#filler because im suffering

[fffanii]

05.20.24

[thedeathwitchescats]

Okay, review time!! If you are one of the oddballs who thinks you cant be critical of something you love I suggest you stop reading now before I ruffle your feathers. Iron flame, second in the empyrean series. I am gonna start with what I was not a fan of and then go into the shit I adored.

1) what in the actual fuck was the pacing of this book?? I can tell you what, it was non existent. There was none. Where I thought there was a lot of filler in the last book there was none in this one. We got snap shots of conversations and then *boom* more plot flew at you. The timeline of this book greatly suffered for it i think bc we end only a couple weeks, if that, after threshing, which happens sometimes in October. This book was actually so wild with times.

2) while it was a spectacular cliff hanger, xaden becoming venin pisses me off. Especially if Rebecca yarros isnt going to have him tell violet. Like if that small tid bit of a conversation we got wasnt him telling vi that he was venin then the entire romantic conflict of this book was rendered pointless and their going to be having the same fucking fight for the rest of the series and at rhat point I give up.

3) I understand that the revolution is trying to take down basgaith and make the world better or whatever the fuck but can someone actually formulate a real plan for me?? Because I feel like their mission is just, giving violet and xaden something to be pissed at each other about.

4) the entirety of cats character. I get that she was set up as a spin on the typical jealous ex. Like having her be bitter about xaden picking violet over her but OH WAIT it wasnt actually about the man it was about the crown, oohh not like other girls. Im a writer too I see the point. I dont care. I think it was trashy. If you wanted her to be a bitter spiteful ex then have her be a bitter spiteful ex, the whole crown thing was shallow.

OKAY haters your time is up now onto the shit that made my heart hurt with joy and sadness

1) xadens arc in this book. I really liked that he went from "transparency is never gonna happen" to losing his fucking mind over violet and giving her everything. I love feral men and he qualifies. I think his arc was really well done and i liked it.

2) I appericiate that violet stuck to her guns for this book. She wouldnt let xaden off without a fight and I loved that. She made him bow and scrape and I was eating it up. It was spectacular.

3) the throne room scene. Violet on the throne. "Im making a temporary point not a lasting vow of maschocism" xaden being feral.

4) that gets its own point actually, just xaden being completely feral this entire book healed a part of my soul.

5) andarna's little speech at the end where she was like "I waited for you violet" made me ugly cry. That was just so hopelessly good I loved it. Andarna in general heals my heart but that part was just *chefs kiss*

6) tarin being completely and utterly ready to eat people this entire book. Just, at every turn "I want lunch their pissing me off " was spectacular

7) every scene their squad was in. Rihannon, violet, sawyer and ridoc are my roman empire. Their bond is so amazing. The fact that they launched a rescue mission for violet. Rihannon being ready to kill xaden at every turn. Ridoc being so platonically and adorably in love with violet. Just- augh happy cries happy cries. I love it all. Their so special tbh.

8) I love xaden actually, just, the whole book every scene hes in lives in my brain.

9) I liked that we saw a small bit of violet being feral this book too. I hope that we get more of that in future books. I want more of violet losing her fucking mind. Hot, badass women covered in blood

10) Liam. Fucking Liam. When violet was kidnapped and Liam was there. Now, do I logically understand that he was a hallucination, yes, do i care?? No. He was a gift from Maleck I will be hearing no critiques on that. It was so fucking sweet and amazing. I love violet and Liam and Liam being dead so horribly breaks my heart. I loved Liam. Liams death lives rent free in my skull.

[gxos]

im so fucking sick and tired of waking up gagging and throwing up every morning. my mom wants me to go see her doc (homeopathic quack) and i cannot believe in any of that supplement alternative medicine shit at all but im not sure at this point. anything is better than the utter humiliation and waste of time, money, and energy that is the hospital

[REDACTING]ing myself for picking a 9:30am class on a monday

[mamadarama]

I was going through some posts I missed and came across the “tatsumi is mature but still does 19 year old things” and I just wanna say I’ve never been able to put it into words when my friends ask but like. That’s exactly what I love about this game.

We’ve got scandals and drama and weird crypto currencies and convoluted backstories of implied murder or identity theft or military shit or relations to underground gang activity or so SO much more and yet the writers still succeed in reminding you that this is a game full of high schoolers.

Natume was one of the five oddballs and suffered through so much during the war where it affects him to this day, but he also refers to his tech savvy and love of the occult as magic and loves the junior he “adopted” to death. Despite Aira struggling against every odd to become a real idol he still buys merch and looks on the internet to look for content of the ones he likes. Rinne was destined to become the monarch of his homeland but ran away in an attempt to find happiness and acceptance and is an amazing strategist who uses it to take down corruption, but his sense of humor is entirely made up of sex jokes and romantic teasing like Aira being “hiiro’s little girlfriend”. The amount of characters that assign themselves the mom friend role just because. Trickstar. I don’t think I need to explain Trickstar-

Like this game has made me cry so many times and it has its ridiculous moments but it also has its genuine ones while also being the most teenage shit I’ve seen in my life and I feel like so few media can balance those and still have a decent story like that. Sorry for the long ass post I just have so many feelings about this kind of stuff 😭

YEAH this is exactly what i was talking about in a previous ask when i said i have nothing meaningful to add to the enstars cast that isnt a headcanon . its all very well thought out and the interpersonal relationships are nuanced enough to feel realistic but outlandish enough to be interesting .

worldbuilding and character design is one of my special interests and i say this any chance i can get: the most important part of building a character (and a story in general) is realizing the importance of comedic irony and comedy as a whole regardless of genre or tone. it makes characters feel more 3 dimensional and relatable because people arent stagnant and theres multiple facets to any individuals personality (this is also why some of the most popular animes of all time have filler episodes or funny bits that show the characters personalities, every event hits with 3x emotional impact the more you know about the characters as people but that's a different discussion) enstars does a really good job of this . like for example if wataru were to have had a realistic reaction to eichi starting the war it wouldnt be nearly as good of a story. the fact that eichis ridiculous ass backwards plan to get wataru to fall in love with him actually worked is a perfect example of comedy used to make a story more interesting. another thing similar to this is how sometimes its better to not detail something and let characters do things for a mundane reason or even no reason at all . for example subaru hating chiaki just because he annoys him, or shinobu being on the broadcasting team despite his character not being associated with technology otherwise and therefore having no real backstory on why he likes radio stuff. its all really well planned worldbuilding with an insane amount of subtle details , which is why enstars is one of my favorite stories to analyze . the only thing i could possibly want more out of it is hardcore tragedy but thats entirely a personal preference rather than a critique because im a slut for catharsis and i love sad endings , especially ones where characters die . (don't worry im in therapy)

[mages-ballad]

some stuff regarding dawntrail now that ive finished and had time to collect my thoughts, spoilers up to the very end inbound of course. sorry if its long i have many MANY a thought.

ok so i wanna preface by saying i DID like dawntrail. i love wuk lamat and i cried like 3 or 4 times, tural is a great location and it was very fun to meet all the different kinds of npcs there

HOWEVER theres some things that kinda feel awkwardly paced? if i can be completely honest, it feels like the first half and the second half of the msq are two entirely different plotlines that were smushed together. and this isnt even saying that everkeep/sphene/s9 are "too different" because its not even an aesthetic issue for me, its moreso the themes presented first half? a little slow but in a GOOD way, helps you get a feel for the land and the people and shows wuk lamat's growth. the succession plotline feels like a whole, coherent thing. i like it. as soon as thats over and you hit shaaloani though, its slow and quite literally filler aside from a few tidbits for erenville. it felt awkward how it was trying to show xak tural culture, but also heavilyyy favored screentime for the "cowboy" stuff over the hhetsarro (who also very much live in shaaloani and are part of tural), who we spent practically 1 quest with and it was to ask them for lumber. and THEN it goes right from that to a high-stakes plot with zoraal ja's attack and heritage found and everything progressing after that. on its own the plot has potential... but by living memory i got the impression that everything from the end of shaaloani and refitting the train to running through the memories of alexandria, it just felt like it was trying to be Shadowbringers 2/Endwalker 2. and it wasnt really working out the same. "a society faced a calamity and a leader figure cant let go of the past and will gladly sacrifice other worlds to keep the memory of their people alive/go back to how things used to be. theres also a city full of people that arent alive and are just memories. also you get to run through a dungeon that shows the destruction of the past world that said leader figure cant let go of." like thats just the ascians and emet and amaurot right there. we KNOW how this stuff goes. from endwalker and venat we learned that its impossible to strive for absolute peace and perfection and that suffering and death are unavoidable, and the importance of maintaining hope and being able to go keep going forward at those lowest points. the whole time between solution 9 and living memory i was just sitting there thinking to myself like??? have we not seen this same stuff before??? why isnt anyone saying anything??? i knowwww this is mainly wuk lamat's story and development but it felt almost wrong to have these plotlines and themes and neither the wol or any of the scions even point out how familiar it is. i was under the impression that dawntrail would be a point for the wol to take a backseat, but to ALSO use what weve learned from 1-90 to help others. i genuinely feel like they pushed the idea that this is a fresh start *too hard* and everything weve gone through as the wol emotionally feels pretty ignored. aside from the whole "oh yeah btw were super strong weve been to the edge of the universe lol dont worry lol" like i hope this doesnt come off as me hating dawntrail. because i dont, and im interested to see the extent of travel between reflections and how thats handled going forward. but i cant help but feel like something was missing in that 2nd half of the msq. i can only hope some of this stuff gets addressed in the patches, because as it stands rn, even with sphene gone solution 9 still feels weird. the theme of dawntrail wants us to respect their culture, but from past xpacs we already know that a society like that is factually not sustainable, especially when multiple npcs have already pointed out its flaws (declining birth rate, for example.) maybe thatll be resolved later, but as it stands rn, the contradictory of themes is confusing. this is getting reallllyyy long and rambling now but WHEW i just needed to get this all off my chest. on a positive note to end this, im very much enjoying the dungeons and combat so thats been good.

tl;dr, 1st half of msq good, 2nd half confusing, combat good.

[maidragoste]

hello! i hope your day has been well!!

its me again, I've come to rant....

this show has driven me to the point of insanity and not in a good way. its the common cause of bad writing good scenery. like the writers focused more on the surroundings and costumes and hair then the actual plot and the actual writing and dialect that needs to take place.

aemond is actually a crazy man, like not him forcing everyone to march to the riverlands knowing daemon resides there instead of trying to garner other areas that could go head to head with them OR instead of getting more men. also not him putting alicent in her place because she helped create the patriarchal environment so now she has to deal with the fact she's raised horrible men.

also if aemond is that way with his mother, imagine if he had a wife?? i'd be scared for her. like alicent needs to slap him because i would lowkey. she slapped aegon so much as a kid, she forgot to slap aemond to keep his ego at ground level.

daemon having hallucinations for a tenth millionth episode is too much for me bro, like he needs more help than i do. like he's actually crazy and not him thinking it was simon doing it when its alys.

also alys having to give daemon life lessons is crazy to me. like thank goodness shes like 100 stuck in a young body because her wisdom must prevail and she looks young so people will listen ish.

not rhaenyra kissing mysaria like what is actually happening?? like too many heart to hearts, like they're good, but what do they add??

aemond wanting to actively kill everyone is beyond me like he's the real villain. like he doesnt care about the small folk and parades dragon heads like he's at a festival like he would make a bad ruler. i'm starting to think he's maegor the cruel not even with teats just maegor the cruel lol. like he is on a kinslaying spree.

aegon was even scared of aemond though he claims not to remember im sure he does and didn't want aemond to know because he knows his brother would kill him to silence him. like if the maester didn't walk in...

alicent realizing her dad is the only one who gave her power is wild and gwayne inadvertently telling her she failed as a mom was tier like she lowkey did in a way bro. like daeron is kind because he didn't grow up with your kids and your nonsense. like idk how helaena is even surviving because poor girl.

this whole show is so bad, but i have to watch to the end type of bad like it's not like i read the books yet to make the comparison so i'm not like uh "ohhh but in the book!!" like these are general observations that anyone can make about the show. it's not good and if i was the author of the book...i'd be a little pressed at all the fillers and them saying there's gonna be a 3rd season when this one has too many fillers....

sorry for the entire essay, and thank you for being a good listener and active responder!!

hi anon, how are you?

I was late in responding because I am sick and I only saw the episode today hahaha

I think I didn't suffer so much with this episode because I read your ask first so I already knew what was coming xd

I feel like I shouldn't laugh but the comment that Alicent should have hit Aemond made me laugh a lot 😭😭

About the hallucinations, I'm glad I was right that there was going to be a hallucination with Viserys, but I can understand why so many hallucinations are getting boring, and I didn't like it so much that Viserys is saying dialogues that he already said in the first season. they could have invented something

I'M WITH YOU. I DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW DAEMON SUSPECTED SIMON STRONG. POOR LORD, HE NEVER DID ANYTHING TO HIM 😭😭

honestly i didn't expect to like alys but i like her dynamic with daemon

I don't know how to feel about the kiss, a part of me already saw a tension between them and I like that they confirmed rhaenyra as bisexual but I don't know how they are going to continue with this plot

I honestly don't know what to think of Aemond's writing anymore ☠️☠️ I feel like even the maester doesn't trust him

I loved the conversation about Daeron (I'm just a girl who gets excited at every mention of him). I felt sorry for Alicent, I really don't think Gwayne wanted to make her feel bad 🥺

My friend and I also thought that the show went bad (we also read the book) but we still continue watching it because we already started it and we want to see some things that are to come

Thank you for writing to me and I hope you are well 💖💖

[witchersmistress]

Grief and Rage

hello my darlings!! im back!! woohoo on with the show, this was done by Mr. Grey XD, this is more of a filler chapter

trigger warnings: violence, rage blood, grief

word count: 1.2K

August’s pov

I stood there with the keys in my hand like I had done countless times before, the monster in me wanted to burn it down and move on from her. She was a Darling snake, she was meant to destroy me and my brothers. Slipping on the cool leather gloves, I open the door to her home. With some bribery and persuasion I was able to purchase it in full from the bank. She won't be back but I couldn't let this go.

Stepping into the foyer, she had her shoes in a shoe rack by the door, the right side opened up to a living room, lined with bookcases, stuffed with various books and different trinkets. She had a book flipped upside down on her glass coffee table with papers spread all around it. Leaning down to examine the papers. It was an application to become a CIA agent. Releasing a low growl, the monster  grumbling his disapproval, he very much wanted to destroy the house, but I couldn't bring myself to light the match and set it ablaze. Moving through her house, my footsteps echoing through the empty space. This was once her home but now it's a shell of her.  Making my way into her office on the lower level, I saw her desk in the center of the room. I saw her sitting in that chair with her red laptop and colorful keyboard typing away at a million miles an hours, the words just pouring out of her and she could barely keep up.

The calendar on her desk was annotated with so many notes, visits home to her family, her grandmothers and brother's birthday, family events she planned to be there for but I ripped it all away, because I was a selfish coward. I could have let her go, run her out of town but no i let the monster win and i let my brothers rape and kill her. Catching the faint smell of her, my monster just lost control, ripping past the barriers. Flipping her desk over, and roared as he pulled one of her bookcases off the wall and sent the books scattering everywhere, tearing the family pictures off the walls, the frames and glass crunching under my feet, swiping a bottle of dark colored liquored from the kitchen to continue my rampage, of the lower level of her home, drinking the bottle as he continued on the mission of destruction, into the living room next as his rampage continued. 

I could hear her laughter echoing off the walls and her footsteps dancing along these empty halls. Seeing her sitting on the couch, curled under a blanket with her book and a bottle of wine, grabbing the blanket that was sitting on the couch, my monster dragged it to his nose and inhaled deeply, her smell deeply embedded in the blanket. Chucking the now empty liquor bottle at one of the white walls and watching it shattered. Walking among the broken glass and scattered stories of her life, I come across one picture that will haunt me forever. It's a picture of Harper, her long hair hanging down in waves on the right side of her head and neck. She had her signature triquetra necklace and her gemstone moon pendant choker, sitting in front of her was a baby boy, blonde hair blue eyes, smiling at the camera. He had to be about 6 to 7 months old. He had on red pajamas with dark navy blue stripes and a white dump truck on them, she was holding his legs at his knees, like she was bouncing them. Her black nails and thumb ring sticking out at me.

What have I done??The monster faded and went back to his cage, leaving me to drown and suffer alone. I took away that little boy’s aunt. Hurt her and left her for dead. He'd have to grow up and hear the stories of what an amazing woman she was. Grabbing the broken picture and the last bottle of amber liquor, I slid along the wall till I was firmly on the floor, staring at Harper and that blue eyed boy I robbed her of. Laying her blanket along my lap and banging my head into the walls as I drank. I drank to kill my feelings, to kill any sympathy left behind, but mostly I drank to forget and to kill the monster that robbed Harper of her life all because he couldn't let her go.

“August” I heard a voice call to me. “Harper?” my voice cracked as I drew back to consciousness. “August” the voice and face became clearer, it wasn't Harper, it was my brother “Duke '' I questioned as he pulled back from me. I saw red looking at him, I sprang from my  position and tackled him to the ground, punching him over and over in his stupid face. “Why did you come here?” question after question I bombarded him but never gave him a chance to answer as I hit him in the face. He finally grabbed my wrist to stop me, one eye was swollen shut, his nose bleeding “ I’m here for you” climbing off him, I pushed myself off the floor , her scent haunting me everywhere in this house. Looking back at  Duke I yell “Don't get blood on the floor” snatching her blanket from the floor and leaving her room. I walk down the stairs into what was left of her dining room and living room. Going to the kitchen, I pour myself another drink as I hear the duke make his way down the stairs, “Did Baron send you?” I asked  as he moved the island in the kitchen, grabbing an ice pack from the freezer. I tossed it to me to put on his face, his nose turning purple from hits, and his nose was packed with toilet paper to stop the bleeding.

His voice sounded slightly higher than usual. “Baron doesn't know where either one of us are”

I nodded as i looked around at the destruction i caused “ I miss her too you know” i crossed that kitchen so fast and grabbed him by his collar “What the fuck did you just say” i seethed. He looked me in the eye “ i know what we did to her but i didn't want her to die, I hoped we could scare her off, but she didn't back down and she changed you'' releasing him and shoving him back “She changed you August, for the better whether you choose to admit it or not.” watching him walk away, he opened her front door “I won't tell Baron where i found you, but i will tell you, him and i will be leaving to go to New York for a few months'' he gestured to her house “Do what you will with it” shutting the door as he walked out the door. I watched him get into his Hummer and drive away, slamming my fist into the wall and punching through the drywall. I was angry at him, at Baron and the stupid Darling family for not letting me have this one girl, who ruined everything, including me. With one last look around her home, I hired a cleaning crew and repair company to fix the house. Shutting the door, leaving it in the past and her ghost behind me. 

[spotsies]

now that im an adult and have shed my shipping goggles it really is clear to me that as a musical newsies would benefit massively from casting children as children and doing away with the romance plot. i think there are lots of very good reasons to be cautious about having child actors, though I think theatre is generally better than screen (?) for them as they’re spending less time there, both daily and overall, and tours here use local child actors for many parts.

the technical stuff aside, I think it would feel a lot more grounded. it’s simply hard to picture starving Victorian orphans when they’ve dressed up adult men with gym routines in rags and told you these are your newsies. part of why shows like Matilda and School of Rock are so emotionally invest….able…. is because you’ve got a big pile of little kids there singing these great songs in their little piping voices and you’re like oh yeah, right, kids are powerless against adults, of course, you can hear it and see it and feel it and you root for them every second. newsies is a musical with the same core story (children fighting for human rights against adults).

re: the romance, I think it’s a pointless distraction from the main plot and extremely weak writing used to hit a bunch of plot beats in a very lazy way. I love myself some romance, but in newsies it actively detracts from the story. It’s filler, it’s boring, it’s all very nothing. it’s not necessary. something to believe in is the single most bland love song I’ve suffered through in my life, and I’ve listened to every rusty/pearl love song ALW has written for stex during its billion reboots. it’s emptyyyyyyy….. sorry jatherine fans I think ur ship is soulless I think it’s emotional packing peanuts

anyway. Make newsies a child cast show to give it back some emotional flava. Chuck out jatherine. give jacks role in charming katherine to smalls she can bully her into helping. spot is also a girl please see my art. jack doesn’t want to go to Santa Fe because that’s just so fucking dumb it’s just stupid. I’m not having it. It’s real dumb. But he can be cowboy again. all that runtime I’ve just freed up is going towards ensemble time bc the audience has got to love the ensemble. The rest of this is ironed out in my head but I have shit to do. Peace

[autumnshighlady]

I’ve Always Liked to Play With Fire (part 3)

NESTA ARCHERON X FEMALE!READER (future Neris x reader)

summary: You and Nesta have made a plan, and now it’s time to put it into action

warnings: angst, more inner circle slander lmao

word count: 2.9k

DO NOT REPOST ANYWHERE

a/n: sorry this is so short! It’s a bit of a filler chapter but things will pick up soon. It’s a bit slow right now because it’s an extreme slowburn fic but I have so many big plans for it! Eris won’t appear until part 5 probably but I promise it will be worth it

feedback is appreciated, just no hate pls! these are just my opinons, im more curious to see how you all like the writing and characterization and storylines!

part 1

part 2

read on ao3

Spotify playlist

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The first rays of sun crept their way into the room, illuminating the navy sheets with a soft golden glow. You blinked the sleep from your eyes, your surroundings beginning to sharpen. With a jolt, you noticed how Nesta’s head had migrated onto your pillow, gently crooked against your shoulder. Her long legs gently brushed against yours underneath the sheets, cold despite the warmth of the blanket.

You took a moment to gaze at her sleeping form. Her face was relaxed for once – her eyebrows were not drawn together in a glare, nor her lips twisted downward into a frown. That chestnut golden hair you loved had come undone, waving down her shoulders like honey. She snored slightly, a soft sound indicating she was not suffering from the nightmares you knew plagued her throughout the night. She looked like a gift from the Mother herself, an ethereal being sent from another world. Truthfully, you could have spent hours gazing at her, but with a heavy heart you untangled your legs from hers, and gently lifted her head from your shoulder before crawling out of the bed and silently slipping back into your room.

You both knew what you had to do next. Nesta had mentioned that Azriel liked to get up early discreetly and take his breakfasts in the big dining area, rather than sit on the stools at the kitchen countertops like you and Nesta frequently did. You knew he did it to keep an eye on the female but without getting into her space, and it made the perfect stage.

Once in your room, you bathed with lavender-scented soap, careful to wash any trace of Nesta’s scent off of you. You hated scrubbing yourself so viciously, as if her essence was poison to your skin, but you knew that Azriel would pick up on it. The water was so hot it almost burned, but you let it fuel you with fire.

You didn’t want to stage a fake fight with Nesta. Truthfully, you should have planned it beforehand. You had no idea what you were going to say, or her. All you could do was hope that it would fool everyone.

After drying off and braiding your hair back, you slipped on a pink gown from the closet, smoothing the skirt and taking a deep breath before heading to the kitchen. You had no idea if Azriel was actually in the other room or not, nor did you dare peek through the window as you walked by to check. You just had to pray Nesta was right.

Taking a seat at the stool next to the counter, you grabbed a pancake from the stack placed in front of you. Normally you loved the food in the House of Wind, but today it tasted like ash in your mouth as your stomach churned with anxiety. Would you and Nesta really be able to manipulate the Inner Circle and pull this off? Sure, they’d easily believe that you and her would get into a fight, but you had to be careful. If you two moved too quickly to cooperation, they would get suspicious. The fine line you and Nesta were balancing on was tedious at best, and you only hoped you didn’t make things worse.

Silently, Nesta entered the room. Rather than sitting beside you as she had been lately, she simply grabbed a cup of tea and perched herself on the other end of the counter, not sparing you a glance.

This is it. You thought to yourself with a nervous swallow. Showtime.

“You ok?” You began carefully, unsure how to initiate the fake fight. Nesta ignored you, not even blinking once to acknowledge your presence.

So you tried again, knowing where it was heading. “I just wanted to say thank you for standing up for me last night. Against Rhysand. I appreciate it.”

Nesta was quiet for a moment, then laughed bitterly. It was cold, utterly heartless. “I didn’t do it for you.”

“What do you mean?” You asked, acting puzzled. Finally, Nesta turned to actually face you. There was no trace of warmth in her gaze, no evidence of the soft, gentleness in her features that was there this morning. Slate blue eyes stared at you like chips of ice, unfeeling.

“That dinner was meant to humiliate me, not you.” Nesta snapped. “So don’t pretend you’re the victim of all of this. I wasn’t about to let them walk all over me like dirt.”

“I never said that,” You insisted. “I just meant–”

“I don’t care what you meant,” She interrupted sharply. “I’m not your shield to protect you from them, so don’t treat me like one.”

You kept reminding yourself over and over again that this fight wasn’t real, that it was all just temporary. But you could not keep the bite out of your voice.

“I didn’t ask for you to challenge him like that,” You hissed. “So don’t blame me for your choice just because it’s going to have consequences like you being stuck up here for even longer. I stuck up for you too, you know. And I don’t see you bitching about it.”

“Am I supposed to thank you?” Nesta laughed sharply.

“Friends look out for each other, so maybe, yeah!”

“We are not friends.”

The words hit you like a ton of bricks. You went still, not having to fake your reaction. You knew this was planned, but her words cut you nonetheless. It’s just pretend, you kept telling yourself.

“We aren’t friends, are we?” Your voice was full of venom, not all of it forced. “Who else do you have, Nesta? Who have you not pushed away yet? I am the only person who likes you right now, but you’re making it really fucking hard.”

“I don’t care if you like me or not.”

“Do you care if I hate you?”

“Go ahead, everyone else does. Maybe you can join them now.”

“I see why they do now.”

This time, it was Nesta’s turn to flinch. You regretted the words as soon as you said them. You and her had not discussed how far to push, what limits were in place. Something told you that her flinch was not a planned reaction – your words struck hard, visibly twisting her expression into something else. The fire in her eyes was quenched momentarily, overwhelmed with hurt for a split second before her cold gaze returned.

“Well next time they come to force you to help them, don’t come crying to me about it.” Nesta’s voice didn’t have the same bite to it as it did before – it wobbled slightly at the end, her chin lifting higher as if she could keep at bay any tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks. She stood up, leaving her untouched cup of tea on the counter and storming out.

You watched her go, anxiety pooling in your stomach. Had Azriel heard your fight? Did he believe it was real? You really hoped so, for the thought of having to redo an argument with Nesta filled you with dread. Picking at the food on your plate, you told yourself over and over again that none of what you guys said was real, that neither of you actually meant what you had said.

You couldn’t get the image of Nesta’s face out of your head as you told her you can see why the Inner Circle hates her, the way it changed from anger to sadness as if she wasn’t acting at all. You knew something had happened between her and Rhysand’s court that had made those specific words twist her gut like a knife – either that or she was just a really, really good actress.

We are not friends.

That phrase Nesta had spat out congested your thoughts like a swarm of bees. You knew she said it for the sake of the fight, but was there an extent of truth to it? The two of you only crossed paths because you were both prisoners of some sort to the Night Court. You doubted that you’d have met her otherwise, or if she even would have given you a second glance. All your time spent reading books in silence or sipping tea on the balcony, you wondered if it was only because you two just happened to be the only females in the House of Wind.

Did Nesta see you as a friend? You couldn’t figure out your dynamic still – it had only been a short amount of time since you met her, yet it felt like you had known her your whole life. Part of you felt something else for her though, something like friendship but different. You felt like a crushing schoolgirl, but for some reason it felt deeper than that. The fierceness with which she stood up for you at the dinner, the way you two got comfortable with each other so easily, and how you could just tell if she was in the library or not… there was something between you two that you couldn’t figure out what it was.

You weren’t stupid enough to believe that she reciprocated whatever strange feelings you had towards her. Stories of Nesta and Cassian during the way with Hybern crept into every village on Prythian – how she and the war general shared a kiss during the end of the world, wishing they’d had more time together. How Nesta had covered Cassian’s wounded body with her own, preparing to die with him. It was clear that there was something between the Cauldron-born female and the Illyrian general.

What you didn’t know, however, was what happened to them after the war. Whatever had been blossoming between them showed no signs of being present now. Nesta had not spoken about Cassian specifically, snapping at him whenever he tried to tease her around the House. If you hadn’t known about their moment during the war, you’d have thought she hated him. No trace of a promise to die together lingered between the two, only cold empty space. You could tell Cassian was trying with her, in his own unhelpful way. You respected him for it, but wanted to shake him by his obnoxiously broad shoulders and tell him that trying to mold her into a warrior to fight side by side with him was NOT the way to get Nesta to open up.

Cassian was part of the Inner Circle, yet he didn’t appear to be sticking up for Nesta, even after what apparently happened between them during the war. He was Rhysand’s good little soldier, doing his bidding whenever asked. You felt bad for him in a way, having caught glimpses of Cassian looking longingly at Nesta when she turned away from him. It was evident he cared for her in his own way.

But if he truly cared for her, he wouldn’t have let his High Lord and Lady lock Nesta up against her will.

After forcing yourself to eat another bite of your breakfast, you dumped your plate's remains in the bin and placed it in the sink. As you turned to leave, you didn’t dare glance in the direction you suspected Azriel was hidden. He gave no indication of his presence as you trudged up the hallway to your room.

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

It had been a few hours since your fake fight with Nesta, and you had remained in your room, sitting by the fireplace with a soft blanket wrapped around your shoulders. Part of you wondered if this plan was a bad idea. As much as you hated them, the Inner Circle was not stupid – they were a group with immense power and knowledge, who were used to sniffing out enemies.

You had felt Rhys and Feyre try and scrape the edges of your mind with their daemati abilities. Luckily, you had been taught from a young age how to shield your mind from such powers. But given what you had heard about the High Lord and Lady, if they really wanted to break your mind they probably could.

Then there was the Morrigan and her power of truth, whatever the fuck that meant. You had no idea what her abilities were other than winnowing and being unable to mind her own business. You had heard of how she fought in the war all those centuries ago, but that was it.

Amren, who you had grown up fearing, was no longer a threat apparently. She had lost her powers in the war, becoming just a high fae – you weren’t sure what she brought forth to the inner circle other than a bad attitude. And Cassian and Azriel were a whole other puzzle entirely.

You prayed none of them would figure out what you had planned with Nesta. Surely they’d believe easily that Nesta would eventually snap at you and damage whatever friendship you had, making it easier for them to swoop in and dig in their claws. That was the easy part, and now you had to keep up the act.

The hard part would be getting to Eris. Somehow, he was involved in the Night Court’s scheming. But you had known him since you became friends with his brother – he hated the Inner Circle, and surely was not working with them for any reason but his own secret agenda.

You guessed you and Eris had that in common, which would make him more inclined to help you. The stories of his cruelty made you uneasy – Lucien had always told you that his brother was too much like his father, relishing in the torment of others. But you had never seen that side of him. Sure, he was cold and untrustworthy, but he had never brought you any harm.

You had no choice but to trust him inevitably.

It would take a while before the Inner Circle would believe your act. They knew you and Nesta wouldn’t just change your minds overnight about working with them. It would take a few weeks, you suspected at the least. Nesta would gain Cassian’s trust, which left you with Azriel.

That’s where you were a little nervous. The spymaster was intimidating and hard to read, known for his unfeeling ability to pry information from enemies with Truth Teller. With Cassian assigned to work with Nesta, you did not doubt Azriel would be tasked with you. Rhysand would likely want to use you as a spy for the Spring Court, making you keep an eye on Tamlin instead of making Lucien do it. Azriel would likely be the one to oversee this, which made you nervous.

But you were willing to do whatever it took to get out of this situation. And maybe get a sense of justice, payback to Feyre for manipulating your own court.

As the fire began to die out, you took a look outside the window. The sun was beginning to set, which meant it was time to leave your first note for Nesta in one of the books. You two had agreed upon a system where you each pick a different book every week and leave notes in the chapters for the other. This week, Nesta would pick a smutty romance book with a red cover, and you would pick the same genre with a blue cover.

You knew Cassian and Azriel would be at dinner now. No doubt would Azriel be telling Cassian about the fight he overheard this morning – Cassian would insist on checking up on Nesta, and Azriel would convince him to give her, and you, some space. Neither Illyrian would be looking for you two, which made the perfect opportunity.

You crept down the hallway, treading as softly as you could. You did not know what spies and systems Azriel and the House had set up, but you wanted to move without being caught if you could. Holding your breath, you entered the reading nook you had shared with Nesta, note in hand. It read:

Nesta, I just wanted to say I’m sorry. I hated that fight, even though it was fake. I should have gone a different route with the argument. I care about you, and I don’t hate you and I never will.

Grabbing a blue cover from the romance section, you carefully inserted the note into the first chapter. While no other person in the House showed interest in the reading nook, you were nervous that someone would end up finding the note.

You scolded yourself for thinking like that, and shook your head. You had to trust that the plan would work. As quick and quietly as you entered, you left to return to your room.

When morning came, you forced yourself to sit through breakfast. Nesta was nowhere to be found, and you were itching to race to the bookshelf to see if your note was gone. But you had to wait until a bit later, when you normally took up residence in the reading nook. The wait was excruciating, but finally it was time.

As you scanned the shelves, your hand found a smutty book with a red cover – Nesta’s book. You didn’t even check to see if the note within your own book was gone, you just reached for this one like it was calling to you. Prying open the first couple pages, a piece of parchment slid into your palm. You practically tore it open.

It’s ok. You said what you needed to say. I think it worked, but we’ll find out tomorrow. Let’s get out of here together.

And so it began.

taglist (comment if you want to be added): @queercontrarian @kitkat-writes-stuff @moonfawnx @sevikas-whore @weird-and-wise @jemandderkeinenusernamenfindet @kingshitonly @ladyofcherries @eerievixen @readingwritingwatching @peacecoffeeandflowers @a-frog-with-a-laptop @shadowqueen25 @lana08 @highladyofillyria @rachelnicolee @ladespedidas @little-darlingo @manonblackbeakquidditchteam13 @demirunner @terorovaerangi @hauntedandhopeful

[iuuua]

oooh i forgot to talk about hazbin hotel after i finished it.

loved it. satisfied the musical deep inside of me. the characters are so charming and its a really fun show expressing incredibly horrible stuff. if u think abt it even just a little past face value its really deep and sends u down into a rabbithole about what the characters are, what it really means to be a sinner, and how loopable the songs are.

my only complaint is that its so short. its 9 episodes including the pilot where every key moment is perfectly encapsulated in those episodes yes, but because they chose to develop the characters per episode (which was absolutely the right choice btw) the whole "friendship" theme suffered. let me explain; the characters are well developed enough and interact enough for you to get what their overall dynamic is, but theres no episode that really focuses on them getting closer with each other. the show was so busy, im not sure where they could have put it; basically im saying the show wouls have fared well with a little filler. in 8 episodes they breezed by 6 months... those interactions would have made the finale soo much better. i was not *convinced* of the found family trope thing (bc thats what it is you cant tell me otherwise), but its a good idea to let the audience fill those gaps themselves.

i have mixed feelings whether to support vivzie because i heard her treatment of animators was horrible-- thats the worst part about this whole series honestly. idk if vivzie is a good person or not... but hazbin hotel is definitely amazing.

EDIT HERE: i watched a video saying the accusations against vivzie are false so, thats out of the way, i guess. dont worry too much about it, im not gonna do more research but if any of you do pls lmk!

my favorite song is poison, apart from the fact that its the closest to my usual genre, i love the mv. the choreography is so fluid and unsettling. the little details, you can tell angel is putting on a mask and the voice acting? chefs kiss. love it. the mv is so r18 but i cant help rewatching it its just so good the choerography videography the subtle meanings RAH. i also love the instrument solos in hells greatest dad, it really surprised me when lucifer pulled a violin out of nowhere lmao but god do i hate that minty girl, ruined such a good song. stayed gone is also so strong and its funny to see vox put in his place lmao. im addicted to alastors radio filter, such character. i reluctantly love adam and lute's song parts because their voices are so good and i love rock music but fuck i hate the characters.

charlie is just so lovable and would be generic in literally any other setting but because of the nature of the show she sticks out and that forces readers to pay attention to her and if you didnt already love her you WILL.

not sure what else to say but if ur 18+ GO FOR IT!! lots of tw since its hell, off the top of my head sex, abuse, cursing, cannibalism, assault, violence. there must be more but itd be better to look that up instead. have fun watching!

[nosygay]

getting fucked up by the two sidedness of this recovery coin because on one hand I've wasted my whole life on being depressed and suffering was a full time job I've missed out on so much I'll never experience the Normal way it's too late what's the point etc etc. on the other hand im 23 which is very much just the beginning objectively and I feel like I've fought the final boss resolved the main conflict of the movie or whatever and there's only filler left for ages to come. what now man

[good-rwbyaus]

I learned today that Tumblr posts are limited to only 100 inline links. I also learned that if I keep doing this I will probably vomit blood.

I think what I'll do later is just dedicated mod posts for the AUs, though Mod Green will probably need 1 or 2 or 3 posts lol.

I've been skipping one / two-liners mostly. But if you really want to seek them, you can use the mod's personal tag to search for them.

Currently, the post range of this post is March 24th 2021 to November 15th 2019.

Mod Green

Ozcury AU - Mercury's training Ruby.

Ozcury AU - Fight at Haven with Oz-Mercury in the middle.

Crack/Reference to unknown?!Adam is a total fanboy of Summer Rose and discovers he just maimed her stepdaughter.

DevilMayCry!AU - Distant cousin Dante drops by for a visit to the Schnees.

Ozcury AU - Instead of Oscar's head, Ozpin ends up in Mercury's!

AU where Raven isn't a coward - which makes her into an overly enthusiastic mom

Weapon Souls AU - Crescent Rose is Ruby's twin.

Konosuba!AU Aqua Weiss + Megumin Ruby

Weapon Souls AU - Crocea Mors acting as Jaune's mom much to his annoyance.

Konosuba!AU Darkness!Pyrrha explaining why she likes Jaune.

Weapon Souls AU - ModAsk: Huntsmen weapons have human forms a la Soul Eater

Jaune gets no respect AU (Dangerfield AU?)

Ruby unintentionally steals Emerald and Mercury through sincere kidness

AU where armor does what it's supposed to do. And why Jaune is seen is a tough guy.

GrimmPyrrhaAU! - A clone of Pyrrha that sorta ends up defecting.

AU where the filler villain adam is cut out

SaturdayMorningCartoonVillain!Salem AU - Ozpin suffers.

Ben10!Mercury AU

Ironwood calls for backup for Mantle. Master Chief, Duke Nukem, and Doomguy show.

Nicholas Schnee is still alive. Visit Vytal to see the grandkids.

Bluby x Jaune shipping

Bluby x Jaune shipping

AU where the heroes save the world by wearing the tingle outfit from BoTW.

AU where Watts has a crippling Pokemon Go addiction.

Jaune is recruited to teach Ruby to dance for her wedding!

Emerald Schnee AU!

Tyrian developed a fear of Ruby after she maimed him. Discovers her again at the Rally.

Mr. Taurus Grinch Song.

Aura-amp AU! Ruby and Weiss get an unfortunate speed boost.

Conspiracy!Raven meets Penny

ModsInRemnantAU!

Mod Yellow

All of Yellow's most recent posts till 2019-ish.

Mod Lilac

The Things Jaune Arc (and the rest of Team Remnant) are not allowed to do at Beacon Academy (post-saving the world)

Evil Ozpin AU - Picking the Kids Up

The Vytal Campaign (RWBY is a DND campaign)! - Salem and Ozpin play out the Lost Fable.

MetalDong69 - Crack!AU where Salem gives up her plans for consquest because she got addicted to FortKnight. Ironwood is her greatest online rival.

Blake's Book Trade - Blake never becomes a Huntress and becomes a bookstore owner instead.

Medical Intern AU - Jaune never becomes a Hunter and becomes an medical intern instead. (pt 1b)

Crack!Like an Oz (to the beat of Like a Boss)

Becoming AU - Ruby mistakenly believed to be a secret professor at Beacon - Pyrrha's perspective

Rising Snow AU - Pieces 12-14 - Where Whitley had been keeping the company viable since he was young - Meeting "Acacia"

Becoming AU - Ruby being made an offer she can't refuse - aka Weapon / Weapon Maintenance Club.

Crack!Glynda Runs an OnlyFans account???? - not as nsft as it sounds.

JAUNE IM GOING TO KILL YOU - Jaune's semblance is to make other people turn into harem protagonists. Blake suffers.

Someone asks a stupid question while Salem is trying to ask Jinn her questions.

Rising Snow AU - Pieces 10-11

Destiny AU - Epilogue: Oscar

Becoming AU - Perspective: Yang's POV on Ruby being mistaken for a Professor.

Becoming AU - Perspective: Weiss

Becoming AU - Start - Crack(taken Seriously)!Ruby is mistaken for a Beacon professor and Ozpin just rolls with it.Uncle Crow AU - Pt 2

Uncle Crow AU - Pt 1

Rising Snow AU - 7-9

Rising Snow AU - Crack!Beginning: Whitley is the sole reason why the SDC is up and running.

Of Caerbannog - Crack!Why you don't piss off Velvet Scarlatina

Team STRQ - Loudly observing at two girls' competing affections for the same guy is bad for your health.

FullmetalAlchemistAU! Reenactment of the Chimera scene. (I'm sorry.)

Actors and Actresses AU - convincing - blake convincing yang.

Actors and Actresses AU - first interview with lisa - weiss

Scatter - Summer kills Salem. It doesn't take. - incomplete

House!AU - Dr. Arc - incorrect quotes style

AccidentalMastermindAU!Salem - the Rainforests of Vacuo

Be Careful Who You Blackmail AU - Jaune and Cardin have a heart to heart in Forever Fall.

big brother jaune to Oscar and Whitley AU

Other - Submission

Planeswarden AU - watcher-servant

DevilMayCry AU! Dante and Winter cousins that don't get along - random-reborn

Aura-Amp AU! Jaune accidentally brings Blake's clone to life. - pandemic-smiles

[lordrandreaming]

Unwanted Arcana opinion that might put me in hot water below:

I think the writing is incredibly lackluster, for personalities, interactions, and so on.

I noticed, as I neared the end of Julian's route, the writing lost it's fire. It seemed.. Confused. Like whoever wrote it had no idea where this was all going. You can tell, there was a change in writing.

Lucio, Muriel, and Portia are especially victims of this sudden change, because it just felt like they were given 'filler' personalities and stories. No one is hit harder than Portia. Followed by Muriel.. Followed by Lucio.

Now I like Lucio. But.. He wasn't done justice. You can say, that living the pampered life turned this count whos been in various bloody fights, raised out in the cold harsh winter environment, would make him this squishy, soggy idiot we know.

But.. His characterisation really could have been better. I see him more as 'Sorry not sorry I did that lol' not 'I need everyone to forgive me or im crying' (its not actually like that, but it's pretty close.) And then fucking off for adventure.

In my opinion, which yes, is just an opinion, Lucio should have stayed in Vesuvia and make up for what he's done by lending a helping hand. Yes everyone hates him, as he was written to be the *worst* character..

I think it's unfair what happened to all the routes by the end. Im assuming, If Julain's near-ending was so cobbled together, that Nadia and Asra's routes suffer the same fate.

As a writer, I care about the character's I am writing. I can see clearly that in the end, none of the M6 were cared about. They were made to be appealing and draw people in, because it was "the Thing" at the time.

It makes me incredibly sad, that now I see how cobbled together everything is. Some amount of thought went into the story, but it could have been so much better..

There isn't alot to do, for one. And I know.. 'Its just a game!' However, as a consumer of said media, it's extremely lacking and doesn't stimulate me like I'd hoped. It's like a false promise- but there was no promise to begin with.

When I first seen the Arcana, I was not at all interested. And for good reason.. As advertised was not what we got. I got into it about, two years ago now.

Yes, I was late, but.. The fandom was near death when I came into the scene. Yes yes, I know, people of course are still heavily into it, and I still love it myself but.. It makes me sad.

The character's clearly weren't cared about. They were put out there for visual appearance to lure in lonely gay people. Lesbians, Bi, everyone. They included everyone so they can pull in more people.

Nothing wrong with that- alot of games and industries tend to do this. But they never stick with what they said..

You can say: Mori, why are you bitching about this? It doesn't matter anymore!

Or

If your so unhappy, why don't you just stop caring?

Because.. It started out as a passion, you can see, and quickly as people left, new people kept coming in and that passion was quickly lost.

It saddens me, as an artist and writer. The love was lost.. And the Arcana became hollow anymore. As I played through it a second time, it just felt empty. It was so thrown together- the ingredients just didn't mix.

Id re-write the whole damn game if I could. And like hell I'm going on Dorian.

I appriciate that the people who still love the fandom, want to make and create and that Dorian allows that to happen, but I don't vibe with the fact that anything you post on there is now Dorian's to claim and use.

You can be mad at me, say that I'm wrong because Im dumb and didn't play all the routes, or tell me that I'm just seeing 'face value'. But I'm not changing my opinion because people are mad at me.

This isn't a post meant to rile up or insult anyone. Im not starting a debate. This is just my heartfelt opinion, and that opinion is the state the Arcana was left in was shit. It could have been more interactive, we could have had so much more, but ultimately, we are left with a hollow possibility of what could have been, but never was.

[sunfish999]

The nitty gritty is watering down katara's character so she's just a meek girl ? Your lying If you really think that's the same character. The producers said they would take an axe to the main characters and that's where the show really suffers...also nothing is perfect people like you is why we get stuck with mediocrity

?? I finished episode 5 but what😭 how is katara just a meek girl, i feel like yes she has a little less rage but other than that she shows that shes smart and powerful and her own person? Explain what is watered down i feel like animation usually over-exaggerates facial expressions and voices for the most part, so i’m not surprised that katara has more subtle strength so far, and also the actress has a very kind face, but i think shes still able to show some of that anger. (I havent watched the water master fight yet so maybe thats where you’re talking about, so i cant speak on that)

Idk what taking an axe to the main characters means (like really cutting them apart? Cuz i doubt they would promote a show by saying its gonna be bad but who knows). But i feel like the characters are all pretty accurate with how they carry themselves, of course they’re younger so acting wont be perfect but i think the imperfections are what brings them to life. I know a lot of people hate the writing, i feel like it’s quite similar to the show? (Though its been maybe 3-4 years since i last rewatched it) and some lines especially from something previously animated are gonna sound awkward in real life, which is why generally i believe live actions arent necessary for any animation, though in this case i’m really enjoying just rewatching atla and my childhood be brought to life.

Nothing is perfect: ok i was using perfect mostly because i was very excited about it, of course i know theres things that could be changed to improve it but a lot of those things are impossible (like you cant get an actress thats EXACTLY katara and will make everyone happy, because shes a drawing) but overall, i think the landscapes come close to perfect (i’m just really into fantasy scenes and i think it’s so beautiful and impressive to see things like the omashu supply rail and the air temple come to life. And zuko’s boat looks so awesome and so accurate too.) And i thought the cgi looked slightly silly at first (especially air) but then i realized that we were always seeing drawings of aangs air in the animation which would look even stupider irl so i made my peace pretty quickly.

People like me is why we get stuck with mediocrity… hm. I feel like my opinion probably has nothing to do with what comes out on tv, especially because in this society haters have the real power, and you guys tearing it down are more likely to get it cancelled. I don’t think any production team takes an animated film or show and thinks ‘yea im gonna make this absolutely awful,’ (though i’m really not sure what they were thinking when making the pjo movie, its good as a standalone but they went so off course from the plot…) of course they’re all just trying to fit what they think into the show and express their own opinions, which are ultimately going to be a lot different than some people watching it.

Overall, ok i haven’t watched the og in years, so my memory on comparing each episode of the show to the live action is not going to be at the level of others (which i think boosts the enjoyability 100x over). But as i watch it, i remember tons of parts of the animation, and it makes me super happy that it has the same air as the show, albeit slightly more serious because they can’t fit all the funny filler episodes (if they ever created a live action lost appa episode i would lose it that cannot happen).

Maybe i sounded rude in my original post (i changed it quickly bc it was very angry at first lol) so sorry i know you’re all entitled to your opinion, it’s just i was SO EXCITED and then checked the tag on tumblr only to see that everyone hated it… i always feel inferior to people who really like films etc because i tend to enjoy things that other people hate, (like i really enjoyed the avatar way of water movie even if it was super long, and i know people DESPISED it). So maybe i seem like someone who is satisfied with mediocrity, and maybe i am, i focus mostly on the backgrounds and beauty of movies because im really into art and much less on acting and script (though i can appreciate beautiful characters, i was Blown Away by live action suki and hair down sokka my jaw dropped fr) i agree i am fairly simple to please in terms of this type of thing.

SORRY THIS IS GETTING QUITE LONG IM SURE U WONT READ IT ALL but i hope ur finding joy in life since live action atla is obviously not doing it for u

[sparatus]

Aephis meets Sephira pls 🥺💕

wip game

hi sorry work happened ANYWAY so i lied, because i was recalling file names off the top of my head at work when i made the post, the file is actually named aephis WINS sephira which is much more fun imo

anyhorse!! this one's a challenge fill, prompt was in the beginning and this is going back to a backstory fun fact that im stupid fond of. we're visiting axilus's parents when they were young, back when aephis was a whore carefree young NCO and sephira was working towards her master's degree. aephis's friends make a bet with him about whether or not he can get the ice queen in engineering to sleep with him, and he loves a challenge, but oops instructions unclear caught feelings and forgot the bet entirely, and oops she might be falling for him too

special for u here is extra long snip (cause the context is needed)

--

Aephis Madelivio, by all accounts and purposes, was the ideal turian, the kind put in every romance schlock vid to be admired and panted after, turian and xeno alike. He was tall, muscular, and sported the classic turian romance hero frame of broad shoulders, trim waist, rugged claws, and sturdy legs and feet. His plates were a ruddy maroon, his crest was attractively long, and the clan tattoos striping his face in white were elegant and complimentary without hiding too much of his handsome visage. He was top of his class in every flavor of combat available, and was doing quite well in the tactical testing, too, thank you very much. He was loud and boisterous to the point it might almost be irritating, but so friendly and charming and genuine about it the annoyance never lasted. His parents were both from well-known clans, the Madelivios of Shaal and the Sparatuses of Tiirtias, and even more famous names before them, giving him the kind of pedigree that didn't sound real until you noticed the sand-scattering length of his toes and the xepöa'vach on his back and keel. He was, checklist-perfect, a model young drake any turian worth their teeth would kill to be seen on the arm of.

And, most insufferably of all, he damn well knew it, and walked around with the swagger in his step to prove it.

Not that he let it go to his head. No, of course not, he was modest, too. Being humble on top of everything else was even more swoon-worthy, after all, and he had pretty girls to woo and handsome boys to flatter. No time for being unappealing. Especially when they were between ground missions. There was only so much time in the day cycle their superiors could make filler for, special officer’s training or no, and, well, what else was he supposed to do?

“No way,” Salvirian blustered, flaring out his mandibles. “You can’t get anybody on board, nobody’s that good.”

Okay, maybe he was a little immodest. Nobody was perfect, so sue him. Besides, bragging about it with his gaggle of friends was different from going around telling anybody who would listen.

Aephis purred, tapping his chin with one talon. Salvirian wasn’t that bad-looking himself, silver plates with a striking darker patch in the middle of his face, but the yellow-green tattoos didn’t do him any favors. He also just sucked in bed, Aephis knew from experience, and judging by the scuttlebutt around the ship, he wasn’t just the unlucky one. “I didn’t say anybody,” he argued. “I said anybody who’s into drakes. I’m an equal-opportunity bisexual, but not everyone here is. I’m not a dick, I’m not gonna try to go after a lesbian.”

Agnianus snorted into her reconstituted meat product in sauce. “Thanks for your consideration.” She poked at a somewhat suspicious lump that immediately fell apart into mix dust and heaved a long-suffering sigh. “Iunno, Sal, I think he could do it. He already pulled Dardaion, and she bit the last dude who hit on her.”

“Dardaion doesn’t count, that was after they sparred to a draw and wrestled a bit,” Salvirian huffed. “That wasn’t his charm, that was his fighting skill.”

“No, no, that counts,” Tanidonis argued, already holding out his rations to Agnianus in trade. “We're just talking about ability to pull anybody who might be interested, not specifically how it happens. Just because Dardaion doesn't wanna fuck you doesn't make her magically unavailable, Sal."

Salvirian’s throat flushed, and he pulled his head down in his cowl. Agnianus swapped trays quickly, then huffed. “I have an idea," she said. “I heard some of the engineers talking about one of theirs who's, like, total ice queen. Threw a wrench at somebody for disturbing her work with flirting and just went right back to her math. If you can tap that, you can tap anybody.”

Aephis raised a brow plate, but Tanidonis just scoffed. “Yeah, I heard them, too. Flaucius is just pissy she turned him down. He sounded like a prick, all, ‘ohhh, I was sooo nice to her, I was her only friiieeend, but she was still so meeeaaan to meee.’ Fucking pathetic. Like, I learned I’m not entitled to a hot girl’s attention just ‘cause I’m nice to her when I was ten. Y’know, when I realized girls were pretty and not made of cooties and violence, and my dad had a talk with me about dating like a normal parent.”

Aephis snorted and clicked his mandibles. "Nah, girls are definitely still made of violence,” he countered. "That's the hot part. Remember the Dardaion part of this conversation?”

"That's also why you're all straight or bi drakes who follow around a lesbian,” Agnianus added sagely, taking a drink from her canteen. “Turians are matriarchal by nature, and our gender-equal society is proof we're civilized and more than our base natures. It's, like, science. Anyway, I still think that Actinus hen is a solid test of Aephis's appeal as a drake. She did still definitely throw a wrench at a guy, that's irrelevant to Flaucius being an entitled bag of dicks.”

[uzumakichcined]

Oh god, I want to see Karin have a healthy relationship where she not only feels loved and respected, but safe and confident enough that she could set her own boundaries.

See that's the neat part--- she probably wont LMAO

okay not to be overly harsh, ofc, i want my muse to be happy but the thing is when it comes to relationships shes still trying to navagate what works for her.

Karin is extremely fickle, and it's goign to take at least 2 arcs and 3 filler arcs for her to get to a healthy stable relationship that is actually good for not only her but her partner as well

because the way i see it, she needs to address her own repressed trauma before she really lets herself attach to people in healthy manners again.

Because lets think about it for a moment of Karin's life and her relationships. While I do think she actually does hold a somewhat healthy relationship with Orochimaru (not romantic, sickso, parental) in that she sees the title of "lord" as less a literal royal figure but more how she calls him dad/father/parent. The title wouldnt be used for anyone else, at least that's how im going to be writing it.

Let's go to the actual relationships shes had outside of that:

. . . . .

Yeah they really don't establish that Karin has any kind of relationship experience outside of well. parental.

Unless you want to count her abuse at the hands of the grass village, which in some ways i do, she has no actual understand for how one treats someone else they care about. It's actually why i think she has such a "grab onto someone" mentality and has no boundaries with things because for much of her starting life before being with Orochimaru, she was literally just grabbed, dragged, and shoved into wherever they wanted her to go. Their twisted version of "caring" for her involved possessing her like an item, as such she has that similar mentality for any partners she has.

nd until she actually *addresses* the abuse she had gone through in the grass village, the borderline CSA and abuses she suffered from, Karin won't be able to establish healthy boundaries.

So that would be her "first arc" so to speak towards healthy relationships. and the sad part is, having a romantic partner stay with you through that isn't something that is easy. and it shouldnt be put on a romantic partner's plate to deal with her like that. yes they can support her, but in all honesty the trauma is not her partner's responsibility and itd be a huge struggle on whoever she's with if she goes through this while trying to be with them. and if anythig it could be why shes terrified to even try a relationship because she is avoidant in addressing these issues.

WHICH MAKES IT REALLY HARD TO ACTUALLY GET HER ANYWHERE IN BETTERING HERSELF.