#because this was post was a general reaction to the season 3 finale but it was a pretty direct line of inspiration to me writing that fic

[mononijikayu]

rank em’ up — ryomen sukuna.

“Sometimes I wear that fitted tank top you like.” His breath hitched. The reaction was immediate, primal. A low, guttural sound rumbled in his chest. Somewhere between a growl and a threat. It was like he was being challenged and invited at the same time. His hand finally moved, landing on your thigh with a grip just shy of bruising, like his body decided for him. It was to keep you close or the building burns down. That’s just how it was with him.

Genre: Alternate Universe — Volleyball! AU;

Warning/s: General Rating, AFAB! Reader, Use of She/Her, Use of Female Centered Identification, Pet Names (Babe, My Love, Baby, Etc), Romance, Fluff, Humour, Love, Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Lovers, Marriage, Feeling, Light-Hearted, Slice of Life, Idiots In Love, Domestic, Domestic Fluff, Teasing, Healthy Relationship, Friendships, Profanity, Long Distance Relationship, Frustration, Volleyball Pro! Sukuna, Astrophysicist! Reader, Husband! Sukuna, Wife! Reader;

Words: 3k words.

Notes: i have so many other stuff i haven't worked on yet because ive been so busy but i hope you enjoy this anyway. it's short but it something that's inspired me because its so funny to see how people reacted. i thought of volleyball sukuna. anyway, enjoy!!! i love you all <3

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IT WAS SUCH A GREAT WAY TO OPEN THE NEW SEASON. He was so excited to play when he woke up. He was working hard to make this happen, along with his team. The Tokyo Great Bears had just won their first season match, and Ryomen Sukuna was already in a foul mood.

Not because they lost or ended up almost losing the game. That’s not the case at all. They’d crushed it on the court, as usual. With his leadership, of course there would be victory. That's just how it is when he's in the court with his boys.

He wasn’t annoyed about anything at court, no. He also was not tired or sore or annoyed with his teammates. No, Ryomen Sukuna’s rising irritation had a very specific source.

You. Well, more precisely, him and you, specifically you, in the hands of the team’s social media newly hired intern. The young person who had approached you and Sukuna, just right after the game with a little nervous smile on their face.

They were holding up a phone like it was a puppy. But to Ryomen Sukuna, that smile felt like one that was something that could only come from being stuck without any choices within the endless fields of a land mine.

He had no doubt that the actual manager was roaming around somewhere, slacking in their job for once. He doesn't participate much in the social media thing going on for the club, but everyone's more open about it.

Especially that kid Itadori. That kid enjoys doing all the trends too much. That's why he goes viral a lot. But that means the manager always goes around following him. And Itadori always runs around through the building.

That's why he liked to think that the manager was taking a moment to relax for once, without having to go all around the building to take a video and immediately sending it to be edited to be quickly posted.

But it was rough, because now this kid doesn't know that he actually doesn't do much social media work like his other teammates. And now, they're stuck trying to convince him to do it like they're life depends on it.

"Hey Sukuna-san! Quick content bit—can we grab you for a TikTok filter game?"

“No,” he said flatly, his hand still intertwined with yours.

“My love, let them speak—”

“I told them I’m not doing media day today, I’m gonna hog you to myself.” He says, almost in a pout at you. “Baby, I didn’t see you these past few days. Let me have this.”

You raised a brow at your husband. “You saw me this morning at breakfast, and bed before that and then—”

“Shhhhh, that’s not the point, baby!”

"Please, we did it with everyone else too! Everyone said yes, too!”

Sukuna turns back at them, narrowing his scarlet eyes. “But I wanna keep saying no.”

“B–but! Sukuna–san! It’s just a fun thing!” the poor intern stammered, clearly on the brink of losing what little composure he had left. 

One shaky hand clutched the phone, already recording, while the other made an awkward little waving motion. It was like he was trying to physically push the awkward tension away. Ryomen Sukuna wasn’t listening.

He had you tucked under his arm, big palms splayed possessively across your hip, pulling you closer and closer like he thought someone might come and physically steal you right then and there in the middle of the post-game lounge.

“We’ll be using a TikTok filter!” the intern tried again, voice cracking. “You’ll just be ranking the sports you want to see your wife try. The filter picks them randomly—just quick reactions!”

You, eternal chaos agent, perked up in his grip like the phrase “your wife” was an activation spell. You twisted just enough to beam up at Sukuna, practically glowing. You practically try to remove yourself from your husband’s touch. 

You were too intrigued by TikTok lately, your husband knew that. You joined the hype train a little too late, but that was to be expected. You were too busy with your day to day work life!

But now you got some rest from your very busy every day life and with your honeymoon still ongoing, you wanted to look up things to watch while on the flight and wanted to learn new things.

Your interests change from time to time. It was just how it was lately, you think to yourself. Sometimes, it's correcting bad videos with misinfo about space or maybe even the bad physics fact videos.

Sometimes, it's recipes to try to make it easy to eat, high quality meals for you and Sukuna to try. Sometimes, it’s pretty little dresses for your little doggo Marin. There's a lot of worlds to explore for you.

Sukuna is often confused, though. Your husband was the most offline person you’ve ever met in your life. The only social media he actually has is Instagram and that was just because he has to post about his sponsorships. Other than that, it was your day to day life together with Marin…..Which he posts once in a blue moon. 

But you can’t judge him for that — you were just as private as him when it comes to your own life together. What pictures of you and Sukuna which are out there are either from his rare posts, media posts or his fanclub seeing you together somewhere.

TikTok was your only account. And somehow, it’s too addicting. You just can’t catch up. But when you do catch up, you think to yourself that it’s an achievement. Your latest intrigue lately was these little ranking filters, especially ones between couples. 

You have only watched people do it, of course. You have no thought of doing it yourself. Well, at least that’s what you tell yourself. But now that the opportunity, it was way too tempting. You grinned at the young intern.

“Ooh, that sounds fun.”

Sukuna slowly turned his head to you with the exaggerated menace of a mafia boss betrayed by his right hand. “For who?”

You gave him that smile. The one that curled at the corner like you were plotting and worshipping him in equal measure. The one that made his chest tighten and his jaw clench and his brain shut down in ways that had absolutely nothing to do with sports rankings.

“You love ranking things, you know!” you said, poking him lightly in the ribs. “You do that with your favorite volleyball players. You even ranked the types of towels at the hot spring last weekend.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Because those towels were categorically different, and one of them stole moisture like a desert wind—”

“Exactly! Channel that energy, my love. Use that control-freak brain for good.”

The intern looked between the two of you like he wasn’t sure whether to be afraid, impressed, or violently single. Ryomen Sukuna stared at you a moment longer, an expression carved from granite. 

Then, with a growl of defeat, he released you with one last tug and stood, dragging a chair into the center of the frame with all the grace of a man about to be executed.

He plopped down like gravity had quadrupled, crossed his arms over his chest, and shot the camera a dead-eyed glare that could wilt a tree.

“You owe me so much later.” he muttered, pointedly.

You skipped into the edge of the frame, camera still rolling, cheeks aching from trying to suppress your smile. You leaned in to whisper, “Maybe I’ll wear that sundress you seem to hate.”

“Don’t tempt me to break this phone, baby.” he gritted, his ears slowly turning red. 

You smirked at him. “Oh, I dare, my love.”

The intern swallowed hard at your interaction, a blush on their face and hit the start on the filter. The game almost instantly began, that’s what made you giggle. Ryomen Sukuna was already losing it, you can see. The filter started to spin finally.

“I guess this is what I’m ranking, sports….I would let my wife do with another person.” Sukuna says, almost too awkwardly and too loudly all at once. “Fuck, this is ridiculous.”

🧘‍♀️YOGA.

You saw the way his fuschia brow twitched before he even spoke. “Absolutely fucking not. No way I’m letting my baby do that. No fucking way.” he said.

"Why not?" the intern asked innocently, a bit stunned at Sukuna’s crassness. “Sukuna-san, please—”

He shot them a glare like he was considering how much bail money he could afford. "Too many bendy poses. Too much touching. Strangers breathing near her. Eyes everywhere. You want me to die early?"

You laughed. Loudly. He turned toward you and narrowed his eyes. “My love, that’s too much!”

“Nah, nah, valid fucking concern.”

The filter spun again.

🏊‍♀️SWIMMING.

He squinted. “In what? A wetsuit? A bikini? A competition-grade Speedo? Because if it's anything less than a full-body NASA suit, I’m out.”

“My love—” you started, already cracking up once again. “Please!”

"Eyes. Skin. Wet hair. I’m having a stroke just imagining it. No. Tied with yoga for the bottom. To my wife’s fine—"

“I feel so honored, my love.” you deadpanned.

He ignored you and leaned forward slightly, glaring into the camera like the filter itself had offended his ancestors. You shake your head, unable to stop smiling as you stare at him and focus on what is next to his trenches.

🥊BOXING.

Sukuna paused. “...Hmm.”

“Oh no, my love.” you said, already suspicious. “Don’t say what I think you’re gonna say!”

“That’s kind of hot, baby. I gotta admit that.” he admitted grudgingly. “Strong stance. Gloves. Focused eyes. You’d look like a menace.”

You arched a brow. “So it’s number one?”

“No, it’s also bottom tier. Someone might land a hit on you. I’d get too angry. And I’ll have to land them in the ER.”

"Please, Sukuna–san." the intern whispered, finally relaxing into shaking laughter. "You're killing me."

“That’s how it is everyday!” You giggled fondly, as the filter whirled again. “What’s coming up next?”

🧗‍♀️ROCK CLIMBING.

Sukuna didn’t even blink. “No.”

"Why not?"

“She’d be in a harness.”

“So?”

“People would be below her.”

“And?”

He turned to you slowly. “You think I’m okay with strangers craning their necks to admire your gravitational pull? Babe, that pull is pretty fine. I’m sorry. No one else should be staring there.”

You choked on your juice. “My what now?”

“Your backside, woman. What, baby? You don’t want me to blur it out? I need people to not know! The hyenas of the world exist!”

You were gone the moment he said that out loud. Doubled over on the wall and then onto the floor, shoulders shaking, a full wheeze slipping out as your laughter became borderline undignified.

“Sukuna–san, that’s so…..”

Sukuna’s ears flushed. He looked back at the camera. “Stop encouraging her. We’re never doing this again, you hear me?”

🎾TENNIS.

The silence stretched.

He frowned. “...Tennis is...fine.”

You blinked at him. “Really?”

“You’d look good, baby.” he admitted, teeth grinding. “Hair tied up. That little skirt. Focused face. Confident swings. Probably muttering equations under your breath between serves. It’d be.....ugh. It’s number one, okay? But it’s barely number one. Because it’s still a problem.”

"Why is everything a problem?"

“Because you’re the problem, baby.” he said bluntly, gesturing wildly. “You make everything look too good. Too hot. Too intimate. And I can’t let people be wild hyenas over you! I’m not ranking sports, I’m ranking threats to my sanity.”

The camera zoomed in slightly. Sukuna leaned closer, eyes dark and intense. “Stop giving her ideas. Please, I’m begging you. I’m confused enough—”

Off-camera, the intern died laughing. “That was amazing, thank you. I’m….I’m so sorry!”

Sukuna held up a hand. “Don’t post that. I swear to god.”

“Oh, we absolutely are, my love.” you said, snatching the phone and saving the video for yourself. “It’s going in our shared album. Title: ‘My Husband Goes Feral Over Hypotheticals.’”

He grunted. “Do it and I’m deleting the whole cloud.”

“Do you even know how to do that?”

“.......I’ll ask Fushiguro.”

You stood and walked over to him once again, still grinning. You leaned down and whispered into his ear. “I actually do yoga when you're not home, my love.”

His entire body tensed. “You what?”

“Every Tuesday.”

A pause. The kind of pause that felt like the universe itself was holding its breath. Ryomen Sukuna didn’t move at first. He just stared at you, his expression unreadable. His brows slightly drawn, jaw tight, that vein in his neck ticking like a warning light. 

His hands, previously resting in his lap, twitched. One flexed open like he meant to grab your waist. His other one was curled slowly into a fist, as if trying to physically restrain himself from committing several Class A felonies.

It was a moment where even gravity seemed to hesitate, uncertain whether to let him fall into you or launch into combustion. You leaned in close. Rather closer than necessary. Your mouth brushing the curve of his cheekbone as you leaned in to whisper, light as starlight.

“Sometimes I wear that fitted tank top you like.”

His breath hitched. The reaction was immediate, primal. A low, guttural sound rumbled in his chest. Somewhere between a growl and a threat. It was like he was being challenged and invited at the same time. 

His hand finally moved, landing on your thigh with a grip just shy of bruising, like his body decided for him. It was to keep you close or the building burns down. That’s just how it was with him.

You pulled back just far enough to see your husband’s face and god, the look he gave you could melt satellites. Half-possessive, half-exasperated, fully undone. You slyly smiled at your husband, moving to the side, still keeping your eyes at him.

“You think you’re clever, huh?” he muttered, voice hoarse.“Just dropping words like that when I’m still sweaty from a game and trying not to do something stupid, hm?”

“I know I’m clever,my love.” you replied sweetly.

That did it. The intern, who had remained frozen like a woodland creature sensing the arrival of a predator, chose that moment to flee. No words, no goodbye. It was just a full, panicked retreat with phone clutched to chest and eyes wide like he’d just stared into the sun for too long.

You watched him go, lips twitching with amusement. Ryomen  Sukuna didn’t. His scarlet gaze never left you. “You’re wearing it now, aren’t you?” he asked, voice low.

“Wouldn’t you like to know, my love.” you teased, rising to your feet and deliberately turning away, just slow enough for him to notice the cling of the fabric beneath your hoodie.

His next growl practically echoed down the corridor. “Oh, you’re going to regret that, baby.”

You looked over your shoulder, smiled, and added, “Catch me first.”

epilogue

Another win. Another brutal set dominated by Sukuna’s spikes, blocks, and terrifying court presence. He should be basking in the usual press attention right now. The game stats, strategies, MVP chants echoing through the stadium.

Instead, it’s something else for him tonight. Instead, he sat at the post-game press table for the first time, feeling that different vibe. He could feel his jaw clenched, arms folded across his broad chest.

He was narrowly flanked by the head coach and two teammates, all the while the reporters all but vibrated with their raised hands and nosy grins. The first question wasn’t even remotely about the game.

“Yes, uh, Sukuna-san, good evening.” It was when a new young reporter began, trying not to smile too obviously. “Congratulations on the win once again. More importantly…Has your wife ranked your hobbies yet?”

A wave of laughter rippled through the room. Sukuna stared at them. Slowly. “I thought this was a volleyball press conference.” he said darkly. “Must be in the wrong room, huh?”

“Come on, Sukuna-san!” another chimed in, undeterred. “The TikTok from last week has over five million views. You’ve been dubbed ‘Volleyball’s Most Jealous Husband’! Care to comment?”

“Dubbed by who?”

“Most of Japan. And parts of the South-east Asia.” Someone offered helpfully. “I think some parts of Central Asia too!”

“It’s trending in Europe and the US now!” Another supplies, with a grin.

Another reporter laughs. “Asia now too—Oh, Africa too!”

"Oh, South America now too!" The other reporter in the back says. His eyes was shining. "Ohhhhh, there's edits now!"

The teammate next to him stifled a laugh behind his water bottle. Sukuna’s eyes twitched. He shakes his head, taking a moment to compose himself. He lifts his head, lifting the water bottle and starting to drink.

“I really should stop doing things like this at all. I can’t stand you all like this.”

Another reporter raised her hand with a barely concealed grin. “Is it true your wife wore the tank top again this week?”

Sukuna inhaled sharply through his nose. “That information is classified.”

More laughter. “But Sukuna–san, does this mean that you have to get a new supply?”

“That’s not going to be paid by you, is it?”

The coach cleared his throat gently. “If we could focus on—”

“Just one more question, please?” begged a voice from the back. “Is it true you showed up to her yoga class yesterday and almost fought the instructor?”

Ryomen Sukuna didn’t answer at first. His darkened scarlet gaze dropped to the table. Then, with the slow menace of a man who has zero regrets, he leaned into the mic and said in a low, gravelly tone to them.

“I’ll fight anyone who touches her shoulders and breathes like that again.”

The press room exploded. Flashes. Giggles. A round of applause. The coach buried his face in his hands. This is what he’s had to deal with for years. For a moment, he couldn’t help but reflect on how he ended up here. Just as much as Sukuna has. 

“Next question.” Sukuna barked over the chaos.

A hand shot up. “Are you planning to do a couples TikTok next—?”

“No. Never again. It was the biggest mistake of my life. Next.”

Another raised their hand, and stood up with a mic on hand. “Can you ask your wife if she’ll do a ranking of your best uniform looks?”

“She already did.” Sukuna muttered, not realizing his mic was still hot. “But I’m not sharing everything on that.”

That got everyone quiet. Ryomen Sukuna had answered that way too quickly. People couldn’t help but grin and whisper when he was lowering his head again, his ears reddened at the thought that he had started another situation he wanted to get out of, immediately.

“Wait—what ranked first?” a reporter whispered, practically leaning over the desk.

Sukuna shifted in his chair, visibly uncomfortable. “...The away kit.”

“Why?” A journalist furrowed their brow.

Another pause. Then another looked at him, raising their hand. “Yeah…..is there….Is there a reason?”

“Because…..” he ground out, glaring at the far wall. “She said the gray makes my thighs look ‘criminal’ and it makes her feel like….kicking her feet. Her words, not mine.”

An uproar of laughter. Cameras clicking. Someone openly fanned themselves. He stood abruptly, clearing his throat. He was even more red now than ever before. Almost as red as the color of his eyes, which narrowed.

“Alright, you guys have no volleyball questions. We’re done here.”

As he stormed offstage, reporters shouting behind him, his phone buzzed. It was a message from you. He gulped, trying to gather himself.

He sighs deeply as he unlocks his screen again. You have too much time on your hands right now. And he knew you were intently, closely, watching on your phone.

[📸 image attached: you in his away jersey, barefoot, mug of tea in hand]

“Your wife wasn’t wrong, sir.” ❤️

Ryomen Sukuna stopped in the hallway and stared at the screen, deadpan. He muttered under his breath, feeling himself too warm for his own good.

He lets his hand rest on his lips, trying to control himself for a moment. The red eyed man steadies himself, his mind calculating how quickly he could get home as soon as possible.

“…....God help the next man who asks about my thighs.”

[marie098887]

💳 “The Runway walk.”

Blue Lock Boys React to FemModel!Reader

Part 3 : Ness Hiori, Shidou Kaiser, Niko, Sae, 

📝 Requests: OPEN

After a brutal, hard fought win in the final match of the season, the Blue Lock team was on a all time high. The kind of win that gets headlines, sponsorships, and cameras in their faces.

Not even a full 24 hours after the match, Ego sent a rare, vaguely polite message about a “post-season opportunity.” A top fashion brand is hosting its annual runway show and wants the Blue Lock team front and center. PR stunt? Probably. But the event promises food, press, and a VIP afterparty, and that’s enough to get them into suits.

🎀 Alexis Ness

Ness is composed.

Sits straight. Perfect posture. Hands folded neatly in his lap. Every detail of his outfit is deliberate, clean, sharp, expensive. He’s not here to joke around or roll his eyes like the others.

He’s here to observe. Properly.

He watches the models walk like a critic. Calm expression. The occasional approving nod, that same sweet smile on his face.

But, he’s not easily impressed.

Then you walk out.

And the air shifts.

His eyes lock onto you instantly. He leaned forward ever so slightly, but you can feel the tension roll off him, subtle, sharp, alert.

You don’t strut. You glide. Like the runway doesn’t deserve you but you’re being generous. Your walk is clean. Cold. Effortless.

His lips part, just barely. Like his brain stopped for a moment.

He blinks. Once.

He’s interested, well, not interested. Invested.

You don’t spare the crowd a glance. You don’t need to. You’re not here to be looked at, you’re here to be remembered.

And Ness is remembering everything.

You disappear backstage, and he finally exhales. Slow. Controlled.

But he’s still thinking.

He doesn’t speak. Doesn’t move. Just sits there, looking too calm for someone who just watched the entire room tilt around one person.

That’s fine.

He’ll figure out who you are. He always does.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

🩵 Hiori Yo

Hiori’s paying attention.

He’s not trying to stand out, not trying to impress anyone. Just sitting quietly, hands folded in his lap, watching the show with his teammates and chatting away.

He notices the details. The way certain models hold their posture. The rhythm of the walk. The weight of the clothes. It’s interesting, in a distant kind of way.

Then you step out.

And he becomes still.

It’s not dramatic. No gasp, no wide eyes. Just silence. A pause in his breathing. Like his brain needed a second to catch up.

You don’t rush. You don’t overdo it. Your walk is smooth. Your presence was solid, something that wasn't easily shaken.

You look like you belong here.

And for a second, Hiori forgets what he was looking for. Because now, he’s just looking at you.

His brows pull together slightly. Like he’s confused. Not by you, but by his own reaction. It’s rare for something to throw him off. Rarer for someone to do it so quietly, but you did it.

With ease.

You disappear backstage. He blinks. Exhales. Then sits back in his seat again like nothing happened.

But in his head?

All he's thinking about is you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

🩷 Shidou Ryusei

Shidou’s bored.

Slouched in his seat, legs wide, shirt half unbuttoned, gum popping between his teeth, hair down for once. The lights, the glam, the music, none of it’s holding his attention. He’s restless.

He was looking for something worth noticing, feining almost.

And so far? Nothing.

He watches the models walk like he’s watching paint dry. Blank stare. Half, lidded eyes. Already making jokes in his head about how everyone looks the same.

Then you come out.

And everything stops.

He doesn’t blink. Doesn’t move. Just watches.

You don’t walk like the others. You don’t try to impress the crowd or demand attention. You walk like it’s yours by default.

And that? That hooks him.

You alone piqued his interest. It’s curiosity. Sharp. Quiet. Obsessive.

His jaw shifts. The gum’s still in his mouth, but he’s not chewing it anymore. He leans forward slightly. Just enough to follow every step you take.

You don’t look at him. But if you did?

He would smile right back at you. But we all know there is more looming behind that smile.

Eyes low, mouth slightly open, like he’s thinking too much, and none of those thoughts are appropriate.

When you disappear backstage, he sits back again.

Still silent.

Still thinking.

The next model walks out and he doesn’t even glance at them.

You have him now, and he wants to see more of you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

💎 Michael Kaiser

Kaiser walks in like he’s the main attraction.

And to be fair, he usually is. Custom suit. Hair perfect. Smile sharp. He’s posing for cameras like they owe him something. Giving interviews. Dropping winks. Loving the attention.

He’s not here to be impressed. He’s here to be seen.

He watches the runway casually. Half bored. Leaned back with one arm draped over the back of his chair like this was just another day. Every model gets the same look: neutral, a little smug, flirty, unimpressed.

Then you walk out.

And the air shifts.

He doesn’t react right away. Doesn’t move. Just watches, his eyes widening. That smug smirk on his face wiped off immediately.

Because something about you feels different.

You don’t smile. Don’t do anything extra. But the room feels like it’s spinning toward you.

And that pisses him off a little.

His brows draw together just a bit. Not in anger, in curiosity. Who are you? Why haven’t he heard of you? Why does it suddenly feel like someone else has the spotlight?

You don’t acknowledge the crowd. Don’t acknowledge him.

That gets to him most of all.

By the time you disappear backstage, his head’s tilted slightly, lips pressed into a thin line, like he’s trying not to show that you just messed with his ego a little.

He doesn’t speak. Just watches. Thinking.

And for once?

He’s not the one people are looking at.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

💚 Niko Ikki

Niko’s not saying much.

He’s just sitting there, quiet, still, taking everything in. The music. The way the models move. The pacing. The camera flashes. He watches like he’s trying to learn something from it. Not emotionally invested, just… studying.

He’s always been like that. Head in the game. Eyes sharp. Mind running in the background.

Then you come out.

And for a second, he forgets what he’s doing.

His gaze snaps to you. His whole body stills. Like someone pressed pause.

You don’t do anything flashy. You don’t need to. Your walk is smooth, calm, effortless. There’s something heavy about your presence — like you know exactly how to pull a room in without lifting a finger.

And yeah, he notices.

Eyes stay on you the whole time. Focused. Quiet. Curious. Not in a loud way. Not in a thirst way.

He doesn’t realize he’s leaning forward slightly until the person next to him shifts.

When you disappear backstage, he blinks. Breathes. Leans back.

Doesn’t say a word.

But now you’re stuck in his head. And he’s wondering how someone like you could exist without him already knowing your name.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

❤️ Sae Itoshi

Sae’s not impressed.

Not by the venue. Not by the clothes. Definitely not by the people. He sits in the front row like he was dragged there, spine straight, expression unreadable, dressed in something effortlessly expensive.

He doesn’t clap. Doesn’t react. Barely even looks up.

He’s seen this all before. Runways. Spotlights. Flashes. It’s nothing new.

Then you walk out.

And he looks.

Not just a glance,  really looks.

Eyes narrow just a little. Brows barely twitch. It’s the smallest shift, but for him? That’s everything.

You don’t look at the crowd. Don’t need to. You walk like silence follows you. Like you belong here, more than anyone else in the room.

And for once, he’s watching. Quiet. Still.

He tracks every step without blinking. Not because he’s shocked — because something in him won’t let him look away.

There’s no smirk. No comment. No reaction on his face.

But in his head?

You’ve already registered as a problem.

When you disappear backstage, he leans back in his seat.

Unbothered. Distant. But still thinking.

And that’s the part that bothers him most.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alright and that is a wrap for the Runway walk. :) Pretty proud of myself and this is only the start.

If you guys would like to drive into this more just lmk! Already working on the next <3

[veganineden]

On the Evolution of “Happily Ever After” and Why “Nothing Lasts Forever”

A reflection inspired by Good Omens 2

One of my favorite Tumblr posts on the second season of Good Omens 2 was actually not about the series at all, but our reaction to it, primarily the ending. @zehwulf wrote, “I think a lot of us—myself included—got a little too comfortable with assuming [Aziraphale and Crowley would] work on their issues right away post-Armageddon.” We did the work for them through meta, fanfiction, fanart, and building a plethora of headcanons. Who among us AO3-surfing fans didn’t read and love Demonology and the Tri-Phasic Model of Trauma: An Integrative Approach by Nnm?

In the 4 long years since season one was released, we did more than seek to understand and repair rifts between two fictional beings: we were forced to reckon with ourselves too. We faced a global pandemic, suffered traumatizing losses and isolation, and were forced to really and truly look into the face of our atrocities-ridden and capitalistic world. The mainstream rise of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice work, and our participation in this work, showed us that the systems in place were built to oppress and harm most of us, and they are. 

So, what does this have to do with the evolution of “happily ever after”? 

My friend put it best in a conversation we had following the season finale, when she pointed out a shift in media focus. The “happy end” in old stories about wars and kingdoms used to be “we killed the evil old king and put a noble young king in his place and now citizens can live in peace” and we’re transitioning into a period of “we tore down the whole fucking monarchy.” 

If we look at season one, written to follow the beats of a love story, it comforted us by offering a pretty traditional happy ending pattern: you get your fancy dinner with your special someone, the romantic music plays, and you have a place to call your own. Season one’s finale provided a temporary freedom for Aziraphale and Crowley, the “breathing room,” but it didn't solve the problem that was Heaven and Hell, or the agendas belonging to those systems of oppression. 

Is it good enough to keep our heads down, pretend the bad stuff isn’t happening, and live our own personal happy endings until we die? Moral quandaries aside, if you don't die (or if you care about the generations after you), then, like Aziraphale said, it “can’t last forever.” There’s a clear unpleasant end to the “happily ever after” that’s based on ignoring our problems– it’s the destruction of our relationships, and humanity. 

Ineffable Bureaucracy can go off into the stars because they do not care about humanity. 

You know who does?

Aziraphale. 

And Aziraphale knows that Crowley cares about humanity too. (He knows because Crowley was the one who proposed sabotaging Armageddon in the first place, who only invited him to the stars when he thought all was lost, because Crowley would save humanity if he thought it was possible, and Aziraphale knows Crowley has survived losing Everything before, and he will do all in his power so that Crowley does not need to experience that again.) 

In season one and two, we see how much they care about humanity, beyond their orders, to the point The Systems begin to frown at them. Aziraphale hears Crowley’s offer to run away together in the final episode of season two, to leave Earth behind, and just like the first time that offer was made in season one, he declines. He knows choosing only “us” is not a choice either of them can live with for the rest of eternity.

I believe season 3 will provide an opportunity to “dismantle the system,” but I don’t know how it will play out. I worry that Aziraphale has put himself in the now-dead trope of the “young noble king.” (I wish Crowley had told him why Gabriel was dismissed from his duties.) I worry that he would martyr himself as a sole agent for change. I worry that he doesn’t actually know how to dismantle anything by himself: because you can’t. He needs Crowley. He DOES. He needs Crowley, and Muriel, and other angels and demons and humans without fixed mindsets to help him. Only by learning to listen and making room at the table for all can they (and we) move past personal satisfaction to collective liberation. 

Crowley was right when he said that Aziraphale had discovered his “civic obligations.”

So, I think we will get our modern-day happy ending– and it’s going to involve a lot of pain and discomfort, communication, healing and teamwork– and in the end, it’ll all be okay. There will be a time for rest and a time for “us.” 

And most likely a cottage. 

“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”

 - Maya Angelou

[mxmarsbars]

ooooh you want to elaborate on your impulse + pearl epilepsy and fnd headcanons so bad....... oooooh you wanna tell us woahhhh

okay so i lied. no doodles for this because i’m lazy and tired and burnt out. BUT !! i will absolutely elaborate on this !! thank you anon !! <3

it started as just a way to cope, honestly. i got into the life series and hermitcraft around when my health issues began affecting my life on a grand scale, so i projected the disability i was dealing with onto two of my favorite characters!!

i honestly headcanon all of boatem to have epilepsy and/or some sort of neurological disorder in SOME way, but this is mainly focusing on alienkeep for now!!

c!impulse is epileptic. he is not photosensitive (so simply seeing flashing lights will not send him into a seizure, especially if medicated), but flashing and bright lights do give him headaches. too much stimuli and lack of sleep (something he deals with often) can also trigger his absence seizures. he IS on medication, and this will be VERY important for a headcanon i have later on.

c!pearl is epileptic. she IS photosensitive, and people often forget, so it’s basically become muscle memory for her to cover her eyes whenever she has a feeling she’s about to encounter something flashy. most of the server is very accommodating for her, though!! and similar to impulse, she is on medication. she also sometimes deals with absence seizures.

FND is a whole other can of worms, though. ohhhhh boy. my poor daughters.

impulse developed FND during his time in third life. due to all the stress he was already constantly dealing with (granted his position) as well as the effect the finale had on him, his brain kind of just cracked open like an egg. a lot of his triggers revolve around repetitive noises (ex. the ticking of a clock), certain words (ex. “i have to”), and the occasional textures and objects.

impulse has been dealing with it since then, and although he isn’t very vocal about it, he holds it very dear to himself and uses it to help himself feel a little less ashamed of his reactions to certain things (although he still has a lot of internalized issues with it, this man is filled to the brim with guilt and embarrassment).

pearl developed FND during double life. the constant stress and stimuli basically fried her brain, leaving her in a constant floaty state during the season, often experiencing non-epileptic seizures that she’d have to deal with alone. her triggers are mainly certain temperatures and heights, as well as occasional words and faces.

pearl, however, is much less aware of her FND, and it took seeing impulse’s non-epileptic seizures and other symptoms first hand for her to finally realize she had it. she too struggles a lot with internalized shame, and it didn’t help that cleo and scott didn’t take her seriously when she first brought it up to them post-double life (they are much more understanding now, though).

neither of them have consistent methods to cope with their FND. impulse often turns to suppressing his symptoms, meanwhile pearl goes more for distractions. both of them are still in denial sometimes, but to combat this, they often have heart to hearts about their struggles. they help. it’s nice feeling less alone.

as for specific headcanons involving this general concept, i have many!! here’s a few:

skizz didn’t understand that some epileptic people can tolerate flashing lights, so for the LONGEST time, he’d slam his hands over impulse’s eyes whenever even the slightest thing flashed at him. it was annoying, obviously, but impulse still finds it very endearing. skizz also still finds himself doing it sometimes even now that he knows.

during hcs8, in the midst of his insomnia induced haze, impulse forgot to take his seizure medication for days straight, which then turned into weeks upon weeks. he ended up having a pretty gnarly grand mal and spent a week bedridden while the rest of boatem took care of him. safe to say that he NEVER misses a dose now and will have a full on freak out if he can’t find his meds.

also in hcs8, pearl would have frequent absence seizures, and one time she nearly fell into the boatem hole while standing too close. thank goodness impulse was there to catch her and sit her down.

double life was hard for impulse, despite the loving marriage and snowy mansion. the constant ticking of bdubs’s clock would trigger him again and again, often resulting in him having shutdowns that he’d try to excuse himself to deal with alone. bdubs picked up on this, but impulse never told him the reason. he also never told him how many times he nearly smashed the clock to bits while bdubs slept.

in fact, a LOT of impulse’s meltdowns and non-epileptic seizures are either directly or indirectly triggered by bdubs. what a shocker.

sometimes if pearl washes her hands with cold water, it’ll trigger her, and she’ll start having a full body shutdown. her allies had to start keeping an eye on her whenever she washed up to make sure she’d remain responsive. she’s since learned that holding hands with someone warmer helps to calm her down and ease her symptoms.

impulse’s non-epileptic seizures often include uncontrollable crying (which can span from silent tears to full blown sobbing), as well as random body movements. pearl’s feel more disconnected, resulting in her often standing deathly still and staring at whatever her eyes and brain can cling on to.

they both pull the “i feel funny” card whenever they’re feeling overstimulated and want to lay down, even if they aren’t experiencing any actual epileptic symptoms. it always works.

that’s probably enough for now :,] but yeah !! that’s about the jist of it !!

thank you to anybody who read through all of this :D it’s a headcanon i hold very near and dear to my heart and the fact that other people want to hear about it makes me so emotional in the best way possible T^T you guys are the best !! <3

[sweetestcaptainhughes]

48 with Trevor zegras pls ☁️

Drabble Challenge. Drabble Masterlist.

"We've become that clingy couple that you used to complain about"

Neither you or Trevor were very big on PDA in general, especially when you started dating. Both of you did at first did find it hilarious soft launching your relationship and have random girls on social media speculate if you were dating or not. Neither of you ever giving them even a 'breadcrumb' of evidence that you were dating as far as PDA, all they had got was a few likes on Instagram and comments on posts. Even after six months of dating when you 'hard launched' your relationship, you still weren't big on PDA especially if it came to posting online pictures of you together.

Trevor asked you one night why you hated showing PDA even in front of small crowds because in private all you wanted to do was cuddle. All you told him was that "One I don't wanna became one of those clingy couples that you can never do anything without the other one present and two I don't want someone posting a private moment thinking it's cute. And then my entire face is all over Instagram and Twitter it makes me uncomfortable."

He made grabby hands at you at you pulling you into the couch. "Aww baby." He said in a little high pitch voice, almost like a baby voice. "I love you and if that's what you want okay." And then he teased you by leaving nasty wet raspberries all over you cheek until you were able to wiggle out of his embrace.

That only happened 6 months ago, but now everything has shifted. It started small, out with the team you both would hold hands under the table so no one could see. Then it became out with friends in a crowded bar and he would have a protective arm around you. By the summertime, visiting family you would sit in his lap because their wasn't enough seats and Grandma had to sit somewhere. By Labor Day it was game over, after spending an entire summer together Trevor was your shadow. If you moved 3 feet away he deemed it was too much and he didn't give a shit about what any of the boys had to say. He knew that the season was about to start and he needed to soak in all the time he had left with you before he had to go sometimes weeks without you.

But you didn't even care, all your friends and family knew not to post online about you guys, even on what they deemed their 'private accounts' after all the boys Goodreads accounts were found this summer. Honestly you didn't even notice that Trevor and you were so attached to eachother until the first week long roadie of the season. After sleeping in the same bed every single night for the past 6 months after not being able to sleep for 2 days straight because you didn't have Trevor's warm body heat. Whether it was giving into an intrusive thought or sleep deprivation you found yourself booking a ticket to fucking Utah to surprise Trevor. It was worth it when seven hours later he saw you during warms-up. His teammates were thankful too because a clingy sad Trevor without you was even more unbearable than a happy yapping Trevor.

Later on in his hotel room you guys were laying down. Both you finally felt relaxed and able to get a good night's sleep for the first time in days. Turning your head towards Trevor you couldn't help but comment at how malicious smile on his face. "Trev what?"

Turning his head toward your voice he said "I just can't stop thinking about the fact that in only a year of dating. We've become that clingy couple you used to complain about."

Gasping loudly at his confusion, slightly sitting up in the bed now leaning your arm to support your weight. "We have not! Take it back!" you exclaimed as Trevor just laughed and pulled you back down to hold you against him.

"Nope." Making the popping p sound for emphasis.

"We have not!" Lightly jokingly hitting him on his chest, that now shook as he laughed so hard at your reaction.

"Then what are we?" A big smile still on his face that it probably hurt his cheeks.

"I said I didn't wanna became a couple that couldn't still go out with their friends by themselves OR all over social media constantly showing PDA which we aren't." you agrued.

"baby. You flew to fucking Utah because you wanted to be able to sleep in the same bed. And the only reason we aren't all over social media even in our friends posts cuddling and shit is because YOU told people not to. " Quickly stealing a peck from your lips as he turned quickly to turn off the light craving a good night's sleep more than he would care to admit.

"yeah well that's difffernet." you grumble. "plus we can still go out without each other to hangout with friends."

"hmm" Trevor answers half asleep, pulling you tighter into him. "I still think it's funny. Now let's sleep babygirl I'm tired."

[bolddeducktionneverfails]

For years, I had been wanting to create an easier way to share my most recent basis for this couple. And since the Speculation Timeline I wanted to put together isn't going to be completed anywhere near now (and since I'm being indecisive about whether I'd want to post it on here), I thought putting several images together was a good option.

I've had a general idea of what people think about my artwork, and the ship itself, for a long time and I'm sure a lot of those sentiments haven't changed. The other major reason as to why I made this post, is because I wanted to show people that I'm not oblivious to how Launchpad and Della were portrayed in canon. That I'm not picking two random characters to ship out of boredom. I put a lot of thought into how their dynamic could be and why we ended up with what we got. I was hoping to see a build up to something more meaningful. And now that I've been made aware of the show not getting to follow its initial plan, I'm trying to figure out what that was going to be, while also putting my own spin on it.

______________________________________________________________

Ok, so, more on the basis details: 

|    Cover

Dunno if I made it clear enough, but just in case I confused anyone, this is meant to be set within the same timeline as the show. It just goes a little farther than where the show left off. When I was restructuring my ideas, I was going to make an alternative timeline where Season 3 would be closer to what Plan A could have been. (I wanted to see a season revision so bad, but I knew it would never actually happen. 😭) As time went on, I considered what show would be like if it was able to pick up after the finale and I think I might like this case a little more, due to it being the most believable scenario. 

|    Della's Pages 

I undoubtedly believe that Della was supposed to have a turnaround with Launchpad and that "Trickening" was a strong indication of that. She doesn't know what LP is truly capable of because she's never around when he's at his best. And this feels very intentional because it's one of the biggest things that prevented their relationship from getting the development it needed. Keeping them stuck in this stage prevents anything...significant from happening. 

There's not much of a reason for them to be kept here if there's nothing to hide...they're capable of getting along and Della's assumption about Scrooge hiring Launchpad, would have easily been settled if the characters were given a chance to talk it out. 

In order for them to progress, Launchpad needs to do something amazing to catch her attention. I haven't come up with a solid answer to this in my personal timeline yet; it'll probably have something to do with saving Dewey, Della or both. But can you imagine what her reaction to Suavepad would have been like?! Or talking to Gosalyn about what it means to be a hero? The way she looked at Kit when he was cloud kicking could have definitely been giving us a good idea.

While not openly expressed in canon, perhaps another reason why Della is irritated with Launchpad is because there are things about him that remind her of HDL's Dad. Or maybe a bit more generally, how much she hates failure; I've been theorizing that Della had secret intentions of saving him when she headed into the cosmic storm. If this is true, she believes that she failed to save him. She could still be mourning that loss, so, if she began to have any feelings for Launchpad, there's bound to be a lot of resistance.

|     Launchpad's Pages

In the alternate timeline, I was going to have him completely stuck in friend mode and not notice anything until Della finally got more comfortable about her feelings. But I think having them both silently struggling to conceal their feelings, is a lot more interesting. 😂

I always thought it was strange that he was never written to show a prior interest in her...or even prior knowledge about her at all. In earlier essays, I noted how odd it was for Launchpad to know who Scrooge was without knowing about The Duck Twins. They were only out of action for ten years. Launchpad was alive before this happened and being that close to someone as popular as Scrooge...he would have seen them from time to time. 

I've also noted how LP was connected to Della from the first time we met him. His conversation about the snowstorm on the Drake Barrier Reef and the Atlantic trip as a whole, reflected the Spear incident. The way he was talking to Scrooge, sounded a lot like he wanted to encourage him to come out of retirement so he could be his pilot. That would mean that he did know something about Scrooge being an adventurer. So, how would he know about that without the Donald and Della portion?? It's the most recent part! He would have grown up with this! Either there's something up with him, or this is one serious plothole...

When Dewey and Webby started their investigation on Della, they never considered prying information from him...and after Scrooge shared his perspective on the Spear incident, Launchpad didn't have anything to say about Della's decision...(I'd expect someone who's supposedly a latchkey kid, to be...a little vocal about child abandonment...) and while his name carried over from original show, it's still very related to rockets. Why wouldn't the showrunners want to incorporate that into something bigger when the show has such a heavy space theme?! All this stuff feels a little too conveniently ignored...🤨

Speaking of the original, LP's family is full of pilots! If the reboot was going to borrow more from LP's history, that's yet ANOTHER way he should know who she is!! If one of your fellow aviators were related to the richest duck in the world, and they're travelling all over the place with him, surely their name and exploits would be brought up multiple times...Heh, if Della appeared in the original, I think it's safe to say he would immediately have a noticeable crush on her. 😂 The reboot hinted that Launchpad's romantic side is just about as active as it was in DT87, but it's a lot more private in comparison. It's really odd to have him dating around without extending any of that to Della...maybe there was something more subtle in "Coot" where he wanted to impress her...but c'mon, that's a fishy thing to do.

Anyway, I got the impression that LP found out about something having to do with Dad when the Timephoon sent him to the future. A lot of people took his delayed reaction to Louie's remark as taking too long to realize he was talking about Della. But I think it was because he wasn't initially thinking of her. The remark was said as if Louie's actions were hereditary. If not Della, then who else could Louie have "gotten" the idea of taking off with a powerful machine? 

Della's recording in "GlomTales!", warned Louie that he needed to stop his plans and schemes if he wants to be a part of the family. Dad doesn't seem to be part of the family. Could he be missing due to a plan or a scheme in relation to the Spear and the cosmic storm? In "Coot", the characters discussed how something valuable was being sought after on the non-McDuck side of the family and how everyone related to the family were frauds and cheats. If Louie was after valuables in his situation, and his situation was compared to Della's, then couldn't Dad fall under both of these categories?  

When thinking of what Launchpad could have seen during the end of the world, I amused myself with the thought of seeing them kiss, but it doesn't make sense for him to crush on someone else after that. If it was anything romantic, it would have to be a lot more subdued.  (I still do believe they were supposed to share a kiss in the original finale plans...) 

|   Ages

When it comes to pairing the pilots, shippers tend to be met with comments about Launchpad being too young. This is largely because of some statements from one of the showrunners and how they were perceived.

When I had asked the showrunner on his blog about whether Launchpad was around the same age as Donald, the answer confirmed this, and that it may have been agreed amongst the writers that Donald was little older; thus making Della the same.

In the following year, someone else asked for exact ages on Drake and Launchpad and were told that both were in their late 20's to early 30's. It was also mentioned that the twins were in their mid 30's for comparison. 

A month later, there was a question that mentioned the twins being a few years older than LP and Drake with no additional correction from the showrunner.

Later in that year, another fan asked for Donald and Della's ages and were given the answer "36".

The year after that, someone asked for the age difference between the twins and Launchpad. They were told "About seven years, I think.". 🤨 

This was a really strange thing to say after the information I was given, but once I thought more about it, I realized that this was pretty much just another way to reiterate the late 20's to early 30's range that was said before. It does...not sound like Launchpad's age is set in stone. And even though we got a precise number for the twins, it may not have been chosen with sincerity. The same showrunner had said in another age-related answer regarding the kids, that he didn't want to give them canon ages, only age ranges. This might also extend to the other characters in the series. Maybe any number in the mid-30's could be correct for Della's age and 36 was chosen at random for that question...

Similarly, some fans are proclaiming that Launchpad was officially confirmed as 31 because of a "Duckburg Life" podcast episode. But this takes place during an earlier time in the show, that wouldn't be his current age. (I remember hearing things that implied the first season, while others say it takes place in the earlier half of the second. I don't feel like checking right now, lol) How do we know the writer for this ep also wasn't just picking any number within LP's age range? Because it isn't part of the main show, this audio series is either semi-canon or not canon at all. And it wasn't helmed by the regular showrunners, so, we can't take the events and mentions too seriously without their confirmation.

Whatever the matter is behind the confusion and hesitancy surrounding their ages, a three-year age gap between the pilots could still work with how I want to see them. Just because Launchpad could be several years younger than Della, doesn't automatically mean that his is. He could be a lot closer.

That window of possibility could have easily been shut. And what helps to keep it open, is that there are multiple characters who have been placed in...highly unusual situations, that affected the way they age. Dating a mermaid, all the way out in Mid-Atlantic Ridge somewhere, sounds pretty unusual...who's to say it's impossible for him to be part of this trend in some way?

I've been theorizing that he has amnesia. Maybe that caused him to get his age wrong. We've already seen him time travel, and timeless dimensions exist in the show. What if one of his adventures lead him to a place where the passage of time works differently? We've been given at least three examples of characters being frozen. What about that?

______________________________________________________________

I would have loved to see a natural progression for Delpad in the show, but now that it's over, I don't have the patience to completely follow this timeline in chronological order. I'm mostly just going to elaborate on whatever points I feel like and work on organizing them later. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (🎶 can we skip to the good part 🎶 lol)

But don't worry, I'm not going to keep you too in the dark on this. I'm going to publish a light draft of my timeline...somewhere! Each section has been broken up into eras and will be tagged accordingly:

(PreSp-CE)

(PreSp-PDE)

(PreSp-DE)

(PreSp-SE)

(CSE)

(PostSp-SE)

(PostSp-UE)

(PostSp-FCE)

(PostSp-DE)

And I guess anything I'm not sure about adding to my headcanons in general, can be labeled "Up in The Air" (UiTA)

Will there be anything about my basis or these eras that are subject to change? Maybe. Will I create more "How I Ship" pages with other parts of timeline? There's a good chance! Did I purposely exclude an era somewhere in here for a secret reason? I'm not going to answer that. 😶

Whatever happens, I'll be sure to make an update about it! 😁

[ohmytyong]

the color of you [teaser]

cover art made by @/salgoolulu on Instagram

“you picture your emotions through words, while I try to voice out my own feelings with photos”

PAIRING: college student!jaemin x college student!reader (female!reader) x college student!mark

GENRE: fluff, angst, strangers to lovers au, college au, 90s au, love triangle au, best friend!jisung, best friend!yeri, suggestive (if you squint)

TEASER WARNINGS: none!

WC: tba (TEASER WC: 1,8k)

‣[PLAYLIST]: margaret by lana del rey (ft. bleachers), frozen by sabrina claudio, bonfire by wave to earth, yosemite by lana del rey, blue by troye sivan (ft. alex hope), naked by sabrina claudio, let the light in by lana del rey (ft. father john misty)

SUMMARY: winter to spring to fall — seasons change all the time, and life takes turns you never saw coming. as you’re trying to figure out your true love in your career path, you’re also trapped between the hearts of two boys who try to teach you how to find your real colors, by teaching you how to love.

A/N: finally a glimpse of what i've been working on (and still am) for over six months. the writing process is painfully slow, but this story feels like nothing i have ever written before. it feels intimate to me, and i can't wait to share the full story with all of you <3

wanna be notified when i post the full fic? join the taglist or send me an ask! | join my general taglist

Thursday, October 9th, 1997

Τhere is a fine line between love and passion. It is easy to confuse one for the other, and sometimes the boundaries become so blurry that love merges into passion and passion merges into love. Passion is a state of being — it resembles a phase of complete ecstasy that you wish would last forever. It fills you with a sudden burst of happiness that is so strong, it needs to become temporary, otherwise its effect weakens.

Love is more of a state of living — it draws you in, it roams around you like the strong scent of cologne, it captivates you in an invisible way, almost as if it does not exist, and no matter what your state of mind or being is, it will always find you in the form of solace. This is exactly what gives it longevity in its effect.

You tried to keep a mental note of these thoughts for the time being until you could write them down, before you completely forgot about them and they ceased to exist.

You were standing outside your favorite café in Seoul, patting your hair and brushing your fingers through thick strands to untangle them. Fall was your favorite season when you could hear the crunchy sound of leaves under your shoes or the patter of raindrops on your umbrella, but one thing you were certainly sure of was that you were not particularly very fond of the wind.

With a firm push on the door, you stepped inside the place you liked to call your second home and, almost in a cartoon-like way, you rushed towards the front counter, drawn in by the magical, mythical, delicious scent of caramel.

The boy behind the counter was busy placing pastries in a paper box and didn’t immediately notice your presence, even though you thought that he could sense how much you were craving that cup of hot caramel latte you were dreaming about all morning.

“Jisung,” you raised your voice as you spoke, and the boy jolted up in the air at the sound of somebody calling his name, the box of pastries in his hands flying everywhere around him. You liked to mess with him in this way because of his sensitivity towards abrupt loud noises. You didn’t want to, but it always spread your lips into a smiley smirk when he would jump around and drop whatever he was holding. Exactly what happened right now.

“Oh my God, Y/n,” he said breathlessly, pressing one hand on his chest to calm his heartbeat. You let out a soft giggle at his reaction and he narrowed his eyes at you. “I just like to tease you, Ji,” you said as he bent down to pick up the box and the now dirty pastries. He threw away the pastries in a trash can under the counter and placed the box aside in the counter behind him. He rolled his shoulders backwards as he came towards the cash register and swayed his head left and right to move his bangs out of his face. “Alright, alright,” he whispered to himself and he cleared his throat, straightening his back even further. He flashed a wide smile towards you and spoke in a voice that seemed loud to him, but to your ears it still sounded like his usual velvety soft tone. “Welcome to Caramel Craze, what can I get you?”

“Just my regular, Ji,” you said and he kept a note of your order on a small scratch pad, even though he knew your order by heart. “I’ll go sit down at our table, you can come join me when your shift ends. Also, just so you know, Yerim is coming too so be more alert. You know I go easy on you with the jumpscares but she doesn’t,” you said and he laughed at the mention of your friend Yerim, who liked to tease him just a little bit more.

“Okay, you go sit and I’ll be back with your order,” Jisung said and you stretched your arm to ruffle his hair playfully.

You always sat at the table furthest back in the shop right next to the wall-length window. Whatever the season, you enjoyed the access to viewing the outside world through the perspective of the glass that separated you from the people on the other side of it. Today, the atmosphere was covered by dark clouds of gloom that seemed harmless, with no intention of rain. You hadn’t realized how angry the wind was until you looked at the way the branches of the trees moved back and forth to the wind’s direction and the people struggling to walk through the windy force. Behind the glass window, it was peaceful and quiet.

You sat down at your and your friends’ designated table and took out your sketchbook and pencils. Looking around the small coffee shop, you noticed a girl standing, waiting in line to order her drink and possibly a little sweet treat to go along with it. She was wearing a long plaid skirt, falling down to her ankles, paired with a short jean jacket that ended right at the start of her waist. What if she added a leather corset? The length of the skirt kinda throws me off. Maybe a shorter skirt, chunkier shoes, different texture on the jacket-

You picked up your pencil and quickly drew lines that resembled a female human figure. Eyes darting from the girl to your sketchbook, back at the girl and your sketchbook again, you started gaining inspiration for new clothing designs. That’s why you decided to study fashion design; the possibilities of mixing and matching colors, patterns and textures were endless, and your creative mind couldn’t help but be fascinated by the art of fashion.

You were drawing quick rough sketches of clothes, making small changes here and there, trying to find a new, innovative, interesting design to present in class. For the last couple weeks, you were completely stuck and couldn’t create anything. The scholarship abroad wouldn’t be yours if you presented some boring, mediocre stuff.

Lately, you found yourself deprived of inspiration. You couldn’t pinpoint the exact reason why this was the case, but anytime you picked up your pencil to draw new patterns of clothes, your hand automatically moved away from your sketchbook and gravitated towards the pocket-sized notebook you kept on the side of your desk, and all you could do with your pencil was to write words.

the flowers inside my mind wither and fall;

dark fog covers the sky that hangs above my consciousness

i hate to see you wilt —

perhaps a new seed will grow on the ground

and replace the void with color

regeneration mirrors the art of becoming again

Setting your sketchbook and pencil on the side, you moved to take out the small notebook from the front pocket of your bag, flipping the pages to find a blank one and quickly writing down the words that came to your mind at that moment. This is what you always did when you felt stuck. You could never voice the thoughts occupying your mind, so you wrote them down instead. It was always easier to put them in place this way.

A loud bang resonated in the small café and you jolted up in surprise, dropping your pencil on the table. This is probably how Jisung feels, I get it now. You lifted your head to see your friend Yerim setting her bag and extra books on the table as she sat down on the chair across from yours.

“You scared me, Yerimie,” you said in a shaky voice and her lips lifted up to a smirk. “And I thought Jisung was the fun one to tease,” she said.

You scoffed at her comment and dismissed it. Yerim’s eyes dropped to the sketchbook and pencils scattered everywhere around the table, peeking at your trembling designs and the black smudges all over the pages that covered the designs you didn’t like.

“Still on designer’s block?” Yerim asked and you shook your head lightly. “I actually made some progress today,” you smiled, “I might have some ideas about what to make. These are pretty much the very first draft of it. If you can call it a draft,” you said pointing at your sketchbook.

Yerim hummed in understanding, but her eyes betrayed her true thoughts. Doubt? Hope? Simply processing what you said? You couldn't tell.

“Hey, listen, I have an extra class right now so I won’t stay, wanna meet me later in the library? I know you prefer studying here but I just came to pick up my coffee,” Yerim said. As if they communicated telepathically, Jisung approached your table holding two plastic cups with your beloved coffee shop’s logo on them. The intensely sweet scent of caramel betrayed what the liquid inside the cups was and you felt dizzy even at the thought of finally tasting the drink you were so desperately craving.

“Here you are, girls,” it felt almost as if Jisung mouthed the words by how softly he spoke. With shaky hands, he placed the cups on the table and smiled at himself for successfully bringing them all the way there without dropping them and spilling the hot coffee all over the shop’s floor.

“Are you coming too, Ji? To the library,” Yerim turned to him and Jisung nodded eagerly. “Of course! I’ll be there after my shift ends. Sorry Y/n, I can’t stay at the café all day, it's getting boring and it reminds me of work,” Jisung apologized to you and frowned.

“Don’t worry, guys, I’ll join you. Besides, apparently I also need to find this book I need for my project. You can go and I’ll meet you there later,” you said and you were going to keep your promise. 

Yerim grabbed her things and leaned over the table to give you a hug. She winked at you and waved at both you and Jisung on her way out the coffee shop. Jisung smiled and shook his head at Yerim’s sassy attitude and you couldn’t help but smile too at how adorable he was.

“You’d better get back to work Ji, or else someone out there is gonna rob all the money you keep in the cash register,” you reminded him and his posture stiffened, smile dropping and eyes widening when he remembered that his shift, in fact, hadn’t ended yet. 

“Oh, you’re right. But wait,” he said, putting his hand inside the pocket of his apron, only to take out a soft caramel cookie wrapped in sealed plastic packaging. He slid it into your hand under the table and offered you a shy smile. “It’s on the house. You need some energy,” he said softly as he walked away towards the back of the café.

You looked at the cookie and quickly put it inside your bag. You were sitting alone once again, blocking your surroundings as you stared outside the window to take a look at the outside world. The wind had calmed down significantly.

* .♡ *:･ﾟ✧ ⋆ ࣪.* ࣪.⋆

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@uwuheeseungie @markleefuckme @letmein2urheart

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[azaharinflames]

If we don't get something for BuckTommy in the finale than I feel it would be healthier for me to just put down the show.

I don't know if I'll be able to do it but I do think maybe it's better for me to just leave the show to the Buddies. They have their army, their journos are their generals, and they will never stop, never relent, even if the show never gives them what they want.

With all my heart I believe the very best they will ever get is some one-sided confession from Buck at the very last episode of the series. Maybe on his deathbed. But those are wilfully blind will not see.

And the show will probably never shut them down properly. It got close in the last few episodes, and maybe it can still pull the trigger in the finale and send them spiralling off into the void. Here's hoping. But if they don't, then I don't see how this to and fro can continue for me.

I can't watch with their fandom as a bugbear on my back. I want to talk and read about the show but there is literally no space where they aren't being generally awful.

They really are close to breaking down the last of my resistance. I want to stay out of obstinance, because I know that it's exactly their goal to destroy people's hope, but it's just so hard.

Really need Tommy to be in the finale in a real way or else the relationship dropped. I can hold on to hope if there's something tangible to hold on to. I can throw away all hope and just hang around as an unrepentant hater of the show, or leave entirely. But this liminal space where the show can't make up it's mind is torturous.

They either need to give me something or tell me to fuck off so I can actually have an emotional reaction.

Sorry that this ended up being a stream of consciousness.

don’t worry, nonnie, it made sense. and i have to agree and share the sentiment. and i’m happy you can vent here <3

I don’t necessarily share the part of buddie with you. mostly because i refuse to think about them or give them that power, tbh. though i will agree that they are not getting buddie canon, and atp, and especially after last episode, that’s painfully obvious.

so. does it matter if the ‘journos’ are on their side? if bts sometimes posts them? if they’re sent together to do promo (which i will argue it’s not a ‘gift’ to them but them doing promo)? the show is clearly telling them something, as much as we can argue that they still give them small things. if you watch the show it’s rather obvious how they feel about them. therefore leaving to me is not giving them a victory. it’s knowing that it wouldn’t even be a battle to be had, because we exist in two different realms.

that being said. i am waiting on 818 to fully determine what i do with this show.

and to be quite honest, this is not entirely about bucktommy. partly, it is, because i would hate to feel like i’ve been dragged along for this long without a proper reason to - because to bring back tommy after 806 and keep him around for the whole season when there was no reason for it, if they just want him to suddenly disappear is cruel. and it would definitely put me off the show, if anything just because i wouldn’t want my time to be wasted like that.

but it is more than that to me. it would be wasted time, but also it would be watching a show that is hit after hit to my favorite character, with no pay-off or any type of joy. it would be rewarding the behaviors around buck, even, and showing that the way they treated him was right. and i’m simply not okay with that, and i wouldn’t be okay with watching the show if that happened.

ultimately, it would be me being tired of seeing a show that goes nowhere, because that’s how it would feel. and knowing when to stop if it doesn’t bring me joy anymore.

not to say 818 will be bad. i don’t think it will be. but just. in a hypothetical case, i agree.

[saphushia]

I would loveeeee to hear your weird creeper hcs 🙏🙏🙏

YES YAY THANK YOU 🌟

okay so i guess first off. i hc silverfish to be larval creepers. that, in addition with a creeper's diet (and silverfish's, of course) consisting of ore, is why creepers explode players. see, when creepers explode, their eggs are embedded in the surrounding terrain. as players often carry ores on them, a creeper managing to explode a player and drop their inventory means the silverfish that hatch are almost guaranteed a very generous meal upon first hatching. after that, silverfish burrow underground to continue eating, and to stay safe until they're ready to metamorphise into creepers

(bonus doc lore at the end of the post 🐐)

creepers emerge from the ground at night because that's when it's generally safest for them to finish the final stages of development and gather their bearings. creepers themselves cannot dig or burrow, so they stay on the surface (or in a cave, if that's where they emerged) for the remainder of their life.

the combustion is the result of a chemical reaction- they store reactive materials in chambers in their body, and when they're released and come into contact with each other it causes an explosion as a side note, creepers can eat meat, but are more scavengers than hunters, and only eat it when it's readily available with little to no risk.

moving onto doc (because i'll never pass up a chance for blorbo talk), his anatomy is somewhat different from a standard creeper due to all the modifications to give him a more 'human' bodyplan and appearance.

his forelegs were originally removed and reattached to act as arms, however his spine and leg joints weren't built for a bipedal upright stance, so it gives him back, knee, and ankle pain to walk like that too much. his retractable robotic forelegs were a later addition he made for himself as a mobility aid to help relieve that pain. because of that he has a slightly more 'taur' like body structure, vs standard creepers whose necks are centered between all 4 legs. originally both his arms had 3 digits each (as they were made by modifying his legs), but when he made his right arm prosthetic he gave it a 5-fingered, more human-like shape for easier manipulation of stuff designed for human use

his combustion chambers were also removed long ago, so he can no longer explode himself (which he doesn't really mind. not big on the whole 'one panic away from exploding himself to death' thing)

he can digest a larger range of food than standard creepers can, but he still needs to eat ores to keep a nutritionally balanced diet. mostly he eats non-mineral foods just because he likes the taste, rather than actual nutritional value. it's recommended not to eat anything he makes for himself, because even if it looks like smth a human can eat, it's probably seasoned with redstone or iron shavings (he is good at making human-safe food, but he has no reason to make his own meals human safe. only eat doc's cooking if you know it's meant to be shared)

his scales are also softer, fading into something more similar to rough skin on a lot of his body. his 'hair' is thicker than a human's but thinner than a creeper's scales- it has almost a quill like texture. he can still 'hiss' by rattling them, but it's a somewhat different pitch than your standard creeper.

he also has a lot of mods on his neck to allow him to speak, and his robotic eye sees far better than a creeper's (slightly above human average, vs creeper eyes which are far below a human average). also a lot of questional brain/head mods to give him a more human appearing face and human-level cognition. his horns however are purely aesthetic.

[harley-rose25]

In which I give the longest explanation of my opinions on Eremika and why I don't like it.

If you see my other AoT post, I likely give the impression of being a hardcore eremika anti; and while I'm not clearly not a fan of the ship I also don't believe that it just came out of nowhere, or was completely unexpected; like some eremika antis seem to think. Seasons 1-3 I honestly expected an eremika ending. Season 3 I had some thoughts that maybe we were getting a erehisu instead, but ultimately I assumed either an eremika or a no-pairing ending even by the end of season 3.

This is not because I thought the ship was built up well or had really good moments pointing towards a mutual romance/love. There are some moments where Eren shows some level of care or affection towards Mikasa; but, to me, it doesn't come off like he's in love with her. It can be interpreted that way, but I felt it was more like showing general platonic care and that those more romantic feeling could be built up or in some cases like his feelings were moving in that direction. The reason I assumed it was the most likely end game ship if there was to be a ship is because of other cannon ships where one character is in love, often obsessively so with the other and the other is either oblivious, doesn't really care, or actively seems to dislike them until the end of the series when suddenly they're also in love. ie; Sakura and Sasuke, Hinata and Naruto, Aang and Katara. Eren and Mikasa dynamic reminded me of these, especially Sakura and Sasuke.

My main issues with the eremika ship are: 1. how it compares to erehisu; Eren and Mikasa do have deep emotional moment together but Eren and Historia have deep emotional moment because of each other. That is, Eren's emotional moment with Mikasa would be just as emotional even if she wasn't there, where as Historia is integral to the moments she has with Eren. In season 4 the erehisu ship is really build up by how desperate Eren is to protect Historia, how he angrily jumps to her defense, how he's shown visiting her at the farm, how he smiles at her and no one else. Even other characters notice this; in season 3 Jean tells Eren he should stop holding hands with Historia all the time (I'm aware that the hand holding was because they were trying to get more memories/activate the founding titan, but it means that Eren and Historia had a lot of confirmed off screen time together), and in season 4 Hange looks at Eren smiling at Historia and then later tells Eren that She thought He would never sacrifice Historia; strongly indicating an assumption of a deeper level of care. All in all I think erehisu had better scenes to building a relationship of mutual care and understanding and also better scenes showing that Eren cares about Historia in a way that isn't shown with anyone else (save maybe Armin) This means that when we end up with eremika now it feels a little cheap or just off. If we got more moments showing a deeper level of care and understand between Eren and Mikasa or if The moments between Eren and Historia, and Erens reactions to Historia didn't have so much weight then an eremika ending would make more sense.

reason number 2: What it does to Mikasas character; Mikasa's love for Eren seems born out of an obsession that comes from losing her parent in a violent murder/kidnapping and then being saved by him. This is then compounded when Eren's mom dies since she was like an adoptive mother to Mikasa. She's a traumatized young girl who never actually deals with her trauma and instead hyperfixates on Eren. Mikasa entire character arc is her chasing after Eren like a neglected dog until that one scene where for like 5 minutes she finally starts to see Eren for the violent psychopath he actually is and questions what she had seen in him; but never mind that because she's back to being so obsessively in love with him that even after he dies she spends that rest of her life visiting his grave with her (probably husband and kids) and also never takes off that scarf.

reason number 3: Mikasa doesn't understand Eren. People argue that Mikasa understood Eren in a different ways, that she understood certain parts of him, but that's literally just admitting that there's clearly parts of Eren she doesn't understand. Actually, I'd argue that as its depicted Mikasa doesn't seem to understand Eren on a fundamental level. Examples: When he failed at the initial ODM gear test she told him to give up being a soldier and then went on to say that he needn't drop out alone, that she would be following him; when he passed the ODM gear test she says that he's relieved that he wont be separated from her. She assumes that the reason he'd be upset about failing to make it as a soldier is related specifically to her and not wanting to be apart from her; When Connie is angry about Eren laughing after Sasha's death he asks Mikasa why he would do that and she can't answer; despite the fact that she's witnessed him laughing in an emotional and traumatic situation before and should have been able to understand that he does it as a coping mechanism. She'd also completely blind to his obvious anti-social personality disorder (psychopathy), though to be fair so is everyone else including most Eren stans. (like, I love Eren, I stan Eren but he is like text book certifiably ASPD psychopathic)

Edit on 6/6/25: sinse a couple people have commented on it, I want to say that I've changed my arm chair pop pysch diagnosis of Eren Yeager from aspd to bpd. My original assessment was based soley on the anime; and I have sinse been reading the manga. Though i feel you could still interpret Eren as aspd if you like, idk, squint a little.

[notafragilething]

Buck/Tommy Late Night Ramblings: The Data

It's around the 8 hour mark from the time the official Instagram posted the Buck/Tommy kiss and coming out scene. I ran the data again and my mind is actually blown because these numbers are ridiculously good in regards to social media engagement. So I'm going to share the numbers, my feelings about the vibes in the comments and final thoughts.

Right now there are 110 videos posted on the Instagram and the average views is 379k. The Buck/Tommy kiss video, as of the time of I'm writing this, has a view count of 526k (half a million) after roughly 8 hours. That means it has already reached the point of being the 22nd most watched reel of those 110, most of which have been posted for weeks or even months. It very likely will be entering the top 15 most viewed by the 24 hour point and I'll make a post about this topic. It also has 1.5k in comments and almost 56k in likes.

To give you a comparison, the clip of Buck coming out to Eddie that was posted roughly 3 full weeks ago currently has 760k views and is the 11th most viewed reel with 1.2k in comments and 70k in likes.

So what does this tell me?

It tells me that, after three full episodes of this arc, the general audience is having a very positive reaction to the pairing. I brought up the coming out scene because that performed really well but the new video of their kiss and Buck coming out to everyone is massively outperforming it and will likely pass it in views and likes at some point in the future. Which likely means support for bi Buck and this pairing is growing.

There also remains a HUGE shift in the comments and how they're responding to that scene. Well there definitely are some upset shippers and homophobic people complaining in the comments they're not a significant portion of the comments. They are also not getting many likes and engagement is pretty low. They're mostly just talking back and forth amongst themselves. The majority of the comments are talking about how they love this pairing, asking for Tommy/Lou to stay and responding really positively to them.

I think this is a pretty good sign of how the general audience is feeling about Buck and Tommy as a couple and very likely is indicating to ABC that this is a marketable couple. People like them, they like to see them, content of them brings in some pretty significant engagement.

I think it's about to get really interesting in how they market these two more towards the end of the season when Tommy returns for the last episode or 2.

Also I kinda like these late night ramble posts. Should I keep making them?

Edit: Extra Late Night Update. I just re-checked and the video is currently at 569k for views, 59k for likes and 1.6k for comments. It's now in 17th place for most views at the 9 hour point. My new prediction is it will enter the top 10 sometime tomorrow,

[marsontherocks]

🧼Flu Shot🧼

John "Soap" MacTavish x Medic!Male Reader

Summary: Soap doesn't like shots.

Other characters: Gaz, Ghost, and Price

Word count: 550+

A/N: I'm testing out my format for when I post And They Were Roommates. I, yet again, originally wrote this for CharacterxOC, but this is completely reader-friendly. The only thing mentioned about the reader is "him" and being a medic, and slightly strong. Platonic on the reader's side, for now, lol. If yall want a part two lmk. I'll upload this to AO3 later :3 No use of Y/N (ao3 link)

TW/CW: Needle mentions, lmk if anything else needs to be tagged

|Next Part|

It was flu season, meaning you had the great pleasure of issuing flu shots to the 141. Recruits and others ranged in reactions to shots. From "let's get this over with" to, on one occasion, a full-blown tantrum. Then there were, as you so kindly dubbed them, the 'main four freaks'. 

The easiest was Gaz, ever the golden child. Always the first to stride in, the quietest, and just overall pleasant. If you had stickers and lollipops, you'd give them all to him.

Next was Ghost. He'll take his shot with no problem, the hard part was finding him. He claimed he had no problem with visits in general, but it was an obvious lie, considering the time he nearly bled out rather than taking a trip to get fixed up. At least, Ghost was quiet and quick when finally 'caught', always leaving with a rather nasty side eye and a grumble.

Then Price. It was a challenge to get him out of his office and into your clinic. Bitching and borderline whining about how he has work to do, and that he doesn't need his shot right this second. You could bring the shot to him, but you got a kick out of it if you were honest.

Worst of all, however, was John "Soap" Mac-fucking-Tavish. 

There was a knock at the door, "Come in!" You shout from your desk, putting down your to-do list. You watch as the door bursts open and Gaz and Ghost drag in a distressed Soap.

"Three weeks Gaz! I'll do three weeks of Recruit PT for you! I'll do all your laundry LT! For a month!" Soap pleaded as he was practically tossed onto an exam table.

As Soap tries to scramble off the table, you quickly collect your already prepared tray for the Flu shot. You had bribed Gaz and Ghost by promising you'd buy them drinks if they brought you the feisty Scotsman, as he was the last on your list. After Ghost slammed Soap back onto the table, you were quick to pounce on your most difficult patient.

Soap yelped and did his best to fight you back without physically harming you. "Gaz! LT! Please! I'll do anything!"

"Beg to him, not us," Gaz snorted.

You practically growl in frustration before firmly grabbing Soap's shoulders and slamming the bratty soldier down onto the table. Soap tried to sit back up, but you just slam him right back down, "Be a good soldier and just fucking take it," you hiss at him.

That finally seems to get through to him, because Soap goes as motionless as a rock. You quickly but carefully administer his shot, rolling your eyes when he cries out after the needle is already out of him. 

"There, done. Now get the fuck out my clinic." You turn around and start disposing of the items, completely unaware of the scene going on behind you.

Soap lay on the exam table frozen, his whole face was flushed, even past his neck. When it was clear that Soap was not going to move on his own, Gaz and Ghost took action and carried out their love-stricken friend. When they made it back outside, Ghost promptly dropped his end of Soap, which made Gaz drop him as well.

Finally broken out of his trance, Soap sits up, "I'm fucking gay."

-

Bro might be gay or smth😒 lol hope u liked :3

-Next Part-

[autumnmobile12]

Feminism in Castlevania

One of the things I liked about this series was how it represented both positive feminism and toxic feminism.

The positive elements are small and carry their weight through the tone they set, as they should. If displays of feminism are over-the-top, then they become pandering and discredit the message they are trying to send.

Despite this series's flaws, I will forever appreciate the hell out of the fact they didn't go with the 'reformed chauvinist' character arc for Trevor. When he's first made aware of Sypha, she's just the Elder Speaker's 'grandchild.' Gender neutral term. And when he finally meets her and realizes she's a woman, his only reactions is, "Granddaughter, then." There's no overt reaction, there's no patronizing comment of how 'it's too dangerous for a woman down here.' "Granddaughter, then," is the only comment he ever makes that she's female, and that's all the series needed to set the tone for that part of his character.

It shows he's not against women fighting.

It shows he doesn't view women as weaker or inferior.

It shows he's aware women are capable of fighting and sees nothing wrong with that and sets the building blocks for the fact that Belmont women were fighters and this is nothing new to him.

It shows he's doesn't blame Sypha for putting herself in this predicament with the Cyclops by going down there in the first place. (Actually, considering he went into the catacombs under the assumption she was dead, he was probably relieved he didn't have to haul a corpse back to the surface.)

Show. Not tell.

The only thing he really questions is why she was sent down there alone, but he ultimately decided it wasn't his business. And he figures it out later when it's revealed she's her caravan's only mage.

The other part worth considering is while he's perfectly willing to insult Alucard, he never insults Sypha the same way.

He also doesn't make a habit of protecting her. They are both equally balanced in watching out for each other during their fights in Season 3 and Season 4. The only time Trevor says he'll protect her is in the Hold and that's only because he knows she's busy setting up a complicated spell and carrying out the bigger part of their master plan. In this context, he's not even her protector; he's just back-up.

Alucard's treatment of Sypha is similar, but they sadly don't have too many moments where they talk one on one. He's polite to her and I honestly feel this is his parents' influence of raising him to be a gentleman. (I mean, Lisa doesn't hesitate to call out Dracula for his lack of manners during their first meeting.)

Greta introduces herself as the headwoman of Danesti.  Nobody questions that. Hell, St. Germain even comments it's a shame someone with her talents was wasted in such a provincial area like Danesti. Rude, but this is more of a dig at Wallachia being a backwater, uncivilized sty and nothing at all about her being a woman in charge.

We can also see this to a lesser extent with Zamfir being the unquestioned leader of Targoviste's resistance, but again, we don't get a lot of info.

I've already done an earlier post on Carmilla, so I'm going to reiterate a few of those points here: A huge part of Carmilla's character and motivation is her disdain for men.  Hector is a just a tool to her.  Dracula’s Generals are made up of men.  The vampires are ruled over by a ‘stupid, old man.’

There's also the fact she just doesn't care about her sisters. She refuses to give credit to Morana for her part in handling the logistics of their invading army, which Striga calls her out on. So she's still putting herself above the others. But the really telling part is her reaction to seeing Isaac in her final episode. If she cared about Lenore in any way, she would have demanded to know if she was still alive, did he kill her, what had he done? Instead, she's still shouting about how the world is full of idiots and she's better than everyone else.

This isn't feminism. This is pure arrogance, bitter vindictiveness, and plain narcissism.

Unlike Morana, Striga, and Lenore, Carmilla never talks about their plan of conquest in the terms of safety or security. It's always to the tune of vengeance or even just to prove she can do it. It's always about her fury of being treated as 'less than' because she and her sisters were just women. And it all culminates in a cowardly suicide because she couldn't stand the thought of losing to a lowly human like Isaac.

I don't want to be too harsh with Carmilla. I do like her as a character and I think she's a brilliantly written foil to Sypha as far as the feminism angle goes. This is also the medieval period where the conventions of society more often than not benefited men. I get it, I really do. But a tragic backstory still doesn't excuse toxic behavior.

[laurrelise]

i’m rewatching tua season 4 because i guess i once again need confirmation that it’s just as bad as i remember …

but ive been told im too negative about the season on more than one occasion so im going to be positive and name a bunch of things i like about each episode of the final season!! <3

warning: this post is decent sized lol

today we are tackling: episode 2

i do love the beginning montage of the siblings all being sick while simultaneously using their powers to improve their own daily agendas if only it featured more than just 3 of the siblings…?

i love five’s assistant twink and also how he’s called mr. five at the grand old age of 19 years old (i know he’s 64 but shut up)

lila’s eyeball lasers and the rubber ducky

luther being devastated over the place being “destroyed” even when it was a literal shithole to start off with

viktor finding his VOICE. viktor with CONFIDENCE. i love you viktor “ill kick your ass right now” hargreeves. king, you are 4 feet tall, but eat him tf up

“why is it cold” “the real question is, why would you touch it”

five slapping diego’s hand out of the way and him not even trying to fight it is so them and i love it

viktor actually attempting to kick ben’s ass (and as much as he looks like a feral little gremlin, i love it)

luther’s “DUDE! I LIVE HERE” he’s such a grumpus

also viktor’s little speech about him building a life for himself and it all being fucked over because of ben’s dumb ass

“i could’ve lost my job!” “did you?” “wh-” and five looking up at him with wide eyes and genuine curiosity. not the time king but thanks for asking

allison eating ben tf up and klaus supporting her

“i’m not going back to that old klaus. i like this klaus! hey, he collects coupons! he’s frugal, respectable, reliable, and most importantly, he’s a klaus that claire likes. and trusts and looks up to.” THIS IS SO SAD I LOVE HIM

diego pulling ben back to the couch by his hair is such brother behavior

i do love the wanda van. she’s truly iconic

will forever love that five gets the front seat because he’s the old man. if i were his sibling i wouldn’t even try to take it. shotgun is for the senior citizen

the gag about baby shark not being able to stop playing for the entire several-hour long road trip is pretty alright comedy-wise i guess although it would’ve been much funnier if baby shark wasn’t the main goddamn song in the entire season’s soundtrack

i will never shut up about how much i love the love-hate banter from all of the siblings. the actors did such an amazing job bringing the dysfunctional family back to life.

ben getting humbled in the diner was pretty satisfying. sparrow ben i’ve never been your biggest fan but you’ve grown on me

luther’s mention of sloane is so sweet if only she’d been mentioned more than twice

luther is generally adorable i love that man

viktor saying “phones work both ways, yknow” when allison said he didn’t call. i love how much confidence he’s found in himself this season, quite possibly one of the only characters who wasn’t horribly assassinated trait-wise

diego throwing the axes, i love him. also lila’s unimpressed reaction always gets me

klaus with the TAROT CARDS!!!!!! yes please i wish he’d used them more

i do actually like jennifer’s character. the truman-show town thing was so interesting even if it had relatively no effect on the plot for the rest of the season, it had potential but i love that jen matches ben’s freak in the sense that she is absolutely not afraid to call him out on his bullshit

old man five trying to blink :( so sad poor guy

also five immediately pretending to stretch when lila calls him out

once again i love lila and five’s reluctant alliance. why couldn’t they just continue being frenemies for the love of god

five noticing the singular guy looking at them and mentioning it to diego and lila and she says “maybe he likes you” STEVE BLACKMAN YOU COULD’VE PUT FIVE WITH ANYONE ELSE. STEVE BLACKMAN WE COULD’VE HAD A ROMANCE BETWEEN FIVE AND THE ELF STARING AT HIM AND IT WOULD’VE BEEN BETTER THAN FIVE X LILA. STEVE BLACKMAN WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO ME

ben defending jennifer awwwww

five’s subway station to different timelines will go down as being endlessly awesome if only it hadn’t been created solely so steve blackman could fulfill his own weird ass ideas

diego and lila once again trying to convince the other to let them save the day is a very often-overlooked sign of love that i refuse to ignore. they do it like 3 times in the show and it gets me every time

“i have laser eyes im more powerful than you!” “they’re not even working right now!” “they’re gonna work i feel it they’re gonna work!!!!” lila i love you you’re so cute

“I TOOK OUT THE TRASH” hey btw diego it’s not the time

ok but diego’s flip where he redirects all the bullets… idk how i completely forgot about that part (probably because i was busy thinking about all of the other things that i hated) but it was SO fucking awesome stfu

diego and lila collecting reindeer stuffies for the kids even while they’re fighting for their lives is still so adorable

klaus’ positive affirmations. klaus I LOVE YOU

klaus accidentally finding a fake jennifer is so on brand for him NVM HOW DID I FORGET THAT SHE LITERALLY SHOOTS KLAUS

i LOVE the part where luther’s shielding allison and viktor from the bullets. especially when viktor tears out of his grasp like a feral little gremlin and takes out half of the shooters

still don’t know what the hell allison’s power is???? is it the rumor thing except she only has to think it instead of saying it?!!? idk but it’s cool i guess just wish it was explained more!!!!!!

luther’s “i should’ve known, those sconces were too perfect” he’s all upset but i can’t help but smile he’s literally a 5 year old

the car flip is so fucking cool. the glass flying around the van around everybody is so good, the “carol of the bells” is so menacing and simple, five absolutely serving while everyone else is screaming and flinging around in the back

ALSO DIEGO’S ARM GOING OUT TO PROTECT FIVE. fuck i love them so much. STEVE BLACKMAN FUCK YOU FOR WHAT YOU DID TO FIVE AND DIEGO

jennifer’s little “help me, ben” as she gets carried away is so tragic oh my god. and his little reach out to her as she’s taken. fuck

i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again, jean and gene are such phenomenal villains. nick offerman and megan mulally are phenomenal actors. christ on a cracker why couldn’t they have been utilized in a plot that was actually written well

and that’s the end of the episode! only positivity around here folks! :)

…

just kidding here’s some of the tiny little things i caught that i don’t like / that make literally zero sense

luther screaming “no! no! no” when his monkey body is back (for some fucking reason???) is so heartbreaking the poor guy hated himself 💔

i love the whole subway station thing but how the hell did five accidentally blink into the station when he was just running but couldn’t when he was genuinely trying lmfao

it’s absolutely wild that five deadass blinked accidentally and then just hopped on the subway even though he was just running for his life. if the writers genuinely believed five wouldn’t have immediately returned to help his family and checked out the subway later then they need to be fired immediately. thanks

it will never not be funny to me that literally every single person in the town has a huge gun. was that much security really necessary 😭

the part where klaus dies and they give him marigold even though he stressed 100% that he didn’t want it makes me so sad. i get why they did it (he literally would’ve died if they hadn’t) but the panic in allison’s voice as she holds her dying brother and tries to figure out if it’s right to give it to him against his will is so heartbreaking

KLAUS’ “what did you do?” WHEN HE REALIZES HE’S GOT HIS POWERS BACK IM SOBBING

ok and that’s the end

the first couple of episodes weren’t too terrible in my opinion? so it’s understandable that i’d find plenty more things i liked than i disliked in this episode. also all the things i pointed out that i liked were tiny little details when most of the season’s flaws imo were huge arcs / plot points that span multiple episodes so they might not be as relevant in a post of this format !!

might do this when i watch the rest of the seasons to truly identify if i really am too hard on this season (i don’t believe i am considering how many much smarter people have also stressed the issues with this season but it was fun so i might do it anyways)

anyways thanks for reading goodbye

[markantonys]

thoughts on the people of falme cheering over learning that the dragon has been reborn

1) their city was just getting blown up and now it's not. they're happy about this.

2) their city had been occupied by the seanchan for weeks (months?) and now it's not. they're happy about this.

3) the average layperson may not even recognize the dragon symbol; maybe they're just thinking someone's putting on a nice fireworks show to celebrate the attack being over.

4) but assuming they do recognize it, this is not unlike the immediate reaction to rand declaring himself in the stone in TDR. all the onlookers kneel before him and take up chanting "the dragon has been reborn!" it's not a celebratory moment, exactly, but it's far from a fearful one. it's only in the little coda afterwards that mat tells us the news is being met with both awe and fright as it's being spread; in the immediate moment, "awe" is definitely the main emotion.

5) there is book precedent for rand being welcomed into a city for whom he did a good deed, rather than being met with hatred or fear (illian). maybe the people of falme, in this immediate post-battle moment, care less about the vague future notion of the last battle and more about the fact that whoever's up on that tower did them a solid by helping get rid of the seanchan and the whitecloaks.

6) elayne noted that the people of falme act like they've been seanchan all their lives. perhaps their cheering for the dragon reborn who's just conquered their conquerors is meant to show a Series Theme about how the average layperson doesn't care about who's in charge or about what's going on in the world at large as long as their own individual life isn't affected too badly.

7) in the books, the idea that the general populace is afraid of rand/the dragon reborn really doesn't emerge strongly until TSR, after he's been publicly out as the dragon for more than 5 seconds. no reason to assume the show will never get to this idea just because it hasn't yet. this series has 1 million Themes and not all of them can fit in the first 2 seasons of the show. since everybody was going to be split up for most of this season, they chose "the vulnerability of isolation vs. the strength of togtherness" as the Focal Theme for the season and the big moment of togetherness in the final scene is the conclusion of this Theme. (and this was all necessitated in part by barney's departure; rafe said that the changes to mat's story are what made them decide to double down on the isolation theme for season 2.)

8) simple storytelling and Making Emotionally Satisfying Television reasons. season 2 was a very heavy season of isolation, despair, and loss (and i saw more than one mid-season critic review & show-only comment begging for some light because things had been so painful for so long). thus, they wanted to end the season on a note of unity, hope, and triumph, to give the audience some much-needed positive catharsis. the final scene being everybody screaming in horror and recoiling in terror from rand would've been, you know, kind of a downer.

9) even if the people are celebrating, rand himself is CLEARLY not happy. rest assured that the show is aware of the "it sucks to be the chosen one" Theme and is not going to make being the dragon reborn any less of a burden for rand than it is in the books (just in case the whole thing where he spent the entire season hating himself and having nightmares about killing everyone he loves didn't already give you that impression).

plus, just like in TGH&TDR, this season rand's inner struggle was only about being a male channeler because he had no idea his dragon reborn duties weren't over until the last few episodes. only now that he has officially taken up the mantle of the dragon reborn will it be time for us to see how much being the chosen one weighs on him. so, just the same timing as it was in the books. (and frankly, i think season 1's emphasis on rand having concrete plans for a future in emond's field which he now has to abandon already sold this idea more than the first 2 or 3 books alone did; as a show-only for s1 i was so upset about rand not getting to be a stay-at-home cottagecore dad, my show-only mom was so upset about it, and i've seen plenty of other show-onlys being upset about it too.)

[crowleysgirl56]

Concerning the reactions to the comment David made to a young woman about the ending of Good Omens season 3 (including mine).

Firstly let me start by saying that most of my posts are to be taken a jokes. They are written to be mostly tongue in cheek, sarcastic and (what I think) are hilarious. So even though my previous post about freaking out about what David said might seem like I was legitimately panicking I just want to say that it was a joke and please don’t take it too seriously. Honestly I hope it just made you laugh, and you continued scrolling. If my post caused anyone to further their own anxiety or freak out, I apologise. If my post contributed to the fandom as a whole slightly losing their minds, I also apologise.

For those of you who took your reactions to David’s comment a step further and threatened that poor girl, insulted her, or were just generally mean to her, stop it! Don’t do that! Don’t be awful. Please be kind. Go and apologise!

With that out of the way, I did want to do a quick* analysis of the comment and perhaps address why people (and to a little extend myself) are feeling nervous.

To begin with, Neil has previously said (and this is a really good point), David was speaking directly to a fan, and was unaware he was being filmed. So when he says “maybe it’s not the ending you want”, he’s speaking directly to the person who asked him. We don’t know the context of their interaction beforehand and maybe she (or anyone else) had already expressed what their desire for the ending is, so this was his response. However taken out of context, the fandom has put themselves in the shoes of the person asking the question and therefore inserted themselves into the you part. The ending might not be want we want or expect. And considering the number of discussions the fandom participates in, the number of headcanons the fandom throw around, and the number of fanfics being written and read, whatever ending Neil has written is not going to satisfy everyone. It’s impossible to. But that is the same of any fandom really.

Speaking of fandoms, yes we are collectively nervous for a few reasons. One, for a good month there, we were convinced that the ending of season 2 was what the end of that story was going to be. Then when it was announced there’s still one more story to tell, there was another four months before it was finally confirmed that we were going to get that story. Two, case in point Game of Thrones. I don’t think I need to explain anymore than that. We have been burned before and now we’re worried it could happen again (though I will point out here, Neil has a better handle of storytelling and the love, devotion, and desire to finish a story that is beloved to him and is effectively a love letter to his best friend, compared to two TV producers who got bored and wanted to move onto other projects…). Three, filming is still 6 months away, and the premiere likely another year after that. A lot can happen in that time. So after these experiences, I can appreciate why people get nervous and a little in their heads about things.

In terms of the immediate reaction to what this could mean for the ending itself, I honestly cannot fathom how some people have managed to draw a straight line from “It might not be the ending you want” to “Terry would absolutely hate it”. Like, that just boggles my mind. HOW do you extrapolate that? David then immediately said “It’s a good ending”. So I think it’s safe to say that it will be good.

So let’s talk about endings and what people are mostly worried about.

1) Crowley and Aziraphale become human. This isn’t going to happen. Mainly because Neil has joked multiple times that this is the ending. Therefore if he says “this is what will happen” I’m pretty confident that this is what definitely won’t happen. You know after season 2, I ended up writing my own little fan fiction about them becoming human. I thought it was sweet and cute. Then I saw a lot of people absolutely hate that idea, so I never published it anywhere. Oh well.

2) Either one or both of them will die. Also not going to happen. Something tells me that Neil would not participate in the “bury your gays” trope. I do think that maybe there might be a non-permanent death or near death in the climax. But both will live, I’m positive of this.

3) Sex. I’ve spoken about this before. We’re not getting hardcore sexual activity. This is not the show for that. Neil has said before he’s not into writing that kind of thing. Do I think we’ll get more kissing? Yes. Do I think there will be implied sex? Maybe, hopefully, I’m wishing for it. But there is not going to be actual sex folks. Please make your way to AO3 for your reading pleasure.

4) The South Downs. And now we get to what I’m most worried about. That we won’t get what everyone assumes the ending will actually be. Crowley and Aziraphale retired and living in the South Downs. Will I be disappointed if this doesn’t happen? Absolutely. Will I lament here about it? Sure, probably. Will I send Neil abusive messages about how he destroyed and ruined the ending? NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT! AND DON’T ANYONE ELSE DO THAT EITHER!

So, will the ending be what we want? There is every chance that it will be, but always a possibility that it won’t be. This is the nature of storytelling. You will never satisfy everyone. Will the ending be good? I have no doubt in my mind that it will be. David says it’s a good. I trust him. Neil says it will be good. I very much trust him.

This is a comedy, first and foremost. Comedies have happy endings. Let’s just take a collective breath and believe it to be so.

*by “quick” I actually meant “really long”. Sorry about that.