#I'm so annoyed by people denying my addition here

[karenandhenwilson]

You can also raise a child with your best friend and still build a good and solid relationship with your romantic partner.

In case ya’ll didn’t know…you can be close with your best friend and your romantic partner <3 wild i know.

[erinelliotc]

A few years ago I used to be that annoying "transmasc lesbians don't exist, this shit is harmful and invalidates both transmascs and lesbians" person, and now I'M the transmasc lesbian. Seems like the tables have turned, huh?

I've spent so many months, years, trying so hard to fit into these categories that I saw so many people talk about as if it were the definitive truth, and this shallow and simplistic vision seems to be gaining a lot of attention and traction here in Brazil. Isn't it ironic to free yourself from cisnormativity and heteronormativity and all these binary boxes to find yourself again trying to fit into other boxes and norms that don't actually describe your experience correctly? Because your experience with gender is so chaotic and confusing (as expected of a nonbinary identity, and even more so if you're neurodivergent too) that there's no simple way to describe it. Then when you find out what describes this, people say you can't identify yourself that way because two or more of your identities are "incompatible". I see people treating non-binarity as if it were an exact science, as if it were math, as if it were something simple and logical, as it is precisely the escape from what has been established in our society as the only two possible options, generating countless identities within a gray area outside this black and white vision, so of course it's something complex, abstract and subjective.

EDIT: One of my reasons for thinking this way was that I ignored that the transgender experience and the cisgender experience aren't and will never be equivalent. It's obvious that a cis man can't be a lesbian, but the same doesn't go for transmasc people, and I thought that admitting that was the same as being transphobic, denying the masculinity of transmascs, denying their male identity. I already had a debate on Twitter because people didn't want to admit that trans men and transmasc people in general can suffer misogyny and male chauvinism (as society can still see and treat us as women) because they also saw it as the same as saying transmasc people are women. The identity of trans people is a very complex experience that involves a series of factors that cis people will never experience. We cannot equate the trans experience with the cis experience.

I thought identifying as a butch lesbian was enough to describe my masculinity, but I realized that I felt like it didn't encompass everything I felt, I still felt like something was missing. Preventing and depriving myself of identifying with more explicit masculine identities was actually making me feel bad and dysphoric. So yeah, I've been avoiding identifying with male-aligned identities because I thought that would mean having to stop identifying as a lesbian, and I didn't want that, and I don't really feel like calling myself straight makes any sense.

I have a text in Portuguese talking about my experience as a butch lesbian, and I feel that now it also serves to describe my experience as a nonbinary transmasc (the part where I talk about not identifying with "traditional masculinity", but with a "different type", like "soft masculinity", is directly related to the fact that, in addition to being nonbinary, I don't identify as a man, I don't feel comfortable with the term "man", but rather with "boy"). I spent a few months wondering whether I was libramasculine or boyflux, and I ended up deciding that if I can't identify which one I am, maybe it makes more sense to just adopt both identities, maybe I am both then! I'm tired of trying to fit into supposed rules about being nonbinary. This is exactly how non-binarity shouldn't be. I'm supposed to feel free, not trapped again. My identity is my identity and that's nobody's business.

[elllisaaa]

desperately need you to make a jihoon version for bf thoughts huhu 😭😭😭

BF!JIHOON who sometimes gets lost in his own world, but you're always here to bring him back to reality, and he never fails to show you how grateful he is for you.

music takes such a huge part of his life, it's impossible for him not to involve you in all of this. he tried to keep it away at first - because it was work and he didn't want to annoy you. but as soon as you show him that you're interested in what he does, in how he produces his music, jihoon is more than happy to introduce you to his universe. he makes you sit on his lap while he explains to you how he creates his music step by step, and he feels both so shy and so proud whenever you tell him that he's talented or that he's a genius. it leads to him letting you spend a lot of time with him at the studio - jihoon loves to have you there because you're his main source of inspiration, and you love to be with him because it motivates you to work too. you're always the first one he shows a song to, because he values your thoughts a lot, the most important opinion is yours. jihoon has definitely written so many songs for you, or about you. one time, you listened to a song he wrote before the two of you even got together and you noticed that jihoon was talking about you. you always get emotional when he does music for you and your boyfriend melts inside everytime you listen to the songs he made for you.

"can you listen to this and tell me if you like it, jagiya ? i'm not sure about what i've done with the vocals but maybe your voice could be a cute addition, don't you think ?"

jihoon gets so sleepy around you. some would argue that it's because he often comes by after work or because his sleep schedule isn't the best, but he knows that it's much more than that - it's because you're his home, and when he learned that you tend to feel sleepy when you're with people you deeply trust and love, he was sure that you were the one. jihoon also loves it when you're the one falling asleep on him, be that on his lap, on his shoulder or against his chest, he will wrap his arms around you and caress your hair every time. he has so many pictures of you sound asleep in his arms that he cannot count them - it means that you're just as comfortable around him that he is around you, and it makes him feel like the luckiest man in the world. jihoon always gets shy when you decide to attack him with random marks of affection. it makes him blush like crazy, but he's so cute with his red cheeks that you can't help it and he's so in love with you that he doesn't stop you - plus he cannot deny how it makes his heart melt every time.

"you won't ever stop, right ?" - "never." - "good, i like it when you kiss my nose…"

he's very attentive to every detail about you and your habits. jihoon knows literally everything about you, and it's so soothing to feel this loved. he always makes sure that you feel included in every conversations, especially when you're spending time with his members. he knows that thirteen people can be a lot, so he always take care of you so that you feel heard and listened to. if you're talking about something and you stop mid sentence because you think no one he's listening, he makes sure to remind you that he always listens and he asks you to continue, fully focused on you. he loves, loves, loves when you do your nails - that he obviously pays for - and especially when they're very long because it feels so good when you scratch his back or his scalp with them. jihoon almost purrs like a cat when you do that, his eyes fluttering shut and he nuzzles his head in your neck. you love it so much when he gets so cuddly and soft, and jihoon loves to be babied by you sometimes.

"let's just stay like this for a little while, please ?"

BF!JIHOON who's sweet when he's with you, but who cannot hold back his possessiveness once the two of you are alone.

jihoon works on his muscles too much to not use them to his advantage. it all started when you began to compliment his muscles every time he came back from the gym. it fuels his ego, yes, but it also makes him hard in his shorts. to know that you find his strength attractive, to know that he could overpower you every second when you're playfully fighting, it drives him crazy. so now, everytime you piss him off, everytime you're being a brat, he's using his strength to manhandle you in every position he wants. the fact that he can do anything with your body is turning him on too. when he's fucking into you and not letting you cum, he grips your hips tightly to stop you from squirming around. when you're not allowed to touch him but you try either way, he pins your hands down to the mattress. when he's having you from behind, he holds your hips up and forces his cock into you no matter how much you moan and cry. jihoon loves to know that he's able to take over you so easily, loves to know that he can do whatever he wants from you and that you're gonna love it.

"you're not moving until i let you, you know that so why are you trying ?"

he's a producer, he loves people's voices and he loves to work with them. so it's no surprise that jihoon is addicted to the way your voice sound. he thinks it's soothing when he's stressed, and it's so sexy when he's fucking you. he loves how he can always tell how you're feeling by the sounds you're making. he drinks every noise you make - gasps, moans, wimpers, whines and mewls, he loves it all. that's the reason why he prefers to fuck behind closed doors, where he can make you scream his name without risking anyone hearing you, where he doesn't have to muffle your pretty moans that make him even harder. when you gasp and whine against his mouth when he's kissing you, he speeds up his thrusts, and when you wrap your arms around his neck and whimper against his ear, he has to squeeze your waist harder to not lose his mind. jihoon even goes as far as holding back his own moans to hear yours better. he loves your noises so much that he might put them in one of his songs, and he seriously considers releasing it, just to make it clear that you're his.

"that's it jagiya, let everyone know who's making you feel good… shit, i love your pretty moans so much."

one thing about jihoon is that he loves to hear you moan, yes, but he also likes when you're begging him, begging for him. when he's already fucking you rough and that you plead for him to go harder, it makes him lose his mind. he asks you to beg for virtually anything in bed - you want him to eat you out ? beg. you want him to fuck you from behind ? beg. you want to suck his cock ? you have to beg for it. jihoon will never admit it, but he kinda likes it too when you're teasing him in public by begging him for something simple but you both know he cannot help thinking about your words in another context. one thing he will never tell you either is that he thinks it's hot when you are the one making him beg sometimes. not gonna lie, it's not easy to get him there - you have to catch him on a day he's tired because then he lets you take care of him and ride him. but when he does beg for you, it's so attractive you just want to do it all over again. jihoon is shy about it though, and he still prefers when you're the one saying please and being putty in his hands.

"you want me to fuck you ? then you know what to say, uh ?" - "please, jihoon, please fuck me." - "that's right, good girl."

[simpcityy]

My Little Spawn Pt.8 (Dadstarion X Child!Reader)

Summary: Astarion was finally free from Cazador after being kidnapped by a mind flayer but he was stuck with one annoying task, you.

Disclaimer: I do not own Baldur's Gate 3 or any of its characters.

Word Count: 1K

Warnings: Use of (Y/N), Cazador, language, violence, spoilers for those who haven't gone far in the game, mentions of blood, animal death...Uhhh...I think that is all. MAJOR SPOILERS IF YOU AREN'T IN ACT 2 AND 3 YET.

Author Notes: I'm back, I hope I can finish this series and move on to my Rolan one. Maybe I should do another dad series with another character? I like doing these and I know you guys seem to be enjoying them as well! We are getting close to the end of this series so please remember to reblog and like if you enjoy this series.

After raiding Moonrise Towers, the group was now on the road to Baldur’s Gate with a new addition to the group, Jaheira. (Y/N) runs around in the field of flowers that the group has decided to take a short rest. Astarion watched from afar, his mind pondering over and over. What will happen once they reach the city, will Cazador be able to sense you? Will the other spawns see you and report back to him? Many thoughts were running through his head but stopped when he felt a tugged at his hand. You looked up to him, “Are you here? I’ve been calling you over and over.” You pouted only for him to sigh “I was thinking but what do you want?” he mutters, setting you between his lap. “When we reach the gates, are we going to see papa!” You beamed at him. Astarion only stayed silent before patting your head “Time will tell.” He whispers. 

Getting access to the lower city was going to be difficult for the group. Tav sat on a rock after they were being denied entrance. “there must be another way to get inside…” They mutter and look around the group for any ideas. You were busy collecting different types of flowers for your father as a gift, still listening in on their conversation. This is when a thought occurs to you, a rather mischievous idea. Astarion was leaning against a pole before seeing you run past them and to the guards. “The hell are you doing?!” He follows you. You walk up to the lady, “Why can’t we go inside? Is your job to help people right?” You began. “Well yes but by orders we cannot let anyone in without a valid reason.” She leans to your height. “I don’t think my papa is going to like that, he’s been looking for me everywhere and if he finds out that I wasn’t able to go back home to him, he’s going to get really angry.” You smile at her innocently. Astarion stops a distance from you and watches. “He knows a lot of important people!” You remember that night in the Moonrise cells, that Lord Gortash. “He’s even friends with a man who looks over important! He looks just like this.” You point to the poster with Gortash's face. Upon that information, the woman pales a bit. “Lord Gortash? A-ah I see, you could’ve said that before.” She looks back at the group and yells out to bring the gate down. Astarion picks you up “You…really are his child…” He mutters impressed how you manipulated your first mortal but worried at the same time. You are really a small version of Cazador, and he wasn’t liking that. Cazador was a man who always had his way, he saw it just now with you and that woman. You had your way. 

After securing a room at the inn at a reasonable price, Astarion watched as you went with Shadowheart for your bathtime. Wyll walks over, “You’ve been quiet, that's not like you.” The pale elf looks up and sighs “Many thoughts are running in my mind…(Y/N) acted just like my worst nightmare, Cazador. I always forget they are a piece of Cazador.” He sighs “What is the next step for me? Do I exchange them to Cazador for my freedom…or…do I save them and the other spawns from him…thankfully they don’t have that mark on their back but…I have no clue what he plans for them…after reading all the books, there never seems be to a good happy ending for their kind.” He looks over to his backpack with the books he’s read so far. “They’ll grow up to be lonely…their kind is very rare, and I doubt there is another out there alive. As for family…seems like Cazador is the only one so far..so if I were to kill him, they’ll have no one…” He hated this, how can one simple small child bring him this much trouble. He would’ve toss them out in the city already and have the spawns take them back home but there was a small itch in him that prevented him. He hates it but he’s grown attached to them. “I want to resent them; I want to hate them for causing me so much trouble. I wanted to feel free the moment those ugly bastards captured me. I was away from Cazador's clutches but no!” He groans in frustration. “I was stuck with his child! A copy of him!” He felt the tears. Wyll only stays quiet letting him take it all out. He knew Astarion was going through it, the spawn was feeling overwhelmed the moment they got closer to the city. 

You stood behind the door of the bathroom listening, Shadowheart was out with the rest getting drinks after she bathed you. You only look down, playing with your hands trying to stop the tears from falling down. You glance from the door watching Astarion stomp out of the inn needing fresh air. Wyll sighs before walking over to his bed. You took this chance, you wanted Astarion to feel the freedom, even if it means without you. You walk to the door slowly and open it. Checking the hallway and walking out. 

Midnight rose and Cazador stood at his desk frowning. He watched the moon before sighing hearing the door open. “Didn’t I say I wanted to be left alone!” He turns, spotting Godey. “I know you did demand that Master but there is a gift for you at the entrance.” He bows at his master. Cazador only glares “I don’t want anything at al-” he stopped before hearing that voice, his little songbird is back. You walked to the main room and stopped by the big door. You look around, how you missed this place but a feeling within you made you rethink it. Looking back, you heard the doors open and spotted Cazador.

“Welcome home my little songbird.”

[anghraine]

motleystitches replied to this post:

@anghraine I'm not denying that fara is seashore, but the Sindarin (rather than Quenya) interpretation of his name (and Boromir's) has been circulating for decades on the internet by now (fanon: second birth took a lot of Finduilas, thus last child). This is actually the first time I've seen this alternative. I think "hunter" was also once proposed. I rather like this tie-in with the sea; makes sense given the sea-longing/dreams/blood running true.

I'm aware of how common the 'sufficient' interpretation is (it's been a pet peeve of mine for a very long time) and, as I said in my other reply, IMO is so widespread because of Denethor bashing/Faramir woobifying despite a tenuous textual basis, not actual likelihood.

In any case:

Faramir's most immediate namesake is Prince Faramir of the House of Anárion, son of King Ondoher, a member of a royal family that exclusively used Quenya names with zero exceptions (and in Gondor, only royal descendants were permitted to use Quenya names at all, so the distinction is significant). This makes it unlikely that our Faramir's name should be interpreted via Sindarin rather than Quenya, and extremely unlikely that his name is some sort of stealth insult, given that it is royal and extremely prestigious.

Sindarin far- is simply the Sindarin cognate to Quenya fárë, and basically repeats the issues with fárë. The 'hunter' etymology also comes from Sindarin (and seems still less appropriate to Faramir tbh, given his active dislike of hunting).

It actually is likely that Faramir would have been difficult for both Denethor and Finduilas to produce, and quite possibly prevented either from having other children due to the bizarreness of Númenórean reproduction (though not unusually difficult for physical reasons, which is fanon, and a rather odd one given that Finduilas lived for half a decade after Faramir's birth). In any case, I think this is unlikely to be the cause of his name.

I've argued for a long time that fára is a more probable element in the name of the royal prince and our Faramir, both textually and symbolically (most recently probably here but at least going back to 2013). But yeah, the 'sufficient' interpretation is a popular meme that, at best, people sometimes try to recuperate in a more nuanced way. Regardless, it's not canon, it's not the most probable interpretation given what information we do have, there's no actual need to recuperate it, and most of the time it's just "lmao of course Denethor would name baby Faramir sufficient" (Finduilas whomst), so I find the whole thing pretty annoying.

I also like fára because Finduilas in particular and the house of Dol Amroth in general are so strongly associated with the seashore, so in addition to the royal prestige it can honor her and her family, too. But regardless, it just seems more likely etymologically.

[i-need-some-advice-on]

Relationship advice?

CW mentions of abuse, SA, eating disorders, illness, disasters

My partner (26m) and I (23nb) have been living together for nearly 3 years. We both have rough pasts, he grew up with abuse, survived a disaster in childhood, moved to this country as a refugee, and struggles with PTSD. He's also struggled with chronic illness since not long after we moved in together. I grew up with abuse, including CSA and animal hoarding, and experienced several instances of SA as a teenager. I also struggle with PTSD, in addition to autism (dx'd in childhood) and chronic illnesses that started when I was a teenager. I use a mobility aid when I'm outside. We are both estranged from our parents, and both moved here as kids so our extended families are overseas. Because it might be relevant, he's Black, I'm white-passing mixed (non-Black).

Since he got sick and hasn't been able to work, I've been financially supporting him on my Disability payment. It's been over 2 years. He has applied for benefits, but he's been denied, and I guess there's not much he can do about that. This isn't really a problem, but it makes the problems more frustrating since I'm making a lot of sacrifices for him. He has had issues with pretty toxic behaviour, like yelling at me, calling me names like "retard", "pathetic", being hypercritical but getting mad at criticism, bringing up my trauma in arguments and downplaying it, downplaying my dx'd health issues, etc.

He has acknowledged that his behaviour in the past was toxic, but he doesn't really take constructive criticism and it feels like he doesn't really think there's anything wrong with his behaviour. I woke up to him the other week yelling things like "go starve yourself and die you fat whore, get bulimia cunt, etc." at the neighbours working in the office upstairs through the ceiling, because he believes they are stomping deliberately because they are racist and ableist and trying to provoke him (possibly true! still a weird reaction), and when I told him that I didn't like waking up to misogynistic shouting, he got mad at me, said he has PTSD and I don't know what it's like, called me thin-skinned, and generally dismissed my concerns. He's aware of my history of eating disorders.

He did say sorry during the day, but in the evening I still wanted to address it. I started by talking about how he's got some big emotions and they seem hard to manage, and he got upset, saying he doesn't have anger issues, he's justified in his anger, etc. I got upset and called him a narcissist, and later a dickhead. I also brought up his past behaviour. He said I have a victim complex, he's the one being victimised, I have "twitter brain" (I deleted twitter over a year ago at his request), that I always bring up the past to make him look bad, I have the same attitude as people who people who complain about protests being disruptive and ask "but do you condemn hamas?", he's objectively more traumatised than me, and I'm only upset by his anger because of my implicit biases. It didn't happen this time, but in the past he's knocked a chunk of plaster out of the ceiling and made his knuckles bleed from banging on the ceiling in response to the noise from upstairs.

Since then he's mostly stuck to playing music at full blast on multiple devices and deliberately setting off the fire alarm to annoy them in "protest", while I wear earplugs, and I guess that's a compromise. He has sort of acknowledged that he was wrong but still feels justified overall. I don't really know what to think. Maybe I'm blowing things out of proportion, maybe I should be more concerned, maybe it's all because of his health and trauma and I should let it slide, maybe there's something I can do to help him, maybe there's nothing I can do. He is sweet most of the time, I love him, but living with him can be so stressful and I don't know how to get him to understand that.

I'm planning on moving home to be closer to family, and he's planning to move after he sorts out his visa. It's also a better country to live in geopolitically and in terms of quality of life than where we live now. I've been hoping to help him get there before addressing all this, since we'll be in a more stable position overall and have more resources, but there's still months before I'll be able to move. What should I do?

.

[bishie-haven]

Asmo Appreciation Week, Day 3: Best Cards, Part 2!

Welcome again, everyone!

I'll cut a bit more to the chase today, since we're in a continuation from yesterday's post. Yesterday I covered #20-11 of the Asmodeus cards that make my heart beat faster, and today I'll show #10-1! These are a lot more potent and have a lot higher potential to melt my soul.

Let us begin~

#10: Guided By Desire

Starting off the top 10 with more nostalgia! While one of two SSR cards people were VERY likely to get in the beginning, it doesn't annoy me seeing him show up...much (I get sooo many ravens now, UGH). BUT, repetitiveness aside, circumstances REALLY put this card high on the list. Even to this DAY it is one of my most powerful cards, even topping a lot of the URs I have on the OG app, so I HAVE to give credit. And even without it...just look at that face, you can't deny its adorableness! (Plus a rare shot where Asmo has pink and neon green nails before they decided on pink and teal!)

#9: Purgatory Hall Sleepover!

Hey look, it's the card that most likely inspired the 2022-23 pajama set! Being the first birthday UR this boy had (and having to wait a full year from its implementation date), I was was EXCITED to see this card art alone. The theming made it even better; sleepovers are another topic that just send me over the moon, and that LITERALLY being the title of the card set in stone that I needed it like water. Thankfully, no money had to be spent, hooray!

#8: Photogenic Asmo

If you thought #16 was colorful, #8 said hold my demonus. This is CUTE in every sense of the word. An overall cafe theme (mixing retro diners and maid cafes without the maids), Asmo in that uniform, and that look on his face getting pics of the sweets?! This was the card that started my completionist journey of getting every card of his, and thankfully, the catalyst was received in a recent revival Nightmare!

#7: Your Personal Venus

This card, this card... The end of February was a wild time for my OM! account. This event plus the Nightmare that was attached were attacking me from both sides in terms of cards I want, and could NOT catch a break (you might be able to guess a card down lower if you think about it ^^). But thankfully, it meant this card was mine within three days of the event start! The initial image is precious (just look at those eyes!), and this one? This was an attack on my soul, how is he able to rock anything and make me love him even more?!

#6: Time for the Main Event!

I grinded in this event when it came out in 2020. Nearly 4 years later, I'm still trying to get him. There's definitely reasons why, considering it's only barely out of the top 5. The Cinderella/fairytale aesthetic is a major reason, bringing to question what Asmo would be like if HE was the titular heroine instead of the fairy godmother in the actual event. In addition, this was the first event where I truly saw him as a gnc icon and ROCKING this dress (I can't unsee the garter belt either, so neither will you now, hehe), and further made me scream whenever future cards indulged this. Now, please hurry up and come home...

#5: Return My Glow

We all know from both the OG and NB that Asmo valued his time as the angel dubbed the "jewel of the heavens", despite slowly forgetting that image of himself. While the event the card was attached to is DEFINITELY controversial amongst the fandom, it still means a lot to me. I grinded my booty off to get it on the last day, and the image (specifically this DF unlock) has the power to make me feel better even on some of my darkest days. It even doubles so when you look at the similar image found in his initial UR in NB (more on that soon!).

#4: The Devildom's Mermaid

Outside of the missed potential to make him an ACTUAL mermaid in one of the arts, this was the first UR+ Asmo ever received, so its iconic status already lends itself to a high placement. Theming is also high here, as WHO can resist the beach episode, tell me, who?! There's also a bit of retroactive mirroring with the anime that happens in my head. I can totally see at one point on that private beach he set up a picture just like this to send to his followers, and that expression sent many (including myself) into an iconic squealing mess.

#3: Demons Catch Colds?!

If you guessed this card at #7, you win a virtual cookie! It is no secret to anyone who knows me well that one of my favorite tropes in fiction is the sick day, one person laying in perceived misery while another tends to their needs. In addition, if you include anything in your work with a medical/dental theme, you will have me eating out of the palm of your hand. This card has both. I was a mess back in April of '21 thanks to this blasted card. Fun fact, this was the first Nightmare card I spent money to get (Solomon decided to block my advances one too many times using the same attribute and I was at my limit 😡)! I only pull out the actual cash when I'm hooked, so you KNOW it was serious. XD Lastly, I said I wasn't taking Devilgrams into account, but I wanted to mention how the one attached to this card is so sweet. If you ever have the chance to read it, DO IT!

#2: Princess Asmo's Escape

They ACTUALLY referenced it!! If you've seen the anime, you know about Episode 5 and the insanity that occurred when Asmo was literally wearing the crown. And the fact that the devs saw it was iconic enough to make a UR+ out of?! I have a lot of gripes with Solmare, but this one of the times they got it RIGHT. He is a Disney princess, you can NOT change my mind, and the composition of this initial image is so pretty I want to make a print of it to hang in my room. It's almost the perfect card! Almost...

Because the top card of all to me is...

#1: A Song From the Heart

This is my absolute dream card, and the closest to the definition of a perfect one you will ever get. So many elements combine to make this both fitting in terms of character and concept. In the initial image we get the cute, goofy side of him (and a shot of him in glasses?!), calmly playing an acoustic. In the DF unlock, that side turns passionate and bombastic, switching to an electric and belting into the mic under the stage lights. It references both the obvious and not-so-obvious of parts of his character. We know that he loves being under the spotlight, but we don't get much in terms of his love for music, specifically rock music as the designs imply. The outfit is also one of my personal favorites, as is many that don't go on the Majolish racks (pleeeeeease let this one be wearable one day!). It even has a bit of a meta connection as well. His VA, Miura Ayme, has PLENTY of musical connections, not just recording OPs for the game but being an active visual kei artist with a HEAVY leaning on rock as a style. So to see a card not only tie back to a character but to the voice actor at the same time? There's nothing I see that's better than that.

And that's my list! What did you think? Any cards I missed in terms of their positives? Let me know if you have any you want to mention, as well!

[chronal-anomaly]

@byanyan asked:

" y'know, "ㅤalthough abrupt, them breaking the silence isn't terribly jarring — it's casual, even verging on soft-spoken when compared to their usual tone of voice.ㅤ" drawing is kinda the last thing i woulda thought we'd have in common. running makes a little more sense, but... "ㅤtrailing off, byan sketches a few more lines on their page, fine-tuning some of their ideas for the next outfit they'd like to make. —assuming that the materials are something they can get their hands on, anyway. " ...i dunno."ㅤgaze lifting from their sketchbook, they glance to the other side of the couch where lena sits perched with her own. they watch for a couple seconds — they can't see what she's working on, but there's a quiet fascination in watching the very fine flicks of her wrist as she draws which holds their attention surprisingly well.ㅤ" you never really struck me as a very artistic person? —but then, i guess most people don't expect that outta me, either, so maybe that's kinda... what's the word? ...hypocritical? —yeah, i guess that's kinda hypocritical of me, to make that kinda judgement. "ㅤbut i like that we have so much in common.

It was comfortable, casual, the way they're both settled across the couch. Lena wasn't sure when the sketchbooks ended up in their hands, but she wasn't complaining - art was a hobby she rarely indulged in these days ( too much sitting still, too much thinking ), and she was grateful for their company in the process. Today's project was a loose sketch of the downtown area, centering specifically on the flower shop, coffee, shop and the small playground on the corner. Children playing, people milling around with coffee - landscapes were one of her favorite things to construct. There's a serenity in it she couldn't find elsewhere.

Lena enjoyed the silence as the image danced across the paper, growing life and dimension as she did so. But the hours ticked by, and even she couldn't deny the cramp in her hands. Graphite stained her hands, leaving marks behind on her paper; marking and staining incorporating into the art as yet another happy accident. Beautiful, yet, annoying.

She glanced up as they spoke, pulling her from the fixation on the art. "Guess it's always been something I enjoyed. It's calming, I guess. Something to do with my hands. Though, I did always enjoy doing some... freelance demonstrations." The topics of her youthful tagging were something she avoided sharing with Byan, if only to not give them any additional ideas for trouble.

Focus broken - thankfully - Lena stretched her legs out and flexed her fingers. Something about the moment felt delicate, quiet, patient, moreso than the pair have had in a while - especially with their boyfriend around more. The notebook was set aside for the moment.

"I feel like I could pin you as artistic. Fashion designer? Dunno about that, but definitely artistic. Might have something to do with the clothes, or the paint stains." Lena shot them a teasing look. "Used to be a lot different when I was younger. Lot more wild. Think you'd like her."

The military had crushed a lot of that out of her, and in some ways, Lena was grateful for it. But in others, in the dulled sparkle and loss of individualism, she despised them for it. The lines cut so gently into the paper was a sign of reclamation, of freedom, that Lena was thankful for.

"You're always welcome to be here and make art with me, Byan." Lena murmured, moving into the kitchen. "I'm glad you're 'ere and we can do it together."

And there she goes again, saying the quiet part out loud.

[confusedshades]

Before Danny could come up with a new plan though, Red Hood found him. Bruce had noticed the twig thin, obviously traumatized, homeless teen following him, trying to clean up after him when he went out as Brucie. His kids however had put a Stop B's Adoption Problem Protocol in place, so now it was either Dick or Jason who'd go out and deal with such cases.

So, Red Hood finds Danny and talks to him. He slowly coaxes out the story from the kid, buys him food for a bit, tries to get him someplace safe. The open line with the Cave had fed him some additional information on Danny Fenton, and everyone on comms had heard the conversation between them.

When the kid asks if he can ask him a question in return, Jason figures it's fine. The question however stops all the chatter on comms as Jason whips his head to look at the kid again. The question?

"Why does your core um, your presence I guess, feel like you died and came back to life?"

"What do you mean, kid?"

Danny upon realising that something is up, decides back tracking is his best bet. So as he starts inching back, he's trying to deny anything. Unfortunately for him, Jason was a street kid himself and knew what Danny was doing. So he held out a hand and squatted where he was standing. Danny stuttered to a stop.

"Look kid, I'm not mad and you're not in trouble. I just want to know what gave you the idea that I'd died before."

"Um.... I uh can feel people's presence?" Danny had figured out that he couldn't go around saying he was a Halfa and half dead early on. He'd picked Gotham to run away to because it had a lot of ectoplasm readily available in the air, and with the regular weirdness of the city he'd be safely slipping through the cracks and never show up on anyone's radar. So instead of talking about cores he spoke of presence. He figured it wasn't any different from speaking in code.

"When you say you can feel presence, what do you mean kid?"

"Um, some people feel safer than others? And other's feel dangerous? And some people...." Danny trailed off here and nervously licked his lips. Jason waited patiently knowing that the kid was just trying to figure out how to say what he was feeling. "And some people...have this.... feeling? Of having died and come back. But most people um, have only a small bit like they died for a bit and then doctors helped them, but, you uh, you feel like you were dead for longer. Like months longer."

Jason just sighed. "Kid, are you a meta?"

Danny just shook his head.

"Okay kid. To answer your question, I'm going to have you meet Batman. He'll be the best person to explain this. He might also be safer than staying on the street."

"Will you stay?" Danny asked nerves obvious to Jason.

"Sure kid. In fact," Jason shrugged out of his jacket slowly. "I am going to give you my favourite jacket. That way you can be sure I'll stay, okay?" Danny relaxed and nodded.

"I'll just let Batman know we're going to meet him, okay?" While Danny was trying to put on the clearly oversized jacket, Jason tapped his comm.

"Batman, inbound with a kid. He's got a question for you."

"Do you want me to come to come to you Hood?" B's Batman growl wasn't there yet, but his tone was all Dark Knight.

Jason looked at the kid and snorted at the overly long sleeves hanging off his frame. "We'll come to you. Short stack could do with some feeding though, so let Agent A figure out the food. Last time you tried cooking, we were cleaning up the mess for two days and the whole place smelt of burnt food for a week."

Bruce's annoyed grunt was followed up by Cass' question. "New brother?" The groans from several people had Jason smiling at the kid trying to roll up the sleeves in front of him. "Yeah, looks like."

Danny is not enjoying the homeless runaway lifestyle.

He would be the first to admit he was a bit of a cleanfreak, it was a side effect of growing up with mad scientist parents who would often place bottles of dangerous chemicals among bottles of fruit juice thier children had in the fridge. He grown into the habit of sorting through things as a means of survival.

Its not that he hated clutter, its that he hated mess and disorganization and feeling dirty. All of which he was feeling now.

So when Danny saw Brucie Wayne from the TV shop window of the dirty Gotham street he was on, he froze. This tall, dark haired blue eyed man was a jolly idiot. He was just like his dad. He had never seen anyone act like his dad before and he missed him so so much. And what do you know.. this guy collect black haired blue eyed kids like pokemon cards. And well...Danny was a child who had recently lost everything. His family, his friends, his home and desperately seeking out anything familiar.

So Danny starts following Bruce around trying to clean up after him and take care of him like he did with Jack Fenton in hopes of showing Bruce how useful he can be, but the amount of help Bruce needed was surprisingly low and what little he needed was swiftly taken care of by the butler and children he already had before Danny could even react.

Danny needed a new plan...

[omgjumin]

12:09 pm ☆ suna rintaro

tags: fem!reader, petnames (wife, princess), idk if you'd call this angst but here you go

suna rintaro hates you. maybe he would even go as far as saying he despises you. and it's not because you're genuinely a bad person or you are just terribly annoying. no, of course not. it's because you left him; cold, alone, and lonely because you've abandoned him.

suna rintaro lays there, still in bed, curling his fingers up into a fist. kind of in anger but also in a way to keep them warm. his body shivers in coldness, only because you left him. no, not because he left the ac unit on cool nor the fan that ran itself in front of him. definitely not. his stomach hurts because you denied him. the grumbling noises that voiced, he was hungry because of you. and suna swears it's not because he didn't eat breakfast. it's you. always has been because of you. it's what makes him feel he's trapped in bed. trapped in endless doom because you decided to walk out.

"hey rin?" you call out from wherever you stood in the living room. but suna rintaro swears he must've misheard you. there's no way you're back, after everything you have put him through. you softly knock on his room door before cautiously peaking your head through the crack. "rin?" you question once more. your voice graced suna's ears as he finally looked at you.

"you left me." suna bluntly said, his eyes continued to stare at you almost as if you weren't real. "i had to go to work, rin." you rolled your eyes, though you weren't truly annoyed at his dramatic antics. "you shouldn't have to." before moving another step towards your boyfriend, you halted to a stop. sucking in a sharp breath before exhaling loudly. "what do you mean?" your heart started racing over the complications of his sentence. really, you shouldn't get your hopes up but the small comments you've picked up after time has put you on your toes.

"you know, when we move in together, we should..."

"this would look good in our apartment."

"our apartment..."

and for the first time of the day, suna has finally sat up. the room doesn't feel cold anymore. at least, to him. "it means you should quit your job and let me take care of you."

"rin, you know i can't do that. i have to pay for rent and groceries, and-"

"so move in with me." suna cuts you off, the small ding coming from his phone is the only thing that filled the silence between you two. the soft and fluffy blankets that curled around suna was the only thing you saw in the dark room. the sun was shut out by the black-out curtains hanging in front of his windows. you took one step forward, your hands quickly fiddled with each other in anxiousness. "but-"

"i also, think you would make a great addition to my, our place. you wouldn't have to leave me and we'd always be together until death." suna adds, he seems to have been adding up the pros of you moving in with him for a while. the emptiness of his stomach has dissipated, at least for now. and suna thinks that now you're here with him, staring, kind of awkwardly at him, makes him feel a lot less alone. "but, i don't want people to think i'm with you only for your money, rin." you hesistantly mumbled out but for suna, he heard it well enough. "speaking of which, you'd make a great housewife, don't you think?"

"rintaro, im serious."

"and im serious too."

suna smirks as soon as he sees your own resolve crumble, falling into putty in the palms of his hands. "i'll move in, fine." suna wraps you in his arms, closing the space in between you two before he kisses you softly on your forehead. "great, princess."

[unfinished-projects-galore]

Let me just thank you all for liking the idea of this short series. I did not expect the amount of likes/reblogs the initial post would get so…yeah, thank you!

As always, I’d recommend actually listening to the songs just to get a feel for it. This song is all in English, so it should be relatively more easy to understand WKDKWKDK WKFKEKD

Next up for the, “Certain TWST Characters as Ben&Ben Muses,” we have Idia!

Second is Idia Shroud with “Hummingbird”

Additional lyrics:

Throw away my sleep

Eyes have better dreams when I'm awake

Take me somewhere deep

So I could sink my thoughts of you

Idia doesn’t know much of anyone else outside his circle of online friends and those a part of his “inner circle.” He’s never felt the need to, and yet somehow, in your own, “normie” way, you’ve managed to weasel yourself into his mind without having to put forth any effort.

He especially doesn’t like people like you. You’re such a busy-body, and you always seem so happy hanging around your newly-gained friends and helping anyone around. Like a hummingbird whose wings never seem to be able to rest, he ends up being one of the flowers you flock to regularly as well.

He doesn’t need it.

Doesn’t need your help.

Your pity.

Your attention.

‘It’s annoying. I can’t get anything done with you here, all you do is you drain me of all my energy.’ That’s what he wants to say so badly, and yet he can’t because at the same time, he doesn’t want to deny himself of the fluttering feelings he feels inside his chest whenever you’re around.

So when your presence suddenly evades all his senses, although he so badly wished for you to leave him be, he somehow can’t help but feel regret. Whether it be for what he has done, or hadn’t done at all, he still can’t quite tell. You left, you didn’t want to get in his way, after all. Still, he can’t seem, to let go of you.

————————————

Thank you for reading and seeing the 2nd installation of this short series. I don’t think I’ll be covering all of the TWST characters, but I shall be covering at least 4, and at the very most 8.

I feel like this song reminds me of Idia the most just because I can imagine how different this song could be from him, but also how similar it is. The composition is simple, yet complex as it changes tempo later on. Much like Idia as we see more and more of him, our perception changing as the story progresses.

Like a hummingbird, although he claims to hate “busy-bodied people,” he himself is rather flighty and can’t seem to relax. Always doing something, tinkering away at gadgets, upgrading his personal belongings, mashing buttons on his controller, playing board games for the club, fulfilling (or at least, somewhat) his role as Ignihyde’s Dorm Leader/Housewarden…

And the simplicity of the instruments in the song. A lot of this band’s songs are more acoustic or “natural” when it comes to their instruments, an electric guitar riff here and there with that classic wide distortion, yet that seems to take a backseat here. Opting for a more calmer, and almost “jazz-like” style instead. Something that almost sounds like the opposite of our tech savvy character.

[thinkingisadangerouspastime]

Hi, first off I ship Zutara and I come in peace. I was pointed your way by a friend when I asked for people who ship kataang who are nevertheless willing to hear different views. I have lurked on blog a week and finally got up my nerve to ask how you or any other Kataang can deny that the last part of book 3 was completely Zutara but then stopped abruptly with no buildup? You can finesse tone on text so I'm not being sarcastic or bitchy, it is a serious question (1/5)

In The Southern Raiders, Katara realizes she has been wrong about Zuko. In Ember Island Players, she realizes Aang is not as mature as she thought he was, and in the finale, Katara does not care a whit that Aang is gone. I am serious and as someone who is no Aang stan but likes him, I’m actually annoyed by how little anyone cared about his disappearance. It went from “Aang’s gone!” to “Okay whatever, let’s find Iroh so he can kill Ozai.” (2/5)

Katara was all over Zuko (honestly, again not being a jerk) in the finale until for whatever reason, she wasn’t. She was giving him a pep talk about Iroh, she was going with him to Azula, she was healing him and saying he saved her not the other way around. I genuinely don’t get why this isn’t seen as romantic. I will grant you that Zuko would not have allowed Azula to kill anyone but I feel the point here was Zuko realizing his life was pointless if Katara was killed. (4/5)

And then literally at the end, Mai shows up after Zuko not talking about her at all for six episodes and declares herself Zuko’s girlfriend. And Katara kisses Aang after being annoyed with and by him arguably since The Southern Raiders. I get that Kataang “won” and I’ve made peace with that, but ... I can’t understand why Kataang shippers are okay with such a crap story. I swear on my gmom [sic] if they’d done this for [Zvtara], I’d be mad as hell. So I don’t understand, I really don’t. (5/5)

As always, I shall begin with a disclaimer: anon, you do not have to agree with this post. No one has to agree with this post, as it is strictly my own thoughts on the subject matter raised here! As per usual, I will not be putting this in the main tags - much less the Zvtara tag! - because I have basic fandom decency, lmao. If you (the general you, not anon specifically) do disagree with this post, that is totally fine, I simply ask that you are polite in expressing your disagreement (if you choose to do so at all! no one is expected to, lmao. i promise).

Alright. Formalities are out of the way!

I’ll admit I giggled a little bit when you say you lurked on my blog for a week, because I’ve actually talked about this subject numerous times in the past! I just found it funny you hadn’t stumbled across any posts about it yet, lol. So, as a heads up, know that I will be providing several links in this post since - again - this subject and related subjects have been analyzed a multitude of times before. I highly recommend reading them all! Mostly because I don’t intend to spend forever restating what’s been said over and over and over lmaooo. I will provide the resources, but it is up to each individual to take advantage of them.

To begin: your ask actually contains a few logical fallacies, anon! I do not mean this as shade or to belittle you - I fall victim to this issue all the time myself. Anyone who writes analyses or participates in debates does! Humans are imperfect and often like to cut corners to reach a conclusion. It is nothing to be embarrassed or ashamed about because - as the existence of your ask in inbox indicates - you are willing to learn more. So kudos to you, my friend!

Alright. So what logical fallacies am I talking about here? (For the record: specific definitions of logical fallacies were taken from here.)

1. Hasty Generalization.

“A hasty generalization is a general statement without sufficient evidence to support it.” Numerous claims are made in this ask that I have absolutely no doubt you believe to be true, anon, but there really isn’t any concrete evidence to support it! I will go into more detail later, of course, but let’s quickly look at one example:

“In Ember Island Players, [Katara] realizes Aang is not as mature as she thought he was…”

For the time being, I will ask but one question: from the show itself, not fanon, how do you know this?

2. Causal Fallacy

Ah, this guy. My own worst enemy, tbh! “A causal fallacy is any logical breakdown when identifying a cause,” of which there are several types. “One causal fallacy is the false cause or non causa pro causa (‘not the-cause for a cause’) fallacy, which is when you conclude about a cause without enough evidence to do so.” In your ask, you claim:

“I will grant you that Zuko would not have allowed Azula to kill anyone but I feel the point here was Zuko realizing his life was pointless if Katara was killed.”

Again, for the time being, I will ask only one question: from the show itself, not fanon, what led you to believe this statement?

“Another kind of causal fallacy is the correlational fallacy also known as cum hoc ergo propter hoc (Lat., ‘with this therefore because of this’). This fallacy happens when you mistakenly interpret two things found together as being causally related.” In your ask, you claim:

“Katara was all over Zuko (honestly, again not being a jerk) in the finale until for whatever reason, she wasn’t. She was giving him a pep talk about Iroh, she was going with him to Azula, she was healing him and saying he saved her not the other way around. I genuinely don’t get why this isn’t seen as romantic.”

I will ask one question: from the show itself, not fanon, why would you believe these are indicative of romance? (Consider the context the show is situated in, too - e.g. the war, Katara being Azula’s only available match in skill, etc.)

The reason I bring up the issue of logical fallacies is again not at all to make you feel bad, anon!! You were simply trying to express your point to me and I greatly appreciate you taking the time to do so. See, your ask actually presents a larger fandom trend:

Misconstruing fanon as canon.

What you have offered to me, anon, are fanon conclusions. To clarify: there is absolutely nothing wrong with fanon. I adore fanon interpretations (an example I have used in the past is Kuzaang - like, I don’t care that there’s no canon basis! I do what I want lmao!), but a line has to be drawn between exploring fanon interpretations and expecting everyone to take that fanon as canon. Again, anon, this is not your fault! It is not any one person’s fault, lmao. It is an issue of fandom as a whole, and all of us fall victim to it.

With that in mind, I will break down the different components of your ask. I will also do my best to be brief - as aforementioned, I and others have analyzed this issue numerous times before, lmao. To avoid confusion, it would be best to read through each or at least most links as they are provided!

Firstly, there are two posts I have made in the past that almost directly answer your overarching question here in this ask. Please read them prior to continuing, as I will occasionally reference them:

This post explains how Zvtara was not built up from TSR/EIP-onwards, and how their supposed “canon enemies to lovers arc” is a completely fanon construction.

This post explains the issue of the “canon Zvtara” rhetoric from rabid zkers (and you, anon, are absolutely NOT one, in case you were worried).

Alrighty. With that out the way, let’s get into it!

“In The Southern Raiders, Katara realizes she has been wrong about Zuko.”

Gotta start by saying that TSR is not about Zuko. TSR is, first and foremost, about Katara. Katara does not realize she was wrong about Zuko, because here’s the truth - she wasn’t wrong about him. Zuko did horrible things to the Gaang. Katara was not wrong to hold him accountable for that. What Katara does realize is that holding such rage so close to her chest is bad for her. This rage was not solely anger against Zuko, either; it was of course about Yon Rha, too, but it was also anger towards Kya and Katara herself. Essentially, TSR is where Katara realizes she has to forgive herself. Zuko is only one part of her journey (similar to Aang’s role in the episode, if a different end of the spectrum).

This post explains how TSR was fundamentally about Katara.

Additional resources about TSR:

This post explains Aang’s comments to Katara in TSR and how Katara herself recognized their validity.

This post explains why both Aang and Zuko were important to Katara in TSR.

This post is an extensive breakdown of Aang and Katara’s relationship within TSR.

“In Ember Island Players, [Katara] realizes Aang is not as mature as she thought he was…”

You provide no context for this claim, so I’m going to work with the assumption this is about their reactions to the play itself and the infamous kiss!

There is something important we must keep in mind when discussing EIP: the play they watch is literally imperialist propaganda. It is meant to demean the entire Gaang, and indeed it does exactly that. You mention Katara and Aang specifically, so I will recap what I have explained before about their depictions in EIP: Katara, an indigenous woman, is hypersexualized and portrayed as overly emotional (and thus “irrational”). This reinforces the Fire Nation sentiment that women of the Water Tribes are less intelligent and less suited for “responsibility” than Fire Nation women. Aang, a pacifist and the sole survivor of genocide who is also canonly the male character most comfortable with femininity and spirituality, is portrayed as a flighty, airheaded woman (this is a well-known imperialist tactic meant to emasculate the target, seeing as masculinity was often equated with power in fascist regimes; thus, they effectively belittled Aang before the FN audience). This reinforces the Fire Nation sentiment that the Air Nomads were foolish, weak people who deserved to die.

In other words, of course Aang and Katara were upset about how they portrayed in the play. It is understandable that tensions would be running high and consequently that mistakes (we all know the one) would be made.

This post explains how EIP belittles each member of the Gaang (and why the play is not indicative of Zvtara).

This post talks specifically about EIP and their portrayal of Aang and Katara.

Now onto the kiss. As everyone knows and no one has ever disagreed with, Aang was wrong to kiss Katara. Point blank!

But what people do misunderstand is Katara and Aang’s feelings regarding the kiss. Given your above quote, I assume you believe Aang kissing Katara supposedly made her realize that Aang wasn’t as mature as she once thought. On the surface, this seems like a logical conclusion! But digging deeper reveals… well, there’s nothing that indicates this conclusion at all. Even jumping ahead to the finale, when Zuko has doubts over Aang’s return, Katara demonstrates her faith in Aang (although of course she’s nervous - I won’t deny the obvious, lmao) as she says, “Aang won’t lose. He’s gonna come back. He has to.”

In other words, nothing in canon suggests that Katara believes Aang is immature because of what happened in EIP. She still trusts in his return, as she did even before she knew him (and arguably is more confident in him now, given the 60~ episodes of them growing closer). Furthermore, when Aang does disappear, Katara doesn’t have an outburst about how “immature” it was for him to “run away again.” The viewers know Aang didn’t run away, of course (fans who insist he did are not worth arguing with, anon - they don’t understand the show, rip), but that is a luxury the rest of the Gaang is not afforded. And yet even though Aang has vanished off the face of the planet, Katara still believes he will save the world. If anything, that signifies the utmost confidence in his skill and maturity!

To go back to the kiss itself, this post explains the true source of Katara’s conflict in turning down Aang (hint: she says it herself in the episode! you know, the whole war going on) and why the EIP kiss did not sink Kataang’s relationship.

Additional sources about EIP:

This post explains how the EIP kiss was resolved through narrative parallels.

This post explains how the EIP kiss is so often blown out of proportion.

“… and in the finale, Katara does not care a whit that Aang is gone. I am serious and as someone who is no Aang stan but likes him, I’m actually annoyed by how little anyone cared about his disappearance. It went from ‘Aang’s gone!’ to ‘Okay whatever, let’s find Iroh so he can kill Ozai.’”

As I already touched upon, Katara didn’t need a soliloquy to emphasize her connection to Aang once he disappeared. She trusts that he will return. She says so herself. I guess I just don’t understand how you got from Point A, Katara has consistent faith in Aang, to Point B, Katara and the rest of the Gaang didn’t care about Aang’s disappearance. It’s honestly a bit more like Point A to Point Z, lmao! If you would like to expand on your logic here, I would love to hear more!!

There are a few specific aspects I want to note about your rationale, though. You argue the Gaang moves from ‘Aang disappeared’ to ‘let’s find Iroh,’ but the Gaang actually went from:

1. Aang disappeared!

2. They search the entire island for him.

3. Okay, they couldn’t find him, so they track down June and have her try to find Aang.

4. June says to them, “No, I mean he’s gone gone. He doesn’t exist.” (And she clarifies to Sokka that she doesn’t mean dead, either - she means Aang has totally blinked out of their world.)

5. Only after all of this do they decide to track down Iroh.

The Gaang cares immensely about the fact that Aang is gone, and you could actually argue they waste time by trying to track him down. They don’t give up until June essentially tells them that some Spirit World shenanigans were involved. Even if you don’t think they reached that specific conclusion, I have to ask: What else were they supposed to do? They were told Aang didn’t exist! How are they supposed to fix that?

Well, they can’t. So they do the next best thing: they find Iroh, the man who knows Ozai better than anyone and is also one of the most talented firebenders in the world. In my opinion, that’s a very logical step to take.

“Katara was all over Zuko (honestly, again not being a jerk) in the finale until for whatever reason, she wasn’t. She was giving him a pep talk about Iroh, she was going with him to Azula, she was healing him and saying he saved her not the other way around. I genuinely don’t get why this isn’t seen as romantic.”

I’ll be blunt here, lol: in my opinion, nothing of what you listed in your ask is inherently romantic.

Okay. I am going to assume you’ve read the first two posts I linked earlier (“Zvtara did not have an E-L arc” and “the ‘canon’ Zvtara of rabid zkers has issues”), because I do not intend to rehash everything they contain, lol. Consequently, I presume you realize by now that there was no canon romantic interest between Zuko and Katara.

And as I always say, just because there wasn’t a canon romance doesn’t mean people can’t take fanon routes! Of course they can! That’s the entire point of fanon! But fanon is not canon, and I am strictly referring to canon in my discussions.

You claim Katara was all over Zuko, which in itself I don’t think is an accurate assessment, because she doesn’t really do anything with Zuko outside the three points you bring up (other than the June gag, which I addressed in one of the aforementioned linked posts). So I’ll go ahead and break down each instance you provide!

1. “[Katara] was giving [Zuko] a pep talk about Iroh”

Katara asked Zuko if he was okay. She asked him if he was genuinely sorry. She reassures him that Iroh will forgive him. That’s… all. Not to diminish the significance of this conversation, but it’s not exactly an intimate, romantically-charged discussion (unless fanon-ized). But on that note, let’s tackle the canon significance of this moment!

Katara knows firsthand the challenge of forgiving Zuko. And she knows that Zuko understands how hard it was for her to forgive him (note: Katara’s anger was totally justified, and anyone who disagrees is probably a rabid Zuko stan lmao). She also recognizes that Zuko is terrified it will take Iroh the same struggle to forgive him that Katara went through. This scene is not related to romance at all. It’s about compassion. It’s about Katara and Zuko’s friendship having progressed, slowly but surely, to the point where she’s not afraid to extend empathy to him anymore (seeing as the first time, beneath Ba Sing Se, did not go so well; you know - Aang died and all). It’s about Zuko recognizing his own fallibility (and the audience recognizing how much he’s grown). He questions how he can even face his uncle after all he’s done to the man, which is a far cry from his entitled attitude in TSR, where he demanded to know why Katara didn’t trust him when everyone else had forgiven him.

To make this moment, this moment about Zuko’s relationship with his uncle who is all but a literal father to him, this moment of vulnerability, of guilt, of remorse, of growth, to claim this powerful moment is about a nonexistent romantic relationship? In my opinion, that is incredibly reductive to what this scene is supposed to signify. And again, there is nothing wrong with people exploring such a possibility in fanon, but in canon? Nah. It doesn’t track.

2. “[Katara] was going with [Zuko] to Azula”

Don’t forget that at first, Zuko planned to take on Azula alone. He doesn’t request Katara to accompany him until Iroh tells him that he’ll need help. As such, Zuko’s immediate agreement with Iroh is reflective of his personal growth (Book 1 and 2 Zuko would have argued and insisted he didn’t need any help). It also demonstrates, however, that Katara was not obsessively on Zuko’s mind. He doesn’t choose Katara until Iroh points out that Zuko will need assistance in taking Azula down. This means that Zuko’s choice of Katara to join him is a tactical decision, not an emotional one. And by all accounts, it’s a damn good decision! Zuko witnessed firsthand beneath Ba Sing Se a) how powerful Katara was (e.g. that wave after Aang died) and b) how Katara was the only one who could take on Azula*.

Of course, besides the fact that Katara was the only match for Azula, who else was Zuko going to choose? Sokka and Suki, while talented in their own right, were no competition for Azula. Toph, while the greatest earthbender in the world, was needed to metalbend the airships. Katara was the only (and the best!) option.

Also, on their trip to face Azula, the only thing they talk about within their three lines of canon conversation are Azula and Aang. Not exactly a romantic flight, lmao.

*Zuko never saw Aang fight Azula on the drill.

3. “[Katara] was healing [Zuko] and saying he saved her not the other way around”

Actually, this is what the transcript says:

Zuko: Thank you, Katara.

Katara: I think I’m the one who should be thanking you.

You’re right about how their lines refer to them saving each other, but you posit it as a romantic moment, when the lines are actually pretty straightforward. Zuko thanks Katara as she heals him from the partially-redirected lightning strike, and Katara thanks him for trying to redirect the lightning away from her and in doing so saving her life. In terms of canon, there’s nothing romantic about this, lol! (Which I talked about extensively in the E-L post, if you need to reference it again.) The reason being is that you have to take the show itself into context when you do analysis. If there was no canon romantic buildup between Zuko and Katara, why would these lines in canon (not fanon! fanon is free rein, lmao) be interpreted through a romantic lens?

Well, they wouldn’t be interpreted as such. Plain and simple.

“I genuinely don’t get why this isn’t seen as romantic.”

Because looking through a canon lens, they aren’t romantic. That’s all. You are of course welcome to view them as such through a fanon lens!! It’s just about recognizing the line between canon and fanon.

“I will grant you that Zuko would not have allowed Azula to kill anyone but I feel the point here was Zuko realizing his life was pointless if Katara was killed.”

I asked earlier what content in the show itself led you to believe. I have wracked my own mind, and I cannot think of anything that would point to this conclusion. Zuko was in Katara’s good graces for 5 episodes. That’s 8% of the show. Not exactly a lot of time for Zuko to start believing his life would be pointless if Katara was killed, is it?

This post explains the improbability of Zuko having a crush on Katara within canon.

This post explains how Zuko’s racism towards the Air Nomads in TSR and the finale is, well, exactly that - racism (and not a sign of a crush on Katara).

And, of course, as has been said a million times, Zuko taking the lightning for Katara out of romantic interest would completely undermine his redemption arc. Since it has been said over and over and over, I will be brief: Zuko taking the lightning is significant because it is a selfless act (one of his only in the series), and it directly parallels his selfish act of choosing not to intervene when Azula killed Aang with lightning beneath Ba Sing Se. This moment demonstrates Zuko’s growth, how he has learned to accept unconditional love from Iroh and the Gaang and Mai and even Ty Lee and sure, even from Appa and Momo, too. To make this moment of pure selflessness about a nonexistent romance? To force a fanon romance in replacement of canon redemption and canon platonic significance?

Such a decision speaks wonders about a person’s priorities, in my opinion, as well as how amatonormativity impacts them.

Furthermore, Zuko’s choice cements Katara’s position as his surrogate sibling, as she is Azula’s primary foil. Zuko chooses the sister who heals over the sister who harms. I won’t go too much into it here, because it has already been talked about extensively before! Thus, I offer you this post that explains how Zuko and Katara - in canon - are positioned as surrogate siblings as well as Azula’s role in this matter. I also offer this post that lays out through screencaps how Zuko and Katara - in canon - treat each other like family.

Additional sources about the final Agni Kai:

This post in part discusses fanon misinterpretation of the final Agni Kai and why such a lens is not true to canon relationships.

This post explains why the final Agni Kai is not intended to be romantic.

This post explains how the final Agni Kai is primarily about Azula and how reducing it to be a big Zvtara moment is detrimental to both her and to Zuko and Katara themselves.

“And then literally at the end, Mai shows up after Zuko not talking about her at all for six episodes and declares herself Zuko’s girlfriend.”

This point could probably get a post of its own, lol, but fortunately I and others have already written a few! I will link them below - first, however, I question your choice of “declares.” Technically, yes, Mai does say outright that it doesn’t hurt how the new Fire Lord is her boyfriend, but your phrasing implies Zuko resisted her proclamation. When… he doesn’t. In fact, he embraces it, asking if that means she doesn’t hate him anymore (read: he asks if they’re back on good terms again). Zuko clearly doesn’t have a problem with the girl he loves wanting to be with him again - so why do some parts of fandom so adamantly insist he does? (Not you, anon - I am referring to the rabid fanoners, lol.)

Also, regarding how Zuko hasn’t talked about Mai for six episodes, we’ve gotta be realistic with this assessment in terms of canon:

1. It was the crux of the war. They were either going to live or die. There was no time for romance at this point! Sokka and Suki weren’t professing their love on the battlefield, lmao, so it’s not exactly strange that Zuko didn’t bust into a monologue about how he missed Mai. I think they were just a little bit distracted by the possible end of the world, lol, and all that jazz.

2. Zuko probably thought Mai was dead. He knows what Azula is like. He knows his sister doesn’t have time for people who get in her way (Aang can testify to this, lmao). So can you blame him for not wanting to think about how the girl he loved had died (to his knowledge) to save him?

You gotta cut the kid some slack, lol. Anyways! Additional sources about Maiko:

This post breaks down the notion of Maiko and “deserve.”

This post rationalizes through a canon lens why Mai’s arrival at the palace surprised Zuko.

This post is the mother of Maiko metas, explaining in tremendous detail why their relationships works, is relevant to canon, and was well-implemented for what its role was.

“And Katara kisses Aang after being annoyed with and by him arguably since The Southern Raiders.”

What in canon has led you to the conclusion that Katara was annoyed with Aang? What specific moments from TSR to the finale made you think Katara was annoyed with Aang and remained annoyed with Aang? Are there any, or are you thinking about fanon interpretation? (Canon vs fanon strikes again!)

In TSR, Katara explicitly thanks Aang for understanding her perspective. Nothing there is indicative of annoyance (and as in the links provided earlier, she was not angry at Aang/Zuko/etc. so much as she was at herself. well, she was a little bit angry with Zuko, lmao). In EIP, Katara is understandably angry at Aang’s decision to kiss her, but Aang completely backs off, and we see in the part 1 of the finale that there are no hard feelings or weird tension between them. Katara in fact actively expresses concern for Aang after Zuko sporadically attacked him when she demands of the firebender, “What’s wrong with you? You could have hurt Aang!” Even when Aang and Katara do butt heads later in the episode as Aang tries to think of a way to defeat Ozai without killing him, Katara doesn’t stay frustrated. Like I said - when she and Zuko are flying to Azula, she demonstrates her unwavering faith in Aang through her belief that he will return. So… where is the annoyance that you feel was present?

With all this mind, i.e. looking strictly at canon, Katara wasn’t annoyed with Aang during this time. Thus, Katara kisses Aang because she loved him. Because he backed off and gave her the space she needed to make a decision about if she wanted to be with him (hence Katara being the one to initiate the kiss). Because the issue was never about if she reciprocated his feelings (they both knew they loved each other) but rather it had to do with the war. At the end of the finale, the war is over, and there is nothing that prevents them from being together. Simple.

This post explains how Katara’s feelings for Aang develop throughout the series (and were not neglected, as rabid zkers like to claim, for some reason? again - you are not one of them, anon).

This post also covers Katara’s interest in Aang throughout the series.

“I can’t understand why Kataang shippers are okay with such a crap story.”

I mean, you definitely don’t have to ship Kataang. It may not be your cup of tea, and that’s totally okay! But as the above links demonstrate, Kataang was a fantastic story. It was well-implemented into the narrative from Day 1. The soulmateism is unparalleled!

Also, it’s worth noting that A:TLA itself was essentially pre-written. The writers knew how the story would end from the get-go, including that the show would end with Kataang. A few Zvtara gags were thrown in to add a sense of “who will Katara choose?” drama as the show aired, but Zuko and Katara were never planned to end up together. One reason so many newer fans are fine with Kataang from the start is that there’s no tension of waiting a week for a new episode when you can watch all 61 episodes straight through on Netflix, lmao. It’s even more obvious now than when A:TLA was airing that Aang and Katara will end up together, if that makes sense. (Although I talked about this in the E-L post linked earlier, so you probably understand this point already, as it was explained in detail there!)

All of this is to say that Kataang is not a “crap story” in terms of writing (again, personal taste is a different matter) because it was woven in from the beginning and had powerful narrative significance! (Kataang represented numerous complementary components of the series, such as yin and yang, push and pull, air and water, Oma and Shu, etc.)

Now. If you really and truly want to understand why Kataang shippers like Kataang, anon, consider reading some Kataang fanfics or exploring some Kataang headcanons. I read fics involving Zvtara more regularly than you might think, lol, because… well, it’s just a ship. I understand the appeal of romantic Zvtara and I can actually appreciate it when it’s well-written! I’m sure if you’re willing to put in just a little legwork (you don’t need to go the whole mile, lmao - ‘tis just fandom), you’ll realize why people like Kataang, even if it isn’t exactly your thing. You have the range, anon!! You got this!

I hope I managed to answer your questions, my friend! As always, you do not have to agree with anything I have said here. It is totally fine if you and anyone else disagrees! Everything above is simply my own perspective on the matter. Thank you for taking the time to read my response and all the different links I provided! I hope it has expanded your understanding of the subject at hand!

[minkmousesworld]

Hi! could i request a omega Daki x Alpha reader smutty were reader is just incredibly protective of Daki and sometimes loses it but Daki both loves the attention and loves that she can actually calm the reader down?

by @gayforthem

Hello! Thank you very much for the request, and don't forget to drink water!

enjoy reading~❤️

Omegaverse AU: omega! Daki x alpha! Reader [NSFW🔞]

"Your"

warnings: modern au, kinda dark omegaverse (mention of murder), heavy petting (masturbation), mention of oral sex, mention of marking.

omega fem character x alpha (aggressive) gender neutral reader

Daki was popular.

Sometimes it felt as if every time she walked into a room, everyone stopped doing their own thing to look at her.

Daki was a bright and damn attractive omega, and she knew it. With all her bright makeup, elegant clothes, and arrogant, warm smile.

And with that cute expression she made whenever someone (usually a "fan") bothered her, but not enough to make her really angry.

She waved at them sweetly and wrapped her arms around your arm, throwing eloquent glances at your face without even looking back.

Daki lived for your reaction.

Nothing too rude — she was satisfied with your irritated face when someone clung to her, or the ostentatious indifference when another alpha tried to "seduce" her (as if they could hope for something), or the cold when someone asked if you were her alpha.

As if the mark on her neck wasn't a telling enough sign. Or that she didn't leave your side.

Or the way you looked at everyone who bothered her.

"Don't touch her"

Daki watched curiously as you tightly gripped the other alpha's hand and gently held her to you. Not that she enjoys your jealousy...

Well, she enjoyed your jealousy.

"Touch her again", you gripped the other's hand even tighter, "and I'll chew out your too-long arms, as well as your brain, which apparently isn't there. Got it?"

You're not exactly aggressive.

If you were an unbalanced type of alpha, you wouldn't be able to be a couple with her for so long.

You were just annoyed when others touched your omega.

Even if she could protect herself.

"You shouldn't have been so aggressive", Daki later whispers seductively, clinging to your clothes as you stand in a dark corner of the club, out of the bright artificial light. "Everyone knows I'm your omega. They wouldn't dare claim me"

Everyone knows you're her alpha. Only for some reason they ignore it.

Probably because if an omega smells like an alpha, it's not a sign that the omega is "marking"

What an abomination.

You looked seriously at your girlfriend, who cocked her head to one side, hanging on your every word.

So cute when she's not trying to play on your instincts.

"I'm not acting this way because of aggression against another alpha. I'm acting like this because no one can touch you without permission... Do you understand? Nobody. Even me"

If you weren't in public, Daki would purr like an affectionate cat. You have already seen, even through the gloom, how contentedly she smiled.

The color of your favorite lipstick glistened in the faint light from the dance floor.

"And if anyone does that, or otherwise interferes with you, I officially declare that I will bite their throat out"

"And if they looks?"

"I'll suck their eyes out of their sockets. Don't underestimate me, babydoll"

Daki lifts up to kiss you on the lips, wrapping her fingers around your neck. More likely to strangle than let go.

When she pulls away, the light is surprisingly reflected in her amorous eyes. Running her hand through your hair, she gently touches it, smiling coquettishly.

"Never♡"

This corner seems to be getting too lit up. And crowded. Sometimes your girlfriend's popularity is a little tiring.

Daki falls silent, relaxing in a warm embrace, unusually silent and thoughtful. you look below out of habit, expecting to see a white collar preventing a mark, but instead you see a bare neck with half a necklace hanging from it.

The other part is hanging around your neck.

"It's getting late", you gently wrap your arms around Daki's waist, which is easy to handle, though knowing her by day she would try to playfully pull away. "And not safe for cute, sleepy omegas. Let's go home"

"Is it really that unsafe to have their strong and brave alphas around?" Daki responded playfully, smiling. "Let me see... no?♡"

"Daki..."

The girl responded with a shrug and a flirtatious wink, squeezing your hand.

"Convince me that we need to go home"

At least she's never boring.

"Safer at home?"

"No, more boring at home! But what about the people? Dancing? Communication?"

You took a deep breath, and omega just giggled.

"Can we cuddle at home?"

"... perhaps..."

"At home, we'll watch some TV shows and relax?"

Daki averted her brooding gaze, pausing before looking at you coquettishly, smiling.

"Okay, we can go home if you don't like clubs so much..."

👑🌟

The walk home was quieter than you originally thought.

"Daki, don't run on the ice, you'll fall"

"Daki, your lips are blue. Maybe you'd better wear my clothes?"

"Daki, hold on to me, please. It's safer and warmer"

"[Y/n], I'm not a little girl!"

"Of course not"

In the end, Daki agreed to hide in your clothes, and "led the way" while you slowly followed her, trying not to step on her feet.

You walked in silence, which was interrupted only by short questions "are we going there for sure?" and "yes, I know, I know!". Daki gave you long looks from time to time, the meaning of which you did not understand, but decided not to ask, guessing what thoughts appeared in her head.

"Don't leave my side, dear. I've heard that there are aggressive dogs here"

"Like I might want to get away from my warm alpha, mmm"

👑🌟

It was much more comfortable at home than at the club. There were no bright lights, no strange smells, no annoying alphas that you would love to chew through an artery if they came after your omega again.

What a joy that the law does not regulate this issue in any way.

Like the question of killing alphas by omegas when they want to abuse an omega.

You looked at Daki, who, in her favorite pink sweater (your birthday present, before you even thought about starting a relationship), was looking for something interesting in a box of CDs, her head pressed against your shoulder. Bending her legs in only short socks, Daki spent a long time sorting through the disks, dissatisfied with throwing unnecessary ones.

"How about we watch this?" there was a disk in front of your face that you didn't recognize. "Something romantic... or a melodrama... Just right for this evening!"

👑🌟

The film was not bad. Not too original, but atmospheric. With songs, winter and "Christmas miracle".

Putting your arm around Daki's waist, you pressed your lips to the mark, not being too interested in the plot. Daki gave you playful glances, but to the last played hard to get, ignoring your courtship.

After kissing her neck, you slowly put your hand on her knee, watching her reactions. Daki only snuggled closer to you, giggling for a moment as you gently ran your fingers along her thigh before returning to the film, "ignoring" you.

However, it definitely became harder for her to ignore you as your fingers gently traced the inside of her thigh, very close to her panties.

A slight blush appeared on her face.

Bringing her legs together and holding your hand between her thighs, Daki gave you a hot look before tilting her head forward, submissively baring the neck you pressed your lips to.

Daki hated it when you bit her.

👑🌟

Even after the credits ended, you continued to sit, using the light from the black, unplugged screen.

You felt very warm from the warmth of your girlfriend and the faint, sweet smell that made you feel a little dizzy. Daki, on the other hand, was much less sleepy — although she didn't stop fidgeting all through the movie, squeezing your hand, and now she was breathing heavily, digging her nails into your hands, but she was silent, thinking about something.

The pain was mild and bearable, but unpleasant.

Suddenly getting out, Daki pulled you towards her, once again starting to smile coquettishly, hinting at a surprise.

And when her back hit the floor, she grabbed the sweater and pulled it up. Smiling cheekily, she raised an eyebrow at your reaction.

"Isn't that what you wanted, my love? Watch a movie and relax? Your omega is ready for anything♡"

It was hard to deny that now, lying under you, with her cheeks so rosy and her expression so confident, she didn't look... attractive.

Very attractive.

"And? Why are you only looking? My breasts are waiting♡"

And grabbing your head, Daki confidently placed it on her chest while continuing to smile cheekily. One hand clutching the clothes on your back, the other she placed on your head, stroking, watching you.

Daki has always been a warm body, but you doubted that now you will want to fall asleep again. Although, her breasts were a great place to sleep — soft, with large, pink nipples that she once wanted to pierce.

Some pink jewelry would look great. In addition, you could play with the piercing — wrap your lips and gently pull. Or, if it's rings, you could come up with something about light chains.

Considering how masochistic Daki was, she would have liked that. As long as you don't tell her to obey you outside of bed.

"Hey, [Y/n]?" whispered Daki, continuing to stroke your hair as you gently played with her breasts, squeezing and rubbing to hear her moan, "I love you"

You stopped, looking from her breasts to your girlfriend.

"What are you looking at?" said Daki excitedly, still patting you on the head. "I mean... look, even if you threaten to hit the other alphas, or, you know, kill them, I appreciate it. I know I'm acting like I don't like it, but I don't. It's kind of nice"

You were still looking at your girlfriend, which made her even more embarrassed.

"Okay! Good! It turns me on when you act like a bossy alpha! All right?! Stop staring like that! This is normal for omega!"

Grabbing the nipple, you pulled slightly, causing Daki to suddenly moan, spreading her legs for you.

You immediately moved your hand lower, gently stimulating through the thin, already wet panties, to which Daki abruptly squeezed your hair, trying to grip your hand tighter.

You pressed harder, indulging your girlfriend, moving your fingers more roughly, as if you were trying to tear your panties and get inside.

But your pressure was interrupted by Daki, pulling you and aggressively kissing you on the lips, not allowing you to pull away, with the second hand trying to caress you to those places that she could reach.

She swung her leg over your hip and pulled you back, panting and shivering.

"I love you too, my Queen"

It was even wetter between her legs, and the completely wet panties made it easier for you to slide over her labia, but prevented her from having an orgasm. Even the faint touch of her clit, though it sent a shiver of pleasure through her body, only made her tease harder.

"Damn it, just rip it off me already!" she whispered, trying to kiss you again, "or I'm about to bring myself to orgasm"

"Who can make you better than yourself?"

"Damn, I hate you!"

👑🌟

There was something cute about how red Daki was, biting the edge of her sweater and masturbating in front of you.

With ringing, squelching sounds, then penetrating inside with her fingers, caressing herself from the inside, then taking them out, stroking her labia, she purred charmingly while you stimulated her wet clit.

The performance, consisting of her reaction and sounds, was delightful.

Arching, she trembled, her mouth open and her legs clenched sharply, blocking your view. You only began to caress more slowly, feeling a strong tremor, continuing until she again spread her legs.

Slipping down to you, Daki clung trustingly to your shoulder, wet and shivering.

"You see", you began gently, massaging the girl's back, "you're doing just fine on your own, like a big girl"

The bite on the shoulder looked more like a symbol of embarrassment and indignation than defiance. Especially with that sweet, red face she tried to hide from you.

"Shut up", Daki said, catching her breath. "Shut up and get on the couch. And take off your clothes. We're not done yet"

"Oops?"

"My mouth isn't just made to rip out your opponents' throats and bite you if you didn't know it"

[spicycreativity]

Intertwined - Chapter 4

Chapter: 4/8

Additional Notes: My AO3, WizardGlick, is 3 chapters ahead on this. Critical thinking exercise: Read the following Twin Peaks quote and consider how it related to Intertwined and to post-PoF as a whole:

WINDOM EARLE: What do you fear most in the world?

MAJOR BRIGGS: The possibility that love is not enough.

Chapter Content Warnings: Again, it's a hanahaki fic.

Excerpt: "Here's what I want you to do," Janus said, and his voice was surprisingly tender given the hard look on his face. "Cook for yourself. Don't make something you can take to the others later. Don't make something to share with me. I'm giving you a free pass to be selfish."

Yesterday, Patton supposed, could have gone worse. He had haunted the kitchen after his departure from Janus, begging the mindscape for some sort of hint. Like the answer to all their troubles was lurking in Thomas’ subconscious, just out of reach.

When morning came, he returned to Roman and Logan's rooms, was again rebuffed, and so floated back to the kitchen, made himself some coffee, and sat down at the counter. Again, he reached out with his mind for some kind of reassurance. He had to fix this. There had to be something he could do.

A 5,000 piece puzzle appeared in front of Patton. The image on the box was that of dogs playing poker, captioned A Friend in Need. The subconscious was funny sometimes, in a way that made Patton feel kind of sick and hollow. He opened the box and shook the puzzle pieces put onto the counter. It was a way to pass the time, at least.

A few hours crawled by. Patton’s hands began to shake from the caffeine, and he knew he should eat something, but… It almost didn’t seem worth the effort. He was happy to cook for his fam-ILY, but, when it was just him, what was the point? He put down another edge piece and flinched at the sudden appearance of Virgil in front of the coffee pot. Virgil had made himself scarce after yesterday’s meeting, only reappearing to turn down Patton’s offer of dinner. Patton couldn’t even blame him. How terrible, to wake up after a bad day and find your friends inconsolable and enemies at your door.

“Hi,” Patton said. Finding faux-happiness out of reach, he settled for ‘not completely miserable’ instead.

“Did you eat?” Virgil asked, pouring coffee into a purple mug decorated with this logo.

Patton saw no reason to lie, not about this. “Not yet. I got a little distracted.”

“Mm-hm,” said Virgil.

“Listen,” Patton said, already getting up to make toast. “Are you okay?”

Virgil shrugged and opened up another cabinet. “Want some orange juice?”

"Um, sure." Patton got out the bread and popped a few slices into the toaster. "Thank you."

"No prob." Virgil stood on his toes and got down two glasses, pivoted to the fridge for the orange juice.

"It's just," Patton said, "You don’t seem very upset?" It wasn't that Virgil was necessarily acting upbeat , but… Well, Patton had been expecting something more intense than Virgil's baseline levels of casualty.

"I am," Virgil said. "But I also want orange juice."

"Oh." Patton fell silent. His own feelings were so big and loud in his head they didn't really leave room for anything else. In the light of everything that had happened, Virgil's response felt cold. Patton had half a mind to tell him so, except that… Well, he had no room to talk about 'proper' emotional responses to things. If this was how Virgil wanted to navigate the situation, that was his right. "Did you talk to Roman yesterday?"

"Sorta." Virgil put the orange juice back, scooted a glass to Patton, and took a seat on the counter. "He said he wasn't ready to talk, but might be soon."

"To you?"

"Yeah." Virgil's expression was cloudy. "To me."

"That's a lot," Patton said, treading cautiously. "Is there anything you want to talk about?"

Virgil's knuckles went white around his glass, so much that Patton was worried he might break it. "Oh, there's plenty I want to say," he said darkly. "To you and to-- to him."

"Janus," Patton said, feeling it important, somehow, to say his name.

"Yeah. To Janus."

"You can," Patton said. "To me. I won't get mad."

"I just don't understand!" Virgil said, the words exploding from his chest. "What did he say to you to make you trust him? After everything he did to Roman, to you, to Thomas! What did he say?" It was almost a plea, "What did he say?"

"I already told you, kiddo," Patton said, poking at the water droplets collecting on the side of his glass, unable to remember that they were called. Logan would know. "I made a choice to trust him."

"But why ?"

"I don't know, I just-- I felt something. I don't know if I can explain it in a way you can understand. I just got it. I understood what it was all for. "

"So, what, he just gets a free pass for treating us all like crap? Just gets to talk his way out of consequences?"

"Well, no." Patton kicked the toes of his loafers against the molding under the counter. "But I don't know that it would do any good to… punish him? Be cold, be mean, yell at him. What's done is done. I'm not asking you to forgive him."

"Good, 'cause I don't."

"But I also need you to understand that I made my choice and I'm committing to it. I…" Patton smiled sadly, gazing at the countertop without really seeing it. "I gave my word, in a way."

"Fine," Virgil growled. "But if he hurts you, if he does what he did to Roman and Logan, I swear, I swear--" Patton covered his ears briefly and Virgil seemed to get the message. "Well. I'll avenge you."

"Thanks, Virgil." Patton smiled again, happier this time, and looked Virgil in the face. It really wasn't all that long ago that he had thought of Virgil as an enemy. And now look at them. "I'm proud of you, you know."

"You are?"

"Of course I am! You've been a really good friend to, to all of us. And I'm so happy--"

"Stop," Virgil said, pulling up his hood. "Stop, stop, stop."

"Aw, did I make you blush?" Patton teased.

"Yeah," Virgil said, his voice breaking on that one syllable. He cleared his throat. "Let's not-- I'm gonna--"

"Is something wrong?" Patton asked, already reaching out for a hug. Virgil couldn't see him with his face buried in his hood, so Patton stopped short and let his arms fall to his sides.

"I just, uh." Virgil took a deep breath and let it out in a huff, swept his hood back with a jerky motion. "Sometimes I don't feel like I deserve all this."

"Oh, kiddo, of course you do!" Patton said, again holding out his arms for a hug. Virgil instead held out his hand, and Patton took it in his own, determined to communicate all the love and devotion he could through that simple contact. He smiled at the matching weave of their friendship bracelets, smiled at the memory of sitting side-by-side with Virgil as they both struggled with five-strand braids.

Virgil nodded, and his breathing was still shaky and spastic when he said, "I'm gonna go-- I'm not going off to cry all by myself, if, uh, if you're worried about that. I just need… Uh. Yeah."

Patton nodded, hurriedly snatching the half-cooked toast from the toaster and imagining it smeared with Crofter’s and butter, arranged neatly on a plate. "Okay!" He said with false cheer, passing the plate to Virgil. "Come get me if you need anything! Maybe we can watch Ghost Adventures tonight."

"Sounds good," Virgil said, slightly muffled around his hand, as he was chewing at his thumbnail. "Later." He sank out.

Patton sighed and stared at their untouched orange juice glasses. Even when he was trying to fix things, he made people upset.

A drop of water slid down the side of Virgil's glass, pooled on the countertop. Patton stared at it as another followed.

What did it truly mean to deserve something, anyway? It was something Janus would probably have an opinion on. He seemed to have opinions on most things. Maybe Patton could ask him in a bit.

“Did you need me for something?

Oh, okay, or Patton could ask him now. He turned, unsmiling to Janus. It wasn’t that he wasn’t cheered by Janus’ presence, but that he had no reason to lie. Janus had made it abundantly clear that he wasn't depending on Patton for anything. “Sorry,” he said, embarrassed. “I didn’t mean to steal you.”

“No harm, no foul,” Janus said, and sighed so heavily his breath displaced a few puzzle pieces. “As you can see, I was hard at work.” Despite this claim, he wore a hard, annoyed expression and Patton remembered with a sinking feeling in his stomach that he was dealing with a liar. "Did you need help with your puzzle?" Janus asked.

Just like that, Patton's heart leapt. "You'll stay?"

Janus shrugged. "I suppose I can clear a space in my schedule."

Patton stood to get him some coffee. The pot was empty, but it was simple enough to imagine it full again. Ordinarily, he disliked the laziness of misusing Thomas' imagination, but he couldn't deny that it was convenient sometimes. He could tell he was on the brink of annoying Janus (somehow) and didn't want to risk pushing him over the edge. "Have you eaten?"

"Have you?" Janus asked, side-eyeing the remaining slices of toast sitting in the toaster. Patton had forgotten all about them.

"I guess it slipped my mind," Patton turned around and set a coffee mug on the counter in front of Janus, then rounded it to sit down again. He tried not to notice that Janus had scooted his chair away from Patton's, that he leaned on his elbow so they were even farther apart.

"Hm," said Janus, making a face. He didn't push it, and Patton was grateful for that. "Oh, and thank you."

"Of course," Patton said.

He watched Janus for a moment. He handled the puzzle pieces with difficulty, his gloves impeding his ability to pick them up. When he realized he was staring, he turned away and started fitting more edge pieces into place.

He couldn't decide if the quiet was pleasant or awkward. It was kind of nice, kind of domestic, sitting here with Janus, but he couldn't help but feel a kind of tension in the air.

Then Janus turned away and started coughing. Patton reached out to put a hand on his back, caught himself, pulled away. The deep, jagged sound made him cringe. He was no stranger to coughing fits, none of them were, brought on by Thomas' cat allergy. But this had come out of nowhere.

"You okay?" Patton asked when Janus resurfaced. Maybe he was just projecting, but he thought Janus looked a little pale on his human side.

"It's warmer today, isn't it?" Janus said, not looking at Patton.

"Huh?"

"It's not as cold. Roman seems to have gotten ahold of himself somewhat."

"Um, yeah, I guess." Patton furrowed his brow, trying to get a good look at Janus. "But Janus, are you okay?"

"Fine," said Janus. "Just inhaled some coffee, that's all."

But his hands shook as he slid a blue puzzle piece down the counter, and Patton was already halfway out of his seat before he even realized what he was doing. "You know, I think I will make breakfast."

"A little late now," Janus said. "By the way, did you really call me all the way down here just to work on a puzzle?"

"So brunch, then," Patton said. "And to be honest, no."

"Oh, do be honest," Janus said, leaning against the counter and resting his chin in his palm.

But Patton's priorities had shifted beyond philosophical debate. He had to take care of Janus now, get him comfortable, get him honest. He had to. "It's not important anymore."

"Hm," said Janus. He cleared his throat quietly, winced. "Well, now I'm not curious at all."

"It's okay," Patton said, trying for a reassuring smile. "We can talk about it later." He spun around, trying to decide what to make. Toast sounded wholly unappealing now, and he should choose something that would be easy on Janus' throat--

"Don't think I don't know what you're doing, by the way," Janus said.

"Making brunch?" Patton said with faux-innocence.

"Mm-hm. And what did you have in mind?"

"Soup."

"Patton," Janus said in a chastising tone. "I don't need you to take care of me. I need you to take care of you."

"That cough sounded like it hurt," Patton said, defeated.

Janus sat back and spread his arms out as though to show himself to Patton. "It did. It went away on its own. I'm fine."

Patton wasn't sure what to say to that. He scratched at his friendship bracelets, embarrassed. "Oh."

"Here's what I want you to do," Janus said, and his voice was surprisingly tender given the hard look on his face. "Cook for yourself. Don't make something you can take to the others later. Don't make something to share with me. I'm giving you a free pass to be selfish."

"But that's wrong!" Patton said reflexively. He regretted it as soon as the words were out of his mouth, but it wasn't like he could take them back. "Not for you," he hastened to explain. "That's your job. But me?"

"I can't very well be selfish for you," Janus said. He seemed annoyed, digging his fingers into both sides of his midriff in a way that looked decidedly painful. "Just try it. It won't be the end of the world."

And Patton wanted to. He didn't want to let Janus down, but… Where did it end? Where did it stop?

"Patton," Janus said. "I can see you catastrophizing."

"Sorry," said Patton, feeling close to tears. "Sorry, sorry, sorry. I just… I don't know who I am or what I want or if I'm even allowed to want."

"Breakfast, Patton. That's all. One little thing."

"Okay," Patton took a deep breath. Calm down. Make food. He could do that.

"There's nothing else," Janus said. "Just us, right now. Just this room. No consequences."

"Okay," Patton said. Cinnamon rolls. He wanted mini cinnamon rolls.

"Good," said Janus. "You're okay." He cleared his throat again, coughed a little behind closed lips. Patton forced himself not to notice, knowing that it would make Janus annoyed if he pointed it out or tried to help.

"I hope so," Patton muttered, half to himself, as he got his ingredients together. A phrase popped into his head and he shouted it out impulsively, "Mise en place!"

"Bless you?" Janus said, raising an eyebrow.

"No, no." Patton smiled. "Getting all your ingredients together. Mise en place."

"Ah," said Janus. He smiled too, his human eye crinkling at the corner. Patton almost sighed at the sight. Janus seemed to hold himself above human standards sometimes. He presented himself as something cold and pure, unbreakable and untouchable and utterly perfect. There was something so beautiful about seeing him step down from the pedestal. Janus seemed to notice Patton staring and turned away, surprisingly demure. "How about some music?"

A turntable appeared on the counter, spinning something inoffensive and charmingly lo-fi. "That's nice," Patton said. He didn't recognize the artist, but it didn't really matter. The music seemed to slide into the cracks of their conversation, filling out the empty spaces and projecting calm throughout the kitchen.

So Patton made cinnamon rolls and Janus worked on the puzzle while he sipped his coffee, and they both pretended not to notice the ragged coughs that Janus couldn't bury under the music no matter how hard he tried.

[smilingperformer]

Discussing the good and bad of Pokémon Journeys: Part “Chloe”

Time to discuss about the character that is still keeping me on board with watching Pokémon (2019)/Journeys despite having, cough, some issues with it. Let's talk about Chloe, also known as Koharu.

TLDR; I like how Koharu is handled so far, even if I somewhat wish there was more of her, and I believe I know what the intention with her is, and that is to show that the journey to finding your dream goal can be an exciting one and with possible obstacles on the way towards it. More under the cut, Journeys abverted as JN.

So. Let's start with how I became to like her character the moment JN002 aired, but also how her debut in JN001 has become interesting part of how Koharu used to love Pokémon, but then grew out of it. Which to me, reminds of people who grew with playing Pokémon games, cards, etc, but then as they got older, they grew out of it.

Anyway, as we all probably remember, both Gou and Koharu attended the Okido Camp as kids, where BOTH of the eventually meet Mew. From the very beginning, we're let known that Koharu is a daughter of a promising Professor Sakuragi, who's acquainted with Okido.

And we're also let known that the two are friends from before the camp, and I assume their games at Sakuragi's Lab involved playing as Pokémon or other stuff. She most definitely loved Pokémon and her dad's work back then.

But then when we fastforward to the present day as Satoshi, Gou and Koharu are all 10 years old, we see that this attitude has changed in Koharu. She's no longer interested in Pokémon that much, and the only Pokémon she accepts near her is their family 'mon Wanpachi. For me, this was very interesting approach, even if the "not interested in Pokémon" was done before with May/Haruka back in Advanced Generation series.

Even with this interesting approach, she was a side/supporting cast instead of main cast, which honestly felt weird to me as she definitely had a story to tell. But as I've been watching other shows lately, I kinda came to realise her approach reminds me of mid-season additions to cast, even thou her appearances nowdays are just a BIT more frequent, when before her joining the Research Fellows, she appear very seldomly.

Anyway. In JN011 we finally learn that, she pretty much has issues with people's expectations and how everyone assumes her to be very much involved with Pokémon just because of her dad's work. Truly, this would end up affecting her affection towards Pokémon, thou it's possibly not the whole reason for losing interest. She even admits here she's not sure of what she truly wants to do yet.

It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of goal finding journeys, as they are very relatable to me as someone who took 20+ years to find out what I truly want to do for living, so Koharu wanting to find something instead of other people deciding it for her is very good lesson.

So what exactly is the approach with Koharu from this ep forward? Showing her see Pokémon in different, totally new lights, figuratively speaking. She's shown to take care of a Pidove who broke its wing in a runaway flight, helped her lil brother Sota's friend, Nami, attend to a small children's Contest, and went to a Fossil Exhibition with Satoshi and Gou to learn about fossils. And I feel like that, this fossil exhibition event is what truly rekindled Koharu's interest in Pokémon again. As we all remember, she truly enjoyed that trip, and she, for the first time, got to see Gou bond with a Pokémon, that was rampaging just moments ago. And this episode, accompanied with JN050, are why I am currently thinking Koharu's end goal will end up being related to fossils. It certainy would be an interesting approach for a female cast character, and I wouldn't mind her having a chat with some other character who's also involved in researching fossils... (cough Gary/Shigeru cough)

Anyway. All of this seemingly lead up to Koharu finally meeting her very apparent soul mate: Eevee. I know, that most people were somewhat (or even totally) annoyed by the fact that yet another pokegirl receives Eevee as their Pokémon, and that this is just boring. While I understand the sentiment, considering Koharu's character: Eevee is the only Pokémon that actually fits her. Koharu is out there still figuring out what she wants to be. What she wants to do. And Eevee is the most relatable Pokémon for that kind of character: Eevee can become eight, and I repeat, eight, different evolutions. That's pretty much the same as having different paths to choose from when deciding your goal. And this specific Eevee has also not yet decided what it wants to do. It refuses to evolve. While in-game one could say this is because of the g-max factor, I highly believe this is purely done for the purpose of making Koharu and Eevee relate on a very, very personal level. So instead of Eevee having the g-max factor disabling the evolution (because let's face it, it's only done so people won't accidentally evolve their Gigantamax Eevee), Eevee is kind of, constantly pressing the B button to prevent it.

Now: what has Eevee exactly given to Koharu's character? A lot actually. When before Koharu would try to deny interest in something or try to say she has something else to do instead of a trip, Eevee is there to push her forward to try things out.

Like in JN050, Koharu is trying to priotize her School instead of a Fossil trip to Galar, but thanks to Eevee, who wants to go, Koharu gets the needed push to go and try out new stuff. I very much adored this scene in this episode, due to encouraging the "try out new things" approach in life. From this point forward, we then see Koharu join in on other trips like the Diglett Farm (where she definitely shined in team leading and got to experience the farming and team leader approach) and the Glimwood Tangle trip, that Koharu herself prompted to her dad and the boys, instead of being asked to join. Which reminds me of something else btw.

While Gou is shown to be very knowledged with Pokémon, Koharu is shown to know more about other fields like how plants grows, and what kind of soil is good. This is from either school lessons or from her experience with taking care of the school flowers. She could possibly be considered a good student, and btw, I very much like the approach of not making her a school dropout once she started joining in on research trips, and instead takes homework to accomodate the fact that she's missing out on lessons. This isn't unusual in real life, so I'm glad JN is actually showcasing this approach with both Koharu and Gou. Thou with Gou, he's pretty much always absent, haha.

Now, her latest episode with Kikuna was an interesting one. While Koharu's main point in the episode was kind of to be the angel of love for Kikuna (which failed horribly, love you Kikuna <333 ), I'd say there was another reason for her being in that episode with Kikuna: it was to let her learn of the possibility of meeting possible pitfalls in one's dream goals. That lesson was in Kikuna's story about how she almost gave up in becoming a researcher due to a mess up with an important presentation for a conference, but found the strenght to try again. It's part of reaching your dream goal a lot of the time. Even Koharu's mom, Yoshino/Talia, gave her the story of how she originally wanted to be a mangaka, but gave up on the dream and instead approached something similar. These are all very important life lessons in how working toward one's goal can either fail, or come accoss obstacles. It depends on the person whether they'll end up switching the goal to something else, or strive to go forward to get past the obstacle. As someone who had exactly Koharu's mom's experience longside having to take a long while to find one, I appreciate that Koharu's journey has been about learning the good and bad experiences of working towards a dream goal.

Now: has this storyline been executed well? Imo, it has, but it ain't perfect, as there are some parts where I'd like to see some improvement on.

One of them is with how it's sometimes unclear as what kind of character she is counted as. Is the a main character alongside Gou and Satoshi now? Is the still supporting cast? Is she a lower tier main character that won't appear every episode still? The latest option would appear to be the case, but it's not often that simple to see.

There's also the case of Wanpachi seeming like it was teased to be eventually becoming Koharu's first partner, but instead it ended up being Eevee. I think for most, before JN049 aired, people assumed Wanpachi didn't belong to anyone exactly and thus was free reign. But, as JN049 confirmed, Wanpachi belonged to Sakuragi himself. Which is sorta funny, as Wanpachi clearly loves him the least, haha. So, what exactly do they intend with Wanpachi? I think, that in time it'll eventually switch owners to Koharu, as it clearly loves her the most, but the journey there is still on-going.

Now, here's something interest to think about: I think Koharu not being in every episode has actually been benefitial for her, as she never gives me the feeling that she's taking anyone's time for herself, and her involvements in stories fit quite well. My current favourites for her are definitely her team leading in Diglett episode, which is JN052, and the Galarian Ponyta episode (JN055) where she clearly showcased that she's able to handle herself in sticky situations. Which is quite a beautiful detail, at least to me.

Now to quiiickly note her dynamics quickly, let's talk a bit about how she is a big sister. Like, for real. She's got a baby brother in Sota/Parker, and the two do seem to have good relationship going on. However, I really want to see more of this! There's way too little of it going on right now, and it's mostly been typical siblinghood. I'm so glad there's still full on family aspects in JN, which is what I loved in Sun & Moon so so so much, but I want to see more. MORE! MORE-

I already talked about how I enjoy her dynamics with Gou and how their childhood friendship is showcased so well, and yet I still grave to see more. The two know each other well, and Gou always, ALWAYS respects Koharu, while Koharu ain't afraid to tell what's on her mind to Gou. Thou, she also knows that Gou would judge her if she were to ask about Pokémon bonding tips. Dyamn.

Now: I want more of Koharu and Satoshi. The two def seemed to have a bit of a "uugh who are you don't talk to me" approach, but it naturally faded as they went on their first trip to Nibi City's Fossil Exhibition. And they've been in good relations since I'd say.

Also to quickly note, I love how Koharu has been mentioned in couple scenes as being the character who's taught them first-aid or told about jealousy and how one should take Pokémon's feeling into consideration (even if this latter one should be obvious to Satoshi but, I digress, Satoshi was way too focused on Riolu and just assumed Pikachu would be fine since they've been buds since forever).

There's also so much more I still want to learn about: how exactly did she meet Gou and why she decided to be friends with him, does she have other friends besides him (because I would assume so but she's never shown with anyone else), give us an episode that's focused on Koharu & Sota, let her see Satoshi battle as well (afaik, she has NOT), let her meet Alola Squad + other past companions, and oooh there's so much I want her to do and I see so, so much potential in her character and I really really REALLY hope the writers don't screw her up.

Now is that all I wanted to talk about regarding Koharu... I guess so. As you might have figured out by now: I almost have no issues with how Koharu is written. She's enjoyable to watch and, suprisingly, I find the pace of her story-telling pleasant and not too fast nor way too slow. Could it do well with a bit faster pace? Possibly, but due to me seeing her as sort of a mid-season addition akin to how Precure or Digimon do them, I'm fine with this approach. Considering the current pace, I think she'll end up finding what she wants to end up working towards to by the end of this year, or early next year. And, despite how many might fear, I highly doubt it will be Contests. As it's pretty clear JN isn't out there to promote mainline games feature-to-feature, but instead cherry picks stuff it wants to do. I'm still quite certain, that she'll end up becoming a professor of her own fields, possibly of fossils (which, considering DP's Underground feature, could fit very well in promoting this feature of the remakes). Maybe even become a team leader of a fossil researching team, as she definitely showcases the skills for it, for knowing soil, fossil digging and again, team leading. And I totally didn't figure this out while writing this post. :'D (I totally did.)

So. I believe I'll end this post here, as this is already quite long by now and, honestly, there's not much left to talk about. It really feels good for me to talk so positively about a character in JN, as it's no secret that I ain't the biggest fan of the show. However, Koharu's approach speaks to me personally, very well, and I so, so look forward to seeing how her journey ends up going, and where it will lead her.

So who's up next on the list of discussions? I think you guys can guess it.

And it's gonna be a doozy one. Oh man oh man.

Thank you so much for reading if you came this far, have a fantastic evening/morning/whatever, and take good care of yourselves!

This was Smiling Performer aka Aleira, signing out! PEACE!

[redxblueihateloveyou]

i'm curious, what are your top 10 favorite rinharu moments in high speed and high speed 2?? i love the books. i don't understand why people say is impossible to ship rinharu if you read them...

Lmao who are those “people”? As in multiple? And are they from Mars? I do not get this. You cannot be serious. You probably meant “impossible not to ship”?

I don’t know about top ten, I love all of their interractions tbh, they just remind me of my fav type of romance in general. I know what are my top 5 I think, but after that I love everything, so it’s hard to rate.

1. My absolutely favorite moment will forever be the one, where Rin describes the way he sees Haru in the water, I’m seriously forever in awe, because, I’ve read a lot of books, and like... even period dramas got nothing on Rin Matsuoka, when he describes the love of his life. I mean, seriously, find yourself a person who sees you the way Rin sees Haru lol

Rin felt like he was touched by the light, that surrounded him with warmth. He turned around to see Haruka, who was glowing. Shining. Haruka was shining with every strong and confident stroke that he made. The outstanding energy, emitted from him, surrounded Haruka with the dazzling light and Rin froze, unable to look away. Rin’s heart was beating so hard in his chest, that he forgot how to breathe. Haruka stole his heart. And the further away he got from him, the more distance grew between them, the more uneasy Rin felt, like he was losing the control over his emotions. He was possesed by Haruka’s shining. His strokes looked as if he was hugging the water, his leg movements were so effortless and so elegant, as if water herself was moving him to the finish line. But in all these deceptively smooth and unhurried motions were so much strength and power and such incredible speed, that all his opponents didn’t stand a chance. His swimming was that transcendent reality. He was like a bird dancing in the sky with its wings spread wide.”

Dude... I’m like... still speechless. I mean, and not just this, but everytime Rin talks about Haru, even when he jokes about his stupid habbits, you still feel that he finds him so beautiful, inside and outside, that it just makes my heart melt. 

2. When Aki tells Rin that if you put him and Haru together, you get a perfection. 

“That guy has no sense of humor. He should learn by watching me, don't you think?" Rin joked lightly.

Aki laughed a bit at his words. "It's true. Add the two of you together and divide by two, and it would be perfect."

But I mainly love that moment, because like... Aki starts telling him, that Haru is not what he's pretending to be (like for some idiots in the fandom who call him selfish, that was the explanation for them xD) and how everyone always want something from him, and he never asks for anything in return and doesn’t have anyone to lean on (yup that’s what I said all along, too, with Makoto’s dumb behavior in difficult situations, he’s on his own there lmao). And she waits for Rin to deny it or like be surprised, but it turned out that that’s exactly how Rin sees him and that he cracked him from the very beginning. BTW, here’s your addition to the ask about Rin loving Haru for who he is and seeing him for who he is. I’m just in love with that moment, because I’m happy that he just... not only he knows him, but bc he’s not one of those many idiots who just don’t get it.

"Nanase-kun seems like he can do anything all by himself, doesn't he? He's good at studying and sports and even art. He really can do anything, right? That's why everyone relies on him, but it would really be something for Nanase-kun to rely on anyone, wouldn't it?"

Rin certainly thought this was true. He had only just transferred, but the image that Rin had of Haruka was exactly that. But even if Haruka didn't have the will to go out and get involved with other people on his own, it wasn't like he was completely isolated. On the contrary, he was considered the most reliable person in their class, and when people relied on him, he always did his best to meet their expectations. This was the strange balance that people around Haruka had to maintain.

3. The one when Haru calls Rin by his name for the first time. And I honestly for some reason didn’t even realize that this moment was in the anime until my 3rd rewatch (lol), but, man, little Rin’s reaction is the most adorable ever. I cry.

4. When Gou meets Haru for the first time and immediately goes “ah so you’re Haruka Nanase, the one, who my brother talks about 24/7...‘Nanase is so cool, Nananse is so fast!’” and Rin just goes red lmfaaaaaooooo.

5. When Haru says that he feels the fever running through his body each time he just sees Rin, but he doesn’t understand what it means... ahem.... OH WELL

6. When Rin tells them he’s leaving and Haru gets absolutely furious and calls him a selfish jerk, but then he feels his legs giving out and he thinks that he needs to be in the water, but then he realizes, that for the first time in his life it won’t save him and he’s so lost and fucking crushed. "you can’t just mess up my whole life and leave me like that” and “this can’t be true, I can’t be this weak.” aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa fucking hellish angst... that mix of emotions was seriously hideous, at first he was so confused and in denial, he couldn’t even think, he literally went “who is leaving?” and then it just all blew up. Poor baby.

7. Just all the little moments, when Rin notices everything Haru does and falls in love a bit more each time. Like when Haru slowed down, when he saw that Nagisa is having troubles of keeping up with him.

Nagisa was earnestly trying to keep up with Haruka. If he kept up that pace, he wouldn't be able to run next to Haruka for the whole trip. That was how it had been yesterday. Nagisa's breath was coming short, and when Haruka saw him slow down a pace, he lightly turned his eyes downward. I guess that's as far as he goes.

A sigh mixed with Haruka's long breaths. Then, by just a tiny increment, Haruka let his pace slacken.

"Oh?" Rin said quietly. Haruka could almost hear him saying "You're so nice, Nanase," and he tsked inwardly. Nagisa caught up to him, smiling as if it hurt a bit. It looked like he'd lost the energy to keep talking.

Just cute, and they watched each other all the time, it’d be a bitch to count each one, but god, all of them were cute.

8. All the moments of Haru pulling Rin’s pigtails... hilarious, especially the RinRin one, but the funniest and my favorite was when Nagisa turned to Haru to ask him for a permision to call Rin Rin-Rin, like... all the rights to Rin belong to Haru and vice versa lmao I agree. “I’ll allow it” lolz shut it, Haru.

9. This moment: “Something happened inside of him that made Haruka incredibly angry, he was so pissed, that he didn’t even want to swim anymore. To think that someone like Rin could make him feel such powerful swirl of emotions and make him such a mess... he felt disgusted with himself.” Yeah, Haru, love is dat bitch when you’re 13 lol

10. The one where Haru whispers “sorry for making you feel that way” to Rin? The one where Rin’s grandma doesn’t want to go to see the relay, but then she suddenly does, when she finds out that her grandson’s future husband is in it? The “he at that moment realized that the only thing Rin was concerned about was Haruka” one? I don’t fucking know, you pick haha ANY MOMENT, ALL THE MOMENTS XD

______

BUT in all seriousness, I do not get how you can love Makoharu after the novels. Like do people just ignore these moments:

“Haru waved Makoto off like an annoying fly”, “feeling annoyed by his obnoxious care, Haruka went right past him”, “feeling like Makoto’s smile could turn into tears any second now, Haru turned away and went to the showers” (fuck this shit I’m out lmao), “complitely ignoring him, Haru kept walking”.

??????? is this... does anyone find this amazing??????!!!!!!!!!!!

Or when Haru was literally fucking losing it, cause Makoto just repeated everything after him and how he just lost all the respect in that moment.

“I feel like I should also get into running.” Makoto said it as it was a joke, but Haru knew for sure that it wasn’t. More than that, he knew, that Makoto was going to ask him that ever since the moment he found out that Haru was running this morning. Haruka fel annoyed, because he couldn’t find the excuse to refuse him.

Or this moment:

“Makoto was late and Haruka didn’t have any reasons to wait for him. Makoto can catch up with him on the way, they’ll meet at the swimming club either way. For both of them it’ll be better, if Haru went by himself, than stood there and waited Makoto, slowly losing his temper.”

“Haruka felt uncomfortable, cause Makoto looked at him, as if was a weak”

Or this:

"Did you know I was going to come out here?" Even though he knew it was impossible, Makoto couldn't stop himself from asking.

"Nope."

"Then, why…" are you standing in a place like this?

"Watching the sunset."

and I can go on and on and on

and the fishies... oh my fucking god, the fishies

***

I’m just saying, all these moments are not even funny. My point in all this, that like no matter how much Haru loves Makoto as a friend... or got used to him is what I personally think, I don’t think he’s ever gonna idk how to say this... respect him as a human being? admire him? And this whole situation... I just can’t appreciate such kind of relationships even in a friends way. 

1stly because Makoto’s behavior in general makes me have war flashbacks to some of my real life experiences (and yeah, I confess, it affected me and that’s why I don’t like his character a lot; because I don’t think many people know what it’s like to deal with these kind of people in general). 2ndly, cause Makoto fans keep trashing Haru and many call him selfish bc of the way he treats him, but what they don’t understand is that if it wasn’t for Haru being this harsh, Makoto would literally became even doormat-y than he is now (yes, it’s possible lmao). 

P.S. my favorite in the novels tbh is all the Haru “I’m surrounded by idiots” moments, like when they started to dig the frozen soil with little scrapes and he was looking at them like they’re morons and then just silently walked away and came back with a giant shovel... “if you keep doing this with your tiny scoopers, we’re gonna be here all night” and they then they just watched him as he did everything himself LMFAO I just love him so freaking much. I also think his relationship with Nagisa are incredible and so underrated, since it’s a huge and incredible part of the books. I just keep saying, Haru’d be an amazing dad, so I can’t wait for him and Rin to adopt xD

P.P.S. And what about the Free! novelization????!!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAA