#i’m soooo uninspired still

[adriancatrin]

redraw of (part of) a lost adventures panel (og below)

[luveline]

I'm sorry to send you such a loaded question, but as a young adult, how do you stay motivated and... I don't know, do the things you have to do? Ever since I left high school, I've felt that it's hard to commit to anything, especially the things I have to commit to in order to have a future, because everything seems so monotonous and uninteresting and stressful to me; because I feel like I'm not capable of doing anything, of being competent.

Anyways, I love your blog. Your writings are one of the few things that make me happy on the worst days xx

that’s okay! I’m gonna try and answer you clearly !! cw for suicide mention

So first I want to say that I’m really sorry you feel this way! It’s quite a heart ache to feel uninspired or uninterested, or worse to feel like you’re not capable of doing things everyone else is doing. You deserve to wake up and feel happy and confident in yourself and your abilities! And I want to say I’m sorry in advance if this is not quite the answer you’re asking me for!

so, when I was around 18/19 (and well beyond those years, but this was when I was very done and defeated and, you know, crying myself sick every night if I wasn’t just laying in bed) I was in university, but I didn’t finish the year at campus, and I had to go home. I’m not sure if this is something I should be saying because it’s so personal but I just want to sort of be honest with you cos I don’t want you to think you’re alone in that feeling. But anyways I had to go home, I was really lonely and I just felt like I couldn’t do what everyone else was doing, like there was something wrong with me. I couldn’t cope with the kitchen, I couldn’t use the bathroom there, I didn’t know how to turn the heating on, couldn’t talk to people, couldn’t navigate the bus by myself, and I felt so pathetically stupid, I had such low self esteem for myself that I felt like I should kill myself just because I was so useless —I didn’t WANT to understand these things. I just didn’t want to do anything. And the reason I’m mentioning it is because while I don’t think it’s okay to assume these things of you, I want to emphasise that there can be a common link between feeling like you aren’t capable and a mental health issue! Of course, you can feel quite useless without that though, so not telling you that that’s definitely what you have going on but more wanting to say that if you think it might be useful, you can have a look at mental health issues and perhaps see if you’re relating to them. But beyond that, hopefully on the way to answering your question, is how I managed to feel more capable and how I now find motivation to do things I have to do.

I sort of had to do a reset, or a sabbatical! I’ve always been an upset person unfortunately, and I had a long few months where I didn’t do anything at all. I’m really, really fortunate that my mother let me stay at home while this was happening however reluctant she was, I can’t imagine really what I would’ve done or what could’ve happened to me if she didn’t let me stay there. I always thought about how she could’ve just turned me out and she probably wanted to, because for months I stayed in bed. I didn’t talk to anybody, deleted all my social media, and I stewed in how much I hated myself for not being any good at anything. I felt soooo stupid and so alone, and I probably cried myself to sleep every night wondering about my life and if I’d ever have the motivation to go on. There are still times now where I am intensely upset and unsure about things and what I’m capable of, but the difference between then and now, and the reason for my motivation I think, was that I was able to foster a need for something? I’m really so sorry if this sounds like total total nonsense, but I needed something. I wanted so badly for someone to “save me” from my not being able to do things, I spent a lot of time thinking about that. Like, how I could be saved. And then I strung out the middle man without realising I was doing it! It is very hard to go from having no motivation and no sense of self ability to then being confident, but I do think you can do it! I needed someone to get me a job and I ended up doing it myself, I needed someone to be gentle with me when I was sad so I started speaking to myself with a more kind inner voice and seeing myself as someone who didn’t need to be perfect to be good.

There was lots of bits of advice I tried to take on. Not all of it is kind to myself, some of it is though!! Like, for example, there’s a sort of parody of it now that says “I think you’re thinking about yourself too much” but one of the ways I stopped hating myself and instead started to believe I could do things and achieve was by thinking about the level of self obsession I was feeling to constantly think of myself. And I promise I’m not trying to say something hurtful to you, I absolutely don’t believe you’re self obsessed, but you’re also not incapable!! In a slightly more annoying take on your feelings, why can’t you do it if everyone else can? You absolutely can! I personally believe sweetheart that you can do everything I can, but you need more support, or you need to be fostered with some love. You are not incapable, you are not incompetent, you are a smart, kind, and important person. There is nobody else like you on the entire planet and I’m better for it that you’re here.

I apologise profusely if I’m projecting too much on you, I’m not trying to say you must feel exactly as I did years ago, but I think your ask really is important and I really want to give you an answer to your question because I know I felt exactly the same at some point. Working toward a future self I didn’t even like or believe in was boring. Nothing in me wanted to work hard or study or continue because I didn’t look forward to achievement.

sorry this is all so long! Hopefully this last bit is the actual advice you might be able to use. Beyond that wisdom about trying not to dedicate too much time to thinking of myself, there are lots of “rules” I tend to live by, in order to just keep going forward. For starters, you deserve to have fun. You deserve good food, nice clothes (not showy though you deserve those too, but nice sturdy clothing), a warm safe house, and you need to work for it! We defo deserve to work less for things but I keep going and trying to better myself because I know I need to do this in order to be comfortable. This will sound out of left field, because the focus of the book is not strictly motivation, but there’s a graphic novel called my lesbian experience with loneliness by Nagata Kabi that has stuck with me because she has this same sort of view as to feeling like she’s stuck in monotony, and there’s one bit in particular where she talks about doing things for yourself you might not do, I.e making sure you have underwear and socks that are clean and whole. I grew up poor and I’m not super rich now either, but since I read that, one of my priorities is having whole and clean underwear, and that did help me find the motivation to work or to study. We need to function in a way to maintain good standards for ourselves, and even if you have boxes of clean socks, there might be something in your life you can think about working toward! I throw away underwear or any clothes that don’t fit me right, and I don’t feel guilty about it when I would’ve before because I know that feeling well dressed is good for your heart. Does that make sense? To give yourself a good standard of life, you have to keep going. As well as that, another way I stay motivated to go on which I’ve talked about before maybe (not that I expect you to have read this) is my writing. I’m motivated sometimes to do things I have to if only because I need free time to think deeply about the things I want to think about. Also I love writing more than pretty much anything, even if most writers will look at what I’m doing and laugh or wonder why I’d dedicate so much time to some things in particular, because I love it. If I can make sure my rent is paid every month, that’s a promise I have a room to sit in every night where I can write whatever story I want! Another motivation is my ability to give bits of myself? It sounds ridiculous because I don’t genuinely believe I’m giving myself to people but to try and be a positive part of someone life is a good place to start if you feel purposeless. My relationships with my sisters are a tether for me and I’ve tried so hard and so much to make these relationships count, as well as with long distance friends, and recently ish I got back into contact with friends I couldn’t maintain relationships with when I was feeling down, and now my life feels very changed. I don’t live solely for myself, (though it’s okay if you do, because its hard and sometimes a lot of pressure to live for and around others) so that gives my life more purpose, and gives me more reason to do things I have to do. I also desperately enjoy this blog !!

I’m genuinely so sorry if this is all useless. I’ve been typing this answer since like 1:05 and it’s much later now, but it’s because it’s hard to describe to you the things that give motivation, because I know deep down how impossible it feels when you have none. I don’t expect you to read this and think aw jade you’ve solved it I’m fine now actually, I just hope that one thing in here can lend you an idea as to what to do next. If you’re struggling to go on, there are lots of options available to you in the UK such as the SHOUT text line for stress, depression, and eating disorders. They’re free to text and anonymous! I don’t think there’s one answer to giving yourself purpose, it is a very hard life and I don’t blame you for feeling incapable or bored or worried or anything you’re feeling, but I do for sure know you can do this, because I can do it, if that makes sense. Like I bet we’re extremely different people on account of uniqueness but also bet we have so many similarities!! And I certainly don’t mind guessing that you’re a loving, caring, person who deserves to feel more fulfilled. It’s my recommendation that you try to understand why you’re not feeling your best right now, that you talk to someone if you can, that you have some faith in yourself, and that you treat yourself with the same love and patience as you would any other person experiencing burnout! again I’m so so sorry if this is all rubbish. I’m forcing myself to stop now. So sorry if it doesn’t make sense or if half of this is completely unrelated to what you’re asking. I love you and I hope you feel better, genuinely truly ❤️❤️❤️❤️

[shagohod]

My brief thots on each gen of pokemom games.

GEN1: I actually do not like the kanto region since it has nothing interesting. it’s where the series began so i can’t say much beyond the fact that i have 0 nostalgia for it. lmao

GEN2: I have nostalgia for it cause of old magazines i used to read at the time. I love Celebi and I do think that the johto region tried to incorporate the mons into the region.

GEN3: Emerald was my 1st pokemon game but my dumbass couldnt read english at the time so idk i had to collect the gym badges ASKDOASKD (i wasnt that into the cartoon, sorry). Despite that, I also have 0 nostalgia for it. :/ ALTHOUGH, I do think hoenn is a nice lil region full of lil nooks and crannyes to explore. there’s also this... ‘esoteric’ feeling regarding someplaces (gen2 had some of it too, but hoenn just nailed it lmao). There’s also the gen1 remakes but... again, i do think kanto is boring in whatever incarnation it chooses to come out of.

GEN4: I dislike everything about the Sinnoh region... I’M SOO SORRY. I actually skipped emulating those until like... 2017. Platinum fixed pearl and diamond but the region was soooo bland and uninspiring... The GEN2 remakes on the other hand... I *DO* have nostalgia for those since it’s the 1st pokemon game i was able to finish. +It was a really well done remake, adding lots and lots of new fun stuff.

GEN5: People hate it but i love when franchises try something new. I loved gen5. i loved the new animated sprites too. I also liked that B/W chose to not have any of the past mons show up. that was a bold move. B2/W2 just took what the last games left and made them better!

GEN6: Kalos is... my sinnoh, all over again. i like the monsters, but uuh... this region sucks. it’s bland and barely looks french aopsdkopas I *DID* love the GEN3 remakes tho!

GEN7: I LOVED SUN AND MOON TO BITS!! Despite the hand-holding and... long winded cutscenes that said nothing with 30mins of dialogue lmao. It was a very fun region, full of my favs pokemon EVER + the aether foundation was nice! Then USUM came out and I guess playing through the games again made its flaws even more apparent. I say this cause I got FATIGUE from this game. I pirated it days before it released but only played it on day one (back in 2017). then I got tired and finished it when the pandemic hit in 2020. Also, I skipped Let’sgo Pikachu/Eevee cause it was kanto AGAIN and this time in an even worse format lmaaao

GEN8: :S Sword and shield were... bland... like the food it’s region is based off. I finished it in 2020 too, cause my bf bought his switch and we didnt have that much games to play lmao. I have NO memories of this game whatsoever... I played it mostly to finish my living dex (and im still missing zarude :/). We also ksipped the gen4 remakes cause they look horrible and are and 1:1 remake. so... not worth it lmao. NOW, regarding legends arceus, my bf LOVED it. I didn’t cause it didnt have a very good map design + teh game is kinda hideous lmao. Forced my way through it to finish my living dex and I wasn’t even able to complete the game. i just traded them off online later on.

GEN9: they fixed the catching aspect of the game, which is like... the main reason i play those games. look, im a kleptomaniac when it comes to pokemon and I REALLY gotta catch em all or ELSE. Anyways, catching and completing the pokedex is soooooo fun. The games still has technical issues but honestly. it is what it is. my bf has scarlet and i chose violet solely cause i prefer the uniform. but i’m playing both version at the same time cause um unhinged (and i’m still having fun!).

[034463]

Maxiel fanfic rec

yes thats right you heard me a maxiel fanfic reclist because apparently im crazy and ive been reading so much maxiel tht i can make a reclist now. its all so very catered to my taste soooo have fun

1. With The Sun In Our Eyes by screwstyles | T, 36k

“A fake dating AU set in 2025: It’s bad enough that Max is outed by an ex in the middle of racing season, and then his team suggests he pretend to date Daniel to soften the blow. It’s as bad an idea as it sounds.”

a maxiel classic, theres just something about fake/pretend relation ship that just gets me. also a lot of miscommunication so heads up for that”

2. you pick me up and take me home again by wintrs | M, 28k

“It feels like a dream, seeing Daniel again after all these years. It's a second chance Max knows he doesn't deserve, and he isn't going to waste it.Or: Max isn't racing in 2027, although he couldn't tell you exactly why. But it isn't a big deal. He's fine.”

max deals with his feelings and also his past trauma. very very angsty.

3. Little Drops of Anguish by semperama | E, 45k

“After a crash in Baku 2021 leaves Max unable to race, he's left trying to figure out what to do with his life—and with Daniel, who doesn't seem to want to let him go.”

also like fic no 2 max cant race and must face the fact tht theres a life beyond racing and daniel showing him that.

4. well we can settle down by tiredtiredsharl | M, 24k

“Sometimes Daniel watches the tapes back and he thinks: shouldn’t I be jealous of this kid? Or: Max drives the way we all aspire. Or: Christ, I’m in the presence of someone who will go down in FIA history.He never says any of that. Because after he watches Max stumble through an interview with a journalist who quotes Toto, he realizes that the pressure is the last thing Max needs.Max is one bad race away from combusting. Or going into the wall again. And Daniel can’t handle either of those options. For reasons he can’t examine right now. Or ever.”

dont remember much of the plot except that i found myself finishing the ff at 6 am in the morning and the light were coming through my window. amazing shit

5. The Dog's Home by dm3rv | M 33k

“Max Verstappen liked dogs. Max Verstappen loved cats. The jury was still out on people.Max has spent years climbing the ranks at an Animal Welfare Charity, moving from volunteer to intern to Animal Care Manager. The dogs and cats he cares for are his life - if only he didn't have to spend so much of his time putting up with 'VIPs'; entitled celebrities and donors with image-based agendas. Daniel is going through an image and identity crisis after an uninspiring season with McLaren. Keen for an image overhaul, he gives his time to a local animal shelter. What he doesn't expect is the prickly Animal Care Manager who has been assigned to look after him. Animal Shelter AU.”

THE BEST! max vet au youre crazy and dog boy daniel scared of dogs? good content also dont forget to check out the side galex. also good shit.

6. The Drive Of Your Life by  littleprism | ?, 70k

“Daniel is a semi-known actor. Max just got his second WDC a few months ago. There was absolutely no reason for them to meet.

Until a fateful crash in testing changed that.”

b list actor danny and racer maxy playing in a movie together. theres some plot holes but if you dont really think about it its soo good. 

7. anything to get to the rush by kingsguarding | E, 18k

“It’s so stupid, that’s the thing.Every year, the World Champion gets to choose another driver to … celebrate with. It’s an old tradition, apparently. As old as the sport itself. Part of the prize of winning, part of your reward.Max has never understood it.”

the ff that made me realize im soo deep in maxiel lore that i will sink w this ship. basically two emotionally stunted boys doing emotionally stunted boys thing

8. MV33 by Whippasnappa | E, 14k

“Daniel finds out Max is on Grindr. He's curious. He's just going to download the app, just to see. Just to look at Max's profile. He's curious how Max picks up men, curious if Max puts his real face out there. He's definitely not going to message Max. He's definitely not going to do that. He messages Max.”

yeah.....

9. Happier than Ever (so why are you crying with blue-sky eyes) by Whippasnappa | E, 30k

“From the first time they met at RedBull, Max knew he never wanted to be without Daniel. A look through their relationship as Max tries (and fails) to keep his feelings for Daniel hidden, as Daniel leaves for Renault, then McLaren, as Max tries to hold himself together.”

it hurts but it hurts so good. retelling of their whole history

will be updated as i read more ff

[elysianslove]

hey its been a while😭 hope everything is okay with you, and you’re doing okay!! also i think i missed the announcement post are you on hiatus or have you stopped writing completely?

heyy!! thank you, i hope everything’s good w u too!! and no babe you didnt miss any announcement ! i didn’t make one. honestly for some reason i got soooo uninspired to write, then i stopped watxhing the animes i write for, then i got massive writer’s block (which im still trynna escape) so it’s been hard for me to come back on here. i know you guys want like stories and writings out of me, but i’m struggling to give that to you so it sucks coming on here and not having anything to offer yk …

but i miss u guys sm :( and i miss the absolute euphoria writing used to give me.

rn i’m really into kpop but it’s so… weird to me writing about real life people (esp bc rhere are ao many videos out there of people reading fics written ahout them … biggest fear 💔… doesnt stop me from resding that shit) but im kinda getting back into haikyuu again :))

might start writjng like short blurbs and hesdcanons to get me back into everything !!

ANYWAYS SORRY FOR RAMBLING but ty for asking <3

[bigskydreaming]

how do you think the batfam might react if they find out about Mirage and Tarantula?

Tbh, I’m kinda all plum tuckered out on the Batfam finding out about Mirage and Tarantula against Dick’s most fervent wishes that nobody ever find out about that ever. I’ve talked about this a little in the past, but a survivor having the chance to CONTROL when and where they disclose about what happened to them and to whom, is like......soooo much more important for a lot of us than fic about this stuff tends to like....allow it to be. Its one of the most pivotal and powerful ways many survivors even just START to actually recover and come to terms with what happened, by choosing when and how people find out on THEIR terms, taking back control of their own life and their own agency one major choice at a time. And having that choice taken away from Dick too, with him usually not only having ZERO say in who finds out and when but with it more often than not happening in direct opposition to what he wants in that regard....

So like.....personally, I would just really like to see some more variety here. Some more narratives where people finding out happens because Dick’s READY to tell people, because he’s already done a good deal of healing on his own, been to therapy or like....he’s the one who survived this, so let him SURVIVE it and like.....give him a chance to be viewed as a SURVIVOR by his family and not just a victim when they do ultimately find out. Because he doesn’t need them to save him or patch him up, all he really truly needs is them to support him, and they can do that just as well if he’s already made inroads towards his own recovery by the time they find out or he tells them, rather than it just be like...what we so often end up seeing in fic. Where its like treated as matter-of-fact and a given that Dick’s just flat out self-destructing from this no matter how long its been since it happened, and he’s just refused to deal with it or even try to and he’s been running away from facing it ever since it happened, until....enter the family in fic, as they’re like, no, you gotta face it, and you haven’t been able to do that on your own and that’s why its a good thing we found out even though you really didn’t want us to or not yet or not like this, because you’re not handling it, you’re not coping, so you need people like us to like.....show/tell you how to do it right.

You know what I mean? I don’t think its intentional, but there’s a looooot of tendency in fic to like......just take it for granted that despite the fact that Dick has survived so many traumas and been one of the key figures in helping so many other people survive and process their own traumas as well, there’s just this kinda default assumption that in regards to this he’s just flat out broken and always will be....at least so long as he’s just trying (and failing) to handle it on his own, and that’s where the family comes in, even if Dick would really rather they didn’t, or at least not yet anyway.

And its not that Dick can’t benefit from his family and friends finding out so that they can support him and push back against the things he’s come to believe about himself as a result of internalizing his feelings that those situations were really his fault, etc.....its that there’s only so much he can benefit from their support when he only gets it because of...essentially, another kinda violation that compounds the pre-existing ones, as he’s denied the opportunity and the control/agency to be the one to decide who finds out about this and when and why. 

Like, there’s never gonna be an “Ideal Way” for it to go down, but the one thing that IMO is guaranteed to never be ideal and yet so often seems the only way we ever see this happening in fic is like....Dick yet again having no real say or decision in how his life is upended yet again, since this reveal would inevitably change so much about his dynamics with his family one way or another. 

And the thing is, at the end of the day, nothing about this narrative or how it plays out in fic is set in stone or an inevitability or like...the one true or right way for it to happen.....and yet....it only EVER seems to happen that one specific way: aka, against Dick’s expressed desire to have them find out while he’s still actively either trying to repress it/deny it ever happened or just he’s not denying it happened but he’s not remotely ready to face other people KNOWING.

Because like.....he’s not a real person. He’s a fictional character. And just like every other narrative he’s written into or the ways he’s depicted in both canon and fanfic....no matter how much we talk about characters being in character or mischaracterized, at the end of the day, the reality is there is no Core/Immutable TRUE choice that Dick would make in any given narrative or situation....

Because like every other character, he will only ever make the choices or behave in the ways that like....a writer chooses to write him.

So like much of my complaints/criticisms/whines-in-need-of-some-complementary-cheese about trends around and about him in stories.....

The problem I have isn’t with any one single specific way people choose to write him behaving or reacting in regards to this or any other narrative situation....

It lies more in just......how often there seems to ONLY be ONE way, singular, in which he’s ever shown reacting to this or behaving in regards to this, just like is true of the only like ‘one dynamic/backstory’ we tend to see in regards to Dick and Jason’s relationship in the early years before Jason’s death. Or the ONE way people seem to view the aftermath of the Forever Evil and Spyral situation, or the ONE way that people focus on the Tim and Damian and Robin/Red Robin situation playing out.

Its not that like, there’s NO room for any of these takes or narratives surrounding Dick’s side of things.....

Its that there only ever really seems to be ONE take on any of these extremely complicated and messy events and points in his stories and life, and like....one ONLY. And that’s it. That’s all there is to it, everything for the most part tends to be just a hundred, a thousand minutely diverging variations of what amounts to the one big “True Dick Grayson Reaction/Choice” where its just taken as a given that this is how it would happen here, when it comes to each and every one of these major story arcs/plot points. Fics mostly just seem to differ in execution while the core decisions or behavior driving the story action or acting as a catalyst for the confrontation/conversation a fic seems aimed at showcasing.....like, there’s this underlying sameness to so many of them. Where its treated like a given that There Can Only Be One when it comes to ways Dick might react or behave in regards to a certain event or choice.....that his characterization is so formulaic, so like....rigid and allowing for little to no flexibility in how he’s written because in the eyes of so many in fandom his true characterization is so immutable, so....predetermined that there just isn’t ROOM in his character concept for him to end up making any other choices than the ones its taken for granted he’d make.

So I guess ultimately, much like with every other similarly framed point or event in Dick’s life and stories, my ideal preference here is just more VARIETY. Writers actually flexing their creative muscles and stretching to EXPLORE new ways of Dick reacting to various things and new ways of other characters reacting to Dick. Mixing up dynamics more, subverting the expectations that are SO expected in so many things pertaining to him that like, we often can predict exactly where Dick’s character is going to go next in a fic or what his next move or words are going to be, and there’s a certain point at which something crosses the line from someone’s characterization being spot-on and someone’s characterization being......limited. Confining.

Personally, and this is 100% at the root of my frequent criticisms of Dick in fanon and why I won’t just let it go, lol, is that I’m never remotely surprised to hear fans of other characters say that they find Dick’s character dull or one-note or two-dimensional or just not as compelling as the other characters, not as......packed with potential to be taken in a hundred different directions or to react to things in surprising yet surprisingly-still-fitting ways that readers don’t see coming but don’t feel is like, out of left field when viewed in hindsight either.

Why should it surprise people that so many readers and fans view Dick this way when......he’s so often WRITTEN this way, only ever falling into extremely predictable patterns and sticking to a lane that’s clearly defined as not just HIS lane but like....the ONLY lane most people can - or at least are willing to - imagine for him.

It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. People find fanon Dick to be dull and uninspired because like.....he’s pretty much oftentimes written TO be those things, particularly in comparison to his more ‘vibrant’ fandom favored brothers. Nobody’s ever going to find themselves pleasantly surprised by a depiction of Dick Grayson when Dick Grayson’s depictions are so frequently limited to being just exactly what most people expect and not a single thing besides that.

So to bring this back around to your initial ask, I think the Batfam’s reaction to finding out, much like is true of any situation if tackled creatively enough.....can be literally anything a writer wants it to be. I would hope most of us would want that reaction to be supportive, lol, but even more than that just in general, for me, personally, I would love to see more where they’re supportive, yes, but that support is expressed not by them taking CHARGE of the situation, but by them, y’know....SUPPORTING. Standing back, waiting for DICK to tell them what he actually needs from them, wants their support to look like or take shape as, because he is in fact a grown man who is extremely capable in his own right and prides himself on being tremendously self-sufficient, and personally, I wish writers would just STOP TAKING THAT TRAIT AWAY FROM HIM. Or worse yet, like....punishing him for it.

It honestly does seem to me like there’s this unspoken undercurrent in so many fandom posts and fanfics where you can kinda just FEEL an author or poster like.....wanting so badly to just come out and say that in their opinion, Dick’s precious autonomy is actually his own worst enemy, and if he’d just stop being so stubborn and insisting on doing things his way or on his own all the time, he probably wouldn’t end up enduring half as much of the traumatic shit he does.

Which, I mean.....kinda inevitably leads directly into the victim-blaming we SO, SO often see with his character, where fans and other characters are both equally in a hurry to blame himself for anything and everything from Having Amnesia Wrong to being tortured, killed and then emotionally and physically browbeaten into making a Bad Decision He Should Feel Badly About but also Totally Responsible For Cuz No One MADE Him Do It, etc, etc. 

It all spills forth from and feeds back into this endlessly repeating loop that people have kinda penned him into with intent, because what better way to imply that Dick should always just do what his friends and family want him to do and tell him to do instead of like, kicking up a fuss and making a conflict out of it.......than by showing without telling that "see what happens when Dick DOESN’T just let his family tell him what to do and go along with their ‘suggestions’/what they want gracefully?” This. This is what happens. Poor guy ends up traumatized YET AGAIN because he insists on making his own choices and those choices as we can all clearly see are so often the wrong choices, so really, stepping back from the driver’s seat of his own life and letting his family take the wheel is only in Dick’s best interests as much as anyone else’s.

After all, whether its Bruce firing Dick or Dick ‘staying away for years’ or not being the best/ideal brother for Jason right there on the page in no uncertain terms or giving Jason carte blanche to do whatever he wants upon his return or making Damian Robin without asking Tim first and not believing Tim when he said he was sure Bruce was still alive or not just refusing to go along with Bruce’s plan to keep everyone believing he was dead after Forever Evil but at the same time also not just caving to Bruce’s wishes and instead fighting Bruce on that so hard that poor Bruce HAD to get physically violent with him to get Dick to do what was right until it wasn’t right later when everyone else hated him for it, as well as not just deciding he was instantly and fully 100% on board with believing these total strangers when they told him, as Ric Grayson, just who he was now and what his life as a superhero was like and how he should have no problem just seamlessly stepping back into the roles and shoes he according to their claims usually fills effortlessly and thus has no reason to object to now, despite having literally no memories or internalized awareness of the decade and a half of life experiences that serve as the foundation all of that was built upon.....

I mean, when you think about it, 100% of Dick’s conflicts with his family (and coincidentally, also 100% of the source of most other fans’ gripes about him) come from one thing only: him making up his own mind about what to do or feel or think instead of just automatically prioritizing whatever one of his family wants him to do or feel or think about any given situation.

So wouldn’t everyone just be so much happier and pleasant if he would just stop being a silly goose and give up making such a big deal about his vaunted independence and personal agency?

BUT I DIGRESS.

LOL, no, but you get what I mean. So going back to topic for the second time, hopefully with a bit more staying power this time.....I think there’s absolutely no reason whatsoever that the Batfam can’t be realistically and believably written as being every bit as supportive of Dick when they find out about Tarantula and Mirage as Dick is supportive of them at other times and in other ways.

So really, its just a matter of WANT, and personal prioritizations of what that support might or should look like.

And for me, personally, on this topic and pretty much every other potential Dick Grayson-centric story topic, but ESPECIALLY on this topic......I personally would just like to see more of the Batfam being supportive of Dick while he’s dealing with a trauma, but with that support taking the form of them stepping BACK and like....waiting and listening for him to tell them what HE needs from them, what HE wants from them, what form their support can take that will be of most use to him according to HIS wants, aims and attempts at recovery. Instead of them - as they so often seem written as - stepping invasively INTO his space without so much as pausing to see if they’re welcome, or like, if they’re just making things worse or potentially just retraumatizing him by barging in all bull in a china shop even while still having only the vaguest clue what the situation even is at this point, which makes their certainty they have a better idea of what Dick needs and should be doing right now than he does himself, like.....pure, unbridled arrogance and nothing else. Hubris.

(Y’know, kinda like how I make a big deal about Jason punching Dick upon his return from Spyral, because its almost like its not even just that Punching Your Family Is Bad And People Should Stop Making Jason Do It, but there’s also the pesky little implications of how Dick might perceive that no matter how calmly he took it......given that like.....he was literally beaten by his father into doing the thing that pissed off and hurt the rest of his family just as Dick had always expected it would.....and now here he was literally getting beaten by his brother for......caving to doing the thing Dick always knew would piss off and hurt the rest of them and thus he only submitted to doing after being physically and emotionally beaten into it by his father. Of course I harp on Jason punching Dick there, it was him punishing Dick for doing not what Dick wanted, but what he had to be essentially punished by Bruce into agreeing to do it in the first place. It wasn’t just gross as fuck victim blaming and heaping further physical violence on a guy who’s been decked by four out of five family members as is, it was literal on the page proof that Dick simply can not win where either the other characters or most of their fans are concerned, because he was literally damned if he did, damned if he didn’t in that situation, and sure enough, he managed to end up damned by everyone around and still without so much as a single “how are YOU doing btw, given everything you’ve been through, are you okay?”)

So just....my plea, my wishlist, my Big-Asks-R-Us inventory manifesto:

Can we get even just a few more fics where Dick’s insistence on his own independence is viewed not as a character FLAW to be excised or failing that, punished for at any possible opportunity, but as something UNDERSTANDABLE, something VALIDATED by his family for Dick even wanting it in the first place, let alone NEEDING it as much as he does, not because he doesn’t love his family or want to be around them, but because wanting to be his own person at the same time is in no way actually in opposition to that and it never was.

And in that vein and in light of that, I would happily give away my non-existent imaginary kingdom and crown for even just a few fics where the Batfam only end up called upon or tasked with supporting Dick about Mirage or Tarantula because he voluntarily GOES to them and says hey, there’s something that happened a long time ago that I never told anyone because I wasn’t ready to, but I feel like I am now, I need to and its time. 

Or like, fics where maybe he’s still not quite ready to tell them voluntarily yet,  reely and of his own volition, but then on a case they come across a rape survivor in considerable distress and empathizing with them and what they’re feeling, opening up about his own past experiences and offering his own story as a talisman for this victim to cling to as a sign it’ll get better for them eventually too, they can heal from this and one day call themselves a survivor instead of just a victim the same as he does......like, that’s still the most natural thing in the world to Dick, the most Him thing he could possibly do in a situation where the tool most relevant to the task before him is pulled straight out of his own treasure chest of trauma, it not even fazing him in the slightest that his family is there with them right now too and that means they’re going to know now, it won’t be a secret anymore......because Dick Grayson does things he’s not happy about all the time, things he doesn’t necessarily like, that aren’t ideal or his first choice, but when it comes down to Do The Thing and thus maybe help someone, or Don’t Do The Thing and instead turn around and consign himself to a thousand years of solitary confinement in the world’s stankest oubliette cuz its what he deserves, says his Brain all Judgingly.....like. I’m just saying. When the choice is clear, so is the resulting Dick Grayson decision: He does the thing, consequences be damned, and just deals with whatever those may be later. Which in this case would be oh crap, my family all knows now, ugh, they’re gonna want to TALK about it now, booooooooooooooo. But also, oh well. I had to Do The Thing.

And like, the thing there is, it might not be his FIRST choice, but unlike scenarios where he just flat out gets no choice in the matter whatsover as his agency is just reviolated all over again by Tarantula or Slade or someone else taking the choice away from him and just telling people what happened to further fuck with his head and retraumatize him.....

THIS STILL LETS HIM HAVE A CHOICE.

And like. There’s just so, SO many ways you can play with that or places you can take that because the more you ALLOW characters to have a choice, to MAKE choices that are beyond just the one singular most obvious or expected choice, the one so predictable there’s barely an actual choice to be made at all when steering a character like Dick towards that....

MORE choices equals MORE avenues of exploration you open up in your story. More roads less traveled, more surprise reveals or unexpected epiphanies, more new ground to unearth and feelings to uncover rather than just more of the same already extensively traveled plot of land and story and reactions/aftermath already so done to death even Jason Todd would consider them low-hanging fruit not worth making a “but I died” jojke about.

Just....MORE. In general. Across the board. In every possible permutation. New. Different. As yet unexplored. Still capable of surprising. Stretch. Reach. Dig deeper. Find the story direction that makes you laugh nervously and say wtf self, where did that even come from, am I Wild One for even daring to contemplate that such a thing could be written? 

And then go, why yes, YES THE FUCK I AM THAT WILD ONE, and plot twist, I LIKE IT!

Or, y’know. Alternatively, people can continue to write how once upon a time, there was this guy named Dick, and he was kinda a dick, see, so this one time when bad things happened to him it was like, do we even care, or should we just like....cut to his family and see how this is affecting them and therein just maybe we might find an actual story worth telling? Ahh yes, good, that’s the ticket. So anyway, once upon a time, there were these guys named Jason and Tim and you will never believe what happened to them on the day their walking dildo of an older brother tripped and skinned his knee. Now buckle up, cuz THIS is quite the story!

[kob131]

Geez, this person really went all out with this BS rant against the show/staff. www(.)reddit( lcom/r/RWBY/comments/kiqatg/why_rwby_will_always_be_an_okay_show/

... You know I have been trying to step away from directly addressing RWBY bullshit. But...fuck it here.

If you ever talked to me about how I felt about RWBY, I would say that RWBY pre-Volume 8 has been a touchy subject for me. I felt very validated by two videos, "Why RWBY is Disappointing" and "The White Fang Problem".

Yes yes, and people with parental issues feel validated by their abusive spouse. That means nothing, especially given that one of those videos you mentioned is riddled with bullshit.

"Why RWBY is Disappointing" validated my criticism of RWBYs writing. The fact that Miles and Kerry can't and refuse to take any kind of criticism that doesn't hurt their feelings is complete [insert bad word here]. All criticism is going to hurt your feelings. Yes, you should probably ignore the long winded rants that make themselves out to be self important- why is there a mirror here? But there is truth to all criticism.

And there’s a kernel of truth in the best lies- they’re still LIES.

Not to mention the video you mentioned here (which I am assuming is Hbomberguy’s) pulls the SAME SHIT it calls out. Like say...decrying critics pesonally attacking the writers...while proclaiming Jaune and Neptune as self inserts even though Miles AND Kerry is on the record saying that at least Jaune isn’t written by his voice actor.

I'm currently learning about Branding and how important it is to know your audience. Take self.care breaks, talk with someone you trust. Someone who isn't Miles or Kerry! If your reading this. An outside perspective can help. The reason I say that is because if you two constantly talk to each other you're going to end up in an echo chamber. TALK TO FIONA! She's literally your target audience!

Because hey, a man who contradicts himself numerous times and made personal attacks on the creators that only the most malicious and self righteous do is SOOOO trustworthy right? 

Remember that tweet Hbomb brought up in his video as an example of criticism the creators should listen to? The one that demanded Miles get back to work and tried to use the catchphrase of his dead friend to manipulate him?

What a fucking target audience.

I know they mentioned ‘Fiona’ (likely the character’s voice actress) but there’s a supposed fan, one that pretty much sums up the critics, and a perfect example why it gets tossed out.

Moving on, the other video validated something I wish it didn't. "The White Fang Problem" brought to light something I knew was there but either ignored or I wasn't thinking. The White Fang has always made me a little uncomfortable. As a minority, it didn't translate well in my head. The minority are the bad guys. The Civil rights group were the bad guys. I brushed it off for a long time but after that video I couldn't.

Ah huh. So uh, the existence of Blake, Ghira, Kali, Sun, Illa, Velvet, Neon ect. is just incovienable to you huh? And don’t give me that ‘But civil rights group!’- The first episode had them break up a peaceful protest and it’s repeatedly hammered home that the current White Fang doesn’t give a SHIT about equal rights. And no, that concept is not racist- Judging from a story I read, that happened to the New Black Panthers in REAL LIFE.

It became a moral issue. Watching RWBY became a moral issue. RWBY is still pushing right wing talking points.-

Being right of you is not right wing, Especially given how you just acted.

I dont believe Miles and Kerry are racist. I do believe that Miles and Kerry both hold skewed beliefs in what right and wrong is.

Projection.

The way Miles and Kerry treat self defense and protest shows that they know nothing about being Black. They didn't do their research. They didn't talk to minorities about how they were being portrayed. They simply believed that they were right and we were wrong.

Ah huh, ah huh, ah huh-

Monty wrote the White Fang this way. You know, the ASIAN man of FOUR NATIONALITIES. So uh, congrats on saying at the absolute most- Nothing.

Now these two videos are old news. They've been posted on this very same subreddit. But you can't go around and say how much of a progressive and open minded individual you are when the fact that RWBY is a racist show and treats minorities very badly. So no one talks about them.

Or that, as I showed: these videos are bullshit.

Also its kinda homophobic too, not because of Bumblby but because despite Tera and Saphorn being a happy married couple they never kiss on screen. Have you seen happy married couples? Have you seen gay happy married couples? They literally do nothing but kiss. Its cute and adorable and deserves to be spread as far and wide. Despite the show having two straight couple kisses, granted one was in Volume but still, they couldn't get the married couple to kiss? Just saying.

... And not all gay couples are the same, even if I’m sure you’re thinking of TEENAGERS.

You know, judging people based on a preconcieved notion (AKA stereotyping) is pretty fucking bigoted itself...

Watch people be in the comments typing away that this isn't a romance show and how I shouldn't expect romance in an action adventure show despite the long list of evidence to the contrary.

Ah yes, that long list of ONE kiss by a TORPEDOED SHIP.

Such convincing rhetoric.

So you can see I was not coming into Volume 8 with my rose colored glasses. I'm sure many of you hate me because of all my comments, but I don't care. I was ready to leave RWBY. I didn't care. RWBY had taken up so much of my life but I don't care. I was not going to support a show that didn't improve.

Ah huh-

You just came in with jade-colored glass and accepted anything that validated you instead of questioning yourself. You talk about branding but that’s ALL you’ve branded yourself as.

So I watched. And something happened. Something strange. RWBY was moving in a direction I didn't expect it to. Oscar got what he deserved. The Heros were oblivious to the danger that is Salem. Things were headed in the direction that would change the characters forever. It'll be just like Beacon but better. And then they had to ruin it.

Oh we are about to get some real bullshit.

Oscar somehow convinces Hazel to betray Salem. What could have been an avenue to a multi season story arc for Oscar that included the stories villains became a shitty uninspired redemption arc. Kill me.

No he didn’t and this has been something hinted at since Volume 4.

There's still hope for the season but at this point I lost all hope. 

This is the scene that killed Volume 8 for me. Oscar should not be the one who defeats Salem. In fact he should be an avenue to learn more about the villains. He served his purpose with the heroes, now he has a new arc with the villains. Oscar doesn't turn evil, but he's like a conscious. Salem doesn't want to kill him because he can be useful in finding the last remaining relics and maidens.

Assumptions.

Oscar has a heart to heart with all the villains including Salem. Oscar learns to be his own man and accepts he's now one with Ozma but he doesn't have to be another Ozma. He doesn't have to make the same decisions.

Its a great Arc for Oscar. It also makes sense for his character. Ozma feels Salem is pure evil but Oscar can learn for himself.

Headcanon.

But they won't do that. Instead they're going to take the easy way out. Like always.

Bias getting in the way.

Miles and Kerry love wrapping up each season in a little bow. This is why RWBY is so okay.

They say as every RWBY Volumes ends in a cliffhanger.

This is Beacon but if Miles and Kerry thought that RWBY should still be in Beacon. This is Beacon but without major character death. This is Beacon but the main villain loses because the heroes can't lose. Cinder isn't threatening. None of the villains are. Salem is in a Grimm! She should know everything! Why is there no creativity? Why is she not an over powered mess in A GRIMM!? Her own domain?! Why are the writers writing her not as a powerful goddess reaffirming her as a threat but as a human being. Yes I know what that sounds like but hear me out.

‘None of the villains are threatening!’

‘WHY IS THE MAIN VILLAIN NOT BEING TREATED AS THREATENING LIKE I THINK SHE IS!’

‘Why is there no creativity?’

‘DO THE MOST UNCREATIVE THING POSSIBLE!’

How about I keep mocking you?

If Salem can be out smarted by a 10 year old boy, why did it take Ozma so long to defeat her? Oscar should fail. RWBY should fail. They should go through character arcs that help them better understand Salem. Because that's how you defeat Salem.

Pushing your own thoughts onto the show. Also assumptions AGAIN.

I always believed that Ozma and Salem are very similar to Ruby and Weiss. Yes I know how it sounds but it makes sense.-

Too bad your AU fanfic doesn’t matter.

But they won't. Miles and Kerry will use Oscar to defeat Salem. Why? Who knows at this point. I dont know why Miles and Kerry keep pushing Oscar into the spotlight. Its exactly how they treated Jaune Pre-Volume 7. Jaune had to be the focus so often we hated him. And they're doing it again with Oscar

Ah huh. You know, the whole NOTHING Jaune did in Volume 6 was SOOO spotlight stealing, along with his REMOVAL FROM THE CAST FOR SEVERAL EPISODES.

Wanna bet this is another case of ‘penis on screen, me hate’?

They refuse learn and they refuse to improve. If Volume 8 doesn't improve im leaving RWBY. It doesn't matter to any of you. I'm saying it more for myself. So I don't continue with a show that constantly disappoints me. But more so, I don't support a show that views people like me as lesser. If the writing improves it proves that they can grow and get better but if it doesn't it means they will continue to treat Faunus as misguided and horrible characters. And I refuse to support a show that uses my likeness to get brownie points from people who are unaffected by such messages.

A. No, that’s who refused to do self reflection and improve.

B. Should have done that in the first place.

C. No, once again- You blind yourself from the shit that disproves you.

D. You heard him- Treat the Fanaus like shit and make the humans in the right. You know, the opposite what the show is doing now since it’s SOOO horrible.

E. You are not the center of the universe.

[ayashiki-i-i]

Courfeyrac and Jehan!

Soooo, I got, like, so many notes on the last picture with Enjolras nad Grantaire, which you can see here! And the joy of it powered me through like, speed-drawing these two!

Everyone assumed Grantaire and Enjolras’s relationship would be wild and turbulent. Everyone assumed Jehan and Courfeyrac’s relationship would be sweet and lovely. Including Jehan and a Courfeyrac. Them being childhood friends and knowing each other forever and such. Everyone was wrong.

Where Enjolras and Grantaire are picture of peace, maturity, and smooth transition into romantic relationship, Jehan and Courf’s journey from platonic to romantic relationship is rather bumpy. They jump into the relationship while they still have a lot of unsolved issues and a very broken dynamic, and that’s on top of Courfeyrac’s own problems. He pretty much discovered he’s not as straight as he thought, explores his sexual identity, jumps into bed with his childhood best friend and subsequently into a same-sex relationship with said best friend all in a span of about a week. That’s fast, even for Courf who normally thrives in chaos.

If they were anybody else,the relationship wouldn’t last a month, but here 8 years of strong friendship serve as a solid foundation to build an entire castle on. Jehan and Courfeyrac are determined to fight for one another and ultimately they come on the other side strong, luminous, and completely devoted to each other.

Years later, Jehan will admit that he might have enjoyed the drama just a little bit. He certainly enjoys reminiscing about it, now that he knows he will have gotten his happy ending.

Find Combeferre and Eponine here and stay tuned for Marius and Cosette! (Who you can now find here!)

Also, whoever comes across this is welcome to prompt me to draw or write, like, anything. I’m so bored. Like so bored. But also very uninspired to create anything if I’m not accountable to someone lol.

[mattoyaki]

⚔️ Pokémon Sword Nuzlocke (Part 5) ⚔️

Took a few days off from playing because depression

Part 4 is here.

Let’s move forward, getting down to the nitty gritty!

Route 9

Very well designed Route I like how it branches off into different parts and it’s part water/part land.

I already caught a Mareanie here in part 4 so just gonna plow through some trainer battles.

That was pretty easy, now on to my least favorite part for the entire game - Spikemuth.

Spikemuth

Marnie is easy but god dammit her stupid Morpeko always gets flinches with Bite and it’s annoying as hell. Then she lands a crit with bite and nearly knocks out GurrenLagann, and flinches a forth time in a row 🤬. Luckily I hyper potioned that turn so it didn’t knock me out. I switched to SpicyNoodle and one shotted her ass with Bug bite.

Spikemuth is literally a hallway. I hate it. It’s so uninspired and I can tell the developers were running out of time when making it. Would it kill them to delay the next generation of games? I mean really, we’ll all wait if it means a finished product..

Team Yell isn’t even a villain “team” they’re literally just obnoxious gym trainers.....so much wasted potential. And they’re not even like funny obnoxious like Team Skull, they’re just straight up cringe. Also what’s with the Kantonian Mr. Mime? Feels very out of place...

Gym Challenge 7 - Piers

Piers has a cool design I guess. I definitely wasn’t prepared to lose Witch Bitch this battle though. Malamar used Foul Play got a critical hit and one shotted her....I don’t wanna talk about it 😭

Death aside, I now have the Dark Badge.

Route 9

Back on route 9 a somewhat interesting development in the plot...only to be told to ignore it and let the champion handle it off screen. 🙃

Gotta continue the gym challenge, it’s the most important thing!

Hammerlocke

More cutscenes about the world ending, but don’t worry the gym challenge is the most important thing!! They really rushed the end of this story line....

I trained up a bit in the Wild Area and now it’s time for the final Gym Challenge.

Gym Challenge 8 - Raihan

I like the double battle format, it’s a nice switch up and doubles are my preferred format. It’s odd to me it’s not the official battle format in the games given that it’s used in VGC...

Pretty easy battle. I now own the Dragon Badge.

Some more cutscenes about the world ending but don’t worry - the championship is the most important thing!

Heading back to the wild area to catch Pokémon from the last two areas I haven’t been.

Wild Area - Lake of Outrage

My first encounter was a Braviary but I had no choice but to kill it as it was doing too much damage to waste time catching it.

Wild Area - Axew’s Eye

While I’ve been to this area before to get a Tart Apple for Wormy, I didn’t try to catch a Pokémon as I thought they were too high level. I was wrong. My first encounter was a Diggersby 😅

Himbo - (Diggersby) Lv. 37!

Naughty Nature; Alert to sounds!

Now that I’ve trained up some and completed catching in the wild area it’s time to head north for a Wyndon.

Route 10

Petition to bring back victory road please? Route 10 is at least better than Mt. Lanakila in Moon, but still.

Mr. Mime is my first encounter here, and a female Mr. Mime at that. Perfect as a psychic will help me out in the battle with Eternatus later. RIP Witch Bitch. 😭 Welcome to the team Trans Rights!

I do some more training throughout the route and the wild area to level up Trans Rights, he evolves!

Wyndon

After some more training in the wild area I’ve finally reached Wyndon and the league matches.

First battle is Marnie. Turns out Mr. Rime is a great counter to her team despite being mostly dark types. I demolish Marnie and move on to the next round.

Hop is as easy as he always is...

So, the whole “omg Leon is gonna miss our dinner” plot point is soooo lame like...we’re really gonna storm a building cause he’s late for dinner? Hop is extra af 😂. And Oleana is like “no one can disturb my boss but I’m giving the key to this guy...you’ll never find him.” Uhm????

So now I gotta battle this guy like 3 times for a key to a storm a building....cause Leon is late for dinner? Wtf is the point of this part??? The bad writing would be easier to overlook if I wasn’t battling in a white void the whole time cause backgrounds are too hard to make for a AAA home console game..

I’m sorry but like how does Leon missing a dinner affect the championship the next day in anyway??? This part is so stupid 😂😭

Okay but really what was the point of that entire part? We get to the top of the tower and Leon is just like “oh yeah, let’s go get dinner” like who even wrote this??

I’m calling it a night after that. I remember the story being really bad but wow....that was awful and I can think of so many other ways to actually develop Chairman Rose into a villain. I know this is a kids game so I’m not expecting much here. The story in Sun and Moon was pretty solid imo, and i wish I could say “well they did so much more with this game” to justify the bad story but like....where? Ooof, I don’t wanna rant on this right now.

Part 5 Recap

Current Team:

Sombra (Inteleon) Lv. 61; SpicyNoodle (Centiskorch)Lv. 59; Wormy (Flapple) Lv. 60; Stuff’n (Bewear) Lv. 57; Trans Rights (Mr. Rime) Lv. 58 ; GurrenLagann (Golurk) Lv. 57

Boxed:

Graveyard:

TootieFruity (Steenee); Witch Bitch (Hatterene)

Final Notes:

While the game is getting a little more challenging, it’s honestly depressing how obviously rushed this game is and I hate what capitalism has done to the gaming industry as a whole. I hate being so negative about this game because I love Pokémon so much...

Until next time

[ivvoosung]

“I like  y o u !” | YOUNGK Friends to Lovers!AU

A/N: it’s been ages since i last wrote something ;; i have been soooo uninspired, but i’m glad to finally bring this !! i do have other wips that i wanna finish so i hope being able to post this motivates me/inspires me to be able to write more again!! enjoy, mydays!! i’m glad i can finally write for day6 and i hope to make more for them in the future!

i think it’s completely gender-neutral but if you notice something, feel free to let me know!

Word Count: +3k (3810 words)

—”I like- What?” —You asked him wanting to make sure that you hadn’t misheard anything. Or even worse, that he hadn’t even said anything and what you thought he said had just been part of your imagination.

—”I said, I wouldn’t want to get in between you and Wonpil. I know you like him, so you two should go to the water park together.” —Your expression remained the same since the first time (and now you were sure) you heard him say it.

‘I know you like Wonpil’. Since when was your friendship with Wonpil seen as something beyond platonic? You wanted so much to just say Wonpil isn’t the person you like, that in fact, that person is in front of you and it’s him, Kang Younghyun. But for some reason, you couldn’t get any words out of your already half-opened mouth. Later that day, you decided to blame your silence on how shocked you were.

—”You think I like Wonpil?” —Both you and him knew the answer to that question. ‘I know you like Wonpil’. He didn’t just think it, he was very sure of it, apparently. Sure enough to say it as if it wasn’t the first time he had acknowledged the ‘fact’ in front of you.

And just as you expected, he said yes, but his expression had changed and it showcased a sudden doubt in his assumption. Suddenly he had a feeling he was wrong, and in contrast to that, this time he was right.

—”You don’t like Wonpil?” —He inquired, and when you slowly shook your head in response he cringed at himself for a second and inmediately tried to hide it with an awkward smile and a forced chuckle.— “R-Really? Wow, I thought you did! This is actually so embarrassing.” —He finally admitted, and this time it was you who laughed, clearly more genuinely than he had just done.

Before you could say anything to change the suddenly-uncomfortable atmosphere into something less overwhelming, the ringing of his phone beat you to it and interrupted the scene. When he took his phone out of one of the front pockets of his jeans you briefly managed to read the name ‘Sungjin’ in the screen.

—”They’re probably out there already, let’s go.” —He said, and you nodded and followed him while he picked up the call and talked to Sungjin for less than even half a minute, just to hear what he had already guessed the younger meant to say and ending it with an ‘Okay, we’re walking out of the cinema now’.

You, Younghyun and the little group of friends you had in common which consisted of Jaehyung (or Jae, as you usually called him for short), Sungjin, Dowoon and your best friend Wonpil had gone to the cinema to watch a movie. It had been a long time since most of you had gone there, with the exception of Jae who had recently gone to see some action movie with other friends that you didn’t really know. Therefore, all of you decided to change your usual hangouts at any of your homes or going out for dinner to going to the cinema. Since the six of you didn’t fit in one car, in the ride there you were in Jae’s car with obviously, Jae, and Wonpil. And Dowoon, Sungjin and Younghyun were in Sungjin’s car. Now, judging from who was calling, you guessed this time Sungjin would be the one to drive you and Younghyun home. After the movie was over, you had stayed behind to go to the bathroom while your friends went ahead to get their cars and when you came out Younghyun had been there waiting for you, quickly explaining he waited for you because it’s late and he didn’t want to leave you alone since there wasn’t really anyone around and everyone was inside the movie rooms doing the same thing you guys had been doing a few minutes before that moment.

After listening to him mentioning that any of your friends would give him a call to let you two know they were outside already, you told him that you and Wonpil had started planning a little one-day trip to the water amusement park for the very next day and asked him to come. But it was then when, even though you had mentioned that both you and your best friend were planning everything thinking that not only you two but the whole group would go, he had said he didn’t want to interrupt what could be a date for you and Wonpil since he ‘knew you liked him’.

And that’s how you got to this situation that luckily and thanks to not only Sungjin’s interruption through the phone call and also to quickly walking out of the cinema and getting in the car with Sungjin.

The whole ride back home (though for you it wasn’t exactly ‘home’ since you were staying the night at Wonpil’s to have your weekly sleepover) was pretty normal and basically consisted on talking about the movie you had watched. A little debate sparked up when you and Sungjin commented on how you didn’t exactly love the ending for it, while Younghyun’s opinion was exactly the opposite.

Sooner than you realised, the car stopped and it was time to get off. Jae’s car was parked a few meters ahead of Sungjin’s and judging from how you didn’t see anyone around, you doubted they’d still be in the car and assumed they each already went to their house. They didn’t live together, but they lived in the same building so it was pretty much as if they did.

You bid your goodbyes to both Sungjin and Younghyun, but even as you turned around to knock on Wonpil’s door, you couldn’t get the image of Younghyun smiling at you out of your head. Then, Wonpil opened the door. He saw his friends walking to their own homes behind your back so he said goodbye to them before letting you in and then closing the door.

Why did Younghyun think you and Wonpil liked each other? It’s not like you two were really the kind of best friends who looked like a couple. No one before had ever mistaken you for a couple. Maybe it’s not even about ‘liking each other’. Perhaps there was something about the way you acted that made it look like you liked him.

—”Hey Wonpil,” —You called, and he just hummed to let you know he was listening as he walked to his bedroom with you following him.— “Is there anything I do or say to you that could be seen as something more than platonic?” —The boy suddenly halted his steps, causing you to bump against his back and to then take a few steps back. Then he turned around looking at you with a both confused and slightly cringing expression.

Yup, just seeing that, you felt much better. There was nothing romantic about you and Wonpil’s friendship and neither of you wanted it.

—”Why are you asking that? I’m scared. Are you sending me hints about something?” —You could see he was joking but at the same time, lowkey worried about the meaning behind your question. You laughed and shook your head.

—”Of course not. I asked because apparently, Younghyun was completely sure that I have a crush on you.” —After hearing that Wonpil just stared you in silence with his eyebrows raised and a face that spoke about his incredulous state by itself.— “I know! I was shocked too when he told me.” —

He finally just resumed his walking towards his room and finally went inside it, sitting on his desktop chair and you sitting on his bed after kicking off your shoes. You two still had to take a shower, but this conversation wasn’t really over yet so you two decided to get comfortable.

—”If he really sees something romantic between us but he can’t see that you’re basically whipped for him, then he really is blind!” —Wonpil exclaimed, making you laugh but inmediately tried to defend yourself.

—”Hey! I’m not whipped!” —Wonpil just rolled his eyes and decided not to respond to that, making both of you laugh this time at the scene.

After you both calmed down, Wonpil got up from his chair and sat on the bed next to you before slowly laying down and facing up. You did the same thing and stared at the ceiling silently for a few sconds before Wonpil spoke again.

—”Did you tell him and Sungjin-hyung about going to the water park this weekend?” —You nodded, and although you weren’t looking at each other you knew he noticed thanks to him feeling the movement next to him.— “And well?”—

—”Well, actually I just told Younghyun when we were waiting for Sungjin to pick us up. Then he said that we should go alone because it’s obvious I have a crush on you,” —Wonpil snorted and then couldn’t help but let out a chuckle as you kept talking.— “and then I couldn’t bring it up again because… It was so awkward.” —This time you felt your best friend nod in understatement.

Once again, the room was submerged in an ephemeral silence.

—”Well, I already told Jae-hyung and Dowoon and they said yes. I’m sure Sungjin-hyung will say yes too.” —You nodded again and feeling like the conversation was over, Wonpil got up from the bed and grabbed his pjs to take a shower. You had already left your bag with your clothes there before you went to the cinema so you would take a shower after Wonpil.

And in the meantime as you waited for him, you let out a sigh and replayed some memories inside your head, including the events you had lived today.

You thought about that one time you were sitting in between him and Wonpil while watching a horror movie at Jae’s house and clinged to each other when you got scared. You could have perfectly reached for Wonpil if you liked him, yet you let Younghyun hold you, resting your head on his chest and wondering is his heart was beating as fast as yours.

Then, you thought back about the time you were feeling so stressed during finals season that you started crying hiding behind some bookshelves in the library, away from the tables where everyone was working and trying to find something that would help you with the exam that you had no idea how to tackle. At that moment, you received a message from him saying he was in the library and asking where you were, since you were going to study together. When you didn’t answer even though you had read the messages, he knew something was wrong and found you in less than one minute. He softly placed his hands on your cheeks and dried your tears with his thumbs, whispering calming words of you doing well in not only this but all of your exams and promises of helping you.

Starting to feel a little anxious, you finally thought back to the events of the present day. How while watching the movie sitting next to each other you suddenly turned your heads and made eye contact, him giving you a gentle smile and then reaching for your hand to grasp it in his for a second before slowly letting go.

Were you building false hopes? Were you wrong for thinking that perhaps there was something special for him too and that your feelings weren’t completely one-sided? Would he do the same thing for anyone? Of course, you wouldn’t hate him if he did, since that only showed how caring and kind he was. But you would have never thought that even though he was the person you gave that kind of attention to he’d think that you liked someone else.

Just like when you were in the car going home, time passed too fast and you heard Wonpil walking back into the room, already wearing his pjs. You sat up to look at him and to get up to grab your things before heading to the bathroom.

—”(Y/N), I was thinking, why didn’t you just tell Younghyun-hyung that the one you like is actually him and just confess once and for all-” —You interrupted him with a loud whine as you let yourself fall back on the bed.

—”I know! I should have! But I couldn’t! I was so shocked and it was so awkward!” —You complained and then whined again. Wonpil laughed at your reaction and soon enough you were laughing a little too. What was the point of beating yourself up over it? It was best to laugh at it and do better next time.

‘Next time…’

As you got up from the bed and finally went to get your things to shower, you decided.

‘Next time, I’m going to tell him.’ You promised yourself, taking a deep breathe in an attempt to control the sudden nervousness you felt inside your chest.

Right after you finished getting dressed, your swimwear already under your clothes, Dowoon walked into the room, quickly apologising as he caught you adjusting your shirt and thinking you weren’t done changing.

—”It’s okay, I’m done now.” —You said, smiling at him and grabbing your phone that you had left on top of the dresser. Dowoon opened his mouth to tell you what he had come there for but someone beat him to it.

—”(Y/N)! We’re all ready, let’s go!” —Someone yelled, and you inmediately recognised that voice to be Younghyun’s. Dowoon sighed and let out an awkward laugh, smiling afterwards.

—”Why did they tell me to come tell you if then he’s gonna shout it himself?” —You laughed too and walked out of the room with him, making your way to the living room where everyone was waiting.

Jae and Wonpil were sitting on the couch looking at something on the older’s phone. Sungjin was making sure he had everything he needed, and Youngk was just leaning on the wall right next to the entrance door. When you two made eye contact he gave you a sweet smile, as he always did. However no matter how many times he did it your heart didn’t seem to get used to it.

—”Ah, you’re ready? Then we can leave!” —Jae exclaimed, finally looking up from his phone and at each of you to make sure everyone was ready and then both him and Wonpil finally got up from the couch and made their way to the door.

Everyone walked out involved in different conversations, but everything was cut off when before separating to get inside one of the two cars that would drive them to the water park (which would be once again Sungjin and Jae’s), Wonpil let out a loud gasp, making all of you turn to look at him.

—”What did you forget?” —You asked him with a smirk, knowing him well enough to be sure that was exactly what happened. And as you expected, you were right.

—”My phone!” —He exclaimed, and quickly walked back inside the building to go get it. Some of you laughed at it and Sungjin just let out a sigh.

—”I’ll wait for him, you guys can go ahead.” —After everybody agreed, you, Dowoon and Jae got into the aforementioned’s car and drove off.

The ride there was fun. You were sitting in the passenger seat next to Jae, asking him to let you play the music during the ride. He groaned and acted like he didn’t want you to, even jokingly mocking your music taste. After insisting once, he broke down and answered with an ‘Okay, fine’ as if he really had needed the extra convincing and he wasn’t just teasing you. You heard Dowoon chuckle at the little scene and didn’t really notice how Younghyun just stayed silent through it all, even when you finally started playing the music and Jae started singing dramatically, making you and Dowoon laugh again.

Once again, and like everytime you spent time with your friends, time really seemed to fly and soon you were getting out of the car. Now you just had to wait for Sungjin and Wonpil to arrive.

—”I’m gonna go buy our tickets while we wait for them.” —Jae said, walking away with Dowoon following him.

—”Okay! I’ll stay here!” —You responded.

Younghyun was silent again, and this time you did notice it. It was pretty weird, since he was always so bright. He wasn’t like this when you were still at Wonpil’s, so you wondered if something happened on the way here. Did he receive bad news about something? Or had he already been like this before but you hadn’t noticed or he had done better in hiding it? Maybe he was just feeling under the weather.

When he caught you looking at him he arched his eyebrows for a second  clearly not expecting the eye contact, but he quickly gave you a small smile that you could easily tell was kind of fake.

If only you could guess what he was feeling towards you as well as you could guess with this things. Or even better…

—”Hey, (Yn)?” —You blinked, still looking at him and letting him know you’re listening.

… If only he could be less dense and guess who is actually the person you like.

—”I know it now, the person you like… Is Jae, right?” —

There was silence again. But this was different from the awkward silence from the previous night, different from the peaceful silence in Wonpil’s room, different from Younghyun’s unusual silence in the drive here.

This silence was full of tension.

—”You…” —Younghyun arched his eyebrows at you again. He didn’t hear you well, so he mouthed a ‘what’ and stared at you in confusion.

Finally breaking, you let out a whine and facepalmed almost a little too loudly, startling the guy in front of you and even a person who has just walked by the two of you. You put your hand away from your face and frowned at him, not even paying attention to how his expression slowly changed from curious to almost somewhat scared of not knowing what was going through your mind at that moment. Okay, maybe he got it wrong again, but did it really make you that angry?

—”I don’t like Wonpil! I don’t like Jae! And before you can assume I do, I don’t like Sungjin or Dowoon! I like you! The person I like is you!” —You exclaimed, not even paying attention to how his expression went from curious to shocked with a faint blush starting to color his cheeks.

—”You like me?” —He finally questioned after just opening and closing his mouth for less than a second not knowing exactly what to say or how to react.

You nodded and let out a sigh, still looking at him. You didn’t know where did you find the courage to still keep the eye contact after confessing and without receiving a proper answer. He looked so surprised you were starting to feel scared. Did he really not know? Did he never notice anything? Or… Did he not want to notice because he didn’t like you the same way?

—”Is it so bad that I like you that you never thought of it?” —Your tone of voice was calmer, but it had a tinge of sadness or even disappointment to it. The more you spoke, the closer to a whisper your voice sounded.

You ended up looking away and towards the ground, but quickly looked up again when you saw Younghyun suddenly standing in front of you and saw his hands reaching for yours. He grabbed them and, kind of like the instant where he held your hands the previous day at the cinema, he held them a little too tightly and then softened his grip on them, but this time he didn’t let go.

You looked at his face without saying anything. You didn’t even think there was anything else left to say not only for you but for him too, and even as he held you, the lack of words still made you believe that he probably didn’t feel like you did.

—”(Y/N)…” —

You hummed, once again letting him know you were paying attention. Well, as much as you could while your mind started to drift away because of the feelings starting to overwhelm you.

—”Can you guess who’s the person I like?” —You blinked a few times in a row, so far doing great at trying to keep your tears where they should be and answer Younghyun’s question.

—”Why are you asking me if it’s not me?” —Not expecting you to answer his question with another question, he chuckled for a second and shook his head slightly.

—”That’s it, why would I ask you, if it’s not you? Do you think I’m that mean?” —He asked again, smiling down at you and trying to change the tense atmosphere to something more lighthearted. You felt the heat rushing to your cheeks as you finally understood and almost felt stupid for not noticing from the first question.

You let out a sigh again, this time one of relief because you were already seeing yourself heartbroken and not being able to enjoy the rest of your day (and probably the rest of the following weeks). Younghyun laughed again and let go of one of your hands to softly move your head to look at him again when you looked away after sighing.

—”I like you, too.” —He whispered with that characteristic sweet smile still on his face as he imitated the emphasis on the ‘you’ that you had given when you confessed your feelings. You smiled back at him and slowly both of you closed your eyes as the distance between your lips was reduced to cero.

[BONUS]

—”Yo, what-” —

—”Oh my god-” —Dowoon whispered right after Jae spoke and stopped dead in his tracks, watching the scene unfold from a safe distance.

—”We’re here!” —Wonpil’s familiar voice exclaimed (thankfully not loud enough to disrupt the new couple) with Jae quickly shushing him and pointing to you and Younghyun. Wonpil let out a loud gasp and Jae shushed him again.

—”Finally, you won’t believe the amount of weird questions I had to go through during the whole drive-” —Sungjin started speaking as he got out of his car, this time all the other three guys asking him to remain silent. Confused, Sungjin followed everyone’s gazes and his eyes widened when he saw what was happening.— “Since when do they like- Are they dating!?” —He whisper-yelled.

—”Yes, finally” —The  other three said in unison.

Apparently you and Younghyun weren’t the only dense ones who hadn’t noticed your mutual feelings.

[arlingtonpark]

Frozen 2 Review

You know, I’m starting to notice a trend with me and these Disney kid’s movies: I don’t like them.

And not because I’m not a kid, but because they really are badly written.

I’ll start with what I liked.

The animation was great, like in all Disney movies. Animation for Disney is like John Williams’ music in Star Wars - it’s good no matter what movie it is.

The song sequences, taken on their own, were show stopping. The action was grand, the singing was commanding, and the visuals were gorgeous.

…OK, now on to the stuff I didn’t like.

The movie starts off with Anna and Elsa playing together as kids. You know, before Elsa almost killed Anna. I don’t think this is bad per se, but I do think it undermines the gay subtext people read into Elsa’s character, and I’m sure lot of people will see that as bad, so I’m putting this in the “bad” section of this post.

Why do people read Elsa as a lesbian? Because she has to hide her powers, the thing that makes her different, like how gay people have to hide their gayness.

This has always been the case, but this movie really reinforces it: Elsa was only forced to hide her powers after she showed the capacity to harm others with them.

In other stories, people with superpowers have to hide those powers because they have powers, not because they can harm people with them. It’s about the power itself, not the burden of having them. This is a good metaphor for things like homosexuality.

In Frozen, things are kind of a mess. Elsa was forced “into the closet” because of the demonstrable harm she posed to others, not because she had the powers to begin with. Frozen 2 emphasizes this point: Elsa’s parents were accepting of her powers up until she showed they could be used to harm others.

Gay people are forced to hide themselves because people in polite society are expected to conform to certain standards. There is an element of rejecting nonconformity in Frozen. In that movie, people see Elsa using her powers and dub it witchcraft.

So there are some elements to the movie that support an LGBT metaphor, but other elements contradict that reading, so it all ends up being a big mess.

Frozen 2 is about how different groups need to get along and how past wrongs need to be made right.

The story opens with some storytime by Elsa and Anna’s dad:

Anna and Elsa’s granddad made contact with an indigenous group of people called the Northuldra. These Northuldra were not magical, but they were able to harness the magic that was endemic to their land.

Granddaddy had a dam built in the Northuldra’s territory as a peace offering. But during a celebration of its completion, a fight broke out and grandad was killed. Why the fight happened is unknown, but the forest spirits were angered and a mist overcast the whole region, locking it away.

And that is how Elsa and Anna’s dad became the king.

Seriously. That’s the payoff to the king’s story. Interethnic conflict and it’s all setup for how he got his cool hat.

I think that was smart!

Lots of awful historical events are glossed over for the sake of relatively trivial bullshit. I mean, I’m writing this on Thanksgiving. A holiday about being thankful is great! But the peace between colonists and natives that this holiday is built around is negated by…how there was no peace in the end. We all understand that on some level, right?

So I think this is a cool nod to how historical events, even historical atrocities, are mythologized.

The motivator for our heroes is uncovering the true history of Arendelle so the angry forest spirits can be calmed.

The true history is this:

Grandad actually hated the Northuldra. He built the dam to make them a vassal of his kingdom…somehow.

The ceremony was just a way for him to size up the Northuldra and determine their strength. He was the one who started the fight.

So…

Why did grandad use the ceremony to size up the Northuldra if that same ceremony was a trap to…kill them all, I guess?

Grandad uses the ceremony to learn of their numbers and strength, the same ceremony he uses to kill their leader and incite a conflict. You’d think the king would have learned the Northuldra’s numbers and strength before this. Just, you know, in the course of interacting with them and coordinating construction of the dam.

And why did King Grandad go to all the trouble of building the dam if he was just going to start a war with the Northuldra?

That’s a big ass dam! The king had it built and for what? Was he going to enslave them? That hardly seems worth it.

I guess the king was just a greedy bastard, but…he’s barely a character at all, so it’s just bad writing.

The point, though, is that the past!Arendellites did something awful and this needs to be set right. The dam still stands and its existence angers the forest spirits. But if the dam is destroyed, the water behind it will flood the area and destroy Arendelle.

So……

Arendellites of the past are big meanie heads.

This has repercussions through to the present.

This has to be made right.

That means destroying Arendelle.

Is this supposed to be applicable to our world?

White people of the past are big meanie heads.

This has repercussions through to the present.

This has to be made right.

That means…destroying white people?

Yes, the institution of racism still exists, and yes, that has to be made right. But no one is saying white people have to lose their homes. What is this movie even talking about?

Radical leftists, the ones who aren’t shitheads, want to sweep away the current order, but that’s because they want to replace it with a new one.

Reparative action means destroying the old order to replace it with a better one. This movie casts reparative action as just destructive.

I like to think of this as being like global warming. Many people think that to fight global warming we have to basically ruin our lives and sacrifice economic growth. We need to give up all our environmentally harmful practices and this basically means living Extreme Paleo. It’s that or a world with no ice caps.

But that’s not true. We don’t have to make that choice. We can have an environmentally sustainable economy and be just as prosperous as we’ve always been.

This movie seems to believe that making amends for the past requires some sacrifice by the descendants of the perpetrators.

If the racial hierarchy were destroyed, white people would no longer benefit from it, so in that sense they would lose out, but that’s not the same thing as losing your home!

The movie is clearly a commentary. It tries soooo hard to be topical and relevant; it only succeeds in being irreverent.

Why do the people at Disney keep trying to talk about racism? They suck at it! They have no idea what they’re talking about.

First Zootopia, now this. They keep trying and trying; I wish they’d stop.

Do they have any self-awareness? If they did, they’d realize they’re just confusing children with these badly designed messages.  

The movie tries to be a social commentary. It does so by elucidating a dilemma that doesn’t exist. There is no trade-off between righting the past and continuing our livelihoods.

Ah, but you see, this movie is multilayered in how bad it is.

In the end, Anna decides to destroy the dam, Arendelle be damned. The dam breaks and the kingdom is about to be swamped.

And then, in an almost literal deus ex machina, Elsa swoops in on a magical contraption and uses her powers to BS the tension away.

So………

On one level we have the silly trade-off the movie proposes. Do the next right thing and fix racism, but lose your home. (If this movie were a person, it’d be an old man yelling at clouds.)

On another level, if we take this proposal for granted, we’ve got a completely uninspired message about how doing what’s right will never backfire on you.

*vomits*

Returning to the social commentary level, this means the message is that we need magic to solve the dilemma that doesn’t actually exist.

We need a special, almost magical someone who can BS away all the BS sacrifices white people need to make to right the sins of their ancestors.

(It’s not just the politics, this movie is poorly thought out in general.)

This movie has a very unsubtle theme about change. It’s so horribly done, I can’t believe it’s real.

By the end of the movie, Anna is queen now and Elsa decides to live with the Northuldra. That’s the only meaningful change and the implications of it are not shown to us.

The movie ignores the burdens of statecraft, so how much being queen now affects Anna’s life isn’t important to the narrative.

And we don’t see much of Elsa’s new life either. All we see is her frolicking on horseback through a field with a wide smile on her face. Really.

Elsa struggles with alienation in this movie, except we don’t really see it. We are told that she feels out of place, but there’s nothing in the movie to suggest a fundamental disconnect between Elsa and everyone else.

I mean, I get that Elsa’s magical and Arendelle isn’t, but Elsa doesn’t seem unhappy when the film picks up. Whatever angst she has in the first act is because of the voice she’s hearing. If she feels that Arendelle is a poor fit for her, it wasn’t communicated well.

This is to say that Frozen 2 is only tepidly about the dynamism of life. There’s no change for the worse, and what change for the better there is lacks gravitas.

Elsa’s decision to live amongst the Northuldra is another example of the writers not paying attention.

Another attempted example of change occurring is the unification of the Northuldra and Arendelle. A statue of Elsa and Anna’s parents, who it turns out were each from one of the groups, is erected to commemorate this newfound unity. Anna remarks that the races have “finally” been united.

Unfortunately, the implications of this unity are not shown, so it’s all meaningless.

You would think there would be an exchange of ideas between the two groups. Things like music, food, ideals, etc. We don’t see that. So the change that this movie talks a lot about just isn’t there.

Back to Elsa living with the Northuldra, I take it as implying that there won’t be much real coexistence between the Arendellites and the Northuldra. Because if there were a real cultural exchange, I don’t think Elsa would’ve made the move.

She felt she had to live with the Northuldra to feel more at home. This implies there will continue to be a meaningful disconnect between the two groups.

Instead of Elsa moving, why can’t the people of Arendelle integrate magic into their daily lives like the Northuldra?

Are human settlements just inherently anti-magical?

That’s problematic, because the Northuldra in general smack of being noble savages.

The noble savage trope is a stereotypical depiction of native peoples. The stereotype is that natives have a primitive way of life that lets them be one with nature. It romanticizes native culture.

Frozen 2 leans very heavily on the noble savage trope to communicate its ideas. The Northuldra are one with nature, but this is disrupted when the dam is built. Human civilization is a taint upon the Northuldra’s communion with nature, as represented by the forest spirits.

The whole point behind the noble savage trope is that the native way of life is uncorrupted by human civilization.

Exactly how the dam’s existence is a blight is never explained; the movie uses the noble savage trope as a cheat to get across why the dam is a bad thing.

“Why is the dam bad?”

“Uh, er, well, it’s civilization!”

The movie tries to be about how the races need to coexist, even as it sets one side up as being superior to the other, while showing no sharing of ideas or even goods.

In Frozen 2, “coexistence” means separate but equal.

This movie tries to do a lot.

There’s an arc for Anna about doing the next right thing, an arc for Kristoff and Anna about getting married, the social commentary about uncovering the true history and atoning for past misdeeds, and two major arcs for Elsa. One about her feeling alienated and another about her having this savior complex. She thinks she has to be the one to save everyone.

Subsequently, many plot beats feel half-baked and rushed. Elsa’s alienation wasn’t really established. Anna’s decision to destroy the dam wasn’t dwelled upon, so it didn’t have the emotional weight it could have.

Elsa’s arc about trying to go it alone is very badly handled.

The point of the arc is that teamwork is golden and relying on your powers is as valuable as a shiny penny.

But once again, it is clear the writers aren’t paying attention. One scene in particular was a galaxy brain fuck up.

A forest fire breaks out and Elsa tries to put it out. Anna jumps in because it looks like Elsa is going to be overwhelmed. You would think that Anna will get Elsa to drop putting the fire out and save herself.

But nope.

Anna is the one who needs to be bailed out. Elsa successfully puts the fire out.

Just, ugggghhhh.

Then later on, some rock giants are lumbering about and everyone has to avoid their notice. But Elsa tries to go off on her own again and follow them.

Because she thinks she can tame them.

Huh???

Elsa’s arc here is about teamwork, but trying to tame these things is just a stupid idea. With following the voice, it’s clear they have to do it if they want to get things to normal. It’s their mission.

Why tame rock giants?

The problem with this moment is that Elsa isn’t just being arrogant, she’s being an idiot.

Then we get to the finale and Elsa’s arc about teamwork just peters out and isn’t a factor in it. Everyone has a role to play in the climax, but it’s all serendipitous.

The kind of teamwork the movie tries to uphold up to this point entails not just trusting other people, but actually working together.  

They learn they have to venture into the unknown. Elsa tries to go alone, but relents when Anna argues she should go too.

Later, Elsa tries to go alone to the mystery river and sends Anna away against her will. This is presented as a bad thing.

The lesson, so far, seemed to be that you can’t go it alone.

In the finale, they all go it alone while still working with each other. The finale emphasizes trust, while the rest of the movie emphasizes actual teamwork.  

It’s not that they’re all a team working together, it’s more like they’re all playing off each other and making it up as they go.

Elsa learns the true history and communicates it to Anna.

Anna takes it upon herself to go dambusting.

Kristoff helps, but he doesn’t know what’s going on. Teamwork implies everyone is of the same mind. That’s not the case here.

The guards try to stop Anna, but they eventually choose to trust that this is the right thing to do. They don’t really know what’s going on either.

Then, just to really drive home how much they don’t care, at the very end Elsa uses her powers to save everyone singlehandedly.

Because you can’t go it alone.

You can’t just rely on your own power.

Every bridge has two sides, so even Elsa needs help from others.

(That bridge metaphor is the dumbest line in the whole movie.)

The people behind this movie obviously didn’t care. They put no thought in this. See Kristoff’s in-movie MTV music video.

Yes, really, that happened. In it, Kristoff laments being unable to really connect with Anna.

I’m about to sing a song lamenting the future of this franchise.

[catburgled-a]

* romance headcanons.

name: augustine valentine.

nickname: auggie , gus.

gender: cisfemale - she / her pronouns usually but isn’t actually fussed either way.

romantic orientation: demiromantic.

preferred pet names: babyyyyyy

relationship status: single.

opinion on true love: i can’t say that she believes in true love in the sense that there’s only one perfect person out there for you who you’re ‘ meant ’ to be with forever , but she does believe in the all-consuming , life altering kind of love because she’s had that before & it scares the crap out of her. this is why she is so good at ignoring her feelings at all costs because she’s scared of feeling trapped & scared of giving so much of herself to another person cause fuck vulnerability. 

opinion on love at first sight: nope. doesn’t exist. she believes you can 100% be drawn to someone immediately but it’s more likely sexual chemistry than any actual love. she has never once just looked at a person for the first time & thought ‘ wow i’m going to give them every part of me ’. like no , that’s stupid. it’s naive. it’s not real. she thinks that’s how people get into toxic situations because they never stop to actually get to know the person & just force it to work anyway. & for auggie in particular she has to know parts of you before she can develop any sort of romantic feelings. 

how ‘romantic’ are they?: depends on what the other thinks is romantic. she might not be the petals everywhere , bouquet buying , grand gesture type of lover but she is the physically affectionate , hold your hand in public , kiss you in the rain , kiss you to shut you up kind. she’s a very passionate person in all aspects of her life & she certainly acts on that especially in love. not to mention that once you’ve got her , she’s so devoted. like she can be an asshole but at the end of the day she would kill for the one she loves. 

ideal physical traits: ???????? honestly she doesn’t really have a set physical type her brain just looks at people & is like yep , that one. she has a huge range of variety in her past but i guess if anything , she leans a bit toward femininity , but at the same time she also loves scars & tattoos lol & like everyone else in the world she likes ‘em tall.

ideal personality traits: at the end of the day , in her mind , what she wants is somebody she can actually get along with so that would be someone lighthearted , fun , open-minded , someone who’s gonna cause a little trouble with her & match her passion. 

unattractive physical traits: when dudes are too muscly it’s like she’s not trying to fuck the hulk , thanks. 

unattractive personality traits: controlling , clingy ,  overbearing , overly serious , boring , anyone who is flat & uninspired.

ideal date: girl does not go on dates but side note take her to an all you can eat or a theme park or the literally just to a bar to get drunk together & fuck in the bathroom stall 🤷

do they have a type?: sexually she’s generally drawn to people with similar personalities to herself , which is actually terrible because of her many , many flaws so it can be a toxic combination at times. the one time she did take the dive & date someone with a similar personality , yeah it was messy af. two wrongs don’t make a right you might say. but i think she subconsciously finds herself more romantically drawn to the softer type. which is actually more of what she needs. someone who’s capable of being a little softer which then allows her to be. someone who can hold her accountable for her unhealthy behaviour patterns. someone who will support her where & when she needs it & not restrict her from the shady things she does , u kno ?

average relationship length: oof it depends. she's definitely not someone who goes out of her way to date , actually more accurately she avoids it entirely. one night stands are more her gig or the occasional no strings attached scenario. however the proper relationships she has actually had ranged between a few months to a couple years maximum. 

preferred non-sexual intimacy: loves having her hair played with and vice versa. napping together. playing with each others hands. 

commitment level: NOT GREAT LBR. it’s very hard to get her to commit but once you got her pal , you really got her. 

opinion of public affection: literally lives for it. i wouldn’t say to the degree of full on making out in a crowd of people but she’s gonna smack ur ass , she’s gonna do things to rile you up , sorry can’t stop her. 

past relationships?: she’s had three. two of which were in high school. 

first was a girl who was her best friend when she was roughly 15 which i have also touched on a little bit here. she literally never talks about it , especially after she moved schools & graduated high school. once she went back home to visit she found out that girl’s boyfriend ended up murdering her & auggie to this day still feels responsible. 

then there was a boy at her boarding school. at 16 she first met him at a party when they later slept together. it evolved into a friends with benefits type of situation. he played guitar & wanted to be a musician. he was beautiful & soft , with lots of feelings & with that came mental issues. auggie took care of him as best she could & supported him unconditionally. he was a good person & he was so much better than she ever deserved , like her definition of perfect which says a lot. she loved him so much & he fought soooo hard to force that out of her. like they went through so much to finally get to the point where auggie was like ok i’ll be ur girl & that lasted until graduation when auggie had to go on the run with her dad. which was really hard because she’ll love that boy forever. 

third one was when she was 19ish & settled in las vegas , post-high school , pre-university. this was when she was rolling with a group of professional thieves. the guy that she was partnered up with she also ended up living with just straight off the bat due to circumstance. as her literal partner in crime they worked really well together professionally , but living together while being equally attracted to one another was their first mistake. they were very , very similar in their personalities. temper , assholery & all. auggie cared about him for sure but just not in the way he cared for her. she never really completely loved him & she could act out & be a massive asshole at times because of it. that’s not to say he wasn’t just as big of an asshole , he just had more feeling behind it. it’s not something she’s proud of & she still does love him in a sense , just not in an actual romantic way. they would have been better off as friends. 

moral of the story , auggie’s never stopped caring about anyone she’s ever been in a relationship with.

tagged by: stole it >:^) tagging: steal it >:^)

[nadziejastar]

Thoughts on ffx?

You know, I was thinking about this earlier and it makes me sad. It also makes me feel kinda old. FFX was made during a time when Square wasn’t trying to make games that appealed to everybody. They were created with Japan in mind and just happened to be popular worldwide. The company was doing very well back when FFX was made. The games had high budgets, but not as high as they are today. The teams were comprised of people who shared an artistic vision and then brought it to life. So, FFX doesn’t have the problems that a lot of the newer FF games have. Newer FF games try too hard to have broad worldwide appeal, but they feel uninspired and soulless as a result.

I still love FFX, and I loved playing the remastered version. I think it has TONS of creativity and heart. I think the whole concept of Yuna’s pilgrimage was fascinating. The story is weird and not for everybody. But that is a good thing, IMO. Trying to please everybody is always going to fail. I liked all of the weird lore in FFX, like Fayth, the Farplane, Yevon, etc. As beautiful as it was, Spira was actually a pretty terrifying place. It revolved around death. I found that very interesting. FFX wasn’t afraid of being a JRPG. And that’s the problem with modern Square-Enix. Their games have an enormous budget, probably too enormous for their own good. The JRPG genre is niche. The type of storytelling in JRPGs is niche.

Like, I never understood the fuss about the laughing scene in FFX. The scene itself was relatively inoffensive. Tidus jokingly pretends to laugh and does it really loud and obnoxiously. He’s just fooling around because he’s stressed out. He and Yuna were having fun by acting dumb. It’s supposed to be dumb. Yuna is a very sheltered girl, so doing something like that was new for her. There are a few moments I found cringeworthy in FFX, but that really wasn’t one of them. It wasn’t really that big of a deal. But if a modern FF game had a scene like that, it would get so much ridicule. 

KH and FFX have a lot in common. The KH series began around the same time FFX was made. It hails from a much healthier era in Square’s history. You look at KH2 and it has tons of FF characters, like Seifer, Auron, Cloud, etc. It was fun to see them. Nomura has made comments suggesting that he doesn’t even like the newer FF games. I honestly think that was a factor in why they weren’t included in KH3. I don’t think he likes FFXV’s cast, for instance. They’re certainly not the mafia/Yakuza bros that he originally envisioned them as. It’s not fun to put them in like it was with Zack or Neku, for instance. He’d prefer to put Verum Rex in.

Tetsuya Nomura is a veteran at Square. He was there when Sakaguchi was still around. His artistic sensibilities are more aligned with older games like FFVII and FFX. He was going to have Nojima write the script for his baby, FF Versus XIII. And Nojima wrote FFVII and FFX. KH2 was also written by Nojima, and it introduced a lot of the weird stuff. Nobodies, data worlds, Ansem really being Xehanort’s Heartless, etc. Kingdom Hearts, for better or worse, is a niche anime-inspired JRPG series with weird, convoluted concepts and characters. I also think it had a lot of charm and sincerity and that kept me invested. But it’s definitely NOT for everybody. It wasn’t perfect, but I liked it. It had heart and soul, like FFVII and FFX.

KH3 had the same problem modern FF games have. It tried too hard to appeal to people who are not actually fans of JRPGs, the KH series, its story, its lore, etc. KH3 was trying to be for everybody, and it had to sacrifice a lot of its identity in the process. The higher-ups didn’t really care because most people think the story was convoluted nonsense anyways. It was alienating for them. Like, I personally don’t mind that Ansem is really Xehanort, who is really a possessed version of Terra. I’m not bothered by Xehanort trying to create 13 versions of himself. Stuff like that doesn’t bother me. But a lot of people can’t handle it.

That’s the general sentiment I’ve seen. KH is very weird and very convoluted—that’s just how Nomura rolls. But KH3′s biggest issue was not its complexity nor the amount of side games that preceded it. I’ve played all the side games and KH3 STILL made no sense. The real issue is that it’s an unfinished story that was dumbed-down for mass appeal and fanservice. The Disney worlds were actually supposed to tie into the plot. But…KH3 didn’t really have a plot by the time it came out. It was a development nightmare.

Games like KH2, Days, and BBS don’t suffer from the same problem that KH3 did, because they weren’t trying to be massive blockbusters. I like them SOOOO much more than KH3. They embraced their weirdness and had a strong sense of identity. They were niche, anime-inspired, quirky games with a solid direction. They were cool, but NOT for everybody. They had heart and soul, like FFX.

[lordashbury]

Peter Lindbergh’s ‘A Different Vision on Fashion Photography’ is one of the greatest resources that I own; I found the book in the Taschen store in Soho several years ago when it occurred to me that researching the kind of photography that I do couldn’t be adequately accomplished via my computer. But especially while making the transition to film, it was hard to fully appreciate the format without engaging in the analog part that is film’s primary purpose. The book turned out to be a revelation to me, not because the photographs blew me away, but because of the decisions he made with his black and white film. When digital was my primary photo format, I had this rule that if I couldn’t make an image work in colour, I’d render it in black and white. While I think this is still sound philosophy, I’m always bothered by what I describe as “lazy” black and white; too many people “switch the mode” on digital and fix a little contrast and call it a day. But software bw for the most part, doesn’t understand intent and actually, neither does it with colour (but we have soooo many presets) that it doesn’t matter anymore. Back to this book… What really blew me away was Peter’s obvious intent with black and white, and his darkroom/lab’s understanding to deliver on this intent through all of the choices made to develop the image. My photo lab in California has a binder full of rules of what to do with my black and white film, how to process and scan it, because the ‘regular way’ leaves me feeling so uninspired. Peter’s work isn’t referenced in that binder — I had to go my own way — but it was Peter who showed me that it was necessary in pursuit of the art I wanted to make. When I bought this book the cashier informed me that I had missed Peter by two days, he had just been then for a signing. I did see the man just once, but he was on his way to work. He was in a good mood that day, his energy was bouncy. His assistants seemed to be happy to be there. I always pay attention to these things, at this level. https://www.instagram.com/p/B1_NDtmBg-V/?igshid=t58doevnrr76

[anxiousdepressedintrovert]

20 Questions Writing Tag

Respond to the following writing questions and tag me in your response! I look forward to hearing your answers as I’ve always been curious about these!

I was tagged by @writinghereandthere sorry it took so long to respond to this. I lost it in my notifications. 

1) When/what age did start writing?

I was in middle school when I started.

2) What inspired you to start?

I had just read Twilight and thought “Well if she can do it why can’t I?”

3) Where and when does inspiration usually strike you?

3 am and a particular sentence will interrupt my dream or wake me and I’m like “I have to write that down” I’ve written whole chapters like that. 

4) Where and when do you usually write? Morning? Late at night? On the bus? In bed?

In bed. Middle of the night is when I do my best work. 

5) Do you listen to music while writing? If so, what genre/playlist?

Classical!

6) Which category do you like best? Angst? Fluff? NSFW? Other?

I like a mix a fluff, NSFW and slice of life. I’m very much into the domestic life. 

7) Which category do you find most challenging to write?

NSFW. I have a very dirty mind but not much experience. Porn scares me, so I usually end up looking up the Kama Sutra online. Which is how Making Changes came to be. 

8) If you had to pick your favorite Choices book, which one would it be and why?

Pick for what? And out of all of them? I’m gonna have to go with Endless Summer. 

9) If your Choices LIs were real, which one (and only one) would you personally want to be with?

Liam. Asian Liam preferred but either one. There’s something about a man who will go down on you in a crowded opera house one moment but at the same time blush when you call him cute that is so appealing.  

10) Do you share any physical characteristics with your Choices MCs? Pics/Selfies optional 😊

Uh....I have dreads like my ATV MC. That’s about it....

11) Which MC do you share the most personality traits with?

Oh um....I’m the mom friend. But not to the extent that the Senior MC is. I’m that friend that’ll still be like “I told you so” but I’d help the fix it. I’m the perpetual DD. 

12) Which Choices character do you feel you have the best grasp of in terms of personality?

Sloane! I am Sloane. Sloane is me. Except I am not a computer/tech genius. I’ve got the awkward nerdy glasses wearing Black girl thing down though. 

13) What’s your favorite Choices pairing to write for?

Sinclaire and Angelina. Not just cause I’ve written for them the most but because I love the sullen and bubbly trope. 

14) What is a pairing(s) you hope to start writing for?

MC X Sol if we ever get more background for ATV

Annabelle X OC cause she deserves the world even if Angelina is spoken for. 

15) What do you hope to improve in your writing?

My characterization. 

16) Any pet peeves related to writing?

WRITER’S BLOCK!!!!! Though, to be fair, I haven’t been getting it as much recently. Because I’ve had other things to keep me busy. 

17) Are you inspired by any IRL experiences when you write? Care to share?

Not really. Most of the universes I write in aren’t relatable or wouldn’t translate well. 

18) Is there any particular piece of work you consider to be your ultimate writing goal? Something so amazing you hope one day you’ll be up to that standard?

Within the fandom? I really love @hellospunkiebrewster‘s work and a few others I can’t think of off the top of my head I’m sorry guys. 

Professionally? there’s so many I don’t have the space to list them all. 

19) Did/do you write for any other fandoms? If so which ones?

I write for the Lovestruck fandom on tumblr and a few other fandoms on Fanfiction.net.

20) In your spare time (when you’re not writing) what other hobbies do you pursue?

I read and work on my personal writing. I’m also still in University and spend most of my spare time either sleeping, eating, crying or working on lesson plans.

I’m tagging 

@boneandfur @flyawayboo @cocomaxley @coruscaret 

Sorry if you’ve already been tagged. If you don’t wanna play, no biggy. 

[ificouldlivemydaydream-blog]

Sister in the Glade (Minho x Reader) Part 2: Matchmaker

A/N: Sorry I can’t link Part 1 but it should be pretty easy to find seeing as this will only be the second fanfic ever I’ve written. And Sorry if it’s really bad and for mistakes.

Also sorry that this took ages to do I just moved so I’ve been unpacking and uninspired.

————————————————————————

“Hey Jessie” you call, climbing the watchtower to where you’d decided to have lunch together. You were super close to your identical twin sister, but you never got to spend time with her because while she was supposedly working (and by working I mean messing around) with Newt in the gardens. Her head popped up over the side and she looked down at you.

“Ya know, a normal person might use the ladder,” she said.

“Since when have I been normal?”

“Good point”

“So whatchya got, Y/N?”

“Good question,” you said as Jessica pulled your lunch out of the bag Fry had packed it in.

“Mac’n’cheese, apparently!”

“Yes! I’m so sick of the same sandwich every day.” Usually you would eat in the Maze with Minho, your running partner, and boyfriend. Speaking of which.

“Jess, when are you gonna ask Newt out?” You asked. “You guys are soooo cute together.”

“ I don’t know, I don’t want to ruin our friendship. Besides, there’s no way he likes me back.”

“Wouldn’t be so sure about that,” came a voice from behind you, causing you to choke on your mac’n’cheese.

“Oh my god, Minho!” You shouted, mouth still full of macaroni. “Don’t do that!” He just laughed, and kissed your forehead. You rolled your eyes as he sat down and helped himself to your mac’n’cheese. You swatted him away.

“Seriously, Jess. The guy’s head over heels for you.”

“He isn’t though!”

You looked at Minho and rolled your eyes in unison.

“Besides, how am I even supposed to do it?”

“Most people would start by walking over and saying hi.” Minho quipped. Jessica blushed as you shoved him of the side of the watch tower.

“Ow.” You looked over the side to see Minho swinging on a branch.

“Maybe next time don’t try to kill me?” He said.

“You’re fine.”

“No I’m not!” He said as He ran of to god knows where. Actually, probably to talk to Newt.

Next Morning

You and Minho has come up with a master plan. Newt and Jessica were perfect for each other, but as they refused to admit it, you had to take matters into your own hands. The two of you still had to run you’re route, though, so Winston and Zart were going to set up. You’d begged Alby for another day off, so you could do it, but he’d said no. You just had to hope for the best.

Time skip because I’m lazy

When you got back, the two of you immediately jumped into action. You ran off to find Jessica, while Minho went on a search for Newt. And of course you found them throwing tomatoes at each other in the gardens. You and Minho looked at each other like awwww.

“Hey, Jess, can I talk to you?”

“Uh, yeah, sure”

You pulled her aside.

“I’ve got to show you something, and I don’t want the boys to know about. Meet me in that clearing in the woods tonight at 8. You know, the one Min always takes me to?” With that, You ran off to yours and Minho’s room and collapsed on the bed, waiting. A second later, the door opened Minho strolled in. You leaped up. “Did ya get him to meet you?”

“Yep!”

“Yes! This is going perfectly!”You squealed. Minho looked at you.

“You’re so cute when you’re excited.” He said.

Then he kissed you. It was passionate, strong, what you lived for. You ran your hand through his hair. It was so soft, sleek-

Suddenly Zart and Winston barged in excited. “Guys we finished the- oh. Heyyyy guys. We interrupting-.”

“You could say that” Minho said, while you fell of the bed laughing at their expressions.

“Ever heard of knocking?” you rolled your eyes, still trying to hold back more laughter.

“Whatever, lets go check it out, Minnie.”

You left the Homestead, and started out across the field.

“ Race ya” I said, and took of sprinting straight for the deadheads. You beat Minho by a landslide, and nearly fall over laughing when he trips over a log.

“Oh my god, guys, it’s beautiful!”

Yet Another time skip

At eight o’clock, you and Minho are huddled up in the bushes, eyes on the clearing. You’d just finished setting up the picnic, and had found the best viewing spot, right by the pond.

You sat there whispering as Newt and Jess wandered into the clearing. They were both clearly confused as to why there was a picnic set up when they were supposed to meet people.

You watched as Newt picked up the envelope with the letter you’d written.

Dear Jess and Newt,

As you can tell this is probably not what you expected. And yes, this is for you. Enjoy!

Minho and Y/N

Jessica’s POV

I should have known this was what she was up to. But it looked like a great feast, and I’m not one to pass up free food. I scanned everything on the ground and quickly realized they’d done British and American food for me and Newt. Typical Y/ N. She’s not really great at subtlety. I sat down across from Newt and popped a strawberry in my mouth. I smiled at Newt.

“Have you ever had a Chocolate Orange?” He asked me.

“No, what’s that?”

“Exactly what it sounds like. Try one!” He tossed a foil ball in my direction. I opened it to reveal a chocolate ball, shaped like, well, an orange.

“You break off a piece, like this” he demonstrated.

It was the same as an orange, just chocolate. I took a bite.

“Oh my god, why would someone do this to chocolate?” I said.

“You don’t like it?”

“British food is so weird!”

“I think you mean delicious”

“Here, try this.” I tossed him a can of Root Beer, and watched as he took a drink.

“Eurg, that’s disgusting!” He said while I laughed.

“I guess were just going to have to agree to disagree here.” I said, shaking my head.

“What on earth is this?” Newt asked me.

“Oh my gosh, that’s monkey bread! I love that stuff!”

Newt eyed it suspiciously, fair enough since I told him Root Beer was amazing(which it is).

I ripped of a chunk and tossed it to him. He caught it in his mouth, and I burst out laughing.

“I’m gonna have to put a request with Fry, this stuff’s amazing.”

“Hang on, get up.” I instructed. He obeyed, and his blonde hair flew around as he did in the breeze. His hair... he was so cute...

“What exactly am I doing,” He asked, snapping me out of my daydream.

“Hold on, hold on,” I said, standing up with the monkey bread.

“Okay, you ready?”

“Yeah!”

I tossed the monkey bread over the blanket, for him to catch. And he did. He was good at it, too. Then I started to go a little faster, and it got crazy.

“Don’t waste the monkey bread!”he cried.

Then I threw one up high. I didn’t think he’d catch it, but he did! And then....

Newt’s POV

I guess I got a little too ambitious catching flying bread. Jessica threw one high up, and a caught it! However, I then tripped over the bowl of drinks, and fell... right on top of Jessica. I blushed, staring into her eyes... she was so beautiful... and so perfect... if only she could love me back.

“Sorry, love...”

“Oh for shuck’s sake just kiss already!”came a voice that could only have been Minho’s, followed by a large splash that could also only have been Minho, followed by a “Do you ever shut up!?” YN. Definitely YN.

I looked back to Jessica. And I kissed her. Suddenly I pulled back.

“I-I’m Sorry-I shouldn’t have-“ she cut me off with another kiss. “Newt, I’ve been waiting for you to do that for 6 months”

“Really?”

“Yeah”

“Sorry I kept you waiting, then. Now, I think there are a couple of shanks who need dealing with, who are possibly in the pond”

Your POV. Sort of.

You saw Newt fall on Jessica, holding your breath. They whispered a couple things, then Newt started to get up.

“Oh for shuck’s sake just kiss already!” shouted Minho as you shoved him into the pond.

“Do you ever shut up?” And they kissed. You squealed with delight, as Minho climbed out of the pond, drenched.

“Did I miss it?”

“You totally missed it.”

“Oh come on, YN” he whined.

“Oh shuck,” you squealed as Newt and Jess came running toward you.

“Run!” Luckily, the two of you were the fastest people in the Glade, so it wasn’t all that difficult for you to get away. They chased you into the field, though, where there were a ton of people still milling around. They stopped, still holding hands, and a million people bombarded them.

“Sooooo... Newt? Jess?” Fry. “What’s the story.” Newt looked at Jessica.

“Well? Jess? Will you be my girlfriend?”

“Yes, Newt. Always.”

You shrieked with delight, and Minho lifted you on his shoulders to greet the Glade’s newest couple. You were so happy for your sister. So happy that she had finally got what she’d fantasized about since you all came up in the Box.