#i don't know what happened to me exactly but as a teenager i developed a really weird complex about what music i listened to

[hellpenis900]

i've got a big list of albums i'm planning on listening to between now and august for the sake of finishing ones i've started & i suppose gaining a better grasp on music history. so this does mean i have to drag myself into listening to the beatles after hating them for the meme (& because i hated a hard day's night)

[spdrvyn]

WHY DON'T WE CALL IT FOR WHAT IT IS? — [ post-atsv. spider-reader. wc 1.4k ] you and miguel are dating in secret. neither of you are a fan of pda, so he shows as much as he can in private.

Your participation in the Society recently was bordering on mediocre. In your defense, your other job has been keeping you occupied. Of course, living with Miguel still means that you can see him a lot. A privilege that the other measly spiders can not afford, but you.

However, Miguel was on another strike mission in a never seen before spider dimension. From the details he told you, it was a world blanketed in snow and ice. It required very specific agents to accomplish and knowing him, he volunteered himself to go with too.

Once you were free from your shift, you anxiously waited near the console. Only occasionally leaving to grab a snack and go to the bathroom, as each minute passed the more nervous you became.

Miguel left early in the morning, bidding you farewell with a kiss on your forehead that you were still way too groggy for. It was late in the evening now and there was no sign of him or his team.

Your mind started to wander, passing scenarios of what you wished could happen once you finally saw him. You would leap at him with your arms spread to prepare for his warm embrace, you would pepper kisses all across his handsome face and he'd flush under the attention. Unfortunately, you could only dream that would happen.

As much as possible, both you and Miguel have been trying to keep your relationship private. Not for any life-threatening or intensely serious reasons, but it was for both of your comfort. You liked the intimacy that came with keeping everything private, knowing that whatever you had between each other was just for you. Miguel thought the same, he was the one who suggested it after all.

Still, that fact hindered you. Your jobs and his entailed long nights away from each other and when you finally reunited or even had more than ten minutes to just be, you couldn't act on your true desires because you would be in the eyes of other people.

"Hey. A dollar for your thoughts?" Margo chimed, her iridescent hologram brought a soothing glow to the dark oranges and yellows of the console room.

"Isn't it a penny for your thoughts?"

"Well, they've had to up the prices. You know, inflation." You couldn't tell if she approached you because she noticed how deep in thought you appeared to be or if she too was riding on waves of boredom. Nevertheless, a distraction would probably help.

"Who are you waiting for exactly?" Margo turned her back to you for a second and flickers on her own screens, nearly in the same fashion Lyla does. Only they look more purple as opposed to dandelion.

"Miguel. He wanted to talk to me about a - progress report and I think the mission he went on overlapped with that meeting."

She chortled at your hesitation, the sound increased when you mentioned your reasoning. "I didn't know he did those kinds of reports. You must be special, huh?"

"They're, uh, you have to ask for them."

Over time, you were able to develop a skill where you can pull any sort of lie out of your ass. That was mostly because you used to only be interrogated by Peter B. (he still does it) and he was pretty easy to shut down. Ask about his daughter and all of that, crisis averted.

But this was different. It was a teenager you were talking to, if you were her age in her position right now, you would also be trying to pry as much as you could and tell all your friends about what you heard.

"You asked for it? You're stronger than me, for sure."

Miguel isn't that bad- No. Miguel can be professional about it- No. Miguel is my boyfrieeeend- No!!

"Gotta build that emotional endurance too, you know?" You lied through your teeth, this was your true emotional endurance test. You just prayed that literally anything else could happen so that you could move on from this point in the conversation.

That was when you saw it. A miracle. A message from God. That familiar vortex of colors, that familiar bright red arm blade.

"Well, speak of the devil. Good luck with your meeting!" Margo remarked before she webbed to another side of the console, she looked busy. Maybe trying to look busy.

Miguel looked a little worse for ware, and so did the spiders following behind him. You glued yourself in place to keep from immediately checking for any injuries, but you're confident that the look on your face completely gave you away.

When the portal closed, he swiftly faced his team. "Good work on the strike mission. Make sure to get some rest in before sending in your reports. Contact me, Jess, or Peter if you need anything else."

What he intended as a compliment or two sounded slightly tense coming out of his mouth, you were a bit of a long-standing Society member so after The Spot happened, you could tell he was trying more at boosting morale. Even though his scowl and tone of voice sort of eradicated the kindness in what he actually meant, you found it cute that he tried anyway.

Everyone quickly dispersed, some left in pairs, some hopped into a portal straight to what seemed to be their home dimension. From where you were standing, you could see Miguel's shoulders sag in relief. His mask dissipated to reveal his worn out mug and he immediately turned to walk over to you.

You could tell he wanted to fold. Leave all of today's remaining problems to the Miguel of tomorrow, crawl into your loving embrace, and lay in dormancy until he would meet his fate again.

"Miguel," You initiate. "Is it time for my meeting now?"

There was no meeting. He probably had no idea what you were talking about, but he did at the same time. His steely, jaded disposition gave way to the warm, homely lover you have always known. He nodded, the moment you two stepped inside the apartment, he hugged you.

~

Over the course of your relationship with Miguel, he had taken you out to a good amount of luxurious fine dining restaurants. You were always extremely grateful, especially since he would refuse to let you pay even by a little. He's introduced a lot of new options and in return, you'd show him around the good food spots in your city too.

Yet, nothing could ever compare to a slow, home-cooked meal with just the two of you. Everything felt so intimate that way, you didn't have to worry about public appearances. Many meals being dished out with both you and Miguel in your pajamas.

Tonight was no different, of course. Miguel seemed more sluggish this time around, but you didn't mind picking more work than usual. You would have cooked for him yourself, but you had a feeling that he'd fight you for that.

Dinner had fallen into a comfortable silence this time, your relationship has gotten to the point where there was no obligation to make conversation. Sometimes, Miguel would burst into drawn-out rambles about how his day went and you'd listen intently. Except now, he's too tired to even speak.

After putting the dishes away and performing night routines, a movie in bed would be the perfect conclusion to such a peaceful night.

Nueva York was colder compared to your city, you complained about it to him multiple times so now Miguel usually keeps more than one blanket on the bed now. Honestly, you said it because you liked being snug in his arms when you slept with him. Not in that way.

Miguel's head rested on the column between your shoulder and neck, he weighed you down onto the memory foam mattress with a leg over both of yours and his arms snaked around your torso.

From your peripherals, you could see him gazing up at you. His attention stolen by your face, merlot hued eyes that traced every line, curve, and detail.

"Migs," You smiled back at him. "What are you gawking at?"

Bashfully, he turned his face inward with the hint of a grin at the upturned corners of his lips. It made your heart pounce, the idea that you especially had the privilege of seeing him so tender and shy.

No psychic could have foreseen you living your life like this right now, the same could be said for Miguel too. You didn't force him into this, batter him down to be all soft and mushy. It was because he knew, he finally knew from the way you stayed and loved him through the thick and thin, that he was finally safe and those walls crumbled.

The warmth from his kisses travelled all the way up to your ear. There, he whispered to you a promise, a declaration.

"I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

awwww!!!! miguel!!!!!! anyway hii, been a while since i've uploaded a proper fic so here it is! i hope you guys enjoyed this one because i had a lot of fun writing it :-)

[drawnfamiliarfaces]

Would Jenny allow Danny to tinker with her? I know robotics isn’t exactly the same as aerospace engineering (and I do be headcanoning that my boy chose this as his major since he wants to be an astronaut), but with all the experience he had from handling his parents inventions I believe he can be trusted with fixing something as complex as a robot. I like to think that Danny was really impressed with how Jenny was made and secretly wanted to take a look at how she works, but was too shy to ask because he knows how it’s like to be treated like an object and not a person (with the whole “ghosts are non-sentient globs of ectoplasm with post-human consciousness” spiel he heard so many times) and didn’t want to make Jenny uncomfortable. I believe it took Jenny some time and getting to know Danny and his engineering skills before she let him fix her when she got something badly broken. It was like a show of ultimate trust from Jenny’s side and Danny was flattered, humbled and very respectful. And super careful of course, constantly asking how Jenny’s doing or feeling while he tinkered, mindful of her. I bet she was touched.

Not gonna lie, this is one of the more fascinating asks I got - if only because its incredibly interesting to read about your take/interpretation of Danny & Jenny's relationship! I hope you don't mind me saying, but it feels like you adore both characters and it's very cute!

Well, now, in HoM AU, both Danny and Jenny are close friends and indeed Danny is one of the few people who Jenny trusts with - well, herself - her mechanical self. Like you, I headcanon Danny as quite mechanicaly gifted - in HoM AU he actually graduated college/uni with engineering degree, so he got education to polish his raw skills! He is one of the first people who would help Jenny in and out of the field, if there is a minor malfunction or an injury of some sort!

But even for that to happen it took a couple of years and a few adventures together.

So to answer the original question, I would have to say that in HoM AU specifically, neither Danny would ask to 'tinker' with her, nor Jenny would probably be totally comfortable with that question if asked. 'Tinkering' would imply a degree of casual poking around, and in this case, both Danny and Jenny have certain life experiences that gave them... boundaries when it comes to their own and others' autonomy. Jenny especially.

(a bit of random background info dump here to explain the reasoning, but feel free to ignore it, since i basically answered the ask xD i just got bitten by a writing bunny, so its gotten a bit long - be warned!)

When Jenny was younger and only just acclimatizing herself with human world and amongst teenagers, she was rather blaze at times with how much access to her body she gave to her human friends and acquaintances.

After all, her mother was rather frank about it - often poking around in Jenny's mechanics and code. But it was her mother, who created her (sort of 'why are you covering yourself, i made you i already know what you have' mother attitude, which is a bit over-controlling and invasive to other's autonomy, but well, Jenny is a robot after all) and it a completely different deal from others.

So, despite her mother's warnings there are instances when Jenny was not very careful. Like when she allowed Brad, Tuck and Sheldon to literally remove and rip out her stuff in pursuit of fashion goals. Or when she dropped her guard around Todd Sweeney and got reprogrammed for her good deed.

And during the events of the last episode, she was once again controlled, by Dr Locus. While not exactly her fault, it still left a lasting impression that any mechanically gifted person could be dangerous to her.

Now, this is where we venture into my personal headcanons for MLAATR that are tied into HoM-verse:

Another aspect of Jenny's developed caution to giving access to her body - is the fact that she is not considered as a real person in the eye of the government/world. She is a thing, a weapon created by Dr. Walkman. She does not have the same rights as a human, and on paper she does not even have rights to her own body. It's all patented Nora Wakeman technology, (secretly) founded by the government.

And she has been fighting it ever since she was a teenager and refused to be called an IT - XJ-9 - and became a HER, a teenage girl Jenny, who also just happens to be a robot.

At first it started as a simple teenage rebellion and she went to school and started to hang out with other kids, but what about later after she graduates? Will she be even allowed to? Sure, maybe her school will give her a diploma, but how legal will it be to give something like that to someone who is legally not a real person? After all, its not like when other kids will turn 18 and can be their own people, not under the legal control of their parents. Jenny is her mother's property, intellectual and physical. For her to be considered a real person in the eye of government, it would require a law being passed about recognizing sentience of Artificial Intelligence.

And sure, she could probably be made an exception, being a hero robot and all, but the problem is, she is not the only human-made robot in existence! What about her sisters, who are prototypes and are not as developed as her? Her brother, who seemed to develop sentiency to the point of turning on humans?? Melody and Killgore?? And its not only in her world (cartoon), but in others (since its a crossover). So the question about AI/Robot sentience, no matter if they are good or bad or how developed they are, would not concern only her, it would be a global debate.

And we all know how the governments of the world would feel about passing laws about sentience of artificial beings that were created to serve the human race. It would be a struggle one way or another.

So, as she grows up and sees the world refusing to aknowledge her as a person, she doesnt have legal rights to finish school and go to college, to get a job, to get married, heck she cant even have a legal documentation that doesnt says 'Dr. Wakeman's creation'. The government says: your body belongs to us, because we paid for Dr. Wakeman to make you - you belong to us, we control you.

That, on top of several unpleasant experiences with other people disregarding her autonomy, will equal to Jenny trying to get some sense of that control back. So she starts to be more cautious about how much access others have to her physical self; she starts to build and reinforce boundaries with other people, starting with her family and friends.

It was one of the darkest days in Sheldon's life, when Jenny started to firmly say 'no' to whenever he asked her about her inner workings and casual access for poking around. xD Tuck was not a happy camper either, that his favorite robot friend became very stingy with all the cool stuff. But Brad got it. And after gentle (and sometimes not) reminders, others became more understanding.

It was a little harder with her mother. Dr. Wakeman truly loved her daughter, but she was a scientist first and mother second. She was so used to casual access to Jenny, in order to keep maitanance that it was hard for her to break the habits. Its still a constant struggle, but she has gotten so much better.

Now, when it came to her new friends amongst HoMies, she already has built a set of boundaries that allowed her to feel more secure as a person, despite how the world sees her, but she is much more reserved to opening herself up to others, at least compared to how she first approached people when she was younger.

It took a few missions and getting to know them better, for her to start trusting with them with her mechanical self. But now a few years later, she feels comfortable enough with most of them to give her a helping hand when needed!

Of course not everyone are capable of helping her though: Danny, Kim and Zak are three of more mechanically oriented people who can help. Though Danny is the one with actual education in that field, while Kim and Zak learned more by necessity, from Kim's various jobs and Zak to operate the Saturday's equipments.

When Rex joined them, he actually became the second best person for her to come to if she needed help. Not only because he has unprecedent skills in mechanics, but also because of his nanites. (but thats info dump for another time, lol)

Jun has some basic knowledge in mechanics, but nowhere near enough for her to feel comfortable poking in Jenny's insides. Jake is perhaps the least capable of helping, when it comes to engineering, followed by newbie Randy (tho we really aint counting him tbh xD).

Ben is a complicated situation - he has some training and knowledge in engineering and robotics because of his Plumber training, but Jenny has heard horror tales from Gwen about how he treats his stuff (the whole hacking/playing with Omnitrix settings), so she flat out refuses for Ben to touch her. However in emergency/battle situation she would allow Ben to use one of his aliens to do so (like, Grey Matter or Upgrade).

So, we talked about Jenny's experiences and why they would contribute to her feeling uncomfortable if someone asked to 'tinker' with her.

Now, let's talk about why Danny would not ask to 'tinker' with her in the first place.

Like you said, Danny is all to familiar with the struggle of being part of something tat is hardly recognized as a sentient species - he had to listen to his parents dismiss ghost sentience most of his younger life. Of course, they have gotten much better since the... 'finale' of DP, but this sort of racism? xenophobia? (im not rally sure which term to use tbh) prejudice against ghosts would have left a lasting impression on Danny.

So I dont remember if I ever implied it, but in HoM AU - events of DP finale happened very differently and the resulting consequences of it diverged a lot from Mr ButtHurtman's 'canon'.

(Also, I had ideas about it, before a Glitch In Time came out, so events from there were not taken into consideration. )

I don't want to reveal much, because it is kinda one of my planned flashback for HoM, but the events that happened reinforced Danny's ... well lets say regard of people's autonomy? It's kind of hard to put into words.

Ok, let's explain it like this: Danny would not ask Jenny if he could look at how she worked and if he could tinker with her, because it would be like if his Mom and Dad casually asked if they could perform a vivisection on him to see how different he is from a full human.

And while sure, the comparison might sound a bit extreme, since there is a difference when it comes to robots and humans about 'poking around' in their innards. But to Danny - it would be too close of a comparison - because of the whole 'recognition of sentience' thing.

After all, wasn't it just some years ago, his parents cried that ghost are nothing more than lump of malicious energy that have no feelings? They changed their mind after Danny's reveal, which allowed them to actually listen and look into evidence proving otherwise and learn. And here is Jenny, struggling to be recognized as a person, since she is considered nothing more than a lump of metal with no feelings - just a weapon to be pointed in a certain direction.

And Danny would feel like asking Jenny if he could casually poke inside her, is a bit... hypocritical? And not to mention insenstitive. After all, he knows how she feels - she is basically still living his worst imagined life in some ways.

So, I don't think he will ever ask to study how she works by casually poking inside her.

HOWEVER -

At some point, after they became friends, Danny would feel like he should know at least some basics on how Jenny works, just so he could help her in an emergency.

I imagine it happened after a particularly rough mission, and Danny had to help Jenny back home since she was unable to do so herself, so Dr. Wakeman could fix her. After some time thinking, he would sit in front of both Nora and Jenny and ask them for permission if he could learn how Jenny works - from Nora.

After all, Danny does not need to poke inside Jenny to learn how she functions, when there is her mother right there - the creator, the maintanance and doctor all in one package, with access to blueprints and all intricate knowledge, who can evaluate what Danny needs to know in accordance to his passable engineering skills. She could teach him the basics - but of course not without Jenny's permission.

So he asks her, if he could learn, because he is tired of looking how she gets hurt along with them, but unlike most of them she can not be easily fixed with bandages and some time. And Danny, since he is one of the few of them who has the skills, would like to be actually able to help her with those skills. But it is her body - it is her choice, to trust him or not.

And Jenny would be speechless. It would be the first time someone asked her like that. Not even Kim, who is one of her closest friends, asked before (but mostly because Kim was perfectly aware that she is nowhere skilled enough to even think about it).

And you would be right. It would be a show of ultimate trust from Jenny, to agree for Danny to learn. And maybe at some point, simply learning, turned into more on hands learning in some small ways. And Jenny's trust was never betrayed, and Danny always stayed humbled and aware of that.

so, i hope the answer was satisfying, or at least entertaining for you! thank you again, your ask was delightful to read and allowed me to explore some of my own backstory parts for HoM a little bit more!

[brucewaynehater101]

Oh my god, I love that so much. Tim's heart beat was only for Kon, so when Kon went away so did his heart beat. It's still gone because Tim hasn't even come *close* to recovering from Kon and Bart and Steph's deaths, even if all three of them are back they still deeply effect him. Also Tim being the heart of the team so so <3 to me.

Tim 100% will use this incident against not just Bruce, but the entire family. Dick suggests he cuts back on the caffeine and Tim replies, "the only time I do is when I'm Relaxing on a trip and last time I went on a trip you nearly killed Ivy because you were to stressed to think straight." and when Jason comments he should take a rest, Tim says, "I only rest on trains but last time I got on one, you nearly made another duffel bag of heads."

Turning back time a bit though, can you imagine when they get to the train car that Tim is on, expecting it to be some grand show down with all of them in costume? And then they hear... music? coming from the train car that the tracker says Tim is in?? They all swing into the car while Tim's back is to them, yelling along to Shakira and when he turns around it's literally, "WHENEVER, WHEREVER, WE'RE MEANT TO- AAAAAAAAA" And he jumps a solid foot in the air while chucking his MP3 at the closest Bat, Bruce, and hitting them square in the forehead with it. Tim is death glaring them as he says, "what the fuck are you doing here, I'm on vacation. I'll be home tomorrow, what the *fuck* is so important that you tracked me down on my day off???"

Yes! Exactly. There's so much angst to be explored with Tim's missing heartbeat, how that reflects his current mindset/relationships with people, and how that affects Kon. I like to hc that Kon listens to various YJ members' heartbeats as a calming measure and reassurance. His inability to hear Tim's causes him stress and heartbreak (your choice on whether that's platonic or not).

Tim is a chaos gremlin who uses guilt tripping (in lighthearted measures) with a vicious lack of mercy. It only works half the time on his family members anyways and is a healthier form of airing out grievances (than trying to attack anyone).

Tim most definitely is swaying and dancing to the music when the Bats find him. He refuses to be embarrassed by this. If they want to make fun of him for dancing and singing alone on a train, they can suck it.

Tim: "What the fuck is so important that you tracked me down on my day off??? The world better be ending."

Bruce: "Tim... you weren't answering your phone and no one knew where you were."

Tim: "I'm on my vacation like always? You know this!"

Bruce: "No. No we didn't."

Tim: ".... Is this another case of me assuming you know about something that's been happening for years?"

Bruce: *nods with pursed lips*

Tim: *sighs heavily*

Jason: "Wait.... your vacation is riding cargo carts for days?"

Tim: *points a finger at Jason* "I don't want to hear judgment from you, Mr. Red Helmet."

Also, the reveal of them finding out why he developed this de-stress mechanism is going to be great. Just Tim refusing to make eye contact as he tries to nonchalantly explain being abandoned in another state/city and having to make his way home before he was even a teenager. Then he turned this very messed up form of neglect into a semi healthy form of decompression due to the same incident happening more than once to Tim.

The Bats obvious go fucking ballistic

[tizeline]

I’ve never seen a separated au with Leo being raised by big mama, what do you think that would be like? (Since he’s kinda rebellious)

For the record, there are AUs where Leo's been raised by Big Mama, the ones I know of are Gemini AU by tangledinink and True Colors AU by v-albion. I'm not super familiar with either of them, but they're there if you wanna check them out.

That being said-

LEO being raised by BIG MAMA omg I have THOUGHTS

Listen, I don't see enough people compare Leo to Big Mama, but he's quite similar to her. Splinter and BM never got a kid together, BUT IF THEY DID that kid would literally be Leo he's basically just a fusion of the two of them!!

As I've mentioned several times before because I love bringing it up, Leo is strategic, quick-witted, observant and good at talking. In the show (as well as in my own AU) Leo's strengths aren't really recognized, let alone aknowledged for a big portion of the story. Because of that, for a long time he doesn't really get the chance to develop these skills, as much potential Leo has to become a master planner his impulsiveness and inexperience has a tendency to get him into trouble.

BUT! All of these skills also happen to be skills that Big Mama has and would value in Leo. So if he were to actually have to opportunity to not only be raised by BM but also trained by her for his entire life. If he got to properly learn strategy, planning, manipulation...?

... Holy shit Leo would be terrifying.

Think about it, canon!Leo managed to out-smart BM in Many Unhappy Returns without any real experience, just imagine what he could do with a whole life-time of training.... yikes!

Not sure what exactly Big Mama and Leo's relationship would look like. In my opinion she would view him as her son and love him dearly, especially if she knew that he's Splinter's biological son.... it's just that BM has interesting ways of showing affection. ("The love of my life just proposed to me?? Great! I'm gonna lock him up in my gladiator fighting ring for the rest of eternity!") She'd at the very least be quite controlling, I imagine.

As you pointed out, Leo can be quite rebellious, so that mixed with Big Mama's obsessive need to be in complete control of everyone around her would certainly cause some tension. Actually... considering how clever Leo would be in this AU... uh oh.

All of these qualities that BM initially appreciated and encouraged in Leo, what if, as Leo became more and more capable, Big Mama started to eventually view them in a more negative light? If she feels like she's loosing control over Leo, if she interprets Leo's rebellion as not just a normal teenage need for independence but rather him malicously working against her. What if she starts viewing him not as an asset or as a tool, but rather a threat?

If BM has reason to believe that Leo might try to overthrow her and take control over her criminal empire, she might take preemptive action and get rid of him before he has the chance to get rid of her.... Not like murder-get-rid-of, I don't think she'd just kill him, lol! But like lock him up, maybe throw him into the Battle Nexus, I dunno. Anything that would allow her to remain in control of both him and her business.

As for Leo, maybe he would actually try to overthrow BM. Considering he was raised by a literal mafia boss, his moral compass is gonna be a bit wack. Maybe Leo's desire for control over himself would cause him to try to seize control over his mother's business. Oooooorrrrr maybe Leo just wants some independance but doesn't actually want to compete with BM, so when she interprets his actions and behavior as malicious he's not prepared for that at all and, as a result, is more than a little hurt that his own mother would take such extreme actions against him. Who knows?

Hhhhhhh there's a lot of fun posibilities here but MAN I'm not really in the mood to work on an entirely new AU. Maybe I'll create some art for it I dunno, this concept is really fun, but I'm not gonna turn this into a proper Thing, so if anyone else wanna steal this concept and explore it for themselves, feel more than free to do that!

[auclairedetoru]

Alrightyy, hii :3

May I request Levi with a reader who basically grew up around him? Like they were a child when Erwin found them and basically dropped them to Levi's care when he was busy. They have no home or parents and they have been a subject of experiments because of an ability connected to their blood (in my story it's healing but can be anything)

Reader is a 17 yro Survey Corp member but higher up than Eren and the other cadets since they started earlier.

(I'm very sorry if this is way too specific, I'm lowkey just requesting this for oc story purposes <33)

So sorry this is late, life happens lol 😭

tried my best to interpret it as close to your vision as possible. I've never written a reader/oc with powerful abilities, but it was fun to imagine it all and put it into words. I hope you like it 🤍

WARNING!! Spoilers to Levi's story in the OVA.

Levi never thought he'd take someone under his wing after what happened to Furlan and Isabel. He might not have expressed it but constantly losing people he cares about hurts him a lot, that's why he refuses to form any kind of relationship with anyone, too afraid they'll end up dead as well.

But now thanks to Erwin he's stuck with this grumpy kid who is in a very rough shape and whose frown gets deeper every time he looks at them. He was told that they had some sort of powers and that he's the perfect candidate for training them. Levi scoffed when he heard that but eventually agreed to do it.

He was instructed to take them into a random office and get them to talk about what happened to them wherever Erwin found them and then explain what the plan for them is. Time is very precious to Levi though and he has a lot of work he still hasn't finished so he's hoping he'll be done with them in a matter of minutes and send them on their way.

“What's your name again?”

Yeah, he remembers their name, it was the first thing Erwin told him about them, but he had to get them to talk somehow.

They glare at him and look away, their arms tightly crossed across their chest to show that they do not like being here and whatever it is he has planned. Levi sighs with a roll of his eyes. He doesn't like to deal with adults, let alone a kid who probably just became a teen and is starting to develop that shitty teenagers attitude.

“The longer you take to answer the longer you have to sit in this room with me and we both don't want that. So I'll ask again, what's your name?”

That got them to answer him with a mumble of their name. It's nothing major, but it's a step closer to making progress with them and ending this meeting quickly. Levi's not liking being stuck in this situation either and he wants to get it over and done with as fast as possible. He can already feel a headache creeping up on him at the thought of the mountain of paperwork waiting for him in his office. He could've gone through half of them by now.

“Where did you come from?”

“I don't know,” they shrug their shoulders, still refusing to look at him. He raises an eyebrow, where on earth did Erwin find this one? In the underground again? He hopes not. He doesn't want a constant reminder of that god awfully place.

“What do you mean you don't know?”

The kid huffs in frustration, “All I remember is being in the lab, is this what you wanted to know? Can I go now?”

A lab? What lab? He looks down at the paper Erwin gave him with information about them. It only mentions their name, age, physical description, and possible history. There's no mention of a lab or anything similar.

“What were you doing in the lab?”

They scoff and roll their eyes, “I don't know, they wanted to extract my healing abilities or something like that. I might not know how to read and write, but I do know that it's not possible. They wouldn't listen to me, though.”

Levi quickly writes down everything they said to report it back to Erwin, he has a feeling this has nothing to do with the underground, but a more bigger problem.

“what do your healing abilities do exactly?”

“I don't want to talk about it.”

“Guess we'll be spending the night here, then.”

Levi doesn't spare them a glance as they throw their head back and groan. He's starting to understand why Erwin brought them here instead of taking them anywhere else. The survey corps could benefit greatly from their abilities, especially during expeditions. Training them will be the hard part, they're very stubborn, but he already has a plan on how to tackle that.

“my blood can heal injuries quickly, the worse the wound is the more blood is needed, but more like a few drops, not a lot. Those greedy bastards at the labs forgot I needed it to survive and got mad when I got sick from them extracting from me every single day without feeding me properly.” the kid scoffs as they remember those stupid blurry faces of the "doctors" yelling at them for passing out. It's not like they could control how their body reacted to literal torture.

“Humans can be very shitty,” Levi mumbles and looks back up at them after he finishes writing down all that they said, “that's why your first training lessons will be in hand to hand combat, you'll also be attending classes to learn how to write and read.”

Their face morphs into a shocked expression, their eyes following him frantically as he stands up and collects his papers, “what? No! I don't want to do all that, I want to leave!”

Levi stares down at them, his expression neutral yet intimidating making them gulp slightly, “you have two choices, either wake up bright and early tomorrow to start your training, or leave and try to fend for yourself, however don't expect those shitty doctors not to find you again.”

Safe to say those last words scared them more than he intended because they immediately get up and follow him wherever he's planning on taking them, as long as they don't go back to those scary experiments and tests.

A couple of years later...

“Captain! There you are!”

Levi turns slightly to look at the smiling 17 year old. A lot of changes have happened in the last few years. Y/n is now a different person than the one he first met. They're a lot more relaxed, a lot more happy. They tell him that it's because of their "very awesome and strong captain" but Levi thinks it's their determination to change that got them to where they are now.

“you're done with training for the day?” he asks them as they walk side by side.

“yep!”, they nod their head, “but Hange told me they need me for the experiments they're gonna do with Eren later today, just in case something goes wrong.”

Levi nods and looks ahead, “make sure four eyes doesn't go crazy with the experiments, the more they go overboard the more they'll use your blood and their stupid brain won't remind them that you're not a never ending fountain of healing.”

The young soldier nods, “will do. Plus, I need to take care of myself for the expedition next month, a lot of people rely on me during those.”

There's a moment of silence between them as they walk inside the building. Their relationship has developed into one where they could both stay silent for hours without it getting awkward or uncomfortable, and they both quite like that. Y/n did turn out to be the talkative type, like they're making up for the years they were practically mute, but they mostly rambled with the other soldiers they befriended, with him however, just his presence made them happy.

“Captain ?”

Levi hums to let them know he's listening.

“If Furlan and Isabel were still... Alive, would I get along with them?”

He pauses and looks over at them. He only talked about those two once, and it happened years ago to help them open up and continue training. He didn't think they'd still remember that talk or ask him about them.

“Maybe with Isabel. You're both a pain in my ass and love animals.”

Y/n nods and continues walking. They want to know more about Levi's past, about his life in the underground, about how he got to his position as a captain at the survey corps. They want to ask the people who knew him before them but at the same time they want to hear it coming from the source itself.

He is actually a huge inspiration for them and they look up to him a lot. He is very skillful and smart and they hoped to become like him one day, maybe not humanity's strongest soldier, but something close to that. Levi isn't just a mentor to them, but something much closer. According to their friends who have families, older brothers protect their younger siblings and teach them how to defend themselves, and that's exactly what the captain does to them, so in their heart he is their older brother.

Y/n bites the bottom of their lips as they look over at him nervously. Levi can sense their stare and he can tell they want to ask something else but are too nervous to do so. He sighs as the slowly approaches his office, “spill it out already, brat.”

“I didn't say anything!”

“But I know you want to say something,” he glances at them from the corner of his eyes, “so hurry up, my time is precious.”

Y/n looks down at their shoes to avoid looking at his intimidating eyes, what they're about to request is something very simple, but they're afraid he'd say no.

“...can I nap in your office?”

Levi scoffs. This habit started years ago and it's one of the things that made him gain their trust. They would nap on the uncomfortable sofa he has in his office while he gets work done. He should've never let them do it in the first place but it all happened by accident and now it became a regular occurrence. He planned on stopping it as soon as it started but then Erwin told him to do it and suddenly he didn't feel like doing it anymore.

He has that in common with y/n, being told to do something they were already planning on doing makes them not want to do it anymore. Now that he thinks about it, Hange and Erwin have mentioned on several occasions that spending so much time with him has turned y/n into a mini version of him. Apparently they have the same stare, same speech, same techniques, they even drink tea the same way he does. He never paid attention to those details, but maybe they were right.

“will that get you to leave me alone and not talk my head off?”

Seeing how they excitedly nodded, Levi sighs and opens the door to let them in. They run straight to the sofa where a pillow and blanket are already waiting for them, just like last time, and the time before that.

He would never admit this, not even to himself, but if you look deep down in his heart, you'd find y/n sleeping on a much more comfortable sofa, in a place where they're protected from any harm, whether it's humans or titans. He cares about them at a level he never felt before. Is this how it feels to care about family? Maybe. He never cared about Kenny like this, but it feels close to how he feels about his mother.

Sometimes he likes to imagine what life would be like if titans didn't exist and he never experienced any traumatic events that turned him into the person he is today. It's not always the same thing, but in every version, y/n is standing next to him, being the annoying brat they are, and he couldn't have them any other way.

Levi doesn't believe in religion, yet each day he prays and hopes that nothing will harm them or take them away from him as it has with others he once cared about. Losing them would be his last straw, it would be the last stab to his heart that kills him.

He looks over at their sleeping form from his seat behind his desk, and in that moment he promises to protect them with all his might, even if it hurts others in the process.

[sassydefendorflower]

Okay. It's been a hot second since I watched FMA and I've been meaning to revisit. BUT. Something that always got to me, watching it, was Ed and Al's youth and their relationship to the military and power? Does that... that might be too vague. But is that something you can work with?

Ohhhhhh, that is SUCH a juicy topic and I probably can't even begin to touch up on all of it... but let's get started, shall we?

Sometimes that I always deeply loved (and found horribly frustrating) is how convincing Ed and Al are written as teenagers. Genius teenagers, maybe, but teenagers nonetheless. We see this wonderfully in the very first episode of the anime, when Isaac McDougal (what a delightful name) tells them that there's something wrong with the country, that the military is involved in that, and Ed literally tells him "I don't care. You have a philosopher's stone, right?".

Like.

WOW.

Plot of the whole show could be over right then and there if Ed had only stopped to listen. But, of course, that's not what a teenager would do, especially one so guiltridden he can only see his incredibly selfish goal right in front of him.

We are at the beginning of the story, after all, and there needs to be some room for character development.

But Ed and Al never quite lose that selfish, teenage viewpoint even as they grow (Ed comparing the bombing of Resembool with the genocide of Ishval to Major Miles' face, Ed throwing a hissy fit when they join forces with Scar even though Winry has made peace with it, Al sounding all of five years old when he repeats "Hughes moved to the countryside" like a child whose favorite animal just "ran away") but they do grow. Considerably.

They were always good kids. They always had an inane sense of fairness. But by the end of it, that sense of fairness has grown beyond them and their immediate surroundings. They can see farther than just themselves and Winry and the handful of people they call friends.

By the end of if their good deeds changed enough in the hearts of the Amestrian people to allow a certain degree of unity.

But how does that relate to power and the military?

Now, you see, Amestris is presented to us as a military state and we quite often get the sense that the military is the most common career path available to most of the country. At least if you want to eat. Somehow the Amestrian military has to feed all these endless wars after all, and that only happens if people join up voluntarily.

And it only happens if the benefits are good enough.

Which is exactly how Roy gets them. He dangles hope in front of their small, traumatized faces and makes it quite clear that the military is the only way to get what they want.

They need research materials, power, and the oversight of the state. They get all that by Ed joining up with the State Alchemists programme. As a civilian, all of that would be restricted and inaccessible to him.

But -- even in the beginning -- Ed never really identifies with his identity as a Dog of the Military beyond his title. He, in odds to all other State Alchemists, is known as Hero of the People, because while the rest of the Amestrian military exploits and the State Alchemists break with their promise of "be thou for the people" Ed and Al do give back. They do help. They do free towns from corrupt military officials, they do fight terrorists on trains, they do fix a street vendor's broken radio.

Ed is uncomfortable with the power he theoretically holds. When Maria Ross and Danny Brosh call him "sir" and use his official rank, Ed asks them to just call him Ed, saying that he's nothing special. We never once see him lever his status as "major" over any of the lower ranking officers. Later, we see him desert with no regards to his future career, and by the end we know he quit because the military was only ever a means to an end. And he reached that end. He reached his goal.

Ed never shows respect for authority figures (but he does salute Hughes once, so he must have had some formal training on how to behave), he doesn't claim the power he is theoretically owed beyond the independence it allows him, he has no invested interest in the politics of it all (even though he is aware of them), and he actively fights the corruption within the military when personally affected by it (even if he is way too selfish in the beginning to see the bigger question).

And both he and Al hate killing. They seem to accept it as a part of a soldier's job -- their problem isn't death, I don't think, considering how unbothered they are by dead bodies throughout the show - but the act itself is so abhorrent to them, that they try to stop even tangentially related murder plots simply because they want no part in it. It is naive -- the show tells us so. Many of its characters tell us so.

But.

But it is also a reclamation of Ed's agency. And it is hope for the future. Because Ed knows that he has become a Dog of the Military, he knows -- on some level -- that he's just sold his soul to a monster far bigger than him, but he will keep this one part of his innocence for himself. He will not kill in the name of the Amestrian government.

And you know what? Riza Hawkeye is impressed with him for that. Because she pulled the trigger when ordered to, and Ed is her hope for the future. Because he is the next generation. And he refuses to do what she once did.

(I think it is interesting to investigate under which circumstances Ed would kill and how that would influence his character and what would be the consequences of that, but for the sake of the show itself, I think it is a wonderful visualization of the world healing beyond what Riza and Roy and Armstrong and Marcoh and Kimblee did to it)

Now, how does that all tie together?

Well, I think it is Ed's youth that allows him to disregard much of the military's power over his life, and it is his stubborn teenage-ness that allows both him and Al to hold so steadfast to their ideals, be that the selfish goal of self-realization or the refusal to kill. Not once does either character strive for power, and even at the end of the series, once they're all grown up, we see them long for a simple life. For interesting travels, good food, family, and a future worth living.

The military is a tool, for Ed and Al - because the military state ensured that they would have to use it.

It is interesting, really, because Roy joined up because he believed the propaganda, and once he recruits the Elrics he's been firmly broken by that belief -- and the Elrics join up even though they distrust the military (the Rockbells seem firmly anti-military all things considered) simply because it offers the resources they need.

If Ed was any other protagonist this would be a very different story, because they handed a twelve-year old a whole lot of power and a pretty high-up rank and the worst he did was blow up a few buildings and buy ugly clothes.

This is probably not at all what you expected, but... well, you successfully activated my rambling button! AND MANY THANKS FOR THAT!!! <3 <3 <3

[piosplayhouse]

Binghe's cutie mark in MLP aus is an interesting thing to contemplate because it feels obvious to just give him the demon mark, but there's quite a bit of debate regarding what exactly the cutie mark is supposed to represent and why/when ponies earn it. I'm personally inclined to the interpretation that cutie marks are earned not when a pony discovers their talent, but instead when they discover who they are (the example that rlly hits this for me is how Rarity, despite having diamonds as her mark, earns her mark not when she finds gemstones, but instead after she uses those stones to design costumes for her school play, an act which shows her creativity and generosity). So there's a few routes you can take with Binghe depending on what you want to emphasize:

A. He earns his mark with his adoptive mother and enters qjp with it. This could work as he is his truest self with her-- filial and innocent, but I personally feel him entering qjp as a blank flank would make more sense as it further emphasizes his vulnerability to bullying and ostracization from the other disciples

B. He earns his mark on Qing Jing Peak. I assume most disciples earn their marks at this point, and binghe could very well follow that pattern. I think this is much more likely for bingmei for obvious reasons, but if bingmei develops a cutie mark before bingge was supposed to that might tip sqq off that he really fucked the story up earlier than someone might want for world building reasons.

C. He earns his mark at the Abyss OR his mark changes at the Abyss. This is the most angsty for obvious reasons, on both a meta narrative level and on a character development level as this would suggest to Binghe that his "true self" is being a dangerous heavenly demon and that he can never return to being an innocent disciple. Of course, we could also get into the weeds here with if the heavenly demon equivalent to ponies are creatures with no cutie marks and therefore him being a hybrid means that he has unusual cutie mark expression under the influence of heavy demonic energy. If bingge made it this long as a blank flank I expect him earning the demon mark would be the natural outcome at this point in the story, or even within the abyss. Alternatively:

D. Bingge was intended to be markless for the entirety of PIDW. This slots in as an equivalent to the "bingge was never supposed to find true love" element of his character, going further to hit on the implication that the original Binghe is a deeply hollow person who doesn't truly know who he is despite appearances (I imagine he would keep his flank covered, or even use magic to disguise it as a demon mark cutie mark). Obviously this would not happen to bingmei which brings us to the alternative for him:

D.2. Bingmei earns his cutie mark sometime during the falling arc/postcanon after getting together with sqq. This makes sense in that this is really when Bingmei is fully free to be his true self with no inhibitions, but it could be argued that he had his life figured out as a teenager (see B) and got lost along the way, which wouldn't have much of an impact on his mark as we see various canon villains go through redemption arcs where their marks don't change. Of course, though, this would open the way for his mark to be something much more romantic, like a lotus blooming on a fan or something. So this could be a cute route that would provide a nice, if a bit less dramatic, end to his journey.

[scoobydoodean]

Honestly I think that a lot of the reason why people view dean as abusive towards jack is because they genuinely think of him as a baby/toddler and not someone with the cognitive abilities of an older teenager/young adult who just happens to not really know much about the world. Obviously there's more to it because people ignore that cas wanted to put jack in the cage and sam wanted to use his power, but I stumbled across a post the other day about how they (the writers and the characters) should've given jack a capri-sun instead of a beer because he's a "literal toddler"... which is just completely incorrect and considering he has the body and brain development of someone who's older, there's no reason to not give him a beer. (also is anyone really a dad unless they give their 3 yr old a beer /j)

Context

It's funny because the whole point of the beer scene is to establish that Jack is not a child and that treating him like one would be ridiculous.

[DEAN grabs and opens a bottle of beer. JACK imitates him.] DEAN Wait, wait, wait, wait. How old do you think you are? JACK 3 days, 17 hours, and 42 minutes.

(From 13.02)

When Jack proves that he has such an advanced understanding of communication and time and such an unusual awareness of exactly how much time has passed, Dean immediately realizes that treating him as if he's a baby makes absolutely no sense because he clearly isn't one. Treating him like a child would be infantilizing, and we see Jack rebel against the notion that he's a baby a few times.

There's some push I think to separate Jack's intellectual abilities from his emotional coping abilities, but even these I think are more or less on track with other young adolescents around the age he presents himself to be when controlling for traumatic experiences. Jack's initial emotional regulation abilities don't read like those of a toddler, but of a young adult who's confused and upset and has been through a lot. Without powers in the mix that he doesn't know how to control, his emotional regulation abilities seem fairly standard for boys his age (at least to me). I don't think for example, that the anger he experiences and the reasons he experiences that anger can be equated with toddler-like tantrums, and any other person whose been around a toddler and sees what kind of things make them furious knows what I mean.

Granted, there are things Jack is naive about that are probably connected to him being "born yesterday". We see this early on when Asmodeus tries to manipulate Jack into opening a hell gate. At the same time, this interaction also highlights Jack's innate sense of right and wrong as a counterbalance. I personally find it frustrating when people try to take away Jack's understanding of right and wrong (rooted in his love for others) and cast him as a baby to the extent that he isn't even capable of understanding the golden rule, when Jack shows over and over how seriously he takes the personhood of other people and the weight of their lives. This is what allows him to see through Asmodeus's trickery in a very confusing situation, simply realizing, "you're hurting my friends". Jack using his care for others as a foundation to navigate Asmoedus's trickery also serves as excellent contrast to soulless Jack in 14.19. Soulless Jack was not able to grasp that Dumah was manipulating him because he was missing this crucial piece of himself—his love for other people including strangers. Because he was lacking that part of himself at that time, he was unable to grasp that filling someone's body with worms for not wanting to be turned into an angel is horrible and cruel and couldn't be a good thing. His naivety played a role in what happened, but it was the crucial missing soul that actually allowed this situation to transpire. I think a lot of people just straight up think normal Jack also would have been manipulated into killing people for Dumah in this circumstance and I really just don't think that's true at all.

[bluektw]

CK S6 Part 1 Spoilers

I'M SO FUCKING PISSED.

ok, Keenry is still the best couple? Yes

But it was so out of character for him not go console her, like I'm sorry I would care more about my girlfriend than getting a headband. Other than that, he and Tory have probably the best set ups in this part.

I'm really pissed at Robby, but I do think that in part 2 maybe their promise will come back up, and they might support each other even in different dojos (Hard to believe, but it would be the best outcome) I also hope we finally see him going after Tory this time, S5 was only her pining, now is his turn

Tory Nichols they could never make hate you. You wanna fight in CK? go queen. I get why she's doing it, it's not healthy, will probably end bad for her again, but I do hope her going back has SOME payoff, please don't let her go back just to lose to Sam again. I'm thinking either her or Robby will be injured in the tournament, and I have seen theories she will jump back to MF but I don't know (and now I'm pretty sure Sam will win, and honestly I'll just have to make my peace with that).

Btw that flashback she had? ALL PAIN. I was crying. Also really sad no Brandon and that the first time we saw her mom she was dead. Can't she get a break? Like we know she's not the writers favorite, but come on?? You really gave her ALL a teenager shouldn't have to deal with in one episode.

Now hm... Why is Kwon so interesting? Can I have more of him? Why is he so angry with the world? is his family shitty? What happened for him to become like this? I need answers. (Manifesting him and Tory developing an ACTUAL friendship, I don't usually win but I hope I get this) (Also, three fucking revolutions in that move. THREE. How exactly is he going to lose? I don't know, but if the world didn't revolve around Miyagi Fang, my bets were on him to win)

Kreese... Holy fuck you know? Like wow, hallucination 10/10 loved that scene. And sure, it is for selfish reasons, but I still love that he felt something was missing without Tory. (Love this fucked up dynamic so fucking much)

How could they possibly make Chozen boring after episode 1? Why didn't we have more of him training students? One on one? I FUCKING WANTED HIM AND TORY TO HAVE A BOND.

Honestly Daniel, Johnny they could never make me like you, but not at least I'm more indifferent than disliking altogether. (I like Johnny a bit more than Daniel, not sure why)

Devon... Devon... I get why she did it, but come on? I really wanted Kenny to go. Also, the less Anthony in my screen the better, just let Kenny and Devon being friends and I'm good.

Sam and Miguel I have NEVER been more indifferent to your characters, arcs and whatever. How could they make them SO boring? I was almost skipping their scenes.

edit: Forgot to mention I did enjoy Sam and Tory dynamic an how they got over their shit, but now all is back to hell thank you Kreese.

[dutchdread]

what do you think about Cait siths fortune about cloud losing what he cherishes the most

Don't have a strong opinion on it to be honest, because the thing with predictions in stories is that they're never straight forward. They're intentionally made vague to the point that often they can mean whatever you want it to mean. It's an old magicians trick in the real world as well, predict something vaguely meaningful and if a person wants to believe it they'll find a way to apply it to them. Obviously Cait Sith can't actually tell the future, and we know from the OG at least that his predictions are just shit in general. He predicts a bright future between Aerith and Cloud, and well....we know how that turns out. In the past I've conjectured that this particular prediction may have been a hold-out from earlier drafts of the story, that stuff happened all the time back in the day. Game development was a lot less formalized back then. So I was curious whether it would show up in Rebirth, but it did. Could just be because they're being pretty accurate when it comes to trivial things, could be because the predictions actually matter, I couldn't tell you. My gut instinct is that yes, it means something, because developers tend to not put in predictions, even fake ones, without them having SOME meaning. But as for what that meaning is? Your guess is as good as anyone elses. Could be that the predictions are aimed at the player rather than Cloud. Could be that the predictions are intentionally bad, seeing as they also say Clouds lucky color is "black" which with Sephiroth and the Black materia doesn't feel that lucky to me (unless it refers to Tifa or something? Like I said, they can mean anything). I've also heard theories that it refers to Clouds sanity or fake persona, "himself" in short. And I've hear interpretations that it refers to Tifas faith in him, that one seems pretty possible since that's the thing that eventually breaks him, and has been stated by him to be the only thing that matters as well as the reason he started this entire journey. The obvious interpretation Cleriths will want you to take is of course that it is about him losing Aerith, but I'd say that seems unlikely for 2 reasons. 1: The idea of Aerith being what he cherishes most is absurd even IF he did have romantic feelings for her by that time. He's known her for all of a week and has spend most of that time being annoyed with her, in stark contrast to Tifa, meaning this would be the most ill-written teenage rom-com overdramatized ass pull ever. But more importantly 2: That seems exactly like the sort of thing that is so straightforward that it's unlikely to be the "real" explanation. But ultimately there is one thing that supersedes all of this. One thing that makes any specific interpretation of this prediction null and void.

Sephiroth: Tell me what you cherish most. Give me the pleasure of taking it away. Cloud: "I pity you, you just don't get it at all. THERE'S NOTHING I DON'T CHERISH!

~ Cloud in AC. This line feels like it was made on purpose to counter and reject all these attempts at ranking the things that Cloud holds dear. Doing so is literally the path of Sephiroth, and it's something I see Cleriths doing ALL THE TIME. Asking what Cloud cherishes is the wrong question. He cherishes everything. Based on this, the only "most cherished thing" he can lose....is everything.

[pedrosprincesa]

Songbird

pairings: joel miller x afab!reader

a/n: honestly i just wanted a bit of fluffy and soft joel. maybe old man miller that's surprised to see that you know older music, given your age. they stay in jackson, wyoming because they never should've left. joel is just getting accustomed, but he is happy just to be with his brother 🫡 let me get a little bit of happy and lovey joel.

warnings: major fluff, the breakdown of tough guy miller, age gap (reader is in her twenties, joel is 56 obvi), not proofread and im dyslexic and this is the first thing ive ever wrote for the fanfic community.

word count: 1635

As much as Ellie was a hard ass kid, she still had to make sure Joel came to the junior dance in the community building. Of course you were going to come, but you would probably converse with everyone. She didn't even really want to go, but she heard Dina was possibly making an appearance. Next thing she knew she had been asking for you to give approval on her outfit. "El Belle, you look cute." You smiled and nodded your head.

You was the complete opposite of Joel. Still tough and you didn't take any shit, but when it came to Joel and Ellie, you definitely had a soft spot for them.

They picked you up at the beginning of the trip to Jackson after helping you fight off a runner she encountered on the outskirts of town.

Despite Joel's hard outside appearance, you was a young girl on her own, and what was one more at that point? Once you were cleared from infection, Joel hesitantly let you tag along.

It was a pretty good secret they kept for the first few days, but you were going to find out about Ellie's bite eventually. It was just sooner than they expected. While it did startle you at first, you realized that you had been with Ellie and Joel a few days at that point. Joel wasn't freaked out about it. If Ellie was going to turn, it would've happened already.

Immunity seemed like a joke at first. It's been twenty years and suddenly this fourteen year old comes along. You trusted them though. After all, they could've let you die.

Tagging along for the trip, even if it didn't seem like it, Joel enjoyed it. He wouldn't ever admit that though. He would rarely let a smile slip. However, it was nice having extra backup that he knew could use a gun. As much as he enjoyed Ellie, he enjoyed having an actual adult to talk to—even though you was barely an adult in his eyes. You were the female figure Ellie needed.

Needless to say, Ellie developed quite the attachment to both of you in varying ways. That's why she made Joel promise to come to the dance tonight. If things went south, she could blame something on Joel to leave early. Everyone was too afraid to question Joel.

"I don't want to look cute! I want to look cool. I want Dina to actually like me, not think I'm some dumbass." Ellie insisted, showing you quickly that you didn't have the right things to say. That was one thing about this—you were thrown into essentially raising a teenager.

"Ellie, you look fine." Joel told her and folded his arms across his chest. He had to come closer when the conversation got heated, trying to keep things level. He also knew if he got caught staring at you in the dress you were wearing, Ellie would never let him hear the end of it. But he would silently thank Maria for letting you borrow this dress all night.

"And it's all about how you approach Dina anyway. You gotta take charge, El. And we all know you can do it." you explained, trying to keep it gentle. "She's stupid if she doesn't think you're cool, honey." You let the honey slip off of your tongue. While Ellie didn't exactly say anything about it, she softened a little.

"So, I look fine?" She asked, getting both of your opinions since we were both in the doorway. It was an odd way of a family, but she was growing accustomed to it.

You and Joel nodded your heads at the same time. Joel still had the straight face but you were smiling. Ellie sighed a bit and glanced in her mirror before nodded her head. "Let's do this."

At the dance, Joel kept eyes on Ellie, occasionally you, and he was keeping an eye out for anything odd happening in the room. They were playing old music, from CDs that were miraculously saved over the years. "Old" but it was the stuff Joel grew up on. The beginning of Gypsy by Fleetwood Mac started playing and on his scan of the room, his eyes landed upon you swaying to the music. Letting loose and enjoying the rhythm of the music, the ends of your dress flowing as you moved, you just looked free. He bit back a smile and leaned against one of the brick columns.

"You know this song?" He spoke up finally. You were close enough to him to hear, because you were keeping an eye out for Ellie too. When you glanced back, you caught his smile and it only seemed to grow when he saw how you were glowing.

"Of course! I love Fleetwood Mac. I had a CD, uh," You squeezed your eyes, trying to recall the title. "The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac! I kept it after the whole... outbreak. It was the only thing left of my mom." You explained, your face falling a little bit. "I kept it in my backpack for years, until one day it finally broke. Fell or somethin'." You mentioned, shrugging off the thought. You were trying your best not to sound like that time didn't absolutely break your heart. You lost a CD that reminded you of your mother, but Joel has been through worse. "Were you a fan?" You asked him curiously.

"Saw them in concert once. They had some good stuff, but I was a Def Leppard guy." He chuckled just barely. It was easy to miss, but it was a nice sight to hear.

"Pour some sugar on me?" You asked, making sure you were connecting the right band.

"Wow, you do know your stuff." He smiled a little more, his eyes staying on you a little longer this time. Butterflies fluttered around in your stomach, and a blush rose to your cheeks. Hopefully he wouldn't notice it.

You had a thing for Joel. It was hard not to. After spending so much time with him, seeing how he was with Ellie, how he took care of you two. He was always first to stand in between you and danger. He was always ready to fight like hell.

"It's so funny to think you grew up with celebrities and stuff. Do you think any of them actually survived?" You were trying to get the topic off of you, and you watched Ellie dancing with Dina across the room.

"Eh, probably not. Don't think Mick Jagger could've handled all this." He laughed lowly and watched you more when you were looking at Ellie. "What about you?" He brought the conversation back to you. It was a nice, sweet conversation.

"I dunno. I'd like to think I'd walk into one of these places one day and see Stevie Nicks, alive and well, and a complete badass." You smirked a bit and looked up at him, catching his puppy brown eyes already looking at you. He didn't look away, boldly keeping eye contact and his lips curved into a little smile.

Don't Stop transitioned into Songbird to slow it down for the couples and he walked away from the column and towards the floor. "You know this one?" He subtly motioned you out to him, and of course you followed. There wasn't much you wouldn't do for him.

"Songbird. Christine McVie sings the primary vocals." You answered matter-of-factly as you came into him, his hand moving around your waist and yours around his neck and he held your other hand. He pulled you in a little closer, making you gasp softly. His southern gentleman came out as he danced with you.

"You really know your stuff. I'm pleasantly surprised." He half-smiled down at you. You were blushing now and weren't even going to attempt to hide it.

For you, there'll be no more crying

For you, the sun will be shining

And I feel that when I'm with you

It's alright, I know it's right

He started half humming, half singing the lyrics to you, and Joel the wannabe singer wasn't so bad.

To you, I'll give the world

To you, I'll never be cold

'Cause I feel that when I'm with you

It's alright, I know it's right

It was like a breath of fresh air, having him a little more carefree. He seemed a bit more relaxed just being in Jackson, being with his brother and knowing Tommy was safe.

And the songbirds are singing,

Like they know the score

And I love you, I love you, I love you

Like never before

You were surprised he was still singing the words even if it was more rough than the original.

And I wish you all the love in the world

But most of all, I wish it from myself

You sang a little bit of the song with him playfully, feeling him dip you just to make you giggle a little bit more.

And the songbirds keep singing

Like they know the score

And I love you, I love you, I love you

Like never before, like never before,

Like never before

He brought you up and looked down at you. Just like that, the southern gentleman charm was on high, making you fall for him even more. You were hopeless.

"So what? Are you two finally together now?" Ellie asked abruptly, and Joel pulled back out of respect for the PDA in front of her, but you couldn't help but laugh. Joel was still a bit smiley, but this side of Joel coming out again would be rare so you would take the pieces you got.

"What about you two?" You countered, motioning over to Dina with a smirk and even Ellie got a blush.

[wilcze-kudly]

I mean, Suyin also decided to not come forward about the nature of the rift to her own children. Even when they had grown up and it was relevant to the situation. She also didn't take into consideration Lin's worries about the Red Lotus, not to the magnitude that Lin was urging on.

Moreover, Lin didn't want to be in Zaofu. She explicitly tried to stay away. Was it mature? Definitely not. But it was her choice, and it was one that would have prevented any more fighting or family drama from happening in the middle of a mission to keep the frigging avatar safe.

You say that the show only portrayed Lin's POV (which is true), however the development of the episode only show it to us, not any of the characters present.

Let's say we don't see those flashbacks, then what would have we seen? Suyin's version that (what a surprise) leaves out her whole part in the conflict beyond the "we were both neglected by our mom" part.

No, she didn't try to make good to her during the episode. Not when the very root of the issue circles to the secrecy Toph forced to keep Suyin's record clean. No, she didn't placate Lin's suspicions when at the first chance she goes over Lin to aid a bunch of teenagers follow the sadistic criminal group Lin was trying to protect them from.

And finally, no, you don't get to play woe-is-me when you force someone to a situation they don't want to be in. It's really ugly, on either side of it, but I seriously feel you're leaving out the part where it was Suyin's territory, family and influence the scenario of it. She had a support network, Lin was paranoic- could anyone have expected any different?

Ok. Several misconceptions to clear up. (Because there always are whenever I post anything vaguely critical of Lin).

When I said that Su tried to make good with Lin multiple times, I was speaking predominantly about how it was said (very hard to spot when you're mainly focused on seeing Su as the devil, I know😊) that Suyin has tried to contact Lin on peaceful terms multiple times.

One thing I rarely see brought up by people when discussing Lin's rift is that Lin... might just not want to discuss her scarring with just anyone? Like for some reason people act like the decent thing of Suyin to do is to.... not respect Lin's autonomy and privacy? And if Lin blew Su off as it was impied that she did, I doubt Lin's level of comfort around talking about the scar was discussed.

The red lotus issue, and here's a controversial opinion, wouldn't seem like a big issue to most people at the time.

You must remember that while yes, the Red Lotus were incredibly hyped up by Zuko and Tonraq, but to the public they were just 4 randos who were stupid enough to try and kidnap the most well guarded 4 year old in the world. People didn't even know the organisations name, and none of the 4 ever explained why they were after Korra.

Especially that Suyin was introduced to the concept like this:

Korra: She's just a little worried because there's a bunch of crazy criminals after me.

Not exactly screaming " hey shit is hitting the fan". Which isn't helped by the fact that Lin would rather blow her brains out than have a conversation with Su where she isn't allowed to substitute the important things with backhanded insults.

Suyin did assure Lin plenty of times that Zaofu is an incredibly safe city, which it was. The only reason the Red Lotus got in is because they had a man on the inside and they still left empty hamded and with their tails between their legs. Suyin could never account for Aiwei's betrayal.

Honestly, dear, your inclusion of criticism on my posts about the episodes' storylines is weird. I was purely speaking on how the story was presented to us, the viewers.

Lin is a veey shut off character who would rather commit mass homocide than have a moment of vulnerability. Huh, I wounder why Su didn't go around spilling someone else's tragic backstory to randos. "Hey, Korra, you've proven to be just GREAT as handling sensitive issues like this, how about I give you more ammo to pull out on Lin? I'm sure that will go over amazing."

I will say that Suyin letting the Krew follow Aiwei is a dick move and a stupid thing to do. I don't think Sugin was thinking clearly, due to the immense betrayal she was feeling due to Aiwei's actions.

I will say, I think that Suyin perfering to lie to Lin rather than disagree with her outrigt is very indicative if their relationship. But since most people who talk about this pair seem to perfer the "ooga booga Su bad, Lin good" school of thought, I guess we'll never have a mature conversation about this fascinating pattern of behaviour.

I will also concede that Suyin had the "advantage" of having her support system. Being on her turf would probably be comforting, but let's not forget that Lin actively insulted/drove to tears Suyin's kids, complete innocents in this situation.

Lin: Five kids. What a nightmare. Suyin: No, no. My children are a blessing. Lin: Yeah, mom used to say that too, but she never meant it.

Can I just say how much I hate this exchange? Like giving Lin the absolute benefit of the doubt she's being a jerk and then traumadumping at the worst possible moment. Giving a little less benefit of the doubt she's implying to her niblings' faces that their mother is lting about loving them.

Lin's obsession with painting Su as a villai is a symptom of her mommy issues, but you guys just like. Took it at face value you chumps.

Like yeah Su has the advantage of having her family close but that just kinda opens up the doors for Lin to make even more teenagers feel like absolute garbage. And after all that's her super special talent.

But you know what? I would have expected different from a 50+ woman who is in charge of people's lives. Like, call me insane and a dick and insensitive, but girlie should've gotten her shit together. But Lin doesn't value herself enough to do so and that is her skill issue. She self handicaps, she stagnates, she ignores her own well-being and it bites her in the ass.

It is, once again, a fascinating set of behaviours to discuss have but Lin is this fandoms sopping wet kitten, so we don't get to talk about Lin Beifong's arrested development.

Lin isn't an angsty teen or forlorn young adult. She's a grown ass woman with a career. She can get it together. I believe in her.

[atomic--peach]

Her Grace's Handmaiden Pt 14

(Cersei Lannister x Fem Reader x Sandor Clegane: Light Smut)

(As promised, here is the link to the version of the story https://archiveofourown.org/works/48276340 It varies slightly in that it is an OC fic instead of a reader insert)

News of Lord Tyrion's kidnapping found your ear by accident. You were sure the queen had not let the information slip purposefully, letting her tongue slip in agitation.

The days after the tourney were particularly quiet, in the same way the world is quiet before a crack of lightning cuts through the sky. There was some talk of Lord Stark retracing Jon Arryn's last steps before his death, news that you relayed to Cersei casually.

"How do you know that?" The queen, leaned up from the mattress, staring at you with inquisitive eyes.

You only shrugged.

"Walls have ears, My Queen. I've learned to be a very good listener"

"What do you know?"

You adjusted on the Queen's bed. The two of you had been taking an afternoon rest, allowing the royal chambers to entomb you from the rest of the world and their prying eyes.

"I know he borrowed the book Jon Arryn had from Pycelle, I know he's been going into the city almost every day, though I don't know where exactly. And I know he had a keen interest in Jon Arryn's last words."

"His last words?" Cersei's attention was piqued. "Do you know what they were?" "The Seed Is Strong," you said slowly, watching her face for a reaction. Cersei's brow knitted together in what could have been confusion as much as it could have been concern.

"How long has this been going on?"

"Since the Tourney, I think."

It was only a few weeks after that the twins were informed their brother had been kidnapped off the King's Road by Catelyn Stark. You were stunned. What could have possibly gotten into Lady Stark that she would kidnap a man who was a guest in her home a little over a month ago?

If the Stark sisters knew anything about it, they didn't show it. Not Sansa anyway. After the drama of the tourney, Sansa started sticking closer to you. You walked through the Gods Wood in the mornings, lounged in the shaded balconies and pavilions during the heat of the afternoon, and in the evenings, Sansa seemed reluctant to part.

One day, you just couldn't help but ask. "My Lady? Not that I mind at all." you began, "But I've noticed during our visits, you have always seemed to have a question on the tip of your tongue. May I ask what it is?"

Sansa blanched as if she had been trying to keep her intentions secret.

"I-" she began, a thick blush filling her pale little face. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to pry, it's just-" The two of you settle on a stone bench in the garden, shaded by a flowering bush from the growing intensity of the sun. "I was hoping that you could help me with the prince."

"I can certainly try" you tried not to laugh, "But I think there is little I can do."

"It's just, you and Ser Clegane seem to mesh so naturally" Sansa's face looked pitifully forlorn. "And I was hoping it would be the same for Prince Joffrey and me, but ever since the King's Road it's like he can't stand to be around me." You listened sympathetically, suddenly remembering what it was like to be a love-struck teenager. "How did you do it?"

"Oh, my love" you sighed, touching Sansa's hand gently, "This is a problem that has plagued women for generations. It always seems that the one you want doesn't want anything to do with you, and the one you don't want won't get out from under your feet."

Sansa nodded at this as if you were speaking wisdom new to her ears.

"In perfect truth," you confided, "Sandor couldn't stand me when we first met."

"Really?" Sansa gawked, "But the way he looks at you!"

"A very recent development." you laughed, "When we first met, he thought I was a fool and a pest, but when we were out on the road…I don't know I just felt safe around him. Somehow I knew that if I was around him, nothing bad could happen to me."

"What changed?"

"We got married." you looked sheepish, suddenly remembering the story you were to stick to, "He asked, and it seemed to be out of the blue at the time, but afterward we just sort of settled into each other. We took care of each other."

"Did your father…" Sansa began to ask before wondering if she was stepping too far, "Did your father like him? Did he approve?"

You thought on this. you wondered what your real father would think of all this, but you never knew him so it was impossible to say.

"Every father has a hard time accepting their eldest daughter is leaving them" you finally said. "I was old enough that I think he thought I would stick around forever to take care of him. But, in the end, he knew that this was the best thing for me, so he accepted it. What else could he do, really?"

Sansa thought on this very seriously for a moment, a look that didn't fit her youthful features. She had a face for laughing and smiling, not brooding.

It was soon after your meeting in the Gods Wood that Sansa's father was attacked.

The actual story was muddied.

When in Cersei's bed, the queen insisted to her that Ned Stark attacked Jaime in a drunken rage. But, of the little you had seen of the Hand, you had not once seen him drink. All the same, you took Jaime's side. As did Sandor, though silently and more out of duty than anything else.

After the brawl, Ser Jaime fled the city and your husband could not help but joke while the two of you managed to steal a private moment in one of the Keep's many staircases.

"At least I won't have to worry about his pulling you into his lap anymore."

"Sandor!" You laughed and smacked his chest lightly, "He never actually had me on his lap, you know." "No, he just had you on his-" You reached up to cover his mouth before the next world could spill out. "Will you be quiet?" you hissed, "Father be Good, the man's not even in city limits and you're still seething in jealousy."

"Am not."

"No?" you grinned, stopping to make sure you were still alone, "I bet if I even said his name, you'd have me against this wall in a heartbeat."

Sandor paused, turning before climbing the steps back to you, getting intimately close. "Want to try it and find out?"

you bit your lip, leaning away from him before grinning mischievously. "Jai-"

The name wasn't even out of your mouth before your breath was whisked out of your lungs. Suddenly much higher than you had been, Sandor had you flush against the wall, pulling your legs around his hips so the only thing keeping you from falling was him and the brick you were pressed against.

"Sa-" "No, no, no" Sandor corrected you, glowering with a face that you couldn't resist teasing. "Say his name. I want to hear you say it one last time before I fuck it from your memory"

You hummed mockingly for a moment as if trying to remember what name you were about to say. "Let me think….you know? I've completely forgotten what we were talking about."

"Hm, is that so?" Sandor pressed, a smile playing across his lips.

"Completely forgotten, honest." you insisted with a laugh. "I have, I swear."

"How convenient for you." You lazily draped your arms over your husband's shoulders as he kissed you, pressing you to the wall firmly. One hand crept up your leg and moved to cup your ass firmly before exploring further up to your waist, then to the fullness of your breasts where it squeezed and groped. You breathed through the kiss as his thumb found your nipple and began to rub in circles through the fabric.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't pull up that pretty dress of yours and fuck you against this wall," Sandor growled and you felt yourself melt into him.

"I don't have one." You confessed with an eager smile, "Maybe you should go for it."

"Hm." He chuckled into the kiss before pulling away. "I have one."

"What?" Your heart sank as he dropped you back to the ground. "What, why?" "Because, my love." He kissed the top of your head with a knowing smile, "You don't deserve it."

"What?!"

"Have a good night, I have the night watch."

"Sandor!" You called after him, the ache he had created in your core lingering as you watched him go.

You pouted alone in the torchlight before biting your lip. It's fine, you thought, I have other options.

Cersei laughed as she and her lover fumbled through her bedroom door. You had been extra attentive all day in the hopes of an invitation and just as you hoped, Cersei's hands began to wandering around dinner time.

By dessert, Cersei had excused herself and cued you to meet her at the doors of the Royal Quarters.

"Darling." Cersei breathed between kisses. "Yes, my queen."

"Help me with this here?" Your fingers quickly worked any clasp or tie on the Queen's dress, working on muscle memory as your lips found the lioness's collarbone and peppered it with kisses.

"Good Girl" Cersei sighed, starting to work on your clothing as well.

Since Ser Jaime had left the city, something in your dynamic had changed. Cersei was now more willing to receive pleasure as opposed to only giving. She no longer tutted with disapproval when your hands instinctively went to touch her. Instead, she welcomed her lover's embrace.

Once you were both undressed, Cersei pushed you back onto the bed and watched as you spread your thighs eagerly. Cersei's clever mouth kissed up your legs, lingering at the most sensitive spots that made you jump and giggle before crawling between your legs.

You didn't remember the last time Cersei was so attentive, lavishing your cunt with careful licks and gentle thrusts of her fingers. It was so good and yet not enough.

"Please" you whimpered, bucking your hips with Cersei's hand, "harder."

But Cersei ignored you, continuing at her slow, even tempo. Once in a while, she would curl her fingers up, pressing on the rough tissue that made your mouth fall open with a moan only to return to the same steady rhythm.

You began to grow impatient, trying to speed up the pace only to be punished with a swift smack to the thigh.

"My Queen," You begged, "Please. I need more."

"So greedy." Cersei purred, not bothering to indulge your pleading. "But unfortunately for you, a little hound told me you've been very bad."

Your blood ran cold.

"I- no!" Another smack came down like lightning, leaving a handprint on the softness of your thigh.

"Now, now, now, it's not polite to lie Sweetling" Cersei curled her fingers again, playing at your g-spot only to stop as the moans began to roll from your throat.

"I'm sorry." you whimpered contritely, whining as Cercei withdrew her hand and crawled up the bed towards your face.

"I'm sure you're very sorry now, aren't you." The queen teased, rolling your breasts in her hands, "You thought you could come to me and I'd give you what he forbade. Why, I almost feel taken advantage of."

"No." Your eyes widened and you pouted so well it almost coaxed some leniency from the queen, "I'm sorry, My Queen. It was wrong of me, I know that. Please."

"So sweet, but it's not just my forgiveness you need.' Cersei reminded you, "Teasing poor Sandor after all he's done."

You sat up and whined, "I can't see him tonight, he's on night duty."

"Well then, I guess you're just going to have to wait, sweetling." Cersei snickered. "When he's forgiven you, then I will."

Frustrated with this newfound solidarity between your husband and your lover, You redressed and moved to go to your own bed. It's not like you didn't know how to take care of yourself.

Snug under the covers of the large bed, You let your hand drift between your legs. You realized you hadn't touched yourself without an audience for months, but the moves came back quite naturally.

It wasn't the same. Not as good as real sex. But it did the job quicker, and you found that after 3 or 4 rounds you was quite content.

"Ha" You taunted out into the darkness, knowing that neither of them could hear you. "We'll see who outlasts who."

With that, you rolled slightly onto your husband's side, which carried his comfortable scent of smoke and leather and lulled you into sleep.

[mobumi]

I have to admit that I'm kinda disappointed in Bucchigiri so far, but at the same time I want to see more 'cause the setting and the designs are really cool. Even the story could be interesting if it's done right. I've seen all the discourse with Arajin and as much as I love my boy Matakara I've realized something.

Matakara and Arajin are actually very similar but Matakara is just done better. Let me explain.

Arajin's goal: lose his virginity

Matakara's goal: become a Honkibito

Arajin's obsession: Mahoro/ girls

Matakara's obsession: Arajin/ become Honki people with him

Mahoro shows no interest in Arajin, broke his love stone but Arajin still believes he has a chance. Meanwhile, Arajin avoids Marakara, rejects him and still Matakara believes in him and holds on to his stone.

They both don't let go and pursue the person they like in some ways.

Matakara is as obsessive as Arajin, but his character is more fleshed out. He has a social circle with good friends. We have a backstory with his brother, so there's someone important to him other than Arajin.

He doesn't only use his strength for selfish reasons like Arajin but to protect his friends or the Minato Kai gang.

There's mystery surrounding the shadow in his room, we don't know what will happen to him. That gives the audience some anticipation and keeps its interest in the character and his potential.

I don't think people don't like Arajin because he's flawed. Matakara as sweet as he is has flaws too and other characters on the show as well. Sen'ya for example is shady af and doesn't tell Arajin everything and keeps stuff from him, so not everyone is a saint. And it's not because of bad writing or anything, it's just the way it was intended to be.

The intent here is to subvert expectations. I was surprised at first that it didn't go the way I thought. First, the harem trope is completely different from what we're used to.

- The mc pursues a girl but mostly men are after him, every gang leader wants him on their team because they think he's really strong. So they completely change what people expect of the harem genre.

- Mahoro is not the typical cute and innocent girl the mc usually falls for. She's ruthless, a brocon and doesn't hesitate to manipulate people to get what she wants. That makes her interesting because she's really not what she seems and is similar to Arajin and Matakara (her obsession with her brother)

- Arajin is not the typical shonen prota with big morals or big dreams (the "I want to become xx" type of hero), he doesn't want to be strong or anything significant other than losing his virginity like a normal teenager, and that's the joke. You expected something else? No, we get a pathetic mc who's most likely going to surprise us again just to break our expectations.

We're not supposed to root for Arajin, I think he is a tool to tell a delinquent story in a new kind of way. His character is annoying but I think it's on purpose and he's going to be useful somehow. How? Idk time will tell.

The process is not enjoyable right now and that's fine that people feel that way, but I think it's going to make sense at one point or another as to why Arajin acts like that.

I've seen some people not understanding all the criticism he gets, but I think it's fair criticism, judging that Arajin is not the type of character you would root for. While we know he's going to change it still seems like a long way, especially when you just don't care about the mc or you don't find him interesting in any way. That got me thinking that this is exactly how we're supposed to feel about him, at least for now. Arajin's not supposed to be a likable character so I'd say it's working. it's all fine because for once it's different, this is not what we expect of a shonen protagonist, so it's interesting.

I've also seen people say that Arajin has some development and I'm not sure about that. Sure, as the story progresses and he's getting more and more in a mess, Arajin's reactions have more range, there are some elements here and there that show us he cares about some things. But his attitude remains the same. And I think something bigger has to happen for him to actually break out of his character.

We've seen how he reacted to Akutaro's speech about Mahoro. It demonstrates that he can get mad for someone else, but he left Matakara tied up in a basement and doesn't get mad for him at all. We have a whole flashback with him feeling guilty for leaving Matakara and he has no remorse doing it again because he's not his priority. Something bad is going to happen so Arajin will finally snap out of it and pay attention to Matakara and realize his behavior was not okay. I hope that's the course of action at least or I'll be really disappointed. Arajin is not a good mc and that's cool, it's not groundbreaking but different. That being said, it has to mean something in the story and I haven't seen that yet.

So yeah, I'm not giving up on this anime and I'm looking forward to see how the story will unfold!

[wanderlust-in-my-soul]

Currently Watching - March

aka The Masterlist

Because I love a good little list - in alphabetical order! 😊

Regularly updated during the month, latest update 30.03.2024

A little link to my favorite bl-tropes-collection 💙

I am happy about gif-requests 🌼

Here you can find all of my gifs.

Tracking: #josistag

At the end you can have a look at what we can expect in January with a MDL link and a link for a trailer (if avaible).

This is guaranteed to contain spoilers!

1. Cityboy_Log (11/? on Youtube - Korean)

Soon-to-be Idols, actors and models vlog their days of photo shoots and meetups and how they fall in love with each other. It is surprisingly good and the acting is excellent. It really feels like a "real" vlog and that is what we are all here for. I really enjoy those four men on my screen.

2. Deep Night (3/8 on iQiyi - Thai)

This is everything I was expecting, so it didn't disappoint, I guess. To be honest, I watch this for First. I guess he would have chemistry with a stick, soooo this is nice. And I hope the story, at least stays like this and won't get worse... Update: This show is a mess 😂 there is so much going on all at once and at the same time nothing really happens? It is so confusing, yet very entertaining. But Wela, my dear, it is totally okay to be pissed if one fucks with you, while you are so drunk you can't remember shit the next day... Just a thought.

3. Jazz For Two (2/8 on Gaga - Korean)

I love bls about music and about traumatic pasts. I really enjoyed the first episodes and I like the characters. Especially because they tricked us in believing something was going on in the practice room. I am really curious about the character developement and story! I know all the episodes are out on iQiyi, but because I can't watch it there (VPN does not work for me), I have to wait for GagaOOLala to air the episodes weekly...

4. Koi wo Suru nara Nidome ga Joto (4/6 on Gaga - Japanese)

Guess I am hooked and wish I just waited until it is finished airing, because I want to watch their story now! I want to know what happend in the past and how they both deal with each other in the present and what brings the future and will poor little Yuto find his happy ending too! Because I love him, but he is just a support and needs to keep his hands away from senpai!

5. My Strawberry Film (6/8 on Gaga - Japanese)

This is what I call a love triangle. And the fact that the screenwriters worked for Eien No Kinou or Jack o'Frost is promising some heartbreak and teenage angst. The acting is good, the story for me interesting. I feel so bad for Ryo. The heartbreak is so real and he still manage to do things for his best friend and his first love, just for him to be happy. I really don't know how this will end.

6. Only Boo (1/12 on Youtube - Thai)

I don't know what to think of this one right now. I cringed a lot during the first episode and at the same time it is cute? My emotions are very conflicted about this one. I don't know if I can keep up with this weekly or if I just wait and binge it. What is it with these sunday shows that they are this awkward lately.

7. Unknown (7/12 on Youku, Taiwanese)

The story about found family, childhood trauma and struggling topped with a lovestory between "brothers". They aren't really brothers so I really don't care and just enjoy this forbidden and hurtful lovestory to the fullest. This is exactly what I hoped for! The longing, tension and hurt is so good! I feel the pain in both of them and I can't wait for the next episodes!!!

Finished in March

Series

Perfect Propose

I liked this one very much! I enjoyed the episodes, the chemistry between the couple and the whole story and it wants to tell us. Work is not everything a good and healthy meal is important! Kai was my little favorite and I was happy seeing him vulnerable in the end. I don't know what it is, but this type of japanese series are always hitting the right spot in my heart and I can't see any flaws (I now there are some, but I decide not to see them). A 10 out of 10 for me.

Cherry Magic

I do love the japanese version very dearly and I tried not to compare these two with each other, because it wouldn't be fair. This was such a wholesome watch! Those two talked to each other and solved their "problems" with a good communication. All of them are total green flags and it was a delight to watch the main cp and the side cps falling in love. It was funny and heartwarming and, I am honest, I never thought we would see the chemistry chemistrying like this between TayNew! I am still in awww with episode 11! And the whole proposal was the sweetest, most perfect shit ever! A clear 10 out of 10 for me!

Dead Friend Forever

Usually I don't watch horror-stuff, but this was quite okay, nothing really scary, but it was an intense ride nevertheless. The story was good and the acting was good too, most of the times. I needed some time to find a way into it, but in the end, I had a great time and there was Ta's naked ass on my screen, whic was unexpected, but I don't complain, because it was a nice ass! The only thing I really hated was what they did to White... I give it a good 7,5 out of 10.

Sukiyanen Kedo Do Yaro ka

This one was a fine show, but nothing special. If you want to get hungry and crave some delicious-looking japanese dishes, you're not going to be disappointed! If you want a nice romance story with two handsome and kinda quirky guys fall in love with each other, go ahead, this is yours! Something was missing for me, but that is just me and I can't really pin out, what exactly was missing. But because of that missing feeling I can't give this more than a 6,5 out of 10.

Kimi ni wa Todokanai. aka I cannot reach you.

This was such a wholesome and fast watch. Really a sweet little show about first love and best friends and being true to yourself. I had such a good time watching it. It is well written and well played and the characters are very lovely. I enjoyed this very much. It is funny how easy and wholesome some of japanese bls are and how flawless in my eyes. I give this a sweet little 10 out of 10.

Anti Reset

The premise was promising and I love how obvisiously attracted both were to each other. The story about the AI Ever Nine who turns the life of an emotionless professor upside down has a really nice start. But after a while it got boring and they overpowered the romance aspect a little bit. I love romance, but this was not my kind of show. It was too heavy and the show itself was too clean and to sterile. I don't know how to explain it, but it feels a little bit too artificial. I get why some might like this, but for me it is a 5,5 out of 10.

Short Film

Movie

Dropped in March

1000 Years old (2/13 on Gaga - Thai)

Let's be real for a moment, I won't catch up with this. I keep this to binge watch later, so I can fast-forward the boring parts. It started quite cute, but lost my interest on its way. For now, it is on-hold.

Looking forward to in March

Koi wo Suru nara Nidome ga Joto aka Love is Better the Second Time Around (March 5th)

Born to be Y (probably cancelled) - Trailer (March 6th)

Deep Night - Trailer (March 7th)

23.5 - Trailer (March 8th)

Two Worlds - Pilot (March 21st)

High Demand (March 23rd)

The Star (March 28th)

Only Boo - Trailer (March 31st)

Wuju Bakery - I don't know how many times this was on this looking forward list... I don't know if we will see it sometime soon... But for the moment it should be out in March...

Blossom Campus - sometime in March...

Jazz for Two - Trailer (March 27th)