#every fan base has shitty people but for some reason this one is just annoying as fuck

[valkyurii]

I hope this isnt rude to ask but I see you talk about ocs but do you ever write about them?

it’s not rude to ask. i do write about them only i don’t post it anywhere. from what i’ve seen people are kind of weird about non tarnished ocs and to be honest it makes me a little anxious lmao

[mysterylilycheeta]

ONYX STORM REVIEW:

After 2 days of catching up on all the work I had postponed for the sake of reading OS, and organising my thoughts, I'm here with my spoiler free review of Onyx Storm. Please remember that these are my personal thoughts and opinions and you're free to agree or disagree based on your views

Rating: 3.25 stars

The Good:

The absolute lack of miscommunication between Xaden and Violet: This book is a gift for all those people who were annoyed to their wit's end by the repetitive stupid fights between Xaden and Violet in Iron Flame. They trust each other, communicate with each other and don't get mad about secrets. I was so pleasantly surprised

Ridoc: Ridoc went through such amazing character development, he easily became one of my favourite characters in the story. We saw him as only the comic relief friend till now but man, he shows such badassery in this book while still being his clown self. And, let's not forget his favourite dick jokes!

The Dragons: Anyone who knows me knows my favourite part about the series is Tairn and the other dragons. Love seeing my grumpy dad dragon, he's such a mood. We also have our sassy teenager Andarna to give him grief. I love all the moments Tairn started boasting about his lineage and his feat: he's such a dork!

Dain and Cat: I never truly hated Dain because I knew from Fourth Wing itself he never intentionally wanted to harm Violet. My only gripe with him was about breaking her trust and looking through her memories without her consent. But man, does he redeem himself. Needless to say, Dain is on my "need to protect" list. I really hated Cat in Iron Flame because she was such a stereotypical cringey evil ex and the way she attacked Violet was so crass and below the belt. She still has some shitty moments in the beginning of the book but she gets a lot better so much so that I want good things to happen to her in the next books. RY did a great job writing these two

Jealous Xaden: My o my was it a treat to see Xaden so jealous. RY fed us with those entertaining af moments. Read the book and you'll find out what I mean

Aaric: I was intrigued by Aaric in book 2 but he stepped up the game so much in this book. He is an amazing character and I'll throw hands if RY even tries to harm him in any way, istg.

The Bad:

Very mediocre worldbuilding: This might be just a timing issue, but the last fantasy book I read was the Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson, and every fantasy fan knows the kind of world-building Sanderson does. Onyx Storm tries to introduce us to new places beside the continent, but it is not well done. We spend half the book in the Isle Kingdoms, yet they're not even mentioned on the map. They talk about routes to get to the kingdoms, but how am I supposed to follow them if you won't even mention them on the maps? Every Island has a god it worships and things go according to that but I think we could've had a little more information about them beforehand instead of being presented basic info right before we arrive at the next island. "We're going to said island, this is the god they believe in, here's a five point bullet lost of their customs"- NO, THAT'S NOT HOW YOU DO IT! Like I said, it might be because my last book was by Sanderson so my expectations were higher but the world felt so lacking.

Lack of Glossary: A glossary should be a must in every fantasy book, especially if you're branching out and diving deeper into worldbuilding. We are introduced to gods, islands, uprisings and groups of people we haven't even heard of before and we get hardly one or two lines about them in a chapter and then they are mentioned again 2 chapters later and we're supposed to follow. There were so many new names in OS, it was difficult to keep track of them after a while. I still don't completely understand who the Krovlan people were and what was their deal.

Lack of Basgiath: My favourite book in the series till now has been Fourth Wing and one of the biggest reasons for that was Basgiath. I loved that place and the way it felt an actual character in the story. That Basgiath charm is missing in this book. Basgiath is the biggest strength of this series, it's the reason why FW was so successful, the war college and it's deadly atmosphere, the challenges, the interpersonal relations, it was entertaining af. However as the series is progressing, it's turning into another typical romantasy involving young adults leading revolutions, making alliances, fighting wars etc. I started reading Fourth Wing because of it's setting and yet with each new book, we spend less and less time in Basgiath and it's just dampening my mood.

No real surprises: Let me be brutally honest- this book felt like a filler. Of course there are a few shocking moments with new information but it hardly hit the mark like the previous two books. There were no moments that essentially packed a punch. It's just a bunch of random sidequests to gain alliances which didn't up feeling all that meaningful because of worldbuilding problems. It also seemed like fanservice because of a lot of reasons but I won't mention them as they can be accounted as minor spoilers. Some characters died but it didn't feel impactful at all. It seemed more like Ry was just filling up the death quota because we can't have a book where no one dies

Violet and Xaden: Okay so here's the thing, I like both of them as characters and I think they make a good pair. However, I didn't ever truly feel the romance and this has been a problem since Fourth Wing. They have a shit ton of lusty moments but hardly any soft romantic domestic moments that make the relationship feel organic. I have always been disappointed by the lack of proper romantic development between these two. The problem in this book however is the dialogue- they felt so cheesy and downright cringe at times. Maybe show more and say less?? The way they keep saying nothing else matters as much and I know people are feral for how Xaden and Violet are ready to throw off the entire rebellion for each other but it irks me so much. Xaden, you are leading these people and you have accepted that responsibility. Stop endangering the lives of people you swore to protect because Violet might be in danger. She has other people to support her. Violet, don't get mad when people tell you your needs and wants will come second to Xaden's duty towards the people. He is their leader, he has to make those sacrifices, If you think that's unfair then find someone else to fill his position. You can't have the leadership position yet be each other's top priority. It might seem unfair but that is the right thing to do. I really don't feel like the two of them are fit to lead people. Agree with @thequietesthing's review about Violet's god level power feeling over dramatic and out of character at times.

The Ending: If any of you have talked to me about the book in the last few days, you'll know I'm frustrated af with the ending. It doesn't exactly feel like a well done cliffhanger, it's just plain messy. A bunch of unanswered questions to keep the reader confused and hooked for the next book but it just ruined the whole book for me. I have no issues with cliffhangers but the book should feel complete. The way Onyx Storm ended, it feels there were at least two more chapters that got deleted. It's just all over the place.

That was the review guys. I'll still wait for the next book to get published but my excitement has gone down quite a lot. I was expecting more of a Harry Potter style story where the main still occurs in the school/college itself but it seems like that isn't gonna be the case. I honestly believe this series should've been just 3 books instead of 5 but oh well, what can we say. Really agree with @justallihere and @justascrollingghost. We have almost the same complaints with the books lol P.S: The best surprise in this book: Broccoli, the kitten

[dykeanarchist]

Long rant about mcytblr under the cut tap in

I feel like the mcyt community as a whole needs to consider the problem of perspective bias that’s way more prevalent than it should be. We also gotta talk about the rampant black and white thinking when it comes to CCs and discourse in general.

To that point this fan base has a big phobia when it comes to criticism of certain CCs, as well as a tendency to overreact to any problematic behavior. These obviously encourage each other in a vicious cycle. Like for instance some CCs like tommyinnit, geminitay etc have been subject to super extreme criticism and scrutiny mostly by people who already don’t like them. However, this ends up creating a culture where any criticism, regardless of how reasonable is immediately dismissed as just haters, which isn’t helpful for anyone-especially the creator that wants to do better. On the other hand, if you arbitrarily decide you hate someone mostly cause they’re annoying, you’ll end up seeing real, multidimensional humans more like punching bags.

Which leads to the perspective bias thing. When the new players joined the realm smp, some players were doing bits that other people felt uncomfortable with. One of them was Charlie pretending to jerk off and other crude jokes which was really shitty for owen, whose streams are strictly family friendly. Now we could yell at each other about who’s at fault: Charlie was wrong to be inappropriate or Owen should have expected adult jokes.

Except it’s really doesn’t matter. The CCs talked about it in private and now Tubbos team is working on a way for streamers to more easily know who’s family friendly.

Regardless, fans are going to still get very angry at each other over the issue and take a hard stance one side or the other. I feel like people in this community(and the internet in general tbh) have a tendency to assume the worst in people and not consider other perspectives. Like people love to decide that a certain streamer or character is totally evil and irredeemable while only knowing half the story. Which then leads to FANS deciding OTHER FANS are evil and irredeemable, which I think is decidedly worse. Hating a random character or streamer is one thing, but sending death threats to your fellow fans is too far in my opinion.

I don’t know. I think the solution just boils down to practicing empathy, considering other perspectives, considering that streamers are humans capable of wrongdoing but also not totally evil monsters, considering nuance in general and in every situation, and lastly frequent use of the block button. That’s it.

[urinarythreatinfection]

Oda being a writer of heavy themes doesn’t mean every random interaction is abuse, that has nothing to do with the fact that Shanks and Buggy are not an abusive friendship. They literally fight over things the way they did as children. Shanks isn’t some helpless guy being abused, nobody thinks this way when they look into them, Buggy having a rough attitude and Shanks being the even-tempered one has always been their dynamic since they were kids. Shanks is capable of tricking Buggy by lying about a treasure map, he knows how to work Buggy, they can bicker and bite back at each other. It’s not even that shitty, it’s just a typical One Piece friendship between men. No one is stopping you from disliking it, it’s how you police other fans from liking a typical dynamic in the story that’s not even presented as toxic.

Posttimeskip, what has Buggy done to Shanks that feels terrible or abusive at its worst? They seem to be living their own lives. What have they done besides being typical enemy pirates working on different things and not talk to each other? Buggy canonically doesn’t even hit Shanks unless Shanks is also hitting him back like Nami does with the Strawhats. Buggy just says he’s angry over the treasure map. You could say objectively, even if Nami hits for the right reasons that’s still bad, beating up someone whenever you think they deserve it and they don’t fight back is still bad.

I basically mean you’re treating the shitty thing as unacceptable because it seems to be one of the crimes Buggy committed against Shanks. What change of behavior? He left to start his own pirate crew, neither of them sought each other out, what change of behavior are we supposed to see? They’re both enemy pirates going after the One Piece, at this point a sudden behavioral change doesn’t make sense and serves no purpose to the plot.

Nothing better to add then Buggy didn’t turn him down civilly. We’re suddenly judging characters by how civil they act in a show about pirates? Their father figure just died it was a pretty emotional moment. It was supposed to be a bad time  and emotional fallout.

I’m explaining why that dynamic exists from the characters’ portrayal in the story. I’m not saying Shanks can ‘handle it’, I’m saying in his view the argument would be so meaningless he would either fight back equally petty or completely forget about it, because that’s who his character is. Most of these arguments are just stuff that annoys them, because there hasn’t been anything they seriously have to fight about, or it just highlights their differences. While Shanks seems to care about fun and adventure, Buggy cares about piracy the connection between him and Shanks is based on their shared life of piracy. So when their views of piracy don’t align they have to separate. When they fight about the North Pole and South Pole, it’s an equal disagreement and we don’t know how it started. When Shanks lied about the treasure map and Buggy gets mad, neither of them actually seem victimized, Shanks just looks smarter and like he knows Buggy well for being able to trick him. That’s their canon dynamic, and the author writes it as a funny way to depict old friends. Friendships have that kind of dynamic where you’re both reckless with each other. You see this kind of dynamic in characters and pairings throughout One Piece. It’s not even about abuse it’s about friendship dynamics being able to do things everything without it becoming a matter of hard feelings, close friends are able fight and be flawed that can be lighthearted without it being overly sensitive about every little thing, realistic close relationships argue and act like idiots. Sanji can simp and Nami can beat people up because they’re close enough they can act like idiots with each other and know it’s not seriously harmful.

What’s the worst thing they have to apologize for? The separation at Loguetown? That was Buggy’s choice as his own free person. Shanks or Buggy could’ve sought out each other for twenty years in East Blue if they wanted to. Neither of them have to apologize, both of them likely have regretful feelings, it was an emotional night where they saw Roger die. As a reader, we should know Buggy doesn’t pose serious harm towards Shanks.

I’m not downplaying Shanks’ emotions. I’m saying between them there aren’t any major fights that are worth taking seriously, besides maybe Loguetown, but even that separation was for the best. Even objectively, it’s not a crime to go their own ways. Any serious fight, Shanks would fight back as he’s not shy about doing so with Buggy, but when he doesn’t it’s because it’s a superficial matter. Or Shanks also has flaws and the problem dynamic goes both ways. Just because Shanks doesn’t visibly shout or get angry doesn’t mean he can’t also be a flawed person and bad partner. I’ve seen your post being angry over the idea Shanks would shower more and drink less if he was with Buggy. Those are both completely inconsequential things that don’t hurt Shanks, it’s just a habit of his that someone could nag him about. Most of the fandom content you seem to complain about aren’t actually as serious as you claim and not worth screaming toxic over, you think even a slight attitude is toxic. I’ve never seen content where Buggy genuinely considers Shanks trash and Shanks suffers through the pain to treat Buggy preciously but you act like it’s everywhere. I’m not sure what example you’re talking about when it comes to serious arguments where Buggy treats him like trash over something genuinely serious and Shanks just doesn’t fight back. Most seem either like a joke or an inconsequential fight like the fruit and map, or because of the Loguetown fallout which was a miscommunication as kids anyways, so what other serious matter is there?

So many of these characters would be crazy in real life, if I was constantly thinking about real life I wouldn’t be able to watch the Strawhats because they’d be so much worse in real life. Buggy having an attitude and still being simped after looks incredibly tame compared to viewing the other characters through a real world lens. But this is a fantasy story where the bad attitudes play a role in entertainment and over-exaggerating character dynamics.

I understand if you just don’t like a character dynamic, but this is a fantasy story where every character dynamic is exaggerated for entertainment in some way. They’re enemy pirates, they aren’t even currently on speaking terms. One is the one who holds no grudges, the other still does, and fans just play on this existing dynamic because it aligns with their characters. It’s not even that absurd because Buggy is someone close to Shanks, they separated, had a petty fight, and are separately operating their own crews. Personally I don’t care for the overuse of Shanks as a lovesick dog but that’s a general fandom issue and not even that big of a deal.

So you refuse to accept that others might have a gentler interpretation of Buggy’s character by denying canon itself. Yet you claim this is not a bad faith reading at all, yeah, sure.

This isn’t Buggy is a tsundere argument, I never even used that word. The treasure map specifically is used as a joke and coverup in canon. We literally see Buggy using that as an excuse during Loguetown separation, when his true feelings were actually hidden, did you miss that? The treasure map is the petty thing you did that your old friend keeps bringing up. Buggy’s anger at Shanks is because of their separation at Loguetown. His inner thoughts and spoken words were different, because his inner thoughts were his real feelings. That’s what the men of One Piece are like, they don’t genuinely say their emotions because they have too much pride as men and pirates. By having Buggy use the treasure map excuse in Loguetown, it makes us understand the feelings he had everytime he said that before.

In Impel Down, there was an instance where Luffy was also very happy to see Buggy alive. Buggy is clearly treated as an annoyance like Mr 3. You don’t have to be a saint, more like understand that in the world of pirates fights happen all the time, and you learn to choose which squabbles are worth your time. Buggy is like a rock in his shoe, he’s annoying but he’s not someone like Blackbeard or Akainu. Luffy doesn’t like Buggy but he recognizes Buggy’s just a loser with some petty grudge against Shanks. If Buggy was seriously harmful towards Shanks he wouldn’t act so nonchalant with him. You think Buggy is going to be the villain that’s hardest to forgive? Buggy obviously is being shown in a more positive light when he made the speech about the One Piece and roped in Crocodile and Mihawk, when he sent money to a man’s dying family. The Roger Pirates still think well of Buggy.

We can’t really say why Rayleigh left, he’s also a mystery when it comes to his motivations and thoughts. Buggy leaving was the right decision anyways, you can’t be the subordinate to someone else if you have conflict with them and don’t agree with their goals. Look at what happened with Usopp and Luffy, that kind of conflict tears the crew apart and places a burden on the Captain. Buggy leaving was the best decision for both of them. Otherwise Shanks would’ve been like Luffy and prioritized his friend over his role as Captain. Buggy would’ve been a bad friend and bad crewmate had he joined Shanks and disrespected him as Captain and duelled him, but he never joined, they stayed apart as two fellow Captains on different paths.

The business of pirates is a lot like the mafia or criminal gangs, you have to hold your own and protect your reputation. I know some fans were shocked that Shanks’ crew blew up Bartolomeo’s crew even when he displayed such loyalty to Luffy. That’s just how the business of pirates is. 

I think it’s important to consider Shuggy in the context of the One Piece story, that’s where the authorial intent is. Especially for Shanks who still has many mysterious motivations and subtle readings to his character. Buggy acts like a regular pirate, and his attitude towards Shanks has constantly been regarded as petty beef between close friends. Amongst the many over-exaggerated character dynamics in One Piece, it’s not meant to be harmful, even outside of the author’s intent it just seems like a typical close relationship between two guys, and they’re extremely chummy for two enemy pirate Captains. Even Kinemon and his wife’s story was more ‘toxic’, he constantly stole money from her and he gambled it away and she paid off his debts while he was ungrateful. So many relationships use bickering and nagging as a way to signify closeness. Compared to canon couples the level of ‘harmful’ Buggy was towards Shanks wasn’t even that bad. You just seem extremely biased towards Buggy as if he’s a real person without understanding the common tropes utilized in the story and that he’s meant to be shown as someone important to and liked by Shanks. You say Shanks’ feelings are important, but Buggy’s feelings are also important since his dreams and desires have been given such spotlight as one of the Four Emperors. There is more to Buggy and he’s not just a harmful presence, his feelings have been given meaning and validation in the story.

I can understand if you just dislike Buggy on his own, nobody has to like a character, but tagging your hate about how harmful Buggy is while acting like you’re in a parasocial relationship with Shanks and policing others on the ship, you’re being completely irrational. 

I’m trying to explain why the dynamic exists. To us, we already know Shanks’ life is cool and admirable, but for Buggy that’s not what he wanted, while Shanks did want Buggy with him. If Buggy is so worthless in your eyes, then leaving was him doing what’s best for Shanks, despite Shanks’ wishes. Shanks loves his friends and loved ones more than anything, nothing can compare to that, you should know that as a fan. It’s not Buggy specifically, it’s any one of Shanks’ friends. If Yasopp suddenly left the crew to go back home, it would also be like Shanks lost someone precious, Yasopp is precious to him. That’s just Shanks’ character, his friends are his most precious treasure.

I knew you’d bring up Usopp since you’re not understanding the story. Usopp joined the crew and accepted Luffy as his Captain, then he belittled Luffy’s authority and challenged him to a duel to win the Going Merry as its Captain. When he tried to beat up Luffy and lost he even got pitied by being given the ship. Luffy not chasing after him wasn’t a matter of personal feelings, it was his responsibility as Captain and for their pride as pirates, and even then afterwards Luffy eagerly wanted to get Usopp back without apologies needed, but Zoro was the one who stopped him and couldn’t ignore the duel with the Captain and demanded he apologize. It’s a completely different situation from Buggy who turned down Shanks before he could accept him as his Captain. If even Luffy wanted to go after Usopp after the major disrespect and conflict he caused, of course Shanks would wish he could go after Buggy. I don’t think Buggy is particularly precious, but he is an important enough friend to Shanks for him to be that way.

Maybe Shanks will be revealed to be whatever you think he is, but we can’t be completely sure that’s what’s going on with him. He sure does seem like a good sacrificing hero. It’s more about how you thinks Shanks gets utterly wronged by the slightest offense because he’s some holy suffering figure, and that restricts your ability to see him as a fully fledged person. I think in ships and stories people prefer to think of Shanks as a human who is flawed and can be made fun of like other characters and not make everything about how great and noble of a sacrifice Shanks is. So fandom tends to blow up flaws because we see so little of him, like him being a careless drunk or giant baby, but that’s a general fandom issue. We know Shanks is cool, strong, goodlooking, most fans know that Buggy can’t match up to him, but to his close friends he can just be a normal guy without the pressure. Everyone probably worships or acts careful around an Emperor, so it’s more precious when someone treats him like a casual friend. In a relationship there has to be a reason why Shanks likes Buggy, he must love Buggy because he treats him like he did when they were kids. That’s a very possible interpretation that has nothing to do with toxicity.

Oh yeah, that dastardly kid. How dare he eat a fake devil fruit and keep a treasure map he found from an enemy pirate? The crew freely gave that fruit away for anyone to eat, and yeah, he’s a pirate who stole a map from an enemy. Maybe it’s just me, but in this story where the characters literally commit many crimes, a kid stealing on a pirate ship is not that bad. This is the same crew that was going to disband a year later anyways and leave Shanks and Buggy to fend for themselves.

There’s a difference between admitting a character is bad and what you’re doing. You talk about Buggy as if everything about him is an atrocity towards Shanks, and that everybody else has to feel the same. At most, it’s likely that Buggy is just meant to be greedy and dumb but harmless. Zosan or Shuggy, they are pretty similar in that they’ve both got a dynamic as naturally opposing forces, they both misunderstand each other and don’t fit over their differences. It’s not that Shuggy can’t be toxic or angsty, it’s literally filled with tons of angst content and messy exes content, but it’s not all because Buggy is the worst friend and undeserving which is how you make it out to be. It’s as if someone demanded reformation from Zosan fans for having Zoro loving on Sanji when it should be Sanji redeeming himself in Zoro’s eyes for his sexual harassment and for leaving the crew and Sanji should be asking for forgiveness from Zoro for beating up the Captain he gave everything for.

Shanks swooning over his lover is literally in every Shanks ship and Shanks x reader and Shanks x oc. Shanks being written as a sad and mentally unwell man is not that common anywhere. You literally just said that you think Shanks would be a simp in any ship, so every Shanks shipper is guilty of this. A lot of Shuggy content is when they’re younger too when Shanks didn’t have those problems, so you’re just saying things that other Shanks ships are more guilty of as they’re ‘pretending a troubled Shanks has a clear mind and being all lovey dovey’. I actually think then there’s too much Shanks and Luffy content that erases Shanks’ troubles over Uta and not enough Shanks and Uta content. Shanks might be depressed, but he’s still gonna try to have a positive mindset and maintain his old personality. If anything, Shuggy shippers are the only shippers who act like Shanks is flawed and unwell and copes badly, thus the jokes of he doesn’t wash and drinks too much. He isn’t alright because he misses Uta and Buggy. So shouldn’t you like Shuggy shippers because of this? Outside of Shuggy, people say Shanks is a whore who sleeps around and he has too many kids he abandons and neglects. But Shuggy shippers saying Shanks misses and longs for Buggy fits right into your characterization of him as a sad man who holds in his feelings.

I do agree Shanks has inner struggles going on. I think the ship doesn’t worsen or cheapen his struggles any more than others. Plenty of characters made sacrifices, they are both pirates and grown men, I very much doubt we’re supposed to clutch our pearls over people not treating him delicately. You’re too focused on characters not having the proper attitude when that’s just a typical friendship in One Piece. We don’t even have the whole picture of Shanks’ character and his plans. I’m not even saying I understand Shanks completely, but that’s why there’s gonna be different interpretations. He can have issues and still show love and happiness like many people do, he doesn’t have to be sulking and brooding all the time. Even in the middle of Marineford when Ace was dead a few meters away, Shanks was smiling at Buggy and happy to see him. So doesn’t that mean Shanks’ mood got lifted just because of Buggy? But all you keep saying is Buggy harmful, Shanks the victim in their toxic relationship. Plenty of fans have biases and they freely admit that and just have fun with it. You can’t even admit you have a bias, it hinders your ability to read correctly. The author certainly doesn’t care if fans are loving Buggy too much and not focusing enough on the problems he brings to a relationship.

There are are countless metaphors, you could’ve used the one about cattle. We’re talking about petty hate, comparing that to speaking out against colonizers isn’t even anywhere near the same topic nor the same level and I prefer not to stoop to that.

Dude. This isn't about canon one piece. Obviously in canon one piece they don't have a toxic relationship. They aren't even near eachother. This was never about canon one piece. Never. You keep bringing up canon one piece and their relationship there to "disprove" me when it was never about that. It was about Shuggy. Nor did i say Shanks isnt a grown man. He is. Though you are downplaying his sacrifice as "well something pirates just do" like every pirate out there would give an arm to save a kid. Plus, Shanks wasnt even the one to take the initiative to shoot down Bart, it was Yassop. Shanks was ready to just let it slide for Luffy, but Yasopp took initiative to remind Shanks that there needs to be consequences. Also about you "Knowing i would bring up Usopp" yeah obviously. That moment is the closest gotten to what Shanks and Buggy have gone through, theres no 1 to 1. I don't know why you're using that as a "gotcha". I kept using your points and using one piece moments to argue against it but now that I have you're just bringing up their canon relationships when it hardly matter because they don't itneract. Anyone would react the way Shanks did when he saw Buggy, if i saw a childhood bully I'd react the same, its just someone familiar and like you said they were children so the bickering didn't matter it was just bickering. Of course Shanks isnt some helpless guy in canon, no shit. I wasn't talking about canon, I was talking about the popular and normalized Shuggy relationship. Like 85% of this is trying to defend Buggy and Shanks's relationship in canon saying it isn't toxic 10% of it actual argument and the other 5% is bringing up that damn metaphor again. Your argument with Zosan isn't even applicable because my while point in bringing up Zosan previously is that they're not toxic, just have some elements of argument. Yet they are more aware of that than Shuggy shippers and the toxification of their ship. Genuinely I want you to take away the percentages of this where you bring up things that don't matter because so many of your arguments is bringing up their canon relationship when they hardly even have one and I was going off of how they interact and how the Shuggy media uses it to paint Shanks as an infant that can't defend himself. Its not me saying that, i'm going off of them. As for my "parasocial relationship" what a way to put it just because I don't like Shanks being used as an accessory.

So honestly if you want a proper reply to this "argument" you need to write something bringing up SHUGGY. Because right now I was using the Shuggy basis and bringing up canon to show both of their psyches and how it would work in a relationship like that, using the Shuggy dynamic as a mold. What you're doing is bringing up the canon relationship and then trying to use that to "debunk" me saying that they have a toxic relationship in canon when the only time i said that was that Buggy was a bad friend and at worst abusive. You said you were a "Shanks fan" but this is really reading as you're just a Shuggy fan that likes Shanks and how he is a cute little puppy simp in Shuggy despite the only way he would be like that when Buggy would treat him how its popularized is if there was a toxic dynamic, again, me using Shuggy as the mold, not the canon current relationship. There hardly is one. Im not even gonna tag this one Shuggy because there is nothing Shuggy about your reply to me, you were just bringing up the canon as a mold and "gotcha"ing me because Luffy doesn't have a 1 to 1 Buggy reference and that my metaphor was too crazy for you.

[avi17]

I wanna hear about Stranger Things beef from a safe distance, so lemme get uhhh 6, 10, and 17

6. which ship fans are the most annoying?

Oof unfortunately every ship has some annoying fans, even ones I like (there are definitely some shitty steddie ppl who give everybody else a bad name). Not a fan of the hellcheer people who act like their ship is more valid bc it's 'canon' (first off that doesn't matter, second off it literally isn't and I will elaborate if needed). Not a fan of the harringrove people either, at least where they overlap with the Billy defenders/woobifiers. I can at least respect ppl who ship it but also acknowledge how awful Billy is, but then that dynamic is way too toxic to interest me. But I actually think the worst might be the Byler people, and I say that as someone who likes Byler (though I think Will mega deserves better). They just are the most argumentative gang in the fandom, and a lot of them are SO DEAD CONVINCED that Byler is going to be endgame, like the theories and justifications are absolutely wild and I mostly just feel bad for them because as much as I'd be down, it is absolutely not going to happen. Like. It's just not, I'm sorry. Idk I feel like this is a result of that same thing the hellcheer folks fall into, where your ship is only valid if it's canon and therefore you have to prove that it is or will be or try to pressure the creators into making it canon. It's okay if it's not, you can ship it anyways, but don't get your hopes up that high. It will not end well.

10. worst part of fanon

Big ol' hot take? The fucking black bandanna and all the wildly inaccurate fan portrayals of Eddie that it has created. I'm sorry, the ONLY reason sadist dom top Eddie is as much of a thing as it is is because of a costuming choice that realistically was absolutely not intentional. He's just a heavy metal fan with a bandanna for his hair. Nobody is flagging in their small town conservative high school, and there's no evidence he has it all the time- we literally only see him in one day's worth of clothing because he's on the run and literally can't change. XD I feel like smooth mean dom top Eddie is like a fandom telephone thing where I've seen portrayals that pulled elements from other fics, which had in turn been inspired by other fics, and the end result was portrayals that just bore no resemblance to the sweet, dorky, dramatic, vaguely pathetic wet cat man in the actual show XD The entire point of him is that he looks what people at that time consider scary but is actually a big fucking softie and wouldn't hurt a fly (yes I know that you can be a soft kind person irl and a mean dom in a scene but I legit just don't see that in him.) And I honestly think the overall most popular dynamic of this ship would be really different if it was based on actual canon characterization rather than a piece of fabric. Also woobified Billy but I said that already XD

17. there should be more of this type of fic/art

Bottom/switch Eddie 🤣

[hissweetdarling]

hi!!!! whos your favorite music artist?

Hi~

All time or depending on my mood? I'll give you the all time / forever favourite and with some songs recommendations so it will be easier for you lol and if you wanna know about my favourite boy groups or what I'm listening these days you can ask

So ever since I was a little kid... Michael Jackson

I generally listen to his most popular songs cuz I grew up with most of them on the radio and TV cuz in my country after he died , every year (for a few years ) they'd be putting his most popular songs on his birthday (August 29) and later I discovered YouTube and all that lol

I'll link really good audios because I generally don't like how his songs are recorded "remastered" and reuploaded these days... it's like they keep "improving" instrumental parts of his songs and it pisses me off because one of the things I love the most about Michael's music is the perfect harmony between his voice and the instrumental/backgrounds music or whatever is called

smooth criminal - I like imagining myself in that context of the song as the detective who solves the murder with him or dances with him or if I'm really sad just like when I was a kid I imagine he's asking me if I'm okay

you rock my world another really good and old audio , it even has the lyrics in the description.

I recommend watching the music videos too obviously but for the sake of his voice and his music , old audios are still the best .

And for videos for example in you "you rock my world" I love how playful he can be and how "hesitant" in the flirtiest way possible to approach the girl then saves her from that gang with his dance moves hahaha and in "Jams" he's so playful especially at the end of the music video when he's been taught basketball and he's teaching the basketball player some of his famous moves

And when I was a kid and looked at him in "Billie Jean" I really thought he could light up the street until I was I think 9? Or 8? And saw the "street" Michael was lightning in a music video by Justin Timberlake who I think was paying some kind of homage to Michael idk I haven't listened to that song since then lol

Also when I was a kid I didn't know people found him hot I always found him cute and loved his smile (I still do)

However his voice is so sensual in the lady of my life (also old audio) here it drives me nuts and I absolutely love it and I can't wait to feel this absolutely loved and adored by someone in my life too

I like a lot more songs but I really wanted to share about these ones

Being his fan even now it's tough, a part of me still hopes they'll never make a movie based on his life. When he died things were a fucking mess and sometimes they still do about his life I remember some time ago I was reading in such a tiny section of a newspaper (yes, despite I'm using online news I still prefer newspapers now and then lol , less annoying advertising stuff to close)they let out of the prison the doctor who the detectives found out he killed Michael and I found it really shitty especially for his family.

But the main reason I don't want a movie about his life is that there will be a lot of controversial opinions about the main actor especially if that actor is white and doesn't have Michael's illness and that ironically I think it would bring more hate but also more money to all the people who criticise and bring news all around the world which something that Michael clearly didn't want.

Just like he says in the song "Heal the world" whether or not someone believes in God , the point of "heal the world make it a better place for you and for me and the entire human race" still stands.

Plus, most importantly he made beautiful songs and he should be remembered as an amazing artist and as people used to call him "the king of pop" despite obviously it's mainly for his era and new "kings" can arise and be amazing in their own ways too💖💖💖

[padme-amitabha]

The only reason why your shitty films (the prequels) are even well liked today is CLONE WARS that’s why Hayden came back because anakin was finally a loved character because of CLONE WARS and Padme was finally a misogynist free character in the show, every character in the prequels have interchangeable dialogue because it’s boring (except for yoda for obvious reasons) and aside from sidious and obi wan rots is a overrated film, like I said tcw saved the prequels and tcw>pt and ashoka>padme☺️☺️☺️

Awww this must be your lucky day that I'm bothering to answer this instead of blocking you straight away like I should. People like you are the reason child actors are bullied and creators are forced to sell their stories.

The only reason why your shitty films (the prequels) are even well liked today is CLONE WARS

Because there are so many people like you who don't have the brains to understand what a movie is conveying and the style OR theme of the original films. But forget all that because YOU like to see the characters in someone else's story the way you want them to be, right? Quantity is not ✨quality✨ .

that’s why Hayden came back because anakin was finally a loved character because of CLONE WARS

Is that why you TCW stans erased the character he played? And prefer Matt Lanter as Anakin to the point even his face was used as inspiration for Anakin in some games and Anakin Pop funko. If anything it was erasing Hayden's Anakin in favor of your STEREOTYPICAL smooth, likable "hero". TCW is just fixing complaints about the character. How is it a good story if you have to change original characters based on what some fans think? You got fanfiction for that. Anakin never needed to be loved. GL wanted Vader to be understood. To be loved or liked just means fan service to your personal headcanons about Vader.

and Padme was finally a misogynist free character in the show

Because a woman who wanted to raise a family, didn't feel like living and chose not to but don't let her and rob her of making her own choices am I right? Shame her for making her own choices and prefer killing her by a man? Also, sideline her from being the main character to make space for a younger, more "fun" one. Portray her as jealous and petty and more open to entertaining men like her exes when she showed no signs of it before? Make her only involved in plots related to her work than showing what she personally likes or taking breaks and living? PEAK feminism. Forcing her to live and ignore her depression and feelings because women can't feel emotions am I right? I feel like it's femininity as a whole you guys hate and just want female characters to be more masculine to be strong.

every character in the prequels have interchangeable dialogue because it’s boring (except for yoda for obvious reasons)

Oops, I think I have seen the way TCW characters act in many MANY shows. Charming, suave, himbo, perfect guy with anger issues? His workaholic, too serious love interest who is so sick of her man? A new character close to the intended audience's age introduced just to be "relatable" who is just too perfect (and initially cartoonishly annoying). Actually, the main characters in TCW are caricatures and stereotypes. They may be LIKABLE to people like you but there's nothing unique about them. They seem more relatable because that's the kind of characters you are used to seeing.

I don't expect you to take the time to read but every prequel character has a unique voice in the prequels, especially in the books. Unlike TCW Anakin, movie Anakin isn't likable because not ALL heroes need to be and also lose duels. He is the Chosen One but he isn't overpowered. He is a hero but he is afraid. He is strong but he gets emotional. He is conflicted, stuck between following orders and wanting to rebel, Padme is stuck between wanting a family and going back to Naboo. Obi-Wan is stuck between wanting to be a brother to Anakin and also a strict Master seeing his struggles. The characters in the prequels are unique and not always likable and there's nothing wrong with that. What's wrong is fans like you wanting a world with overpowered Mary Sues and Gary Stus and wish fulfillment.

Obvious reasons? Because we saw him duel? That's all what SW is about to you, isn't it? Poor Geoge wasting so much time with research and effort when all he had to do was release some games so you guys can enjoy DUELS and badassness.

and aside from sidious and obi wan rots is a overrated film like I said tcw saved the prequels and tcw>pt and ashoka>padme☺️☺️☺️

"For obvious reasons" I can see why you would fail to notice every single detail of the film and the depth and how it faithfully follows the other sw movies.

Yes, a fourteen year old character who is just the female version of the main character in terms of personality is much better than a flawed, complex woman inspired by historical works and mythological figures. Are you sure you wouldn't rather be reading fanfiction with OCs instead?

TCW DID save the prequels for people like you. It was made to dumb down the story so younger audiences AND people like you can understand and appreciate the story. 😊

Please stop sending opinions to blogs that don't share your opinion. You got your own space for that. I mean what was the point of this? So we would change our opinions based on what YOU think? I think we can all think for ourselves. Adios.

[friendlyneighborhoodamara]

(Edited on July 23, 2021)

So. Luz Noceda.

Quite possibly one of the best written protagonists in a Disney animated show, and easily one of my favorite protagonists in fiction.

Admittedly, if you know me, you may not be surprised I like her this much. I love kindhearted protagonists who are extremely energetic, unorthodox, goofy and proactive, and this describes Luz in spades. Even at her lowest points, she has a never-give-up attitude that’s just so endearing to me. In fact, I’ve described her as a female shonen protagonist to many of my friends in the past, and it’s not uncommon for people to compare Luz to Mabel (while she is also a rather complicated character I adore, this comparison is faulty for reasons I’ll get into shortly.)

If this was all there was to Luz—a warmhearted, generous dork who goes to any lengths to help the people she loves—I’d be satisfied. That relatively short, shallow description describes Goku almost to a T, and I absolutely love Goku, inside and out.

However, the writing staff of The Owl House, thankfully, chose to go the extra mile with Luz and flesh her out far beyond her superficial confines.

While all are extroverted, sweet girls, Luz differs from similar characters like Mabel Pines, Anne Boonchuy and Star Butterfly due to her far lower status on the social ladder: if Camila is to be believed, Luz - prior to entering the Boiling Isles - doesn’t have a single friend. Having a protagonist who is a disliked underdog with low self-esteem is far from new, especially in kids’ media. In some cases, it almost feels like a prerequisite to have the character be the victim of petty school bullies, even when they’re a skater punk high schooler played by a 27-year-old Andrew Garfield. However, in Luz’s case, her past as a teenage outcast (and implied history of bullying), her neurodivergence, and her subsequent retreat into fantasy as an escape informs every single facet of her characterization and cannot be stripped away from her without making her far less interesting.

How so?

Well, for starters, Luz is seen as frustrating or annoying by a lot of people, even the friends she made in the demon realm. In Season 1, even after the lesson she learns in the second episode, she is obsessed with living out her fantasy of being a fantasy hero just like the Good Witch Azura. This is a direct result of her retreating into fantasy and using it as a crutch to get through life. She tries to befriend her rival Amity the same way Azura did with her rival, tries to whip Willow and Gus into an all-star sports team using nothing but her own gumption, and is quick to accept any challenge that comes her way. This, understandably, does not endear her to other people.

Furthermore, as a result of her ostracization in the human realm (the great state of Connecticut, as we learn in the latest episode!), Luz, subtly, sees herself as a burden. This is why she almost never defends herself when people attack her, fairly or not. When Amity, enraged because Lilith humiliated her in her duel with Luz, demands Luz admit to not being a real witch, she acquiesces, despite having no real reason to. Even after she’s become Amity’s friend (and, unknowingly, her crush), even after Amity risked her own job to help her … Luz assumes that Amity hates her because she got fired from the library trying to help Luz … when Amity was the one who insisted they keep looking. Likewise, when the detention kids accuse her of being stuck-up, Luz accepts the rejection without a word of complaint, even though their accusation is based on incomplete information. And probably most heartbreakingly, at the start of Season 2, Luz calls herself a burden on Eda. After bringing so much life to this crusty old witch’s life, to the point of not only saving her from execution but playing a huge role in her reconnecting with her estranged sister, because of the way she’s been treated for much of her life, Luz can only imagine that Eda dreads her presence.

In short, Luz (1) blunders through many of her social interactions, often leading to negative first impressions, (2) takes those blunders on the chin and assumes they’re her fault even when they aren’t necessarily, and both those (3) flaws flow naturally from her backstory. That’s rather solid character writing that a lot of creators for children’s shows take for granted. Luz isn’t determined to fix what’s wrong just because; she’s determined to fix what’s wrong because, often, she believes that she is responsible for whatever has gone wrong. It’s a more realistic, and rather sad, look at a hero, compared to most Disney properties.

But, in my eyes, what makes this all work like gangbusters is how the other characters treat Luz.

Yes, even her friends and family can be annoyed by some of her more eccentric behavior. They acknowledge when she screws up and hold her accountable for those screw ups. But, for the first time in her life, someone (besides Camila, the real MVP) is giving her the unconditional love she deserves. Eda’s response to Luz saying she doesn’t want to be a burden, Amity saving Luz from Odalia and defying her mother for the first time, hell, even the Golden Guard seems to legitimately bond with Luz in their one episode together.

Given Luz’s status as a neurodivergent girl, as an autistic fan of this show, I can only imagine how comforting a lesson that is for the neurodivergent kids watching this: “Even if people don’t value you, even if you legitimately make mistakes, you still deserve unconditional love. You have value, damn what other people say.” Disney may be a shitty, evil corporation, but the Owl House crew really created something special, something richer than the average Disney cartoon, and that puts a smile on my face.

In short, you’re doing great sweetie. :)

[percabethfeelsfandom]

How I’d rate the Gods/Goddesses(riordanverse)

This is my rating based off the way Rick Riordan portrayed them in the Riordanverse. The traditional myths have been taken into account but do not make up my entire opinion. 

Hestia:

10/10 would give my life for this goddess. In all aspects of the word, this goddess is a goddess. I want a novella of her watching over the hearth and watching out for her family and the heroes. I imagine her being a very comforting presence and warm like a hug, and maybe this is me projecting my mummy issues but I just want her to hug me. 

Dionysus:

A solid 7.35/10 for Mr D. Naturally he was a bit annoying, but we were never under the pretence that he he was meant to be anything more than what he provided and I respect that. Him caring about his kids at camp, and staying relatively loyal to his wife is always a plus. And I like his relatively humble beginnings being a hero and becoming a god and then not causing that much trouble in the series. Unlike some other pieces of shit. 

Hermes:

4/10. Mans had no right blaming Luke’s thirst for mass genocide on 16 year old Annabeth. Not cool man. Not cool. He gets the points he got because he did genuinely care about Maia, and Luke, but he lost the rest of them by having a blatant favourite (who literally caused so much destruction). However I do still like his line about family in sea of monsters and never giving up on them. Nice meaning. But he was still a shitty father and only intervened out of self interest most of the time. 

Aphrodite:

2/10. I hate how low I have to rank her. But my god did Rick do her dirty in his depiction. Just the misogyny, the lack of depth, and the untouched potential she has as a character, as a goddess, THE OLDEST GOD/GODDESS and Rick really made her throw rose petals around the battle fields on one of (what was meant to be) the biggest fights of the riordanverse. Absolute robbery. If I’m not mistaken as well, she was a huge contributor to the issues and obstacles percabeth went through and we do not Stan. HOWEVER, I love her as a goddess normally, and what she could represent if she’s written properly. 

Hephaestus:

8/10. I have no qualms with this man. I too prefer the company of inanimate objects to people and get stressed about social interaction. And I too have mummy issues. So me and Hephaestus are on the same page. Let this man tinker away in his little bunker. He never went out of his way to make things harder for demigods, and was helpful when they came to him for help which I can also respect. (Point deduction because it was on his land that Bianca died…if I’m not mistaken). 

Ares:

-12/10. This man was introduced as a bully, and gives off the vibes of every phobic, known to humanity. I do not vibe. I do not agree. I do not stan. ALSO his motorbike seat is apparently made from "Caucasian human skin”!!!!!!???? We as children never questioned this? We just went sure aight move on?! Please this man has the biggest small dick energy if I ever saw it and I despite him so much. Mans was also never helpful. Ever. I don’t think. I think Mars was better than him though so I’ll give him that. 

Artemis:

9.99/10 all hail queen of the lesbians. Mad respect to this woman. In what she stands for, who she protects and in her actions. She’s what I embody when I stand up for myself in fights and when I speak to have my voice heard. I like Rick’s depiction of her and I love seeing her and her hunters pop up in his books. Would love a couple books on the hunters and their adventures. Also I love archery. And I’m biased to the moon because I love the night so she gets extra points for all of that too. 

Apollo:

Prior to Trials of Apollo 7/10, after TOA 9.90/10. Yes it’s a big jump but my god did Lester grow on me. Prior to TOA he was pretty average. He was funny, always provided a good laugh to the plot and was always helping the demigods which I loved. But I know he’s an asshole full of himself so I can’t give him any higher than that until he had some character development, which we got in TOA (specifically after Burning Maze). And I really like who he is now and the type of character Rick shaped him out to be. In the myths he’s a big creep, and I still stand by that idea, hence why he doesn’t get a full 10. 

Athena:

3.5/10…ughhh I hate to say this. But part of it is the same reasoning I gave about Aphrodite. I just have so many issues with the way she’s portrayed and it’s not accurate to what I believe in my heart she should represent. And as a child of Athena, I feel like Rick then did her entire legacy dirty. She has her moments, but since I can’t even fully recall one right now, it just proves my point. As a goddess as a whole though, what she represents is everything I aspire to be in life. She’s my entire aesthetic of hard work, creativity, and strength and grit, without taking away of being a powerful female. Zeus’ lead strategist like shit, Rick could have done so much. But he did not. And I am thus sad about it. 

Demeter:

6/10. I have no issues with Demeter. Kinda boring. I think that’s what most of the fandom thinks as well. She just didn’t get enough screen time or development. I have no attachment to her. I think the powers that she has, and has passed on to her kids is cool though so there’s that. But in the series as well she doesn’t do much. She also (initially) doesn’t fight in the battle of Manhattan so maybe I’m slightly bitter there. But yeah, i’m indifferent. 

Hades:

8.99/10 Okay so hear me out I know this man gets so much bad rep in the myths and that’s part of why he doesn’t get a full 9. But I really really love the way he’s depicted in the riordanverse, especially with his entire arc with his kids/specially with Nico. Like literally one of my favourite quotes In the entire series is “my children are so rarely happy, I would like to see you be the exception.” Out of the gods listed here (and excluding Dionysus), he acts like a genuine parent to his kids and tries. And like there’s issues, sure, but he works on them. And since so much of the first series is about how the gods are neglectful, seeing him change and seeing him fight for Nico is my everything. 

Poseidon:

7.1/10. Honestly this feels too high considering mans was nearly If not just as bad as Zeus in keeping it in his dam pants. His points come from treating Sally like the queen she is, and trying with Percy (albeit too little too late but I can see the minimal effort). That being said, he’s really shitty in the myths so I can’t really give him anything higher than this. He’s barely a dad, and sees Percy more as an ally than an actual son or human being that needs attention. I like him more in Fanon and the way that I write him lmao because I humanise him. But I won’t lie he’s dilf material, and I still like rick’s depiction of him. 

Hera:

3/10 I’m surprising myself with this rating because tbh I might even push her to 4.5 just because she’s so consistent in her own goals and agenda, and that perseverance is very admirable even if it was at the cost of some of my favourite characters. She was very much two faced though and fucked around stuff that she should have stayed out of. Her hatred for literal children though is a bit problematic. I have no attachment to her but I admire how much she just wants a family. However she just really needs to assess how she approaches that since it’s a bit messed up.  

Zeus:

-5/10 I really don’t Zeus, his character, him in the myths, everything about him. He gives off the vibes of a man who abuses the power that he was given. And I don’t like that. It makes me uncomfortable and I don’t like him at all. His treatment of his children, of the demigods, and the way he governs Olympus. Not a fan. I could rule Olympus better and I’m a mentally unstable, serotonin deficient 20 year old with a hyper fixation on greek mythology and Minecraft. However despite not liking his character, I think Rick does a great job at depicting him accurately to how he was in the myths. 

[yelenassecretlover]

youtuber au hcs [sfw] pt 2

anime: attack on titan

characters: Erwin, Hange

a/n: these are streamer heavy hcs but they’re also youtuber’s, I’ll slowly elaborate on this au more in the future lol

Erwin:

Because he radiates such boomer energy when it comes to technology, people are completely caught by surprise when they find out he streams? And not only does he stream, he streams his reactions to current internet phenomena. He is very aware of online spaces…quite shocking really

But don't be too proud of him, he doesn’t know shit about hardware...or software really. His partner set his whole thing up for him, without them he wouldn't even know where to begin on turning on his camera…..

He finds all his clips on his own. Occasionally streams a game when Levi,Miche or Hange request to collab with him

His takes are very factually based, and very informative to watch, even the most silliest videos you can learn from him

He isn’t mega popular but he makes a decent living and is fairly known. It's not about the quantity of fans but rather quality, although I guess that phrase in this case doesn’t match up. Commentary streamers/channels have a rep for shitty fan bases and Erwin isn’t any different (his audience is much more tame compared to others but his partner still hates them), but he punishes his audience often for their antics…so that’s something?

“ I’m sorry sweetheart I can't really control them…but i'll do something about it don't get mad at me please”

Although in tune with what’s a hot topic in the online space….doesn’t understand the online lingo and is often using urban dictionary but even that confuses him

“ Simpin for…Dilf Erwin…hmmmmm I’m not sure what that means but thanks?”

But don't worry his mutuals roast the shit out of him in the discord but eventually explain the terms to him

Very organized creator, always uploads when they say they will, you can rely on him for content

A white man with a semi wealthy background, he doesn’t come from need but even so he still speaks on social issues and is very passionate and educated about them…..some would call him a woke king?

Is strongly against creators dating fans, so sorry to all his fangirls ain’t gonna happen

But does love taking pictures and videos with fans, he always stops for them (annoying to no end his partner who wants to get anywhere at a reasonable time)

Hange:

WAS RAISED BY THE INTERNET

Went through a sonic and nightcore phase 0-0

They started streaming during college but took it a bit more serious after when they were finally free from all their studies and had the time to do so

Worked as a waiter while they slowly built their audience over the years, and eventually started working as a lab analyst ( works and streams, they enjoy their job so even if they’re making more money streaming they’ll continue at their little lab)

Calls their fans their little experiments gone wrong. If you couldn’t guess their channels aesthetic revolves around being a mad scientist

They wear a lab coat every stream

Do live experiments during their streams, which because its live they can’t edit as they would a normal youtube video and shit goes wrong……almost every time

You literally will never know when they will post, so disorganized. It can be daily or you’ll go months without seeing content from them. But it's not that they’re busy they’re recording so much content it's just a lot of it get scrapped and they have to start all over

“ Guys from now on I will have weekly uploads on Thursday see you then…..hopefully” (you most definitely did not see them then)

Although the majority of their content is educational, they sometimes stream games. Usually with their online mutuals, they bring this chaotic energy to the streams that no one else has quite mastered at imitating

Is not a hermit, leaves their house quite often so if you live in the city you’ll mostly likely spot them, loves taking pictures with fans ( also has a really hard time saying no to them consequently interfering with their ability to be on time to places)

Their coworkers know they’re a celebrity in the online world but they don't really understand it.

On that note, they are completely different in their irl job. Very serious with their work almost unrecognizable to their online persona

[mirrorforevers]

here, there, and everywhere • graham coxon/reader

this fic is based on two prompts y'all sent me:

and

this fic really tested all of my blur knowledge holy Fuck. blur as talking heads au i guess. how cool would it be if they

1. had a girl bassist instead of the cheese tory dude

2. werent as unhappy as they were in the mid 90s (just a bit)

3. were just a little 🤏🏻 bit more female friendly lets just pretend this is a universe where the blurjob passes didnt exist heh

it took me everything i had to make this sound as realistic as it could be. u know these girls who think they could fix patrick bateman or don draper? perhaps y’all could fix blur

consider this a gift n not only me writing for your prompt, @nottuned! thank u so much for all your support n encouragement n for always bein so sweet 🥺 i hope u enjoy reading it as much as i enjoyed writing it!

let’s see how many references to unfortunate britpop moments y’all can find in this

also i hope i captured the silliness of the gossip and drama in that era well. if you enjoyed it, please leave an ask telling me more! ur feedback is rly important to me 😔✊🏻

tw (?) reader has shitty parents

word count: 7.938 (this one's quite long!)

smut. set in the 90s. au.

You were unlocking your door when you heard your house phone ring. The shrill sound echoed through the empty corridors as you hurriedly unwrapped your scarf, tossing your keys and backpack on nearby furniture as you ran to answer the call.

“Hello?” You answer, panting.

“Y/N?”

“Dave?” You smile, that call was a very welcome surprise. Your friend owed you an answer.

-

A few weeks ago, Dave Rowntree, your music classmate who became a close friend, told you that he had teamed up with two other proficient musicians to form a band. Dave was ecstatic, and every day he had new stories about his new friends to tell you between breakfasts and lunches that you shared between the countless hours of rehearsals. Even though you weren't part of the group, you already felt that you knew Damon and Graham like the back of your hand. Yin and Yang. One was expansive, ambitious, vain, impulsive. The other, shy, introspective, anxious and careful.

Damon Albarn wanted to be an actor, Graham Coxon had a firm foot in the visual arts. One was a fan of grand classical compositions, the other was a Beatles fan. They had been friends since they were children, in a seemingly unbreakable bond. Damon dropped out of his theater class not only because out of a sudden he had found a bigger calling in music instead of acting, but also because he couldn't stand being away from his best friend for so long. You found yourself often imagining their faces and voices while trying to make all of the wild and endearingly funny stories Dave told you more tangible in your head.

It was not long before Dave started dropping little hints that they needed someone else for their project. “It’s not that Graham isn’t good at bass,” he’d say, “but we could do better.” It wasn't at the top of your plans to be part of a band right now, especially as you were preparing intensely to join the Royal Academy of Music, and he knew it. When you mentioned the conversations you had with Dave about the boys on your family dinner, in quiet wonder and timid want of being part of something really exciting, your parents wrinkled their noses. Focus on the greater things, they’d say. Don’t let these boys distract you from your goal.

Our goal, they meant to say. Since you were born, you never knew if the things you wanted were really your will or theirs.

But anyway.

That dynamic went on for a while, until the day Dave invited you to audition for them while you shared a Diet Coke in the tube home.

“Will it take too much of my time?” You asked, coyly.

“Bold of you to assume we’ll let you in that quickly.” He chuckles, amused by your confidence. You playfully elbow him in return. He knew how good you were at what you did, though, and there’s lightness in his tone when he continues, “But no, unless you let it. You’ll probably have to stand up to Damon every once in a while.” He sips the drink, handing it over to you.

“What about Graham? How much is he determined to make it big?”

“Damon’s the one who wants it the most. Graham’s studying Fine Arts at Goldsmiths, so. There’s still cautiousness in him.”

“Huh. Okay then.” You reply, thoughts running wild. “Do we have a time and date?”

“Is tomorrow ok to you?”

“Sure. After our class?”

“Perfect.” The train reaches his station. He ruffles your hair: “See you tomorrow then.”

“See you.”

You don’t tell anything about it to your parents, you just warn them that you’ll arrive a bit later than usual. Dave’s intel was crucial to your choice of songs: knowing Graham was the beatlemaniac and also the rational brake to Damon’s tireless ambition, you knew who to please and have as an ally, so you build an innovative and fresh mashup of Paul McCartney’s greatest basslines to play for them. Of course it could backfire, but you didn’t care. You had a hell of a good ear anyway and if Damon wanted you to play anything out of the blue, you would improvise beautifully over it.

The day comes. You didn’t know why you were that nervous for an amateur audition. You weren’t even sure if it was the right path to follow, given that, depending on how focused Damon really was and how contagious his aspiration was, being part of a band could really take you out of your predestinated course. The reason why you were so nervous, now thinking a little more about it, may be because deep inside, you want your path to be a little less predictable. You didn’t want to fill your heart with hopes that you might make it big and travel all over the world because you didn’t even know them. But… what if it clicks? You knew some people in the scene whose work was getting seriously recognized out there.

Meeting them for the first time was an enigmatic experience. Damon was incredibly brash and cocky - not the first theater kid you’ve met in your life. Graham was way more approachable, though also a bit conceited when pushed just right. You wondered if you’d fit in that boys’ club, and decided you wouldn’t be an easy target for discredit or any kind of shit they might give you. “Took me a while to fully get their trust. You’ll do just fine”, Dave said, out of their earshot.

That gave you more fuel to play amazingly well. Damon definitely wasn’t one to be impressed quickly, but he was, when you finished your set. So was Graham - Graham was starry eyed with your performance, actually. Albarn showed you a song and asked you if you could improvise to it, just as you imagined. Of course you could, on the first play. You even suggested some adjustments to its structure. Your feedback was welcomed and noted.

-

Even though everything went surprisingly well, you still weren't sure if you would be a member of “Seymour”, as they called themselves. (You knew it wasn’t the best name, but you didn’t have a better suggestion at the time so you’ve kept your opinion to yourself.) Graham became eerily quiet out of a sudden and wouldn’t cross eyes with you the entire time you were there. Damon, well, was Damon. Perhaps he thought you were too ordinary and mainstream for deciding to play Beatles when he’s trying to be the new avant-garde Jesus.

But Dave's news was different than you expected. “They really, really enjoyed your audition. As I thought they would.” You can hear the smile in his voice. "When can you rehearse with us?"

-

Months after, on your first gig as a fully formed and integrated band, Damon was hit in the face by a guy twice his size, Graham vomited onstage and you and Dave had to take care of both. A beautiful way to close the already exquisite day you had, after you fought with your parents, got kicked out of your childhood home and gave up on entering the Royal Academy of Music two days after you received your acceptance letter featuring rave reviews of your entrance exam.

Dealing with these boys - no, grown-ass men - was hard, but not completely unpleasant. If it were totally unpleasant, you wouldn’t give up on your entire life to embark on such an adventure.

You - plural you - were so gifted and Damon’s compositions were so good. You could see that artsy pretentious mess of an act going somewhere. Of course, you were a bit lost in your life, but so were they, as you ran from city to city meeting new people and trying new things in your journey to fame.

Loneliness, once a close friend, became a distant acquaintance. One you didn’t know anymore.

You confess you were getting worried, though, with how much money you had left on your savings and how much you were spending lately now that your parents weren’t an active part of your life. Wanting to eat something you cannot dream of buying without that money being really useful in a much more critical situation, not having nearly enough money to replace something important that broke or got torn off was frustrating. Some basic things became luxuries out of a sudden.

One day in particular, you very briefly mentioned that you were dying to eat a slice of chocolate cake, but your voice was so small and everyone was so immersed in their duties you thought no one gave two shits to what you said. Two days later, Graham arrived late at rehearsal with a small chocolate cake in his hands, handing it over to you like it was a completely ordinary act. Nothing in the way he acted told you he expected a reward, it was so natural and… gentle. You knew no one in your band could buy a chocolate cake without it being apocalyptic to their personal finances during that time.

That day, you were assured by fate that feeling lost together was better than feeling guided alone.

-

The band finally got on track - strictly musically speaking. Personally speaking, many contemporaries who followed you at parties and other events described you as an ever-growing odd, annoying and intermittently disarming bunch - and Blur and its members became household names, at least in the UK. It became harder and harder everyday to impose yourself as an entire industry and its target public aimed to tear you down. Men couldn’t understand.

(Graham Coxon was the one who tried the hardest to.)

It was four in the morning. You’ve got used to following your bandmates to hospitals, running away from trouble or knowing when to relish in it. But it was the first time you offered yourself to clean up dried blood from one’s face, given how much you hated seeing the fluid and even fainted when younger whenever exposed to it.

You, so delicately, wipe the saline solution-soaked cotton across Graham’s face, who flinches at the cold sensation on his still sensitive skin. He stares at you with the eyes of a child, and you couldn’t help but give him a slight, warm smile in return, which he retributes. Your face conveyed gratitude and affection towards the one you were taking care of. Your hands still struggled to stay completely still after the surge of adrenaline your body received a few hours ago.

Being the only girl in a massive band, and one the music magazines and mainstream media loved sexualizing, meant having paparazzis in your window in odd hours (not that that’s acceptable in any hour, but you had to lower your standards even more these days), meant having different photographers trying to pressure you to get into all kinds of uncomfortable angles with skimpy-ass dresses and just count on the intervention of your fellow bandmates so they would stop, also having invasive male fans who would try to harass you in any way they could.

Of course the day where one of your bandmates would get into a fist fight with one of these men inserted into these categories would come. And even though they were all protective of you, each in their own peculiar, increasingly contradictory way, Graham’s dedication to it was sometimes commendable.

You were making your way through a small corridor of people on your way to the stage when a random guy cupped one of your breasts. It’s not like the venue was incredibly tight, it could not have been on accident and it made your blood boil. You turned around to scream at him, and Graham, who was just behind you, threw a punch directly towards the man’s face, without thinking twice.

And oh boy, took a lot of people and a sweet amount of time to separate the two after that.

After all was said and done, Graham had a few scratches, a black eye and a cut brow. He kept dodging your many “sorrys”, “you didn’t have to do this” and other expressions of guilt. “You have nothing to be sorry about, he deserved it”, he kept assuring you, like a mantra, just giving in to your pleas when you supplicated to take care of his wounds during intermission and after the show.

“I get why you did what you did, Gra. I hate that you took such a risk because of me, but I understand.” you say, voice cracking from not using it for a while after spending some good minutes in complete silence taking care of him. “However,” you soak another cotton ball in the saline solution a roadie got you, punctuating the word with a squeeze to the cotton to remove excess liquid. “I was worried sick about you. What if he… had a knife or something? You could’ve got seriously injured. Or killed.”

“Don’t worry about me. I’m perfectly able to have a good fight,” after wincing from the contact of the cold wet cotton with his dried blood, he purses his lips in a forced, shy smile, trying to light up the mood. He notices your hands are still shaking from the adrenaline, and takes one of them in his bigger ones, trying to calm you down. The fact that he did this for you, coupled with the fear and how tired you felt of having to go through that kind of situation once again, made you cry-laugh from how overwhelmed you felt.

His expression changes to one of pure compassion in an instant. “Hey, don’t--oh my,” he gets up from his chair to embrace you as you pour your frustrations through fat tears running down his shoulder.

“It’s so exhausting,” you mumble, through sobs. “Now I’m putting you in danger too. I feel like I did and I’m still doing everything wrong. I should be the one giving you a shoulder to cry on.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong! Anything at all, I promise you,” he says, tenderly, running his hands through your hair, still holding you tight. “It was his fault! I decided it was the right thing to do. You’re worth the risk. What people have been putting you through is unacceptable.”

“I’m not worth the risk!” You break apart from his arms, trying to get your point across. “What would I do without you if someone killed you? You need to be more careful!”

The silence hangs heavy between you two thanks to the weight of your words.

“You should’ve asked me before you lunged at him, at least. I don’t know.” You wipe your many tears as you move towards the nearest bottle of water to try to calm yourself down. “It’ll never end. I’m so afraid that these situations will get even worse. That,” you motion at his wounds and dirty clothes, “is a bloody tragedy. It’s a tragedy things escalated to this point. You can’t do that forever.”

“This is just a consequence. And something I would do for you in a heartbeat whenever necessary.”

“Graham, I don’t want you to get hurt because--”

“They hurt you. I won’t let you go through that alone. Besides,” he comes closer to you again. “As I already told you, I can take care of myself, most of the time.” He takes your face in his hands, his fingers so delicately running across your cheeks to dry your tears. You knew that gesture wasn’t his way of asking you for anything you weren’t ready to give him yet. He just wanted you to feel safe. “And I want to take care of you.”

“I’m the one cleaning your wounds.”

“A great partnership, I think.” Coxon chuckles softly, and finally gets a smile out of you. As he always does. “And they make me look cool, don’t you think?”

“Shut up.” You giggle, still feeling too emotional to return to the stage. You sigh: “Thank you for being there for me. You know I’m still not very used to it. Just please be safe.”

The roadie returns, a little flustered by interrupting your little moment together. “5 minutes and you’re back, guys.”

“Okay!” You both turn to answer her.

“I’ll be. No need to thank me for anything, Y/N.” He answers, giving your forehead a little kiss. “Let’s go.”

“Give me two minutes. I’ll be right behind you.”

-

“What’s it like, being the only woman in the band?”

Four eyerolls at once don’t seem to faze the interviewer. She waits for your response.

Apparently the thousand invasive questions regarding Damon’s love life and the same bullshit treatment of women as either rare specimen or sex dolls is what pleases the audience of music TV shows these days.

“What do you think?” is what you say.

“Must be a thrill to have these beautiful boys around you all the time. And we’ve heard you never even took advantage of it!”

You don’t like where this is heading. “Is that… a bad thing? I don’t know what you mean.”

“Perhaps some of our lady viewers might think it is. No judgement though!” She raises her hands. “You do you, it’s just that it’s quite unexpected to see prudes in non-Christian bands. I mean… from what we’ve heard.”

“I’m sorry? What are you trying to say? What did you hear?”

Her tongue clicks while she stares at you with defiance and mischief on her eyes, as she goes a little further and raises her voice so it can overlay yours. “Oh love. You do know what I’m talking about. There’s no need to be ashamed of being a virgin.”

Your cheek burns intensely and the only thing you wished for was for the ground to swallow you whole. Dave and Graham are especially uncomfortable. Damon’s a bit amused. The three knew almost everything there was to know about you. The one topic that surprisingly they didn’t know about is that you’re still a virgin.

They know you’ve been single for a long time. They know that’s part of what draws so much attention and twisted lore regarding you and your past, but that’s not something they felt they needed to know about you at all, and you truly never felt the need to comment about that with any of them, and they haven’t asked. Not even Mr. “the way to be successful in this game is to make all the boys wanna be you and all the girls wanna sleep with you. In your case that’d work in reverse” Damon Albarn.

“Is that even something that should be discussed in an interview about our music? Is that what your boss told you to ask her about?” Dave answers, his tone venomous.

“Musicians are way more than just music. You’re entertainment in every sense of the word.”

“Who told you that about me?” You asked, not sure if you want to know the answer.

“A lovely elderly lady who lives in Elgin Crescent. She knows you so well.”

That’s your mum. That’s how far low your relationship has degraded. You’re not surprised. That doesn’t feel less like a punch on your gut, but you don’t feel like tumbling again. Not today.

“I know who you’re talking about. Tell her I asked her to go fuck herself and burn in hell. In that order.”

“But that’s your--”

“Yes, she is my mum!” If people are going to expose you anyway, then why don’t you do it on your terms? “We’re truly entertainment in every sense of the word, aren’t we. Not everyone’s mum’s a cunt. Some of us aren’t that lucky.”

“You want to be the next Gallagher sister with the spicy remarks?”

“Not sure. But I do want to be the last person you ever get to interview.”

-

The management of the band wasn’t at all surprised your interview became UK’s topic of the week. People were heavily divided between family is family and we shouldn’t hate our relatives and blood isn’t everything, family can be shitty too. Your bandmates were proud of you. The management was angry but tried to understand, and didn’t press you for further explanations. They suggested a two-week break from everything so Blur could rest their image and start a fresh cycle after that, and you gracefully accepted it.

The whole thing seemed so ridiculous the more you thought about it. Did your mum tell the reporter about that gratuitously? What was their conversation like? How did that even happen?

You became the butt of jokes in some places. You saw other famous people doing challenges between them, countdowns, all sorts of crude remarks. What a pathetic, sad chapter of your career.

You dial Graham, and you feel like your heart was about to burst out of your chest.

“Hey, Gra. It’s me.”

“Hey, Y/N.” He sounds pleasantly surprised. “How's it going?”

“Better, I guess. I have to take my mind off all that chaos though. Are you available right now?”

“Yeah.”

“You’ve been owing me a movie night for quite a while now and I miss spending time with you. Wanna come over?”

“Aww. Sure, I--um. Do you want me to bring anything?”

“I’m pretty sure I got everything we need here--ah… I think I don’t have any more beers.”

“I’ll buy some then. See ya in a few minutes.”

Actually, you couldn’t take all that chaos off your mind because that was the only thing in it. You’re feeling so nervous.

The main reasons sex wasn’t a priority for you until now were:

You didn’t have any real opportunities of losing your virginity in your teens. You were impossibly introspective until, like, 3, 4 years ago, and the way your family worked hasn’t really allowed you to get really close to people. Be it boyfriends, girlfriends or just friends. Anything that threatened to take time off the various tasks and classes your parents assigned to you just couldn��t be part of your life. To be honest, you still struggled a bit to form meaningful connections with people thanks to how you grew up.

The moment you stopped being shy, you noticed it was a real man’s world out there, especially in music, classical or not. You didn’t want anyone to think you fucked your way up to the top, you didn’t want any messy affairs. Also, you had yourself, and you didn’t get all of the hype regarding the concept of screwing someone. But apparently there’s a lot you’ve been missing, given the importance people seem to give to it. After that incident, even though you swore to yourself you wouldn’t give in to any kind of misogynistic pressure, that was one that really got under your skin.

You never really found someone who you felt 100% safe with in that sense until the one who’s about to arrive at your house appeared in your life. Bloody hell, and you don’t even have anything romantic going on. By the time you were a Blur member, you’ve fooled around a bit, but not all the way. You knew how to kiss, knew how to touch yourself and even brought manual satisfaction to some random fool you thought you were into one time. But perhaps this is the time to go all the way. Why not? Everyone knew how close you two were. He made you feel special. He was so kind. And gorgeous. And--

You hear a knock on your door. It’s him. Beers in hand, hair somewhat in place, twitchy as ever.

He comes inside and you feel like your legs will give up anytime. It was not the first time he visited you. It was one of many, actually, and he noticed you were acting… different.

“Y/N, are you okay?” He asks after a brief dialogue between you two, after plating some snacks for both of you.

“Graham...” You sigh, being really careful with your words. “What is your perception of me?”

“My perception of you?” He smiles. “I… think you’re great. You’re fun to be around. You’re one of the best musicians I know, if not the best. Why are you asking me that?”

“N-nothing. It’s nothing. Also, I asked the wrong question. What was your first perception of me?”

“Uh… the day of your audition?”

“Exactly. You barely talked to me that day.”

His eyes lower to his own feet. “I was really timid, actually. I wasn’t used to being near any girl, especially one who… w-would spend so much time around me if everything went well.”

You giggle. “I thought you hated me.”

“Never!” his smile turns into a full blown laughter. You melt at his confession. “Also because it seemed like you were trying to read my mind or something.”

“Of course! Because I thought you hated me!” Now that was a laughter you two shared. You do a voice: “‘Why is that pesky girl trying to get in my band?’”

“My goodness, no! I don’t even sound like that - you know what, I changed my mind. You suck. Because, besides the fact you don’t even know what I sound like, you still haven’t told me why you are asking me that in the first place.”

You couldn’t help but notice how he slightly cornered you physically in one of the kitchen corridors. Graham could be really persuasive when he wanted to.

“Okay. Right. Um. I’ve been thinking about some stuff.”

“What, exactly?”

“Everything that happened this month. The great virginity debacle,” you roll your eyes, and he scoffs.

“You don’t own anyone any information about what you do or don't do with your life. Everyone’s being so invasive. That was incredibly childish of the reporter to do, and we talked about that hundreds of times.”

“Yeah, but… you know what, forget it.”

“Tell me, Y/N. I just said that because I want you to know you were not in the wrong.”

“I know. It’s just… I’ve been thinking that maybe it’s silly for me to… keep closing myself for affection. Any kind of affection.”

“What are you talking about?” His brows furrowed in curiosity.

“I’m not sure if it’s the pressure that finally got under my skin, but… I’m willing to learn what all the fuss is about. Maybe it’s silly that I’m still a virgin.”

He bites his lips, still processing what you just said, expression unreadable. Perhaps you’ve treaded a ground you shouldn’t. You step back both literally and figuratively. “I’m sorry I even brought that up--”

“No, no, don’t be.” He assures you. “I’m just… surprised, that’s all. I swear.”

“And...” You know what. You already went too far, so why not go all the way. You’ve already gone way past the point of no return. “I was wondering if… you would… popmycherry?”

His eyes widen, yours still closed. When you finally open them, he’s closer to you again.

If his head was a machine, you’re sure it would be releasing lots of steam and shaking due to overprocessing. You felt like you just ruined everything.

“Y/N, you don’t need to do it if you don’t really want to.”

“But I want it! At first I thought I didn’t, but then I thought...”

“I don’t want to be part of that if you’re just doing it to fulfill weird expectations.”

“But it’s not that. Not just... that. I asked about your perception of me because I really like you, Gra. I think we should be more than friends and I wanted to know what you think about me. And I want to know what the fuss is about, yes, but I’m not telling you that just so I can lose my virginity to prove some point. I’m telling you that because I like you, I want to kiss you, and I think it would be a great idea if you showed me what it’s like. Y-you know, sex.”

“I-I can’t believe it. Did you even have any movie in mind?” His smile’s back, but you’re still not confident about what his answer will be.

“I didn’t. I’m sorry. You don’t have to--”

He sighs. “I was in love with you the moment I first saw you, actually.” He says it like he’s releasing a huge load out of his back, his arms crossed. Now your eyes widen, and you hold your breath without even noticing. “I didn’t want you to feel pressured. I know how you feel, or, felt about relationships, so… there wasn’t any reason for me to tell you that. And what I said about being timid was just half of the truth.”

“Huh?”

“I also was really intimidated by how pretty you looked. You can’t imagine how.”

“No way.”

“It’s true. I felt like I wasn’t even worthy of looking at you, really.”

“You’re joking. That’s mean, Gra.”

“I’m not. I’m really not.” He doesn’t look like he is joking. He looks relieved. “I’m really not. That’s why I’m so surprised by your request.”

“I’m nothing special.”

“You are everything to me. But I can’t accept your offer, not now.”

“Are you… seeing someone? Am I too late?”

“No. Definitely not. I just want you to be sure you’re not doing it because people are saying you should.”

“Graham, I’m a grown woman.”

“I know.”

Graham carefully presses his slightly chapped lips to yours, kissing you for a few precious, heart stopping seconds before pulling away; his voice is impossibly silky when he suggests, “Let’s watch a movie. How about The Godfather? I heard it’s airing tonight. Then, if in two weeks you don’t change your mind, tell me and I’ll be glad to help you with what you want. Do we have a deal?”

“That’s so unfair. I want you so bad.” You whisper.

“Tell me if you still do in two weeks.”

You sigh, defeated. “...Deal.”

-

You definitely notice the subtle shift in Graham’s personality and actions after that fateful night. If you were already close, both figuratively and literally, it now seemed like he would use any excuse to always touch you, be near you, sometimes tease you. The shift was subtle, though, don’t forget it’s still Graham Coxon we’re talking about - the constant “is it okay if”s or “is it alright if I”s were still there, as careful as ever. You don’t even talk about your deal that entire time, or even kiss again - sometimes you wondered if it was even real or just a fabrication of your mind.

The way he now caressed your hand discreetly when you listened to Damon’s ramblings, the way his hands now went directly to your waist when your games became too handsy, the way he seemed to be madly in love with everything you were and still are from the start - made you realize you were ready for this man to be a consistent part of your life.

The dust of the controversy was settled, and your own intentions were 100% clear to you now. The societal pressure has waned. The need for Graham to be your first persisted. After exactly 2 weeks have passed, you call him again, yearning to share the answer with him.

One beep.

Two beeps.

Three beeps.

Four beeps. “Hello?”

You release a sigh hidden deep inside of your lungs. “Graham, it’s Y/N.”

“Oh. It’s been two weeks.” You could hear the contemplative tone of his voice.

“...Yeah. That’s precisely the reason I’m calling you.”

“Do you still want to…?”

“...Desperately.”

“Ok.” He chuckles, flustered as hell on the other side of the phone, probably one of the prettiest sounds you’ve ever heard. “Right. Ok. Your place or mine?”

“I think there’ll be an element of mystery if I go to your place this time.” You lose some of the constraints this silly shyness has been tying you on. “Do you have everything we might need there?”

“We don’t need a dungeon, you know.”

“The basics.” You make your smile heard.

“I do have… I do have the basics.”

“See you in a few minutes then.”

“Will you want to… ease into it? Or just go straight to it?”

“God, don’t make it awkward!” Your cheeks burn, your smile turning into contagious laughter. “Maybe… I don’t know. Ease into it, I guess? A movie night… but with s-something else?”

“Okay. Sounds good.”

“Alright then. See you.”

“See you.”

-

You don’t choose any particularly fancy or sexy clothes, instead settling for a slightly oversized yellow striped shirt he gave you as a birthday present some months ago and some skirt that fit you well. He wasn’t one to lavish his loved ones with gifts all the time, but few things were as precious as the look on his face whenever he saw you wearing something he gave you or, hell, even eating something he paid for you. You’re thrilled to see it again when he opens the door for you, it easing some of your deepest doubts.

2001: A Space Odyssey is already playing on the TV when you arrive. Despite it being one of your favorite movies of all time, and his, you’re not mad it was already halfway through when you arrived. It wasn’t your main priority to rewatch it for the 17th time tonight.

He offers you some wine, which you accept to ease the nerves. You sit on his couch, and he shares the cozy space with you, now mindlessly throwing one of his arms around your shoulders. You cuddle up to him, and everything seems peaceful in the world for a while.

The tip of his fingers softly caress your lifted knee, absentmindedly. You couldn’t help but notice how well his body fits with yours, how your skin was apparently made for him to touch, and the anxiety rumbles in your stomach like a storm in a wild wavy sea. After some minutes, you raise your head, his big brown eyes meeting yours as if asking you a silent question. You leaned up a bit more to press your lips to his, in a silent answer. The sweetness in him makes this moment as precious as every other moment you ever shared with him. His hands enter your hair, making you shiver a bit from the unfamiliarity and the electricity of it all - but it doesn’t sway you from deepening the kiss, wanting more of his taste, more of this, more of him.

“Do you wanna take this to the bed?” He whispers, after noticing your moans were becoming more frequent and needy. You nod, and you are taken by surprise when he carries you bridal style to it, hiding your excited giggles in his broad shoulders.

Graham wasn’t exactly the most organized man in the world - so the fact that his bedroom was now impossibly tidy was something that positively caught your attention. He put some planning into this. He lays you down and you part your legs, beckoning him to meet you between them. He does, and you go back to the breathtaking makeout session. You notice he’s holding himself back a bit, taking his time, his warm tongue moving smoothly, not hurriedly, against yours. His self control falters a bit though, given how he can’t stop grinding against you. You follow the rhythm of his hips a bit timidly and not nearly as in sync as you’d really like, though the pressure his covered cock is creating against your core can already be felt and some particular thrusts are able to fill at least partially the aching, wet need growing within you.

“How do you feel about oral?” He asks, breath warm near your ear, his voice raspy and spent by his desire for you.

“Um… It would be my first time receiving or doing it.”

“Would you like me to go down on you?”

“Wow. I never thought I would hear you saying something like that.” You smile, still assimilating the situation you’re in, trying not to show how badly his voice is affecting you. “Sure.”

“I never thought I would get to propose this to you. Aren’t we full of surprises lately.” He smiles back, warmly. He notices your hands trembling a bit from how anxious you are while you’re taking off your underwear with his help, and as he lowers himself to where you need him most, he takes your hands in his as an act of reassurance. “Tell me what you like. Tell me if what I’m doing works for you. I want this to be a great experience.”

“You want me to get addicted to you, that’s what you want,” He chuckles, lovingly kissing your thigh as a reply. “Okay, Gra. Guess I’ll find out along the way.”

You quickly take a peak below you to see the lower half of his face disappear in the middle of your thighs. The sight alone sets your fire ablaze, as he hooks his arms around your thighs and lifts you closer to his mouth, his lips ghosting over the curls between your legs tantalizingly and his breath catching when your hips jerk forward.

As he begins his ministrations, you immediately notice it’s unlike anything you’ve ever felt. That feeling was completely alien to you. It was even wetter than you expected, and weird, but powerfully pleasant. Before this exact moment, you had a firm belief that hardly anyone else would make you feel the same way, or better, than you do yourself, but apparently you were very wrong. Thankfully you were wrong. “My god,” you gasp as the flat of his tongue drags over your folds, too much and not enough, and you jerk at the contact. “This is great. So weird, but-- great.”

He moans at your response, his movements carefully enthusiastic. He works his tongue between your folds and traces up to curl the tip of it around your clit, and it’s quite endearing and madly arousing to see how he eats out you like you’re the sweetest and tastier dessert he has ever tasted. You involuntarily buck against him with a desperate sound the moment he moves his tongue and lips in a particularly wicked way, something that definitely doesn’t go unnoticed by him, but you still feel the need to highlight in case it didn’t - “That. Keep doing that, please,”

And he does. The building of this climax is also different than the ones you already had by your own hands, and is more coy. As he sees the drops of sweat sliding along your soft skin and the expressions on your face as you get lost in this new but enchanting sensations, his hesitation and self-control fades away; there’s nothing uncertain in the way he buries his face in your cunt now, nothing restrained in the groan he lets out as he devours you and drinks you down as if you’re the first stream of water he has seen in days.

His tongue glides deeper in your folds again and again, swirling up through the wetness you’re coated with to tease at your clit while he grunts and strains closer, squeezing your thighs with both hands tight. The wave of heat inside of you is cresting so fast, you don't even know how to tell him, how to signal that you’re nearly done for and, in the end, it happens too fast to even try. He sucks at your clit, circling it with his tongue, once, twice, and then you’re crying out, shaking underneath him, trying to keep your thighs from clenching too hard around his head as he laps you through it with with urgent whimpers and moans, as if he cannot have enough of you.

You’re still trembling when he rises, the look on his face revealing to you how proud he feels by making you feel this way. It looks so good on him.

You fail miserably at the simple task of connecting words together after that, choosing instead to collect your remaining strength, prop yourself up and beckon him again to keep kissing him and learn, through his talented tongue, how you taste. He kisses the thin fabric of the shirt at your chest that covers you from view, your throat, your jaw, and before he reaches your impatient lips, he notes, sinfully, “Seems like you enjoyed yourself, love.”

“That was… unbelievable. Stars, I want to make you feel good too. Please show me how.”

“Keep kissing me,” he begs, voice still strained from how aroused he is. “I want to be inside you so bad. Let’s get you prepared.” You’re still so sensitive, you tread on overstimulation when his fingers lightly touch your clit, making you break the kiss in a hiss. He traces a line on your folds, inspecting the impact his mouth had on you. “So wet for me.”

“Bit slower, Gra,” He complies to your breathy plea, his fingers now more tame as he slowly spreads your wetness throughout your pussy. He stretches towards the nightstand to grab a bottle of lube, interrupting his contact to spread some on his fingers before unhurriedly slipping his middle finger inside of you. The coldness of the gel makes you shiver in surprise, the easiness brought by it very welcomed. Again - the sensation is odd. Completely unfamiliar. The feeling of having something inside of you for the first time, going further than you ever dared to try, probing, exploring; the coldness of the lube clashing against your burning hot cunt. But it also felt nice. The focused look on his face was adorable, he looked like he was a scientist in the middle of very complex research.

Despite the panting, the messy hair and the fire in his eyes.

Your body already has a lot of new sensations to process simultaneously, so when he asks you to take off your bra and shirt so his tongue can work on your nipples - which you gladly accept, you feel like you’re on sensual overload. His tongue, again, so talented, takes your mind off the slight burning you feel when he introduces his ring finger to your soaked, throbbing core, his focused, carefully overpowering and constant stimulation driving you insane.

“Does it feel good?” He asks, voice muffled by your breast. You nod, carried by the wave of pleasure sweeping you.

“Yes. God, yes.” You pant, tangling your fingers tightly on his thick hair as an encouragement, a desperate sound escaping from your lips the moment he reaches a certain point within you you didn’t even know existed, hot mouth continuing to lick and suck your nipple. Even though you were spent by your last orgasm, he was indeed getting you addicted to those new feelings, and even though this was heavenly, truly heavenly, you needed more. “Gra, I’m ready, I think.”

“You sure?”

“Yes. Please.”

Releasing your nipple from his lips with a sounding pop, he eagerly frees himself from his trousers - hard as a brick - and puts protection and lubrication on, swiftly positioning himself between your thighs while stroking himself to the sight in front of him. You motion to take off your skirt, and he holds your hand, not letting you. “Don’t. It’ll be really hot to fuck you in this.” He confesses, giving your forehead a kiss in a very different context than before. He aligns his forehead with yours, each of your lips just barely touching while you breathe each other’s air. He looks deep into your eyes, slowly running the tip of his cock between the slick folds of your pussy, coating himself in the remnants of your pleasure. “Do you trust me?”

You trust me to know your limits? Not to go any further if you don’t really want me to?

“Absolutely.”

The only response you get from him is a shuddering, helpless moan into your mouth and you hold him tighter to you, grinding your still sensitive cunt up against his cock while he pulls hard at the soft fur next to your head. You feel your soaking pussy lips part around the solid curve of his length and gradually coat the underside of him in slick with every gentle circle and roll your hips make, as he finally pulls away from your mouth to drop his forehead to your neck. He then, very slowly, penetrates you, stopping when he hears the noises you make indicating you’re struggling to adjust to his presence. Out of everything you’ve felt in the last minutes, this was by far the most painful sensation. “This-- is new,” you note, your face completely incapable of hiding the discomfort. He also notices that.

“Are you okay? Do you want me to stop?”

“It’s okay. I’ll get used to it.”

“It’s not supposed to be about endurance, you know.” He says, a bit breathless and worried, caressing your hair. “Tell me when it’s okay to move. Or if you feel too much pain.”

After some long seconds and some deep breaths, you say: “Okay. Go on.”

“As you wish.”

He moves inside you at a very slow pace, the lubrication clearly making it easier for you to handle it. It still hurts, significantly, but the sensation of being filled is also surprisingly arousing.

His hand moves to your sensitive clit again in small, measured circles, your little moans being a mixture of the pain of penetration and the sheer ecstasy of seeing him falling apart because of you. The way his chest heaves while the drops of sweat start pearling his fair skin, the furrowed brows and broken groans, the thickness of him as he rests heavy up against your entrance, the way his voice presses deliciously tight in his throat as he gasps out into the quiet room - everything’s making your chest burst in love and satisfaction. You tighten your grip around him and roll your hips up into his cock, letting it break you open nice and slow; it stretches you wide with a deliciously sharp fullness and pleasure rips through you, and Graham becomes even more vocal as he picks up a steady and gradually faster pace. He turned all of your keys, it’s about time you turn some of his.

“Graham, deeper,” you whimper, continuing to tighten your legs and hoist yourself up, lifting your hips to take his cock deeper inside you. His name rips itself from your throat while Coxon clenches his jaw and starts to lose himself in the pleasure, holding you down into the bed while he allows your desperation to guide him to the perfect angle and speed to sate you. He found denying you to be impossible.

He snarls and curses as he holds you down and rails you, determined to make you sing again before he finishes, and to his delight, your heightened sensitivity gives him what he wants. And this time, he couldn't hold on.

Graham kisses you one last time as he groans and gives in, head dropping to your neck again. You didn’t reach a second climax, but stars, what an experience you just had.

When he comes back to himself enough to realise he still had you practically folded in half, he carefully pulls his softening cock free, taking the condom off and taking the strands of hair out of your face as you struggle to catch your breath. You suggest a shared bath, a suggestion he gladly accepts.

Too tired and too sore for pillow talk, comfortable silence falls as your hand finds his, and you lay, listening to each other’s breathing slowly settle.

I could get used to his little snore on my chest, is the last thought that twinkles on your mind before you fall asleep snuggled with him.

[thejudgingtrash]

Annabeth is a good person,but not a nice or pleasant one,IMO.

YES.

That’s it. That’s the post. Pack it up everybody, we just cracked the case and cleared up one of the most compelling fights in the PJO fandom since forever. Good job everybody, clap it out and there’s the door! Don’t forget ordering the drinks at Starbucks, Mitch! They’re on me!

Okay, but on a more serious note: YES. YES EXACTLY.

And before some of you roll your eyes or grab your pitchforks – put your biases aside and hear me out for once. I like Annabeth. She’s my in my top three characters only second to Percy himself. I love Percabeth. It’s my favorite ship in the entire series and to be frank, the only ship that I care about PJO wise. Hell, I spend my time creating my own headcanons or writing my own fanfics with Percabeth being the star in them.

But that is not to say that I’m unable to see how certain things have developed over the years or where they stand now in regard to Annabeth. I’m not here to ignore things that have been said and/or done due to or in the name of Annabeth and I’m not here to vilify anyone that doesn’t like her. And I’m here to admit that I’m guilty of some of the things that may be addressed in this meta essay that you will read in just a second. However, I try my best to assure you, that I’m for once able to recognize my own bias.

Warning: a monster essay lies right upon you.

This should count as a paper of its own.

Back to the statement on top: I would go out even further to reframe your claim, anon:

Annabeth Chase is a good character but not a nice or pleasant person.

Annabeth is a wonderful character but she isn’t a nice one. Or at least not nice to everyone. She is (construction wise if I dare say) the best character out of the series. She has her positive traits (she’s caring, she’s emotional, she’s encouraged and volunteers, she fights for what she believes in, she forgives (even if doing so begrudgingly)) but she also has her negative traits (she’s stubborn, she’s brash, changing her mind takes forever, she is prejudiced, she baits others). That balances things out. She is branded as the intelligent kid but does irrational things (like I’ve just said a) she’s a kid and b) she’s not a robot). She should probably know better, but we all make mistakes and hopefully grow and learn from them. The clouds in the sky do blur and cover our visions sometimes.

Annabeth had clashes with other characters or was about to have fights due to her stubbornness or jealousy (Rachel, Reyna, etc.) and has of course her problems with the mortal world and her family but she also found new friends, some things cleared up throughout the narration and she was/is quite popular in Camp Half-Blood.

The thing is: she doesn’t have to be nice or pleasant (as a character). Or at least not all the time. Her character is humanized. That is what or who she is. Human. She does stand out as a character, not just because she’s the (future) love interest. She feels like someone you could meet in real life and either adore from the top to the bottom or declare as your biggest enemy. And that’s totally okay if you lean either way – liking or disliking her. Or even feeling indifferent about her. Also great!

To say that she has been the best character that Riordan has crafted is easy to say, because she has been sculpted after Riordan’s wife. He had a model he could rub some of real-life events or traits on. That’s not the problem. The problem truly doesn’t lie on Riordan’s side for the most part for once.

The problem is inherently on the fandom’s side. What the fandom does, how it acts and how it treats Annabeth as a character is the problem. The problems vary but it’s mostly the mischaracterization of Annabeth, starting fights and fan/ship wars, internalized misogyny (in some cases) and how some of the Annabeth stans lash out (ha, got firsthand experience in that field among many of my friends and mutuals!). There is a reason why many people are wary of people that have Annabeth or Percabeth related URLs.

The fact that we see Annabeth mostly through Percy’s lens and (until the Heroes of Olympus saga hits) we never really see her in chill everyday situations is essentially Riordan leaving the back door of the house open, ready for all of you asshats to rob his mansion in Boston. Because a frame on a character means that we don’t get to see the character in its entirety (unlike we do with Percy in PJO for the most part). That means a bunch of stuff is left open for interpretation which is the reason why Annabeth gets so many polarized headcanon and opinions tossed around. I think that is one of the true appeals of Annabeth. You can add on stuff and it necessarily doesn’t have to contradict itself.

We have people calling her abusive due to a (n admittedly stupid and unnecessary) judo flip and we have people that act like she’s never done anything wrong. People sorta use this excuse to form and shape Annabeth however they want and distort her characterization.

People in the fandom act like Annabeth is some weird prized possession. We perceive Annabeth mostly through the eyes of others (Percy, Apollo, etc.) and when we had some sort of insight in her ways (MOA, HOH) it felt… weird? Somewhat? Like Riordan left two bullet points of her characterization and told the ghostwriter: aight, fuck it up, gringo, see you on Tuesday and greet Fred the next time you see him for me. 

There have been many posts lately (by Tharini, Simi, Sawasawako, Jewishpercy and Annie I believe?) that HOO Percabeth felt weird. That they felt weirdly constructed, that there was no conflict, no growth. It felt stagnating, like we’re turning back. We had five books prior where we had Annabeth and Percy slowly shifting from disliking to liking and crushing each other. True development. And when we finally got the cake it felt… dissatisfying. Like the cheap box stuff and not the delicious exquisite taste that we were promised.

I said it previously in my Percabeth ship roast, but let me repeat myself: many Percabeth related things are straight up fanon. Some of it is very old fanon so that’s been unable to distinguish unless you’ve read the books recently and subtract nearly 99,9% of things you see on Tumblr (and occasionally the other shitty parts of the fandom like Reddit, IG, Twitter. Although they mostly steal and recycle tumblr stuff oh well. But back to the topic).

The way people treat Annabeth is so strange. She’s either an innocent fluffy smush baby that’s never harmed a fly and all that she wants for Christmas is being Percy’s lapdog or she’s the devil incarnate, broke into your house, killed your parents Batman style, kicked your puppy and didn’t flush the toilet on the way out. I think this is what mostly makes people hate her or the ship Percabeth. And both extremes are wrong and right at the same time? She is multifaceted so both stereotypes are true and untrue and sorta cancel each other out in the same way.

The true reason why people dislike Annabeth is because the stans are doing the most. (The haters as well, don’t get me wrong, but oh boy. Piss of a stan and you’ll know what I mean). That isn’t inherently new. Are you guys old enough to remember the ship wars that have happened cross platform? Perachel vs. Percabeth? Oh boy, oh boy. I saw some kids on tumblr a few months ago trying to infiltrate both tags and start shit (and also fail). The fact that Rachel still gets used as the bitchy (ex) girlfriend in fanfics? It’s 2020 guys. I know this apocalyptic year is far from perfect and over but I think we can let this trope die, right? Right? I thought we’ve established that Rachel is a pretty chill charcter by now… right?

If you posted your stuff on FFN back in 2010-2013 and it wasn’t the typical cutesy Percabeth story (Goode High, the gods read TLT, punk/prep Percabeth, college AU, etc.) people would’ve come for your fucking throat. Not because the story or the narration was shit. But because the pairing wasn’t Annabeth and Percy (in the sense that Annabeth had to be paired with Percy. I mean Percy gets shipped with everyone and their mother but for Annabeth it was strictly Percy. As annoying as this whole Connabeth thing is – the people behind it actually had a point. She never had a different love interest unless it’s a Percy centered story and he goes off dating Athena, Artemis and Zoe at the same time for some odd reason. Yeah, FFN Percy ships are something). Or it wasn’t the action filled canon compliant story or it wasn’t an AU that was popular.

People were really stubborn, snobbish and wanted their stuff in the four five boxes that were the most popular ones and that’s it. People have been bullied off the site in many fandoms, so it’s not a PJO-only thing but it’s still sad that it happened. (Off-note: most of these FFN tropes are still alive and well and thriving on AO3. Don’t be so snobbish and pretend that every piece you’d find there is a holy grail. There’s a lot of trash you have to waddle through. Same with Wattpad, Tumblr or anywhere else where fanfics get posted. Also had this discussion with Annabeth stans. Sigh).

And Tumblr back then? Forget it, wasn’t much better.

That view has sorta changed (at least for people that have been in the fandom for several years or have managed to find a way to navigate through it) but some of the negative sentiment from back in the day has survived. Be it by new fans coming in or from old fans that never let their stance die. The aggression feels differently and somewhat not. (I don’t know if the anon function had been abused that much back in the day. I was an observer not a participant in the fandom).

Crack a joke at Annabeth’s expense (Kal’s famous “Annabeth is a Republican” post or Dee Dee’s and many others “Annabeth has the education of a second grader, chill with the college plans, girlie” stance) and you have people insulting you, making callout posts, unfollowing and blocking you (based on only that? Okay, honey), making aggressive counter-posts, etc. in a minute. If you respond with “It’s a joke, it’s not real” you have a 50/50 chance of either getting blown off or embarrassing them so that they apologize for once.

This isn’t just about jokes. You can make a headcanon that’s not the cozy cute convenient mainstream saga and people would react the same way. Or art piece (no, not including the whole Tannabeth Blackchase shtick done by Viria and others) or fanfics.

People project so much onto the unfinished canvas that is Annabeth Chase that any form of negative sentiment as little as someone not liking her to straight up criticism, regardless of how tiny it may be, seems like an affront. Like an invitation to a fight. Like an insult to them, their character, everything they believe in. Let me state something:

You are NOT Annabeth Chase. Annabeth Chase IS NOT you. Annabeth Chase is NOT real. Her feeling cannot be hurt. Someone criticizing, disliking, joking about her or even insulting her will not bother her. Someone making a statement about her is not an insult to YOU.

Let me repeat that:

Annabeth Chase isn’t real. Annabeth Chase isn’t you.

So think a little before you act? I get it when you’re a kid and new to fandoms or haven’t been up with fan cultures in the past and are back in the scene. But if you’re in your late teens or even older as an adult and you’re unable to understand that you aren’t what you like – you aren’t the extension of a fictional character – I feel incredibly sorry for you. Because that’s just incredibly sad. Someone disliking something you like isn’t an attack of your character. It shows you that you are you and the other person is a human just like you. That they just have different taste. Disliking something you like isn’t a crime, you know? But me feeling sorry for the way some of y’all act won’t mean that that’s even remotely okay. Especially if you’re no longer in the intended audience for PJO age wise and should know better.

This isn’t a “white stans” only thing. I’ve seen and witnessed firsthand how people of color, mainly women of color, act the same or not even worse when it comes to her character. People have projected their problems and real-life occurring events into her character (I’m sure that she isn’t the only character nor that this is the only fandom where this is happening) and in some cases like I’ve said cannot separate their own personality from the fictional world. Fights with woc happened because of Annabeth fucking Chase. So many things have happened in the fandom the past few months, mostly due to people being forced staying at home because of the quarantine but I’d say it’s 10% on quarantine and 90% on people for acting up like this.

So here’s a little story: There was the act of Riordan blowing the fandom up because of his own stupidity and being unable to apologize for his mischaracterization and lack of research (the whole Piper fiasco) back in June (?) and admits the upset fandom, people on Twitter, Tumblr and Discord legit thought that none of that mattered and that the outcry was destroying Annabeth Chase’s birthday. That’s right. People thought that Annabeth Chase’s non-existing birthday because she’s a fictional character had a higher priority than the rupture and prevalent racism in the fandom. Okay. This isn’t a great look, Annabeth stans. And this of course pissed a lot of people off. I made a post about it and someone not only berated three other people on said post but no, we had a mighty argument which had disrupted many friendships in our circle which haven’t recovered until this very day. We both had our parts in it and no one is innocent. But the cause of this still remains Annabeth Chase or how people prioritize her non-existing well-being. Anyway. I’m getting agitated just thinking about it.

Let’s go back to the characterization thing with Annabeth. Let me remind you:

Annabeth Chase is an asshole. There I’ve said it in a post ages ago (too lazy to look it up, sorry) and I’ll say it again. And that’s not me insulting her. That’s me actually loving that about her. Annabeth is one of the very few unapologetic female characters that really showed all young readers across the world that you can be a girl, a badass, smart, strong, standing up for yourself and what you believe in. You don’t have to be nice. You don’t have to hide your feelings. You don’t need a man in all cases but it’s also okay to accept help and defeat.

A large reason why I think she’s an incredibly important character in children’s literature/YA because many other novels (mostly (sadly)) have the “Oh, I’m a white skinny dark-haired girl that likes unconventional things like READING. I’m not like the other girls, that take care of themselves and pamper themselves by enjoying shopping and wearing make-up. No, I’d rather be one of the boys but a sweet cute little boy and not the jock fuck that drank vodka shots out of a filthy shoe once. Despite me calling myself hideous every man in a 10-kilometer radius falls in love with me and tells me I’m oh so sexy and by the way I’m only 16 years old” shit going on for no goddamn reason.

Yes, I do blame Twilight for this mostly in recent years, but this trope isn’t by any means knew. Pretty sure that you could even use classics as Pride and Prejudice and dissect them in the same manner (Bold statement: Lizzy Bennet is the OG Bella Swan. There. Go fight somewhere in the corner, people). The new wave of YA focuses on girls belittling themselves and only starting to believe in themselves because someone else (mostly the male love interest) tells them they’re worth it. And these books hit the mainstream because they’re incredibly bland and picture perfect white.

With Annabeth it’s different. She shows up for the job and is done with it. (Brie Larson would probably be the perfect in real life version of her. You either like or dislike her. Or you really don’t care). That is what is so refreshing about her. Her unapologetic nature. Can it be off-putting? Yes. Is it annoying? Yes! Hell, every time I read The Lightning Thief, I want to rip her goddamn head off. And it’s just so well written. Her shift from mistrusting Percy but secretly still believing in him to her opening up. Wow, Riordan did something right there.

Annabeth Chase isn’t a young character. She has existed along with PJO for 15 years. She’s on her way to the second decade. I’m pretty sure that with the success of Percy Jackson (and Harry Potter) many lives have been warped and shaped.

But when I say the problem lies mostly in the fandom, it doesn’t mean that Riordan’s completely innocent. The only problem that I have with Annabeth lies not truly with her but the fact that Riordan is only able to produce three variations of female characters:

The sweetheart (Hazel, Silena, Calypso, Hestia)

The strong feminist (Annabeth, Piper, Thalia, Reyna, Artemis)

The bitch (Drew, nearly every female goddess in the goddamn Riordanverse next to every female monster)

And these female characters only know three endings:

End up married with a mortgage, three kids, two dogs and a cat somewhere in Connecticut by the age of twelve

Get dumped into the hunt

Chill on Mount Olympus and only come down to be a nuisance and/or give a cryptic message before going back and doing a godly rave party or something

We know Annabeth as the badass strong female first (or the bitchy character we’re supposed to actually like. Choose your approach), the blueprint so to speak, so some of the other characters feel almost pale in comparison and almost not needed? Doesn’t mean that other characters can’t behave similarly, but it feels kind of redundant especially if their character arcs end in a rather anticlimactic way (Thalia, Reyna). The new additions are the much needed woc as the main story with PJO was inherently white (anyway stan black!Percy and Grover, folks). So it’s not to bash on the new characters, it’s more Riordan’s fault more than anything.

Since Riordan only knows three female character arcs it feels like he tried to copy the formula several ways with different nuances. Some more or less successful. This is where fandom actually comes in handy and helps create more distinguished and fleshed out characters in form of headcanons or fanfiction.

But even in these cases people still make it about Annabeth when it’s time for characters of colors to shine. Remember that whole spiel and discussion that broke out when people (Kal, diver-up, Caitlyn, Bee, reynaisalesbian, etc.) joked about or criticized that Annabeth thinks that she’s having it harder because she’s a blonde? In front of Hazel and Piper? If she would’ve been a real person that’s an invitation for getting decked. And then all hell broke loose because Annabeth stans couldn’t accept the fact that in the real world and/or in fictional worlds the woc/coc have it harder? That the white woman wasn’t the victim that needed the coddling? Yeah, that was mad pathetic.

I hope you people get my point?

Well fuck. I wrote so many things and have the feeling I’ve said nothing. Anyway, I hope I made sense. This is way too long.

TLDR: Chill about Annabeth please. She’s an important character but that doesn’t mean that everyone has to like her, regardless of being a character in the books or a reader/fan of PJO in real life. She isn’t nice or a sweetheart all the time. She also isn’t the monstrous asshole that some try to make out of her.

Peace out.

[comphyjost]

seeing lots of posts who do not like Vegas - just wondering you can give a brief explaination as to why? I know they screwed Flower but I don't know anything about them really

oh boy there’s a lot 😅

— there’s a lot of things that the vegas golden knights are hated for. and yeah, part of it is due to the immediate success that they found when they first joined the league after their expansion draft in 2017 going all the way to the finals and continuing to make the playoffs…but there is a lot more to it than just that.

— from my understanding, its rooted in that, the fan base, the players themselves, the management, the social media, and the disloyalty to their players.

— to start off: the fan base. and like any fan base in any sport, there are fans that suck. they have a way of taking something so fun like enjoying a sports team and turning it into something completely different. and that happens, that’s fair, people are like that. but there becomes a certain point. and yeah it’s true that not every fan in a sports fan base is like that. but in the case of the knight the interactions a lot of people have in vegas at the games or anywhere else or online have proven the reason a generalization of that they’re insufferable.

— one incident that comes to mind while i write this before bed is last year in the playoffs when a vegas fan took an avs fan flag. and wouldn’t give it back and it started some fighting i believe. that’s just an incident i know of because i’m in the avs news cycle kinda online.

— i have heard other stories of instances. i won’t comment on them though because i don’t have any information on them other than the rumor. like i said all sports teams have insufferable fans and not all of them are like that in those fan bases that come off as entirely unbearable, but as a whole that’s the consensus the rest of the nhl’s fans have developed as you can see online.

— next, the players themselves. i wanna start this off to say, not all teams have all great players. and i’m sure there is a lot of people who have different opinions on the dirtiness of a player. but on vegas, they had reaves for years (he’s on the rangers now) and he was known to be dirty for the way he played the game, head hunted, and continually did it again and again. there’s also kolesar with the bowen byram hit which was a dirty play.

— a dirty play doesn’t necessarily make for a dirty player or a dirty team, but it kinda does when it seems to happen again and again with many different players behaving this way, it become a culture around that team that other nhl fans can see. that’s all i’m gonna say about this.

— the management. god i could say so much. the stashing of players on LTIR like tampa did. don’t even get me started on that. there has been so many moments, but what really bothers me is their coach and how shitty he can be not just to other teams and the comments he makes, but also to his own team.

— which brings me to the disloyalty to their players. i mean look at what happened with MAF and how they treated him after everything he did for them. also now look at how they’re treating robin lehner. like do you just hate goalies?

— you can even look at how they treated evgenii and didn’t even regard his no trade list and their was that big issue surrounding him during trade deadline. the social media even made a tweet about how they recognize the league’s decision and welcome him back after trying to trade him to a team he couldn’t legally be traded to.

— oh for sure, it was supposed to be a joke and come off as one like with nick fury in avengers, but it doesn’t come off as one with that history especially knowing the joke finishes with ‘i have elected to ignore it given it’s a stupid one.’

— because their social media has a history of being offensive and annoying with fans of opposing teams. i have never seen another professional team’s social media behave the way they do. they ruffle feathers in all the wrong ways.

— an example that comes to mind that i just posted about is when they took the avs playoff slogan and tweeted it using ‘descend as one’ instead of ‘ascend as one’. that was really rude and classless.

— this wasn’t brief at all, but i hope it gives you a basic rundown of things. if you have questions, don’t be afraid to ask! i’ll have more time to answer tomorrow or friday.

— on that note, goodnight and fuck vegas! the evil has been defeated ❤️

[tuiyla]

So I finally watched The Owl House

I wish I’d do this with every show I watch but it seems like only a lucky few get the She-Ra style rant of love treatment. Well, I finally watched The Owl House after my dash having been flooded for the past couple of weeks and I have some thoughts. Slight spoilers below.

First off, I love the whole vibe. I had a faint idea that this show would be about magic but I didn’t know much before watching - except for one thing, we’ll get back to that. The way it builds its world and deals with magic, though, is so refreshing. And I just have to mention here that I laughed out loud at all the Harry Potter jabs, they were hilarious. I expect we’ll learn much more about magic and its users as the show goes on but as far as the first season goes the introduction was really solid. It strikes the right balance between leaving things to the imagination but being more than “wave wand and magic happens”. It’s colourful, it’s creative, and I even like the ovens and school tracks, despite knowing that the story is about not conforming to those. It makes the Boiling Isles unique and make me want to learn more about the world even beyond the characters and the main plot.

TOH also presents a world that’s much more macabre than I was expecting from the Disney Channel, not that that’s a bad thing. I found myself thinking of Adventure Time at certain points and pondering, at scary moments, how kids would react. I think kids love this, though, and besides, nothing can be more scarring than Courage the Cowardly Dog was. It’s not that terrifying, of course, just daring enough to stand out. Overall the show has what I would classify as more of a Cartoon Network vibe than a Disney Channel one, but I admittedly haven’t really been following many Disney shows. In any case, I dig it. I dig the weird creatures and the beautiful backgrounds and I appreciate how alive the Boiling Isles feel. It doesn’t take long for TOH to immerse you in its world so I’m for one am hooked.

I make a big deal of loving the world itself because rarely does it happen that world-building stands out to me so soon in a series. I do love carefully constructed fantasy worlds but for the most part I’m more interested in the characters themselves. Here, I’d say it’s close to being a 50-50, which is something that even Avatar can’t say with its elemental masterclass in world-building (which is mostly because the character depth there is unrivaled but still). So yeah, kudos to The Owl House for achieving this. From Luz’s glyph magic to the covens and the titans, I’m excited to explore this world more.

Now, the characters. The real meat of any story. Starting with Luz, I have seen some criticism that she’s a generic hero so far, the “I’m a weirdo”, heart of gold, upbeat variety. I don’t think this makes her bland, though I do admit that being told over and over again that she’s weird makes me less engaged, even she’s also shown to be weird. I like the message of her arc and that the chosen one trope was deconstructed almost right away. I like that she’s relentlessly enthusiastic and kind to people and I like that she doesn’t have to get more bitter in order to get development. Instead, she learns from her mistakes but keeps being herself and brings her unique spirit to the Boiling Isles. We need protagonists like Luz, not just because she’s latina and bisexual but because her learning process doesn’t involve cynicism. Sure, there is a lot she needs to learn but her heart is presented as an asset and a sort of source of magic. I’m excited to see where her story goes, for sure.

I’m gonna write briefly about the other characters before I get to my favourite one. Eda is super cool and I quickly got over the fact that she’s not Beatrice Horseman, lol. She embodies such a youthful energy but the show also allows her to be a middle-aged woman comfortable in her own body - well, owl curse notwithstanding. Also, her relationship with Lilith is one of my favourite parts of the whole show. Eda subverts so many of the mentor’s traditional tropes and I’m here for it. I kinda thought she was the villain based on her design and when I didn’t know anything about the show but hey, happy she’s not.

I don’t think I’d even seen a picture of King before starting to watch the series and at first I thought I’d get tired of him real quick. He’s the type of character who can get really annoying instead of endearing really fast if he’s not given any depth or charm, both by way of writing and voice acting. Luckily, I ended up liking King and his antics. His design is indeed adorable and Alex Hirsch is a genius. The only time I felt like he went too far was, perhaps surprisingly, in the book writing episode, “Sense and Insensitivity”, but even there going too far was the point. So yeah, King’s also great, there’s much potential in his backstory and general character.

Alright so really quickly, other characters: Willow and Gus are generic best friend characters and though they already have other things going on, I expect more development as the series progresses. I like that Willow is actually super powerful, just not in the way people expected her to and Gus is clearly also talented despite being younger. I’d be happy to see more of the other kids, get more familiar with Hexside. Edric and Emira are fun characters but they were really shitty in their first episode so I was kind of surprised they weren’t more of a nuisance to Amity later on. I’m all for supportive siblings so I wouldn’t mind a good relationship between the three but I feel like it’s more complicated than that with the Blights.

Finally, I also have to mention that Hooty is... well, quite something, isn’t he. Much like with King, I thought he’d be much more annoying but somehow the show is self-aware enough that it makes Hooty tolerable. I’m almost always torn between feeling sorry for him and being thoroughly weirded out, and I think that’s the intention? It’s fitting that he’s the titular character as he embodies the tone of The Owl House well in my eyes. He’s there for the comedy but there’s just enough there to hint at something more. Very bizarre, strong CN vibes, here for it.

Now that I’ve written a paragraph more about Hooty than I expected to, let’s talk about Amity. Listen, no other character stood a chance to be my favourite as soon as I learned Mae Whitman voiced Amity. That woman gave me Katara so now I have a quasi Pavlovian response to her voice. I’d also say that I knew more about Amity going into the show than I did about any other aspect of TOH. I heard somewhere that she started out as an antagonist, I knew her parents were abusive, and the reason the show blew up on my dash and my general online bubble is the Grom episode. Lucikly I only saw stills of Lumity beneath the crescent moon but the pure Sapphic energy of that was enough to gay migrate me to this show. I’d like to note it here though that The Owl House is a good show in and of itself, the queer rep is just a nice extra. I’m gonna spend the next couple hundred words going on about Amity and her crush on Luz but I don’t value only that. The Gay Migration is great and rep is great but I’m also grateful to have a solid show behind it. That being said.

I’m a total dyke for Amity Blight. I was very biased before even being introduced to her character but I genuinely find her to be fascinating and she has great potential. She’s developing quite quickly, like much of The Owl House, but an arc not being stretched out for several seasons before getting a rushed conclusion is refreshing. The progress hits all the beats and the only note I have is that I want more. She starts out as a generic bully but the opportunity to be more is there from the beginning. We find out early on that she used to be friends with Willow, we see that she works hard and values honest work. When she becomes Luz’s rival, it doesn’t last long before Amity shows that she’s open to new perspectives. That’s not to defend or even justify her earlier and nastier moments, Amity was rude to both Luz and Willow. But through all that, she becomes a complex character who does bad things but isn’t a bad person and grows when she gets the space to. I think that’s neat.

Luz’s decision to befriend her might be cartoon logic but as someone who subscribes to the “kill them with kindness” ideology, I can totally relate. Amity’s softer side doesn’t take long to show and “Lost in Language” is such a great episode to show how complex people can be. Again, I was already biased when it came to Amity but she’s consistently shown to be capable of self-reflection and growth when others give her the chance. I think her past and potential future friendship with Willow is a great way to explore many different topics and I’m trusting the show to do it justice. I also can’t wait to meet the rest of the Blights, if only to get me some angst and further develop Amity. I half expected Grom to take the form of her parents. Too dark for Disney? Well, we don’t know Amity’s dynamic with her parents, exactly, but there’s so much subtext and potential. I love what we’ve already seen from her but I’d also say that she has one of the greatest potentials in the show.

Another way in which this potential manifests is Lumity, of course. Again, they’re developing quite quickly but that doesn’t mean it’s rushed. I’d love to explore Amity’s crush more and what Luz means to her. The Grom episode surpassed all expectations, still and gifs don’t do the stunning dance sequence justice. The animation is so smooth, the colours are amazing, the music is on point and the Sapphic vibes complete the picture. Poetic cinema, truly. Molly Ostertag and Noelle Stevenson are really out there giving wlw animation fans everything we ever wanted, huh. It also warms my heart that the crush is made very clear, not just by Luz’s name being on the note but by the delightful gay disaster that is Amity in “Wing It Like Witches”. I never thought I’d ever see such a relatable useless lesbian in animation so kudos to Dana Terrace and the whole crew. Wow, how far we’ve come.

So yeah, Amity is a funky little lesbian and I’m a 100% here for her gay disaster moments, but I also love where Lumity is going thematically. They’re great as foils and I’m hoping that they won’t get together at the very end. Look, I love me some Bubbline, Korrasami and Catradora, but it’s time a wlw relationship had the chance to exist onscreen and not only in the last episode. The Owl House has a great chance to do that. I know the creators don’t want romance to be the main focus and I respect that, I think the world they created deserves to showcased and explored to its full potential. Lumity could be a great subplot though, as representation on the one hand and as a thematically interesting dynamic on the other. Plus, Luz and Amity are just cute and sometimes, it’s as simple as that. Oh, and also the whole Little Miss Perfect thing? One of the best fandom discoveries I’ve made in a long while. Not only is the song truly perfect for Amity, I love that Joriah Kwamé went on to write Ordinary as well. This right here is why fandom is beautiful.

I think that’s about it for season 1 initial thoughts. The moral can be a bit on the nose at times, especially in the early episodes but the show is ultimately for kids and I appreciate its message. Interesting world and magic system, good characters, great potential for later seasons, just a well put together show that I’m really glad I started watching. I’m kind of sorry I didn’t keep up with season 1 as it was coming out but I would not have been able to wait between episodes. The pacing is good overall, deffo moves fast but I wouldn’t call it rushed, and the “filler” episodes still add something to the story. I’m not sure if I would still feel like the show moves at a fast pace if I hadn’t binged it but in any case it isn’t rushed, the necessary beats are all there and have time to sit. I’m going to watch as it comes out from now on so hopefully season 2 will arrive early next year.

Oh, and: I’m very new to the fandom, barely just found out about Little Miss Perfect, so any and all tidbits, fun facts, and fic recommendations are welcome. Also if you just want to chat my inbox is always open!

[jawritter]

Broken Me...

Ch. 10

Summery: The Dallas Convention couldn't have come at a worse time for Jensen. His world fell apart earlier that morning, but was expected to just act like everything was normal. You and a friend were at the convention for her birthday. Life hasn't been that great for you either, but a forced meeting on stage changes two worlds. Will you be able to put this broken man back together again...

Series Warings: Cheating, shitty marriage, Danneel is a bitch, I unfortunatly have to put that as a warning because some people tend to get turnt up about it if you don’t... Smut, Crying, Suiside Attempt, brief discription of suicide attempt and recovery, depression, hints of self loathing, language. I think that’s it... Suicide Trigger warnings will be placed over each chapter!

Chapter Warnings: A disgusting amount of fluff..

Word Count: 2666

A/N: BINGE READ TIME!! As always all mistakes are mine! Please do not copy my work! Feedback is gold!! Hope you all enjoy this one!!

Want More? Check out my masterlist!!

****MASTERLIST****

You've been in Vancouver with Jensen for a week. 

He was slowly getting better, but It's been a long week. The first three days were really tough. High fever and coughing until he nearly vomited. No real appetite. Once the fever broke he'd been mostly sleeping, and had little to no appetite.. 

The Tamiflu that they gave him at the hospital seemed to be helping some, but really the only help for the flu is time and sleep...

Jared had been over almost every evening when he got done working to check on Jensen. The little bit you did speak to each other was still pretty tense. You hated that he didn't really trust you, though with the kind of life that they lived you did understand why. 

People would love to use Jensen for money, their little 15 minutes in the limelight, or a way to get themselves into the industry. 

You wanted none of those things. 

You really weren't interested in any of that. 

You didn't want to be the center of attention in any way, shape, or form. You just wanted to be with Jensen. That's all you cared about. The other to you, was just his work, that's all. The person that they saw played out on the screen wasn't Jensen. The person that they saw during the cons wasn't really Jensen. 

He was so much more than that... 

He was one of the most caring people you'd ever meet. He'd give his shirt off his back to a complete stranger if he saw they didn't have one. He was giving of himself almost to a fault. He was strong willed. The man probably would walk through a burning building if he put his mind to it or there was something on the other side that he wanted. He loved a challenge. Especially anything physical. Even though he was those things, and more. 

He was still human. 

He wasn't perfect. 

You loved everything about him though. The good and the bad. You didn't mind that he was clingy. You understood why. You didn't mind that he was overprotective. You got that too. Putting your all into a relationship, then having done to you what she did to him was bound to create trust issues, and he definitely had that. 

He didn't have a lot of self confidence anymore. Though Misha said he didn't develop that issue until her. He would over analyze things enough to drive a saint to drinking. 

To you though. 

All of that was fine. 

You didn't mind.. 

He was glad that you were here with him.That much you could tell. 

You might be a little crazy, but you considered it an honor to be able to take of him while he wasn't feeling well. You never expected it to be as intimate as it was. You never expected how close it would pull the two of you, but it had.  

You were lost in thought, checking social media. The rumor's about Jensen being sick had found social media. Of course his fan base showed concern, though there is always someone who thinks it's okay to be  a dick since they weren't face to face with people and they were hiding behind a computer.

Hearing the shower turn on had pulled you out of your snooping...

He's up!! This was the first time in days!! He had only been able to really lay in the bed and sleep. 

Relief washed over you. While he was in the shower you went to the bedroom, and quickly changed the sheet and disinfected the pillows and bed. You were just turning the sheets down again in case he decided that he wanted to lay back down when you heard him calling you from the kitchen. 

"Y/n? Baby where are you?"

"I'm back here!" You yell from the hallway, hurrying toward the kitchen. Where you heard his voice coming from. When you rounded the corner you found him sitting at the bar, smiling at you. Looking better in his face than he had in a week. 

"You look like you feel better." You tell him, walking over to him as he turns the bar stool so that you could slip between his knees, and let him wrap his arms around your waist. 

"Yeah I'm a little bit better." He laughed, pretending to click his heels together with a fake overly wide smile momentarily plastered on his face, getting a giggle from you. You were relieved to see him getting back to himself. 

After getting him something to eat. Another sign he was feeling better, It was the first time since you got there that he even said he was hungry... You two found yourself sitting on the couch as he flipped through the TV channels. 

Finally landing on a late night football game. Absent-mindedly running his fingers through your hair while your head rested on his shoulder. An oversized throw draped over the two of you. You were almost asleep when his deep voice, still a little hoarse from the sickness snapped you out of your doasing state. 

"There's something I want to ask you. Something I was planning on asking you before I got sick. Then you just showed up, and I never got to ask you. I was kinda too busy trying not to die." He said, obviously nervous about what he was planning to ask you. Which made you nervous. 

"Okay....I'm listening....." You said, heart hammering in your chest. Your throat felt like it was closing in. You didn't think you were going to be able to handle it if he asked you to leave him alone. If he didn't want to see you anymore. 

"I was hoping that you would move in with me.........I know we haven't made our relationship official really, and that's my fault. I should have done it a long time ago. I......I...I love you.......and I want to be with you. I want you to be here when I get home from work.....I want you be there every night when I go to bed.....I hope I'm not scaring you off...It's just I'm in my 40's.....I want this to be permanent...I'm not looking for just a weekend fling. I really, really want you to stay with me....." He said, stumbling over his words in his  nervous state. 

All you could do was sit there for a moment in shock. Unable to speak. Jensen had just told you he loved you..That's something you never thought you'd hear...

"Sweetheart...Say something please.." He pleaded with you, desperation evident in his voice as he lifted your face closer to his with his finger. You swallowed hard, attempting to make the lump in your throat disappear so that you could speak clearly to him..

"I love you to Jensen. Of course I'll stay." You watched relief wash over his face as he pulled you tighter into his arms.. 

A knock on the door disturbed the moment the two of you were having before either of you could say anything else. 

"Come in it's open." Jensen yelled at the door. Both of you knowing it was probably Jared. 

A few moments later Jared came lumbering into the door. Surprised to see Jensen up, and looking almost alive again. 

"Hey man, You look better." He said, flopping down in the chair across from Jensen and yourself. 

"I am now that y/n has agreed to move in with me." He said, still looking at you. Jared sat there in silence for a moment before speaking.

"That's great man... Glad to see you feeling better today." He seemed almost a little relieved, and annoyed all at the same time. 

You know he just wanted his friend to be happy. 

You were going to have to think of a way to win him over.

-----------------------------------

Three months later…

Jensen's POV:

The Austin, Texas sun shining through the window woke Jensen for the first time in almost months. 

You and Jensen had landed in Austin late last night, coming back home from the holidays..

It was the first time in years that he was going to get to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with his family. Danneel never wanted to come to his parents house. The first thing you had said to him the morning he got done with my last day of filming, was when he wanted to head to Texas to see his family.

Once he got over the shock he called his Mom, and she was elated. He couldn't  have his kids till Christmas, and that was heavy on his mind the whole plane ride back down to Austin. 

Not having to be in Dallas until the day of Thanksgiving gave Jensen and yourself some time to yourselves. He hadn’t stepped foot into the house since the day he’d caught Danneel with her new man in the living room, he didn’t think it was bothering him, but it was, a lot of things were bothering him lately... 

You being here with him helped a great deal. It wasn’t like walking in alone, and that’s something he didn’t want to even think about.. Looking down at you asleep on his chest, his heart swelled a little. 

All the bullshit in his head aside there was one thing for sure… He was in love with you… That was the only thing holding him together. 

Even though people thought it was too fast, he didn’t care. He loved you, and for some reason you loved him, that’s all that mattered...

Carefully as to not wake you he slid his arm from under your head, tucked the cover in around you, and headed toward the kitchen. 

You’d done so much for him during the time you’d been together. When he came home from filming during the day, when his hours are actually decent, you’d always have a hot; home-cooked meal and a cold beer waiting for him. If he came in really late you would wake up just to lay there and talk to him about his day. Running your fingers through his hair until he relaxed enough to fall asleep.

You made time for him, no matter what...

When he was sick you didn't sleep for three days. Always watching, making sure he was okay, Making sure he had everything he needed. Not caring about yourself. You treated him like a damn God. He felt like he didn't deserve it.

He’d just started the coffee pot, and started to make breakfast when he heard you coming down the stairs.. He was going to walk down the boardwalk this morning before a lot of people got there. Maybe check out some of the little shops that line downtown Austin. He had a whole day planned of the two of you to  just enjoy each other. 

He felt like you deserved this, and so much more.

"Morning babe.” He laughed as you duck under my arm. Heading for the coffee pot. 

"Morning." You mumble still somewhat asleep. Coming back to the stove to wrap your arms around him. 

"What's got you up so early?" You asked him, as he loaded two plates up with eggs, bacon, and toast.

"I'm taking you around Austin today. Just me and you."  He tells you, wrapping his arms around you, kissing your forehead. 

"Now eat! I want to get going! I'm excited to be home!" Jensen said, practically skipping over to the seat next to you, peppering your face with little kisses..

........................

Your POV:

You had never seen Jensen so giddy, You were very nervous to meet his family, but just watching him shuffling around the kitchen, making breakfast, singing to himself, excitedly telling you to hurry up and eat your breakfast so he can take you to do whatever it was he had planned made all of these nerves worth it.. 

His eyes were brighter than you'd seen in a long time. He was relaxed and in his element. It was worth more to you than money could buy just to see him happy. You couldn't understand how someone could so quickly become your everything. He was like air. You required it to survive.

So you hurried up, and ate your breakfast before heading out to the boardwalk for today...

It was absolutely the most amazing day you'd had this far. 

You spent the morning walking down the boardwalk, holding hands like a couple of teenagers. Talking about anything you could think of. Cuddling on the bench that they had along the way. Watching the water slap against the boats that were tied to the docks there... Enjoying the nice cool November weather. Unlike Vancouver, which is beautiful all times of the year, Texas was more bearable when it came to winter temperatures changes.

He took you to his favorite little restaurant near the boardwalk, then to walk through the little shops in downtown Austin. 

When the two of you had just about walked until you couldn't put one foot in front of the other he brought you home, and drew you a bath. Complete with a glass of your favorite wine while he ordered the two of you take out for supper. 

You did love how he was pampering you, but you would much rather have been pampering him.

After your bath you came into the living room where Jensen had the takeout spread across the coffee table and a movie waiting for the two of you. 

His mood was through the roof. You had never seen him this happy. 

When the two of you had finally crawled into bed that night, you didn’t think it was humanly possible for you to love him more than you did right there in that moment… 

You don’t know what you did to deserve him, but you knew that you were going to spend the rest of your life doing everything in your power to show him just how much you loved him… Because that’s what he deserved, even though he thought he was broken..

You loved every crack, chip, and fault, to you it just made him that much more beautiful..

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[gayregis]

oh dandelion is such a weird case tbh. like all the sleazy shit he does is entirely unnecessary imo but people have latched onto the womanizing and all as such a huge important part of is character that no one seems to really question it? and in part due to mistranslations its treated by fans as a whole as way less harmful than it is? idk but honestly its part of why i just think hes gay now bc his canon sexuality is a mess nd basically every non-platonic interaction he has with a woman is gross

(this is part 2 ig? sorry shdjs) for example idk how it looks in the translations but in the original like. one of the very first things dandelion talks about is how he groped one of nenneke's students, and the bit with the brothel in eternal flame is. really awful when you look at it esp with the (horribly constructed but still) race dynamics in-universe, when he talks about "being able to afford a half-elf or maybe even a full-blooded elf" like idk its just. Bad and i think ppl gloss over it

(okay i started writing this part of the response before i got part 2): yes, it seems to me like a lot of him is based on this trope of the slovenly womanizer bastard-sort, but sapkowski does nothing to invert that part of the trope, lol. he disproved being a coward, because he was brave to follow geralt into brokilon/stand up for geralt’s life in dol blathanna/etc. he disproved being an idiot, because he makes intelligent observations sometimes. he disproves being selfish, because he is very caring for geralt and others. but he does nothing to disprove womanizing/misogyny, perhaps except for how he treats essi as his little sister, and for how he is appropriate with shani and also good to ciri. also i suppose in something ends, something begins he has female friends who he does not act disgusting to.

(this is considering part 2 as well): YES. there are so many little stupid fucking moments that drive me insane. such as that one, i already mentioned the rape joke to yennefer in limits of the possible/bounds of reason, the comment he made about she-elves in eternal flame was disgusting, all of his stupidity when he first met milva (commenting on her body, and also making a comment about how zerikkanian women cut off one of their breasts to shoot better, even though this is refuted by milva). how he says in lady of the lake that women don’t need money, since they don’t drink or gamble (in the presence of milva, who has drunken in his presence, and angouleme, for whom gambling is part of her backstory). also commenting on how he finds philippa scary and that he categorizes women into “fuckable” and “nonfuckable” basically. i think his comments towards yennefer in a little sacrifice are maybe the least horrible (just saying that she is old and isn’t a ‘normal woman’ because she is artifically young due to being a sorceress) but is still annoying.

i feel like the concept of brothel-going in general is supposedly “of the setting/time” and is normalized in their society but is taboo and mildly alarming to at least some in a modern audience,

i think it is also partially due to sapkowski normalizing the brothel-culture in-universe, and also (on the translators ends, too?) to be keen i guess to use terms like “whore”, like i think he calls toruviel in edge of the world something like “stupid whore,” which, if it came out of a man’s mouth today, hopefully he would be strangled.

the thing that is annoying is that he is a “good character,” he is literally the best friend of the main character, and is meant to represent that best-friend role. so his actions and sayings aren’t intended to villify him, but to be amusing, so it is assumed that the audience would find all of this amusing, which it’s not.

i think he can have this part of his personality (not misogyny, lol, but the “womanizing” as it relates to “being a dumbass”) without being so horrible, for example when vespula kicks him out of the house in eternal flame, i find this funny because he is obviously in the wrong, and he is experiencing punishment for it. additionally, things like repeating urban legends that zerrikanian women cut off their right breast in order to shoot better, to which milva ridicules him. or when he in his ballad sung that yennefer had a heart like a diamond that was unfeeling, and yennefer addresses this with him, and he shuts up and tries to steer the conversation elsewhere because it is obvious that he is terrified of her wrath...  it demonstrates that he is foolish and stupid, and is in the wrong, and can be made fun of. he did or said something (largely inconsequential, not violent or horrific) which was stupid, and is being ridiculed for it both in- and -out- of universe.

when he is in a position of power over the women however, saying derogatory things that men reading might agree with, that aren’t ever contested in-universe, then we have a problem. saying things like referring to women as whores, or trying to get a ‘full blooded she-elf’ at a brothel, or saying that he divides women into the fuckable and non-fuckable: these are never contested, he is never shamed for them, no one ever recieve retribution for them, and additionally, they are of a more violent and disgusting nature.

i feel like i treat geralt, yennefer, and dandelion all the same way overall. they each do and say some pretty messed-up things (geralt has sex with two barely 18-year old girls, yennefer smugly threatens to basically sexually assault geralt and was intending to mind-control a man into sex at belletyn (magic equivalent of a roofie; rape; what triss did to geralt), and dandelion espouses all of the misogynistic bullshit above). i like their characters but i simply cut this stuff out when i think about them because it adds nothing to them, only discomfort and disgust. it’s not intended to show “grey morality,” rather personal fallibility, and they are already fallible outside of such grossness. whether this affects if i headcanon dandelion as gay or bi i don’t know; i feel like it would be nice to rewrite some of his relationships with women to be more equal and less shitty (like how anna henrietta had an abusive husband beforehand and dandelion is not a violent man so ig it is nice to think she had some emotional love life with him around), but i also totally understand your perspective of just “there’s a lot to unpack here, but let’s just throw away the whole suitcase” haha. either way i think his [romantic] relationships with women are not very interesting at all, and i would rather focus on his platonic friendships with women, like milva, and/or mentorship/siblingship with essi.