#I love Astral so much and I love his growth

[astralhope]

The way Astral develops emotions through the show is one of my favourite aspects of Zexal (if not my favourite, because I love him). At first, he didn't know what emotions were. He observed them without even considering that he might feel something like that. Yet, the more he experienced on Earth, the more he changed, slowly, but he changed: he learned to smile, to fear, to cry and to hope, all the types of emotions he felt have combine into his essence, without completely changing it.

Because Astral never becomes particularly open with his emotions, his personality remains calm and collected, like at the start of the show, yet developing into something more than that as all the emotions he had collected had made him grown.

His growth is slow and sometimes subtle, but you can see how much he had changed just by looking at him: the way he moves, his tone of voice, his eyes (that are very expressive most of the time, it's like they could speak for themselves), little details that can bet missed, but are very dear to me.

He has been paralyzed by the fear, he has been happy to be considered a friend, he lost himself to the pain and anger, he cried for sadness and happiness, and he learned to love with all himself.

And he did all this in his own way. He made those emotions really his own.

[loveofdetail]

Let's talk about Gale's sex scenes

I love the astral sex scene and it means so much to me, and I have some problems with the way I've seen it talked about.

I should start by saying this post is not intended to critique anybody's personal preferences. The license to do Whatever The Fuck in an rpg is sacrosanct and there are no wrong choices. But I’ve also seen people imply that the astral scene is not “real” sex, or that Gale romancers “deserved more.” I hope I do not have to explain why that's kinda fucked.

Additionally, I think it is a saddening misread to call the astral scene “performative” in contrast to the bed scene (which gets correspondingly framed as “showing Gale that you want the real him.”) But doing a grandiose magical gesture IS the real him!

I know I'm not alone in viewing Gale as autistic; for me the astral sex scene is a big contributor to that. For one thing, it resonates with the concept of having unusual sensory wants. For another, it reads to me as Gale opening up and showing his passion for magic to the PC in a way he’s never been able to with another mortal before. What neurodivergent person has not had someone view their passion as too weird or too over the top? Have you ever been at a level of enthusiasm that wraps back around into seeming “performative” to others? Ever wanted to show a loved one something that matters to you, but worried they’d never understand—or, worse, they’d actively cringe?

In the astral sex scene, Gale shows the PC how much he loves the Weave (which is not the same as loving Mystra), and the PC does not cringe.

If all the glowing merging translucent bodies, the nebulae, the multiplying limbs, the spinning, the trippiness, the celestial music—if all these trappings made you, the player, cringe: there is nothing wrong with that. But I do think it is a misread to say that the bed version constitutes “helping him heal from his trauma.”

Maybe I have a hair-trigger for anything that implies “becoming more sexually normative = character growth.” Or “vanilla sex = a more intimate connection.” But they are just such tiresome concepts.

I understand that some of the dialogue in the game also suggests that idea, but all that dialogue is coming from the PC. What Gale says is that having bodily sex is “a small gesture toward your comfort.” This has been widely glossed over, imo.

Ultimately the two versions of this scene fulfill two different narrative functions: the bed version is to show the player that Gale will set these wants aside for you should you ask him to. But the astral version is there to show the player who HE is and what HE wants. And I think it is sad to write off this beautiful, lovingly crafted, unique and creative approach to a sex scene as merely something “performative” that he only does because Mystra made him think he had to.

“Stay with me now. There are endless worlds out there. Countless ways to declare love. Infinite ways to express it. Too much for one night... but we shall try.” I've admittedly got a ways to go in the game, but so far this is my single favorite line of dialogue. I genuinely don't understand how people can hear this line, the way it’s acted, and think it's just for show. He knows he's about to get weird but he longingly, vulnerably asks you to stay there in his weirdness with him.

Many writers, when they are writing something kinda out there, have doubts of the form Who is this even for? If the astral scene just isn’t for you I don't have beef with that. But the people who saw the astral sex scene and went "Oh, my god, now THIS is FOR ME"—are perhaps people who only very rarely get to watch a sex scene and have that reaction.

I'm glad Baldur's Gate brought something this beautiful to this particular table and I think it deserves consideration as a serious element of Gale’s characterization.

[random111sposts]

[S2 SPOILERS] My problems with JayVik (Mostly Jayce) and season 2 in general

DISCLAIMER: YOU CAN SHIP JAYVIK, IT'S FINE, I JUST WANNA EXPLAIN WHY I DON'T AND HOW THE SHIP ENDED UP HARMING THE CHARACTERS' ARCS INSTEAD

WE HAVE DIFFERENT OPINIONS, THIS IS MINE

The more and more I rewatch season 2 of Arcane and the more I talk about it with my friend, the more I see problems with the writing and how they did the characters

A lot of it revolving around Jayce specifically and how they seem to have sacrificed Jayce and Viktor's individual characterization and why I don't see Viktor and Jayce together and much prefer they stay just friends and focused more on their own individual struggles and stories

(It seemed like they wanted to put more emphasis on how much Viktor and Jayce need each other rather than focus on how they need to fix up their own individual growth, like how Mel was basically cast aside for some reason as if she and Jayce weren't a thing so he left her alone to become astral buddies with his partner without even saying good bye to Mel first

Sure, just forget the woman who influenced you greatly both in bad and good ways, the same woman who was trying to convince the council not to want weapons made with Hexcore

Forget the woman who you would go to for comfort and who WAS THERE FOR YOU WHILE YOU WERE STRUGGLING WITH YOUR DYING BEST FRIEND

And how Viktor keeps on doing stupid shit like not defending himself or hiding in Act 2 when he himself says that Jayce is not acting like himself and even invites Jayce, thus allowing Jayce to do exactly what you would expect your bestfriend who you said seemed not like himself would do, kill people

He wastes Ambessa's and Singed's time and visits Jayce first even though he can just forcefully get Jayce to join him anyway by having Singed already go through the plan in Act 3 when Viktor was a villain

But nah, doc, gotta talk with my boyfriend first even though I'm currently supposed to be the version of myself that prioritizes evolution more cuz I changed after being killed)

(I wish they went more in depth about Viktor wanting to help the people of Zaun and creating inventions while also struggling with his own flaws and weaknesses both physically and mentally while also having to deal with the discrimination and ignorance of Piltover towards what they keep doing that ends up harming Zaun)

(I wish they went more in depth about how ignorant and naive Jayce is with how he keep accidentally causing more harm towards Zaun like when Ekko called him out for basically making shit that bring the trash of Piltover over to Zaun. Then have Jayce start to grow more as a character and actually LEARN AND KEEP TRYING to go against the superficial demands of his fellow council members and actually try to help the people of Zaun properly by actually listening to them and not just listen to the higher ups because he's a people pleaser. Have Jayce learn more to be independent and less susceptible to being easily manipulated and influenced

DO NOT JUST IMMEDIATELY SHOW SOME TIME TRAVELLING BULLSHIT THEN HAVE JAYCE SUDDENLY KILL GOD VIKTOR THEN SUDDENLY MAKE JAYCE SEEM LIKE HE'S RHE HERO ALL ALONG WHEN WE DIDN'T PROPERLY SEE HIS CHARACTER GROW OTHER THAN HIM BEING FORCED TO BE HARDENED DUE TO THE TRAUMA OF BEING TRAPPED IN A DYSTOPIA

That's not growth, THAT'S TRAUMA

AND PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF FUCKING GOD, STOP MAKING HIM DO THE "Trust me bro" SHIT LIKE HOW HE DIDN'T ELABORATE ON HOW HEXCORE IS A CURSE TO VIKTOR AND HOW ALL HE DID TO PROVE VIKTOR IS BAD IS SHOW A MANNEQUIN)

Like, with Jayce and Mel, they barely had a proper resolution with Jayce just leaving Mel to play Astral God with Viktor without even thinking about how this would affect Mel

And with Jayce's decision to kill Viktor I initially thought "Okay, cool"

But then, the more I think about it, why didn't Jayce just talk to Viktor and ACTUALLY explain how the Hexcore is a curse? THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT HE DOES ANYWAYS AT THE FINALE, SO WHY NOT DO IT BACK IN ACT 2?

SHOW VIKTOR YOUR MEMORIES OR TALK OR SOMETHING SINCE YOU DO THAT ANYWAYS AT THE END

Like Jesus, all Jayce said was "Hexcore is a curse" without elaborating then kills Salo

I keep justifying why Jayce killed Viktor immediately with the whole "Jayce is traumatized cuz he was trapped in a dystopia for God knows how long" but someone else pointed out that it probably isn't enough to justify Jayce's brutality

And I already made a post all about Viktor's POV during all of season 2 so I wouldn't blame Viktor for now changing his views on the world AFTER BEING KILLED BY HIS BESTFRIEND AND WAKING UP TO ALL HIS PEOPLE DYING TOO

https://www.tumblr.com/random111sposts/769459212648693760/viktors-pov-hexcore-kills-friend-i-am-about

I was initially fine with Jayce being a dumbass in season 1 mostly because his dumbassery is constantly called out (Vi calls him out when he panics about killing a child by pointing out how he people have been harming for years and he is just to ignorant about it, Viktor KEEPS calling out Jayce's bullshit like with preventing Zaunites from crossing the bridge and Jayce considering making weapons)

But season 2, not many people do that as much so I ended up getting more and more mad with Jayce's actions since not many of the characters are gonna call him out

The closest was (again) Viktor who full on ended their partnership because Jayce broke their promised, revived Viktor with the thing that killed Sky, and MADE WEAPONS with said thing

Now onto Viktor, my main problem is THEY HAD MORE POTENTIAL TO FLESH OUT VIKTOR'S CHARACTER

LIKE HAVING HIM WORK TOGETHER WITH JINX?

HAVE HIM HAVE MORE PARALLELS WITH SINGED?

HAVE HIM REALIZE BEFORE THAT HE ACCIDENTALLY MADE A HIVEMIND AND STRUGGLE TO UNDO IT THEN GET DEPRESSED THAT HE ONCE AGAIN ENDED UP HARMING PEOPLE IN AN ATTEMPT TO SAVE OTHERS?

BUT NO, LET'S HAVE VIKTOR BE AN EMOTIONAL DUMB FUCK AND NOT ASK JINX AND VI "Hey, since I'm helping your dad and stuff, mind helping me by defending my people since my ex BFF is coming here and he seems not to be in the right mind?"

VIKTOR WOULDN'T HAVE KNOWN IF THEY WOULD SAY YES BUT MIGHT AS WELL TRY, RIGHT?

WE COULD'VE HAD A COOL ZAUN NATION THING WHERE VI, JINX, ISHA, VANDER, AND VIKTOR WORK TOGETHER TO PROTECT THE PEOPLE

BUT NO, HAVE VIKTOR DO NOTHING TO TRY TO DEFEND HIMSELF, HAVE HIM INVITE JAYCE OVER, THEN HAVE HIM MEDITATE WHILE JAYCE TURNS HIM INTO A DAMN DONUT

YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?

Also, the damn line "You were trying to fix imperfections" or whatever

JAYCE, VIKTOR WAS FUCKING DYING

COUGHING BLOOD

WHAT? THE HELL YOU MEAN HE'S A PERFECTIONIST

If anyone was a perfectionist, IT WAS FUCKING PILTOVER, NOT THE DISABLED GUY DYING WHILE TRYING TO HELP OTHERS

Another missed potential, they kept show Jinx as Les Miserables or something in the intro, so obviously seemed like she would be a revolutionist

And Viktor wants to help the less fortunate and gets mad whenever Piltover does anything to further ostracize Zaunites

WHY NOT HAVE THE TWO WORK TOGETHER IN THE REVOLUTION?

MACHINE HERALD AND THE FEARED WANTED GIRL WORKING TOGETHER TO REBEL AGAINST THE PRIVILEGED

THAT WOULD'VE BEEN SO FUCKING COOL

COME ON

[floralembarrassment]

What do I do? (1/1) (jegulus)

"Could you- umm would you stay with me?" James asks.

It's not the request that throws him off but the hesitancy. It's James' feeble mumbling and dejected tone, like he is asking with the final ounce of hope knowing he is going to get rejected anyway. But he asks all the same because, for the same reason Regulus is surprised, confidence runs in the marrow of James' bones.

Of course, in the shock, Regulus' only reply is a set of eyes that blink, a blank expression, and dopey "what?" that falls from his lips.

"Nevermind," James mutters and he turns away, swinging his feet back over the edge of the astronomy tower and wrapping his arms around the rails looking out over the grounds and up at the sky.

And because Regulus is tied to James by an astral string, his movements pull Regulus back into action. "No no no," Regulus rushes to say and his feet carry him across the tower floor before his own will could freeze him further.

When Regulus puts a hand on James' shoulder to steady himself as he sits down beside him, Regulus finally whispers: "Of course I'll stay, James."

James doesn't move, doesn't say anything, he just breathes. He doesn't push Regulus away when he grabs James' hands, though. Instead he holds onto Regulus tighter, like if he wasn't clinging to him Regulus might simply slip away.

"I'll stay a long as you need me," Regulus whispers as James lays his head on Regulus' shoulder.

"It's just been a long day? Week? Year honestly..." James whispers. Regulus breathes that in and James continues, "I just don't know how to tell anyone that I can't take it anymore, but I know they have worse problems than me and I just- I..."

Regulus' heart breaks when he hears James words. He is always taking care of everyone, putting others and their needs before his own. Letting the pain be a competition, one where he hasn't reached a level of evil high enough to say he deserves help.

And Regulus loves him so much that he can't stand it. He squeezes James' hand. "It's okay to put yourself first, James," Regulus says softly.

"But they need me," James whimpers.

"They need you to take care of yourself too, James. If you want to have enough to give you need to take care of you too. No one's needs are more important than anyone else's," Regulus explains. It's not what James wants to hear but it is what he needs to hear.

"You just told me you can't take this anymore. So, okay you don't. You can still be you and there for your friends but you need to do it in a different way. That's okay, that's growth, and that actually will help you be there for your people," Regulus says.

He's right, of course. And James knows it. Shows that he hears him by finally letting the tears fall onto Regulus' shoulder as James turns his head to cry there. Regulus takes his free hand and wraps James in his arm as best he can.

They stay like that for a long while, though James' tears subside as the sun sinks behind the mountains in the distance. Hours pass until they are both getting cold and tired and decide it's time to call it a night. But before they do, James speaks again.

Golden brown eyes meet soothing grey, when James asks: "how do I do this?"

Regulus smiles softly, and runs a hand over James' hair. "One day at a time, a little bit here and there. Start with the small stuff and you listen to your heart. It'll tell you what it needs, you just have to hear it out." Regulus says, and James nods.

"And you're not alone," Regulus adds when James keeps looking at him.

Together they get up to go, Regulus' final words hanging in between them like a commitment and an adventure for James to begin.

Now, if only Regulus could take his own advice, too.

[crisiscutie]

Can you please do a self-aware sephiroth X shy bullied reader

So I'm not super familiar with self-aware AUs as I only read a handful of them. Regardless, I am interested in this idea and wanna take a shot at it. Featuring Mr. Strife himself.

Content Warnings: Bullying, Emotional Manipulation.

After a rough day, you head home, hoping to play some FF7R to cool off.

You’re at the part where Cloud “met” Sephiroth for the first time, where he hallucinated his razed hometown.

Sephiroth knew you were there. Not present in his world, but present as an observer, watching him terrorize poor Cloud. You perplexed him. How are you able to spectate them? How are you bending Cloud to your will?

And he wondered; when Cloud was in despair, did you enjoy it, or did you feel sorry for him?

Your face showed no emotion to it. But your skin crawled when you watched the scene, so you turned off the game after it. You’d suffered too much already; why did you have to go through it all over again through Cloud?

You saw yourself in Cloud and understood his struggles. You felt a sense of dread and helplessness whenever you’re around your tormentors, much like Cloud with Sephiroth.

You haven’t played FF7R as much because of that scene. And your torment has gotten worse.

You were thankful when the next month arrived, your tormentors were nowhere to be found. Was there something that they would rather do instead? Someone better to pick on?

You later discovered that they went missing. At their last known location, the evidence left behind was a mysterious pile of dark feathers.

You became more happy, now with them gone. You found yourself opening up to others slightly (through, still shy) and being more drawn to playing games.

The next time you played FF7 Remake, you had the most fun. You loved picking flowers with Aerith, dressing Cloud up, fighting fun bosses and experiencing other great moments. You binged through the game on your endorphin rush.

You were glad that Cloud was your link to this wonderful, fictional world. It has been a pleasure to observe his growth and him experiencing one interesting event after another.

But whenever Sephiroth appeared on the screen, you felt dread creep up your body. The way the camera focused on his face made it worse. His gaze was so strong, it’s almost as if he wanted to drag you toward him.

The glares, the smug smiles, and his other feral expressions. He wasn’t just directing them at Cloud, but also YOU.

You decide to ignore the eeriness, chalking it up to the great cinematography of the game. Of course, it’s meant to feel like that from a literary perspective.

Sephiroth mentally noted your visible unease and smirked. Such a pitiful human...

Getting involved in lowly human issues like “bullying” wouldn’t interest him, but he had to get rid of your tormentors. He needed you to keep playing the game. He wanted to observe YOU, as you observed the versions of him throughout the game.

He used astral projection into the real world, an ability he gained from traveling in the Edge of Creation. Though he could not stay in that form for long. It was strange how different, but so similar, our world felt to him.

He used most of his energy to track you. Even with your tormentors gone, you were still shy. You had the strength within you to become stronger. You don’t have to be timid or be walked on by someone else. You reminded him of Cloud, somewhat.

When you got to the end of FF7R, when Sephiroth and Cloud had their showdown at the Edge of Creation, you started feeling that same eeriness from earlier.

When Sephiroth talked about not wanting to end, you somehow resonated with him. It’s a deep-seated need in all of us to make lasting impacts and stand out from the crowd.

You now wanted to be someone greater. Someone who was confident, not timid, and unwavering in the face of adversity.

Sephiroth smiled as he saw the impact his words had on you and Cloud. He will find you to be a valuable asset.

He knows how you guided Cloud and his party. You’re no longer a mere spectator, you’re a playmaker. If only you could recognize the immense power you wield over their lives, and the world they know.

Cloud himself always felt your presence. But he hadn’t been conscious of it until Sephiroth brought it up.

He now understands that your existence contributes to the torment that Sephiroth is inflicting upon him.

His poor soul was overwhelmed and confused, struggling to make sense of it all. He was powerless to alter his own fate, and it frustrated him. The pain and anguish he experienced was unbearable, yet some powerful outsider just watched him go through it?

But… not all of it was bad. The good times Cloud had couldn’t be ignored. Your presence gave him the chance to have cherished moments with his loved ones. And he had good moments with you as well.

You made him feel invincible in combat; you got him and his friends out of difficult predicaments, pushed him to get better like Sephiroth (just not in a traumatizing way ofc).

His heart is set on meeting you. He’s not ready to trust you. But maybe you can alter his destiny if your intentions aren’t dark like Sephiroth’s?

Sephiroth was deeply interested in the special connection between you and Cloud. That is how he will get to you. Through Cloud. One puppet to another. He will still observe you in his astral projection form when the stars align for it.

Oh, the joy he’ll have when exploiting that connection. When good times come, despair lurks behind, like a shadow. The closer you are to Cloud, the closer he is to you, and vice versa. The three of you together would be unstoppable. You can will change their fates.

Though it seems like he would have to push you. Just like he pushed Cloud.

He found your shyness cute and amusing at times. Though, it would have to be broken, eventually. He will mold you into the perfect pawn.

You turned the game off after watching the credits. You’re exhausted after playing FF7R for so long. You ready yourself for bed, turning off your bedroom lights.

As you drift into your slumber, a gentle, deep voice echoes around you in the darkness.

“Through suffering, you will grow strong.“

Author note: I went with 7R Sephiroth because I love to hate this creepy, magnificent bastard and there are already several hints of his self-awareness. Cloud’s inclusion was absolutely necessary to go with the self-aware theme (in my opinion). This was an interesting idea to work with, thanks!

[kyogre-blue]

Oh, huh. what bugged me abt that isn't that they couldn't - after all the alliance HAS been in constant conflict ever since they decided to hunt down the Abundance - it was that, out in the whole wide universe...how the hell is the xianzhou the ONLY ONES who care abt a planet being destroyed? like rlly? yes, maybe in a cosmic scale there's multiple planets dying, but he's asking people for help, not the universe! ugh. can't they set up an intergalactic donations box or something?

well, companion quests are like... genshin story quests/hangout events, except w at least two playable characters talking to each other, but idk what you consider relevant context to main missions if you're skipping dialogue. ik Yanqing has a bit of an arc abt learning moves from jingliu and he meets jingliu in the companion quest > adapts jingliu's moves in mq boss fight (in a blink and you'll miss it line that wasn't at all clear but there you go) > succesfully replicates her move in climax of Finest Duel (II), so it may seem to come out of nowhere if you don't do it. like it's definitely not one of the better companion quests, you could just watch the cutscenes and get the idea, but it's one of the most relevant ones. Do you count trailblaze continuance as main story, or...?

The animations Ichor of Two Dragons and A Flash are much cooler than what actually went down in the luofu so I can dream lmao. But for real, who wrote those? They should actually write in the game. They know how to set up a climax, for one.

Characterwise you won't care, but fandom liked to characterise yanqing as a brat and a punching bag until he finally got a W in recent quests and I'm sick and tired of it so...

intro in mq as fighting prodigy who hits his first major roadblock (aka loses badly three times in a row to legendary fighters, one in his cq and two in mq. he's unfortunately infamous for this) > gets his insecurities aired out against his will, we learn that he has lost all his confidence and is desperate to prove himself > trying to balance acceptance of his limits with knowledge that they don't define him, compare and contrast w a new child prodigy chara who IS actually immature so we can see his growth.

Anyways I don't want to start more live service games so between geshin and hsr I honestly like hsr more. gl w your sunday and aventurine pulls!

Hm, well...

There was one thing I noticed, and that is how the game says "no one helps others out of the goodness of their hearts" in almost the exact same words over and over again.

I think I saw it first in Wardance, where it seemed to be part of Topaz explaining her section away as just teaching Belobog an important life lesson, that they can't keep relying on the MC to solve their problems and/or support them. They have to stand up on their own because the universe is a big, scary place full of nasty, powerful organizations (like... the IPC, presumably).

But this is also repeated at least twice in Belobog, whenever we try to say that we're here to deal with the Stellaron. Everyone immediately goes "oh, just because you're nice?? sus, we don't believe you, you're obviously lying."

And then, it has also already been brought up again in Luofu (I'm still on the first act). "Oh, you're here to deal with the Stellaron? Like you always do on multiple worlds, as we've heard since we know about the Astral Express already? Sus, no one does things out of principles, you're lying."

So at the very least, the writers really love having the altruism of the main crew questioned.

But they probably also just generally believe that people are extremely selfish and will not do anything without benefit to them, so asking strangers for help is pointless and Igor was wasting his time. The correct answer was always just to go home and die fighting for his country.

(You can even tie in how the entire plot of Luofu is kicked off by Elio deciding that they need to make sure the Luofu owes the Express a huge favor, so that can be cashed in during a future battle for the sake of the universe. Because you see, the Luofu wouldn't do shit during this massive future conflict of galactic scale, where we are presumably on the side of all life and civilization, without first owing us a personal favor.)

Realistically, they're not that wrong, but I find it annoying to have this be treated as a legitimate point of distrust so often.

As for me, I..... probably still like Genshin way more. The writing is bad for both, both don't let you skip, but Genshin has way more to do.

[cosmicellis]

YOU...Astral Senpai ambassador. Do da character ask right now this instant

Yes, homie! What I love about them: At first Astral was just a nice eye-candy for me. I love his eyes the most (I think animators did too). He expressed so much by just staring. I was at one point fascinated by Astral being so different even compared to other people in Astral world. I do dig the fact, that even though you spent a lot of time with him in a show, but he's still left mysterious. Like, he's an embasador, but his powers are quite something else. He's cold and calculative and very smrt. I do like smart people, they fascinate me with big smart words, I guess. His character growth is pretty nice and I do like that he knows how to pull certain strings. Be that in the begginig with opposite game or at the end. A big brain move, in my opinion, knowing that Yuma seemed tired of dueling and in no way would agreed to another one. So yeah, I WILL ERASE BARIAN WORLD, so lets duel. He left him with no room for a "no". Is it mean? Hell yeah. But that's a part of him being a calculative smart ass. What I hate about them: Honestly, the inconsistency of "the number bestowed a knowledge to him about human world" stuff. It felt a bit random. I know its canonical, but it's just personal pet-peeve Favorite Moment/Quote: *Slaps entire Zexal anime* From the sub: -What does Astral says about it? -I think Yuma is an idiot What I would like to see more focus on: On Astral's past, honestly. I know he was mostly emotionless weapon, but I would love to know more what he was doing. He was not only aware about helf of numbers being on Earth, but also piece of him missing. Would it affect him? What was that part of him originally? A number? Like there is so much I would like to know And uncover mystery about his eyes. Is his eye white because yuma is missing? Like a canonical YES or NUH What I would like to see less focus on: Eh, hard to answer. I do like him interracting with other people (Shark and Kite) even confronting Barians is interesting. He barely spoken to Yuma's frineds and I would kept it that way. That bunch is worst thing in whole ass anime and don't want to even look at Ghost boi Favorite pairing with: Mhhhhhh. Hurd to answer too, mostly because I ship him with several people for different reason. I do like me old classic Keyshipping, cause it's a dumbass with a smartass. yuma seems like the fire in the relationship - brining the warmth, the outgoing energy. The elemnt of physical love and affection. While Astral is cool, chill the movie night kind of mood. He would be the one to calm down the tired partner and bring them a blanket And taintedshipping, because of evil and... not evil pairing. the opposites? Because Astral is ambiguous being and more of a "following rules' kind of ghost. I can see Mist starting shit and Astral would had to deal with that. Yet they both enjoy this still. Mist would appreciate his back cowered and Astral would just love the "lively" attitude and being on edge, A thrill that he misses. I do like my ship too c: Favorite friendship: Also with Yuma. Their interraction about "takoyaki" will forever stay as BEST represantation of how my two last braincells interract XD And they do give out an impression of having fun together. They do genuinely care. NOTP: The random ones. Because this fandom slaps people together even if makes no sense. I guess one of them is Tori and Astral. Mostly because it just makes no sense to me. They spoken ONCE. Favorite headcanon: Astral is a ethereal robot\weapon. Obviously he's not a human and he's not of a human's soul origin. He was made for a specific thing. So he's learning AI kinda deal, only in a form of a higher state of... soul thing. That's probably why chaos is deadly to him - because he never was a human to house one.

[r-a-m-s]

Ok so this post isn't 100% related to just RAMS and the storyline but I think it fits better here than my main.

I am OBSESSED with this little group I'm calling the superfreaks. They are so silly and I am writing a lil thing for them!! (reblog if you want a lil snip of it :D)

basically, theres 5 of them

THE COPYCAT - Felix! He can copy other peoples powers for 10 minutes at a time, and he can do multiple at once! The only downside is that he is more easily burnt out and overworked because of his constant inexperience with these new powers, meaning he doesn't know how to use them as well, so he has to be careful or he overloads.

THE STOPWATCH - Danny! Danny can freeze time when he holds his breath! I don't know as much about his powers as a whole BUT he's very silly and he has a crush on Kasey.

THE SPARKLER - Kasey! He/they pronouns. Kale's younger sibling. They have hard light projection powers, but usually he just sparkles and glows! Crush on Danny.

THE PHANTOM - Benji! He's dead (LIB things) and can fly, as well as has ghosty powers. Think Danny Phantom, but arguably cooler. Astral Projection, all that shit. He's so cool :holds him:

and last but not least,

THE MEDIC - Alfie! Healing powers. Cannot raise the dead though, it goes wrong every time. Healing powers work on anything living, including plants. He later learns he can manipulate plant growth as well.

if you have ANY questions, lemme know! i love these silly bois (gender neutral) and all that they can do.

[cyberdragoninfinity]

Could we get lil guy Flip Turner for the character ask meme?

FLIPPP ok this'll be the last one of these I'll do for now; i love chattering about characters but i did like 20 so far and my brain's turning a bit to soup HDFHGDSF honored you guys wanna hear my ygo thoughts so much!!

First impression

Impression now: god i fucking love Flip. I said this when I was talking about Lester but i LOVE when a yugioh character is just a tiny bastard. a Little Fucker of all time. I like that he got CHARACTER GROWTH?!? he is really just part of the friend group from like episode 5 onwards and it's awesome. I love that he's just a fuckign dweeb who's like "im nice now I don't cheat or scheme anymore" and then something happens and hes immediately like "3am back for more cheats and schemes" and this happens like 4 times. he died and went to hell. he got better. the dub really just named him Flip Turner. s-tier.

Favorite moment: WHEN HE BUILT THE LITTLE MEMORIAL FOR ASTRAL I WAS FUCKING FLOORED. SLASH POS. he really cares a lot about his little friend group Astral included and it's sooo sweet ;__; this kid was GRIEVING!!!!

Idea for a story: Flip agrees to help moderate Cathy's Warrior Cats RP forum but the power immediately goes to his head and he starts swinging the ban hammer down on anyone who annoys him. Antics ensue.

Unpopular opinion: I LIKE HIM. HE'S FUNNY. HIS DESIGN IS VERY VERY SILLYGOOD.

Favorite relationship: really just his place within Yuma's little friend circle is so sweet...feels very real to the Middle School Experience. I hung out with a lot of Flips when i was 13 beheheheh. Also I specifically like his dynamic with Caswell....dweebs who are probably dating.

Favorite headcanon: HMM TRYIN TO THINK IF I HAVE ANY FLIP HEADCANONS YET I feel like he chronically cheats at any game he places, not just duel monsters. If he was on Neopets he would be running like 4 accounts to cheat the stock market and rank up Neopoints to wire over to his main. He'd like Kacheeks.

[ramblingcj]

I've finally gotten to the end with the Lae'zel romance after trying to finish the playthrough for about a year. Real life can be such as pain! But it did mean that I could see the endings after all the patches, so that's a win!

I had a few different save files with different choices in regards to the endings because I couldn't decide what to do. The biggest struggle was keeping track of the save files lol.

It did help that I've seen the Rebel ending in other playthroughs where Lae'zel wasn't the romance.

I do have to say that after seeing the other endings: the Stay ending is by far my favorite.

The Rebel ending with her going back to fight Vlaakith is a cool ending. I've even seen some argue that it's the most "logical step" for her. Considering a big part of her character growth is learning to appreciate the Material Plane and finding her own path, I'm not sure I agree with that take. Unless you're arguing that Lae'zel freeing her people might open up new possibilities for them. And, given her own growth into her own person, might lead to a brighter future for the githyanki. Then... yeah I guess..

For me though, in the Rebel ending, she doesn't seem content. If Orpheus is leading the rebellion, then Lae'zel has pretty much reverted back to being a footsoldier like she was in the beginning. Albeit one with close ties to the leader and a clearer view of what needs to be done. If she is leading the rebellion, she is focused on the mission at hand and what needs to be done.

She does have a goal and a desire to free her people. But it's also Lae'zel throwing herself into the first "direction" she has. First, she based her identity on being Vlaakith's most faithful. Her most loyal warrior. Then she throws herself at the goal of freeing Orpheus. Following him to overthrow the people. If she is the one leading the rebellion (which I honestly prefer if I'm honest), then she throws herself into that.

One task after another without a moment to let herself feel or even consider what she wants to do instead of what she needs to do. But it is revealed when she talks to you. She misses Faerûn and the people she met there. The person she learned how to be there. And, if romanced, the person she fell in love with there and what they represent.

If unromanced, she makes it clear that she wants to go back to "Fay-run" after Vlaakith is gone. If romanced and the PC stayed behind, then obviously she wants to go back to be with them. She wasn't kidding when she said she is loyal.

If a romanced PC is with her in the Astral, Lae'zel's goal is

1) Remove Vlaakith

2) Be with her love.

In that order.

She has no interest in dealing with the politics of Gith leadership. She wants to remove Vlaakith to free her people and doesn't seem to care whose butt warms the throne after that. She is also not interested in being the leader.

Her priority is her "joy" and Xan. She is content to stay in the Astral as long as her love is with her. If they aren't, then she longs to go back. Either to them (if romanced) or to Faerûn in general (if unromanced).

Which is such an interesting difference from how she was in the beginning. Where she longed to get to the Astral Plane and live eternally.

There is also something interesting in her facial expressions when Orpheus asks her to come with him or to go in his place. She does not look happy or even like she has steeled herself to it. She looks sad. Resigned.

If you tell her to do what she feels is right, then she will choose to go back. Lae'zel is loyal and she feels it's her duty to go back and fight. It's not what she wants though. And she will only allow herself to go after what she wants if you're the one bringing it up.

Which leads us to the Stay ending where she seems happier. Sure, her life isn't easy and Vlaakith isn't exactly the forgiving type. She (and you) keep busy dealing with all of Vlaakith's influence on the Storm Coast to make sure you're all safe. That she, Xan and possibly her love can truly start their new life.

It's a small piece of the rebellion she would have been part of if she had gone back. And from what she says in the ending, she has been successful and there's only one stronghold left.

But despite all that, she does seem happy. Not just focused on the task at hand. She is enjoying life and the freedom she now has. And she is excited for the chance to give Xan that same freedom. Between him and Arabella, I'd say we know who might show up in a future game.

Anyway, I do like the Rebel ending. There is something really satisfying about hopping on a dragon to take the fight to Vlaakith. But from a character standpoint, I like the Stay ending more.

The one thing the Rebel ending has over the other ending (in my opinion) is that in that ending Lae'zel actually calls the PC "my love". She doesn't in the Stay ending. She calls them "source of my joy" there. It's cute either way so this is just a minor nitpick.

In the Stay ending, you also get to ask her about "our little hatchling" so there's that. In the Rebel ending, the game kinda treats it as if Lae'zel is alone with the wee one. Which is odd.

[sunnisurrealism]

Back to society 💅🏻 hi Timmy in case you’re just seeing this now I made a big post about how I looked up the tracking number and the mail hasn’t arrived :( please read below. I spammed a bunch of selfies to compensate for deficiencies in German cream, but I know it’s not the real shit 😞😔 the post also shares some of recent feelings of growth from my hiatus, and I really want to share with you I’m feeling much better and feel in my heart I’ve closed our last chapter 😊 I feel you kissing and licking me all over and it gives me immense comfort, though still being quite an overwhelming feeling! I want to share I don’t want to create unnecessary problems anymore, and I want our love to be simple and trusting. I love you so much and I always look forward to seeing you in the astral realm and my dreams!

[cup1d0logy]

Okay so I didn't expect this to get so much traction so here I go ig😭

Species: metahuman

Her mother was a vila, a slavic nature deity/ faery, who fell in love with a mortal man and became pregnant with his child. Typically Vila who have half human children will leave their children in the care of a mortal woman, however her mother refused to leave the man, causing her immortality to be taken away and to be cast out from the Vila.

This makes Karolina half Vila, she did not know this until she was 13, where she started to train to be a Vigilante. Yet this also explains her connection to nature and animals, also her ability to predict the future.

During a Young Justice mission, they encountered the head of all Vila which kidnapped all members except her. The reason she wasn’t kidnapped was due to her being a half blood of their species, meaning that their tricks did not work on her.

In order to save the team she made a pact with the Vila, she became a full Vila, she mortality was ripped out of her soul.

Abilities:

Before become full Vila:

Increased strength, speed and durability

Blood manipulation ( similar to blood bending from ATLA)

Precognition

Hypnotic beauty & song

Commanding Animals

Healing

After becoming full Vila she was able to unlock the full potential of her powers:

Communication with animals

Psychic blood manipulation

Storm inducing

Plant growth

Astral form (ability to assume the form of a spiritual body)

Natural wings

Early childhood (Pre comics)

Karolina Wiśniewska (nicknames: Rina, Karly, Kaja) was born in Warsaw, Poland on October 31st. Her parents ran an underground league, sister of the League of Assassins, under the cover of a business. The “business” which her parents ran essentially funded the league.

Karolina was trained by her father to be an assassin from the moment she could walk. Her mother, a former acrobat who quit due to an injury caused by Tony Zucco, insisted on putting her in ballet and rhythmic gymnastics classes as well as martial arts classes as a coverup to the public, which also explained why she was homeschooled. Karolina quickly became one of the most skilled assassins, being able to take multiple adult men at one, she developed her own specific fighting style by combining her ballet/ gymnastics skills with her martial arts skills, she became known as the Crimson Viper.

Neither of her parents were loving, or forgiving, often being extremely strict on her. Any failure or disobedience would end in severe and painful punishment. She would often run away to the forest behind her family mansion where she would find solace within nature and in the company of animals.

Konrad, her younger brother, was born when she was 4 years old. From that point on, it became Karolina’s responsibility to care for her brother. When Karolina and Konrad were 7 and 3 years old, her mother gave birth to another son, Kamil, and kidnapped them and took them to Pakistan, Nanda Parbat, she took them to the League of Assassins.

They stayed with the League of Assassins for 3 years; both children were trained by Talia and Ra. After 3 years, their mother moved them to the USA, they moved to Bludhaven in order for her mother to keep a close eye on the hero, Nightwing. By this time, Karolina's Gymnastics talents started to become noticed by national teams as she started to compete in national competitions.

I'll do more about her in the comics later but these are the basics before she gets introduced

Okay who wants lore on my dc oc :D

[number-1-kuaidul-fanboy]

Yugioh Main Protagonists Ranked

(No Yuudias because Go Rush isn’t complete at the time of writing this and I’m not even caught up on what is out.)

You get a veteran's pass to this blog if you know who I put at number 1 before I even start this list. Because spoilers it hasn't changed at all. And it probably never will. The rest of this list though? It was tight. The middle three are so interchangeable for me I just had to just go with my gut without overthinking it. This first one however was not difficult:

7 Yusei Fudo

While the dub did make me like him more, I'm still not that big on Yusei. His dub added sassiness is entertaining and I even relate to his habit of pushing people away and wanting to do everything on his own. But as a protagonist, he's really plain. He wins every time (outside of a flashback) so his duelling isn't interesting to watch and he just doesn't have any substantial character growth. He’s a completely static character which might be okay for a side character but not for the main character.

6 Yugi Moto

/Atem I guess? Atem gets more screen time and is the one who's duelling 90% of the time, let's be real. That's a problem and all but honestly the switching between and dynamic of Yugi and Atem is enough to put them above Yusei. They lose a lot more than him, making their duelling more interesting and both of them grow over the course of the series. It's fairly basic but still nice, nothing wrong with simple sweet development. Also Yugi himself made a pretty decent protagonist in DSOD, I like how his grief over Atem is explored.

5 Yuma Tsukumo

…yeah this was a really tight list. I love these top five so much that Yuma just ended up here due to stiff competition. Yuma took what Yugi and Atem did and perfected it with his bond with Astral that's more focused on and more well developed as we see exactly how they met and every step in their journey as they become closer and help each other grow as people. It's sweet as hell. Also yes Yuma could be annoying towards the beginning of the show but most of his "stupidity" was coming out of wanting to help his friends so he came off as more of a “caring dumb” most of the time. Plus first impressions, while important, shouldn't define a character (or a person for that matter) and he becomes a much better character and duellist overtime.

4 Yuga Ohdo

I think Yuga is the most unique take on a YGO protagonist. He's not the greatest duellist, he actually loses quite a lot and that majorly raises the stakes of the duels (a point that also applies to Yuma, though I feel they stopped letting him lose after part one ended but it’s still good). Because it's made clear he can lose at any point and there are consequences for those losses. Not life threatening consequences but still. Consequences that can hurt him, rush duels, and/or his friends and that made the show so unpredictable and interesting to watch for the very first time. But Yuga's not a pushover either. He's still a strong duellist who gets up after each loss and for gosh sake he invented Rush Duels. I like having a protagonist who's special not because of his duelling or friendships for once, I think that's really neat.

3 Yuya Sakaki

Fun fact: Yuya was the main thing that pushed me to watch Arc V before 5Ds and man did he not disappoint. He is an endearing silly bean who just wants to make everyone around him smile with his entertainment duelling and it was so very sweet and wholesome- OH GOD WHY IS HE A DEMON?! Yeah, Yuya's an interesting protagonist. He's the main hero but also simultaneously the main villain, or at least one fourth of a villain and man was that interesting as hell. Yuya himself is also the perfect summation of Arc V's main themes if that makes sense, since the show is all about how stopping to be kind/share a smile can go a long way and Yuya’s whole goal is to spread smiles.

2 Yusaku Fujiki

I’ll admit, these top two are really personal characters for me. (Yusaku was straight up a part of my wake up call to getting a handle on my mental health.) I relate to Yusaku immensely, even though, to my knowledge, I don’t have PTSD. His more serious stern attitude also fits the more dark serious feel of VRAINS and most importantly, he isn’t completely without personality or character development. From almost the very beginning, he has Ai, an upbeat little bean who is completely opposite to him in personality, to play off of and over the course of the show, Yusaku gradually learns to open up to others easily but his flaws of secretiveness and distancing himself from others remain. And that just felt very real to me. I like how he isn’t just all better one day, it’s a process and the bad things that happened to him shaped him when he was young, but that pain doesn’t have to define him and by the end, it doesn’t. He lets go of his desire for revenge and more easily expresses his emotions/attachments and it’s nice goddammit.

1 Judai Yuki

Yeah, I’ll never change. Take everything I said about Yusaku having a realistic/relatable reaction to a traumatic event, add multiple traumatic events and an adorably sweet personality and you have Judai. I love his upbeat personality at the beginning of the series, he’s arrogant and a bit air-headed but in a way I found really charming. Then the show started hurting him… and hurting him more… and while he mostly retained his cheerfulness and seemingly came back swinging in seasons 1 and 2, there was a gradual shift in his personality which took centre stage in season 3. His determination to save Johan becomes his downfall and after seemingly losing the rest of his friends, it completely destroys him. He endures constant traumatic events and pressure from everyone around him and it changes him and breaks him like it would a real person. Makes me so glad that Judai was able to come back from it. During the highly underwatched and underrated season four, he gets space from all the pressure that was put on him and is able to regain his love of duelling and in a way, his childhood. Not so much childhood innocence, but he’s able to have the heart of a child while still being an adult mentally. I just, oh my gosh I love Judai so much.

[bubonickitten]

Who’s your favourite character in the magnus archives?

Ooooh that's a tough one. Probably sounds like a cop-out but I genuinely found things to like about all of the main cast?? One of the things I latch onto the most is character development, and they all had some really amazing journeys in that way.

My favorites to write and analyze in depth are Jon and Martin, so I might say they're my favorites...?

[TMA spoilers below the cut]

Like, Jon's ADHD ass is first of all very relatable but more than anything I love the GROWTH he goes through?? This man went through so much trauma and faced such unimaginable cruelty and he STILL never stopped caring. He hurt people, yeah -- p much everyone in the podcast does at one point or another -- but he acknowledged it when he did, and even when it would've been easy to just... give in and be monstrous, to just say "fuck it" and live up to the expectations everyone had of him, he made a concerted effort to do better, even when no one acknowledged his progress, even when no one was willing to support him or encourage him or believe he was worth saving.

And I can never say enough about Martin's diehard "so what if the universe doesn't care, that just means we have to pick up the slack" stance towards nihilism. It's not even toxic positivity, it's fully "yeah shit's fucked, the heat death of the universe is inevitable, but I'll STILL fight Jon's shitty self-esteem AND all fourteen, possibly fifteen cosmic evils on the hill of Our Experiences Matter, and the entire time I will be delightfully bitchy about it, no I do not take constructive criticism', who wants to go first?"

Of course I also love Georgie and Melanie and everything about WTGFs. And Gerry, my beloved. And, god, I love Tim and Sasha (I thrive on S1 before-shit-hit-the-fan archives crew content!! and everyone lives/nobody dies AUs, and literally anything involving reconciliation btwn Jon and Tim).

And Basira -- as much as I'd get mad at her sometimes, her words and actions always made sense to me within the context of her characterization and situation, and I love how she and Jon are sort of on the same wavelength re: dark humor and being incorrigible nerds. (I'm having a lot of fun writing them in my current time travel AU, because given the time to heal and the space to actually communicate, I feel they could be friends. Not outwardly affectionate per se, but like... idk, their platonic love language would probably be something like picking apart the flawed methodology of a shitty study and half-jokingly writing a scathing letter to the editor about how wrong the authors are until Daisy gets bored of being the third wheel and demands they all play Mario Kart or something.)

And I'm obsessed with Jon and Daisy' weird post-Buried friendship and just... they were literally the only two people in the Archives who really understood the struggle to resist feeding their respective patrons, but they also didn't make excuses for each other, and -- I genuinely loved the confirmation that Jon never actually forgave her and didn't sugarcoat her past actions. They probably never would have become friends under any normal circumstances, but given what they had to work with, they built something based on mutual support and accountability and a refusal to engage in the sort of denial that the people around them occasionally did.

In terms of side characters, I still maintain that if Adelard Dekkar knew Jonah's plans from the start he would've astrally projected himself into Elias' office and strangled him to death with his own tie, pseudo-immortality be damned. Replace every Chuck Norris joke ever written with Adelard Dekkar, I s2g.

I also must give an honorable mention to our second ever statement giver, the trope-subverting MVP of "I Am Not LOOKING, I Do Not See It", the king of NOT fucking around and finding out, our gentleman of perpetual staying in his own lane: Joshua Gillespie, gold medal winner of NOT being the first to die in a horror story. What a legend.

aaa I'm rambling. Basically there's a lot to love, both in an 'I am fond of this character's delightful quirks' way and in a 'wow this is good character development from a writing perspective' way.

[evebestt]

Hiya! Since I really adored what you did with my last request I was wondering if I could send through another prompt for a Farah dowling x female reader where Farah and Queen Luna have this sort of unspoken but very clear competition for readers heart and when Farah sees what she thinks to be queen Luna inching towards the finish line she gets envious/cold but really Farah had readers heart all along❤️

Thank you so much by the way. I really appreciate what you do. Sending peace and love and happiness your way xx.

Hi there! Sorry this took a bit, I rewrote it a couple of times. But I love the prompt! I hope you enjoy 🖤

Send me an ask or a message to request a fic. Search my blog for "prompts" to see lists of prompt ideas.

A/N: honestly unless explicitly stated, just assume that in all my fics, the season one ending that we don't talk about didn't happen. Farah's not even napping, she's still alive and awake and being her wonderful self.

To Find Your Truth

Since the Alfean battle with the Burned Ones, Solaria had indeed dispatched a troop of soldiers to be permanently stationed at the school. Between that and the continual growth of Alfea, it soon became clear that a new position would be needed to coordinate the Alfean and Royal schedules. You had been hired in that position, working as a liaison between Farah and Luna, meaning that you worked very closely with the both of them. You’d been a little overwhelmed by your work at first, working not just with the Headmistress of a powerful school and the Queen of the entire realm, but with two of the most powerful fairies – if not the two most powerful fairies in the realm – but Farah and Luna had both made you feel comfortable in your work.

The women were very different. Farah was quiet and calm, her power cool and still under her pristine surface – but undeniably there. Luna, however, was like a fire, sharp and calculating, her power exuding from her and filling every room she entered, even if it was superficially masked in sweet pastels and warm light. You liked them both, despite the differences, and whatever rumors you heard about them.

And they liked you too. Farah often offered you sweet smiles that she didn’t give to everyone, and your meetings with her would sometimes drift into personal conversation, especially if you had them over lunch together. Luna too made her affection for you known, soft touches on your arm that lingered just a moment longer than a friendly touch would, or heartfelt remarks on how she’d never be able to function without you, all of which never failed to make you blush.

You weren’t quite sure when it became a competition between the two of them. It might have happened the day when Luna astral projected into your office, interrupting a lunch meeting with Farah that had gone long with conversation. You’d both been laughing with Luna’s form had appeared, Farah’s eyes bright with affection as she gazed at you fondly, and although you’d both become entirely professional when Luna appeared, you knew she’d seen the way you looked at each other just as clearly as you’d seen the possessive gleam in her eye.

Though your meeting with Luna after that had gone smoothly, as well as all of your other meetings, you could sense that tension in both of the women, like they both had something to prove.

Or more likely, you realized, like they were both trying to win your heart.

Luna became even more bold with her gentle touches, even going so far as to lay a hand on your cheek one night, smiling softly before she retreated and wished you goodnight, offering you a room in the castle if you didn’t want to make the trip back to Alfea. Even Farah, as composed as she was, was more forward in her advances, eyes flicking to your lips when she paid you compliments, or when you rolled your neck to try and ease a headache, she would merely reach out and touch two fingers to your temple, the pain melting away in seconds.

You could admit that you liked the advances of both of them women, feeling as though you could preen under their attentions. Not only did you have Farah — a legendary fairy in her own right — showing you affection, but the Queen of Solaria as well, making you feel like the star of a period piece, your two handsome, wealthy suitors courting you in their attempts to win your hand. You were content with the flirting and the fantasies of both women, not thinking much about where relationships with either of them would go in fear of complicating things. But one afternoon in your office at Alfea, you realized you’d have to decide just where your heart lay.

Instead of her normal astral projecting, Luna had come to your office in person, needing to update her calendar for you and reconcile her schedule with Farah’s and find time for their combined meetings.

“My quarterly inspection of the troop’s preparations here at Alfea needs to happen in the next couple of weeks — hopefully those can drop to biannual next year — Farah will need to be present for that. It will take an afternoon, when can I make that happen?”

You flipped through the large planner on your desk, Farah’s meetings written in blue, Luna’s in red. “Both you and Ms. Dowling have a free afternoon in two weeks on a Friday — though you have an event that night, ma’am, that you’ll have to—”

“Please,” Luna interrupted with a smile, “how many times have I told you to call me Luna?”

You smiled back. “Too many to count… Luna.” It still felt odd to use the Queen’s given name, but her self satisfied smile as she sat back in her chair did make the odd feeling worth it.

“Good,” she praised. “Now, that’s the Benefactor’s Gala, correct? I’ll only need to make a short appearance and give a speech towards the end, so I’ll have plenty of time to dress. Though—” she came around your desk to study the planner herself, standing so close that you could smell her sweet perfume, “that lunch meeting may run long.” She dropped to her elbows on your desk, hips, clad in a dusky rose pencil skirt, cocked in a tantalizing fashion near your head, and you had to fix your eyes pointedly on your planner. “What about this Wednesday here?”

You went back and forth for a while, pencilling in various events. You couldn’t help but let out a sigh as you wrote the last one, feeling your back ache with the strain of both the work and of feigning nonchalance with Luna’s body so near to yours.

Luna seemed to feel the same, straightening to roll her shoulders, but then surprised you by perching on the arm of your chair, somehow looking effortlessly graceful as she crossed her legs, leaving her balanced on the toe of one of her stilettos. “A queen’s work is never done, hm?”

You laughed softly, not letting your eyes linger on the smooth expanse of her legs. “You wouldn’t be a very good Queen if it was.”

Luna laughed too, rich and smooth, and she looked down at you for a long moment before reaching out and tracing the line of your jaw with one finger. “Lucky I have you, then. To help keep me a good Queen.”

You felt yourself blush, jaw tingling where Luna had touched you. You felt your eyes drift to her lips unconsciously, tracing the smooth, sharp lines. Those lips curved into a smirk, and you blushed further, eyes snapping up to meet Luna’s again, who’s glinted with mirth. She traced the line of your jaw again, slower this time, her hand coming to cup your cheek as her eyes flicked over your features, staring as though she was memorizing you.

Lighting zipped in your stomach when you thought you saw Luna lean towards you, just an inch, but your breath caught, eyes flicking to her lips again as she stroked your cheekbone with her thumb.

A clearing of a throat came from the doorway making you spring back, back hitting the arm of your chair. You blushed even further, your cheeks on fire as you tried to get as far away from Luna as possible, who for her part kept her composure, still perched comfortably on the arm of your chair as she stared at Farah in challenge.

“Farah,” you said, trying to pretend Luna wasn’t there, which was difficult considering where she sat. “I’m sorry, I-I didn’t realize we had a meeting today.”

“We didn’t,” Farah said smoothly, still staring cooly at Luna. Her gaze shifted to you then, still cold, and you felt your stomach drop. “I thought I’d stop by to see if you were still here. But if you’re otherwise occupied…” she trailed off, looking at Luna again, and your blush which had started to recede came back in full force, feeling like a student she was disciplining.

“No worries, Farah,” Luna said brightly, looking smug as she stood from her perch. “I should be going anyway.” She turned to you then, giving you a radiant smile. “Thank you for all of your help, dear. You are truly a blessing.” She gave you a wink and then headed for the door, passing closer to Farah than was strictly necessary, and you thought Farah’s hackles would have raised if she had any.

A horribly awkward silence fell over the two of you, and you picked at the edge of your desk, unable to meet Farah’s eyes. She cleared her throat again and you then met her eyes, fighting what felt like the permanent blush in your cheeks.

“I’m sorry for interrupting,” Farah said softly.

“No, no, it wasn’t interrupting,” you insisted, still feeling like you’d done something wrong, but why? There wasn’t anything owed between you, but still you felt like you’d been caught. “Is there, ah, something I can help you with?”

Farah opened her mouth like she was going to speak, but then closed it, smiling at you. It was a warmer smile than before, but it still didn’t reach her eyes, and you felt your stomach drop again. “No, it was nothing. Have a good night.”

And she turned and left, leaving you alone and still blushing.

Why did you feel so horrible? It was a little embarrassing to be caught nearly kissing the Queen in your office with the door open, but the waves of shame and regret rolling through you seemed unwarranted. You and Luna were both adults, as was Farah, and each was entitled to their fun.

Deep down you knew why, and the longer you thought about it, the more sure you were. Flirting with Luna was fun, sure, but with Farah it was something more. With Farah, it was a beginning, the promise of something more, a calling from somewhere in your soul that told you there was something there, something that could be beautiful if you both just took a chance.

You were in love with Farah Dowling. You’d been a fool to not see it for so long, but now that you did it was undeniable, and you couldn’t bear not to tell her, for her to think a moment longer that you didn’t feel for her the way she must feel for you.

It was late now, and after finding her office empty you headed towards Farah’s cottage, not wanting to wait until the morning to find her. As you waited at her door, you thought about what you’d say, rehearsed several confessions, but when the door opened and Farah stood there, hair loosely braided and face bare of makeup, all words left your head.

“Can I come in?” you asked after a long moment, and Farah nodded, stepping aside.

You were both silent again, Farah obviously waiting for you to start as she moved around you into the living room.

“I, uh, wanted to apologize for… earlier,” you started hesitantly, unsure how receptive Farah would be.

“There’s nothing to apologize for. You and Luna are… close. You shouldn’t have to hide that.”

Her words were kind, but Farah held something back, something in her eyes that belied more hurt than she let on. Sorrow pulled at your chest, and you had to clench your fists to keep from going to her to comfort.

“No, that wouldn’t be something to hide, but I meant that… I just wanted to clarify— and what I wanted to apologize for—“ Hell with it, nothing sounded right but the truth. “I’m in love with you,” you blurted, and Farah’s head popped up, staring at you in surprise.

“I love you,” you continued, “and I need you to know that, because what I’m really trying to apologize for is that it took me nearly kissing Luna to realize it myself. I think my heart has always belonged to you, Farah, and I’m sorry that I played this game for so long when I could have been with you.”

You stopped, taking a deep breath and studying Farah. She looked at you cautiously but otherwise unreadable, and for a moment you thought you’d misread her attraction to you, utterly destroying whatever friendly relationship you had.

And then she smiled. Slowly, but it was a real one, and it lit up her eyes so that you couldn’t help but smile yourself.

“I—“ Farah started, and then trailed off, still smiling. And then, deciding better of words, she closed the gap between you in three steps, took you into her arms, and kissed you.

Luna’s touch had been thrilling, exciting, but Farah’s touch, oh, Farah’s touch felt like coming home. You leaned into her, gripping her waist to keep yourself upright as you melted into the kiss, feeling her warm and soft underneath you. Your head swam with dizzying happiness, feeling like a puzzle whose last piece had just clicked into place — full and complete and radiantly beautiful. You could nearly feel Farah pulsing with the same happiness as she kissed you, making a small noise against your mouth, to which you sighed and opened your mouth to her, tasting her sweet and tender on your tongue.

You stayed close when the kiss ended, Farah running her hands lightly up and down your back, sending pleasant shivers down your spine. “I can’t tell you how long I’ve wanted to do that.”

You smiled, feeling as though you might overflow with happiness, and bumped your nose with hers. “Me too. Even if it took me a while to realize how deeply I felt, I always knew I wanted to kiss you.”

Farah smiled again and then gripped your hips, pulling you closer to her. “I thought, when I saw you and Luna, that I’d waited too long to make the depth of my feelings known. I’m sorry for how brisk I was earlier.”

You shook your head, leaning your forehead against Farah’s. “Thank you. Though I can’t blame you. I don’t know how I would have reacted, in your position, though I know I wouldn’t have liked it.”

“It was certainly a shock,” Farah said, and then huffed out a laugh, pulling your hips closer to her. “I’d been coming to ask you to dinner tonight. Not just as colleagues, but as… friends. Maybe something more. Then seeing you together, I… jealous is too weak a word to describe what I felt.” She shook her head then like she tried to banish the thought, and squeezed your hips gently. “I’m glad you’re here.”

She said it simply enough, but the weight behind her words had you wrapping your arms around her neck. “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be, and no one else I’d rather be with. I mean that.”

Farah let out a soft, contented sigh, and gently cupped your cheeks before kissing you again, filling you with light and love, speaking just as clearly with her kiss as though she’d spoken it in your mind.

I love you, too.

[bl0omss]

Uhhhhhhhhhhh….that’s hard to answer but I will try my best! As a long time fan I’d love to get as many new fans watching and loving the series/AT universe as possible!

~✧*｡٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و✧*｡ here we goooo~

All of Season 1 is honestly important & I highly suggest watching it all bc it establishes the base for Finn & Jake’s growth to take place as well as other important characters, and the overall original vibe of what enchanted most of us as kids in 2010 🥹 (plus it’s not a long season!).

Season 2:

Ep 1 It Came From the Nightosphere, Ep 18 Susan Strong, Ep 24 Mortal Folly and Ep 25 Mortal Recoil.

Season 3:

Ep 9 Adventure Time With Fionna & Cake (self explanatory lol), Ep 10 What Was Missing *DNS* (iconic), Ep 19- Ep 20 Holly Jolly Secrets Part 1 & 2 *DNS*

Episodes marked w *DNS* are eps that upon first watch may seem like filler/irrelevant but are actually NOT FILLER and/or simply EXTRA important! (Do Not Skip + Important to the Plotline(s)! )

Season 4:

Ep 5 In Your Footsteps *DNS*, Ep 9 Return to the Nightosphere, Ep 11 Daddy’s Little Monster, Ep 15 Sons of Mars, Ep 16 Burning Low, Ep 25 I Remember You *DNS*, Ep 26 The Lich

Season 5:

Ep 1 Finn the Human & Ep 2 Jake the Dog *DNS*, Ep 4 Up a Tree, Ep 6 Jake the Dad, Ep 11 Bad Little Boy, Ep 14 Simon & Marcy, Ep 16 Puhoy *DNS*, Ep 19 James Baxter the Horse, Ep 22 The Party’s Over; Isla de Senorita, Ep 29 Sky Witch *DNS*, Ep 30 Frost & Fire, Ep 34 The Vault, Ep 45 Blade of Grass, Ep 48 Betty, Ep 52 Billy’s Bucket List

Season 6:

Ep 1 Wake Up, Ep 2 Escape From the Citadel, Ep 4 The Tower, Ep 6 Breezy, (Ep 9 The Prince Who Wanted Everything if you have time. Fiona & Cake episode <3), Ep 10 Something Big, Ep 16 Joshua & Margaret Investigations, Ep 19 Is That You?, Ep 24 Evergreen *DNS*, Ep 25 Astral Plane, Ep 27 The Visitor, Ep 38 You Forgot Your Floaties *DNS*, Ep 40 Orgalorg, Ep 43 The Comet

Season 7:

Ep 1 Bonnie & Neddy, Ep 2 Varmints (a personal fave 💕), Ep 6-13 Stakes Part 1-8, Ep 14 The More You Moe, the Moe You Know, Ep 20 A King’s Ransom, Ep 22 Crossover, Ep 23 Hall of Egress (explains Finn’s blindfold skills), Ep 24 Flute Spell, Ep 25 The Thin Yellow Line

Season 8:

Ep 1 Broke His Crown, Ep 2 Don’t Look, Ep 5 I Am A Sword, Ep 8 Elemental, (Ep 9 Five Short Tables if you have time, filler(?) Fiona & Cake ep), Ep 10 The Music Hole, Ep 12 Preboot, Ep 13 Reboot, Ep 14 Two Swords *DNS*, Ep 15 Do No Harm, Ep 20-27 Islands Part 1-8

Season 9:

Ep 2-9 Elements Part 1-8, Ep 10 Abstract, Ep 11 Ketchup *DNS* ( my heart ( ꒦ິ꒳​꒦ີ ) ), Ep 12 Fiona and Cake and Fiona *DNS*, Ep 13 Whispers, Ep 14 Three Buckets *DNS*

Final Season! Season 10:

Ep 1 The Wild Hunt, Ep 2 Always BMO Closing, Ep 4 Bonnibel Bubblegum, Ep 5 Seventeen, Ep 10 Temple of Mars, Ep 11 Jake the Starchild, Ep 12 Gumbaldia, Ep 13 (the finale!!) The Ultimate Adventure: Come Along w/ Me

Adventure Time: Distant Lands (Only 4 Episodes Total, Each is about 40 mins) Honestly you only need to watch Ep 2 Obsidian, and Ep 3 Together Again 🥹✨🌸

Then BAAM you’re ready to understand the full magic, madness, and sadness of Fionna & Cake the series!!! Or, at least a much better understanding of why AT fans are so attached to the show 🥹

Hey Adventure Time fans, is there like a list of recommended epsiodes to watch so I get the buildup and payoff of each story beat and the ending + spinoff series makes sense? Also some recommended ones that aren’t necessary to understand big events but are just iconic among fans. Asking as someone who has practically watched zero AT