#NO!!! why this new this is wrong and you should actually be doing this other thing!!!!!!

[munsonsmixtapes]

I'm Still Your Boy

Ex=boyfriend!Eddie x fem!reader

After your boyfriend cheats on you at your birthday party, your ex Eddie reminds you that he'll always be your shoulder to cry on.

cw: hurt/comfort, mention of cheating

You don’t know what you did to deserve this. Maybe it’s because of something you did in a past life. Some sort of karma, perhaps? Whatever the reason, you don’t think you actually deserve to be cheated on by your boyfriend. Your boyfriend who told you that he wanted to save himself for you and you alone, which seemed to be a fucking lie just to get in your pants considering you caught him with the very girl he told you not to worry about. 

They were fucking and to make it even more sad, they were fucking in your bed at your birthday party. Well, wasn’t that just the cherry on top of the shit sundae? And they were so caught up in each other that they didn’t even hear you slam the door. 

Before anyone could see you cry, you hurry to the bathroom, thankful that you’re upstairs and that no one else was around. What’s supposed to be a fun celebration has turned into something you’ll remember forever for all the wrong reasons. 

As soon as you’re alone, you sit on the toilet and begin to cry. Maybe you feel a bit pathetic but you can’t help it. Sure, it’s not like you actually loved the man, but it still hurts like hell. Especially when Josh told you time and time again that Chelsea would never be a problem. 

And now you find yourself wondering how long they’ve been doing it behind your back. And why you feel so hurt. It’s not like you even liked him that much. And now this is the excuse to break up with him that you’ve been looking for. 

You’re full on sobbing now and it’s not like you’re surprised, you were expecting it to happen with the way they’re always looking at each other, but you’d think your boyfriend would at least have some decency to not cheat on you at your birthday party. But apparently that was too much to ask. 

You grab some toilet paper from the roll next to you and blow your nose, absolutely positive that you look terrible with mascara tears streaming down your cheeks, but you can’t get yourself to look. That would just make you feel even worse. You spent hours on your makeup and now you let some stupid boy ruin it in a matter of minutes. 

Eddie doesn’t even know what he’s doing at this party. He wants to be here, but he’s not even sure why he was invited. The two of you broke up years ago and even though it was mutual and there was no bad blood, you just drifted apart. 

He feels so weird being here in this house. There are so many memories that the two of you have created here, a time capsule of your relationship. He wants to be there to celebrate you, but being there with all of the little moments the two of you shared throughout your relationship is far too painful to relive. He misses you so much more than he’d ever care to admit. 

He wants to be your friend again, but seeing the way your new boyfriend was glaring daggers at him when everyone was singing “Happy Birthday”, he’s not so sure that’s a good idea. He’s only known he guy a couple of hours and he’s already convinced with a few drinks in his system, he’d knock him the fuck out. 

His name is Josh for starters. Fucking Josh. That should be a red flag on its own. He also somehow got you the wrong cake which was clearly mostly for him since he seemed so excited about it. That seemed to be a common theme considering the same went for your gift. He got you a video game for a system that you don’t even have and it was the second one in a series. 

And Eddie swore he wasn’t going to leave the party alive when you opened your gift from him. It was a special edition of your favorite book as a child and if looks could have killed, he would have been dead. You seemed so grateful for the gift, even going as far as hugging Eddie, nothing but happy tears pricking your eyes. 

He didn’t realize just how much he missed holding you until you were in his arms again. You just fit so perfectly. Before he could reminisce too much, you pulled away, moving back to sit in Josh’s lap, but he was nowhere to be found. 

Out of all of your friends who were there, Eddie seemed to be the only one who could tell just how little fun you were having. How was it that you seemed to be invisible at your own birthday party? Why was he the only one who seemed to care? The two of you weren’t even friends anymore. Maybe after tonight, that’ll change.He really wants to reconnect. Maybe he can invite you out for coffee and the two of you can catch up. 

It’s almost midnight. Most of the guests have already left or they’re so drunk that they’ve passed out on the various pieces of furniture around the first level of the house. You’ve disappeared and that’s all Eddie cares about. He wants to find you so he can say goodnight and get the fuck out of there before he does something he’ll regret. 

He heads up the stairs on the hunt for you, but he realizes that he needs to go to the bathroom first. He knows he should anyway before he hits the road. He sees the bathroom door is cracked and heads for it, opening it expecting to see it empty, but he finds you sitting on the toilet sobbing your eyes out. 

“Eddie, hey,” you grin at him, trying your best to look normal even though your eyes are red and your cheeks are tear stained. 

“Hey.” He waves awkwardly in a way that you’ve always found so adorable. “Sorry, I didn't know anyone was in here. I’ll give you some privacy. He turns to leave, but you grab hold of his wrist before he can get too far. 

“Will you stay with me?” You ask with a sniff. He would stay with you even if you weren’t crying, but he especially will because you are. 

He shuts the door all the way then sits on his knees in front of you, forcing himself to look at you even though seeing you cry always broke his heart. He doesn’t know why you’re crying but he has a guess. He doesn’t ask even though he really wants to. He wants to wait for you to speak, not wanting to pry, but just keep you company as you go through a hard time. 

He takes the toilet paper from you and wipes away your tears, gently dabbing to preserve what little makeup is left. He knows how important that kind of thing is to you. Well, he’s actually not so sure you feel that way still. He forgets that he doesn’t actually know you anymore. 

“I look terrible, don’t I?” You look up at him, lips trembling and he really doesn't think he can take seeing you cry anymore. It’ll just make his heart break even more than it already has.

“You look beautiful as always.” It’s his go-to response but it always worked like a charm. He wonders if his flirting still has the same effect on you. He used to love seeing the way you’d get all giggly when he would compliment you. 

“But you have to say that, you’re my-” you cut yourself off, remember that Eddie isn’t your boyfriend anymore. Your boyfriend is the reason why you’re crying. “Sorry, habit.” 

“Don’t apologize,” he shakes his head. “You do look beautiful, though. That dress is great, but I wouldn’t expect anything less. You always did have good style, y/n.” 

“Is this all just your clever way of getting into my pants?” The words are dripping with venom and Eddie wonders what he said that made everything shift. He was just paying a compliment, nothing more, nothing less. 

His eyes widen and he stammers, trying his best to save himself quickly as he’s drowning fast. Your eyes widen as well so clearly you’re just as surprised by your sudden outburst. You have no idea where it came from especially since Eddie has never been that kind of guy and he especially wouldn’t be now knowing that you have a boyfriend.

“No,” he finally says as he’s able to find the words. “I was just paying you a compliment and you know that.” 

“I-I’m sorry.” You’re shaking your head, hating how you’ve spoken to him, accusing him  of something that he clearly wasn’t even doing. “I just caught Josh cheating on me and I guess I’m taking it out on you.” 

“He what?” Oh now he’s livid. He’s got to kiss this guy’s ass now that he finally has an excuse. 

“It’s my fault,” you shake your head again. “I wasn’t giving him enough attention-” your words are cut off by Eddie taking your face in his hands, staring you down. 

“It’s not your fault. Stop making excuses for him y/n. That guy is a fucking loser and he doesn’t deserve you. He deserves to end up broke and alone.” You know he’s right but just want to pass the blame onto yourself because then there would actually be a reason for Josh’s cheating other than the fact that he just doesn’t seem to care about you. 

“You always know what to say, don’t you?” He does in your eyes. ever since the two of you started hanging out, he had a knack for telling you exactly what you needed to hear even if it was a little too blunt for your liking. You appreciated that he never failed to tell you the truth no matter how much it may have hurt.

“I try.” It seems like all of your feelings for each other that have been bottled up are pouring out, now almost palpable because of how strong they are.

“I miss you.” 

“I miss you too,” Eddie replies, moving his thumbs back and forth across your cheeks just like he used to do. “I’ll be kicking myself for letting you slip through my fingers for the rest of my life.”

“What if we gave it another try? The friendship part?” Your face lights up at his suggestion and you decide that this is the best birthday present you’ve ever received. 

“I’d really like that. Hey, I think Benny’s is still open. Do you want to get something to eat?” 

“I’d love nothing more.” Eddie helps you up from the toilet and leads you out the front door where you head to his van to head to the diner. 

The two of you find yourselves in your favorite booth, eating and laughing like no time has passed. You stay there into the early morning as the sun comes up, finishing off your meal with a milkshake that the two of you share for old time’s sake and right then and there, Eddie realizes that he’s still is very much your boy, still wrapped around your goddamn finger just the way he likes and there’s no other place he’d rather be.

[moistvonlipwig]

🔥

kara danvers :)

ok well you and i have discussed this at length so this will not be new to you but imco (in my correct opinion) kara danvers [as portrayed by the cw's supergirl, not necessarily in other versions] is actually pretty lazy, and i would argue this is one of her most central and consistent character traits. and i don't just mean physically lazy, although i should note that per 3.17 "trinity" she canonically Hates Walking and doesn't understand why humans exercise. i mostly mean on an intellectual & moral level.

kara wants to be a reporter, but when she figures this out (because......a pretty lady told her she should do it? ig?), she does not apply to journalism school, or take online classes. instead she is handed a reporter job by her boss (who scrawled 'reporter' on her hilariously terrible resume when they met for reasons known only to her) and from then on proceeds to basically just do whatever she wants and get offended when more seasoned reporters who have gone to journalism school ask her to do basic functions of the job like Acquire Sources and Report On The Facts And Not Just Your Personal Opinions. at no point do we really see her ask her colleagues, even friendly ones like james, for advice or help; instead, advice is something that's imposed upon her by the wicked snapper, who dares to be unimpressed by her uneducated slay. throughout the show, on multiple occasions, the idea of actually Doing Her Job seems to offend her -- lena even calls her out for this explicitly in 3.02 "triggers," but she continues to display this behavior with andrea in s5 & s6. in the finale, when she is promoted to editor-in-chief in an act of blatant cronyism that truthfully should prompt the entire catco staff to quit in protest, it is not on her initiative, nor due to her efforts, nor is it because anything about the position has piqued her interest; it is, again, simply handed to her, and she just accepts.

additionally, we rarely see her express meaningful curiosity about, well, any subject, really -- we know she learned calculus young, but her interest in math and science seems nil; she is deeply naive about the u.s. justice system in s6 in a way that suggests she has never looked into it, though her own mother was a judge on krypton; and a lot of her interests seem very Basic (pizza, potstickers [? why girl.], nsync, the wizard of oz, harry potter), which to be clear is not inherently a sign of intellectual laziness or incuriosity, but it also does nothing to suggest that she is someone with a wide knowledge of food, literature, music, or film.

she also demonstrates what i would argue is a kind of moral laziness, though you could call it an offshoot of her intellectual laziness, in her general lack of real self-reflection about, like, any of her actions. although some of the other characters sometimes bring up how messed-up the DEO is (e.g. james in s1 with the gitmo comparison -- which, CRAZY line to put in your show and then never address, btw), kara herself does not question it (until the Wrong People take over, of course). her rhetoric in early s2 about daxamites suggests that she is quite comfortable believing sweeping generalizations she was taught as a child and has never really sat down to interrogate them, but while mon-el being.....pretty bad but i guess not as bad as his mom? yay? inspires her to stop being bigoted against daxamites specifically, we will later still hear her say that certain species tend to be peaceful or aggressive, etc., with no self-reflection. in 3.05 "damage," when morgan edge tries to make it seem like lena's lead dispersal device that kara activated poisoned children, kara does not take the opportunity to self-reflect on the choice she made and whether it was worth it; instead, her arc for the episode is reacting emotionally to her best buddy feeling guilty (about the thing kara also did. i cannot emphasize that part enough).

i would argue the conclusion she draws in 5.13, too, smacks of this moral laziness; she spends the episode looking for a magic shortcut to not having to feel bad anymore, and when she can't find one, she decides that actually, meh, there was never a perfect way for things to go down, so all that lying wasn't such a big deal and lena should just get over it. kara is dripping with a lot of guilt in 5A, but throughout both 5A and 5B there's very little actual, thoughtful self-reflection on what she did wrong and why, and that carries over into S6 when, after like ten episodes of lena (and also william ig) repeatedly trying to tell her not to play god, she decides in the very penultimate episode to solve her problems by eating the sun, and then when she decides against it partway through doing it, there's again very little self-reflection on her part of why the hell she thought that was a good thing to do. kara's morality, on the whole, seems largely based on (a) alex and (b) vibes, and not so much on any actual thought she's dedicated to the moral questions at hand.

and similarly to when kara is asked to Do Her Damn Job at her place of work -- when kara is challenged on her morality (like when lena challenges her on the kryptonite in s3, or on myriad in 5.17), she acts annoyed at the very idea of having to do the hard work of thinking about the morals she espouses as a superhero. and it doesn't read as someone who has thought very hard about her moral choices and is offended because she believes so strongly that she's right, because we never actually see her thinking hard about these moral choices she makes at all. it reads as someone who hasn't thought about it beyond a very cursory level and is frustrated that she's being asked to. because, again, she's just fundamentally kind of lazy.

and the thing is this might sound like i am dunking on her but actually i think this is a trait that is incredibly funny. my favorite portrayal of supergirl/kara danvers is the one from the children's cartoon dc super hero girls 2019, whose version of kara is ALSO lazy, on top of being an aggressive, quick-to-anger, rude, irresponsible, selfish brat. and she's hilarious in that show, she's one of my favorite characters. another favorite character of mine, also a children's cartoon character, is anne boonchuy from amphibia, whose entire character journey is about learning not to be physically, intellectually, or morally lazy and learning to [school principal voice] Apply Herself instead. it can be incredibly fun to watch characters be lazy and incurious and self-centered, whether they change for the better or not. but it is a bit strange that some people act like kara is this super disciplined person who loves working out and loves learning and reads widely and is curious about everything and self-reflects on her own decisions and how she affects others to the point of obsession. i wonder if part of it is 'femslash same-character syndrome,' where people slap other characters' traits from other popular femslash ships onto each other. because the character i just described is adora from she-ra. who a lot of people think is similar to kara. except no. she's not at all. as evidenced by this whole write-up ☝️ lol. they're just both blonde and for some reason (#blondephobia?) femslash fandoms wanna act like all blonde girlies are the same. but they are not. #wakeupamerica.....

[thezombieprostitute]

Dr. Hot Stuff

Summary: You're probably the only nurse who hasn't slept with Surgeon Johnny Storm and you're happy to keep it that way.

Warnings: Age gap, Implied smut, Medical setting, Talk about surgeries. Please let me know if I missed any!

A/N: Many thanks to @bigtreefest for help with the medical terminology and more!

A/N2: Reader is 35+ years old and female. No other physical descriptors used.

You feel like a zombie, asleep on your feet after an incredibly long surgery. As much as you liked being Dr. Beck's go-to nurse for long and complicated surgeries, it still took a hell of a toll on you. As soon as you were cleaned up and in fresh scrubs, you were headed to the sleeping area.

When the doorknob doesn't turn you blink as your brain tries to process why you're not already laying down. You try a few more times but nothing. Is it stuck? It's not supposed to be locked.

Then the sounds of giggles and moans pierce through your brain fog and you put the pieces together. Dr. Johnny Storm, aka Dr. Hot Stuff, doing his regular, pre-surgery "ritual" with one of the nurses. You roll your eyes and shake your head. You should break down the door just out of fully justified spite! But you know you won't get much support. Apparently Dr. Hot Stuff earned his nickname. If there's one thing you'll give Storm, it's that his partners have no complaints, and they are the type to complain.

You slink off to the break room to find a recliner for a nap.

You're startled awake by Johnny loudly celebrating his latest successful surgery. He's proudly proclaiming his mastery over the appendectomy to anyone and everyone who will hear. You roll your eyes and start getting out of the recliner. You should be used to these kinds of things by now. Young surgeons are always so loud and proud.

Before you can get out of the recliner, though, Johnny steps in front of you.

"If it isn't my favorite veteran nurse," he smirks.

"What do you want, Dr. Storm," you sigh.

"You know you can call me Johnny, like all the other nurses, right?" he raises an eyebrow, grin never dropping. "I'm just trying to be friendly but you keep shutting me out."

"I just woke up, Johnny. And I'm still very tired. I'd be friendlier if I could've actually slept in a bed." You give him your best glare, hoping it would get him to back off, maybe apologize.

Instead his smile widens, "oh, sorry about that. Next time I'll make sure you get to join in." He winks and you scoff.

"I'm out of here," you shake your head. "I've gotta get back to work."

"Wait, please, I wanna talk to you!"

"About what?"

His facial expression changes into puppy dog eyes that your certain would work on a younger you. "Can you put in a good word for me with Dr. Beck?"

Your eyebrows crinkle in confusion. "What?"

"I'm doing so damn well with these appendectomies and cholecystectomies that I could do them in my sleep," he explains. "I want to get into doing the interesting surgeries, the ones that'll help my career, you know?"

"You haven't mastered the mundane yet," you tell him and he rolls his eyes while giving you a groan. "It's incredibly important for surgeons, especially new ones like yourself, to get experience with the variety that can come from even a simple procedure."

"What variety?" he protests. "It's all the same procedure. The same hand motions. The same instructions."

“You’re about to sever the common bile duct but your view is partially blocked by a section of hard adipose tissue. What do you do?”

"Predict where the duct continues under the fat tissue and make the incision,” he shrugs as if it should be obvious.

“WRONG," you loudly scold. "You just nicked the hepatic artery. Your patient is bleeding out.”

He starts pouting but you continue to grill him. You can tell he's studied but he's just too inexperienced and he continually falls short. Given how red he's getting, you can tell he knows it as well. When you finally let up on the questions he backs up so you can get out of the recliner but he's definitely not happy.

"Bet you'd put in a good word for me if you helped me with my pre-surgery ritual," he grouses.

"Not gonna happen, Junior."

"You sure?" he raises an eyebrow in that way you know works on the younger nurses. "I bet I could make you feel young again."

"I'm sure. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna get back to work."

"I'll get you to change your mind one of these days," he promises with a wink.

You roll your eyes and shake your head. "Whatever helps you sleep at night."

"Ooo! Giving me permission to think of you next time I can't sleep?"

You facepalm. "I walked right into that one."

Tagging: @alicedopey; @darsynia; @delicatebarness; @icefrozendeadlyqueen; @irishhappiness; @lokislady82; @ronearoundblindly; @thiquefunlover63

[mythalism]

unsurprisingly i have a lot of thoughts on the solavellan age gap and specifically why the framing of it through the romance and through solas as a character saves it from being the kind of thing i usually would criticize elsewhere in other depictions of the same thing (usually in YA/new adult romantasy where its presented as sexy and aspirational). solavellan's massive age/power gap is never romanticized or sexualized (in canon at least, what the fandom does is another story and people are free to do whatever they want). rather its presented through solas's anxieties, guilt, and repeated attempts to keep himself away as literally wrong and imbalanced. the romance is clear that solas knows what he is doing is a major ethical issue and he is disturbed by it. "i would not lie with you under false pretenses" HELLO!? nothing about solas in his romance is predatory. actually YOU as lavellan have to CHASE HIS ASS DOWN repeatedly over and over because he is trying so hard to NOT fall in love with her because he KNOWS it will be fundamentally unequal and problematic. and he eventually leaves her to spare her any further involvement. it is only following the revelation of all truths and a triple check of "are you SURE!!!!" to an inquisitor that is now at least 30, has had 10 years to think about it and literally goes chasing after his ass once knowing ALL of his dirty laundry, does the romance actually culminate.

you do not leave this romance having been sent the message that immortal x mortal romances, or relationships with massive age gaps, are sexy and desirable as a young woman and maybe you should try one! you leave it thinking "what a fucking tragedy". their age gap, their power dynamic, the lies are all a literal source of discomfort, guilt and tension that haunts the entire relationship and solas himself. falling in love with a god is horrifying, tragic and doomed. moments like the break up and the lack of a sex scene, and a bittersweet but still ultimately very sad and sacrificial ending are vital to this portrayal and i actually think they did an extremely impressive job of making it work.

[wirewitchviolet]

The Big Lie of Transphobia

There is a lot of really horrifying transphobic stuff going on at the moment, even relative to the baseline. Like arrests and federal repression in the U.S. and don't even get me started on that new policy from Facebook and the propaganda amplification that's going to do. So you may find yourself wondering what you can do to help.

As always the real answer to that is to just give all the money and other material aid you possibly can to every trans person you are personally aware of. Individually. Don't look for a charity to donate to, there really isn't one. Make those patreon pledges and write those checks and empty those wallets and cosign for those houses, go!

But if what you're really asking is, what can you do that won't personally inconvenience you, the best thing you can probably do is to really internalize that the Big Lie backing up all the transphobia out there is a complete lie, and convince everyone else you can too. And what's the Big Lie behind transphobia? "Trans women are men who believe they are women." As usual with these, I'm going to expound on that a ton under the fold here.

It really is the lynchpin of everything transphobes have to push. If you don't believe it, none of the things they're pushing for makes even the slightest bit of sense, but if you DO believe it, even if you aren't all in on the other hate stuff, it's going to warp the hell out of your perspective and make you a crappy ally. And wow is it ever deeply embedded in there.

So for what it's worth, as a reminder, when people make statements like "trans women are women" that is stating an actual fact. That's not some weird feel-good slogan that "really" means "you should treat trans women like they are real women" or something. It's just what we freaking are. We aren't men who have some strange mental illness that makes us think of ourselves as women, we aren't people who start out as men and for some reason make some kind of decision to become women. We're just women, always have been, just like any other woman.

If you've met a number of trans women, you can very clearly and plainly see that's true, but the thing is, most people haven't. And the lie gets pushed damn hard. Most people's idea of what a trans woman is, and for that matter, most other things about life, comes from what they see in TV and movies and the like, and on those occasions where a work of fiction features someone they'll call a trans woman, they tend to get some dude to put on a dress to play the part, which is usually also some sort of weird crazy murderous sex worker. Movies and TV also tend to depict cars as prone to burst into massive fireballs if anything goes wrong with them, glass windows as something you can jump through without being sliced up so badly by the shards you're basically going to die instantly, police as caring helpful people who try to solve crimes and return people's stolen stuff and such, and people with albinism as having strange magical powers. None of this is actually true in reality.

So yeah, it's not even a little bit true. If you look at the people who insist the loudest that it is, you'll notice they are completely out of touch with reality and preach all kinds of ridiculous BS. Get it into your head that there isn't even a sliver of truth to it, and it's easier to get on the right side of a lot of things.

Are trans women trustworthy? Yeah? I mean, as much as the next person. Why wouldn't we be? Because some freaking weirdo is sharing all kinds of weird conspiracy theories and setting up weird freaking stalker shrines about us? Pretty clear who it is you shouldn't be trusting there.

Is it OK for trans women to play sports? Yeah? Why would that even be a problem? We don't have superpowers or anything. We're just regular freaking women. Well OK a lot of us have pretty nasty health problems leaving us a bit less physically fit than most women, but you know, doing athletic stuff should help with that.

Is it OK for trans women to use public restrooms? Yeah? Like honestly, I know a lot of guys get weird about women going to the bathroom in groups sometimes but there's nothing sinister about that, just sometimes you need to pull someone aside to ask if you can borrow some embarrassing thing or double check makeup or check if someone's date is as big a creep as they come off and you need to run interference. Mostly though people just need to pee sometimes, and society generally prefers that people do so in a toilet and not the street or whatever.

What about children being trans? Like... everyone's a child at some point? A lot of the downsides to being trans come from associated medical issues which can be totally prevented if spotted early, so it's actually very good to have kids look out for whether they might be dealing with those and get the appropriate medication, which is true for basically anything.

Well what about [whatever stupid BS derailment]? Yeah I'm addressing a group of people who actually need to have it explained to them that women are in fact women and not men, let's not go confusing people with whatever weird sidetrack you want to get onto.

[bloopitynoot]

Reading TGCF: Chapter Eleven

For those who don't know, I am reading TGCF for the first time and sharing my thoughts!

If you have not read it, there will be spoilers! Consider this a warning.

Also- if you want to follow along, I am aiming to post updates daily. You can find all the posts in the tag Bloopitynoot reads TGCF. You can also check out the intro post for context on my read BUT if you followed along with my SVSSS read, the rules and vibe are the same.

Surprise! It is not masala chai; today I have a regular black tea with milk and sugar.

In other news, in celebration of finishing book one I have purchased book 3! It should get here Friday, and I can't wait. Shout out to my manager for fueling my habits with the indigo gift card she gave me for Christmas.

Let's go chapter 11!!!!!!!!

They better stop! coming on immediately so strong with the most sincere and heartfelt title calling!! p355

"You were the groom?" he's saying these things like this man doesn't want to wife him right now. Xie Lian LOL watch what you're saying. p356

This chapter is too much. My heart! The flirting! "May I take these words as a compliment?" Can't you tell they're compliments? p357

Again mxtx and the worlds most complicated characters. Making me feel things, and second guess everyone's motivations. Re: Banyue telling xie lian and hua cheng that General Pei Jr isn't a bad person. p359

If Hua Cheng and Xie Lian both picked their fake names from the same poem, I hereby declare them soulmates. No take backs, it's done. p360

You know what, if all else fails, Xie Lian would make an excellent motivational speaker. "I want to save the common people" "Do what you think is right" "Nothing can block your way" The cutest little "hang in there" cat poster embodied. p361

THE CHEEK POKE! Followed by "Not bad" I am wheezing! This awkward man. p363

Oh no, my emotions. Hua Cheng about his true face, "I'll let you see it someday, if there's a chance" p364

"those were good words" poor baby flustered xie lian. He cannot handle a single sincere compliment from Hua Cheng. The pillow talk in this chapter is so dang cute! p367

Here I am reading these words and lowkey hoping that it was Hua Cheng who Xie Lian told to "live for him". My biggest question at this point in the series is why/when/how did Huan Cheng become so into Xie Lian. It feels like he's known this guy for a very long time. p368 (do not actually tell me this. it'll probably be revealed later, but with Xie Lian, unreliable narrator, I feel like it'll be right before the extras LOL).

BRO LEFT HIM. WITH A PROMISE THEY WOULD MEET SINCERELY AGAIN. AND LEFT HIM A RING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG this is so precious, TOO MUCH. p372

I totally thought the end of this chapter would ruin me

I was NOT wrong, but it was in a very unexpected way! I expected tragedy and I got the cutest fucking pillow talk, a PROMISE and a RING. WHAT.

[agenericplaceholdername]

Very interesting question. Your bar for "writing off" a character is your own -- maybe if you think that a specific season's writing can be noticeably different to the point where a character's actions carry less judgement, certainly a different writing team's would function similarly, so why not "write off" the Hageman Bros's Dareth while keeping Bragi's Dareth? If Doc and Kevin bring him back technically that's a "new" character, at least to the extent that S6 Dareth can be viewed as distinct from his other appearances. Not sure how much I agree with this idea but just throwing it out there.

Will object to placing three of the Ninja on the same bar as Dareth both mischaracterization and sexism-wise (I assume Jay, Cole, and Lloyd). Certainly Jay is pretty sexist in Skybound but I don't think this is a mischaracterization, just an escalation of his behavior since S3. The point of his arc is for him to learn why what he was doing was wrong (as to whether Skybound really accomplishes that is another question). And despite all this he still objects to Dareth's behavior in "Infamous."

Cole makes a sexist joke that I would agree is... different than his pre-established character (although I don't think there's much in previous seasons to imply he's a big feminist). He then mostly backs down after Nya criticizes him. Lloyd laughs at Cole's joke and also backs down after a glare from Nya. Lloyd is probably a year or two removed from being a "no girls allowed in my tree house" ten year old so I still wouldn't call this out of character as much as it is a relapse. Lloyd also sticks up for Nya against Dareth in "Infamous."

Fundamentally I don't think Cole's (still sexist and bad!) joke is on par with Dareth physically excluding Nya from the other Ninja, wanting her to run segments on "teaching girls how to apply makeup" and "how to cook", and accusing her of hurting the Ninja's image solely because of her gender. He loudly objects to the statement, "There's no reason she should be treated differently"! IMO this is clearly categorically worse than what the Ninja do.

basically, if you don't want to write off Dareth, don't. But I personally wouldn't use Skybound's other writing choices as an excuse to do so.

as a side thing, I'm mixed on the whole "they wouldn't say that" idea. On one hand, if a character says something, clearly that refutes the idea that they wouldn't say it. On the other, characters aren't real, bad writing exists, etc. My bar tends to be if a character does something that directly contradicts a prior statement or action (without cause for such a change), then you've got bad writing. even more so if they're contradicting a core character trait or repeated pattern of behavior (plus that earlier behavior would presumably have more weight in whatever moral judgement I have of them as a character). However, if a character does something unexpected or new that doesn't contradict established behavior, then that's who that character is (at least in that moment). In this case, while Dareth isn't sexist to the degree he was in Skybound in other seasons, he also never indicates that he wouldn't be sexist (his refusal to accept a no from Gayle Gossip as expressed in DotD actually gives more evidence to the idea that he is). Thus I wouldn't call it out of character or "he wouldn't say that" because a) he did and b) he never says anything to indicate he wouldn't have.

The thing about Dareth as a character is I can't Quite see myself writing him off completely? Like his stuff in Skybound Was bad it was pretty awful, but they also had like three of the guys on the main ninja team act horrifically bad to Nya for no reason. Neither Dareth nor any of the ninja acted anything quite like they did in Skybound before or after it??? So I don't rlly Think I can write Dareth off as a sexist piece of shit for season 6? Like yeah he was Awful there but I don't know how extreme I'm willing to go there with him...

[uniiiquehecrt]

Voice actors are NOT the same as actors.

It takes a specific kind of skill-set and training to be able to warp and meld the voice. It takes a certain kind of talent and dedication to hone that talent into the ability to meld the voice and invoke emotion with one's voice alone. Actors are used to using their voice secondarily to their body language and their facial expressions. It's all mirrored back on camera. They do have nuance. But it's a different kind of nuance and a different kind of training to produce that nuance.

Voice actors might get their likeness transposed on their character's design, and maybe their mannerisms might seep into the character's animation. But when it's all said and done: their presence is in their voice. They are bringing a character to life, showing that emotion in their voice, trying to keep a specific accent, drawl, pitch, tone in that voice and keep it consistent for their recording sessions.

The voice actor is like a classically trained musician who can play first chair in a competitive, world-renown orchestra. The actor (who fills the voice actor's role) is like a moot who played violin in beginner and intermediate high school orchestra and thinks they can get into Juilliard with that 2-4 years of experience.

This doesn't mean that the HS orchestra moot can't play. They can even be really good at it. Maybe they won competitions and sat first chair. But they are not in the same league as the person who's been training their whole lives and lives and breathes to hone their craft using the instrument and all of the training they've ever acquired to perfect it. They are not meant for the same roles. They are not in the same caliber. You do not hire the HS equivalent when you want to play complex music in a competitive orchestra.

Actors are not the same as voice actors.

And furthermore, actors - especially big name actors - taking the roles of animated characters for big budget films or TV pilots makes no sense anyways when - at least in the case of TV pilots - there's not a point to hiring a big budget actors anyways. That money could be used elsewhere (like paying your animators), and the talent that is brought onto the screen for X character could then be hired on to voice said character no recasting required.

I wouldn't say voice acting as a profession is in danger exactly, but it's certainly being disrespected and overlooked for celebrity clout, and this has ALWAYS been an issue. Shoot, even Robin Williams knew that much - which is why he tried so hard not to be used as a marketing chess piece for Aladdin and got royally pissed off when it happened anyways. People shouldn't go to any movie (but especially not animated films) because "oh famous actor is in it". People should go because it's a good movie and the voice acting is good.

People who honest to god think that voice actors are replaceable because "oh well anyone can voice act" or "I like xyz celebrity so naturally it'll be good" ... Honestly I just wish you'd reassess your priorities because you're missing the point and are part of the problem.

Voice Actors ≠ Actors.

[restinpeacesensei]

traditional style 💖

[kacievvbbbb]

Truly from the depths of my struggling heart. Viva La Vida by Coldplay belongs to one Toshinori Yagi aka the one and only All Might.

Coldplay should just sign over the rights of the song at this point promptly too.

[riongeee]

You read my mind </3

The angst potential is actually through the roof, but so is the fluff and self discovery potential.

Like, Malleus, finally coming to terms with what triggered his overblot is suddenly confronted with another person leaving him, someone he thought would always be there. Unlike Silver, Sebek is half fae, so theoretically he could atleast live long enough to accompany Malleus. Now though, Sebek is potentially leaving? With Jamil Viper of all people. Malleus probably locks himself in his room to brood or something because I feel like after the overblot he wouldn't want to try keep Sebek chained to him. However, he does noticeably begin to act differently towards Sebek, maybe he won't want to leave if he changes? Basically, he's in turmoil.

Lillia on the other hand, can't process this. We know from Leonas overblot that sometimes Lillia is, insensitive, in how he addresses things. So I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up blurting something he'd regret. Something that indirectly blames Sebek, because Lillia thought that after he left atleast Malleus would have Sebek and Silver but now Sebek wants to leave??? It ends up with a tense atmosphere in Diasomnia and when Sebek begins to sleep over even more at Scarabia, it's too late to apologise. (Why did they never notice how many of Sebeks things were already in Scarabia, why hadn't they noticed him drifting away?)

Silver is definitely most affected. Sebek has been a constant in his life since a young age. It was a given, they'd become knights together and protect Malleus and live happily ever after. Why is it wrong? I lowkey seeing him being slightly jealous, because although Silver has other friends, Sebek was always his friend. So now that Sebek has begun to branch out, it feels wrong. Logically, he knows he should be happy for Sebek but.... he can't bring himself to do that. He's definitely the one who tries to convince Sebek the most, it probably only serves the opposite purpose as it only makes Sebek notice how little Silver understands why he'd even consider this.

Also, on an interesting note, I think Riddle would actually support Sebek to do what he wants. Riddle, due to being in the same club as Sebek has noticed how beneficial the friendship with Jamil has been for Sebek and after his overblot, he can understand why Sebek wouldn't want to follow a set path. Since childhood Riddle was forced to follow the expectations of his mother. Besides, he is fond of Sebek and finally being able to see the Sebek who isn't only focused on Malleus os a delight, he never realised Sebek was such a fan of opera. It makes Riddle reevaluate his own hobbies a bit and begin to try new things, sometimes with Sebek and Jamil sometimes with others.

The first years are divided. On one hand, being Malleus' retainer has been such a huge part of Sebeks life for so long. They could never imagine him NOT being Malleus' guard. On the other, Sebek deserves to experience the world, he deserves to choose his own future and he looks so happy when he hangs out with Jamil.

Over all, Kalim and Riddle are definitely the ones who take the news the best. Riddle because of what I said earlier. Meanwhile, Kalim, though sad to part with Jamil, understands that all things change. After the overblot, he realised keeping Jamil locked to his side would only drive them further apart. So he decides to support them fully. His conversation with Sebek only confirms his thoughts, Sebek is kind. Kalim knows Jamil wouldn't have offered if he truly didn't want Sebek to travel with him.

As for whether Dia3 make up with Sebek? It depends whether they can ever accept that Sebek has grown and changed.

:)

Jamil, immediately after graduating: Quit your job

Sebek: ???

Jamil: Travel the world with me

Two people with predetermined futures running away together to experience the world :')

But genuinely as a little thing, I think that would be so fun. Like, imagine, Jamil who has been forced to constantly be meeker and to lower himself to appease people and has always had the looming future of being a mere servant. Then we have Sebek, loud but still has that future of having to lower himself to someone.

Like, Jamil would probably hear tidbits about Sebek and the fact that their similar, like we already know that Sebek and he are both bodyguards, and despite Sebek 'liking' his future (Quotations because does he like it or is that just all he's ever known) or is he just resigned? So Jamil takes one look at Sebek and just goes 'this one, this ones mine'.

Like at some point Sebek becomes known as the honorary Scarabia first year because Jamil (I'm picturing this post his overblot) is absolutely overprotective of his first year. Like, Jamil teaches Sebek things that Sebek would've never really spent much thought on otherwise. They cook together, Sebek learns Jamils style of dance and in return Sebek teaches Jamil how to ride on horseback and introduces him to obscure operas as he begins to come out of his shell. Jamil begins to see more to Sebek than the Malleus obsessed,loud knight everyone else sees. It comes to the point that when people see one they ask where the other is (enter angst about Kalim remembering when he was like that with Jamil????)

Also, Diasomnia in all of this, they just assume it's Sebeks admiration for a senior. In the actual game, Sebek also admires Jamil, so for them, it would be a case of Sebek just thinking he found a new person to respect. They only really notice things are different when Sebeks absence makes it known. It makes itself known through the lack of a sonorous voice waking Silver up; through the lack of joyful compliments towards Malleus; through the lack of panicked flails as he tried to mitigate Lillias disasters in the kitchen. They find themselves oddly out of place without their first year, yet now, they have no idea to reach out, they can only watch as Sebek laughs in a way they've never seen before (had they ever seen him laugh so hard he snorts?)

Enter, the conversation. Personally, I think it would be after Malleus' overblot, like not even graduation. Jamil realizes not only does he want to travel the world, but he wants his friend to do so too. In the moments where everything was in limbo, Jamil regrets that Sebek has never been able to think of a future that deviates from his set path and he decides to try change that.

Whether Sebek takes that chance, is an entirely different story :)

[icewindandboringhorror]

I occasionally wish to reach out to old friends/acquaintances I haven't spoken to since high school/some other even earlier time in my life, but I have SOOO little social energy even for required tasks (like making dr phone calls or etc), I never have any leftover for extra ones, and it would be very odd to message someone I haven't spoken to in like 5 years out of the blue but then take 4 entire months to respond back lol.. My natural curiosity with nostalgia/collecting details of the past/etc. (literally if I were born a little earlier I would definitely do scrapbooking or something lol) is very strong, but, alas, not strong enough to beat out the Social Issues Demons apparently

[asklesbianonceler]

I have not posted any of my analysis to reddit yet and I think I might just post it and ghost it. I've already spent too much time looking at other people's threads on there to feel any way good about interacting with folks.

I already went in an added the "I know you're going to bring this up let me save you the time" section which is exclusively touching on the frequent topics of:

"well what about the fingerprint nostrum and finger mimics? He is clearly just a crackpot"

And

"it's definitely some weird elaborate sacrifice to Metyr thing"

[the-girl-with-too-many-ideas]

Does anyone else get the feeling that at their core, all of mxtx's works are about cycles of abuses.

[truearchangel]

No matter the way that Alastor words it, Michael will still be unhappy about it. He can't change the way he feels about this, even if he might want to. Helping Alastor in this, if it was going to happen regardless of if he was in the room or not, felt like a mercy. At the very least by his hand he could ensure the least amount of pain possible and heal him. He could make things better and ease whatever problems he had, taking care of the wound and by extension the man himself.

No, he doesn't want to do it. That's why he drank the alcohol, but there was a purpose to him agreeing.

Even when watching Alastor do what he wanted Michael to do, the Archangel still didn't see the purpose. The wound still looked like a wound, just one gutted reopen so it could bleed all over again. He didn't see the purpose in causing more damage to his body but if this was about trust to Alastor—then he probably never wound. For everyone, the base level at which they trust and how they trust was different. To him, the moment he was able to sleep soundlessly next to Alastor, that trust was established. To other people? Well, he still didn't even trust Lucifer.

But the level at which he didn't trust his twin was different than someone might think. He trusted Lucifer with his life. If something happened, if they got into a fight, if he held Lightbringer to his neck, he knew his brother would never make the move to actually kill him. But he didn't trust him to not betray him all over again.

Michael trusted Alastor wouldn't hurt him unintentionally, and he trusted him to not betray him too. That if things got hard, if another war between Heaven and Hell broke out, there was that thought that the Radio Demon might choose to stand beside him instead of the other demons.

Maybe this, somewhere, in all of it was a different version of what Michael felt when it came to trusting someone. But as that was Alastor's own personal scale, he'll never properly be able to understand. To him, holding a knife to someone, was only ever done with the intention of hurting them. That's why he never drew his sword against Lucifer until he hurt Michael first.

Violence was painful. It didn't matter if that was physically or mentally. Violence was pain.

When the blade was turned to be passed to him, Michael reached his hand out and took it from the other. Pressing his lips together he turned to the sink and twisted the faucet, letting a small bit of water out to wash the blade off. Angelic crystal was interesting in it's appearance, almost translucent with a diamond like pattern, a rainbow shimmer when the light it it just right. Stained with angelic blood, it could be mistaken for liquid gold.

As it was now, stained with Alastor's blood, it just looked wrong. Not that any blood on a weapon should look right.

Once it was clean he turned the water back off and returned to the other, crouching down in front of him and running his gaze along Alastor's body. It was a bit hard to pick out the new ones from the old ones, but he could still clearly see the ones that were rough enough to be what Alastor was referring to as claw marks. "Do you want to drink something first?" Alcohol, preferably mixed with Michael's blood for better healing. That easy it really didn't hurt so much when he did this and things wouldn't be as painful as he was certain they would be. Regardless of what Alastor said.

"Even if you just want to have some water with my blood in it, that would be better than sitting and grinding your teeth to bare through it. And I get it, to you it doesn't hurt, that's what you say. Mental or otherwise, whatever you think." Lifting his head up from his chest he set his gaze on Alastor's own. "It hurts me, and I'd feel better. I don't care if that's selfish, I worry about you."

Unfortunately for Michael, Alastor was not certain of the limitations to angelic protections upon him - and he was certain that even trying to apply such a thing would incur more of Lilith's ire. If he could say, with some definitiveness, that it would not, then he would have no problem permitting it.

As it was, he was not willing to risk it.

Beyond that, Alastor was taking quite a bit of stock in Michael's eventual, but reluctant agreement. To cause pain - to be caused pain by one that he trusted... there was a gravity to it. If he'd thought it would help Michael in any way - and if he knew how to voice it, he might make the attempt to articulate it. But he knew that nothing he could say would make it feel better to the angel. So he deigned to keep his mouth shut as the other drifted away through the makeshift portal.

While Michael was briefly absent, Alastor allowed his shoulders to slump slightly.

He wanted to take solace in the act. He wanted to be comforted by it. But knowing that Michael was ill at ease and even upset... it made for a disquieting contrast. One he did not know how to fix and that kept him from saying anything once the other returned with the box and the knives within.

The mention of hurt again, had him glancing up at the other as he reached into the box to take the smallest of the knives in hand. He did not need anything bigger, thankfully. This would do just fine.

"I promise you," he said, finally. "It doesn't hurt. Not really." Always just a brief sting and that was it. Nothing compared to the burning of the pentagram. So much less intrusive, too. And so he would make another attempt at... trying to get Michael to understand. Even if he did not quite know how successful he would be in doing so.

"It hurts more leaving them to heal knowing that they were... made by someone else. Someone I did not trust."

The most honest he could be without giving anything more away or further stoking the warning magic imbued in his brand.

"Not all pain is physical."

Alastor did not think he needed to say that - but he felt it important to himself in the moment. To remind himself.

With the blade in hand and the box set down, he turned to the wound on his bicep. Though he was not an expert in stitching, he had always been very effective with a knife - and so, once he was sure Michael would not immediately bolt in the other direction - he made quick work of almost surgically using the blade to shave away some of the torn, jagged flesh to create a much nicer, cleaner looking laceration instead. One that could be easily bandaged and wrapped. An act that he hardly had a reaction to besides the smallest twitches of the corners of his mouth. But little else.

"There," he said, once the deed was done only a few moments later. It would bleed. As all wounds did. But it was no longer reminiscent of claw marks. And if Michael was channeling that magic of his, it would be very little time before the wound itself would close, leaving behind another scar to join the rest that littered his form.

"Quick and easy. That's all. There are six more like it."

[this-is-a-name-dont-worry]

hm having thoughts bout making a boy who went forth to learn what fear is eah oc now