probably been caught baby-talking to koromaru about the virtues of his teammates (eg saying nice things about mitsuru/junpei/others), which would mortify him

10- desert island

these scenarios genuinely distress me. am i supposed to assume that any luxury item will automatically generate/include the infrastructure necessary to support it? like, if i bring a nintendo switch, have i now guaranteed a working power outlet? how are the “two songs” the question permits relayed? do i have a shitty old mp3 player that only has memory space for two songs? do i automatically have the power accessible to keep THAT functioning? i have so many questions.

11- what do they hide from one another?

akihiko still has lingering gender hangups as a trans man, and he tries to keep that from shinjiro, so shinjiro doesn’t walk on eggshells while they banter... even with akihiko, shinjiro still feels the need to act tougher and hide his softness and love for cute things

12- what first changes when it starts getting serious?

mitsuru heaves the world’s biggest sigh of relief

13- when do they realize they should get together?

kinda covered in 1. akihiko and shinjiro both start crushing in middle school. akihiko’s moment is more or less realizing if he was going to like girls, he would like mitsuru, and instead he just wants to kiss shinjiro. shinjiro’s moment is still “aw fuck me i didn’t die after all, guess i get do-overs”

14- when one has a cold, what does the other do?

shinjiro forces akihiko to drink a ton of liquids and s l e e p, because making akihiko rest is ironically a very active duty. akihiko panics and makes soup out of a can and sits with shinjiro just anxiety-chatting at him, which works out fine because shinjiro has years of experience zoning out and even taking a nap while akihiko is talking

15- when they watch a film what do they choose and why? who gets the final vote?

akihiko likes mindless action and superhero movies, shinjiro likes true-to-life animal movies and (altho he doesn’t want to admit it) animal-centric cartoons... (shinjiro likes Up). they try to compromise on more action-y animal cartoons when they can, but otherwise they just take turns. sometimes the mood for the night will just be such that akihiko would rather just take it easy and watch one of shinji’s movies, anyway

16- when the zombie apocalypse comes, how do they cope together?

they both join the yukamitsu survival compound... shinjiro helps with butchering and cooking the food yukari hunts. akihiko goes on a lot of protection, rescue, escort etc trips out of the compound with mitsuru, which stresses shinjiro the fuck out. they have to develop a severity estimation system that charts how stressed shinjiro already is versus how badly mitsuru needs akihiko to come along

17- when they find a time machine, where do they go?

miki :/

18- when they fight, how do they make up?

shinjiro cooks steak for akihiko, akihiko will clean the kitchen from top to bottom and/or pick up something nice from the grocery store for him. depending on how badly akihiko fucked up, it might be something he explicitly does not like but shinjiro does

19- where do they go on their first date?

the park

20- where do they go on holiday?

mitsuru’s private beach OR just some low-key mountains to hike around nature. nowhere too cold though, for shinjiro’s shitty circulatory issues

21- where do they get nervous about going with one another?

akihiko, gender hangups, getting driven to the doctor by shinjiro. shinjiro also hates when akihiko comes to the doctor with him, because he’s always afraid he’ll get belated bad news and he doesn’t want aki to be there for that. but he’s also embarrassed when akihiko comes to craft group meetings and meets shinjiro’s non-SEES friends lmao

22- where does their first kiss happen?

timeline #1: outside school gym. timeline #2: kitchen of akihiko’s post-canon apartment.

23- where is their favorite place to be together?

the park! altho shinjiro is also very partial to just chillin in bed

24- where do they first have sex?

akihiko’s post-canon apartment, hopefully Bed

25- why do they fight?

two boys lost in the sauce.... the proud and angry sauce

26- why do they need to have a serious chat?

oh, god, the trauma hangups. the misunderstandings. the Everything

27- why do their friends get annoyed with them?

they defy everything hamuko and junpei want to place bets on. shinjiro isn’t half as embarrassed about relationship things as they expected him to be

28- why do they get jealous?

akihiko will shamelessly and thoughtlessly get half-naked at the gym, and shinjiro knows he isn’t the only one eyeing his bf. akihiko is kind of jealous of how close shinjiro is with hamuko, but he tries to be reasonable about it, since he likes hamuko and he’s glad shinji has more friends than he used to

29- why do they fall a little bit more in love?

akihiko is profusely praiseful of literally everything shinjiro cooks, even when he kind of wangs it a little. shinjiro claims that makes it meaningless, but he secretly feels soft and tender over it. akihiko can’t handle it when shinjiro is sweet to pets and small children

30- why does it work between them?

lots of shared history as a solid base for the relationship and sheer stubborn determination to get thru the personal and circumstantial obstacles in their way

[sommer-girl]

That Will Be Your Crowning Glory | Elanna

Just cute sister things I wanted on Anna’s blog

Title inspired by this iconic scene in The Princess Diaries 2 which totally feels like a sisters moment (yes Julie Andrews is Elsa)

Date: 1/29

@vvinter-queen

ELSA

Elsa had never been to the Pride U dorms before. She'd never had any need to, after all. So she couldn't help but feel horribly awkward as she walked through the halls, following the intstructions a cheerful Devyn had typed into her phone when Anna's texted instructions had turned out to be too vague. They were supposed to meet outside the dorms to go the the Gala together - another chance for Sister Bonding, Anna had said, and Elsa couldn't find it in herself to say no - but Anna was running late and instead asked her to come up to her dorm.

Ducking through her sister's dorm in a full-length gown was not Elsa's desired first impression on Anna's classmates, never mind that she already knew most of them from the shop. Thank goodness it seemed the majority of students were dressed up as well.

Reaching the door with Anna's name on it, Elsa knocked twice. "Sunshine? It's me," she called in.

ANNA

Anna could not get her hair to cooperate. She had seen the specific hairstyle she wanted to do on Pinterest and it required a lot of maneuvering that just had to require extreme flexibility or very long arms (or maybe just some teamwork) and, as usual, her roommate wasn't around to help.

She smiled when she heard the familiar nickname, then panicked again because her hair looked like a disaster. She was going to hold them up! Ugh, she didn't want to postpone Elsa's rare night out. "One second!" she yelled back, trying one more time to get the braids in line to no avail. Anna cursed loudly as she accidentally stabbed herself in the head with a bobby pin and then finally gave up and went to the door. "Can you help me with something?" she asked, the braids she had been working on already falling out.

ELSA

Hearing the commotion on the other side of the door, Elsa braced herself for a whirlwind. Sure enough, Anna answered the door looking like she'd just walked through a tornado. Elsa smiled, reaching out to squeeze Anna's covered wrist as had become her usual greeting. "Of course," she reassured, "we've got time." She followed her sister into the dorm, looking around curiously. It was easy to tell which side of the room was Anna's; the other side was practically bare, no ornamentation at all, and Elsa recalled that this must be the roommate that Anna rarely saw.

"Take a seat," Elsa said, setting the box she'd held in one hand on Anna's desk. "What are we trying to do?"

ANNA

It was exciting how easy it was becoming to fall into the routine of being a younger sister again. They went to parties and had dinner together and, maybe, Anna thought, did each other's hair. If Elsa could help, Anna knew she could pull off the style she wanted. But she had already caught onto how hesitant Elsa seemed to go near her, as though she might hurt her if she got too close. So Anna wasn't sure she should count on anything.

She was sure Elsa had her reasons, even if Anna didn't understand. Maybe one day she would bring it up.

For now, though, she had a hairstyle to attempt. Anna pulled up the Pinterest post on her phone. "This one, apparently it's very medieval. No idea if it's accurate, but I thought it looked cool," she explained, then sat down in her desk chair. "I can get the braids, it's the pinning it all together part that I can't do. I swear, nobody has arms that long."

ELSA

Leaning down to look at the phone over her sister's shoulder, Elsa nodded. "Yes, that looks a little hard to manuever," she said, stepping back behind Anna to get a look at what she'd already done. Elsa had become adept at doing her own hair out of necessity, able to freeze her hair in place with her chilled hands until she could get bobby pins to hold up her pale hair. Elsa wouldn't be able to use that trick on Anna; she refused to use magic even that benign anywhere near her sister's head.

Even looking at the back of her head, Elsa felt a little nervous. She could see the white streak done up into Anna's braid, the only physical evidence of the accident, and it made her hands tremble. But no, she could do this. This was easy. It was just hair. Elsa had been getting better the more she hung around Anna, better at touching others without feeling like a ticking bomb, she could do this.

"Brush?" she asked, holding out one hand as the other carefully pulled the pins out of Anna's hair, letting the two braids fall back before she gently combed her fingers through the loose hair

ANNA

Anna opened her desk drawer and pulled out the hairbrush, then handed it to Elsa. She was surprised Elsa actually agreed, but she wasn't going to mention that and scare her off.

But the thought gave her a warm feeling, that maybe Elsa was putting aside whatever nervous hangup she had to help Anna with this all-important hairstyle.

"Thanks, sorry to hold us up," she said, laughing nervously. "Your hair looks really nice, by the way. Looks like you got all the cute-hairstyle-skills genes, huh?

ELSA

Setting the discarded bobby pins down but within easy reach, Elsa began to gently brush out Anna's long hair. It was... odd, doing this again. Elsa used to spend hours doing Anna's hair whenever her little sister asked it of her, giggling as she told the toddler to be still as she pulled her hair back in - what to her thirteen year old mind were - pretty, complex braids. "Don't apologize," Elsa reassured gently, squeezing Anna's shoulder carefully. "The party won't disappear on us if we're late... Probably."

Elsa flushed a little at the compliment, smiling shyly. She'd done her hair back in a latice of smaller braids that led to a low ponytail, a few curled strands left out to frame her face. "Thank you. I had plenty of practice. Remember when you used to ask me to do your hair for you when you were little?"

ANNA

Honestly... Anna only barely remembered that. She had a few memories of Elsa before the accident, and she held onto them closely, because things had never been the same since. They were random-- playing in the snow together, listening to their mother's stories by the fire, making a tower of waffles one chilly morning while the adults slept in. But she remembered wanting to ask Elsa to help with her hair when she was older. And then thinking better of it.

"Yeah," Anna said, smiling a little uneasily. She probably wasn't being very convincing. "I was so annoying back then, probably. Always barging into your room without warning and stuff. I promise I'm, like, a little more self-aware now." She laughed awkwardly.

ELSA

Right away, Elsa knew she had said the wrong thing. Of course she didn't remember, she'd barely been four! Not to mention the number Elsa herself had done on Anna's memories from when she was a child. Elsa wanted to open the window and scream into the night. Why couldn't she do this right!? Had the years they'd been forced apart really drained Elsa of her ability to be a half-decent big sister?

The thought alone made her want to cry.

Elsa was pulled from her own self-flagnation by Anna, and she found herself frowning. "You were never annoying, Anna," she promised. "Wiggly, maybe, which made braiding a pain, but never annoying." Had there not been years and years between them, Elsa would have kissed the top of her sister's head. Were she less likely to shatter everything she touched, she'd pull Anna into a tight hug until she was giggling and smiling again.

But there was, and she was, so instead she just set the brush down on the desk and carefully began to pull the two braids Anna had already done back.

ANNA

Anna just nodded and smiled. She really wanted to believe Elsa. But there was just... a lot there.

Because she knew she could be over-the-top. Overeager. She knew she scared people away with her earnestness sometimes, and Anna wondered if that was why her roommate was never around. Because the thing was, you spent enough years hearing "Why don't you leave your sister alone?" and eventually you get the hint.

But ever since Anna had gotten to Swynlake, she felt like something had been unlocked in her and she needed to squeeze every experience, every milestone, every bit of life out. And sometimes she still wondered if she was being annoying, but she just couldn't stop herself. There was so much to do and so little time, and Anna wanted to throw herself into all of it.

That was why she kept pushing Elsa to spend more time together, to go to every event and work all those shifts together and make up for lost time. She hadn't forgotten about the past. But Elsa seemed genuinely excited to hang out with her, right?

"No, yeah, I know," Anna finally said. "I was kidding. But thanks for the hair stuff, you're a lifesaver."

ELSA

Maybe the years apart hadn't completely severed the bond between them, because as Anna smiled and nodded and brushed off her concerns, Elsa knew she was still upset. She pursed her lips as she pinned Anna's hair back, making sure not to stab the pins too close to her scalp. It was something they hadn't talked about yet, something Elsa didn't know how to approach even as she felt it looming over them and this tenuous relationship they were building back up together. Thirteen years was a long time to be separated, especially when Anna was so young, and she didn't doubt Anna still didn't know all the details as to why.

Their father had wanted to shield Anna from it, from the truth of what had happened. From her part, however incidental, in the sequence of events that had left their mother a shell of herself. Elsa wondered if maybe they'd done too good of a job. At least while Elsa had been alone on the mountain, miserable and lonely and scared, she'd known exactly why.

Tucking away the last end of her braid, Elsa reached for the hairspray still left out on the desk and gave the hair do a quick mist to set it all in place. She spun Anna around in her chair carefully, giving her a small, timid smile as she reached up and pulled loose two strands of hair to frame her freckled cheeks. "There you go," she murmured, twisting the strands around her cold fingers and, with a careful, frozen breath, set the two loose curls one at a time. "All done. You look beautiful, Anna," she said sincerely, looking into her sister's eyes and hoping that, at least, wasn't too little, too late.

ANNA

"Thanks," Anna said, smiling and reaching a hand up to touch the braids Elsa had fixed. They were perfect. Of course they were. Elsa always had it together, it seemed. As someone who knew she was a bit of a walking disaster, Anna admired that about her sister.

She could feel the cold air on her face and, briefly, it reminded her of something from long ago... Anna couldn't put her finger on what, though. All she knew was that there had to be some kind of magic at play. She would have to ask about it later.

Anna knew she always did this, pushing more complicated topics aside for later. Later, later, later. But it never seemed like the right time. Anna just wanted to have a fun night with her sister, not get into an argument.

She stood up and checked her phone. People were definitely arriving by now. "We'd better get going, hadn't we? Now that I've delayed us enough." Anna said it jokingly, reaching for her coat.

ELSA

Anna stood and it felt like something had slipped from Elsa's grasp, like she'd ruined something that could have been a warm memory for the two of them to share one day. Just another beautiful thing left shattered and broken in her wake, it seemed. Elsa sighed softly when Anna looked away, frowning at the thin layer of frost that had begun to creep across the rug from her feet. "It's no trouble," she said, pushing herself upright. "Like I said, the party won't- wait!"

Elsa looked at the box she'd nearly forgotten with wide eyes, spinning towards Anna and flapping her hands at her. "Waitwaitwait! I nearly forgot!" She rushed forward, carefully grabbing Anna's wrist and bringing her back to the chair and motioning for her to sit back down. "I got you something, to go with your dress," she explained, picking up the box and craddling it to her chest. "I-if you want it," Elsa added, suddenly feeling shy. She hadn't given Anna a present in person in ages.

ANNA

For a second, Anna got scared that something was seriously wrong, or that Elsa was about to remember something urgent that meant she couldn't come to the party. She braced herself, knowing that she couldn't really be too disappointed about it, Elsa had helped her with her hair after all, and...

And then Elsa had a present for her?!

"Oh!" Anna said, expression going from confusion to excitement. "Er, yeah, definitely! That's so nice of you, er, I didn't realize-- I totally would have gotten you something..."

It wasn't that Anna felt guilty about that, more just awkward, because she was still figuring out this "sister" thing and she hadn't realized maybe the situation called for a gift. All these new beginnings meant a lot of weird growing pains.

ELSA

Elsa felt herself smile at Anna's obvious excitement, her own short heels bouncing up and down off the floor. "Don't worry about it," she reassured, opening the box in a way that meant Anna couldn't get a sneak peek at what was inside. "It's just something I thought of when you sent me the picture of your dress."

Setting the box down on her bed, Elsa pulled out a golden circlet, made of curling wire twisted and formed together. Golden leaves decorated the temples and a single, teardrop-shaped gem hung from the center. Elsa had asked the maker to match the gem to her sister's green dress, and she was delighted to see they matched almost perfectly. She held the circlet out shyly for Anna's inspection. "I hope you like it," she said.

ANNA

Anna's jaw dropped. She couldn't remember the last time she had gotten a gift from Elsa, and this one was absolutely perfect. Just the right shade of green, and, maybe this was embarrassing but Anna had kind of been going for a princess thing with the dress and it's long, flowing skirt. What? She liked pretending to be the protagonist of a period romance.

"Like it? It's gorgeous, Elsa! I love it!" Anna took it and almost shoved it right into her hair before remembering how much work Elsa had just put into the style. She slowed down and carefully put the circlet on. "I literally don't think I own anything this pretty. I'm like a queen now." Anna said the last part jokingly, doing an exaggerated queenly wave. "Seriously, Elsa, thank you."

ELSA

Elsa was beaming, her chest filled with warmth at Anna's reaction to her gift. She almost reached out to help Anna put it on, but her sister beat her to it. It looked wonderful on her, but was outshone by her baby sister's smile.

God, it had been ages since Elsa had seen that smile.

"You're very welcome, Sunshine," she said, hands clasped together in front of her chest to keep herself from creating little flurries in her excitement. She almost forgot the second circlet in the box, but remembered herself after a moment and went to grab it. "Here, now we match! Um, sort of." Elsa's circlet was rougher than her sister's, the smooth, curling lines of Anna's circlet replaced instead by natural shapes almost like branches that had been dipped in silver. A few clear crystals decorated the front, almost looking like chips of ice, and the frost that naturally spread from Elsa's fingers only helped the illusion.

"What do you think," she said nervously, holding it above her head, "too much?"

ANNA

"It's perfect. Definitely wear it," Anna said decisively. She picked up her phone and opened the camera. Anna knew that she was always taking pictures of things, but it was because she wanted to remember them. She didn't have that many pictures of Elsa to start with. There was time to change that, though. "Smile! I have to document this, your royal coronation!" she joked.

Despite the jokes, Anna was glad to see Elsa splurging on things, treating herself. It felt like she could be overly practical sometimes, and Anna thought she deserved more than that.

ELSA

Elsa chuckled at Anna, just as quick to make decisions as she'd always been. That at least hadn't changed. She moved to stand by the vanity so she could slide the tiara into her hair, fussing with it for a moment before looking up at Anna's request. She giggled, covering her grin with her hand before standing up and ducking into a curtsey, holding out her long skirt and smiling. "Like this?" she asked. 

ANNA

Anna snapped several photos, a few of Elsa giggling and then the ones of her actually posing, too. She didn't necessarily plan on posting them, but she just thought they were important to have. If they got separated again, Anna wanted to have things to look back on, since she hadn't had that the first time.

"Aw, those came out so nice," Anna said, swiping through the pictures before putting her phone in her coat pocket. "Let's go now, we have to make our big entrance!"

[gegenji]

5, 18, 25!

A triple!

Since I want to give each question a solid answer rather than just keep it short to avoid the post being too long, I’ll be putting my responses under a Read More. That way I can fully answer each one without leaving a wall of text for people to have to scroll over.

If anyone else would like to hit up the list, they can find the original post here:

>>GET TO KNOW MY CHARACTER<<

Now, let’s see here...

5. Are they sexually confident or more of the shy type? 

Oh. Welp, starting off with a bang, I guess. XD

Not to delve too deep into this since people have Opinions about Lalafell in Adult Situations (not going to open that can of worms here), Chachan’s body-image issues that were mentioned in a previous ask kind of come into play here. Since he actively hides his body shape, it stands to reason that an act that involves revealing it would be rather difficult for him. This actually extends to his choice in swimwear as well. Not very revealing at all, as it’s more like a wet-suit with a shirt and baggy pants added on for good measure.

So, it would require him to be with someone he was very comfortable with. And even then, he’d still be a bit timid and shy both due to the lingering hangups over his appearance and his gentle nature. That’s not a lot Chachan is confident in beyond his skill as a smith.

18. What kind of home would they want to live in? Where would they place this abode? 

Actually, the house he has now is pretty close to what kind of home he’s like and where he’d want it.

First and foremost, his house is a bit like the family estate back in Othard: a combination of forge and home. Though, Chachan’s place also has a bit of a shop front as well, to help sell his goods as well as those made by the House Dentra craftsmen. You can see the blend pretty easily - basement is the smithy proper and kitchen, main floor is shop and living room, and the top floor is bedrooms and bathroom.

The bedrooms plural is also purposeful, and another slight deviation from the family estate design. The Gegenji home was designed specifically to house only the family. Chachan, on the other hand, has friends who like to roam and never seem to really put down roots. Being the worrywart he is, he wanted to make sure that they’d always have a place to lay down their head if they need it - so he has a guest bedroom. Would probably have more if he could fit them in, but he doesn’t want his friends being crammed into the equivalent of a broom closet.

As for the where, while he does have a lot of Othardian-style design and decoration for his home, it’s more or less right where he wants it: in Ul’dah. It might seem strange, but it’s where he feels like his work can help the most. The smithing guilds are in Limsa and the Leatherworker’s Guild is in Gridania, but Ul’dah doesn’t have anything similar (except maybe the Weaver’s Guild). So, from his smithy in the Goblet, he can help ensure the people of Thanalan - including the Flames and the Sultansworn - also have ready access to high quality equipment without having to travel out to or import from the other two city-states.

Though they totally can if they’d like. He’s just providing options!

25. Is there something traumatic from your character’s past that greatly affects them even to this day? 

Definitely. One of Chachan’s driving forces to want to protect people and see them safe is due to two rather big scares he had in his own life: the razing of Doma and the battle with his own brother.

While he was fortunate enough that his family had escaped due to their estate being harder to approach and attack due to being nestled in the mountains, there was definitely a period when the news of the razing got to him that he didn’t know if his family was alive or dead. Which was a horrifyingly worrying situation to be in that was only mollified when his parents left word of their arrival at the Hourglass while the Alliance were shuffling the refugees around. He was also still living in the Hourglass at the time, so he couldn’t really let them stay with him either and got to be worried if they were doing all right until they settled in Revenant’s Toll with the rest. They were able to get by with the family’s legendary craftsmanship being utilized by Rowena until Doma was freed and they returned home to help rebuild.

The battle with his brother was a bit more personally intense because he had a hand in it. Gogonji took the news of the razing a lot worse than Chachanji did - returning to the family home in supposed triumph only to find it burned to the ground and assuming the worst. In his rage, he was set to use some experimental magitek and the Alliance itself as his weapons of vengeance so he could see Garlemald razed in kind. Chachan and his friends managed to stop Gogon but, in the process, left the older Gegenji brother in a coma. Gegenji stubbornness carried the day and Gogonji did eventually recover (though he’s been using a cane ever since), but Chachan still felt deeply responsible for the coma as well as getting a pretty personal example that your opponents could be important to someone.

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Thanks again for all the asks @lilac-memorials​, and I hope the answers were fun and interesting!