#but then she??? completely rejects him?????????

[lemonlover1110]

𝐈𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐚

Toji Fushiguro

[Chapter 2] Overthinking

← Previous Chapter - Story Masterlist

Pairing: Knight!Toji Fushiguro x Princess!Reader

Chapter Warnings: Suggestive Content, Minor Sex Talk

Story Summary: This is what'll get Toji killed... But how can he reject her when she looks up at him with such beautiful eyes? A man that's been to war won't be killed by the edge of a sword but rather the lips of a woman.

He shouldn’t lay a finger on her, but he’ll do anything that she asks him to. She’s his princess, he has to follow her every word.

No taglist

Discord +18 - Twitter - Ko-Fi - Bluesky

“What?” Toji almost pinches himself to check if he’s dreaming. A weird dream that it would be– But no, you’re right in front of him. You’re right in front of him, asking him to have sex with you. Alert eyes check nearby, watching out for any witnesses. Once he realizes there’s no one nearby he speaks again, “Don’t repeat it.”

“What’s your answer?” You ask, looking up at him with wide eyes and he laughs. That’s his response, a laugh; it ticks you off.

“Princess, are you a cuck?” He responds, and you furrow your brows in confusion. 

“What’s a cuck?” You answer without skipping a beat. He almost wants to burst into laughter but he’s too nervous to do anything else but stare at you. 

“I’ve got a good head on my shoulders, I’d hate to see it rolling on the ground.” He tells you, and you look just as confused. He can’t talk to you in riddles… Though he isn’t speaking in riddles, he just has to be direct with you. He clears his throat before saying, “No. I won’t have sex with you, princess. Good night.”

“Why not?” You question, as if the answer isn’t obvious. It’s not obvious for you, you don’t see an issue with it. Luckily, Toji has the common sense that you lack. 

He won’t answer the question, instead he turns on his heel and leaves you. He’ll search for your night guard, and let this die down. He’s sure that clarity will hit you tonight, and you won’t mention this again. A princess that’s so high and mighty asking to have sex with a man of his status? You have lost your mind. You let the stupid nobles get to your head.

“Toji, where are you going?!” You yell after him, and if embarrassment wasn’t slowly settling in, you’d run after him. You end up scoffing, slamming the door to your room shut and staring at it frustratedly… Did you just get rejected?

No, he didn’t hear you right. You didn’t just get rejected.

You feel… Offended? Mad? No, no. You’d feel offended if Toji had rejected you but he wouldn’t do that. Toji would never refuse an order from his princess.

You stare at the door, and your nails dig into the palms of your head. That son of a bitch rejected you. Oh, you could scream. But you're mature enough that you can suppress it and act like a true princess.

There’s something off with you, and Toji notices immediately. You’re not being your usual self…

“Why are you all dressed up, princess? You do know we’re just staying in the castle, right?” Toji asks as he escorts you to the dining room for breakfast. He does it on purpose to get the bickering started— He wants to completely gloss over the proposal from last night.

You were vulnerable, and of course your friends got to your head. He wants to show that he didn’t take things seriously, and he truly believes he’s doing a good deed. But things aren’t easy like he wants them to be. You aren’t easy.

There’s no ‘Of course someone of your class doesn’t understand the basis of looking good at all times’ and no ‘If I wanted you to speak, I would have ordered you to open your mouth’; instead, Toji is met with pure silence. You don’t even look back to glare at him.

“You’re just staying in today, right? You didn’t tell me about anything else.” He speaks again, continuing to break the basic etiquette. He should not be speaking to you unless spoken first. But that has never been a thing between the two of you. Toji gets to break a lot of rules because you’ve never cared for the rules in the first place. 

“Toji.” You finally speak, and his eyes lighten up. Only to realize that you’re in the dining room, and his presence is no longer needed. The king doesn’t like the guards to join during breakfast which usually ends up with Toji being shunned to the kitchen with the help.

“Enjoy your breakfast, your highness.” Toji tells you before walking away. He goes to the kitchen, sitting down at the table that’s for him. He’s already had his breakfast, so he isn’t necessarily hungry– But the aroma of the food grazes his nose, and his stomach growls.

“Aren’t you going to eat anything, Toji? I know you have a long day ahead of you.” Mayu walks up to him, holding a bowl of oatmeal. She wears a bright smile on her face, happy to bump into Toji first thing in the morning. Unfortunately for her, Toji just isn’t in the mood. 

“I’m good.” He answers, even when his stomach gives it away. She sits with him, knowing that she should continue her duties but her attention is on something more interesting. Someone more interesting.

“Are you upset with the princess?” She asks, a hint of mischief in her eyes. No matter how much she tries, she never hears a single bad word about the princess from Toji; but considering that last night they were cut short, she feels like his feelings have changed.

“Why would I be?” He responds, not even bothering to look her in the eye. He fails to see the frown that comes to her face when he answers. That’s not what she wanted to hear, but she won’t get too bummed out about it, she guesses it’s part of his job.

“What did she need last night?” She continues the one-sided conversation, and Toji tries his best to remain composed. You absolutely did not ask him to have sex with you. You didn’t even look at him. Nothing happened. Who would even believe him if he told the truth either way?

“She needed me to kill a spider.” He lies, and she begins to laugh. Before she can even begin to ridicule you, Hanako walks over to the table.

“Care if I join you two?” The old woman smiles, and Toji points to the chair across from him. Mayu ends up sighing, but she ends up faking a smile. Hanako begins to eat her breakfast, and Toji stares at her. 

The woman that’s across from him has been like your second mother, and it makes Toji wonder if she knows. Did you end up telling her anything this morning? Toji has figured out that you two are close, but how close are you exactly?

“Do I have something on my face?” Hanako questions when she notices that Toji is staring her down. She always ensures that not a single hair is out of place, but she was in a bit of a rush this morning.

“No.” Toji ends up saying. His eyes search for a clock, needing to know how much he has left before he follows you around for the day.

“Ignore him, Hanako. He’s acting weird.” Mayu ends up saying, offering a smile to the woman. Hanako raises her eyebrows in curiosity, but she won’t dare pry. She won’t ask about Toji’s private life, it isn’t her place. “Ever since the princess interrupted us last night, he’s been out of it.”

“The princess?” The woman nearly chokes on her food. Hanako wipes the corners of her mouth with her napkin before asking the obvious, “What were you two doing?”

“Well we were–” Mayu begins but Toji glares at her.

“It’s not because of the princess.” Toji cuts her off, and Hanako clicks her tongue.

“I’m not asking because I care about your feelings, sir.” Hanako replies. “I want to know how to deal with the princess.”

“She’s not a child, she can handle two adults making out.” Toji argues before he bites his tongue. He regrets opening his mouth the moment he makes eye contact with Hanako. He’s right, you aren’t a child and being sheltered is what led you to ask such an inappropriate question last night. But perhaps saying those words to Hanako isn’t the smartest move.

“You are going to apologize to the princess, sir, and you are going to make it good!” Hanako begins to scold him, and he sighs. He has to deal with this and with an angry princess… It’s going to be a long day.

Work today is pure torture. He thought that the obnoxious parties were the worst that the job had to offer, but this is it. You’re acting like proper royalty and not engaging with him whatsoever. Toji didn’t know how much he enjoyed the bickering until he realized how boring the job is without it.

He’s following behind you as you take a stroll through the garden. A garden that’s so well loved and taken care of because of you. These walks aren’t unusual, but the silence that accompanies it is. He doesn’t even understand the point of the stroll when you’re not conversing with anyone.

“Your highness, are we expecting anyone?” Toji asks, the deafening silence getting the best of him. You don’t even look back at him, instead you keep walking. You keep walking as if he didn’t exist.

Toji sighs, at the very least wanting to know where you’re headed. You’re walking around like a headless chicken. Sure, the garden is nice but there’s these pesky bugs that love to get all over Toji. Plus, it’s warm out and his uniform doesn’t help.

“Will you go inside and get my basket?” You ask when you come to a sudden stop. He frowns, confused why you even ask the question until he lowers his gaze and realizes that you’re by the strawberries.

“I can hold them.” He answers, and you scoff.

“It wasn’t a suggestion, it was an order.” You respond, slightly annoyed that he’s defying what you say. Toji never dares to defy your wants– Except right now… and last night.

“I can’t leave you without supervision.” He argues, and you furrow your brows. You cross your arms and finally turn around to face him.

“I’m safe within these walls, am I not?” You question, and Toji sighs. This isn’t the bickering he wanted.

“My job is to watch you, and I’m not taking my eyes off you. You can order me to do whatever you want but I’m your knight, not your maid.” He ends up answering, and you roll your eyes at him. You miss the simpler days where you didn’t need a knight, alas, that isn’t your situation now.

“Fine. Cradle your arms.” You order as you get on your knees to grab the fruit that’s ripe enough to collect. It’s finally strawberry season. Toji crouches down and cradles his arms, just as he was ordered.

He’s watching as your gentle hands pick the strawberries apart one by one. You bring one to your lips, slowly biting down. The juice drips down your chin, goes down your neck and eventually reaches your cleavage– Toji has to tear his eyes away as sweet temptation consumes him.

“Do you want one?” You end up offering, grabbing a big strawberry and holding it in his view. He should refuse, but you’re finally speaking to him. He won’t risk making the situation worse, instead he bites down on the sweet fruit. You chuckle, your thumb going over his chin to clean up the juice that drips down. “They’re juicy and sweet.”

“They cheered you up.” He comments, making you roll your eyes.

“Let’s go back inside.” You stand up, dusting off your dress. “Perhaps the strawberry I fed you rolled around in the dirt before I picked it…”

“I’m still honored.” He teases as he slowly rises. He didn’t even realize the amount of strawberries till he had to maintain balance to keep them from falling. Toji’s eyes remain on the fruit that he holds, making sure that not a single one falls over.

“Good morning, princess.” Toji hears, his eyes darting up to see the fellow knight that walks by. He smiles brightly at you, waving your way. Toji clicks his tongue, rolling his eyes at the lack of courtesy from the knight.

“Good morning, Sir Ino.” You respond, and the sudden stop of Toji makes a couple of strawberries fall to the ground. His brows furrow as he replays the scene in his head… You remembered the knight’s name, you never remember any of the staff’s name unless you’re close to them.

“Hi, Toji.” Ino waves at Toji as well, only to be met by a harsh glare. Toji ignores the knight and follows behind you again, picking up a bit of speed since he’s fallen a couple of steps behind.

“Your highness, how do you know Sir Ino?” Toji questions, as if he has any right to ask you the question. You quickly remind him of his place by ignoring the question. Of course, you’re not going to give in so easily.

Toji knows that you’re still upset with him so he’ll try not to overthink your lack of words. And the man never gets into his head about anything, but it’s weird that you know someone’s name. Toji isn’t special, he knows he isn’t. The question you asked him last night was because he was the first man that came to your mind, and now that he’s rejected you he fears that you’ll attempt to go to someone else for help.

“Put them in the kitchen. Tell the staff I want strawberry shortcake tonight.” You order as you enter the castle. 

“Where will you go, your highness?” Toji asks, wanting to know where exactly he needs to go after dropping the strawberries in the kitchen.

“I have my piano lesson, remember?” You remind him, and Toji’s eyes almost widen. If there’s one person that he doesn’t trust you around is that damned piano teacher that makes you giggle like a fucking schoolgirl.

“Here, I have to go.” Instead of doing the task himself, Toji dumps the responsibility of the strawberries to the first maid he sees. A bunch of strawberries fall to the floor as he lets them go in the arms of an unaware maid. He doesn’t take his gaze off you as you begin to walk to the piano room. “Princess wants a strawberry shortcake tonight. She likes it extra sweet.”

“Princess, don’t get too far ahead! You know the king doesn’t like when you’re locked in that room with Mr. Kong alone!” Toji yells, nearly running to catch up with you. He feels like he’s going to die early, and he knows who to blame that on.

He’s ignored again, but this time he understands. This has never been something that he’s cared about. As a matter of fact, he usually stands outside to not hear the awful music you claim you play. He has no ground to stand on.

“No smoking indoors, Mr. Kong.” Toji can’t believe he’s setting rules, but apparently this is what he gets paid for. This is the man that Toji has left you alone with for so many times– The idiot is leaning against the mahogany piano, smoking a cigarette while gawking at you.

Worst of all, you’re smiling. Giving the man a soft look while you listen to his instructions. Toji, who is supposed to stand in the corner without even being heard, grabs an ashtray and snatches the cigarette from the man. Toji makes stern eye contact with Shiu as he puts the cigarette out.

“The king won’t be too happy if he smells that awful stench.” Toji comments, a passive aggressive smile coming to his lips.

“Sir Toji, it’s weird seeing you in the room.” Shiu smirks, crossing his arms as he stares at Toji. “Does the king know that you’re here?”

“Does the king know that you’re flirt–” Toji begins before his eyes land on you. You’re staring at the piano keys in shame. Toji rolls his eyes before staring back at Shiu, “Don’t light another one up or I’ll put it out on your neck.”

Shiu ends up chuckling before turning his attention back to you, “Let’s get back to work, your highness. Where were we? Before we were so rudely interrupted.”

Toji’s annoyance grows as he watches Shiu work with you. No wonder your piano skills don’t get any better, the fool isn’t teaching you anything, he’s just flirting with you. And what ticks him off is the fact that you’re welcoming about it– But it’s not your fault. You’re just naïve and don’t realize that you’re being flirted with.

“Can we play? Or is that against the rules too, sir?” Mischief is written all over Shiu’s gaze. He wants to stir the pot, and it works.

“Would you like me to speak to the king? The princess’ piano skills are still awful and you’ve been with her for the past two years… You’re not making much progress.” Toji points out, and you nearly bury your face in your hands out of sheer embarrassment. 

“You dare insult your princess–” Shiu is about to respond but you stand up, getting their attention. You grab Toji’s wrist and drag him out of the room, placing him outside of the door before walking back inside to continue your lesson.

You don’t have to say a word, but Toji won’t dare walk back inside.

“What the fuck is wrong with you, Toji?! Who the hell do you think you are?!” Your voice is loud and clear as he follows you to your room. You have to get ready for lunch, and on the way to your room you’ll give him a piece of your mind. You can’t keep your thoughts to yourself considering how he embarrassed you. “Since when do you care about the fucking rules?! For the past– God knows have long, you’ve left me with Shiu without an issue.”

“Shiu! That’s my issue! He’s your piano teacher, not your buddy! He’s Mr. Kong to you!” Toji argues, forgetting his place. 

“Why do you care?! You’re so annoying!” You yell. “What the fuck is wrong with you today?! Why do you think you have some sort of authority over me?! Talking to me as if you don’t know your fucking place!”

“What is my place, princess?! Do you care to remind me? Or should I remind you what you told me last night?!” He responds as you get to your door. It’s the first time he brings it up and he’d feel bad if you weren’t acting the way you are. He swore to himself last night that he would never bring it up. You were vulnerable, he doesn’t want to hold it against you– But he’s definitely had a change of heart.

You look around the place, watching out for anyone before lowering your voice, “That was a mistake. Completely forget that.”

“Good.” Toji answers, looking around the place as he thinks his next words carefully. You’re not going to give up that thought from last night, you’ll just search for someone that’s willing. Whether that’s Toji, Shiu or Ino. 

He shouldn’t get involved in this mess.

He’s not going to die by the lips of a woman.

“But if that’s what you want, I’ll do it.” Toji says, a frown coming to your face as confusion takes over you.

“Huh?” You respond, and Toji licks his lips before looking around the place one more time. He can never be too safe.

“If you want me to have sex with you, I’ll do it.”

[spikedru]

im sorry to pick on this tag but i want to expand on this bc no i dont think thats true. i dont think willow ever sees him as a potential father figure. if anything xander is the one who the most behind buffy wants giles to be his father figure and recognizes that giles does Not want to be that and therefore feels that rejection more strongly since you can interpret xander as completely lacking a postive older male figure in his life. willow sees him as an authority figure and the most friction that comes between willow and giles is willow wanting giles to view her as a peer, someone who has power and is capable of making decisions and casting powerful magic. willow taking on teaching a high school class while still in high school, learning about jennys magic after her death, wanting to cast the soul curse on angel are all attempts of willow to be seen as someone with respect and power. giles later comment of calling her an arrogant amateur makes her so angry bc she thinks that bc she has channeled the power to raise the dead it should earn her respect as a magic user and an adult.

tldr willow doesn't want that man to be her dad she wants to either be his peer as a respected adult or succeed beyond him

like giles may be a weird pseudo-father figure to buffy specifically but definitely he is NOT the dad to the rest of the scooby gang

[calebsluvr]

is there something more? ᯓ ✈︎ xia yizhou x f!reader ᯓ ✈︎ with the gestures he makes to (only) you, is it really just friendly gestures that he makes? or is there something more? ᯓ ✈︎ 508 words

it had been years since i last saw lily, but we picked up right where we left off as though no time had passed. sitting across from her at a small café, i couldn’t help but smile. all felt like a slice of the past coming back to life.

“so,” she said, sipping her coffee, her eyes glinting with mischief, “are you and caleb dating now?”

i nearly choked on my chai. “what? no! where did you get that idea?” i asked, my voice a mix of confusion and surprise.

her brow rose but nonetheless, she leaned back in her chair, folding her arms with that teasing look of hers, as if she knew something i didn’t. “well, i mean, come on. all those little and big things he did for you back in high school? he was practically in love with you. i wouldn’t be surprised if he still does.”

i shook my head, your heart hammering underneath your sternum. “we’re just friends, he wouldn’t like me like that.”

she smiled, almost sympathetically. “you really don’t see it, do you?” she says as she leans forward.

“when you weren’t looking, his gaze was always locked on you, observing what you were going to do.  oh, oh! remember that time you told me you had to fix your project last minute? and he stayed up all night helping you re-do it!.” before you could reply to her, she continued.

“don’t forget that time a random guy bumped into you and started yelling at you when you were stressed enough. well, you did pass out in the hall after arguing. but! when caleb got wind of what happened; he beat the shit out of him after he put you to the infirmary, pinned him to the floor punching him like there was no tomorrow. the whole shabang!”

i blinked. If she was listing the things that were obvious, what things did he do that weren’t? her words sinking in slowly, like pieces of a puzzle I’d never bothered to complete. to be honest you never did think of caleb as just a friend, but there was this thing in your gut that pulled you back from coming forward with how you truly felt about him. now, those little gestures seemed… more.

“and don’t get me started on our banquet after graduation,” lily added with a grin. “even though all the girls who had dates; they were trying to get him to dance with them, he rejected them all the while he was looking at you. with hearts in his eyes.”

i felt my face flush. i had always chalked those moments up to caleb just being a good friend. the way he seemed to go out of his way just for me— it was starting to feel like something deeper, something I’d completely overlooked.

i sat back, stunned. i swallowed hard, suddenly feeling a little out of breath. i thought about caleb, about everything he’d done for me over the years. was i the one who missed the signs?

comments and reblogs are most appreciated (˶˃ ᵕ ��˶) .ᐟ.ᐟ

[anselbun]

Hi there! I saw you made a post where you mentioned Dick's "very canon though not explicitly stated BPD"! I'm a very very big fan of characters with bpd and fictional diagnosing but I haven't read enough Dick runs and I don't have the bandwidth to diagnose several characters as one so could please elaborate on that pretty pretty please? I'm so curious 😭🙇🙇🙇🙇

oh yes of course!!! i love talking about comics and about dick especially!

first i have to say that im newer to reading comics as of the last few months, and have been working through things in a very strange order, so i am lacking a lot in terms of direct examples i can provide for my seeing him this way. overall, its simply something ive picked up about him through reading hundreds of comics from the 60's up to now.

one of the biggest, most clear examples of dicks emotional struggles would probably be some of the older teen titans stuff, specifically i think the "new teen titans" issues that took place around 1988, in the years after jasons death. of course, he was having a hard time at that point, but most of the comics feature him acting completely erratically, and struggling to understand why people are concerned about his actions and wellbeing.

for example- after struggles in dicks relationship with kory, he stalks her at one of her dates with another guy to try to apologize to her, and then appears at her apartment to beg her to come back to him and to marry him. when she says yes, he jumps to planning this wedding within only a few days, and when there's certain family members (such as bruce) he cannot reach to have attend the wedding, he cannot see this as anything other than them refusing to support him and his marriage. multiple people including kory herself worry that dick is making rash decisions because hes not doing well emotionally, but nobody knows how to help him. any sign of something not going "perfect" in his eyes becomes people not being supportive, to the point where he's even a little rude to lian when shes just being a kid, which ive never seen him do when hes in the right mental state.

another two examples that come soon after this are really similar, and are with donna and roy- both of them are concerned about him at separate points, and have noticed him making extremely rash choices and pushing himself much further than he usually does, in ways that arent like him. when donna tries to express her worry, he takes it as an insult, and turns it into a huge argument, because he feels that anybody being concerned about him means hes simply not good enough. when roy has to take over the titans due to dicks rash actions and disappearances, dick again takes this as a major insult, and believes this is roys way of saying the titans dont love him, never loved him, and that they dont want him there. he simply doesnt understand that they are concerned about him, and that his actions are having a negative affect on himself and the team, and that they arent rejecting him- they were simply trying to ask him to take a break.

theres other examples like this over the years- though most are a lot more "lowkey" as things get closer to present day. dick is still the kind of person to be smart and caring towards others, but time and time again we see him make rash decisions based on his feelings and worries without considering the consequences of those feelings. i think over time its either been an aspect of the writers not wanting to go too far, or not quite seeing this aspect of dick in the same way i do, but its clear to me in every comic i read that dick is in this constant state of flux with his feelings and worries, and that the slightest word of concern from those he cares about scares him. because them being worried for him means hes not doing enough to STOP them from worrying about them, which must mean he's not good enough. which must mean they dont care about him anymore if they'd even say that. his mind consistently goes down these spirals about him not being good enough, even if he doesnt outwardly say them as much anymore.

i still have to go through the batman 2016 run, but i know dick was considering adopting damian while batman was gone, and decided not to because he saw himself as "too untethered" at the time, which is a really specific way for him to refer to things. its a direct acknowledgement of his own emotional state and that he would not be in the right space to be a dad to damian.

sorry for the rant i love answering asks about my pookies

[t1ts-4-donaldson]

a continuation of dilf! patrick! you mentioned how it was a one night stand but like what if they r really good coparents and real feelings come to fruition 🤭

ooo I'm feeling you

Dad Patrick would be distant at first. He never thought he’d see you again, he was petrified of being a father never thought he’d be one in the first place. His parents forced him to step up to not be an ass and at least support you financially if he didn’t want anything to do with your child. Art ripped him a new one, no way was he going to cum and dump you.

His heart melted the first time he saw you exhausted on the hospital bed nursing your little baby his beautiful daughter, she was tiny had his dark hair and eyes a carbon copy of him there’s no way he can leave now.

You’d expected him to flake too, he emphasized that this was just sex nothing more ever. The 2 lines on the tests you took a month later brought you excitement and pain, you called him crying telling him he was going to be a dad he immediately went silent “no, hell no” he hung up on you. It cemented your hatred towards him, yes his rejection towards you stung but what hurt worse was him rejecting his baby.

To stay you were stunned when he opened the hospital room door was an understatement. “Patrick”

“Hey..” he meekly crosses the room fidgeting anxiously "what's her name?" He lifts a finger caressing her cheek smiling as she twitched in your arms tiny dimples giving way identical to his, you wanted to swat his hand away, of course he had the audacity to visit.

“Why are you here?” You hold her close “I wanted to see her.. I didn’t know it was going to be a girl-“ he replies wincing, you were right to be pissed at him.

“I didn’t tell you.. you didn’t want anything to do with me, with us” you scowl bringing her closer to your chest “I-“ he blinks keeping tears at bay “I’m sorry.. I was scared this wasn’t the plan” he explained “Can I hold her please?”

You reluctantly hand her over “cradle her head she’s fragile” you mutter anxiously, he was careless only a select few could be scathed by his callousness but you saw something that wasn't there before, completeness, a longing filled with joy you saw it in his eyes he was glowing.

So you accepted his presence with hesitation, he stayed by your side every day. Changing her diapers, bottle feeding her and listened to nurses instructions without complaining

You restricted visitations strictly on weekends which turned into every other day to keeping her at school with him. She adapted surprisingly well, she knew Patrick's schedule by the time she was 3, happily spending time with uncle Art and aunt Tashi, her little on campus family.

"you're a good dad you know that?"

"it's nothing" he bounces her on his lap "it's not nothing Patrick only a few guys would step up and parent their kid, especially a fling"

"don't call yourself a fling.. I mean you were, we were just-" he pauses.

This wasn't his normal it felt odd being in love, or what he thought was love the lack of familiarity threw him off. His dad loathed him thought he was a nuisance shut him up with money, his mom was absent physically there but mentally dejected, drinking her way through her marriage and her son.

"I was scared.. fucking terrified, I'm not used to.. being cared for Art's there he's great it's different with you." He says "you're good for me the both of you are, I think I finally got my shit together." he grins blowing raspberries against her cheek

"Patrick.." tears cloud your vision "thank you.. I couldn't do this without you. I'm grateful you came around" you reply heart thudding quickly, he really meant what he said 'maybe he was in love with you'

[rei-ismyname]

Pietro is a very underutilized character, as is Lorna. Magneto's children are an undiscovered gold mine; I want to see more stories that involve them both on a deeper level. Less evil Pietro, more Pietro with emotional issues and daddy issues. Less Lorna in strange love triangles, more of Lorna as her father's heir, Queen of Metal, Mistress of Magnetism.

I agree that Pietro is underutilized lately. They've certainly had their focus in the past and I'd say that (ignoring Lorna) there's been a complete family conflict arc told, climaxing with Wanda choosing 🧲O and Pietro rejecting him. Lorna pops up now and then but not nearly enough for my liking. She's been established as that heir, but as little focus as possible was given to it and Lorna in general (Marvel has difficulty envisioning her as anything but Havok's gf or object of angst.)

The difficulty with doing more with Max and the twins is the same as it's been for 40+ years - they're under the Avengers office and Mags is firmly X-Men. His death and opinion was the inciting incident in the recent-ish Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver series, but Joseph (lol) got more page time than Mags did. With Jed Mackay writing both Avengers and X-Men right now, I'd say there's a unique opportunity to do more with them. With DOOM, tribulation events, Raids and X-Manhunt, everyone has had their hands full.

Wave hello!

Comrade Wokeneto. I love it, though it's hard to believe Wanda couldn't cure him easily.

Wanda was with The Avengers when they came for baseball and dinner in Avengers #21, and it was nice to see that they care for each other. Mags even shared his ideological epiphany that started in X-Men Red, developed in Resurrection of Magneto, and was codified in Uncanny #700 (and FotHox, I guess.)

Unfortunately, Mags doesn't leave the house due to *sigh* R-LDS. He's apparently dying slowly and he's depressed about it. We don't have a lot of information bc he's not a prominent character ATM, but interviews suggest this is a long term plot. Wanda is an active Avenger and Pietro is ???There's plenty of opportunity there, and I hope it's picked up.

Pietro himself hasn't been seen since Blood Hunt, or maybe his appearance in Scarlet Witch was more recent. He was dating Monet when we saw him last, and she's locked up in Graymalkin now. Lorna is leading the Mutant Underground, though we know next to nothing about them. Seems right up Magneto's alley tbh. There are plenty of threads waiting to be pulled on, so fingers crossed I guess.

There wasn't a question there, so I'll just talk about what I want - a Magneto solo book and/or a family book. Mags has undergone a drastic paradigm shift and I need that explored. Pietro and Mags can't stand each other and the bio relationship isn't there, but the latter doesn't matter much to me. Pietro and Wanda consider Lorna a sister and vice versa, so the link is there. Mags has grown up a bit too, though he was still a bit of a jerk to Pietro last time they saw each other. If I'm being generous he wasn't trying to be, but he wasn't trying to be kind either.

That said, I respect Pietro's decision to not want the old man in his life. He's been an awful father and hasn't really reckoned with the harm he did to Pietro specifically. I'm wary of Marvel pulling some 'family is family' bullshit, so in the unlikely event that they do get the four together that would need to be handed carefully. Truthfully, I'd settle for anything with them rn :). Getting the grandkids in there would be even better. Tommy and Billy are always a delight they haven't interacted with Mags directly since Children's Crusade AFAIK. They were all in the same place for The Trial of Magneto, but Mags dropped out of focus once Wanda resurrected. He didn't come to the wedding/wasn't invited, unfortunately, and Ambassador Magneto was in charge of relations with the Kree-Skrull empire without seeing Wiccan or Hulkling.

I want more!

[zuko-always-lies]

"Although I remember that from a couple of interviews they had done years back. My point is that Zuko, and other secondary characters that spawned as a result of his existence, were not bryke's idea."

That page establishes that Zuko was in fact Bryke's idea. They needed an episode by episode antagonist, sure, but the core ideas came from them. Of course, Ehasz and others later changed a lot, but Zuko (unlike Azula most likely) was Bryke's idea.

"You are the one unable to understand why Mai would hate Azula, because your own fondness for the princess blinds you."

Another case of you not understanding the context. The standard ATLA fandom take for decades was that Ty Lee would forgive Azula instantly, and that Zuko, a character who spends 90% of his time on the show plotting Azula's downfall, would also forgive Azula instantly and dedicate his entire life to "redeeming" her, while Mai would hate Azula forever. That is what I was commenting on. Writing Mai, who Azula treated much better than Ty Lee and who hates Azula much less than Zuko does, as never forgiving Azula, while having the other two fall over themselves to forgive Azula doesn't make much sense.

And do I need to remind you of your own words:

"She wasn't happy to see Azula per se, she simply saw a chance to get away from people she didn't care about and got bored with, her family, and do something else. Especially if that something else could get her closer to Zuko."

Mai and Azula are clearly happy to see each other. Before Azula has spoken a word about needing Mai for a mission, Mai jokes with Azula, smiles, at her, giggles with her, and hugs her. If I were deliberately writing an introductory scene to "these two people like each other a lot," I couldn't do better. It's the inverse of the Azula-Zuko-Iroh scene, which was deliberately written to say "Zuko and Iroh don't like Azula and vice-versa."

Mai doesn't learn that Azula is trying to hunt down Zuko and Iroh until the end of the episode, long after the "greeting" scene.

Like I said, you can't bother checking basic facts before you yell at me for being "wrong."

Or thinking that Ozai killing Azulon would be a problem for Zuko.

You're the one who can't imagine how the truth about Ozai and Ursa murdering Azulon and usurping the throne getting out could be an interesting plot point which could pose unique problems for the royal family.

The fact that you are using homosexuality as a degrading slur in 2025, while also being someone who apparently cares about inner misogyny, makes it especially hilarious.

Another case where you completely misunderstand what I was saying. The idea is that Zuko is gay but has deeply internalized homophobia. He hates himself for being gay and wants to reject it as much as possible. Thus, he engages in the patriarchal domination of women (including in sexual ways, it's a very dark AU idea) in order to prove his "manhood" and his hetrosexuality. "Gay" isn't an insult here, it's an explanation.

In any case, that is probably why you think that Azula acting like a complete psycho, while her brother got his face disfigured, is not an obvious sing that she is in fact an evil abuser.

It's fascinating to see when people have no idea about how cruel ordinary children can behave. Anyways, child acting like she thinks her brother deserves his punishment when according to (cruel, wrong) cultural norms he deserves his punishment, according to her father he deserves his punishment, and according to everyone else in the room (aside from Iroh) he 100% deserves his punishment is pretty normal behavior on her part. Zhao is also clearly smiling but you don't see people endlessly ranting about how he's an evil psycho abuser. And of course one of the main plot points of the series is that Zuko also believes he deserves what Ozai did to him, but got to demonize the 11 year old I guess!

Anyway, I like talking with you because even when wrong you defend your point instead of folding, but

I am going to straight up tell you that I don't enjoy talking with you. It's not because you disagree with me, it's because the ways you disagree are boring and uninteresting. Every single dubious take you shove in my face is something that I, and every other Azula fan, have seen before 1000 times. Every criticism you give is a take that we've seen before and argued against 1000 times before, because we find them to be poorly thought out, unsupported by the series, and uninteresting too. You keep shoveling the most common and popular, incorrect, fandom takes in our faces while imagining you're some sort of fearless truth teller. Like I told you, "Mai would uniquely hate Azula forever" used to be conventional wisdom, yet you're acting like I've never seen it before.

This is going to be a controversial opinion

But I actually don't think the ATLA writers necessarily intended to write Azula as being abused by Ozai. You can look at some of the statements of people involved in the production of the show and see they make no real mention of the idea. And of course the core of ATLA was supposed to be easily comprehensible to seven year olds and they did nothing to explicitly establish the idea that Azula was abused by Ozai.

Despite all of this, it is extremely evident that Azula was abused by Ozai and mistreated by her family. It's one of the cases where fiction takes on a guise which escapes the intentions of the authors.

[selcouthself]

Reclaiming Leroux's Original Vision | part 1/?

Despite passionate pleas from dedicated Phans who have kept Leroux's original text alive through decades of discussion, fan works, etc., production companies continually choose marketable romance over authentic adaptation, perpetually ignoring the faithful rendition fans have been clamoring for. ***For the purpose of this discussion, I am excluding the 1925 silent film adaptation, which stands apart as perhaps the most faithful adaptation of Gaston Leroux's novel, and focusing on the grievances that Phans commonly express regarding other adaptations across various media.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​***

From the 1984 BANGER musical that prioritized spectacle over substance, to the 1990 miniseries that gave us a subdued, sympathetic Erik, to the 2004 film that turned Erik into a brooding, misunderstood hottie with convenient scarring, to various others, each attempt seems to misunderstand that fans don't want a dumbed down love triangle (Though it should be said that we do adore these adaptations for what they are-- Webber's music is undeniably beautiful, Dance's performance is genuinely moving, Chaney's makeup & dedication remains iconic, and not to mention the 2004 film is visually stunning)—we want the brilliant, morally complex, historically textured, genuinely disturbing masterpiece that Leroux wrote.

The recurring sins remain consistent:

The bastardization of Erik's character. Erik's horrific appearance isn't just physical description—it fundamentally shapes his entire psychology and justifies his isolation from humanity, making him simultaneously monstrous and tragic; when adaptations give us a handsome phantom with decorative/minimal scarring, they erase the lifetime of rejection and dehumanization that forged his broken psyche and twisted worldview. Erik is SYMPATHETIC.

The complete erasure of the Persian. Removing him not only gets rid of MAJOR PLOT DETAILS, but it also removes Erik's only genuine human connection and moral counterbalance, eliminating the character who humanizes Erik through their shared history while also serving as the crucial voice of reason who condemns his actions.

Christine's character being reduced to a silly little ingénue forced to choose between two love interests instead of a determined young woman making impossible choices while processing immense trauma and grief, despite the fact that she's a victim of severe emotional manipulation and abuse—which isn't romantic, it's horrific.

Raoul being flattened into a one-dimensional pretty boy when his character is much more complicated than that. He's driven by emotional insecurity, naivety, and a sense of duty. He's young, new into society, and wanting to prove himself. He wants to protect Christine. He's wants to understand the connection Christine shares with this Erik.

Completely abandoning Leroux's "this is a journalist investigating real events" framework that makes the original novel so unique and unsettling.

Philippe de Chagny mysteriously vanishing from adaptations despite his "mysterious" drowning being a major plot point.

The opera house itself losing its character as a place of history, secrets, and genuine architectural strangeness.

Should an accurate adaptation of Gaston Leroux's "The Phantom of the Opera" be considered, I believe it would seek to rectify these recurring issues. It should breathe new life into both dimensions of the original novel: the meticulous journalistic investigation and the heartbreaking tale buried beneath the Paris Opera House. Leroux himself should take center stage at times—chasing leads through dusty archives, interviewing reluctant witnesses, and piecing together fragments of evidence about a masked man who once terrorized the opera. These investigative sequences would illuminate how Leroux blended documented facts (the underground lake, the mysterious accidents, the architectural oddities of the Opera Garnier) with his novelist's imagination, creating a compelling framework that constantly questions where reality ends and fiction begins.

Parallel to this investigation runs Erik's devastating story—a tale of profound isolation, artistic genius, and doomed love that explores deeply human questions about appearance, acceptance, and redemption. By returning to Leroux's original character descriptions and historical inspirations—such as the real-life soprano Christine Nilsson who influenced the creation of Christine Daaé—this adaptation would strip away decades of reinterpretation to present these characters as they were originally conceived.

Through this dual narrative structure, viewers would gain unprecedented insight into what Leroux was trying to teach us about societal cruelty, the transcendent power of music, and the complex nature of love in its various forms—familial, protective, passionate, and obsessive. This dream project imagines bringing the authentic literary Phantom to life as Leroux intended, where the line between factual investigation and gothic romance becomes as murky as the waters of the underground lake itself.

I intend to explore what a truly faithful adaptation might look like by suggesting ideal casting choices, highlighting scenes from Leroux’s novel that deserve proper screen treatment, various references that I would love to see, and debating whether a tv series or film would serve the complex narrative and gothic atmosphere of the original work. My goal is to envision an adaptation that honors the psychological horror and the rich historical context that made Leroux’s novel a timeless classic.

[forcebookish]

damn remember when ichigo went full hollow and orihime was terrified of him but when ulquiorra, someone she has only known as a hollow and kidnapped her by threatening to murder all her friends and spent her whole imprisonment intimidating her, asked her if she was afraid of him she said she wasn't

🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃

LIKE WHAT WAS I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH THAT????????

[bet-on-me-13]

Danny commits to the Bit a bit too hard...

So! For the first few weeks after his accident, whenever Danny would try to help the people of Amity Park, he would be treated as a Villain.

No matter if he had just defeated the Big Bad of the Week or saved a Cat from a tree, everybody in town only saw him as a Monster or Villain to he feared and hunted down. Danny was really getting sick of trying to get them on his side, until Sam made a suggestion.

"Why not just...play into it?" She said, barely looking up from painting her nails.

It was just an offhand suggestion, but it stuck with Danny. Why shouldn't he lean into it? The people of Amity Park already saw Ghosts as Evil, and they already assumed he was in cahoots with the Ghosts attacking the town. Why shouldn't he just...play into it?

So he does just that.

From that day on, whenever Phantom was spotted he would dramatically monologue about his Evil Plans, or claim that another Rogues attack on the City was his own act of terror.

Box Ghost destroys the towns Warehouses? It was on his orders.

Ember mind controls masses of Teenagers? All part of his Plans somehow.

Every Adult in Town is kidnapped by Young Blood? Danny gave them over to a friend as a Gift.

He crafts an identity for himself as the most Vile and Horrible Ghost that has ever attacked the City, using his own infamy to cement his legend even more firmly. The town only sees a Monsterous Villain, who has eveded capture near effortlessly for months on end, who constantly attacks their City and gets away with it.

Of course he still needs an excuse for how his plans keep getting stopped, and he gets it when his girlfriend Valerie becomes the Red Huntress. Before that, he just claimed infighting or the Fentons getting lucky, but Valerie becoming the Town's Hero meant he had a plausible excuse for how he kept getting "Foiled".

Val was suspicious, because she was not as involved as Phantom painted her to be, but in the end she had no proof of him faking his defeats. And she couldn't come up with any explanations for why he would do that in the first place. I mean, who would fake being a Supervillain? It had to he something else.

This did come back to bite him a while later, when the Justice League decided that enough was enough, and dispatched Justice League Dark to recruit Red Huntress and help Deal with him.

Coincidentally, that was the same day Pariah Dark attacked the Mortal Realm and sucked Amity Park into the Ghost Zone.

And honestly? Danny had spent over a Year proclaiming himself as a Villain who commanded Ghosts to attack the Human Realm, and he had heard about the Right of Conquest being Absolute in the Ghost Zone, so why not make it official? Why not overthrow the Ghost King, become the Ghost King, and cement his identity as a Villain while also forbidding Ghosts from entering the Human Realm without his permission?

He may have gotten a bit carried away and forgotten that the Villain thing was a disguise...but hey! He was still preventing Ghost Attacks! ...mostly. That's got to count for something right?

He may have let the Bit run a bit too far...

...

Check the tags for more context!

[joanofarcs-stigmata]

i hope you dont mind the rambling MESS that responding to this is going to be, but my brain is. mush. so im gonna just break things down by point and rant a bit instead of having any cohesive thought or argument lol

This is why the idea that God Himself would take on flesh through a woman’s womb was not just radical but scandalous. Many early Gnostic texts, which sought to reconcile Christian theology with prevailing Greco-Roman philosophical ideals, rejected the nativity as traditionally understood. Instead, they depicted Jesus either materializing fully formed or emerging from Mary in a way that avoided any implication of normal human birth. This reflected the discomfort of many intellectuals with the idea that divinity could be so intimately connected to the perceived "impurity" of female biology.

this i did know! ugggghh there is this book that i read i college (i was a theology minor) that i cannot for the LIFE of me remember the name of that went in depth into this! the virgin birth-- a birth completely devoid of sperm, penises, or maleness in general-- was more than just radical, yes. it was seen as blatantly OBSCENE. to use the narrative of a woman and only a woman to define the existence of literal God?? to have a woman play such a key role as Mary? disgusting. even into the later years of the established church when mary was beginning to be venerated, associating her with actual birth, realistic pregnancy, and sex was seen as horrifying. jesus could not be birthed, he had to be magiked out of the womb. he could not simply come from a woman, the holy spirit HAD to have impregnated mary, being her spouse (get cucked joseph lol). another good example of this is the lack of contractions, blood, or pain associated with the nativity, even in modern day, which has been 'supported' by mystics and visionaries (lookin at you, blessed anne catherine emmerich!)

In this context, Paul’s statement in Galatians 3:28, “There is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus,” was absolutely earth-shattering. He wasn’t just promoting a vague sense of spiritual equality; he was fundamentally challenging the entire structure of Greco-Roman society, where gender roles were fixed and hierarchical.

I've had the gender roles part of this verse it discussed in class and bible study, but personally i know more about 'Jew or Greek' and 'Slave or Free' being deeply controversial words in a world where Jewish people were being actively oppressed with violence by Rome and gentiles, and slavery was. well. slavery. I do find the 'slave or free' interesting every time i read it. After all, Paul frees (or leads to the freeing of, technically, but he basically gets him free) Saint Onesimus, recognizes him as an equal brother in Christ, and demands his debts be forgiven. But he also almost certainly used slaves as his scribes, as did most people who could afford to, and the early church defended slavery using his writings to allow rich Roman and gentile slave owners to convert. I will have to go dig through my college books bc i read one on slavery being used to physically write the new testament as we know it that was SO GOOD.

Sexuality is another area where Paul’s statements are misunderstood. Many modern readers interpret his writings through the lens of contemporary discussions on sexual orientation, but in the ancient world, sexuality was not about identity or mutual attraction—it was about power.

yessssss. my close friend is an antiquities expert (or at least, is becoming one, no one ever stops needing to learn!) and she often complains that paul's sexuality 'takes' are ALWAYS taken out of the context of the time. Sex, relationships, etc were not 'straight' 'hetero' or 'homo' 'gay', they are tied inherently to power. i cant speak for that time period, but i did study medieval europe extensively in college (history major) and it was very similar. that isnt to say 'love' as we think of it wasn't real then-- far from it!-- but that especially sex was used completely, completely differently, and to apply our modern understandings of sex and sexuality to paul is incorrect and frankly, irresponsible. not to mention, as a jewish man, paul had religious law that influenced sex and his view of the sexuality of the gentiles in a way different from even our 'modern' jewish belief. i think this is what i mean when i say progressives hating paul actually hate modern paulian influence more than they do paul/his writings, because if you actually looked at his writings you'd see the harm It's currently used for is often not what was intended. not all the time-- paul's writings on women, while radical, still stripped women of power in a lot of the early church despite them previously having it. (i could talk about house churches and their matriarchal power structure for so long in college. it's been like 5 years so i doubt i could do it now but then i was OBSESSED with women led house churches then.)

Roman sexual norms were based on dominance and submission, not gender. A free Roman male could engage in sexual activity with women, slaves, or young boys, provided he was the penetrative partner. The penetrated party, regardless of gender, was considered subordinate, often likened to women, who were already viewed as lesser. This is why pederasty was socially acceptable among elites and why being perceived as passive in a same-sex relationship was seen as degrading.

not much to add here, just that this is exactly why the 'ancient rome/greece was a gay utopia!!!11!' things i see on this site make me wince and wince hard.

When Paul condemns certain sexual behaviors, he is speaking within this framework—denouncing exploitative relationships, temple prostitution, and the broader Roman system of power-driven sexual dynamics, rather than making a blanket statement about same-sex attraction as we understand it today. His teachings, particularly his emphasis on mutuality in marriage (e.g., 1 Corinthians 7), were VERY countercultural, advocating for a model of sexual ethics that was based on love, faithfulness, and equality rather than social status or dominance.

once again, completely agree and would love to find some books that expand on this, if you have any. or any sources, i love learning biblical history SO much. this is why i, once again, think a LOT of deconstructing (fundie/evangelical/and catholic) Christians completely miss the mark when they loath paul, as what they really have a problem with is the institution of the Church and the damage done by the Church's power. Paul has his problems. I have deep frustration him at times. But he isnt an evil boogie man like 'almost heretical' and other deconstructing media portrays him as. my biggest interest with paul is how he made 'Jesus' into the 'Christ'. You look at other texts of the time, historical and biblical, and you see a pretty clear divide in the early church on if Jesus was a teacher and earthly messiah with mystical influence, or if Jesus was a mystic and heavenly messiah who taught. Paul ascribed to the latter, and I am so heartbroken that his idea is the only one that managed to survive long term. that is my biggest gripe with paul

the 'almost heretical' podcast's new mini series on paul vs Jesus (vs james vs peter vs....) really has me Thinkin. i wish i collected enough thoughts to write down my opinions but my mind is too swirly for that. still, it genuinely has helped me put my finger on some of my problems with paul and how he has influenced the Church, especially through his stressing of Jesus as the Christ, his ideas of 'faith alone', and his opinions towards leaving judaism.

[fulcrum-art-fox]

Okay there’s a lot about Mikio asking Mizu to show him all of herself and then rejecting her but like. “Unsheathe it. Show me your blade.” This from Mizu, who fully believes the whole “the sword is the soul of the samurai” thing, basically asking the same of Mikio. Show me your blade; show me your soul; show me who you are. And she even throws him her sword, because she is truly giving him all of herself in this scene, and she wants the same of him. Honesty. Openness. Truth. And ultimately he does show her who he is, and it fucks them, because who he is is a man who cannot handle her as she really is. Unsheathing their blades ruins them, because it uncovers the truth: they were never compatible, not as who they really are. It was always a lie, a performance; a pretty dream that cannot withstand the light of day

[elvisqueso]

"...Will you go home?" — "Well, it's not like I have much of a home to go back to. I've never really...belonged anywhere."

Pocahontas (1995)

[devastatinglygreen]

remember how they set it up so colin knew something was wrong with penelope and he was spiraling with worst case scenarios only for eloise to convince penelope not to tell him about lady whistledown so she tells him she's always loved him and he was so happy thinking that's what she needed to confess but then—

[hadesknockedupintheunderworld]

One day

One day I hope people realize that Kitsunami already "broke through his programming" back by issue #56 of Idw Sonic

He had an entire mini arc where he dealt with being without Surge for the first time, and in the real world. He met Sonic and his friends directly, tried to work out what his purpose would be without Surge in his life (gave it a shot trying to devote himself to Sonic, seeing him as the next best thing after Surge). And when it was all said and done, he decided after experiencing more that at Surge's side is where he wanted to be.

As of the recent IDW issues, Kit isn't sticking with Surge "because of programming" and "because he just needs for other characters to friend him and turn him into a better person". He is at her side because he wants to be. He protects her and aids her because he cares about her, not just because he's serving the strongest guy in the room. And he's not interacting with others because he's decided not to give a shit about anyone else other than Surge (because from his pov, even the "good guys" are fake. From his pov, everyone is someone trying to lie and manipulate their way into pulling him and Surge to their side)

Kit already has decided what he wants to do with his life. And he decided it on his own. Not because of anyone else's wants or wishes. That's the whole point of his speech at the end of #56.

He's burying whatever his and Surge's past is and moving forward with his conviction to be with Surge because it's what he wants.

[bumblingbabooshka]

B'Elanna, Neelix, Tuvok and Chakotay needed to star in an episode where they just talked about their different beliefs and approaches to spirituality/religion. Paired off and all together. I need to gain more insight. I need characterization and I need it to be messy.