#don’t insult my two favorite otp

[wistfulweaverwoman]

Seriously?! What book series did these galeniss folks read?!? It took ages and ages for Katniss to trust Gale while Katniss had to struggle against trusting Peeta almost immediately. While Katniss and Gale had some similar experiences growing up (their fathers die and they both needed to hunt for their families) they had very different values when it came to most other things.

[sibillascribbles08]

Decided to do the TMNTVDAY month because I need to spread more propaganda for this ship (I see y’all liking all the posts for it on my blog I SEE you)

1. In which TMNT universe does your pairing exist?

Rise, mainly because it’s the only one I’m still familiar with haha

2. Introduce us to your OTP.

Hi it’s Jasonnie, I’m predictable. Jason and Donnie (”Who the fuck is Jason”) He’s the little purple dragon guy. I literally can’t blame you if you don’t remember he’s in THREE episodes ! (Would he have been in more if the show hadn’t been cut off? I can hope) Anyway my brain has a terrible habit of looking at underdeveloped background characters and saying “it’s free real estate”, so lets be very clear the only reason I love his character so much is cause I made like 89% of it aslkjf.

3. How did they meet?

According to canon, when Donnie was helping April in the computer lab where he tried to show off and then got all his shit stolen lmao.

4. How is the relationship now?

Depends how long it’s been. The few stories I have with this ship always take the route of enemies to friends to lovers, and some move much slower than others haha.

But I suppose to give more details and elaborate on how I picture their dynamic, although the two come to adore each other there’s always an antagonistic streak between them that never goes away, it just becomes more playful rather than mean. Affectionate insults are a regular occurrence, and neither of them have an issue with calling the other out when they do something stupid. You’d think it’d lead to more arguments, but generally their combined blunt nature causes them to communicate more often (not that there aren’t still snags that come up).

Also like, nerds, in more ways than one. Sure the tech stuff is obvious but while Donnie adores Jupiter Jim, Lou Jitsu and Atomic Lass, Jase is over here with tons of gundam and transformer models and will watch any film that features a giant robot. More than one date is spent with one or the other talking about something for an hour and a half straight.

5. What is each other’s love language?

Donnie’s main one is gift giving, which sometimes goes overboard. Jase has to be careful mentioning he ever wants anything because there’s a good chance Donnie will show up a week later having either bought it, stolen it, or built it from scratch. He also likes to give things when he makes apologies, often cookies or snacks.

Jase’s is actually touch, though it took some time for him to be on a comfort level for that to be obvious. You wouldn’t expect it either, for how often he complains if Donnie ever picks him up, but he enjoys almost any form of contact. For the days Donnie’s overwhelmed and isn’t up for it, he’s also content to just sit in the same room (Quality time being his secondary language).

6. Do they get married or have any kids?

I may never write about it but yes asldjf fun fact tho, Donnie names their daughter Holly (after Holly Blue).

7. What is your favorite thing about this pairing? (Gush as much as you want!)

Listen part of it is just “I built one of these characters from the ground up so I can make this whatever I want” but I really enjoy how their dynamic evolved into keeping each other in check. Jase not eating properly due to anxiety? Donnie brings him his favorite snacks and will stare at him until he eats some of it. Donnie working almost non stop for twelve hours ? Jase snapping at him and possibly even wrestling a device out of his grip until he goes to lay down.

Oh also uh, height difference. Yeah I hc that Donnie gets up to freaking 6′11″ when he’s fully grown and Jase is stuck at 5′3″ sooo

yeah

[roselightfairy]

❤️❤️‍🩹?

❤️ a favorite ship

There are so many of these. Sometime in the last many years I moved from being a mostly-gen person to a mostly-romance person, and I can't bring myself to regret it given how much fun I tend to have! But, like, classic: Legolas/Gimli. These two were the pairing that made me as a shipper. This is where I learned what romantic fic is, and how to write it. I've never OTPed like I OTP them. Yes, I know I've drifted away from the fandom for a bit, but they'll always have my heart.

❤️‍🩹 a popular ship that you just don’t get

There are so many of these... and you didn't specify a fandom so I'll give one from two different fandoms just to play fair!

Bard/Thranduil. I don't get it! I don't understand! Where does it come from? I'd seen so much of the pairing in fanfic before I ever watched the movies, and then when I finally did watch them I was just waiting for The Thing to happen that would explain all the hype, and it just . . . didn't. I finished the movies as baffled as I had been before starting them.

Cody/Obi-Wan. This is pretty much the same thing. @thevillainsmustache and I were watching Clone Wars for most of June and much of July, and I had known that this was a big ship, so we were just watching and waiting for the thing that would explain why it's so popular, and again, it didn't happen. I suppose I can understand from extrapolation why people would think it's an interesting ship, but there was no chemistry in canon that caught me, nothing that would explain the extreme popularity of it. I don't understand where it comes from!

Necessary note that I'm not trying to judge or insult people who like these pairings; I just genuinely do not see what you see, and that's okay!

[villainsandvictimsalliance]

People assume that those who don't ship DabiHawks are those who haven't read the Manga. When in fact, as a person who read the Manga, Dabi acts like a rogue Knight or something. Before he actually "serves" someone, they have to be worthy of that respect. Without spoiling the Manga, the state of things developed and the way Dabi behaved to Shigaraki gave me "That's him alright. That's my king." or "As the world decays before him, I will burn the bodies that remain."

But that is just me 😅 I hope that made sense.

You're killing me. You're killing me because you're totally right, but let's change things just a bit.

Dabi is the equivalent of a fallen prince. They kicked him out of his kingdom for whatever reason and now he just uses all his training and studies to achieve his dark goals. And of course, because he was raised like royalty, he does not bow to just anyone.

And then he meets Tomura. Maybe he was waiting for some big ego king like AFO, but he got an ex-member of the royal court, actual restless boss of the rebellion or something like that.

For me it's super funny because they were insulting each other one minute, the next Tomura trusted Dabi an entire squad and gave him a nomu, just in case.

I like to think they recognized each other as equals the minute they met. Tomura would let Dabi come and go as he pleased and Dabi would go back as soon as he was called.

They're like a mafie boss and his favorite mercenary. They have different goals, but they share the road and help the other to their destinations.

DabiHawks is interesting and Spinnaraki is amazing, but I don't know, it's like Hawks and Spinner are too righteous and full of light. They cna focus way too much on doing the correct thing and they can underestimate the level of hurt Dabi and Tomura share.

Instead, Tomura and Dabi are like two creatures sharing the shadows, unrecognized, invisible, pressing their shoulders together to survive the cold. They don't talk almost, they don't interact that much, but their silence speaks volumes. It's about the way they look at each other, it's about the way they act or are constantly together in sketches or promotional art.

Dabi trusted Tomura since day one. Tomura did the same.

I don't care, they are my otp. Thanks for listening my nonsense rambling.

[acemapleeh]

ooh, what about poland?

send me a character and i’ll list:

favorite thing about them: Half lidded eyes are peak character design. He’s just kind of this dude who’s out there and doing his own thing. I like him being a bit of a scatterbrain and airhead but when shit gets serious he’s ready to throw hands. Throws out insults like nobody’s business if they’re on his bad side. Absolute delight to his friends. It takes a while for him to truly open up to others but once you do, he’s great to talk to and spend time with.

least favorite thing about them: I am in actual disbelief a how many does it take to put in a lightbulb was actually a comic strip. I mean- maybe I’m not that shocked but like... it’s really not great and I’m upset about it. The boy ain’t stupid. I don’t think any of the nations are for that matter. Also Poland in war was fucking insane. If the Russians feared two things it were the Finnish and the Polish. It’s only lightly touched upon. Mother I crave violence.

favorite line: “Yo s’up player- I got a good deal on ten thousand ponies to add to my arsenal right?” / “But how does he keep his place from smelling like redlight district?”

brOTP: Poland, Czechia, Slovakia and Hungary.

OTP: Lietpol my beloved <3

nOTP: Him and Belarus I guess? 

random headcanon: Pro-gamer Poland online. The dude probably streams and posts videos online and people eat him up. Has fun fashion and looks, funny as hell, and has a cute boyfriend who joins in from time to time. Is he actually good at games? Who knows! He has a lot of fun with them. Is hardly phased by horror games; his performance for those are all dead pan and sarcasm. You know a game is scary if it gets under his skin. Polish horror is something else (my personal experience is with games and animation). Recommending people check out Darkness Under my Bed to show what I mean.

unpopular opinion: Liiiiisten I’m all for him dressing however he wants, more power to him. The fandom and even canon sometimes just.... takes it really far. He can be femme, he can like pink, wear skirts, paint nails, have at it but I just feel like people take it to a level I don’t vibe with. I like it being a blend that he does just seamlessly or something really fluid. He sways between looks, masc, femme, neither, in-between, etc. Him just doing strict femme looks doesn’t sit right with me. I like it varied. I think what I don’t like is people making it his entire personality. There we go.

song i associate with them: Oh No! by MARINA, Stray Italian Greyhound by Vienna Teng, Załoga G by Hurt

favorite picture of them: Poland in traditional clothes gives me life.

[rhysiedarling]

A word of advice...

This is something that has recently come up and I was originally not going to address it but it has become such a problem that it really gets on my nerves.

I mean, I get it.

We all have different perspectives and we all have our individual likes and dislikes but it's getting a bit out of hand.

The ACOTAR fandom has many different opinions and there's nothing wrong with that. The problem only arises when people start hating on others and disrespecting their opinions.

We all have our favorite characters and ships, whether it be Rhys, Nesta, Feyre or Azriel or anyone else. We all have our pairings and we all have different views regarding this and that's okay.

What's not okay is when you start bashing other people for their individual opinions.

You're a Nesta stan? Great! Don't bash Rhys/Feyre.

You're a Rhys stan? Don't go off on Nesta stans.

You ship Elriel? You ship Gwynriel? Elucien? Brilliant! BUT DO NOT START WARS WITH OTHER PEOPLE WHO DON'T SHIP THE SAME CHARACTERS.

We all have our favorites, we all have our reasons to like/dislike them and we should respect that.

Ask yourself: How would you feel if someone started bashing on your faves? Would you like it?

And I understand... I truly do. We have a tendency to protect and defend our favorite characters and that's normal! But just remember to stay in line and not insult others' preferences in the process.

Sharing two stark different opinions is absolutely okay. It's great, even. But once the conversation starts to become aggressive and insults are being flung around then it's time to stop, backtrack, and leave the conversation before it gets out of hands and all are feelings get hurt.

Personally...

I love Rhys. I love Feysand. But I also like Nesta, I love the idea of Nessian. I absolutely love Azriel. Elain. Mor. Amren. Cassian. I love the entire IC and Gwyn and Emerie.

And I want to express my love for them but it's difficult when others always try to bash them. It's tiresome. I don't want to get into fights, I don't want to start meaningless wars. But just please respect other's opinions.

Some of us use hashtags to promote our hate as well which I find really... confusing?

For example: If I search up #feysand fanfic there are multiple posts on anti feyre/anti rhys/anti feysand. And it's just so confusing and honestly, a nuisance because here I am, minding my own business, wanting to relax with a bit of feysand content but what do I find? Hate. A shit ton of hate.

And it baffles me, is all. Those hashtags are created to be used to spread creativity and other's writing. To be used for others with the same views, so that they could easily find the content they're looking for.

But instead all we find is hate, hate and more hate.

This goes out to all fans:

It doesn't matter if you ship Feysand, Nessian, Gwynriel, Elriel, Elucien or WHOEVER! But do NOT start bashing others and belittling others for their own preferences.

Spread positivity, not hate. Respect other's opinions. Start a chat, get to know others with different views.

You may not like the character, they may not be your otp. You don't have to really understand why others like them but you DO have to respect their opinions.

I can not stress this enough.

[dangermousie]

Something Happened in Bali eps 1-2 rewatch thoughts

It's really interesting, rewatching this. God, I'd almost forgotten how much I love Jo In Sung. LOVE. I mean, I love him and his nervous energy so much that I don't even notice So Ji Sub, who normally I really like. (ide note - A Dirty Carnival was the best Korean movie I have ever seen, and what made me truly and utterly lose it for him - but it was so brutally hopeless, it made me depressed for days. Go watch!) Anyway, back to the drama. 1. I'd almost forgotten how unpleasant the two guys and Other Girl are in this, at the start. None of them are monsters (though by the end the Secondary Girl comes close, IMO, even if I end up feeling a repelled kind of pity for her) but they are all in their selfish shells - it's little things, like not helping Soo Jung with her heavy bag or treating her as an extra in their lives. Even their kindness is this thoughtless kind. It's funny because I am not sure if they change in niceness quotient that much (though both the men become much more desperately vulnerable, especially Jae Min) but I guess I get to know them so well and their reasons for being the way they are, I sort of end up not caring - I end up adoring Jae Min as a character, especially, so much. Even if he is the biggest trainwreck I have ever seen as a kdrama lead in my 15+ years of watching kdramas. 2. Soo Jung. I adore her. You could see how annoyed she is she is dealing with the tour group from hell (the other 3) but the way she pushes and carries on is WONDERFUL. So is her drunken camaraderie with Jae Min. She is in another universe from the poised, iced, controlled Young Joo. But it's interesting, she seems so (relatively) well-adjusted compared to the rest of them but as the drama unfolds, you see that this hard-earned cheerfulness is a facade and she is very broken too - between her and Jae Min, I am not sure, which one is more screwed-up. For him, it's his family, but for her, it's her poverty that has made her so. Ha Ji Won SLAYS in this role (so do the rest of the cast, of course.) She’s rough, she’s desperate, she’s grasping, she’s vulnerable, she’s irresistible - in other hands you would never get how two screwed-up, closed-off men would fall so desperately for someone so greedy, so grasping, so flawed - but here you are drawn to her vividness, to her joy, to her intensity, to her unique combo of sunshine and extreme damage. 3. You know, there are hints about her screwed-upness even this early on - the scene where Jae Min offers her $$$ for a one-night stand and she calls him a jerk (and you see by his reaction he doesn't even understand that what he said was insulting - he is puzzled. In his world, everything can be bought and sold, and there is no such thing as affection.) and then asks whether he is going to pay before or after. In her world, there is no room for the grand gesture, for throwing money in his face. She leaves only because he kicks her out (giving her money but not doing anything) telling her to buy her new shoes (hers are broken) and saying "it's not fun any more" (the first of many instances she really throws him off any usual ways he deals with things). And then she trips on her broken heels walking out, sprawling in the lobby, inelegantly grabbing and picking up money. 4. One of the biggest delights of this rewatch for me is contrasting in my head the way Jae Min is going to be with her later - utterly desperate and "brought down" and willing to beg and beg and beg, and the way he is now - emotionally detached, with all the 'power' on his side - I mean, contrast his propositioning her for that one-night stand and the scene where they finally make love, a dozen eps from now. Though she is totally rattling him even now - I love the scene where he first truly notices her - seeing her in the parking lot trying to fix her shoes, eating, and drinking. She is just so REAL and alive and immediate. No wonder he's caught (and then quickly looks away). 5. Jae Min's father needs to die in a fire after being slowly cut with a myriad of razors - the scene in his office in ep 2 where he is practicing golf in his office and Jae Min flinches any time the golf club is in his vicinity, and almost stutters, just - RAGE. Increased 1000x by what I know he does later. But I confess to being amused in the scene where he is throwing things at Jae Min during the board meeting and a flunkie keeps moving things up to him to throw - folders, bottle of water, so he won't run out of things - a definition of a brown-noser.

6. I love how oddly real this drama feels in its filming - people are not glamorized within an inch of their lives and there is no glossiness, no studied detachment, no appeal to coolness or w/e. It is what it is and it knows it. God, I love this drama!

7. (The below is spoilery for the whole thing) Bali has the distinction of having the most dysfunctional couple I have ever shipped. Years of therapy were needed for those two. Yes, my OTP was Jae Min/Soo Jung, despite the fact that the otp's end was murder/suicide. I don't care, I still shipped them - the ending of the drama is one of my favorite drama moments, in actuality - Jae Min becoming more and more unhinged because of his nightmarish family and then finally he believes Soo Jung just played him in order to scam money and ruin his family with her lover. He tracks them down to Bali and finds them in bed. Ironically, Soo Jung has just finished telling her lover that she wants to leave him and go back to Korea to look for Jae Min because it's him she wants. Jae Min, of course, does not hear her (and he is so catatonic at that point, I doubt it would have registered if he did hear). So he shoots her and her lover dead as they lie there. But while her lover is dead asap, Soo Jung has time to look at Jae Min and tell him 'saranghae' which is about the most awesome thing ever - she has never ever told him she loved him before, not through all his efforts to win her heart, not even when they made love. And now she is telling him as she is dying, because it's important to her for him to know before she dies - there are no games or conditions. And of course, Jae Min snapped out of it as soon as he shot and he is falling apart as is and then he hears her tell him she loves him and his face - oh my God. And he goes outside and kills himself and I sit there bawling and hoping his horrific family all have collective heart attacks and die.

Yes. I ship THAT. I don't care what it makes me. The drama makes no bones that Jae Min is beyond messed up - I am kinda amazed he is walking and talking, to be honest. His father wins the incontrovertible award for the worst kdrama father ever and if you know kdramas you know what a feat that is. The scene where Jae Min is on his knees in front of his father, weeping and begging to be allowed to have Soo Jung and his father beats him half into unconsciousness and then tells him it's Soo Jung's fault and he will go after her next and make her disappear and Jae Min is left pleading that he did not mean it and it's not Soo Jung's fault and he misunderstood? FLAMES. FLAMES WHEN I JUST THINK ABOUT IT. So his love for Soo Jung is no help - I don't think any woman could have 'fixed' him, and certainly the hugely messed-up despite her sunny demeanor Soo Jung, with her own major issues and fragility, was about the last person to do so. However, even if they could have worked out their happiness, with the help of some really high-priced therapy, his family made it impossible - in fact they turned the screws on even worse, not caring that their actions were plainly driving him into nonfunctionality land. But then - how else could it end with all the destruction and damage and desperation on both sides and his having no experience with any expression of love that was not entangled with violence. And in context of fiction, the OTP that has the potential for helping each other but dooms each other instead is my jam SO MUCH!

[chcrrysprite]

for the character ask, liam!!!

Liam Dunbar

Favorite thing about him he's sweet. a lot of fic i think accidentally portrays him as being super mean by personality for some reason, but his expressions of anger through his words were always either justified or because he couldn't control them. he's a really nice guy and a good friend.

Least favorite thing about him i'm not sure i can think of one. i guess if i had to pick one it would be punching theo around so much? which, you know, like i said, was kind of justified, so i'm not really complaining about it that seriously. if there were more seasons though, i would be annoyed if theo kept getting used as a punching bag by him as time passed by.

Favorite line "what? i like history."

BrOTP him and mason, him and scott, or him and hayden. mason + liam are already my favorite friendship on the show, i love liam + scott's dynamic, and if hayden had been in the show longer i would have loved to see them be friends, even though i don't mind their relationship.

OTP theo + liam, predictably. i don't think i need to explain the reasons at this point. just scroll down my tumblr and you'll find pretty much all of them. honorable mention is layden, because even though i don't know how i got into it, i do kind of ship it unironically and unapologetically. they were cute, just not that interesting.

NOTP liam and brett. i'll admit to looking into fics that include theo in their relationship - i've even almost written one - but i just Do Not Like Them when it's just the two of them. all i can think about when i see people talking about them was the bullying and absolute abuse liam took from someone who was implied to be one of his friends and teammates. liam having actual trauma flashbacks to brett, a super strong werewolf, beating him over and over again with lacrosse balls is really awful and i feel like when it's just the two of them in a fic together, that's not addressed. when theo is there, it's better, because then you know that the author is self-aware about how kind of fucked up the relationship is. it's one thing to write brett/liam and ignore what brett did, but once you toss theo in there, you have to be aware because there are now two people who did some pretty terrible things involved.

Random headcanon liam becomes a history teacher, and he also can't cook for shit.

Unpopular opinion i like liam better than isaac. in any of those hypothetical "no, i'm scott's first beta!!" arguments + the resulting insults that people like to joke about, i would be on liam's side. maybe not by technicality, because isaac was kind of scott's first beta, but i would still be inclined to agree with liam more.

Song i associate with him

ICU by Phoebe Bridgers. i imagine this is how he thinks about theo, especially during the 'and i get this feeling whenever i feel good / it'll be the last time / but i feel something when i see you now / i feel something when i see you' parts.

Favorite picture of him above!

thank you sm for the ask!! this was fun :)

[createandconstruct]

kuja for the ask meme?

The big KAHUJA!

favorite thing about them: The complexity of his relationship with Terra and his identity as a Genome. His breakdown in the face of death and eventually acceptance right before it. His childish behavior despite being the "older sibling." His weird feather hair-tenna??

least favorite thing about them: that fact that he ya know... commits mass genocide. And he also forces me to look at his codpiece every moment he's on screen. Like Kuja... aren't your thighs cold dude?

favorite line: "They offend my senses." (Brilliant, incredible, amazing, my new favorite insult)

brOTP: Kuja and the Auctioneer (honestly Kuja's only friend??? Besides his Silver Dragon of course)

OTP: No one really. I like to focus more on Kuja on his own as a character and his platonic relationships to others because he's severely lacking.

nOTP: I'm not really a nOTP or anti about any ship. People are free to ship. Though I personally don't like Kuja and Mikoto or Kuja and Zidane, because they're siblings.

random headcanon: He had some interactions with Zidane on Terra and when he tried to abandon him it wasn't as easy as dropping him off. Zidane, being the little child he was, tried not to be left behind the one adult he knew. It didn't make it easy for Kuja.

unpopular opinion: Not sure if this is unpopular? But I think Kuja dying at the end with only Zidane there, after the two had a calm, reasonable, and intimate conversation, is a good ending for him and works wonderful with the game's themes. People who write Kuja alive AUs are very valid though. Keep doing your work you funky creative people.

song i associate with them: Gotta be I was waiting for this moment from Madoka Magica. Really captures his breakdown and despair.

favorite picture of them: This work of art from Vinesauce's Art Stream

(...okay but honestly, it's probably when he's in front of the crystal right before you battle him. I love the composition of that screen. The whole crystal world with the colors of his trance, which are the colors of Terra's crystal, it's really great, and I love reading into that.)

[joiedecombat]

💕 🎁

💕 favorite ship to write? 

Squall Leonhart and Rinoa Heartilly from Final Fantasy VIII, my original fandom OTP. I’ve probably written more about them than any other fic, and though it’s been a hot minute since I’ve written anything new for FFVIII, Squall and Rinoa and their relationship dynamic have left a permanent mark on my writing - especially Squall, who is eveything I love in a romantic hero.

By which mostly I mean “aloof, stoic professionalism on the outside, utter emotional garbage fire in need of rescue on the inside.”

🎁 have a quote from a WIP? 

I batted back and forth with myself for a while on how deep to dig into my files of unfinished fiction and whether to stick to fanfic or not, considering that how much any of my WIPs can really be said to be in progress is always pretty dubious.

Anyway, here’s two different and unrelated excerpts for you.

“Why make the suggestion in the first place if you’re so against it?”

Because I’m not strong enough.

The answer rested on the tip of his tongue, too bitter to swallow. As much as this whole situation galled him, fact remained fact: he lacked the influence, not to mention the manpower, that it would take to challenge Juliano directly.

He’d grit his teeth and send this woman into the trenches, knowing full well what he was sending her to, because like it or not he needed the opportunity she could give him.

But some things a man in his position couldn’t admit to out loud. Especially not to a woman with eyes like Elizabeth Colvin’s.

This one’s from “Reason or Rhyme,” the Gotham Memoirs Vittorio fic I swear I will get back to when I have the chance.

The other is from an older original piece that is still more conceptual than really planned, but which I still really want to do something with one of these days:

Keeping herself propped up suddenly seemed like far too much effort. As the car’s drivers side door swung open, Raine sank back down onto the corrugated surface of the truck bed and closed her eyes. From there she heard rather than saw him approach, steps light and measured, the long shadow he cast in the headlights flickering against her eyelids: the central figure of all the problems she’d tried to forget.

“Warden.” 

“Special Agent.” 

She’d hoped to sound as calm and dispassionate as he had, but to her own ears her voice just sounded petulant. Saying anything else seemed like a bad idea. Instead she kept her eyes shut, as though if she didn’t acknowledge him any further, he might  go away and leave her alone.

No such luck. 

“What the hell have you been drinking,” he said with a flatness in that rich voice that made it not so much a question as a demand for explanation.

“Two for one margaritas, mostly.” 

She opened one eye to find Alsandír standing at the side of the truck, looking down at her. In the stark backlight of the headlights, he was all sharp contrasts, silver and shadows like some kind of moody artistic photograph in a style there was probably a fancy name for. Chiaro… chiaroscuro. Something Italian like that.

He drew in a slow breath, the line of his jaw shifted fractionally as the corners of his mouth tightened. “With incredibly cheap tequila, by the smell of it. You are in no shape to drive.”

“A very astute observation,” Raine enunciated the words with great care to keep her mouth from stumbling over them like it wanted to. “That’d be why I’m not driving.”

He lifted an eyebrow. 

“So your solution is to spend the night out here?” he asked, a note of incredulity creeping into his tone. “Because that’s safe.”

“Oh, go away,” she muttered sourly, closing her eyes again and lifting a hand to flap it in his direction. “Nobody asked you.”

Her arm caught up short against his palm, and he closed his hand around her wrist -- not a tight grip, but trying to tug free of him proved fruitless. By the time Raine opened her eyes to frown at him, he was already moving around to the tailgate, pulling her up and along with him until her feet touched the ground and she was sitting nominally upright. 

“Hey,” she protested, but he gave no indication that he’d heard.

“Can you stand?”

Insulted, she hissed a breath out through her teeth. “I’m not that drunk.”

He said nothing to that. He just stood there, watching her with that too-steady gaze, inhumanly still except for the barest ruffle of the breeze over his hair. Expectant.

With a half-voiced grumble of capitulation, Raine braced her hand against the tailgate and pushed herself the rest of the way up so that she could sit on her own. It wasn’t standing, but it seemed to satisfy him, because he let go of her wrist and took a single, precise step back. 

“Where are your keys?” he asked her.

She patted her hand against the hip pocket of her jeans, not so much by way of an answer as to reassure herself that she hadn’t done something stupid like leave them in the ignition. The hard edges of the keyring pressed back against her palm, unyielding and familiar. She had just enough time to think that if he meant to take her keys from her, it was going to be a fight, before he said “Good,” and turned away.

Raine sat on the tailgate and watched as he went back to his car, moving around to the passengers’ side to open the door. Her mind felt thick and sluggish, like the summer humidity had crept into her head; when he turned back towards her and said, “Get in,” at first she only blinked.

“...No thanks,” she decided after a moment, and heard him breathe out a quiet sigh.

“I’m not leaving you out here like this.”

Something about the absoluteness in his voice, like he was saying something that had already been decided, had her bunching up her shoulders with rebellious tension. 

“Go to hell,” Raine shot back. “I don’t take orders from you.”

“Dios mío, it’s not an order--” He broke off with a hiss, for once sounding as aggravated as she felt. 

Curling her arms around herself, she hunkered down to rest her forearms against her knees and looked down at the ground. Presently she heard his steps on the gravel again. The distorted length of his shadow split the flood of light from the headlights like a knife as he walked back toward her; even when he stood right in front of her, close enough that if she kicked out it would catch him right about in the kneecap, she kept her head bowed and glowered at the toes of his no-doubt-designer shoes.

“Raine. I am asking you. Please.” The word sounded awkward in his mouth, as though it were something he wasn’t accustomed to pronouncing. Surprise had her lifting her head to find those pale eyes fixed upon her, implacable. “Get in the fucking car.”

For a long, taut moment, neither of them moved. Raine was the one to finally break eye contact, uncurling herself with a little huff. 

“Fine,” she said, “if you’re going to make this much of a thing out of it.”

She gripped the end of the tailgate with both hands, but as she pushed herself off and onto her feet, the ground tilted dizzily underneath her. Off balance, she pitched forward with a very undignified sound, and would’ve planted her face right into his chest if he hadn’t caught her by the shoulders.

Catching the upward quirk of his eyebrow, Raine glared up at him. “Shut up.”

“Mm,” he said, and hitched a steadying arm around her by which to steer her towards his car.

[jamespotterthefirst]

1, 4, 9, 11,17,25! If i vould ask all of them for my fav 🐰 couple i would. X 💞💞💞

Queen, thank you so much! For the questions and for liking these two idiots!�� 💞

1.  What are things they both find funny?

They find dry humor hilarious. But one thing they both love making fun of is people who are so determined to be stupid and ignorant, both at work and in life in general. They'll think of clever insults and murmur it to the other, most likely during inappropriate times. They'd be in the middle of a meeting at work and Lilac will lean in and whisper a witty little insult about a self-centered board member. And Ethan would struggle to keep a poke face.

4. What would be their ship name?

Ethac? Lithan? Allensey? Ramende?

I think I like Allensey the best lol

9. Have they made each other cry?

Yes, Ethan made Lilac cry most notably when he left to the Amazon without a word goodbye.

Lilac inadvertently made Ethan cry when she was fighting for her life after the attack. There was a moment, after Raf worsened, where Ethan really thought he was going to lose her.

11. What causes them to fight?

Lilac can come off as nonchalant about serious issues. Humor, especially dark humor, can be somewhat of a coping mechanism for her. She is also naturally a laid back person and as a result, it can appear that she's not taking something seriously. It can really irritate Ethan when a crisis occurs in their lives or at work.

On the other hand, Ethan overreacts when things don't go his way. He is one to immediately give up and walk away (think of Naveen's illness in book 1 and the budget cuts in book 2). In a fight or flight situation, he is prone to chose flight. Whereas Lilac will most likely chose fight. This, depending on the situation, can irritate the other.

17. What senses (sights, smells, feelings, etc). remind them of each other?

La Colombe coffee reminds Lilac of Ethan because it's his favorite brand. It's particular to him because rarely anyone spends that much on coffee for daily use. The smell of his aftershave, present when she's near him at the hospital, reminds her of lazy mornings together as they rush around his apartment, getting ready for work.

A feeling of peace and contentment reminds Ethan of Lilac. His heart still races a bit when she smiles that winsome smile or when she whispers that she loves him, but feeling at peace— after so many years of feeling as though he was trudging through a storm— is what is unique to only her.

25. What moves do they know work on the other?

Seducing Dr. Ramsey is not a difficult feat when Lilac sets her mind to it. But in the spirit of keeping things tame, she deliberately trails her eyes (which he is a sucker for) up and down his body until they finally meet his. Bedroom eyes, if you will.

Similarly, Ethan knows the crooked smile that affects her. That, paired with his hands teasing the jut of her hips and the plane of her thighs, and he's got her right where he wants her.

otp asks

[canonicallysoulmates]

Here are my thoughts and opinions on the first season of Loki.

First of all, if you have not re-watched this season I highly recommend it. It’s only 6hrs, pick a day, get some snacks, binge the whole thing especially if you weren’t a big fan of it the first time around because re-watching it I noticed some things that I hadn’t before but I also found myself liking some things that I hadn’t the first time around. Which is why I recommend re-watching it, cause maybe it’ll be the same for y’all and you’ll find some new things to love, and end up enjoying some things you hadn’t before. It’s really a different experience to watch the whole thing together than when you watch week to week which makes sense cause MCU shows are meant to be movie-esque.

Now, I’ve spoken pretty positively about this show almost on the daily so let’s switch it up and start with the negatives aka the things that I personally didn’t like because while I enjoyed a lot of this show there are things I wasn’t a fan of and things that did irk me a lot; the first thing is very much a pet peeve: the title sequence, I’ve mentioned it before in passing but it reminds me too much of Gravity Falls and Bill Cipher, I gave it 6 episodes, 12 if you count the re-watches, and I just don’t like it at all, I get what they were going for but I don’t think it fits the show and I’m hoping they change it for s2.

But that’s a small thing, I can deal with that, the two (technically three) big things I didn’t like - and I think this is why episode 1 is my least favorite and to me the weakest of the season - is the way the show completely ignores Odin’s abuse and the effect that had on Loki, and the way he’s written in the first three episodes. I will go into detail.

I have no shame in admitting that I am pretty forgiving when it comes to this show and its flaws but the one thing I cannot forgive is how it not only ignores Odin’s abusive behavior but tries to paint him as a loving father and like Loki was the one in the wrong using the most insulting way possible which is that scene in Ragnarok where Odin tells his sons he loves them as if an ‘I love you’ undid years of abuse and bad parenting; it shouldn’t surprise me that they did this because the mcu does have a history and a pattern of being abuse apologists like portraying Thanos killing Gamora to get the soul stone as him loving her, or completely ignoring the horrible father that Howard Stark was. But it still really pisses me off that this show in which a big theme is exploring Loki psychologically and emotionally doesn’t even make mention of what a horrible father Odin was! And it tries to make it seem that just because Loki heard his father say a version of him that he loves him, that Loki suddenly thinks of him as a loving parent (referring to that line in episode 5 where he’s talking to Sylvie and says he has betrayed everyone who has loved him and mentions his asshole of a father instead of his mother!). I didn’t need them to go into details about this, but I did want them to call abuse abuse, and acknowledge Odin was a bad father. To me this is the biggest sin so far of this series. It doesn’t surprise me but it does disappoint me.

Connected to this, and in episode 1 we stay, is the “psychological exploration” of this character. I know after episode 1 a lot of fans were all “omg Loki finally got some therapy 😭” and then there’s me in the corner, shaking my head and saying no he didn’t, not at all, not even close. There was no therapy. And there was zero character exploration. I like Mobius but he is no Linda Martin.

All that happened was Loki being shown the consequences of his actions and being directly asked multiple times if he likes hurting people which of course he doesn’t, that’s not therapy at no point did Loki’s trauma get addressed, at no point did Loki get walked through that stuff or asked why he is how he is or what happened to change him from someone who was just mischievous to someone who caused harm.

Sorry to burst y’alls bubble but Loki did not get therapy in episode 1. Change Mobius lines about how Loki is just meant to cause pain and suffering and death for “imagined slights” and you’d have pretty much the same as every other MCU movie. At most what he got was an intervention to help him realize he didn’t want to be a bad person. Intervention and therapy are not the same thing.

And again, not surprised. If the mcu doesn’t properly explore their main, multiple movie having characters trauma and issues why were we expecting them to do it with Loki? Gotta keep those expectations in check. And in part I understand that the writers had a limited amount of time and they wanted to jump right into things but if they were gonna have only one episode with an emphasis on this they could have done a much better job while still jumping into the main story and moving on to character growth. To me this is the second biggest sin. And why episode 1 is ultimately my least favorite.

Last but not least, and something I can be more lenient and forgiving about but I still don’t like is the way Loki was written in the first three episodes. The way he was written was more comical to the point of borderline clown-ish sometimes which doesn’t match his personality at all, and don’t get me wrong there are times when it works but for the most part it just comes across as weird, like the writers were trying too hard to be funny and lighthearted at some points and it just doesn’t work, it ends up with him being a joke.

I’ll use a scene that I absolutely adore as a small example: Loki singing in episode 3. It’s one of my favorite scenes of the season, absolutely live for it, it lives in my head rent free in the VIP section but it’s a very flawed scene because Loki would never. Getting drunk on a mission is what Thor would do, not Loki, that is Thor through and through so as much as I love that scene, it is a flawed, ooc Loki scene.

The good thing is the show does improve in how it writes him in the last three eps, they stop trying so hard with the comedy, he’s more serious, more badass, he still has funny moments for example his reaction to Alligator Loki was hilarious but it’s more natural and fitting. So hopefully, in season 2 it will be the same writing team, and there will be more consistency and he’ll be written less comically and more badass.

Moving on to the positives, there are a lot of things I thoroughly enjoyed, starting with having Loki back on my screen and the center of attention- my baby, my darling, my love 💚 I’m so glad that he (and Tom!) is finally getting the attention, and love, and praise, and recognition that he has been deserving of all these years!

It gave me some of my favorite Loki scenes like I mentioned Loki singing it may be a flawed scene but I loved it nonetheless, it had some really cool fight scenes especially towards the end, it gave Loki a friend! A real friend! My baby is all grown up! 😭💚

The cinematography was beautiful, like you can say a lot about this show but you cannot deny that visually it is stunning and the directing was amazing. The soundtrack was pretty good too, I mean c’mon, ‘I need a Hero’? Iconic.

This show gave us Alligator Loki! How can one not love that! It kick started what looks to be the coolest aspect of Phase 4, it gave us bi, genderfluid Loki (which also brought out some of the ugliest sides of this fandom but this ain’t the time or place for that conversation 🙃), it gave me a new favorite character in Sylvie absolutely love her 💛

It gave me hope that the sun will shine again on Thor and Loki! That they’ll cross paths once again at some point and be reunited! And when they are, we better get that hug!

It gave me my new OTP in the form of Loki x Sylvie, they have great chemistry, and they’re super cute together, and they’re so good for one another and I just love them so much; I know it’s a “controversial” ship but I hope they stick to it and we get more of them in s2 because they are the best couple Marvel has ever given us they are passionate and cute and angsty, and they have the foundation for the most epic love story.

In conclusion, was Loki season 1 perfect? Was it everything I wanted? Nope. But ultimately, it gave me more that I enjoyed than not- also, I can tell this was something that was done with a lot of love and joy and effort put into it which as someone who has loved a show where the writer’s room noticeably didn’t give a rat’s ass, I can appreciate a lot.

Overall I’m very happy with the first season; I love this show, flaws and all, and I can’t wait for s2!

[snowflake-of-destruction]

let's hear about FFVIII seifer, if you're still doing this XD

Why I like them: You know my tastes. A green-eyed man is introduced throwing fireballs around, is kind of a condescending jerk but in a fun way, instigates deep conversations on high ground while staring at the sunset...Well, before we even get to villainy, immolation, and redemption arc, I start going “Is this a favorite character?”  I’m joking...kind of. Some of that does factor in, even the fire. 

Okay, so my favorite thing about Seifer’s arc is that, in the limited focus he’s given, he’s complex and layered from the beginning, and his villain arc is a clear and fascinating illustration of “No man chooses evil because it is evil; he only mistakes it for happiness, the good he seeks” ….with a side of brainwashing.

Let’s break this down:

What are some of the words used to describe him by those that know him (by himself, by Squall, by Fuu and Rai)? Romantic. Idealistic. Sensitive. He is the one who believes in making a difference in the world--not just as a wish or goal, but as an imperative to do what your heart says is right even if it’s going to cost you--where Squall is just follow-the-orders-and-do-the-job. If you’re already reading this and objecting, I’m not saying Squall doesn’t care...obviously he does, defrosting Mr. Go Talk to a Wall and getting him to a place where he admits how many layers of mask he wears is his character development...but Seifer isn’t just a hothead. He wears his heart on his sleeve. 

Don’t get me wrong. I am not trying to deny that Seifer can be an abrasive, self-serving, hypocritical jackass sometimes,  who can fight dirty, wants to “wreak some havoc,” and has a history as a bully--though, gentlefolk of the jury, I submit to the courts that he puts on a tough act like Squall does and they are both different flavors of trying to mimic toxic alpha male--but let’s not forget that some of his establishing character moments are throwing out his future to disobey orders because he sees that the higher-ups have possibly misjudged the situation and civilians could be in danger, and, again, going AWOL because he thinks Squall and Rinoa could be killed. And he calls himself the white knight and holds up a code of honor until the end, even though it gets twisted. He is about duty and honor, with honor even over duty.

Oh, this was only going to be the beginning. I haven’t even begun to touch on what I would want to touch on--this is just surface personality and the beginning of the game before we even get to joining Sorceress Edea, and even then not all I would say-- but this post isn’t actually supposed to be my Ted talk on what you missed if you just think of Seifer as a recurring boss fight. Let’s move on.

ONE MORE THING ACTUALLY. Even though we see a lot of Seifer at his worst, you can use Fujin and Raijin as a mirror. What do they say near the end of the game if we paraphrase/summarize? They knew pretty early on, before even the senseless slaughter and torture era that Seifer was going down a dark path with the sorceress, but they knew it wasn’t him and stayed with him, not because they agreed with his actions, wanted power, or out of fear, but to take care of him and try to break through to him--and not because they are saints, but because he, despite what had happened in the past year, is the type of person who deserves and inspires that kind of loyalty. Let’s think on that.

Now the rest goes under a read more, because I am going to keep rambling and be wordy

Why I don’t: He can be an asshole, and he’s an asshole in an embarrassing way. As in, if one is trying to say he’s not the little punk his KH counterpart is, you remember he still uses the insult chickenwuss (though that is a legacy insult/nickname since he’s known Zell since childhood--and, fyi, Squall uses it too) and he had a little gang in school. Even once he’s a military commander of an evil army set on world domination, he has some moments where his level of petty undermines him.

Favorite episode (scene if movie): The Dollet mission

Favorite line: Sorry, not sorry that the following is my favorite exchange of lines and that the prison torture scene is another of my favorite scenes. For context, Seifer has captured Squall, has him hanging up on the wall in crucified hero imagery, implied to be shirtless even though his character model isn’t because they talk about scar tissue or lack thereof from a recent shoulder injury/Squall being stabbed in the chest/shoulder area. Seifer has been electrocuting Squall for information. By this point, I might as well have put the whole scene here. Also, I am now going to blame Squall and Seifer text boxes in FFVIII for my own abuses of ellipses...

Seifer: " I was hoping you'd be there, Squall. So... how'd I look in my moment of triumph? My childhood dream, fulfilled. I've become the sorceress' knight."

Squall: [internal monologue] ...Sorceress' knight... ...His...romantic dream...? But... Seifer... Now, you're just a…[Out loud] "... torturer."

[Squall passes out.]

Seifer: "What did you say? [Steps closer] Passed out cold, eh? This is the scene where you swear your undying hatred for me! The tale of the evil mercenary versus the sorceress' knight!”

This isn’t just me all “mmm, tension.” Seifer has passed the moral event horizon, and it’s not just faceless NPCs that are collateral damage anymore. We’ve seen him on screen torture the protagonist, who is also one of the only people who he’s shown to have a real bond with that goes beyond superficial. Then we get this and see Seifer thinks he’s the good guy still, on a noble mission where he’s had to make painful sacrifices, and Squall is a representative of the power-hungry evil. Seifer’s been playing a different game, and had his will twisted via magic.

Favorite outfit: The Amano art where the white coat is cast off and he’s wearing the simple black shirt and black jeans under it. Symbolic? Maybe. I wouldn’t give up the coat though. I love the long white/gray coat, the outer embodiment of wanting to wear the white hat, but the desire easily getting tarnished, and the red cross that turns into a sword and becomes Seifer’s symbol and soon to appear other places, emblazoned nice and big on the sleeve. It’s the Cross of Saint James. TRADITIONALLY red represents the blood of Christ, the three lilies represent the honor of the apostle and reference Christ as lily of the valley, and the sword shape represents the torture that St.James suffered before his murder. HOWEVER, my opinion is that here it’s more vague/altered symbolism (For starters, there are other gods not the Christian God in this world) with a side of “looks cool.” We still have something that clearly calls to mind a mission from on high, innocence in the lilies, blood and blood cost, and then war/violence with the sword. And I love it. 

OTP: Seifer/Squall. I should not even start, but lest you think I am just in it for kinky torture scenes: We have these two who, in the beginning, are generally callous or mocking toward everyone, but make each other laugh/smile, see who each other are underneath and describe each other in “soft” terms even if they tease each other for it, repeatedly check in on each other to see if the other is okay, respect each other’s opinion and skills, and...you get the idea. In the words of Zell Dincht, I thought you two were rivals, but you’re all buddy-buddy. 

Pause for a second and let’s just say first impression. That opening fight where they scar each other’s faces? It takes place outside Balamb Garden and the area is shown so we see they are alone. Squall passes out. Squall wakes up in the infirmary within the Garden base. Squall has to explain what happened; people don’t already know. This kind of implies after Squall passed out, Seifer, bleeding from a head wound himself, picked Squall up and carried him home, allowing himself to collapse only when Squall was being safely tended to, because he’s that extra. This is his first (okay, second, after fireballs and face slashing) action in the game even though it’s offscreen. I mean, he could have also just called for help/ran for help, but that’s less fun.

 Seifer is so concerned with being a badass, but he’s admits to Squall all he’s ever wanted was to be the fairytale knight, not a mere soldier. Vulnerability and confession he wants romance....with the first time it’s brought up in game being while they are watching the sun set together, the traditional Square Red Sunset of Shipping. 

Seifer hesitates to defy orders, not for himself, but until he sees Squall is with him. Even though there were other “children of destiny” who all came from the same orphanage, Squall and Seifer were the ones who were never apart, never adopted until it was by a military/mercenary training program, and, even though it may speak more to brotherly than romantic from some angles, there’s a feeling of being the same, knowing each other down to the atoms, adopting an us against the world mindset that trumps trying to best each other when it comes down to it because they are the only constant. When Squall has his breakdown/ breakthrough of why he pushes people away/doesn’t let himself care/tries not to need anyone because people leave/are taken from him and he is scared he isn’t worthy of love and happiness until Rinoa challenges him, this may seem like a dismissal of Seifer, but you can also look at it from “I had no friends or family. I didn’t even have interest in speaking to anyone. I strived to be an unfeeling machine, because all emotion is pain...But also I couldn’t go 48 hours without seeing Seifer.”

Yeah, yeah, we know their main form of hanging out was beating the tar out of each other, but sometimes, especially in older media, this was its own brand of subtext. For more on how Seifer miiiight just view sparring let’s point out that “Isn’t this ROMANTIC?” and “Kneel” as a less easily interpreted as innuendo version of  “I want you on your knees” are battle quotes even in Kingdom Hearts sooo draw your own conclusion. 

We get a line where Squall makes it clear these were friendly matches looked at as pushing their limits beyond what they are allowed to in sanctioned spars, and he feels prepared to take on anything  now because of Seifer. Is it healthy communication  in real life? No! Is this real life? No! Plus, the facial scar was an accident, pretty clearly...on Seifer’s side...I could write another essay on how Seifer draws first blood, but it’s because on Squall’s failed block, AND THEN SQUALL GETS ANGRY AND RETALIATES WITH CLEAR PURPOSE AND MAKES THE OPENING SHOT INTO THE FIRST SIGN GOOD VERSUS BAD GUY ISN’T SO CLEAR CUT (even though they both shouldn’t have been going so hard in a friendly training match to begin with).

 Seifer’s later, repeated threats/expressed desire to give Squall additional scars once he goes evil? That is a different animal, and a horrible one, objectively. Not objectively? No comment. Okay, one comment. Mark you as mine. Two comments. He knows Squall’s lost some memories and he can’t stomach being the next thing forgotten so Squall needs physical reminders.

Hmmm, I was supposed to be talking about the ship, not just the sparring and scars. We can wrap it up with a Marge Simpson. “I just think they’re neat”

BUT ONE MORE THING

Squall’s jacket when he becomes Leon in Kingdom Hearts. His outfit is mostly the same, right? Except the back of the jacket now has a red patch of an emblem (of Rinoa’s angel wings, not Seifer’s cross...for the OT3 feel), and his fight with Sora he throws a fireball like Seifer’s signature. Just, you know, if you want bonus references/feeling.

Brotp: Fuu and Rai. They are willing to commit war crimes with this man, nurse him back from death’s door, and go into exile with him if he can’t return to a normal life even after a redemption arc. This section deserves to be long, but I am beginning to get talked out. Don’t take that as devaluing the friendship though. I’m glad he was allowed to keep his ride or dies in Kingdom Hearts. FRIENDSHIP! They love him, ya know?

Head Canon: What we see of him at the end of the game is a temporary situation and after he heals and refreshes for awhile he’d go back to Balamb and face consequences for his actions, and probably insist on consequences instead of leaning into “an evil sorceress bespelled me and slowly took my free will.” No hiding away in the wilderness. No crossing into and living his life in Esthar. No, “but in the end I broke free and would have been an active, onscreen part of saving the world if Square had let me join the party!” He would insist on being cast into a deep, dark cell. Squall uses pull to get him pardoned, but not before just, flat out, yelling at him for being a martyr.

Unpopular opinion: He did love Rinoa. It may have been a “shallow love,” but he wasn’t just dating her to pass time or because she played into his damsel who needs a hero mindset. There was emotion. He was prepared to die for her and Squall in Timber, and almost did--only being saved by Sorceress Edea...which wasn’t a kindness, but it all worked out in the end. Sure, he gets mind-controlled into using Rinoa as, basically, a human sacrifice and it isn’t Rinoa he wants stripped and brought to his room when we’re taking prisoners, but he cared about her. He does taunt her about their past relationship, but we’ve already established this is just part of his communication skillset.  Yes, I will elaborate more if asked, though it’s more feeling based than text based. 

A wish: If there’s ever a sequel, let him have put out the good in the world that was his dream and be seen as a hero. Let us see a matured and peaceful Seifer. 

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: My one fear if they ever remake FFVIII instead of just porting it, is that some of the creative team have said they like the fan theory where you are dead part way through the game and the rest is a dying dream or purgatory. It’s creative stuff; I will say that. It’s not my favorite, and I don’t agree, but those kinds of fan interpretations when they go in depth are super cool. PLEASE LET THE INTEREST IN IT JUST BE THE SAME AS MINE OF THINKING IT’S CREATIVE BECAUSE MAKING THIS  CANON WOULD BE SO, SO BAD FOR EVERY CHARACTER.

5 words to best describe them: stubborn, misguided, paladin, romantic, petty

My nickname for them: I don’t really have one

[badassxbirdy]

Activity Update - 1st September

It’s time once again for the monthly activity update. These posts help me to keep track of what the frick I’ve been doing, particularly when tumblr breaks or the brainfog strikes. This one only includes activity for August, everything else can be found over on my thread tracker (here). At the time of posting I’m up to to date on things as far as I’m aware, so if I owe you a reply, message, meme, etc, please do let me know!

The full activity update is below the cut. Bolded text = links.

If you want to see all IC interactions without the other stuff, click here. If you’d like to start something new, I have opens, memes, and a wishlist, or message me if you have a plot in mind! Alternatively you can just message me to say “WHAT UP, NERD” if you’d like to chat.

Two important OOC notes before we get into the update proper:

I’m still staying with family, and likely will be until October. That means no xkit access so I’m tagging threads with my mobile tag, which is “mobile post: Em’s on the move” and “long post” when needed. Block/filter those tags accordingly if the mobile reblogs become annoying to see on the dash.

I’m having some weirdness with my follow list and discrepancies in who I’m following depending on which platform I’m on. There are some people my tablet says I’m following that my phone says I’m not, so it’s getting rather confusing. I haven’t intentionally unfollowed anyone as of late, so please let me know if I’m no longer following you. If anyone’s softblocked me, my apologies for refollowing. I’m not trying to bother you. Please let me know, or hardblock if you’re more comfortable with that. No hard feelings either way. It’s just hard to tell what’s going on when glitches like this occur.

Now onto the update!

Threads, replies, and all other IC interactions:

“Easy, there. Try to sit up.” - @wolfhymns (Deacon)

Investigating with Fish - @the-immortals-assistant

“Wait a minute, you’re blaming me?!” - @normallyxstrange (Carla)

Meeting the Doctor - @timelxrd-victorious

Revelation - @ko3ak

WHY MUST YOU MAKE IT SAD, ROOK? 😭 - @nightiingaled

“I was just trying to help.” - @normallyxstrange (Casey)

vs the Fried Laptop - @spynerd

“What are you doing?!” - @schwarzerengeltm

Ty? Starting to listen?! Sorcery. - @magaprima

This conversation took a very sad turn. - @schwarzerengeltm

“If you believe in any god, I suggest praying to them now.” - @the-immortals-assistant

First meetings: at the bar - @real-michael-demiurgos

Tyler is relieved. 😂 - @tobeblamed

A very confusing conversation - @harkcr

“Get down!” - @normallyxstrange (Mason)

Awkward cuties! - @heavenguided

“Are you following me?” - @normallyxstrange (Jamie)

Birthday cuteness with the Walkers! 😭 - @nightiingaled

Tyler is concerned. - @seesgood

Ty flees the scene. - @normallyxstrange (Mason)

“What the hell is wrong with you?” - @wolfhymns (Drevyn)

My apologies once again. 😬 - @kxllerblond

Jail cell meme, because our idiots can’t stay out of trouble. 😂 - @schwarzerengeltm

“If you put your nose any deeper into that coffee cup, you’re gonna need a snorkel.” - @normallyxstrange (Dylan)

Important food questions and wine stealing. - @deliciouslyfilthytm (!crack)

“You’re being followed.” - @kiingstech

“Does it still hurt?” - @normallyxstrange (Mason)

Escape! - @schwarzerengeltm

OTP reunion! 😭 - @nightiingaled (Killian)

“I don’t wanna hear it, McCrane.” - @nightiingaled (Killian)

Headcanons, dash commentary, crack, and various silliness:

“It was unprofessional okay? 😤”

What obscure love language are you?

What does your muse consider the challenge they could never overcome?

What happens when someone tries to ask Mel out.

Never let any of the Walkers bake.

Horrific food ideas.

She doesn’t like Friday the 13th.

The most Tyler moment in the whole of BtVS.

Clark insults Tyler��s fashion choices.

Sokol also insults Tyler’s fashion choices. 😂

Ty insults Sokol’s fashion choices.

“What’s your least favorite food?”

“Ty, do you believe in soulmates?”

Ty talking to Lilith be like…

Why I use activity updates.

Damon belongs in horny jail.

Secure small items. 😂

Drabble: A very one sided conversation.

Drabble: Ty’s home, and she won’t sleep.

An eye for an eye. LOL just kidding, ALL THE PARTS.

OOC housekeeping:

I made a very serious and well designed promo. It’s extremely serious and very ✨aesthetic.✨

Blog description updated.

Rules updated, mainly for clarity on things I’ve had questions about.

If anyone else makes gifs in procreate, and knows why a border may be missing pieces after exporting, please hmu.

Guess who has a Wire now?

[strangertheory]

Will Byers! :)

I meant to answer this Ask an eternity ago, and you have been so incredibly patient with me! (Thank you!!!) 

I think because Will is my favorite character, I started to fuss over my answer too much, and before I knew it we were here: a few months later, and a long while after I offered to answer these specific questions for character Asks. Today, I want to finally answer your Ask for my favorite character: Will Byers.

Will Byers

Favorite thing about them:

Will loves and appreciates his friends so much, and you can tell that he would do absolutely anything for Joyce or Jonathan too. My favorite thing about Will is his love and devotion to others. I think that since Castle Byers symbolically represents a safe place for Will, it also reveals what Will deeply cares about and chooses to protect within that safe place, and one of those things is his friendships. “Castle Byers: All Friends Welcome.” Castle Byers represents Will’s desire to welcome all friends with open arms and unconditional acceptance. While I think that Will would be kindhearted regardless, I think that because Will knows how painful rejection is from facing the bullies at school and his father’s insults, Will puts forth an extra effort to make sure that everyone in his life feels appreciated and loved. Will shares his secret safe-place in the woods with anyone willing to be his friend. Castle Byers is like a secret shrine dedicated to everything Will is passionate about (comics, D&D, art) and is also dedicated to those he loves and to those who love and accept him in return. He has photographs of his friends, drawings on the walls that he made about their D&D campaigns together, and comics that they’ve probably all shared. In spite of his limited means, Will is very generous with what he offers to others: he gave the little girl that was crying in the sandbox his Tonka Truck (even though Joyce cautioned him that they couldn’t afford to get a new one), he’s given Mike dozens of drawings (if Mike’s decorated walls and his binder full of Will’s artworks are any small evidence of this) and Will has given his mom a good number of drawings too that she cherishes. Will wants everyone to feel loved and to be happy, and is grateful to those that are there for him. Undoubtedly some of this stems from his deep insecurities and his lack of self-worth and his desire to be loved and appreciated back, but I think most of it is still rooted in Will’s genuine desire to make sure that other people are happy because their happiness makes him happy too.

Least favorite thing about them:

I appreciate all of the characters for their strengths as well as their flaws because it’s what makes them so very human and relatable. But Will definitely has some traits that I hope, for his own sake, he’ll learn to manage in a healthier way. Will’s weakness is that he often places the wants and needs of others before his own, and he seeks to avoid conflict at all costs. These are arguably admirable traits that are directly related to Will’s love and affection for other people (which I said was my favorite thing about him!), but they can also be self-destructive and unhealthy habits and I think they are, at least in part, the result of Will growing up in a combative and abusive home environment. I admire Will for his selflessness and for his desire to avoid conflict, but I list his excessive selflessness and his excessive desire to keep the peace as two things that make me worry about him. I hope he will learn to balance these two impulses in a healthier way over the next few seasons. I think that learning to deal with these two bad habits in a healthier way will be part of Will’s personal growth over the next two seasons.

Favorite line(s):

“Yea. Crazy together.”

brOTP:

Jonathan and Will, of course! I was sad that we didn’t get more scenes with them together in season 3, but I appreciate every moment in the series that we’ve gotten so far. Jonathan’s effort to reassure Will that it’s ok to be “a freak,” and that being different is preferable to being just like everybody else, was really heartwarming and is probably one of my favorite scenes in the entire series.

OTP:

As you have probably figured out if you have been following my blog for even a few days: I’m convinced that Will and Mike are meant to be together by the end of the series, and I am eager to talk about it some other time in another post.

nOTP:

I cannot bring myself to imagine Will and El ever dating. But I look forward to them hopefully becoming very close, and teaming up platonically!

random headcanon:

Hmmm. So this is actually the part of this post that had me delaying responding to your Ask for so long, because my head-canon for Will is incredibly specific, unconventional, frequently controversial (from what I've noticed when this topic is discussed), and a bit complicated to explain. But I do want to talk about it! And I want to clarify that I actually don’t think of this as a head-canon: I solidly consider it a theory that might account for what is happening to Will, and what also is happening to other characters based on specific evidence within the series so far.

I won’t get into all of the evidence and layers in this post (because there is a lot), but I strongly suspect that Will Byers is being written as a character with dissociative identity disorder and that much of Stranger Things is about alters learning to work together as a System while confronting and resolving trauma that is manifesting itself in internal worlds and dreams various symbolic and fantastical ways (as well as in some very humanly monstrous ways too, unfortunately.) Whether the entire story is taking place within an internal world or whether everything has sprung out of the mind and into the external world is definitely a question I think about a lot, but my current interpretation is that a good amount of the story takes place in a liminal space between our external world / reality and a mental space that the characters are sometimes exploring.

Stranger Things follows characters that are canonically dealing with PTSD, significant levels of memory loss (Will couldn’t remember who Hopper was in season 2 while at the Lab), suddenly shifting from being mentally present in the world to being in a different perceived place (is the Upside Down an internal world?), perceived changes in personality and identity, traumatic visions and experiences (flashbacks? memories?) that often parallel one another in an eerie way, and many other specific details. Add to that Doctor Owens’ preoccupation with Will’s brain scans and Mr. Clarke’s lesson in season 2 in which he discusses Phineas Gage’s changed personality following Gage’s brain injury (which is not an example of DID but is still thematically relevant, and an oddly specific topic to feature in the series) and the clues just continue to add up. Even if this theory isn’t correct I look forward to continuing to discover more about the established rules of the Stranger Things universe and what is going on with Will, El, Hopper, the Numbers, all of these horrible father-figures (notably Dr. Brenner, Lonnie, and Neil) and the mysterious Lab.

(One last important note regarding this theory: please do not base your knowledge of DID on any fictional representation of it in popular media. A lot of misrepresentations of DID exist in Hollywood and pop culture. If you'd like to learn more on this topic, please read about it in medical publications and resources with verifiable authority on the topic.)

unpopular opinion:

I think that the theory I mentioned above is probably my most unpopular opinion/thought regarding what I think Will is dealing with.

songs I associate with them:

The songs that they chose to feature on Will’s official Spotify Playlist are all songs that I associate with Will at this point. I’m so impressed by the attention the creators of Stranger Things devote to the music not only in the show but to the characters’ official playlists. One track that definitely jumps out at me from Will’s official playlist is Afraid by The Neighborhood. The lyrics of the chorus are eerily specific: “When I wake up / I’m afraid / somebody else will take my place / when I wake up / I’m afraid / somebody else will end up being me.”

favorite picture(s) of them:

[dangermousie]

2019 END OF YEAR KDrama Post

Wow, I haven’t made one in years. This is going to involve only dramas that came out in 2019 because I watched a hell of a lot dramas made prior to that and trying to figure out which ones will give me a headache.

DRAMAS WATCHED (In order of liking from most to least as opposed to pure quality; I am including if I’ve seen at least two eps AND feel it was enough to make up my mind; yes I realize that’s inaccurate, but that’s my list)

Extraordinary You -  A philosophy and religion course AND a love story, and perfect at both.

My Country - a brutal, passionate, intense masterpiece of a sageuk. This is how they should be.

Crash Landing On You - the two eps that have aired brought my joy in watching kdramas back to me so vividly. This is everything. 

Encounter - the perfect noona romance of the year for me. It seems to have little plot (powerful older woman, idealistic younger man) but the characters made me love them with an unhealthy amount of attachment and the mood is just perfect. 

Haechi - smart traditional sageuk with a heart. This one will make you love it but also respect it in the morning :)

Queen: Love and War - Period, romance, mystery, helpless king and feisty heroine. It’s everything I love in one package. 

Chocolate - if, like me, you like slow old-school melo with genuine grown-ups, this one is for you. Ha Ji Won and Yoon Kye Sang are both incandescent in this. 

One Spring Night - a rare slice of life that worked for me so so much. I rooted for the main OTP like crazy (I did skip all the sister stuff though because boring to me.) It’s just a breath of fresh air.

The Tale of Nokdu - a rare funny youth sageuk that worked for me (except, ironically, for when they tried to be politics-heavy and serious about it.) Wonderful OTP, funny situations and just generally a delight. 

Memories of the Alhambra - I can hear people screaming that I put this so high, but this is a faves ranking, not objective one, and I loved the unusual premise (it ultimately fell apart but it tried), and Hyun Bin’s performance was out of this world and the aaaaagnst and I enjoyed waiting for it each week until almost the end. That ending though!!!!!

Psychopath Diary - this is black comedy at its best and hysterical and smart and somehow got me invested in the hapless protagonist. 

Hotel del Luna - clever and funny and smart. Hong Sisters largely back to form. I found the sageuk parts more engaging than modern ones, but what else is new.

Search WWW - some parts of it worked for me more than others, but it had solid writing and cool characters and some interesting OTP(s). 

Love is Beautiful Life is Wonderful - has the weekend drama slowness but it lovely and fun. 

When the Camellia Blooms - it was well made and the OTP was great and the acting top notch, I just don’t tend to go gaga for slice of life dramas, especially ones involving market ladies, much. 

Flower Crew Joseon Marriage Agency - competently done, pretty period piece about nothing. It was enjoyable and forgettable at once.

Catch the Ghost - I put it as high as I did because the OTP really did have lovely chemistry but the story was a complete mess, the police work made no sense and the heroine’s character was like nails on a chalkboard for me.

Joseon Survival - I got about four episodes in and liked it a lot but then Kang Ji Hwan turned out to be a convicted rapist, they replaced the lead and I didn’t go back. I kind of want to because I liked what I saw and I am madly curious as to whether they changed the main character or just said he had a different face now, no explanation. 

The Last Empress - pure inconsistent trash but so entertaining!

Vagabond - I made it eight episodes in before I realized that I would have as much fun staring at traffic. It’s a competently done actioner but without more, actioners never work for me, so this was a viewer/drama mismatch.

Arthdal  Chronicles - incoherent, visually odd and boring, this is arguably the worst drama this year but I am giving it higher place because the cast really tries (even if it tends to fail because it has nothing to work with) and because it attempted something different even if it failed spectacularly. SO BAD.

Melting Me Softly - yes, my brain was fully melted by this soulless, charmless waste of Ji Chang Wook and my limited free time.

VIP - Any drama that makes the main mystery and thrust of the story who the husband cheated on his wife with is BORING. Seriously, this is not exactly Hercule Poirot. They wasted their cast - I have NO idea why Lee Sang Yoon agreed to be in this as a one note character and Jang Nara is playing a second scorned wife in a row but without even the entertainment value of her previous outing.

Abyss - aptly named. The best thing I can say about it is it didn’t offend me but oh boy was it dull.

Absolute Boyfriend - I loved the manga but it’s time to accept this can never be adapted well. They wasted the cast and that ending was just an insult on top of a trash heap.

The Lies Within - you cast that cast and deliberately have no romance. You are dead to me. 

Woman of 9.9 Billion - competently made, but it’s everything I dislike - dour unpleasant bored people behaving as if they are in a particularly dreary art-house French movie but without any nuance or interest the latter came provide. 

Love with Flaws - shrill, dumb, neither acted nor written by anyone trying at all. 

Rookie Historian Goo Hae Ryung - objectively, it’s not the worst drama on the list, but it’s everything I hate in one package - willfully ahistorical but not cleverly so, male lead incapable of acting, the characters so one-dimensional they disappear, this purports to be a period drama but about as period as a space ship. God, I loathed this. 

FAVORITE DRAMA

Extraordinary You - smart (so mind-bendingly smart) and moving and totally unpredictable and with so many things to say about free will and religion and self and nature of memory and narrative, this had an insane impossible premise and yet somehow managed to do it full justice and stick the landing. 

WORST DRAMA

People with Flaws - this is different from least favorite because even if I loathed e.g., Rookie Historian or Woman of 9.9 Billion, I recognized some positive features; it’s just certain things really rubbed me the wrong way due to personal preferences. But this shrill hot mess of a drama is really everything that’s wrong with dramaworld.

FAVORITE MALE CHARACTER

Prince Yeoning, Haechi - fiercely smart, strong, tormented by the duality of his birth (royal father, servant mother) but not letting this distract him from his purpose, loyal to the bone, and with integrity nothing can shake but where you can feel that it’s not easy and that it costs him.

FAVORITE FEMALE CHARACTER

Eun Dan Oh, Extraordinary You - a go-getter who remakes the world (literally); smart, cheerful, strong, beautifully human. She feels so real and yet is larger than anything around her. 

NEEDS TO BE MURDERED

Yi Seung Gye, My Country - a sociopath destroying lives in his quest for power and control, even the destruction of his own family barely gives him anything but momentary pause. He is the reason for the tragedy of MC. 

FAVORITE SHIP

Eun Dan Oh x Haru, Extraordinary You - their love is literally universe and god-defying. They have loved each other as different people in three separate worlds (and counting), and have defied loss of memory and even loss of self as well as death, the end of worlds, and their god and the narrative and literally anything and everything, to be together.

Runner Up: Soo Hyun x Jin Hyuk, Encounter: tender and decent and his bringing her back to vivid life and the way they love and support and compliment each other.  

Probably gonna be on list if doesn’t go haywire: Crash Landing on You: she is a SK heiress, he’s a NK officer, they have mad chemistry and so much potential.

NOTP:

Tae Mi x Morgan, Search WWW - love the actors, love the chemistry, love the characters in terms of the way they are written, but they are absolutely wrong for each other and there is no future of any sort but misery ahead. None of their issues are resolved but are swept under the rug. It’s a cautionary tale, not a romance. I did a long rant before so not repeating. 

BEST SECONDARY OTP

Scarlett x Ji Hwan, Search WWW - they stole the shippiness in the drama for me. Cooky and adorable and noona romance done right.

FAVORITE SCENE

Haru’s final disappearance, Extraordinary You - the lights start to go out, the world literally dissolving, Eun Oh and Haru clinging to each other, with his telling her she was his beginning and the end. His name, the one she gave him, is the last thing he hears. In a drama full of amazing scenes the very gist of which was defying the very creator and universe and meaning of existence, this was the one that stayed with me the most.

BIGGEST CRUSH

Seo Hwi, My Country - I have a thing for deeply honorable, deeply tortured period badasses with long hair and a death wish (see Choi Young in Faith etc.)

BEST SCENE STEALER CHARACTER

Yi Bang Won, My Country - he started out as an antihero and ended up as arguably a tragic villain (or maybe still an anti-hero) but oh boy, was he magnetic and fascinating and sucking out all the oxygen whenever he was in the scene.

NEEDS A SEQUEL

Memories of the Alhambra - WTF ending was that?! All that misery and no real resolution?! Dammit!

TROPE THAT NEEDS TO DIE

Youth Sageuk - I hate most of them! They are anachronistic and dumb and honestly, what is the point of having fully modern people in period clothes? Just make a modern show and call it a day.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

Melting Me Softly - Ji Chang Wook’s first project back from the military was an unfunny, unmoving, pointless mess with not an ounce of genuine enjoyment despite the excellent pedigree of everyone involved in front and behind the camera.

Arthdal Chronicles - the makers made excellent Queen Seon Duk, Tree with Deep Roots and Six Flying Dragons. The cast was uniformly A grade. The result was an open-ended, boring, incoherent mess that looks like a bad sort of a drug trip and made about as much sense. 

BIGGEST GOOD SURPRISE

Extraordinary You - I had zero interest in yet another high school drama with no actors I recognized. By the end, EY was an emotional brainy twister of a marvel that became my favorite drama of all time. I’ve been watching dramas for over 13 years so that’s saying something.

2019 DRAMAS I HAVEN’T SEEN THAT I MOST WANT TO WATCH

The Crowned Clown - I love sageuks and cast and it looks so smart and emotional

Angel’s Last Mission: Love - my next contemporary - I watched a little and loved what I saw

Fates and Furies - I saw a few eps and classic melo is so up my alley.

Clean with a Passion for Now - I like the cast and it’s a year of falling for hot weird bosses apparently.

Graceful Family - I love makjang and Im Soo Jung.

The Secret Life of My Secretary - downmarket Beauty Inside and I loved BI.

Love Affairs in the Afternoon - artsy adultery FTW

Item - I don’t like crime stuff but I am here for Joo Ji Hoon.

My Strange Hero - seems a little cooky but I am fond of Yoo Seung Ho.

MOST ANTICIPATED IN 2020

King: the Eternal Monarch - Lee Min Ho and Woo Do Hwan and parallel worlds and written by Kim Eun Suk. Yes Please.

I should probably make one for cdramas too though that one would be rather shorter.