#I feel like this is overly complicated but at the same time she does have to figure this stuff out

[grimm-the-tiger]

My FL main went through some really weird, organic development over the...oh god, I think it's been five years since I started playing now.

So my main is named Skadi Larkin. They are a little bastard. They started out extremely 2D; I named them after my favorite Norse goddess and the protagonist of the book I was reading at the time. I originally wanted to make them female like both of their namesakes, but the second I saw the third-gender option, I thought it was too good to pass up. This is where they got their primary base characterization as a mad scientist who wanted to Cause Problems.

Then I started the Nemesis ambition and forgot which option I'd chosen for who I was trying to avenge, so they lost both their lover and their older brother under tragic circumstances (only the lover was killed by Nemesis's antagonist, though).

Then I got an Exceptional Friendship and had to give my tragic backstory in order to gain entry to the House of Chimes. Skadi pulled said tragic backstory (orphaned in a hansom accident) more or less out of their ass, but it did establish that their parents are dead.

Somewhere down the line, I realized that technically Skadi is a linguist, since the Correspondence is a language, and I made that their profession on the Surface as well.

Around this time, I started working on character designs for my fan comic. I got really into messing around with skin tone, and somewhere along the line thought it would be fun to draw Skadi (who was originally white) with darker skin, and it stuck.

Then I abruptly realized I was taking a lot of options that increased my Melancholy, and almost all of them were based on the Surface. So now Skadi has a longing for the Surface.

I left the game for a few years, but somewhere during this stretch of time, and I don't know how this happened, but I decided Skadi was now Native American; specifically, Metis. I changed their design to incorporate a sash woven in a style characteristic of the Metis, which also added a bit of color to their design (which was mostly black or grey at this point).

During this time, I started incorporating Skadi into my fan comic. This would eventually lead me to actually flesh out their backstory in greater detail. When I started playing the game again, I also created my first alt by total accident (long story), and I decided to weave her backstory with Skadi's.

So Skadi is in the interesting position of being an Indigenous person who is what we'd probably consider Two-Spirit today but they'd just call "Bollocks to that gender crap". They never belonged on the Surface, since the Metis are in a bit of a liminal space compared to other tribes due to their interesting background (the Metis are the descendants of French settlers and Indigenous inhabitants, mostly Cree), and Skadi exists in a liminal space within that liminal space due to only being half-Metis and raised primarily in white culture, although they still maintained a connection to it through their late mother. They also never belonged because no one else on the Surface outside of the communities they already felt isolated from would ever accept them for their gender. London gave them a chance to express one of those, but not both, and despite knowing that the Surface hates them just for existing, they still long to return.

[klaus-littlestwolf]

Hybrids Mafia Princess Pt5

Sorry it took so long. Almost finished, just one more chapter to go.

@a-beaverhausen @ranisingsnew @ronswhoree @susannahmikaelson @skulliecadaver-blog @yeaiamme2 @nataliewalker93 @luz09

Series Masterlist

Waking up alone was disappointing but Y/n didn’t expect anything else, knowing that if Klaus had stayed until morning he would have been shot God knows how many times.

2 Days. That’s all she needed to wait, just 2 more days and then she could get away from this house, the constant guards, a mom that ignores everything that goes wrong around her and her father. Her father who she had loved and adored more than anyone in the world, her father who had been her hero only to become the man who ignores her existence and shoots her pet.

Just 2 Days…

Klaus knew he needed to tell her the truth. Getting her to leave with him and depend on him needed to happen first, he knew once she loved him that she could accept anything about him.

He also knew that she would willingly turn for him, Y/n was exactly the kind of girl who would want to be with him for eternity, already overly sensitive about the idea of being abandoned. After her father had abandoned her without ever leaving the same house, what else could anyone expect?

He had been working in the time away from Y/n on his Hybrids, having to go back to Mystic Falls to find out Doppleganger blood was what he needed to turn the wolves. Sadly he didn’t get back to Y/n until the third day away and he was worried that she would be upset with him. However, the house was finished thanks to compelled construction workers and interior designers working around the clock, his Hybrids guarded the house as he instructed them to and he was finally able to pick her up.

Sadly though he was not quite as sneaky as he thought approaching the house this time and he ended up snapping one of the guards necks before climbing up to the window. Klaus saw her on her bed drifting off to a movie on the TV and he tapped the glass to see her head pop up and her eyes widen in excitement making her jump up and nearly fall from the bed as she fumbled to yank the window open.

‘You’re late!’ She snapped, though her smiling face pointed to her not being overly upset about it before she pulled him in and hugged him.

‘I’m so sorry Princess, there were complications finishing the house and I wanted it to be perfect. I’m sorry if I made you doubt me-‘

‘No! I didn’t, I promise! Thought…maybe my dad had…I-‘

‘Oh baby. I’m so sorry, come here!’ He hugged her to his chest tightly, kissing her head before the tears could fall. ‘Are you ready to go? I had a complication getting in here so we need to hurry.’ Her head popped up with a startled look before she jumped to grab the large duffel bag under her bed, pulling it out and setting it on the bed before moving to her dresser and grabbing sweat pants and a long sleeved shirt. She changed fast as Klaus opened her bag to inspect it.

‘What’s wrong?’

‘I’ll get you a new laptop, your father can use this to track you, can’t bring it with us.’

‘Oh shit!’ She moved to grab a flash drive from her drawer before plugging it into the laptop and saving several things before deleting a bunch of things. ‘He’ll look through everything like he always does and find my journal. Wish I could see the look on his face when he sees how I really feel about him…both of them.’ There was a smile on her face but Klaus wrapped his arms around her from behind, seeing how sad she really was about it.

‘You’ll never have to listen to anything he says again. You’ll be happy with me, I promise.’ He swore, picking up the bag and moving to the window, watching her pull the sim card from her phone before tossing it onto the bed and following him. Klaus took hold of her and lifted her into his arms before jumping out the window, smiling at her small gasp as he did, quickly moving through the trees to get to the car he had left and setting her into the passenger seat.

‘Where are we going?’ She asked, clearly excited and clutching his hand as he began to drive.

‘We’re going to the airport-‘

‘My father will be able to find us there, he’ll find out where we-‘

‘Impossible. I have a jet fueled up and waiting, only the pilot knows where we’re going. He will not be able to find us, I promise.’ Klaus assured, kissing her hand and holding it firmly, watching as she tried to relax though he knew she wouldn’t until they were on the jet, far away.

He left the rental car with someone at the front before leading her through security quickly, compelling a security guard to fast track them through to get to their flight. ‘It’s so weird not being surrounded by guards in a public place, I feel like I’ve been let out of a bubble for the first time since I can remember and it’s like I can breathe deeper…does that sound stupid?’

‘Of course not Love, you’ve been confined your entire life, it’s normal to feel free now that you’re away from it all.’ He enjoyed watching her look around with a smile on her sweet face.

‘What’s that smell? It’s…sweet. It smells so good!’ She exclaimed, looking around in excitement.

‘The cinnamon buns maybe?’ Klaus said, pointing to the shop. ‘Do you want one?’ She nodded quickly and he led her over to grab a few of them for the flight before taking her to the jet that was waiting on them.

‘Woah…this is bigger than my Dads…I didn’t think that existed.’ The hybrid couldn’t help his chuckle at the clear innuendo that went over her head as she looked around, Klaus buckling her in and making her blush at even the small gesture of care he showed her as the jet took off. He couldn’t help but smile as the tension in her body seemed to completely disappear as they ascended, finally free from her father and his control.

The fact that she was now completely under Klaus’ control was a detail he didn’t think needed mentioning…

Somewhere in the Woods in New York

‘Where Is She?!’ He raged, holding his best friend by the front of his jacket.

‘I don’t know Buck-she must have gone out the window-‘

‘I have guards everywhere! How did she get passed them, Huh?! What do you-‘

‘Hun, whatever Y/n has done isn’t Steve’s fault and you’re going to regret killing him. You love him.’ His wife reminded, gently removing his hands from Steve and pulling Bucky close, feeling all of his muscles tensing at the idea of his baby being missing.

‘Someone has taken her, who should I be killing?!’ He demanded only to be met with a stern look from the mother of his child.

‘I don’t know who you think you’re talking to like that but it isn’t me.’ He sighed, pulling her into him and burying his face into her neck. ‘I know you’re worried, I’m worried too but this was inevitable. She did tell you she was going to leave-‘

‘She was being dramatic! She knows I love her, she wouldn’t…someone has taken her, only explanation!’ He insisted, beginning to pace across the floor, waiting for his men to check the security cameras.

Bucky is willing to admit that he isn’t the best father but he loves his daughter more than anything in the world. After all that has happened, all that he’s lost, he couldn’t risk losing her too. And maybe he held on too tight sometimes but he loved his baby more than he had ever loved anything. Every time he looks at her he sees that precious little bundle he was handed by a nurse, he was the first person to ever hold her and he swore to her that he would never let go.

‘Boss…you’re not gonna like this…’ Bucky looked up from where he sat with his wife holding onto him, the only thing keeping him grounded on this planet right now.

‘What is this? Where is this?!’ He demanded as he watched the video on the laptop that Sam handed to him.

‘It’s a camera from one of the back roads to the property. No one but security even knows they exist, we don’t know how anyone got there.’ Sam explained, standing just out of Buckys reach in case he decides to lash out.

‘What is he doing? Is…she’s kissing him…how does she even know him?! She’s always had security, who-‘ Bucky cut himself off as he thought back to Tony’s party the week before. He had seen this man before, he had smiled at him at the party, smirked more like it, and Bucky had wanted to slap that look off of his face…he should have killed him when he had the chance!

‘I’m not surprised.’ Buckys head snapped up to look at his wife who was clearly upset but no where near as physically upset as he was. ‘With how you treat her, smother her? An attractive man came along and promised her the world, of course she ran away with Prince Charming. Especially after what you pulled last week, I told you that dog thing would come back and bite us in the ass.’

‘Seriously?! How are you not upset-‘

‘I’m furious! But I’m also able to see how this came to happen and it is our fault. God knows what he’s promised her, but I’m not shocked she jumped at the first chance to get away from you-‘

‘She knows I love her-‘

‘No James, I don’t think she does.’ Buckys face fell as he heard his wife say this. Every fight they had, every punishment or mean word, he had always comforted himself by remembering that his daughter knows that he loves her and that he would kill or die for her. Now to hear that she might not truly believe that, Bucky swears that he heard his heart crack. ‘When she was young she did but you changed when she got older and I have no idea how she feels about you anymore. She doesn’t talk to me because she knows I will tell you everything. We fucked up, and we have to get her back.’

Klaus Mikaelson Masterlist

[moonstruckme]

hellooooooo, could you please make (when you have the time) something where James Potter has a girlfriend that its sooo touch starved but also has a hard time being touched/hugged (for some reason kissing doesn't bother her but she gets really shy with that) an she is unable to receive compliments, she tries to express her love in other ways tho

i'm that type of person so i would love to see something like that:(

Ugh same baby! Thanks for requesting :)

James Potter x fem!reader ♡ 1.2k words

You and James are on opposite sides of the couch, and you feel like you’re going to combust. 

The issue is his foot. You’re covered by a blanket, but James’ foot is brushing your calf through the fabric, moving back and forth so slowly you wonder if he even realizes he’s doing it. And it’s not not nice, but even that tiny bit of contact (again, through a blanket) is almost too much for you. Every nerve in your body is at attention—you don’t think James could breathe in your direction without you noticing it—and you want him to cover your entire body with his even if it’ll probably kill you. 

“You doing alright over there, lovely?” James asks, eyes still on the TV. He must be paying more attention than you realize. 

And one of the difficult parts of your relationship with James is that there are some parts of you he simply cannot understand, but that won’t stop him from trying. Like, James is a naturally tactile person. He wants to hug and kiss and love on you all day long, as he made abundantly clear from your very first date. But you’re not. You want to be, you want to let him give you all the affection he has to offer and return it with twice the zeal, but no one touched you like this before him. Your family weren’t the physically affectionate type, and your friends didn’t bother with it around you, so James’ particular brand of overly touchy loving was…new. You crave it and yet when he gives it to you it feels foreign and borderline uncomfortable. You’d done your best to explain it to him, and James had taken it all in stride, though you could tell there was some mixture of pity and bafflement at your odd love/hate relationship with physical closeness. Now, he does his best to give you that particular form of affection in small doses. He checks with you before putting his hands on you, hugs you just until your blush gives you away, and restricts his casual contact with you to chaste areas. Like his foot and your calf.

“Mhm,” you reply, unsure how to explain the effect he’s having on you and unwilling to say anything that’ll make him stop.

Narrowed brown eyes move from the TV screen to your face. “Promise?”

“I’m okay.” 

“Something’s bothering you, though.” 

You hesitate. You don’t want to lie to him, it’s just that it’s more complicated than that. “Not really.” 

“And you’re not really avoiding the question, right?” James grins at you, though it’s tinged with worry. “C’mon, angel, be straight with me. Something’s on your mind, yeah?”

You’re silent, but an involuntary glance downwards gives you away. James’ foot is drawn back towards him in an instant. “Ah, that was too much, huh? My bad.” 

“No, James, I—” you sigh heavily. “I’m sorry.” 

“Don’t be sorry, lovely girl,” he says it easily, but not without gravity. “I’m the one who didn’t check if it was okay.” 

“But you shouldn’t have to check.” You’re shaking your head, drawing your legs into your chest, shrinking from him even in your frustration that you shrink from him. “I don’t want you to feel bad about touching me, James. It’s not like it scares me or anything, I don’t know why I’m so weird about it.”

“Hey.” His voice is lightly chiding, remonstrance gentled. He’s not touching you, but he’s doing his next best thing, turning his body to face you so you’ll know you have his full attention. “I know, you’ve told me how you feel about it. I don’t take it personally, sweetheart, I just want you to be comfortable. You don’t have to be scared to not be having a good time.” 

You let the quiet noise of the TV fill the silence for a moment, looking at him. He’s smiling just a tiny bit, even now. He told you once that he can’t help being some degree of happy when he’s with you, no matter what’s happening around him. His eyes are big and brown and open behind his glasses, eyes that haven’t learned to dull themselves for the sake of self-preservation, but there’s a slight pinch around the corners. He’s evaluating you, trying to figure out where your mind is going and how to meet it there. 

“I think my problem,” you say, trying the weight of each word before voicing it, “is that I want you to be able to show…affection, whatever way is natural to you.” A crease appears on James’ forehead and you can see the rebuttal forming on his tongue, but he lets you say your piece. “And it makes me feel bad that I’m stopping you from doing that, and that I can’t show it back to you either.” 

The crease deepens. James has an easier time choosing his words than you did. “I don’t mind not being able to touch you. I mean, would I have my hands all over you day and night if you wanted it?” He flashes a flirty smile. “Obviously. But I care about you, not that, and you aren’t as used to that stuff. The idea of touching you is as unappealing to me as I imagine it is to you, because you’d be uncomfortable the whole time. What kind of boyfriend would I be then, huh?” He sticks out a foot to nudge your knee gently. “Anyway, I don’t need you to be all over me to know you care. You think I thought the muffins I ate this morning made themselves?” He raises his eyebrows at you, nodding for you to answer. 

Your face warms. “No.” 

James nods encouragingly. “As I suspected. And that was some of the best love I’ve ever tasted! Plus, those little notes you write when you’re going to be home late or you know I have a busy day? Angel,” he says, voice dropping into soft earnestness, “those make my entire week.”

You bite your lip, but you’re powerless to stop the spread of your smile. “I’m glad you like them,” you reply bashfully. 

“Like them?” James throws up his arms, indignant. “Sweetheart, I can feel the love coming off those things like you’ve drowned them in amortentia. Don’t get me wrong, I love hugging you, but that?” He shakes his head. “There’s nothing better.”

You imagine your complexion is approaching fire-hydrant red about now, but you’re so happy to hardly care. “Thanks, Jamie.” 

“Thank you, angel,” he says, and you can tell he’s smothering his grin intentionally to make you take him seriously. “I mean it, I wouldn’t want you any other way. You’re my best girl, understand?”

You can’t look at him for embarrassment, but you nod. After a moment, James’ silence draws your eyes back to him, to find him grinning. The sight is familiar, as is the warm, fuzzy sensation that spreads through your insides. His eyes narrow slightly, assessing you. 

“Do you feel like a hug, lovely girl?” 

You nod again as you go to him, abandoning your blanket. James’ arms open, his legs parting automatically to slot you between them. One hand finds your mid-back while the other cradles the nape of your neck, and you press both of yours to his shoulder blades, drawing him downwards and into you. He makes the most of it, fingers curling in the fabric of your shirt. You can feel his heartbeat a few inches to the right of yours. 

A tiny shiver of pleasure goes through you, and you tighten your grip on him so he won’t let go, but James understands, and pulls you closer.

[kwistowee]

"The 1994 movie bears a much stronger resemblance to the source material, to the graphic novel, than this new movie does. And not in that "is it the foot vs. the torso" photo-finish kind of way, but we're talking by a clear mile. This movie tries to over-explain everything... right, why not overcomplicate a simple concept? It's the concept of crossing death for love.

"It's a movie that feels like it was adapted by someone who had never seen 'The Crow' or read 'The Crow', but had heard about 'The Crow' from someone and made a movie accordingly. You have a guy in the costume, but the guy doesn't actually feel like the spirit of the character.

"It's easy to say on the surface, "Yeah, Eric Draven comes back to kill people." But you're missing the fact that he's actually kind, even funny. He's a person who loved life; therein is the tragedy. He got Darla clean so that she could least try to be a good mom to Sarah. I feel like this guy (2024 Eric) would join in the on the drug use. (In the 1994 Crow,) even when he went in to kill Skank, he gave everybody in the room the opportunity to bail. Then everyone at that table chooses war and they go down, but he gave them the opportunity. The dude in this movie just massacres folks and doesn't give a ****. It's less likable and relatable as a protagonist.

"The reality of the situation is: do you go to the movie theater to overpay for a movie ticket to watch this new Crow movie, or watch the existing 1994 Crow movie in the comfort of your own home? The answer is simple: it's the latter.

"This 2024 Crow movie is both baffling and fascinating, by way of being very surface-level simple and overly-complicated at the same time. It gives you the feeling of, "I've seen everything in this movie elsewhere, and in those movies they did it better." You want a better Crow movie? Watch the original Crow movie."

- Jeremy Jahns The Crow (2024) Movie Review

[utilitycaster]

I'm glad to see you mentioning how disconnected the PCs are from Marquet! I'm a little surprised that I haven't seen more discussion of this in the fandom at large (although maybe I'm looking in the wrong places), since it was a point of discussion at the very beginning of the campaign in a couple of private PoC tabletop/LARP groups I was in. The consensus in the aforementioned groups at the time was that maybe the cast didn't feel comfortable representing characters coming from cultures that were explicitly based on real world PoC cultures (but the decision to have almost everyone be an "outsider" in a PoC-coded culture had unfortunate Orientalist overtones). This was very, very early campaign (like e10 maybe), though, before we really knew the trajectory of the plot (or that they'd spend so little time in Marquet).

It definitely came up a lot early on and I think a lot of the people who felt this either left Campaign 3 quite early and said "this isn't working for me" or else said, as I did, that it is what it is.

I think my issue here is that like...Imogen and Dorian are the only Marquet-born characters and while I have complicated feelings about how people see Imogen (see my previous comments about the bizarre bordering on creepy glorification of a very white-coded Southern culture that have spread into like...white anglophone but not United States portions of the fandom) she and Dorian are both very much coded to North American cultures (Imogen, accent aside, honestly fits any rural agrarian portion of the country and honestly reads closer to the great plains than the south, and Dorian is influenced by Native American culture). I actually do think that Taliesin did a good job making Ashton feel like they were part of Bassuras (and they aren't from there originally, but did grow up there culturally), but the fact is I've seen multiple people ignore that "Bassuras" is specifically taken from Tagalog (and that Makenzie de Armas was one of the Marquet designers) and hc it as Central American rather than Filipino despite Matt explicitly saying it's the latter.

I do think that the answer, if the cast was not comfortable playing Marquesian characters (and I am not a POC so take this with that grain of salt, but I also think, with some effort and some sensitivity work, they could have done so, particularly since Marquet is inspired by but not one to one), the answer should have been to either be clearer this wouldn't be centered in Marquet and would simply start there which would have lowered those expectations and to perhaps plan an EXU in Marquet that does primarily star actors who are from north Africa, or western, southern, or southeast Asia; or just set the campaign in Issylra or something. I get that Marquet is more central and cosmopolitan than Issylra by far, but we're now in an awkward position where we might have a campaign set mostly in Fake North America; a campaign set virtually entirely in Fake Europe/debatably central/northeast Asia; and a campaign that was ostensibly set in Fake SWANA/SEAsia but really was mostly about the moon. Like, the cast doing a thoughtful but perhaps imperfect go at Marquesian characters would have, at least in my opinion, been preferable.

If it helps I think the way Matt and the worldbuilders describe Marquet it doesn't feel (to me) overly orientalist and the fandom has definitely had way more "do you see this shit Edward Said" moments than the cast, despite the fact that only half the characters had spent significant time in Marquet. Really, the narrative issue is "the characters don't feel tied to this place or invested in the same way in this plot because the plot isn't tied to this place", and the unfortunate overtones come from the fact that it was the Ostensible Marquet Campaign that got the plot that's not really about Marquet.

(as someone running Netherdeep - I will say that helps. The bulk of that story is in a lovingly and sensitively reworked Ank'Harel. I'm hoping TLOVM also does a better job than C1 with Ank'Harel.)

[boopboops22]

hello!❕heads up this isn’t a draw request bc ik you have a lot of those rn❕i saw you request chronic pain gon art on twitter and was wondering if you had any thoughts on that au? do you think you’d ever incorporate it in your post canon hxh lore? as someone who is realizing they might have chronic pain i just love the idea of gon having chronic pain after canon. i especially love him having a great support system for it :)

Oh my gosh I'm so happy to hear you also like the hc! I do have a lot of ideas for it actually

Ramblings about the hc below :-)

These are some doodles I did for the idea a little while back. This idea started from me projecting onto Gon losing his nen and seeing it as similar to the disabled experience.

I feel that Gon would have a huge complex about his pain and deny any aid for a while. When he does seek out assistance he treats it like an episodic thing, rather then somthing that is constant. Like, pushing through the pain and his limits for a while until he breaks down, then once he recovers from the break he goes back to pushing himself. In his head his disability is only present in these break downs allowing him to ignore it until it becomes too much. Over time though he would learn better habits and how to not push himself to a breaking point.

For his support system he definitely has so many people there for him!!

When on Whale Island Abe and Mito are the first to encourage him to slow down and be there for him when he's dealing with coming to terms with his pain. I especially think Abe would get on his case for internalized abelism and be the most understanding with him, Mito would be very supportive in caring for him but she wouldn't really understand imo. I feel like she was the one to instill hard working habits into him which can be an unhealthy mindset to keep when disabled.

When it comes to Killua I think that Gon has a bit of a complex over his pain in realtion to Killua. He'd likely wish he could tolerate pain to the extent Killua can and feel inadequate or weak for being bothered to the extent he is by the pain. Also Killua would likely feel even more compelled to protect Gon and Gon the prideful creature he is would feel insulted if Killua got overly protective.

In the end despite those issues and emotional complications, Killua is definitely who Gon would be the most soothed by when in pain and Killua would want to be there to support Gon. I think there's a lot of opportunity for softness between them because of it. Killua catching onto Gon's pain when he's trying to hide it, Gon seeking out Killua as a distraction when it gets bad, there's many cute scenarios.

Gon would absolutely be the worst at dealing with his chronic pain and with it being a side effect after being healed in this au, I think be would feel that he deserved the pain as well. Despite feeling like he deserved it he would hate being less capable from it and cause a lot of issues with his self worth. I think him accepting it with time and then learning how to work with his pain, knowing his limits and when to push them, and actually seeking aid, he would develop a much healthier relationship with his pain. I really love the idea of his character growth being reflected in him learning to take care of his condition!

I'm a person with fibromyalgia and migraines so when I picture what his pain is like and how he goes through it I'm imagining what I experience but in the future for any chronic pain Gon stuff I make I think I might make the pain a little vague so people with different kinds of chronic pain can relate!! As for incorporating this hc into my hxh lore, I'm kinda treating it as it's own au separate from most of my post canon hxh stuff. I have a pretty thorough outline worked out for my post canon lore and I don't want to shoehorn this hc into that so I'm treating it as it's own thing

I hope you gain some comfort in Gon suffering the same as you and getting enviable support from his loved ones, I love living vicariously through fictional characters 🫶

[nogoodsheepstealing-greatgrandma]

Team Green: Sorry your faves are boring 😊🤷‍♂️ Sure you're supposed to root for the Blacks but the Greens are just more fun. Jace is boring I'm here for my angsty disaster mess 💚

You realise that's bad writing, right? This is a family civil war drama. One side of that family civil war shouldn't be populated with blank slates. If no effort is made into making Rhaenyra and Daemon's children as fleshed out as Alicent's children then that is bad writing.

Some people find the Lannisters more fun than the Starks, but the Starks are still fleshed out characters (and considering in the books Jace is 14/15, Luke is 13, Joffrey, Baela & Rhaena are 12, Aegon the younger is 9 and Viserys is 7 - these kids ages almost map straight onto the Starklings so they were so meant to be our Targlings). It didn't have to be a zero sum "you can only have ONE side that's interesting". The show is poorer for it. Game of Thrones was a disaster in many ways, but at least the different sides of the conflict had equal screen time and attention.

How hard would it have been to flesh out Jace, or at least give him a half-decent haircut? He could have been a mirror to Jon Snow (they technically have the same initials). One is a bastard who does not know he's a targaryen prince, the other is a targaryen prince who discovers he is a bastard. In a world that hates bastards, that insists they are 'wanton and treacherous by nature', there was plenty of potential to explore some complicated emotions, to give weight to how he feels about being a bastard. The whispers that would have followed him, the scrutiny he would have felt, the internalised guilt and shame, his protectiveness over his little brothers and wish to spare them the truth. Maybe after Alicent confronted Aegon over the pig there could have been a shift where Aegon turns his bullying away from Aemond and towards Jace (more in keeping with book canon). Maybe Jace could feel anxious about lessons with Criston Cole due to his open hatred of him. Maybe he could be equal parts devoted to and resentful of his mother over his parentage, maybe he could be driven to perfectionism to prove himself worthy.

The show made Jace more violent in the fight with Aemond than in the book, by changing who started the fight (from Aemond to Rhaena and co.), by narrowing the age gap to make Jace more of a match for Aemond, and by having him draw a knife instead of a wooden toy sword. But they didn't earn that moment. How much more satisfying would it have been if both Aemond and Jace were given equal emotional weight in the build-up to the fight? If the hurt and anxiety at discovering he was a bastard had been building and building until it burst out. The entire reason the show changed the age dynamic between Rhaenyra and Alicent to make them peers and best friends was supposedly to make their conflict more dramatic - why would you then drop that approach with their kids? How does it make the civil war story better if one half of the next generation of characters aren't really characters?

They didn't even have to put much effort into Baela, as GRRM already had her brimming with personality on the page, but they just... ignored that and made her a non-entity. Oh she gets one punch in, and there's a blink and you'll miss it background shot of her trying to hit Aegon (at this point I don't think the actors were even directed to do that I think they just took it upon themselves). Meanwhile Baela in the books is wild and fearless and deliberately provocative and quick to anger and fiercely defensive of her loved ones and wrestles squires in the training yard and has a pet monkey and sneaks out in search of adventure and brings home 'unsuitable' friends. Including a legless beggar, a blacksmith's apprentice whose muscles she admired, a street conjurer, twin prostitutes and an entire troupe of mummers. And she alarms everyone due to being 'overly fond of boys' and gets epic lines like this when it is suggested she marry Lord Rowan:

“I’ve bedded two of his sons. The eldest and thirdborn, I think it was. Not both at once, that would have been improper.”

She could have been an absolutely chaotic presence onscreen. Rhaena meanwhile is a little more like Sansa to Baela's Arya, but would have needed more work to flesh her out onscreen. Her insecurities and wish for a dragon seemed promising at first, but they were dropped as soon as Aemond lost his eye. Because that was ultimately the narrative purpose she served - to provide a new reason for the fight to start that wasn't Aemond hitting and pushing a toddler into a pile of dragon poo. She helps Aemond's image by being the one to start the fight instead of him, and from then on she becomes a voiceless non-entity. We watch Aemond fly away victoriously on Vhagar, we don't see Rhaena tearfully watching the last link to her mother vanish over the horizon.

Considering the prominent role of bastards during the dance (especially the dragonseeds), the uninterest in exploring bastardy in Jace makes little sense. Considering the centrality of gender to the story (and considering a certain event involving key players during the dance), the lack of effort into Baela and Rhaena makes zero sense (the show doesn't even bring up their right to Driftmark in an episode dedicated to discussing the rightful heir to Driftmark).

Considering especially that in fantasy black women are so often consigned to minor Missandei roles, the fact that we were robbed of Baela and Rhaena as main characters particularly stings. Baela in particular was an easy fan favourite in the book, and its a role that black women and girls so rarely get to play. If you had told me before the show that Helaena would be a fan favourite over Baela, I wouldn't have believed it. And don't get me wrong, I like that they fleshed out Helaena in the show, like Rhaena she didn't have much of a presence in the book. But it is so typical that the relative non-entity that they kept white gets to be fleshed out, while the more fleshed out character that they made black becomes a non-entity. And Helaena is skinny now, of course (all love to Phia Saban, but I am mourning plump Helaena).

And don't get me started on Kylo Raemond.

[dramadramallama]

EP 7 - extremely charmed by how they decided to use the "asking foR a FRienD" trope to speed up the romance for the simple reason that instead of making it stupid/overly-complicated, and having the character mess it up somehow, tae-ha just... followed the advice given to him (and it worked lol)

he was told to "be straight-forward", and with it, he was also:

very quick

very precise

very unambiguous

very prepared

the Quickness™: literally the next scene we see him ready with a gift for my girl yeon-woo. no hesitation on what to get, no fumbling on what to do, straight-up "move, i know my wife"

the Exactness™ of it all: not only did he notice, but he remembered she is obsessed with choco-anything. full-on, "if yeon-woo-ssi was an exam i'd get 100/100." she would have loved the fancy box of chocolates, if he had managed to actually give it to her

the transparency: and just when you think it can't get any cuter, any better, he just straight up tells her he likes her (dimples making a quick appearance!). also he does buy her some chocolate after all. no ambiguous flopping around, no silly denial at the last minute. just a cute, dorky :] smile after telling her

he kept going???: the chocolate didn't really count so he went for another gift, just as thoughtful, if not better than the first. 100% sure he had a couple of other ideas in case this one didn't work out either. he was all cute with it too (dimples on full display, very dangerous)

idk, i liked that he wasn't disastrously awkward, that he didn't agonize over his feelings, wasn't accidentally offensive for comedic effect, or to maybe create superfluous conflict before they get together. just very satisfying to have the couple be aligned and on the same page, at the same time.

yeon-woo is just as worried, just as charmed by tae-ha as he is with her. it distilled just enough sweetness in this otherwise quite tense episode. there's only 12 episodes, angst will come (pretty soon too) but like, let us have some of that sweetness first.

[kroosluvr]

hi!! as a fellow royal trio-truther ive been ADORING and loving your posts so much <3 you mentioned that you've like mentally re-wired shusumi so i was curious if you had a list of head-canons for how they develop in the game/post-game!! Im super curious to hear (: also any head-canons for the akesumi dynamic would be great bc I hate how little the game developed them together !!!

OMGGGGGGGGG HAYYYYYYYYYY ok so. first. look at this (idr if i posted this here already but if i did look again heh..)

ok now ill actually talk under the cut

note that some of this is headcanon territory bc i just be frolicking at this point

some backstory i fell in love w sumi as soon as her art was revealed i was like omfg peak design PEAKKKKKK i love her so much so i was really excited abt her but i feel like there were so many loose ends w her confidant and namely her crush on protag sometimes doing her a disservice (it turned ppl off from her (understandable bc i also dislike when writers make a female character out to be dependent on a male character) but also made other ppl weird abt her in the same breath....... shivers. people who overly-romanticize/sexualize mentally ill characters (especially girls/women) freak me out sorry

anyway that put me off frm p5 fandom for a hot minute. BUT regardless. i think people often focus on like "shy cute sadgirl kouhai crush-on-protag" for her which on top of atlus's.......mediocre handling of her also does her character a disservice... shes so multilayered!! she houses such insane convoluted levels of distress and fear and anger and reluctance and most of all STUBBORNNESS. i think her headstrong personality is not really emphasized in fandom but i can totally see it (maybe its just me but).

ok moving on to my shsm delusions i think to turn sumire's canon crush on its head i want to make them doomed to never get together. i think 3rd semester is so tense and high-emotion that royal trio are so deeply intertwined w each other:

like they all are mildly-to-a-lot suicidal so they hold onto each other so tightly to make sure none of them spirals and does anything bad. i think in the end they just want the other two to be Okay, even if they themself doesn't. if the other two are ok, then it's all good.

ok back to shsm LMAO i think seeing their relationship as like an odd high-emotion situation makes sense. they love each other, obviously, and provide each other comfort, but the idea of a relationship slips thru their fingers like water. is that right...? is that how it is? like i said up there they just crumble under the weight of their own love. tldr theyre in no place to "date" each other........ but they have their "almost." they're inseparable, they love spending time with each other, but knowing in the back of their heads that it won't last, and they'll have to leave it be one day. "sometimes when i really love someone i leave them alone forever." peak shsm to me. "let's run away together - but what if it's not enough? what if all of this fear and sadness still stays? i take a man down to the river and he throws away his sadness but hes still left with his hands, he's still left with the river (paraphrased richard siken). peak shsm to me. i think they try to treat eachother so softly and gently that it fucks it all up, actually. peak shsm to me. it's not codependency in the sense that theyre not trying to save each other - they're just trying to salvage out some love from it all. all of these terrible things that happened: there's still love, right? there's still love. but the pain can't all be sifted out, and everything still hurts. but they still love. (they just don't date or even talk to each other much after graduating and i think they talk to akechi but to each other its suddenly COMPLICATED. i hate these guys)

ironically i think if you throw akechi in the mix it stabilizes out and i think shuakesumi could totally have a happy married ending. but shsm as a pair i dont see endgame for them. peak for me is that theyre in love and then they spend the rest of their lives trying to forget each other (they don't)

(If this sounds ridiculous and stupid im sorry. i just like shoving too-many-emotions onto my favs sometimes (a lot of the time))

IN REGARDS TO AKESUMI i think my latest 2 comics describe how i feel abt them pretty well!!! link 1 and link 2. actually i think akesumi's friendship is a great way for me to explore how i see/portray/feel about sumire, because i see them as way more similar than the game pays attention to. they're both stuck in their ways: sumire in her cowardice, hiding from the incident and refusing to move on, and akechi entrenched in his own traumas and feeling like he doesn't deserve more than that. their self-hatred manifests in two opposite ways but its very similar at the core. they both like. have no fucking clue what they're doing in terms of handling their pasts so that's why i think them working together to get around their own respective traumas is so fascinating: akechi is terrible at it, pushing sumire too far, but at the same time that perspective is something that she needs. meanwhile, her sensitive and observant personality shows akechi that like, you can have This too: a soft, good love. to have someone care about you unconditionally, so gently. you deserve that, too. yeah i can explode my head off now

i did not proofread this.

[neverenoughmarauders]

HP canon debater & canon fanfics writer

I am going to be off tumblr until October 1st! Absolutely feel free to send asks or whatever just don’t expect a reply any time soon <3

I am in my 30s, genderfluid - she/they - Scandinavian, but live in the UK, relatively new to Tumblr and a long COVIDer/POTSer!

On this blog, I am a canon-compliant Marauder fanfic writer - who likes to discuss the canon - and I am currently working on a long fic from 1971-1981 called: When we were up to no good.

More about my ambition below, but long story short - I just want a LONG fic that's not Wolfstar, that's a faithful interpretation of the canon, and which tbh isn't overly about sex or the usual fanon stuff. It's just four great friends; an 'enemies-to-lovers' love story; a war and a betrayal.

I mostly ship canon (especially Hinny, Romione, Jily) because I am boring, but I adore Prongsfoot and Sebinis, and I’m not anti most non-canon ships if they are true to their canon characterisation.

I will argue and discuss the canon with anyone who's interested. If you don't care about the canon, fine, but you and I probably won't enjoy each other's posts very much.

I don’t support JKR’s views (Read: I AM EXTREMELY ANTI HER VIEWS). I regularly question whether I should just abandon the fandom because of her (I have stayed away in the past), but then again, I discovered a lot about my own gender fluidity through the fandom, so it’s all very complicated.

I started writing When we were up to no good because I wanted to write a story where:

Sirius and James are best friends, inseparable and extremely talented

Remus and James have a solid friendship; not just Remus and Sirius

While Sirius and Peter take a bit of time to become close, Sirius ends up closer to Peter than Remus (at the latest) by the later stages of the war.

Peter is very much part of the Marauders, and there’s nothing obvious (to Sirius and James) to suggest he does a 180. Nevertheless, as readers who know what happens, we can see the small stuff that lays the foundation for the betrayal

James and Sirius are bullies! This isn’t a story trying to ignore their bad sides

Remus’ personality is affected by his lycanthropy - he has three great friends and that’s it: James, Sirius and Peter. He does not stand up to his friends (much) as he cannot afford to lose them

Lily struggles to adjust to the wizarding world given her blood status and she struggles with her friendship with Snape. She loves him so much but she’s not blind to his friends and the path he’s being led down

James and Lily have arcs that both make us understand why she disliked James so much, but also understand how the two are rather similar in their own way. The relationship, when it happens, should feel solid and lasting.

James does not go around declaring his love for Lily at every opportunity. It doesn’t fit with the canon

Not every OOTP member are in the same year as the Marauders. In my story, Marlene is 10 years older (and Molly’s best friend), Frank and Gideon are 6 years older; Alice and Fabian are 5 years older; and Dorcas is long gone from school etc.

Frank and Alice starts dating after Hogwarts (not everyone has to start dating at school)

There's lots of (hopefully canon-compliant) plot and character development. And it’s a long story! I want to make justice to their story and not rush it (but I don't want it to feel dragged out)

There is as much fun and fluff and comfort and hurt as I can get away with while feeling I can call it canon-compliant

There are plenty of Easter eggs and things we know happened in the canon, such as: Bertha Jorkins as a source of Hogwarts gossip; the Whomping Willow becoming off-limit, the newly built abandoned Hogsmeade house slowly becoming known as the Shrieking Shack, Mundungus Fletcher finding himself banned from the Hogs Head ca 1975; the 1974 World Cup and more.

That’s the ambition. I’m not by any means an experienced writer and I’m learning as I go. If this is something that interests you, then cool! Absolutely engage as much or little as you’d like with the story! I love geeking out over canon and writing!

I post extracts on here quite often! You might call it self-promotion - I call it oversharing - something I do in all aspects of my life! 😂

[lostyesterday]

I’ve seen several people say that they dislike Neelix and the Neelix and Tuvok dynamic in Voyager because of the way Neelix consistently pressures Tuvok to be less Vulcan or to do things he’s not comfortable with. This perspective is really interesting to me, because I do think it’s a valid reading of their relationship, but at the same time, I personally don’t really hold that perspective. I like Neelix, and I enjoy the Tuvok and Neelix dynamic in most episodes. I want to unpack why I think that very different readings of their relationship are simultaneously valid readings of a text that often portrays characters and dynamics inconsistently.

There are definitely scenes in Voyager – especially in the first few seasons, where Neelix says things to Tuvok that can be easily interpreted as pressuring him to become less Vulcan or to abandon his cultural ideals, particularly in Neelix’s desire for Tuvok to express certain emotions toward him. I absolutely understand why scenes like these lead some people to view the Neelix and Tuvok relationship negatively.

However, I personally read the Tuvok and Neelix dynamic as significantly less one-sided. For nearly every scene in which Neelix wants Tuvok to display emotion, there is a scene in which Tuvok is dismissive of or condescending toward Neelix. Especially in early Voyager, I think Tuvok views Neelix as overly emotional and in some cases incompetent. He is reluctant to accept Neelix’s advice, which he sees as being emotionally based and therefore invalid, even when Neelix is right. Especially in early Voyager, Tuvok believes he is better and smarter than Neelix. Tuvok doesn’t really pressure Neelix to be more Vulcan and less Talaxian, but this is because he doesn’t believe Neelix is capable of becoming a more logical person. The way I see it, both Tuvok and Neelix are in different ways disrespectful toward each other and each other’s cultures. Their dynamic is a cultural clash, with both of them gradually learning over time to accept each other’s different approaches to life.

I think it’s useful here to compare the Tuvok and Neelix dynamic to the Spock and Mccoy dynamic in the Original Series. I have complicated feelings on the Spock and Mccoy dynamic personally, but I think it is absolutely worth pointing out that Spock is the only Vulcan on the Enterprise, while Mccoy is one of a vast number of humans. Spock is clearly positioned as part of a minority culture in the narrative, even if Vulcans aren’t technically a minority in the Federation, which gives their dynamic an element of inequality. Neelix, on the other hand, is the only Talaxian on Voyager. If anything, Neelix is arguably narratively more part of a minority culture on Voyager than Tuvok is. (Although I think B’Elanna is the character whose narrative treatment most closely parallels that of someone from a minority culture.)

I also think it’s worth mentioning that Neelix isn’t the only Voyager character to demand emotional responses from Tuvok. Tom Paris does this frequently too, and Tom is often more openly derisive toward Vulcan culture than Neelix is, but I haven’t seen many people mention this. At the same time, I think it’s worth mentioning that Tuvok is written inconsistently in regard to his respect for other cultures – particularly in relation to B’Elanna. There are several episodes where Tuvok is incredibly dismissive toward B’Elanna and her perspective, seeing her as being inherently more emotional and less rational because she is Klingon (a good example of this is in the episode Random Thoughts). Tuvok is far from the only character to do this to B’Elanna, and other characters such as Tom Paris do it more frequently. But I think it is absolutely worth pointing out that Tuvok is sometimes written as dismissive toward other species and cultures, measuring them by the standards of his own culture.

Fundamentally, whether you view Neelix or Tuvok or Tom Paris negatively because of the way they are written in these contexts is a complicated question. The writing of all three characters was hardly consistent across all of Voyager. I think it’s fair to argue, for example, that the writers who wrote Tuvok as saying racist things about B’Elanna were not writing Tuvok consistently with how he is portrayed in the rest of the show. Multiple readings of different characters can exist simultaneously, and sometimes multiple readings are equally supported by the text.

[colourful-void]

alright closing umineko for the night!! i had a great time with it so far!! i really like the writing style, and for the most part its actually a lot less dense than i was expecting. I thought it might be some house of leaves stuff but no this is pretty easy to read, at least so far! im rlly glad for that like it doesn't feel too simple, not too complicated, its good!

current character thoughts run down, though i've barely started so i dont know much yet: ginzo: he sucks he totally sucks and im convinced that he made some kidna deal w/ beatrice in order to take advantage of the earthquake and war and such. not entirely convinced hes not about to just murder the whole family bcs he seems like he would do that. krauss: also sucks. just a real dick, but in like. he's a standard asshole really. natsuhi: much in the same vien, but she's got that matriach of the family thing going on i hope will b explored more <3 jessica: she's neat i like her! looking forward to more on her. Eva: i was digging for her a while and then i saw how she treated shannon and it went out the window hideyoshi: ive yet to expirence a thought on this man George: he's very tropey in a good way and i enjoy he's friendly guy swag. looking forward to it inevitably falling to pieces rudolf: DICK!! kyrie: girl leave your husband. i can treat u better <3, im glad she has some decency but my mind aint set on her yet battler: HES SO CRINGEEEE <333333333333333333333333333333333333333333 sometimes he does genuinely offput me but mostly he's just stupid <3 rosa: be a bit nicer to ur daughter, but beyond that shes chill i think. no big thoughts here. i do like her dynamic in relation to the rest of the siblings so far maria: MARIA MY DARLING MY DEAREST SHES SO SWEET AND SILLY AND CLEARLY OMINOUS I CANT WAIT TO SEE WHAT DARK MAGICS OVERTAKE HER OR WHATEVER <333 maria for whatever the fuck she wants 2024 love her so much no crazy thoughts on the head butler or doctor but i think in a different world the butler and ginzo had crazy gay sex shannon: shes soooo sweetie <3 suspiciously so this game wants me to like her so bad and i do <3. i am aware of one key spoilery fact about shannon uncovered in some content warnings i recieved, but its kinda fun seeing the set up for that! everyone be nicer to my girl kanon: hes suspcious but overly so and i wonder what his deal is. i also think all the servants need to be treated better this fucking furnature stuff <3 its awful i love it narratively gohda: i think he would kill someone with very little hesitation. i wanna try that panna cotta. kumasawa: shes like a grandma to me <333 i like her!!

i havent met beatrice yet but im looking forward to it she looks super neat.

i also apperciate how slow burn this is, a few hours in and very little has happened yet it's nice. there's already a lot building but like. nothing big yet it's nice. i like it. it feels like it's moving at exactly the pace it wants to and i enjoy it a lot. the sound design is also rlly good. the music is really nice a couple times i got distracted and just listened to it in the bg. the sfx r nice too.

i do not regret my sprite choice i like these designs they're fun, but i do think maria looks a little off for her alleged age of 9, but it's easy to ignore after a min or two.ironically when i was loading the game and saw her on the steam page it def aligned better, but at the cost battler to my eyes is now yassified. he cant be a pretty boy to me he's too lame.

voice acting is great everyones putting fucking everyting into it and i enjoy that. fully commited to the enviroment and its great.

where i left off: everyone just finished having lunch! kumasawa covered for shannon not knowing the red sauce's ingredients. that's all for now! not sure when ill paly more, probably tomorrow, but its been good!! good game so far i like this setg up!! im also eagar to get more into the murder and violence and witch stuff but like, it does a good joib of setting up the characters so i dont feel impatient, and unlike a lot of games w/ murder n mystery that get right into it i kinda find it refreshing how slow this one is to start its like we all know itll get there so the tension of everyone being relatively calm is great.

anyway, umineko day 1: it was good =D

[hamliet]

So, Harry Potter ask here:

This one might sound a bit controversial to comment on, I hope it doesn't bother you. What is your opinion about the narrative redeeming Snape, a former Death Eater (the blood supremacists guys), just because of his guilt and love for Harry’s mother. I see a lot of discussions on this topic (Snape himself is already a controversial character, so I guess it's no surprise there are so many discussions around him), remembering you I got curious to know what your thoughts on this subject.

No worries!

I see Snape as a character who is far and away the most complex character of Harry Potter. Now, HP's a fairy tale in principle, so most of its characters are not overly complex. But Snape is (and so is Dumbledore). But I think some people can have trouble processing complex characters inside fairly straightfoward, simple stories, which isn't necessarily the fault of the story.

While She Who Must Not Be Named has had a lot of "..." takes to her own works (and horrid takes elsewise), I do think she's not wrong about her statement on Snape: that he was a hero, and he was a bully, both at the same time. He just was. There's no excusing his treatment of his students. His heroism and sacrifice without any guarantee that he would be remembered as anything other than a traitor was brave.

So, not only is Snape complex, but he embodies the old adage "hurting people hurt people." His childhood is also extremely hard to read about--it sounds agonizing. Snape does grow up to bully others because he was himself bullied horribly--not just by his peers, but at home, where his father abused both him and his mother.

Another potential stumbling block for Snape's "redemption" is that it gets to the heart of what a redemption is. Is it actually a change in character? Or is it a change in how the reader perceives the character? Because technically, in universe, Snape's been redeemed since before Harry was born. It's just that our reactions to him change after the reveal in the last book. And, he was still hurting people while being a hero. (Antihero?) So, how should we feel about him?

I'm going to say that's exactly the question we're supposed to be asking, actually.

And to determine what asking that question gets us, let's look at Snape as a foil to other characters. Snape is a very good foil for Dumbledore, Harry, and Voldemort. Actually, these four all foil each other quite a bit, and it's in their foilings that we come to an understanding of the story's themes.

Like Dumbledore, Snape is somewhat morally gray. We're meant to ask the complicated questions at the end of the last book, which was all about wrestling with the legacy of heroes who turned out to be very flawed. Snape is cruel to Harry, but is ultimately determined to keep him alive no matter what because that is what Lily would have wanted. Dumbledore is loving and a good mentor to Harry, but does all of this while knowing that Harry would have to die in the end. Snape even calls Dumbledore out on this. Dumbledore also allows Harry to stay in two abusive situations--the Dursleys and Snape--for the ultimate benefit of protecting him... so he can eventually sacrifice himself.

If someone is horrible to you but ultimately determined to keep you alive no matter what, are they a worse person to you than someone who is nice to you and believes you must die, even if they are devastated by this?

This is why I really roll my eyes at people not understanding the purpose of "Albus Severus Potter" at the end. It's so dismissed and derided, but it's narratively perfect. (Especially in! A! Fairy tale!)

The names aren't about Harry and how he feels about these men. They are names that are significant symbolically for showing how Harry has reconciled these two complicated legacies, and will keep reconciling with them because their legacies are literally alive and living on (and the weight of having legacies and the question of whether you're seen as yourself is exactly what The Cursed Child explores.)

In the end, both Snape and Dumbledore achieved their goals: Harry is alive, and he died to vanquish Voldemort. All is well. Their legacies live on in a literal new life, who gets to decide for himself what his own legacy will be in TCC. Meaning, even if Harry acknowledges their flaws, he chooses to appreciate their lives. Instead of being kept in the dark, ignorant about his endgame and ignorant of his mother's history, he sees, and he gets to determine how he feels about it all. It's empowerment, not capitulation. It's maturity, embodying the macrocosm (appreciating the big picture) in the microcosm (a single person). (Also, yes, Dumbledore's "the greater good" struggles with Gindelwald tie into this idea, wherein via Snape and Dumbledore's opposite approaches/reasoning to protecting Harry, we see that the greater good vs the individual is not necessarily a dichotomy after all. So having a character literally embody both in the end is--perfect.)

Snape, Harry, and Voldemort all grew up unloved. The difference is that Harry is able to find himself surrounded by loving friends at a point. Snape is able to find one person to love. Tom Riddle isn't able to find anyone, and hence he becomes Voldemort. That shred of love inside Snape saves not just himself spiritually, but Harry physically. Because love is like that. It's the most powerful magic, after all.

As for the whole idea of showing Snape as redeemable thanks to love--I mean, listen, as someone raised in a cult, people need to realize that people inside these cults--even extremist, evil ones--need someone or something to motivate them to leave. They were a person before their joined the cult (unless you were brought up in it) and they're still a person. Giving someone ties to the outside is exactly how most of them will come to realize they have options. No, not everyone has to forgive them or be willing to extend a hand. We can't be everything to everyone. But if someone can, that doesn't mean they're excusing the inexcusable. They're just recognizing the humanity inside them. And even if no one does, the person in the cult can decide to love someone and leave. It's hopeful. It's a fairy tale, and love wins.

[astroyongie]

IVE April Reading 2024

note: please take it lightly !

Yujin

Love: I won’t be able to talk about her love life in this reading as I believe that this isn't something that I should share. 

Career: a fight has erupted. I can't develop much with it because this is also somehow linked to her love life. so if i had to sum up in a way to convey a good message is that Yujin will have a very rough comeback and she might not shine as much as the other members (for the new things, here we are talking about the promotions for her that are to come and not those that were already prepared months ago)

Self: Her mental health is at stake here, there’s a lot of conflicts happening around her, a lot of things she has to through and to deal with which has pushed depressive episodes on her

Gaeul

Love: she is still in a relationship with the same person she was with in february and things seem to be going well for her. this person still supports her financially and they are close to her in all aspects 

Career: so without any surprise, this comeback will be exactly what she wants it to be. Gaeul i shavign what she asked (and not what the fans have asked) so bear that in mind. the company and her sponsor have wired hand in hand with this one 

Self: she is overly happy and okay, she has been spending time with her friends beside the preparations and her schedules and it does feel like Gaeul has shifted. she doesn't want to be the sad girl anymore but someone she is obsessed with. 

Rei

Love: it does seem like Rei has finally accepted this new relationship and she is currently dating what seems to be an idol of the same generation as her. i don't have much info about it other that the two are working on their relationships and still ont hat learning each other phase 

Career: as always things have been promised to her, she had believe on those and now that she is preparing for the comeback she is realizing that the company has once more lied to her or at least not kept the promises they had toward her 

Self: other than that she is okay, honestly the positive point in her life (as she sees it) is the fact that she is getting money from the hard work and that is her first motivation to move forward 

Wonyoung

Love: despite her breaking it off with her partner due to her sponsor, it does seem like Wonyoung is back at dating her person pushing away when demands of the sponsor she has. at the moment she is focused on her relationship and on the happiness that she is receiving from it and she is kinda of finally putting her feelings first 

Career: despite her relationship and obviously her sponsor is angry with her which has led to a lot of arguments with them but also with the company as a whole since they depend a lot on the money of this person. Wonyoung is trying to keep it low but things are complicated during this predation of the comeback 

Self: she is a dreamer and she is the type to move toward what she wants and right now what she wants is to feel her heart content with love and passion. these goals she has have somehow surpassed her needs on her career

Liz

Love: she is still in a  relationship with the same person and things haven't changed since the February reading. liz’s relationship is still chaotic, it's still unhealthy and toxic and things have been harsh to her but she has no courage in breaking it off

Career: she is exhausted. Out of all the members she is the one who has been working the most, the one who has been pushing herself the most because she wants to be on the same level as her members but that is taking a lot on her physical and mental health. this comeback is nothing but stress for her 

Self: Liz has been trying to see her family more and to balance her work, her relationship and her family because her family support is the only thing that have been kept her sane lately 

Leeseo

Love: without changing from february, Leeseo is still signal at the moment and she has been focusing on her career. however i do see that she has a crush on someone (idol) but she also has her hopes down because this person is currently dating so she hasn't tried anything on hem 

Career: she feels very tired as well. Just like Liz, this comeback seems to be taking a lot on her and she feels a difficulty in doing things straight. physically there’s the possibility that she surfers an injury and also she just feels overwhelmed with everything they have to do 

Self: her sponsor and the company have been giving her a lot of strength and she is close with them enough to be taken care of (as long as it doesn't interfere with their work). Leeseo tries to be strong for other people

[dragon-cookies]

Episode 7, here goes nothing

You are literally too perfect for this show sir

Why does Alastor have more screentime in Charlie's room than her literal girlfriend

WHY DO THEY LITERALLY SHARE A BED BEFORE WE SEE CHARLIE AND VAGGIE DO

He's so fucking happy listening to her trauma dump I hate him /pos

Oh yeah the whole "angels can be killed" was a plot point wasn't it lol

Damn Charlie why so bitter about Vaggie being an angel. Like I understand being upset she kept such a big secret from you but it's not like she didn't have her reasons? Vaggie probably just figured it'd be safest to pretend to be a demon since she couldn't return to Heaven

"Come now Alastor she's much too young for you" S T O P

OH SHIT actual verbal confirmation Alastor's ace?? I was NOT expecting that

Cannibal Town is lovely design-wise but the characters dressed in red on a background is getting hard to look at

Rosie's design is pretty nice too, her design isn't too overly complicated

Carmilla: *makes it clear she doesn't want to help Vaggie fight angels* Also Carmilla: *immediately starts teaching Vaggie how to fight angels* Make it make sense ma'am

"It's not like you've ever failed to inspire before" Al I don't think Charlie's managed to inspire anyone once but okay

Susan.

I also just realized, wouldn't you think Vaggie would know something about how to kill an angel since she is one? Or at the very least know their weak points?

Oh okay so Vaggie didn't even know she herself could be harmed, fair enough I suppose

Wait so the angels' main weakness is their own weapons? And no one has figured this out until just now???

Carmilla's design looks way better with her hair down imo

It is honestly a crime Vaggie has such little screentime as she does, because the more I see of her the more I like her. It's also so frustrating Charlie basically just cut her off the second she found out she was an angel when her whole goal is redeeming people?? Charlie why are you fine with every other character calling you a bitch and Alastor literally owning peoples' souls but completely shun your own girlfriend because she (understandably imo) kept a secret from you??

And even after Charlie shunned her Vaggie is STILL 100% dedicated to supporting her cause and is willing to fight to keep her safe. Vaggie you deserve so much better

Aw Al giving Charlie his mic is sweet, what can I say. Characters trusting another character with a prized possession of theirs gets me

Hmmmm Al and Rosie's duet sounds a little sus. Sounds like Al wants to shape Charlie into something specific. Maybe in order to take over Hell or something??

Charlie why you making that face about your girlfriend's wings, what are you thinking about

Also really kinda wish these two actually sat down and had a talk together, but we already know this show has zero down time, so onto the finale I guess. So, so much of this show's pacing could be fixed if these characters just sat down and talked to each other. Charlie specifically should be spending more time with all the characters she claims to care about, but I'd be willing to bet money she's not Viv's favorite character lmao

I feel like this show was really scared it wasn't going to get another season, so they just crammed as much stuff as they could into 8 episodes. Which, now that it's been renewed for another season, what exactly are they planning on doing going forward? Ease up on the lightning-fast pacing or just keep the same momentum? If it gets more than two seasons I honestly have no clue what they're going to do story-wise because pretty much everything is being wrapped up neatly. Ah well, I guess time can only tell

[lagoonalake]

Could you do Blackpink ideal types too please?

BLACKPINK IDEAL TYPE

JISOO

Personality: 6 of swords, page of pentacles, the sun

I think Jisoo wants something different than what she had before. Probably she was attracted to more mature, powerful partners, but now she wants to feel connected to her inner child, she wants something more light-hearted, not too controlling, stable but not in a way that she’d feel trapped. She wants a sense of fun and to feel young again. Not that she’s old at all, but she may have felt like her youth has been wasted and now she wants to feel that joy with a partner who is not too complicated, funny, cute, here to help, humble. very radiant and easygoing. Could be younger than her or just have a youthful personality. virgo, leo, libra

Appearance: queen of swords, the hanged man, the high priestess

Someone who comes across as a bit cold, intimidating, closed off, who could even look a bit bored and detached, sleepy even. Someone mysterious, not easy to approach. Someone sophisticated, elegant, refined, nice clothes, regal. A bit snobbish. More traditionally beautiful. Clean cut. Thick hair. Well groomed. Lighter skintone.  capricorn, aquarius, saturn

Turn offs: 10 of wands, 8 of swords, 6 of cups

Someone who is working too much and has no time for her, who is always tired, who takes too much responsibilities, gives too much to others and not enough to her, and who does that out of insecurity, because they want others to love them, thank them. This kind of calculated, controlling behavior that mostly comes from ego. The kind who is going to do something nice for her and then ask for praise or feedback.  leo, pisces, cancer

JENNIE

Personality: page of cups, king of pentacles, 3 of swords

Someone who can be romantic, kind, sensitive and artistic, with a certain innocence, but also very stable, mature, well established, in control. With the 3 of swords, it’s possible that she rarely gets those two characteristics in one person, and she tends to be either with one or the other but is never really satisfied. The first type fulfills her emotionally, the second type makes her feel safe and protected. She needs to find someone who has both of these qualities. She could have a tendency to be involved in love triangles/forbidden romances or to be attracted to/attract tricksters or manipulators. water and earth signs, pluto

Appearance: ace of swords, 7 of wands, page of swords

Someone who looks combative, fierce, masculine, sexy and also a bit youthful and mischievous at the same time. Cute smile, someone who looks like he’s up to something, in this cute sassy way. expressive laugh. Almond shaped eyes. Thick eyebrows. Strong body, a nice torso especially. Someone who looks active, both in body and mind. Good posture. An aura of confidence. A more outdoorsy look and style. Alluring voice, eyes shining with mirth. mars, mercury, aries, gemini

Turn offs: the magician, 10 of pentacles, the world

Manipulative tricksters, people who are two faced, hypocrites, people who are overly friendly with her because they are interested in her money and status. And here again we have those very stable well established characteristics she is attracted to, but on its own she also finds it unattractive, as she also doesn’t want to be with someone only interested in money, overly concerned about their career, extremely practical with no room for emotions. gemini, mercury, virgo, capricorn

ROSE

Personality: 7 of swords, the high priestess, knight of cups

She tends to be attracted to very romantic people who won’t hesitate to show their interest. People who are a bit mysterious, artistic, spiritual. On the surface they seem to have that romantic depth but she could also be attracted to tricksters, people who are not what they seem. People who try to impress her with their knowledge, very artistic, cultured, who knows a bunch of things about random and diverse topics. More feminine in essence, soft, affectionate type of energy, at least on the surface. Someone she can share, laugh and communicate with a lot.  pisces, neptune, gemini, aquarius

Appearance: death, 2 of pentacles, 10 of wands

The typical “emo” look, to put it simply. Rocker vibes. Dark features, maybe pale skin, but definitely a dark quality even if the colors aren’t dark. A messy kinda dirty sort of look. She can be attracted to people who look a bit weary or tired even. She doesn’t like a look that’s too clean. Ripped clothes. Tattoos. Longer messy hair. More skinny, or pronounced bone structure, hollow cheeks. Damiano David type of appearance.  scorpio, pisces, saturn 

Turn offs: king of pentacles, king of wands, 4 of swords

All those narcissistic powerful figures who don’t have much of a brain and only have their money, status and power to impress, but not any particular talent nor anything to say. People who are a bit dumb and shallow. Older people who are a bit boring but are interested in her because of her fame. I feel like she had to deal with those types a lot. negative taurus, leo, capricorn

LISA

Personality: 9 of cups, page of coins, 4 of cups

Someone very chill, possibly even a bit lazy? XD Someone youthful, who has a lot of comfort to offer, or just wants a peaceful lifestyle. Something comfortable and loving. Both the emotional connection and stability are important but especially the emotional connection. Slow kind of energy. Someone who doesn’t have much anxiety, is rather calm, happy. Who likes to enjoy all the good things in life. A bit self indulgent. Could be attracted to rich nepo babies who don’t have to do much and act a bit whiny at times (I literally have no idea if her current bf is that type of rich “son”, but this is what this spread is giving lol). Still a kind, loyal and somewhat sensitive person. jupiter, sagittarius, pisces, taurus

Appearance: queen of wands, 10 of wands, 5 of wands

Someone who could look like her a bit, or mirror her looks. Someone who looks important, impressive, maybe very tall, or simply because of who they are, she can show them off. Rather masculine. A bit of a haughty, cocky expression. Fierce looks. Ripped body, muscular. Victorious smile. Strong eyebrows. Confident posture, expressive.  mars, aries, sagittarius

Turn offs: 2 of cups, strength, queen of cups

Someone a bit corny and naive, overly romantic, she prefers a certain simplicity, and isn’t really interested in any whirlwind type of romance or that soulmate bs. XD Someone who is too controlled, too uptight, too disciplined, cold, distant. Always on the defensive or establishing a power struggle within the relationship. She just wants to chill. 

cancer, neptune, leo, capricorn