#but changing it so that she’s an adult kinda on his level makes their relationship throughout the game SUPER interesting

[lucky-clover-gazette]

adhd king 🗣️🗣️🗣️

[cup-o-stars]

Relativity Falls!

Design Concepts (and my unnecessary thoughts):

Excuse the the colors, ig my apps are fighting.

I see Mabel finding success no matter what happens to her, but I really like the thought of her running an insane arts and crafts business in GF. Alternatively, if she fell in the portal, she'd come out acting confident as always, but she probably wouldn't realize how much the constant change and lack of family/stability wore her out until she settled back in. In either case, she's a bit cracked.

Dipper is investigative, but cracks easiest under stress and is not as inherently adventurous as Mabel or Ford- so the portal wouldn't treat him well. If he's not the one in the portal, he'd be into stargazing and real magic to share with people, while also warding tourists away from the dangerous stuff. In general, he'd be an unhappy adult if left to his own devices, lol.

Between Dipper and Mabel, I like Dipper being in the portal more. He's a great protagonist, but as a supporting cast member, he needs to be more insane to match the draw that is 'Mabel taking care of children,' ha. I also love the idea of there being no portal / some other looming threat for these two to struggle with (at least because Hirsche has made it clear that Dipper and Mabel are equally smart, and to me it seems like the portal would reopen way quicker with them), but I didn't plan on posting these and I don't know how my followers feel about me posting lore.

Stanford and Stanley:

Pretty much how they are in canon, but now they're in a setting where they can get over themselves, ha. They aren't quite as mature as Dipper and Mabel were at their age, but after coming to GF, they finally found other people to look out for them. Dipper could be a more emotionally available and level-headed role model (I think having people to take care of is calming for him in turn), and they'd both look up to Mabel as the peak of somebody who knows how to socialize.

Fiddleford:

He's a sweet, southern, farm-raised mechanical engineer just like in canon.

Idk why Fiddleford is in GF (visiting an unnamed grandparent?), but I really like his relationship with Ford in the journal. Following that thought, in this AU, he starts out more of Ford's friend than Stan's, and it's kind of a big deal. Unlike Dipper's arc on learning to be a kid, Stan and Ford clearly struggled a lot with interpersonal relationships / finding security outside of eachother, and that's what I think this AU could be about (it's great they realized they need each other in canon, but the part where they had no one else to turn to is also kinda crazy if you ask me).

Ford gets to meet another smart kid in a weird town, which helps him feel more normal. He has a better idea of what friendship is because of it, but also, since I can't imagine Dipper wanting an apprentice so young/vulnerable/impressionable or Mabel asking only one of the twins to stay- he'd have to come to terms with the fact that he can't live in his dream world forever. (Or maybe the apprenticeship comes from somewhere else, just because the conflict around going back to Glass Shard Beach at all, or sending Stan alone could be pretty good.)

On the flipside, I think Stan's initial jealousy of Ford and Fiddleford's friendship would force him to try finding his own friends / hobbies. I like the idea that he fails at first- and a lot- but Mabel notices his mounting frustration (which he is very keen on hiding), and her consistent and unorthodox support makes him realize he wasn't alone to begin with. He can be more open around her, which makes it easier to open up to others, and then he can make friends without having to pull any tricks. He probably starts with some animals, and then at least gets closer to Fiddleford anyways (I feel like they're both more practical than Ford and value human company more, so they'd bond easier once Stan gets over his personal hurdle).

Anyways- because that was way too much- Mabel's exes are a constant source of antagonists and Dipper is stressed about setting a good example.

(I was more of a Monster Falls fan back in the day, but I can't draw animals, lol)

[qveenpoppy]

things i noticed in my pilot rewatch:

wolf almost immediately grabs a glass of champagne when he walks into the wedding with his first patient. i know the show's hinted at him having drug issues, but maybe he has some alcohol ones too? (unless that idea was abandoned since the pilot was written/filmed.)

"except now we're prescribing drugs instead of taking them." "speak for yourself." yeah he's definitely still dealing with those drug issues. i feel like the show's mostly implied for that to be a past thing (we've only seen him take anything twice, to my memory? not counting 1x09's upcoming flashback sequence) but i wonder if/when that'll become an issue again (maybe another patient loss that hurts wolf harder than roman's did? like a father figure, that'll bring back his feelings of guilt over his dad's death?)

it's tiny but i feel like van's crush is hinted at here, with him offering ericka an extra pair of scrubs (while jacob cockily jokes about his being too big for her) and the way he sneaks a glance at her while she changes (not in a creepy way, it's like a nervous/shy kinda way).

he also smiles at her when she yells at jacob while they're searching for hannah's childhood home, after jacob un-empathetically says the kids would be better off with their dad (guess van likes strong women; girlboss/malewife vibes? lol)

"do i ever have to talk to him again?" (wolf talking about nichols.) lmao, you're gonna be in love with him in about 6 episodes from now. also someone write me some pilot era wolfnichols hate sex.

"name one person you like who's not a patient." "you, i like you!" he's so autism-coded ❤️

wolf still uses cassette tapes in his car (which is also quite old, since it still plays tapes), what a grandpa

carol has a picture with michelle obama in her office (not really an important thing to notice, but i thought it was cool)

there's a line in one of the flashbacks (apologies for not quoting it verbatim) from muriel about "keeping our differences to ourselves", which probably explains why wolf isn't super open about his facial blindness. (and probably applies to all of his other traits that make him "different", like his sexuality, or popularly headcanon'd autism. i mean, i know he's open about his sexuality now as an adult, perhaps as a way of rebelling against his mom, but, as we may see in more flashbacks, he probably kept it to himself for quite a while.)

van is completely frozen when hannah has her seizure, he even backs up a little when she falls out of her chair. probably didn't wanna touch her and experience a phantom seizure.

whoever directed the ep made zach & teddy look like they're the same height when nichols confronts wolf and kicks him off the case. i guess it keeps them, literally and figuratively, on the same level in the dispute. but now we all know that wolf's actually shorter, and it's funny how that's been primarily highlighted when they're fooling around with each other. (i know it's an intentional directing tactic, though, bc a similar thing was done in the batman v superman movie when bruce and clark stand eye to eye - henry cavill is also 3 inches shorter than ben affleck. emphasizing the height difference would imply a power imbalance, which you don't want in these sort of gray zone conflicts!)

"the only way this will work is if we open up to each other." [nichols walks by and catches wolf's eye] foreshadowing

(i don't mean just like foreshadowing their romance, but maybe also the impact that nichols will have on wolf, getting him to open up about his past and whatnot. same, perhaps, for nichols, since we still hardly know anything about his background, besides his military experience and implied own closeting.)

(could also quite easily and literally refer to their work relationship, as we learned from that interview with teddy that, despite their romantic connection, they're still going to have some disputes about patient treatments in future episodes/cases.)

[cleverthylacine]

Just watched Ep 1 of Earthspark S2. And I'm furious.

Don't read this if you don't want spoilers. Or if you think the showrunners can still do no wrong, and are unprepared for the level of Incandescent Fury of which I am capable. But if you DO have spoilers for the whole season and understand my particular vibe, PLEASE read this and reblog with answers (but use the cut for the sake of my followers)...

Reasons why I'm mad:

A year goes by in which all of the stuff I was actually interested in presumably happened: dealing with GHOST, the Decepticons and Autobots cooperating, and also, Mo and Robby getting cool mech suits.

Then for no reason other than "Decepticons huh" the Decepticons apparently forgot their alliance, turned on Our Designated Good Guys (tm) and just randomly started trying to conquer and/or kill everything again. Or were they screwed over, yet again? I really hope so, not because I want them to suffer but because there needs to be a freaking reason why they turn on other Cybertronians when they are stuck on Earth. But I don't have a good feeling about it given the contemptuous attitudes displayed by Bee (as usual, because ES Bee is a fucking asshole) and Robby (disappointing, he wasn't like that before).

And we never did get to find out what the fuck was up with GHOST or why the Decepticons were all in jail (and no, "Decepticons huh" is not an acceptable reason--they have every reason to hate us.)

Breakdown is a terrible parent for no reason? BREAKDOWN?

The Chaos Terrans thing gives me the same willies that the Orcs in Tolkien (I am not a Tolkien fan) used to do. I am not comfortable with the eugenicist/ableist notion that people can be born corrupt and innately evil, especially not if it has something to do with HOW they were born.

Soooo... if you've finished the season (I know you've been posting a bit about it) is there any reason for me to continue?

Reasons I would continue:

Ravage continues to be basically the same Ravage I write, only much smaller.

RavWave (as a ship, not just platonic interaction, mostly because I would watch anything for that no matter how messed up)

Explanation that there actually is a reason why the Cons turned on everyone, and what that reason is. Did they want to put them back in jail? Did they want them to do forced labour? Did Megatron start whaling on Starscream again? I note Tara isn't around Con HQ, what does Tara know?

Quints are interesting and not just scary (the Quints in Cyberverse scared me more than many adult horror movie villains did, BUT they are also just kinda evil and mean and we have no idea why, which would not have been particularly interesting at all except for the fun of watching Hot Rod and Soundwave become the faction leaders while OP and Megatron were unable to be)

Chaos Terrans are not innately bad or do not need some mystical power of nuclear heteronormative family to make them good

The Decepticons get something out of the ending other than screwed

We find out more about Dot and Megs

Some Cons are good parents

More Tarantulas and Nightshade content

Hashtag continues to have a relationship with Starscream that affects the plot as it develops

We are actually told what happened during the year they missed

Reasons I would not continue:

Cons are just bad because cons are bad.

Ravage is Soundwave's daughter or pet or in some other way not actually a grown-ass adult Decepticon officer, making Soundwave a father who raises child soldiers or a guy who runs dogfights, which is not cute even if he is snatched af

(they don't have to be lovers though my shipping heart was pleased when their PDA in the deleted scenes embarrassed Starscream, but she has to be a Real Independent Person who could be someone's partner if not his)

Chaos Terrans are innately bad until "saved" by the Power of Love And the Nuclear Family (or just innately bad)

Emberstone continues to be Allspark Mark II so why even change the name?

Bee's incredible assholery is never called out (it's not funny when a starving person accidentally kills their starving teammate due to a mistake they made because they were starving)

Only Autobots and people who form nuclear families can be good parents

Everyone being friends with the cows goes to the PETA place

Cons get nothing but screwed

Please tell me this series hasn't gone where I was afraid it would. Or let me know that it has so I can decide if it's going to be so bad I'll be mad the whole time like I was in Ep 1.

Warning: anyone who clowns on this post to be a RavWave anti or say "The Decepticons are supposed to be pure evil, duh!" will get blocked.

[cyberdragoninfinity]

I need to know on a primal level what Ray Akaba's like in the Kansas AU and how miserable her and Zarc's situationship was. Please spill the tea.

OH YOU KNOW IT'S A MESS IN THERE. ABSOLUTELY RADIOACTIVE. MOUNTAIN GOATS DISCOGRAPHY-ASS SITUATIONSHIP.

ray and zarc in beautiful Not-Lawrence Kansas....it's like. theyve been together (""""together."""" i feel like they 'break up for good' and then hook up again 17 times a year at minimum) since they were in high school and they are both just mildly-to-moderately insufferable people. Couple that smokes in the car together and gets into big nasty fights in public. They can't stand each other. They break up and miss each other so atrociously badly. They make out sloppy style. They light up each other's day (this is not good for them or literally anyone else around them.) They're like this, to me:

Ray's two years older (35 to Zarc's 33) and is really just like. I Am 30 or 40 Years Old and I Do Not Need This at this point in her life. she's so fucking tired. she's a manager at a Ross Dress For Less. She's some kind of bigender and he'll change pronouns during sex specifically to send Zarc into a shrieking "IM NOT GAY! IM NOT GAY!!!" manchild meltdown. She's Leo's kid from his first marriage and their relationship is presumably disastrous (least of all since Leo is currently 'fleeing the country' for 'bankrolling a conservative war cult masquerading as a summer camp'.) I feel like she does/did a bunch of stuff specifically to rebel against him, like getting her sick tattoo (Zarc thinks said tattoo is, "kinda hot" also -__-)

Ray and Declan have a tentatively alright relationship, but when she stops by there's a 60% chance Zarc's with her which is really going to make the entire encounter, in Declan's words, "needlessly exhausting." I was gonna say she gets along alright with Riley but what I really think is happening is Riley (who's like, 11-12ish in this AU) quietly thinks Ray is the Cool Adult Nonbinary Secret Sibling and Ray mostly just uses that to get Riley to do things for her. 🥴 Ray Akaba a little bit of a pushy control freak but you didn't hear it from me 🥴🥴🥴 (though of course when ZARC pushes YUYA around oh well then she'll climb down zarc's throat about it. hypocrisy queen <3)

The bracelet girls are all unrelated in this AU so Ray doesn't have much knowledge/connection to any of them, except for Celina a little bit (she's his cousin.) Probably for the best considering the toxic relationship spores Ray and Zarc are perpetually emitting into the atmosphere!!!

anyway tl;dr Ray's just as much of a loser as Zarc is, morep ut together and responsible certainly, but petty and arrogant and stubborn all the same. I like her very much :^)

[slowlydifferentbluebird]

Snsd reaction

To you being there younger boyfriend please

Hi Anon, thank you for your request. I slightly changed the plot, opting for a neutral gender reader, to be more inclusive and enjoyable for everyone. I hope it's not a problem💙 Also, I'm including Sica in the line-up because I felt so lol

SNSD reaction to the reader being a younger partner

Taeyeon

Being the leader and oldest of her group, having a younger sister, being tutor and teacher for a lot of trainee in her agency...having younger people around her was nothing new for Tae. Actually it's something that makes her comfortable, she has that sense of control but without being possessive. Sometimes she needs your help to discover and understand the new trends.

Jessica

When she left the group, she felt like she didn't have nobody to trust anymore...but then you suddendly appeared, overcoming her coldness somehow. You were so fresh in your attitude and behaviour, and maybe even a bit immature, that it was refreshing for Sica having you around. Also, you were still kinda innocent and that was really important for her to give you a chance. She never regretted it.

Sunny

Often you look more like a couple of siblings bickering more than a dating couple. Or better, sometimes you two are so funny together that from outside you two look like a comedy duo. Your chemistry in the jokes and the sense of humor was something that Sunny couldn't find in partner of her same age or older. But now there's no a day where she can go to sleep without having a great laugh.

Tiffany

She's such a soft person, always smiling and kind with everyone...but with you? She reaches a new level: always so delicate and careful, almost being afraid of breaking you. She's calling you "baby" at 100%, because you're indeed her baby and be sure that she would spoil you so much. Also, she kinda fell in love when, despite being younger, you were so much attentive to her needs in her moments of down.

Hyoyeon

This agent of chaos will have fun messing up with you. We know she's the most serious during practice, but she's also a goofball in her daily life, so she will definitely playing with you using her duality. Be ready to be called "dummy" day and night, even if she does that out of love. Also, be sure to have a suitcase always ready, because she's taking you with during her travel to work as dj.

Yuri

Dramas, movies, tv shows... she's always so busy and that really influenced her romantic life. She was successful but lonely...until she met you. Being young you had the perfect mentality to understand her schedules, not making her feel guilty about not interacting too much sometimes. But, oh boy, when she is free, she's spending all her time with you, cuddling her baby that she missed so much.

Sooyoung

Bruh, why is your girlfriend roasting you? Like, there's no need to be that savage😭 But hey, you knew from the beginning what you were getting into. Sometimes she can come out as rude or indelicate, but it's just her way to worry about you. She's honest till to the end, making her look like a firm teacher(the hot one 👀)

Yoona

Now, who's the youngest between you two? Because she's always acting like a child around you💀 Sometimes she can be a tease, some prank always ready for you. You are starting to think you're a babysitter more than her partner, but you know it's just her playful side and that if things get serious, her adult side will come out(and that's kinda scary).

Seohyun

The national maknae being the oldest in a relationship? It was a dream to her. She really likes this dynamic in which she has the opportunity to be seen like an actual adult. It was like you really understood her persona. Despite that she would still your full attention like a real maknae lol. But in general she would be great help in your difficult moments, always supporting you in taking decisions.

~~~

I hope you liked it, Anon. Thank you again for requesting 😄💙

Zazá

[fortheloveofwonderland]

Congrats on the milestone! How about this lyric:

🎵 “Just give me a chance,” she said as I packed my things. “But I already did four times, don’t you remember?” “I won’t blow it again,” she said, with her fingers crossed. But she forgot about the mirror behind her - Plastic Promises by Set It Off

With Spencer x Reader ? Although I kinda picture Spencer messing up and reader packing their things haha

Hello! This one is a little on the shorter side but k think it gets the job done.

Plastic Promises

Spencer Reid x Fem! Reader

Summary - Spencer finds himself in a toxic relationship. But you make it so hard for him to walk away.

CW - Age gap between consenting adults (reader is early twenties, Spencer is early forties), teacher / student, flirtatious reader, reader likes to push Spencer’s limits, mentions of spicy activity but no real detail, allusions to oral sex (m receiving), angst.

WC - 1.2k

Spencer Reid didn’t think he was the type of man to end up in this kind of situation. He was far too smart to keep giving you chances you were just going to throw back in his face time and time again. 

He knew what you had together was toxic, that on an intrinsic level didn’t work, yet he still kept coming back to you. 

You’d been a student in his class when you’d first met and over fifteen years his junior, which should have been the first red flag. He’d never been interested in younger women, he craved mental challenges in his relationships that he didn’t think he could get from someone of your age. 

But boy did you challenge him, just not always in good ways. 

You’d taken a shine to him, stayed later than his office hours most weeks while the two of you talked about literature and cinema and at first he’d thought nothing of it. 

Until one night when your car wouldn’t start and he’d offered to drive you home. Upon pulling up outside of your apartment, you’d leant across the centre console and kissed him right on the corner of his mouth. 

He’d taken you in the front seat of his car for the first time that night. 

He’d never been the kind of man to get caught up in a pretty face or a good lay, but time and time again he found himself in the throes of passion with you, wondering how he’d succumbed again. 

But you were the most alluring creature he’d ever met in his entire life. Staying away from you was like trying to keep a dog away from a juicy steak. He was powerless to stop it, even if he knew deep down it was a terrible idea. 

But over time it started to become clear why a relationship would never work between two people with such a large age gap. 

You liked to go out with your friends which he didn’t hold against you. What did rile him was the way you liked to flirt with any man who even so much as looked your way when you drank. 

You’d never actually cheated on him, but sometimes he thought it was only a matter of a time. 

You always managed to sweet talk your way out of it, usually whilst your hand was shaking inside of his pants. He was smarter than this, smarter than to believe you would change. 

But he was also a complete sucker for you. 

Your lips were the gun and your tongue the bullets. You knew every right combination of words, every perfect spot to press your mouth against his skin for him to forgive you and fall victim to you. 

But enough was enough. And when he’d found you tonight at the bar with those cyanide lips pressing to the shell of another man’s ear, it was the final straw. 

“Just give me a chance,” you said as he packed up his belongings he’d left in your apartment over the months. 

“But I already did, four times, don’t you remember?” He scoffed, refusing to make eye contact with you because if he did it would be game over. 

“I won’t blow it again.” You said, smiling sweetly at him, like butter wouldn’t melt. 

When he did glance up, right at the mirror behind you, he saw your hand behind your back and your fingers crossed. 

“Is this all some kind of joke to you?” He spat, dropping the armful of clothes onto the bed. 

“Why would you say that?” You batted your eyelashes at him.

“There’s a mirror behind you, sweetheart.” He spat, with a roll of his eyes. 

He tore his gaze away from you and focused on stuffing the clothes inside of his bag. 

You rolled your lip between your teeth and started closer to him, puffing out your chest in the way he’d seen you do often. 

“You know I wouldn’t have done anything with him, Spence.” Your voice was low and breathy, in the way he’d so often heard when you were trying to seduce him. 

“Don’t even try it. My blinders are finally off, Y/N.” 

“I’d never cheat on you, you know that.” You continued anyway, coming closer and running your fingers lightly up his arm. 

“Do I? Do I know that?” He clenched his jaw, desperate not to give over to you. Not this time. “You’ve proven time and time again you won’t ever change.” 

“Oh lighten up.” You giggled, a sound he’d always thought was like a slice of heaven. “We’re fine, we’ll be fine.”

“Please don’t tell me that we’re fine.” He’d stopped packing when your hand found its way to the base of his neck. 

Your fingers toyed with the curls nestled back there, threading into his locks in a way that made him weak. 

“Spencer, I promise I’d never do anything to hurt you.” You pouted your bottom lip, squeezing your chest together with your biceps. 

He was only human, and he couldn’t help the way his eyes involuntarily glanced down at the cleavage spilling over your shirt. 

“It’s all plastic promises, Y/N. I’ve heard them all before.” It was his voice that gave him away. You knew that voice almost as well as you knew your own. 

Your eyes flicked downwards to confirm your suspicions and a smile blossomed on your lips when you saw the tenting in his slacks. 

“Let me make it up to you, Doctor.” You breathed, causing Spencer to whimper at the use of his honorific. 

You kept one hand laced in his hair while the other scaled down his torso until you were palming him through his pants. 

“You can’t…you can’t…” he stuttered, unable to form a coherent sentence as you hand started to move. He closed his eyes and tried to focus. “You can’t keep treating me like this and then fixing it by seducing me.” 

“Don’t you love it when I seduce you through?” You smiled at him in a way that turned his legs to jelly and brain to melt. 

And then you were dropping to your knees in front of him and toying with his belt buckle. 

Spencer thought he’d have more will power. He’d faced off with the likes of Cat Adams and came out on top. But you were his biggest weakness, you made serial killers seem tame. 

So even though he knew he should stop you, that he should just walk away, he allowed you to free him from his pants and take him in your mouth. 

You were the little thorn always hanging out of his side, one he couldn’t dig out no matter how hard he tried. 

Somehow you had embedded your claws into him and the chances were he would never escape your clutches. Maybe he should just be thankful for the fact he was getting regular and earth shattering sex out of it. 

If his younger self could see him, he surely wouldn’t even recognise him. Once upon a time before the world had swallowed him and spat him out, he never would have put sex above a normal, healthy relationship. 

But he was trapped in your web and no matter how far you pushed him you always managed to pull him back in. 

And unfortunately for Spencer, he didn’t see that changing any time soon.

For now he let the feeling of your lips around him consume him. Perhaps one day he’d be done with your plastic promises. But today wasn’t that day.

Tomorrow looked pretty unlikely as well. 

[cavehags]

to be honest i find this season overall a let down when it comes to its female characters and politics: michelle is now villainous instead of just a nice woman who fell out of love, rebecca is still as hung up on her ex as she was in s1 but now her entire arch is about motherhood, too; sassy is there just to fuck ted; keeley is completely passive in her storyline and failing at her job; + jack, who is a cartoonish fanfic bad girlfriend; "i'm her ex not her current father" etc. i'm assuming it's in part due to the rewrites and real life factors and think it's a real bummer.

i completely agree. the michelle stuff particularly bothers me because i had praised her first episode for being a very level headed depiction of a woman who wishes she was still in love with her husband and just isn't anymore. making her new relationship ethically questionable was totally uncalled for and disrupts a perfectly nice, mature storyline about adults whose feelings changed!

i would also add:

shandy was brought in as an example of another woman from keeley's same professional background but instead of matching keeley's maturity or being mentored, she was quickly written off as flighty, unreasonable, and dare i say even hysterical

rebecca & the psychic- i'm never a fan when psychics or mediums or whatever show up on a show and make little comments that a level-headed female lead doesn't take seriously because she's a RATIONAL ADULT. the end of this story is obviously telegraphed from the jump - the psychic will be proven right in some meaningful way in the end. it feels uncharitable to rebecca as a woman who doesn't fuck with superstituous bullshit. why are we trying to get one over on her for being smart and rational?

dr. sharon has completely disappeared. i imagine her few pop-in zoom sessions with ted were added in reshoots because i recall jason promising in a small interview that she would appear this season and i suspect it may have been a last minute add in response to the fans who liked her (and sarah niles' 2022 emmy nom). her few scenes are quite divorced from the rest of the plot - whatever she says to ted is never brought up again in other scenes, and it's all strictly therapeutic. i'm bummed, because she had a personality and some obvious baggage surrounding intimacy that was practically begging to be explored. also, this leaves us once again without any women of color in the core cast (see again: shandy being written out quickly), and in a season where trent and colin and new character barbara have all been added or promoted to main cast, that is really disappointing.

the model nate went out with was treated totally unfairly - it wasn't her fault nate chose to take her on a first date to a restaurant he has weird family baggage around, so yeah, if i were her and dealing with such a sappy first date, i'd be trying to get out of there too. presenting her as rude and bored and disengaged enough to fully leave in the middle of the date just served to make nate look pathetic and sad so jade could take pity on him. it's using her as a prop to manipulate his feelings.

which brings me to jade. what does she even see in nate? genuinely, why is she dating him. this isn't a burn on nate; i'm honestly asking why we are supposed to believe in their chemistry. with any tv relationship, you kinda need to convince me they like each other. i said this same thing with sam and rebecca's bizarrely soundless date in season 2. show me why she's into him so i can get behind it!

[clambuoyance]

I know that you are a stalwart TimKon Shipper

But what are your opinions on other Kon ships?

KonCass

KonCassie

SuperMartian

KonBart

I am a firm KonCass Shipper through and through

even if i have my own personal hcs, i mean i don't mind any of these ships

koncass had a couple of cute issues and they very much feel like young teens trying to date kinda clumsily but i liked that they agreed to just be friends at the end of it T-T also given what cass says about how she's looked at and her relationships with other characters i cant really see her with a guy >_> they are definitely cute tho and glad you have a cute ship to enjoy!

i actually think koncassie are sweet to each other in tt03 but it's like very basic and surface level to me (that's just how johns wrote everyone there though so) and within canon, cassie had something of a celebrity crush for him at first, but there's the issue where cassie looks in the mirror and wishes she was beautiful and wishes kon would stop looking at her as if he only sees her as a sister and nothing more and then they kiss and i was like >_> okay i guess (if we had seen more of this romance from kon's pov i might have bought into it more) and later in tt03 johns writes cassie as if it was a flaw to act so boyish in her youth and while there's nothing wrong with characters growing up and changing it just felt cheap or whateverrr like at least write her realizing she doesn't need to be doing this for a man and only for herself. again, theyre okay to me as a ship on its own and are cute and i joke that kon got domesticated and learned to be a decentish boyfriend i guess (altho i think he was always going to be a loyal bf and the persona from his youth was more of an act). i could enjoy them more maybe in cases where they are presented in a way i find more interesting (such as both having similar journeys in exploring gender, making cassie's stories revolve less around kon or boy drama etc) or outside of canon but personally i also cannot see her with a man </3 koncassie really doesn't do it for me </3

supermartian really only exists within the yja show which i havent watched in over a decade so i can't say much except that i remember being obsessed with them in s1 and then i kinda lost interest and never finished s2

konbart is neat too even if i don't talk about them much either, they also have a lot of canon scenes showing their devotion and support to each other, not to mention the humor in all of yj and dynamic esp during the parts surrounding the apokolips-ish era(the guilt and worry kon felt, associating bart for a chick etc etc). they also have a lot in common origin/character wise (very sci-fi/experiment origins, inertia and match, interesting relationships with adult figures and expectations, both dying, being written off as stupid or immature, etc etc) so i can definitely see the appeal and think theyre also cute. honestly for me it probably just came down to preference and the order i read things in bc if i read yj2019 first or didn't tend towards tim drake/annabeth chase/rose lalonde coded characters i might've had a different main dc ship but theyre neat :)

ofc again these are just my personal opinions and hcs i have nothing against the people who like em (except maybe for the writers of some of these comics)

[ruassurvivalkit]

hi hello! glad to see lis tc stans in the wild in 2024.

i have two questions. or three.

1. have you read some side content for lis? like comics and novels? particularly, steph's novel.

i'm asking because personally I feel like steph in BTS and steph in TC are slightly different from each other, which may not be weird, because BTS is set in 2010 and TC is in 2019 and there was 2013 trauma and some rocky relationship with izzie, so it's kinda natural for steph to become slightly different person between 16 and 25.

but I always catch myself that steph isn't really similar to herself in BTS despite both her games being made by Square Enix, so there wouldn't be as much confusion as probably will be between LIS and LIS DE.

2. so yeah I'm asking if you feel the same? and if you read steph's novel, did it make it better for you to see the shift in her character between her younger and older self? because for me it kinda became even more difficult.

but yeah sorry if I'm nagging you too much with these boring questions. here's the funnier one.

3. any headcanons on steph?

thanks in advance for asking any of these, have a nice day!

Hi! Thank you sm for this ask anon, I had a great time reading it and trying to answer it! Please be encouraged to send more as I'm more than happy to answer :)

To answer your question, I haven't read anything else but I've read Steph's Story! I somewhat agree with your opinion. I think Steph is different but she is still *Steph* in a way. What I mean by this is that, not to sound corny, but over the course of life we all have character development and we all change, and I think Square Enix was tryna convey this change thro her in a way?? Her life was rough when you really think about it. She either lost Chloe (which in the DLC for TC, Wavelengths, her relationship with Chloe appears quite close, even if a lot of it is behind the scenes and not in BTS) or lost her entire home town, family and most of her friends bar Mikey (and nearly lost him too due to her habit of running away when things get tough), which is traumatic af, so you can see why she would change sm. It could also be a change from her teens years into her mid adults years, which is like nearly a whole decade so a lot can change and happen over that length of time. As well as that, the events during Steph's Story couldve also had the chance to drastically change her perspective and make her grow into a person a distance away from her teenage self. I think your opinion is honestly fair enough and I could see alot of people thinking the same thing, and it's good to see other sides of things :)

Question: I haven't read anything bar Steph's story which I need to once I get paid next lol, so what would you recommend I should read next?

(Also I love these types of questions I would love love love if you sent more)

As for Steph headcanons! I have a few 🤭🤭🤭

- (chenrich headcanons) Steph absolutely loves Alex's glasses and would steal them off her and try wear them and would find it so adorable that Alex wears glasses

- i feel she would burn CDs for people she loves (platonically or romantically) and especially if they're a music lover. She would take a mental note of any music her loved ones listened to regularly/liked and burn them into a CD for Christmas or birthdays or a random gift

- she would show up unannounced and uninvited to her loved ones houses, even if it gets her told off the majority of the time

I could absolutely yap on all day about her but this is surface level bc I don't wanna bore you all. Let me know if I should elaborate or not 👀👀

[unohanabbygirl]

FMN!Au with Cregan?? He’s such a pretty boy I know JaceBaela have room for him in their new life 🥹🥹. Cregan does like to bring up he technically married Jace first so Baela is actually the other woman (neither for them agree). I just picture them all being so sickeningly wrapped up in eachother omg. And if Jace discovers Cregan later in life?? Oh it’s Luke level plotting to make sure he’s part of his life (Cregan remembers and they’re all gonna have a spring wedding(polygamy is still illegal in Westeros)

Yes, yes to all of this!

But let me just say, thank you for bringing up that polygamy is still illegal in Westeros because even though I feel i’ve implied it due to only Rhaenyra and Daemon being married instead of Nyra, Daemon, Laena and Harwin being openly together in the public eye. It’s one of numerous ways in which Westeros is still behind when it comes to progressiveness and why the fam would be better off in one of the free cities, but I digress.

Jacebaela will always have room for Cregan in their relationship as one of their first real adult loves outside of one another. Though Jace’s kiddy love with Aegon as kids still meant a lot deep down, this is different. Its mature and open without fear. On Jaces’s side of things Cregan started out as the older brother he never had which allowed him to fall back and allow himself to be led rather than doing the leading for once. Learning for the first time as he no longer has to be the teacher. Cregan represents guidance, maturity and discipline. A man who’s strong and commanding with an iron fist yet so sweet when they’re in their own little bubble away from the pressures of steadily brewing war. The man who understood Jace’s loss and allowed him to grieve as he saw fit until stepping in when he could see how Jace was digging himself into an early grave as he searched for a body that had long been lost to the sea.

For Baela things were a bit different. Though at first she did feel a bit out of place seeing as it had always been her and Jace, as she got to know him through letters and secret meetings she slowly began to see what Jace saw. In a way, Cregan became a second partner that she could voice her unfiltered opinions and thoughts to whenever Jace was in too fragile of a state. Cregan was one of few men other than Jace who’s never attempted to change or strip her of her more masculine traits. He loves that she’s opinionated and fierce rather than meek and willing to go along with his plans simply because. Baela has a fire in her that never ceases and Cregan loves it just as much as he loves the way Jace represents the tranquil waves of the ocean.

Their first wedding may have been in secret, but it was no less valid than any other union. And seeing one another again after two thousand years brings all these emotions to the forefront in a minute flat. Its almost too much to handle yet so amazing to experience as all three of them were so sure they’d never reunite. Ugh, their so in love it’s sickening 😭

Wait, would they still take part in their Valyrian traditions just as they did for their first wedding? It would be beautiful but so bittersweet because they no longer have their dragons for the consummation ceremony on dragon back.

Now Luke kinda wants to add a third to his and Aemond’s relationship but only if it’s Rhaena and those two can barely have a civil conversation let alone be in a relationship. Though watching them hate fuck would be great.

[tomyo]

Oshi no Ko and Celebrity (more specifically child celebrity with a large tangent on being a public persona)

So in my seasonal anime catch up, I finally watched Oshi no Ko.

Admittedly I was kinda not expecting something that great after they kill off their best character right away. Ai is left to be this great discovering mystery of who was she really when she wasn't being the perfect idol. I can't say I found it extremely profound but if there's something I do like, it makes clear some aspect of the focus on youth in the idol industry.

So like, there's a little bit of ick at points in the series. We meet our adult main character obsessed and possibly in love with a 16 year old idol. Ai herself is quite off putting being treated with some sense of adulthood despite being a teen mom. I still don't know how I feel about Ai overall, she talks in her last moments about wanting to have her kids join her in the industry that quite literally killed her on the day she became an adult. Initially I didn't think much of that aspect until we start to see more characters get added.

We meet characters like the adultified Arima who's already gone through a career fallout by highschool, Minami who is a gravure model (more or less soft lewd photos) already by her freshman year of high school (therefore pressumably started in middle school), Akane who is partially a victim of evil editing, and Memcho pretending to be a teenager to be in the industry (The 20 year age cut off was up until recently the age of legal adulthood in Japan). We see these unusual circumstances where we are meant to recognize these characters as children in questionable situations.

The small arcs Aqua follows in this first season basically all cover where an adult has failed. Questionable agencies trying to hire Ruby, uncaring directors on a show Arima cares deeply about, Akane being unsupported by the adults when she's a victim on online harassment, and so forth.

Aqua is played off as a character with only one goal in mind, to find out who is his biological father so he can get revenge of Ai's death. He's already been long worn down by the industry possibly from a mix of being a reborn adult, growing up with an idol mother, and then after working is the industry in the background while trying to learn of it to find out how to find his father. In contrast to Ruby's eye spark of naive hope for the industry, his eye tends to be sullen and turn black, particularly when he is manipulating the industry for his results.

However, Aqua tends to have a secret secondary goal that he himself isn't fully conscious of which is to not let someone else fall into the situation Ai found herself in. He will avoid connection while also leading change when something harms the other youth talent around him such as flipping the script to give Arima the performance she wanted for her favourite scene or organizing Akane's redemption PR with her castmates. Side note, plenty of talent industry stories tend to focus on ideas that performers hold beef and rivalry with each other all the time where thus far, Oshi no Ko has made that more of an outlier rather having cast members being extremely supportive of each other's work while the higher up are more so the problem. Even things like the maybe one good adult, Yoriko (the mangaka) still wanting to appreciate the adaptation of her series even if it was a subpar production shows how meaningful these relationships tend to be on a human level. Either way, it is always satisfying to see how Aqua try to foster a healthier industry with his more mature understanding.

So manga spoilers from here on out.

Akane's analysis of Ai was the first moment it occurred to me that Oshi no Ko had anything decent to say about the entertainment industry. Ai always gave off the energy of an unrestrained child which is actually what she turns out to be. She is a product of parental abuse who was scouted at the vulnerable age of 12 and quickly was hailed as a major success in that industry, certainly nothing short due to the fact she puts on an excitable and childish personality. She treats her pregnancy with coy jovialness as being described that she might be too small to naturally birth children. She has to be taught concepts like it's okay to say "I Love You" even if you don't mean it. When I play through her scenes, all I can feel is this weird contradiction of childish naivety mixed with disciplined skill. At home she dresses in this motherly way while acting very ditsy while being fully in control as an idol. She somewhat reminds me of the weathernews idol Saya Hiyama, ironically who is in her own scandal right now. If I were to picture Ai's smile in real life, I would imagine it the same as Saya Hiyama's with the always perfectly v like smile showing off her yaeba teeth. Giving this false sense of vulnerability with the watcher when she makes a mistake when she makes a mistake on the weather is somewhat I see Ai to be like except with a more mischievous air.

For another [long] side tangent, being in a personality industry, its interesting to see how fans fail to recognize a curated persona. Back when I spent more time as a cosplayer, I had learned how to act out a persona not only to be in character but also to attract others to you. Maybe the slight ill feeling this series gives me is the reminder of my own experiences as a teen to early adult delicately balancing a believable relatable image while showing only part of myself. There was some sense of that emptiness I felt like Ai's where there was disconnect between the loving emotions I would portray to reality of how unattached I felt (now I know I have BPD though). My relation to the characters lies somewhere between Ai and Memcho. Ai being more like my younger self where as Memcho hits pretty close with her tomboyish look, the bleached hair with the roots growing in, and the bubbly personality and bone structure that helps you get away with appearing younger. It's been a joke among my friends the last few years that I get mistaken for still being in my early to mid 20's despite nearing 30 in a few months and moreso, as an underweight 20 year old, I had experienced a lot of leering eyes determined to believe I was as young as 14 for bizarre and creepy reasons. Some aspect of that perceived youth gives me haunting memories and frustration of arrested development where I struggle to be treated as an adult while on the other side it is in fact part of my current business. One thing that is less thought about artist alley is that you do in fact make choices weather to buy or not based on the seller as well. It's not too rare to see kawaii artists invoking the same energy their art gives in how the present themselves. It's come to the point where I tend to spend a few hundred on a dye and cut right before a new show as well as there being a select wardrobe I pick from every trip I go on. I have a makeup bag always on the ready of some easy to put on products I rarely use outside of events and often a much more larger amount of hair tools to get something of a proper styling. These are things I wear because I love them but they are also almost exclusively used to match the appearance of my booth. Likewise, there is a semi exaggerated persona put on to create a welcoming air to my customers that is tweaked to match the energy of different types. Over Sakuracon, there was an embarrassing moment where I called out to a tiktoker while still switched into a more boisterous energy from a previous customer that I had yet to switch out off and horribly scared them off. It also tends to be easier to pull of this energy during or right after talking to fellow artists as it helps build up the approachable personality, its like we are all doing warm ups together. When I see people like Saya Hiyama pull off multiple instances of being so embarassed that she trips over her words with a big giggly smile, I truly admire the persona but am a bit shocked how much people have bought into it being fully real. Especially in the internet age, its very interesting to watch the gap between the viewpoint of creators and fans/consumers. While I'm much more of a smaller niche online personality, I do have behind the scenes experience with instragrammers in the 70k-160k range and the various parasocial experiences they have gone through. It's also a space where you get so accustomed to the mentality of an influencer (for lack of a better word) that it's hard to deal with someone not versed in that space; either from people who take internet clout as a vanity hobby or those who are actively seeking online privacy. Ai's double nature of being seen as the genius idol while feeling like a deceiving liar resonates pretty deeply on this front. There is a lot of sacrifice in identity that you give your fans in order to in return earn their respect and by extension business. Like Ai, I try to keep some note of regulars I meet at events but with going to multiple back to back events, it can get hard to keep hold of all that information.

Tumblr told me enough of this tangent so we'll move onto the short manga talk I meant to give.

From reading the wiki, It turns out that the twin's father is another actor who was molested in his childhood and in fact birthed a child at 11 as a result of that rape. Seeing as he is also the big bad, it points to the fact the focus on the story is not just the trauma industry workers go through but more specifically the abuse of power younger workers tend to face. While Aqua at current seeks revenge, I would not be surprised if the end goal is to process the line of trauma that has been dealt through out the show. Even if Aqua is a teenager, his previous life is thus far the oldest in terms of lived experience and possibly even older than Aqua's father at the present. He's had the most lived experience and the most chance to also live outside of entertainment that others have more so grown up in. The twin's father is currently an abuser most likely from the result of his own unprocessed abuse and to allow a new generation to grow up in a better industry than he or Ai did, it starts with stopping the past from repeating. Ultimately I think the best end state for Aqua is likely going to be some form of Manager or talent public relations keeper. The show doesn't necessarily show any sign of something like that but that would be the best route for such things.

Ultimately Japan's idol culture in reality needs to change as well as checking our parasocial expectations of celebrities. It's fair to have some critical views on celebrities in terms of say ethics but it's also important to keep in mind that anything put out in the world has some biased narrative, especially if its any form of production. The reality Ai portrayed as a dedicated idol was a lie, the reality LoveNow showed of Akane being a selfish girl was a lie. Maybe the most important lesson I've learned is not to put stock in anything that revolves around the presentation of a real person. Often I will admire and adore fictional creations but not it's creator for this reason. Those images of people you've never met on a personal level never hold up to the truth and can be hurtful on both ends. People are not myths, they are humans.

[magnoliamyrrh]

also hold up, stupidest house of the dragon fandom moments:

1. uwuing viserys and seemingly forgetting his flaws bc old sad man stood up for his daughter (seemingly forgetting that he was a weak king, he sliced open and murdered his first wife, cousin, and supposed love of his life without her consent in his quest for a male heir, he ignored rhaenyra for years in his quest for a son, he made her heir out of guilt, he didnt teach her how to properly rule, his lack of want for conflict lead in part to the dance, he ignored his other 4 children, he also fell for alysent a literal 14-15 year old child bride and fucked her several times and ignored her and her kids, he got remarried and got her pregnant when he didnt technically need to)

2. uwuing daemon and being shocked at him grabbing rhaenyra by the neck (okay yea i ship them too but im well aware their relationships is absolutely fucked and theyre both war criminals like oh my god none of this is good this is just fun what made you think this man is some sort of goals also this man is literally renound for being fucked in the head and also. hes her uncle)

3. endlessly arguing to such a dramatic level between Adults about team green vs team black w a seeming forgetting that Both Of These Teams Suck ass (both sides wanting to forget the morally fucked aspects of the other side, while also not taking into account that all this is a critique of the medieval and royal system and its a tragedy and thus much arguing about rightful this and that is kinda missing the point)

4. generally looking for things like morality heros and whatnot when the whole point of game of thrones is complex characters which break general writing tropes and are both good and bad in one person and who you both hate and like. also by the end theyll all be war criminals. theres no jon snow here w the morality and even he hung a kid lmao

5. making alicent, a 14-15 year old traumatized child bride into the most evil bitch villan somehow when clearly in the show she is not the older in age manipulator from the books but a Girl Child essentially pimped out by her father to the king who again, is clearly very traumatized

6. endless arguing about how "the show shows what really happaned in the books and youre not allowed to think otherwise" like well okay great but also the ages of several characters are very different from in the books which changes a lot and also. in the books a dragon didnt burst through the floor killing hundreds of smallfolk and threathening all the greens which would have definetely been recorded so,,,,,,, nah man

7. excitement over rhenys girlboss floorboards moment not realizing this is the stupidest most unrealistic thing

[undead-potatoes]

2, 8, 21 from the Tav list!

2. What relationship did your Tav have with their family/guardian(s) growing up? Has that changed with age?

Growing up in a (frankly understaffed) orphanage, he never bonded much with the adults around him, and what little familiar bonds he formed was with the other children. Unfortunately they all scattered to the four winds as they became too old and had to move out, and he only keeps some surface level contact with a few of the kids he grew up with. The only true constant familiar bond he's maintained through his life is his first mentor, Nana. She's the closest he ever got to a stable parental figure, and she wasn't all that stable nor maternal so you know. But she taught him what she knew, cared for him the best she could, and he in return has looked out for her ever since. They don't see each other that often anymore, but he checks in on her a few times a month to see how she's doing, especially as she's getting older and struggling to take proper care of herself.

8. Did your Tav have any romantic and/or sexual relationships prior to their illithid adventure? If yes, who was it with and what was it like? If no, how did they feel about being single?

Most of his relationships have been mostly physical, having had many a casual sexual relationship in the past. Dysphoria be damned, he likes to have a good time, and it's rarely a big problem when his partner is respectful of his boundaries. He thought he had found the love of his life, once when he was quite young, but it ended so messily and affected him so badly he just decided to keep things strictly physical so to speak. Whenever someone gets a little too close he freaks out and breaks up their little agreement, and in a worst case senario he just ghosts them entirely, thought that is a rare occurrence as he tries to keep things friendly at least. You kinda have to when you want to keep hanging out in the same social circles (he might have learned that the hard way when he was younger lmao).

21. How does your Tav feel about love?

He's a bit of a hopeless romantic at heart, to be honest, constantly having to catch himself catching feelings and getting just a little too into someone a little too fast. But as mentioned before he deliberately keeps people at an arms length, thinking it for the best from past experiences. Love is something he's had too little of in his life, and something he so desperately yearns for in between all his fears of it. Not just romantic love, but familiar and platonic love too. In truth he doesn't really know if true, unconditional love exists, or if it's all fairy tales and he was a fool for falling for it once. But when he's finally in a place where he feels genuinely loved, and feels safe to love in return, he's just an absolute sap about it. He tells people he loves them all the time, and it's just as scary and joyful every time. I also think it helps to have people like Gale and Karlach in his life, who are so unabashedly loud and sincere in their love for others that it makes it seem less scary.

From this Tav ask meme (Durge version)

[occult-roommates]

Honestly, might be for the best...

Following the scandalous reveal of Delfina Baradoz, Dawud went to visit Matteo. Like, to him, it changed nothing about his life, except that Daniele was gonna be sad for a couple day. However, well, you know...the universe had another plan. It all started when he made the mistake of bringing up Delfina.

Matteo: Fucking hate her. Ooooh look at me, I suffered cause I'm human. Fuck off, I wish I was human. Dawud: Ok but her parents pretended she was dead cause she's human. Matteo: Exactly, the entire spellcasting world is rotten and corrupted. That is why I hate being one. Dawud: I'll be real with you, Matt, but the fact you seem to always find a way to sneak into the conversation how much you hate being a spellcaster is starting to be really fucking annoying. Matteo: But this time it's relevant to the conversation so you can't really complain. Hell, you're the one who brought it up. Dawud: Ok but like, it's really weird. Matteo: I'm not the only one, this entire society is absolutely awful, but nobody cares. And magic can attack your body, it can turn you blind, give you migraine, it frequently stunts growth which is why spellcasters tend to be shorter. Fuck it all, and fuck that guy who suddenly became a spellcaster and claim he always wanted to be one, like sure bud, you totally did. Dawud: ...Why did you had to bring up uh...Adem I think his name is? Matteo: Because I hate how he's happy with being something I wish I wasn't! Do I have to spell everything out for you??

Well, Dawud was regretting bringing up the subject. Then again, what was he even thinking...

Matteo: Anyway, you cannot understand, you're just a human. And just like most human, you probably don't like occults to a degree. You think I forgot how you handled my cousin's rejection years ago? Dawud: Do not bring that up! I did not mean it. Matteo: Of course, people never mean it...And I bet you're only with me cause you see me as a replacement for Dan. Dawud: That's not true!

Was it though? I mean, Dawud wouldn't admit it. Matteo is fairly different from Daniele. They don't look alike that much and have very distinct personality. They're complete opposite when it come to their magic, at this point no explanation as to why is needed. But like, maybe on a subconscious level it was the case. Maybe Dawud does see Matteo as nothing more than a substitute for Daniele.

In a way, he must admit it was a bit like Charlie. Sure, he wasn't fully in love with him, but as Haddaway once said "what is love"? It's not like he doesn't know how it feels like, he definitely had a thing for Daniele he had never felt for another person before. Sure he could make this work and eventually fall for Matteo. However, it seems like that once again, just like Charlie, it wasn't going to happen. This is gonna sound awful, but for all of his problem in his adult life, at least he's in a relationship you know, so he's not a complete loser.

However, at that point, not only is he sure he doesn't love him, he doesn't think he even like him. The two barely knew each other before they kissed in a bar back in February.

Dawud: Alright then, it's over. Matteo: Wait no, I didn't mean it. Dawud: Of course, people never mean it...

Well, that was once again, an impulse. This time though, it might be better this way. Might as well hit the brick before their relationship actually turns to shit, which it seems like might just be a matter of time if Dawud was only dating Matteo for the sake of dating someone. Even if he wouldn't admit to himself it was because he couldn't get Daniele, the fact is, to some degree it kinda is. So of course this will make stuff go sour one day or another. For the sake of Matteo, might as well call it quit now.

Prev - Next

[f0point5]

okay first: this smau is AMAZING the level of detail and effort you put in is honestly beyond me but thank you so much🧎

now for the thoughts:

i feel like elliot is just super into this woman he doesn’t know super well (probably partially because he doesn’t know her super well and is just assuming the best, maybe partially bc he likes the idea of her??) and she’s not super into him back and he just wants to force it. like i feel that sometimes you have two people who from the get go are just completely vibing and super into each other and elliot seems like that’s what he wants but usually dating is just getting to know people!! and it seems like maybe he’s wanting something a bit less casual/more rushed than yn, which is fine on both ends (slightly sad for him but also like you’re an adult pls act like it) just makes the process of getting to know each other a little unbalanced. whether they will overcome the imbalance only time (and you) will tell

also, i lowkey feel like max actually does not have a master plan? like his strat is just race the best i can w the car i have and the car he has currently is yn as a friend/roommate so he just wants to have the best relationship w her in that way. i think in contrast to elliot, he knows yn inside and out and most likely is aware of her deep seated fear of commitment/(unhappy) marriage and doesn’t feel the need to push her into something she is not ready for. that’s also why i think he’s dating around/on raya bc realistically he prob “knows” (knows in quotes bc it’s his interpretation even though it might not be objectively true) that yn might never be ready for a relationship or to get married and he doesn’t want to put their friendship at risk or do anything to push yn away, even if he does have feelings (which also he might not be super aware of? idk what your thoughts are but i think perhaps max just really really cares for her and is focused on what he does have and not what he could have so he’s not thinking ab whether or not he has romantic feelings for her?)

some ppl also commenting on yn’s social media presence and how elliot has to be seeing that stuff and yeah sure but i mean if she thinks it’s like a casual dating thing then it’s nbd if she posts what she posts, it’s not like they’re married/bf gf or even hooking up they’re literally just getting to know each other. i also think prob max meeting elliot is a big deal but also kinda normal?? like obviously as the audience we know it will most likely be a shit show but it also from her perspective it seems like not a massive deal judging from what we’ve seen of her. like if she were to change her entire race weekend to babysit elliot and make the weekend about him then yeah maybe that’s a huge deal but she has already shown she’s unwilling to change hotels so she prob views it as her having a normal weekend w an added person and doesn’t plan on making any huge moves to cater to elliot. i also think it’s less of a big deal bc of how much money he has and just a completely different lifestyle so it’s not as huge of an undertaking. idk though!! you are of course the mastermind so i might be wayyy off (also sorry i just realized how long this was oml)

I think you described it so well about Y/N and Elliot. I know it looks one sided because we see so much of her life and how Elliot is on the fringes but we do only see half the story. And really, this is so normal when you’re seeing someone, being in different places or catching feelings at different rates. Sometimes you get on the same path and sometimes you don’t. No harm no foul. Y/N doesn’t really have the experience of instant click. She doesn’t really date long term, she hasn’t dated at all in nearly 2 years. And even then, she clearly hasn’t had that instant connection, nor is she necessarily looking for it. She’s not writing Elliot off but she definitely hasn’t been swept off her feet. And some people never are. Doesn’t mean the relationship isn’t valid.

I mean…Max isn’t really a master plan sort of guy. He can have a plan but I feel like he’s not a mastermind lol. I also feel like I’m this case Max knows what he wants, or he has this vague idea of what his blue sky scenario looks like, but for a variety of reasons he’s not necessarily moving towards it.

I can’t say too much about what Austin will bring…

Re the social media, I agree. They’re not a whole married couple, and even if they were, I feel like Y/N is just continuing to live her life the way she always has, Elliot or no Elliot, which is what she would do at any stage of their relationship. I don’t think whether Elliot sees the things she posts is of concern to her. Other people’s posts…different story