#i don't know what else to tag this but i am deeply curious about this. wryn babe what do you know? who is this?

[absolutely-existing]

No way you're being a matching lesbian with my ENEMY!!!!!

@writingandwritten YOU HAVE AN ENEMY???

anyway anon. anon. i was a matching gay with her in my last pfp. our matching blogs ships are not anything new. if you're really wryn's enemy shouldn't you have noticed? 🤨

[azziesbattybaddie]

You are my survival

Azriel x reader

You and Azriel are mates. Az knows it, you don't, that is until a particularly hard training session when the truth finally come out.

Word count: 5k

Requested: no

Warnings: fem reader, shadow play, smut, swearing, choking kink, praise, Azriel's wingspan, oral F and M receiving, Az is a Dom, PinV, we die like men

🔥 means smut will follow

Authors note: this is the first WIP I've finished in like 2 or 3 years so be gentle on me I also wrote this with one of my friends on discord and she is absolutely amazing, constructive criticism is welcome and plz let me know if I missed any tags. Enjoy!

"Pay attention."

His words weren't harsh by any means. No, Azriel would never raise his voice at you, but he'd be lying if he said training you was easy. He watched as you breathed heavily, body glistening with sweat. You'd been at this for hours. Clearly, you'd underestimated just how difficult swordplay was.

"I'm trying my best"

He let out a small chuckle, watching your brows furrow with frustration as he managed to point his sword at your neck, Again.

"Gotcha."

"dammit!"

You threw your sword down in frustration and slinked over to the corner of the ring. Before hugging your knees to your chest and sulking.

"I'm done, I'm quit!"

Sheathing his sword, Azriel approached you slowly, his footsteps silent on the straw-covered floor. He stopped a few feet away, giving you space but close enough to offer comfort.

"Hey, hey now," he murmured softly.

"Don't give up just yet."

He hesitated for a moment before sitting down beside you, keeping a respectful distance.

"Training is hard, y/n. It's supposed to push you, make you stronger. It's okay to feel frustrated, but don't let it consume you."

He glanced at you, his eyes reflecting genuine concern.

"You're doing better than you think. You've improved so much since we started. It's just... progress takes time. And patience." He offered you a small, encouraging smile.

"And maybe some water? You've been at it all day."

"yeah well maybe I should train with someone else because your a thousand times better than me and you have 400 years of experience on me so even if I am getting better your skill just dwarfs mine..."

Azriel looked at you, a soft smile playing on his lips. He had expected such a reaction from you, and he couldn't say that he blamed you either.

"You underestimate yourself," he told you gently, placing a hand on your shoulder.

"It may take time, but you will get there. Just keep practicing and if you can't believe in yourself, believe in the fact that I'm starting to feel your progress in your punches." As always tried to joke with you slightly but seeing as he got nothing but a half earned smile he let himself fall quiet.

He sighed deeply, his gaze drifting down to his scarred hands fiddling with them idly. There were things he wanted to tell you, things he wanted to share about his past, but he knew you weren't ready for them yet. Maybe one day, when you were strong enough, he could tell you everything.

Following his gaze, you watched as he picked at his nails and cuticles. You had known Az for a few hundred years now and as long as you had known him he had never shared the story of his warped skin and you had never worked up the courage to ask, that was until now.

"can I ask you a question without you getting upset? You can tell me to screw off if you don't want to answer, I won't push." You said in a timid, whispered voice. Azriel turned to look at you, his expression curious.

"Of course, y/n. What is it?"

He kept his tone calm and non-threatening, not wanting to scare you off. Whatever it was, he would do his best to answer honestly.

"what happened to your hands?"

Azriel's expression softened, and he looked down at his hands, his fingers curling slightly as he remembered.

"My hands... They were burned by-" he let out a heavy sigh, flexing his hands under your gaze before continuing.

"they were burned by my brothers, many years ago. I was born a bastard like Cassian so I was treated differently, even by my so-called family. They it left me with these scars."

He lifted his hands, showing you the intricate network of burn scars that covered his palms and fingers. They were a constant reminder of his past, a painful chapter he would rather forget.

"what brings that question to mind?"

you reach to grab his hand but hesitated before touching him.

"I just always wondered if they were painful they still look painful..."He noticed your hesitation and gave you a reassuring nod, encouraging you to continue.

"It doesn't hurt anymore, physically at least. But sometimes, the memories can still be quite painful." He lowered his hands, his gaze returning to yours staying quiet for a beat.

"It's alright, y/n. You won't hurt me by touching them. I won't bite or as Cass would say 'i won't bite unless you want me too'" he says with a half honest grin trying to lift the mood slightly.

He held out his hand, palm facing up, waiting for you to make the first move. He wanted to show you that he trusted you, that he was comfortable with you touching him. "Go ahead, y/n."

you gingerly brushed your fingers over his scarred hand before taking one of his hands in both of your running your thumbs over the back before smile and saying softly

"They always looked soft still..."

A faint smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he felt his face heat slightly at the praise. He never wanted to feel anything other than your gentle touch on his scarred hand.

"Because of the burns, my skin never calloused so yeah I guess they are."

He turned his hand over, intertwining his fingers with yours. The warmth of your touch seeped into his skin, soothing the old wounds in ways he hadn't experienced in centuries.

"I never associated touch with comfort before. It feels like home." ' you feel like home' is what he would have said if he had the nerve but kept that thought to himself, thinking it to cheesey to say out loud.

His thumb stroked the back of your hand, a tender gesture that spoke volumes about the unspoken bond between you two. In that moment, the weight of his secrets and the darkness of his past seemed to fade away, replaced by a simple, pure connection with you.

you lifted your head to look at him only to find him already looking at you, your faces close enough to feel each others baited breaths.

Azriel's gaze locked onto yours, his heart pounding against his ribcage like a wild drum. The intensity of your stare was almost overwhelming, stirring feelings within him that he thought long buried.

He leaned closer, his lips inches away from yours. He could smell your scent, a mix of sweat and something uniquely you. It was intoxicating, making his pulse race and his resolve weaken.

For a moment, he considered closing the gap, pressing his lips against yours and losing himself in the warmth of your embrace. But he pulled back, breaking eye contact, reminding himself of the danger in such actions.

without thinking of the consequences of your actions you shot your hand out to cradle the side of his face turning him back to look at you and meet him with pleading look, begging him not to turn away.

Azriel's breath caught in his throat as he felt your hand cup his cheek, turning his face back towards you. He met your pleading gaze, his own eyes filled with a mix of longing and fear.

He wanted nothing more than to surrender to the desire burning within him, to lose himself in your embrace and forget about his past, his fears, and his responsibilities. But he knew he couldn't. Not yet, at least.

With a heavy sigh, he gently removed your hand from his face, his fingertips trailing along your skin as he did so.

"y/n, we can't," he whispered, his voice barely audible.

"I care for you too much to risk putting you in danger. We need to focus on our training, on becoming stronger, you need to be ready for when hyburn attacks."

your pout deepened as you moved back slowly pulling your hand away from his reluctantly as you bit your lip trying to think of something to say to make him change his mind.

"Az we can still train and I've been getting stronger for years, why can't we just," you trail off, not knowing that words for the feeling you felt for him.

Azriel's chest tightened at your pout, a pang of guilt slicing through him as he cut you off. He hated seeing you upset, especially over something he had done.

"It's not because I don't want to," he assured you, reaching out to brush a strand of hair behind your ear.

"It's because I care about you too much. If I give in to these feelings now, it might lead to something neither of us is prepared for, not with so much at stake with war coming."

He paused, his gaze dropping to your lips before lifting back to meet your eyes.

"We're mates. I've known for a while but even though we were designed for each other. And right now with hyburn threatening to breach our borders, our lives and decisions can't be about love or passion-it's about survival"

you pull his face back to you for a last time before running the pads of your thumbs over his cheeks lovingly

"I know that az, but you are my survival. you said it yourself that your my mate, do you really think that I can live without my mate, without you?" You plead tears starting to form in your eyes.

The words hit him like a physical blow, leaving him momentarily speechless. Your admission cut straight to the core of his being, striking a chord within him that resonated with a depth of longing he didn't fully understand.

"You need my love..." he echoed, the words sounding foreign even to his ears. He'd never been loved, let alone needed. The idea was both terrifying and exhilarating.

"I... I don't know if I can give you that. I've never been loved, and I've never loved anyone the way I think I should. you deserve all the love there is in this world, and I don't think I can give you that."

His voice cracked with emotion, betraying the turmoil of feelings welling up inside him.

"you can,"

You step closer still holding his face you pull a hand away to grab his scarred one and place it on your waist and putting your hand on his chest over his heart gingerly.

"You have so much love in your heart that you can't help but let it spill over. You try to act so cold and calloused to everyone but we all feel you how much you love us. "

At your touch, Azriel felt a surge of emotion course through him, his heart pounding wildly against your palm. He stared down at you, his eyes searching yours for any sign of deception or manipulation, but found only sincerity and vulnerability.

"You really believe that, don't you?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

"That I have love to give?"

He hesitated for a moment, then placed his other hand tentatively on your waist. The warmth of your body seeped into his chilled skin, melting some of the ice that had encased his heart for so long.

"I want to believe it," he admitted, his gaze dropping to your lips once more.

"But I'm afraid of putting you in a dangerous situation that you never need to be in. Afraid of losing control and doing something that could harm you. We both know that my work is extremely dangerous and if you got pulled into that I would never fucking forgive myself"

"Azriel... Your the bravest male I've ever met, please don't stop being brave." You take a final step faces inches apart

Azriel's breath hitched as you closed the remaining distance between you, your bodies nearly touching. He could feel the heat radiating off you, drawing him in like a moth to flame.

"Brave doesn't mean fearless, y/n," he said, his voice low and husky.

"Sometimes bravery means facing your deepest fears, even when every instinct tells you to run." You whisper gingerly brushing you fingers over his leathers laying over his heart.

He reached up, his fingers curling around the nape of your neck as he tilted your head back slightly. His thumb brushed against your lower lip, sending shivers down your spine.

"I'm just scared of failing you, of not being able to protect you. But I'm also scared of missing this chance, of letting my fears hold me back from trying to give us the life the cauldron has laid out for us."

"Then don't let your fears hold you back Az, let me hold them instead." You hold his hand over your cheek and guide his thumb over your lip again gently.

Azriel's resistance crumbled under your gentle guidance, his thumb gliding over your soft, plump lips with a tenderness that surprised even him. He leaned in closer, his nose brushing against yours as he savored the scent of your skin, the warmth of your breath.

"cauldron..." he murmured, his voice thick with longing.

he closed the final inch of distance, pressing his lips to yours in a kiss that was both tentative and desperate, holding your sides as delicately as fine china.

🔥🔥🔥

you surge you hand up to tangle in his hair and let out an audible cry of relief into his mouth.

Azriel groaned softly into the kiss as your hand tangled in his hair, the sensation sending sparks of pleasure through him. He wrapped his arms around your waist, pulling you flush against his body as he deepened the kiss, his tongue sweeping across your lips to explore the warm cavern of your mouth.

As he kissed you, Azriel felt a weight lift from his shoulders, a burden he hadn't realized he carried until it was gone. In your embrace, he found a sense of peace, of belonging, that he had never known before.

Breaking the kiss, he rested his forehead against yours, panting lightly as he struggled to catch his breath. "Y/n, I've wanted this for so long," he confessed, his voice rough with emotion.

"Wanted to hold you, touch you, taste you now."

"then don't fucking stop now." You practically begged, chasing his lips.

Your impassioned plea sent a jolt of desire through Azriel, his grip on you tightening as he ground his hips against yours, the hard length of his arousal pressing insistently against your belly.

"Oh, god, baby," he gasped, his breath hot against your skin.

"I won't stop, not now, not ever again." His hands trailing down to your ass, gently kneading the flesh under your fighting leathers.

"You're mine, and I'm going to fuck you so hard, make you scream my name until you forget everyone else exists."With that declaration, Azriel swept you up into his arms and winnowed you back to the house of wind before.

carrying you towards his bedroom as he devoured your mouth in a frenzy of kisses, his hands roaming your curves with a hunger that bordered on desperation. your legs wrap around his waist as he carries you and you press your breasts against his chest, mewl desperately against his lips.

The sound of your moans vibrating against his lips was music to Azriel's ears, fueling his already raging desire. He kicked open the door to his bedroom, his eyes burning with a fierce intensity as he laid you down onto the plush mattress.

"Gods, babygirl," he growled, his hands tracing the outline of your curves as he knelt beside you, his eyes devouring every inch of your exposed flesh. "You're so beautiful, so perfect..."

Without another word, he began to undress you, peeling away each layer of your leathers with a reverence that belied his usual cool demeanor. As he revealed your skin to his hungry gaze, he marveled at the sight, at the swell of your breasts, the curve of your hips, the sweet dip of your navel.

"And you smell divine,"

Azriel couldn't help but lean down, his tongue darting out to trace a path along the delicate line of your collarbone, savoring the taste of your skin. He licked and nibbled his way down your body, pausing to lavish attention on each breast, his tongue swirling around your nipples before taking them into his mouth, sucking gently.

His hands weren't idle either, slipping down to cup your ass, squeezing the firm flesh as he continued his descent. His shadows hooked around the sides of your panties, dragging them down your thighs with a teasing slowness that left you squirming beneath him.

"Tell me what you want, baby," he whispered against your skin, his voice a husky murmur.

"What do you crave? Tell me how to make you come undone?"

you reached down to Palm the tent in his fighting leathers at the words and using your other hand to wrap the scared flesh of his hand around your throat.

"I want you to use me, own me Azriel."

At your command, Azriel's heart pounded with a wild rhythm, his cock throbbing in your grasp. He allowed you to control his movements, his hand tightening around your throat in a gesture that was both possessive and protective while one of his larger shadows gently brushed against the side of your face in stark contrast.

"You're mine now, babygirl," he breathed, his voice laced with raw need.

"And I plan to worship every gods-damned inch of you."

With that promise, he slid down further, his lips trailing kisses along your inner thigh, his breath hot against your sensitive flesh. He paused just above where you needed him most, his eyes locking with yours as he teased you mercilessly.

"Do you want more?" he asked, his voice a seductive whisper. "Do you want my mouth on you, tasting you?"

"gods yes please!" You hold his hand tightly around his throat encouraging him to squeeze harder what you arch your back of the bed in hopes of inching your cunt closer to his mouth.

Azriel's grip around your throat tightened slightly at your eager response, his thumb applying just enough pressure to send a thrill of excitement through you. With a low growl, he finally gave in to your pleas, his mouth descending upon your dripping folds.

He lavished your pussy with attention, his tongue delving deep inside you as he fucked you with slow, deliberate strokes while flicks of dark swirl around your clit. He explored every inch of your sex, savoring the taste of your arousal, the feel of your slick walls clenching around his tongue.

As he ate you out, Azriel's free hand roamed your body, palming your breasts, pinching your nipples, leaving trails of fire and cold in its wake. He could feel your climax building, could taste your sweet submission on his tongue, and it only fueled his own desire.

"come on babygirl, ride my face while you come."

He brought one of your hands to tangle in his hair and wrapped his arms around the tops of your thighs encouraging you to buck into his tongue.

Your hips bucked off the bed as you came hard on his tongue, your orgasm crashing over you like a tidal wave, your juices flowing freely as you cried out his name, your fingers tangling in his hair, holding him close.

Azriel drank in your release, his tongue lapping up every drop of your essence as he savored the taste of your pleasure. He held you tight, his mouth never leaving your pussy as you rode out the waves of your orgasm, your cries of ecstasy music to his ears.

Only when you finally went limp did he release you, his face glistening with your arousal. He crawled up your body, his chocolate eyes blazing with a fierce possessiveness as he claimed your mouth in a searing kiss.

"Now it's my turn," he growled against your lips, his hands tearing at his leathers to free his straining cock.

"Get on your knees, baby, I want to fuck that pretty mouth of yours."

You eagerly roll onto your stomach and push yourself off the bed and onto your knees Infront of him batting your lashes and staring up at him with lust filled eyes.

Azriel watched you move, his heart pounding with a mix of desire and admiration. Your eagerness was intoxicating, fueling his own need even further. He discarded his leathers completely, revealing his veined cock, throbbing with need.

Azriel's breath caught in his throat at the sight of you kneeling before him, your eyes filled with hunger and desire. He ran a hand through your disheveled hair, his fingers tangling in your locks as he guided your head towards his aching cock.

"Open wide, love," *he murmured, his voice thick with need.

"Show me how much you need me."

you took him into your mouth, Azriel let out a low groan, his hips bucking involuntarily. Your warm, wet mouth felt like heaven, and he had to fight the urge to thrust too hard, too fast. Instead, he set a steady pace, his hands guiding your head as you sucked the tip every time he pulled out.

"Fuck, good girl," he gasped, his grip tightening in your hair. "You fucking feel incredible..."You moaned softly as you took him deeper into your mouth working your tongue over his cock, your hands reaching up to cup his balls as you continue to suckle on his cock.

The sensation of your tongue working over his length, coupled with the feeling of your hands on his balls, sent jolts of pleasure coursing through Azriel's body. He watched you, entranced by the sight of your lips stretched around his cock, the sound of your soft moans vibrating against him.

"That's right, baby," he purred, his voice heavy with lust.

"Take all of me... Show me how much you want this..."

He began to move faster, his hips rocking into your mouth, setting a rhythm that had him teetering on the brink of release. His fingers threaded through your hair, urging you on, pushing you to take him even deeper.

"fuck yes! Good girl, just like tha- oh such fucking good girl!"

You moan louder now sending subtle vibrations down his shaft, your cheeks hollowing out as you suck harder on his cock, taking him deeper each time until he hits the back of your throat. You gag softly but quickly recover and continue sucking him off as if your life depends on it.

The feeling of your throat constricting around his cock was almost too much for Azriel to bear. He grunted, his hands gripping your hair tighter as he fucked your mouth with abandon, his hips snapping forward with each thrust.

"Oh gods, baby..." he groaned, his voice ragged with need.

"You're going to make me come so fucking hard..."

His cock throbbed in your mouth, signaling his imminent release. With a final, powerful thrust, he spilled his seed into your willing mouth, his cum coating your tongue and spilling down your chin.

"That's it... Swallow it all..."

Swiping your fingers over your chin you collect the molten cream and swallow every last drop of his cum, your throat working to milk him dry, your eyes locked on his as you gaze up at him with a look of complete satisfaction and devotion.

Azriel watched, transfixed, as your throat bobbed swallowing his cum, your tongue working to milk him dry. He let out a satisfied sigh, his fingers gently stroking through your hair as he admired the look of complete satisfaction on your face.

"You're amazing," he murmured, pulling out of your mouth and offering you a hand up.

"I hope you enjoyed that as much as I did."

With a smile, he pulled you into his arms for a deep, passionate kiss, his hands roaming over your body as he savored the taste of you still lingering on his tongue.

You lean into his touch, your body pressed tightly against his as you kiss him back just as passionately, your hands running over his chest, feeling the muscles beneath his skin.

Azriel dominated you mouth with a throaty moan, his hands exploring your curves with a growing urgency. He broke away from the kiss only long enough to trail hot, open-mouthed kisses down your neck, savoring the taste of your skin.

"I want more," he whispered huskily,

"but I think we should save some energy for later."With that, he lifted you effortlessly, carrying you back to the bed where he laid you down, his eyes darkening with desire as he looked down at you.

You giggle lightly as he lays you back down on the bed, your legs parting slightly as you invite him closer.

Azriel's gaze followed the movement of your legs, a smirk playing at the corners of his mouth as he saw the invitation in your eyes. He climbed onto the bed, settling between your thighs, his weight supported on his elbows as he gazed down at you.

"Impatient little thing, aren't you?" he teased, his voice low and playful.

He leaned down, capturing one of your nipples in his mouth, swirling his tongue around the hardened peak before giving it a gentle bite.

"But don't worry, love. I plan to take full advantage of that"

Feeling your hands in his hair, Azriel gave a low chuckle, the vibration of his laughter traveling straight to your breasts. He continued his attentions, alternating between teasing your nipples and tracing patterns across your skin with his tongue.

"Hmm, sounds like someone wants more," he murmured, his voice muffled against your flesh.

Pulling back slightly, he shifted his position, aligning his cock with your slick entrance. Without another word, he pushed inside you, filling you completely with a single, smooth stroke.

You arch your back, pressing your breasts back into his waiting mouth as he teases and bites at your sensitive nipples, a soft moan escaping your lips. Your hands find their way to his hair, tangling in the strands as you pull him closer, desperate for more of his touch.

"Fucking hell, babygirl..." he groaned, his hips beginning to rock slowly as he adjusted to your tight warmth. impatience."

He moved to your other breast, lavishing the same attention upon it, all while grinding his hardening cock against your core. Your back arches off the bed as he fills you, a sharp gasp leaving your lips at the sudden intrusion. But as he begins to move, slow and deliberate, you relax into him, your inner walls clenching around his thickness.

"Ah... yes..." you breathe out, your hands tightening in his hair.

"Just like that... Don't stop..."

Hearing your plea, Azriel picked up the pace, his hips snapping forward with increasing urgency. Each thrust drove him deeper into your welcoming heat, the sound of skin slapping against skin filling the room.

"Gods, you feel incredible," he growled, leaning down to capture your lips in a searing kiss, his tongue dueling with yours as he fucked you relentlessly.

His hands roamed your body, squeezing your ass cheeks, tracing the curve of your waist, and finally, cupping your breasts once again, thumbing your nipples into stiff peaks.

You meet his kiss with equal fervor, your tongue dancing with his as you lose yourself in the sensation of being filled so completely. Your legs wrap around his ass, pulling him even deeper within you, urging him on.

"Oh god, Azriel!" you cry out, your walls spasming around him, milking him for all he's worth.

Feeling your orgasm ripple through you, Azriel let out a guttural roar, burying himself as deep as he could go as he found his own release. He came hard, pulsing streams of hot cum inside you, his body shuddering with the force of it.

"baby Fuck, y/n-" he gasped, collapsing forward, catching himself on his elbows to keep from crushing you before pulling out and gently resting himself on top of you, his hips still between your legs and his head resting on your breasts.

He stayed there for a moment, panting, his heart pounding against your chest, before slowly rolling to the side, taking you with him so you were draped across his chest.

"That was... intense," he panted, his fingers trailing lazily up and down your spine.

"Are you okay, baby?"

"Yeah... That was amazing." you murmur, snuggling closer to him, enjoying the afterglow of their lovemaking.

As you lay there, spent and satisfied, your the aftershocks of your orgasm. You nod weakly, a contented smile tugging at your lips.

Azriel smiled, his fingers gently stroking through your hair as you nestled against him. He could feel the warmth of your body pressed to his, the steady beat of your heart against his chest.

"I know, baby," he said softly, leaning down to press a tender kiss to your forehead.

"And it's only going to get better from here."

His hand trailed lower, his fingers finding your hip, where he gave a gentle squeeze.

"Now rest, we've got plenty of time to explore more later when you can feel your legs again." He taunted with a tired grin.

You sigh contentedly with a fucked out smile on your face, feeling utterly relaxed and loved. You close your eyes, letting the warmth of his body envelope you, and drift off to sleep in his arms.

Watching you drift off to sleep, Azriel couldn't help but marvel at the beauty of the moment. Here, in his embrace, safe and protected, with his beautiful mate, it was everything he could ever want. And now, it seemed, he had it all.

With a final lingering look, he allowed himself to relax fully, his breathing evening out to match yours. As he drifted toward sleep, he knew one thing for certain - this was just the beginning.

[atopvisenyashill]

Why do you think Jaehaerys sexually assaulted his own daughter?( I'm genuinely curious)

I have two dedicated tags to this if you want to dig in a bit more - "gael and the bard" and the newly added "jaehaerys the cruel" tags, with this meta here being the kind of jumping off point into that whole theory/analysis. gael and the bard is more focused on gael targaryen herself and the mystery surrounding her pregnancy and suicide; there's a lot of bael the bard imagery surrounding her, being called the winter princess, gael being one letter off from bael, the father of her baby noted to have been a singer, and her status as like, an eternal maiden because of her relationship with alysanne. the jaehaerys the cruel moniker is just a reference to maegor the cruel - i think the play between maegor being outwardly monstrous and jaehaerys being privately monstrous is very interesting! but also it's not like a fun tag name lol so i might change it, haven't decided yet!

but i guess to break down my thought process here - i have never liked that man lmaoooo, i am an og jaehaerys hater. my lil journey here is, i read this series in high school, roughly around the winter of 2012, but i didn't read twoiaf when it came out in 2014, i read that just before i started this blog, so like....idk 2 years ago, roughly, but i was Aware Of Its Existence (they didn't have it at school, the library was kind of far, and it felt like a stupidly expensive book to ask for at the time). i had kinda skimmed over the short stories the princess & the queen and the rogue prince (don't ask me when they came out, icr), and had read all the twow preview chapters so it wasn't like i wasn't up on all the asoiaf world stuff, i just hadn't been able to get my hands on twoiaf, which I do think impacted my view of jaehaerys because the thing is...i just didn't understand the jaehaerys appeal. i won't get into the wanky aspects of fandom (i mean i will if someone asks but idk if you care lol), but i would say in the like 2010-2014 era the fandom was p staunchly and loudly pro targaryen, and not just in a "i love the rot" way but in a "they are the promised heroes" type of way and i never jived with it. i did not enjoy the vast majority of dany's chapters on my first read, nor did i enjoy this weird "well if you like the starks you're a NORMIE" takes that i was constantly seeing, and the sansa v arya war was insane (i'm blocked and have blocked just so many people lol).

i say all that because everyone was UP jaehaerys' ass. i won't name names but i remember a common rebuttal to the "well george is kinda critiquing incest-in-fantasy here and i'm not sure this series is going to end with an incestuous targ restoration" stance was "well if incest is so bad why do jaehaerys and alysanne exist huh? check AND mate incest hater" and it was like............alright, so this is a fandom of deeply unserious people who like to think they are the Expert On Themes instead of just another schmuck with a blog like everyone else. it was just a very condescending tone, always, and it turned me off the targs but especially turned me off jaehaerys.

and it was also like....but what has he done to be so beloved in this fandom??? again, this is pre twoiaf, and then post-twoiaf but pre f&b, so all we know about this dude is that he was called the conciliator because he pardoned the people who sided with maegor, he "protected the faith", he married his sister who gave the watch the gift, he abolished prima noctus, he built a dirt road, he was besties with barth. okay? i always thought the move with the gift was annoying and goofy behavior & i feel very vindicated on being right there esp if aegon’s dream was real, and i’ve always thought the marriages for his kids were kinda weird once we got those in twoiaf and WHAT DO YOU KNOW. like, pre twoiaf everyone was hyping him up as this great king, this paragon of valyrian supremacy, oh he’s so smart and politically minded but he’s not overly cruel, and it was like. we know little about this man in his day to day life though. we know damn well whatever good robert did as king was largely jon arryn's influence so Why are we pretending like just because jaehaerys passed a few good laws it means HE was the one responsible for those ideas (and again I WAS RIGHT). is what he’s doing even that good??

AND THEN FIRE AND BLOOD CAME OUT. and everyone was crying screaming throwing up about how stupid he is, how cruel he is, how weird he is about his daughters, and then people started saying “well you’re being unfair if you don’t like him because-“ i don’t give a shit because i’m validated for not liking that man’s vibes thanks!!!! like…yeah he IS a paragon of targaryen supremacy and this is not a good thing! and especially when you factor in how often the patriarchs of the series have these deeply rooted, very disturbing flaws, i thought the backlash to f&b re: “he ruined jae & aly!” so silly. of COURSE he was weird about his daughters, he eloped with his 12 year old sister and when confronted over it basically said “i do what i want fuck you” that’s not romantic it’s INSANE BEHAVIOR and i’ll stand on that forever!!! marrying your siblings is deranged and idgaf about what magic or political reasoning they have ESPECIALLY when jaehaerys himself refuses a valyrian marriage several times over when it makes more political sense to go that route (in both his own marriage and in the marriages of his grandchildren).

so! i always thought he was boring and weird, then f&b came out and i was vindicated. the thing is, as i read, i guess i was also like. but what is the fuckijg POINT of this guy! he dominates the f&b narrative when there’s way more interesting characters, he has no redeeming qualities, every good thing he does is usually overshadowed by his reasoning being heinous and disturbing, but this book is pushing this idea that he’s the good one, he’s the blueprint, so is it JUST an exploration of like, what ~being a good person~ really means and how reputations & history are very malleable depending on who is recording it??

And then i really started to dig into Saera. Her isolation, her drinking, her sexually tormenting the court fool, the way jaehaerys is always giving her gifts and "indulging" her, the way she's brought before the throne instead of in a private room because what she did is considered like, treasonous basically (what she did being, of course, having sex without her father's permission, lmao!), her very hysterical confrontation with her parents, Jonquil Darke forcing her to watch her boyfriend be murdered, Jaehaerys' insistence on refusing to forgive her and calling her a whore, and of course this weird exchange:

“What have you done?” the king said, when at last the princess ran out of words. “Seven save us, what have you done? Have you given one of these boys your maidenhead? Tell me true.” “True?” said Saera. It was in that moment, with that word, that the contempt came out. “No. I gave it to all three. They all think they were the first. Boys are such silly fools.”

"They all think they were the first." they all think it. i don't think any of those three boys were the first - i think she'd lost her virginity well before she started fooling around with them and when I first read that part my first thought was "I think Jaehaerys knows damn well who she lost her virginity to" and I started spiraling from there.

I decided to do a write up of Jaehaerys Being Deeply Weird Towards His Girls and while there's some things I would change - in particular, I think I'd add more to the Alyssa, Viserra, and Gael sections - there's a reason that the Saera section in particular seemed to really spark off a lot of conversation (not to toot my own horn here lmao) and that reason, imo, is that a lot of people read about what happened between Saera and jaehaerys and go "now what in the goddamn hell is THAT about." Saera more than any of Jaehaerys' kids is imo the canary in the coal mine, so to speak - whatever George intended with F&B, I do think he meant for us to look at the way Jaehaerys talks about Saera and go "this guy has some fucking ISSUES." I don't know that he meant for it to go all the way up to "Jaehaerys is molesting his own kids" route but I do fully believe he meant something in that realm of "Jaaehaerys is cruel to a sexually abusive point to his children" the same way that like, Tywin and Cersei sexually abuse Tyrion but don't outright rape him themselves. I think Jaehaerys was always meant to be aman who is remembered fondly but was an absolute monster in his private life, in contrast to both the kings he succeeded (maegor and aenys) and as a point of comparison to our "modern day" patriarchs who have their own hang ups surrounding their daughters in Tywin, Doran, Ned, Robert, Jon, and Hoster.

[abysshare]

My theory ( for fun not hardcore serious. Also i KNOW Gooseworx's christainity/religious shit is just memes. So this could just be apart of that too and nothing serious nor deep ). Is that…

What if the episodes, characters, etc are Tarot Cards?

I got to thinking because Pomni is a Jester. Not only is this "the fool" of course, but its also the reader whos going on the journey. In my deck at least.

So then it got me thinking.. and yes!!! Some of them match other cards. So i decided before just spewing ideas to actually research ( again strictly based off my deck, maybe it doesnt fit for others ).

The Journey in tarot is about self.

☆ Sun - The Sun.

☆ Moon - The Moon.

☆ Caine - Believes he IS The Emperor, but is actually The Emperor Reversed. ( If "Able" is a character then he is the OPPOSITE. He believes HE is The Emperor Reversed, but is The Emperor )

☆ Bubble - The Empress ( this one is reaching )

☆ Ragatha - The High Priestess

☆ Jax - Believes he is The Fool but is The Fool Reversed.

☆ Pomni - IS The Fool, but depending on how things go she can grow to become Strength or regress and become The World Reversed.

☆ Zooble - The Hierophant Reversed

☆ Kinger - King Of Cups.

☆ Queenie - Queen Of Cups

☆ GummiGoo - The Star Reversed

☆ Loolilalu - Queen Of Pentacles

☆ Martha - The Lovers

☆ Gangle - The Hermit Reversed

☆ Kaufmo - The Hanged Man

☆ Baron - The Lovers Reversed

The Circus Itself - The Tower Reversed

Again this theory is for fun, I'm not like "oh it MUST be right". On top of that i don't think it would be anything super serious even if i was right, or close enough. At best it would just be a for fun little details.

Also if someone's made this theory before i am deeply sorry, i don't look at the tadc tag often and i don't look at theories often.

I am curious though, for fellow tarot deck users, does it match up with your deck? If not what is different? And also if you think someone should be different, tell me why because I'm curious /genuine /nf

I think Martha and Baron could be something else, but unless a canon couple happens ( other than Kinger and Queenie ( though they could both be the lovers and Martha and Baron are The Lovers Reversed ) or another couple shows up i think it could be them seperately?

I also think Gummigoo before he finds out he is an NPC is The Star.

The Fool ( in my deck ) is the one taking the Journey, hence why i think Pomni can become a different card depending on what happens in the end. Because it'll be the end of her journey.

Another thing to note is each episode is giving her a life lesson, its just a harsh one, which some Tarot card readings are like that.

I know some people who don't know Tarot or just will want to say "oh but Jax is the Devil card" or "Kaufmo is the death card!!". No. As much as that would be fun to say- again i have to stress that for my specific deck, no they wouldn't fit. However it may from someone ELSES deck.

Because if it was up to me i'd make Kinger Emperor and Queenie Empress, and Pomni the Star.

But on top of that, that leaves other Major Arcana cards left including reversed versions or up right versions i didn't include. And possibly more Minor Arcana.

[greetingfromthedead]

Five Hugs (Vash x GN!Reader)

Plot: Five occasions, worthy of a hug. (5 drabbles)

Series: A Set of Five [more coming soon]

Pairing: Vash x GN!Reader

Raiting: Everyone

Tags: fluff, no use of "y/n", a touch of angst, cozy, cuddles, dancing, Vash being a hero as usual, affirmation, Vash just deserves a hug in general

Word count: 2k

Author's Note: I've been torturing Vash a lot lately so I decided to give him five hugs. Probably five kisses soon too and if there is something else you want to see, let me know.

You had to run again. Chased out of town for something as little as showing your face at the saloon. Or rather, it was Vash's face that sparked the whole ordeal. The bounty on his head doesn't make it easy to take life slowly and enjoy it. But you refuse to leave his side.

You slide down along the smooth surface of the rock. The suns beating down on you as you grip the water bottle tightly in your hand. Your heart beats ferociously in your throat, and you wait for it to calm down to take a sip. You take a deep breath and close your eyes, trying to focus on the sound of your tomas rattling her gear.

"Well, where should we go now then?" Vash's calm voice asks, breaking the tension in the air.

You don't answer him, instead leaning your head back against the hard rock. The fear finally leaves your bones, as you know you are far enough away from the town to be safe. It still stings to be treated this way, to constantly have to be on edge and alert.

"We could head more east; we should come across a small village before nightfall. Maybe we can camp in someone's attic. Hopefully we can stock up on water too." He sounds so lighthearted and carefree as he starts formulating a plan in his head.

You watch him with curiosity after drinking from your flask. He turns his head from side to side while looking into the distance before taking off his glasses and inspecting them. He seems to find a spot on them as he grabs the lower edge of his black turtleneck. He pulls it up to rub the lenses with it. The small action reveals a bit of his scarred skin on his stomach, which he usually carefully hides under fabric. This simple act reminds you just how much he trusts you. He wouldn't willingly show his old wounds to just anyone.

"Are you okay?" you ask quietly, but just enough for him to hear you.

"Mh?? Ah, yeah, I am fine." Vash straightens his shirt again and puts the glasses back on. "Eehh, I don't really care if they chase me and try to capture me for the bounty. They have their own problems, and I'm sure that money would help them. I'm just worried I will drag you into the crossfire."

You noticed the change in his carefree tone towards the end. He does worry about you a lot. Despite what he says, you know that the truth is a whole lot more complicated. He holds no grudges against anyone, but you doubt that he doesn't care. A man who loves humanity so deeply is bound to have his heart broken when he is forced away from what he holds so dear. You can see the pain in his eyes, despite his attempts to hide it.

Words don't come easy in this situation. What could you even say to that? Instead, you push yourself up again, slide the flask into the saddlebag, and walk up to Vash. You glance at his curious eyes, but you can't force your gaze to stay on them. You approach him decisively and only stop once your arms wrap around his torso. The moment your head rests against his chest, you squeeze him tighter.

He stands there with surprise for a moment before putting his arms around you too, his gaze softening as he holds you close. You don't say anything; instead, you just bury your face in his black shirt and hug him as tight as you can. He has been through so much in his long life, and you can't change the past. You are powerless against the present, and perhaps there is nothing you can do about the future. All you can do is hold him close and show him that you care. That you believe in him.

"Thank you." Vash speaks softly, his large hand stroking your head.

A loud bang echoes through the town square just as the grip of your captor loosens around your neck. A collective gasp echoes through the crowd of onlookers, and you push yourself free, running towards the source of the noise.

"Son of a…!" The enraged voice of the bandit leader calls out, but you keep sprinting without looking back. You hear the slightest thump behind you as his gun hits the ground, but you don't care anymore. It's like you can still feel the barrel pressed against your temple, the tears of fear turning into ones of relief in your eyes.

You jump into Vash's arms, knowing that you are finally safe. He catches you with his left arm, the prosthesis wrapping tightly around your back as your feet lift off the ground. His right hand still holds his gun, ready to take another shot as needed. You bury your face in his shoulder, feeling grateful and protected. He turns his whole body and sets you back on the ground, positioning himself between you and the bandit that held you captive. You hear him whisper, "I've got you now."

Even as your grasp on him loosens, his stays firmly around your shoulders, pressing you more into him. He's not letting go. Your vision is obscured by his large coat, and you don't see as the large man is being cuffed and dragged away by the others. Only then dares Vash to put away his weapon into its holster and release his tight grip on you. He grabs your upper arms and leans back as he looks you over.

"Are you alright?" he asks with a tremor in his voice. He notices the redness on your throat, and his fingers gently touch the bruising skin. "I am so sorry!"

"I'm okay! I'm okay!" you say frantically as you nod, your breath escaping you in short gasps.

"Thank goodness!" he exclaims, relief washing over him. He grabs you into a tight hug again, his cheek pressing against the top of your head.

"Would you do me the honor of joining me for a dance?" Vash says with a crooked smile as he offers you his hand. You blush a bit at his public tomfoolery and down the rest of your drink before leaving the empty glass at the bar. You take his hand with a smile.

"Gladly," you reply softly as his fingers grip yours. You feel a rush of excitement as he leads you onto the dance floor. The saloon is filled with lively music and people dancing to the beat. The liquid courage definitely helps you in this situation and gives you the confidence to let go and enjoy the moment. Vash's hands rest on your hips, and yours find his shoulders. A goofy smile is plastered on his face as he starts to lead you in a twirl. He does not mind that he occasionally bumps into someone else or that a few people start laughing at his exaggerated style. He is just too excited to have you in his arms, dancing with him. Their laughter is drowned out by the music and the joy in his heart. The giggle that escapes you as he sweeps you around only encourages him further, making him take longer steps and turn you faster. He chuckles at your expression, and one dance turns into many.

You have no hope of keeping up with his long strides, and as you get more and more tired, you end up stumbling over them a few times. His arms keep you steady, and your clumsiness only makes his smile wider. The looks of others do not matter; all you see is Vash's enchanting face, and all he sees is you. In that moment, you realize that you are exactly where you are meant to be, no matter how ridiculous you might feel.

As you gaze into his eyes, your foot gets stuck behind his again, but instead of just keeping you steady, Vash pulls you up and wraps his arms around you, right under your butt, to keep your feet off the ground. You grab him into a hug, giggling by his ear as you hold on to him. Vash twirls you about and continues to dance around the room as you embrace each other.

Vash lays halfway on top of you, his head resting on your chest, his arms wrapped around you. It is a peaceful night as you've settled into an abandoned house in an empty village. The room is dusty, but it is cozy and filled with a sense of safety and warmth. Your fingers brush through his hair as you listen to the sound of his steady breathing. You know he isn't asleep yet, but there is no need to fill the quiet of twilight with words. You both find refuge in the peaceful silence that envelops you.

Vash is curled up against you, his legs somewhat entangled with yours. The tall and surprisingly burly man seems almost tiny as he enjoys your touch, your other hand resting on his back. He takes comfort from your heartbeats under his ear and the feeling of your touch. Anywhere is home if you're by his side. Your hug is all he needs to feel safe; your love gives him the strength to face anything.

You let your nails run over his scalp, and you feel a slight shudder move through him, a little moan escaping his lips, a sign of pure contentment. You wish you could wrap him up more, keep him even closer, and protect him like he protects you. You want to keep him in your heart, protected from all harm. But the best you can do is this. Having him hold on to you, your arms around him, as he snuggles close all night, or at least until you need to settle into a position more suitable for sleeping the night away, but even then, he enjoys your cuddles and doesn't want to let go.

"Are you sure about this?" you ask as you look up at him, pain reflecting on your face.

"Yes. I have to. I am the only one who can put an end to this," he says, but his eyes are down turned and mournful.

"Then let me come with you!" you insist, grabbing hold of his right sleeve.

"Please…" he says with a sigh, his tone pleading, "I need you to evacuate as many people as you can, even if it is only yourself."

You look at him dumbfounded and then turn your head to look at the streets of July. The town is massive; how can he expect you to make any difference here in getting people out? Wouldn't you be better off with him, trying to prevent the thing that could put people in danger?

"I need you to be safe," he murmurs, his voice full of concern as he takes your hand into his, squeezing your fingers gently. You can feel his worry radiating off of him. He has so much on his mind; you know he doesn't want to be worrying over you too. He wanted to leave you at Home, but you refused. You need him on his A-game for this, you have realized just how dangerous the situation really is.

"That goes for you too!" You press, "You have to come back to me! You understand? You have to! So promise me!"

"I promise, I will come back to you!" He says resolutely and releases your hand, instead pulling you into a hug, and you melt into his embrace, your arms securely around him.

"Can we wrap this up already?" the dark haired man asks, a cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth.

Vash holds you tight for a moment longer, ignoring Wolfwood as he leans closer to your ear.

"I love you," he whispers, his breath tingling your skin.

He lets go, and you take a step back, looking at him with determination. You will both get out of this alive.

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[layzeal]

What are some of the things that are ace codesd abt wwx? I don’t hear much abt and and am curious!

HIII, okay so as always, "coded" isn't really the right word since it implies authorial intent, but i often use it anyway bc who cares it's my blog. just know i don't think wwx is actually canonically supposed to be demi, it's just a headcanon from silly ol' me!

i do have a #demi-wwx tag you can check if u'd like too hehe

now, what makes wwx come off as SO incredibly acespec/demisexual for me is his approach to... well, relationships in his first life. he's a flirt! he likes teasing people! he likes watching them blush! he likes getting a reaction! but as lwj questions him in the xuanwu cave about, it all seems like very much a game to him, something he does without actual intention, unaware of the torment he might be putting others (lwj) through

i often see people say that wwx didn't date or that wangxian didnt get together in his first life because "they had other things going on" and "there was no time", but that's not only innacurate to post-sunshot, it genuinely comes off to me as if wwx simply has no romantic or sexual interest in anyone at all. granted, he has an eye for pretty things and people, and is VERY vocal about whenever he finds others beautiful. lwj is a common target, but far from the only one!

basically, for as loud as flirty as he can be, we know that's never really genuine. there's no second-intentions or desire in his words (hell, he had even been saving first first kiss for twenty years!!), even when it comes to lwj. and the way we know it is by comparing it all to how he acts, thinks and feels after he's ACTUALLY experiencing attraction for the first time!

but what does have to do with him being demi? and what makes, in my mind, wwx so much more demi coded than lwj for example, whose entire romantic arc is only falling in love with one person?

well, that would be that despite the way it's been romanticized, demisexuality has nothing to do with "only falling in love once". devotion isn't acespec exclusive, choosing to love a single person in your life isn't acespec exclusive. demisexuality is simply a term to describe the specific conditions a relationship might need for an asexual person to experience attraction. those conditions? a strong emotional bond (which is why so many demi ppl are described as "only being able to fall in love with your best friend")

and to me, that's what sells wwx as demisexual the most. he's had so many friends, classmates, xiongdi, and all sorts of companions in his life, but none of them were particularly... emotionally fulfilling. other than perhaps shijie, who he saw more like a mother and sister, there was no one else who he could truly lean on and trust, open up, and be vulnerable with. for many people, that's not a barrier that gets in the way of developing romantic or sexual interest in someone at all, and that's great!! (we see it with lwj himself, who spent so many of his teenage years frustrated for liking wwx and had to slowly realize why that wasn't shameful or a bad thing. lwj's attraction not only came before there was any significant bond between them, it directly blocked it from forming earlier due to lwj's constant avoidance of wwx!)

but for demi people, and for wei wuxian, it is a barrier. it's almost comical just how fast and deeply wwx fell in love with lwj once he opened up to him. it is the most visible in wwx's second life, but i do find there are inklings here and there to it in his first, especially after wwx and lwj get to spend some pleasant time together (ie. post-phoenix mountain and post-yiling date with a-yuan)

but it really does become the most obvious after the yi city arc (drunkji 2 my belovedddd). by that point, their friendship and closeness was already solid, and wwx is already crushing HARD, but isn't quite aware of it yet. it isn't until post-jinlitai stab (and his flashback to his and lwj's youth, how they fell apart and how lwj was only ever worried for him) that he starts pondering if these feelings might be... more than just fondness. and boy do i eat it UUUUUP

it wasn't until wei wuxian got that reassurance of trust and closeness that his feelings truly started to develop. i genuinely cannot imagine a wei wuxian who falls in love with someone who he genuinely believes hates him, and it's actually something i believe stopped wwx from developing deep feelings for lwj in his first life. we know how much all his rejections and their disagreements hurt wwx, and in the back of his mind, he always thought lwj disapproved of him, maybe even disliked him. there was no trust, and it smothered any small, warm little inkling of romantic love from sparking into a flame

so when wwx finds himself with a lwj who is indulgent, who wants to be close, who protects him, comforts him, listens to him, and won't ever let him fall... well, you can't blame him for daydreaming about a calm farm life by his side, or being embarrassed for acting so shameless while still pretending to be mxy, or wishing from the bottom of his heart that even if lwj doesn't love him back, he'll still stay next to him

he only ever wanted lwj to be his friend, and now he's the closest and most intimate one he's ever had. and he treats him so well... all the barriers have fallen, how could wei wuxian not fall too?

(and i didnt rly get into it but this all applies to physical attraction as well! wwx behaves and sees lwj's beauty through two different lenses in his first and second life, and wwx himself noticed the difference from when he could see lwj's nakedness back then without batting an eye VS now. it's hilarious, endearing, and EXTREMELY relatable!!)

[msperfectsheep-posts]

Okay Note here. CHARACTER ASK. i7 Torao, Haruka, and Nagi. Ouran High School Haruhi. Batman Jason. Anyone in persona you must talk about (I don't know anyone there). Did I miss someone? (You don't have to do all. I am mereky curious)

THANK YOU NOTE!!! I'm gonna put all of these beneath a cut just so I don't clog up people's dashes <3

Torao Mido: (IDOLiSH7)

Torao is the kind of character where you're like "literally why is he in the main cast when everyone else is a banger" and then you realize that his arc is just 4-5/6ths of the way into the story and you go Oh. Oh. I get it now. That's him. That said, I want to blast him with a fire hose.

Haruka Isumi: (IDOLiSH7)

Haruka was my discord pfp for several months and I think that says a lot already. I love him so much, he's like. so bulliable and he should be bullied. Dramatic ass teenager baby that dresses like an e-boy. I love him so much and every time he bleps (:P) in official art I want to Die. Prime blorbo material.

Nagi Rokuya: (IDOLiSH7)

I'll admit outright that, as someone who had Ouran High School Host Club change my brain chemistry forever when I was a child, and with i7 having a main character named Tamaki, I CONSTANTLY called Nagi "Tamaki" during the first season just because he was the silly blond weeb guy!! I was like holy shit there's two of them. And then I got to parts 3 and 4 and I was like Oh Holy Shit they're even more similar than I thought :'). Nagi is a BELOVED character of mine but it took a moment for me to grow into loving his character. I wish I saw more fan content of him because he fucking rocks, but he's also just on a different plane from a lot of the more popular characters and I get it. I love how everyone respects him as they should though. My king forever and ever.

Haruhi Fujioka: (Ouran High School Host Club)

SPEAKING OF OURAN HIGH SCHOOL HOST CLUB. Haruhi's arc in the anime and manga is a little different, and obviously the anime wasn't supposed to end where it did, but with the changes the director and writers made, I truly believe that it would be impossible for the animeverse to end the same way the mangaverse did. Anyways Haruhi is a really funny character because she's supposed to be the straightman in a lot of the jokes, but she's just as dramatic and silly as everyone else. And it's great. 10/10 protagonist, every time I think of her I think of that tumblr post about her with the big brown eyes and I go Yeah. yeah.

Jason Todd: (DC Comics; Batman)

(If you can't read that square, it says "SCOTT LOBDELL")

Jason was NOT my favorite DC character or even Robin for a long, long time. I only really got into his character when I started working on my fic, Beyond Imagination, and had to start analyzing what a younger Jason was like and how he would interact with the world in a modern day and age. All of the Batman characters get flanderized and mischaracterized by fanon and canon a lot, so it's hard to figure out what was generally agreed upon as canon unless you read yourself, but Jason's got a strong story and personality that really shined with his resurrection. I'd say it's one of the best uses of reviving a character thought to be dead, and every time I think about his death and like. both the in-universe and real life events that lead up to it, I get emotional. Great character that makes me deeply ill to think of from a meta-perspective.

Maya Amano: (Persona 2 Innocent Sin & Persona 2 Eternal Punishment)

Okay so. You may have noticed I tagged two Persona games for her and that's because, spoilers for Persona 2, the first Persona 2 (Innocent Sin) is a timeline that fails. The game with you resetting the timeline because you fucked up that badly, and the second Persona 2 (Eternal Punishment) is your second shot and doing things over. HOWEVER. Maya changes with the timelines because she was doomed to die with how things were set up in Innocent Sin, and fixing that to give the timeline a shot in Eternal Punishment changes her as a character. This bingo is more about Innocent Sin Maya, who is a 23 year old girlfailure reporter that makes me Deeply Deeply Ill. If you're ever curious, you can send me an ask and I'll talk about her more in depth because Persona 2 isn't the easiest game to play

Thank you for the ask!!!

[the-iron-queen]

Genuinely curious whats your beef with New Siwaj's works, plsplspls let me know

Oh dear.

Well, it starts with and is in many ways about UWMA. I will put a cut here because I really can't stand a lot about this show and don't want my post in its entirety to potentially jumpscare someone in the tags.

And I apologize in advance to anyone who genuinely likes UWMA and New Siwaj's directing if you actually decide to read this post. Just be warned, I have a heavy bone to pic with both.

I have only managed to drag my ass through 9 of the 17 episodes so far.

I know the show is beloved by many, but for me it's seriously the only BL so far I have straight up dropped, originally at episode 3 or 4 (although i am trying to strongarm myself back into it sometimes when i feel especially masochistic). That's in a big part to do with Ohm and Fluke and how they absolutely not work at all for me together. Usually I can say fine, a thing is not my cup of tea, but I can imagine someone else enjoying it. These two as a couple unfortunately are for me something that I (this is a personal opinion) feel very much like their chemistry and when it's just them alone in a scene is objectively pretty bad. But as I said. Personal opinion.

When I look at the entire show it just comes together why these two were just what brought out all the shows weaknesses to me, which I attribute in large parts to New.

There is his tendency to use an atrocious amount of sound effects (in UWMA not as much on display as in We Are, which annoyed me so much that I nearly dropped that too after the first episode) and his similarily tendencies to drive me up the wall will permanent reusage of the same three background tracks over several shows of which some very agressively try to tell you a scene is awkward while you just try to get into character interactions (in Between Us I had to take breaks from watching because that issue was annyoing me so much). Honestly I have seen an entirety of one single scene in which for one moment his sense of comedic sound usage worked for me, and that was with Aob as Tan, who really shouldn't be hard to not turn out funny (but by god, Aob got so much bad 'comedic' moments due to said sound and music choices in We Are too).

But back to UWMA, because that enbodies most of my gripes with New Siwaj. Honestly, I was crying four minutes into the show because Earth and Kao's performances were so good and the scenes around it decently well made. But man, does this create a tone problem, if a) - again, personal opinion- the actors you cast to play the reincarnated version of the characters can't hold much of a candle to the actors you cast for the original characters - and really i don't know how much of this is really to be blamed on Fluke and Ohm, and how much on direction and b) you create such a tone discrepancy between the past and current scenes that it makes your audience start to dread the actually god parts of the show because you're getting whiplash from pretty shallow uni badoing (yes i am aware i would probably feel different about this point if I liked Fluke and Ohm's performance as a couple) versus a sad and so deeply queer traumatic story that always had the damocles sword of it's ending hanging above it. New Siwaj wasn't able to sell me that those are supposed to be the same people because of that massive disconnect.

I have to say also, I sorta enjoy Pharm and Dean as a background couple in Between Us, weirdly. I just can't understand New's direction choices with their romantic scenes in UWMA which are - to me - hard to watch with Pharm looking very much like he's feeling incredibly uncomfortable. To be honest, I have so far only seen one actor pull off that kind of flinching away and looking so very conflicted in a supposedly romantic kiss scene in a way that still came across as mutually enjoyable for both character. That actor being Gun Atthaphan, which I am aware is unfair to compare people to, because his level is difficult to reach. But I am saying this to emphasize that New - again, to me - either didn't chose the right actors for Pharm and Dean or didn't know how to direct them. I enjoy Pharm with his friends and Dean with his club is fine, but the second those two appear on a screen together, the show flatlines because of missing chemistry and weird acting and/or direction choices.

Unfortunately the show does all of that to a point that it takes it good parts (primarily the scenes from the past) down with it. I am paraphrasing a stolen quote here - but the crime this show commits is being in parts so bad that it starts to make me question if the good parts of it were actually that good to begin with, or if New Siwaj only got lucky with a very good actor choice that didn't need much input from him.

And i am saying that all as someone who loves the reincarnation trope.

So, closing the lid on the topic of UWMA for this post.

What about other shows of his?

1) A Boss and a Babe. I genuinely didn't know until this second that that was one of his (apparently because the app version of MDL is very bad). It doesn't suffer from my usual issues with him to the same extent. I gave the show a solid 7.5/10 when i watched it and still stick with that. ForceBook also bounce nicely off each other, added plus.

2) Between Us. Surprisingly I am actually enjoying this show, mostly. It integrates it traumatic background stories much better into the story. BounPrem have good chemistry, so I can vibe with that. It basically had most of the good parts of UWMA (minus the past backstory) while leaving out the things I had issues with. My issue here was mostly what I wrote above about background music ruining scenes. I saw one minor harmful stereotype that I see in too many other BLs too, but besides that it's okay.

3) We are. It took me a while to get into that one. As mentioned above the overabundance and bad usage of sound effects in episode 1 is so awful that it made the entire show (and Tan especially - somehow it managed that) incredibly annoying. This show can't shut up. And I don't mean the actors, I mean the fucking noises. Like it doesn't trust its actors to bring the point across and actually act without SPRINGSPROINGBADOINGMEOW in the background. Besides that - the show is okay. It has its good moments. It's a uni BL with all that goes along with it, which isn't super my thing, but I can deal with it if I get great characters and an interesting story. Which in the case of We Are... eh. The thing is I feel like most of the actors can and have done better, like, the performances weren't bad, but for example I feel like Pond and Phuwin wouldn't have needed to be in that show. Those roles could have been filled by many other people, and Pond and Phuwin could have gotten something more up to their acting skills. Only standout actor for me was Aou, he took Tan and run with him in a way that gave other people a run for their money, and TanFang greatly benefitted from that. And ChainPun was cute but only a single crumb. I don't know if We Are actually could really be improved on much (besides the noise noise NOISE NOISE) and I absolutely believe this is a very valid choice for a comfort show if you don't mind the noise. I gave it a 7/10 which is very nice of me given the NOISE.

Yeah, so. Summed up: I don't think he's good at utilitizing his actors, sometimes he struggles with trusting them to create athmosphere with their acting and I still don't know what's up with Dean and Pharm if that's bad casting or bad direction. He unfortunately likes giving his BLs the soundscape and soundtrack of a Looney Tunes cartoon with sadly zero of that one's comedic timing or feeling for scenes. That's probably also to be blamed on his sound and music team, but it is *his* choice to use it like that.

I am sorry that this still turned into a rant, but New Siwaj definitely gets me going.

[be-the-glenn-to-my-maggie]

Well now you’ve got me started on the ikran racing au and now I’m curious so!

Nocorro fic recs for the noob please? 😂

BESTIE finally join the dark sideee.

As I said over dms; unfortunately for you, there are better locorro (and spiri, although I really only rec one hardcore) fics then there are Nocorro. Nocorro is like a desert spot, there really aren’t any aside from a few really short but cool one shots. It's a very small fandom, and it's pretty young right now so tbh most of the fics are not very good, so it'll be a short list anyway. So, as we discussed, here are the high quality, well written Spider ship fics:

For nocorro, there really isn't much. That's why I said I've come so fucking close to writing that ikran au; because I am deeply obsessed with the nocorro parts of it. I adore that au and the ghost neteyam one honestly best of all, but the ghost Neteyam one there is slightly more content for. BUT ANYWAYS;

Upon looking up my list for this I was furious to discover one of the three well written little nocorro one shots has been deleted, so beef begun with CherryApollo (jk queen I need more of them. Actually, a03 user CherryApollo; I know ur reading these posts, or else you wouldn't have tagged that fic nocorro, huh? You said "tumblr has it's claws in me so here's some nocorro" I SEE YOU, I KNOW UR HERE. THERE'S LIKE THREE OF US USING THAT TAG, AND IT'S MOSTLY JUST ME ALONE IN THE VOID. You listen to me. I liked that fucking fic, I had it bookmarked. Give it back to me. But seriously big fan of ur work).

The two remaining fruit themed CherryApollo nocorro oneshots better be your first stop just in case this sociopath decides to take more from me, Take a Bite of the Orange (p sure I was the commenter that took offense mentioned in the notes) and Follow Me Down to the Peach Tree, which did make me want to end it all. Both under 1000 words and worth a quick read.

There is also the ghost of Guilt by thatshowthemafiaworks @undercoverpan who has written us a ghost Spider au which has never failed to make me cry each chapter. The prose is not as flawless as the other recs here, but it packs some emotional weight the others don't. I also can't even fathom where it's going as it all seems entirely hopeless which is why it makes me cry.

The only other nocorro fic I even think is worth a mention is Crop Circles by our bestie @spicymiilk. It's not done and we haven't reached any nocorro yet, but know it's coming and it's good. I get my sticky little fingers in each good Avatar fic writer and I puppeteer the content I want, just look at whats happening here.

For locorro (still a small as hell ship), we can afford to be slightly more picky and I shall give you the best of the best.

Personally I would start with the locorro bible, Bitter by Icandigelvis @oppa86oppa . All of us locorro stans have said this, but this fic started our interest in the ship for most and it caused the cultural revolution of our Spider ship community. This fic still months later lives with me 24/7, and it really is one of THE fics I've ever read of all time. It went righttt into my collection of fics to show to my MFA prof who told me to stop reading fanfiction lol, like seconds after I finished it. Then I put it in the grad school jealousy collection because it's that well formatted.

The Restless Child series by @spicymiilk is a full length novel that will take you a bit lol. I am biased as I do beta it but it's real good. I keep not anticipating turns I should anticipate, but maybe we can convince Andrei to simply let us live for a sec because the fact that it's been like two weeks in universe hit me yesterday while editing and I wanted to fall off an ikran (👀).

There is also, NATURALLY, The Thunder Answered Back by @spicymiilk. This fic crawled up my butt what I can I say. You all got to read my massive post about it, hope u enjoyed that. I was walking back from work today, listening to Back to You by Louis Tomlinson ft Bebe Rexha, in 91 degree heat and it started to thunder and simply pour rain and I was like "I am lIVING The Thunder Answered Back vibes rn, holy fuck." You know it's good writing in general when it gives you a specific vibe. Tbh, that song is that fics vibes, perhaps locorro vibes in general.

I'm only gonna rec one spiri fic for a few reasons. One, because there is a criminal lack of content for them, and two, that fic is worlds above any other spiri fics. I think it's a great starter fic for getting into Spider ships and for getting into spiri in general, just because of how detailed and in depth the world is, my god. It's basically Spider and Kiri pov switches from their childhood up until wayyy past Way of Water and until the end of all conflict with humans. Like any good canon continuation, I disagree with and I agree with a ton of @milesocorro 's interpretation. I don't particularly enjoy the way the conflict concludes, but I really adore the way Quaritch is handled. I said this before to the author, but it's my favorite Quaritch confrontation I've read yet. I have a review up for it while it was still coming out, and I said there I was obsessed with Spider's tsurak and I still fucking am. That's my fav Spider iknimaya sequence too!! Anyways, that's my repeated pitch for Please be kind, please be gentle with me .

[itsana004]

ANA I AM CURIOUS ABOUT HOW YOU THINK OF GUACHE/NISTRO I know you greatly appreciate droite but what about her partner in crime? 👁️

Omg I did realise at one point that I almost never talk about that guy as much as I should, so here lays my truest thoughts on Gauche/Nistro

•How do I feel about this character

I ABSOLUTELY ADORE HIS CHARACTER! He's so fun to watch and I feel deeply ashamed I used to feel differently about him at the beginning because of a stupid ship and that was such an embarrassing phase (I didn't engage in any ship drama thank god about that but my notp clouded my judgement AGHRHHH) but my taste improved luckily overtime and better late than never to make amends of my past mistakes

His upbeat personality is fun and all but SERIOUSLY GET A MAN LIKE HIM WHO CAN DO BOTH! This man can be a dork, high spirited, an idiot and be a hilarious character giving this big dumb energy muscular man while also being super skilled, intelligent in his own way and writers bothered to give a little bit of backstory and NOT be this one dimensional comic relief character like I thought he would be at the beginning??? LIKE?? I LOVE THAT??? AND FROM THE RECENT POLL HE'S A CERTIFIED MALEWIFE SO THERE'S THAT

And his interactions with Droite omg (I LOVE MY BABIES SO MUCH MUST PROTECT THEM AT ALL COSTS) WE. NEEDED. MORE. BANTER AND MORE SCENES OF THEM DOING THEIR JOB WHERE THEY JUST SQUABBLE (please why they never showed at least one frame of Droite and Gauche dueling tf, I'm not satisfied by that mind controlled Gauche tag duel only).

His design is so cool as well! I love he just discarded his work outfit as soon as he quit, like finally a character that proves me wrong about Zexal characters not having a wardrobe with the same smelly outfit in their home other than Kotori and few others (I'M LOOKING AT YOU CASWELL).

Also the Starmann costume...sorry but I can't take it seriously 😂 but I love the message behind it and how it is tied to his childhood where he and Droite lived in the streets and dueling became their star of hope.

•All the people I ship romantically with this character

Sorry but I don't ship him romantically with anyone, not even Droite and I'll explain why in a bit. For the other characters he has interactions and chemistry with they are all minors so nope.

•My non-romantic OTP for this character

This has to be Droite and Gauche. I can't see them in a romantic lens, to me they share more of a familial bond/sibling relationship more than anything, and the fact Droite found love in someone else kind of furthers my case.

The thought of Droite being the only family he ever had in a world where he was born with none feels more meaningful to me than any common romantic tropes. It also means they share a stronger bond as in family always comes first and would be there for eachother no matter what. The media lacks this kind of friendship and bond between a man and a woman who aren't related and seeing them in this light feels like a breath of fresh air and I'm here for it! Also did you guys notice the matching bracelet they share?? I would love to know the canon meaning behind it, but for now I interpret it as a symbol of their relationship which I interpret it as familial, just like Shark and Rio's rings.

•My unpopular opinion about this character

Honestly I'm not sure... I don't think I have any other than the fact I don't ship him with Droite romantically?

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

Oh hohoho, I guess I have only a few things to say

I just think ending up liking a side character in Zexal is just hell, period, but goodness

Umm, Zexal, when were you planning to ever show, or rather, why hide, the fact GAUCHE HAS HIS OWN NUMBER CARD???

HMMM???

Also I would have loved to see more interactions between Gauche and Alito. Despite their rocky start it is clearly shown they would make good friends. There were even drawn parallels between them where past Alito was a lot like Gauche, and they share the same fighting spirit. Anyway they would be good friends... too bad them being in good terms was never shown...

Also this is not a criticism but more of a wish where they expanded more in his and Droite's past and how they became elite and how he got that scar in his face. They never explained it or even shown a flashback of it. And because of how underdeveloped and mysterious they left it out to be I'm really having a confusing time understanding the true nature of his relationship with people in the Tower - they showed him having this big rivalry with Kaito and them being pissed around each other but in Spartan City, once Kaito saw him and Droite, he was smiling to the point his eyebrows became straight?? I want to know the lore stuff basically that I'll never get to knoww

Sorry if I missed anything but here is my answer!

[finniestoncrane]

Hey finnie!! Congrats on 1k!!! You deserve it!!!!

I wanted to see if you'd do no 9 for me cause I'm so curious as to who you'd pick. You know me p well by this point but I'll still tell you about myself as if ya didn't >:]

So hey, I'm a mexican-american living in socal, I work full time as a post production assistant transferring every old from of audio and video you can think of to digital and im very passionate about media conservation. I have immigrant parents so the connection to my culture isent that far off- but I grew up in Southern California and it shows. I was diagnosed with schizophrenia when I was a teen but later was rediagnosed with DID, I also have depression and believe I am on the spectrum. I love to draw and watch film when i have the time but mostly i just listen to audiobooks because i can do that at work. I've always had to work a lot, whether it's night shifts at the warehouse, 50+ hour weeks or nightclub gigs after work I'm always doing *something*. The fact that I have to work so much bums me out a Lot and I want to explode the concept of capitalism but that doesnt stop me from taking an absurd amount of pride in being a hard worker, I get it from my dad. I don't sleep very much, people always find it strange but no matter what time I fall asleep I will wake up 4-5 hours later without alarms and still feel well-rested. Like I mentioned I read a LOT cause I do it on the job, my favorite books are true crime and horror (Grady Hendrix is my all time fave author) but I also get through a ton of history books- mainly medical and historys of conflict. I watch movies whenever I get the chance, I love horror!! It's comforting to me. Most of my favorite films are from the 70s. Oh I love getting tattoos and if I had the money for it id get one everyday, I love the feeling a lot. I listen to a lot of different kinds of music, 80s pop and goth, old punk, 60s and 70s rock, oldies, 90s grunge and reggae, 2000s emo, rap and indie, modern industrial goth, old country as well as mariachi, corridos, reggaeton and Mexican rock. Really genuinely love most kinds of music, but my fave is anything I can sing or dance to. Like I said I have DID which is a pretty big part of me but simultaneously so small, after therapy I was able to get to a place where my alters don't really front unless there's an agreement to do so and it's mostly for comfort and healing reasons now but I live most of my life with one or more riding passenger seat if that makes sense? There's always someone I can talk to or ask for advice. My ideal night out is a night dancing at some alternative club or maybe karaoke at a dinky little bar. I also love to go on drives and like going to the beach at night to lay on the sand hearing the water until I get too cold.

I think I included way more than you needed but I'd love to hear who you'd pick and why :> 🖤

🎀 No.9: Ever Fallen In Love With Someone 🎀

tell me a little bit about yourself and i'll give you a rogue pairing a/n: ok this was... this one was difficult because i struggled to decide between two rogues (a variant of Mad Hatter being the other option) but i hope the decision i made was the right one💚 1k milestone info! 🔞minors dni🔞 • kofi • tag: finnie1k

such a noble cause that you work for! and you picked a key word, because harley is deeply attracted in every sense of the word to passion. doesn't matter what it is, if you're truly passionate about it she'll follow suit

heritage and culture is so important to harley too, and her jewish heritage is often overlooked, so she understand the connection and trying to maintain it or even strengthen it. she'd be so keen to share in someone else's culture and maybe even share hers with them

harley is a trained psychologist. she's a doctor. she has a degree. so any mental health issues she's so keen to try and help, without crossing any boundaries of course. she just wants the best for the people she loves and it's in her nature to try and talk through problems and find ways to fix things or make them hurt less

i frequently headcanon harley as someone who loves drawing as a way of relaxing or as an outlet, and i think she would employ a lot of art psychotherapy tactics. most of all, sitting with you and doodling while you draw and chat about your day would make her so happy

she gets hard work. first of all, it's not easy to study to become a psycholgist. second of all, it's not easy to work in one of the more intense asylums. and third of all, wielding a hammer while looking sexy is a herculean task believe it or not. but hey, if you hate capitalism, why not join her in villainy! or better yet, leave the crime to her and you can stay at home doing nothing all day, let her spoil you!

you would get sleep with harley around. she wouldn't be above bonking you on the head to make sure you're well-rested. 4-5 hours isn't enough, she insists on it. by that point she's only just starting to feel like she's spent enough time stroking your arm and watching you snooze, she needs at least another 2 hours on top of that.

true crime and horror are such harley vibes. she seems like she would love a horror movie marathon. the gorier the better for her though, and with some amazing kill scenes! and let's be honest, some 70s horror films have amazing death scenes in them so she can get on board with that

harley has a fair few tattoos, but nothing would make her giddier with sheer excitement and love than getting a matching tattoo (or 17) with you!!

i think harley loves dancing. she's a gymnast, it's pretty close in terms of movement. she probably has immense skills, albeit untrained, in most dance styles. so any kind of music is something she can work with. and karaoke would 100% be up her street, a cheesy love ballad that you can duet on, or the classic "girls just wanna have fun", but screaming it at an insane volume while she laughs with you

it's maybe not the same thing, but harley has harleen riding sidecar with her at all times. it's not always a good thing for her, since they don't share many of the same opinions, but you'd be a good influence on her, and maybe she'd start taking advice from harleen more often

[ofstoriesandstardust]

you most definitely do not need to answer this if you're not comfortable (or just don't want to), but i saw you say you had grown somewhat resentful of the same mistakes universe and i was curious as to why. i am not personally a writer, but i have a fair amount of friends who are and i have seen similar things happen to them with stories they had put tons of time and effort into, for a variety of different reasons. i know a lot of authors struggle with not getting much interaction on fics, and i can imagine putting something out there that you are proud of and spent a lot of time on and then not hearing anything can feel super disappointing, and also a bit like just chucking your stuff into a void??? i know some other friends of mine have stopped writing because the fandom itself sucked and they were getting weird pointless hate for no reason.

I am definitely sad you've ended/taken a long break from the series, because it's clear you put a ton of time, effort, and care into the same mistakes series, and you developed a character that was deeply nuanced and unique, but also youre doing it all for free and for fun (ideally) so you don't owe anyone anything. I'm for sure rambling at this point but basically i have loved reading the series and i hope somewhere down the line you can start writing again for fun and for yourself!

hey!! i am more than happy to talk about this and the only reason I haven't until now because I wasn't sure anyone really cared and I didn't want it to be misconstrued as whining or ungratefulness. this is probably more of an answer than you were looking for but here we go...

before i came into the top gun fandom, I was very used to chucking my things into the void, as you said. some of my umbrella academy stuff got attention, but aside from a few key mutuals, there wasn't a whole lot. and I was okay with it because I was writing for me and no one else.

and then the og same mistakes trilogy caused my blog to blow up and I was very overwhelmed with the extraordinary overnight attention everything was getting. i went from nothing to so much scrutiny I didn't know what to do. I've gotten to meet and talk to wonderful people because of it, but I've also been subject to some pretty awful hate because of it too. and it never stopped. it just kept getting worse. there was a lot of pressure to deliver consistently and constantly and I felt like no matter what I wrote, I was never appeasing someone. there was always someone who didn't like it and wasn't afraid to tell me so.

ultimately i became resentful because if i never wrote same mistakes, then my blog never would've blown up and i'd never have gotten so much hate. i'd still be writing for me and not judging everything i write before it gets out onto the page. i try to remind myself that i never would've met so many amazing people but that stopped being enough after a little while. when I saw others writing amazing things and get the responses they absolutely deserved while I was being tagged in specific posts for writing things that had overused tropes, I started to wonder what I was doing wrong that I couldn't seem to appease anyone. why it wasn't good enough.

i sort of thought that if i took a step back and focused on other projects, like storm warning and flight risk, things would figure themselves out and the hate would die down and I could come back to same mistakes-verse. uhm, things didn't calm down. the hate didn't stop, as people started taking shots at these other projects (specifically flight risk) and my lack of faith in my writing started extending into my academics.

i've always been pretty proud of my academic writing, and as a historian, it's all I have. but when everyone online is telling you it's shit, and has been telling you that since June, it's hard not to view that for all of your writing. i already feel insecure in my field because I'm still new and honestly this was the last thing I needed.

so i decided to take a step back from all creative writing because it stopped being fun and it stopped being for me and I started hating everything I wrote because I knew no one would like it anyways. i hope it starts being fun again because I miss it and I want to come back to Rebel and Sunshine and Cowgirl and Carolina and all the characters that I love deeply but I don't know when or if that will happen.

[radical-doppio]

🔫 tell us about your oc please!!! (Luna- or others if u have any!)

OHHH i am being held gunpoint to reveal information,,, and reveal information i will do,,, but first i need to explain one thing which is that there is a Fic Series i have been Writing The Past 2 Years (although i haven't touched it for like Over Half A Year because my education has been edu-slaughtering me despite the fact i've reached the half-way point now which is funny to think about) and i think i would feel like an embarrassed teenager if i actually shared any links to it because i think it had a Very Rough Start looking back and bc of that there's a lot of choices that can look Weird and feel Rushed and i am far too Harsh On Myself even though i also boast a lot about it to my Buddies (they can attest to that i went on a symbolism ramble earlier) BUT i can explain Luna and the others!!!! aka the ones i frequently tag posts with so i will of course start with the protagonist

Eren (not aot (i should probably start saying ETW Eren instead) is actually Eren (from aot) but you've seen those posts that are like "i took this guy from this literature and started writing him and a lot happened and now there are only faint traces of the original stitched within this man that shares the same name" yeah it's that kind of situation!!!! while he still has 1. a strong desire for freedom 2. a very flat butt 3. a ripped body (in more ways than one depending on the scene) 4. horrible decision making then what makes him very different is that 1. he is everyone's winning son and that means the world! he also has some identity issues here and there and occasionally gets into illegal activities because he is a little too naive for his own good despite looking a bit like a biker-pirate-werewolf (affectionate)

but he is otherwise a Loving Fellow that cares deeply for everyone (Luna gave him a Hatsune Miku eyepatch as a late birthday present after they became friends and despite his initial repulsion he wears it like a mark of pride (he hurt his eye once nothing too important)) but he's just a little misguided and does very dumb things because he's very conflicted inside! but otherwise he's just very curious about the things he'd never get to do if he was still living in his hometown due to the overbearing weight of expectations and burdens from the greatness of his family (dad's side is a family of doctors as is consistent with aot canon but his grandparents from his mom's side were a scholar and the other a rockstar)

Now Luna is like if a raccoon worked in the corner store you go to in the middle of the night to find a bottle of water after waking up someplace you don't know with a really dry mouth and a mysteriously broken wrist. very annoying. very attached. very loving too. for some reason very athletic despite being lazy and knows things that aren't important at all but will fill the hole in your head now. now they did not actually choose their name but while he and Eren were on the beach together reminiscing over hellish moments of their lives and Luna was having a "how can i leave the person i used to be in the dust when i can't even choose a name for myself" then Eren, ever-so-bright, remembered that time his big brother Zeke taught him about these really cool moths that were the same colour as Luna's eyes and went "have you heard about these moths they're really cool" and Luna, as lovestruck as a fucking idiot can be, went "Luna rolls off the tongue nicely :)" while eating a mcflurry eren bought for him so surprisingly their name is not Luna bc of the moon but bc of the cool moth that is really pretty and can't be detected by bats meaning moon symbolism does not rock with them lolika if you're reading this i'm still gonna gut you for that but there is a Bitch

that gorgeous Bitch is Naoya and he's like Eren in that he's not an OC but i hijacked him from a piece of media and frankenstein'd him into something else (this time persona 1 he's the protagonist) but Naoya is that guy you see everywhere that has something profoundly wrong with him yet you still kinda wanna Be With Him because his vibes are Delicious and Eren recognized that after they were fishing together once and that led to them "adopting" Denji (from chainsawnman he's also involved in illegal activities with very creepy guardians aka makima and he's a few years younger than the both of them and eren has a milf instinct to keep people younger than him Safe) but also Naoya says really concerning things sometimes but Eren is too busy going "boy,, pretty,, lipstick,,, earring,,," to overhear "tbh i think a lot of the world's problems could be solved if killing was legal anyway eren my Comrade (flirting) do you wanna watch my play" i don't know why i chose to make him in charge of a theater ensemble but he also had like 309298509 jobs before shooting up in stardom after making 1 banger that denji slept through but lunaoya only met once off-screen i think and luna is Very wary of him because there is something Deeply Fucking Wrong With That Guy but Eren's very "he gave me his earring before he left for the US..." like the freakish little lover that he is and i imagine naoya's feelings on luna are very "(green goblin voice) you and i can smoke the fattest blunt together spider-man"

speaking of the green goblin there is also Coral who is Luna's childhood bestie and she is not green in real life but she is a vtuber with a crocodile princess thing called croc cordia and that crocodile is very green (there are no drawings of any of the cast because i can't draw) although she herself is the only american in the cast which is not important at all but is really funny. she isn't my oc by the way she's my good buddy's @lolika-0777 creature that i saw one holy night and then we had a brainblast of "do you think she'd hold hands with luna" and they went "oguhgohgsoghugsguughGOGYGOh" as i performed a CIA move on them to make them agree and then we had a strong moment of camaraderie as we decided coraluna are so in love but coral and eren are like siblings in that they see each other and either have a short and sweet moment together or they traumatize each other for three minutes and never speak of it again but one thing is for sure and that is that luna has 2 hands for both of them and hey why is one hand sliding away luna no the economy oh god

i also have an oc unrelated to all of that fic stuff named lucy that's my good buddy @swordlover87's oc erin's wife they got married in some roleplay because erin was in awe of lucy's 8ball swagger and lucy was in awe of erin's naive swagger i think it was a high school rp with superpowers lots of stuff happened i was there for like 4 minutes total to have them flirt and kiss and then i occasionally saw some crazy things went "woah" and then read beastars over a few days and then i watched i think it was the monster anime (i did that over 2 days) and then black sails (that was like a week) and then when i came back things were Over and i nodded and said "erilucy is real" and then me and swords held each other tenderly every night after knowing our (platonic) love is true and just even in the eyes of god but alas our tale is one cursed with tragedy and by the end he will have to slay me as i have slain what love we had for greater ambition that was as corrupt as the blood of god himself

[flowerbloom-arts]

Tell us about Alicia, the young witch.

And if I may double up, concerned about the possibility that no one else will request him, and since you so deeply adore and talk in depth about him, teaching us very much, I am only curious about your first and present impressions about Muddler, or your history with him overall.

(To the tune of Jack Stauber's Ballab of Hamantha) Alicia, she was a cutiepie,,, with pretty hair and lovely eyes,,,

First impression: I think my introduction to her was the compilation of "John Chancer having too much fun voicing Snufkin", specifically the scene where Alicia says "Nice to see you Snufkin!" and Snufkin goes "I love this hat!"

I went down into the comments and my general impression of her based on the video and the comments was that she was a very low-key and underutilized "love interest" for Snufkin who'd sometimes come and go as the plot demands it and she wasn't really notable otherwise (as in she was a normal girl rather than a witch in training) and boy howdy-

Impression now: I think Alicia's interesting from a speculative lore perspective and I crave to learn more about her. What happened to Alicia's parents? Who or what were they? Why does she look so... Human, compared to her grandma? What happened to the other witches the forest was named after? Why are Alicia and her grandmother still there? Did they leave and then return? Was the witches being gone a really long time ago and these 2 didn't have much to do with it besides being future witches?

I wanted to do a Huevember for them touching upon these questions but it fell through due to time and motivation... ah well, maybe someday.

Anyway back to Alicia, I think she's really nifty as a character, maybe a little bland at times but maybe with some more usage or further thought I could get a really nice character out of her. She's still obviously a child/preteen like the rest of the cast (YES SNUFKIN IS A CHILD/PRETEEN TOO DON'T LET THE WEIRD VOICE CASTING FOOL YOU) and I'm glad there was no romance involved with her at all, and the progression of her abilities gave a nice sense of progression kind of like Snork's ship.

All in all, she's solid.

Favorite moment: I think her introduction in her debut episode (35: the witch) establishes her very nicely by having her stare longingly in the distance on top of the rock waiting for her grandma for an hour, talk to the kids a bit and then her grandma walks in and they hug.

It's a very good moment that sets up their characters and the mystery of the episode along with their weird vibes that makes you think something's off about the grandma.

Idea for a story: Hmm... I think having a full-fledged adventure with Alicia tagging along would make for an interesting premise in itself. Like, say, the kids are on a journey for a macguffin in the vain of Comet in Moominland and because the macguffin relates to her grandma or their situation or maybe the kids ask her for help, she tags along aswell.

Throughout the story she tries to use her witch abilities pretty clumsily and she has a belly of the whale moment thinking she can't be a good witch at a pace she can agree with (because she's getting rather impatient with the training; but that's her whole weakness, impatience) and then in the climax she manages to perform something rather impressive and she gets so happy and excited over it, she can't wait to tell grandma when they get home and it's such a nice moment for her character, you'd almost feel proud of her except for the fact the moment gets immediately ruined by the new obstacle.

Unpopular opinion: Hm... I'm not familiar with opinions on her, except maybe whether or not people like her base character in general? Is she divisive? I don't know...

I'll just say I think her "blander" appearance compared to her grandma lends itself to some made-up lore I could work with, actually. I like her character design.

Favorite relationship: You know, I've been calling her grandma "her grandma" this whole time but her name's actually Clarissa atleast in the Japanese dub and that's the name I like to go with when I can.

So Alicia and Clarissa has alot of potential to be very sweet and also kind of hilarious. Clarissa has quite a bit of a patient trickster attitude meanwhile Alicia is very naive and impatient, they're opposites in some aspect, but you can tell they very much love eachother as family and Clarissa is only forbidding her granddaughter from playing with the other kids because of some fear we don't know of. But there's also a little strain in their relationship in the way Clarissa forbids Alicia and trains her in a very slow and roundabout way that isn't to Alicia's liking, which produces a bit of conflict.

That aside, I like imagining the more wholesome domestic moments that can be had with them and the tragedy of Alicia's mother not being around somewhat lingers.

Favorite headcanon: Uhhhmm... (*Opens a drawer in my desk, looks through the character folders, pulls out Alicia*) I guess... That her necklace belonged to her mother...? There isn't much here that I can really discuss since I haven't thought of her too much

---

Onward about Muddler! I thank you for your concerns but seeing as someone actually did ask they appear to have been unfounded, nevertheless I will still talk about my fave when given the chance, so I'll give out a more detailed version of what I said in that post.

When I first found out about Muddler I was in a mentally... Very low place, it was September of 2020, I despised school and I've already dealt with a second semester in online school, I had alot of fears and insecurities about thinking of myself as a good person, I was in a bad place. I came into the fandom for Snufmin thanks to Amber/Skruttet's YouTube videos compiling scenes from the 2019 series and was doing some basic research of the characters. I found out about Muddler and I latched onto him immediately as I, too, was a cowardly rodent-like thing with a hoarding problem and anxiety and insecurities.

I read the info on him loving both his possessions and his friends with full enthusiasm and I adored him already, I audibly went "Awww!!!!" and immediately went to make fanart of him. I adored this little guy, I projected on this little guy, I thought about him alot. I thought about him so much I switched from the Steven Universe fandom to becoming a full Moomin fan in late November of 2020 with the SU fanart petering out since the end of October.

My hyperfixation changed because of Muddler and my inner life changed alot since then. If you scroll through my blog to the very early days you'd see alot of fanart that featured Muddler alot and I guess that hasn't changed alot.

Do I regret joining the Moomin fandom? Absolutely not.

Do I regret latching onto a character like Muddler and his family? Kind of, due to a lack of satisfactory content of them.

The Muddler is still squarely my absolute favorite Moomin character if not my all-time favorite and I highly doubt it'll ever change. He's gotten me through alot of things and I'm glad he did, I'm glad I could be able to produce such a mountain content of him over the last over a year, if you printed out every picture I made of him I'm very sure it'll come out as a very sizable stack of paper.

I'm not sure how to talk about my feelings for him without sounding so terribly unhinged and like some weirdo with no life but I'll say this:

Muddler is my husband now no takesies backsies, the fandom had a chance but was too focused on Joxter and now I'm claiming him, he is mine now.

[help-im-a-gay-fish]

Okay I had to do some stuff, but here I am rambling about relationship between Killer and Nightmare in Colours of LOVE.

Some of this I might mention before some of it might be your and Jann or Yuri ideas... Anyway!! The way I see that:

Even though this is soulmate au Nightmare and Killer aren't perfect fit for eachother. They are perfect fit in threesome - Ccino softens rough edges of both of them, and changes their attention from being mad on eachother to carrying about Ccino together (especially at first when he is really depressed). But before that... It was hard.

Killer is really open about everything he thinks and feels. If he founds someone who is attractive he will flirt. Even when he is already dating Nightmare. And also he always shows his affection to Nightmare everywhere, in public too. That's cute and sweet, but Nightmare is really closed person so that makes him really uncomfortable. Night often got jealous with Killer flirting with anyone else, got embarrassed with his kisses and all on public, and in general is a bit annoyed with Killer's actions. Killer on the other hand doesn't really understand why Nightmare is so "tensed" (he is not, Night is just much more calm, but Killer don't get it).

They were braking up and coming back again a few times, because they had argued a lot about everything and got tired of this. Right now they are on their "best days" - they started to date again a few weeks ago and right now they are through some stuff, they understand eachother better, and pretty chill about eachother weird actions. Like in the second page Night is a bit flustered by Killer's kiss but he almost used to that. Same as he is worried about being late, since Killer is almost always late, but he is more or less fine by that. On next page (which you haven't seen yet), there are an interesting dialog between them, and I will definitely write some of "subtext" about it when I will post it.

Actually if they haven't met Ccino they would break up again after a few months. And maybe come back again after a week.

Also! Interesting thing about third soulmate: at the beginning of the comic (before Nigh met Ccino) Killer is 100% sure that they have third soulmate, but Nightmare is sure for about 60%. Killer is existed about that, he knew knew that he is polyamorious for a long time, but Nightmare hesitates a lot, because he can't really imagine himself in polyam relationship. It feels weird and also he is soooooo jealous about Killer paying any attention to anyone except him, that he worries to become "third wheel". Will it be different with Ccino?? Who knows (. ❛ ᴗ ❛.)

Hi kotikaleo!!! This was super fun to read.

Firstly I'm going to tag @zu-is-here since she started the studio verse

It's definitely an interesting insight to your comic and the characters!

It reminds me a lot of an early version of my own ideas about the studio verse nightkiller relationship! And I can definitely see the way we have bounced headcannons of each other paying off.

Them still dealing with a softer kind of lovehate dynamic is an interesting one. It doesn't seem to be as extreme as my version, but it's interesting that it's still there.

The fact that they are meant to work as a 3 makes sense as well. If they are supposed to be bounded as a 3 it makes sense that three they their relationship would be unstable. They don't work as a two, but they are soul mates and something would always pull the two of them together.

I'm also curious, since Nightmare isn't 100% sure that the lack of colour is due to them being soul mated to another person. I wonder if he ever felt like the universe got it wrong? And that he'd been mated to the wrong person? Or perhaps he felt it meant that him and Killer don't have soul mates and that's why they have some connections.

It sad boy.

Also if Killer knows he's poly by nature, is that something that causes disagreements with the 2 of them?

And now for mine and @jann-the-bean version.

This story has been something that we mostly developed in tumbler DMs but both me and Jan wrote a story about it. Jan wrote

KillerNight(s)

And I'm writing

Round and round till we all fall down

Nightmare and Killer's relationship started off baddddd, it basically started as a mutual dislike for one another. This is due to their conflicting personalities and morals.

Nightmare was originally quite excited to meet Killer, as he'd heard a lot about the actor. But almost straight away he found Killer to be rude, childish and irritating. Killer found Nightmare to be stuck up, snobbish and entitled.

The two first met at an awards ceremony and got into a yelling match after a few drinks and were separated. From there their dislike for one another was made quite well known to the public because of a social media battle back and forth.

This only went on for a few months however, as the characters of 'Killer' and 'Nightmare' were cast to play together.

Nightmare and Killer agreed to be civil in order to function while working and get the filming completed as soon as possible.

As they worked together, their dislike turned into a playful banter and respect for one another. And then something else shifted.

Now Killer has a reputation for being a player and one who likes to sleep around, as you said, he's open about his interest in people when he has it and enjoys casually flirting with just about anyone.

Which came to include Nightmare.

Nightmare paid no mind to it really, though he couldn't understand why it embarrassed him so much.

Killer comes to find Nightmare to be very attractive and enjoys his reactions when teased, he rights him off though because he was under the impression that Nightmare was straight, and he'd never try to change that.

It was a day when they were talking about Killer's eyes and how it's caused him to struggle, that Nightmare tells him that he thinks his eyes are very pretty and that they are an attractive quality, and something in Killer breaks and he kisses him.

So Killer feels like he messed up and the two avoid each other. But it causes Nightmare to start questioning things about himself.

Nightmare at this point had only every dated women. He assumed that he was straight. But after that kiss a lot of buried feelings are dragged to the surface and exposed, and he realises that he's also attracted to men.

So Jan goes into full details about this, in the fic Killernights, but basically Nightmare confronts Killer about the kiss and Killer tells him he 'has a thing for him'

The two go back to Killer's flat to talk, but their normal banter, leads to flirting and then another kiss. And Nightmare who is curious and suddenly craving new sensations becomes lost to him. Killer who finds Nightmare physically very attractive, also gets wrapped up and the two of them sleep together.

Nowwww this is getting long so I'll try to shorten it down a bit.

Basically, it's an amazing night. It's passionate, enjoyable and a lot of fun for both of them. Upon finding out Night has never been with a man, Killer guides him carefully though the process.

After that night the two can't stop thinking about each other, even though they both planned for it to be a one time thing. Again, they avoided each other until talking after a while.

And killer admits his desires for the other, and offers Nightmare a safe environment to experiment with his sexuality, where he won't be judged.

To cut a long story short, this spirals into a passionate and carnal, on and off booty call/fling with each other that spans for years.

Other that time they grow very close with each other, and come to recognise the similarities that they share, and have soft moments of just enjoying being together with one another.

For Killer, Nightmare is the first person to ever tell him he had beautiful eyes and mean it. The first person who wasn't at all put off by them.

To Nightmare, it feels like Killer is the one person that will never pick Dream over him. And he makes him feel wanted and desirable in a way few have before.

However, their are still parts of their relationship that conflict. Of course a healthy relationship will always have some conflicts. But for Killer and Nightmare the conflicts clash and fight with each other.

That along with both of their past traumas, (I wrote about Killer's back story here) means they find it difficult to talk about genuine feelings and what's bothering them. Causing things to bottle up and blow up over time.

They also find it impossible to admit that they actually love each other deeply.

They tried to be in a full on committed relationship once, (which I'm writing about in Round and Round) but it didn't work out for these issues. As well as the fact that Killer is poly by nature, and therefore gets anxious and uncomfortable in a relationship with one person only. Which he won't talk to Night about for the reasons stated above.

Enter Ccino.

Now Ccino is the missing piece for Nightmare and Killer.

He's soft and gentle spoken, which easily helps them calm down when things get heated between them. He also provides a safe and loving space to open up about what things are bothering them.

Nightmare and Killer's also, as you said, spend more energy caring for and sometimes worrying about Ccino, so they have less energy for the constant fighting.

Ccino was the missing piece. He's the person who will cuddle and read books with nightmare, but also the one who's super into affection, which Killer loveesss.

A relationship would never work between just killer and Ccino, since Ccino wouldn't be able to keep up with Killer's libido and killer doesn't know much about Ccino's mental health. And Ccino wouldn't work in a relationship with just Nightmare because Night's colder and more straight forward personality would leave him affection staved after a while.

They just work together! They are basically soul mates in this universe as well!

P. S Nightmare in this universe was also very veryyyyy jealous when Killer showed interest in Ccino. Which is something he took out on Ccino till Killer stopped it. After falling in love with Marshmallow he regrets this a lot.

I'M SO EXCITED FOR MORE. COLOURS OF LOVEEEEE

[mrs-nate-humphrey]

I am curious: what are your favorite scenes from your main ships (date, dair, derena...)?

scenes involving milo don't count, sorry!

for me, it's really not just scenes, but body language & just in general, how they are with each other, you know? dan and serena grin at each other and hug SO much, you can tell that being around each other in s1 made them both so happy, and even after that glow fades the way they look for comfort in each other... top level stuff. the way blair looks at dan... we never see her as radiant at any other point. she was not looking at anyone else like this. and gosh, dan and nate. they're both so comfortable around each other that there's absolutely nothing weird about like. discussing that one ex girlfriend whom they both share AND both were in love with. there is literally no other duo who trusts/enjoys each other's company so much that they're comfortable in a love triangle. (probably because they're more in love with each other than with the girl, but that is not the point. or is it?)

anyway, more specific answers. under the cut. this is one of the longest answers i've ever written on this blog possibly but you KNEW that would happen when you sent this ask, didn't you? (affectionate)

derena: i tagged one of my ds reblogs as 'the grumpy one is soft for the sunshine one' and like. look at them! this hug from 1x10 kills me in the best way. they are both the literal embodiment of :D when they see each other! i love 1x10 as a whole moment, their entire thing at cotillion is so sweet and they're both so happy. the fact that he is talking about his chemistry teacher during this kiss in 1x07. that bit at the end of 1x05 when they talk about their siblings (being there for their sibling because of fallible parents being a derena parallel makes me simultaneously really sad and really soft, tbh). 1x05 gives me SO MUCH SECONDHAND EMBARRASSMENT but the way they walk off together arms around each other does something to me - these are two people who are still getting to know each other but who really like what they see, and who trust each other and. are just having a good time together! back when derena was my OTP, the 1x11 "your story's about me?" was absolutely a fave, too, and i still adore it, albeit in a different, more nostalgic way. i like a dan who writes cute stories about serena. no empty shell sabrina van skoneker bullshit. she is so much like you, daniel! you'd be shattered if she did this to you. don't do this to her. tbh, most derena moments from s1 are just A+ romance. the bit in 2x02 in the jitney is so funny, they're SO bad at being exes. the bit in... 3x03 i think?? i don't remember... on the contrary. when they're talking about dan's fling w/ georgina and serena's relationship with carter, the ease with which they talk and how happy/supportive they are of each other's new relationships... yeah. love to see it.

i also really like any instance of them having honest/open conversations. 1x13, talking about how serena is concerned about blair. 1x08, serena talking to dan about feeling jealous of vanessa. this bit from the touch of eva or whatever that episode is. 4x04 i think. this is the conversation everyone is trying to get dan to have and he's avoiding EVERYONE else. derena interactions in 3x21 (can't find a gif right now) - the fact that dan is with serena when her dad abandons them, the fact that he goes all the way there with her. 2x07, "i'm really glad you're nate's friend. he really needs someone like you right now" (though i'm cheating, that's technically a d/n moment too klhdflkgf). there's a bit in s4 where he's advising her against having an affair w/ colin, i don't remember the ep number, but the way he takes her side so easily and naturally and puts due blame/responsibility solely on her professor... yeah. 4x10 i think this ep is?? idk. but like my tags say, im sentimental about this moment because while what dan was doing was irresponsible, sneaking her out of the ostroff, he was the only person in this episode who was actually talking to her and listening to her and taking her seriously. nobody else was doing that!!

i probably have more moments i'm not remembering, but we're only 1/3 into this answer and LOOK AT THE WORDS, good lord, i'm sorry.

dair: my favourite dair episode is hands down despicable b (5x21) which i have heard is an uncommon answer. i just love the conflict resolution of it all, okay!!! 1x04 & 2x08 are like. standard answers any dair shipper will give, and i'm no different. i love dan being able to give blair advice and blair actually taking his advice even though they're not friends yet!!! be right back, yelling at the intimacy of it all!! 5x16, with their getting together (this little kiss and dan being so startled by it), blair admitting a flaw she genuinely does have and dan saying it's not awful because it's her, which is just. romance at its finest. those vows, good lord. 5x18.... they're having fun! blair showing up at the loft in lingerie for dan... the delight on her face.... (i know this moment blows up in their face but when she's there she looks so happy and proud of herself and this was like THE moment when i was like. oh. dair is really the heart of this garbage show huh).

i think for me, the thing that really sells dan & blair together is the serena of it all. both of them love serena more fiercely than anyone else, and that is what brings them together. (fwiw i definitely think nate loved serena this much and this deeply, too; the writers just wanted to pop the serenate balloon, which even i think was extremely unnecessary and ooc.) but (& i have so much meta about this) their relationship grows beyond serena. their entire s4 arc is SO good. i love how comfortable around each other they are, in such an adult way, in the sense of like. they both bring so much stability to each other? morgan tagged this edit "the marrieds" and like. yeah. b offers to help him shave. they're having breakfast & reading the paper together.

all the love declarations we got that weren't a simple 'i love you.' be your charming wonderful self (how could she not love you/ tell me what would make you happy, dan) i told chuck he doesn't have my heart anymore (you spent your life earning the keys to set you free when you were free all along!!!!) dan's pep talk to blair in 5x21 (already linked a gifset earlier, here's another one if you want i guess). there's definitely more... but honestly, the way the dair arc was executed was so good - while i do have my complaints, i also think keeping those aside, it was SO close to perfect. i love dan & blair's banter and gradually becoming closer and closer and closer. it felt very organic and real and GOSH. the way penn & leighton looked at each other while playing dan and blair...... it's just SO MUCH.

date: this is the hardest, because it's. *screams*. maybe you saw me losing my mind over those 2 seconds of nate handing dan a waffle? i love almost every scene with these two, even the hellish s6 breakup scene. my favourite episode for d/n (& also favourite gg episode in general) is 2x06 - i love the homoerotic subtext of it all. nate pretending to be dan because dan's name is the first name that came to his head. dan flirting w/ nate while tied to that thing, in his underwear. them becoming friends. and 2x07 as a follow-up to that! dan getting nate to live in the loft with the humphreys for a while. i am so soft.

4x09 is a terrible episode in general, especially for serena my beloved, but the d/n moments in that one? off the CHARTS. this weird overly macho flirting, in some ways THE most iconic d/n line. this entire finish each other's sentences nonsense. someone (i think it was ana but im not sure?) compared the energy of those scenes i just linked to the book blairenate love triangle resolution, blairena choosing each other over nate in the books, date choosing each other over serena in the show (if only! RIP.) after the saints & sinners ball, this cute little moment of 'youre the only one who understands me. please tell me they went home together. i mean. how could they not have.

3x07, them watching vampire porn together. a tag i used on ao3 (& also on here, once) is 'nate brings out the himbo in dan'. here is a prime example. 'is she levitating?' i don't fucking know, dan, what do you think?? (i was telling my partner that that's what i love abt dair vs date. around blair dan is an intellectual, a librarian, an art historian, a museum curator. around nate it's like dan is competing to be #1 himbo on the show. can my girlfriend actually fly? i don't know, dan. i can't believe you're seriously asking such a question.)

3x12 pep talk. (sorry about the shitty quality!) essentially nate telling dan that he (dan) is hot and that he shouldn't talk himself down so much.

dan making nate gay in his book. you know. his book from which blair found out he was in love with her. nads (who i will not tag in this billion word long gushy meta, because i value her sanity) once called inside "wish fulfilment' and. i mean. yeah

nate checking dan out at the derena wedding continues to be hilarious. hilarious in the same way as dan sexually fantasising about nate. canon really went 'let's give ivy some special easter eggs' and i appreciate them a lot!

i love the way they are around each other - so quietly attuned to each other. i showed my sister my date!husbands gifset, and she was like. yeah they're so married. and it's just stuff like how dan looks for nate over his shoulder, it's not even an active action, it's as easy and natural and intuitive as breathing, checking to see if nate is still there.

oh, that wasn't as hard as it could've been! okay. cool. im SURE there's more things i could scream about, because it's DN, the fact that they're non-canon makes me THAT much fiercer about them than dair/derena, to be honest. so many dots to connect!! anyway.