#I'll never call myself as someone who really gets [character] because there is always so much more to learn- to explore about them y'know..

[okiroash]

TRULY the best way to learn a character more is to hear the rambles of someone who gets them... (alternatively, read a fic where you can pretty much tell how much that person love that character wholly by how much the details the author put)

[cece693]

Johnny depp willy wonka x male

Okay so basically let say you guys got into a big fight over you accidentally being mean to a omoopla loopa (idk) anyway so then Willy is being really consecding and witty and it is a funny argument to watch but not to be in

Okay, but like you read my mind. For the longest time I wanted to write for Willy Wonka but felt some sort of way because it's a kids movie (at least with Edward Scissorhands there were mature themes, but Willy Wonka? That's like toddler level.) But I love his character so much, that I'll probably add mature themes in the future to continue writing for him.

Sweet Insults & Bitter Chocolate

pairing: willy wonka x gender neutral reader tags: changed it to gender neutral cause I don't write for them often, silly argument, make up with a kiss, short, I tried okay?, but I don't see Wonka and their partner getting into any serious argument to garner meanness, do I explain myself?

You had never intended to cause trouble in Willy’s factory, but one accidental slip of the tongue led to perhaps the most ridiculous fight you'd ever had. It all started when you were sampling a new chocolate concoction in Willy’s private laboratory. Distracted by how particularly delicious the new flavor was, you’d nearly tripped over an Oompa Loompa named Milo, knocking the poor little guy's mixing bowl onto the pristine white floor. The vibrant blue candy mixture splattered everywhere, coating Milo’s white jumpsuit.

“Oh no!” you gasped, reaching out in panic. “Milo, seriously, you have to watch where you're standing!” Your voice came out sharper than intended, making Milo’s expression wilt instantly. Your guilt swelled, and just as you started to apologize, the unmistakable voice of Willy Wonka cut through the sugary tension.

“Wowie, someone woke up on the sour side of the candy cane forest today,” Willy remarked dryly, leaning against the doorway with an eyebrow quirked in sarcastic amusement.

You turned, feeling defensive. “It was an accident. I didn’t mean it like—”

“Oh yes, of course, because one should always blame the victim of an Oompa Loompa collision. Really top-notch thinking,” Willy responded, his tone dripping with condescension as his hand tightened over his candy filled cane.

You sighed in exasperation. “Come on, you're exaggerating.”

He grinned, leaning in closer with mock interest. “Oh, exaggerating am I? Did your eyebrows teach you how to make that judgment call, or did you come up with it all by yourself?”

“I apologized, okay?” you snapped, cheeks flushing with frustration.

“Did you?” Willy tapped his chin dramatically, feigning deep thought. “Cause, gosh, I heard more blame than apology. But maybe my ears are full of fudge—let me check.” He tilted his head dramatically, tapping his ear a few times. “Nope! Just wax. Normal human wax.”

You crossed your arms, a bit annoyed and slightly embarrassed at how the situation escalated. “Look, you don't have to turn this into a chocolate-coated soap opera.”

“Don’t have to?” Willy laughed softly, clapping his gloved hands together. “Oh, sugar plum, I absolutely do! Drama adds flavor to everything! Although, I suppose you wouldn't understand that concept; your idea of culinary excitement is probably microwaving instant hot chocolate packets. Heathen.”

You glared at him. "Alright, you're being ridiculous now."

“Am I?” Willy circled you playfully. “But if anyone knows ridiculous, it’s surely the person who talks down to tiny candy-making geniuses. At least I appreciate my workers.”

“Oh please, I love the Oompa Loompas,” you retorted.

“Sure ya do, grumpy gums,” he teased, inspecting his nails. “Is it possible you love them slightly less than you love knocking them around?”

Your jaw dropped. “I didn’t knock Milo—”

“Careful now!” Willy placed a dramatic hand to his chest. “The walls have ears, my dear, tiny Oompa Loompa-sized ears, ready to hear your slanderous insults.”

By now, even Milo had recovered, quietly giggling with his friends from the sidelines, clearly enjoying watching you squirm. You softened your expression, turning pleading eyes to Milo. “Milo, buddy, help me out here.”

The small figure smiled mischievously, shrugging in playful neutrality. Willy tutted smugly. “Oh dear, your witness isn’t cooperating. I suppose you’ll have to plead guilty.”

Rolling your eyes, you grabbed Willy by the shoulders, staring him down seriously. “Look, I’m sorry, okay? Truly. Let’s call a truce?”

Willy squinted suspiciously. “Hmm, tempting. What’s in it for me?”

You sighed, exasperated but amused. “My eternal gratitude and your dignity remaining intact?”

“Pfft.” Willy waved dismissively. “Gratitude is boring, dignity is overrated, and your puppy eyes aren’t as cute as you think. I demand something sweeter.”

“A kiss?” you offered quietly, your cheeks coloring softly.

A wide grin spread across Willy’s face, victorious. “Ah-ha! Now that is a delicious apology. But…” His finger wagged playfully. “Only if you admit you're a terrible, horrible, Oompa Loompa-scaring, grumpy-pants.”

You groaned, face flushing deeper. “You’re unbearable.”

“And yet, you’re still here,” Willy whispered teasingly, leaning in just close enough to brush noses. “Funny how that works, huh?”

Laughing softly, you finally relented. “Fine. I am a terrible, horrible, Oompa Loompa-scaring, grumpy-pants.”

With exaggerated flourish, Willy cupped your face, pressing a brief, sweet kiss to your lips. Pulling back, he murmured smugly, eyes twinkling, “Apology accepted, sugar rush. Now go apologize properly to Milo—or I’ll be forced to write you a very strongly-worded, candy-coated reprimand.”

You chuckled, turning toward Milo, who seemed thoroughly entertained. Willy stood by, happily humming, watching you make peace with his favorite little worker. As annoying as Willy could be when arguing, you had to admit, you adored every ridiculous, overly dramatic, chocolate-scented moment. After all, life with Willy Wonka was always sweet—even when sprinkled with his delightful nonsense.

[manytoonepoet]

(Aaa you don't have to (well... that's a given) respond to this at all, not expecting it, just wanted to share the same sentiment because your post reminded me of it) (Plus this is vv long it's a rant srry. If you do respond though (only an if) I recommend screenshotting so you can turn it into your own post and crop it so it doesn't take so much space)

Honestly, before 3.3 I was kind of sick of people saying "stop making everything about shipping/sexualities" because I assumed it was mainly just people getting salty that they're dealing with a inevitable fandom thing which was shipping/fandom and not staying in their own lanes (besides the obvious obnoxious exceptions).

And then when 3.3 leaks came out, Aglaea and Cipher turned out to have this really tragic and poignant history together, and me & other ppl were shipping it.... until it turned out Aglaea had know Cipher when the latter was a child & Aglaea was an adult + Aglaea raised her = they were a adopted mother daughter dynamic. I felt kind of embarrassed but after quickly moving on, giggling at myself, and examining it closer, I fell in love with their mother daughter relationship and how it was handled in 3.3. I can't even talk about it because then i'll start rambling lol. But then other ppl who assumed this would finally "be the proof" Hoyo was going back to their "yuri roots" (esp when Cerces and Mnestia are RIGHT THERE if you want that) and that Aglaea would finally be "confirmed lesbian" (not even gonna get into that) got angry and denied it to the point where they were looking at their interactions and lines such as "Your weave shop... I wish..... I could chance upon it again, just once.... Say something... Anything.... please" (Cipher was saying this to Aglaea in her final moments) as proof they were actually lovers and that no child would say that to their parent??? Especially when that's where Cipher AS A VISIBLE CHILD (there was a cutscene) met Aglaea who was A VISIBLE ADULT. And then they tried to excuse it by saying "oh there's a 1000 year time leap so it doesn't matter now" when they kept that dynamic since then and that's why Cipher calls back to that moment in the first place, she wants her mom. This wasn't one instance, the post had thousands of likes and many ppl share this sentiment (thankfully many called them out too).

Like.... have you people EVER had significant feelings for others that extended past romantic? Have you ever considered that to be possible? The concept has always been so foreign to me. Family, romantic, friendship, all have such importance that I could never try to scale them against each other. But these people seem like the first thing they do when they judge a relationship is to fit it into one of these categories depending on the weight.

I also find it so funny (in an ironic sense) that people use romance to simplify characters down to such stereotypical traits when instead it should add depth to them. Figuring out how their qualities work together, how they change as people, what parts of them stay the same, when other parts don't, and how they will stay in a relationship if they can at all. There's so much to uncover about characters if you put them in a situation, any tbh, so how this can turn into complete character flanderization is... kind of startling to me? (Speaking as a diehard ratiorine fan.... dude it's so bad)

And now that i've been looking, there are so many cases of shippers (wlm, wlw, mlm, doesn't matter, and my goodness all are completely obnoxious in their own circles and to each other) going into comment sections of nonshippers and spamming their own headcanons, or if someone calls them "besties" in their video (if they're unconfirmed) they'll be in the comments like "and they were roommates" and "history said they were best friends".

I was going to put a whole nother thing in about interpretation but this is already really long sooo. Yea. I just wanted to quickly share my thoughts because wow fandom can suck but i'm glad there's people like you who can call it out when it does

Oh, don't worry about the long rant, Anon, I don't mind reading it all.

Anywayss, to start, yes, I am aware of the annoyance I was causing to some people in this fandom, and for a while, even I doubted whether or not I wanted to be so "bothersome" instead of "staying in my own lane" as you said, which for me, is continue writing poems and musings. But after being bombarded with so many posts about Aventurine and Veritas being gae gae, and so many pornographic fan arts being labeled as masterpieces by the fandom, I decided to break my silence and thought "If these people can be so loud and proud promoting something so disgusting and wrong, then why can't I be just as loud and proud but promoting the truth instead?" — this was the only thing keeping me going, really. This, and the many people I've encountered agreeing with my posts and saying that I've expressed the very feelings they've wanted to express, but don't know how. And that makes me very happy. I may not be able to appeal to most, but I am content with whatever I can achieve.

For Cipher and Aglaea, I can't comment much since I have yet to go through 3.3, but I will say that, based on what you've given me, I'm not surprised. Shippers will say and do anything to everything just to "prove" their ship when there really isn't much proof at all. And while I understand the appeal of shipping (truly, I do, I've spent the majority of my childhood shipping Elsa and Jack Frost, Skye and Chase, and Sonic and Amy), sometimes all shippers do instead of just enjoying and having fun with the ship, as they claim to do, they instead shove their headcannons into everyone's throats and drag people into ship wars and make them choose, and proceed to attack them once that said person they've dragged into this mess disagree with what they want.

And also, that is the thing with some of these shippers, where they claim that Character A can't say this to Character B in a platonic manner when it obviously can? Cipher can say all those things to Aglaea as a child would say all those things to her mother, just as much as Phainon would say "It's a date, Mydeimos" to Mydei as an army veteran would say to his brother in arms after promising to meet each other again, alive, after the war. That is the beauty of HSR's writing; it's full of nuance and depth that a writer could only dream of making!

Character A can have significant feelings for Character B that aren't romantic. Character A can have significant feelings for Character B without necessarily wanting to marry and bed them. It's possible, all of it is possible because having these significant feelings for another person is natural and human! That's why we can have friends and lovers, and families at the same time! And they're all important. Very important.

For Cerces and Mnestia, I wouldn't necessarily call them "confirmed lesbians" or as Hoyo going back to their "yuri roots" mainly because I believe that Titans, much like Aeons, are not confined to the concrete or physical, but rather, they represent divine and abstract concepts, and the people following those concepts. And also because of the fact that, in Chinese culture, according to what I've read, they have a specialized term to refer to the divine beings they worship.

And well, I don't believe anyone in HSR is gay, nor should they only be known for their sexuality, and the reason why I think "queerness" apparently happens within stories is a mix of fan-service and self-projection. It's no secret that Hoyo knows their audience well and does things that satisfy their pre-existing fandom and appeal to potential customers simultaneously, and with the growing popularity of that community, I'm not surprised that Hoyo would join in and drop "hints" and "teases" in their own game as well. Personally, it really is just a marketing strategy to keep as many people as satisfied and attracted to their game as possible without triggering the censorship. And to be quite honest? I don't necessarily blame them for wanting to appeal to a bigger audience; the character trailers alone must've cost them a fortune to make, so of course they're going to find ways to earn back the money that they've spent.

I understand that my stance might be controversial and wouldn't be accepted well by many people, so I will leave it at that. However, if there are some of you who are interested in discussing more of this with me, please go to either my Inbox or message me personally and let us engage in a healthy debate — we are talking about differences in opinions, not personally attacking each other and I would like to keep it at that.

But anywayss, if you truly want to talk about interpretation, then don't hesitate to send me another ask in my inbox. This was a fun read, and I would love to hear more from you, all of you, actually.

I find enjoyment in hearing other people's thoughts and opinions and engaging in a healthy debate with them. But what truly makes me happy is, as I've said above is when I, apparently, express other people's thoughts in ways that they can't. An example would be what you said about me being able to call a fandom out when needed, Anon, and that is an honour for me, and I hope to create more of these analyses that will hopefully resonate and bring light to the unspoken thoughts of the people within my circle, in real life or online.

[walsuf]

hey I wanna make a character with narcolepsy and I've been doing my own research but I also felt like maybe asking someone who has it and stuff and since you made that comic headcannoning SM with it (really neat btw <3) I thought that you may be comfortable sharing some experience with it (as much as you feel comfortable ofc!) so I could better understand it so I may fit it into a character myself. OBVIOUSLY YOU DONT NEED TO ACCEPT IF YOU DONT WANT TO! this is coming out of nowhere and stuff so apologies if you feel uncomfortable!

[LONG POST] Yeah! Let's talk narcolepsy! Some things that might help (ft. Shadow Milk)

First and foremost, I want to say that my experience with narcolepsy is going to be very different from other people's, and I'm mostly just going to yap about my own details. Everyone experiences their symptoms in a unique way, kinda like how every bag of fruit snacks is different. You anticipate the same stuff inside (symptoms), but one bag will have all of the colors and another might have all orange ones.

I think my biggest advice here is to not dogpile all the symptoms, just focus on what heavily affects a character the most. Sometimes that's going to be nightmarish hallucinations, sometimes their sleep attacks; for Shadow Milk, I fixate a lot on cataplexy! (Weakness is a huge thing that I struggle with personally.) Regardless of additional symptoms, excessive daytime sleepiness will always be present :p

This one might be hard, but do something that you resonate with the most. Most people have experienced sleep paralysis at least once; a lot of people with narcolepsy get sleep paralysis very often, usually accompanied by visual/audio/tactile hallucinations. Then, it becomes a matter of changing the frequency and intensity rather than making something up.

When it comes to hallucinations, they can sometimes be horrifying (and are exacerbated by sickness, lack of sleep, and general unwellness). I find that a lot of people with nightmares and frightening hallucinations tend to have those in excess; I personally almost never get those. My hallucinations are usually very minor, like seeing the lights flicker when I close my eyes, or feeling like my body is surrounded by water or gently rocking back and forth. My most frequent one (and by far the most annoying) is that coming out of sleep I hear my alarm going off or my name being called. Neither of which are actually happening.

Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS), like everything else, presents differently in everyone. Sleep attacks are only one aspect of it---which gives a person the nearly irresistible need to sleep for seconds to sometimes hours. Some people thug them out (often they can be resisted) because they find themselves losing way more time succumbing to it. Some people fall asleep very quickly, and can be in the middle of an important thing while doing so. I've personally fallen asleep mid-lecture while writing notes, and looking back at them is... interesting (there's a thing called "automatic behaviors" you might want to look into). Personally, I don't get sleep attacks often, but they are exhausting to deal with, and make me pretty much appear and act drunk without the fun part.

My normal experience with EDS is just a general level of sleepiness following me throughout the day, like that same feeling you get while working on an essay late in the night. It's manageable, but sucks. This isn't to say I never feel alert, there are good days and bad days, but most are in this sleepy middle ground that forces me to nap twice a day (noon and afternoon) lest I get all grouchy and my speech starts to slur.

From the outside perspective, sometimes people can guess that I'm having a sleep attack or just generally sleepy before I even know. I'll be told, "you sound tired," which is almost followed up with an, "...I do???" I crash within the next ten minutes almost every time.

Cataplexy is a symptom specific to N1 (which is actually an autoimmune disease, fun fact), and also happens to be what I struggle with frequently. It has strong emotional triggers (think anxiety, anger, surprise, laughter [doesn't have to be all of those, just pick a few]) and causes a degree of weakness. This can be anything from eye twitches and difficulty holding up the neck to full body collapses. For the most part, I feel it in my hands. When I laugh, I can't write or clench my hands any more. They become useless floppy limbs until a few minutes pass and they're back to normal. I am (unfortunately) a very giggly person. Personally, my slightest attacks make my head fall forward. My most severe one had me collapsing 6 times in the course of 15 minutes, hitting my head each time. Cataplexy attacks can cause subsequent attacks to come easier, and it's difficult to break the cycle. I avoid stairs for this reason.

If you've ever experienced morning weakness, or a few minutes in the morning where its slightly more difficult to hold things and get around, that's a lot like what minor cataplexy feels like, except condensed into a short, spontaneous episode. Oh! And it's often accompanied with blurred vision (look up ptosis) and speech difficulties as well!

I don't fear any of my symptoms because that's just how I experience the world. I've always felt weakness with laughter, so I thought that was always normal. I've been frequently sleepy and assumed that I was somehow lazier than everyone else. Now, I try to listen to my body. It takes a lot of effort to stop a conversation and go to sleep because my body needs it, and it sometimes sucks to forewarn my lab partners not to tell jokes around me. Sometimes I lay down in the middle of nowhere and have random people asking if I'm okay (hate this, I'm usually too weak to respond).

All in all, just try to make it a set of circumstances that someone else lives with rather than a set of symptoms that constantly put a character into crisis mode. People with narcolepsy don't need to be babied (I sincerely hope my comics don't come off that way because they're rooted in personal experience), they can manage their symptoms just fine on their own. Self-accommodations can come off as strange or funny (bringing a blanket everywhere, wearing sunglasses to manage minor cataplexy, wrist strap on the phone so as not to drop it), but they're there for a reason.

Sorry for the tangent, I've actually been on a heavy uptick educating myself. A good place to go for life experiences would be, of course, the narcolepsy subreddit. It's a good resource for people talk rather than medical jargon. If you need any examples for how to write or depict certain symptoms, though, I would be more than happy to do that on request! (I loove writing drabbles, and I know there's almost 0 narcolepsy fics, much less any written by people who care about accuracy. I'm begging to be asked here [will probably cookie run-ify everything though])

Thank you for reading if you got this far, and I hope this helped!

[a-kinda-boring-writer]

hi i’m new here and i would like to know what you like about brightfire! never seen that ship before and i love hearing about peoples beloved niche ships

Hi, hello! 👋 Welcome to the kitty corner of The Hellsite(tm)

I'm quite sorry for taking two whole day to organize my thoughts 😔. I'm really bad at discussing ships I like. Or ships in general tbh.

Anyways, not surprised at all lol. Brightheart fanships are kinda rare as is, I feel (the fandom loves BrightCloud way too much lol. The most experimental they ever get is adding Swiftpaw or Daisy into the mix). BrightFire must be the nichest thing ever. More of a crackship tbh. There are like three people in the universe who ship BrightFire, we all used to be in the same discord server, and each of us had a different, mutually incompatible interpretation of their dynamic lmao.

Last time someone asked me about one of my fav ships, I couldn't really give them a good answer, and I felt really shit about it. So I'll do my best and I hope it's at least amusing to hear my thought process?

This is probably going to be long and I'm going to explain myself like ass, because I always end up rambling unnecessarily 😔.

Alright:

To be honest, for me, it originally came about as a joke, while writing my PoT-AU rewrite. The main premise of that is that Holly, Jay, and Lion are FeatherCrow kits born in RiverClan, but a fun... gimmick, I guess you'd call it, of that AU is that I strive to research and implement community-wide headcanons and jokes new and old (or just wc fandom practices in general) taken seriously to craft the world-building, plot and characterization of some cats. For example, Leafpool in the AU started as a warrior but was forced to become a med cat by Sandstorm (old fandom rumor based on jack and shit afaik) and she's very pro-life (very strange fandom discourse turned into shitposts gallore from 2019... also, yeah, abortions are a thing that exist in that AU).

Here in Tumblr, Firestar x Everyone is rather popular, so that's part of his character in the AU. That's to say, he's a disaster, with 2 mates, 12 lovers, like 100 flings and 24 litters of kits fathered and counting! (don't worry, the large majority of them died young, so despite his best efforts, he didn't nuked the clans' genetic diversity.... yet).

Anyways, the joke (and pre-phrasing this by saying that I think infidelity in fiction is funny to begin with, and that I don't like Cloudtail. At all). I thought that it'd be hilarious if Firestar, considering his new behaviors, got so annoyed at his nephew one day that he just goes and cucks him. That's it. Incredibly stupid, I know.

Then I started thinking about the ship a bit more, outside of the context of that AU. And I kinda ended up really liking the idea of BrightFire? Firestar is just really easy to ship lol. And as I said, I do not like Cloudtail. So pairing Brightheart up with someone else was an intriguing proposition.

I haven't had the time to sit and write down about it properly, so the following is very tenuous at best. I'm aware this is more of a crackship, so I'm under no illusion that it makes perfect sense within canon or anything like that. Also, this is only ONE scenario I have for BrightFire, the one I've put the most thought, and it takes place on the second part of TNP.

Pre-phrasing this by saying that I don't write my romances as entirely healthy, so if anything sounds lowkey 🤨 then yeah, it's probably meant to be.

The way I see it, Brightheart derives way too much of her self-worth from other cats' feelings and opinions about her. In canon, it's mainly Cloudtail's. One of the guides states something along the lines of "she still remembers what she looked like before the dog attack, and it breaks her heart every time she sees her reflection, she just puts up a brave front and avoids going near water". Bright herself adds that "He gave me another destiny, and I knew that no matter what I looked like, I would be all right. As long as Cloudtail loved me, I was no longer Lostface, but Brightheart". Which I'm sure most people would interpret that as something cute, that's what it was meant as probably, but I'm not most people lol. (bad faith interpretations strike again 🫠)

There are other examples of that stuff within the main books themselves, but those 👆 illustrate the idea already. I don't feel like hunting for screenshots right now.

So, with that in mind, when Cloudtail started neglecting her, favoring spending time with Daisy instead of her... not to mention that Bright had recently lost her home and also had to leave her mother behind to an unknown fate, so she might have been in a vulnerable state as is... I'd imagine she took it really hard.

And to clarify, I'm NOT saying that Cloud was being neglectful on purpose or that he had feelings for Daisy and wanted to replace his wife or anything like that (I think he was just being well-meaning but clueless... and a little dumb perhaps), just that to Bright, it certainly seemed that way.

So in an alternative universe in which Leafpool doesn't step in and chew out Cloudtail to get it together, it's Firestar who intervenes in this situation. But he doesn't go to Cloud, his nephew never listens to him anyways. He goes to Brightheart instead. He doesn't understand what's going on at first, he only knows that she's been moping around in the med cat den a little too much, and he really needs all warriors locked in. They just moved to the lake and there's a lot of work to be done.

He learns what's going on and feels sympathy towards her. He too knows what's like to feel alone even when surrounded by clanmates, and to be neglected by those who you hold dear, those who you thought you had a special connection with (he's still not over his situationship with Graystripe and getting dumped for Silverstream lmaooo)

Firestar cuts her some slack and lets her skip her duties until she feels better. He also starts periodically visiting her, to spend time with her and cheer her up, just like he did with Cinderpelt. He feels responsible in a way, because Cloud is his kin and he (unintentionally) caused this mess.

Brightheart is apathetic at first. But she ends up latching onto him, because she has no one else (Cinderpelt is too busy to spend time with her, dealing with Leafpool's shenanigans and, well, her own upcoming doom. And her brothers... sorry, who?) Over time, Brightheart sort of inadvertently starts getting from Firestar's company and kinds gestures the same validation she used to derive from Cloudtail's.

Eventually, Bright fells well enough to return to her duties, and though things are better, she tries to avoid going on patrols with Cloud. She really doesn't want to know how awesome Daisy is doing in her training or how great her kits are 🙄. And that's all Cloud seems to think about these days. She feels like he compliments her far less nowadays, and even when he does, it sounds kinda hollow.

Instead, she often ends up going on patrols that, coincidentally, Firestar is in (Fire also thinks that Cloud is annoying, so he doesn't put him in his patrols lmao). And they just keep hanging out, as clanmates. Soon they do as friends. And it's his jokes that make her laugh now, and his compliments that causes her to trip over her words.

And when she realizes what's happening, it startles her, causes her to feel really guilty... but it causes her to reevaluate some things. She needs to be loved to be Brightheart, to not be Lostface, to not be dead-weight. And she simply doesn't anymore with Cloudtail. She thought their bond unbreakable, but as soon as someone prettier showed up, he seemed more than ready to drop her. And that sucks because she has a family with him, and so many plans, and so much of her life and future plans were build around him. She doesn't want to throw all that away.

But she feels loved around Firestar. And she needs to feel loved. She's been doing so much better since they've began hanging out. He makes her feel strong, like Cloud used to do. And she's rebuilt her life once. She could do it again...

Firestar has no fucking clue that he's essentially driving a wedge between Cloud and Bright.

(We're going with the fanon-ish funny characterization of Firestar, in which he's handsome, charismatic and very charming, but incredibly clueless. You know, needing Cinderpelt to spell it out for him when Sandstorm wanted to put a ring on it, and all that)

He just sees that Brightheart responds well to what he does, so he keeps doing it. He invites her to share some fresh-kill with him and Sandstorm, and while they eat, he slips in that her fur looks lovely today. Then he pats himself on the back when Bright smiles, and offers to go on another patrol with him. Man, he's just so great at supporting his clanmates! 😌

(In a "Sandstorm is ok with it" scenario, I like to think that Firestar wouldn't understand what's going on until his wife quite literally asks him 'So are you going to invite that woman you've been courting to our nest already, or do you expect me to do it?', with him replying something like "the woman I've been WHAT?")

From that set up, you can take it anywhere, really. Bright keeps quiet and continues with her marriage, for the sake of her daughter. She tries to pursue an affair with Fire and is rejected. She tries to pursue an affair with Fire and he agrees for [insert reason here]. Bright just divorces Cloud publicly and goes for Fire, either getting rejected or not. Or from this event, Bright learns to love herself, without needing others for validation, and it doesn't matter with who she ends up with anymore... or she should yolo it and just marry Daisy, fuck it.

Happy endings are kinda few and far between in my stories lol, but I have a soft spot for BrightFire. I wanna see them happy-ish in the end (Sandstorm too!). Need time to actually think about it, though.

Anyways, yeah. Hope you got something interesting out of this?

<3

[a-collection-archive]

Well, this is it !!

It's been a while ride, hasn't it?

I really don't know what else to say, so i guess i'll just keep writing and hope that whatever i say may seem inspirational in some way or another uhhh here we go !!

I joined the UTDR fandom uhhh basically almost from the very beginning (almost), and since the very beginning, i've seen tons of people with immense talent do lots of things. Music, art, you know, the kinda stuff YOU do now.

Yeah, ever since then, that has never changed. Everywhere i go, everywhere i turn to look at, there's always at least one of you, presenting one of your amazing pieces of music and art, to the point that you're scaring me, please stop getting under my bed i'm scared /jk

Now seriously, i can't even begin to describe how amazed i am by every single thing you guys do. All i can say is... You're so incredibly talented and i'm jealous of you lol

That being said... You know why i'm here. This is my final uhhh communication, i suppose. In a little less than a day now, Deltarune Chapter 3 & 4 will come out, and with it, an era will end. An era i participated in, the only era in which i was... Important for this fandom.

I think i've said it sometimes before but, before this, i didn't really really get... Anything from this. People didn't pay any attention to me and what i did. Not like i blame them, looking back, my old stuff is freaking HORRIBLE. But uhh yeah, that definitely had an effect on my mental stability back then.

That's why i always try to support the smaller creators of the community out there. I don't want anyone to feel like their work is under appreciated, because i know very damn well how that can feel.

But now i'm retiring, so probably everything i just said has absolutely no value to you anymore, but, still... I want you to know that, even if i'm not there anymore, even if i don't repost or give a like to your stuff, i still think that you did a great job, and i can't wait to see what amazing stuff you'll do in the future.

A new era is about to begin! I know it's a little scary, things are gonna change, but that's how life is. I may be taking my leave, but with this new era, thousands of talented people, artists and musicians are about to enter this wonderful fanbase, and honestly, i'm excited to see that!

When i made Woostern almost two years ago, i made her under the assumption that, like everything else, it would be ignored. I REALLY did not expect that, because i made that little critter, i would be here now, writing some kind of goodbye letter to the insane, weird people that are now my followers. Back then, i thought i would definitely retire after making her... Damn i'm glad that didn't happen.

You guys have done something really special for me. All this time, all the stuff that i made, i did it for all of you. I've always liked doing stuff for other people more than i like doing stuff for myself. So the fact that you liked it... Really means a lot to me.

At some point though, making music and art just kinda... Stopped feeling as good before, i can't even make a single good sounding melody anymore... So now that the time has come, then i supposed this would be a good time for me to go too.

I know i wasn't the best, i know i was not your favorite artist or musican, my characters are not your favorites, i didn't even make a single thing you could ever call your favorite fanwork...

But... If i really managed to inspire someone. At least one of you... Then despite all it's ups and downs, i'd say that my journey in this fandom was absolutely, definitely, and infinitely worth it.

But who knows, maybe this chapters are the inspiration i need to get back to work! Or they maybe the complete opposite of that. Who knows.

Now, let's get over this awful emotional stuff. Some people want to say goodbye !!

* AH' REALLY ENJOYED OUR LIL' ADVENTURE, PAL! NOW WE HAVTA' GO! REACH FOR THE SKY INTO NEW HORIZONS!

* AND WHO KNOWS, I RECKON WE MIGHT SEE EACH OTHER AGAIN SOMEDAY, *FRIEND*, TEE HEE

* SO LONG, COWBOY !! I'LL MISS YOU !!

* SEEMS LIKE THIS PLACE CAN'T HANDLE THE EPIC BONSLICK STYLE NO MORE. SO SCREW IT !!

* IT WAS FUN WHILE IT LASTED N' ALL BUT NOW I GOTTA' BLAST !!

* COWABUNGA, NEEERRRRRDZ !!

* ♪ G-G-GOOD BB-BYE LITTLE ONES ♪

* ♪ S-SHOW'S O-O-OVER! IT'S TIME TO GO H-H-OME ♪

* ♪ RE-REMEMBER! left-e< WILL ALWAYS L-L-LOVE YOU ♪

* VALE! GOODBYE, FAREWELL!

* PLEASE DO NOT SADDEN, MY LOVE!

* DO NOT DESPAIR

* THE ANGEL WILL ALWAYS BE HERE

* TO WATCH OVER YOU

* FOR ME

* QUIIDOOO HAD FUUNNN...

* oooOOOOOOOooo...

* QUIDDO DON WANN GO YEET...

* QUIDDO MISS YOOUUuuu

* GOODBUUYYY...

* YXU ARE LUCKY YXU NXVXR GOT T FXGHT ME, "PAL".

* HXSTX LA VXSTA

* WE HAVE NXTHING TO DISCUSS. LXAVX.

* I... IT HAS... B-BEEN A PLEASURE.

* TO MEET... YOU.

* ANGEL.

* G-GOODNIGHT.

Thank you for being my audience.

Oh! i almost forgot.

Deltarune tomorrow.

The Mercair

Directed by Michael Bay & Toby Fox

[sunshades]

hello bell, I hope you're having a wonderful day. I'm very bad at articulating my thoughts but I 100% agree with you that the end scene with cathy and heathcliff standing next to the graves are indeed cathy and heathcliff, not their children! but this theory is very prevalent in the fandom and it doesn't make sense to me, which I brought up to my friends but I can't explain myself further than 'why would it be their graves considering the message of the canto and development of their relationship' and then elaborating on both to the best of my ability.... I think I chose the wrong line of thinking and now I'm stuck and it's driving me insane! how would you explain the scene being cathycliff? thank you in advance!

hi anon!! i'm really sorry this ended up super offtopic and more character analysis beam but. I LIKE TO BE THOROUGH

SO long story short i mean Yeah you're right it just doesn't make sense for these to be Other Guys after the whole thing about how they can in fact reach to each other and even if it's "too late" the love was there and it always remains.

i'll put a tldr at the end to mention some other smaller things that make the child reading incorrect, but to get way too detailed with it, the canto removes the narrative need for a second generation, because heathcliff and catherine are already taking on those roles as far as the ending goes. so let's talk about a glimpse of tranquility!

small tangent re: general reception cuz i just think it's always relevant. it's not that prevalent here, but correcting common misconceptions is kind of impossible over on twitter, and there are a lot of people who read the books years ago and don't remember some details. i still see people wondering stuff like "why did they call him linton when that's his last name?" while someone familiar with the story will pick up on how that's because he's based on linton heathcliff even more than edgar. a lot of limbus source books discussion goes by word of mouth rather than solid sources (ohh the divine comedy misinfo that goes around...) so i mean. just because more people say it it doesn't mean they're understanding it better than you. always double check 🔥

OKAY with that out of the way: much like linton is linton h. and edgar, the same goes for heathcliff and catherine, including personality (heathcliff's passion but hareton's loyalty and kindness, and on the other hand cathy e.'s impulsivity but also cathy l.'s crafty side and more reserved personality) and most importantly narrative role.

the thing with the second volume of the story is heathcliff isn't "redeemed", but the tale itself is, through hareton and cathy l. in some essays i've seen this described as a kind of fairy tale situation, with hareton being almost this "lost prince" trope, but even that "good" ending to the book is terribly bitter with the context that it was only an option for him, as a white man who could reclaim his family's wealth, while heathcliff is never able to be peaceful and free in a world that upholds the racism that victimized him to that point- this is stressed by the fact that even in death, he and catherine reunite outside of heaven, outside the bounds of society.

when it comes to limbus: i wanna link to this v good post by @/melonisopod about how heathcliff is hareton, and i have mentioned before how hindley is also heathcliff, but yeah to restate it: heathcliff eventually breaks the cycle, in the face of hindley who first subjects him to the abuse, spurring his desire to take revenge and enact that same violence on others, and in the face of the erlking who represents everything horrible people think of him and he worries he might turn into. this reflects the way hareton is framed narratively, with book!heathcliff explicitly seeing himself in him, the love and the shame and the inadequacy...

catherine is handled differently, because she does give in to the despair and follows the path laid for her by the narrative (that the only ending for their story involves her death), but the canto still hints at the dual roles through the line about the ghost of her mother, or the whole situation of the spring equinox.

so heathcliff and catherine both suffer through the events of the first generation, and obtain the narrative role of the second generation, but then the thing is: while heathcliff is obviously connected to hareton (to you, the reader), the erlking is also just. literally what would've been him. he's looking at the reflection of his future and nelly tells him: that is you, you are the devil. of course it's important that the symbol of the resolution of the story is also him, not a third hypothetical (white) child. he's the one who decides to change things:

and he's the first to acknowledge that they lost that chance of speaking and working things out together, and that now they did uh kill a bunch of people and drove their mother figure insane (nell im sorry nell may you have a lovely retirement), so THAT'S when the graveyard scene shows up-

this is meaningful enough for both him and the erlking to realize the strength of his and catherine's love- and unlike the book where we're looking at an entire saga featuring two generations of characters, and the resolution and narrative satisfation can come from either of them, here it can't be about anyone else but heathcliff. it's not a generic "oh i guess love will keep happening in the city", this is about the possibilities of their lives. it is about knowing that even if she won't wake up, it's worth moving forward and living and remembering her, and that eventually they'll meet again in some form, and that their love was not wasted, or outmatched by the hatred they had for each other and themselves.

not to go on another tangent, but a sentiment i see at times in fandom is that multiple universes/mirror selves/clones plots tend to get a reaction where people assume that the story being told is always "you're shaped by your experiences = none of those people are like you" which! absolutely makes for a great narrative like hell yes everybody let's go rewatch infinity train together! BUT it's not the only story you can tell with it! because at times instead it can be used to give you a different perspective on a character, or to give it to the characters themselves! something like umineko hinges on this line of thought, that those alternate truths are still part of you.

canto vi touches on both of these points, on one hand by having catherine (who was so caught up in her mind that she overlooked the people around her) understand that the person she loves and must protect is the one she spent her life with, but on the other hand they have heathcliff (who was so blinded by his self-hatred that he couldn't conceptualize anything beside that) see the truth of a world where they can be together, and know what even if things were to turn out badly, they will meet again.

FINAL NOTES to support all this: the river of consciousness is ofc a plot element to the city in general, but it also references the underworld rivers of greek myth- this was the haunted house canto, where the main npc turned into the house and had her body puppetted by a ghost characterized as a banshee, while the main character met his own self who was characterized as a dullahan and lead an army of the dead... we're also in a larger story based on the divine comedy- wuthering and canto vi share a lot of imagery with canto 5 of dante's inferno, and while i can't be sure of the former, the latter was definitely intentional.

with all of these together, the implication of the scene is that at the end, we're finally getting to see the shadows of the underworld at peace, emerging from the current together. and heathcliff himself clearly sees that image as the two of them!

NOW other assorted stuff:

i keep mentioning it but yeah like just to clarify in the novel heathcliff and catherine do reunite as ghosts, walking the moors together, same as the certain world cg,

dante sees "two youths who each resemble Heathcliff and Catherine"-- hareton does not look like heathcliff, he looks like catherine (first book screenshot, i didn't crop it so i wouldn't have to add another picture and have tumblr be mad at me) in that scene heathcliff goes on to talk about how actually Everything reminds him of her, but that's irrelevant in this context. first of all hareton is white, but he's also described very similarly to her, he has her same eyes and hair, and has a completely different bearing from heathcliff. (on the other hand, since we're here, game catherine being blonde makes her visually closer to catherine l.)

kind of? sidenote maybe but the canto not only describes catherine and linton as not loving each other, but it's also pretty much said that they didn't even sleep in the same bed. nelly's whole arc implies to me that only she is the costant that's always dragged in between their drama, while marrying linton isn't necessarily like... recurring? the world where cathy works at k corp and the one where she's a sailor confirm this further. so there's that

best for last: the canto's profile banners! to start with, this is the same image that was used pre-release in the roadmap to promote the heartbreaking. baseline, why even promote heathcliff's canto by using a picture that isn't supposed to be him or even a character that physically shows up in the story. but more importantly, only one grave, only one person, the golden bough in the distance. of course it's him! even more specifically, this one isn't "heathcliff from the wuthering heights of a certain world", but it's our own: left alone, but looking for the hope in the distance.

SO this got super long. but to sum it up, the child reading goes into a lot of hypotheticals that kind of ignore the narrative roles of heathcliff and catherine in the canto. it kind of just boils down to a "what if (thing that didn't happen) happened just like the book though" feeling which like, nobody really expects or even wants for other cantos? well sinclair is going off to war next

on the other hand, additional material points to the tranquility cg being heathcliff and catherine, heathcliff speaks of it by recognizing himself in it, the erlking is so personally moved by it in a way that doesn't make sense for someone seeing the daughter of the woman he loved and the son of his abuser, and just in general the ghost reading of it is a reference to the final chapter of the book in a way that acknowledges the events of the game and heathcliff's characterization.

as more of an opinion, i would say the scene even places dante's narration as a parallel to lockwood's and the story's closing lines "(i) wondered how any one could imagine unquiet slumbers for the sleepers in that quiet earth", which i find really cute, especially when thinking about inferno 5 🙏

again!! sorry this got so long, but i hope it helped! every now and then i realize there's bits of the story i wanted to write on properly but then ended up only discussing with friends, so i'm always happy to share... have a lovely week anon thank u for stopping by to talk!! very flattered you though of me 😊💖!!!

[lilacgaby]

day one

~2k

chapter select!

i do not got this.

[name] could barely sleep because of her nerves. she kept replaying the worst scenarios possible in her head.

what if he rejected her in front of everyone? she'd have to leave the school from the embarrassment. she'd be trash-- the trash of society!

maybe she just needed to eat.

she crawled out of bed, put on her house slippers, and made her way down to the kitchen.

she saw a couple other early risers along the way, momo greeted her and congratulated her on her successful mission, and iida told her not to stay out past curfew.

same old, same old.

she started to make some chai to drink. "maybe momo would want some, i should make her a glass." [name] pondered out loud while preparing the tea.

she went up to give the glass to momo. "ah, thank you [name]!"

"no problem momo."

she then on her way down, eyed katsuki who was heading to the kitchen at the same time as her.

okay [name]. stay cool.

she poured herself a glass. he walked up beside her.

"yo."

"hey, you want some chai?"

"sure."

she poured him some in a glass, and he nodded appreciatively.

so far so good. she didn't even need a third wheel.

katsuki looked around as if to make sure no one else was with them, then he said...

"did you see when usui kissed misa, and jumped off the building?"

"yes! it was so cute, he really is the best."

"how did he not break his legs though? he should've broken a leg, it would've been such an easy plot point to develop. she could've taken care of him and gotten closer to him that way."

[name] thought for a second. "i mean, maybe the author thought it was too predictable though? you gotta read the next volume. what happens next is so cool!"

"no spoilers [name]."

she sighed. "it wouldn't be spoilers if you weren't such a slow reader. hurry up! it's literally pictures!"

"you didn't even finish ouran high school host club loser. don't talk to me."

"pfft. i watched the anime, who needs the manga?"

"the anime didn't even go in depth to all the arcs!"

"whatever man."

"do you even remember the characters?"

"yes i do! i'm not an idiot."

"then who's your favorite host?"

"kyoya."

"why?"

"because-" oh no. "because sometimes he reminds me of--"

"heya guys! what're you doing? flirting over here?" kirishima exclaimed. expertly cutting her off.

she really did need a third wheel. and she did need to thank kirishima and call him the manliest man in the world, because he really saved her ass.

"no, shut up shittyhair." katsuki remarked, before going off to the side to cook something.

'thank you!' [name] mouthed.

'for what?' kirishima mouthed back.

she facepalmed internally, but mouthed back, 'i'll tell you later.'

he did a signature smile, before going to pester bakugo.

she was saved, for now. she went to go get cleaned up for classes. she did her hair, a bit of makeup, ironed her clothes, and readied her bag.

now, to survive school.

✧˖*°࿐

luckily, she sat next to mina the entire day. unluckily, all the girls in the class were avid gossipers. which would've been great.. every week except this one.

normally [name] would never be nervous while gossiping. she could read others like a hawk, and if she didn't have shoes on, she could focus to an extent and feel their heart beats to confirm or deny whatever they're saying.

of course, she wasn't a bully. she'd only ever think about whether they were lying or telling the truth to herself. she just wished she could keep it to herself today.

"hey [name]." oh no.

"we all always talk about our crushes and stuff-"

stop please.

"so we gotta ask,"

mina please step up!

"we gotta ask why you're so respectful? like c'mon! live a little and talk a bit of trash about some people. there's gotta be something or someone you don't like." mina cut in, saving the day.

who knew the third wheeling would extend to people she didn't even have a crush on?

"uh, well it's not that i don't like people, it's more i don't wanna bother myself thinking about them."

"really? well, who don't you like?" damn it jirou and your good questions.

"mineta." phew, good save me!

"that's too easy of an answer, like, do you hate anyone from 1-b?" Uraraka asked.

yay another easy answer! "i don't hate anyone from 1-b."

the girls all seemed to accept it, phew, nobody ask the opposite and we're good.

"hey, but aren't we asking [name] the wrong question?" tsuyu suddenly said

no! not when i was just safe!

"oh yeah, [name]. who do you like?"

"b--"

"who's ready to learn?" present mic yelled as he jumped onto one of the desks in the front.

"get down. alright settle down and get into your seats. class is starting." mr. aizawa said, the commotion effectively covering her answer.

the girls all went to their seats.

                                     --------

the next hurdle was lunch time. piece of cake.

except for the fact that she'd always sit in between katsuki and mina.

no big deal.

everything started out normal. everyone besides bakugo did their best to not question [name] directly, as they found out only when it was directed to her that she'd be forced to answer.

bakugo was luckily never much of a talker himself, only butting in to defend himself or jokingly insult others, even though majority of his insults held no weight.

but sometimes they'd catch themselves in the middle of their sentences, and have to fix their speech before [name] would be forced to answer. the goal post was moved from not confessing to not making her answer any odd questions at all. because bakugo would definitely notice her robotic answers.

"yeah like, didn't [name] totally-- i mean uh-- didn't we all totally flunk that test?"

-

"[name] remember when we-- uh-- i mean guys remember when we snuck out that one time?"

"which time?"

-

"dude, the convenience worker totally has a crush on [name]! right [na--] uh-- everyone?"

[name] focused almost unconsciously, and she noticed that katsuki's heart beat was speeding up for some reason. huh.

-

"you idiots are acting weird today." bakugo said out of no where.

"what? pfft. no way." sero said, trying to play it off.

"you're crazy man, i mean.. we're all acting normal. it's you who's acting weird!" denki said, before laughing awkwardly.

"yeah something is definitely up. how many of you dumbasses are in on it?"

"what? bakugo you're being uh-- irrational."

"since when do you talk like that raccoon eyes?"

"uh-- since i studied?"

everyone face palmed at that.

"okay the jig is up. the fuck is going on?"

"uh.. gotta go. i'm uh-- real hungry! needa get some sun y'know? see ya!" [name] left before anyone could stop her.

mina followed after her, leaving denki, sero, and kirishima to use the collective 5 brain cells they have to try and convince bakugo that nothing was up.

she was so gonna owe them more than a dinner for this.

                                       ၄၃

[name] didn't know what lie they were gonna come up with. and to be honest, she really didn't want to find out.

as she sat on the rooftop, she let the chloroplasts out on her skin, which made her have a couple green-ish spots all over.

"eating really does help." [name] murmured.

"watching you eat is so crazy! i mean you're literally turning green!" mina said, eyes wide and wonder filled.

"...you're literally pink.. but okay."

"hey, can't we ask mr. aizawa to nullify the quirk while we're in class?"

"... mina that is the smartest thing you've ever said."

"cool! we'll need to update everyone at our daily meeting today. as long as he agrees we'll only need to worry about other times!"

"we should go now, before class starts."

"okay! you go ahead, i'm gonna go see what our other agents said to bakugo."

"agents?"

"just go!"

                                        ‧₊˚���彡    

"um.. mr. aizawa? may i come in?"

"yes." he grumbled sleepily. he was in his sleeping bag, barely looking up at her.

"what is it [name]? is this to clear up about you being on the floor? because i really didn't care."

"uh.. no. this is about something that happened while i was on the mission."

"go on." she could tell that even though he seemed completely uninterested, that she had his full attention.

"well, you see, i was hit by a quirk. a truth telling quirk. and it's going to last for 6 more days."

"oh?"

"and.. i'd really appreciate your help. if you could nullify my quirk during just time when we're sitting in the classroom, it'd help a lot." she bowed respectfully as she made her request.

the room was silent as aizawa was seemingly thinking it over.

"sure, why not."

"thank you! i won't forget this!"

                                      ೀ

the second half of the day went by like a breeze. because mr. aizawa was cancelling her quirk, she lived her life in temporary peace for the remaining hours of the school day.

she smiled with relief, everything is going good now.

she cleared up her answer with the girls while she still could,

"guys, i don't have a crush on anyone. im just too busy."

and then she relaxed fully.

the walk to the dorms was easy, she didn't have to worry about dinner since she didn't eat, and she could always call an early night to get out of uncomfortable situations.

easy peezy.

she had no time to talk to bakugo for the rest of the day, since he had such an early bed time.

at last.. the daily meeting was here.

"alright guys! great saves today! here are the rankings for best agents. [name] would you do the honors?"

"yes. unless the honors is a person. i do not know them well enough to do them.

...

just give me the damn chalk."

mina held back a laugh while she walked up.

"okay, on the bottom we have.. denki."

"what? no way!"

"yes way! you were being way too obvious earlier! which brings me to my next loser: sero."

"no way, this is rigged."

"no it's not! what point of no questions do you not understand! anyways

next up, we have kirishima. amazing work this morning!"

kirishima bowed jokingly.

"and lastly, one for one, we have alien queen mina!"

"this is so rigged!"

"obviously she'd win, they're best friends!"

"sounds like jealously! anyways-- thank you [name]! take a seat."

[name] took a seat as mina resumed her place as the leader.

"okay agents! we have a new addition to the team: mr. aizawa!"

"what?" everyone said collectively.

"correct! i came up with the brillant idea for him to use his power on [name] during class time when we're all just sitting around. that's how i earned top spot!

so now, our sub-operation is this:

plan [name]'s perfect confession."

"what?" [name] scoffed, "that's not part of this operation!"

"and besides.. with what denki told bakubro earlier.. we can't go on with that yet."

"what the hell did you idiots tell him?!"

"we just said you were embarrassed because you have crazy woman issues and don't want anyone to question you right now!  he interpreted that however he did!" denki defended.

"hey-- i didn't say any of that. it was all you man."

"way to throw me to the wolf sero!"

"just get out! all of you!"

"meeting over guys!"

"mina what the hell?! i thought you went to make sure they didn't say anything super stupid!"

"i did! but it was too late.. see ya [n/name]!"

my life is over.

prev | next!

[captainlunaxmen]

Dragon's Healer

Chapter 2

Daemyra x Fem!reader

Dark!Aemond x fem!reader

Hello!!! Hope you're having a good day!

Here's the second chapter of my HOTD fic. I changed the age of a few characters, and I definitely took some liberty in some lore things😂 but not so much as to change the story itself. Don't worry. Once again let me know what you think, and if you want to be added to the tag list 😘

Chapter summary: Tensions are present at King's Landing like never before, even the small glimpse of hope might not be enough.

Chapter warnings: character's death (you know who),non consensual touching.

Tag list

@k1ttybean

@tojisrealwifey

@sinarainbows

Aemond smiles at me, and I take a moment to fully observe him. He's taller, that's for sure, his jaw is more defined than I remembered, hair longer too.

"Am I that unrecognisable?" He jests.

"No... well.. yes," I say, completely at loss for words, "I left you a boy and now look at you."

He shyly smiles as he nears, nearly towering over me.

"I heard about your arrival and wanted to say hi myself." He admits, he keeps hid hands behind his back, soldier stance.

"That's nice of you, Aemond." I smile at him and can't help but look at the scar on his face, "did you put those oils like I told you?"

"Of course." He nods.

"That's good to know." I raise a hand to gently touch the scar and check it, "you did good."

He briefly leans into my hand and I take it back immediately.

"Thank you." He says, "I always kept your advices at heart. Like not taking whatever people say about me as truth."

"What do you mean? Did anyone say anything?" I ask, incredulously, "about your scar? That's absurd."

"Called me a monster and all that." He explains, stepping a little closer.

"I do hope you didn't listen to any of it then." I tell him, putting the book I was reading away, to have an excuse to put some distance between us. There's something not right, but I can't quite place it.

"I tried my best," he simply replies, following me, "I kept repeating your words. The ones you used to comfort me after I lost my eye. Do you remember?" He asks, looking closely my reactions, he doesn't wait for an answer to continue, "you told me small people need to make others feel just as small, in order to feel big, because most of the time they're so ashamed they need to make someone else feel just as miserable."

"Glad you kept that in mind." I chuckle, a hint of nerves getting to me from the way he's looking at me.

"I found it." He tells me, out of nowhere, in fact, I can't help the confused look I give him.

"What?" I ask.

"The book you used to read to Haelena." He clarifies, "the one about the meaning of flowers."

"Oh really?" I excitedly smile, "that's amazing. Thank you so much."

"I have it in my chambers, I can give it to you tonight." He tells me, "after supper, father wants to dine as a family apparently."

"Uhm... of course." I say, with a little bit of uncertainty.

"I'm actually finishing an interesting chapter." He specifies.

"It's fine, Aemond." I say, trying to wave away my own worries. I think this whole tension is merely caused by being back here after so much time.

He smiles, I see him opening his mouth to say something, but the noise outside catches our attention.

"The council is starting." He states and hums, "let's hope justice stays strong today."

"Yes..." I mutter.

Something about what he said makes me stop, he's not the boy I once knew.

Without saying a word I walk out, him close behind.

"Do you promise?" I hear him ask.

"Promise?"

"To meet me here tonight..." he says, eyes hopeful.

"O-of course." I force a smile, and once he smiles too, satisfied, I head to the throne room with other nobles.

I'm quick to lose Aemond as I look for Rhaenyra and Daemon, and I find them upfront with their sons.

"Toon you long enough." Daemon whispers as I stand behind them, with Jace and Luke.

"I was in the library, have mercy." I tease him, after I see his smirk I turn to Rhaenyra, "are you okay?"

"I'll be." She shortly answers.

I deeply sigh, I catch with the corner of my eye the nervous stance of Luke beside his mother, so I give his arm a reassuring squeeze.

"Don't be nervous, Luke. Don't show them they have any power over you." I softly say, he doesn't answer, but I know he heard me and is trying. "And you," I turn to Jace, "keep the fury at bay, uh?"

He gives me an annoyed but understanding look, lets out a puff of breath and straightens his shoulder.

The chatter quickly dies down as Otto Hightower starts to speak.

"Though ot is the great hope of this court that Lord Corlys Velaryon survive his wounds, we gather here with the grim task of dealing with withe succession od Driftmark. As Hand, I speak with the King's voice on this and all other matters." He sits on the throne, " the crown will now hear the petitions."

"Hope he's comfortable." I mutter, hearning a grin from Daemon.

"Ser Vaemond of House Velaryon." Otto announes and Vaemond immediately takes stand in the middle, after sending a glare in our direction.

"My Queen, "he greets Alicent, "my Lord Hand, the history of our noble houses extends beyond the Seven Kingdoms to the days of Old Valyria. For as long as House Targaryen has ruled the skies, House Velaryon has tuled the seas. When the doom fell on Valyria, our houses became the last of their kind. Our forebearers came to this new land, knowing that were they to fail, it would mean the end of their bloodlines and their name." I see Daemon giving Rhaenyra a look and her nodding, "I have spent my entire life on Driftmark defending my brother's seat. I am Lord Corlys' closest kin, his own blood. The true, unimpeachable blood of House Velaryon runs through my veins."

"As it does in my sons, the offspring of Laenor Velaryon." Rhaenyra interferes, I mutter her name in warning, "if you cared so much about your house's blood, Ser Vaemond, you would not be so bold as to supplant its rightful heir. No, you only speak for yourself and for your own ambition."

"You will have chance to make your own petition, princess Rhaenyra." Alicent stops her, scolding her almost, "do Ser Vaemond the courtesy of allowing his to be heard."

That's when Vaemond turns around to smirk in Rhaenyra's direction.

"What do you know of Velaryon blood, princess?" He asks, "I could cut my veins and show it to you and you still wouldn't recognise it."

"Cut deep, please." I can't hold myself, it's a whisper and I don't think he heard me, if he did he didn't show.

"This is about the future and survival of my House, not yours." He finishes with a look at Luke that I didn't like one bit. If he needs any help in showing his blood I'd gladly help, " my Queen, my Lord Hand." he continues, "this is a matter of blood, not ambition. I place the continuation of the survival of my house and my line above all. I humbly put myself before you as my brother's successor. The Lord of Driftmark and Lord of the Tides."

"Thank you, Ser Vaemond." Otto says and Vaemond goes back to his place, "Princess Rhaenyra, you may now speak for your son, Lucerys Velaryon."

Rhaenyra, with quite a defeated face, takes stand in the middle too.

"If I am to garce this farce with some answers, I will start by reminding the court that nearly 20 years ago, in this very..."

She can't continue due to the doors suddenly being opened. All eyes are on the sudden interruption.

"King Viserys of House Targaryen, the first of his name, king of the Andals and the Rhoynar, and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kindoms, and protector of the Realm." The guard announces.

Hope fills my heart as I watch the king walking to his throne, I quick take a look around seeing the surprise on Otto and Alicent's faces. Vaemond is almost scared to see him, he looks at Otto for answers, but he got nothing.

I share a look with Daemon, to reassure him.

"I will sit the throne today." Viserys breathes out to Otto who can't to anything but nod his head.

The King is visibly weak, but he send the guard away, not wanting their help. He makes his way to the throne, with difficulty, he's leaning on his cane for support. When the crown falls and clatters, I see Daemon walking to his brother, retrieving the gold on the ground.

"I said I'm fine." Viserys says before seeing it's Daemon helping him, so he allows it. Daemon after helping his brother to the throne, puts the crown on his head then walks back to us.

"I must... admit... my confusion." He starts, taking back his king stance, " I do not understand why petitions are being heard over a settled succession. The only one present... who might offer keener insight into Corlys Velaryon's wishes is the Princesa Rhaenys."

All eyes set on her.

"Indeed, your grace." She confidently nods and takes place in the middle of the room like Vaemond and Rhaenyra did, "it was ever my husband's will that Driftmark pass through Ser Laenor to his true born son, Lucerys Velaryon, his mind never changed. Nor did my support of him." As Rhaenys speaks I feel relieved, almost tension melting away. "As a matter of fact, the Princess Rhaenyra has just informed me of her desire to marry her sons Jace and Luke to Lord Corlys' granddaughters, Baela and Rhaena. A proposal to which I heartily agree."

I smile at Luke and Jace, finally seeing they're a little more relaxed, Luke for sure, I can see him breath again.

"Well..." the king starts, "the matter is settled. Again." He's almost bored, understandable, "I hereby reaffirm Prince Lucerys of House Velaryon as heir to Driftmark, the Driftwood Throne, and the next Lord of the Tides."

"You'd be wonderful, Luke." I assure him, as Rhaenya goes back next to Baela.

"Ypu break law..." apparently Vaemond still has something to say, "and centuries of tradition to install your daughter as heir. Yet you dare tell me... who deserves to inherit the name Velaryon. No. I will not allow it."

"Allow it? Do not forget yourself, Vaemond." Viserys warns him.

There's a pause, Vaemond almost shaking with rage.

"That is no true Velaryon," he shouts pointing at Luke, "and certainly no nephew of mine."

"You had your turn, ser Vaemond." I say out loud this time, Vaemond glares at me.

"Lucerys is my true-born grandson. And you.. are no more than a second son of Driftmark." The king reminds him for his place.

"You... may run your house as you see fit... but you will not decide the future of mine. My house survived the Doom and a thousand tribulations besides. And gods be damned... "he turn to look straight at Luke, "I will not see it ended on the account of this..." he holds himself back.

"Say it." Daemon encourages him.

There's a long tense pause, Vaemond grins almost as he looks at Rhaenyra.

"Her children..." he starts," are bastards!" He shouts, "and she... is... a whore."

The nobles in the room gasps, I put a hand on Jace shoulder to keep him calm, and squeeze Luke's hand.

Viserys stands, weakly, but he stands up and draws out his dagger.

"I... will have your tongue for that." He threatens.

But Daemon is quicker and as soon as Viserys finishes his sentence, Daemon slices Vaemond's head, making everyone either scream or gasp.

Daemon casually leans on his sword looking down at the body.

"He can keep his tongue." He says.

"Disarm him!" Otto orders.

"No need." Daemon calmly says, cleaning his sword and walking back to Rhaenyra's side.

Viserys groans in pain probably.

"Call the maesters!" Alicent orders.

"Father?" Rhaenyra wants to walk to him,but stops before the stairs, she looks at me, silently telling me to check on him myself.

I make my way to Alicent holding the King with the guards help.

"Let me help, Alicent." I almost plead.

"The maesters help him just fine, we managed without you this whole time." She waves me off as she lets the guard take him to his chambers.

I helplessly look at them go, and send an apologetic look at Rhaenyra, she shakes her head to let me know it's not my fault, but her worried face remained.

--------------

"You asked for me, princess?" I ask as I join Princess Rhaenys at one of the balconies looking at the sea.

"Yes, my lady," she nods, "I wanted to ask you something and I need you to be honest with me."

"Me?"

"You're the only person who can clarify my doubts at the moment." She answers me.

"If I can be of help, princess, ask." I say, getting a little nervous.

"Did the princess Rhaenyra and Prince Daemon take any part in my son's death?" She looks straight into my eyes as she asks.

I take a moment, never braking eye contact, I can't decipher what she might think. I do know everyone thinks they killed Laenor, maybe she does too, but the question...

"I know Daemon might be reckless, and enjoys killing, you know him too. Yet, he's never been one to kill so lightly as everyone think, and Rhaenyra's wish for peace doesn't agree with such hypothesis. Don't you think?" I answer.

"You love them?" That question makes me lower my eyes, "I can see it. And I want to believe a soul like yours wouldn't fall for ill ones."

"I want to believe so too, princess." I look up at her again, seeing her soft and sad smile, "my best wishes to Lord Corlys' recovery. I do have a feeling he's too stubborn to leave us all like this."

That makes her smile a little more.

"Thank you, lady Y/n." She bows lightly and I do too, leaving her on the balcony.

--------------

I enter Rhaenyra and Daemon's chambers hoping they haven't left for supper yet.

"Where were you?" Daemon asks, fixing himself.

"Princess Rhaenys asked for me." I answer.

"Why?"

"She just wanted a clarification." I smile at him, "nothing to worry about."

"We thought you already headed for supper." Rhaenyra tells me.

"It's for the family why woul-"

"You're family too." She comes closer to hold my hands, "my father considers you like a daughter."

"After all this time.. I mean... I'm just your lady-" I try to say but her lips on mine stop me.

"You're more than that, and you know it. Stop your thoughts." She smiles.

"Are you sure he wants me there?" I ask, nervous.

"You're more than welcome at that table." She assures me.

"Besides... I'm not leaving you here on your own, I saw the guards sending you looks today." Daemon comes beside us, a possessive hand find its way to my waist.

"No guard was looking at me, Daemon." I roll my eyes.

"Oh yes, they were." He fully wraps his arms around me, "can't blame them, though."

I look at Rhaenyra for support, but she just smiles rolling her eyes and goes to the vanity to put her earrings on.

"Are you satisfied with the cutting?" I ask him, as he holds me to him.

"Very." He leans down to kiss my forehead, then before I could say anything more he kisses me deeply.

"Behave, we don't want to be late." Rhaenyra tells us, well, more to Daemon than me.

"I haven't kissed her in so long, let me enjoy her for a moment." He complains and leans down again to kiss me, but I turn my head, not that it prevents him to put his lips on me in any way.

"She's right." I say and he groans, complaining, "we don't want to be late."

"Don't we?" He asks against my skin.

"No." Rhaenyra smiles, but she's stern in her answer.

"Fine." He says, kissing my neck one last time, "but after supper," he takes my chin in his hand, "all mine." He winks.

"Let's go, my loves." Rhaenyra calls us, and takes my hand as we together head to the dining room.

--------------

There definitely tension in the room, despite the chatter. Chatter coming from the young ones, because at the table Rhaenyra and Alice don't say a word to each other, it's like they're keeping and eye on the other but without even looking.

I stand beside my seat, next to Luke by the head of the table, talking to the girls, when the doors open and the king enters and takes his place in the middle, between his daughter and his wife.

"How doo it is... to see you all tonight... together." He starts, I can see this really makes him happy.

"Pray before we begin?" Alicent asks and once Viserys agrees she starts, "may the Mother smile down on this gathering with love. May the Smith mwnd the bonds that have been broken for far too long. And to Vaemond Velaryon, may the gods give him rest."

At that Daemon rolls his eyes and I send him a look to tell him to behave.

"This is an occasion for celebration, it seems." Viserys declares, "my grandsons, Jace and Luke, will marry their cousins, Baela and Rhaena, further strengthening the bond between our houses. A toast to the young princes... and their betrothed." He offers.

"Hear hear!"

And everyone raises their glasses, I smile at Luke and Rhaena, who are closer to me. I slightly see the glare Baela send to Aegon, but I can't tell why.

"Let us toast as well Prince Lucerys... the future Lord of the Tides."

"You'll be great." Rhaena tells him, after seeing the slightly flustered face of his betrothed, and I gently nudge him.

My eyes find their way on my left, Baela having the same glare as before, and this time I see clearly Aegon whispering something to Jace.

"He's not worth it, my dear." I whisper to her, and she lets out a big annoyed breath.

Thankfully, Viserys standing makes everyone silent, he looks at everyone at the table.

"It both gladdens my heart and fills me with sorrow to see these faces around the table. The faces most dear to me in all the world... yet grown so distant from each other... int he years past." He speaks, breathes with difficulty. He then removes the mask on his face revealing his almost rotten side, "my own face... is no longer a handsome one... if indeed it ever was. But tonight... I wish you to see me.. as I am. Not just a king, but your father. Your brother. Your husband... and your grand sire. Who may not, it seems...walk for much longer among you. Let us no longer hols ill feelings in our hearts. The crown cannot stand strong if the House of the Dragon remains divided. But set aside your grievances. If not for the sake of the crown... then for the sake on this old man who loves you all so dearly." His voice breaks and my heart follows, he does care about the house being one.

He weakly sits again with a groan and Rhaenyra stands up, golding her glass.

"I wish to raise my cup to her Grace, the Queen." She declares, Alicent looks up at her a mix of surprise and confusion on her face, "I love my father. But I must admit that no one has stood... more loyally by his side than his good wife. She has tended to him with... unfailing devotion, love and honor. And for that, she has my gratitude... and my apology." As she sits back down I genuinely smile at her.

I look at Alicent, who looks speechless, she definitely didn't expect Rhaenyra to say such things to her.

"Your graciousness moves me deeply, princess." She says, uncertain, but with honesty, "we're both mothers... and we love our children. We have more in common than we sometimes allow." She stands as well with her own glass, "I raise my cup to you... and to your house." She takes a breath, "you'll make a fine queen."

I can't hold the smile on my face, Rhaenyra softly smiles too. It might've never seemed like it, but hearing Alicent's support now means a lot to her. Everyone raises their cups and drinks.

I send Alicent a grateful look and she kindly smiles in return.

Aegon stands up, wanting to fill his glass again, but it's clear he looked for an excuse to get to Baela, so I keep my attention on him.

"I, um..." he starts whispering, filling his glass, "I regret the disappointment you are soon to suffer. But if you ever wish to know what it is to be well satisfied, all you have to do is ask." He 'offers', making Jace hit the table harshly and stand up.

"Jace." Baela calls softly.

Aemond too stands and they stare at each other, a hint of a challenge flashes in Aemond's eye.

Jace then grabs his glasses ans raises it.

"To Prince Aegon and... Prince Aemond. We have not seen each other in years, but I have fond memories of our shared youth. And as men, I hope we may yet be friends and allies. To you and your family's good health, dear uncles."

"Well done, my boy" Viserys proudly smiles at him.

"I would like to toast to Baela and Rhaena," Haelena stands too, which warms my heart, "they'll be married soon. It isn't so bad. Mostly, he just ignores you... except sometimes when he's drunk." She says, and that earns some laughs around the table, then she sits down.

I decide it's my turn to say something so I stand up with my own glass.

"I guess I'll say something too, if you let me." I say, and once Viserys nods his head, I continue, "I owe so much to this family, I probably wouldn't even be alive if it weren't for your kindness, my King. I want to raise my glass to you and all of your house, as thank you for letting me be a part of this family, may the gods protect you all." And I sit back down, Rhaenyra smiles at me fondly. Viserys nods, and a soft smile makes its way on his pained face.

"Let us have some music." Viserys says, and immediately a lively tune can be heard in the room.

Jace stands and goes to ask Haelena for a dance, and as they dance and maids bring more food and wine, the chatter at the table starts, laughter too. I chat with Rhaena, and Luke and Baela chimes in every now and then.

After a while, the guards are called to bring the king away. He's probably too weak to even stay up so much, I let out a shaky breath, feeling helpless.

"I'm afraid there's not much more to be done, don't trouble yourself." Baela soft says to me, noticing my powerless expression, I nod, understanding her words, but still feeling bad, I couldn't be of help.

Suddenly there a bang in the table and the music stops.

We all look up to Aemond standing and harshly grabing his glass.

"Final tribute." he declares, I don't know exactly why, but there's tension in the room again all of a sudden,"to the health of my nephews: Jace... Luke... and Jeoffrey. Each of them handsome, wise... hm... strong."

"Aemond." Alicent says his name as a warning, but he ignores her.

"Come... let us drain our cups to these three...strong boys."

"I dare you to say that again." Jace loudly challenges.

"Why? 'Twas only a compliment." He walks towards him, Luke stands too, "do you not think yourself strong?"

Jace punches Aemond as Aegon grabs Luke, preventing him from getting near them.

We all stand up, Baela's temper can't take it anymore and needs to be held back by Rhaena. Aemond pushes Jace to the ground, and before Jace tries to attack him again, a guard seizes him and Luke too.

"It's okay, calm down." I stand close to Baela and Rhaena, helping her calming her sister.

"Why would you say such a thing before these people?" I hear Alicent ask her son.

"I was merely expressing how proud I am of my family mother. Though it seems my nephews aren't quite as proud of theirs."

I go stand with Rhaenyra, as Jace manages to wiggle free from the guard.

Fortunately, Daemon stops him.

"Wait, wait." He tells him, making him back away.

"Go to your quarters. All of you go, now." Rhaenyra tells them all.

I sigh, disappointed, I shake my head, looking at Aemond.

Daemon stands behind her, in front of Aemond, then when he leaves, too, Daemon walks the young ones out.

"Rhaenyra." Alicent calls, and the Princess hold my hand, to make me stay.

"It's beat, I think, if we go back to Dragonstone." She sighs.

"You've only just arrived." Alicent takes her hamd gently, "you both."

"Lete see the children home." She starts, "I'll, um... return on dragon back."

"The king and I would both like that." The queen nods, "You as well... I hope." She adds, looking at me.

"I... I could stay here and wait for her." I say to Alicent, nodding to Rhaenyra, who smiles at me.

"That would be nice, my lady." She smiles and bow my head slightly before walking put with Rhaenyra.

"Do you feel alright in riding Syrax in your condition?" I ask her as we walk.

"I'm more than fine, don't worry about me." She assures me, "Are you sure to stay here?"

"I am, princess." I assure her as well.

"Promise to tell me if anything happens." She says, squeezing my hand.

"Of course."

--------------

I'm helping Rhaenyra brush her hair, and Daemon is taking off his boots when we hear a knock on the doors.

The maid opens it and a guard makes his way inside.

"Apologies for the intrusion, princess. I was sent here to fetch lady Y/n." He explains.

"And why's that?" Daemon stands, ready to rush to his sword.

"Prince Aemond asked for her presence in the library." He replies, getting a little nervous after seeing Daemon's reaction.

"Oh, thanks, I almost forgot." I say.

"Forgot what?" Daemon immediately asks.

"I'll be there shortly." I nod to the guard, who nods and walks out of the room, after bowing to the couple.

"Forgot what?" Daemon repeats the question, more sternly.

"I promised him I would've met him in the library after supper. He found a book I was looking for for ages, and he wants to give it back to me." I explain, simply.

"Yes, I know what he wants to give to you." He mutters under his breath.

"Daemon." Rhaenyra scolds him.

"What? Haven't you seen how he looked at her at that table?" Daemon's shocked.

"Gods..." I sigh, "he wasn't looking at me in any way, Daemon."

"Yes, he was." He insists.

"Like what then?" I question.

He moves towards me until he's towering over me, taking my chin and making me look up at him.

"Like I look at you before I grab you and throw you on the bed, my love." He tells me, making my face heat up.

"Don't..." I warn him.

"I like seeing you flustered like this." He smirks, leaning closer.

"You enjoy torturing her. It's different." Rhaenyra's amusement is clear as she speaks.

"I do." He admits, proudly. "That's why I recognise when someone is looking at what's mine."

"He wasn't." I insist

"He was."

"He was not." I tell him, "really. Now let me go. The sooner I retrieve the book, the sooner I'll be back." I manage to put some space between us and grab my shoes.

"I'm not letting you go to him alone." He sternly tells me.

"It's just Aemond." I remind him, "I cared for him a lot when he was younger."

"Yes, but he's not a child anymore. He's twenty, isn't he?" He pretends to wonder, "he has one thing in mind."

"Don't be ridiculous." I sigh. "Listen, I'll be quick, alright? Stop worrying. Rhae, help."

"She's capable of defending herself, my love." She supports me, "and she's right. The sooner she goes, the sooner she's back into our arms."

Daemon sighs deeply, not agreeing one bit, but recognises he's being outnumbered.

"Fine. But be quick."

"Of course." I give him a kiss, "Do not worry." I go kiss Rhaenyra and walk out towards the library.

I follow the guard to the library, softly thanking him as he lets me in.

"Aemond?" I call, and once I hear his voice, I follow it until I find him, standing by a table casually reading the book, a hand behind his back."There you are."

He looks up to me and smiles.

"I know it's late, my apologies for that, my lady." He says.

"It's fine, Aemond, do not worry." I assure him, I look at the book, "was it interesting?"

"Very." He nods, "I particularly enjoyed the chapter about the secret messages."

I walk cautiously closer, more so I can grab the book rather than to him.

"Oh, yes, apparently in Old Valyria, they used flowers and plants to send messages instead of ravens." I say, looking at the page Aemond was reading a few moments ago, "ah, yes, they used them also so propose marriage, to express their deepest love to one another."

I can sense him moving around me, I try to ignore the creeps down my spine as I feel him closer.

"They used dahlias to propose, didn't they?" He asks. There's something in his voice that makes me tense.

"Yes... um... yes, they did." I nod, controlling my voice so he doesn't see my nerves.

"Like this one?" He asks, and a dahlia appears in front of me.

"Oh! Where did you find it? I thought they couldn't grow here." I wonder, still not taking the flower.

"I had the servants plant them," he starts as he gets even closer, almost against me, "once I read that chapter, I had them plant tons of these. It's for you... from me."

I immediately turn around, and take a few steps away from him.

"Excuse me?" I ask.

"Marry me." He tells me.

"Aemond... uh... why?" I ask again.

"The flower speaks for it, doesn't it?" He gets closer, not caring that I'm backing away.

"I'm too old for you." I make him reason.

"Not true, you're perfect." He shakes his head. He's quicker than me and stands in front of me again, forcing me to back up against the bookshelves.

"Aemond... listen..."

"Since I can remember," he interrupts me, putting his hands on my waist, "you've been the only one understanding me, the only one who truly saw me.

"No..." I carefully move his hands away, "Aemond this, whatever you think you're feeling it's-"

"I know what I feel." He snaps, but his features soften immediately, "I know what I feel. I want you, and I know you feel it too."

"No." I push him off, "no, Aemond, I don't. This is... very sweet, but I don't share these feelings. I'm sorry."

He looks at me, without saying a word, without a single expression on his face.

"There would be time, my love." He finally says, "You just need to get away from my dear sister in order to properly see."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask, irritated.

He simply hums, retrieves the book, and hands it to me, and without any more words, he walks away.

I take a moment to catch my breath. What just happened? I can't believe Daemon was right, like this. When he put his hands on me, there was something in his eye that made me fear for myself.

I'm afraid he has changed a lot since I last saw him.

[medusas-daughter]

i feel like i'm about to crash out of something bc why are people pretending that Sabrina Carpenter is at fault for men sexualizing her? she would still be sexualized by them even if she was wearing something modest. and to say she's setting feminism back and naming her alongside someone like this Bonnie Blue lady is actually insane. Sabrina doesn't pander to a male audience primarily, her sexual art never includes men as anything but a tool for her own pleasure, something men have done since always when it comes to women. she is actually the opposite of Bonnie Blue bc that lady is actually setting feminism back by letting men think they are allowed to do anything they want with her. i'm so sick of this bs.

Thank you so much for this because I've also been crashing out for the past two days like are we seriously back to blaming women for men thinking they're hot like is that the 'feminism' we've gone back to??

Also the whole male audience is so funny to me because Sabrina's concerts have always been primarily female audience she's been shaking her ass at women since her early twenties she's in on the joke with women her whole brand is "unfortunately I'm attracted to men but at least I'm funny about it". The men are reduced to plot devices and murder victims and sex partners, but she's the author and the main character, she's in control, and she's inviting a statistically female audience along for the ride of her story her fantasy her art, should they want it. She's not forcing this down people's throats. She's just existing and somehow being punished for it.

Bonnie Blue was literally going to stream rape, let's call it what it is, and comparing that to an art cover is just wild. And my biggest beef with that petting zoo is that giving 10000 men free reign to do with her body as they please is so mind-blowingly dangerous, but I was always more angry with the men that signed up for it than I was with her. Bonnie Blue needs therapy and a better team around her. She also needs to stop making content about "de flowering teenagers" that's gross. That woman is a mystery to me, the way she's both a predator and ready to make herself a victim of the most vile crimes I can think of is insane. I really truly believe she needs to disappear from the public eye and go to therapy and figure out what is going on in that brain of hers and hopefully find a healthier outlet for it.

So many people started using "male centered" when what they really mean to say is "slut" but they know it's not politically correct anymore. Sabrina is happening on a bigger scale but every time a woman happens to be attractive they rush to call her male centered. Some men rape literal corpses are we gonna blame the corpses too?

And men are gonna sexualize us whether we dress modest or denuded whether we speak or not whether we eat or not, if we're suggestive we're asking for it, if we're not we're innocent and it's hot, like we literally cannot control what men think. And yet we still jump at a woman's throat for daring to like a bit of doggy style??? Like the only way to escape the male gaze is to kill ourselves. And I'm not having that. So I just keep watching women get slut shamed in different ways and hope they come out of it stronger and funnier. And kinkier. And bolder. And the patriarchy won't fall by us policing how women have sex or portray themselves.

But sure, in a world where men are signing up to a human petting zoo and rolling back our rights and voting for rapists and pedophiles and using our literal corpses as incubators, let's all hang the popstar who happens to like doggy style with a bit of hair pulling, she's the problem.

I'm sorry for the rant, every time I tell myself I'll only write a short post about this and every time I end up having a whole ass outburst but like *gestures vaguely at wtf is happening*

I've seen a literal therapist on tiktok make a five minute video on why this Sabrina album cover proves she's not a girl's girl like we have completely lost the plot it's so scary

[flossylove]

Ahhh okay back again! I realise I literally have not been keeping up to date with my spam messages, but who cares, only I'm reading these to myself lolol.

So. THE CLIPS TONIGHT!!

OMG where do I even start? So I was working during the day, so thankfully time flew by for me - I actually couldn't imagine having to wait around all day, I would've gone crazy! I was so looking forward to tonight, because I'll be honest - this remake is definitely my favourite! Maybe it's because it's my first one I'm ever watching in real time, but I genuinely feel it's more than that. They've made so many positive changes (like, in my opinion making Roko less toxic than William first was), and the cast is just so incredible in bringing the characters to life!

Nora and Roko are so easily my favourite Noorhelm remake by far! Their chemistry just feels so real and authentic (and yes I understand that authenticity and reality is literally the core of SKAM, but some remakes just weren't able to achieve that, in my opinion, but these guys have!) Maybe, also, I just find them to be one of the most beautiful Noorhelm remakes too - sue a girl!!

Okay, back to the actual clips! Firstly, I'll be completely honest, when we got the 22:05 clip with Maša, and she was talking about someone not calling for 3 days.....I genuinely thought it was about a girlfriend! Turns out, nope! Just her mum! But still, I believe in queer Maša being canon. It just works, u know? Also, Nora being such a sweetheart in that clip? Ugh love love love her. My heart literally hurt to see Maša crying, like, please no, I already love her so much. Already I feel she's spoken more words than Linn ever did!

Now onto the 13 MINUTE CLIP!! OMGGGG! Like, I already knew/was hoping it'd be a long clip like in the OG. But, once again, SRAM just outdid itself! I really do love how many one shot scenes there are. Like, I don't think I've seen anyone else talk about that? IDK, maybe some people have and I just haven't been seeing it at all hahahaha. But I noticed it so much in Season 1, and I'm really glad they're keeping it within the filming style! It really adds character to SRAM being it's own thing as well. I feel there's too much to even talk about with that clip but ahhh - Eva and Nix? Hello?? Love them! Nix picking Nora up? And that comment about expecting her way earlier (just goes to show that SRAM is making an effort to actually build Nix and Roko's friendship. Like, in the OG, I swear sometimes William just wouldn't tell Chris anything, like, IDK, to me that never made sense! But in SRAM, we know Roko actually talks to Nix about Nora - which, ugh, I love, such a loverboy!).

I feel like they kinda brushed over Vanessa this clip? Like, she was there in the photos, with both Eva and Tina, and I think Nix too? So like, did she leave with Tina? I guess it makes sense, cos they live in the same neighbourhood, but the fact none of the girls even mentioned her was just....iffy Idk. Nothing too deep, just something I noticed.

Ahh, one thing I just remembered! Right at the start, when Eva introduces that guy to Nora, and says about it being funny if he was called Adam instead. I loved that little throwback to the OG. I don't know if anyone else figured that, but I immediately was like OMG! In OG SKAM, when Eva has the date (the one that happened last Friday, or at least was supposed to? before it fell through? The one Nora lied about being busy for!) it's with a guy called Adam, and Vilde makes the funny joke about them being Adam and Eva. At least, I think that's correct and I'm not going crazy...

Either way, onto the important stuff - Roko and Nora!! I've said it before, and I'll keep saying it. Their banter, their chemistry, the way they bounce off each other so naturally and get the same jokes, just really makes them so enjoyable! Like, yes OG will always have a place in my heart, but, like, sometimes, it felt as though William had no personality. No laughs, No jokes. No smiles. And I get it! The whole 'broody, but only smiley for the right girl' vibe he had going did work! But, like, we're 10 years into the SKAM remakes now, and I'm just really glad they made this change and gave Roko a solid character build-up. I hope I'm making sense hahahaha

I didn't even notice, cos I was too entranced by Nora's singing, but he actually joined in at one part? Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration, but he does do a little something, before he then starts playing on the synth? keyboard? idk. And he sounded good! I really hope there's a chance for us to see more of that in the future. Some people reckon that instead of it being an essay/article that William helped with, it'll be a song, or a musical project - and I'd really love to see that be true! Also, just a side bar, in the OG, I feel like, once again, with us getting minimal characterisation of William, the guitar was a little random. Like, it was just never mentioned again? I'm pretty sure? It's been a while since I did a Season 2 rewatch, but I just remember always thinking how that felt like it came out of nowhere, and then was never mentioned again? Hahaha. Whereas, like, Roko being into music, being a DJ, has been a key point in this storyline so far.

So, we've mostly covered the clip but still, I just wanna touch on how easily Roko was able to pick up Nora's slight discomfort about singing in front of him (for real, rather than just messing about) and he so quickly just backed away so she was comfortable. Like, that man is for one woman, and one woman only, and her name's Nora. Like, he is so down bad for her!! Which, ugh, as a single girl who's never dated, it's so refreshing, in the big year 2025, to see a representation of a guy not being afraid to have a crush? And yes, I know, like, he's still a teen boy, he still has flaws, and unfortunately his character is fictional, but still, I am loving getting to see him smile at her softly, and take her beauty in and just quietly appreciate her.

Can u tell I love them so much??

Okay, now finally onto the last clip of the episode!! SRAM finally broke their Saturday no clip rule! I don't even think it was/is a rule, they just never seemed to post on Saturdays. Like, at all. Although, saying this....maybe they did in Season 1? And I'm just being silly? IDK, it's too late for me right now and I should be sleeping but I needed to get these thoughts out!

Anyways, we got the clip!! I was so scared we weren't going to get anything following the end of the 13 minute clip, but I kept adding the clips together and was like... 'we should still have 3 minutes left of the episode???' so I wasn't giving up all faith on the sleepover clip!! And I'm glad I didn't!! Once again, I loved - but are we surrpised?? No, not really hahahah

I'm just really loving the way SRAM is putting this storyline together. Like, yes, do I wish I saw what happened in those two-ish hours between the clips? Hell yes. But, I also love how it wasn't all shoved together. So, I am simply living in my own delusion and saying that they spent all that time playing around with the synth and just messing with each other!

Sitting here, rewatching the clip for the 7th time already (note, it's only been 45 mins as I'm typing, since it got uploaded), I just. No words. Love it. I really liked how it started with a reasonable scenario, of Roko sleeping on the couch, but then Oh No, What A Shame, It Smells Of Beer, Guess He Better Sleep In His Bed Again!! And Nora's reaction? Girl, I see you.

The little barrier, iconic as ever!! Their banter about Vito too? The reach-over and breaking of the barrier, was such a small thing in this remake, but once again, I feel it really worked with the scene and Nora and Roko's characters. The physical contact will always get me! I am a physical contact girly, so you can imagine my reaction when in the clip before Roko touched Nora's waist!!

When Nora says she doesn't know how to turn off the light, the way the camera angle was looking, I genuinely thought we were gonna have Roko lean over to turn it off for her. Which, I get is unrealistic hahaha, but I would've loved it. To maybe have seen Nora panic a little as he got closer, get a little flustered... idk - I just can't wait to see Nora when she finally lets him in and fully embraces her crush hahaha

And I really liked how they did it so Roko lies in this version! Now hear me out! I don't condone lying haha, but this was such a little funny lie, about Vito being out with some chick. Like, Nora knowing he was fully lying and making it up, but instead of leaving and getting angry she just stays and jokes with him too. Like, Your Honour, they are in love. They both want to spend time together!

Roko's little smile as he says "You do like me a little." and looks over at her. Beautiful. Absolute Cinema. And the call back to 'Robi' at the end. I really hope they keep including this as a little inside joke between the two. I mean, Roko seems more than happy to respond to it!

The. Way. Roko. Moved. The. Pillows. And. Moved. Back. So. He. Was. Closer. To. Nora. Need I say anymore??? No, I didn't think so. It was so sweet to watch!!

Now finally, and I mean finally, promise I'll be done soon! I really recognised the piano track playing in the background as the camera started to spin around them. It's absolutely a famous piece, I just can't think of what one right now (it's so late, I need to be up in 5 hours this isn't good for me hahaha). But I really love it! And the camera moving - ugh! LOVED IT!

I don't know if anyone will think I'm crazy, but I kinda hope we get a clip tomorrow? Like, with them waking up. I know we won't, because we've gotten the whole episode in these clips. But, I could just imagine the little transition between clips. Like how they did in Season 1, with them panning over the bed with Eva and Jakov. From night to then the morning. I really loved that a lot last season! Made the transitions a bit more fun!

Like I said, it won't happen, but maybe in the future? In a possible future clip? IDK, this is me now just projecting hahaha

Okay, I think I'm all SRAMmed out for the night, so I'm gonna finish this here. I doubt anyone has even made it to the end, but if you did then wow, thank u for dealing with my ramblings! At the end of the day, I'm just a girl with too many thoughts in my head and no one to talk to about SRAM in real life hahaha

~ floss <3

[nabi-unveiled]

Tonight I'm pondering how easy it is to miss the mark as a parent sometimes.

I often feel like a broken record at work. I'm constantly reminding people that we need to consider how ALL people interact with our products when creating them. It seriously happens at least once a week.

It's why I love shows that call out some of the issues people face in a realistic way. Scenes like the one in I Hear the Sunspot (2024) where Kohei asks Taichi to repeat something quickly steal their way into my heart and most-watched scenes. It's these types of scenes that build empathy and awareness. I'm always grateful for them.

Because empathy is not a natural thing for me. Emotions are hard to understand and process, but I am constantly trying to improve. It may seem odd, but I've learned a lot about myself and others from watching shows. I've processed and learned to identify a lot of my own emotions, and I'm a lot better at reading other people now than in my younger days.

One of my sons once summarized my "beliefs" as kindness and respect when someone criticized my "lack of (religious) beliefs". But I don't think that's always true. I can be really mean - especially during a liveblog 😅. I can often be too blunt or get stuck in my own head. It's just that inclusivity and accessibility are two things that are incredibly important to me (as well as personal autonomy and identity).

It's why I adore characters like Shao Peng from See Your Love that are treated with respect within the narrative. It's more uncommon than it should be.

With that in mind, I've tried to expose my kids to and teach my kids about all kinds of differences in people - physical and mental abilities as well as differences in culture, religion, gender identity, etc.

But bias is a bitch. It rears it head when you least expect it. And it sometimes hides itself so well you don't even notice.

As I was getting ready to put my daughter to bed tonight, she went "Hey Mom! Guess what I learned in school today? (pause) People use hearing aids to help them hear!"

I chuckled a little thinking she was being sarcastic. "Well baby, guess you already knew that one huh."

She responded, looking confused, "No, I didn't."

It was at this point that I was confused. Why?

Because I WEAR a hearing aid. I'm hearing impaired. I should have two, but they're expensive. My daughter KNOWS I wear a hearing aid. This is the same child that has known since she was a toddler that she had to whisper into my "good" ear or walk on my "good" side if she wanted me to understand her. The child who knows to tap me and get my attention before talking. The child who, unless her dad is joining, automatically puts on subtitles for me if I'm going to watch something with her on television.

So I asked, "Huh? What do you mean? You know I have a hearing aid."

Her response. "Yeah, you do. But I just thought you were weird. I didn't know OTHER people wore them too."

And now I'm shook. Because she's right. I've never taught my children about OTHER people having hearing impairments. I've never sat us down to watch a show or read a book with a hearing impaired character together. It had never occurred to me to teach about that explicitly since they obviously deal with it daily. It had never occurred to me that the running jokes of "your mom's weird" and "your mom's just different" would be transferred to that aspect of me as well.

So apparently I've missed the mark. It's okay. We can remedy this. I'll cue up the burger scene and maybe one of the hearing test scenes from I Hear the Sunspot during our next bedtime snuggle.

But now, I'm also wondering. Where else have I missed the mark? What other gaps have went unnoticed?

And moreover, which characters or scenes speak to other people? Obviously Kohei and Shao Peng resonate with me personally. But what characters or scenes are other people's examples of "representation"?

That feels like a very important list tonight.

(Side note: Back in 2017, the movie version of I Hear the Sunspot was my very first Asian BL. It's far from perfect, but it is special to me for a lot of reasons.)

[shyve3]

Deacon Anaylsis

Once again, I'm joining the fandom in yet another post about character analysis! Idk how I feel about posting my fanart at the moment because it's all traditional art, but i'll get to posting that too...someday.

Please bear with me if you're a major Deacon simp like I am or just someone who likes reading character analyses, because it's so much longer than I expected. I have never written so much in my life, holy shit. (EDIT: I probably have. But this is 3000 words. so it's a lot!)

Also: everything I say in this post is just my interpretation of his character. I've littered a few headcanons here and there. And while some of this may sound harsh, I swear I'm not trying to demean him in any way. I love him because I relate to him, so half of this is me calling out my behavior as well, just indirectly :3

Let's start at the beginning.

We see Deacon as Chase's cousin, who's frankly an annoying, nerdy older brother figure in Chase's eyes. He's always *cough* studying *cough* and most definitely not reading hopeless-romantic-fairytale-books-where-there's-a-random-hero-saving-the-damsel-in-distress. I remember when I first saw him, I thought he was the most pathetic dude ever. In a good way of course. But, eventually my opinion of him built up to be a lot more complex.

We see a glimpse of his ACTUAL character in Chapter 10, when he first goes with Chase and Grandpa Ralph to meet Aunt Myra. His mom, Beth, is seen to be pretty strict towards Deacon. She immediately points out the fact that his shirt isn't tucked in and Deacon's dad immediately goes to ask Chase if he has a job before even saying HI! (Can we get a hi, hello, how are you doing???)

His parents are on the stricter side, and we can see how it affects him in many ways:

Deacon is always dressed in super "nerdy" clothes: button ups, slacks(?) if that's what you call them, plain sweaters. He doesn't really get to express himself to them, and his mom most probably still buys his clothes. (He's literally 20! A young adult!) Ouch.

He's scared to stand up to them for the right reasons. Even though his parents are kinda harsh on everyone Deacon doesn't really retaliate back. That type of strictness towards kids can make them a so-called loser who's extremely awkward and can't stand up for himself. It's evident with how Deacon reacts towards his parents, immediately getting shot down the second he tries to say anything.

Deacon working to be a doctor. Even though it's not what he wants, he goes along with their wishes. After all, people would kill to have as much money as his family. He is humble and grateful, which I think is so important in helper archetypes. He understands their reasoning, that they just want him to be successful, even if it goes against what he wants emotionally: freedom.

Even though Deacon HATES the fact that he's the helper, because it's what he's been doing his whole life, he is still on the journey to learn that being the helper isn't always the bad thing.

Helping others doesn't mean you can't be the hero: Deacon has this secret fantasy of being the hero and proving himself to people: it's why he always consumes media related to "saving" someone (like Ship of Sorrows or any other of his romance novels he reads.)

It kinda also ties into why he's such a hopeless romantic. While it seems funny how he's always dreaming of women and saving them and what-not, it reveals a big truth about his character:

He's pretty f'ing lonely. Most people who look for romantic partners in literally anyone (like Deacon idolizing every single GIRL he meets), are usually lonely. He just wants the comfort in knowing, "yay, I finally proved myself to someone!"

I truly believe that he's asexual or somewhere along the aro/ace spectrum for this reason. His "crushes" on women are truly because of his hero complex, idolizing saving them rather than real love. It's silly, but real. I think he's just experiencing a horrible case of limerence with any woman he meets. (That, and I NEVER see him crushing on real life women. We also don't get a chance to see him with women in real life, but ya know. Anyways, this is just a HC.)

When he first started going into books with Chase, he was extremely excited to be a part of something. His fantasy to prove himself the hero became true: for two seconds.

He feels like his role was a "lame sidekick." Bronze was kinda salty to Deacon's closed off attitude, leading to a little miscommunication between them. (As Punko confirmed, in Toffee Break he purposely sent Deacon into a story with an outfit that didn't include underwear. He must've been reallll salty!) Deacon constantly dodges his role, and he's not ready to be a helper, both in real life and in books.

Deacon's self-worth kinda gets worse when they first go into Toffee Break, getting into the way of his story-going adventures. I love how narratonin is such a journey that really relies on emotional intelligence. It's also the reason he struggles to make it through Toffee Break.

He hates when people point out how his help isn't enough and isn't working, even when it's the smallest indication or a tiny jab. Deacon and Chase start arguing about how Deacon's help wasn't "enough", and it digs at him worse than Chase expected. He's extremely sensitive.

"Toffee Break" stressed him out immensely because of the fact that he learned that he didn't actually know how to help out in the story. He struggled with the fact that this story was extremely counter-intuitive.

Usually, his help consisted of careful strategic planning, like what to say around his parents, making sure they are satisified with whatever he does or says, and also hiding the fact that he's not actually interested in the career path his parents chose for him...

Now, his help consists of adhering to the story and what the heroine does. He has to follow behind her (Chase, in this case), and whatever random path she goes down, something that he's never done.

Buddy makes a second dig at him after his squabble with Chase, saying "Guess no one needed your help", to which he says, "Yeah. Guess you're right." and leaves immediately after. While I love them as a duo, their indifference to each others' characters is what makes them so hard to get along with each other.

I talked about in my Buddy analysis how Buddy takes pride in his role as a villainess, something that probably took him months or even years of discipline. Even though he's closed-minded to "changing the story" like Deacon, what sets them apart is his passion for his archetype in stories. In the beginning, Deacon is inexperienced in embracing his role as a helper and it’s what holds him back. That combined with his lack of knowledge of deviating from the story (much like what Buddy suffered with) was double damage. It's one thing to not be able to deviate from the story, but you can make up for it with your passion to a role despite being "confined" to your role. That's something Deacon needs to learn to have.

After leaving the story, he confides in Bronze with how he's always had everything laid out for him by his parents (proving my point to what I said earlier: That type of parenting changes a kid forever. And he's stuck with a closed-off mindset.) After he comes back into the story, he's feeling a little better about his role, and he's able to realize that sometimes, the best thing to do in life is to wing it. After all, you don't get schooling on how to be the helper, sorry Deacon. While he felt like his life and attitude towards helping others was "laid out", he subconsciously learned how to help others in the way they wanted him to.

After this arc, Chase and Deacon bond a lot more over stories and how to go about hunting for narratonin. Deacon's helper role represents him a lot in real life, and he's the voice of reason to Chase's energetic and spontaneous personality. They balance each other out perfectly, spontaneity with reasoning. Basically, they're the perfect storybook duo with Deacon's book-smart and Chase's street-smarts blending together.

I'm pretty sure I saw this in another analysis, but I'm adding it as well because it's such a good point. (EDIT: I can't find who posted it. PLEASE comment so I can tag you...!)

Deacon plays an important role outside of stories as well. In Cinderella Boy, we get a lot of Chase's insights of his life and traits from, who else but DEACON! He's literally a storyteller.

In Dreams by Day, he tells Silver (and us) about Chase's projection habit, which is extremely hilarious. But it's also an indicator of his personality and his little quirks that "Deacon got used to."

He's also a BIG lore dropper for Chase's life. After all, how would we know about Chase's dad, his mom, his selflessness, his quirks and personality that make him a true heroine?

The two keys also play important roles to him outside of stories.

Bronze is essentially telling him all the time: "No Deacon. Being a helper doesn't mean you neglect your own needs to help others. It means putting yourself first and taking the time to reflect on what you really want and THEN throwing yourself at the oppurtunity to help others. And also, stop being a huge people pleaser. I'm salty enough to know that you're a helper because you feel the overwhelming urge to forget about your own needs because you've been taught to put others first." Also the way that Bronze jokes on Deacon's rigid and insecure perspective of things is also kinda funny. While Bronze is mainly joking, he's also saying: "Dude. Are you serious? You have a life and emotions too!"

Silver also helps him. While the heroine key wouldn't seem like the wise advisor, she's wise emotionally. She always looks on the bright side, and after Deacon tells her that "People fail all the time", she says that hoping and wishing sometimes is enough. Passion is enough for someone to succeed. She is optimistic and believes in everyone, much like Chase. these words make Deacon feel better about himself. Surrounded by Silver and Chase will do that to ya! Leave it to a key and your cousin who's also extremely right about believing in yourself to make your life a little brighter. I believe in ya, Deacon!

He goes through a little bit of a mishaps during the Sick Day arc, getting a little too carried away. Once again, he wants to be the hero, and what better way to do it in one of his storybooks? He's also kinda upset about the fact that he's "always working hard for someone else", basically stuck in a moment of self pity. And so, he thinks, extremely in-the-moment: "hey! I should be the hero right now!" and so he does what Chase does: deviates from the story.

Except, he doesn't make it work. With the helper, deviating from the story doesn't go the same way it does with the heroine. This isn't to say that Deacon shouldn't be deviating from the story: it's just more-so how he goes about it. With the helper key, deviating from the story is a lot more risky. You can deviate from the story, just make sure it works with the plot. (and no, don't try to change your role in the story when it’s not subconsciously happening…Sorry Deacon, it won't work.) With the heroine, she can deviate from the story because her role kinda depends on it. She GETS what she wants, because most fairytales and stories GIVE the heroine luck.

Deacon's hero complex got to him again. He followed his fantasies and it backfired, and it's why deviating from the story just in a frenzy of praying you can change your role doesn't work. (It's also extremely unexpected that Buddy has to be the hero of Sick Day, saving both Deacon and Chase. But that's a whole other spiel to go off of...Someone pick it up from here.)

Buddy starts to play a more important role in Deacon's life, something I'll continue to talk about later on in this anaylsis!

The most important lines are "Maybe for once, I wanted to be the hero!" and to which Buddy says, "A real hero takes on his role because he has to. Not because he wants to. There are times we must be the hero, and many times where we need to be a helper."

Basically, he's clowning on Deacon for glamorizing the role of a hero. The whole idea of the hero archetype of the media in general is fed into the magic-guy-saves-the-world, ignoring the fact that heroes do their role for a purpose, a REASON. Not to get a wish. Again, this is another thing he must come to understand. Deacon's a rational guy, but when it comes to proving himself to others, he's an idiot. Once again, his wretched hero complex!

Even after the entire Sick Day arc, he still wants to be put in the spotlight and looks for some way to prove that he's cooler or better in some way, which is kinda funny.

In All that Glitters, Deacon isn't too big of a focus but we can sorta see him piecing together the shift in Chase and Buddy's relationship.

Stargoth are getting closer, and he's kinda smart so he goes, "Wait a minute. Their relationship is mutual. But they're too dumb to realize it." and he senses that shift. With the advice he's been following all his life, which is to think "realistically", he tells Chase to be careful about telling and not telling Buddy things.

As much as they could just tell Buddy about Prunella, to make sure he doesn't get his feelings like he did when he found out about the helper key, Deacon realizes what's more important. He knows Ex-Libris would most probably punish Buddy for getting another key-holder for another key that went missing. Therefore, he encourages Chase not to tell him, but he feels extremely guilty for it.

Also another detail I didn't really talk and I just noticed as I went to read "All That Glitters" was how Deacon has an obsession with horses. Once again, he wants to "change" the horses with his heroic complex that he has despite having the helper key. (Funny, yet goes along with his character perfectly. He really is something.)

The Honor Among Thieves arc is another important aspect that also ties in with Stargoth and Deacon’s perspective of it. He SEES things. He sees stupidity and these dumb pining idiots fighting with each other. Being the voice of reason, he's absolutely fed up with their bickering and their antics at this point. It's also accidentally hypocritical of him:

He's always the guy to get carried away with fantasies of meeting fictional women who he proves himself to. Yet, when he sees Chase absolutely losing it at Buddy's *cough* *hotness* he is SO done. When it comes to Stargoth, Deacon's fitting into the role as a helper perfectly. C'mon! At least it's not a fictional character, DEACON! /j I don't blame him as a very sapphic Cinderella boy stan...

At the end of Honor Among Thieves, they manage to give the story its happy ending despite the crazy antics and curveballs thrown at them. Good job for Deacon being able to deviate from the story AND help Chase. It's a win-win!

He also essentially tells Chase at the end to not feel bad about the fact that they hid Prunella and Goldie from him, because they had reasons to. Even though they would hurt Buddy emotionally, they could physically keep him safe from what would happen if they DID tell Buddy. And of course, Chase goes to sniff the hoodie right after, saying "You ever feel really wrong even when you're doing the right thing?" *cough gay* *but also foreshadowing. Yikes, Deacon. You were right for directing Chase, but it backfired after he found out :(*

The Book of Deacon is the closest we get to seeing Deacon's perspective. And there's many things I have to say about that episode:

First, the dry texts he sends to his mom. He is so tired of being the helper, and while he's writing out the notecards for the stories? Ow, double damage. He's tired of being the helper once again, constantly shifting back and forth between feeling better about himself and his role as a helper, both in stories and in real life, to having it constantly shut down the next second. The texts with his mom confirm, once again, he feels pressured and forced to help other people. That definitely doesn't help him feel better about himself.

The fact that he TOOK the hero key to go into a book as a hero: he's trying so hard to change his path again, only to feel better about himself. His fantasies and desires to be a hero are what help him avoid the role of a helper...

It's also kinda insane as many people have noted that he immediately resorts to CRUSHING on silver in the book. Dude, that's a key! But it also plays into his stupidity and hopeless-romantic character. No, I'm not saying him NOT EVEN SNAPPING OUT OF IT AND ALMOST ASKING OUT A KEY was justified. Just that he is SO irrational when it comes to chasing after women (whether it be fictional or out of his league, like literally. Girl, that's a KEY!), completely forgetting about everything else. After all, it's why he's so unsuited to being a hero when he forces himself to be one.

He comes to the realization that he HATES being a hero. Now THIS is the first token of acceptance we see him getting towards the helper role. This is where he fully accepts his role. He doesn't really like having a set path for himself. While it's probably because of how he hates set paths, possibly hinting to him standing up for himself later on...

He decides to help Chase in Requiem of Blood and Moonlight (finally, and without any sorta self-doubt or worry.) First, he starts with taking him into the story, and a part of him is happy with seeing that Chase is happy with it as well. It's so adorable seeing Deacon actually accept his role, and it's so attractive I SWEAR! Like oh my gosh, he's finally loving himself more!

Buttt it kinda backfires when he disregards Deacon's info on the story and warnings altogether. His help and usual voice of reason is useless to Chase, who is a gay IDIOT (see, there's a pattern here: love fantasizing about relationships that you'll never have makes you stupid.) Now we're faced with the question: what is Deacon's role now?

And that's where Buddy steps in.

Deacon and Buddy bond with their mutual desire to end the story, and they do this by taking on other roles. Even though Buddy's the villainess, he won't hesitate to fit into other roles in the story, and ends up being kinda like the helper. "The keys can take advantage of certain...loopholes." Similarly, Deacon is kinda the hero of the story now, without it being forced. (See Deacon? You can't force yourself to be the hero! Now, you HAVE to be one :) )

Deacon unknowingly becomes the hero after fighting off the wolves when he's locked outside the castle in this arc.

He steps into the scene of Buddy and Chase trying to tackle down Lucifier in the book. It's a parallel to Honor Among Thieves where Deacon was the one helping.

This story is the first story where we see him bonding with Buddy and unknowingly being the Hero without boasting about it nor making a big deal out of it! I'm so impressed.

To sum it up, I think Deacon's a character with a big hero complex built on his insecurities and he's so keen on proving himself to others. His insecurities come from his parents and rigid mindset that you must be realistic even if it's not what you want. The fact that he's so insecure also makes him a hopeless romantic, searching for unattainable standards of romance. He has a hard time accepting the fact that he can help others while also making room for himself, but he's growing to stand up for himself, not just others. My guy is going places! He serves as a voice of reason to Chase, even though sometimes he has to be reasoned with...And his role in stories changes when he isn't busy wishing for it. And, he's extremely book smart, slowly building up street smarts with the help of Chase and Silver as well.

Anyway, that's all the anaylsis I have on him so far.

I can't wait to see what advice he'll have for Chase after Buddy found out about Prunella and the Hero Key.

I just know next arc is going to be ROUGH. Praying for everyone's mental stability! (Can't guarantee we'll get any though.)

[potahun]

Furuya and Edges

i started typing this in the tags of a frkz post and then thought i might as well type it out.

we've all been in the camp of "ZTT is crap, it makes Furuya a boring gary stu yadda yadda" or "it softens him too much". I was in that camp as well on my first read, it poured a whole bucket of cold water on my toughly acquired appreciation of Furuya as a character. Absolutely loathed ZTT

And now I do want a ZTT 2. For furukaza reasons, yes, but also, I realise what I like about ZTT is that it does give Furuya edges which we are missing in the main manga. It does show us Furuya, as Furuya.

Furuya needs to be edgeless as Amuro. He needs to be friendly enough but also distant enough to be approachable to all, without anyone actually getting any intel on him that they can use. That's why all of his personality is smoothened out into something "universally" likeable or at least acceptable.

It's also why 97% of the times we see his personality surge out in the manga is regarding Akai, when the rage takes him - because he always disliked Akai, yes, but most importantly, bc Akai is too directly connected to Hiro and the wound of losing Hiro; Hiro, the heart of his heart: the one who guarded the most genuine parts of him, having seen him as a child. And what do we see in those moments when Furuya's edges emerge?

Impatience and rashness. (rushes into the Kudou's house without proof, is in too much hurry to get to results)

Temperament and emotion. (uses kisama on Akai, gets destabilised, goes up to a guy with no agenda other than to say he's dying to pull down their collar or that he hates someone enough to kill them)

This matches the traits we see in WPS and in the flashbacks of his childhood, where Furuya:

is hot-headed and temperamental (gets into physical fights based on feeling, is asked if he can get along with the person he fought with and snaps instantly with "are you joking?" (Hiro is the one who creates a window for him and Matsuda to talk again))

is reckless and intense (gets hurt on purpose to visit Elena)

is stubborn and opinionated, in that he actively tries to figure out what's wrong with Matsuda, but his views remain heavily and stubbornly biased despite learning more about him (his vision of the police as a good student vs Matsuda's personal grudge).

But WPS is in the past, and the manga only shows us Furuya when he "loses it" with Akai (+once, his pettiness with Kid). It is mostly "unhinged" moments when he loses to negative emotions. It counts! But it's incomplete. Your most stressed out side is not your only, real personality.

And so, I do like ZTT for filling the missing picture. In ZTT, we do see a lot of Furuya being Amuro, edgeless and a gary stu. But in details, we also see A LOT of furuya being furuya and having a personality with ugly edges.

An overwhelming majority of this happens when Kazami is there, because with Kazami he's always Furuya. It's not for nothing that Kazami struggles to call him anything but Furuya-san. It's reciprocal! Furuya is never Amuro with Kazami, not when they're alone. But he also does show his "edges" a few times with Camel and Azusa!

We see Furuya being impatient, and wanting things to be given to him straight / to have things be straight. (he's a "what is it? say it clearly!" guy and a "it's a hassle to give directions. i'll drive myself (hierarchy be damned)" guy and also a "let me explain to you why i'm single. see i absolutely cannot let you go away from here with misunderstandings" guy)

We see Furuya being opinionated and judgey (he gives the stink eye often, e.g. when Kazami spits out celery like Haro, he does it with Camel, with Azusa and her pumpkins and the velvet cake).

We see him be obsessively controlling (excel sheets for haro's diet, really?)

We see him be prickly ("you better not think that i'm the one getting vaccinated...")

are those good traits? no. what a terrible guy. but damn, we definitely are seeing those edges there. And they're in little things - not in the big losses of temper.

So I like ZTT for allowing me to say with sound basis that Furuya is actually a really "prickly, rash and opinionated guy at heart, and he might actually prefer things to be set straight as fast as possible in his own daily context, which is the opposite of his worksona". It does make him a more likeable blorbo and gives me so much more material to make fun of him.

It also fuels so much of my furukaza headcanons. But that is a story for another day.

PS: Incidentally, it's why "emotional" is not something I use often as a descriptive for Furuya's personality despite emotion being one of the edges we see most in the main manga, because, I think, he loses it with Akai as a result of his deepest wound and he's shit at processing the grief other than channelling it into anger. But I don't necessarily consider it a character trait. Ironically, I wonder whether, if he was an emotional person, he might actually be better at processing grief (or understanding Matsuda' off the bat's POV, for example). It's like the question of whether your trauma-induced PTSD is part of your personality? It's not the same thing, but I sometimes feel that his own losses of temper, as a placeholder for grief-processing, are actually a sign that he's under-developed in terms of emotional maturity, which, to me, suggests he favors rationality as his main tool, and therefore defaults to emotion only when the rest is lost. I think he's "temperamental" but not necessarily "emotional".

[charlidos]

Common Ground

If you look at Viggo and Orlando today, they seem to have so little in common, with very different lifestyles. Viggo far away from Hollywood (geographically and mentally), Orlando still in the middle of it (geographically, at least). And since always, the big age gap.

But I've realised they have and have had more in common than you might think! So I've compiled a rather long list of some interests they share, some traits they have in common. Some of them are obvious, some are, well... not. And some seem to be a result of Orlando's hero worship of Viggo, and thus doing all things the Viggo-way.

It's a quite unserious and unscientific list.

Holding on to a character

Orlando:

I will take Legolas, and this experience in New Zealand, wherever I go. The beautiful thing about being an actor is every character you embrace, when you move on, you take part of the character with you. He's a special, special character and, or course, my first. I'm never going to let go of him.

Viggo:

You hear a lot of people saying, 'I want to get rid of that character' or 'It took me days, weeks, months, years to shed the skin of that character,' but I don't," he says. "We're all going to get old and die, and if we live long enough, we're going to forget things or lose our memories. That's just what happens in life. So why be in a hurry to forget something or undo something? Any movie or experience, I want it to be a part of me.

2. Choosing work

Orlando:

I'm always only interested in the script. But of course, I'm happy to support smaller films if I'm convinced by the script.

Viggo:

I never decide to do a project based on who is directing it, it's always the script which is important.

3. Technophobia

Obviously, this was a passing phase, until everyone had a mobile phone and a computer... Apparently, Orlando broke down his resistance at one time and got a ... Blackberry.

Orlando:

You could say I'm a technophobe. I don't have a TV, I don't read magazines, I don't have a computer and I don't have a cell phone. I am a nature-loving human being and I want to remain independent from the tools of technology, or be only minimally influenced by them. If I want to write a letter to someone, I pick up a pen and paper. I try to focus on the important things in life, on myself and my fellow human beings, my work, my friends, etc.

Viggo:

I’m sitting in a car talking on a cell. I rarely use them. In this case, I wanted to be alone and in a quiet place. The phone was dead and I’m charging it as we talk, which is why I was late. I still can’t figure out how to retrieve my messages. I didn’t have one for several years, and would call in my messages from a pay phone on the corner near my apartment. I might not check my messages for days, and I probably lost some jobs because of that. When I finally got one, I threw it out the window when it rang because the sound was so annoying. A neighbour rang my bell, asked me if it was mine, and handed it back to me. I put it in the closet under a pile of laundry, and a few days later it rang again. I didn’t like the intrusion and tossed it out the back alley.

4. Wearing necklaces

They both used to wear a whole slew of trinkets around their necks, both looking all hippie-ish and stuff.

Orlando:

I have a lot of these things with me all the time. I get given some and find others. One was a key ring that Johnny [Depp] gave me as a wrap gift for Pirates. Here's a piece of greenstone Billy Boyd gave me. I found this shell on the beach in Thailand. This is a prayer baton I got in India. I picked up this tiny silver ball in Tokyo. This is a New York City handcuff key, so if I get into any strife, I can get myself out. I think I'll hold onto that. I've always kept all these funny little things, even as a kid. But I'm trying to cut it out, become more streamlined. Otherwise it starts to feel like the things own you. These things fill up my heart. If I were ever to lose them, I'd be really devastated. Isn't that pathetic?

5. Loving nature and being alone

Orlando:

New Zealand is so green and healthy and outdoorsy and stuff so I started putting little tests on myself, like in terms of getting fit and using the environment around me. I often sit and daydream, and lose myself in that world. People around me think I'm rude, but I'm not ignoring them or anything.

Viggo:

I like to spend time alone and outdoors. I enjoy being able to just sit and observe life in the forest or by the water. I like observing and not thinking about anything. If I can't get in to the wild, I observe people in the city. I value being alone in nature even more now that my life has become so hectic.

6. Environmental friendliness

Viggo:

I have a hybrid car, the first Prius that came out on the market; it still works great. My son shares it with me. I recycle everything I can. I try not to waste natural resources or to pollute. Small things that if done every day, serve to make a better world. I’ve always liked being around plants and trees, I’ve always planted them, anywhere that I spend a little time in. The trees we plant, and the landscapes we nurture and protect for wildlife to enjoy and feel safe in, and to prevent soil erosion, is our gift to future generations. Even in cities we can take part in creating a greener, healthier environment – either by growing plants and trees or contributing financially to those that do. But there is nothing like getting your hands dirty and being physically part of the process of preparing the soil, planting, and nurturing new plant life.

Orlando:

I am going to the Oscars this year in a [Toyota] Prius. Anything I can do to bring awareness to the environment and to the fact that we need to decrease the greenhouse-gas emissions, I will do. I love the environment. I grew up in the countryside. I want my kids one day to enjoy the same environment and their kids to enjoy the same environment.

7. Commitment to politics and human rights issues

Orlando has done work for Unicef since 2007 and Viggo has always been very outspoken in issues concerning politics.

Orlando:

When I first came to Ukraine in 2016, I saw the catastrophic consequences that war has on children and families, and how basic needs such as being at school and psychosocial support are critical for children’s wellbeing. Now, with children across the entire country affected, that support is more vital than ever. Amid the chaos and uncertainty of war, supporting children’s education is an essential tool in protecting their long-term mental health and wellbeing. This is especially important during their early years, when children develop the learning and emotional skills they need to reach their full potential. Above all, children need an end to this war and sustained peace to regain their childhoods, return to normalcy and begin to heal and recover.

Viggo:

It’s not just the suffering in Ukraine. It's families in Russia; mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, who have lost loved ones just because of one man’s brutal ambition; a murderous, grotesquely corrupt person. And [Putin] will keep going. It’s like Trump. If you don’t stop them legally or otherwise why would they stop? And if they see weakness they’ll just exploit it.

8. Riding horses

Viggo famously loves horses, but Orlando has a certain love for them as well.

Orlando:

I've always loved riding and I used to hack around Canterbury as a kid. It wasn't really a pony club -- we'd just go out on horses. So I picked it up again in New Zealand and added a bit more of the style and the posture and the correct riding position. I learned to ride on around 30 different horses, and what you get from that is an understanding that each individual animal has to be treated with sensitivity so you have a mutual respect thing going.

9. Smoking

They both smoke/used to smoke cigarettes or cigars.

An unfortunate thing to have in common. I hope they have stopped.

10. Photography and art

Viggo is obviously a skilled photographer and painter and more. Orlando is also a keen photographer with an interest in art and sculpture.

Orlando:

Sculpture was my thing. I was very passionate about documentary photography too. I still like to walk around and take photographs, but it’s hard to do that if a lot of people are looking at you.

Viggo:

Photography, painting or poetry – those are just extensions of me, how I perceive things, they are my way of communicating.

11. Tattoos

The serendipity of these two tattoos, Orlando's sun and Viggo's moon, is amazing. Put there before meeting each other, in the same place on the body, only mirrored.

12. Fishing

Viggo went fishing a lot in NZ. Orlando sometimes tagged along. And then máybe goes fishing sometimes? Perhaps? Who knows?

13. Uncleanliness

Gotta love completely unfounded gossip. I'm sure they smell heavenly, at all times, shower or no shower. Just natural muskiness pouring out of their... pores.

Orlando:

"Miranda thinks Orlando is too smelly. Recently, she asked him if he could wash his clothes and perhaps shower more often." The insider claimed that Bloom "goes days without washing his clothes" when not working on a movie, adding: "He'll wear the same jeans for a week before he throws them in the washer. Same goes for his sweaters, T-shirts and socks." The Pirates of the Caribbean actor also allows his dog Sidi to share a bed with him.

Viggo:

Viggo Mortensen, who plays Aragorn in the Lord of the Rings movies, may seem fair, but according to The Sun he smells foul. The tabloid today alleges the American actor has been dumped by his girlfriend Lola Schnabel for worryingly Strider-like behaviour. Apparently he rarely washes and mysteriously disappears for long periods at a time.

14. Drinking mate

Viggo famously drinks yerba mate at all times. Orlando also drinks this. At least at one point, when this photo was taken, that's all I'm sure of.

15. Back pain

Orlando broke his back when he was 20 years old - with chronic back pain as a result. Viggo gets backaches sometimes.

Viggo:

If I wear footwear for too long I get backache. I need to be barefoot, otherwise it's agony.

Bonus: Gorgeous in make up

Also, they are both kind of gorgeous. And like make up. Sometimes. At this one particular time?

And, uhm, that's it.

Don't look so sceptical, boys! Just realise you are perfect for each other and get on with it.

[inconvenienttrekkie04]

Back in March I read a fanfic so good it made me consider writing fanfic myself. This fic is called “rage is a quiet thing” by @islandoforder here on tumblr and after I read it I immediately read it again and then sent them an ask for permission to write a post about a few of their buddie fics. This post will be only about “rage is a quiet thing” but there are more posts in the works, I am simply a slow writer and a big word lover because I had to condense my notes down to what you are reading now. (Like literal notes, like notebooks and notepads and even 1(one) post-it!)

So onto my “review”(?). The fic starts by assuring the reader that Chris is home and healing and so instantly a lot of tension is released.( I am a big fan of this as I love Chris and feel that he is underutilized as a character) Chris is home, he and Eddie are figuring their relationship out slowly but surely, Buck is there, supporting and loving as he always is and that's where the plot starts. Buck gets a call from his mother that we immediately learn is because of a medical emergency his father had and that she is calling Buck to help support her during this time. Unfortunately this means going back to Pennsylvania and being trapped in a house with his mother at least until his father is home. Eddie obviously invites both himself and Chris to go with Buck to Pennsylvania which he luckily accepts and thus our story truly starts. That's all I'll say about the plot as I honestly believe all buddie fans should read this fic but there will be some spoilers because like I will be sharing some of my favorite quote at the end of this post of course and some plot points but they shouldn’t like ruin the story if you decide to read this post instead of just checking the fic out.

The fic reads as a kind of unfortunate family vacation with Buck sharing his hometown with Eddie and Chris eager to learn more about his childhood while the Buckley parents kind of loom over them in the background. The clear love,care, and patience that Buck, Eddie, and Chris show for each other in this story really just helps enforce to the reader how much of a family they truly are.

Coming from the perspective of realism in this story, it is also unfortunately very realistic. I've personally been the person called in after a medical emergency to provide support and been treated in a similar way to Buck, luckily it wasn't by my parents but to be treated like that by family can still sting deeply. Being called on for support by someone who you thought would never love you or want to be loved by you at least in the way you wanted them to. The call from Margaret to Buck, after reading the story, kind of feels like the call of execution, it means pain and anguish and ultimately resignation to the fact that there is nothing he can change whether about the situation or about the relationship with his parents, its kind of the beginning of the end.

Despite the Buckleys ever looming in the background the story itself is actually very fluffy. Some highlights include

-Cute Buckley Sibling photos/mementos

-Chris seeing snow!!

-Diaz boys+Buck Snowball Fight!!

-CHOCOLATE WORLD!!!

-Lunch with Omar <3

-Gubbins!! (Which before this fic I did not know existed)

-Domestic Buddie throughout obviously

And now my favorite quotes + lines (Most of these you can tell who's talking but the mystery is to encourage you to find out for yourself)

-“Buck being hurt is a family emergency.”

(This next 4 all in a series, all Chris)

-“Does Buck like his parents?”

-“Do you like his parents”

-“Do Buck's parents like him?”

-“Who wouldn't like Buck?”

– ‘Eddies not lying to his son anymore’

-“She's wrong about you. She's so incredibly wrong about you.”

-“A week ago?!”

-“Not now.”

-“I only really settled in when you and Maddie arrived.”

-“His parents are a team.”

-“I'm not Maddie.”

-“Why am I here?”

-“…Why tell the truth?”

-“Oh, Buck.”

-“I think I forget that you haven't always been with me, that there are experiences we don't share.”

-“They're supposed to love me.”

-‘It implodes over breakfast’

-“Why do you even want me here?”

-“I don't”

For those who read this whole post here are some of my annotations that I think are funny

-Chim just deadass said they are bad parents and people lol

-Chris out here asking the hard-hitting questions

- Buck is tearing up a lot (in a good way)

-Eddie try not to be bitchy challenge

-Mention of the events over the year “rough”, understatement of the year lol

-Doug jumpscare (lol)

- Everbody loves Jee!!!

-Margaret is awake 🤮

Anyways I genuinely felt the need to share this fic because it gave me a warm happy feeling in my tummy

https://archiveofourown.org/works/63756067

Heres the link but if that doesn't work I'm sorry its my first time posting a review about a fic. Its rage is a quiet thing by oceanofchaos