#hing before i lose my mind and actually act up

[room-surprise]

Hey! Fun question, how do you think an in-canon kabumisu confession would go? People keep portraying mithrun as blunt and straightforward about their relationship, but would he be scared to tell kabru in the chance that he'd say no and leave? Is the desire to just be in a relationship with kabru, or is the desire of not wanting to scare him off greater than that? I'm so starved on the lack of post-canon kabumisu content, they make me go crazy

As usual, I'll try not to go into TOO much detail because then I won't be motivated to write fic about it... and I AM planning to write a post-canon Kabumisu fic anon, so don't worry. I'll get there eventually :3

They make me go crazy too 😔

I think Mithrun's a complicated guy with complicated emotions. Even when he was "empty" in the dungeon he actually showed a lot of feelings - smug satisfaction, annoyance, anger, even a little bit of subtle happiness.

So while I DO think he will still be blunt in general, I also think it's a mistake to assume that means he doesn't feel things and won't have anxieties and insecurities just like any other person.

Mithrun used to be WILDLY insecure, and jealous, and paranoid. He just stopped caring about anything, but if, like the end of the manga suggests, he is going to try to START caring again, he will then start to have feelings, too.

I think Mithrun is intensely aware of his own "undesirability", that's one of the reasons he's BEEN so depressed. Most of his self-worth before the dungeon hinged on being "better" than his brother, and better than other people. Then he looses that (or maybe he was never actually better at all!), so what does he have left? And now his youth is gone too, he's middle-aged and lost his "best years" to depression. He's disabled, he's scarred, he's a bastard that nobody wants.

It's a pretty huge fall from "most eligible bachelor in the empire"!

So I think no, he won't just bluntly tell Kabru that he likes him. It will take Mithrun awhile to realize how he feels, and once he does, he'll be afraid to reach out, so he's going to do what I call "playing silly little elf games". He's going to try and flirt via writing letters and sending gifts, to hint that he likes Kabru.

Luckily for Mithrun, Kabru also knows how to play Silly Little Elf Games (he's an Olympic champion), so he picks up the signals and starts reciprocating, though he's also uncertain and worried that he's misunderstanding. Captain Mithrun couldn't be flirting with him, could he? But... what if he is?

(I will go into Kabru's feelings at a later date anon i promise.)

I think the thing that will ultimately push Mithrun to act is the fear that he'll miss his chance. Mithrun realizes Kabru is a limited time deal that he can only enjoy for the next 60-something years, and he wants every minute of that time for himself, no matter how much it will someday hurt to lose Kabru.

And he also knows that Kabru is very handsome and charming, and he can't expect Kabru to wait for Mithrun to get himself figured out. Someone else will swoop in and snatch that man up, so Mithrun has to hurry.

ALL OF THAT SAID... I think their confession is a lot less of a confession, and much more "we have both been picking up these signals of interest for months/years, and finally one of us pushes it a little bit further than we've ever pushed it before and we acknowledge the unspoken thing that has been growing between us."

Maybe it's a hand resting on someone's leg, or a gentle touch on the arm. Maybe it's leaning in so their shoulders touch. Maybe it's looking into each other's eyes a little bit longer than normal.

Probably it involves both of them admitting "Spending time with you makes me happier than anything else in the world. Whenever we're apart all I think about is when I'm going to see you again. I spend hours composing letters to you in my mind. I want us to spend our days together, no matter what shape that takes."

It's very vulnerable and scary for both of them, and I think they're both DEEPLY relieved after they finally get it out, and they don't get rejected. They know each other so well, and they're so good at reading people - they both thought that the other might feel the same way, but it's so scary to take that leap of faith and hope that they're right.

And just for the record, I think that Kabru worries about if Mithrun will be interested in sex or not, because sex is something that matters to Kabru, but what if Mithrun just doesn't have any desire for it?

And so before they get into a relationship Kabru has a long hard think about it, and decides that even if they never have sex, he wants to be in a romantic relationship with Mithrun anyway, because just being around him makes him feel happy, and understood, and like he isn't alone anymore. There's someone who sees him as he is, all the good and the bad, and says "I love you anyway."

And Kabru decides that he's willing to just jerk off for the rest of his life if that's the price of this relationship that he wants.

Luckily for Kabru, I think Mithrun does want to have sex with him, but I like to think that Kabru thinks through all the possibilities and decides that no matter what they end up doing together, being with Mithrun is worth it.

[pandora-writes-one-piece]

The Meet Cute - Ace's Story - 2

Source for the pic

Firestarter 2

Word Count: 2769

Tags For The Whole Story: Fem!Reader, slight NSFW (It's mature, not explicit), slightly sugestive behaviour, flirting, jealousy, frenemies, sexual tension, miscommunication, unresolved tension, slight angst, slow-burn, romantic comedy vibes, alternate universe modern setting, swearing, drinking, fluff, feelings realisation, denial of feelings.

Special Warning: English is not my first language, I apologise for any possible spelling or grammar mistakes.

Summary: After moving away from the hustle and bustle of Grand Line City to help your father around the property following a horse-riding accident - and in the hopes of healing your broken heart after your asshole ex-fiancé cheated - you settle into the country calmness of the Calm Belt. You intended to have some alone time, to reflect and heal, but your childhood friend's older brother, Ace, seems to be there just to upset that fragile peace you're striving for. He's a flirt and a womaniser. But why does he also have to be so handsome and perfect? And how long can you resist his charms?

Notes: There's a reference to the very first chapter of the introductory chapters. I really advise reading those before diving into this Ace series, for context. Thank you so much for reading! If anyone want to be added to a tag list, feel free to say so! ❤️

Masterlist for previous introductory chapters.

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

The door bangs and trembles on its hinges once you set foot inside the house. Shank’s red head pops from the kitchen with a raised brow and a scowl. 

Crap, you thought he was still outside. If there is one thing your father hates, it is doors banging. You learned that the hard way when you were younger and a pre-teen. 

Hiding your head in your shoulders, you grimace and apologise. “Sorry, dad.” 

“You thought I wasn't home.” He smirks and you nod with a shrug. 

“What happened?”

“The car broke down for good. Ace says the engine is fried. Can you give me Kid's number, or actually, if you wouldn't mind calling him yourself?” Showing him puppy eyes, you actually hope he calls him because you're not up to dealing with another infuriating man at the moment. 

“I'll call him.” As you follow Shanks into the kitchen, he stuffs a strawberry into his mouth and chews loudly. “Is that why you’re so upset that you almost broke the door?” His frown deepens as you pilfer one strawberry from his share. 

“Er… Yeah, sure.” The last thing you want to do is go into details with your father about how insanely jealous and irrationally bitchy you behaved earlier. Obviously he doesn't buy your act. 

“Did Ace do something?” He asks indignantly. 

You pull the strawberries closer to you and Shanks just gives up and lets you have them.

“Dad…” You sigh. “Ugh, never mind.”

“Bug, you can tell me anything.” And before he fills a cup of coffee for himself, he asks if you want some. 

You decline with a shake of your head. “Is Ace a flirt?”

Shanks’ eyebrows raise almost to his hairline and he coughs as he tries to swallow the coffee. “What do you mean?”

“Is he a womaniser? Does he sleep around?”

“Why? Did he try something with you, baby?” Shanks loses his footing and grabs the counter dramatically, making you roll your eyes at the exaggerated display. His voice gets so high that it makes you flinch. 

“No, dad. It's just… I… forget it!” You throw your arms in the air and turn, ready to leave and go change your outfit. 

A grumble as Shanks clears his throat makes you stop and turn to listen to what he has to say. “He's trustworthy, bug. But he never had a steady girlfriend. He likes to… have fun. So please, be careful.”

You notice the strain in Shanks’ voice. You can tell he likes Ace, but the veiled warning behind his words tells you that you should steer clear. Just like you thought. 

But you were obviously going to steer clear. You do not want to have anything to do with any man. 

Right? 

-*-

The rest of the day passes pretty fast with chores and housework, but at night sleep eludes you. You toss and turn in your bed but can't find a good position and it definitely doesn't help that a certain raven-haired flirt keeps popping up in your head. 

You turn on the light, defeated, and scroll through your phone, trying to distract yourself from your traitorous thoughts. You finally delete your ex’s socials, you’ve had enough of that, and now you casually flip through Nami’s and Robin’s. You see some likes on their posts from familiar people and you follow some, those who you know won’t bother, and others you have met in the short time you’ve been back.

Then, suddenly, you find Ace’s social. It’s private. Should you? Will you?

Screw it.

You request a follow and gulp while staring at the screen. You did it.

Inhaling deeply, you lock your phone, throw it on the bed and close your eyes, arms dropping dramatically over your face. Why, oh why have you given in to this particular whim? Why is he getting under your skin like this?

Friends! You can just be friends! That’s the answer. You know he’s a good guy so it’s really easy to be friends with him. Except you have to stop acting like an idiot. The time you have spent tossing and turning has actually served a purpose. The purpose of showing how much of an idiot you really are. 

So now you know you have to apologise to him. It’s only fair. Because you reacted like a jealous girlfriend without any reason to. Okay, fair is fair, you wanted to feel special. You know yourself enough to realise that your breakup and being cheated on did a very ugly number on your self-esteem and sense of self-worth. Therefore, Ace’s attention felt like you were actually worth something. Like you were special, pretty, fun and… enough.

But that pressure on him is not fair. He should not be the one you take your frustrations out on when you’re actually frustrated with yourself and your inability to cope properly.

Your phone buzzes slightly and lights up. You cautiously remove your head from the makeshift arm cocoon you were hiding in, and grab it. 

He accepted your request and requested to follow you back.

He’s awake.

You snap yourself upright, your legs crossing quickly over one another and you press the accept button, all while wondering what you’re going to say and how you’re going to say it, because you need to apologise for your childish behaviour. 

Yet, he beats you to it.

You can’t help but stifle a giggle against your hand. This ‘friends’ thing sounds nice. Yawning and rubbing your tired eyes you decide you’re actually sleepy now. 

You turn off the wifi on your phone and the light at the nightstand, cover your legs and lie back. All the while, with the most stupid smile playing on your lips. 

A smile meant for a friend. Just that.

-*-

“Good morning, daddy!”

You enter the kitchen with a light spring in your step as your dad arches an eyebrow. 

“Morning, bug. You seem pretty cheerful for an early morning.”

You chuckle as you pour a cup of coffee. He's right. You woke up happy and rested, even though you barely slept five hours. You even managed to get dressed without your first cup of coffee - knee-length leggings and a sports bra! You had mentioned to your father that you missed your morning jogs and that you were thinking about running again. So he immediately dismissed you from the early morning chores so you could do just that. 

“I slept well.” You give him a small peck on the cheek after you finish your coffee. “I'm going on a little run. Be back soon to help you!” You shout as you open the door. 

After he replies, you use the porch to stretch your muscles and you're ready to go. In Grand Line City you used to run with headphones because the engine and chatter noise was deafening. Here, all you can hear is the song of the birds and nature. And you love it. So no headphones today. 

You do a fast jog from your house and across the pathway to the main road just to get your heartbeat racing and then you resume your usual slower pace. You remain quiet and tranquil for a moment before you hear footsteps behind you. You're not worried. It's the country, no one would harm you. 

“Morning pri-... You!”

Repressing a chuckle you turn your head to the side without stopping. Sure enough you're met with a cheeky grin and a - shocker! - shirtless Ace. 

“Morning, Ace.” Rolling your eyes to the back of your head, you release a snort. “Don't you own t-shirts?”

He guffaws and you let your eyes wander while he's distracted. He must've just started running since he barely has a drip of sweat on him. 

“Laundry day!” He replies with a wink. “Can I join you?”

You notice he slowed down his pace to talk to you, but you were still going slow, anyway. 

“Can you keep up?” Smirking, you don't even let him answer as you sprint forward at your usual pace. 

His low chuckle follows him close to you in a heartbeat. “Can you keep up?” He says sheepishly. “Maybe we can make this interesting…”

No, nope! Don't fall for it! It's a trap! 

“Sure, name your price.”

You fell for it. Weak… 

“First to drop wins.”

“Terms settled. What's in it for me?” Your grin takes up your whole face. If it's a trap, you're about to take advantage of it. 

“What do you want?”

“Honesty.” You reply, deadpan. 

“I resent that! I have been nothing but honest with you.” He says your name with seriousness and you believe him. 

“I believe you, but I want to ask some hard questions and I need you to be truthful and not evade the answer with jokes.”

His pace falters and you smile triumphantly. 

“Agreed.” He nods. “But I want a kiss. If I win.”

Now it's your turn to falter. Your heart does a little stop-and-go motion and you're already regretting this. 

Coward. No backsies. 

“It's a deal!” You're about to kick his butt anyway. 

You both set a steady pace, wanting to keep your strength and your breath, but not lagging behind. 

“I can't believe you actually agreed.” He smirks. “I was not expecting that.”

“That's how confident I am.” You're not. You're already starting to be a bit breathless. Since you found out about your ex, you skipped a lot of morning runs and now, you're resenting it. 

“I can see you struggling.” He turns and starts to run backwards, his arms crossing lazily in the back of his head, just to show off and you roll your eyes. “I'm getting my kiss.” He states and raises his eyebrows three times in a cocky manner. 

“Don't count your chickens yet, mister!”

Hadn't you made a resolution last night that you two were to remain just friends? Then why do you want that kiss so badly? 

Still, you want to ask him some questions and you mean to hear real answers instead of cheeky comebacks. Like, why is he still living with his grandpa when even Luffy has already moved out? You know he and Mr. Garp don’t have the best relationship and you remember him saying that, as soon as he got a job he would leave that house without looking back. You might also ask why he never got into a serious relationship, but that’s mere curiosity. 

Right? 

A few moments pass and Ace is barely breathing hard, while you are panting and huffing and sweating embarrassingly! He keeps talking but you barely have the brainpower to breathe let alone answer him. 

“You want to give up?” He suddenly asks when he catches your heavy huffs. 

Clenching your teeth together, you let out a feral growl. “Never!” 

Yet your bravado is short lived, because your legs falter and you set your foot wrong, causing your previously bruised ankle to send an unending ache up your leg and down your foot as you yelp and lose balance. 

Luckily, Ace is right there to catch you in his strong, sweaty arms. “Whoa, hey! Are you hurt?” You both stop as you dig your nails into his arms for support. You are panting from the run but also from the fact that you have your breasts flush with his chest. And the thought of your sweat mingling with his, is lewd and sinful and it's making your head spin. 

“Fine, I'm fine!” You answer between gasps and pants but you're lying because he smells like a forest and you are dying for a retreat in those woods. 

Get a grip! 

“Your ankle?”

You wince as you pull away from him and support one of your hands on the fence, lifting your leg and rotating your ankle to test it. “I think it's fine. I bruised it the other day, it must still be tender.”

“You sure? I can check it out. I have EMT experience and I know first aid!”

Oh, you don't doubt that in the slightest. He's a firefighter. Obviously he knows basic first aid skills. But you don't want his big, strong hands wrapped around your leg. 

Do you? 

“I'm fine!” 

He raises his hands in mock defence as you test your foot against the ground and check your watch. You should be heading home already if you still want to help your dad around the property. “I think I'll head home, are you going to keep running?”

He shakes his head but his smirk never leaves his lips. “Nah, I'll go with you. Who knows if you might need my help again.” Nodding you start to walk towards your house and he follows. You're still pretty tired from running and you don’t want to further aggravate your ankle, so walking is all you manage. “Besides, I won. I need to claim my prize.”

There's a sensation travelling from your stomach to your legs, leaving them numb, and it has nothing to do with the run. “Right. You're right. You won.”

You take a deep shaky breath as you stop and he stops near you. You feel your face growing hotter by the second but you're not sure if it’s from the effort, or if it's anxiety. Your legs falter again, so you lean against the fence, trying to make it look casual, but you're pretty sure it just looks pathetic. 

You haven't given or gotten a first kiss with someone for over four years. Do you still know how to do this? How much tongue is too much tongue? And were you going to kiss with tongue or just a peck? 

Shit, all this thinking is driving you crazy. 

“Go on.” You urge him and force yourself to stare anywhere but at his lips. Which is, obviously, where you end up staring. He looks smug as he approaches you, his taller frame shielding the sun away from your face and shadowing his. You can feel your heartbeat in your eardrums. 

Is that freaking normal? Are you dying from embarrassment, anticipation, or want? 

He places both hands on the fence behind you and you can feel the heat coming off his chest in hot waves. He's almost flush against you and you keep panting, your breaths escaping your lips in trembling gasps. You expect him to mock you for it, to grin or smirk and make fun of your inexperience or embarrassment. Instead you see his eyes darkening and his grin disappearing as he sets his gaze on your parted lips. 

One of his hands releases the fence and grabs your chin, slowly tilting your head upward to meet him. You feel a feather-light touch on your side as his fingers trace a pattern on your skin and settle firmly on your hip, gently caressing your hip bone. Now your eyes can't leave his. He's intoxicating.

Any moment now he's going to lay his lips upon yours and you'll understand why those girls giggled so hard when they saw him. Any second and you'll be just another girl. Just another conquest, just another kiss. 

You close your eyes in anticipation, and your lips tingle when his hot breath mingles with yours. 

Any second now. 

You sense the bare touch of his lips, for the slightest of seconds, before they land on your face. Very, very close to your mouth. 

But a million lightyears away. 

The world suddenly starts spinning again and you had barely noticed that it had stopped. Ace removes his hands from you and steps back. Your eyes snap open as you eye him quizzically. The knitted brows give away your confusion but he doesn't mention anything. 

If he's rattled, he's hiding it perfectly well behind that well trained smirk. 

“There, it's paid. Are you coming? I'm sure you're rested enough for another run. We'll go slower.”

It's slight. It's a reach. But it's there. There's a hint of raspiness and tension in his voice. You affected him. This affected him as much as it did you. 

Why didn't he take your lips? You feel like asking, but you're not sure you want to know the answer. Perhaps you're not as perfect as the girls he's used to kissing. Your ex used to say that you could try harder. Dress sexier, paint your nails and hair, put on fake boobs. Maybe he doesn't like the way you look. 

“Yeah, let's go.” You croak out without making any more eye contact. 

That has to be it. 

And now you don't know which hurts the most: being kissed and then being just another girl, or not being kissed and being… Nothing. 

[mattphobiia]

PLEASEE DO A CHRIS SMUT FIC LIKE THIS

ATTITUDE.

disclaimer: smut, this was requested by @mattsmunch so i hope you enjoyyy, dom!chris x sub!reader🤗🤗🤗, i also dont like this but I TRIED LOL

"what is your deal? you know i don't like parties!" i screamed, waving my hands in the air motioning over to the room filled with balloons and other party decorations as i release all my anger onto him. "why couldn't you just do the one thing i asked?"

chris stayed silent, he looked more intimidating than ive ever seen him, almost like he could explode with rage. "who the fuck do you think you're talking to?" he scoffs, but that one sentence seemed to make my heart drop. i really messed this up.

this time, i was the one who stayed quiet. he began to walk up to me slowly, taking small steps while i wanted to back away, but i froze in place. i felt terrified deep down, but i had to act normal. i took a deep breath as i swallowed, our bodies now pressed together as i was squished in between him and the wall, his face was now close to mine, almost inches apart.

"quiet now, huh?" he whispered, smirking as i felt a cold hand rest on my side, making me shiver at the contact. "you should be glad i'm not fucking this attitude out of you."

i hesitated for a moment. "what if i want you to?" my heart was practically thumping in my chest, almost like it was trying to break free. suddenly, he pressed the lower half of his body onto me more, and thats when i felt his hard bulge between my thighs. he only looked at me surprised, before that smirk began to reappear as he leaned in for a deep kiss.

"thats my girl." he pants heavily between kisses, feeling my stomach flutter while i grind myself on him, making us both more desperate for each other. "bedroom, now." he didn't have to tell me twice.

i practically sprint over to our room, nearly swinging the door off its hinges as i begin to undress, chris now locking the door before following after me soon. he throws me onto the bed, climbing behind me as he flips me onto my stomach, nearly breaking my back with the amount of pressure he was applying onto me. one hand shifted to my waist while the other was wrapped around my hair as he pulled back, lifting my head. i bit my lip to quiet my moans before feeling his tip rub up and down against my folds, slowly beginning to push into me as i gripped onto the bedsheets tightly.

i feel a gasp escape my mouth, but his hand moved down to my head as he shoved me down, now thrusting more aggressive as i felt my body shake with the amount of stimulation i was receiving. i nearly felt myself lose balance a couple times until he held me up towards his chest to stabilise me, his grip tight enough to suffocate me.

"you want to lose the attitude now?" chris speaks up, feeling his heavy breath on my neck as he was now close up to my ear. i could barely form a sentence, my mind overwhelmed with thoughts as i tried to find the right words. i could only nod, but that wasn't good enough for him. "use your words, you have a voice for a reason."

"more!" i plead, feeling the tears roll down my face. "i just want more, please- chris!" he didn't respond to me, but only laughed at how desperate and stupid i looked. he released my body, thumping back onto the bed as he shoved my face harder into the pillow, planting a harsh slap onto my ass before i yelled at the sudden sting.

seeing chris act all rough with me was a huge turn on, especially because he was attractive. i felt myself getting closer to coming as chris seemed to go faster, our skin slapping together as he did a final thrust, gripping my hips tightly as he released his semen into me, beginning to relax his pace as i shortly followed after him, soaking him in my liquids.

he collapsed down next to me, turning to his side to face me as we admired each other in silence for a couple minutes, until i remembered what actually happened beforehand.

"look, im sorry about the party thing." i sigh, trying to find his hand in the dimly lit room as i hold onto it tightly. "you were only trying to do something special for me, but you should know i don't like parties."

"i understand that, i should've got your opinion." he smiles, before continuing. "do you just want to order some food and chill for the rest of the night?"

i giggled, nodding my head before he kisses my forehead softly, wrapping his arms around me as i rest my head onto his chest, hearing the sound of his heartbeat as i close my eyes.

MASTERLIST

a/n: yall got me fucked up. when i saw some of my favourite writers began to follow me back my heart dropped to my goddamn ass. i say this every fic i post but i genuinely appreciate all of you reading my stuff, reblogging, and more! i have been seeing your requests for all the people waiting, just give me some time and ill get to it:), ill work on them over the weekend or when i have free time because work is very busy at the moment😭

[canonicallyanxious]

some assorted thoughts on ossan's love thailand ep 1 [quick note: i am an earthmix stan, an ossan's love "it's complicated"-er, and a gmmtv "it's complicated but in a different way"-er so keep in mind i have my own set of biases etc. etc.]

look i won't lie i was really apprehensive about this going in - i think ossan's love is, like, so of its time and context [by which i mean 2018 KSJNDSKJNDS look that WAS a different time okay] that i think any cross-cultural adaptation of this show really has its work cut out for it to modernize some of the more dated aspects of the show while maintaining the sheer earnestness of the original and i don't always trust gmmtv to deliver on the earnestness skjdfskdjfnskfs

but i think as an adaptation OLT is working well so far!! it's not as ostentatiously balls-to-the-wall insane as the og was but i think that's bc it's very rooted in thai comedic conventions so it has its own unique flair to it. the important thing is that tonally speaking i feel a lot of heart in this episode, particularly in the character writing, which was my favorite part about the og so i hope that continues over the run of the show!

shout out to earth, mix, and krit for the acting prowess on display - the success of this story hinges so much on the charisma of the main actors and they are all three so far nailing it. i like their interpretations of the characters and how you can trace their roots to ossan's love but how they also stand on their own within their own contexts

some smart adaptation choices being made, my personal favorites revolving around Mo's character and the added backstory bw Mo and Heng. i remember when the pilot dropped and it was implied Mo and Heng were longtime friends, i thought that was a neat choice to tailor the story more toward earthmix's dynamic but did stray a bit far from the og. then the full trailer dropped and it seemed like they dropped that choice which i found a bit disappointing but made sense if they wanted to keep close to the source material. i think this interpretation with them knowing each other from the probation period, and Mo secretly holding onto the potential of having maintained a longer relationship but giving up on that years ago, is the best of both worlds and lends interesting layers to the dynamic - it doesn't change too much on Heng's end but it gives Mix as Mo a lot to work with which is good bc they have the screentime to tackle that kind of character work with this show [and he really excels with that quiet brand of yearning i think!]

It also gives weight to Mo's decision to actually step up and fight for Heng at the end of the ep - "this time, i won't lose you to anyone" - and i think provides some interesting hints to his later character conflict toward the end of the story

Small thing in comparison but i thought it was fun that Mo established he was a lightweight in an almost throwaway comment and then at the end of the ep was shown to be drinking beer before going into the bathroom - you know i always appreciate some good visual storytelling!

LOVE the incorporation of Mix's northern background into Mo's character. pls correct me if i'm wrong, i'm not super familiar with thai culture/dialects, but from the flashback scene i was getting the vibe that Heng was picking up on Mo's accidental slip into northern dialect [i think??] and accent as a possible source of insecurity. really fleshes out Mo's character as someone who is quite conscious of how he comes across and possibly has some deep-running insecurities about being an outsider

it says a lot about Heng's character too - his empathy, his ability to put people at ease, etc. - and i thought it was just such a sweet way for them to connect and establish some history, as well as showing how much thought was put into earth and mix for these roles specifically

i remain unsure about the boss character which was my biggest hang up with ossan's love the series [to be clear i actually really liked the boss character in that show and thought he was pretty severely underserved and underutilized; and to me the choice of earthmix as a very well-established branded pairing for this series sidelines the boss character even more at least on the promotion side of things] but i do like the choices they are making for his character to establish him as his own entity. my favorite was the speech at the company event, which highlighted his values as a boss and also hinted to Heng's own values and the kind of person he is aspiring to be

i thought his confession was really sweet too - i mean what can top the iconic hearts of the og version but there was a groundedness to this version i found really compelling. i would love for them to do some more with grief and him grappling with queerness later in life but i won't hold my breath on that sdkfjsndkfd

regardless! i also thought it was interesting to place the confession after the hospital scene rather than before, gives the feeling they're going to efforts to make the boss seem more sympathetic in his motivations which makes me very eye emoji

really funny the way heng is like visibly pleading for mo to stay with him when the boss is around and mo just nopes out of the whole situation, and this happens multiple times LOL - says a lot about mo's character as well, and i'm really looking forward to seeing his dynamic with the boss evolve

i also think it's really funny the sheer difference between heng in mo's flashback scene versus real life present day heng KSJDNSKJDS i'm not sure how intentional this is but i do like to think the difference in portrayal is to highlight how differently mo sees/remembers heng versus how heng sees himself and the world [this latter part is something i had a stronger sense of in the og series but i do think it still comes across here, with thai comedy's trademark sound effects pulling double duty]

i'm actually so excited for the rest sjkdfnskdfns i can't wait to see how this develops! and with TWELVE EPISODES for an earthmix series i am SEATED!

[callmearcturus]

i've never seen someone who hates MI3 more than MI2 before

(NOTE: LONG POST, HIT J TO SKIP)

MI3, how do I hate thee? lemme count the ways

The Filming Itself

the cinematography is atrocious. as Punct and I discussed in our DVD commentary track for MI3, I truly feel like JJ Abrams is aware that shaky cam exists, but not the reasons someone would use it, so the camera is shaking even in sequences it absolutely should not be. it feels to me that JJA was like "the more important/intense a scene, the more the camera should move" and like. jfc.

this is like really important because it makes it literally difficult to understand the movie as its unfolding. there's multiple moments when you lose pieces of the action due to the cinematography. two moments immediately come to mind: Zhen falling out of the helicopter and having to climb back in, and the way the camera completely ruins Ethan's base jump escape from the Shanghai building.

SPEAKING OF, there are only two good stunts in this film. one is Ethan breaking the car with his body on the bridge. which is bc that's shot as a fairly steady pull-back with Ethan running directly at camera. the other is the batshit spidercam full tilt sprint at the end of the movie where the camera holds shot for probably the longest period in the entire movie. everything else is wrecked by the shitty camerawork.

POINT IS THAT THE SHALLOWEST APPEAL OF MI MOVIES IS THE STUNTS AND MI3 HAS BY FAR THE WORST STUNTS

also why the fuck is the camera shaking during normal stationary shot-reverse-shot dialogue scenes, JJ. jesus fucking christ. can I please see the actors ACTUALLY ACTING please?

The Script

kay lets move on from my fiery hatred of the camerawork and onto my fiery hatred of this movie's script. I am a non-professional writer and i could run a fucking clinic on this goddamn script.

lets get the most egregious thing out of the way immediately: this movie tries to make you give a shit about The Team and one of the team members is literally never named in dialogue for the entire runtime of the movie. if you miss the five frame intro card for Declan at the start of the movie, you will never learn that character's name for the entire movie. that's such a fucking egregious fuck-up I almost think I can just say that and it explains The Problem With MI3

BUT THAT'S BORING SO LETS GO ON

I have seen many many people say that their favorite villain in MI is Owen Davian. that's.... fine. but is that because he's just suuuuuch a compelling character, or because Phillip Seymour Hoffman showed up and decided "I'm going to play this guy like an investment banker who went postal one day" and he's PSH and was one of the most naturally charismatic men to live?

IMO they had to get PSH bc on paper, Davian is just the most non-entity of the MI villains. there is no motivation outside of Being The Bad Guy, there's no backstory, there's a void of a character. even Hendricks from GP has all of those things and he's a villain as plot device.

also why the sweet fuck did he kill his translator. lets set aside the incredible Yikes element of covering an asian woman's face with a white woman's because Yikes but also why the fuck was she being "punished"?

WHICH SEGUES NICELY INTO PLOT CONTRIVANCE BITCHING. this movie is held together with contrivances. the grandest example is the We have to put Ethan in an unsexy bondage mask for this interrogation bc if he could speak in this scene, the movie would fall apart but the entire plot hinges on a moment when the Actual Bad Guy Musgrave literally fucking says

"Did Lindsey figure out I was the bad guy? Did she figure out all these things I did which I will now list for you? Did you the audience she figure that out? No you didn't which is why I am explaining it explicitly to camera." THIS IS. I JUST. FLAMES ON THE SIDES OF MY FACE!!!!!! I find it hilarious how GP presents the exact kind of Excuse Plot but actually does it pitch-perfectly, because it had Chris McQuarrie to actually write it.

The Entire Rabbit's Foot thing. Speaking of McQ, he had a quote that basically cemented my lust for his brain and my desire to absorb his power. fuck it here's the full quote:

"Respectfully, I’m not a mystery box guy. I don’t believe in that kind of storytelling, I feel that that leads to — I understand that it makes for very compelling narrative drive, but it brings you to the end of the movie and it inspires the three great words of cinema, which are: “And? So? OK?” And if you hear any one of those three things, it’s time to go back to the drawing board. I believe that a mystery is only as good as its reveal.”

now this was about Ghost Protocol, not intended as a criticism of MI3 but it sums up the entire problem with the Rabbit's Foot. like, it's a mystery box with nothing in it because... the contents don't matter. in the climax of the movie, you see the Rabbit's Foot and it looooooks like it miiiight be a bioweapon? but it doesn't matter. so the fact that it's VERY LOUDLY a mystery literally has no purpose and never pays off. so to quote McQ again: And? So? Ok?

Oh and that's all just my anger at the Plot Writing of MI3. that doesn't even touch on the character writing.

Character Fuckery

We've already touched on Owen Davian being a void of motivation and on the fact THEY DIDN'T GIVE US THE NAME OF ONE OF THE CORE TEAM MEMBERS lets get into the rest of it

"And did you ever.... sleep with your sister" is the worst line in a Mission Impossible movie and you made Ving fucking Rhames say it. I'm a rehabilitationist but I will make an exception for once if we can send the person who wrote that line to prison forever.

To be honest this entire movie does Luther so fucking dirty it's astonishing. He's here to artificially create conflict. I honestly find it annoying that his Defining Character Trait in MI1 and the thing that drew Ethan to him was his scruples regarding endangering people, and he has like. nothing to say about giving Davian the rabbit's foot. Okay.

THE CRIMINAL WASTE OF SIMON PEGG. Benji gets two scenes in this movie and the second one is.... frankly maybe the singular good bit of fun, engaging character interaction in the whole movie, but to get there you have to weather the Antigod Speech which. I can barely think about with IRL cringing, like my body just has an allergic reaction to the idea. it doesn't help that he's used as the mouthpiece for the Mystery Box of the movie, and we've already established its an empty box that doesn't matter.

(what I find hilarious is that Pegg is an extremely good character writer and I would bet every dollar in my measly bank account that he could have improvised a better version of that speech. god i hate it.)

Ethan and Julia. IMO Cruise and Monaghan carried this movie on their fucking backs and without them putting in the WORK with zero material, this movie would be incomprehensibly worst. Cruise and Monaghan, thank you for your service.

Punct always points out when we watch MI3 that there is a batshit moment in the climax where Julia is strapped to a chair and the camera keeps cutting to her like she's planning something to turn the tables or something but it. never happens? it's egregious and weird how the movie treats her.

actually even as much as I love Monaghan's work here and I'm the kindest to Julia, I feel like the movie doesn't respect her as much as I do. (Punct joked that JJ Abrams doesn't respect women as much as Ethan Hunt does and its hilarious and true.) but the movie keeps being Weird about Julia and putting her in tiddy-licious nighties and gives Ethan a very weird sexy dream sequence about her? and the Mission Impossible that I know and love would have objectified Ethan just as much as her, thank you very much.

Ethan and that goddamn assault rifle.

Actually I want this in its own section

Ethan uses an assault rifle at least twice to my off-the-dome recollection. Luther uses MULTIPLE REMOTE-OPERATED MACHINE GUNS to mow down a factory building. There is a massive shootout on a bridge with a JET FLYING AROUND FIRING MISSILES. Ethan DANGLES A MAN OUT OF A FUCKING PLANE.

In MI1, Ethan Hunt never fires a single shot and only holds a gun on someone once to my memory. Even in MI2, the Stupid One, Ethan is armed but only really gets into one shootout and does a lot of kicking people in slowmotion, which is silly, but My point is that MI3 feels like a Call of Duty campaign with its body count and the way it reframes Ethan's job away from Honeytrap and Spy to Generic Soldier.

and it's fucking boring. all of Ethan's guile moments are clawed out of the morass of him just shooting people, and its devastatingly boring. paired with the REMOTE-OPERATED MACHINE GUNS and the new portrayal of the IMF in MI3, it just feels like.... Ethan is one of the baddies actually? the ppl who show up with three van-mounted machine guns are not the good guys, lmao.

I don't have time to go into the visual design of this movie and how the most interesting locations are so poorly lit you can't fucking see them but we need to talk about the IMF Itself in this movie

I actually have already written my thoughts about the evolution of the IMF through the series and I'm in passionate desperate love with what that evolution signals thematically

B U T the IMF in MI3 is just a fucking crime procedural lab. there is a War Room, there's Meeting Rooms, and when stuff breaks we have The Room Where The Nerds Live. it's just CSI/NCIS/name a stupid show. which fits because IIRC this is JJA's first or one of the first films, and he's a TV man by trade. but by carrying that Weekly Procedural philosophy into MI, it reduces the texture of MI.

the montage of Ethan training Lindsey is the most unintentionally hilarious scene in the movie.

/takes a deep breath

.... is that everything?

NO WAIT I WANT TO COMPLAIN ABOUT THE VATICAN INFILTRATION. they put in a lot of work and its easily the most boring infiltration in cinema history. there is no tension, no fun, no improv.

ETHAN HUNT WAS LITERALLY IN A CATHOLIC PRIEST COSTUME COMPLETE WITH THE COLLAR AND THERE IS NOT A SINGLE LINE OF DIALOGUE ABOUT IT. THERE ARE NO JOKES. NOTHING. if this was any of the other MI movies, this would be an opening for some banter and jokes, but THEY FORGOT TO PUT THE ENGAGING TEAM DYNAMICS INTO THE FUCKING MOVIE ARRRRKSJFLSKDJHFKSD

that moment when you can kinda see Maggie Q's vag. wh. what was that.

here's the good parts of MI3

it gave us Julia, and she's still great when she returns in Fallout. even with an actively bad script, she brings gravity and grace to a movie that needs it.

Luther calls Ethan "baby" and it's great and its Luther's only good moment in the fucking movie

Ethan Hunt is at his most autistic in this movie and I love it

Ethan and Benji's second scene actually has patter and character moments and chemistry. that one scene has more character than any other in the entire movie and that's sad but also thank god.

the scene where Ethan is preparing to kill himself and is explaining to Julia how to reload the gun "just like the flashlight in the kitchen" is actually a pristine moment. i wish the camera didn't focus as much on Julia's tits while she's doing CPR but listen. i'll take it.

Ethan blocking communications in the IMF by putting the walkietalkie by the radio is very funny.

Tom Cruise really actually broke the windshield of that car with the impact of his body, goddamn.

jfc I need an Exorcism right now, I might go watch MI1 again just to cleanse

AT LEAST MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 2 KNEW WHAT IT WANTED TO BE AND EXECUTED ON THAT. In this house we may not like MI2 but we respect it.

I will fistfight JJ Abrams on sight.

[deadwooddross]

gonna go ahead and crack pandora’s wasp nest open here—how could naruto have been good/how would u have written it

*begins chewing at my restraints and rips the iron door of my containment unit off its hinges* okay so the SHORT version is that naruto should have ENDED ssssomewhere around the Pain arc, maybe throw in one more, could probably keep..tobi...if you just make it WAY less convoluted, but. like that's it that's the wrap up on the lesson of NINJAS ARE HUMAN WEAPONS IN THE ARSENAL OF ENDLESS WAR. You can get maybe ONE more amp up, but the actual story did like 40, because it's shonen. Also Naruto could have had at least a LITTLE thought put into how he was like. raised. there is so much retroactive storytelling in this manga but apparently naruto has just been living in an apartment off his government provided milk and ramen since he was an infant. Maybe make me give a shit about Sarutobi by having had him go and bottle feed the demon baby or SOMETHING. Is Jiraiya the deadbeat sending child support checks or something? It's extremely hard to have Naruto exist at all as he is the second you put any thought into his childhood- which is why GAARA EXISTS. THAT'S NARUTO WITH 6 SECONDS OF THOUGHT. GIVE THAT BOY A FRIEND TO EXPLAIN HOW HE'S SO PEPPY!! SOME SORT OF GUARDIAN FIGURE BEFORE HE'S 12, Iruka could Almost count if he didn't act like he barely knew the little guy. Teacher Watches Orphan Go To Empty Home While Sad Flute Song Plays and says: Fuck that little kid, cant stand him, oh shit wait the author realized he needs one (1) parental figure in order to not lose his mind okay here i c Anyway, besides all that. Well for one thing Sasuke is RIGHT. Fuck Konoha! And the Government! did you see what they did to his clan!!! That one dude fucking HARVESTED them!! So you have little renegade fuck the system baby, and "If I'm king president I can fix all the problems!" baby. Good end: Naruto goes damn maybe u right and we should make some steps to try and alter the cycle of war and death and genetic eyeball supremacy. Neji voice: yeah i taught you all about weird bloodline family shit, remember that?? Bad end: The Entire Rest Of Naruto and Boruto, And No One Learned Anything. Also, the retroactive addition of GODS and PROPHECY anD REINCARNATION and MORE BLOODLINE SUPER WIZARD POWERS is so. Lame, Boring, Snore. Giving naruto a special baby background DESTROYS the fact he's kind of a nobody! He's just some kid with ONE skill he worked really hard on and he uses it in order to hack his way into doing all the other stuff he wants to do!! His only boon is haaving a LOT of energy to burn and STUBBORNNESS!! Screams in ADHD child Haku, Gaara, the Akatsuki/Orochimaru, and Pain. Are all good. Those are the arcs that stay and every one of them has a PRETTY STRONG POINT point about what happens when you smash children into little nukes. Eats that with a spoon. (PS JIRAIYA WHAT THE FUCK WHY DID YOU LEAVE THOSE INFANTS IN A WAR Z) Oh also there's a lot to be said on how to rewrite uhhh literally Any of the women characters into relevancy because as they are rn they barely even count as such. But if i talk about that I would be here for the entire rest of the y- IMAGINE IF SAKURA'S FUCKING MEDICAL JUTSU MEANT ANYTHING!! WHAT IF SHE COULD HAVE BEEN USEFUL AGAINST KONAN BECAUSE SHE CAN SEE ALL HER NERVES IN HER HORRIFYING PAPER FLESH NO JUTSU, SOMETHING, ANYTHING, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA *i am dragged back into my cell*

[oathbreakerapologist]

so what would prompt ghost to Go Back to Orin..? and would Orin even accept him?

You know, it's really more of a question of what keeps him from going back to Orin during the standard BG3 canon campaign events, and the answer to that is that he doesn't particularly remember his past relationship with her, so he doesn't have any reason to want to get back with her. But if that were to change—if he did regain even fleeting memories of his life with her before the betrayal—he'd go back in a heartbeat.

I've written elsewhere about endings for Ghost if he were a companion, and in that post I talked about how I think there'd be an option to give him the noblestalk, and that this would trigger him to attempt to return to Orin early in act 3. I think that something like this, a magical or otherwise supernatural restoration of some of his lost memories, is the most likely scenario. But I think there's another possible way as well.

Gortash manipulated Orin into betraying Niro. If Ghost were to discover evidence of Gortash's manipulation campaign, it's possible that that might trigger memories to which he'd otherwise lost access, or at least it would allow him to begin to piece together certain layers of his history with Orin. In this scenario too, as soon as he understood what his relationship with Orin was like (and, in his mind, that Gortash took her from him), he'd want to restore his relationship with her.

He sees Orin as not just a lover or a companion, but also the only one in the world like him—his other self. In his mind, they were created by Bhaal for one another, the same in all the ways they needed to be, and different in all the ways they needed to be. Losing her was like losing part of him; the moment he becomes aware of what he's lost, its absence aches like a yawning void.

I think that whether or not she would take him back would strongly hinge on exactly how he approached her. She had been thoroughly manipulated into what she did to him, and in the time since, she'd had plenty of time to justify the betrayal to herself. If he led with an attempt to convince her that she had actually been manipulated, he'd have no chance in hell of getting her to listen to him for more than a solid 30 seconds. She's simply unable to deal with the possibility that the beliefs that led her to nearly murder the one person she ever truly cared about were wrong, which would force her to accept that she'd betrayed him for nothing. She couldn't handle being so badly wrong, so she'd never believe that she was. It wouldn't matter if he had signed papers from Gortash explaining his manipulation campaign in detail; if that was Ghost's strategy, he'd end up a head on a pike out in front of the Temple of Bhaal.

In a world in which he did successfully return to Orin, he'd have to take a different tack. (As an aside, I think I consider this world to be his actual canon. The BG3-adhering storyline in which he ends up with Astarion is great too, and I enjoy it quite a bit because, well, that's my BG3 run with him, but separate from the constraints of the game's storytelling, I do think he'd end up back with Orin.)

The winning strategy—not that he'd think of it as a strategic move, really—would be for him to go in with very little knowledge of what happened. Perhaps all he remembered was that he was powerfully, irrevocably devoted to Orin, and that something terrible had happened between them. Without a distinct recollection of the betrayal, unwilling to believe that Orin would attack him for no reason, Ghost assumed whatever had happened was his fault. He seeks her out hoping for forgiveness for some grave sin he can't remember committing.

His return would have been an overwhelming experience for Orin. She hated him still, for all the reasons Gortash had encouraged her to hate him, and she hated him more for making her need to do what she did. And she was frightened of him—he'd always been terrifyingly strong and powerful, and with the tadpole, he was weaker than he used to be, but absolutely still a threat. But there was a part of her that was relieved, too. Her brother, her love, her other self had come home again, even after all she'd done.

In his lack of memory, Orin saw an opportunity. He thought he'd done something to deserve her attack and the subsequent tadpoling; she was more than happy to let him believe that, because it meant that she could continue to believe that. It also gave her a distinct advantage over him: he was seeking her favor, her approval, her forgiveness. Their interactions would be entirely on her terms.

In the end, it was perhaps easier to reunite than either of them would have expected it to be. He felt directionless, without a sense of purpose greater than the gnawing need for violence. What greater purpose could there be than earning his place at her side? And when it came to how exactly he could earn her forgiveness, Orin certainly had plenty of ideas.

Their relationship was never like it was before. Before, he saw her as his equal, though the rest of the world barely looked beyond him. When he came crawling back to her, his body wracked by the struggle to survive the tadpole gnawing away at his brain matter, his mind dulled, his will sapped, it could never be like that again, for by that point, he was convinced she'd always been far superior to him, and he was ready to fall in line.

[extant-exhaustion]

Hello...Do you mind if I ask your top 5 (or top 10) favorite moments from any media that you love (books, anime/manga, tv series, movies, games, etc)? Thanks if you want to answer. Sorry if I ask too much....

Hello! This is such a great question! Thank you so much for taking the time to ask! I’m so sorry for the delay in responding. It took me a little while to narrow it down, and so many of these contain spoilers. I'm going to do my best to tag thoroughly to avoid spoiling anything for anyone! So, see below for my list, in no particular order.

Note to all readers:

✨ Pay attention to spoiler tags! ✨

Also, things in small text are the actual spoilery parts? I’m doing my best here, y’all.

Major spoilers for Anna Dressed in Blood / Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake, Lady Knight by Tamora Pierce, The Good Place (season 4), Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, 19 Days (webcomic).

Minor spoilers for Given, Assassination Classroom, Mob Psycho 100, Demon Slayer: Mugen Train, Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

Top Ten Moments

BOOK, Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake: After two books of frankly spine-tingling adventures, ghost hunter Cas Lowood and the ghost he's crossed literal oceans and planes of existence for, Anna, have a chance at some sort of life together. But Anna sees a vision—something not-quite-real, yes, but lovely all the same—of Cas calling to her. She tries to turn away, to return with him to her ghostly existence on his plane...but he lets her go. He loves her so much that he lets her pass on, even if it means he has to let her go. It makes me sob every time.

BOOK, Lady Knight by Tamora Pierce: After a long war fighting killing machines powered by some of the darkest magic in any Tortall book, my absolute kickass heroine Keladry of Mindelan is finally face to face with the Nothing Man, Blayce the Gallan. And yes, he's a mage, but he's also human and pathetic. It has stuck with me for the better part of my life—he's not a monster; he's just a man. Yet, that's the point, it's it? Acts of terrible evil can be committed by even the most unremarkable people.

TV, The Good Place, season 4, episode 9: In a moment when the fate of humanity is hinging on coming up with a plan, the group as always turns to their "answers guy," Chidi. And despite having just had memories of hundreds of lives slammed into his head, he's still able to grasp onto the fact that he left himself a message before his imposed amnesia. He searched all his life (and afterlife) for truth through philosophy, yet he found it instead in the self-proclaimed Arizona trash-bag he fell in love with. So, he bases his plan on the one truth he really knows: "There is no answer. But Eleanor is the answer."

Anime, Given, season 1, episode 9: Weighed down by his former boyfriend Yuki's suicide, Mafuyu gets on stage and is finally able to pay him tribute in a song he wrote, "Fuyu no Hanashi," about the grief of losing someone and not getting to say goodbye. He also reflects on the fear of forgetting as he grows more distant from Yuki's memory. There are moments in the song that actually made me sob with the translation ("Your everything has lost its tomorrow" and "Two people who were always together are torn apart. That’s all there is to this story"), but even the music itself is just stunning.

Anime, Assassination Classroom, season 2, episode 24: This episode is called "Graduation Time," and it genuinely means the world to me. As an episode of a show, it is incredible start to finish. As the culmination of a series, it is phenomenal. It is the Aristotelian ideal of an ending that is "surprising yet inevitable." I love it for some many reasons—it features each of the 28 students and gives them their own moment (which is wonderful, since this show made me a parent to literally all of them); it hits every emotion flawlessly; and it wraps up the major plotlines of the series in a way that is so satisfying and that only the best writing can achieve. I refuse to spoil this episode, but suffice it to say that it's yet another reason that I tell people that this show is so ridiculously underrated.

Anime, Mob Psycho 100, season 1, episode 11: After a drawn out conflict with overpowered adult psychics and increasing anxiety over whether he should fight back, Mob is at his breaking point. His mentor Reigen has always told him not to use his psychic powers against other people, but Mob and his friends and Reigen himself are in danger, and Mob is clearly scared and unsure. Then comes one of my absolute favorite Reigen moments, when he tells his student that it's okay not to fight, to instead let him, the adult, handle things: "When things go south, it's okay to run away!" And it's such a powerful moment because it's one of the only times I can think of in a shonen anime where an adult tells a kid, even a ridiculously powerful one, "Hey, you shouldn't have to do this! This is scary and unfair, and it's okay for you to let the grown-ups take it from here."

Anime, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, episode 22: I could probably choose a dozen moments from this show, but I want to highlight my best girl, so here’s one I particularly love: Winry comes face to face with Scar, the man who killed her parents and has tried multiple times to kill her two best friends. Yet, when she levels a gun at him, her hands shake uncontrollably and she can’t bring herself to shoot. After Al and Scar’s fight moves away from them, Ed gently takes the gun from her hands and Winry, distraught, asks him why she couldn’t pull the trigger. Ed’s response means so much to me: “You gave me an arm and a leg to replace the ones I lost. It’s your hands. They weren’t meant to kill. They’re meant to give life.” It shows just how deeply Edward understands Winry, but more importantly, it shows that strength comes from more than just fighting and violence. Winry is brilliant and clever and kind, and FMAB never treats that as a weakness.

Anime Movie, Demon Slayer: Mugen Train: This movie is a masterpiece, and I'm sure anyone who's seen it will agree that the fight between Rengoku, the Flame Hashira, and Akaza, Upper Three of the Twelve Kizuki, is breathtaking. The animation in the scene is gorgeous, and the music is absolutely beautiful. The tension ramps up throughout the scene as the dialogue and background action escalate in intensity, and all of it is layered on top of the imminent rise of the sun. It's one of the best fight scenes in any anime, honestly (though there have been other Demon Slayer fights that vie for a place on this list too). It's a tour de force.

Movie, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King: Speaking of tours de force, let's throw back to a classic and one of the best fantasy films of all time. There are a ton of scenes from this series that I could have chosen for my favorite, honestly, but I want to shout out a particular performance by Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn. I'm speaking, of course, about his "it is not this day" speech towards the end of the film as his troops stand ready for the Battle of the Black Gate. The speech isn’t in the book, actually, but it was perfect for the movie adaptation. (The trilogy is brilliant, let’s be honest.) It’s a speech that Aragorn delivers in such a rousing way, followed immediately by his "for Frodo" battle cry, that I'm about ready to go fight Sauron's armies myself.

Web Comic, 19 Days, chapters 368–370: This comic is genuinely incredible, but so far what I've enjoyed the most is Mo Guanshan's character arc. He started out as nothing more than a bully, but as his backstory was revealed and the reasons behind his attitude became clearer, he became one of my favorite characters. These three chapters encompass what is, in my opinion, the most intense scene in the comic, the (mostly one-sided) fight between Guanshan and She Li and his gang. It's an absolutely brutal sequence and has stuck with me for months since I first read it. It also leads to one of the first moments of true tenderness from He Tian who until now has acted primarily to get a rise out of Mo and is almost always a selfish asshole, but after this incident, his own attitude begins to change too. It’s just such a catalyst event in the story. I love it.

Phew! Well, anyone agree? Disagree? Want to freak out with me about any of these? I would be thrilled. 👏🏼

[scratchandplaster]

Stack The Deck - Wellness check

CW: stalking, obsessive behavior, intimidation, Morris hating on bald people

・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・

CF3 46E, CF3 46E, CF3 46E...

Morris needed to find that car again, right now, before the trace got cold and slipped through his fingers like sand. Frantically shoving the clothes he had borrowed back into the boxes, he was unsure about how to act next. Go back to the apartment and hope for the mother to come back again? Maybe drive around the city and look for the familiar code of the license plate, that too would travel to a new home.

Upstate... Nothing more than forests and rivers there, and to do what exactly? Live in a log cabin and siphon off tree sap till his parents grew old?

CF3 46E

Morris couldn't let that happen, staying back and remaining nothing more than a ghost story Elliot could tell his family: the tale of the pathetic fuck that didn't realize he had everything right under his nose until-

A forceful knock on the door ripped him from his thoughts.

CF3 46B

He didn't expect company, much less had the nerve for it right now. Everyone could go to hell for all he cared. With one exception, of course.

CF-

The booming against the wood became more vigorous; impatient rhythms meeting quickly thinning patience.

"Miss Roberts, I don't know where your cats are, I'm not stealing them. We've been over this."

No grace in sight, just more assault on Morris' poor ears, like the noises all throughout his head: crying, screaming, rough bristles against tile. The sting of apple-fresh bleach still burned at the back of his sinuses, even after weeks of mind-numbing distraction.

I need to explain everything, and he will accept my apology, and we can finally start over-

Before another hit could let the hinges vibrate with force, the door swung open to reveal a bright red face of anger to the unwelcomed guest.

"I SAID-" Morris growled, and stopped when he recognized the utterly unimpressed man. One he really didn't want to deal with right now.

"Belanger, for fuck's sake, now is not the time-"

"You don't answer my calls." Because I'm tired of being your postie.

"I'm busy, and you give me a job like what, once a week? Of course I'll keep myself occupied otherwise."

Caught in a gloomy expression, no man dared to back down so quickly. 

"You need to answer when I call."

Biting his tongue, the only thing Morris could retort was an annoyed huff; he knew about the duty towards his employer. It was nothing he could just push along as he pleased, but the information he'd worked hard for wasn't worth being thrown out so suddenly. The window he had created for himself was quickly shutting down. 

"So you are busy and under-worked at the moment? Doesn't sound convincing..." Belanger's lusterless fish eyes kept focus on the target of his worry, even as he pressed himself past the door frame. 

Remaining face-to-face with the always discreetly clothed partner, one could only wonder why a few missed job opportunities would rub him the wrong way. Thinking of it, Morris guessed that he would be just as sensitive, provided he'd also lose all his hair minutes after turning thirty. On angry nights, he often asked himself if he could take on Mr. Clean's dipshit cousin.

"Please, make yourself at home," Morris sighed, not sure how well-thought-out it had been to let the mass of a man into his quarters.

The tired proxy carefully eyed the mess littered throughout the room; photos, piano booklets and obviously strange clothing only affirmed what he had already suspected:

"Are you getting distracted again?"

Yes, actually, by the nagging little middleman he was supposed to stand by for.

That exact man painfully remembered the last one that stole Morris' focus: some bony princess from new money; he caught him scrolling through an ocean of pictures when they should have been occupied with handling the daily charge. Belanger wasn't ready to put up with this whole act once again, not so soon. The only thing worse than the fawning, and god did he hate that, will be the moment it all inevitably crashes and burns to the ground. The phase where Morris got especially difficult to handle...

"What is it this time? I'll see if I can make some space for you," he answered instead, paying no mind to Belanger's interrogation.

"You better do that quickly, Dutch wants to see you."

Shit. He really should have taken that call.

"Now?" Morris desperately tried to squeeze his voice past the lump blocking his throat. It was better to know when he would be led to slaughter, saves a lot of time on scheduling.

"Don't piss yourself yet, he was impressed with whatever you did back at the den," the proxy said, letting his monotone drawl hide how much he enjoyed seeing him all antsy, "Fucking massacre, if you ask me, though." 

"I cleaned up after, if you need it..."

"At least you got that right. Congrats, I guess, nobody found the body yet." Yeah, me neither.

"Wasn't that bad, just so you know, uh-"

"I would stay in line if I were you, with the cops still on my ass and all," Belanger let his voice drop low, having neither interest nor patience for cheap horror stories, "Let's go!"

Morris was close, so much closer than the last few weeks. There had to be another way, one that didn't involve Dutch, of all people.

"Listen, I'll call you back soon and-"

"Wasn't a question, Morris."

He thought of Elliot and the festering itch that burned up when remembering these hazel eyes, looking up at him just one more time... I forgive you. God, he would give everything to hear these words.

He thought of Dutch, and his bad knee let a cautionary twitch rock his body.

So Morris budged. Some people you can't let wait.

CS3 46B would still be there for him, a few miles further northwest, more or less. It wouldn't take that long, right? He could let the itch heal down and hope the lingering antipathy would fade away, give them all some time to breathe. A fear started to nest deep already, hidden behind Morris' own self-preservation: the silent terror that Elliot wouldn't stop to look out for him.

Belanger would, though, keeping Morris on track until their boss was satisfied.

・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・

Thanks for reading 🤍 [Masterlist]

Taglist: @whatwasmyprevioususername, @canislycaon24

[liquid-snakes]

vent in the tags!! sorry ✊😔

[chronic-cane]

It's Not Genocide

I made this for class and I wanted to wait until after I presented it to post it. The assignment was to make a manifesto and this one is about disability. I never see anything angry about disability when we should be enraged, so that's what I tried to point out. It's all text but is emotionally heavy, and long, so it's under the cut.

TW: Death, eugenics, disability c slur used, swearing, knives, murder of disabled people (specifically autistic children), and a lot of anger. There is also passive-aggressive sarcasm.

Pro-lifers DO NOT Interact

Disability isn’t included in the definition of genocide by the United Nations. It’s not included even though disabled people were the first to be exterminated in Nazi Germany long before anyone else, but you don’t learn about irrelevant lives in history class.

It’s for the best, because if it were included, then Iceland would have to own up to bragging about virtually eliminating all cases of down syndrome through abortion. When speaking about a growing fetus who tests positive for down syndrome and the pregnancy is terminated because of such, the rate is 67% in the U.S., 77% in France, and 98% in Denmark (Quinones & Lajka, 2017). The UK would have to acknowledge that from March 2014 to February 2017, over a hundred disabled people died per day when trying to claim for financial support, including around 11,000 who died after being told that they were actually ‘fit for work’ by a government official who didn’t need to have any sort of education about the disability (Berghs, et al., 2020, p. 50). Before they of course stopped sharing the incredibly high fatalities to the public so that way the burdens can be quieter when they die.

The UK only copied from the United States though, the country that could eliminate a quarter of its poverty rate if they just raised the Social Security Income to be above the damn poverty line. Instead, they’d rather disabled people fight for their fucking lives to get a lucrative $841 maximum on SSI a month, never have over $2000 to their name, and never be able to marry unless if they want to lose the healthcare that keeps them alive. Never mind that on average, someone who has a disability that limits the ability to work requires about $17,000 more per year than the average household without someone with a disability (Goodman, et al., 2020).

At least the United States has the Americans with Disabilities Act, which requires you to have healthcare you can’t afford to be protected from discrimination. The employment protections are also a fucking joke in the face of at will employment. The founding fathers told me I can work, and the jobs told me that I’m not competitive enough to work for minimum wage. Capitalism ensures that we will never survive. Disability is a luxury only the rich can afford, and the rest of us must beg for the government to see us worthy of scraps, break ourselves, or die.

But that’s not intentional genocide, I mean, if it could ever be genocide in the first place. Genocide would look more like 34 million adults knowing at least one person who died because they couldn’t afford their medication (Witters, 2019). It would look more like a recorded 2.8 million people dying because they couldn’t afford needed healthcare in 2017. It would look like the CDC telling everyone that only the disabled and poor people will die, so get back to work. It would look like “this elevator shuts down during a fire no matter what” and wheelchair users finding themselves unable to escape from a burning building. It would look like people insisting that disabled people have lives that aren’t worth living, and when we’re murdered, the story let’s everyone know that the murderer found us better off dead, and the public agrees.

I’m told every day by the world that my right to live hinges on whether my mind and body is profitable enough. Every day I am told that my life and the lives of my disabled siblings aren’t worth jack shit. Then I turn around and I’m told that we should explain to abled people that they need to relearn common decency because it goes out the window when they look at a mobility aid. “Noo silly goose, you can’t touch someone’s property and forcibly move them without their permission,” that’s not a teachable moment, that’s the moment you get out a pocketknife.

There is one class that teaches about disability at this University, and it never bothered to mention we’re slaughtered on a mass scale, instead I was given information that was last updated in 2013 that included revolutionary ideas like how autism isn’t a plague coming for your children. I could learn that, but not told how many autistic children were murdered by their parents on the Disability Day of Mourning website. They couldn’t even find the names of some of those kids, and instead of tears for their deaths, there are tears for their killers who must have had it so hard. What is wrong with you people? These were fucking children, they had decades of life ahead of them, life that’s a blessing to the world, and you’re crying for the killer. Why am I expected to be calm, collected, and insightful towards the people who would rather cry for the fact that disabled people are alive more than they would if we’re dead?

If they truly pitied us so much, they would do something besides torture and kill us. I see a system that takes every single marginalized person, traumatizes them, beats them, and throws them into the cripple bin to die. People who are ashamed to become me, to become one of us, because they know how useless we must be to the system that sees our bodies as profit and nothing more.

It’s okay, I’m ashamed of me too, but at least I got to adulthood with the amount of privilege I have. At least we’re still here, you are still here, and you are worth as much as anyone else.

Every day a person who is bedridden and requires assistance to eat and use the bathroom makes it to the next day, is a day of revolution in a world that sees their life as a meaningless burden. Every breath through an iron lung is a breath of defiance. The rambling, hopping, and jumbled flow of my ADHD redefines writing. The slur in my S and my anxious stutter is a miracle to speech. Our bodies, our minds, our lives are priceless.

But that’s all so hard to convince yourself when it’s not even genocide.  

References

Berghs, M., Chataika, T., El-Lahib, Y., & Dube, A. K. (2020). The Routledge handbook of disability activism [PDF]. Routledge.

Goodman, N., Morris, M., Morris, Z., & McGarity, S. (2020, October). The extra costs of living with a disability in the U.S. — resetting the policy table. National Disability Institute. Retrieved April 3, 2022, from https://www.nationaldisabilityinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/extra-costs-living-with-disability-brief.pdf

Quinones, J., & Lajka, A. (2017, August 15). "What kind of society do you want to live in?" Inside the country where down syndrome is disappearing. CBS News. Retrieved April 3, 2022, from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/down-syndrome-iceland/

Witters, D. (2019, November 12). Millions in U.S. lost someone who couldn't afford treatment. Gallup. Retrieved April 3, 2022, from https://news.gallup.com/poll/268094/millions-lost-someone-couldn-afford-treatment.aspx

[illusionsofdreaming]

would it be okay to request headcanons with the main trio from TCF who aren't in a relationship with the (fem) reader yet but they like each other, the guys get hurt or something and the reader is so scared of losing them or was so anxious that she ended up kissing them? You can edit a few parts if you'd prefer! thank you, i know you have a lot of requests but you're the only one who writes x reader for them-

Notes: It took forever+forever but I finally gave up trying to perfect it- y'all just going to have to deal with these half baked potatos as I sob in the corner for my lack of functioning writing braincells.

+ 'nonny I know you asked for Fem reader but I'm just so used to writing gender neutral nowadays I actually forgot to write Fem reader in. Uh. I mean it's gender neutral so it should work regardless?? I'msorrypleaseforgivemeforthisblunder

Ft: Cale, Alberu, Choi Han

Cale Henituse

He’s covered in blood.

Again.

He glanced down at his shirt, once white, now completely soaked and rapidly losing warmth. The icky feeling of sticky cloth stuck on skin caused goosebumps to break out all over his arms. The lethargy that weighed on him was hard to ignore, but expected after using his ancient powers-

“Cale!”

He turned just as the full force of you barrelled into him and he staggered, unbalanced and would’ve fallen had you not pulled him back. He barely had time to protest at your rough greeting when you began frantically patting him down as if scouring him for weapons.

“There’s so much- where are you hurt?” you demanded harshly, your tone pitched higher than normal. “Raon call for Saint Jack and the others, medics- anyone that can help!”

“Y-yes! I-I will! Weak hu-human you better not die or I will destroy the kingdom!”

“Wai-“ his protests were ignored as the dragon flew off, leaving Cale dumbfounded with his jaw hanging down in disbelief. “Wait you don’t have to find the others, I’m fi-“

“Cale Henituse, if I hear you say ‘I’m fine’ I’m going to sock you to kingdom fucking come.“ you seethed. His lips snapped shut obediently, swallowing the aforementioned phrase down as a foreboding chill crept down his spine.

But I am..?

“How could you..” your voice shook even as you clung onto his soaked shirt so tightly your knuckles turned white. “You’re always doing stupid things like this…”

Cale frowned, feeling a bit indignant. Sure his plans weren’t the most thought out at times, but to call them stupid…

“If you waited for us to come, then you wouldn’t have to- why do you keep sacrificing yourself like this?”

That triggered an alarm in his head. What strange things were you talking about? The act of sacrifice were done by martyrs and selfless heroes and Cale Henituse was neither of those. He wanted to correct your misunderstanding but you were worked up and hysterical and it was with horror that he realised you were crying.

“________-“

“Don’t talk! Please, just conserve your energy- I won’t let you die, I promised the kids and the others- I won’t let you-”

The alarm bells in his head rang even louder and he fought to be heard over your rambling, “_________- no one’s dying, I’m fine-” it felt as if his heart had leapt to his throat as he stopped your fist before it could make contact. You really weren’t joking when you said you’d punch him. He tightened his hold on your wrist when you tried to twist out of his grip and swallowed nervously. “I’m not hurt _________,“ he emphasised, willing you to meet his eyes.

“Stop bullshitting me Cale- how much of a fucking idiot do you take me for? How can anyone be fine after losing this much blood-“

“It’s not mine.”

You stilled in his grasp.

“…W-what?”

He frowned. Was it really that hard to believe his words? “The blood’s not mine.” he repeated and made sure to meet your disbelieving gaze head on so that you could verify the truth in his words. “They were cut down before they could harm me. None of this blood is mine. I was not hurt.“ It was a partial lie. He did cough out some blood after instinctively activating the shield for protection but he felt that that was knowledge you’d be better off not knowing.

The coiled tension in you leaked out and Cale slowly released his grip on your hand and took a cautious step back - just in case. It was a good thing he managed to deescalate the situation before the others arrived. Just convincing one person was hassle enough and from experience alone, he knew the others weren’t as merciful when it came to learning about his injuries, regardless of severity or his protests otherwise. Cale shuddered. He really didn’t want to be on the receiving end of Ron’s cold smile again. He glanced up and saw Raon’s flying figure and he waved lazily to the dragon hoping the young one would understand that the healers were no longer necessary, it had only been a false alarm.

“..ot.”

“Hm?” He looked down, hearing you mumble but didn’t quite catch what you’d said.

He was not prepared to be yanked forward and for your lips to mash against his. There was a brief sting where your teeth had caught on his lip and the uncomfortable sensation of having your teeth clack against each other, noses in the way. He froze, like a deer caught in headlights, thoughts reeling but before he could think of acting, to push or pull you in even closer-

You let him go just as abruptly and he staggered, breath stolen, mind in absolute disarray.

Then you slapped him. Which definitely cleared his thoughts. “You idiot!”

Stupefied, he watched as you stormed off, stuck in a daze as he cradled his face where his cheek and lips tingled for different reasons.

“…What..?”

Choi Han

Choi Han didn’t know what Cale saw in you back then, a complete stranger whom they saved by chance and nursed back to health with utmost care. You, who Cale insisted was the final key to their masterplan and then asked Choi Han to act as your escort.

There were many things Choi Han didn’t understand when it came to Cale-nim’s decisions. But that wasn’t so unusual and he’d never made it a habit to question Cale’s reasoning, having learned to be patient, knowing the pieces would eventually slot together in the grand picture. So although initially wary he was of your unclear history and affiliation, he stayed by your side and did his duty without question.

And perhaps after weeks of accompanying you, he’s beginning to see what Cale saw. Though powerless and weak, you were righteous and passionate, holding true to your belief even in the face of adversaries. You were the perfect replacement for the tyrannical ruler of the country, someone capable of salvaging the crumbling system of a neglected, abused society and lifting it to new heights and glory.

With the flames of revolution ignited, everything hinged on getting you safely to Cale on the final stage. While the revolutionaries fought and acted as distractions above ground, he escorted you through the abandoned waterways.

The undergrounds were dark and cramped, incredibly disadvantageous to a swordsman such as himself. When assassins leaped out in an ambush; Choi Han didn’t hesitate. Without time nor space to draw his sword, he pushed you behind him and raised his arm to block the strike.

As the momentum of the assassin’s blade stopped, it became simple matter to quickly disarm and finish them. Having checked and affirmed that there’s no forthcoming attacks, he urged you to hurry, now worried as they weren’t expected to be discovered so soon.

Something must’ve happened, we should hurry to Cale-nim’s side-

He was halted with a firm grip on his other hand and was pulled back as he was met with your stern, unwavering gaze and declaration that you will not move another step from this spot until his arm got treated first.

Which was a ridiculous request considering they were running on a tight schedule. He frowned and his fingers flexed against the hilt of his sword as you pulled him to the side.

When none of his objections were being heard, he tried reasoning with you. The wound may look horrible, but he’d assured you he’d angled his arm just so that the blade would’ve caught on his bone rather than tendons. It was a strategic move that not only blocked momentum but also kept damage to his non-dominant arm at the minimum. He would not have bled to death nor would he be crippled from it, something that barely needed the emergency care you insisted on.

“It’s not necessary, we need to get to the tower room first.”

“The room is not moving anywhere, I’d rather not risk having you develop an infection because you neglected to care for your wound.“

He flinched when alcohol was poured on the cut and Choi Han breathed out slowly, his frustration mounting as precious seconds passed. Something in his chest stirred uncomfortably. He’s not accustomed to having others care for his wounds, having spent so many years caring for them himself whilst hiding his weaknesses from monsters in the Forest of Darkness.

“I will attend to it after I’ve brought you to Master Cale’s side, we must-“

Your eyes flashed with anger as your grip tightened painfully around his arm. “So many things have been lost to reach this stage, I’d rather not lose more on the way there.”

“Cale-“

Perhaps you’ve had enough as well as the next thing he knew, your fingers dug into his arm and he found himself yanked forward and you pressing a hard, determined kiss that stole whatever he was going to say from his lips.

“Cale Henituse,” you said sternly when you parted and picked up a roll of bandages, “can afford to wait a bit longer.” you glared at him as if daring him to argue otherwise.

Not that it was necessary, considering he’d doubt he’d have the coherency to answer anything with the way all the blood in his body was rushing to his face.

Alberu Crossman

He didn’t feel anything upon the moment of impact. Only the shocking cold of metal being slid into his side and the vicious gaze of the perpetrator pressed up to his front.

The pain ripped through a moment later and he gritted his teeth, red spilling down his lips. It hurts.

Activity bursted around him, screams of fear echoed through the ballroom as guards rushed to his side. However one voice in particular caught his attention and he looked up to catch your horrified expression, lips parted in a desperate cry.

His forehead furrowed as a strange sense of guilt washed over him- he didn’t want you to see this- but he didn’t have time to explore the feeling as his hand latched firmly on the hand which still held the weapon in his side, preventing their escape.

His smile was red, “Caught you now, rat.”

═════☩══♛══☩═════

He tousled his hair dry with a towel as he read through the reports in his hand.

Alberu was exhausted, the fight to rid his side of his enemies’ spies had always been an ongoing and tedious project. His enemies were cunning and always played things safe however their impatience this time would cost them. Now that one of their own has fallen into his hands, they can start pulling in the net.

A knock sounded on his door and he didn’t bother looking up from his reports as he gave permission. “Come in.”

“Did you manage to find any new information from them?” he asked immediately as the door opened. Anything gleaned from the assassin would be beneficial to his cause. Not that he truly expected any confessions to be given this night. Any hired killer worth their salt would know not to betray the mastermind behind a hit. But there were more than one way to find credible information aside from words torn directly from the lips of a captive.

When no answer came, he looked up and immediately dropped the papers he was reading.

“___________…”

In the aftermath of the attack and the capture of the assassin he’d been immediately escorted to the healers for first aid. With the bare minimum done he’d left quickly to take control of the situation, calming the aristocrats and giving orders to assign all guests to be escorted to a room in the palace to rest from the unexpected development - the smarter ones would know this was just a way to keep all suspects in one place, stalling for time so that his trusted aides may work to narrow down the most likely suspects. He had been meaning to find you and explain once everything settled but this time you took matters into your own hands.

Your eyes glanced at the documents he dropped. “Am I disturbing your work?”

“No,” he replied instantly, fighting back the urge to shuffle the papers behind him. “No, you’re not.”

The room lapsed into silence once more as neither of you seemed keen to address the elephant in the room.

“About tonight…” he started slowly, “they had to believe I had my guards lowered.”

The truth was, though he believed you would not have been behind the attack, you had to be tested all the same. Should it be known you’ve been partial to this plan, it would’ve given the real culprits leverage to use.

You approached him and he wished you would say something. He noted the redness in your eyes and felt a stab of guilt lodge in his chest. “It had to be believable.”

You didn’t meet his eyes and your hand hovered over where his wound had been.

He lifted the edge of his shirt up to reveal the pink scar tissue underneath. It was ugly and badly healed due to the rush he had been in. “I wasn’t in any real danger.” he said softly, staying still and resisting the urge to shiver when your fingers traced the scar.

“You’re picking up bad habits from Cale.” You said so softly he would’ve missed it had he not been paying attention.

“The padded shirt under prevented the blade from going too deep.” he explained, hoping you’d understand that he hadn’t been reckless. Everything had been planned carefully. He slowly tucked his shirt back in as you withdrew your hand, already missing the warmth you brought to his skin just moments ago.

“__________…”

You leaned in and placed a small kiss on the corner of his mouth. “Don’t do that again.” you whispered against his cheek.

He could only watch in astonishment as you turned away and exited his room.

“..Okay..” he said hoarsely to the empty room.

[itsclydebitches]

I kinda wonder, what could bakugou do (hori write bakugou to do) to make him less popular with the "anti" crowd. Like He was a horrid child no doubt and people who try to put blame on Deku or lessen the terrible shit bakugou did aren't great. But as we don't rly see it, we have to assume bakugous behaviour wasn't stopped, we only ever saw his mum "punishing" him when he was being rude after getting kiddnapped. Nothing will excuse what bakugou did, but he has stopped? He's overall a harsh person but he's not harrassing and bullying people anymore, specifically not deku, he's trying to attone for what he did to deku and has now apologised for it. His behaviour was never viewed as justified or good in the series, he's a scary figure in middle school, we're not meant to like his behaviour, so the series itself hasn't justified his actions.

As someone who relate to both bakugou and deku more than I'd like to admit (never told someone to jump tho, that's fucked lol) so I can 100% understand not liking or even hating bakugou but as someone who's not 15 anymore, looking back I also made a lot of really shitty decisions and like bakugou have tried to make up for it, and like deku I was 'friends' with people who hurt me.

Is there anything he can do for the "antis" to just dislike him rather that be "anti"?

(I'm very sorry if you've talked about this somewhere, you can just tell me to look for it if you have, I'll continue to look for your posts on the subject)

Hey there, anon! I think I’ve spoken about this only tangentially and/or in my main Bakugo meta, which is too big for anyone sane to read. So yeah, let’s chat here!

For me personally—and that’s all I can ever do: speak personally. I think it’s important to keep in mind that there is no single solution to please the “anti” crowd. Each fan will be looking for something slightly different in Bakugo’s character, much of which might contradict what a “stan” is currently enjoying. Given how charged a character he is, I'm not sure it's possible to get the entire fandom to like him—what I’m looking for hinges on having a different reading of the story than you seem to. Meaning, I think the series does justify his behavior. Not in any overt, super obvious way like having all the characters go, “Wow, Bakugo! I sure do love how you threaten people all the time. That’s super cool and heroic!” Things are rarely that straightforward. Rather, it’s in a more subtle, but consistent manner that paints a rather conclusive picture across hundreds of chapters.

Simply put, Bakugo is continually rewarded for his actions. Or, if not outright rewarded, his actions are ignored in a way that implies silent acceptance. Characters may not always like what he does... but they're willing to let it slide because Bakugo's heroism was always treated as a given, not something he had to earn and prove.

With the ever necessary disclaimer that I’m not fully caught up yet, here’s a list of some of the things that stood out to me in the first half of the series:

Bakugo’s bullying made him the most popular kid in school.

Bakugo’s bullying was ignored by/outright supported by the teachers.

Bakugo’s bullying did not hinder him from getting into U.A., one of the most prestigious hero schools around.

Despite acting horribly throughout his time at U.A. too, this behavior was continually ignored by the teachers and other authority figures around him.

Bakugo’s struggle to realize that other people aren’t “trash” doesn’t hurt his achievements in any way. He still gets top scores, still wins the tournament, etc.

Bakugo’s behavior gets him special attention from All Might, the greatest hero and Bakugo’s personal idol.

His behavior doesn’t make others dislike him in any manner that’s taken seriously. Everybody is still willing to not just put up with Bakugo, but—in time—start treating his behavior as a quirk (no pun intended lol) that they’re secretly fond of, rather than something he should legitimately be striving to change. Kirishima is the most overt example of this.

This is compounded by his behavior constantly being framed as humorous. Much like with Mineta’s perverted actions, characters might superficially go, “No, that’s bad!” but the story never demands any significant development because then we’d lose the “joke” of Bakugo screaming in rage at the slightest inconvenience, threatening to murder someone over nothing, constantly belittling everyone around him in a “funny” manner, etc. When fans talk about development of a manga character as archetypal and extreme as Bakugo, most don’t really want to see significant change to his base personality. Because then that would result in someone who doesn’t look like the “real” Bakugo: someone nicer, more even-tempered, more mature, etc. But for those of us who were never drawn to that personality in the first place, the continued acceptance of his rude, egotistical, and violent behavior is discomforting. The easiest comparison I can draw is between this and Bakugo’s mother slapping him. That slap is meant to be another “joke”—we see it constantly in shonen anime, something "humorous" you shouldn’t take too seriously because haha, it's just an overprotective mother—but many fans do take it seriously, using it as the basis for a whole “Bakugo was abused and this explains his behavior” reading. Well, I take the “joke” of Bakugo’s threats and insults seriously, especially in a story that starts with something like telling Izuku to jump off the roof. In the same way that many fans want others to treat Bakugo’s mother as a serious topic that has had a negative influence on his development, I want the series to take Bakugo’s everyday actions seriously as a negative influence on… well, everyone around him. But it doesn’t. His base personality is grudgingly adored.

The above two points are seen most overtly in Izuku, who never wavers in his respect for Bakugo despite how Bakugo treats him. Not just prior to U.A., but during their training too. Izuku, as the protagonist, is the emotional heart of this tale, so when he talks about how inspiring Bakugo is, it encourages the reader to see his behavior as inspiring too. Rather than, as said, something that needs to change. Izuku's continued friendship with Bakugo, his adoration of him, and his acceptance of the way he's treated has severely warped how the entire story sees Bakugo's actions. After all, if #pure Izuku can see the good in Bakugo, why can't everyone else? He must not be that bad after all.

I could get into detailed analyses of all the above—like how Bakugo was the one comforted after attacking Izuku outside the dorms at night and how the messed up relationship he has with Izuku is upheld as something to nurture; how the remedial courses he had to take were made to be rather silly, thereby undermining their supposed importance to his development; how Bakugo’s kidnapping had nothing to do with his flaws, but much of the fandom uses it as a way to dismiss any appropriate consequences because, “Hasn’t he suffered enough?” etc.—but in the interest of keeping this within a readable length, I’ll leave it at that. The point is that Bakugo has always been privileged when it comes to his behavior, resulting in others either outright praising it, ignoring it, or demanding that he change a miniscule bit, which always keeps him far below the standards of both his peers and the expectations of a hero. Everyone in 1-A must learn to be even better than the good people they already are... Bakugo needs to learn that other people aren't dirt at the bottom of his shoes. It's never been a particularly impressive development when pit against the rest of the class. All of which can make something like an apology feel pretty hollow. Yes, he’s apologized and I say with all seriousness that that’s great! But how does that apology stack up against 300+ chapters of content? As Bakugo’s words highlight, he's been a really awful person up "until now": he was consumed by Izuku being “miles ahead of [him],” he “looked down on [him]” because he didn’t have a quirk, he “didn’t want to recognize that,” he “hated that,” “grew distant,” “tried to beat you down,” “opposed you and tried to show my superiority over you,” and ends it all with, “it probably doesn’t mean anything telling you all this” before finally getting to the “I’m sorry.” This is basically a laundry list of how horrible a person Bakugo has been for the entire series, with an acknowledgement that this apology is coming really, really late. This is the moment where I could START to like Bakugo, depending on how he acts form here on out, but that pivotal moment arrived after six years of content and in the final arc of the story. It’s too late. Bakugo needed this kind of self-reflection and positive action 250+ chapters ago so he could (hopefully) grow into a better person across the story, not at the story's end. What we got instead is 322 chapters of him being a really horrible person, but the story going out of its way to excuse or even praise that behavior the majority of the time.

As a quick comparison to end on, I think what Bakugo needed was what Soo Jin got in True Beauty. You don’t need to have seen the drama to follow along. The tl;dr is that she has a lot of the core qualities of Bakugo: an all-consuming drive to win that was created due to abusive parents with high expectations, resulting in her bullying a peer to a pretty horrific extent. The difference between them is how the story frames their actions. When Soo Jin becomes the bully she loses everything. Rather than succeeding academically, her grades plummet, making it clear that this anxiety and self-doubt (things the fandom keeps insisting Bakugo is struggling with, but that rarely ever show up in the text) is actually impacting her day-to-day life. Her best friend drops her because she’s not going to support her choices. The boy she likes rejects her. She’s eventually forced to start over somewhere new - which importantly separates her from the girl she was bullying - and get some distance from her parents, resulting in the growth needed to become a healthier, happier, good person again. So when Soo Jin apologizes to the girl she hurt, it feels earned. The story continually recognized how horrific her actions were and put her into a place where she either had to change, or continue losing at everything else that was important to her. Bakugo? Bakugo doesn’t lose. Oh, he claims he does because he’s comparing himself to Izuku constantly, but that’s just him thinking in extremes. He still wins academically. Still wins many battles. Still wins at having friends. Still wins by maintaining the prestige of being a U.A. student. Still wins by getting All Might’s attention. Still wins by receiving Izuku’s respect and an agreement to maintain this rivalry that Bakugo is so obsessed with. Bakugo comes out well 99% of the time, he just thinks he's "lost" because he can't stand not being the absolute best.

For me, the story needed to have Bakugo face consequences for his behavior, not receive rewards and/or have others ignore it, and that revelation/apology needed to come way, way sooner. For me the issue is not a specific action that Horikoshi can have Bakugo do in the next chapter and them bam, I like him now. The problem is Bakugo’s entire concept, how he’s received by the entire cast, and his run across this entire series. "Entire" is the key word there. Which is why the “But he’s apologized. What more do you antis want?” reactions don’t sit well. What we wanted is a better written redemption arc across those 300+ chapters, not a single scene that’s meant to have us forget all the other problems inherent in the story. At this point it’s a far more complicated situation than, “Bakugo just needs to do X, Y, and Z and then we’re golden.” At the end of the day, Horikoshi failed to make me like him as a person and I’m pretty sure he isn’t going to change Bakugo enough to make him likable to me. Bakugo was never the sort of character I’d be inclined towards without a serious, nuanced redemption arc, but sadly, a core, crucial part of that redemption arc took six years to arrive. At this point there’s no way to change the problems in Bakugo’s writing for that huge chunk of the series and not enough time left in the series, it seems, to do the work we should have seen across the entire run. Honestly, idk if the Bakugo we'll get going forward is someone I can just dislike as opposed to being really uncomfortable with, but my money is on there being too little story left and too much investment in upholding Bakugo's base personality for that to happen. I could absolutely be proven wrong! But I think the problems are structural and needed to be better dealt with from page one, not hastily patched over in the final hour.

[incandescent-creativity]

hi, wanted to drop by to ask how the hell am I to write an initially likeable character who descends into madness so that the readers soul cries for the character and they can simply not read anything else for like a week? I hope I'm not asking too much.

Anon! you're talking about negative character development! one of my favorite things ever!!!

Characters who become better people are good and all (literally), but characters who get worse? Protagonists who flip to antagonists? Friends who become enemies, prompting us to mourn who they used to be and what we had with them, even as we fight them?

I eat that shit up.

Now that I'm done fawning, let's see if I can help you out.

Personally, I think negative character development hinges on loss. Nobody "descends into madness," as you put it, on the random. Something has to happen to them.

This is convenient, because it can hand you your plot!

I think a good way to go about it is to ask yourself, for your character, what is holding them back? You're trying to write a descent, a spiral, so I think it is reasonable to assume that this character (I'm going to use the name Sam) starts at a relatively stable place.

Note that I say stable, not necessarily good. Maybe Sam's a crime boss, or an assassin. Not all protagonists follow the law. Honestly, most of them cause problems, sometimes on purpose. But Sam has a solid sense of self, and isn't acting contrary to who they are.

Your job is to figure out the key element keeping them that way.

For example, maybe there's another character keeping them on the straight and narrow, like a partner (business or romantic. Or both!). Or maybe Sam holds a strict moral code. Could be there's an old promise that we made that we simply can't betray. Who's to say?

Well, you's to say. And identifying this factor can also be a fun character development exercise!

Once you have the thing(s) keeping them likeable, take it away.

If you're an outliner, try to outline your plot around Sam losing these things. Oh, sure, have them fight against it, they don't want to lose it, but for the sake of the negative development, they will. Sorry, Sam.

After they lose it, write out the repercussions! Take your time with it, if you can. After all, this is the juicy part. The consequences of losing these things is so harmful to who they are, at their core, that the reader can't imagine this loss not changing them. It's simply unthinkable. And it's interesting, so we read on.

If you're not an outliner, well, keep it in mind for the next draft. If you have some plot points that don't seem like they're working, you can switch them out for this.

Or change said scenes so that the repercussions actually change your character! Sometimes I fall into that trap, where my characters go through awful things and then,.. don't really change. Whoops.

Finally, there can be multiple factors to lose before the negative development is complete. If you're intending Sam to be a force against other protagonists for the rest of the story, maybe there's only one, and they lose it pretty early on.

But if you're trying to drag things out for them, and write more of a slow burn, stack a few on there! That way, when they lose the first one, you can write a sort of "Well, this is awful and soul-destroying, but at least I still have X and Y!" narrative.

This will hurt when you proceed to remove X and Y as factors later on.

I hope this helped!

[curioussubjects]

I feel bad discussing spn now that’s over but I’ve been wondering. Do you think dean actually meant it when he said “why does that something always seem to be you” (15.03)? Usually people blurt out what’s on their mind all of a sudden even if they didn’t mean to say it out loud. But it comes out because the person either thinks about it or actually believes it. Do you think at one point Dean truly blamed Cas for Mary? I mean, putting 15.09 aside of course.

Why do you feel bad discussing SPN now the show’s over, anon?? Don’t feel bad!

The short answer to your question, in my view, is that Dean was lashing out because of how his unaddressed trauma over Cas dying (cf. 7x01, purgatory, 12x23) gets entangled with him processing his grief over Mary and Jack. Everything is further exacerbated by Chuck’s villain reveal, and the events that lead to Rowena’s “death.”  The longer answer to this question starts with acknowledging that feelings and trauma are complicated things that aren't always rational. And that's the crux of the matter for Dean in that moment he lashes out at Cas: he's not behaving rationally. We know Dean is angry, and historically doesn't handle anger well at all, but we also know, even without 15x09, that what Dean is really feeling is fear. In that moment, Dean is angry, and he's scared. If you watch the scene closely, too, you'll notice that Dean is still present enough to regret saying "why does that something always seem to be you" to Cas. He tenses up, he looks down and only looks up again in stubbornness defiance when Cas says he can't even look at him. Then Cas leaves, which has always been an issue for Dean. However warranted Cas's decision to leave was, it still hits Dean as rejection, too. All this is to say that the break up scene is extremely fraught, and Dean is the type of person who needs time to process events and emotions, and time to process is something he hasn't had since Mary disappeared.

So you ask: ok, cool, but what does all of that have to do with Cas dying, Liv? And here's where I say they have everything to do with Cas dying. I've talked about this before in tags and in other posts that I can't think of right now, but there are common occurrences in the events that have led to the more traumatic Cas deaths. If we think of Cas dying in 07x01, the context for that is as follows: Cas needs to solve a problem, he wants to ask Dean for help, but the desire to not burden him with it is greater, so Cas ends up handling the problem solo, which leads to disaster and also him dying. Or, well, apparently dying. But as far as Dean was concerned, Cas was dead, and he did struggle with it a lot during season 7. Now, fast-forward to s12 and the context of how Cas ends up dead then: Cas needs to solve a problem, part of him does want to cooperate with Sam and Dean to solve it, but he ultimately decides his desire to bring Dean a win, and to shield him and Sam from actions they'd suffer from are greater. Predictably, Cas ends up handling the problem solo, which leads to complications, and him being killed by Lucifer. Cas's death in 12x23 is significantly more traumatic to Dean than the one in 07x01 as season 13 starts with a grief arc that is devoted to Dean's suffering over Cas -- to the point that suffering overshadows even his grief over Mary. Granted, these are somewhat reductive summaries of the events of seasons 7 and 12, but the fact remains that those two deaths were remarkably similar as well as traumatic. 

If you look at trauma theory in regards to literary analysis, you'll notice that a key element is repetition. The story of trauma is a story of echoes, which is partly why triggers are what they are for people who have PTSD. In particular, a situation doesn't need to be an exact replica in order to evoke a traumatic memory. A situation need only be similar enough to the traumatic event to cause a trauma response. Therefore, if we keep in mind that the events leading to 15x03 aren’t exact mirrors of 07x01 or 12x23, but too reminiscent for comfort, then Dean’s behavior toward Cas starts making a bit more sense -- not excused, but understandable. A quick summary of these similarities goes as follows: Cas notices there’s is something off with Jack because of his soul; he decides to investigate on his own to avoid worrying the Winchesters and also because of his own fear of losing his family. He only comes forward with what is happening after something potentially disastrous has happened (Mary’s death). Later, Cas deviates from the agreed plan to close the wound leading to hell, which leads to another disastrous consequence (Rowena’s death). What does this look like? Cas makes a decision to act on his own, and doesn’t tell Dean (or Sam) about it, something goes wrong, someone dies. Notably, here, moreover, is that Cas obviously doesn’t die, but he has paralleled Mary before (when he was dead in s13) and there’s an argument to be made that he would eventually parallel Rowena (with heaven), but that’s from a metanarrative perspective rather than Dean’s, and I digress.

Oh, It’s worth noting, too, that the way in which the arc starting with 14x18 and culminating in 15x03 presents a similar, but not quite, chain of events as those of previous seasons signals the intentionality of the trauma narrative. 

But anyway, as we were: the resonance between the traumatic and triggering events, with the latter being traumatic in their own way, make Dean response in a way that is unfair for the situation at hand, but betray a deeper truth about Dean’s state of mind. Backtracking a little from 15x03, the first instance of Dean lashing out at Cas happens in 14x18 with the (heartbreaking) line: “Then you're dead to me.” At face value, those words are a condemnation of Cas and indicate a complete breakdown of the relationship, hinging on Jack having hurt/killed Mary. There is, however, another angle there, pain simmering beneath the surface, which makes more sense in its direction to Cas: the last time Jack, Mary, and Cas were involved in a tableaux like this, Cas died and Mary was gone. In what is an inversion of events, Mary is dead and Cas is...there, but as an echo of Jack’s birth, to say Cas is dead is a statement of fact: he did die, then. And as he was a parallel to Mary in the aftermath of Jack’s birth (and the rehashing of the John, Dean, Sam drama through Dean, Sam, and Jack), so is he a parallel to Mary here, except in circumstance. Both Mary and Cas had been after Jack. Mary happened to find him first, but Cas could’ve easily been the one to find him. Easily been the one who died. See the issue? This is obviously not to say that Dean’s grief and rage weren’t about Mary herself, but that the situations are entangled and murky. 

Further entanglement and murkiness happen when Cas is forced to change the plan to seal the hell wound in 15x03. We all know, including Dean, that there was nothing Cas could’ve done instead of what he did. But besides the change of plans, there’s an undercurrent of anxiety of the wound closing before Cas makes it out. He does, of course, but that’s the what if, always. And to illustrate the possibility, Rowena sacrifices herself to close the wound. It’s not coincidence that the similarities here are tenuous considering the stress burden from everything that has happened since 14x18 has continued to grow with no respite.

The stage is set then for the confrontation that leads to Cas walking out of the bunker. Dean is clearly on edge, and Cas is in a particularly vulnerable and hopeless headspace:

CASTIEL: Sorry about Rowena. DEAN: You're sorry? Why didn't you just stick to the damn plan? CASTIEL: Belphegor was lying. DEAN: Belphegor's a demon. CASTIEL: He was using us. He wanted to eat every last soul to take over Hell, Earth, and every... DEAN: Yeah, and we would've figured it out... after. With Rowena. CASTIEL: The plan changed, Dean. Something went wrong. You know this. Something always goes wrong. DEAN: Yeah, why does that something always seem to be you?

The reason I went of this long journey to come back to this is so as to make clear that what Dean is talking about here isn’t about Rowena at all, and it’s not about Mary either. We know Dean didn’t really blame Cas for Mary, and that he didn’t blame him for Rowena, either. But do those bolded parts sound familiar?

CASTIEL: Listen. Raphael will kill us all. He'll turn the world into a graveyard. I had no choice.

DEAN: No, you had a choice. You just made the wrong one.

CASTIEL: You don't understand. It's complicated.

DEAN: No, actually, it's not, and you know that. Why else would you keep this whole thing a secret, huh, unless you knew that it was wrong? When crap like this comes around, we deal with it... Like we always have. What we don't do is we don't go out and make another deal with the Devil!

CASTIEL: It sounds so simple when you say it like that. Where were you when I needed to hear it?

DEAN: I was there. Where were you?

DEAN: You should've come to us for help, Cas.

How about:

DEAN: Cas, you can't – With everything that's going on, you can't just go dark like that. We didn't know what happened to you. We were worried. That's not okay. CASTIEL: Well, I didn't mean to add to your distress. I – Dean, I just keep failing. Again and again. When you were taken, I searched for months and I couldn't find you. And then Kelly escaped on my watch, and I couldn't find her. And I just wanted I needed to come back here with a win for you. For myself.

[...]

DEAN : We will find a better way. CASTIEL: You mean, we? DEAN : Yes, dumbass. We. You, me, and Sam, we're just better together. So now that you're back, let's go, Team Free Will. Let's get it done. CASTIEL: I'd like that. DEAN: Great.

“Then, you’re dead to me.” “...why does that something always seem to be you”

Because it’s Cas, and Cas being dead and gone. The tragedy of the divorce arc is that Cas ends up gone, too. However, this time, it’s Dean’s fault for not stopping him. Here, Dean’s fear of Cas dying leads to the anger that ultimately pushes him away. So, yeah, Dean meant what he said, but not in the way Cas took it. Not in the way it appeared as. 

The other tragedy of Supernatural ending as it did is that Dean never got to heal from that trauma, he never got to confront Cas for it, either. Make no mistake, the empty deal is another spiral of Dean’s unaddressed trauma over Cas dying. The beats are the same, and the result is Cas, gone, and Dean, shattered. Sadly, we never got our final resolution, the climatic reunion that would mirror Dean’s prayer in purgatory and Cas’s confession in the dungeon. It’s a story left unfinished. 

[allforyoumylovely]

Hi hi! I love ur writing so much as u know already but if you’re looking for a prompt maybe something where they’re standing in front of the mirror and Sander is clasping Robbe’s necklace for him while they’re getting ready for some event 🥰🥰💕

hii tasfia! sorry for taking over three months to answer this ajshdfg but i actually included your lovely prompt in hot boy autumn. hope you don't mind <333

here's a lil' snippet, the whole fic will be out later tonight 🥰

Leaning against the doorframe of the bathroom, shirtless and with his hands in the pockets of his jeans, Sander watches the razor blade glide through the silky lather of shaving foam on Robbe’s face.

Robbe catches his eye in the mirror and cocks an eyebrow, rinsing the razor between strokes. “Can I help you?”

“I’m good,” Sander smirks, casually bending an ankle in front of the other.

Shaking his head, Robbe leans closer to the mirror and carefully manoeuvres the blade over his chin. Wrists work delicately. Back muscles stir under creamy skin. A few water droplets sit on bony shoulders. And Sander is enchanted.

In one fluid motion, he pushes off the doorframe, steps up behind Robbe, and gently presses a line of slow kisses from one bare shoulder to the other. Robbe’s necklace isn’t there and to Sander it’s almost like a piece of him is missing. It lies on the counter where Robbe put it before his shower.

“I’m concentrating,” Robbe half-heartedly scolds. “Don’t distract me.”

Sander trails a fingertip down his spine, grazes the hem of the towel around his waist and moves back up. “Don’t mind me.”

“Easier said than done,” Robbe murmurs under his breath.

He draws constellations and entire continents right there between Robbe’s shoulder blades, smoothing his palm over his skin like a child in between sketches, pretending to erase the lines. Robbe glances at him and smiles, leaning over the sink to wash his face. He pads it dry with a towel and applies his aftershave with experienced hands - a whole little routine, second nature to him by now. And, god, it’s embarrassing how much it affects Sander. Nuzzling into the curve where neck meets shoulder, he breathes in his warm vanilla scent.

“Look at you,” he smirks. “Making yourself all hot for my mama.”

“Sander,” Robbe half sighs, half laughs. “It’s her birthday and she’s invited us for dinner, I have to look decent.”

“’Decent’ is the understatement of the year,” Sander mumbles against the hinge of his jaw and sucks his earlobe between his lips, the earring cold on his tongue. Robbe softens a bit, squirming when Sander impishly nibbles up the shell of his ear. The colour of his eyes melts, and Sander could lose himself forever in that dark velvety brown.

Nine times out of ten Robbe is completely relaxed and comfortable around Sander’s parents, talking and joking and laughing as if he’s known them since he took his first steps. But every now and then he has those moments where a wave of nerves crashes through his body, and he’ll carry an odd shyness around with him. Sander senses this is one of those times.

“They love you,” he reminds him. “Like me.” He pauses and Robbe smiles at him wryly. “Well, not exactly like me, but you know what I mean.”

Running a hand through his messy hair, Robbe says, “What should I wear?”

Sander brushes his pelvis against him. “Something easy to take off.”

“Wow, your hormones are really working overtime today, huh?”

“Robin, how do you expect me to act when you look like this?” Sander says, gesturing at him.

“Like what?” Robbe smirks.

“Just so...“ Sander lightly shakes his head, searching for the right words, his brain malfunctioning. “So eatable,” is what he lands on, and Robbe releases an amused snort.

The light above the mirror illuminates the streaks of tousled sunshine in Robbe’s curls. “Here,” he says, picking up the necklace and offering it to Sander over his shoulder. The chain dangles daintily from his fingers, waiting to be hung where it belongs. “Make yourself useful.”