#inheroic

[acotars]

i saw your list of top 5 romance authors and ilona andrews was there so clearly you have great taste but i also saw christina lauren - i read love and other words and ADORED it until the end, which i thought was so incredibly awful that it totally ruined the entire book and the author for me. what did you think of LAOW/did you think other books were better? the whole "cheating but actually rape but skimmed over and never clarified or discussed" REALLY threw me, esp bc i loved it so much before

first of all, thank you!!! secondly, this is so real and it totally surprises me that this isn't talked about more. i've had great conversations about it with some mutuals but it's.... bizarre the way the end of love and other words goes down and in my experience, so unexpected from CL. putting the rest of this under a cut because it got long!!

what happened to elliot was rape, hands down and without question. but the narrative never (never!!) treated it with the gravity it required? and because it happened to him at the same time that he lost macy without any explanation, all of his feelings about each experience get so tangled up and intertwined with each other. when he sees macy again, he drops everything in his life to make things work with her, and we get the distinct impression from the (very few) glimpses into his adult life that it's taken him a very, very long time to rebuild. his recent ex rachel even says something snidely to macy about how much she "fucked [elliot] up," how what macy supposedly did to him impacted elliot and rachel for the entire year they were together. this, combined with other subtext throughout the book suggests elliot had a very hard time with physical intimacy, and his ex-girlfriend rachel very much believes this to be macy's fault.

without digging into blame too far (no one is at fault in what went down on new year's except emma, the girl who took advantage of someone far past the point of consent), i find it so intensely strange that CL still have elliot apologize to macy, that macy still feels justified in her anger at him, that after allll the pieces are laid out between them, macy laments the tragedy — not that elliot was assaulted, but that this "tiny whimper of a drunken misunderstanding" blew up their lives so completely.

the simplest course of action would have obviously been to never write this scene into existence at all — there are so, so many other ways to have broken them apart and left them both reeling for years. any book featuring on-page rape is a massive undertaking, as this is a subject that requires so, so much intention and care in the writing. love and other words handled it so poorly, it ruined the book for a lot of people. and i don't blame them!!! of all the christina lauren books i've read, this is the only one to feature on-page sexual assault. it is also the only book by then two of them that was published as women's fiction and not romance, which i think contributed a lot to the tone and introspection of this book. it could very well be that romance publishers are stricter about guidelines when publishing sexual assault scenes and that influenced the genre switch. it could also be that christina lauren never intended for elliot's new years encounter to be considered rape (even though it so clearly is) — they write about it with a flippancy that is so incongruous with the stances they've shown in other books. the whole thing confuses and disappoints me, but luckily isn't present in their other books.

i really enjoyed the soulmate equation by them — i think it has similar levels of yearning and pining, with less of the will-they-won't-they and none of the assault. others have loved the unhoneymooners but it wasn't totally my thing. the then-and-now situation is also explored really well in twice in a blue moon, but i found the "now" portions less compelling. i would recommend checking out their other books if you feel comfortable doing so, because as far as my memory serves, none of the rest of them feature anything similar to the train wreck that is the end of laow. but also! if that ending was enough for you to never read another book by them, more power to you!!! it was.... so bad and it still doesn't sit right to this day.

[the-skull-breaker]

I made Jann in his Eurovision outfit inHero Forge, such a shame Poland didn't select him o represent their country, he's genuinely talented !

reference :

[revuestars]

@inheroic // wait hold on i have that saved.

https://www.tiktok.com/@jadieava/video/6734145553707404549

YOUR VERSION IS SO MUCH FUNNIER THIS WAS MINE

[jinruinokibo]

@inheroic​ replied to your post:        TAPES a paper sign on his door that says ‘...

don’t worry about the ivy growing from the vents and the damp forest smell it’s fine. it’s fine. it’s fine

THIS IS OBVIOUSLY NOT OKAY. NOW HE’S HEAVILY CONCERNED.

[boldestgreen]

@inheroic replied ; ha

           “If i were you, which i am, i wouldn´t be that happy”

[savepnt]

@inheroic // im going to come for robin bc i thought about this at 5 am and ritsu must just went fucking HOG WILD

They all knew Vivian’s wine was a dangerous thing, and yet that isn’t going to stop Ritsu from drinking just enough to get dizzy. It’s more fun that way, too. Ritsu knows they’re the overly affectionate sort when inebriated and sometimes it’s amusing to find Servants and compliment them into submission when Ritsu can’t get flustered in revenge.

Robin’s only in their periphery physically, but he still occupies most of their thoughts. A wineglass dangles from their hand as they proceed to tug Robin out of the room until they’re not anywhere near onlookers (it’s hard, with Robin’s perpetual fae entourage! But Ritsu shall succeed), one of the available rooms for guests. They turn to Robin once there and finally deign to explain themselves (whoops, poor Robin, he probably thought Ritsu was after a quickie. Too bad! It’s appreciation time.)

“Robin!” That is him, that is the boy they’re facing! “I gotta tell you stuff, ‘cause I was thinking about you, and I was thinkin’ wow, I super love that guy, and it’s been like twenty minutes since I told you so. So!” Ritsu clasps Robin’s cheeks in his hand, smooshing the Archer to make sure he can’t look away. “And you aren’t allowed to talk or shoo me away or disappear in May King ‘till I say I’m done. Or else I’ll use a command seal to make ya sit still!” Ritsu declares with finality.

It is very important to them that Robin knows he’s great. Command seal worthy level of importance. Their arm around his shoulder once more, Ritsu frog-marches Robin to the room’s chair and forces him down, plopping themselves on the arm of the chair. They keep one of Robin’s hands in their, playing with his fingers. “I was thinking about you, and I know you didn’t wanna come here ‘cause big events aren’t your jam, but you still toughed it out and came with me so I could visit. And I reeeally appreciate that! You’re so good at looking out for me and honestly I super need it most of the time. But thank you for all that. You’re really kind, even though you say you’re not and that you don’t like people, you’re still always reliable and super nice to me. If the whole Grand Order I only had you, I think we could still do it. You can do anything, ‘cause you’re smart and really good at understanding how stuff works and trying your best.”

There’s a moment of pause as Ritsu’s attention wanders to Robin’s hand in theirs, and they hold it up. “Your hands are nice, too,” they say in a mild tangent. Ritsu kisses Robin’s fingertips and carried on rambling “It takes a lotta strength to operate a bow and arrow. Your hands and shoulders are handsome. And it’s neat how you can get around in the forest all dead silent. You’re better than anybody else at it. D’you want me to go in order, I probably could. We all know your ass is perfect. Also, the concept of a ginger happy trail is kinda funny to me an’ yours is cute. Your chest is perfect and I wanna kiss it.”

“Your hair’s really soft and it smells like trees a lotta the time which makes me happy. Sometimes I kinda wish you’d pin it back more but then it makes seeing your whole face at once like a fun surprise. Your eyes are really pretty. I think your freckles are cute, and it’s funny how easy your cheeks go red. Also extremely cute. When I see you smile, it’s like. A billion Christmas lights. I’unno how to say it but, like, when I make you smile it feels like that’s all I wanna do for the rest of my whole life. You’ve become a little less hard on yourself lately and it makes me really excited to think that you might be liking yourself a little more, cause I don’t want anyone including yourself to be hard on you.”

Ritsu closes their eyes, leaning against Robin. “I just love you a whole lot, y’know.” How else is he supposed to explain it! And yet, it’s very important to them that Robin is aware.

“Romani and da Vinci once were talking about all the grails we get in Singularities. How they’re all kinda shards of a true Greater Grail, and maybe if there’s enough we could moosh them all together we’d get a wish granting grail.” Ritsu leans down, their cheek against Robin’s hair. This is where they kind of want to hide their face, embarrassed finally, but they keep talking. “I kept thinking that, if I did get a wish... I really wanted to give it to you. ��Cause, I think, the biggest wish I have is that I wanna make you smile, so if somebody like said I could have any wish in the world, it’d be for that anyways.”

They make a little huffing noise, getting over being self-conscious. All out there now! All Robin can do is tell them to go away. ...Geez, somehow saying that was nerve-wracking and more sobering than Ritsu wanted it to be! They wish they still had the wine. Ritsu lets themselves slip forward to fall fully against Robin and look up at him, their red face now a bit less from alcohol. “So, that’s just what I wanted to say.”

Yeah, he can call them an idiot now.

[hearthhearted-a]

delivery! jesus, this is a huge bag. for ritsuka: an earring with a wayfinding charm; for santa, high-heel boots with knives in the soles; for kintoki, a gold-plated nintendo switch; for lancer, bellerophon's reins (?!); for berserker, a demon-boar tusk; for emiya alter, a hydra dagger; for gilgamesh, noise-canceling headphones; and for 707, an enchanted mask. phew! merry christmas.

@inheroic

Ritsuka is delighted by the earring and thanks Robin! ...Ah. Now that she thinks about it, she doesn't have pierced ears. ...Well...needles can do the trick, right?

Santa in the meanwhile is eyeing those boots in a distinct manner that suggests those daggers are going to be in use very soon...watch out Chaldea.

Kintoki beams! He's heard about these, and while not very familiar with technology, anything golden is a great gift in his books!

Lalter raises an eye in interest, curious as to how Robin acquired those. Looks like Llamrei will be sporting a new look soon-

The Berserker grunts in thanks, popping the tusk into his mouth and crunching it into pieces with a stoic expression. Ascension or skill upgrade materials are always needed.

The Archer plays with the dagger for a few moments, studying it so he can project a copy if needed. Thanks green dude.

Gilgamesh is distinctly amused by the gift and laughs his trademark laugh as he drops it into his treasury. A humorous present, mongrel!

707 immediately slips on the mask despite not knowing what it does! Looks like he's going to have fun puzzling it out and putting it to good use! (Aka prank people)

[caemthe-a]

     The teen went ahead and kneeled down to pick a small rabbit that was close by and began petting it. Never mind the fact that she was subtly trying to avoid eye contact with the Hunter.“Oh, I do wonder about that as well. I must say that I wasn’t even thinking of rabbits at the time.” Words were thrown to the air that answered nothing and raised even more questions. The princess hummed to herself as she gently caressed the white fur of her small friend. She didn’t know that Robin liked gardening and wondered if rabbits ate flowers as well. Well, they would eventually find out, that’s for sure. Also, it was quite amusing to be called ‘little miss’ by the Archer when, even as a teen, Emer still was taller than him.

     “I was hoping that Mr. Robin could help me in gathering the rabbits since you appear to have a special skill that attracts forest creatures?” Or so Emer thought since the Archer was often accompanied by a fat blue bird and animals didn’t run away from him. “But wouldn’t kill them be a waste of arrows? They’re made of magic so I doubt they’ll stay to make a good meal for the others and I’m afraid I don’t have much experience in killing cute animals like these.” That had been her handmaidens’ and servants’ job back when she lived. The princess looked at the small rabbit and smiled at it one last time before placing it down.“It’s okay, my fluffy friend. I’m sure Mr. Robin will make it as quick and painless as possible.” After saying that, the small, white rabbit hopped towards the Archer and looked at the man with its big and innocent eyes. // @inheroic. ° ( cont )

[cariosum]

@inheroic // starter call

Allies are hard to deal with, and this rayshift has no shortage of them. It’s a hassle. It’s easier for Alter to simply pick a direction and kill whoever happens to be in his way there, but of course he’s obligated to follow Haru’s instructions. Protect the weak, don’t let any of these allies or traveling companions get hurt. Not even the humans.

If Alter feels annoyed under the obligations, he figures it must be orders of magnitude worse for Haru. Even in moments of relative calm as is current (who knows how long that will last, probably not very long. He’s watchful even now). Alter sought Haru out to lurk alongside him a bit ago, slouching a little to make their height difference marginally less inconvenient. It’s a while still before Alter breaks the quiet. “You’re welcome to rely on us more, you know. You don’t have to force yourself to stay at the front lines or watch what happens to the people there.” Plenty of commanders don’t. Sometimes it’s cowardice, sometimes it’s practical. Sometimes forcing yourself to stay mired is more dangerous.

[santakinard]

i watched all of julie and the phantoms bc of your posts and thank you for that bc it was flawless. also you warned me about unsaid emily and i thought i was emotionally prepared i was not it was devastating

omg I’m soooo incredibly happy I got you into this fantastic show! 

and ikr??? I don’t think all the warnings and preparation in the world can fully prepare oneself for the emotional devastation that is Unsaid Emily. I mean, I already cried on the show before, especially during Wake Up. But damn that still did not prepare me. I will forever be crying about it. 

[superhumandisasters]

Part of my collaboration for the @cabigbang this year with @inheroism, who’s the wonderful eyres on AO3! Read their post-apocalyptic romance:

Long Off Skies

[originlist]

@inheroic​ / felix.

“pet,” he may or may not even remember felix’s name, “you know how to play music, do you not?” such a thing should be basic education for wanderers. or whatever kind of thing felix is. “play me a song.”

[revuestars]

@inheroic​ // mhm, there's your first mistake

no, wait, the first one was letting her into chaldea at all

     thanks , guess i’ll die

[jinruinokibo]

@inheroic​ replied to your post:      RITSUKA appears to be quite occupied with...

pops like three in his mouth behind master’s back

    ❛ AH ?! Robin ! What are you doing ?! Couldn’t you have waited until I actually gave you some ?! ❜  

[savepnt]

@inheroic​ said:oh, would you look at that. seems there's mistletoe about. wonder who could've put it there. there's a rule about what happens when you stand under it, isn't there? (on purpose)

get! a! ritsu! kiss! // accepting

It’s Robin who’s waiting totally-not-on-purpose against the wall where the mistletoe is hung a little higher than normal, so conveniently a little bit above Robin’s own height. He makes a very not-subtle face at Ritsu, an expectant ‘ah, what could that be over my head’.

Ritsu laughs and trots over obligingly. “You helped put these around, didn’t you?” Ritsu grins at him as they put their arms around Robin’s shoulders. “Should I wonder if, perhaps, you had... an ulterior motive?” Probably not, Ritsu knows just enough to know that mistletoe has been associated with winter since before it had any attached Christmas theme, but it’s more fun to tease Robin.

They don’t keep him waiting for long, though. Never one to break a rule, that’s Ritsu! (When that rule is about kisses.) Ritsu gives him a warm kiss, taking their time with it. (Robin really is a perfect guy, isn’t he.)

[riderclassidiot]

Archer and Rider

@inheroics

Astolfo was amazed by the popcorn shop. Just watching the popcorn get popped and all the different kinds of flavors and stuff. There sure were so many new things since the last time he’d been summoned.  “One please!” He called, after figuring out the popcorn flavor he wanted.

He was just heading out of the shop, tossing a handful of the treat into his mouth, when he ran smack dab into someone. His popcorn scattered everywhere, including into his boots. “Heeeey! I just paid for that!”

He looked up from the scattered popcorn and squinted at the man he’d run into. He looked....familiar.....somehow. But he couldn’t quite place it. “Do I know you?”