#I like all of these characters FINE in THEIR OWN STORIES

[luna-azzurra]

10 Quiet Ways Your Character Is Breaking Their Own Heart (And Pretending It's Fine)

These are the betrayals that aren’t loud. They don’t come with fireworks or screaming matches. These are the small, slow deaths. The ones that your character lets happen... while smiling politely.

» They say yes when they desperately want to say no. Every. Damn. Time. They show up when they're exhausted. They agree to things they hate. They make themselves smaller, softer, easier, because "good people" don’t make waves, right? (Spoiler: they're drowning.)

» They keep chasing people who only love them halfway. It's not even subtle anymore. They know these people leave them on "read," show up late, make them feel like an afterthought. But they cling anyway, spinning every scrap of affection into a story about hope. (It’s not hope. It’s hunger.)

» They refuse to believe good things are meant for them. They’ll hype everyone else up. They’ll believe in everyone else's dreams. But when something finally good lands in their lap? They’ll panic. Push it away. Tell themselves it was a fluke. (Because being disappointed feels safer than being lucky.)

» They’re waiting for closure that will never come. An apology. An explanation. A miracle where someone says, "You were right, and I was wrong, and I’m so sorry." They wait years. Decades. Lifetimes. But deep down, they know: some people never come back. Some stories just end without punctuation.

» They’re hoarding all their "almosts" like treasures. The job they almost got. The love that almost worked. The version of themselves they almost became. They replay those maybes like a greatest hits album. (Meanwhile, real life is slipping by while they mourn possibilities.)

» They’re performing a version of success they secretly hate. Look at the Instagram. Look at the LinkedIn updates. Look at the shiny exterior. It looks like winning. But every trophy they collect feels heavier, not lighter. Every promotion tastes a little more like ash. (Turns out, chasing someone else's dream is still losing.)

» They forgive people who aren’t sorry. Not because they’re enlightened. Not because they’ve healed. But because it’s easier to pretend it didn’t hurt than to sit with the fact that it did—and that the person responsible doesn't care. (Some wounds scar better when you stop pretending they were accidents.)

» They punish themselves for still being soft. The world told them, again and again, that soft things get broken. And they believed it. So every time they feel too much? Every time they cry or hope or trust? They tell themselves they’re weak. Stupid. Embarrassing. (They're not. They're just still alive.)

» They downplay their own magic. They call their talents "lucky breaks." Their beauty "average." Their intelligence "no big deal." They shrug off compliments like they're dangerous. Because deep down, they've been taught that being remarkable makes you a target.

» They cling to the idea that if they just work harder, they'll finally be enough. They believe in meritocracy like it’s a religion. That if they hustle hard enough, self-sacrifice deep enough, burn themselves to ash perfectly enough, someone, somewhere, will finally say, "You're worthy now." (They were always worthy. The system is just broken.)

[akanemnon]

Lowkey an extremely random question but are we allowed to use any of your characters/character concepts in our own work [with credits ofc]?

For example, if i wanted to draw my persona interacting with someone as much of a menace as they are, like Lesslo. Or, random fan animatics/animations featuring characters we have theories on?

Completly fine if you say no, just wanting to make sure.

Side note: If you/anyone else is in school, good luck with state testing 👍 I know damn well we all need it, heh- Stay hydraited, get rest, eat food and don't suffer PLEASE- 🙏

I'm always okay with fanart and fan content. This is what I would count this as.

As is the nature of AUs, people do tend to use the characters and concepts for their own works (see Twin Roomies and Twin Drones). It's something I still need to get used to to some extend. Imagine someone just runs off with your child to put them in a situation without you knowing about it. But the key part here is that I know the people who work on these stories. And most importantly I trust them (even if SOME of them like to blow up my children a little too much for my liking).

I think what helps ease my worries is if people ask me about it first to make sure. Just like you did!

[foibles-fables]

since y'all said you'd like to see it--which, THANK YOU, omg, I'm so damn flattered--here's a little snippet of my OCs!

brief relevant context: medieval sword and sorcery fantasy. Rainen, early 20s, daughter of the realm's sovereign, once the spare to her elder twin brother, has been unwillingly thrust into the position of heir following her twin's recent demise. Leythe, also early 20s, orphan turned soldier, recently promoted to palace guard and then promoted again to Rainen's personal guard. This is at a point where mutual feelings have developed but are still unspoken. Rainen is being pressured to take a consort. Nobody is happy about it.

This was a 15 minute free-write exercise and thus might eventually be part of the actual story, might not. Just character vibes, for now. Okay on with it!

--

She comes back hours later with bruise-red eyes and bloodied knuckles, shoulders tipped forward under the weight of reticent silence. One look at her tired, sullen gaze and her guarded scowl stiffens Rainen's jaw like stone set to mortar.

"Leythe." It's hard to temper the hurt out of her name. Hard to stay imperious as the worry turns into a queasy melding of anger and relief. She tries again, keeping her voice as cold and indifferent as the winter lingering outside the tower walls. "I didn't give you leave."

Mouth twisting, Leythe leers down. Hasn't met Rainen's eyes, yet. Won't. Scoffs. "I thought you didn't give me orders." Her words are off-shaped, soft-bounded, running into one another. "Wasn't that the arrangement?"

"You're drunk."

"Had some ale," Leythe says on the tail of a sigh, flexing her injured hand.

"Looks like you had the whole brewery. Smells like it, too."

"Fine. Had a lot of fucking ale."

Rising from her writing desk, Rainen pins her with a glare. Finally Leythe glances at her, if only cornerways. A grief, there. Bitterness like a storm in the distance, trapped beneath her skin. "Tell me why."

There's an open cut splitting the skin of her largest knuckle—the blood is hers. It rolls along her fingers, dripping to the floor. Her eyes follow it there. All rough, all gravel, she murmurs, "You know why."

A long moment passes. In the silence Rainen's heart wrenches deeper and deeper into her chest. At last she loses the struggle against softening.

She says, "Come here."

Leythe shakes her head, curls tumbling. "Wouldn't want to get blood all over your nice things."

It's spoken too sincerely to be a jab. No trenchancy, no hidden barbs. Rainen sighs through a pang of nagging guilt. She should't have been so harsh.

"I mean it, Leythe." Words like melt instead of marble. She retrieves a nearby washbasin and takes a seat, wringing the excess water from the cloth. "Let me see your hand."

"It's nothing."

"It's bleeding."

A half-hearted shrug. "So be it. I've dealt with worse."

Petulance begets petulance, even if there's no real bite left behind either tone. "Oh, shut up. If it's broken and you don't take care of it now, you can just watch your sword rust when it gets worse."

Unsurprisingly, that tips the scale in favor of compliance. With a reluctant grimace, Leythe steps closer and offers her hand, sitting down only after Rainen shoots a pointed look at the chair beside her own.

Rainen is no healer—far from it, in fact, probably wouldn't know a fractured bone from an intact unless it was poking through to the outside—but this part seems simple enough. This part, she can do. So she tries. Gently swabs the cloth over Leythe's fingers, clearing away the blood, watching it tinge the water in the basin to a sickly pink. Whether from the drink or her diciplined tolerance, Leythe doesn't flinch as the touch passes over the tear in her skin. Though Rainen stays focused on her task, she can still feel Leythe's stare, centered, searching. Another flicker of cureless regret courses through her at the sight of the silvery marks nicked over Leythe's swollen knuckles. So many old scars—and now this one, fresh and raw, because of her.

"Who did you hit?" she asks, one step above a whisper.

A humorless laugh. "An alleyway wall."

Better than a person, if only just. The image of Leythe, drunk, striking stone just to burn through the desolation before returning tightens Rainen's throat.

Despite the scars on one side and the calluses on the other, Leythe's hand softens for Rainen's.

"You know I like this no more than you do," Rainen says.

At this, Leythe seems to retreat further into herself. "Then you don't have to flaunt him."

"Oh, but I do." The rancor is unfair, uncalled for, and unable to be staunched. "Cyril made sure of that."

Grim silence in reply. Funny how the mention of a dead twin takes all the air out of a room, all the fang out of a fight.

"You'll see the physician first morning mark," Rainen says after a moment, wrapping a second dry cloth around Leythe's knuckles. "For now, sleep this off."

Finality. No room for explanations or justifications or apologies. Everything that can't be helped still looms, will loom, on and on.

And yet—

When Leythe lifts her gaze to Rainen's again, helpless and begging and clearest blue, Rainen reaches out to caress her face, thumb tracing along the freckled arch of her cheekbone.

Always unsaid but always known nonetheless. Always an ache forcing its way straight through.

[adobe-outdesign]

Here's a bunch of very lose spitball-y thoughts as someone who's into the lore (keep in mind, however, that I am also white—ideally TNT would talk to actual Polynesian people for this):

Gen:

I do think a plot or small event would be needed, as users would likely be a lot more receptive to major changes if there's story behind it (like Faerieland's fall). Doesn't have to be huge; see the little Krawk Island Disappearance event.

I feel like Mystery Island needs an actual name—the current one is a leftover relic from when it was only accessible via totem. Just establish that that's what other lands call it and establish a new name that the people of MI use.

Remove the "watch out for the cannibals" (yikes) line from the world map. Also, change MI's map icon to be Techo Mountain instead of the random giant moʻai head that isn't even part of the map.

PB-wise, I like the ideas in the comments about doing island flora/fauna, but effectively retiring the color would probably upset a lot of people with expensive customizations built around it. I would just change the ones that are the most racist (i.e, the ones that have random African attributes, like Kyriis and JubJubs).

They could also rename it "Island Tourist Paint Brush", which might go a long way in making it less weird/culturally appropriative. (Bonus points if they gave the indigenous MI characters their own separate unpaintable color ala the Tyrannian Elders, but that would be more work).

Map Changes:

Just delete the Tiki Tours entirely and move the avvie and the mood boost to The Beach (then move the Kacheek Swim avatar; maybe make it a customization thing).

Establish that Rorru (the Haiku Generator Kougra) is half-Shenkuu on her mother's side, and have her move back to Shenkuu to visit family, relocating the Haiku Generator in the process.

Get rid of the Harbour. It's not racist I just don't know why it exists

The Rock Pool was created way back when Maraqua was destroyed. I'd get rid of it and merge the stock back with Maraquan Petpets (the shop itself is fine; I'm just suggesting it because of the below note).

I don't know what Aztec/Mayan buildings are doing here, but I don't like that or the cannibalism going on in Geraptiku. I'd be as bold as to say that as part of the plot, MI decides to start using the deserted land again; i.e., merge the Petpet Shop and Colouring Pages to the mainland (TNT would have room with the other changes noted here).

TNT could even consider moving the Deserted Tomb to the Lost Desert and making it an ancient Egyptian pyramid instead (like MI closed theirs to tourists, but coincidentally the other one was found in the LD at the same time.)

Other:

Mumbo Pango (yikes name) hasn't been important in a very long time. I think you could just straight-up remove all mentions of him and no one would notice.

Have the Tombola Man retire and have a new young islander take over his job (both Tombola and Tiki Tack). This would be a great opportunity to refresh the art and the prize pool, both of which are badly needed. (Also yeah, drop "tiki" from everything.)

The Cooking Pot is fine, just remove the mentions of Pango Pango (same character as Mumbo Pango as far as I know) and make it so that Jhuidah's magic fuels it. Also redesign her—something like this, maybe?)

Kitchen Quests are fine—the Underwater Chef isn't indigenous, but he's a refugee (both lore-wise and on-site; they moved his quests out of Maraqua when it was destroyed) so I think it's okay. However, his Neopedia entry casually mentions him being forced to cook under threat of being eaten by Mumbo Pango (Yikes(TM)) so remove that part. Maybe mention in the article that him being allowed to live on the island was a rare wartime exception.

Going off the notes, it could instead be that he just serves food to tourists and he works this terrible food service job as a thank-you to the people of MI for taking him in or something like that.

Island Training is weird because it's Japanese, but you don't want to remove all of MI's attractions. Maybe just remove the ninja mentions and redesign the characters a bit?

Redesign the Island Mystic to be, uh, Not That

OKAY NEXT NEOPETS LORE QUESTION.

What are people's thought on how to make Mystery Island um.. less. THAT. (racist)

Like would it just be a wake up one day and the whole map and everything related to it is different, or would people expect there to be some kind of plot involved?

If there was lore involved, would it be MORE insensitive to do some kind of mini-plot in which the people of Mystery Island are tired of being seen as nothing but a tourist destination and want to reclaim the dignity of their home, which ends with a lot of major changes to the location? Or could that be a nice narrative if done respectfully?

Would changing the land itself require changing all of the existing Mystery Island paintbrush pet designs? I feel like this is where it gets difficult because it would be best to not have any racist designs lingering around, but I could see a lot of backlash if people are using the base color for their pet and it suddenly changes and destroys their customisation. (This could be mitigated just by keeping similar color schemes but idk if the stripes and stuff that a lot of them have would need to go and whether it would be good to replace them (plus also, I think this is a very entitled thing to be upset about in the face of getting rid of racist content so I would hope people just dont fight it)) It would probably be kind of impossible to delete all the old pb items off ppl's accounts tho, at best they could be replaced by different wearables and the item images updated.

Thoughts, opinions, concerns? 🤔

[ct-multifandom]

The Ruler Reactions

Gay people on national television! This one’s really long. If you read any one thing off this post let it be my analysis of Nath’s bedroom layout. Should I post that on its own, too?

Did they retcon his family to be ginger I’m confused. Oh wait no, I think the dad is, but the mom has brown hair? Curse the way they shade brown hair with orange highlights; it’s confusing, and it doesn’t help that Nath’s hair color right now looks more like his dad’s natural hair than his mom’s.

Nath’s miraculous is like a 〰️ shape

Pinkie Pie ass family dynamic

The dad, who I guess doesn’t have a name yet (?), is giving me basic businessman energy based on his outfit. He has a kind of douchey looking suit and aviator sunglasses

Dude their house is MASSIVE where do they even live?!?!? Is this one of those mansions that’s really far from central Paris? Like holy shit it’s huge and in one of the most expensive locations in the world, too. Is Shirel such a famous and successful architect that she’s that rich, or does the dad maybe have a very high-paying job?

Ew so the dad is one of those “I’m fine with gay people, but not everything has to be gay/ I’m okay with the distant, abstract concept of LGBTQ, but I don’t like to actually see it existing openly irl and deny it could apply to the people close to me” people

Local man prefers nonsensical, out-of-character het ship over well-developed and textually intentional same-sex relationship, hundred dead, thousands injured

Nice to see them making original stories instead of Ladybug rpf

You should talk to your good old pal Marc your buddy your bro

LMAO Marc has the same exact haircut as his mom. How did two boho hipster special brownie recipe Fleetwood Mac vinyl collection parents have such a Hot Topic son? Must be adopted

^ wait actually unironically might he be? I’m taking a closer look, and usually, they give the characters obviously similar features to their parents. His mom might have green eyes, and her mouth and chin shape look like him as well as maybe the ears, and obv they have the same hair texture. I don’t really see anything in common with the dad, though, and neither of their noses look like Marc’s, plus his skin tone is different from both of them and they have thinner eyebrows than him. We don’t know what color the dad’s hair used to be, but Marc clearly didn’t get it from his mom. It could be that the mom is his bio mom, but the dad is a stepdad?

The mom has a skirt with sun patterns and rainbow earrings. Nice to see her supporting her son’s character design motifs. How much do you wanna bet they all have pun names based on the sky like Sol(omon) or Sunny or Luna or Stella? Im putting all my money down, just look at the (a)Couffaines. I’m sure we’ll get more about them in another episode

Everyone’s got their shoes on the couch. Evil

Marc and Nathaniel’s moms would look like Ms Frizzle if they fused together

Marinette reminds me of that one Chris Fleming Gayle skit about cleaning the house. “get rid of the couch. We can’t let people know we sit!”

“I can’t go to school like this!” Because she’s embarrassed about snot and not because she’s ill. Hey Mari remember that time you starred in a COVID-19 PSA? What happened to that, did you learn nothing?

Okay so Diane is literally Nagito Komaeda I see how it is. Write this down for your Danganronpa AUs guys, she’s the ultimate lucky student. Sometimes I think about the early concept where the school they all go to is for elite and talented students… like girl that’s Danganronpa school. And that’s why all the kids are exceptionally good at at least one thing. Diane probably would’ve gotten accepted through some sort of lottery scholarship let’s be real. Side note, I saw the English dub gave her a South African accent which is so cute! They’ve been going off with foreign accents this season in all these different dubs

Marc has a rainbow “lightning bolt” logo of some sort on the back of his shirt

“Probably a jet plane” LMAO

So Marc really does have makeup on just one eye huh. Idk how I feel about that I mean it’s unique and the lightning bolt is kinda cool. I think I would’ve put the makeup and earring on opposite sides because it feels a bit unbalanced.

“It’s as if everything [the heroes] confronted led them to a final revelation” oh Adrien baby you weren’t there for your final revelation

“It’s our story, yours and mine” “it’s more than that, it’s our story, all of us!” Mylene is bi y’all I’ve been saying it. Myvan is bi4bi mark my words. “She’s wearing a pride pin because she’s an ally” you fools, that pin is for HER

To clarify, when she said that ^ I’m pretty sure it meant like the story represents the experiences of all queer people who read it and see themselves in it

Marc’s schoolbag has a tie-dye rainbow flap and the strap is studded like his belt. Nath’s is paint-splattered, and the flap has a comic book POW sunburst with a half-tone pattern and a graffiti tag. Gone are the days of everyone having bags that were the same assets, just randomly recolored in different pastel shades.

“I won’t hold it against you, it won’t change anything between us” <- lying, probably

Genuinely what is Nathaniel doing all day to get paint splatters all over his overalls, shoes, and bag? That’s one character design trope i do not enjoy because it’s so quirky Pinterest art hoe manic pixie dream girl, and it doesn’t even make sense because he’s almost always shown using pen and pencil, markers, and digital media. Show him painting more murals or something to justify this. Or give him a yellow Kanken, a huge reusable water bottle, and a phone case with a famous Impressionist painting on it idk.

^ also knowing how rich his family is now, the whole messy-on-purpose aesthetic is giving Coachella attendee idk like trust fund baby cosplaying as a Home Depot employee. Does this make any sense

Seeing Ziggy participating in all this and Nath asking for her opinion makes it even weirder that Ivan wasn’t talking to Stompp last time. See, Nath and Sabrina are making the most out of their free dogs.

The big nostrils they gave her are kind of distracting, though, and I feel like they make her less cute? If I were to draw a goat from memory I wouldn’t give it particularly large nostrils

He has the Adrienette fairytale AU art above his desk. “Oh Mariknight, we’re really in it now”

More epic art! This is still Avril Circus, right? I guess they really got into the romantasy genre

So obv the knights represent them, but I’m thinking are the helmets supposed to be like fur and feather themed to nod towards their hero designs? Is that a stretch?

“He’d rather lose his powers than his partner” that’s the line of the day right there ^ we are so coming back to that later as it shows how different Marc and Nath as well as Alya and Nino’s priorities are than Marinette’s

“They can’t lose their powers, it’s not fair” oh this is so foreshadowing. It also reminds me of the overarching idea that as a miraculous holder you can kind of just do whatever you want, and that you can create a third outcome instead of choosing between two bad things

Really interesting how Nath’s room is so huge, but only the tiny, hidden-away corner of his desk is decorated or representative of his personality in any way. The rest of the room is neutral and boring like it’s from a real estate catalogue, and is clearly in his mom’s style rather than his own. That shows how controlling she is and how even in his own bedroom the space represents what she wants without considering him. There’s even an abstract painting with harsh black smears and a bunch of eyes on it? It’s like his parents put that up to make him feel like he’s constantly being observed or scrutinized by them even when they aren’t physically there, which follows him away from home as well. Creepy af and reminds me of that one psychology thing where putting up posters of eyes is supposed to deter people from stealing. He has to shove his true self into one little corner as far from the door’s line of sight as possible where he can block what he’s doing with his back.

And this whole “true self vs my parents want me to be a certain way” thing is put in the context of homophobia in this episode, but I think it goes deeper than that. His sexuality and career plan are just two examples in what’s likely a constant stream of “hey you’re not existing correctly please fix that”

When Gabriel Agreste in s4 came out I made a post about the juxtaposed shots of Adrien and Marinette’s scenes with how Adrien’s house is oppressively empty and colorless while Marinette’s bedroom and visit to the art room were colorful, crowded, and filled with details full of personality and warmth. They’re doing it again with Marc and Nathaniel’s houses as a parallel to Marinette and Adrien, and showing us the Mariknight art from that episode solidifies the callback. Even then, despite the rest of the house being cold af, Adrien got to have a bunch of colorful games, music, and a TV in his bedroom even though he didn’t really choose which enrichment got thrown into his enclosure. As far as I can tell, Nathaniel just has art supplies. How is Shirel worse than Gabriel in this regard the bar is in hell

Nath rewrote the ending and Marc liked it better hm. He’s also taking poetry class. Before, Nath said he was bad at writing, but it seems like he’s improving. I wonder if they’re moving in the direction of him making solo comics later on. Not saying he and Marc are gonna stop working together or anything, but Nath wants to do this for a living and we don’t have any indication of what Marc wants to do yet, so there’s a chance comics might be a hobby project for him in the future. By which I mean when they’re adults, not like, later this season.

Nath hid what he was holding as soon as he heard the door that’s a reflex

LMAO they’re referencing the famous “does Adrien smell like cheese” fandom question

Talk about comic relief after all that stuff I just talked about ahaha

I hope the proof poster is gonna be up in the background of Marinette’s room from now on

Ok so they just look through his stuff in his room ok

“I’m okay with gay people as long as that doesn’t include you”

That mindset that you need to have a useful, stable job and make a ton of money and be productive 24/7 is like the Jewish version of the stereotypical “why no A+” Asian parents it’s like “you’re gonna pay our bills when we’re old, right? Why are you slacking off then, why no doctor or lawyer or business executive?”

Girl she threw that entire thick ass packet in the shredder with the BINDER CLIPS still on it?!? What kind of diamond drill bits are built into that thing

Oh hi Fred

First time a side character is abusing their powers for something stupid. I hope this won’t be a problem for him in the future,,, he’s a bit too casual about running around and transforming for personal reasons

Reverser callback, Nathaniel is once again doing destructive bullshit in the heat of the moment that will harm everyone involved instead of doing anything rational

No Alix for him to talk about his feelings with this time though :( when will platonic wife come home from the war

Thinking about that one analysis post I read that was posted forever ago where OP theorized/headcanoned that he has BPD you were so real for that

That was like a bajillion dollars worth of printer ink, rich kid

Maybe you should’ve talked to Marinette before going to school…

“So you were the jet plane?” Lmao

“Comic books are so you” “you’re only saying that because it’s all I’ve ever done” I mean he’s not exactly wrong about that. I don’t think he’s been shown to have any hobbies or specific skills outside of art

“Please respect my choice” callback to Penalteam when he said no to the miraculous and she was like… ok here it is anyway, see you at the akuma battle in five minutes

Aw that hug was sweet. Me personally though, I wouldn’t hug someone with a red nose and puffy eyes who just sneezed through the sound barrier moments ago. Lila wins by default because the whole team gets incapacitated by The Plague.

My “friend”

New teacher just dropped! The gardening teacher has flowers in her hair and patched up knees on her overalls cute

“I didn’t know tomatoes cry when you cut them” yes Nathaniel is very sad right now

Strike two of Nath making Marc cry, thin fucking ice

I need to know more about this academic vampire coven. There’s the poetry teacher and… maybe a school nurse? Both with bat accessories. Putting punk spikes all around the handles of a wheelchair is crazy btw. “Help me with my wheelchair, but also it’s a torture device. If you say no you’re ableist”

“If they were real art they’d be in the louvre” girl is YOUR art in the louvre, huh?

“Comics (allegory for being gay) aren’t real art” ma’am the entire LGBTQ community is currently looking down and watching you from the balconies

How are you homophobic while wearing quirky miniature-object earrings that represent what your job is, that’s a lesbian symbol

Also your son looks like if a man and a woman had a baby so this is your fault

Ok forcefully dragging him by the forearm

Very interesting that Lila didn’t attempt to akumatize Nathaniel during his breakdown but waited for his mom to get more upset,,, will expand on this later

“I’ll give you the power to literally put your kid through instant conversion therapy! It’s gonna work this time.” Wtfffff also the extremely blatant villain name pun is kind of lost in English

Marc has broken the fourth wall a couple times, he knows he has enough plot armor to jump a supervillain without transforming and not get seriously injured

Transformation! His design eats so hard I’m obsessed, and he’s skipping around like a baby goat. The spiky parts of his hair on the sides kind of look like floppy goat ears and the back of his jacket ends in a little white triangle hanging out that looks like a tail :)

How was he doing all that in that tiny closet? *onlooker sees the closet rattling violently and the legs of a poorly made 3D model clipping in and out of it* and yeah yeah he’s done hiding busting out of the literal closet yeah

I do appreciate a teen coming out story where the character is fully aware of their sexuality beforehand btw. None of that “b-but we’re both boys 🥺” trope just a guy who is openly bi and dating a boy at school but has to hide it at home

Ok this is so nit picky but I do wish they did something to suggest he is bisexual in this episode. Totally understandable to focus on mlm relationships, but I see what I imagine are young kids on the insta side of the fandom get confused about season 1 and assume he “became” gay, or I guess had massive comp-het idk. They might be reinforcing that idea here. I hope there’s something later on at least, like that time Rose joked about kissing both Mari and Adrien.

“I need to find my son” I already found MY son get away from him

Bro thinks he’s Splatoon

Those markers cost also a bajillion dollars. I mean they’re like magically generated so I guess it doesn’t count but still. Also are they… just regular art supplies he’s using or are they real weapons that look like art supplies because his power can’t make magical objects. If he’s just launching plastic rectangles at an armored knight that’s not very effective

Love the cunty Bayonetta style kick from chat noir

I guesssss it makes sense why Lila wants to turn CN on LB and get him to bring both the miraculous but like,,, you’re better off asking him to give you his ring first and then go after LB yourself whether you get her or not

This is the part of the episode where the hero explains what’s going on between them and the villain very explicitly in case you didn’t get it yet

Phew good thing mind control victims will respond to anyone’s orders

“Adrien is gonna have a villain arc” well it just happened and it’s that he turned into an Axe body spray boy

Oh what the fuck why is Lila calling out Nathaniel by full government name that’s creepy. Is she onto him for potentially being a superhero? Tbf he did transform twice in front of huge windows. And he stuck to the artist shtick a little too hard. If she suspects him then she’s not entirely sure yet? To expand on stuff from earlier, in Daddycop, she tried to akumatize Sabrina after she ran away crying, but didn’t do the same to Nathaniel even though he was arguably more upset. In El Toro de Piedra, there was a suspicious figure stalking Ivan, but I didn’t notice anyone like that here. In both those episodes, she didn’t say anything specific about Sabrina nor Ivan, so what’s going on in this one? Perhaps she was watching him in the scene where he went to destroy the prints?

Another episode where the shitty parents become niceys at the end. Please don’t let them magically be perfect form now on nor Raul nor Emile, let them suck a little but try to be nicer

Ah so the rewritten ending is that the sun and rain knights don’t lose their powers, but combine to create a new power of rainbow? Also mlm on screen kiss but it’s not between real characters. Fair enough, I don’t think this is an appropriate time for a marcnath kiss

There’s something to be said about how wlw relationships are seen as less threatening than mlm in media like girls kissing can be brushed off as cutesy but boys kissing is seen as a weird kink thing, like how the dad was saying mlm romance isn’t deep and sentimental unlike straight romance. In TV-Y7 cartoons in general there have been a good handful of iconic canon wlw moments, but I can’t think of any mlm equivalents other than minor side characters that barely do anything or like, older men who are also background characters and have no romantic subplot because they’re long time partners. In this show they’ve created an in-universe justification for why Marc and Nath are less open about their relationship, but they still continue to be censored far more heavily than Julerose, Zoe, or Caline and Giselle.

Shoes on the BED broooo if Sublime can have four different hairstyles in one episode they can make the characters take their shoes off okay

I love the physics on Marc’s dangly earring

Let’s talk about rampant homophobia and hate crimes but use nerdy fantasy metaphors for plausible deniability

Awwwww they’re so cute

YOOO Marc’s disguised miraculous has a cutout design in it like the one in a calligraphy pen that’s cool

REVEAL Nath was gonna be bisexual but not eat hot chip nor lie. This will soooo come back later. When Nino did it, it didn’t exactly have humongous consequences? I mean kind of but not in any way that endangered him nor Alya. That’s what I was saying earlier that Nino and Nath value their relationships more than being a hero. The trouble here is that Lila is being really ominous about Nath, he has a track record of impulsively doing bad things, and he’s recklessly transformed a couple times in this ep alone, so this is… concerning but also cute? And since the comic represents them, instead of giving up their powers after a reveal they’re gonna combine them and make them stronger?

People have been saying there’s gonna be a Myvan one too because of the intro and yeah I agree. Probably even more, like I can’t imagine Luka and Juleka can hide it for long. Marinette will realize that nobody thinks lying to their friends and partners is sustainable. She values being a hero over her relationship because she feels responsible for everything. Like she can’t just quit her job and get replaced at this point, she needs to protect the whole city/world and to her, that’s bigger than her personal life.

Interesting that they’re obscuring Marc’s transformation. Does that suggest his episode is after this? It’s not like it’s a spoiler, we already know what he looks like. Dramatic effect ig. Marc was generally very mature throughout this ep tho, and he jumped into the fight to protect Nath, so idk maybe it came first

Lila already knows who most of the heroes are, but not them. There’s a good chance she will find out and use it against them in the endgame. She does know about Alya and Nino. I predicted after Daddycop that Sabrina might fly under her radar the longest and be key in tricking her a second time.

Important edit: I just noticed the spiderverse-esque comic book effects in his transformation sequence, that’s actually sick. It’s so blink and you’ll miss it and by god I missed it the first time. Nathaniel Kuntzerve or whatever his name is. The goat, like literally

Unimportant edit: it finally hit me who Nath’s dad reminded me of and why he felt so familiar. It’s goddamn Tighten from Megamind. “There is no audience for your comic book, there is no tooth fairy, and there is no Queen of England”.

Wow that took me so long to write in actually almost glad there’s a hiatus now! (Not actually I’m joking) :((( it’s ok tho. Gay people in my phone

[aingeal98]

There's this thing where a comic book writer will use a male character as a vehicle for their own misogyny and pedophilia and fans will have the understandable reaction of nooo my fave man wouldn't do that! Because nobody wants to see their favourite character get turned into a pedophile just because one writer is gross. But a lot of time in these conversations I just feel like there's no room for acknowledging the female characters involved in this. Like when Wolfman made Deathstroke a pedophile his interviews made it clear that he didn't see it that way, because to him Tara was the problem. Which is disgusting and incorrect obviously but, it does make me think a lot about Tara being victim blamed both in and out of universe and how she accidentally became a far more compelling character than Slade due to the horrific misogyny she faced from the characters and from her writers. And she's probably one of the better examples of fandom rallying against writer bullshit on behalf of the woman, since Slade is a villain and the judas contract is such an iconic and undeniably canon story that no one can really ignore her mistreatment. But when it's Bruce and Babs or Hal and Arisia, both not canon with current main continuity (Which is good! It's very good that these stories aren't canon!), there tends to be this desire to sweep it completely under the rug as a stain against the heroic men. And that's very understandable.

But... the men are usually fine, because they're the bigger names. Whereas the women can get sullied for longer with the bad writing: think about misogynist bat fans claiming Barbara's been with the entire family and calling her all sorts of names as a "joke" regardless of how brubabs isn't canon. Or how I only ever see Arisia mentioned as a smear against Hal, never as her own character. He recovered from it, she's forever known as the character that a bad writer used to make Hal a pedo.

I don't think it's fair to expect everyone to care about a minor side character more than the main but I also do think that there's room to actually dive into the female characters as more than just "the disgusting storyline we'd like to forget." It's a terrible story that shouldn't have happened, but it did. At least to her. And I'd like more deep dives into how the girls affected would grapple with that, especially when it was "heroes" that preyed on them.

[eternalstarrlight]

Unfinished

(An Elriel story idea I've had since last year.<3 I figured I'd try to finish spiffing it up and go ahead and share it for Elriel Month. It doesn't really coincide with any of the prompts, but I hope ya'll like it!)

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Author's Note: Please keep comments and interactions respectful, I know there is a lot of debate of who will lead the next ACOTAR book, as well as who the couple will be. If you don't like Elriel as a ship, that is totally fine, you are entitled to your opinion, just as I, and others are. Scroll or read on, the option is yours!

Thank you for those who stay and read this lovely little thing I wrote :)

I do not own ACOTAR, nor any of it's affiliated characters, this is merely fanfiction to enjoy and gush over.<3

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Birdsong floated through the open windows of the kitchens as a pair of arms slipped around Elain's waist. An answering smile bloomed across her lips, knowing full well who stood behind her. "I'm busy right now, you know," she teased playfully to her captor, even as her body relaxed into the familiar embrace.

"I can see that," a soft male voice returned, sending shivers down her spine. A pleasant hum escaped her, just as he asked, "What are you making today?"

"Fruit pastries," she supplied, lifting her hands to showcase the flour coating her palms. A faint puff of white powder clouded the air as she made a gesture to the dough waiting to be rolled out.

"Sounds delicious," he murmured into the golden waves of her half-unbound hair. "Though," a subtle growl entering his voice, "there are a few things I'd say are even more so." The words danced along her skin as he nipped her ear, nose trailing down the column of her throat.

Red stained her cheeks as she craned her head back to look at him. "Az," she softly admonished. But that beautiful face held no remorse, only a carelessly splayed grin and a mischievous twinkle that lit up those hazel eyes of his.

An unspoken promise of things to come.

Her breath caught, and she swallowed hard. "I have to finish this," her whispered words were half-hearted. She knew he knew that, heard it in her voice, as the the green hues in those hazel eyes deepened, flaring with a mixture of heat and amusement.

"By all means, finish." The words came out like a dare, a temptation... because they both knew, it wouldn't take much convincing to get her to abandon the task entirely.

Her breathing grew shallow, and his smirk stretched wider. Oh yes, he knew exactly what he was doing to her.

She couldn't seem to tear her gaze from him as he teased, leaning his head in even closer, "What are you waiting for?" His breath a caress against her cheek as her eyes drew half-mast.

"You should hurry," his voice deepening, "there's something I need to finish as well." Azriel's fingers began making small, tantalizing swirls across her stomach, and she bit her lip, not missing how his eyes lowered, drawn to—

"Elain." She heard her name as if from a great distance. Odd, she thought, confusion knitting her brow, Azriel's mouth hadn't opened.

"Elain." It came again, and she blinked hard, her surroundings slowly coming into focus, as if waking from a dream.

She was still in the kitchens, hands covered in dough and flour... but the winged male who'd stood behind her just moments ago was now nowhere to be seen.

"Are you alright?" Nuala's concerned voice drifted through the fog of Elain's thoughts. "I've been calling your name for over five minutes."

She blinked again, realization crashing over her.

Everything that'd just occurred... had only been in her mind. It wasn't real... had never been real... just a mere figment of her imagination.

Her heart squeezed painfully at the undeniable truth...

He was never here.

The sudden screaming of the kettle jolted her. "I'm sorry," Elain finally responded, finding her voice, "I guess I was lost in my thoughts."

"It's fine," her friend said, worry still written on her face, and Elain could tell that Nuala knew it was a pitiful half-truth, that there was indeed something more going on behind Elain's lack of response, her brief lapse from reality.

And of course there was. Elain had been having random daydreams like this for weeks now... Usually rare, scattered here and there, short and fractured, consisting of an image, a sound, a few seconds of dialogue. But there had been other ones recently. Longer ones, that were so immersive they seemed to pull her from reality and into the world of dreams. It'd have terrified her, if she hadn't already lived through something similar two years prior.

And yet, she struggled to figure out what it all meant. The fractured images, the waking visions... Perhaps it was her powers reawakening, forcing her to acknowledge them... or maybe she really was losing herself to madness... or maybe...

She huffed a sigh... maybe it was simply her own foolish heart stirring up those secret, tucked away desires of hers. Her mind colluding with said heart to conjure up impossible, forbidden fantasies just to plague her.

"If you need a break," Cerridwen interjected from her place at the stove, "we can finish this."

"Oh no," Elain said quickly, beginning to knead the dough again. "I can finish—"

She trailed off, mind flashing to Azriel's previous words, You should hurry, there's something I need to finish as well.

She gasped, flushing to the tips of her ears.

Elain wrenched her hands from the dough in front of her. "You're right," she consented half-breathlessly to the twins. "I think I need a break... and fresh air."

Without waiting for a response, she frantically wiped her hands on her apron, yanking it off and tossing it on the nearest counter before fleeing the room.

Before she could properly consider where to go, she found herself already making her way toward the gardens. Somehow, it always felt easier to breathe there amongst the earth and flowers.

Feet trailing the well-worn path, she decided she'd check on the new rose bushes she'd put in, if there were any new buds needing tended to.

Thankfully, the summer heat had tempered off the last few days, the evenings akin to dipping one's feet into a cool riverbed. She was especially grateful for that now, as the breeze that'd settled in felt like a much-needed balm against her overly warm skin.

The tenseness in her body loosened as she entered the color splashed greenery of the gardens. She let her fingers trail over furling leaves and various flower petals as she pivoted around meticulously trimmed hedges and made her way to where the roses were planted.

A smile claimed her lips as she rounded the last corner, eagerness to assess the flowers dousing the last remnant of her spiraling thoughts regarding the occurrence in the kitchens. But before she knew what was happening, she ran straight into something.

No... someone.

Elain gasped at the impact, head jerking up at the same time she noticed hands at her shoulders. Hands that caught her before she'd slammed fully into the person they belonged to. Hands that were adorned with faded scars... hands that she longingly wished to feel against her skin...

She'd recognize those hands anywhere.

Azriel.

She stilled at the sight of him, blinking several times, questioning if she was seeing things. She had to be, right? She knew he wasn't here, couldn't be here... he'd left two days ago on a mission and wouldn't return until tomorrow.

Irritation instantly flooded her, hand-in-hand with frustration at herself for her mind summoning him once again. She jerked back from his hold. She had to put a stop to this, had to try to grasp some semblance of reality and cling to it for as long as she could.

So, she did the only reasonable thing she could do.

"You!" She pointed a finger at him, some residue flour dusting out from her hand, "Go away." As if her command was enough to banish the apparition before her.

The male in question blinked, obviously taken aback by her display, "I'm sorry?" Confusion laced his tone, his usually absent shadows making an appearance to twirl around his towering wings.

"You should be," she scowled, not bothering to hold back her ire. "Stop following me around," the words coming out as a hiss.

His cheeks darkened with color as those mesmerizing hazel eyes grew wide, his elusive companions pausing as if to study her. "Elain," despite the apprehension she heard, the sound of her name on his lips made her heart quicken. "Are you alright?" He inquired, instinctively shifting toward her, those magnificent wings fluttering a bit.

At his question, a bewildered laugh escaped her before she threw all rationality to the wind. "Alright? Alright!?" She choked over the word, half-hysterical. "No, I'm not alright, and do you know why?" She didn't give him time to respond. "All you do is ignore me... well, the real you... it's like I don't even exist to him anymore. And now, I keep seeing you," she flung a hand over at him, "dream you, everywhere."

"Can I not have some peace?" Desperation leaking into her voice, "I know my mind's probably just over-compensating for me missing you after months of tactical evasion. But do you know how utterly torturous it is to constantly see you, only to wake and discover everything wasn't real?" Tears misted her eyes for a moment before she wiped them away.

"This has to stop," she stated firmly after taking a calming breath, "it's getting out of hand. Last week it was the library when Lucien was visiting—" Had she imagined it, or did Azriel flinch? "—then it was in town while I was shopping with Feyre, and now..." She swallowed as she remembered the ordeal in the kitchens, the other times hadn't been like that... so intimate and... a soft pink warmed her cheeks, "If you don't stop... appearing... people are going to believe I'm going mad!"

A whirlwind of emotions twisted his features, too many for her to identify them all. But she did see his concern... sadness... frustration... a flash of anger... At her? She wasn't sure. But she knew that face well enough to know that he looked tormented by what she'd said, like he was warring with himself over his next action.

Then, without a word, he took a step forward.

And for some inexplicable reason, perhaps it was sheer desperation to wash that look from his face, she threw up a hand for him to stop and blurted, "Whoa, if you think you're 'finishing' what you began in the kitchens, think again."

He froze in place, face carefully blank, staring at her. The same way she'd imagine he'd stare if she'd declared she was to marry the High Lord of Spring and she was departing this very hour.

She snorted at the thought and crossed her arms, at least that look was gone, "You know, you always disappear when—"

"What happened in the kitchen?" He abrupted asked, cutting her off.

Elain's face burned as heat suffused her cheeks. He wanted her to say it? But instead she said, "Don't you know?"

Silence was her only answer.

Her mouth dropped open with bafflement. He didn't remember. She scoffed, offended. The audacity. Her doe brown eyes narrowed, "If you've forgotten so easily, then it doesn't bear repeating... much less, doing."

She pivoted on her heel, planning to stalk away as she muttered under her breath, "I can't believe—"

"Wait!" Azriel called out, closing the distance to gingerly snatch her arm, halting her departure.

She spun around, exasperation threading her voice, "What do you want?"

His eyes searched hers, darting back and forth. His stare so deep and intense, she found it hard to breathe.

She inhaled slowly, before purposefully arching a golden-brown brow at the male. For a moment, she felt a little bit like Nesta.

"This isn't a dream," the words came out soft as he finally spoke. "I'm really here. Now. With you."

Her face contorted, perplexation pinching her forehead.

"Nonsense," she murmured, scanning him, "you're not supposed to be back yet..." She trailed off, recalling how they said you could pinch yourself to know if you were dreaming. But she knew she was dreaming, she had to be... so she tried a different approach.

Without warning, she lifted her hands, abruptly capturing Azriel's cheeks between her palms to squish his face.

Pure, undiluted shock rippled over his features, and she had the sudden urge to laugh at his expression.

And before she could restrain it, a giggle slipped out, and then another, and another. She couldn't help herself as the laughter poured out of her at how ridiculous he looked.

She was practically cackling with the delight of a madwoman when there was a loud clearing of a throat.

Synonymously, both their heads whipped toward the sound, discovering Rhysand standing a few feet away. "May I ask what exactly is going on here?" The High Lord not seeming too pleased by the scene playing out before him.

It was in that moment, Elain knew, she knew that what Azriel had said was true. This wasn't a dream, it was real, and she'd just—

She tore her hands away from Azriel's cheeks as she stuttered, "We— I—" Her gaze jerked back to the Shadowsinger's, taking in the vague handprint-shaped flour smears on either side of his face. Her own blooming bright red before draining of color, "I'm so sorry."

She retreated back a step, and then another, almost into the aster blossoms behind her.

"Elain," Azriel offered gently, almost consolingly, as he stretched a hand toward her... as if hoping to keep her there.

Her brown eyes were impossibly wide as she gave a slight shake of her head, like a deer caught before a predator.

"Well?" That commanding voice of night came again, startling her. She peeked over at Rhys nervously, having temporarily forgotten his presence, before re-meeting Azriel's gaze for a fleeting moment. Just a moment, before, just like a deer, she spun and darted off, lifting her skirts indecently high to sprint through the foliage and flowers.

"Elain, wait!" Azriel yelled after her, "We're not finished!"

Heart in her throat, her stomach flipped at the familiar words, but she didn't dare glance back over her shoulder, didn't dare cease her full-out run. But if she had, she would've seen that the tortured look had returned to Azriel's face... Would've noticed the scowl painted over Rhysand's as he stared at Azriel... noted the tattooed hand that held him back from pursuing her.

Even so, Azriel's words followed her on the wind, and she knew he was right. There was much left unfinished between them, and they could only run away from that for so long.

[lucifertheanalyzer]

If you reblog this post, please add the "hazbin hotel leaks" tag.

Thank you!

Since whole Roise owning Alastor topic has been popping off, I am going to add my two cents. A24 has copyright posts with leaks in the past so I have put appropriate screenshot of Lucifer on it.

I have no issue with topic of racism or racist characters existing in media. I am shocked that racist Sinners are not common in Hazbin, the closest we get into bigotry is Katie Killroy who is homophobic.

If Rosie is a racist, that is fine. She could be in Hell because of her cannibalism and her racism. I would not be surprised if she visited Human Zoos during her lifetime or owned slaves.

She knows that Alastor has is a man of color because he made a deal with her when he was alive, so her calling Al a 'pet' and 'telling him to rollover or go fetch" can lean into her racism.

As long it is written and viewed by the audience as bad and that Rosie deserves to be stay in Hell. In episode 7, they kind of lean into this with Rosie being a cannibal and the leader of a cannibal town.

The writers need to have characters to show some people cannot be redeemed and are rotten to the core because of their beliefs even if they are nice or helpful like how Rosie let her citizens fight for Charlie in episode eight.

Before I get deep into the dark stuff, the song has a tone issue. The song should not be a showtune with an upbeat instrumental. This is one song that should have dark instrumental to showcase how soul owning is an awful thing. Catchy instrumentals make us forget what the song is about, take Hey Ya! by Outkast. The song is about a complexity in relationships, but the beat is so catchy that you do not catch it, it is straight up mentioned the lyrics. I listened to this song which I was a child, and I did not know what the song was about until I was a teen.

Are fans supposed to be snapping their fingers and doing the twist to a song about the fan favorite being treated like a pet? This franchise needs more darker sounding songs like we are in Hell! give me those dark, deep melodies. Give me Hellfire from Hunchback of Notre Dame.

My issues are that all the writers for Hazbin are my knowledge are white, Alastor and Rosie's character have racist implications, and most importantly, you have to be aware of racist conspiracy theories before adding the element of racism in your stories.

Unlike everyone else, I do not think Rosie owning Alastor's soul is racist or the writers are wearing white hoods when cooking up this episode/song, you have to be carefully when it comes to the topic of racism regardless of your race or/and ethnicity.

In the casting sheet, Roise is said to have the "energy of a Jewish mother". We all know that Alastor was reworked into a mixed Creole man so the show can have a "pass" to have Vodou to be a part of his character. When Alastor was created way back in 2008, he was not a person of color. His demon appearance does not match his human appearance at all either. Demon Al is whitewashed, and he lost his 3b hair texture. Is being whitewashed a punishment for people of color in Viv's hell?! /lhj 😭

Anyway, having a Jewish-coded character in a show based off of a Christan version of Hell who is a cannibal is not it. I have Jewish characters and like a normal person I do research on groups of people that I am not a part of to make sure I am not falling into stereotypes when creating these characters. I read stories about Jewish people being told by strangers or classmates that they will be going to Hell for not believing in Jesus. If I was creating a story set in Hell, Jewish or Jewish-coded characters would not be in my story. Cannot forget that there is a conspiracy theory of Jewish people controlling Black people.

If your writing is such hot trash that a 4channer points it out the racism implications, it is time to close out of the word document, rethink your life choices, and start over again.

Ok, no more real-life stuff, back to the show. This tweet caught my eye. Al and Vel are the only Black Sinners that look human who are evil. Husk has been viewed as Black because Keith David only voices Black characters, but he is a furry. Sera and Emily are Black-coded, but Sera is viewed as Evil by the fandom even though she is just morality gray/thinks the exterminations are for the "greater good". Emily is the only Black coded character who is like a sweet person (because she is just Charlie, but species swapped).

I am fine with Black characters being morality fucked up or evil, but you need a balance. Like in real life, Black people are PEOPLE! We are complex like everyone else

I hope we see another Black sinner who is a good person because if this show ends with all Black characters being evil abusers who or enables abuse done by other characters, the only thing I have to say is holy shit. 😬

Here is a funny meme because why not.

This is one aspect of the leaks I wonder will be changed before release to avoid controversies. How Black characters are treated in media and by the audience has been a HOT topic for a couple of years now.

This is aspect of Hazbin I can be seen being written about negatively in a professional publication that discussions media and ripping the show apart for this or Black media analysis YouTubers who never heard of Hazbin being dumfounded by the song.

Imagine a song about a Jewish-coded woman owning a Mixed Creole man hitting the Billboard Top 100s. 💀 This is going to be a song that wins an award. /lhj

[scared-of-relationship]

Surprised! World 5 and Master strikers got rejected by y/n. How would they react? 🤔🤔

Oof Time to pull them out of basement for this :)

How they react when you reject them

cw: reject their love for you, since most of my post are about yn with them romantically. Maybe I should start make them platonically than romantic soon... I'm too hopeless romantic to the point I romanticize everything.

> Noel Noa

Wouldn't be sad, per-se but he'd be quite hurt

like what don't you like about him? He's handsome, huge. cool. the best football player out there

He'd be lying if he didn't think about it

like he'd really think about what about him that makes you reject him

especially if he was rejected with a strong reaction

It takes quite a moment for him to move on, though he look like he's fine at first

> Chris Prince

GASP like loudly

"What, why, I am CHRIS PRINCE... THE CHRIS PRINCE"

Still cant get over on why would anyone could reject his handsome face

unlike Noa, he'd be over it the next couple of days

maybe avoiding you too for a couple of days until it went back to normal

> Marc Snuffy

"Oh, its okay..."

He actually accept it if he's being rejected

He accept it so nicely actually, you kinda feel bad

He genuinely understand.

Will be over it the next day or maybe a couple of days.

Maybe he'd tell this to Lorenzo or any of his friend but that's it actually

He understand that he's not everyone cup-of-tea. (YOU'RE MY CUP OF TEA SNUFFY, PLEASE MARRY ME UGH)

> Lavinho

Dramatic about it

Not very but kinda like "Ah, really? not even once chance, like one date at least?"

And if you still say no, he'd stop and politely accept that

He still nice with you though, maybe a little awkward on your end but he actually chill about it

He'd be over it in 3 days

Well, maybe it makes him a little insecure or self conscious but he'd be fine and get over it anyway

> Julian Loki

Visibly sad, but not trying to make it burden on you

He'll still smile sweetly on you though, but maybe a little bit awkward

Still wanna talk with you and all, not really mind with that rejection thing.

Maybe tell that to some of his friend, which makes his friend quite surprise, how could anyone reject him?

but he, maybe he's not your type, and he's alright with that

> Adam Blake

"Oh, sure you're not going to regret it darlin'?"

Still cocky despite being rejected.

Would still try to flirt you after, in case you change your mind.

Doesn't really mind since woman still loves him anyway

but a little bothered that you're the first few who reject him

would forget about it the next day, ngl.

> Leonardo Luna

Visibly hurt 2.0, and makes sure you know it

"Not one date?" He'd still asks

Would still flirt you after, in case you change your mind 2.0

One of those who'd be like "Meh, there's another who still likes me anyway"

Again, will forget about it the next couple of days

> Dada Silva

"Awh man..." He'd be sad, but well he'd understand

Would be VERY self-conscious for the next couple of days

a little insecure for the next couple of days

but he'd be fine after all that

Would still be friendly with you after, and makes sure he doesn't make it awkward

> Pablo Cavasoz

VISIBLY SAD 3.0

You actually feel bad, but he doesn't want you to feel bad about it

"It's okay, don't worry. We can still be friends though, right???" He says, with puppy eyes

Doesn't mind staying as just friends, your presence comfort him

"I'm glad you still wanna be my friend!"

BONUS!

> Ego Jinpachi

Actually not giving so much of fuck

Like, "Oh, alright... But you still... Alright with me?" typa shit

Well, he would be sad, but not really showing it

He's gettin older, ofc he'd be a little sad, but hey there's still plenty of fish in the sea.

Actually over it the next couple of days imo.

© Blue Lock and its characters are created by Muneyuki Kaneshiro and illustrated by Yusuke Nomura. I do not own any rights to the original work; these are all fan-made stories created for entertainment purposes. Any copy, rewrite, recreate in the name of other than author is unauthorized and will not be tolerated. Content may not and will not be allowed to be reposted and re-upload anywhere without authorization from author.

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 4/29/2025

made one of the best thrift store purchases of my life this week

listening

mental health watch: new mother mother single out and i have had that shit on loop basically all week. i would describe their (alt rock for chronically depressed girls resistant to most treatments) overall sound as “slippery”, but this song is slippery in the way the seaweed in miso soup is slippery. hope that makes sense. i heard the lyric “head shaker” as “exchequer” and this exact wording was stuck in my head for basically an entire shift at work.

-

reading

still having a tremendous amount of fun with Charlaine Harris’ Gunnie Rose series. just finished the third one, i think whenever you can get away with a character that you can genuinely and seriously call “the tsarina of all the californias” you should push that as far as it can possibly go and she does!!! it is so refreshing to read a book by an author who knows what they’re doing. who knows how to write and pace a longer series and who knows how to effectively play with dramatic tension. the bar is So low but i have been wrestling through these horrible lesbian novels and (new for me) trying to take three or four of the little scifi paperbacks ive been hoarding to work every week to stash in my desk to read when it’s slow. all of them have been bad so far. like gang rape page two bad :/ love scifi the best and worst genre

yet another frustrating week in the lesbian mines. finally finished Flight Risk by Kim Baldwin and i do not think i can fairly review it, bc i tried to read it at work in tiny tiny chunks over too long a period of time (two weeks) and got really frustrated with it bc i forgot something that happened in the first chapter. im sure its a perfectly fine book if u read it in fewer sittings but now it is like. contaminated by several unpleasant work shifts and i simply don’t want to look at it any more. also they fucked in the literal last five pages which i find tremendously annoying.

Second You Sin by Scott Sherman (also mid-aughts) is about a nyc callboy (gay) who keeps accidentally stumbling into murder mysteries. i could easily image every line of dialogue by every gay character delivered by ru paul so it was not a book for me.

and then by far the most annoying book, Change of Heart by Linda Hill (1999 published by my worstie Naiad) bc it does not read like the author has ever been in any sort of relationship. even though she is married. to another woman. it’s hard for me to review this one fairly too due to my own massachusetts experiences.

At the age of 38, British supermodel Julia Westgate watches in panic as her career begins to decline -- and she realizes she is truly alone in the world. Deeply closeted, Julia has always limited her encounters with women to secret trysts and one or two night stands. While on a shoot in Boston, Julia carefully disguises herself so she won't be recognized, then sneaks out to a secluded lesbian bar. There she meets local journalist Cory Hayes, who is celebrating the publication of a hard won story. After spending a passionate weekend with Julia, Cory is devastated when she wakes up to an empty bed.

(ed note: they do nothing more than kiss in the entire book. it’s truly debatable if there was even tongue or not)

Weeks later in a supermarket check-out line, Cory's jaw drops when she sees an exquisite face on the cover of a fashion magazine -- a face that looks more than vaguely familiar. Thus begins an all-consuming game of hide-and-seek, with Julia trying to run from herself and her uncertain future -- and Cory willing to risk everything to find her.

(ed note: cory does some light snooping to discover her last name, makes some phone calls for a single afternoon, and then comes across her completely by accident almost a year later).

this book takes uhauling to new heights bc they adopt a special needs puppy the first and only weekend they spend together, wherein they don’t even fuck and Julia flees into the early morning without saying goodbye, leaving a note, and leaving most of her stuff behind. i know why Cory cant stop thinking about Jules nearly a year on (leaving without goodbye in the middle of the night and leaving almost all your stuff behind is objectively bonkers) but i have no idea why Jules is so into Cory. or what either of them see in each other. or really why they’re into each other at all. bc again. they do not do more than kiss the entire book and most of the book is them feeling kind of weird about this singular weekend. NOT that you have to fuck someone to know how to feel about them but my goodness! sometimes it certainly helps!

it is perfectly tailored to piss me all the way off bc Cory asks for a raise bc she impulsively adopted a puppy, and her boss not only gives her a raise and a promotion but also heavily subsidizes her new house she rents. which he owns. which was so far from MY massachusetts job/housing experience we might as well have lived on different planets. however this book really does nicely capture the complete unwillingness of the massachusetts wlw scene to like. do anything more than talk shit about a kind of weird date you were on once.

would have loved to read more of a May/December romance about an aging supermodel and would have loved to read more about the worries and fears of someone aging who hasn’t really put down roots or formed many friendships at all in her life or really interacted much with the queer community at large, but the age gap in actuality is quite small and Jules is mostly exotically British and worried about facial wrinkles.

deeply annoying experience that could not be written today in a post-MTV’s Catfish world

-

watching

fallow week

-

playing

woe woe unending woe in genshin. genuinely really annoyed that i pulled for Varesa (girl who is a cow) in bc guess who’s coming back in about a month? that’s right, yae miko. the only other character i desperately want. and she’s going to be on a specific banner that does not build pity for any other banner. and i don’t even have quite enough pulls for halfway to guaranteeing her. however. buying enough in-game currency to guarantee her would be about $120. which is simply goofy. she will come back around eventually, probably in a year and a half, and i will survive. i don’t even want her for team building or combat purposes. i just think she’s got a cool design and i want a matched set of her (pink) and her wife, the shogun (purple).

-

making

one million small mending projects, including reinforcing the spine of some dorling kindersley BIG BOOK OF TRUCKS and BIG BOOK OF PLANES books for my bestie’s son’s birthday. no pics bc they were wrapped POSTHASTE!!!

also varied and assorted mending of clothes. managed to rip the casing for some pajama pants through brute strength and getting snagged on a kitchen cabinet knob, kind of half assed a ladder stitch, thought “that’s not going to hold” and then did a less half assed heavily overlapping cross stitch to reinforce (esp around the buttonhole opening for the drawstring) and then slathered it in fraychek.

likewise, my favorite obnoxious shirt had a rip up the side seam. carefully stitched it back up, blanket stitched the raw edge for a little more reinforcement without too much bulk, and slathered it in fraychek. u can see a much older repair there when it ripped horizontally from getting stuck in a filing cabinet drawer at umass lol.

and finally, some horrible shorts that were not adequate enough for my thighs, so i took the discreet one inch side vent and really opened that up to the bottom of the pocket seam. very annoying and fussy to match the topstitching and do two bar tacks by hand. the fit on the shorts is still not quite where i want them to be but they are at least wearable outside now. no fraychek here they’re nylon and got melted with a lighter as god intended.

[veryace-ficrecs]

The Pitt Fic Recs Part 1

This list will include all ratings and tags, so read at your own discretion! :)

This Is The Day In Chaos by NameStartsWithN - Rated G

As the Pitt descends into its usual chaos, Dr Robby brings coffee and encouragement to his beleaguered team. Samira Mohan and Dennis Whittaker bond, while Mel King finally makes a joke -- intentionally!

The Dead Don’t Answer by NameStartsWithN - Rated G

Dr. Michael "Robby" Robinavitch learned a long time ago that death isn’t quiet—it’s a symphony of chaos, a brutal soundtrack of screaming monitors, cracking ribs, and the rush of hands fighting the inevitable. At Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital, there are always calls for help. Because the dead don’t answer. But the living don’t have a choice.

The Aftermath by AGirlHasNoName20 - Rated T

Two weeks after Pittfest, Robby is presented with a choice. Or: The one in which Robby starts therapy. Don't read unless you've watched the entire season 1.

Rules of Law by jumpfall - Rated G

The night Robby signed his attending contract, he was introduced to the Laws According to Adamson. He likes to hope that if he leaves his trainees with nothing else, it'll be the Addendums According to Robby. - Alternatively, is it really a fandom until there's a five things fic?

To Be A Doctor by mossterious -Rated G

Four student doctors. Four paths to get there. Four points of view. One hospital. — Aka I need to get used to writing different character povs SO HAVE SOME TINY CHARACTER STUDIES I GUESS?!

people come and go on the breeze by sweetmuses - Rated M

Redemption is a hard, long journey. She knows this probably better than most people. You have to keep yourself afloat amongst the madness, being acutely aware of tipping back into the ether. It’s easier to live within the boundless ocean of guilt than to take accountability - because to take accountability means that you’re willing to work for it, and there’s no way of knowing when you’ll slip up and fall.

Or: A reflection on the in-betweens of life, ghosts, and the human condition, through the eyes of Cassie McKay.

In Memoriam by fundotperiod - Rated G

How Robby has grieved and remembered his mentor.

Reflection by ZHH123 - Rated G

She thinks back on all the moments she almost couldn’t bear. The moments that prompted her to question if she belonged in the pitt. Then she thinks of her triumphs.

Last Call by jumpfall - Rated T

“Sorry if I woke you,” Robby says. Jack shrugs. “Middle of the day in my time zone.” He waits a beat, and then asks, “You want to talk?” “No.” “You want a drink?” “You'd allow that?” “No,” Jack says. “Just lets me gauge how concerned I should be.” – 1x15 episode tag.

The Pitt Crew! by megas217 - Rated G

Welcome to the Pitt Crew a story about the doctors and nurses who work in the Pitt.

Sursum Corda by Celebratory Penguin (cpenguing) - Rated M

A few hours after Pittfest, Langdon returns to the ED.

The Way, Way Back by jumpfall - Rated T

Robby, post 1x13.

And I Said Nothing by elpopooley66 - Rated T

Trinity Santos is not okay. She’s never really been okay. But she’s held herself together this long — on caffeine, adrenaline, and silence sharp enough to cut. The Pitt sees it. Langdon sees it. And for once, maybe she lets herself be seen. They don’t fix her. They just don’t leave. Sometimes, that’s enough. Featuring: unresolved trauma, a lobster named Greb, a borrowed hoodie, and the terrifying prospect of letting someone care. Or: the one where she stops pretending she’s fine — and someone finally calls her bluff.

what a weight to live under by shirelings - Rated T

Mel’s convinced she’s made it to the door without anyone noticing her before a voice stops her dead in her tracks. “Dr. King.” It’s said in that sort of way that’s not really a question even if someone else would frame it like that, and Mel lets her shoulders rise up a little towards her ears as she slowly turns. Oh, boy. - Mel does, in fact, talk to Abbot at the end of the day.

Change of Watch by jumpfall - Rated T

When Robby's phone vibrated twenty minutes ago, he'd been dealing with a critical GSW to the adbomen and unable to answer. Now there's a voicemail from Jake.

Even Grouches Need to Go to the Hospital by lolathatch - Rated T

Trinity Santos finds a video of Doctor Robby from his younger days and makes it everyone's problem.

singing in unison by dotsayers - Rated M

Leah's sick the night before Pittfest. Robby gets his ticket back.

just a drop of water in an endless sea by evening_spirit - Rated G

Robby’s going to be fine, a rational part of Frank’s mind says. You’re the last person Robby needs right now, says another part, the one that hates himself. But Frank saw the look in Robby’s eyes and he knows that Robby is not fine. Not this time. And no one else will help. But should it be him? Maybe he should go get Dana? Abbot? Damn, if at least Collins was here. But Collins is not here, Dana doesn’t have anything more to give and Abbot is a pragmatic, a doer, not someone who would comfort another. Then again, neither is Frank. Or--a 1x13 coda where Frank and Robby talk, but it doesn't really solve anything.

Aftershocks by jumpfall - Rated T

Ways they are (and aren't) coping with the mass casualty incident.

living weighs heavier by Antumbra - Rated T

Maybe none of them were ever meant to be alright, not once they’d chosen to devote themselves to this career that could only tear them down and break them apart. Or: an alternate take where Jack finds Robby after his breakdown.

[alien-ally]

Now, idk how but here goes a few things that were dragged out of me, as i witness the split opinions on heesu in class 2. let me start out by saying: i'm a fan of the show :) and i know next to nothing about the manhwa. just so it's clear from the get go.

i haven't watched kdramas in a long while, so i suppose i'd been in the bl bubble exclusively for that entire time. i dont prefer kdramas, or uh straight romances very much personally. hence while watching the first couple eps of heesu, i had pretty much the same reaction. annoyance, disappointment, what more, my interest dropped steadily for a bit until i decided i would drop the show entirely if it dint focus more on the queer storyline, essentially our mc's plot more, in the following episodes. I got on tumblr like i usually do whenever i'm watching one of my bls, and boom, instantly more perspective unlocked. 'thematic foil' the phrase that stuck with me the most. a set of characters in a story getting focus and being followed along their journey apart from the mc, to serve as a foil that demonstrates what exactly the mc could be having, or how it usually goes for the majority of people, a majority our mc clearly isn't a part of. Several characters going about crushes in their own ways, what i enjoyed the most is how the show doesn't subtly pin any of them as 'right' or 'wrong', something i was worried they'd do. Heesu is always supportive of his sisters, no matter what errand he's in the middle of running, he always makes sure they're fine first before heading out. and most importantly, the best advice received by one of the sisters, was in fact not given by the mc but by another sister itself, heejeong to heejae. which i thought was really cool.

Admittedly, i wasn't a fan of the sisters in the beginning, but i guess that's just more on my own cynicism towards dating trends in general. as time passed though, they grew on me significantly. i mean, there's a charming sort of integrity to each sister's ways you can't ignore. another thing: the complaints about no kissing. i hardly ever find this argument to be nuanced, probably the most irritating reason people put out to dismiss an entire show as 'bad'. we see the formation of 2 straight high school couples, along with the boys, now had they been shown kissing or even toeing the lines of any other kind of physical intimacy other than holding hands or hugging, i would've extended that expectation to heesu and seungwon. but here, these kids just are not doing that yet. is that such a hard pill to swallow? bruh, it doesn't become straight washing cause the gay couple dint kiss or cause the straight couple got equal (note: equal) screen time. heesu is not a bl, sure. But it IS a queer kdrama. with a QUEER mc and his QUEER pining classmate (soon to be boyfriend) who has TWO moms. the third thing isn't focused on a lot but man i loved that scene in the last episode where seungwon's mom asks how much she should disclose at the meeting. and his reply, 'if you start lying, i'll have to continue it'.

Now. the last scene, which the non-fans seem to hate the most. but in fact the scene i loved the most. heesu looks back at chanyoung and jiyu walking close behind them, watches cy put his arm around jy with something like yearning flickering in his eye, he turns around, blinks it away and goes back to smiling. seungwon notices, puts his arm around heesu and when heesu kinda hesitates, asks him not to worry (about getting outed basically) cause people are just gonna assume they're close friends or some shit. like all throughout history, this has been used to erase queer people and their relationships. why not use it to your own advantage now? my favorite thing about his dailogue tho, is that it's meant to be reassuring. Seungwon is reassuring Heesu that he's proud about their relationship and wouldn't mind making it public. that he's fine with people finding out. how great is that to hear, when you've been shouldering all this turmoil alone for years, like how Heesu has been doing? Wonderful scene. episode 8,9 and 10 were my favorites and i would totally recommend this show to anyone looking for a wholesome little QUEER teen kdrama experience.

[elviora2570]

Nct dream reaction to you wearing their oversized hoodie

Pairings: nct dream x reader | Genre: Fluff, Slice of Life | Word Count: 2.3k words

Disclaimer: this is a work of fanfiction. I do not own any of the characters, idols, or franchises mentioned. This includes but is not limited to: K-pop groups, anime series, K-dramas, movies, and television shows. All depictions are fictional and created purely for entertainment. These stories are not meant to reflect real-life personalities, relationships, or events. Please do not repost, copy, translate, or claim as your own without permission. Let's keep fandom fun and respectful—this is fiction, not fact!

Mark

Mark walks into the practice room balancing two iced americanos like he’s running late to a meeting (he is). He’s halfway through a yawn when he sees you curled up in the corner, hoodie sleeves swallowed past your hands, nose buried in your phone.

“Hey,” he says, setting the cups down. “You look comfy.”

You hum, distracted. “Mhm.”

It takes him a second. The hoodie isn’t yours. It’s his. Black, frayed drawstrings, the little bleach spot near the hem from that one time he tried to do laundry at 2AM with full confidence and zero sleep.

Mark stares.

“Wait… is that mine?”

You glance up, blink once. “Oh. Yeah. I was cold.”

He short-circuits. “No—yeah—I mean, cool. You can—like. Wear it. Totally fine. Totally—” he gestures vaguely, “—hoodies are for sharing, right? Communal hoodie spirit. Robin Hood of hoodies.”

You smirk. “You okay there, Captain Metaphor?”

Mark flushes and clears his throat. “Just sayin’. You wear it better than I do.”

You don’t miss the way he keeps sneaking glances at you throughout the day, quietly smiling to himself like he just won the lottery in slow motion.

Renjun

You’re lying on the couch in their dorm, thumbing through your camera roll, when Renjun walks in with a towel on his head and socks half on, still damp from his shower.

He stops short in the hallway.

His hoodie. On you. You, sitting there with the hood up, sleeves nearly to your knees, looking like a cozy little thief.

“Yah,” he says sharply. “What are you doing?”

You raise a brow. “Sitting?”

“No. That. That’s my favorite hoodie.”

“Okay? And?”

“And I was looking for it for two days!”

You laugh. “It was under your bed. You literally threw it there.”

Renjun squints like he’s been personally betrayed. “Still. You didn’t even ask.”

You pat the couch next to you. “You want it back?”

He trudges over dramatically, flops down beside you with a sigh. “No. It smells like you now. It’s yours.”

There’s a beat of silence.

“Wait. Are you blushing?” you ask, nudging him with your shoulder.

Renjun scoffs, turning away. “No. Shut up. I’m just warm.”

“From the hoodie?”

“No. From rage.”

You grin. “Sure, Jun. Sure.”

Jeno

You come out of the kitchen wearing Jeno’s dark green hoodie, sleeves pushed up, spoon in your mouth from whatever snack you were taste-testing. You look cozy and distracted and glowing in the afternoon light.

Jeno looks up from the couch like a man seeing the sun for the first time.

He blinks. “Is that mine?”

“Yup,” you say, not even trying to hide it. “Smells good.”

He frowns slightly, but it's not angry—it’s more confused. Thoughtful. Dangerous.

He leans back, arms crossed. “Interesting. Because I don’t remember loaning that out.”

“You also don’t remember where you left your AirPods. So.”

Jeno squints. “Where did I leave them?”

You point to the counter. “Under the banana.”

He pauses. “We have bananas?”

You nod. “Not anymore.”

He blinks again. “Did you eat them?”

“Focus, detective,” you tease. “We’re talking about your hoodie.”

He leans forward, all mock intensity. “Okay, Miss Hoodie Thief. Give me one good reason I shouldn’t reclaim my property.”

You pull the hood up and give him puppy eyes. “Because I look cute?”

Jeno deadpans. “That’s unfair. That’s—emotional manipulation.”

“Is it working?”

He groans. “Unfortunately, yes. But you owe me hoodie cuddles. That’s the new tax.”

Haechan

Haechan sees you in his hoodie and physically squeals. Not metaphorically. Squeals.

He runs over, makes a whole scene—hand over his heart, staggering dramatically like you just proposed.

“Oh my GOD,” he gasps. “You’re finally one of us.”

You laugh, half-shoving him as he drapes himself across your shoulders. “One of who?”

“The Dream Hoodie Cult,” he says gravely. “Founded by me. Ruled by fashion. You’ve been initiated.”

“I stole your hoodie while you were in the shower.”

“Exactly,” he whispers. “A sacred ritual.”

You burst out laughing, and he leans in to sniff the collar.

“Wow,” he mutters. “You somehow made it smell better. What is this? Witchcraft?”

“You’re insane.”

“I’m in love,” he corrects. “Look at you. You’re swimming in it. You’re a hoodie ocean. A sweatshirt mermaid.”

You try to wiggle away, but he tightens his grip.

“Nope,” he declares. “You’re stuck with me. Hoodie twins till death do us part.”

You roll your eyes. “You say that now. Wait until I get food on it.”

He gasps. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Watch me.”

Jaemin

You’re sitting cross-legged in the corner of the bedroom, reading, when Jaemin walks in post-dance practice. He smells like deodorant and effort, his hair sticking to his forehead.

Then he sees you. In his hoodie. The light blue one. The one that’s basically his emotional support garment.

He goes very still.

“Is that…?” he begins, voice a little hoarse.

“Yup,” you say without looking up.

A beat.

“Are you wearing anything underneath it?”

You smirk. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

His brain bluescreens. You can practically hear it. The silence stretches.

Then:

“Okay,” he says, a little unsteady. “That’s illegal. You can’t just… exist like that. That’s—hello? 911? I’d like to report an act of violence against my heart.”

You pat the bed next to you. “Come cuddle, Mr. Flustered.”

He stumbles over like a man possessed, climbing into the blankets, arms wrapping around you instantly.

“God, you’re warm,” he mumbles. “And soft. And you smell like—wait. Is that my shampoo?”

You shrug. “Borrowed that too.”

Jaemin groans. “At this point, just take my whole life.”

You grin into his shoulder. “Tempting.”

Chenle

You wear Chenle’s hoodie out to brunch with the guys. It’s loud, slightly ridiculous, and has a tiny embroidered dolphin on the front. You adore it.

Halfway through the meal, he notices.

“Is that—yo, wait a second,” he says, nearly dropping his chopsticks. “That’s mine!”

You raise an eyebrow. “Nice of you to catch up.”

“WHEN did you steal it?!”

You sip your drink. “Last week.”

He gapes. “That’s my gaming hoodie! It’s got the lucky sleeves!”

You laugh. “It’s literally just fabric.”

“It’s mojo! You’re ruining the vibe!”

Despite the complaints, he doesn’t ask for it back. Not once. In fact, he stares at you like you’ve sprouted sparkles and butterflies.

Later, when you’re walking back to the dorms, he nudges your shoulder.

“…It does look better on you.”

You smirk. “I know.”

He groans. “Don’t get cocky.”

“Too late.”

Jisung

You show up in Jisung’s hoodie without a word, acting like nothing’s different. He notices immediately. Not because he’s obsessed (though maybe he is a little), but because that hoodie has a giant rip near the pocket and smells vaguely like mint gum.

You’re wearing it like it’s Chanel.

He stares. “Where did you find that?”

You shrug. “It was in the laundry. I claimed it.”

He hesitates. “It’s kinda old…”

“Vintage,” you correct.

“…and big.”

“Perfect.”

“…and smells like—me.”

You look up, a little softer now. “Exactly.”

His ears turn red. Bright red.

“I—uh. That’s. Cool. You can. Keep it. Or whatever.”

You step closer. “You sure?”

He nods, but his voice breaks slightly when he says, “Yeah.”

Then you casually fix the collar and pat his chest, and he looks like he might evaporate on the spot.

“Dead,” he mutters to himself as you walk away. “I’m already dead. This is a dream. No pun intended.”

[avicinda]

Completely by accident, I triggered the dialogue about Giovanni for myself while trying to navigate the Sea of Stars and find something, so here's the entire fucking dialogue (after the rant, under the cut).

I have tried so goddamn hard to not be overly emotionally charged about the way I talk about this patch and I don't know if I've even managed that this whole time, but I am at my limit now. I legitimately feel sick to my stomach about this retcon.

I have never felt such hate for a character and the writing around them, both the narrative and their dialogue, for what it represents to this game. This really does feel like being told "fuck you for caring about the 1.0 story" not even just from this character, but from the company behind the game. I hate this so much.

Where the hell do we even go from here if they don't do a rollback? How do you even fix this kind of damage to your own story? It's like everything wrong with this patch can be summed up right here alongside that stupid seesaw and bathtub. And of course I can't stop second guessing my reaction to this. Am I being hyperbolic? Am I being stupid about this? Was I the stupid one all along for liking the story this game started? Fuck me I guess for thinking Giovanni's character was actually well written. Fuck me for thinking the 1.0 story was good. Fuck me for thinking all of 1.0-1.4 were fine content-wise. I guess none of my feedback about what I liked about the game mattered in the end because I'm just one person and the majority disliked what I loved, and those were the voices that got listened to when it came time to make the game bigger for the Steam release. What the actual hell are we even doing here anymore?

Here's a cute pic of my Nikki first though so I don't have to see the Seer first thing if I accidentally open this post when looking at my blog.

(first line in next pic is from Nikki)

[uwudonoodle]

I played my first Zelda game when I was 27 years old.

I consider myself a lifelong Zelda fan. Let me explain:

Growing up, my boomer parents bought into the whole, "video games rot your brain," propaganda of the 90's. They didn't want to spend the money on it, nor did they want us wasting hours slaying pixel mosters. But my older siblings (I have 3 who are around 20 years older than me, yes, I'm the baby) had their own money to spend. My brother had his own TV in his room, and an original NES. Me and my nephew (he's only a year younger than me, did I mention I was the baby?) used to sit on my brother's bed and watch him play. I was fascinated by it. My brother primarily liked combat games, but my favorite of his was Mario and Duck Hunt.

When my brother moved out, he gave his NES to my nephew, because his mom (my oldest sister) didn't have any qualms about her kid playing video games. My sister and nephew lived with us for many years. I got to watch his passion and collection of video games blossom, while almost never getting to take part myself. My parents were fine with me watching him play, but didn't want me participating very much. So aside from the few short games where I got to be player 2, I was only an observer.

My older sister, who also liked playing her son's games sometimes, got him The Legend of Zelda. It was the best game I had seen so far. The story was everything I loved. You could be a hero, and carry a special sword, and save the kingdom and the princess. You could explore and discover so many amazing things in Hyrule. It was so exciting to me. I only got to see snipets of it though. The game was a little difficult for a 4 and 5 year old, and his mom couldn't always be there to help us (or read the text for us). My sister eventually got Link's Awakening on the GameBoy, so she could play it uninterrupted while leaving the bigger console to her son to play easier games. (To this day, Link's Awakening on GameBoy, in black and white, is her favorite game in the world.) I sometimes watched her play GameBoy over her shoulder, so I could see what happened to Link. I never got to see the full story for either game, but I always worried about the fate of Hyrule.

When I was 11, my sister and nephew moved across town. I still visited them all the time. At this point, I might have gotten away with actually playing the games, as my parents might not have found out, but I was too shy in my abilities by then. All my peers had spent years learning to use controllers and do combat. I was still like a drunk 4 year old when handed a controller. I still liked video games, but was more content to watch others play rather than make a fool of myself. Plus, the best games were usually single player, whuch my nephew played, because it was hos Nintendo. I just enjoyed watching him play Mario while I cheered from the sidelines.

In the summer of '99, my nephew got a new game for his N64 - a new Legend of Zelda game. I was over the moon. For weeks, I spent nearly every day at his house, helping him through dungeons. Ocarina of Time was so much cooler than the bits of old Zelda games I remembered. Not only was it a beautiful environment, but Princess Zelda was a real character. I wanted to be her for Halloween so badly.

I helped my nephew through the 3 first dungeons in the game, and fell in love with the land of Hyrule and the characters even more than before. It was my comfort game, even though it wasn't mine.

School started up again, and I was so busy, weeks went by before I was able to visit my nephew again. But I daydreamed about Hyrule all the time. The first time I was able to see my nephew again, I excitedly asked if we could please play Zelda. I was desperate to know what happened in the story. I stupidly hadn't realized that he'd continue playing it on his own. Understandable, but I nonetheless felt betrayed. I loved this story so much, but was once against reminded it wasn't mine.

He pulled up the game to show me where he was at. Link was suddenly older, and Hyrule looked different. Everything was dark. The charming land I loved was gone, with storm clouds and redeads in their place. Without any context for how the story changed so drastically, I didn't feel like playing much anymore. He finished the game without me.

As me and my nephew got older, we got busier, and had less time to play games together. A few years later, my sister and nephew moved out of state. He was one of my only connections to video games. After he left, I only occasionally encountered games at friend's houses, but anytime I tried to play, they made fun of how terrible I was. People laughed at me for driving into the walls in Mario Kart, and enjoyed using me as target practice in FPS. I eventually declined any invitation to play games with people. I was only good at watching them, so that's what I did.

Throughout high school, my ears would prick up whenever I heard someone mention Zelda. I told them I was a big fan, but they'd blow me off when they heard I'd never actually played it. I heard about the releases of Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, and Skyward Sword. I'd ask people what the games were like, but resigned myself to the face that I'd probably never see them. Even so, Zelda was always in the back of my mind. I thought about buying Hyrule Historia just so I could have some connection to the story I loved.

When I was 26, I started dating a guy who was an avid gamer. I told him I didn't play, but asked what his favorite games were. When he said Zelda, my eyes lit up, and I told him that was my very favorite game! He, of course, looked very confused until I explained. He invited me to play games with him even though he unfortunately didn't have any working consoles that had Zelda on them. But he still wanted to play with me. It took a lot of coaxing, but he was the first person who was patient with me while I learned the controls. He showed me lots of cool indie games on Steam, and got me a few mobile games I could play myself.

It was a start, but video games had gotten so much more complicated and expensive. I wanted to be a proper gamer, but it was difficult to justify the cost to get started, or the time it would take to learn when I had a full time job and bills to worry about. Then one day, my coworker who was trying to get rid of some things, posted a used N64 for sale, and one of the games that came with it was Ocarina of Time. I counted the money I had leftover after paying my bills, and went for it.

I had moved back in with my parents by this time, but what were they going to do? I was grown, and had my own money for video games. I snuck that N64 up to my room giggling all the way. After some trial and error, I got it hooked up to my TV. I about cried when I heard the title music. I was finally going to play Zelda! And I had the privacy to screw up as much as I wanted as I learned the controls.

It took me more than 4 hours to get through the Deku Tree, but I was having the time of my life! I had snacks, a blankey, a sweaty controller in my hand, and I was playing Zelda! I was a gamer!

When I came down to have dinner with my parents, they asked me what I was doing up there for so long. I finally confessed that I had bought my first video game and was happily playing it. My mom rolled her eyes, and my dad put his head in his hands. He said, "All these years of keeping you away from that stuff, and now you've brought it into our own home." I laughed and told them I could do whatever I wanted now. They rolled their eyes at me, then left me to play.

Unfortunately I got stuck in Jabu Jabu. My beginner skills were not up for any difficulty curve, and my aged controller had a lot of drift. I called my gamer boyfriend over, and he helped me through it. I didn't want to wait anymore to see the story, so I had him play through the hard parts, while I farmed for ruppees and supplies when he was at school. Over the next few weeks, I finally got to see the game that had haunted me for more than 15 years.

Even in all that time, even after I had joined social media and followed multiple Zelda pages, I somehow never had the ending of Ocarina spoiled for me. My boyfriend kept it under wraps too, so the reveal that Sheik was Zelda... I FREAKED THE FUCK OUT! All this time Princess Zelda was even cooler than I had thought! I finally met my childhood hero, and she was better than I imagined. I couldn't believe they had made a princess that badass in 1998. I still loved Hyrule, and Link was so cool, and Zelda was amazing, and my fairy tale story was everything I wanted it to be.

I later married my gamer. (Us with our matching Zelda hoodies. We wear them when we want to be an extra obnoxious couple.)

Breath of the Wild had come out around this time, and we both really wanted it, but couldn't afford it. A few years later when we had some more spending money, I suggested a new game console, and hinted that we could play the Zelda together again. He came home with a Switch and BOTW. I was scared to play it, as these were totally new and very sensitive controllers. So he played the main story bits while I watched. On my own, I practiced how to control the camera. Combat still scared me, but I suffered through so I could explore. I think I climbed every tree on the Great Plateau, lol. I loved foraging for ingredients and cooking new foods.

We eventually finished the BOTW together, and I was in love with it even more than Ocarina. I tried to play BOTW more on my own, but eventually gave up. I didn't think I could fight Lynels or Guardians, plus I was an adult now and had bigger priorities.

When we heard there was going to be a sequel, I was ecstatic. As the date got closer for Tears of the Kingdom, I realized this was the first time in my life I'd get to play a Zelda game on release day. I knew I needed to get better so I could play it along with the rest of the world. With 100 days left, I made a goal that I would restart and complete BOTW all by myself.

I played a few hours every day. Even though I had to look up tips and tutorials sometimes, I got better. I not only finished the game, I 100% it with just a few hours to spare before TOTK came out.

It was amazing being able to take part in the online chatter and news about TOTK, instead of sitting on the sidelines wishing I could be involved. And I was able to play it myself this time, without help. It was wonderful, and I loved the game so much.

It wasn't until after I beat TOTK that I joined Tumblr. When Echoes of Wisdom was announced, I got to be part of the building excitement within the fandom for the first time - the trailer reactions, the memes, all us fangirls screaming at finally being able to play as Zelda.

I played the Link's Awakening remake to prepare myself, and finally got to play as my princess on release day. (I still haven't finished EoW because adult life happened, but I still adore tiny Zelda, and will definitely finish it here soon.)

I've now played 4 Zelda games, completed 3, 100% 1, partially played 1, and watched my husband play 3 more. I've also watched playthroughs on YouTube of nearly every mainline Zelda game (plus the CDI games). I'm excited about what I still have to discover (I long to see Spirit Tracks, and husband's favorite game - Majora's Mask). I'm still working on improving my gaming skills, but I can't wait to see what the franchise holds in the future.

I'm a lifelong fan, because I never forgot that little pixel hero I saw as a kid. I'm grateful I got to grow up to be that hero, and now I'm writing my own chapter with my fanfic. I love being part of this fandom. Because fandom is about love, and I have always loved Zelda.

[coldgoldlazarus]

I think one shortcoming of the Bohrok-Kal arc was how the Toa were handled. I don't actually object to the basic premise of "their recent victories, the subsequent post-Bohrok peace period, and their Nuva upgrade have given the Toa big heads and put them on a bit of a power trip, here's the Kal to slap them with some perspective again", it's a pretty reasonable direction for the arc.

Giving the Nuva powers only to take them away again is a bit of a silly choice, feels like there should have been something softball-ish as another arc first, to let them show off their new power and further contribute to the bigheadedness. But I can still excuse it for like, toy release story year structure reasons.

But I think what could have been better is the way the power trip exhibited - mainly in that it was pretty uniform for all of them. "I am all-powerful now, I am awesome, let's have a contest over it! Also I don't need you losers anymore, I can protect my Matoran and my Matoran alone, on my own. Go me!" There's lots of good to be said for the OOC Is Serious Business of even Gali going "eh, maybe Unity's run it's course and we can split up fine", sure, but all the same it does feel kinda... flat, for lack of a better word, coming from all of them.

I think it would be fun if that like, ego trip showed itself a bit differently for all of them, based on who they are as characters, you know? Bringing out their worse sides or even twisting their positive traits into something negative.

Onua becoming an overprotective mother hen, smothering the Onu-Matoran in his efforts to help out wherever and whenever possible, trying to find an outlet for his new strength while also failing to let his Matoran live their own lives. Not meaning to be condescending or downplay the Matoran's capabilities, but definitely coming off that way because his instinct to help is getting curdled into assuming he knows better.

Lewa, always the most free-spirited, becoming an absolute cryptid who nobody can find when they actually need or just want him around, but always shows up with badly-considered "pranks" on the Le-Matoran when least expected or convenient. The "pranks" being surprise tornadoes. (What do you mean you were in the middle of a delicate crafting project, wasn't it awesome and funny to be flung a half-mile in the air out of the blue?)

Pohatu's happy to just sit back and celebrate the assumption they've won for good; and in the meantime keeps trying to drag the Po-Matoran into very lopsided Kohlii games or other contests, misjudging his strength and accidentally thrashing them around or kicking them halfway across the desert, and then being confused when nobody wants to play with him anymore. :(

Meanwhile, Nuju finds himself in the surreal position of needing to tell someone to relax and not worry about the future so much, just live in the present for a bit. Kopaka's the only one who doesn't trust the peace at all, knowing Makuta's still out there and up to something - but getting so paranoid and workaholic that he's jumping at shadows, refusing to rest despite running himself ragged trying to get to the bottom of a nonexistent crisis, and then being in no condition to notice or respond properly when the Kal do finally arrive and show their hand. Obviously he knows better than everyone else, and obviously he's too powerful to need to worry about stupid things like 'self-care'.

Gali's finally content to leave the others to their own devices, but instead starts micromanaging and harassing the Ga-Matoran, making mountains out of molehills with minor arguments in her attempts to solve them. Generally being well-meaning but stressful to be around, especially when she starts resorting to intimidating shows of power to get the Matoran to listen to her.

And Tahu having the most straightforward power trip - ironically his usual issues with his temper are mostly in the background for a change, because he's feeling great! But lowkey having a whole "Worship me mortals!" moment and thinking he's so badass he's practically as good as Mata-Nui, better even because he's actually awake and can do badass things like the badass chad he is. And only Jaller's practiced people-management skills and politely firm refusal to put up with this nonsense, is standing in the way of Ta-Koro becoming festooned with an obnoxious amount of overly-top-heavy flexing statues of Omega Tahu commissioned from Po-Koro.

Meanwhile, I've talked previously about how I'd want the Kal to have more diverse personalities and be an early indicator at the hidden depths to the Bohrok, but also thinking it would be funny to also make them more like, demonstrably effective at good teamwork than the Toa are (with the Kaita-on-Kaita battle being a culmination of that) when they are in the same place, despite being split up most of the time. Similarly, picturing a scene of Nuhvok-Kal accidentally imparting genuinely good leadership advice to Tahu while berating him, after wiping out Tahu's attempted Tahnok-Swarm plan.

So there's both the thematic angle of power, popping the Toa's ballooning egos with the reminder there's bigger dangers out there, while also succumbing to that power fallacy themselves in the end; but also not just the usual "we have to work together" but a good wake-up-call via demonstration of what that should look like.