#hella important

[lil-cute-shinigami-comic]

Know your rights

Here's spanish version

[walkawaytall]

Also, also, why is it that Yoda straight-up says the Luke's anger reminds him of Anakin's in The Empire Strikes Back and the movie very subtly shows Luke's face under Vader's helmet and fandom just glosses straight over that and says that Luke is just like his mom, but Leia yells about a plan being dumb and likely to get everyone killed a few times, and suddenly she's got the same anger in her that turned Anakin evil for twenty-some years?

[smolspoopy]

[pastelwhile-art]

Big week for gay people (Oct 20th and Oct 24th)

[laughing-drawing-aces]

i know people say that arthur get worse as the seasons go on but i saw a post with a saying of “fandom thinks that merlin is arthur’s moral compass” and despite that post not being about this i kind of came to the realization of why arthur does this back and forth in later seasons - it’s because of how fucked merlin’s moral compass is. merlin is so used to fear and that taking hold of him and living that way and desperation for arthur to stay alive that merlin’s one hesitancy and his way of life became arthur’s way of life. arthur cares about what merlin says so fucking much that he goes to merlin about things regarding the kingdom and how to rule. ironically merlin did mold arthur just as much as uther molded arthur. and ironically they both molded arthur to see the worst in magic. majority of the time in canon that arthur saw the good in magic wasn’t because of merlin. the first time we see him defend magic is because of gwen and her father. in season 2 he is willing to see that magic is good simply because it brought him his mother back for just a few seconds and he could talk to her! it’s soo intriguing and interesting. there are so many instances where arthur did think magic was good and the majority of the time it had nothing to do with merlin. actually arthur’s ideals of magic being not as great falls directly back on uther and merlin telling him directly that magic isn’t great and shouldn’t be trusted. that’s not to say that merlin should’ve shouldered all of this or that arthur can’t think for himself. i’m just saying that arthur’s back and forth that does become incredibly annoying at the end is where merlin’s moral compass plays a part in. merlin’s priorities changing directly stunted arthur’s growth multiple times and arthur didn’t even know it. most fics have arthur and merlin separating because “mean arthur can’t see merlin’s value and he needs to appreciate merlin and merlin needs to get away cuz this is consuming him and he needs to live his own life” which the merlin part is true but arthur’s downfall simply is because he values merlin way too fucking much that he will take merlin’s values solely to his heart and his heart will guide himself for merlin’s values. merlin’s belief of the prophecy however is not know to arthur thus arthur has a skewed version of merlin’s beliefs and etc. it’s just so intriguing because yes merlin is arthur’s moral compass which is exactly why arthur is stunted because merlin doesn’t trust arthur multiple times. not saying that he didn’t have no reason to fear arthur cuz he did. it’s just merlin didn’t trust arthur to grow which is why the ending is also so much more heartbreaking. arthur does grow in the end and merlin sees that. merlin sees that arthur could have grown so much more and that merlin could have had arthur by his side with merlin’s magic being known. at the end merlin allows arthur to grow to question to change his view point to change his moral compass but it’s too fucking late.

[skippingseaglass]

if drawing silly goobers was a profession that paid i'd be racking it IN bay bee

[rougepancake]

Hii I hope it’s okay to request this, I love your writing 😭 can I request a nsfw shy fem reader x Rengoku scenario where he walks in the room only to find his wife looking at the mirror with nothing but his haori on? He can hear her mumble insecurities to herself such as being flat and not pretty enough and how he deserves someone so much better.. but he makes sure to show his wife just how much he loves her ❤️

FJDJSJSJSNSN YES YES YES

My love

Ft. Kyojuro Rengoku

Warnings: Afab!Reader, angsty/fluffy smut, mirror sex, angst to fluff to smut, use of pet names like “my love”, soft dom kyojuro, dub-con. He’s just a sweetie in this tbh. Porn with some plot. Minors and ageless blogs dni.

Summary: Kyojuro caught you crying in the bathroom, saying things like how you weren’t ideally shaped or overly pretty, so he decided to make you feel pretty.

“Oh just look at me…” you sighed, looking at yourself in the mirror. “I don’t deserve this,” you whispered, staring at the way your husband’s haori fell over your body. You scoffed bitterly, your eyes tearing up.

“I-I’m not even curvy like Miss Kanroji…” You shook, wrapping your arms around yourself as you sobbed quietly. “God I’m just hideous aren’t I?! Why did he choose me…”

“Darling! I’ve returned from the market!” Your husband’s voice rang through the halls of your shared home, nearly scaring you to death. As you prayed for him not to find you in such a state, his voice rang out again. “Darling? Are you here?”

Just then, he rounded the corner, his eyes widening at the sight of you.

“Oh my goodness! What happened?!” He ran over to you, his hands on your shoulders as he stared into your teary eyes.

“It’s nothing love.” You were lying through your teeth and it was obvious, but you’d rather die than tell him the truth. “Just don’t worry about it…”

His eyes trailed down your body slowly, quickly moving up to meet your gaze when you shifted uncomfortably. You looked away from him, your lip quivering as you fought the urge to throw yourself into his arms and cry.

Gently, Rengoku wrapped his arms around you, pulling you close. “It’s okay now love… shhh, it’s okay.. just tell me when you’re ready, or don’t… either way, I’m here now, and everything is going to be alright…” He whispered softly into your ear as you sobbed violently, muttering things about how you weren’t good enough for him and such.

Hearing you say such things about yourself upset him in a way he’d never felt before. It sparked a flame in his heart that burned with the desire to prove you wrong, and that’s exactly what he was going to do.

He placed his hand on your cheek softly and raised your head so you could look at him. The look in his fiery eyes made you shiver, and you wrapped his haori tighter around you in embarrassment.

“My love, you are everything to me.” He smiled softly, placing a gentle kiss on your forehead. “Please, let me show you how much you mean to me.”

You thought he was just going to kiss you until you were sorry, but you were incredibly wrong. To your surprise, he picked you up and set you on the bathroom counter and spread your legs.

Your body shook a little when he inhaled your sent, placing gentle kisses on your thighs as you watched. His beautiful eyes made contact with yours as he asked for silent permission. Slowly, you nodded your head yes, placing your hand on his shoulder as he bent over to enjoy his meal.

He didn’t waste time latching onto your clit as he began to finger you slowly, watching you closely the whole time. You threw your head back with a quiet moan, bringing your hand down to his fiery locks and tugging gently.

Before you knew it, he had added another finger, his pace quickening as you squirmed here and there. He was desperate to make you cum, to pleasure you in a way that would make you feel as amazing as he thinks you are.

“K-Kyo- st-sto- mmph~” He interrupted you by bringing you in for a kiss, a beautiful, passionate kiss. A tear fell down your cheek as you held him close to you, wanting nothing more than to have that singular kiss last forever.

But he pulled away.

You wanted to kiss him again, but you were afraid he’d deny your request. You were t sure why you thought that, but it scared you so much that you had too look away from him.

“What’s wrong my love?” Kyojuro asked softly, placing a warm hand on your cheek as another tear slid past it.

“I don’t deserve this…” Your lip quivered along with your voice, revealing more than you had intended.

Kyojuro stood you up from the counter and turned you around, forcing you to see yourself in the mirror in all your naked glory.

Resting his head on your shoulder, he watched as his hands explored your body. “Look at you. You’re beyond perfect.” He began to kiss your neck, leaving marks here and there. “Please, just hear me out this once, okay love?”

You nodded nervously, watching as he undid his belt and brought his pants down. It wasn’t your first time with Kyojuro, but you were still nervous.

A bead of sweat dripped down your forehead as you helped guide him in, his pace starting out slow and gentle as you watched in the mirror.

Now he’s balls deep and merciless, uttering praises with every thrust of his hips. He was getting closer to his high and you knew it, so you pulled him in for another kiss as his thrusts grew even sloppier.

“L-love, can I- ah~ cum in-inside?” Kyojuro panted, low grunts escaping him as he awaited your answer.

“P-please- I’m cl-close too.” You were breathless, not just because you were being fucked like a princess, but because he had shown you how much you deserved.

A loud, high pitched moan escaped you as you came together, your fluids mixing together as they dropped down your thighs. Tears fell down your cheeks as you came down from your high, breathing heavily. When you looked up into the mirror, Kyojuro was staring at you with wide eyes.

“Y-You’re so beautiful.” He whispered, his eyes shining with awe. “Can w-we do that again??” His excitement caught you off guard, but it made you laugh nonetheless.

“Well…” You started, a playful smile on your lips. “You know the way to the bedroom Kyo~”

[the-way-astray]

WAIT PLZ ELABORATE ABT THE ALDEN IS BETTER THAN GRADY? IM SO CURIOUS /gen

alright, anon, and everyone else i’m tagging. originally, this was going to be a "this is why alden is a better father than grady" rant, since it was supposed to include an argument defending some of alden's most controversial parenting choices and also point out grady's worst parenting choices. but i dropped the grady portion, so now this is just an alden defense rant containing two sections ("the forbidden cities" and "keefe's flashback short story breakdown"). so that's this entire post. i'll probably do the grady thing some other time, and it won't be as in-depth as this. probably, it will just be a bullet point list of some weird shit he does, and that's it.

taglist: @absolutely-existing @multi-fandom-lunatic @thatrandomlemononyourcounter1 @worldsunlikemyown @icantrememberwhoiwaslastdecember @lucentstarss

section one: the forbidden cities

the main gripe most people have with alden is probably the sending fitz and alvar into the forbidden cities thing. let’s talk about why this was decidedly not a shitty thing for alden to do.

part one: were fitz and alvar in any danger in the forbidden cities?

a lot of people try to make the argument that fitz and alvar, especially fitz, could've run into danger while in the forbidden cities. while there was no way to make it truly risk-free, i do think that these arguments are blown out of proportion. here's a quote:

(keeper, chapter 2)

fitz explicitly says that he was actually only sent to check alden’s guesses. he was not sent to wander around the forbidden cities looking for random girls. he was sent to confirm or deny alden’s theories, which alden came up himself (we can extrapolate and assume the same of alvar). which brings up an interesting point: many people claim alden should’ve done the search himself, instead of sending his six-year-old out to do it. to which i say, he . . . did? the only part of the search fitz was involved with was the confirmation. the rest was done entirely by alden and quinlin:

(keeper, chapter 10)

this, i think, was a necessary evil. first of all, alden is a grown man. he’s been looking for sophie since basically birth, and i think we can all understand why that’s not a fantastic look. sending someone closer to her age makes fitz more approachable (in theory, of course. in reality, not so much, sophie still ran from fitz). also, fitz can light leap. if he was ever in danger, it would’ve only ever been the work of a moment for him to safely get away. and like i said, it really seems like fitz and alvar were only there for as long as they needed to be to confirm the girl was or was not an elf. alvar flat out admits to this:

(neverseen, chapter 65)

as for fitz, notice the second part there. he agrees with alvar. he says he almost didn’t look past sophie’s eye color. and if you read the very first chapter, you can see that he wasn’t there for long at all. it’s very likely that when sophie first sees him with the newspaper, he just leaped in a few minutes ago, and he was planning on leaving as soon as he finished talking to sophie:

(keeper, chapter 1)

so we can conclude that each excursion that fitz or alvar took was probably not longer than ten to fifteen minutes. they never spent significant chunks of time in the forbidden cities. fitz likely took maybe a couple extra seconds to grab a random thing and leave, but that’s about it. not long enough for either of them to have run into any significant danger.

part two: how did this affect fitz and alvar's school lives?

okay, you say, the forbidden cities thing might be all well and good, but what about this quote? fitz describes how alden’s search affected his school life:

(everblaze, chapter 21)

now, it is unfortunate that fitz missed a lot of school because of the search. but he doesn’t seem too torn up about it (this entire exchange with sophie here reads as very light-hearted), which i feel is relevant. this passage mostly talks about fitz's social life, and how people didn't want to hang out with him because he was disappearing all the time. though the fact remains that i genuinely don't think fitz cared all that much about this at all. he seems to be a bit of a loner at heart, not really having many friends besides keefe, biana, and biana's friend(s), like maruca. this continues even after he and keefe become "cool", so while the search clearly took a toll on his social life, it really doesn't seem to bother him that much. and i really think alden would’ve left the choice of whether or not to participate in the search up to his kids, not forcing them if they absolutely didn't want to participate. so in the case that fitz did decide he didn't want to skip so much school, i think alden would've been fine with booting him from the search. here’s a quote from alvar:

(neverseen, chapter 65)

he specifically states that the reasons he did the search were to keep his dad happy and to sneak away to the forbidden cities. also, the fact that sophie even asked this question and got a serious answer back already implies that fitz and alvar had "reasons" of their own for wanting to do the search, like the ones alvar states here. as in, their reason was not "my dad made me do it". (we're going to ignore the fact that alvar's reason likely had way more to do with helping the neverseen find sophie than anything.)

so okay, maybe alvar's just saying that, maybe he doesn't actually feel like that. to that i say, let’s look at this quote, a quote after alvar’s true colors have been revealed:

(flashback, chapter 49)

even though he is literally ranting about his parents here, nowhere, not even once, does he mention or even imply that alden forced, manipulated, or otherwise pressured him to do the search. if alvar truly held any ill will toward alden for sending him on the search, now would be the perfect time to express that. yet he doesn’t. we can extrapolate and assume the same of fitz: that alden didn’t in any way try to manipulate or trick fitz into going. i honestly believe that the second either of them had expressed that they didn’t want to do the search anymore, alden would’ve found another way. and i do think fitz would’ve expressed that if he wanted out. once again, when he tells sophie the story i quoted above (everblaze, chapter 21), it’s done very light-heartedly, with no malice toward alden that sophie can detect.

let’s talk about fitz’s academic life now. he missed a lot of school. obviously that takes a toll. but look at this quote:

(flashback, chapter 21)

fitz ranked, and probably continues to rank, number one in his entire level. he did just fine in school. alden’s search clearly didn’t impact his ability to perform well. back when i was an alden hater, i actually used this against alden, saying that if fitz ranked so high and did better than anyone else (including keefe who literally has a photographic memory), then he must’ve had to work incredibly hard on top of the work he already had to put into alden’s search, and we don’t know how that affected him behind the scenes. and i don’t agree with that take anymore. i think fitz would’ve told alden if it became too much for him, and even more than that, i think alden would’ve checked in with fitz proactively to make sure the combination of the search and school wasn't getting to him. there’s no evidence to confirm or deny, but i think it’s safe to assume. look no further than the reason alden even sent fitz out at six years old in the first place:

(neverseen, chapter 1)

he clearly prioritized his children's education, and when the situation called for it, he found another way. he understood that alvar wouldn't be able to sneak out of the towers anymore, and he was not willing to put alvar's education at risk. when it came to it, he always put his children before his search. he was never willing to truly sacrifice what truly mattered for his search.

also just throwing this in here, but alvar, just like fitz, did exceptionally well during his basic level years. we have no evidence that the search affected his academic life in any real way, but rather the opposite (that he did just fine):

(nightfall, chapter 16)

section two: keefe's flashback short story breakdown

(note: i will be using this transcription by @/kotlc-deleted-scenes for quotes. in case you weren't aware, there's a blog entirely dedicated to transcribing exclusive scenes, deleted quotes, and other not-widely-known extra kotlc material. check it out if you haven't read all the short stories. okay, advertising over.)

so i don't like ro. that's a subject for another time, but my hatred for her particularly manifests in this scene, because i think a lot of people see her interpretation of what alden is saying, and then take it as some gospel truth. but the only perspectives we're seeing here, actually, are keefe's (because it's his pov) and ro's (because she can't keep her mouth shut). we don't know what alden's thinking or what he means when he says what he's saying. all we get is keefe and ro's almost-certainly skewed views on this scene. so just keep that in mind as you read this entire short story.

i feel like there's a good chunk of people out there that genuinely think alden went there that day with the intention to tell keefe to stay away from sophie and let sophie be with fitz and stop trying to mess with sophie and fitz's relationship and back off, keefe. this is blatantly false. he came there with the intention to invite keefe to the tribunal, and because of ro he ended up needing to justify his decision to ask keefe and sophie to be there. which is fine! it's not like keefe didn't deserve an explanation. but then you can't get mad when he explains his reason, which is perfectly valid.

so let's talk about why ro's outburst is, in my opinion, not grounded in any sort of reality. first of all, alden says fitz doesn't exactly excel at controlling his temper (true). he then asks keefe (an empath, and also fitz's "best friend") to help calm fitz down. honestly, i shouldn't have to explain this, since alden says this all himself.

ro's comment seems to imply she thinks that alden's nefarious little plan here is to let fitz take his anger out on keefe for no reason. but that's clearly not what's going on? he invited sophie because he thinks fitz needs her, and invited keefe because he doesn't want fitz to take his anger out on sophie. he doesn't want fitz to take it out on keefe, either. he just thinks keefe is better able to stop fitz from doing something he'll regret than sophie is. he doesn't want to see either keefe or sophie be the target of fitz's temper, and just thinks keefe is better equipped to handle it than sophie is.

whether or not alden is correct with this line of reasoning, i think, is a different discussion entirely (the fact that he later implies sophie and fitz will inevitably end up together, while also not being confident they can handle their own problems without a third-party friend intervening is . . . contradictory, to say the least). but he was speaking his mind, and while he might have been wrong, he was not being manipulative, which seems to be the argument here.

so alden thinks fitz "needs" sophie. i'd once again argue that he's wrong, but i would not argue that he's being manipulative. he then, and this is important, seems nervous and tentative as his eyes shift to keefe, because he knows that keefe has a crush on sophie. now, before i tackle that whole thing, i’d like to once again emphasize that alden did not come to the shores of solace with the intention of telling keefe to let fitz have sophie or whatever. they shouldn’t even be having this conversation right now, honestly, but since ro is so fucking annoying, they are. alden’s intention with this visit was to request keefe go to the tribunal. that’s literally it. that’s all. this fitz-and-sophie tangent is a side quest.

okay, back to the main point. here’s what alden sees: two teenagers that have a crush on each other, and a third that has unreciprocated feelings for one of them. all three of the teenagers are friends. he is trying to preserve all three friendships, and i'd argue that he's especially trying to prevent keefe from heartbreak. again, is alden right about the whole sophie-fitz-keefe love triangle situation? no. but that doesn't make him manipulative. not only does he know that keefe has unreciprocated feelings for someone who has reciprocated feelings for someone else, but he's aware that keefe knows this, too. (side note: when i say keefe has unreciprocated feelings for sophie, who has reciprocated feelings for fitz, i mean that it was known she had a crush on fitz, and if you want to argue she had hidden feelings for keefe, you at least have to admit that she wasn't aware of them at this point in time. keefe's reaction to alden's words ("he was always trying hard not to think about it, because it made him want to punch things") only makes it clearer to me that keefe himself is also aware that sophie has known feelings for fitz.) once again, reading alden's body language clearly reveals how gently he's trying to communicate this, and i'd even argue that he doesn't want to even be saying any of this at all. but once again, we can blame ro for all our problems.

will ro keep her goddamned mouth shut. anyway. i'm not going to talk about how weird it is to imply that sophie doesn't know her own feelings, because that's not what this is about. but even if sophie doesn't know her own feelings, it's still incredibly insensitive to disregard the fact that she likes fitz here and now.

alden goes on to say that sophie doesn't know what she feels because fitz hasn't confessed his feelings yet, which may seem like he doesn't care about sophie (or keefe) as much as he does fitz, but again. he seems super convinced that sophie and fitz like each other (which they do, at this point). he wants them to be happy together. there's some cognitive dissonance about the true nature of their relationship, but his heart is in the right place. and once again, he is not telling this to keefe because he sees keefe as competition for fitz over sophie. he's telling this to keefe because he doesn't want him to do something that would endanger his relationship with either fitz or sophie.

and keefe knows this, too. he literally states in that last part that he's well aware sophie and fitz like each other, and that at one point he's going to have to deal with that even though he has a crush on sophie. so you can't even argue that alden's line of reasoning is illogical. it's wrong, but it's a logical conclusion to come to.

that top paragraph there once again reveals why alden is doing any of this at all. he just wants keefe to get out of this situation without any heartbreak because he knows keefe has an unreciprocated crush on sophie. keefe, being sixteen, vehemently denies this. and you can see that alden is not being particularly nosy here, actually. he corrects keefe when keefe lies, but he doesn't pressure keefe to talk about it, and doesn't ask any further questions. he's just letting keefe know that he is aware of the entire situation.

maybe if ro wasn't here to skew everyone's view of what's going on here, people wouldn't fall for the alden-is-evil-and-trying-to-manipulate-keefe propaganda so readily because every. single. word. of that sentiment in this story comes from ro. alden is not meddling. if anyone's meddling, it's ro. in fact, ro has gone and continues to go way past meddling in future books, but. that's besides the point.

and yes, this is the definition of caring. once again want to remind everyone that alden did not come here with the intention of telling keefe to let sophitz happen. the conversation took an unexpected twist and now they're here. and as i've already said, alden's body language suggests anything from trying his best to prod gently and let keefe down easy all the way to being uncomfortable that this conversation is even happening at all. but every piece of advice he's given keefe up until this point is valid.

and i know the alden antis knows this well because every time keefe starts monologuing (in an incredibly forced manner) about how he's not going to sabotage sophitz's relationship and how he's going to wait until sophie's ready and how he'd never listen to ro about shooting his shot and how he's ready to support sophitz even though he has a crush on sophie, everyone acts like he's some brave martyr that's willing to be in all this pain as long as sophie's happy and talks about how amazing and angelic and kind and perfect he is as a love interest for her. but when alden says virtually the same thing, the only difference being that he's a third party character, people immediately paint him as the devil incarnate. so keefe deciding that he's not going to wreck sophitz's relationship by staying out of it is selfless and sweet, but alden giving keefe advice to do that same exact thing is somehow cruel or manipulative?

and i have no idea why people have such a problem with alden pointing out that he sees keefe as a son. like. point out the part in that sentence where alden is manipulating keefe. i would like to see it. he's just stating a fact. sorry him stating a fact pissed you all off so bad. there's literally an actual-book flashback scene where alden is the first person in keefe's entire life to tell him that he's proud of him. have we missed the fact that keefe has seen alden as a father figure, too? the fact that this is not made-up, not just being stated out of the blue, but rather just an assurance of something both of them already know?

alright then . . . now let's talk about the part where this entire story is told from keefe's perspective (and ro's, because again, she cannot keep her mouth shut). he feels hurt, and i'm not saying he doesn't have the right to. being told your crush doesn't like you out loud probably hurts. so yes, he doesn't feel good. but that doesn't mean that alden is in the wrong here for what he told keefe. it just means keefe has a crush that seems to be unrequited right now, and that having an unrequited crush hurts.

we are going to ignore the fact that this is my favorite part . . . anyway. ahem. this is very important, so listen up, folks. alden sees himself in keefe. this entire scene, i guarantee you, what's running through his head is the fact that (he thinks) he was in keefe's exact position at one point. he understands keefe's position, and he wants keefe to know this. this is why he tells keefe this story. because he doesn't want keefe to misinterpret what he's saying as malicious or a personal attack on keefe (the way ro is). he's saying this because he's trying to spare keefe the heartbreak that he went through.

keefe then appears to be in denial. sixteen year old boy. i think the most important thing here is that alden bypasses lecturing keefe on how one day he'll find his true match. this implies two things to me: one, alden is just as uncomfortable with this conversation as keefe is and is trying to end it quickly and painlessly for them both, and two, alden can sense that keefe is uncomfortable and doesn't want to draw this out for him. both things show that alden understands keefe's position and also once again nails in the fact that alden never wanted or intended to have this conversation at all.

okay. now to what is probably the most controversial thing alden says: "let them be happy". alright . . . this is not an inherently bad thing to say. like please explain to me why this is a shitty thing for alden to say. remember: alden sees three friends, two with reciprocated feelings for one another and a third with unreciprocated feelings for one of the pair. and it's once again also something keefe himself thinks . . . so much of his pov in unlocked and unraveled is just him wallowing in the fact that he has a crush on sophie who likes fitz and how he'd never even think about shoving his way in between them or whatever. it gets hella tiring to read and is clearly just shannon attempting to make up for the possessive wreck she made keefe in neverseen through nightfall . . . anyway. back to the point. this is apparently all fine and dandy for keefe to think, but when alden tells a teenager not to interfere with an assumedly reciprocal relationship between two other teenagers (and out of concern that the first teenager's heart will be broken, no less), it makes him the scourge of the earth. seriously, what is so wrong with telling keefe to let sophie and fitz be happy together. once again, alden is wrong in assuming sophie and fitz are or would be happy together but that does not make him manipulative.

again, this story is told from the perspective of sixteen year old boy with unrequited feelings. he does not feel good upon hearing these words. that doesn't mean the person who said them is in the wrong or manipulating him somehow.

important part!!!! alden once again references something that gives us a peek into his thought process: he lost both of the friendships that he had because of his feelings. he doesn't want keefe to also lose his friendships with fitz and sophie over his feelings!!!! keefe is not in the same situation that alden was in, but alden doesn't know that. he's once again wrong, not manipulative. he is trying to preserve keefe's relationships with sophie and fitz . . . what part of this is manipulative.

as for "there's only one way this ends", that was decidedly untrue and pretty shitty. but notice how after ro's comment (her only valid comment about this entire situation), he realizes he was wrong and says as much out loud. he literally admits that "only time will tell", negating his earlier statement and acknowledging that ro is right (this one time). once again, his perspective on the situation is incredibly skewed. this is why he's so insistent that there will be only one way this will end. but then, after he realizes that what he said is wrong and that actually, things can change and he is in fact talking about a group of teenagers, he concedes ro's point.

i'm going to say that again: unlike ro, alden actually concedes this point!!!! he actually admits that he was wrong and immediately walks it back. he does not "ship sophitz". he does not prioritize his son over keefe. he actually wants what's best for three teenagers he sees as his own children!!!! this is why he concedes the point to ro, that sophie (and keefe and fitz) is a teenager and may not know what she actually wants in life yet. because he cares what sophie wants. this is something i'd argue ro doesn't care about, but again. this is an alden defense rant, not a ro hate rant.

and he's right that it doesn't change where they are today and the situation they're currently in, which is still that sophie and fitz have reciprocated feelings for one another and keefe does not. any good friend would step back and not interfere in this situation. alden is literally just telling keefe to be a good friend, and from personal experience, too. what exactly is so wrong with this. please do enlighten me.

alden then leaves, having said his part. he really does not want to stretch this out, either for keefe's benefit or his own discomfort with the conversation he was lowkey backed into by ro. it's also important to note that alden does leave the choice of whether or not keefe actually wants to come to the trial up to keefe himself. keefe is sad and emotional because his crush on sophie is the size of the sun. but that doesn't take away the validity of alden's statements (given his perspective). and he does it as gently as he can. it wasn't what keefe wanted to hear, and it made him uncomfortable, but in alden's defense he never intended to have this conversation in the first place. start yelling at ro instead of alden if you're annoyed by the fact that alden would want to have this conversation with a teenager. he actually did not.

. . . and the rest of this story is just ro trying to misinterpret everything alden said in the worst way possible. if i were to try to debunk everything she said, i'd just be repeating everything i already said over and over. i've already repeated myself a lot in this section. so we aren't going to do that. hopefully looking at the things alden actually said and breaking down why they are not shitty or manipulative, even unintentionally, will be enough. once again: alden is wrong about the reality of what's going on between sophie, keefe, and fitz, but given his perspective, it is not manipulative or invalid or even illogical for him to say any of the the things he said to keefe.

and the final thing i'll say is: ro is, to put it very bluntly, what you would get if you took a sokeefe pinterest fan and dropped them into the series, allowing them to interact with the characters themselves. one of the main things we know about her is that she is the sokeefe shipper. this is obviously going to tint how she sees anyone even suggesting sokeefe aren't perfect happy couple material. in this case, everything she says implies alden is the devil incarnate for telling keefe to not interfere with his friends' relationship, and out of personal experience, too. ro's otp is then (sort of, temporarily) ruined, and she deals with this by trying to manipulate keefe into thinking alden doesn't have his best interests in mind, because alden is getting in the way of her ship. thank you, ro. you've also managed to brainwash half this fandom into thinking the same, somehow. it's not true, but somehow that's the spin that's put on it.

i urge people to try to read this short story while blocking out everything ro says, and see if that changes your opinion on what alden is saying. because i genuinely feel that ro's presence in this story is a major contributing factor to why people are so eager to turn on alden. again, everything ro says is an opinion. everything alden says is just. what he says. so just try to listen to the words he actually says and leave ro the fuck out. it may actually improve your opinion of him.

[rainandsugarcane2000]

i love my mutuals so much <3

[padawansuggest]

Normal average ‘I don’t sleep on command but I can get to sleep every night’ sleepers: ‘this is how you’ll get the best sleep possible and stay healthy! This routine involves 17 steps to lead up to bedtime and the exact position for your bodytype for the best sleep.’

From-birth chronic insomniacs: I mean. I’m aware of my physical body while I sleep and also I pretty much move every 5 minutes and that incorporates itself into my dreams in some way or another, but that was overall a staticky 3.75 hours and that’s good enough for now! We Gucci babey.

[homestuckreplay]

EOA2 - Character Opinions

Just like at the end of act 1, I’m rounding up all the characters and how I feel about them so far, to see if my opinions change over time. There are a LOT more characters in Act 2 than in Act 1, so here’s hoping I remember them all. If I’ve forgotten anyone, let me know!

Love ♡

John Egbert – Still my most favoritest character. I love his facial expressions so much. He’s really going through it, but despite the horrors both immediate and hovering, he finds joy in the small things, which is a trait I love in both characters and real people. His excitement over making the pogo hammer is a highlight of the act, and his movie referencing so hard he breaks the box and his trying to be a paladin with the Slimer pogo as his faithful steed are excellent too. I love how John uses his very specific areas of expertise, like movies and magic and his other interests from the start of the story, to solve problems that don’t at first seem related. I love how he’s openly scared and reluctant and how he rises to challenges anyway. I love how he knows he doesn’t know things and is willing to experiment. I love how he has strong emotional responses often for no apparent reason. I just think he’s neat.

Rose Lalonde – I have so much fun reading anything Rose says. Her GameFAQs are so unintentionally hilarious but she’s also got a great intentional sense of humor, like her fake-mustache W and her trying to create the Colonelsprite. I do think she plays a little fast and loose with John’s life, expecting him to navigate combat on narrow platforms and stairs above an endless void, but I can cut her some slack because she’s having to balance her responsibility over John with trying to save her own life. All of her scenes so far have been based around her game connection with John – either actively playing the game, or trying to reconnect her laptop – and my hope for act 3 is for Rose to get a story of her own. Ideally one that involves summoning one of those sick ass creatures from the grimoire.

Zazzerpan the Learned – He is a twenty foot tall wizard, and as such, is the only Homestuck character I would describe as ‘hot’.

Wayward Vagabond – Easily the best mayor Can Town has ever had. Started off as a rude tyrant yelling at John, but it ended up just being cultural differences, and they’ve really worked on communication. I love how creative WV is, how ready they are to take enjoyment in life where they can get it, and how much they care for their non-edible possessions. They’re in this very structured, somewhat antagonistic, Sburb-mediated relationship with John, but I actually think the two of them have a lot in common, and if they could just sit down together with a big train set they’d have a blast.

Serenity – Not only is she glowing and sparkly, but she’s smart and good at taking responsibility in an emergency.

Like

Nannasprite – Ghost? Harlequin? Game construct? Loving grandmother? Nannasprite is all these things. Sure, she’s going way overboard on the cookies, but she doesn’t know John well enough to know he’s not into baked goods. And she really got him with the bucket on the door. That was a great prank. Mostly, I like her for giving me the Good Lore. Please Nannasprite, I will eat as many cookies as you want if you will infodump to me about Sburb for hours on end.

Rambunctious Crow – An absolute scamp who’s just doing what crows do. Made even cooler by the addition of a sword.

Neutral/Mixed

Dave Strider – I still think Dave sucks, just like at the end of act 1. I think his insistence on irony is exhausting and his raps are a chore to read, I hate how dismissive he is of other people’s interests and how superior he is about his own, I think he’s way too quick to resort to violence and way too slow to do any kind of self reflection. But. Having learned more about his bro and his living situation, I understand why he sucks so bad, and I don’t think he’s really to blame. I hope that Dave’s bro is kidnapped by imps soon, in Sburb or otherwise, because I think that’s the only way Dave could become someone I actually like.

Dad – I’m harsh on parents in fiction. I think Dad seems like an awesome guy, I love his Serious Business app, his preparedness re: shaving cream, his bucking of gender roles by always being in the kitchen, and his refusal to go quietly with the imps. But despite the external trappings of a father and his obvious love for John, he seems unwilling to meet John where he is and be the dad John actually wants and needs. I wish he would do more to get to know John as a person, to perhaps offer him some tasty roasted vegetables, to perhaps buy him the Nintendo DSi instead of a harlequin doll, to open up to John about his own life and to take him on some trips into Seattle. I wonder if he regrets not doing all that now that they’re separated.

Uncertain

gardenGnostic – I want to like GG, and I hope I will end up liking her, but Act 2 has built up so much mystery around GG that even though she’s had a few further pesterlogs I feel like I know less about her than I did at the end of act 1. She really plays up how she ‘can’t’ tell people things but still insists on mentioning them, which is an annoying trait, but I like her positive attitude and the fact that she’s so encouraging to her friends.

Peregrine Mendicant – I like that they are collecting mailboxes, as I am a huge fan of the postal service as an institution, but I do not have a sense of them as a character.

Mom – First off, we should eat the rich and redistribute Mom’s wealth. Her millionaire status aside, I don’t think she’s a good parent, or that exchanging passive aggressive notes with your daughter or ignoring her suicide threats is in any way healthy. But, it seems from WV: Ascend that her role in the story is bigger than raising Rose. Whether that goes towards redeeming her or makes her even worse, only time will tell.

Dislike

Sburb – I’m deeply fascinated by Sburb and I love to analyze it, and the story is making it increasingly clear that the game Sburb (2009) is just a small part of the larger entity Skaia (~4 billion BC). As a story element it’s amazing, but as a force acting on the characters it’s nothing but sinister. Willing to sacrifice the whole continent to achieve its secret goals, many of whom haven’t elected to play the game, and keeping its nature hidden from players until it’s far too late, it’s like a form of extreme gamer Darwinism allowing only its best players to survive. Its use of mind control and its impact on real life means it can’t even be fun to play, arguably the worst sin for a video game.

Sweet Bro & Hella Jeff – I would not hang out with these guys.

Midnight Crew – These four spent a hundred pages stuck in a bunker and all they were able to do was inflict violence on each other and fail to play 52 pickup. WV managed a skilful escape 32 pages after getting stuck. Case closed.

Hate

Bro – Just the worst guy imaginable. Anyone who controls a child through violence and fear, withholding food and a safe home, is irredeemable in my book and bad enough that I can’t even enjoy reading about him. There’s nothing wrong with being into puppets, or porn, or puppet porn, or even making a career out of puppet porn and ventriloquist rapping, but there is something wrong with forcing these things on people who aren’t comfortable with them and aren’t able to say no.

Lil Cal – He is bad to look at.

[akkivee]

the latest camping event in ARB sounds really interesting! May I ask for a brief summary of what exactly happens? 🥺

sure lol

so the bros are on summer vacay let’s goooooo lol!!!!!!!! school’s out for jiro and saburo and ichiro’s elected to take a week off so they can take a trip!!!! ofc jiro and saburo can’t agree where they should go lol jiro wants to go to mountains and saburo wants to do an escape room but ichiro finds a nice middle ground by suggesting they do both; they’ll camp in the mountains and then hit up an escape room on the way back home 🤗

on bat minus kuukou’s end, the three of them had intended to go camping together but kuukou got held up by shakku lmao. while out fishing for their meal, jyushi was jumpscared by ramuda!!! turns out ramuda was in the area for inspiration for a fashion collection!!! hitoya’s not the happiest about the straggler but he lets it slide lol

we see the bros work together to whip up a fire curry, and afterwards they head out to see a nearby lake!!! thing is tho, something about the lake is kinda giving ichiro and saburo bad vibes 😕 jiro happens to see a shrine for what the bros assume is in reverence for a minor god, despite the creepy look its got going for it. someone suddenly shouts at them from across the way and!!!

it’s ramuda with jyushi and hitoya in tow!!!! crazy coincidence lol

the six of them spend time bonding at the lake; jiro saburo jyushi and ramuda were in the water, splashing each other (saburo was grouchy about it tho, saying this was childish and jyushi caught strays tbh lol), while hitoya and ichiro talked camping out on the shore. their fun was interrupted by the locals demanding them to stop disturbing the sacred land. ichiro apologised on their behalf but as the villagers left, hitoya overheard them muttering something about being fine for sacrifice???? but all that playing around makes people hungry so ramuda proposes they all eat together!!!! so the bros, jyushi and hitoya cook up bbq and pizza!!!! ramuda was mostly there to look cute lmao (ichiro chewed him out lol, saying he needs to do his part) bellies full, their day ends playing some games saburo brought over and fireworks jiro probably brought 😌

the new day dawns and we start with bb’s camp, ichiro’s got some morning tea ready. jiro wakes up and questions where saburo went, to which ichiro responds he was already gone by the time ichiro got up so he assumed saburo’s on a walk somewhere. a little weird for saburo but that’s cool except ramuda and hitoya suddenly run up to their camp asking if they’ve seen jyushi since he wasn’t at their camp when they woke up and he wasn’t answering his phone

that’s when they know something’s wrong

the four of them scour the forest and eventually hit up the village and the place looks as creepy as the that shrine does. hitoya ran up to a local, phone pic in hand and asked if they’d seen saburo and jyushi. the villager replied he hadn’t and warns them to steer clear of the village since it’s an important day for them (hitoya: …??), but jiro calls the fcker out bc the guy’s wearing the wristband saburo was wearing. jiro demands to know where they got it from, and the villager says they bought it. y’know like a liar, bc that was a special edition wristband saburo won in a game tournament. the villager escapes but that lie tips ichiro and jiro off that they need to search the village

we cut to a run down house where jyushi is frantically trying to wake saburo up. he’s slow to awake but when he does, despite initial confusion over where tf they are, he keeps a level head assessing the situation. which is good, jyushi’s panicking bc they’ve been kidnapped lol. saburo suggests the others will be searching for them so the best they can do is use a spare firework he had in the fire place as a smoke signal. tragically, they were found out by the villagers, and ichiro, jiro, hitoya and ramuda were too late. jyushi tho, left behind one of his rings to let hitoya know that they had been here. hitoya finally puts two and two together and deduces the villagers intend to use saburo and jyushi as sacrifices. they remember that creepy asf shrine and in a panic jiro starts off for the shrine, the others not far behind

they arrive just as saburo and jyushi learn they’re to be human sacrifices and the villagers explain that every year they bring a sacrifice for jyajyakou-sama (the name consists of primarily the kanji for snake) in order to stave off disaster. it’s a honour they say. but obviously we not letting saburo and jyushi be sacrifices so ichiro jiro hitoya and ramuda break out the mics and rap them into submission. with the villagers down, they’re able to free saburo and jyushi from their constraints but it turns out the villagers were still able to move. they begin to call out to their god, chanting about the cost for life and no matter how many bars the six of them throw, the villagers get back up as if they’re undead. finally, the six decide to run away

a little while later, back at yorozuya yamada, we hear from ichiro that hitoya sent the cops after that village. turns out tho.

there was never any village. no people, no records of it, nothing.

hitoya called bullshit so he went with the cops out to that village himself and there really was nothing there

and the bros are stunned to silence

[dark-falz]

Did you hear we are getting a ttrpg?

https://skydawngames.com/phantasystar/

NOOOOOO???

GUYS CLICKY THIS IS!!!!!!!! SO NEAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[catboybrain]

i dunno if its just who im following rn but im really rocked lately by all the division btwn transfems and transmascs on my dash... where is this coming from .?

[jelly-of-many-ships]

i can’t find the photo but in case anyone’s wondering, Adam is still alive and living in Tadfeild. in I think the first Crowley scene of s2, (the one where he’s sitting on the bench talking to shax) he’s reading a newspaper that talks about the continued weirdly perfect weather in tadfeild. I’m only saying this cus of the “here lies adam” tombstone in the intro that people were freaking out about. I think Neil said somewhere that it’s a diff adam but some people were saying he prob died or smth so uh I guess he might in s3 but he’s alive at least for now.

[magicmalcolm]

Okay, no more extravagant Video Game Soundtrack purchases for me for the rest of the year.

("but there's only like two weeks left in the year") (sssh!)