#bcs the ends justified the means in his mind
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Something Something ellis making Horrific Decisions during the blight but not seeing himself as the bad guy until after the fact Something Something
#ooc.#honestly his saving grace was his sister who ALSO made horrific decisions during the blight#but did Humble The FUck out of ellis#if not for her Beating The Shit out of him in the deeproads h would have continued to pursue the Horrors#bcs the ends justified the means in his mind#ellis vc: human sacrifice as fine as long as im not the human being sacrificed
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hear me out for genshin x bsd-
atsushi would be a cryo claymore that scales off atk (since the tiger is shown as extremely powerful and can even cut through space) and optimizes physical dmg
dazai would be a geo sword support that increases elemental res, acting as a debuffer (as no longer human works in the bsd universe) he would also scale off em
kunikida would also be geo but catalyst that deals physical aoe dmg.. he'd be an in-slot dps but not an optimal one imao his talents are much better suited to make him a battery unit
akutagawa would be pyro polearm?? or sword?? and he's obviously a heavy dps that scales off crit rate/dmg and tenma tengai could be similar to cyno's burst when, once activated, increases def while simultaneously raising rashomon's atk
chuuya would be an anemo catalyst dps similar to wanderer bc of his gravity manipulation and he would have a melee stance where he atks from the ground and an elevated state where he uses gravity manipulation to be able to atk off-ground. his ult would be corruption obviously and would parallel xiao's where his atk and crit rate/dmg are sharply increased but he undergoes continuous dmg until the duration of his burst ends (in this state he is vulnerable as his def is lowered and he isn't able to accumulate energy meaning he needs a team built around him, preferably with a healer and a shielder)
how does it feel to be the sexiest person on this site w absolutely the most correct and banger takes anon??.. why are u correct on literally everything
#DAZAI BEING GEO IS A SMART MOVE I LIKE THAT. i would've seen him as cryo (bc nlh is blue and also bc cryo is the element of contradiction)#(much like how dazai lashes out against his inherently selfish nature to help atsushi)#(and how he does not see himself as human and feels alienated from human society bc of it yet he is written to be the most relatable-#-character in the show?? or at least i think so)#BUT GEO MAKES SENSE.. GEO REPRESENTS DETERMINATION AND PERSEVERANCE#GEO VISION HOLDERS HAVE MINDS OF STONE AND WILL DO ANYTHING TO ACHIEVE THEIR GOALS#WHILE THIS CAN BE SEEN AS A NOBLE AND DILIGENT TRAIT.. DAZAIS MORALLY GRAY CHARACTERIZATION PUTS A WHOLE NEW TWIST ON WHAT THIS ENTAILS#HE IS MACHIAVELLIAN INTRINSICALLY. ITS WHO HE HAS ALWAYS BEEN. HE BELIEVES THE ENDS JUSTIFY THE MEANS#AND WHETHER HE ACHIEVES THAT THROUGH MANIPULATION OR THROWING AWAY HIS OWN HUMANITY.. HE WILL DO IT IF IT SEES HIS PLAN THROUGH#also kunikida would be dendro imao bc of his adherence and passion for his ideals#which parallels dendro users highly valuing and pursuing knowledge above all#anyway sry for rambling in the tags again those are just my thoughts feel free to disagree <33#lotusâs asks
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finally got around to cleaning o.m nigh.tbringer's 17th chapter, and oh it's giving me thoughts about the si + solomon dynamic again.
#rotating them both in my mind palace or whatever#but yeah there's this thing where in the short term sol can be seen as an optimist whereas the si is often a pessimist in short term#(especially in nigh.tbringer)#whereas in long term he's grim in some ways and is a end justifies the means type#vs the si is the opposite in that regard (but could've been the same till they met the brothers and co) believing in love and others#and they do butt heads bc of this stuff and just bc of how their personalities clash#but they do care for each other. he believes them and is proud of them and they see him as a harbor and genuinely someone they can count on#i don't know if i can fully say it but that is exemplified by their nickname for him#sol as a shortening of his name but also a ref to the old norse word for sun aka sĂłl
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thinkân ab best friend!izu
this was supposed to be js hardcore smut but turned out to be js like reader finding izu weird.
best friend!izu and you laying in your bed scrolling through social media, you go from tiktok to insta to other apps. Eventually you make your way to twitter more commonly known as the new porn cornucopia, mindlessly scrolling you see some funny videos a bunch of unsettling things and even tons of cute cat videos! some things are still wholesome... Izuku was quite close to you, basically spooning you as if you were his girlfriend. Or..maybe it's all in your mind and hes not actually that close..I mean his pelvis is directly up against your ass..and he is constantly shifting his hips...but I'm sure that's nothing! you can feel his breath on your ear making you shiver at the feeling.
â yâ alright?â
you nod with a squeak and a smile at his soft voiced question, his big wide eyes making it seem as if he had true concern. he grabbed the cover at both of your legs and pulled it over the both of you, scooting closer to you as he did so calling it 'making sure you were warm'. Hes just being a good guy...
You two find more funny videos laughing and playing jokes with one another before you scroll once more and see a video, quite an inappropriate one at that. there's a girl in her knees big happy smile and wide eyes not a single thought behind those tears filled mascara laced eyes, she had her tongue pulled out and a bunch of thick bulging cocks appeared muscley hands began stroking repeatedly some fast some slow before they all erupted, plastering different textured white substance into her face, splattering and spilling everywhere. It got all over her face in her tongue some even in her eye, you and izuku didn't say a word as you watched with wide open mouths.
âoh my god..â
Izuku couldn't even speak. His freckled face was burning and he couldn't help the lewd thoughts that began flooding his brain, the most common one;
â what would y/n look like with my cum all over their face....â
He gulped and shook his head trying to get those thoughts to exit his brain as quickly as possible, he shouldn't think of his best friend in such a way! It's disturbing and creepy and unprofessional!! however...as uncomfortable as you looked you had scooted back into him, the two of you were already quite close, the fact you tried to get even closer to him must mean something....right? his mind wasn't just trying to justify his nasty thoughts...no, that would be ridiculous.
Silence filled the room as you both just sat there, the video long ended and it was just left on the screen. You couldn't find the words to say, izuku must've thought you were a perv if something this disgusting pooped up on your feed..but it wasn't your fault, honest! People online just can't seem to keep their clothes on.. so many things had your mind racing and stressing thinking izuku hated you, while he was trying to keep his perverted thoughts in.
Eventually, the silence was broke with something neither of you expected to hear ...
â I think you'd look good with cum all over your face..â
Izuku has gotten closer into your ear and spoke softly with a teasing tone laced through, a small chuckle ending off his sentence. Before he could even process the thoughts that already became words you whipped your head around feeling your cheeks warm. Your eyes looked up at his larger ones with no words at all just blinking as he began stammering to excuse himself.
â ,,what....â
â oh! I- well, uhm! I didnt- waitâ â
He couldn't even find his words, a blushing mess sitting up straight in your bed trying to find the right words to excuse his terrible outburst. You just sat there watching him, no words or even an inch of clue inside of you. You truly had nothing to say about this.
based on the video I accidentally scrolled onto, y'all need to go back to cornhub or something bc why can't i scroll on twitter n find people shit talking each other anymore.đ
#cvnts-post#mha#mha x reader#boku no hero academia#deku x reader#izuku x reader#izuku is so girlie pop#izuku midoriya#izuku#izuku x reader smut#izuku smut#midoriya#midoriya izuku#midoriya izuku x reader#midoriya izuku smut#midoriya izuku x reader smut#midoriya smut#midoriya x reader#midoriya x reader smut#deku#deku smut#deku x reader smut#mha x reader smut#mha smut#like idek
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thinking about the possibility of eddieâs sexuality crisis coming after buddie canon likeâŚ
he and buck start dating and in eddieâs mind heâs justifying it like âiâm not really into men im just into buckâ and buck is the supportive boyfriend bc obviously eddieâs the only one who knows himself, and eddie labeling himself doesnât matter to buck bc all that matters is that theyâre the happiest theyâve ever been together
but then they have sex for the first time (obviously we donât see anything bc this is abc not hbo) but while buck is in this perfectly blissed out state, eddie is panicking bc holy shit⌠is that what sex is supposed to feel like? like i thought i enjoyed sex before because i got off and that was that but this wasâŚ. what the fuck?????
and we get this sort if spiral moment where eddie wonders if heâs been gay this whole time and has just been lying to himself and is wondering what that means for him and shannon? like yeah he moved on from her but⌠looking back did he ever really need to? were the feelings for his girlfriends just misplaced feelings for buck this whole time? has he always felt this way?
and it gets to a point where buck thinks eddie is pulling away from him, and he gets really in his head about it remembering when eddie said that sex just complicates things, and how eddie had that whole crisis over marisol, and then buck had broken up with temu and chris was in texas so both of them were in weird places mentally and oh my god did i force myself on him? is he miserable bc he realized im not actually what he wants? is he going to leave me like everyone else does?
and meanwhile eddie is in therapy telling frank that heâs never felt this way about anyone before and that he thought he was enjoying sex before but it had never been anything like what it was with buck- that before it had been a means to an end but with buck it just felt right⌠and then frank has a really deep conversation about sexuality and eddieâs catholic guilt and explains that only eddie can decide if labeling himself is important or not
then we get eddie making a choice to either label himself or to not label himself (bc all that matters is that bucn is who he wants to be with; im not picky bc i have always been a gay/demi eddie truther, but unlabeled eddie has so much playing room and they could explore so much with that but i also know that realistically they probably wouldnât put that much thought into the actual label but i digress)
and then we get a Kitchen Sceneâ˘ď¸ where they are both super quiet and eddie tells buck they need to talk; buck automatically assumes eddieâs breaking up with him and starts apologizing to eddie and telling him he will give eddie some time and space, telling eddie that he will move on eventually like he has from everyone else. eddie is like âwhat?â and buck is like âarenât you breaking up with me?â and eddue is horrified bc oh my god have i really been that distant? has my crisis really pushed me away that much that i made him think i wouldnât tilt the earth on its axis for him if he asked??? and eddie explains his side of things, ending his little speech by saying âi love youâ for the first time, and buck gets teary eyed and says it back and they share a soft kiss and eddie is like âitâs never felt like that beforeâ and buck admits âitâs never felt like that for me either⌠but i think thatâs what being in love doesâ and the episode ends with a fade to black of eddie leading buck out of the kitchen and down the hallway
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・â â Who Is This DivaâŚ
・â âContent: Izuku Midoriya BF headcanons
・â âCw: a few uses of she/her, one singular pregnancy mention, no use of y/n, light cursing
⌠Always writing in that damn notebook, there is nothing you can say or do that won't end up there
⌠If you're creeped out by it, he will commit what you said to memory and write it down later
⌠The best gift giver. He notices everything about you. From your face to your body to your brain. All of his gifts are thoughtful
⌠Didn't know how to do his own hair until Mina showed him, however if you know how to do it he'll play dumb
"My hair... ? Y-Yeah, Mina normally helps me with it, b-but I seen you take care of your own so... Do you mind helping me instead ? Not that Mina isn't great, b-but she isn't you... Sorry, is that a weird thing to say ?"
⌠Sometimes YOU are the third wheel when Katsuki's around. Good luck with that.
⌠Nervous forever. Constantly apologizing. Trips over everything when you're around. His face is always bright red. Nervous talker for sure. Heaven forbid you compliment him, he might pass out on the spot
⌠He stays on Uraraka's phone. He needs advice before he does anything, especially if you're a girl. He used to take advice from Kaminari, and then he learned his lesson (â  â âšâ â˝â âšâ  â )
"I-It's not sexist to assume she likes flowers just cause she's a girl right ?.... What ?! Of course I know that not all girls like flowers !! .... N-No way I can't just ask her. What if she thinks I'm weird" (â âĽâ ďšâ âĽâ )
⌠Doodles you everywhere. Aizawa is fed up with the scribbled pictures of you in all the corners of his homework. He's debating whether or not he should take point off his papers just to get him to stop. Mic and All Might think it's cute
⌠All this to say he is the sweetest ever. He makes sure to know every single thing about you, it borders on obsession. He follows you around like a lost puppy. His receiving love language is physical touch/quality time, and his giving love language is gift giving and acts of service
⌠Izuku is selfless to a fault, but when it comes to you he can't help but be selfish. No matter how much he gives to you, he feels justified because your love, affection, time, and attention, is the ultimate prize.
â PROHERO â
⌠Interviewers are tired of hearing about you. Any questions lead right back to what you're doing, something you've said, what you think, what you look like. It doesn't matter as long as it's about you
⌠Puts your needs first which can be really nice, but definitely neglects himself in the process. Like this man has chronic pain in his hands, but will stay up until ungodly hours giving himself carpal tunnel making something that you didn't even ask for just bc he knew you'd like it
⌠If you're not a prohero (hell, even if you are), Izuku is overprotective. His worst fear is you being taken from him in any sense of the word. Losing you isn't something he would ever get over
⌠Rarely ever yells, but when he does he sounds just like Katsuki. It's annoying how much like Katsuki he sounds. Otherwise though, he prefers to concede to whatever you want, the only time serious arguments occur is if it's about something like your safety
"Shouto, I'm gonna throw myself off a cliff... No she's not hurt she's perfectly fine don't even joke about that !!! .... The problem ? Shou she's so mad at me.... Don't look at me like that, I'm serious !"
⌠A sass monster. Rarely ever to your face, most of the time it's just a mutter under his breath that you barely catch but you just know he said something smart.
⌠If your first language isn't Japanese then trust and believe he's learning whatever your native tongue is. He has the cutest accent too. If he's feeling bold he'll use your lessons as an excuse to flirt with you, and after that there's a high chance you won't get anything done
⌠NOT a morning person. Clings to you and the bed like his life depends on it. Moaning and groaning in your ears about how mean you are to him, how could you make him get up for early morning patrol ? Death for 10 thousand years have been cursed upon him.
"Hmm ? I don' care 'bour the alarm. Turn it off... Where you goin' ? Noooo don' go shh i's okay, mhmm it snoozes itself. Jus' lay back down, yeah 'xactly baby.... Hmm ? Late ? Patrol ? OHMYGOD PATROL !!"
⌠Pet name extraordinaire. It takes a while until he finds his favorite, so he spends his time cycling through all types of sweet names. Anything from baby to darling to pookiebear to beautiful. He probably doesn't stray too far into weird names, but he dips his toes in if it feels right.
⌠Won't admit it, but he loves it when you flaunt him to your friends. Makes him feel like a big strong man, especially when you feel up his arms. His face flushes bright red and he tries to wave it off but he stutters so much that his sentence is barely distinguishable, but of course that only makes you want to do it more
⌠When you get married it's honestly been inevitable, especially if you met while in highschool. If it was only up to Izuku you would've been married within the month, but lucky for you he has self restraint. If you both want kids they truly won't be far behind marriage, and if you thought he was obsessive before just imagine if you get pregnant.
First post,, how exciting !! Not sure if I'm sticking with this format, but I think I like it. My blog is almost completely set up and I have a few reblogs so... My askbox is open if you so please (â ââ á´â ââ âżâ )
Who f/w black Izuku like I do ?? đŁď¸đŁď¸
・â âRequests open
#midoriya izuku x reader#midoriya izuku x you#deku x reader#deku x y/n#deku x you#mha x reader#mha x you#mha x y/n#black reader#ËËË â
Deku â
ËËË#ËËË â
MHA â
ËËË#ËËË â
Venus writes â
ËËË
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My Problem is:
That it's a let down. Listen I am not mad or horrible dissapointed over that Radahn is there (although sigh i wished we would have gotten that Age of Abundance/Compassion man). I am not mad that he is apparently a puppets and that miquella is apparently the villain from the shadows. I'm mad that they hyped this DLC up so hard, using Miquella's character, which they know to be shrouded in mystery and HYPE, made it appear that we may have the chance to join him/get betrayed by him, made people belief he SPECIFALLY seeks out the tarnished or multiple tarnished at once (to help him?)- that he is the central figure of this DLC when he is not. And thats not an underestimation.
Miquella, most fearsome of the Empyreans, the 'father' of the Halligtree, beloved by near all, who "[...]wields love to shrive clean the hearts of men. (There is nothing more terrifying.)" - does not even have his own bossfight.
No, he is basically just a cape for a boss we already fought to a DLC that costs 40âŹ. He is in the promotion arc, he is said to be a central figure, he is said to be the fearsome empyrean of all. One thing he isnt? Apparently worth the time of day.
I am ok with Miquella being turned into a villain, I am not ok with Miquella being turned into a joke.
There were so so many roads they could have taken with him, he was PROMISING in every regard.
Want to make him a Villain? Fine the reason can be:
=> Manipulation/Enchanting for people to love him (to ensure someone will always look out for him)
-not absolutely evil per say- and it makes sense that someone who is stuck in the body of a child might want to count on many people rather then one person to protect them = it is his weapon to wield affection
- still takes away free will, even consent to some degree
=> Formless mothers influence
- do i even need to explain this one lmao
- already thousands of theories before this DLC thought that miquella might have been negatively influenced by her- especially when so many things in this Game revolve around blood and the power of it
=> "for the greater good" ahh ending
- 'the means justify the end' mentality (maybe even allign with the manipulation and enchanting)
-would be a similar situation to ranni and could mirror it- not the best but also not horrible
=> St. Trina is Miquella's Radagon
- Miquella splitting slowly with the golden order & turning his back to the easier path & planning behind the shadows to change how Things have been? Yeah maybe St. Trina could have been to Miquella what Radagon was to Marika (a guard dog, keeping her checked (sry but i genuinely believe Radagon returned bc Marika started to stray)).
-could also have explored how marika had to deal with it & her relationship to her other self => player could maybe decide who they wished to serve
=> the curse drives mad
- being stuck in the body of a child when you are a grown adult mentally is pure eldritch horror imo, it is not only physically but chances are high it could cause deeper psychological issues
- when grief drove marika mad it can drive miquella mad to that despite everything he does, being so prodigal, does not help and helplessness of it all too
- bc no one can help and no one can understand him
- he is stuck in a body that is his, and yet its the body of a past him, something he should have outgrown, something that belongs to the past- and (IMO) he can not fight truly in his body, not even to defend himself- having to constantly rely on people for your protection when you are an incredible independent creature? Horrible
- while not the most climatic- would it be truly unthinkable that miquella maybe just..gave up? That it drove him mad with grief to realize he spends his life searching for a cure that might not even exist?
- again thats more then a 'what if' then realistic like the rest of the list but i just love the horror adult mind child body
Want to make him a good guy? Fine the reason can be:
=> He is described so. He knew that he would be the next god & took responsibility.
- Miquella created the Haligtree, feed by his OWN blood (which takes far longer and more energy then just using bodies) or all that are rejected by the golden order, he is compassionate & kind. He is protective and by gods above he does want to help, he does break away from the golden order when he realizes they are not what they seem
-With ranni not wanting to become the successor and Malenia cursed with the rot it only leaves Miquella open, he would have been aware of it
- He is already a 'big' brother, caring for malenia, caring for all who were considered Misfits such as the Albinauric & Misbegotten, providing a sanctuary and hope
- Miquella is described as kind, as compassionate someone who basically does wish to bring a change and is ready to self sacrifice for the better
There are many more but guys im so so tired and need to nap. In short: its incredible to me how you can make a Character that had potential for all possible sides (good, evil, inbetween) so bland, his arc and journey feel like white toastbread, his relationship to his beloved sister malenia seems fake, he doesnt appear to be an adult trapped in a body of a child but as simply put an idiot who is all about "me me me me" & then doesnt even get a bossfight.
Im not mad it was written, i am made there was zero thought or reasoning put behind it, when there were so so many options to make it good. Its sorta fascinating that somehow no one likes this ending, not the Radahn Fans, Nor the Miquella or Malenia Fans..idk man. Having feelings about this.
Also im really bummed we didnt get a cutscene were the tarnished touches Miquella's arm to travel like- man.
Also sorry for the grammar/spelling or maybe even logic errors i just needed to vent ngl
#elden ring#dlc eldenring#sote spoilers#miquella#miquella U deserved better im sorry bb#my boy im so so sad guys#shadow of the erdtree#starscourge radahn#miquella was assasinated like abraham lincoln#sigh i just dont know what to say rlly#im just dissapointed#i need to go to bed istg
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Calling Kate selfish and saying she didn't care about Edwina's feelings is the most ridiculous statement ever made when she was the one that sacrificed everything FOR HER.
Edwina was naive and thought that Kate's multiple warnings were misguided protectiveness. Anthony never promised love to her, he stated he was not able to give it to her, but of course she didn't know him at all, she didn't understand him at all (and that was bc Anthony himself never intended to be open with her or anyone really) and that made her think that his courtesy could turn into love at one point. She thought her infatuation with the viscount was love. But she never really knew Anthony and that is not her fault.
I love Anthony but I will always say that most of the blame of Edwina's hurt falls on him. He was the one that kept following Kate, kept looking for her, could barely contain himself in her presence while still courting Edwina against Kate's loud protests and then proposed to the wrong sister.
Kate stopped being loudly against their union when Edwina said she didn't care about his disinterest in love and then pressed for the wedding with full intention on going back to India on her own because Edwina thought she loved him. Kate had never even considered the idea of taking anything when it was for herself. She had spent a life of service to her family and she would have done the same thing again, dismissing her feelings and wants in favor of her family, if Anthony had been able to keep his feelings in check.
Would that have been an incredibly sad ending and worst for all ? Of course it would have! Because Anthony would have never learned to let go of his trauma and would have spent his life keeping his family at arm's length. Edwina would have grown to resent Anthony because of his cold and detached demeanor. And Kate would have spent a life of solitude.
Anthony shittiest action was understanding he loved Kate and immediately going for the worst possible decision, asking Edwina to marry him, especially after what happened between Kate and him in the library. But I understand the reasoning behind his stupid actions. Do I still think he was a huge clown for it? Yeah obviously. But I know that it was a necessary stressful moment to amp up the angst and drama caused by his never addressed trauma and issues.
Either way the rules of their society, the stubbornness of everyone involved and the lack of honesty with themselves and each other plus years worth of unaddressed trauma are the reason behind it all.
I still think that some of the thing Edwina said when angry were not really fitting with the situation (i mean writing wise) but I can justify them if I think of them as words said in anger in the heat of the moment by a young girl who has spent her life following her sister like a guide and not having to worry about the world because her sister would always protect her and take the brunt of it all.
Also one thing that people that blame it all on Kate conveniently forget is that the moment she realized she had feelings for Anthony she WAS ready to tell Edwina, especially after Lady Danbury told her to be honest. But he proposed to Edwina and Lady Danbury told her it was too late to do anything basically and she should just swallow her feelings because the marriage was gonna happen at this point.
Not saying that it's Lady Danbury's fault because she is just trying to work with what society gives them and trying to keep the situation under control, like all the women in the show really...
The moment something was actually about to happen between Kate and Anthony she was gonna tell the truth but Anthony was a clown and society made it worse.
In Kate's mind, at that point, she was just gonna have to keep her feelings in check until the wedding because then she would leave for India and leave it behind.
I keep thinking I am done ranting about this but I see someone being a Kate hater and I have to ramble about all the shit my girl has had to deal with and defend her.
Also I am late to the party so I have many thoughts to express
#i love women always i will love them with their faults and mistakes#hating on female characters is NOT allowed in my space#especially when i love them#bridgerton#bridgerton season 2#kanthony#kate sharma#anthony bridgerton#kate bridgerton#edwina sharma#yapping time#to the random anon that trashed kate in my inbox i just laughed and deleted bc you are a clown lol
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What do you mean by the women from epic the musical was poorly handled? Can you explain? Iâm interested bc I thought that too
ho boy, let's see.
there's definitely a general feminist critique to be had about how few women are in the musical and how small their parts are. obviously i realize the musical primarily follows the leading man and his male crew because that's just how the odyssey works. but it's still a conversation worth having, especially since there are ways to make the existing female characters better. the decision to base this on the odyssey is still a choice.
i don't have much to say about most of the monsters/goddesses. aeolus and scylla are fine. circe is okay, and she actually gets a few songs. personally i think god games should just be cut entirely; it's just athena justifying everything odysseus has done. hera is fine. i don't like how athena stops talking to aphrodite once ares shows up; the line that convinces her is "tell your lover that a broken heart can mend," which is directed at ares.
not mentioning anticlea until she's already dead means her death doesn't really have the weight it should. he's desperate to get back to penelope and telemachus, so it just feels like he forgot about his mom, which makes that tragedy feel a little unearned. he should be just as concerned to get back to her as he is the other two, which means he should mention her whenever he sings about them in the first act. then it would actually matter more when we find out she's dead.
the rest is under a read more because i wrote a lot about athena, and because i need to give a trigger warning for sexual assault for my other points.
athena is clearly the strongest female character and is positioned to be a foil to odysseus. that being said, i didn't really follow her shift in philosophy - going back to look at the lyrics it's because she blames herself for teaching him to be cruel? the goodbye at the start is weird - she's mad at him for not being ruthless, but really the problem is that he's arrogant - which is still something she could chastise him for. idk. either way i don't think her evolution was explored well at all - she basically just changes her mind because she misses him, not because she has actually seen anything to suggest mercy is good. and it's weird that she's only at the beginning, in the wisdom saga, and at the very end. her stuff isn't terrible, but it needs to be better distributed throughout the musical so there can be an evolution. give her one more song towards the end of act one, break up the wisdom saga so her story feels like it's part of the musical instead of a weird distraction in the middle, and actually show us why she starts to think mercy is good. as is her character is too reliant on odysseus in a way that really hurts that the story. bringing up telemachus earlier and exploring that relationship, or penelope and ithica, gives you a chance for athena to see something that helps her change her mind. (i have more to say about her story but that's just about fixing the plot. i think i've made my point here.
okay trigger warning for real.
calypso is really weirdly done. she has one song where she's pressuring him to be with her, and then a song where she refuses to apologize for "unrequited love" or something. odysseus is upset with her and struggling with ptsd in the first song, and then says he loves her in the second. it feels like the musical wants you to have an overall favorable impression of her. there's a lot of discussion about whether or not this is a case of sexual assault in the fandom posts i've seen, but i don't think that's something the musical is discussing. if anything, it takes the stance that it isn't, at least in this version, and that calypso is just some sad girl who wants to be loved. that being said, i've seen some pretty disgusting hatred directed towards calypso in those posts - not clear if it's for the original version, this one, or if there's any difference. either way, the musical needs to decide if calypso is bad/problematic or if she's good/misunderstood, and both of her songs need rewriting. (there's also something to be said about her being the only visibly black female character, but i don't know much about the actual actors for the musical so i'll leave this be for now. but that did stick out to me while watching the animatics.)
i have very mixed opinions about the sirens. the imagery of a group of men standing over and brutalizing a group of women as they beg for their lives was pretty heavy. i don't hate it - it very much sells the idea that the men have become monsters. however, it really bothers me that it basically just. happens. and then we move on. odysseus agonizes over so many choices, but this one seems like it was easy for him, and he doesn't suffer any guilt over it. no one challenges it. so overall it just comes off as a reason to brutalize women, which leaves a sour taste in my mouth. i wish we'd at least get pushback from some of the crew so there's at least some conversation about how maybe this isn't 100% justified. instead, the only mention of the sirens is in god games, where... apollo gives a half-hearted argument about how the sirens sing catchy songs. the other gods at least have a point. and with all of this, athena's retort just feels very victim-blame-y to me. overall, i think there's a way to keep the stuff with the sirens in - but there needs to be more delicacy in how the whole thing is handled.
and finally, penelope. she's probably the worst-written female character in the musical. she exists to 1) be odysseus's motivation/prize, and 2) assure odysseus that he's actually a good person and sure, every terrible thing he did was totally fine, no issue. her first song, which isn't until the last saga, just 1) tells us she's sad, and 2) gives us odyssey plot. the challenge doesn't really do anything to the musical's plot, so you might as well cut it. and her only other song is the finale, where she assures odysseus she loves him and never doubted him and she has no qualms over anything he did because she's a Strong Woman so she still loves him unconditionally. also the bit about the bed is confusing. it's clearly only in there because of the odyssey, and it makes no sense for the musical. penelope has no character in this musical.
(i acknowledge this is a bit hypocritical, but i would actually cut the actual penelope out of the musical. the mentions and cameos of odysseus's idea of her, and the bit with the sirens, can stay, but actual penelope never shows up. i would lean into the idea of her being his prize in a way that leaves you a little unsettled. but also i think odysseus should be the bad guy in the end, so.)
and finally, i hate the decision to introduce the threat of the suitors gang-raping penelope. we already know the suitors aren't great. they're demanding penelope marry one of them. they beat up the kid. there's no need to evoke such a graphic image; i felt sick the first time i heard it, and i don't even have experience with/trauma related to sexual assault. the only point of this song is to justify odysseus slaughtering the suitors, because actually they're all terrible, horrible people. which again just weakens the idea that odyssseus is some kind of monster, because this very intentionally makes him look like a hero. between the decision to downplay the idea of circe or calypso sexually assaulting odysseus (both interpretations popular in what fandom posts i have seen) alongside the brutal violence perpetrated against the sirens and the intentional addition of a whole song about gang-raping penelope, the musical has an uncomfortable focus on violence against women. it's gratuitous and serves no purpose.
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You know what, fuck it, I have to speak my truth! (this is gonna be a rant, so anyone who actually likes assassin's creed revelations and/or the secret crusade, be warned or maybe don't read this at all)
remember how altaĂŻr talks to king richard at the end of ac1, and richard is like "[humans] come into the world kicking and screaming, violent and unstable. it is what we are. we cannot help ourselves."? and how altaĂŻr answers "no. we are what we choose to be." and how that ACTUALLY has meaning bc he himself was "violent and unstable" at the beginning of the game but he has learned and is now CHOOSING to be a better person who cares about others and humanity at large? remember how his calmness and gentleness was something that he ACQUIRED over the course of the story?
and remember how in revelations they then suddenly had a PRE-AC1 altaĂŻr say about the first of his targets "no man should pass from this world without knowing some kindness." and be all wise and calm and collected during a nice little chat with al mualim, who suddenly acts all fatherly? (like, this is suddenly supposed to be a positive relationship? what??)
also, during the confession the target says to altair: "you put too much faith in the hearts of men, altaĂŻr. [...] humans are weak, base, and petty." and altaĂŻr answers: "no. our creed is evidence to the contrary." KJASJFJDKL???? like, itâs almost insulting how close this exchange is to the one with richard. you know, the one that was actually earned after a whole game of character development. like WTF??? cool congrats now that development means nothing. like, apparently that was just altaĂŻr reverting BACK to being the exemplary assassin who understands and believes in the creed that he was apparently just born as. (i also hate how having a young inexperienced altaĂŻr saying this implies that altaĂŻr's faith in humanity is a sign of naivete instead of a sign of the wisdom he has gained after being confronted with counter arguments for a whole game, and also something that distinguishes the assassins from the templars who use humanity's supposed wickedness to justify controlling them like in AC1, but whatever)
altaĂŻrâs development in AC1 mattered BECAUSE he is not NATURALLY a good person, it actually said something about humanity's capacity for both bad AND good and how humans don't have to be forced to be good through mind control bc they can by their own free will choose to be better when taught how and when allowed the freedom to grow. but no. apparently altaĂŻr has just always been calm, wise and gentle. and he just sort of forgot about that during AC1 bcâŚ. ? bc of adha?? bc of abbas???
oh donât get me started on the whole abbas thing. (it doesnt even make sense that abbas is so hung up about his father and "his familyâs honor", like what about the whole point of al mualim not allowing parents to be close to their children bc it would make them weak? like, my dude, youâre not supposed to HAVE any family aside from the brotherhood)
they used the throwaway character that had like 5 lines and made him into altaĂŻrâs main antagonist in revelations⌠like, abbas wasnât supposed to be this ONE dude who had personal beef with altaĂŻr, he was just supposed to show how while altaĂŻrâs revered by many, a lot of his brothers also hate him, bc 1) altaĂŻr is a shitty person at this point and 2) bc thereâs no real feeling of community and family in this version of the brotherhood, but just a pervasive sense of competition and jealousy â these assassins donât care about their goal of safeguarding humanity bc theyâre too hung up on petty squabbles and divided by rivalries (you know, the things that made malik hate altaĂŻr even before solomonâs temple and that he overcomes in the end which enables him to forgive and to reconcile with altaĂŻr so they can work together and stop al mualim? (you ever just think about "we are one. as we share the glory of our victories, so too should we share the pain of our defeat. in this way we grow closer. we grow stronger." and cry? bc i do. all the time. malik, the man that you are))
and now abbas is altaĂŻrâs childhood best friend turned lifelong enemy?? like, bowden bent over backwards to come up with an explanation for why altaĂŻr is an arrogant ass at the beginning of AC1, when the explanation is right there: he was raised to kill without asking questions and was constantly praised for how good he is at murder, which resulted in him becoming arrogant and disregarding human life. like, it doesnât have to be some shakespearean family feud type shit. and guess what, this "simple" explanation actually plays into the storyâs themes, whoâda thunk!
(like, abbas might not have been a "fleshed out" character in AC1, but he had a specific function and now that function is gone. mr bowden, mr mcdevitt, you know characters are allowed to simply exist to tell us something about their worlds and the systems they live in and sometimes thatâs more important and also more interesting than having every single character have a detailed backstory to explain all their behaviors, right?)
with all of this revelations loses all nuance in regards to the levantine brotherhood and also the creed in general. like, altaĂŻr being a master assassin at the beginning despite being a terrible person and not actually understanding the creed is a criticism of the brotherhood and the creed itself. like, it said something about the order that someone like altaĂŻr was able to get that high in rank, simply bc he's good at killing, which also tells us what is considered important in the al mualim era assassin order. when you make altaĂŻrâs arrogance the result of his personal conflicts instead of how we was raised by a brotherhood that only valued one's ability to kill, you lose that characterization of the assassin order itself!
and by suddenly making al mualim a semi good "father figure" you also downplay his manipulation of not only altaĂŻr but all those under his care. (altaĂŻr says something about al mualim being "as a father" to him exactly twice in the codex, but he doesnât mean by that that he WAS a father to him, what he means is that he was the CLOSEST THING he had bc HE DID NOT HAVE PARENTS, not because his mother died in childbirth and his father was executed when he was young btw, BUT BECAUSE IT WASNâT ALLOWED, like his parents actually lived but werenât allowed to be close to him, he says he came to view al mualimâs "weak and dishonest" love as enough and even better BECAUSE HE HAD NOTHING ELSE, BECAUSE AL MUALIM ISOLATED HIS ASSASSINS FROM THEIR FAMILIES. al mualim "loved" him bc he was good at killing people for him! hm, i wonder if this could be trying to say anything about cults and indoctrination and the inherent contradiction in fighting for peace and free will by taking children away from their parents and raising them to become killers?? like, altaĂŻr wasn't ~the special orphan boy~ taken in by al mualim bc his father died a hero's death, it was "the way of the order" to have al mualim be the closest thing to a parental figure for everyone to ensure absolute loyalty! altaĂŻr saying al mualim was like his father is not supposed to make you go "oh, he must have actually been a good guy for altaĂŻr to consider him a father", it should make you go "oh that's kinda fucked up that he considers the dude who made him into a killing machine and who manipulated him a sort of father figure"!)
and then in revelations they suddenly portray that relationship as positive and healthy??? like, it would be one thing to give it some nuance by delving into the psychology behind al mualimâs "love" and maybe showing how al mualim did care about altair in a complicated, fraught sort of way (like, you know, thereâs a lot of interesting things you could say about al mualim at several points addressing altaĂŻr as "my child" in AC1 and how that parallels Garnier referring to the people he drugged and abused as his "children", and what that says about how the templars view the people who they say they want to save and in whose best interests they supposedly act (in any case, al mualim doesnât use that phrase because he has any real parental feelings but rather to patronize and to invalidate any objections, like in a "mother knows best" way))
but they even fucking DARE to parallel that relationship with that of altaĂŻr and darim in revelations, by having the reflection in the puddle of darim hugging altaĂŻr showing altaĂŻr hugging al mualimâŚ. like their relationship wasnât inherently abusive but just tragically cut short because al mualim was just "corrupted by the apple"⌠like WHAT???? so itâs not the very real problems like grooming, manipulation and indoctrination and the hierarchical structure of the brotherhood itself (all of which are antithetical to the assassin ideology), it was just the evil apple all along. great. thatâs DEFINITELY a lot more interesting.
god im sorry i really dont want to spread negativity but this is driving me INSANE. like, somebody please tell me im not crazy bc i feel like somehow most of the fandom is in agreement that revelations and the secret crusade have better storytelling and characterization than ac1.
SPEAKING OF WHICH, can we talk about how, even IF we completely ignore AC1 and treat revelations altaĂŻr as his own characterâŚ. the narrative still doesnât really work?
basically, the whole point of his story in rev is that "he gave his whole life to the brotherhood", this obsession led to him not using his time with his family which has him ending up dying alone in a dark library and this in turn makes ezio reevaluate his life choicesâŚ. except. he doesnât? neglect? his family? or whatever? like, his devotion to the assassins is sort of painted as this tragic flaw that leads to a lonely death bc it supposedly comes at the cost of his family, but⌠his wife has joined the assassins, (at least) one of his sons is in the brotherhood and even when he goes to protect the assassins against the mongols, he takes his family with him (except for the son who stays behind bc he has a family of his own and who, ironically, ends up dying bc of that)⌠like, you canât describe altaĂŻr as a good husband and father in the database and have his son tell him that "everything that is good in me began with you, father" when they say goodbye, and then want to make us believe that he put his family behind the brotherhood and that that is a character flaw that leads to his tragedy.
because you HAVE to have a characterâs tragedy be the result of a character flaw. like. that is how tragedies work. otherwise it just becomes tragedy for the sake of tragedy which is⌠boring bc it has no purpose. and we know it is SUPPOSED to have purpose bc ezIO FUCKING QUITS BEING AN ASSASSIN AFTER WITNESSING IT!
itâs like they want to have their cake and eat it, too â they didnât want to actually make altaĂŻr a bad husband/father, but still wanted to make his life a tragedy where he loses his family which is why instead they outsource all responsibility to abbas who now has to be the reason for ALL the deaths.
like, they try to make at least mariaâs death kind of sort of the result of altaĂŻrâs rashness or whatever but like⌠these guys KILLED THEIR SON and TOLD HIM THAT ALTAĂR HAD ORDERED HIS DEATH. like, altaĂŻr losing it in response to that is not rash, itâs fucking logical and justified! if anything the scene made me angry at maria for trying to stop him. like, GIRL, he was YOUR son too??? but god forbid we give female characters actual real emotions, she has to fill the role of "voice of reason who dies for altaĂŻrâs man pain" i fucking guess.
like, itâs this weird mix where his tragedy is simultaneously painted as his own fault but also not really bc abbas is the one responsible for all the shit that happens. it just⌠it just doesnât really go together.
the only way to make his story make sense narratively and to give it actual purpose is by looking at it in the context of ezioâs story, bc the things he sees in altaĂŻrâs memories are supposed to be a revelation (ha!) to ezio specifically. and i guess thatâs maybe the crux of it all â altaĂŻrâs story in revelations was conceived of first and foremost to support ezioâs story and development. which is probably also why many people maybe donât notice bc, having skipped ac1 and started with ac2, the majority of people mostly care only about ezio and only really appreciate altaĂŻrâs story in as far as it serves to push ezio forward. (tho iâve also seen a few people say that ezio is also written kind of weird in rev, but iâve never really been an ezio girly myself so i canât speak to the truth of that)
like, altaĂŻr dying alone in the library doesnât really have to make sense for his character, i guess, bc itâs only really supposed to be a cautionary tale for ezio.
so, i guess, for once, they actually had a MAN dying for another manâs character development, which is pretty woke actually. ubisoft, i take everything back jksdsfjhgdsahfhsdhfghfdsgjhsdgjh
#assassins creed#ac1#altair ibn la'ahad#malik al-sayf#ezio auditore#asscreed#rant#long post#this is killing me#i even started rereading the secret crusade bc i thought maybe i remember it being worse than it is#but honestly its the opposite#even just the fact that in the secret crusade altair always says some last sentence after his targets' confessions#has me so irrationally angry aksjdfh#like over sibrands body he says something like 'may death be merciful' or something#like? did they want that to be like requiescat in pace or something???#like aside from the fact that altair WOULD NOT FUCKING SAY THESE THINGS#it also just destroys the tension built up by the target's last words#like... i do think it was very much on purpose that the target always had the last word in the confessions#sigh whatever its just a stupid video game from over 15 years ago who cares#(me. i care. unfortunately. i wish i didn't. send help please.)#also the fact that bowden just completely fucked up arabic naming conventions with the whole âumar/darim ibn la'ahadâ thing#(which is kind of an achievement considering that wasn't too great in ac1 to begin with)#tho bc of that they kind of inadvertantly ended up implying that roshan is altairs ancestor which i actually kind of like lol#anyways sorry for this giant wall of text#this is probably (definitely) the longest post i've ever made lmsadjf#but i do think i've gotten most of it off my chest.... maybe#maybe ill add stuff if i come across something else that makes me angry lol#sorry i know i promised an essay and instead delivered a rant#i just dont think i have the capacity to actually structure my thoughts any better kajdsf
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đđ đ đđ đŚđđ đđ đ¤đ đŞđ đŚ đ đ¨đ đŚđđ pt.2 // stiles stilinski imagine
Characters: Stiles Stilinski, fem!reader, Theo Raeken, Lydia Martin Pairing(s): Stiles x you, Theo x you (no use of y/n) Word Count: 5.3k Tags: a fix-it for y'all bc i'm a pushover Warnings: Underage drinking (at least in america rip, they're all 19+), creepy guys in bars, emetophobia, new jersey slander (please forgive me jerseyans)
Request: for all you people i made cry with part 1. this is my love letter to you. A/N: you don't necessarily need to read part 1 to understand, but this is a follow-up to if i could lose you i would.
The night starts well enough. Theoâs hand is a warm, steadying weight against your lower back, and his cologne cuts through the vague funky smell clouding the bar. Lydia chose it; somehow, no matter the city, she always knows about the coolest, underground spots that seem to only circulate within an elite circle of twentysomethings. It really isnât all that shocking when you think about it as you nurse your bitter cocktail; every single person who catches a glimpse of Lydia immediately craves her attention. Unfortunately for them, Lydia always takes you as her date, though lately sheâs been ending your nights out at a stranger's apartment more often than not. Sheâs never said it, but you know itâs because, ever since the disastrous end to her start-of-summer bash, Theo's made himself a permanent third-wheel on girlsâ night. Heâs never said it, but you know he started tagging along because youâve been distant since Stiles poured into your bedroom and pressed on all the bruises his fingertips left behind when he left you. You really thought youâd washed them all away with 3,000 miles, 3 months, and 3 weeks of the scrape of Theoâs teeth.Â
You sip on your fourth drink of the evening, sitting on a barstool because your legs are too wobbly to stand on, and Theo watches you watch Lydia spin a girl with a radiant smile and glitter tinsel in her hair.Â
âYou wanna dance?â he hums in your ear. You can barely hear him over the bass and the buzz of too much tequila.Â
You nibble on your straw and hiccup around it, âDonât think I can.â
Theo makes a move to grab the drink in your hand, and you bend backwards to keep it out of his reach. âCome on,â he frowns, âyou canât even stand.â
âSo?â you purse your lips petulantly and punctuate your point with a loud suck, draining the last few drops of your lime margarita through a few chunks of leftover ice.
Theo looks tired as he studies your face. âWhat the hell is going on with you? I see you every day, and I still donât have a fucking clue.âÂ
Youâre too drunk to pretend you donât know what heâs talking about. Hiccupping again, your nose scrunches, âIâm justâŚI wanna go home.â Theo pats his jacket pockets for his keys, and you shake your head a few too many times. âNo, not there.â Your stomach turns when you finally realize what you actually mean. You want to hitch a ride on the melting ice in your glass and dissolve into knotted hair on Sunday mornings, freckled skin washed with the shifting sun, and pouted pink lips, cursing the snooze button and your cold toes. You donât say that. Youâre drunk, not cruel. âI wanna go back to Stanford. I hate it here.â
Theoâs eyes are shadowed in the dim light of the club, but theyâre calculating. âYou really think thatâs far enough?âÂ
Blinking slowly, your mind spins with the drinks in your stomach as you try and fail to think of something clever. âFeels far,â you mumble, and Theo doesnât look reassured. Itâs hard for you to differentiate pain from anger through watery eyes and the brume of tequila, but whatever emotion is darkening Theoâs expression, you think itâs justified. Heâs smart enough to know what you mean.Â
 His face goes blank as he searches for his keys again, âI think thatâs enough fun for tonight.â
You shake your head and wriggle down further into the cradle of your hips, âI wanna stay.â
Theo exhales through his nose and runs a hand over his face, âI thought you wanted to go home.â
Your tongue is thick as you struggle for words, sniffling as they tease you from the fraying edges of consciousness. âNot there.â You know you sound like a baby, recycling the handful of words you can remember, and you know that tears will only make it worse, but they still bubble along your lash line.
âStay at Lydiaâs then,â Theo spits out through gritted teeth, but he shoves a napkin towards you to mop up your running mascara, so you forgive him. Itâs your fault, after all. At least, you think so as you watch him leave.Â
âBoyfriend troubles?â Your head lulls to the side as you blink dumbly, all big-eyed and glassy, at the stranger leaning against the bar beside you. Heâs tall, well-built too, but youâre mostly focused on his pungent cologne. Itâs hard not to; youâre suffocating in it.Â
The man laughs and grabs your chin, shaking your head a little, âYouâre adorable. How could anyone stay mad at you?âÂ
You recoil, wrenching your face from his sweaty grasp, and run your tongue over your teeth. âHeâs notâŚâ your protest gets lost in your throat when he steps into your space and slides his hand along your spine, just shy of your ass. Your dress is backless, completely exposed to his wandering gaze, and your skin crawls with the sensation of his fingertips grazing your back.
His breath is hot and wet on the shell of your ear, âYou want to forget about it for a while, angel?âÂ
âNo,â your head jerks from side to side, eyes screwed shut, âI donâtâI think Iâm gonna puke.â
A wave of relief rolls over you when a red-taloned hand slithers between your bodies. Lydia shoves the strangerâs chest sharply, sending him stumbling into the stool behind him, and his hand falls from your hip.Â
âDoes it look like she wants to contract something from a limp-dicked lowlife in tacky shoes?â The top of Lydiaâs head barely reaches his shoulder, but her eyes are sharp and her sneer is venomous. The creep has the good sense to look a little afraid. âYou have exactly two seconds to get the hell out of here before I personally ensure youâre on every public sex offender registry from here to Quebec.â
She grabs your hand before he has the chance to disagree and pulls you into the bathroom. In comparison to the loud, muggy dancefloor, itâs a wonderful reprieve: an oasis of cold air and muffled bass.Â
Lydia fusses over you for a minute; you wave off her concerns and push yourself onto the sink even though your arms feel distinctly gelatinous. You can tell she doesnât believe you, but men preying on drunk women is a tragically large and present underbelly of girl world, so after a moment she turns her intense focus to the lighted mirror. She looks perfectâshe always looks perfectâbut she wonât believe anyone except her own reflection.
The aching strain in your arches slowly dissipates to a faint tingle the longer your feet dangle from the counter, your heels discarded below. Theyâre black strappy things from the back of Lydiaâs closet, and so is the scrap of black silk that Prada has the audacity to call a dress. You are grateful, however, for the short hem and open back now that your skin finally has the chance to breathe.Â
You watch Lydia apply her lipstick with a precision brain surgeons could only dream of, smiling lazily. Sheâs graceful with the slender brush, like Botticelli stroking a swathe of red silk over a canvas of smooth skin. You envy her, with your eyeshadow already melting below your waterline, but mostly you love her. So proud to have such a goddess for a best friend.Â
Her head tilts as she smiles at you, and she must be at least a little godly because she doesnât smear her lipstick when her mouth curves. âWhat?â she hums around her puckered lips.Â
âNothing,â your words slur together, âyouâre just perfect.â
She tucks her lipstick into her clutch and shakes her head, âAnd youâre so drunk. Lethal, babe.â
âI love it,â you sigh as she starts fixing your hair, clicking her tongue when you start to fidget. You slump into her careful touch and watch her fingers smooth through a few knots near your ends. âBeing drunk is my favorite.â
She twirls her finger, indicating you should turn around, and begins twisting your flattened curls into an elegant bun. âIâve noticed,â she mutters through the bobby pin clutched between her teeth, âyouâve been drinking more than youâve sober lately.â
âItâs summer!â You blow a curl off of your nose and close your teary eyes so that your mascara doesnât flake onto your cheeks, âYouâre supposed to be drunk.â
Lydia hums and pulls a few strands of hair loose to artfully frame your face. âI didnât realize alcoholism was seasonal.â
âYou,â you bop her nose and giggle when it scrunches under your finger, âare being a major buzzkill. Donât kill my buzz; thatâs murder in the first.â
âSomeone has to be.â Lydia leans her hip against the sink, and her brows curve, âWhereâs Theo? I thought he was your DD tonight?â
You let the intoxication sweep over your senses because itâs easy and knock your ankles together like a child on the swings. âHe left,â you chirp.
âHe what?â
Your bottom lip juts out a little, âI think I hurt his feelings.â
Lydia is incensed. She tosses her hair over her shoulder and mutters a few choice words under her breath, âIâm going to hurt a lot more than that when I find him.â You curl in on yourself a little, and she sighs, unwinding her fingers from tight fists as her eyes soften. âHe really left you here?â she asks quietly.
You shrug, refusing to feel sorry for yourself, and make grabby hands at her sleeves, âItâs okay. Youâre here, and youâre my best friend, and I love you.â
She laces your fingers together and squeezes your hand, âIt is not okay. That creep had you halfway to his car.â
You shudder at memory, and feel the ghost of the strangerâs clammy hand against your lower back, âBut you rescued me. So itâs okay.âÂ
You frown at Lydiaâs frown and push her cheeks together, squishing her mouth into a crinkled half-smile. She rolls her eyes a little and takes your wrists in her hands gently, âHe shouldnât have left you. It was a shitty thing to do, babe.â
âI made him sad, I think.â You hiccup a little, âI think I always do.â
âHe canât leave you blackout drunk in a skeezy bar just because youâre in love with someone else,â she huffs.
You tease the tip of your tongue through your front teeth, swinging your legs back and forth below the sink, âIt wasnât skeezy when you picked it.â
Lydia huffs again and folds her arms over her chest, âThat was before I saw tall, dark, and creepy try to take you home.â
Your playful grin crumbles as your drunk-numb mind finally catches up with the burning behind your ribs. âIâm in love with someone else,â you say, voice sticky and thick in your throat.Â
She lets out a sigh so soft you wonder if you just imagined it and takes both of your hands, âI know.â
Whimpering quietly, you turn your nose into your shoulder, slightly embarrassed by the sound. âIâm sad about it.â
âI know,â Lydia combs a few strands of your hair off of your tear-tacky face and smiles a little, âletâs get you home, okay?â
Another round of nausea hits you as you finally realize that youâre truly, really, horrifically drunk, and you still canât forget him.Â
âI donât think I know where that is anymore.âÂ
Lydia was able to corral you into an Uber after you puked a few times. She held your hair back and helped you brush your teeth. You cried a little when she wiped the sweat off of your face with a makeup wipe, watching her take care of you with big wet eyes, as she tucked you into bed like the baby tequila and heartbreak had turned you into. She made you promise to call her in the morning, and then she left you to sleep off the ache in your throat and the six margaritas in your bloodstreamâor was it seven, you canât remember.Â
You canât remember much, it seems. You scroll through your feed for a while and squint at the blurry splotches of color, trying to recall if you were good enough friends with the girl from software systems to leave a comment on her post about how hot she looks in red. Your fingers drift, swiping away from Instagram to the only thing you remember. The thing youâll always remember.
The phone rings exactly two times.
âHi.â Itâs the only thing you can think of besides, âI love you. I love you. I love you. Please make it stop.â
âHey.â You listen to Stiles breathe on the other side of the line and snuggle further into your pillow. âYou there?âÂ
His voice is soft in your ear, and your eyes go lidded, âUh huh.â
He clears his throat, âWhat are you doing up this late?â
You twist around your sheets, and the tip of your tongue pokes out at your phone. Apparently, youâve also forgotten that he canât see you. âWhat are you doing up this late?â
âItâs uh,â Stiles pauses and thereâs a rustling sound on his side of the line, âalmost 8 here.â
You blink and frown at the time on your screen, âNuh uh.âÂ
Thereâs a pause; you hate it. You want him to keep talking until you fall asleep. He finally sighs, âAre you drunk?â
Your tongue pokes out again, âIâm not the one who canât tell time.â
âBaby,â your heart skips and your breath hitches, and he must be tired because he doesnât seem to notice the slip, âweâre in different time zones.â
Your heart stumbles over the skip this time, and it feels a lot like flatlining. âYou went back already?â
âI, uh,â he shifts, must be in his desk chair because you can hear something rolling, âmy lease started. Figured if Iâm paying to live in Philly, I should actually, yâknow, live in Philly.âÂ
âOh.â One little syllable, and itâs heavy with so many things you canât bring yourself to dwell on it.Â
âYeah.âÂ
âSo, uh,â you hear him scratch at something, most likely the back of his neck because he sounds anxious, âwhyâd you call?â Heâs quick to correct himself, words overlapping like ripples in a creek, âNot that Iâm not glad you called; Iâm stoked you calledâor maybe something a little less embarrassingâbut I, uh,â thereâs that scratching sound again and a quiet thudding of drumming fingers, âI really didnât think you would.â
âDunno,â thereâs a smile in your voice, but you arenât sure if he can hear it through the wobble, âjust started dialinâ, nâ I ended up here.â
He stands, and the phone shifts against his cheek as he starts to pace, âWhere are you?â He sounds worried. You frownâyou donât want him to worry. You want him to hold you.
âHome,â you pause, nose wrinkling because thatâs not quite right, and then add, âmy house.â
âDid you drink anything?â
âClearly.â
You can hear the eye roll from the other side of the country when he huffs into the phone, âI meant water. Did you drink any water?â
âUh,â you nibble on your lip, âyes?â
He huffs again, but this time you can tell heâs smiling, âGet up and get some waterâAdvil too. Put it on top of whatever book youâre reading so it doesnât get lost in your pile of shitty chapsticks and hair thingies.âÂ
Your eyes cross, affronted, âThey are not shitty.â
âTheyâre an endless cycle of chapped hell.â
âBut they taste good,â you grumble, cuddling your pillow to your chest.
Heâs smirking; you know it. âOh, I know.âÂ
You both just breathe through the line for a long moment, remembering the same slick slide of lips and tongues.Â
âI miss you,â you whisper.Â
Stiles inhales sharply, âI miss you too.â
âNo,â you shake your head, smearing mascara on your pillowcase, âI miss you.â Your mouth is dry, and you canât find the right words to explain it, how heâs apart from you even when heâs standing right there. There just arenât enough words in the English language to explain the ache in the marrow of your ribs, how he still lingers inside your skin like some kind of fucked-up, agonizing osmosis, how you love him so tortuously, so effortlessly. Indefinitely.Â
You canât explain, but when he whispers, âYeah, me too,â you know he knows.Â
You sniffle and hiccup a few times, and a sigh crackles through your speaker. âDrink some water for me, okay?â
âOkay,â you whisper. You roll onto your stomach and sit up a little on your elbows, âWill you stay?â
âYeah, baby,â his chair squeaks as he sits back down, ââtill you fall asleep.â
âPromise?â Your voice is thick, like youâve been crying for hours, and Stilesâs voice is tight when he finally replies.Â
âPromise.â
You wake up with dry eyes and a rank taste in your mouth. Thereâs a glass of water and a handful of Advil on your nightstand, and you just know. Youâve known for a while actually, maybe forever, but you canât pretend you donât anymore.Â
Theo seems to know why you invited him over so early on a Sunday morning. He doesnât even look sad when you officially end it, and you wonder if itâs because he knew it was over a long time ago. You wish, selfishly, that he wouldâve let you in on the secret so that you couldâve avoided all this. You hug him before he leaves, and itâs stiff and awkward, and you feel a little shitty about the whole thingâbut it doesnât feel wrong.Â
You feel like yourself for the first time in a long time, and that feels good.
Summer is almost over, and you donât have the time to obsess over all your wanting. All the air leaves your body sometimes, no room for anything but honey, veins, and new stubble, but you have so much to do. Thereâs no time for drowning in it when youâve only got a few weeks before the semester starts.Â
You donât even have the time to acknowledge the nerves wriggling up your esophagus until youâre standing in front of a black door. Your screen is lit with the address Scott texted you, along with roughly 100 exclamation points and a dozen or so brain explosion, party popper, and happy face emojis. They steady you as you knock on the splintering door. The unit is cute and quaint, and you distract yourself by getting a better look at the sage green columns.Â
Stiles opens the door, looking disarmingly soft in his worn sweatpants and stretched-out t-shirtâlike cuddling on the weekend, like playing video games until sunrise, like home. He blinks at you slowly, pretty pink mouth slightly ajar.
You shift on the soles of your sneakers, jamming your hands into your hoodie pockets. âHey.â
He blinks some more and seems to be only capable of repeating what he hears, âHey.â
âSo,â you dig the toe of your shoe into the porch, staring at a warped patch, curved from seasons of melting snow, and shrug, âI was in the neighborhood. Thought Iâd drop by.â
He recovers from his stupor and leans against the doorframe, hands tucked under his armpits. âYou were in the neighborhood,â his head tilts with his arched brow, âin Philadelphia.â
âWell,â you try not not to smile, âit was on my way.â
Nodding, Stiles rubs his chin and purses his lips. You want to kiss the smirk off of his stupid face. âRight, the classic eastbound Stanford route.â
âNot quite.â You adjust the strap of your duffle bag on your shoulder, easing some of the ache pinching at the base of your skull, âNew transfer orientation is on Monday. Turns out Princetonâs comp sci department is decent.â
His face becomes guarded, but thereâs a little something like hope behind the uncertainty, â4th in the country.â
Something warm inside your stomach flutters. He knows. Of course, he knows. He probably researched it all the way back in high school. You brush your hair out of your eyes and hum, âMhm.â
Stiles slides his socked foot back and forth, slipping on the polished floor of his cozy entryway. He barely catches himself on the doorknob. You laugh until he says, âStanfordâs 2nd.â
Your shoulder lifts, âThat's correct.â
His chin dips as he searches your face for something. You smile at him, and he swallows; it looks painful. âYou turned down MIT because it was too far from home.â
âThat's also correct,â you say quietly with a jerky nod.Â
His eyes go wide as he shakes his head, almost violently. He almost slips again with the dramatic effort, âMITâs 1st in comp-sci.âÂ
You steady him with a palm against his chest, swiping your thumb over his ribs. His heart thrashes under your touch, and your face lifts with a timid, tender smile. âSure, but Princetonâs ranked #1 nationally. Overall champs, baby. Suck it.â
Stiles finally smiles, but itâs hesitant. âYou donât say.â
You let a breathy exhale and drop your hands to your sides, curling and uncurling your fingers into tight fists. Heâs still looking at you, a cute little wrinkle in-between his brows, waiting for something more. Fair enough. He kind of laid it all out on the line the last time you spoke in-personâhe kind of deserves to stew a little after everything he put you through, but youâve forgiven him, decided you want to be happy more than you want to punish him.
You roll your shoulders back and tilt your chin to meet his gaze. âI donât believe in soulmates.â
Stilesâs face goes sour, and he crosses his arms firmly over his chest, mouth twitching between a pout and a frown. âYou stopped in Philly just to tell me thaââ
You rock onto your tiptoes to press a finger to his lips, biting back a smile when they pucker like a fish, and say, âWill you kindly shut it for a minute? I need to get through this. I practiced a lot on the plane.â His eyes narrow, sullen and irritated, but he keeps his lips pressed together, waiting impatiently for you to finish.
You slip your finger from his mouth to cup his jaw, thumbing just below his cheekbone, and his body goes lax, irritation slowly seeping from his lanky limbs to the floor. Grinning, you poke the tip of your tongue at him, and he swallows hard as he tracks the movement.
âAs I was saying,â you smile through the snark and slide your hands to his chest, resting against the vibration of his thudding heart, âIâve been doing a lot of thinking lately, and I donât think thereâs just one person out there for everyoneâbut thatâs a good thing, right? I mean, the entire concept of a soulmate is basically just a blackhole. Youâre falling, and falling, and fallingâand thereâs no end; youâre just trapped. There's no choice. I donât want to love like thatâI donât want to love you like that.âÂ
Itâs cute, the way his face screws up around a theory. Itâs a familiar expression, and you canât help but melt at the knees while you watch his eyes flick back and forth, adding up all your expressions and trying to calculate the meaning. The corner of your mouth pulls into a slip of a smile, âIf I turned around right now and never saw you again, Iâd be okay. I mean, I wouldnât drop dead or anything.âÂ
He sucks in sharply, head jerking back, âWhat the fuââ
âHush, Iâm almost done.â You keep going before he can interrupt you again, rushing through the rest of your speech, running out of air and restraint, âI think that I could get over you, eventually, years and years from nowâbut the point isâwhat I realized is: I donât want to. I donât want to get over you. I donât want to find someone else. Stiles, I love youâIâm in love with you, and I really think thaââ
His lips are wet and warm against yours, and you whine softly into his mouth at the familiarity. He hooks his thumbs in the belt loops on your jeans and yanks you closer, until your chests are pressed together and you can feel him breathe. You were rightâthe beard burn is delectable.
The kiss slows into something less desperate, something more like forever, and Stiles brushes his lips over yours in a few chaste pecks. When your lashes finally flutter open, you see that heâs grinning at you. Itâs so wide, so happy, and his eyes crinkle at the corners as he says, âSorry, you just would not shut up, so I figured it was either kiss you or shove something in your big mouthâand Iâm not super confident in my CPR skills. Scott and I really spent most of the time figuring out how many pencils we could fit into the dummyâs mouth.â
âI take it back.â You push his face away from you, but a laugh bubbles past your swollen lips when Stiles pinches your waist. âI hate you.â
âNope. No refunds.â Stiles shakes his head solemnly and wraps his hand around your hip, squeezing possessively, âYou kiss it, you buy it. Thatâs what Coach said about the dummy.âÂ
âWell,â your arms find their way around his neck, and your fingers wind into the soft hair curling behind his ears, âyou are a dummy.â
âThe dumbest,â he agrees. Heâs smiling, but his eyes are sincere, cloudy with guilt. âBaby, I never shouldâveââ
You take great satisfaction in your turn shutting him up with a kiss, tugging on his hair until youâre on your tiptoes and heâs groaning into your mouth. âI think weâve been miserable for a long time,â you whisper, breath ghosting across his shiny lips. He shivers, and you press your temple against his forehead, âI think Iâve had enough of it. How âbout you?âÂ
Stiles nods quickly and dips in to kiss you again. âCan I say sorry one more time?â he mumbles, kissing the ridge of your ear.
âI suppose,â you sigh and fall back onto your heels.Â
He takes your bag from your shoulder and guides you into his apartment, kicking the door shut so that he doesnât have to let go of your hand. Thereâs a thud as he drops the duffle bag onto the floor, and you barely have the time to take-in the ratty little sofa and coffee table piled with empty pizza boxes before heâs on you again. âIâm,â he kisses the corner of your mouth, and it twitches with the contact, âso,â his lips trail to your cheek, âvery,â he presses a kiss to your temple, âtruly,â to your hairline, âforever-ly,â to the tip of your nose, âsorry,â to your mouth.Â
You sigh as he settles in for a real kiss and fall back onto the couch with him on top of you, disrupting his rhythm with a breathy giggle. He braces his weight onto his arms, and you wriggle down until your face is directly below his. âHi,â you trace his bottom lip with your finger, smiling when he purses his lips to kiss it.Â
âHey.â He looks drunk: cheeks flushed, eyes hazy with pleasure, body loose and free from critical thinkingâand you think to yourself that youâd do just about anything to make sure heâs this happy for the rest of his life.Â
Stiles rolls, bringing you into his side with an arm around your waist, and presses against your lower back until you're crushed against him. Still, you squirm closer. Neither of you say anything for a long time, content with the sound of each otherâs breathing, and then Stiles hums in his throat a little and plays with the ends of your hair, âSo. Youâre gonna live in New Jersey.â
âYup,â your mouth pops with the âp.â
He grins, âWow. You must, like, really love me or something.â
âOr something,â you tease, and he bites your shoulder in retaliation.Â
âJersey isnât so bad,â his voice is muffled against his teeth, still embedded in your sweatshirt. Well, his technically.
You laugh, âItâs not?â
âNah,â Stiles pulls back to look at you and scratches at the back of his neck, lifting a shoulder, âwouldnât mind living there for theâŚbeaches.â
âThe Shore, you mean?â you grin, trying to imagine Stiles with a bad spray tan and slicked back hair.Â
He grins right back and strokes your cheek, âYeah, Iâd move there for the Shore. Iâve actually been searching for just the right opportunity to show off my scrawny arms and pasty complexion. Itâs like, what, a 40 minute drive from there to Penn?â
âTrenton would be around that, but I was thinking Pennypack would only be 30 from Princeton.â Stiles looks at you through lidded eyes, suspicious. You grin, âFor the cheesesteaks, obviously.â
âObviously,â he quips, but you can tell his heart isnât in it. His face turns serious as he whispers, âYou donât have to do this,â into the quiet air humming between you. âI wouldâve transferred to a school in California if I knew you still wanted me.â A flash of something ignites behind his eyes, warming the amber to whiskey, and he sits up a little, reaching over your head for his phone, âIâll do it right now.â
You clutch his wrist and shake your head, pulling on his arm until heâs close enough to feel your lashes brush against his skin, âThatâs why I didnât ask. Youâve been dreaming about this program your entire life.â
Stiles is unusually still as he stares you down. His incisor digs into his bottom lip with a cruel bite, âWhat about your dreams?â
You huff, âWhat part of #1 donât you get? I literally just told you to suck it. In case you forgot, I cordially invite you to suck it again, #6.â He smiles, but his eyes remain unconvinced. Your face softens, all the muscles and cartilage going gooey with affection, âIt was never about Stanford, Stiles. It was about home. Guess it took you going away to figure out home sucks without you. S'not really home at all, actually.â
His lashes flutter slowly as he blinks, shaking his head, tongue running over his teeth as he struggles for air and words in equal measure. You kiss him until he finds them. âI know you donât believe in it,â Stiles breathes out, âbut I donât think I could survive you being gone. Not again.â
You stroke over the planes of his face and hum thoughtfully, âI believe you wouldnât want to.â Your shoulder twitches with a quick shrug as you add, âI know I donât.â
His mouth chases your fingertips, pressing kisses to them every so often, and he closes his eyes heavilyâlike he hasnât slept in months, maybe since the night he broke up with you. âThese last few months have been just the fuckinâ worst,â he finally manages a smirk after you kiss his nose in agreement, âlike a fuckzillion times worse than the summer I broke my leg, and you and Scott signed up for rec soccer without me.â
âYouâve got to let that go,â your voice is high and whiny, and Stilesâs smirk widens, âwe didnât even win any games.â You tickle him, heart leaping into your throat when he laughs and squirms away from your relentless fingers, âDidnât have our good luck charm with us, obviously.â
âObviously,â his grin is smug with satisfaction. Stiles tangles your legs together, legs clunking clumsily but thatâs just part of the delicious charm, and hooks his chin over your shoulder, âSo, Pennypack, huh.â
You nod, âI really donât want to live in Jersey.â
You canât see him, but Stiles peers at you, a little dubious, a lot fond. âAnd itâs not just for me?â
You grin, caught, and shake your head firmly, âAbsolutely not.â
âItâs for the cheesesteaks,â his brow arches, and he seems to finally understand when the room becomes a swathe your smile, of your bubbling laughter: He makes you as happy as you make him.Â
âObviously.â You mean, I love you, I love you, I love you, and I never ever want to stop. Stiles hears it, of course he does, and he says it back, sealing it with a kiss, âObviously.â
#stiles stilinski imagine#stiles stilinski x reader#stiles stilinski#dylan o'brien imagine#stiles stilinski x you#dylan o'brien x reader#stiles stilinski fanfiction#stiles stilinksi x reader#teen wolf
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im gonna say something that's probably a bit controversial but. up until the last ep of S4 of You, i really wanted to believe Joe could change for the better. i deadass justified every kill. but after killing an innocent college kid, i thought that was my last straw. but THEN in S5 i fell for it again when i saw he "just wanted to be a good husband and dad" etc and especially when he started crying in the cage, it made me feel sorry for him again. and that's the thing. i really wanted to believe he was just deeply traumatized and misunderstood and just like Bronte, i really believed that he only had good intentions and maybe he just went about it the wrong way and didn't actually mean harm to any of those he cared about, but just like her, i really thought there would be a way to "fix him" and i secretly really hoped there would be a good ending for him. bc he was just deeply hurt and needed help. and tbf he probably does.
but up until Marianne's little speech to Louise/Bronte, i'd been willingly blind to all the actual hurt he'd caused. but then, bc of Louise's change of mind i was able to see that all of them had been right about him.
and that's the thing about toxic relationships. you keep on believing they're not as bad as they all make it sound bc you feel like "you know them better," and you know "they don't really wanna hurt anyone," or "it's all bc of their own trauma," or "they're just hurt and misunderstood," and you keep making all these excuses, but just bc they're hurt themselves, it gives them no right to go around abusing others, or not being held accountable for their actions. and no matter how much you hold on to that hope that you'll be The One to change them/fix them bc you're oh so special and different, at some point you gotta wake up from that fantasy and cope with the reality of who they really are. no matter how "good" you think they could be or have been towards you. bc if they're willing to hurt others like that, there's no reason they wouldn't turn on as easily as they did with others.
mannn this show was like a slap to the face and a punch in the gut and a broken ankle and a million stabs all at once.
and that ending???? his commentary on society??? how they still send him love letters even after everything??? mannnnnn. loved it.
#you netflix#joe goldberg#louise flannery#bronte you#you spoilers#penn badgley#you season 5#xan posts
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chapter 15: mistletoe pt.2
a/n: lowkey short chapter bc I had to dig to find my motivation.
The day after, Y/n woke up to loud voices echoing in the house; being half-asleep, she rubbed her eyes and sat up, taking in her surroundings: next to her, where Minji was sleeping the night before, was a tidy bed.Â
The sight made the youngest groan in frustration, annoyed that her friend was probably having breakfast without her, and also dared to stop cuddling her. Unacceptable.
As she stared at the empty space for a little more, contemplating the way she could use the situation to make Minji feel guilty and receive more presents on Christmasâs day, from the corner of the eye, a glimpse of a note caught her attention.
On the pillow, there was a folded piece of paper that said âfor Y/nâ.
Curiosity and worry got the best of our stupid protagonist and she opened it, to her, it was either a suicide note or a lame joke that Minji thought once she woke up.
Opening it with trembling fingers, Y/n thought of the worst and her anxiety only flared up at the words slurred into the piece of paper.Â
âIâm sorry about last night, I shouldnât have kissed you back. Iâm sorry for writing this and for leaving you alone.â
The first paragraph was apology after apology, the ink blurred and made a mess because of the wet stains on the paper, signaling that Minji was crying while writing the letter. The doubt creeped into her mind that this was all a dream.
She had to be dreaming.
âWriting this feels like betraying you, Y/n, but the guilt of ending up becoming more⌠I canât live with it. You donât deserve it, the hate of the netizens if they find out, the looks on our parents' faces.â
A desperate, sarcastic giggle left her lips. The hopes of another Christmas together were shattering right in front of her. That couldnât be their last Holidays together, it wasnât possible. After almost a decade of being friends, Minji was letting everything go because of a kiss?
The promise of growing up and succeeding together, the secrets â Their entire lives.
Did all of that simply didnât matter anymore to her?
âI know youâd be able to keep it up in front of the world, but Iâm different. Iâm not like you, Iâm not strong nor patient, and if I canât love you freely Iâd rather not love you at all. My feelings will pass and yours will too. Iâm sure of it, youâre easily bored after all.â
The piece of paper fell to the ground with calmness despite the weight of the words written on it. Y/n didnât talk, her head felt light and dizzy, overwhelmed with dread, sadness, anger and fear.
Slowly, the loud voices began to have a meaning, becoming distinct sounds: Y/n could hear Minjiâs mother yelling at someone, her own mother trying to reason with her, while a male voice, perhaps Minjiâs brother, was gradually raising his voice.
Did they know what happened? Maybe Minji came back and they were lecturing her.Â
With trembling legs and a heart filled with delusion, Y/n almost tripped on her own Christmas shoes as she ran to the kitchen, flying on the steps of the stairs. It was clearly one of Minjiâs pranks.
She never pranked her to be honest, but maybe the Holidaysâ spirit made her let loose.
Minji wasnât in the kitchen, or in the house, not even in town anymore. Y/n learned from the girlâs mother the truth behind the piece of paper: she had called a cab and went back to the dorms, claiming the company needed her as soon as possible.
They tried to make her come back but she was adamant, always justifying her actions with the same sentence â âThe company needs me.â
Y/n lost hope once again, she spent her holidays locked in her room, barely getting out to eat. Minji did the same, training, eating, sleeping, repeat; her instructor checked on her from time to time, but she would always lock her door and shut off everyone.

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#minji x reader#newjeans#minji newjeans#wlw#aespa#smau#newjeans smau#newjeans fanfic#kpop fanfic#kpop smau#angsttttt#angst time#short chapter
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i feel like lyraâs relationship with her father (how she feels about him i mean bc there was no relationship â ď¸â ď¸) is going to kind of have the same progression throughout the trilogy as darrows relationship with eo through out the red rising series
first book in the red rising series and how darrow deals with his feelings toward eo: his entire decision to infiltrate the golds and reconstruct the society was around eos death. (obv lyra isnt doing this but hold on!!) he loved her so much that he avenged her. in his mind, eo was this innocent martyr that the golds killed, and therefore he needed to avenge her. he falls in love with mustang but cannot justify the relationship to himself because he knows in the end he will be forced to hate her, as shes a gold. (btw just as an explanation sort of thing, the red rising trilogy is basically a dystopian book where the world is arranged by a colour coded hierarchy: gold is the highest, the dictators of everything, and red is the lowest, practically slaves. (there are other colours but theyâre in between) darrow was a red, but after eos death (his wife) he had surgery to turn into a gold, and tried to infiltrate them in hopes of bringing down the entire corrupt society for eos dream. eo was hung because she sung a rebellious song (kind of like the hanging tree) to rebel against the golds and their harsh society. all caught up now?)
first book in the grandest game series and how lyra feels towards tomas: lyra tells herself that she didnt participate in the grandest game just to find out about her father, but as the book progresses, winning becomes a second priority to finding out about what exactly the hawthornes did to him. she doesnt exactly love her father and knows hes not entirely innocent as he was absent in her life, but she sees the hawthornes as the sole reason he was the way he was, and blames them for his death. her feelings towards tomas are complex and hard to explain, but because she was with him when he died and was the only one who heard his last words (him blaming the hawthornes), she feels inclined to avenge him and find out what happened to him, as shes his only hope and his daughter. she falls in love with grayson HAWTHORNE, and cannot justify her feelings to herself as she knows that she would be going against the one thing her father told her, and she knows she is supposed to hate him for his familysâ potential actions.
U SEE THE SIMILARITIES????
now heres darrows feelings towards eo in the second book (golden son):
darrow finds out that eo was secretly pregnant when she sacrificed her life to become a martyr, and darrow began to hate her for her actions. he cannot understand why she would go to that extent for her âdreamâ (or beliefs, which was to be free without the golds ruling over everybody), and blames her for never being satisfied with what she had, or what she could have. (a family). suddenly, the version of eo in his head switches, and all he can think is that eo was at fault for all of it: for darrow having to leave his life, his family to go fight a broken society. still, he understands her vision. what he cant understand is why it had to be a higher priority then him and his soon to be child. he still loves mustang, and for once doesnât feel wrong about it. but, they have a falling out (thats one way to put it LMAO) and all darrow can think is that that was what was going to happen all along, because he was a red and she was a gold.
and then theres darrowsâ feelings towards eo in the third book (morning star): heâs getting older now, and as he falls for mustang more and more and matures more, he realizes that eo was just a girl at the bottom of a hierarchy. she wanted to live for more, and although darrow cannot excuse her actions, he knows that her dream was real. he is at peace with the fact that eo is dead, and despite the fact that he will always defend her dream, he knows that shes a part of his past that he has to let go.
i think that lyra will go through that same cycle too, from dedication to avenging her father and wanting to know what alice did to him in the first book, to being angry with him (for reasons that idk bc the book isnt out yet) in the second book, to finally accepting his death and knowing that remembrance didnt have to go hand in hand with vengeance.
i dont know how the books will turn out, but itâd be cool if lyra followed through the same grieving steps as darrow did. also, if you havent yet, READ THE RED RISING TRILOGY!! its raw and beautiful and hands down the best book to come out of a dysptopian/science fiction genre (YES I SAID IT!!)
#lyra catalina kane#lyra kane#darrow of lykos#red rising#the grandest game#the inheritance games#glorious rivals#grayson hawthorne#the brothers hawthorne#jameson hawthorne#nash hawthorne#xander hawthorne#avery kylie grambs#libby grambs#phone girl#maxine liu
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Thinking about the parallels between Sam's illusions and how it unravels pieces of him. Susie embodies his innate guilt and cognizance that his extreme end-justifies-the-means one-track minded stubbornness to save Dean regardless of the consequences is borderline immoral. He understands he is essentially no different from all-consuming evil. He is willing to do anything to save Dean, and he will not stop unless he dies. Right before Sam's conscience, that Susie represents, sways Sam, Rowena's illusion takes over. She pushes Sam to also kill himself (like Susie tried) through bleeding himself to death, but she convinces him it's for saving Dean. Rowena personifed Sam's persistent and overwhelming desire to sacrifice himself/to sacrifice himself for Dean/to do anything for Dean. And Sam's greater wish was to die not for the good of the world and doing the right thing, but it was to die for Dean.


It also says something that the two illusions Sam manufacturs that are particularly urging him to kill himself use the endearing 'Sammy' on him bc even in his subconscious Sam is best manipulated when it feels to him like it's Dean. But then the actual Dean comes in and he immediately calls him Sammy.
#it's like dean's reclaiming what's his and he uses such gentleness with sam that sam's mind couldn't even conjure it itself#its impact is so much different and unparalleledly raw like that now is the real deal and Sam will never be able to recreate him in nobody#samdean#wincest#sam winchester#spn meta#mine#remember when sam hated to be called sammy? now its the word he wants to hear most#i wrote this sleeping im so sleepy ong
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Just finished episode 3x19 (Memoria) and I have a lot of thoughtsâŚ
(Firstly, season three will just NOT give Lex a break)
Letâs recap the ep together:
- Lex agrees to have a shady scientist run experiments on him to try and regain the seven weeks he lost during his âpsychotic breakâ
- Clark confronts him and tells him to stop (now I get Clark is concerned about his secret coming out but what the hell. Lex isnât even trying to dig up anything about Clark at the moment. He lost seven weeks! Of vital memories! Including the fact that his own father drugged him and caused a psychotic break and locked him up in an institution and performed highly dangerous electroshock therapy on him. Clearly Lionel is a threat to Lexâs safety. And the most mind boggling part is that Clark knows all of this! Donât you think that Lex deserves to know?? Donât you think that not telling him is actually putting him in danger?? How is Clark justifying that with himself?? Even if he was concerned about Lex knowing his secret. Which I fully believe that Belle Reeve showed that Lex would one hundred percent keep his secret and protect him but I digress. Clark doesnât have to tell him that bit. If he just told Lex about everything else then he wouldnât have to go through with the procedure anymore. But he doesnât. So Lex continues with the experiments)
- anyway, Lex has a psychotic break (again) and remembers repressed memories about his brother Julian who died when he was a baby and
SPOILERS
- turns out Lexâs mother was so terrified after witnessing how Lionel treated Lex (and was probably suffering from post-partum depression) that she goes and kills her son⌠horrible
- then twelve year old Lex witnesses this and covers for his mom, taking the blame! And suffering Lionelâs misplaced wrath for the next ten years (also since Lex called it a repressed memory during his confrontation with Lionel does that mean that for all these years he truly believed he killed his brother??? Bc if soâŚ.)
- also letâs not forget to mention that after getting into it with Clark Lex ends up being the one to save him from the lab after Clark is stuck in a vat of kryptonite (and is Lex thanked? No. Clark accuses Lex of becoming his father. Does he apologize for this? No. Instead he asks Lex why his father hates him so much. Clark Kent you are on thin ice young man.)
* special reminder that the episode before this while under Chloeâs truth serum, Lex admitted that the one thing he wants more than anything is his father to love him. Just in case that provides any context that absolutely breaks your heart.
* also ALSO no one even came to his fucking birthday party!!
Iâm burning this whole place to the ground I swear to god. Smallville doesnât deserve nice things. Iâm going to keep Lex right here next to me until they learn to treat him better. IS THIS YOUR VILLAIN? Be fucking fr. You wish he was the villain. You stain his name to try and hide the fact that this boy has more morals and goodness inside of him than you know what to do with. Iâm losing my mind.
#rambles by me#smallville#smallville meta#season three analysis#im crying#lex luthor#im screaming crying throwing up#I swear to god#nobody touch me#I need to go for a long walk#off a ledge#ahhhhhhh#please someone tell me Iâm not alone#I feel like Iâm going crazy#this is your villain?#???
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