#But i also really want to talk about her and her relationships with othe other ancients(especially rome and ancient greece and also thrace)

[estbela]

its not really important but I do have a hetalia oc for Dacia. And i think about her a lot tbh but I just havent been able to draw her. Im just in a weird place with my art i guess idk. Anyway she's awesome and i swear I'll try to talk about her one day and draw her.

[wildsaltair]

This will be my single controversial rant about Gladiator and its sequel (specifically my thoughts on Maximus being retconned as Lucius' father), and then I will be silent on the matter because this blog is meant to be A Good Time and I just enjoy sharing my love for Gladiator with everyone on here :)

KIND OF SPOILERS FOR GLADIATOR AND THE SEQUEL (BUT NOT REALLY) BELOW

As everyone knows, Ridley Scott made the choice to reveal in Gladiator 2 that Lucius is actually the son of Maximus from a secret affair with Lucilla. In G2, it's apparently implied that Lucilla was trapped in a bad marriage, fell in love with Maximus, and kept the truth about Lucius' father a secret. Lots of viewers have been split about this, with some thinking that plot point was implied in Gladiator and others feeling that it contradicts what was established in Gladiator.

I am strongly of the opinion that this choice was a bad one, that it does interfere with the integrity of the original film, and that Gladiator 2 would have been much better without that change. I'll give my reasons below.

1. Yes, rewriting Maximus as a cheater does destroy his entire character arc in Gladiator.

We've all seen Gladiator, right? The one where the hero has everything life can offer but longs only to return home to be with his beloved wife and son? Carries their figurines with him into battle, cares only for them when his own life is threatened, lays down to die by their graves after he finds them dead? Spends the whole movie only wanting to meet them again in the afterlife and only gets peace once he's there.

Yeah. Apparently that guy cheated on his wife with a princess. His son and Lucilla's sons are the same age, which means Maximus would have to have been married to his wife while also sleeping with Lucilla.

Maximus' entire character arc relies on his pure, unconditional, self-sacrificial love for his family. Take that away, and you have a generic action movie about a guy who wants revenge because the Emperor tried to kill him once. Even when Maximus has lost everything inside himself and cares about nothing else, he still honors the memory of his family and fights to avenge them as well as join them. He is shown still talking to his wife in the afterlife through prayer and believing she can hear him. As @streets-in-paradise pointed out, it's the equivalent of having Aragon or Hector of Troy cheat on their wives — it's just painfully out of character for them.

There's also an element of Maximus' love and respect for his Emperor, Marcus Aurelius, another driving force in his characterization. I think Maximus has too much respect for Marcus to have had an affair with Marcus' married daughter, even if he knew Marcus maybe would have wished Maximus had married Lucilla. We never get much insight into that part of the past, but if we go by the virtues Maximus upholds throughout the movie, I just don't think Maximus would have considered sneaking behind Marcus' back to sleep with his daughter.

Either way, the emotional heart of Maximus' character is his love for his family, and retconning that so your sequel has a "bigger emotional impact" is nothing short of undignified and sloppy.

2. All the conversations between Maximus and Lucilla in Gladiator imply that they did have a romantic relationship — but that it was public (not clandestine) and took place before either of them were married.

Yes, Maximus and Lucilla definitely were in love at some point. Russell Crowe and Connie Nielsen have great chemistry, and their conversations (both of them) hold so much weight with "what could have been." Lucilla talks about how she wounded Maximus deeply as he did her, and their conversations are full of things like, "Is it so terrible seeing me again?" The weight of their previous emotional attachment pervades the movie in a way that is inextricable from the plot.

BUT. Maximus and Lucilla had their relationship A LONG TIME AGO. This is very clearly established by the way they talk to each other. Maximus has been in Germania for twelve years (taking breaks only to go home, but NEVER to visit Rome). He and Lucilla presumably met sometime before that, probably while the royal family was visiting some city where Maximus was serving in / commanding the army. The details are never established.

However, Maximus and Lucilla clearly had a public enough relationship that Marcus and Commodus knew about it, but there is never the slightest mention in Gladiator that Lucius might be Maximus' son — something Commodus surely would have exploited had he known it was a possibility.

Maximus and Lucilla were in love, but it was before they married other people. They were probably teenagers or young adults who fell madly in love, wanted to marry, but were stopped for whatever reason (probably Maximus not wanting to play politician's games, as he implies). Maximus met the woman he eventually married, Lucilla married Lucius Verus, and they carried on with their lives until they met again at the beginning of Gladiator.

Also, Maximus talks about the respect he had for Lucilla's husband (a far cry from what Gladiator 2 implies about Lucius Verus), and she talks about how she mourned Maximus' family. Sure, you can read into the script and find stuff about how Maximus could have been Lucius' father, but it explicitly goes against the values and implications of the overall acript.

Connie Nielsen stated that she played her scenes thinking that Maximus was Lucius' father. She's an actress, and she plays Lucilla brilliantly. But she's not the scriptwriter, and no matter what her intentions were, the script implies that their relationship took place much longer ago, before either of them were married. @becomelions made a great post about how Lucilla, too, can wish as much as she wants that Maximus was Lucius' father, but he couldn't have been. Not unless you retcon all of Gladiator as fanfiction.

3. Maximus' relationships with Lucilla and Lucius are not meant to replace those he had with his wife and son — they are meant to be reflections of some of the bigger themes of the film.

With all that said, this is not a hate post about how Gladiator should have been about Maximus and his wife and son, and how I hate Lucilla and Lucius' story and think it contradicts that blah blah blah. NO. The storyline with Lucilla, Lucius, and Maximus is one of the strong points of the whole movie — but not as a replacement for the family he has lost.

In a lot of ways, Lucilla represents Rome as the ideal Maximus always believed in: beautiful, noble, and proud. When he becomes disillusioned with Rome, he becomes disillusioned with Lucilla; when he starts to believe in the hope of Rome again, he starts to believe in Lucilla again. They're always linked. Lucilla is not the woman he wants to start over with and marry now that his wife is gone. She is an old friend and ally whom he eventually learns to trust again.

Lucius, on the other hand, represents what Rome can be again. Lucius is the grandson of Marcus Aurelius, and I think Maximus longs to honor his mentor by preserving the life of his last living heir. Lucius reminds Maximus of his son, yes, and he brings out the protectiveness and the desire to do for Lucius what he couldn't do for his own son. But that doesn't mean Lucius has to be his son for that relationship to have emotional impact, as I will explain further in point 5.

4. Maximus' relationships with Lucilla and Lucius are genuinely integral to the film, but as they are — not as what they could be.

Again, I absolutely love the dynamics between Maximus, Lucilla, and Lucius throughout Gladiator. Russell and Connie play off each other so well with those "I remember how you used to be but that was a long time ago" vibes. Russell and Spencer Treat Clark only share one scene, but it's one of the film's most memorable scenes.

However, we are not meant to question those relationships as "oooooh but what if Lucius is actually Maximus' son????" Maybe Ridley left that door open for the audience to consider, but again, I feel like the film contradicts that by implying that Lucilla and Maximus loved each other much longer ago.

When you make Lucius Maximus' son, Lucilla's seeking out of Maximus as his savior becomes less interesting. It becomes "I'm calling on you to save your son even though you don't know he's your son" instead of "I'm asking you to act out of the goodness inside you to save a boy who doesn't deserve to die any more than your own son did." The version we see in Gladiator is so much more impactful.

It also cheapens what Lucius' journey could have been in Gladiator 2! Again, @streets-in-paradise pointed out how much better the sequel could have been if Lucius had been acting in the shadow of a brilliant man who captivated the city of Rome but also was his friend for a little while. As I'll discuss in point 6, having the reveal of Lucius as Maximus' son is just the laziest possible route for a sequel, and it certainly drags down the dignity of the relationships we see in Gladiator.

5. One of the strengths of Maximus' choice to fight for Lucius' survival in Gladiator lies in the fact that he doesn't have any familial obligation to him.

This is one of my favorite points, because I do love the dynamics between Maximus and little Lucius! Maximus has a bone-deep obligation to save his family — he rides for days and nights to get home and save them, but he misses them by a matter of hours. He wrestles with guilt and misery because he feels like he failed them. He was supposed to be their protector, and he couldn't save them.

BUT. Maximus has no such blood ties to Lucius. This kid is the son of Maximus' ex, the grandson of Maximus' dead mentor, and the nephew of his most hated enemy. Maximus doesn't have an obligation to Lucius as his father: he doesn't even know him until Lucius approaches him in the arena.

And that's what makes his decision to fight for Lucius so powerful. Maximus sees Lucius as the hope of Rome, and he decides that's still worth fighting for — something he had given up on before. Even though he has no obligation to save Lucius as his son, he wants to save him as an innocent young boy caught in political matters over his head.

Again, making Lucius Maximus' son cheapens the impact of that decision. Ridley Scott built up so many amazing plot points and relationships, and it really disappoints me that he just cast them aside to make some easy money by relying on the success of the original.

6. Relying on such a trite, overused plot point to make up the emotional foundation of your sequel can only weaken your sequel and ruin the dignity of your original film.

My final point is simply that Gladiator 2 could have been really well done. They could have done something original with it (or something totally off-the-wall like Russell Crowe's vision LOL). But I think Ridley Scott was banking on that nostalgia factor, and he chose a plot point that he knew would be easily marketable — the hero of the second film is the hero of the first film.

We've seen it done literally hundreds of times, from Star Wars to Superman to Toy Story, and having that be the big reveal of Gladiator 2 is just lazy writing. To have Lucius trying to live up to the legacy of Maximus the hero would have been interesting. To have Lucius discover that he's the son of literally anyone else would have been interesting. To have Lucius discover that he's the son of Maximus is an eye-roll-inducing move that should have been trailer bait and nothing more.

Primarily! Because it can't be the emotional foundation of the movie! Lucius has to have his own journey if it's his movie; he can't just walk in Maximus' footsteps and be like, "Father, speak to me," if he's not going on his own individual emotional journey. We as the audience have to relate to our hero because he's our hero, not because he's the son of our hero.

I'll be honest — I probably wouldn't go see a sequel to Gladiator no matter what it was about because I think Gladiator is a perfect standalone movie and should have stayed that way. I just don't think you can recreate the scale and impact and simplicity of Gladiator in today's film industry.

However, I could at least have had respect for a sequel to Gladiator if Ridley Scott had shown some respect for his own movie. I just hate the fact that Maximus' noble, honorable character is reduced to a cheating husband whose only character trait of note is that he served Rome. Maximus is one of the best characters of the 21st century, and I love him too much to support a movie that trashes that legacy (as well as tries to replicate the beauty of my favorite film of all time).

Final thoughts:

Gladiator is a movie. You can read into it whatever you want, and it doesn't hurt anyone.

I love Gladiator more than I can say, and it's really important to me not just as a cultural icon but on a personal level as well.

Anyone who knows this blog knows how much I love Maximus Decimus Meridius, and Ridley's choice to change Maximus' character so drastically is one that really just ticks me off.

To me personally, Gladiator 2 is not canon, and I will never consider it so on this blog.

[deramin2]

Essek constantly gushing about his partner but pointedly not giving his name hits me so hard in the feels.

Two formative childhood experiences for me:

ONE

I was severely, mercilessly bullied as a child at every school I went to even if they're was no overlap of kids, and authority figures either ignored me or directly told me it was my fault. I was socially toxic. Any other kid who publicly associated with me was also targeted for harassment. I was best friends with a girl around the corner but because I was a couple years younger (in itself an invitation for bullying) and a parish, we could never let anyone know we were friends.

I've been told I should be upset at her for this, but it wasn't her fault. It was the other children who made it a fact that she would be harmed by publicly being my friend. She didn't make those rules, we were both just honest that it existed and there was nothing we could do to change that. The best we could do to survive was at least protect her. And that benefited me by actually having a friend.

So if we talked about each other it was"my friend." No names. No acknowledging we knew each other in public. No introductions to other friends. Keeping that divide up was necessary to survival. I had a couple friends on the same freak level as we and we were in fact targeted with additional harassment to get to the other person. It was a legitimate threat to live with. At some point I just stopped thinking it was ever necessary to reveal who my friends or family are unless it's both explicitly relevant and necessary.

TWO

I learned to use the internet in the late 1990s when anonymity was considered a best practice. Don't give out your age, sex, location, or other identifying information. You don't know who is on the other side of that screen or what they will do to you if they know. Sperate your online and offline worlds to protect yourself.

This helped reinforce experience one because clearly adults also acted like those kids and this just normal human behavior no one will ever put a stop to that you need to be on guard for at all times. Build in air gaps so if one of you is compromised it's harder for the perpetrator to get to other people you care about. Defending them through anonymity is a way of showing you love them.

Also since some family are searchable through have state government jobs that right-wing nut jobs chips target them for, I wanted to make sure they couldn't be connected to me as a queer trans disabled person active online. In case something I said led to them being targeted.

(This is correct advice, even though it flies in the face of modern online conventions. There are tons of malicious people on three internet who will target you and anyone you love if they decide to hurt you.)

RESULT

By default, I refer to people by their relationship to me, not their name. My friend, my partner, my parent, my family, someone I know, etc. Often I avoid gendering them to make it even harder to identify them. I have to consciously consider if the person I'm talking to has any reason to know my associate's name. Blacklist everyone, then whitelist exceptions.

I do this even if both people know each other because the specific association feels dangerous. Better to be viewed as acquaintances than a meaningful relationship that changes how either of us could be viewed. It's not even really a judgement on thinking the person is untrustworthy, I just don't want to spend any extra energy thinking about it. It doesn't even feel relevant because my relationship to this person fellas like it conveys more information that actually matters.

ESSEK

Essek knows both he and Caleb are being targeted by powerful people who have shown they will target loved ones to get to them. Additionally, tensions between the Empire and Dynasty are still high and it could very easily compromise how their own sides view them if it's known that they're romantically entangled with someone from the other side. It could also blow each other's cover and make their meeting places more vulnerable to attack. Especially if their enemies know they could hit both of them at once.

It's genuinely dangerous for their connection to be known, so they don't name names. It's not even a matter of whether Bell's Hells would intentionally misuse that information, but what they also could just let slip to the wrong person. It's not really worth the risk when "my partner" is all the information they actually need to understand him.

My guess is that Essek said "Bren" is hiss partner because they already know a Bren sent them to Astrid. And since Caleb no longer uses the name Bren it would be much harder to connect them. It would have caused more questions, more prying, and more risk to give no name for his partner when directly pressed. So he gives a truthful but less dangerous answer. The anonymity is an act of love.

[toastnpretzels]

all i wanted

relationships: mikey way x reader, frank iero x reader

warnings: female reader, oral sex (female receiving), angst but a happy ending, some fluff

word count: 3,069

summary: Mikey Way x reader but also Frank Iero x reader (in a friends with benefits kind of way)

Reader is in love with Mikey but doesn't think he loves her back. All it takes is Mikey walking in on Frank and reader to get a confession out of him.

(sorry i suck at summaries, its angsty with a hint of smut and a happy ending)

author's notes: no idea why i wrote this lol im sorry for making mikey such a hoe in this (we know he was). i do have a second part to this thats mikey x reader x frank so let me know if you guys want another part

also sorry for it being so angsty and emotional i wrote this while i was having a moment

Things with Mikey were complicated.

Well not really. Everyone knew you liked Mikey. It was obvious from the start. You met him in high school, living down the street from him and Gerard. You and Mikey were in the same grade and had a few classes together. You all started hanging out together every day, but for the most part you were always with Mikey. Gerard could tell you liked Mikey, but he never said anything. He didn’t want to get involved, especially not when you were someone he would consider as one of his best friends.

It got worse overtime. You and Mikey would get drunk or high and cuddle together a lot. Anytime you weren’t sober, you and Mikey were always touching, but it was the opposite when you were sober. It was starting to lead you on, but instead of talking about it with Mikey, you let it go cause maybe that’s just how he was when he wasn’t sober.

You would go to all of his band practices. He always asked you to come, saying you made him play better. This is when you met Frank and Ray. You ended up being just as close with them as you were with Gerard and Mikey, but Mikey was always the most important person to you.

When Mikey got his first girlfriend is when you realized just how badly you were in love with him. He spent less time with you, which led to you spending most of your time with Frank. Frank became your best friend so quickly. He was the first one to call you out on how you felt about Mikey. Instead of embarrassing you over it, he made you feel comfortable. He knew it was hurting you to see Mikey with someone else.

When Mikey and his girlfriend broke up, you were the first person to comfort him. He cried to you about how he loved her. It hurt you, but it meant more to you to be there for him.

A few months later, Mikey felt like he was over her. He was finally back to his old self. This is when Warped Tour had started. And when Mikey had started sleeping around. Of course, he didn’t realize how much this was hurting you.

But Mikey was either oblivious or didn’t feel the same way. More likely that he didn’t feel the same way. Why would he? Especially when he has girls and boys all over him every night.

That’s when you and Frank started hooking up. It had started one night when you were both very high. Neither of you felt romantically towards each other, but the sexual chemistry was there. You both weren’t thinking clearly the first night, but after a long talk the next morning, you both agreed that you could be best friends with benefits. It made sense since you were both together every day and didn’t want to sleep around the same way Mikey was. It felt more safe for both of you.

This was supposed to help with your feelings for Mikey. You figured since you were sleeping with a new guy that it would erase anything you had felt for Mikey. That was far from what happened.

It didn’t take long for everyone to catch on to the fact that you and Frank were sleeping together. Gerard had walked in to you both making out on the bus when you thought no one was coming back. You admitted it to everyone after that so nothing like that would happen again. Explaining that neither of you felt anything romantically for each other was hard to convince the others of. You both knew where you stood, that’s what mattered.

You thought that maybe after the admission to everything that Mikey would confess his love for you. That he would beg you to stop seeing Frank and start seeing him instead, just like something you would see in a movie. But that never happened. Mikey continued treating you the same way he had from the very beginning. And your feelings for him only got worse. He still treated you the same way he had when you were still in high school. You were both still hanging out like best friends, only you were completely in love with him.

It was impossible not to love Mikey. But it felt like it was impossible for Mikey to love anyone back. You had heard too many whispers in the morning when Mikey was getting whoever he slept with the night before to leave that he never had feelings for these people. In some part of your head, it gave you a sense of false hope. Maybe Mikey could like you after all. But the reality was that he just didn’t. He was never going to feel the same way as you did.

Frank could tell it was getting to you. Being at home with Mikey was one thing. Being on tour was so much worse. You were with him at almost every moment. He was sleeping around so much. It was like he would sleep with anyone except you. Which Frank thought was good because it would only fuck with your feelings, but he knew it was getting to you anyway. So, Frank would keep fooling around with you. He knew it would get your mind off of it, even if it was only for a moment. And it would help take away the stress both of you were feeling from Warped Tour.

But, of course, Mikey had to ruin that for you too.

Frank and you were on the bus. Gerard had gone off somewhere with Bert and Mikey was with god knows who doing god knows what. Ray had gone with some other friends to eat. That left you and Frank alone to do whatever you wanted.

Frank was on his knees on the floor, kissing up your bare thighs, pants thrown somewhere on the bus. It felt like he had been teasing you for hours, but it had only been minutes. Frank kisses over the wet spot on your panties.

“Please Frank… do something please”

Frank chuckled against your core, lifting his face slightly to look at you. He smiled and pulled your panties down. Frank blows on your clit, making you whine a beg again. He knew you were getting desperate. He kissed your clit lightly, giving it a small lick. You grabbed his head and pushed him closer to your core. That was all it took to get Frank to stop teasing. Frank’s mouth attaches to your clit, sucking on it and making you grind against his face. Frank’s hand moves from your thigh to slip two fingers inside you, making you moan even louder. He knew you were getting close; he could tell from how hard you were clenching around his fingers. It boosted his ego to know he could get you that close to coming that quickly.

Then your worst nightmare happened. Mikey walked onto the bus, seeing you with your legs wrapped around Frank’s head. Your head shot up and you pushed Frank away, kicking him in the head in the process. Mikey was frozen for a few seconds, until he turned around and walked right back out.

“Well, that’s great,” Frank said. He knew that had killed the mood instantly for you. He genuinely felt bad for you. He looked up to see tears in your eyes. “Hey, please don’t cry. I know that was embarrassing, but there are definitely worse things to be embarrassed of. If anything, he should be embarrassed for being so stupid to not even knock.” Frank reached up to rub your cheek to try to comfort you, but he knew it wasn’t going to make this better.

“I’m not embarrassed,” you whispered. That wasn’t completely true. You were slightly embarrassed that someone had just seen you half naked getting eaten out by your best friend. You were also pissed that he had just ruined your orgasm. But mostly you were upset. Upset that of all people to walk in, it had to be the person you were hopelessly in love with.

“Then what’s wrong?” Frank already knew. He was your best friend. But he felt he should ask anyway, just to make sure.

“I… love him.” It was quiet after that. Silent tears were streaming down your cheeks. You moved to get up and find your pants and underwear, starting to feel completely humiliated by all of this.

“Wait, please,” Frank grabbed your wrist lightly.

“I’m not in the mood to have sex anymore, Frank. I’m sorry.” You pulled your hand from his grasp, finding your underwear and pulling them up, still looking you the pants that Frank had flung across the room in a rush to get you undressed.

“No that’s not what I wanted. Please just sit down, let me get you so water and food and some pajamas. We can watch a movie or just lay here or something. Please just let me help you.” Frank stood up, holding both of your wrists now. He wanted nothing more than to make this pain go away.

“Ok, just let me dress myself. You can get me water and food.” You gave in, knowing Frank wouldn’t leave you alone until you were ok even if you did say no. Frank nodded and walked to the small kitchen area of the bus. He grabbed a water from the fridge, then grabbed his wallet from the table. He handed you the water while you walked to your bunk to find pajamas. “I’m going to go get us something to eat. I’ll be back very soon. Please don’t cry while I’m gone, at least wait until I’m back so I can hold you.” Frank kissed your forehead and walked out the bus door.

You tried your best to listen to Frank. To not cry while he was gone, but being alone made everything feel more real. The tears wouldn’t stop coming. It was so embarrassing loving someone that didn’t love you back.

After about 20 minutes, Frank walked back onto the bus. You looked up from the couch where you had been crying, the same couch you had been on less than an hour ago only seconds from an orgasm, noticing that Frank didn’t have any food. He looked agitated, but then Mikey walked on the bus with him. You were quick to sit up wipe your tears, attempting to save face from even more embarrassment. You didn’t know if you were about to scream at Frank or start crying again.

“Mikey has something to say to you,” Frank said, turning around to look at Mikey as he was closing the door. Mikey turned and looked at you, noticing the tears that had been coming down only moments ago. He was silent. It was like he couldn’t speak. You didn’t say anything either, too afraid that you would start crying again the moment you started speaking. It was embarrassing being this emotional, but you couldn’t help it. Not when it came to Mikey.

“Man, if you don’t say something, I’m gonna be pissed,” Frank said, getting annoyed at the silence between both of you. He was still silent, staring at the floor as if he was being scolded by a parent.

After a few more seconds of silence, you decided you had enough of this humiliation. You got up off the couch, hoping to leave the bus so you could at least get the food Frank promised you, but someone grabbed your wrist. You turned, expecting to see Frank’s hand, but instead found Mikey’s fingers wrapped around you.

“Don’t go,” he whispered. Your mind was screaming at you to pull free, to just walk away and save yourself now. But your heart was telling you to stay, to do whatever he wanted as long as he was still touching you, even if it was only your wrist. Unfortunately, your heart was winning this battle.

You looked up into his eyes. He looked just as embarrassed as you were. You both were severely lacking self-confidence, but you couldn’t see why he didn’t have any. Maybe that was part of the reason you fell for him in the first place.

“Why?” you whispered, hoping he wouldn’t let go.

“I want you here,” he whispered. It was like it was only the 2 of you, like Frank wasn’t watching this whole reaction.

“Go on Mikey, tell her what you told me outside,” Frank said, hoping this would be over soon. He knew it wouldn’t be since both of his best friends were bad at conveying their feelings to each other.

Mikey stood there, rubbing his thumb across your wrist, hoping he wouldn’t have to speak. You looked up at him, waiting for a response that was never going to come. It was making the tears well up in your eyes again. Mikey looked up, feeling horrible about the pain he was causing you.

“Please don’t cry,” he whispered. You wished he would just leave and end whatever was happening. “I am sorry for everything I have put you through. I’m sorry for barging in on you and Frank. And for everything else,” he said. It hurt more than it should have to hear him apologize. It felt like an admission to him not loving you.

“it’s okay,” you whispered, silent tears spilling over your face. Mikey moved his hand up to wipe them off. “Please don’t do that Mikey,” you whispered, pushing his hand away from you. Mikey looked at you confused. He just wanted to help, and you were pushing him away. But it was what was best for you, to save your heart from breaking any further.

“I love you.”

You froze. What did he just say? Your mind was racing. Surely, he just meant it as a friend. He didn’t love you how you loved him. You stared at him, not saying a word. You looked to Frank for a moment, hoping he would save you. He wasn’t going to. Frank wanted you both to stop beating around the bush and just admit your feelings for each other. You looked back to Mikey, still not knowing how to answer. After another minute of silence, you finally spoke.

“No,” you said. It was the only words to come out of your mouth. Mikey and Frank both looked shocked.

“What do you mean no?” Mikey said. It felt like all of your feelings were about to come spilling out. And they did.

“No, you don’t love me. I have been in love with you for years, maybe since we first met. Everyone knows this, Frank knows this. I don’t know why he would bring you in here after everything just to have you hurt me more. And I know it’s not your fault. I can’t force you to love me the way I love you. But for you to come in here and play with my feelings is wrong on so many levels. You know how I feel about you; I don’t even have to tell you. Why would you do this to me? We’re supposed to be friends,” you said, letting the tears roll down your cheeks. You felt some relief in finally getting to have some say in how Mikey treated you. It didn’t stop the pain you felt.

Mikey and Frank both said nothing. You pulled your hand from Mikey’s and walked outside of the bus. It felt nice getting some air. You just stood outside, there was no where for you to go now. It was late and you didn’t want anyone to see you crying. So, you sat on the ground outside of the bus, hoping Frank wouldn’t come looking for you. You knew eventually he would. The summer air felt nice, even though it was colder since it was dark outside. But not even the breeze could stop the silent tears. All of these emotions were too overwhelming. This never should have happened. Not like this, not while you all were stuck together on a tour bus for at least the next 2 months. Maybe you could just leave?

After about 10 minutes of trying to calm down, you heard the bus door open and someone come outside. You didn’t bother looking up, knowing who it was.

“Frank, please go back inside. I don’t want to talk right now. I’m sorry for ruining your night,” you said.

“I’m not Frank and you didn’t ruin anyone’s night,” Mikey said, sitting down next to you. For a minute, you debated getting up and running away, but your heart forced you to stay, just to be close to him. You looked up at him, not expecting to see tears in his eyes.

“I love you. I always have. I don’t know when it started or why I didn’t just tell you a long time ago. You deserve so much better than me. I think that’s part of why I never said anything. But I want you to know now that I love you and I’m sorry for everything. For the way I treated you,” Mikey said, wiping the tears from under your eyes in the process, “You don’t have to believe me. I wouldn’t if I was you. But I promise I’m telling the truth. You mean the world to me,” he finishes, turning to look into the sky. It takes you a few minutes to take all of it in, just sitting in silence with each other.

“I believe you,” you whispered. Mikey turns to look at you, a smile flashing across his face.

“Can I kiss you?” he says, pushing the hair from your face. You nod your head.

When your lips meet, all you can think of is how soft they feel. It had taken years to get to this point, and now that you were here, you couldn’t be happier.

After awhile of just sitting outside and holding each other and making apologies, you both went back inside the bus. You both climbed into Mikey’s bunk, laying together for the rest of the night. Frank was already asleep, knowing you both would work it out somehow.

There was so much more to be discussed between you both, but for now it was just you and Mikey. Just the way it was meant to be.

[mysicklove-main]

Mitsuri was at a loss when you told her that she may need to cut down on the PDA. She didn’t even know what “PDA” stood for. Of course, ironically, she asked this while rubbing her forehead against the back of your head while the two of you were having breakfast with Rengoku.

She doesn’t understand that it makes people slightly uncomfortable when she rubs her hands up your chest while in public. Or when she randomly sits in your lap and coos at you while talking to somebody. Or how making out in public is considered taboo, which she has tried and tried again.

She also seems to have little shame about boasting the sexual life between the two of you. Blushing bashfully about it while going into the specifics to a totally stranger. Only stopping when you physically have to cover her mouth.

So, no matter who you meet, in matter of seconds they know that the two of you are together.

It’s almost like she can’t help but show everyone about how in love with you she is. How everything you do seems to light up the world for her.

You love her, you do, but when she starts kissing your neck while you mid mission, you realized that maybe she might need to tone it back a little.

So, one day you sat her down and told her. It went way better than you thought. You reassured her that she is welcome to touch you whenever she likes when the two of you were alone, and she agreed.

For the first two days, everything was fine. Sure, you felt strangely cold without her warmth constantly around you, but other than that, completely fine.

By day four she was twitchy. You caught her staring at your hands more times than you can count. You could feel her gaze burning into you whenever you talked to someone and the way she seemed to slowly sit closer and closer to you.

Day six, she was giving you tight praise that would make you raise your eyebrows. “Nice work!” and “So cool!”. Not unheard of, but six days ago it would have been “Oh my! My lover is so cool and strong! Eeeee, i’m blushing! How am I so lucky!” while peppering your face with kisses.

And finally, a week later you realized that maybe showing PDA was not negotiable in your relationship.

You were talking to Tengens wives who, before you met Mitsuri, had tried to get you to marry Tengen and join them. Of course that lifestyle was not for you, and now they only see you platonically.

Mitsuri knows this. She has even talked to the three about it and is completely fine with you being friends with the three of them.

Of course you only have talked to them when she is conveniently placed in your lap. Or when she just happens to mention what the two of you did the night before.

But that can’t happen anymore. The two of of you were trying something new, and she was fine with it.

But why is Suma clinging onto your arm like that? And why are you standing so close to Makio and Hinatsuru. Is what they are saying so funny?

She wasn’t going to do anything. Jealously is a hideous emotion and she didn’t want you to see her in a different light.

Tengen walks up to the four of you and she narrows her eyes. Her fists clench when she watches him pat your head in greeting. Are you blushing?

She can’t stand it anymore. So, she takes a deep breathe and skips over to you. She throws her body onto yours and wraps her arms around your neck with a squeal. “My love! I missed you!”

You try to crane your head to look at her, confused on the sudden burst of affection. “Mitsuri—”

“What we’re you guys talking about? Oh tell them about the other night, tell them!” She cheers, blushing and closing her eyes. The four others glance awkwardly at each other, obviously not wanting to hear the tale.

“Actually, my wives and I have got got be going now. I’ll see you around!” The four wave goodbye and you return it with a sigh, knowing exactly what happened.

She giggles into your neck and you can’t help but chuckle with her. "Really?" You tease, reaching back to play with her hair.

"I wasn't lying! I really do miss you!"

"We saw each other twenty minutes ago."

She blushes and pouts. "I don't like this new P-D-A rule. I want to touch you all the time!"

You take a deep breathe. You kinda had to agree with her, it was unnatural to have her not by your side all the time. Her touch always brought comfort. "Hmm. I think you're right."

She visibly brightens, eyes widening and legs kicking up. "So you'll let me touch you!"

"But can we try to tone it down on missions and when I'm trying to focus."

She flips you around with ease. Her strength is still something you still have to get used to. "Are you saying I'm distracting?"

You grin lazily. "Im saying that whenever you are in the room, I can't stop imagining you naked."

She turns pink, and lets out a girlish squeal, before leaning forward and connecting her lips with yours.

And so the two of you never learnt to deal with the PDA. But she's the hashira of love, can you expect her to be any different?

[tcubunny]

🎀INTRODUCTION🎀

this is a blog dedicated to what i like to call the “twice cinematic universe” for the funnies. here’s the rundown: in this twice AU, the reader is the tenth member of twice. at some point in your careers, you decided to all engage in a sort of ten-way relationship. you’re not all dating, (unless you want it to mean that, i don’t really mind), you’re simply all involved with each other sexually. there’s a sort of “caste” system, to put it in simple terms. three members are the doms (nayeon, jihyo, jeongyeon) and they basically make all the rules and such; everyone has to do what they say. then there’s momo, sana, mina, and dahyun; they are what you could call the switches. they all have power over the younger members—or “subs”, but they still have to listen to nayeon, jeongyeon, and jihyo. finally, there’s chaeyoung, tzuyu, and the reader who is the maknae. all three of you have essentially no power whatsoever, you have to obey everything everyone else tells you. with all of that out of the way, below are the in-universe rules that the members follow.

🎀RULES:

everyone has to answer to jihyo, jeongyeon, and nayeon. they hold all the power [it’s really jihyo, but that’s a dynamic i’ll play with in the actual fics ;)]

the switches are allowed to do whatever they want with each other at any time, but they have to tell a dom before they do anything with a sub. it’s not asking for permission, they simply have to inform them.

the subs aren’t allowed to do anything with each other—or touch themselves—unless they ask for permission and there’s a switch or dom present.

if anyone does anything they’re not allowed to do, they get punished

jihyo, jeongyeon, and nayeon administer punishments, but sometimes they ask for switchs’ help

🎀MEMBER PROFILES:

nayeon- she is definitely the most insane dom. she is the most sadistic and loves to make the others cry. she also loves degrading them and humiliating them, but she makes sure not to hurt any TOO badly.

jeongyeon- she's the sweetest out of all the doms. everyone knows they can go to her when they want to do something and she's the most likely to say yes. she loves pampering everyone and praising them. she doesn't like giving out punishments, but if she has to, she's very stern (but still makes sure not be the meanest).

momo- she is a switch and is always in trouble. she blatantly loves making the doms angry. she's always talking back and being really mean just to get on their nerves. her and sana are are always in cahoots together to cause issues. she's also the biggest tease when it comes to sex; an all around troublemaker.

sana- she's a switch and the absolute whiniest member. she's always complaining and pouting about how "nobody will play with her." she loves getting in trouble with momo, but acting like the victim when she gets caught. she also loves trying to corrupt the subs.

jihyo- jihyo is the scariest dom. she can be the best person ever when she's happy with someone's behavior and goes out of her way to meet everyone needs and take care of them, but she's an absolute nightmare when someone makes her angry. the other doms and switches use jihyo as a threat for the subs.

mina- mina is the switch that tries her best to please everyone. she rarely gets in trouble, and when she does, is it due to her desire to help everyone. she's the first one to volunteer when someone says they want to do anything. everyone knows that if they need a little help in the middle of the night, mina will help.

dahyun- although she presents very “normal,” she's actually the kinkiest switch. she is the one most open to experimenting and loves making subs try things out with her. when the doms want help administering a punishment, they are most likely to pick dahyun.

chaeyoung- she is the rebel of the subs. she thinks she can get away with things, but truly, she can't. she is always being punished and trying to get the other subs to disobey the rules with her. she's always trying to get others to let her be the dom, but she has no luck.

tzuyu- she's the most well behaved sub, and the most well behaved member in general. she has never gotten in trouble. she never outright asks for anything, but everyone can tell when she needs something, so they make sure to help her.

[walkergirlsposts]

I just want to clarify up front I'm not a Danneel hater or a Jensen hater. I don't really care whether they stay married or not. I don't know them personally and whatever they do has no effect on my life so I'm indifferent towards them as people. I follow Jensen for the characters he plays and again, I'm indifferent to Danneel. They do well? Cool. They don't do well? Sorry to hear it but it has nothing to do with me, hope things get better. Just like I would think about any other human beings on the planet that aren't my loved ones. I'm just very blase about it. But recently, I was listening to the episode where Danneel answers 25 questions or something on the DQ podcast because I loved OTH when it aired and I immediately caught onto two things.

One, for someone who supposedly is with the love of their lives and beyond happy, she sure seems to talk about Jensen pretty negatively whenever she gets the chance. I don't know if it's because she thinks it will give her like street cred with the other gals or what, but boy did she come out swinging. That kind of took me aback because I wasn't expecting that. But she does it again a little later, though to be fair, with a little less bite.

Two, I cannot believe what she and HBM said about the beginning of hers and Jensen's relationship. I was floored. Not only did Danneel not sound like she had any remorse for how they treated the people they were dating at the time, even going so far as to justify their cheating, but HBM pretty much says screw them, I don't feel bad for them, and you shouldn't either. Here's the thing I'm someone who doesn't condone cheating in any form, no matter what. Imho I think people should think twice before making the decision to hurt someone else like that, no matter the circumstances. That being said I'm also human and I get that no one's perfect, sometimes things happen in the moment, and it's not my place to judge or criticize anyone else or their relationships/partnerships/marriages. I also understand sometimes people can meet their person in the most inconvenient circumstances/timing.

But holy cow. There was such a blatant disregard for those people who were cheated on, HBM actually showing the strongest "fuck you" attitude out of the both of them and Danneel making excuses. It's like I get that what's done is done and obviously it worked out for Jensen and Danneel in the long run and for those other people's betterment but it made me want to shake Danneel by the shoulders a little.

You have kids who will possibly hear this podcast someday, you have tons of impressionable (possibly young since it's a podcast) people listening, your parents might listen not to mention possible professional contacts...WHY would you say that especially in that manner? It doesn't make you look real, or cool...it makes you look heartless and untrustworthy. And does HBM not realize her husband literally said "Shady" when Jensen talked about his and Danneel's beginning at a con this past year? And how would she feel if JDM ever stepped outside of their relationship like that, as a hypothetical? Has she never been cheated on or known anyone who has been? Which brings me to another thing I wanted to ask Danneel and HBM...Sophia is sitting RIGHT THERE. She even made reference to her past with CMM briefly right before the turn this conversation took. Do they not care about her? Their supposed friend? I don't get it.

After picking my jaw up off of the floor, I turned the podcast off and went about my day but I had to share these thoughts. Whatever respect I had for HBM was completely eradicated. No disrespect to JDM but it sounds like that group of "friends" he and HBM have with Jensen and Danneel are nothing more than a nest of vipers. All four of them. Like how can you be so lacking in any bit of compassion? Or common sense for how you come off sounding to the world as well as the professional one? Yes, we might not have been privy to what happened and maybe there are things about both dating relationships that Jensen and Danneel experienced that we're unaware of but going so far as to justify the cheating? Rather than just saying "listen, we may not have met under the best circumstances but it all worked out in the end for everyone involved" or "we were young and we never meant to hurt anyone but I don't regret meeting him/her" or something? And HBM was obviously trying to help Danneel through this interview, she couldn't give her one last layup with that?

Wow, I'm so glad I've never met any of them or know any of them personally. I can only imagine how often I'd have to have my back to the wall around them. Holy crap.

And sorry, I just needed to tell someone about this because I was that floored lol. If I could have a voiceover that section of the interview it would go something like this: Don't cheat, people. It never leads anywhere good and karma is a real thing.

These are the most shallow people you'd ever meet in your life, anon. I have nothing good to say about any of them, they are all gold-diggers and users. They have no empathy, morals, or dignity. Just the vainest people you've ever seen in your life. I lost respect for Hilary after she started kissing Danneel's ass. Can you imagine? One loser asskissing another? Stay at home, ladies, and quit embarrassing yourselves. My advice to you.

[ghostlynighty]

Pairings : Raiden Shogun/Raiden Ei x Female Reader

Warning(s) : inazuma archon quest spoilers, treating a god as a friend

A/N : I hope this is okay huhu

SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT!

When the shogun abolished both of the decrees, the people of Inazuma saw a change not only in the nation, but also with the shogun herself. She started to appear in public, started to talk to the common folks and she seems to finally have emotions? Though, it is random. Sometimes she would be full of emotions, even when just walking and sometimes she would be still as a rock.

All of Teyvat, specially Inazuma, knows how intimidating the shogun is, specially when the decrees were still in place. At that time, people saw how ruthless the shogun was, she didn't even have any emotions and don't usually show herself to the public.

Even with all these sudden changes to the shogun's emotions, she is still the same intimidating and powerful archon. People still don't dare to disrespect her, even with what she had done to the nation before.

But...there is this one individual, a women, a mortal who somehow forgets that the shogun is an archon, a god.

Even before, this mortal seems to always forget that the shogun can kill her with literally one slash.

People were really curious and concern about you, they still are. How can you be so careless and treat the shogun like she was just a friends of yours, a mortal being? Do you not value your life that much? Did you want the shogun to end you? Those are just some of the questions they asked and you just smile and shrug your shoulders in return.

When you first met the shogun, it was during a festival. She made a public appearance for a short while. At that time, you didn't know that the archon who was present isn't really the true archon, it was the vessel she created to rule over Inazuma. You were intimidated by her at first and you respect her fully, yes but unlike others, you have a different way of showing it.

You were helping your family manage the food stall they set up during that festival, when the shogun past through your stall, you did something that not all merchants can do. Sell your products to the shogun herself, you're parents and the people around you were understandably shocked. The shogun herself too, but she indulged you.

You told her everything your family's stall had to offer. The shogun just stared at you, listening while her guards were glaring at you, their hand wrapped tightly around their polearms.

The shogun just nodded at you, told her guards to buy some from your stall then walked away.

You've learned so many things about the shogun- or for you, Ei and what really happened after the decrees were abolished. You first got closer with the puppet, not really minding her way with words back then like some other people and now that you've found out the truth, it made sense to you. Meeting Ei for the first time after the puppet told you things about her was really nerve wracking and it was awkward at first. Since she looked liked the shogun that you know, but is actually a completely different person.

You and her got closer after that.

----------

When Ei found out about the puppet hanging out with a mortal, she got annoyed at the puppet and herself, thinking that she may have missed some mistakes with the puppet. She programed the puppet to only interact with mortals when it was needed, not befriend them. That all change when she met you though, she understands now why the puppet hangs out with you.

The Shogun was okay with you, she does find you annoying at times but she cares about you. Ei however, was more than okay with you. With you, Ei doesn't feel like an archon, she feels like she's just Ei. You respect her, you still respect her as your archon but at the same time, she feels like the two of you are equal with the way you're treating her. She only gets that with Miko and even though you can't treat her the same as Miko does, she appreciates it. Ei hopes that your relationship with each other would help the way the people of Inazuma treats her. She feels upset that her people are very scared and intimidated when she's around, she understands why, but she hopes to atleast talk to them without their body trembling in fear.

[idolbound]

I think people likely do suspect Meredith might be a little 💅 you know?

Obviously some followers of the Chantry take up vows of chastity, though from what I've been reading, while templars aren't required to take said vows, they do require special permission to marry as they may be required to move to other Circles or to do the Chantry's bidding elsewhere. As it were, if a spouse can provide their own support (e.g., owning land, having a role in another organization like the City Guard [I think of Aveline and Wesley, as he was apparently a former templar]), then permission is granted. This process likely deters most templars from formally marrying, or even maintaining long-term relationships.

That said, it's evident that templars in Kirkwall frequent the Blooming Rose often enough that Meredith eventually orders a raid of the place to find out which of her knights have been paying for sex and 'ruining' the reputation of the Order and its Knight-Commander. Obviously this demonstrates that templars seek and pay for sex without commitment nor worry about an actual relationship.

But, I am also certain that templars do have relationships beyond the Order - and perhaps, also, within it, though this is obviously discouraged and likely to earn reprimand for engaging in activities that could be seen as distracting from their duties (and creating a conflict of interest / tension among the ranks).

Now, with that context in mind, let's get back to Meredith.

Of course, already in Act 1 people are terrified of Meredith, and those who serve her do not want to break rules or cross her. She too wouldn't have any interest in being involved with someone serving under her, though I'm sure there are speculations about her interests. After all, we know from World of Thedas vol 2 that, when she stormed the brothel, she came across a very naked, very erect Jethann and politely and quietly excused herself. I'm sure Jethann has talked about this incident and rumours have spread; either the Knight-Commander is indeed, just a paragon of her faith and upholding a strict vow of chastity, or she isn't interested in men. While not a common assertion, someone, somewhere has probably drunkenly theorized about it. Like all the other rumours about Meredith, I think this one would certainly be among them.

Additionally, and this is in the game itself, but if Hawke is male and 'flirtatiously' compliments Meredith, she shuts him down by saying "I do not wear this armour for how it looks" and all but rolls her eyes at him. If Hawke is female, she simply says nothing (again, likely that they forgot to record a line / chose not to), but sometimes actions speak louder than words!

Now, in my own personal headcanon, I believe that as a Knight-Templar, Meredith had to deal with her templar brothers finding her attractive and desiring her in that way, which in response, she had to assert over and over, her utter disinterest in them. Most of these boys and young men thought they were rejected because Meredith was so focused on her studies, but others really found it hard to believe she would reject them. Obviously, this started the rumour mill about Meredith, both among her own cohort and beyond; after all, she was already a contentious initiate, since she already had an 'in' to doing well in the Order ahead of her peers because she was Knight-Captain Kell's unofficial adoptive daughter. Her blatant rejections towards her fellow knights' advances only added to that, with speculations ranging from the fact she already had a secret lover outside of the Gallows, to the fact she simply preferred the company of the fairer sex.

While it was true that Meredith was intensely focused on her duties and becoming the best Templar she could be, she was well aware of her romantic interest and sexual attraction toward other women early on (likely around age 16-17). I think as a ward of the Chantry that Meredith likely developed some close, possibly homoerotic friendships with other girls who grew up alongside one another, but obviously as Meredith became a templar initiate and stayed in the barracks of the Gallows, some connections may have been lost over time.

As an adult and new Knight-Templar, I believe Meredith - young, tall, and handsome - did have numerous illicit affairs with Chantry Sisters over the years, including when she became Knight-Captain, but stopping when she became Knight-Commander. As I've discussed, Meredith is hypersexual and this affects her relationships, but during this time, because of her duties, she is never able to form a long-term romantic relationship, preferring short-lived and secretive sexual relations, hidden by the cover of nightfall and the shadows in the darkest corners of the Chantry. While she has always been hypervigilant about, well, just about everything (due to her PTSD), there have always been wandering eyes and listening ears that notice such things.

In the timeline of Kirkwall, as mentioned above, I don't think such a rumour would become known by Meredith as most people are frightened of her and wouldn't dare mention it, but I do think the templars who have known her since the beginning, and those who have perhaps seen or heard a little too much, might know about where her preferences lie. In Thedas, for the most part, it would seem that having same-sex attraction is not seen as inherently bad or evil, though according to Brother Gentivi, in some places it is considered a quirk of character or sometimes scandal if done indiscreetly , or it can be accepted provided a noble still contribute to procreation and reproducing heirs for bloodlines.

In this case, given Meredith's position as Knight-Commander, and the other actions (or inaction) she takes regarding the templar-mage conflict and ruling the city, people knowing her sexuality is truly just another piece of gossip shared over ale in Lowtown, though one that may invoke further judgement by some.

[pocketramblr]

For the five ask game, if that's still going on, how about an iideku au where OFA ships them?

Torn between thinking this means the vestiges ship them, or that it means the quirk itself is a very excitable puppy dog that wants Tenya around as much as possible...

1- Tenya did not make a great first impression on 5/7.5 vestiges. Kudo and Bruce were like 'let 👏 him 👏 speak 👏' because they do, you know, kinda think Izuku's annoying but they sorta all did a 180° turn about him after the exam when Tenya apologized and praised Izuku's choice. Most of them like him. Bruce and Kudo are wondering how this kid keeps getting people to decide to like him after all.

2- OfA reacts differently under Izuku's hands, but he never realizes it because he assumes it's his own emotions and projecting. Yeah, his quirk feels jumpy and volatile around Kacchan like he could set it off and blow up his arm too easily, and fun and bubbly around Uraraka who's sure he'll figure out how to use it soon, and ok Izuku isn't sure why OfA races up to his skin faster around Iida, pushy, but maybe it's because he feels competitive with his friend.

3- The vestiges are actually in agreement for once when Izuku looks at Tenya at the train station. That Kid Is Going To Try To Commit Murder (and probably die in the attempt). "Is that what I looked like the last time you saw me alive?" Kudo asks Bruce. "No. But it's what I looked like to Shinomori." They want to help him. They want Izuku to help him. Izuku wants to help him. But they can't do anything except try to bend the power into something Izuku can actually use, and hope it's enough when the kid jumps off the train to find Tenya.

4- Nana, romantic she is, keeps getting excited when it seems they might lean in closer, might take each other's hands. Kudo asks if she and her husband were high school sweethearts to have such optimistic expectation of such a relationship, but Banjo says that dang it, Izuku at least deserves boyfriend even if they split after school, and Yoichi who has little concept of school and had a max relationship length of two months just wants them to confess already. Tenya's admiration is clear to everyone in Izuku's head except Izuku, and they can feel the boy's heartbeat in return. But sadly, they can't do anything while Izuku can't hear them... But, once he can...

5- "Good job training today, you'll master Float as soon as it comes to you at this rate!" Nana cheers Izuku in his dreams. He blushes, still unable to talk in the fog, but they figured out how to have him write in a notebook while he's there. "Hey, you know, White Day is coming up. Any plans? I can help you make something." Izuku raises his eyebrows because he's been warned Nana is a bit of a lethal chef, and also he's already made plans to make chocolate in return for his classmates, and more than triple the chocolate covered apple slices Eri was so excited to present him with a month ago. "I mean, other than Eri and the courtesy chocolate. Any confession plans?" Izuku starts waving his hands because he didn't get any confession chocolate and haha, why would he need to give any now, and En just sighs and breaks in with a "they need a third day for gay chocolate, bet Iida-kun would have made something for you then."

Izuku is eventually cajoled into making some orange chocolate treats for Tenya, only because he'd have plausible deniability that he just wanted to gift to his friends, but then Tenya presents him with All Might shaped chocolates and admits that maybe they are not purely platonic but that he still highly values Midoriya's friendship and would never mention the feelings again if he didn't want them and completely understands rejection and truly he- wait he didn't get rejected? Wait, it's the same for Midoriya? Both of them are very red, but happy. They don't really change much, neither is one for pda and calling each other their boyfriend feels like A Lot, but they do share food more often and move to calling each other by their given name in a manner that is adorably both shy and excited. But ah, we're halfway through March, and at the end of the month...

A couple weeks later, Izuku tapes letters to the doors of his classmates, then packs a bag to go, not planning on returning to the dorms again. He picks up the little bag of All Might chocolates that he'd slowly been going through. There's only two left. He slips them into the side pocket of his bag, then slips himself out of his window and down the building to leave campus, the vestiges silent around him and his quirk burning to go back when he can't.

[emmatgc]

Wonderful World FanFic

Seon Yul x Soo Hyun sequel (Part 1)

(Dedicated to a good friend. A short novel for one of my favorite no labels but rich in chemistry duo, relationship and what if couple in Kdrama. If you are not a “shipper”, better not read this one. New characters are added and will be added. Please take note this is all in my interpretation of the story and the aftermath of the finale. Enjoy! PS. I will try to update this every week if schedule permits)

Part 1: We meet again

A cup of tea in his hand, staring at his window after a long day, exhausted from 2 surgeries he assisted on thr day, Seon Yul can’t stop thinking about Soo Hyun after seeing her in that book signing last week after 6 years. She was radiant as ever. Seeing her smile brought warmth to his heart. It was the 1st time they saw each othe. Though they keep in touch through texts and a simple hi and hello conversation over the years, it was just enough to say they have moved on but still kept a part of each other. He saw her on TV once in those years but that walk in the lane was the perfect time in his mind to see her, even if from afar. He was ready, from afar.

This is their way of healing, as both agreed upon. Away from each other and moving on with their own lives.

Smiling and about to finish his tea, he was a bit surprised, she still has the same number. 

Those 6 years, Seon Yul became a doctor, for now a general practitioner but in another 2 years, a surgeon, to be precise, a heart surgeon. He always has a big heart and it is very fitting for him to be one. He kept his friends but as usual, he is alone, not exactly lonely but still on his own. In those years, healing came so rocky that the guilt gave him nightmares for almost a year or 2 , and he accepted it as punishment, too, for his twisted revenge against Soo Hyun. He was blinded but he was also a child. That is why Soo Hyun never blamed him one bit. 

Soo Hyun is living with her mom far away from the city,  who sadly has aggressive dementia. She said it's a blessing in disguise for she can only remember the good things. Her ex-husband continues to be a famous and prominent figure in the broadcasting industry and is now the Vice President of operations of the company. He still does special investigative reports from time to time. They are still friends and put up brave, united front act before her Mom as still husband and wife, so as not to upset her.

She now works in an orphanage and spent her time mostly there aside from writing her books. She managed to take care of those 10 children under her name, helping also the victims of accidents with the proceeds from her published books. She owns the orphanage and has a capable management team, a small one. She wants to devote all of her time with kids and that is the only way she can heal. She, too, is healing but the tears never stop but at least now, it is not every time she sees a child and a mother. 

After the book signing, she too, can't help but wonder, was that really Seon Yul? She smiled and had a sense of relief that he was doing ok just like what she told him to say and do, if the time is right. She regrets a little they weren't able to talk more but she hoped they would still see each other again in the future.

Seon Yul now smiles and goes out more often. He enjoys being a doctor and saving lives. Yoo-ra, his pretty, outgoing laboratory partner in his 1st few years as an intern, became one of his closest friends along with his new best friend, Shi Joon who specializes in plastic surgery. 

Summer time came, “Wonderful Smiles Orphanage” encountered a problem. There were 3 out of the 10 kids who got sick. It was very common for summer time to bring diarrhea, and other respiratory diseases, and each one had to be hospitalized for almost 2 weeks. A very worried Soo Hyun and her little orphanage team decided to look for help. The next day, she was told, a team of young doctors and nurses will volunteer for a month to stay at her orphanage for a quick case study and do everyday check ups for the children. They just came from hospital ships as well. 

Seon Yul? Soo Hyun uttered. A look of disbelief

Seon Yul was shocked. He didn’t know she was working in an orphanage now, let alone own one. He stared at her , like he did during her book signing but this time, he has to move closer. 

With the eyes of his colleagues on him, slightly confused, Soo Hyun walked towards them and welcomed them with a big smile. She reached for a hand shake at Seon Yul’s, and said “It’s been awhile”... he accepted it and he replied, “Yes, a long time” with a smile. 

Summer Time sadness for 6 years but maybe this time, it won’t be. 

So, they meet again. 

[paceypeternathanslawyer]

I seriously saw someone on Twitter say that Nathan and Haley only "got married to have sex"

Fuck off bitch I think you need to rewatch OTH and actually pay attention next time!!!

1. Haley was about to have sex with Nathan before he proposed to her. Haley even asks after he proposes if it's because in the past she hasn't been ready to have sex and Nathan says "No, I can see you caving on that anyways"

2. There's a flashback to after they get married and Haley is about to jump his bones and he says that they don't have to do anything if she doesn't want to because... quote un quote that's not why he married her.

3. Additionally there is a deleted scene on Youtube and the DVDs that shows Nathan getting Haley's dad's blessing and Nathan says "your relationship with Haley means as much to me as mine does. I love your daughter and I wanna marry but her if you tell me I have to wait till the end of time then I will." Does that sound like a guy who thinking with his dick instead of his heart. It most certainly does not.

Like I don't need everyone to approve of their young marriage. At the end of the day it's just a TV show and I promise you that there are no teenagers out there watching OTH thinking "oh, Nathan and Haley got married at 16 so I should as well." One Tree Hill also did not depict teen marriage as something that was easy or completely idyllic. It was tough and Nathan and Haley loved each other enough to work on it and make it through the adversity. I think there's a lot that young people can learn from Naley. Like talk through your issues, be open with each other, and go to therapy if you have issues that can't be easily dealt with. Naley's marriage always worked best when they followed those principles and they followed them most of the time. So I don't get why some people get their undies in such a bundle. OTH really did something unique with Naley and I appreciate that. Again not everyone needs to approve but I also don't want people out there making up lies about Naley where people who haven't seen OTH will see those posts and not only be spoiled about the big plot twist but also get the wrong idea about one of the greatest TV couples ever... the greatest in my opinion!

I really need some bitch asses on Twitter to keep Naley out of their damn mouths!

[barrybbenson101]

PERCY JACKSON AND JASON GRACE SHOULD’VE BEEN RIVALS! THEIR PARALELLS!

They should’ve been rivals and here’s why. Like, actual rivals. Not the bromance they had going on.

Main thing being, they are narrative foils in every way. Backstory wise and personality wise.

Jason was abandoned by his mother at two years old because she decided to listen to Juno and abandon him. Percy’s mother did everything to keep him close. Jason’s mother ultimately destroyed herself by becoming obsessed with Jupiter/Zeus, despite him backing away from her. Sally, on the other hand, refused Poseidon’s offer for a palace and was determined to raise Percy on her own.

Then, their childhoods. Percy grew up in poverty in New York City with a physically and emotionally abusive stepfather. He never tried to break the rules, but he messed up anyway without even trying due to his disabilities and was expelled time after time after time. He was unpopular and everyone thought he was a bad kid except for his mother. Who did everything to protect him. Marrying an abusive man, sending him to schools, writing faithfully, even if they couldn’t be together.

Meanwhile, Jason grew up as essentially royalty at Camp Jupiter, inducted into the legion at a young age but not having to do much for a while because of that. Everyone adored him. And he was a good kid, good at following the rules, good at having a life. But he didn’t want to follow the rules, he wanted to be a kid and he chafed under them. That’s what people get wrong about Percy. He really isn’t a rule breaker and he wanted to be a good kid. But he is seen as one when Jason isn’t.

And then, his mother. Oh gods, his mother. He never knew her and she died when he didn’t even know. She didn’t do anything to protect her son, she just gave up after two years because of Juno.

Their demigod experiences are also drastically different. Like I said earlier, Jason was accepted immediately at Camp Jupiter. He was extremely popular without actually earning it. He was pretty much the demigod celebrity/rich kid.

Meanwhile, Percy was hated when he arrived at Camp Half-Blood. Not many people talk about that. Though he was hailed as a hero years down the line, he was unpopular and ostracized when he first arrived. No one trusted him. And then he was ostracized for years by the Ares cabin, and then again after Tyson was proven to be his brother. He had to earn everything. He had to go on a deadly quest to solve a problem he never even caused.

And thats the first reason Percy would be pissed at Jason. While he actively earned everything, Jason was born into a place of privilege and everything was handed to him on a silver platter. Percy would kill to get that if he was that age. And even more telling, Jason rejected that and voluntarily chose the fifth cohort. Percy would’ve thought that was stupid. Because he fought tooth and nail just to be seen as a person.

Basically, Jason was jealous that Percy wasn’t raised as a child soldier and Percy would be jealous that Jason had prestige.

And then, their parentage. Which isn’t talked about much.

Percy has a good relationship with Poseidon. He offered his mom a palace. He gave Percy Medusa’s head to give to Sally, saving them from an abusive home. He then sent Tyson a whole brother to protect him. He met Percy on multiple occasions, even giving him a birthday gift. And Percy gets to go on vacations to his palace and has a good relationship with his brother and stepmom.

Jason is a son of Jupiter. Who never really showed up to say hello because… he sucks. And he barely gets to see his sister because Zeus dissociated and Thalia is Greek. But even then, he still never sees her because she’s running around with the Hunters. And she missed out on years of his life to the point that she probably knows Percy and Annabeth WAY better.

Their childhoods and life experiences actively parallel each other. So of course they won’t be able to understand each other’s. They’d both be jealous of the other for getting things the other never had. Simply, the grass is always greener on the other side. But they both had it hard.

This doesn’t even include their jealousy at the other for the memory erasure by Hera. On the one hand, Percy has reason to be jealous of Jason. He woke up on a cushy bus with Piper and Leo and had six months to relax and create a home. Percy had to spend two months alone, homeless in California (which is definitely traumatizing) all while knowing he had a girlfriend he left behind.

However, Jason definitely had it bad as well. While Percy was trusted by Camp Jupiter after six days, Jason still wasn’t trusted by Annabeth and even Piper after six months. And Percy got his memory back after one quest, but for Jason, Juno refused to give it back and he had to spend months in agony.

Then, personality wise, they’re foils.

I already mentioned how Jason is seen as perfect and straight laced while Percy is a rule breaker. But their personalities are opposites in not the way you think.

The scene everyone talks about is when they were debating leaving Nico to die. Most hate the way the scene is written, but its generally agreed upon that Jason would leave him behind and Percy would rescue him. And that is in part the way they were raised and their fatal flaws. If you’ve ever watched The Good Place, you probably know about the trolley problem. The Nico in the jar problem is basically the kid friendly way of explaining individualism versus utilitarianism. Greek vs Roman.

Jason is a Roman. Romans see each other as one cog in the militaristic machine. The individual doesn’t matter, hence why the entire fifth cohort was put to shame after Michael Varus lost the eagle. In a battle, if one life was at stake, that wouldn’t matter if the world was also at stake. And Jason had reason to not trust Nico after he lied about the camps. Questioning where his loyalties lie, Romans are supposed to respect tradition and authority. Loyalty is unquestioning. Though Jason chafed under the rules, he was still raised under them and aligns himself Greek AND Roman. Nico could’ve doomed his camp, his home. But even if he didn’t, Jason had trust issues even before that and without a confirmation of Nico’s loyalties, it opens up a whole can of worms for Jason.

Jason was a leader and saw himself as such because he was given no other identity. As a leader he is not responsible for the individual, but he’s responsible for the group as a whole. It would be stupid in his head to doom the group and humanity all for one life, especially when he feared betrayal after his own mother betrayed him, and spending years with enemies in the legion like Octavian who were jealous of his power.

Then we have Percy. We all know that loyalty is his fatal flaw. Now, I will say that at this point of the books, he has a complicated relationship with Nico. He withheld his past from him knowingly and also sold him out to his dad in The Last Olympian, which actually made Percy homicidal towards him. But that’s a post for another day. However, Nico was on his side and was someone he felt responsibility for. He ran into the maze to save Nico out of loyalty before. If he cares about someone, even a little, he’s loyal. And he wouldn’t hesitate to save Nico.

And despite his anger issues, he is outrageously loyal. Unlike Jason who sees the army as cogs in a machine or a potential tactic, Percy sees them for the individual. He doesn’t kill enemy demigods in the first series, tells Pollux to stop fighting due to his injury, and spares Ethan Nakamura’s life. He expresses guilt for the demigods that died during the Princess Andromeda. Jason was trained to see deaths as an unfortunate part of life while Percy went to the Underworld to save his mom.

I already mentioned how the way they present themselves or the way people perceive them is different than their actual personalities. And I think this is an interesting part of the text because the way they are characterized by the fandom is different than the books.

They’re both outrageously loyal, just in different ways. Percy is loyal to the individual whereas Jason is loyal to the group. However, that doesn’t make Jason less understanding than Percy. In fact, as he grows into himself, Jason becomes one of the most caring and understanding characters. And while Percy would sacrifice the world to save a friend, Jason desperately tries to understand them despite dislike, being fair to all.

Percy in canon is not and has never been the nicest guy. Though he is portrayed like a himbo most of the time, in reality, he has much more of an edge to him. Though he is loyal and saves people who he doesn’t necessarily like, such as Nico or Ethan, he will be downright cruel to people if they harm or get in the way of the people he loves, like Annabeth. Some examples of this are:

He left Nico behind in the Underworld with Hades after he jeopardized the plan to get Percy home safe, possibly harming Annabeth and his friends.

He killed Arachne in one swoop, before saying she deserved a more painful death. And then killed all the arai, bearing every curse.

AKHLYS. He almost killed a PRIMORDIAL GODDESS just to save Annabeth. And the only reason he stopped WAS BECAUSE OF ANNABETH.

Bob and Damasen. Though he definitely wasn’t heartless and was crushed about leaving them behind, it was his idea and he knew they wouldn’t make it out. All to save Annabeth.

Though he isn’t mean, his ultimate motivation is to save the people he loves, or at the very least, help people on his side, or if he believed they had the potential to help. And he is willing to do that without necessarily being nice. And he’s had his mean moments, especially in Heroes of Olympus. He doesn’t really try to understand Nico or give him a second thought, and never bothered to check on Calypso. This is called out in the House of Hades.

And this started even before that series. If he isn’t emotionally invested in a person or conflict, or if it won’t benefit the people he loves, then he will destroy without a second thought. Especially in the Sea of Monsters when he let Blackbeard loose and indirectly caused Hylla and Reyna’s trauma. And all of this comes back to haunt him with the arai. He’s stubborn and caring and loyal, but in some ways he is much colder than Jason.

Meanwhile, though Jason is distrusted a lot more than Percy, he is one of the nicest characters in the series. He parallels Percy in that while Percy became colder over the course of the series, Jason became warmer. He started out rude to Leo and masking his true personality. He’s seen as cold and distant by his friends. But as his true personality comes in, he really is a lot nicer than Percy. He isn’t snarky or sarcastic in the later parts of the series out of rudeness.

While in the beginning, Jason’s efforts of being nice were more for the good of the group, he grows in this. He is nice to Hazel and Annabeth despite the fact they don’t like him. He defends Apollo from his father. And of course, he was the one to get through to Nico. But that is a long post in its own. Unlike Percy, the things he learned never made him cold, tired, and bitter. They just opened his heart.

anyway im tired of typing. But yeah. Their rivalry should’ve been bigger considering they parallel each other.

[jaywritesrps]

I saw this post on L Chat and I wanted to share here cause it was very accurate. I am going to cut some parts too invasive, but the rest is a good point:

"Okay, can you all chill a little about Sophia and Ashlyn? We know nothing more than what we know already, and there's too much here that is just stuff people create in their heads and others believe for nothing. Many of the info you are spreading we will never know if it's true or not cause it's not our damn business.

About Sophia's lovelife, herself and her friends talked a couple of times about this subject. She said herself that she had two major flaws: she is too gullible (as in she can see the other person flaws, but she ignores it and chooses to focus on the person's positive traits rather in the negatives) and she is/was a people's pleaser, which makes her doing whatever it takes to fit in on the expectations on her (you can get these infos on her both podcasts and in her interviews. But if you don't feel like looking cause they are a lot, watch the interview she gave to Michael Rosembaum in 2021, which is one of the a few times she talks about CMM, and the one she gave to Jameela Jamil two months ago) Hilarie confirmed this in one of the early episodes of Drama queens when she told that one of the problems her and Sophia had in the first seasons of OTH was cause Hilarie said straight on her face what was going to happen in her relationship with Chad Michael Murray and Sophia got pissed at Hilarie for trying to warn her. Many fans pointed that pattern too at each new relationship she made public.

Now focusing only in her marriage with Grant, this happened with him too. Many fans pointed out that she seemed a lot more into him than he was into her. You could see she was putting too much effort and not getting the same in return. In Grant's defense, I think he was relief when she asked for the divorce, cause he was very quick to erase any sign of her existence or their marriage in his IG. Prior the rumors of her being with Ashlyn started, and even prior to Cannes, many of her likes from IG were about stopping letting people making you feel small and unwanted, or to stop letting other's define you or tell you how you should feel or invalidate your feelings. So the marriage was faded to die, Ashlyn was just the last drop.

With that being said, this relationship between them is far too new to anyone say anything yet or to determinate how their dynamics are or even if Sophia or Ashlyn are repeating their patterns.

So far, the solid things we have are:

1) they are a couple

2) they went to Rapinoe's retirement party as a couple

3) they went to Big Sur together

4) they did tattoos together

5) they are balancing schedules to spend time

6) Sophia looked happy in the events she went and in recent podcasts while Ashlyn is avoiding the drama from fans, that are fed by cryptic messages from Kyle Krieger, focusing on attacking solely Ashlyn (If you think about it, we didn't heard Ali's side of the story directly from her, cause the only thing she did was posting a vague message and let the internet helldogs create stuff. But she didn’t really said anything, which per se is weird overall)

7) it looks like it's a serious deal for them

Anything outside of these is pure speculation. We didn't even have one picture of them as a couple to try a guess of how they are, the only thing out is just posts on social media that is being taken out of context to stir more drama and people online are falling very quick in this non-sense, already claiming that Ashlyn is broken and Sophia is paying her bills, or that Ash is going to live in California with Sophia or that Ashlyn was fired from Gotham.... None of these are true and it's also none of our business. I know this is a forum and a place for conjectures, but conjecutures are just guesses, nothing more nothing less, they are not true and we can't know if they are because none of us have the big picture, and probably not even Sophia and Ashlyn have that figured out just yet. So chill out, okay"

[zahri-melitor]

Okay so I'm now 4 volumes into Gail Simone's Batgirl, and hmmmm, I really want to talk about issues #17-26.

Now look this is still quite depressing Barbara. I'm still frustrated at some of the changes, but I think Simone finally managed to pull the strings together more coherently here?

Like, I do not care about James Gordon Jr. Wow do I not find him a compelling villain. I also, just quietly, think he loses something in the potential depths of his character by the "everyone is one biological family" Gordon retcon for New 52, because I think there's a compelling additional layer available in the baby sociopath being the biological child of Jim and Barbara Eileen, while Barbara is the adopted daughter/niece, and the levels of awareness of different family members over how James Jr reacted to Barbara's arrival and his jealousy of her, that I think actually did get teased out somewhat in The Black Mirror and are now are no longer here.

Barbara Eileen here also continues to have almost no personality or motivations, but that's par for course for Barbara Eileen. Always a cipher.

I do find the contrasts set up by this third version of Ventriloquist and her brother with Barbara and James Jnr to be interesting, with the mirroring of which sibling is jealous of the other, and in their sociopath way has turned their sibling into a puppet of their desires. I actually find it more interesting in terms of the fact Ventriloquist is used for this, because the second Ventriloquist, Peyton Riley, sort of achieves the same reflection on the surrounding narrative in Dini's 'Tec run, only in that one Peyton is reflected in Dini's exploration of the upper echelons of Gotham society and its mob connections. It's just interesting to see a character type used twice in fairly close succession simply as a mirror like this.

The story however, and particularly certain elements of it, made me smile quite a bit, as Simone was reaching back into both the classic Bat storytelling set ups and themes she's used before, so I was enjoying the narrative echoes to preboot she had sprinkled through this.

I actually ended up enjoying the Barbara/Ricky Gutierrez storyline, even if it was set up for pathos. It felt like a rerun of Helena/Josh from Birds of Prey, in that Barbara started the dates because she felt sorry for Ricky, but it was interesting in that Babs did indeed reflect on both of their disabilities through the relationship, and I thought they were cute together. Completely set Jim up for the angst moments though.

Then there's the cowl revelations. I'm still very unsure if I like Barbara just outright telling Barbara Eileen about being Batgirl, while having such a harder time telling Jim. Jim's totally repressing and lying to himself over the whole situation (which is classic Jim Gordon re costumes) but it's weird having the two of them back in 'absolutely don't know' land rather than it being an unspoken secret that Jim's fully aware of. I did like that Simone pulled the "Barbara removes her cowl as Jim turns his back" move though. Babs is the primary character after Bruce who should be allowed that motif (plus maybe Dick), because it's about the layers of trust and belief.

Bruce reaching out to Jim about losing a son was also..huuurgh. Amazingly timed as Jim was newly aware of the loss, and it was interesting to see this framed via Damian's death for once, rather than Jason's. The Requiem issue was really well tied into actual plot around James fucking Jr, and Jim calling Barbara to tell her, and the way that blurs the lines, and then Babs calling Dick and Dick not wanting to talk, followed by Dick calling Babs after James Jr falls and Babs not wanting to talk... it reminded me very much of their simultaneous "I'm sorry for the breakup" phonecalls from preboot.

Also Jim taking Babs down to the gun range at GCPD and making sure she could still shoot, and Babs' trauma around that, and the way it's couched so neither of them are quite sure what the other knows, and exactly why Jim feels he needs to know Barbara can defend herself...

Anyway. It's all still very dark and angsty, but in a chewy way, the villains were less groanworthy than Knightfall was, and I finally feel like Simone's hit her stride in this new universe, and in how to layer in storytelling that's referential back to older comics while those references not being needed to understand what's going on.

[othramblings]

Can we talk about how drastically different Nathan's and Haley's respective parental and financial situations are during seasons 2-4? Nathan chose to get emancipated. He chose to be on his own. Yet, he always has the option to move back in with his parents. I don't fault Nathan for wanting to live independently from his parents. It was an incredibly toxic environment and wasn't doing him any good. But at the same time, Nathan always has a fallback. Whereas Haley's parents are just gone after (c)

-->she marries Nathan. Haley is forced to figure everything out because Jimmy and Lydia left her 100% on her own. A newly married sixteen year old girl in her first ever relationship. It's just interesting. Even when she comes back from the tour, there's no backup for Haley. Nathan doesn't want to reconcile and their apartment is gone, so she has to figure out other living options and returns to working at the cafe. And also, Nathan doesn't have any sort of job during seasons 3 and 4.Haley is the sole breadwinner as a married, pregnant teenager. And later, Nathan manages to get them into financial trouble yet never tries to look for a job or rectify this is in any way beyond asking his parents for help. Even as they're nearly out of high school and soon to be parents, Nathan still gets to be the kid while Haley is essentially an adult. It just seems so unfair. Even in the adult years, it's only until maybe season 7 where Nathan realizes he has to grow up. Sorry for the rant!

Wow, thank you for your incredible response!! (as always <3) I really just love how you put everything into words. I couldn't agree more! The show lightly touched on the class difference between Haley and Nathan in the earlier seasons, but it played a big role in their characterizations in many ways and should have been explored more. This type of stuff would have been explored on most other shows around that time; however, OTH's showrunner had no interest in exploring Haley's hardships. For example, in season 4, when Whitey tells Haley that Camila made all the sacrifices in their marriage around the same time that Haley was going to have to give up a good school because of Nathan. The show showed us enough to make us wonder if the same was happening to Haley, but it was never explored. Also this will just get me more hate but Joy is at least 5x the actor James is, so for her to get less emotional storytelling compared to him is nuts lol!