#BE NOT AFRAID I SIMPLY LOVE MY CHARACTER AND MY PARTYS CHARACTERS SO MUCH

[wall-e-gorl]

Day 3 streak of crying about kul for one reason or another because I'm too kul of emotions 💪

[hells-wasabii]

Emm...If it's not too much trouble, can I have something((short drabble,but will be happy with headcanons too)with Rosie and Cherri please, would be grateful in advance!!!!👉👈

I also wish you luck in your endeavours and inspiration.(⁠ﾉ⁠◕⁠ヮ⁠◕⁠)⁠ﾉ⁠*⁠.⁠✧

A/N: Hey anon! no trouble at all! And thank you! I took different approaches with both characters since you didn't request anything in particular, so hopefully you'll like what i came up with!

Characters: Cherri Bomb, Rosie

Type: Drabble (Softness In Unexpected Places, Fluff)

Cherri Bomb

Cherri could be described as many things. She was boisterous and outgoing. She did what she wanted, when she wanted, taking on any repercussions head-on with a smile on her face.

She was a party girl, through and through. You had been smitten since you had first met her, and how could you not be? She was an absolute bombshell of a woman.

Clubbing was a common occurrence among your group of friends, though as of late, Angel Dust had been shacked up in the princess's new hotel or something. Cherri had often complained about it, missing her best friend.

But you had noticed that tonight was different. Partying, clubbing. They just weren't calling out to her tonight like they usually did. You recognized it for what it was. A distraction. So you grabbed her by the hand, paid your tab, and left the club with the party girl in tow. You knew exactly what to do.

You knew how she felt, of course, Angel was your friend too. You missed him just as much as she did, but what Cherri needed now was a place to think, not the numbing effects of alcohol and other intoxicants. A place to vent her woes.

And that was exactly where you took her. See, you had a spot of your own, a safe place up on the roof of your apartment overlooking Pentagram City.

The two of you didn't speak much as you sat shoulder to shoulder on the rooftop that night, you didn't have to. You knew that Cherri had been partying harder than usual lately, trying to keep her mind off of things. But you were here now together. You were here for her, something that you reminded her of with every squeeze of the hand.

"Thanks, love." She uttered softly, almost as if she was afraid that if she spoke too loudly, the peace would shatter.

You simply smiled, pressing a kiss to your girlfriend's temple. "Anytime."

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Rosie

Rosie was frightening, but this went without saying. She was both an overlord and the leader of Cannibal Town, after all. The woman was a force to be reckoned with. At least, that had been what you'd heard. You had never met her before, only in passing and in the company of other demons.

When you finally officaly met the cannibal, you were lost and at a loss. As you walked the streets of Cannibal Town looking this way and that with trepidation, you could feel a pit of despair settle in your stomach. How did you even get here?

With no true destination in mind, you drew a deep breath and entered what seemed to be an empty shop. You, or at least the were promptly greeted

"Welcome to Rosie's Emporium, dear. Give me a moment and I'll be right with you." called a voice, sweet as syrup, from what you assumed to be the back room.

You were honestly surprised by the elegance of the place. Walking over to a display you marveled at the selection of items. The same voice from before called out again, clearer now. "Sorry for the wait, darling! My assistant is out for the day and- oh, I don't need to be worrying you with my problems. What can I do for you today?"

"Um, hi." You greeted. Weary still, you turned to face the demon who now stood behind the counter. Rosie was tall, and so very pretty. There was a graceful air to her, something that you had picked up on before in passing. With cautious steps, you made your way to the counter. Rosie however, skipped the greeting.

"You don't seem to be from around here darling. Oh! Are you looking to expand your palette perhaps? I have a wonderful selection to choose from for first-time foodies!"

"Ah, no.. sorry. I'm actually kinda lost-" You barely had been able to get the words out of your mouth before her sharpened grin widened. She clasped her hands together as she rounded the counter to stand before you.

"Oh, my! That's not good! I tell you what, dear. Give me a moment to wrap this delivery up and I'll help you find your way."

And help you she did. She even gave you a tour of the town. It had been an absolute delight. Conversation with the woman came easy, and any unease that you might have had before melted away. You learned about the town and those who inhabited it.

You really hadn't expected her to be as sweet as she was. As ironic as it may sound, you might have gotten a taste for Cannibal Town. Or at least the woman in charge. You would be sure to come back through, on purpose next time.

[writingquestionsanswered]

hey, i love your blog, you’re so kind for doing all of this. kudos.

i was wondering if you have advice on how to not be terrified of sharing your work with the world? i write a lot of fanfiction (and someday hopefully some original stories) but i get so so anxious about ANYONE reading them so they usually end up rotting in my google docs, and eventually i stop writing them because i don’t get the motivation that comes from reader responses

but the issue is i’m not sure how to tackle this anxiety. as someone who has published works, do you have advice for this?

Tackling the Anxiety of Sharing Your Work

For my answer, I'm going to cobble together some bits from previous posts and add some new stuff. ♥

Sharing our fiction with others is one of the biggest steps we take as writers, and it can be scary no matter what you write. But, if you want to be published, it’s a necessary step. As with so many things in life, doing something that requires courage is often just a matter of taking a deep breath and doing it. "Ripping off the band-aid," as they say.

However, there are some things that might help ease the associated anxiety a bit:

1 - Try to Pin Down Your Specific Fears - One of the first things you may want to do is try to figure out what you're specifically afraid of or what's making you the most anxious about the prospect of sharing your work. If you can find the root cause, it might be easier to tackle the associated anxiety. Are you worried people:

will think your writing is bad?

won’t like your writing style?

won’t get your story/characters?

will judge you for what you write about?

will think less of you for writing at all or what you write about?

will blab about your writing to others?

will steal your ideas?

will see similarities between your story and others?

will make you feel tied to a project you might not complete?

I tackle some of these in the writing-related-fears portion of my Motivation master list.

2 - Don't Rush It - If you take the time to properly revise and edit your story, you can be confident in knowing you've put in the time and effort to make your story the best it possibly can be.

3 - Start Small - If you can, try sharing your story first with an "alpha reader," or in other words a trusted friend, family member, or community member who can appreciate your story. In this case, you might say you're not looking for specific feedback but just a general impression of what they liked about the story. This way, it's not about getting constructive criticism so much as getting over the hump of sharing it and getting the little boost of what they like about the story.

4 - Gradually Go Bigger - From there, you might try sending to a couple of beta readers and opening up to a bit more feedback. The great thing about this is not only are you conditioning yourself to sharing and getting the opinions of others, you can potentially use the feedback to iron out kinks in the story if there are any.

5 - Use a Pen Name - You might want to consider using a pen name for anonymity. Pen names have many different purposes, but much like wearing a mask at a party, they can decrease your inhibition a bit because it creates a bit of a buffer between the real you and your writing.

6 - Post and Let It Go - Many writers get around the issue by simply not engaging with reader feedback, and if you're someone who cares what other people think or are likely to be daunted by the prospect of criticism, this may be the best route for you to go. Now, I know that with fan-fiction in particular, reader feedback is often used for improvement. But the truth of the matter is, you shouldn't rely on reader feedback for improvement anyway. Alpha readers, beta readers, critique partners, and editors are a much better metric for where to improve. When you get your feedback elsewhere, you can post your story and let it fly on its own without worrying about what others are saying.

I hope that helps!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

♦ Questions that violate my ask policies will be deleted! ♦ Please see my master list of top posts before asking ♦ Learn more about WQA here

[creedslove]

OK HEAR ME OUT:

Imagine Pedro's characters (Joel, Javier P, Whiskey, Dave and Frankie) with (f)reader fleeing from a boring party where they only went to drink and make fun of the people they don't like and then end up fucking in the car, with the windshield foggy, the car moving hard as he fucks her in the front seat.

In the parking lot everything is off.

"Take it easy pretty girl... Nobody can see us"

"Damn, you're so hot, I could fuck this pretty cunt of yours all night long baby".

"I fucking love being yours, you make me hard everytime I see you."

"Well done pretty baby, you made such a good job... "

Girl I'm collapsing from how much I want this in my life. 🤩👹👹👹

No outbreak!Joel Miller x f!reader

A/N: omg anon, you nearly killed me with that 🫦

Joel didn't actually like your friends, he had nothing in common with them and thought most of them were all insufferable and he was convinced they all were jealous of you for some reason

this reason being a strong, tall, sexy middle aged man who wasn't afraid of hard-working or spending hours between your thighs savoring your pussy like his favorite meal

and to him there was only one thing worse than your friends: your friends’ boyfriends and husbands; he didn't get why those men had their faces buried on their phones all the time, talking about shit Joel didn't understand or care about and couldn't carry a decent conversation about sports or music

but all that didn't actually mean he wouldn't attend parties with you in order to make you happy and have some fun, even if he didn't like the people, he still enjoyed the drinks, the food and above all, you

however, as much as you both enjoyed the appetizers and the drinks, he could tell you were bored and didn't feel like being social around those people, Joel kept his hand all the time on you, whether he was holding you by the waist or just resting his hand on your thigh

eventually, he kissed and nibbled your neck which caused goosebumps all over your body and at some point you simply didn't have strength to resist Joel anymore, you wanted his touch you needed his touch and you couldn't take one extra minute of that stupid, lame party, so you quickly came up with an excuse, said your goodbyes and headed to his truck

but there's something about Joel's truck, not only about his truck, more like about Joel himself, which made you feel like you wanted to be ravished by him, and it wasn't different when you got inside

when you realized, you were already making out, seatbelts long forgotten as you kissed and groped and he took you to the backseat, your dress was already pulled down so your breasts were exposed, while the hem was all the way on your hips, panties to the side as he explored your tight wet cunt with his thick fingers

as you watched around, your heart pounding, the fear of being caught creeping up your chest was enough to make Joel chuckle and laugh softly

“Take it easy pretty girl... Nobody can see us”

he whispered into your ear, pressing you even tighter against his body

Joel's cock was hard and throbbing and he calmed down just a little the moment you gave him head, his fingers tangled in your hair as he helped you move your head up and down to help his girl be so nice for him

but he didn't want to cum into your mouth, no, he wanted more from you, so he helped you get on your hands and knees and spread your legs tight, loving to get a good sight of your dripping glistening sex all for him

“Damn, you're so hot, I could fuck this pretty cunt of yours all night long baby"

he didn't want any longer, he just got his cock and got inside of you, feeling in heaven as he could play you exactly the way he wanted

and Joel took you right there, holding you by your hips, the windows of the car all foggy from your heavy breathing and the truck shaking softly with the movement of the two of you inside

he didn't spare you any dirty comments, the obscene sounds of your moans, grunts, skin slapping skin and his rough voice all helping that familiar knot in your lower belly grow

"I fucking love being yours, you make me hard everytime I see you.”

you couldn't hold it much longer, he was teasing you and you were so ready for him, so you let go and came for Joel, your man, the same man who loved and respected you and yet fucked you on the back of his truck like some kind of a whore

but you were his little whore, you'd always be a slut for that man's cock

"Well done pretty baby, you made such a good job…”

he praised you the moment he saw the mess you'd left on him

____

[captainofthetidesbreath]

What classes do you think the mighty nein would play, were they to play dnd? Bonus round would they be good at dnd.

I had a post about this like back in 2020 or something that I cannot find, so I don't know if my opinions have changed since then. I don't have anyone down as DMing because I assume that even their forever DM has a preferred class.

Fjord - Cleric I don't think Fjord would like tanking that much because getting attacked makes him nervous, but he doesn't want to be a glass cannon either. I think that he would initially go for cleric because he simply wants to be useful and helpful, but he didn't necessarily realize how big of a job being the cleric is. He starts out as a just Cure Wounds dispenser, but quickly flourishes into a Holy Terror Wrath Of The Righteous Divine cleric. He loves doing that. His mechanics are solid and efficient and he's tactically astute, but he's a timid roleplayer who struggles to initiate scenes. He's solid if drawn into scenes and forgets to be self-conscious because he's got a better character sense than he thinks. Literally do not ask him what the overall plot of the campaign is because he cannot remember no matter how hard he tries; he remembers individual PC arcs though. I think he'd also like paladins, bards, and druids, and I do think he'd be willing to play some of the more involved fighters like the Knights subclasses and the cooler rangers.

Beau - Wizard She wants to be the person in the game who gets all the information, and that's usually a wizard. She wants to put her little hands all over all the lore, and also she loves having a spell list that's a billion miles long. She does not want you to know that she feels so smugly satisfied playing a character who can do the research and have the connections and know the information. She absolutely hates that this means she's made of tissue paper, so she tends toward Con wizard. Her mechanics and exploration work are really good, and she is stellar at engaging in the world in a way that's highly informed by her character class. She struggles with the roleplaying part of things a lot. She has a decent grasp of character, it's the actual RPing part that she has trouble with. If you can convince her to play a charisma caster, which she is afraid of doing, she'd also enjoy bard a lot. Also monks and artificers.

Caleb - Wizard This is self-explanatory. Caleb is a guy who plays a wizard or the full damage caster in every single game. This is who he is. He is great mechanically until you gotta discuss non-spell stuff. He did, in fact, read that portion of the rules, but it was never relevant to him, so he deleted it from his head. His spell choices and use are phenomenal though. He min-maxes but specifically for the weirdest, most niche element that is useful one time, but it is extremely clutch that one time it's relevant. He is also great at the storytelling portion, though his roleplaying can be a little dense or dry. If you can make him play something that's not a wizard, druid or bard. He will not play a healer druid or bard though.

Veth - Warlock She wants to make bad decisions in her games, and she loves that a warlock comes prepackaged with bad decisions. She has a solid grasp of her spellcasting mechanics, but also finds full casting intimidating. She loves the concept of being a wizard in theory but actually playing one stresses her out. She is a very loud and excitable player, which can be a lot of fun if, uh, loud. She fucking supports you and is into whatever it is you're doing, especially if it's so dumb to do. She is inventing the weirdest and most ambiguously intense patron relationship of all time. She also would enjoy paladins, rangers, artificers, and the fancier fighters (again, the Knights subclasses). She could be eased into cleric if a niche in the party is clear and her mechanical role is structured. She can totally handle full casting, including wizards, she just psyches / stresses herself out.

Jester - Bard I feel like people are going to be like "what about barbarian," but I think that Jester tried it once and the comparative lack of options made her really frustrated. She loves the idea of hitting things, but she hates it when 80% of her options is just hitting it. She is attracted to the charisma casters though, because she really likes the charisma skillset, and she really wants to cast a lot of spells. Out of the charisma caster options, she likes bards best because she loves being a little good at everything. She tends to be a little over-competitive about it and gets sulky when she doesn't feel useful enough. She is actually iffy on mechanical nitty-gritty, but her basics and groundwork is solid so it's fine, but she's a really great if melodramatic roleplayer and her social encounter work is great. She is deeply engaged in the narrative and is intensely invested in every NPC. Buys so fucking hard into the suspension of disbelief. She would like the fancier fighters and paladins better than a barbarian.

Molly - Bard He is playing the stereotype bard of everyone's nightmares. I will not further elaborate.

Caduceus - Ranger He does like to ask the plants and animals question in-game as well, and rangers let him do that and have a bit of magic too without being overwhelming as a class. He isn't super interested in doing complex characters; this is not being bad at D&D, to be clear, it's just a preference. He's your friend who is here to play a simple character because he just wants to hang out with you, which I think is always very sweet. That said, he is not very good mechanically. It's a lot of stuff to keep track of even with 5e being a little simpler. I think he would also like playing paladins or the straightforward fighters, or a cleric if he can decide what his niche is and stick to that specifically. He doesn't vibe with barbarians.

Yasha - Druid She is initially drawn to the class for the vibes (always a valid reason to be drawn to a class), but I think she enjoys having spellcasting options and options that aren't "hit it". She is a timid and awkward roleplayer who has a lot of trouble there, even though she has a lot of fun making up backstory and engaging with the lore and story. Her spellcasting is creative and experimental because she loves weird. She is one of the button pushers of the table and is giggling when she does it. (She and Veth are menaces, lmao, it's great.) I think she'd also enjoy bards, maybe clerics and warlocks, and the fancier fighters and rangers.

[newtthetranswriter]

Hi! I saw you posted asking for characters who don’t get enough love, so the person is shoji mezo (mha). Feel free to ignore if you don’t feel comfortable or writing for him, the idea is basically a fluff of he meets someone who also wears a mask all the time b/c they have a blood quirk or something and have sharpish teeth that people are afraid of. Thanks! Hope you are well!

Word Count: 899

Paring: Mezo Shoji x gn!reader

A/n: Hello and thank you so much for this request. I love Shoji so much, so seeing that he was requested made my heart squeal. Also I went with a quirk that gives them animal-like teeth because the only blood quirk I could think of was like a vampire and I wasn't grooving with it. I hope this lives up to your expectations. So as always enjoy, and remember to hydrate or diedrate.

    Being fresh out of U.A. and taking a job as Pro’s sidekick introduced Mezo to meet new people. He may have never been the most social of Class A, but the other rookie sidekick who wore a mask over the lower part of their face piqued his interest. So, to his own surprise he started to befriend them.

    Their friendship started out as simply going on patrol and talking while watching for villains. After fighting alongside them, Mezo learned that Y/n’s quirk was called Druid, essentially they could shapeshift into a variety of different animals. Y/n had also revealed to him over a cup of coffee that a side effect of their quirk was they had animal like teeth and so they wear the mask.

    After Y/n had explained why they wore their mask, Mezo also told Y/n the story behind his own mask. This was still early in their friendship so neither were ready to actually show their face, and both parties were ok with that. There was no pressure to reveal such an important part of themself until they were ready.

   This mutual understanding of each other helped their friendship grow past just partners who went on patrol together. Over time they started seeing each other on their days off, going to the mall or the movies. Some days they would meet at one of their apartments and just stay in and relax.

   Both of the masked heroes had grown accustomed to being in the other’s presence, to the point that Mezo was starting to feel like maybe it was time to show Y/n his true face. He felt truly comfortable around them and knew that they would never cast judgment over him or his scars. And so having decided it was finally time for this major step, Mezo invited his close friend to hang out.

   When Y/n finally arrived at Mezo’s apartment, they were expecting to be greeted by Mezo’s masked face. But to their surprise when Mezo opened the door, he wasn’t wearing his normal blue mask, instead he greeted them with a smile. Seeing the face behind their friend’s mask left them frozen, not in fear but in pure surprise that he felt comfortable enough to show his face to them.

   Taking their moment of silence as a bad sign, Mezo began to internally panic that he had messed up. His smile slowly dropped from his face as he looked to the side trying to think of something to say. “Sorry, I just figured we’d been friends for long enough that I could take a break from wearing the mask.” He quickly said. “If you want to wait on the couch, I'll put it back on.”

   After registering his words,Y/n shook their head. “NO.” The word came out a little too loud and fast startling both parties. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to shout or scare you. What I meant was, no you don’t have to put the mask back on. I’m glad you feel comfortable enough around me to want to have it off.” Y/n corrected themself, giving Mezo a smile. “So, are you going to let me in or are we going to stand in the doorway for the rest of the day?” Y/n asked with a joke.

   Mezo nodded before opening the door further and gesturing for Y/n to entire the apartment. “Well, this was kinda all I had planned for the day. So is there anything you want to watch or do?” Mezo asked as the pair sat on the couch.

   Y/n thought for a moment before responding. “You know I was just thinking how funny it is that you choose today of all days to do a face reveal.” They stated as if it was one of the most obvious things in the world. Mezo turned to look at them confused by the statement. As far as he could remember today wasn’t a special occasion, so what did they mean by that. Seeing the confused look on Mezo’s face Y/n laughed. “Don’t worry it’s not a special occasion, well not yet but we might change that.” Once again Mezo was confused. Deciding that they had tortured him enough, they started to move their own mask, pulling it down below their chin. “I said it was funny you chose today to do a face reveal because I was also planning on taking off my mask.” They finished giving Mezo a smile that showed off their sharp predator like canines that rested slightly over their bottom lip.

    It was Mezo’s turn to freeze in surprise. He had not been accepting them to respond by also taking their mask off. “I’m glad you feel comfortable enough to share your face with me.” Mezo said after getting over the shock.

   The two sat in silence just taking in each other’s faces for a moment before Y/n broke the silence. “Now that we’re both chill with having our masks off, can we order pizza and watch movies?” They asked with a slight laugh.

   Mezo nodded, grabbing his phone and ordering pizza, while Y/n grabbed the remote. Both were relieved that they had someone they didn’t feel the need to hide from. y/n was right today was a special occasion because it marked a massive step in their friendship.

[hamartia-grander]

can you elaborate on gale being manipulative? i dont have him in my party very often so i havent really talked to him much

Yeah absolutely.

So to be fair, I didn't notice it until my second or third playthrough because I never played with him in my party either until I got the mod for no party limit. But once I had him in my party - and would choose different dialogue routes/attempted to romance him (but couldn't go through w it because I don't like him) - that's when it became super noticeable. Astarion's manipulations are overdramatised and overexaggerated because he's a caricature of real manipulation that larian obviously never took seriously. Gale however is real manipulation that is at times so effective it seems whoever was writing the dialogue tree fell for it themselves, given the lack of range in responses.

Gale is very straightforward when he wants something. This is usually an admirable quality. He doesn't hide when he needs something and he isn't afraid to ask for help. But that turns into manipulation when, if he doesn't get his way, he begins putting words into the player character's mouth and assuming their intentions behind denying him what he wants. For the romance path, I noticed this when I began romancing him, but quickly switched to Wyll once I realised I couldn't go an entire playthrough pretending to be attracted to Gale. And when you choose Wyll, Gale has this dialogue:

This. Shocked me, to say the least. Gale immediately equates the player's affections to being a signifier of what makes a man "good", and shifts a simple preference of the heart to be the player saying "you're not as good of a man as Wyll, and you're also unworthy of my love", things that the player never said nor is even a logical thing to conclude from anything I would have said previously. He's putting words in my mouth, he's assuming the worst of my decision. Now this can be interpreted in two ways: either he has no idea he's being super manipulative right now, and is simply lashing out in hurt, or he knows full well what he's doing and is doing it on purpose in an attempt to convince the player to choose him over Wyll in his hurt. Regardless of the intention, the result is that he is twisting the player's intentions and feelings into something that satisfies his own insecurities, either as a reflex or to try to warp the player to giving him what he wants. It's manipulation.

Another instance I noticed this was when I was discouraging him from pursuing the Crown of Karsus after reading The Annals of Karsus. I chose the extreme dialogue choices for this one - outright discouraging him, telling him I don't want him pursuing the crown/godhood - because my first playthrough despite passing the roll to convince him not to take the crown, he still did, because of a bug, but I didn't know it was a bug and just thought I'd done it wrong. So the next time, I tried it this way.

First, I reminded him that the Karsite weave - and the crown itself - is what caused Karsus' downfall and led to an absence of magic. Gale brings up how Mystra wanted him to sacrifice himself to save the realm, and says:

This isn't directed at the player, but it is still a manipulation tactic nonetheless. The player does not know Mystra. We do not interact with her, ever, and we do not ever hear her side of it outside of a brief conversation she has with Gale in the tabernacle. Now, I am not commenting on the act of Mystra wanting Gale to kill himself - obviously that's fucked up. But Gale is, again, completely assuming her intentions behind her request, and twisting the image of her into something purposefully cruel and power-hungry (the goddess of ALL magic… fears not having power? sure, Gale. But there's also limitless power in magic? Which one is it Gale?). He's angry with her, he's angry with the player for trying to discourage him from his hubris, and so he lashes out by warping Mystra's image to the player. He also assumes that Mystra knows for a fact the crown of Karsus can be used to overthrow her, when it literally failed to do so in the past. He is going back to his old habits, he's completely forgetting that the existence of the orb is entirely his fault in his arrogance and in actively ignoring Mystra's boundaries, and he goes on to blame her for it:

by saying she 'took' something from him. (Also, he brings up being cured, as a way to say 'hey you care about me and want be to be cured, so you should be okay with me pursuing godhood, because it means I'll be cured :) Mystra doesn't want Gale to have the crown, and so when the player suggests not wanting Gale to have the crown either, he tries to get us to let him have his way by pinning Mystra as the bad guy. Even though before, he was perfectly willing to acknowledge he was in the wrong:

(this was back in the Tabernacle, after speaking to Mystra). There's also more dialogue in Act 1 where he openly admits to actively ignoring Mystra's boundaries, to being blinded by his hubris, leading him to pursue the pocket of magic only to have that pocket be consumed by him, giving him the orb. Something Mystra took no part in, and actively discouraged him from doing.

When the player says they don't want him to pursue godhood, Gale says:

Just. Wow. Okay. So suddenly, the player disagreeing with him wanting to pursue Godhood means they have no faith in him as a person - something that was never said - and that they think he is automatically inferior to anyone else who would try - again, something that is never said. He lashes out, he twists the player's words and intentions, he assumes everything in bad faith, all to shield his hurt over not getting what he wants and to try to get the player to give him what he wants. (He also, again, reduces his own mistakes as "youthful enthusiasm" despite knowing the risks and taking them anyway. And he intends to do the exact same thing again, here).

He appeals to our empathy by suggesting we mean to say he's worthless, he's not a good man, we have no faith in him, he's inferior, etc., as a way to get us to be on his side. He doesn't see our hesitance to be the understanding that it is - that we know Gale is blinded by his hubris once more, and his seeking godhood will end badly no matter what - and instead twists it into something purposefully cruel and ill-intended. He can be mad all he wants with my decisions - that's normal, that's human, and it's understandable given I'm discouraging him from pursuing something he wants. That's not being argued here. But it is how he acts when being denied something he wants, it's how he twists people's words negatively against them to fit his lack of self-worth that makes it manipulation. He's not taking the player at face value, he's not having faith in the player as his friend and companion, he is shoving us into the 'adversary' box by assigning harmful intentions to our disagreement so that he can feel better about himself.

[starsxblazing]

Hi! Could I request for Cassian, who meets a child Illyrian who had their wings clipped as the bastard daughter of rebels, so the IC take her in. But she’s just scared of all of them and won’t talk and hugs tattered doll but somehow not Cassian and is always cuddling with him, following him, having him carry her around and it’s just a sweet wholesome affair?

Thank you so much for this lovely request! The amount of fluff that I was able to put into this was so heartwarming. The bat boys as dads just hits that soft part of my heart. I tried to figure out a name but naming characters within the acotar universe is daunting so I just generalized it and I hope that's okay!

Teddy Bear

-----

Cassian’s mind was working overtime as he flew beside Azriel on his way to the hidden camp that the latter had discovered. He could have sworn that all of the Illyrian rebels that had served Amarantha had been slaughtered by their own hands. Of course, as their luck would have it, there was a small camp that had somehow remained hidden that they had to take care of. His brother had given a small estimate of numbers that they would be handling but the upcoming fight had to be handled swiftly. 

He could only think of one bright side and that was that there were no reports on women or children so he hoped that it would be an easy defeat that would have them home in a timely manner. They landed so that they weren’t spotted, Azriel using his shadows to keep them covered to the best of his ability. The camp truly was sparse and there were nothing but males mingling around outside with no innocents in sight. 

They both jumped into the ambush, using the element of surprise to their advantage. The last thing that the rebels would be expecting was two of the people that they feared as much as their High Lord. The resistance was weak and they made quick work of the males outside before moving to search the rest of the grounds.

There were a handful of spineless males hiding within their poor, tiny excuse of make-shift cottages that were no match for either of them. Cassian wondered what the point of rebelling against the Night Court was whenever they couldn’t even have the bravery to face their consequences with dignity as the others had. Azriel and himself were both taken by surprise in the smallest of the cottages when the home was empty with the exception of a small child. 

His heart dropped at the sight of the small female sitting alone at a tiny table with a doll that had most definitely seen better days. He wasn’t well versed in younglings but he assumed that she was having a tea party that was an even worse make-shift ordeal than the roof over her head. She smiled at him before she squeaked in pain when her small wings twitched in her happiness.

Her fear filled the room when she noticed Azriel a step behind him. Being a spy and generally aware person, he noted the change in the female's demeanor and quickly stepped outside. The smallest sound of a sigh escaped her but she looked up at him expectantly when he took carefully placed slow steps towards her. She grinned brightly whenever he crouched beside her with his own gentle smile.

“What are you doing, sweetheart?” he asked in a tentative voice.

“Having a tea party!” she exclaimed happily but frowned immediately after. “Daddy will be mad if he sees you here.”

As he feared, the small child was afraid of her own father. The Illyrians view of females, no matter their age, made him sick to his stomach. It made him want to search the camp to find the male to simply bring him back and slaughter him again. He instinctively ran a hand over the top of her head that she giggled at before his eyes drifted to her wings.

He shouldn’t be surprised but it broke his heart nonetheless to see that she had already been clipped at such a very young age. The male’s obviously wanted to keep her hidden, especially since she was the only thing other than warriors amongst the poor excuse of a group. 

“I promise you that it will be okay,” he assured her gently.

“It won’t.” She shook her head vehemently with worry shining in her eyes. “He’s really mean.”

“What about your mom?” His throat was tight and his eyes burned but he somehow managed to keep his voice even. “Is she here somewhere?”

There was another shake of her head, her dirty and matted dark hair moving with the motion. His heart was shattering for the tiny female that he didn’t know but there was no way that they could just leave her there. He wasn’t sure how to approach the subject because he knew nothing about children but he so desperately wanted to help her without terrifying her further.

“I don’t know her.”

“That’s okay,” he whispered as he ran his hand over her head again. “How old are you, sweetheart?”

“Four!” she answered, her voice happy once again as she pulled her battered doll from its seat and into her lap. “And this is my best friend!”

“Your best friend is lovely,” he chuckled quietly which earned him another smile in response. “Do you have any other friends?”

“No,” she answered, her eyes filling with tears. “Daddy keeps me here all by myself.”

“Would you like to go somewhere else where you can make new friends?”

The question left him before he even had time to think about what he was saying. He did his best to keep his expression gentle even though his heart was pounding in his chest. If there was nothing else that he had ever wanted in his five hundred years of life, it was to help and protect this small child that he didn’t know. 

“Where?” She tilted her head in curiosity but fear lingered in her eyes as she gripped her doll tighter. “Daddy won’t like that.”

“I will protect you from him.” 

Cassian didn’t have the heart or even knew the words to say to let her know that she no longer had a father. She watched him silently for a while and there was nothing that he wouldn’t give to know what she was thinking. He stayed quiet as well and his heart somehow managed to break and swell at once when she stood and wrapped her arms around his neck. 

He lifted her gently but frowned while trying to decide if she was underweight for her age or not. The first stop that he would make would be taking her to Madja to check on her general health. He didn’t care about anything else other than getting her the help and care that she needed so he would let Azriel report to their High Lord. 

“Have you ever flown before?” he asked as he looked down at her, noting the hint of fear on her face. 

“No,” she answered in a whisper. “It looks scary.”

“I promise that I won’t drop you.” The child glanced up at him before her eyes drifted to the sky above them when they stayed outside. “You will love it.”

When she gave the smallest of nods, he eased into the air as gently as he could so that he didn’t scare her. A grin bloomed on her face when they evened out and began soaring and the sight had him doing so as well. He felt his heart warming at the way her wings twitched in excitement and she gripped her doll tightly in excitement.

Azriel had disappeared and by the time that he had returned to Velaris, the female had fallen asleep in his arms. It took Madja longer than usual to answer the door since it was late into the night but a small gasp came from the healer at the sight in his arms. He was swiftly ushered inside and Madja frowned at the state of the child before he was shoved out of the room.

“I hear you made a new friend.” Cassian cursed when Rhysand appeared beside him. “Azriel gave me a full report and I assumed that you were here.”

“I couldn’t just leave her there,” he whispered, worried that the child would wake up and hear him.

“You have a good heart, Cass.” His brother gave him a small smile before looking towards the door across from them. “I bet Nyx will enjoy having a new friend.”

“Just as long as she isn’t as afraid of him as she seemed to be of Az,” he muttered as he rubbed his temples. “How do you even tell a four year old that you murdered her father?”

“You don’t,” Rhys answered simply. “Az says she’s attached to you so it seems like you now have your own personal little best friend.”

“And what about Nesta?”

“We’ll ease into it.”

Cassian nodded and took a deep breath when he saw the small female emerge with Madja. There was a bright smile on her face until she noticed Rhysand beside, her fear causing her to back up and hide behind the healer. His High Lord placed a hand on his shoulder before disappearing through the door. Once they were alone, she ran up to him and jumped happily into his arms.

“Feeling better after your nap?”

“Yeah!” she exclaimed happily, her attention turned to the windows showing the empty streets of the city. “Can we go outside?”

“We’re actually,” he started, booping her nose which earned him a giggle. “Going to my house where you can get a hot meal and a good night's sleep.”

He managed to accomplish the tasks of getting her fed and into bed but he decided to wait on the bath so that one of the females in the family could help her since Nesta was staying the night at the river house. From what he knew of females and their hair, it would be a task to brush the knots and matted patches that he wasn’t sure he could take on. He had just laid down, his heavy eyes starting to close when his door slowly opened.

“Everything alright, sweetheart?” he asked groggily, tensing in surprise slightly when she crawled into bed with him and clinging to her doll.

“I had a scary dream.” When she clutched onto him, he felt her light shivers from fear and the wetness that came from her tears. “Wanna stay with you.”

“That’s fine,” he whispered as he wrapped his arms around her, his heart warming when she relaxed and drifted swiftly back into sleep.

The next morning, he awoke to the girl jumping on his bed in her desperate attempt to wake him up. A light chuckle escaped him when she jumped onto him when she realized that he was awake. Breakfast went by smoothly but when he mentioned leaving to meet others, she became visibly nervous, hugging her doll tight against her. Just as he went to reassure her, Nesta was coming through the door. She watched his mate cautiously as she backed towards him and hid behind his leg. 

“Hey there,” Nesta said in a gentle voice that Cassian knew was only for children.

His mate knelt down to appear smaller and hopefully coax the girl from her fear. She didn’t seem reassured enough but she did ease a step out from behind him to peer at her. A small smile stayed on Nesta’s face even though she didn’t receive an answer and Cassian was at a loss about what he should do from there.

“How about we go meet Nyx?” he asked, picking her up but didn’t miss that she still watched Nesta and he assumed that it was as good of a response that they would get.

She nodded and smiled when he got them in the air. There was always the option of walking through the city to show her but he could only imagine how much she enjoyed flying. It was a deep rooted Illyrian need to fly and it was something that had been taken from her.

The nervousness was written all over her face and she gripped his hand tightly once they landed and walked through the door of the river house. He hadn’t been expecting the entirety of the Inner Circle to be there but he hoped that meeting them all at once would help in some regard. His heart sank when she squeaked and hid behind him once again. Even as Nyx ran up to her, she still refused to budge before she extended her arms out to him.

No sooner than she was off of the floor and into his arms, one arm was around his neck while the other continued to hold tightly to the tattered doll that was her comfort item. He gave all of them an apologetic smile as he sat on the couch with her and held her. Rhysand brushed against his mental shields so he dropped it so that they could communicate without words.

“Once Feyre learned of her, she and Elain went into town and bought her some new clothes.”

“That was sweet of them.” He was sure to keep the appreciation in his tone. “I could use all of the help that I can get.”

“It looks like you have a child of your own now.” Rhysand’s voice held a hint of amusement that was also full of love. “She will overcome her fear with time.”

“But I need her to let one of the females help her with a bath and do her hair,” he groaned as he looked around the room. “She was hesitant with Nesta so maybe there is some hope there.”

The High Lord pulled out of his mind before he glanced at Nesta and he knew that he was asking her if she was willing to help. Cassian knew without a doubt that his mate would even if it was just to make him happy. Nesta moved to sit beside them and rubbed the girl’s back soothingly before she removed herself from him just enough to look at her. 

“Let’s go get you cleaned up so we can brush out that pretty hair of yours.”

“Can you come with me?” she asked, looking at him with eyes full of hope.

“I will,” he answered gently. “I will be right outside of the door.”

She seemed placated but he was given no option than to carry her up the stairs to one of the guest rooms. Surprisingly, she allowed Nesta to help her with the task of being sure that she was completely clean and he was pleased with how much better that she looked. 

“Pretty girl.” The girl giggled again when he knelt to eye level with her. “Now let's finish up with your hair.”

She relented and sat on the floor, allowing Nesta to take on the job of carefully brushing through the knots while he sat in front of her. As he had expected, it took a decent amount of time but by the time that his mate was finished, she appeared more comfortable.

“I’m so pretty now!” she exclaimed as she looked at herself in the mirror and had a small, shy smile on her face when she glanced at Nesta. “Thanks!”

“You’re welcome, beautiful girl.”

The child was terrified each time that she was brought to the river house but warmed up to Nyx within a few visits. He noticed that she was the most comfortable when it was just the three of them outside together away from the presence of others. She still came to his room each night to climb into the bed with him and Nesta and was beginning to wonder how he had ever gotten through life without her. After several mental conversations with Rhys, he was assured that it was what a parent felt for their child.

It was the last thing that he had expected when he went on such a quick and simple mission but he couldn’t have been more thankful for it. He loved the small girl just as much as he did his mate and his love only grew when she had fully come around to Nesta.

It had taken a couple of months before she became comfortable around the rest of the Inner Circle. Amren was the only exception but he couldn’t fault the girl for being afraid of someone that even grown Fae feared.

By the time that their first Solstice together came, he realized just how blessed that he was with the new addition for his family. A piece of himself that he didn’t even know was missing had been filled by his adopted daughter and he knew that there was nothing that he wouldn’t do for her.

Tag List:

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[marsmarauders]

The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology (Marauder's Version)

So me and @idkjustlemmedrownlikerab got carried away again... and we related every single song on TTPD to the Marauders characters :D

You put a Jily shipper and a Jegulus shipper in a chat together and this is what comes out of it.

(We also had some help from @noblehouseofgay, so shout outs to him!)

(We plan on covering every album, so make sure to look out for those!)

So now we present... TTPD (Marauder's Version)

Fortnight

"And for a fortnight there, we were forever."

The way we interpreted the song was that it's about what starts as a loveless fling, but someone ends up catching feelings. Narcissa resenting Alice (and Frank) after they break off what they had.

The Tortured Poets Department

Mohishaa and I had different views on this one, so I will share them both!

"You're not Dylan Thomas, I'm not Patti Smith."

Mohishaa's interpretation of the title track was that Barty and Regulus only really had each other and they knew that. Just replace the names with "Evan Rosier" and "James Potter" and you've got yourself a Bartylus anthem.

"But I've seen this episode and still loved the show."

I have personally always viewed this song as Sirius just being knee-deep in love with Remus. Everything from the lines about chocolate, to the wedding ring line just screams Wolfstar to me.

(I wanted to include both because we're each very attached to our own headcanons and that is okay! Disagreeing does not always have to result in arguing!)

My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys

"And I'll tell you that he runs because he loves me."

This is basically just James and Remus talking about their traumatized, unstable boyfriends.

Down Bad

"For a moment I knew cosmic love."

We both agreed that it's Jegulus, but we cannot decide between it being from Jame's perspective or Regulus's perspective.

So Long, London

"I stopped CPR, after all it's no use. The spirit was gone, we would never come to."

Sirius and James mourning the loss of someone who was to one brother and to another a lover. (Shh... it's Regulus).

But Daddy I Love Him

"...Thinking it can change the beat of my heart when he touches me and counteract the chemistry and undo the destiny."

Lily about James... except she wasn't lying when she said she was having his baby.

Fresh Out The Slammer

"At the park where we used to sit on children's swings, wearing imaginary rings."

Mohishaa didn't have many thoughts on this one, so I basically came up with this one. I see it as Sirius after he escapes Azkaban doing everything he can to find Remus again. (After he rides away on Buckbeak, that is).

Florida!!!

"Little did you know that your home's really only the town you'll get arrested."

We, for the life of us, could not think of something for this song, so thank you Reg for pitching in! He came to the conclusion that is song is Rosekiller coded because, and I quote "Drug and murder vibes are them."

Guilty as Sin?

"I dream of cracking locks, throwing my life to the wolves or the ocean rocks."

"Crash the (Halloween) party as I scream: "Who's afraid of little old me?!"

I did not have much to say on this one, so all credit due to Mo here! "Guilty is Sin is Jegulus to me and I can and will not see anything else."

Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?

Peter Pettigrew. That's it. That's the argument. No one suspected a thing about him. No one knew that he was capable of being the reason everything went wrong. (That being said... all love to younger Peter <3)

I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)

"I can fix him. No really, I can. And only I can."

Mo and I also struggled with this one and then Reg came in with the most brilliant interpretation we had ever heard and we both felt like freaking idiots. I thought Lily about Severus, Mo thought Rosekiller about each other, and then Reg said "My gut says James" and we were both like "OHHHHHHHHH!" My man James has the want to fix everything. To save everyone. But he simply just can't.

loml

"It was legendary, it was momentary, it was unnecessary, should've let it stayed buried."

Sirius and Remus during the second war because their love was so tragic that not even a second chance could save it, even thought it was meant to be. (We also had Jegulus in mind for this).

I Can Do It With a Broken Heart

"Cause I'm miserable! And nobody even knows!"

"And I don't miss what we had, but could someone give a message to the smallest man who ever lived?"

If this song isn't James Fleamont Potter, then I don't know what is.

The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived

I am not a Severus hater by any means, but both Mo and I agreed that the song is 1000000000000% percent about Severus.

The Alchemy

"The greatest in the league. Where's the trophy? He just comes running over to me."

This song is written about the beautiful romance between James and Lily Potter and you cannot tell us otherwise.

Clara Bow

"Flesh and blood amongst war machines, you're the new god we're worshipping."

In the wise words of Mo herself "It's James maybe? Cause he was brought up by parents who loved him so much and always told him he was special and how he was a little arrogant and cocky because of that. But as he grew up he realized that it's hell to be heavenly you know because everyone idolized him and he was this ball of sunshine and felt like he couldn't share his problems cause other people had it worse???" Couldn't have worded it better myself.

The Black Dog

"I just don't understand how you don't miss me."

No discussion was needed for this one. It's obviously about Sirius Black. (And possibly about the resentment he held towards Remus and Tonks after he died.)

imgonnagetyouback

"Whether I'm gonna curse you out or take you back to my house, I haven't decided yet."

Barty and Evan because "no one else is toxic enough."

The Albatross

"She's the albatross, she is here to destroy you."

My main girl, day one, love of my life Dorcas freaking Meadowes.

Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus

"And you saw my bones out with somebody new who seemed like he would've bullied you in school."

"We learned the right steps to different dances...how did it end?"

This is Severus after finding out Lily and James started dating. He never wants to know if Lily ever loved him back because it would make the pain hurt even more than it already did.

How Did It End?

James Potter and Regulus Black if I've ever seen it.

So High School

"Truth, dare, spin bottles. You know how to ball, I know Aristotle."

At first, I had no idea because "None of them really lived that long after highschool to be able to look back on it." (I know, that was foul of me).

"I hate it here so I will go to secret gardens in my mind."

We were debating between Jily and Wolfstar, before eventually settling on Wolfstar (and giving the Alchemy to Jily!)

I Hate It Here

"But I can't forget the way you made me heal."

Remus post war because he's alone and lonely because all his friends are dead because the love of his freaking life killed them all or so he thought and how his he ever supposed to move on and get ov-

thanK you aIMee

Instead of Taylor to Kim, it's Lily to Severus. Instead of "thanK you aIMee" it's "Still, No APologiEs?" (I tried... I really tried guys).

I Look in People's Windows

"I look in people's windows, in case you're at their table."

This song is Mary Macdonald post war. She looks for the faces of people she knows are no longer there. She longs for what they had before everything went so awfully wrong.

The Prophecy

"It was sinking in, slow is the quicksand. Poison blood from the wound of the pricked hand."

"You can mark my words that I said it first in a mourning warning no one heard."

So... you know how there's a blood sacrifice required to get into the cave... and how a certain someone drowned... or in other words sunk? Yeah. That's what I'm talking about.

Cassandra

Pandora Rosier Lovegood. Thank you very much, have a great day!

Peter

"You said you were gonna grow up, then you were gonna come find me."

The tragic tale of the Black Brothers told by Regulus.

The Bolter

"Behind her back, her best mates laughed and they nicknamed her "The Bolter."

So we heavily debated between Marlene and Sirius for this one, but I'm gonna say Marlene because she's the only character we haven't given a song to yet. Isn't the whole story in fanon that Marlene ran away to stay with her family, and that just so happened to be the night that Voldemort went after them? Fitting.

Robin

"Buried down deep and out of your reach, the secret we all vowed to keep it, from you."

The tragic tale of the Black Brothers told by Sirius.

The Manuscript

"Now and then I re-read the manuscript, but the story isn't mine anymore."

This song is Regulus looking back on his break up with James after he took the dark mark.

~

WOO, if you're still reading, THANK YOU! This took me like 2 hours to type out! Make sure to come back to see Midnights, coming soon! (To a theater near you.)

[yellowhollyhock]

what are some of the strengths and weaknesses of 1987 Michelangelo’s character? I have the hardest time writing for him outside of the super obvious “surfer bro” persona honestly

tbh,, I rarely write for 87... they're too witty,,, I have some wips but as far as writing the 87 boys are definitely not my strength

That said! 1987 Michelangelo! Love that guy. hmmm strengths and weaknesses

Weaknesses

-he can be clueless at times. needs things explained multiple times or doesn't pick up on things other characters were counting on him picking up on. this can be a very useful for plot reasons, he can simply forget what he was told or not understand it and therefore fail to act on it

-very obsessed with pizza. more so than the other turtles

-along that vein, generally not difficult to distract

-hard to motivate. he mostly wants to make himself and those around him comfortable, and he's very good at finding simple easy ways to do that. So whatever task needs to be done for whatever other reason, better find a way to make it comfortable and fun, he has a high threshold. For example during training sometimes he would simply rather enjoy the nice weather and there is nothing Master Splinter or anyone else can say

-this goes with hard to motivate, but in the ep where Leonardo leaves and the others have to try to lead, when it's his turn he's just very passive. he is pretty good about knowing what needs done, but he is definitely not one to take charge, and more than likely he'll wait to be told what to do unless the situation is very urgent

-he does not enjoy watching pro-wrestling, to his brothers' dismay

Strengths!!

-sweetest heart of all time. brings home injured animals, takes them to the zoo so he can learn about how to take care of them or give them to someone who can

-btw he can talk to animals

-often is the one tending to his brothers if they're sore after a battle. not first aid, but like fluffing a pillow or just patting their back. He probably holds their hand while antiseptic is applied. Definitely hugs them when they cry

-very loyal. throws a birthday party for Irma. never believes something bad he hears about someone he knows (he'll say "no way, amigo" if someone who isn't present to defend themselves is accused of literally anything)

-strong moral compass, AND

-the ability to communicate persuasively about what he thinks is right. More often than not he uses the same sentence (what you're doing is majorly wrongiouso) (or something like that siahdhsj), but it's the way he says it amd the timing that's important. He understands people, and as much as he always sees the best in them, he also knows how to bring out the best in them. Idk I don't think I'm explaining it too well, but... he's not just blindly trusting. Trust is a choice he makes out of kindness, but then he will hold people to a standard. Does that make sense?

-great with kids

-he's a good mediator, hears out both sides

-faces his fears (he has the most stage fright of them all but by the end of the ep where they appeared on camera he was also handling it the best)

-he can put his foot down when he needs to. very cool trait for the Nice Guy character to have, y'know?

-not afraid to emote! sobs openly because the stove is broken! hugs! speaks up when he is upset! expresses joy for the little things! 🧡

-psychic (i think? probably? might not know it? i remember feeling like it was implied but I'd have to go find the episode(s) alskjdjvf) (pretty sure it wasn't explicit but like. he's psychic okay)

-so much patience

-everyone loves the way he talks. they're always mimicking him. i remember one time when Leonardo asked a question, Michelangelo was standing right there, and Donatello literally said, "Well as Michelangelo would say" and then said what Michelangelo would say and was in fact about to say, then Michelangelo went to say it and got all confused alfjshsjj. Also Shredder will do this too! And you know you're good when Shredder copies you. He had aspirations of being a writer before he turned to villainy, you know (or maybe you didn't but now you do)

[skibasyndrome]

Following our conversation I want to spread some love for Wille and Simon because they deserve it!!!

What are your five favorite things about each of them? Can be anything like character traits or values or whatever else you admire and like about them 💜💜

Soooo, finally getting to this ask, thank you so much!!!! 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜 oh my god oh my god oh my god I LOVE thinking about this!!!! So okay,

What I love about Simon

he's such a caretaker........ always there for his sister (I know, it's complicated...) and for Wille and just... that boy has a heart of gold and he's not afraid to reach out and comfort the people he loves. everyone needs a Simon on their life

his unapologetic fucking authenticity, he will simply not let himself be silenced and that's not only why Wille fell in love with him but also why I love him to bits. my guess is he's been othered all his life, not only once he started at hillerska, and yet he's out and proud and will not let anyone give him shit about it. in a fair and just world it shouldn't be, but his unapologetic existence is such a bad-ass act of revolt in itself

he's a petty, petty boy [justified (TM)]... his flavor of pettiness and jealousy is like... so fun and so very teenager and the fucking dodgeball scene and the dancing-with-Marcus-while-eyeing-Wille will never not be absolutely fucking hilarious to me

he knows what he wants and he knows (or at least learns) to draw firm boundaries. you GO for not accepting Wille lying about you and about his feelings towards you! We love a king who will not let himself be treated like shit

he is so fucking brave. so so so so fucking brave. and it's terrible that he /has/ to be, but he's such a fighter. I guess that goes with the authenticity point, but he has his principles and he will not go down without a fight

What I love about Wille

this guy loves with his entire fucking heart, his entire fucking soul. he has so so so so so much love to give and is so dedicated to Simon. sure he has to learn how to actually act on that dedication and how to actually fight for that love, but my god... his heart is so big and he wants to give it to Simon wholly and honestly

his journey? the development?? like.... the changes he went through, of course with massive help and many nudges into the richt direction from Simon but like... this 16-year-old boy matured emotionally and grew into his authentic self in such a beautiful way it makes me teary-eyed

the way he loves with all his heart he also mourns with all his heart. he's so so so in touch with his emotions and always letting them happen and really feeling them... it's so very teenager of him but I think it's also just part of his personality to be so tapped into his emotions

revenge Wille is so fucking fun omg. when he walks up to the party with his gang??? when he confronts August? mwah. dramatic and I'm here for it

he sees Simon, he sees him like no one has ever seen him before and he acknowledges him, makes him feel like he's not all alone in this stupid school. god, I hope we see more of that in S3

this was so fun and now I'm all emo because I love my blorbos so fucking much :')

[effypcfcwrites]

The Owl House

(Originally posted on my personal Facebook dated April 25, 2023)

This is probably the first time I'll be posting a detailed review of a piece of media that I like, so witness me sing all of my praises for this animated series from the House of Mouse, because wow, I've never been so invested in a Disney show after rewatching Gravity Falls.

For those unfamiliar, The Owl House revolves around Luz Noceda, a teenage girl who stumbles upon a portal to an alternate world called The Boiling Isles, meets a witch named Eda Clawthorne, learns magic under her tutelage and eventually enrolls in Hexside, a magic school where she makes many friends and goes on multiple adventures.

I binged this whole show in a span of weeks and even stayed up all night on my day off to finish it up to Season 3, the first 2 Seasons being on Disney+ and the latter on Disney Channel's YouTube page.

Simply put, I love it so much! I love how it reminds me of Avatar: The Last Airbender, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, and, dare I say, Harry Potter, which it even poked fun at, at times. Well-deserved, considering J.K. Rowling’s transphobic views and HP’s underlying anti-Semitic undertones.

I loved the pop culture references to Thor: Ragnarok, Howl's Moving Castle, Metal Gear Solid, and even Hades, among many others! I thought those were very clever and funny, and just a treat for fellow nerds, geeks, and fans of fantasy stories, anime, and video games.

I love the LGBTQ+ representation all throughout the show, which was such a bold move considering Disney’s iffy stance on the subject. None of them were antagonized for it, and it was treated as something normalized in both the Human and Demon Realms. The show featured 2 gay dads, non-binary and aromantic-asexual characters, and one of the internet’s favorite sapphic/WLW couples Lumity, which is the ship consisting of canonically bisexual Luz and implied lesbian Amity Blight, whose rivals-to-friends-to-lovers relationship was just so wholesome, so natural, and very healthy, considering they're both teenagers. Suprisingly, there was very little melodrama, not once were they petty towards one another whenever either party did something wrong, and they never got tired of showing affection towards each other. I found myself shamelessly gushing over how cute, adorable, and supportive they were together, and tearing up a lot during key moments of their relationship, especially when they both found themselves in dire straits as the story progressed.

I love the writing and the character development of them all! None of them felt static, they all grew throughout the series, maturing, getting better, and healing from their own insecurities, trauma, and guilt. The humor and comedic timing was a nice touch, and I was really taken aback by how S2 ended on such a dark cliffhanger with all stakes raised to the roof, similar to A:TLA S2 and The Empire Strikes Back, as mentioned earlier. That season wasn’t afraid to have such a grim ending, with such a great payoff by the end of S3 which is worth celebrating.

I love the animation and art style, which blended colorful and whimsical with eerie and ominous in just the right amounts. As a sucker for animated movies and series such as Adventure Time, The Prince of Egypt, and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, it was just such a delight watching it.

I love the overarching message of the show, which is to be truly yourself, to embrace your quirks, and never to limit yourself and your potential based on what the majority of society and the powers-that-be expect from you. All throughout, you’ll find the characters challenging pre-established norms and roles, and it’s just so satisfying seeing them all win.

11/10 top-tier show. Don’t @ me, it’s hard for me to find something I disliked about the series. It's definitely a must-watch, especially if you're sick and tired of all the bleak nihilism of modern adult animation, and you just want to baby your inner child and escape to a whimsical fantasy world with characters you can all relate to. Betting my bottom peso you'll all be hooked, like I was.

[connorsnothereeither]

God listening back to Rolling Ghosts and just,,, I love the friendship between all the characters so much they all bounce off each other really well in-character and it makes me kick my little feet that like,,, no they do just feel like a friend group lol.

BUT ALSO MORGAN AND CHARLIE SPECIFICALLY ILL CRY ABOUT THEM the moment Charlie starts freaking out in the isolation room, and Morgan immediately is like “oh fuck” and knows exactly what the problem is and how bad it is for Charlie, and is like “he’s always been afraid of being alone.” And then following it up in the clown room where Charlie genuinely is holding Morgan and is like “we’ve been friends for so many years now, and you’re so brave. You’re the bravest person I’ve ever met, Morgan.” And I just simply care about them-

ALSO CHARLIE AND JASON like in my mind Charlie has had a constant fear of Jason abandoning him probably haunting him for years because he’s not “cool enough”, and Jason is on the sports teams and Jason is like, conventionally attractive and stuff. And having Jason literally tell him “We’re here with you, we’d never leave you.” Breaks my fucking heart /pos

And like (obviously I’m really just brainrotting from the Charlie perspective rn lol) but even like, the other members of the party he’s not super close with backstory-wise, you can still see like, why they’re friends and hang out? Like there’s moments where he is really trying to help Gabe come out of his shell, or despite how brisk Xander is, there’ll just be moments were they click together on an idea or have the same sense of humour and like AH I just have so many feelings about them all

[horse-girl-anthy]

beneath the cut is an essay I've titled "Ikuhara Fandom, Shoujo Manga, and Eroticism." it discusses potentially upsetting subject matter.

when I first encountered RGU in 2014, I was largely baffled, though I thought the ending was very good. after that, I didn't rewatch more than an episode or two of the show again until 2020. Ikuhara was inaccessible to me as a teenager, but I spent years studying media, so when I returned to RGU, it was like discovering a goldmine. by the end of 2020, I'd watched all of Ikuhara's original shows.

the thing is, I still found Ikuhara challenging. there were things about his works which were seemingly contrary to my value system. I would read interviews of his and he would say things which sounded alarming--to use cliche terminology, he wasn't very politically correct.

if we're being honest, there is a party line in a lot of left-leaning fandom spaces. I used to be a part of that more than I am now; I had rigid ideas of right and wrong. today in the Ikuhara fandom, I often feel like the elephant in the room is that his works aren't the kind of "queer feminist masterpieces" that people portray them as. now, by that, I don't mean that those words don't apply to his works: what I mean is that the way people frame them, the way they discuss their meaning, doesn't bear that much relation to Ikuhara and his oevre.

RGU gets this treatment more than his other works. in fact, certain fans want to claim it as the work which truly aligns with their values, while Penguindrum, YKA, and Sarazanmai actively subvert RGU's message. a lot of other fans just stick with RGU, claiming it as a work without critiquing it. by critique, I don't mean negative criticism: I mean critique as in actual engagement with the text.

I remember that there was a point when I was afraid to engage with more Ikuhara interviews/works, since I thought I would find something out about him that made it so that I couldn't enjoy RGU. after all, when I would hang around in RGU spaces, every so often I'd see someone say that Ikuhara was super problematic. then I realized I was ignoring one of RGU's main themes, facing the truth rather than trying to stay in an idyllic past, so I took the dive. I had my ideas challenged, my values changed, and my entire approach to media shifted by doing so.

it's been strange to be in the English-speaking fandom, where everything is taken very seriously and there's certain universal assumptions about RGU's meaning, when many of the things held as absolutes are simply not so in the Japanese fandom. equally, the creative minds behind RGU are often in conflict with the Western fandom as well. once or twice, I've seen someone point this out and say that RGU is actually problematic/patriarchal, but mostly, it is ignored.

for instance, the character Ruka is massively hated in the western fandom, while as far as I understand, Juri/Ruka is one of the most common Japanese doujin pairings. Mamoru Hosoda, who storyboarded many Juri episodes, claimed that Ruka was in love with Juri. turning to Ikuhara, he often phrases things in a way that could leave you wondering if he's as much of a "feminist ally" as people want to paint him as. of the women's liberation movement, Ikuhara said, "On the one hand you had this social movement, but then in their heads I think almost everyone was thinking: this is lame (laugh), I don't wanna do this (laugh)."

consider this exchange from the same interview for a demonstration of just how differently people in the western fandom approach media compared to Ikuhara and a contemporary of his, art critic Mari Kotani:

Ikuhara: Speaking of sexuality, after Utena I wrote a novel which features lots of hermaphroditic characters. It's a collaborative work, a book called Schell Bullet. Kotani: It is a fantasy world? Ikuhara: It's a future world. Humanity has divided into roughly two groups, Majors and Minors. Because of gene manipulation the Majors are hermaphrodites without male/female sexes, and they have a monopoly on good genetic material. The Minors are humans who have fallen away from the monopolized gene material, they look basically the same are present-day humans, and have two sexes. Kotani: Sounds interesting! Are the Minors kind of like slaves, like in The Human Livestock Yapū?

later:

Ikuhara: The boss is visually female, a Major with a very bold beauty. From the start I wanted the main character's boss to be a hermaphroditic woman. That's because, the way I see it, even the Major women in the real world, that is to say women who are competent workers, seem to have an intense male side. 

what I find most interesting in this exchange is how Kotani casually brings up the idea of sexual slavery as a fun angle for Ikuhara's hermaphrodite novel. it's not to say that this kind of attitude is universal in Japan, just as leftist fandom spaces aren't universal here in America. however, there is obviously a huge difference in values between these two worlds.

so, what world is Ikuhara occupying? where did he come from and what are his influences? exploring these questions is what helped me to come to peace with his works, and in the process, I changed my own thinking.

I'm not really qualified to speak in depth on Japan, its history, culture, or values. however, I have looked into specific trends which I know were influences on Ikuhara specifically, so that's what I'll focus on here.

Ikuhara was born in 1964 and became a teenager in the 1970s. it was a period marked by a lot of social movements. he describes in many interviews feeling completely disillusioned when, rather than change society, the movements were crushed or simply collapsed in on themselves. "oh, maybe there's no way to change the world after all." however, one way or another, he seems to have pulled himself out of that despair. his works are all designed to give modern people a way out of the end of history brought on by the failure of radical change and the onset of the neoliberal global order.

as a young creative, he was into the dramatist/director Shuji Terayama and other artists who were pushing boundaries. in the Kotani interview, he stated:

Ikuhara: Terayama's words are interesting too, but what I find the most kitschy and cool is his theatre. Suddenly a completely naked actress would appear, without even a genital cover, and this was in Kinokuniya Hall! The police might barge in saying "Hey, wait a second". I guess this is why they say it's a fine line between a hero and a criminal (laugh), but until then I had never thought that showing your panties or showing your willy could be anything but shamelessness, and now the Asahi Shimbun was treating it as superb culture. I found that gap extremely mysterious and fascinating, and personally I felt a cultural nuance there.

clearly, the libertine values of 20th century countercultures left their mark on him. more than that, he is interested in the conflict between sexual repression and sexual expression, which has only escalated in Japan and in the West up until today.

turning to the anime/manga sphere, I know that RGU has a reputation as being very triggering, but to be honest, compared to its predecessors, RGU is mild and restrained. J.A. Seazer, a musician who Tereyama collaborated with, wrote songs for both RGU and the the 1992 anime film Midori. the story is old, dating back to the beginning of the 20th century, and it's been adapted as recently as 2016. Midori is an exploitation film: full of child rape, set in a freak show, featuring countless horrors in its 40-minute run. I've watched it and would not recommend it unless you're interested in the ero guro genre.

I bring up Midori as an example of the media landscape Ikuhara began his career in. he was working on Sailor Moon, so obviously, there was less heavy content in the world of anime and manga, but Sailor Moon is represents only one side of shoujo. Ikuhara is more aligned with the Year 24 Group, who revolutionized shoujo in the 1970s. the group produced a wide range of works, many of which had obvious influences on Ikuhara.

I know that Ikuhara is often associated with lesbians, but in fact, I would say that shoujo BL is one of his largest anime/manga influences. the early work Kaze to Ki no Uta is an acknowledged influence on RGU, and Ikuhara did an interview with its mangaka, Takemiya Keiko.

many of the early BL mangaka were inspired by western literature. Demian is not only referenced in RGU but also in Kaze to Ki no Uta. most important for BL is the 1912 German novel Death in Venice, as well as its 1971 film adaptation. for those unfamiliar, the novel is about a man in his 50s stalking a young teenage boy, becoming completely obsessed with him and other underage kids. it is a sexual obsession, but there are other angles to it, and the story has been analyzed in various ways. the fascination seen in shoujo and BL with beautiful young boys, as well as pedophilia, can be in part traced back to this story.

taking inspiration from Death in Venice, shoujo's fundamental character dynamic was established, one that can also be seen in a film such as Midori: innocence versus experience. the ever-present theme is corruption, how abuse and exploitation corrode personalities and create societal damage.

how this is handled can vary from work to work. I understand that grotesque depictions of child abuse or failure to condemn pedophilia hard enough make some people not want to engage with these works at all. I will say, whatever one thinks of Death in Venice, Kaze to Ki no Uta, along with the BL manga of Takemiya's contemporary Moto Hagio, are certainly not child porn. I think there is no excuse for CP, and even if there are things in Kaze to Ki no Uta that I question, it is overall a work of artistic merit, beyond holding interest to me as an early work in the genre.

as I've said, RGU is mild compared to much of what came before it, as well as a contemporary manga like A Cruel God Reigns. however, the core of its character dynamics are in line with shoujo/BL. the twist is that the work focuses on relationships between women.

Kotani: ...Watching it, the relationships between women, including the dialogue, were very sexual, very vivid, right? Ikuhara: But I think what it is expressing is simply yaoi. To do that using shōjo "royal road"-like characters, and with two women, is somewhat rare I think.

Utena and Anthy are easy to compare to BL couples who came before them, like Serge and Gilbert or Ash and Eiji. rather than approach gender issues through projection on to pretty boys, Be-Papas chose to use women, creating their own version of a gendered social system. of course, other Year 24 Group members used lesbians or GNC women to explore similar themes, with Rose of Versailles being another major influence on RGU. however, Ikuhara claiming that RGU is essentially yaoi has fascinated me for years.

Anthy and Akio are experience, knowledge, and corruption, while Utena is innocence, youth, and purity. like many predatory shoujo characters, Akio is obsessed with innocence and purity while also seeking to destroy them. the drama centers on Utena's struggle with corruption, as well as Anthy's conflicted feelings towards her friend's naivety, as she both identifies her past self with Utena and resents her for her ignorance. the story also features intense power dynamics, which, over the course of the narrative, are upset. all of these elements are standard for BL and shoujo.

to dig deeper into the value sense behind these works, here is a passage from the Takemiya/Ikuhara interview:

Takemiya: What I wanted to ask is about “crossing the line” for a girl [implicitly losing one's virginity/sexual purity]. I thought Utena crossed it unexpectedly easily. Ikuhara: Ah, I’m not thinking very deeply, right? Actually, I just wanted to suggest that it doesn’t matter. Because a lot of people seem to get caught up in issues of purity, I wanted to show that it didn’t matter. Takemiya: But doesn’t it seem like more kids these days don’t care about those things? Ikuhara: Yes, and that’s another reason I did it. But I think there are still many people who would try to put it in a box and say purity is important because it is an animation. Takemiya: Actually I think it’s more likely a lot of people will try to use the purity as an index of understanding. I guess you are an adult if you can overcome that. Ikuhara: That’s true, there are a lot of people that want to put a line between justice and absolute evil based on purity. I didn’t want them to do that. Whether manga or anime, I think it can become a motivation for the viewers and the readers in real life. I don’t like when people draw lines, out in society, equating absolute evil with impurity - in an animation which is nothing more than fiction, drawing a line between those that are carnally pure and those that are not.

I think we can all agree that Akio was in the wrong for trying to make Utena feel guilty for sleeping with him in episode 38 of RGU. but going further, Ikuhara and Takemiya say that they want to reject purity as an index of understanding altogether. to me, what this means is not jumping to immediate judgments, not treating issues of sexuality as if they are so deep as to sully the soul.

this is NOT to make some kind of excuse for pedophilia or child porn. I know from my own life how harmful those things are. to close out this discussion, I am going to try to explain what I mean by touching on the use of eroticism in art.

years ago, I was watching Naoki Urasawa's Manben, a show which gives space to mangaka to show off their process. Junji Ito went on it, and I was troubled by the following moment from the episode:

before I got into Ikuhara, I didn't have a grasp on the erotic. when I watched this, my thought was, why are they talking about a toddler being erotic?

after having gained an appreciation for eros's place in art, I understand what they were saying here. eros is hard to define, but it relates to sensuality: a way of interacting with the world which is beyond the intellect. the erotic is not pornographic: it is evocative, a way to make any work of art touch its audience on a deeper level. it is related to sexuality but is not the same thing as it. for Ito, exaggerating the erotic aspect of this character helps him to create even greater horror. the point is not to make a toddler sexy.

RGU relies heavily on this kind of eroticism for different purposes, both within the series and in the promotional art. whenever I see someone trying to ban a specific kind of fan art, I roll my eyes for this very reason. it's not as if there's any significant numbers of people making RGU exploitation porn or anything; most of it is in line with the show itself. for instance:

official art of characters all 13 and younger

Anthy having sex with her brother in the series proper (episode 31)

I have seen RGU called exploitative and fetishized, though not as often as I've seen the same criticism leveled at later Ikuhara works. however, more often than not, the disturbing eroticism of RGU is left uncommented on.

to come full circle, the reason that I now have a lot of admiration for Ikuhara is that I've come to see that the "problematic" aspects of his work help him to tell meaningful stories. all of his anime are designed to spark self-revelation/self-transformation in their audiences. additionally, I now appreciate erotics for what they are, feeling them on the sensual level rather than intellectualizing about them. viewing the above images, various readings can be drawn, arguments made about the impact of their eroticism on the themes they express. however, there is a more primal appeal to them, something which draws the eye. that aesthetic quality, by itself, deserves to be defended. those who dislike it should probably not engage with Ikuhara works. from RGU commentary, episode 38:

Hideki Mori: Are you always trying to work in this type of erotic undertone? Ikuhara: Yes, well... if it doesn't have that kind of stuff... it's not very interesting! Either I'm doing it to make it interesting or maybe I just wanted to see that.

I will finish with two final points. firstly, I think that letting go of one's automatic response of moral judgment is essential when approaching Ikuhara anime. this is not the same thing as advocating for a laissez-faire, anything-goes approach; it is simply saying, before applying preconcieved notions, let the work's textual, aesthetic, erotic, and sensual levels wash over you. if you give the work time and find some aspect of it offensive, that's one thing, but I am glad that I didn't let my kneejerk reactions turn me off of Ikuhara. along with that, don't immediately apply some kind of feminist, queer, or leftist lens to explain everything either. just let the work breathe.

lastly, I want to share Ikuhara's words on what affect he thought RGU had on its audience:

Ikuhara: I didn’t want 'Utena' to become a nice story. A story can be pretty, but it feels like a lie. From the beginning, the story was going to be about saving a friend, so in that sense that was the goal, but it can easily become a nice story, so to break away from that I made sure that it was a foolish story. I think it’s this foolishness that makes ‘Utena’ so popular with adults. Not in a sexual way, but more that watching it at that point makes it more relatable. 

to re-emphasize, my point with this discussion was that much of Ikuhara's artistry is ignored because his approach and influences are considered problematic. that being said, it was never his intention to make a work about "sexy teenagers" who adult viewers can masturbate over. none of his works are that: they feature students because anime often features students, and because he has an interest in the threshold between childhood and adulthood. although I am now 26, I can see myself in all of his casts, and the eroticization of the art makes me more invested in the story and themes, not titillated.

[vickyvicarious]

Quincy has lots of foresight and level headedness as Van Helsing says. He is laconic less in the meaning of "Says little" and more with the actual definition of "Gets straight to the POINT". He sees what the matter is and instantly goes for the solution. I think that getting Mina a Portable Typewriter is part of that.

But it is still fascinating that it was him and not Jonathan who bought it. Jonathan might have been too deep into despair to think of a future in the horizon?

I mean, he also does say little as soon as matters get serious, which I think fits his character as well. It's not just Stoker writing him as more background character and forgetting to give him many lines (though I feel sure that's part of it too) but also, Quincey only hams it up when the situation calls for it. He's talkative with his buddies, and with the girl he hopes to marry, but as soon as we get into survival situations then he gets much more quiet and to the point.

Jack says that "In all our hunting parties and adventures in different parts of the world, Quincey Morris had always been the one to arrange the plan of action, and Arthur and I had been accustomed to obey him implicitly." And I think that does seem clear. He tends to think very simply/practically, and while he doesn't take on the role of leader in this group it's easy to see how he would be able to do so in another situation. He doesn't get as caught up in philosophizing or emotion; like you (and Art and Van Helsing) said, he's level-headed. He is pretty good at recognizing the core of a situation and just zeroing in on it, not being afraid to ask the relevant questions even when they might seem absurd or rude. My favorite moment being of course "Where did the blood go?" but there are others as well. And yeah, every time he tries to find a way to act about it. He notices Lucy might love someone else, asks, gets rejected, and then keeps his distance because he doesn't want to get in their way. He recognizes the blood must be going somewhere, asks about it, and then decides to guard against bats because he knows bats are something that could do that. That sort of thing. He also acts preventatively quite a lot (that foresight you mentioned), with stuff like shooting at bats or spying to see which way Dracula might flee or volunteering to ride up the riverbank in case Dracula got off at some port along the way. These are all just-in-case type actions taken to prevent a possible bad outcome.

Him getting the typewriter for Mina is nice in another way because it goes against his tendency to step back when he thinks something isn't his place. He's shown to be pretty hesitant about being somewhere he thinks he would be intruding, from stuff like not coming back to visit Lucy until Art asked him, to not going to see her on her deathbed since she didn't even know he was there, to stepping out of the room when he saw Art having a moment with Mina, to even being weirdly nervous about bursting into the Harkers' bedroom during a life-or-death situation. He likes to wait for an invitation first (not in a vampire way, haha) when it comes to interactions with people. But here, he doesn't. And I think it comes down to the day they met, when Mina saw how he was feeling and offered him comfort and validated his own grief as just as worthy. He was deeply moved and promised to be her friend from then on. Then he vowed to kill her in the name of that friendship. This is a gentler, perhaps less grand but no less meaningful, way he can express how much he cares about her, and try to in some way return the favor by attempting to lift her spirits when she is suffering.

(Mina and Quincey's friendship gets me emotional every time.)

As for why Jonathan didn't buy it... I think it is partially him not seeing the future right now. He has already said that he and Mina don't talk of the future, and while he of course is fully dedicated to hunting Dracula down and ensuring they will have a happy future together, I'm not sure it is anything he can really visualize right now. He is so very absorbed in caring for Mina in her current condition and planning to take care of Dracula in a distinctly different meaning of the word, that he doesn't have room for anything else right now. He's on the edge of breaking down as it is, and is just trying to push through, sort of like it was for him back in the castle.

But also, in a less angsty way, I think it might not have occurred to him as something he could do. He and Mina have only recently come into any sort of wealth, and a typewriter like this would be pretty expensive (I believe someone looked it up last year and it seems like Quincey dropped a pretty hefty sum on this gift). He's become used to using money much more freely of late, but it has always been for the purpose of a specific goal, not purchases for pleasure. It may not be something that even comes to mind as a reasonable act he could do for her, not yet anyway.

[scorbleeo]

Book Chat: God of Fury

Legacy of Gods (Book 5) by Rina Kent

Source: Google Images

I’m not attracted to men. Or so I thought before I slammed into Nikolai Sokolov. A mafia heir, a notorious bastard, and a violent monster. An ill-fated meeting puts me in his path. And just like that, he has his sights set on me. A quiet artist, a golden boy, and his enemy’s twin brother. He doesn’t seem to care that the odds are stacked against us. In fact, he sets out to break my steel-like control and blur my limits. I thought my biggest worry was being noticed by Nikolai. I’m learning the hard way that being wanted by this beautiful nightmare is much worse.

ISBN: 9781685452193 (2023) | Source: Goodreads

Absolutely Worth It

This review took me a long while to get to it mainly because I am still in a daze. I cannot believe I finally got to God of Fury and that I am finished with the book. It hasn't been a long journey to get to Nikolai and Brandon's story but it had been a rather arduous one. Kent's books have been an unpredictable roller coaster ride with extreme hits or misses and as much as I was afraid my high expectations for this book would ultimately bite me in the ass, I maintained extremely high expectations for God of Fury.

For a book written by an author I sometimes have issues with for the writing style, for a book where I have ridiculously high expectations for, and for a book that I've actually already know roughly what goes on in it... This was a wonderfully and beautifully crafted story. While reading God of Fury, I can feel the patience and time and effort Kent took to build her characters and develop the storyline. I finally understand why some people said this felt like such a different book as compared to Kent's other books.

Lets begin with the storyline of God of Fury. This is the only book in the Rina Kent Universe where I did not feel that the author was rushing through the plot. Yes, Nikolai was instantly attracted to Brandon but the feelings both parties developed for each other came slowly, smoothly and very naturally. Like, before I finished the book, when exactly did Nikolai fall for Brandon? Or when exactly did Brandon start to develop positive feelings towards Nikolai? As you're reading the book, you really don't see it as it happens right in front of your eyes.

Which brings me to why the patience in plot development is so prevalent in this book. First being the way Kent wrote Brandon's character arc, there is simply no other way to have this book succeed without having patience in developing the plot. Secondly, Nikolai's willingness to go with Brandon's pace. Because of what plots these characters have, Kent had no choice, she could not rush through the storyline and that made this book her best one.

Now moving on to our two main characters. I knew there was a reason I loved them since their first appearance (as kids). I mean, Astrid and Levi? They are my favourite Royal Elite couple. Rai and Kyle? They are one of my favourite Rina Kent couples. I could not hate their children even if I wanted to. Of course, this is not a place to gush over the parents.

Starting with Nikolai Sokolov. He is another unhinged man in the long list of unhinged men Kent has created. However, he was really only unhinged in other people's books. In God of Fury, you see that Nikolai's not exactly unhinged. He's just unapologetically himself, does not care how anyone views him and even though he does bad shit, he has a moral compass despite what anybody assumes. The fact that my dude has vulnerable phases every now and then, and yet he does not hide that. How many men has Kent created that embraces and showcases his vulnerability like Nikolai does? I can bet that's one big reason why Nikolai is such a beloved character.

As for Brandon King. He's my baby, okay? And I will do anything to protect my baby. He is the one and only male character created with a different template. This man is not annoyingly frustrating or has that stupid toxic masculinity that ultimately plays into his stubbornness to not accept people's "no". And boy, oh boy. One of the most tortured character with the most kindhearted soul. I really do love that Kent made everybody like/love Brandon, because he deserves all the kindness the world has.

Last but definitely not least. Kent did not do a good job writing God of Ruin to the point where I don't actually have a connection with Mia or Landon. But the way she wrote Brandon and Landon's brotherhood? I have a connection with Landon King now, all thanks to this book. Even thinking about the hospital scene now brings tears to my eyes, and I finished that book weeks ago.

So, yes. I really love God of Fury. This is the only one where I own a physical copy of. I read the book, fully focusing on every single word. I did not do any annotations because the first time deserves my full undivided attention. And I am way too lazy to check back but I am very sure this is the only book by Kent that I have given 5-star to.

Rating: ★★★★★

P.S.: Remember in God of Ruin when Nikolai made Mia call Brandon and Brandon ended up covering for Mia? I really wished we had a chapter for it here too.

More Rina Kent Universe here: Cruel King (Royal Elite, #0) | God of Ruin (Legacy of Gods, #4) | Throne of Power (Throne Duet, #1)