#and I read that Netflix is paying for it to be there which does not bode well for us

[vulpinesaint]

listen i am geralt of rivia hater number one but one thing i actually CANNOT stand is when the fandom mischaracterizes him. took one look at this man who speaks very straight-forwardly and matter-of-fact and is a little recalcitrant with his words sometimes and went "haha he communicates in grunts! man who only says 'hm'!" and then won't even write him to speak in full fucking sentences. hello???? hello???????? yes the netflix show was a bad influence on everybody because they were trying too hard to depict geralt as a stoic manly badass but we CANNOT let that distract us from the REAL thing to make fun of geralt for. which are his Constant Unprovoked Monologues

[plaguedocboi]

So are we just gonna have Sponsored Tabs on the tumblr dashboard now forever or

[sutorus]

✰ HC: BEING IN A SITUATIONSHIP WITH THE JJK F*CKBOYS

DESCRIPTION: my hcs on what it’d be like to be in a situationship/fwb situation with the jjk men hehe

FEATURED: gojo satoru, geto suguru, nanami kento, fushiguro toji

WARNINGS: 18+ MINORS DNI. fem + afab reader, this is fully self indulgent i'm just taking my own shiddy experiences and coping via hot anime men, suggestive content/smut, pretty standard manwhore behavior, slightly toxic, not wholesome, kinda crack tbh, some mentions of degradation as a kink, objectifying women, just like the real thing lol!

A/N: LONG BUT READ! this will Not have an ending where you get together at least not rn these are just my hcs all in good fun ur just having fun ok ur not heartbroken everything is okay. they are not good boys here they are normal regular boys

GOJO SATORU

has way too many hoes. way too many

so much so that he gave up on remembering their names and just saves their numbers like “osaka w the hand kink”, “big tits shibari”, “slut from trig”, “hostess best bjs”

has someone’s boobs with his name written on them in sharpie as his wallpaper

says i love you when he cums inside and you never know if you should believe it

throws you off when he agrees to meet your friends only for him to flirt with them in front of you

takes you to the best clubs with bottle service, lets the girls sit on his lap and laughs when you get mad

pays for your ubers everywhere every time

into the weirdest shit like wearing your underwear laughing like a lunatic the whole time he’s fucking you then after he cums gets sulky and embarrassed

lays it on thick with the pet names, gives zero fucks if that confuses you even further

very public with you and it makes you wonder how many other girls put themselves through this humiliation just for the d

gets jealous about you being with other people and needs to prove himself by eating it from the back or something

fwb with gojo is just a huge mindfuck honestly he doesn’t take anything seriously and this is no different sorry! it’s fun tho!

GETO SUGURU

keeps it extremely platonic because he likes to tell himself he has a conscience

too busy for regular chit chat ignores your texts all day then hits you up when he wants to fuck

even more of a whore than gojo is which is why he makes sure not to lead anyone on he just does not need the trouble

answers all your personal questions about him with one word answers

he lets you choose the movie for netflix and chill at least! but will never remember it or the fact that it’s your favorite :(

cleans you up after sex and brings you water

has female hygiene products in his bathroom which is both a red and a green flag

lets you stay after sex and you just lay there on his bed watching him do stuff on his computer but he will not be talking to you

never calls you baby or anything when he’s fucking you just goes oh fuck yeah right there fuuuuck your pussy

genuinely respects you and has nice decent sex with you unless you tell him that you’re kinky

in which case he fucks you just how you want it and gets off on how turned on you are

not one of those guys who gets jealous of sex toys and holds the wand on your clit for you

likes to make you cum over and over and over again

fwb with geto makes your heart clench because he’s just such a gentleman but you got way too much competition to even think about it

NANAMI KENTO

a professional in every sense of the word

uses sex as stress relief

thinks he's too old for this shit but you make him feel alive so he fucks you like he can empty all of his frustrations into you

invites you to his apartment serves you expensive liquor and lets you initiate things most times unless he’s too pent up

can actually have very nice conversations with you

never has the “what are we talk” because he makes it clear he’s too busy for a relationship

lets you spend the night if it’s too late but solely for your safety/logistics

does your taxes for you but will not call you anything beyond an “acquaintance”

texts you happy holidays but does not know when your birthday is

gets tested consistently even though he’s not fucking anyone else and always uses a condom unless you beg him not to

eats you out because he thinks it’s relaxing and spends hours prepping you

the sexual tension is soooo thick when you two fuck all you can hear is grunts and growls and moans and wet slapping sounds and it’s so hot

has some random turn ons like gets bricked up when you’re wearing lipstick or stockings

fwb with nanami is very enjoyable and easy it’ll get complicated if you develop feelings because he does not want to date but who cares yolo am i right

FUSHIGURO TOJI

broke ass deadbeat dad why are you into him

absolutely nasty sex

you know if he had a girlfriend he’d respect her too much to do the things he does to you

dick game so bomb that you’re scared he’s gonna give you a child even when he’s wearing a condom

wants to fuck you every way he possibly can on every fuckable surface with zero regard for your physical integrity

eats his cum right out of you

ego is so big, grins so wide and fucks you so hard when you stroke his muscles

loves to eat pussy but only after he’s fucked you because he likes it tight and hot with minimal prep

doesn’t follow you on any social media but jerks off to your instagram pics

has like 3 different phone numbers and you don’t know why

has only let you come over once, didn’t let you shower after

no pet names but calls you a dirty whore and other degrading shit

loves it if you cry on his dick

doesn’t give a fuck about your safety sorry you’re on your own

has never told you his last name

one time you asked to see a picture of his son and he didn’t speak for 3 whole minutes

fwb with toji is the nastiest sex you’ve ever had truly it’s just sinful and everyone’s dark hidden fantasy half of it you couldn’t tell your closest friends because it’s just too much

a/n sorry

[yunsound]

The Third Installment to the Oubing Saga- Yunbing

PRIOR EXPERIENCE NEEDED!

Entry ticket: reading this post and acknowledging that the following is about to be 18+. No, I'm not writing anything explicit, but it's going to be some mentions of sex. Move on.

After finishing Ne Zha 2025 (or the 2019 version if you're a real one), did you feel overcome by the gayness? Did you wonder why the fuck anyone would ever look at their best friend like that? Did shoujo anime music start playing in the back of your head?

...yeah you're not alone.

As previously mentioned, Oubing is currently China's biggest fandom ship (I stay hopeful that this wave of hype will last longer than it did in 2019). I also trust that you all understand why that is.

Seriously, I've never seen any piece of Chinese media except for straight up BL THIS gay.

Let's count on one hand how many BL tropes these movies include.

Red/blue

Soulmates

Only friend

Enemies to lovers

Friends to lovers

Oh oops, we ran out of fingers! Next hand.

Friends to enemies to friends to lovers

Forbidden romance

Demon x angel

Two halves of one... thing

...bondage? I suppose? If you know you know THE scene.

Oh wow look at that we ran out of fingers again. MOVING ON TO THE NEXT HAND-

Okay, I'll stop here. All of this makes Oubing technically a very vanilla ship (ignore the bondage that's mostly a joke. Though you WILL see a lot of art involving Ne Zha's red sash in... different usages) and very sweet. Pure love, I suppose.

Do you know about Shangmei Oubing, a variation on Oubing featuring different adaptations of Ne Zha and Ao Bing? Well now you do. Read this post to figure out what I'm talking about.

If there's a spectrum of the wholesome-ness of Oubing ships, Shangmei Oubing is in the middle. Yes, it's very toxic, but technically Ne Zha does really love Ao Bing a lot, just in the wrong ways.

On the OPPOSITE end of that spectrum, we have Yunbing.

Yunbing is the ship between Ne Zha and Ao Bing from the 2021 movie New Gods Reborn: Ne Zha. The movie itself is on Netflix- it's kind of a mid movie, I'm NGL, but the animation is pretty good.

I haven't watched the whole movie (how do I know it's mid? Because I saw some clips and they made me sigh out loud) so I'm maybe not the most reliable critic, but it's just not peak storytelling, okay?

Yunbing is 80% made TF up (headcanon ships are the best ships) because in the movies they hate each other, like TRUE hate, not gay hate. I'm talking GENERATIONAL hating.

If you ignore canon, though, (my favourite thing to do), you are left with Yunbing, which is honestly really fucking yummy.

Here's a quick overview of the background and dynamic of the ship/movie/characters without spoiling the plot of the movie.

The main character of the movie is called Li Yunxiang (remember that Ne Zha's dad is Li Jing, so technically his full name is Li Nezha prior to him fucking himself up via sashimi-ing his flesh from his bones).

Li Yunxiang is the reincarnation of Ne Zha in a modern setting in the fictional East Sea City (Donghai City). He doesn't know or remember being Ne Zha. He works as a deliveryman I think, or a smuggler or something low-paying and dangerous I think.

In East Sea City, water is in shortage due to the Dragon Clan (now a rich family business) hoarding it. The third son of this Dragon Clan (his name is De San) is, you guessed it, the reincarnated Ao Bing.

Actually I'm not sure if he's reincarnated or if he's just been here the whole time hating.

De San, unlike our polite nice Ao Bing from Ne Zha 2019/2025, or the terrified victim Ao Bing from Shangmei, is a huge bitch. He's also a girlfailure. He's not some mass-murdering psychopath, but he's a spoiled rich brat who lives and breathes capitalism and privilege.

Look at his stupid face. Isn't he punchable? No, despite the blonde hair, the director has confirmed he isn't mixed or foreign, he's just an idiot who bleached his hair.

He was supposed to be some sort of dominant playboy daddy character but the entire nation of China just immediately saw the potential for girlfailure brat bottom and I guess that's where my brain went too.

After Ne Zha pulled his tendons out, his dad paid some SERIOUS money to make him a mechanical tendon. Let me tell you I don't know why but this shot of his metal spine is SO fucking sexy

Sorry for thirsting on main, IDK what it is but it's getting to me.

De San still wants revenge on Ne Zha for pulling his fucking tendons out so he spends like 10000 hours trying his very best to kick Li Yunxiang's (confused) ass and never manages to get there, it's so funny.

See, the main reason this ship is so delicious is the dynamic, not their interactions because this is ACTUAL hate, I'm talking they'd kill each other in an instant with NO hesitation. The sexual tension is through the roof. Okay, they're both straight, but you DON'T HAVE TO BELIEVE IN THAT DOCTRINE.

Mild spoiler alert!

There's a scene in which Li Yunxiang gets one over De San by making him crash his car. As De San goes flying out of the car in intense pain, he glances over at Yunxiang, who's looking back at him.

Instead of giving him a middle finger or a thumbs down, Yunxiang fucking gives him a finger heart. IK it's supposed to be mocking but it's so funny, especially the BLATANT rage on De San's face afterwards.

The appeal of this ship is just the hate sex. This is a ship 100% meant for gooners, if you'd prefer sweet vanilla hand-holding and blushing you probably want to go back to regular Oubing.

Why does De San have such pillow princess potential? First of all, look at him. What the fuck is that waist to shoulder to leg ratio?

Second, in the Cantonese dub, he calls his father (Ao Guang) "daddy" (in English btw). Sorry, what? You are a twenty-something year old fully grown man. It is fairly common for rich Cantonese people to call their father daddy (according to my rich Cantonese friend) but it's a little much.

Third, he's such a failure it's hilarious. Spoiler alert: there's a whole scene in which his father calls him a failure and he's like "wait what". He's kind of dumb and pathetic despite being arrogant and proud.

Very princess-like. Chinese version of Drarry, basically. They also both really like cars! TBH if they weren't Ao Bing and Ne Zha's reincarnations they'd probably be really good friends.

Generations of hating each other is such gay behaviour, WHY is that other man on your mind over thousands of years??

Some of the popular headcanons for Yunbing:

Yunxiang calls De San "third princess" or "princess" because he's such a... princess

In the middle of like, fistfighting each other they somehow transition to having sex without knowing how

De San slaps Yunxiang in the face and he's like "on the other side too"

"Only I can be the one to kill him, fuck off!" *surprised look* "No that's not what I meant-"

Inappropriate usage of the metal spine (which is probably more sensitive and delicate...?)

I recommend, if you're looking for Oubing content (of the decidedly not workplace friendly variety) and if you like ENEMIES to lovers (emphasis on the enemies part) that you go through the AO3 Yunbing tag (云冰, I'll link the AO3 tag here directly).

If you want recs please ask me, I am so passionate about all three iterations of Oubing.

To quote a XHS user:

Oubing: Pure love

Shangmei Oubing: Pure fear

Yunbing: Pure hate

[xyxofspades]

Has anyone written a character study about Castiel and his predisposition to addiction yet?? Like I don’t mean just endverse!Cas- I mean aaaaaaall of Cas.

Yeah sure in endverse with the drugs and the sec and the etc etc but throughout the series Cas doesn’t seem to understand how to handle human luxuries and so when he’s at his lowest he indulges in really normal things like TV, but he does it so derangedly indulgently.

In S11 when he’s Casifer and we see him in his head when Crowley pops in there to try and pull him out he is glued to that little TV he’s got. He says Lucifer “mostly leaves him alone” and with the way he talks it sounds like he is literally not processing anything except what’s on that TV. He’s not processing Lucifer Rowena’s death, whatever the hell Lucifer was doing to Crowley that whole time, the attempts on the Winchester’s lives. Dude was not seeing any of it.

And that’s not the first time he’s done that either. In the season prior when Rowena had basically given him rabies, after he’d healed, he stuck himself to the TV in the bunker watching show after show on Netflix and trash cable. He’d seemed to develop a sort of agoraphobia and coped with it via television addiction.

Then there’s the scene in early season whatever number I can’t remember where the term “Team Free Will” was coined for the first time. Cas’s famous line of “I found a liquor store.” “And?” “And I drank it.” Cas seeing nothing but hopelessness in the face of the coming apocalypse decided to indulge himself in the human luxury of alcohol. This is the beginning of the timeline leading to the endverse but it still happens in the canon timeline.

Season 5(?) (same season?) (dude idk it’s been a while) around the time all those reapers were gathering Cas said something along the lines of “the world is ending, pick a vice and stick to it” and I cannot for the love of god remember what episode it’s in but if I find it I’ll edit this post.

And of course we all love Cas from that time he absolutely lost his shit and went around doing side quests like beekeeping- but Cas was doing all that as a coping mechanism for the guilt of releasing the leviathans. The sudden shift in personality, the listening to music in the car while Dean puts a lid on his exasperation, pondering the importance of lipstick, the boop he gives Kevin- all human things, or at least things he perceives to be human.

When Cas becomes human he throws himself into this little job at a gas station. He takes absurd, meticulous care of this gas station like he’s preening some sort of million dollar garden. It’s not about the job though, it’s about the humanity of the job. The human experience of working a garbage job for near nothing pay, that’s what he’s hooked into.

The bees, the TV, the minimum wage job, and of course the sex and drugs of the endverse- Every single time we see Castiel at a low point in the show, without fail, he throws himself into a new “humane” addiction. As much as I hate the finale I do think it’s fits his pattern for the last human vice he allows is to be Dean, himself.

There’s so much more little bits and pieces throughout the show I could bring up to touch on this, but these are just the ones off the top of my head. If anyone at all has a character study or a fic about this I would love to read it. The only fics I’ve found that ever touch on this are all about endverse and the sex and drugs thing- which is fine, but it goes so much further than that. If anyone else wants to add to this post please please please- there can be SO MUCH to be said about an angel of the lord with an addiction- honest to god addiction- to humanity.

[wheeboo]

spoiler: i kinda like u | hansol vernon chwe

SYNOPSIS. in which you share earphones with the boy on the train. PAIRING. hansol vernon chwe x gn!reader GENRE. fluff, kinda strangers to lovers, implied college au WARNINGS. none WORD COUNT. 1.7k

requested by @enhazen

notes: this is a late birthday gift to you shay <3

It's a recurring thing at this point: you board the train to and from university, sit at the very same spot each time, and then you wait for him. You know he goes to the same university as you because you recognise the school hoodie that he wears sometimes, and you both always get off at the same stop before going on your own ways.

And then he sits next to you. Yes, next to you. Why is that? Because the moment he takes his place next to you on the train, he offers an earphone towards you.

It had all started the moment he noticed you glancing down at his phone at a particular movie he was watching, seemingly interested despite not hearing a single thing and simply reading the captions. You didn't think he would notice, but he does, and a few minutes later you find an earphone being offered in your direction. At that point, you gave him the grand nickname of the cute boy on the train, because there wasn't any other way to describe him.

Then whenever the train reaches your shared stop, the two of you seemingly exchange a knowing glance with each other as if communicating Have a good day, which later became, Same time tomorrow? in the present day, with the addition of that small smile to his face that always makes your heart jump. You like to think that it grows wider a bit every day.

Conversations hardly stretched beyond sharing your thoughts of the movie, except for the one time you mustered the courage to finally ask for his name. His name is Vernon. The cute boy on the train now has a name.

When Vernon boards the train today, he already has his earphones in, head bopping to a song blasting in his ears. As he catches sight of you, you see the way his eyes widen ever so slightly when he notices you were both wearing the same school hoodie in different colours. Then he sits next to you, and you feel the warmth of his arm grazing against yours for a moment. Swiftly, he switches his screen from music to Netflix, scrolling to find the movie you were watching together yesterday, before offering an earphone to you like it was routine.

You take his earphone gratefully and plug it in your ear, scooting a bit closer to the point where the sleeves of your hoodies were barely touching.

"I… may have accidentally seen a spoiler earlier," Vernon tells you guiltily, his voice low.

You scoff as if offended. "You promised you wouldn't."

His ears grow red. "Dude, it-it popped up on my for you page, and then I couldn't scroll past it because of the WIFI𑁋"

You can't help but let out a quiet chuckle, shaking your head playfully. "It's fine, I'll let it slide. Just be more careful next time, and don't scroll through TikTok or reels or whatever."

Vernon elicits a sigh of relief, a sheepish grin to his face. "I'll try my best.”

The movie begins, and you quickly find yourselves engrossed. The train sways gently as you both fade into the story playing on the screen, and you were leaning more towards him to get a better angle of the movie. The two of you attempt to keep in your giggles whenever the humourous scenes pop up, or whisper comments to each other during the intense moments that you can barely hear for the sake of not disturbing anyone around you. 

At times, you notice that Vernon occasionally steals glances in your direction to make sure you're still paying attention, which you are. You pinpoint the way his lips curl into a small smile whenever your eyes meet, and it makes you shyly avert your gaze back down to the movie.

Sometimes he makes comments on particular scenes as if he was in his own little world, and you can't help but listen to every word. It's adorable, because you see the way his eyes light up whenever he speaks, and you wonder if he's some sort of secret movie critic.

In his own time, he probably is, to be honest.  

As the movie continues, you feel your head slowly succumbing to a certain heaviness, finding yourself gradually leaning more against Vernon's shoulder. It's not intentional, but Vernon doesn't seem to mind; in fact, he subtly adjusts to a more comfortable position. Today was oddly exhausting, and you were really trying hard not to let it show as the movie plays.

But when the first yawn escapes your lips, you knew your body was beginning to surrender to the tiredness.

When the movie reaches a calm scene, you feel your eyelids droop. You're still trying your best to stay awake to not miss anything, but the need to lay your head down on something and the swaying of the train fight back. Vernon mutters something about the scene on the screen, but you can barely hear it.

As you press more against his shoulder, Vernon's gaze flicker down at you, and when he catches sight of your fluttering eyes, he pauses the movie and tries to shift his shoulder, making sure your head doesn’t hang off. But the movement jerks your eyes open suddenly.

"Sorry, I-I was watching." Then you blink a few times and end up yawning again, a heat of embarrassment sprouting in your face as Vernon softly chuckles.

He watches the way you rub tiredly at your eyes and straighten your posture, before clearing his throat a bit loudly.

"You can… lean on my shoulder if you're tired. I don't mind. We can watch next time."

You glance at his eyes and then to his shoulder, a blush creeping up your cheeks as you meet his gaze again. "Are you sure? I wouldn't... want to be all up in your personal space."

All he does is smile gently. "Yeah, it's fine. I've got you."

You take a moment to encase his words in your heart, before shifting closer to him and letting your head find its rightful place on his shoulder. Closing your eyes, you take in the scent of his hoodie and the warmth radiating from his body. 

On the other hand, Vernon tenses for a split second when he feels you settle next to him, before quickly relaxing. Turning on his phone again, he lowers the volume and selects a calm and soft song, the sound flowing directly through the earphone in your ear, his fingers rhythmically tapping against his leg.

After some time, Vernon glances down at you curiously. Your mouth was slightly open, soft breaths floating in the air, appearing peaceful as ever. He just smiles to himself, finding a yawn of his own leaving his own lips, and his heartbeat quickens nervously to a sudden thought popping in his mind.

No, he can't do that, but the exhaustion felt contagious. Perhaps playing a calm song was a bad idea (for him, at least), his eyelids growing heavier as the song shifts to the relaxing sounds of a piano. He feels his body inch impossibly closer to you, then after a long moment of contemplation, he lets his head slowly tilt until it rests on top of yours.

Somehow, it's enough to ease the tiredness tugging at him. He's careful not to disturb you, but little did he know that the moment you felt a certain pressure land at the crown of your head, your drowsy awareness woke back up, and you notice the way his fingers slow its tapping on his leg, before finally halting.

You take in a long, deep shaky inhale, before closing your eyes again, your heart racing an marathon in your chest. His head against yours feels weirdly comfortable.

The two of you rest side by side on a train filled with people in their own quiet headspace. LIke a movie, the scenery changes outside, but this moment right now is frozen, and time seems to slow. Vernon manages to keep himself awake, knowing that one of you has to be aware of when your stop is. His gaze remains out the window, but his thoughts centre curiously around you.

And then, as all rides must, it nears its end. Vernon stirs beside you, his head lifting off yours as he takes a second to stretch out his legs, being cautious not to startle you.

Then as some other people gather their belongings, he taps a few times to the top of your head.

"Hey," he murmurs softly. "We're here."

He swears he feels his heart beating loudly in his chest as he watches you slowly rise. Your eyes flutter open, and you blink groggily at him, then glance around realising that the train was slowly coming to your familiar stop.

"Thanks," You mumble sleepily.

"You looked like you needed it," Vernon teases lightly as he grabs his backpack.

You rub at your eyes again, scratching at the back of your neck shyly. "Yeah, uh... Sorry about that. I really wanted to watch the movie but I guess I was just too tired. Long day, you know?"

He just gives you a warm smile. "Don't worry about it. We can watch another time."

As the train comes to a complete stop and the doors slide open, you both gather your belongings and step out onto the platform. The day had reached the beginning of the evening, and the sky was painted in an array of pink and orange. You both walk together, a comfortable silence between puncuated by the occasional sounds of the city and the shuffling of other people around you.

When you both fully exit out of the premises, you turn to look each other and exchange that same look.

"See you tomorrow?" You ask him with hopeful, apologetic eyes.

He gives a simple nod, offering you a faint smile. "Definitely."

Then the two of you trail in your usual opposite directions, and as you feel the cool air meet the skin of your hands, you stuff them inside the pockets of your hoodie.

But then you feel something brush against your fingers. Taking it out, you realise it's a folded up piece of paper.

And upon unfolding it, you read the words on the page:

get some good rest tn :) also shhhh i'm gonna tell you the spoiler....

i kinda like u :) XXX-XXX-XXXX

╱l (°ˎ。 7 |、 ~〵 じし ˍ ,)ノ - vern

It makes you freeze in your step, and when you spin around with a wide smile to hopefully catch sight of Vernon, you see that he wasn't anywhere to be found.

taglist (open) ʚɞ @enhazen @haowrld @ylliris-hanniehae @icyminghao @slytherinshua @jeonride @lockburn-castle

[enden-agolor]

Ok so this might be a stupid rambley question but does The Forest’s Blessing have like major spoilers for MCSM past episode 5? I want to read that fic and I’ve been trying to get back into MCSM but obviously it’s hard now. There’s a YouTube reupload of the Netflix version that I just finished playing and it apparently only has episodes 1-5. I recently realized that back in the day, I stopped paying attention to MCSM after I think episode 7 so I haven’t been spoiled for like ANY of season 2 (apparently Jesse goes through some shit but that’s kinda expected). Uhhh so yeah are there spoilers in that fic and any tips on playing/accessing the game now?

Oh yes this fic has spoilers for every single episode leading up to Season 2's finale.

From the sounds of it, you may have stumbled upon the Netflix version of a playthrough which only has the first 5 episodes unfortunately 8(

If you have a pc, I can link you to a download of both seasons. If you aren't interested in playing it yourself, I recommend watching a full playthrough somewhere on Youtube. Just let me know : ]

[bellaxgiornata]

Hey, I love your fics! I just wanted another perspective on this:

Do you think Foggy and Matt are codependent in any sort of way? (Especially Foggy?)

Hey, friend! I'm glad you've been enjoying my fics! ❤️And I'm so sorry it has taken me so damn long to answer this ask, I've had it on my mind for weeks now, but I've been nonstop sick for months, so trying to sit down and write up an answer with a coherent response has been difficult. I didn't want to just give a brief little response to this question (and we all know I'm always long-winded) because I mean...that's a big topic. I'll give a longer answer beneath the cut on this, but I will say, since we have DDBA out, I will be giving my thoughts with DDBA spoilers below the cut. So do not read below the cut if you don't want spoilers!

My shortened answer to this (solely based on the Netflix and Disney show versions, I haven't read enough of the comics to comment), is that I think yes, they do have a codependent relationship. Foggy with how he pushes away his own needs and comes running to help Matt whenever he needs it, and well...Matt with everything when it comes to Foggy. But I believe it's Matt who is mainly reliant on Fog instead of the other way around. I'll explain more beneath the cut (with DDBA spoilers! this is my last warning 😆).

So in regards to Foggy in particular, I can definitely see it. I mean, they somehow intern at the same place after law school. And maybe it was just luck they got accepted together because of their grades, but I'm guessing they both applied there intentionally wanting to keep being around each other. Then they open a law firm together, and they're always spending all their time together. Besides Karen, we don't often see them spending a lot of time with anyone else as friends--and Karen is BOTH of their friends. Though, Foggy at least eventually has Marci, and Matt, well, I guess he gets Elektra and Frank? If you squint really hard?

Now, when it comes to the law firm, they have differing views. Foggy clearly is the one who wants to take on cases that are going to make them money, but Matt is the one focused on helping people in general--which leads to them not really making money to pay their bills. And Foggy has expressed his thoughts on that in the past, but yet he still follows along with Matt's vision of the firm. Foggy could've easily gone his separate way at least career-wise to better himself, but instead he keeps himself tied with Matt. Even after he learns Matt's big secret and they briefly end the friendship and the firm, they still eventually reopen Nelson & Murdock back up together because Foggy clearly can't just walk away from Matt.

We also see Foggy rushing to help Matt whenever he needs it after he discovers Matt is Daredevil--finding him on the roof in season 2 and making sure he got back to his apartment without being seen, making sure Matt gets medical attention from Claire, bringing him the suit when he goes into Midland Circle, covering for Matt on cases when he's clearly distracted and being a bad business partner. All things that're putting Foggy out or putting him in a bad position, yet he does whatever he needs to anyway for Matt.

There's countless times that Foggy puts his own needs on the backburner to help Matt in the show. So yes, I definitely think you could argue there's a level of codependency there, and I think Foggy excuses it in himself because of Matt's dependency on him. Because of Matt's tragic childhood and fear of abandonment, Foggy seems to feel the need to go above and beyond to not be another person to abandon him. But I think the way they respond to losing each other says the most, and to me really points at Matt being the codependent one in the relationship. I've often seen Foggy as more of just the best friend who's maybe a little codependent, but mostly just a little too empathetic because of their friendship. Matt is the one who absolutely needs Foggy to live and breathe.

When season 3 starts and Matt is believed to be dead, Foggy accepts it. He's grieving, yes, but he moves on and lives his life. We don't see him spiraling or questioning anything like Karen. We don't see his life somehow upended. Instead, Foggy gets a good job at a good law firm and seems to get closer in his relationship with Marci. Whereas in contrast, when Matt loses Foggy in Born Again, he's a mess. On the outside, yes, it seems the same. Matt has a nicer law firm, nicer apartment, steady girlfriend. But he's literally given up half of himself, he carries Foggy's funeral card in his suit coat pocket every day, and he cannot even say Foggy's name. He is a mess inside that he is just barely carefully holding together because he lost the one person he needs. I think it could be argued that he becomes so fixated on being the Matt Foggy wanted him to be to try to cope with the grief and guilt, but also I think he does it as a way to handle the loss of that person Matt relied on to feel whole. It's like his way to still somehow feel connected to Foggy because he still needs him.

I think it becomes very obvious how much Matt needs Foggy in Born Again more than Foggy ever seemed to really need Matt in the same way. Whenever Foggy isn't in Matt's life--even just when they lose the friendship over his secret in the beginning of Daredevil--Matt falls apart entirely while Foggy keeps thriving and living his life. That doesn't mean Foggy isn't grieving and struggling, but honestly, I feel like Foggy doesn't respond in the way I feel like someone would when they lose their "crutch." Matt is the one who uses Foggy as his emotional crutch, I don't get the feeling that it's the other way around.

Those are my thoughts written as briefly as I could get them, hopefully this answered your question a bit and made sense! I'm still getting over yet another illness and I could have probably sat down and written an entire essay more in depth on this, but I was trying to be more straight to the point about how I view their relationship. This already got pretty long, but honestly, there's a lot to analyze when it comes to Matt and Foggy. And I know there's little details I'm missing because I haven't had a full rewatch in a bit, but I was trying to cover what I felt was the most important! But there's clearly an imbalance in the relationship, and I think we all know who is really relying on who in that friendship.

[languagelvlup]

Migaku Review

I just finished my 10-day free trial of the language study tool Migaku, and I wanted to put my thoughts together into a review! If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask in the notes or send me a message.

I had seen so many ads for it on YouTube that I was on the verge of blacklisting it in my brain. Something about the messaging felt kind of gimmicky for some reason. Like "hey! stop using your stupid free apps and start paying for our super special AI app that works like magic!!" kind of vibes. Please.

That said, I saw one of Dogen's videos about it and I was like...ok fine. I'll try the free trial. They don't even make you register a credit card for the free trial, which was comforting. If you're interested in my thoughts, please continue below the cut.

(FYI: migaku can be used for I think 10 different languages, but I'm focusing on Japanese in my review because that's what I study)

I will start by saying I liked it, and this review is going to be generally positive, despite my initial misgivings. That being said, I want to get the negatives out of the way first.

Weak Points - The price tag was kind of a shock for me when I saw that the lowest tier was $120. After doing the math, it comes out to $10 a month, which is less than I pay for Spotify and Netflix respectively, so not bad. It's just...not free. So when you're used to studying with hand-me-down textbooks and the Anki desktop app which ARE free, it feels like a big investment.

- The subtitles and furigana are not perfect. I mostly use it with Netflix, where the subtitles have been like 98% accurate, but when I used it with YouTube where native Japanese speakers were using slang and speaking quickly in incomplete sentences as often happens in natural speech, Migaku had some trouble keeping up.

As a somewhat advanced speaker, I've been able to catch the mistakes with furigana just based on feeling ("I don't know that word, but it FEELS like that's wrong because those radicals..."), but I would worry a little bit about it for new learners. Although I guess beginners wouldn't be trying to watch the kind of content where Migaku struggles...but it's worth mentioning.

- It only runs on Chrome.

- It uses AI. I personally feel like this is one of the best uses of AI, as it's not trying to be creative or accidentally giving us dangerous information. But if you're avoiding AI on principle, then it'll have to be a pass.

Good Points - It runs really smoothly. I have the browser extension and the phone app. So far, if I add new flashcards via the browser window, they show up almost instantaneously in the app, ready to be studied. If I mark a word as "known" via Netflix subtitles (more on this later), my vocabulary word count reflects this immediately.

- It does flashcards well. I've always been interested in sentence mining, but it's been too much of a pain for me to do it properly. I remember trying to mine sentences and even just vocabulary from the first episode of Dandadan, and it took me like 3 hours to get through a single 22-minute episode. It was really annoying to stop and guess the reading so I could type it into jisho that was open in another tab or, oh god, try to DRAW the kanji into my google translate app.

If you're like "ok well that's very dramatic, you can just use Yomitan, and also you shouldn't be mining EVERY word/sentence you don't know" then you are correct! And Migaku might not be necessary for you. But it was a game-changer for me.

Another massive benefit is the automatic flashcard maker. It pulls the sentence audio and a screenshot from the from drama/movie/etc that you're watching. This is great for building connections that can help the words stick in your memory. I pulled a few sentences from the anime Nana, and the background music got pulled in with them, and now I get a little emotional whenever I do my reviews lol.

Also -- I wouldn't do this because I hate spoilers, but my friend brought this up -- you can open up the full subtitles for an episode and have Migaku make flashcards of the words you don't know so that you can study them before watching.

- It's not JUST flashcards. It keeps tracks of words you know. You *do* have to manually enter them, either by copy and pasting (maybe a JLPT N5 word list or an old Anki deck?) or by marking them individually as you go through texts or movie/drama/anime subtitles. I know this might sound overwhelming, especially if you're more advanced had have a large vocabulary...but I've found it to be SO much fun lol. Seeing my "known word" count increase has been intensely motivating, and as a bit of a gamer, I really like the idea that I can "100%" an episode of my favorite anime. It's only been a few days, so I don't know how long this will last, but my time spent immersing in native materials was up by like 10 hours last week. It uses the words you know to give you a comprehension rating when you open a webpage, like a NHK News or a Wikipedia article. I get discouraged easily when I read or watch something that I can't comprehend, so it's extremely helpful to see "you know 80% of these words" or "oof you only know 22% of these words" BEFORE I get started.

It also includes pitch accent lessons. I'm not personally invested in that at all, but, ya know, it doesn't hurt.

One more feature that I personally don't use but others might find interesting: there's a "skip" mode, where the app will fast-forward through (or completely skip) sections with no dialogue. I tried it once with something I was rewatching, but it was a bit glitchy.

Also, uh, I guess there's a Discord. If you're into that.

- You can import your Anki decks.

TL;DR - It's not free. - It only runs on Chrome. - Whether it's "worth it" depends on three things: Do you have money to throw at your hobbies? Do you have the time/drive/knowledge to set up / integrate existing free apps instead? Do you have the time/drive to actually use it frequently?

For me, it's "Not really, I could probably stick to Anki...but my birthday is next month." and "No, or I would have already" and "YES!" so I'm signing up for lifetime and looking forward to seeing how much it improves over the next couple of years.

[thekingofwinterblog]

The Problem With Yasopp

So like many people I was genuinely surprised by Netflix One Piece, adaption, which turned out the exact opposite of pretty much every single travesty that america has made when adapting Manga and Anime.

It certainly was not without flaws, for one thing it needed to be at least 3-5 episodes longer in order to fix it's pacing issues if it wanted to get all of East Blue into one season, and the fight scenes while very well choreographed, didn't exactly sell me on the superhuman strength of most of these characters.

However, there was one thing that genuinely pissed me off, in large part because the american adapters changed something they didn't like, in order to fit "western sensibilites" and in doing so, completely missing the point, and frankly tragedy of the original context.

That of course, is the character of Usopp's relationship with his parents Yasopp and Banchina, and the rather sad tale of plans going completely arry due to twists of fate.

In the west, the character of Yasopp has been a rather contentious one, for several reasons, but also one that has been a bit altered by the changes from Japanese to English.

Yasopp is critiqued heavily by people who don't like him for abandoning his kid, and his wife to seek adventure on the high seas. Now this is not untrue, but there is a bit of context here that's a bit lost in translation.

And you can really tell that, because the way Netflix portrays Yasopp leaving is the surface level one you might get if you just read Syrup Village arc, and you don't pay any attention at all to the timeline given.

In the neflix series, it's explicitly said that Yasopp left Usopp and his mother while Usopp was still a baby. That is such a common reading, that it's actually what the One Piece Wiki claims happened(Another example of why you should always be critical of Wiki's).

The actual Manga tells a different story.

Yasopp left Syrup village right before Banchina unexpedetly got sick with the disease that ultimatly killed her.

When Usopp is so touchy against Kuro about him badmouting his father, it's not in the context of him idolizing some father he never met, because Usopp and Yasopp knew and loved each other dearly. Usopp's wish to see his dad again isn't some wish to meet the father he only knows through stories, but to reconnect with the dad he loved so much growing up and was sad when he left.

And then of course there is the glory of mistraslation. If you've read this part of the manga, you might rightly be wondering, what sort of woman would be proud of the man who abandoned her to take care of their kid while he sought adventure.

The answer, which the english translation does not give, is a woman who was the one to convince him to go out on that journey in the first place.

Because that is what happened in the orignal manga. It was Banchina, for reasons we don't fully understand or have the context for, eho convinced her husband to go out and seek his dreams.

That's the reason why she is so certain Yasopp will NOT be coming home, but why she is also not bitter about it. She was the one who encouraged Yasopp to go out to sea, while she stayed home and took care of their kid, until he grew old enough to care for himself, and seek the seas himself if he wished.

The story of Yasopp, Usopp and his wife is a genuine tragedy, but not because Yasopp abandoned Usopp before he ever got to know him, but because Usopp's parents made plans for the future, that while not perfect by any stretch, seemed workable enough... only for the entire thing to come crumbling down after Yasopp left due to something as mundane as a random disease.

One can certainly make an argument that this was NOT the best course of action for Yasopp and Banchina to take, but it's not the complete deadbeat dad who abandons his baby trope that the Netflix series portrays it as.

Further hammering in that this was a bit more complicated than that, Yasopp seems to have been one of the very first crew members Shanks tried to recruit, having sought him out not long after Roger died... And Yasopp seems to have flat out rejected him, as he stayed with Banchina for years and years afterwards.

It adds a lot of context to the idea that Banchina was the one who ultimately convinced Yasopp to go out and chase his dreams while she took care of the kid... Because it took years and years for it to ultimately conclude at this course of action. Yasopp would continue to reject Shanks offer to join him for years to instead to take care of his wife and kid, until about a year before Shanks met Luffy, when his wife told him to go.

It's a hell of a lot more nuanced and interesting than what Netflix did, that's for damn sure.

[ronan-sinbad]

Guys.

I have 10+ pages of outline written for this Voltron Video Essay/Rewrite.

I've got the first episode paced for reading aloud and the rest are outlined, I'm gonna get season one ready to go and if the video does well I'll make it a series until I rewrite everything.

I'm thinking I'll do it video essay style, I'll have to draw up a little essay-sona but that shouldn't be too hard, especially if I use some PNGTuber software. Of course I'll be illustrating a lot of it myself, using clips here and there, and explaining the process.

I was sort of well-known for doing good world building on my DSMP fic 'Humans are Space Velociraptors' which got a lot of traction on AO3 for a while. If you're into space stories you might enjoy it! Here's a link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/32677774/chapters/81064315

For now I'll give you what I have currently written as my intro. This may change! But I'm just to excited not to share SOMETHING with you guys :3 I can't thank @deareverlasting enough for giving me the idea to redesign the paladins, this whole deal was started when they sent me that ask ^^ I'm really pumped about getting this made now!!

Intro under the cut:

Voltron. Legendary. Defenders.

Now, before you all boo me off the stage, let’s talk about this, okay? I just wanna talk. Because let’s face it, this show? This show was POPULAR. For a WHILE.

If you’re anything like me you might’ve clicked on this video knowing nothing about Voltron and simply wanting a long-ass video to listen to while you do your laundry or play Minecraft or something. Listen. I see you, I hear you. So for the uninitiated we’re gonna do a quick series recap:

If you’re well aware of the plot beats and Netflix drama you can skip to this timecode to hear my personal thoughts on the series as well as some fandom drama, or skip to this one to get straight into the series redesign. But for all you folks, let’s get started!

*series recap*

Okay! (Clap reverb) How was that. Did you like that? DID you? (Zoom cut) Cause I didn’t.

Why am I doing this. You may be asking. Why did I completely rewrite a series that, on the surface, it seems like I actively, REALLY dislike! And the answer is: I love this series with every fiber of my being and I am doing this because I need to share my visions of the multiverse with others who might harbor the same mixed back of feeling for this show that I do. I know you’re out there. I can SEE YOU THROUGH THE SCREEN—

So come with me on this journey, as I take you through what Voltron: Legendary Defenders COULD HAVE been.

But before that, lets get a little bit of background on the series outside of it’s canon:

Voltron: Legendary Defenders was released on Netflix on June 10, 2016. It ran for eight seasons (zoom in inhale immediate zoom out) and was officially taken OFF Netflix on either December  6th or 7th of 2024, last year. So, why did Netflix take Voltron down? The short answer is: They didn’t. Netflix was Voltron’s distributor, but it was DreamWorks who produced the show, and thus holds all the rights to it. Netflix had exclusive streaming rights until it was taken off in accordance with the end of their contract.

Despite this a lot of people were really upset to see the show taken down! If you’re one of those people, rest assured you can watch the show on other platforms like Apple TV, Youtube, and Amazon Prime, (if you feel like paying)

There are still ways to watch the show, in theory. But as someone who despises the current streaming culture I am absolutely DEVASTATED to announce I haven’t been able to find a DVD pack of all eight seasons for less than 200 dollars on Ebay or Craigslist. This show is simply NOT available in physical print. And I am completely serious about what I’m going to say here and now: If you have access to this show on DVD, if you know where to get it for less than 200 dollars, then EMAIL ME PLEASE. COMMENT BELOW. DM ME ON INSTAGRAM. If someone can get me access to these DVDs I will kiss you ON THE MOUTH. Consensually.

Anyways. Aside from the devastation I felt in my search for Voltron on DVD, along with everything else, I’m still really in love with this show! And if you’ll indulge me in one final tangent before we get into my redesign, I’d like to share with you my personal feelings....

[fuctacles]

B-listers, Slashers, and Porn: The Movie Marathon Pyramid

Late for @strangetober 29th "slasher" bc i cant read calendars starting with Sunday 😩😩😩 also @stevieweek & "This is what you're doing on Halloween?"

M/E | ~4k | Steddissy/Hellcheer/Cheerscoops/Steddie | transfem!Stevie, transmasc!Eddie, FanslyModel!Chrissy, open relationship, sex work | Part 1/2 and a continuation of this | Ao3

"No way this is what you're doing on Halloween." Eddie frowns at his friend's streaming schedule. "Really?"

"Hey, it's okay if you're busy. I'm not expecting you to mod at my every whim. Someone else will be free or I'll just survive one day without. I'm not expecting a huge turn out anyway."

"Because everyone already has plans," he nods along. "Yeah, but why you don't?" He frowns. 

"I do?" Stevie sounds confused over his speakers. "We're talking about them right now." 

Eddie wishes he was on camera so she could see the impressive eye roll that Max had taught him.

"With friends, dumbass. Not a bunch of simps who want to catch your heart attack live. There's a thousand parties you could go to instead!"

Stevie sighs. 

"Everyone already has something and I don'want to go partying with strangers. I'd rather sit at home and play games, honestly," she admits. 

Eddie is, to put it lightly, deadly offended. 

"You didn't ask me," he points out. 

"You live in a different state, man." 

"So does Lucas!"

"Yeah, and that's why I'm not seeing him either!" 

"Well, consider yourself invited. I'll pay for your ticket if I have to."

"What? No--"

"We've been already planning a lazy movie marathon with Chris and you are more than welcome to join."

"That doesn't sound like you. A cozy night in? On Halloween?" Stevie wonders out loud. "Is this a trap? Have you been body snatched?"

"Dude, I've been working on so much shit this month I just want to kick back and relax," Eddie sighs, grimacing at the thought of everything he still has to do before the day of rest. 

"Shit, right, you're releasing that new EP this month!" 

"Yep. So for twenty-four hours, I want to shut myself in and not look at any social media, any music charts, or any emails from my manager. Phone off, Netflix on."

Stevie hums thoughtfully. 

"Will the rest of the band be there?"

Eddie smirks. 

"Just say you want to see Gareth again," he teases. "No, we've spent so much time in the studio for this EP I can't look at their ugly mugs anymore. No, it's just me and Chrissy this time. And now you, of course."

"Ed, if you want to spend this time together, you don't have to invite me."

"You think I'm doing this for you?" He raises his eyebrows at the tiny icon on his screen that represents his friend. "This is for my peace of mind. But mostly for Chrissy, honestly, she won't shut up about you," he groans. 

"Really?" Stevie asks in a small voice, sounding genuinely surprised. 

"Don't you dare play coy now, you seduced my girlfriend with your athletic body and now she wants me to drink protein shakes!"

Stevie bursts out laughing. 

"I'm sorry?" she offers.

"I'll accept your sorries only if you join us for an evening of bad horrors and spiked hot chocolate."

"Deal."

Stevie has the Uber app open and is typing in her destination address when a piercing whistle splits the air. She winces but ignores it as any other time. 

"Hey, babygirl!"

For once, she reacts to the catcalling, as the voice sounds familiar. Her eyes widen.

"Oh, you fucking idiot!" she hisses, which results in her long-distance friend cackling in amusement. Stevie storms to the car he's leaning against, a black van with a demon painted on the side. 

"Hi, sweetheart." He give her his best sleazy smile and leans in to kiss her on the cheek. She doesn't protest but she does roll her eyes. 

"You could have told me you'd pick me up."

"And ruin the surprise? Nuh-uh." He shakes his head.

Stevie sighs. She knows Eddie dropping the theatrics is as likely as Hell freezing over. 

"Well, lead me to your lair, then."

He lights up, prying the bag from her hand while he opens the door. 

"Take a seat, milady, I'll drop your luggage in the back," he says with a small, courteous bow.

The drive passes with Eddie drilling her about her favorite movies and the snacks they are missing. She assures him all she needs is a nap and a warm meal, and he dutifully drives her to her destination. 

Eddie's house is small, a place he's renting right now but planning to buy if money lets him. He opens up the door, Stevie's bag hauled over his shoulder, and yells out:

"Chris! We have a guest!'

Stevie eyes him warily. 

"You told her I'm coming, right?"

Eddie only grins. Then, a shriek rings through the house. 

"Stevie!"

Chrissy throws herself at the girl, and thank gods for their athletic reflexes, because it could end up on the floor otherwise. 

"Hi Chris," Stevie smiles, holding the girl close. It's been months since they saw each other. 

"Why didn't you tell me?!" Chrissy asks with a pout. 

"To be fair, I was sure you knew about this until five seconds ago."

They both look at Eddie, but he's already gone from his spot. There is a clatter of dishes coming from the direction of the kitchen, though.

"Bastard is trying to placate me with food," she hisses, adjusting Chrissy's legs more securely around her hips before she walks towards the sound.

"And here I was wondering why he made his signature stew," Chrissy sighs against her ear. Stevie chuckles. 

"Well, at least he knows what works on me."

They enter the kitchen to find Eddie stirring the thick dish in the pot.

"Hello ladies," he smiles with the obliviousness of an experienced jester. "Hungry?"

"Starving," Stevie admits reluctantly, placing  Chrissy on the counter. "It smells good," she says, her hands resting on her friend's thighs. She can see Eddie's eyes lingering there. 

"Chrissy doesn't like it too spicy, but I can add some extra chilli flakes to your bowl," he says, refocusing on the food. "Wanna try it?" he asks, raising up the wooden spoon. 

"Sure," Stevie shrugs, and watches mesmerized as he gently blows on it before raising it to her mouth.

"How is it?" 

"It's good as it is," she decides, licking her lips to catch everything. "Can I help with something?" she asks, already looking around the kitchen for something to do.

"You can grab the bowls. They're in the cupboard above Chrissy."

Instead of letting her jump off the counter, Stevie picks her up again and relocates further away, to the girl's delight.

Then she opens the cupboard and her eyes light up when she finds their pumpkin-shaped bowls

"Oh my god I love these! You guys are such dorks," she grins, while pulling them out.

"Wait til you see the Garfield tea set," Chrissy smiles back. 

"Where is it?!" 

The stew gets forgotten for a long while, all of Stevie's focus now on ploundering through her friends' cupboards. She finds not only the Garfield tea set, but also matching plates and a lunchbox. There's also a whole shelf dedicated to ornate chalices and tankards. 

"Is this a real horn?"

"Sure is," Eddie grins proudly. "Metal as fuck, isn't it?" 

"Can I have a beer in it later?"

"Absolutely," he laughs, picking up the bowls. "Now come eat."

Stevie gets distracted again with her spoon, its handle shaped like vines, but eventually she digs into the stew. 

"This is good," she praises with an appreciative hum. "Just knowing you, I'd never let you loose in a kitchen."

Chrissy snorts into her bowl and starts choking, which doesn't faze Eddie, who just passes her a glass of water and pats her back. 

"And you'd be right, because I've put all my culinary skills into three dishes I can execute perfectly, and everything else is a biohazard," he grins like it's something to be proud of. Which, in a way, might be. 

"Well, everything I cook tastes kind of bland, so maybe your method is the way to go," stevie shrugs at that, eyeing Chrissy's watery eyes. She seems to have gotten a hold on herself for the time being.

After eating, despite Stevie's flight and the late hour, they start up Scream and hang out with mugs of steaming tea in hands. Eddie had vetoed booze right before bed and the girls reluctantly agreed. They argue the movie list for their actual marathon, as it needs cheesy slashers for Chrissy, outdated special effects for Stevie, and ridiculous plots for Eddie. 

"Terrifier," Chrissy declares like there was no arguing with her. There wasn't, but her friends would try anyway.

"You guys need to see the one with a possessed Christmas tree."

"The Haunting!" Stevie pitches in. 

The list grows and grows and they reluctantly agree to roll a dice on the marathon day to decide the watching order. 

"You can have my bed and I'll sleep with Eddie tonight, okay?" Chrissy asks once the credits starts rolling and Stevie is dozing off, bundled into a spare blanket. The girl blnks at her sleepily. 

"Okay," she says slowly with a frown. "You guys don't share a bedroom?"

"He snores," Chrissy winces like the sole idea appalls her. "And we both like our space. We usually share a bed anyway, just swap between rooms."

"I can take the couch," Stevie offers. "I don't want to hog your space like that."

"Don't worry about it" Chrissy waves her off. "We can switch around later. Now," she stands up to grab her hand. "Do you have enough energy for a shower or would you rather go straight to bed."

"Straght to bed, please," Stevie whines, letting her friend haul her up. 

"Bed it is then, princess," she agrees, slowly leading her upstairs.

"Eddie's rubbing off on you," Stevie says with a wide smile.

"Yeah, he does that a lot," her friend smirks back and they giggle as she opens the right door. "Here's my room. Eddie's is the one opposite door, and at the end you'll find the bathroom. Left door, right one is the office," she explains while pointing along. "You'll find clean towels in the cupboard. Do you need anything? T-shirt to sleep in?" she asks, pushing gently so Stevie sits on her bed. Her sheets are dark green, matching the plants littering the room. 

Stevie has her own pyjama's but like hell is she going to pass on the opportunity to wear her hot friend's clothes.

"Yes, please. Would it be okay if I slept in just pants?" she asks as well. 

Chrissy snorts.

"Totally. Eddie usually sleeps completely naked so don't be surprised if you run into his white ass on a midnight snack trip," she grins. "And I don't wear pants to sleep, just longer shirts. You want long or short ones?"

For a second, Stevie's lost wondering what she's gotten herself into, but she quickly remembers what her friend is asking about. 

"Short," she decides, watching Chrissy open the top drawer of her dresser. The blonde hums as she goes through its contents. 

"Would this be okay? I can look through Eddie's stuff," she offers, presenting a pair of soft shorts patterned in ice cream cones. 

Stevie raises her eyebrows. 

"Is this on purpose?" 

Chrissy looks down at the shorts, before chuckling at the unintentional Scoops Ahoy reference. 

"I swear it's not. It's the first ones I saw that would fit."

Stevie takes them in hand and inspects the width and give of the elastic. 

"They should be fine, thank you," she smiles. 

"Of course, honey. I'm gonna take a shower, you can exploit Eddie in the meantime." 

He has been left in the kitchen cleaning up after their dinner and preparing for tomorrow's breakfast. 

"As tempting as it is, I'm sure I'll be out as soon as I lay down," Stevie chuckels. The hours spend travelling and catching up with her friends were finally taking their toll. 

"Well, in that case good night, and I'll see you tomorrow."

"Good night," Stevie answers tiredly, missing the moment when Chrissy leans down and pecks her on the lips. She barely manages to process that fact, before the doors close behind her friend. She smiles to herself before undressing for bed to finally get some rest. 

Stevie's out to the word until late morning the next day, but thankfully, her hosts aren't early birds either. When she gingerly walks downstairs, she's greeted by the sight of the two drinking coffee and making pancakes. Eddie notices her first and waves to her with his spatula. 

"Good morning! I'll have fresh pancakes for you in a minute. How did you sleep?"

"Like an undead," she yawns, beelining for her forgotten bag, where she has a fresh t-shirt to change into. She does so right there, and when she turns back towards the kitchen, her friends act like civilized beings that didn't just ogle her tits. She graciously decides not to call them out for it. 

When she sits next to Chrissy, the girl murmurs an indecipherable greeting, pressing her arm against hers. Stevie gathers her getly against her side. 

"Eddie, you could spare your girlfriend some energy, she's wilting here!"

He turns away from the stove to huff at her. 

"She'd have more energy if she wasn't gathering fruit on her phone until two am," he counters, crossing his arms. His morning outfit consists of an apron tied around his bare chest, a pair of boxers and nothing else. Stevie's never seen all his tattoos out in the open. 

"I like the beholder tattoo," she says.

"Do not," Eddie points his spatula at her. "Talk nerd in the kitchen. It makes me horny and Chrissy said kitchen is off limits," he pouts. 

Stevie snorts, and rests her head against Chrissy. 

"Sorry, I'll keep it to the bedroom next time."

"Thank you," Eddie nods gratefully. "How do you want your coffee?"

"Just a bit of milk, please."

It must have been waiting for her already, beacuse she gets a steaming mug put in front of her just seconds later. 

"Thank you," she sighs, sipping on the coffee. She got it in one of the Garfield mugs, too.

"Of course. And here are yor pancakes. Pick your poison." After putting a stack of pancakes in front of her, he pushes maple syrup, butter and nutella towards her.

"Oh my god. This is the best breakfast I've had since I visited Claudia." 

Eddie laughs at that. 

"Don't get used to it. Tomorrow it's Chrissy's turn on breakfast and she's usually so out of it she can mistake salt for sugar." 

To that, Chrissy flips him the bird, meaning she's at least processing the conversation happening around her. She can also smell the food, and steals a pancake from Stevie's plate to gingerly nibble on. 

"I can help out," Stevie offers, nuzzling her nose against Chrissy's cheek before she straightens up to dig into the breakfast. "What's the plan for today?" she asks while slapping some butter on her pancakes. 

Eddie hums thoughtfully as he pours batter on the pan. "We have all the candy we should need for trick-or-treaters, but we're short on vegetables for pumpkin soup. So think of anything you'd want to eat, we'll make a grocery list, and hit the farmer's market."

Stevie gives him a thumbs up, since her mouth is already stuffed with pancakes. 

The afternoon is spent arguing about the quality of pumpkins offered at the stalls, and what is the ultimate fall soup. It's a level of comfort and easiness Stevie usually feels only around Robin. 

She's not much of a cook, so when Eddie starts on the soup, she joins him in the kitchen, eager to learn. Which translates to her drinking wine and asking a lot of questions while hanging off his shoulder.

"How long do you need to cook the broth?" she asks, unknowingly breathing wine into his air. 

"At least a couple of hours," he answers patiently. "My mom used to leave it simmering for the whole night, though."

Stevie frowns. 

"Sounds like a fire hazard."

Eddie laughs at that. 

"Yeah, a lot of things weren't a concern twenty years ago."

"Yeah, like condoms, considering you're here," she snickers and gets swatted away for her comedic efforts. 

"What, you're not grateful for my existence? Bold words for someone being guested and fed in my home."

"That is not a word," she says with a frown, though being friends with Robin made her second guess her knowledge of the dictionary.

"It is now! Now, would my guest put her wine aside and peel the garlic?"

"Yes, chef," she salutes and accepts the ingredients handed to her. She manages to convince Eddie she's still sober enough to help him chop the vegetables as well. 

"Ohh, he let you hold a knife?" Chrissy walks into the kitchen a moment later and pouts at her boyfriend. "He never lets me help with aything."

"Lies and slander!" Eddie exclaims at that accusation. "You can do literally anything else. Baby, you can even operate a blowtorch, but a knife in her hand," he turns to Stevie for that part, pointing a spoon at Chrissy. "Is like a fidget toy made out of razor blades."

Stevie, though, focuses on the important part.

"You have a blowtorch?"

Eddie groans, but Chrissy is more than happy to show her the little thing they use to toast the marshmallows for their hot cocoa and chocolate. Of course, this ends up with her making some for all of them. Stevie is the one to chop up the chocolate, though. 

The porch has been decorated and all the candy is waiting near the door, because they didn't bother putting it in the cupboards. The food is mostly done, and the movies they agreed on have been found and added to the watch list, so on the actual Halloween the next day, all they have left to do is chill, open the door, compilment kids' costumes, and take in the spooky vibe. As soon as they take out their pies from the oven, they can start on the festivities. 

Or so it seems.

"Shit," Eddie suddenly widens his eyes in the middle of the kitchen.

"What?" Chrissy bends down to peek into the oven, but everything seems fine there. "What is it?"

"What about the costumes?" he looks at her, genuinely alarmed. She frowns at him. 

"We've been over this? You're Crowley and I'm Aziraphale."

"Well, yeah, but now Stevie is here!"

Chrissy looks at the girl with the same therror as her boyfriend, which almost makes her snort out her wine. Which would be horribly wasteful, since she got hers in the horn as promised. 

"Ah, no worries, you've been babbling about the costumes for so long I had enough time to find a white turtleneck and a fly plushie, and the grey suit should be delivered here in the morning." She waves her hand dismissively, but Eddie is anything but dismissive about Halloween costumes. He gapes at his friend in disbelief. 

"I though you haven't seen Good Omens?"

"After all the fuss you made about it?" She rolls her eyes. "Please. I just didn't tell you because you'd freak out about it, and you're talking my ear off as it is." She smiles fondly despite her words. 

"You prepared a matching costume," he says, still in his nerdy trance. 

"Well, yeah? Didn't want to be left out." 

"I'm sorry I didn't think about it myself," he says, looking so guilt-stricken, she was worried he might pick up a knife and commit seppuku at any moment. 

"It's okay, man, you're so good at improvising--"

"Can I kiss you?" Eddie interrupts her, his eyes sparkling in that insane daze she recognised by now from having one too many autistic nerds as friends. 

"Uh," she looks to Chrissy for support, but she seems mildly exasperated at best, focusing more on the pies in the oven than their exchange. It was about time to take them out. 

"I guess so?" Stevie offers in the end, and watches Eddie put away his beer, like kissing her required his full attention. With the focus she could see on his face she would think it did. 

She can't exactly put her horn away. It needs a designated stand to stay upright, and it's somewhere on the kitchen counter behind them. So, in support of her friend's actions, she just puts her free hand on his hip and angles her head when she feels his palm against her cheek. 

His lips are slightly chapped from the autumn cold, and she can remember Chrissy's complaints about him consistently losing every chapstick she buys him. Stevie makes a note to get him a whole shipment of those for Christmas. She likes the lips that kiss her to be soft. 

Other than that, he's almost ridiculously gentle, unlike the persona he puts on for the world to see. It's easy to imagine him making out with someone, with Chrissy, for hours without getting bored. 

But Stevie likes more, so she parts her lips and pulls his hip closer to her. They both get lost in their impromptu make-out session until the smell of fresh pie reaches their nostrils. Eddie pulls away first, sniffing the air, and when Stevie follows his lead, Chrissy bursts out laughing at their accidental synchronization.

"It's too hot to eat, sorry," she spreads her hands apologetically. "But I have some cookies for the meantime." 

They move apart to dive into the jar of chocolate chip cookies that's presented to them. With pies cooling on the rack and cookies in their hands, they relocate to the living room to play one of the movies from their list. They pick a mindless slasher to turn off their brains after a day of cooking and other preparations.

The conversatiom focuses on the characters' bad choices and the highly unrealistic injuries, until two girls start making-out on screen.

"You know I've never watched your video?" Eddie says then, unprompted. 

Stevie and Chrissy turn to him in unison. 

"What?"

"Really?'

Eddie shrugs at their bewildered stares. 

"I don't know, it felt weird. I never saw Stevie in such, uh, circumstances, and she's paying me, so..." he trails off and shrugs again. "You know I don't watch all of your stuff," he adds, almost defensively.

"Which is very unsupportive of you," she says with an exaggerated pout so he knows she's joking. 

"I'm not watching you get fucked in those shitty amazon costumes, those are an insult to cosplayers worldwide!" he says and it sounds like something he's complained about before. "And did you have to do Jarley? You know we ship Harlivy in this house!"

Chrissy looks like she's doing her best not to laugh and Stevie's barely holding on herself. 

"I'm sorry, you know I couldn't find the right girl in time. And I've already made scenes with Gareth--"

"The fact that he agreed to this is even worse!"

Stevie presses a hand over her lips this time, to muffle her laugh. Eddie glowers at her over Chrissy's shoulder when she reaches for the remote. 

"Wanna watch it now?" she asks, already pausing the movie.

"What?"

"We're all here now, so it's not gonna be weird," Chrissy says, exiting out of the streaming platform. Her friends seem too stunned to stop her. 

"Or it will be extra weird," Eddie points out, but his girlfriend only waves him off. 

"Psh, like we haven't watched my videos before." As if to prove that, her Fansly pops up instantly once she opens the browser. "So?" She looks left and right at her company, waiting for the green light from them.

Like Eddie could ever say no faced with the cover photo of her page--her naked, delicate body covered up by a sword blade. 

"Sure," Stevie shrugs, and Eddie nods along.

"Yeah, let's do it."

[rigelmejo]

There are so many anazing free resources to study languages. So many.

I think it often just comes down to: some people don't want to actually learn, some people don't want to put in the effort and hours it takes to improve at a brand new thing, some people fear imperfection, some people just aren't good at finding resources on their own (libraries can help! Even just a quick search on reddit or language learning blogs can point you to some good resources!), and some people really struggle to make their own study plan or motivate themselves (and in these cases STRUCTURED resources may work best for you - either actual classes with grades to pressure you, or Coursera/linkedin/etc Massive Online Open Courses - which can be free but still paced like classes you pay for, or getting a textbook or copying someone else's study plan Exactly same time spent per day same activities everything).

There's also a lot of amazingly well made paid resources to learn a language. I'm telling you right now its not Glossika, or Rosetta Stone, or Duolingo, or any other "many languages X dollars a month subscription" apps. Some of those may be okay, and even work great if you're a beginner and quickly finish them and then go find intermediate stuff to study. But usually you can look up resources for the Specific language you're learning and find amazing resources specifically tailored to it. (Examples: Satori Reader app for learning to read Japanese is extremely well made and much more useful for Japanese than a broad LingQ app subscription, Pleco one-time purchases of Graded Readers and Dictionary add ons are much more useful for learning Chinese than LingQ, you get the idea). While the general "resource made in many languages" resources are fine, and work in a pinch if they're the cheapest or the only resources you can access (for example I really like Innovative Language Courses in the Hoopla library app, the Teach Yourself books, and the FSI/DLI old textbook/audio courses, since I can find the resource type I wish to study and find them free in pretty much any language I need to), usually the best resources for a particular language and particular goal in that language tend to be more specific.

Dreaming Spanish is like $8 dollars a month, and assuming you DO want to learn a language, you'd probably be putting in at least 15 hours a month (a half hour of daily study on average or more) making each hour of listening learning material less than $1. You might be listening to 60-90 hours a month if you're going at a pace like me with Chinese, which would make it even more worth 0.13-0.09 dollars an hour of study material. That's way cheaper than a tutor, or a college course, so if you stick to the plan it will work and it will be budget friendly. It's cheaper than Netflix.

Compare that to Glossika Japanese, which I fully completed after 128 hours, at $13 a month, and I was really not enjoying Glossika as it bored me to tears so I took like 6 months so I spent $78 dollars on fucking Glossika, or around 1.64 dollars an hour. Still maybe a decent price now that I'm looking at it like this... except I could've studied the same material completely free with japaneseaudiolessons.com and Nihongo Con Teppei podcast, and maybe I would've been less bored and studied more hours.

My point is: in many cases free options and paid options exist specifically for your language goals, for the language you're learning, and finding ones that support your goals and that you can enjoy will cause increased study time per day, more progress in less months, and more enjoyment.

It does take a bit more work to look up resources, yes. If you take the time, it is rewardingly helpful.

Someone asked on reddit the other day how to learn French free without Duolingo. They mentioned they had no money, weren't making much progress and didnt like the switch to AI, and wanted to know what to use to improve. Some people mentioned youtube - which is a great suggestion! It still takes some searching on youtube stuff like "learn french" "french listening" "french reading" "french comprehensible input" "french lessons" and exploring until you find something that works for you.

I suggested: French Comprehensible Input channel, Le Francais Par Le Methode Nature (textbook with 2 audio-text playlists on youtube), Coffee Break French (a podcast with french lessons - not on youtube but free and covers what beginner classes would cover), Language Transfer French (free podcast for learning French grammar basics).

And then later once someone knows some basics and can move into intermediate materials: Francais Avec Fluiditie, Inner French, and regular French speaking youtubers. All free materials, all available online with a quick search, all can help one to learn French and improve. If they had a different goal than me, or different learning preferences, then continuing to explore until they found resources more suited to them would work.

Just the fact you are on tumblr, following people who share resource links and saving whatever resources are useful to you, already means you are putting in effort to learn a language and effort to find study resources that will work for you. Which is hard! It is a slog to find study resources that suit you, and come up with your own study plan to tackle your goals.

[localbisexual333]

Arcane season 2

ok so kinda mad at netflix bc even though they're finally taking matpat's advice, i want the rest of season 2 of arcane already. Finished watching the first 3 episodes and loved them - spoilers ahead, you've been warned

Ambessa's plan or what we know of it is def going to backfire. Cait only did what she's done bc she's grieving and bottling up her feelings. Mel even says that she doing a good job at hiding her feelings. Also the black rose thing is connected to the hexcore thing im pretty sure. It's like another version of corrupted magic or something.

Jinx and Sevika have a lot of similarities. Their little bonding scene was nice and i kinda hope they'll both be alive at the end of season 2. Isha (the name of the kid Jinx helps - thanks subtitles) is also cute and if Jinx lives she would definitely be raising her. If Sevila also lives i totally see her helping jinx raise isha.

Victor is totally accidentally going to start a cult. We see him heal that one shimmer victim (forgot his name) and the rest of them bow to victor. My theory is the hexcore which is now inside victor - is using him to corrupt others like the shimmer victims. We already see it infecting the trees and the hex beam thing. Also quick theory about how the hex beam thing got corrupt is last season victor coughs blood and some falls. Thats probly how - victor's blood fell and stuck there starting to infect it. Back to the cult thing - later we're likely going to see it infect more people till there's an army and then the hexcore will fully take control. Or victor starts a cult that helps later on and the hexcore isnt actually evil. But heimerdinger's (i def spelt his name wrong) warning last season and jace being like 'we were wrong victor'makes me think its evil.

Vi and cait have kinda flipped sides. In season 1 vi is impulsive and takes action a lot. Now we see that with cait. Also, they finally kissed good job - but that small progress is now gone :(

Finally im gonna end off on mel. Mel in the intro has shadow hands coming for her in her first part. In the second part of the intro she's in see screams them away. Finally she's sitting on a couch with a black rose. Earlier in thr intro her mom ambessa squishes or crunches up a balck rose. Mel picks it up. My theory is that mel is being pressured into what everyone else wants but later in the season she going to take back control. We see her forced to be fine with enforcers invading the undercity. Which is part of her being controlled. How she takss back controll idk. Maybe leading her mom's army is she dies or something. Also ambessa dying is likely i think bc of mel picking up a black rose. Continuing where her mothet left off or something. Now at the end of episode 3 we see her get taken away, she's definitely gone to wherever the black rose person is. The magic used does seem to corrupt/mindcontrol ending in the victim dying (poor elora). And it seems to appear and dissappear without a sign. But it does have a weakness - a combination of runes as we see carved into that spear one of ambessa soldiers uses. Im wondering what the debt is that needs to be payed. It has to do with mel's dead brother but what did we get himself into? Idk maybe stole something he wasnt supposed to or stuck his head somewhere it didnt belong.

But yea those are my theories and stuff. If you read down to here thank you i wrote A LOT so thanks for reading all of it

If you have a theory or observation leave it in the comments

[comikas-fandom-dump]

Hi, Hello!

I wanted to ask you about what your think about Sasuke being absent for so long? Do you keep up with Boruto manga?

Like, I reason it being an asspull by writers to somehow activate sarada's sharingan (why did Boruto at the time felt a beginning of SMTH new?).

In-verse though, I reason it could be couple of things;

• Continental/Dimensional travel to the point it's hard for him to keep track of time--read somewhere that he apparently was given a phone which couldn't recharge or SMTH, but that indicates to me, that he was roaming in areas where access to recharge cell phone was not unfeasible or whatever.

Honestly, haven't read the LNs or Naruto, so this is just hcs I have.

Thanks

Sorry, but I don't keep up much with the Boruto manga, unfortunately. I watched the anime on Netflix up to what's the manga equivalent of chapter 15, I think, but eventually stopped watching.

I agree that Sasuke's absence from home was most likely intended to cause drama. Maybe not Sarada's Sharingan in particular, because she could've easily awakened that one in battle during Gaiden - But drama, because it's the easiest way to get us invested in a new character like Sarada. So yeah, I get why this writing decision was made, and I suppose the plotline did its job, but it did so at the expense of Sasuke's character... again, like the ending wasn't bad enough already.

Now onto the in-verse logic!

Yes, Sasuke has indeed been to remote locations and different dimensions where keeping track of time might be challenging. However, this does not mean he didn't have the means to check on the date every once in a while.

For example, while Shikamaru notes that Sasuke travels to underdeveloped areas, he also says it's only 80% of the time. Looking at Boruto and the reputation Sasuke has made for himself among criminals like Shojoji, it's likely that Sasuke has also been going after criminals and nukenin part-time. Not only that, but surely Sasuke has to stock up on supplies every now and then.

Also, we know that Sasuke paid a visit to Konoha at least once during his absence from home, attending a meeting between kage. Personally, I doubt that this has been the only time he has had to consult with them in person, meaning he has been visiting Konoha (and possibly other hidden villages) frequently.

So yeah. Not that the constant travels haven't been messing with Sasuke's sense of time, or couldn't at least be part of the reason for his long absence. It's just that for Sarada not to remember Sasuke at all, he must've been gone for at least 7 years (assuming Sarada is 10-11 years old in Gaiden). And considering all these different opportunities he had to go pick up a newspaper and check on the date, that seems kind of unlikely.

Besides, we've seen Sasuke in the same village and even the same room as his wife. Assuming he's been making reports to Naruto frequently, shouldn't he have been able to visit his daughter while he was at it? Or shouldn't Naruto have been able to remind him of paying her a visit? Neither of which seems to be the case.

Rather, I think Sasuke made a purposeful decision not to spend his time with his daughter. His reasons are ambiguous, though, so there's room for theories. Perhaps he was simply busy and under time pressure. Or maybe Sasuke made his fair share of enemies, so much so that he didn't want to accidentally involve his family. That's what Sakura seems to imply, at least.

Whatever it was, I also don't think Sasuke wanted to be an absent father. Even over the short duration of Gaiden, he clearly shows himself to be invested both in Sarada's physical safety and her emotional health. And let's be honest, Sasuke leaving his one and only child behind for absolutely no reason whatsoever is nothing short of out-of-character. Sasuke does have a reason, we just don't know for certain which one.

[rebelcourtesan]

When an Immortal becomes Mortal

Art Commissioned by ‪@subbymothpimp.bsky.social‬

The Radiant is a new original character of mine. She originally created as an angelic version of Liz, another OC of mine from the Hazbin Hotel fandom.

Commissioned Art by @ShinigamiYX

She's a leading character in my longfic, Thicker than Water. After a botched hit, Liz flees through a portal into Hell where she reunites with her father who had died when she was a child. Together they go on a quest to find out which demon had put the hit on her to have it removed so IMP will leave her alone.

I really got to know Liz and her skewed sense of justice and how she uses her role as a humanitarian to take revenge on stand ins for her pain and trauma. I've written her as a sociopath while having a crooked moral compass. She's likely the most complex character I have ever created. She's literally one bad day from becoming an outright villainess.

She also holds roles in TTRPGs I've run with friends online. In my current game, I've turned her into a BBEG, not as a demon, but as an angel called The Radiant.

This has led me to creating a new character upon the arrival of Netflix's Devil May Cry 2025.

I know there's controversy around the show, and while it does have flaws, I love it. Especially the main villain, White Rabbit.

If you've been following my writing, you know how much I love villains and writing them.

So I had to try my hand at writing an adult, complex scene between White Rabbit and an OC. Not Liz, but the Radiant who emerged as her own character in my psyche.

I originally meant for the Radiant story to be a single one shot, but it blossom . . .or festered . . .into another story; a story I've been wanting to tell, but never realized it.

As a kid born in the 80s, I grew up with the Last Unicorn as my favorite film. I've rented it countless times from the video rental place, and it's a film I can drop everything to watch again.

When I learned the film was based on a novel, I hunted the novel down at the public library and read it from cover to cover within a week during summer vacation.

Why am I talking about The Last Unicorn and what does it have to do with the Radiant?

The scene that stuck out for me the most is when Unicorn is transformed into a mortal woman and it nearly drives her insane since she's experiences emotions immortal creatures don't have.

It's called the Broken Angel trope, where a fantastical or immortal creature looses their power or becomes mortal. I've always been intrigued the concept of a creature who operates on a different plane, with its own sets of rules and mortality suddenly gets thrust into a mortal existence and must learn how to deal with concepts of pain, regret, and fear.

This is scene also in the Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett. Death, a popular character in the Discworld novels, is forced out of his job as the Grim Reaper and is given a mortal life. He takes a job as a farm hand for an elderly woman and must learn how to live as a mortal man. He also faces his own mortality and the fear of knowing one day he would die.

While it's a fun satire novel, some of the themes really hit home for me. It's an immortal learning what it is to be human and to appreciate the things that makes us human.

Which does bring us to The Price We Pay.

Art commissioned by @TheOgress

The Radiant, an immortal powerful angel, with a taste for wine and attractive men, gets involved with the White Rabbit only to be savagely betrayed when he drugs her and steals her divinity and cuts off her wings.

While the majority is told from White Rabbit's POV (he's fun to write btw), we are given insight into Radiant's perspective on her loss and the pain of betrayal.

She's forced to comprehend the concept of pain and fear. Her anger is only a shield to protect what's left of her soul from the humiliation she endures in becoming dependent on her assailant and captor for basic needs he had never needed like food and shelter.

Before, she had chosen partners based not on appearance, but because there's a brokenness them so they need her to make them whole, so she can fix their problems and be their 'angel'. This isn't something she's intentionally doing or being malicious about it, but she wants to be needed, to be loved, and she believes if she's fulfilling a need, then she fits into that partner's life.

However, after the White Rabbit divests her of her wings and divinity, she's the broken one who relies on him to fulfill her needs. She's hurt, angry, confused, and scared. She doesn't know how to regulate her emotions because she never had to. The Radiant has become a toddler with her emotions, having tantrums when she's unable to communicate her needs or completely withdrawing into herself when she's hurt or humiliated.

I'm still getting to know this new character and I've enjoyed writing her. This post is a little bit of a character study for her to help me get a better grasp on her character.