#fully deserved tbqh

[lordranandbeyond]

[anotherhumanpet]

"Right..." Even though this was just supposed to be a walk to anywhere (but not the forest) until he stopped being freaked out by absolutely nothing, Mitch was right. He made a promise to Rin about not doing this, and everyone else was still clearly on edge too. He needed to be better, for their sake if not his own.

He just needed to be a better exorcist overall.

"Sorry. For everything."

A guilty pang shoots through his heart as Mitch offers his reassurances, which might have worked and actually alleviate Dennis of some guilt if he wasn't so haunted by the whole truth of the matter. Yes, he lost control of things, got stuck in a helpless position, and was left at the mercy of some very brutal, ruthless people at some point. But before that, in moments and split second decisions leading up to his capture...

He can't, in good conscience, let everyone be afraid that something is going to happen again; like Dennis is living with some kind of weird target on his back when the reality is so much more stupider than that.

"I could have not chased after them too." It's vague, opaque, and not at all informative, but he shrugs his own words off like they're nothing. "Cause they didn't just grab me, I saw them first and.. they were doing stuff. And I tried to check out. And got caught, like an idiot."

[lykorises]

moving old posts abt ankou over even if they're rambles just for context on my portrayal part 1. posts from @/otomates.

obsessed tm with ankou's vibes as a ferryman of the dead, because he shows ... such gentle / tender regard for the souls that he carries to hades [ the ones he feels don't necessarily deserve hades, that is, so esp big emphasis on "villains" like lucas who was only a villain of circumstance that wasn't his fault ] 🥲 him offering sympathy / empathy towards them & asking if they'll follow him to hades of their own free will for a chance to repent for the sins they committed is tbqh his way of being soft with the mortals he personally seeks to reform as a reaper ... he won't give those souls allowance to reincarnate until he feels that they've successfully redeemed themselves repenting under his charge, but he treats them so mercifully it's almost ironic. ankou tending to act more like an angel rather than a reaper of death speaks to me ...

#ankou being rly soft and shy but also ... scary and powerful ...#takes no shit from ppl who don't deserve his mercy and is fully capable of clapping their asses but also like#those who he thinks deserve mercy rly get the best out of him ... he's very kindhearted#specifically to the downtrodden / demonized / forgotten souls he ferries ...#is this me coping w the pain of lucas' fate by being delulu and pretending there was still some manner#of redemption somewhere out there for ppl who suffered like him ? ABSOLUTELY . HOWEVER#IT'S ALSO SPICY CANON DIVERGENT LORE#JKENRMHKJENHM

[anendoandfriendo]

Fuckity Fuck.

Welp, we guess it's time to hunker down a little bit.

It sounds like we're good enough they're trying their damn best to keep us on this project but they've moved 50 or 60 folks to other projects already and everyone (literally everyone) who is still on this project is getting 8 hours of IGH every week.

So, like, we're updating our resume. We'd preferably just move up, and get a position that isn't taking calls, and stay with our current employer, but like, if anyone has listings we would need all of these:

Is work from home, preferably fully work from home

If it is hybrid work from home, we're going to need some compensation/assistance for being forced to move out of our currently-affordable apartment and if office jobs are anything like our brainbody's father then that will include like, 30 days of our chosen housing paid by the company including our pet cat lmao.

We're making $20USD per hour right now, if it's a wage where we can't make it by ourselves and save up $1000USD-ish a month in whatever city it's in we don't want it. Pay us a living wage, fuckface.

Completely and unconditionally accepting of endogenic plural systems (<- by far the hardest one to find, not-shockingly for anyone who's ever tried to be openly a system, but if they're doing this they're probably also chill with queer people. Like. FFS. This is the Big One and the reason we would like to stay at our current empoyer, who KNOWS we are a system, and wouldn't question us using we and they and knowing we can do our job pretty damn well since we also SME, etc etc etc.)

Suitable for someone with a Double BA in psychology and social justice is preferred

Quality Assurance or Workforce Management is preferred. If the latter, our goal would be to possibly become an RTA Analyst (<- for starters someone suggested this to us before this happened; secondly, this would never happen to us again lmao; thirdly we think we've been doing damn great at our current job for being an endogenic system and cluster of autistics, and also a traumatized little wet rag so we deserve better than this bullshit lolsob)

Anyways - uh - suggestions welcome. We know this is the hellsite so we probably have less than a chance in hell for suggestions here, but, y'know, we're just trying to keep our feelers open tbqh.

[evilkitten3]

as an ex-sob (shithead older brother), i want to add that people can be fully aware that what they're doing is Not Okay and simultaneously justify it to themselves completely, sometimes with levels of bonkers logic that would make an insane troll green with envy. this is in fact very, very easy to do, bc what it relies on most is you refusing to question yourself.

you might think "but if you know what you're doing is fucked, isn't that already questioning yourself" and the answer to that is a resounding "you would think so. but no, emphatically not"

the human mind is a beautiful thing, but it's a beautiful thing capable of creating absolute nightmares of logical fallacy-filled self-affirmations. the thing is, this can spiral out of control (or. more out of control than it already is by default) very quickly, and you may not start having regrets about your shithead behavior until you're stuck on a mountain in utah in the middle of winter with a bunch of other assholes trying to find rocks in the snow so you can set up a tarp shelter.

the thing is, "[behavior] is wrong" and "[specific person/group of people] are The Worst" can easily turn into "[behavior] is wrong except when applied to [specific person/group of people]". and once you come to that conclusion, regardless of your reasoning, it's very easy to stretch that out to fit other things, at which point you may start becoming an even bigger shithead.

here's a way i think of it that sometimes helps me stay on the not-a-shithead path: "[behavior] is wrong" -> "[behavior] is always wrong, and this does not change even if i feel that [specific person/group of people] is for any reason deserving of being on the receiving end of [behavior]". this is helpful bc it reminds me that [behavior] is an active shithead decision on my part, and not karma dealt out by the universe.

my point is, if you're actively doing things you know are wrong (to be clear, i have no interest in stopping you or passing judgement on you. everyone does fucked up shit and tbqh i don't know most of the people on this site well enough to expend emotional energy on their every decision. sorry y'all), try reminding yourself before you post that suicide bait or whatever that what you're doing is still wrong, even if you feel (correctly or otherwise) that that person or persons is deserving of it.

you may decide you don't want to continue that behavior. you may also decide that you do. but it's worth pondering, just so you don't end up beating yourself up about it later on.

honestly, I think it's really healthy to sometimes acknowledge that pretty much every bully and bigot in the history of the world thought their bigotry was justified. They all had their excuses. So I really recommend doing some occasional soul-searching and asking yourself whether you are making excuses somewhere for mistreating someone.

[sage-nebula]

I love Gou, but I’m really glad he got taught a lesson about why you actually have to train your pokémon in this week’s episode. It was a lesson he had coming and I’m glad that he got schooled so quickly.

Don’t get me wrong, he clearly has good instincts. Despite knowing he had the type advantage, he didn’t have Scyther rush in to attack, he used Swords Dance first. And that’s good! But the thing is, the “Battle Frontier” (that was not a Battle Frontier no matter what they said, it was much closer to modern day Battle Tower lmao) is full of trainers who have competitively trained their pokémon. This is why Hoji’s Mightyena knew Fire Fang; Hoji made sure that Mightyena had type coverage for the bug-types that would inevitably be sent against it. And Gou was not prepared for that. Gou was also not prepared to go up against people who have actually trained their pokémon. Scyther was a fresh catch, and Scorbunny has barely battled. Even if both of them had perfect IVs, neither of them have the EVs or EXP to back it up (though to be sure, Scyther has some given that he was pretty much the only one to put up a struggle against Gou’s capture, but not much more than Scorbunny). This is in direct contrast to trainers like Hoji, who have undoubtedly battled quite a bit and put serious thought into training. Hoji is a competitive battler, and you cannot go against competitive battler without competitive-ready pokémon, you just can’t.

And that’s something that Gou’s method of just “catch everything without battling!” taught him painfully. It’s not enough to just catch “strong” pokémon, because again: Even if their innate stats (Individual Values, IVs) are perfect, they still need serious effort put into their training (Effort Values, EVs) to positively affect their growth in a way that will prepare them for battle. And they need EXP in order to grow as well, to have their stats grow. Obviously the anime doesn’t actually name these stats out loud, but we still see them in the way that pokémon grow via battling in the show just as they do in the games. Gou’s Scyther had never seen battle before. Scorbunny barely did, because Gou doesn’t battle before capture unless he absolutely has to, because “[just throwing a ball] is faster!” And his pokémon paid the price for it. He got curbstomped, as well he should have, because he didn’t put the effort into actually training like he should have.

My hope for this is that even if Gou’s goal remains that he wants to catch ‘em all that he starts actually training them as well, at least some of them. Ash, who is clearly a competitive-style trainer as well by this point (as well he should be, given that he’s a Champion, and lmao poor Hoji for not doing that, Ash kind of hustled everyone in that tournament huh), can help him out with that. Let Gou actually train and raise his pokémon properly, please. Because if he learns absolutely nothing for this, then tbh it’ll feel like a waste of an episode. Gou got served his just deserts for not training his team; now let him digest them and learn something from it, please.

[volfoss]

Gyro please!! :D And Rina!!

ok no promises on how good EITHER of these will be as ive like def blocked most of part 7 out of my head but i will try my best o7

Gyro:

do I like them: honestly yeah! i dont remember like a TON from sbr but i do like him!

5 good qualities:

1. the facial hair... king how long does that take you to do like... i admire the dedication tbh

2. honestly just how he and johnny work together, i love it.

3. OH MY GOD HOW HE IS WITH MARCO TOO........

4. like how hes just a wonderfully flawed character if that makes sense? he feels realistic (or as much as a jojo character can lol)

5. literally every single chapter cover he is in hes just going for it fully and i love it

3 bad qualities:

1. how he kinda is towards lucy sometimes? again dont remember a lot abt sbr but just how he acted towards her sometimes had me a bit annoyed?

2. hes italian

3. actually his uhhhh belt w the hands... its weird but ok ig dfdsjfsf

favourite episode/etc: the uhhhh god the dinosaur one. where he gets his little eyeball dino moment? i rly liked that one

otp: him and johnny... obviously

brotp: him and hot pants SHOULD have been besties and i dont remmeber if they were but they should be

ot3: id say closest to that that i have is him johnny and diego? its not one im like super duper big on but ig it works??

notp: uhh him w lucy ig?

best quote: i feel its OBVIOUS i would say the pizza mozzarella song <3

head canon: his hair gets SOOO tangled and he just will sometimes use a horse-brush to get it all untangled quickly

Rina:

do I like them: YESSSS shes so good and like the way u add sm to her character aughhhh rina is so good

5 good qualities:

1. shes such a good mom holy shittttt

2. shes so pretty

3. honestly just like there was SOOOO much potential and it was COMPLETELY WASTED so i cant think of anymore </3

3 bad qualities: literally none idc

favourite episode/etc: its the struggle of NEVER showing up rly in canon but i do enjoy her past backstory chapters and how she takes such good care of her kid, yk?

otp: OBVIOUSLY HER AND CINDY LIKE..... WHO ELSE WOULD IT BE

brotp: honestly her and johnny deserved best friends hours actually...

ot3: uh not rly any? we didnt get a lot of info on the ppl around her so theres def not enough to do anything w there?

notp: same as ot3!

best quote: tbqh i do not think she ever speaks?? she should have if im remembering right but idk </3

head canon: uhhhh i feel like she has a kinda high pitched voice! and she gives rly nice hugs

[forgottenrian]

honestly not trusting rian makes total sense!! he's gotta feel like a total wild car given all his conflicting actions and loyalties honestly lkajsdfkljsdjkf i looove alaric having his fingers more or less on rian and astaira's pulse!! roderick: how did he do that???? empathy!? what's that???? lakjsdfkljjkdsf ;DDDD

honestly if both marian and alaric are against it, i don't think the rian/cassandra marriage idea'd get v far! rian and cassandra might never even know he was even considered for it frankly hahaha women don't get a ~lot of say for things, but i do think roderick thinks mothers deserve to be heard out on the marriages of their daughters, at least (jury's out re: sons lakjsdfklsdjf) and alaric's advice roderick heeds more than anyone else in the world w the possible exception of bartholomew so yeah if they both like 'nah' roderick's probs discarding it! esp bc idk that he was esp excited abt the possibility except mostly as a way (in his imagination) to unite cassandra w a worthy bloodline for roderick's grandchildren and to help (even more so in his imagination) quell a possible stafford-based rebellion in astaira laksdjfklsdjfs

no but honestly this all makes sm sense!!!! do you think rian would have any idea that alaric isn't feeling/hasn't felt the trust, or do you think alaric's playing that pr close to the chest? bc i do think, if he knew that, rian'd be tryna prove himself to him which...idk how well that'd go honestly (esp now that he's having doubts, himself!) hahaha but he's determined so he'd keep digging himself in hahaha

ok but why do i feel like, if they got along, [ this ] might be their relatinship? CACKLINGGGGG

anywayyyy heehee i do agree that i don't think rian fully trusts alaric ~either bc like???? how fully in is alaric w all these burnings and things??? i think that, when he got in bed w the varmonts, rian probs was blinded by a lot of their propaganda abt being a civilizaing force and such and he was like perfect! that is what astairan needs! (bc he ~is buying a lot of the other things roderick is selling abt society tbqh alksdjfklsjdf) and i do see him as having been blindsided by roderick's savage brutality frankly! and yesss! i totally agree! i deffff see this as a professional, working relationship and nothing more!! they talk abt defense, abt investigation, abt escaped prisoners, and ~occasionally abt the weather but only as it pertains to crop growth, none of this too-personal stuff like 'how're you this morning?' from rian alksjdfkldjsf ;DDDD

OOC | Rían & Alaric

rian wants ur good opinion!!!!! pls rec him to be king stewart of astaira and/or to marry guin!!!!!!!! failing that, rian ~will seek rebellion...you've been warned alksdjfkljdsfkjdsf

no but rian is at once v conscious that he needs to network/get ppl's good opinions in order to succeed but he's also TERRIBLE at those things and SUPER proud and thinks its beneath him and its all just...a huuuuuge mess i swearrr so basically he's got this push/pull in his own psyche abt how to interact w alaric and the rest of the varmonts, bc he will never be a suck-up or a yes man!!!!! but his whole worldview is also shaped around honor demanding respect towards kings and so he at the same time can't question roderick!!!! but that's all he's been doing lately bc burning ppl and esp burning them w/o trial and burning them w/o trial bc of smth they can't even control is obv just...objectively heinous!!!!!!! and, like, everything rian does for the varmonts comes out of his sense of justice/duty/doing the right thing and so its right to listen to roderick!!!!!! but also its simultaneously wrong to listen to roderick!!!!! and basically its all just a loT

sooooo yeah...good luck w all that, rian!!!!! kldsajfklj sdkfjkdsjf

ANYWAY!!!! bc of all of that, i think he's generally just like...stalwart w them???? he tries to be charming (i don't think he's good at this! laksjdfkljdsf), he tries to be dutiful with them (he ~is good at this!), he tries to be fair w them (he is struggling at this!) and yeah i think it all boils into smth that is frankly probably kinda off-putting and you'd probs think he's just being an ass, but he's actually trying really hard alksdjfkljdsfj

HERE'S WHERE I DEVIATE TO TALK ABT RODERICK FOR AWHILE (i swear its relevant!!!)

honestly, just to let you know what roderick's thinking, bc i imagine alaric is up on this, roderick felt that justice called for rian to be rewarded for his leal service. that's now been done!!! in general, he'd now forget abt him EXCEPT that roderick is suuuuper into ~bloodlines (as we all know) AND into male primogeniture (as we ~also know hahah), so (w the caveat that it is all now roderick's via right of conquest which roderick obv feels trumps any other right bc its roderick's right [lil side note that if someone were to sweep in and conquer any of his countries out from under him, he would NOT feel the same way abt it alksjdfkldsfjk]!!!!!!! lkajsdfkldjsf) he ~also feels that rian was the rightful king of astaira and that both makes him 1) dangerous and 2) a great potential weapon to wield against the astairan public if they don't behave!!!!!

so what does ~that mean? basically, roderick trusts him only abt as far as he can throw him!! he ~does def underestimate him bc he views him as a lackey and, bc he's bad at presenting him, doesn't really think he has any further ambitions than carving out a piece of astaira for himself

HOWEVER, he also believes that everyone else is as obsessed w bloodlines as ~roderick is, so he believes there's the potential that astairans would rise for rian just bc he's ~the rightful stafford (again, his worldview...the election thing, the women in power thing...baffling)~ and bc they don't like roderick v much (gee, i wonder why ;D) they might rally around him for rebellion whether rian likes it or not

however!!!! roderick isn't ~stupid and he does see that, for whatever reason he can't understand, they're clearly more into eilia as a ruler than rian, so he def feels that, esp given that siobhan's out there on the loose, rian is a lil tool sitting in his back pocket that he could use to basically split the rebellion in two, and thus make it easier to ride roughshod over them all dslkjfakjdsf tbh idk that that would go the way he thinks HAHAHAH but it ~is smth he believes would work

as a result, roderick's policy, re: rian is basically to keep him happy by giving him smth (he thinks rian probs doesn't want more than lorcan, HA!) but to keep a lowkey eye on him but not worry abt it too much bc he thinks he just has to say 'jump' and rian will say 'how high'

FINALLY, as i mentioned, he ~does think rian might be a good husband for cassandra, bc his is the blood of kings (that bloodline obsession...never ends...) etc, but not good enough for guin (i legit have no idea what ~would be good enough for her???? realistically, probs no one tbqh!!!!!!!)

END RODERICK RANT!!!!!!!

obv rian knows none of that!!! but yeah!!!!

also i think you mentioned...somewhere that alaric might be helping explore lorcan for its passageways, etc, which i feel like probs means these two would work closely together? in which case, since i imagine that efforts being going from the beginning, these two might actually know e/o a lil better than i was initially thinking? idk, what're your thoughts? hahah

[dragimal]

now that s5 is over and I’m starting to wind down from the high of the finale, I think I can finally grasp *exactly* why I have mixed feelings on s5. to be clear, I absolutely ADORE TMA as a whole, and still consider it one of the best pieces of horror media I’ve consumed. but s5 left me feeling... not bad, but off, even when there’s plenty I still rly like abt s5

it mainly comes down to 2 things for me: 1) the severe tone shift, and 2) Martin being Fucking Weird for a lot of the season

a lot of ppl have talked abt how s5 just wasn’t as scary as the previous seasons for various reasons. one kinda inevitable reason was simply that a lot of the mystery of the horror had been revealed at that point, and a monster is never as scary once you can see it clearly. but I think the bigger reason is that the format shifted from horror anthology to.... sociology anthology. like, every statement of s5 felt like a sociology paper on fear and systemic abuse, rather than something meant to chill the reader

this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, honestly-- like I said, much of the mystery had been revealed, so I think it was an understandable move to try to shift the narrative somehow. also, I love sociology papers! I think they’re interesting to read, and s5 gave us some rly creative frameworks for some of them (the poetic carousel, Oliver’s professional assessment, Jared’s garden--)

however, I do think the tone shift was still a bit jarring, esp considering what the audience was used to up to that point. perhaps that’s an appropriate move, to match a plot point as game-changing as the literal apocalypse. BUT that doesn’t mean the tone shift still wasn’t a bit of a let-down, in terms of horror and tension

like, yeah a lot of the mystery was gone, but Hill Top Road ended up being the big mystery of s5... and we weren’t even fully aware of it til almost the end of the season? sure, there was plenty of fan speculation, but we were also considering SO many other possibilities, Hill Top was never rly a core theory until VERY late in the game. like, the mystery seemed to take a backseat to the sociology papers, if that makes sense, lmao

literally the ONE episode to give me chills down my spine like the good ol’ days pre-s5 was MAG196: This Old House. Annabelle vaguely threatening Martin, and ending on, “You have no idea who’s listening, do you?” fucking SUPERB, I was absolutely DELIGHTED by the possibilities of that one line! like, what did it mean? were we gonna go full meta??

but the last few eps after that were... frankly kind of a letdown from that spike of tension? I think those last eps are what rly cinched this idea for me-- that s5 was literally like reading a sociology paper. it rly all was just, arguing about the possibilities, considering the consequences, and making decisions. which, again, isn’t necessarily bad, but it’s not horror-- it’s a thought exercise with an apocalyptic garnish

EDIT-- I forgot to say, I think this is part of why MAG200 simply didn’t hit me the same way it hit others. it was intellectually satisfying-- it tied up loose ends, closed character arcs/relationships, left some delicious ambiguity-- but not emotionally cathartic, if that makes sense? like, I was expecting to cry, but I didn’t even rly get teary? I was grinning and delighted by all the satisfying conclusions, but I didn’t feel that emotional RELEASE that I was expecting and hoping for

as for jonmartin, I want to be clear here. I am NOT one of those ppl that thinks jonmartin came out of nowhere in s4-- I think the buildup pre-s5 was excellent, and their finally being together at the end of s4 was so so earned and rewarding. I’m also NOT one of those ppl that thinks arguments = abuse. I think when I briefly criticized jonmartin in s5 in the past, ppl got this impression that like, I think that jonmartin miscommunicating and having bad coping mechanisms... means that they’re bad for each other and abusing each other? and that’s just not the case?? 

I admit that my initial response to some of the jonmartin weirdness may have been a bit harsh, but even at the time I still loved jonmartin and was simply looking at their relationship with a critical but loving lens

what I have a problem with is that Martin pulls just as much bullshit as Jon in s5, and NEVER gets called out for it

this post I made a while back gets more into the details that bother me, but essentially, there’s always been this rly uneven “accountability scale” (idk what else to call it) for Jon vs. a lot of other characters-- in that, Jon always gets called out for his bullshit, while a lot of other characters don’t. now a lot of this is perfectly explainable as Jon being the main character, so we simply see his fuck-ups AND the subsequent consequences more often than any other character. and there are plenty of characters that I absolutely do NOT blame for going a bit overboard (I give Melanie and Tim in particular a ton of leeway here, given their respective situations. they more or less have full rights to bully Jon imo)

but, the problem is, there are also a LOT of moments where other characters say something absolutely horrific to Jon (namely Basira and Georgie in s4), like imply that he’s responsible for problems he had absolutely no control over, or fucking blame him for literally being groomed into an Archivist by people/powers he couldn’t even grasp... and those accusations are just left to sit and fester in Jon, completely uncontested

the nice thing abt s5 is that most of this is addressed-- like Basira’s completely unfair double-standards for “monsters”, and Georgie unknowingly blaming Jon for his trauma, etc.-- in very satisfying ways.

.... except for Martin.

without rehashing that linked post too much, Martin’s main problem in s5 is that his go-to response to trauma is denial. he denies the fact that he wants to kill avatars for his own satisfaction (which is a completely reasonable desire on its own tbqh!), and instead continues to lie to himself (for quite a long time) that killing avatars is actually helping anyone but Jon and Martin. he denies that Jon’s become a real full-fledged “monster”, and refuses to acknowledge all the baggage that comes with that

this denial unintentionally projects a lot of rly fucked-up messages at Jon, like: Jon is now a freaky horrorshow (even when he’s doing something completely innocuous, like talking casually about his powers); Jon’s fears over losing his autonomy/identity to the Eye, and his fears over his proven abilities to hurt others, are invalid; monsters inherently deserve to die, despite Jon technically being one; Jon not being able to use his powers “well enough” is some failure on his part

now, none of this is to say Martin’s characterization on its own is a bad thing-- I actually think it could’ve been interesting! it’s a perfectly reasonable trauma response, it tracks for Martin’s character pre-s5, and could have been a rly interesting perspective to explore.... if it was ever actually challenged by the narrative or other characters

I think the closest we got was Martin’s conversation with himself in his own domain, when his double calls him out for fantasizing a happy ending where Jonah is dead and Jon and Martin kiss (OUGH.... JONNY YOU HURT ME..), but that still never rly addresses the hurt that Martin’s denial causes Jon

and god, I was rly holding out-- Martin seemed to chill out on the denial a lot after the first third of the season, and I was hoping it might go a similar route as Basira, where it would just take a while to rly address Martin’s issues. but then Jon and Martin have their argument in MAG194, and I was fully on Martin’s side of it, UNTIL he said, “You weren’t meant to enjoy it this much!” (in reference to Jon killing avatars), and when Jon calls him out, Martin just brushes over it! 

BOY when I tell you I went BALLISTIC.... FUCK YOU Martin, YOU’RE the one that went all Kill Bill and PUSHED Jon to feel the same way!! JESUS. like I get that that wasn’t the core of the argument there, but oh my god that one bit...

and once again, to make myself perfectly fucking crystal clear here, this is coming from someone who relates heavily to both Jon and Martin. I can see exactly where Martin is coming from for many of his decisions, and the trauma that’s led him to mentally protect himself like this. so it only makes me more frustrated to see him refuse to face his own issues, while still (understandably) expecting Jon to face his issues. yes, Jon pulls a LOT of bullshit in s5 that he deserves to be called out for (and called out he is!), but accountability goes both ways, Martin! you can’t demand responsible behavior from others if you’re not willing to extend the same courtesy!

[blujaydoodles]

Elyss!! (For the oc ask thingy)

Full Name: Elyss Niravi Sibbili Gender and Sexuality: female, bi (but she has no idea yet; she’s never really spent any time with girls/ women her own age other than her sister) Pronouns: she/her Ethnicity/Species: Water genasi (her mother is human and fantasy!Indian; she thinks of herself as human, and ‘genasi’ as a descriptor) Birthplace and Birthdate: Her hometown was called Yarrin and her birthday is fantasy!April 22nd Guilty Pleasures: I dunno if she has anything she’d consider a guilty pleasure but I guess the closest thing would be a sweet tooth and a fondness for the kind of richly flavored foods that tend to be expensive where she’s from Phobias: She has sometimes debilitating cliethrophobia, which is the fear of being trapped. She unlocked this phobia partly by being trapped in a mirror of lifestealing and then fully by being restrained and then paralyzed by giant spiders, so she also has a robust fear-by-proxy of giant spiders What They Would Be Famous For: Our party already has some renown for destroying a beholder and saving the country from his doppelganger minions; any further fame would be similarly tied to the party as a whole. She’s not necessarily opposed to being Famous but she’s accustomed to avoiding attention as much as possible, so she probably wouldn’t get famous on her own, and even now knowing People tell Stories about her is really mystifying to her What They Would Get Arrested For: *cough* uh...... murder (they had it comin) OC You Ship Them With: Juniper 👉👈 she’d be really interested in and impressed by Juniper’s passion for mapmaking, they both want to travel and explore, and like, Juniper as a human person has the vibes of a soft cozy sweater and a mug of hot tea and it’s what Elyss deserves tbqh OC Most Likely To Murder Them: Listen. Even if any of my OCs were inclined, I’d like to see them try Favorite Movie/Book Genre: Mystery, but also documentaries/ field guides or similarly instructional media Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: this is more of a modern TV trope than a book or movie thing but unceremoniously killing off characters for pure shock value, or ‘twist’ endings that come out of nowhere and aren’t satisfyingly foreshadowed on a rewatch/ reread (would LOVE a twist that DOES make sense and bring extra depth to rewatching or rereading though). Basically anything that feels like it throws the narrative sharply off course for the sake of it Talents and/or Powers: Aside from being an incredible archer, she’s also a skilled seamstress and is uncommonly good at picking up languages Why Someone Might Love Them: She’s very loyal and deeply loving towards the few people she cares about. She’s intelligent, driven, and intensely protective and supportive of the people she loves. She’s also, perhaps surprisingly, really good with animals and kids Why Someone Might Hate Them: She can be abrasive and offputting, even with people she’d bother trying not to be; she’s true neutral and sees going out of your way to help strangers as a waste of time at best, and can be rather callous about it; she’s cautious to an extent that a more devil-may-care adventurous person could get sick of really fast How They Change: A positive change is that she’s really coming around to believing that her friends do care about her personally, as opposed to feeling like she had to continuously earn a place at the table to be with the people she cares about; a negative change is that she’s gone from ‘just very poorly socialized and sorta neutral towards people in general’ to ‘actively, deeply, and justifiably paranoid and distrusting of any stranger’ 😬 Why You Love Them: she’s my girl ���� This campaign is coming up on six years running so I’ve gotten to know her probably the best of my dnd OCs, so she’s very close to my heart. She’s been through So Much and she loves her friends So Much and I just want good things for her ;n; <3

[canonicallyanxious]

I AM IN SO MUCH PAIN OMFG WHY DO THEY DO THIS TO US ALQJEHFIDHD!!!!! I literally just finished watching the clip because I was so scared and had to keep fucking pausing and aldnfjskedgsjslfjdksj

I am seriously so upset what the fuuuuccckkkk idk how they're gonna fix this or how this is going to end on a relatively positive note for them because the season ends tomorrow what the fuck?!?! I'm so sorry for all the cursing but alwjfjsocjdj I for sure thought nora was going to at least tell him what she told the girls on tuesday but ?????? Girlie kept her mouth shut?????? I'm???? When josh came to that realisation that he can't be just friends with her and the way his voice trembled??? And his eyes tearing up?!?!?!? What the actual fuck @ druck writers pull up because im ready to throw hands STOP HURTING MY CHILDREN (and us) like this :'(((

I know everyone else is worried over fatou and kieu my but I'm not that worried because I'm convinced the next season is either one of theirs so their relationship has time to be the centerstage and be developed. Nora's season though ends tomorrow?!?! And I NEED for her and josh to AT LEAST be on the same page about not being together but not quite friends because they both clearly want to be together and nora needs to tell him and I refuse to only see it in the background of someone else's season

Also everything you said about yara!!! I agree so much but I'm just so distraught right now over the latest clip that I'm just???? Bless her she's gonna have to deal with josh's heartbreak again tonight how she hasn't developed any form resentment for nora i will never know. ok resentment not quite the word im looking for but like nora has repeatedly broken her best friend's heart I would be wary tbh if I was in her position

okay listen LISTEN here is how we can still win!!! today is a thursday clip which means whatever happens tomorrow [I SPEAK A JOSH/NORA MEETING INTO EXISTENCE OKAY they’re going to THEIR rooftop HOW COULD THEY NOT HAVE ONE LAST SCENE TOGETHER????] is more likely to be the conclusion to their story for the season. i’m clowning at this point i am fully clowning but i do think there is still a possibility for one last honest conversation between them? i mean do I necessarily expect them to commit to each other?? No, but i would hope that after Nora heard today’s voice message [Josh “it’ll be easier if you’re shitty to me” Zimmermann STOP pls love yourself you deserve to be treated so well by everyone ;-; ;-;] she would at least find the courage to decide she can’t leave things like that???? like i need someone to take josh zimmermann by the shoulders and tell him that HE DESERVES BETTER than his loved ones treating him like garbage pls druck just do this one thing for me!!! i won’t ask for them to get back together, i won’t ask for them to decide to take it slow, i won’t even ask for them to make their peace with knowing they love each other but just have to wait for their time to come literally all i want at this point is for my kids to realize that they! deserve! the entire! world!!!!

[although you’re right and i just imagined a whole season where nora/josh is basically like every variation of jonas/eva where they tell everyone they’re cool with being friends and make a big show of it but have so much awkward unspoken tension bw them and i DO NOT WANT IT pls druck gods i will do anything for nora/josh not to be the new gen’s eva/jonas!!!!!]

Wrt fatou/kieu my - yeah i think i’m with you, i mean tbqh today’s clip really just made me feel like they’re definitely endgame. they’ve been sowing hints throughout the whole season, and those looks?? there’s no way that was an accident. also from the texts we know kieu my probably doesn’t have legit feelings for lasse, she literally just asked zoe to invite him so that she wouldn’t be alone, and also kieu my gives me mad “projecting an idealized insta version of herself to the world to hide her true self” vibes which incidentally is also mad queer vibes. so i just feel like i get really strong “fatou realizes she was infatuated with an idealized version of kieu my and ends up falling for the real kieu my who is messy and flawed and wonderful” feelings from this whole thing like okay maybe my queer monkey brain is rotting and i am playing myself [i often do that frankly] and not to say i would be mad if they weren’t endgame [so long as neither of them had a white LI but i digress lol] but like idk!! of course it was emotionally distressing to see fatou cry but really i feel like ironically this is a stronger signal for a central fatou/kieu my storyline than if it was confirmed that kieu my reciprocated because now there’s a basis for a substantial storyline between them rather than a side romance in someone else’s season. IDK!!! maybe i’m just being optimistic!!! it’s fully possible druck has clowned me countless times in the past but until further notice really that’s my take on it!

Wrt Yara - i do get what you mean, like she 100% only has Josh’s perspective on this and has basically next to no insight on Nora’s side of things so i would absolutely understand her taking josh’s side on everything. i like that they acknowledged she thinks what nora did to him was shitty - feels realistic - but then she also has moments of, like, pointing out that nora’s probably still into him because she keeps looking at him and encouraging josh to talk to Nora bc ultimately that’s what he wants to do. she’s such a good friend i think on my very short list of things i would have liked to see in this season [including an actual personality for finn] more yara and yara/josh friendship is definitely on there

[dangerliesbeforeyou]

so i’m rewatching together with me the series (does it count as a rewatch if i was barely paying attention in the first watch cos i rly didnt like the story that much? anyway i wanted to watch it fully so i could definitively say if i like it or not) & hoNESTLY it’s a literally travesty that yihwa & fai aren’t lesbians like... come on... actually would b the power couple we all deserve tbqh

[butchedyke]

(for the char thing) stanley uris, mike hanlon, and patty blum

migz!!!! i’m sorry i abandoned this in favour of video games and capitalism i hope i can make it up to u uwu

this is mostly going off the movies but there’s occasional book and miniseries input- i’ve only read the first few chapters, a few wikia pages, and some character meta from the book and i’ve only seen the miniseries once vs the however many times ive watched the movies in the last 2 months so don’t expect consistency between canons

 (also i’m gonna put these under a cut because this post got really long)

stanley uris

How I feel about this character:

there is a reason i use the tag baby boy for stan (and also for miniseries eddie)!!!! he’s my favourite loser other than eddie and i want to like. hold him and make sure he’s happy and healthy and i think stephen king should treat his characters better.

All the people I ship romantically with this character:

patty!!!!! their relationship in the book makes me so happy and anyone who’s ever spoken to me about stanpat knows that i am at all times thinking about how she calls his car sedanley.

that being said, i respect stenbrough, stanlon, and streddie but overall this is a stanpat household

My non-romantic OTP for this character:

stan with all the losers but especially richie! which isn’t very original since they are literally best friends but their dynamic!!! good!!!! i’ve not been able to stop thinking about that one scene from the miniseries where richie introduces stan as “this is stan the man uris, he’s a jew,” partially because it’s fucking funny because who says that richie what the fuck, but also because stan just instantly follows up by saying that richie has a high metabolism which makes him hyperactive, and maybe it’s because the miniseries is campy and a little bit shit but the delivery of those lines makes it seem like they do this a lot! they have these introductions ready to go! and i love the idea of them as a platonic package deal even if we don’t get to see much of that in the movies

My unpopular opinion about this character:

i don’t think i really have any? i tend to follow people who hold the same opinions as me tho so i have no idea what’s popular outside of that dshfk

i mean i do think fics that save eddie but not stan aren’t really fix-its and going off the amount of fics where stan’s still dead i guess that’s somehow an unpopular opinion? i know everyone’s focused on reddie rn but god like. stan is right there can we stop ignoring him pls

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon:

i mean the most blatantly obvious answer here is that i wish he didn’t die! he should’ve gotten to go on his holiday and rail/get railed by his wife and live to meet his friends as adults, catch up on the 27 years they didn’t get to be with each other. he should’ve gotten to have kids, once everything was over, and they should’ve been able to grow up with 5 extra uncles and an aunt bc u can’t tell me the rest of the losers wouldn’t be deeply embedded in their lives. i just wish stan had a chance to be completely, 100% happy without the underlying terror of his childhood.

on a smaller note i also wish we’d gotten to see more of his interest in birds in the movies bc like. he’s babie. and who knows! maybe would’ve helped stop the perception that his entire personality is just being a bitch that hates richie jshfd

mike hanlon

How I feel about this character:

part of the reason i wanted to read the book was for more mike content because i adore this lil farm boy and the movies. well. y’know. :). characters who just openly and whole-heartedly love their friends and go straight ride or die like 10 minutes after meeting them have my whole heart! he’s so smart and so kind and just wanted to protect his friends as best he could even though he dragged them into this whole mess bc he doesn’t want to lose them again!!!! mike deserves the whole world and if his way of getting that is by getting out of derry and getting to know that his friends remember and love him and each other then that’s all i want for him.

All the people I ship romantically with this character:

i wasn’t overly set on any particular mike ship until i watched the miniseries and saw the homoerotic bike montage and now i’m fully on the hanbrough train. choo choo.

just like with stan i support stanlon but endgame hanbrough is just. it’s right there in the text. bill didn’t divorce audra for nothing in ch2.

My non-romantic OTP for this character:

this also kinda ties in with the last point, but jane @billdenbrough opened my eyes, in the middle of a very in-depth conversation about audra’s minion strap, to the world of best friends mike and audra who are both with bill which is both galaxy brained and an incredibly good concept which i think about a lot

also i think mike and ben could’ve had something Incredibly soft if mike wasn’t treated like a background character in the first film and a quest-giving npc in the second one :) :)

My unpopular opinion about this character:

i headcanon mike as gay, i have no textual evidence for this, i just think he’s neat. i think it’s a pretty popular opinion that the movies treated him poorly? and i also think that in ch2 he was just trying to protect his friends in a scenario that did not lend itself at all to protection. drugging bill and not telling the others about the full ritual might not have been the best thing to do, but he was in a goddamn bitch of an unsatisfactory situation, and he was trying his best to save his friends no matter how impossible it may have been.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon:

i uh :) i don’t know if anyone’s figured out yet :) that i wish many things had happened with mike in canon :) :) the first film doesn’t give him much but the second film just infuriates me completely tbqh! he’s basically entirely there to push the narrative (his dialogue doesn’t even sound like dialogue! it sounds like prose explaining the plot and the next steps the characters have to take!), or to drug and lie to his friends. i wish they’d kept his backstory the same, that we’d actually gotten to see him find his token, that he’d gotten a token relevant to him as an individual rather than the group, that we’d gotten a flashback for him, that he was given more screentime and development across both films, like... i wish he’d been treated like the other losers and not a plot point.

i also wish we’d gotten to see him on his travels post-canon, seeing the other losers, and just generally actually getting to be happy- we see the start of it but god i just want to see him having a good time outside of derry.

patty blum

How I feel about this character:

if she were not stan’s wife she would be my wife. we don’t get to see much of her in the movie or miniseries and that is a fucking crime!!!! i’ve already mentioned sedanley but like. sedanley. i’ve read patty’s bit in the book and that’s all i need the other 1100 pages can get fucked, she’s just here to watch family feud and love stan which i can confidently say is a huge fucking mood

All the people I ship romantically with this character:

STAN. i guess i already talked about this before but i’ll keep going!!! my love for stanpat overwhelms my usual distaste towards straight relationships bc they’re so good!!!!! the fact that they’re really the only happy relationship to come out of the 27 year gap and they love each other so much and so like... wholesomely? but they still blow each other’s backs out on the reg and it’s what they deserve.

also i sometimes think about patty/audra as like. kind of a crack ship kind of a “i’m a lesbian and i’m desperate to see lesbians” ship. i haven’t thought about it in depth i just want to plant the seed

My non-romantic OTP for this character:

stan introducing patty to the losers and patty becoming an honorary loser is my weakness!!!! patty being comfortable enough to rib richie (and richieandeddie) with stan, but also vice versa going along with richie’s bits. patty and bev getting close because as much as st*phen k*ng and co push bev as One Of The Boys(tm) there’s just something in having another woman around that can be refreshing especially when they’re both bicons. patty and mike enthusiastically sharing holiday pictures and tales of their trips. patty noticing when eddie’s having a bad day, whether it’s anxiety or lingering trauma, and supporting him through it, regaling him with stories about stan and what essentially amount to dad jokes (sedanley!!!) and making sure he knows he’s loved and supported by all the losers. patty, the teacher, and ben, lunchtimes-in-the-library ben who never outgrew his love of reading, nerding out over shit that the others don’t really know about. bill telling patty all about what stan was like as a kid in that way only bill can, richie chiming in with crude comments sometimes but noticeably keeping quieter than usual, and patty returning the favour, telling them about the last 27 years, and not even richie makes a single joke when everyone tears up (because he’s tearing up the most). stan sitting there the whole time not even bothering to point out that he’s right there because it’s enough for him to see the romantic love of his life and the platonic loves of his life bonding, and yeah, maybe it was worth sticking around for.

My unpopular opinion about this character:

i don’t know if this is unpopular but patty pegs. that’s all.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon:

more patty. let me see my wife.

[amberandmetal]

Numbers 40 & 56, Stuckony Get creative here, surprise me 🖤

40 & 56: “I made this for you” & “It brings out your eyes”.

This became long, like ca 1800 words, and woops, it kinda turned ABO with Alpha Bucky & Steve and Omega Tony. There is no smut but mentions of sextoys and a heat. It’s a worn trope but one I have never written and I wanted to take a shot at it. 

Okay so this is the first time I write Stuckony and tbqh I am not really happy with it. But this is good: I’m learning and what I’ve learnt is that more than 2 characters confuse me so that is something I have to work on. Yay for progress, amirite? Anyway, I hope you’ll like it anyway. I realise ships are what I need to work on since I apparently have way easier writing reader inserts. (I do love writing Tony though, because he is both my baby and kindred spirit)

    Ridiculous. Just ridiculous. Grown ass Alphas, tripping over themselves like they’d just barely popped their first knot. Tony sighed, mildly exasperated. He knew he smelled good, damn good thankyouverymuch; he also knew his oncoming heat was slipping into his scent, turning up the cloying sweetness to, as they say, eleven; Tony also knew that he wasn’t the first omega Super soldier one and two had come across so really, there were no excuse for their behaviour.

    He strolled into the kitchen, sleep rumpled and still in his PJ’s, only smiling once he caught sight of the freshly made pot of coffee. Bless Bruce, he thought, just bless him.

    He made grabby hands for the pot and started clumsily search for a clean cup. The scent filled his nostrils and he gave out a happy little hum, toes waggling as he took his first sip and then outright groaned. Oh, yeah. That’s the stuff. He took another sip, and then a big gulp, making little happy noises at the warm feeling in his belly and the prickling in his mind as his brain cells slowly came back to life.

    He downed what was left in the cup, his taste buds having been scorched beyond repair eons ago, and filled it up again. This time around he tasted the richness in the flavour that was very new and very pleasant. Really bless Bruce, he would have to put that on a T-shirt and wear it every damn day, that man was truly a genius. He licked his lips and leaned back against the counter, humming a little with every sip.

    “Ow!”

    Tony’s eyes snapped open just in time to see Barnes retracting a sharply pointed elbow from Cap’s ribs. They both looked slightly odd, and slightly.. flushed. Hm, interesting.

    “Morning, Cap. Sarge.” he nodded, raising his cup.

    “Good morning, Tony,” Steve smiled but looked a little sheepish, “although it’s more like noon.”

    “Healthy sleep schedules are for amateurs.”

    Barnes snorted at that, but still looked slightly.. off.

    “Listen, are you two okay?”

    They both shared a look.

    “Yeah, Tony..it’s just.. we thought,” Steve began, glancing at Barnes as if looking for help but the Sarge just held up his hands, “you smell really nice, by the way, and we-”

    “Hold up. Are you two serious right now? I thought maybe I was imagining things but you’re actually serious? A little bit of omega pheromones and you two just let your hormones take over the by the wheel?” Tony turned to fill up his third cup of coffee with shaking hands, because really, ”I’ll tell you what, I’ll just keep to my workshop and my suite until my heat wears off and you two can behave like people again, sound good? Yeah, thought so.” And then he was gone, storming off down to his workshop, telling Jarvis to black out the windows, locking everyone but family (i.e Pepper, Rhodey, Bruce) out and blasting his music high enough to rattle the walls- if it didn’t scare Dum-E it wasn’t loud enough.

    He had left Dumdum 1 and Dumdum 2 sitting at the kitchen table looking every bit as stupid as they ought to feel. Had they actually fucking propositioned him? Just because he smelled damn near delicious? Thanks but no thanks, he was more than just his biology even if they weren’t, and he could perfectly well get through a heat without an Alpha.

    After all he was used to it by now. He hadn’t shared a heat since before Afghanistan; somehow intimacy had started feeling a lot more intimate after that and he just couldn’t bring himself to share that with anyone. Although he had to admit to having had some rather filthy and sappy fantasizes about the aforementioned dumdum 1 & 2, but he wasn’t gonna give in just because they felt a biological pull. If anything was to ever happen it would be because they wanted Tony, not Tony the Omega. And as that was as unlikely to happen as Tony waking up popping a knot, he’d just have to make do- and keep away.

    He sipped at the quickly cooling coffee and groaned as he started to feel the telltale ache building low in his gut. Just perfect.

              ~~~

    A couple of days, a string of broken toys, 7 showers and 5 different sets of sheets later Tony’s heat finally cleared; and he was relieved to the point of tears.

    It had been a rough one, with his lizard brain chanting at him to go to the very eligible and very wanting Alphas who’d so clearly expressed interest.

    Breed, breed, breed.

    Ugh, disgusting.

    He went through his regular routine before leaving the bed: yawn, stretch like a cat, roll and stretch again, unavoidably get tangled up in the sheets, detangle, yawn, stretch and repeat.

    When he finally emerged from his penthouse, clean shaven and some fresh clothes (yeah, he was not gonna miss the sweating) he was met with two super soldiers blocking his way to the kitchen, and in extension, the coffee.

    “Do you two have a death wish?”

    “Bruce told us your heat had cleared.”

    Traitor. All previous thoughts of blessings of his ex best friend have hereby been redacted.

    “So the death wish is a common theme then.”

    Both Cap and Sarge looked at him like he’d grown another head.

    “Right now you’re the only thing standing between me and my coffee after a frankly unpleasant heat so either move or be moved.”

    Barnes smirked then in a way that said he’d really like to see Tony try but Steve elbowed him before he could say anything.

    “Yeah, alright but can you just please listen first? What I tried to say before, what we tried to say before, it came out all wrong and-”

    “Fine. Coffee first. Then I’ll listen.”

    Steve managed to pull off nervous and completely exasperated at the same time. Had Tony been fully awake he might’ve actually been impressed.

    The two of them sat patiently waiting for Tony’s brain to come back online and when he looked up from his first cup of coffee he found himself in a comically deja vu of a situation.

    “Well, isn’t this familiar?”, he sipped slowly on the scolding but delicious coffee- okay, so he might forgive Bruce, a little.

    Barnes cleared his throat and planted both elbows on the table.

    “See, Stevie here has no game, he is about as smooth as a pineapple, I mean,” he chuckled leaning forward like he was telling Tony something really funny in confidence,” you should have seen him back when, five feet nothing trying to sweet talk the omegas I set us up with. Scent be damned, nobody believed that little punk to be an Alpha.”

    Steve looked less than impressed.

    “Yeah, real funny, Buck. Can you cut to it?”

    Barnes scowled lightly at him but continued.

    “What we wanted to say, tried to say, before was that.. we want to court you.”

    Nothing could’ve prepared Tony for getting a nose full of coffee. He spluttered like an enraged cat.

    “You what?”

    Both of them looked like they could barely contain themselves, their lips twitching as they tried their best to look sympathetic and sincere. Tony was having none of it.

    “You can’t be serious.” He dabbed furiously at the coffee stains on his neck and shirt.

    “We are, we just didn’t know how to tell you and then you started smelling all sweet, syrupy and delicious.” Bucky answered, a bit of heat creeping into his voice. A frankly mouthwatering grin on his lips.

    Tony swallowed thickly, glancing at the Sergeant. Well.. wait, what?

    “We? As in you both? And who courts anyone anymore?”

    This time Steve spoke up, looking slightly embarrassed.

    “We do. Where we come from.. it’s what you did when you were sweet on someone. And we also think you deserve it,” the words started rushing out of Steve and Tony just gaped while Bucky had the look of someone watching a trainwreck in the making, “ you work so hard and you hardly ever get any credit, you’re kind and generous and expect nothing back and we know your heats have been taking a toll on you. But that’s not why we want you,” he hurried himself to add, “even if you never want to share a heat with either of us we’d be just as happy to just be with you.”

    Steve shrugged, apparently done. He looked down, a hint of pink tinting the tips of his ears. Barnes just smiled in a way that honestly just looked heartbreakingly hopeful.

    So this was it then, this was Tony’s life.

    He had a hard time processing everything, and more than half of what had just been said didn’t make a lick of sense, but he’d be a fool to look a gift horse in the mouth.

    He would be lying if he said he didn’t feel a warmth fluttering in his chest the way the super soldiers at his kitchen table were looking at him all expectantly. He licked his lips slowly, nervousness hammering behind his sternum.

    “Fine.. I mean yeah, okay.. Sure, why not?”

    The smiles he got in response were bright enough to put the sun to shame.

    “So you’ll go out with us?” Barnes asked.

    “Saturday good?” Steve added.

    Tony huffed a laugh, rubbing a palm over his face.

    “Yeah, yeah, that’d be great.”

    He couldn’t really stop the mirroring smile tugging on his own lips.

    Ridiculous.

    Suddenly he was crowded against the counter. Barnes put a hand in his left pocket and fished out something silvery and shining. It was a simple silver chain with what looked like a smoky quartz pendant dangling on it.

    “I made this for you,” he held it out in question and Tony hesitantly bowed his head a bit so he could clasp it around his neck.. ridiculous,” Steve drew the design.”

    Cap looked like Tony’d just granted them the world when he looked back up, chain snugly placed around his neck. He took the small pendant between his fingers.

    “It brings out your eyes,” he explained, warmth colouring his voice.

    And then he leaned in, lips just barely brushing Tony’s own, and he would be loathe to ever admit to the moan that he let slip out. Next was Barnes who was a little less sweet and a bit more demanding but just as toe curling. Tony made a little trilling noise in the back of his throat. His cheeks heated but the two Alphas just looked at him like he was simply adorable. He was only a little  annoyed with how good that felt.

    But, yeah.. this could work.

[dragonie]

Catching up with Noora’s relationships mid-Deadfire (may be mild spoilers behind the cut; also major ones for PoE1):

Edér: Still fast friends, united in their desire to pet every animal on the Archipelago. Seriously he is on +2 with Noora and 90% of that is Animal Kindness fires. Noora views Edér as one of her best friends who’s been there through thick and thin and also Obsidian platonic hug Edér DLC when

Xoti: A little more hesitant, Noora is very supportive of Xoti and genuinely respects her desire to help lost souls. Unfortunately, their relationship is a little awkward at times due to Noora’s discovery that The Gods Are Dicks, Actually. While she doesn’t want to disrespect people’s beliefs or dissuade them from something they see as a positive influence in their lives, after PoE1 hearing people talk about how great the gods are has the same energy as a friend gushing about a new boyfriend who is actually a total drop kick. Lot of tongue biting going on which gets in the way of truly connecting.

Aloth: Another Best Friend from the Dyrwood days, now in receipt of the Boyfriend supplementary package. Iselmyr is chuffed. Noora was always very fond of Aloth back in PoE1 - he’s quiet and thoughtful and genuinely cared about both how she was handling the Awakening and doing the right thing in general - but between the riots and the confessions and the running for their lives and the growing fear that her entire sense of self would be subsumed by a past life, there wasn’t any time to think about romance. And then the end just kind of happened, and everyone went their separate ways, and while some like Edér were still contactable, others like Aloth (going undercover) were not, and it suddenly hit her just how much she missed these people, and some of them especially. After they meet again there’s still a bit of initial awkwardness from the five-year gap, but after a bit of time they ease back into a more comfortable rapport, and now without the deceptions and the fears Noora is confident enough to make her move lmao

Serafen: They get along a lot better than she expected to get along with a foul-mouthed unrepentant pirate. Serafen is fun to be around even if you wish he would please stop talking about his sexual escapades quite so much thank you. She becomes oddly protective of him after learning more Deets of his backstory.

Rekke: Language barrier is originally an issue but after Rekke learns Aedyran it’s instant bff time. Rekke is friendly and pleasant and fun to be around, and Noora’s fascinated to hear about his little-known homeland. In another universe, Noora ends up with Rekke instead of Aloth because this game has activated my mutlishipper heart lmao

Konstanten: They get along well enough, though Konstanten doesn’t have much content yet; hopefully Seeker, Slayer, Survivor will give a better handle on their dynamic

Tekēhu: Found his big personality rather overwhelming at first, but after seeing how he was genuinely shocked by the state of Roparu in the Gullet and wanted to do right by them, she realises that he does have a good heart and a sense of responsibility. Talking about how the Huana perceive him and the weight of that duty also makes her understand him a lot more, and now Noora is protective of him - she’s a big sister herself, so she easily slips into the Big Sister Friend role lmao. Also by Huana reckoning she (a moon godlike) and Tekēhu technically have the same mum, even if it’s a shitty mum who doesn’t even pretend not to play favourites with her kids and honestly Noora’s mortal mum is much better, Tekēhu please call your own mortal mum too, you deserve better than Ondra/Ngati she is awful. Does make it a bit weird when he hits on her or otherwise is very open about his sexual habits lil bro please

Maia: Noora wants to get along with Maia; she’s Kana’s sister and Noora loves Kana to bits! Unfortunately, faction conflict gets in the way of that: Noora doesn’t trust Atsura or the RDC one bit, and so for all that Maia’s insisting they’re doing good, it’s definitely a wall between them.

Pallegina: The third Bestie from Dyrwood, and one who unfortunately is not in good standing with her homeland after the incident back there. Noora feels very guilty about her role in this, although Pallegina seems to have largely forgiven her by now. Definitely on board with her misotheism, a bit more guarded about animancy (Noora’s always been split between the potential good it can do and the dangers/harm) and the role of the VTC in the Deadfire. Still, Noora likes and respects Pallegina (and thinks the Republics don’t deserve her tbqh) and hopes that faction issues won’t get too in the way of their friendship.

Fassina: Finds Fassina’s desire for open-source magic intriguing, and after having met both Concelhaut and Arkemyr is fully in agreement that most archmages are wangs (Llengrath is all right though). She has terrible taste in dudes though

Ydwin: Ydwin’s... condition is also interesting, if somewhat frightening in possibilities. Still, experimenting on herself is far better than experimenting on others, so Ydwin at least is more responsible than many animancers Noora’s met. Ydwin’s also the quiet, bookish type which Noora gets along with well.

Mirke: Unfortunately this girl doesn’t have a lot of content either; right now Noora likes her but is a bit put off by the whole perma-drunk thing.

Vatnir: Noora hasn’t met this boy yet, will update more once she’s met him because either way it is likely to be very interesting

[sage-nebula]

Fandom - Breath of the Wild!

blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most)

It's a tossup between Link and Zelda! I love them both equally, but especially together. That said though, Zelda is obviously the more defined of the two given that she was actually allowed to have dialogue and that, when you get right down to it, Breath of the Wild's story really is about her (it is, for once, truly Zelda's legend). So she's my favorite fully realized character, whereas Link is a little less realized but I still love him.

scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped)

THE DRAGONS — DINRAAL, FAROSH, AND NAYDRA. I know they're not exactly characters in that you can't talk to them or anything, but I don't care. They are So Shaped. I love them So Much. But if I do need to pick an actual character, then Riju. She's my bby girl and I love her so much (especially her original personality in the actual game, not that Age of Calamity nonsense).

scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave)

TEBA. Teba might have more fans since Age of Calamity where he got to be more of a character, I don't know, but I do know that he's a relatively obscure one in the main game because he's the only one of the new Champions that has no relation to the Champions of old, and also the Rito section is (imo) pretty short, but I love him. He's a gruff bird dad who cares about his kid and his people and gets straight to the point on things. He's also got a pretty cool design. I like him a lot and wish we got to spend more time with him in the game.

glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week)

Jini!! He's so underrated that I'm sure no one even knows who he is, but he's the archery master at the archery camp that runs the challenge for you. I don't know why, but for some reason while I was playing I just got this sense that he and Link could develop a sort of mentor-mentee relationship, like Jini really cared and Link had someone who would look after and teach him despite the circumstances. Jini might not realize that Link is the Hero from 100 years ago, but also he doesn't care because Link was in stasis and is still mentally 17. He's a teenage boy and needs an adult to be willing to give him a warm meal and some horseback archery lessons. I don't know, I just grew really fond of him.

poor little meow meow (“problematic”/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave)

Probably the Yiga Clan as a whole, haha. I mean, yeah, they do a lot of shitty things in both the past and the present such as murdering a guy's wife because he defected from them and then threatening to murder his two small children if he doesn't continue to spy for them . . . buuuut at the SAME time their grievances with the Hyrulean Royal Family honestly are justified even if they go about it in the wrong way (no, helping Calamity Ganon destroy the world is not an effective way to get the Royal Family to pay you the reparations you are due) and honestly, even though Zelda herself is not directly at fault since the decision to banish the Sheikah and destroy their culture etc was made 10,000 years before she was born, neither she nor her father have done anything to pay reparations to what was done to the Sheikah by their ancestors either. So like, the Yiga Clan do things that aren't justified, but at the same time their feelings of rage toward the Hyrulean Royal Family (and the goddesses tbqh) are justified. I feel for them.

horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason)

I purposefully tormented Magda until she murdered me for stepping on the flowers multiple times and I do not regret it for a minute.

eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell)

Honestly that's where I hope the Hyrulean King from 10,000 years ago is, because he absolutely deserves it for what he did to the Sheikah. Literally, the Sheikah created the technology to stop Calamity Ganon and save all of Hyrule, and the King from 10,000 years ago "repaid" them by banishing them from Hyrule (Kakariko was a hidden village for a very long time), destroying all of their technology, making it illegal for them to pursue science under threat of imprisonment or worse, and so on and so forth. As I said above, the Yiga have absolutely every right to be furious with the Royal Family, and you also can't blame them for wanting to turn against the goddesses when the goddesses had told them "you are our people meant to protect Hylia's descendants" and then those same descendants treated them like this. The fact that there still are Sheikah who are loyal to their goddess-given quest and the Royal Family is like . . . astounding. But anyway, the King from 10,000 years ago definitely deserves to burn in superhell, hope it's super hot there for him.

Other than him though, Yunobo. Yunobo is super annoying and made me go on a goddamn escort mission. Hate that dude.