#i feel like its cringe to enjoy the show but i did genuinely enjoy it while i was watching DBFJDKL

[dandyshucks]

the question im asking myself today 😔

[astarioffsimpmain]

Furthest from the Truth (Gale x F!Reader)

Pairing: Gale Dekarios x F!Reader

Warnings: Insecurity; indications of past trauma

Author's Note: Well, I was sad and this happened. It may become something, who knows?

It was soft, his presence. It enveloped you with all the tenderness of a lover; or, how you had always assumed a lover would be. Your prospective lovers had all known the words to say, the looks to give, the fleeting touches of promise to provide in order to send you straight off of the edge in search of them. But by the time you had reached the bottom, they had long gone, taking your trust and your love and your sanity with them. It was why, when Astarion had come to you with those eyes, those words, that promising touch, you had recoiled without even a thought. He looked hurt, you felt hurt. But you knew. You knew he had to want something; they always wanted… something. Everything. You had apologized. Gods, you always apologized. It was like the punctuation of your sentences and it escaped your lips before you could stop it. You had apologized and left the elf standing there alone, wondering where you were rushing off to in such a hurry. 

Surprisingly, even to you, you had rushed to him. He had been standing outside his tent with a glass of whine and beautifully flushed cheeks and it was as though a magnet inside of you had finally found its opposite and was pulling you to its mark. You couldn’t wait and you couldn’t stop and you allowed yourself to be drawn in. “I was hoping you’d spare me a moment. There’s something magical I wish to show you. More’s the pity you’ve already found someone else to make merry with. Just the two of you. He has a certain charm about him, Astarion.” 

Your eyes had widened. “What are you talking about?” The confusion you felt spilled over in your words and Gale gave pause.

“Did- did you not- were you not agreeing to, uhm… did you not mean to spend the evening with Astarion?” his smooth verbosity had all but vanished, and your cheeks warmed, a welcome display of nervousness and honesty in his gaze. 

“I promised no such evening to Astarion,” you murmured, and the wizard’s face lit up in response. “But perhaps I can promise my time to someone else?” Had you not been in the presence of the man himself, you would have slapped yourself for being so foolish. You shouldn’t be this bold. Being bold enough to assume he would want to spend this fine evening with you was a dangerous move; heartbreaking for you, almost certainly. You had cringed inwardly at your rashness. 

But your eyes had widened even further once Gale began to respond. “Indeed. I’m glad you feel the same way. But while I’m eager to enjoy your company on an exclusive basis later this evening, it would be selfish to keep you to myself before then. So please, go. Enjoy the festivities. Anticipation will only make our reunion sweeter.” 

And sweeter it was. You stood close to him now, a hair’s breadth away from his warmth, allowing yourself to sink deeper into the fiery umber burn of his eyes, far removed from sense and self preservation. Was this what it felt like? To feel safe; cared for. Is this what he felt with Mystra? A pang of hurt sharded through your heart, ugly and painful, and burrowed deep inside, lighting the rest of your nerves with a sharp ache. His beautiful face contorted in concern and the deep wrinkles between his brows reappeared as they knitted together. “Are you alright?” he asked, his voice so soft you could barely hear it at all. He felt it; he felt your pain through the weave. 

You nodded, trying to reign it in; desperate not to frighten him off. Not so soon. You had only just gotten the chance to be near to him. You knew that eventually he would leave you, off to find something - someone - better, but you sought to keep him for as long as you could. His gentleness was addictive, veiling you in a feeling of genuine comfort. The way he looked at you like you were the only person around who held meaning stole the air from your lungs, robbing you blind of your common sense. You knew it had to be temporary. He would learn you, as they all did; learn you and realize that there are cracks in the confident veneer. And once he peered inside of those cracks, he would see your ugliness. He would see the things you so expertly hid; the things you had been taught over and over by others to tuck away into cold and dark places, never to see the light of day. Never to see the light of him. 

Perhaps you and Astarion were not so unalike after all. Perhaps that is why you ran from him. You did not like looking in the mirror.

~

[xxgoblin-dumplingxx]

i've been having a couple of downer days recently, and i kept looking for a verse i haven't read thrice yet for some comfort, but you're age! gap verse has been a pleasant escape even though its not what i was looking for. you're writing never fails to make me feel better ari 💕💕

Here's how they met 💜

Bruce sighed. He was starting to hate talk show appearances, but at least this one had never been too bad. Angelique was chatty and fun but not grating. Her show ran as school let out. So grannies watched after their naps and kids watched getting off the bus. She ran a little something for everyone.

He assumed he was here for the grannies.

"I'm so sorry I'm late the shoot ran over and I couldn't get away."

The voice caught his attention. Not the fake starlet over dramatic gushing, but genuine distress. And he half turned to look. You looked like you came from a shoot. Straight off the pages of a glossy magazine.

"No worries, Miss Y/L/N we got your call in enough time. We'll just touch up your face and you'll be good to go," the manager greeting you, said.

Bruce smiled a little. Clearly, you were a frequent guest. You thanked him profusely and trotted off. Not needing to be told where to go. And as you go, there's several crew members you can greet by name. You've either been here a lot or worked with them before. Or both. But, it's endearing.

He turned back around listening to Angelique get her updates on where production was. "-And Y/N is in hair and makeup as we speak."

"Oh, bless her heart," Angelique said. "That's what I get calling her last minute." She turned to Bruce and held out her hand, "Are you ready?" she asked.

"As I'll ever be," he chuckled taking her hand, "You know these sorts of things aren't my forte. My oldest on the other hand-"

"Don't you worry about a thing," Angelique reassured him, patting the hand she was holding before letting it go. "Y/N is an old pro- Ah! speak of the devil!" She swooped over and kissed you on either cheek. "You look absolutely divine, is that one of yours?"

"You know it is," you tell her laughing, returning the gesture. "As if I could walk in and NOT wear my own design, you'd never let me live it down."

"So true. Darling," she said grabbing your hand and pulling you over to Bruce, "I want you to meet Bruce. You'll be on stage together today. You know it's charity week and I though it would be great to highlight all the work you do for school arts programs along side the Wayne foundation," she said.

"Hello," you tell him, holding out your hand.

"Pleased to meet you," he said, taking the hand you offered warmly. Giving you his most charming smile. You did look good. And he could tell they hadn't done much to your face or your hair. "I'm a big fan of your work," he commented.

Your smile didn't falter but your eyes narrowed slightly. And Bruce cringed internally Shit. She thinks I mean the Playboy spread, he thought. "Your last movie, the drama, especially. The range of emotion and the depth- It really was incredible."

"Thank you," you tell him. "It was challenging but I really enjoyed it."

Bruce felt his face heat when Angelique coughed and he remembered hearing that you had the ability to make someone feel like they were the only person in the room. He'd forgotten for just a second. In just that brief moment that he was waiting for an appearance. "It showed I uh- my kids made fun of me when I cried at the end-"

"Aww, Angelique gushed, "This is amazing. you guys keep up this chemistry. It'll go totally viral." She bounced on the balls of her feet and kissed your cheek again, "I'll have someone bring you a coffee, sweetie. You're going to start wilting soon."

And before you could say anything or Bruce could offer to go and get it for you himself, Angelique had bustled off to find and assistant to give marching orders to.

[nights-at-crystarium]

DUMPS A MASSIVE STACK OF NOTES IN FRONT OF YOU OKAY SO- No I didn't just wait and hope for someone to ask about them, why'd you think that- I'll omit the details of how they grow close and what pushes them apart, but lemme dive into the broader chemistry. A fair warning for Fragments-spoilers if you wanna experience the comic's story as it unfolds.

Vivi needs An Adult, someone who'd stand up to his unruly character, ground him in reality, protect him. Raha perfectly fills this role, but so does Emet, merely with a different flavor. Vivi needs someone who experiences isolation and dehumanization on his level: being the wol is a lonely experience. He looks for an equal. He's okay with Emet's condescending attitude, his self-esteem doesn't want for coddling, and he can talk back anytime.

The Soulmate Magnet trope's fun, but on its own it's not enough for these two. Well, it obviously is for Emet, who seizes the chance to nibble on some crumbs that are left of Azem, what's dignity in face of all-consuming desperation. Vivi, however, his whole thing is showing middle finger to his destiny, the further it goes, the more allergic he gets to the "ooooohh it was meant to be this way~" bs that gets thrown at him ever so often. Emet's careful with the order and amount of information he discloses to Vivi, like expertly boiling a frog. Manipulation or not, they mutually benefit from this relationship. Emet gets his partner back, even if it's Not Him, half of Him feels pretty damn familiar, and Vivi gets a clear escape route from his destiny. Exchanging meaningful looks and knowing chuckles with you because we can tell that he embraces his overarching, ancient destiny this way, but shhhhhh, let him enjoy his hubris.

Out of the two, it's Emet who's a sad fool making a mistake that'd cost him everything. Of course this relationship has an impact on Vivi, but at least it doesn't kill him, eh- *gets kicked*

More under the cut /o/

Emet knows that he might be sabotaging himself, but he won't stop. He's infinitely more vulnerable to the Soulmate Magnet out of the two. He acknowledges that this could easily fail, that he might have to kill Vivi, but my Emet's killed so many not-azems anyway. He trades the potential pain of tomorrow for the small illusion of comfort today. As time goes on, he dares hoping again, hoping that this time might be different, goes all in with his cards, and, well, *waves vaguely* you'll see how that goes eventually.

The line between wolgraha and wolemet in Fragments is thinner than one may expect, the divergence where Vivi fully sides with Emet hinges on one human impulse. They already feel comfy enough, but Emet still hesitates to bare too much of his heart. They simply need more time together, which they can't have in canon because everyone expects Vivi to keep killing Lightwardens. The moment Vivi sees Emet's genuine smile and realizes that he wants to save him, to make him smile again and again, is when he trades entire world(s) for that. The catastrophic divergence isn't some epic scene, but a quiet click in his head. This decision still doesn't come easy, but Vivi would do it once he's sufficiently invested in Emet. The world owes him so much anyway. Time to take back what's been taken from him.

One important difference between Vivi and his Azem: what they'd do in a trolley problem. Vivi would literally burn worlds for one person dear to him, Azem would do (and actually did) the opposite, he didn't support the Zodiark plan AND left his lovers (Emet and Hyth) because he saw himself belonging to the people as a whole. This's becoming a tangent but Vivi absolutely hates his Azem when he finds out what - who - that infamous betrayal was really about.

But yeah Vivi takes Emet's side once he learns enough about him, he generally finds his company easy and pleasant. Another difference between Vivi and Azem: Vivi's incredibly nonjudgmental, embrace your cringe kinda guy. It takes time (which, again, they don't have in canon) for Emet to stop expecting to get teased at every turn, but even in the canon timeline he grows fond of Vivi, Vivi himself, not Azem, because Vivi's kind to him in a subtle, emotionally intelligent way that Azem's never been, he's casual and easygoing and dismissive, Emet's "tsun" just has no reason to activate. He expects betrayal, and it just. Never happens. (ofc it does in canon, but again, the line between canon and divergence is super thin).

Emet doesn't awaken Azem's memories in Vivi for several reasons. Vivi doesn't remember how they were back in the ancient past, but Emet does, he knows how to hold Vivi, who doesn't need much tbh, just company, just being quiet together. He acts disproportionately tired to the 3 years he's spent being the wol, and Emet, conveniently, just wants to chill with him. Funnily, Raha's regained excitement to be alive ends up being too much for Vivi sometimes, but I'm straying off the topic.

I treat their world as a real world that has literature, fiction, tropes, and Vivi tends to dream of being seduced by a villain. He thinks "enemies to lovers" is hot. He's cringe and he doesn't care. Surely this isn't the main force that drives them together, but it's worth mentioning for giggles.

Perhaps the most deliciously fucked up thing about villain!Vivi is how normal and human he'd remain, and drag Emet back up with him. He has no interest in the unsundered world, but he'd join the labor to make Emet happy. (I think I hit Vivi's chaotic neutral alignment on the head here). As long as Emet's in charge, as long as Vivi has no real pressure of responsibility, as long as he's merely a weapon (ironically, yeah), an instrument in master's hand, he doesn't mind. This pic should make more sense now.

Vivi finds someone who can save him from his destiny, break free from Hydaelyn, he never has to make another decision again if he's with Emet. His manic search for agency loops on itself, but hey, he DOES choose this, so arguably, this's more agency than he has as the wol. Even this early in the comic we can see that he simply wants to vibe, to be left alone. Just for that, Emet's actually better than Raha, if we dismiss the morals and destruction of worlds and all such nonsense.

When Emet's inevitably gone at the end of 5.0, it doesn't spell the end of their story. He lingers in the form of Vivi's obsession, questions that Vivi didn't get to ask him, agony of the Soulmate Magnet that Vivi's now aware of, Raha's bittersweet memories of him. He haunts this story forever. And ofc I'm writing an au on the side where he gets to live. It's not as enticing from the storytelling perspective because it's just "duh Emet lives and gets to be happy", but damn it heals my soul to indulge in that.

[receivedhope]

An embarrassingly deep dive into the Klaine Animal duet

I did a personal ranking of Klaine duets and ended up at my pick for number one being Animal. Not that it was a surprise to me in any capacity, because it's one of my favorite Glee covers, but it did prompt me to try and word why I love this duet the most. And while saying "it's a good song and a cute performance" and leaving it at that would suffice just as well, I enjoy rambling wayyy too much.

First off: I am genuinely surprised it is not a more common number one pick?

While I am a total layman when it comes to music (I can only confidently say if I liked a song or not, it is beyond me to try and critique anything on a more technical level) I do think Kurt and Blaine both sound really good and complement each other well here, with the Warbler arrangement putting an interesting twist on an already good song.

I also think the performance itself is so carefree and works flawlessly as a music video on its own. The entire warehouse scene is really well shot and has a distinct color grading to it - one of my favorite shots in almost the entire show is the Crawford Country Day girls' knee socked legs framing Blaine when he gives his speech about how they need to be scream-worthy for regionals. I think it's a very playful shot, getting Blaine between the girls' legs, lol. I also like the foam machine, which is honestly just funny to me and I like thinking this somehow references the Jonas Brothers' foam spray stunt from the late 2000's - which just ties the more innocent, one-sided love and boyband appeal of the song and performance (represented by Kurt) with the more raunchy interpretations of the lyrics, explicitly chosen for the purpose of being sexy with a foam machine complete (represented by Blaine).

Animal is also just a surprisingly innocent song despite the context, since it captures a crush that is about to get serious and the yearning and uncertainty that comes with - my friend and I were talking about Klaine duets and after she mentioned this it clicked into place (and inspired this post).

Because Kurt is leaning so much more on the cute side of things rather than sexy that even when singing "you're just a cannibal and I'm afraid I won't get out alive" I buy that he's talking about exposing his heart and feelings to Blaine, a boy he's still trying to figure out - even if one with a dirty enough mind could interpret that line, in a vacuum, to be about sex.

(As a side note, it bears repeating that Kurt is such A CUTIE here. It's okay Kurt, I think you're sexy in a very adorable and virginal way.)

I actually forgot myself that Animal's lyrics can be considered kinda more flirty and dirty if you squint? And funnily enough, Animal is not as inappropriate as several other songs Blaine picks to describe softer feelings. I like the thought of Blaine choosing it as a "sexy" song and forgoing the "will they won't they" one sided love the song is actually about, to describe a more animalistic urge to "not sleep tonight".

Meanwhile Kurt sings it much more innocently. Partly, we know that Kurt has faced a lot of issues with his sexuality and that he loves romance and marriage. Even though we only get confirmation later in on the episode that he is actually uncomfortable with sex to begin with, we can already sort of deduce that based on how we saw him act around Finn and Sam - I don't want to digress too much, but Kurt was very far from a "sexual predator" considering his wildest fantasies boiled down to another boy singing him a love song and kissing him or that the showers is just a place for him to check what shampoo Sam uses and if it's right for his color treated hair - as well as how he is pretty consistently set up as the antithesis of an average teenage boy. Sex is the last thing on his mind.

And when you rewatch his performance, you GET that he thinks this is only about one sided love and it also contributes to his attempts at being sexy be so goofy and a bit cringey. Not only is he uncomfortable, but he does not see the song in the same way Blaine (and perhaps everyone else in this scene) does. Or at least, it's how I explain away the strike contrast between his demeanor in Push It (confident, he even slaps Finn's ass lmao) and Toxic (playful and a bit detached) compared to Animal (very silly...<3) aside from his recurring and staple trait of losing all of his cool and measured manner when he is working to impress someone, rendering him just so very cringe, like when he tried to impress Burt in Laryngitis, Blaine in most of Season 2 and June Dolloway in The Back-Up Plan (most notably).

While I absolutely feel like I am almost trying too hard to explain some indecency into the lyrics (when it is really not what it's trying to convey) Blaine does consistently misinterpret the emotions of people around him and I'd argue, of his own as well. Would he really pick up on the emotional core of songs that easily?

While this may be an almost appropriate enough segue to talk about why Glee being a musical dramedy plays a lot into how one should interpret the songs and musical performances accompanying them at length, I will refrain for now and condense my thoughts on it: Glee (at least initially) follows the adage "when words are not enough to express your feeling, you sing, and when song is not enough, you dance" and the comedy usually takes a backseat (or is played straight faced) so the emotional state of the characters can shine and guide the story. I guess it is up to you how much you are willing to indulge in the characters themselves picking songs rather than the writers, but I find it much more satisfying to consider them part of the narrative and characterization just as much as you would dialogue, for example.

Thus, Blaine consistently choosing inappropriate songs is an interesting look into his character: he picks When I Get You Alone as a serenade song for Valentine's Day, Candles to sing with his fresh new boyfriend, It's Not Unusual to express his happiness over getting to spend even more time with his boyfriend, Cough Syrup as an inspirational song and not to mention the two break up songs he sings to (and with) his brother.

I don't think it is that much of a reach to think Blaine read "No, I won't sleep tonight / Oh-oh, I want some more / Oh-oh, what are you waiting for?" and went "Oh yeah this has crazy sex appeal".

If Baby It's Cold Outside is a look into how Blaine pursues Kurt, Animal is a look into how Kurt pursues Blaine and why I believe they are so prone to miscommunication.

In BICO, Blaine is crowding him and not taking his teasing protests seriously, which is pretty much what the song is about - a cheeky "we know we shouldn't REALLY do this, but let's anyway" duet from a time when women weren't allowed to express such forward interest. It, coincidentally, fits really nicely with the narrative of two gay school boys alone in some common room who end up flirting, despite the society they live in harshly discouraging them to do so and would not let them perform the song together. You know, as two artists.

Later, however, we find out that Blaine can't easily differentiate Kurt's teasing from his hard no's, so he interprets all of Kurt's actions, someone naturally impish, to be sarcastic most of the time. I don't think it is an entirely off-based assumption by Blaine, but since he is not exactly the best at reading people in the first place, it's even harder to discern for him how Kurt feels, who is more subtle about his emotions than most people.

But it works this time because Kurt is into Blaine, is teasing him and wants him to crowd him.

Kurt has a tendency to never really say word for word what he expects of Blaine so Blaine takes everything Kurt says either at face value or tinted by Blaine's own wants and needs - I firmly believe the scene in the Lima Bean from TPPP is the first time Kurt actually does come out and say he seriously wants Blaine to transfer (and why Blaine drops everything to do so rightaway). Or why such controversial scenes that can turn people off this pairing entirely, like the car scene of TFT or the entirety of their DWS plot, could happen. They always had pretty severe communication issues.

Which is why when the song ends with them sitting down so close to each other, Kurt almost expects a confession after such an undeniably flirty duet (you did NOT make it all up in your head, Kurt!) but Blaine would rather run away from the sudden closeness (and ambiguity) instead and promptly exits. He is not there yet to recognize his own feelings.

Meanwhile, everything Kurt does in Animal is a clumsy attempt at seduction (which he has no experience at). He does high kicks, rolls his hips, tries to stick his tongue out as much as he can when singing the words and is not put off by, or even registering Blaine's worried and confused glances at him.

Kurt has a tendency to be so romantic it dips into delusion. We see this a lot with Finn in S1 and until The Lamp Incident of Theatricality, Kurt is ascribing romantic undertones to Finn's actions very generously and guards what he wants to see of Finn very closely to his heart (a knight in shining armor devoted to him), shielding it from the cruel pain of reality (Finn being an easy-going and nice, straight guy who is very susceptible to peer pressure and a bit too dumb). You can see this the best in Home, when Kurt shows off a bunch of swatches to Finn very proudly and Finn manages to break the illusion for a bit - telling Kurt he has a cowboy wallpaper and ultimately, does not care about something Kurt does so deeply for. You can even see Kurt's expression shift at this moment - but then Finn ends up indulging him and randomly picks a color and that's enough for Kurt to consider it another common interest they can share, going back to fantasize about their future shared room's decor.

The lyrics of Animal are just much more relevant to Kurt than they are to Blaine, even if the lines "It's getting heavy and I wanna run and hide / I wanna run and hide" are some of the most Blaine lyrics ever.

I think Animal also stays relevant even until the next time we see Kurt trying to seduce Blaine in S6 - especially with the first line of the song being "Here we go again", setting up this cyclical nature of the relationship the song is about right away - they get close because they move each other down to their cores and want more, until they get sick of each other again, only to then go back to the pining stage - not their first time at this either, because they have already cycled through this in S4.

"And I won't be denied by you / The animal inside of you" may also be some of the most Klaine lines I have ever read, because their relationship lies on the foundation of sentimentality and this inexplicable, deep attaction to each other that regularly overrides common sense.

I also love that in-universe, Blaine kinda already made Kurt his duet partner (since they ARE technically training for regionals here) and also that he did not give a FUCKKKK about any of the other 15 or so warblers.

No notes, 10/10, five stars, etc etc, if Animal has 0 fans I am dead.

[roguephenon]

I loved the finale and can't wait for the conclusion but had a question: so is the boogeyman the reason Father and his family are evil like a curse?

there is a backlog of asks and things, but due to a cold and just a lot of emotional stuff going on, I feel the need to clarify something that I normally like to just let my writing speak for itself, so genuinely thank you for this question anon haha: tldr: the short answer is No. the technical answer is .05% kinda, and 99.95% NO. (we love hyperbole here lol)

spoilers for CR's finale and looooooong Father talk below:

The Eldritch Boogeyman from Beyond the Deep Dark is a surface-level, silly, overexaggerated way of explaining where Father's powers come from and the overall true ultimate enemy of the KND and "kids" across existence (ala in spirit of how the show takes issues kids face to the extreme). Still, narratively, it's meant to be a metaphor for something deeper: the fear and despair that exists inside us all and can overwhelm us if we succumb to it.

Father is a villain, one I enjoy writing and having fun with when I'm doing something cartoonishly fun, but he is still a villain whose actions I never excuse or even fully redeem because of what he represents on a fundamental level: a man who willingly perpetuates a cycle of hatred and abuse that existed long before him.

Benedict was the son of Grandfather, someone you could argue is worse. He was clearly abused and had a terrible childhood, one that continued probably even after Grandfather was initially defeated. Monty was obviously the "favorite" child (more on the horrible psychological ramifications of that on Ben and even Monty in some other post).

But trauma only explains behavior. It does not excuse it.

There's always a choice, and we all have it. We all have that moment or even moments when we can choose what kind of person we want to be. And despite all the chances and outs he was given, Father chose anger. He chose cruelty. Even worse, he chose to commit the ultimate evil. That choice we all have? He decided to use his power and authority to rob children of ever having that chance to choose.

He did that the exact moment he forced Sector Z to become his Delightful Children from Down the Lane. An excerpt from Cold Reception chapter 28: : ...Best of all, Benedict saw that their dark, rebellious eyes now shone a pale and empty shade of blue, devoid of all desire for resistance and childish play. Sector Z was more delightful than Benedict had even hoped to dream. The blown fuse in the chamber hadn't ruined his experiment at all—in fact, it had enhanced it, at least eleventy-billionfold!

It hadn't gone horribly wrong.

It had gone horribly RIGHT!

Benedict couldn't help himself: he laughed. His whole body shook with it, and unbeknownst to him, a dark silhouette loomed over his newest creations, a black shadow that threw its head back with howls of laughter that spawned fire in a wall behind him.

"Yes," he hissed, throwing up his hands in savage joy. "I did it! I DID IT! They're perfect! These children are downright DELIGHTFUL!"

The children took a collective step back.

"Pardon us, kind sir," they all said, with trembling politeness, "but we can't seem to recall what's going on. Where are we? Who are we? All of our memories are..."

Benedict's laughter slowly died down, tapering off into a breathless chuckle. "Of course, of course!" he said grandiosely, stepping menacingly toward the children, not heeding the way they cringed back from him. "How very rude of me to forget! You five are MY children, and I am your beloved parent. You live here, with me, in our delightful little manor. You're the most smartest, perfectest little children in the whole wide world, and you hate those other misbehaving kids for their DISGUSTING immaturity—especially the Kids Next Door!"

"Kids...Next Door?" the children asked, blinking their pale blue eyes in confusion. "Who are they?"

"A group of vile, despicable children," Benedict hissed, looming over them. "Horrible little brats who do nothing except misbehave and create trouble for upstanding adults like me! Can't you see how awful that is?"

As the last words were shouted, Benedict didn't notice flames rising wildly behind him. The children jumped in place, startled, and nodded quickly. They no longer looked quite so frightened of him, more contemplative over his words.

"It IS awful!" they said together, looking alarmed. "We hate children who make trouble for adults! They're the most stupid, rotten pests in the whole world! In fact...such degenerates must be annihilated."

Why, that was what he was about to say!

"Yes, they certainly do," he purred, the flames dying around him. Had it always been this toasty in here? Must be the crackling machine. He extended an arm toward the bewildered children and took their five small hands in one of his, leading them away. "But that will come another day. We must attend to other manners, like cleaning up this mess YOU made. Then? Then we can spend the night scheming how you'll destroy those little nuisances so I never have to worry about them. Ever again."

"Yes," the children chorused in unison, dark smiles spreading across their angelic faces as they looked up at him. "We would like that very much. Those K-N-Doofuses don't stand a chance against the likes of US!"

Benedict smirked. "That's exactly right, children. They are inferior to you in every way possible. You? You're excellent. You're perfect! You're my exceptionally delightful children." He then smiled. "Now, before you clean up this mess, who wants ice cream!?"

They all gasped, licking their lips. "With extra jimmies?"

Benedict grinned. "Extra extra jimmies."

"We cannot wait!"

They then did something he wasn't entirely expecting.

"Thank you," they said, breathing easier as they hugged his waist. They smiled, obliviously nuzzling into his pants. "We love you, Father."

Benedict's heart skipped a beat.

They…they loved him?

The shadow from before crawled off the walls, slithering around his feet.

Someone…actually loved him. Unconditionally?

No take-backsies?

"We love you, Father."

A silhouette enveloped him, and he EMBRACED it. Hardly noticed the sting.

"Yes, children," he said in a daze, his hands gingerly coming to wrap around them. As the shadow covered his face, his eyes glowed a terrible yellow gleam. "I'm…your Father." :

The "boogeyman" was there. It had always been there. But when Ben made that choice? That's when he let it in. Benedict made a choice at that moment, and that's when he became Father.

And even after that? He was given a chance to be better. Monty offered him a hand to try and do what he should've done years before and offered to be there with him when he finally stood up to their Pappy. And when push came to shove, Father decided it wasn't worth the effort.

And do you remember that moment? When he packs it in against Grandfather in ZERO? The frustration and ire you felt when he robbed us of the incredible moment to clap back at his terrible dad? That was the joke, and that was the point.

At that moment, Father had a choice to use all his power to help clean up the mess he made and stand up to an oppressor...and decided, whatever. He's just gonna go eat ice cream and let someone ELSE deal with it.

That's why I write Father the way I do 99% of the time. He had a choice to try to be better, but he didn't want to put in the work to do it. He just wants to be destructive and angry at a world that didn't treat him fairly and directs that fiery anger at innocents who don't deserve it.

The actual "Boogeyman" - the REAL villain of Cold Reception is generational trauma and how it can turn us into the monsters that terrify us as children. How, like Father, we can be victims of it. The thing with Father is that he was fortunate enough to survive into adulthood. But instead of being a genuine mature adult and learning to protect kids from the Boogeyman, he decided it was easier to become one.

I pity Father because his story is a tragedy and a cautionary tale if you read into as much as I do, I guess.

"But Phenon, how come you don't put in the work to make sure his story doesn't end in tragedy? Why not try and give it a happy ending?"

I do and always will believe in the happy ending, even if I don't live to see it. But I also believe it needs to be earned. Maybe one day I'll be inspired to do the creative heavy lifting to do some fic where Father "earns" his.

...but the heart of this fic and this entire series is kids. As an adult, I feel compelled to write and let them earn the happy ending Father and those like him try to rob them of. And I embrace that compulsion 110%.

Also, that man was ready to let his "kids" stay turned into sheep. If that's the kind of parental "love" he's offering, he can keep all that shit lol.

[monpalace]

Okok, so my brain is not working with writing rn BUT i will finish that “reader and time pinning” thing that i was doing I PROMISE

BUT for now imma just share some thoughts of Time because he is THE LOVE OF MY LIFE AND I NEED TO RANT ABOUT HIM

*ahem*

Ive said before (on my blog) that Time uses really old and kinda cringey petnames because 1, he genuinely loves them and 2, because he LOVES making the boys squirm in second hand embarrassment. SO, have a few more of those nicknames :D -> snookums, sugarplum, baby cakes, muffin, foxy, and toots

Young time (like teenage/young adult) was an absolute bastard BUT when he falls in love with someone, he is an absolute sweet heart! Think the ‘i hate everyone but you’ trope :3

Young! Time did not know romance AT ALL! That boy was raised by a tree and a bunch if spirit kids, he has know idea what a ‘date’ is. This leads to him just acting the same around his crush but being a little nicer to them

Is then very confused as to why they dont know that he likes them. “It was so obvious? I gave you a piece of my apple pie! I was so clear with my signs 🙄🙄”

He THEN reads all the romance novels he can get his hands on (legally and illegally) just so he can impress them! Completely misunderstood everything and now he just has to straight up tell them, cause how their hair is on fire…somehow

(Modern) Time is totally the type of guy that ‘doesn’t like drama shows’ but if his lover was watching one, he’d stand behind the couch and watch. But when his lover offers to move so he can sit hes like ‘no, im not even watching it. I was just bored’ and the proceeds to watch the next 3 episodes while standing.

(Modern) Time has a leather jacket that he LOVES!! Like he will cut someone for that thing, do not fuck with it. No one is aloud to wear it expect him….And his crush/lover but SHUSH!

Time enjoys polishing his armour/sword while you read a book out aloud. You both find it rather relaxing. Until something dramatic/a polt twists happens, all if the sudden the armour/sword is dropped to the side as Time is BAFFLED by this. “They killed Aaron?! Wh-what? Why!? He was the best choice for Max!” (Hes so invested, his duties are now discarded until you two finish this chapter)

I wanna do more but this is kinda chunky :3

I love dis man so much 🫶🫶

THE WAY I PHYSICALLY AND VERBALLY CRINGED AT FOXY??? bro's the type to say "hey foxy mama" when you walk into a room unironically, he literally has no shame whatsoever whenever someone points out how dated that sounds to

time would fit the secret admirer trope so well though? but he wouldn't even be secret about it?? the lon lon sisters def gave him the advice to "just be himself" and that gave him the idea to take stuff from his woodland-spirit background

"link, why is my house filled with flowers from floor to ceiling."

"that's not a declaration of adoration here? huh."

AND HIM TAKING THE ROMANCE BOOKS? personally, i feel like he's the type to sneak into the library when (supposedly) nobodies looking and just taking whatever he can carry before sneaking back out-- but in actuality it's just that nobody cares

someone asked zelda if he was allowed to take the books because they've been coming back in a damaged state (it's not bad, but while he's workshopping how he's gonna bring words to reality, he messes up a little) and she just says its fine so long as he isn't committing crimes with them (which he has done. several times. no one knows)

ofc there are questions as to WHY he's taking the romance books specifically, but the guards and librarians just chalk it up to him entering his weird boy phase ™️ and not because he has an interest in somebody because him?? having a love interest before half the other people in the castle??? Nah.

you catch modern! time watching a (raunchy) reality show once (like love island, or jersey shore-- maybe even teen mom) and he swears up, down, to the golden three, and to the sand goddess that he just kept it on for noise and that he's paying all his attention to his work even though you caught him ON VIDEO having the most expressive reactions to certain moments

BUT THE LEATHER JACKET ONE?? someone walks up to you while you're wearing it (your relationship with time isn't common knowledge yet) and they make a joke about him burying them alive if they mess it up-- no less just because you're wearing it.

time pops up out of literal thin air making excuses that you were cold (you were not), he was hot and didn't feel like carrying it (his goosebumps say otherwise), he thought there was a tear and he wanted to try and fix it (.. yeah, okay.), he only gave it to you because you said it would go with your outfit (that is not the only reason he'd give it to you), and everything else just to try to hide the fact that he's soft

(also, bonus points if you made it??? now not even the goddesses could touch it. he's about three seconds away from giving into the inner ferality of his childhood self and biting someone if they even look at it)

but tell me why i just imagine time getting ready to like, get in a fight or something, you read something so earth-shatteringly shocking in the book, and he's immediately like "the battle can wait. [opponent] was gonna lose anyways. we have to figure out what the devil is about to happen"

i'm literally scooping ur brain from ur skull, putting it on a table, and i'm gonna examine it for the rest of ur ideas mwah

[mdhwrites]

Your Grom Factory post is so right!! I felt like the last parts of it felt off but I didn't know why until I read your analysis. I wanted to like the ending and Ayzee's character so bad because Milan and Ayzee looked so cute together (even if they weren't all that interesting) but Ayzee's final depressing thoughts just ruined it for me :(

I also agree with A Little Hint of Blue being boring. I'm a Vinira shipper so I may be biased but they feel so bland in the comic. I know it's supposed to expand Skara's character but she also just comes off as annoying to me, and it's weird because she kinda reminds me of Anne (her dynamic with Boscha reminds me of Sashanne) but I like Anne and I don't care for Skara. Also the musical scene was cringe, I'm sorry, might be because it's in a comic but still. I did like how the comic kinda expanded on healing and bard magic, the fight was cool even though I think it was ooc for Viney to fall for Skara's trick by the end of it.

So like I said before, I don't want to harp too much on Mark's work without a point. Honestly, if you want to talk about Mark's work with me, my DMs are open, I've talked about him a fair bit on my Discord (in fact, it was voicing that I wasn't certain about posting the blog on Discord that got one of my followers to reassure me I wasn't just being an ass and shouldn't worry so much that led to it being posted) or you can even just ask me non-anonymously and I'll answer in private. I'm not trying to start anything.

With that said, you actually bring up a really good and interesting point in regards to Skara's character that has been digging at me for a WHILE and is useful as a more condensed version of the issues with both Hunter and Amity's arcs who share a lot of issues and I will bring up throughout this as well. A Hint of Blue is indeed meant to expand her character by saying she's a generally and genuinely good person but she has to put on a performance for others. That she is stuck between the person who she is deep down and who society wants her to be. This is effectively the same trick the show does for both Hunter and Amity so A: it is literally nothing new and B: it suffers from similar issues while its specific methodology is a NIGHTMARE to portray well. Worse yet, both of these issues render Skara's character somehow less than the blank canvas it already was.

See, and this is the big part of why I decided to respond, Skara's trick is to show someone with a pure survival response in this regard. She hasn't internalized ANYTHING that people push upon her by what her actions have shown. This means it is all an act rather than these outside forces having had a deeper personal impact. Hunter and Amity, again, suffer similar issues but they at least pay some lip service to the idea that they're not just twin personalities. There is some overlap. For Amity, it's when she is still somewhat cold after breaking the everlasting oath in Covention as even when shown kindness, she still keeps some of that distance. Or heck, just her entire first appearance honestly. For Hunter, it's the constant reinforcement of needing to please Belos. Moments that show that even when the external pressure isn't actively there, it is weighing on their mind, much like how Zuko clearly always had something stressing him out, even when all was quiet. It's part of why how easily Amity throws off her shackles, and how Hunter doesn't actually refute the morality he's clearly been taught, make their arcs and characters weaker because it implies that these pressures never actually got in.

And unfortunately for Mark, he can't seem to decide which version he has and canon supports neither option. In the very first page of the comic, Mark emphasizes A: how long Skara has been being a bully. Not just a bully but enjoying it as even her first act of monstrosity, kicking a sand castle down, is greeted with a smile while she is still very small. This implies some part of her is just cruel. But that's being actively contrasted by B: having her immediately willing to break the bitch code Boscha has in place by apologizing to Viney without any real hesitancy until Boscha speaks up, implying her instincts are to be nice. Mind you, in that first comic she does need to be pushed to destroy the sandcastle... But not to claim be wronged. She first, before the prompting, claims the playground as hers. She's not pushed to be pushy but to stand up for herself and claim what is hers. Not actually inherently unhealthy so long as you aren't a bitch about it honestly which, yes she was being.

And this sort of incongrueny gets better and worse as the story goes on, let alone with the framing of it. After all, the story is trying to frame it as her being a naturally good person who only acts up due to Boscha. This is why Viney, for no reason, is so anti-Boscha. She is meant to be the second world that Skara is being pulled between. When written REALLY POORLY, this is how you get Skara stating Boscha isn't that bad and actually cares in her own way one comic and then literally two comics later, Boscha destroys Skara's chance at romance while mimicking Dio (I know it's Jojos in general but like... Why Jojos there at all?). It's superficial to put it extremely mildly.

As a note, this would actually be the heart of the sort of stuff I would talk about, characters making choices because they fit the tropes of the story, if I decided to talk about the Hallmarks (pun intended) of boring romances. Forced character writing with zero motivation or real flavor is the normal core to that problem.

And well... When your motivations as a character are "I inherently have a heart of gold!" versus "I am the puppet of the most evil fourteen year old on my continent"... You get a really boring lamp that keeps getting passed around. It's meant to expand on Skara's personality but instead it reduces it to NOTHING. Or, it's that her personality is ENTIRELY dependent on whoever she is around and the nice version is the version that Viney gets because she believes Viney will kick her ass otherwise as that is actually the reason the first apology comes out. Or appears to with how worried Skara immediately becomes while Viney rolls up her sleeves.

And since you brought it up and they're PERFECT FOR THIS, let's contrast this with Sasha and Anne. They actually are this sort of dynamic after all. Sasha forces Anne to do things outside of her comfort zone through using their friendship and this is bad for Anne but Anne does it because what Sasha gives her is fun, it's exciting and it's from someone who at least claims to genuinely care about her. Even at her meanest, Sasha is wanting to spend time and make Anne's life better. It's part of why her character is so great. Skara gets lip service in the first comic about liking being on the top of the food chain but all her actions are independent and even the final panel goes out of its way to show Boscha leaving Skara behind, showing the actual gulf in their relationship. It's lip service that Skara will spend literally the ENTIRE rest of the comic saying she hates. She doesn't actually ever act like she ever gets anything out of this.

Then we have the second world pulling Anne: The Plantars. Suddenly, she is shown that you can be loved and cared for by other people without having to do morally dubious things... And she chaffs at it because it does mean more complicated relationships. Hop Pop and her don't understand each other. Polly isn't the gal pal she wants even though she is a gal and a pal. Even Sprig still chafes at her her habits and the like while Sasha may have more cleverly gotten to stop anything she didn't like. This is part of why Anne isn't all that great to the Plantars early on. She doesn't want the work that goes into a real relationship. She'd rather be subservient and have it be simple. It's only through seeing just how much better these people are, and how it feels to have her own autonomy, that she breaks her chains and discards Sasha, at least for a while until they're both in healthier places. As a note, THIS is why S1 of Amphibia is the way it is because this shit takes TIME, let alone while also using an entire town to reinforce these lessons.

Skara meanwhile just... likes the other world. That's really it. She just gravitates towards being nice and real connections, just like Hunter and just like Amity. As always is stated: We're TOLD that she likes being on top but why? It's never even elaborated on with words, let alone shown to us but also yes, this would have extended the arcs overall to show this. Like I said, Amphibia spends a lot of time on groundwork for a reason. Arguably more than it needed to but it still needed a large amount of time to make the payoff and journey as satisfying as it is.. Even TOH understood this with Amity as they pretend for a little longer than a single line that she has reasons to want to be on top until she just drops it all once no one is looking. -_- This attempt to make it less blatant though is part of why Amity dominates a THIRD of the entire series.

And honestly, between this and the enemies to lovers trope from the base show (and actually this too I guess if Viney didn't seem to have some deep seated hate for Boscha that we just haven't been told about yet) I really am getting tired of people seeming to think romance really is a simplistic genre. In fanworks, you get a lot of quick romances, yes, but that's fine. They're normally not trying to claim to be doing an arc or the like with it. They're just bringing two characters they like together. However, romance is an entire GENRE for a reason. You can tell whole stories just around a romance with no other elements because just two people interacting and figuring out deepening feelings is one of the most complex elements for a writer to figure out, regardless of which complex emotion you're choosing. If you don't actually figure that out though, romance tends to be the genre where characters show their narrative purpose fastest. Where you feel the hand of the author forcing the characters together the most. It's why the romantic subplot is such a despised narrative trope. It's why Amity descending into being a love interest is so sharp because capital L LU- LOVE is all she's about now.

And that is the case here too. Skara is all about Viney... Because this is a romance. That is a not deep character, that is a sexy lamp that happens to sing.

======+++++======

I didn't even hint to giving the two moments to bond and have real chemistry instead of just lecturing at each other. *screams* GEE, the romance writer has opinions on romance!? Never would have guessed. I won't even say I'm perfect at it, I'm definitely still improving myself, but it is technically my genre, even back when I was writing harem erotica.

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[animebw]

Okay, three episodes into Nijigasaki, I've pinned down what's going wrong. This is very clearly trying to be a break from what Love Live has been up until now; I guess they figured after two series that were very similar tonally, it was time for a shake-up, with someone other than Juuki Hanada in the writer's chair, even. And since School Idol Project and Sunshine were both bombastic farcical melodramas, they decided to go in the complete opposite direction and see what happens if you make Love Live... subdued? Realistic? Grounded? What if instead of going over the top, we instead went, I dunno, under the bottom, I guess?

Which, honestly? Not a bad idea in concept. Any series as long-running as this should be able to re-invent itself to keep from going stale, and as much as I enjoyed Sunshine, there was a definite feeling of Not Measuring Up to its very similar parent series. If Love Live just kept being that over and over again, it would very quickly lose its charm and become a hollow shell of past glories. So I support this effort to see what happens when you take things in a more naturalistic direction. We know what Love Live looks like when it's going big and operating, with huge emotions spilling across the pavement, but if Nijigasaki could push this franchise's emotional range into something a bit more contemplative and closer to reality, it would forever expand what this series is capable of for years to come.

The problem is, just shaking up your established formula isn't enough if you don't also execute the new formula well.

And hoo boy, is that not the case here.

See, it doesn't feel like the new writer carefully crafted a new kind of naturalism for Love Live to inhabit with Nijigasaki. It feels like he just took away all the bombast and melodrama that used to define it and then... didn't replace it with anything. He stripped this series down to its skeleton and walked off without building new muscles and skin upon the bones he laid bare, and the result is a fucking void of a show. It is painfully, agonizingly basic, in presentation, in dialogue, in pacing, in theming. Everything that used to make this show great is gone, and all that's left is boring conversations that overexplain every emotional beat and go on way too long, limp platitudes preached with all the conviction of a kid forced to go to Sunday school by their strict parents, and the most lifeless direction this franchise has ever had. Like, Jesus, I complained about Sunshine's direction, but that still had life and energy, you know? Not this completely flat pasteboard of boring shots edited together with no thought or passion (genuinely why the fuck did we skip the scene of the old idol club girls meeting Ayumu and Yu) and barely any actual animation outside the performances.

Like... naturalism is not a template, people! It's not the blank slate of writing upon which all other tones and genres are built! It's a complex, fully realized method of storytelling all on its own, and it requires just as much thought and effort as the more outlandish mode that Love Live usually operates in. You can't just take away what's made this series great and think what's left can stand on its own without putting in the effort to build something new on top of it! Especially since the few times it does try to carry over the series' madcap farcical energy, like with Kasumi, the direction is so incapable of living up to that energy that it just devolves into an embarrassing slog of painfully slow body movements set to cringe-inducing "wacky" music that only highlights how little wackiness can be found here. Doesn't help that it also carries on Sunshine's awkward music direction with BGM tracks ill-suited to the scene they're backing, further confusing any sense of tone... Christ.

I don't like not liking Love Live, guys.

[baileypie-writes]

Can you please do a Olva x reader like if he was redeemed

A/N ~ Sure! Sorry this took so long! And according to the Wiki, his name is actually Orba. Hope you enjoy!

Also, I couldn’t remember if Orba appeared in the Magic World or the No Magic World. So I chose the No Magic World. Apologies if this is incorrect.

~Couple~

Orba x GN!Magic World!Reader

~~~🤍~~~🤍~~~🤍~~~

Fandom: Maho Girls Pretty Cure!

Fanfic Type: Oneshot

Reader: Gender neutral, from the Magic World

Relationship: Platonic to Crush to Romantic

Genre: Fluff

Word Count: 1,835

Synopsis: You were assigned the job of teaching Orba about the No Magic World after he was redeemed. However, you didn’t expect to have to teach him about romance.

Warnings: Asks about ‘brutal punishment’(Orba), probably pretty cringe.

~Masterlists~

~Maho Girls Pretty Cure! Masterlist~

~~~🤍~~~🤍~~~🤍~~~

“Are you kidding? Why do I have to do it?” You whined like a child. Ironic, as you were the only other adult.

Mirai, Liko and Ha had assigned you the job of showing Orba around the No Magic World. He had recently been purified, and didn’t know how things worked outside his home.

“Oh come on! You’ll be fine! Besides, we all have school. So we don’t have time anyway.” Mirai explained. “Also, it’ll be nice for him to have another adult around.”

You sighed. “But I don’t know much about this world myself.” This was true. Your home was the Magic World. You were simply sent here by Headmaster to watch other the girls; the Pretty Cure. According to him, having an adult from the Magic World as a chaperone would keep the girls out of trouble. So there you were.

“I’m sure you’ll do okay. The No Magic World isn’t too confusing. Just remember to not use magic!” Liko said.

Another sigh escaped your lips. This was going to be an interesting experience.

~(The Next Day)~

“Bye girls! Have a good day!” You waved goodbye from the front gates of their school. They all waved back, then resumed running to class, seeing as they were late.

Staring at the ground, you avoided looking and talking to Orba, who stood next to you. You rolled a pebble under your shoe for a bit of entertainment, and as a distraction.

“If you’re so keen on avoiding me, perhaps we should just head home.” Orba stated in his usual, polite tone. He pushed his glasses further up his nose, which you noticed was a habit of his.

“No, no. I promised the girls.” You said, waving your hand. You turned the opposite direction, and began walking away from the school. “Let’s go.” You gestured with your hand for him to follow you, which he did.

Over the span of your journey, Orba had shifted from walking behind you, to walking beside you. This made your situation way more awkward. The only sounds to fill the silence were the gentle breeze, the sound of both your shoes hitting the ground as you walked, and the school bell in the distance. “I hope the girls made it on time.” You whispered to yourself.”

“I believe it’s not inappropriate to think that they would be punished if they didn’t.” Orba inquired.

You jumped slightly, not expecting any words from him. “Hm? Oh, yeah. They would.”

“What sort of punishment would they receive? Do schools punish their students brutally, or are they more subdued?” You nearly choked on your own spit at this question.

“What? ‘Brutal’? No! Why on Earth would they do that to children?” You said, genuinely concerned about his thought process.

Orba pulled out a book, and began flipping through its pages. “So that’s a ‘no’ on brutal punishments. So what do they do?” He asked, completely avoiding your disturbed state.

“I dunno. They might make them stay after school and clean. Maybe they’ll get extra homework. Or maybe, if they’re lucky, they’ll just get a warning.” You answered, calming down a bit.

“I see. How interesting.” Orba said, before snapping his book closed with one hand.

You arrived in the busier part of town, where a bunch of shops and restaurants were. “You hungry?” You asked.

“I believe so. I’m beginning to feel the symptoms.” He said, putting a hand on his stomach.

You laughed at the fact that he called it “symptoms”. “Well why don’t we go inside this restaurant?�� You pointed at one. “The girls took me here once, and the food was really good.”

“Sure.” Orba said immediately afterwards, and entered the building. You thought it was odd how he didn’t even think about it, but nonetheless, you followed him.

The two of you sat at an empty table, Orba sitting across from you. He picked up the menu, and began reading its contents. You didn’t, as you already knew what you wanted.

“These ‘pancakes’ look interesting. I think I’ll have that.” Said Orba.

“That’s funny. That’s what I’m getting.” You said. Orba hummed.

You called the waiter over, and ordered your food. After they left, you sat in silence for a moment. Orba read his book, and you just looked out the window. After a few moments, you decided to strike up a conversation. “So… you don’t seem too resistant to this whole ‘being reformed’ thing.”

Orba looked up from his book, pushing up his glasses again. “Well, I was stripped of my mugic. So there isn’t much I can do. So I just have to bear it. But if I’m being completely honest, it’s not as bad as I predicted.”

You hummed, giving him a light smile. His eyes flicked back to his book, making you wonder if your kind gesture made him uncomfortable. But you didn’t get the chance to find out, as your food arrived.

“Thank you.” You thanked the waiter, who smiled before leaving. Grabbing a fork, you cut a small piece of the top pancake. The shiny syrup dripped further onto the plate. You put the piece into your mouth, and hummed happily at the sweet taste and fluffy texture. It was so delicious, that you paid no notice of Orba staring at you.

He paid close attention to the way you ate. He then steered his attention to his own stack of pancakes, and copied your actions. After he took a bite, he froze.

“You okay?” You asked, noticing his pause.

“Yes.” He said, covering his mouth with his hand. “I’ve just never had food before. It’s good.”

“You’ve never had food? How?” You raised your voice in shock.

“When you’re an immortal being, you don’t need food to survive.” He took another forkful of his pancake. You hummed, and continued eating yours.

After you both were finished, you paid, and left the restaurant. On the way home, Orba struck up another conversation. “That was an interesting experience. We should do that again.” You could tell he was trying his best to be normal, which you found funny.

“Sure, why not?” You chuckled.

~(Time Skip: Four Months)~

You did indeed do it again. Many times. At least twice a week, after the girls went to school, you ate breakfast at different restaurants. Orba always chose different foods every time, wanting to experience different tastes. You loved watching his reactions and hearing his thoughts. After eating, you’d always show him around town. He wanted to know more about the No Magic World, so you taught him the best you could.

These little hangouts between the two do you have become your favorite events. And you’d be lying if you said you haven’t developed feelings for the odd man. But you place your priority on teaching, not love. Besides, you weren’t even sure he felt the emotion. So you kept silent.

But boy, was it hard to.

You and Orba had just finished your breakfast, and were heading into town square. It was a quiet walk; neither of you saying a word. This was the result of the awkward experience of the waiter mistaking the two of you for couple. Through your panic and embarrassment, you could barely form the words to tell her she was incorrect.

You arrived at a large fountain. The loud sound of rushing water calmed your mind, and you felt your shoulders relax from their previously tense position. “Let’s go sit down.” You told Orba, pointing to one of the benches. He simply hummed, and nodded.

The bench was perfectly sized for two people, convenient for you. You both sat down, letting your legs rest from the walk. Orba took notice of the pair sitting on the edge of the fountain. They were holding hands, and kissed each other. He turned to you, who had your eyes closed and your head leaned back.

“(name).” He called. You simply hummed in response.

“What is the reason for those two’s behavior?” He asked.

You sighed, a small complaint for having to open your eyes. Orba gestured to the pair, and after a few moments of watching them, gave your response with a shrug. “They’re probably a couple.”

“A couple?” Orba repeated with curiosity.

“Yeah. You know, when two people love each other, and decide to be together.” You specified.

“Oh, I see. I have heard about the topic of love before, but never cared to look into it. So what is it couples do?”

“Well they usually go on dates. Go out to eat, go on long walks, that sort of thing. Just spending time together.”

“How curious. That’s suspiciously similar to the things we do. Are we a couple?” Orba smiled slightly.

You nearly threw up your own heart after hearing that. “Oh! Well, it’s true we do the same things, but we’re not a couple.” You laughed nervously.

“Are you sure? Even the waiter from either thought we were.” He seems to find your flustered state funny, as his smile grew bigger. Though his tone was completely serious.

“Orba, is this some kind of joke? We’re not a couple!” You slightly raised your voice.

“It’s not in my nature to jest.” He said, again with full seriousness. He was correct as well. He never jokes.

You sighed, calming down a bit. “Look, we’re not a couple because we’re not in love.” Your own words broke your heart a bit to say.

Orba’s smile left, and he pushed up his glasses. “I’m not quite sure that’s correct.”

“What do you mean?”

“I believe we both experience symptoms of interest. Or in other words ‘love’. From what little I’ve read about, it all matches up.” He explained.

You paused, taking in his words. “Orba, you love me?” You asked, in genuine shock.

“Yes, I believe so.” His smile returned. “And if I’m correct, you feel the same.”

You just stared at him for a moment. You couldn’t believe this was actually happening. “Yeah.” You said, which was all you could manage get out.

“Excellent.” Orba said. “I guess I’ll have to read more about the subject of love then.”

You finally snapped out of your shocked state, and let out a chuckle. “Yeah, I guess so.”

Orba chuckled back, and stood up from the bench. “Well, why don’t we head to that ‘library’ place you’ve told me about? I’m sure I could find a book about it there.”

“Sure!” You stood up too, and began walking with him.

After a few moments, Orba offered you his hand. “If I’m not mistaken, I believe this is a thing couples do.”

You laughed, and took his hand, interlocking your fingers with his. “You’re right.”

The two of you continued on; heading to the library. You felt so happy. Getting together so quickly caught you off guard, but you were glad. You honestly couldn’t wait for the journey ahead. Hopefully Orba could find some good books, because right now, your relationship was off to a great start.

~~~🤍~~~🤍~~~🤍~~~

~~baileypie-writes

[murdocking]

„ᴛᴏ ꜱᴇᴇ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴛʀᴜᴛʜ”

- a chishiya series. ch3 ch5

masterlist

warnings + notes: not much happening here!! just mentions of sex and whatnot… chapter is kinda plain i cant lie

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ꜰᴏᴜʀ:

- GAME START

chishiya has to rope himself down to reality multiple times. his first impression of you made him feel his throat and heart clench- even though you looked ragged from this world.

but now, after he’s successfully dragged you into his beginning phase of his scheme against the beach- he’s partially worried on how focus he’ll remain on this mission. somehow, he wishes you chose a regular swimsuit bottom, the short swim-skirt makes his mind freeze as he sees it shift whenever you walk. he’s not complaining, but at the same time- the priority is to subtly get you to join his ploy.

he’s briefly mentioned it to kuina, a night where he escorted her to her room after she enjoyed one too many drinks- he’s not even fully sure if she’s genuine about her participation in the plan either.

he gives you a sly smile when you walk up, holding onto your arms and squeezing past the people flooding the beach.

“hey, so…” your slight nervousness amuses him. “do you mind showing me around, i’m actually a bit hungry and lost and you’re the only person i know here.”

chishiya isn’t sure why, but hearing that you need to depend on him makes him smile bigger- but he dismisses the expression quickly. he’s a man of little words, and just says “sure” before motioning with his hand to follow him.

the music blares intensely, and you’re amazed at how high the speakers go. you pass by the club scene, and you were very grateful for not staying longer than necessary. in every corner, people were on top of each other- moaning in their mouths. its highly uncomfortable for you, and you shuffle further down by chishiya just trying to get away.

“im starting to think you had me join a sex ring chishiya..” he laughs a bit, before turning to look at you “how come?”

“well first off.. we get here and that nani dude says you’re gonna have fun !”

“do you mean niragi? and i have my own fun, very much far away from all the loud and dirty people.”

you cringe a bit at hearing that you said the wrong name, but continue. “well then you leave me in a room with that freako hatter! he nearly fucked the girl in front of me.. and he was looking at me like i was next.” chishiya notices your shivers during ur recount, and he frowns a bit.

“if i could’ve stayed with you, i would’ve.”

he speaks lightly, and for some reason.. this affects you strongly

finally you arrive at the food bar- meals loitering the counters and tables, but none look appetizing.

“it’s the best they can do, most of it all is canned food, we don’t have many hunters here.” he speaks, stuffing his hands into his jacket pockets and following behind you as you browse your options.

you hum as a reply, acknowledging his comment, and he’s right… the options and appearances of the plates seem to mediocre at best, but you grab the plate of rice and beans anyways.

chishiya is deep in thought, more than you’ve seen within your short time of knowing him. but he’s thinking of the best approach to start luring you in as his bait .

“hey chishiya” your voice snaps him out of his thoughts.

“whats up?”

“what did you do before… this ?” you motion to the sky, face contorted with curiosity. chishiya debates his response to you, how much exactly should he let you know about? he doesn’t exactly care for telling you anything about himself frankly, but despite the pessimism- he clears his throat and brings his hands out of his pocket once you sit at a booth.

“im a senior medical student, so far ive had the most experience out of my peers. ive been assisting in multiple patient cases. i’ll complete my studies quite soon actually.” chishiya doesnt realize hes spoken more than he intended, he honestly just was going to leave it at ‘im a senior medical student’- but looking at you makes him a bit more vocal.

you nod with awe, “wow! thats so cool, wish i had gone to school for something helpful like that.”

“what did you go for?”

“business.”

he laughs- and you scowl a bit and roughly scrape at your plate and eat some of your dinner

“what do you plan on doing with that?” he says, coming down from his giggles. you just shrug, mumbling your response.

“dont know, actually i went to an interview the day i got here. wanted to work in account files for a law firm.” chishiya nods “that seems promising, hope when you get out you score the job.”

you smile and thank him, and chishiya is internally kicking his brain hard. hes being too friendly for his own liking and its rather unsettling him.

he decides on staying silent after that, and you both sit in a comfortable silence as you eat- and he lays back across from you, resuming his music. every now and then, he looks at you subtly, staring at your lashes, nose and cheeks. he admits he finds you attractive.

the sky dims more, and ironically- you can hear more people join the party nearby. it’s honestly starting to give you a headache. a woman walks into the room, legs slender and tall and her locs flow behind her as she walks up to your table.

“chishiya. where have you been?” she asks your companion, and you begin to feel as though you’re being shut out slightly.

“ah, been helpin’ out the newest beach member.” the woman turns her head confused, but then lights up with shock when she meets your eyes.

“oh! you’re so pretty!” youre stunned, and you cant hide a bashful smile as you laugh a bit.

“oh thank you.. though im looking rather rough recently. you’re gorgeous though!” the woman’s heart swells and she smiles back, the cigarette butt between her teeth bouncing slightly.

she sticks her hand out towards you, “kuina” you shake it softly and introduce yourself, and begin to move down the booth to invite her to sit before chishiya cuts you off

“dont, shes not staying.” he says cooly, not even looking at you but rather kuina.

kuina raises an eyebrow, and chishiya gets up

“get back to your room safely. i’ll see you soon. “ his hands confide in his pockets and he walks out of the dining area, leaving kuina a few feet behind.

she quickly bids you goodnight and says how happy she is to have met you, and follows chishiya quickly.

you’re really confused, where are the two going? why are they leaving you alone… and what on earth are they doing?

you decide theres too many possibilities, some of which youd rather not know about or imagine- and choose to throw your now empty plate out and head back to bed.

chishiya is trying his best not to snap at kuina as she persistently inquires him about you.

“how’d you meet her?”

“a game.”

“oh? i doubt you helped her like some knight in armor” he sneers at her comment, “ah kuina you know me so well” she shrugs her shoulders as they step closer to the planning room.

“just don’t get why she hasn’t branched out to someone a bit more welcoming.”

though to another person, this would seem insulting, chishiya knows kuina well enough to know she’s being genuine- and knows his behavior quite well. he secretly agrees with her, he’s not exactly some warm and gentle person- and maybe you’d be better off with someone who is. but he can’t risk you meeting people and becoming attached, he needs you afterall for the plan to continue.

deep inside though, he enjoys the fact that he’ll get to see you so often.

[fioras-resolve]

mrow! angie here! so this year was really good for me as like, a games person. i went to gdc in march, which gave me a sense of My People and showed me the process of game development in a way i'd never seen before. i used that newfound inspiration to start development on Daybreak Hearts, which is the first project in years i've felt i can really finish and truly call mine. and in doing so, i've deepened my connections with so many other people.

i've also played a lot of games this year that really got me thinking and feeling. so i'll just list a few! (note, most of them did not come out this year, i don't tend to play games the year they come out)

Marvel's Midnight Suns - this is a game i've got complex feelings about, because it is bloated and overdesigned in a way only a AAA game can be, but it also has genuinely some of the most fun combat i've ever played in a tactics game. it got me thinking about how just how much room this genre has to grow, and how i'm part of a thriving tactics renaissance.

The Zero Escape Trilogy - i am so glad i played this after so long without trying it. 999, Virtue's Last Reward, and Zero Time Dilemma are all victories of interactive storytelling in their own unique way, each game escalating the drama and level of batshit from the previous. even as i fall slowly out of love with ace attorney, i know that i will never stop loving a good ADV game.

Neon White - a game that is unapologetically cringe while also being sick as hell. the game has so much sauce, and is so earnest in being a horny 15 year old's idea of cool that i can't help but love it. so many people think the dialogue is cringe, but i think that's part of the charm.

14 Minesweeper Variants 2 - undoubtedly the game i have spent the most time playing over the past year. it is exactly my shit, basically laser-targeted towards me in specific, and the fact that it has zero art budget doesn't detract for a second. because i am a pervert for clever game mechanics.

Guilty Gear Strive - i've had this game for years, but the season 4 patch with dizzy has turned this game from something i like to something i love. my growth with this game over the past year has been symbolic for a lot in my life, and it's been an opportunity for me to share in my passion with others.

there are other games i played this year, like Chants of Senaar, Megaman Battle Network, and Pro Philosopher 2, all of which are good, but are not the point of this post. my point is to get at how these games have affected, or perhaps reflected, my life over this past year. genuinely, i feel so fucking happy this year. like my emotions are up and down, but i just... i feel happy about so many things, proud about so many things, excited about so many things. in recent days the excitement occasionally verges on too much to bear, i am just that happy with things, that much able to enjoy life and all its fruits. i am... happy, to be alive. yeah, it's good to say that, isn't it. what i want to bring into 2025 is love, for the world, for my people, and especially for myself.

but... look, fang already mentioned in the last post what happened to me earlier this year. it's not been fun at all processing it, and recently my thirst for vengeance has manifested as baiken from guilty gear manifesting in my head and helping me through it. i think the worst part of that is how it's affected the way i approach daily life, and my body especially. because, look, i know that i've got a hot bod. it's hard for me not to see it in the mirror and think "this is so fucking awesome." but that incident has made me very, like extremely aware of how this body is perceived. that because i am a pretty woman with nice hair, a good rack, and a fat ass, that people will treat me as a Thing. i hate the idea that my body will be viewed lustfully by people who want to hurt me. i've been told by my therapist "that's puberty," and i wish that brought me any comfort.

and like... having someone do that to me has made me uncomfortable with a lot of stuff to do with sexuality. basically all "matters" have been handled by someone other than me, because i have not wanted to think about it at all. and i feel fucking broken for this, because what is our queer culture if not a deeply horny selection of weirdos? and i ask that seriously, because it seems at its core that's what a lot of these communities Are. (sigh) for so long, via twitter and tumblr, i have been convinced that to be queer means to be [x], and now i can't comfortably be [x] for reasons i did not ask for. how am i supposed to think of myself except a failed queer? really, i'm asking.

but... this, right here, is what i want so badly to leave behind in 2025. the idea that i have to contort myself or do shit i'm not comfy with to fit in with The Culture. the idea that The Culture is the most important thing to be in, or even that it's some coherent thing and not just a swathe of social media bubbles. i need to recognize that my community, my people, are already here, and that i don't need to "fit in" with shit.

but oh man, is internalizing that lesson gonna be hard...

[nanjokei]

i know ive said it before a few months ago but even though i dont go there i feel like people are pretty meanspirited towards genshin fans. obviously one of the biggest games around is gonna attract people who are new to geek ish shit like video games and anime. which means its likely their opinions are likely to be unseasoned. i think theres an entire world that exists for teenagers and normies with smartphones that we arent seeing, maybe its a generational gap idk

like the people who are super into webtoons and genshin and god knows what else, younger people and normies, lack the etiquette that was basically beaten into our brains through years of frequenting forums and microblogging social sites (livejournal, tumblr) (this is a lie because most people lack etiquette to begin with) so they act unbecoming, get into fights, make claims about skinny twinks being daddy or whatever. mostly cuz they know nothing else. is it annoying? yeah, but it feels meanspirited to write all of them off, and all of genshin off. i dont play it, i tried it close to launch and found myself completely disinterested so after not even completing the tutorial i ended up dropping it, but i have a lot of friends who are normal and find themselves enjoying it unironically and theyre surprised that they do due to the overly exaggerated reputation it has. im just speaking in general, of course they have the same issues a lot of people have with genshin, in fact i think most people who Actually Play Games would...

in general i dont get the catastrophization of genshin. i feel like so many people attribute things to it that dont make sense, like how suddenly all anime character design, especially fantasy, has gotten worse. my own feelings on the designs is pretty neutral. but at the same time its like, a fucking anime game, idk, i dont have feelings on it to begin with because it just looks like most other anime games but hoyoverse flare is hoyoverse flare.

to begin with i don't think hoyoverse is to blame for fantasy designs sucking. i think that is completely dishonest to suggest. as a fantasy fan, i think that its an issue of decay and lack of interest in the genre. i wrote about my feelings in isekai before (hint: mostly positive) but its a fact that most people have no interest in fantasy anymore. its seeing a slight genuine revival recently, but i feel like most of people's exposure is from isekai that take a very minimalist and "modern" sensibility to the designs so as not to be cringe and over the top. here is a google search i did in november 2022 with the search term "anime elf"

i mostly use this cap to show that 1) this is an issue ive been concerned about consistently and 2) if you search "anime" anything these days you get a lot of ai art and that is just noise to me in this context. by the way, in nov 2022 if you searched "90s anime elf", the results are entirely deedlit lol. she's very pretty, and every anime aesthetic page on social media is eager to reshare her and erroneously go "80s anime is the best 😍😍😍" you know, the ova series and tv anime that came out in 1990 and 1998 respectively. its just a complete and utter lack of disinterest in the fantasy genre all around that leads to fantasy anime being swallowed up into nothingness and not being present in any zeitgeist. even tales of, a series that seemed inseperable from the conventions of the genre, has forsaken it. the super tropey anime fantasy jrpg doesn't exist anymore. even fire emblem keeps hiring artists that have no business designing characters in a medieval setting (kozaki, kurahana, pikazo). granblue FANTASY has entirely shed its final fantasy tactics inspo aesthetic and is increasingly releasing more characters distant from those sensibilities.

anyway, my point is that for over a decade now fantasy as us nerdy 20 somethings grew up with has been considered owakon and blasé. nu anime fantasy is either informed by wanting to smooth out the fantasy element as much as possible (see: rezero's character design sense. i have no comment on the story itself) or inspiration from anime MMOs that usually had more simple armor and clothing designs for most players who didn't pay up. its a whole issue from top to bottom, and frankly genshin has nothing to do with it. there are modern series clearly made by people who love the fantasy we grew up with. even those that have a different world view, like tensura, lampshades the protagonist's view of fantasy to the world he actually ended up in.

if anything genshin at least feels like its calling to SOMETHING. im not sure what, to be honest i dont really get the design thoroughline of it, and a lot of the designs are overdesigned, but i think some designs do feel reminiscent of a more familiar fantasy aesthetic (venti comes to mind).

of course its true that a lot of young artists take inspiration from genshin, you know, its one of the most popular games in the world, its like mind boggling hearing how big its install base is, but also i keep hearing that it had some kind of ripple effect on all character design in every game and anime ever. can anyone actually show me like even 3 examples of this? like, be honest with me. is that not peak catastrophizing? game has barely been out for 3 years, its not really enough for its ripple effect to suddenly change the world.

what you are complaining about is an issue that has been an issue since the 2010s. maybe you are only noticing it now that you have a new mediore hatesink to invest in. anyway yes this mediocre and halfhearted defense of genshin's fans was an excuse for me to rant about fantasy as a genre being on its death throes and how people are misattributing the tragedy to rant about some mediocre anime gacha game. i hope the recent popularity of series like dungeon meshi and frieren (i mention them bc theyre currently airing right now) makes people remember that fantasy can be good and pure soul. i hope we get a real tales of game soon also.

if you read this far please let me know what you think even on anon. its a topic that greatly interests me (anime fantasy, not genshin, i have nothing to say about genshin)

[joshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh]

I'm going to spend a little more time thinking about this show before I score it. Because I hate the show, right. I think at its absolute best it is a series that actively and aggressively fails to live up to its potential, and at its worst it is an atrociously bad overpowered protagonist lame comedy all around cringe shounen with a shit power system and all around awful writing. And I genuinely don't understand how anyone could like it, like, at all. The overwhelming ability of apparently almost everyone who has ever seen Frieren to just completely see past the things that frustrate me about it bewilders me. I think in general I'm pretty good at putting myself in the headspace of other people to see how they could like a thing, even things I hate, but I just can't do it with Frieren. The problems with this show are so violently obvious and frustrating to me that I fundamentally cannot understand how anybody could possibly enjoy it. I am convinced of my own problems with the show, right. To me it does suck and it is shit and I've been watching anime for almost 10 years now and this type of contemplative melancholy optimism genre is my bread and butter, shows that are like Frieren occupy a good majority of things I've given 10/10 scores to or consider some of my favourite anime. But this one specifically I just don't vibe with whatsoever and think is terrible at almost everything it sets out to do.

But I think for all that, I can't help shake the feeling that I'm being a liiiiiittle bit of a hater. Because the show sucks and pisses me off and whatever else, but I think I'm less mad at the show itself and more mad at the fact that massive swathes of people are convinced that anime is saved or something because of Frieren, it's so the best thing ever that it's sitting at a 9.37 on MAL right now, a score so ludicrously high that anything being scored with it would feel excessive. Everybody loves it, everybody thinks it's great, and I'm mad at them for not seeing the absolute shitshow that I see. And this problem I have I think has been amplified recently by just some tweets I've seen, of Frieren's fans accusing people that don't like the show of just, well, all sorts of bullshit, you know? If you don't like Frieren you are; a hater, a moronic shounen fan, a zoomer with a tiktok attention span, incapable of paying attention to anything slow or conemplative in any way, and just plain wrong and stupid. There is a sincere lack of willingness to engage with the idea that anyone could earnestly dislike the show for a variety of reasons, and it sucks. It's even worse because now that it's the top rated anime on MAL if you rate it low it's because you want FMAB to be at the top no matter what and you're just review bombing Frieren because you're a sheep or whatever. It just frustrates me so much that there's no conversation to be had here. You either think Frieren is god's gift to the industry and the best thing to air in the past 5-10 years, or you should make like Aura did and kill yourself. It's shit.

For what it's worth by the way, I get that I am both being a hypocrite as well as overly generalising people. I'm not willing to engage with the idea that Frieren is good, so why should people engage with the idea that it's bad? And all that "hrrr frieren fans are so annoying" is referring to like, ten tweets or something with a couple dozen replies each. I have literally spoken to people that are willing to engage with me about Frieren whom like the show but are more than willing to have a conversation and all that. But you know, it is what it is.

But anyway yeah no back to the scoring thing. Just to reiterate, I hate the show anyway, but I'm more mad at the reception and reaction to the thing. So I feel like if I scored it now I'd give it a 1/10 where my judgement is just absolutely clouded by being annoyed by the fans or whatever. Cause even while watching it I did occasionally find merit, you know? Not even just the production whoring but in the characters we were interacting with and the stories on screen. I think if I give myself more time to reflect I'll at least be able to give the show its due credit. I don't expect to score it higher than like a 4 or something maximum, and maybe I'll spend more time thinking about it and still just give it a 1 anyway, but like, I really do think I should spend a bit more time thinking before I decide anything further, so I mean, yeah. Frieren huh. If it gets any sort of followup I don't think I'll watch, and that way the Frieren tag will be cleansed of my bullshit, and the community can watch in peace. ggs.

[doberbutts]

I wonder if the hate watch/follow/read stuff is largely based in the internet idea of "you [general] like x y z person/book/show/character that's "bad/problematic/cringe" so that means YOU [general] are "bad/problematic/cringe.""

Where the person claiming to hate whatever it is or only watch/read/follow ironically genuinely does actually enjoy it but doesn't want to be lumped into the potential negative perception. More of a cover your ass situation in case the mob comes out than genuinely disliking something while continuing to consume it.

I'm sure a good chunk of it is just enjoying the drama, but I do wonder if a lot of it is just claiming you hate something for deniability. Considering the internet seems incapable of distinguishing liking an artist's work, a character, etc while still condemning their actions/morals/the subject.

I'm sure some of it's complicated purity feelings stuff but it's still weird to me. Maybe I am too neurodivergent to understand doing this.

Like. Initially when the new terfwizards game was announced, I was skeptical but interested in pirating or buying secondhand when it would no longer give any money to the author in question- a way to enjoy the work without giving money to the person who wants me dead. Paying some kid on craigslist a couple bucks when he got bored running around hogwarts sounded like a fair deal. Then when the plot leaked I went "lol nevermind" and that was that. I'm not tempted to watch playthroughs of it or really anything else, even out of spite. It sounds bad, so I'm not interested. I'm not going to watch someone stream it just so I can confirm that I was right to hate it. It's Blood Libel Simulator coming from Queen TERF and her mega right wing dev team, I have enough information to make an educated guess that I will dislike it on principal.

Same with the new Velma show. It sounded like a stupid idea to make a Scooby show without, you know, Scooby so even though I would have been interested in a 3/4 cast of color Scooby Doo, I didn't watch. And now I'm hearing all sorts of stupid shit about it and, yeah, that's why I didn't watch it. I knew I wouldn't like it so I didn't bother. I'm not going to make myself suffer through something I'm pretty sure I'm not going to like.

Anyway that post was because there's someone in the fandom tags doing a bizarrely antagonistic reading of the Witcher books and basically bad-faithing everything so when I looked at their blog I just see them doing it in fandom after fandom and I'm kinda like. Okay you clearly aren't a big fan of this style of fantasy so why are you continuing to read these types of books? Go read what you want to read since this clearly isn't your thing.

Like I'm not saying any of these things don't have their flaws. Even the media I do like and engage with has its flaws. But! To me it's different to clearly *like something* yet still want it to be different because you feel it would be better that way, which is honest criticism, vs a continued barrage of "man why did I even bother I knew I'd hate this". If I know I'll hate something I just don't engage with it! Easy peasy.

[bourbon-ontherocks]

asdjzekhkjerhf 304 was?? hysterical???? I hadn’t laughed like that in front a show in a long time, I was literally cry-laughing during the online team meeting. gilles’ face 💀💀💀 I could rewatch the ep rn just for this… franchement, merci chloé for sharing your germs with everyone, so worth it 🙏 btw céline complètement croclove de la petiote while adam is trying to keep a semblance of health & safety measures in the workplace, ICONIC. (so many germs-related reaction gifs to make. "LES GESTES BARRIÈRE !")

let’s not forget daphné’s power trip and her gender equality crusade, is it me or did she wink when they told céline the murderer was a woman? je l’adore 😭😂

gilles, vraiment, friend of the year 🥲 because daphné might just eviscerate him when she finds out he lied to her 🥲 ("vous allez tellement bien ensemble" je l’ai mal pris pour lui mdrrr) and it’s cute how jealous he was of timothée, lol!

timothée is way too sweet, actually. like, we know he’s not really meant as a love interest for morgane, but it’s too bad we don’t even get a chance to believe in their relationship (as opposed to morgane & ludo for example) though I’m glad he’s around, tbh, because "ma sirène" is my new favorite term of endearment 🤣🤣

OMG anon, I'm so happy for you that you enjoyed this episode!!! I'm not particularly fond of it myself so I'm glad you gave me more reasons to like it!!

I must say the flu epidemic was extremely fun, I knew from the start that it was obviously bound to happen when Ludo said that Chloé had a fever, and watching that trainwreck was like witnessing a car crash lol 😂 I agree that in that regard, the Zoom meeting was particularly delightful 😍 Also Adam x his steam inhaler is my new ship (really though, between the absence of Beardie, the inhaler, and the thermometer stuff, he was peak sexiness in this ep 🤣)

Céline babytalking Chloé felt kinda weird to me, she never really struck me as a kids person (even when she talks about how she basically never sees her son in season 2, like... she doesn't look devastated so much, you know?) but for some random reason she seems to be obsessed with Morgane's children this season (cf. when her first concern when Morgane was attacked at home was, actually, the kids that weren't even there).

But -- ah, why am I even trying to understand the characters this season? Characterization who? lol. Où avais-je la tête 😅

I 100% agreed that Daphné winked about the murderer being a woman, and she was definitely proud. I love her so much, but this woman is deranged 😂 Also the way she went borderline scary when asking Gilles about who was Timothée's conquest made me laugh so much!! The poor man, torn between his loyalty (and scare) towards Morgane and his scare (and loyalty) towards Daphné lololol!! Their fake dating idea was genius and Daphné's réaction was priceless ("maintenant que tu me le dis c'est évident" looooooool). But also wait until you find out how it all resolves because I have a feeling that you won't get disappointed 😈

Also what do you mean Gilles was jealous of Timothée?

Timothée is boring (imo) and borderline creepy, and I must say I cringed at "ma sirène" but also agreed that it was kinda hilarious. What did you think of the pseudo-romantic scene (grand gesture, rain, champagne metaphor, heart-shaped fade to black, etc) in the end? I might have vomited in my mouth a little 😆

But I have to admit I really enjoyed Morgane trying and spectacularly failing at hiding Timothée from Ludo AND Gilles lol (also Gilles who genuinely thought Timothée was just being rude for wandering naked in Morgane's house... someone protects this man at all cost 🤣)

(also the way Ludo was super chill with his ex's sex life, this man is a GEM 🥰)

Obviously this analysis wouldn't be whole without its crumbs of angst, so I'll leave you with the fact that Morgane's break-up speech was embarrassingly bad because she's usually never the one who leaves. 😢