#i have no idea what this is but we can plot it UWU

[riacte]

Unconventional format / mixed media / meta / epistolary fic ideas:

Script format but the characters slowly break fourth wall until they grow self aware and scream to leave but the script confines them.

Mock up notes of an author's fic outline only for a "fan favourite" / "author's darling" character to gain sentience and influence the story. The character changes the outline to suit their own agenda, and their changes are marked with a different colour whereas black text means it's the author's will. Maybe another character using another colour gains sentience. The different colours fight for dominance. Mom says it's my turn with the keyboard hey what the fuck man excuse me I'm literally trying to save my family can you guys let go and let me write your character arcs in peace OH FUCK OFF

Recipe fic. The story is told via those unnecessarily long backstories on a recipe blog in which you learn about someone's grandma or a breakup or literally anything. Bonus points if the actual recipe deals with worldbuilding (what ingredients are available? What utensils are used? How to serve this meal? Woohoo Dungeon Meshi) or in-cheek recipes (eg. "Recipe for making up with your estranged mother - Step 1: Mix patience, nostalgia, and filial piety and let it marinate for ten years. Step 2: Throw that shit into the trash because you're better than that")

Travel fic. A character is lost and trying to find their way somewhere. GPS directions, googling "x place to x place", tickets and dates, train station maps, leaflets. It gets weirder and weirder. You never get closer to your destination. You're walking around in circles. It's always 10 meters away. Where are you going and where have you been?

Receipts. Try to infer what a character is doing judging from the weird things they buy together. Also yipppee inflation tracker. On the other side, maybe it can be about a cashier/ shop owner getting to know their customers and what they order.

Written from the pov of an non-native English speaker, all the English words are italicized whereas their native tongue are the only words not italicized. Inspired by Kupu rere kē by Alice Te Punga Somerville. This is because I got salty about people from Ao3 Reddit saying they won't read a fic in all italics.

Murder mystery / "Among Us" style impersonation fic strictly using the chatfic format. Characters and readers will have to figure out which character has been killed and replaced from the way they text and use emojis. This is also because I got salty about Ao3 Reddit being a wee bit pretentious about emoji usage in fics. Maybe emojis can be important plot devices! Some people prefer to sign off messages with a heart emoji of their signature colour, so won't it be weird if they use another coloured heart? How about someone using lapslock suddenly using proper capitalisation and full stops? Can you tell if someone's phone has been stolen? What if someone's mother is pretending to text like their child? Why is someone suddenly only using UwU speak? Is it a bit, or have they been replaced?

Innocuous second person POV until the last line where it's suddenly revealed to be first person POV all along and the "I" has been stalking and narrating "you".

Other fun bits / Easter eggs / secrets to hide:

Decoding within the text itself. Maybe we get given instructions to find a word in x chapter on page y on the nth line. And when we as readers collect all the words, they form a sentence that spells out an important fact which the characters are oblivious to. Or maybe the in-universe characters find a book with the same title as the irl fic with a bookmark in it, and if you go to where the bookmark is stuck irl, you'll find the murderer plainly stated. The rest of the fic is about the readers having hard confirmation of who the murderer is while characters don't know.

A phrase is subtly repeated throughout the text of the fic and is spelled out with the letter that begins a sentence. It gives off the effect that the narrator is screaming and crying into the void (to the readers in the fourth wall) while trying to avoid detection. Bonus points if the same word is repeated for pages and pages to the point the lack of sentence variation feels weird and clunky.

Morse code!! I love morse code! Using onomatopoeia to convey the dots and dashes! The sound of rain pattering on the tin rooftop— drop, drop, drop. A low whistle of a train rumbling in the distance. He slowly sharpens his knife, creating a shiiing sound. A lengthy, high pitched squeal from his kettle. A dog barks. A sharp knock. His heart thumps. Dot dot dot, dash dash dash, dot dot dot. SOS. Maybe a character's death scene spells out the name of their mysterious murderer. Maybe a character is reminiscing their deceased loved one and the scene spells out what the deceased person would've wanted to tell them— "LIVE ON" or "I LOVE YOU" or something.

[bloody-teared-angel]

Once again, I came across a defense post for St*las in the 'anti' and 'critical' tag and boy, do I have some thoughts.

The post screenshotted a post about the OG Paranoid DJ song 'Look My Way' and the tags underneath, defending St*las. Let's get into it shall we?

(DO NOT SENT HARRASMENT TO THIS PERSON!! I DO NOT CONDONE THIS BEHAVIOR!)

Stella and Octavia Deserve Better. There. I said it. They deserve better than to be written as a two dimensional a*usive spouse so the se* ab* would look better, so the writers could have an excuse to make it seem he is not in the wrong, his daughter deserves better than to be brought up as a plot device for his man pain.

Stella and Octavia deserved to have a mother and daughter relationship on screen, Stella deserved complexity since she's in the same boat as S*las if not worse.

Now, onto the person's post.

When did Stella destroy his stuff? When did she r* him repeatedly? From what I remember, they did it until Stella became pregnant then from what I remember they barely touched each other.

Until it was made in s2 that Stella was a* for Stolas to look good.

In s1 Stella threw an Imp at him which I think is justified, after what he did to her. When you think about it, Stella carried the brunt of it.

"Oh, the sad little owl was a* so it is ok if he neglects his own daughter, uwu."

Bollock.

Does it explain his actions? Yes. Excuse them? No.

No child should ever be caught in the crossfire. Especially one that is still at a vulnerable stage. St*as openly flirts with his booty call in front of her, doesn't listen to her until Octavia gets visibly upset or runs away, only then he starts to care.

It's easy to call S*as the better parent when we have no one else to compare him to.

I have no idea where this person was going with this, if it was reversed we would treat the woman in the scenario the same, since (if Blitz was a woman we will go with that) she would still se*a* someone else, who was doing it for the sake of feeding her daughter and employees.

TLDR: Allegedly, the VA for both Stella and S*as said, that the two are going to have complex relationship, which was hinted at Loo Loo Land but got discarded in favor of melodrama and woobification of S*as.

*snorts*

Good writing, my ass, Miss Medrano said on multiple occasions that she has no idea where HB is going, she writing things on the go and the fanbase is also influencing her fanbase due to how much she is in kahoots with them.

So um. You are telling is not to engage with media. At all. We are not allowed to criticize the show, is what you are telling us.

Fun fact, most of the people who are criticizing it are ex-fans or still fans that are still holding out hope that the show would get better.

And guess what, people would be wasting their time by watching the show so the people who were invested at LEAST want to finish S2 so their time would not go to waste.

PS: I was one of the fans. I enjoyed s1. I came to love Blitz. And I hate what the show is doing it to him.

We are not doing anything to you. We are using the appropriate tags, we are staying in our lane, you are the one who posted it into 'anti' and 'critical' tags, that's going exactly against what you are saying.

We can engage with the media we consume, weather we love it or hate it.

[doodler16]

sinsmas is a fun episode to me honestly, but the way they try to gaslight the audience into thinking that cheating is fine as long as youre doing it at the expense of your abusive partner is, regardless of how your kids feel, even supporting the idea they should just roll with it, is.. i hate it? and in stoliz's case, its not even, "stolas cheated on stella with blitz and the two made this family together out of the broken pieces left with their kids," like the humans did. (which realistically probably wouldnt work out, and only does because karen is dead and the daughters arent actual characters with agency like the majority of vivs female characters,) its, "stolas felt so unwanted his entire life because of this arranged marriage that, when his ""first ever friend"" fucked him and stole the grimorie the morning after, his immediate reaction was NOT to get him an asmodean crystal so the two could continue to fuck consensually, without hurting his daughters birthright, but to instead FORCE his ""first ever friend"" while he was literally fighting for his life into having sex once a month for usage to said birthright, that is the entire REASON he had a daughter he didnt want, willingly putting the grimorie in the hands of someone else every month 99% of the time, so he could MAKE that person FUCK HIM because he was a sad innocent uwu boi who never knew what twue wove is and that was totally all he wanted all along!" actually, im just a big dumb idiot, this is fine, and not fucked up at all. i should just turn my brain off so i can buy 69 more stoliz plushies, pins, and shirts from shark robot dot com that i can shove up my anus and shit out - the money im given by the go fund me i set up due to the following anal prolapse it causes, will go directly to viviene "dont say yes until im finished talking" mendrano's disneyland, taxidermy peacock, and kfc in japan budget! just like that queer, totally not white passing, totally not having a history of edgy bigotedness even up into 2023, totally doesnt have a rape fetish, totally not someone who has a pattern of using people and spitting them out, DESERVES to have! :D

In hindsight, I do wish the episode was mainly about IMP and them focusing on their sins. Like how Millie and Moxxie do wrath related things, Loona does gluttony with her friends, etc. Majority of the episode was just Vivziepop gaslighting the audience and the demonizing a woman who is upset she got the short end of the stick.

That first friend/circus episode was so dumb. Not only does it make Stolas and Stoliz look worse in comparison. The two never acknowledge what happened at the mansion at all except when Blitzø attempts to steal the grimoire. Stolas and Blitzø aren’t even friends like Vivziepop wants to imply and milk in the merch. Blitzø was literally Stolas’ temporary slave, forced to hang out with him then the two went their separate ways.

Yes, Anon we should definitely turn our brain off- no we should remove them completely and ignore how messy the plot is, the lack of world building in this story, how one-note and neglected the female characters are, etc. 😔 It’s all about Stoliz

[genericartist27]

Why Charlie sucks and why she's being replace by Emily (Emily's chapter will come later).

Ok I think it’s time I just, write, I have more been trying to plan out everything, but I think I just need to get my ideas out of me (Or on the Google Doc I’m typing on) regarding the Characters, because it’s been a nightmare trying to get my thoughts together and I think I just need to start rambling…

First regarding the main character and the swap I’ve done; ‘Charlie’, or in my rewrite, ‘Emily’. Or in this chapter: Why I Hate Charlie.

I’m going to say it: I don’t like Charlie’s character in the show. In the Pilot she was quite good, she felt like a genuinely kind and sweet person, who genuinely wanted to help Sinners find redemption in the Hotel, but still had common sense and didn’t feel naive beyond belief. It felt like from the Pilot we were going to have her in the series learn about the guests' problems and why they got into and actually try and do things to help them improve, and she was going to get depth in the show beyond her core personality.

What I’m trying to say is: Charlie in the Pilot felt like a genuine Disney Princess. The show's version feels like a parody.

She is so naive it hurts… It’s a trope I hate in the media where instead of making stuff happen naturally, they just make characters into idiots for the plot or they make them have an out of nowhere fight or something to make a 3rd Act breakup. It has always frustrated me ever since I was a kid because I’d rather have conflicts or plots happen naturally in stories rather than them happening because the narrative demanded it or because the writers couldn’t think of a way to make the thing they wanted happen in the story naturally. What made me start to dislike her was Episode 4. SHE LITERALLY WALKS INTO ANGEL’S WORK AND MESSES EVERYTHING UP. Not in a funny way, in a “WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS ARE YOU BLIND TO THE ENVIRONMENT AROUND YOU ARE LITERALLY INTERRUPTING ANGEL’S WORK AND HE’S VERY CLEARLY TERRIFIED OF YOU BEING HERE AND IT’S VERY CLEAR VALENTINO IS AN ARSEHOLE WHAT THE FUCK?!” She is literally the entire reason Angel gets abused by Val and why the Poison sequence happens and it pisses me off to no end. There’s also the scene where she straight comes to Heaven with DICTIONARY DEFINITIONS. I know it’s a joke but it made me think ‘Seriously girl you literally came to Heaven with Dictionary definitions to get them on board with your Hotel? How are they supposed to take you seriously if you do shit like that when you first turn up and meet them?’

Also the boundaries of who she considers redeemable and irredeemable is never specified, so it justs makes us confused when she ends up acting like ALL people in Hell are just UWU victims who are being CRUELLY slaughtered by the Angels but it justs ends up making no sense since she doesn’t specify exceptions. There’s a reason memes joking about how she’d try and redeem horrid dictators, or how she’d react to Valentino showing up at the Hotel have become so popular. Since Charlie hasn’t set down limits, it just allows the audience’s imaginations to go wild.

That’s what pisses me off about Hazbin Hotel, it wants to act like demons are just sad bad boys/girls/people who’s sad backstory completely justifies their actions and makes them completely free of wrongdoing when it doesn’t, they were still terrible people who did terrible things and there should be limits on who can be redeemed or not.

Now I just want to make it clear: I’m not one of those ‘Pick yourself up and get over it’ people, I understand that trauma can hold people back and make them do things, and it isn’t as simple as ‘get over it’. However, I think a sad backstory can only EXPLAIN actions, not JUSTIFY them, and especially in a REDEMPTION story you can’t just have a sad backstory to justify the characters actions, you have to have a moment where their called out for the actions or come to a realisation that they were wrong, and actually try to RECTIFY that behaviour, not just having them be forgiven because they have a sad backstory and just telling us their redeemed.

Another thing that pisses me off about Charlie, her methods of trying to redeem Sinners are stupid. The most annoying thing about how she does it is the fact that it’s so simple: find out what got them into Hell, THEN HELP THEM REPENT FOR THEIR PAST ACTIONS. It’s not rocket science. So why does she think that such childish activities will help a person like Angel Dust? A guy who was IN THE MAFIA. It just feels so disappointing since the show could’ve been really fun and interesting with having the characters trying to redeem themselves and finding out what got them in Hell, but NOOOO, instead we had to have nursery level shit.

What’s worse is the fact that instead of calling Charlie out for these childish methods, it instead validates her. To the point where Sir Pentious goes to Heaven presumably because of Charlie’s childish methods… LIKE WHAT?! That’s all it takes?! Not redeeming your sins but, ‘Be Selfless, Don’t Steal, Stick it to the Man’? Are you seriously saying that nursery level morality is all you need to get into Heaven? Not anything to do with how you got into Hell? There’s a moment where Emily after seeing Angel Dust goes ‘Why isn’t he here?’, and I just thought ‘because he was in the MAFIA’, but no one mentions that, the show just agrees with Emily when it shouldn’t, it should use this scene to properly explain how each of the characters got into Hell, so we can properly set up their development and show Charlie that her childish activities won’t work. BUT WE DON’T! The show instead uses this scene to do the ‘Hell is the victim UWU’ I talked about earlier to make Charlie in the right. The show never questions or opposes Charlie and always portrays her as in the right *insert joke about Viv not being able to take criticism*, and anyone who opposes her (Adam, Lucifer, and Sera) gets demonised by the show (or at least it feels like it). I understand she’s the main character so to some extent it makes sense, but it feels like we’re starting to lean into Mary Sue territory with how much the show bend backwards to make Charlie always in the right and never have to question her actions or get called out for her actions (I’m not calling her a Mary Sue I’m just trying to explain my thoughts and the show’s treatment of Charlie feels eerily similar to Mary Sue’s I’ve seen in media). I’m not saying she needed to go through a huge character arc. I just like the show should’ve A: Addressed the issues with her methods and beliefs and acknowledge how bad some Sinners can be, or B: Make her more like the Pilot where she was still nice but she had boundaries and didn’t keep doing the ‘Hell is the victim UWU’ when she’s opposed.

That’s what makes me like Emily so much, she feels so much more genuine compared to Charlie, she’s naive sure but it makes sense because she’s been in Heaven so it makes sense that she wouldn’t understand how Hell actually is. She feels like what Charlie was going to be (minus the naivety about Hell) before it was changed for the worst. So I replaced Charlie with Emily in this rewrite. That Chapter will come later, but for now I think it’s better just to write why I don’t like Charlie’s character first before I go on about Emily, so I’ve split it into two instead of doing them together. Hopefully Emily will come out soon!

Also edit for Tumblr: The fact that the Hazbin Hotel fandom hates criticism so much that there needs to be a SEPARATE tag for critiquing the show is kinda depressing. If my fandom had to do that I'd be doing the Shinji chair pose, but I guess that it would be neat for me because it would allow me easy access to critique of my work which I could use to improve my work, because unlike Vivzepop I want to use critique to improve my work. I might one day make this edit into its own post but for now it's staying down here at the end of this rant.

[spyroforlife]

SO.

Your thoughts on the latest episode of Helluva Boss? Do not spare the walls of text.

It was good but I feel like Andrealphus's plot was very contrived and it had so many ways it could have gone wrong and backfired on his ass, but instead it conveniently didn't so that we could get depowered Stolas and Stolitz hurt/comfort. Everything fell into place perfectly to get Stolas to admit his fault and thus Satan takes his power and Andrealphus and Stella win. Because that's just how they wanted to write it. Buut.. idk. I think this should have worked out differently.

Stolas is a genius and has been portrayed as someone who is very meticulous when it comes to deals and laws. I think it would have been far more interesting if he had showed up to the trial fully prepared to defend both himself and Blitz, with a solid case to present to the Sins. And being a Goetia, Stolas would have likely had a better chance at strong-arming them into actually listening to his testimony, versus Blitz who they of course just dismissed because he's an imp. But Stolas has power. He has pull. True, he had to move fast to even get there before the execution, which Andrealphus was surely relying on. Ultimately, Andrealphus is meant to be the 'mastermind' of this episode. But still, I think Stolas could have used his influence at that point to halt everything and force this to proceed in a more fair fashion.

Let him gather evidence and present a defense. And then he could have turned things BACK AROUND on Andrealphus, to prove to the court that he's trying to bring Stolas down just to get his power for himself, and reveal all Andrealphus's lying and bribing.

But you know. This isn't as exciting. So of course we got what we got.

An alternative idea though, to me, would just be... Stolas IS the owner of the grimoire. Anything he decides to do with it, in his ultimate wisdom, is just and acceptable. He should have just simply pulled rank and said sure, he allowed Blitz to use the book for his business, but this is his domain and if he authorized it, it goes. It's no one else's place to interfere in Stolas's use of the grimoire. That could have been an interesting angle. And at this point Blitz has been using the Asmodean crystal anyway, so hey, you wanna take this up with ASMODEUS?

And Asmodeus, being a Sin, will probably be granted even more leeway. He gave it to Blitz, for Blitz to use as he wished. End of story. And Blitz is no longer using the grimoire. What's the problem? There isn't one :) But how INTERESTING that Andrealphus brings this up now, huh? Almost like he's... trying to get something out of all this... HMM

Basically, turn Satan's wrath onto Andrealphus for being manipulative, and Blitz and crew can skedaddle, and Stolas is fine.

These are just more reasonable ideas about how it could have gone, and again, I acknowledge that that's not really the point. They wanted it to be dramatic, they wanted it to be angsty, and that's how they wrote it. Of COURSE Satan's an impatient little shit. Of COURSE Stolas barely gets there with time to spare and just immediately throws his reputation and life on the line for Blitz. Of COURSE Satan just decides fine by him and strips him of his power, so of COURSE we get Stolas going home with Blitz and things are domestic and sad uwu

Still. I just like to imagine how things could have gone differently, and Icedick coulda gotten his ass handed to him

ah well I'm just gonna hold out hope for Octavia figuring out Stolas is alive and rushing to be with him and immediately start helping him figure out how to appeal to Satan and turn this all around, also Vassago can help because I like him

on a less serious note, there were some pretty cute Stolitz moments that I enjoyed and I hope they talk more about their feelings now. Also Andrealphus and Stella's incest thing is fucking hilarious and it's been so funny to see people losing their minds over it, OH NO THE OWL ROYALS ARE DOING AN INCEST, THE SCANDAL

[utilitycaster]

Is there any like. Real lore based reasons ppl treat pelor as an analogue for the Big Honcho God or is that a false connection ppl who are already deadset on projecting their religious trauma with monotheistic Christian god onto fantasy pantheon make because something something "Father" and/or "Sun deity"

I think the fact that the people buying up the land in and around Hearthdell and putting in temples were doing so in the name of the Dawnfather is a big factor. It's quite honestly the only justified reason, but this was also extremely present before there was even a hint of that plot. Nothing with regards to his interactions with Deanna is anything untoward; he is arrogant but if you can't appreciate arrogant characters then skill issue; and this post (and OPs excellent reblog down the chain) covers his portrayal in Campaign 1 better than I could.

Otherwise? I'm not Christian and never have been, so personally Jesus Portrayals do nothing for me because that guy is way too nice, honestly, and it weirds me out. So while I suspect the hatred of Pelor is in part a projection of negative feelings about Christianity, for a number of reasons, particularly the fact that almost all the people dead set against him and other gods write arguments that sound like they learned rhetoric exclusively from fire-and-brimstone sermons, down to the presupposing their conclusions as part of the initial premise (they call it preaching to the choir for a reason) and the almost exclusive reliance on appeals to emotion in the absence of any logic, I do not want to say so definitively. I cannot say for sure why people came in to Campaign 3 deciding the gods had three strikes against them already and then proceeded to put on a Church Lady act of being Shocked and Sickened when people looked at the collapsed heap of unsupported presumptions they called an argument and said "no thanks" but they do. It is rather tedious.

I don't want to attribute to disingenuousness and a secret taste for the boot provided the "correct" people are wearing it what I think (and hope) is just being really, really, really stupid and incapable of considering perspectives other than one's own (though both of those can very easily be swayed towards dangerous beliefs), but there's one "argument" against the gods that I've mulled over since I first saw it. It boiled down to the idea that it was unjust for some people to have powers and some to not, and was phrased something like "if my friend got spells from their god and I didn't, I'd want to kill the gods" and that sounds like an abjectly miserable experience. I don't want to rest my argument entirely on emotion, though I'm trying to counter one resting entirely on emotion and it's pretty difficult, but man. To see your friend put in effort (perhaps not as concrete and material an effort as that of a wizard, but still an effort) and get something for it and feel only jealousy because you didn't get the same? Like not just a twinge of jealousy, which we all get, but to be so full of it as to be moved to violence? To have no joy for one's friends? That sounds like a life that would suck ass.

I think a lot of the Prime Deities in Exandrian lore, Pelor very much included (and he is perhaps the like...least nice about it, and some people get REALLY weird about a Lack of Uwu Soft Gentle Niceness even though as previously discussed I find it a turn-off) are very much about hope, and making good faith attempts, and responsibility and obligation to others, and keeping one's promises and I think that message sits very ill with people who would prefer a narrative of despair and nihilism. Ultimately that's kind of the split between the Primes and Betrayers that we see in Downfall. I think that while much of the Pelor hate is just a convenient scapegoat for a general hatred of all the gods (which is why I get general in the above paragraphs), some people hate Pelor, essentially, the way one hates sunny days when one is extremely depressed, and see them as a deliberate, cruel, and targeted affront when the sun is simply a thing that shines independently of one's mood.

[cartoon-cass]

Murder Drone episode 7 & 8 trailer analysis

This is the first bit of Murder Drone news we've had in a while so I'm biting at the chance to do some analysis. I'll do new dialog first as there isn't much of it.

"hahaha thanks for giving me the planet. Fricking idiot."

This is said by CYN or Absolute Solver, which ever one you want to call them. At first I thought this was a thing that happen in present time but that seems like a pretty big plot twist to put in the trailer so more then likely it's either what happen when Copper-9 core collapsed or what happened to Earth.

"All I know is I need you. [We'll] figure things out, together?"

I put the "We'll" in square brackets as I'm not a 100% sure that's what he says, theirs a loud crash right before it and there are no subtitles so can't be sure. N is not having a good time, poor baby. I'm guessing Uzi found out about the whole kill all infected worker drones and N is comforting her that he won't kill her.

On to the images now.

This shot is pretty dark and we get no context about it but it appears to be some sort of man made cave system, with wooden support beams and a wooden crate with what appears to be an old timey gas lamp. The hole in the wall is made out of fleshy growths with human skulls and rib cages, the fleshy growths are reminiscent to other fleshy stuff the Absolute Solver has made and the human remains are likely from the scientist or other types of workers unlucky enough to be in the blast radius when the hole was created. My money is on one of those Null black holes like the one Uzi made in Episode 6.

Uzi and N hug UwU. All jokes aside they appear to be in some sort of church, surprisingly clean for what I have to assume is god knows how far underground. The hug seems pretty desperate so they seem to have been separated from each other, as shown in the next shot, also Tessa or Doll are nowhere to be found.

This is the best shot I could get of this scene. N is being dragged on the floor into the hole by eldritch hands, this seems to be the same spot as the first image. N is grabbing something and for the life of me I have no idea what it could be but N seems to think it's important, It's not a core, maybe a human heart but that is a big maybe, but it's my best guess.

Here we see 2 sentinels chained up and a giant church, the sentinels are probably guarding it. At first I thought it was raining in this scene but on closer inspection it's actually stalagmites and stalactites, which means their definitely underground. there's a human skull on the bottom right and in red, possibly blood, is written null, there other words on the column right behind it too but it's to hard to read it.

In this frame you can better see that there's a banner on the church that says, "Lab space for rent" there seems to be red tape on it with other text but that's way to small to even guess at what it's saying. There's also a miner helmet and a bloody pickaxe, given the blood I'm guessing this was for a human and not a drone.

The sentinels seem to be reacting to some sort of light but the source of the light is not seen but it's from above, which is why I first confused it for lightning but given their underground that seems unlikely.

The only thing we see of Tessa and it's slamming Nori's locker closed, there was nothing in the locker if you were wondering. I love the little drawings, hopefully we get to see more of Nori she seems to be an interesting character .

Something weird I noticed is that thing in the bottom left corner it's not there for one frame and the next it's there and I have no idea what it could be. It's probably nothing and maybe just a result of editing for the trailer but I thought I mention it.

Look at them their so cute. I think they heard something and turn around to see what it is, likely after the hug but no idea. the light there facing is red and it persists throughout the next few shots too, maybe it's Doll, the eldritch thing from earlier or both, eldritch Doll.

Uzi is holding a crucifix of all things??? Also Uzi does not seem ok, she seems to move weird.

This frame shows that Uzi has some sort of image on her screen, or her screen is off with no eye lights and it's reflections, it's really hard to tell, but I think it's the first as the frames before this where her head is down has the same thing which wouldn't be if it's reflections.

At first I thought there was a disassembly drone in the background but it appears to be a light fixture, though it doesn't seem to do a lot of help as it's dark as hell down there. Also Rip N's hand. I think there might be a N and Uzi fight but I doubt either of them wants that.

It's interesting their leaning heavily on the Christian theming, it's always been there, the disassembly have wings and halos, head band lights, and where even referred to as sky demons, but they've never been so upfront. If I'm reading them right N is meant to be an angel or a fallen angel and Uzi a demon but what that means for the episode I'm not sure.

[ryuichirou]

RE: Ortho (+Shroudcest) post replies

Phew, alright, I think I didn’t skip anyone. If I did, I’m sorry, I’ll reply to you next time then!

Thank you so much for your wonderful messages of support and for your takes. I really appreciate it! I say it all the time but it saying it again feels appropriate: we had no idea we would ever see so many people who share our point of view despite not shipping Ortho with Idia or any other character. The fact that we can have this conversation really makes me happy.

You are welcome to share more of your thoughts if you want, but unfortunately I might not be able to reply to everyone. I will do my best though.

All of the asks in this blog are related to this post.

Anonymous asked:

Different anon, I think Ortho is in this nebulous situation like superboy in young justice who is physically 16 years old but chronologically 16 weeks old. I genuinely hate the uwu babying of characters. The dwarfs are all second years(so theoretically 17 at the youngest) but no one makes anything with them. Heck the characters I see get lewded the most are the octo trio who are the same age.

Heck, even Grim gets the baby mascot treatment by fans when he's also lumpedwiththefirst years. Like yes, he's a whiny brat but he's also grown up all alone as far as he can remember. I can't help but compare him to Puppycat who acts similarly and is a grown ass man.

Yeah, this probably plays a role too! Ironically, we were just having this conversation about Stitch the other day lol Being new to the world you exist in (and to existing in general) and being a baby aren’t necessarily the same thing.

And even in that case Ortho doesn’t fully fit into the trope because he was created quite a while ago and is already pretty well adjusted. But since he is still learning and doesn’t always understand people + doesn’t always get things like sarcasm, people consider it to be a proof that he is a toddler lol Who am I kidding, their reasoning doesn’t even go that far. They say “he died when he was a baby therefore he is a baby forever” and call it a day.

I feel bad for people who love Grim, I haven’t even thought about it… The Puppycat comparison is so spot-on lol

Grim is inexperienced and doesn’t know much about the world, but yes, he is one of the freshmen + just as he at times acts like a whiny brat, there are also times when he tells Ace that he should be more considerate of Deuce’s feelings, like wtf was that? That was Grim. Because Grim also isn’t a baby, he is a furry gremlin…

Anonymous asked:

As one of the most avid Ortho stans, it really is a pet peeve that people act like he's a little kid

You're so right that it's people that want to write him like Idia's little convenient plot device

I do want to note that it's also sometimes just the infantilization of an autistic coded character

God forbid he be somewhat optimistic, this must mean he's just an innocent baby /s

One small thing that gets me: Ortho can and has made his own gears!! Idia doesn't need to and maybe this is inspired by a post I saw that used the fact that Idia has made his stuff to take away Ortho's agency in what is supposed to be him having a tattoo analog. Not having a character be the architect of their own body mod equivalent is wild and I just.

He's a silly little guy, but he's not a fucking baby!

Indeed, Anon. I feel like people either completely ignore Ortho or see him as Idia’s appendix. I absolutely love them together, and of course I am biased towards scenarios that focus on their deep codependence, but I also really love how they get to have their own adventures, their own relationship, their own experiences separate from each other. Because they are wow, different characters, and Ortho has his own agency. He had it even before ch6, but after that he fully and officially became his own person. Being with Idia is his choice, not his only option. And just like you mentioned, he makes his own gears pretty much all the time now… even though I don’t agree that Idia making his gears has anything to do with Ortho’s agency.

I don’t even think Ortho is that optimistic. He is a little sunshine, but not even close to people like Kalim for example. Ortho even has his own cynical moments and douchy moments that people also tend to ignore. But even if he was 100% optimistic and naïve, it still would not be a valid reason to infantilise him. And you are absolutely right, people do that a lot. With Kalim too, actually, now that I think about it.

Anonymous asked:

Aaaaah, Ryuichi, after reading your post (rant) about Ortho, made me very happy! I'm glad there's someone else who shares the same opinion. The number of fans who infantilizes Ortho is beyond me. I absolutely hate the argument Ortho's mentally "8 years old" it's like they completely forget his storyline.

I'm guessing that the people who genuinely believe the theory that he's "8 years old" are younger fans with no media literacy so no hate towards them but it's frustrating when fans pretend it's Canon when it's not.

Not only that but it’s so sad to see how he's also so mischaracterized by the fandom. He's always seen just as Idia's little brother but never himself despite the fact that Ortho's life doesn't revolve around Idia. He has his own interest and hobbies different from Idia AND he is NOT innocent! Fans tend to forget this is a game about a school full of villains and that includes Ortho too! If I remember correctly Ortho has multiple times tried to blow up the school with his laser! He's violent! He's not a kid.

Unfortunately, I've seen this kind of stuff happening across all fandoms this isn't exclusive to Twisted wonderland. Heck a few months ago I've seen fans in the black butler genuinely believe that Ciel's in fact 9 years old instead of 13 year old!? And then they call us weird? The SebaCiel shippers? Like why do YOU want him to be younger?? I'm getting too old for this.

Thank you so much, Anon! I am happy you also agree.

I don’t hate younger fans, and I know that some people might be genuinely confused; but I also believe that there are a lot of people that simply do not care about Ortho’s actual story and any arguments one could make about this case. The actual issue isn’t Ortho being a certain age, it’s a pretext, an excuse, an invitation to harass. If Ortho didn’t exist, they would still do it with other characters, and even if all the characters were adults, they would still find a reason to do so, like, for example, their appearance. There is no winning in this game, this is why factual arguments won’t work even if Ortho Shroud himself looks in the camera and says “hi, I don’t care if people ship me with my niisan, I am also in fact not 8 years old”.

I am also very glad you mentioned Ortho being his own person! I mentioned it in a previous reply, so I won’t talk about it, but yes, you are absolutely right. Ortho is a menace, and all of his disappointed “come ooon, niisan, don’t do that” moments come from his desire for Idia to have more friends, not because he genuinely cares for other people. He clearly doesn’t – hence his multiple attempts to blow up the school lol

I love it when characters just keep getting younger with every single wave of this shitstorm. Didn’t you know he is 13? How dare you post something like that about a 9 years old! He is a toddler who is only 3 months old! That’s one powerful fountain of youth right there. Antis in Kuroshitsuji fandom do that a lot, just as antis in TWST fandom.

Anonymous asked:

I really feel bad for people who have Ortho as their oshi. It's not like fans of other characters don't get shit on too, apparently pretty much everyone is an immoral heathen these days, but I feel like Ortho gets often excluded in fan content, especially when it features any mature theme.

Also, if you a problem with people liking Ortho in the same way as they do with the rest of the guys, you should take your issues to the creators, since that was definitely their intention when they put him in the pretty boy gacha. Or maybe just play another game.

Anyway Ryu and Katsu, keep doing your thing, cause you guys are awesome!

What I love about it is that Ortho himself would be so pissed if he learned that all the other guys get to do fun mature stuff and he doesn’t lol That’s so not fair, he’s charging his lasers as we speak!

Also yes, it was absolutely the creators’ intention. He is supposed to look like that, just like Lilia is supposed to look like that – both caused confusion in the game story with how young they look, and yet both are a big part of the cast (+ As we know, even Idia was supposed to be younger looking…). Ortho has one of the biggest amounts of cards, he is clearly a popular character, not just a lovely addition or a mascot. 

Thank you so much for your support, Anon <3 It means a lot. This shit might be upsetting, but it will never stop us from creating.

Anonymous asked:

While I am not an Ortho/Idia shipper, I do like your art pieces because your art style is straight-up gorgeous. So when I do see your Shroudcest art Im like: not my cup of tea but I respect the time and effort made into this. (And here is my rant siding with you bc they are fictional characters)

The babyfication of Ortho is something I do not understand. As much as Idia made RoBro in trauma, rn I doubt he wants RoBro to remain stagnant in mind and hardware. With Ortho's ability to learn, he is practically a teenager like the rest. He displays more emotional maturity than most ppl despite his killer laser beam. Kindness, hope, and optimism are traits not limited to children. Shortness is also not limited to children. If we treat other characters by traits often shared by children, then Neige's fellow dwarf classmates are also children. What they don't count bc they are not human? Ortho is not human either. Similarly, Kalim and Silver display positive internal traits of kindness, hope, and optimism. Shortness? Well, we got Grandpa Lilia and the Napoleon complex twins Riddle and Epel. They are all teenagers (minus Lilia) and no one is babying them.

...And are we ignoring all the shit he has seen on the internet. The amount of porn (from adult sites and even the soft-core types you can even find by watching some twitch/yt streamers) that can be seen. Videos of violence, crimes, and ppl doing their best to win the Darwainism Award. Ortho could access and go through like 5 terebytes by the time I reach page two of Google.

As for the Shroudcest, they are fictional characters! You can go straight to phub and have incest type (the sheer amount of the step family porn troupe) porn being acted out by actual breathing people. Do you want to metaphorically die on this hill of ppl shipping fictional 2D characters? Are we just going to ignore you targeting this harmless ship? At least go for a larger target like Game of Thrones or House of Dragons. So much incest in those media that it has it's own fan wiki page, but you don't see ppl go for George R. R. Martin's throat for writing about characters willing or unknowingly committing incest.

It is like people reading/watching media of horror movie killers. It's something you can enjoy or have a preference for because you, as a sane person, will not become a serial killer. AND, as a productive member of society, you condemn actual, real-life serial killers. You read horror stories or watch scary movies for entertainment value not for a guide to be one. Similar logic to furries. Furries consider anthropomorphic creatures as hot, but those same furries are against beastilaity.

TL;DR: While I am not personally a fan of incest or shota type of media, I do not mind they exist (or go after creators who use FICTIONALLY characters to enhance their form of FICTIONAL media), bc they are FICTIONAL CHARACTERS from a FICTIONAL MEDIA. Stop with the performative activism. Use that effort and go after people who do it for real in real life. If you prevent/stop an actual crime from happening, I will applaud and thank you! AND I DOUBT I WILL BE THE ONLY ONE.

Thank you so much, Anon! I am happy that you like my stuff despite not shipping some of our ships. I am very grateful for the respect, and also for your message! I really like your points and I’ll go through them briefly.

The entire part about all those traits not being exclusive to children + about other characters having those traits but still not being babied – YES, thank you so much for that. Like I already mentioned, the game clearly plays with those tropes, and even though the characters are young-looking, they are still of high school age (other than Lilia). Ortho is weird, Ortho is different from some of the other boys, but all of them are weird in their own way, Ortho is just a robot. If we can make “not a human” excuse for the dwarves, why can’t we look at Ortho that way? And yes, Ortho absolutely knows stuff a kid wouldn’t be able to digest lol All of his difficulties come from him being an AI – he doesn’t always get sarcasm, he doesn’t fully understand why people do certain things and doesn’t understand some limitations of human’s body and mind; none of it is tied to him being childish or too innocent.

Incest in media is very popular indeed, and it’s SUPER popular in porn! You are right. If any kind of media ends up “normalising” this kind of relationship, it definitely won’t be shippers of incest. But also that won’t happen because wow, it doesn’t work that way. People love to say that fiction affects reality, and while in a way it does, it’s never a “everyone is going to start shooting people because the videogames brainwashed them” type of deal, and this is exactly what they’re doing with their arguments. It’s fear-mongering, moralism and ignoring the fact that people do in fact know how to separate fiction from reality. And the key to making sure no one is going to jump out the window because their favourite character did so isn’t in censorship, but in people learning this difference and always keeping in it mind. Ironically, that would mean that people who harass others over cartoons can’t make this separation very well because of their lack of critical consumption of media; but then again, they can’t even see (and don’t care, which makes it worse and my point stronger) how their own reckless actions seriously affect real people in real life, and I think this is a more important issue to resolve lol

Unfortunately, people who prefer performative activism very rarely end up becoming real activists, but I do hope that they will at least find some other hobby, something that doesn’t cause so much harm to both innocent people and the cause they claim to be fighting for.

I got a bit carried away there, but yeah, I totally agree with your point, and once again grateful for your understanding. There will always be media that makes you uncomfortable – and that’s the beauty of it. Creativity is a boundless ocean and no amount of bricks can contain it.

Anonymous asked:

I was just scrolling through and saw your explanation of ortho and shroudcest the other day. As tiring as I’m sure it is, it always gives me hope to see people who remember what shipping is really about. I mean problematic content has existed all through human mythos and history, and society still survives! According to the studies the “art morality” argument is roughly the same as “but da violent games!!” Argument, or metal music, or clothes, or any other form of media deemed ‘new’ or ‘too different’.

Anyway, I don’t ship cest stuff myself but your art is lovely and it’s become one of the things I can view without feeling uncomfy despite how my head usually responds to such content (woohoo free therapy??? /j)

I ship ortho with an OC who’s also 16. Said oc’s mother said she would never treat her child differently for who they choose to love, and while she definitely wasn’t expecting a robot, she’s not going back on her word.

Thank you so much, Anon!! YES, this is exactly what shipping is all about! It feels like “umm but they’re not even canon” type of people are suddenly the majority in fandom spaces ahhh lol

As long as art exists, there will always be people who are against it, especially if it’s something niche, and despite how popular fandoms are, all of the fandom activity is a niche, ESPECIALLY shipping, ESPECIALLY this kind of shipping. So unfortunately it’s unavoidable, but it’s so useless and annoying!

I am very happy that you like our stuff. Thank you for enjoying it. Your OC’s mother is amazing and very supportive lol I am sure she and Ortho will get along swimmingly.

[imthepunchlord]

So, I think I know why Lila feels like she's all over the place, and it has to do with Chloe. I genuinely think that Lila was created to take over Chloe's role as the mean girl and school/civilian antagonist once Chloe was redeemed. But thanks to Thomas axing Chloe's redemption arc, Chloe got sent back to her old role, and Lila was left redundant. This is probably why she wasn't very present in season 4 since the writers probably had no idea what to do with her. This was probably made worse when Felix got more focus. I genuinely think the only reason Felix was originally brought in was to make Adrien look better by comparison, and either he was so popular or they realized he could help with the sentimonster plotline, but ended up getting more plot focus and roles that probably would have made more sense for Lila.

I mostly agree.

While I acknowledge that the potential of Chloe's redemption is there, I really don't think she was intended to ever have one. I think the agenda was to stress "she's terrible, and will always be terrible". Though, the more you see of ML's development, the clearer it is how messy things were, they even had writers/scriptwriters who didn't fully understand what they were working on to make episodes, which probably added to Chloe's sloppy mess of a role in the show. This is probably why we got the whiplashing episodes of "uwu pity the sad rich girl" to "she's absolutely terrible".

Either way, I did think the same pre s2. That is one way to get a redemption rolling, someone worse comes along, filling the role the prior antagonist/villain had and doing it better (e.g. Vegeta). This has the previous antagonist/villain either stepping in line and becoming a lackey as someone superior is filling their role, or they're role is changed up entirely, working with the heroes as the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

And given that both girls had a big ego and liked attention, it was easy to expect that these girls were going to clash. For there can only be one Queen Bee of the school, and Chloe is the sort to expect to have lackeys, and not be a lackey.

And I was expecting Lila to play a major role in that speculated redemption for Chloe. That, unlike Chloe, she has charisma and cunning, that she would win over most of the school, and that she would turn the school against Chloe. That Lila would inspire everyone to come forward to call Chloe out on her bs, for what she's done to every single one of them. Be a classic popularity vs power, and how the many overtake the one. And how the one thing Chloe had, the power she used to instill fear and control that allowed her to throw her weight around and do as she pleases, that's now broken down. There's not a lot her father could do if the whole school stood up to her, he can't shut it down or have everyone expelled.

It's just Lila bringing forth the consequences of Chloe's actions, and no Miraculous Cure will fix this.

And Chloe is set up to either bow out, bow down, or make that first step to change, as change, and redemption, starts with you. Chloe herself has to want to change. And I am of the belief that change comes with a really hard reality check.

But we didn't get this. And with them set to not change Chloe, then yeah Lila was a useless inclusion. We did not need two mean girls, who play very similar roles, for Marinette to go up against, additionally with both of them interested in Adrien. And then you add Kagami to the mix, who was a somewhat mean girl in certain eps, then yeah it was just redundant.

And it's made worse with the inclusion of Felix and Zoe.

Felix was a better Lila, making her even more obsolete. Between Chloe and Felix, there was nothing unique to Lila. Doesn't help that Lila was a plot device who comes in as the writers need her to, and drag down everyone's IQ. Felix doesn't need people dumbed down to trick them, he has the charisma and deceptive skills to do so. So yeah he was very much the superior Lila.

And then you got Zoe coming in and acts as a fill in for a redeemed Chloe and Lila. As you have two girls filling a very similar role, one needs to change. Typically redemption is a good way to do it, and there are fans who did want that (especially for Chloe), but they didn't want to redeem either, so Zoe comes in to fill that role awkwardly, adding more to this already big cast.

Zoe is a "redeemed" Chloe as she's related to her, played a "mean girl" role, and gets the Bee by default whether it really clicks with her or not. She's a "redeemed" Lila as Zoe is deceptive and a manipulator, but with a golden heart.

So yeah, in hindsight, Lila really is just a pointless inclusion. S6 does have a chance to do something with her now, but eh, I'm not expecting much.

[mtkay13]

So I made those as requested by abscess chemical on twitter and figured it may be fun to share them on tumblr as well. And you know what? Share a break down of my choices as well, because why not! I tried doing it seriously haha.

Zhou Zishu:

Intense - 6/10: He can be very intense, re the things or people he's invested in, but he also has a chill and detached quality to him, a way of being at peace with things that he won't blow things out of proportions.

Complex - 9/10: I think that he's a very nuanced, multi-faceted and deep character, but I guess I didn't go 10/10 just because there's also a very straightforward and easy to get part of him (esp. from WKX's perspective.

Fruity - 2/10: I think the guy's very gay but not the most bombastic about it LBR.

---

Angst-lord: although it's not as obvious in TYK, QY gives us some EXTREMELY tasty ZZS angst and a good look into how ZZS can process things through anxiety. It definitely got more lowkey post-QY canon, but...

Flavor container: IDK what that means really but I wanted to tick it

Soft and sweet: I actually didn't check it on the twitter version initially (but published an erratum). He is described as soft on the inside by too many people not to check it.

Braincell haver: self-explanatory, the guy's brilliant

Chew toy: literally!

----

Tragic backstory: if QY can count as a backstory, then everything that happened with Jiuxiao works.

Frequently violent: duh

Sidekick owner: WKX is ZZS's sidekick from everyone else's perspective (or vice-versa) and my opinion abt it won't change ever.

Pet stray animals: ZCL, for one, and for two we all know he pets cats and raccoons

Chronic insomniac: technically, in TYK, the nails do force the insomnia, but we know from QY that he had a lot of trouble sleeping at night.

Murderer: well

----

Just some guy 95%: clearly he's a natural-born NPC/side character

Too many thoughts 100%: he overthinks everything!!

Awful company 15%: I think that a goofy drunkard like him is fun but not the best company, especially when he goes all grumpy shifu/shixiong

Beloved by all 60%: most characters REALLY like him (and the others don't even know he exists) and often praise how sweet he is. Charming against his will and attempts at being invisible uwu

Trauma x1000 10%: again, I think that the Jiuxiao story left deep scars.

Helps others for fun 70%: pretty much the plot of TYK

Scary-smart 80%: I think he's really brilliant but then you have these moments where he's just clueless abt stupid stuff and clearly doesn't care/doesn't want to know or try so those 20% left are the deliberate goof I guess.

1000 weapons and tools 50/50: it's both!! every rock is both a tool and a weapon and he just keeps pulling random shit from his bosom--

At peace with life 48%: I think, for the most part, he is--at peace with both life and death, until he decides that keeping on living is just the best option in the end.

Break the rules 80%: I had no idea w this one but... in TYK he pretty much does whatever he wants, so---

Extra comments: The way the "evokes" ticks every boxes for me to various degrees of intensity... sigh It was difficult for the "want them to have" section since I think he has everything post-canon, but I tried seeing it from a mid!canon perspective.

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

Wen Kexing

Intense - 9/10: While WKX's feelings are generally cold, they seem equally intense to me, just like his eyes or his stare. He's intense about his love, about his revenge, about his plans.

Complex - 6/10: I've had interesting convos about how WKX is... nuanced, of course, but not as complex or deep as it may seem on the surface. That doesn't take anything from how interesting he is, but he is rather straightforward in what he is, ultimately.

Fruity - 8/10: I MEAN--

----

Enemy of the State: he's literally THE main Jianghu villain

Flavor Container: I still don't know what it means but it felt right once again

Braincell haver: the guy is EXTREMELY smart and outsmarted everyone in TYK so yeah

----

Tragic backstory: can hardly do worse than parents murdered in front of you, ate your dad to survive, took care of a child in the wildest, most dangerous part of jianghu, fought to reach the top while "serving" the previous master........ He scored it all!

Orphan: again, fully checks out

Frequently violent: yes

Has enemies: in SPADES

Sidekick owner: GX and ZZS are WKX's sidekicks 100%

Murderer: yes

----

The antagonist of life 70%: had to change from protag to antag because he IS the TYK antagonist (if TYK had been a traditional wuxia from ZCL's perspective...); of course it ends up being subverted but you know

Too many thoughts 75%: I think he's a big thinker as well

Awful company 85%: Let's be real guys

Hated by all 30%: I think he's too underestimated or not even really acknowledged enough to be hated, but I am pretty sure that more people dislike him than the opposite

Trauma x1000 60%: well.......... I think he has a bunch!

Sadistic for fun 15% : I doubt he's one to like helping and we know him to have those sadistic tendencies

Scary-smart 80%: same reasoning as for ZZS

1000 weapons or tools: mostly bare handed for everything save for the occasional whip or walnut shell but---

Enemy of god 35%: I have to be honest I don't really know what that means but I guess he's defied death a few times!!!

Break the rules 95%: WKX shits on the rules

----

Additional notes:

Mostly ticks everything in the "evokes" categories as well, but I unticked "symptoms of projection" because I don't feel like I project much of anything on WKX... maybe? (save for the ZZS lewding.. LOL) always hard to say, IG we always do a bit of that on every character, eh

and The Horny ofc because i'm kinda known for not really lewding my good WKX atp

I want a lot of things for him during canon, but again, all I can think of is how post-canon WKX really got it and then I gush and am simply happy for him.

That's it thank you for reading this mostly unnecessary breakdown!!!! Edit, following a comment asking for the sheet:

[maxmoffs]

gonna just post this quick psa yap about my interactions here on wanda and the rest of my blogs from here on out , then i'll be fully committed and indulged into finally ! fulfilling my owed starters , inbox and drafts and writing entirely, just because i want to get it out of my chest and so that im fully comfortable and happy with my blogs and want to be able to come on without feeling so anxious ! this is the most I’ve approached everyone and bravely finally after being shy and hesitant so pls be proud of me uwu . it’s been a long time coming i know , im finally actively interacting, i do know that i had been so yappy ooc the past weeks that just went by! its because i haven't been doing anything but work and training and with the christmas holidays chaos, so it had gotten me incredibly sporadic which is the reason for my lack to keep a consistent flow of my writing on all my blogs no matter how much i wanted to ! i actually have no idea who is following me or not still from the last time ppl had been more enthusiastic of when i made wanda weeks ago uuhuhu , but i hope all of you are still interested because when i write and post all my owed writing its both old and new bahaha just bc i hadnt had the proper opportunity to write wanda as how ive been wanting to with full focus like right now bc i had been so busy :( <3 please continue below for the psa , i appreciate you if you do get where im coming from <3 because after this , i want to just feel happy writing wanda and the rest of my muses . without feeling like i have to prove my worth or place , but im finally at a good mental balance of both , and i now have slower days since christmas is finally at its end of holiday chaos for me work wise which was the only thing holding me back and life is life and i will now stop for apologising to be slow ! i now have discord anyways , which is also finally open and im migrating to as an avenue to 'yap' and plot with those that dont mind my excitment hahahaahah so as long as we're mutuals , im already a big yapper and will always be welcoming , so you are welcome to add me just pls understand that i do get overstimulated or busy sometimes but i'll use it more now ( arden1ly . )

im gonna just consider this as an add to my rules . but as i continue here on out now , i think i will now stop following people first anymore unless obvs we are moots and you're moving blogs . and will just focus my time and attention to those of you that just want to write with me and wanda and my multi , who are already here, my mutuals and my mains / friends who's stuck by and been patient and understanding with me . i will always be an open book , and will always always keen a nurturing and safe environment because i love writing , and love being able to write with everyone as best i can, but will no longer go too above and beyond to push myself to others and i will always be here to come back to when the interest rises again of interest to write with me , because at the end of the day ! im here to write with you ! and along with that , a bonus when i create wonderful friendships which i also know and feel that i have now <3

it is what it is, and i have lost a few wonderful moots i had been writing with a couple of weeks back out of the blue that i never even noticed probs bc of that very reason , i have kept myself quite so very open book and half of the time i literally dont know whats going on so i tend to really keep my and i noticed that it definitely scared ppl that my inability to hold my excitement can be sometimes excessive so i will try to refrain from it now , because ive always advocated kindess and positvity on my blog and nothing else ! but i know tumblr is so scary! and can be so judgemental , and im a super open book but also can barely keep up so sometimes i barely scroll through tumblr, but i always try my best. from here on out though , obviously i will always and stay welcoming especially if you are a mutual already here , but i just no longer want to keep apologising for my speed / slow -ness , or for my personality bc really half of the time its just me approaching with excitement to write and interact, but ive noticed that its probs annoyed ppl , and i dont want to also be annoying for anyone <3

[ravenalla]

Please correct me if I’m wrong but from what I know Helluva Boss is written by only three people right? That being Viv, Brandon, and Adam. And while I’m sure ideas are bounced around here and there with the team, the way this season is going is begging for an actual writers room with more experienced people. Not saying those three don’t have any experience, but it’s clear they don’t know how to mesh the comedy and serious moments together well at this point. Part of writing is knowing when you need to omit stuff because it doesn’t fit the tone or story progession that you have established, even if you very badly want to include it. The writing for Helluva Boss in contrast feels they are forgoing any sense of coherence so they can stuff in whatever they like even if it goes against previously established plot points and try desperately to get to you pity these awful characters instead of letting them learn from their mistakes and grow as people naturally. Again, if this had stayed a dark comedy, that would have been passable, but now they are trying to tell a serialized dramatic story with arcs and emotion, and it’s just failing because that is not these writers expertise. This is complete speculation, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Viv’s aversion to any form of criticism is affecting it.

How many times must we see something terrible happen to Stolas because the show wants you to keep crying and pitying over without having these characters actually navigating it themselves? How many times will Blitz acknowledge he’s an awful person but not actively try to change his behavior in anyway and revert to the exact same character the next episode? How many times will Moxxie have to learn confidence because it’s the only arc they can think to do with him while Millie is a walking prop and Loona flip flops between liking her dad and physically abusing him for no reason? To the people who keep saying “just wait the shows not over yet!” we are basically halfway through season 2, there is no damn reason why Millie shouldn’t have had ANYTHING on her own yet or why Blitz and Stolas should be repeating the same “uwu he doesn’t love me” scene over and over again. If you give us what should be moments of character development but never actual show it through their actions or behaviors after the fact, it’s not character development at all, it’s cheap scenes you threw in cause you wanted the guise of something serious without actually taking the screentime to commit to it. And yes, the Stolas Blitzo stuff is probably going to pay off eventually, but it’s annoying for the audience to watch this will they won’t they game in almost every single episode just waiting for when the characters will finally change or have at least SOME type of acknowledgement of all they’ve been through instead of just keeping the status quo of another “Stolas looks sadly at his phone,” “Blitzo doesn’t really care about him until there’s one millisecond showing maybe he does 🥺.” Unless your a hardcore shipper, people won’t stick around with that forever.

The show wants to have world-building, quirky characters who are bad people, tons of villains, funny sex jokes, emotional investment, and a complicated romance, but there’s a reason lots of media fails when it tries to be everything at once. The Stolitz plot behind every episode now is sabotaging parts of the show that promised wacky demon assassin adventures, and the less serious moments like the Loona doctor B plot in turn ruins the atmosphere of the dramatic scenes associated with the Stolitz plot. They wanted to show a serious abusive arranged relationship through Stella, but they also wanted her to have be a campy bad guy so Stolas could have a reason to cheat on her so he wouldn’t look like the bad guy. This leaves us with confusing contradictions like Stella written as being legit mad about him cheating and wanting him dead while hinting at them having at least a positive public image as a family once through the background paintings, to suddenly her not having ever cared about him and seeking him out “cause she likes tormenting him” while she also now didn’t want him killed I guess because she’s opposed to the divorce because the Goetia want them together??, but then wanting him killed AGAIN after even though the Goetia probably always wanted that guy alive and her brother has to come in for no reason to make her look like an absolute dumbass.

Same with Loona. They try to give her development with Blitz, but they never do anything with it and by the next episode she’ll be beating the shit out of him again. “She’s a moody teenager!” She’s a woman in her twenties and I don’t care about her sometimes finding appreciation for her dad when she’ll just kick him in the nuts right after because physical abuse against a spouse is serious but with a daughter it’s funny I guess. And again, the entire argument fans have to justify this constant loop of creating and forgetting about character development is “just wait they probably have a plan.” Nah bro I’m pretty sure they just still wanted to throw edgy dark comedy in there and to do that they had to ignore any positive character changes it seemed like happened until a future episode specifically is written to continue that arc. Also the world building and class system in general is just bad when they actually choose to acknowledge it, which is rarely. It’s still so unclear whether hellhounds are seen as actually sentient autonomous people or pets, and it just makes scenes with Loona super weird sometimes. Same with imps, for an apparent underclass they sure seem to be able to go wherever they want and do whatever they want without too much trouble, and until the latest episode we’ve never seen any imp discrimination be a major factor besides comments from Stolas (which we are now choosing to ignore because Stolas can’t be a bigot that has to learn to be a better person, Stolas is perfect 🙃)

Yikes this got longer than I meant it to but overall Helluva Boss just could really benefit from some more inputs in the writing, not just ideas for story or jokes but someone who actually knows how to properly balance and structure this kind of stuff into an episode. As is it feels very disjointed, especially this season. I don’t think this show would ever be perfectly for me, just because I don’t find the humor at all funny and that’s kind of what makes the show, but at the very least it’d be nice if the actual plots and world these characters navigate was fun to watch, but most of the time it’s just not anymore, because you don’t get to actually see most characters interact or what their relationships are, and if you do they hardly ever change from what they were until suddenly it’s relevant for the plot. Blitz is uncomfortable around Stolas and is tired about being treated like a play thing, wait no now he’s turned on by Stolas’s flirting even though we’ve never seen that before and this is right after they literally had a huge fight, wait nevermind now Blitz doesn’t care again. Moxxie is always weak and sensitive when an episode is about him but suddenly super strong and has no problems killing in any other episode (“We’re not going up there just to massacre we need clients! -S1E3, exactly what he and Millie do to an entire audience of innocent bystanders in the Cherub episode and they don’t care). Stolas is super perverted and sees Blitz as an object, wait nevermind we’re just gonna change his entire fucking backstory so his behavior will look justified even though that man would literally have to be a the dumbest person in Hell to not see Blitz did not care and was actively repulsed by him all throughout season 1, yet continued to act that way to his supposed “first friend” because..he thought it was a sexy game or something they were playing? Even as a retcon for an excuse it’s still bad. Helluva Boss has no rules it sticks to, no jokes or character behaviors it refrains from even if it harms the quality, it’s just a badly written fanfic with pretty animation.

[bittrlys]

We were so robbed of Callum and viren interacting or Callum and aaravos interacting. Like what do you mean the last time Callum and viren properly talked to eachother was season 1 how is it that these two foils never meet and actually realise how similar they are?!?!

Also I absolutely dig Callum and aaravos mentor fics they're so well written and some of them make me wish the show made them interact more. What if Callum did learn more than just one truth? What if he actually started to question why the books would hide aaravos's name and try to burry him within history just for him to always haunt the narrative? Did the dragons do this and if they did then why?

Also Iam not sure if Iam correct (so correct me if Iam wrong) but Callum x Claudia was the initial ship and I dig couples who have parallels with one another. That aside this makes me question if the reason why Terry was even introduced in the first place was because the writers needed a second Callum and that's it. It's a shame they never bothered to develop Terry properly because he has potential.

Yeah this was all over the place apologies!

Yes, there's nothing better than character foils and though it's not required they interact, there's so much rich and interesting content you can derive from said interactions. The Callum-Viren-Claudia trinity is so good and it's a shame that Soren is a mutual point of contact they all have and he barely got any time with Callum one-on-one. He did warn him against becoming Virenesque, but that's about it. I think the problem is that even when they're paralleled, Callum very rarely acknowledges the Viren of it all, and Viren has no idea what's going on with Callum. I guess they're both very self-focused characters but maybe some awareness would help to deepen these parallels, even if plot-wise they don't have many opportunities to meet.

Callum and Claudia at least got to run into each other more often. I think that's nice. Ending on the parallel of them casting the same spell was a great touch, even if it had the cowardice of "this spell isn't dark magic uwu don't worry." Still, I could use more. They have the potential to be a fantastic "two friends who tread down two different paths" type relationship and unfortunately, it's not quite there. Maybe we're due for some more flashbacks about their childhoods together ... or again, have some more awareness of each other while apart, and their opposing goals. Make them great rivals, is what I'm saying.

If Callum had more interaction with Aaravos, and ultimately rejected him, instead of just rejecting him from the jump, it would make these Callum and Claudia parallels even better. I can see Callum going "My people have been mistreated, and that we've been actively denied magic is terrible, but they haven't been able to stop me and I'm going to prove how good humanity can be." It would have just a hint of spite to help counter the implications of "I'm one of the Good Ones." He might still learn this! I'd like to see him confront the Startouch elves.

I think the dragons, however, are a lost cause. Although it's clear to you and me they've both benefited from and helped violently enforce this marginalization of humans, it feels like the Great Ones are going to take the lion's share of responsibility. I'm not who is responsible for the erasing of Aaravos's name, but I assume it was the collective who put in the group effort to help imprison him. The Startouch elves seem a little uninvolved at this point in time.

To bring it back to Callum and Claudia ... I can't find a quote from the writers saying explicitly that their ship was intended, but I would believe it was something they were considering -- they were having the voice actors do very ship-focused interviews around s2, before they decided to go in on C/R in s3. Indeed, I would say the ship did "happen" in the sense that they both had feelings for each other and even went on a lil date type thing once. I think, even if it doesn't work out, a canonical acknowledgement of mutual feelings is "canon ship" material. It's normal, too, to crush on someone and not have it work out because you find people who align more with your interests ... and in this vein the Callum/Rayla & Claudia/Terry evolution makes sense. Like Claudia, Rayla is a cool older girl, and like Callum, Terry is sweet and dorky. There's a cohesion to their 'types.'

So I wouldn't say Terry is replacing Callum because they would ever take the show's de facto protagonist and have him run around with Claudia helping her schemes -- Terry fulfilled a specific role in the plot, that is, giving Claudia someone to bounce off of while Viren and Soren were unavailable. I do agree Terry hasn't been quite fleshed out enough -- that he's just, like, having the world's craziest rumspringa doesn't seem to faze him much. And I get it! Backpacking summers across Europe can change you! However, I speculate that next season he's going to be challenged because there's no way Aaravos isn't going to drive a wedge between him and Claudia. I can even see his loyalties as an elf finally coming up (I think these existing is the only explanation for why he was so weirdly mad about Claudia threatening the coins) and he's going to be asking for mercy from Claudia for Xadia that she may not want to give. After all, so far, though he's been very down to clown, Claudia's journey has been extremely hyperfocused on her father, and I don't think Terry really, fully understood the threat that Aaravos posed.

Like you, I was always intrigued by the idea of Callum and Claudia because romantic narrative foils are very crunchy (good) but I do like Terry. I think he has a role to play and I find his optimistic and gentle outlook works well with Claudia. However, I agree that giving him some more to do than being Claudia's partner/lackey would be nice to see.

Thank you for the ask! ♥ No need to apologise, I enjoyed reading it!

[voltrixz]

The character ask thing

But YOU 🫵🫵🫵🫵🫵 can chose the character

WOAH!!! alright then!!! Tssm Electro it is.. (< What a surprise...)

(READ MORE BECAUSE THIS SHIT IS LONG WTF, the yapper...

-How I feel about this character: Where do I even start. This guy drives me crazy. There is so much wrong with him. He's a loser, he's terrible. Insanely trans coded. He's kinda like me fr fr.... There is so much story potential for him. I need him. I feel normal about him as you can tell.

-All the people I ship romantically with this character: I SURE DO WONDER!!! (It's Shocker). I sure do love taking 2 of my favorite characters who have interacted once or twice and MAKE THE FUCK UP A RAREPAIR!!! with them. Dunno itd be interesting i think. They've got similar powers and all, they worked fairly well in that one interaction... They contrast each other nicely, idk theres just something about these 2... (< guy who has written literal essays about all the ideas he has)

My non-romantic OTP for this character: ELECTRO AND MYSTERIO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Best friends of all time (they hate each other /j) Dunno they'd be funny i think. Also their difference in powers would make an interesting team up. Think they'd bond over shared interest in tech and stuff. They probably gossip a SHITTTT ton despite Electro saying he has no interest in it. They're buddies who've got each other's back even if they get on each other's nerves a lot :]

My unpopular opinion about this character: A lot of people. GREATLY MISCHARACTERIZE HIS ASS!!!!!! He is not an uwu soft boy TWINK!!!!!! That is a grown ass man. Sure he's younger then the rest of the 6 BUT THAT DOESNT MEAN HE SHOULD CONSTANTLY BE INFANTILZED. Also. (ok this is more of an unpopular opinion type beat, I just needed to rant about that real quick back there) Make that guy meaner, he is def kind of a prick. He would poke fun and tease the other members, he'd argue with some of them (esp Mysterio and Vulture). ALSO he isnt the brightest. But hes also not STUPID!!!!!!! This guy used to be an electrician, he def knows some shit!!!!. ALSO!!!!!! Redemption plot lines are fun for him, but also. I think he should get worse :], make that guy lose himself to the madness!!! make him completely forget who "max" was, make him give in to the villianous side of him that secretly loves the freedom and just funnn of being a villain (ya know his ass has a little fun with these schemes...)

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

So many fuckin things you would not believe. HE HAS SO MUCH FUCKIN STORY POTENTIAL AND AGRHRH. He gets sidelined so fuckin hard. What do you mean the last we see of him is in ravencroft and is just. basically a cameo in that one ep for colonel jupiter or whatever. what the fuck man. ANYWAYYYSSS of course i want to see more of him, like more focus on him. Let me know more of his mental state and how he views the Connors and the people he knew before the accident. I would say let me see him get redeemed and cured but also. LET ME SEE HIM GET WORSE!!!! (as stated previously) grin.

[kevotsuka]

you have a mechanic alex au?? ? where can we read iiiit 🧎🏻‍♀️

(Anon 2 from the Wip Ask Game)

i was in tumblr jail but now im FREEEE (barely)

First of all, i’m so sorry for the late response orz orz orz

actually this AU just exists in my docs in a kinda of timeline and in my head (and in my friend DMs in a 3min voice note who was ignored. so i dont think it was really interesant after all jajaja /dies) but if u want some thoughts (?

So I knew that at first Alex M wanted to be his brother's mechanic, I knew that it was Marc who convinced him to get on a bike and race with him and all that, but recently I had this idea of ​​"What would have happened if Alex really would have become Marc's mechanic, but during Marc's debacle he stay at Honda and wouldn't have been able to follow him to Gresini?"

.🙂

It was a little mental exercise. Alex encourages Marc to go to Gresini because he hates seeing his brother break himself over and over again AND MAYBE HE FEELS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MOTORCYCLE HURTING HIM SO MUCH WHO KNOWS. Alex always wants the best for Marc, even if it's not at Honda.

The only thing that didn't convince me at all was Alex's age (because I love bending reality for the RPF, but I have a lot more fun creating scenarios that are more or less plausible in my head lol) until…

I remembered that I had read THIS article by Santi and then I did the maths (lol): born in 1975. Professional at 17 in '92. In the world championship in '96 at 21.

In '99 he won with crivillé at 24. In 2003 with Vale in Honda as a 28 years old. It becomes confusing what he does between 2005-2010 because I don't want to do research, but he becomes part of some rider teams in 125cc apparently? -

He becomes in Marc's chief mechanic in 2011 at the age of 36 and moving up to MotoGP at the age of 38 in 2013.

So Alex's path would be to reach the paddock in 2015 at 19 years old and with a dream uwu

So the TIMELINE is a bit like this:

Alex is a mechanic. He had competed in CEV and everything, but despite this he decided not to make the step up to Moto3 when he got the opportunity to do so after his wild cards in ¿2012¿

In any case, he trained professionally as a mechanic and contact here contact there reached the motorcycle world championship.

He works in Moto2 with Marc VDS for a long time (from 2015 to 2019 maybe) when Honda steals him at the starting of the 2020 season because the previous mechanic there expressed his desire to retire FOR REASONS NOT CONCENTRATIVE TO THE PLOT so Alex can replace the guy.

2020 :)

MiserY

Alex go to LCR because Marc's team was out of work for the rest of the season adapting everything for Stefan :), plus there is a vacance (that is a word in english?) to fill in the LCR because of COVID and Alex has the skills for it and yada yada

At least the honda mechanic said he is going to retire, not WHEN.

The 2020 season is- fucked. Alex is trying to be a kind brother.

He gets so tired with the press coming to the garage and asking about his brother every week that he takes refuge inside the box. The cameras struggle to find him during the moments before the race.

His move up to Honda is delayed because the LCR team is keeping him because he works well with them.

2021-2022 seasons happen :). He is retained by LCR, he is getting tired of presenting his transfer, but at least he has become familiar with the HR people (I am 100% sure that is not how these workers work, I don't care).

2023 :3

Finally. he can go to Honda! Finally he is on his brother's team! HE CAN FINALLY FULFILL HIS- childhood dream? promise? life goal? idk

Alex looks at Marc's data - which he always had access to as a meddling younger brother, but which he now works on every week - and wants to cry. That bike is not supposed to be able to do what Marc achieves with it.

When Marc falls in Portimao and takes Miguel with him, he looks longingly at the LCR box and asks himself why he wanted this job. Maybe Rins wouldn't be giving him such a headache.

Marc is signed by Gresini, which leaves Honda to search for a rider and Alex to deal with whoever they are going to sign, because he stay at the team and will definitely deal with the new rider

Nov 12 - Alex hears the Marini to Honda rumor and thinks “ha, it definitely won't happen”

November - Luca Marini, brother of Valentino Rossi, is signed by Honda

LUCA MARINI

ROSSI'S BROTHER

Alex is a professional and as soon as he hears about it, he turns around and asks for a transfer to Mir's team.

(not Zarco or Nakagami because he already went through LCR and he won't go back there even if they point a gun at him, thank you very much) (he might consider it if they paid better-)

He prefers to avoid from the beginning any type of rumor that says he is doing anything, like tampering ¿? with Marini's bike or something like that.

“Smart boy” he says to himself in the mirror :)

Nov 27 - It is announced that Mir's previous team will now be with Luca and that Santi will go with Joan

Alex wants to diee, BUT HE'S A PROFESSIONAL, so he doesn't say anything.

Luca's engineer makes fun of him a little, he thinks Alex is funny.

He could go back to Santi, but (IN THIS AU, IN MY MENTAL PALACE) he doesn't try because he has this thing that all the Marquez's besides him missed: a general feeling of shame.

They know who the other is, Alex used to be Franky's mechanic in Moto2, so both know a few of stories about each other

Although they have not bonded over the mortifying experience of being younger brothers of (divorced) legends, but they have greeted each other around the paddock and been cordial over the years.

but the paddok is inmense so not that much

The Valencia tests happen and Luca is optimistic and gives a real feedback of how the bike feels and where he hopes to take it, rather than just vague unintelligible and weird noises that don't communicate anything.

Alex already feels like a huge improvement since Cal (his jokes weren't really helpful for data collection) and Rins (whom he appreciates for all the time they've known each other, both as CEV teammates and as his mechanic, but- yeah rins barely starts races during 2023 sooo )

[To be defined] [Future Lucalex] [Maybe past Franky/Alex lol]

I'd like to submit a piece of writing or SOMETHING but I only have short, silly little snippets and they're not really worth it.

[humanitys-strongest-bamf]

loving this influx of followers and interacts! <3 pls feel free to msg me and if anyone's interested and i can open up requests so i have an excuse to write more juicy content uwu

actually pls msg me i'm going to run out of oneshot ideas eventually and just be sad

Stay With Me | Canonverse Fluff Oneshot

✧ word count ➼ 1.6k ✧ notes ➼ canonverse, slight divergence from s4 plot (idk i wrote this in the middle of the night ok), just overall sweetness ♡

The sun had just set and you knew you had roughly 10 hours before you had to leave to face both Eren and Zeke, who had full control of the Titans on the island and were leading them down a path of destruction.

You stood outside your tent as you took off your cloak. As your eyes traced over the symbol of the Scouts that was supposed to symbolize the wings of freedom, you felt your breath hitch. Nearly everyone that you had met when you first got initiated into the Scouts all those years ago was gone. It was now literally only you, Hange, and Levi—maybe even less after the battle the following day.

The odds were overwhelmingly against you. The enemy had the ability to transform into deadly Titans. Your ranks have been devastated by just Zeke alone and now you were going to face off against both Zeke and Eren with minimal forces.

Levi was an Ackerman that had a stupid amount of strength when it came to combat. While you could not be fairly compared to Humanity's Strongest Soldier™, you were also a formidable force on the battlefield. However, those factors paled when it came to the Jaeger brothers. Zeke alone, even while injured, brought both of you to the brink of death through a cleverly set trap. If the cards hadn't lined up correctly, both you and Levi would be dead.

A part of you did wish that you had just died so that you could join your fallen comrades, but you knew how much that would destroy Levi.

With a solemn look on your face, you gently undid the buckles around your waist that held your mobility gear in place. As you raised your arms off to pull the harness over your head, you felt a sharp pain on your upper right side and let go of the harness as you lowered your arm, letting out a soft groan of pain.

You took a deep breath as you prepared to lift your harness over your head again.

However, before you were even able to exert any force to lift it, you felt someone walk up behind you and the harness was gently raised off of you. You glanced back and saw that Levi had noticed you struggling and came over to help.

“How’s your wound?” he asked quietly.

"I feel pathetic," you whispered without answering his question, watching as he set your gear down next to your tent. “How the hell am I supposed to fight those two monsters if I can’t even take my own gear off?”

Levi remained quiet as you spoke, lifting up your right arm to check on your bandaging. Seeing that it was starting to come undone, he gently nudged you towards his own tent.

“Come, I’ll swap out your gauze.”

~~~~~

You sat on the floor of Levi's tent with your arm raised, staring at the door with a blank expression as he unwrapped the old bandaging and began replacing it with new ones. You frowned as you saw the fresh blood that had begun to stain the old set of bandages. Levi had said that your bandages were becoming undone, but it seems that the wound had started bleeding again as well.

You looked over at him, grief entering your heart as you thought about what the most likely outcome was for tomorrow's battle that was rapidly approaching.

Once he was done, you both got out of his tent and saw that the majority of the remaining Scouts had gone to sleep in their individual tents. You turned towards him without quite making eye contact and spoke quietly.

“Big day tomorrow.”

"Yeah?" he replied, matching your volume.

"We might not survive this battle," you said with your voice devoid of emotion.

“I know.”

“He already fucked us both over when we least expected it. We should be prepared for anything.”

"I know," he repeated. He knew what you were trying to say. He knew about the thoughts that were running through your mind about not surviving the upcoming battle.

You sighed tiredly as you began to turn and leave for your own tent, unsure if you were going to be able to get any sleep.

"Wait," Levi said before placing his hand on your arm to keep you from turning further. His voice was so quiet it was barely audible.

You stopped turning, but frowned.

“You going to take me off the mission again?”

“No,” he said before pausing, as if he was thinking about how to choose his words carefully.

As you watched him, you realized you knew where his train of thought was going. You felt your heart pounding harder and harder as you slowly looked up at him, staring right into his steel blue eyes.

It was agonizing for the both of you to stand there, wondering what the others' next move was going to be. You both knew what you wanted, and what the other other was offering. You've known it for years at this point. You knew when you brought it up the night before the battle of Shiganshina. You knew when you brought it up at your camp a few weeks ago before Zeke got away. You've known, but by the time you were ready to address it, disaster had struck and you ran out of time.

As a result, Levi felt incredibly pressured on this final night before a big battle. You both had a very close call where you lost nearly everything. It was a miracle that you were still alive.

Before you could think of a proper response, he pulled you into a gentle kiss, relief soaring through his body as he felt you relax into him. He knew why he had latched so hard onto the idea of protecting you. He knew why his mind became murky and cloudy upon the idea of you being in danger. He knew why he was absolutely devastated when he saw your state after the explosion. He had loved you all along, but was too scared to acknowledge it.

You stood there for a few seconds before he slowly pulled away, resting his forehead on yours.

“Keep this between us,” he whispered. “And don’t-”

“-die on me, you idiot.” 

You finished his sentence for him with a small smirk before pulling back and looking up at him. He had noticed that you were slightly blushing and he found himself in one of the rare instances in which he was smiling and sustaining it for more than 5 seconds.

“I’ll see you tomorrow…Levi.”

You shot him another smile as you said his name.

He felt his own smile fade away as you shuffled around, preparing to turn and walk away. His grip on you tightened a bit, signaling you to stop turning. The idea of being away from you placed a strong pressure on his chest that was making it hard for him to breathe properly.

“Stay with me tonight.”

"Hmm?" you said quietly, looking up into his eyes again.

“If we might not live to see tomorrow, then stay with me tonight.”

Your gaze softened as he spoke.

“What happened to keeping this between us?”

"I'm sure I'll think of something," he said as he gently nudged you and you both walked back into his tent.

You were both short enough to be able to fully stand even inside the tent. For the first time ever since you first met him, you felt nervous around him, suddenly aware of the weight that your words now mean to him. Given Levi's past, you recognized that it likely took every ounce of strength he had in him to make that first move.

You saw him begin to take off his own mobility gear and you slowly moved your arm up and down to try to ease the newly wrapped bandages in.

He noticed your movements and walked over to you, gently placing his hands on your shoulders and turning you around to face him.

"Don’t move around too much or it’ll open again. We’re going to run out of bandages eventually."

"Well, I'm not going to be able to sit still while in battle, am I?"

He gave you an exasperated look.

"At least make it so that you don't bleed out in your sleep. You'll stain the sleeping bag."

You had to stifle a chuckle at his comment. Even in this very post-apocalyptic scenario in which you were surrounded by death and destruction, Levi Ackermann was still a neat freak.

"You know, I'm surprised you're even okay with a sleeping bag, given how dirty it can get sleeping on the ground," you teased, a playful grin showing on your face.

"I'm not, but it's not like we have much of a choice."

Just as you were about to retort with some ridiculous, unrealistic method to maintain his need to be clean despite being in the middle of the woods, he had pulled you into another kiss, although you weren't sure if it was just his way of shutting you up.

Regardless, you didn't mind. You shut your eyes as you pressed your body up against him.

Even if you might not survive to see the day after, even if disaster continued to strike, even if you might never see him again, you acknowledged that you at least had him here now—embracing you and loving you like nothing else existed except for the two of you in this very moment.

A/N: yes you can probably tell they're going to do the naughty but it's sweet uwu-vibes naughty