#can’t believe that series became that popular tbh

[anotherpjofan]

Just wanted to say I loved your pjo/avengers one shots on ao3!

Thank you!!

[fictionalmenxyn]

꧁𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠꧂

Pairing: frat!rafe x sorority!reader

Face claim: Sophia Birlem

Warning: drinking

Summary: a party that leaves them thinking. Is this more than a simple football player and coaches daughter?

(Kai is your brother, older by a year and your last name for this maybe series depends if u guys like it. Your last name is Maddens.)

Reader has souther accent/they all do…

(Been into country recently so I am referencing a song in this, so if you don’t like country, think of another song :))

(Also a little author’s note/life update, idk if you’ll read this, but I got into college! Can’t even believe it tbh. It’s nuts! Cause originally I wanted to do sixth form (I’m British btw). But my school couldn’t do it this year. So I went to apply for college and today I officially became a student!! :D)

꧁𖥕𖥕𖥕꧂

It was one of the first frat parties of the summer. Weather was warm and booze kept on flowing.

You were with your friends at the frat house Rafe, Topper, Kelce and Kai. You were grabbing drinks with your friends. Pouring yourself a Malibu and coke into your red solo cup. You grab the sharpie and wrote ‘y/n/n’ . You put the sharpie down, then sipping your drink, you head to the living space.

You and your friends walked over to the makeshift dance floor of the living space. The couches had been pushed back and the coffee table out of the way, making room to dance.

You and your friends danced like there was no tomorrow. And that’s what you lived about you and your friends, you weren’t ashamed to have a good time, unlike most girls in your classes.

The football boys were all playing beer pong. Rafe was sat with Kelce as they both waited their turn to play. Rafe glanced around the place, then he was you. God you looked so good tonight, you did anyways, but tonight felt different. Maybe it’s because you aren’t in jeans or your cheer or soccer clothes. But he didn’t mind what you wore, it was you that he liked.

He sipped his beer and watched you dance with your girlfriend’s care free. He liked that about you. You’ve both hung out multiple times. I mean he’s your brother’s best friend ALSO one of your dad’s star players. He’s talked to you many times, but tonight seemed different.

He smiles a little as he watches you flip your hair side to side as you swing your hips and laugh with your friends. Many guys had their eyes on you tonight, including Rafe.

Kelce broke his thoughts “dude, quit eyeing up Y/n all night, man” “shut it, Kelce.” Kai smirked “dude we know you like my sister, admit it, besides pretty sure she likes ya back… but you didn’t hear shit from me, yeah??”

Rafe smirked.

He glances to you one last time, before taking his turn in beer pong.

Five minutes ago… (your pov)

You laughed with your friends, then Brooklyn tapped your shoulder. She said “hey, Rafe is lookin’ at you again, girl.” You smirked “oh really?” She laughed and nodded. “Give him a show, girly!!” You both laughed as you playfully flipped your hair side to side and swing your hips to the beat. Brooklyn encouraged you even more. So you lightly smack your thighs as you keep your hands there as you sway your hips.

You look over your shoulder to see Rafe now playing beer pong, stealing glances from you every so often. “Girl, he’s so into you, it’s so obvious now…” you shrug her comment off. Why would he be interested in you? He has girls left right and centre… yeah you’re popular and naturally pretty. But girls go it him, isn’t that what he likes? Right…?

After some time, you walk over to the drinks table to grab your third drink. You walk over to the big wooden table that you know has been repaired so many times that you can’t count on your hands anymore. You were about to grab the Malibu bottle when you hear your name. “Y/n!”

You look over your shoulder and smile “Hey Rafe, great party tonight” he grins as he shoves his hands into his jean pockets. “Thanks, glad you came…” you nodded “glad I did, how’s Kai? He’s not wasted yet is he??” He laughs “no, not yet anyways, what about you? How many have you had?” You replied “this will be my third. Been to busy dancing that getting more drinks.”

He chuckled “yeah I saw, you look good tonight.” You laugh and put your hand up, you said lightheartedly “please, spare me your reused white bitch pick up lines.” He laughs. He liked that about you, your humour and the fact you didn’t fall easy. It gets boring to him if you fall easy, that’s why he didn’t have feeling for the hook ups he would have.

He held up the Malibu bottle “here, lemme put you one, as I’m a good host.” You sarcastically laugh “good one, Cameron, you’d be pouring one for everyone if you were a good host.” He laughed back “who says I wanna be a good host to everyone??” “Touché, Cameron.”

He poured the coke, then handed you the solo cup “try that, princess.” You take a sip and hold your thumbs up. He smirked “good?” You nodded “yep, thanks.”

He looked over to the boys for a moment, he saw them move their hands in a usher motion as a silent ‘stay with her’. He playfully rolled his eyes then turns back to you. “Wanna dance?” You smirked “I thought you’d never ask, Cameron.” You stuck your hand out and guide him over to where you were minutes ago…

You held his hand with one of your hands as the other held your drink. You stuck your arm up in the air, while his didn’t pass the top of his head; due to height difference. You smile, tilting your head back as you dance to the rhythm. He smiled down at you. He could get used to this odd feeling he had deep down.

You hear a country song come on, you gasp when you knew what it was. ‘Dirt on my boots’ by Jon Pardi, started to blast through the speakers. You were surprised to hear a country song, but you were happy. You loved this song, Kai knew, so Rafe knew. Maybe he might’ve been in control of the speakers and added this song, just for you…

You sway your hips as you sing out, in your best thick southern accent “give me half an hour, for a shave and shower and I’ll be outside of your house!”

You started to do your own sort of line dancing when you sang your heart out “might have a lil’ dirt on my boots! But I’m takin’ you uptown tonight! Might have a lil’ mud on my wheels! But they’re gonna shine with you up inside!” Thank god you had your black cowboy boots on tonight. Matched your black dress perfectly.

The boys all watched you and Rafe together. Kai smirked, he knew his best friend was falling for his sister. And honestly, he wasn’t mad. Yeah sureee, best friend and sister, some may say is bad. But Kai could definitely see you both as a couple; no doubt about it.

Rafe watched you in awe as you kept line dancing to the chorus “might have a lil’ dirt in my boots!” He chuckled at your carefree attitude. God, he loved it… he loved you.

You smirked as you looked to Rafe. You took off his snapback, pulling it on your head. He didn’t know what to do with himself. It may be a baseball cap, but it was his. And you were in it.

You both continue to dance as the song died down. You smiled “bet you didn’t expect that?!” He laughed “definitely didn’t, princess.”

You both headed over to the drinks table as Rafe wanted to grab another beer. You look around to see your friends are either with their boyfriend or a possible friend or even hook up. You looked back to Rafe “you don’t mind if I stick with you and the guys?” He shook his head “we won’t mind, c’mon” he stuck his hand out, hoping you’d grab his hand.

You intertwined your hands, he could get use to this.

He guides you both through the parts of crowds. Until you got to one of the random couches in the ‘family’ room. Which the frat house turned into a chill sports room to watch football or any other sports they were interested in.

You hug your brother, Kai joked “he been behaving??” You laugh “of course.” He smirked then let you go. Rafe patted the spot on the couch next to him. Then Kai subtly nudged Topper to sit in that spot. You playfully roll your eyes at your brother’s actions, he wasn’t subtly, at all. You were very close to Kai, so he knew you well and you knew him well.

Kai wasn’t really protective, in a certain way. He was if he didn’t know the people you hung out with. But he knew you could handle yourself and carry your own. So he never tried to interfere with your drama, unless he needed. So the ‘thing’ between Rafe and yourself. He knew it was your choice and he’d let you do whatever. But Kai has already gave everyone in the frat house the ‘if you ever get with my sister and break her heart, I’ll break your face’ talk.

You see Topper had got comfy in your, well was, spot. Rafe patted his thigh “come on, you know I don’t bite.” You laugh and shake your head at his comment. You walk over and sit on his lap. He kept a hand on your hip. Not knowing how far you’d let him put his hands on you. So he kept the simple, hand in hip. Subtly way for guys to back off you, also simple ways for Rafe to have you close.

You chatted with most of the boys, Rafe just listened. Your voice was honey to him. And it was perfect that you talked a lot. Not in a rude way, but you lived to socialise with people you knew well. Like the other day. You came over the frat house to drop off something for Kai. Then ended up having a hour and half conversation with Topper about a new movie you both had seen. Or another time where you were sat on the field with the football team. After a training you were talking with them. You loved to talk and you were good at getting people to talk back; even if they were shy. You were a very confident yet comforting person to be with and talk to. You were good at that, which Rafe loved and appreciated.

Before you knew it, it was already half one in the morning. You told your friends you’d meet them out front by one thirty. So you had to go. You hugged the guys and bid your farewells.

As you headed out the house, you met up with your friends. Two of your friends, boyfriends were coming back to your sorority house. So you girls weren’t walking home on your own.

One of the guys said “hey, Y/n? Whose hat is that??” You touched the top of your head. Your tipsy self gasped and covered your mouth for a moment. Your friends all laughed “whose is it??”

“Oh my god, it’s Rafe’s hat, I forgot to give it back.” You laugh.

“Hmm maybe you’ll have to go give it back… oh! Maybe he didn’t tell you on purpose!”

Correct.

“I’ll have to go back tomorrow…”

“Oh yeah you are, we’ll kick you over there otherwise!”

You and your friends all laugh together.

What a great night. And what a great day to come. Hopefully Rafe won’t be too made that you stole his hat… maybe he’s not even mad at all.

Correct.

꧁𖥕𖥕𖥕꧂

Shall I make this a series??? Plz let me know either through ask box or messages, plz and thx, have a good day/night all!! 🫶🫶

[ootahime]

what is utahime’s role in the future? — a prediction (manga spoilers)

part 1 (unedited)

I WAS ABOUT TO POST IT BUT I ACCIDENTALLY DELETED IT AND I WAS SO HURT FR!!!!! I HAD REWRITE THIS ENTIRE THING </33

part 2 is here!

in this post, i will be analyzing the information we’ve been given about utahime so far to form a prediction about her future role in the jujutsu kaisen series. if you’re as interested in utahime’s character as i am, please feel free to keep reading :3 (i’ll also be talking about her relationship with gojo a bit too)

soukatsu_ on twt!

kaikaikitan on twt!

utahime iori is a semi-grade 1 sorcerer working as a student supervisor/teacher at kyoto jujutsu high school. she loves drinking beer and going to karaoke. she’s also close friends with shoko and she’s not particularly fond of gojo most of the time. what else do we know about her?

hates sweets (funny she’s the complete opposite of gojo)

she’s great at singing and it’s a huge part of her technique

squabbling with gojo became a reflex :3

everyone absolutely adores utahime

loves watching soccer and baseball

a terrible drunk (worse than naobito zenin)

gojo is her main source of stress

let’s dive into her personality and abilities!

chapter 65

before i get into it, i think it’d be best if i were to explain the timeline because a lot of people seem to be confused about this one particular thing. utahime is born on february 18th, 1987. contrary to popular belief, she is not 3 years older than gojo. it is november 2018 in the story because gojo was sealed on halloween. if gojo was born on december 7th, 1989, that would mean that right now, he is only 28 years old. he has yet to turn 29.

the year is 2007. gojo satoru is a second year at tokyo jujutsu high school. the japanese school year begins in april which suggests that gojo is only 17 at the time (even if it’s not april, it doesn’t look like winter yet so it’s unlikely that he’s already 18). utahime is 20 because it is past february. she is a 2nd grade sorcerer at the age of 20. that’s not bad at all!

chapter 65 introduces young utahime and mei on a mission together within a cursed site. in real time, they’ve been gone for two days which is a cause of concern for gojo, shoko, and geto because the two haven’t contacted anyone since the beginning of their mission.  the two begin to suspect something is wrong because the hallway markers they’ve set in place disappeared, and no matter how far they travel within the halls, the end is nowhere in sight.  mei theorizes that the cursed spirit is overlapping the space as they travel forward.  utahime agrees with this speculation and proposes a plan to escape the cursed spirit’s grasp by moving erratically.  notice how she says that if one of them should escape, they can try to attack from the outside or call for help.  if utahime was not capable of inflicting damage on anything then she would have told mei to escape and attack if she can while she waited to be rescued.  however, she didn’t.  she included herself in the sentence which leads me to believe that she is capable of going on the offense if needed.  

keep in mind that at this point in time, mei is a grade 1 sorcerer.  she is knowledgeable about all things involving jujutsu because she is experienced and skillful.  we can see this aspect of her character illustrated when she theorizes that the cursed spirit is messing with the space they’re in.  she chooses to go with utahime’s plan because she agrees that it’s the best action moving forward.  this verifies that utahime is an intelligent girl that’s able to get along with pretty much anyone.  

her intellect is demonstrated once again in chapter 79.  she was able to deduce the possibility of there being more than one traitor and the fact that one is probably a higher up.  she also narrowed down the mechamaru as the mole of kyoto not because he was acting suspicious but by process of elimination.  she thought thoroughly of his technique and how easy it would be for him to manipulate devices small enough to be undetectable.  

sure you can argue that she should already know all her students’ abilities and whatnot but you have to admit that it’s hard trying to sniff out the traitor when no one is acting suspicious.  in addition to that, how did she know that there was a traitor in the top brass?  i would have never guessed that tbh LOL (maybe bc im an idiot).

okay, now that we have established that she’s intelligent, let’s answer a more important question.  is utahime weak?

chapter 33

if gojo calls utahime weak, does that mean there is some truth to it?  well it is true that she is weaker than him because he’s the strongest and all.  in my opinion, he’s just teasing her.  he probably found that calling her weak is what really riles her up.  maybe i’ll talk about why he loves teasing her so much in a later post.  but anyway, gojo calls everybody and their mom weak.  he even said jogo was weak and we know how powerful that guy is.  gojo’s words alone do not indicate much about utahime’s power.  in fact, i don’t even think he has seen her use her technique yet.  he’s probably only ever heard of how it works.  this is what i think their conversation about her technique was like:

gojo: hm?  ur cursed technique is singing?  can u show me?

utahime: what!  no way!  

gojo: why not?

*one of the classmates tells him that she can only use her CT once in a while because it consumes a lot of energy*

gojo: hahaha!  u have to conserve cursed energy to use ur CT?  why are u so weak, utahime?

utahime: i!  am!  your!  senpai!  respect!  me!

what i’m trying to say is that gojo loves poking fun of people.  we should not believe him when he calls someone weak because compared to him, everyone is weak.  

this is a little off topic but let’s examine him telling her, “and you don’t have the nerves, utahime.”  i think he’s trying to say that there’s no way she’ll ever do something like that because she’s not the type to put her students in danger.  remember the soft expression and relieved smile on her lips when she said that she was glad the students were safe after the kyoto incident?  gojo was directly in front of her so not only did he hear her say that, but he could have seen the look on her face too.  even if he told her that she didn’t have the guts to betray the school to get on her nerves, he knew that utahime simply cared too much about the students so he ruled her out as a suspect right away.  this is why he ultimately decided to confide in her and ask her to help him.  

i’m a person who loves over-analyzing things.  i really enjoy the dynamic between gojo and utahime.  they’ve known each other for more than 11 years and although they always bicker, there is an unspoken feeling of trust between the two.  gojo can do anything and everything by himself because he is truly the strongest person alive, but he still knows when to rely on others.  him deciding to entrust utahime with such a job implies that he believes in utahime’s abilities.

chapter 52

she’s not using any cursed energy here--not to our knowledge at least.  this is just pure skill.  she was able to swiftly evade the swing from haruta.  he was surprised himself considering the fact that he was right behind her.  how do we know her CT isn’t speed?  after haruta swung at her, we can see that some of her hair got cut off.  if she was using her CT then speed should be her specialty.  she should have been able to completely avoid the attack altogether but she didn’t.  of course this isn’t a wow moment because jujutsu sorcerers should know how to dodge attacks, however, i’m just trying to get the point across that she’s not a defenseless person without her technique or others.  let’s not forget that semi-grade 1 isn’t a weak rank either.  you can’t simply be recommended to be a grade 1 sorcerer if you only can support others.  

chapter 48

i want to bring up this panel. it suggests that utahime and takuma are sorcerers who have not experienced black flash and therefore, do not understand the essence of cursed energy as well as those who have like gojo and nanami.  i find it strange how takuma and utahime were used to represent sorcerers who haven’t experienced it yet.  is the purpose to demonstrate that there is a clear difference in skill between adult sorcerers like utahime and takuma compared to gojo and nanami?  i could be nitpicking but the order of todo’s statement doesn’t line up with the sorcerers being shown.  let me explain in depth.  todo starts off by saying, “for those who have experienced black flash as compared to those who have not...” wouldn’t it make more sense to show gojo and nanami on the right side to represent sorcerers who have experienced black flash?  that was mentioned first, after all.  gojo and nanami should appear when todo says “for those who have experience black flash” while utahime and takuma should be shown right after to personify the second part, “as compared to those who have not.”  i’m just making it more complicated than it actually is LOLOL i’m sure it really just means they haven’t experienced black flash yet, which is completely fine.  i also find it fascinating how they used utahime to contrast gojo.  with nanami and takuma it makes sense.  nanami is someone takuma looks up to, he wants to gain nanami’s approval before he deems himself worthy of a promotion. what about utahime and gojo?  what’s the purpose of comparing those two together when it’s obvious that gojo knows more about the essence of cursed energy more than anyone else?  i might be delusional whoops

----

let me know what you guys think?  this is only a part 1 so i haven’t gotten around to answering the question.  i’m pretty much done with the second part, i just need to revise it a little.  i think after i post part 2, i’ll try to interpret all the gojo and utahime moments in the manga >.<

[nesting-dreams]

Some thoughts, please read the whole thing before commenting if you do end up reading. I just have some feelings to get out. They’re bittersweet yet hopeful feelings. This is kind of about romance, but not at the same time. I don’t usually do semi positive/negative posts. Ok as a ichihime shipper back in the day who was disappointed with how it was written (was also disappointed with poor Uryu being all alone and friendless at the end, but that’s a different topic). Tons of shonen aren’t romance manga but they made the romance at least somewhat believable. Bleach didn’t. Got confirmation on both sides how the other feels for each other from other shonen. Bleach treats it’s main romance like how Yusuke treats Keiko from Yu Yu hakusho. In the manga, the issue is Ichigo having zero romantic thoughts for Orihime at least once and for Rukia is the same for Renji. I thought this was a love square when it first started. While I do like the dynamic idea of Ichigo and Orihime, I actually wasn’t sure who would end up with who. I wasn’t here for the romance tbh. What does annoy me however is if you have an end game romance. At least have the characters on all ends acknowledge it. Anyway, my point here is, I’m glad Kubo admits he’s too lazy to write romance. Could of made the third movie he worked on about Ichigo and Orihime instead of Rukia and Ichigo. Like he straight up admits before the manga finished, he can’t do romance, so he won’t do it in general. (Makes me wonder why bother having romance at all, but at the same time, I have respect for that because he at least has self awareness . Readers shouldn’t be mad over the romance. Disappointed sure, that’s how I felt and still feel now that the anime is being done. At least Kubo admits it. tbh I feel like if ichi ruki was canon, he would of written that romance the same way. He said he never wanted to show any romance of any kind. Just cute moments like those romantic dramas of will they won’t they. Maybe this is a blessing in disguise for ichiruki people?). The naruto creator admitted he finds doing romance hard to do so he was lazy with it at the end of the manga which he probably should of admitted earlier on. He knew there needed to be development romantically so he had the anime naruto team do a movie for it.

Kubo actually had Ichigo acknowledge his feelings in the draft pilot and not the main series. I think that was a mistake. The pilot only really came out everywhere after the series finished and most people know the main series and not the draft pilot.

Also for some reason, Rukia and Ichigo aren’t allowed to be friends anymore now that Orihime and Ichigo get together. It’s awkward like a bad break up when Ichigo is brought up to Rukia in the romance novel that isn’t even romance because there’s no love confession, or actually relationship building. i think bleach is immature when it comes to romance. Like it doesn’t think the audience can handle a maturing relationship between two characters. Like they think young boys are scared of it, but Boys literally watch shojo and they love Komi can’t communicate for what that is, a lot refuse to sexualise Komi and feel very protective towards her character and also the romance in it. They loved the romance in My dress up darling (which started out mature but then fell back on immature romance. Like the vibe totally changed and it suddenly became a harem out of nowhere cuz that wasn’t advertised). Sailor moon is and was popular with both boys and girls.

some shonen that focus isn’t romance but does it justice when it needs too.

Full metal Alchemist (made by woman).

Detective Conan. (Long running manga. Still going. Established the romance straight up first volume where the boy and girl think about liking each other that way. Story is not about romance. It has tons of sweet moments. Kubo could of copied this other manga’s way of doing romance). (Made by man). Trigun (made by man).

Rurouni Kenshin (made by man).

D gray man (made by woman).

Shaman king (made by man).

Labyrinth of magic (Made by woman).

I hope the anime does improve with the plot holes of the manga and I hope kubo realises he should let the anime team do the Ichihime romance that it desperately needs for the development and conclusion. It is not romance, but it would be a mistake to do nothing in your last arc. Also let Ichigo and Rukia be friends. episode 1 looks promising story wise, visual wise the episode has a lot of just blue and orange colours.

Kubo once before wrote a manga called Zombie powder and he got bored and ended that abruptly just like Bleach. That’s twice now he has done this to a series. If he makes a third series, he might do that again, so I guess people should be warned. He’s like a fanfic writer, start out motivated and then just quits abruptly. I’m hopeful for the anime because the anime team is working on it, they won’t abruptly quit and scenes have been added already that weren’t in manga, so I’m curious where this will go. If you are Happy with everything. That’s fine. If you have a hatred for Bleach. That’s also fine. I simply am neither.

[lauras-collection]

beyond being friends | part 1

Harrison Osterfield x Holland!Reader

|| Masterlist || Series Masterlist ||

Summary: What happens when you suddenly realise you’re attracted to your brother’s best friend?

When you and Harrison cross the line between friendship and something more, it makes everything more complicated than the average ‘being more than friends’ relationship. Because he’s your brothers best friend and you’re all living together.

Words: 1.5k

Warnings: mentions of toxic  (ex)friendships, smut in future chapters

A/N: THIS IS NOT A DRILL! It’s finally here! Can you believe it, because i can’t. I hope you like it!

special thanks to @duskholland​ for coming up with the title so i could keep the BBF abbreviation without downright calling it Brother’s Best Friend and being BBF’s biggest fan since the first time i told you about it 🥺

Feedback is always appreciated ❤️

You always thought that when you’d eventually move out, you’d move into a small flat in the city centre or student housing for uni. But you never imagined moving into a house that’s a literal five-minute walk from your parents' house with two of your brothers and their best friend. With Tuwaine moving out because of his new job, a room in Tom’s house became available and since Sam had his own place close to his cookery school, you’d been the first person to be asked to take the room. And you jumped at the opportunity.

You liked to be around your parents and Paddy, but you did crave a bit of the independence your older brothers seemed to have. Granted, Harry and Sam were only minutes older than you, but they never failed to remind you of that. Either way, you were now no longer living with your parents and it filled you with a sense of pride. 

Okay, you didn’t have to pay rent, just part of the additional costs, which was not really part of the typical experience when moving out, but you won’t complain. There has to be a benefit to your brother being an international movie star, right? 

“How do you feel now that you’re the only one living in this house who isn’t a Holland?” Tuwaine asks Harrison who’s leaning against the kitchen island his arms crossed over his chest.

“At this point, he might as well be” Sam interjects before Harrison can even open his mouth. “I swear he spends more time with our family than I do” 

“That’s because you’re too busy becoming the next Gordon Ramsey” Tom teases and nudges Sam’s shoulder. 

“Funny” Sam looks at him with a deadpan expression, you can’t help but snigger. 

“Hey, you’re the one who’s away for the majority of the year” You jump to Sam’s defence. Because if one of the Holland siblings is too busy for anything it’s Tom.

“Fair enough” Tom raises his hands in surrender. 

“How long was it that you’re leaving next time? Six months?” Harrison raises one eyebrow.

“Oh c’mon, it’s only four” Tom rolls his eyes with a chuckle. He’s laughing, but all of you know that he hates being gone from home for so long. That’s why he takes someone with him most of the times. This time, Harry will join him in New York, leaving you and Harrison living alone in the house.

You knew it was going to be rare that all four of you would be staying at the house at the same time, but it was still sad to think about. All of you are family people, you love to be around the people you love. And with Tom’s job sending him all around the world, you didn’t get to see him a lot. 

“I’m gonna miss you guys” You pout and Tom immediately comes over and gives you a hug.

“I’m gonna miss you, too.” Soon you feel another pair of arms wrap around you, without looking you know it’s Harry. And then the other boys join as well and you’re one big pile of people hugging in the middle of the kitchen.

*

“Morning” You mumble as you shuffle into the kitchen where Harrison is currently making himself a tea. He looks at you over his shoulder with a grin and you wonder how someone can have so much energy in the morning.

“Good morning, sunshine” He has to bite back a laugh and you only manage to grumble something unintelligible. You’re not really a morning person. 

Yesterday was as draining as a day of moving can be and then Sam stayed over because he drank a little too much and he kept kicking you during the night. So you’re certain you look like a mess but you don’t care, it’s not like Harrison has never seen you like this before. 

“Tea?” Harrison offers you a mug and you take it from him gratefully.

“Thanks” You let out a sigh as soon as you take the first sip. Harrison makes a mean tea. It’s got the perfect temperature, too.

“Rough first night?” He asks and pours himself a cuppa as well.

You must pull a face because Harrison is looking at you amused again. “Sam kicks in his sleep when he drinks” Both of you move to the table in the dining room. You let yourself fall into one of the chairs. “I swear he woke me up with a kick every five minutes” 

“Sucks to be you” Harrison laughs as you glare at him. You’re just about to give him the finger when a well-rested Sam enters the room. You can’t even react as quickly as he’s got your mug in his hands and drinks your tea.

“Hey! That’s mine!” You attempt to grab the mug from him, but because he’s a little shit he pulls it out of your reach and you’re too tired to fight for it. You watch dumbfounded as he goes back upstairs, with your tea.“I hate you” You call after him and slump down in your chair. 

“Hmm, you love me” Sam calls back. Of course, he’s right, but right now you’re not his biggest fan. You’re about to get up to make yourself another cup but Harrison beats you to it. 

“I’ve got it” 

“You’re already my favourite housemate, you know that?” You call after him and you hear him chuckle. Not long after, another perfect cup of tea is placed in front of you. 

“You’re the best” 

“Hey, what about me?” Harry comes strolling into the living room, his hands placed on his chest in mock offence. 

“You never make me tea in the morning, so you’re not even part of the competition.” 

“I’m wounded, sis” 

“Get over it, bro” Harry sits down next to you and ruffles your already messy hair. You don’t even muster up the energy to complain. Why are your brothers such a pain? Why can’t they be as lovely as Harrison who makes you tea without you even asking for it? 

“You look like shit,” Harry says as he rests his chin on his hand and looks at you.

“Thanks” – you glare at him – “That’s because I didn’t get any sleep because Sam kept kicking me” 

“Brutal” Harry doesn’t sound one bit sympathetic. 

“He’s staying in your room the next time he’s drunk” 

Harrison just watches the two of you with amusement while he sips his tea. 

Sam was right when he said that Harrison might as well be part of your family. For almost ten years he’s been Tom’s best friend now and you couldn’t even really remember what it was like without Harrison in your lives. You’d been twelve the first time he came over and to say you had a little bit of a crush on him would be… accurate. He’d intrigued you. With his blue eyes, blond hair and that little smirk he still had today he’d been the cutest boy you’d ever seen. 

Of course, he’d never seen you like that. What fifteen-year-old boy was interested in his best friend’s little sister? And you eventually grew out of that crush. Your high school friends on the other hand didn’t. And maybe that was why you were no longer interested in him. 

It took you a while to realise that the main reasons they always wanted to hang out at your place were Harrison and Tom. But when you did you felt a little lost. Was the only reason you had friends your brother? Was that all you could offer them? Because as soon as you refused to host any more sleepovers at your place you were quickly disregarded from the group. 

Now, a few years later, you could see that you’d rather have no friends than those girls, but at the time it was hard. The good thing about having four brothers, though, was that you’d never be without friends. Your brothers were your support system. They cheered you up and dragged you along to whatever mischief they were up to. And when Tom’s career took off and your old ‘friends’ tried to reach out to you, you just rolled your eyes. 

You were happy that Tom had found such great friends in Harrison and Tuwaine. Friends who were there for him and not his popularity or fame. Tom was a great judge of character and that was one thing you’d always admired about him. While you were a little naive at times and trusted people blindly, he knew who he could count on. And now, all of you were a tight-knit group of people you wouldn’t give up for the world.

 That’s why you aren’t even the slightest bit worried about living in the house with Harrison for four months. You’re close friends. What is there to worry about other than household chores? Living with him should be plain sailing, right? 

A/N: thank you for reading!!! this part was a little introduction to the story, I promise there’s going to be more happening in part two! I’ve got so much planned for this and I hope you’re as excited for the next 11 parts as i am 😅❤️ 

want to be tagged? you can find the link to my taglist form in my bio

mutuals that might be interested (I’m just gonna tag you for this first part): @terrifictomholland​ @stuckonspidey​ @selfcarecap​

everything taglist: @spidermanlondon​ // @averyfosterthoughts​ // @duskholland​ // @tutuabby28​ // @missevrythingg​ // @in-a-lot-of-fandoms-tbh​ // @thenoddingbunny-blog​ // @emilykjh​ // @clara-licht​ // @hollandfanficlove​ // @calltothewild​ // @crybabyalexxx​ // @hazardosterfield​ // @calsthomas​ // @quaksonhehe​ // @geminiparkers​ // @thirzaholland // @tombrina​ // @outshineallthestars​ // @serendipitous-amor​ // @soincredible​ // @trustfundparker​ // @localfangirlx​ // @writertoo18​ // @r3ader // @viagracex​ // @skamlover200​ // @wonderlandfandomkingdom​ // @wehavetomakeourheartssitstill​ // @thearchersupremacy​ // @itstaskeen​ // @camimndess​ // @allyz​ // @technosoot​ // @fanficscuziranout​ // @parker-hollandx​ // @givebuckyhisplumsnow​ // @dangerouslovefanfic​ // @ertherealrose​ // @i-married-a-pineapple​ // @miraclesoflove​ // @bi-girlwrites-2000​ // @seasidetom​ // @katcontrreras​ // * @determined-overthinker​ * // @fallingforfics​ // @destinedbooklover // @parkerpeter24​

bbf taglist: @m-a-r-i-n-t​ // @mrs-hollandstan​ // @unicorn-princess-1999​ // @mimisparkle12​ // @bearsbeetsbarnes​ // @annathesillyfriend​ // @sydsquibbles​ // @vapingisntmything​ // @littlebookbengal​ // @quethekillerqueen​ // @love-makes-all-things-beautiful // @swiftmind​ // @pearly-pisces​ //

harrison osterfield taglist: @hjoficrecs​ // @lolychu​ // @hazardosterfield​ // @hollandbroz-n-haz​

series taglist: @softholand​ // @svturtles​ // @cloverrover​

[animeomegas]

Currently thirsting over Shouta Aizawa a bit lol.

My top 4 favorite Naruto characters;

🍥 Naruto🍥 (How could I not love him? My bby ain't perfect but he's a delight ✪ ω ✪ He's so freaking depressing in Boruto so I'm just gonna continue ignoring that series existence 😂)

🍅 Sasuke 🍅 (He deserves better! This traumatized boy deals with so much and is so misunderstood (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻)

🤍 Neji 🤍 (He deserved better!!! (honestly a lot of Naruto characters deserved better than what Kishi gave them) He was another abused character done dirty like Sasuke because he was painted like an antagonist 😤 Anyway, definitely had a crush on him back in my younger days and was devastated by his BS death)

🐬 Iruka 🐬 (How could I not love Naruto's adoptive dad/older brother? Their relationship gives me such fluffy feelings. And this dude is good with kids. I'd thirst over him if he were real tbh)

Naruto characters I find overrated;

Hinata (Good Lord I do not like her. Without all that anime filler, that filler movie and the studio's bias for her, she wouldn't be so popular. She's barely in the manga!! lmao)

Oof, Aizawa is a common one to thirst over if the sheer amount of fan works for him are to be trusted. I absolutely vibe with his hair tbh, I love long dark hair and it looks so soft and easy to pull . I prefer clean shaven men personally, and I don't really like muscles that much, so he's not my type, but I fully respect your thirsting! He's a solid choice ;)

Naruto is a sweetheart! He's (somewhat ironically) overlooked when it comes to favourite characters in a similar way that few people would claim their favourite harry potter character to be harry potter. I really don't like his character in Boruto 🤮, but proper Naruto is so good. I think he's the sort of person who always tries his best and he's so earnest and just needs some love and affection!

Sasuke is a very misrepresented character, I agree, and I think that problem stems from canon, actually. Sasuke had a point, he had more than a point actually, he had an army of points to justify his behaviour, and I don't agree with canon painting him as a villain for blaming the country that slaughtered his entire family and forced his brother to traumatise and abandon him. The village then did nothing to help him. I'd have wanted to burn the whole place to the ground too. Sasuke is so traumatised it's unbelievable and people forget the extent of it sometimes, I think. I really want to wrap him in a blanket and protect him from everything. Sasuke is unapologetically one of my favourites.

Neji's arc ended too soon! :'( You're totally right about him being painted as a villain because of his justified response to trauma, just like Sasuke. I really didn't like Hiashi getting redeemed, it made me so angry honestly. I just want Neji to be happy and relaxed...

Iruka is my favourite character, so I may be biased, but I think you have great taste ;) This man cares about children so much that he actually pushes some of the country wide conditioning back to object to putting kids on duty too soon, even though it's perfectly normal in his society. This man knows himself and he's so friendly and caring and a huge worry wort and mother hen. And the way Mizuki betrayed him! They were childhood friends! Mizuki helped Iruka get over his parents death, but when Mizuki got jealous, he used Iruka to gain the trust of the Hokage while secretly making Iruka as miserable as he could! This made me so mad! I wanted to strangle Mizuki so much, I can't even tell you. And Iruka, he protects the innocent child who houses the thing that killed his parents against his childhood best friend. He's so pure, he's so good, and I want him to be loved and cherished by me and kept safe by me and adored forever by me.

I think your favourite characters are 10/10, fantastic choices, anon!

As far as with Hinata, hmm, I'm torn. I like her as a character, and I think her arc is very interesting, but I don't really like the way they took her and married her off to Naruto. But, the same could be said for many other characters in Naruto if we go by their canon arcs only, rather than their potential too. So much more could have been done with her. She should have become an incredibly strong clan leader who overhauls the clan in her cousin's honour, who stops anyone else having to suffer like he suffered. Her arc should have been about understanding herself and believing in her own power more than it was. And I'm not a fan of Naruto x Hinata, I think they would make amazing friends, but I would have liked to see Hinata end the war single, choosing to focus on reforming the clan before moving on with her personal affairs. And I think Naruto had a lot more chemistry with Neji than Hinata, so it always felt a bit weird that he ended up with Neji's cousin, personally.

I think Kishi's prejudices slipped through so much in his writing and it ruined a lot of potential. I mean, the female characters so 2d in a lot of ways, and the amount of them who became housewives is so unrealistic. The way the whole story seemed to be set up to show the weaknesses in the shinobi system and how Naruto would be the one to change things, but then... nothing really did change... Naruto just perpetuated a lot of the stuff from before, and I really think that Kishi just didn't think about it because of his own opinions on power of the state. So, I always take into account how that affected the characters. And Hinata was definitely impacted.

I don't know, it's so complicated, but I can see why you think Hinata is overrated. I think she had a good bit of potential, but she was ruined somewhat like so many other characters. At her core though, I still like her, but I do agree how weird it is for her to rank so high in popularity polls when she's barely in the main story.

[petork]

-105 please

NB i am told this was meant to say 1-50

thanks queen <3 here we go

1. Who is your favourite ghost?

lately? it's been kitty. and i'm contractually obligated to love the captain

2. If you could see the ghosts like Alison, which one do you think would come the closest to making you want to leave the house?

the obvious answer is julian but probably actually robin, i HATE being spooked (as the asker can attest xx)

3. How would you feel if you couldn’t see the ghosts, but knew they were there, like Mike?

i'd feel mad jealous even though i'd actually have it pretty good. the other person would be trying so hard to tell me how much it sucks and i'd just be like 'but... goast.....'

4. Would you want to see ghosts like Alison, or would you rather be ignorant to their goings and doings?

again my immediate answer is I WANNA SEE THEM but i also know that might suck in many ways. at least for a while. i am not a patient person so i don't know if i could learn to live with them like alison could. but on the other hand... the chance to actually talk to people from the fucking actual past... thinking emoji!

5. If you were a ghost living in the house, would you rather be upstairs with the main nine ghosts, or downstairs with the plague ghosts?

upstairs for sure, sorry to the plague ghosts but i do not want to hang out in a basement for eternity

6. If you were someone who died in the house would you rather be “sucked off” immediately, or would you like to hang around a bit and get to know some of the other ghosts before getting “sucked off”?

i would probably just end up staying forever because i'm scared of the void of death.... <3

7. Which ghost would you miss the most if they were “sucked off” in the next series?

UNBELIEVABLE question? i'd miss ALL OF THEM. but see question 1 also

8. Which ghost do you think you’d get along with the best?

it's hard to say. i think they would all get on my nerves because as said i am not very patient. but the one who would irritate me LEAST... maybe pat?

9. Which ghost would you say you’re most like?

captain. not to be a cliche but i'm gay and repressed. and also irritable and grumpy

10. Which ghost would you say you’re least like?

JULIAN

11. What is a (popular or not) fan theory that you love?

(pasted from prev answer) i don’t actually like ship it because he’s definitely older than her, but a couple of people have said kitty sometimes acts like she has a crush on thomas. which is cute to me even if she does need to get better taste (love u kitty xxx)

12. What is a (popular or not) fan theory that you don’t quite agree with?

(pasted from prev answer) not so much a specific theory but i disagree with the general idea that anything of consequence went on with the captain and havers. i think it was meant to come across as just a snippet of the captain’s poor sad gay life and, as several brain geniuses have pointed out, due to the timing of germany invading france + the captain’s medals the flashback must have been from a good few years BEFORE he died. and i think the flashback was the last time they ever saw each other, so i don’t think that a) havers has any link to the captain’s eventual death or 2) anything romantic ever happened between them

13. Favourite ship and why?

captain x my cute oc boyfriend because i've tailored it to my exact needs. why ship retail when you can ship bespoke?

14. Least favourite ship and why? (Please be nice though!)

patcap as we all know. like YES i'm a contrary bitch so i don't like things that are popular and i do think i'm better than everyone else... but really idk why exactly i just don't gel with it at all. and when i've tried to read fic in the past it feels to me like their characters are kind of flattened. and i think the captain is too much of a bitch. and i think pat is serving us normie heterosexual. it's the 'cinnamon roll' ship of this fandom and i can't STAND (metaphorical) cinnamon rolls. AND ALSO pat is not the simple soft dad cinnamon roll fandom often makes him out to be! like he is a very nice person but he's also fucked up and insane like all of them. anyway my brain charges extremely low rents

15. If you could go back in time and live in the house/on the property at the same time as one of the ghosts when they were alive, who would you pick?

captain. need to know wtf's going on with him

16. Would you rather inherit the house (and its ghostly inhabitants), or just visit?

realistically... visit. i think i would lose my mind eventually if i lived there

17. Do you think we’ll ever know how every ghost died? Do you think there will be anyone whose death we’ll never learn about?

i hope we do, but i also appreciate that isn't the sole point of the series, otherwise it would be kinda boring and discovering how they died wouldn't be as impactful. if there's anyone's death we don't find out about, i think it would probably be robin? lol what if it was so long ago he just forgot

18. What is your favourite Ghosts fanfiction?

so i'm stupid and i never use bookmarks on ao3..... i've read a LOT of different fics i like but do you think i can revisit them? no! because i'm stupid! so i cannot fairly pick an absolute fave sorry

19. What is your favourite Ghosts fan art?

THIS <3

all the babies and children on here talk about horrible histories the show being 'their childhood'........ put some respect on terry deary's name. and this artist did!

20. Tag 5 favourite Ghosts fandom content creators!

honestly i'm not good with like. knowing people. but here are 5 fanfics i've enjoyed (based on the author's replies in my inbox because, again, i am too stupid to use bookmarks)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/28287567

https://archiveofourown.org/works/29868645

https://archiveofourown.org/works/28653192

https://archiveofourown.org/works/28067277/chapters/68761830

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26957662/chapters/65795407

21. Are there any historical periods you wish we’d have gotten to see a ghost/ghosts from but didn’t?

(pasted from other post) not to be predictable but i would have liked to see a 1960s ghost. like a mod who crashed his scooter or something. we have enough 20th century ghosts though but i believe the us remake has some kind of hippie ghost…

22. What is something you’re hoping to see in a future series?

flashback to the captain getting some. like implied or whatever. i can't cope with him dying a virgin. he needs this

23. What is something you’re hoping to see in a future series, but know we probably WON’T get to see?

(pasted from other post) alison meets someone else who can see ghosts, and we get to see the ghosts at THEIR house…. i always love it when we see extra ghosts but i know they probably won’t make any recurring because it would come off as running out of ideas. but i still think they should add a 90s teenager named roy

24. Which lesser-seen characters would you like to see more of in future series?

tbh there's none i can think of that i think we should SEE more of, they get a pretty good balance. there are some i definitely want to learn more about though

25. Are there any characters you wish we’d see less?

don't make me pick a least favourite child </3 but also i think thomas could probably tone it down a bit.

26. Favourite one-liner?

I'LL WAIT FOR YOU, MY COMELY NUG - me whenever i order chicken nuggets on just eat

27. Favourite episode?

DON'T EVEN... i like 2x06 and 3x05 a lot

28. Top 5 headcanons for [insert character name here]?

i'm going to do the captain because obviously i am

- he may or may not have been lavender married

- he may or may not have had a drinking problem

- public schoolboy with domineering father, clearly

- IF he had a lavender wife then she spent all her time in the company of her 'odd' female friend who wore men's clothes, smoked cigars and drove a motorbike. the captain was obviously clueless

that's 4 so a cheeky one for fanny:

- she did a lot of medicinal coke

29. Whose costume is your favourite?

kitty. gotta love an ott ballgown

30. Whose costume is your least favourite?

that's an offtopic question. you have been stopped.

31. If you could do a complete redesign of one of the ghosts’ costumes, whose would you change and how?

i would give thomas his double denim

32. If you could play any of the existing ghosts, which one would you want to play and why?

i think i'd be good at playing mary. meek weird girl who says things that don't make any sense? omg she is LITERALLY me

33. Which ghost would you least like to play and why?

julian, i'm not getting my pussy out

34. What one thing would you miss most if you became a ghost and had to live by the same rules as the Button House ghosts?

FOOD. food. eating and food.

35. How do you think one or more of the ghosts whose deaths we haven’t seen died? Or, if we know the cause of death but not the reason for the death (like Mary being burned as a witch or Humphrey being beheaded), why do you think they were killed?

i think mary's execution might have had something to do with her husband's death and her being unfairly accused or something. also like, she just acts kinda weird, and we know how that often played out for women back then...

and i think the captain died in some really boring mundane natural causes way (congenital heart attack or something) but he's stuck around because a) he's never come to terms with the whole h*mo thing and 2) he was just really mad that he died so boringly

36. Favourite [insert character name here] moment?

CAPTAIN GETTING KITTY TO SMILE

37. What do you think [insert character name here] was like when they were alive? Do you think they were exactly the same as they are now, or do you think there were any major or minor differences?

ok i'll do fanny for this one. i think she was less domineering when she was alive, in death she clearly thinks of herself as above the other ghosts and bosses them around, and when she talks shit about george it's not like he can get back at her in any way. but it would be interesting to see how they interacted when both were alive

38. It’s your turn to pick a movie for film club! What are you watching?

(from prev post) i haven’t seen any movies errr….. maybe austin powers because it’s so sad that julian died just a few years before it came out because he would love it and get really annoying about quoting it all the time and it would be really funny for the captain (who thought the movie was unironic) to have to deal with that. and fanny would NOT COPE.

39. Would you rather share a room with Thomas (constantly sighing and reciting bad poetry) or Fanny (falls out of the window screaming every night)?

fanny. men be quiet challenge

40. If you could do some kind of historical swap (i.e. place a ghost in a different period from their own), who would you choose and what period are they from now?

i would like to give kitty the chance to be a 20th or 21st century girl. maybe an era like the 60s or 80s that was known for daring fashions, i think she would luv it

41. Let’s settle this once and for all. Who’s the real leader, the Captain or Pat?

fanny

42. If the ghosts could eat, what is one food you would like to share with them that they might not have tried before?

doritos tangy cheese, mountain dew baja blast, 4loko. i would make thomas try a jalapeno. i would also make them try my cooking experiments because i do that to anyone i live with

43. You’ve heard rumours of a tenth upstairs ghost who doesn’t often venture out of their room to visit with the other residents of the house. Who are they? (i.e. make up a ghost OC. I know i’m putting you on the spot. I just want to see what you come up with.)

it's george button and his bitch ass is too scared of his wife to come down. his downfall comes when he finds out there's another gay ghost and simply has to clap them cheeks (he fails)

44. Tell me a song you think [insert character name here] would like, or a song that reminds you of them!

i think alison's probably already introduced him to them but thomas + anything by the smiths. i would also make the captain sit quietly and listen to a tracy chapman cd (for my lover...)

45. What song(s) do you think would annoy certain ghosts the most?

the smiths would annoy everyone except thomas. literally they'd all be trying to re-kill him

46. Who is one actor you’d love to see guest star? What kind of character would you like to see them play?

steve coogan as like. anyone. preferably a ghost. a roman centurion ghost if you wanna get cultural. but seriously i just want alan

47. If you could have one Horrible Histories song in Ghosts (either sung by a ghost/ghosts, or playing on the TV or computer for them to watch), which one would you want it to be and why?

that song about how no 'british' stuff is actually british. like tea. i want julian to melt down

48. What do you think the ghosts’ jobs would be in a modern living-human AU where they’re all just chaotic housemates?

captain & kitty: have their own wedding planning company

julian: still a politician but instead of an mp he's like a parish councillor. handforth antics

fanny: headteacher

robin: cool off the shits teacher at same school who undermines fanny wherever possible. deals weed to students

mary: runs a shop selling like healing crystals and incense and dreamcatchers

humphrey: customer service supervisor who actually likes his job because he takes no shit and just fucks with every single customer

thomas: unemployed podcaster

pat: dogwalker

49. What is one modern invention you think [insert character name here] would be surprised or confused by?

fanny would be so baffled by any Feminine Products. when she discovers tampons it's all she can talk about for a week. the mooncup made her go into a coma

50. Name an AU you haven’t seen someone create content for, but which you’d love to read a fic or see some art for.

not to be the way i am but i'd love if anyone ever drew art or something about my au which is a modern-day au where fanny and captain are alison and kitty's divorced parents, julian and robin are captain's brothers and alison's wack uncles, mary is their childhood nanny, thomas is a student lodger at button house, humphrey is a cat and pat is just some guy. but yeah in the past i've had a couple of anons on here mention it and i did melt into a puddle... i think if someone did art i'd explode and die. in a good way like

[spaceorphan18]

SpaceOrphan vs Glee Season 3

for @yesandmusicals who wanted to know

Yes, let’s talk about my dislike of season 3, because that’s always fun!

So, first of all, I want to say for the record, I actually don’t believe Glee was ever that well written.  I’m not one to bash RIB (though I have issues with them), but I think the novelty of the show, coupled with the great music, good performances from the cast, and some fun things within production, made this show memorable.  And, in the beginning, it had Jane Lynch delivering some dark and edgy comedy, which people were fascinated by.  

But were season 1′s plotlines all that good?  There’s a fake baby, and standard teen drama, and Will going through some kind of weird mid-life crises at 29, and most of the interesting characters were really in the background for most of season 1. 

And then season 2 happened and... I don’t think it’s that great?  You’ll have to forgive me - cause I’m a Kurt/(Blaine)/Klaine fan - and I do think Kurt’s story in the first two seasons is best this show ever is as a whole, but I think a lot of season 2 was a mess, and kind of coasted on being popular.    Season 2 became big and flashy and everyone loved it until they didn’t anymore.  The show really had a quick shelf life, and looking back, it’s kind of surprising the show made it all the way to six seasons.  

(I actually really enjoy season 4-6, so I’m glad they stuck it out.)

Anyway -- by the time season 3 came around, the burnout was real, and they brought in new writers (who I don’t think helped much) -- and the show was now trying to service so many characters that most of the (terrible) plot lines they had were stretched way too thin -- with the exception of the Finchel story line that went in circles cause they were waiting for the inevitable conclusion to happen in season 4.  

To be more concise, though, here is a list of reasons why season 3 is my least favorite:

The aforementioned big cast of characters who got episodes devoted to them instead of the long arcs that seasons 1 and 2 gave the characters.  This made the season feel disjointed and messy, and no one got a satisfactory amount of screen time.  

On top of that -- they were backed into dealing with The Glee Project, and while Unique and (arguably) Joe were decent characters, Rory was not. He felt like the most pointless character to ever waste time on.

The season is broken up into three segments (1-8; 9-14; 15-22; sectionals, regionals, and nationals) and while this structure is all fine and dandy on paper, the plot lines for the first and third segments were terrible.  (I don’t necessarily mind episodes 9-18 plus The First Time, but the beginning and the end of this season just kinda sucked.)

In the first third -- we have possibly the worst story lines of the series.  I don’t think Santana’s coming out was done very well.  No one cared about Sue and Beiste in a love triangle.  The student elections just were weird.  And then there was Shelby and Puck -- and I can’t say how much I HATE that story line, because it leads to some of the worst moments the show has.  People often don’t even think about Puck that much, so this isn’t talked about very often -- but even beyond the grossness of a teacher/student relationship, how Puck treats her is truly one of the most disgusting displays of a relationship on this show.

There was the issue that they literally did not know what to do with Quinn so they made her crazy, and then hit her with a truck.  I’m not even a Quinn fan but, good god.  

The last third was marred by the fact that Rachel Berry was given everything on a silver platter and I wasn’t here for the -- give Rachel everything show.  I don’t hate Rachel, she was a great character in season 1.  She’s a great character later on in the series.  But the writing around her character, especially at the expense of many other characters, became grating -- especially in episodes like Promasaurus and Props.

One of the by products of season 2 was that Hummelberry became a thing, and instead of understanding that Kurt worked just fine as his own character, they now had to tie Kurt in with Rachel, their stories became paralleled, her issues became his issues, and he became her emotional prop of a sidekick.  

Which also made Finchel and Klaine stories become paralleled a lot (glee loves parallels, and it used to parallel Wemma with Finchel - which makes more sense, tbh.) 

Because Kurt was relegated to sidekick for Rachel, Blaine ended up being relegated jukebox singer, with little to no development outside his one episode and the rare Klaine story line.  

I think they mishandled some of the bigger social commentary stories.  The Kurt/Bullying storyline resonated with a lot of people, so suddenly Glee felt the need to go address all the issues facing (young?) people and it ended up doing a 180 from its darker roots.  And thus we get an awkward Santana coming out story that focuses more on Finn; Karofsky’s suicide attempt in a tonally disjointed episode, and Beiste’s spousal abuse story line - which is... what?  

Also, let’s not forget that Sue being pregnant for half the season is indeed a story line.  

The competitions I think were pretty bland, since it was already telegraphed that they were going to win Nationals because they lost the year before -- and half the cast is graduating.  The show outgrew it’s original premise of underdogs trying to win a competition, and while the writers clearly needed these posts for their structure, the character arcs were far more interesting than the weak aspect of competition. 

And then, of course, the whole issue with the Tongue Tied scene during Nationals, which yes does annoy me about the lack of Klaine kiss (the fact that the writers didn’t even think that Kurt and Blaine should celebrate together tells me that it’s more than just censorship) but more so the fact that Emma gives her virginity away as trophy for Will that disgusts me more. 

As for the censorship thing, while I think there might have been some, I think it’s more so that the writers couldn’t focus on any one character for any length of time, and Klaine in the background was not Tike in the background.  And in comparison, when Finchel is getting all the foreground, fighting for scraps made it difficult to watch everything else.  Not helping is the fact that Darren was doing movies and musicals, and wasn’t around for a bit that also added to lack of screen time.  

Oh, and Finchel had an argument over chairs.  I don’t actually hate the scene, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention it.  

Did I forget anything? 

And I know, I know - damn, S.O. that’s a lot.  Believe it or not, there are some good things (COOPER!) about season 3, I don’t hate it to the point where I can’t watch it or anything, and all the rest of the seasons have a ton of flaws as well, but unlike every other season, the high points don’t outweigh the “meh”-ness that this season unfortunately suffers from, hence me liking it the least. 

...and now you know the rest of the story.  

[astudyinfreewill]

tbh i get queer fans being mad/sad about kavinsky being killed off in that yeah, bury your guys can always be upsetting no matter the character. but it's weird to me when people go the 'he didn't DESERVE it blah blah' route because like, that has nothing to do with the trope. like i agree with queer characters always getting killed off being exhausting, but i don't get people going hard for this particular character lmao

hmm i… sort of agree. i guess i can understand fans being sad about kavinsky being killed off if they empathise with him, even though personally i just… can’t imagine relating to a character like that. but i honestly, genuinely don’t believe he’s an example of Bury Your Gays. it would be BYG if kavinsky was the only queer rep in the books, or even he killed himself specifically for being gay… which, no matter what people argue, he didn’t. but rather than give my opinion on it, i’m gonna take this chance to go through the trope systematically and explain why the shoe doesn’t fit. it’s meta time!

Why Kavinsky Dying is Not “Bury Your Gays”

[All quotes are taken directly from TvTropes, though the emphasis is mine.]

The Bury Your Gays trope in media, including all its variants, is a homophobic cliché. It is the presentation of deaths of LGBT characters where these characters are nominally able to be viewed as more expendable than their heteronormative counterparts. In this way, the death is treated as exceptional in its circumstances. In aggregate, queer characters are more likely to die than straight characters. Indeed, it may be because they seem to have less purpose compared to straight characters, or that the supposed natural conclusion of their story is an early death.

Kavinsky is never viewed as “more expendable than his heteronormative counterparts”. If you see Kavinsky as simply Ronan’s foil, then the reasoning doesn’t apply, because Ronan is gay himself, so he can’t be a “heteronormative counterpart”. However, Kavinsky apologists like to latch on to Gansey’s “We matter” quote to prove Kavinsky is treated as unimportant – but that’s a fallacy for several reasons. First, you’re taking Gansey to speak for the author, or for objective truth, when Gansey is one of the most unreliable narrators in the book, and his world view is extremely biased. Secondly, Gansey isn’t Kavinsky’s counterpart. Kavinsky is an antagonist, so you have to look at what happens to the other antagonists – his actual heteronormative counterparts. And, well: they pretty much ALL get killed off. Not just that, but they often get killed off in a way that does not have the emotional/narrative impact implied in Kavinsky’s death. By that reckoning, he gets the better shake. Additionally, we get 4 heteronormative villains killed off - Whelk, Neeve, Colin, and Piper. So in the series, queer characters are not more likely to die than straight characters (even among the protagonists, Gansey and Noah are the ones who “die”, where Ronan and Adam do not).

The reasons for this trope have evolved somewhat over the years. For a good while, it was because the Depraved Homosexual trope and its ilk pretty much limited portrayals of explicitly gay characters to villainous characters, or at least characters who weren’t given much respect by the narrative. This, conversely, meant that most of them would either die or be punished by the end. 

This is not applicable to TRC, as portrayals of explicitly queer characters are not limited to villainous characters; Adam and Ronan are both explicitly queer and they are treated with huge amounts of respect by the narrative. So Kavinsky isn’t being killed for being the odd one out/the Token Evil Queer; plus, there are other reasons why he doesn’t fit the Depraved Homosexual trope (while sexual molestation is a part of this trope, TVTropes encourages you to “think of whether he’d be any different if he wasn’t gay” – and Kavinsky wouldn’t. Not only because DHs are usually extremely camp while Kavinsky’s mannerisms aren’t particularly queer-coded, but also because he is not shown to have any more respect for women than he does for men, and his abuse would look the same if he was straight).

However, as sensitivity to gay people became more mainstream, this evolved into a sort of Rule-Abiding Rebel “love the sinner, hate the sin” attitude. You could have sympathetic queer characters, but they would still usually be “punished” for their queerness in some way so as to not anger more homophobic audiences, similar to how one might write a sympathetic drug addict but still show their addiction in a poor light. 

Again: Neither Ronan nor Adam – the two sympathetic queer characters – are punished for being queer, hence subverting this form of the trope.

This then transitioned into the Too Good for This Sinful Earth narrative, where stories would tackle the subject of homophobia and then depict LGBT characters as suffering victims who die tragic deaths from an uncaring world. The AIDS crisis also contributed to this narrative, as the Tragic AIDS Story became its own archetype, popularized by films like Philadelphia. 

Okay, this is DEFINITELY not Kavinsky’s case. Kavinsky’s death isn’t specifically connected to being gay (e.g.: a hate crime or an STD), and he’s never depicted as some innocent suffering victim. As for the “uncaring world”… eh. Kavinsky may not have a valid support system, but that’s just as much by choice as by chance - and when Ronan extends a helping hand and tries to save him, Kavinsky rejects it. Too Good For This Sinful Earth is definitely not in play. 

The only trope that kind of fits the bill is Gayngst-Induced Suicide… but only on the surface. As TVTrope puts it, Gayngst-Induced Suicide is “when LGBT characters are Driven to Suicide because of their sexuality, either because of internalized homophobia (hating themselves) or experiencing a miserable life because of their “deviant” gender or sexuality: having to hide who they are, not finding a stable relationship, homophobia from other parties, etc.”. Kavinsky certainly has quite a bit of internalized homophobia, but he is absolutely not experiencing a miserable life because of his sexuality – i.e. he’s not being bullied or taunted or subejcted to hate crimes. He doesn’t have to hide who he is: his parents are effectively out of the picture, his cronies worship him, and he constantly makes gay jokes to Ronan and Gansey. As for “not finding a stable relationship”… well that’s not exactly the problem, is it. He’s not looking for a stable relationship – he’s pursuing Ronan specifically, obsessively, through stalking and abuse. So even this trope is not applicable. 

And then there are the cases of But Not Too Gay or the Bait-and-Switch Lesbians, where creators manage to get the romance going but quickly avoid showing it in detail by killing off one of the relevant characters. 

Once again this is not the case with Kavinsky, as 1) there was no romance going between him and Ronan, and 2) he is not killed off before the nature of his obsession with Ronan is revealed – he gets the chance to both admit (sort of) he wants Ronan, and to confront Ronan about his sexuality, to which Ronan admits that yes, he is gay, but he is not interested in Kavinsky. So, there is no But Not Too Gay nor any Bait-and-Switch here. 

Also known as Dead Lesbian Syndrome, though that name has largely fallen out of use post-2015 and the media riots about overuse of the trope. And, as this public outcry restated, the problem isn’t merely that gay characters are killed off: the problem is the tendency that gay characters are killed off in a story full of mostly straight characters, or when the characters are killed off because they are gay.

This is a very good definition of the trope and why it doesn’t apply to Kavinsky: he’s not killed off because he’s gay, and he’s not killed off in a story full of mostly straight characters; TRC is definitely not overwhelmingly diverse, but 2 of the 4 protagonists are queer, giving us a solid 50% ratio (I’m not counting Noah because his “character” status is vague, and I’m not counting Henry because he came in so late, and also because his sexuality is the matter of much speculation).

For a comparison that will make it even clearer: take a show like Supernatural. Supernatural’s range of characters is almost entirely presented as straight white cis men (as of canon – despite much of the fandom’s hopes and speculation). They’ve had problems with diversity in general, with a lot of black characters dying immediately, and a lot of women getting fridged for plot advancement or male angst (a different problematic trope altogether). Now, apart from minor inconsequential cameos, Supernatural had ONE recurring gay character: Charlie Bradbury. And they killed her off for no discernible reason other than plot advancement and male angst, in a context that had elements of Too Good For This Sinful Earth (Charlie being a fan-favourite, ~pure cinnamon roll~, being killed by actual nazis, who historically targeted gay people). See, THAT was Bury Your Gays, AND Dead Lesbian Syndrome, AND Fridging…

However, sometimes gay characters die in fiction because, well, sometimes people die. There are many Anyone Can Die stories: barring explicit differences in the treatments of the gay and straight deaths in these, it’s not odd that the gay characters are dying. The occasional death of one in a Cast Full of Gay is unlikely to be notable, either.

…But that is not the case with TRC. As I’ve said above, there are no explicit differences in the treatments of the gay and straight villain deaths. Kavinsky’s death is not Bury Your Gays; it’s Anyone Can Die – even a protagonist’s foil who has magic powers and is present for most of the book.

Believe me, I would not be cavalier about this. As you rightly said, queer characters always getting killed off is exhausting, and as a bi woman myself, I am deeply affected by instances of Bury Your Gays. When Supernatural killed off Charlie, I wrote a novel-length fix-it fic and basically stopped watching the show – a show I had been following, flaws and all, for 10 years. I don’t take it lightly. But Kavinsky’s death isn’t Bury Your Gays, nor is it homophobia. Sometimes, a character death is just a character death.

[rutilation]

Listen, they’re not evil. They just lack empathy, and go into a dissociative state and commit atrocities.

As much as it pains me to do so, I’m going to start off by talking about the bastard himself.  I must say, believing that rage and misery is the inevitable endpoint of a person’s life is an awfully convenient belief for Aechmea to hold when his plan would end all sentient life as collateral damage. If all your victims are better off dead anyway, then your actions don’t warrant any guilt!

There’s a little moment in chapter 67 that has always stuck out to me as being representative of Aechmea’s character, and I think it’s especially relevant to this chapter. It’s the part in which Cairngorm is trying to argue that it’s in Aechmea’s best interest to keep Phos as mentally stable as possible since they’re his staunchest ally amongst the gems. My reaction upon reading that line was that their appraisal of Aechmea’s intentions was very naïve.  To the contrary, the more unstable Phos becomes, the easier it is for Aechmea to manipulate them.  At this point in the narrative, Phos is no longer carefully treading through negotiations with Aechmea, as they were in volume eight and the beginning of volume nine; they’re now doing exactly what he wants, with gusto, and no thought to the long term consequences.  This is entirely deliberate on Aechmea’s part, and indeed, in the very same chapter that Cairngorm brought this up, Aechmea pulled the same trick on them.  He made Cairn feel cornered and desperate, presented himself as the sole solution to their problem, and thus Cairn went from being deeply suspicious of Aechmea to…still being deeply suspicious of Aechmea, tbh, but burying it under an ironclad sense of denial.  This chapter even contains a callback to chapter 67:  Both here and there, Phos/Cairn is broken and despondent, Aechmea is looming over them, and they reach out to weakly cling to his hand.

He asks Barbata to “handle” Phos’s memories of the past two hundred years.  That’s an ambiguous line if I’ve ever heard one.  Correct me if I’m wrong, but Phos shouldn’t have memories of the past two hundred years, right?  I’m not sure if this is implying that he wants Barbata to implant false memories within Phos of the past two hundred twenty years, or—heaven forbid—if he’s implying that Phos actually has memories of the timeskip, and that he wants Barbata to make sure Phos doesn’t lose any of them.  If it’s the latter, that would suggest that Phos has, somehow, been conscious this whole time (holy shit,) and that Aechmea doesn’t want Phos to be able to move past those memories.  Regardless of what he’s referring to though, the sentiment behind his cryptic order is clear: now that he’s molded Phos into something he can easily control, he’s taking pains to ensure that they’re stuck in their current incarnation, so that they don’t evolve ever again.  It brings to my mind this scene in chapter 54, in which Aechmea all but fetishizes Phos’s capacity for change.  It was already pretty creepy, but knowing that this is what he intended for Phos to change into adds another layer of wrongness to that exchange.

It’s interesting that just a couple chapters ago, Phos was screaming at Kongou “If only you weren’t here!”   But here, the sentiment has completely inverted, and Phos is weeping as they say that Kongou is the only one who still cares for them, and that it’s the gems who shouldn’t be here.  In only a few short hours, they’ve gone from directing all their hatred at Kongou, to directing it at everyone except him.  Their rage is unformed and all over the place.  Good thing Aechmea’s here to refine it to his own ends!

Aechmea says that he’ll answer Cairngorm’s question “when this is all over.”  That could imply a couple of different things, depending on what he means by that.  If he means he’ll tell Cairn after he’s finished dealing with Phos for this chapter, then that’s one thing.  But, if by ‘all over’ he means that he’s not going to say anything until Kongou successfully prays, and his victory is assured--as with the previous secret he was keeping from Cairngorm, then that implies that whatever he was alluding to when he said he had loved Cairngorm since before they came to the moon, it’s probably something awful.

If you’ve been following my essays for a while, you’ll know that I’ve long suspected that some sort of Cairn-related plot twist will rear its ugly head at some point in the near future, and that mind-control eyeballs were perhaps only the tip of the iceberg.  Well, after nearly a year of deliberation, I’ve settled on my personal theory of what this plot twist could be, but it’s far outside the scope of an essay focused on a single chapter, so I’m going to post my thoughts on that in another essay sometime in the coming weeks.  Keep an eye out for it if you want to see me go fully and embarrassingly tinfoil hat.  (With my luck, chapter 83 is going to reveal what Aechmea meant by his cryptic statement before I get that essay done, and it’s going to be something banal, thus ruining my precious conspiracy theory.)

But enough about cornmeal and acne man, let’s talk about the trajectory Phos seems to be on, and also about Cinnabar.

For quite a while now, it’s been a pretty popular theory that Cinnabar will eventually kill Phos with their mercury, and it does feel like things could head in that direction.  Phos is so far gone that they’re willing to kill anyone in their path, and in so much pain that their death could be construed as a mercy.  And since they can best Bort in a fight, it would seem that Cinnabar’s mercury is the only thing that could actually stop them, especially since it could chemically bind to their alloy and poison Phos from the inside out.  To be perfectly honest though, something about this potential course of events has always rubbed me the wrong way, but until this chapter, I hadn’t been able to pinpoint exactly what it was I didn’t like.  

The whole story was started because Phos thought Cinnabar deserved better than their miserable lot in life.  At no point did Phos, or the narrative for that matter, ever suggest that it would be for the best if Cinnabar were simply put out of their misery.  Their plight warranted not just a release from pain, but a better life to replace it.  And as they are now, Cinnabar probably doesn’t want to die anymore, and I imagine they’re glad they didn’t go through with their passive attempt at suicide.  (Come to think of it, I think they’re the sole character who’s moved away from being suicidally depressed over the course of the story, instead of gradually succumbing to it.)  So, now that the shoe is thoroughly on the other foot, and Phos is the one at rock bottom, it would leave a really bad taste in my mouth if Cinnabar’s response to Phos’s pain ends up being: “Yeah, you should die.”  

So, although the plot is probably going maneuver Cinnabar into a situation in which they have to decide whether or not to kill Phos, I hope that it’s ultimately in service of that not coming to pass.  

Speaking of Cinnabar, I really hope we finally get more insight into them in these coming chapters. Broadly speaking, more stuff has happened with them the past twenty or so chapters than most of the rest of the series.  Their whole life was upended, they (seemingly) made a friend in Bort, and they’re finally making choices that affect the plot, which hasn’t really happened since volume two.  But, despite all this, we don’t really know what they’re actually thinking, of what emotions they’ve been going through.  You can make some inferences, but that’s not really as affecting as experiencing their perspective firsthand, and I think that’s why people get the impression that they’ve been made irrelevant to the story, despite the fact that they’ve been contributing to the plot lately.  So, hopefully we’ll finally get some further elaboration on them in the near future; I think it would remedy the issue quite a bit.

I’ve been thinking lately that what Cinnabar did to Phos in this arc is kind of a grim mirror of how Phos’s desire to help Cinnabar became muddied over the course of the story.  I don’t believe that Cinnabar was acting out of malice in chapter 78 when they suggested burying Phos in pieces.  If they genuinely wanted Phos dead, they could have encouraged the earth gems to go along with Rutile’s murderous impulses, instead of coming up with a plan in which Phos might come back eventually—certainly no one else in that scene, sans Euclase, voiced any objection to Rutile’s idea, and if Cinnabar hadn’t spoken up, they all might have gone along with it.  I think it’s quite possible that they were attempting to protect Phos by trying to appease the other gems’ enmity in a way that wouldn’t bring Phos permanent harm.  

But, just like how Phos’s ever-shifting goalposts pushed Cinnabar to the back of their mind over the course of the story, it’s possible that their new life among the gems had the same effect on Cinnabar.  Thus, in their mind, Phos was relegated to an important but altogether distant obligation that they’d deal with later, when the time was right.  But since these are gems we’re talking about, the time is never right, and complicated problems like these never get dealt with.  And just like how it was cruel and thoughtless when Phos put Cinnabar on the backburner, it’s cruel here too—especially if, as I speculated earlier, Phos was somehow awake this whole time.

Because I am a sentimental sap who still has a little bit of hope for a bittersweet ending instead of a complete tragedy, I think that Cinnabar might actually be a wild card in this situation, one who has the potential to save Phos from themselves.  (I’m sorry.  I can’t help myself.  My mind is stuck in power-of-friendship mode, and it’ll probably stay there until Ichikawa beats the idealism out of me, just like she beat it out of Phos.)  Keeping in mind what things Aechmea has been able to deduce either through direct observation through Phos’s eye, or what might have been reported to him from any Lunarians returning from an attack on earth, he doesn’t have enough information to figure out that Phos had a strong connection to Cinnabar.  Although he’s confident now that Phos has no ties to anything they once loved, and is wholly dependent on him, the previous chapter shows that Cinnabar still means something to Phos, even in this state.  Since all of this exists in a blind spot for Aechmea, I think it has the potential to muck up his plans—if Ichikawa deigns it to be so, of course.

Now let’s talk about symbolism, because there’s a lot of it.  First off, I want to talk about a pattern I noticed regarding Phos’s changes, one which I discussed in the very first meta I wrote for the series.  At the time, I speculated that the title of the art book, Pseudomorph of Love, was hinting at this pattern, but when the artbook was translated later courtesy of @red-dia, it turns out that said title was alluding to something totally different. Nevertheless, I think I may have inadvertently stumbled onto a method regarding Phos’s changes that seems too consistent to not be deliberate, and I’ll reiterate it here:  With the very notable exception of the pearl eye, down to even the most minor of losses, every permanent loss and addition to Phos’s body has been tied to an attempted act of kindness.  Specifically, Phos loses parts when trying to do something altruistic, and they are given new parts out of kindness on another characters part.

They had to have contaminated parts of their body scraped away after trying to save Cinnabar from falling.

They lost their legs while trying to help Ventricosus return home, and gained the new legs because of an act of kindness on her part.

Although the ice flows initially tried tempting Phos into giving up their arms by reflecting their self-loathing, it was only when they frightened Phos with the idea that Cinnabar might kill themselves if Phos doesn’t change quickly enough that they accidentally-on-purpose lost their arms.  While Antarc initially dismissed the gold they ended up giving to Phos as useless, they changed their tune when they noticed Phos projecting their own low self-esteem onto the gold.  To me, it seems like the act of giving Phos the gold was their way of telling Phos that they’re not worthless.

They lost a bunch of small pieces while trying to save Antarcticite

They lost their head while trying to save Cairn’s arm.  And then Cairn... uh…  Let’s put a pin in that for now, and come back to it when their character arc has progressed a bit further.  The element of mind control eyeballs that may or may not even be real makes the situation a bit more fraught than I care to get into right this very second.

They lost Lapis’s hair while shielding Morga and Goshe from the Lunarians.

They gave away a piece of their leg so the Admirabilis would know they weren’t holding a grudge against Ventricosus

With that established, let’s talk about the pearl eye.  The moment they received it was practically an inverse of the established pattern. It was a transformation motivated by spite on Phos’s part, and for Aechmea, it was an opportunity to exert control over them.  Even the act of receiving the pearl eye made them sick, mysterious human particles notwithstanding.  The ensuing chapters after they received the pearl eye are, as I’m sure you’re all aware, a whole lot darker and meaner than what the story had been up to that point. If I had to draw a dividing line between the part of hnk that is simply melancholy, and the part that makes the reader feel like a frog in boiling water, I’d use Phos’s first trip to the moon to demarcate these two tones—and the symbol that heralded this descent into hell was the introduction of an unkind addition to Phos’s body.  

That brings us to the matter of their most recent loss.  Since it’s now apparent that they won’t be getting their other parts back, we can look back on the moment they lost those parts for good and see if it fits the previous pattern, and in my opinion, it does.  The reason Phos was in that situation was because they were making a last ditch effort to do right by everyone else, and take responsibility for their mistakes.  It was at this point that they mustered up the last bit of kindness and courage they still had in their heart.

But the loss of a given part is only one half of the equation, which begs the question: with what sentiment will Barbata give Phos their replacements?  Barbata has subtly given off the impression that he feels guilty about his role in the various atrocities the Lunarians have undertaken, and is disillusioned with Aechmea, but is as of yet unwilling to actually go against him.  If there’s ever going to be a point in the story in which he decides to do the right thing instead of just following orders, it’s now or never.  I’m counting on you, pasta man.  Follow your conscience for once!  Either way, whether Phos’s reconstruction ends up being an act of kindness on Barbata’s part, or simply another expression of Aechmea’s corruption is, in my opinion, a crucial distinction that will have ramifications for the future of Phos’s character arc.  Speaking of which, it now seems like Red Diamond is the most likely candidate for a replacement, since Padparadscha is busy being asleep on earth.

I’ve talked about how a character’s eyeballs and where they got them from symbolizes their worldview, broadly speaking.  This chapter seems to be a continuation of that.  Kongou shaped the gems’ worldview, which is symbolized by him giving them their eyes, Cairngorm’s devotion to Aechmea is accompanied by them adopting eyes that Aechmea made for them, during the time that Phos was trying to balance the needs of both the gems and the Lunarians, they had an eye from both Kongou and Aechmea, and now that Phos only has the single pearl eye left, they’re thinking with a one-track mind from a distinctly Lunarian perspective: that everything that gets in the way of their salvation needs to die.

I also find it interesting that Phos’s original material is mostly intact, and what they’ve lost are chunks of their legs and head.  It probably symbolizes something, but my brain is starting to leak out of my ears at this point, so I’m just going to remember it for later and see if the meaning becomes clearer in retrospect.

Regarding Phos’s alloy shaping itself into a lotus’s seedpod, my first reaction was that it was a rather ambivalent symbol to use in the context of Phos’s downfall.  On one hand, the seedpod only appears when the highly symbolic flower dies, but on the other hand, while the flower is the part of the plant to which a number of cultures have ascribed auspicious meanings like purity and renewal, it is the humble, unsightly seedpod that goes about the actual business of rebirth.  

But, as @rinboz pointed out in a post on the subject, it appears to be specifically evoking the image of an empty seedpod.  If that’s what Ichikawa is going for, then the meaning is unambiguously ominous, to put it mildly.

Lastly, I brought up in my previous essay that it was highly convenient that Phos happened to trip off the table at the last possible second, and in a manner so noisy that it woke the other gems, no less.  In this chapter, Phos lays the blame for their failure on the earth gems interfering… but that only happened because Phos made a racket.  I speculated that they may have subconsciously sabotaged themselves—it certainly wouldn’t be the first time.  I don’t know how likely that possibility is, but I think it’s one worth keeping in mind.

Well, that was heavy. But on a lighter note, I think it may be time for me to update the only good meta I’ve ever written, birdseki no kuni.  What should Phos 4.0 be?  I think this feral demigod of vengeance ought to be represented by a real apeshit bird, like an Australian magpie, or something.  This will require further deliberation.

[littlemisssquiggles]

Ok so. Oscar as Nene (got drag to supernatural stuff like Os got drag to become a huntsman) Ruby as Hanako (playful, deeper than you think, family issue🤣😂) Jaune as Kou Pyrrha as Mitsuba GO BRAINSTORM NOW YA KNOW THE STORY OF HANAKO KUN🤣😂❤️❤️❤️

Hehehe,indeed I do know the story of Hanako-kun,Ly. Especially now that I’m all caught up with both the anime and the mangaseries. Although I will say this though, theanime adaptation of the Mitsuba chapter was one hundred times moreheartbreaking to see play out in animated form. I mean it was alreadysaddening to read about in the manga when I first started but to see it now infull living colour…my heart. Dem feelsman!

Andto imaging Pyrhha Nikkos being Jaune’sMitsuba in a RWBY-inspired Hanako universe is so tragically fitting thatit’s bloody perfect. Y’know it was actually @mojo72400 who first suggested thepotential of a Rosegarden AU based on Hanako-kun. However at the time, I ridiculouslythought that Toilet-Bound Hanako-kunwas about a anime girl who had to survive the social ladder of highschool witha terrible condition that forced to suffer from infrequent trips to the toilet.That’s what the title made me think the story was about. I know that soundssilly in hindsight but can you blame with a title like that? Now imagine howpleasantly surprised I was to realize that TBH was definitely better than I canever imagined.

Anyways,that being said, now that I’ve familiarized myself with the Hanako-universe(and have officially joined its fandom community---Whaddup my toilet-bounddudes!) you can bet your bum that I’m definitely game for a Barn- Bound Ruby Rose RWBY Rosegarden AU and I second the idea of Oscar Pine being the Nene ofthis universe.

Oh!But instead of Oscar being afflicted with the Mermaid’s Curse, let say…that Oscar’s curse is called the Pumpkinhead curse.

 Likeimagine…Oscar being a farm-bred countrypumpkin who had to move to the city to attend high school and becauseof this, he’s affectionately been christened the nickname of “country pumpkin” by his peers.

Let’s say…that much like Nene, Oscar’sstory was that he had a crush on one of his upperclassman and wanted to make awish to change his appearance so that his crush could finally notice him andmaybe become his girlfriend. Let’s say…that having grown up on a farm far outin the countryside, Oscar has always dreamed of living in the city and hadbasically dreamt up this little fantasy of what his dream “highschool experience”would be and for the sake of this AU, one of his ambitions was somehow becomingthe proud lovingly devoted boyfriend of the most popular girl at school.

Nowaccording to rumours around the school, Oscar’s crush liked “tall handsome city boys” so unfortunatelyfor Oscar, his small, cute farm boy look wasn’t going to cut it for him inwinning over the affection of his future girlfriend.

Atfirst Oscar thought that his luck with his crush might not change until heheard a rumour about one of the schools Seven Mysteries. Mystery No. 7---TheRuby Rose of the Abandoned Barn house in the back of the school compound.Basically the deal was that the Ruby Rose was supposed to be some kind ofsupernatural jinn who grant one wish to anyone who is able to successfullysummon it.

Longstory short, Oscar goes to the barn in hopes that he could successfully summonthe Ruby Rose. But to Oscar’s surprise, rather than summoning a super imposingmystical genie of the magic arts here to grant him any wish he so desired likehe had imagined in his impressionable overactive farm boy imagination, Oscarinstead finds a ghost girl dressed in a red hood who addresses herself as RubyRose.

Basicallythe idea I’m having here is that before making the choice to go live in thecity, Oscar lived a rather sheltered life in a small town where the only thinghe had to connect with were books that his aunt would lend him. So because ofthis, let’s say Oscar has a skewed,child-like impression of what the real world is. In a nutshell, he’s very naïve. Not stupid. Just gullibleenough to believe a silly school rumour about a supernatural being who cangrant him his wish to make him desirable enough for his crush to love him.

(YesI know that sounds silly and totally out of character for Oscar but since Oscaris meant to be Nene here I tried to give him the key Nene-isms---her thirst for the love of the oppositesex--- while maintaining some of his canonical RWBY traits).

Anyways;like I said---Oscar successfully summons Ruby: He didn’t really have to domuch. Just leave a plate of chocolate chip cookies and milk in the centre ofthe room while say “Ruby Rose” three times.

Howevershenanigans happen which result in Oscar failing to get his wish from Ruby who,as it turnt out, can’t really do anything to change Oscar’s appearance.

Thisthen leads to Oscar eating a cursed cookie that he took off of Ruby.Let’s say…the cookie is heart-shapedwith red velvet icing and strawberry hearts on one side while the other side wasdecorated like a Halloween pumpkin face.

Let’s say…the idea behind thecookie---the Cursed Pumpernickelcookie--- is that should two people share the cookie, they would be boundedtogether for all eternity and live a lifetime of love, happily ever after.However should the pair’s love not be mutually reciprocated with only one halfof the cookie being eaten, the recipient of the eaten half shall fall prey tothe Pumpkinhead curse.

Thisis what ends up befalling poor Oscar. The idea I had was that, much like Nene,Oscar pilfered Cursed Pumpernickel off of Ruby while she was sifting throughher pocket for another token to help him “woo” his crush.

Whenasked about the cookie, Ruby harmlessly informs Oscar about the “power” of thePumpernickel cookie, not thinking that Oscar would ever be so foolish enough to actually eat itknowing the details of its curse. However, unfortunately for Ruby, Oscar wasthat foolish and eats one of half of the Pumpernickel cookie with the intentionof giving the other half to his crush to bind them together forever.

Let’s say…in this AU, Oscar’s crush is Neon Katt. Like Oscarhas had a crush on her since his first day of high school, falling head overheels in love with her just because she and her friends were close with Oscar’supperclassman pals and Neo was always super nice and affectionate withOscar---y’know like your best friend being nice to your kid brother who has anobvious crush on her type of scenario.

SoOscar goes to give Neon the other half of the Pumpernickel but as he does,their moment is interrupted by Flynt. Let’ssay…in this AU, Flynt and Neon areclose childhood best friends who’ve secretly had feelings for each other foryears. (Because in the squiggle shire, we still ship Funky Cat or whatever the name of Flynt x Neon’s ship is). So Flyntconfesses his love to Neon and much to Oscar’s heartache, Neon reciprocates hisfeelings. She even forgets that Oscar was even standing there before Flyntreminds her of his presense.

Butas Neon goes to take the reaming half of the Pumpernickel that Oscar was aboutto offer her, Oscar, doing his best to hide his sadness, makes up some cock andbull story about the cookie being bad and no longer good enough to give Neonanymore. He then congratulates Flynt and Neon on their newfound relationshipbefore running off; claiming to be returning to class.

Assaid, Oscar is heartbroken---realizing how foolishhe had been for pursuing Neon. But before Oscar could lament on hisfoolishness, he is suddenly overtaken by the Pumpkinhead Curse. Oscar is turned into a pumpkin. Thenext thing Oscar knows he opens what he assumesto be his eyes, looking up to find Ruby standing over him. However for some oddreason, Oscar could no longer feel his hands or his legs. He suddenly feels very, very different.

Itis then when Ruby holds up a mirror to Oscar to show his new pumpkin body---asmall bright orange pumpkin with a fluffy head of leaves and vines which Rubyhad been kind enough to carve out his eyes and mouth so he could see and talkto her. She even took the liberty of carving out tiny holes where Oscar’sfreckles would be on his face.

WhyI like the concept of Oscar’s curse being the Pumpkinhead curse is, not justbecause it was inspired by the Oz character of the same name but mainly becauseof a quote that Jack Pumpkinhead said after he had first come to life:

“…It will take me alittle time to discover whether I am very wise or very foolish…”

 Ilike the idea of Oscar winding up cursed because his affection for Neon and hisdesperation to have her return his feelings had made him foolish in his pursuitof love or something along those lines. I like this idea just as much as I likethe idea of those afflicted with the Pumpkinhead Curse ending up becomingpumpkins to be added to the patch of a supernatural entity known as the PumpkinKing.

Y’knowhow in Hanako, we had the Mermaid Queen apparition who told Nene that if shebecame her servant she would be loved by her and her fish people? Well for thisAU, my idea is that Oscar would become apumpkin in the Pumpkin King’s Patch to be marriedoff to one of his literal spoiled rotten pumpkin-headed children. Sobasically by being cursed, Oscarunintentionally set himself up to become the future groom to the Pumpkin King’s eldest daughter whose been knownto eat her husbands, much to the farm boy’s dismay since not only did henot want to be a pumpkin for the rest of the life but he certainly did not wantto be married off to a pumpkin either at the tender age of 14.

Soto avoid becoming the Pumpkin Princess’ latest snack and umpteenth deadhusband, Ruby makes Oscar a deal he couldn't refuse. Much like Hanako did withNene, Ruby binds herself to Oscar and becomes his "girlfriend" as a means of keeping the Pumpkin King fromclaiming him for his daughter (which basically becomes like a sort of runninggag with the Pumpkin King and his minions constantly trying to persuade orstraight up kidnap Oscar into becoming the future little Pumpkin Prince).

Andto seal to deal that they were now bound together, Ruby eats the other half ofthe cursed Pumpernickel Cookie before kissing Oscar while he was still inpumpkin form which turns him back into a proper human boy.

Sobasically Oscar also ends up losing hisfirst kiss to Ruby; much to the farm boy’s embarrassment.

Butbottom-line, Ruby and Oscar were now bound together through the PumpkinheadCurse. However, because she had went out of her way to help him, Oscar beingbound to Ruby almost meant that he owed her indefinitely.

Andconsidering that Ruby was now Oscar's quote unquote "girlfriend", she pretty much make lives up to that titleby ensuring that Oscar played the part of her so-called lovingly devoted“boyfriend”, wading on the jubilantly childish yet mysterious apparition handand foot while additionally assisting her in her maintenance of the balancebetween the living and supernatural world. Because in Oscar’s case, it waseither that or being a talking pumpkin head turned pumpkin groom married to hisgiant pumpkin wife in constant fear of being eaten for the rest of his life.And that’s my idea for Oscar’s Nene-inspired story for this AU which I guess canwork as a nice little basis for it. Y'know do something similar to the originalHanako series but with a squigglytwist to it, in a sense. Besides I love the concept of Oscar being a cutelittle pumpkin more than him being a fish like Nene. But that's my idea.

Asfor the rest of the RWBY cast as Hanako-inspired characters---Well... as Imentioned before, I really dig your idea of Jaune being the Kou of thisuniverse. We can even maintain the same idea by having him come from a longline of spirit warriors dubbed the Arc-Angels or “Arc Knights” (see what I did there) with his older sister Saphronbeing a more experienced one watching over her brother’s development whilesimultaneously acting as a teacher at his high school along with her wife:Terra Cotta who is the school librarian. I like the idea of Terra beingcompletely oblivious to her wife and her family’s connection to thesupernatural world due to Saphron wishing to keep both her wife and their toddlerson away from that kind of life style. Perhapsyou can even have an idea where Saphron abandoned her duties as an Arc Knightbecause she desired a normal life with a family of her own.

Perhaps…you can have somethingwhere the Arc Knights, being the only spirit warrior family within the mainsetting of the story, were the sworn protectors of the land of the living;working to exorcise any wayward apparitions.

Let’ssay Saphron estranged herself from her family, choosing to work more closely withthe apparitions to focus on maintaining better peace between the two worlds. Butbecause Saphron had left, her baby brother Jaune was forced to take her placeand the two share an interesting dynamic where Jaune wants to prove that hecould be a great spirit warrior who won’t quit like his sister did and Saphronhas to look out for him while feeling guilty for partially making Jaune thewarrior that he was now. That’s one idea.

Nowthat I think about it. This type of story could also work for Weiss and Winter. Like I can easilypicture Weiss being an alternate version for the Kou character of this universewith Jaune being her Mitsuba. OR…perhapsin this AU, the Schnees were a rival spiritwarrior/ exorcist family to the Arcs?

Perhaps…unlike the Arcs who were open to working inharmony with the apparitions, the Schnees were not. Instead the Schneesused their family power to enslave apparitions and use them as their pawns incombat.

Let’ssay, while the Arc Knights adhered to the old school spirit warrior code, theSchnees were necromancers---summoningthe dead to fight their battles for them with little respect their pasthumanity when they were alive which the Arc family greatly frowned upon. (Imean the Schnee family semblance is practically the RWBY equivalent ofnecromancy so in this case it works)

Perhaps…you can even have athing where Jaune and Weiss are rivals coming from strong spirit warrior/exorcistfamily bloodlines or clans so the two basically grew up opposing one anotherfrom birth.

Howeverlet’s say… Jaune secretly has feelings for Weiss and at first Weiss didn’tcare much for Jaune; choosing to focus mainly on maintaining her family’s honouras encouraged by her older sister Winter.

Howeverlet’s say…Weiss ultimately shows asofter side to herself, taking an interest in Jaune’s wellbeing as a “friendwho knew him” after he gets himself involved with a ghost girl named Pyrhha (whowas resurrected by darker apparition) and started committing some questionable acts. Or something alongthose lines.

Idefinitely dig the idea of the Arcs and the Schnees being rival clans whomaintain balance in the supernatural and living world---but while the Arcscoexist in harmony with the apparitions on parlayed allegiance with theMysteries (such as Ruby Rose), the Schnees have a different way of doing thingsdespite fighting for the same cause. And this rivalry is reflected in thecharacter dynamics of Weiss and Jaune (who are students of Oscar’s highschooland his fellow upperclassman) and also their older sisters---Winter andSaphron. I’m going to change my earlier concept. I’m going to make Saphron theschool librarian along with her wife Terra while Winter Schnee is the homeroomteacher of Oscar’s class. Yeah that’s better, I like that better.

Movingalong, I definitely like the idea of Norabeing Oscar's version of Aoi-chan. Since Oscar is the focal character herein Nene’s role, I think Nora can work really, really well as the person acts asthe closest thing to a best friend he has.

Or….maybeJaune can be Oscar’s best friend in this AU but Nora is still his Aoi-chan? Maybeyou can even add a little detail where Nora is Oscar’s foster sister. Like perhaps…in this universe, the Arcs arelong-time friends of Oscar’s family (meaning his aunt and uncle in the farcountry) who were more than willing to allow him to live under their roof whilehe’s in the city pursuing his high school education.

Sobasically let’s say, in this AU, Oscar lives with Jaune who is staying withSaphron and Terra. Baby Adrian alsoexists in this AU too so Oscar and baby Adrian interactions and hijinks canensue.

Ialso like the idea of Nora and Ren also beingtenants of the Cotta-Arc household. Let’ssay…Ren and Nora are basically Jaune’s best friends and adopted siblingswho were taken in by the Arc family when they were kids and ultimately movedout with Jaune to live with his sister.

Soin a nutshell, in this AU, Team JNPR 2.0 or ALPN live together with Jaune, Renand Nora maintaining their roles as Oscar’s surrogate big brothers and sisterand the closest thing to friends he has at school.

Let’s say…in this AU, due to hiscountry upbringing and his introverted demeanour, Oscar has been having a hardtime adjusting to the city and making friends in his new school and class. Butat least he had his big brother Jaune and friends to look out for him.

Asa matter of fact, I love the idea of Ren and Nora being the Aoi and Akane ofthis AU only with a small difference. Much like Aoi and Akane, Ren and Nora arechildhood best friends with Nora having an obvious crush on Ren.

Butrather than Nora being revealed to be one of the Mysteries like Akane, I'm moredigging the idea of Ren being partapparition and the first time he reveals this is to protect Nora. Like imagine…Nora constantly being the onepursuing Ren making her feelings for him obvious just like in RWBY but we don’tknow how Ren feels for Nora. We know he definitely cares for her but we're notaware of his love for her until he reveals himself as one of the Clock keepersto save Nora. 

Likeperhaps Oscar, Ruby and Jaunebelieved that Nora might’ve been masquerading as one of the Seven Mysteries dueto her mysterious dark past sharedwith Ren only for Ren to intervene and reveal himself as the true supernatural.I think that can work.

Asfor who I think the Mysteries in this AU could be, that's definitely tricky---Iknow I definitely want Ozpin to be part of the Three Clock-keepers alongsideRen. Oz can be the Clock-keeper of the Past, Ren the present but I’m not surewho the Clock Keeper of the Future would be to stir up trouble. I kind of low-key want to make Zwei theClock Keeper of the Future. Why? Having a sentient doggo control the futureand wreak havoc? Sure why not XD  

Asfor Mystery No. 2, I’m thinking maybe Blake? Perhaps her mystery could be called “The Staircase of the Beast”?Perhaps this title was shared by her and her “lover” in this universe beforethings turned Grimm when bad rumours started to spread about her lover whichturned them into a beastly monster as a result of it. 

Likeyou can say that originally Blake’s mystery was called “The Belladonna Staircase” and it used to be a sort of romanticspot that blessed couples until the rumours turned her mystery into the“Staircase of the Beast” which only preys on couples.

Ithink that can work swimmingly. As for who would play Blake’s lover in this AU,I don’t care. I’ll leave that for you or anyone to insert whoever you shipBlake with, Ly. I’m not touching that can of worms =_=);

Movingalong, since we established that Pyrhha is the Mitsuba in this AU, she willbecome Mystery No. 3.

Asfor Mystery No. 4, I think Penny works excellently here. I can definitelypicture Penny P. as one of the Seven Mysteries. Not to mention that herpersonality certain reminds me a lot of Shijima Mei.

Thesame can be said for Qrow Branwen as Mystery No. 5. His personality definitelymatches Tsuchigomori the most, at least in my opinion.

Asfor Mystery No. 6, well since the manga is now getting to touch base on hischaracter and storyline as one of the Seven Mysteries, I don’t quite know muchabout him as yet. So I’ll hold off on my choice on who could play his role fromthe RWBY universe.

Lastly,as for who will be our broadcasting clubtrio in this AU; well I think it should be obvious. In my eyes, I’mthinking Cinder Fall could play a goodequivalent to Tsukasa Yugi. While she may not share the family relation asTsukasa does to Hanako/Amane Yugi, I still think that Cinder can work as Ruby’santithesis given their connection from the canonical series.

Notto mention that Cinder Fall is the one character who can match Tsukasa’s eerilymalicious nature, in my opinion. So with Cinder as Tsukasa, this puts EmeraldSustrai and Mercury Black as her versions of Sakura and Natsuhiko with Emerald,of course, being the one bonded to Cinder like Ruby is to the Oscar.

Ithink that aspect of it definitely works a lot. But again these are just only my ideas I’m spouting. Nonetheless, letme know what you think Ly?

Didthis squiggle meister deliver well onserving up enough good brainstorming food for ya ;) I hope I did. Cheers fam!

~LittleMissSquiggles (2020)

[kalluralove]

hi again! how are you? it's been awhile :). so, um, question, and i feel like i've asked this already but why do you think lotura is so popular? despite what lotor's VA keeps saying lotor did commit genocide and almost killed allura. why ship allura with a man who 1) withheld the fact that her people were still alive and 2) were killing her people? tbh allura is a trophy to lotor, she doesn't gain anything from the relationship. it just baffles me

I’m good, thanks! And yes, I do believe we’ve covered this topic but maybe it needs a revisit? So how much time do you have, because I’m about to monopolize it ;)

So, first let me say that AJ Locasio is an absolute gem. He’s the quintessential nice guy, and I understand why girls can be drawn to him. He interacts with them on a regular basis and-- despite his acknowledgement of Lotor’s shortcomings-- is still a huge fan of the character. That’s typical for any actor, be their character the hero or the villain.

But that’s not the end of it. The obsession of giving Allura to him (that’s what it is in a nutshell, there is no two-way street here) has become one of the biggest problems within the fandom. Let’s take a look at why.

1) Allura is a shield for him. He needs her to do things he can’t on his own. For ten-thousand years he’s been looking for a way to solve a problem that was solely the Galra’s. His idea of creating peace balanced on the ability to give them unlimited amounts of what they were killing people for. This requires Allura’s help; without it he can’t complete his work. His “love” for her is simply a need to complete his mother’s work. 

We’ve discussed race before in this scenario. Black women are traditionally used as a means to an end, rarely given their own story for their own sake. Voltron was her father’s legacy, therefore the story should revolve around her mission to protect the universe with it. Instead it was somehow turned into a way to explain Lotor’s evil intention. This is 100% NOT COOL. The showrunners didn’t need to give us a reason, they just needed to give the heroes a nemesis.

2) He’s a master manipulator. He tells Allura how attached he became to a planet he’d been left to run, and how devastated he was when his father killed them all. But that doesn’t jive with what he does to the Alteans. We see scenes of him interacting with them, so much so that they build a statue dedicated to him. They trust him when he separates families, cutting them off from one another permanently. 

Fans will argue that he saved some of them. Did he though? Or did he just keep ones around who didn’t fit the bill, hoping they might produce new generations who could? That’s why Romelle was the only one of her family who survived, she was more useful as a worker. Her death would have gained him nothing. One only has to look back to the mid-20th century to see how that mindset is royally fucked up.

3) Lotor didn’t do it. Or, at least that’s what his rabid fans want to believe. They insist it was Haggar, which is obviously untrue. The fact that Bandor escaped and returned to warn his sister is proof. He outed Lotor. When Lotor and his men came upon Bandor’s lifeless body, the wayward Prince instructed them to get rid of the evidence. An innocent man would have tried to save the young boy, or at the very least tried to look for answers to his demise.

4) The #metoo movement should hate this guy. Much is said about so called “nice guys” who turn on a dime when the woman spurns them (SN: just watched an awesome Netflix series that touches on this) and lashes out at her. Strangely enough, however, they cheer Lotor on. Somehow he’s excluded from their cancel culture. They point out his sad childhood and say he should have been redeemed because of it. 

I, however, like to point out they should have left his past on the drawing board. Allura’s story is the tragic one and deserved much more screentime. These days it’s all about the why, but what do we do with that information? Do we forgive dictators and death dealers because they had abusive parents? No, we don’t. Lotor is no exclusion here. 

Instead let’s talk about how Allura is able to live a positive life despite her tragic history. Her father was murdered by Zarkon. She was frozen and woke up to having lost her entire planet and its people. She was young, inexperienced, and afraid, yet never made it about herself. Her story is the one we should have insisted on in Season 8, instead of trying to restore Lotor to some glory that didn’t belong to him.

*****************************************************************************************

I could go on but I’ll just leave it at this: The fandom has taken on a moniker for Lotor that is telling in itself.

LORD OF THE ONION RINGS

Fitting, because despite it’s thin outer layer and multiple layers, it’s still just an onion in the end. Nothing surprising, nothing special, but best when fried.

And that brings me back to Allura. Why do they want her with him? Because that’s what he wants, nothing more. They don’t give two shits about her. She gets in the way of their boy-love ships after all, and her skin tone is too dark for her to be a proper love interest. That’s why, prior to Lotor’s appearance, she was tossed aside as a girlfriend for Shay (in the name of gay rep, no less) or as a strong woman who doesn’t need a man (again, see: racism). 

Everything Lotor did to Allura, to her people, is written off and excused by parts of the fandom. These are the same “fans” who misconstrue characters to the point they don’t even look like themselves. They don’t understand that loving a character means loving them as is, not as they headcanon them to be. Allura is indeed a strong woman, but she also deserves to be loved and cared for properly. If the L/oturas don’t want to give that to her then they only want happiness for half of their ship, and that’s just sad.

Honestly I could go on all day, but I have stuff to do and have to cut this short. Hope I covered it well enough for you, but please let me know if there’s something I missed!

[auroraknux]

For the ask thing: sonic boom?

Favorite character: Knuckles (fanon)

Least Favorite character: Amy

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): Sonknux, Knuxicks, Tailooey, Sticksamy, and Eggbarker (the last one is more of a crackship)

Character I find most attractive: I'm not really attracted to any of them

Character I would marry: None of them

Character I would be best friends with: Sonic, we're both so done with everyone's shit

a random thought: I still can't believe my most popular YouTube video is a lazy edit of Sonic and Shadow's Season 2 fight scene where everything that's blue changes color when they hit each other

An unpopular opinion: I don't think Sonic and Amy have much chemistry tbh.

My Canon OTP: Tailooey

My Non-canon OTP: Sonknux

Most Badass Character: Shadow

Most Epic Villain: Eggman

Pairing I am not a fan of: Son//amy

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): Knuckles and Amy. Knuckles was funny at first, but his status as the dumb character kinda overtook his personality, and he became more of a jerk as the series went on. I can't bring myself to hate him, though. I liked Amy at first, but her depiction in some of the early episodes was very different from her depiction in the rest of the series, which tends to rub me the wrong way.

Favourite Friendship: Either Sonic and Tails, or Sonic and Knuckles

Character I most identify with: Sonic

Character I wish I could be: Sonic. On one hand, it would suck to be so unappreciated all the time, but on the other hand, it would be awesome to have super speed. Or Knuckles; it would be cool to have super strength, and if I were him I would try to make sure Sonic feels appreciated.

(Thanks for the ask!)

[banquishedtotheglasshill]

Beltane Films

It’s a bit shit we can’t go frolic with the fae in the fields this Beltane and your one allocated government walk a day isn’t exactly the same as sitting, saturated by the sun all day on the Heath getting melted and eating strawberries. So I’ve made a list of my favourite films to help magically transform our inside lives into one that suitably reflects the mood of a fertility and love festival. Freya forbid it rains on friday but if it does dampen our witchy festivities at least we can get cosy and escape into nature through our imagination. 

1. Practical Magic (1998); 90s dreamy scene scape, botanical witches, cute vintage dresses, midnight margaritas, chocolate cake for breakfast and a true love story, is there anything more worth watching on the Witches valentines? It ends on Samhain it’s a perfect witchy Beltane extravaganza- I mean that greenhouse tho

https://ww2.123movie.cc/movies/practical-magic/

2. The Love Witch (2016)

Beltane is about LOVE and WITCHES duh. There’s a Beltane ritual, the visuals are everything I want and need, it’s a smart, aesthetically appealing deep dive into the subversion of the male gaze. Anna Biller made all the costumes (!!) herself, she wrote, directed, produced it and personally I believe it to be one of the best horror flicks to have emerged in the past decade. Reminisce on all those terrible, tragic and non-consentual love spells I know you cast long long ago and indulge in some glamourous murder. 

https://ww7.123moviesfree.sc/mov/the-love-witch-2016/

3. Tuck Everlasting (2002)

   A film about a family that lives forever after drinking some magical spring water in the woods? Very Beltane. It has that 00s dreamy sheen, edwardian costume, a love story, a coming of age story and it’s all set in New England right at the end of the turn of the last century. In the original story our protagonist Winnie Foster was 10 years old and it was originally written as a children’s book which honestly is a bit creepy. Nevertheless, it’s a beautiful story about finding yourself, acknowledging the wheel of time and appreciating life death life cycles. Also whatshername from Gilmore Girls is in it. Cute. Perfect for a spring festival. There’s also a musical that flopped massively but some of the songs are worth a lil listen. 

https://www.putlockers.cr/movie/tuck-everlasting-4736.html

3. FairyTale: A True Story (1997)

It’s Beltane we must have fairies! I was obsessed with this film as a child, particularly with the teeny tiny furniture they make for the fairy dolls house. I also spent a lot of time trying to untie myself from ropes like Houdini.This is the fictional retelling of the true story of the Cottingley girls who were caught up in the popular mysticism craze in the early 1900s and accidentally became celebrities after photographing the ‘fairies’ at the bottom of the garden. The story was a national sensation but after further investigation it was discovered that the photos had in fact been faked. No shit. The truly shocking thing is that the Cottingley girls seem to have escaped unharmed by the fae. It’s a great heartwarming film and features an interesting depiction of the British obsession with fairies and mysticism following rapid industrialisation. It also celebrates the beauty of Yorkshire and the British countryside in a very understated manner and honestly it might have been this film that launched my deep desire to run away into some woods and never look back. 

https://ww2.123movie.cc/movies/fairytale-a-true-story

4. The Last Leprechaun (1998) 

Ok this one is a bit mad. Another childhood favourite of mine, this film was given to me on a tape by my Scorpio Sun Gemini Moon Scottish grandad and within that context this film makes a lot of sense to me. It’s set in Ireland, this American family move into this huge house and discover the land is populated by the fae, quel surprise. There are banshees, there are fairies in a mine, there’s leprechauns looking for gold, it’s batshit and nowhere near as visually appealing as the films listed above but it’s a really fun watch. A good reminder at this time of year- don’t mess with the little people. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFd63gzYamw

5. Globe Theatre productions/ Online Theatre

This time of year would normally herald the start of outdoor concerts, festivals, garden parties and theatre out in the open air. Nothing compares to the magic of experiencing theatre outdoors, combining my two favourite lasting loves, theatre and nature in one. Naturally I’m devastated to be missing an entire season of outdoor theatre but thankfully the Globe has made loads of productions available online for FREE. Unfortunately, one of my favourite plays to watch at this time of year, As You Like It, is not part of the Globe’s free offerings https://globeplayer.tv/videos/as-you-like-it but if you’re looking for love and romance set in a forest with a good smattering of witty repartee and cross dressing look no further. Shakespeare’s birth and death day just passed us by (23rd) and if you haven’t yet celebrated this Taurean by indulging in a bit o cultchah I’m gently suggesting that you’d enjoy it. Equally, I’d recommend Emma Rice’s production of Midsummer Night’s Dream from the Globe, it’s literally the best production I’ve ever seen and at this point I’ve likely seen over 20 different productions of Dream so take me up on it. The cabaret artist Meow Meow plays Titania and I can’t think of anyone playing the Fairy Queen better.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p08b015k/culture-in-quarantine-shakespeare-a-midsummer-nights-dream

FREE ON BBC IPLAYER!!!

The customs in the play are somewhat a mixture of Beltane and Litha practices so tbh it’s good sabbat to sabbat. I guess you could also watch the Tempest if you really wanted but I kind of hate it ngl. 

Angela Carter’s ‘Wise Children’, dir. Emma Rice

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p0892kf6/wise-children

Free on BBC iPlayer, I was lucky enough to see this show in person while it was at the Old Vic and yes, I’m a massive Emma Rice fan and if you watch it you’ll understand why. The show has nothing to do with the fae or Beltane but it is from modern myth maker Angela Carter (who wrote the Bloody Chamber) so there’s lots of folklore and mythical elements woven in. It’s just a bloody good time, it’s colourful, queer and musical whilst unconventionally exploring family trauma. 

A Winter’s Tale, Royal Ballet

The Royal Opera House/Royal Ballet is screening their production of A Winter’s Tale on Friday at 7pm, it’s very magical, it’ll be available for a week, wahey

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-byR-6p-qA

6. Anne with an E: Season 3, Episode 5, Netflix

https://www.netflix.com/watch/81025449?trackId=13752289&tctx=0%2C4%2Cf5cee1ae-463c-468c-90ac-6ccae34b01ad-31458487%2C%2C

 I wasn’t too keen on Anne of Green Gables before Netflix made it dark and hashtag real. I particularly love this episode which features a Beltane ritual at the end, I know I wish I could meet you all round a bonfire waving ribbon wands in my nightgown. The last season in particular really solidifies Anne as symbolic of wild woman in tune with nature and the rhythms of her own soul and I could probably deep dive into this ad infinitum. 

Skip to 40:14 minutes if you wish to only see the ritual. 

7. Honorable mentions:

Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) because fairies 

https://www4.123movies.gr/movie/pans-labyrinth-2006/

Midsommar (2019) because although I know this film is really more for Litha, they have a Maypole so I think we can make it work

Far from the Madding Crowd ( 2015) Carey mulligan and countryside and terrible life decisions, the soundtrack is also very soothing on its own. You can watch it free (legally, shocker) on the BBC website. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfilms/film/far_from_the_madding_crowd

Tess of the D’urbervilles (2008) the TV series!! with Gemma Arteton (?) as Tess; pastoral life, nature pagan goddess allusions and a finale at Stonehenge very Beltane. Once you get past all the religion stuff Hardy’s aight. 

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2739yo

Happy Beltane Witches!!! 

[not-poignant]

Piaaaa!!!!! I saw that you’re feeling down as a writer but I’m here to tell you to cHEER THE EFF UP WITH MY AGGRESSIVE LOVE! Seriously though, I’ve been keeping up with your work for years now and I never stop raving about your fics to anyone who will listen. You might think the FT fandom is dying but it’s not! We’re here! We’re just stupidly shy and admire from maybe too afar 🙈 But yeah, please know you’re doing amazing stuff and I love all your FT babies to bits! Kay? Kay. 💜

Hi anon,

The thing is, I’ve been here since 2013 and readers have always been shy. There’s nothing new about that. And the sudden downward swing across all facets (including ones that don’t require like...much active engagement) cannot be explained by ‘everyone suddenly became mysteriously more shy over the past 8 months, and more and more people are getting more and more shy.’

That’s not very logical.

The downward swing, of the last 8 months, by the way, can be observed across:

AO3 commentsAO3 kudosAO3 bookmarksAO3 hitsnew patreon subscriberspatreon subscribers leaving (more patrons left per month than signed on in 8 consecutive months)anonymous askspost likespost reblogspost engagement in general (replies etc.) interaction with writing memes (that’s sitting on a spectacular ‘zero engagement’ which has never happened before and was pretty demoralising)Discord activity

Not all of those things require people to ‘overcome shyness.’ Hits, for example, just require people turning up. Same with kudos, etc. And I feel like I’m forgetting some things, but anyway that’s a pretty good list.

I’m not the only one that has noticed it re: my writing. A few other people have reached out to tell me that they’ve noticed the inactivity over a period of about 5 months, and it’s not improving, nor is it showing any signs of stabilising. I don’t know when the downward trend will stop, but it’s still continuing right now. I can see and monitor my ‘behind the scenes’ metrics (though a lot of AO3 engagement is public and observable to anyone who wants to notice it), and I can see actual graphs and bright red loss metrics on Patreon that show me things haven’t been this bad for me since 2014 (and in like two months, it will be the worst its ever been).

Anyway, I feel like it’s paramount to say a few things too. I’m really grateful for the folks who enjoy my writing, regardless of how they enjoy it or interact with it (if they do at all). I’m in a really lucky position. The me of 9 years ago would have killed to have had a successful Patreon account, or like, even vague interest in my writing projects. I still have amazing readers and to be honest, those people are why I’ve been able to keep up with a really good writing turnover for like the past 6 months (around the time I realised that engagement was dropping and kept thinking ‘oh it’s temporary, it’s just school holidays / college / end of year exams / etc.’). Because it’s depressing to notice a constant downward trend behind the scenes, so like, the interaction I do get has been everything, and I’m really grateful. 100% that’s why I’m still working on Spoils of the Spoiled today

So for me, part of the issue is that there has been no plateau or stabilisation of the loss of income and like, engagement, which makes me think this might get a lot worse and it may not ever get better or recover. I’ve had cause to think that it’s not just external factors either (gosh it would be nice if it was just all about the season or exams or something lol). I don’t really think this is a ‘reader issue’ I think this is a ‘writer issue.’ I don’t think anyone is doing anything wrong. Like I said before, other authors who write similar content to me are doing great right now. so I can’t attribute this to ‘Tumblr dying’ or folks not doing enough. Something about how I’m writing right now, or what I’m writing, just isn’t appealing to a lot of people. And it’s becoming less appealing over time. I’m really glad it still appeals to some people, and that’s why I’m still here.

The fact is as well, if people aren’t being inspired to interact more with the fic, or interact in the ways they have in the past with the writing, that’s not...anyone’s problem or fault, that’s the fault of the writing. I’m not here to ask for more interaction. Because that’s like...pity, and just...no. I’m just in this really locked up, stubborn place where like, I can’t reinvent Fae Tales (and tbh, The Ice Plague requiring so much early reading re: GT and COFT means it’s almost completely inaccessible to new readers anyway), I don’t know if anyone would even invest time in a new series and new characters, and I don’t often want to write for the old fandoms people ask me to write for, and then on top of that, like a fool, I really believe in my writing and I don’t think it’s bad. It’s just not connecting with increasing numbers of people. And I think the ones it does connect with - I think all of us kind of are in this pit and we ‘get it’ but the number of those people has been dropping over time.

Unfortunately, I don’t only write fanfiction (which is like by far and away like 5 times more popular than anything else I write anyway) and I do try and make an income off the original writing, because of medical bills and life stuff. I don’t want anyone to pledge who can’t afford to pledge because that’s really not in the spirit of Patreon. I don’t want anyone to force themselves to interact out of nostalgia or because they feel pity or whatever because that’s uncomfortable, and I don’t want people to invest time in something when other things inspire them more, because then you should be giving your energy to those things that inspire you more.

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 181: 9:59 A.M.

Previously on BnHA: Gentle continued to rassle with Deku and asked him why he wanted to be a hero. Deku said it was because of everyone who helped him and supported him and believed in him; he wanted to make them proud and “show them a brighter future.” The two of them bonded in that shounen way, and meanwhile La Brava sprinted into the woods trying to hack U.A.’s network. Unfortunately she ran into Hounddog and a bunch of Ectoplasm clones. Realizing the jig was up, she went back to warn Gentle, only to find him lying defeated on the ground, having just fallen victim to Deku’s latest Shoot Style move, St. Louis Smash. La Brava was all “let him go!!” and ran up to Deku and started adorably beating on him with her lil fists. Gentle belatedly realized that he had put her in this situation and made her into his accomplice even though she was innocent. In an attempt to get her sentence reduced, he flung Deku into the air with his quirk to try and make it look like the battle never occurred. Ecto and Hounddog then came out of the woods, and Gentle surrendered.

Today on BnHA: There is a not-as-tense-as-they-try-to-make-it-seem scene where we wait and see if the festival is going to be cancelled due to Gentle’s shenanigans. Apparently the heroes have been instructed to start the evacuation process upon “confirmation of hostile intent.” But Gentle says he is not hostile. He says he’s committed a lot of crimes, but that La Brava is innocent and was brainwashed by him, and he asks them to pardon her. Deku then comes out of the woods and the heroes ask if he fought with Gentle. Deku white lies his way out of the situation, saying that Gentle was trying to pull a prank and that the two of them had “a small dispute.” Apparently Hounddog is satisfied by that, because he reports back to the other heroes that the situation is fine, and then he and Ecto apprehend Gentle and La Brava and take them to the police. Meanwhile Deku hurries back to get cleaned up and changed, and makes it back with only moments to spare. The concert begins, with Eri watching excitedly from Mirio’s arms.

(As always, all comments not marked with an ETA are my unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter. I’ve read up through chapter 207 now, so any ETAs will reflect that.)

we’re opening on a “moments earlier” flashback of Ecto being informed via his headset that a student went out shopping earlier and hasn’t come back

and now Hounddog is contacting him and saying that something’s going on near to where he is, and he’s going to borrow a few of Ecto’s clones to go check it out

Ecto’s asking if it’s an emergency, and Hounddog is giving him a ton of detail based on scent alone omg

wow Hounddog, you’re pretty cool aren’t you. “three people, not moving any more, and they’re all freaked out and sweaty”

and look how scary he is

I freaking love him omg

OH THANK GOD

so because the intruders have no hostile intent, the festival can still go on! what a stupid loophole! I’m so glad they exploited it lmao

you know, if this was in any way a serious villain operation, this kind of shrugging-your-shoulders approach would definitely get a few more students kidnapped and/or killed. nice to see U.A. hasn’t learned a damn thing lol

Ecto recognizes Gentle from his Youtube vids as “that villain that’s only quick to run away”

now Hounddog’s grabbing him by the collar and asking where his comrades are

Gentle says he has none

Hounddog is all “what about those injuries and the general mess in the vicinity indicating that a battle has recently taken place?”

and Gentle says he “had a stumble”

lmao. “one heck of a whoopsy-daisy there. good thing I have Life Alert”

Hounddog’s asking if it was just the two of them and Gentle says yes

oh snaaaaaaaaap

I wonder if he knows which student? he should learn how to identify Deku’s scent specifically since it’s always him getting involved in these things. would save some time

meanwhile we’re cutting back to the student in question who is landing now

and he’s thinking back to what Gentle said earlier and he’s figured out that he was trying to protect La Brava and spare her from the full consequences of all this if possible

meanwhile Gentle is telling Hounddog, “if you’re looking for the boy, he’s just over there...”

oh have you finally learned a life lesson then

Gentle gained +500 self awareness points! too late! but at least he got them lol

I hope Aiba has the sense to keep her mouth shut

he’s asking them to pardon her

she’s so little and cute, I’m sure they will omg

meanwhile Aiba is sobbing and clinging to Gentle and thinking no, he didn’t brainwash her, she really loves him

eh, a little of column A, a little of column B...

now Hounddog is asking Deku if he fought Gentle

well, aside from it being obvious at a glance, I’m sure he can probably smell it too

wow Deku

look at this little green punk and his smooth white lies

anyways, so he says it’s all right now

Aiba is still clinging to Gentle and sobbing

getting the feeling these guys can see right through Deku’s bullshit, but at the same time they can kind of figure out why he’s not being 100% truthful, and they don’t want to ruin the day for the kids and bring a storm of negative PR raining down upon U.A. either

so The Sheriff -- who we haven’t seen a while, how you doin bud -- is asking for a report!

AND OH MY GOD

FUCKING CALLED IT. LOOK AT THIS GUY. JUST A BIG SOFTIE IN THE END ARENTCHA

so he says they’ll continue to keep their guard up, but for the time being they can stand down

and they’re taking Gentle into custody and telling him he can explain the details to the police

and as they lead him away, Gentle is telling Deku that he was once enrolled in a hero course, and that he became a criminal due to the despair of having to drop out

look how fucking massive Hounddog’s arm is oh my god

and also! yes, that’s very sweet, very nice, catharsis, etc. etc. everyone understands each other yay

fsdfkhlk now Ecto is stepping in and suddenly unleashing an array of powerful dad moves!!

telling him All Might was worried! seeing Deku look panicked when he realizes the time, and reassuring him that he still has time to get back! telling Deku they’ll go together to pick up the things Deku lost! ECTO YOU ARE GREAT AND SO UNDERRATED OMG. DARK HORSE MVP

MEANWHILE ONE OF DEKU’S ACTUAL DADS HAS JUST FOUND OUT HE’S MISSING AND HE’S REALLY PISSED OFF

getting the feeling that Aizawa would have never signed that permission slip. it was pretty irresponsible of All Might tbh. just, statistically the data shows that you don’t let Deku go off on his own. you just don’t. you don’t, All Might

and apparently the shirts say “A Band”! even for the kids who aren’t in the actual band! I wonder who came up with that name. sounds like the work of Todoroki “my hero name is Shouto” Shouto to me

(ETA: as we now know, it was actually Yaoyorozu “Shouto and I have a lot more in common than you know” Momo)

now we’re following Deku on a brief journey to pick up the bags he dropped, while he thinks to himself about how similar he and Gentle were, and that they both fought for others

okay but let’s not pretend Gentle was fighting for La Brava’s sake until the very end, though

anyway, the bags weren’t where Deku left them, but thankfully an old lady picked them up and they found them around 9:35!

AND GUYS LOOK AT THIS OMG

KAMINARI DENKI YOU TRULY KNOW NO FEAR HUH. that Kacchan thing really emboldened him. he came out of it alive and was all, “wow I can really get away with anything, huh?”

AND HE CAN! WHAT A REVELATION

(ETA: okay but for real, I know BakuDeku and KiriBaku are the #1 and #3 most popular pairings in the series (going by AO3 anyway), but after reading this arc, I can’t help but feel like KamiBaku is being slept on. Kaminari’s Little Bro Energy and his willingness to test boundaries put together with Kacchan’s frankly shocking levels of compliance make for an amazing combo. the cuteness potential here is off the fucking charts)

so people are milling around and wondering what class A has in store and saying they’re excited

and of course they are, because class A famously kicks ass as we have all realized by now

and now Eri is shyly tugging at her big bro Mirio’s sleeve and asking if Deku is going to dance

YOU BET HE IS, ERI. HE’S GOING TO DANCE YOUR SOCKS OFF

and All Might is running up to Aizawa, presumably to tell him they found Deku and everything’s hunky dory now

look at all these people!

SO LET’S BE SURE TO GIVE EM A SHOW, EVERYONE

holy shit it’s 9:59 and still no Deku in sight. fucking kid always has to make an entrance

AHHHHHHHHHH

I’M MORE EXCITED THAN THIS WHOLE FUCKING CROWD PUT TOGETHER OMGGG

WHO IS THAT SHOUTING “YAOYOROZU” OVER ON THE LEFT?? DID I SOMEHOW GET TRANSPORTED INTO THIS MANGA AND DIDN’T REALIZE

(ETA: apparently these are all of her fans from the commercials she did with Snake Hair Lady and Kendou. not my preferred way for Momo to get a following, but I can’t say I object to her having a following. what can I say, these people know perfection when they see it)

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS IS IT OH MY GOD. THE ANIME BETTER KNOCK THIS OUT OF THE FUCKING PARK

BUT OH MY GOD, EVEN THOUGH IT’S JUST ONE PAGE I’M FUCKING LOSING MY MIND

(ETA: oh my god I’m so glad we got more in the next chapter though. I was prepared to take whatever we got, but for a moment I genuinely thought this was gonna be it, and after all of that buildup I’m so happy we did get the full performance and each of the characters got a little moment to shine)

MOMO’S HARDCORE CHEERING SQUAD!! EITHER THAT OR JIROU ACTUALLY WROTE A SONG THAT CONSISTS OF NOTHING BUT MOMO’S NAME OVER AND OVER, AND THEY ELECTED TO PLAY THIS AS THEIR OPENING ACT. I KNOW THIS ISN’T ACTUALLY WHAT’S HAPPENING, BUT IT STILL CAN BE CANON IN MY HEART

MIRIO HOISTING ERI UP TO SEE

THIS IS THE CUTEST PANEL WE’VE EVER HAD IN THIS MANGA. SUCK IT, ALL YOU OTHER PANELS

BAKUGOU PLAYING THE SHIT OUT OF THOSE DRUMS! FUCKING MURDER EVERYONE WITH YOUR SOUND BOIIIII

AND ERI SMILING

I’M DEAD. THIS IS BEAUTIFUL. THIS IS SO FUCKING GREAT. I LOVE IT. THANK YOU, MANGA. I’M PLAYING “Y CONTROL” ON REPEAT, FUCK YEAH

YOU DON’T NEED A BONUS, JUST ENJOY THE MAGICAL MOMENT