#I can't stop thinking about theyre dynamic

[butchisrevolution]

dolly dog man readthrough #5

PART #1 BC MY ASS CANNOT STOP YAPPING

for whom the ball rolls

THERE IS SO MUCH TO ANALYZE IN THIS BOOK

holuy shit now they're tackling minority power struggle, racial discrimination and class war in dog man . wtf

is this that autism speaks thing or am i tripping

asl dogman my beloved

that must be stressful for li'l petey. like, you have two dads, the one you were created by and the one that adopted you. you have an deep rooted emotional attachment to the one who created you despite his flaws, "even crack babies love their mama", but you look up to your adoptive dad so much more because he aligns with your values. he does what's considered the right thing.

but he also has an innate dislike to your birth father, due to issues that predate you, issues you can't rectify. you know your birth father is trying to fix them, but you still have to watch your adoptive father unlearn his distaste for him. you know it's getting better, but it hurts just to see it. even one glimpse of hatred towards someone you love BY someone you love hurts immensely. but you just have to watch and wait, do what you can and stay optimistic because it's out of your control.

also, i like the artistic choice that every time there's an important or moving piece of dialogue it just shows their silhouettes and a color corresponding to the feelings that it brings up. its a nice touch

FUCK YEAH ANARCHY!!

also

my fav polycule . the gang is back together again. YES

from an analysis standpoint, he's feeling super insecure right now. he definitely doesn't want them around solely because he feels inferior to their parenting skills and thinks it would be too painful to have them around due to that. he also thinks his kid would like them more than him, which probably is making him feel unloved and unwanted. his kid's hesitancy is feeling like a rejection of him, which makes him question his identification with being better than his own father. he's thinking this subconsciously, of course, i don't think he's currently self aware enough to realize that

THE CONTRAST BETWEEN THIS SCENE AND THE PREVIOUS SCENE WHERE HE MADE HIM SLEEP IN THE CLOSET AGHH

THE CONTRAST AUGHHH

THEY'RE DOMESTIC NOW

WHAT DID I SAYYYY . IT WAS NEVER ABT DOG MAN AND 80-HD IT WAS ABOUT HIM. AND HIS DADDY ISSUES

shiiiiit

YESSS.. NOW THAT HE HAS CONFRONTED AND DISCUSSED THE ROOT OF HIS DISCOMFORT HE CAN FOCUS ON WHAT'S BEST FOR ALL OF THEM WITH LESS INSECURITY. BUST

my shaylas... theyre sharing the custody... my fucked up gay polycule... i am overjoyed

aweee... my shaylas ... <3

they r figuring out their family struggles and finding a healthier dynamic. this is great

also this is a rlly funny bedframe considering my petey npd theory.. LMAO

this is also literally just like what sleeping in a bed with an actual cat is like

generational mental illness confirmed. this is how u give ur kids disorders

oh baby. ow. he was repressing the guilt with cognitive dissonance, excusing it by thinking li'l petey wouldn't remember, but now that they've finally aknowledged it he has to confront it.

the symbolism in the last panel. the noises are scaring li'l petey. he's literally trying to shield him from the generational trauma :(

[letsplaythermalnuclearwar]

"there are strangers in our halls, trying to win the heart of my Mom but she is standing tall" I'm insane about this line. Penelope is dealing with 108 men living in her house, all of whom are trying to marry her. they are not taking no for an answer. they are disrespecting her son. we see what they're attempts at 'winning her heart' look like Antinous when I catch you. and she is handling it. she is resisting they're advances. she remains dignified and proud. she is still the queen of Ithaca, no matter how these men treat her

and Telemachus sees it. and he loves her for it

[mainfaggot]

just watched challengers at the cinema w my little sister. it was so intense wtf

[seventh-district]

tag limit my beloathed... continuing my analysis of my potentially Sun x Moon coded ships here ↓

[devotion-disorder]

If you could choose 3 dol npcs to become LIs who would they be

basic ass answer but wren, bailey and harper :thinking:

Wren is kinda self-explantory. I mean all the scenes with them are SO...............yeah. Gameplay-wise they're already all over town and it feels like they're an important player in terms of the lore too, so it makes sense if they develop a deeper relationship with PC. Though i get it might be sorta ooc for Wren since they seem like the flighty (pun not intended) non-committal kind of person but damn...the blackjack scenes still has me in a chokehold.

Bailey for kinda the same reasons - theyre an important figure in the lore but also a constant presence in PC's life. Hopefully we get a lot more Bailey content in the future that extends beyond their function as 'debt collector', but i also get that its their whole deal to be secretive. Stupid sexy mysterious old man. I think part of me just also enjoys the iffy dynamic of a pseudo-parental figure. OH AND I CANT BELIEVE YOU CANT FUCK THEM ANYMROE NOW WHAT THE FAWKKKK

Harper...well...just take a look at my blog LOL maybe it'd be an interesting idea for it to be some sort of bad ending. I still can't stop thinking about what that vrel said, that among the "villain" charas, Harper ranks second for level of sexual desire...

[clearnachopirate]

Terry and the batfam. Terry and the batfam. their dynamics have so much potential and i would LOVE to see it explored in any way at all

Terry and Dick: older brothers, trade stories of how they embarrass and get back at their younger brother(s), anger issue twins, "oh you were batman too??" "yeah, but its only bc one of my parents was murdered" "omg thats how i became robin no way"

Terry and Jason: the second most destructive duo, second only to terry and steph. not bc they fight or blow things up on patrol (thats tim and jasons thing) but bc anytime there a new gadget to try, terry will volunteer to use it, and jason will volunteer to 'spar' with terry to test it out. okay, maybe its bc they fight and blow stuff up, but its only ever in the batcave under supervision! "the tim from my dimension actually killed the joker" "no shit? did bruce stop me over there too?" "... about that--" sometimes they grab the others leather jacket by accident and both have given up on caring

Terry and Tim: terry "from the technological future" mcginnis and tim "designs loads of bat tech" drake talk shop, "my younger brother was made robin without my consent" club. tim listens to the works elcectro pop music ever and it just so happens to sound exactly like what they play at terrys favorite club. tim introduces him to (kon or bernard, take your pick) and they hit it off so well that they hang out without tim

Terry and Damian: ace the dog. terry invited damian to his AC island. both are bruce's bio kids and mamas boys. damian calling him "Terrance" and terry never recovering from it. terry knows damian from the future, kind of, and uses that knowledge to his advantage EVERY DAY

Terry and Duke: team "everyone thinks we're the normal one, they are wrong" they totally do movie marathons you cant tell me otherwise, their favorite thing to do is make bets abt the rest of the fam w cass. they never win against her. on any given day you can find them whispering about everyone else "duke, why the fuck were damian and tim staring each other down over breakfast" "hes mad dick said he can't poison him again" "what" "i know i thought they were over it by now"

Terry and Cass: cass sees him for the first time and sees that he rivals tim and dick in terms of being a mess and is determined to bond. terry hears about what she was trained for as a child and shrugs bc "i was supposed to be a second bruce, things change" cass will make him give her piggybacks when shes tired and terry has never dropped her

Terry and Stephanie: the most destructive duo. something happens to their braincells when they patrol together, buildings fall, bones break, civilians are crying, theres about ten minutes where everyone else thinks theyre both dead. they both are waiting at the cave for the others, terry is teching her how to make really shitty friendship bracelets (dana taught him, and stephanie is pretending she doesnt know how). they dont know why everyone else is so stressed "i texted you that we were fine, old man. steph and i just ran into black masks trafficing ring and took care of it-- why is dick crying?"

ALL of them have asked about the future before and the ONLY thing he ever reveals is out of context sayings and trends "yeah actually luigi and bowser have so much chemistry, well, i guess that movie isnt out yet huh" "???" (they think luigi and bowser are a cononical couple in the future and wonder where the world went so wrong) and (while interrogating smon) "watch out, you're not acting like the sigma you are, batman, try rizzing 'im up, then he'll talk."

him and bart meet (everyone tried to keep in from happening) and theyre from similar enough futures that when they talk, not a single person around them can follow it, they teach each other the different versions of different tik tok dances and terry goes back to the manor and teches them to steph, cass sees them do it once and has them memorized, duke thought it was funny, dick thought it was adorable (eventually they ALL know them, and it becomes an inside joke) tims prized possession is a video he got of damian doing the most dispassionate renegade the world has ever seen bc jon asked and he cant say no to him)

TL;DR:

terry mcginnis interacting w the other bat kids has a lot of potential for chaos and family bonding

[lilvoidcreature13]

Why I enjoy the Ships I put Severus in / ships featuring Severus from fanfics that I've read and enjoyed.

Lily X Sev (Snilly): I absolutely adored it when it's done right. Especially when it's from Lily's point of view since she rarely gets expanded on in the canon as fell as in the fandom. I also really love it when it has some elements of queerness. I've read fics where 1. Sev is a girl who still loves Lily; 2. Lily or Sev has some queer feeling about their gender and/or sexuality (either are portrayed as gender-nonconforming/non binary and/or bisexual/ace spectrum) or 3. They genuinely having feeling for each other and just not working out. These elements that I can find in some Snilly Fanfics are absolutely divine, I feel like these fics aren't afraid to look at the reality of queerness in the 1970s, and the complexity of their relationship to one another.

Sirius X Severus (Snirius, Snack, HoundPrince?): there's fics tend to be toxic, sometimes even violent, which isnt everyones cup of tea and I myself have to be in the right mood for it, but I enjoy seeing how these two man mirror each other and also bring out the worst in each other. I, with all my heart, believe that Sirius sees his mom in Severus and Severus sees his dad in Sirius, and it drives them both crazy because neither of them wanted to end up like their parents but cant stop themselves from seeking out what is familiar to them. I also like how a lot of Snack fics explore their experiences with abuse, their lives seem so different yet also similar. There are also some fics where they actually grow to understand one another and start a healthy relationship too, but I don't think they're as prominent as the more toxic versions. I still very much ship them, though!

James X Severus (Jeverus, PrinceChaser): can be just as toxic as SevXSirius but there are more wholesome fics out there of them. I have a love /hate relationship with this particular ship. Like, I like fics where James unknowingly had a crush on Sev the whole time and tries to win him over, but I always end up rooting for Sev to reject him and make him realize his actions have consequences. I've also stopping shipping it as much because of Snape's Worst Memory. I only returned to the fandom this year, before that I was still a high schooler obsessed with shipping, and now that I've matured I see SWM in a new light and can't stand fics between James and Sev when they take place after SWM. There's still plenty of good fics of these two, but I'm not as into the pairing as I use to be. Also James Stan's are really annoying and if I look for content featuring James, I inevitably run into them, so that kind of hinders my enjoyment of the ship.

Remus X Severus (Snupin, MoonPrince? WolfPrince?): again, I have a love hate relationship with this ship. I love how theyre both considered quite, introverted, and nerdy. They also have similar social standing: Remus is a halfblood whose life in constantly in shambles, who finally finds a place where he feels excepted with people who don't hate him for his condition, who then has to sit back and be quite when his friends act up because he's too scared of loosing what he has. Severus was in a similar boat to Remus, except he probably didn't have genuine friendship with the people he spent time with. This is a pretty interesting dynamic to explore, but I can't always enjoy the ship,especially in fics where the impact of Remus' non-action is handwaved. I don't know about you guys, but having a partner who doesn't acknowledge the ways they may have hurt you, even if it's only through inaction, is not a green flag for a partner.

Licius X Narcissa X Severus

I'm just gonna combine the LuciusXSev, NarcissaXSev, & LuciusXNarcissaXSeverus ships into on section, I don't read enough of this ship to have any really strong opinions,but I absolutely adored it when it's platonic. I just love the idea of Narcissa & Lucius acting as Severus' big siblings / parental figures, lord knows he needs people like that in his life. I also don't mind when this ship is more romantic/sexual, but I'm really picky when it comes to those depictions because if Sev is gonna be their third, they gotta treat him right.

Mulciber X Sev:

I adore this ship, it wasn't around when I was first in the fandom but I like how much Bruce is portrayed as a guy who actually loves Severus from the beginning. They very rarely any animosity between the two, which make it easy to consume fluff fics with them because I can buy into the fluff very easily. (Ps. I love it when Bruce calls Sev 'Potions' it's such a jock thing to do, and is also a unique term of endearment.)

Xenophilius Lovegood X Sev:

This stems purely from TikTok and the handful of fics I could find of this pair. Idk where it came from but I love the idea of Luna's oddball dad having a strange relationship with Severus. We've all see that post where the HP characters are matched up with characters from the first war (Harry-James, Ron-Sirius, Remus-Hermione, Neville-Peter, Ginny-Lily, Luna-Severus) and I fully believe that Luna does partially mirror Sev, what with them both being outcasts. Xenophillius, as we saw, also had some strange ideas and had his head in the sky, which I think would clash with Severus personality at first, until Sev eventually learns to tolerate Xenophilius. This ship is pure Crack and I am an addicted for it.

Kingsley Shacklebolt X Severus:

I have no idea why I like this ship, I'm not even a big Kingsley enjoyed but the fanfics are so good. There's one where they get into an arranged marriage and Kingsley is such a good husband!!

Fic is called Come What May by ShadowAceSeverus https://archiveofourown.org/works/48388618

It's what got me addicted to this ship.

[road-kill-eater]

What is the relationship between Boots and Hawthorn?

hmm theyre fairly complicated, and their relationship can't really be summed up without going into their story at least a little bit as i have 100k+ words on them at this point. basically they're my adaptation of the fairy tale "the giant who had no heart in his body", and i take a lot of inspiration from the version from the storyteller by jim henson in particular, where the giant (hawthorn) is trapped within a dungeon in the castle and the prince (boots) is tricked into freeing him, thinking him repentant for his past crimes.

following that, boots tracks hawthorn down and gets himself into a situation wherein he cant return home until he frees his brothers (they went to kill hawthorn, who turned them into ravens), but hawthorn is not a very welcome host, and cannot be easily fooled into giving up the location of his heart, and because of its lack he is callous and sometimes cruel. in fact hawthorn generally tries to drive boots away by giving him difficult or impossible tasks, lying about where his heart is and then berating boots for checking, and teasing and beguiling the shy fellow endlessly.

they also spend a lot of time bickering over philosophy and morality, one being nihilistic and utilitarian, and the other being idealistic and humanitarian (those who have read the sea wolf by jack london will understand the dynamic). hawthorns primary redeeming quality is that at the very least he ultimately respects boots' autonomy in a way his own family does not, and over time the daily tasks become less impossible and less of an attempt to drive him away. however there is a very clear limit to how much hawthorn can be won over, without his heart he can only soften so much, and what emotion he does feel is faint and distant. so boots' motivation for finding the monsters heart shifts to do so for the sake of a relationship they could have, rather than to save his brothers so he can return home. but doing so is also a great betrayal to hawthorn.

ill stop there, its a good summation of the bulk of their dynamic i think.

[enden-k]

ZY. THE MAN YOU ARE

There is something really attractive to me about the tone of your stories (not to say that they are similar. Because they are each very interesting in their own way) being all about noticing someone that sees themselves as invisible. All eyes (heh) on them, hardly leaving space for the insecurity to root in again

Be it Zy's antics or Saran's devotion attention, they both are able to bring out their partner from their heads and it's a SIGHT to behold. Love the characterization love the dynamics love the scenarios. Love the stories

It's always great to see a character become a healthier version of themselves and it's even better to see it happen from the actions of the ones who love them

CAN'T WAIT TO SEE MORE OF YOUR STORIES

-🦜

KAJSBCKJASCBKJ IM SO HAPPPYYY

no but its ok i get it. the stories are not the same at all (amygdala, a bittersweet love story abt two ppl completing their wishes together, and kingslayers, a story abt a chaotic group of lost souls growing together like a family, growing and healing together and stopping evil from consuming the world) but the dynamics between the couples are similar (ig i have a specific thing LMAO i swear my other canon couple (priest and deity) from another story is not like this, youri and abel are also not like this akjcsbjksabck)

vika has been neglected and ignored by the world due to his condition. he really is dead to them to the point he constantly thinks he is dead (also bc of his broken senses) and became so isolated, it led him to the verge of suicide

vin does not meet the average elf/standards and gets overlooked for his "normal" everything. hes incredibly insecure and doubting himself and his abilities so when he was being used for his immense talent (by the king) he didnt even notice, too happy about being acknowledged and praised like the others

saran loves vika deeply, never taking his eyes off of him, always being near him to show him hes there, vika is alive, hes being seen and it just being saran is enough for vika. he doesnt want anyone or anything else. just the eyes of his love on him

zy pushes vin to become more independent and confident in himself, pushes vin out of the shadows and forward so everyone can see him and how amazing and worthy he is to be with everyone, contrary to what vin himself thinks. zy is so confident and flashy and tall and pulling attention easily, but he rather grabs vin and holds him up high like "hey look at this cool lil guy i found"

i drew this meme for fun but tbh this rlly just perfectly captures zy and his need to show off vin to the world and be acknowledged for being himself kjabscjk

saran lovingly and patiently showers vika in affection and brings him back whenever he gets insecure; zy causes chaos to get vins attention and gets him to show off how capable he actually is whenever hes insecure. in one chapter, the usual unserious, silly zy even scolds titus and bell for leaving vin behind and tells them to apologize and include him in their battles akjagf

(zy doesnt tell how much he believes in vin and how capable and strong he is bc he knows vin will think hes mocking or lying to him. only later, when theyre much closer, does he say those things all casually and have vin almost cry and pass out from his heart beating too fast kajbcskjabjk)

so yeah!!! they rlly are similar in the sense of "when no one else looked, i was there. i believe in you. i will always watch over you"

[quitealotofsodapop]

Hi! I wanted to ask something.

Like, most of us knows there are 4 Spiritual Monkeys in the legend(book)... Do the Wukongs and theyr LEM's ever tought about looking for them? Cause mines did and It was chaos

Tongbi: Wait... why there are not other us, Chikao? *Sad precious sunshine noises*

Chikao: We are probably lucky in theyr universes to not having to ature theyr "bullduey"

*Wukong and Liu'er fighting in the most platonic way possible*

(If you are wandering who Tongbi and Chikao are, Chikao = Baboon and Tongi = Gibbon. And both are girls)

Love them and all the different versions people are coming up with! Bonus: the @journeytothewestresearch post about them!

I've been personally calling them "Babs" = Baboon (Chikao mahou, 赤尻馬猴) and "Gibs" = Gibbon (Tongbi yuanhou, 通臂猿猴) as a nickname! XD

My idea is that they are the older of the four *known* celestial primates, with the oldest celestial primate being the since-ascended Shen Monkey who raced for the Jade Emperor.

Tongbi/Gibs has a naturally stretchy body (think like Monkey D Luffy) and is very optimistic. Whilst, Chikao/Babs is more of a realist with the power of reading a person's thoughts/intentions (an interpretation I have for "Understands human affairs,").

My personal hc backstory for them is that;

Tongbi/Gibs was born/hatched along the Heavenly River, her species limbs stretching to allow them to climb, swim and dance between the clouds and astral waterways. She could be considered the "Fresh-Water Monkey" for this reason. Her egg had actually fallen to earth during the Great Flood when the fifth Heavenly Pillar broke, and was found by a tribe of proto-humans (of which Fuxi originated) that raised her as their own. She lived with them for many years before deciding to seek out others of her kind - where upon she met Chikao/Babs

Menawhile, Chikao/Babs was actually born into the Underworld amongst demonkind. Her fellow demons did not understand why she had hatched from a egg-shaped stone that sat undisturbed in the demon-capital city of Youdu for many millennia, but they accepted her as their colleague nonetheless. When Chikao/Babs came of age, she was trained to carry out the duties of a Psychopomp; to gather and bring deceased soul before Yama and the Ten Kings, the same duties as Ox-Head and Horse-Face. She could be considered the "Abyss Monkey" for her gloomy origin.

The two celestial monkeys meet by pure chance when Chikao/Babs herself nearly dies trying to collect the soul of a reluctant water demon. Tongbi/Gibs saved her, and it was love/fascination at first sight like Little Mermaid.

The two female monkeys are soulmates in a yin-yang like dynamic. One stern and aloof, the other silly and expressive. They began seeking out others of their kind almost immediately after meeting - failing until they found a certain little stone monkey being cared for by an old mentor.

I made a joke post a while back about these two finding little Sun Wukong early and raising him as their own, and now I can't stop thinking of it! The Netflix and Smash Legends SWKs are who I most imagine as having the two super-powered moms, but I could def see an AU of Lego SWK having moms. X3

Chikao and Tongbi def be cringing hard at how bad their son is fumbling expressing his feelings for Macaque, and for how bad Macaque is at confronting *his* feelings!

[magpod-confessions]

hi. so because i'm normal about jonathan sims and jmart. um.

i really like jmart. i think there could have been MUCH better buildup, but... ultimately it's a very cute ship. i think the appeal, yeah, is a lot that it's just canon. but.

they're both deeply broken people. jon wasn't loved enough. his grandmother tried her best, but he was never cuddled, never read to, never had a chance to *be a little kid*, really. and martin was never loved. maybe he convinced himself he was just never loved the right way, that his mum just didn't know how to show it because he was so *insufferable* and *incompetant*, but no matter the lies he tells himself, martin was not shown love by his mother.

and then they meet. and martin gives and gives and gives because that's all he knows. and jon has no idea how to receive because he never really had anything to receive. and jon's coping mechanism, with that unknown situation, is to reinforce his emotional walls. martin does not know how to stop giving. so they don't work at this point, not at all.

and then jon's emotional walls come tumbling down. well, moreso that they were violently destroyed, with prentiss and all. jon has no support system!!! tim hates him because he's a fucking *stalker*, martin... well... he can't rely on martin, of all people. and sasha... he never knew her too well, but she's acting strange. so jon and martin don't work together at that point, romantically, i think partially because jon won't let it.

in big part, jmart is built on mutual trauma (NOT traumabonding!! i know it's used that way in podcast, but that's not the correct definition) and ... martin being pretty much the only person jon has left. of course, there's basira and melanie and georgie, but they don't *get it*. they didn't go through everything jon did alongside him. sure, martin didn't either, but martin has been there the whole time.

it's partially a relationship of proximity, partially shared trauma, but i do think a lot of it is genuine care for each other (even if that care stems from the former two reasons).

anyways. theyre really cute. tma could have been just as good without it, but---and im saying this as someone who typically despises most romance in media---i really adore them and their dynamic. it opens up so many doors for both character- and self-exploration.

martin learning to love without sacrificing himself. jon learning to love openly, period. explorations of trust and how mutual trauma that affected people in different ways can shape them, etc etc etc. and of course, this is all in fics and in my own mind, because . theyre dead . (i wont accept any ending but that, honestly. theyre not Somewhere Else to me). but. it's nice. they mean a lot to me as characters and as people and as a pair. thumbs up.

and some jon ranting!! because i. admit. finally. that i might be a bit of a jon kinnie.

jon doubts himself, constantly, unless his decision is completely impulsive (ex. the coffin). he can't *let* himself feel, fully, because as a child it was always annoying/obnoxious, or too much, or wrong in some ambiguous, nebulous way.

he's out of touch with himself emotionally. it's... not so much that he doesn't get emotions, it's moreso that he's repressed the majority of his own so intensely that he has a hard time dealing with others' emotions because he's not too sure what it's supposed to feel like without a heavy flavouring of shame.

he's read a lot of books. he knows, in theory, what sadness or romantic love or anger or excitement feels like---and occasionally in practice, when the repression and 'compartmentalisation' (bottling it up) becomes too much and it all boils over---but he has a hard time relating those hypothetical and heat-of-the-moment feelings to actual, real life people.

he struggles with empathy, severely. partially an autistic thing, partially a trauma response. yknow. he's genuinely well-meaning when it comes to comforting those he cares about, but he's not sure of the right thing to say because of how severely that muscle has atrophied. he was never taught that with his grandmother and her neglect (and yes, no matter what he says on tape, it was emotional neglect) and then not having very many friends... he missed those prime developmental stages as a child.

he never empathised with book characters, i don't think. he was always the observer, never really fully putting himself in the role of the protagonist. he definitely used books as an escapist coping mechanism, but it wasn't in a visiting-this-fictional-world way, it was more of a losing-himself-in-the-story way, if that makes sense. there was always a sense of detachment. reading was an *in between* of his life and the life of the protagonist.

he struggles with his and others' feelings because, from his perspective, his emotions are uniquely shameful, uniquely embarrassing, and uniquely *harmful* to other people. so, he represses them, and doesn't let himself feel them unless they're 'useful'. and then, when he can't apply this ideology to others' emotions, he has no way to deal with them. he freezes up because this is a situation in which he has no real experience in, and, as a child who was punished for behaving autistically *wrong* ---whether by his peers or his grandmother---he's scared to make a wrong move.

he sees himself as a person who is uniquely capable of harm. other people can hurt other people, sure, but jon can hurt them in a *special* way, a *worse* way, because he is a fundamentally wrong, bad person.

yeah👍

.🗣️

I AM EATING THIS I agree with this yea

[justicereversed]

what does es think of kotoko?

i think it's pretty clear, whether or not you're familiar with my posts, what kotoko's mindset is and specifically how she views her relationship with es. she hates evil (which she describes simply as "oppressing innocent weaklings") and as such she has portrayed herself as 'the fangs of the weak', she feels it is her role as 'a strong person' to protect and save innocent weaklings while crushing the strong. she saves es in john doe, she wants to be 'their fangs', she calls them weak and inept. laying it all out like this makes it more obvious to me what she's thinking.

but what about es? to me their relationship is so loaded from kotoko's side, but es isn't an object, they have feelings too. so what exactly is the other side of this dynamic?

es's personality and feelings are established from the beginning. they are an amnesiac, they are 15, and most importantly of all they are the warden. this is their role that they have been assigned. it is all they know, and it is important for them. they are the warden, and as such they are powerful, they are in control, and they are Better. their feelings are the truth, because They Are Milgram.

they don't want to think about their past, or anything outside of milgram, or why their thoughts are not their own.

this is very important for understanding es, and how they are. they are very emotional, they are desperate for control, and it is very very easy to get under their skin. they are easy to slap and kick and push the prisoners around. it is physically painful to make them question their identity.

when kotoko offers for them to work together, and for her to 'be their fangs', it makes them mad. their idea of what theyre Supposed to be is very rigid. the warden doesnt care about anything but their role. the warden is stronger than the prisoners. kotoko should not be their equal.

but in trial two they admit they see the prisoners as comrades. they dont like that kotoko physically harmed fuuta and mahiru, even if they're being a hypocrite.

kotoko calling them weak and useless is an instance of them confronting their ability to be the warden, and their identity, and it completely breaking them.

kotoko hugs them, and they struggle, but it almost works. they almost let kotoko convince them, that if they can just rely on her, and stop thinking about the things that hurt them, that make them care about the prisoners, then milgram would be better.

but they don't let it, because they can't stop being warden.

i think its very important that the one time es admits freely, without breaking down or freezing, that they feel like their thoughts are not their own, is to kotoko.

they're very genuine, to kotoko. in some way, they do care, even if just a little. they tell her that they've been thinking about her, too.

but its not very... healthy. they still cling onto their warden role, they are still Better Than kotoko.

es makes it clear that they do not approve of what kotoko did. this can be read mainly because of their position, that the prisoners should not be stronger than the warden, that they should not cast judgement on the others, and they do not want the judgements to be violent.

but... they don't Fully... disapprove of kotoko being their fangs, either. i had always imagined that this is just leeway to allow a kotoko forgiven verdict, but es still said this.

they do not shut down how she views herself at all. honestly, in a way, they feel the exact same way about eachother. kotoko calls herself es's fangs, a part of es's body. es calls her a tool, a thing to be used, and kotoko agrees.

perhaps, es is projecting their desire to be in control onto kotoko.

[tragically-jane-doe]

I FORGOT THERES NEW EPISODES FUCK

In-a 💖💖💖💖 Thanx for finally looking out for your lil sis

Oh yeah I forgot our man is in a house fire

Get your twink ass outta my house

I'm so happy about in-a being in hee-joo corner my girl needed another ally

Fuck these parents

I'm sorry I can't get over how they're clearly in PJs but sa-eon mom is rocking around in heels

Thank God they were just red herring us in EP 8

The driving pass scene is just so fucking silly

Sang woo in the corner sad eyeing his first love holy shit

"Tell me how to hate you" "tell me how not to love you" continues to be lines that BREAK me

Hee-joo is really like every girl having a lil melt down in the bathroom

I too like to do gorey lil crafts Mr og sa-eon

Okay grandpappy go off

If this man starts over explaining how maybe he might not actually be paik sa-eon and hee-joo is just that's been known I will be so happy please

Sa-eon having to be nice to sang woo now that he saved him im loving it

Nah idk if she's obsessed enough she only sent like 100 txts and a millon voice mails

How much do you think he wanted to start kicking his feet twirling his hair when he saw all the texts and VM

IGRL YOU CANT JUST DISAPPEAR HES GONNA LEAVE THE HOSPITAL LOOKING FOR U

In-a baby girl what Cha doinggg

I TOLD YOU HEE-JOO I TOLD YOU

"I've lived because of you, ive endured because of you" is quickly taking second place

Dw babe ik still insanely downbad for you

Guys I think they like eachother

such a fucking baddie here to cause some mischief

THOSE ARTS AND CRAFTS ARE LOVELY

I love Sang woo and Yu-ri dynamic

Never knew stalking your wife could be hot huh

SIR THAT IS DOUBLE STANDARD LET HER STALK YOU

Poor Mr Kang HE JUST CARES SO MUCH

Hee-joo watch out Mr kang is coming for your mans

HER DAD DOING THE SIGHS WHILE WATCHING AHHH HES SO PROUD

The traumaaaa

OH MY GOD WE WERE RIGHT

Stop they're so fucking cute it's sicking

REAL SA-EON GETTING HIS ASS BEAT TODAY

MY BOY MR KANG GOT RANCID VIBES FROM THIS MOFO

NVM Do-jae is a lil bitch who doesn't understand he's dealing with a actual sociopath

ITSA TRAP MY BOY A TRAP

Peek a boooo my boo

WHY DO-JAE WHY DID YOU START THIS

Ooooh honey sweetie baby child Do-jae DO-JAE BAYBE

Rip my psycho dude

Oh damn he's been at this for ages

Goddamn mommy dearest much

HE'S KILLED CHILDREN AS A CHILD MAAM

I don't like agreeing with sa-eon dad but the man's has a point

Cool he's not dead TIME TO REPENT FOR YOUR SINS SWEETIE

Hes not angry just disappointed

Oh sang woo baby going thru the trenches

Wouldn't it be crazy if all of this could've been avoided if the real sa-eon didn't get seen by the lil brother

HEE-JOO GETTING HER BACK BONE

Did this mother fucker send his own DNA report to in-a just so he could marry hee-joo Jesus Christ

Yes ma'am push his ass down

Eeeeeeeee

Again this man wants her to dom him so bad

He's such a fucking idiot I love him

HES CRYING FUCK

Y'all im losing it THEYRE SO LAME AND IN LOVE

DID EVERYONE KNOW HEE-JOO COULD TALK IN THIS FAMILY JESUS CHRIST

I still can't tell if the step daddy is trash or not?

NVM he's showing up with a gun to a memorial I'm gonna say he isnt

But like he isn't great either but better than sa-eon parents at least

Hee-joo baby girl where r u u can't be dead just no theres like 2 more episodes

Ty Mr reporter man I love you

Wow everyone finding out that they're married like this damn

They cliff hanger me again fuck

I WAS BORN TO MEET YOU

They really pulled no punches huh

I'm sorry where's my here's what to look forward to previews?!?! HOW AM I TO COPE

I know she's not dead but I would like to see her not being dead

Anyways happy new years

[luckyshouse]

Had an ex friend (and their bf) that wrote abt CSA/incest stuff and they got mad at Me for finding it on a blog they (shittily) tried to hide?? Like yes you agree that those topics are horrid and unacceptable to fetishize and that's why you're being secretive about it? You're not revolutionary for roleplaying abuse dynamics that cis straight ppl have been perpetuating for centuries. I'm using "you" colloquially if that isn't clear btw eek

its clear dw!

but literally that's how i kind of feel is like, they continue to talk about it with this air of secrecy and repulsion even when they are doing it and even when they are advocating to it, and that's another thing that's bothering me with how its being spoken about right now is because a lot of these posts that are being passed around about how this is actually okay and normal are too afraid to even say what theyre talking about. even people TALKING about this situation even if they don't agree are too scared to say it. theyre too scared to say pedophile. pedophilia. incest. cp. they're too scared to say it! so they make extremely vague posts that are like "guys its ok to like fetishes that wouldve gotten you arrested in the 50s its just a part of fandom you cant hate your neighbor because they have a fetish you dont agree with" without ever mentioning once that the fetish theyre talking about is literally fictional pedophilia. but they can't SAY that because they know that won't get them any notes or get the post spread, but it's what they're trying to communicate. its just so twofaced and weird, and i hate it. i hate it and i hate that i can't reblog any pro kink/pro fetish/pro pervert post that isn't secret code for "im a traumatized individual who has no idea how to hold boundaries for others" and "i think its ok that i larp as my partners child when we have sex" its like these are things i don't need to know. again. it just feels like people self harming and then showing it off en mass. it really really rubs me the wrong way and grosses me out.

on a similar note, one time i found out my ex was writing my trauma into stridercest fanfics and was posting them on ao3, and when i told him to stop doing that and that it was freaking me out he got extremely cagey with me and was acting like he couldnt understand WHY i was so upset. he made me sleep in his guest bedroom the rest of the time i was at his place because of it. really bizarre shit.

[stuck-in-the-ghost-zone]

@intertexts BEHOLD. NEW HAVEN WARDS: THE WIBBY AND DAVID DYNAMIC ESSAY. this got way too fucking long 2 put in ur inbox so im making a post about it. ENJOY THE STICK FIGURE VIOLENCE <3

okay im just gonna start from the beginnign here and try not to get too sidetracked as i go (<< me when i lie) um. so. still not entirely clear on what williams trigger event would be so that may change how some of this works out logistics wise. but just assuming it would be SOMEWHAT similar to pd- william dies/has his near death experience and is Changed By It. in obvious ways that are impossible to hide. his parents find out because he had been missing for days and presumed dead so when he came back home covered in mud and dried blood and Different, everyone kind of broke down. they know about his powers from the start. william hates them (the powers, not his parents) but his dad especially has always been very supportive of capes and urges william to use them for something good! his mom, who has always grieved the lack of a relationship between her two sons, brings up the suggestion "hey, you know what! yeah! your older brother just so happens to live in a city with a really good cape population, maybe you can go live with him for a bit while you go to school <3" (<< this is also going off the assumption that the general public doesnt really. understand. capes much. his parents dont know theyre signing him up to be a child soldier and die before 40. they love him so much and just want the best for him- if they knew about all that they wouldve never even made the suggestion. but they see how much his powers are hurting him and theyre grieving the death of their youngest son who is still. awake and sitting in his bedroom. and i dont think any of them know how to deal with that)

william, not really having a place to argue from or another option to even consider, reluctantly agrees. hes too caught up in the fear and worry and unpredictability of his powers to even imagine himself as one of the heroes. but he goes anyway. and lives with david. its just as painfully icy as you imagine- david never signed up to be a permanent babysitter, i imagine theres a lot of. phonecalls overheard through the walls of his apartment of david on the phone with their mom asking if this was some sort of punishment. david spends all his time at his office and never takes time to even get to know william. he still takes care of him- he has the money for a penthouse apartment and keeps groceries stocked- but its not like theyre having cozy family meals every night. this does wonderful things for williams mental health obviously. which im sure makes his powers feel so much better (<< this is sarcasm). they dont talk much. obviously. william knows david works for/runs a branch of some tech company but thats about the extent of his knowledge and he never cares to ask further details than that. theres a little bit of resentment there on williams side (william wisp, known jealous petty little bitch- "i thought you were the first good thing to come out of deadwood"). david is someone who's important and has his life together and william is. in his own mind. a freak.

after joining the wards program and meeting dakota and virion and such. william IMMEDIATELY decides he is going to spend less and less and less time at davids place. and so the fucking. chasm between them grows. mutual good riddance. (they dont hate each other. theres just. not a whole lot of care there. but theyre still family, yknow?) and its just like. the BARE MINIMUM amount of contact. william stops by davids place to like. get stuff from his bedroom. uses davids apartment as storage for things he can't keep at the wards base (are teen superheroes allowed to smoke? i imagine that cant be good for their public image). so its not like they totally cut contact theres just. even less of it than there was before.

and then william learns about the SIGNIFICANT importance of keeping your cape and civilian identities separate. any villain who learns who you are behind the mask can be a threat to not only you but also your family. william, who loves his parents very much and knows they love him back, wants to protect them at all costs. conveniently, he doesn't live with his parents anymore. his current guardian just so happened to keep their mom's maiden name. so what does he do! bam. easy fix, change your last name to match with your brother. satisfies the heroes a little bit because its that extra step harder to connect william with people outside the city, AND its not suspicious on the civilian side either because. i mean he still matches surnames with his family. surely this will not come back to bite him (foreshadowing). i think it would be PERFECTLY in character and slimy for david to get a kick out of this name change btw. its been weeks since theyve spoken full sentences to each other but the next time william goes back to the apartment david is there at the kitchen table and just kind of laughs at the paperwork like "aw, little brother, i didn't realize you liked living with me that much. im flattered" etc. etc. eugh

behold! i can call him wibby now. awesome. so cool. anyway.

blahblah whatever whatever. im saying for au convenience david lives in new haven even though in pd canon he technically lives in freedom city. don't worry about it. HOWEVER. this becomes important. new haven wards are like?? vaguely sometimes in contact with the wards of the nearest settlement with a significant cape population- freedom city! this is alan, x, cantrip. I think they probably have like. fun friendly sparring matches sometimes (like the cage matches where they first met but like... legal. and mario kart!) but aren't close enough to be Friend Friends. freedom city wards uncover some shady underground company using illegal research (nhw equivalent of harttawa? dying 2 link this back to mark somehow bc im always thinking abt him but i KNOW u have plans for him already and im dying 2 know them) to give people artificial powers (connected to cauldron in some way but not obvious about it. ill explain this more in a minute) and guess who this gets linked back to. our one and only lovely wicked david bell. freedom city wards don't know williams connection to him since they wouldn't know his civ name. I don't think he would tell them. i also don't think they would actually TALK to David here like they do in canon, i think the heist goes a little more successfully and he's not actually physically THERE so all that happens is that they sneak in and see a bunch of files/papers. and william makes the connection with David's name and maybe picture. but the whole. killing a bunch of guards still happens. "its okay they're villains" etc. i don't know who would run freedom city wards program but they're more. loose about the rules than in new haven. which is why xavier and cantrip are Like That.

anyway on the way back to new haven william is REALLY shaken and dakota and virion obv pick up on that right away (i think they'd also know OF williams brother but not a lot of details bc he never talks about him.) william tells them that that was David and doesn't know what to do etc etc . I think he avoids the apartment for a looooot longer than he usually does because he doesn't want to accidentally run into David there and have to confront this. I think he's probably shell shocked by the idea a little- david is VERY MUCH against the hero program and doesn't like capes at all and is very vocal about that fact (this is pd canon too)!! why the fuck would he be working with the company that gives people powers and Makes More Capes! even though his mystery solving brain is going into overdrive thinking about the reasons and details and minutae of this discovery, william is also chronically avoidant of all his personal problems so i don't think he does any digging into it yet. until. well. the freedom city wards go missing

they on the other hand DID do a lot more digging into this. and david caught on to them and we end up with the scene in the basement . this is where I'm gonna get sidetracked bc there's a lot of information I'm thinking about at the beginning of all this

when william/vyncent/tide get there it's a very similar scene to in pd. x and cantrip are chained up, david has allen cut open on a table. william is. HORRIFIED. maybe even moreso than in pd.

x is even more immediately hostile to william when he and cantrip wake up because part of the information they uncovered in doing their own digging was the fact that david and william are related. and this pisses x off SO BAD because william never told them. and I think he uses wills secret identity against him and that's part of the reason william is SO DESPERATE to stop him. Just imagining that scene in the hallway at the beginning where they're screaming at each other and x just goes "that's your fucking *brother?* you're related to that monster and you never thought to, yknow, share that little bit of information with us?! william bell?????" and as soon as x says his name william just SNAPS and swings the axe at him .

anyway. back to the basement scene. david does his whole manipulative villain monologue with a scalpel to Allen's heart and we learn David is the head of an offshoot branch of cauldron (thinking about like maybe where they sell the vials to people under the guise of experimental medical treatment? for their own research purposes on how the vials affect people. real unethical shit! I feel like I need 2 learn more about cauldrons motivations before I set this in stone though) . anyway. we also learn here that david Has Fucking Powers. I don't know exactly what those would be right now but I think they would be pretty... inconsequential and at a really low power rating, but just that fact alone is enough for him to almost lose william completely.

this whole time william is just full of this icy dread and betrayal, but as SOON as david reveals he has powers that all just snaps to rage. comparable to that feeling where you've been bullied for something for years and then one day everyone decides that same thing is cool now. ("how long. how *long*, david? did you have these powers while you shunned me, sat on the phone with mom in the other room complaining about how much of a freak your little brother is? how *painfully sad* it is for you to share an apartment with the corpse of your baby brother, trying to get mom to pity you enough to take me back and get me out of your hair?")

and ofc david being who he is has some sort of slimy manipulation that saves his ass and gets william back on his side. tide and virion being there they immediately see right the FUCK through it but I think william would be compromised enough at that point that he wouldn't be thinking clearly enough to listen to them. (also side note . like I said I'm VERY undecided on what davids powers would actually be but the two ideas I've been bouncing back and forth are a) some kind of medical Thinker which is how he knows how to put allen back together the right way or b) some kind of Master which makes the manipulation thing worse <3. so maybe wibby is compromised bc davids using his powers on him. if it's the second option. smile!)

anyway wibby goes on his nightmare arc. right. even more fucked up bc of what x says to him about his identity. I actually think a lot of this stays the same but just with the addition of context and also the thing I said yesterday about the guards radioing to each other to evacuate.

everything happens pretty much the same with cantrip and he and virion getting back to the office only to find everything totally wiped clean already. william still does the Nightmare Thing in davids apartment afterward. still undecided in whether or not their parents will be there? I guess it depends on what we do with the trickster. (oh god I haven't even thought about the trickster irt new haven wards. fuck!) . I think actually I'm leaning more toward having them NOT being there? because I think william reigned himself in because he didn't want to scare them too much. and this is worm world i don't WANT wibby to reign himself in at all. I want him to go fucking nightmare apeshit.

btw this whole time? virion stays with him and it scares the SHIT out of him. he's still going to stay because ... this is william. this is his best friend (gay) and he HAS to trust that he knows what he's doing. I think afterward william stands up, david still unconscious on the floor, and there are silent tears streaming down his face and there's this expression of rage and betrayal and grief on his face that virion has NEVER seen on another person. so he reaches out to put a hand on his shoulder or maybe offer a hug (which in my mind is HUGE for him bc I've been imagining virion being SUPER careful and sort of avoidant about physical touch bc of his powers) but then william goes to brush his hand away as he walks out of the room and there's just the briefest moment of skin to skin contact. and it only lasts for maybe a second but virion gets this BURST of williams powers and it's terrifying. he can see and feel and hear and know *exactly* what william just did. it goes away almost immediately but the force of it is enough to throw virion off balance for a second as he processes it and when he comes to again he is just. shaking. and he doesn't say anything to william but he *knows* now and he doesn't know what to do with that information. hes scared out of his fucking mind but he's also. sad. he's REALLY fucking sad his best friend (gay) just had to do something like that. and he's not good with words so he doesn't say anything but he stays there. he stays by williams side despite everything. ughahhvhh

uhhhh final note. pain and suffering. william gets a whole Fucking Complex about sharing a name with david after this. but he still doesn't change it back to wisp because he knows x knows his identity now. which means he doesn't know how many other people could know, how many other people x will tell out of spite as a way to get back at him (<< william wisp paranoia WIN) and it's. LEAGUES better that any potential enemies would come after david and hurt david. (in fact he probably privately wishes for something like that to happen. hed never say that out loud though). using his name as a kind of shield even though it hurts like hell to be connected to his brother like that.

anyway! yeah! wisp-bell brothers torment nexus or whatever!

[johnslittlespoon]

ok okokk i may be pushing it but i just cant stop picturing barry circa 2012 with leaving!bucky. i just feel like theyd have the cutest dynamic ever. he gives art student vibes like maybe hes studying film or literature. theyre childhood bestfriends and maybe they were eachother's homoerotic-codependent-friendship canon event. UGHH theyd be so cute stfuu. and maybe bucky and gale are already established and curt is just yearning for a whileee like over a year of slow burn until the three of them are a throuple... idk i just miss curtbuckbucky. you dont have to change your canon for the long fic i just needed to share this idea lmfao

au post | NO ur not pushing it this is such fun world building teehee <33 genuinely this is gonna help me later for drafting! (FUCK MY LIFE HOW IS THIS 2K WORDS. i thought i only had a few thoughts... i was so wrong. my bad chief. enjoy/suffer ig)

ok so this is so funny because i've actually been thinking ab how sweet those two would be together, cute little nerdy besties, and how they'd meet because of course curt has to be in this fic!!

and the first thing my mind went to was the cliche homoerotic codependent friendship trope too LMAO. i'm feeling like maybe they meet on the first day of highschool; neither of them share their english class with any friends, and they end up sat next to each other, and john keeps side–eyeing him because curt looks... interesting. (ie: deep into his emo phase. the fringe. the smudged eyeshadow. chipped black nail polish, band shirts– all things john does not let him live down as they grow up.)

but his eyes settle on some pin on curt's jacket that has some character from his favourite movie or something, and the yap jumps out, john can't control it. blurts out a "you like ___ too?!" and curt's head snaps over and he nods nervously and john takes one look at those big sad charcoal–ringed blue puppy eyes and is like yup. this is the one. will protect with my life.

(tiny headcanon that rly won't have a big effect on plot or anything, but i feel like it just fits very well with john/his character in leaving– dude's got madddd undiagnosed adhd. he's written off as a loud mouth/troublemaker in his childhood, but he wants to be a good kid, his mind is just always going too fast and sitting still is torture and his parents get frustrated and don't look into the root of the problem, trying to discipline it out of him instead. i will heal my inner child by healing him alright)

they're attached at the hip from that moment on and it makes sense to no one because they seem like complete opposites, curt more inclined towards the arts and bookish things and his friends are all the same, whereas john is more inclined towards athletics and science and hangs around that type of crowd as well. but they both love video games and movies and music and they bond over never really feeling like they fit in anywhere particular and both groups of friends get along just fine when they all get together. <3

but yk time goes on, they learn things about themselves as they grow up, and curt and john are so close and spend so much time together that they're already a lot closer than regular friends– they just don't realize it. they think nothing of cuddling up on the couch watching movies together, or sharing a bed when john stays over at curt's place after he gets into a fight with his parents, or being much more interested in spending time together than pursuing girls.

and curt's pretty– john nearly mistakes him for a girl that first day they meet. the summer before their senior year, john practically spends the whole summer at curt's house, and curt's mom doesn't mind; she works long hours and is glad her son isn't spending the summer moping around indoors alone, and she loves john and gets the feeling that her home is a sanctuary for him. one day they're in the backyard lazing around, and they get onto the topic of first kisses, and neither of them have had a proper relationship outside of those classic week–long middleschool flings that don't actually mean anything, so there's not much to talk about.

but being dumb teenage boys, they start worrying about "what if we're really bad at kissing and no girls wanna go with us to senior prom this year" etc. and one of them pops the suggestion of practicing together, and thus begins a summer of sweet stolen kisses and hand holding and experimenting and dancing around calling it something. it ends when the summer does because they realize that they both work better as friends, but they're as close as ever and both definitely learn they aren't straight (and they probably make a cute pact– "if we aren't in love by the time we're thirty, we'll just marry each other.")

i don't see them really doing much together because they're young and shy and inexperienced, but it's enough for john to decide that yeah, he definitely likes guys too, but that's all that really amounts to (until he meets gale) because he's growing up in a small town in wisconsin and it's not the easiest/most accepting place to find other queers. john probably ends up dating a real sweet girl during his last year of highschool, but she's going away for college and john's going to a local one so it ends amicably at the end of summer, both of them staying close friends. (if we wanna get sickeningly wholesome, maybe she ends up pining for a girl while john's pining for gale and they share their little stories and give each other advice and facetime every week to catch up <3)

(++ curt ends up falling head over heels for ken, who he meets through john when curt and john's friend groups get together for movie nights or summer parties. john pretends to be annoyed at how lovesick they are when they first start crushing, but he ends up matchmaking and being the one to push them to confess their feelings after graduation because he loves his friends.)

BUT THEN, leaving this fic's 'canon' to elaborate on the throuple stuff you said! i miss curtbuckbucky too </3

in a separate universe, curt doesn't end up with ken, and as much as he loves his friendship with john and agrees that a relationship wouldn't have worked at that time in their lives, he spends that first year of college pining. when john starts talking about some guy named gale during their second year, he's a little sad, but mostly protective, because "what do you MEAN he's in his 30s??" and "he's a BIKER?"

but john eventually introduces him to gale after a few months of telling curt about him, probably once he and gale actually start seeing each other, and curt immediately gets it. and then he's in double–hell because not only is he a bit (a lot) in love with his best friend, but he's blushing every time said best friend's new bf talks to him, and they're gonna notice eventually if they haven't already and he feels so guilty.

more yearning ensues and john is dense and doesn't realize but gale picks up on it, maybe even notices john doing a bit of pining of his own that john's not fully aware of. and his heart twists because his mind goes to his own insecurities about how john should be seeing someone his own age, so he sits john down and opens up a conversation about it. john is adamant that he's very, very happy with gale, but he tells gale about his and curt's past and admits that he has always still had feelings for him, but insists that it's not something he'd ever pursue, that he values curt's friendship more.

gale throws him off by saying he wouldn't mind if john wanted to explore those feelings, and at first john gets anxious gale is calling things off with the two of them and this is his way of softening the blow, but gale reassures him that's not the case, that he's very happy with their relationship. he just encourages that if he wants to talk to curt and feel things out, he wouldn't be opposed to john and curt seeing each other as well– gale's often busy, after all, so it would be nice for john to have someone else, as long as curt's comfortable with that kind of arrangement and as long as john keeps gale in the loop.

they decide to kinda just feel it out as they go, but soon enough gale starts coming home from work every so often to find the two of them curled up on his couch together, sweet and innocent. curt's wary at first, always slightly detaching himself from john when gale's around, but gale is always friendly and doesn't change up his routine, settling on the couch at john's other side like it's not a big deal at all, wanting to show curt he's welcome there, not wanting john to feel guilty.

it's another scenario where lines just sorta start to blur over time, curt spending a lot of time over at gale's house, and gale sees the way curt looks at him, probably noticed it from the first time they met but chalked it up to nerves at the time. curt's an angel and he's grown quite fond of him, but he doesn't want to overstep, so he leaves it up to curt, thinking maybe the boy will mention it to john one day and john will in turn come to gale to talk about it.

and eventually that happens, just like gale thought it might. curt's just gone home and john's head is in his lap on the couch while they watch tv, and john asks "what do you think about curt?" and gale tells him that he's sweet and he loves how much john smiles when he's around him, the usual. "so you like him?" john pushes, and gale immediately has a feeling where this conversation is going, drags his eyes away from the tv to look down at john.

says "of course" easily, and lets john take his time forming his thoughts. john ends up telling him that he and curt were fooling around earlier while gale was at work (and god help gale for the images that puts in his head) and that he'd made some offhand comment about how curt better hurry up if he doesn't want gale to come home and catch him half naked on their couch. and john's all shy when he says "and curt, uh. y'know. that... did it for him" with a vague gesture LOL. gale never fails to find it amusing how certain things can fluster john to talk about after all they've done together.

"so, anyway. i asked him about it after, if it was a coincidence, and he was real shy about it, but he did admit after a whole lot of apologizing that he likes you." gale listens to him nervously get his words out, petting his hair encouragingly, waits for him to be done before he asks "how do you feel about that?" only to watch the flush return when john mumbles "it's hot."

this is getting sooo long i need to take away my own typing privileges, but basically that's how things would start between the three of them– john and gale agree that gale will let himself be a bit flirty with curt and see how curt takes it. obviously this goes a little too well when curt gets hot and bothered sat between john and gale during a movie night with john's hand on his knee and gale's arm resting on the couch behind him while he plays with curt's hair.

the movie is forgotten when gale's finger catches on a tangled curl and curt doesn't bite back the little whine that slips out in time and john's head snaps over and he mumbles a "fuck" when he realizes what's happened, and his lack of filter comes out to play when he turns to curt and asks "curt, can gale kiss you?" and curt turns to gale with big doll eyes and nods.

john ends up palming himself over his shorts as he watches gale coax curt into his lap, face hot and pupils blown as he gets to see both his guys make out in front of him, almost dizzy seeing curt get so shy and needy and pliant because when it's just the two of them, he and curt are both very balanced in their dynamic. they've been such close friends for so long that not much gets the other truly shy like that, and they're always quick to voice their wants and crack jokes while fooling around and all. so to see curt get so flustered in that way with gale has him lightheaded, and by the time they all collapse into gale's bed at the end of the night, john's convinced this is the best decision he's ever made.

there's a lot of pining on curt's end because for a while it's kinda just sex when it's the three of them, and he loves it but he also finds himself wanting more but feeling too scared to voice it because he feels like he's intruding. but eventually they all get their shit sorted out; curt fits into their relationship just right in a way gale and john never intended or expected, and gale falls for curt just as much as john has and curt does the same with gale.

gale's got two sweet things glued to his side now and man, do they ever give him a run for his money, and if he'd thought john had too much energy (and stamina) it's nothing compared to keeping up with both of them, but he wouldn't have it any other way. <3

throuple things won't be happening in the actual fic, but i do love the idea of exploring the dynamic the three of them might have in a spin–off of that au so this was rly fun thx :-) maybe i'll write a pwp oneshot set in that universe as an excuse to write more curtbuckbucky once the fic is done LOL we'll see!