#also had to add a love confession because I'm predictable

[gayofthefae]

My surprise at the I love you speech was mostly sourced at my first watch casual interpretation of Byler.

Why is Mike behaving this way towards Will? Oh, he reciprocates and is being defensive about it. That would make since. The one thing is how are they gonna break down is relationship with El?...................

oh. like that.

So I really thought it was a done deal I was like "I can't see where this is going but of the two, who has a shittier arc if Mike doesn't have feelings for them. That's who he ends up with" and then was like ok that's the what I just don't know the "how" and then the next episode they GAVE ME THE HOW. So my huge confusion was that the ily speech essentially TOOK AWAY THE HOW???

The thing about that is taking away the "how" doesn't contradict the "what". I knew Byler was endgame when I believed Mike could tell El he loved her in 4x02 just as much as I did at the end of 4x09.

But it's funny because since 4x02, my thought has never been "wow, guess they aren't doing Byler!" It was "wow, guess they're taking a different route to Byler than I expected!"

It makes sense though in retrospect. In simple terms, the pieces were falling into place too early and they need to get together in season 5. (I also didn't know there was a season 5 + past seasons have never had cliff hangers so that adds to it I guess lol). I was taken aback because I understood the destination with my only apprehension being - honestly just curiosity about the path. Then they laid down a path. Then they were like "haha lol that path was unrelated! Psych!" and I was left curious "what's the path then?" with the additional question "what was that for?"

And then I remembered Cyrano and the rest is history but the POINT IS. Since believing in it, aside from occasional queerbait fear, I have never had Byler doubt based on ANYTHING in the story. Nothing in Netflix's "Stranger Things" has given me Byler doubt. I was only surprised to be wrong at how they were getting together.

I thought they were doing the "Mike notices Will overenthusiastically correcting his self-deprecation" romance trope when they were doing Cyrano so I was confused. But as I always say, they were only failing at a goal they didn't have. Was that a failure to execute that romance trope? Yes! Because they were never trying to! I may consider it doubt, actually, during the confession, but then because nothing else resolved in the season either I was like "Oh...that wasn't supposed to be it oh ok that makes more sense"

Anyway, now I know that and this is a long winded way of saying the only incorrect predictions I ever had in regards to Byler were how they would get together. From the second Byler was introduced to me as a viable option of an ending, Milkvan felt entirely illogical as an option and only proved to be moreso as the season progressed. Byler is endgame. Sometimes I'm wrong about how, but that isn't Byler doubt. It's an adjustment and then we are back, baby. The biggest proof against Byler is what I interpreted on my watch (once I realized there would be a season 5) as "a different direction to Byler than I originally thought".

[candlecoveisland]

Episode 3: Love and Hate

Oh shit.

OH, SHIT--

NEW MIIS

As promised, I added Calvery, Dr. Heartfelt, Ms. Laughingstock, Sunny, Hoody Hans, and ManBearPig.

ROMANCE

We have our first crack ship of the game!

Of course, I helped this poor lovestruck fool and gave him advice on how to woo Sunny using his best assets.

The man can hit those high notes.

Admittedly, I'm not sure how this will work out long-term seeing that they have opposite personalities (Skin-Taker is outgoing and Sunny is independent) and there are (unverified) claims in the TL community that opposite personalities don't make good couples, but I don't know. You can really never know what'll happen in this game. In any case, they currently seem very happy together.

FRIENDSHIP

Percy wanted to "introduce" Poppy and Milo, but for some reason, they were deeply confused by each other, so they didn't become friends that time.

Milo met up with Poppy again later, so they did eventually end up making friends.

Janice and Calvery are best friends?? I have no idea when this happened.

Percy and Skin-Taker had a MASSIVE fight. What it was about, I have no idea.

Thankfully, Janice intervened, and they made up.

Poppy told me that he and Percy don't seem to be getting along that well. I told him that his and Percy's friendship was nothing special, and (surprisingly to me) he said that he wondered if there was a way for them to become closer, so I have hope for them.

Skin-Taker tried to make friends with Milo, but they didn't really hit it off. He asked me later if I thought he and Milo would make good friends, and I told him that their relationship wouldn't be anything special. (I did this for Milo's safety.)

I predict ManBearPig and Hans will become best friends. They've been each other's only friends for quite a while (two people tried to make friends with MBP and failed, and nobody has even bothered trying to make friends with Hans), and I always see them hanging out together.

They're my broTP.

EVERYTHING ELSE

Basically everything is open now that I've accomplished most milestones in this game (add 10 Miis, solve a decent amount of problems, have a decent mix of males and females, have someone confess their love).

Also, more rankings on the rankings board have been unlocked.

Orange is the popularity ranking (which is based on how many friends a Mii has), and green is the pampered ranking (which is based on how much attention I give a Mii). (Percy, Skin-Taker, and Horace are at the top because they're the ones always asking me to buy them shit--)

Oh! And another thing that has been unlocked is Quirky Questions!

What is it with people asking me for grits?? Janice asked me for grits too last episode. Is CandleCove Island in the south???

On the topic of food, Skin-Taker seems to have a problem with candy.

I feel like Milo is turning into a finance bro. I gave him this snazzy jacket, and he's always talking into this cell phone I gave him, and one time he asked me to look into his head (this a normal Tomodachi Life occurrence btw), and he was thinking about graphs??

(Oh, he also asked me for hair dye btw, that's why his hair is green.)

Speaking of looking into people's heads, Calvery was pondering a cactus (?), and Ms. Laughingstock had no thoughts, head empty.

Also, short announcement: I left out a lot of less-interesting stuff relating to friendships and food, clothing, etc. that I give the Miis just because the huge blocks of text are kind of unsightly (and they're HUGE blocks of text now that I have so many Miis), so I'll start recording that information in separate logs. Also, like last time, bonus footage will be its own post, and that's probably going to be the usual for this series.

Anyway! Next episode, Sea-Dog, Salty Jojo, Banana King, Phillip Fly, Joe Shortlegs, and Susan Siren will join in on the drama. See you then!

[kkf]

I’ve woken up with Ava Max’s “Sweet But Psycho” chorus in my head the last few days. My subconscious is definitely not trying to tell me something.

To be specific, it was the chorus:

Oh, she's sweet but a psycho

A little bit psycho

At night, she's screamin'

"I'm-ma-ma-ma out my mind"

Not the most comforting lyrics to wake up to. While contemplating my current mental health, I considered how my therapist would ask me to deconstruct that particular thought.

Which, because of my recent Buffy rewatch brain, eventually led me to think about how badly Buffy needed a therapist. In 144 episodes, she had only three brushes with mental health professionals. I’m going to set aside 6.14 “Normal Again,” because that not only does that episode merit its own post, but I also don’t have enough chocolate on hand to grapple with the mind fuck that is that episode. I’m just looking at 3.04 “Beauty and the Beast” and 7.07 “Conversations with Dead People.”

In season 3, Buffy is recovering from the implosion of her relationship with Angel. As a Bangel fan, it hurts me to write this, but the relationship from the point where Angel loses his soul is a metaphor for an abusive relationship (dude tries to kill her, her friends, her classmates, end the world…not a healthy route to take a relationship).

So as the season starts Buffy is traumatized from losing Angel and Jenny, as well as being the one who had to sacrifice the person she loved to save the world. After her three month sabbatical to LA, our girl CLEARLY needed some professional help to sort through everything. And for once, Buffy gets some of this help in the form of Mr. Platt, the school guidance counselor.

Buffy’s conversation with Platt is impressive when one considers how much ground he covers in such a short amount of time.

Of course, in true Buffyverse fashion, this help from a qualified professional only lasts about the 15 minutes it takes for him to become a victim of our latest monster of the week, a Jekyll-Hyde classmate whose own abusive relationship is meant to serve as a foil for that of Buffy and Angel. Buffy never gets professional help again. Until Holden, Buffy’s former classmate-turned therapist-turned newly risen vampire.

(Confession: I have a soft spot for Holden, because the actor who plays him was also in one of my favorite episodes of Firefly.)

Now Holden’s therapy session is an interesting blend of analysis and fisticuffs, as he IS a newly turned vampire and is, thus, evil. As he reminds us.

For this reason, Holden has a slightly more confrontational style when getting Buffy to open up. He challenges her, pushes her not to hold back. And as a result Buffy is open about her inferiority-superiority complex, which really, he says, is the root of the loneliness that Buffy feels. Being the Slayer makes her feel superior to her friends, however her performance as the Slayer makes her feel isolated and inferior. As Holden states, “it all adds up to you being alone.” But then goes on to argue that “everybody is until you die.”

Thinking about loneliness and isolation as recurring themes for Buffy, both of which are experiences trauma survivors tend to experience, I’m reminded about a recent YouTube short (which was originally a TikTok) that I saw which stated two pieces of food for thought. The first was that “the reason why we self sabotage is because it allows us to predict what is going to happen which gives us the illusion of control over our own pain” and the second was that “they’re not your type, they’re your pattern.”

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/fx12Lxxojvo

Buffy’s sabotaging patterns of behavior (choosing men who are centuries older than her for example, or men who she is in no danger of falling in love with) offer her the illusion of control over what kind of pain she is inviting into her life.

Additionally, Buffy’s patterns of behavior - the self isolation, the relationships she chooses, all of them work as ways of protecting herself. She chooses emotional isolation from her friends as a method of protecting herself from the possibility that they won’t understand the choices that she’s making or that they will call her out on repeating sabotaging patterns of behavior.

It’s not a coincidence that it’s someone outside her immediate social circle who calls her out on her pattern of choosing relationships where she doesn’t have to completely open up. As Holden is someone to whom she has weak social ties, Buffy is more likely to be receptive to new ideas coming from him than from someone within her close social circle.

Often, especially when starting therapy, the fact that the person you’re speaking with is someone who has no “horse in the race” enables a patient to be more open, not just to being completely honest with the therapist, but also to receiving feedback. With my own therapy experience, having a complete stranger validate that while my reactions to certain triggers were not disproportionate, they didn’t make me crazy. They didn’t make me broken.

I wish, looking back, that Buffy had more of an opportunity to interact with mental health professionals. The metaphor of the show is “growing up.” How much more interesting and helpful would it have been for young viewers to have seen that the patterns we can find ourselves in can be challenged. That we can change. That with a little help, we can stop feeling so “psycho.”

[broccoliboix5peepeeman]

Hi~! I’d like to request a vampire!Shouto x human!Izuku wearing a sheet because he’s terrible at costumes tddk Halloween fic in these trying times.😭 I didn’t wanna be too specific in order to not limit your creativity. Thank you! I appreciate you💜💜

Gahhhhh you’re so nice, thank you! 😭 Of course - hope you enjoy! 💜

Shoto stood in the common room, his body awkwardly stiff and juxtaposing all the boisterous teenagers buzzing around him. His class was hosting a Halloween party in the dorms, seen as Aizawa Sensei had ruled out actual Trick or Treating as a definite no due to safety reasons.

While most of the class had been outraged at the news, personally, Shoto didn’t see what the big fuss was about. His family had never celebrated Halloween for obvious reasons, but he just couldn’t comprehend what was so exciting about going out in costume, knocking on random doors and threatening strangers into giving you sweets.

It just seemed like villainy but with more steps… And legal apparently.

He fumbled with the frills of his poet shirt and ran his tongue over his fake teeth. The girls had insisted they all dress up for the party, even though they couldn’t actually go Trick or Treating. So, with the help of Yaoyorozu and Jirou, Shoto had managed to procure a decent enough costume.

A vampire, traditional but not outlandish, which he liked. He also had to admit that he liked the black and red cape he was wearing. Everywhere he went, it flowed behind him - it reminded him of when he used to wrap a towel around his shoulders and play heroes with his mum when the old man wasn’t around.

As the memory played in his mind, Shoto reached up and ran a hand through his hair. The right side was styled back while his left side drooped down, covering his scar, which had faded slightly as a result of the makeup that had been applied to his face.

His eyes scanned the room, watching as his classmates chatted to one another while snacking on the various treats that Satou and - surprisingly - Bakugou had baked for them. Still no sign of Midoriya yet though.

Shoto's heart fluttered at the mere thought of his boyfriend. The two of them hadn’t been dating long and things were still relatively new to the both of them, so obviously Shoto still got butterflies in his stomach just thinking about Midoriya… Not that he believed these feelings would stop any time soon.

Shoto’s eyes were trained on the doorway to the common room, waiting. He could happily daydream about Midoriya all day, if he were honest. Sure, having him here in person would be preferable, but for now, this was his only option.

He wondered what Midoriya had decided to dress up as. The first thought that came to mind was All Might, but Shoto quickly wrote that off - after all, All Might wasn’t scary. Maybe an old villain that All Might had defeated though, or a monster from one of those American films the class liked to watch during their movie nights?

It had to be something intricate - Midoriya was the sort of person who put 100% into everything that he did. That was one of the things that drew Shoto in from the very start. His determination, his intelligence, but also his smiles. They always had a warmth to them that, when directed at him, made Shoto feel like he was the most important person in the world. Yes, Midoriya was beautiful and smart and…

The door flew open.

And he was wearing a bedsheet…

Shoto’s eyebrows shot up and he regarded his boyfriend with a mixture of surprise and amusement. A white sheet with several hero-themed patches sewn onto the material was draped over his body and kept in place by the comical top hat on his head. A circle had been cut in the fabric so that Midoriya’s round face was peeking out, not looking scary at all.

Cute.

His boyfriend must’ve felt him staring, because he suddenly turned and spotted him, before smiling happily and bouncing over to him.

Shoto squeezed his eyes shut and held his arms out, bracing himself for impact. However, instead of a hug, calloused hands came up to interlock with Shoto’s own. Confused, he opened his eyes to find his boyfriend gazing at him fondly.

‘That was unexpected.’ Shoto gestured to their hands. ‘I was prepared to be knocked to the floor.’

‘And risk ruining your costume?!’ Midoriya gasped and let go of one of his hands to place it over his heart. ‘I think not!’

‘You like it?’ Shoto let out a small smile and wiggled his shoulders, causing his cape to flutter around him.

He froze when Midoriya ran his hands along his arms, only the thin fabric of his shirt separating them.

‘You look gorgeous.’ Green eyes stared into his earnestly, and Shoto felt himself blush. Clearly, satisfied with that reaction, Midoriya giggled and gestured to his own costume. ‘You like mine?’

‘Well, er...’ He trailed off.

‘What?’

‘Er...’ How could he put this? Shoto rubbed the back of his neck. ‘You look very cute, but what are you?’

Midoriya looked at him, aghast.

‘I am not cute! I’m a ghost!!!’ He exclaimed, flailing his arms everywhere. ‘I thought it was obvious?!’

When Shoto shook his head slowly, he let out an exasperated sigh. ‘What did you think I was?!’

Good question. Shoto thought. He scratched his cheek in thought until Midoriya reached up and gently pulled his hand away from the makeup. ‘Maybe the moon? I honestly had no idea...’

‘Todoroki-kuuuun!’ Midoriya moaned, leaning forwards and faceplanting his chest. Shoto’s arms automatically came up to wrap around Midoriya, even as his boyfriend lightly banged his fists on his torso. ‘Betrayal!’

‘Well, for what it’s worth, you still look beautiful.’ Shoto replied easily, scowling at Kaminari and Ashido, who were gesticulating wildly at him and wolf whistling from across the room. However, his attention quickly shifted back to Midoriya, who looked up at him with wide eyes, face flushed.

‘Really?’ He breathed. Shoto flashed him a smile reserved only for Midoriya and reached out to stroke a freckled cheek. He ran his thumb along a red mark from where the sheet had left an indent and huffed affectionately.

‘Really.’ He met Izuku’s eyes. ‘You always look beautiful.’

‘Stooooop!’ Midoriya buried his face in Shoto’s chest once more and shook his head with embarrassment before suddenly pulling away and pointing an accusatory finger at him. ‘Well, if that’s the case then so are you!’

‘In the wise words of Kaminari, “Press X to doubt”.’ Shoto deadpanned. Midoriya’s lip wobbled at that and Shoto almost thought he had gained the upper hand; but alas, his boyfriend could not be stopped so easily.

‘While I am proud of you for the reference, my point still stands.’ Midoriya stepped closer. ‘You’re without a doubt the hottest vampire I’ve ever seen.’

Without thinking, Shoto’s hand came up to the left side of his face and hovered over his scar. Midoriya immediately seemed to understand what he was thinking before Shoto could even say anything. His boyfriend got on his tiptoes and wrapped his arms around Shoto’s neck. ‘Vampire or not. Scar or not. You’re beautiful and very very sexy, and nothing could stop me from loving yo-’

Recognition dawned on both of them and Midoriya hastily pulled away as if burnt. Shoto frowned at the loss, feeling slightly hurt.

‘Midoriya-’

‘I’m so sorry, Todoroki-Kun! That was completely random of me and probably way too soon.’ He scrambled to cover his face with his hands. ‘I must have made you so uncomfortable with that and if you want some space I’ll completely understand. Don’t feel pressured to say it back as well. Holy All Might, I’m rambling again but I can’t stop myself. I can’t believe I just did that-’

‘Izuku.’ His use of Midoriya’s given name startled his boyfriend, who paused to look at him like a startled rabbit. Shoto chanced a step closer and carefully removed Midoriya’s arms from his face. ‘Did you mean what you said?’

His boyfriend swallowed heavily and, after several moments, nodded shakily.

‘Y- Yes.’

Shoto let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding and closed the distance between them. He took his boyfriend’s face in his hands and kissed him softly, trying to ignore the way his plastic fangs pressed against the back of his lips. When they broke apart, Shoto laughed quietly and rubbed their noses together.

‘I love you too.’

Tears welled up in Midoriya’s eyes.

‘Even though I’m apparently terrible at Halloween costumes?’ He sniffled, causing Shoto to smile wider.

‘Especially because you’re terrible at Halloween costumes.’

Deleted scene:

‘YOU TWO DORKS REALLY PICK YOUR MOMENTS, DON’T YOU?!’ Bakugou yelled at them from across the room. ‘Right in front of my salad too!’

Shoto pulled away and looked at the blonde, tilting his head to the side questioningly.

‘Werewolves don’t eat salad?’

[pocket-luv101]

Spoilers with Xingqiu's voiceline about Shenhe.

Shenhe is said to have a "sharpness in her personality" and Xingqiu finds her cold towards him. He predicts that it could be because he upset "someone close to her". Chongyun? There's a possibility that Shenhe and Chongyun are from the same exorcist family. We know that Chongyun is Xingqiu's favourite victim when it comes to prank. Also, Xingqiu's character story states that he often has a facade due to his family name. The one he shows his more mischievous side to is Chongyun.

I can write so many XingYun fanfics around this :3

Chongyun plans to visit Shenhe in the mountains. It has been a while since he saw his sister and he wanted advice on how to control his constitution like she does. He invites Xingqiu to join them because he's oblivious to how she would glare at Xingqiu behind his back. At first, Xingqiu is hesitant to agree when it's clear she dislikes him. He decides to go in the end because it's physically impossible to say no to those blue eyes of him. Xingqiu also thinks the visit will be a good opportunity to try to change her opinion on him. He loves Chongyun and he wants his family to support their relationship before he asks him out.

He does his best to be polite but her icy expression doesn't change. She only softens if Chongyun is there and she's doting on her little brother. While they're making dinner, Chongyun is outside gathering ingredients and leaves them alone in the kitchen. Shenhe tells Xingqiu not to add chili into Chongyun's bowl. Xingqiu directly asks her why she doesn't like him when he tried to be the perfect guest. She looks him in the eyes and says, "You know Chongyun has a huge crush on you but you do nothing but tease him and mock his feelings. He has since you two were six years old. He told me about the night he thought you were going to kiss him but then you played a prank on him. He cried for hours that night."

Xingqiu is shocked silent until he just blurts out: "Chongyun likes me?!" At the same time, Chongyun enters the kitchen and he yells: "Shenhe, why did you tell Xingqiu about my crush?!"

Chongyun is understandably upset with his sister and scared that Xingqiu would reject his feelings (assuming he would only see him as a friend). He runs out of the house and into the snowy mountain to be alone. Shenhe and Xingqiu runs after him but they lose track of him because of how dark it is. They decide to split up to find him quicker.

Shenhe is the one to find Chongyun first, sitting next to the lake. She sits next to him and apologized that she overstepped in his personal life. Chongyun has calmed down at this point and he says he says it's okay. He knows she was just trying to protect him. They talk more and Chongyun asks her to give Xingqiu a chance. "Xingqiu is a good person. I'm not only saying that because I love him but also because he's my best friend. He had helped me so much and supported my dream to be an exorcist. When Mom and Dad said I could never be a traditional exorcist, you and Xingqiu were the only two who believed in me. Let him show you the chivalrous person I know."

Then, a hilichurl attacks them. Shenhe goes to protect Chongyun but there's no need because Xingqiu takes down the hilichurl before it could reach them. Qiu rushes to Chongyun and worries over whether he's hurt. It quickly becomes apparent how much he cares for Chongyun. His fretting is interrupted when Xingqiu sneezes because his clothes are soaked after he uses his vision. Chongyun gives him his jacket and says they should go back to Shenhe's house where it's warm.

Back in the cottage, Chongyun and Xingqiu huddle beside the fireplace for warmth. Shenhe brings them two tea and Xingqiu notes that she isn't as cold as before. She leaves the room so they can talk alone and Chongyun takes the opportunity to ask Xingqiu if he loves him as well. Xingqiu blushes and he confesses that he does. Usually, he won't bother with how other people sees him but he wants his sister to like him because he knows she's important to Chongyun.

Xingqiu takes a sip of the tea and he immediately spits it out because it's spicy. Shenhe may have decided to give Xingqiu a chance but she wanted to get revenge for his pranks one time.

[marximoff]

Hi ! First of all, thank you very much for blessing us with your fic, I absolutely love the way you portrayed someone who suffer from the Blip and I wish it was something we see more often in Marvel. The angst is amazing and my heart hurts everytime. :'D

I have a few questions if you don't mind to answer : Is Wanda physically just the same as Wanda from 838 (by that I mean their look in case I'm not clear) ? Are you going to add some interactions with the others Avengers (like maybe Clint or Sam) ? I know it's a Wanda/Read centric story of their healing, both as a couple and individually, but I was curious if they both would ever come back, hypothetically, as superheroes (maybe it's a spoil so if you don't want to answer it's totally fine by me) ? Are you going to show more of their background as young girlfriends (if not I would love to request in the future maybe a one shot of their first date, first confession, first time... 👀) ? Who was the closest Avengers to the Reader, excluding Wanda ?

Thank you very much again for your fic and I hope I didn't bother you with my questions.

ok, first of all, i'm really glad you're enjoying the fic so far! it's really important for me to get feedback from readers (and i particularly like it a lot 😳👉👈)

but ok, let's go by parts (i really enjoy answering questions about my work, so get ready because it's going to be a lot don't mind me i'm excited)

Yes, our current Wanda has the same physical appearance as Wanda 838 - honestly i don't know why the heck they decided to keep her a redhead after Endgame or even Wandavision, but because we follow the same idea here as the variant, that is a retired Wanda who focused her life on being a mother and enjoy her family life (and not be a fugitive anymore, of course), there's no reason for Wanda to remain a redhead like, at all give me back my brunette Wanda you cowards!

Yes, there are plans for more Avengers to appear as the story unfolds (and the prediction is that there will be about ten chapters in all btw, not to mention the one shots that i'm still dying to write to add more content to this universe bc well, i'm gay).

Honestly, i don't think there's more room in both R's and Wanda's lives for them to be superheroes again. Although they do care about helping people as a whole, those days are behind them and now their focus is just living an ordinary life (even if for different reasons) - superpowers are just mere consequences, details. Wanda might still focus on her magical studies with Agatha, but not in a way where she uses those powers to defend the world in the vigilante kind of way (she just knows her importance as a Scarlet Witch to the wizarding community, but is more like a mystical figure than as a hero per se). None of them really had a sense of heroism like Steve or Sam, for example, and they just did it because that's kind of what they felt they had to do at the time, being teenagers with superpowers. But probably their focus right now is just raising the twins and living a peaceful life.

Yes, there will still be some flashbacks about R and Wanda's past as teenagers and the most defining moments of their relationship before the Blip (I just love emo Wanda and want to write more about her ok let me be fjksdjfks), but i do intend to write some specific one-shots about some moments that will end up not getting in the main series - spoiler alert, i'm working on a one shot rn about how teenagers R and Wanda came to the conclusion that they were in love with each other 👀

And finally, Natasha was the closest to R besides Wanda - she kind of saw R as a little sister (since she reminded her a lot of Yelena), and vice versa. That's why a big part of R's post-Blip trauma, in addition to losing her entire family, of course, was witnessing Nat's death and not being able to do anything to stop it. But i think it's also worth mentioning that she had a closer relationship with Sam and Steve, especially after their days as fugitives, yeah... and she kind of had a soft side for Vision, tbh.

well, that's a lot, but I hope I've answered all your questions! and feel free to ask more (anything that isn't a spoiler and i can answer lol)

[swarmkeepers]

happy sleepover saturday sola!! hope u had a good day :) for the dnd asks: 10, 12, 18 and for all your characters 26 & 27 !!

i did have a good day ty leo!! right back atcha i hope u've had a lovely one <3

10 - How do you come up with characters?

usually world (eg. where do i want them to come from, what’s a part of this world i want to explore?) > class/subclass > vibes > backstory > other parts of build

so thi was “i want to play an ashari bc arlowe’s mentioned there’s something up with them in ehas” > ashari are nature-y vibes, let’s go ranger or druid > swarmkeeper sounds cool > warforged full of bees > their dad found and built her, why they’re leaving the wastemarsh, etc.

12 - What’s your favorite part of playing DND?

not to be cliche, but hanging out with my friends and spiralling about stories told for an audience of six people.

18 - Do you prep for sessions?

YES!

way before session - for ehas, i usually post my notes from last session (i take notes on paper, then type them up as a gdoc and share to our discord) which helps refresh what’s going on. i also have an ongoing to-do list of miscellaneous things - conversations i want to have, bits of dialogue, things my character is keeping in mind. tâm and ari in wandering isles had a BIG unrequited love confession/rejection moment and i had been planning some of those lines since pre-campaign. these are mostly 3am thoughts that i remember to write down.

right before session - does setup count as prep? open all my tabs (wikidot for class/subclass, character doc, character sheet, sometimes worldbuilding doc if my dm has one). make sure avrae has the current version of my character sheet and spells. if we’re in combat, i have a quick reference post-it that i usually write before session (eg. reminding me to add add 1d4 favored foe and 1d6 swarm damage to thi’s first hit, “you have bardic,” # of attacks). if i have a reaction ability, i liked having a piece of paper that says “no reaction/yes reaction” on either side that i turn over so i remember if i’ve used it. check which dice are rolling hot, get my notes out.

putting the character q’s under the cut bc this got long!

26 - What kind of music would they like? (answering the following for my campaign characters since they're more fleshed out <3)

tâm likes brian david gilbert's castle chase playlist, like upbeat genre-funky fantasy music. kima likes maritime folk/work songs (predictably; they're literally a pirate dockworker). thi likes ethereal-sounding irish trad with lots of improv/variations - if they could breathe they'd probably play the whistle or something. sum likes metal, because i think i'm funny.

27 - What three songs remind you of them?

answered for sum, so:

tâm - free - mother mother. featherstone - the paper kites. love you back - metric.

kima - bones in the ocean - the longest johns. fingers to the bone - brown bird. easy come, easy go - the decemberists.

thi - here i am - the crane wives. temple - thao. is there anyone out there - delta rae

and some single songs for oneshot characters:

miya (artillerist/arcane trickster pirate airship technologist) - the specialist - will savino

canto (rune knight tinkerer gnome) - we all lift together - keith hammer

nesse (arcane archer fantasy megafauna biologist) - misty forest - louie zong

cat (arcane archer trigger happy rabbitfolk) - bang - ajr

antimony (standoffish air genasi inquisitive) - transparent soul - willow

[gracielitamargarita]

Thoughts on Kyoru in Fruits Basket: The Final as a manga reader

(and bad metaphors about lava cake)

So with next week's impending shit storm of a Furuba episode next week, I've been doing some reflecting on our favorite Mutual Pining Idiots, Kyoru--and thinking about how the anime adaptation's choices in rearranging or removing content has impacted things, specifically with Se3E6.

And just to preface, I think the anime adaptation has been terrific overall. I also think loving something and critiquing something aren't mutually exclusive either. The goal of what I'm about to write is not to incite negativity, just to get some feelings out about my favorite pairing from my favorite manga series and provoke some deeper thought, I guess.

ALSO, I hope you don't mind metaphors--specifically ones about chocolate-raspberry lava cake, because that's what I've decided works best for explaining Kyoru. So FASTEN THOSE SEATBELTS PEOPLE 

MANGA SPOILERS regarding previously omitted content as well as VAGUE ANIME SPOILERS that can be implied/inferred from the ending of Se3E7 under the cut.

I think one of the (many) reasons I find Kyoru to be such a satisfying ship is because of the slow-burn element. Come season 2 through the beach arc, their chemistry is palpable, natural, and growing stronger and stronger with each episode. When Kyo finally admits to himself that he's in love with Tohru in Se2E9, it feels like we've been rewarded with a chocolate lava cake topped with raspberry sauce--it's delicious, complex, and full of gooey and satisfying substance.

Now like many, I'm a sucker for the pining idiot trope--let alone the MUTUAL pining idiot trope--and we do get to see this through the end of season 2 as Tohru's feelings for Kyo become more apparent to everyone BUT her. It's like we're LOOKING at the chocolate-raspberry lava cake, so close that we can ALMOST touch it, but we as viewers aren't allowed to cut into it yet--which makes every little encounter between the two of them all the more exciting, because we wonder what's finally going to allow us to ravish this goddamn lava cake (sorry).

Which is why I realized I'm actually struggling more than I initially thought in the final season. As it's been widely speculated, discussed, and now officially confirmed, we're getting 13 episodes this season. And while like most everyone else, I'd be thrilled with two cours, I don't know the ins and outs of anime production, AND, while I'm bummed, I've accepted that it is what it is--and that it isn't the reason I'm writing this post.

Of course not every panel or fleeting moment can be adapted from the manga to the anime. There were small little cuts here and there over the course of the first two seasons, but nothing in my opinion that's really SO substantial that it drained the lava cake of its filling--maybe some of that raspberry topping, but generally, the good stuff is all there. (Though I do love this moment below from chapter 82, which was skipped over in Se2E19)

The final season has been different, though. As we know in the manga, the inner turmoil for Kyo--and Tohru to an extent--really starts escalating immediately after Cinderella-ish with Kyoko's backstory and Kyo's nightmare from chapters 90-93. I also understand that Cinderella-ish was Se2E23, and with only 2 episodes left in the season, it made sense from a directorial standpoint to end with the Kureno/Akito reveal versus Kyoko's backstory and Kyo realizing he needs to know his place.

But without this context, it leaves moments like the flower scene from Se3E2 less impactful--like a lava cake made by someone who skimped on the filling. To an anime-only (and even as a manga reader), it's likely still a satisfying moment to watch: we know that Tohru clearly has a lot of inner turmoil following her conversation with Kureno. Kyo's turmoil following his nightmare, however--and overall, the sentiment of him thinking he needs to stay away from Tohru, yet still finding himself drawn to her above all odds--is deeply diminished.

Which leads me to the main reason (finally, sorry) that I wrote this post--Se3E6, or the episode when Tohru finally admits to herself AND to Rin that Kyo has taken the place of her mother as the most precious person to her. 

In the manga, Se3E6 is made up of chapters 107, 108, 109, AND 114, spanning the end of volume 18 through the beginning of volume 20 of the TokyoPop mangas. Volume 19 in particular is one of my all time favorite mangas in the entire series for one clear reason: just as we've seen Kyo get to do in season 2, we finally get to see Tohru slowly own her feelings for Kyo, and MY GOD, is cutting into that lava cake and enjoying that delicious filling satisfying AF. The Mutual Pining Idiots are in full swing here, both dealing with inner turmoil but also being unable to stay away from one another either. In addition, they're dealing with normal teenage awkwardness too, which feels like a bonus topping (would nuts go well, do we think? LOL) to the Kyoru lava cake.

But between the producers adapting Momiji's arc prior to episode 6 AND the producers ending episode 6 with a 2-minute horror movie essentially--AND, lest we forget, none of the Kyoko backstory at this point--we lost essentially all of that satisfying filling. 

And again, I understand, only 13 episodes and the producers are trying to make shit work and I do see why they made some of these changes in the overall big picture of things, but I wish it weren't at the expense of Tohru's character development and also for Kyoru, which had been so thoughtfully and delightfully well-developed in the first two seasons.

My biggest issue BY FAR with episode 6 is Tohru's confession to Rin happening before the sheets scene. The producers combined 109 and 114 for the second half of episode 6. In the manga, Tohru is able to openly admit that Kyo is the most important person to her BECAUSE of how he accepts her after she "opens the lid" to reveal the ugly feelings she's been harboring for years about her father. And in the manga, since we have the context of Kyoko's backstory and can see how she nearly committed suicide and left Tohru alone for days, it is gut-wrenching to finally hear Tohru confront and express her trauma in her own words. 

The sheets scene is arguably my favorite scene in the entire series. The anime portrayed it beautifully. Jerry and Laura ripped my heart out with their performances. It was a deeply moving scene (even with all of the changes) and the romance and pining was there--but, I hate to admit it, the feeling of cutting into that delicious lava cake to reveal that even more satisfying filling was not.

And now, come the end of Se3E7, we're approaching the climax of the series that we've been salivating for for so long now, the result of all of this inner turmoil and secrets and deep, deep longing for one another--and it almost feels now like the cake was baked too quickly, in addition to being drained of much of its filling. 

I was debating waiting to write this until next week after we see how Se3E8 goes, but my thoughts have been swirling about and this clown couldn’t help herself. I'd like to end this post on a hopeful and more forward-thinking note, though, if you've made it this far into my novel LOL.

There is definitely the potential to add a little more about Kyoko's backstory in next week's episode. I also expect that we'll hear more of Tohru's inner narrative and thoughts, which I’m really looking forward to. As several others have speculated as well, I predict that we'll be getting chapters 119-122 next week. Despite it being 4 chapters, everything should happen in sequence (versus with episode 6) and there's a lot of action, so I do feel like it won't feel rushed or disjointed. And while I could see them possibly ending with 121, 122 would be my preferred ending for many reasons (manga readers know where I'm going with this ;P) and I honestly see it fitting best there.

And regardless of what happens, I'm looking forward to eating whatever variety of lava cake is served to us next week.

And at the end of the day, we'll always have the manga, which will probably always be my favorite lava cake of all.

(and now I'm hungry for an actual lava cake)

[strangertheory]

After you so thoughtfully answered that last anon, I'm wondering a few things. Most importantly, how do you think The Duffers could write it, if mileven ends up not being endgame, in a way that was accessible and easy to understand and like for casual viewers?

The “shipping war” between Mileven and Byler fans has never sat well with me because I think there’s an elephant in the room that is rarely acknowledged by fans of either ship. I’m unsure if it’s because they don’t want to acknowledge the elephant, if it’s because they haven’t noticed the elephant yet, or if it’s because they have heard rumor of the elephant but have decided to dismiss it as unimportant.

I believe that what is going on in the story is truly not what most fans think. I think there's a meta layer that hasn't been shared with us yet but that will start to be unraveled in season 4 or 5. I cannot say for sure what that layer is: but I'm thoroughly convinced that it is there. Things are not as they seem.

El and Will are mirrors of one another, and there are details that connect each of them in a way that goes beyond mere coincidence. Their stories appear to be intertwined intentionally, and although the reasons for this remain mysterious to us currently, I suspect their connection will become relevant in later seasons.

Yes, I believe that "Byler is endgame" in the sense that I believe that Mike is in love with his childhood friend that he's known since he was 5 and he met them on the swings and that he's played D&D with and that went missing in 1983 and he was devastated upon seeing the body being lifted out of the Quarry and was relieved to find was still alive and that he greeted at the hospital when they woke up.

But I believe that something is going on here that we (as fans) are not completely aware of yet and that El’s story and Will’s story are deeply intertwined.

How do I think The Duffers could write the conclusion of Mike and El’s romantic relationship in a way that is accessible and easy to understand?

I hypothesize that the writers will eventually reveal a very specific connection that exists between El and Will. It will surely be a huge plot twist.

I believe that characters will begin to be more open and honest about their feelings in season 4 and season 5. Season 3 lacked open communication and honesty. In my opinion there was so much lying and miscommunication that it verged on being the main theme of season 3! (You can read my notes on that in this blogpost.)

I think the writers will reveal that Mike has been afraid to allow his true feelings and his true self to show because of his fear of being judged by society and by his friends. I think that we will have a storyline that involves Mike realizing that he's comfortable rejecting society's expectations of him and embracing who he really is and who he really loves.

But we can completely disregard my suggestion that El and Will are connected in some mysterious way and simply look at this as a “boy-meets-girl and boy and girl decide to stop dating” situation too.

Telling a story in which a lead character suddenly realizes that they had feelings for someone else is not complicated and is not unusual. It would only be surprising to fans that have funneled their attention and their devotion into believing that a long-term romantic relationship between Mike and El is an unchangeable certainty.

How do I think The Duffers could write the conclusion of Mike and El’s romantic relationship in a way that is easy to like for casual viewers?

The truth is: there will always be viewers that dislike discovering that a main character has feelings for a different character than the one they hoped they would stay romantically involved with. Add to that the unfortunate existence of homophobia and some fans might also be upset because they don’t like the idea of two teenage boys having romantic feelings for each other, either.

Sometimes the story a writer wants to tell might deviate from the fandom’s expectations. It happens all the time. A writer’s goal is to tell a good story, and sometimes telling a good story involves subverting expectations rather than affirming them. The Duffer Brothers seem the type to enjoy a good plot-twist. I could be wrong, but I think they enjoy layering Stranger Things with secrets and carefully crafting scenarios so that when the truth beneath the surface is revealed everyone watching the series can say "Wow! What a twist! We should have seen the foreshadowing but we can only see it now in hindsight.”

I think that Mike and Will realizing and confessing their mutual feelings for one another is a very likeable story. Mike and Will’s love story can be an incredibly well-written friends-to-lovers, slow-burn, mutual pining, angst-with-a-happy-ending, queer coming-of-age love story in the midst of a supernatural scifi fantasy horror adventure. I find it very easy to like this story. It’s FANTASTIC. And I don’t see why “casual” viewers couldn’t love this story, too. I do think they might have to be open-minded and unprejudiced in order to enjoy it, however. They will also have to be open to respecting that El is more than capable of having a happy ending that isn’t dependent on a teenage boy dating her. I hope that fans that invested all of their hopes and dreams into El dating Mike indefinitely will still have an interest in cheering for El and her new dreams and goals even if (hypothetically) she is no longer romantically involved with Mike by the end of season 5. If they care about El dating Mike more than her happiness, then perhaps they need to re-evaluate how they relate to fictional stories and also make sure that they respect when people in their real lives decide that they are better off as friends.

Whatever is going on in the story: I look forward to seeing what happens between Will, Mike, and El in seasons 4 and 5. I understand that my theories and my interpretations of the series might be incorrect, but these are my thoughts on what has happened so far in the story and what I predict might happen next.

Thanks for Asking!

...

If you’d like to read my blogposts regarding what I think is going on between Will and El and read about the Stranger Things theories that I find the most compelling you can find them all listed at my pinned index post here at this link.

[rawliverandcigarettes]

Also, speaking of salarian planets : since Trigestis predicted a planet's existence and location mathematically when all the planets in the Pranas system in ME3 are close enough to be seen from Sur'Kesh (Halegeuse is closer to Pranas than Jupiter is to the Sun), do you have a headcanon to fix that ? Like, faulty interface in ME3, or something fancier, like Trigestis's planet being exploded during the Krogan Rebellions ? I hope I'm not being a bother.

Hello again! I'm sorry it took me AGES to get to it and I will, shamelessly, blame it on new job syndrome again.

So I kind of want to use this ask, if that's okay, to confess something slightly embarrassing coming from a narrative designer and someone who slugged through releasing a fic under the guise of "I want to get it right" for so many years: the more time goes by, the more I realize I am not as much of a lore nerd as I thought I was.

It's more complicated than that actually: I adore, ADORE lore that deepens art thematically. Whatever I can get that gives me insight on societies, culture or characters, even biology/geology **that adds an insight on theme**, love it. Can't get enough (ish when it comes to HH, because I'm actually a coward and I'll get to that).

But lore that exists to fill up Codex pages, lore that I sense have been written under pressure of deadline or does not intrisincally tells me more about why is this story told... It can tire me pretty easily. That's why I do not care, could not possibly care less about the obligatory million details about gun and weaponry in videogame codexes (not just ME), or the fetishism around military hierarchy breakdowns (unless it's used as a jumping point to explore character or world, but it's rarely the case and ends up being just weirdly reverent, nearly ritualistic --the attention given to these details does inform on themes, but way more on what has been prioritized than the actual details in these cases imho). It got way worse since I started doing the work myself; there's at once so many thoughts put on the details, and also so little in certain cases --you just gotta cram something and it's the compromise that you got at the eighth meeting on the matter, and it's kind of meaningless by that point and a weird middle ground nobody is truly happy with, but the deadline's looming and you have bigger fights to concentrate on so whatever, ship it I guess.

A lot of videogame lore gives me this sort of vibes now, and the planet descriptions of Mass Effect, while honestly pack-fulled with treasures of characterization that gives some underwhelming species more characterization that we ever got in the main missions, have probably been written either by a contractor with a tight deadline that proposed concepts fast and had to iterate on the rejects even faster, or by a core team member that did this on the side when no fire was currently roasting the game alive. It's speculation of course, but most of this "codex" game writing is very dense and high-input work that does not really allow for self-reflection or letting the content simmer and slowly shape sense out of itself. So while I love the details and some are so good, I have to admit I generally choose and pick from whatever speaks to me in this sort of descriptors, and it's been a hot while since I last cruised the galaxy searching for these treasures of worldbuilding. I should do it more! But it did slide down as a the bottom of priorities, just like this writing probably did in real life....

But to actually answer your ask instead of going on a weird tangent about game writing work: I'm gonna be honest, I completely forgot about that bit. I could make up an explanation on the spot, but the truth is: I was kind of waiting to get on The Empire of Preys to do a checkpoint on deep salarian lore (especially location related), and have it inform the detailing of the writing past the big lines --actual salarian culture shows up surprisingly little in Halfway Home given Shlee is completely allergic to his salarianness and runs away from it as fast as he can!!!!

Another embarassing confession that I took an even more embarassingly long time to work through: for the first years of working on the project, I felt very vulnerable and defensive about my interpretation of the story and themes, and I was terrified, absolutely terrified of illegitimacy. So confronting myself to lore again after my initial judgement/gut feeling, after all the emotional attachment I put into the story and all the deep meaning it took for me, was not an option I enjoyed at all, and I avoided everything Andromeda because I was so scared of what it could do to my fragile reasonning. Since then I decided I cared way less about doing a completely valid and diligent reading of micro-details of lore than to put my own spin on the universe, in conversation with it rather than restricted and bound by its, sometimes, arbitrary limitations. I still have to ploy around plot points (UGH Cerberus DLC *shakes fist*), but only if I can make it into a Point somehow (I think I did with the aforementioned after years of battling with it). But paradoxically, letting go of this insecurity (which is still in process of deconstruction, I am not completely above it yet) allowed me to rediscover hidden gems of lore, question my biases and interpretations, and helped me deepen my story. So I'm super glad you bring it up, I'll definitively look into it and see if I can twist this inconsistency into A Point or let it go!

I'm sorry I replied exactly 0% of what you asked, but I think the opportunity to go a lil' Author On Main (TM) was too good to pass. Sorryyyyy. ._.

[singingmice]

energy & how water moves,

[I’ve not done much I’ve loved too little And I’m tired of running] - Frank O’Hara, from ‘Lines Across the United States’, Poems Retrieved Tin, It's past midday, Energy has been low for a while and I tell myself, is it just - to go more slowly, or is that - death shows its shadow and shows us what it is not to live? I try to go deep, but energy dictates everything. One wants to run down the mountain but moves like a sloth, turning the pages of a rain drenched book, an old rusted train unused for centuries. Then I think: spirit wants me back. Nature calls for me. It's there one must go rather than the endless productivity that dictates our times. Perhaps it is not the time for finishing writing, instead to clear through...to open up after this last year and a half of constraints, of collective fear and hesitation. I remember how water calms. I've been spending time recently with those who struggle to notice or appreciate poetry. Os spends most of her time inside or at work and there she is content. I cannot name where our attraction to each other came from, but feel a little foolish for it now. Perhaps loneliness accumulates. Perhaps one sometimes goes exactly in the direction where one is not heading in order, for the millionth time, to know what it is that one needs. I don't understand her at all, or perhaps I do, and this worries me more. The mechanisms of comfort, of predictability - ways to ward off the chaos that attacks us from all angles. And in that ruin, I find strength, and in it - she cleans and scrubs and tidies away that which can creep in unexpectedly. I led a yoga session yesterday and she said, "I feel nothing" and my heart sank. "Mr Duffy lived a short distance away from his body..." - James Joyce But I had missed / being held. And I've been with C in the north of Catalonia, who's living beside a large lake. At least with him we've been heading out to nature, having emotional talks at night. But I confess I miss literature. I miss the challenge to intellect. There is so much safety, routine...soon, I tell myself. Soon all of that will disappear and for the next month slow travels will await. Hiking, meeting some friends. You, snorkelling. How is it to live so close to such a vibrant sea? Have you noticed differences over the years of the life that can be found there? I went to the sea last week with C. Speedboats everywhere. Back on the island where I've been living since April it's much better for wilderness areas, but even then - boats everywhere. I long for a sea too rough for sailing, or too cold, too unpredictable. What happened with your March? We have much to catch up on... I often make Kombucha just with like it is, but sometimes add things like mint. I find it interesting to experiment with the kinds of tea... Fear. There is so much of it everywhere. I will have to go far, far from the city to get away from it. Here in Barcelona I feel it immediately. It's far different from the lake where C lives. I suppose it's my first direct confrontation with it. Fear attacks the immune system, the health inside, all the good we carry. Survival instinct kicks in, but when it never has an off button, because it's constant - exhaustion comes. I've been doing a lot of breath work the last months. It's helped a lot, though I have to be careful to keep up with it while travelling, as it's easy to resist all kinds of routine when away from it. Sometimes I just focus on releasing all the poison from the body and mind with the outbreath. The longer I can go the better. But I feel time also slipping away, as if all this period of inactivity...events to separate the days - brings time into a collective soup of which is there is little escape routes. The lentils cling to us and then there is no way out. The spontaneous is more important than ever but can that be forgotten, or is there some secret stash of the wild left in all beings? Those monitoring lizards are crafty...here it's bats, instead. The stories that best serve us... Perhaps it is just those that go towards

understanding, wisdom. But how to select them? I'm reading a book of a man's walk across Afghanistan currently. I found it in the garage of C of books travellers had left. I walk in the streets of Barcelona and see donkeys and deserts. Perhaps there is little worthwhile news stories, and what has worth is the personal, the way back to our origins, to the nests of where we belong. And breath, the body, the wind, gleaming eyes, animals. The rest - media seems to be stronger and stronger and leaves me weak. Little by little, disentangling, giving it up... My heart would be full of underground passages, some accessible, some not so much. C told me that I'm so much more open about my past than we last met seven years ago, on the way down to Morocco in his camper van. That I speak of my childhood without hesitation, of my father and the darkness there that envelopes. I keep reminding myself of gratitude. It helps a lot. My brother is becoming an ordained Hindu monk next week. It's like getting married / only to an elephant god (amongst others) rather than to another person. Been doing a lot of ancestral work recently, of the past - but I'm somewhat allergic to people romanticising the ancestors. For some of it - this is where trauma gets passed down - all the unresolved - the conflicts, the turned away from, that which is repelled. I for one am not particularly proud of my blood...but it's good to imagine some that are. I prefer, when offering a drink to the land, for it to be pachamama and not my ancestors, who likely had enough alcohol in life and don't need it in death too. You're in rain season now? On the island there are continuous floods even in summer. The lands are changing and people refuse to believe it. For years it brought me great despair to witness the extinctions, the loss of habitat. Somehow now, though the sadness and despair still remains - it almost rejoices, for perhaps now people finally realise. And we will not be forever. And some beings can take our place, and perhaps they will take better care... Well, a hug. One last day in the city, and more and more it makes less sense. Jass

[lady-plantagenet]

I'm going to be sooooo predictable and ask for your thoughts on Owen Tudor/Catherine de Valois (for the ship meme)

Hey hey ;) I’m glad I could do this one for you! These two deserve all the love!

Some Comments:

These two are the *definition* of delicious and for all the obvious reasons, though I fear they are never taken seriously enough. That’s the real issue, and I think it’s insulting to both parties. I’m not too picky because given that I have not spent as much time with this couple as I did with some of the others closer to my time period of interest, however, I must confess I feel a revulsion towards the whole ‘Owen wasn’t Catherine’s true love he was second-best to Henry V’ and all that crap. That might also be down to the fact that I’ve never really felt the Henry V hype, at least not at the level it’s usually at. But it can go many directions and I am intrigued, it would take great lack of skill to make such a couple boring. I mean I got through a full-length novel about them (Crown in Candlelight) so I guess you *could* say I read fic for it hh, I would further but there’s not much on them! On AO3 there is that *one* good fic (Caged Birds Sing) but I want more! Romantic and Sexual goes without saying. As for the ‘more interested in the consequences’ square, well I don’t like the insertion of ‘more’, the consequences are surely tied with the ship aren’t they? I don’t mean to say it’s the 16th century Tudors I’m necessarily interested as much as how English society reconciled the fact that Owen was both a welshman but also the step-father of the king. His legal status as a result of this marriage intrigues me (yes I know I am weird). I also like to think Catherine and Owen created a precedent and Jacquetta and Edward IV had this legendary couple in the back of their minds when they entered their own scandalous matches. It really makes me wonder because while modern society (eg 18th century - 21st) had its rigid class distinctions it was just plain snobbery but in the 15th century, there was a belief in a hierarchy on the assumption that it was part of a divine pre-ordained order, so I wonder if this union shocked some people to the degree of some blasphemy (yes I know Owen was of noble blood but at the same time he wasn’t even a citizen!). I put unhealthily and not softly because idk, I can easily be made to see this ship as being full of obsession from either (or both) side and then developing into something more healthy but still very gripping (after all the marriage had longevity), but I can’t really see it as hurt/comfort-y so I didn’t put ‘softly’. I personally have zero problem with that. I didn’t check any of the friendship ones because I feel like this is one of those couples which is very heavily on the eros and romantic side of things that the platonic part is kind of smothered. Personally I think that’s fine, it doesn’t make it any less true. Though of course I could see a an angle of friendship built on the fact that they were both foreigners living in a country that had wrecked havoc in both their lands. I think that’s adorable. Soulmate goes without saying, if anyone in 15th century history was star-crossed it was those two!

The Ship:

I said in my previous that I like couples where there’s that clear sun-moon opposites unite angle. I don’t see it very clear in these two, to me they are both sun-like, but I think that makes it all the more ardent and compelling. However and factually-speaking, it doesn’t have the hallmarks of one of those fast-burn and then nothing relationships (like Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn), there was no infidelity on his side, he never remarried after she died, they seemed to have spent substantial amounts of time in each other’s company. It was anything but shallow. I am also a massive fan of ‘they only had each other’ ‘the world was kind of against them’ (kind of like George and Isabel), and based on my limited knowledge that appears to have been the case. Ok, please don’t shoot me but the main reasons I ship them is because of Rosemary Hawley Jarman’s Crown in Candlelight, fuck-boy rapey Owen aside, they had so so much chemistry there (“cariad” *swoons*). Catherine gets the unfair reputation for being a nymphomaniac (bayed like a drunken whore when she was cavorting with Tudor quote never fails to make me laugh) and I don’t buy that but I buy CIC Catherine where she is one of those people very needing of love (both physical and spiritual) and full of heart (a contrast to the ice princess archetype) and Owen is one of the few people with the amount of heart to match it. I like the idea that they were the only two people at court who didn’t have a stick up their ass and only thought of war hahaha. Also, I love reading the trope of class difference when it’s the man who is below the woman, it’s usually always the other way around in modern media and I’m tired of it, add to that the whole medieval courtly love and marianistic worship and *chef’s kiss*.

[marbled-roses-au]

Marbled Roses

~°Entry #: 002°~

Author's Note: This chapter has a small warning for paranoia and stalking, some bad mental health talk, and Tim thinks he's hallucinating, too, but he jokes about it more than anything. Also demon mention, I know that can be a trigger. Anyways, enjoy this chapter!~ 🌹

Alex smiled, holding his camera in his hand. "So, today, we are just going and scoping out some good filming spots. I asked the faculty yesterday and they said as long as I add the school into the credits, they are fine with it being a filming spot." He explained, smiling at his friends.

"Okay..." Tim said with a nod, "and why are you dragging us along?" He asked in an unamused tone.

Alex huffed a bit, "You and Brian are going to be some of the main characters and Jay is going to help me edit this. We all should be involved in the whole process." He explained. Tim was always grumpy, Alex never understood why. Of course, he never knew much about him...Tim tended to keep to himself. Well...himself and Brian, of course. None of them knew if they were secretly dating, but they all knew for sure that they were pining hard for one another. That much was very obvious.

"Fair enough." Tim said with a soft sigh. He didn't mind it too much, though, he would much rather been sleeping in on his weekend. His friends always had energy and he never knew where it came from. He didn't understand how they could possibly have a job, go to classes at ungodly hours in the morning (and not be late), have an active social life, and still have the energy to do fun stuff.

Jay just smiled a bit and looked around, "So, is there anywhere specific you are looking at for the end scenes?" He asked.

Alex smiled and nodded, "The school has some really nice cherry blossoms. I'm going to film the 'big kiss' there." He explained with a happy hum.

"Why there?" Brian asked, tilting his head a bit. Sometimes, Alex chose things and didn't have an explanation or a reason for his choice. Him, Tim, and Jay had all collectively agreed that Alex probably has ADD or ADHD, though they weren't psychiatrists and couldn't diagnose him based off of a few simple similar symptoms.

"Well, in Japanese culture, if you confess your love under a cherry blossom on the last day they are in bloom, the love will never die. It's a really sweet tradition. I found out about it in this really great anime I watched a few months ago." Alex rambled with a big smile. Sure, he was excited for the film and wanted to add some culture into his romance movie, but hopefully this tradition worked on Tim and Brian. He wanted to see them happily together.

"Weeb." Teased Tim, snickering softly when Alex gasped in mock offence and Jay and Brian chuckled under their breath.

"I'm getting all of this bullying on camera, you know." Alex said with a huff, puffing out his cheeks a bit. He was always the one getting picked on by his friends. "Oh yeah, speaking of camera, I'm going to be recording the 'auditions'. Even though you two have the roles, I want to get it on camera for any 'Behind the Scenes' stuff I do. I'm also going to buy small cameras for you guys to record personal rehearsals with." Alex said, smiling a bit, "That way, you guys can send us the videos and then Jay and I can watch them and send some feedback."

Brian sighed, smiling a bit, "Are the cameras for us necessary?" He asked, "I mean, we could just, like, video chat instead."

"The cameras are a necessity." Alex said, "Most of the time, I'll be running around, going to classes or just busy doing other stuff, video chats are too...inconvient." He explained, waving his hand to emphasize his point. Besides, something deep down told him they all needed their own cameras...he didn't know what that voice was or why it was there.

Though...ever since Alex had picked up that rose on his script, something had been whispering things to him when no one else was around; Things like...flattery...advice...encouragement...predictions.

Alex didn't really care what it was that was telling him these things at this point. All he cared about was that whatever or, rather, whoever this voice was, they were out to help him and his friends, not hurt them...and, somehow, this voice made him feel...secure.

"You know, its weird, its been a few days, and this rose hasn't wilted or anything." Alex said, "The blue has just...sort of faded and its getting more red."

Tim looked at Alex and huffed, "If you ask me, that damn rose is cursed..." He said, "If I were you, I would throw it in the garbage." Something about that rose made Tim uneasy and all he wanted was to get it as far away from him and his friends as possible.

"How much longer are we gonna be running around filming locations?" Jay yawned, "It's our weekend, we should be sleeping in or relaxing or...you know, something." He said, rubbing his eyes tiredly. Usually, he was fine getting up early in the morning...today, however, he was exhausted and just wanting to hide under his covers.

"You guys are such buzzkills, you know that?" Alex asked, looking at all of them, "All I want to do is be out, filming locations with the people that are, you know, helping me with this movie." He complained, "But, if you guys really want to leave, then leave." He started walking ahead of them, frustrated with their constant complaining. He just wanted to have some fun, they were all being moody and boring.

"Alex..." Brian sighed, "c'mon, we aren't trying to be mean." He said, smiling softly. "Tim and I were doing classwork until the sun was coming up and then we couldn't even sleep after that because we were wound up..."

Jay hummed, "And my body and my brain wouldn't let me sleep last night. I think it was...6A.M...? Before I even passed out." He said, smiling sympathetically. He wished he could give more energy into this for Alex, he hated seeing his friend upset.

Alex turned to them, sighing a bit, "I know you guys aren't trying to be buzzkills." He said with a sigh, "I'm just so excited to film this and I want to share all of my ideas with you guys and incorporate some of your ideas, if you have any. I know I get a little...much...when I get excited." Though he hated to admit it, his friends were right in saying that he, in the nicest words possible, hyperfixated. He did that with most of his projects, losing motivation half way through and quitting. This time, however, he had made a promise; not just to himself, but to his friends, too. He wouldn't give up on this project, no matter what happened.

Tim looked around, frowning when he saw something...weird. "Hey...you guys see that, too, right?" He asked, nodding to...what could only be described as a very, very, tall man in a trench coat with a fedora covering his face. Something about the guy made Tim want to run and hide; giving him the same unsettled feeling as the rose did, only stronger.

Alex turned, facing the camera in the direction and tilting his head a bit. "Huh..." He hummed, "that...has to be a prop or something. People aren't that tall, right?" He asked, looking over at Tim, Jay, and Brian. He was the only one of them that didn't feel...worried or panicked.

Brian felt a bit unsettled deep inside, "Not normally." He said, frowning a little, "Has...Has he been watching us?"

Jay chewed at his lip, "Or...following us? He kinda looks like a sex offender..." He said softly.

The 'person' turned to them, a devilish, perverted, sharp-toothed smirk stretching across his white face. He held up a deep red rose before he tipped his hat to them, slipping behind a tree and seemingly disappearing after that; a gentle breeze of red and blue rose petals following behind him and falling gently onto the grass.

Alex walked over, ahead of the others, seeing if he could record any proof of that guys existence. However, when he looked behind the tree, there was nothing. Not a single trace that anyone was ever there, other than the trail of petals.

He couldn't wait to get back to the dorms and take the recording to his computer to see if he could get a better look at that...creature? Monster? Demon?

The group shared a look, eyes wide and a shared, uneasy feeling between the four of them. Without any words spoken, they all agreed that whatever that thing was, it wasn't human and it didn't look all too friendly, either.

[campchitaquamemories]

Do you want to share the theory that you think would make sense? I'm so jittery about the finale lol

Goddamnit I knew someone was actually going to read those tags but WOW this came way faster than I anticipated.

So, this is something @sadlittlenerdking​ and I were throwing around on the discord, and... IDK something about it just. Sticks. With. Me.

Basically we were looking at the episode descriptions, and talking about how they’ve all been literal so far? So “Quentin and Josh get cake, Quentin reflects on his actions.” for 4x13, we’ve been popping up like seagulls in the discord every couple days going “cake?” “cake.” “cake!”

But.... what if every other plot summary has been extremely, on the nose literal, because this one is metaphorical instead?

And I think we’re all in agreement over there that the only thru-line storylings that Q and Josh have in common this season are their (potential) relationships to Eliot and Margo, respectively. So, when I think of “cake” I think of “you can’t have your cake and eat it too” - which immediately sounds to me like you can’t have the knowledge that the person you love loves you back, and also have the time and plot space to have a happy relationship with that person. Which is... valid. This show is very good at throwing a bone in the works and fucking up anything that lasts longer than an episode.

And then we had that spoiler where in an interview Summer said that Margo was going to have to choose between Eliot and Josh, and... come on.

I love Josh. Unequivocally.

But this is Margo. And Margo chooses Eliot. Every. Time.

So, Riz and I took these things and spun them out. We know Margo and her axes are going to be key to getting The Monster out of Eliot’s body. We know that both Margo and Q will burn the world down - possibly up to and including risking their own safety - to save him.

So what if the plan involves extreme risk to Margo? I mean, it would almost have to, if she’s going to get close enough to The Monster to risk those not at all subtle axes. And if this is it, if this is the only way they can think of to save him and Margo is willing Q - guys Q is not in a good headspace right now. I don’t think he would stop her. Especially if there was even a chance that she might make it out alive.

Josh - gets his cake in the form of a feelings confession from Margo, because wanting to be her boyfriend is one of his plots this season, but he can’t eat it, because when all is said and done... Margo is dead. She’s the one in the elevator. (Don’t even get me started on Summer talking vaguely about their last scenes together and the potential implications about that because I would like to stress that I. Am. Not. Okay.)

And Eliot is alive. Eliot is in control of his own body. Eliot is free. With Margo’s body laying at his feet.

And Eliot is furious. Because it’s Margo. Margo his best friend, Margo his soulmate, Margo his partner in crime, Margo who he never actually got to repair the broken parts of his friendship with.

Q is trying to explain the plan and how they had to make a choice and it was this or kill Eliot with The Monster still inside, and Eliot. Eliot won’t hear it. "ITS MARGO. YOU ALWAYS! CHOOSE! MARGO!"

How am I supposed to live in a world without Margo in it? vs.  How was I supposed to live in a world without you?

And so Q - gets his cake, because the thing he wanted more than anything else this season was to have Eliot (Eliot. Eliot. Eliot. Eliot’s alive. It’s Eliot. I’m Team Eliot. I love it except for the part where it doesn’t save Eliot.) back. But Eliot is so betrayed over the loss of Margo - over Q allowing and encouraging it - that he doesn’t get the love confession we all know Eliot was meaning to give him.

And so “Quentin reflects on his actions.”

(P.S. alternate side possibility here: The ritual to separate Eliot from The Monster goes horribly wrong, and Margo still dies at the hand of the Monster - who is still wearing Eliot’s body - and Eliot is trapped in the place where they meant to send the Monster - the Mirror Realm. So Margo still dies (she’s in the elevator), and Q & El are still separated (Quentin reflects on his actions).

[[P.P.S. I also feel like i have to add an addendum here that says I REALLY DON’T WANT MARGO TO DIE - I don’t want anyone to die, they’re all my babies whom I love and am proud of in their own fucked up little ways. But idk this feels like something the show might actually do. It tragic. It fits with the mood of Summer’s interviews, it gave me five goddamn seconds of peace when I thought “maybe I actually figured this out and I can stop stressing” before I realized that I will never be able to predict this writers room and I should just stop. So... there you have it. A theory. One I’m sure will be jossed and hopefully we’ll all enjoy whatever we get instead, even while it’s fisting our chest cavity to remove our still beating hearts.]]

[sr-colle]

my latest tenso package came in!!

first thing i see after removing the air packaging is shulegs. real unmei moment.

the way the clear file was packed is kinda concerning, as it looks like it's just slightly too big to fit perfectly and one of the corners got bent upward...

but it'll probably be fine after i flatten it under something heavy for a day or two.

so here's everything unplastic'd!

the tcg cards spooked me for a second because i was looking at claude's face through the plastic sleeve and turned him over and saw a weiss schwarz blau card back and i was like !?!??!?!??!??!? until i remembered yuto was in there too lol. claude will be joining my two byleth cipher cards, and i think it'll be cute if i surround yuto with my bandori weiss schwarz cards so it looks like he has an audience 😊

the reiji title pin surprised me with how big it is!!! for some reason i thought it'd be like 3cm wide at most, but it's 6.5cm across and almost 2cm tall!! guess it's to make sure the dense kanji are more legible in itabags and stuff. i only got this title pin since i didn't care as much for the wording of the other one, plus this one is the higher ranked title in dbes so i'm showing the proper amount of oshi-ism 😎

soooo happy to finally have the janus reiji and lrfes shu tickets. when i first decided to start collecting, these were the items i wanted most, as they're my favorite cards for each of them in dbes and the frame design is really beautiful for them!! i love the dots in reiji's romanized name forming an elegant little arc, and the holo elements are really vibrant and gorgeous. i'm going to try my best to make these stand out on my board arrangement since they're so special to me.

confession: i had little idea what the egoistic才Φ shikishi even was when i ordered it. i was just like "song jacket art in some kind of collectible form? add to cart" but i really like it!!! now i want the yume no ato one too lol. there's something really satisfying about nice cardboard (<- predictable words of a collector)

not much to say about desfes sol except that its disc case is identical to the pwy s-sol case, so if i go through with customizing them it's nice that they'll match. not sure if these are original cases or supplied by suruga-ya.

the real prize of this batch is my beloved original reiji acrylic stand, who i never thought i'd be able to obtain for less than 3k... instead i was pointed to a 330 yen listing— unopened!— on some secondhand shop i'd never heard of (lashinbang) and i ordered this thing faster than when i got a stock alert for the tears of the kingdom collector's edition.

interestingly, he appears slightly shorter than suit reiji! it might be the pose though. the art printing quality is also lower, which i'm chalking up to its age in the franchise history, as they probably had a lower budget for merch back then. i won't be looking that close though, so no problem!

his matching kusogaki is on the way, so for now he gets to stand between the suits like a king.

lastly there's the clear file; it has this odd offset effect around the character art and i'm not sure if it's a printing misalignment or intentional or what.

but who cares look at how cool it looks when i put it in front of the window light!!!!

so that's everything!! i've got a buyee order coming soon so i'm holding off on rearranging my board til then. i'm gonna go watch the desfes disc 🌸

[sometimesrosy]

Alright I need to ask cause I'm in the positive boat. If you had to bet which episode clarke and bellamy FINALLY share their first kiss in this season what would it be? lol

I think mid season will be the time when we’ll see a physical manifestation of their feelings for each other. This could be anything from a continuation of our hand holding metaphor (laced fingers?)  to some version of a hug/non lip to lip kiss, to getting stuck in an enclosed space all up in each other’s business and clear sexual tension, to any version of kiss on the lips, to full on sex. I DON’T KNOW. There’s an argument to be made for any of it. And depending on your definition of kiss, the chance of a kiss happening goes up higher or lower. Anywhere from 25%-75% by midseason. Talk to me after I see the first 4 eps for more definite guess.  Which one is the one Antonio Negret is doing? I tell you, Antonio Negret directing makes sex more likely. He did a fantastic job with Olicity. And what is that? 8?

I think as season B goes on, whatever happened physically in midseason between them, will add to the emotional stakes and drama and angst of the action heavy season B. If there isn’t a kiss midseason, I see it as nearly definite by the finale. 99% The absolute LEAST amount of Bellarke I see happening is lots of sexual and romantic tension for the whole season ending in a full canon confession in the verrry end, with something like “I won’t lose you again.” linked hands. raising hands to lips and kissing them. “together.” But I think it just as likely that they have a full on sex scene mid season. So those are my two extremes of bellarke canon. Full on sex then angst then together commitment at the end. Romantic pining, sexual longing, and angst for the whole season leading to a gentle confession and physical expression of love. Which way will they go? IDK. Most likely somewhere in the middle. Also I think they did the pining/gentle confession last season so I think they won’t do it again, which makes early sex then angst more likely.

Before listening to all this fandom drama, I was really positive about Bellarke happening in season 5. It’s remarkable how fears and anxieties can just rise up like a tide and sweep you away. But most of them don’t have a basis in reality, I think, and some of them actually take what I consider to be near confirmation that Bellarke is happening to mean that they are saying Bellarke will never happen and we are being baited. And I don’t really understand that kind of circular logic. But it’s shouted with such passion and carried up so widely by the fandom that is more focused on a kiss proving canon than on the story being carefully crafted, that it makes me hesitant to make my predictions. I even came across someone who implied my meta was bullshit and has been twitter ranting about how we’re being baited. It turns out that when someone challenges my meta, I don’t rant, I go deep and explain my evidence on my own time, so this is apparently what I’m going to do.

I think this is the season. Not for established Bellarke relationship, that’s next season, but for them finally addressing their feelings for each other as more than just platonic partners. They showed it last season, with plausible deniability not just for narrative sake (mutual pining) but also for fandom politics sake (too soon! be respectful.) 

Wow. OKAY. So there’s my guess. If you want to know WHY I am predicting this, then you get to read after the jump. Because the thing is, I’m basing my prediction on narrative structure, romantic tropes, storytelling techniques, and ALSO what JR, Bob, Eliza, and reviewers have said about the new season. As well as the ep 1 spoilers (so don’t read on if you don’t want to know.) BTW. LONG because I have a lot.

Bear with me, I’m putting the new details together with my old speculation based on season 4 and development from all 4 seasons. This is to show you WHY I think what I do and that it’s not really about shipping for me, but about crafting a story. 

I’m a writer, and when I write romance into a story, I need to make sure there is enough conflict and uncertainty to make it interesting. It is built into romantic plots. However, my romances happen within one book, not 5 seasons, and fair warning, because romance is not the point of my books, they are not the finale, climax or reward. They generally happen sometime in the middle and then we see an uncertainty, fear, angst and a narrative conflict that might separate the love, leading into the plot climax/conclusion. Because I write sci fi, not romance. The goal is a non romantic one, and the romance is about character development and motivation. So love is HOW they reach the goal, not the goal itself. Which, I think, is the way this show is treated. But, this is my interpretation, and you should know that going in, it comes from someone who is also writing science fiction this way. It’s a writer’s perspective. I am trying to figure out how JR is telling HIS story.

In SDCC JR declared that Bellarke was the central relationship and it has always, in some way, been about their relationship. Listen. This means he has ALWAYS been telling the story of Bellarke. I can confirm, as can the rest of the Bellarke meta community as we’ve been analyzing it the whole time. This is important. This means that not only are we looking at Bellarke in the current season, but looking at the WHOLE show and how it’s developed. Because he did it DELIBERATELY. HIs Bellarke story has taken all four, now five seasons. (huh. he admitted it. it was the plan. it’s not a bait. it’s not fanservice. it’s the STORY.)

So when I look at the WHOLE story, this is what it looks like to me.

Season1: Trust. Get her whatever she needs. I trust him.

Season 2: Devotion. He’d do anything for her, it just makes sense. Bellamy is the key.

Season 3: Commitment. Together (drink poison) I trust you. I believe you. Holding hands.

Season 4: Romantic Love: If I’m on that list you’re on that list. She centers you. You’ve got that backwards. She’ll see how special you are. Sacrifices humanity for him. I got you for that. 6 years of pining.

Season 5:  ???? what could it be? we’ve had The 100 tell a love story by defining the elements of love, so what’s next? The next level I think is Physical Attraction.

In Conageddon, Bob and Eliza said that Bellarke had it rough. That they come back together immediately, trust is in their dna, that they are confused about who they are to each other, about their platonic relationship (if they are confused about the platonic nature of their relationship that means something isn’t platonic or it wouldn’t be confusing,) that it’s an intense relationship (upping the level of emotion,) that it’s turbulent, up and down, and first they love each other, then they hate each other, then they love each other then the verry end…we get something that is described variously as great, sweet, *silence with a smirk* and will make Bellarkers happy.  All of that description sounds to me like a description of sexual tension, except for the ending which sounds to me like canon confession of love or commitment. Or showing them TOGETHER in the transcending romance kind of MARRIED way. Not dating. Committed. Soul mates. Beyond time and space kind of thing. (but possibly not physical at all.)

Some people take the B/E concerns to be proof that there is no Bellarke happening but I take it to mean that there is. Because I’m looking at character and relationship and narrative development over the seasons (as JR said that was the story.) And B/E was always a possibility to push the story from platonic to romantic by adding conflict, jealousy, a choice, and contrast. IT’S A NARRATIVE TOOL TO MAKE THE STORY HAPPEN. We get an article saying there is no love triangle and fandom takes that to mean there is no Bellarke. And the article itself was covered with photos of Bellarke. idk. that’s a funny takeaway. When to me, it was saying the B/E issue would be resolved early in the season. 

The most relevant detail to timing of romantic development, however, is the issue of pacing. Which is a new revelation for us.

Episodes 1-4 happen within hours, apparently. The spoilers from the first episode must happen right before spacekru discovers The Eligius. Whatever happens in ep1 between BE will be brushed aside for the need to do something to GET BACK DOWN TO EARTH. And JR said that when Bellamy finds out that Clarke is alive EVERYTHING CHANGES. Now HOW exactly do you think it changes? What could the changes mean? Why is a way down to earth not more of a change for Bellamy/spacekru than finding out Clarke is alive? Because that’s pretty life changing, yeah? What’s the element that Clarke’s existence could change more than going home? Loyalties. Family. Love. ??? Their bond snaps back into place. Does it override other bonds? Which bonds are in question here in the first 2 eps? Who is unsure of her place in the family? I guess we’ll have to see, but do we or do we not have a question of B/E over B/C?  Could it be POSSIBLE that one of the things that change when B finds out C is not dead is B/E? Hmmm? When B/C was what kept B/E from happening in the first place? Hmmm? Like. Is this not simple math? someone do the math.  I know there’s an equation there. (why do I, miss mama don’t do math, keep putting math into my analysis?)

Anyway, back to the speed. If it’s really moving that fast, though, then there won’t be time for anyone to really PROCESS what Clarke being alive means. Bellamy won’t have time to understand it or make rational decisions about who comes first. Except we know he’s changed his MO, so maybe we’ll see him fighting his own head vs heart thing going on with no time to sort it out. INTERESTING. Clarke won’t have time to settle back in to the family or adjust to not being one of them. Echo won’t have time to make peace with Clarke’s possible usurpation of her place with the family. OR maybe it won’t be an issue at all. Clarke and Bellamy will just naturally slot back into place as partners, since there’s no time for thought… which would leave Echo feeling out of place. Well, we do know that Eliza and Bob did say trust was in their DNA, and they did say that Echo was struggling with her place in the family. So that seems likely.

What does this mean to romantic BELLARKE? It lowers the chance of them addressing their feelings head on. Because they have no time to process or talk. But it raises the chance of them DOING stuff without conscious thought, touching, non verbal communication. Hard to tell until we see them interact, but if you move things fast, and there’s no time to address things, and they are intense and confusing and there is “love and hate” then we’re going to see things boil over without being logical. The emotions that I see as repressed here are going to be their feelings for each other. Love and desire. 

Sorry y’all. I know how many of you think it’s hopeless and have lost faith, but what I see is a really great CANON SUBPLOT of romance trying to break through the danger and action and adventure and survival and fast pace of The 100. It won’t be subjective. It won’t be all told in fades and music, it will be part of the story, and addressed directly. I can’t guess the details, but I can tell you the Bellarke story this season will be canon romance. (Please just remember that it is not a ROMANCE GENRE STORY so it will not be the majority of the plot,  but buried within the scifi survival story.)

I’m apologizing for being pro canon bellarke. Can you believe this fandom? They ship a thing by ranting about how it’s not going to happen. I do believe they are not allowed on my ship at all. Go sink your own, you blorkes.