#and what if they DO resolve the conflict and stop the bad guy in time

[riverofempathy]

Tearing up because that’s me.

I can’t stop (couldn’t stop) all the pain & struggles & trauma in my life or the lives of literally any other person in this galaxy, but I can write worlds where things get better, where people actually talk about their issues, where people save the day. Or maybe sometimes they don’t, maybe sometimes they’re seconds too late and they still have gut-wrenching grief and trauma, but other people are there for them in exactly the way they need. They say exactly the right things. They hug them and kiss their foreheads and provide a safe, warm, soft space for my characters to actually let out ALL the tears instead of holding them back—something I’m still figuring out how to do for myself.

My stories are all about going through terrible things and figuring out/receiving the things they need to heal. It’s about *humanity* in all its beauty and ugliness and pain and wonder and joy and grief and hatred and love and suffering and comfort and all the things that we go through in our own lives, because I think it’s important to see how even fictional people can survive those things. Because it helps us feel like we can, too.

a comic about fix-it fanfics

[bitchthefuck1]

you know what, I actually will talk about this because it's bothering me. The issue with focussing so heavily on syd and carmy's potential for a romantic relationship isn't that there's something inherently unintellectual about romance or whatever, it's that a lot of people seem incapable of doing that without immediately flattening the story and ignoring or intentionally misreading any and all nuance for the sake of that romance. Every scene suddenly becomes about how it impacts their relationship, every analysis is done through a romantic lens, every frame or line of dialogue becomes about finding some easter egg or hint that "proves" these people should start dating. Their dynamic is absolutely a fundamental part of this show, but if you can only see it as a will-they-won't-they, you miss so much of what the story is actually trying to say with these two.

There are good versions of this story where their relationship is romantic and there are good versions of this story where it isn't, but as soon as you decide them being together is "the point," you lose the ability to actually judge the story for what it is, not what you want it to be.

[crookedteethed]

18+ -mdni

ᥫ᭡. he'll come back, rafe always does.

warnings smut, infidelity, anal, angst, a-to-v (don't do this, unless you want a vag infection)

"Does your wife ever let you fuck her in the ass?" you'd asked Rafe. 

"Shut up." Rafe had told you, stern face, steady body, and his hand slowly sticking his cock into your ass.

"Fuckkk." You melted as you felt his thick tip entering inside of you; inch by inch, you felt Rafe fill you up to the core. 

And when Rafe finally bottomed out inside you--his pelvis touching your asscheeks, he stayed in that position for a peculiarly long time before slowly dragging himself out of you, then pile-driving himself back into your ass--this time with much more force. 

Your ass hadn't even fully adjusted to his length before Rafe relentlessly pumped himself in you.

All you could do was cling onto the pillow that hosted you up, and drool, while Rafe wrecked you.

Fuck, did you miss this: after a long day of work, opening your phone and seeing a "can I see you?" text from Rafe.

You and Rafe hadn't been seeing each other as much ever since he wanted to "make things right with his family." Which meant he had to stop seeing you.

You hated anal, and you hated being Rafe's second pick, but if that's what all it took to be with him, then so be it.

"You were the first guy I let fuck me in my ass." you told Rafe once you adjusted to his length, the feeling starting to feel bittersweet.

Rafe said nothing, his eyes glued to your heart-shaped butt, his cock rutting into you on a mission.

"Does that mean nothing to you?" You asked him. "You were the first guy I'd done anal with, and what do I get? 'my wife, my wife, my wife.' You mocked, laughing.

Suddenly, you heard a low growl from Rafe, and then he stopped fucking you.

"Fuck this, Y/n." he said, pulling himself out of you. "This was a bad idea--"

"No." you pleaded. "Please don't stop fucking me." you looked at Rafe with puppy dog eyes--which never failed to fail with Rafe.

Rafe hesitated, his eyes conflicted as he looked at you. For a moment, you thought he might leave, but then he growled and roughly flipped you onto your back, and lined himself with your cunt.

"You want me to fuck you? Fine. But don't expect this to mean anything," he snarled, thrusting back into you forcefully.

You gasped at the sudden fullness, wrapping your legs around his waist. "I don't care what it means," you lied, clinging to him desperately. "Just don't stop."

Rafe set a punishing pace, his hips snapping against yours. You could see the struggle in his eyes - desire warring with guilt. But his body betrayed him, chasing pleasure relentlessly.

"Fuck, Y/n," he groaned. "Why do you do this to me?"

You didn't answer, too lost in the feeling of Rafe's deep penetration in your tight hole--gushing from Rafe's every thrust.

Rafe's fingers dug into your hips, surely leaving bruises. You arched your back, taking him even deeper. A strangled moan escaped your lips.

"That's it," Rafe panted. "Take all of me."

His thrusts grew erratic, his control slipping. You could feel him throbbing inside you, so close to the edge.

"I can't… I shouldn't…" Rafe's words were strained--which you didn't think was meant for your ears to hear. 

You clenched around him deliberately, drawing a sharp gasp from his lips. His resolve crumbled.

"Y/n!" Rafe cried out as he came undone, spilling himself inside you.

You followed moments later, waves of pleasure washing over you. As you both came down from your high, reality began to set in. Rafe pulled away, unable to meet your eyes.

"This can't happen again, y/n, I'm serious." Rafe said, quickly putting on his dress shirt and slacks.

You sat up slowly, pulling the sheet around yourself. "Rafe, wait," you pleaded softly. "We need to talk about this--you can't keep getting my hopes up."

He paused, his back to you as he buttoned his shirt with trembling fingers. "There's nothing to talk about. This was a mistake - one we can't repeat."

"And yet, you still do." you whispered.

Your soft, mournful words hung in the air like a heavy fog, lingering long after Rafe had left your apartment and was on his way home to see his beloved wife. The sound of his footsteps echoing through the empty hallway.

a/n: I have a funny story about this fic. I wrote it back in August, and it's been sitting in my drafts until now. Haha, isn't that funny? 😐

[hana-no-seiiki]

Ohh I got soooo many ideas, like CV reader got kidnapped by black mask (I think it's red hood nemesis, am not that deep in DC comics but I know the basics) so he could have a deal or take information out of red hood using CV reader. And when Jason found out about it he was pissed but when he got there the bad guys already down because CV reader took them down.

P.s I don't mind if you use this as a reference to make a headcanon or story on contrary i would love to read it, but it's up to you!!

🎧ྀི » [ what a catastrophy ! ] «

0:00 ─〇───── 0:00

⇄ ◃◃ ⅠⅠ ▹▹ ↻

tw/cw: yandere, jason being horny/implied noncon, cat villain! reader being an absolute menace and a whore as always.

pairings: yan! batfam x cat villain/vigilante! reader

note: this happens after conflict between jason and other members of batfam are resolved and at that point cat villain! is more solidly on the cat vigilante! side

“How long is this going to take exactly? I’m about to take an involuntary cat nap with how utterly slow you all are being.”

The Court of Owls were a group of people you’ve absolutely despised on every era you’ve had under your cat mask. Whether it was your wild years as Cat Woman’s protégé or when you were basically assimilated as the Batfam’s shared s/o. You could never bring yourself to like absurdly rich people that well. Much less rich people who do bad things.

For legal and safety reasons, you have to say that the Batfamily are an exception.

You don’t know how on Earth they managed to get their hands on equipment that prevented your powers from working, but it was proving to be quite the annoying conundrum.

“I’m sorry but I’m feline a little too underwhelmed by this whole kidnapping thing. Why don’t we hurry things up a little?”

MEANWHILE . . .

“Where the hell did you take them?!”

Jason slammed Black Mask unto the wall, using the backside of his arm and pressing it against the man’s chest.

The latter’s men took a defensive, alert stance. Ready to pounce on command.

But Black Mask only gestured them to stand down.

“You have to understand, the fact that I even thought of informing you of my deal is a huge risk. I could lose my biggest benefactors.” He replied, calm and polite. In contrast to the harsh kick he deals to his assailant, making Jason back off. “I’m doing you all a favor. I’m doing [Cat Villain Name] a favor.”

“They’re currently on a private island to the south. I can’t give you the exact coordinates but here’s the general location.” He tossed a flashdrive, one swiftly caught and skimmed through by Tim.

“Why are you helping us?” Damian’s mind was already calculating the best way to get rid of everyone in this room. The grip on his katana tightening by the second. He had full faith that you were capable of taking care of yourself, but it did not help with the fear of disappearance whatsoever.

He was sure that the sight of you getting hurt would lead to him going on a rampage.

“Maybe the fact that even with my help, you kids being too late would open their mind and make them come back to our side. They’d finally learn that you’re only as good for them as Batman was to —“ Damian couldn’t stop himself anymore, knocking the man unconscious as the rest of the crew took down his goons with ease. Their worry over your current condition giving them a surprising amount of efficiency as a team.

“It’ll take several hours to even get to those islands much less even find which one . . .” Tim bit his lip. He wasn’t concerned at all. He knows you inside and out. In fact, he already knew where you were exactly. All of this info gathering was just his plan to delay things so that your patience would run out and he’d get front row seats to the carnage you’d inevitably cause. After all, there was something he can always predict when it came to you.

Your unending thirst for fun and chaos.

It took about a week for them to find you. Just about enough time for you to get antsy about not seeing your beloved pets and home.

And plenty of time for you to have your fun, pretending to be hurt, crying out in feigned agony, before you finally took down your prey.

“Red Hood! Come back! We can’t just barge in—“ Dick called out to Jason.

But all Jason could think of was the way you screamed in terror. The footage of your ‘torture’ was something he had nightmares about.

“Kitty! Are you—“ He kicked the door off its hinges, guns ready to fire.

But his sights only landed on a singular breathing being in the middle of a room. Covered in the blood of your victims. Grooming yourself clean.

Each lick sending shivers down his spine.

He sighed in relief. “You really have to stop playing with your food, Kitty.”

His lips envelopes yours as the world disappears from your vision.

୨ ©️ ୧⸝⸝﹕hana.no.seiiki - yun | 2024﹐⊂☁️⊃ ‹𝟹

[mjbarrosart]

My Dragon Prince Boards season 6, episode 605

Ok folks, It is time to go trough the next episode of season 6 I worked, episode 605.

When you are working on an episode as a storyboard artist you, usually, want to choose how to approach your sequences. Most of the time your will get instructions from your director and supervisor to do things in certain ways, making sure that things aligning between episodes and general season arcs; but most of details of your sequences are up to you.

In this episode I had the huge privilege to tackle most of Soren and Viren interactions, and a big question for my, from the beginning, was "what will be my approach?"

Because, how I see it, there are 2 big forces, struggles, arcs- or whatever you want to call it- in conflict during this sequences. In one hand, you have Soren and his pain, and in the other hand, you have Viren and his desire for forgiveness.

I decided to approach this sequences from Viren's, because 2 reasons mainly:

The first one, is the most obvious one, is that- at least for me- Soren's arc is already resolved, of course he is in real pain, and he is a victim of abuse and there is a lot of trauma that he needs to heal, but his overall arc resolved in season 3. He is one of the goof guys now, and he knows where he stands. This is an important moment for his healing, for sure, but it is more relevant to Viren's arc that is still incomplete at this point.

The second reason is more personal. While I am a daughter, I have the blessing of having a really good relationship with my parents, so while I understand Soren's trauma, I have not a lot of personal experience to pour into. But, I am also a mother, and from that point of view, I deeply understand Viren. I still think that he is a villain, and what he did was wrong in all levels, but I can absolutely connect with the idea of "parents sacrifice for their children, not the other way around".

Parenting is the eternal struggle between being able to do anything for your children well being, and understanding that they are their own person, and their have the right to make their own mistakes and live their own life.

So yeah, that is what was in my mind during this episode, now let's check sequence by sequence!

My first sequence is a sweet one, between Ezran and Soren. I usually don't have a lot of sequences with the young king, so it is always fun to work with him

Overall, it is a simple and sweet moment between this two, I love how much Soren respects Ezran but at the same time tries to keep it casual, haha. I love the idea of friends loving and supporting each other.

My next sequence is when Soren goes to visit Viren for the first time. This is a big one. In one hand, Viren wants to talk and express everything he has to say, in the other Soren holding up his feelings, dealing with confusion and anger.

The sequence opens with the shot of Viren in the cell and the fly on the spider web. It's a pretty on the nose metaphor that we used through the full episode.

A less on the nose metaphor I tried to build during the sequences was using the bars as a framing devise to show emotional states. When Viren is talking with guilt and resentment, he is usually framed behind the bars. When he is talking from a place of love, taking into consideration Soren's feelings and acknowledging the damage ha has caused, he usually is framed without the bars.

This is a sequence where they fail to connect, and by the end, Viren tries to follow Soren, but the chains stop him. There is still a huge division between both of them.

Next sequences is another interaction, This time, they will talk, but it will not be good. We start with Viren, still trapped, suffering. He is a little calmer now. He tries to connect with Soren, but it is still hard, the bars are between them, and the pain is keeping them apart.

But then, Viren starts to talk more freely, to recognize his mistakes, the damage that he caused to Soren, to Claudia. The ways he was a bad parent and hurt them both. So we flip the framing, now Viren is free, Soren is behind the bars.

Soren's pain is stopping him from healing and is coming out as rage.

he has a hard time believing whatever his father is telling him. In the past, Viren manipulated him, why now would be different. It is so hard to break cycles of abuse, and it is hard to forgive, too. Some people don't deserve forgiveness, to be honest. And I am not sure if Soren ever will forgive Viren.

So Soren burst into rage. I wanted to create a pretty visceral reaction. Talking with his hands and body, almost like puking out his feelings, so much pain that he can not hold anymore. But this is not necessarily what he needs. He screams at Viren, he hits the bars, he leaves in rage, and the wound is still open.

And Viren is defeated again. Forgiveness will not be something easy to get.

My next sequences is a short silly one, hahaha. Rayla and Callum going to fight the beast. I swear to god i have the "Slash, Slash, Swirly dash" line stuck in my head until today ><

Well, back to the drama.

My last sequence of the episode is when Viren wakes up, and Soren is there.

This time, there is no confrontation between them. Viren understands that no matter what he says, he may never be never forgiven. So he stops trying to "convince" Soren that he is sorry, and just tell him what he thinks Soren needs to hear.

And after that Soren leaves, maybe for the first time ready to start the path to healing.

And that was my work on episode 605!!

Thanks for reading this long post, again!

If you have any questions about the board process on Dragon prince, please feel free to ask! Also, I always read all the comments you put in the tags, they always make me smile :) Thank you!!!

Soon I'll post about my work on 608!

[kidovna]

I wanted to ask you- do you really think that Mike and will could end up together in season 5? Like realistically? I personally wish for nothing more but I truly can’t imagine how they would do it with the other stuff happening around them. At best I can only think of Mike and eleven separating and if neither of them will die, I can imagine that they will leave an open ending for the viewers to interpret if Mike had feelings for will as well. What do you think could happen?

I really do think that they can end up together. When has the supernatural plot ever stopped jancy, jopper, lumax, mileven and stancy from happening and why couldn’t it be a possibility for byler?

I think season 4 and the first shadow covered both Henry and El’s backstories. We’ve gotten confirmation multiple times that season 5 covers Will’s backstory, and Mike is a big part of his life. Other than resolving the conflicts from season 4, giving us more information about the mind flayer /UD, and providing context for will’s involvement in the plot, there’s nothing major (like the Russia plot) left to establish in season 5. Everyone is already in Hawkins and know Vecna’s motives.

[Marvel spoilers…?] Remember how avengers infinity war killed half the universe at the end of the movie and then a) invented time travel, b) brought them all back and c) killed the bad guy all within 3 hours in the sequel? I think byler happening in the 10+ hours of season 5 wouldn’t be too much of a stretch. They’ve already known each other for 10 years and are semi-canon.

Sure, there’s always a possibility that they could leave byler open ended but why would they do that if they wanted every character to have their perfect happy ending?

[kalixora]

Bounty PT2

[Back at Base]

“Why don’t you join the Autobots?” a little human girl named Miko asked you, her eyes wide with curiosity.

"I have mouths to feed and no time for pity parties," you answered, crossing your arms. Your hounds rested on the floor, while your largest stayed by your side, warily watching Ratchet, the medic Optimus assured the both of you to trust.

"But the Autobots are the good guys! You’re a good guy, you take the bad guys!" Miko exclaimed dramatically, her enthusiasm unwavering.

The sound of your youngest hound whimpering as the medic worked filled your helm. Your largest hound growled, but you quickly waved your servo, making them stop.

"Always fighting, always leaving a mess behind," you muttered, frustration evident in your voice. "Where we have to clean it up. Planets destroyed, so many species, lives taken because—"

"Of the cons!" Miko interrupted. You looked at the human girl eyeing her coldly. "No," you shook your helm slowly. "Autobots and Decepticons. They’re both to blame."

Miko looked taken aback, glancing between you and the Autobots. Miko’s eyes landed on Arcee who stared at the ground, looking away from you.

Optimus lowered his gaze, the weight of your words hitting home as Ratchet continued to fix your hound while grumbling under his breath.

Your youngest hound whimpered again, your optics shifting to the medic, you let out a soft pitch and spoke a few words in cybertrioan from where you stood, and your youngest became calm.

"This endless war," you continued, your voice firm but no less intense, "it affects everyone. Not just those on the front lines. Someone has to deal with the aftermath, and it’s people like me who get stuck with that job."

Optimus stepped closer, his voice calm yet resolute. "We strive to protect and restore, but I understand your perspective. The war has taken a toll on many, and for that, I am truly sorry."

You looked up at him, meeting his optics with a mixture of anger and resignation. "Sorry doesn’t fix what’s broken," you said quietly, standing up. "My hound was shot; it was a scrappy attempt at ending his life. Imagine a child's blood on your hands, in front of his mother. This is the first hound to be born after so many missed cycles. How would your Autobots feel if your leader lost their life over a misunderstanding?"

Optimus's optics dimmed slightly, the weight of your words sinking in. "We understand the gravity of what has happened," he said solemnly. "It was never our intention to cause such harm."

Miko watched you, her face unsure and conflicted, struggling to grasp the depth of your anger.

"You have to understand," you continued, "this isn’t just about sides. It’s about the innocent lives caught in the crossfire, the collateral damage that doesn’t get fixed with apologies."

Optimus nodded, his expression serious. "You’re right. We must do better. Strive to protect all life.”

You tilted your helm toward the Prime, noticing how he stood to block your view of Arcee.

Optimus shifted his optics to your hound standing beside you and knelt down before her. “I am sorry. Forgive them, as your hatred should be targeted towards me.”

Your hound snarled, baring its teeth and getting into an attack position. The other hounds stood up, shaking their heads before beginning to circle the kneeling Prime, a low growl resonating among them.

“What’s happening?” Miko asked, peering from beside your feet. “Are they gonna hurt him?”

“No, this is revenge,” Arcee said, narrowing her optics at you.

You watched the scene unfold, the tension thick in the air. “If it were revenge, you would have been dead, on the spot.” you said.

Optimus remained still, his optics unwavering. “Do what you must,” he said, his voice steady. “But know that my actions come from a desire to protect. I ask only that you spare my team from further harm.”

Your hounds paused, their growls still rumbling but their eyes flicking to you for direction. You could sense the resolve in Optimus’s optics, the genuine regret in his words.

You sighed deeply, the anger warring within you. "This war has taken too much from too many," you said. "But maybe it’s time for a different path."

With a slight gesture, you signaled your hounds to stand down. They hesitated but obeyed, moving back to your side.

Miko let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding. "Thank you," she whispered, looking up at you with a mix of relief and admiration.

Optimus rose to his feet, his optics meeting your hound. "Your mercy is not unnoticed. We will strive to be better, for all affected by this war."

"All done," Ratchet said with an unamused laugh. "He needs rest. Should be able to do—whatever it is that you all do—in the morning. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going into recharge."

"That’s a first," Miko giggled.

You walked over to the medic table and smiled as you placed your servo on your hound’s head. "Thank the All-Spark…"

Arcee headed out of the area with Smokescreen and Bumblebee trailing behind her. The Wreckers and Ultra Magnus stayed put, watching you as you remained by the medic table.

Wheeljack crossed his arms, his optics narrowing. "How’d you become a bounty hunter, anyway? Was there a class or something? And what’s with all the hounds? You an animal lover, or are they just tools for the job?"

Ultra Magnus stepped forward, his presence imposing. "Surely you can provide more than a simple answer. Your skills are exceptional. There must be a story behind them."

"They’re not just animals—they’re my partners, my family. In a galaxy full of mess, they’re the ones I can rely on."

Bulkhead optics flickered with a mix of skepticism, you didn’t answer the question fully. "Guess that makes sense. Out here, you need all the help you can get. But don’t think for a second that trusting us is the wrong move. We’ve got your back if you’re willing to give us a chance. That is…"

You glanced at your hounds, now resting peacefully, with your largest still faithfully at your side.

As the Autobots slowly dispersed, you remained by the medic table, feeling a cautious hope for the future.

"Is it just me, or did Optimus give her a look?" Miko said, perched on Bulkhead’s shoulder as they watched Optimus turn to face you again.

"Not now, Miko," Bulkhead sighed.

"Let me guess, you want me to stay and fight for your cause?" you questioned the Prime, your tone tinged with skepticism.

“Only if you choose to,” Optimus said calmly, his optics steady. “But the cause is for our home, for Cybertron.”

“That so? The line has been blurred for a while now, hard to tell if it’s still for Cybertron,” you replied, folding your arms across your chest.

Optimus took a few deliberate steps closer, standing shoulder to shoulder with you. His presence was commanding yet reassuring. “It has always been for Cybertron,” he asserted firmly.

You glanced at him, studying him. Despite your doubts, you couldn’t deny the sincerity in his words.

“And what if I choose not to fight alongside you?”

“Then that is your choice,” Optimus replied evenly. “But know that our offer of alliance and support stands, should you ever decide otherwise.”

“That so?” You hummed. “Let me ask you this then Optimus, do you want us to stay?”

Optimus looked at you, his optics staring into yours with unwavering sincerity. “Yes,” he said simply. You raised an optic ridge, surprised by his straightforwardness.

“I’ll make a decision by dawn,” you replied. “You should rest, Prime. Another day of fighting Decepticons can be draining, I’m sure.”

Optimus nodded, appreciating your understanding. “Thank you. I look forward to your decision.”

. . .

“I’m telling you, I saw it! With my own two eyes! Optimus definitely has a crush on her!” Miko insisted.

“Get real, Miko. Optimus is too busy for stuff like that,” Jake rolled his eyes.

“No one’s ever too busy for love!” Miko said, clasping her hands together. “Right, Bulk?”

Everyone exchanged glances as they waited in the training room for Optimus to return.

“Please, Optimus knows better than to get involved with a bounty hunter of all people. She doesn’t believe in any sides of the war, as if it wasn’t the Decepticons who started it,” Ratchet huffed. “Making me fix her hound was just absurd. Couldn’t she have done it herself? What kind of person doesn’t know how to fix their animal?”

“… You think she has a bounty for Optimus?” Smokescreen questioned.

“No,” Ultra Magnus shook his helm. “She would’ve killed him in front of us if that were the case.”

“She has a young hound, right? Maybe it’s not ready to fight yet,” Raf said, leaning against the wall with a contemplative look.

“Pft, wish you guys would’ve called for backup. I would’ve ended Miss Sunshine on the spot,” WheelJack chuckled, his bulky frame vibrating with suppressed energy as he pounded his fists together.

Ultra Magus glanced at WheelJack with a raised optic ridge. “Easy there, Wrecker. She’s not our enemy.”

“Yeah, but she’s no ally either,” WheelJack grumbled, his expression hardening.

Ultra Magnus stepped forward, his demeanor composed yet authoritative. “Regardless of our opinions, she has proven formidable. We must remain cautious and focused.”

Bumblebee beeped, “Let’s not forget, she did allow us to treat her hound. That counts for something.”

“I still think he has the hots for her,” Miko shrugged nonchalantly. Bulkhead chuckled softly. “Maybe you’re right, Miko.”

Arcee shook her helm folding her arms. “Optimus is focused on the mission, Miko. Romance isn’t exactly his style.”

"What! Come on! Weren’t you in love with somebody!" Miko questioned the two wheeler.

"No," Ratchet grunted. "Romance and war don’t mix well, that’s for sure."

Ultra Magnus folded his arms, "Our priority remains securing peace and stability."

WheelJack snorted. "Peace and stability? Easier said than done. The cons know nothing about that."

Raf shrugged slightly. "I mean… she might have a point. You guys needed help from humans for your war on our planet… even though you were defending it from the cons, you’re still leaving something behind that could affect us."

Arcee’s optics flashed with offense, her voice firm. "Raf, we’ve fought to protect Earth from the Decepticons. We’ve sacrificed much to ensure its safety."

Ultra Magnus’s demeanor turned stern. "Our actions have always been in defense of Earth. We do not take lightly the consequences of our battles."

Ratchet’s expression darkened. "Do not mistake necessity for indifference, Rafael. We strive to minimize harm, but sometimes there are no easy choices in war."

Bumblebee looked between them, sensing the tension. “I think Raf just meant—”

Ratchet interrupted, his voice carrying a hint of disappointment. “No, Bumblebee. He needs to understand that we fight to protect, not to endanger.”

Raf shook his head, his voice earnest as he interjected, “I know that, I didn’t mean to imply otherwise. It’s just… seeing the aftermath sometimes makes me wonder if there could be a better way.”

Arcee softened slightly, “We understand, Raf. We all have the same goal at the end of the day, to go home.”

Raf smiled up at Arcee, his expression relieved as they heard the ground bridge open and footsteps echoing through the base. Soon, Optimus and you returned, your hounds trailing behind, their watchful gazes scanning the room as everyone emerged from the training room and converged towards you and the Prime.

Optimus placed his servo on your shoulder and addressed everyone with a solemn tone, his optics sweeping over the gathered Autobots. "Autobots, Y/N has decided to stay and help us."

Ratchet, standing nearby with his arms crossed, couldn't help but groan audibly. "So many mouths to feed," he muttered under his breath, eyeing the hounds that trailed behind you and Optimus.

Miko squealed excitedly, "Finally, another girl! Hi! Nice to meet you again, I'm Miko! And this is Raf and Jack!"

You looked down at the humans as they waved at you. Nodding your helm in acknowledgement, you spoke a word in Cybertronian, prompting your hounds to move forward from behind you, their tails wagging eagerly. All of them, except your largest hound, who remained by your side, glared defiantly at Arcee.

"Y/N, and this is [hound's name]. She keeps the others in check," you introduced, gesturing to your largest hound beside you.

"So, what made you want to join us Autobots, sunshine?" Wheeljack asked, narrowing his optics at you.

You glanced at Optimus for a moment, then back at Wheeljack. "Timing," was all you said, leaving the implication hanging in the air.

[tiamathh]

What Sin do you Need?

Note: Hi!! Repost of an Old PAC hope you enjoy, like/reblog and comment if you do~ take what resonates leave what doesn't and please don't steal my work! Also follow my 18+ readings acc @xoxotiamathh (no minors pls!)

Masterlist <3

Pile 1: Greed

Strive for more, thirst for more, it may seem like greed is bad but a little bit never hurt anyone. You're limiting yourself a lot of the times because you refuse to let yourself want more. What's holding you back? Is it your past? Moving on from the past is important and will help you achieve the great heights you're meant to.

Be greedy for a better life, stand up for yourself and the life you want because if you don't start now than when will you? Greed isn't all about money and material objects, sometimes it's about oneself and what they want, what their ideal life is both socially and emotionally.

Pile 2: Gluttony

This might be a sensitive topic for some and I completely understand that so feel free to pick another pile and take care <3 TW// weight mention, ED, body shaming, starving, anorexia

Pile 2 I'll start off with this, I'm so so sorry if you've been through instances in your life where people have been rather unkind to you regarding your weight and looks, but please know they're all wrong. You don't need to starve yourself; you're doing so well just as you are. Instagram diets and diet suppressants are not what you or your body needs. You need proper nutrition, and healthy meals give you just that. I'm not telling you to be over indulgent of course not but keeping yourself from nutrition is doing more harm than good. For some of you, you've had run-ins with eating disorders, do what's good for your body, mind and soul, delicious food from different cultures will bring a lot of flavour, expand your palette. (Also, for some of you, stop being such picky eaters! Try new things!)

Take care pile 2 and stay safe <3

Pile 3: Sloth

GET REST PLEASE (sorry for screaming). Constantly working and burning the midnight oil and sleep, rest, take a pause. Inactivity isn't always laziness or negative sometimes you need to give yourself space to breathe and sit with your thoughts and feelings.

You're human after all, you need rest and relaxation to recharge. Or maybe you're running from something and distracting yourself by constantly working. You don't need to always work to prove your worth. Don't overwork yourself.

Pile 4: Wrath

Anger can be therapeutic, feel it. Anger can help you set boundaries, and establish your self-worth. A lot of people have probably hurt you before and taken advantage of your kindness, or calm demeanour but don't let them do that. Fearing conflict will not resolve anything, getting angry isn't bad especially when you have been wronged several times by the same people. We've always seen anger be a force for change, so use it in a way where you can change things about your life that you don't like and don't approve of.

Don't let people walk all over you, don't take the route of toxic positivity, your negative feelings are there to help you grow and are just as important for your overall development.

Pile 5: Envy

Have you guys heard of benign envy? I have, an exhausting amount to be honest and what I've learnt is it genuinely helps push you forward in life. It can often be bitter but it can lead you to work harder or be more determined towards achieving your goals. It can positively influence our attitudes towards life and help bring in good changes to your routine that will help you grow. And although it's said envy is rooted in low self- esteem, all that's needed is an abundance mindset to make it work in your favour. If you feel that pang of envy now and then that's not bad, use it as a driving force for to grow more in your own individualistic way because you may have been afraid to in the past. If you envy someone's style (this is coming through strongly) or their way of life, try to manifest and work hard towards making that your reality rather than wallowing in envy and self-pity.

Pile 6: Lust

Here I feel that lust is being talked about in terms of the self, not solely in a sexual manner but also in terms of desire. Pile 6, you need to understand that you are desirable and hot and stunning. If you feel sexual fantasies there's nothing wrong with that, it is a part of your human experience embrace it. There's nothing wrong or dirty about it, it helps you explore yourself more imo. You are sexy don't overindulge and sexualise yourself for others, external validation will not bring you the satisfaction you want, it needs to come from within.

Pile 7: Pride

Guys, pile 7, my loves, pride is not bad. Especially when it comes to the work you do, I feel like this is my artistic pile. Authentic pride is important to the integrity of your work, getting happy, feeling proud, getting satisfaction from an art piece or a written piece after putting in hours, days, weeks of effort should not make you feel guilty. Don't let people tell you that your head is too big or anything like that, it's not. Your pride will help you maintain your standards in everyday life, don't lower your standards for anything or anyone, you're too good for that. I would go as far as to say pride is one of the most important feelings/emotions but be careful to not let it turn into an inflated ego.

All Rights Reserved tiamathh©® DO NOT PLAGIARISE, REWORD, STEAL!

P.S. this is one of my favourite PACs I've ever done 🩷

[freakinator]

funny thing about how i view the conflict in todays stream is that i view flame and wemmbu in very separate ways despite them doing essentially the same thing

in flames case:

i view his betrayal as ultimately a tragedy, their history all thrown aside due to a combination of wounded pride and genuine upset

if yall didnt see his chat for this stream it was actually really, really bad, like his chat is genuinely so fucking annoying oh my god and is a really good demonstration of why i think streamers should be mean to their chatters sometimes to so i actually wasnt at all surprised that he was so upset but i thought hed log off instead of acting out like this

he wanted respect but literally ruined the months long work of one of the few ppl that were willing to trust him over something that couldve been resolved if he just waited until september, but at the same time i can kinda understand why he was being so impulsive considering again his chat is Really bad, but at the end of the day that really shouldnt have been something you took out on one of your few allies like???? bruh even mocked zams storytelling as if he didnt do thee same shit as well 😭

honestly one of the reasons i was sad about his betrayal is cause it kinda sounded to me like he was genuinely about to cry at first??? maybe im just making shit up tho and he def stopped sounding like he was gonna cry after blowing up the spacewaffles tower lol

in wemmbus case:

i feel no pity for this man, he wanted conflict wherever he can get it and he got it! i think hes a lot like zam in that he just wants some attention and most importantly something to do but whatever happens to him next is his own fault lmao, i respect his honesty tho like hey he sucks but he knows what hes about at least lol

the fact that he still kept trying to get a commission from zam (or at least guilttripping him about it for lack of a better word) like bro i know you wanted to do a capitalism morality dilemma arc with zam but read the room my guy 😭

maybe hes at least a little mad that zam kept turning him away despite the fact he accepted a commission from mapicc of all ppl but like. bro. theres a reason zam called him a nightmare customer lmao

that being said you can tell hes not used to going this overboard considering he offered to help repair the tree when zam got upset lmao

idk i just thought his evilness was kinda funny, still hope he gets his shit kicked in spectacularly tho!

its funny, despite being acting like the shitty no reading comprehension version of abyss he gives me the exact same feeling of schadenfreude i did for minute back in s5 and i believe part of it is his mockery of lore and weird complicated dismissal of moral conflict particularly regarding zam

by weird complicated dismissal of moral conflict i mean both he and minute both tried to convince zam to see ''their side'' and ''reason'' but coming at it from an angle that completely misunderstands zam and when zam points it out they dismiss it and act like it means nothing because of their ''objective'' view of reality, spoiler alert! its not objective at all and they refuse to understand things from zams perspective cause they think hes just being unreasonable or something

idk overall i think their motivations for doing things are just kinda... shit lol

like ik theres some pretty obvious parallels that can be made with s5 here but the difference between the og players and flamebu aside from the lack of style and drama is that the og players waited several months before they started acting out the way they did and when they did start acting out tgey always made sure evryone who wanted to get involved Actually got involved rather than doing it while everyone was away plus their opps werent their own allies (except maybe pangi depending on how you look at it)

[such-a-downer]

And thus, they had fireworks.

Though many have thought that the barbecue party has officially closed, the latest chapter threw in an extra punch. But not in a way that leaves a good taste (to me at least).

Just joking, it's not as long as I wanted it to be. My productivity is very crippled rn.

Indigestion

Sakura is thanked by Umemiya once more for the help but we immediately see him wear wrinkles on his face. He feels as though he still have conflicting feelings about it. In his thoughts, he sways the spotlight towards Roppo Ichiza and Shishitoren for being the ones doing the grind. But it doesn't change the fact that it was him who asked for help in the first place. Even Umemiya himself admits his shortcoming on this.

A Gap That He's Missing

Aside from his indigestion of other people's gratitude (it's practically his chronic bug), Sakura broods over being called "amazing" by Umemiya. To him, it doesn't sit right. Afterall, Umemiya pulled off what he couldn't.

It would probably help Sakura to come into terms with it once he understands what he's missing on: the difference between Umemiya's fight with Takiishi and his fight with Endo.

Umemiya's "I'm winning this"

Sakura who has shut himself away from other people most of his life, wonders if he can be like Umemiya. The obvious answer is no. At least, not so early on. He witnessed the power of Umemiya's resolve. But it seems as though he is yet to understand the tough process for that resolve to be so strong.

Umemiya's resolve is very deep-rooted and has been richly cultivated through the years, a whole experience that is still long ways to go for Sakura.

And this is Umemiya against Takiishi here. These two got history. With no clear winner, the ordeal was dragged on and on until Takiishi's departure. Their fight is simply them picking up where they left off– a settlement. Well, Takiishi's plainly just fixated on fighting Umemiya, savoring the moment. To Umemiya, he just needs to win against Takiishi. It's pretty much simple and straighforward, it is indeed "selfish". By that, I mean the fight just centers around them.

Furthermore, unlike us readers, Sakura doesn't know what's going on Umemiya's head. He sees the sudden exchange between Umemiya and Takiishi but does not fully understand the sentiments behind their words.

Sakura does not know this eureka moment of Umemiya. Perhaps if it's known to him, he wouldn't be so down and glum for not going for the win during his fight with Endo. It would have given him better understanding of the difference between his actions and Umemiya's.

Sakura's "I don't have to win"

On the other hand, Sakura's fight with Endo is quite a mess. Their battle goes beyond just winning against the other. To Sakura, it's a "now or never" gamble but to Endo, it's a matter of mind games. Endo is so good with his words, a manipulative opponent who was so close to breaking Sakura. Had Hiiragi and others did not get to the scene on time, who knows what would have become of Sakura.

Sakura clearly sees Endo as undeniably, the stronger fighter. This causes Sakura to fight with the determination to "drag Endo down with him", to stop Endo from dealing any more damage to Furin.

In spite of Endo's overwhelming strength, Sakura was able to best him out. And that, has something to do with Endo's internal realization.

If Endo was a typical bad guy, he would have ended Sakura long ago, no hesitation. But he is a crazy nut in extremes. He wants Sakura to cross over to his side and for that, Endo was ready to break Sakura. Undoubtedly, he is very capable of that.

Endo wants Sakura (I'm not pertaining to yaoi tones). But he knows can never bend Sakura to his will. Yet he longs for the euphoric sensation that Sakura gives him (again, NOT pertaining to yaoi tones wtf). Endo wants it very much that he let himself be taken down before he knew it.

But since Sakura is oblivious of the effect he has on others, he is still confused after asking Endo about it. Winning is not always based on physical strength. Sakura is yet to fully grasp the idea.

Keeping Him Well-Grounded

With Kaji's help, Sakura was able to get past through his doubts and fear of rejection. In turn, his classmates slapped him with the fact that he is accepted and cherished despite the flaws. Furin has become Sakura's place where he can belong to. As someone who has always been shunned, it is only a natural instinct for Sakura to do what he can just to protect it. Even if it means risking by putting himself on the line.

Sakura is indeed impressive for his growth in such a short time. But at the same time, worrying, as Hiragi said. Someone in the wbk server that Sakura might turn aggressive because of his want to protect his friends and possibly get worse injury. I agree and can see the high chances of it happening. I also have a bad premonition that Sakura's about to fall into a bad relapse in the future, and temporarily put up his pre-Furin persona again.

Right now, it's important for Sakura to realize what his recklessness is doing to him. He needs to understand that self-sacrifice does not guarantee a fix-all solution. He needs to realize how much his presence means to his friends in order to keep himself grounded and not act recklessly.

With firm grounding, Sakura can grow strong, even surpass Umemiya if he wishes so and face whatever comes his way without being blown away.

That's all. Thanks for coming to my Tedtalk.

Sending TLC to Sakura 💕

[slytherinshua]

CAN'T SHAKE THIS JEALOUSY

summary. how your boyfriend reacts when another guy flirts with you. genre. fluff. headcanons. warnings. jealousy. not really anything else?? not proofread. pairing. tws x fem!reader. wc. 1k. (~160 per member). request. requested by anon. a/n. i love tws let me go sob like :(

SHIN JUNGHWAN

everyone knows that you and junghwan are dating, so the occasion for anyone to try something is very low. but when it does happen, junghwan likes to resolve the situation as quickly as possible. if there’s a guy trying to talk to you and you look uncomfortable, he’ll simply walk up and slip his arm around your waist. if that doesn’t get the message across, he’ll kiss your cheek. it kinda shocks you because he’s normally shy when it comes to pda. but when he’s jealous, his shy demeanour completely goes away, fuelled by his jealousy and anger towards whoever was making you uncomfortable. he tries to act like nothing happened when you bring it up later, as if he wasn’t being extra touchy with you to scare off the guy sdksd. honestly he tries his best to say that he never gets jealous even though that’s just not the case. he’s cute when he tries to deny it though <3

KIM DOHOON

he hates the idea of confrontation and in a way he doesn’t want to… embarrass the other guy?? he knows it’s bad cause he’s ignoring his own feelings of jealousy but he just hates any conflict. so instead he'll go up behind you and tug on your shirt gently. and he communicates with his eyes until you get the message. from there, you smoothly end the conversation, and he helps a bit once you’ve gotten it started. he probably talks to you about it afterwards really pouty and sad like :( the feeling of jealousy is just the worst for him. he wishes he could’ve done more and been like one of those “cool” boyfriends </3 but you make sure that he knows he’s perfect, even though he’s such a people pleaser that he’s bad at setting boundaries. with some practice he’d get better at it, and more confident in standing up for himself and you. but most of the time, he chickens out in the moment. 

CHOI YOUNGJAE

he’s calm, usually just surveying the situation. he’s very focused on everything that is happening to you. the second he spots the guy talking to you going a bit too far or showing any flirtatious hints, he’ll be walking over to stop the situation. he knows you can handle it most of the time, but it’s just when there are guys who won’t take a hint no matter how obvious your disinterest is. he’ll politely shut them down for you, introducing himself as your boyfriend and asking what the guy’s relationship is to you. in the rare case that his glaring and sharp words aren’t enough, he’ll just remove you from the situation instead of trying to scare off the guy. he has little patience for anyone trying to hit on his girlfriend. but after, he will always check up on you before anything else, asking if you were uncomfortable or if he should’ve come over sooner :( he’s just the sweetest!!

HAN ZHEN

hanjin gets jealous so easily. he looks like the type who wouldn’t do anything about it but he does. he’s so possessive but he can’t help it. whenever he sees another guy talking to you, the only thing on his mind is how to get him away. the thing is, he’s not brave enough to kiss you right in front of someone else even though he’d like to. he’d probably make up some excuse that you needed to go instead, finding a way to drag you back with him and away from the guy. once he’s alone with you, that’s when he gets pouty and whiny, extremely jealous at the fact that you were laughing with someone other than him. you have to do your best to cheer him up, cause he’s not going to forget the uncomfortable feeling of jealousy for a while. he’s extra clingy afterwards because you’re his and he’s the only person allowed to hold you and kiss you </3

HAN JIHOON

he honestly can’t believe his eyes at the audacity of the guy talking to you. shamelessly flirting with you right in front of jihoon. he’s so quick to go over and stop it, but he’s really nonchalant about it. even though inside he’s kinda panicking because he’s not used to being jealous and overthinks things naturally. but in the moment he’s actually able to put an end to the situation so fast. he pulls you aside and he’s so cute he’s like “did you see how i scared him off?!” suddenly all the overthinking is gone and he’s just impressed with his own abilities. forgets he was even jealous tbh because he’s just proud of himself for how he handled it. he’s such a hyperactive cutie he would literally be jumping like so happy with himself <//3 but then his smile drops if you ask him if he was jealous. he gets a bit shy… but still he’d be glowing with pride especially if you also compliment him about it.

LEE KYUNGMIN

kyungmin has some lingering doubt in his head that he's never good enough for you :( so whenever he sees another guy talking to you that he thinks is probably more attractive than him, those thoughts increase a lot. he’s not really sure what to do— he’s scared to go up and try to get you away from him, he’s also scared of what will happen if he does nothing. in the end he’s just on the sidelines watching you with wide eyes, trying to read into your behaviour. of course, you notice, because you only have eyes for kyungmin. and you can tell something is wrong because he’s pouting even though he doesn’t realize it :( you’ll figure it out super quick and excuse yourself from the conversation to go check up on your boyfriend <3 it’ll take several months of getting confident in himself and himself as a boyfriend for him to be able to deal with jealousy situations by himself, but eventually, he’ll figure it out.

↳ tws taglist (bolded could not be tagged): @eternalgyu,, @seunghancore,, @sobun1est,, @talkingsaxy,, @talking-saxy,,

@50-husbands,, @hursheys

[theamityelf]

For the naejunko soulmate vision share au how would the first face to face meeting would go would makoto try to play it cool and what would junko do would she make it very well known makoto is her soulmate or not plus during the killing game with makoto seeing the control room

Ohhh boy, great questions all around! Thanks so much for asking!

For their first face-to-face meeting, Makoto doesn't play it entirely cool, but he approaches the situation similarly to how he approached Sakura being the traitor: He treats it as something that should be discussed privately before it can be made public.

First of all, he arrives at school before Junko does, so he introduces himself to a few people before she arrives.

When everyone has showed up and the official introductions begin, I'm thinking he approaches Mukuro first, says a friendly "Hi," to her, because he's seen Junko bully her and he's felt really bad for her for a while now. (Mukuro doesn't say hi back; she looks to Junko, almost like she's asking permission to interact.)

Then Makoto turns to Junko, and he says "Hi," to her too. It's a noticeably heavier "hi". But not expressly hostile. It's basically a "We both know that I know what you've done, and we need to talk about it."

But he barely gets that syllable out before Junko is squealing, "Soulmate!" and just crushing him in a big hug. "Aww, you're even tinier in person! I could just shove you in my purse and sneak you into a movie theater like a cheap snack!"

"That would be dishonest," Taka protests. "The movie theater sets the price of concessions for a reason!"

"You two are soulmates?" Aoi says. Everyone is looking between Makoto and Junko with curiosity and interest.

"I was so, so excited when I saw your Hope's Peak letter!" Junko continues, ignoring her audience despite clearly performing for them. "I brought you a present. Close your eyes."

"Uh, Junko..." Despite the resolve he had before, now he's blushing. "This is really public. Can we talk privately?"

"Oh. Do I embarrass you?" Suddenly, Junko looks like a kicked puppy. "I'm sorry. I was just really excited!"

"It's fine. I actually got you something, too. But I don't really want our first time talking to be in front of our entire class, so maybe we could meet up at lunch or after school?"

She is going to keep trying to create an atmosphere of...absurdist romance, I guess? You know those deeply uncomfortable videos of failed public marriage proposals? That's kind of what she's aiming for. Being so high-romance that Makoto has to shut her down publicly and everyone feels not-great about it. He manages to dodge a lot of her traps by just being normal and communicating.

Likewise, Junko's every attempt to treat him like a pet or accessory fails because he isn't as easily cowed as she was expecting.

Basically, she can't quite get him to make himself "the bad guy" in front of everyone, and she also can't get him to just let himself be stepped on.

They have a weird vibe. When their morals aren't coming into conflict, they have good chemistry; he works as the straight-man to her quirky persona(s), and their soulmate seeing-through-each-other's-eyes thing means Makoto is often running to stop her from doing things and she's often popping up to back up her soulmate in his mild interpersonal incidents. (Like Yasuhiro asking to sell Makoto's organs, or Mondo getting in his face, or any kind of trouble with the faculty.) Half the people he interacts with are subjected to some kind of blackmail from Junko.

(Lowkey, one of these days I need to actually write this scenario, because it's hard to describe exactly how weird their vibes toward each other would be and how misinterpreted they'd be by most of their classmates.)

As for the killing game, he'd have to be given the full amnesia treatment, like Kyoko. Otherwise, it would take him very little time to take "I know my soulmate is Junko Enoshima" and "I occasionally see through the eyes of someone who seems to be running this killing game" and reach the conclusion that Junko is the mastermind. Especially since he's seen Mukuro's face through Junko's eyes.

With the full memory wipe, all he knows it that he sometimes sees through the eyes of someone who seems to be running the killing game. It seems to mean that the mastermind is his soulmate. That's all the information he has. (Also, he would readily admit that he doesn't remember anything, whereas Kyoko would play that closer to the chest.)

Makoto occasionally seeing inside the data center and the Monokuma Control Room and feeling confused and dismayed by the implications.

Makoto getting weirdly affectionate treatment from Monokuma.

Kyoko knows that she and Makoto both have full amnesia, but not why. Kyoko studying Makoto for any signs of duplicity.

He hasn't told anyone that the mastermind is his soulmate.

(Some of the others in class have soulmates who they suddenly don't feel a bond with, because those people died at some point in the interim. Another reason for Junko to either kill or imprison their loved ones; if they could see the world outside, they'd know about the apocalypse too early.)

Makoto slowly recovers memories of his life and his soulmate. Junko didn't become famous until after they'd been soulmates for years, so initially he remembers seeing through the eyes of a girl his age who happens to be really smart. When he sees Mukuro get impaled, he recovers a memory of his soulmate playing a game with her sister, and he feels twice as bad, but he isn't sure how those things are connected.

He and Kyoko (and to a lesser extent, he and Sayaka) get close in most of the same ways as in canon, and Junko is ruthlessly jealous.

[nerves-nebula]

OK SO HUGE SPIDERVERSE 2 SPOILERS HERE i wanna discuss what themes i was picking up on and that i'm the most excited to see resolved

obviously theres FAMILY and PARENTING but i'm more interested in the themes presented with how The Spot developed and ALSO how that relates to miguel's whole situation

there is one main thing i wanna talk about tho:

inflexibility/the justification of cruelty

To me this is the core of the conflict behind both what happened with The Spot (my beloved) and whats going on with Miguel & the other spider-people's adherence to maintaining the status quo of their shitty shitty lives.

the inflexibility/justification of cruelty is obvious with miguel, it's like his whole thing. but I think it's less obvious with Miles. Miles cracks jokes to cope like a lot of spiders do, but his mockery of The Spot made things WAY worse. Like, here's this guy who tells you a harrowing story of how his life got ruined, and yea it's not entirely your fault but it's also not completely unrelated to you. He's completely alone, no one will hire him, he's a freak! And to top it all off, you won't even let him steal some money so that he can fucking live! whats he supposed to eat, miles?????? where's he supposed to LIVE.

and yea that's a lot to drop on a 15 year old but he's also a superhero (the age of which most people don't know) and the LEAST he could do, the BARE minimum imo, is take this guys pain seriously. even if he does look funny or weird, and he's not a huge threat at the moment.

I think we were supposed to relate to miles while he was fighting The Spot a the start, we saw the meeting with his parents and how bad he needed/wanted to just get the fight over with to stop disappointing them. But if you think about it from the spots perspective the whole thing wasn't just humiliating and frustrating- it cemented in his mind that spider-man was an uncaring and cruel person who didn't give a shit about him as long as he didn't disrupt the status quo of normal people or whatever.

but who cares, right? Miles does that all the time. that's just how things are, right? there's no need to change how he thinks about the lives of the people he fights so long as it doesn't affect him personally :/

And that's kind of what miguel does too. he's just more aware and active about it. he does things he'd rather not do, makes sure people suffer the way he thinks they have to because that's just how things are.

and both of those are probably not actually necessary! it's needlessly cruel to force spider-people to lose the ones they love, and it's needlessly cruel to mock and belittle a man who's had his life ruined to the point he needs to turn to crime just to survive.

I can't prove it yet cause the next movie hasn't come out yet, but I feel like it would be a bad idea for The Spot to die, I can accept him dying but only if they acknowledge that this isn't entirely just because The Spot is like, idk, evil or something. I want them to acknowledge the cruelty and pain that lead to this.

The same way it wouldn't make sense for Miles to end up agreeing with Miguel, it just doesn't match with the themes they've set up so far. Miguel is clearly coded to be in the wrong about what he thinks has to happen, and I suspect there's an aspect of his story/history that we aren't aware of. I can't say how or why but I think he's wrong about why the universe he went to fell apart (maybe he knows that, maybe not?) but I guess we'll have to see.

anyway can't wait for spider-man 3: even more fucking spiders!!!!

[gold-rhine]

Every post you make about HSR just heightens my morbid curiosity about it, especially since while I played the game. I didn’t even get to belobog. Played the tutorial space station whatever and stopped. Literally what the fuck is going on in HSR.

don't be bamboozled by my personal funny presentation, most of hsr story is very boring. like, belobog is very whatever basic plotline that is basically lady and the trump but with lesbians. lesbians are cute ngl, but the ending is ruined. then next region is china, and it's somehow extremely bad and boring. not even in a crazy way, its just boring and there is no character development and shit just happens

then the latest region is america and ok, this one is kind of a shitshow. SPOILERS i guess. so we have america region that is like art deco styled, very stylish, and its thing is that its like a former prison planet that was owned by space amazon corporation, but then rebelled and threw them out. space amazon corporation btw does slavery and like buys and enslaves entire planets, but game still doesnt let u treat them as obvious villains and every time u try to tell them to fuck off, you have to listen to long lectures about how its not that simple.

anyway, so like currently hsr america is like a vacation spot that is selling dreams to ppl, like it has dream space you can go to, and its like very pretty new york basically. but then turns out oh oh, underneath pretty "golden" dream there is poor people ghetto that is used to sustain and power up the pretty dream. there are like hours of dialogues about like how poor get their value "extracted" and blah blah. also there is a nuclear bomb about to go out, but dont mind that, every hsr plotline has same nuclear bomb, its like their gnosis. there is also slavery storyline about a guy who was bought as a slave by amazon and now he's working for amazon enslaving other planets. this guy is white and blond and he's discriminated against bc he has purple eyes. yeah, its america region with huge slavery theme with NO poc playable characters and the main guy with slavery storyline is white. if u thought natlan is worst hoyo could do lol.

another big stylistic theme is christianity, like its a very religious planet and they have like a race of angel-like ppl, they are humans, but they have halos and wings sticking out of their ears. for example, ayaka there is a pop star angel who is basically mormon missionary.

anyway, in the final act instead of resolving obvious conflict of poor ppl being exploited and amazon trying to buy the planet back, they do surprise twist where turns out ayaka's priest brother ayato is a villain who wants to create catholic matrix. bc he thinks poor ppl are too weak and can't live by themselves. heroes stop him by asking raiden (its actually raiden, not like parallel character like ayato and ayaka) to do 9\11 and this somehow brings ppl together. poor ppl keep getting exploited and amazon buys half of the planet. blond guy slavery plotline goes nowhere. raiden says her name is raiden, hi3 fans cheer. oh, there is also a cowboy who's there for like 3 seconds, he does nothing except one deus ex machina. he looks like genderbent version of arlecchino, but from wish and a cowboy.

hope this helps asdfghjkl;fdghj

[windvexer]

hi there! I wanted to say two things. :-)

One! I loved your post about daily cleansing to stay in practice with energy work. I've struggled for a long time to consciously focus on my practice at set times during the day for a variety of reasons, whether it be me being busy, ADHD and whatnot. Since reading it I've cleansed five random things throughout the day each day and I can say so far after a week it does show a difference in helping with my confidence (main sturggle) and also my visualization and focus. So I just wanted to say thank you for that simple and creative post, it's been really helpful for me.

Two! The other thing is. I didn't know you were writing a book! That's really awesome. I am also working on one (fiction fridge "horror" about self acceptance) and though not directly tied to my spirituality it's cool to see other spiritualist writers around. I always struggle with starting the book. I feel like once I get past the introduction and get into rising action, that's when my writing really picks up. Intros SUCK. Do you have any personal quips about how you manage the starts of your books? Motivation wise as well?

Thanks for your patience with the long ask 😅 feel free to ignore if it's too much. I hope you have a nice day.

Horribly sorry this took me a month to get to. As you can see, I clearly have no advice regarding motivation.

I'm super happy that post about practicing sorcery was helpful to you!

I write commercial pulp fiction, which is focused on just telling a ripping fun story - yet also formulaic. In that vein:

Action scene: The POV character attempts to solve a problem in order to achieve a defined goal. There is always a scene antagonist who directly tries to stop the POV character from carrying out their plan. When the scene ends, things will never go completely to plan. The scene ends when the POV character fails in some way, forcing them to retreat and re-evaluate their plans and goals. An action scene always increases tension and pacing. The only exposition allowed in action scenes is there to give context for what is happening right there on the page. Exposition in the form of flashbacks, infodumps, and extended internal monologues is not allowed.

The first time everything goes completely according to plan, the book ends.

Reaction scene: The POV character processes what has happened to them, and has a chance to change. The POV character develops a new plan of action. There is always a scene antagonist who directly challenges the new plan. When the new plan has been finalized, the reaction scene ends. Reaction scenes always resolve some tension/conflict and decrease pacing. Exposition is appropriate in reaction scenes to provide greater context for past events, and to establish upcoming events.

Your opening scene must always be an action scene, never a reaction scene.

Reaction opening:

[exposition] The small town baker wakes up and gets out of bed. She looks in the mirror and thinks about how nice it is that she's a baker who inherited a house from her grandpa, but it's also stressful that her best friend always dates bad guys.

[antagonist] Her friend texts her and asks to go on a double date with the newest bad guy.

[plan] But instead, maybe she should finally get around to baking the rare pokeberry pie who's recipe is so hard to perfect.

Action opening:

[conflict] The small town baker is at a farmer's market. There is a basket of pokeberries, enough to make one pie. There is also a pokeberry bush for sale, but it's sad and wilted. If she can bring it back to life, she could have infinite pokeberries. She only has enough money for one.

[antagonist] The best friend encourages her to give up on her pokeberry dream, saying that the POV character's strawberry pie is county-famous, and that pokeberries are poisonous, and that nobody should ever make a pokeberry pie.

[action/failure] The baker decides to buy the basket of pokeberries, but her biggest competitor buys them first.

[conclusion] She is forced to buy the wilted pokeberry bush.

Between these two openings, I feel like the action one is a lot more interesting to read and write.

Prior advice for writing novels used to recommend your introduction last maybe 20% of the book before you get to rising action. Now, it is common for books to functionally begin with rising action.

As a thought exercise, find a project where you feel like things are starting to get good in the rising action. Cut out everything before the story starts to get good. The chances are that you cut out a lot of exposition and reaction scenes; but by necessity, those reaction scenes are processing things that never happened on page, so they're less engaging.

Start placing stated, on-page goals for your POV characters. Try placing them in the first paragraph of a scene, ideally within the first 1-2 sentences.

If there is any quick trick to zap lightning into a scene, it's giving your POV character a defined goal to work towards. Then, just make sure there is always a scene antagonist, and things will take off.

(Remember, in the example above, the scene antagonist isn't a villain - her best friend is giving her really good advice, but the friend is trying to stop her plan. That is what makes the friend an antagonist)

Your hero is wandering the grimy streets of neo-tokyo, hunting for vampires, but as a worldbuilding thing you want him to walk around so we can see the streets. It's important because we need to start drumming in these specific locations as part of important plot elements later on.

The only problem is, he's just a guy walking around. Give him a goal, immediately. You don't have to say things crudely so there is no mystery; "Jacobo was walking around, looking for vampires."

You can orient your goals around character POV, leaving a little mystery: "Jacobo was walking around, looking for a ramen place well stocked with pork blood."

Once you have defined a goal, worldbuilding and characterization both become more organic:

Jacobo was walking around, looking for vampires. Their dens were easy to find; they always hung out at restaurants, so they could store animal blood in the walk-in freezers.

versus,

Jacobo was walking around, looking for a ramen place well-stocked with blood. He turned the corner and saw a sign for a little cafe that advertised pork blood buns, but that wouldn't do. He was really craving some tonkatsu.

By giving your POV characters specific goals in each scene unique to their immediate interests, you are developing the character. This lets introductory scenes be immediately engaging, because you're immediately developing a character and putting them in situations.

This also creates immediate stakes, because stated scene goals allow you to challenge characters, and facing those challenges is what creates conflict, drama, and tension.

tl;dr:

Start books with action scenes

Start all scenes by telling the reader what the POV character's goal is

Make those goals unique to the character's immediate point of view

Include a scene antagonist in every scene

[childrenofthesun77]

Assuming that the whole 'mahiru is the vessel needed to bring back the count and the 9th servamp will be the servamp of vainglory' theory will be correct, it's interesting how both mahiru and touma can be accused of this sin even if the way it applies to them is opposed.

What touma wants is to be acknowledged and to that end he was willing to become the villain who destroyed the world before mahiru and tsurugi managed to change his mind:

Mahiru's way of being vainglorious seems a lot more positive at first because he wants to be a hero who saves others, but it's self-destructive and encourages laziness in others:

But thankfully we see mahiru starting to let go of the need to make other people proud of him and to prioritize making himself proud in his conversation with tsurugi:

and later when mahiru has a meltdown because he fears his uncle might be dead and suggests sacrificing his life to save the world kuro rightfully yells at mahiru for acting hypocritical and not listening to his own advice:

(I want to mention here that I really love how horrified kuro looks as he realizes that mahiru's reckless hero behaviour comes from a very self-destructing place:

because not a lot of manga I know really acknowledge that maybe the way a lot of their protagonists try to be heroic is actually pretty unhealthy and shouldn't be encouraged? Like Sigurd pointed out at the C3 meeting, it's kind of shameful that the children have to save the day)

Which is why I love that mahiru decided to trust kuro to handle tsubaki without him going with him:

He decides to stay back with everyone else, showing that he has learned that he doesn't need to be the one to do everything and can stay back with the others to buy kuro time.

Interestingly we see touma doing something similar. Opposed to his old need to have the whole world acknowledge him he now wishes for everyone to believe he's dead and he's helping to protect the city by creating a huge barrier without making it known that's he the one doing this:

He's helping the protagonists seemingly with no intention of earning acknowledgement for it.

I think in a way it could be cool of servamp to subvert the shouned trope that for the finale battle the only one able to defeat the big bad is the protagonist while everyone else just watches on from the sidelines, not allowed to do anything because this is the protagonist's moment of glory.

What if lily's plan when he put kuro in mahiru's path was that if kuro tried to stop tsubaki at the gate surely his eve would need to be there with him, right? Because of course he needs his eve to fight and then there's also the distance limit. So why not make the vessel you need at that gate for the ritual to work kuro's eve? Then the vessel would be at the place where you need them without you even needing to do something because naturally they would be thinking they are doing the right thing by going with kuro to fight tsubaki together. And surely someone as vainglorious as mahiru would never pass up the opportunity to be the hero who stops tsubaki. It's foolproof!

Unless of course before the ritual the vessel learned to let go of their vainglorious nature, accepted that it's okay to take a step into the background and trust in others. And additionally also found a way to break through the whole forced proximity thing that the servamp and eves had going on.

I don't know, I feel like it would be a neat bow on mahiru's character arc and a unique way to thawrt the antagonists' plans if the creation of the servamp of vainglory failed because the 'it has to be me' guy they wanted to use as the vessel decided against glory and stayed back to let his partner handle things with tsubaki alone because he trusts him. Kuro on the other hand wants to make up for his past regrets and resolve the conflict through communication this time. Learning to trust in himself again by managing to talk tsubaki out of going through with the ritual on his own would be a logical conclusion to kuro's arc.