#but its not as if she cant completely disregard it

[monards]

not taking away how horrific her actions, and she herself is; but like. if the cataclysm traumatized and ruined most the archons mentally. what the HELL happened to her?? She was literally just. Some guy. Obviously there's a good chance she didn't have a good up bringing considering,, everything,, but she would've been perfectly human, and she definetly did not have the mental fortitude to coep with waking up one day to her nation destroyed by the highest authority humanity knows, and her to blame?? thatd mess me up so bad and i cant even imagine how bad it'd be for rhine when immediately after two of her sons (who she obviously considered perfect in some way) got slaughtered ?? I never see enough people (off of tumblr, at least) acknowledge her just being genuinely traumatized,, like i get the stance on her being horrible and completely apathetic because of how she was described by albedo-- but like, no shit she was horrible to Albedo; do you think the lady who watched her nation and creations get obliterated would be eager to create explicitly familiar ties with another creation she KNOWS will probably have the same fate? Like absolutely, yes she can be cold and apathetic and all that, just as albedo described her; but when does that EVER mean she's nothing but that??

i think its soooo important to incorporate the fact rhine is human aand still so obviously has humanity in her when you characterize her

[sea-buns]

Holy fuck, man. What a trip Fearne has been on, huh?

You tell her how grateful you are to have her in your life, you flatter her, you tell her you need her, that you have to do this together. You have her make a promise that has this woman, born of chaos and fey, agreeing through shaking hands and a trembling voice.

You make her deceive your friends; you make her follow where they cannot know; you make her help you into this contraption; you make her feed this thing into you despite the fact that you both have been warned extensively of the risks. You make her watch you crumble and splinter and shatter and fracture and burst and implode. You make her watch you die, over and over and over and over, for a minute in agonizing bullet time.

You make her do all these things, because when she tries to back out, when she tries to not be the one who let you do this—how could you do this—

you tell her, "YOU PROMISED."

Because if there's one thing you know, it's that the fey do not break a promise.

[mxdotpng]

i genuinely dont know how tales of the abyss did what it did because ive never had a game hurt me so much with like sixteen separate character relationships. all at once.

[29121996]

.

[hecksupremechips]

Rebecca gales has bpd she told me herself

[whisp3roftheheart]

you know what bugs me? I am not that interesting yet I have people pursuing me when I don't want anyone to!! Leave me alone!! Please! I am not that interesting I am so boring! My two favorite things are theology and the muppets/puppetry I promise I'm not very fascinating.

[crushedsweets]

Do they do any killing or no

SORTA! some do, some don't, some did completely out of their own control, etc.

in short: Clocky, Toby, Tim, Brian, Kate, Jeff, BEN, Jack, Dina, Lazari and Ann have killed people. Nina, Liu, Jane, Lulu, and Sally have never killed anyone.

so the biggest thing in my AU is that The Operator will infect people, making them incredibly violent+almost zombie-like to spread his own disease, because the further his sickness spreads, the farther he can go from the forest.

So, characters like Clockwork, Toby, Tim, Brian, Kate, and Jeff were all once infected by The Operator. They have all killed several people. When Slenderman got ahold of them (thus making their bodies/minds impermeable to The Operator), they no longer had this insane bloodlust. Clockwork entirely denounced murder and violence from her life. Tim and Brian do everything they can to keep their hands clean, but they have had to kill some people since they were 'saved' by Slenderman.

However, Jeff, Toby, and Kate still remained pretty violent. Jeff's bloodlust remained, Toby's desire for power/to appease Slenderman remained, Kate's disregard for human life remained. Jeff would do huge violent displays out of pure sadism. Toby's quick to be like "We could just kill them" when the proxies are dealing with a troubling person. Kate kills out of paranoia (if i get them, they cant get me) and because she thinks its easier to kill someone than do the stuff Tim and Brian do.

Jack killed people when he was first sacrificed, but he takes victims from others + has a job as a human remains disposer on the dark web (courtesy of BEN.) He does not like to hurt people

Ann used to own a dark web redroom livechat stream. She would torture and kill men on camera for donos. After dying in the forest, she doesnt kill

When BEN was first a ghost, he was a really angry spirit and would drive people to suicide all the time. after connecting with everyone, he slowly went to like... awful cyberbullying/stalking, then basic trolling, and now he doesnt really kill/hurt people. hes just a dick online

Dina tried to kill Lazari when she was still human, but failed. She's killed a couple hikers after becoming a zalgoid, which is why she's such an issue for the proxies - brings too much attention to the forest

Lazari killed Dina. she also killed hikers, but it was in desperate hungry frenzies. she doesn't kill after jack took her in

the rest have never killed and have no reason to! however, nina has disposed of jeffs victims

[tls12lessthan3]

So. orvs metatextual nature and gay jokes. orv is an action fantasy book, a genre designed primarily for men and starring men. now most of these books are not gay, but there is often a tendency by audiences (particularly female audiences) to see some level of romantic tension between male characters. orv is no exception to this. some authors respond with outright hostility when they see fans shipping their male characters, and some simply ignore it completely - but some go the route sing shong does, and play it for laughs. before i go any further, i would like to clarify a term i will be using - shippers. while this literally refers to readers who think there is romantic potential between two characters, i will be using to specifically refer to instances where those two characters are of the same gender. im doing this because i cant think of a more elegant word to be completely honest, and this is tumblr meta so who cares.

orv is a metatexual narrative which is aware of its genre and aware of its readers. those readers are represented in the narrative, and sing shong knowing that fans would see a possible relationship between kim dokja and yoo joonghyuk made sure to represent that too. so we get uriel, the fujoshi angel who is constantly reading into kim dokjas and yoo joonghyuks relationship in a way that is often played for laughs. now ive certainly seen worse depictions of ‘shippers’. uriel is treated with affection by the main characters, who genuinely like her (and the fans she represents by association). her love for joongdok is implied to come from her having a crush on her friend and projecting, which i see as a kinder depiction than the usual ‘slavering fujo’ trope. 

and perhaps most importantly her engagement with the story seen as just as deep as any other reader if not more so! uriel is one of the characters we see most changed by kim dokjas story - in every other universe shes a fierce and furious warrior, and while she never hesitates to kick ass in this round either, kim dokjas story has given her a solace that has made her significantly softer. she helps him out sooner than any other constellation, saving his ass in many ways during the demon world arc, demonstrating a deep investment we are clearly meant to be grateful for. wherever it comes from, uriels engagement with kim dokja’s story is shown to be a genuine and deep one appreciated by the characters. through this sing shong is almost directly speaking to the shippers in the fanbase who are often mocked or disregarded, saying that their love for the story is important too, wherever it comes from. i see this as sweet, and i like that unlike so many other authors sing shong recognise the role shippers often have in a story’s success.

however, i hesitate to give sing shong too much credit. because along with the genuine appreciation of uriel as a character and all she represents, there are jokes mocking her and those like her, and there are a lot of them! like i said above, sing shong wrote orv as a metatextual narrative that engages not just with the genre but with the genre’s fans. sing shong knew that people would ship their characters, as that is what happens with books like orv. and so they wrote in many jokes about it, jokes based around the ‘silliness’ of those who would assume kim dokja and yoo joonghyuk have romantic feelings for each other. and given orv’s metatexual nature, this also mocks the nature of shipping itself. when someone assumes kim dokja and yoo joonghyuk are together and they react with disgust, as frequently occurs in the earlier parts of the novel, we are meant to laugh not just at the misunderstanding - really, these guys gay, how silly. but we are also meant to laugh at the idea that these Protagonists are homosexuals, and at the people who make those assumptions. its a simultaneous acknowledgement and mocking of the queer undertones of both this story and it’s genre.

so you get this overall impression of a narrative that ultimately loves all of it’s readers, including shippers, but also isn’t afraid to say it thinks all that gay stuff is kinda silly. and while ebook edits have largely removed many of these gay jokes, an undercurrent of this still remains. from what i know this largely reflects sing shongs actual opinions at time of writing, whether or not they have changed later on. 

dont get me wrong, i love orv, i love joongdok, i love their relationship and i do read it as romantic. i too read the scene where lee gilyoung insists kim dokja is into men and kim dokja responds aghast and gone ‘haha, gay’. as a queer person in the webnovel scene i am no stranger to taking homophobic moments like that and reclaiming them, making the characters queer and pretending the author is laughing with me and not at me. im not trying to preach to anyone here. but i also think its important to acknowledge the conversation orv is having here - its valuing of shippers and its mocking of queerness, and where they overlap.

[emmitaaa4]

Hey so i just think its funny how every elriel i've talked to has said they'd read elain's story no matter what: we're pretty fking sure she'll end up with shadow man, but if sjm decides to give her fire man instead we'll indulge it and see if she can convince us.

The funny part is that in all my years I've literally almost never seen people on the other side reciprocate that sentiment. People feel very strongly against elriel, and theres nothing wrong with that! but it makes you think.

musings below the cut

For gwynriels primarly invested in Gwyn's story--makes sense. I get it. I personally wouldnt jump on a gwynriel book should it ever exist: in fact if the next book isn't elain's im abandoning the series.

not bc i dont care about Az, but bc: A) i wouldnt care about him if it turns out he is a flaky guy who thinks of elain as a sexual object he is entitled to, B) a gwynriel book being next completely disregards the narrative importance of elain's choice & story which makes it C) extremely poor writing in an already mediocre series. oh and D) gwynriel's "storyline" (where) is so boring to me.

For gwynriels primarly invested in Az's story...perso i dont see why they wouldn't give it a shot, but fine.

Eluciens? Most of them seem to believe that the only way we'd ever get lucien's story is through elain, that elriel implies an eternity of heartbreak for him, and that sjm loves him too much to not let him have his mate... again, perfectly fine.

(but then they call fellow lucien enjoyers like myself stupid for thinking he is too important not to have a PoV and would have his story told in his own book. sigh.) also sidenote but WHO knew yrene would have a book until it happened, huh? and now u have vassa given more narrative importance than any side character AND connected to every retelling sjm wants to write... but no we dont know her enough for her to have a PoV. the irony.

In this equation I'm just wondering... Where are all the folks primarily invested in Elain's story?

whereee?? i know you exist but theres so few of you.

where.

im aware im making generalizations. they're based in my years quietly observing the fandom on all sides and withstanding a shit ton of "elriel is a lesser love cause mates mean everything" and "baby lulu deserves his HEA that can only come with elain" and "eplain has to be evil she cant be with Az shes too weak & boring".

[randomwriteronline]

I wonder if the toa mata recognized themselves in their own memories from before mata nui.

I dont know, i think theres possibilities to be explored about that. Suddenly remembering yourself and what you find being a complete stranger is a common thing for amnesia plots i guess but also i think this could be even more jarring. Like a more genuine difference between killing machine and living being.

Its less a matter of nature vs nurture and more a matter of nature with a certain type of nurture. Nature dictates they are powerful and driven and well meaning, but the way they are brought up produces completely different people.

Their first taste of life was a sterile room with nobody but each other and a disembodied voice reading out their duties, establishing an arbitrary hierarchy within them, and then sending them to a glorified bootcamp where a ruthless instructor worked on making them into skilled combatants and nothing else, teaching them how to use their elements as tools and weapons without indulging in them; they got a vague sense of what and how a community feels like with the Av-Matoran - as outsiders, as its protective shield, there for them but not with them - only to get that stripped away from them too because their role as life saving tools to be preserved under glass just in case of a crisis was more important.

I wonder if the Toa Mata, the ones who were taken to the Koro of Mata Nui and listened to the Turaga's tales and reprimands and would have moved mountains for the Matoran who treated them like older siblings, return with their minds to things they said or thought or did from before the Island of Mata Nui and stop in their tracks. Whose memory is that, they think? That can't be mine. I am not like that. My siblings are not like that. Some things are perfectly right, they cant deny that; but just as many if not more are so wrong that they almost feel like a really cruel joke somebody planted into their heads.

Kopaka and Tahu got along, even if they dont want to admit it because they need to bicker like children or theyll die, but are more surprised that they werent as tentatively close with anybody else. Lewa remembers so much frustration and tedium and anger that if he stalls in his memories too much he genuinely starts feeling queasy, Pohatu has remnants of bitterness and passive aggression that still cling to him like the smell of a cigarette on someone who gave up smoking, and they both hate that because its nothing like them. Onua and Gali feel like theyre peering into some kind of imperfect clone's brain when they try to remember - its themselves, they know that, it has to be, but there are certain things they know about themelves that are just completely missing and its kind of dizzying to realize that.

Im not even sure they liked each other. They work together because its their destiny, but they don't seem to seek each other out for fun or anything else. In their training days they had to be shoved in each others direction or they would have never solved their obligatory group assignments.

I wonder if their terrors and flaws could partially come from this first life that they had too. Gali's fear of her anger and Lewa's disregard for duty stemming from Hydraxon's methods - she internalized his reprimands about feeling guilt for living enemies, but without any memory of him she believes the words resurfacing in her mind from time to time are her own, and is appalled by their cruelty; he was forbidden from enjoying himself, from indulging in any form of fun, of entertainment, of joy, and unconsciously now he rebels by shirking away from responsability to do whatever he wants.

The responses to Tahu's decision regarding the codrex haunt him, the whole situation, really; how he stripped his siblings of any say on their fate because he was the leader, not even telling them or explaining himself until they had no other choice, and if he could treat them like that once then what would stop him from doing so again and again until he doesnt even think about it? Kopaka is uneasy about it too. He knew the plan and supported Tahu only because he tagged along, but hes very, very acutely aware that he would have been left just as much in the dark as everybody else otherwise, and he would gave not even had anybody to seek any comfort from because hes fairly certain none of the others would have liked him enough to care.

Onua as @cantankerouscanuck pointed out to me mightve taken Hydraxon's teachings to heart, hence why he's so quiet: no use in expressing weakness, right? But karda nui must have been hellish on his senses, with all that light - a tangible physical discomfort that would bleed out into an emotional one as he becomes conscious of how none of his siblings go through this, thus he must be damaged in some way, faulty, out of place, and so he seeks to be alone, digging himself away. And its not hard to imagine how Pohatu (who hasnt had the chance to grow into the affable, kind toa his siblings can always lean on when they need to yet) would become convinced of his uselessness within the team and seethe about it.

They arrive on Mata Nui as broken war machines with no clue who they even are and suddenly find nature and community and love, and in a moment theyre people.

I wonder if the environment helped. Being thrown upon a beach in the open air with nothing but a whole world that is so alien and yet feels so right beckoning them to come closer. Discovering their powers and their domains freely, immediately - first thing they did was dive into their respective elements without a second thought, naturally magnetized, taking after them like it was the simplest thing in the world, because they are the first toa, the first beings capable of harnessing these powers in their whole universe, and its in their nature to be so connected to them. Maybe it helped. Maybe it made them feel connected to their own selves enough to figure themselves out in a way they couldnt have done so before.

Maybe it helped to find out their collective destiny each on their own, in their own environment, at their own pace, surrounded by younger siblings who look at them with awe and curiosity and frustration sometimes, guided by people who know how being alive works with all its good parts and messy bits and who can tell what having so much power means when youre barely aware of how to use it or what to do. And maybe it helped to find out who their siblings were in a similar way, introducing themselves as they wanted, as they felt like, without a specific order, and learning to recognize each other as siblings with all the things that make them insufferable and all the things that make them the best and what makes them happy and what makes them angry and how they sound when theyre worried and how likely they are to chase you down to the other edge of the island for doing something stupid, and like real people they grow and develop and change and stay the same, and then they meet the memory of themselves from before becoming people and its...

Idk. Its like the realization of who they used to be and the distance between themselves and those selves, and the fact that they dont like them.

[patheticallyinfatuatedwithu]

'5'*5"$5!5:5$!?$(?"!!'!!! (i love the minji fic u did !!!!! hoping to request more if its okay) (newjeans kisses & making out hcs on how would they react pls) - sc

hi sc anon! i'm glad u liked it, i felt like i kinda fucked up with the writing so i wasn't sure😭 a friendly reminder to everyone reading that this is a headcanon so if for some reason this offends you, please kindly and quietly leave🫶 i wasnt sure whether to write for hyein because this is yk😭 yall will have to excuse me for this one😭

minji

- you were both in the library, trying to study for the upcoming exam when you just can't seem to understand the question

- you turn to look at minji who sat opposite to you and oh.my.god.

- she looks so pretty doing her work that you were sure it's illegal, eyebrows furrowed, lips in a small almost unnoticeable pout, god you wanted to steal a kiss

- so you did, leaning over the table and placing your lips on top of her for a few seconds before moving away

- she blushed at the sudden display of affection, brushing it of with a blush, "go back to your work." but she likes it nonetheless

- however, the little peck wasn't enough as you stood up and walked behind her chair, turning it around to face you before leaning for another kiss

- and as much as she wants to go back to her work, she just cant resist you as much as you can't resist her as well

- the little study session turned into a making out session in the most secluded place in the library where nobody can see, her hands grasping the collar of your shirt

- when you pull away, you're both a mess, lips slightly swollen, cheeks flushed and chests rising and falling

- "well that was productive, wasn't it?" you'd be all smug later while she's trying to hold back her attack on you

hanni

- you've seen those "stealing a kiss from my boyfriend and look for his reaction" videos on tiktok, wanting to try it on your own girlfriend

- so you did, turning away from the horror movie she struggled to watch and stealing a kiss

- she looks at you with an annoyed face (which you knew was fake) and arms crossed, "way too chicken to really kiss me?"

- so you pull her to your lips, crashing against each other as she makes a noise of surprise, melting after shock dissipated

- she's grabbing onto your forearm for dear life, her knees felt weak and collapsed under her as you kiss her with such passion (and kinda rough)

- the kiss was lowkey bruising and hanni looks like she's run a whole marathon with the way she looked

- "cat got your tongue?" she manages to mumble a "shut up", completely flustered

- the whole movie was disregarded, and you turned on a new movie that's not a horror movie

- "here you go, sweets"

danielle

- she came to you and asked for a kiss, and who could say no to her?

- so you nodded, pulling her in for one. the kiss was soft and gentle, and you were afraid to hurt her as if she were glass

- she was smiling in the kiss, and you felt her too, which caused the same reaction for you too

- you pulled away when air was needed, jewelled eyes meeting yours that shined with adoration for her

- "how did i manage to get so lucky when i didn't even do anything lucky-like?" she pinched your cheeks and then pecked it, "you being born is already a 'lucky-like'."

- you flushed, hiding your face in her neck. "i love you." "i love you too. so much."

- and you kissed her again🥹 what a great valentines for you

haerin

- you didnt really think haerin was physical touch person, because all she did throughout the 3 months you've dated was cling onto your arm. im not even kidding

- you were always the one who initiated physical touch, but definitely not to an extent where she hates it. only backhugs and cheek kisses was done, and shes more than alright with it

- so it shocked you when she asked for a kiss

- "really?" she looked away, "it's okay if you don't want to-" but you've cut her off with a long-awaited kiss

- she kissed her almost immediately, arms around your neck while yours was around her waist

- she was all giddy and a whole zoo circus was in her stomach, pulling away for air then coming back for more

- when the two of you pulled away, you felt haerin about to close in on you again, chuckling in amusement as she tilts her head in a questioning manner "what's wrong?"

- "you were about to kiss me again." "oh." you smiled, "do you really like to kiss me that much?" she nodded, a smile gracing her lips, "yes."

broken records hi i just came back from my friend's house and turns out fedex needed my appearance for the delivery 😀

[roseworth]

You are both an Arrowfamily and Jason Todd fan account so I thought you would be the best person to ask this but: What do you think the Arrowfamily members opinion on Jason are?

ooooh i love this question.. i think a lot of people jump straight to "they would hate him" because of his fight with mia but!!! i don't think thats entirely true!!!!! some of them would hate him but not all of them </3 i feel like the people that claim they would all hate him have a fundamental misunderstanding of the arrows and what they stand for, not to mention deliberately misconstruing what the the jason & mia fight actually was and pretending it was a lot worse than what actually happened. but thats just my opinion

ollie absolutely would hate him though lmao. he would never get over the fact that jason kidnapped, fought, & tried to blow up his daughter. no forgiveness ever. if jason HADNT fought mia though i think ollie would like him or at the very least tolerate him. ollie very clearly has no issue with murdering bad guys (as seen in ga88) and would be completely on board with anyone who goes out of his way to fuck with batman constantly <3 also in my humble opinion ollie shouldve been a cosmic mistake in countdown due to him coming back to life because parallax put him back together, which would have been hilarious and would absolutely have ended in them getting along (until jason goes through like his fifth breakdown in that book, because he would absolutely lash out at ollie after watching that one version of bruce die. but thats a whole separate tangent)

dinah also would hate him for trying to kill mia, but probably not as intensely as ollie. but even without that issue i dont think dinah would like him, mostly because hes the worst and i dont think dinah would have the patience to put up with him. she wouldnt have a huge problem with the killing (she wouldnt NOT have a problem with it but i really dont think it would be an unforgivable issue for her), but she would just think hes kind of an asshole about it and she wouldnt like him at all. i also think theres a panel somewhere where jason says that dinah told him she hates him personally?? idk ive only seen screenshots of it but i think its funny so im incorporating it into my belief system

with roy... i feel like there are so many people that see rhato and swing to the opposite side of the pendulum and say that roy would hate jason but i dont think thats true at all. im a rhato hater because that is Not Roy so we're disregarding that, but i still think they would get along tbh! given that roy is deeply in love with a serial killer i think that the people who say he would hate jason are misunderstanding who roy is. i think when theyre both in character they actually have personalities that would mesh well together and they COULD get along really well. i dont see roy having a Big Problem with jason killing people (he would try to stop him from doing it but murder wouldnt be a dealbreaker for roy) so i think its fair to say they would actually get along!!! but i bitch and complain every time they show up in the same panel because now the damage has been done from rhato so i dont want them to interact in canon. only in the secret world in my head. in regards to jason fighting mia, i dont know how to say it but,,, i dont think roy would have a huge issue with it. he certainly wouldnt be happy about it but also he wasnt there so i feel like all he would know about it was that jason kidnapped mia one time but mia was fine. honestly i think that he would be more interested in brothers in blood bc dick would def mention that jason murdered people in a nightwing costume then turned into a tentacle monster and tried to eat someone but dick forgave him anyway. and once he hears that suddenly the mia thing seems inconsequential in comparison

with connor... i cant lie im a little biased because connor is a member of my dream outlaws team but i really think they would at least kind of get along! connor is not the type of person to hold a grudge at all so once mia forgives him (which ill get into in a sec) connor wouldnt have a problem with him. he WOULD have a problem with jason killing people but he's close with eddie so clearly he doesnt have that much of an issue with working with people who have killed before as long as they dont kill in front of him. and i think that jason has a healthy respect for anyone who can beat him in a fight and because of that he would not kill anyone when hes around connor. i also think that connor and jason would never fight because connor would never throw the first punch and jason would never start a fight that he knows he cant win (but thats once again a whole separate tangent). basically i dont think they'd be besties or anything, i dont think theres a world where they'd ever even consider themselves friends. but i do think they'd get along well enough to not hate each other

okay now finally mia. kind of a controversial take but i really think she'd forgive him for kidnapping her! she absolutely would not forgive him IMMEDIATELY because it fucked her up so she would be pissed about it for a while, but also? i think she completely understood what he was trying to do. he wasnt really hurting her specifically (like yeah he hurt her but he made it a fair fight and he wasnt beating down on her or anything. she also hit him so it evens out) and he was actually trying to talk TO her and relate to her. and it was working!!! he didnt force her to do anything except fight (in a fight where he untied her and gave her her weapons), so once she got some distance from the event i think she'd forgive him. it would take a while for her to actually forgive him enough for them to actually get along, but i genuinely think they would. theyre extremely similar people and i think they would really be good friends if given the chance, but it would take a looooong time for mia to be comfortable enough to be around him enough to consider him a friend since the fight definitely fucked her up. but it is possible for them to eventually be close, and i think they could be really good friends

honorable mentions: - i dont know emiko well enough to know for sure (i havent read new52 or rebirth green arrow so i havent read much with her </3) but from what i know i think they would get along - lian would have no opinion of him whatsoever. at most she sees him as her uncle's brother. i truly dont think she'd care enough about him to form a positive or negative opinion about him - i dont like sienna so i dont want to acknowledge her but for the sake of the post. she doesnt like jason because dinah doesnt like jason and she says "i hate everyone that black canary hates <3" - cissie is not a member of the arrowfamily but she wouldnt like him because she absolutely would have an issue with any murderous vigilante given that she almost killed someone one time and had a huge breakdown, so anyone that kills people for the Greater Good and continues to do so would not sit right with her - i have absolutely no basis for this but shado would hate him for no reason. no specific beef with him about his morals or his actions, she just wouldnt like his vibes. sorry to talk about rose (no im not) but she would see rose hanging out with jason and go "im so happy for you and your ugly fucking boyfriend im serious" - eddie and jason would get along like a housefire. there is not a doubt in my mind that they would bond instantly (ok not instantly because they both hate everyone and would probably start with trying fight each other. THEN they would bond) and it would be catastrophic for everyone involved 🫶

ok i think thats everyone. or at least everyone that matters. never forget that all my opinions are 100% correct at all times

[chaifootsteps]

"stella is evil because straight people cant accept when a gay person isnt attracted to them" is arguably the one worst take ive seen a diehard fan spew about this show.

a complete disregard for the way stella feels and acts on screen:

- hates stolas for sleeping with an imp. not for sleeping with another man. doesnt mention once that stolas slept with another man.

- was never attracted to stolas at all. hates him. has always hated him. loves to "torment" him. forced to be apart of an art marriage just as much as he was and obviously didnt want this.

when you cant look at the subtext and dialogue to come up with a motivation for a villian that makes sense, then youre not watching the show at all. youre just projecting homophobia onto a villian so you can justify completely hating them, because fans understand that this show desperately wants us to hate stella; regardless of small possibilities of sympathetic aspects to her.

like i could see them emphasizing her being a bigot to imps, just, not to gay people. her being a homophobe NOW wouldnt be believable since they not only missed that chance, and were at mid to late season 2 in a 4 season long show.

but overall, her motivations for evil are really flimsy and dont make a lot of sense either. (she wants stolases things? why? just to have things? because she loves being rich and being smug towards him? and why does she want stolas dead if she never actually cared about him cheating? just to have his things? why did she say "i want this cheating prick dead" if she didnt actually care about him cheating like stolas said?)

jack horner was fueled by spite that came from a simple but sympathetic place, and it didnt justify his evil. stella being envious of stolas could be a great reason for her to be evil, because he does have more then her. he has powers, an all powerful family artifact that can take him to the human world; he has purpose. stellas purpose is for an egg to be shot outta her hole! that hypothetical motivation wouldn't justify her trying to kill stolas, but itd make a lot more sense.

morally bad character can have sympathetic reasons for being bad, without it taking away from them being a bad person, or the bad things they did, or make them deserving of a redemption arc. i think thats something that viv, adam, and her diehard fans dont understand at all.

and if youre not gonna make her sympathetic, then goddamn, at least make her fun to watch. she consistently hasnt been and its like the show is actively trying to make her less likable and more stupid whenever she shows up, and i dont get why.

Frankly, that person's twitter feed is one of the most delusional things I've ever seen; at one point they say they hate "swearing without nuance."

This is all good stuff, however, especially "at least make her fun to watch," because that's key right there. Villains don't always have to be nuanced, but they at least have to be entertaining.

[yuukei-yikes]

continuing on that...... haruka/konoba identity crisis angst

im not sure continuing on what but YEAHHHHH WOOOO rather than an identity crisis though.......

i think haruka tries to honor konoha as much as he can by enjoying his life, bc konoha isnt Gone it just took its intended back seat so haruka doesn't wanna bore it or act like konoha doesn't deserve to drive just bc it's a snake. it's just how things are. haruka is the owner of the body. konoha happened to be in there while haruka wasnt, and accidentally gained a mind of its own... so when haruka's really going through it, he cant help wondering what makes one or the other deserve the driver's seat more.

is it time? haruka was born in that body and wore it for 17 years before konoha took it for only 2, so in that aspect haruka wins. is it the amount of people who love them? haruka has maybe 5 (quartet, kenjirou(dead) and his father, if it counts) while konoha has... well, the entire dan. so konoha wins there. so... is it, which one is human? but how's that fair? konoha has proven to have a mind of its own. i mean, it made a wish that clearing was forced to grant (hiyori surviving), what more proof do u need to know konoha is person enough? haruka wonders abt this, i think.

but does it even make sense to wonder about deserving? sometimes it just is what it is. the one who got to keep the driver's seat was pure chance, luck, logic, whatever. it was haruka's wish, everyone got a wish and haruka's was to get his body back, while konoha chose to let hiyori live. everyone made their choices, and this is how things are.

what i like about haruka post str is that He is the face of str, and He represents growing up. i think haruka is the one most at peace with what happened to him, mostly being burdened by the guilt he feels from being thankful for the tragedy, since it allowed him to live. he got something out of it. but i dont think haruka's the kind to dwell on the past, just by the way his personality is entirely but also konoha particularly is a reason why.

like i said haruka doesnt wanna bore konoha. i do love how haruka calls konoha the other me. i think if haruka is upset for too long, feeling guilty for konoha being gone or for feeling thankful for the tragedy bc it allowed him to live, something within him shakes him right out of it like hey... ill cheer up if i go get something reaaaaal yummy to eat. like there's The Horrors. but there's also all the good things in life, and what more does haruka want than life?

what we get from haruka's pov tells us he's realistic, even leaning towards being a total pessimist. haruka is completely cynical towards any kind of comfort towards the end, product of living a life where he clung to hope desperately, be it in the form of friendship or religion, and a father who constantly disregarded the despair and sadness of the situation. because of it haruka is left to cope with himself like... hey it happens to everyone. im just hitting the sack a little earlier than most. that's ok.

that's... optimistic? not really. optimistic is shintaro, who tells him you'll be okay, you have to be. and at that point haruka's driven to complete despair where he is completely certain that there is nothing after death. and he... gets worse than nothing! he gets thrown in the daze!!!!

haruka goes through his worst nightmare already, so... what's left post str??? he already lived through the worst, he already cried and begged and accepted it and went back to begging against it... "it" is death.

so would he be fighting mind demons like shintaro and ayano? he's gonna be freaking out in his own skin like takane?? not really. he's just breathing fresh air because he made it out of hell. and i know so did ayano, but the thing with ayano is that she does everything to herself. while haruka... doesn't? so when he makes it out, it's just. summertime record. a peaceful day under the light blue sky.

i got a little side tracked bc i love haruka's air of maturity post str. he really seems like the one character that's listening to music while everyone else wreaks havoc behind him. so when we bring up konoha i think haruka looks at it through this lense. haruka's like i know konoha is with me, it's a part of me, it's me. and what konoha would reaaaaaally want right now... is eat some grilled chicken skewers!!!!!!!!!

[alicentsgf]

I want to like Rhaenicent but I feel like Alicent protects Rhaenyra and cares for her way more than Rhaenyra does for her. Adult Rhaenicent seems rather one sided to me ngl. One way Rhaenyra betrayed Alicent was by marrying Daemon, a man who absolutely despises the Hightowers and who wouldn’t hesitate to slaughter Alicent’s children. Does Rhaenyra really not realize how ruthless Daemon is? Daemon is arguably the biggest threat to the Green kids who are Rhaenyra’s own siblings. It just kills me that Alicent stood up to her abuser for Rhaenyra’s life in 1x09 and Rhaenyra has never done anything of that severity for Alicent. And Rhaenyra will likely never know how much Alicent fought to save her. Idk, I just feel like Alicent deserves someone who will love her completely. I can’t see Rhaenyra being that person with the way she’s disregarded Alicent’s worries and feelings.

I'm going to be totally honest and I say this with love... a lot of it becomes easily justifiable for me when i acknowledge that Rhaenyra is just a bit dense. like shes always been sheltered and naive, to the point of genuine stupidity sometimes. she isnt inherently so but her father stomped all over her developing any kind of critical mind early on and she did nothing to overcome that mistake. she became far too comfortable with Viserys waving his crown and magic-ing her problems away and its just a fact shes never managed to see things from alicents perspective... but that doesnt mean alicent isnt as equally important to her as she is to alicent. please bear with me because i promise i will explain this fully.

but first of all, to answer your question 'does rhaenyra not realise how ruthless daemon is?' I mean, giving her the benefit of the doubt ...maybe not? shes pretty much always always seen the best side of daemon. with viserys. with her. with their children. what does she know of daemons genuine ruthlessness? we cant say for sure. once again, giving her the full benefit of the doubt, we dont even know if rhaenyras aware that daemon murdered rhea. like daemons not exactly gonna bring it up and who else would dare suggest that to her of all people? sure shes seen him fight at tourneys she knows hes capable of killing but thats a controlled enviroment where its expected. and she clearly feels safe enough with him personally otherwise she wouldnt have laughed in his face after her grabbed her neck.

its going to be very interesting to see what they do with B&C for this reason. because if rhaenyra isnt involved, at least in the Details... will she be shocked by what daemon is capable of? depends on what version of rhaenyra we get post-luke i suppose. but i dont know if i believe they're likely to have her go That dark so quickly that she'd agree to B&C. (sorry. tangent.)

imo you have to try and see her perspective - rhaenyra is deeply Confused. she thought for many years alicent just suddenly Hated her on the basis of her /loose morals/, like purely hated her, the girl she loved is Gone overnight right when they'd begun to reconcile, and she couldnt really understand why. she just does not understand alicents perspective and she cant begin to fathom alicents situation. and in a way, how could she? shes never faced similar limitations theres an argument to be made she wouldnt be able to even conceptualise it without alicent taking her by the hand and walking her through it. even when they were friends i doubt rhaenyra thought about the privileges she held over alicent (after all, she was a child, it was just what she knew and as far as she could see alicent got to do everything she did so there was no visual imbalance). from rhaenyras point of view, all those years alicent was being unnecessarily antagonistic over something that didnt effect her. this girl she loved and in rhaenyras eyes she is betraying her again and again and again. and rhaenyra thought all that because she couldnt see the bigger picture. how could she begin to understand 'alicent fears what my reign could mean for her children' when viserys actively disencouraged her political interest - her opinion on that point would likely only be 'well obviously i would make sure nothing happened to them', not understanding that That isnt the reassurance she thinks it is.

so yeah. rhaenyra truly doesnt understand what went on or whats going on. but alicent Does (and this imbalance is perfectly demonstrated by the dialogue in the knife scene because, lets be honest, alicent pins down the situation and how rhaenyra fits into it kind of perfectly... whereas rhaenyra incorrectly attributes alicents rage to 'righteousness', not fear.). and personally i think thats why it seems unbalanced or one sided, especially in episode 8. alicent could afford to be genuine, rhaenyra isnt hard to read, whereas rhaenyra still had her guard up because she was just so fucking confused lmao. she briefly saw the gentle, beautiful, kind girl she was in love with in alicents treatment of a dying viserys at the dinner table - and upon realising alicent actually Does still have that side to her rhaenyra doesnt know what to do except subtlety apologise for perhaps not truly Seeing alicent and for accusing her of trying to harm viserys. she thought the alicent she knew was long dead until that moment - the girl has got emotional whiplash. so its not that rhaenyra loves alicent less. her reactions in episode 10 make it very clear there is still A Lot going on there for her (and we know emma d'arcy's pov on it was that rhaenyra genuinely considers conceding the throne with the hope of alicent 'taking her back'). shes just very very Very muddled about whether the current version of alicent is Still the person she loves...

and i think maybe 'love' is the wrong word for what they have when theres so much piled on top but its definitely a devotion. its this constant need to reconcile and be close that they just cant shake because a part of them will always desire the other.

tl;dr rhaenyra is just... kinda dumb god bless. and their imbalance is in their ability to understand the situation, not in the amount of love thats held.

(besides they were never exactly going to be a healthy equal deserving love thats not the point of them imo. they are a missed opportunity. a greek tragedy. starcrossed lovers. etc)

[a-court-of-moonlight-and-ire]

What is UP moonlight and ire nation, Im being tormented by intrusive thoughts rn, so I have decided to read a chapter of A Court of Mist and Fury and hope they stop when Im done with this. Last time on the Flames and Darkness Liveblog we had Lucien finally finding Feyre and Feyre being needlessly cruel to him until he left again. also, Feyre used her Tamlin-powers to shapeshift herself a pair of wings and I think that was pretty much it, I feel like not a lot happens in these chapters tbh. And yet I always have so much to say to say about them... Whatever, lets get into this

Chapter 48

Is Feyre smelling the other people at this inn having sex? what kinda smells and noises is she talking about

Theyre in a village that consists of just the inn theyre staying at, a tailor, a grocery store and a brothel? I mean presumably theres actual houses there too but that doest seem right. Also, if its as in-the-middle-of-nowhere as Feyre claims, where the hell are they getting groceries and what kind of groceries are they selling

of course theres only ONE BED and its soooooo small oh noooo do you guys think theyre gonna have sex or what

Oh and of course Feyre cant demand that Rhysand sleep on the floor because its too small to even do that theyre gonna have the wildest sex, and by wildest sex I mean theyre both gonna squeeze each other into the bed under the comically small ceiling of this broomcloset of a room and lay on top of each other without moving like a sandwhch made out of just faemeat

I feel like a cape thats cut to fit around these bigass illyrian wings would lose a lot of its functionality tbh, unless it was like, a wrapping for the wings to protect them from the cold, but I dont think thats the case with Rhysand's cape, i think it either just has holes or is some kind of weird shape, but I feel like if your in these harsh winter winds, having a cape fluttering around your wings would be pretty distracting considering how sensitive supposedly they are

WAIT. do we count this cape as a new Rhys-outfit or do we not. Im on the fence because on one hand, he's just wearing it with his usual illyrian leathers and its really just an accessoire, like I wouldnt count what he wore in the CoN as a new outfit just because he wore a crown with his black tunic, but on the other hand, I feel like a cape can really drastically alter the look of an outfit in a way most other acessoires cant. let me know what you think

of COURSE feyre would call the hypothetical painting she would make of Rhysand 'Death on Fast Wings' im gonna commit a crime

'"I love it when you look at me like that. [...] Like there's no reason to run away from my power. Like you're looking at me."' Does this imply that Rhysand identifies with the descriptor 'death on fast wings' because idk that seems weird. then again, he is a weirdo

Rhysand's pronouns are death/incarnate <- thought that popped into my head while I was writing the previous bullet point

By far the worst part about this book are all the sections where Feyre will just suck Rhysand off for a paragraph, she would not fucking say that

'"No, [you weren't afraid of me]. You were nervous, but you weren't afraid. I've felt pure fear often enough that I know the difference. Maybe that's why I couldn't leave you alone."' god, rhysand is such a creepy little freak. and not the good kind either

Feyre is being all like "oh, sure, the bed isnt small but we couldnt possibly both sleep in it without completely getting into each other's personal space, especially with his wings" girl??? tell him to put those thangs away???

god this paragraph is so annoying 'Fae-men were possessive, dominant and arrogant but the men of the Spring Court had a certain disregard [for my wishes] laying beneath the the surface' my brother in christ you have been in two and a half (2 1/2) courts and you know seven (7) fae-men personally

Also, this part where Feyre is like "if I was wasting away and Rhysand just stood by without doing anything about it, Cassian and Azriel would've gotten involved and given him a piece of their minds" is so funny knowing whats gonna happen in acosf, like no they fucking wouldnt! what are you talking about!

Oh man it just occurred to me. this is the chapter where Feyre finds out theyre mates isnt it. Or like, this part whre theyre at this inn is when she finds out, Im pretty sure itll last for multiple chapters

"[Rhysand] saw right through Ianthe the moment he met her." yeah because she broke into his bedroom and sexually harassed him and just outright told him that she wanted to have his children for the sake of power ?? I would hope he would see through that

I feel like theres been this pattern in this book of Feyre only being able to compliment Rhys in contrast with Tamlin and its very strange because you would think that after speedrunning their relationship development and spending about 500 pages worth of time with him, she would be able to point out some of his positives without immediately connecting them to her ex's negatives, but I guess thats too much to ask of this ROMANCE

Like, I forgot if this was something Feyre already said or if this is still coming up but I know theres a point in this book where she's like "I think I just loved Tamlin pre-UTM because I was so broken and traumatized from my shitty homelife that I fell for the first person to show me some kindness" and that is not how their relationship felt in ACOTAR at all atleast in my opinion, but that definitely is how Feysand feels in this book

I really hate it when male characters are described as having "hard muscles" it sounds so unpleasant. im saying this primarily as someone who likes to read about characters cuddling and prefers it when theyre soft for that, but even if we're just talking smut, does having sex with a "hard" guy sound pleasant to you? or, well. you know what i mean

!! NEW RHYS-OUTFIT DROPPED !! hes wearing wide thin pants (even though theyre sleeping in an ice cold broom closet) and a tight cotton shirt, both of unspecified color

Oh yeah, Rhysand is just sooooooo powerful you guys, he needs to constantly use his magic otherwise itll just take him over and turn him into the joker

'Everyone at his Court had a use, some kind of great ability. And here I was, a strange, unpredictable hybrid that was more trouble than it's worth.' girl you are literally fae jesus what the hell are you talking about

Maybe Im just in a bad mood but this part where Rhys n Feyre are telling each other about how they would tear the world apart if they were ever forcefully seperated is so deeply annoying to me

Im not gonna translate the shit Rhysand just said to Feyre, tldr he thinks shes hot and wants to fuck her but the room is too small for that woe is him, and ughhhh. Im struggling to explain this in a way that doesnt make me sound puritanical, but something about the horniness of their relationship makes it feel really gross to me, its not just the fact that this relationship is horny because I can very much enjoy a horny fictional relationship sometimes, but the horny relationships that I usually enjoy are like, warm and pleasant from the eroticism of it all, Feysand is just kinda gross and sticky to me

Feyre's negative self-talk in regards to her feelings for Rhysand and Tamlin feels so forced, like cmon man, you keep talking about how much Tamlin sucks ass and how much better Rhys is for you how are you still experiencing any kind of inner conflict about this

Also, Feyre talking about how she was constantly thinking about Rhysand even before she left the spring court is just, a lie. does SJM not expect her readers to remember anything

Now theyre spooning and Feyre is stroking his wings and Rhysand is humping her and its like, this isnt sexy to me this is just kinda weird

bro how come Ive never seen anyone talk about Rhysand being like "I love your boobs so much, oh, you dont even know how much I love them" thats so funny

The rest of this chapter was just Rhysand fingering Feyre and honestly, it wasnt too bad, with the extreme proximity and him warming her up I can see why some people would find it hot but idk. its still a sjm smut scene and its german which makes it pretty unpleasant for me