#but I guess people who stan her won't want to read it

[0daylighthours0]

A Deep Dive into Milkvan and Byler's Development: If Milkvan Was Endgame All Along, Why Was it Written Like This???

SO. I've been rewatching st with my mother, who's never seen it before. And she was a fan of milkvan throughout seasons 1 and 2. Viewing those seasons again I could see why, they're cute. However, come season 3 and INSTANT distaste. And, listen, my mother is not the consciously shipping gal. She simply routes for main character pairings as writers intend, doesn't read between the lines, doesn't nothing. And she does NOT know my own opinions on the pairing. In other words, completely unbiased, uninternet drama influenced eyes. We've now reached season 3 and, after getting through a chunk of it, I asked her,

"so what do you think of Mike and El?"

and she expressed to me that they seem to be, quote:

"not very good together."

She said El's character doesn't suit the way she's acting now (in the first few episodes, concerning Mike), that Mike is more likeable and interesting when he's away from her. She doesn't like the way they ditched the party, and when it comes to their 'making out' the scenes are seen by her from Hopper's perspective (in other words, distasteful). She claimed that they'd be much better characters as friends.

And ya know what, she's right. And I mean like - duh, that's what we've been saying all this time, I'm not stating anything new here. But guys, wouldn't it be strange if the central couple of the show, pivotal that it is liked by audiences and is rooted for by them as they are THE pair, would be so dislikable like this? So uninteresting, so cliche.

I mean, okay, let's do a little mental experiment I like to do to test if I'm not just acting delulu. Let's play a game. In this game, milkvan ARE meant to be endgame. They are in love, they were all along, and they're here to draw in viewers and appease all El stans. Now, seasons 1 and 2 their relationship is honestly fine. Surface level, yeah, people will watch and appreciate them. They perfectly blend in with all the other neat pairings of the seasons, and have their own unique character traits to stand out as a main couple.

Just pretending our mate Will doesn't exist, we now get into season 3. Now, writers have nothing to lose here. If you've finished season 2, you probably like milkvan already. The issue is that they're already together now, so what's the conflict going to be? The arc? And every central couple needs that conflict to stay juicy.

Just take a look:

Jancy: quarrels, struggle to understand one another

Jopper: not yet together, one sided? will they won't they

Lumax: ...

Lumax? Lumax. Huh, guess they were simply together. Some loveable bickering, maintained a friendly dynamic while clearly in closer proximity. Well then, writers can do the same for milkvan right? Well, yes easily. But one might argue that since they are supposed to be THE pairing they need more going on between them than that. So what'll it be? Well, it seems that writers thought,

"hey, why not break them up?"

ok so.. that's a bit risky. I mean you want people to like this ship, if you break them up then that threats: 1. there being a disliking to one or both characters, 2. coming off generic if done incorrectly, 3. the break up might make no sense considering how in love they came off as just a season ago. But hey.. it could work, if done right. Some kind of misunderstanding, similar to Jancy. Maybe an argument leading to a sudden parting. I mean, yeah, Yeah! I can see that. Perhaps Mike is being too overprotective whilst El's trying to sacrifice herself for something, so she NEEDS to separate herself from him attempting to hurt him less. Or, I dunno, something akin. What's crucial is that us, AS THE AUDIENCE, still know them to be deeply in love. I mean, we have to still want them to be together. And we've seen couple trouble before. Just take a look at Lumax season 4 - did you or did you not want the best for both of them as a pair? You most likely did. See, it's doable. So did people like milkvan season 3 the same way, even after a separation plot? No.

Okay well, there are obviously those who'll always love milkvan no matter but, see, season 3 tainted it. "We need to write them like this cause it's more realistic to teenager behavior" my ars. You can make it messy without making it icky. Not only did it sour their unique dynamic, it flabbergastingly stomped on Mike as a character.

Honestly, I feel Mike has always been a mild struggle to write. Season 1 his motivations were 'find Will' (who still doesn't exist in our mind game yet shh) and 'protect El'. This worked well for him. Afterwards though, El and Will became more separate plots to him. But as a main character it remained integral that he be closely linked to them somehow. This sets him apart from Lucas and Dustin, who can easily be given any arc any season as their plots have the flexibility of a side quest nature. Since what Mike does is meant to matter more - with there probably being a better way of phrasing that but you know what I mean - it's harder knowing what he'll do when El and Will (who we'll GET to sh.) are their own separate people. And Mike is just a boy, he doesn't have super powers and he isn't a cop, which leaves there even less for him to do which is of significance. Season 2 writers decided upon having him support Will's arc, making himself of enough relevance by being able to take credit for some Will development in the story, and the plots that surrounded that, and then Mike was thrown a little bone by being the one to come up with the idea of burning those vines in the finale.

Truthfully, you don't really remember Mike's deeds much when reminiscing the series. It isn't like Dustin who's bond with Dart sticks to everyone, or Nancy and Jonathan responsible for kicking out Hawkins Lab. This is due to them, again, being able to traverse all sorts of adventures without limits. But my guy Mike can't do dat. Sadly, this kind of leads to him coming of as a little.. well... insignificant. And I know I know, the Mike truthers are gonna come at my throat. And hey! I love him too. I only want the best for my boy.

This makes season 3 a unique case cause it seems that, for the plot they decided they wanted, writers actually had to almost entirely change his character. I mean mate s2 Mike and s3 Mike are two different peoples, don't even. And I don't believe that the Duffers had their story and character turnouts completely drawn out from the very start at all. If I was to guess, I'd assume they have vague ideas of little plots they plan to include in future, but there is definitely a lot that has come unpredicted or changed throughout st's runtime. And one of those phenomenons are Michael Wheeler. So they decided to make this guy a di-

So they decided to make him more douchy, more movie typical teenage guy. It's not as if he wholly sucked, he didn't, but he didn't really do much. Whined about his girlfriend, separated the party. I mean what even was his arc? (UnLESS–)

You see, if milkvan is written to be loved, then season 3 was strike one. All of its charm was stripped away. It seems they had some cute scenes after their reconciliation, but it's not enough. It's just sort of

"oh, ok, so they're happy with eachother now. yayy."

and Stranger Things should want to be anything but boring. Sure they often enjoy indulging in tropes, but they always do something different with them. Something standoutish. And from this point on milkvan just got dull. Either writers ran out of ideas or lost interest, honestly (still with our mind game of telling ourselves they're meant to be).

But it's okay. Look, so season 3 was a bit rocky, maybe lost a couple of fans for the guys, but it is salvageable. Easily, easily. Looks like we want a plot of Mike struggling to tell El he loves her. Great! Much to work with.

So let's get into it. Season 4! Choices were... made. And, okay, now we can't go any further without bringing in our boy Will.

Mike is intrinsically tied to Will and El and has been from the start. Maybe Will was more of an accident. Maybe s1 Will was just a plot device for Mike, then s2 Will was a plot device again and Mike needed to be there as the main boy character. Come season 3 and it seems their relationship still matters. Will was sidelined - hard - so most of Mike's moments revolved around El. But as his bond with Mike is the only that's been properly built up, that's the only friend we'll get him interacting with in a way that matters. So the Mike and Will tie continues!

But that does not have to be the case for season 4. Now the writers have a chance.

They made Will gay.

Ok so.. ok so yeah that's fine. Yeah! I mean they didn't have to do that, might put them in hot water with the bylers since milkvan is their golden beauty but.. you know what no no that's okay. He's been hinted at being queer since episode 1, why not make it canon! Cool that works. Explore that, especially since we now have Vecna who can easily target Will for this. Give him a boyfriend! Or a guy crush. He's at a new school now? That's cool. Maybe we can explore some new male character Will's taken interest in. Hey maybe he meets someone who interests him which rises to surface his whole sexuality plot and-

he's in love with Mike.

Ok. No. No. What are you doing? What do you mean?? You didn't have to do that. Strike- strike EFING TWO mates! Strike. 👏 efing. 👏 2!

This was part 1. I am tired and gots to get my ars in bed. But ohohoh, do not worry. I am just getting started.

[cartmankisser]

Hello, may I request main 4 + butters, where the reader is meeting their parents for the first time after they started dating? 🌺

ive already done this with kyle, which you can read right here!

-- liane was thrilled to meet you as soon as she heard that eric was seeing someone. i mean, at first she was a little nervous you'd be a second eric (yknow, having a "little temper" as she puts it),, but after meeting you and seeing you two together, she absolutely adores you!! she thinks you bring the best out of her son, and she's one of the most supportive people of your relationship.

-- stan was nervous for you to meet his family. between his mean sister and his annoying dad,, he was sure things wouldn't go good. his mom though??? she loves you! she thinks you're just the sweetest!! randy is a little bit uncertain about you dating stan, but he tries his hardest to be friendly! and he is!!!! unless your a minority of any kind... then he may or may not ask some unintentionally insensitive questions... not on purpose though he's a middle aged white man what do you expect.

-- kenny was soooo embarrassed when you came over for the first time. i mean, he knows his living conditions can be a little... unconventional. but after your reassurance,, it does help him get over his nerves a little bit.. his parents seem to like you! his mom is so sweet to you! she offers to make you some relaxing hot water or a single pop tart..... but i mean she really is trying her best and she wants you to stick around!! she treats you like she does with her own kids, even if it's not in the best conditions. his dad is a little more hesitant about you dating him.. it's not that he doesn't like you, he just takes a while to warm up to you. (they'll probably end up screaming at eachother because of a backhanded comment from his dad about kenny dating a "judgy rich person".)

-- butters was conflicted... i mean he loved you a lot! but his parents have a habit about being a bit judgy behind peoples back. i mean if you don't know the things they might say about you... i guess it's okay? they are a pretty traditional family and tend to be a little strict on manners. if you do something that they don't really like, they won't say anything, just side eye i from across the table in silence. it's not that they think you aren't polite or anything! they just don't want their butters to be going out with someone who might possibly be a bad influence!

[fangirleaconmigo]

It's been awhile, Geralt x Jaskier enthusiasts, but here is your newest installment of...

Otherwise known as...

Things that sound like Geraskier fic writers made them up, but that are, in fact, book canon.

This time with commentary on the original Polish wording from @cherrypoison1889! Thanks, Cherry!

Today we're talking about dopplers, otherwise known as shape shifters, also called vexlings in the world of The Witcher. Dopplers are often used to expose the fact that Dandelion is a vulnerability for Geralt, that he loves him.

There are quite a few Geraskier fics that play with this trope. (I will give you a rec or two at the end of the post.)

It makes sense! Plus, the show used a doppler, (more on that later) so the concept is right there!

But does the concept of using a doppler to reveal Geralt's true feelings for Jaskier just exist in the fevered imagination of Geraskier fic writers?? Is this pure fanon? Or canon?

Well, you may have guessed (since I didn't write all this out for my health!)...

It is canon.

In The Witcher book, Sword of Destiny, we meet a doppler called Dudu, who turns into Dandelion (Jaskier) to protect himself from Geralt. He even has a few choice words to say about what he sees in Geralt's thoughts.

Want the details? Of course you do, you've read this far, why not?

When Geralt meets Dudu in this story, the doppler is in the form of a halfling called Dainty Biberveldt. Dudu has bonked Dainty on the head, stolen his shit, taken his form, and is running around Novigrad making business deals with his ill gotten gains.

Dainty wants his shit back from the doppler, but does not want to turn Dudu over to the city guards because Dainty is a decent person who knows that they will murder the doppler in an absolutely horrific way that I will not describe to you. Novigrad is rife with violent bigotry towards non humans, and dopplers in particular have been slaughtered to near extinction. They've been subject to genocide, basically, just because they creep people out. (I could write a thesis just on the way this short story handles themes of racism)

But anywho. That's how we get Geralt's involvement. Geralt is pitching in to get Dudu under control so they don't have to involve bigoted law enforcement. (We stan Dainty ACAB Biberveldt in this house)

This particular scene opens when Geralt has pursued the doppler into a crowded marketplace and has finally cornered him in a tent. Dandelion is elsewhere in the market, being a slut, so he is nowhere to be seen. When Geralt corners Dudu, they are alone, and the doppler panics. He can't get away. So, he decides to be crafty.

First, he turns into Geralt as a way to protect himself. The book describes Dudu changing into Geralt, down to the last detail. Now there are two identical witchers in the tent. Then Dudu speaks.

"Don't come any closer," the second witcher said huskily and smiled. "Don't come any nearer, Geralt. I won't let you lay your hands on me."

So now he looks just like Geralt and has his husky voice. Perhaps he is hoping Geralt will not be able to harm someone who looks like himself. Perhaps he just wants to be equal to him physically.

Either way, Geralt's self esteem is too low for the first one to work. Here is how Geralt responds to an exact copy of himself.

"What a hideous smile I have," thought Geralt, reaching for his sword. "What a hideous face I have. And how hideously I squint? So is that what I look like? Damn."

So, Geralt reaches for his sword immediately, and the only reaction he has for himself is disgust.

Here is where I asked Cherry for her thoughts. Is Geralt as mean to himself in the original Polish? Hideous is pretty strong a word! Here is what she said:

Cherrypoison1889: Geralt is indeed very harsh on himself, when he sees the doppler transform into him. In Polish, he uses the word "paskudne" to describe himself, which is literally hideous. However, he also calls his face "gęba" which is a more vulgar word for face, which in Polish is "Twarz". So he's even harsher on himself, I'd say.

Oh noooo. But just when you think Geralt's low self esteem is going to be a strategic advantage, it betrays him. Why? Because when Dudu says, you can't defeat me, because I am you and I know everything you know...

"I am you," the doppler repeated. "you will not gain an advantage over me. You cannot defeat me, because I am you!"

That is where Geralt starts to lose ground. Why? Because Geralt of Rivia says, no, you can't really copy me! Because you are a good person, and I'm a bad bad bad man. I kill people. I'm a killer. You cannot relate. You cannot even begin to understand the mind of a bad evil killer man like me.

"No," the witcher countered, "you are not. And do you know why? Because you're a poor, little, good-natured doppler. A doppler who, after all, could have killed Biberveldt and buried his body in the undergrowth, by so doing gaining total safety and utter certainty that he would not be unmasked, ever, by anybody....But you didn't kill him...Because you're a poor, little, good-natured doppler, whose close friends call him Dudu...you only know how to copy what is good in us, because you don't understand the bad in us."

Geralt isn't saying this to be strategic. He truly believes it! He knows Dudu has seen his thoughts! Listen to what he says next...

"you aren't capable of defying me, because I am what you are unable of copying (sic). You are absolutely aware of this, Dudu. Because you took over my thoughts for a moment."

So, Geralt is like, you saw what a mess it was in there. You know what a killer I am. You may as well give up now.

I thought 'took over my thoughts' was a little bit of an awkward phrasing, it almost implies thought control, when I feel like the context is thought reading, so I asked Cherry about that. She said:

Cherrypoison1889: As for the "taking thoughts over" bit, it is the same in Polish, I am afraid. the word Sapko uses is "przejąć" which means exactly that, although I assume that the "take over" in English was meant to be understood as "acquiring" although I can't be sure of that. It sure does sound a touch awkward.

But back to the story, Tellico (Dudu) has now been inside Geralt's head. So he knows that's absolute bullshit, even if Geralt doesn't. He has seen what is in Geralt's heart, which prompts him to take another shape.

Tellico straightened up abruptly. His face's features, still those of the Witcher, blurred and spread out, and his white hair curled and began to darken.

"You're right, Geralt," he said indistinctly, because his lips had begun to change shape. "I took over your thoughts. Only briefly, but it was sufficient. Do you know what I'm going to do now?"

Do you? Do you dear reader, know what he's going to do now? I'm going to let you make a guess.

The leather witcher jacket took on a glossy, cornflower blue colour. The doppler smiled, straightened his plum bonnet with its egret's feather, and tightened the strap of the lute slung over his shoulder, the lute which had been a sword a moment ago.

Well, if you've read the books up to this point, we all know who's form he has taken. Cornflower blue, egret's feather, lute....smart doppler.

"I'll tell you what I"m going to do, Witcher," he said, with the rippling laughter characteristic of Dandelion. "I'll go on my way, squeeze my way into the crowd and change quietly into any old body, even a beggar. Because I prefer being a beggar in Novigrad to being a doppler in the wilds."

He then has a powerful monologue about being subject to extermination and genocide. About hunger and fear and freezing to death. He makes a very touching plea to Geralt, asking the Witcher why he is denied the right of survival, granted to everyone else, just because he is a doppler. It is about a page and half long and I HIGHLY recommend people read Sword of Destiny, because this is good shit. He says he will stay in Novigrad.

"As a resident of Novigrad, I'll trade, weave wicker baskets, beg or steal; as one of you I'll do what one of you usually does...."

The Witcher said nothing.

Now, Dudu, in Dandelion's shape, having seen Geralt's thoughts, takes his gamble. And boy does he have guts. He tells Geralt about himself, about his supposed bad bad heart.

"Yes, as I said," Tellico continued calmly. "I'm going. And you, Geralt, will not even try to stop me. Because I, Geralt, knew your thoughts for a moment. Including the ones you don't want to admit to, the ones you even hide from yourself. Because to stop me you'd have to kill me. And the thought of killing me in cold blood fills you with disgust doesn't it?

The Witcher said nothing.

Tellico adjusted the strap of his lute again, turned away and walked towards the exit. He walked confidently, but Geralt saw him hunch his neck and shoulders in expectation of the whistle of a sword blade. He put his sword in his scabbard. The doppler stopped in mid-step and looked around.

"Farewell", Geralt, he said. "Thank you."

"Farewell, Dudu," the Witcher replied. "Good luck."

Dudu wins that one, quite handily.

The doppler turned away and headed towards the crowded bazaar, with Dandelion's sprightly, cheerful, swinging gait. Like Dandelion, he swung his left arm vigorously, and just like Dandelion he grinned at the wenches as he passed them.

As he walks away, Dudu even plays the lute and sings "exactly like Dandelion". Then he shouts back advice for Geralt to pass on to the bard.

"Pass that on to Dandelion, if you remember," he called. "And tell him that Winter is a lousy title. The ballad should be called The Eternal Fire. Farewell, Witcher."

Dudu has seen Geralt's thoughts EVEN THE ONES HE WILL NOT ADMIT TO EVEN THE ONES HE HIDES FROM HIMSELF, and his next choice was to turn into Dandelion.

Now, do I think that the author meant to imply that Geralt is trying to hide his love of Dandelion? No. Slim chance of that. However, it isn't like it's a secret that Geralt hates killing creatures who do no harm or who cannot fight back. So there is still something a bit fuzzy to me about the thoughts that Geralt hides from himself.

It is ripe territory for a Geralt x Dandelion enjoyer to exploit, cultivate, and use for their fics and headcanons.

I asked Cherry for her thoughts about this, about what Geralt's hidden thoughts are having read the original Polish, and she said this:

Cherrypoison1889:

I feel like Dudu used Geralt's self-loathing against him, in a way. As in, if Geralt were to kill Dudu-as-Dandy, he would admit to himself that he is a ruthless, horrible person, who kills "intelligent" beings, despite what he claims, which would also make him a hypocrite. And we know Geralt is a big softie, so he wouldn't do it anyway. I think changing into Dandy was an additional precaution, just an extra measure in case Dudu turned out to be wrong.

I really liked this story, I don't remember reading it back when I read the books (it was ages ago, so I might be wrong anyway). It's really funny, and Geralt is babbie. Darling boy, he just bought himself a new jacket and it got ruined in the frenzy...

Babbie Geralt, that's our darling.

It is sad that Geralt has so much self loathing that it didn't help Dudu to look like him, but it is very sweet that Dandelion is such a point of vulnerability for Geralt, and that Dudu had his number.

Dudu wins this round soundly. The story isn't over. I won't spoil it in case you guys want to read it. But it has a great ending. It is definitely one of my favorites.

I will just never get over how easily he gets the upper hand on Geralt here. Geralt of Rivia, legendary monster hunter, defeated by little Dudu because of his low self worth, his mushy heart, his solidarity with non humans, and his love of a slutty bard.

Now, recommendations.

The Doppler Effect, by @a-kind-of-merry-war This is the first doppler fic I read in the fandom and it has alll the delicious emotional drama, pining, and sexiness that you want from a fic like this. It is excellent.

Images of You, by @pherryt This one is a delightful 'continuation' of what happens in Sword of Destiny. After Dudu learns about Geralt's feelings, he essentially matchmakes Geralt and Dandelion eventually receiving a sexy thank-you of his own.

Them, by @gilligangoodfellow I feel like dopplers and Dudu in particular is so ripe for exploration in fic. So it is wonderful to see a fic like this. It's a short character study of Dudu as gender fluid, with the doppler coming out to Zoltan. Seriously, try it.

Alright, thanks for reading, folks!

For more Geralt and Dandelion "I can't believe it's not fanon..."stay tuned. I am organizing a master post with all of the posts I've done. So keep your eyes out. (in the mean time, most of them seem to show up in the tag, just not all of them)

And lastly, THANK YOU CHERRY! I love having a partner to do these posts with!!

[valkyrieandstrangeridingaragorn]

There's things I am understand from Tony Stans when they write 'Steve mistake ',

1. They will using reason Steven choose bucky over tony

2. Steve hide / lie the fact about tony parents death

3. Steven is not read accord and not make negotiations about accord

4. Steve recruit clint, sama and wanda and make them in raft. So it's steve mistake

From the four point the third point is bothering me. I am not gonna lie I kind forget the detail civil war but, steve did and the only one that read accord. Also if I am not wrong Ross didn't give chance go steve and everyone to negotiations about accord at all, I meant he said avenegrs onel have three days accept or retired. I menat what kind f&** is that. They have no time to negotiations about accord at all

And Tony said the can make negotiations after they sign the paper, that not how work. You can't make negotiations after to signed the papers, the UN won't considered that they want control, you signed you follow what is inside

So I think it's was weord they blame steve no want negotiations at all. Because there's no time for that, also Steven considered the accord if they for innocent protection and not for government to controlling innocent peoples. So why they keep point that?

I think they need to come up with excuses, half-truths and lies because no matter how hard the Russos tried to paint both teams as equally right, Team Cap is the only one in the right.

To your first point, Steve is against the Accords way before Bucky is even in the picture.

This is something that not only the haters but many fans seem to forget: Not everything Steve does has to do with Bucky. He has a separate life and a mind of his own, and those Accords go against everything that makes him who he is.

To your second point, Steve had no way of knowing Bucky had murdered the Starks. Zola said this:

Zola: "For 70 years, HYDRA has been secretly feeding crises, reaping war. And when history did not cooperate, history was changed." Natasha: "That's impossible. S.H.I.E.L.D. would've stopped you." Zola: "Accidents will happen."

And this was shown:

This required Steve to assume Bucky had been the only Winter Soldier at the hands of Hydra. He could have guessed but he didn't know for sure. And going to Stark to tell him "I found out your parents were murdered but I'm not sure of what happened", over 20 years after the fact is not exactly ideal. Not to mention Stark had hacked Shield's systems two years prior. He didn't exactly do a good job of digging there, and Steve and he weren't that close.

To your third point, whoever says that is lying. Steve is the only one shown reading the Accords:

My man has perfect memory. He knew very well those Accords were an abomination.

And to your last point, Sam, Clint and Wanda have agency and they knew what they were getting into before they went to the airport. Unlike Peter Parker who was lied to by Stark, Steve was very clear that he wanted his team to know who and why they were fighting, and the consequences of doing so. Even with a stranger like Scott:

They chose to follow Steve because they knew it was the right thing to do. Clint left his family, Wanda risked her life and her freedom, so did Scott, Bucky and Sam. All of them followed and did the right thing because they're heroes, it's what they do.

Ross knew very well what he was doing. As Secretary of State, not only did he keep the Accords under wraps until only three days before the UN meeting, he kept from the entire team that an Accord is not the same as a law and it was a constitutional violation to try and enforce it on the team and the citizens.

They had no time to negotiate. They would have needed to lawyer up and do everything in a short period of time: the meeting was in Vienna and they were in NYC, if you count the time it would have taken them to get there, the time they needed to find a lawyer they trusted to go through the whole thing and come up with a good enough case to stand up not only to the US Senate but the UN… yep, they had no time to do so. That was Ross' plan all along.

Stark telling Steve the Accords could be amended after he signed them was no more than an attempt at manipulation. There is something important to keep in mind here: Stark would NOT be affected by these Accords at all. As shown in the movie, he broke them when he flew to Siberia and nothing happened. Ross called him and he put him on hold, and nothing happened.

Stark is used to doing whatever the hell he wants (like basically telling the government to suck it when he refused to give them his suits. What happened to him? Nothing) and facing no consequences whatsoever. So in his mind, signing these papers means nothing, he can break them whenever he feels like it and he'll find a way to get away with it. For Steve and Wanda, the Accords were a direct violation of their civil rights. It's not the same.

Steve was never against accountability. The Accords were:

[linberlyy]

And again obvious nonsense from tb stans who pretend to sympathize with Helaena but wish her and her family a speedy death.

I accidentally saw this “beautiful” edit on TikTok and laughed. I have never read such stupid thoughts anywhere! Let's go through the points.

Bro, point your finger at those people who sympathize with Alicent, but claim that the marriage of Aegon and Helaena is wonderful. That's right, you won't find such people (or such people will be completely repulsed). EVERYONE, without exception, sees how uncomfortable the two of them are.

Did Alicent order the marriage of Aegon and Helaena? I beg you. you missed her words about how she hates Valyrian traditions, which she talked about in the series in episode 5. and do you think she will immediately marry her children to each other? It seems to me that it would have been much more reasonable on her part to insist on different marriages with different great houses of Westeros, which would bring green support later, and she would have insisted if not for the will of Viserys.

Where does it say that she is autistic? I laugh so hard at the tb stans who angrily claim that Helaena has signs of autism. Yes, she is unhappy in her marriage. yes, she bears his children because apparently it is her duty as a princess. Alicent’s duty to the state was exactly the same. She's not Rhaenyra, who fucks whoever she wants, whenever she wants. if she wants, she will give birth to a brown-haired child; if she wants, she will give birth to a white-haired child.

I see that toast as a way to get through to Aegon. it was a cry for help, but she didn’t want to upset him with it. what she said about the nuances of her marriage was a way of letting Aegon know that she was hurting and lonely, and the way Aegon then watches her closely during Jacaerys's (hypocritical) dance suggests that he still cares about her . I guess the author is one of those people who argue that Jace acted like a real gentleman when he asked Helaena to dance haha. no, my dears. Jace did this to spite Aegon. he has always been petty, and his mockery about his childhood during dinner confirms this. and if Alicent had agreed to Helaena and Jace's marriage, do you really think she would have liked it? Helaena would have been held hostage by the blacks along with the children during the dance, manipulated by Rhaenyra or Daemon. and if the blacks had won and Rhaenyra had taken the throne, would everyone really have turned a blind eye to the obvious bastards behind her back? especially on Jacaerys, who seems to inherit after her? Uprisings would begin again, and then Helaena would also fall under the distribution. no, this is a stupid decision, and I advise black fans to forget about sweet dreams forever. that's all.

[ilikekidsshows]

The most ironic part of people defending Marinette in Ladynoir and Marichat is that hardly any analysis I've ever seen about her "being soooooooooooooo adoring to her Kitty uwu" ever EXPLAIN Marinette's feelings either.

Even her own fans mostly only write abuse and neglect excuses and talk about some endlessly vague softness, some at this point meaningless heart eyes, and whatever short lines of kindness of the week on her end of the ship are thrown in there.

Even Marinette's own fans apparently can't not go in depth on her "boundless love and devotion" for Chat Noir because the show drags everything down with her writing. It's always the same surface level crumbs. So how are WE supposed to get more out of it then?

If even her own defenders mostly only really talk about Catrien doing 95% of the work in Ladynoir and Marichat in Canon, then how are WE supposed to say something different? We are complaining for the same reason as they are focusing on Catrien: he's canonically actually contributing to the damn SHIP in ways that are pure enough to talk about.

All canon ever does for Ladynette's side is explain what use, excuses and comfort she gets outta his presence. That's also all her canon self ever truly highlighted in her crush era besides him bein hot.

Even her own defenders reduce her crush on him to thirsting. I've never seen anyone actually talk about the scenes in Passion where she for real showed effort and progress cause, I guess, that would require of her fans to acknowledge that she prior to this acted wrong in the first place. And of course the critical people won't make the posts cause when her damn fans can't be asked to acknowledge the rare REAL moments where she actually TRIES then I'll sure as hell not do their damn job.

Cause it's almost hilarious, right? For as much as Marinette defenders yell about us being too harsh, I've truly wanted to read analysis posts on her feelings for Chat to be convinced. But for 2 whole seasons her own fans failed her. They hardly say anything of substance and mostly count on Catrien to make up for her lack of contributions in the ships. Even massive fan Blogs like Buggachat for example are constantly showing that writing flaw in their content. That Adrien has to put up with and has to romantically do WAY TOO MUCH to make up for Marinette’s writing that sticks even in the most best faith (and often to at least some extent ooc, if not entirely) characterization.

When even her own fans spew nothing but endless excuses then don't blame us for picking up on that.

When even her own fans say hardly anything but abuse apologia to defend her then don't blame us for picking up on that.

When even her own fans say that she should be thanked and rewarded for having failed Chat Noir in basically ever possibly way, but hey, at least she stopped being an aggressive Jerk about it, then don't fucking blame us for picking up on that.

We're the ones who can at least argue with Canon scenes and whole episodes to make our point that Ladynette treats him badly. Her defenders say that canon doesn't count whenever they don't like it and otherwise point to their fanon as arguments. Forgive me for thinking that our side has the stronger case, our arguments are the ones that hold up when put to the test by Canon.

---

Yup. Stanning Marinette has to be based off vibes and made up stuff at this point, because the canon is giving us nothing to root for other than her being the protagonist. All the likable aspects of Marinette are so downplayed in canon these days, that the fans have to actively ignore canon to make her a better person they can view as an undisputed hero. And that's without getting into all the abuse apologia and excusing of bad behavior they engage in whenever they don't outright claim Marinette didn't do something she actually did in canon.

It's basically what that person who wanted writing tips for Marinette said; how can we make fanworks where Marinette is a good person who cares about her partner, when the character in canon, based on her canonical actions, probably doesn't care? Well, I try to avoid Buggachat’s stuff these days specifically because all I've seen from said stuff these days is trying to make the toxic stuff look quirky and cute. This isn't the only fanwork that's like this, though. Like, I remember when the Paris Special came out and people started wondering if the alter versions of the heroes were gonna tell each other their secret identities and work more closely together and all the fanwork with this concept was just: “Haha, the main verse lovesquare can’t count on each other for anything and the supposed villains support each other better! It's so silly!”

Like, the toxicity does sometimes get depicted in fanworks but it's always just funtimes, and not actually a problem because they treat it as a two-sided thing, where Adricat participates in the mess in their relationship, when he's the only one trying to be wholesome. There are so many comics of Maribug doing something absolutely horrible to Adricat and the artist’s comments are just: “they're such disasters, lol” when Marinette is the only “disaster” in the equation, but they have to be equally guilty, because then they can brush it off as just “communication issues” instead of Marinette being a self-obsessed jerk.

Like, the reading of the lovesquare as mutual communication issues is understandable to a point. In seasons 1-3, the typical dynamic was “Cat Noir hides his problems, because they're home-related, and Ladybug remains oblivious that he isn't always happy”. However, Cat Noir did tell Ladybug, all the way back in Syren, that he doesn't want to be left out of the loop, which is all Marinette does in season 4. The season 4 “Ladynoir Conflict” isn't based on Cat Noir hiding something Ladybug is oblivious to, even though everyone is used to treating their dynamic that way. In season 4 Cat Noir does tell Ladybug what's wrong, tries to do so repeatedly, only for Ladybug to shut him down by ignoring him, giving him excuses or by repeating apologies she doesn't actually mean because she has no intention of changing the way she behaves with him. The more I looked into what actually happens in season 4, the more I realized that the “the Ladynoir conflict is mutual communication issues” take is wholly inaccurate. Marinette alone is the one keeping secrets.

Marinette Stans have to make stuff up and ignore huge junks of canon in order to depict Marinette as a good partner and person these days, because the stuff the writers have her get away with keeps getting worse.

[go--ichi]

People need to chill on how they glorify barely explored side characters like Eris while shitting on the Inner Circle. You can cry about how SJM constantly whitewashes their morally grey actions all you want but how are you sure that if for some reason SJM decide to write Eris he won't be like Rhysand?? Like please get out from your fanfic based hallucination and maybe just accept that all those characters you love and worship are still written by the same SJM who wrote all the characters you hate. She just hasn't had the time to actually work on this character lol.

It's interesting how these 'loved' characters are either neglected in the actual story or just newly introduced character who barely had time to establish any flaw or just straight up written like that because they are ultimately a side character. Give them two or three books, SJM will ultimately turn them into what those antis accuse IC members of..like writing drama into the characters seems to be her style. If you don't like it, you can drop it. No need to waste energy on something you don't enjoy.

Also the Tamlin stans..they just like to be the contrarians I guess. Honestly dunno why Tamlin stans are even reading this series. The writer is reportedly not a fan of this character so unless the next book changes anything, he will stay exactly where he belongs.

[buttfrovski]

Hand over the headcannon list(s)

do your best to vibe read cuz i don't have specific labels in mind and my analyses were too long

stan - i don't know. he doesn't know. he won't ever know.

kyle - teen/young adult kyle with a girl? fs! so cute! pcov kyle with a girl? be serious...

cartman - BEEEEEEEE SERIOUSSSSSS!!! outside of the dressing up in drag- can we talk about dressing up like britney spears and making out with a justin timberlake cutout? in his own time? in the privacy of his backyard? can we talk about tweek x craig? bro was yanking it to a homoerotic fantasy of him and ... cupid him... his mom even saw and got the impression he was gay. his own hallucination wanted to "be like tweek and craig." bro is secretly into yaoi of them. i don't SHIP them but i thought the thing with wendy was sweet. like how he tried to make her laugh. although cartman was purposely ooc for a joke, i thought him and heidi and yentyl were cute. moreover, although his obsession with kyle and making kyle do things like suck his balls or ginger cow are more about power and humiliation than sexuality... dont u think it's weird that THATS his go to? nothing else? or his plot to ruin kyle's relationship with nicole was... pretend to be his boyfriend? it's effective but? also guess who showed up pretty frequently in his little porn journal? i think people avoid acknowledging these aspects of his sexuality because they're perverted and gross rather than innocent and appropriate for a boy his age, which is understandable. joke/satire or not it's kinda disturbing. (esp the tweek x craig scene is hard to watch) but it is still strong evidence. his gender and sexuality are everything, everywhere, all at once. i hope the jury can make the right decision on this. i rest my case.

kenny: i think if my life started over everyday i would be doing fuck all as well.

butters: bikecurious 😊

[9haharharley1]

I'mma keep it coming with I wanna see your head canons for Danny tbh I wonder if we're similar about the boy. So I guess 002

How I feel about this character:

I love him, I really do! I had such a crush on Danny when I was a teen, made worse (or better, idk) by the fact that when the show aired, I was also just entering high school. So it was one of those, "oh look! A socially awkward teen also has to deal with the stress of living! He's just like me fr (minus the ghost powers on my part)!"

All the people I ship romantically with this character:

Romantically? Vlad, Valerie, Clockwork, and Dan, but mostly Vlad.

Want to see him get railed and ruined and crying? Dan, Nocturne, Skulker, Wulf, Walker.

My non-romantic OTP for this character:

Tucker and Sam (provided Sam can get over some of her holier-than-thou attitude)

My unpopular opinion about this character:

This boy doesn't have a dominant bone in his entire body. I don't like reading top Danny fics, my boy deserves a break, and I'm also not a fan when he's taller and beefier than Vlad either. I stan a short king and I will take no criticism.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon:

It's a kids' show, so I know this was never gonna happen, but I would have loved to see him have a full psychological break. I'm talking an entire episode dedicated to Danny having a complete and total panic attack, Batman the Animated Series style. Parents want to catch and study him, one of his best friends keeps pushing him to do the superhero thing, parents and peers are pressuring him to date said pushy friend, he's failing in school, he can't retaliate against his primary bully, his future is screwed if he doesn't watch himself, the ghosts keep coming and they won't fucking stop, his sister keeps giving him these worrying looks like she's worried, why should she be worried? He's fine, everything's fine, he's only half-dead, what's the big deal?

Danny eventually has that panic attack the closer he gets to graduating, unsure of his future, scared he's gonna fail and never be able to leave Amity Park, terrified that all he has to look forward to is fighting ghosts and running/hiding from his parents. His future is forever uncertain because the alternate time line, and his friends can't understand, even if they're trying, but they just can't know what's going on with him, and he sees the fear in their eyes every time he brings up that dark future. He could go to Clockwork, but Clockwork will only give so much advice. He doesn't share more than is necessary to keep time in tact, so he eventually breaks and goes to Vlad. Who else could possibly understand if not the only other halfa in existence?

Basically, I would have loved to see him become increasingly overwhelmed until he had no choice but to run away and go to Vlad's. They make a temporary truce long enough for them to bond over their shared plight.

my OTP:

Pompous Pep, of course (you will pry this ship from my cold, dead hands)

my cross over ship:

None

a headcanon fact:

Danny totally had a crush on Vlad the first time they met. He thought he was handsome and charming and all that gross first crush stuff, and he actually enjoyed talking with him, even if him hitting on his mom was super fucking weird. Danny could look past that because he knew his mom wasn't interested, was happily married, and when Vlad wasn't focused on her, he could be pretty cool. Too bad he had to go and ruin it by revealing his evil intentions.

[genericpuff]

I always enjoyed reading LO, though as of late I've gotten more critical of it and aware of the flaws in storytelling, art, pacing, etc (one can still like trash while recognizing it's trash, I guess), and it's been super weird being the only one in my friend group who's not seeing it as this perfect flawless comic anymore. Your retelling so far has been super refreshing and a joy to read, the art and character design is recognizable yet distinct and great on its own (I LOVE YOUR DIONYSUS SO MUCH HOLY CRAP HE'S SO GOOD), and like... I'm interested in where things are going! It's fun reading this! I still do enjoy LO (maybe it's the sunk cost fallacy, idk), but I'm invested in your version so much more now. So thank you for your work, it's really great :)

I know the story is focused more on H&P than the mostly cast of side characters, but are there any other myths that might get revisited as well? Eros/Psyche, maybe Ariadne since Dio is here...?

Absolutely, I say it a lot when the topic of "LO stans vs. LO critics" comes up but none of the criticism is meant to be persuasive debating, while it can be frustrating to voice our criticisms and be met with "yeah well that's just your opinion", we're also not criticizing the comic purely to convince you that it's trash, we're legit just engaging with the comic in our own way. The best way any LO fan can react to it is either to acknowledge the criticisms and move on, or not go out actively seeking the criticism in the first place if it's something that bugs them. But in the end, no one is talking about the comic in this way as a means to strong arm people into riffing on LO, we'll still be talking about it way past everyone's bedtimes regardless of whether or not you chime in and/or agree. I think a lot of people who enjoy LO have a hard time separating those two things because they love the comic so much that any criticism is automatically flagged as "they're trying to make a hater out of me". And yeah, maybe we are a little bit (because it's fun to riff on this comic and the crit community has genuinely some of the nicest and funniest and most creative people I've ever met) but for the most part it's not our goal to make you hate the comic, we can't take your enjoyment of it away from you, even if you do recognize its flaws yourself. By all means, enjoy LO if you want to, we won't try and tell you not to! Just don't think that gives you permission to tell the critics to stop criticizing because that's a double standard we just ain't gonna stand for LMAO

All that aside, I'm glad you're enjoying Rekindled! As for the other stories, I'm trying to reel in Rekindled's plot to focus solely on H x P because I feel like that's what it should have stayed as. One of Rachel's biggest mistakes IMO was when she stated she "wanted to include as many myths as possible" because it's clear it's resulted in her prioritizing low effort Google-level lip service and Marvel-esque nostalgia referencing over telling an actual cohesive story. I'm taking a lot of the additional myths that Rachel tried to do in LO and leaving them on the cutting room floor, but when Rekindled is done, I'm hoping to pick up what was discarded and do them as little side stories after the fact. I feel like that's the best way to do it especially considering so many of the myths Rachel included didn't happen until after Hades and Persephone were married (including Eros and Psyche). I'd especially love to tackle Orpheus and Eurydice, it's one of my favorite myths :) Dio x Ariadne is also one I'm hoping to tackle, though that one I'll probably work more into Rekindled itself as Dio plays a huge role in Persephone's character arc, we'll see !

[greypetrel]

10 Characters, 10 Fandoms more

Oh no @pinayelf has tagged me again so I'll have to do another set! :"(

(thank you Ellie! I already did one and I was crying because I left out characters, here it is if you or anyone wants to read it)

Tagging: @aimee-maroux @everythingispoetry @owlask @raflesia65 @morgandarcyarts @sapphireangelbunny @idolsgf @zenstrike @rowanisawriter and YOU!

1. Sir Gawain

We stan a bi king (in the poem he kisses the Lord THRICE. Out of his own will. In another he kisses Lancelot. On his lips.). I love Gawain in any declination, Arthurian cycle, medieval poems, Merlin and the latest movie. I put Dave Patel because visually it's the one that I like the most, but give me a Gawain and I'll like him.

2. Boromir - Lord of the Rings

I spent half my life hating him, then I REALISED. And now he's my sweet pea the apple of my eyes I love him and I'll defend him. Movie kinda did him dirty, but AAAAAH.

3. Beatrice - Much Ado About Nothing

Fiercely loyal sarcastic queen who can and will stand up to herself. I love her. Absolutely flawless.

4. Chrisjen Avasarala - The Expanse

She's everything and I love her more than words can say. Old professional lady cursing like a sailor and speaking her mind clearly. Was very torn between putting her or Ripley in the first batch, but Ripley got precedence out of seniority of my obsession. I couldn't suggest you (anyone you are reading) this show enough, and she is one of the big reasons (she and Bobbie. I love Bobbie <3).

5. Evie Carnahan - the Mummy

She's everything and I will fight for her.

6. Kronk - Emperor's New Groove

I quote this movie more than it would be healthy to do. Yzma comes a close second but it's him.

7. Madalena - Galavant

I stood there 10 minutes trying to decide whether to put her or King Richard. But this single scene was the one that made me fall in love with the show and how it turns tropes around and so yeah. This list was short of villains, furthermore and she is everything, go slay, queen.

8. Jasper Fahey - Grishaverse

As previously stated, you give me a chaotic blorbo with a flair for theatrics and I'm yours forever.

(another fave is Nikolaj, but here goes Jasper because you know. Less tsarism involved.)

9. Martha Jones - Doctor Who

Martha deserved so much better than what the show and the fandom gave her. She's a great character, she's strong and compassionate and kind and honestly she did it right in leaving the Doctor (here's a video essay of a person better informed than me). I am so sorry, but I don't like Rose all that much, particularly in the season with Tennant and I'm on the Justice for Martha squad.

10. Korra - Avatar: the Legend of Korra

I know her show has flaws. But her as a character IS NOT.

Again, I needed to have figures to deconstruct the trope of "strong girl" and she's it. I love her arc and how she needs to deconstruct herself to proceed.

(I love also Tenzin, Tenzin is my favourite and my love, but his character arc is to me slightly less compelling)

(don't ask me to choose just ONE character from ATLA, I can't, I'll stay stuck for two hours trying to decide whom I like best and end up running away screaming because I can't.)

On a book level I must add: Margarita from Master and Margarita. That book is my obsession and the reason I ended up studying russian literature and language. -even if Bulgakov was actually Ukrainian but guess how many people told me so and I won't start here on the subject)

[sebstanaddict]

Love Song

Sebastian Stan x Female Reader Story

Summary : A romantic comedy story between Sebastian Stan and female reader where we witness their journey after they said I do.

Sebastian found himself depressed and frustrated after Y/n asked for a divorce from him. His depression took a toll on him that it got in the way of the shooting of Thunderbolts. Will he be able to overcome his depression and maybe even try to get back with Y/n?

Pairings : Sebastian Stan x Female!Reader

Chapters : 19/22 (might add more)

Chapter list >

Warning : angst, violence a little

Word count : 5.3k

This is a sequel to my first Sebastian fic Always You. If you want to understand more about Sebastian's and reader's relationship, please read it first. But it's not necessary to understand this story. Check it out here.

---

Chapter 19 - Officially Missing You

All I hear is raindrops

Falling on the rooftop

Oh, baby tell me why'd you have to go

'Cause this pain I feel

It won't go away

And today I'm officially missing you

I thought that from this heartache

I could escape

But I fronted long enough to know

There ain't no way

And today

I'm officially missing you

Oh, can't nobody do it like you

Said every little thing you do

Hey, baby say it stays on my mind

And I (and I), I'm officially

All I do is lay around

Two years full of tears

From looking at your face on the wall (face on the wall)

Just a week ago you were my baby

Now I don't even know you at all

I don't know you at all

Well, I wish that you would call me right now

So that I could get through to you somehow

But I guess it's safe to say, baby, safe to say

That I'm (that I'm) officially missing you

Officially Missing You - Tamia

---

Atlanta, Georgia - June 5th 2023 - 10 am

The sad melody of the song Officially Missing You by Tamia came out of Sebastian's cellphone speaker. He didn't choose the song. His Spotify app was playing random recommended songs and the sad song was chosen, much to his annoyance. As if the app could read his mind and knew the song that represented his heart.

He was sitting at the dining table at his rented apartment in Atlanta, eating a somewhat late breakfast. He was scheduled to have his first shoot for Thunderbolts that day. He needed to go to the set in an hour, but he felt lonely eating alone. So he put on Spotify and decided to listen to some songs so that the room didn't feel so quiet.

When he digested the lyrics of the song he felt a pang in his heart. How so very true to his heart the lyrics were.

It's been exactly 5 days since Y/n left him. Not a day went by without him thinking about her and Starlene. Not a second went by without him missing both of them so much.

He often wondered how things could've gotten so bad in less than a month. His mind wandered back to the very beginning of their relationship and he realized that yes, their relationship was so full of obstacles. It was a miracle that they were both alive and married.

Maybe she was right. Maybe they weren't meant to be.

His heart ached tremendously as he thought of that possibility. He didn't want to accept it. Deep in his heart he knew they were meant to be. But he didn't know how to fix their relationship. She was asking something he couldn't possibly give her.

He felt disappointed at her for requesting something he could never fulfill. He thought she understood him. He thought she knew that for him being an actor was something like being his mother's son. A status he was born with. An identity he couldn't let go even if he wanted to. Being an actor was like his life's calling. He couldn't possibly give it up.

Of all people he never expected Y/n to ask him that. She was supposed to be his soulmate. Someone who could understand him and accepted him the way he was. But then, maybe soulmates just don't exist. And in the end, all anyone can think about was their own happiness. He thought bitterly.

He sighed and continued to eat the scrambled eggs he had made for himself. He was eating the last piece of scrambled eggs when a familiar melody came out of his cellphone's speaker.

His heart seemed to stop as he listened to the song. It was Endless Summer Nights by Richard Marx. The song that he and Y/n danced to the night he first confessed his love to her.

Summer came and left without a warning

All at once I looked and you were gone

And now you're looking back at me

Searching for a way that we can be like we were before

Now I'm back to what I knew before you

Somehow the city doesn't look the same

I'd give my life for one more night

Of having you here to hold me tight; oh, please

Take me there again

Oh, oh

And I remember how you loved me

Time was all we had until the day we said goodbye

I remember every moment of those endless summer nights

He felt his eyes prickling as he listened to the song. Now that their relationship was different, the song meant something different to him. It was originally a break up song. But when he danced to it with Y/n more than a year ago, he was focused more on the melody and on these lyrics as he tried to persuade Y/n to agree to be in a relationship with him.

There's only so much I can say

So please don't run away from what we have together

It's only you and me tonight

So let's stay lost in flight

Oh, won't you please surrender

Now he realized it really was a break up song. And listening to it just made his heart spiral into more sadness.

His mind wandered back to the day she left him. He couldn't be alone that day dealing with the heartbreak by himself. So right after he left the airport, he went straight to his mother's house.

"Oh, Sebby honey. I'm so sorry that this is happening to you." His mother had said as she gave him a tight hug.

He sobbed on her shoulder and cried his heart out. Her mother rubbed his back gently and whispered calming words into his ears. Eventually his cry subsided and he was able to talk more about his situation with Y/n.

After explaining everything to her she looked at him with a slight disappointment in her eyes. But then they quickly cleared into a loving and understanding look.

"Marriage is not just love, Sebby honey but also consists of honesty, loyalty, good communication and compromise." She had advised him.

"I know, mom. I'm shocked too that we both have problems with being honest with each other." He sighed.

"Well, you have to remember that the reason you lied to each other is because you didn't want to hurt each other and not because you hid an affair or something bad like that. I mean, you didn't cheat on her nor she on you. Right?" She asked, raising her eyebrows.

"No, Mom. We didn't cheat on each other." He replied.

"Well then in my opinion there's still hope for you both. You just have to learn how to compromise." She advised.

"But mom, it's her who didn't want to compromise. I told her that I was willing to lessen the jobs I accept in a year. I asked her to come with me to Atlanta. But she wouldn't accept. She kept asking me to stop being an actor." He said, his voice raised a little.

"Well, try to put yourself in her shoes. How would you feel being harassed by those fans? How would you feel dealing with all the hate and negative talks by the public?"

"I got the hate too, Mom." He protested.

"Yes but not like her. I'm guessing she received more of the harassments than you did. Even if she didn't, you had experience with this kind of thing before whereas she most likely didn't. Try to understand that." She said, putting her hand on his shoulder and squeezed it gently.

"Yeah, I get it. I just.. can't believe she would ask me to stop being an actor." He said, his face went sour.

"It's probably the only thing that seemed to make sense to her. And from what you told me, it seemed you contributed as well." She said, giving him a stern look.

"What do you mean I contributed, mom?" He asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

"You're not exactly innocent. I mean, leaving your wife alone with a sick child on your honeymoon? I thought I taught you to be a gentleman." She reprimanded him.

He sighed. Every woman he talked to had a problem with that. He realized now that he really was selfish.

"I'm sorry, mom. I guess the excitement of being a first time producer and how I got my first Cannes premiere blinded me."

"Yes. You need to put your priorities straight. Family is number one, Sebby honey. Always remember that." She said.

"Well, what good does that do now that she doesn't want to be with me anymore." He pouted.

"Oh Sebby honey. I've never seen a couple more in love with each other than you and her. Give her some time and space. I'm sure eventually she'll come around and will want to get back together with you." She encouraged.

"You think so, mom?" He asked, doubt in his voice.

"Yes, Sebby honey. Having been in a failed marriage myself I know true love when I see one. What you and her have is true love. You have to believe that."

"She said love is not enough." He replied, looking down in defeat.

"Oh Sebby honey, she was probably too emotional when she said that. Love is enough but you also have to put in the work."

"I feel like I have put in the work, mom. But it's not enough for her." He complained.

"Well, from what you told me you still have some improvements to do. You said that she wanted you to help out more around the house. That's something you can definitely work on, right?"

"Yeah.. I guess. It's just that when I'm about to shoot a movie I tend to focus more on preparing for that. I mean, I think that's normal, right?" He asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Well it is. But in this case you have to consider what has been happening to her. All of the things that had happened since your wedding must have taken a toll on her. She's now so stressed out that her fight or flight reflex kicked in. She needed you to be there for her to help deal with her stress but you were busy with your own thing. So instead of fighting she chose to flee because she thinks it will give her a reprieve from all the stress."

Her mother's words shone a light in his mind, making him understand more about her reasons for wanting to get a divorce.

"You're right, mom. I've been such a bad husband." He said, his voice shook and a tear dropped from his eyes.

"Oh Sebby honey, I'm glad you realize that. But don't kick yourself too hard. As long as you realize it then it's a start. Now you have a film to shoot. Try to focus on that. Before you know it she might just come around and come back to you." She said, putting her hand on his cheek gently.

"Thanks mom." He nodded.

Her mother smiled and gave him a warm tight hug.

He wished he could stay at his mother's house longer. He knew being alone in Atlanta would just make him depressed. But he had a job to do. He couldn't just not show up.

Richard Marx's voice brought him back to the present moment. He pressed the stop button and the song stopped playing. He needed to get his s**t together. He thought as he wiped a tear that had dropped from his eyes. Today was the first shoot for Thunderbolts. He needed to focus and be professional. He couldn't let his personal life get in the way of his job.

He had arrived in Atlanta days before to settle in and to have meetings with the director and other cast members as well as fitting for his costumes and fixing the look for Bucky with the make-up team. Some of his cast members had started shooting a couple of days ago. His first shoot was scheduled for that day, and his scene was with Wyatt Russell, the guy who played John Walker.

The scene was a rather intense scene involving a hard debate and eventually a fight between them. He had prepared for the scene since before his wedding. And he had some time back in New York to practice the fighting with his trainers at a gym near his apartment. He had also spent several days in Atlanta practicing with his stunt team.

Despite all the training that he had done, he felt he wasn't ready. All he wanted was to just stay in his room, lying down on the bed and mope.

Everyday since she left him he had thought of calling her, or at least sending her a text message. But he knew she needed some space and he was afraid of bothering her if he contacted her too soon. He was hoping she would contact him first. But it's been 5 days and he had only received one text from her, right after she arrived in California, letting him know that she and Starlene had arrived safely. He had texted her back saying he was glad that they had arrived safely. But after that there was no more communication between them.

Since he didn't dare to contact her he ended up contacting her father everyday. Just to check up on her and Starlene. Her father thankfully didn't mind. He did however scold him the first time he contacted him. Reminding him about his promise to take care of his daughter and not hurt her.

He had explained the situation to her father and eventually he understood, much to his relief. He had advised the same thing to him just like his mother did. Which was to give her some time and space. He also promised to try and persuade her to come back with him. He was so glad her father was so supportive of him. He and her father had become rather close in the past couple of days. He kind of reminded him of his own father, and the feeling felt bittersweet to him.

He glanced at the clock on his cellphone and decided to call her father. He still had about half an hour before he had to leave so that should be enough to check on her and Starlene.

He swiped on his cellphone and pressed the call button on his father-in-law's number. It didn't take long for him to pick up.

"Good morning Mr.Y/F/L/N." He greeted him.

"Oh good morning, Sebastian." Her father replied cheerfully.

"How are you today, sir?"

"I'm good.. I'm good. Just slightly disappointed that our flat screen TV in the living room has ceased to stop working for no reason at all." He sighed.

"Oh. That's too bad." He replied.

"Yeah. Anyway, I still have an old TV that still works. So, it's no big deal." He shrugged.

"Oh that's good."

"Yeah. Anyway, I'm sure you want to know how my daughter and granddaughter are doing."

"Umm.. yes, sir. How are they?"

"They're fine. Starlene is still asleep and Y/n is in the kitchen preparing some breakfast."

"Oh that's good. Has she.. has she mentioned me at all?" He asked nervously.

"Not exactly. I mentioned you to her though." He said, making his heart skip a beat.

"Oh! And what did she say, sir?" He asked as his heart rate increased.

"Well, I asked her how you were doing and she just replied that she didn't know because you haven't been communicating. I asked why not and she said she still needed some time. I'm sorry, Sebastian."

His heart dropped to his stomach as he listened to her father's answer. He really had ruined it all hadn't he? He thought, kicking himself up.

"Oh. I see. Well, thank you for mentioning me Mr.Y/F/L/N."

"No problem, Sebastian. You know, it's been a while. There's no harm if you want to try and contact her first." Her father suggested.

"Yeah. Maybe I will later on today. I have to go to the set in a moment."

"Ah, your shoot for Thunderbolts is starting?"

"Yes, today is the first day."

"Good luck then Sebastian. If you see Harrison Ford, would you tell me I said hi. You know I'm a big fan of his. I loved him in Star Wars and Indiana Jones."

"Oh I didn't know you were a fan of his." He chuckled.

"Yeah, I am. Oh, I have to go, she's coming my way. Talk to you later, John." Her father said, making his eyebrows raised.

"Uh.. yeah. Thank you, sir. Talk to you later."

Her father then hung up, leaving him hanging. She must have been quite close to him that he resorted to calling him John. He shook his head as he felt a great sadness in his heart.

Maybe he was right. There's no harm in trying to contact her first. He was about to send her a text message when he heard a knock on the door.

That must be Wyatt, he thought with a slight annoyance.

"Sebastian! Are you ready for our fight?! Cause I'm ready to kick your butt!" He heard Wyatt calling him from behind the door, making him roll his eyes.

"Coming, Wyatt!" He called out as he put his cellphone in his pants' pocket, stood up and cleaned the dining table.

After putting his breakfast plate and fork in the dishwasher he went to his room to grab his wallet. His wallet was inside a dresser in the nightstand. He pulled out the drawer and picked up his wallet. His eyes glanced at a box placed underneath his wallet. It was a velvet box Y/n had given him as a wedding gift. He had put the heart shaped and key shaped pendant along with the necklace she gave him into the box yesterday before he went for a fitting for Bucky. Bucky wore dog tags and that was what he had worn since yesterday. But he realized he hadn't taken off his wedding ring yet. Bucky wasn't married so he should take it off.

He glanced at his wedding ring and couldn't help but be reminded of the day they exchanged their vows.

He remembered every word she said to him that day.

"Today, in the presence of God and all our loved ones, I promise to always love you, adore you, support you through all the joys and the sorrows. I will stay by your side as we sail through this life, with all the storms and sunny days. My heart belongs to you.. forever and always. I love you."

A tear dropped from his eyes as he remembered her promise to him. A promise that he felt she couldn't keep.

He knew that in this case it seemed he was more to blame than her. But he couldn't help but feel disappointed that she would think of divorce so soon without trying to fix things first. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't understand why she would give up their love so easily.

His heart ached in disappointment as he slowly took off his wedding ring and put it into the velvet box. He wondered whether he would ever wear it again. Will she accept him back or will she continue to ask for divorce? At this point he didn't know. And the thought frustrated him.

He snapped the velvet box close and returned it back into the drawer. He turned around feeling the familiar heaviness in his heart and stomach as anger started to seep into him.

He took a deep breath, counted to ten and let it go. He decided to channel his anger and frustration into his work today. Something he often did whenever he showed up for work. Thankfully the scene he was shooting that day required him to feel anger and frustration. So he just let the feeling simmer in his heart.

---

The Set of Thunderbolts, Marvel Studios, Atlanta, Georgia - June 5th 2023 - 2 pm

"You will never replace him, Walker! Don't pretend that you're like him!" Sebastian, as Bucky, yelled at Wyatt, as John Walker.

With all the anger and frustration in his heart he lifted his hand and punched Wyatt in the face. His right fist connected with Wyatt's left cheek hard, leaving a bruise on his cheek.

"Oh my God! Wyatt I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!" Sebastian broke out of character as he realized what he had done.

Wyatt touched his cheek with his hand, looking at him with his eyebrows furrowed.

He wasn't supposed to hit him for real. He was supposed to hold back a little and Wyatt was supposed to pull his head back a little.

"Cut!" The director, Jake Schreier yelled and immediately came to them.

"Wyatt, are you okay?" Jake turned to Wyatt.

"Yeah, it just stings a little." Wyatt said, dropping his hand from his cheek so Jake could see the damage Sebastian had done to his face.

"Well you have a bruise forming there." Jake commented.

"I'm.. I'm sorry, Wyatt. I'm sorry Jake. I got carried away." Sebastian said, his head hung.

"It's okay, Sebastian. We actually got a really good shot of you." Jake said, turning to him.

"Is it okay if we continue the shoot?" Jake asked, turning to Wyatt.

"Yeah.. yeah.. sure. It doesn't hurt that much. And the make-up team won't have to put a bruise on me now." He chuckled.

"Okay then. Well we already got the shot of you Bucky, hitting Walker." Jake said, turning to Sebastian. "Now we just continue on with you, Walker, attacking Bucky back." Jake explained, glancing at Wyatt.

"Okay. Sure." Wyatt nodded and Jake left them.

"Oh God, I'm really sorry, Wyatt." Sebastian said again, feeling so guilty and embarrassed.

"This never happened to me before. I swear. And I will not let it happen again." He promised.

"Hey, it's okay, Sebastian. Sometimes the feelings the characters are having on a scene impacts us for real. I get it. Don't worry about it." Wyatt said, clapping his back and smiled at him.

"Thanks for understanding, Wyatt." He said in relief.

They continued the shoot but Sebastian felt he couldn't focus much. He was afraid of hitting Wyatt again and that made him forget the moves that he was supposed to do.

After what felt like a hundred takes Jake finally asked them to stop and asked Sebastian's stuntman John to replace him. His focus was so bad that Jake resorted to use John for the scenes where Sebastian was supposed to be in.

Sebastian slumped on a chair on the side of the shooting area. Watching John and Wyatt fought each other, feeling so disappointed with himself.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop thinking of Y/n. Aside from being afraid that he could hit Wyatt again, she was one of the reasons why he found it so hard to focus.

The anger he felt at her earlier was now gone, replaced by utter desperation. He wondered what she was doing. Whether she was thinking of him too or not and whether she still loved him or not. He rubbed his ring finger absentmindedly but then stopped himself when he realized he didn't have the ring on.

He closed his eyes and shook his head hard, trying to let go of the thoughts of her.

For the next three days he found it really hard to focus. He ended up being a coward and didn't send her a text message or call her at all, thinking that she might need some more time and space as he remembered what her father said to him, that she still needed some more time.

But not being able to contact her put a toll on him. He found himself hard to fall asleep at night, his mind overthinking everything about her and their relationship so that during shooting he felt much like a zombie.

He did a lot of wrong moves during fight scenes that John ended up replacing him again. He often forgot his lines and said the wrong lines that it took many takes until he got them right.

His inability to focus and perform well hadn't gone unnoticed by Jake and his other co-stars. By the third day Jake finally pulled him aside.

"Sebastian, I'm really sorry to ask you this. But.. are you okay?" Jake asked.

"Yeah.. I'm okay. Why?" He asked, feeling embarrassed that Jake had to ask him that. He really needed to get a grip on himself.

"It's just that.. I'm sorry, but I can't help but notice that your focus isn't here. And I'm sorry again but I expected a lot from you. I know you can do better." Jake reprimanded him.

"I'm.. I'm sorry, Jake. It's just that I'm in the middle of a break with my wife. And I find it hard to focus because of that. I'm sorry, I'll try and do better. I promise." He pleaded.

"Oh, I see. I thought you guys were alright. I mean.. I saw the interview where you clarified everything."

"Yeah.. she.. umm. She asked for a divorce after that interview. Please don't tell anyone about this. I really don't want anyone else to know." He replied, feeling more embarrassed that he had to share that heartbreaking detail about his life to Jake.

"Oh, okay. That's tough. I understand. However, I hope you can find a way to deal with that so you can get your focus back on shooting this movie. You know, every single day we spend thousands of dollars filming this and we have a schedule to follow. So I would really appreciate it if you could try harder and focus on shooting." Jake requested.

He nodded. "I'll try my best, Jake."

"Tell you what, why don't you take a break now and do whatever you need to do so you can come back tomorrow and focus. I'm just going to continue shooting the action scenes with John now." Jake offered.

"Oh, Jake. That's really thoughtful of you. Thank you." Sebastian said.

"I suggest you get some sleep. You look like you haven't slept in days." Jake commented.

"I will, thanks Jake." He nodded.

He felt utterly embarrassed but also felt somehow free. He felt exhausted and sleep was something he really needed.

"No problem. See you tomorrow, Sebastian." Jake clapped his shoulder and nodded. He then left him to explain things to John and his other co-stars.

Sebastian looked up and saw John and his co-stars looking at him in concern.

He hated to disappoint everyone so he would try to do his best tomorrow. But for now he was free. So he gave his co-stars a wave and a smile then turned around and headed back towards his trailer.

He was almost near his trailer when he saw a familiar face. Anthony Mackie was walking towards him. Anthony noticed him and his face broke into a wide smile.

"Seabass!" Anthony called out to him.

"Mack attack." He smiled wide as they stopped in front of each other.

"How are you, man?" Anthony asked him as he opened his arms wide and engulfed him in his embrace.

"Good.. good.. how are you?" He asked, hugging Anthony back.

"I'm good too. I was about to pay you a visit on set. I thought you were supposed to be shooting?" Anthony asked, his eyebrows raised as he released him from his hug.

"Uh.. yeah. John is replacing me for the rest of the day. Jake is just going to shoot the action scenes." He explained.

"Huh? I thought you usually do the action scenes yourself. Well.. most of them anyway." Anthony commented.

"Yeah. I.. uh.. have been having some difficulties in concentrating today so Jake gave me permission to take a break for the rest of the day." He responded.

"Difficulties in concentrating? Is there a problem, Seb?" Anthony asked, his face showed concern.

"Yeah. There is. Come on, let's get inside my trailer. This will take a long time to explain." He said as he put his arm around Anthony's shoulder and guided him towards his trailer.

It really did take a while for him to explain everything to Anthony. By the time he was finished, Anthony gave him a look of complete disbelief.

"Your wedding and honeymoon story sounds like a movie." Anthony commented.

"What?!" Sebastian exclaimed out loud. Leave it to Anthony to make weird comments like this.

"I didn't mean that to hurt you. That was a compliment." Anthony corrected.

"Uh huh yeah. Well it's a nightmare for me." He sighed.

"I bet it is. And I'm really sorry that you're going through this right now. Speaking from personal experience, divorce is hard and messy. I don't ever wish it on anybody." Anthony said, leaning back on his chair and looking at him with his eyebrows furrowed.

"Yeah. But you got through it. And you even got back together with your wife. How did you do it? I really can use some pointers right now." Sebastian said, a glimmer of hope entered his heart somehow. If Anthony could get back together with his wife after years of divorce, then surely he could too.

"Well.. for starters we have four kids. So, they're our main reason for getting back together. But in the end, no matter how cliche it is, it's always because of love." Anthony replied, smiling a little.

"Love huh?"

"Yeah, good ole' plain love. I realized that I can't live without her and that there is no woman out there more perfect for me than her." Anthony said, his eyes glazed with love a little as it seemed he was imagining his wife.

"I'm happy to hear that Anthony. But, she said love is not enough." He said bitterly.

"Oh she's right, it's not enough. You still have to put in the work, communicate better and compromise. But without love, you wouldn't have cared to do any of that, right?"

"Hmm.. true." He said, rubbing his chin as he contemplated what Anthony just said.

"Anyway, you still love her right?" Anthony asked.

"With all my heart." He replied wistfully.

"Then fight for her. Win back her heart. Remember what you did back then to win her heart when you were just starting out and do that again. No wait, don't just do that again, but do it better." Anthony said as he leaned across to him and clapped his shoulder.

"You can do this, Seb. I have faith in you. And I'll help you out if you want me to." Anthony winked.

"Thank you so much, Anthony." He smiled wide.

Listening to Anthony made him feel like the fog had been lifted from his mind and heart. He could see the sun now. He could see that he still had hope of getting back together with her. But like what his mother and Anthony said, he needed to do the work. And that was what he intended to do.

"So, do you remember what you did in the beginning of your relationship?" Anthony asked, leaning back on his chair.

"Yup. I do. But you know what, I think I'm going to use a somewhat different strategy this time." He replied with a twinkle in his eyes.

---

A/N : About Anthony Mackie's status, here I mentioned that he got back together with his wife. In real life I think he's still divorced. Just FYI in case you guys are wondering. But he does have four kids.

Chapter 20 >

Taglist

@sebsgirl71479 @dhoruwolfie

[crusherthedoctor]

The thing that gets me about seeing people explain how in-character and on point Frontiers actually is, is that, is this level of micro-analysis of what a characters' words or expressions could have meant really required to get what's supposed to be so seemingly obvious? Maybe its just me being overly cynical but like, no amount of saying "actually Tails's arguments are supposed to not make sense and be weak because he's having a self-loathing episode and just wants to pathetically deny Sonic" will convince me that "wiLdlY iNcOnsIstEnT" just doesn't sound inorganic as a piece of dialogue. No amount of saying "actually Eggman doesn't treat Sage any differently than his other creations and is subtly abusing her" will dissuade me from thinking that after we see them cutely holding hands together in what's supposed to be a happier ending to the main story, the next scene isn't going to be Eggman tucking Sage into her robo-bed with a plate of robo-cookies and a glass of robo-milk and then read her a bedtime story, when Orbot and Cubot have been thrashed for doing far less. Surely, it's not needed to stoop down to IDW Stans level of argumentation, right?

And I guess that's kind of a sad reality of it. Character analysis can be great, informative, let you ruminate on aspects of a character differently, but like... clearly the Eggdad squad isn't being swayed by it. Hell, the general non-fan crowd, whose understanding of the series comes from isolated pictures and videos are even less likely to be. If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it probably is a duck, no matter how many times you try to tell people that it's actually a goose.

Hit the nail on the head.

Pointing out subtle nuances is all well and good, but when there's only a 1% backing up their defensive nuh-uhs compared to the 99% suggesting otherwise - combined with a certain writer involved with this game having a pre-established habit of their end results always contradicting what they claim to be doing with the characters, therefore providing less reason to trust their presumed intentions - then it becomes not much better than the folk who pull random bullshit out of their ass completely, like many a fan of '06.

Not to mention the pressure it creates for the next 3D installment. You say Tails is going to strike out further as his own hero? You say Sage won't soften Eggman, and will in fact make him worse? Well you better be ready to prove it in the next game, cause you left me hanging with this one.

[xplrvibes]

I am so sorry, guys. I intended in getting to the asks about Kat's songs but then I accidentally fell asleep 🤣.

It's been a chaotic day/week/month and I am old lol.

Anyway, I have many asks about it and the general consensus seems to be that the song itself was good, but didn't pack as much of a punch as people thought. I'm going to just make this one big blanket post with my thoughts because that's probably just easier.

Also, I am putting my thoughts behind a cut. If you are a person who does not want to hear about this, or if you are a person who doesn't want to hear any criticism towards someone you stan, do NOT click the read more. Keep it moving.

So, the song itself is...fine, I guess. I'm not a huge fan of this genre of music, so I wasn't expecting to be blown away by it from a musical standpoint (and I wasn't). I do think that more can be done from a technical aspect to mix her vocals in better so they are legible (cause they are NOT), but that is a production issue and not a Kat issue. I do want to say that I slowed the song down to .5 speed to try and decipher the lyrics and wow, it lowkey kind of rocked at .5. Very, very grungy sounding 🤣.

Anyway, the song itself was fine. I feel like they were going for an Abril Lavigne or even Paramore type vibe, which is cool. 🤷‍♀️

The elephant in the room of this song is the lyrics, and Sam, and Sam and Kat.

First of all - maybe I'm hard of hearing, but boy were those lyrics hard to decipher lol. I still don't know what the hell is being said in the chorus (in fact, anyone who can tell me what is said right after "how nice of you" wins a prize), which was part of why it took so damn long for me to get to these asks.

I don't know if the problem is the mixing of the lyrics with the music, or if there isn't enough enunciation when they are actually being recorded, but wow.

Anyway, the lyrics. Look, I know that a lot of people were expecting a full-scale evisceration, but let's be honest - that was never gonna happen lol. I think this was about as far as it was going to go.

There are a few biting lines -

the cry on cue line: this was especially of note to me because it validated something I said back when that break up video came out, which was that those were crocodile tears. I took heat for saying it then but sorry- it's true. Man cries and does shit in videos on purpose for attention sometimes. He's always been doing it, and probably will continue to do it. If I'm allowed now to critique him as a person without kicking up some drama, I'd say it's his middle child syndrome mixed with a pinch of narcissism and some insecurity to boot that causes that. But I probably can't say that, so I won't 😂.

The 50/50 like a teenager line: I need an explanation for this one. Was this multi-millionaire, 2 (soon to be 3) Mansion owning, self-driving tesla having rich guy making his much less financially well off girlfriend split every bill in half? Cause if so, he is both a cheap ass and kind of just an ass-ass lol. I'm sorry, but think about the absolute disparity in their income, and then think about the lifestyle he lives. Now imagine you are dating this man and he's taking you to Gordon Ramsey's kitchen and racking up an $800 bill on whiskey that comes out of a glass case and that fucking creepy ass beef wellington shit, and then the bill comes and he look at you and goes "halfsies?" I'd nut shot him. Fuck you, I could've gone to Red Robin and been just as fine. You wanna live bougie and you want my not-rich ass along for the ride? You're gonna have to pay the lionshare. Also - if I'm going to live in your house, and pay an equal share of the bills, you don't get to tell me that I have no say in decorating said house.

The "you sleep well cause she keeps her mouth shut" line: Oof. If I'm interpreting that right, she is saying she could very well destroy him with the shit she knows/shit he's done, but she won't. He's probably very lucky she isn't an Olivia Rodrigo/Taylor Swift type and this is as far as she went, judging by that line.

The tesla line: I think this is a dig at that day that Sam took K on the date to the LA Abandoned Zoo and then K posted an Instagram story in the tesla afterwards? I think? This could've been worded better, I feel, but if that's what she's digging at...double oof lol.

The 6 months line: 🤣🤣🤣. The amount of people that were shocked by the 6 months thing is really just proof positive that nobody stalks and dissects this man's moves the way they do Colby's, cause y'all had Colby and Ms Singer married after ONE DATE and talked about it ad nauseum for MONTHS and meanwhile, guess who was two steps behind him on said date? He and K were coupled up all through Halloween, dressing like Hailey and Justin Bieber, taking couples photos at the parties, but all I heard about was Ms Singer and the pool. Just saying 👏. Also, people can move on from shit whenever they want and however fast they want, but the people who were left behind and devastated and have to watch those people move on with lightning speed have every right to feel jilted about it, especially when the injured party took all the shit for the breakup and the other party was praised for being the sad reluctant hero in the whole thing.

I'm not dissecting the rest, cause the POV switches too much and I can never quite tell if she's talking about herself or K lol. But those lines were notable to me.

Overall...it was a good effort on Kat's part, and I can tell it has been therapeutic and cathartic. If anyone is upset about this cause you feel that Sam is being unfairly kicked down in this, I implore you to remember that this man enjoyed a full year of being able to freely say that he has been so much happier and more confident after breaking up with her, while she has gotten death threats for saying he blindsided her. She is allowed her day in court.

[bookofmirth]

I recently read a comment where an El/riel said that Az could never end up with Gwyn just because she is an “irrelevant nobody”, while he in one of “the main and most important characters”. And they go on saying things like “she is unworthy of him”, “he deserves someone insanely great” and bla bla bla…

Beside the fact that the whole post sounded pretty, uhm… aggressive and anti-feminist I guess? It made me realise that maybe some people ship Elucien or El/riel because being Elain’s partner means… more “screen time”?

We know that the ACOTAR series follows the journey of the Archeron sisters, and the only one left is Elain, whose journey basically still have to begin and find a properly conclusion. So, it’s logically implied that, as Nesta’s book became a Nessian book, Elain’s one will also become her LI’s ones (but SJM looooves feminism, at least as Rhysand does ;) ).

Sincerely, I’m pretty sure that, deep down in our unconscious, this is the reason why we all stan a ship or another, and I know it’s kinda a cynical though and not so feminist, since it implies Elain being a sort of “prize” for more screen time and more fangirl internal screams (yeah, because we all are fangirl who just want more hot-fae material at the end ahahah).

The point is, if only we were a little more conscious of it, we could understand each other better and, in an idillic word, maybe stop writing insults each other for supporting a ship we don’t like. We are all on the same boat, thirsty for our best men in fictional books, so there’s no point on being mean or writing a poem about how a character sucks for this or that reason, especially if it could only hurt someone else who feels a strong connection with that character…

Sorry for this looong rant ahaha, but I really like your blog. In your post you’re always polite so I though you where the right one to share my cynical vision of the ship war with. 😊

Hello! Just to be clear, the main reason I am posting this is because you were talking about the fandom in general, rather than being a butt about anyone in particular (other than whoever posted about Gwyn being a nobody, RIP because sjm is going to do what she wants with whatever character she wants. Chaol was just an annoying ass royal guard at first, too.)

I do agree with you about screen time. And that yeah, when we get Elain's book, it will not just be hers but also her love interest's book. I kept insisting on calling acosf the Nesta book before it came out, but... idk, I could go either way. We definitely didn't learn as much about Cassian as I think people had hoped to, but Nesta's issues were at the forefront and more pressing, anyway. The narration did follow Cassian at times, and we got to know some of his inner thoughts. So yeah, I assume that whenever we get Elain's book (and whoever else's we are going to get) then the narration will likely follow her love interest and we will get his (let's be real, it won't be a her) inner thoughts, and probably learn a bit more about him.

(This has made me start thinking about perspective and how people are struggling to understand the difference between first and third person and being unreliable, hang on let me grab a drink 😭)

And I definitely agree that if we could just accept that we are generally here for the same reason - obsessed over acotar - then maybe we might possibly, potentially, not be at each other's throats all the time? People just gotta make this their whole personality though, like if someone on the internet, who they will never meet irl and who otherwise has absolutely no bearing on their lives, disagrees with them, then *pearl clutch* omfg call the police their whole identity has now been put into question.

Calm. Down.

The most annoying thing about all of it to me is that it's all over MEN. People shit on Elain and Gwyn for a DUDE. And maybe it's not because of the ship war but people also shit on Mor for a DUDE. How about we just don't?

I'll be out here, doing my level best to tip the scales all by my lonesome by shitting on the dudes for the sake of Elain, and Gwyn, and Mor :)

Okay but back to your point, that people are actually invested in whoever the secondary character is going to be, I can see that. I've seen plenty of people say they don't like Elain, but will read elucien/elriel. It makes me sad tbh. I always see one of sjm's strengths - or at least one of the things I enjoy the most - being that she centers women in her stories. I used to assume that that's something that other readers enjoyed as well, but I guess not. People can like what they want for whatever reasons they want, but some of these discussions make it very, very clear how they feel about women, queer people, and people of color! Even if they won't say it out loud.

[brothersapart]

I read so much of the brother multiverse and I wonder want are all of the borrower knacks that been revealed like there so much Smol. Also i really appreciate you continuing to upload for these awesome series for so many year!!

Oh, knacks are one of my favorite parts! And they've certainly grown from how they were initially, becoming so important in the stories.

You can find a full list of knacks on this post, along with an explanation I worked out when I finally decided to fully define them.

That list might be missing a few, I think we did officially announce what Sherlock's knack would be while I'm pretty sure John Watson only has some guesses under the #borrower knacks tag I use to keep this sorted out.

(Smaug is trying to preen me while I answer this so I keep getting pecks to the face when I move against his wishes)

Some additional fun facts:

The strongest knack in existence was the ability to smite demons and monsters, just like an angel, and the person who received it was plenty strong enough to put it to use if they ever saw a demon.

Stan Baker has actually already used his knack in his borrower adventure, found in Brothers Chosen, but we won't see it discovered by the characters for a bit.

As useful as knacks are, there are limits to what they can be.

Borrowers cannot change their size.

Borrowers cannot shapeshift.

Borrowers cannot fly or teleport.

If you want to create your own knacks for characters, we'd love to hear the ideas! A great resource for them that I use is the Superpower wiki, and then adjust the power levels to what the borrowers can handle. They're not at the full superhero levels, of course.

Honestly, answering this has jazzed me up again for the stories, I've been trying to break out of a touch of depression the last few months so it's great to feel that energy again! Thanks so much for the ask!

Under the cut, I'll list out the knacks I can find, it might be a project for another day where I see if there's any others we might have announced separately:

Sam Winchester–

Enhanced Awareness: This can either enhance an already understood sense to supernatural levels, or give the borrower a ‘sixth sense,’ much like how Sam can feel if he’s being watched. His ability does not work on other borrowers, the angelic Grace around their souls keeping the perception from working on them. 

Dean Winchester–

Enhanced Tracking: Trackers, like Dean, are able to use their ability to track down their target with undeniable accuracy. There are limits, as Dean can only track down objects he needs. He is unable to apply this to people, and if he can’t conjure up that sense of need, nothing will happen. This is not limited by distance, though if he’s far from an object, he only gets a sense of what direction it’s in. 

John Winchester–

Perception Filter: The ability to be unnoticed and/or ignored in presence and actions. John’s ability is unique, so far as he’s discovered. He is unable to apply this ability to himself, but has found that if he concentrates, he is able to hide his family from notice, even if a human opens up the walls and looks right at them. This allows him to leave without worrying that they will be found, though of course, stuff doesn’t always go to plan.

Mary Winchester–

Terrakinesis: The ability to control the earth. While John’s ability tends towards more protective with his family, Mary is ready to go on the attack. She can’t affect entire buildings like the angels, but she can rock the ground just enough to knock a human off balance, buying time for her to escape. This works when there’s concrete, rock, stone, ect underneath the ground. She is unable to affect wood paneling at all and is cautious if she needs to go over a wood floor. With this ability, she was able to slowly carve out a safe home for her family underneath the ground. Adding in John’s ability to keep the family undetected, it seemed a good place to raise their two boys. Mary keeps several pebbles on her that she can flick at an attacker in case she needs a quick escape. Dean certainly got his accuracy from his mother.

Sherlock Holmes–

Time Distortion: The ability to slow down or stop time. A very strong knack that requires training to sustain for longer than a few seconds. In Sherlock’s case, he is able to slow down time around him, enabling him to escape with a speed that can’t be matched, and make observations that no one else would ever notice. When he stretches his ability, he can include others in this. He can’t stop time like an angel; it will always move forward

Bobby Singer–

Psychometry: Bobby’s knack allows him to learn from books and artifacts at a glance or a touch. He’s unable to read people, but if he gets an item of theirs, he can know what it was used for, how it will be put to use in the close future. This includes seeing that a knife will be used for a murder, before the murder happens.

Jacob Andris–

Supernatural Strength: Some, like Jacob, grow stronger than even other borrowers. This comes from their innate ability to turn their knack on their own bodies by instinct. While Sam and Dean receive the standard borrower strength boost while cursed, allowing them to lift around 12x their body weight, Jacob is able to lift, at only 18, a colossal 42x his natural body weight. If he was human-sized, he could bench a car without breaking a sweat.

Oscar–

Pyrokinesis: The ability to manipulate fire in limited forms. Oscar would not easily discover this knack, as a fire in the motel room walls might cause the entire place to go up in a blaze.

Walt Watch–

Telekinesis: The ability to manipulate objects outside of their direct reach. This can often cause a borrower to be mistaken for a ghost, moving objects in a house without touching them for a distraction. Walt Watch has taken the ability further, freezing two humans in place and later directing his power at himself to force his razor blade through Celeste’s neck despite her angelic invulnerability. This came close to burning out his knack.

Chase Lisong–

Emotional manipulation: The ability to influence the emotions around him, with no need for physical contact. A way for Chase to keep the peace among whichever group he’s in, or, if he can manage to get close enough, make a human tired or inattentive enough to escape notice.

Bobby Loran–

Power borrowing: Bobby is able to borrower the knack of other borrowers for a limited amount of time. One at a time, and since he’s not used to them he wouldn’t have as much finesse with them. He’d be quicker to burn them out than the actual “owner” of the knack.

Minnie Lisong–

Life detection: Very useful for finding out if a human is in a room, or seeing if there is a possibly dangerous rat or spider hiding in the walls.

Mark Bend–

Supernatural Strength: Unlike Jacob, Mark’s ability only applies to his legs. His legs are supernaturally enhanced, able to leap high into the air compared to a regular borrower.

Sean–

Invisibility: Though the borrower does not make themselves actually invisible in most cases, the invisibility knack allows them to camouflage and blend in to their surroundings. In Sean’s case, he can cause a cloud of distortion that hides himself and any of his friends that stand close enough. 

There are knacks picked out for the following characters, but they have not been announced yet (as far as I remember, feel free to send in a message if I'm just forgetting them!):

John Watson

Stan Baker

Stan Baker's brothers (Seamus, Dylan, Simon and Levi)

Moira Wainscot

Kara Bolt

Harmony

Adriana of the Woods

Oh! And of course, if you think you know what one of the knacks might be, send in your guess and if you're right, we'll officially reveal it!