#if i change. idk. maybe I'll be better. could get worse too but either way i only see myself coming out stronger

[jinxessticktogether]

10 days in and i truly believe this will be my last year on earth

either i die some way or another, or i become an entirely different person

[kuschelkissen]

So uh. Episode 6, huh? I mean, I knew I'd be disappointed when I saw that it was only 26 minutes long, and that fear became true. I absolutely think this ep would've been A LOT better if it had had time to BREATHE.

Like. No scene was really long enough to have actual impact? Even those that I liked were just at least 1-2 minutes too short.

The photo shooting? Cute! Love that Lu Guang could just lift Cheng Xiaoshi like that but didn't account for the change in center of gravity. Would've loved it a lot more if it had been longer, though?? Give me more of that wholesomeness, give me some more of the bonding with Xia Fei! (Cxs has a picture of both of them as his chat background??)

The scene with Wang Qing? The beginning was OK, I guess (wtf was that story Vein told her?? It would be funny if it was his own lol), but as soon as the mum took over, I felt like the rug was pulled under me?? It was NOT serious at all, and while it's kinda 'nice' to see that he apparently has his silly side from her, there was NO emotional impact, at least not for me. And again, it could've worked, if the scene had just. Been. Longer!! Give him time to process that this is his mum!? Give him time to be angry at her! Like he gave a whole speech to his dad, and he didn't even know it was him, so his mum should've gotten it worse??

I also high key hate her more than the dad?? Like?? Idk where she is in this moment, but she has to be at some place in the future to be able to dive back, but even if she were just 10 min into the future from here, at this point she was gone from her son's life for a decade and she's behaving like she just left for a week of vacation or so???

I feel so sorry for Cheng Xiaoshi... and the poor loyal soul is STILL waiting!!

The talk of Lu Guang and Vein also was... a bit underwhelming tbh? So you're telling me Vein asks him "Why do you look at me with murderous intent lol", Lu Guang answers "I have my reasons", and Vein then just leaves it at that? 💀

(Do you think Lu Guang said the Detective set the forest on fire? Since it was the same that Vein said and somehow that answer fits him)

The fight with Wang Qing was also... well. The fight was OK, BUT WHY DID SHE GO AND GET THE DAMN BOOK?! wtf?

And of course, the sweetie line was said to her 🙄 biggest letdown, but I expected it.

And then. Uh. What happened?

Does Lu Guang have another power? Is he able to remote-kill people? 😅 why did Wang Qing's eyes glow blue?? Does Vein's real name have anything to do with this??? And why does he (seem to) know that this is Lu Guang's doing????

ACK so many questions. Kinda wondering what that means for Lu Guang and how he will end up...? Like. Killing someone in cold blood isn't really a hero kind of thing, so I wonder if he will get punished for that 🥲

Either way, the whole death scene, or rather the aftermath of it, felt short again. Not even a real grieving moment for poor Xia Fei 😭

The kitty hat is back?? How??

Xia Fei telling them that he'll get the one who killed his boss, oh well, I guess we will see him again, but not as a friend anymore 🥲 i mean, that was to be expected, but... still 😭

I guess my biggest disappointment was finding out that this is the current timeline because wtf. So we just ignore that Cheng Xiaoshi didn't know that he could dive by himself in s1. Okay, cool cool.

Xia Fei disappearing in the end, uh, I guess I'll interpret that as him going underground on his hunt for the killer of his beloved boss. (Why did the other guy disappear? Who knows. Maybe Xia Fei finally snapped... (was that one of the guys that tried to drown him? Didn't have time to check, but he looked similar? Need to check the credits for names maybe))

And then Vein did a Bella Swan impression, I guess.

So who's the one with the fake death ability, since director Li apparently confirmed that Vein didn't have powers in the Yingdu arc? Is it Wang Qing, since the code was on her id? But how is Lu Guang involved then? ARGH.

Tldr:

Too much stuff happened in not enough time. The episode would've profited IMMENSELY from just 10 more minutes, though more would've been better imo.

Cheng Xiaoshi's parents are awful. Even if in the future we will learn that they had a good reason to leave him alone without a word, the way they were portrayed is not on their favour 💀

Looking forward to seeing the hot headed trio again in s3, but I'm also scared of it. (Did Vein have any agency in his fake death? Because I don't think so. And if that's the case, how did he come back? We all know the "came back wrong" trope etc, so what if he came back as Liu Xiao's puppet? Hah. There's potential for drama here, but at this point I'll just not get my hopes up lol)

So. I guess now the waiting begins 💀

[zukosdualdao]

i promise i'll do better (i will soften every edge)

zutara month, day 11: "mom and dad are fighting again", @zutaramonth

summary: kya interrupts an argument between katara and zuko.

warnings: reference to (implied) abuse/domestic violence, wrt to ozai's treatment of ursa.

other notes: lyrics from 'light' by sleeping at last. don't ask me how timelines work idk. yes there is a zutara daughter named kya here (separate entity from the lok kya.) she wears her hair in a southern water tribe braid and zuko calls her firecracker and it’s very cute. not really relevant but in this story i’m imagining she’s a nonbender.

“Katara, you know I agree with you.”

Across from him, she crosses her arms, and Zuko sighs. The throne room is empty, save for the two of them, and Zuko feels trapped, claustrophobic in the walls. They’ve made a point of opening up windows in the castle, letting light filter in, getting rid of old, haunting portraits, and making something new and beautiful together. 

But the throne room doesn’t have windows to open. On a day like today, at times like these, it’s all too easy to remember the staunchly severe figures both his grandfather and father made here, walling themselves as they did behind high, towering fires.

Maybe they shouldn’t be having this talk here. It's too late now, but something to note for the future.

“It doesn’t seem like it.”

“Of course I want to increase reparations soon,” he insists. “That’s the plan, and that’s always been the plan. But we have to be smart about this,” he tries to remind her. “We can’t do it all at once, or people will try to block—”

“Oh, so now you’re all about thinking things through! Those instincts could have served you well years ago, you know.”

Zuko closes his eyes and runs a hand through his hair. The words are biting, but it’s nothing he can’t handle. Things have been tense again in the Fire Nation lately. Better than ever before in some ways. Worse in others.

The first years after the war were a turbulent time in the Fire Nation—riots from those not happy with the changing of the old guard, strikes from workers contesting the need to pay reparations to the other nations, whispers of loyalists to the old regime plotting to get either Ozai or Azula back on the throne. A few assassination attempts, all handled efficiently but reason enough for concern.

Ten years past the end of the war, though, and things have started to stabilize. The plan has always been to increase reparations once the Fire Nation’s economy has improved, and Zuko intends to keep his word. But part of the system he’s trying to build means that there are representatives from all over the Fire Nation, as well as the other nations, and they each have their own agendas. It’s a tricky thing to navigate; he has to take all of their concerns seriously, of course, but also act according to his own principles. To live up to the promises he made years ago, and that he’ll continue to make for years to come.

Katara looks at him with a combative raise of her eyebrow.

It’s taken a strain on their relationship. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, they’re both a little too good at lashing out, both a little too good at saying the thing that will hurt, even if they immediately regret it.

But usually, by the end of the day if not before, they can remember they’re on the same side, for all that their perspectives might differ.

“Can we pause?” Zuko asks of her, and her features soften. “Just—try to hear each other out? Katara, I understand…” but before he can finish, the large door to the throne room creaks, and Zuko watches as one of the serving maids guides their daughter into the room.

“See?” Kya points to them, eyes wide with alarm and lip quivering. “Mom and Dad are fighting again.”

Something in Zuko’s stomach drops. He doesn’t want her to worry about this. About them. He’d had to worry about his parents, to worry about his mother, Ozai looming over her, and sometimes Zuko was pretty sure he saw fear in her eyes where there should have been love, and then—

She’d been gone. And he’d drawn his own conclusions, quietly and with little reason to question them.

“She coudn’t sleep,” Hina says apologetically, and Zuko only waves a hand. “She was asking for you both.”

“Thank you for bringing her.”

“Oh, sweetie, don’t worry,” Katara says, walking over and lifting Kya up onto her hip. “Things are just tense right now,” she says, with a guilty sideways look to Zuko, who smiles weakly. “It’s not anything for you to worry about.”

“Promise?”

Zuko walks over to join the huddle and places a kiss atop her dark hair, which is twisted in a braid. “Promise, little firecracker. Mom and Dad are just trying to figure out the right way to handle something.” He meets Katara’s eyes and tries to impress the sincerity of his words on her. “But we will figure it out. We always do.”

Katara smiles at him and uses the hand not keeping Kya secure on her hip to touch the small of Zuko’s back in a gentle gesture. The three of them stand huddled together, and for the first time in… weeks, probably, Zuko feels his body relax, just a little.

He smiles back, a little exhausted but a lot relieved—to have Katara with him, there to both challenge and support him, to have Kya with them, creative and funny and quick as a whip as she is, and at only age four. He’s glad to have his family.

They are okay. Right now, they are okay. Whatever else may come.

[dual-domination]

I was reading the most recent chapter of In endless mist and rain, and I reread the tags for possible updates, but so far Weilanxie doesn't appear listed as a relationship, just its three side/inner ships. Avid fan here, I'll continue following the fic regardless of how the ships form or break up, but out of curiosity: does the lack of the Weilanxie tag indicate that there won't be a polyamorous relationship between them? Because despite the most recent events, I don't think this configures a love triangle in any way and the fic doesn't have the tag either. Can you talk a little about what to expect from the ships?

Even though the answer doesn't contain explicit spoilers, some parts are plot revelations in some way, so long text under the cut.

This is actually a very complicated question. Does this fic have polyamorous relationship? Off screen, if you count V shaped Xiao Hua/Hei Xiazi/Zhang Qiling, yet it’s only hinted that Xiao Hua is part of this relationship somehow/more than a friend, than yes - off screen because Xiao Hua doesn’t appear in any scene along with Xiazi and Xiaoge so far and as both Xiazi and Xiaoge are my characters, I’m not planning on having any scene like that, so it’s more a ‘their relationship may or may not be polyamorous/probably is platonic’ - is left for the reader’s taste and interpretation. Why am I including them in the answer of an ask about Weilanxie? Because Idk if having or not polyamory in a fic in general is the issue here or not.

We do have one(1) main character that is, in fact, polyamorous (the label never appears on screen, but the identity is there). One of them is not, like, definitely. We (me and @tazzy-ace) noticed a while ago that this character has the opposite feelings of a polyamorous person, yet he circumstantially finds himself in a very different mindset of a standard (western) monogamous person. I treasure the way I build my characters and I’m not willing to change him, so maybe he’ll end up being the the impeding factor of actual polyamorous relationship happening (or being the endgame here). We don’t have A THING outlined, we write out of vibes, this is how we made this fic work, so we don’t really know the ending of this. We have the goal of bringing a happy ending, and considering that this is a romantic story in the first place, a happy ending includes at least one ship staying together - will this happen? Maybe not, maybe the best ending for them will be to stay all apart (Eh, probably this won’t be the ending skjjsskj this is me being dramatic, but it’d be more likely to happen than the 3 of them ending in a polyamorous relationship). But what about a V shaped one? Not impossible, I’d say, exactly because the characters and the vibes both me and Deputy Chief have when writing new content for this fic is what decides the plot. So I don’t believe we’ll have the Weilanxie and the Happy Ending tags until the day we write the last chapter for real to know.

About the Love Triangle - elements of traditional love triangles such as rivalry, unrequited love and jealousy are not present in the story, we could say that no, it’s not a suitable tag/label. But in the sense that one of the characters will be somehow romantically involved with the two other ones for a while - which doesn't exactly constitute cheating, but I can't explain further without giving spoilers - so yes, somehow you could say that a love triangle exists. 

What to expect from the ships? Each one, you mean? Everything gets much worse before it gets any better, with all of them. With some, things get much worse more than once - we’re working hard to provide more Angst than we already had in this 125k posted.

Weilan and Shenxie share the place under the spotlight when it comes to ‘screentime’ and relationship development (or ruining relationship too kjssjjk). We didn’t make any of the relationships simple and if you thought that romance between one of the Guardian mains + any grave robber from DMBJ is already unlikely to happen/hard to develop with them being their canon selves, for canon reasons, believe me, we made it even harder. You can expect pain and smut. More pain than smut, I’m sorry. (Yet this fic is rated E and properly tagged about its sexual content, there’s not even one sex scene that happens for the sake of smut in itself, all sex is contextual and meaningful, no matter how horny it is, we put extra efforts in the emotional part of this).

Polyamory to be depicted as realistic, is a delicate thing, and as I said above, one of our main characters is not polyamorous, one of them is (and the third one ehh I won’t reveal rn), so you can expect to see both sides of it: someone comfortable about how he feels and how he sees his (supposed/potential) relationships, as well as someone who’s confused, trying his best, but in the end, really uncomfortable about the possibilities. No side/identity is portrayed as being better than the other, or as being more correct than the other. But the ‘polyamory is the solution for love triangles’ is definitely not what we want here. Because polyamory can’t be forced, being polyamorous is NOT a decision (if you’re queer, you know what I mean). At the same time we’ll have the picture of a polyamorous person being happy in a monogamous relationship (or with only one partner, if you prefer), we’ll have someone that doesn’t have as lifegoal a romantic relationship (except if it’s WITH ONE VERY SPECIFIC PERSON). Could he be read as aro? No. (But you can read him like that, if you want). His lack of romantic interest in general is part of his upbringing, the part of his culture that his life is based upon, and some more circumstances, but it’s not an identity. Could he be read as ace? A bit, but not really. Same explanation about the aro identity. We had long discussions about how these labels are useful HERE, but they wouldn’t be the case depending on a person’s culture and upbringing.

So yeah, this character that is not polyamorous won’t be labeled as this or that, he’s just himself, that’s all. I’ll leave to the readers to see what they want to see there in him (and please, don’t try to push on me - an ace and married person - this harmful idea that aro and/or ace people can’t/shouldn’t be in a romantic/sexual relationship).

All that said, this fic is not about polyamory, like some of my other fics and several of Tazzy's other fics. That's not part of the central themes, it's the identity of one of the main characters and may or may not influence (for better or worse) their relationships in the future.

[bee-named-alex]

Ok so ep7 of iwtv s2. One of the notes i wrote down as i was watching was "fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck. nope. just nope. jesus fucking christ don't you dare do this" so you can imagine how i felt. Spoilers.

Ok ok. So I'm so fine rn you don't even know how fine I am. I didn't cry even though I expected to, I was more like empty, which might be even worse (read: better) lol

I'll start with a few quick thoughts, before I get into the bigger things. For the first like 10 minutes I couldn't stop thinking about how great Lestat (Sam) looks like im sorry. Him uncovering the homophobe's filth back at him? 10/10.

The actors are just so- perfect I have to say. Like we don't know what's true and I probably shouldn't believe anything just to be safe, but I found myself believing them everything. Also the whole time I wanted to hate the audience but they think it's just a play and if I, with all the other knowledge, find myself drawn to believe obvious lies, it's not really their fault that they do too.

Let's start with Lestat then. I was so glad to finally see the "real" (not really, even Sam said so) Lestat again

I haven't read the books (and even if i did i know that they change things) so idk how they made him testify because I just don't think he would. Maybe they tortured and forced him, "gave him a choice", maybe he was planning on saving them. Or maybe he just actually was out for vengeance i just don't know.

"You cannot script a hurricane" yeah you can't I loved that him going of script threw Santiago off so much, lmao (like he literally said "I'm about to violate the 5th law" aka kill Lestat I love that. Lestat is such a little shit.)

And when he went of script he told the truth (or as close to truth as we got during the trial i feel). Yes he also did break the laws. I like that he didn't let Santiago manipulate the audience to sympathize with him (don't get me wrong, it's not that he didn't want them to sympathize with him, he just wanted to manipulate them himself lol)

His and Louis' first eye contact (at around 11 minutes I believe) literally broke my heart.

When he talks about the loneliness I can't help but feel sorry for him.

I found it honestly hilarious when he was recounting their whole history backwards, like bitch please, it literally happened the other way arounf. Idk why it was just so funny how he was blatantly lying.

But then when they fully revisited the scenes from last season my jaw dropped.

So firstly Claudia's turning... I am so confused by it. Because it's obviously different from what we saw last time - and the scene itself is so moving. I mean Louis begging Lestat on his knees like he's some god and trying himself and failing and Lestat doing it for him even tho he knows it's a terrible idea. But the confusing part - in Dubai Louis rn says that Lestat's trial version is better than his and that he didn't want to believe it at the trial but now he knows it to be more true.

But like last season, so like 2 weeks ago, he told his own version?? Did he not realize until now, that he's talking about the trial, that he doesn't believe it? Did he lie on purpose but change his mind, is he lying now? Does Armand have to do something with it again? Tf is happening.

And then the fight. Again it's different but this time I remember that we didn't actually see this part of the fight so it could technically be true?? I don't really know rn how big of a part we didn't see last time. But maybe the truth about the fight is somewhere in the middle.

Amazing scene nonetheless, again, if I didn't know shit, I too would 100 % believe Lestat to be the victim. Up until the drop, that is extreme either way.

And Lestat going fully of script here, and his tears and his regret and his voice trembling and I'm sure that he means it. It wasn't a part of the performance. Sam Reid, the actor that he is, fuck.

It is just wo so great, like these new versions we get by Louis telling the story of Lestat showing him the story (which Louis already told us very differently) and on top of that anything could be misremembered. Or edited Armand. Unreliable narration at it's best.

Ok so Armand. "I could not prevent it" Fuck you. No sorry I might be a little harsh but yea no actually I'm not.

First the thing with Nicki and how he was "helped"... Armand got rid of him to have Lestat to himself and now he's doing the same with Claudia and Madeleine to have Louis.

Him having to watch is brutal and I believe his emotions but not his words. It was terrible to watch sure and painful and he didn't want it to happen... but he still sold them out?

He saves Louis. And it's amazing, the fear for his love in his face as he does it. He says it took all his strength and sure. But he could've saved them all. He can literally stop time. Ok maybe not but I for sure think he could've done it.

And rn in Dubai he's trying to convince himself or Louis or Daniel or maybe everyone that it wasn't his fault. But Daniel seems to not believe him (and calls his shit out a few times, good for him). And he's also making Lestat be more of a villain then he is I think (he would not do nothing when watching Claudia's death I'm sorry, that's his daughter.)

Claudia and Madeleine. My heart broke. They were doomed from the begginning. It didn't matter if they fought or not, it didn't matter their love or that they were right, it didn't matter that Madeleine was innocent and Claudia justified (maybe) in her crimes.

It didn't matter that Claudia was right -"We poisoned him, he's fine now. I can also cry and say I'm sorry"- because yes this was exactly true.

Claudia's final request (and Lestat giving it to her and then looking almost proud?? after she says it) and promise of death to all the people who doomed her and Madeleine.

And her rage. "It was never about me" and that's also true and yet she dies because of it. Tragic.

Madeleine's "My coven is Claudia" is just pure love and again it's what dooms her and again it's fucking tragic.

Watching the execution I couldn't breath really. Hurts still. And I don't believe Armand's version of the story though. Not that he tried but couldn't save them, not that Lestat didn't even try.

Louis, poor Louis. Living with guilt and sorrow isn't easy and he's living through it again now. And he can't even trust his own memories. I need him happy. He's not gonna be but I need him to be.

Also his live burial?? like fuck. That was vile. Like we know that he is fine now but still.

Previews. Santiago will die and if he doesn't I will kill him. Louis is a pyromaniac (yay), I'm ready for the whole coven to burn.

From the trailers we didn't yet see the bookshelves falling on Daniel so it has to be next episode. Also we didn't yet see the Loustat hug and I don't think it's what happens after the trial, especially not with Louis coming to kill Lestat, so that would mean it has to have happened later (Dubai maybe? I mean we do need Lestat's side of the story next season so we could get him now.)

[catkin-morgs-kookaburralover]

writing poetry sometimes feels like you gotta cut yourself open to express it idk smear all your organs all over the page and hope somebody else reads something beautiful. is that like divination the way it's expressed in various places and things? I dunno. poetry never slides off your skin like water off a duck's back. it's from within I think. sometimes you have to tear yourself apart to get at the words and sometimes it just wells up from within and gushes out. always from somewhere deep inside. sometimes it's difficult and horrible and painful but the alternative would be worse. sometimes it's from sheer joy that must overflow into words. I think that's beautiful personally. skin splitting from joy. it happens, I think, to us all at some point. or maybe I'm just a creature of extremes. maybe that online test I did because a friend recommended it is true. it said my symptoms were high. I don't know. maybe it is true, maybe it's not. I read a book once where there was a character named Nathan Hill-and-Dale, and while I'm not nearly as extreme as he was portrayed, in my extremes, I know I'm a fairly volatile person. funny, for most people who see me IRL seem to think that I'm fairly calm. nope, I'm a volcano. watch out, even when I'm apparently calm I might blow up one way or the other. one of my residents' family members said today that I was young and bubbly and she was glad to see it because happiness is the prerogative of the young. a part of me wished I told her. I have actively tried to kill myself once; I have come extremely close to the same actions countless times including yesterday; I would sooner hurt myself than others; if I had my own choice I would simply starve. of course I didn't tell her. sometimes I think I'll never get better. at this point I would consider it a very high chance that I will either die by suicide or end up in hospital following an attempt. not now, of course. but despite my fierce love for my course it has stress associated with it and I think that it's very likely that no psych help on earth would fix my mental health enough for that not to be an option mentally in this short time. I think it's possible to recover from all of the things I struggle with. God help me, I hope it is. the real question is whether I will survive long enough to recover from them. and the answer? I know not. I was reminded of a past interaction with the boy today, where he called my name - I turned - his grandfather, a photographer, was waiting to see if he could get a decent photo, for we were at a church conference and he was trying to get photos everywhere. they were laughing. I could not help but laugh. that memory is tainted now, for he would not look at me now, let alone try to pull such a stunt again. I don't blame him. I don't blame anyone for it. I wonder what would happen if I blocked all my friends on discord; who would seek me out? part of me hopes people would, another part hopes they would not. sometimes I just want to be left alone to curl up and die. it would be easier. so much easier than living, and living, and living. I tried writing poetry just now. it felt like trying to cut myself open, I couldn't get the words out. it only made me feel rather wild. I'm desperate for change, for something. something. what is that something? I don't know. did you know I'm a sadist? I would not in a public place express the thoughts that led me to that conclusion. but I am. I wish I wasn't. there's an obvious solution to that. quick, and easy. so easy. too easy. I tried writing poetry, and then instead of writing anything coherent, I wrote this.

[mooglestiltzkin]

lucia: kirsi is... difficult. no one knows that better than me, believe me. she was raised by a man who could never tell her no and never bothered to teach her that her actions have consequences. she has no experience in questioning assumptions or thinking thing through before she acts. but she and quinn did save me, reimund. without her having done what she did, i would be dead, or worse.

hm, hard to disagree with lucia here, tbh. the problem is, right, that kirsi will listen, eventually, but lucia's not wrong in wanting one no to be enough -- the general trend is, kirsi and lucia will fight, kirsi has to go away, think it through herself, (maybe regret) and then acquiesce. which isn't what lucia wants, when it comes to lucia and wanting respect and autonomy to be given straight away. after all, kirsi still hasn't budged on calling modeus 'modeus', but has referred to modeus as 'the iron kind'.

i still think kirsi is more conscientious than lucia gives credit for, bc kirsi is kind of resigned to the fact that lucia always holds her at arm's length, unaware of the reasons why, and she does try to test those boundaries to see if they can get closer or not. of course lucia doesn't see is that way.

but to say that she's never been taught that actions have consequences. i kind of think that kirsi, more so than lucia, is aware that they are being pushed apart, that kirsi's continuous screw ups are kind of reaping their own consequences, she knows she goes too far sometimes. then again, ricon is targeting kirsi much more than lucia, and as much as kirsi does trust lucia and does a leap of faith that freeing quinn will save lucia, the sister's relationship is rocky.

and, also just because you know something, doesn't make it easy to stop doing it tbh.

listen, i like kirsi a lot bc she reminds of wakka from final fantasy x, and how his prejudice towards to al bhed, and how the party always kind of had to grimace as he preached his anti-al bhed rhetoric, but like. it's kind of irritating to read as the story is in progress? the whole 'oh but it's the background'. i feel like i know for a fact that i'll prolly mind this less once kirsi ~redeems~ herself and changes under the eyes of other people, but as a reader watching it slowly happen, and unaware of what the final shape of the arc is, it's a little infuriating, and anxiety inducing. i'm just saying the first couple of times i played ffx i hated wakka, bc he listened to the church about how awful the al bhed were. and kirsi, first has her background to consider, but also, just a victim of being played like a puppet by ricon. and it's just. idk. i need patience i don't have.

and yet, it is due to kirsi's impulsiveness, that lucia got saved! kirsi's quick thinking did save lucia! and had kirsi discussed with either ricon or reimund might have delayed things much more. bc i don't know if reimund would have agreed with kirsi! i do think ricon would have tortured quinn first tho! not that kirsi necessarily knows that!

so the impulsivity isn't all bad! it's just. unfortunately inconvient most of the time!

[my-castles-crumbling]

Anon Advice Asks - February 22

she/they anon (new), 180 anon (new), stag anon, perchance anon, anti jegulus anon, junior anon

She/they anon

hi cas!!

i had asked you to use she/they pronouns for me a while back, and i honestly didn't really feel anything being referred to by either? it didn't really matter to me but idk how to take it? like is that an affirmative or not bc now i'm confused

i also think i'm androgynous but can someone who's androgynous use she/they and not really be comfortable being referred to as a guy even if they prefer to present as masc?

Hi!

You can use whatever pronouns you want, regardless of how you look or how you present! If you want to use she/they then you absolutely can! I honestly can't tell you what pronouns are the best for you, but maybe asking a few supportive friends to try them out could help? That way it feels more real, you know?

Wishing you luck <3

________________

180 anon

I need advice on smth, I'm sorry if I caused an inconvenience.

I have a love hate relationship with my parents, it's like one moment they're all caring but then they do a complete 180 and are the exact opposite.

I didn't copy the rest for trigger reasons but yeah hon, this is abuse and its not okay. Just because someone cares doesn't mean that they can't also be abusive. Do you have a trusted adult like a teacher, coach, doctor, or family friend you can tell? You don't deserve to be treated like this <3

____________

Stag Anon

Hi :))

It's me again

I think I'll try to tell them

I'm just worried, I don't want them to worry over me, which is kinda ironic

and they are good friends, ik they would be there for me if I asked(which is kinda why I'm so hesitant)

and as for it being harmful to me, i don't know, it sometimes is, sometimes isn't

it's like I get my good days but then it goes right back to being bad

Next time I'm not feeling great, I'll try to tell them

would it be alright if I drafted a message to them and sent you an ask to have you read over it?

thank you cas <3

-🦌

Absolutely you can send me a draft of the message! Remember, you deserve people to care about you like you care about them. It's okay to ask for help <3

________________

Perchance anon

It’s perchance anon again, and hopefully this will be the last time you’ll have to hear about my silly little gender struggle. I’m feeling pretty comfortable with the idea of being gender fluid or demigender (I haven’t chosen one yet, idk if I have to pick one?). I was a little worried it would be less valid if I didn’t want to come out, especially considering I’m only 16 right now and I’m in a VERY homophobic/transphobic town/living situation. I’m already out as bi and get enough shit for it at school but I’m able to keep those comments from really getting to me but I know if I came out again it would be wayyy worse. Maybe that makes me a coward of sorts but I can live with that I think. I think this can just be something I hold in my heart, like a little secret I have with myself. Considering I don’t really mind which pronouns are used for me I don’t think it’ll be too hard to keep it to myself and maybe I’ll tell someone one day🤷🏻‍♀️. Anyway, thank you so much for all of your help! Maybe I’ll give you a little update in the future if anything changes!❤️

Hi!

It absolutely doesn't make you less valid at all, and you have every right to come out in your own time (or not at all). I really hope that someday you're in a place where you're comfortable enough to share your whole self with people, but until then I'm here for you <3

_________

Junior anon

Uh hi

So I'm kind of... jealous? of my friend / junior. she's one year younger but my other friend who's supposedly closer to her puts more effort into her than me. She's more willingly to pull out all the stops for my junior than me. Both my junior and I had shitty experiences of being ditched by friends and hated by people. For me, my friend was like "Oh no don't worry it'll get better." For my junior? No, just that won't do. She got her a camera. Because my junior said she wanted it one time. And it's not even part of her birthday gift. My friend said she did something for me when that happened, but that was part of my birthday gift. How is that fair? I put in effort to be nice to both and get them stuff and she prefers my junior over me. Is that a valid reason to be jealous?

And I feel like my other friends are drifting apart and cutting me off and planning to leave. So I keep going from seeing them in the worst way possible to seeing them in a good way and that's annoying me. And I can't be good enough and they're distancing me. I feel like I'm only there to be a source of laughter. And they keep making me feel stupid and childish and incompetent. And school is so so so so stressful too so I don't know what to do. I don't know who else to talk to because I know it's not valid to feel like that so. Yeah.

Thanks for reading this and have an amazing day, I really really appreciate you being a safe space for so many people <33

Hi <3

I think your feelings are absolutely valid- all feelings are valid! I completely understand why you're feeling that way. It sucks to not feel like the first choice. Are your friends the type of people that would be willing to listen if you tried to calmly talk to them about it? Maybe like if you sat them down and shared how you're feeling?

If not, maybe it's time to find some new people. You don't have to leave your old friends, but you can still branch out, you know? You're allowed to look for people who care about you and who make you feel loved <3

Also I think it might be a good idea for you to talk to an adult about this. I want you to feel happy and good about yourself and I think you might need some help to feel better.

I'm sending love and I want you to know that you deserve love and to feel good about yourself <3

_________

Anti Jegulus anon

Hi Cas! Anti Jegulus anon again.

I thought about what you said, and I’d say I’m 100% sure that I don’t mind James with other men, really. But maybe you’re right, and it’s more about the fact that I don’t really like Regulus as a character. Not because of what he stands for (I love canon Regulus, or at least the bits we know of him), but I don’t like fanon Regulus. I won’t specify why because I don’t want to offend anyone who loves him, but I really don’t like him.

However, I feel like my biggest issue is that Regulus is Sirius's brother, and I hate the idea of James dating him. After everything Sirius suffered because of his family, James dating his brother just doesn’t sit right with me. (That said, I really respect people who love this ship. it’s just my personal feelings.)

So yeah, it’s definitely that, and also the fact that the ship is everywhere, which gets really annoying for me. But at the same time, it makes me sad because there are so many fics that look SO good, but I just can’t read them because I can’t stand the ship. It’s not like I haven’t tried, I’ve read multiple long Jegulus centric fics, but they just aren’t for me. I just wish so badly that I could enjoy them.

I really feel bad for people who don’t like Wolfstar because they’re probably more present in the fandom than any other ship. If I’m struggling with Jegulus, I can’t even imagine how they feel.

But yeah, I just wanted to say that, ramble a little, get these feelings off my chest, and thank you for being so sweet last time! I hope you’re having an amazing day or night. 💕

Hi!

I think you're absolutely allowed to have those feelings- it's okay to not like the ship because of the best friend's brother dynamic! I can totally see where you're coming from with that too. Have you tried drarry or dramione fics? I know that's not marauders but I've heard there are some AMAZING fics with them that might make you happy!

Sending love!

[codycoyote008]

I've been feeling pretty anxious lately, and I'm not really sure why. I dunno what it is but I feel like I ward people off or something, somehow. I've never really had people just come up to talk with me, since I was little, so it's not really new, but nowadays I feel like it's something wrong with me. I'm sick today and in general just tend to be kind of nervous about nothing at all, but I dunno. I'm feeling really bad this morning, I can't really sleep or anything and I just, don't feel all that good. It's kinda silly haha.

Putting this under a cut because it's just anxiety ranting and it's really long. Kind of existential I think idk. I don't like time as a concept, or at least how fast it moves, and that freaks me out a lot. I guess I kind of touch on the limited feeling that comes with time too. Idk don't read this if you're not in a good state or you're easily triggered by stuff, I don't want this to freak people out. I'm bad with TWs I'm sorry :( half of the stuff I said I'm not even sure what it would qualify as at this rate

[Edit from after first posting this]

I'll probably figure something out, I dunno. Maybe I need to reach out and chat with people more through games and stuff. I mean I don't do that for a reason it scares the heck outta me but the whole "yeah I'm too much of a weenie let's not talk to people lol" thing probably isn't helping my case haha. Maybe I should involve myself with other family more so I'm off my phone more often. We could watch movies or something idk. We have movies. I haven't really caught up with a lot of them, that could be fun. We can't really go out without spending money we probably don't have, but I guess maybe when I start working and we do have a little more?? I dunno. I'm feeling better at least. It's not all sitting there in my head like some anxiety-dread spaghetti. That's nice. or, um, I dunno, maybe if i do type too dry and it freaks people out I can figure out how to change that?? I've been trying but idk maybe there's some secret trick I haven't figured out

Obviously I wanna talk to people, but I'm too nervous to reach out and feel like I'm burdening someone else if they don't wanna talk, but nobody really, approaches me, either. I'm making myself sick over it, is the issue, getting all anxious and worried over nothing and thinking of scenarios that don't exist. I mean I'm sick anyways, but I'm making it worse. I know I should probably get off the phone and shut my brain up for a while, but it's kind of the only way I can shut my head up haha. I didn't want to post anything about this or vent at all, I prefer to keep those issues to myself and save them for therapy when I'm an adult and can more easily work it all out, but I'm not an adult yet and I'm not working it out alone tonight. I can't even place what exactly is making me anxious because everything is.

I've never really been popular, like ever. I got 200 subscribers on YouTube at some point and then it quickly dropped, and I've never really been sure how to make it work at all and there's not really a guaranteed way to make that happen anyways. I feel like I'm unapproachable in some way and I don't know it, and that makes me uncomfortable. I want to talk and chat and ramble about the things I like to other people, but I'm not one to make the first move even if it's to keep a conversation going.

Maybe if i made more stuff and it was all higher quality, or if I rambled less, or maybe if i branched out to other interests, i'm not sure. But i can't force myself to work faster, I can't really do multiplayer most of the time so that's of the table, and my computer's not really meant for streaming or anything, it's kind of slow and really basic but we can't really afford new parts right now haha, I don't get out much outside of when we go shopping, and even if I could we can't really stay out long most of the time. and still, it's not like folks are just gonna randomly talk to me then, either, that's not really how much of anything works.

i dunno. It helps a little to just talk about it into the void that is the internet. i don't really know what I'm saying or what all of this is about, just that every second i try to sleep my heart starts racing again over nothing at all. Maybe I'm just lonely, I am an extrovert, so not talking with people for a long time probably isn't good on the brain, but heck, how am I supposed to start a conversation? i don't know what people want to hear, and I feel like I make people uncomfortable when I do talk to them. I probably don't, it's probably juat anxiety, but what if I do? what if all the stupid, silly mistakes I made as a kid have followed me around all this time and people can just sense it? that's just silly.

I don't really know what I'm saying, anyways. i feel like I'm not meant to talk to people and like I don't really click regardless of who it's with, even if I really enjoy talking with them, it always seems to lull and the socialization dies out. It's always happened eventually, it got worse when everything kind of fell apart in 2020 yes, but it's still always been there.

I know a lot of this is me freaking myself out over nothing. That's just a given, I've had anxiety for longer than I can remember, I was diagnosed at a super young age, and whoops turns out I have ADHD and autism too, and who knows what else, disorder runs in the family. I know it'll get better once I start working and have less time to be on my phone or computer all day, but that also means I'll have less time for games or art or things I genuinely enjoy. I want to be a kid again, I want to go back in time and keep myself from saying every stupid thing I said and doing every dumb weird thing I did, but that's not possible and I hate it. I don't want time to pass, I don't want tomorrow to come, I don't want the people I love to get older or leave, I just want to be here and exist but I can't do that if I'm alone sitting here in my own thoughts and making myself so panicked I end up sick.

I just don't know what's going on. I don't know what's wrong with me and I don't know how to fix it or if I even can. I want to be normal and know how to talk to people like everyone else seems to, but here I am worrying about stupid things and hoping people will come to me instead of taking initiative and starting things. I want to be cool and likeable and inspire people, but I'm not even if I want to be, and I don't know how to change that. I want someone to come through and tell me to my face what's wrong with me so I can know what it is and how to fix it but how the heck is that supposed to happen.

i play games with forums and such but never go on them outside of lurking around for answers because I'm too nervous and don't see a point, I don't join groups or anything for the same reason, because for some ungodly reason I think "well what if they wouldn't want me specifically" like that makes any sense, I either can't afford or just can't muster up the courage for multiplayer, or if i can then there's just no-one to play with or no-one to talk to, or heck I just choose not to talk to people because I'm that scared. I still don't finish things fast enough for people to take interest in, or maybe what I do finish just isn't interesting, so I can try to get more people to notice that I'm there, and heck I'm sure a big part of it is that I'm some weird 16-year-old on the internet, what could I have to offer anyways?

I'm scared of being alone and yet I feel like something about me makes it so that it's doomed to be anyways. I try to be friendly and kind but I'm sure something about it is off, heck maybe I'm just uncanny and that's part of it. Maybe I don't talk right, I wasn't ever really able to get masking right after all the lockdown stuff anyways. I'm trying to get rid of my social anxiety as well as I can but I can't really do that if I tell myself I'm unapproachable, now, can I? My brain's weird and all messed up but it still wants me to be social and have friends and people to talk to.

And then it comes back to time again. I want to be an adult so I can branch out further, not just be a kid worming his way into a space where the adults have to step around me, so I can have the same level of maturity and understanding as the people I admire and look up to, but I miss being a kid. I miss being safe and happy and I miss not knowing there was something wrong with me. I have these memories of when I was younger and they feel like they were so recent when they weren't, and some of them don't make sense because the stuff surrounding them has all just faded away. Maybe I did ruin things for myself back when I was a kid, or maybe I was doomed from the start, considering all of that happened when i was that young anyways. There are people who have been through the things i went through, but people like them and talk to them and they don't seem as nervous or i guess maybe boring as i am.

my mom tells me I'm not boring or weird and not to worry about it, but I'm her kid, of course she would. My aunt tells me I'm cool and we talk about things we like together, and I'm reconnecting with my other aunt, but I want to know that people can like me without having known me from the start. I want to feel like people look forward to talking to me or seeing what I have to do without them being tied to me since the beginning. I want to know I'm not creepy or weird or lost and that people can like me without being my family, but how am I supposed to start it and make sure it continues?

What if it never works out and I just spend my whole life only getting my company through family and animals and the occasional stranger who stops for a bit and passes by again? How long until the person I'm chatting with who I think is really cool and fun to talk to gets creeped out for some reason or another even when I'm trying to mask so that it doesn't happen? What if nothing works, if therapy or medication or whatever else doesn't work out and I just end up unfixable? I know it should, I hope it will, but I can't do that yet and at this rate I'm scared I might not ever be able to because what if it just doesn't work?

I've been stuck in my head since I was a kid because I just wasn't popular enough to talk to, and maybe it was never about the money or the fact I didn't really know what I was saying or what was okay and wasn't okay to say, maybe it was just meant to be there, maybe it's just me in general. I don't want to lose the people who do love me and stick around even when I am weird or mean or nervous just because time has to go on, or because of things that just can't be helped. I don't want to be like this but if it means keeping the people who I know will stay then I also don't want to leave. I miss being a kid even though nobody really liked me that much outside of a few people, even though I didn't understand rules or anything unless they were dumbed down, even if I was stupid half the time.

Maybe I need to see a doctor or something. Maybe it wouldn't help. I'm happy and confident in myself and my body, but that doesn't do much when I always seem to realize that the conversations I have every now and again are so short-lived and it feels like it's my fault.

Maybe there's groups for this and I can meet people who are exactly like me, but I just haven't tried it because I'm too nervous or because I'm not there yet. I try to stay positive because I think it really can weigh down on you otherwise, but heck it's hard when I feel like I'm stuck on the other side of an electric fence and everything I want is just there in front of me.

I wasn't really meaning for this to get that long, or that uncomfortably personal, but god I need some sleep and I just wanna go outside and make sure I'm not some kind of monster. Maybe home is just weighing down on me and I need to get some fresh air and forget about things for a while. Maybe mom's right and I'll get better once I'm working, or maybe I was right years ago when I thought therapy would do me wonders. I know it'll help some things, but a part of me worries that this part is just unfixable. Maybe I just need to reach out more and find better topics to start with, or maybe I should try and do more things that encourage people to engage, but to do that at all I have to have a reason for people to care anyways, so that's just a loop again.

I dunno. I doubt anyone's gonna read this haha, I kind of hope nobody will, but hey, maybe if I leave it here someone will see it and feel seen or something, or heck just enjoy getting to hear this sort of point of view. Maybe someone will have advice or some kind of answer. I don't know what I'm saying.

I should start going on walks. Or posting things more, I dunno. I could try branching out even if my content isn't all that good. Or I could just start trying to talk to people more. It hasn't really worked out in the past anyways.

I guess I should probably avoid seeing things that freak me out more, too. A little hard when I'm a history nerd who feels just as bad not knowing what's going on, though. And a punk haha. Kind of necessary for the subculture. And at this rate I'm old enough that I should know what's going on in the world, especially if I'm gonna start working.

Maybe I repeat myself too much? I don't know. By the time I've said or written something down I tend to forget it exists. It's not really on purpose. And the dry thing is just how I tend to text, I can't really help it. I kinda talk like that, too.

I guess I should follow my own advice and try to think a little more positively, anyways.

Sorry if you did end up reading all of this haha. or if you had to skim through that. Part of me feels like I should just delete this or draft it or something, but another part thinks that maybe someone will read this and they'll have something to say that'll help me out somehow, and even if nobody does, I feel a lot less anxious just, wording my thoughts. At least now maybe I can sleep! This has been bugging me for ages now. Among other things.

I'll probably be fine later. I'm supposed to play a game with my mom later today, that'll be fun. I've been looking forward to it all week.

[risingsouls]

🦎 do you think ganondorf obtaining the triforce would've altered how nabs' recruited verse goes?

A 🦎 For My Work Thoughts || Always Accepting!

[Oooooo now that's an interesting question! I'll have to think about this one. Aka ramble and make no sense until I settle on something.

Overall, yes, I think it would absolutely change things. I'll start with the easy idea of Ganondorf getting his wish to take over Hyrule for the Gerudo (or some version of this) instead of it breaking as it actually does in canon. Just for funsies. Basically, this would mean that Frieza would lose negotiation leverage in some respects because the Gerudo don't NEED his help at this point. Or, at least, they wouldn't be as desperate for an "alliance." So I can see this going one of two ways (maybe a bonus four but I'll get to that).

First, they would still make an agreement with Frieza, the Gerudo would learn to use ki and gain the force's "protection" in return for an alliance and sharing the resources of the planet with the Empire, including soldiers. So basically what they agree to in the AU as it currently stands, only on SLIGHTLY more equal footing and less in desperation. In this case, Nabooru would still likely be recruited, either for the same reasons for punishment for treason as, by that point, she would have openly opposed Ganondorf and given him her ultimatum. So, if she wasn't executed for that (which even in my LoZ verses I HC that the Elite decide to give her a chance to live at least with taking the Cave of Ordeals challenge), this would act basically as a quasi exile and punishment. This arrangement has maybe SLIGHTLY less chance of the planet and the Gerudo being destroyed, but Ganondorf is Ganondorf. I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to rebel down the road and shirk off the Empire's hold. For better or worse. Which would be an interesting narrative to play with tbh.

HOWEVER. Since the Triforce would definitely break as it does in canon, it's harder to say how things would go down if he had the Triforce of Power at his disposal because it's very apparent it makes him extremely powerful and next to immortal, but stacking that up to the likes of Frieza is hard to do. There could still be potential for negotiations to learn ki for their benefit and to give Ganondorf EVEN MORE power in that regard and then trying to use that to try and betray the Empire down the road, if he wouldnt outright fight a takeover. But success on that front is up in the air because it's so hard to say just how powerful the Triforce of Power is. It would definitely be easy for Ganondorf to keep secret since I imagine the power it gives him is divine and couldn't be picked up by a scouter. So it definitely throws some interesting what ifs into the equation that could be super fun to explore.

For Nabs in that situation, she would probably be in a similar situation of some kind of punishment (if she hasn't potentially been brainwashed at this point which is also true of the other scenario tbh 😬😬). That's said, it could either mean she could he up for recruitment again, serving out some kind of punishment, OR she's a brainwashed, loyal servant of Ganondorf. So not great for her.

The bonus I talked about that could effect all of these is how Link and Zelda play in. If there is any alliance or ki training involved, they wouldn't fare well for obvious reasons. However, things would likely play out similarly to OoT canon if Ganondorf refused Frieza's aid (if not worse for him since he would be fighting two forces at that point). This is again dependent on how powerful the Triforce of Power makes him, but even if it was enough to stave off the Empire, Destiny says a princess and a hero with a magic sword can still seal him away. But there are also variables in THAT to explore, too.

Idk if I made a lick of sense in any of that. But in a nutshell, I think that the Triforce getting got before Frieza's invasion would change at the very least the power play dynamic of how the terms get negotiated as there would be less desperation because, in either scenario, Ganondorf is able to take what he wants himself, so the extra soldiers and ki training would be more of a bonus than a necessity. Where it goes from there, whether there's an agreement or he spurns Frieza, is really where things get dicey to figure out but VERY interesting to consider. I do enjoy a good what if game so yeah.

The sad thing is no option seems to give Nabs anything good. 🥲 She's just kind of screwed.]

[pinovapie]

Okay! Ace is one of my top picks for a culprit actually !! Begin the rambling!!

I'll admit i don't really have an explanation for the tape. Unless MonoTV has spare and he asked for it or something.

But (and i said this in my original theories post) i think in terms of the parallels to THH, Ace fits quite well! After all, Ch2 had secret motives, someone who wanted to change in some way as the victim and someone who lashed out as the culprit.

In DRDT Arei actively tries to change and be better (as long as Eden is telling the truth i suppose ). Ace, however, get's worse and lashes out. Plus i feel like it would show Teruko that while trusting too much would get you killed (Arei), trusting too little is also just as bad (Ace).

I agree that theme wise it wouldn't make sense. But i suppose you could apply the title more to David? He said he had good reasons for sharing motives but then Ep 11 happened. Or to Arei's friendship with Eden? She wanted to be a 'good person' but it lead to her death? Admittedly, those are both shaky explanations at best and it probably makes more sense for the theme to apply to the killer as well.

Other things making Ace very suspicious:

Complexity: It is complex looking but here's my thoughts. Either A) it's actually simple and the threw a bunch of random unrelated things around in hopes it would confuse people. B) It's similar to Nico's murder method and he just copied it (granted idk why Nico wouldn't say anything). C) He seemed pretty picky about the word 'carousel' so maybe he really likes playgrounds and knows how to use them to his advantage or something??? (this one's mainly a joke lol)

Nico's Murder Attempt: Why are neither of them talking about it in detail??? Like, they didn't even mention where it happened apparently ??? Plus, it looks complex/premeditated but Nico claims they weren't thinking?? A) Nico lied. B) Nico walked in on Ace planning something, panicked and attacked. C) Someone else tried to kill Ace, He woke up when Nico entered, Nico panicked and attacked. D) Ace and Nico are working together in some weird, secret plan. /jk

Inconsistency in Ace's story: In the early part of the trial, when Eden says Arei wanted to change, he says something like "Are we even talking about the same person?'. However, when telling his story about overhearing their conversation he says that Arei said something along the lines of "... that's what Eden would do [...] i want to be like her..." . It could be that he doesn't believe her. (or that he thinks Eden's not a good person or something lol-) But when David's decided to give up and confirms he spoke to Arei he still says that Ace is a liar.

Anyway, hopefully that ramble makes sense!! (and apologies for poor spelling/grammar! English is my native language i'm just bad at it lol) I was mainly just dumping my thoughts here lol , feel free to ask for clarification if anything doesn't make sense though!

Honestly, i hope i'm wrong because Ace is my favourite and i'll be sad if he dies -

So. The Ace culprit theory.

I’m sure my stance on this is not surprising. Am I aware there is some evidence for it? Yes. Will I also ignore said evidence due to extreme bias? Also yes.

No but seriously. Does the Ace culprit theory hold water? While I’ll bring some of the most damning pieces of evidence up in this post, I also want to analyze if the Ace culprit theory works thematically. Or at least that’s the goal.

Okay? Okay. Let’s get started.

First things first, this motherfucker:

The Tape

As anyone who’s seen an Ace or Eden culprit theory is most likely aware of, the tape disappears from the background in this scene.

Not only that, but it can’t be a mistake. Later, Rose and Teruko can’t find the tape, even though no one has been to the gym that morning besides them. That means one of these three must’ve taken it.

Which means our only potential culprits are Eden, Ace, and Teruko…Or I guess one of them could be an accomplice who helped the real culprit. Either way, who is most likely involved in the murder?

Well, we can take Teruko off the list. Not only would it make almost no sense to kill her off right now, but she was standing the whole time and never bent down to grab the tape. If she did, it would’ve been extremely obvious to the other two and they would have said something about it.

Eden makes a lot more sense. She was shoved to the ground as it disappears, so while she was on the ground she could’ve grabbed it without anyone noticing, especially since Teruko is distracted by Ace and Ace is distracted by Nico almost murdering him. She was also already on the second floor and possibly planning her murder/setting some of her plans into action before this happened.

But Eden’s not the focus of this post. What about Ace? Can we justify why he would’ve taken the tape?

In my opinion…Not really?

See, if Ace took the tape, it would hinge on the idea that, while bleeding out and mostly unconscious, he decided he would need to commit a murder. After all, he was almost just killed and if he doesn’t act fast someone could try to murder him again. This isn’t a bad idea, per se. But I just can’t believe it.

After all, as Eden and Teruko walked in, we know Ace must be unconscious, (if we assume Nico is actually trying to kill him, which I do), since Nico is approaching him and presumably getting ready to make the final blow with the wire they’re carrying. If Ace was conscious, he wouldn’t be just sitting there accepting his fate. So that means that in the minute or so of Nico leaving and Teruko investigating, Ace would’ve had to have woken up and made enough of a coherent murder plan to know he would need the tape.

While Ace isn’t as braindead as the DRDT cast assume, this still seems like a bit of a reach for a character who lends to not think things through, especially when he’s bleeding heavily and emotions are running high. But hey, characterization is pretty subjective, so I won’t go too deep into this. Who knows, maybe Ace is a murder-plan-making genius.

But if Ace was planning a murder in order to escape the school and not get killed like he almost just was, then he would have known he needed to pass a class trial. Meaning he shouldn’t be publicly declaring he’s going to murder Nico, since if people know he was the one who murdered them, he would be executed. So if this theory were true, Ace would’ve had to have been lying about wanting to kill Nico and going off to do just that.

But if Ace was just pretending to want to kill Nico un-secretly, then why? He would need to act angry at Nico in order to not be suspicious, since that’s what he would normally do, but he doesn’t need to pretend to try and murder them to sell his act. If he took the tape and the other two saw, it would make sense for him to use “I’m going to kill Nico with it” as an excuse. But if he did steal the tape, he did it secretly, eliminating that option.

Okay, but what if we go with the theory that his plan at the time was to kill Nico with it, then plans switched and he decided to use it to kill someone else? Well, that would still leave the question of why he sneakily stole the tape. He already announced he was killing Nico, hiding the ‘weapon’ he planned to use wouldn’t do anything. Also, tape isn’t exactly a top-tier murder weapon.

All this is to say that I just can’t see why Ace would’ve acted the way he did if he was planning a murder already. Stealing the tape as he was bleeding out is the only way Ace could’ve gotten his hands on the tape, and therefore the only way he could’ve set up the murder contraption. And if that’s the case, I just don’t think it makes enough sense to me for me to believe it.

Next piece of evidence:

Arei’s crime scene

This murder method appears to be…Weirdly complicated? Especially for a chapter two case. The culprit would need a good reason to complicate their plans like this. After all, the more preparation and supplies need for your method, the more evidence that’s left behind.

The Ace Culprit theory offers a good explanation for all this. The more complicated (or clever) the murder method, the less likely it is that people are going to assume the class idiot is the culprit.

I do think this is something I…Can’t really refute? Presuming Ace somehow got his hands on the tape, maybe he had enough time to think of this plan. I can’t know for sure he didn’t.

So let’s move on to something else.

The theme(s) of Chapter Two

The most obvious title/theme of the chapter is ‘All That Glitters’, coming from the saying, ‘Not all that glitters is gold’.

At first, I thought of this as a simple, ‘people aren’t what they seem’ theme. In that case, Ace fits, because the character who’s seen as dumb and cowardly killing someone is such a clever way would be unexpected.

But I don’t think that’s quite what the saying the title is referencing means. It’s more along the lines of something not being as good as it seems. Gold is valuable, but not everything that looks like it is.

And in that case…Yeah, it doesn’t quite work for Ace anymore, since no one saw Ace as good or valuable to begin with, or at least a good majority of the cast doesn’t.

Eden, Levi, or Hu, the top murderer choices from what I’ve seen, all make more sense. The person people thought was good, and who cared about/wanted to protect everyone there, was plotting to kill one of them. Their friendly demeanor, (or in Levi’s case attempts to be friendly), misled people into thinking they were good when they weren’t…Or at least they weren’t once they were pushed to the brink.

There’s also the secret title/theme, A Good Person. This one also doesn’t quite extend to Ace, besides the fact that he and Levi are pretty interconnected. But his and Levi’s connection alone doesn’t quite prove anything. Levi never speaks to Ace about being a good person, at least from what we’ve seen, and something like that doesn’t seem to be on Ace’s mind.

Levi and Eden, however, are both major players in the notion of a good person, because of their talk at the beginning of the chapter. You could make it work for Hu, too, but I’d say she’s more looking to be a useful or reliable person than a good one. But close enough.

All in all, I don’t think culprit-Ace makes much sense, logic-wise or thematically. Especially since, at least to me, it doesn’t feel like his story is supposed to end here. That’s just how I feel, though.

If you want to bring up any other pieces of evidence, or why you think Ace is the culprit, I’d love to hear it! Since Ace is my favorite, there’s always a chance I accidentally overlooked a key piece of evidence while trying to prove his innocence.

[sweatersstyles]

linds!!!!

I’m glad you get to stay with your sister!! That’s nice you get some quality time together. My brother came and stayed with me for thanksgiving for a couple days and it was so nice!!! We haven’t spent that much time together in who knows how long! We played lots of mariokart and board games and it was great!!

And I’m doing alright!! Lots of ups and downs lately. The time change for daylight savings messed with my head a bit and then I just got sick a couple days ago I’m sure thanks to my kiddos at work. And it’s been raining all day but I took that as an excuse to wear my cute chelsea rain boots! But I’m hanging in there!! Just trying my best as always!!

Oh and I found out I’m getting a $2/hour raise in the new year so that’s exciting!!!

Also I finally watched my policeman!!! I thought it was really good! Although it didn’t make me cry like everyone said it would hahah and I usually cry at everything (for example when I went to see black panther 2 the other weekend and I started crying as soon as it said “in memory of Chadwick boseman” and then I cried several more times throughout the movie lollll). But I really enjoyed it and thought it was a beautiful film. I really liked DWD as wel although I don’t think I could pick one over the other because they were sooo different ya know!

💕💕

liz omg I'm so sorry I'm late answering this!! I feel like a lifetime has passed since we've talked because of what's happened. I got kicked by one of my dad's horses at the beginning of this month and ended up with a compression fracture on T11 of my spine and a contusion on my right hip. recovery's been a little rough but I'm incredibly lucky it could've been much, much worse!

I LOVE staying with my sister it's become one of my safe spaces to be there with her! her roommate is her bestie that she's known since kindergarten so I feel really comfortable there around her too. I had planned to go stay with her some this week for Christmas too, but idk if I can now with my injury. I'm so glad you got to see your brother and spend time with him! I haven't seen my little brother since last year but he will be coming home for Christmas so I'm excited to see him 😊

I'm so glad to hear you've mostly been doing okay!! and omg YES whenever I worked at the daycare before I got sick SO often because of my babies, so I completely get it! I hope you're feeling better now 💕 the time change always throws me off too I hate it. I bet your boots are adorable on you!! and yay for your raise that's exciting!!

I was supposed to start my new job soon (I can't remember if I've told you about it already? so ignore me if I have!). I've been offered a lead teacher position at a new daycare that's opening soon! but now I'll have to wait until I'm all healed before I can start 😔 I'm a bit bummed by that but my bosses have been very sweet and understanding about what happened to me and are holding my position for me until I can start! which will hopefully be sometime in january

ah I didn't cry at MP either and I'm the same way about crying at a lot of things! maybe because I read the book and was already familiar with the story. and I agree I love both movies I think he did an amazing job as I knew he would!!

if I don't get to speak to you again before, I hope you and your family have the happiest of holidays together! stay warm and take care of yourself 💗 sending you all my love!!

[mlbpotter]

Sole Crusher and why I hated it.

Ahh, one of the most prodigious episode for Zoe-fans.

You see, we see Zoe in a car touring Paris as she came from New York. She entered a bakery to get something for her family (A.K.A Audrey) Marinette entered, and slipped on the floor, but Zoe being who she is, clever perfectionist, nimble, quick blah blah blah, whatever the directors want to show us, caught Marinette in a blink of an eye.

In irl, I think if somebody did slip, in front of me, I’d be too shocked to react in seconds. I’d be gaping, mouth open, too shocked to catch anyone.

Ahh, well, Marinette then talked to her a little, learnt how she only had one friend, made some of us feel pity for her (eh, Thomas). So, NOW THE NEXT PART REALLY GETS ME! Marinette didn’t know who this unknown Zoe girl was (could be a thief, murderer, kidnapper idk) yet she gave away her phone number, free pastries, and invited her to HER FRIEND’S CONCERT! OMG you dumass, you don’t just give away these things to unknown people!

Well, still, moving on, zoe went back to the car, and to the bourgeois hotel. She gave away the pastries to the driver saying her family preferred sour from sweet, meaning they were not exactly caring. Just showing what a bad mother Audrey is, Zoe, like Chloe tried to act all snobbish and mean to get her mother’s attention.

To keep it short, Zoe met Chloe and they had a very meaningful conversation. But the thing that bugged me the most was that what Chloe said. 'Your father exists only to do whatever you want, whenever you want.'

Huh? Forgot this, in origins pt.2? This shows that chloe actually loves her father.

Also, Chloe was shown locking Sabrina in a locker, and forcing her to do her homework.

......

So how do u explain this?☝️

Chloe cares about Sabrina. Thomas really ruined Chloe's character her smh, in sole crusher.

Anyways, Chloe took Zoe to the school in a limousine, with Sabrina running behind them!

BrUh, thomas? R u serious? This is a kids show, no? You are supposed to show how to be considerate, not treating ur friend as slaves!

After some more uneccessary chloe-being-cruel moment, Chloe introduces everyone to Zoe.

She says, that Zoe needs a guy to pamper, who is preferably rich....wow, Thomas you already destroyed Adrien's friendship with Chloe, what more do u want?

When Zoe pretended to hate Marinette's macaroons, Sabrina started idiolizing her immediately. SABRINA ALSO NEEDS CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!!!!!

Obviously, Chloe 'tried' to teach Zoe some mean habits, and Marinette was confused about the way she acted so differently at school.

Being Marinette, she texted Zoe about the the confusion, and obviously blamed Chloe. When Chloe found out that her sister was texting her arch-enemy Marinette, she became furious.

Zoe lied and said that she was planning to humiliate Marinette. One of the worst things about Zoe is that she tries to change her nature just to meet up the needs for others. Chloe only does that to impress her mother.

Zoe went up the blacony, and was met by Andre, Chloe's father, who tried to console her, by telling her his own dream. Ok, listen up, how come Andre is only nice to his step-daughter, in a fatherly way??? And treats Chloe like a spoilt queen?? What kind of a father u r, even though u know that's wrong? Ugh

Anyways, the part where Andre wanted to be a film director was pretty cool. Again, we get some background history about the character. And yes, he listened to Audrey, about being rich, not a film director, blah blah blah, showing again how bad of a wife Audrey is.

Then, we discovered that Zoe wanted to be an actress for no good reason, and yest, admittedly she is pretty good a hiding her emotions and 'acting'.

This is how Andre tried to cheer up Zoe, but obviously made the situation worse, as she only thought about the way Chloe, treated her, and not her mother. So yeah, She only has a grudge against Chloe, again showing how horrible and cruel Chloe could be, right?

Just because Chloe said, 'You either step on other people, or I step on you!' This is so out-of-character for, Chloe. She would never say that, I reckon this much.

And there we go, Zoe reluctantly wears the diamond shoes, and becomes akumatized by shadow moth.

So, her power was touching other people with her shoes, and she became bigger.

Sole crusher, found Chloe in her room taking selfies of herself, to shoe how vain she was and how much she admired herself. Ummm..when did Chloe have an obsession with taking her photos? Except maybe in the episode where Marc was akumatized.

Chloe caught a glimpse of Sole Crusher, on her mobile's photo.

She said, 'How come you are using my image without my authorization?' Old Chloe loved to be idolized, so out-of-character.

So, when Chole discovered that it was Zoe, she began running like she was in a marathon, which was again out of character, as she wouldn't run, it'd be too much of work for her.

I think the running was just to show how bad of a character Chloe was, as she pushed Marinette's parents and Marinette herself towards Zoe, to show how cruel, evil and selfish she really is.

Another thing, I think that the kwamis shouldn't be allowed outside the box very long, as someone might catch them, like Chloe almost did.

So, the reason Sole crusher didn't step on Marinette, was because Marinette is the main character of the show, and she just can't be in a dangerous situation (Thomas logic). It'd made a great plot if Marinette was crushed by sole crusher. It would keep the viewers on their toes.

Eh, well, To make look Chloe worse, they made her run further, and order Zoe to literally step on the 'losers'. AKA rest of Marinette's classmates. (Do students really meet each other like this irl?)

So Marinette discovered that Zoe was Sole crusher, and gave some advice.

Marinette: That's not true, you don't need to crush on anyone. The 'winner' and 'loser' thing doesn't exist. It's just people, each one with your differences and unique features. (after Chat Noir interrupted) Zoe, no one will judge you here. You can be yourself! You can trip, you can fall, there's always going to be someone to help you stand up. I will always support you!

Shadow moth manipulated Zoe again, So Chat Noir tripped sole crusher giving Marinette the chance to run away and transform in a place that no one can see (totally). Since Tikki followed Marinette, and Kaalki alerted Adrien about the akuma, they both were able to transform.

Since I am no good at writing battle scenes, I'll tell the main points. Ladybug used her lucky charm, and got a shoe horn. So basically, Chat Noir and ladybug both destroyed the heels of Zoe's shoes, but the akuma didn't come out. Chloe insulted sole crusher, and got crushed.

Chloe : Look at how you're treating ur very expensive shoes! Go back to wearing you hideous and plain sneakers.

So ladybug figured out that the Akuma must be in those sneakers Chloe mentioned.

So the team tried to find out those sneakers in Chloe's house. Ladybug saw Sabrina in the closet, yet asked her about the sneakers, and ignored her. Wow, shoe some empathy ladybug, or even Chat Noir!

They saw Andre, and he told them where the Akuma went. So basically Andre showed them the box, and was so scared of Audrey, that her had hid those directories a secret from her. Since that box was not opening, ladybug used her shoehorn to open that box thingy. Long story short, ladybug repaired everything, and gave Zoe the lucky charm, and left.

Skip to the noon, where Zoe went to the concert she was invited in, and Chloe still believed Zoe's lame story about humiliating Marinette, and was super pissed off when Zoe ate the macaroons.

So yeah, Zoe apologized about her akumatizatidon, and told her 'tragic' backstory. She didn't want to disappoint her family's expectation, so she pretended to be mean.

In her boarding school, she was being bullied, and pretended to be someone she was not.

And since er...the miraculous fandom characters are so 'different' and tried to be nice to her, which was pretty cool of them....

Chloe demanded that Zoe leave for New York, but Andre was pretty cool about it, and made a lame yet nice excuse for her, to be enrolled in anther boarding school. So she had a different room. Obviously, the creators showed how err..awesome Zoe is as she said to Andre, 'Promise me that you are not going to give up on your dreams for too long.' But Andre's dream was very irrelevant, as nothing of that sort was mentioned after that.

Zoe's new found friends helped her become a better person, and there were some ending pics of her.

Zoe's message to Marinette was pretty cheesy ngl. But if only Zoe was introduced as a character who didn't out smart her sister, I would honestly love her so much!

(If my dumb shit post doesn't get famous, I will quit. I literally worked so hard for this post, and also had to rewrite it multiple times)

[kaptain-k-pop]

[?] Days of K-ristmas: Day 6*

aka

The K-List: #15

*(if you have no idea what I'm talking abt with this "[?] Days of K-ristmas" thing the very longwinded explanation is here lmao)

She's In The Rain

The Rose

Okay okay, I know this is another title track, probably one of their most famous so everyone who knows about The Rose knows about this song already

But I wanna talk about it anyway bc this is my blog and I can do what I want it's a really important song for me that stuck with me from the first time I heard it and I just wanna gush about it and talk about that

So some of my moots who have followed me since before last April may know this story already because I mentioned it in a post at the time, but last spring I was in a really bad place. I was having a really stressful semester and going through a lot of inner conflict about my future. My roommate had moved out (not because of any conflict! She just wanted to live somewhere cheaper, which is valid!) meaning I was living alone in a two person dorm, which was actually really bad for my health because without anyone else around I wasn't taking good care of myself or my environment. My sleep '''''schedule''''' was non-existent and there were many times when I was pulling all nighters or skipping meals to work on things. My group of college friends had all moved off campus, so even when I did remember/make time to go eat in the student center I ate alone. The fact that I was so worried about school meant I never really made plans with those friends either because I was always beating myself up for not focusing enough on my coursework. I was pretty much completely isolating myself and I spent most of my time alone in my dorm -- which you may recall, I wasn't taking good care of -- and being in that environment only made me feel worse about myself. I felt so depressed and unproductive in such a messy place, but I couldn't make time to get my environment in order because I had coursework I needed to do... but I couldn't efficiently work on my coursework because I felt so depressed and unproductive in the environment I created and around and around (it's also really difficult for me to focus in public places/around other people because I get easily distracted, so I didn't really have a good place to work other than my dorm). My irl best friend (aka my main source of support and physical affection) and my family were 2 hours away and I was completely touch starved. And I rarely went home on the weekend or left my dorm at all because I felt like every moment I wasn't trying to be productive I was being lazy. Both my mental and physical health were absolute trash. And I knew I was in a bad place but I had no idea how to get myself out. I felt like I had no time or energy to take any major steps to improve my situation.

I went home for Easter break. Three days of focusing on family instead of school and acting like I wasn't spending the whole time worrying about all the stressful things I would have to deal with when I got back.

During my 2 hour drive back to school Monday night I was keeping myself company with my Spotify playlists as usual and eventually Spotify began playing me "recommended radio"

And it was at this time that I heard She's in The Rain for the very first time

My first thoughts were that it sounded like an amazing song, but even despite the language barrier I could tell that it was a very emotional song so I was thinking it might not be the best thing to listen to when I was already feeling so down

And then Woosung's voice in perfect English in the last verse:

"You wanna hurt yourself, I'll stay with you

You wanna make yourself go through the pain

It's better to be held than holding on"

completely struck me in the heart and I pulled over into the next gas station and cried.

I'm not in that same situation anymore and I've been taking steps since then to try to get myself to a better place and improve my health. And living at home now with my family (and my best friend living 5 minutes away) and not feeling so isolated anymore has been a huge part of that

Hearing those words that night really struck a chord with me. It is better to confide your troubles in people and to be vulnerable and let yourself be held by someone who cares about you than to be just trying to hold on all by yourself. And the way the last chorus changes from "She's in the rain" to "We're in the rain" is such a beautiful ending as well as a perfect metaphor. When you're struggling your friends can't always do anything to get you out of that situation no matter how much they want to. But they can be there to try to support you and stand in the rain with you so that you don't have to go through hard times all alone

(this post is so long now and it's mostly just been about me and not the song I'm sorry ajdjksla)

But I also just wanna say that this song is so beautiful! It's really a masterpiece imo

The way that it starts out with just the acoustic guitar and Woosung's voice is so simple and pretty (and I thought it was a violin but then I realized maybe it was the bass but I swear I hear violin too idk maybe it's in the backing track or something?? am I crazy? lmk) and then the drums and everything really coming in almost halfway through the song after the first verse??? 😔👌👌👌

One of the things I love about Korean songs in when the singer is able to convey the emotion of a song with their voice and make you feel despite the language barrier. Woosung has one of the best examples of this. His voice is so unique, just hearing it can tug at your heartstrings even if you don't actually know what the words he's saying mean (which also makes it a 1 hit KO when he DOES say something in English ajdjksla) the way his voice literally makes him sound like he's on the verge of tears throughout the whole song really enhances it so much

(Dojoon has such a pretty voice too!! It's been a while since I've head it since he didn't sing on RED and I've been listening to a lot of other groups but yeah after listening to this song again to pick out all the parts to put in this post I'm reminded of how good he sounds in it 😔🙏 bless)

So I'll try to just wrap it up now since I've talked a lot: The Rose is such a good band and this is such a good song and the lyrics are so beautiful (you should look up the full translation if you haven't!)

Okay. That's all. I love this song, and if you've read this far I love you!!!!

[punkscowardschampions]

Janis & Grace

Janis: What's this I hear about a bitch fight, like? Grace: ugh can you NOT please Janis: Is it true though Grace: it wasn't a fight okay I just lost my chill like Grace: moving on Janis: 💔 Janis: shame Janis: what happened then Grace: I don't wanna talk about it Janis: I mean I'd ask her but she ain't responding either Janis: very unlike Mia Grace: I didn't hit her that hard but sure Grace: she'll be watching a tutorial for like fake bruises or whatever obvs Grace: make me look worse Janis: again, gutted Janis: but seriously Janis: why'd you finally lose it with the bitch Grace: ask Pablo Janis: ? Janis: what's he got to do with it Grace: while you were getting with barista boy on the school trip they were also hooking up at some party Janis: no way Janis: what the fuck Grace: he didn't even try & deny it Grace: I literally can't with either of them Janis: Jesus Janis: kinda wish I didn't know now Janis: 🤢 Grace: UM yeah same Grace: but she just had to tell me cos I was dealing with a lot that wasn't about her Janis: well yeah Janis: sitting on that one 'til the best time Janis: cow Janis: should've hit her hard, I'd have shown you Grace: I'm not trying to get sued babes Grace: & it wasn't like I decided to hit her or anything Janis: wouldn't waste a court's time with that shite Janis: daddy not trying to get done for wasting resources really Janis: did think Pablo had better taste, tbh Janis: well, not really but you know Grace: Ew don't call him daddy Grace: I can't even be angry right Grace: I should've just kept crying like I always do Janis: Come on Janis: smacking her ones the best thing you ever did Janis: felt good, yeah? Grace: you'd have done it better Janis: still can, like Janis: have to be a decent apology for that Janis: 💰💰💰 at least Grace: if you do, vlog it & send me the footage Grace: I can't be here Grace: I literally have to leave Janis: where are you gonna go? Grace: idk Grace: I can't think rn Janis: You at home? Grace: obvs not they all think I'm mental there Grace: this isn't gonna help Janis: Hardly Janis: she deserved it Janis: how long do you need Janis: away, like Grace: if I'm freaking out now it'll be worse when she retaliates so ????? Grace: & when school starts Grace: OMG LITERALLY WHAT AM I GONNA DO? Janis: Calm down Janis: okay, you'll be fine Janis: contrary to her word being law in your circle, no one actually gives a fuck what she says Janis: anyway Janis: you said you have loads of shit on her, right? Grace: everyone needs to stop telling me to calm down Grace: you don't even understand Grace: she knows as much about me Grace: this is so bad Janis: exactly Janis: so if she's got any brains, she won't be spreading it Janis: if you don't move, she can't, yeah Grace: but I did Grace: I literally hit her Janis: you don't do things like that, you lot Janis: you didn't post anything about her or her and Pablo, did you Grace: I don't want anyone knowing that ever happened, why would I? Janis: see, wouldn't that be much worse Janis: to her Janis: how you lot operate Janis: she'll make up some story about why you hit her, if she chooses to go for that angle Janis: but she knows you've got all the real shit if she's gonna try anything else Janis: stalemate Grace: Yeah, I guess Janis: I'm sure Janis: school'll be fine Grace: UM how?? it's already rubbish & now I've got no one Janis: join the club Janis: just show up, do your lessons Janis: go town on your lunch break Janis: easy Grace: You've got your bf Grace: don't do him like that Janis: I didn't before, did I Janis: never mind just last term Grace: you didn't want one before Janis: no lad at that school, maybe Grace: I'm gonna have to get one now Grace: ugh Grace: 🙏🙏 there's some party tonight or something Janis: how's that the solution Grace: to not being alone? well duh Grace: who's single rn? 🤔🤔🤔 Janis: 🙄 honestly Grace Grace: excuse you Grace: I'm trying to be pro-active here Janis: you've lost your friend not girlfriend Janis: that's what you should be aiming for Grace: she was my friend for like 10 years, most of my relationships don't last 10 days Grace: I obvs can't just find a new bestie Janis: you can try Janis: that's what you want Janis: what boyfriend has ever been good company Grace: yeah cos she was so good for me Grace: 🙄🙄🙄 Janis: not the kind of good I meant Janis: a lad ain't gonna chat about reality telly with you and reapply lippy in the loos Grace: a gay one maybe Janis: if you want a gay bff you go for it Janis: bit problematic but sure we can let it slide Grace: all I actually need is someone whose arm I can be on in the halls & whatever Grace: boys are easy to get Grace: easier than friends anyway Janis: alright Janis: if you say so Grace: duh then I can say I dumped my friends for my man Janis: well they are your friends Janis: so they'll know you haven't Grace: no-one else will tho Janis: I'm not sure anyone else will be too concerned Grace: rude Janis: why? Janis: it's the truth Janis: not like the entire school is on the edge of their seat every time you two fall out Grace: obvs they are too busy watching you & your boy Grace: that doesn't make me utterly irrelevant thank you Janis: why are you getting offended Janis: it's not a performance Janis: just do what you want Grace: Oh sure Grace: I told you idk how to be different Janis: it's a good chance Janis: you've got a couple of days Janis: don't be rash, like Grace: I'm so not ready to just like overhaul my life excuse me Janis: it's shit, right Janis: what do you actually have to lose Grace: I told you on that school trip, if I try & I'm still the worst, what then? Janis: go back to faking it with vigor Janis: no one will know, like Grace: I will Grace: & you since it's your suggestion Janis: who am I telling Janis: not even a good secret Grace: ugh Grace: I'm freaking out, I can't commit to anything if it's not a detox, babes Grace: & even then Janis: boyfriend probably ain't the one then Janis: it's what Janis: 7 weeks if you wanna survive the first term Janis: maybe more? Grace: OMG don't Janis: Hell that's only half term, even Janis: then that'll end and it's more drama Janis: don't need that Grace: that's like 7 boys I need to find Janis: you can't just line 'em all up Grace: tragically Janis: could always transfer Grace: do you think mum and dad will let me? Janis: I wasn't being serious but they probably would Janis: just say Mias shoved your head down the bog Grace: EW Grace: did work for Nancy though so Grace: devastated I can't go to Chelsea Janis: mm did it Janis: she did try to fuck her special ed teacher Grace: Oh yeah Grace: & she wasn't even cute Grace: awks Janis: 🙄 Janis: and her twin has ended up inbreeding so don't reckon much to his fine education tbh Grace: Maybe I should hook up with Mia's dad Janis: don't be grim Grace: He's not hot but he is rich Janis: only relevant if you marry him Janis: and her mum is still very much alive and you'd have to last a while to be written in Janis: if ever Grace: I probably look too young for him to be 😍😍😍 anyway Grace: I'll hit him up post surgery if I'm still bitter Janis: you know people have surgery to look younger Janis: what kind of surgeon you found that's gonna make you a grandma Grace: 😂😂 Janis: I mean you will anyway Janis: your desired aesthetic ends up looking Donatella Versace when the filler starts to drop out Grace: gross Janis: He'll defs have a secretary he's banging, they always do Janis: just send a confession to her house and watch the fireworks, like Grace: that's a secret I already know, babes Grace: Mia caught him forever ago Janis: awh Janis: she does have a 💘 Grace: she has an even bigger allowance cos of too Janis: 'course Janis: got that to look forward to, Venus Janis: pretend to be her and tell then, even more trouble Grace: Do you want me to change or not? Janis: no one said you need to be a nun about it Janis: and if you ain't up for round 2 Grace: Yeah okay Janis: Seriously Janis: you don't need to worry Grace: it's fine for you, you don't care what anyone says or thinks or does Janis: yeah Janis: well she's a cunt Janis: why let her get to you Grace: it's not like I want her to Grace: she just does Janis: had 10 years to perfect it, I guess Grace: mhmmm Janis: don't mean you need another 10 Janis: fake that it doesn't get to you, like you said Grace: idk if I even can but sure Janis: why not Janis: you fake everything else, right Grace: & everyone's seeing through it rn Janis: doesn't have to be a bad thing Grace: Pablo called me mental & he got with Mia Janis: Pablo calls everyone and everything mental Janis: his vocab is lacking along with his brain, like Grace: 😂 Janis: doubt he was aiming for a soul-reaching read Janis: just a moody twat, yeah Grace: it's so okay for boys to have moods like it just makes them look hotter if anything but if a girl our age does anything she's mental Grace: is anyone in this fam calling him out for sleeping with girls at parties he says he doesn't know, no just me getting slutshamed Janis: that's misogyny, kid Janis: and I'm sure we're all very disappointed with him for it, like Janis: but as you said, everyone's seeing through you rn so Grace: my feet hurt I can't even run away Grace: I'm putting my coffee cup on the ground & giving up Grace: throw some euros in it if you come this way Janis: if you come here you can earn 'em and think about something else for a bit Grace: ?? Janis: we wanna go out Janis: the kid already knows you so come watch him for a few hours, yeah Janis: better hiding place than wherever you've got to Grace: before I say yeah, is his sister there too? Janis: I can assure you she'll be out as soon as she gets the chance Grace: Okay Janis: she's like Gus' age Janis: she can take care of herself Grace: as long as that's the only way she's like Gus Janis: 😏 Janis: bit rude but yeah Grace: oh come on, he's a lot Janis: 😂 and you're not Grace: that's why I can say it duh Janis: so is that a yeah or what Grace: I'm omw Janis: good stuff Grace: I need to fix my makeup first so Janis: so you'll be five hours Janis: come on Grace: Shut up Grace: I can't do it in a moving car, I'll look worse than I do now Janis: as long as you aren't rocking a 🤡 look I don't think the kid will mind Grace: you and the love of your life will still have to let me in Grace: what are you wearing? am I gonna have to be fake nice about it Janis: it's cool, he doesn't think you're nice, like Janis: told him what a bitch you are, obvs Grace: thanks babes Janis: any time 🖤 Grace: 💜 Janis: anyway, you'd be here for it Grace: Yeah? Janis: it's stupid Janis: had to dress up 'cos not fully sure where we're going so Grace: that's soooo cute Janis: alright Janis: that's enough Grace: I didn't even start Grace: so mean Janis: I know Grace: Do you want me to do your makeup? Janis: I don't think we'll have time Janis: takes an age don't it Grace: for me cos I have problem areas Grace: it wouldn't take like any time to do yours Janis: okay go on Janis: but we can't make him wait forever so it really does have to be speedy Grace: OMG really?? Grace: I promise, like 10 mins Janis: 👌 Janis: why not Grace: yay Janis: love the enthusiasm, babe Grace: Babes, if you could see me rn Grace: 🙌💜🙌 Grace: but if I get too excited I'll never get there Janis: I know it's shit Janis: but she's been shit for a long time Grace: & I know that Janis: yeah Janis: well Bobby will be happy to see you Grace: duh it's totally mutual Grace: he's a babe Janis: shame you can't take him to school 💕 Grace: he isn't a 🐶 I can't just put him in my 👜 hun Janis: think this one is too big for that and all Janis: 'less you're going really hard Grace: OMG has he got a big scary dog! 😱😱 Grace: one of my exes had one that was like Grace: so evil Janis: no Janis: it's just not a rat dog Janis: and it's nice just a bit excitable, only a puppy, like Grace: 🙏🙏 Grace: thank god Janis: just walked it so it should be chill-ish Janis: [sends pic 'cos god knows I have enough] Grace: ask him if I can steal it for school 😍 Janis: 😏 probably say yes Grace: that's so happening then Janis: you so don't need these bad influences in your life Janis: do you reckon mum used to put Ri in her school bag Grace: obvs have her strapped to the front & all her books in a backpack Grace: if I had a baby I could get away with leaving school though, I'll think about it Janis: behave Grace: I need to find the hottest boy ever first Grace: so it'd be cute Janis: shut up Janis: anyway Janis: don't always work Janis: look at Drew and Ro's kid Janis: weird looking thing, they're both attractive enough Grace: is she though? Janis: thought you'd tell me off for being mean Janis: she could be, if she wasn't dying, like Grace: never seen her when she wasn't so it's too hard to tell Janis: 💔 Janis: must be Mia's GP Janis: doling out the advice Grace: I'll book myself in ASAP Janis: like you said Janis: not a look, is it Grace: neither's this Grace: whatever I don't have the commitment Grace: stopped making myself throw up forever ago Janis: did you? Grace: it's like really hard to do Grace: someone should PSA that Janis: along with all the reasons not to, yeah Janis: reckon there's been a couple of films and docs on it Grace: it has its upsides too obvs, how I get any lads to date me Janis: you can shut up now Janis: didn't need to hear about Pablo jumping Mia's bones Janis: don't need to hear about you Grace: you just wanna hear about my bulimic past instead Grace: 🙄🙄 Janis: um I didn't ask you about that either Grace: you literally just did Grace: but fine Janis: what did you want me to say Grace: whatever I don't need an intervention for that so Janis: alright Grace: where's his dad? He's not gonna like come back & freak out that I'm watching his kid, like who am I, is he? Janis: nah he's on a date of his own Janis: if he came back early, just give me a call, like Grace: Gross Grace: 👌👌 Janis: he is Grace: I bet he's hot though, son like that Janis: old men are so not your thing Janis: don't need to go down that route, tah Janis: and he's not Janis: like he could've been but he's well past it Grace: tragic Grace: I wonder if his mum is pretty Grace: they could've been like couple goals forever ago Janis: long as you keep your speculating to yourself Grace: obvs I'm not that stupid Grace: or mean Janis: just saying Janis: it is really messed up Janis: wonder where she is Grace: did he tell you anything? Janis: they don't know anything Grace: Oh Grace: poor Bobby Janis: I know Janis: still Janis: Jim looks after him really well Grace: yeah he talked about him like non-stop at the fair Grace: it's nice that they have each other Janis: it is Janis: hard for him sometimes though Grace: obvs he can't just do whatever he wants Grace: unless I'm babysitting Janis: and with his job Janis: we're spoilt brats, like Grace: maybe I'll get one Grace: keep me busy Janis: I'd like one Janis: but I'd definitely throw coffee over people like you so Janis: gotta think Grace: rude but v true Grace: there's like lots of stuff at the sports centre you could do Janis: 😏 Janis: yeah maybe Janis: not the worst idea Grace: I'm mostly fake stupid Janis: leave that off the job applications Grace: idk what I'd even apply for anyway so Janis: you could do anything retail Grace: they want girls who look good in the clothes Janis: you do, you daft cow Grace: on like 1 day out of 7 Grace: I can't maintain that much gym time Janis: 🙄 Janis: alright, you could be a teasgirl in a salon or something Grace: maybe but lots of girls wanna do that Janis: yeah but every job gets more applicants than it needs Janis: worth a shot, if you wanna Grace: sure Janis: work on your resume later though, yeah Janis: on the clock here Grace: I'll make dad do it Janis: hasn't he got catering to be planning Grace: okay fine mum then Janis: surely she has a lovely big 👒 to buy Grace: yeah but we'll fit it around the shopping trips duh Janis: 🙄 Janis: gross Grace: you don't have to come, babes Janis: made it pretty clear I won't be Grace: yeah Janis: you know anyone who'd want some meth, like Grace: that's not funny thank you Janis: it ain't Janis: made a right dent in my back pocket, like Grace: so you better start job hunting Janis: I'll find a buyer Grace: Janis Janis: what Grace: you can't sell drugs Janis: not gonna make it my career Grace: just throw it away Grace: it's freaking me out that you even still have it Janis: not gonna waste it Janis: it's fine Grace: OMG how is it fine??! Grace: you could get murdered Janis: not for this much Janis: didn't go that crazy Grace: people get killed for their phones Janis: alright after school special Janis: worry 'bout yourself then, never off yours, you'd be fucked Grace: excuse me for not wanting you dead Grace: & I dropped mine so it is Janis: unlucky Janis: excuse to say you've lost all their numbers though Grace: that was obvs my plan not just a clumsy bitch 🙄🙄 Janis: 👌 Janis: less believeable than you getting a boy to stick for 7 weeks but we'll roll with it Grace: UM rude Grace: it's 7 boys, lasting a week Janis: 😏 7 dickheads for the price of 1, whatever Grace: even I can keep a boy for a week Janis: the real questions Grace: it's not a q, I can Janis: LOL Grace: stop being a bitch & let me in Janis: finally Grace: ILY too babes Janis: yeah yeah Grace: & you're so welcome 💜 Janis: shut up I'm coming as fast as I can alright Grace: it's literally raining btw Janis: let's hope dickhead ain't planned a picnic Grace: 😂😂 Grace: 💔

[skullvins]

@tentacleonastick I see your comment and I'm HERE TO ELABORATE

I was talking about the first combo with @lightredfox last night, but we've been kind of doing this combo for the whole of the rp event that I've been posting a bit about. we write double and vin with a mild rivalry (they get along on the whole, but they clash a LOT) and it means these two are easily able to go into a bit of a rivalry over 'who's the smoother partner/who's better dressed etc'. red sole's a good enabler for this if she's fifth wheeling.

we also tend to write vin as being... a bit disapproving of omega n double's relationship? I normally go for an angle that's like. a combo of a lot of reasons. it's partially cos he sees it as unprofessional to date a team member/have battle judgement clouded like that, partly because he's a somewhat romance repulsed aro who's tired of all their pda (sort of), partially because he thinks omega could get better taste (although he's not very self aware in this catagory, more on that in a bit) and partially because he's a bit clingy over his sister. it was just him and her for a while, so makes sense. this then also kinda heightens tension between these three

BUT THEN you throw skull into the mix and it's hilarious. vin might make a comment to meg about her taste in men when double does something dumb of ass, only for skull to do something similar like two minutes later. he might roll his eyes when they do something sappy, only to attempt something sappy himself, incredibly inexperienced. might even stretch to him putting his rivalry thing with double on pause and asking him for advice, it's great

double and skull have a great dynamic, honestly, if our rp's are anything to go by. they've both got a vibe of wanting to impress/get along with the other out of respect for vintage n omega. they're both pretty similar on the surface (omega and vin have hilariously similar taste) and it makes for some good shenanigans. I think they'd both think the other is pretty cool! can also see double being a foodie, so there's that too.

omega n skull have a dynamic I can't QUITE describe, but it's great to see in action. they're able to work well together to do things if they need to, but it's not like, a surface level friendship/acquaintanceship, although they're definitely not close either. there's something under the surface, they might make really old jokes/references, or just talk like they've known each other for a while, cos they have! but it's combo'd with them also both hardly knowing each other cos they've both changed a lot. they also have a mutual concern for vintage, so there's that.

Idk, I love throwing skull in with the x blood in their 'meet the family' shenanigans and this is just that but to the left. it really brings out some hilarious dynamics

the alomask combo though? I've talked about this with @gaygent-three a LOT! skull n aloha are the Problem Causers™ of the s4 and bringing vintage into things makes shit HILARIOUS. without army there as some sort of control factor, and with mask somewhat distracted, CHAOS ENSUES

we've talked about a lot of elements of this. one of my faves when it comes to crossing vin over with the s4 in general is him and skull getting into their classic Old Married Couple Arguments™ about the game. maybe even vin taking over skull's role for a game, or them having dumb petty back and fourths from the stands. y'know if they do well in a match tho, they exchange affections. I think skull can be pretty distracted by the fact he's just getting to play with vintage again (vin too, but he keeps his shit together better) and so vin being like. focus and I'll give you kissies after. n then skull gets like 10 snipes in a minute and goes back to being a bit of a softie.

the s4 bicker anyway and vin's here to make skull more distracted and make everything worse IN A GOOD WAY. we've talked about, like, aloha and skull engaging in mutual chaos and stupidity and vin and mask just being like *sigh* can't believe we love these idiots. as these chats with me n loha tend to spawn from us just simping over our respective light blue squids, we've decided aloha and skull like to do the same MFBDKFJD

we've talked about like, mask n skull both having a bit of a rivalry with this stuff? they tease each other over who's the bigger softie n who's queerer. mask... TENDS to win. this is also an argument they'd then have to bring up with army sometimes, especially if skull, vin, aloha n mask did a double date league thing, to which army has a few comments of his own to add (god I love slightly baby to canon confidence and assertiveness to canon toned down niceness but also with a mild sarcastic streak that he picks up from the other three when it comes to arguing with them. MAN I love army)

one time we talked about crossing over two of our aus that have NOTHING to do with each other and the dynamic of mask and skull both being like *dramatic pose* stay back from my beloved! whilst aloha and vin just have normal conversations in the bg is great

honestly, I think aloha and vintage are an underrated duo. LOVE the idea of them exchanging gossip about skull: vin's more than happy to tease skull by telling his new friends all the stupid shit he used to do as a kid, and aloha's more than happy to catch vin up on all the stupid shit skull's done since. vin and mask have that dynamic of being the straight men by comparison to the other two, and that's always funny. kinda like with skull and the x blood, there's a 'meet the fam' vibe, but this time vin meeting the S4. I think vin could defo meet with purple team too, but they're probably all chill enough and agreeable enough with each other that nothing too interesting would happen. vin n the s4 tho has more potential.

I think they're both pretty thematic combos with potential for character development, but the doublemega combo defo leans itself more to it, imo. alomask is more for fun shenanigans, since vin probably doesn't have any impact on their relationship together (whereas omega did know skull, and was defo affected by their time together on a team, which COULD be relevant to her more withdrawn nature, which is defo part of the appeal of doublemega: double's forced to chill a bit more for her, and he brings her a bit out of her shell, it's nice). either way, good combo potential for double date style content, leagues where someone needs to fill in/double date leagues (my beloved), or just 'happens to be in the same place' shenanigans. it's good shit

doublemega 🤝 alomask

good combo potential with skullvin