#I highly doubt I will really do much with it though. that’s half the reason she just exists as the doll /lh

[flowering-darkness]

To follow on from that last ask answer:

Lorenza’s succubus companion (screen left) compared to her initial form directly after the Flood of Darkness (centre) ..compared to her form directly before the Flood of Darkness (top)

And if you want to know the full story (Endwalker spoilers for the last picture, technically)..

This is (my in-game recreation of) her counterpart shard ^-^

(Cessair is apparently an Irish name meaning “sorrow” or “affliction”, so part of me is tempted to call her Thirteenth counterpart Tristezza, which means “sorrow” in Italian. But I’m not sure if I will go that far yet; my focus is moreso on Cessair herself. I have quite inexplicably gotten attached to her despite this encyclopaedia entry and Cait Sith’s dialogue during the Shadows of Mhach quests being just about the only information to exist regarding her. When Lorenza enters the Source in the main story, it is the third time she has done so. Appearing to Cessair in the Fifth Astral Era was the second! The first was to the Allagans.

How do I know Cessair had counterpart shards, you might ask? Because you can see her unsundered self in the game as well - next to Cait Sith, at that!)

(..You would not believe how much trouble I had to go through to unmask her and the others. But I got there in the end!)

Thank you to anyone who has taken the time to read this ^-^ I’m just having fun here, hehe

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Do you know if Riddle, or Tray, ever stands up to his mother? I think i saw it in a Pinterest post once of teen Riddle being slapped by his mom and Tray taking him away.

His background is sadder than Shoto Todoroki from BNHA

We don’t really get to hear about how things are going back home with Mrs. Rosehearts outside of one brief instance. In 4-3, Riddle is leaving for winter break and mentions he intends on speaking with his mother, though he isn’t optimistic about her listening.

Trey states in the same part of the story that he isn’t allowed at Riddle’s house (because Mrs. Rosehearts has banned him). However, Riddle is still invited to visit him and Chenya at the Clover family bakery (though it’s very unlikely Riddle would be able to, since he hasn’t canonically seen Chenya again since the unbirthday party of book 1).

We never get a follow-up on how the conversation between Riddle and his mother went. It’s never touched upon again, and his mom isn’t really brought up beyond this case. (I did happen to write a short piece about Trey, Riddle, and Mrs. Rosehearts interacting though, if you were interested in seeing my own interpretation of this idea.)

Riddle spends most of his time at NRC since it’s a boarding school, meaning there are few opportunities for him to directly interact with his mother. Even if Mrs. Rosehearts were readily accessible to him, I highly doubt we would get to witness Riddle or Trey doing much to talk back to her. As we see in book 4, Riddle is still quite meek and uncertain when it comes to speaking with his mom. Trey, meanwhile, is generally very non-confrontational and may still be dealing with his own complicated feelings about interfering with what are family matters. (Recall that the last time he encouraged Riddle to be adventurous, it resulted in his friend being severely punished and Trey may harbor guilt over this occurrence.) I feel that neither of them would realistically develop the courage to talk back to Mrs. Rosehearts when only like half a year has passed since Riddle’s OB incident as opposed to like seventeen years of Riddle living under her rules.

***CONTENT WARNING: I will be discussing abuse at length under the cut, so please be advised to avoid reading further if the topic makes you uncomfortable.***

Regarding the comic you saw on Pinterest, it is fan art. That is in no way canonical; Mrs. Rosehearts may be very stern and have a temper, but she has never slapped or otherwise put a hand on Riddle. The closest thing we get to a slap is this panel from the manga adaptation, which isn’t even a slap. You can tell from the movement lines and the FWP sfx that Mrs. Rosehearts is just quickly pulling her arm away since Riddle is trying to latch onto it in an attempt to get her to listen to his protests. There is also no mark on Riddle or harsh slap sfx to indicate contact was made.

Now then 💦 There's something very serious and relevant to this ask I'd actually like to discuss, so I hope you'll stick around to hear me out on this.

I know none of us really like Mrs. Rosehearts (which is fair, she has done a lot of terrible things to her son). However, I think it's dangerous for us to speak about her as though she's a total monster and nothing more than a monster. I'm NOT going to stand here and advocate that she has done nothing wrong (she definitely has committed many wrongs). What I'm saying is that I don't agree with her being treated like "just" an abuser.

Let's say we do demonize Mrs. Rosehearts. We see only her negative traits and allow those to define her entire character. This creates a scenario in which she is alienated and dehumanized, left as a caricature of a woman that is solely known for hurting her child. But the thing is, this ISN’T how abuse really works. Few abusers are completely wicked people through and through. Part of the reason why it is so difficult for victims to leave their abusers is because abusers almost never start off abusive. They usually act totally normal, and the abuse often doesn’t come until later or specific situations arise. It creeps up on you in an almost insidious manner, and you don’t expect it coming. I’d also like to mention that abusers often don’t act with the intentional thought of, “Yeah, what I’m doing/saying is abusive”. Abusers typically justify their actions or convince themselves they are acting out of goodness. They don’t do bad things “because they’re bad people”, they do bad things because they think they’re GOOD people. Some abusers may even be victims themselves.

By painting abusers (even fictional ones) as cartoonishly evil, irredeemable, or always cruel, it makes it harder for us to believe the very real danger that we, whom we see as “good” people, could become “bad” ourselves. It makes it harder to believe victims when they report abuse because “oh, the abuse isn’t THAT bad”. It erases the idea that abusers are also human, and that humans have the capacity to be awful sometimes or to perpetuate hurt. It makes it so much harder to identify abuse because we’d only be looking for the most extreme examples of it rather than noticing the small, subtle signs. By “othering” abusers, it’s inadvertently denying so many nuances of abuse... which ultimately is counterproductive.

I would like to point out that even in the example provided of another abusive parent, Endeavor is portrayed with some nuance. He physically and verbally abused his wife, neglected the children he deemed worthless, and pushed the child he deemed to be his successor to the brink. However, Endeavor is also shown to remember a detail as small as his (arranged) wife’s favorite flower when she only told him about it once. He is notably much more lenient when training his first son, who didn’t have the ideal Quirk he sought. Endeavor at one point even confesses to pursuing being a hero in order to avoid the demands of fatherhood, which demonstrates a realistic insecurity and vulnerability… his humanity.

The same could be true for Mrs. Rosehearts. We only assume he is “just an abuser” because we see her in such a limited scope. There are valid reasons to believe why she is a “good” person outside of how we see her acting in Riddle’s recollections, and this may help to explain why Riddle feels so hesitant to “stand up” to her. I would really recommend reading this post, which goes a lot more in-depth about the complications surrounding Riddle’s relationship with his mother. Again, I am in NO WAY defending Mrs. Rosehearts; I am only pointing out that abusers—no matter how horrible their actions—have identities beyond the label of “abuser” that should be acknowledged.

[cressidagrey]

Romance is not dead if you keep it just yours- Chapter 6: Oriana Fireborn Belmond, Goldsmith, Enchantress, Mate

Summary:

5 Times Cassian thought that Azriel had feelings for somebody and then 1 time he finally met the girl his brother was in love with.

Warnings:

Rhys Bashing

Notes:

I put a lot of world building into this. If you don't recognise it from canon, I probably invented. Or I forgot that canon existed.

(thanks to @firefly-graphics for the super pretty dividers!)

“Where’s Az?” Cassian asked. They were supposed to have their weekly meeting at the River House. Rhys was there, of course, he was…but Azriel was nowhere to be seen. 

“He’s not with you?” Rhys asked, brows furrowing. 

“No. I thought he was in Winter?” There had been talk about exchanging intelligence with the Winter Court in connection to Spring and whatever Tamlin was up to these days. 

“He came home last evening. The whole thing was a bust,” Rhys said with a sigh. “He got stuck in a bloody ravine,” he recounted with a shake of his head. 

Cassian pulled a grimace. That didn’t sound particularly great. 

“How bad was it?” he asked. “Was he hurt badly?”

“He said he was fine,” Rhys waved him off.” 

“And you believed him?” Cassian asked incredulously. He highly doubted that one could just walk off a freaking ravine. Even with the quick healing of a High Fae. 

“He’s a grown-up,” Rhys said tightly. “Besides, my worry wasn’t appreciated.”

“Have you tried reaching out?” Cassian wondered. “It’s not like him to be late.” Azriel was punctual to a fault. 

He watched Rhys's expression tighten for a moment in concentration and Cassian waited. 

Rhys swallowed. 

“Nothing,” he finally said quietly. “I get absolutely nothing , Cass. He’s not out of my range, but I get nothing .”

That…That really wasn’t good. 

He wasn’t dead. That was something though.

“That’s not good ,” he breathed. It was absolutely horrible. Because it meant that Azriel wasn’t simply asleep. Even if knocked out, Rhys would probably be able to get something. But to get nothing? Nothing at all?

“No,” Rhys agreed. 

“I’ll go check on his house,” Cassian volunteered. “It’s as good a place to start as any.” Especially when the reason why Azriel couldn’t talk to Rhys was far worse than what they imagined. “See if he arrived back home.”

“I’ll check in with Nuala and Cerridwen,” Rys agreed.  “Let me know once you know.” Rhys hesitated for a moment. “Thank you, Cassian.”

“He’s my brother too,” Cassian gave back quietly. “Let me know if you get anything.”

The worry that churned in his gut…that was something else entirely as Cassian took flight towards Azriel’s house. 

If he was asleep Rhys would have been able to prod him awake, if he was knocked out, Rhys would probably get something. But to get nothing? That wasn’t good at all. 

He landed in the forest and then he promptly needed 5 minutes, before he realised that the wards that were set around the property had been gently redirecting Cassian away from it, without him even knowing. 

He had never experienced something like that. 

It pissed him off to no avail, that much was certain though.

They were also definitely not set by Azriel’s magic. He knew his brother's magic, knew the taste and feel of it, the way it moved…

Rhys’ magic felt like an avalanche. Azriel’s magic felt like the eye of a storm, perfectly still until it wasn’t, turning into a hurricane in a blink. 

And this magic…this magic was different from anything he had ever felt in his fucking life. 

It was similar still to Azriel’s…but it heated in warning when Cassian pushed back against it. 

And then because he was a fucking idiot, Cassian decided that using brute magical strength to force himself through these wards was the way to go. 

The magic turned into a fucking inferno in response.

The fact that it burned off half of his fucking hair did not make it any better either. 

The magic receded and he tackled the female that was waiting for him into the ground before she could do anything to him. 

“Who are you?” He demanded his knife pressing against her throat. He was quite certain as he took her in that he had never seen a Fae that looked like her. And she was a High Fae, her ears gave that away.

Her skin was pitch black, her hair the same colour braided away from her face…lips painted a deep berry colour. 

She didn’t say a word, didn’t need to, not when her eyes, her fucking eyes, gave it all away. 

If her magic had seemed like fire, her eyes were the fire. There was hellfire burning in them, faces flickering like they would reach out and burn him at a moment’s notice.

“You destroyed my ward!” She hissed at him.

“You burned off my hair!” He snapped right back at her. 

“You are holding a knife to my throat!”

Well, he did. Then it grew so hot in his hand that he had no choice but to let it clatter against the floor where it turned into a bloody puddle of metal. 

“You melted that!“ He realised as he saw the expression on her face. He moved to replace his knife with his bare hands but her skin was so hot against his, that he was sure he was going to have blisters all over his hands if he kept that up. 

And then her hand moved far quicker than he had thought she would be able and she had a knife in her own hand. He caught her wrist before she could stab him with it, glaring at her. 

“Who are you?” He asked her. What was she? 

“Who are you?” She snapped right back at him. “You are the one who destroyed my wards !”

“You are the one who is here at my brother’s house !“ he snapped.

The last thing he had expected was for her to relax against the ground, no longer fighting against him and looking at him with her eyes still blazing…and then she said three words: “I live here.”

“You live here,“ he repeated unbelievingly. And then as he took a breath, suddenly her scent caught in his nose. 

His brother‘s scent was all over her. Azriel’s scent. 

Mist and cedar…now joined with jasmine and burning wood. There wasn’t a single question left. 

 “You are Azriel’s mate,“ he realised, staring at her. She stared right back, unflinching. 

He had spent weeks thinking about who Azriel was seeing and now there she was. Right in front of him. Literally nothing like what he had expected. 

But then… Azriel had always chosen the unexpected. 

“Wow, you are a genius,” she drawled. Her voice was dripping with disdain.“What gave it away, the fact that I am in his house or that I smell like him?” 

“You…since when…” he stuttered. This wasn’t how he had expected this to go down. He had thought that one day, Azriel was going to bring her to dinner and they would all get to meet her. And not that he would tackle her to the floor and she would melt his fucking knife. “How?” He blurted out. 

“I think you know how mating works, Oh mighty Lord of Bloodshed.“ She was talking to him like he was an idiot and he was pretty sure that he deserved it. 

“Azriel has never mentioned you,“ he defended himself. 

“Then maybe you should think about why .“ Her words were piercing. He could just stare at her, as she shifted underneath him. 

When Azriel found out about that he was going to kill him. Cassian was certain of that.

“Truce?” He suggested.

“Get off me , you big brute,“ she muttered as he rolled off her and gained his feet holding out a hand for her. She didn’t need it. Not when suddenly a cloud of shadows came to help her, hefting her up like she weighed nothing. 

They disappeared again, though they seeingly clung to her hands as she waved them away, one of them wrapping around her throat like it belonged there. 

He worked hard to keep the horror of his face. He had seen these shadows do the same thing a number of times under very different circumstances. But with her...with Oriana, they treated her like she was a precious thing. Treated her with all the care they were capable off. 

He swallowed. He had not once seen his brother’s shadows act like that. But then…he had never once met Azriel’s mate. 

“My name is Cassian,” he finally introduced himself, scratching his neck. He had rarely been that wrongfooted with somebody in his life. 

“I know,” she gave back, something like amusement blending into her voice.

“May I know your name?” he prodded as she seemed unwilling to give her more. 

“Oriana,” she told him. 

“No surname?” he wondered, she just cocked her head to the side. 

“Don’t you have one?  she gave back, clearly unwilling to let a single thing slide. 

“I am a bastard,” he gave back. “I don’t have one.” 

“Fireborn or Belmond, it depends on who you’re asking,” she finally answered. 

Fireborn. That seemed more like some kind of honorific, like shadowsinger, and less like a surname. 

“I am looking for Azriel,” he finally said quietly. “He was supposed to be in a meeting. Rhys can’t reach him. He could be in trouble.” 

He was sure that she would help him, if only because her instincts would tell her to. 

What he didn’t expect was the laugh she barked out, no amusement in her voice. 

“Oh, he is in trouble. With me,” she told him, her voice harsh. “He’s unconscious. That’s why Rhysand can’t reach him.”

Unconscious. That didn’t sound good. 

“He’s here?” Cassian asked and she just nodded. “Can I see him?” he requested. Oriana was Azriel’s mate but Cassian had been his brother longer than that. And he wanted to see him. Make sure that Azriel got everything he needed and that he didn’t need to go fetch Madja because Azriel wasn’t healing. 

“Do you promise me not to destroy our house?” Oriana asked drily.  “I’ll burn you to a fucking crisp if I need to.”

He was taken aback by that outburst. 

“You have a dirty mouth, you know,” he told her drily. She just held his gaze. He nodded.

Cassian followed along as she turned on her heel to march into the house. 

It was still the same house Azriel had shown him, but it was obvious that it had…well. Definitely been lived in by somebody other than just his brother. There was art on the wall, metallic sculptures of sorts, modern furniture, a couch…chairs that easily would be able to accommodate wings…bits and pieces that Azriel would have never bothered with before, but Oriana clearly did. 

He swallowed when he spotted a greenish linen tablecloth spread over the kitchen table, where Oriana had clearly been cooking something. 

“I don’t actually. You just caught me at an ill-time. After I spent a few hours yesterday wondering if my mate is going to die on me,” she answered, her voice so sharp that he could have cut himself on it. 

“What’s wrong with him?” he asked as she led him to what must be their bedroom. She hesitated before she opened the door. He could swear he saw a ward disappear at her touch like she had even warded Azriel before she had left him alone to go meet him outside. 

“He’s bruised extensively, and I didn’t think it was anything but that at first,” she said quietly. “He had a headache…we both thought he was just tired…he woke up three hours later vomiting blood and losing consciousness.”

Fuck. 

“He had inner bleeding in the abdomen. The healer told me all that was wrong with him but after that I just…” she trailed off, opening the door. 

Azriel was on his back, wings spread out over the bed, the whole thing surrounded by a dome of a greenish tint of sorts. 

Cassian had never seen anything like that.  

“Don’t touch it, please,” Oriana requested, her voice quiet. “It’s a healing trance. We use it in the mountain…I have it on a very good account that he’ll be fine. He was bleeding out from within. Which would have been caught if he had gone to a healer after his mission and didn’t come home to me immediately, because I quote I missed you .” There was anger in these words, but also sadness and not a small amount of love. It was all there, able to be heard by anybody who heard her speak about his brother. 

He swallowed, taking in the violent bruises on Azriel’s face, the swelling of one eye…the steady rise and fall of his chest, the bandages…the blanket that was pulled up over him…the ugliest thing that Cassian had ever seen consisting out of mismatched squares of knitting, no two the same. 

“Are you a healer?” he wondered. Who had put Azriel into a healing trance? 

“Do I look like a healer to you?  My bedside manner would be more than questionable,” Oriana said with a snort.

It would have been amusing in any other situation. 

“What are you then?” Cassian asked curiously. What did she do? What was she what she spend her time with? There was no question that Oriana was a magical powerhouse of sorts. 

“Does it matter?” Oriana wondered, leaning against the door. “By Trade? An Enchantress. By Creed? A goldsmith. By heritage? Half High Fae from the Autumn Court, half Tartera Faerie living in the mountain. By Love? His mate. And that will always come first.”

The truth was clear in her words.  

Still, he swallowed. An Enchantress. That was rare. It explained a lot though.

“Emotionally? Completely pissed off at Azriel, right now,” she added, her voice breaking. “And at your precious High Lord when we are already at it.”

“Rhys?” Cassian wondered aloud. “What has he done?”

“Send Azriel on his merry way,” Oriana said quietly. “He wouldn’t have even been there if it wasn’t for him. Azriel thought the whole thing was a bad idea, but Rhysand insisted.” 

Damnit. 

“He wouldn’t have done that if he thought that something was wrong,” Cassian said carefully. 

Oriana snorted.  

“You don’t believe me,” he said drily and she shrugged. 

“Let’s just say that I have a list of problems with him, and this is just the last one I added to it,” she admitted her voice even. 

“With Rhys?” Cassian said, brows rising. “What had he done to you?”

“To me personally? Nothing. To Azriel? I have a list,” Oriana said, sticking out her chin, and crossing her arms. 

Ouch. Rhys was in it for it.

And Cassian didn’t think for one moment that some singed-off hair and a melted knife was the worst thing that Oriana Fireborn could dish out if she put her mind to it. 

 “Does he know about you?” Cassian wondered. Had Rhys known about her? About Azriel and her. 

“Rhysand knows off me. There is a difference,” Oriana said carefully.   “If you ever want to annoy him you should ask him about his last trip to talk to Custodian of the Mountain…oh about 200 years ago? And what happened to his favourite jacket.”

“There is a story there, isn’t there?”  Cassian said with some amusement and she just shrugged. 

He was very curious about what exactly had gone down then. But that wasn’t the most pressing thing. 

“He’ll be fine?” he asked once again. Oriana just nodded. 

“He’ll be perfectly fine. A healer will check on him in an hour or so,” she said quietly. 

Clearly, she took care of what was hers. 

“Thank you,” he said softly, watching Azriel’s still form. 

“He’s my mate ,”  she spat out. “I did it for him, not for you.” 

“I know that,” Cassian said softly, meeting her eyes, the flames flickering. There was a unique kind of beauty in there, the way the flames were alive in her eyes. “Thank you for loving my brother.” 

Something inside her eased. “He’s very easy to love,” Oriana said quietly. 

“Will you let me know when he’s awake?” he asked and she nodded. 

“I’ll have the shadows sent a note,”  she agreed quietly. “The healer said another day or so.”

“Thank you,” Casisna thanked her again, turning his back to his brother and she led him out of the house. 

She was quiet, sunken in thought and as he turned to tell her goodbye, suddenly it burst out of her. 

“Were you the one who told him that he would need to pay for sex because he’s so disgusting that that is the only way he could get somebody to pretend to care for him?” She spat out. 

It was the last thing Cassian had expected. 

“ What ?”

“I am paraphrasing. I imagine the real sentence was more along the lines that if he wanted sex he should go to a pleasure hall and better pay for it,” Oriana corrected herself. “I just ask, because he took it to mean something very different.”

Cassian swallowed. That…It was... He didn’t even have words for it. He couldn’t…He couldn’t even think of a moment where anybody would have…why would…

“Were you the one?” Oriana demanded and he just shook his head. 

“He’s my brother,” Cassian said fiercely. “I would never say something like that to him.” She met his eyes, her own burning with an intensity that terrified him.

“Somebody did,” she said very carefully.  “I am putting you on notice, I don’t fucking care who it was, but if I find out, I am going to put them on fire.”

He didn’t doubt that for one moment.

“I’ll help,” he muttered darkly. “I’ll hold them down for you.” 

She gave him a smile that reminded him of Nesta in some way, sharp and biting. 

“Then we have an accord.”

[ryuryuryuyurboat]

the most beautiful time of the year

synopsis: the happiest season of all.

genre: fluff

characters: albedo x gn! reader, klee cameo (platonic)

warnings: reader referred to in 2nd pov, klee pov for first half, then switches to albedo pov, cheek kiss

a/n: hehe hi @xcyphoz0a!! so sorry for the wait, but surprise! i'm your secret santa for @astronetwrk’s secret santa event >:) i hope you like this gift<3 merry christmas! likes, reblogs and comments highly appreciated!!

©2023 ryuryuryuyurboat. do not repost, translate, plagiarise, or modify in any way, shape or form.

masterlist

there were three reasons why klee loved having you as her babysitter.

one: you didn’t punish her with ‘solitary confinement’ when she accidentally splattered paint on the walls, much unlike big brother albedo’s coworker— miss jean.

two: you were pretty and great fun to play with. 

three: having you over meant big brother albedo was happy! that pink hue on his cheeks must mean he loves you, right? if big brother was happy, then klee was even happier! now, if only you could come over more often so that she could avoid miss jean big brother could come out of his room more often instead of staying in there with his experiments…

klee knew there were also three reasons why albedo loved having you help babysit her.

one: you knew exactly how to calm her down and keep her occupied with activities that were… less destructive than what she normally endeavoured to do.

two: klee loved having you over.

three: it gave him opportunities to sit at one side and fill up his sketchbook with more drawings (featuring you). though he’d vehemently deny it ever happened if you asked. weird.

albedo watches from afar as you run after a really excited klee– well, who wouldn’t? it was a beautiful day, with yet another year nearing its end, the sun was out, and the snow on the cold ground had thickened just enough, and– 

“no, klee, don’t eat the snow!” his eyes zeros in on a frantic you holding klee’s wrist, fretting like a worried parent, your cries of “it’s dirty, you don’t know what’s been on it, don’t pick it up off the ground!” going unheard under bubbly peals of laughter. 

a fond smile grows on his face. what a sight to behold. a page of his sketchbook is filled.

he observes as you chase after klee armed with a snowball, while she runs to take cover behind the little snowman you both made not too long ago, wild shouts of merriment filling the air. his pencil moves smoothly on the new page of his sketchbook. it would’ve been a shame if he were unable to capture this lovely scene before him.

he looks over at your cold, flushed faces and noses red from the biting cold, glee all over your face as you bend, hands on knees, panting out a “i think i need a break,” before collapsing onto the snow spreadeagled. klee, concerned for your health, comes running over, only to be dragged down onto the ground with a surprise tickle attack from you– it soon becomes a lesson on how to make the perfect snow angel. an angelic scene, if he said so himself. he flips to a new page on his sketchbook.

when you both had fully exhausted yourselves, trudging back up to the comfort of the house, klee stops and points at something over his head. confused, he looks up– what should have been a glaucous blue bauble had somehow been replaced by an all-too-familiar looking plant. 

you stop right in front of him just as he feels his heart stop, your lips parting– would words he’s been yearning so long for come out of your mouth? he feels a tingle on the back of his neck— a familiar sensation, no doubt— was it nerves? was it your hand?

nope, none of that.

he shivers as you mash a snowball (previously hidden in the palm of your hand) into the back of his neck, your lips upturned in a cheeky grin— but before he can react, you lean in and press a chaste kiss to his cheek. 

he doesn’t hear the badly-stifled giggles from klee, who peeked out from behind a wall with a devious grin, nor does he feel his sketchbook slipping from his hand.

albedo thinks he might be in love.

taglist: @yinyinggie @lynyluvr @kazemiya @meidnightrain (send ask to be added to taglist!)

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[callmehere-iwillappear]

not sure if it really counts as propaganda for @tmntaucompetition since neither au is actually participating this year but i loved cmh and imbi leos being friends last year so i wanted to write a little something for them again. uuhh enjoy (also imbi is by @dandylovesturtles go read it if you haven't!!)

“Can’t believe they forgot about me,” Leo complains overdramatically, as he and his brothers walk into the venue for this year’s competition. “I mean, just because I’m invisible –”

“I highly doubt that’s the reason you weren’t invited to participate this year,” Donnie says, rolling his eyes. “There was something about getting your name submitted, I think?”

“Awww,” Leo says, despite not really caring that much. This year’s theme is based on the different decades – something about a singing and dance competition? And while they've established he can sing if there's a crystal in the microphone, nobody else can see him dance, so. He wouldn't be able to participate in half the event anyway. He's still going to be dramatic about it, though. Duh. “Can’t believe none of my loyal fans stepped up, in that case.” 

He stops just inside the door and looks around, taking everything in. It looks… very different from last year – there’s no basketball court to be seen, for one thing. Lots of new faces, too – and a few familiar ones. No one who seems to notice him, at least not yet. Maybe one or two of the new guys will be able to see him, if he’s lucky. But that can wait – he has someone else he needs to find. 

After several minutes of scanning the crowds of competitors, though, he doesn’t see the particular turtle he’s looking for, and he sighs in disappointment. 

“Is he not here?” Raph asks, and Leo shakes his head.

“Nope,” he says, glum. “He was probably just busy this time with the whole – curse thing. Or he didn’t get invited either.”

“That's too bad,” Mikey says, sympathetic. “Do you still wanna stick around, or should we head home early?”

Leo shakes his head. It's… nice of Mikey to offer, but he knows they (especially Donnie) are excited about this whole thing. Getting to meet the friends they made last year, who can actually see them. Getting to make new ones. Getting to exchange more notes about the multiverse, in Donnie's case. He doesn't want to take that from them. 

Besides, like he said – there's no way of knowing one of the new guys won't be able to see him, right? Who knows, maybe he'll be able to make some new friends too. A guy can dream. 

“Nah,” he says, not voicing any of that. “It'll still be fun to watch, and I can always cheer for you guys’ friends.”

There's a moment of awkward silence while the other three look at each other, before Raph sighs and nods. “Okay, but let us know if you do want to leave, alright?”

“Of course.” Leo flashes a grin, then gestures towards the stands. “C’mon, we should go find some seats before all the good ones fill up.”

They make their way over to the bleachers and start looking for a good place to sit. It's already started filling up, but Raph manages to spot a row with enough space for all four of them (if they set something down in Leo's spot so no one else takes it), and they start heading up to it. 

There's a lot of chatter from various groups of turtles they pass by, so there's no reason for any one thing in particular to stand out. And yet –

“I dunno, guys, I don't think this is enough blankets,” comes a familiar voice from a row over. And, okay, they're all variations of the same people, so technically all their voices would be ‘familiar’ – but. But. Even if they're the same people originally, there are still those variations. Someone's voice might be a little higher. A little lower. A little rougher, like maybe they're not used to using it again quite yet. 

Or maybe it's something a bit harder to put a finger on. Whatever it is, it has Leo snapping his head around, stopping in his tracks halfway to their seats. Someone calls his name, waves a hand through him, but he ignores them, too focused on finding where that voice came from. 

It doesn't take more than a few seconds to spot the only Leo bundled up in blankets, his brothers hovering over him worriedly, and – 

Leo's knees go weak. He manages to keep himself standing, just barely, but honestly that's the last thing on his mind right now because that's –

That's his friend. Back in his body, visible, tangible. A little banged up, maybe, but – alive. Alive. 

Leo doesn't even realize he's crying until Donnie gets in front of him, waving a blurry hand in front of his face to get his attention. 

“Nardo?” he asks, concerned. “Is everything okay?”

Leo shakes his head, only realizing when Donnie's expression tightens that ah, okay, bad idea – rushing to reassure him. 

“Yeah,” he says, sniffling. “Yeah, sorry, just – you can see him, right?”

He points, and Donnie turns to look, scanning over the stands until his eyes land on the other Leo. And Leo can see the moment he realizes, his whole body tensing as he turns back to ask, “Is that – is that him?”

Leo nods, and Donnie glances over once again, studying the other turtles for a moment. 

“... Are you gonna go say hi?” he asks then, and Leo – Leo freezes.

He… he probably should, right? Like – okay, it's not that he doesn't want to talk to his friend. He does! He wants to so bad, he wants to tell him how glad he is that everything worked out okay, that he got his body back, except –

What if he can't?

Logically, he knows that worst case scenario, other-Leo can't see him and Donnie just lends him his goggles. Easy fix. And yet – he can't… really explain why the thought of other-Leo not being able to see him on his own anymore fills him with so much dread. Just that it does. Just that the thought of having to find out – of walking up to his friend and not being seen, of saying something and not being heard – locks his knees up and freezes him where he stands. 

“Leo…?” Donnie says, expression softening in worry. “What's –”

“What if he can't see me anymore?” Leo blurts out before he can talk himself out of it, and immediately winces, backpedaling. “I mean – I guess then you could let him borrow your goggles, duh, not a big deal, so it's –”

Donnie's turn to cut him off, eyes narrowing through the goggles. “Is that what you're worried about? He'll just be happy to see you, even if he has to use the goggles to do it.”

“How do you know?” Leo asks, and Donnie freezes up, caught. 

“I – I know everything, obviously,” he says, looking away. There's definitely something there, but Donnie looks uncomfortable enough as it is, and he – he has a point, as much as Leo doesn't want to admit it. 

“Fine,” he sighs, moving around Donnie, stomach churning with nerves that get worse with each step. “But if this goes bad, I'm blaming you.”

“Wh –” Donnie yelps, freezing for a moment before scrambling to catch up to Leo. “How is that fair?!”

“It just is,” Leo throws over his shoulder, before coming to a stop a few feet away from his friend. He feels kind of like he might be sick, if he had an actual stomach to be sick with. But still – he swallows hard and steps forward, metaphorical heart jolting in his chest when other-Leo perks up like he heard something. 

Time feels agonizingly slow as other-Leo raises his head and looks around, before his eyes finally land on Leo. Looking at him, not through him, and Leo might cry again if he wasn't trying very hard to keep his image intact. 

Other-Leo's eyes light up, and Leo can't keep the smile off his face when he asks –

“What's a ghost's favorite makeup?”

[ladykettlechips]

It's Not That Deep

Being kind is a choice. Sadly, so is being a dick.

I absolutely adore being part of a community where I can share my passion with others, be it as a writer of fanfic or simply a bystander. However, there are also downsides to being within a community, and sadly, it is other people who can ruin that joy and our experience of creating something for other fans, who want to devour content while a series is still being created, or has come to an end.

It seems like it is a frequent thing for a handful of people to ruin the fandom experience for others. They become anonymous or hide behind a name in order to actively go out of their way to harass creators within the community. There have been threats and vile accusations thrown about, and for what? To scare people off of AO3 and tumblr, just because you don't like something they created for a FICTIONAL character within a FICTIONAL setting?

Loves, it's not that deep.

Sadly, these kinds of people have run creators off of various apps and websites with their continued harassment. They have gone above and beyond to act horrible towards people they don't know, for a story or a piece of artwork they could have clicked the back button on. For something THEY can actively turn their back on and ignore.

If they had as much passion and energy for real world issues, their time would be much better spent. Instead, they have chosen to take a cowards route and harass other people online for something that is, in truth, insignificant to them. It is as if these people are consciously ignoring tags or warnings, because they WANT to start a fight and act in such a disgusting manner.

I can't understand it, really. Your time is much better spent doing things you enjoy, rather than coming after people who are doing the things that they enjoy.

Now, if the creators were actively promoting bad things, then yes, call them out on it or report them. Half the time though, these creators put disclaimers about how they don't promote certain things, but it is there for fictional purposes.

Our time and energy is precious, and for those taking time out of their hectic schedules to share their passion with us is a wonderful gift. Yet there are those who want to destroy that passion, and it is a sad thing when they win; sadly, cruelty often trumps kindness, and I have seen one too many creators fall to the whims of people who prefer to be dicks over being kind.

I would hope these people eventually see some sense and stop what they are doing, but trolls don't always see reason or see the light. I just hope that someday they get the hug they have been craving, or perhaps the talk they need to understand why they act like this. Until then:

It's not that deep.

It's not that serious.

It is FICTION, not reality.

Your favourites won't notice you regardless of how hostile you become.

You are not making the internet a better place with your harassment.

Have a hug, eat a snickers. I highly doubt you'd act like this in real life to people you know, or to someone else's face, so go have a nap and chill a bit. Don't make a mountain of a molehill, and remember that these fictional characters you are getting into a tizzy over are not real.

Thanks. Peace out.

Edit to add: I have yet to be harassed. I know it will happen one day, because it is inevitable at this point, but I am speaking out for my friends and fellow writers who have sadly experienced it.

[nayadoesstuff]

my azula/zuko role swap

I spent a lot of time thinking about *why* Azula would be banished. she's the typical golden child, the prodigy. so why would Ozai give that up? I read everyone's suggestions, had a good think and I think I've finally got it. Something we need to remember, is Azula isn't like Zuko. she isn't Zuko, so i highly doubt she'd be punished for speaking out of turn - because she probably wouldn't speak out of turn in the first place. I did see the idea of someone saying Azula *accidentally* murdered Ursa (or so she thought) and I really liked it. I wanted to be more original, so I did tweak the story - but credits go to @oscar-meir Everything up to the meeting with Fire Lord Azulon is the same. Azula believes her mother fears her, that she loves Zuko more, etc. However, this is where things change. You see, Azulon ordered Ozai to kill Zuko, and Ozai was going to do it. Azula overhears, and decides to interfere. Despite everything, Zuko is her brother, even if she resents him. She attempts to defend him, and steps between Ozai and Zuko (metaphorically, Zuko isn't present). A fight breaks out, and Azula is outmatched (obviously, she's like 7) but I feel like at that moment, she would've gotten blue fire. Ursa hears all of this, and comes to interfere. The next morning, half the palace is scorched, Azulon is dead, and Ursa is missing. This whole scenario is traumatic, and Azula mostly represses it. The official story is that she lost control of her power, and Azula has no reason to not believe it. She believes, deep down, she is a monster responsible for the death of her own mother. Ozai gets crowned, and the next few years are relatively similar to canon, with the exception of Zuko's agni kai. Ozai has seen Azula's power, so he pushes her into rigorous training. She's a prodigy, after all. Azula is mostly consumed by guilt - she's afraid of her power, deep down. She even begins seeing her mother. But she cannot lose her father's favour, so she continues to train hard. We can see her become mostly similar to canon - she's strong, powerful, intelligent, but that feeling that she's a monster keeps gnawing at her, keeping her from her full potential, and Ozai fears her, and wants to control her. He's desperate to fully weaponise Azula, so he tries his hardest to snuff out her weakness. He of course, fails. Azula is still mostly hesitant to achieve her full potential, which leaves Ozai frustrated. She begins to slip from her perfectionist personality, eventually becoming more of a scapegoat. In this scenario, lets say Ozai gives Azula a mission, and she fails. He declares she has lost her honour, and must fight an agni kai to regain it. Azula is afraid from the last clash with her father - she refuses to fight, and is punished. Ozai declares she is banished - she cannot return until she captures the avatar. It's the only way to regain her honour. He orders Iroh to accompany her, so he is out of the way. Iroh doesn't want to go with Azula, but he can't refuse an order from the firelord, so reluctantly goes. I don't see Iroh doing much to help Azula though. from what we know, he doesn't like her, and she never had much respect for him. Azula is desperate to regain her father's favour. This, however leaves Zuko alone with Ozai. considering Zuko is now Ozai's only option for an heir, he does his best to shape Zuko into a tool, similar to Azula in canon. Zuko is constantly reminded he is the future of the fire nation, the only option for firelord. this is constantly drilled into Zuko's head, allowing his negative traits to flourish. he could become angrier, crueler, as a result of the way he feels - a replacement for Azula, and his father's only option. I believe he'd try to control people with fear and violence, just like Azula in canon.

[itsthedoodle]

Gossip

Summary:

“It’s called fucking, Elain. Didn’t you hear our sister claim how much better she can do that now?”

“Surely she was exaggerating—”

“Oh I highly doubt that,” Nesta interrupted her, pouring them both a cup of tea. “That male, Rhysand, for all his arrogance, looked like he could fuck our sister for a week straight.”

Read on ao3 🩵

“Feyre looks different”.

Nesta merely grunted, and Elain sighed. She didn’t really know what she expected, to be honest. Her two sisters had never gotten along, and considering how similar they were, she felt like screaming half the time. It wasn’t that Nesta was mean, though Elain was aware that she had been shown more love and kindness than Feyre ever had been. Nesta was just very selective about the people she let in. For some reason, Feyre had never managed to breach the high walls Nesta had erected around herself, and Nesta certainly hadn’t made it easy for their younger sister. 

“Her friends were nice,” Elain said, trying to get a word out of her older sister. “Very polite, too. I especially appreciate how well mannered Rhysand was. Azriel was also very polite. What did you think of Cassian?”

“He’s a brute, and Rhysand is an arrogant asshole. I have no opinion regarding the third one, though I can only assume he is the same as the other two.” 

Elain tried not to roll her eyes. “Well at least this one can knock and didn’t ruin our front door. He doesn’t look as hairy either, which is good for our sister, I suppose.”

Nesta stopped in her tracks. “What are you implying?”

“Oh come on,” Elain said, a corner of her mouth lifting slightly. “You cannot possibly tell me you didn’t notice that Rhysand is smitten with our sister.”

Nesta raised a delicate eyebrow. “She is rather nice to look at. Isaac Hale thought so, too.”

Elain could feel a headache forming. Pinching her nose, she let out a very slow breath. “Isaac meant nothing to Feyre and you know it. The other one though, the blonde Fae Lord—”

“Don’t talk about that imbecile.” 

Elain paused at Nesta’s reproachful look. Hating the High Fae was one thing, but her tone on the word imbecile implied Nesta held a sort of dislike for the blond male that far surpassed the disdain she had towards his kind in general. 

She let it drop, choosing to focus on something else instead. “Do you think they have, you know?”

Elain followed closely when Nesta started walking again. “Do I think they have what?”

“You know what Nesta.”

“No Elain,” Nesta said with what sounded like a semi amused tone. “As a matter of fact, I don’t.”

“Oh come on, don’t make me say it.”

“Make you say what?”

Elain clenched her fists. “Do you think they have made love?”

Nesta started laughing, and Elain felt her cheeks burn. 

“It’s called fucking, Elain. Didn’t you hear our sister claim how much better she can do that now?”

“Surely she was exaggerating—”

“Oh I highly doubt that,” Nesta interrupted her, pouring them both a cup of tea. “That male, Rhysand, for all his arrogance, looked like he could fuck our sister for a week straight.”

“I truly do not wish to think of Feyre doing… that.”

“Well you offered our home now,” Nesta shrugged. “Who knows, maybe next time we have to host them overnight we’ll get to hear all about their sex life.” Nesta tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Do you think she’s a screamer? Maybe we need to relocate to the other side of the house.”

Elain slapped her palms over her ears. “Please stop.”

Nesta laughed, but obliged and sipped her tea. There was a moment of silence, with Nesta clearly expecting her to say something. “Do you think they have though?”

Nesta shrugged. “I doubt it. Our sister is as clueless as they come, and Rhysand looked like a sexually frustrated male. But they are for sure going to.”

“You think so?”

Nesta gave her a look. “She basically said he is her boss, yet they ask for a room with two beds? I give them a few more weeks, one month at most.”

“I think Feyre loves him, she just doesn’t know it yet.”

Nesta contemplated Elain’s words for a moment, tossing them around in her head. Elain was a romantic, but she wasn’t daft. She knew her younger sister, and she knew Feyre hadn’t come to terms with her own feelings yet. She wanted to know what Nesta thought about it. It had been a while since they had gossiped so freely, but she patiently waited for her sister to speak. 

“I think…” Nesta said. “I think you’re right, but I also think Feyre carries a lot of guilt in her heart for something that was absolutely not her fault. And she needs to forgive herself for that first.”

Agreeing, Elain simply nodded. They fell into a comfortable silence, drinking their tea and enjoying the quiet house. Her thoughts strayed back to her sister’s friends, to how Cassian and Nesta had annoyed one another during his entire stay here, and she wondered how much she would welcome being teased like that. 

Smirking, she lifted the cup to her lips. “So. You find Cassian attractive, don’t you?”

Nesta almost choked on her tea. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I’m sure he finds you attractive as well. He also looked quite big and strong.”

Nesta shot up and quickly started walking away. “I don’t care.” 

Elain laughed, deciding to drop it for the time being. “I’m sure you don’t, Nesta.”

But Nesta cared, and so did Cassian, and Elain was going to have the time of her life teasing her about it. 

[ideas-4-stories]

Inspired by the "buggy gets stabbed with a seastone knife but defeats the assassin" anon and subsequent post.

Buggy really would have had SO MANY SCARS. He's immune to cuts and chops and slices. Not blunt force trauma, burns, bullets, whips, etc. Also he was a pirate apprentice on GOL D. ROGER'S SHIP!! He ate that devil fruit young, sure, but he was still a pirate before then and I highly doubt that that, nor whatever his early life was, would lead to pristine, unblemished skin.

Also - freckles. Give Buggy Freckles 2024.

Anyway, yeah, Buggy would have a MOSAIC of scars and tattoos - many of which have meanings the likes of which are lost to most. Also projection, but Buggy has a medusa tattoo somewhere on his person. Yes the one who did the tattoo for him was on the crew, and still is. Yes they are also the defacto therapist on the island. It's good pay and they get to add Names to the I'll Kill Them One Day list ((it's a whole book. With five volumes. It's on going.))

I have... an angry idea. For Buggy shrugging off seastone wounds and using his own injury as an opening. Roger would have wanted the boys STRONG but happy and safe. He saw so much of himself in Shanks that the attention was perceived as preferential treatment. Shanks was the heavy hitter with potential and skill and charisma -

Buggy was the supporting cast.

Rayleigh, unable to help Roger through the illness, through so many things, projected that onto Buggy ((Very Pearl + Connie, if you know Steven Universe, before Steven stepped in to set that record straight)). Ray would make sure Buggy was strong enough for Shanks. He put that kid through the WRINGER, and it was arguably hell. Buggy came out stronger but also far more terrified - so much so that he struggled to even utilize that strength in any true way. Rayleigh declared it a failure. Apologized to Buggy for 'failing to make him good enough'.

This did a number on him.

One thing that lasted was his frankly unsettling tolerance to water and seastone. He still works on it, and he never quite dropped it. He always has at least one seastone earring in because it's both smth he HAS to do and also it slows down his brain a little, dulling the edge of his normal panic. Like a crystal girlie but far more literal.

This isn't his first rodeo with seastone weapons either - he may have been in the East, but he was still a decently renowned criminal with a hefty bounty. He's an old hand at this!

Still hurts like a bitch though.

He'd absolutely make the dumbest puns too. "Don't worry, I'm in STABle condition! :oD"

"You need stitches, you utter buffoon."

"That wasn't very- hnn- knife of you."

"Please pass out from bloodloss."

"You cut me so deep, Hawkyyy- OW?!"

"Seas save me"

Crocodile is fighting between yelling louder, committing three felonies, laughing, and shutting the clown up. Be it by choking him or kissing him is up for debate. The doctor, used to Buggy's antics, just hands him a fidget toy. "Don't touch the wound, my supplies or try to move yet. Solve the rubix cube before you even consider getting up."

"Boring-"

"I'll tell the kitchen to make hotdogs if you do."

Buggy is now very focused on the pretty color cube.

Oh, referring to this post gotcha!

Yeah, Buggy totally would because he’s a chemist, working with all those bombs and the guy looks like he would trip sometimes while working. Buggy has to have burn scars (I’m pretty sure somewhere, someone said that Buggy has star-shaped, firework burns on his hands. Part of the reason he hides his hands away, I like that idea even that means Buggy got hurt) Now it an idea that I got when I was half-asleep, that I read in the morning with confusion… a cannonball… I don’t why my sleepy brain decided that, but now thinking about it would have to be a ricochet cannonball that he survived from (to be honest Buggy seems like a person who would survive a cannonball to the head, like some Monkey family we know) Then with probably the logical route of bullets, whips, etc… are from being hunted by marines and enemies of the Roger Pirates before he somehow blends into the background and people forgot about him.

I would say Buggy would have eaten his devil fruit around nine years old, for the AU I’m trying to writ… Also freckles… HELL FUCK YEAH!!! I love that idea; it would be so cute on him!!! Scattered all around his body, totally seen him connecting them into shapes and patterns when he’s bored and has nothing else to do.

Definably, he’s a pirate, of course he has many scars, and Buggy having at least 10 tattoos ranging from large too small. I don’t think Buggy ever has sat someone down to explain them, or maybe he has and stopped because people not understanding. Ooooooo, I look up what the Medusa tattoo means, I like to think it’s for survival and strength. With my idea for two long tattoos, I think they would be a mixture of different flowers with hidden things between them - like hidden treasure to find, those tattoos have meanings as well as some funny ones around his body as well. Because it’s Buggy, of course, he will at least have one fucking funny one.

I love an idea their defacto therapist, I think I’ve already have a OC for the job and yes, love the book called I'll Kill Them One Day list. Love that it has five volumes, you know some of those names are crossed off and it continues to grow.

This is an angry idea indeed, poor Buggy… as we see that Buggy is not supporting cast, with his followers (they are like cult followers in a way) and his crew. Basically pushed to the side for Shanks to be the one in the spotlight as the “leader” of the two (I definitely doubt that Shanks didn’t look up to Buggy during sometimes when they were cabin boys)

Oh fuck, no wonder why Buggy hasn’t talk to Rayleigh and makes my idea of them meeting as cold and awkward. Like Rayleigh would greet with nicknames from long ago, expecting the same as what he remembered last of Buggy, only to have Buggy to greet him coldy. Either, with Dark King Rayeleigh or Slivers Rayleigh instead of nicknames that he use to call Rayleigh.

Why…why projected his problems onto Buggy! Like of course that did a number on Buggy, ecspeaily after Ray apologized to Buggy for ‘failing to make him good enough’... You can’t say that to a fucking child, you know they will think it’s all their fault! I mean look at Buggy, he already has enough problems with his self-esteem, he doesn’t need anymore!!!

Poor Buggy, going thtough hell because Rayleigh wants him strong like him to keep Shanks safe because he’s being as stupid as Roger. It makes sense that Buggy can’t use his strength because of being afraid and worrying so much (Buggy is definitely a worry-wort)

I agree with Buggy has an high tolerance to water and seastone, I mean Buggy seemed to of been a really good swimmer from how angry he is from Shanks scaring him and making him swallow the Bara Bara fruit (if not, then it’s a headcanon for me that he’s a really good swimmer before he swallowed the devil fruit) You think he would just stop going into the water? I mean I can see Buggy finding those small pools of water on a beach… I forgot what they are called, anyway you think he wouldn’t go in them to feel the sea? I think Buggy would.

Oooooo a seastone earring or some other type of seastone jewelry on his body. That’s interesting, I’ve never thought about it. The seastone helps him corrals his chop chop powers from doing all the time as well. Calming his brain, dulling the edge of his normal panic is a clever way, bro probably found how much seastone he needs to do so. From this post, Buggy has to have some edibles mixed into brownies or some other type of pastry (it’s now a headcanon for me) Dude has to have some drugs to calm down with the stress that Crocodile and Mihawk have put him through.

Yeah, it's definitely not Buggy’s first rodeo with seastone weapons, I can see Buggy being hunted by people during the time after Roger was killed and I see that’s the time where most of his seastone wounds came from. I wonder now if Buggy hordes the seastone weapons that people attacked him with?… I’ve decided yes, Buggy would keep them.

I stand for Buggy making the dumbest and baddest puns when he is hurt, especially when he gets attacked by seastone weapons. It takes his mind off of the pain they give him (Also the banter between Buggy and Mihawk you made is chefs’ kiss)

Both Crocodile and Mihawk just being done with Buggy and quite disturbed by how Buggy handles his pain. Mihawk wants him to shut up and sit still, while Crocodile is fighting between screaming, committing felonies (like he hasn’t committed felonies more than enough), laughing his ass off, then wanting to either choke Buggy or kiss him to shut the clown up. That’s so them, and Buggy is getting a little shit like always.

This doctor is just like the doctor OC; Kuo-Lee, I’ve created to be the Buggy Pirates medic. Really, being done with what Buggy does and uses things to keep him still. This is so right, handing him a fidget toy, saying that if he is good than he’ll tell the kitchens to give their captain is favorite food. Yeah, that will make Buggy sit as still as he can, to be honest, Buggy isn’t one to sit still.

[thedawningofthehour]

Okay I lied I do actually want to do something for the anniversary. (it won't be the anniversary by the time I post this but shhhhh)

It's not going to be turtle themed though. You guys remember last year when I made fun of rich people's houses? I'd like to do that again.

This...domicile comes to us from Camden, Maine, with seven bedrooms and six baths, tops out at 6,000 square feet and can be yours for a paltry two million.

They really wanted to show off that they had money for the fountain.

Also, is it just me or do rich people houses seem woefully cheap compared to regular people houses? Like, 2 mil is a lot, but if you do the math with the space and amenities they have-like, I highly doubt you could put three 2,000 sqft houses on this parcel of land and get one for 650k. Definitely not in Camden. I remember the first time we moved we looked at one house that was nearly 2 mil-for fun, even when we had money we didn't have that much money-and it was probably about half the size of this. And it was in suburban TC, not a ritzy summer colony. And had been built twenty years before, not the previous as this one was.

Plus this was 2008. The...particular economics of that year in regards to housing prices aside, two mil in 2008 is, uh...quite a bit more now.

So if you expand this picture, you'll see that there's Asian-esque map-looking things set into the wall, and Asian writing over the door. I think they're Chinese characters, but I'm not 100% certain. This entire house has a supposedly Asian theme. I have...things to say, but I'll hold off for now until I have more examples to show what I'm talking about.

Also I just can't with the stone choices. Kudos to them for actually trying to landscape though.

...

I mean, I will give them points for doing the complete inverse of a Lawyer Foyer. Those columns though. Like. When have those ever looked good outside a hotel lobby? When have they ever looked good inside a hotel lobby? How much dust does those bottoms collect? Why do they seemingly have hotel curtains as well?

Usually, columns like this are made of foam with a stone veneer, I think these are at least partially real. A lot of stuff in this house misses the 'cheap shit designed to look expensive' marker that defines McMansions, it looks genuinely decadent-it's just ugly as shit.

THEY HAVE TWO CHANDELIERS. ONE WASN'T ENOUGH FOR THEM, THEY HAD TO HAVE TWO MASSIVE CHANDELIERS TO PROVE THEIR DINGDONGS. AND THAT'S IN ADDITION TO THE FOYER CHANDELIER.

I like how they put the bar in directly next to the front door. Like they know you're going to walk in and will immediately need a drink.

Why is there this ugly gold runner everywhere? I feel like I'm in Trump Tower. Or a gourmet candy bar.

Yes I see the cabinet, no we're not going to talk about it right now. While I love seeing houses that actually have color in them, I'm just...the teal and pink is fine, but it's hard to pull off different variants of a color together. Teal and true blue, it's just...it doesn't work. And these guys have TVs on like every wall for some reason?

Mostly just including this picture to point out the safe on the floor. In the dining room. And to call attention to the weird goldish-bronze border that doesn't seem to start and end where it's supposed to.

Also, yes, these walls are entirely done in tile. It's like they wanted to do something other than the beige but couldn't decide what to go with so they just worked the kitchen tile through the rest of the house.

Speaking of the kitchen...

What

I. I don't. I. I. Why the sink-

????????!!!!

There's...I just don't. Like. You can't even pick a place to start.

The fact that they picked pretty much the busiest tile pattern known to man wouldn't have been such a big deal...if they hadn't tiled the inside and outside of the cabinets. And removed the doors to said cabinets. And hadn't picked a second, equally busy tile pattern to play against the first.

Actually, let's go back to the two tile patterns. Not only are they both way too busy to work with each other, they're both browns...but completely the opposite variants of brown. The lower pattern has more blacks and greys and even a bit of blue in it, while the border browns are warmer shades. You really can't mix warm and cool shades of the same color. It just doesn't look good.

And we have to talk about that counter. It looks somehow like the cheapest 90s shit you'd see in a roller rink or an ocean-themed Chuck E. Cheese, but also you know it cost ungodly amounts of money.

Why is it so thin? Why is the sink so deep in the island? Why is the recessed lighting lopsided?

And we're not even touching upon the floor. These people clearly did not understand feature elements. The floor, counter, and both sets of tile are all dueling for dominance, and we're the neglected child caught up in the custody battle sitting on the lawn with our bags. This kitchen was designed by someone who didn't care if god forgave them.

Oh okay, so we're just using those tiles throughout the entire house now. Fantastic.

That...counter is not beating the 90s cheese allegations.

Is it just me, or does the second chandelier look like it would clip your head on the way down?

No yeah, it is straight-up Right Fucking There. Completely unnecessary too, considering the plethora of recessed lighting. And they've somehow managed to make this hallway look busy despite having absolutely nothing on the walls.

I'm putting in three photos to show that these are in fact different rooms. I'm not including the other bedroom photos because I literally don't know if they're other bedrooms or just different angles of these bedrooms, because every bedroom is decorated exactly the same.

But this is what I meant when I called this house 'Asian-esque' earlier. Now, granted, I don't know a ton about modern architecture and design trends in Asia or among Asian-Americans, so I very much might be putting my foot in my mouth here and I fully deserve the ridicule if that is the case. But to me this doesn't feel like...legitimate. This feels like someone who wants to look cultured, who considers the Far East to be exotic and elegant and would unironically use the term Oriental to describe their style. It feels like they designed this without actually understanding anything about Asian art and architecture and had no desire to learn. It doesn't feel like one thing in particular, it feels like they took elements from Japanese, Chinese, and even Indian styles and gestured vaguely to all of them because they were too scared to commit.

You know, I'll give them credit, the blue does look nicer with the brown. It doesn't look good, but nicer.

Still the same lack of cabinet doors. And the same glow-in-the-dark bathroom counter. It took me a solid few seconds to find the sink there-and then I burst out laughing when I saw it.

I don't know why, but the stone plus that golden window insert makes me think Rocky Rococo.

WHY DOES THEIR GARAGE HAVE THE GRANITE FLOORING?!!

God, this is like my grandmother and her carpeted garage. But she has an excuse in that she doesn't give a fuck what you think.

I don't know why but this is fucking hysterical to me.

Also it doesn't look like there's a...door? To the garage? In Maine? Like, even if it's a heated garage, it's still going to be cold. And it's also dirty, like, you don't want bugs and car fumes wafting into your living spaces?

I haven't even mentioned the ceiling decoration or the crown molding. Or the fact that the crowd molding, doorways, and candy bar wrapper walls are all different shades of gold. And I'd like to keep it that way.

On a side note, what is up with all the recessed lighting? Not that they have it, but doesn't it seem like...a lot? Like, I feel like they could thin them out a bit, you're practically under hospital lights. People with recessed lighting, is this normal? I've only had it in one room of one house, but I don't remember it being this...dense. (I do remember my sister and I once knocked the glass out of the baffle while playing. that's how I learned that those things get really hot)

This is like a church basement if it was also The Backrooms.

[ihopesocomic]

Hi! New reader here! I just got to the part where Hope tries to open her injured eye. It was portrayed as rly cloudy, but I’m not sure how it got that cloudy so fast? It had happened Very recently, and while Vicious’s claws definitely damaged the cornea, idk if that was enough time for scar tissue to have accumulated so thick. It was more likely that it would have been swollen or misshapen, but not opaque/milky yet. As well, though the scar/injury definitely would make her ‘legally blind’ in that eye, it’s highly unlikely even w that damage that she would lose 100% of her vision. Corneal Opacity obstructs light/vision, but it’s quite likely that she would still be able to see brash lights and shadows, maybe some shapes (likely clearer toward the edges of vision, but perpetually out of focus there)

I point this out as someone who is blind in one eye myself from an injury as a child, and that generally we don’t really like the portrayal of “cloudy eyes=blind” in media. It’s usually used as visual shorthand, but bc ppl see it used that way, they think that’s what all blind ppl look like. I’ve gotten ppl who’ve tried and ‘caught’ some of my friends as ‘not blind’ bc their eyes weren’t white/cloudy, which is generally, not the case unless there is serious injury or disease in the eye. As for the 100% vision, we also get ppl who will wave or clap in our faces to try and ‘catch’ us (bc for some reason ppl just think ppl fake being blind for ‘benefits’—what benefits??) and we will always flinch bc 1) that’s the normal reaction, it’s sound and air close to your face, your body will instinctively flinch away from it. And 2) bc many of us still have some amount of useable vision, and getting that close is something even someone w very low percentage of useable vision could detect.

Not gonna ask you to redraw it of course, that’s entirely up to you, and it’s an ongoing, high-intensive webcomic and the page in question is quite a bit back there, but if we see it again plus the POV of Hope’s vision, if you drew a rough lining of that half of the picture, then filled it in with intense white/gray grittiness, more concentrated in the middle and a bit less on the extreme sliver of the outer eye (in Hope’s case, I doubt there would be too much of the eye that wasn’t covered by the scar tissue, Lion claws are huge and thick and at this point she’s had plenty of time to form a significant scar) and the vague impression of light/shadow, that’s a more accurate portrayal of blindness. The eye itself is almost guaranteed to be misshapen, that is, the iris and pupil, not the orb itself (it would have had to puncture through the cornea, and if that was the case she’d not really have an eye) something like a droopy part near the direction of the scar, and a bit more of an oval-ish shape (pics for reference can help if you can do that, otherwise not making it too extreme but enough that it’s visibly a scar and injury in the eye. These are all just suggestions! If you decide you’d like to do a more stylized version of this, just making the iris a bit raised and a little wider at the ends of the scar, and for POV just airbrush w a gritty texture and put some vague shading.

I really love this comic, and it’s portrayal of disability (Hope is just. I’ll cry) but that was just something that nicked me a bit. It’s hard to do everything right, and really hard for a personal project! You’ve done amazing, and honestly this is nitpicky of me I think, I just thought with the positive rep of limb loss I thought I’d give a little advice ig on blind rep, from a partially blind person myself. (thank you SO. MUCH. For not making her ‘mourn’ the limb she doesn’t have. She just doesn’t have it, it’s who she is. She’s not lesser or in parts bc of it, she deals w it, and though it’s still a disability and affects her as such, it’s not something she needs to cry over. She’s always been this way, and she’ll make it through.)

So, first of all: thank you so much for giving an informative and detailed input on this aspect of Hope's character. We truly appreciate it.

We've always intended to show Hope's eye injury gradually changing condition from her POV and her being able to open the eye slightly eventually, so we're not through with representing blindness or partial blindness through her.

As for your comments regarding what we've already shown, Cat did refer to references on that particular front as she did endeavour to get things accurate. While she is willing to admit that she may have got things wrong, the issue of people stereotyping blind individuals based on one form of how the condition presents itself doesn't mean that one form is not accurate or valid, if you feel me? The true issue here is people's ableism towards blind or partially blind individuals and assuming that a disability must present itself in a certain way to "count" (i.e. in a way they're familiar/comfortable with when stfu it's not about you?) when disabilities in general do not work like that.

But I also completely get that there is a need to break down the assumption that all eye conditions work like this. I know what it feels like to be held to a certain standard by my disabilities and it sucks. If there's one thing worse than just flat-out intolerant ableism towards disabled individuals, it's ableism under the guise of 'i understand your condition better than you do bc i saw it on TV once' ugh But yeah, we've put a pin in the helpful description you've provided and will take this on board moving forward because - like you've pointed out - this is how eye injuries actually work. We especially needed this input since we planned on having Hope being able to have the eye open eventually too. Cat certainly wants to go in and fix that panel with her eye opening in the relevant panel and make it not-cloudy, and what you said about the greyscale and filter idea for the panel afterwards where it's her POV will also be implemented. Thank you again for this advice and for explaining it so well, we always appreciate input like this. <33 And thank you again (again) for the kind comments on Hope's character. It's exactly why we opted to not have her injure the limb like Nothing did and have her be born with the condition instead. Not that we're opposed to that kind of representation, as we intend to cover it somewhat with Bronze and the loss of his limb and how he and the other lions of the Thundering Mountains adapted to it. But yeah, we felt like doing things differently a tad with our main protagonist. c: - RJ

[void-detective]

I find it interesting and cool that Jacob really is that next in line to the tribal chief angle. If we think about how much cinema and things connecting again we can see a lot of similarities between him and Solo.

-----

"Everything I learned was from him"

Let's start plain and simple with Solo's half of this story with his similarities to Roman Reigns. This all began when his older brothers Jimmy and Jey advertently placed the dangerous idea that Solo deserved to be the Tribal Chief and much to Roman's amusement as I may put it. But that's not the only time because Roman also has placed this dangerous idea into the younger man's mind with his words about how he would be the next tribal heir to step up after him.

Everyone around him placed this idea that he deserved and was the next tribal chief even without realizing what this idea would do to him.

And now that he IS the tribal chief he is either subconsciously or consciously doing a LOT like Roman from mannerisms to talking. A lot of people have mentioned the 'tribal twitches' a nod to those moments of Roman being ticked off or peeved by someone or something. Like a lot of people have been showing he copied a lot of Roman's mannerisms and to me I believe they weren't on purpose as much as just something he picked up from being around Roman.

You know what else he picked up from Roman? How to manipulate.

During his beginning reign as chief he exhibited and showed his clear learned behavior from Roman in terms of how to manipulate and get people to be on your side. This is most prevalent in his actions around Paul and Jimmy with those tiny moments of playing sympathetic and knowing just what to say to fuck with people.

He knows things like that soft spoken tone is more intimidating then if he were to be yelling and showing off a temper. Which is something Roman did a lot towards Jey and Sami, it was a lot more effective to be soft spoken with these times and the how you word yourself to hold that control over those beneath you.

He also knew that by subtly threatening Paul and planting seeds of doubt would cause the Wiseman not to fight back because this wasn't something Roman did a lot. Unlike his relationship to the OTC there wasn't this much of an underlaying fear of getting on the receiving end of his wrath (even though it has happened).

Everything about Solo screams the direct words Seth told Cody about how Roman turned out, it plays right into how Solo ended up. There's always been this play that Solo WANTED the position and he wasn't happy just playing out as Roman's enforcer.

----

"Roman Reigns is to weak"

Towards the road to WrestleMania we see the culmination of Roman's emotional turmoil and his past catch up to him. We know to a T that Roman is a highly emotional and caring person even if it's under the guise of emotional manipulation. The one thing that set apart Solo and Roman was their compassion or lack there of on Solo's part. To Roman his manipulation and control over his family was in a twisted way trying to protect and love them in the only way he believed would keep them with him.

He has hurt and caused trauma to those he loved because of how badly one betrayal had left him. Without friends and with all the hate from the crowd it twisted what was a very compassionate man to a cold jaded man who saw that he could only keep that close connection by drastic means. Even if it meant hurting those he cared about the most.

That's what sets apart Solo and Roman because even if they are sharing those manipulative tendencies, it's all coming from two very different reasons.

Solo has only ever seemed to have a genuine connection to Sami during his time in the Bloodline, not even his own brothers who at most he seemed to tolerate. Any compassion or friendship he may have had died the day Sami left and turned which in my opinion was his own version of Seth's betrayal. He loved Sami in his own way as he was one of the second people in the Bloodline to have been befriended by the Canadian and maybe,,Sami's betrayal was the thing that truly snapped any semblance of trust he had to anyone.

----

"New faces, more family"

Hear me out, I kinda feel like Solo kicking out Jimmy from the Bloodline was a calculated move because he knew that this version of the Bloodline was weak. One made out of Roman's vision which meant it was weak and made it love. Which meant it wouldn't work for Solo.

I believe that bringing in Jacob, Tama, and Tonga was all a calculated move because he had new people he could personally manipulate. They wouldn't notice the tactics he learned and adapted from Roman like Jimmy or Paul would've which made it so much easier create a team that would believe his every word. Plus to him it would further push him knowing that he had learned all he needed to be like Roman.

In the new Bloodline there is none of that familial love even with the Tongans and Jacob being family. This is a team pretending to be like the old Bloodline but lacking any of that structure that made them work.

The only problem within the new Bloodline comes in the form of one man.

-----

"Jacob Fatu, step up"

For the past few months we have been seeing hints and glimpses of a similar situation occuring between Solo and Jacob that has happened before with Solo ans Roman. The whole being ignored and overshadowed has been played for part within the role of enforcer to the Bloodline and this is ever so true for Jacob. Ever since he became part of new Bloodline he has been within the back ever lurking and watching playing that "protective force" for Solo even when we all know those looks mean so much more.

Unlike the Tongans in many ways, Jacob has done and said things that show his role in the future of this storyline will be bigger. He's the only member who vehemently states at every situation (when solo is seemingly suspicious or actively looking) for attention he is the one to shout and express his love for his cousin. He is always going out of his way with his actions and words to push that knowledge that he loves Solo onto him even if it seems like the latter is becoming more and more paranoid by it.

Jacob has been working hard to gain his spot and the trust of the new tribal chief but where does his hard work go? No where. Not only did Solo strip the title off him (just for him to get out the boot not even a week later) he forced him to give it to LOA, he also "promoted" him to an enforcer instead of champion.

Why though?

It's all calculated moves by Solo because even with this new Bloodline and the loyalty of Jacob he is scared of being overlooked and or losing the control over his Bloodline like Roman. He is exercising his control much like Roman did to him so Jacob won't over shadow him, back in the day people WANTED Solo but now they don't.

So when someone much more experienced, intimating, and loved comes into the Bloodline and gets his attention? Oh does it ever so piss him off. Because when he looks at Jacob he sees everything that he isn't and can't be as a tribal chief. He sees someone that is above his level and could at the turn of a dime be exactly what everyone wanted him to be.

To Solo he sees a better version of himself in the Samoan Werewolf.

And that....

...scares him.

[strayflowersstarsandlove]

𝙴𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚆𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚞𝚝 - a Han Jisung short au!fanfic

PART 2

💫PART 3💫

Minho rolls his eyes and scoots closer to him, "clearly I overestimated just how far you're willing to go for her. And how much you want to fix your sorry heart. No, I did not enjoy it in that sense. She's pretty and she's nice to kiss but I didn't do that to spite you, I did that so Yongbokie wouldn't. The bottle was pointing at him, it was clear as day. I tried to signal that to you back then, I was trying to help".

Han sighs and aknowledges his friend with a little nod, "thank you? I guess?", he replies half heartedly, which only irks Minho, "Hannie you really don't understand do you?", "were you expecting me to giggle and kick my feet in excitement over it? Like yeah, my best friend made out with the girl I'm fucking in love with so my other best friend wouldn't! Yay so fucking awesome, I'm ecstatic", he spits out in a mocking tone, trying to keep his voice as low and quiet as possible despite the annoyance lacing his words.

His older friend grunts and pinches the bridge of his nose, breathing out frustratedly, "would you have rather witnessed them kissing and her possibly realizing that her long time closest friend is actually the one she needed all along? It's a tale as old as time, if you don't act upon it, she's going to move on, she might already have. She's pretty, she's kind, she's smart. She got plenty of options".

Han shifts uncomfortably and inhales deeply, his head pounding, his heart aching, he knows his friend is trying to help but the harsh reality of his words still stings. "I don't think Felix is ever going to confess, he confronted me about it when me and her kissed and he was crying, not even over the fact itself but because he felt hopeless, he knows she sees him as a friend, I highly doubt he'd rather lose her completely instead of keeping her around, even if it's not romantically", he tries to reason. More as a way to reassure himself, though.

Deep down he knows things might have changed ever since that day and that you and his friend could have gotten closer with the way he had inadvertently pushed you right into his arms by pretending to not have meant it when he made his move on you.

Minho snickers softly and turns on his back, his eyes flittering shut, his body going progressively lax, "who says I'm talking about her necessarily moving on with HIM?". His sentence trails off in the air and for a second Han believes he fell asleep.

Everybody around them had gone completely quiet, not even the flashing colorful lights on Felix's phone were on anymore. "Hyung?", Han tries to get his friend's attention once, and when he gets no response he props himself up on his elbow and taps Minho on his shoulder, "hyung? Who are you talking about? Is it you? Are you actually into her?".

Minho snorts and gently pushes him off, "you pabo, no. I already told you so, not my type. But I saw her cozying up to Hyunjin earlier. Like I said, plenty of options. Even if it's not one of us, she's going to find someone else, eventually. That's why you should act now, if you're really after her".

The younger chestnut brunette ponders for a second, a million different scenarios already unravelling in his brain. He bites the inside of his cheek and sighs, "I really like her, hyung. I wish I could get her back, if she would take me, of course. But I can't do that to Felix, I almost ruined my friendship with him once".

Minho hums and takes a deep breath,feeling oh so sleepy but still willing to be there for his friend, "I get it. He has a very tender heart and gets hurt easily, you care about him, we all do. But do you actually think this is better for him in the long run? The both of you painfully pining over the same person but not doing anything until it might be too late,him not even being aware of your feelings for her …".

Han turns on his side, his back facing Minho, he looks over at you, blissfully asleep in a tangle with Felix, he remains silent, listening to the sound of his heart breaking. "At the end of the day nobody's winning, Hannie. You're lovesick, he's lovesick, she's oblivious. He might never act upon it and never move on. Is that what you want to do for the rest of your life as well? Admire her from a distance? Nobody deserves her more than the other, it's up to her. But you're both unknowingly hurting each other. It's just a matter of who's going to stop this vicious cycle first".

When Han doesn't reply for a few seconds, Minho rolls on his side a slings an arm over him, pulling him closer to his chest, "get some rest, don't think too much about it now. Whatever it is in your head, sleep it over", he murmurs softly, his whispery voice just barely audible.

"Hyung…do you think it's fair of me to try and pursue her despite knowing how Felix feels?". Han speaks after a while, his eyes running up and down your spine as he watches you cling to his blue haired friend.

His hyung sighs deeply, fighting off the last bit of strength left in his body and his mind, his eyes already shut, ready to sleep: "I don't know what's fair, Hannie. All I know is that neither of you are doing enough to be with her…though looking at her now … That might be wrong…", he trails off, Morpheus pulling him deeper and deeper into his slumber. "Why would that be wrong?", "cause you're here, sleeping with me. And look who is she cuddling with".

Felix is lovely to snuggle up to, really. But the man is also a human furnace. You squeeze your eyelids together and press the back of your hands onto your warm cheeks. You are too warm. You find them a little damp, a thin layer of perspiration beading your forehead too, your whole lower body all warm and fuzzy and numb from the position you fell asleep in.

You don't even remember falling asleep in the first place, you were just watching silly videos on Felix's phone and at one point your eyelids felt too droopy to keep your eyes open and you must have succumbed without even realizing it.

Slowly, carefully, you peel yourself off of the sleeping figure of your best friend, the look on his face so angelic and serene, pouty lips and slightly scrunched up nose sinking into the side of the pillow underneath him. Your hands tap around the surface beneath you until you find a comfortable,cooler spot to roll over to. You refuse to open your eyes fully, not wanting to loose that hazy, sweet state that's between sleepiness and wakefulness, and you unawarely bump into something hard, the impact startling you awake.

Mmh..?", Han rolls on his back and then on his side, partially invading your new found space,bleary eyed as he searches for the reason his already troubled sleep got interrupted, he comes face to face with you: "hey ... Y-you okay?", he mumbles softly, his voice so low and gentle you can barely hear him, "yeah-yeah sorry. Didn't see you there", you aplogize quickly, your body recoiling in itself as if you just got burned.

"Lixy's too warm isn't he", Han blinks a few times, heavy eyelids threatening to remain shut with every flutter of his long straight eyelashes. You're not sure why he's even trying to conversate right now, but you're a little too tired and too drowsy to mind it that much, you nod and stretch tour lips into a small smile, "you're cold though, usually", he continues, his voice raspy and low, just above a whisper.

Something about it makes your lower abdomen sizzle. Also something about the straightforwardness he speaks in makes you think he might not be referring only to your over all body temperature. "I could say the same to you", you whisper back, a slight bite in your tone.

Han smirks, his eyes looking a little more open and awake now, "that's true". He pauses. Brown orbs searching your tired face, it makes you feel exposed. Even though you're fully clothed in one of your old jumpers and pijama shorts, you feel as if he's looking through you. It also makes you suddenly realize just how close you're laying together, how he could take one too many breathes and be just a few inches away from your face.

"Do two cold people make a warm one?", he breathes, "I'm not sure, they'd probably disintegrate first. Or melt. Into each other". You have no idea what you're saying. The lack of sleep is talking for you, the intense gaze in his eyes playing tricks on your not fully awake brain. "I think they'd melt too". Han looks down at your lips briefly, the flick so quick you might have missed it if you blinked at the wrong time.

The slight thump in your chest though, that you couldn't have missed even if you tried to. Your eyes are trained to his, and for the first time in years you feel as if time between you never passed. As if that quickening in your heart was always there, like it never slowed down, numbed itself out so you would stop longing for him. A flicker, a tiny thing kindling against your ribcage. Click.

It happens in slow motion at first,as if you're watching a black and white film roll out before you eyes. And you're the protagonist but you're also looking at it from the audience. Him scooting closer, your breath stopping short in your mouth before you can exhale.

And then it kinda feels like a car crash.

🥀PART 4

[liquidstar]

I've seen a lot of people in the Re:zero community hate puck with a passion and call him a hypocritical toxic father, and a good portion of them accuse him of deliberately mentally abusing Emilia so that she can be a naive pretty doll with no sense of independence and always obey him unconditionally.

How do you feel about that?

i dont think theyre wrong per say but i also do think puck genuinely loved emilia a lot- i dont think this is something up for debate. he will literally end the world if she dies. but is that what she would want??? i highly doubt it. emilia is a girl who would die for a world that has been nothing but cruel to her.

puck was never really meant to be a father, like, thats not what he was made for. hes the beast of the end not the beast of paternal love. but thats also something about him i find compelling, because he changed so much of himself because he loved this girl so much. his mentality is literally "if anything happens to her ill kill everyone in the world and then myself"

but he does baby her. extremely so. and he does treat her like a doll. remember part of their contract is literally that he does her hair, and thats why she chops off in greed:if as an act of rebellion (normal teen girl behavior honestly). he also literally never told her what sex is- shes 17 and she had no clue, and its played off as a joke at first, but subaru's "damn you puck" rings so true.

remember in wrath:if it was puck who pitched a deal with suabru to keep emilia trapped in the "princess room" away from all the danger. the whole princess room thing (in wrath:if and also in her childhood) is symbolic of her loss of autonomy in a lot of ways, especially when you remember she's NOT a princess. she's a candidate to be a KING!

and there are more damning things within their contract too, like how she literally wasnt allowed to SEE HER OWN FACE! its not made super clear in the anime, but whenever she looks at reflections she actually doesnt see anything back (not because she doesnt have one, but that she herself isnt perceiving it. and i think a lot of this also comes back to the self-recognition theme of the story, the whole reflections though eyes motif and all. remember how much of her we saw reflected only through subaru's eyes? she doesnt actually see her own reflection until she jumps inside the lake in the trial)

but i think thats also a big part of why he broke her contract with her to begin with. i think he knows she hasnt been allowed to grow up, that shes been overly babied, isolated, and kept away from things that might potentially make her feel bad. including her past, and even her present and future... breaking the contract off all at once isnt a good way to do this, i mean, her mental breakdown was so emblematic of that. but i think its important to look at what it all means for the meta narrative.

the latter half of arc 4 was absolutely emilia's arc, and a lot of it was her sort of growing up. i dont think cold turkey is a great way for a parental figure to do this to their child, but emilia was so incredibly dependent. and a lot of that was because puck MADE her dependent to begin with. for so much of her life she literally only had him... like. she was all alone in complete isolation in a frozen forest for as far back as she can remember, and everyone in the world hated her for reasons she didnt understand, and all she had was this little cat thing to be her friend. OF COURSE shes dependent on him, and of course she thinks she cant do stuff on her own (shes so fucking scared of being alone), and i think puck sort of depended on this mindset to keep her a "child" for as long as possible

but she had to grow up eventually. she's 18, maybe almost 19 by this point of the story (still unclear exactly which month we're in) and this is just as much her coming of age story as it is subaru's. (but speaking of subaru puck also guilt trips him quite a bit about emilia's deaths, even when he himself is "gone at the most important times" in emilia's words, which is not only hypocritical but also manipulative!)

all this being said i seriously love puck as a character because when he was first introduced i was like "oh god. annoying mascot character. boring" and then the beast of the end reveal happened and i was like "oh so this is going in the kyubey ripoff direction. i guess that makes sense for a dark fantasy but idrc" BUT THEN he actually ends up being like. an actual character w a lot of depth and nuance to him, a lot of it being how incredibly fucking sketchy he actually is but in a completely different way than just "evil twist mascot." between him and matsumoto from vivy, i love how tappei handles mascot characters- theyre a really hard thing to get right w/o being annoying LOL.

[fanficfish]

hetalia: my hc on nations and personalities

...beyond the stereotypes!

okay okay hear me out okay hc brainrot midnight time im jacked on caffeine and the night is young aight

so lets get this straight: so first off i imagine the nations are like 96% "stereotypes of ttheir nation" (e.g. the more people think or are americans that digest too many burgers, to more likely it is America himself eats attrocious amounts of burgers. The more people say Germans are swrious, the more likely Germany is a serious dude. etc. the normal stuff we all know off.)

but the other 4%? That's the nation's "person" side, seperate from their "nation" side. It varies a little depending on country ofc but that's prob the average.

E.g. hungary and austria "divorced" but they clearly care for each other. They can't be together for literal reasons but the non-nations parts of them wouldn't mind at all.

prussia is knwon aa a great warrior so that's what he is. But his non-nation half has self doubts and the need to keep an eye on his family. Like llease, Prussia how did you know what Austria wears and eats??? I get a feeling this wasn't in the mdidle of WW2, probabky right before if i had to geuss. Austria wouldn't have moved in with Germany and by exention aprussia yet....and he waa following the dude....prussia is an overprotective helicopter parent of an older brother, canon.

France and his distaste for technology. Exhibit A: french music was consistantly the one doing the weird innovative stuff in my music history class when it wasn't Schoenberg. Besides that, i could see France not liking tech as much due to being literally a thousand. Heck, i'm pretty sure half the old nations are a bit iffy about it just because "wdym now i can't just didappear lff the grid without anyone getting cocnerned and i need passports and phones and shit?" Except maybe Denmark, China, and Japan. Those three are 100% ipad kids in old men bodies.

iceland oozes gen z. enough said. The man might be obsessed with finding tourists and his northern lights and his weird museums but the thing where his beothers are throwing plates at his door and he's like "hell noooo"? The one where he's going off to make friends over ding-dong soup with the ASEAN dudes? That's allll Iceland, the person. Far as i could find there os no iceland-malaysia embassy and closest it got was relations with indonesia. (I highly recommend checking out the iceland-diplomatics-relations wiki page. There's a very interesting factoid under the list for Asian countries i think many of you will be interested in.....but per my own doctrine, this is a Hetalia hc post and not a Politica post.)

america and his animals. That goes for estonia too. Americans are no adopting whales and aliens as pets (well maybe the donate-and-save-an-animal program but we aint keep them in the house) and i doubt estonians keep talking mochi they found randomly in a disty corner. I'm fairly certain most Eatonians don't hell "latviaaaaaa!!!!" When things go wrong either.

austria getting lost is just a him thing. That's not normal for austrians, music part is very much influenced by his people. His preference to chopin might be him though since Salzburg is in Austria and that's Mozartland. Also, Chopin is Polish.

I won't even start with the clusterfuck called Russia but Japan daydreaming about Switzerland? Yeah that was Japan's non-nation side getting really weird. Japan understandably was just as confused himswlf considering for the most part he has no prpblems being a "stereotypical japanese dude".

need i mention Italy, who has a huge crush on Germany m/hre despite him literally changing in basically everything (because that's the natire of a nation), and just likes the guy as long as he exists?

I also choose to believe Sweden can grow a beard if he really followed the stereotype (no seriously. Why os the image i get of Sweedish guys just dudes with beards? Someone has a really nice sweden somewhere ln this site where he has a lovely beard and it just makes him look like the embodiment of sweeden, no questions asked). But he doesn't like it, which fair o imagine beards aren't fun when stiff gets stick in them or whatever, so he just shaves or leaves some stubble. Def not cuz Asians and beards is just not really a thing so Hima prob just didn't draw beyond the stubble.

Latvia being a secret brainiac that plays mental chess against himself while doing other stuff, all hidden under an alcoholic who can't get rid of his past. Pretty sure his blabbermouth thie is his own personality. I did see somewhere that there's a steretype that Latvians have six toes and i kinda wanna just believe Latvia got that one too cuz why not!

theres others im sure but yeah. Those are the knes i came up with and im gonna sleep now bye lmk what you think

[strangedreamings]

S3E4 (spoilers abound)

Portia, Prudence, and Philippa listening at the open door while Debling calls on Pen. The three of them are anything but subtle.

Aww, he gave her a potted plant so she can have nature indoors with her. I hope somebody in this house has a green thumb. He is sweet but he'd better be honest with whoever he ends up marrying about his actual reason for finding a wife.

Has Pen truly given up on Colin? It's sad if that's true.

"I will surely eat all of the biscuits" You mean we FINALLY have an appearance by Colin's bottomless pit of a stomach? It only took what, TWO AND A HALF SEASONS?!

Violet knows when something is up but she also knows a dismissal when she hears one.

Benedict and Lady Tilley. Yeah, she's this season's Siena, though I will say I like her a lot more than I liked Siena (which isn't hard). She won't last but at least they'll be fun to watch while she's around.

Agatha and Marcus. Their dynamic is interesting -- "Do whatever, I'm too busy to get involved." I doubt he'll last beyond S3, but you never know.

"to become the new Marquess Samadani" OH MY FUCKING GOD, SHONDA, YOU DID NOT!!! The wife of a marquess (or a female marquess in her own right) is not called a marquess, but a MARCHIONESS! I know marquess isn't a common title in the British peerage but Shonda, you have access to Wikipedia, FUCKING USE IT!!!

"You read me too well." God, I love Charlotte and Brimsley.

Violet, El, Fran, and the kids are expecting Lord Samadani but Maybe-John has dropped in instead. We'd better learn his name soon, this is driving me nuts.

"John Stirling, Earl of Kilmartin." FUCKING FINALLY!!!! I don't care that his accent is wrong, I love this guy already! Is your cousin Michael in town too, John? Or is he earning his title of the Merry Rake elsewhere?

John and Fran are simply enjoying the silence and the rest of the family is completely baffled, I love it. And here comes Samadani, lovely. John, your timing is awful.

Samadani seems like a nice enough guy, he's just wrong for Francesca.

Love the library, hate Portia's internalized misogyny. I really feel for Cressida now. Can Debling marry her once Colin finally gets his head out of his ass and marries Pen?

I take "revelry" to mean Colin's friends are going whoring and want him to come with, lovely.

Debling is finally being honest? Well, not directly, but still, I'll take it for now. Oh, he's being subtle but he is being direct, got it. Poor Pen, she's torn between the life she wants and a good life that's being offered to her.

Colin with his two ladies again but this time, he's not into it. If you've already paid, Colin, you could've just bid them goodnight and left, you didn't have to stay.

Francesca running into John on the street. These two are a little too quiet for their own good, but I'm sure they'll be fine, maybe with a little help from Violet.

The Cowpers' sitting room has to be the most depressing room on the planet. Lord Cowper's forbidding Cressida from being friends with Eloise? Is it because of Colin? Or Pen? Or maybe he thinks she's putting too much effort into the friendship and not enough into finding a husband. Cressida, I'm guessing you're the same age as Daphne, so I believe that makes you 23 now. You're a legal adult and have been for two years. It would be highly irregular but you could move out of your parents' house. I'm sure the Bridgertons would take you in if Eloise explained everything.

Uh oh, the Mondriches' pub needs saving (again). We'll have another last-minute save by a Bridgerton by the time S3 is over, I'm sure. Frankly, most of the ton can fuck themselves, and that includes Colin's "friends," especially Fife. Pig.

Colin wanting more out of sex is a great sign of both his maturity and him falling in love.

So Debling's serious about proposing to Pen. Poor Pen and poor Cressida.

BTW, I love how the subtitles keep calling the music this season "pensive," it feels like an unintended pun.

For a woman who can't come up with a decent metaphor to save her life, Violet is very wise when it comes to her kids. Oh, she is playing Colin like a fiddle! Go, Violet!

I really like her and Marcus together, he seems like a great guy, though apparently somewhat estranged from Agatha.

Cressida came to Eloise. El really brings out the best in her, something her parents really try to keep hidden. I swear to God, Shonda, if you don't give Cressida a happy ending, I will.

Be careful, Fran, especially with the Queen watching.

Colin has finally outgrown his "friends," halleluiah!

Well, at least Debling bowed out gracefully. And Cressida still has a chance, as slim as it is.

Oh, is this THE carriage scene? Not quite how the book one went but hey, if we get the same outcome, I'm all for it.

Aww, Colin looks like he's about to cry.

"Are you going to marry me or not?" Colin, I could kiss you but I'll leave that to Pen. WE GOT OUR BOOK PROPOSAL!!!

And we don't even get an answer before the episode ends.

Nice cliffhanger, Shonda.