#i think it's because under the same star traumatized me

[danitheclown]

i remember reading the books when I was like 13 and then the first movie came out and I wanted to watch it so badly because the books were so good so the films had to be good too right?

I didn't exactly hate the movies but I went there expecting hard, painful scenes, some gore and a big boy and when I got none of that I was pissed

re-reading the end arena scene in the first hunger games book and i really don't think the movie did it justice. katniss and peeta are literally covered in blood (fresh and dried), and dirt. their hair is matted, peeta can't even stand on his own. they’re both almost skeletons. when they realize the capitols going to make them kill each other peeta throws away his knife but katniss has so much ptsd she almost shoots him without even thinking when she sees him raise a knife, and then panics realizing what shes doing even though peeta is almost begging her to let him die. he's so close to death that he knows even uncovering his wound (which he does) will be letting katniss win. when katniss comes up with the plan to eat the berries the berries are FULLY in their mouths, and they can taste them before the gamekeeper call it off. and peeta gives her a 'very gentle' kiss (in katniss's own words) before they eat the berries. peeta passes out the second they're on the helicopter and katniss is so feral they sedate her from behind after she’s done screaming for peeta

everything about this scene is absolutely tragic and horribly painful.

[sassy-cass-16]

look man. look

essek saying "bren" out loud, claiming a position on caleb's side as the mouthpiece of his regards to astrid, did something to me. i can't tell if it opened a wound or punched me or gave me a hug. all i know is that i am feeling so many emotions right now

more under the cut because i'm about to get rambly:

"bren aldric ermendrud" is a separate character from caleb widogast. he's a young boy learning how to make magic. he's a deeply traumatized and indoctrinated teenager. he's the boy who curled up with astrid and eadwulf in a freezing tower for warmth all night.

essek never met bren. he met caleb and he's never known him as anyone else. if i'm remembering correctly, caleb never even said the name "bren" to him during the campaign, and neither did any of the nein.

essek knows caleb widogast. he knows the man who held up the object of his worst crime and then kissed him in the bowels of a ship and made a floor of infinite stars for them to walk through together. he knows the person who healed over bren's wounds—thinly, but enough. he knows the man that the boy has become.

astrid knows bren. she barely knows who caleb is. she still calls him bren after hearing him referred to as caleb repeatedly. she can't know him as the man he is, she only knows the boy. there's some of bren in caleb, but there is no caleb in bren.

essek saying "bren sends his regards" is him gauging astrid's reaction, on one level—if she freaks out, which she did, she's in opposition to caleb's cause and thus a threat. on another level, it's essek delivering a very different subtextual message from caleb: "the boy who loved you is giving you one final warning."

because essek is a threat to astrid. their last meaningful interaction was slinging spells at each other in the blooming grove. and that's funny in a "current boyfriend vs ex girlfriend exclusively fight each other" kind of way, but it's also deeply tied to caleb's recurring theme of transformation. "bren sends his regards" also means "i have healed enough to love enough for someone else to know this name and use it with my consent. and this someone else is your enemy. what does that make you think i've become?"

it also does a fantastic job of communicating subtle offscreen discussions that have happened over the years since the end of c2. we don't have the details of when or how caleb told essek his birth name, but we know that he did, and we know from all of c2 that the name bren occupies a place of immense emotional weight for caleb. it functions similarly to a deadname in terms of who uses it and for what purpose. trent exclusively calls caleb bren to wound him and place himself in a position of power. astrid calls him bren to remind both him and herself of who they used to be—same with eadwulf, though obviously he's not here.

the first time we hear essek say "bren" is on caleb's behalf and confronting one of the narrative representations of caleb's trauma. it's four words that manage to communicate "i, your enemy on a hundred levels, can speak for both the man i love and the boy who loved you, because i know him in his entirety."

astrid knows bren and essek knows caleb, but only essek can speak for both. because at some point, caleb gave bren to essek. and we know this from four words. four IMPROVISED words.

god. this moment is just so fucking good

[blingblong55]

Hi! if you take requests I would like to make one where tf 141 + Los Vaqeros reaction to r/n coming back to the base/common room covered in blood, hurt and tortured (I love angst ngl)

( if its okay can you make a Platonic r/n with little sibling energy)

Last Words of a Shooting Star -141+ Los Vaqueros

I love angst too and because I love hurting my own feelings.... here goes a little something. Not sure if it needs a warning but, just read at your own risk babes, bc I do talk abt I guess heavy stuff (as you can tell,,,I can't tell what is and what isn't traumatizing anymore so be careful.) This one gives me Every Since New York vibes

Pt. 2

----

You had been on leave after a mission back in November. Price made sure you stayed off base for 3 months. The excuse was: they need peace for a few months, they deserve it." But instead of being home you had been captured, tortured and almost trafficked. You fought for ever second of life you knew you deserved, while being captured. No one in the team knew about any of this.

*3 MONTHS BEFORE*

"see ya later boys" you said and got in your truck. (yes you drive one bc ghost said it was a better vehicle.) Soap waved until your cars silhouette was no longer in view. He knows you'll come back with home back goodies for him. But before you passed the first stop light one car crashed into yours. Another pulled over, 4 men with guns got out. You quickly held onto your pistol, but you knew best and didn't fight them. Your left eyebrow dripping blood. You got off the car and held your hands up. "Get in the car with them" he ordered you and a big buff man pushed you around until you sat in their vehicle, "My team will be here any minute now you know." you bluffed.

"Well by the time they get here we'll be gone." and off they drove. The man sitting next to you hit your head with the end of his gun, you blacked out.

These men had carefully planned the hold kidnapping. From taking your car elsewhere to texting Price that you made it home, the same way you would've texted him.

For 3 months they tortured you, asking questions you swore you didn't have an answer to. For 2 months you believed that the team would know you'd be missing. For 1 month you planned your escape.

And as the near came close, you heard them talk about trafficking you. "Think about it boss, anyone will pay good money for a member of that task force." That's when all hope was gone. Your limbs had been slowly giving up. By this point you were sure that your plan wouldn't work.

Until you saw the perfect opportunity.

"When kidnapped remember there is a window of opportunity when being transported from location A to B, so be wise and use that."

So you did, and now you had found your way back to the base.

You managed to get pass security and into your part of the base, there you heard Gaz and Soap laughing. Your eyes watered. You walked in and held the floor as everyones eyes met you.

"Kid," was all price could let out, he soon ran to your side. Holding on to you with so much care. Soap ran out for a medic, Ghost made way as you were taken to the infirmary.

Gaz held your hand the entire time. But your grip wasn't too strong. They were all losing you.

"Cariño, don' close your eyes." fear taking control over Alejandros' voice.

Rudy ran behind you all. But soon stoped when he got a call from his team. He soon found the footage of your kidnap. Los vaqueros were all informed of what had happened. They had taken you under their wings when you first met them. You reminded them of their siblings at home. How energetic and funny you were. You like a storm, took over their hearts. "Le diré al coronel de esto." He walked away from his team and to the infirmary.

These are their own personal reactions:

Price:

The second he held you in his hands his heart completely shattered.

He hated how your body leaned against his, this time your weight much lighter.

He didn't care about anyone else in the room

There was hesitation, his first thoughts were on taking care of you, but he is a soldier first. He must know what happened and who is to blame.

For hours while the medical staff was treating your injuries, he would leaved the room, making phone calls and deals with old colleagues of his.

Ghost had to stop him from hitting a medical staff member, "sir you can't come in," "that's my soldier in there, kid needs me!" he'd say. "c'mon old man , sit down" Ghost would try and guide him back to his seat.

For minutes he was close to loosing his shit.

Once Rudy walked in with information, he went hysterical

He cursed every one and everything

He never lit a cigar, because if he did, he was afraid shit would hit the fan and he'd burn that last gift you gave him.

Soap:

He never spoke, the man that had been talking for hours before you arrival stopped.

He couldn't form any words, he thought of when he last saw you, how your eyes were so full of life, and now that image replaced a much weaker version of you.

The blood around your body he hoped was someone else's

He left the room when Price and Ghost were talking to doctors.

He discovered you had to be put in the ICU,

He cried, and as tears fell down his face, his hand made way to the cross that hanged from his neck.

The same one you gave him on his birthday, after you had found out he lost his.

He cried even more thinking of the times you and him had laughed together. How much Gaz and you made him miss his family back home.

"r/n's okay...they'll be better tomorrow" he assured himself and repeated it like a mantra.

"Please be okay" he whispered as kicked a rock while walking around.

Gaz:

Like Soap, he stayed quiet, only spoke when he made calls to his friends at the local police station.

He cried too, but he soon left once Price told him to. "take time son"

Once he reached his room, he got on his bed and hugged a pillow.

it was times like this when you'd come in and hug him. "Everything will be fine" you'd say as he embraced you.

He called him mom, something you had taught him to do, incase things went south and you wouldn't be there to listen.

The images of the torn clothes and frail body of yours came to mind every time he closed his eyes.

It was always you and Gaz who at times would fall short on the kindness of Ghost.

When he least needed it, a joke you once told him came across his train of thoughts.

He called every doctor he knew

He walked into your room and laid in your bed.

" just tell me something George,...what do you mean you don't know nothing...okay can you just pretend you do?...I need something, so tell me something"

Ghost:

This man had it bad. When he first saw you, his mind when to when he discovered his family had died

He swore he only let you in because you somehow creeped into his heart

Your jokes and attitude reminded him of his brother Tommy

"Look ghost..look" you would say as you attempted a cart wheel. 'You'll only get hurt" he'd reply. But when you did things like that, he looked at you with such adoration.

Between you two, it was black cat and golden retriever type of vibe.

He stayed next to price, but once he was alone in that hall, he almost let the guilt win.How can a man as strong as him let this happen to you

The first time he knew you'd be his family was when you held him in your arms as you two laid in a field

His tears falling down as he heard your heartbeat, "close your eyes, have no fear, the monster's gone and r/n is here," you softly sang, a giggle mixed with the melody

"beautiful, beautiful, beautiful boy" you whispered as your hands caressed his hair. He closed his eyes slowly drifting to sleep. "Good night Simon, see you in the morning" you whispered against his head.

When he stopped Price from hurting that staff member, he went out and picked any flowers around base. He came back with a handful, so tiny on his palms, but so meaningful to him

He sneaked into your room, no one noticed and he sat on your bed, holding you so close to him.

"Before you cross the street, Take my hand, Life is what happens to you, While you're busy making other plans, Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, Beautiful r/n" he quietly sang to you.

Alejandro:

Once Rudy had told him they had footage of your kidnap, he lost his mind.

this man went feral, Rudy would try and stop it, but man was he furious.

"No hagas algo a lo pendejo, coronel" But he'd discard his friend and eventually after 4 hours of search, he'd find the perpetrators

We've heard people say "met hell" but these men met Alejandro and boy did they met more than hell

Idc what you say he prayed for the first time since he was a child.

While on search this man swore he heard your voice, "r/n?" he would walk around a crowd of people

for moments he believed it was all a dream or a horrible prank you managed to pull. But once he saw Rudy wipe a few tears, he knew it was real

He went numb when his hand met your skin

I swear this man got sick the moment he saw you, he never got sick when looking at anyone in the condition you were now in.

His mind went back to the times he was teaching you Spanish.

"el helicóptero no puede volar" he said, to which you replied "volar? the helicopters got no balls?" you asked and he bursted out laughing

Rudy:

this man was devastated, but he had to be the strong one while everyone wasn't

he was the one to pray while looking at the footage. "Dios mío" he kept sayin as he repeated the video.

But soon emotions took over and he left the room.

He held onto the bracelet you two bought while he showed you around his town, you had visited Las Almas long after your mission there. You two ate and ate until your stomachs hurt. "Eres mi mejor amigo Rudy." you hugged him, Alejandro sat in the front, content with you for speaking Spanish.

When he first saw how bloody you looked he went pale. It was one of the things he never knew he would see

You remind him of his siblings, annoying at times, funny, but understands his humor like no other.

This man is the biggest softie, he was always Rodolfo on the job or Rudy, but man he was someone else with ya, always soft and kind to you, his voice would switch so fast when speaking from soap to you.

He was a trained solider to withstand any form of torture, but seeing you hurt would've made that soldier talk.

When no one looked he walked into a church and confessed to a priest, then asked "por favor dime que estará bien"

When all else fails, you pray, mijo, his mother would say.

a/n: I absolutely adored writing this, so I hope you all enjoyed!

REQUEST ARE OPEN!

[spiralling-thoughts]

Loona would make an awful and abusive friend for Octavia

(Sorry if I might be rude and pity in this post , but this have been bothering me for so long and I feel like I should voice my opinion on the matter now disclaimer I mean no ill will towards anyone and I don't harass people who write about this idea neither should you this is just me voicing MY PERSONAL OPINION so are we cool here?)

So I have seen many and I mean MANY fanfics ,fanart,ect of the idea that loona would make an awesome older sister to Octavia and be her "first real friend who understands her " and some take it as far as shipping (sorry but the shipping aspect of this is really gross loona is 22 while Octavia is 17 this is pedophilia) now I will be honest I personally think this is sugar quoting and people giving loona to much credit, this woman is ABUSIVE (yes I said it she's a more accurate representation of abuse than stella and yes abusers could be traumatized victims) this woman beats and attacks her adoptive father who always shower showed her with affection and she knows hed get over it this is an extremely toxic trait, she kept insulting moxxie about being fat (even though he's a stick figure) until she gave him body image issues and she starts pity fights like how she did in queen bee now in what world would someone like this be a good older sister towards anyone?like imagine if Octavia asked loona to dial down her attitude a bit what would loona do? Would she listen to her NAH if she'd beat up her own father for that whose to say she wouldn't do the same for Octavia?, and their conversation in seeing stars....oh boy I was holding back trying not to throw my phone when this part came there are a bunch of posts about how nonsensical this part was but the long and short of it is that loona doesn't have any right to tell Octavia to put up with stolas when she herself treats her father poorly and she straight up lied to Octavia, stolas wasn't looking for her he was pathetically sitting around in the theatre getting thirsty over blitz and he wasn't all that freaked out that he's daughter ran away because of him, so loona literally gaslighted Octavia to apologise and come back to her neglectful father (yes for the millionths time stolas is neglectful) , this just makes their "friendship" all the more jarring and toxic, just because both are goth girls with daddy issues doesn't mean they will be instantly healthy friends their issues, upbringing, situations are completely different, Octavia is getting neglected by her father who constantly puts hes own desires before her will being and constantly makes her uncomfortable and constantly let her down and break his promises and from her perspective he ruined her home life, loona on the other hand is being rude and abusive towards her father who so far gave her affection, protection and while yes he was once over protective of her it's understandable considering where he got adopted her from yet even after all of that and after 5 years of being with him she still treats him poorly with only a few moments where she was nice to him and even then she resorts back to not caring about him and being rude and violent and she knows he'll get over it and come back to spoiling her, Octavia is getting emotionally abused by her father while loona is abusing her father THERE SITUATIONS ARE NOT THE SAME and now loona will basically glue Octavia onto her abuser while also probably abusing Octavia either emotionally, mentally, physically I don't see her at all as a kind or understanding or caring person she only act like that when it's convenient to the plot or as a moment to gaslight people into ignoring her awful actions , so yeah I don't think loona would at all be a good person for Octavia to hang out with under any circumstances she'd probably badly influence her and make her mental health worse than it already is , people go out of their way to make her act completely different from what she does in the show to make this s*** idea possible and that's another problem loona like stolas is coddled by the fandom and they always ignore how much of an awful person she actually is instead come up with excuses for her and try to make her look better than she actually is , I get the appeal people might get from this idea but I really don't like it or see it I feel like people are glossing over alot of issues with this whole situation

Thank you for coming to my rant

[thisstormbringsstrangeloyalties]

okay so I’m having a lot of feelings about the parallels between Anakin and Bode’s fall to the dark side and I need a place to scream about it so here it is

putting the rest under a cut because I already KNOW I’m about to go off

alright and before I go any further, I want to clarify that I don’t imagine the writers for Survivor sat down and went “hmm what kind of character can we make to rival the tragedy of Anakin? I know! we’ll just make the same character… but different…” I just think that the general path to the Dark Side tends to be similar for a lot of people. there just happens to be a lot of overlap for these two characters specifically. and if the similarities WERE intentional. well. honestly that would be very Star Wars-core of the writers. the overlapping rings and parallels between trilogies has been important to the storytelling of Star Wars from the beginning.

moving right along tho. I think it’s impossible to say when their actual journey to the Dark Side TRULY begins (I imagine Anakin growing up a slave and Bode living through the Purge might have been the whisper of wind that eventually blew over the first domino) but I think it’s safe to say that the Big Moment for Anakin was when his mother died in his arms. and his heart was so filled with grief and anger that he was driven to revenge. not just the men… but the women and children too. we all know the story.

and it’s harder to know for sure with Bode, since we don’t actually see his reaction, but I’d wager losing his wife had a similar effect on him. even Kata herself says that losing her mother changed her father. and we know from the post-game Force echoes that, aside from protecting Kata, Bode’s work for Denvik was also to learn the identity of the Inquisitor who killed his wife. he’s been living with this burning seed of rage in his heart, this desire for vengeance even though revenge is not the Jedi way.

so then you just have these two people, living with the GUILT of not making it in time to save the one they loved. these two people who have been so traumatized by their loss, that the thought of losing anyone else is unbearable. the love that these two hold for those still living that are closest to them— for Anakin it’s Padme, for Bode it’s Kata— is corrupted by fear and turns into attachment. slowly but surely, they are consumed by one impossible goal: protect Padme/Kata AT ALL COSTS.

enter The Cost. at a certain point, Anakin becomes convinced that Palpatine is the only one who can help him save Padme. he’s willing to throw away EVERYTHING ELSE for that one chance. he’s willing to kill younglings, he’s willing to execute the entire Jedi order for it. he’s willing to break Padme’s heart. meanwhile, Bode becomes convinced that Tanalorr is his one salvation for Kata and he’ll do whatever he has to in order to get her there. he’s willing to kill Cordova, he’s willing to lead the entire Hidden Path to their doom for it. he’s willing to trap Kata in a life of isolation— as long as she’s still ALIVE.

and all throughout this, these two have formed this brotherhood with a certain someone. a bond formed through the hell of fighting a seemingly endless war. for Anakin, it’s Obi Wan. for Bode, it’s Cal. it’s so interesting to me to think about the last interaction these two pairs had with each other before Everything Happened. Anakin seeing Obi Wan off before he takes on Grievous. Dooku was already dead. after all this fighting, the war was SO CLOSE to being over. Obi Wan tells Anakin he’s grown to be a greater Jedi than he could ever hope to be. and then contrasting Bode’s last night with Cal. after all this fighting, they’re so close to finally being SAFE. the guilt of what Bode’s about to do weighs so heavily on him, yet Cal can only see a brighter future. he tells Bode that they couldn’t have done it without him. these quiet moments of connection before they lose everything.

then everything just comes to a head when these brother figures finally confront Anakin/Bode. Anakin flies off to a fiery hellscape. Bode flies off to a lush paradise. they both believe they’ve left their brother behind for good. and then Padme unintentionally brings Obi Wan to Anakin. Kata very deliberately takes Cal to Bode. I think it’s at this moment where both Anakin and Bode go from agitated to full on enraged. there’s such a clear moment where the both of them snap and it’s no longer about “protecting” their loved one, it’s about destroying this one person who stands in their way. Anakin Force chokes Padme. Bode lashes out with the Force at Kata TWICE. (At one point, Kata may have even fallen to her death if Merrin hadn’t been there to save her.)

the tragic ending to both Anakin and Bode’s story happens when they lose themselves and fight to kill their brother. the tragic ending to their story happens when they become the very danger they fought so hard to protect their loved one from.

I think there are two main differences between Bode and Anakin’s story. the first is from an audience perspective. I mentioned before that we don’t actually SEE a lot of Bode’s story leading up to his fall. Anakin, however, we see from the very beginning. except we KNOW he’s doomed. we KNOW he’s going to end up as Darth Vader. we just don’t know HOW. and it’s heartbreaking in its own way to see Anakin be so fundamentally GOOD knowing how he’s going to end up. Bode on the other hand…

from the beginning, Bode is just a guy. he’s Cal’s new friend. he’s a great fighter and he immediately fits right in with Cal’s family of strays. you have no idea what’s coming. personally, when I first played, my only suspicion of him was that he was beginning to doubt Cal’s vision of Tanalorr. and I thought maybe he’s right? a running theme of the game is that Cal just doesn’t know how to STOP FIGHTING. perhaps Bode just thinks this supposed safe haven from the Empire isn’t the place to… continue the fight against the Empire. and even after Bode blatantly betrays everyone, the extent of his motivation wasn’t clear to me until the confrontation on Nova Garon. before then, I was doubting everything he’d ever said. did he actually have a daughter named Kata? was his name even really Bode? these kinds of questions never come up in Anakin’s story. we know everything about him and WHY he’s doing it. but I think this unknown factor around Bode is what makes his betrayal just… sting more. it makes US want to shout, “you were Cal’s brother, Bode! he loved you!”

and finally the second difference which is from a narrative perspective. and it’s the fact that, at the very end, Anakin DID return to the light. Bode never got that. and I think it mostly hinged on the fact that people still BELIEVED in the good in Anakin. it was one of Padme’s dying words. there’s still good in him. Luke was ready to DIE for that belief. Luke absolutely REFUSED to give into fear, to strike down the Emperor or his father in anger. at the most critical moment, Luke resisted the Dark Side. he chose love and THAT’s what saved Anakin and brought him back to the light.

for Bode… he didn’t have that. I’m not sure if anyone really believed in him by the end. which is… understandable. as I said earlier, I myself was questioning everything about Bode after his betrayal. I can’t imagine how Cal, who trusted Bode with HIS LIFE, would feel. Merrin herself told Cal it was kill or be killed. Cal even admitted that he has so much hatred for Bode. hell, he even straight up “embraces the darkness” to win his fight against Bode. Cal gave Bode multiple chances to surrender, but his motivation to give those chances were all about Kata. it was all about how Cal and Merrin know what it’s like to lose their whole family and don’t want Kata to go through that. not once does Cal say “I know this isn’t you, Bode. I know there’s still good inside you.”

this isn’t a criticism on Cal, by the way. he’s walked a very different path than Luke. he’s at a very different point in his journey than Luke was when he confronted Vader. Cal was (understandably) in the middle of battling the Dark Side in HIMSELF at the time. he wasn’t in a place where he could pull someone ELSE from that path. and honestly, I think it just makes this story that much more heartbreaking. maybe there WAS a chance for Bode, but the stars just, very tragically, weren’t aligned for him.

I don’t really have a conclusion for all these thoughts, just that it’s so fascinating that their stories are so similar despite such different circumstances. it’s so fascinating that they still somehow ended the same yet so differently. I’m really going to be thinking about Bode’s story for a long time. I haven’t felt this way about a character’s arc in… awhile. it’s such peak Star Wars to me, to be honest, and it’s really disappointing knowing that the audience for this story is limited to just gamers and people who enjoy watching gaming videos. it really deserves the attention of a mainstream movie, in my opinion.

[griseldabanks]

Let Me Count the Ways ask game

Requested by @bunnyscar

Fandom: FMA (Foster Family AU) Characters: Roy Mustang and Edward Elric Prompt: "I can't believe I'm telling you this."

From the day he and Riza had decided to become foster parents, Roy had known his life would be forever changed. Their daily routines would have been disrupted no matter who they ended up with, but how much more so when the first children to grab their attention were two heavily traumatized boys, one with anger issues and only one leg, the other who didn't say a word and kept on trying to smuggle stray cats inside under his shirt.

It had been three years, and Roy thought he was well prepared for anything Ed and Al decided to throw at him. They'd lived through the night terrors and panic attacks. Al had finally started speaking, though he still tended to clam up around strangers because of the stutter he'd developed. After numerous shouting matches and slammed doors, Ed finally seemed to have mellowed out a bit, though he still turned his heavy metal music up loud when he was annoyed at Roy.

But Al called him 'Dad' now. And though Ed didn't, sometimes he would skip the grousing and griping and send a grin Roy's way that warmed him from head to foot. Maybe those two things meant he was actually doing an okay job at this.

But Ed always loved to keep him on his toes. One afternoon, during their usual game of chess once the day's lessons were over, while Riza took Al to his speech therapist, Ed said, “Hey, um...can I...ask for some advice?”

“Sure,” Roy said. “Move that pawn; my knight is about to take it.”

“What? No, not like that!” He moved the pawn anyway. “It's just...you're, like, married and stuff, right?”

Roy raised an amused eyebrow. “Yes, I am in fact 'married and stuff.'”

Ed shot him a dirty look, but plowed on anyway. “So you, like...you know...you've been on dates before. I mean, you had to have asked Riza out at least once before you got married, yeah?”

Straightening up from his contemplation of the board, Roy eyed the pink tinge of Ed's cheeks and started putting two and two together. “There's someone you're thinking of asking out?”

Ed hunched down in his chair, making himself even smaller than usual. “Knew I should've kept my mouth shut,” he mumbled.

Roy eyed his foster son, trying to suppress a gleeful smirk at the same time as a wave of wistfulness crashed over him. He should have known this day was coming. Ed was fifteen. He was starting to grow up.

“Don't worry, you've come to the right place,” he finally said, moving his bishop across the board. “As you so astutely pointed out, I have been on at least one date and managed not to screw it up long enough for us to get married. Clearly, I know a thing or two.”

Never mind the time Riza had slapped him so hard he saw stars when he got drunk and started flirting with someone else. And they wouldn't get into the crippling guilt that ate away at him for years after they discovered he couldn't give her the children she'd always wanted. Nor the way he pulled away from her in shame, thinking she resented him, while she spent the whole time worrying that he resented her. The important thing was that they'd worked through these issues, and they were still together. That had to count for something.

“So who is it?” he prompted when Ed just sat there, turning one of his captured pawns over and over in his hands.

“Does it matter?”

“Of course it does,” Roy said patiently. “Believe it or not, there's not just some magic formula to make any girl instantly fall in love with you. Every girl is different.” And I'm curious to find out who on earth could have caught the attention of my prickly homeschooled son.

Ed slid down even farther in his chair and stared up at the ceiling over Roy's head. “Ugh, I can't believe I'm telling you this....” He hesitated, his face going redder and redder till it was almost the same shade as his favorite hoodie. Finally, he mumbled, “It's Winry.”

“Ah....” Roy supposed he should have guessed that right away. They'd been friends their whole lives, neighbors for a large chunk of their childhood, and then Winry's grandmother had become the boys' legal guardian after the car crash. They didn't see each other as much now that they lived across the city, especially now that Winry was in high school. But when they'd gone to her tap-dance recital around Christmastime, Ed had gone strangely silent and awkward, barely saying a word to her when they met her after the show.

“There's...her school has a prom in May,” Ed mumbled. “And I...kinda wanna ask her? But like...what if I ask her and she says no? Or she just laughs at me? As if I know how to dance. I'll probably just end up stepping on her foot with this.” He kicked up his prosthetic leg, the one he usually wore around the house that looked nothing like a human appendage.

“Let me clue you in on a little secret,” Roy said, thinking back to his own awkward prom days. “Nobody knows how to dance at those things. Just put your hands on her shoulders and sway a little, and that should be enough. Or you could have her show you a few pointers.”

“That's if she says yes.” Now Ed looked faintly green. He stared up at the ceiling for a minute, then sat up straight and leaned forward almost desperately. “What if this ruins everything? What if I tell her how I feel and she turns me down and then everything's all awful forever and we can never be friends anymore? I don't wanna do that! If she doesn't wanna go out with me, I can't just...never talk to her again! Maybe I should just not say anything and just stay the way we are...but when I'm around her, I just...all I can think about is....” With a growl of frustration, he buried his face in his hands.

Roy tried to remember what it was like to be fifteen, the way a single glance or a single smile from a pretty girl could make all of his insides feel like they were on fire. In many ways, he was grateful for the age gap between him and Riza; three years was nothing to them now, but at the age of fifteen, he'd never even considered dating the scrawny twelve-year-old down the street. None of those complicated feelings had interfered with getting to know her until they were both older and much more mature.

“I think you should tell her,” Roy said. “Winry's a smart girl; it won't take her long to figure it out for herself. If she doesn't suspect already,” he added with a smirk.

“But what if she just laughs at me?” Ed moaned.

“What makes you think she would do that?”

Hunching his shoulders, Ed mumbled, “When we were, like, five...I kinda...asked her to marry me. And....” He took a deep breath, then finished in a rush, “Then she laughed and turned me down because she said she'd never marry anybody who was shorter than her!”

It was a good thing Roy had a good poker face. It was a good thing he'd had occasion to practice it quite often as a father of two teenage boys. Even so, he had to bite the inside of his lip to keep from bursting out laughing at the look on Ed's face.

“Well, say something!” Ed scowled down at his fists clenched on his knees, his face still red as a tomato.

Once he took a deep breath and cleared his throat, Roy dared to speak and found that his voice was level. “So...you're worried she's of the same opinion ten years later?”

Ed sank back into his chair with a defeated sigh, nodding glumly.

Roy laced his fingers together, striving with all his might to keep his voice neutral. “We are just talking about prom here. It's not like you're asking her to marry you. Again.”

With a groan, Ed covered his face in his hands. “I knew I shouldn't have said anything!”

“My point,” Roy persisted, “is that she might see things very differently now. You aren't the same as you used to be, and neither is she. The way I see it, you have two options: ask her, and risk her saying no. Or don't ask, and be okay with the knowledge that somebody else probably will.”

Slowly, Ed straightened up. Roy could practically see the gears whirring in his brain. His eyes blazed at the suggestion that someone might beat him to it, that some other boy would end up dancing with her through the night, maybe earning a kiss at the end....

Ed shot to his feet. “Okay,” he said firmly. “Okay. I'm asking her. I'm...I'm gonna do it!”

He marched out, barely even seeming to see Roy anymore. Roy just smirked fondly after him and put the forgotten chess pieces back into place. They could count this game as a draw.

A minute later, Ed thumped back into the room, looking sheepish. “Uh...I don't know how to ask her.”

“Sit down,” Roy said with a smile. “Let's brainstorm some options.”

[wrathofrats]

Would we mayhapse get another round of the Dew fights with someone and they have to very roughly make up like that SwissDew one I'm sure we all love deeply (I know I do)

Ofc dear anon, also I’m so so very happy you enjoyed my Swissdew series, I regard that one so very deeply in my heart. I hope you enjoy this one!

Mist finally confronts dew after his transition.

Warnings for hurt no comfort, implied but not described character death/tragic event, implied but not described torture/traumatic events, mist blames aether and omega for dew and deltas botched transitions

-

“So you really went through with it”

Dew barely registers the sound of her walking outside. The light from the kitchen brightens the space behind him as mist slides open the door. He can’t help but wince seeing her shadow darken his space on the porch.

“Yup”

The cold air whips around them, bringing goosebumps to mists skin while dew sits in his chair unphased, a pile of ashes and old newspapers lay beside him. The air smells like dead leaves tinged with the smoke coming from dew burning pieces of paper at his fingertips. Something that would be comforting on any other night makes her stomach turn. His usual smell of aloe and chamomile long since singed into a sickly petrol that invaded her senses. Mist hadn’t seen him since his transition until now, dew purposely avoiding her to avoid this very interaction.

“I’m sure aethers real pleased with his work this time” mist bites. An attempt to antagonize him, force him to finally talk to her. She doesn’t bother to sit down, only chooses to stand behind dew and wonders if he will even spare her a glance. The wind scatters his pile of ashes, sending them into the yard as dew puts out the flame on his finger.

“Don’t bring aether into this”

“Why shouldn’t I? You know what happened to delta-“

“Delta wasn’t aethers fault mist”

Her throat closes hearing her own name come from his lips. Something she hadn’t heard in weeks and she honestly didn’t know if she would ever hear it again. Because of a botched transition or dew practically disowning her she didn’t know. But a searing ice cold chill ran down her spine. A small part of her brain begged him to just look at her.

“It wasn’t but it was the same situation. If omega of all ghouls can fuck up did you really expect me to trust aether?”

Dew grabs another newspaper and turns it into ash as his flame only grows hotter.

“I told you to stop fucking mentioning him”

“And why should I? What if something happened” it’s all mist can do to not raise her voice. She tries to focus on the sky, count the stars instead of wondering what dew even looks like under his hood. She wonders if it’s even her dewdrop under there. She’s scared of the answer.

“Aether loves me. He wouldn’t do anything to hurt me” more ash dances around the deck, a line of minuscule destruction in favor of lighting the entire deck up while dew attempts to control his new magic.

“Do you think we didn't love delta? He wasn’t some failed experiment like you seem to think he was” mist rubs her face with her sleeve, catching a stray tear that was forming as the cold air invaded her skin

“I never said that”

“Besides, did it not hurt? Did aether not hurt you when he fucking scarred over your gills? Did it not hurt when he forced the fire magic through your veins? Did it not burn? Do you honestly think-“

“What the fuck is your point mist?” Dew stands up to face her.

She can’t help her reaction. A gasp covered by her hands as she stares at what used to be her water ghoul. The gills along his neck had scarred over hastily, red and wrinkled irritated skin stretched over them irregularly. The veins in his hands had turned an ashy grey color, no doubt a side effect of the searing fire ghoul powers that now coursed through them. Dew quickly covers his hands with the sleeves of his sweatshirt, looking away from mists gaze.

“My point is I could hear you screaming in the infirmary dew.” A tear falls down her face as she fixates on the irregular skin around his neck

“I was fine”

“I stayed there every night until omega told me you were ok. Don’t tell me you were fine when I had to listen to you go through that” her fists clench at her side. Dew still won’t look her in the eye.

“You didn’t have to stay. That’s your fault”

Dew makes the mistake of finally looking at mist. A tear runs down her cheek as he takes in her own state. Dark bags under her eyes as she wraps one of dews discarded jackets around herself. The glance doesn’t last for more than a second or two before dew sits back down again. It’s not a sight he wants to bare, he doesn’t want to believe that mist has torn herself to shreds because of him.

There’s no response that makes sense for her to say. A sick feeling in her stomach after weeks of fighting with him to be told it’s her fault for caring. And maybe it was her fault for spending multiple sleepless nights in the infirmary, for standing at dews door multiple times a day hoping he would answer when she knocked, hell even for not being able to take off the jacket she stole from him months ago.

“I thought you were going to die dew”

The words burn in her throat. A reality she hasn’t yet faced but hits her like a bag of concrete.

He stands up once again, gaze fixed to the ground as he pushes past her to open the door and walk inside.

[startrekprodigyfan]

Okay yeah… I binged the whole season in one day.

It was actually surprisingly easy to do so. And while that means my planned slower recaps and speculation are basically out the window, I also now just don’t have to worry about spoilers for weeks on end.

I’m still going to keep spoilers under a cut though. Even if you block key hashtags, stuff can get through, and just making the spoilers further down a text post you have to scroll past to continue browsing tumblr doesn’t help either. Hide that content behind a cut, please!

Non-spoiler thoughts:

It was so good. It was honestly more Trek than I could’ve possibly expected. And to all those early naysayers who were confused by the Protostar and where it was supposed to be in the timeline after the first episode of season 1, all of that gets answered and put into context by the end of season 2. Thank GOD! Every single plot point people brought up and thought was a “plot hole” gets filled and explained.

It’s not as emotional as the first season, but the situations and events definitely still have a lot of weight and the stakes are so high for so long too! There’s a surprising number of dark events that happen throughout the series. Way darker than even I’m used to watching the animated shows that I do. Kudos for not skimping on the peril and stakes of the mission for the sake of kids being traumatized lol

And while there is the potential for more, if we never get a season 3 this would still be an extremely satisfying ending all the same. I am very happy there aren’t any loose ends here.

Prodigy is without a doubt the most reliably consistent Star Trek show that’s ever existed. Not a single episode feels like filler. Not a single episode wastes time or characters. Even the goofy episodes have character development and callbacks later, and I genuinely don’t think there’s a single episode that I would skip or not watch again. That’s an amazing feat in and of itself, but as a Trek fan that’s just unheard of! Kudos all around!

Now for my longer spoiler thoughts under the cut:

Okay…

How the HELL did you guys make Wesley Crusher’s time traveling arc sooo good? As a TNG fan I was always annoyed with the “traveler” storylines and with Wesley’s character in general. Even as a kid I never really liked him. But this storyline makes him interesting and gives a lot of weight to his powers. He’s almost like The Doctor from Doctor Who, someone who has so much going on in his head that he’s sort of lost it.

That honestly was the biggest surprise to me. I was convinced that Hologram Janeway (and the construct) were somehow manipulating time and events because of the wormhole. Janeway would be trying to help them, while the construct was trying to stop them. That was my working theory for the start of the series. Imagine my surprise when it turns out it’s Wesley Crusher! wtf!?

I do like that he gets to reunite with his mom finally. And that he learns he has a brother.

Incidentally that’s something else I was not expecting. How MUCH of this series was going to be timeline connected to the events of Picard and Lower Decks respectively. Like, wow… they connected the Mars Shipyard explosion and the Romulan evacuation plot points that made sense for the story. Like holy crap, then FINALLY getting into Starfleet only for the shipyards to explode and Starfleet is severely crippled. I did not expect that to happen, and it’s sadly realistic too.

I still hate the Romulan evacuation storyline from Picard, but as a matter of keeping things consistent it makes sense for it here. And while I don’t like it being a canon event, it’s overall good for the consistency of “prime” trek.

I do like that Dal became a second in command. I’ve always felt like Dal was never really destined to be the captain and that he’s always been better at helping others be their best selves. So it makes sense for his character arc that he learns he doesn’t need to be in charge to make a difference and that there’s no shame in being second.

Overall I am still reeling from how much Trek happened in this season. There’s never a dull moment. Unfortunately I am not optimistic about a 3rd season. Netflix picking up a mostly completed series to broadcast on their streaming service is far FAR cheaper than paying for an entire season to be created outright. And sadly, as much as I want more Prodigy, I have a feeling it’s just not on people’s radars enough for it to do gangbuster numbers enough to convince Netflix to pick them up for a 3rd season. I hope I am proven wrong, but I will not get my desire for more season unrealistically hyped up.

I do want to rewatch the entire show now, because there were clues left in the first season that only get answered at the end of season 2. And I love closed loop time travel storylines like that! I can’t wait to go back and connect the dots knowing what I know now.

An excellent series. Probably one of Trek’s best in decades. A true love for the material and the characters and the legacy of Trek lore all rolled into an amazingly animated package.

[jewishvitya]

I just saw this video about how the West projects its own antisemitism on Palestine. And I think it seems like an important look at how things are entangled here, and somewhat a counter to the post I made and apologized for.

I still think Israel wants to own Judaism and Jewish symbolism and Jewish trauma. And I still think it's evil to do and I don't want that to be successful. Part of the goal was to reiterate that Israel shouldn't be seen as speaking for all Jews, and Jews as a whole shouldn't be seen as its agents, which is the image Israel tries to project. I still feel strongly about the importance of separating Israel and Judaism, and not mistreating Jewish culture in diaspora, including to counter Israel's narrative. But I think my way of talking about it on that post was wrong.

Especially for Palestinians, having negative feelings about Judaism and Jewish symbols isn't the same as antisemitic sentiments we see in the West. It's much more similar in nature to the discomfort a lot of Jewish people have sometimes with Christianity, but newer. Any Palestinian who is uncomfortable, I can only blame Israel and the torment they suffered under it. And beyond Palestinians, Israel had a traumatic impact on several countries that border it.

I was thinking of Jewish diaspora who are an oppressed group and keep getting associated with Israeli atrocities, now seeing people from their countries refer to their cultural symbolism as a hate symbol - when I, especially being an Israeli Jew myself, should have prioritized the Palestinians who are being traumatized in my name under this symbol. It wasn't right of me to defend the image of anything used for harm by my people. And I'm sorry I did that.

This was an attempt to explain both my intentions and why I feel my post was problematic. Now I don't know that I'm the best to say more than this. So, in addition to my initial apology, and to this explanation, I'm posting this video. I'll write out the words she's saying, because videos sometimes don't load on tumblr.

Growing up Arab in the US, and I think probably in a lot of the West Arabs can relate to this, you're made to feel naturally antisemitic because of Israel.

But here's the thing. You know, Israel put the Star of David on their flag. Israel puts the Star of David on its fighter jets. The Israeli leadership claims to be committing atrocities and ethnic cleansing and genocide, in the name of Judaism.

And I disagree, I think it's actually incredibly antisemitic that the Israeli government does that, because I think it's the Israeli government smearing Jews and Judaism by doing that.

But it's incredibly unfair to demand that the people who are being subjected to that— in the name, again, they are seeing that their occupiers have a Star of David on everything. In southern Lebanon there's former Israeli torture sites and prison sites, that have the star of David on them. That's what they do to mark their territory.

It is seen in this region - particularly in the places that Israel has bombed or occupied - as a symbol of colonialism and oppression and control and domination. And nothing more, sadly. And that is because of the actions of the Israeli government.

And it's like, to sit there and say that the way that an occupied people feel about their oppressors - who are saying we are doing this to you in the name of Judaism, they're saying that to them - to sit there and call those people antisemites in the tradition of Nazis and of European Christian antisemitism, who are the ones who are actually responsible for the holocaust, is so incredibly offensive. And actually it's just a way to transfer white European guilt for the holocaust onto brown people who didn't even do it. It's like, there are so many layers to how messed up that is.

And I'm not justifying like, you know, people in the Middle East who might have anti-Jewish sentiments. I just think that the explanation or the lens of the holocaust and of European antisemitism does not fit here. This is happening in a very different structure and it's just disgusting that such a horrible European atrocity is used to them demonize the victims.

[aletterinthenameofsanity]

"Ask me anything" huh? Can I ask you to rant about stuff you love about Doctor Who for a handful of paragraphs, with the additional requirement that you cannot use correct grammar NOR can your statements be fully coherent?

Doctor Who is like 50% fun nonsense and I think commentaries on it should reflect that. No elaborate and precise statements, just pure joy unhindered by foolish concepts such as "making perfect sense".

I was waiting until I was close to going to bed to answer this because this really needs my half-asleep brain to answer properly. (Or improperly, in this case.) Now, onto as grammatically improperly as I can make this (hopefully I pulled this off. like to think I did!):

you know what i love about doctor who? i love that this show covers every single genre in the universe. that it is horror and comedy and historical fiction and sci fi and alternate history and dystopian and myths and steampunk and biopunk and murder mystery and western and fairytale because genre doesn't apply, because the doctor is a mad man in a box telling the story, except that they're not, the doctor's not the one telling the story, because this is really a story about the companions of the doctor, the people who are reflections of them, the people who become the doctor, the people who were doctors all along, the people who were kind and brave and traumatized and curious and above all, wanted to see the stars, because this is a story about the stars, about the grand expanse of space and time, about everything that ever was and ever will be, but the thing is, the mechanics of the show and how seasons are shot and that no actor can ever stay young forever, because the show is made with real people, everyone has to move on, and that's the beauty of it, isn't it? that people have to move on.

writers and actors always have to move on but with doctor who, because some genius (affectionate) in the 60s decided that regeneration would get to be a mechanic in the show we get to have an eternal canon, we get to have renewal, we get to have companions reflect back on the doctor in an infinite number of batshit insane and unhinged ways, we get to see hope and grief and a bottomless fall and an infinite rise because the doctor cannot die even though everyone around them can BUT ALSO because this show is about travelling, about running, about having the entirety of everything that has ever existed or will exist or can't exist or might exist at our fingertips.

as a result you can have episodes like midnight and partners in crime in the same season and no one will bat an eye, you can have the farting calcium invasion-of-the-body-snatchers be the monsters that propel two of the best character pieces i've ever seen in my entire life, you can have capitalism critiques involving fish poop under the thames, you can have them visit the greatest people that will ever live and the worst, you can have them inspire artists and scientists before they die and that's just as important as the aliens or saving the world, you see, because at the end of the day doctor who is about love, it's about the small moments as well as the big saves, it's about wilfred staring at the stars and amy demanding her imaginary friend show up to her wedding and harriet jones worrying about her mother and about danny admiring the fact that a student said please and about ryan and graham learning to ride a bike together and about jackie being the last person that mickey said goodbye to in journey's end, it's about love and character development and charles dickens and vincent van gogh getting to smile and laugh before they die, it's about the love, you see?

doctor who is about running as far and as fast as you can because even though you're more afraid than anyone who has ever existed you have to see them all, you have to love them all, because you have so much love you can't contain it in one heart, that's why you have two hearts, because you love so much, too much, and you will never find peace, you will never find an ending, but right here, right now, you can have this. and that will never be enough, it can't be enough, but it still matters.

because the love was there.

[justanotherlonelywritersblog]

My Everlasting Muse pt.1

Harry styles x OC

Warnings: 18+ Drugs, smoking, alcohol, mature content, swearing

Meeting someone who is irrevocably, unapologetically themselves is near impossible these days. 

There was a point in my life where I was stuck in a tsunami of grief, with waves of hidden agendas and vendettas constantly crashing against me. Never knowing which friend would be the next to betray me, or which camera would snap a picture of my walking corpse, or which news outlet would pay the prettiest dime for a glimpse of my remains. Hollywood breeds trust issues and kills the most beautiful minds. All because they had a dream, they once thought was worth pursuing. 

Growing up the idea of music and having a career in it sounded magical. So unbelievably naive, I studied every vinyl, witnessed as many concerts as I could, and sang until my vocal cords went raw. And when the opportunity planted itself in front of me, I leaped across the ocean with hopes and dreams and ended up landing in the viper's den. And as the tickets sold, and my voice was heard across the world I learned to hate what I once used to adore. And as the stadiums roared, and the music played, my interest in cocaine and booze increased every day. 

The family and friends I used to hang out with every Sunday, no longer heard from me. Getting their updates on my life with the rest of the world, through tabloids and news stations. The claws of Hollywood were digging into me, indulging every night, waking up to a groupie every morning, and feeling lost in the process of creation. I sang words of love and ambition but was experiencing none of those feelings. On the outside, I was the epitome of coming from nothing and making a real name for yourself. But was it worth sacrificing everything and everyone I've ever known? Well, I don't know. 

I was drowning and quickly sinking further down a whole of scandals and self-destruction, not knowing who to ask or how to ask for help, when everyone around me is in the same sinking boat as I am. I wrote a song when I was younger, it's the reason I have the fortune I do now, it was about how love can save you from the darkest of things. But I didn't know at the time, that even love couldn't save you from yourself. 

Or at least I thought so. 

A girl with eyes of salt, and an annoyingly positive personality somehow swam onto my sinking ship and rescued me from the wreck that was myself. I didn't think it was possible. A girl I once detested and hated everything she stood for, who was irrevocably and unapologetically herself, became my everlasting muse.

And honestly, I wouldn't want it any other way. 

..............

Love is ironic.

It's magnetizing because it can elicit happiness, but it can also elicit pain. For it is the pain that reminds you of how truly connected you are to the person you fell in love with. 

I wasn't always so unapologetically me. 

There was a time in my life when I would sit under the stars and pray to anything, anyone up there, to give me a sign that I wasn't broken, that I wasn't unlovable, and that there was someone out there who would reassure me that I wasn't a freak of nature. Growing up in a home where shouting was the courtesy, and broken bottles were normal, it made sense I clang to the first person who showed me a sliver of love. So entrapped in the appeal of being in love, I naively went from one traumatic home to another. 

A voice that used to be gentle, now reflected my father's. Deep and intoxicated, staggering around our home with shoves and the occasional fist to my face. Isolated and a million miles away from everything I've ever known, I became trapped in this cycle of intoxication and abuse that I so badly wanted to escape.

 I was repeating my mother's mistakes.

 And the day I realized that I left in a raggedy zeppelin t-shirt, with blood-soaked hands and never looked back.

Starting over in a new city, with a new name and a new goal in life. 

Just be me. 

I wanted to determine my own fate, my own decisions, my own passions. I was over letting people walk over me and being confined to their ideas of what I should be. 

However, I never expected this new chapter in my life to end up unraveling like it did. 

Booze, regrets, parties, and cigarettes. 

I guess the trauma was resurfacing through self-deprecating behavior. But I'm not shaming my past mistakes, for it ended up leading to my savior. He was older, and his aura pulsed trouble. He didn't have to carry himself; his name did all the work for him. His brooding nature, and downright miserable attitude made me want to be the positive one for once. 

I knew the logical thing was to ignore him. I knew who he was, I knew the danger that surrounded him, and the spotlight that followed him. I should've left him and never looked back, as I had done in my past life. However, there was something magnetic pulling me towards him. Maybe it was the universe, maybe it was just luck how we always ended up in the same place and the same time. 

I became his anchor; he became my life. 

I never thought I'd be known as Harry Style's everlasting muse. 

But honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way. 

............

pt. 2 here

A/N: ahhhhhh i'm so excited!! Let me know what you think so far! This is my first fan fic so please be nice lol

A/N: Hi everyone! I hope you enjoy reading this! Updates will come as soon as I can! I'm so excited about this story, let me know what you think so far! 

[somecallmejohn]

Random thoughts on Wish

Since I generally make lots of posts about Wish, either because of something I thought or cause of an ask, I thought I’d share some random thoughts that I’ve either shared before or that I don’t feel like they deserve their own posts

It’s the first animated movie in a long time whose Greek dub I really liked just as much as the original one. Maybe it’s that I’m older or whatever, but most modern Greek dubs don’t seem to have the quality they once had where the voices just matched the characters and sometime around 2017 and onward I just stopped watching movies in Greek unless I was at the cinema and they stopped showing the subtitled version. Granted Disney movies were usually the only ones with a decent dub and some really good ones like in Luca, Moana and Coco, but still they weren’t the same as the dubs for older movies like Hercules, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Aladdin and Mulan whose dubs are so good that I can’t watch them in their original dub and with Wish I often switch from one dub to another. I’d also argue that the Greek version of “This is the thanks I get” is better (sorry Chris Pine)

Speaking of songs, I actually really like the songs in the movie(except for “You’re a star”, I don’t like that one). Granted this movie’s soundtrack isn’t one of the best ones like Encanto’s, Frozen 2’s or Hunchback’s (or literally any from the renaissance movies), but I still like it fine. This wish, this wish(reprise), Knowing What I Know Now and At All Costs are songs I like to relisten to even when I’m not watching the movie

I forking hate Valentino, he’s like if they took Olaf from Frozen 2 and multiplied him 10 times and combined them into one character and he makes way too many butt and fart jokes than there need to be in a Disney movie. If I were to ever do my own rewrite I’d delete him completely.

Id like to remind to the people who prolly weren’t paying attention to the movie (you know who you are) that Asha suggested Magnifico to return the wishes he wasn’t going to grant, she never suggested him to grant them all, she just wanted people to have a chance to make their own dreams come true and not live without the most important part of themselves, because again wishes aren’t just some piece of clothing that you can give away and never miss (despite what she said earlier in the movie because she didn’t know how big their importance was and she just lived believing the partial truth Magnifico gave to the world) but they’re literally part of one’s soul and yes they did give the wishes willingly but under the promise that they would be granted but even if there wasn’t any promise Magnifico withholding the most important part of each citizen of Rosas like he’s some hoarder doesn’t make it any more ethical either and him being (implied) traumatized still doesn’t make what he did right, especially the things he did after he for his ego bruised by a 17 year old. Also before any of his defenders reblog to argue, why don’t you tell me first about how Ariel was a selfish brat who should have paid the consequences of the deal she made and that Ursula was the real hero of The Little Mermaid because she was so kind as to give Ariel a chance to be human.

I’m 70% certain that if the movie was about 20-30 minutes longer, it would have been better as one of the issues I personally saw is that things were happening too fast and plot points felt rushed.

The 7 teens should have had more screen time considering how much they were marketed as well.

I’m fine with the fact that Amaya didn’t end up as a villain, I really like her as she is in the movie.

I think Asha and Starboy work better as a Peter Pan and Wendy type of duo rather than a (movie)Howl and Sophie where there’s an implied romance, but ultimately they’re not meant to end up together but still work great as a duo,

I lowkey wonder why Asha and the teens hang out with Gabo, he doesn’t seem like a fun person to be around with his constant pessimism tbh

I genuinely believe that despite its flaws, it’s not a bad movie

I also believe that in like a decade and a bit, that it’s gonna be looked at more fondly like Treasure Planet, Atlantis and Black Cauldron are

Bazeema and Hal’s designs are so pretty it’s a shame they didn’t have more screentime

Those are enough for now, of if I think of more I might do another one.

[runawaymun]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Tagged by: @zealouswerewolfcollector @melestasflight & @niennawept - thanks guys!!!!

Under the cut for length.

1. How many works do you have on Ao3?

43 total. 26 on my reg runawaymun account, and 17 spicy works under spicy_runawaymun.

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count?

466,324. Geez.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Currently just Tolkien. Mostly focusing on early third age and late second age. I used to write for Stargate and Doctor Who but that was like ten years ago.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

To Partake - 842 kudos - Longfic in progress. Elrond/Celebrimbor set in the second age, based loosely off The Rings of Power but it's really gone off the rails now because I didn't like some choices in the show and am trying to fix them haha. Show knowledge is honestly not needed because I stop following it after like the seventh chapter. Mostly an Elrond character study disguised as porn.

And the Stars Shine the Same - 695 kudos - Longfic, complete. a look at early third age Rivendell as told by two kids from proto-Rohan who get adopted into Elrond's family out of harsh and traumatic circumstances.

Beneath a Boundless Sky - 520 kudos - longfic and in progress. Sequel to above. Much wider scope. Dealing with the politics of proto-Rohan and exploring Fram's rise to power, while also keeping a firm focus on Elrond, his relationship with Maglor, and his relationship with his family. Oh yeah, and there's an eldritch monster in the mix (one that isn't Elrond that is!)

A Gown Spun from Starlight - 400 kudos - Thranduil x Reader insert oneshot. Mostly fluff.

Supine - 358 kudos - exploratory kidnap fam multi shot. Mostly Maedhros-centric.

Tinúvion - 289 kudos - Oneshot. Elrond and Sauron meet and hiss at each other and fight over Gil-Galad for 1972 words. Sauron shits his pants. Transitive property Luthien-Elrond.

5. Do you respond to comments?

Yes! Sometimes often my spoons are low so I am not always as fast as I like. But I endeavor to respond to everybody!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Ohhhhh. Let me think, here. Probably That We Are Still - in which Elrond has a foresight nightmare about Cel's death and they have sex about it, which fixes nothing.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Most of them have happy endings, because I love happy endings and I've written a good deal of fluff! I think And the Stars Shine the Same has the happiest/most satisfying ending, though. But it's an unfair comparison because it's a longfic. But Never Doubt I Love (Russingon) has a happy/bittersweet ending that's one of my favs. And Equinox (Elrond and Lindir's first meeting) is just pure sugar haha.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not that I recall, honestly. Hopefully it stays that way. I've gotten one or two slightly homophobic comments but I believe the commenter meant well. It was a weird experience.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yes! I find exploring how characters are sexual really really fascinating. It's like a microcosm of everything -- of their relationships, of their trauma, of their securities and insecurities. It's so interesting and fun! And especially the journeys that characters can take sexually, learning to open up and explore :) it's very rewarding. All of that is over on my spicy account. It's nearly exclusively Celrond but there's a few others in there.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I've written a few, but none on AO3. My favorite was one I wrote a long time ago where SG-1 (Stargate SG-1) got into a tangled up mission with the Eleventh Doctor and River. I also do a lot of daydreaming and play in my free time imagining my OCs from my original works winding up in middle earth. :)

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I am aware of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I've had someone offer but if it wound up happening, I wasn't tagged, so I am not sure! But receiving the offer was very nice <3

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Not any of the ones posted to AO3, but @the-commonplace-book and I have collaborated on a lot of work together! I'm always open to collaboration. It's so much fun.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

CELROND CELROND CELROND. Though Brimbrond is becoming a close contender now!

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

All of them, really. I try not to doubt I will finish things and just trust my process. I am a naturally slow writer who's a perfectionist and tends to hop from project to project, which is why I focus myself on one or two longfics at most, and I just let the others percolate in outline form until I finish something. I used to not finish things ever and it drove me crazy, so I try my best to stay focused so that things will always get finished in their due time.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Prose. Action and horror. Long character arcs -- especially the unfolding of characters who are recovering from traumatic experiences. I have a pattern haha.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Descriptions of settings and characters (I know what they look like in my head and have to actively remind myself that this image isn't downloaded into someone's brain). Politics and schemes. And IMO I am not good at twisty plots. I tend to write pretty linear progressions with few unexpected surprises.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic.

I like peppering individual words here and there, or perhaps small phrases. Pet names, absolutely. But nothing more than that. IMO adding in language can really help ground a story in the worldbuilding.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Funnily enough, Tolkien. When I was a kid I set out to rewrite the entire books just from Merry and Pippin's perspectives. I did not get very far.

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

I think it's honest to god And the Stars Shine the Same. I am obviously fond of To Partake, but Stars just is in its own special category for me. It came to me at the exact right time in my life when I really needed it. It's a very personal story, and it revived my love of writing and reminded me why I liked doing it.

I am rather late to this and I am not sure who has been tagged and who hasn't, so forgive me if I tag someone who has already done this! But no pressure tags for: @emyn-arnens @jaz-the-bard @lordgrimwing @greyjedijaneite @maglor-my-beloved and whomever else would like to participate!

[dilutedapplejuice]

Tw: descriptions of (fictional) abuse, neglect, and complex trauma

I’m rewatching soul eater (finally) and I’m at crona, the traumatized non-binary icon!!! And WOW are they autistic. So I’m making a list about it!

All my examples will be transcriptions (from episode 8) bc Hulu won’t let me screenshot it lol

*spoilers for Crona’s entire character arc*

1) Responding to abuse using very obvious logic

*Ragnarok starts hitting Crona and pulling on their skin*

Crona: That hurts me. It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! Stop moving around like that you’re squeezing me! Don’t poke me! Ow! Stop already. Don’t push my nose! You’re bruising me. Stop it now! I’ve had enough already!

Ragnarok: Now, now, calm down Crona. You’re so scary when you’re stressed out like this.

Ragnarok: If you don’t get it in gear we’re going back to the sleep deprivation again.

Crona: No! Don’t start waking me up every hour again! I don’t like it. The dark circles under my eyes will come back and I don’t know how to deal with the dark circles!

Ragnarok: If you let him hit you with that technique again, I’m gonna stick thumb tacks in your shoes. Got it?

Crona: No! Thumbtacks in my shoes would stick into my feet whenever I tried to walk. It would hurt. I don’t think I could deal with that, really.

*Crona gets hit so hard that cartoony stars and planets start circling their head*

Crona: There are stars and planets floating around me. I don’t think I can handle astronomy right now.

This is a bit hard to explain. Crona is describing things that are somewhat obvious to intuit (of course walking in shoes with thumb tacks on the bottom would hurt). Maybe this is a coping mechanism, to help them feel more grounded and in control. Maybe doing this repetitively is soothing, or compulsive (notice how it’s all the same format? “I don’t know how to deal with this!”).

Maybe they are trying to get Ragnarok to see their perspective so that they stop hurting them. But in that case, it seems somewhat clear that these pleads are not working. It’s almost certain that Crona has been doing this type of appeal consistently, even before they are seen in episode 7. Yet we see at least 3 incidents within 30 minutes of the show where Ragnarok not only chooses to bully Crona, but ignores anything they say (or paints them as overreacting). A different person might use their social cognition skills to intuit that Ragnarok will not listen to any kind of emotional appeal and make some other kind of attempt. Crona doesn’t seem to understand this however. They just keep hitting the same wall.

So not only does Crona not have a natural way of understanding social subtext, but they never had the chance to develop it because they were isolated and abused since childhood! It’s a double whammy.

2) Having specific rules with interacting with other things

Medusa: Crona, why are you taking it so easy? Do something.

Crona: It’s not like the ones before. Those were boys. She’s a girl. I’m no good with girls. What am I supposed to do with her?

Medusa: *laughs* How silly… Kill her of course.

Ragnarok: Wouls you hurry up and attack already you idiot?!

*Crona begins attacking*

Crona: But I’ve never seen a man with a screw sticking out of his head before! I don’t know how I’m supposed to deal with a guy like that.

Ragnarok: You eat him! Swallow his soul!

They are struggling with knowing how to interact with new things- a girl, a man with a screw in his head. Considering how extreme their isolation was, it’s likely that they are nervous and uncertain in the way an abled person might feel around a visibly disabled person, or a white person might feel around someone who is BIPOC. They don’t know what’s appropriate. But with how they’ve been encouraged to kill everyone they interact with, I would say this ain’t a typical response. Many people in their situation would follow the pattern and think “I’ve been told to kill x, x, and x. There’s another person who’s not my master or weapon. I should kill them too.” That’s not too much of a stretch, I’d say.

But the fact that they have a specific rule set to follow and struggle to apply it to new things strikes me as uniquely autistic thought process.

3) Struggling to understand other perspectives

*Maka hits Crona because they run up and attack*

Crona: You’re going to start poking at me also?

Maka: You should know that the hunting of human souls is strictly forbidden!

Crona: She [Medusa] said that it was okay to eat the human souls. I don’t see what’s wrong with it if she said that it was okay.

They just… kind of assume other people already fit into the context of their own world. Crona thinks that they are following the rules perfectly and is confused when other people challenge those rules. If Maka defends herself and hits Crona, she is the strange one because wasn’t Crona doing exactly what Medusa wanted? Why is Maka poking at them too? And why is Maka saying that Medusa is wrong? Medusa said it was okay, so it must be okay!

This is all clearly because Crona was brainwashed. Medusa seems like the only source of truth in Crona’s world because that was how they were raised. That’s literally the only thing they know. They just haven’t grown those skills of empathy to understand how other people might think. This just seems like such a specifically autistic way to be traumatized because of their adherence to the given rules/authority.

4) The way they talk

They just have that autistic accent. Idk if they’ve hit puberty yet, but they sound like a little kid. Slightly whiny, breathy. And that’s trademark autistic.

5) Eye contact

They are almost never looking at people’s faces. This could be trauma, this could be autism. Likely both.

6) Gender

This is kind of a “duh” point, but autistic people are more likely to be trans or gnc, either because they don’t understand intangible concepts or social concepts, struggle to present in a way that conforms with their AGAB, or don’t feel as obligated to follow arbitrary rules just to fit in. Regardless of if Crona is canonically a “boy” or not, they clearly don’t conform- our first intro to then was when they were mistaken for a girl and verbally assaulted. It’s likely a mix of their pink androgynous hair, childish voice, and clothes that makes them seem like this. They also don’t seem too bothered by different pronouns, if they even notice a difference at all.

7) Daydreaming

In the end, we learn that Crona constantly escapes into their own mind where they are on a tiny desert/beach planet, where they are happy and have an imaginary friend (if I remember correctly- I haven’t made it to this part in the show yet). This is also a very autistic trauma response. I wouldn’t be surprised if they had some kind of dissociative disorder like DID or OSDD and their friend just never fronted. And the specific fantasy of having someone who understands and loves you, in a small, controlled environment where you can do repetitive things for however long you want to…. It’s autism baby.

And… that’s a wrap! Thanks for reading!

And yes. This is a silly Tumblr post by an autistic person who doesn’t have any major trauma. I have no hope of understanding the complexities of childhood abuse and brainwashing. There’s no way for me to actually discern whether a fictional character is suffering from being programmed as a living weapon, or if they’re autistic (I mean, many things listed could be a result of Crona completely losing their free thinking ability and being dependent of their master to do all the thinking. Of course, and that’s exactly how Medusa intended it. Trauma does imitate autism in some manners. I just like to make lists). I just like to think that Crona’s psychology is a result of both.

Anyway. Drink some water!

[stelladess]

Since star rail is moving on to a new planet soon with Amphoreous ill give my thoughts on Penacony...

It had the highest highs and the lowest lows of the game so far.

Visually it is a treat, I also like how it really feels like a major popular place in the universe by how much more diverse the NPCs are then the rest of the planets, both in terms of humans who look more different from each other but also alien species too. This diversity is not reflected in the playable cast of course but it is still a plus for the planet in the way it makes it feel more like a less isolated part of the universe then previous "planets".

Story wise it is mostly incredible, with some really great characters and character arcs (Firefly, Acheron and Aventurine being the main standout ones for me personally). I really like how Stelle was used here as a narrative foil to Firefly but I feel the handling of her gaining the harmony path could have been a little better to deliver a more satisfying arc. I also think it is honestly downright absurd how little Himeko was involved with her having been the actual person invited to Penacony and how important the past trailblazers were. March and Dan Heng are both used well even if they have much more minor roles, same for Welt.

Robin is horribly underutilized. Which I feel is kind of a problem when her brother was the main antagonist of the arc. Also I appreciated how Aventurine is a very messy and complicated but sympathetic character... who has a straight up negative relationship with our player character.... up until they forgot that in the last of the updates and they are suddenly on friendly terms. Sunday himself is fine as a villain though I feel he would have worked better if we actually got to interact some more with him. Again I feel this sort of falls in with Robin being under utilized since their relationship is supposed to be so important.

I also like a lot of individual nice touches with some scenes, like a thing I really enjoy is when the game decides to have Stelle have (or have the option to) have more serious emotional reactions to stuff. The fact that a mostly comedic and silly character can get really angry at injustice (some quests in Belobog mainly but also some other side quests here and there) or genuinely very upset (like here in Penacony main story) kind of enhances that. Stelle struggling to process her emotions about Firefly at parts (mostly after her death and then after finding out she actually survived, although some of this you only get if you go back to the secret hideout). Having the option to lash out at Acheron when she was only trying to help after Firefly´s first death is a very nice option that I went for. In general Stelle and Acheron have an actually very interesting relationship.

Even if you do not know the HI3 references with Acheron the general gist of how she went through a lot of very traumatic things to save her planet only for it all to not matter because of the nihility, and how she feels attached to Stelle due to reminding her of her now long dead more optimistic friends is nice.

Acheron could have maybe used a few more scenes but I expect her to appear again later so it is kind of fine. Firefly arc here was the most satisfying and least flawed part of the story to me, the main issue being that it can be slightly hard to follow some parts of it, especially if you do not keep up with supplementary media that helps explain things like her backstory better.

I also felt the arc wraps up too neatly. The express crew get too heavily rewarded for what happened, the IPC do not get too much power over Penacony and the cult of order is fully dealt with seemingly. I really hope the whole "shareholders of Penacony" thing gets undone at some point because it feels like it ties the express down to Penacony too much in a way that I do not like or otherwise makes them look horribly irresponsible. Which would be fine if they acknowledged that and made it an actual flaw of our heroes but they have not really.

I also feel like the problem of how the IPC despite being as a faction pretty villainous has no really villainous characters appear in game (except for like, Skott and maybe Jade, jury is still out on her) has grown. Id say Aventurine is a lot more villainous then Topaz but I would not call him an outright villain. He is selfish and reckless to a dangerous degree (and his self destructive tendencies risk catching other people in the crossfire...) but he is a mostly sympathetic more "neutral" character (doing bad things to unnamed background characters barely counts as evil in a game like this). Hopefully they commit to Jade being sorta evil and introduce Oswaldo Schneider at some point so we have actual villains associated with this faction they keep showing as pretty clear bad guys (if a lot more morally nuanced then say the antimatter legion).

I do not wanna talk about the trailblaze continuance but.... that one was just bad. Rappa has an interesting backstory but they do not really give her any interesting development from having to face her real memories so it felt like it was kind of a wasted chance. Boothill was just handled badly and our main trio were barely relevant to it. Their scenes are mostly good but it is mostly just comic relief they play in this arc with anything serious being carried by Rappa and Boothill. Robin was again horribly underutilized. Also the monkey and banana puns got extremely annoying after a while, they were clearly meant to be but it still made the experience worse even if it was the intended emotional response.

Of course plenty of characters I did not talk about here because it would take too long, nor any of the events or such... just know that the origami bird clash event was peak and that the bartender event was close to peak. Other then those it was fairly forgettable stuff on that front so far.

[megaboto-thefeetenjoyer]

Hot take, but I think the murder drones ending is bad/that it fell off at the end somehow, the first episode is the only one where I feel like it has proper world building and a story line with all sorts of possibilities, where I am anticipating what comes next and the memes mash well with the seriousness that it sometimes has. The further it goes, the less the story makes sense - things just happen unexplained and partially even without the viewer being shown anything has happened, and the dichotomy between the comedical and real parts of the show just keeps growing. You cannot go to great lengths to acquire something apparently integral to the plot yet then simply throw it at someone when they bother you, burn the murder drones when they touch sun due to heat yet be perfectly untouched while set ablaze falling (which would not happen so quickly anyway since there is not enough pressure created due to velocity but that can fall under being pedantic) and have drones be absolutely uncaring about everything yet terrified of being hurt, casually kill others for fun while also shielding some rando from harm. and doll, who was supposedly hurt and traumatized by her past, turning into palpatine and somehow returning, existing in a shrödinger's state of alive and dead at the same time and being super sorry for Uzi's affliction while killing worker drones literally cuz she can during the prom...this feels like the writing of a child. and I do not mean the type of story a kid concocts where you know it is flawed because they are young, or the cringe of tumblr where we are simply free - it feels like the equivalent of family guy or the simpsons falling off the longer it goes, except it happens episode by episode rather than season by season, and even then there were more good seasons of both than there were episodes that made me actually happy in the end, the animation quality is superb and some of the memes did make me laugh out lout, but I just- I cannot get what people love so much about the show. I feel bad for shitting on the writing which could be described as the live's work of Liam Vickers and think that if I wrote this in the subreddit or discord I would get banned, but it legit feels like an awesome idea with the budget of a Disney film written by the dumbest people imaginable, like an animation equivalent of star citizen where there is nobody to reign anyone in, with nobody actually able to function without that someone telling them no on occasion. this is like my first tumblr post, so I do not really know how this works. still love the designs of the drones, but I think I will have the most fun looking at the NSFW subreddits of MD or making up my own lore and headcanon, cuz I ain't accepting whatever that ending is