#He doesn't bother trying to fix things because it's been like this forever

[violent138]

Bruce, trying to make sense of his kids' meticulous but completely personal and objectively nonsensical classifications of people they don't know on stakeouts: *deep sigh* "Stephanie, did you ever end up finding out who*-- squints-- "Hot Girlfriend #5 is?"

Stephanie: "Yep, and she broke up with Psychosoulpatch. Who I busted and sent to Blackgate. Unrelated news I got her number."

Bruce:

Bruce: "And Tim, who is... Hot Ted Bundy?"

Tim: "Oh, he shaved his head he's ugly Ted Bundy now."

Stephanie: "I think he looks better. What do you think B?"

Bruce:

[strangersteddierthings]

"Look, Steve, I don't have any bad feelings towards you," Eddie says, has been saying, talking nonsense, like he and Steve weren't anything more than fuckbuddies, like he isn't breaking Steve's heart. "I used you too, y'know?"

It's then Steve rears back like he been slapped. Or punched. It feels more like a gutting. Joke's on him, he supposes. Once again, he wants more than the other person. He wanted a boyfriend, Eddie'd wanted sex. Why does he keep trying? When Steve finds his voice to speak, it comes out flat and dead and not really like a question at all. "Used me. Like you think I've used you?"

Eddie shrugs, looking for all the world like he's not bothered by that statement. "We had fun, right? So it's all fine in the end."

"Fine," Steve repeats, hollow. They're in his house but Steve feels the need to leave, to run before the reality of how unlovable he truly is sticks inside him forever.

"But I think we should stop while we're ahead," Eddie continues and Steve wonders if Eddie is listening to him at all, or just saying his piece before he goes. Can he not hear Steve's heart breaking? "I want to... I want to find someone to love."

If Eddie's previous words felt like being gutted, these ones feel like cement. Heavy and solidifying. Trapping in the truth of Ever Unlovable Steve. He doesn't even feel heartbroken anymore. Just numb. Dead inside. He should say something encouraging. Let Eddie know that all he's wanted was for Eddie to be happy and loved. But words seem impossible, so he gives one jerky nod of his head. An understanding.

"Right," Eddie says, returning the nod before turning away, towards the door, "I'll just go now. Umm, see ya later, Harrington."

Facing the horrors of the Upside Down should feel like the scariest thing he's ever done but it doesn't. Watching Eddie walk away does. Steve should be able to hold it together long enough for Eddie to leave. He's the tough one. He can hold himself together no problem-

"Why can't you love me?"

Eddie whips back around, an expression on his face like confusion and anger mixed.

It's only then that Steve realizes he spoke. He hasn't meant to. He was going to let Eddie walk away but now his voice has been freed from the cement. His heart has shut down his brain it seems because he just keeps talking, voice flat and hollow, "why can't you love me the way I love you? What is so broken and wrong within me that no one loves me back? My parents, Nancy, now you. Why can't- I thought that we were- where did I go wrong?"

"What?" Eddie asks, and the anger is gone from his face but now he just looks horrified. Which is understandable. It's horrifying to be loved by Steve Harrington. "What did you think we were?"

Boyfriends. Together. Going steady. At the very least, dating without labels. But none of those very reasonable, normal answers come out of Steve's treacherous mouth. Because Steve can't seem to be a reasonable, normal person. He's got to be too much, too soon, too clingy. So, instead, he says, "In love."

Eddie looks like he's just received the worst news of his life. In fact, he looks a little sick. "Oh fuck. Jesus Christ. I can't- I thought- Fuck!"

Steve just nods along. He hadn't actually said I love you to Nancy that night at Tina's Halloween party, but he imagines if he had, the beginning of the bullshit conversation would have sounded much the same as Eddie does now; like anger and regret, the starts and stops. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have- if you want to go, you should go."

Eddie crosses the room back to Steve in half the steps he took when he first walked away, hands reaching to grab Steve's face between them. He speaks quickly and sounds panicked now. "No, no no no. I fucked up, misunderstood. I don't know how I got it so wrong. I don't want to go. I never did."

"What?"

"I am in love with you, sweetheart. I just- I didn't know you loved me back. I thought you didn't- that we weren't..."

"I thought we were boyfriends."

"Jesus, please let me fix this. Let me stay and make it up to you. I'll be the best fucking boyfriend you've ever had."

Steve thinks if he had any shred of self-worth he might step back, make Eddie explain himself, but as it is, he steps into Eddie's space and kisses him, hands pulling him as close as he can get. He doesn't want to think about the cruel things Eddie's said, about using each other. Maybe one day they'll have to hash that out, have that conversation, but Eddie says he loves him too, and that's all Steve's wanted.

[beforetimes]

if there's one thing that can be said about peter maximoff, it's that he's always got his ear to the ground when it comes to gossiping. it's like, his thing by now. if anyone wanted to hide their secrets from him they'd be fresh out of luck because despite how much he darts around and lets himself trail off sentences in the middle of them to zip off and do something else because he got tired of slowing himself down in the middle of it, he is surprisingly good at being quiet when he needs to and being at the right place at the right time. he has a very good record when it comes to this stuff, so he knows it's not bullshit when he's figured out that his dad—which, like, wow, his dad?—is in the dating scene. he knows it. what's more of a surprise is that he's gotten all strung up with charles xavier, of all people.

which, like, peter doesn't hate the guy. he doesn't! he was just under the impression that ten years ago—wow, ten years really fly when you really think about it, that day feels like forever ago and yesterday at the same time—that charles and erik hated each other. so he guesses he missed the memo where they kissed and made up after punches were thrown in the pentagon's elevator by a drenched, half-sober man who looked like he would laser erik to death with his eyes the way scott tries to do to peter about four times a week without even taking off his glasses in case he'd accidentally make it stick. though he couldn't, because, like. peter is very fast. duh.

so. the evidence behind his claims goes as follows (of course he collected evidence, peter says to ororo, affronted, when she asks if he even had proof. what was he, an ameteur?):

1. erik keeps taking lunch breaks.

it's not like he didn't before but he was definitely less likely to. when they were rebuilding the x-mansion after it blew up and he was their heaviest lifter, it would be rare to peel him away from all the construction. erik was actually weirdly good at building, which peter didn't really expect for some reason because he was always under the impression all the guy did was like. terrorize people. or kill them. or twist spoons into pretzels just because he could. but no, nowadays he's been taking more lunch breaks than ever and it's a very pointed difference, even though they've already finished construction a few months ago and erik didn't really have a reason to stay. unless the reason to stay was so he could be with charles! (scott stares at him with that unimpressed, laser-eyes look again so peter flips him off and continues past the sputtering).

2. he's also like, weirdly nice now?

which isn't to say that peter didn't think terrorists couldn't be nice. which sounds bad but erik might be the one exception. anyway, when peter saved him about a decade ago he remembered the guy being kind of an asshole when he met up with charles for the first time and yes he knows that it puts a damper on his dating theory, jean, but he's not done yet so wait a second. anyway, he was less of an asshole when he came back to help fix the mansion after trying to kill the whole world so peter guessed he kind of swings on a pendulum between good and evil and whatever they get on that day is like the worlds most important and demented coin flip. that's besides the point. so when he was back here to help fix things up he stayed out of everyone's way and he wouldn't do much to bother anyone because in peter's opinion erik didn't want to scare the little kids who knew of his reputation even if they didn't know his face. but, like, now he's been here a while it's like a complete 180. peter caught him teaching a seven year old how to tie his shoes the other day. a thirteen year old shortstack was rocking back and forth on her heels while erik got her a book from one of the higher shelves of the mansions newly refurbished library (who knew that once you saved the world there would be at least one or two places willing to donate books on top of charles' infinite wealth?). it was like stepping into the twilight zone. but it was real. like, peter saw the hint of a real smile on erik's face one time when he saw the man looking over the grassy field of the school. it freaked him out a bit.

3. charles knows how erik takes his coffee

this is admittedly one of his weaker arguments from the lead-in, peter concedes when he gets blank stares from storm, jean, scott, and kurt. like, even kurt! he didn't think that was a look he could pull from that kid. anyway, peter says that it's pretty damn obvious that erik has a whole thing when it comes to charles being in his head. he's heard from someone who heard from a friend who eavesdropped on a teacher who overheard charles and raven after a faculty meeting that the helmet erik wore all the damn time when he was evil was to keep charles from getting into his head. which explains a lot. anyway erik has a complex about charles getting in his head. but he doesn't wear the helmet now and peter heard charles one morning when he was getting ready to start the day off by eating at least two and a half boxes of poptarts. he heard the man say something like coffee? and he heard erik reply with a hum and charles went how dyou want it and erik said don't you know already? and peter had peered in then and seen erik gesture to his head. and he wasn't defensive about it at all and charles had this really weird look on his face that peter spend a few seconds examining in hyperspeed before getting away from the whole thing because the vibes were so weird. but yeah. erik let charles into his head just for some coffee after spending like two decades trying to keep charles out of his head. which has to mean something (and peter knows he's hooked them now because even scott is leaning in like he's interested and that kid would pretend he had a ticklish throat and needed a water bottle more than anyone else in the immediate vicinity if peter was on fire in front of him).

4. all the chess boards

like, they're all over the place. it's excessive. there's a different game set up in the library, on a table in the garden, on charles' desk in his office, on erik's desk in his office and his bedroom. and no one touches them because no one likes fucking chess except for cute little ten year old jenny because her grandfather taught her before she accidentally turned his house into clouds and seventeen year old thomas who's a prick because he thinks he's more distinguished than anyone ever because he came all the way over from europe or whatever the fuck and peter can't see either of them sitting down to play one game, let alone multiple. and he knows chess is charles and erik's thing because he saw the board in erik's room one time—(you were in his room? ororo asks with a very deep look and peter nods and goes yeah we've been bonding lately but it's kind of one sided because it's more like me showing up and him tolerating me until i leave but like it's progress!)—and peter asked before erik could get a chance to politely kick him out and erik actually paused and told him that chess was a shared hobby of theirs from a few years back and get this, peter says conspiratorially, leaning forward as the rest follow suit. he smiled. like a full on real smile with teeth. and peter was so taken aback he was like that's sweet man and then left before he could be kicked out. and now he knows that the only people who play chess in this mansion are dickhead european thomas and sweet little jenny and charles and erik, all the games all over the place have to be charles and erik's which means they spend a lot more time together than he thought before. and they plan to spend it together because a lot of these games are half finished, like they leave and come back every few days depending on how much free time either of them have. (and now everyone looks thoroughly hooked because the evidence peter brings is good because peter is a hell of a gossip, dammit. he won't have people questioning his skills when it comes to this. he was made to be at old little women's tea parties where they talk about their evil husbands doing war crimes. that's what he guesses goes on there, anyway, considering his first gossip session with his mom went that way)

5. charles is happier now

and jean frowns at this one right off the bat but no one really says anything because the way peter said it was soft and kind of less jokey than the rest of his tirade. because it was something he wasn't really expecting? because charles wasn't sad per se, he was always happy in front of the kids and he didn't try to drag them down with his own moods and ever since the guy got sober he's looked a hell of a lot more put together than when he showed up on peter's doorstep, tired and hungover and just plain heartbroken. but even in that small time frame between defeating apocalypse and the mansion being rebuilt, he was just... sort of happy. happy he lived, maybe. happy the world made it and his mansion was being rebuilt so he could home all these poor kids without anywhere to turn to that understood them. but wow, the stark difference between a charles that was kind of okay and a charles that was happy was like night and day. he was just so much brighter now that it took peter aback sometimes. he hummed under his breath whenever peter walked by him in the halls at a human speed and those old withered plants in his office started to stand taller, as if someone finally started watering them. and hank stopped staring at charles the way he did when peter met them a decade ago—waiting for something to give. so, yeah, charles is definitely happier now when no one even knew he was unhappy at all. and it all started when erik started taking lunch breaks.

and jean and scott and ororo and kurt are looking at him less like he's pulling their legs and more like he's made a point that makes them a little sad which wasn't the goal but he gets it. charles is like, jean's dad in a way, and the rest really look up to him despite only being here just shy of a year, so to hear this guy that they always saw as this strong bastion of optimism and goodwill was just sort of sad all the time right under their noses was probably depressing the hell out of the four of them. but it was the truth. and peter knows it was because he can practically see them recalling how the professor was before he got there and before he made up with erik.

so yeah. peter is right. erik and charles are probably dating and now four more people know that charles is happier than he was before and erik is too. and privately, peter thinks maybe if erik is happy to find family in charles, he'd be happy to find family in peter, too. but that's something for another day. he's just suddenly aware of the fact that he's so glad these guys who were so bent out of shape and angry and irritated and heartbroken and assholeish ten years ago are looking at each other like the sun took up custody of both their smiles or whatever.

anyway i'll see you guys later, peter tells them, and races off before they can say anything. he's already halfway across the school and in his room playing pac-man before any of them can blink.

[thechekhov]

Dungeon Meshi Quick Reacts: CH38

Rip to these promising mages. I assume they will not survive this massacre.

IS that where her lungs and kidneys are? Because like. She's huge. Her entire body is behind her. Do you really think she'd keep her vital organs in the little human bulb on the front?

I mean, he has a point. What are you going to do? Fight off more hoardes of dragons?

oh noooo, Kabru.... too bad. That's so unfortunate.... anyway.

It's curious that Laios only got knocked away. He was just as likely to have had his head squished like a grape.

Guys, this is absolutely not the time to be concerned for her privacy.

Yes, queen. Free the tiddy. Murder everyone in this dungeon. I support women's rights and women's wrongs.

.......that's. One way to do that. I guess.

.......what's that rock about.

Oh, I see. That's convenient.

This guy dungeons! Maybe he even dragons.

So we got north (tallmen? dwarves?) and then the easterners.... and now the elves of the west?

He's going to give her to the Americans?! ಠ_ಠ

To be fair, at least they HAD a plan. And they executed it. It's more than you did. I don't mean to point fingers but... at least they... ya know... did something.

Kabru's like 'no, no, hang on, I need to hear what batshit fucked up thing this dude is going to say next, this is important'

Laios is so stressed he broke character.

Then again, maybe it's healthy to let them slug it out a bit. Get it out of their system.

It's true. They wore fitbits and everything.

...hey, hold on a second.

Now hold on a minute.

Damn, this is. Kind of even worse because. I guess I could have guessed that Toshi was just pretending to be polite, like you do. Cultural differences.

But the painful thing is, Laios doesn't seem surprised. He just seems resigned. He's been told before that he's difficult to get along with. To the extent that he doesn't even consider Marcille and Chillchuck his friends? Even though they arguably both care about him? But because Toshiro didn't bother to be deadpan about him being a bit odd at times, Laios thought it meant that was fine.

And that kinda hurts. Like damn. Laios just wanted to make a true connection. And I can't really blame Toshiro either, he was just trying to keep the peace but. Damn.

Free her! Let her do her illegal magics! She deserves it! （︶^︶）

Thoughts:

Senshi just being annoyed about that one last harpy looking for scraps.... like "shoo, this ain't the time"

That gnome seems genuinely nice. I'm sorry Falin squished his pet undyne.

Kabru hugging his..... mage? Girlfriend???? Seems very...one sided. Kinda feel bad for her.

Laios and Toshiro still going at it, I see. Get it allout, boys.

Uhhhhhhhhhh ninja girls.

Aww, doggo.

Last question: Where did the cat go?

Senshi: I can fix that.

Are you all worried because he's finally making sense?!?!

Laios and he punched their singular braincells into several new ones, it seems.

F./....Falin... please give the caterpillar some privacy........

My man, maybe lead with that............

I can't believe Marcille was potentially more forward about her feelings.......

"his pupils are dilated" yes, thank you sherlock. You've finally realized what everyone else who meets Laios feels almost immediately. he's a monster freak club card carrying member. Welcome.

p.....pubby......

As long as he was also inside the dungeon with them.... yes.

The issue with Kabru isn't that he isn't trying his best. It's that Laios isn't trying at all.

On a scale of one to Kabru, how badly do you react to being offered a food you don't want to eat?

......oh no. He's so pathetic it's funny. He's growing on me.

Absolute morons, the pair of them. Immovable object meets unstoppable force. The funniest combination ever. Ghost type and normal type pokemon, forever throwing moves at each other that will never hit. Laios thinking he's made a friend. Kabru just barely stopping himself from killing Laios. Best comedy pair. Tom and Jerry in a can.

Anyway. What a great manga.

[fairyhaos]

how seventeen react to their s/o doubting themselves in their relationship

requested by anon: So this is a very specific request and you don't have to do it if you're uncomfortable or do not like it/are uninspired by it. But how would they handle it if you're in a relationship with them but start doubting whether you're good enough for them? It's a bit sad but I'm curious. Thank you <3

notes: the super soft fluff and the super sad angst are Both my strong points. i love them both so much.

masterlist

seungcheol, jeonghan, hansol 

he's noticed the way you've been hesitating around him lately, no longer throwing yourself on top of him for hugs and no longer responding as well to him nudging your heads together to ask for kisses. he's worried, and he's incredibly adamant that Communication is Key in relationships (and he's right) so he asks you during a lull in the evening one day why you're being so distant. it takes a while, but he's patient and he just wants to know you're okay, and eventually when you break and tell him everything he gets really sad and starts hugging you as you cry. begins to cry himself, bc he didn't realise you were thinking that way, and tells you over and over that he loves you and he's with you because you make him the happiest ever and there's no need to worry about something like that. he's going to be with you forever and ever, whether you like it or not. 

joshua, junhui, dokyeom

incredibly perceptive when it comes to these things. knew that you were upset and he's been constantly asking you if you're okay, but you just continue to brush it off until he walks into your room one day to find you silently sobbing to yourself in the middle of the room. immediately drops to his knees on the floor beside you, making those gentle shushing noises to try and calm you down, and when you push him away he makes that small wounded noise, worried that he's done something wrong. he's gentle with you, like you're a fragile creature, when you tell him that you've been worried that he's too good for you. tells you very sincerely that he doesn't think anyone will be able to put up with him as well as you have and that honestly, he's not sure if he'd like anyone else to. for him, there's only you. asks if he can touch you, scoops you up into a big and warm hug that lasts until one of you needs to pee (him) 

wonwoo, jihoon, minghao

the conversation was probably brought up through an almost-argument. you're tired and insecure, which makes you snappish, and he's tired too, leading to biting exchanges that gradually get worse until you finally grit out that you're afraid he's going to leave you because there are better people out there. that makes the anger leave his body instantly, eyes widening. he didn't know you felt like that in the slightest, and he slowly tries to go over and touch you, stepping back if you move away. he feels like it's partly his fault for maybe not being as affectionate in the relationship as you'd like, and promises to do better and make you feel more reassured in the relationship if that's what you need. even if you say it's okay, he'll promise it anyway, because he knows how awkwardness can make him distant sometimes, and he never wants you to think he's going to stop loving you someday

hoshi, mingyu, seungkwan, chan

i think he'll start overthinking your distant nature, taking it as a sign that you don't think he's good enough for you, and comes to you all wobbly-voiced to very genuinely ask if you're tired of him, because he knows that he's not the easiest person to handle at times and if there's something about him that's bothering you, he'll try to fix it for you. it takes you by surprise, because you were afraid that he was tired of you, and yet he's come to you and said this. you end up embarrassedly telling him the reason for your distance, and both of you are crying and laughing because it's a little ridiculous and you're both just in love with each other so much that it has managed to lead to complications like this. you end up pinky-promising each other that neither is undeserving of the other, and exchange sappy 'i love you's for about an hour straight

request guidelines

[gallaghersgal]

Maggie, my lovey I come with another request for you!

The second chance romance trope, x my husband, Carmy.

Ok so walk with me here 🚶🏻‍♀️,

Carmy had one time forgotten about his anniversary with r, & she of course got very upset & sad about it. So he made sure the next day (without letting her find out) to go to the florist and place a standing order for flowers on their anniversary every year so she would never be able to tell if he forgot again.

Alright so flash forward years later, they break up. They both are pining for eachother / miss eachother a lot but Carmy was the one who called things off so R doesn’t try to contact him and Carmy is Carmy.

Their anniversary comes around and Carmy forgets of course because since they broke up he’s been even more of an animal in the kitchen but the flowers get delivered to R and of course it has the same note she got every year ‘Happy Anniversary baby, I love you always, xx- Bear’ at first she’s confused but then she is hopeful it was him reaching out to try and reconcile so she bites the bullet and calls him and is like “you still love me?” And mentally he’s like

*fffffuuuuuuuuuuck*

& has to explain that he placed a standing order so she could never be mad at him for forgetting again but he really does miss her

I’ll leave it up to you if r gets back together with him or if you want it to be pure angst!

(🤞fingers crossed it sends this time)

my dear capri, i love the exposition you've dropped in my inbox!!! here's the aftermath of receiving the flowers :(( warnings; angst, no happy ending, and swearing. also, here's the playlist i listened to while writing

from this trope list. part of my 1,500 follower celebration. masterlist -> here!

there are flowers at your door.

you've been fighting back tears the whole day. work was hell, your irritability heightened by the fact you'd barely eaten breakfast, not even bothering with lunch. it was harder now without carmen around. you've been angry all day, heels clicking in obnoxious stomps, your stomach burning and head pounding, and there are flowers at your door.

you kneel down to read the card, your heart clenching at the words. 'happy anniversary beautiful girl, i love you always. love, your carmen' a shaking hand comes to your mouth, you fumble with your keys to make it inside before you lose it entirely. he still loves you?

you dial carmen's number, hearing it ring twice before he picks up. "you sent me flowers?"

"o-oh, uh. t-that's a funny story, actually-"

your stomach twists in a knot. "i'd love to hear exactly how this is funny, carmen."

"well, forever ago, when i forgot our anniversary? i placed a standing order. so- so that way you'd always have flowers."

your heart sinks. he couldn't even bother to remember the date himself. worse, he didn't remember to cancel them. "you're fucking joking," you spit out.

"i-i'm not. baby-"

"don't call me that," you snap at him, your living room suddenly feeling claustrophobic. you push your window open to take a deep breath of the fresh air, turning your back to the wall and sinking down next to the plant he'd gifted you, moved inside to avoid the recent cold snap. a hand over your mouth muffles your sobs, your heart breaking all over again at this new information. "i can't believe you."

"i'm.. i'm s-sorry-"

"no! you don't get to apologize, that doesn't fix shit." you're practically yelling at him now, and you can hear the tears in his voice. but you don't care. it's about time you gave him a piece of your mind, hurting him the way he'd hurt you. "i thought for one goddamn second that maybe you still loved me. but- but you're just self-fucking-centered. so lost in your head you couldn't even remember to cancel flowers for the girl who's heart you snapped in two."

the silence on the other end tells you everything you need to know. you don't let him even try to continue, snapping at him, "lose my number, carmen."

there's a muffled noise on the other end, but you hang up without the chance to process it. your phone falls to the tile floor with a loud thud that echoes through your empty apartment. you flinch, then let out a noise somewhere between a scream and a sob.

the sound finds its way through your window, falling down to the street below, to the ears of the man repeating your name into his phone. "b-baby," he pleads, his voice breaking. but you've hung up now. he can't believe he forgot those stupid fucking flowers.

at least it showed him how you truly felt. that it would've been stupid to go through with it. stupid to walk up to your door with nothing but a barely planned apology to mend your broken heart.

carmen looks up to see your open window, balcony distinctly missing the potted plant he'd gifted you a year ago. a shaky hand lights a cigarette and he takes a hit but the smoke does nothing to soothe him as he draws his eyes away, turning away from your building for the final time.

[spdrvyn]

hii i love your fics! may i request miguel being jealous because reader gives meows morales too much attention? (cmon man the lil guy is so cute)

the right to be jealous — MIGUEL O'HARA

☆ miguel loathes the fact that he's jealous of a cat, therefore he tries to do something about it.

fluff. jealous miguel. this ask is literally so cute... i wish whoever sent me this a very good day because wow it's so?!!!?! anyway, hi! i'm alive, school has been kicking me in the ass so this is a bit overdue, enjoy anyway ^_^

Your relationship with Miguel started off strong, everything went perfectly. Date nights, missions, and all. He felt so elated, that for once, something in his life went in the right direction, and he didn't feel like it was an error or glitch in the matrix.

He thought that you were absolutely flawless too, you had good looks, a personality that aligns with his so well, not to mention that you were endlessly patient with him. It was a quality that he'd forever be grateful, this relationship was something that he'd forever be grateful for.

... So why was he getting jealous over a cat?

"Look at you, aren't you the cutest, most handsome thing ever?" you cooed at the feline, grazing your fingers over the cat's belly, and it purrs in your grasp which causes you to squeal. "I can't believe that grumpy over there hasn't told me about you!"

I had a good reason, he wanted to say, but whatever. It was fine, everything was fine, and he could handle it. However, the scowl that permanently rested on his features deepened, you pick up on it and chuckle. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing," he grumbles, turning so that his back faces you. It's not that he had an issue with the cat, it's just that all of those kisses, those compliments, and more could be going to him instead. Did he feel selfish for it? Absolutely. Would he stop feeling this way? Absolutely not.

"Miguel..." Oh no. He knew what that tone meant, bringing the palm of his hand to his face, he groans lowly before you're slinging Meows over his shoulder. "Come on, what did Meows Morales do to you, huh?"

He doesn't respond, doesn't even bother to look at you. His fingers pad along his screens and bringing files that haven't been opened up in years, he just wants to look like he's doing something but in truth, he's trying to escape your ruthless teasing.

"You're very cute when you pout, you know?" It sends a shudder up his spine, normally Miguel was very resistant with praise and let's not forget the tiny animal that's rubbing up his cheek and purring.

But when it came to you, the way that the words rolled off of your tongue, the way you looked at him, he could feel it to his very core and his heart was just so full. You could kill him with praise alone and he would die a happy man.

"And your hair," He's about to question the loss of Meows on his shoulder until you suddenly tangle your fingers at the top of his head and fix any fallen strands, pushing back his hair a little. "I think it suits you very well, you always look handsome. Even when you don't try."

Miguel's heart isn't beating as loud as a drum anymore, at this point it's the whole band. Melodious tunes that sing from the deep parts of his soul and they sing for you, his breath hitches when you slide your hand down to cup his cheek and make him properly face you.

"Hey," is all you say, yet it drives him mad.

He grabs your wrist, pushing your body up against his desk as he pins you down. Your faces are merely inches away from each other, but he leans in even closer, and you can feel his breath against your ear. "You have no idea what you do to me."

He pulls back from the crevice of your neck but still keeps that closeness, his eyes dart to your lips then back up to, and he's just about to absolutely devour you until you push your palms flat up against his chest and he stops.

"Wait," You exhale with shaky breaths, "The cat's still here."

From the corner of his eyes, he catches sight of Meows on his desk in some sort of tucked in position. He sighs before scooping him up in his arms, muttering some Spanish phrases under his breath but you can't even tell if they're meant in offense or not.

He carefully tosses him off of the platform with a huff, standing back up to full height and finally being able to direct his full attention to you. "Now,"

"Where were we?"

[nikaandtea]

jayvik deep dive

i've been off tumblr for so long, but I must now make my return after this finale because HOLYYYYY (of course, arcane s2 spoilers below)

first off i'd like to preface this by saying that this will be all over the place, as I'm kind of spewing out my thoughts. These two have been my main ship since the very beginning of the show, ever since Viktor became the reason that Jayce pursued hextech. This entire finale I was sitting there with my jaw on the GROUND. We see Viktor's insecurity well back in season one, and that's no surprise. He refuses to walk the stage with Jayce to represent their shared research, he doesn't want to be a bother to the other's uprise in success. But Jayce always was tender and kind to Viktor. When everyone else seemed to brush him off, Jayce saw the determined man within. The night they met and intially made the big breakthrough made Jayce forever bonded to that will and passion within Viktor. He never saw him as an ill man who did science, he saw him as a scientist that was also unfortunately ill. Jayce's world collapsed (i mean just look at his eyes) when he saw Viktor motionless after the explosion. There is NOTHING brotherly about spending days trying to desperately bring him back to life, and growing teary eyed once he returns to him alive. The parrallels between Mel and Viktor as well. Now as for their final encounter in the realm in the end of episode 9, oh boy. The concept of Viktor finding Jayce in countless lifetimes, putting a puzzle together and never seeming to have one final piece for it. Not knowing the only, again, ONLY person who can give that piece; is Jayce himself. Neither of them could finish their journey. Their affection held them together until the very end. Jayce saying how Viktor was always obsessed on fixing the wrongs within himself and helping other do the same. How in the end, Jayce never saw them as that. He saw them only as things that came together to *be* Viktor. The eventually trust you see in Viktor's eyes. "Why do you persist, after everything I've done?" "Because I promised.". They were obviously so terrified of what was going to happen to them, but they had each other. When Viktor was trying to chase greatness, Jayce was chasing after him. It's such a raw display of emotions and connection between them. Viktor softly rubbing Jayce's arm as they go into the unknown, Jayce's hand around his neck. Oh how I wish I could experienece Viktor actually *feeling* Jayce's embrace after being alone for so long. Also the fact that Sky's presence now makes SO much sense, because she knew Viktor wasn't going to miss her. Because she isn't what made Viktor whole, it was Jayce, always. They love each other in every form. They find each other in every universe.

I also want to say they definitely kissed but the budget didn't allow it. It happened, though.

Fanart soon!

[t3a-tan]

Okay, we know Oliver isn't scared of James but.. what if James (accidentally or not) actually did something that would scare the shit outta Oliver? Make Oliver feel totally vulnerable and terrified?

We really need to see their angst!

(love your work🥰)

You guys asked for it. Ironically @justme315 also just made a post whilst I was in the middle of writing it about wanting some good angst-- hopefully this is filling enough. I also tied this into the injury prompt 31 which was requested!

31) "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Word count: 1,685

---

“We all make mistakes, James. It's a part of life. You shouldn't hold onto that guilt forever. You said yourself that Emily forgave you for—”

“Emily forgiving me doesn't fix anything! Fuck, Oliver— I… I don't want your therapy-speak right now, it's just pissing me off!” James interrupted, a slight growl in his tone as he levelled a half-glare in the borrower's direction. His hands gestured as he spoke to emphasise his point. He knew Oliver was only trying to help, but he always made it sound so simple when life just wasn't like that.

Oliver winced at the volume but didn't let it bother him too much, sensing that if he told James to quiet down that might just aggravate him further. He focused instead on what James said. Therapy-speak?

“That's…just how I speak, James. I'm sorry if it made things worse, I’ll try to…hm.” He paused, thinking over what to do to fix his speech in the moment. “I’ll try not to say too many words. I understand that can be overwhelming for some people when they're in distress. My apologies.”

James groaned, slamming an elbow onto the edge of the table as he buried his face in one of his hands for a moment. He looked up, brows furrowing with irritation clear in his expression. “You are literally doing it right now—”

Oliver bristled.

“Oh. I'm…sorry. I'm just trying to communicate clearly so my intentions and feelings aren't misunderstood.” He hesitated again for a moment as he tried to figure out what about his speech was therapy-speak. Did James not want comfort..? But then what was Oliver supposed to do? He certainly wasn't going to participate in James's self-loathing. He offered a reassuring smile. “How would you like me to speak? I just want to help.”

James inhaled slowly before letting out a huff, closing his eyes and burying his face in both hands now. Rather than answering Oliver he stayed like that; silent, annoyed but trying to hold it back. He knew Oliver just wanted to help— but sometimes that just made James feel worse because Oliver had it all figured out and James didn't.

Sometimes he admired Oliver so much, but other times he felt so jealous. Even now, James knew that he was being the bad guy. Oliver wasn't a malicious person and clearly only cared but James really didn't want care right now. He wanted to shout and yell and throw things and collapse in a corner and cry to himself as the thought of one drink wouldn't hurt kept replaying in his mind over and over again.

Sometimes he just needed that time to get it all out so it wouldn't keep bubbling up inside of him, and Oliver was the one who was keeping him from that. Ultimately neither option would fix the relationships he had broken, so it didn't matter which one he picked, right? Self-destruction was probably some fucked up form of self-love in some way.

“I’m sorry—” Oliver began, feeling slightly on edge seeing James be so quiet and simply assuming, correctly, that he had spoken wrong again. He didn't like the feeling at all. He hadn't felt it before when facing an angry human; even angry dangerous humans; because James was his friend and he wasn't used to seeing him in that way. It felt wrong.

And something was clearly wrong because before Oliver could react, he was snatched up into a fist and lifted up to eye level. The position he was grabbed in was less than comfortable, and Oliver had been startled seeing the movement come from someone who hadn't really grabbed him much since their first meeting. Fully facing James's glare felt almost akin to staring down a gun barrel and Oliver felt nervous despite himself.

“Would you shut up?!! I didn't ask you for help or advice, so stop fucking telling me how I’m supposed to fucking feel!! I'm not stupid— I already know that this isn't bloody productive, but for God sake Oliver, you don't know shit about what I've done!!” James knew he was taking out his anger at himself on Oliver right now, but he just wanted him to stop trying.

Oliver grimaced at the further increase in volume, especially from up close. Even after the shouting and swearing though he could still only see that his friend was suffering and all he wanted to do was help. James might not want it, but he needed it at that moment… He needed to break free of these self-destructive patterns.

“I know you aren't a monster.” He responded simply, and despite his slight unease Oliver still managed to meet James's gaze with his own; seeing right through him and into the hurt that was beneath all of the anger. He could see how watery his friend's gaze was.

And that was what made James snap.

He just wanted to get a reaction— some confirmation of his own thoughts and feelings about himself. He wasn't thinking straight.

James squeezed his hand slightly.

He regretted it in the same second he did it, breath hitching and his hand immediately dropping back down to the table and releasing Oliver onto it like a reflex. His expression of anger quickly became one of horror as he processed the small crack he had heard and felt when he had squeezed. Oliver always seemed so invincible that the harsh reminder that he wasn't hit James like a ton of bricks.

“I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.” James gasped, blinking quickly to try to keep the water out of his eyes. Why did I do that? Why on Earth did I do that?? His hand covered his mouth slightly seeing Oliver's alarmed and dazed expression as he raised his arm and looked upon his newly broken wrist. I did that. Oh god.

“I'm…fine…” The borrower uttered slowly, still focused on the injury. The adrenaline rush was likely responsible for the numbness he felt buzzing through his whole body and keeping the pain from being unbearable, so he was fine. For now. His voice wavered slightly and he found it difficult to look up at his friend at the moment.

Is this fear? Why am I afraid..? James is my friend, and this was an accident. He wasn't trying to break anything I'm sure… Oliver brought his other hand up to cradle the injury only to notice his hand was shaking. Not just his hand…his whole body. No. I can't be scared. It will only make things worse…

Oliver looked down at his shoes, trying to gather himself again but failing miserably.

“I.. I'm sorry that I hurt you so much, James. I don't mean to.” He felt something wet roll down his cheek and drip onto the floor. Stunned by the fact that he was crying right now, Oliver wiped it off with his uninjured hand before looking at his slightly dampened fingertips with a furrowed brow of confusion.

“Fuck. Oliver don't apologise, I…” James trailed off. He had never seen Oliver shake or cry before— and even if Oliver was still talking fine James could hear the fear in his voice. “I can help. Just—”

As he reached forward to offer Oliver a hand and take him to where the medical supplies were kept, the usually stoic borrower suddenly backpedalled, stumbling back so suddenly that he ended up falling backwards and onto his behind. James's hand snapped back like it had been burned and his lips pressing into a stressed line.

Oliver's heart was pounding as he stared up at James. He had never been like this before, and he didn't like it at all… I need to get a hold of myself. It was an accident. It was an accident… Despite him assuring himself of that again and again his mouth felt dry as he met James's horrified gaze. He was reminded of the glare that had been there only moments ago.

“It…it was an accident. You wouldn't break anything on purpose… It was a mistake.” He murmured to himself, shoulders bunching up and knees being brought closer to his chest. Even when other humans had given him similar injuries, Oliver had never felt like this. He hesitated, looking down again. “Could I have some medical supplies?”

James stood up quickly, wincing as he saw Oliver flinch in response. He opened his mouth to apologise again before deciding against it and quickly going to the kitchen to retrieve the first aid kit. You haven't changed. Even after everything you haven't changed.

He took a deep breath to try to settle his nerves as he grabbed everything needed and walked back in. Oliver was still sitting in the same position; still not looking at him. I took it for granted again. James set the kit down before resting his hands on the edge of the table. He bit his lip.

“Can I help..?” He asked, desperate to try and right his wrong at least a little. He deflated as he saw Oliver's small shake of the head.

“I would like to be alone for a while, please. I..I don't like how I'm feeling at the moment…” Oliver spoke and James hated how he could hear the nervous trembles in his voice. Still, he nodded, standing up more slowly this time. As he looked down at his friend from this position it became clear just how small and vulnerable he was… He blinked again but it didn't help with the tears this time as one simply rolled down his cheek anyway.

“I’m sorry…” He uttered softly. Why did I think it was okay to grab him in the first place? Just because I can? What kind of monster would do something like that..? Lip trembling slightly, James turned and began to walk away only to pause when he heard Oliver's voice again.

“I forgive you.”

James stood still for a few more moments before leaving the room and sitting at the edge of his bed, cradling his head in his hands. He grit his teeth, shutting his eyes tightly.

Forgiveness wouldn't fix anything.

[goodolddumbbanana]

Ya know, this Sunrise is something different.

1.He really stands up and thinks for himself.

When Moon hurt him (not even Moon's fault) , He shut Moon inside his head and kept the light on, so Moon will never come out again. He straight up says he doesn't like Moon, and even doesn't want to recognised Moon's exists.

And even when he learns about Killcode, the first action he wants to take is to keep the light on and leave Moon to rot forever. Because in Sunrise's pov, that Moon is nothing more than a parasite, an error in Sun's system . And if he can't fix it, why bother to care. And the reason he wants to split so Moon can do whatever heck he wants and leave Sunrise alone.

To be real, that Sun has more of Moon's attitude than I ever seen. You remember how Our Moon threatened Our Sun to plug him if he can't control Eclipse? Yeah... This Sunrise's vibe is exactly like that. Because he doesn't care about how Moon's struggling, he just ignores and says: "oh well, I can't do anything so he needs to live with it. " And "it is my body, he lives inside my head so he needs to deal with it."

Sunrise is selfish, but that selfishness is so endearing I'm not even mad about it. Because Sunrise is right when he tells Francis that he cares, and he cares for himself the most. He should like that, he doesn't need or have to put up with Moon, or Moon 's attitude. If someone hurts you, cut them out of your life. And that's good.

Because we have been so used to Sun, our Sun, that we forget that not everyone is this nice and forgiving.

When Sun finds out about Moon, what did he do? He bargained Moon to split the time, for both of them to live in peace. He tried to think for Moon, and even when Moon killed people because of Killcode, he only wanted to shut Moon in because he is afraid Moon will hurt more people, and not because of the pain Moon tortured him for years. He tried his best to find solutions for them to split, for them to be closer. And with Eclipse, he tried to talk sense with Eclipse, trying to give him a chance. Even with KC, Bloodmoon... He still tried to give his hand out first, and ran away from the problems later, because Sun cares about people around him more than himself.

(that is the reason why Sun didn't tell Moon about July 16th, because it happened only with him, not to anyone else. And he thought it was him to lose control, not Moon or Eclipse or Bloodmoon. I bet if he knew someone inside his head this past, he will try to find a way to get them out too.

Because sure Sun is not as smart as Moon or Solar or Eclipse or Monty or Creator, but his sheer determination can do anything. He finds Eclipse's bunker without anyone's help, he yeeted out Eclipse v1 with some rambling spell he had no experience to do so... Even Creator said Sun could find his way out if he try hard enough.)

2. The way he deals with people bullying him.

Sunrise doesn't care. He doesn't bat an eye when Eclipse snaps at him. He doesn't feel hurt because of Eclipse's speech, because Sunrise knows nothing about Eclipse and he doesn't care as long as it's not him who gets hurt.

We can see how Sunrise interacts with different people. Puppet, Francis, Eclipse. Sure, He still easily gets bullied, but he stands his ground. He even shook his head and expressed something like 'what is his problem?' with Eclipse.

He is cold, and self perseverance.

If it is our Sun, Sun would feel hurt. He will try to find some way to undo or fix the thing he said makes people feel hurt. He will think he is the one who is wrong and try to apologize to them.

3. Attitude

This Sunrise is so optimistic. He is curious, and doesn't know about private space, and he yells a lot.

He likes running from his problem as long as he doesn't affect by it like a pro.

Our Sun... Sure he is optimistic at the start. But Sun's nature is pessimistic or realistic. He is energetic, but he never does something without permission. It feels more an act for me, the one he slowly dries out past time.

(He doesn't touch moon because he knows moon doesn't like hugging. He doesn't laugh at Eclipse in his downfall, or say anything at Nexus of how Nexus reminds him of Moon...)

There are so intriguing about how Sunrise has more care of himself than Sun, the one who is literally getting tortured since day one when his sentient wakes up.

[differenteagletragedy]

How do you think Cove, Baxter and Derek would act after making MC sulk? 👀👀 Like maybe they accidentally ate something in the fridge that MC was saving, or just something that made MC a lil' upset, not something too heavy though!

-- Cove immediately regrets every choice he has made that led him to this place.

Cove: I'm so sorry, tell me what I can do to fix it and I will, I'll do anything.

You: It's really not a big deal, I'd just been saving that brownie until I got home from work, I was looking forward to it is all.

Cove: *no words, gone for more brownies*

-- Cove feels bad because he made you sad, even if it's just a little, but Derek feels an amount of guilt that is not appropriate for the situation.

-- He will be beating himself while also trying to comfort you. It doesn't matter if you're not actually that bothered by it, my boy is spiralling.

-- He has this complex where he can't impose himself on anyone else, he can't put himself above over anyone else, he doesn't want to be a bother. If he accidentally does anything that makes him feel that way, like he's putting someone out or acting like he's more important, then that makes like the worst person in the world and he'll do anything to try to change things.

-- I'm not projecting you're projecting, shut up

-- So if he just grabbed something from the kitchen (thanks for the example OP I'm just going to keep using it!) without even thinking that maybe it was something you wanted for yourself and then he found out that you did and you were bummed about it?

-- Crushing guilt.

-- Don't worry, he'll get better about this as time goes on, it won't be like this forever, but if it happens when he's pretty young then yeah, you're going to have to help him through this crisis.

-- Which makes him feel even worse because he's the one that did something to you.

-- People talk about Baxter needed therapy when Derek is right there calling out for help.

-- But yeah, Derek would fix it too!

-- Baxter would try to lighten the mood by joking about it.

Baxter: I am sorry I took your brownie, darling, but for what it's worth, it was delicious.

-- If you're not in the mood for his nonsense though then he wouldn't push it.

-- I do think Baxter is the type to smooth over small mistakes with kisses and cuddles.

[izzyspussy]

all the fics where they make Roy stop yelling really bother me tbh. I think it's patronizing to Jamie (and the people his character represents) and insulting to Roy (and the people his character represents).

obviously it's necessarily more complicated in real life but... not all abuse victims have the same triggers, or are affected by their triggers the same way, or have any desire to wholly avoid their triggers forever, or can't recover from being triggered quickly and/or combat the effects of being triggered rationally, or are always triggered by the same thing in all circumstances, etc etc.

saying this from experience, and also I think it's clear in the show that Jamie a) doesn't tend to react to being triggered with traditionally recognized outward fear and b) has a remarkably good handle on them regardless.

he jumps significantly worse than others at loud noises, but his actual disposition during that doesn't change. he stays fully aware of the reality of the situation, despite being irrationally startled. he reacts to being yelled at not with cowering or apologizing or other "fawn" fear responses, but by being dismissive and belligerent. which is not to say he necessarily isn't triggered when he's acting like that, I'm just pointing out no one writes him that way and always needs him to be a bunny rabbit about it.

he has never been shown to be triggered, except to flinch and easily recover, from being yelled at even when its by people who are pissed off at him (other than of course his actual abuser). he's never shown to be afraid of Roy yelling, swearing, or slamming doors, and frequently thinks it's funny - even though he does flinch. and he's shown to not be afraid when his teammates are yelling, swearing, making sudden movements toward him, and ganging up on him.

he's literally okay. he's fine with it.

on the other hand, Roy doesn't have to change who he is to be a good uncle, friend, or coach, so why is it assumed that he must change to be a good romantic partner? that's the main thing there. he doesn't have to be quiet and sweet and gentle and polite all the time to be good enough for someone else.

keeley, jamie, phoebe, the rest of the team, they're all shown to like him as he is and to be comfortable with the way he behaves. they all recognize that he yells and swears because that's just the way he speaks a lot of the time (and he doesn't do it when it's really inappropriate; he speaks calmly to Phoebe when she's actually in trouble, he has never once yelled at nate, etc).

when he yells or swears at keeley or jamie in a fight, they both yell back without fear, and almost always he de-escalates and either immediately has a rational discussion or leaves until he can calm down, and after jamie isn't actually going out of his way trying to start fistfights with him that de- escalation only takes a mediator once.

he's loud, yeah. he speaks aggressively. but there's nothing inherently bad about that if it's not bothering anyone. a romantic relationship instead of a friendship doesn't automatically change that.

he doesn't need to be fixed.

[theprinceandthewitch]

So... does anyone else get the impression season 3 was a giant middle finger to Disney? Like a whole "Oh, you want to cancel TOH? Fuck you. We are going to give you an ending so bad people are gonna shit on it forever."

While TOH always had an issues in the writing department there's just something about Season 3 that's particularly awful and kind of malicious tbh. Season 3 doesn't feel like there was any care put into it.

So... while I do like Thanks to Them because Hunter/Luz bonding and Caleb/Evelyn=Luz/Hunter tidbits... it's actually really, really bad. There is no logical explanation for why the characters are fucking around for literal months. Philip should know where titan blood can be found as he had SOMEWAY to get to TBI's. He also knew of Calebs and Evelyns relationship - thats why he even went to TBI's to begin with. He wanted to look for Caleb and convince him to come back to the human world. Philip met Evelyn when he and Caleb were teenagers and he was PROBABLY friends with her before he decided to double down on the witch hate.

Another thing: Flapjack did not need to keep quiet about there possibly being a rebus in the house and the existence of rebuses in general FOR MONTHS. He could have said the moment they came to the human realm something like:

"Hey so, Caleb and Philip were friends with a witch named Evelyn for years. There's titan blood hidden around Gravesfield. I know the landscape has changed over the centuries but you can probably find a vial somewhere by using glyphs near the location shown on the rebus. Caleb and Evelyn made maps to titan blood in the form of rebuses because they needed to keep their relationship a secret. This dilapidated house you guys arrived in when you came to the human realm is Calebs house because the doorways fixed location in the human realm is Caleb's house. There's probably a rebus somewhere in the house. If there are no rebuses in the house, I can show you the last known locations of other rebuses."

Because nobody does anything proactive to find a way home UNTIL Amity accidentally steps in the hole in the floor FLAPJACK made while looking for the rebus. Not only did Flapjack not bother to tell Hunter about there being a rebus that leads to titan blood in the house they fixed up and have been using as a base of operations for literal months - none of the characters ever thought to look around the town for some clues that could lead them back to the demon realm. All the characters try to do is build doorways. VEE could have mentioned there was a witch who came to Gravesfield centuries ago, which would have kickstarted their journey around town. Vee knows about the story because of Yesterdays Lie - and they fucking mention Vee's confrontation with Jacob and show us Jacob in Thanks to Them. THERES LITERALLY a whole museum full of rebuses that were dug up around Gravesfield the characters could have gone to. You cant tell me Gus, Amity, Willow and Hunter were too afraid to explore the demon realm as if they weren't literally living in the human realm for months and went on trips during their stay. As if they weren't gungho about exploring the human realm right after finding the rebus. AS IT they didnt have Vee as a reliable guide around town.

There's also no reason for Luz to go back to school when she has to find a way to get everyone back home. Luz going to school is another time waster with no reason to exist.

On top of that Flapjack doesn't tell Hunter a damn thing about Caleb. We dont even get a "Flapjack finds it difficult to talk about Caleb" moment to explain Flapjacks silence. We dont know WHY Flapjack doesnt say anything about Caleb even though Flapjack clearly belonged to Caleb and not Evelyn. He just lets Hunter read these history books about Caleb which might not even be completely accurate because history can be omitted and changed to fit certain narratives. And the stories about The Wittebane brothers and Evelyn are proven to be incorrect because they paint Evelyn as a stereotype AND as the person who killed Caleb.

But yeah, Thanks to Them is alot less enjoyable when you realize ALL of the characters are wasting time for no reason.

[spacemonkeysalsa]

The more I play D&D and learn about D&D lore, the more I'm finding fewer and fewer reasons to hate the BG3 characters that I hate.

Like, Mizora is awful, completely unacceptable the way she treats Wyll and Karlach, but if I'm understanding cambion lore properly then the way Karlach characterises her presence in Zariel's inner circle becomes admittedly a bit unfair to Mizora. Specifically the part where Karlach says she's there "by choice."

As I understand it, hell's caste system allows for a not insignificant amount of climbing and falling.

Not for cambions though, cambions are fixed. They can't advance and they can't be demoted either. They can be useful, or they can be dead. Like, it's significant that Raphael is trying to break the system and defy this, by obtaining the crown of Karsus, but to me that plot-line actually reinforces that Larian isn't discounting this bit of cambion lore in BG3; they are using it for character motivation in our two main cambion characters.

Raphael has been collecting souls and warlocks, because that's basically the extent of what he's allowed to do on his own without directly serving the agenda of some bigger monster.

Mizora, as far as we know, has at least one warlock, but is mainly characterised as serving Zariel. If you want to survive you have to serve, or scheme, or do some combination of both, with some degree of success, otherwise you die. They don't have a stage of advanced age and imminent death, like most species, and could probably just live forever, but they don't tend to live real long due to the way they are doomed to be used up.

Karlach describing Zariel's favor of her and Mizora's apparent jealousy then becomes interesting to me, because on some level Karlach might've had more potential for longevity within the hierarchy than Mizora did.

And Karlach wouldn't have any interest in it, which I imagine would really bother Mizora.

From Karlch's standpoint, Mizora could leave at any time. She could go hang out on Toril, either in disguise or as a cambion outcast and she could just stop serving and Zariel might let her get away with it. (Press X to doubt)

And from Mizora's standpoint, Karlach could just embrace her gifts and Zariel's favor of her and become powerful enough in hell's caste that she's secure and doesn't have to do the things she hates any longer because of that favor. (Press X to doubt)

And like, obviously Karlach is a prisoner, and Mizora can see that. But being stuck serving hell is such a baseline for Mizora. It might be something she just accepted a long time ago, which is why it would seem to Karlach that Mizora is there by her own choice.

A lot of cambions are depicted as smart or cautious enough to recognise that if they were given more responsibility within hell's hierarchy it would be a prologue to their ruin. They get set up to take the fall for bigger monsters all the time, that's kinda their deal. But you just get crushed under that system if you don't do something to make yourself valuable within it. Mizora doesn't really have the option to not engage. Doesn't justify Mizora's feelings or actions at all, and I don't know if any of this could relate to her fixation on Wyll. It might be a bit of a boon her to her that she has this human nobleman's son as her warlock, and she probably doesn't want to lose that, but we don't really know enough about her to do more than speculate. I just can't stop speculating today.

[tangledbea]

I'm writing a new dream fic, and Analyzing Character Psychology™️ is kinda hard. What would you say are Rapunzel and Eugene's biggest flaws? What are their most crucial *positive* qualities?

On that topic, what advice do you have for writing characters IN character? How to get them right?

Oof, this is a difficult question, because do you want me to stick to series canon or the way I see and portray them?

Rapunzel's Flaws

The Series: Her biggest flaw in the series is that she cannot see the world from any perspective but her own. In their attempt to make Rapunzel "always right," they made her come across as dismissive of other people's feelings and point of view. This is what leads her to bugging Cassandra incessantly at the beginning of "Under Raps" (or what caused her to try to force her to be her friend in the first place), and to dismiss Eugene's concerns about someone stealing the identity of Flynn Rider, none of which I felt was in character for her.

The reason I don't agree with this is because of the way she was raised. Gothel raised her to be attentive and obedient, which would cause her to be hyper-aware of people's moods and know when it's best to stay out of their way. The movie shows her being nonconfrontational. The series got right that she's a people pleaser, because all she knew until she left the tower, was to do things so that the only other person in her life would like/love her more. She felt her only worth was in her hair and what she could give others. She would not insist upon doing everything her own way.

My Interpretation: Her biggest flaw in my interpretation is that she wants to be all things to all people, and that means taking on responsibilities and emotional burdens that she can't really bear, but not sharing them with other people because she doesn't want to be a bother to them. She gives and gives and gives of herself until she's burned out, and even then, she forces herself to smile through the fatigue and pain. There is a lot going on behind that sunshiny personality.

Rapunzel's Positive Traits

The Series: The series has her most positive trait fragrantly be that she doesn't give up on people, no matter what. And yes, her willingness to give people a second, third, fifth, fiftieth chance is a good thing, but it can also be taken too far and turn her into an assault victim (and yet she'll keep getting up and not giving up on the person who wants her dead).

The reason I don't agree with this is because she did eventually stand up to Gothel when she realized she'd been done dirty. And though she didn't particularly want to harm her, she was 100% ready to walk out of her life forever and never look back. Rapunzel knew that her hair was keeping Gothel alive, but she swore to never let her use it again. I don't think she'd be so keen to keep trying to "save" Cassandra, given that Cassandra was literally trying to kill her.

My Interpretation: To me, her most positive trait is that she sees the world with new eyes. Because she wasn't raised in a society, she notices and questions things that most of society just grows up taking for granted. This attitude will lead her to lift up the very people who were trying to take her and the other nobles down in "Tangled: before Ever After". And because of my previous complaint with how the series portrays her biggest flaw, I fully believe that she will listen to the people she's trying to reform and find out what made them turn to crime in the first place. Rapunzel is the sort of person to fix the system, not the problems the system caused.

Eugene's Flaws

The Series: The series would have us believe that Eugene's biggest flaw is his vanity. They play it up for laughs ("Be Very Afraid") and have it be this annoying thing he's utterly obsessed with.

I don't agree with this, but it's closer than their version of Rapunzel's biggest flaw. Eugene's vanity is a symptom of his actual biggest flaw, which I'll address below.

My Interpretation: Eugene's biggest flaw is that he has no sense of self-worth. The series actually does touch on this multiple times, and in that respect they did him proud. The vanity is there because, just as beauty is only skin-deep, so is his self worth. But if he looks good on the outside, then that will buy him time to convince people he's worth theirs. (Besides, there's literally nothing wrong with a man being well-groomed and liking his appearance.) Eugene's sense of self-worth is so low that he spent over half his life pretending to be someone else. He told Rapunzel that she fixed him, because he didn't see himself as being able to do it on his own. He begins the series literally not knowing who he is as a person, because the person he pretended to be has been retired. And while he does spend the series gaining confidence in himself and finding purpose, I don't agree with what they decided his purpose eventually is.

Eugene's Positive Traits

The Series: His loyalty. And you know what? For the most part, I don't disagree with this. However, they took his loyalty and turned it into a flaw by having him just go along with whatever Rapunzel wanted. Not having self-worth doesn't mean that he has no thoughts or opinions of his own.

I don't think even for a moment that he'd forgive Cassandra for everything that she did. She didn't just betray Rapunzel, she betrayed them all. Not only that, she attempted to kill him and his entire close friend group, especially Rapunzel, she took over the only place that ever felt like home to him, she helped the greatest evil and threat become unleashed. He wouldn't sit in a burning building drinking coffee and saying, "This is fine." Nor would he turn a blind eye and say, "Glad you're back to normal."

My Interpretation: His loyalty, not only to Rapunzel, but to himself and his standards. Once you win his trust, he's got your back. But if you then stab him in the back, he is done with you. We don't know what happened between him and Lance to make them part ways, but Eugene didn't trust Lance not to ruin his new way of life, even after Lance had started to reform (see "The Way of the Willow"). Eugene might not have much self-worth, but he protects that which he cares about (so long as it hasn't hurt him in the process).

Secondly to this is his compassion. He acts tough and thoughtless, but he actually cares deeply, and you can see it in how he treats people once he warms up to them.

Keeping Characters In Character

The best way I've found to keep a character I'm writing in character is to think about what a situation makes them think and how a it makes them feel. (And explaining this thought process in the writing with both descriptive words [He was amazed.] and actual reactive thoughts [Did that really just happen? What was he supposed to do with that?!].) Writing a character's reaction to something isn't always easy, and sometimes you're going to find that the reaction you anticipated them having is not the one you're getting. In those cases, you either let their new reaction carry the story in a slightly altered direction, or else you slightly alter events to get the reaction you wanted. Always keep their backstory in mind, and how that backstory would affect their emotions. But include all of the backstory, including the recent past. Rapunzel is not the same person post-series as she is in the movie, because she's experienced a lot in that time period. But who she was raised to be will still affect her actions going forward. You can't just undo 18 years of trauma, neglect, and abuse.

As for dialogue, write the gist of what you want them to say, then read it back to yourself in their voice. Can you clearly hear it in their voice in your head, or does it feel clunky and not like something they'd say? Adjust it until it sounds like them. (One of my biggest jobs when editing Tangled: Between the Kisses is making sure the dialogue is phrased in such a way as it sounds like the character saying in.)

I hope this helps! Feel free to ask me if you've got any other questions!

[sapphim]

Alright, so the plan for the Import Fixes is

Do the fixes, obviously. The plot flags are all fixed by this point so it's just a matter of. Fixing everything that's incorrect or broken for reasons other than the plot flags. Easy!!!! I'm not dead inside just thinking about it!!!!

Restore other content where it makes sense. Like make Fool's Gold always available because Merin has a cameo in Finding Nathaniel if he's alive

Redo the vault debug to display only things that are relevant and not things that are incredibly irrelevant and yet people will bother me about for years regardless!!

Make the Preset world states editable. Did this in one night because I am SO smart and talented and handsome.

Make the world state editable from the debug in game rather than requiring save game editing. This one will be optional/toggleable, and requires copying the entire vault (all 109 bools of it) over to plot flags, so pray for me that the game doesn't catch on fire when I try it.

Document, document, document (barf)

I'm thinking "wow that doesn't seem like so many items" but I did collapse the ENTIRE thing down to a single point—"just fix it!"—so it's. Deceptive. The fixes ARE I think mostly done, and have been for some time, it's just auditing the affected files that takes forever.