#i don't really know how they'll wrap this drama up

[athousandbyeol]

i love the awkwardness between jiang tian and sheng wang. it feels so real and intimate. i just love how they're even more aware of each other right now. they become more sensitive, more attentive.

the yearning. the longing. the pining. the realisation. the acceptance. beautiful.

sheng wang's lingering gaze at their entwined hands—jiang tian subtly mulling over the loss of warmth from their intertwined fingers. it's perfect. the push and pull. the don't let go.

i think it's just what they truly need right now—that awkwardness. that sizzling desire finally resurfacing. no longer loitering underwater. it's just... heartwrenchingly breathtaking.

[rosyfingered-moon]

Sejak episode 16

So daebi said: just marry this crossdressing weirdo that you're sexually obsessed with and have an heir, it's fine idec at this point. And Yi In didn't immediately jump on that but was like, well mom if you want it then I'm NOT going to do it 😤

Since this is the final installment I want to officially thank Sang-hwa for his service to the crown! His loyalty and diligence is only rivaled by his commitment to the bit. One of my favorite scenes in this entire show is the Gay Rumor era where he sprints off with the swiftness of Hermes to fetch the king's boyfriend some candy

I must say I wish they would've talked more baduk when they play baduk. They always debate their real life issues and the game is just something they dabble with in the background, the way I embroider things while watching TV, but they could be meta-talking about baduk strategies in a way that convinces us that this really is their Mutual Obsession while simultaneously shedding light on their personalities. Is Mong-woo an aggressive and haphazard player? Is she more intuitive or more calculating? Has she memorized previous games or does she not have to, because she's operating on Pure Vibes? I still don't know what they're like as players, or if the king is ever close to winning, or if Mong-woo is getting kinda bored of playing against him because he never puts up a real fight. (And how does that then translate to their sexual relationship: she told her dad from the start that she'd only marry someone who could beat her.) In their first game they didn't speak a word because they were so absorbed, and they didn't even notice it had begun to rain -- I liked that much better, because if Mong-woo is the greatest baduk genius in the world then she would be more obsessive about it, almost to the detriment of their relationship, like Beth in The Queen's Gambit. She'd want to go to Qing for the challenge and thrill of playing the Emperor, not (only) for her country and king and father. Okay sorry rant over.

Sometimes I pounce on my partner like this when he's just about to leave for the supermarket and I say "kdrama back hug 🥺" and he's always very patient with this extremely annoying behavior

"I cannot send Mong-woo to the Qing alone. So I'll choose the violent criminal who tried to stab me and instead stabbed her. He'll keep her safe."

Sure this is satisfying but did we have to spend so much time on this when we've got like 45 minutes airtime left to show Mong-woo's life-changing trip to Qing? Let me see her play the Emperor and pretend to lose! Let me see her flirt with the imperial harem and gain friends and enemies in court!!! Also: how did her father react to her crossdressing (since she gave it up when Myung-ha threatened to tell daddy)?

Shin Se-kyung having to teach worthless noblemen on how to start a fire is a must for any sageuk. To me.

It’s actually very sweet that everyone's just treating her like the princess now. But what's going to happen with the real princess? Another thing that they could have wrapped up instead of...

THIS. So writernim introduced this guy as a new threat in the last ep and then resolved it with no tension or conflict. Another thing that we could maybe have just have skipped in favor of Mong-woo Wreaking Havoc in the Imperial City.

PLEASE I don't understand anything!!! So they'll stay together forever now. But Mong-woo doesn't want to be his concubine (she'd resent him). And Yi In has no apparent plans to abdicate (he'll be king until he dies). Is she going to stay on as gidaryeong, and if so, why didn't she return to her station right away but tried to sneak away?

It’s so funny that she just gave up and told him her name anyway lmaooo. She was like baby you'll never beat me let's not pretend ❤️

Despite my ranting I did love this drama very much!! A fantastic set up with a somewhat underwhelming execution is my sweet spot because it means I can write fic about it 🫶

[taiturner]

NEW YEARS CLEAN-UP 🎊

rules: unburden yourself from the abandoned WIPS collecting dust in your folder and share 5 gifs, then tag five people. (tagged by @yenvengerberg, thank you i feel like i can do something useful with these things now 💖)

tagging with no pressure of course: @wyllhalsin, @capinejghafa, @cardvngreenbriar, @seance, @ayoedebiris, @ughmerlin, @craintheodora, @lottiemilfews, @natscatorrcio (yeah miles i'm tagging you to be funny i know what you did with those psds)

these are all from projects that i have in a folder titled "on the bench" that i want to pretend i'll come back to, but.... some of these have been benched for so long and they're no longer fresh in my head so i fear they'll be abandoned forever. should also be mentioned that a lot of projects on the bench are literally just me making all the typography first and then losing inspo when i actually wanted to gif things.... usually by the time i do start, i change my mind about the type anyway. i also have so many abandoned gifs from other gifsets i've already posted but i'm not even sure where to begin searching so... here are some things!

one of the many gifs i already created for a prompt from @yellowjacketsoctober to put the show in a different genre. ironically, a prompt that i came up with for the event specifically to make this gifset but didn't even complete. i spent so many hours and so many days trying to gif this entire arc for these three with the intent to make it a heist drama set but after so long i realized i was just giffing exactly what happened in the show and it started to feel pointless. but at least here's a preview of something that i'll never finish. my trio of all time, can they commit more crimes together please! (should also be said that this folder is 44gb because i already saved all the caps + because these psds are so heavy... new years clean up for real)

i don't know what it is about lydia that makes it so hard for me to finish any set for her, but every time i try i seem to always lose the drive eventually (probably because twd in general just feels really uninteresting for me to blend, for some reason). from a 2022 spotify wrapped meme, i'm pretty sure i restarted this specific gifset so many different times, unhappy with the colors and the blends and the text and everything -- which is why there are two very different examples here. my girl of all time though i will finish something for her eventually (and maybe even this one, because this song is still so good for her).

one of the many gifs that were abandoned by my scream vi set for favorite slasher in october. when tumblr first changed the image upload limit to 30, i promised myself to never take advantage of that too much, but i severely underestimated how many moments i would want to include for this movie and i made so many other gifs for this set but ultimately cut them so i could try to tone it down - 18 gifs in this set still feels like a lot but i spent so much time on this set that it was hard to part with many more. anyway here's sam being the hottest final girl in the world and correct about everything.

i don't know how long this has been on the bench but it was definitely a project i started way before season 2 even aired. i think i just got stuck and wasn't sure where to go with it, but anyway her!

extra spoiler for @wyllhalsin but this was supposed to be a pride edit in june for one of my favorite lgbt characters of all time. this show's camera movements nearly makes it impossible to blend anything so i lost the drive, but i will come back for felix someday (and for coty, obviously this set was for him).

[psychicreadsgirl]

Can you do a reading between Megan fox & Mgk? She keeps saying they’re twin flames

I don't do twin flame readings so can't say there.

I do feel Megan excuses some of MGK's behaviour through this concept. Their marriage is very extreme and has a lot of ups and downs. There's a lot of drama and a lot of intense emotions, particularly from Megan. I feel like she tries more than him to sustain the marriage. She romanticizes his behavior/actions a lot.

They fight a lot and these fights can be quite violent from both sides. Scratches, throwing objects, tons of shouting, crying, cutting someone??? or threatening to cut someone?? Then after the fight or sometimes during the fight they'll end up kissing and having s*x. Somehow there's a lot of makeup s*x..

For Megan, she needs that extremeness and intensity to feel like this is "true" love. Without these, she feels like it's not "true" love.

MGK cares about her and does love her, but I feel like she loves him more and obsesses about him more. MGK has a possessive side and he partly loves Megan because she's really desirable in other people's eyes. A lot of people find Megan to be super sexy and super pretty, so MGK gets a lot of satisfaction knowing that he was the one that married Megan and has s*x with her.

I do feel that MGK can stray in a relationship. Sometimes it's due to alcohol or other substances. Sometimes he just feels flirty. I think Megan doesn't know this fully and even if she did know, she'd turn a blind eye and tell herself that he's a "runner". She's the one for him.

Both of their jealousy levels are very high. Both of them have the possibility of k*lling out of "love" or jealousy. It's that intense and I think Megan is sort of proud of that??? If MGK were to do something bad and needed Megan to cover for him, she would agree to cover for him.

I do feel that Megan is the one doing a lot to please MGK. She has been compromising a lot. I don't really see him putting as much effort in the marriage as him or perhaps he is just more emotionally "cold"/less expressive.

He does hide his feelings a lot and guards his inner thoughts. He escapes some trauma/unhappiness he has experienced when he was younger through alcohol, pleasure, or other substances. I feel he uses Megan as a form of escape like this relationship. He has unresolved trauma from his childhood. Megan says stuff like she's the only one for him, only one who truly understands him when he's having one of his moments where he's suffering a lot.

Yes, I can see images of his past being very painful for him and I have to dig hard to see these, meaning that he doesn't want to open the past again and he wants to erase these. He felt very alone when he was young and forced to grow up very quickly. He didn't have very good/stable role models around him, so he had to figure out how to grow up by himself. I see his father being too depressed to really look after MGK and MGK just minding his own business at a young age. I see MGK sometimes sitting on the ground like in a closet like place with his arms wrapped around his legs and just crying.

I don't feel he hates his mother now, but he has a lot of mixed emotions about his mother and confusion like why did she leave him and how could she leave him? MGK hasn't resolved his issues with his past even though he has tried to do this. This is a lifelong exercise for him.

In a way, the intensity from his relationship with Megan makes him feel he's needed and loved. Sometimes he can do some drastic things or say some harsh things to her to see if she'll leave him because if she stays, that's "true" love. In some ways I feel like MGK doesn't really understand what "love" is but he knows that he doesn't want to be alone. He can be assured through Megan that she'll be there through thick and thin.

[fbfh]

I just stumbled across your Ricky Bowen fic and I love it!! Any chance you’ll ever continue it or write more for him?

YES. yes I most certainly will. I make absolutely no promises in terms of time but you can sign up for my tag list for ricky bowen and rocks at your window so when I do write something you'll be notified!!

Until then let me tide you over for some Ricky content. Dating Ricky is a flex in and of itself, but the biggest flex is how down bad he is for you. this little golden retriever rescue dog boy loves you so goddamn much. to quote the evil Lorelai from welcome to pollyworld 1:02:15, you have Ricky Bowen wrapped so tightly around your little finger he'd believe the world is flat if you said so. The thing is he's already going to be an instant theatre heartthrob, you just need to know that going into it. He's not only decent at singing and acting and even dancing, but he's also tall and cute and charismatic and actually really good at singing acting and dancing??????? there is a negative 45 BILLION percent chance that everyone WONT have a crush on him. yk how people in the pjo/hoo fandom are like "yeah everyone either had a crush on percy or jason. literally everyone. it's a rite of passage." Same for Ricky. there's also a 99.9% chance he's totally unaware of it. If people know that you're dating publicly, get ready to have some real haters. about 1/3 of the cast will actually be able to be friends with you, 1/3 will act neutral outwardly and silently pine for him, praying every night that you break up so they can just have one fucking chance with him, and the last 1/3 will actively loathe you. they'll gossip about you and PRAY you get worse roles. you don't because you're amazing, but congradulations, you now have haters lol. Oh my god and if Ricky ever gets wind that people are treating you like that even in secret?????? Messy season 1!Ricky will reenter the chat with no hesitation. He is not afraid to drag ALL the drama off stage if it means defending you. he is a gorgeous talented force to be reconed with. Even if getting revenge just means making out with you in somewhat secluded backstage areas that he knows people will see "by accident", he's more than happy to do it. He will also aboslutely have a kiss for good luck tradition before every show and dress rehearsal with you.

[lewis-winters]

Why is it like I want to protect Dick from Sobel's attempt on court martial against him? I feel like I want to wrap him in a blanket and cuddle him.

Tbh, in the beginning I was feeling the same as you anon. I've been subjected to a power tripping bully boss before, I knew Dick's pain. But when the scene cuts to Sobel's office and the "call for court martial" is revealed to be "taking a punishment (48 hrs pass revoked for 60 days) OR request trial by court martial" and Dick chose the latter, I lost almost all my sympathy. More under cut bc it got long--

Dick Winters totally deserved that-- he REQUESTED it. Not to say Sobel didn't deserve getting his ass handed to him by his own NCOs (he overestimated their fear of him and completely underestimated their love of Dick) for being such a power tripping asshole, but all of that drama could have been avoided if Dick had just decided to keep his mouth shut and taken the punishment. Which, according to Sobel, wasn't anything off Dick's plate; he already spent those weekends he'd've been deprived of on base, anyway! At this point, the only thing at risk was Dick's own pride in his work ethic, and instead of just picking his battles and taking the punishment, he chose to prove a point-- which he DID NOT, at the time, have the capacity to prove, by the way!

Dick risked a lot getting himself court martialed! And though Malarkey speculated that Dick had arranged the NCO mutiny irl (as mentioned in Malarkey's book) we don't know that for sure, and in the show, it certainly wasn't framed that way! Think about the facts: 1) Dick cares about his men, but he's not delusional enough to think: 'oh, they'll risk their own court martialing to save my ass.' He's not entitled enough to expect that of them, either. Meaning Dick requested court martial without knowing if he'd win. 2) What REALLY is the harm of just spending those punishment days on base that Dick would have otherwise spent on base anyway, punishment or not? Literally, that whole scene was just Dick saying "well I was gonna do it, but I think you're being unfair, I don't want to do it now! even if awaiting trial by court martial means I most likely won't jump in Normandy and help protect the men I care about!"

TL;DR - Dick Winters went and chose court martial, without a back-up plan, simply because his pride was wounded.

It was, in hindsight, very stupid. Very brave, and definitely shows us the kind of man he is-- driven by principles and the very strong instinct of fairness and right from wrong-- but it was also very stupid. And risky. You are at WAR Dick, and sooner or later you will be leading your men into a blood bath! Now is not the time for silly ego games!

Think of it this way: he knew how incompetent Sobel was, he knew what would happen if Sobel were to eventually lead Easy, he knew removing himself via court martial meant leaving his men to the mercy of Sobel's mistakes, he KNEW that his trial by court martial would not be completed in time to jump into Normandy with Easy. Dick knew all that, he'd have to have known that, but he still sacrificed it all because he wanted to make a point.

When I think of Dick getting court martialled, my first instinct is to put my head in my hands and remind myself that not even the great Dick Winters is exempt from letting his ego get the best of him. I think a lot of people just miss that because it turned out ok in the end (i.e. Dick was reinstated out of mess + Sobel was sent away + Meehan was given Easy). But for a tense moment there, it very nearly didn't. What would have happened then?

Would fighting for his pride have been worth the lives of his men?

[wotchergiorgia]

isn't it weird how people suddenly meet? how they really do meet, I mean. it's all about seconds, the ones needed to bring two people from being completely strangers to meeting, to really meeting. it's outstanding, isn't it? suddenly, those two worlds of yours melt together as if it couldn't be different. how was life before? before that person? and, listen, I'm not speaking about love, about a romantic, significant other. i'm speaking about that person, your person, the one that finishes your sentences, whose thoughts you speak out before they even tell you; that person whose ideas, moves, and plans are perfectly known and evident to you, so much so that they don’t even have to inform you. you have a sixth sense about them. do you feel today you're gonna meet them? it'll happen, no matter what, how or why. you already know in advance how they will answer that text you sent them, what they'll tell you, the stickers and emojis they're about to use. you can visualise their expression in every situation and laugh about it, even though you're not with them. you share the same music taste and it almost was obvious it would be so. "I listen to some today artists, of course, but I'd rather listen to..." "to old ones," you added instinctively. "yes, exactly." you weren't surprised, nor were they. it's natural, it's obvious. it can't be different. and you discovered a whole new world wrapped in a person you met a month or so ago. suddenly, the two of you met. and now it all makes sense. it seems you've always known each other. you share thoughts, boundaries, ideas, principles, values, sense of humour. you even play the same stupid, hilarious and unpopular table games no one knows about. you laugh at the same jokes, sing the same songs and sing them together. you watch the same tv programmes, send stupid photos in answer to anything and dream about seeing london in winter in the same, exact way. singing bohemian rhapsody at the top of your lungs in the car late at night, sharing family hardships, and immediately texting the other when something happens and when nothing happens as well. there's a whole world you didn't know anything about just some months ago and now this world is open up to you. and it's a privilege, and it's not to be taken for granted. you bring them breakfast and prepare them their favourite cappuccino to thank them for all the lifts they offered you. they buy you dinner, ask about your day, and laugh at your stupid faces. you gossip, you share disastrous love lives and experiences, dramas and bad news, good news, life. you're sharing life. and it's fair, it's right, it's exactly how it should be, and you don't know why. what did you do to find yourself in such a situation? what did you say, how did you say it to get such a privilege? how different your life was just a month ago or so! you now can't imagine your life any differently. it's wholesome, it's fulfilling. that person. your person. and you feel it. you know it. when you know, you just know.

[bugheadchemistry]

People keep saying that BA ia endgame bc of stuff Lilly or Ras or whoever hinted but ..... If they implied anything else Barchies would throw the biggest tantrum we've ever seen lmao

They don't want to risk their current viewer base ditching them so early in the final season. They want to squeeze every Barchie tweet out of this that they can for promo. I have no idea who will be endgame but I DO know that if it's not Barchie, the last thing anyone working on the show is going to do is imply that this early lmao

I know they feel rly confident right now, but they need to remember Ras wants views, and the Barchies are easy views and promo atm. But I think they also know if they bring back older, more popular ships that could also make them BANK later lol so at the end of the day, it'll be what they think will get the most views/money I think.

I also just think with all the universe hopping and time line changing, and then choosing to do BA during that, is a BAD sign for them lol it feels like they're going to switch things up at the end and if Barchie was going to be endgame for sure, I don't think they would get this much content this soon. I could always be wrong, but I just think Ras is 100% using Barchies atm bc they're ravenous and LOUD so its good to get tweets about them going and stuff. Long story short, they probably should consider the fact that if anyone implied anything BESIDES Barchie endgame, they'd all mass exodus out of the viewer base lol they're gunna keep them on the hook but that doesn't mean they'll get what they want at the end. I don't think Ras is loyal to them in any way, and if he IS a fan of the comics at all - he knows Archie literally never chooses Betty EVER lol

Also the whole Tabitha guardian angel thing feels like an easy cop out for that relationship - she's not of this world or has a bigger purpose or whatever and won't end up with anyone from the show lol they've done a poor job incorporating her organically into the cast people had already been watching for years so I'm thinking she won't be there when things wrap up. Her being a literal angel feels far too convenient lol

Only time will tell, but they're much more confident then I think they should be. If I was them, I'd be skeptical and anxious. I think they'll likely slowly hint at other ships in hoping of luring back more of the old fan base over the season before the Barchies foam at the mouth and jump ship - so that they wont lose out on viewer numbers. Will that work? Probably not lmao but I still don't think BAs are going to get the perfect happily ever after they've invisioned

Whew! There’s a lot to unpack here. I will do my best to respond and try to make sense. 😂 I’m just going to go paragraph by paragraph.

1. It’s been said multiple times, by myself and others, that RAS never confirms anything. He’s always vague and misleading so as not to give anything away (which I’m of the opinion now that he actually doesn’t know where they are going with anything which is why the show became such a dumpster fire 🤷🏼‍♀️). It’s already been established that Lili never confirmed anything either. I’m convinced that BAs just don’t know the definition of that word.

2. I’m curious to know who the viewer base is now. They lost the BHs and VAs for sure. Casual viewers ditched because the storylines were so far out there that “jumping the shark” is too kind of a phrase to use at this point. Is it just BAs? If so, that would explain why the ratings are so low. Turns out, there are not as many BA fans as they BAs would want us to believe.

3. I am honestly baffled by how sure BAs are that they are going to get everything they have ever wanted when these writers have proven that they will screw anyone over just for drama. That overconfidence is really going to bite them in the ass one of these days (and hopefully soon!).

4. Yeah, the BA storylines in seasons 5 & 6 were nothing to write home about. I mean, yeah BA hooked up a lot but where was the romance? There wasn’t any. Didn’t they also go for a long stretch of episodes without interacting at all? And didn’t Betty kill Archie twice in the multi-verse? I just don’t get what there was to like about any of it, and if I were a BA I would be pissed.

5. Yeah, I don’t know what to say about Tabitha. By the time she joined the show, I had already stopped watching.

6. I would be absolutely shocked if they gained back any of the viewership they lost. It’s too late and too many bridges have been burned.

[skinni-girls-eat-books]

Tuesday, March 5th, 2024!

1:07am: Just going to keep journaling so I don't go insane. My ex keeps jerking me around and I can't continue to care. He's so wrapped up in his own emotion, he will never be capable of actually being a good friend. He never asks if I'm ok or tries to make casual conversation, it's just all about him and his constant state of drama. I just can't relate to him anymore and I can't continue on the way I've been trying to. There's literally not much I can control or change about this situation, I can only be responsible for how I react to it I guess.

On another note, I finished my laundry! Tomorrow I will get up, take a shower, shaving is not necessary I just need to clean myself so literally no pressure. Drink some water, take my vitamin, hang out with my cats. Probably take a tums bc my farts are DEADLY rn and I don't know why RIP. If I do shave it would probably just be my coochie tbh. Some light weed whacking lmao. If I keep farting like rotten eggs I'm definitely not making any man plans tomorrow 🤣 I cantttttt haha

I think tomorrow I might clean out my closet now that it's clean?? There's so many items I never wear tbh. Maybe shave up to my knees and get a pedicure?? Maybe go on FB marketplace or thrift for some nightstand things or some dollar tree cubbies for this stuff I've had on the floor forever. I just randomly remembered my coats are in my trunk and I feel like I'm gonna forget where they are. Maybe return those things to the library omg and go to bath n body works and get real deodorant and laundry detergent

So many thoughts going through my mind omg I just had diarrhea while writing this 😭 please go away tummy problems. I wonder if it was me pounding tajin with my margarita I literally don't know.

I need to figure out where I wanna take myself out to before the show tomorrow! Aaaaa so many possibilities!! This week has already been so perfect and it's not over yet! I love my life! It's so crazy to love my life after going through so much trauma but here I am, stronger than ever!! :) I'm so proud of myself ❤️

8:57am: Nah tell me why I got on tinder this morning (early bird 🤣) and damn these guys are just ehh. Idk how tf I'm ever gonna take any of them seriously again. I'm just pretty hardened after everything, not really in a bad way, but in a needed way if you ask me. I feel like I don't know what I'm looking for lol I feel like if you know what you're looking for, you go out and pursue it?? But idk so it's more challenging. Tbh I just want to have fun like I'm in my fboi era fr. Curving dudes when they get serious n shit 💀

9:40am: ok time to get up lmao. I'll find a guy eventually so actually no rush 🤣 I got my two little furry boys and that's what really matters. I want to get all gussied up today just bc I can. Lil man bawling his eyes out not being able to speak to me anymore bc he knows he fucked up is a crazy way to live. Having to live with the guilt of cheating on someone.... Couldn't be me 🙄😂

I get to continue my life knowing that I'm a bomb af gf and anyone would be damn lucky to have me (once they get to know me!) if I don't meet people then they'll never know! I got ppl who don't even speak English wanting another date fr.

11:02pm: I'm just gonna keep shooting my shot until something sticks I think. I really do believe it's a numbers game anymore, if you talk to 0 ppl or put all your eggs into 1 basket likeeee you're not going to get far and it's gonna take 500 years, 100 years to even get a date at that rate. I wanna be like that girl who went on what 50 dates in a year?? Like go off queen 💅 at least you'll have 50 stories to tell if nothing else haha, plus I need the practice ong.

I like the journaling instead of trying to text him, it's so much better. N+T were right, he just needs to learn his lesson, that's so sad your friend literally had to say that about his best man like if my MOH turned out to be a flaming bag of shit like how embarrassing (for the POS) and seriously sad and fucked up :( .

[thecelestiallegacies]

Sul Sul Simmers! How was all that? It feels like a lot happened to me. What a year. It feels like a big shift is coming now that Grace and Lucy are teenagers, but below the cut I wanted to throw down some things I had written, that didn't really seem to fit anywhere in the queue. I figured it'd be good to get them out now so I'm not carrying them with me through the next arcs for this family.

Sweeney Todd, the master vampire, was slain by a hunter. In this altercation, she killed the hunter as well. That hunter was none other than Thorne Bailey, Vulcan and Hermes' paternal grandfather.

Knox Greenburg, Fatima and Venus Witherspoon all died in a tragic plane crash and I didn't want to write about it because Vulcan has been through so much tragedy I didn't have it in me to go into more detail on it.

Breaking up with Bella was rushed in because Vulcan literally did it in game on a whim. Like rolled into Creekside Smooth at 2am for guys night and just decides he wants to dump her. He just really, really wanted to be single. Uncertain if she'll get picked back up or not. Canonically she is an alien but because she wasn't raised on Sixam she doesn't know how to use any of her special abilities.

Mabel writing in her journal and reminding herself that she'll be a vampire by the end of the year. The early breakup changes nothing. The day after Harvestfest, the 13th year will befall Vesper and Fortune and their fate will be decided.

Brandy loves dancing. Tempted to make her a vampire hunter like her father, Thorne.

Vulcan is still brutally famous but his reputation is going down due to all the relationship drama.

Venus Generation Requirements (teen) New Trait- Romantic Aspiration- Serial Romantic [ ] Keep a retail job for 3 days. [ ] Have 2 romantic flings.

Fortune and Vesper count for this generation until they don't count.

Brandy is not part of this generation and will get a random trait when she ages up. May do a poll and let the readers choose her trait and aspiration.

Isla, the mermaid from Vulcan's summer in Sulani, has gotten into the gardening career and has flower arranger vibes. It's yet to be determined if that relationship will be revisited during Vulcan and the twins' week on the islands.

Also Mer-teens have been added in Sulani. A lot coming up.

I hope that was a good throw on stuff that I take random creative notes on while I'm playing the game that creates the stories you read. I really do appreciate it so much when I see the same handful of blogs liking multiple posts, and knowing that you're reading and loving this little nebula as much as I do means so much.

I might experiment a bit moving forward because this is my first time really rotating through multiple teenagers and getting through high school (though I got some practice with my vampire teens) I'm open to exploring other story telling devices.

And always, a special thanks to the CC creators and pose creators that allow me to tell the stories I do. I regret not exploring poses with Marisol because she absolutely deserved to be in some fun day time television interviews. Thank you creatives for doing what you do.

Onto the next season. A week in Sulani with Vulcan, Grace and Lucy where they'll explore ancestry, culture, celebration and the first crushes of teenagers on mythical creatures, all wrapping up and getting back home to Willow Creek just in time for PRIDE. The following Monday, Lucy and Grace start high school.

[thiscrimsonsoul]

As a Wanda fan who tries to find a common ground with everyone, I might know why many fans hate or dislike her. I think it's because instead of letting her character speak for itself, the script keeps trying to justify her actions, such as Monica saying Westview will never know what she sacrificed for them. That was a terrible line. We knew Wanda was in pain, we knew she created the Hex without knowledge, we knew her family was real to her, we saw that. That line wasn't needed, 1/2

and essentially what that line did was turn Wanda into a victim in the middle of a town that was just freed from being enslaved and tortured by her. And then Wanda says that won't change how WV sees her instead of saying, maybe, it won't change what she did. Basically the script turns her into a Karen who is the victim in every situation, and ofc people are gonna reject that. Wanda was a victim of many things but the script victimized her further. I think that's why some fans hate her now. 2/2

__________

{out of paprikash} You make a few good points here, and honestly, until you said something, I didn't realize that I was just... auto-correcting all these missteps in my head, heh. What I mean is, in writing my own version of her, I kindof just... glossed over and rewrote all those "I'm a victim" and "but it's okay she's still a hero" themes because yeah, they're terrible. I agree that painting her as a victim or trying to insert these ideas that... well she did all these terrible things but we're gonna frame it in a good light... really is breaking the 4th wall and making excuses for her.

I think where Wanda needs to be right now is somewhere in between she's a victim or she has good intentions deep down, and she's a villain and she's evil. Neither side is fully accurate. I think we need to understand that Wanda is having severe mental health issues as well as that she's been corrupted by the Darkhold, while also not shying away from the fact that she has shown intent and freedom of choice that put her on a path to doing some really terrible things. She is not blameless, but she does need help. That doesn't make her a victim, there's a difference. We need to be comfortable saying "she needs help and can be sympathized with," while also saying, "she has done things for which there is no good excuse, reason, or way of sugar coating it." We need to acknowledge and move on from here, not try to reframe the past in a better light.

Inserting lines like you mentioned Monica saying takes her mental health struggles and the terrible things she's done and attempts to ignore them both. It's painting over it and softening the blow. It's saying, "okay we know you just saw her do these terrible things but... surprise! They were all for good reasons." No they weren't, heh. They were for... sympathetic reasons at times. Understandable ones, perhaps. That doesn't make them right or any less terrible, and Wanda needs to deal with that head-on.

Recovery from mental illness doesn't happen by ignoring it, and redemption from doing terrible things doesn't happen by making excuses for what you did. Wanda needs to face her fears, her faults, her actions, and be accountable to herself and others. By taking WandaVision and wrapping it up in a "they'll never know what she's done for them" package, the writers are really kindof asking the MCU audience to buy something that just doesn't make any sense. It invalidates all the drama that came before it by attempting to say, no look it's all okay. It also almost places the blame with the audience and other characters to say... well you don't appreciate her, you're not seeing it correctly, you're not understanding her sacrifice.

I think, also, they're explaining and telling instead of showing, which is one of the biggest errors a writer can make. Instead of showing us what's going on with Wanda, her recovery, her accountability, etc, we're being told "this is how you should feel about this," or "in case you didn't get it, here's how we want you to think about this." But what we've seen so far doesn't match up with what we're being told, so that disconnect is making people frustrated and causing them to abandon the character and tune out. They want to do extreme things with Wanda but then simultaneously have all of us like her, and that's an unrealistic expectation to place on fans, I think.

If they do the same thing with wherever they take Wanda after DSMoM, I'm gonna be pissed. As much as I love my girl, she should have some very dark days and a difficult road ahead of her, and I expect to see that. She's not a crowd pleaser a this point and that's okay. She shouldn't be. So show us that and let's go down this path with her. Don't tell us we're supposed to be okay with something we're not, and don't sugar coat it. Redemption and recovery, not excuses and avoidance. Anything less and I-... well, I'll just have to write it my damn self. XD

In short, I agree. I know Wanda lost a lotta fans and gained a lotta haters with WV and DSMoM, but that's fine. Everyone's entitled to their opinion. I just wish the MCU would let us arrive at our own opinions instead of trying to cram the narrative they want for Wanda down our throats.

[xx-ashes-xx]

Rival!Enhypen reacting to where they lock eyes with you at a party

The original request was 'enemy' but I don't really know how to implement that without it being like spies or gangs, a few of them are actually enemies I think but most of them are rivals. I don't really have experience in writing that so I hope you're happy with this instead. I'm sorry if this is not what you wanted and I'll try to properly write what you want if you decide to submit a request next time!

Honestly, this one is the same as the last, I had a few good ideas for some members while others I didn't. And I believe that some of these reactions aren't how Enhypen would actually act. A few of them are AUs as well so keep that in mind. I hope you enjoy!

Word Count: 2127

Genre: I honestly don't know, drama ig, maybe a bit of romance and fluff. Probably crack too

Warnings: Cursing, a bit of NSFW, reader is female in a few of these

Disclaimers: This is only writing. Enhypen may or may not act this way and this is not accurate to the members' personalities, this is only how I think they'll act and react, please read with that in mind. If you don't like my work don't interact then.

Heeseung:

It was a business party/award ceremony

You and Heeseung were CEOs of rival companies

They were about to announce which one of you was the better company

You stared, impatiently, hoping to win the award

"And the best sales company goes to.. (Heeseung's company name)!"

Your face dropped

You looked over at him and he was smirking while looking at the MC

He then looked at you and his smirk grew wider

"That little shit.." you whispered under your breath

He stood up and went up to get his award

While you glared at him

His speech was about as you expected

Until

"Lastly, I want to thank my love for motivating me to be better, for motivating me to work harder."

He then made eye contact with you

And winked

You were a bit confused

He never did this before

Was he just teasing

He probably was

But still

At the after-party, you took his hand and went to a private area

"What was that last part of your speech about?"

"What do you mean?"

"'My love?' Since when was I 'your love?'"

"Well, since now."

He pulled you in by the waist and kissed you

Let's say you were convinced to be his after that

You two both joined companies

With him still being CEO and you being CFO

Jay:

It was senior prom

You and Jay were academic rivals

With you being 1st and him being 2nd

You would always taunt him about it

Leading to the start of an argument

You two went with different people

You with the guy you've been seeing at the time

And he with his friends

Throughout your school years, he has never dated anybody or showed interest in anybody

Even when he was asked out by any attractive girls

You always thought it was because he thought he was out of their league

But when you two locked eyes across the dance floor

You felt a swell in your chest

With your face heating up a bit

And back straightening

You never felt this at any other time you met eyes with him

But maybe it was the way he looked in the suit

I mean you saw him in a suit multiple times already at competitions or senior pictures

Or maybe it was the way his black hair was parted

He would switch hair colors from time to time but tonight he dyed it back to black

You shook those thoughts away and looked back at him

Only to see him walk toward you

He stopped in front of you and nervously cleared his throat

"May I have a dance?" He asked

"U-Uh.. sure.." You answered

It was odd, to say the least

You two were a bit awkward, stiff even

"We should be more comfortable after knowing each other for our entire high school years." He commented

"Right.."

You stepped closer to him, wrapping your arms around his neck as his hands slithered around your waist

"Luh-Like this?"

"I-If you're comfortable."

You couldn't look him in the eye, looking off somewhere else to avoid a blush forming.

"Um- I have something important to tell you."

"What is it?" You asked

"I'm in love with you." He blurted out

"When I saw you in your dress, I couldn't think straight. You look beautiful and whenever I'm near you it gets hard to breathe... Maybe that's why I'm always in second place." He joked

"O-Oh."

You thought back to whenever you were with Jay

You always catch yourself staring but always brushed it off as analyzing him

Maybe you had feelings too

You looked him in the eye

He was blushing and you felt yours forming

"W-Well take me out on a date first. Then we'll see."

He grinned widely

"Alright."

Jake:

It was at an idol afterparty

You and Jake were always compared to each other, having similar skills

So you two were basically rivals in the industry

You were chatting with a few friends from other groups when something caught your eye

Jake just walked in, with his shirt unbuttoned

You stared at his torso for a bit before looking back up to see him looking at you

Smirking

You became embarrassed and quickly looked away

A few seconds later, you felt a tap on your shoulder

You looked over and it was Jake

"Can we talk privately?" (Oh god even this is making me a bit shy)

"Oh uh, sure!"

You went to a private room

A bedroom that is ;))

"So.. what did you want to talk about?"

"Well, people have always compared us. And I want to settle things."

"Oh? How?? Do you want to arm wrestle or do jumping jacks or have a dance-off?" You joked

"Those could be good options... Why didn't I think of that?"

You laughed

"No, I thought that maybe we could.. wrestle."

"Wrestle?"

"Well you're quite attractive.. and my type. And there's a bed here."

Oh.

He meant that type of wrestling

It was a bit strange

But I mean

Jake is asking you to 'wrestle' with him

Why not?

Let's say

It was something else

A whole new experience for you

After, you exchanged numbers

And didn't mind being compared to Jake

Because now you both knew who was better

At least, better in bed. (LMAO)

Sunghoon:

You two were ice skaters

And currently competing to be the best in your city

You just finished your routine

And when you looked up

Sunghoon was in front of you

With his jaw slightly opened

Causing you to smirk

You bowed to the judges and to the audience

Who threw you penguin plushies

You picked a few up before heading off the rink

You headed to your coach and drank some water when Sunghoon walked up

"Hey."

"Hey."

"You did great out there."

"Thanks."

"Can we meet up for coffee or something sometime?"

"Why?"

"Well... I want to learn a bit about your techniques. Just ice skating things I want to talk about."

"Oh, Uhm, sure."

"Cool."

He smiled

"My coach will give you my number since it's about to be my turn... Wish me luck?"

"Ha, sure." You chuckled

He rolled his eyes and went inside the rink

You watch him perform and just wow

He looked so.. handsome

Maybe his offer of coffee sometime wasn't a bad thing

Because you two might be interested in each other instead of 'just ice skating things you two wanted to talk about'

Sunoo:

You two had the same friends but didn't get along

Every time one of you would mention something, the other would try to one-up it

And believe me when I say it was irritating

You both were at a mutual friend's birthday party

Your friend was considered rich, as her parents rented out a ballroom for her 19th birthday

You and Sunoo sat at tables far away from each other

Glancing at each other from time to time

At the end of the party, your whole friend group met up to chat about the party at the photobooth

You were happily chatting with a friend when you glanced at Sunoo, with who you locked eyes with

He looked at you with that sickeningly sweet grin and eye smile

You gotta admit it, he looks cute whenever he smiles

After a bunch of friends went home, it was you, Sunoo, and a few others who decided to stay a bit more

They were talking to each other while you and Sunoo were both talking to no one, on your phones

You decided to be the one who started the conversation

"Hey Sunoo.. how did our friendship become like this? How did it even start?"

"I.. honestly don't remember why... Do you want to start over?"

"Yeah sure."

You and Sunoo exchanged socials and numbers after that

And started hanging out more

And found out that you two agreed on a lot of things and had a lot in common

You two basically became best friends after that and were a lot closer to each other than everybody else in your two's friend group

Some might say, you got together

Who knows ;)))

Jungwon:

He loved cats, you hated them

You loved dogs, he wasn't that fond of them

The classic cat and dog opposites

You were cheerful, loud, easily excited, dumb at times, a golden retriever basically

He was calm, intelligent, quiet, a bit emotionless sometimes, like a cat

And that led to many arguments between the two of you

You didn't like how he barely reacts to anything, how it seemed like he didn't care and how insensitive he can be

While he didn't like how loud you can get and how dumb you can be at times

You and a few friends decided to go out

To a cat cafe

Now you only go to dog cafes

So this was the first time you're going to a cat cafe

At first, you declined but then a bit of spamming from your friends of cute cat pictures convinced you

You walked in only to see Jungwon working as the cashier

Staring right back at you

You quickly looked away and sat down with your friends

You guys ordered and then everybody split off to play with some cats

While you were at the table, sitting awkwardly

Jungwon noticed this and came up with an idea

He picked up a gray cat and headed over to your table

"Hey Y/N, why aren't you going out to play with the cats?"

He sat down next to you, with the gray cat laying on his lap

"You know why."

He smirked at your words

"Here then, play with Smokey."

He picked up the gray cat from his lap and set him on yours

You stiffened, not knowing what to do

"Just pet him."

You cautiously placed your hand on the back of Smokey, petting him gently

"You're acting as if he's going to scratch you. Don't worry, he's one of the older cats and is very chill."

"Oh."

You and Jungwon talked as you got more comfortable petting Smokey and playing with him

"I didn't know you were so nice to talk to."

"Maybe if you weren't so loud at school, I would've been."

You rolled your eyes at his reply

You and Jungwon got closer after that

He even confessed that he liked being around you

You two acted like a couple, making everyone believe that you two were dating

Even though you weren't

But hey

Opposites attract

Ni-ki:

Ni-ki was the class clown

He was irritating to be around

At least that's how you felt

He would always bother you

Only you

Asking dumb questions

Messing with your stuff

Or be annoyingly too close to you

You were at lunch with friends

Venting about Ni-ki and how you wanted to rip out your hair because of him

"Speaking of the devil."

You turned your head and saw Ni-ki acting the same way with another girl

You were a bit relieved that he wasn't only doing it to you anymore

But a little jealous

Since him acting that way towards you

Was a bit special

Because only he acted that way with you

You stared until he looked over at you

Giving you that stupid smirk

You rolled your eyes and looked away, going back to talk to your friends

Everything was going nicely until you heard a slam in front of you

It was Ni-ki

"Oh god, you're bothering me at lunch now too?

"Well, you're my favorite girl."

Your friends made 'ooo' sounds in response while you became red

"Honestly Ni-ki, can you quit it? I've had enough of you."

You got up and walked out of the cafeteria, you were walking to the vending machines until someone grabbed your arm and turned you around

Again, Ni-ki

He pinned you to the nearest wall

His left hand was next to your head while his right hand was still holding your arm

He let go of your arm and put it next to your head as well, leaning down so his face was in front of yours

"Seriously? Leave me alone-"

He suddenly kissed you

In front of people

Not gonna lie, you quite liked it

But was never going to admit it

You broke the kiss and looked at him with furrowed eyebrows

"I like you."

"Well if you like me, then you shouldn't have annoyed me and treated me like entertainment. I'm still pissed at you."

"I'll make it up then, another kiss."

You caved in after that, admitting to yourself that he was a bit attractive

Soon you didn't mind Ni-ki bothering you

Hell, he even became a bit sweeter after that

Safe to say, you became a couple by the end of the month

[absolutebl]

I love love love the time you take to answer each question so extensively, for real I love each post I've seen pop up on my TL since I stared following you.

Sorry for bring immediately again the topic of the queerbating. Same as you I feel that the devil judge it's totally my fault because I don't know if it's being advertised as I see on Tumblr 😂 like after you posted it I've seen a couple of account SCREAMING over how gay all this is, but obviously we are not getting anything out of it.

Now I do have a question regarding queerbating, are we being you know queerbated with this, like when I watch the whole at distance spring is greener (wow why is it so tiring to writge the name of this) I knew what was happening, I knew that they kept the relationship between the male leads and somehow manage to give them girlfriends, like if we would not notice, but I'm genuinely intrigued if the devil judge is doing the same. I don't expect anything from it yet I'm truly rooting for it. So are they queerbating me?

Also I just remembered other of the star dramas of the year (I'm new to dramas but again I asked if it was a trend become the few I've watched have it) and it's Doom at your service, now I know me and my friends where rooting for something, we obviously did not get it, but they hinted at a possibility TWICE in the las episode which for me feels like a confirmation, and we have a (GL not sure if that's correct) lesbian relationship in nevertheless, so I am wondering if we are seeing true progress with them or is it just a trend.

To end this I just want to say that I'm giving Viki all my coins for Light On Me, it's already competiting with cherry magic as my favourite BL of them all and I can't still wrap my head around the idea that we are getting 16 episodes and that we've had episodes of 28 minutes, I honestly did not think this was coming to us and I can only hope that we will get more. Again thank you for your answer and I'm sending you lots of love because I'm sick at the moment and you manage to make me smile while feeling shitty. ❤️

Why thank you for the compliment! I LOVE the questions, they make me think hard about this stuff. And that’s really fun for me. 

Devil Judge... is it queerbaiting? 

Maybe? Probably? Let me try to explain the grey areas. 

Wikipedia says:

Queerbaiting is a marketing technique for fiction and entertainment in which creators hint at, but then do not actually depict, same-sex romance or other LGBTQ+ representation. They do so to attract ("bait") a queer or straight ally audience with the suggestion of relationships or characters that appeal to them, while at the same time attempting to avoid alienating other consumers.

Honestly I think this is a case of, if you feel queerbaited, then yeah. It’s queerbaiting. 

Are you watching it for the bromance even though you know they'll never kiss and they probably won’t end up together? 

Will you be mad when that happens? 

Did it get your eyeballs because you’re invested in the characters being gay? 

Is it earning streaming revenue from you because of your identity, when it will likely never acknowledge or honor that identity? 

Probably queerbaiting. 

I feel it a little, but I kind of enjoy being manipulated by pop culture, that’s why I’m an analyst. I react and I’m like, 

“OH THAT was an interesting emotional response. Why did this drama make me feel like that? What did it do? And how did it do it? Why am I surprised when I should have guessed what was going to happen? Or why am I crying when I knew it was going to happen all along?” 

I can say that the director (at least) must know he’s using visual romance tropes applied to his with two male leads. The actors are experienced enough to know this too. But it’s the camera lens that is gay...  

No director puts this kinda thing on the screen of a strictly heterosexual or non-sexual court procedural or dystopian: 

So I have to assume someone in production knows what they are about with this bromance. These are only a few of the visual romance tropes (some of them even BL) being deployed. They’re sexy and hella gay. Don’t get me started on the amount of unexpected (and out of genre) domesticity in this drama. (If anything, that’s the real queerbaiting sin.) 

Devil Judge, however, does not have a romantic endgame. We have no guarantee that any characters will end up together, or indeed, survive the narrative. (It’s a court procedural meets superhero with a dystopian setting and an anti-hero lead, plus some buddy cop elements. Think Deadpool or Dexter.)  

I mean, I could tell you what would happen with this narrative under a Western studio. GaOn is being groomed as a scion, which means our judge is preparing to die for his revenge. And probably will, likely also in protection of GaOn. Leaving GaOn to assume the burden of the continued revenge as well as the mantle of the Devil Judge. 

In this case the sexual tension would be highlighting that part of the queer journey when we are like: wait, I’m a dude, do I admire him or is this lust, do I want to fuck him or do I want to be him? (Hannibal used this technique.) 

But as this is a K-drama, I have no real clue what the narrative endgame is, it’s not necessarily going to obey the taste conceits established by Hollywood.  

So are we being manipulated?

Sure are. 

The question as to whether to get upset about queerbaiting or not, is for me, one of whether I care that I am being manipulated. 

And right now, I’m really enjoying being manipulated.

 But I reserve the right to get angry about it later. 

* Note on Nevertheless, when it’s side dishes that’s a different situation. Because it doesn’t cost the drama much (marketing or money wise) to make a side character actually queer. I think they might follow through with those two. 

[lostbetweenvampiresandmusic]

hi so, today I found out some really devastating news (a member of one of my favorite bands passed yesterday), and I'm really not doing good rn, so could you please do some lost boys comfort/fluff? I don't really know how to feel rn because it's not like I ever met him, he didn't even know I exisisted, yet he's one of the people whose helped me the most. it just feels weird grieving so hard over someone I've never met, but he's made such a huge impact on my life that it feels wrong not to mourn. can't stop crying. fucking sucks. don't really know what to do anymore.

I'm so sorry... I've heard about it - I really wish you the best hon! I just want to start with saying it's more than okay to feel sad and to mourn him - you're a fan. He meant something to you. So obviously you are allowed to grieve him, and please do so!

I know it sucks, and I really wish there was something I could do to make you feel better. Just don't beat yourself up for feeling the way you do, please💜 Take care of yourself, hon💜

-------------------

When you entered the cave, before you'd even spoken a word, Paul stood there in front of you. His arms wrapped around you, pressing a soft kiss against your forehead. He didn't speak, he just held you. For a moment both of you forgot the existence of the others, forgot about the music playing softly from the rockbox, forgot about the vaguely oily smell coming from the barrels. In that moment it was just the two of you. Paul and you.

"I'm glad you're here, babe," Marko said, and you could hear the soft smile in his voice. As you let go of Paul, Marko took your hand, leading you further into the cave. Past the chair David was sitting on, past the mural of Jim Morrison, all the way to the back, until you reached a large room.

"What are we doing here?"

"Well, we thought you could use some cheering up."

"So..?"

"So that's what we're going to do. I figured you didn't want to go to the boardwalk right now?"

You nodded, smiling softly. "Not really, no."

"Dwayne's out picking up your favourite movies, and some snacks."

"I can't stay the night, you know that, right? My parents -"

"David talked to them already, actually. As long as you give them a call later on tonight do they'll know you're okay, you can sleep over."

"How? I- they'd never-"

"I can be persuasive," David stood in the doorway, before he walked up to you and gave you a soft kiss.

"I- I really love this but why? Why are you -"

"Because we care about you? Because we don't want you to be alone when you're down? Because we love you?"

I looked at David, and then at Marko, who nodded. "Just accept it. You're stuck with us."

It didn't take long before Paul joined as well, having gathered mattresses, pillows and blankets from all over the cave. "Comfy?" he asked as he had practically built a fort around you, covering you with the blankets. They smelled like the boys, and you couldn't help but smile.

Lastly there was Dwayne, only now arriving. He carried a TV with him, which David took and hooked up with some of Paul's help. In a bag he held in his hand, Dwayne had at least ten different movies - all of which you enjoyed watching. It was a mixture of genres, from horror to comedy, some musicals and dramas - and then there was the food. He'd picked your favourite dinner, your favourite snacks and comfort foods.

As you looked at all they'd done for you tonight, you couldn't help but feel your eyes water up. "I love you guys," you mumbled, whiping your tears away. Within seconds they were next to you, cuddling you.

"You're ours, babe."

"We love you too," Dwayne said, holding you close. Marko had put the movie you picked into the dvd-player, and starting it, as David and Paul made sure all five of you could lay comfortably while watching the movie. It didn't take long before the five of you laid there, cuddling with each other, eating, making silly jokes - the movie almost forgotten.

[katwritessometimes]

Temptations

Reformed Hero!Dabi (Touya Todoroki) x Villain! Reader

A collab piece for @lemonlordleah-shinzawa-kitten Citru s Dome Server 

Read the other entries HERE 

Warnings: it's pwp, lil bit of choking, lil bit of degradation little bit of anal play. Reader calls him Daddy like twice. Filth all around

5kish words (shout out to the lovely @teddieh​​ who beta read it for me UwU) 

Read it on Ao3

It was like an itch, Touya knew he shouldn’t walk over, knew he should be staying away from you until reinforcements arrived. He knew that if he stepped foot into that room everything he’d been working for, his redemption, it would all go down the drain. But reinforcements wouldn’t be reaching their location for at least another hour and he really couldn’t help himself. 

It's how Touya Todoroki, Bright Burn, reformed cremation hero, ends up standing in front of his bound target. You were just as beautiful as Touya remembered. Despite the muzzle snug tight against your face, and the quirk canceling collar clasped around your neck. Touya admired the ever-present ferocity behind your stare. Your eyes were trained on him the second he walked into the room he was keeping you captive in. Shifting against your restraints, a sly smile creeps its way onto your lips as Touya ventures closer into the room. 

“Awe, finally worthy of your presence, am I?” Your voice is deceivingly soft and steady, a deceptive sweetness to it that you always used to your advantage. Thanks to your quirk, you can hear how his heart speeds up at the sound of your voice, despite his ever-present poker face. You can’t help but smile happy to know you still had this effect on him. 

“Backup should be here soon. Have you reconsidered my offer?” Touya’s voice is just how you remember it deep and steady, but you refuse to admit to yourself that you’d missed him. 

“No, not really. Unlike someone my loyalties don't teter.” Your voice is teasing, a smile hiding behind the muzzle tight on your face. Touya clenches and unclenches his jaw, he knew you would give him a hard time. Even so, he couldn't resist coming over and trying to convince you, beg you to come with him. 

“If you come willingly they'll let you go through the reform program. Call you a vigilante instead of a villain, I'll sponsor you, please.” Touya hadn’t intended for his words to sound as pleading as they did, regardless all he got back from you was a snort and an eye roll. 

“I have a villainous quirk, a wild monster remember? You used to love that about me. I looked up to you for so long, you know that?” Toya comes a little closer at the sudden softness behind your words, he approaches slowly coming to a stop in front of you, peering down at your bound form. 

“You were proud of the way you looked, proud of your scars, proud of calling yourself a freak. It was inspiring, you made me proud of being called a freak with a villainous quirk. It was one of the things I admired most about you, ya know.” Touya doesn't know what to say, he tries to remind himself that you weren't on his side anymore, that emotional manipulation was your favorite pastime. 

You let out a sigh, vulnerability clearly wasn’t getting you the desired response. You shift against your restraints and with another dramatic sigh. A small grin takes over your face. You decide to take on a different approach.  “You used to take pride in your appearance too. What happened? Too much of a freak? Does daddy make you wear makeup?” You wanted to rile him up, wanted him to react, to explode in your face. Anything to indicate the hot-headed man you used to know was still in there somewhere.  

 “A healer, we found a healer who was able to create new cells for me and restore my skin” Touya’s voice is still calm and it infuriates you to no end. 

 “Right. Let the hero’s hide the truth like they always do. They didn't even tell the public that you’re a reformed villain, right? Daddy didn’t want to look bad in front of everyone, right? Erased Dabi from existence because it was easier for Endeavor's son to magically reappear than to admit he was a villain for ten odd years.” Your eyes scanned his face. When the ‘hero’ Bright Burn first found you, it took several minutes to process exactly who he was. Touya had quite literally smoked you out of your hiding spot, flaming red hair, a lack of any piercings, and most noticeably, perfect porcelain skin. You’d much preferred his charred skin and staples over this superficial perfection, though he was handsome either way. 

Touya’s jaw stayed clenched, annoyed with the words coming out of your mouth, knowing that what you were saying was all true. He’d said the same things to himself many times before, but he was reformed. He loved his new hero life… It's what he tells himself anyway. Every day that goes by gets harder and harder for him to continue convincing himself that he’s happy as a hero. Touya thought he was ready to face you, he didn’t want any other hero coming after you, hoping that if he was the one who captured you, he might be able to sway you to the right side of justice. Touya’s attention snaps back to you when you let out a dramatic sigh, shifting against your restraints and focusing your attention on him. 

“We’ve got time to kill don’t we? Why don't you let me go and we can have some fun while we wait huh?” You look up at him, mustering the best puppy dog eyes you can with a mischievous smile hiding behind the muzzle. Those words give you an immediately satisfying reaction, Touya’s body shifting making himself just a little bit taller, shoulders stiffening at your words. 

 “Do you remember what it was like being tangled together? My nails scratching down your back, the sweet pain of my teeth digging into your neck? The way your fingers felt wrapped tight around my pretty little neck?” You hear him attempt to cover what you know is clearly a moan with a cough. His eyes are not so inconspicuously racking down your body as he clears his throat. “Awe come on, or maybe just take this ugly muzzle off yeah? Let me wrap my mouth around that perfect cock of yours.” You can’t help the chuckle that leaves you, once a dirty pervert always a dirty pervert. No amount of ‘hero reform’ could ever change the deviance you knew hid just under the red-haired hero’s skin. 

“Don't.” Touya’s voice comes out in a familiar snarl that always sends a chill down your spine, the brilliant turquoise in his eyes darkening significantly.  All you need to do is push him just a little bit further. 

 “Awe come on we’ve got time to kill. I promise I'll be good for you. Aren’t I always so good for you, Touya?” His real name had always been his weakness, you knew you’d won when he brought a bright flaming hand close to your face. A delicious shiver runs down your spine, heat rising to your face in excitement. 

“You’re bound and all you can do is sit there and beg me for my cock huh? Still a needy little slut, aren't you, sweetie?”  A tingle shoots straight to your core at his words, sitting up just a little bit straighter as he brings his flaming hand to your face, his eyes dark. The heat from his flames laps oh so closely to your face. A familiar welcomed warmth. You know he won't hurt you. All he does is burn off the muzzle, ever the drama queen. 

There's a flash of hesitation as he removes the mangled remains of the muzzle from your face. A bruise blooming on your jaw where he’d punched you during your initial fight. Touya’s lips form a tight frown as he brushes his thumb over it. Shaking his head, the darkness in his eyes subsides. “I was too rough.” Touya’s voice is soft as he caresses the damaged skin along your jaw but you flash him a smile, a soft hum escaping you as you lean into his touch. 

“You’ve given me worse” You tease and in an instant his soft caress turns into a hard grip on your cheeks. He doesn’t make another move, however, the flash of who you used to know disappeared again leaving behind an emotionally vulnerable hero once more. “How about you get me out of these restraints, hmm, pretty boy?” Touya hates that those words make him feel the way they do. He knows he shouldn't, he knows backup could get there early. He decides he doesn't care at that moment, all he wants is to feel you pressed up against him. So that's exactly what he does. 

Touya’s sudden movements surprise you for a second, thinking that maybe he truly had changed and would knock you out so he wouldn’t be tempted any further. To your pleasant surprise and amusement, he undoes the binds on your arms instead, removing the quirk canceling cuffs but keeping the collar on. Not that it matters much, even without your quirk you were still significantly agile and strong. You stand up from your previous kneeling position, stretching your arms up over your head. A happy little moan coming from you, your muscles relax after being bound in the same position for so long. You come out of the stretch and bring your arms down and around Touya’s neck, he hasn't moved since unbinding you. 

“Did you miss me, handsome?” A wicked smile spreads across your face as you pull him in close, threading your hands into his hair as you press your body firmly against his. Touya hums as you tug on his hair lightly, the way you know he likes. You humm, grinding up against him. He stifled a moan, large hands coming up to still your hips as he leans in for a kiss. With a giggle, you give a sharp tug pulling his head back just as he’s about to reach your lips. You feel the bulge quickly growing pressed tight against his hero suit and a pathetic excuse for a growl leaves him as you tilt his head back, exposing his neck.

“Awe, look at how excited you got.” You coo, smiling widely as you lean into his neck, sharp teeth nipping at the delicate flesh as Touya tries to pry his head from your grip. You let out a soft tut, pulling sharply at his hair and biting down harshly at his collar bone. It earns you a very satisfying moan, the first real moan he's allowed to slip through. You part his legs with your knee gently pressing against his erection as you pull away from him. Touya’s face is flushed red, soft pants passing through his lips as he looks down at you with glazed-over eyes. 

“I bet no one’s fucked you the way you like since you went all-mighty hero. Can’t have all the filthy little things you enjoy slip out into the public, now can we?” Getting him like this was thrilling, you rarely ever got the upper hand on him like this. You push him back towards a comfy looking chair, Touya stumbling back into it, your hand never leaving his hair. You wiggle yourself onto his lap, your legs spread on either side of his waist. The hard length of his cock pressing deliciously against you as you grind down against it, earning yourself a deep moan from Touya. 

Touya refuses to let you get to him, yes he’s hard, and yes, god he’d missed the way your body felt against his. He does his best to remain level headed but his resolve was crumbling with every thrust of your hips against his, composure crumbling with every sharp insult, every rock of your hips against his. You let go of his hair with a dramatic sigh, rolling your head before looking at Touya with disappointment on your face, maybe he really had changed. One last wicked thought crosses through your mind as you pull away from him, getting off his lap to stand in front of him instead, leaning into him so that your noses touch. 

“You really have gone soft, haven’t you? Hmmm, maybe I should go find Endeavor. I'm pretty sure your daddy could fuck me better than you can at this point. Give me exactly what I want, since you don’t seem to fit the bill anymore, Touya.” You say it in the most bored tone you can muster his composure cracking as you wiggle your nose against his in an eskimo kiss. 

It’s like a switch flipped, his eyes darkening and suddenly his hand is gripping your face tightly,  no longer mindful of the bruise blooming across it. Dabi presses his fingers harshly against your cheeks, pressing your face down until you're kneeling between his legs. His grip stings beautifully as he shoves your face against his thigh. 

“You’ve always had such a smart fucking mouth, ya know that?” He moves his grip from your face to the back of your head, pressing your face against the prominent bulge in his pants. “You want me to wreck you princess? Fine , I'm sick of your teasing. You know the drill. I'm sure that empty little head of yours can still remember what I like, can't it?” Dabi coos mockingly, excitement pooling in your belly. You loved teasing him, getting him flustered and being in control a little bit. But you much preferred it when he took charge of things. Of course, you still enjoy making things difficult for him. 

 When he lets go of your hair, you pull your face away from in between his legs. Looking up at him through your lashes, you trail your hands down your body slowly. You play with the hem of your shirt peeling it off painfully slow. Dabi snarls a sound that always goes straight to your core. “Too fucking slow, princess.” He shoves his foot in between your legs, harshly nudging them apart until your knees are spread before burning your shirt clean off. A surprised chirp slips from your lips, hot flames licking at your skin as the shirt dissolves in the flames, but the fire never burns you. 

Dabi leans forward, ever warm fingers caressing your cheek gently before letting his fingers trail down your jaw. Gently tumbling down the side of your neck and over to your breasts, tweaking a nipple harshly between his fingers. Your breath hitches, chest pushing up against his touch as he moves to the other nipple, giving that one the same treatment. “You’ve always been so pretty like this, ya know that?” His eyes hold a softness that was only ever reserved for you, you preen under his gaze and attention sitting up just a little bit taller as he runs a hand through your hair. 

“Now, let's put that annoying little mouth of yours to good use.” Dabi purrs, gripping your hair tight from the scalp and pressing your face into his lap. You let out a chuckle, happily letting him guide you, keeping you flush against his thigh. Dabi releases himself from his pants, a familiar Prince Albert piercing greeting you as well as your favorite, his Jacob's ladder piercing. You were pleasantly surprised that he still had them, but again, once a pervert always a pervert. 

Dabi settles back into his chair,  palming at himself with a steady grip still in your hair. “Go on princess. You know what to do.” With a smile on your face, you give the tip of his cock quick teasing peck before bringing your hand up to him, Thumbing at the bead of precum leaking from him before licking a strip up the underside of his shaft. Coming up, you take just the tip into your mouth, swirling your tongue around his head and sucking lightly at the sensitive skin there. 

Dabi pushes at your head and you happily oblige, letting him guide you down, forcing all of him into your mouth. You humm, trying to relax as Dabi begins to rutt up into your mouth, keeping your head down flush against his pelvis, the hair decorating the base of his cock brushing against your nose. You cough a little as Dabi picks up speed, but he keeps a firm grasp on your hair. “Relax princess- fuck- just breathe through your nose darling. You know how.” You do your best to relax as Dabi continues to abuse your throat, bringing your hands up onto his thighs, digging your nails into his pants. 

Dabi mutters a soft fuck, taking in a breath pulling you from his cock from your hair before letting go completely. He’s panting just as hard as you are and you smile looking up at him. Tears begin pooling in your eyes as drool dribbles down your lips and onto your chest. Dabi has the biggest smirk on his face, leaning over you, smudging the mix of saliva and precum from your lips to your cheek. He hums. “My messy little princess, did you miss choking on my cock?” You croak out a yes and Dabi chuckles leaning back into his chair again. “Up” he hums, you scramble to rise and Dabi pulls you in by your waist until you’re standing in between his legs.

“Are you ready for me princess? Let me see..” The soft coo of his voice has you flushing, hating and loving the way he always managed to get your riled up with just his words. You hear the distinct sound of clothes ripping and then you’re standing only in your panties in front of him. Dabi smirks, eyes taking in every inch of your body and brings one of his hands up to tweak at your nipples, the other tumbling at the softness of your belly then trailing down to where you wanted him most. His fingers brush against the damp material of your panties, a glint of mischief in his eyes as he presses against you. 

“My my.. I've barely even touched you and you’re already soaked right through those pretty little panties. Filthy girl. Do you like it when I'm rough with you, princess?” The sound of Dabi ripping your panties sends a shiver down your spine. His fingers slide down your folds, teasing against your hole, barely pressing against you before pulling away to rub at your clit. You let out a whine, trying to press down against his fingers in an attempt to soothe some of the ache in your belly.

“Do you want my fingers in this slutty little pussy of yours darling?” You whine as Dabi pulls you onto his lap, spreading your legs wide with his own so that you're straddling him. His still hard cock rubbing against your exposed pussy as you settle against him whimpering. Dabi was still fully clothed and you lean forward to clutch at his shirt, hips humping desperately against his hard cock needing something to ease the heat pooling in your belly. 

 “No, don't want fingers, want you, need you.” You whimper, burying your head against his chest. He chuckles above you, pushing your hips away from him so that you can't rut against him. You snarl, teeth latching onto his neck in frustration. “Fuck me already.” You whine against his neck. Dabi laughs now, a deep happy sound, he smacks your ass and you jolt a little. 

 “Up. Turn around let me see that gorgeous ass of yours.” You huff, giving his neck another sharp nip before pulling away from him, pouting. Dabi chuckles, leaning in to kiss you soft and tender, hands coming up to cup your cheek. “On your knees. Ass up, princess.” He hums against you, nipping at your bottom lip before pulling away completely. You happily oblige, peeling yourself from his lap, legs trembling in excitement as you do what you're told, wiggling your ass in his face before bending down in front of him. 

You hear the creak of the chair as Dabi stands up and then his hands are on you, fingers trailing over the curve of your ass before ghosting against your puckered hole. You chirp and Dabi chuckles, forcing you to spread your legs wider with his knee as he turns his attention to your dripping pussy. 

“Look so delicious like this, princess. Absolutely soaked, just for me.” His mouth is on you then, hot warm tongue lapping up at the juices dripping from your core. Dabi chuckles against you as you cry out, dipping two fingers into the welcoming warmth of your doughy walls. His tongue following soon after, tracing your lips with his tongue before plunging the warm muscle in with his fingers. A loud moan passes through your lips as you press yourself against the floor, pushing your ass back desperately against Dabi. You want more, need more. Dabi brings a hand around your body to play with your clit and your mind goes blank, focusing only on the heat in your belly and the way his tongue feels dipping into your pussy. 

“Come all over my mouth and I’ll fuck you silly. How does that sound, princess?” Dabi picks up the pace, relentlessly rubbing at your bundle of nerves. It crashes into you all at once, and you can't help cry out as your orgasm overtakes you. Panting like a bitch in heat, whimpering. Dabi doesn't let up as you cum around his tongue. He lets you ride your orgasm out as you press yourself against him. A happy buzz electrifying your body as you come down from your orgasm. The cool of the floor against your cheek helps to keep you grounded as Dabi pulls away from you, all you can manage is a whimper.

 You don't get much of a chance to catch your breath, Dabi pushing into you all at once. The delicious stretch as his cock sheaths itself in your pussy, a stretch that only he’d ever been able to give you. You cry out overwhelmed as Dabi sets a merciless pace, the sound of his hips connecting flush against your ass filling the room. You can hear Dabi chuckle darkly behind you as he pressed a hand between your shoulder blades, pushing you further against the ground, your breasts brushing against the cold floor. Your breath hitches as you hear Dabi spit into his hand, followed by wet fingers gingerly circling around the puckered hole exposed to him. You choke out a moan as Dabi continues to fuck into you, one of his fingers dipping into your ass and you can't help but push back against him.

“Dirty girl, do you like it when I play with your ass like this? Pushing into me like the desperate little whore you are huh? Want me to fill up both your holes don’t you baby girl?” You’re a babbling mess beneath him, cheek digging uncomfortably against the cold floor. You loved the feel of Dabi’s body draped over yours, his weight keeping your upper half-pressed firmly against the ground. His other warm callus hand holding your hips up nice and high for him to hump into mindlessly, your juices running down your legs as his hips smack into yours. Dabi snarls against the side of your head, one of the hands holding your hips comes around to your neck as he pulls back on his haunches pulling your body up along with him. 

 “You feel so good around me princess. Did you miss me? Miss the way my cock stretches you? Pumps you nice and full?” You choke out a soft yes, leaning into him as best you can as he continues to rut into you wildly, the barbells of his jacob's ladder pressing deliciously against your sensitive walls. The heat pooling in your stomach is overwhelming and you can't help but trail your hand down your stomach until you reach the sweet little nub between your legs. Dabi growls behind you, his teeth clamping down around your shoulder.  “Who the fuck said you could touch yourself hmm? Bold of you, don't you think doll?” He pulls out stilling completely with only the tip of his cock still buried snugly inside you, the smooth metal of his Prince Albert just barely giving you the stretch you desperately desire. A breathy laugh coming from him as you squirm. 

 “No, no, no—” You whine out, frustrated. “I’m sorry! Please don’t stop!” You cry out desperately, his fingers squeeze your neck just a little bit tighter as you try to push yourself down onto him. Soft whimpers and nonsense spilling from you as you try to bring your hips down onto him. 

“Beg for me baby girl, tell me how badly you want my cock.” Dabi chuckles, moving both of his hands down to hold onto your hips stilling you. You let out a frustrated whine, desperately trying to sink back down onto his cock the tip of his prince albert piercing teasing at your entrance.

“Please—I need you to fill me up again!” 

Dabi tuts, one hand trailing up your body until it reaches your face, stroking at your lips before sticking two of his fingers into your mouth, your warm saliva coating them as he presses down onto your tongue. “I dunno, you were quite the little brat earlier, bringing up my fucking father. Remind me who you belong to, go ahead. Beg the way I like little one.” You let out a frustrated huff, mind foggy still desperate to feel him in you again. 

“Daddy please—please fill me with your cock! I'm so sorry about what I said earlier. I just want your cock, only yours Daddy, no one else’s!”  You cry out as he pushes back into you, your doughy walls pulling him in greedily, his fingers now thurougly coated in your own spit come down to assault your clit as he bites into your neck again. Before you can think, the heat pooling in your belly overflows and you're crying, cumming around his cock as he pounds into you.

 You’re a mess chest heaving nonsensical words tumbling from your lips, you don’t get much of a chance to register what is happening. One moment you’re on the floor whimpering as Touya’s warmth leaves you. The next, your back meets the cool hard texture of the wall and Touya is pressed up against your front. Warmth radiates from a still mostly clothed Touya as he hoists your legs around his waist pinning you up against the nearest wall. You roll your head back moaning weakly as he pushes into you again, the unique stretch of the piercings lining his cock overstimulating your already sensitive walls. Touya is more gentle this time, shifting his weight so he can bring a hand up to stroke your cheek. You’re a happy whimpering mess as Touya lazily fucks into you, tears streaming down your face but you missed him. Missed this overwhelming feeling only he could ever give you. 

"You look so pretty fucked out like this, little one." Touya continues to hump into you lazily stroking your cheek as he fucks up into you. He kisses you gently forehead first, then your nose, right cheek, then left. You whimper leaning into his touch and puckering your lips for the kiss you really want. Touya chuckles before finally kissing you fully in the lips, a happy whimper leaving you as you get your kiss. Touya pulls away resting his forehead against yours, a new wave of emotions wash over you as brilliant blue eyes lock with yours. For a moment, everything is ok, there are no heroes, no villains, no wars being raged. Just two souls reconnecting after a long time.

"Missed you… Touya I missed you" You can't help the fresh tears pooling in your eyes. Throwing your arms around his neck, Touya chuckles as you bury your face into his neck. 

"Fuck… I missed you too princess. It's ok, I'm here. Don't worry about that right now. Relax for me little one, do you think you can give Daddy one more orgasm?” you try to focus on his deep voice, take a breath and lean back allowing yourself to relax against the wall as Touya continues his gentle lazy strokes. Touya leans forward kissing at your throat, "Such a good girl for me. Go ahead, touch yourself for me, sweetheart. Rub that pretty little clit while Daddy fucks this sweet pussy of yours." he hums against your skin, picking up the pace. 

You do as you’re told, eagerly reaching between your legs to diddle your clit while Touya begins fucking into you harder. Your other hand comes around to grip onto his arm as he bears your weight, nails digging into the taught muscle as heat pools in your stomach. 

"That's it, sweetie. You're doing so good for me baby girl, feel so tight around my cock, fuck—  Are you ready for me baby girl? That's it cum for me—”  Your name leaves his lips in a soft whisper, it sends you over the edge with a choked cry, your orgasm washes over you leaving you trembling and whimpering as Touya fucks you through it.

“Ah—Touya..! It's too much—” You whimper, hands moving away from your clit pressing against his chest, nails digging into his shirt. Touya does not relent, however, pace erratic, hips pistoning against yours as he chases his own orgasm. He leans his head against your chest, spilling into you with a deep grunt, his breath ragged. The world stills, both of you breathing heavily against each other, Touya continuing to hold you for a few more breaths. 

“Think you can get your footing, baby?” Touya pulls away from your chest, peppering your face in soft gentle kisses. You let out a soft yes and Touya helps settle you onto your own two feet, his warm hands finding perch on your bare hips to keep you steady. You look up at him, a feeling of vulnerability washing over you as you look up into familiar blue eyes, tears pooling, threatening to spill.  

 “Come home to me,” Touya mumbles, a calloused hand reaching up to your bruised face, gently swiping at your swollen lips. He leans down to kiss you, shy and hesitant, delaying what he knows will be rejection. Touya pulls away from you and your bottom lip comes out in a trembling pout.

“Promise me things will be okay..?” You whimper and Touya pulls you into a tight hug, choking back tears as he envelopes you in a warm embrace. 

“Things will be okay.” 

 ---------------------------------Epilogue--------------------------------------- 

In other news, pro hero Bright Burn and reformed hero (Y/H/N) welcome their firstborn child, a baby girl into the world today. The former vigilante turned pro hero Y/H/N came on the scene five years ago under the Todoroki hero agency as a sidekick for the eldest of Endeavor’s son, Bright Burn. The pair took the city by storm. Fans of the hero Bright Burn quickly fell in love with his new sidekick at the time, the fierce-looking but gentle Y/N, whose close combat quirk complements the long-range Bright Burns beautifully. From all of us at Tokyo News, we congratulate our favorite hero pair on their beautiful new child. 

[organic-guacamole]

I've got a lot of thoughts on this finale.

starting with the length.

27 minutes? really?

I'm not asking for a 2 hour episode but cmon, at least give us something closer to 40 minutes.

next, the characters

the characters just didn't feel like themselves, especially portwell.

all season long we saw how much potential they had, how well communicated they were, how good they were at being a proper, healthy couple, and now they just can't talk to each other?

it doesn't feel like them.

portwell had arguably the best set up of all the other ships, they showed us how good they had the potential to be only to throw in a cheap plot to wrap it up? I would understand that they want some angst to make the ending all the more satisfying, but this was pathetic.

there I said it.

of all the ways to add drama in a ship, don't use the one that completely contradicts their entire development.

paired with the length of the episode, it seemed even more poorly written.

here I made a lovely, handy dandy homemade graph to represent how I see portwell's storyline:

as i said before, we saw the build up being nearly perfect. they peaked during episodes 9-11 because they just had the chemistry, the communication, and the most potential to be the endgame couple.

they just got eachother.

then we get Jamie popping in for 10 seconds and erasing a lot of that, only for mediator Ashlyn to jump in and solve their problems.

then there's the "kiss".

I know that Sofia is underage and that even if she/her legal guardians consent to the kiss, the writers can still decide not to show it, but still. In my opinion, if you're not going to show the kiss, then don't bother.

there are other ways to establish a relationship that would work better in this situation. Of course if they get together they'll have to kiss sometime, but one way they could postpone it is by having Gina be a bit more reluctant to give away her first kiss like that. it could also show how accomodating EJ is.

I like to think that Gina is very meticulous when making decisions so she'll probably want to be very sure of the relationship before giving him her first kiss. perhaps she'd stick to cheek kisses until she's ready, and then she kisses him and he's surprised.

that would've been, in my opinion, a sufficient way to hold off the kiss while still wrapping up portwell until season 3 when Sofia would be 18 (assuming they get picked up for S3 this summer then start filming fall-winter. Sofia will be 18 in January).

as my friend @rtcosley (idk why it's not letting me tag them, so their page is linked) said,

"They created like 10 plots

And instead of wrapping it up

They added 4 more"

there's just so much more they could've done...it's the season finale for crying out loud.

I get that seblos already had (what I assume is) their storyline for the season, the fight and resolution. Ignoring the fact that that only lasted for 2 episodes and didn't have anything to do with what we were expecting, (i.e.the financial differences between their families, as mentioned in episode 1, the fact that everyone treats seb like he's stupid, this being carlos' first show and the drama that the stress of that caused, etc.), seblos had to purpose this episode than to stand next to eachother and be gay.

I get that they're not part of the core four or anything, but the poster for season 2 has all of them, as opposed to season 1 just being the core four.

They deserved better, just like redlyn and kowie.

redlyn's arc was pretty early in the season compared to the other ships. they had Ashlyn confessing her insecurities in episode 3, antoine stirring the pot of confusion and causing a bit of distance between them briefly, and then big red confessing his goals and plans for the future in episode 8 and for the rest of it, we just see them getting closer and more comfortable with each other and caring about each other more and more.

they had a good arc together.

but that's just it. I wanted to see them have their own arcs. but then again, this show can't seem to balance multiple storylines. I think it is possible, but not when they keep adding new characters that don't contribute anything much to the story(more on that later).

kowie's storyline is... confusing.

I really like their dynamic, how carefree and happy Kourtney gets around him, how she's remaining true to herself and managing a million and one things, plus a relationship in her own without losing herself to it all.

but the main issue I have is that the entire development was never shown.

we went from strangers, to coworkers, to friends that flirt, to lovers that text constantly and went on numerous dates (and Howie met her mother at some point). but all of that, was off screen.

it's like the writers made every episode with them in it kind of thrown in at a new stage of relationship progression and said "here, accept this, no questions asked because we don't have answers"

I just wish we could've seen more of howie trying to get in her good side again after episode 7 because it seems like that's when a lot of it happened.

I appreciate the Rini scene in this episode, seems to be the very end of them, for good this time.

i'm happy about that.

Ricky especially deserves to be free for a while to focus on his development, and Nini has the chance now to really shine through her talents and make a name for herself.

The Rini storyline is the only one I'm fully satisfied with.

now, that being said;

what the heck are they trying to pull with Lily and Ricky rn???

just like that.

after lily being the villain this whole season, they're just gonna not redeem her and then have her confess her feelings to Ricky, a guy she barely knows and only talked to to harass and intimidate, and for him to reject her publicly then call her afterwards?

please I hope it's just to say "you dropped something, here it is and never contact me again, thanks." /hj

speaking of the villains, this season was promoted as the season of rivalry between North and East High right? so why did that plot idea only progress in about 3 out if 12 episodes?

we got Zackey Roy in there for a few episodes then he disappeared, Lily just caused Gina to stay true to her friends in episode 2 and 7 and then basically did nothing else?

this is what I mean by the new characters providing nothing to the show.

the writers can't manage having so many characters and plots at once so they start so many promising arcs, only to kick them aside later on.

we already know that the first half of the season felt like filler episodes, so I think they could've cut those down to leave room for the more important plots to take root, rather than have them pop up and get rushed at the end of the season.

all that, and they just add 4 more plots at the end of the season.

this post sounds very negative looking back...but if I'm being honest with myself, I'm just very very disappointed.

I love this show so much and I really expected better for the season finale, especially if they don't know if it's getting renewed or not.

given the IMDB ratings of this episode so far, I don't have very high expectations for the renewal, but I'm still hopeful because this show is a great thing, one of the best things that happened to me over the course of this quarantine. I've become so attached to this show, the cast and the friends I made through it, that I don't know what I would do if it just ends like this. writing these reviews and posts about this season has been so fun for me to do and thinking that this may be the very last one is a painful thought.

I'm sorry if you were expecting this post to be as light-hearted as my other posts about the episodes, I just had a lot to say about this episode in particular.

all my episode posts are tagged with "#guac's episode text blocks :)" in case you wanna read through and reminisce the simpler times🥲