#and putting characters against each other just has me. baffled.

[eclectic-sassycoweyes]

Okay. The thing is - we’ll never get everything from this show, we’ll never get to see everything play out. The conversations will always be fractioned and half. It’s a prime time network show that gives us 45 minutes of screen time each episode spread out between a whole cast of characters and plot lines and action sequences.

And my point with that is: Everything outside of what we see in canon is >us< filling in the blanks, interpreting and basically finishing the characters and the storylines.

If you dislike a character or storyline, a large amount of what you dislike will be of your own making. Which means that you created that negative take, only to be negative about it.

If a character isn’t giving all their background and reasons, or isn’t providing what you find to be a sufficient apology for what you believe is a ‘wrong doing’ then that’s you deciding that their reasons were bad instead of valid. You deciding to go ‘I hate this character bc they didn’t apologize’ instead of going ‘I trust that this character apologized but I hate that we didn’t get to see it’ or even ‘I hate that they wrote this character as not apologizing’.

And like. Just because I love these characters and this show or a certain storyline doesn’t mean I think we can’t be critical of it. And it doesn’t mean I expect everyone else to love anything or everything about it. And mostly with this negativity for negativity’s sake, it just makes me think ‘well people are weird’.

Because I literally don’t get watching a show you don’t like and then spending time posting about it using that show’s fandom tags, or painting a character in a bad light just so you can feel negative about it. I don’t get going for drama and negativity when you can go for joy. I get criticizing or even hating the writing, talking about writing that might be problematic, and not resonating with the way a storyline or a character is written, but I don’t get hating a Character that is, in fact, not real and can never be fully fleshed out in a show like this.

But the problem is also when these takes either:

1.) are meant for and created to deliberately reach into other people’s place of joy and create drama.

And, even more so, 2.) when they are racist, ableist, misogynistic in nature and thus are doing real harm to real people. Which, is in fact very much the case when TK is called a ‘twink’ and that term is meant as derogatory or his addiction is being used against him; when Carlos isn’t being emphasized with at all, and attempted to be understood for his reasons, feelings and actions, or isn’t allowed to have complicated, ‘negative’ emotions but is expected to be there to be TK’s ever perfect and present support rock; when Iris is being called words like crazy, or other derogatory terms and her illness or trauma isn’t acknowledged, or she’s being painted stereotypically and as an un-nuanced character bc of her mental illness.

And I don’t get it bc we literally see TK being strong for and supporting Carlos several times in canon. We see Carlos developing and working on his insecurities, educating himself on addiction to best be there for TK. We are told where those insecurities come from. We saw TK’s struggles with active addiction. We literally saw Carlos’ dad being shot in his own home wearing the tux he was supposed to wear as Carlos’ best man, just when their relationship and old wounds were on the mend, heard his mother, who watched it happen, scream down the line while on the phone with Carlos, who also heard it happen. We don’t see anybody but Carlos seeking justice, and we still see Carlos making an effort to spend quality time with TK and communicate openly with him. And we saw TK going to bed without his husband not for the first time, knowing that he’s in pain and that grief has previously let him to feel alone and to close up and end up in a dangerous and unhealthy place, where TK couldn’t reach him or help him. We know that there is past trauma and experience for TK that will make him recognize patterns and make him worry for both Carlos’ wellbeing, and for their marrriage.

And, we see them loving, caring for and forgiving each other through it all. We see a relationship with two people who are not always right, not always perfect, but who are doing the best they can and being by each other’s sides through that. We see nuanced and realistic conflicts with root in both of their trauma. [And loving one character and trusting their judgement but not trusting their love and evaluation of the other is just very difficult for me to understand.]

Everything apart from that, the thoughts, feelings and motivations we assign them, the moments, conversations and apologies we imagine or don’t imagine to have taken place, how two characters came from having a conflict to saying ‘I love you’/‘I forgive you’, or to being friends and dancing at a wedding, what lead characters to say “I’ll keep a light on”/“I feel like we’re starting to drift apart”/“we’re doing great”, what else they might have said, and what they might have felt in that situation, is stuff we make up and put into the story. And so it is up to us whether we try and understand and love these characters or whether we want to make them into bad people, and then hate them for it.

[severussnapemylove]

Sometimes I wonder if JKR even realises she wrote Snape as a victim of sexual assault. Because he unambiguously is, and she writes him as traumatised by the incident. So it seems mad to suggest that she might not have thought through the implications of her own writing, but if she did get it, I am baffled by how sympathetic she remains to James. Harry is never really made to confront how vile his actions were, because he looks for comfort from Remus and Sirius rather than telling Hermione who would react in horror and disgust, and he gets to skip over it completely in The Prince’s Tale. JKR clearly considers James a hero, and has confirmed that in interviews. She’s even more sympathetic to Lily, who is portrayed as an absolute paragon of goodness, morality and virtue, despite her being attracted enough to James *after* he publicly commits sexual assault on a less privileged kid to marry him! What a malfunctioning moral compass. JKR also has no sympathy at all for Tom Riddle Sr, who is a victim of rape, and his rapist Merope Gaunt, who is herself strongly implied to be a victim of incestual abuse, is condemned by Dumbledore and the narrative not for what she did to Tom but for not being as courageous as nice, pretty, middle class Lily Evans because Merope committed the crime of…dying in childbirth. The only conclusions I can draw from this is that JKR is the sort of ´feminist’ who doesn’t believe men can be the victims of sexual crimes, and that deep down she thinks being a member of the underclass who can’t drag themselves out of it alone is indicative of moral failure.

This! All of this!

I don't think she puts it together at all. She's incredibly tone deaf about a lot of the abuse she puts these characters through. And with the blasé attitude she has about male victims of SA in the books definitely goes along her brand of toxic radical "feminism". It looks like she just doesn't recognise the severity of what happens to these characters. On top of Severus's attack and Tom Riddle Sr, remember that Ron was roofied with love spell that was intended for Harry, and Moaning Myrtle is incredible predatory towards the boys. Sadly, this attitude carries over from the author to a chunk of the fandom too. I've seen so much dismissiveness of the assaults against the male characters, especially Severus. And it's even more disappointing when I see people who have experienced abuse saying that what Severus endured "didn't count" as abuse. Had someone today on another platform having an absolute meltdown at me, saying that what happened in SWM wasn't sa, and that he wasn't traumatised from his abuse and if his anger was caused by trauma then why wasn't Harry the same. Seriously, you can't tell another person that what they experienced wasn't "bad enough to be abuse", that's a very warped mentality. Survivors are supposed to support each other, not belittle each other's trauma. Also, what book did they read that they think Harry doesn't have issues from the life he endured? He has different issues than Severus, yes, because he had different life experiences and everyone's reactions to trauma are different.

"Merope Riddle chose death in spite of a son who needed her, but do not judge her too harshly, Harry. She was greatly weakened by long suffering and she never had your mother's courage."

WTF is this!!!??? This is just plain victim blaming. "Your mothers' courage"? Lily had supportive, loving parents, was loved by her peers, admired by her teachers, had a very comfortable, secure life. Merope was physically and mentally abused for her whole life. They really criticized the poverty stricken, abuse victim for not being as "strong" as the Mary Sue of the Wizarding World??? Toxic as hell. Personally, as someone who has dealt with self-harm, mental illness and generational trauma in my family, this attitude of "they weren't strong enough" is nauseating and infuriating.

There really is a disturbing trend of extreme poverty equalling a dead-end life with no hope. Which is again an extremally toxic and judgmental attitude and a very dangerous message to put in a book aimed to children. The attitude towards abuse, poverty and indecent assault of men is beyond problematic, not only in the books but in far too many members of the fandom.

I could rant more but this will go on for pages.

[heavens-aesthetic-kitchen]

Why the TF2 Defense Trio deserve more recognition

The people have spoken, I have decided to create an essay disguised as a post on this godforsaken website because it's a free country goddammit! (I would have done it either way lmaooo, I have a lot of shit to say about these maniacs) To start this formal essay glorified very serious shitpost, why should you as a tf2 fan care about these 3 men? They're so "boring" and there's not much going on with them. If ya took a second, let's pause with what was being said. YOU MUST BE OUT OF YOUR GODDAMN MIND to think such thoughts, we must shake you out of cuckoo land by giving you an in-depth look into these three so that you understand where I'm coming from. Let's start in order:

Demoman:

After being in the fandom since 2019, there's always one character I always thought wasn't given much anything in the fandom at all. Even taking ships out of the equation, there's barely any fics I've that focus on Tavish Finneagan Degroot specifically that I've seen that isn't a compilation fic (I read a lot of x readers, don't judge me). Believe me, I checked ao3. I went through Demoman's tags and I tried very hard to filter a lot of the crossover and relationship tags, yet there's less of Demoman himself, than there's him just existing as a side character of a story. Which is honestly sad, I honestly think Demo is one of the more kinder mercs compared to a lot of the team. This man made friends with the BLU soldier, despite knowing that they were supposed to be killing each other. Sure, it's unclear whether or not Demo did actually go through with it and it's just a ruse, because the voicelines in WAR! don't have a set timeline. But I do think that Demo would have tried to keep his friendship with BLU soldier. He's very chill. I've never actually seen him get violent against his friends and family, despite being a drunkard. I honestly think he's one of the sweetest people in TF2, he takes good care of his mom and haunted sword lmaoooo. Jokes aside, he seems like a genuinely good man and I barely see anything that suggests he's sadistic. He's a chaotic and loud, but not bad. Not bad at all. The fact he can still do his job well, even after drinking so much that his body created a whole distillery, is even more impressive. He is damn good at what he does and works very hard. He's had multiple jobs, even as wee little lad. Despite what people think of him, the fact he's getting paid 5 million dollars a year, is proof he knows what he's doing. He loves his job and couldn't bear the thought of not working. I feel like his backstory isn't talked about enough in the fandom either. When you think about it, it's kinda fucked up that he was put in an orphanage by his biological parents until he was in the right age to be blowing people up. Not only that, his eye socket was haunted by the Bombinomicon so that every halloween a giant eye would manifest, attacking him and his friends. Even Medic couldn't help him and instead resorting to scooping the part of Demo's brain where he remembered so he would stop asking. He most likely has a lot of stories for you, I see him as the type that has a lot to say. His past is the most fleshed out and complete out of all the mercs, which I really appreciate, you can do a lot more with him. Also another thing, during Unhappy Returns, he took the time to reassure Soldier that he wouldn't think he's a civilian. He didn't brush Soldier's worries aside and instead comforted him. I wish I had a lot more to say about Demo because I am baffled that he isn't being gushed about as a potential partner. He has the excitement and like zero baggage. A thing I also wanna point out is that he seems to be insecure of the fact he's a black scottish man with only one eye during Meet The Demoman. I may be reading into things a bit too much, but it makes me wanna be like "NOOOO don't talk about yourself like that, bro. You're so cute UGHHH" Also also he's handsome. Sure looks can be subjective, but I still think Demo has a face I would kiss hehe. He looks great with his beard and his cheeky ass smile. GOD I could gush about him all day, but I have to move on rip.

Heavy:

Honestly, I'm having a hard time just finding the words to describe this amazing man without giving him the respect he deserves. But I'll sure try. Heavy has had a difficult life and I've always admired how strong he was. Not just of his muscles, but he endured one of the toughest situations and still kept moving forward with his life even though it was traumatizing. You see why I'm even having a hard time talking about him? I can't really get down into the weeds, without getting serious for a min. I feel like the fandom doesn't give him much credit for being able to deal with so much. He's the rock for his family after his father disappeared (atp I think he's dead, which is the cherry on top this depressing sundae) and I wouldn't doubt that he would be the same for his team. He's a man of few words, but that makes him all the more intriguing. Just because this man has a lot of brawn does not mean he's dumb at all. Despite how he acts in the battlefield, Heavy is observant and clever. Although, it's implied that Spy being Scout's dad is an open secret between the mercs and Miss Pauling, the fact he figured it out without saying it directly must mean he has a lot more going on. He's also educated, getting a phD in Russian Literature. It's not a STEM program, but he actually got a doctorate and went to college, that's a lot more than half of what the mercs did lmaooo. Also he has a bit of a softie side, not just for his mom and sisters, but also other creatures as well. I respect him so much for avoiding violence against those dogs during the Showdown comic. Not only shows what an absolute sweetheart he is, but also how much he's able to think quickly on his feet. Heavy is very direct and blunt, I don't see him as the type to lie about his feelings. I appreciate that he doesn't feel the need to sugarcoat anything, he'll get the job done and he ain't playing. There's no fluff, he knows what he wants and that's to rev up Sasha and ram through sons of bitches without any worries.

I feel like I wanna point out, his story seems the most unexplored in the fandom, even though it has a lot of potential for ANGST factor. I already broke down how sad it is, but I just feel like it isn't said enough. Can I just say how cuddly he looks?! GAH, I feel like he would give the warmest hugs! The way he smiled in Unhappy Returns when he finds out his family doesn't need to live in fear anymore, just melts my heart! He's so protective over his family and friends! I wish I had a lot more to say about this guy because I just can't stop finding more things about him that go unappreciated. I had to literally edit this part so many times before moving on, he just has those little details you don't notice until you take a second and have that OH MY GOD moment

Engineer:

I was getting so hyped, when it was finally our resident southern nerd's time to shine. GOD I have so much to say about this man. It's been over 5 fucking years and I have never stopped simping for this man since 2019, I think I'm gonna go insane from how much I've been repressing, I go feral when he's around. Anyways enough stalling. I don't ever think a fictional character has ever made me swoon quite like Engineer, I really mean that. I have ask and pleaded to whatever god was listening to give me a man like Engie. To me, he is everything I ever wanted and more.

First, I wanna talk about what makes him attractive to me. His accent. His southern charm, UGH he's killing me with that smooth voice and chivalry! I swear this man could make me faint just from existing. The way he smiles is so warm, his insults are so corny I love them. That five o clock shadow GAHH! I'm getting butterflies all over again. I swear I love all three of the defense bois, but Dell Conagher has my heart wrapped around his gunslinger metal finger. All those personal reasons aside, I've always thought Dell Conagher was a very interesting character in the world of TF2. He might not have much screen time or goofy shenanigans like the other mercs, but that doesn't mean you can ignore him oh no no no. This man is important within the whole story of Mann Co and TF industries, his grandfather being the catalyst of the game's events and the comics going forward. The Conaghers are the SOLE REASON why Team Fortress 2's story exists. I find it strange that the fandom hasn't done much with this fact because you can do a lot with this idea. Engineer knows a lot of shit and would be the biggest threat to Helen, if not for the fact that his family has been helping her for years.

Like his backstory, he's not seen much in the battlefield, but he has a lot more going on behind the scenes. Imagine the possibilities. He is damn intelligent and he knows it. While Dell is very sweet and has a southern charm, this is a facade to hide his God complex and sadistic tendencies. If you think this man is just your boring gentle engineer, you've got a big storm coming. It's heavily implied that he sawed off his own arm so that he could use the gunslinger. This man works on projects with Medic and doesn't question the moral implications of putting a human brain in a pumpkin. Hell, he threatened his own employer, even if he was an old man (Granted, Blutarch dug up his grandpa's grave, so he probably should have gotten something a lot worse than just Dell telling him to fuck off). Engineer is more than the texan egghead sweetie pie, he is a mercenary for a reason and I would argue that he might be as insane, if not more than, the rest of the team. No sane man would willingly work with a bunch of war criminals if he wasn't also crazy. That's the thing I really like about him. I love playing as him in the game because it represents his character very well. He technically serves a supportive role to the team with his buildings, but he is a killer with a lot of tools in his disposal, With the right amount of training, he can absolutely dominate in the battlefield.

I feel like he's one of the people that underestimate and assume that he's an easy target, but he's a lot more than that. He has a lot of layers that makes me want to learn more about him and what he has to offer.

In Conclusion:

These guys are cool. Lmaooo okay I won't just end it there. I genuinely believe that they're not getting the recognition that they deserve, they've got a lot more going for them if you pay attention. Sure they might not always be the loudest or most prominant character in the story, but what they lack in quantity, they make up for in quality TEN FOLD. They don't have to be your favourite, but you should at least give them a chance. You never know, they may surprise you.

Okay so thats enough of that, I couldn't find a divider above this message, so you're getting this grainy ass gif. Honestly, I put way too much effort on this shitpost lmaooo, but I just wanted to get my thoughts out in a more concise manner. If you want to add more stuff about these three that I didn't mention, feel free to do so. Anyways thanks for reading

[ariseur]

hey again 👀 soooo you said i should send another ask if i had an idea and diva you said that to the wrong person. i have too many lmao

im stressing that u should write this at your own time! no rush :)

but yeah im actually writing a longform seph/reader fic where the reader is from a southern/appalachian coded town near gongaga. my idea id love to have your spin on is a scene where sephiroth (someone raised on protein powder and spinach probably) gets to try some real southern comfort food that the reader makes for him :). im talking biscuits, fried chicken, some kind of creamy noodle dish, just all the unhealthy savory goodness

he deserves it 🥺

ty for the last request again btw✨💕

“ spread kisses like honey. ”

sephiroth (ffvii) x reader

┊ ˚➶ notes ｡˚ 🎼

omg this has been sitting in my drafts sooo long!! this was really cute and i loved writing it, it reminded me of lucy gray and coriolanus snow from hg hence why i put the title as a lyric from her ballad 💕 always look forward to your requests!! thank you againnn!!

┊ ˚➶ warnings ｡˚ 🎼

you and seph being sickly sweet towards each other, sephiroth being utterly in love with you in his inner monologue, kind of not canon because there are moments where i mention how sephiroth talks to genesis and angeal despite knowing zack and interacting with zack ( which like clashes with the entire point of cc .. but shhh i wanted domesticity ), intended lowercase, lmk if i missed anything!! 💕

┊ ˚➶ word count ｡˚ 🎼

1088 words, 5905 characters

. ˚◞♡ ⃗ *ೃ༄ . ˚◞♡ ⃗ *ೃ༄ . ˚◞♡ ⃗ *ೃ༄ . ˚◞♡ ⃗ *ೃ༄

“you’ve never had this?” you gasped dramatically, your shocked face only to be met with sephiroth’s stoic one. he hesitantly nodded— was that.. a bad thing? did he somehow offend you in some way? the steam that had emitted from the plates below you set on the

“don’t you like pasta?” you asked, still utterly baffled.

he nodded slowly, “is something wrong?” he didn’t understand the confusion. there were a lot of foods he hasn’t tried, isn’t that normal for everyone? you blinked owlishly, lifting up the fork with the pasta noodles stabbed against the metal, the creamy sauce departing from the food in small, slow drips.

“what have you been eating if you’ve never had something as delicious as this?” you muttered, your lips reverting back into a tight ‘o’ as you blew on the fork— before finally slipping it into your mouth. “i’m shocked.” words muffled as you still chewed on your food, at least covering your mouth while you spoke.

sephiroth chuckled amusedly, “we’ve grown up in deeply contrasting places.” he crossed his arms against his chest, watching as you slurped up the pasta with stars in your eyes— occasionally opening your mouth to let the heat escape, soft steam pouring out from the small gap you’ve left while chewing. “still,” said you, “‘s so good.” he could barely make out your voice from how full your mouth was but he still shook his head as he leaned further back in his chair.

closing his eyes, he tilted his head down while he let the strands of snowy hair fell and covered bits of his face, blocking the bright sun even to the darkness beneath his eyelids. sephiroth didn’t pay much mind to the fact that your loud chewing of garlic bread and slurping of buttered food had come to a halt until he felt a strong aroma slip in from under his nostrils, it was only then did he open his eyes to see you holding the fork to his lips.

you held an expectant gaze and he quirked a brow before ultimately leaning forward while he let his eyes rake over the food. it looked a little messy, the sauce dripping over the place as you had ripped a piece of garlic bread off along with it and placed a chunk on the metal twinges of the utensil. he looked up again at you, waiting as you nodded your head and tried to keep your excitement contained. he blew on the fork a little bit before opening his mouth and letting it settle upon the steel. what could one bite do, he asked himself.

but once he had finally tried it, he could’ve dropped dead right then and there. the combination of the salty and savory flavors was perfect, and the way the bread had soaked some of it up too was incredible. sephiroth closed his eyes, letting his jaw work as he let his taste buds be blessed with what was known as your cooking. he had always seen you working your way through the kitchen, using various pots and pans and oils while you zipped around — and when sephiroth had offered help, you simply put a hand up and looked up at him for a split second, trying to simultaneously get the perfect roast as you smiled at him sweetly. that was enough for him.

despite watching you cook a lot ( and the only times he did get to help, he ended up being ordered by you to stand in the corner or measure occasional ingredients ), he had never actually savored something as good as this. being a first class prevented him from doing any good when it came to dinner time, either the timing being too late and you had already gone to bed or you were too tired and he decided not to bother you and he ate something small.

but this, he thought, this was perfection. when it came to you, sephiroth never let his appreciation go silent as he would always thank you or give you sayings of endearment and encouragement. he didn’t have words for this dish, he had never tried anything like it. so in awe, he merely said, “you’ve truly outdone yourself,” as he handed you back the fork. you didn’t mind the simple compliment. it never sounded generic to you when sephiroth would express his gratitude, even when they were mumbled in passing with dragged feet when he had come home from an exasperatingly tiring job, he always made sure to tell you how much he was grateful for you and what you do when he’s away.

he couldn’t wait until he was back at hq to boast to genesis and angeal about how delectable your cooking was. maybe zack, too — although sepiroth had a feeling that the energetic SOLDIER might just end up begging you for food even more. not that you minded, though. you were always so kind, sephiroth didn’t know how you were always able to do it.

“thanks.” you chimed, your voice ever so warm that it made his heart flutter. sephiroth wasn’t exactly what you’d call — expressive. he always held a smooth, cool tone of voice and occasionally threw a sassy remark towards you or genesis, or even that kid zack fair he introduced you to. but you understood his inflection of which he spoke in, you could tell his emotion even when he had entered a room ( and vice versa ). you were one of the most cherished things in sephiroth’s life and it could not go unnoticed.

with his tongue peeking out from between his bottom lip to gather some of the residual flavor that was left behind, his eyes roamed across the table further to more so further treasure your sacrifices ( of both time and food ).

“what’s that over there?” he lifted a finger, almost perfectly manicured despite using his hands excessively in battle, to point over at a small white dish filled with elbow macaroni and a homemade cheese sauce. you turned your head and grinned, reaching over the wooden dining table to grab it and lower the bowl on its side to reveal the contents. “mac ‘n’ cheese,” you replied, “want some?” your eyes seemed to glimmer with more amusement. sephiroth had now developed a new interest in your food and he couldn’t wait to indulge in it.

with the smile and those eyes of yours, how could he say no to one more bite?

𐙚 taglist ; @snoopicle

𐙚 requests are closed — june tenth, 2024

[ahamkara-apologist]

yeah the destint fandom ignores everyone who isn't like. one of the Main Few Guys. there's so few fics with ANY of the women it's insane. how is there literally no failsafe content out there. hardly a lick of savathun. ikora and Eris get a Little Bit. six hundred quintillion crow fics though

Yeah, I fuckin noticed!! Literally everything is either Crow or Cayde, and while I know this is because the fandom scene is typically dominated by straight women, hence the notorious effect of Ignore/Sideline Female Characters, I'm still baffled by just how bad it is now that I've actually found a series that has female characters good enough for them to become my blorbos (a rarity). Like, Cayde and Crow are fandom bait, I'm aware, but really?? We have entire expansions and seasons revolving around characters like Eramis, Eris, and Savathun, but there's still fucking nothing with them?? Or, in Eris's case, only for the purpose of Drifteris, where the fans often shoehorn hetero stereotypes onto them both bc they 'fix each other' and openly use racist slurs for Drifter because they think its funny?? As someone who enjoys fandom because I love to pick apart stories and characters and analyze them under a microscope, this is just fucking agonizing. And honestly, I wouldn't even put Ikora in the mix because Ikora/Eris is still extremely niche and half the time people can't even talk about them without throwing Drifter into the mix as well

For me personally, I feel like it sucks even more in Destiny because this is a series that has female characters that actually feel like...well, strong, interesting, compelling characters. Like, this is entirely bias talking here, but Eramis's story arc of a mellow, loving mother becoming the bitter, angry, cutthroat pirate/politician/ruler she is now is a much more interesting personal arc compared to Cayde's, as Cayde's major narrative impact was defined more by how he influenced others and what his absence did to the narrative than who he actually was as a person (sorry Cayde fans, I'm not trying to diss your boy, more pointing out the different character uses here). She's also unique in that she's the one recurring major antagonist we've had who is truly morally grey and working for the good of her people rather than selfishly, but the only time people ever talk about her, its to complain about her and how she's apparently doing all of these crimes that she either a.) never did (attempted genocide against humanity- ????), b.) had no choice in doing (rasputin's death), c.) war crimes (she's got less on her record than what the vanguard did), or d.) she's a hypocrite (she's aware. its a facade. her angry melodrama is a facade guys. YOU'RE FALLING FOR HER MASK).

Like I get that the curse of enjoying morally grey characters is that nobody ever understands them properly and that her being a woman factors into this mess, but the total lack of content makes this even worse somehow. She's not an insignificant character and yet- nothing. It's a fucking travesty honestly and it frustrates me to no end

[samdeancass]

Figuring Herself Out

Requested by @ab1nsur

Pairing: Allison Argent x fem!reader

Genre: Smut

Characters: Allison, Y/N

Description: Allison is confused about her sexuality and goes to Y/N to help her figure things out.

You and Allison had been inseparable since she started at Beacon Hills High School, so you didn't find it strange when she stood by your locker, waiting for you. "Hey, Ali." You smiled at her before opening your locker and putting in the schoolbooks you no longer needed. However, when she didn't reply, your eyebrows furrowed with worry. "What's the matter?" Alison looked at you with confusion and frustration. "I...I need to talk to you about something." She turned her attention to the floor, clearly nervous about something. "Alright, whatever it is, you can tell me; you don't need to worry." 

She gently took your hand and led you into an empty classroom, locking the door behind her. You gently smiled at her to show it was ok. "C'mon, Ali. Tell me what's up." She looked down at her hands, her thumbs fumbling with each other, a nervous trait she had. "I need your help to figure something out. We've never talked about this, and it's a little out of the blue, so I understand if you won't." You nodded, grabbing her hands in yours to give a reassuring squeeze. "Shoot." Alison looked at you dead in the eyes before leaning in and pressing a quick peck to your lips. At first, you were taken aback by the suddenness and didn't kiss back; Alison took a few steps back, apologizing profusely. You smiled in response, however, and closed the gap, attaching your lips to hers. Her hands wove into the thick strands of your hair whilst one of yours found its place on her cheek.

You broke apart first, tucking stray hair strands behind Alison's ear. "Is that what you were nervous about?" A blush crept on her cheeks as she nervously laughed. "Yeah, it was. I've been a little confused recently about my sexuality, and I needed some help to figure myself out. I've had these strange feelings for you for a while, and at first, I was ignoring them, hoping they would go away, but the more time I spent with you, the stronger my feelings grew. But I've only ever had feelings for guys, so I was baffled." You looked at Alison with adoration and entwined your fingers with hers, kissing her knuckles. "It's taken me a while to gather the courage to do this, and I knew you would tell me to shove off or something if you weren't comfortable. But that kiss has just solidified what I was confused about. I do, in fact, have feelings for you, Y/N. I think I'm bisexual." 

A smile grew wide on your face at how proud you were of her. "I've always had feelings for you, but I never wanted to act on them in case it ruined our friendship and messed everything up, but now we're on the same page; how about we take this back to my house and figure some more things out?" A small smile revealed itself on Alison's face as you led her out of the classroom and towards your car.

The car journey was filled with a mixture of excitement and lust, your hand finding its comfortable space on Alison's thigh, her hand resting on yours. As soon as you pulled into your driveway, you both ran to the door with excited laughter. You led Alison upstairs to your room, closing the door behind you. Your lips both attached to each other again, hands roaming the other's body, more eager this time. 

You turned both of you around so Alison's back was against the door, and a soft moan exited her lips. You slowly kissed down her clothed body, fingers kneading into the smooth skin of her waist underneath her top until you reached the zipper of her jeans. You just about heard the soft hitch of her breath as your hands ghosted over the zipper, slowly pulling it down. Before pulling her jeans down, you looked up at her for approval. "Are you ok? Do you wanna stop?" Her eyes were hooded with bliss as she slowly shook her head, her hands stroking your cheeks. "No, keep going." 

Smiling up at her, you slowly pulled her pants down to reveal her underwear. You ran a finger on her closed lips, and a cocky smirk appeared on your face. "Already wet for me, I see. Is this how desperate you've been for me?" She nodded her head and moaned as your hand crept into her underwear and cupped her mound. The new feeling made Alison jolt, but you soon calmed her by rubbing slow circles on her clit. "There we go, my gorgeous girl, finally getting the treatment you deserve." She mewled at your words and began rubbing her mound against your hand for friction. "More....please..." Pulling down her underwear, your fingers reattached themselves to her pussy, gathering her wetness before slowly entering a finger. 

She moaned as you entered her, giving pleading eyes for you to continue. Her eyes fluttered closed as you pumped your finger, going slowly at first until she began to match you before entering another finger and quickening your movements. Breathy moans escaped her lips at the change of pace as you looked up; seeing her in complete bliss turned you on. You used your other hand to rub your own clothed clit, the coil tightening in your stomach. "Your so hot, baby, getting off on my fingers; you're gonna make me cum in my panties with how hot you are right now." Your filthy words spurred her on as she began to fuck your fingers herself. As she moved up and down, you could see the wetness she left, letting out a guttural groan. Her walls began to tighten around you as you entered a third finger. "This pussy was made for my fingers, look at it, stretching just for me." You pumped even faster whilst matching your speed on yourself, the coil threatening to break inside you; you knew Alison was just as close. 

"I'm close, Y/N, so close." Alison managed to pant the words out as her hands disappeared underneath her top to fondle her breasts, pinching her nipples. The sight was more than enough to make you release, a flash of white enveloping your vision as you came, as Alison matched your moans; you stopped fucking her as you released, leading her to fuck herself through her orgasm. 

The room was silent apart from the quick breaths you both took to calm down. You pulled your fingers out of Alison and carefully pulled up her panties and jeans, licking her juices from your fingers when you stood up. "Mmmm, delicious." Alison blushed and smacked your chest lightly. "Stop it." You giggled and pressed a light kiss to her lips. "How was that?" She leaned forward to rest her forehead on yours. "Absolutely perfect, better than I've ever imagined." 

A thought crept into Alison's mind as she leaned back, took your hands and lay you down on the bed, your heart beating fast in your chest, her eyes blown with lust. "Now it's my turn to take care of you." 

Teen Wolf Tags:

@bxoken-heartss @hellomyweirdos @redcoatgirl

[typellblog]

Archer's back

Archer is by far the most baffling character in the Fate route, right? Imagine reading FSN for the first time without being spoiled.

Archer only shows his face when the story is already well underway. He is in roughly three scenes, all of which are him talking to Shirou alone. We learn almost nothing about him, and in the end, he sacrifices his life fighting against Berserker. Offscreen!

He’s clearly not just a throwaway character. There’s something there, it’s just being deliberately covered up. This is different from a twist character like Sakura – in her case, we’re not given any strong hints that something is wrong. We’re not supposed to question her role in the story right up until Heaven’s Feel. Archer, on the other hand, does nothing but raise questions.

Why does Shirou immediately hate him for no apparent reason? Why does Archer persist in talking to Shirou multiple times, despite this? How does Archer’s advice manage to be the exact thing Shirou needed to hear in order to help him defeat Berserker?

And, perhaps most importantly, why does he so frequently stand with his back towards the person he’s talking to? Actually, why even bother making a ‘backwards-facing’ character sprite for him in the first place?

The use of a backwards-facing character sprite is really weird. It would be like if a director told their actors to face away from the audience and deliver their lines to the back of the stage. It misses the whole point of the medium!

Character sprites are supposed to tell you how a character interacts and engages with the people around them, through facial expressions, what they’re doing with their hands, etc. The way Archer engages with the people around him is by . . . not engaging with them.

So, Archer’s back is a message to the reader, from the author. He’s being presented as closed-off, aloof, mysterious. He has hidden depths, but you’re not going to get to see them.

The funny part is that in-universe Archer’s back also serves as a message from him to Shirou. He deliberately makes it weird and awkward for Shirou to talk to him, because he wants to come off as aloof and mysterious.

Of course, another element that’s added when it’s a personal confrontation like that is Archer presenting himself as superior. the fact that Shirou is literally, physically behind him also reminds us that he’s behind him in power, behind him in knowledge, and behind him in self-actualisation.

But again, this is only what Archer is trying to convey. And to be honest, it’s very funny that he’s trying at all. Because despite acting as though he doesn’t give a shit, it’s clear that seeing his past self, and his past self seeing him is important to Archer. Why else would he spend so much time talking to the guy? He has a semi-plausible excuse each time, but the conversation keeps wrapping around to personal matters.

By the way, I like to believe the reason why Archer leaves without finishing his line here is because he thought it sounded cringy halfway through and got embarrassed.

Because that’s the thing with a turned back, isn’t it? He’s already put himself in the position of someone about to leave, without actually leaving. He’s not trying to engage with Shirou on equal terms, but he doesn’t ignore him either. He’s conflicted.

You could read Archer as trying to get Shirou to give up, discouraging Shirou and getting him to accept his inevitable death. But the most important lesson that Archer's back gives in this route is that ‘the one you have to fight is none other than yourself’.

Now, that’s true against Rider, it’s true against Berserker. But coming from Archer you really have to interpret that as a challenge, don’t you? ‘The one you have to fight is none other than me.’

That doesn’t sound like someone who wants Shirou to give up. That sounds like someone who, when he comes to kill Shirou, wants Shirou to fight back.

To use an archery metaphor, Archer’s back isn’t a wall, it’s the target.

This is the fourth of roughly thirty analytical essays on Fate/Stay Night that I will be reposting here with some significant edits (although this one didn’t change too much) from Reddit.

Archer’s back will be a returning theme in this series, as it is in the VN itself.

[tainbocuailnge]

i tend to hone in on the dark knight questline when it comes to translation differences in ffxiv because it has perhaps the largest difference between languages in the game, at least as far as I've seen, and it's also one of the cases where the german script (generally known for sticking pretty close to jp) also does its own thing. I actually went over the entirety of both en and de versions of it again the other day because I'd been meaning to translate it for comparison and one thing I noticed this time is that en actually has more lines, as in, optional lines when you talk to characters after they gave you the next quest objective that in german would just repeat the last line they said, in english would say something different. the journal entries changing depending on whether you have the job crystal equipped or not is also unique to the english version.

it's interesting because to me it shows that they really felt incredibly strongly about their take on dark knight and put a lot of serious effort into pulling it off. it's actually improved my opinion of english drk a little because clearly someone really believed in what they were writing here and used absolutely everything they had available to try and make it work. but even with that extra text to work with I still think the german version delivered their concept better and had a clearer vision of what they wanted to say with these quests. because the english team are just not as good at writing as they seem to think they are.

in my recent replay of stormblood in german there were so many scenes that made me think "you know what, maybe stormblood isn't as bad as I remembered it being", and then when I went to double check the english version of that scene it actually was as stupid as i remember it being. and often the thing that makes it stupid is like, lyse displaying confidence and competence in de but talking herself down in en, or yotsuyu pointing out the systematic failures that brought her where she is in de but indulging in personal sadistic tendencies in en. and making your antagonists dumber and more evil is one thing but the fact that they also made lyse sound so insecure and incompetent at so many points when she's the main character of the expansion, it's just so baffling to me. are we supposed to believe she can lead the resistance movement or not?

so knowing that de will generally be closer to jp than en is but does occasionally have major deviations of its own, and seeing all these stormblood scenes where one of the big glaring differences between en and de is that en keeps dumbing down and vilifying (female) characters that have more nuance and with it more thematic consistency in de, that leaves basically two options. either the japanese script had that nuance and the english translators were so full of misogyny that they decided to remove it, or the japanese script didn't have it either and it's the german translators that decided to not hate women actually. and while i don't know enough japanese to be sure, listening to the jp voicelines does give me reason to believe that the jp script is harsher to yotsuyu than de at various points, so it's probably a bit of both.

so, yknow, I can't make a sweeping statement of being against major script changes in localisation in general without being a hypocrite because the de script has at multiple times done its own thing in a way that i consider either an improvement or at least an interesting alternative of roughly equivalent quality. but that's also exactly what my problem with ffxiv localisation is, that when the en script has major deviations it's almost always some stupid shit like adding gendered slurs (they love calling a woman a bitch or a whore in english it gets really glaring when you start putting individual lines next to each other) and transphobia (matoya does not make fun of alphinaud looking like a girl in german) and removing instances of characters openly saying they care about something (thancred calling ryne his daughter in every language but english) and generally destroying all character voice, and when de changes things it's like, well written and makes sense even if it's different. so the en team looking down on the script theyre translating and changing it is hubristic overconfidence but when the de team does it they actually have the writing chops to back it up

[symphonyofsilence]

It never ceases to baffle me how the fandom can use a certain logic to achieve one desired conclusion (see: MXTX wouldn't make an openly gay character in a homophobic world a harasser, so MXY hasn't actually harassed JGY) even if it goes against the text itself (MXY admitting in his diaries that he has harassed fellow Jin disciples) while the same logic doesn't work for them the other way around in the favor of the character they don't like (while MXTX would not do the aforementioned case, she would, however, make the character that is the son of a sex worker, and continuously discriminated against, considered dirty, belittled and ridiculed for it throughout the story a groomer who led a teenager MXY on so he could later accuse him of harassment) while this too, goes against the text (again, MXY admitting he has harassed someone in his diaries (he might have very well mentioned Jiggy in his diaries but not as Jin Guangyao, or Lianfang-Zun, Sect leader, or Xiandu or anything that WWX would know. but with the name MXY would call his older brother. maybe "ge" or something. then, if he had mentioned him in an inappropriate way, WWX wouldn't have made the connection that MXY was talking about his real brother), the text offering nothing to prove the contrary, JGY most likely wanting to avoid any rumors that would relate him to incest, the text going out of its way to give us info about JGY's nonexistent sex life in 3 different occasions, even though we had no business knowing about it, the first mention being literally in his introduction, when it's said that he's known for being extremely loyal to his wife, unlike other men in his position (showing us that he's traumatized by his father's behavior and would never repeat it), then at the Guanyin temple when he says that he's never touched QS after finding out the truth (if he's loyal to Qin Su, and hasn't touched QS for more than a decade, then by now he's essentially reset to factory settings and is a virgin again), then when his mother is offended again and Xue Yang offers that he should fuck the offenders' moms and JGY says that he's not in such habits and Xue Yang confirms that yes, that's not JGY's ways. Even when they're being openly villainous and have nothing to hide from each other. and I don't think it would be too much of a reach to think that a teenager in a brothel who looks notably like his mom and would be considered a "pretty boy" in ancient times with no child services would not be a stranger to nasty looks from grown men and thus would have trauma related to grooming.)

of course, the logic is flawed in general. Because MXY has allegedly committed harassment in one form or another and JGY did force a group of sex workers to rape his father to death, and then to continue even after his death, and then killed them all. Because the cycle of violence is one of the recurring themes in the book. And is broken by only a handful of characters, and even then in some of their cases not in all aspects.

And I won't even open the can of worms that is the Yunmeng Shuangjie. (because apparently, JC is toxic and bad for WWX even pre-time-skip because...he jokes around with his brother?...but WWX is not toxic and bad for JC when he jokes around with his brother? (this has a simple reason, and that is that nobody is toxic and bad for someone else due to joking around in a harmless way, especially among siblings.) And JC and WWX have a toxic relationship and can only break up because JC just keeps nagging WWX, while WWX causing trouble for JC & their sect every second of the day because he does whatever he wants and says whatever he wants in front of whoever he wants is not stressful for JC. (again, The Yunmeng bros themselves enjoy this dynamic. Or at least think the other parts of their relationship is worth putting up with these annoyances. WWX annoys JC every chance he gets and actively kickstarts JC's naggings. JC's life is dull and dark and boring without WWX's shenanigans and the dramas he causes. He himself thinks that having WWX in his life is worth the trouble. JC makes WWX more responsible, while WWX makes JC more carefree. they're good for each other.)

So as we saw, usually, when a certain logic doesn't work both ways it's because it's flawed. make sure to not use a certain logic in your determination to defend a character that should technically work for the character you hate, too.

[signanothername]

Something that I noticed recently about HW and that I absolutely love is how he lets sleeping dogs lay. Whenever he has a conflict with any member of the family, the moment that conflict seems to be resolved, he lets it go. For example, with Chase in Rules and Regulations. This is one of the few, if not straight up only times HW and Chase get heated (I don’t really count the time Chase got hurt, since it wasn’t really interpersonal), but after the episode, HW always puts the extra effort to meet Chase in the middle (All characters do, and considering Chase is neurodivergent coded/ heavily autistic implied, that’s such an amazing thing to show kids 💙) Blades is another good example, after the video game incident he doesn’t give Blades grief over being scared. Even when before it was more low key, after it almost stops. It’s so interesting considering the type of character HW is supposed to be. The only character he seems to keep beating with the stick is Blurr, and let’s face it, he needs it. Damn, Rescue Bots character writing really is something else.

Anon you fucking get itttttt!!!!!

Like I wholeheartedly agree, I even touched a bit upon how different he is as a hotheaded character before

And y’know, that’s the thing I love most about HW as a character

When I first started the show, I genuinely thought that the direction of HW’s character is gonna be the usual hotheaded character that never apologizes, never takes responsibility for their actions, goes against orders, and so on, and I for one genuinely thought HW is gonna be a character I’d hate cause of it, but as I watch more and more episodes i’m genuinely baffled (in a good way) by how Heatwave is written

Yes at the beginning of the show you see these usual traits of what Hotheaded characters are like in HW, (and it makes sense to see them as HW IS a hothead), in ep3 he blames Boulder and Chase when Cody gets upset with him for making fun of Blades, in ep10 he ignores Charlie’s words about thinking of people first and takes matters into his own hands, etc

But what’s baffling (again in a good way) about these traits is the fact their occurrence is very far in between each time it happens, like i want you to let it sink in that these traits are not even the norm for Heatwave, the norm for HW is to take responsibility and accountability for his actions, actually try and learn from his mistakes, is very serious about his job, is protective of those he loves, and it genuinely made me question my sanity, like AYO? What the fuck is even HW’s character

But the answer is simple, he is a hothead yes, just not what you’d usually expect a hothead to act like, and I for one think it’s amazing

I love when shows actually take character tropes and twist them and put in their own touches on them, not only does it give a refreshing take, but also gives a lot more depth to the character

You’d think HW is the type to hold a grudge, or be so into proving he’s right while others are wrong, but nope, this boi actually takes a step back when he makes a mistake and admits he was wrong, HW learns from his mistakes and tries to improve himself, and doesn’t that make a lot more sense for a hothead like him?

Hotheaded characters usually try to be the best at everything, and wouldn’t he be become better and better if he actually admitted his mistakes rather than live in a fantasy that he’s just right all the time?

That aside, speaking of meeting Chase in the middle, you’re so right, and it’s really beautiful, not only that, but for a heavily implied autistic character like Chase, he’s always shown to be competent and more than capable on his own, and I actually think that’s pretty important to show, the world needs more autistic characters like Chase

The thing is with HW, is the fact while opinionated, he still tries to put the comfort of his friends first and that’s such a wholesome thing about him

During the argument, HW actually tries to do what Chase asks him to do, HW could’ve easily used his authority as the leader to simply order Chase to follow without attempting to contact Kade, and the thing is, Chase would’ve followed the order even tho he doesn’t like it, and HW knows it

But HW relents and actually does what puts Chase’s mind at ease and does try to call Kade, and I love it so much

HW tends to do that a lot, he doesn’t force anyone to do something they don’t want to do, the only times he does is when their saftey is a priority

A lil something I want to bring attention to is HW’s tendency to use the phrase “that’s an order” around Chase, HW knows Chase is obsessed with following orders, especially when it’s directly stated with an emphasis like that, but what i love oh so much is the fact HW never abuses that kind of authority and especially not with Chase, he RARELY uses it, and of the few times he did? He used it to make sure Chase doesn’t put himself in danger

The greatest example of this is ep5 of S3 “unfinished business”, HW uses “that’s an order” 3 times in that episode, the first is when they need to go to stasis cause of the energon eater and Chase protests cause he wants to help the people of the damaged ship, HW says “into the stasis pods, now!” then adresses Chase specifically saying “Chase, that’s an order!”

The second time is when Chase hears the message again and tells HW they need to get back, HW is rightfully suspicious and thinks that, hell na, nobody’s going anywhere and especially not stubborn Chase so he says “no Chase, and that’s an order” only for Cody to convince HW to let Chase go

The third time is when Chase and Boulder are about to take the Sigma and are saying goodbye, Charlie tells Chase to “be careful, come back soon” and HW follows that by saying “that’s an order, Chase”

See the pattern? Every time HW uses his authority it’s when he’s worried and wants to keep Chase safe and oh my god does it melt my heart

Of course, Hw still sometimes misuse his authority like when he tells everyone they’re not allowed to celebrate Allspark day, but what I also love is the fact he never truly tries to force them, he just tends to voice his displeasures and grievances

Same with Blades, but in Blades’ case HW is never worried about his saftey cause he knows Blades’ values it, but as you said he does get a tiny bit harsh when it comes to Blades’ anxiety/fear, but then by that point of the video game episode, he realizes he misjudged Blades’ bravery and even goes as far as telling everyone what happened, and you can tell by his tone how proud he is of Blades, HW never says “I’m sorry” outright, but he does show regret and tries his best to fix his mistakes, and repair any damage they caused, he even calls Blades “the bravest of them all”

And just as you said, he lets sleeping dogs lie, he never tries bringing it up again or giving anyone a hard time for something that happened before, he just moves on

Hw taking a step or two back to genuinely consider his approach with things is what makes him a great leader, and an even greater friend, and that’s why you can see his growth so clearly in the show, i’d easily say that by S4 he’s a lot more gentle, considerate and patient than when the show started

As for Blurr?? Damn I actually feel bad for both him and HW, but Blurr makes it really hard to deal with him, and HW might’ve become a lot more patient but he’s still not that patient wheeze

Y’know in a way I feel like HW sees himself in Blurr, at least to an extent, so he does give him chances to get better, but Blurr keeps fucking up due to his reckless nature, but it’s obvious Blurr thinks highly of HW and genuinely wants to make him proud and HW seems to want to actually train Blurr to be a great rescue bot cause he sees that potential in him

The only problem is that these two are too hotheaded to effectively communicate, one wants to be carefree and not to be bound by rules, the other wants this carefree spirit to watch out and actually look at the world around him

Blurr has the “everything is against me” mindset and rarely takes the blame for his actions, and I think that’s what angers HW the most, HW wants Blurr to slow down and actually take in the situation and understand where he fucked up, but Blurr is really bad at seeing the problem and I believe to some extent, is cause Blurr thinks a bit less of himself

But my favorite thing is actually seeing Blurr getting better at taking responsibility for his actions and slowly becoming a better rescuer

The thing is, HW is a bit harsh on Blurr, but does give him credit where its due, when Blurr took the Sigma only to turn back to save GR, HW admits he misjudged him and even seems to genuinely regret being so harsh on him, when Blurr gets on the ground HW is conflicted about whether to yell at him or hug him and i find that really adorable hchcchch

But you can tell how HW is way gentler while dealing with Blurr afterwards, the frustration is still there but he’s become more patient with him and is a lot less demanding and it’s nice to see how their relationship develops from there, hell, even when Blurr fucks up time and again afterwards HW simply asks wtf he’d been thinking but the way he controls his voice and tone, it’s amazing

Anyway, you’re so right the character writing in this show is fucking fantastic, it’s honestly its greatest strength and I’d literally die for every one of them, they’re my beloved <33333

[mcsquared987]

Mysterious Affair at Styles — Ch 5

Alright… I might actually be pretty good at this. Some information we’ve gotten in this chapter not only supports my theory, but even amends it in some way — although at the risk of contradicting other evidence. It feels nice that I might be slightly ahead of Poirot, although I can’t get too cocky. And I am definitely glad to NOT be a Hastings. His pompous attitude in this chapter was a little bit baffling, to be honest. 🤣

Lots of drama in this chapter! Good to see the return of Evie, and understandable that she is rightfully pissed at what happened and wants justice. (That being said, I was offput by that backhanded compliment Poirot gave her about not being beautiful… how strange of him. I best not hope that he says more things like that behind people’s backs.) As well, some characters were definitely dropping little hints left and right about how trustworthy they think they are… all red herrings of course to get an average reader like me to think could they be the murderer?! Probably not, they are still reeling from what’s happened.

The fact that we learn about Cynthia’s connection to the sleeping powders and Poirot’s hint at something being put in her coffee is proof to me that the murderer was responsible for her condition… mainly with the purpose of getting able to get past her door, while being free to make as much noise as possible. There however can be a possibility that Emily left her door unlocked by accident, and that the murderer entered that way thus making the endeavour pointless. So, my thoughts on this are that both could have happened: the murderer entered via the passage, but must have left through Cynthia’s door. I’ll elaborate on what that entails soon.

Even though I got some supporting information, I was however also blinded by what Poirot figured out in regard to the new will Emily made, and how she got her gardeners to 'witness’ it via signature. (Is that how it works? I am no expert in that stuff. 😅) Anyway, I did NOT see that coming… but given that the evidence was largely hidden from us even if hinted in the previous chapter, I’m not going to knock myself for it. My question is that if Emily wrote a new will after her argument with Inglethorp, why did she burn it soon afterward? Did she change her mind about this amended will, or did something happen in between her writing it and doing it… like talking to Mary, for example?

Anyway, here’s the timeline of events. Just a couple of thoughts from the end of the chapter:

I am slightly concerned about what Poirot is thinking. I think it’s fair to believe that he would be heavily fixated on Inglethorp’s clothes (considering that attire might be important to the green fabric in the door and that he’s pretty sus), but I have no idea what he’s going on about the temperature. Is it related to the candlegrease, or how much the coffee/rum evaporated in the night?? I have to hope this doesn’t wreck my theory somehow.

The fact that someone was able to break into the room when it was locked and take what was in the case really only supports the idea that there is a way in and out that is not connected to the passage… and if it’s not the window, I’m willing to bet it is still Cynthia’s door.

John’s explanations surrounding the will, while depressing, are not surprising. I knew that will was going to be a big point of contention, and someone has definitely gone to extremes over it. Whoever they are, they probably haven’t bailed yet because there is not much evidence to suggest that they are the culprit — or they’re waiting for something, like new evidence at the inquest or the funeral where the will’s contents will be finalised. In case you haven’t figured it out yet, I still believe it’s pretty likely to be Inglethorp.

So with that all being said, here’s some amendments to the timeline I made to reflect this information compared against each other. (Everything theoretical is in blue.)

Up to the evening itself, everything remains the same — but with the context of events from prior that may explain Emily’s actions with the will. I am only hoping that we get some info from Mary at some point so she can explain what she was talking to her about, so we can explain why the will was burned. Emily must have changed her mind at some point about what was in it, surely?

Now, my main part of the theory is still largely unchanged. (Case in point, I still have no damn idea how they got through Cynthia’s door… mm.) But the crucial difference, I’m willing to believe, is that the murderer was probably in the room after Emily woke — and likely had to improvise after she bolted the door without seeing them. As I write this, I realise that a lot of this stuff really relies on Emily not being able to hear a damn thing… but I still think that something like it is what happened. Despite the times in the top corner, I bet Emily was probably awake for five minutes at the most before she started being affected by the poison.

I guess we will have to wait for the inquest to be sure. If it is still believed that Emily was poisoned before she ever went into her room, and it turns out to be strychnine… then there’ll probably be some confusion. We’ll see.

Hoo boy, that was a lot! If you like what you see, let me know. And stay tuned for more.

[wutheringmights]

I finished The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin last night, then spent all of today digesting it. I really needed time to figure out how I feel about this book, nonetheless the Broken Earth trilogy.

As a whole, I like this series. My biggest praise will always go to the relationship between Essun and Nassun. That Essun, a woman defined by her motherhood, was a terrible mother to her daughter, and that her daughter in turn found solace in her mother's old abuser, is fascinating. It's insane. I would read a hundred books about them.

But even though the series is about Essun and Nassun, it's so just... not. I've complained before that the intricate world building is as fascinating as it is distracting. The narrative is always scrambling to explain something new, so much so that the characters aren't allowed to interact as much as they should.

I'm not even just talking about Essun and Nassun. Tonkee was wasted. She was first introduced in the very first book, and she was very cool and interesting. I kept waiting for the reason why Tonkee is in this story beyond a few lines of needed exposition. But after the first book, she stops being important.

Outside of characters like Schaffa, Hoa, and Alabaster, I didn't really care or know any of the other characters in the large cast. In theory, I'm supposed to have feelings about Lerna and Ykka, but... no. They served a function. And that's it.

The plot of this series just baffles me. Why did we spend so much time with Castrima? Why did Nassun have to keep finding excuses to not go after Essun? Why was this three books? This could have been duology! If I really wanted to, I could put on a tin foil hat and claim that someone outside Jemisin forced her to turn a two-book plot into a trilogy. I'm just utterly baffled that someone would let this story meander like this.

All my griping aside, I don't hate this series. I like it a lot, but on a intellectual scale.

This book is filled with fascinating observations about our society. I bet someone who knows more about the neo slave narratives of the 20th century would be able to write a killer paper on how this series ruminates on the legacy of authors like Butler and Morrison.

I like all of the complicated characters, how they defy dichotomies like good vs evil. Nassun is one hell of a character. I want to study her. I want more of her.

I don't want to pit two bad bitches against each other, but I can't help but compare this series to R.F. Kuang's The Poppy War trilogy. They have little in common, but they are both dark fantasy series I read this year, so bear with me.

The more distance I put between myself and Kuang, the more I struggle with how simplistic her stories can be at times. She doesn't leave a lot of room for interpretation or for the reader to introduce their own feelings to the mix. If you scrape off the overt violence, it surprisingly simple. It's a series that doesn't require a whole lot of input from the reader. But, the plot has fantastic momentum. Each book by itself is a joy to read.

Jemisin embraces uncertainty far more. There are no clear answers. The reader meets these characters and are forced to come to their own conclusions about them. Everything from its world to its themes gets more complex the more thought you put into them. The book demands you think about it. But, each book is kind of a slog. I always had to force myself to pick it up and read the next part. I never regretted doing so, but I also never really fell in love with the series the way I wanted to.

This is a case where I can say that a series is objectively excellent, but not really for me. I'm glad I read them all and I'm going to continue diving deeper into Jemisin's books. But I am so very glad to get the Broken Earth trilogy off my plate.

I also want to talk about the acknowledgements at the end of the book. In it, Jemisin explains that she wrote the trilogy while caring for her sick mother, who died before the last book was finished. I wish I got this context sooner. As Jemisin says, the trilogy is inadvertently an exploration of motherhood and her grappling with her mother's death.

There were a few scenes in this book in particular where I felt her experiences and thoughts echoed my own. I'm not a Hugo Award winning author, but I did notice that after my mother died a few years ago, everything I wrote was about her, even when it wasn't.

"Even that part where--?" Yes, even that. Even now I'm still writing about her and my relationship with her, and in many ways that are and aren't painfully obvious.

It was just an interesting thing to read when her death anniversary just past.

(Do me a favor and don't give me any more condolences. I really don't need them, and I would like to not regret adding that little tidbit about myself to this reflection.)

[flowerflamestars]

My brain is doing that what-if-other-pov thing again but this time with Effloresce and Feyre. She’s got three kinds of emotional whiplash going on on top of having human teenager-brain/just been Made/probably some kind of faerie puberty/being attached to Rhys. She’s SO far our of her depth and confused while still thinking she (Rhys) knows best.

1st we have Lucien: she was worried about him, just beginning to scratch the surface of what life in Spring was like for him. Then he’s at her sisters’ place and she’s furious/terrified he’ll bring them to Tamlin. Then WTF you know each other?! Then relived he left Spring. The WTF Lord WHO?! Then WTF/furious ENGAGED?! Then she’s sparring with him and didn’t know he was that FAST. What does he mean he always talked to trees?! Plants are Spring! Right? Then he says Rhys’s name Like That. She’s pissed. She throws a fireball at him. He WALKS INTO IT! WTF ?!?! She didn’t actually want to hurt him! But he just sighs like he’s just got into a nice hot bath instead of standing in MAGIC FIRE! He makes a funny face when she calls him Autumn’s Heir and they talk a bit about fire. He’s her friend and she’s glad he’s okay but she can’t trust him (Rhys doesn’t trust him). If she has to get rid of him to protect her sisters she will. (He still hasn’t explained the Talk to Trees thing either)

(Continued in part 2)

Ooooo that's a very fun thought! Effloresce fucks around severely with the ACOMAF chronology- we're pre canonical Hybern sisters kidnapping, but Feyre and Rhys have not had their unnecessary alonesome fucking in the Illyrian mountains nonsense.

So yes! She's extremely distracted!

(For. so many reasons)

I love this though, because you're SO RIGHT about her state of mind.

I've used Lucien here very much like canon does- to me, her relationship with Lucien is the epitome of Feyre's messy character. Because she wants him with her and on her side, but she doesn't seem to ever learn all that much about him. They get along, but Feyre doesn't know his full name. She doesn't want him dead, but she also rarely seems to really realize or understand how what she's doing will effect him.

(See, for example, in acowar thinking its TOTALLY FINE to use Lucien to make Tamlin jealous despite the clear fact this a) puts them both in danger, b) wildly sucks to use physical proximity with someone he trusts against him, knowing he was pretty recently ASSAULTED, and c) ultimately ends in him losing his home of centuries???)

She thinks about him enough to care, but it's...not a complicated picture?

So the Elain thing? Drives her instantly fucking insane. The NESTA THING? Genuinely baffling to behold. His powers? Scary.

She sees him enough to like him, but not to value him. Obviously, trusting Rhys (lol) is going to come first. Obviously, there's something wrong here that her sisters trust Lucien but hate Rhys. They must hate all faeries! Why would they need Lucien to keep them safe? Rhys will keep them safe! Why would her sister MARRY HIM? Azriel is right there!

Much like her life in Spring- and eventually, her life in the Night Court, Feyre just. is not operating with all the information, and is really only believing information Rhys & co tell her.

[purrincess-chat]

I think this fandom just really hates Adrienette, but I can't figure out the reason (but your theory of the fandom not taking them seriously because they're kids may be true). They write post-s5 break-up "fix it" fics, they say Adrienette should break up to restore the balance (not sure what balance they're talking about). Jeez, Adrienette is literally the cutest cartoon couple I've ever seen, and I've been rooting for them since day one. How can someone want them to break up? Why can't the fandom just be happy for them?

It's literally so baffling to me, nonny. There have been people who have been rooting against them since before they were even official in s5. And for why? For me, them getting together made sense after s4 bc, to me, s4 demonstrated why it couldn't have been LadyNoir. (Actually even as far back as s3 when we had Chat Blanc) And that's why I don't think it will be LadyNoir in the future either even if they did break up. The show has put too much emphasis on how everything goes wrong when the heroes pair up. They both get distracted and tragedy strikes. I don't forsee it being MC or Ladrien either bc MC literally agreed they can't be together, and I think that would go for Ladrien as well. And Marinette already gets enough shit from people for being a "stalker" to Adrien, and it would only get worse if they broke up, and she turned around and dated him again as Ladybug when he doesnt know it's her. I can already see the salt posts about how she's so obsessive and won't move on and how she's taking advantage of him and tricking him.

Adrinette is the side that worked, that's why they went that route. It allows the heroes to be heroes and the kids to be kids. We can still get meaningful interactions with the other sides while they are dating as civilians. I'm actually looking forward to seeing how the dynamics evolve in future seasons. I wanna see MC and Ladrien half-requited with the heroes privately swooning over their bf/gf personally. We got a little bit of it in s5 with Chat swooning over Marinette when she was being a boss bitch. I want that in Ladrien, please.

I don't know why people hate Adrinette being together so much. I don't know where people get the idea that it's boring or problematic or detrimental to their characters or whatever fucking complaint they have against it. The Adrinette we got in s5 was great and so meaningful, and I'm happy that they did what they did. They could have just stuck them together in s5 and been like okay all of their problems are solved, and they're totally perfect and in love, but that's not what happened. They weren't perfect. They had to work together to make it work. They both recognized their traumas and respected each other's boundaries until they found something that worked for both of them. They really fought so damn hard to be together last season, but people just don't fucking care. My heart broke for them when they finally shared their first kiss, and it wasn't the perfect romantic moment they imagined. It was desperate, longing, afraid. All they wanted all season was just to be together, and now they finally have that. And we got that in a kids cartoon! So often love is treated as a fantasy where everything is perfect, and the couple gets together in the end and rides off into the sunset and lives happily ever after. But that wasn't their story, and I applaud them for that. I love that this show depicted the messier but crucially important sides of love about setting boundaries, addressing trauma so you don't hurt the other person, being patient and understanding while the other person is working through something because those things are hard in a relationship. A lot of those things are make or break in relationships, but the ones that want to be together will put in the work, and I think it's so important to show that in an age appropriate way to kids.

So, yeah, fuck anyone rooting for their downfall. Fuck anyone who thinks that the 4 sides are competing with each other and that Adrinette being together is an affront to their favorite side. Fuck anyone who thinks Adrinette being together is bad. It's not, and anyone who thinks it is can feel free to block me.

Maybe instead of rooting for Adrinette to break up, people should be rooting for a reveal. That's how we get the other sides, babes. That's how we should want to get the other sides. But this fandom isn't ready for a reveal tbh. They'd just bitch about how the sides are all the same now, and it's so boring. Can't win for fucking losing in this show.

[friendly-neighborhood-kinnie]

The Last of Us-Headcanons

Ellie and Jesse became friends when he accidentally scared her once, and she punched him in the face and broke his nose. When she apologized he waved her off and introduced himself.

Because of david, Ellie will sometimes have days where hearing her name said a certain way will set her off. Her friends start calling her every nickname they can.

Jesse likes Shakespeare.

Jesse, Dina, Cat, and Ellie used to be really affectionate with each other when they were younger. Cat stopped being affectionate with them when she and Ellie broke up as she felt she wasn't allowed to be.

Jesse and Dina first started hugging/wrapping an arm around Ellie whenever they could when they noticed she leaned into touch the same way a cat does.

Cat is an affectionate person.

Dina loves carrying Ellie and Ellie loves carrying Dina. They started carrying each other randomly as kids and just kept doing it.

Jesse and Ellie give each other piggyback rides.

Once when Ellie kept forgetting to talk to Joel about getting her haircut she ended up getting so mad about it touching her neck as much as it did that she went to the kitchen took the scissors and cut it. right in the middle of the kitchen. Joel walked in and gently took the scissors out of her hand. He hugged her and a few days later asked Maria to fix her hair.

Ellie likes both Star Wars and Star Trek.

Ellie has claustrophobia, but she didn't realize it until she and Joel were settled in Jackson and some kids that bullied her on occasion thought it would be funny to lock her in an empty supply closet. Joel found her a few hours later hitting her head lightly against the wall in the corner, face red and blotchy from a panic attack that made her cry. they assume the fear is caused by the hole FEDRA used to put her in.

Ellie relies on routine a lot. So when she and Joel move to Jackson permanently Joel quickly finds this out and does his best to make a routine for them both.

Joel has read Anne of Green Gables. He thought it was sweet and read it a few more times throughout the years.

Joel stopped speaking Spanish when Tommy left, sticking solely on English except for the few times that he would mix an English word up with the Spanish translation of the word he was looking for. He somehow never mixed the languages up when on the road with Ellie so the first time she hears him speak Spanish he's having a conversation with Tommy and she just stares at him baffled before saying loudly "You speak fucking Spanish?"

Jesse, Dina, and Ellie have no sense of personal space with each other. Ex. Dina hangs on Ellie a lot, choosing to drape herself over the girl's shoulders. Jesse will just pick Ellie up with one arm wrapped around her waist if he needs her or he's the only one there to stop Ellie from getting into a fight that'll get her in a lot of trouble. Ellie herself will just flop against Dina, whether Dina is standing and Ellie just randomly sits against her legs or she lays her entire upper body in Dina's lap Ellie will just kinda flop there.

The only time they pay more attention to each other's personal space is when Ellie is having a bad day and flinches away from touch entirely. When these days happen the three will watch kids movies they deem stupid. (Toy Story, Spy Kids, Air Bud, etc.)

Hope you all enjoyed these, while these headcanons popped up in my head I tried to think if these things would be in character for these characters I don't know if I succeeded. I plan on putting quite a few of these to use in fics, I already have with one of my fics.

Let me know if there is any way for me to make the characters more like themselves in my writing! Give me your thoughts.

[kaislabratory]

I really love to read, it expands my mind and brings me new opinions. Speaking of new opinions and perspectives, I really love legendborn!! The two books out rn are very well in line to be the best books i’ve ever read. The writing was great, and the main character,Bree, being black and from the south all whilst being a woman was just so relatable. Since i love seeing other peoples opinions here are some of mine. SPOILERS FOR #legendborn and #bloodmarked

-Legendborn did not have too much romance, in fact, it barely had any really. I think that people confuse genuine connections and emotions for people as them being madly in love. It had his lovely moments, but just enough to where it didn’t make either of the characters involved. It just added another element to the story and showed us new sides of the character.

-I am not team nick or team sel. If i had to choose though, i’d lean more toward Sel. To me, nick just doesn’t understand Bree as deeply as she needs to be understood. Nick is a conventionally attractive white,cis,rich man. He relates to bree only in the topic of arthur, and simply doesn’t understand bree’s anger sometimes. Selwyn doesn’t understand really really deeply either, but she can identify with him more. He is discriminated against and threatened by the order. Constantly being reminded that he is only there because his higher ups allow him to be, and the sins of his mother weigh on his back. He and bree relate on a level of family, of being unwanted and unliked anyone else around you. They clash and fight so badly because to me, they know eachother so deeply.

-I wouldn’t so much mind it if bree didn’t get with either one of them and stayed with alice,mariah,patricia, and other rootcrafters. She would probably work towards bettering herself and expanding her already vast knowledge. I love the depth of her relationship with the women around her.

-NOT ENOUGH PEOPLE TALK ABOUT FELICITY AND RUSSS!! I was genuinely so sad for felicity at the beginning of bloodmarked and towards the end of legendborn. I was crying soo hard, and i loved how she and bree had a talk about grief. Bree explained how she genuinely couldn’t relate to how felicity was feeling about russ, but she knew some of the symptoms and still helped her out.

-People who shit on bree for leaving with the Erebus but don’t shit on Nick for disappearing on Sel and Bree baffle me tbh.

-Polyamory between nick,bree, and sel, just seems out of character. I feel like a lot of people forget that polyamory is a THREE WAY street and not two people that like a girl at the same time and the girl just can’t choose. Nick and Sel have a connection that runs very deep, but the both of them have stated that it’s strictly platonic. Especially Sel, who has gone through the process of loving Nick. Polyamory between the three just doesn’t seem right to me but to each their own ig.

-I REALLY WAS SHOCKED WHEN I FOUND OUT THAT EREBUS WAS THE SHADOWKING I WONT LIE.

- The plot of legenborn and bloodmarked is so good in general. I really loved the world building and the dedication tracy put into the story. It’s godly really.

That’s all i can really think of for right now!! My next reads are gonna be the cruel prince & the witchery.

I’m currently reading children of blood and bone and it’s SO GOOD.