#irrationally scared of aging

[mollyjimbly]

i don't want to be perceived as "old" or "young" i just want to be perceived as me!

is that too much to ask for? ☹️

[stuck-in-the-ghost-zone]

THEY ACTUALLY CALL IT CORDYCEPS??!?!?!?!?!?@

[girlivealwaysbean]

i don't feel like studying any of the subjects from The Plan rn but everything else is so boring that i also don't want to waste time on like watching content or something and i would rather switch subjects then give up on studying for the day and by old me standards ive already done enough but new me i still feel like i can do more but i don't know what ughhhhh this is torture

[rachetmath]

Jaune: *pacing back and forth*

Writer: *scared* Um.

Jaune: Let me ask you something. Do you get off on me suffering?

Writer: What? No. No. No, we don’t.

Jaune: Really? S-so—so w-w-why have me kill Penny? Like I really could have saved her. I really could have healed her. Like what are we doing? But no, I listened to a girl who had a human body for the first time and was having a dying experience which she probably wasn’t thinking straight.

Writer: …. ….

Jaune: Then I don’t even mention her and Ruby was going through it, acting like she killed her.

Writer: I mean she technically did kill her.

Jaune: Why didn’t you let Ruby do it then? Why did I have to go through all that crap?

Writer: Jaune your a knight.

Jaune: I also had a rabbit hoody. Plus didn’t Ruby pick a knight piece? She is TECHNICALLY a knight. You all could have had me as the late bunny.

Writer: How does that fit into your character?

Jaune: Hm. Beacon wasn’t I late to save Pyrrha? Mistral, wasn’t I think irrationally to where Weiss almost died. Argus, I was close to getting my friends killed because I was lack of leadership skills.

Writer: …. ….

Jaune: The heir always arrives late because he neglects his responsibility and doesn’t do his job. Haven’t I been neglecting some of my duties to almost where no one has complete faith in me?

Writer: …. …

Jaune: Plus, again, Ruby has silver eyes. She could have been training with those and her scythe skills. You can also determine what age you want her to be.

Writer: Okay Jaune chill. We just thought it was best for your character.

Jaune: So having me go back in time. I was stuck in the Ever After for years and couldn’t find a home until RWBY was there. Letting me get poisoned by Alyx. And getting no kind of skill set was good. Isn’t my character all about growth and change? So why does it feel like I haven’t changed? I’m back to square one again.

Writer: Yeah…

Jaune: y'all come on. First, you had Tyrian having some interest in me which might as well be a prison joke right now. Then you had Vine say something about extending my aura which is irrelevant considering y'all wanted Ren to have attention. Y'all had Harriet grieving over Clover which I could have been related to her on, you know, because I lost Pyrrha. And I let Emerald join my team because Oscar says so. There was a lot of shit I could have done. But no, killing Penny was important.

Writer: …

Jaune: Ya’ll had Ruby and Salem in the same kingdom, Salem drops the Summer bomb, and instead of having Ruby figure that shit out by seeing her you had her sidelined.

Writer: She was protecting Nora and Penny.

Jaune: She could have left and gone help in the war. Silver-eyed warrior timing and left Weiss in charge. Don't give me that shit.

Writer: Okay but -

Jaune: Back to what's important, why was James her highest priority over Salem? I mean at least he was protecting his citizens. Salem was trying to kill everybody. How was she not Ruby's target? Why didn't you leave James to me? That would have hyped up Penny’s death way better if you wanted me to kill her!

Writer: You wouldn't stand a chance against James?

Jaune: I almost outsmarted the Atlas military with my plan.

Writer: James is stronger and smarter than you. You are no fighter

Jaune: Exactly fighting for me is the last resort. I am a strategist! Not an all-out fighter! My job is to adapt to situations and operate within the chaos!

Writer: … I mean-

Jaune: I also have emotional intelligence. And I’m not stupid. Are you telling me I wouldn't see through or question some of James’s actions if given a chance?

Writer: Well Ruby was trapped in an electric barrier.

Jaune: Gravity shield. So Nora didn't need to be absent in the fight.

Writer: Shit.

Jaune: Let's go to the Ever After.

Writer: Come on man. If it wasn't for you team RWBY wouldn't have made it out. Also, you were going through the worst.

Jaune: F team Rwby.

Writer: What could you have done better than Ruby?

Jaune: The same shit but better. I would have traded my armor for Yang’s arm. My sword for an audience with the Red King. Pyrrha scarf for the antidote. All are a part of my identity. Not to mention while having my friend's gun on me which she rejected after keeping it safe and not destroying it.

Writer: …

Jaune: Alyx’s dagger, I could have used it by probably seeing her memories and figuring out what happened to her and how to get home. And, mainly, as a means of self-defense.

Writer: But Yang, Blake, and Weiss-

Jaune: Speaking of them why did they prioritize me over Ruby? And why did Ruby need help from a god when her issues were minor compared to mine? I mean even if she spent years alone, talking with her team would have been enough for her. And probably for the best considering Ruby is her team's sister, friend, and leader.

Writer: … …

Jaune: Like seriously, I was messed up mentally. Penny whose death I might as well be keeping a secret, from everybody. I mean if you killed one of your allies to save the world, wouldn’t you feel morally messed up? Meanwhile, my team was nowhere on site. I don't know Weiss, Blake, and Yang like that, so opening up to either of them would have been a challenge. Especially Ruby. Not to forget but my friends were in a whole different kingdom by themselves and I don't know what happened to them. They could've been dead for all I knew. So my worries would have been expeditiously high!

Writer: Oh God.

Jaune: And since we are on Penny, what happened to her body?!

Writer: … … We don't need to discuss that.

Jaune: Funny, because of the way the Jabberwocky was looking at Ruby I can make a guess what happened to her.

Writer: Please don't.

Jaune: Then we have the Cat, my enemy and opposite to my personality., He manipulates my friends and controls them like puppets. Neo would have had a field day with me too. After all, Pyrrha died because I couldn't stop her. Penny died because I had zero options to save her. Ozpin died because I failed to do my job. Ironwood died because of me and Ruby. And Harriet told me about Clover so I know he’s dead.

Writer: …

Jaune: And after all that bullshit you just gave us nothing. No new looks. Now new weapons I could have used. We might as well have been through a filler arc. Oh, and you know what, you could have finally given me a backstory. Something that finally ties my character together.

Writer: *tears falling* Jaune, please.

Jaune: *weapon drawn* You f*** with me for the last time. Now. DIE!

Chopper, Steven, and Orihime: No!

Orihime: Shoten kessun I reject.

Writer: *protected*

Chopper: *Goes Arm point and restrains Jaune*

Steven: *Traps them both in a bubble*

Windy: Jaune please calm down.

Jaune: Nah I'm killing them. They got me f*** up.

Steven: We’re really going to need therapy for you buddy.

Jaune: I don't need therapy, I want them dead.

Sakura: Chopper.

Chopper: Come, buddy. They are not worth it.

Jaune: Let me at least punch them.*screams in rage*

Sakura: *stares at the new staff*

Viz media writer: …

Sakura: Look just go easy on him. Please? Just let him be useful in other areas. Don't give him more trauma.

Viz media writer: You must know how he feels.

Sakura: Yes. Yes, I do.

Steven: And so do I.

[agalychnisspranneusroseus]

I know the usual role swap AU has Marcy in Wartwood, Anne in Toad Tower and Sasha in Newtopia but I think it's be hilarious to see Sasha in Wartwood, Marcy in Toad Tower and Anne in Newtopia.

Andrias encourages Anne's worst vices, her selfishness and laziness. He just gives her a room and infinite money and lets her do whatever she wants, facing no consequences for her actions whatsoever because all Andrias cares about is using her as bait for her two more competente friends to come looking for. Only thing in her favor is that she DOES have the Calamity Box, which she gives to Andrias without question as soon as he promises to send her back home. Problem is that it's uncharged, and Anne at this point is too useless to do anything about it, so he, alongside Lady Olivia, have to keep up with this spoiled brat, forcing fake smiles and praying that her friends show up soon. He even sends Yunnan to go find them, because this weird annoying alien kid is causing disasters in the city every two days and all Andrias can think about is "jeez now I remember why I never had children".

Marcy in Toad Tower has a very Entrapta-Hordak kind of relationship with Grime (without the romance) in the sense that she's too enthralled by the wonders of Amphibia to be scared. She might not have the social abilities Sasha has but she DOES have an extensive knowledge of Age of Empires types of games, her strategies are UNMATCHED. While she is terrified during the first two weeks, while she's locked in a cell (this is NOT what her isekai fantasy looked like in her head), she soon proves her usefulness when she yells strategic advice from behind bars, demanding to be let out because she NEEDS to be in that war meeting! That strategy won't work! She saw it in an a dozen different animes, she knows how this ends! Though she's not very aware of the brutal reality of Toad Tower - she really just thinks she ended up with a cool warrior order she's helping defeat their enemies.

But Sasha in Wartwood takes the cake. If she ends up with the Plantars like Anne, she's an absolute menace for Sprig and Polly because she's one hell of a bad influence. Hop Pop takes it as a challenge - he thinks she wants to force him to kick her out, and he won't give her what she wants! Plus he's very aware of the ways in which she tries to manipulate his grandchildren and he won't allow it! Every time she gets them in trouble on purpose she has to do a full day of farm work, or to clean Bessie's stables. It's his way of telling her he can see straight through her bullshit and he won't tolerate it. If she wants to turn his kids into little delinquents she will have to get through him first! She probably becomes closer to Polly than Sprig, Sprig being a bit too much of a goody two shoes to follow half of her plans, while Polly is a natural troublemaker that joins in to whatever mischief Sasha comes up with. Though seeing Polly, a small child, continue to get in trouble and suffer the consequences for Sasha's actions, kind of triggers her more protective insticts. The moment Hop Pop realized she was making progress was when he saw her admit, in front of the whole town, that she was responsible for whatever trouble they had earlier, and she only did that because she felt responsible for Polly.

Btw she gets sooooo irrationally mad when Hop Pop gets a girlfriend and encourages Sprig's frustration, whispering like a devil in his ear that this is how it starts: first he gets a girlfriend, then you stop being his priority and suddenly he has new kids and a new family and you're not part of it. Trust me, buddy, single dads getting girlfriends is bad news. We should push her into the river!

Though I do wonder if it'd be even funnier if she ended up with someone you would never expect, like Mrs. Croaker. This old woman has her clean and cook for her all day long while complaining that she's doing everything wrong but she's the only person in town who lets her crash in her couch so it's her fucking snow white arc or getting eaten by a giant mantis.

As expected, Toad Tower and Newtopia makes the girls worse while Wartwood makes them better. While Marcy is kept in the dark and used for her intelligence to commit war crimes and Anne is allowed to be even more selfish and useless, Sasha becomes incredibly protective of her new family and this little town that suddenly looks to her to keep them safe and provide.

[dallasgallant]

Dawn goes down- Vamp au lore post

This is organized the best I could think of as it’s more of a universe than a story (there’s so much that could be done with it). I’ve drawn some aspects and others will be more explained. Will treat this like a master post so it will be updated as lore is talked about!

Long post ahead!

If you want to make anything for it (or any of my aus, headcanons etc.) go ahead! Might be my ego talking, but fjdndmdmd

Base story-

The gang are a group of nomadic vampires, they go from town to town feeding, wreaking havoc and moving on before there’s any danger to them. There’s small pockets of fun but it’s a taxing existence… they’re surviving more than they’re living. 1967 they decide to settle in Tulsa for longer than a normal stay, which means more subtlety than their usual chaos and law running.

It’s a rocky start for them as not even the oldest of them has done the “traditional” Dracula method of slow feeding over a period of time off of people. As you can imagine this starts out horribly (imagine two-bit just hanging off your ceiling like a lizard. It went BAD lmao) until Dally found Buck. The two quickly entered an arrangement where Buck finds and sends food the gangs way.

As the gang becomes more settled they get more free time, Pony still loves movies. He and Johnny spend one morning out to late, confused by the darkness of the movie house — run ins with Dawn and the sun aren’t anything new to them. Except this time, Johnny gets burned badly and the two of them have to take refuge under the porch of one Cherry Valance while the gang has no idea where they are.

The vampires-

The term to refer to a group of vampires would be a “Brood” and a more permanent place they’d stay instead of motels and RVs would be a vampire “nest” -> they’ve currently taken up residence in the long abandoned Curtis house.

They’d also never use the term vampire themselves, for multiple reasons, they’d instead say: Wanderers, drifters etc.

Vamprism isn’t easy, in fact it has more constraints than it does freedoms— it seems that way some nights anyway. Darry views it as “just how it is” there’s no way out and you just have to live with it… that’s what he tells Ponyboy anyway. Darry views things as just fine as long as they all stay together. [ au is simultaneously a fun time with vampires while also slightly vampirsm serves as metaphorical towards poverty/being an outsider. ]

The gang has had countless close calls with sunlight, either with shotty sun protection jobs, traveling to long or plain forgetting. Short exposure like this hurts but it won’t scar permanent unless a tad longer/precise or an incident like Dallas and his former St. Christopher.

However, the most important thing when it comes to the gang is that… Johnny Cade is the head vampire. It is a wonderful bit of irony that the short, scared looking Johnny is the most powerful/originator of the bunch. Him being so assuming is actually quite protective of the entire gang, and while he is the head and that earns him a certain respect and attention he isn’t exactly the leader. That role has been given over to Darry similar to canon.

Vampires don’t age… physically or mentally! While there’s room for personal growth, change and wisdom vampires would maintain the hardwiring of their age at the time of their death. While pony is well beyond the age of 14 he still deals with bouts of irrationality/excess angst and confusion someone at the age would have.

The gang-

Johnny: Oldest of the gang and the head vampire. Takes a lower spot out of choice, despite his strength he’s scared and often quite similar to canon. After some talks he and Pony try and only eat “bad people.”

Dally: The first turned by Johnny sometime in the 1870s, he was a member of a Wild West show left for dead by a former partner. Johnny was lonely and saved his life by taking it, unknowingly Dally had on his pendant when turned leaving him scarred. Has an even greater disregard for law than he does in canon and is one of the ones to ‘clean up’ for the gang. Carries a knife and gun.

Pony: Turned second by Johnny, was met further down the line and they became unlikely friends as Pony just thought him to be sick. (Whether their friendship was genuine or through accidental hypnosis is unknown and forgotten). Still a quiet and thoughtful boy though a bit disruptive and quick to anger… he’s been 14 for a long time and that starts to wear on you. Carries a knife.

Two-bit: Third turned, this time by Dally! Met one night at some saloon (remember this is 19th century) and decided to turn him to keep him around. It was a bit of a botch job but it did work, Two isn’t mad about it as he’d probably get caught cheating and die anyway… this is more fun. Also one of the wilder of the gang who ‘cleans up’. Has two guns.

Soda: Turned fourth by Pony, Soda is his favorite person in the world and he wouldn’t live forever without him. It took a lot out of pony to do this and nearly scared Soda into a second death. It took him the longest adjustment period to get used to everything and ok with it. He likes the fun he gets to have and the lack of rules. Carries a gun and a knife.

Steve: Turned fifth by Johnny for soda, who had similar reasons to pony but saw what it took out of him and wasn’t about to risk it. Steve’s the designated driver of the group often whipping the RV or whatever vehicle they find down the highway, wears driving gloves and tinted goggles as they often cut it close with sunrise. Will swap with Dally when he needs a break. Carries a knife.

Darry: Served briefly as a loosely informed daytime protector (human guardian) until it got to risky. Turned sixth by Johnny for Pony, who wasn’t going to have it happen again. While he was turned last he took to it the quickest, whatever it took to keep the brothers together (especially considering the state of late 19th century boy homes). Leads the gang, critical on sticking together, clean up and finding a place to stay. Carries a gun and a knife.

Pony is in a bit of a weird state with it all, he likes the gang and likes his brothers but he hates the way they have to live and how desperate it all is. They’ll be nights where he’s out on his own where he just goes to see movies or read etc instead of taking time to feed… which worries Darry with how he keeps accidentally starving himself. He’ll either end up feeding him or bringing a cup or two. Since settling down things have gotten slightly better.

Humans -

Cherry : she’s relatively the same to how she is in canon apart from having vampires take temporary refuge under her front porch. Will they be gone before she discovers them?

Buck: While he was fed off once, he’s not a ‘thrall’/protector in a traditional sense though the gang will call him ‘Renfield’ as a joke. He’s under no spell (but thinks he is) they’re just friends, he sends unruly customers, cops and competition their way occasionally as long as they bring no buzz his way.

Sandy: Soda’s past sweetheart when he was alive who he had to leave behind. She was never fully aware what happened, just that his little brother got sick and not long after all three of them disappeared. Since the brothers were turned the latest, there’s a possibility of her still being alive but extremely old.

Bob and Randy: Like Cherry they’re relatively the same to their canon selves. Randy is more observant of illness and disappearances in town and Bob has horror movies on the brain, he’d never suggest vampires — lest he be seen of as insane but he has thought about it. (Unlike cherry there’s not a lot of direct involvement)

[kalelactually]

posting a merlin drabble here that i’ll never finish. arthur’s pov — sorry if this doesn’t make sense !! i’ve been staring at it for too long :)

——————————————————————————————————————————————

— and all my tears have been used up, on another love, another love —

——————————————————————————————————————————————

you look at him, and tremble with the weight it takes to keep secrets together.

you are a prince. you are used to secrets. secrets that are vital, that hide bodies of villages, arms of troops, and the beating heart of your city. secrets that mean, if exposed, you could lose everything your ancestors have worked for overnight. a beating heart, gone, in the blink of an eye.

but his secret, oh — his secret would destroy not your kingdom, but your world as you know it (with him in it.) and you can’t live with that. you know you can’t. and you don’t want to find out what it would be like to have to.

so you keep moving, and you stay blind, and pretend, and hope and hope and hope, that above all, he will stay safe. (that he will stay with you.)

——————

however, some part of you is always mad at him. you’ll look over and see his face, split in half with a grin, and get unbearably, irrationally angry. you’ll snap, and throw insults, and cut with your words, if not your actions — and you’ve never known why.

(you know why. it’s fear.)

——————

leon points it out to you one day, easy, simple, quick as breathing.

he tells you that you never seem to smile. and that shakes your mind.

you ask, confused and caught off guard, why he points it out. he shrugs, leaning on his staff, and stares off at your servant, your merlin, who is mock-battling with some kids. (and when have you ever not thought of him as yours? just as you know you’re his.)

“you haven’t smiled since we were children.” he holds up his hand, as if to stave off protests you’re already forming. “oh, you’ll grin, and you’ll smirk, but it’s sardonic. like you don’t truly find the humor in it; humor that everyone else seems to see.” he hums. “you’re jaded, a little bit.”

you immediately get defensive, the heat of your anger rising, as your throat tightens and almost chokes you up, strangely.

he shrugs again before you can answer, tilting his head towards your servant (your friend.) “but you smile when you’re with him.”

you sit back, dumbfounded, and remarkably exposed. (oh.)

——————

you think later that night, once you finally have some time to yourself, and realize that you can’t remember what your face looks like when it’s smiling. you haven’t felt laughter, or humor — let alone joy, not truly, for years — and you abruptly remember something your father said, once.

“joy is for peasants. it’s the only thing they can afford. it’s common, and it’s cheap — and as kings, as rulers, we have no use for something so easily obtained.”

you didn’t smile in his presence again, after that.

and that decision, one you can’t even remember making, has followed you up until now.

(until him.)

——————

you understand why you’re so angry, now. it’s not because joy is cheap, (like your father once claimed,) or below you, (like you were once taught.) it’s because for you, joy is rare — and you don’t know what it’s like.

you, a king, a prince, (a man, a boy, a kid,) don’t know what it’s like to feel joy. to feel … happy.

and then he came along, and burst into your life, with abhorrent manners and mismatched outfits (and a humble kind of wisdom you’ve never seen,) and shows you that something like happiness is there, and it is possible.

and you are scared.

you, who backs down at nothing. you, who has fought dragons, who has stared down the queen of the north, who bested knights at the age of five. you, who gained your father’s approval. (you, who has fought for the right to live since birth.) you sit back, and you realize, you are deeply, deeply scared.

and then you’re angry, and full of a white-hot rage, and then touch your face and feel tears slipping free without your consent. and you think you’re grieving, because you were never taught things that so many others seem to just know.

and you, you are the one who doesn’t know something so simple, so crucial. you don’t know what it’s like to feel, and you think, that’s unfair.

you also think distantly you’d rather face another dragon, or a horde of them. it’d be easier. those, at least you know how to face.

you don’t know how to fight an enemy, one without a body, or arms, or legs — one that is nothing more than just a feeling, a shadow, a futile grasp at something you don’t even know how to understand.

——————————————————————————————————————————————

hope someone on here enjoyed !! sorry for the abrupt ending :// someday i’ll learn how to post using the tumblr format but today is not that day <33

• character credits belong to bbc and bbc’s merlin. all works enclosed are solely my own, and are purely fictional and meant for the enjoyment of the reader. please do not repost, republish, or steal my works without explicit permission, otherwise you will be blocked and reported. ty !! •

[general--winter]

Genin Sasuke, Naruto, Rock Lee, Neji, Sakura being in love with the reader and finding out that the reader has a Bijuu

author's note: MORE GENIN SHENANIGANS!!! ENJOY

rating: general

fandom: naruto

pairings: genin!uchiha sasuke x gn!reader, genin!uzumaki naruto x gn!reader, genin!rock lee x gn!reader, genin!hyuga neji x gn!reader, genin!haruno sakura x gn!reader

word count: 939

warnings: canon-typical content

summary: How are these genin going to react to the object of their affections posessing one of the strongest spirits in the world, sealed inside of them?

Uchiha Sasuke

Your Bijuu would show its power for the first time during an intense fight. Sasuke wouldn’t know anything about it unless the information had been leaked, similar to Naruto. Using the immense power from within you, you’d defend your team on the mission and push back the enemies before collapsing. Sasuke would catch you without thinking and make sure you made it back to base safely.

As you were sleeping, Sasuke would watch over you to make sure nothing bad happened. After all, Naruto is the same as you and has been targeted by so many different people because of it. He would never let the same happen to you, especially since you were his crush because you understood the pain of being alone. No one stuck out their neck to help you, people whispered and gossiped about you behind your back… Sasuke just feels irrationally (in his mind) towards you. You and Team 7 have given him a found family that he wouldn’t have otherwise, so subconsciously he wants to protect that with his life.

Uzumaki Naruto

I think if Naruto as a genin met someone who was a jinchuriki that was his age, that was ALSO not trying to kill him, he would be fascinated. Especially if it was his crush. He knew that you two had shared life experiences; it was what you originally bonded over and, not to mention, your determination in the face of hardship is what caused him to crush on you in the first place. The way he found out would most likely be from your power awakening in response to his Kyuubi chakra. If this would hurt you, I think he would feel pretty bad even though he obviously didn’t know.

Perhaps you two could have chats about how rude your bijuu are… Or maybe even train together! Naruto would be elated to even just chat with someone who knows intimately what he’s got going on. There are only eight other people on the planet who know. He’d definitely ask you all sorts of questions about your tailed beast and start ranting about how rude and dumb the Kyuubi is. You two would lean on each other more than ever, and it would bring you two really close.

Rock Lee

Rock Lee wouldn’t know what had happened at first. One second you two were sparring, and the next you were clutching your stomach in pain. He’d immediately seek out Guy-sensei and Kakashi, the latter getting your seal repaired from whatever damage it sustained. By your side in an instant, Rock Lee would ask what just happened, and he would get an explanation from his teacher.

The thing is, I think Rock Lee would feel bad for you, but would keep a brave face. It’s what he’s done throughout your friendship, guarding you from people harassing you on the street or making sure you’re not upset due to what people say and what your life is like. As an eternal motivator, he would hold your hand and speak to you, sitting beside you on the dirt. “You’ve never let anything keep you down, I’ll be here to make sure this doesn’t either!” What a pure soul. Protect him.

Hyuga Neji

Even without first hand experience (i.e. before the chunin exams), Neji knows what a jinchuriki is. And at first, he’s scared when he sees its chakra in your system for the first time with the Byakugan. Since his birth, he’s been instructed to stay at a distance from Naruto. What would make you any different? Would you be any less dangerous to be around? He would think back to all of the time you guys had spent together with his team and alone. It was here he realized that it doesn’t change anything. Having a bijuu sealed inside of you is an unfortunate situation, but it does make you destined for incredible strength. It doesn’t change the person you are. The one that he’s been secretly admiring.

Neji is the type to not even bring it up. He would have his little character arc and you two would continue on like it was no big deal, no one even recognizing he was struggling with something for a few days. He spends noticeably more time around you, though, especially in town so that people avoid approaching you or doing anything to bother you. The tailed beast and your experiences as its jinchuriki make you incredibly strong, and his crush doesn’t deserve to be ridiculed because of the great power they wield.

Haruno Sakura

She would see the seal on you and force you to admit that you have the same type of beast as Naruto within you. Her gut reaction would be fear, but I think that would be completely overridden by admiration. For what you’ve pushed through to get to where you are. For the pain you’ve overcome as a part of your life. She knows exactly what Naruto has gone through due to being a jinchuriki, and knowing you must have gone through all of that too to end up with a tailed beast at such a young age breaks her heart. But you kept getting back up and fighting, something she’s eternally grateful for.

She would be right there to cheer you up whenever someone made fun of you or anything. Behind your back, they would get a beatdown. Either verbally or physically, whatever Sakura thinks she can manage against them. She would tell Naruto as well and try to get you guys to train together or hang out, if only for Naruto’s and Team 7’s benefit.

[backjustforberena]

I’m new to the fandom; I recently caught up on the first season and watched the second. I fell in love with Rhaenys as a character; I think she’s very strong and particularly cunning. However, one aspect I’ve noticed, which I realize isn’t a common opinion, is that her relationship with Corlys seems absolutely toxic to me but people celebrated it as a great love story.

I genuinely don’t understand why people consider this couple to be solid - and compare them to Ned and Cat, when I’ve always seen Rhaenys as very lonely, she can count only on her own strength. Corlys is portrayed as so ambitious that he doesn’t value what he has, including his wife and children, he takes them for granted and he's even ready to silence them or put them at risk solely for his own pride. It seems to me that Corlys is fine with his wife as long as she agrees with him, but as soon as Rhaenys has a different opinion, he leaves her alone. I think that Corlys was written like a husband that did love his wife in the past but now it's more like routine- she's my wife and that's all. Also, rationally, the only times he does something for her, it's always driven more by guilt or shame (left his family after Laena and Laenor died -> so he joins the war; Rhaenys told him that she's aware of his bastards -> he changes his ship) than by love, affection, or respect for her.

So, I’d like to know from you and those who support this couple, what makes you talk about "great love"? what is the thing you like so much? I'm genuinly curious and interested in reading different opinions on the topic.

I just want to have a look at the word "toxic" because, in my view, that's a rather serious accusation to link to a relationship, and one that I don't think this relationship meets. To me, and I only speak on my views and I do want to say that I have been fortunate enough to never have been in or witnessed a toxic relationship, the label of "toxic" is one of an extreme.

To me, it brings to mind abuse and the idea of being trapped and of a significant power imbalance in favour of one participant in the relationship: lack of support, jealousy, controlling behaviours, unhealthy communication and criticism, isolation, eroding of self-confidence, high stress levels, and behaviour veering into physical and mental abuse. There are no other red flags such as a large age gap, chronic infidelity, or fear of the other. Rhaenys and Corlys are not cowed or belittled by their partner. They've been allowed to thrive: they are bettered by one another.

Corlys and Rhaenys do not meet any of the behaviours that would label them as toxic. Rhaenys and Corlys are not scared of one another, they engage in meaningful discussions, and they've had (for the most part) a stable relationship and committed relationship for decades, and one built from the fact that they love each other. It wasn't a political match. It isn't a question of whether they love each other either: they do. There's no power imbalance and no controlling behaviour exhibited. No one behaves irrationally. They aren't violent with one another, they treat one another with respect and care, they don't even really raise their voice, even if they can be curt and terse with one another. They confide in one another as well. Other than the complicated issue of Alyn and Addam, they have no secrets.

I don't think they're toxic.

Are we shown moments of conflict? Yes. Of course we are. For the majority of the time, but that's because this is a show that (certainly in Season 1) jumps from conflict to conflict and, for the most part, shows the characters in extraordinary circumstances. They are under pressure.

We aren't shown, for example, the ten years between Episode 05 and 06, where, presumably, everything was hunky-dory: with Corlys and Rhaenys just chilling on Driftmark. Instead, we meet them when they are at their most vulnerable, after the loss of their daughter, when the realities of Rhaenyra and Laenor's sons are reaching boiling point. We do not see their "normal", except in short glimpses and what we can infer or when they are on the periphery of the conflict, such as. And we rarely see their informal as well, where they are allowed to show their unguarded feelings and domesticity, because so much of them is either in political situations and at court - but when they are alone, we do have that. We have handholding, proximity, acts of care and a wish for/to comfort. Kisses to hands, flirtation, affection.

We can view Rhaenys as lonely for a portion of the time because, for the last three episodes of Series 1, to a large extent, she is. She's been alone, he did "abandon" her. When he's with her and it's normal (such as the first half or so of Season 1) there's no sense that she's lonely at all, even if she does have moments alone.

But it was never about a lack of love or a lack of care for her. It was about Corlys's own grief, a war already brewing in the Stepstones and even his love for her having an impact - he thought he'd lost her. It's an immature, and (to her) hurtful thing to do but it is an extreme. It is something that happens because of copious pressure and large events that uproot that relationship. In deleted dialogue, we know, he couldn't bear to face her. And whilst we acknowledge that this happens, we also have to acknowledge that she understands and forgives him for it. She holds him accountable, and then they are a unit once again.

It's not all sunshine and roses as we continue into Season 2, because again, external pressures force them into places where they find it hard to be vulnerable with one another. It's a continuation of their individual character journeys, but it's never undermining the love they have for one another or how they wish they could be, if given the chance.

For me, I get the impression that they'd love nothing better than for no one to die, everyone to be healthy and they can stay in bed all the time, eating nice food. If that's the baseline, if that's what they want from life, then that's not toxic. That's showing love. If this war hadn't happened, they would have been absolutely fine. Things out of their control and their individual vulnerabilities and worries drive the conflict in Season 2: losing Luke, the succession, the war, Corlys healing, Rhaenys being here, there and everywhere. But that's not a failure in their marriage. Their marriage doesn't fail. It just becomes unsure ground for once.

I'm aware I'm rambling so I'll just go with bullet points for what you've said and answer with counter-points and if you've got anything else you'd like to follow up on, please do come back. I like answering stuff like this.

She can count only on her own strength -> We see multiple points at which Rhaenys and Corlys are shown as a unit and that they take comfort from each other. From Rhaenys's POV, Corlys is regularly an advocate for her, a source of company, someone who seeks to soothe her worries and makes her laugh and get out of her own head a bit. There is an upgrade in her confidence from how she is when having to deal with things alone vs how she is when she has her husband by her side. No less capable, but on a lot surer footing (particularly in S1E10. She can count on him (for the most part). And she does. And she likes to.

Corlys is portrayed as so ambitious that he doesn’t value what he has, including his wife and children, he takes them for granted and he's even ready to silence them or put them at risk solely for his own pride -> Corlys's ambition is absolutely his major flaw. He does view his ambition as very important, but it does come from a place of love. I don't see how he "takes them for granted", though I concede, certainly with his children, that he's not above using them politically. But this is, contextually, normal. All the fathers do it or concede to it. And it is done with Rhaenys's awareness and consent. What I find interesting, as well, is that Corlys's ambitions are as much fueled by his love and hopes for his family as his own self-interest. So much is about justice for Rhaenys and her claim, and restoring how things should have been for her. His surprise at her accusations in S1E07 wouldn't have worked without this conviction. But he never silences her. I am absolutely clear on this. He never silences her. If you have examples, I'd love to dissect them with you.

Corlys is fine with his wife as long as she agrees with him, but as soon as Rhaenys has a different opinion, he leaves her alone -> the only example I can think of where this happens is S1E07. And he retreats because he's hurt. Again, this is a massive extreme and I've spoken about the layers to this scene before but she's uprooted him. She's gone for where he's vulnerable at a time in which he's vulnerable in the efforts to have a conversation and so he leaves the room because he can't deal with that. That's a normal reaction. He leaves her by the fire. But that's not a red flag. That's not an overreaction on his part, it's just a reaction that hurts her. Just as she has reactions that hurt him. If there is another example which suggests a pattern of behaviour, let me know, because otherwise, I don't see it.

I think that Corlys was written like a husband that did love his wife in the past but now it's more like routine -> they are literally post-sex in S2E03.

The only times he does something for her, it's always driven more by guilt or shame (left his family after Laena and Laenor died -> so he joins the war; Rhaenys told him that she's aware of his bastards -> he changes his ship) than by love, affection, or respect for her -> I would say that's a massive oversimplification on your part and I don't agree with your logic there at all. I also think it does a disservice to Rhaenys. He joins the war not because he's rolling over to Rhaenys's whims and would have done so anyway - she has to convince him. He protests to start with. She has to lay out an argument and give him context of what's been going on. Is he more amenable because he feels like he's let Rhaenys down? Probably. But that doesn't mean he doesn't love her. It implies it, if anything. And Corlys doesn't change his ship because she's aware of his bastards. He does it because she died. Because he wants to honour her. If they'd never spoken on the subject at all, do you think he wouldn't have done what he did? I do. Not once, during his mourning, has he ever mentioned them parting on bad terms, has he ever spoken about her in relation to that subject, or implied that he is motivated by that one fact. It wasn't the last time they spoke or saw one another. There's the unsaid and the undone but that was always going to be the case because she died. He changed his ship because he wanted to honour her. Because he misses her. Because he loved her. Because he's doing this (being Hand, fighting this war) for her.

What I like about they find solace and love in each other. They can react against each other and have differing opinions from one another but that doesn't undermine the love they have for one another. They are flirty with each other, care for one another, and seek one another out. They trust one another, they seek to empower the other, they are a team and present a united front. They discuss things, they advocate for one another, they are both political powerhouses. They don't try and change the other, either, which is a big thing.

Corlys did his voyages to prove himself worthy of Rhaenys which is like the biggest romantic gesture I've ever heard of. Rhaenys adopted her marital house and fought for it like she was born to it. She ruled in Driftmark and he trusted her to do that, despite having brothers of an age to do so. The fact that rocky waters for their marriage is such a destabilisation for them shows how much they value the support they give each other. It's not perfect. It's obviously not. But it is worthy to ship them. And they do possess a "great love". Great doesn't mean perfect.

[shoyoist]

rekha :(((( just to torture ourselves what kind of angsty scenario do you imagine would bring hanma to tears if he’s in a relationship with you? sobs or is it only the death of those few he cares about that can break a man like him :(((( bye i’m so sad over him now pls

content: fem!reader (feat. my selfship content), established marriage, papa! shuji, angst. accidental pregnancy. mention of not wanting kids, family-related insecurities. thank you for indulging me rivvy<3

note: ok listen! i've been thinking about this all day. shuji isn't much of a crier, but when he does cry, it's over the people he loves.

shuji always says to you that he doesn't wanna have kids. and hey, you're cool with that. you don't need kids to make a family and a home with him.

just the two of you is plenty enough<33

but you get one accidental pregnancy after the other, and you find yourselves with two or three kids that shuji ends up loving more than life itself.

he jokes to you every now and then about how he doesn't know why he was so apprehensive about the idea before.

he's so happy! he loves his little kids, they share his and your features so evenly, their bubbly giggling at his silly faces are so adorable, taking care of them is so fun and god, he's just so full of love and joy.

until he's painfully reminded of why he didn't want to have kids— when they grow older and their personalities start clashing with his.

as a father, shuji jumps from too easygoing to too overprotective real quick. he finds something like their secret cigarette stash, that they've been drinking at parties, or they miss a curfew or two and it gets him irrationally mad at them — and when shuji's angry, he yells </3

he's just concerned for his kids because he knows full well what a reckless, dangerous childhood is like. and while he wants to be the chill parent so bad, he gets scared sometimes.

and his fear for his kids' safety comes out as anger and yelling. and his kids take after him, so his anger only makes their tempers flare up — which often results in a shouting match between father and children.

and while shuji tries to stay kind, sometimes, his kids say the meanest things at him.

(credits to my gf for these lines btw! this is actually from my selfship 🤭) one time, shuji is trying to confiscate his son's phone and ground him for a bit for staying out of the house a whole day and night after a prior argument, and it goes like this ↓

“give me your phone”

“what the fuck, you're not serious- i'm a grown ass adult!”

“give me your phone. you're not fucking grown. you're grounded, and i'm keeping tabs on you from here on out. now hand it over or i swear to god, i will take it from you”

his tone is threatening enough, and your son has no choice but to hand over his phone and shuji shuts it down and pockets it.

your son hisses under his breath like “this is bullshit”

and shuji retorts with a “this is how being a parent is”

and then his son says, in the meanest tone he could muster— “yeah, because you and mom were sooo smart for having so many fucking kids while being world's most wanted.”

and for a tense moment, there's a silence before shuji just heads to the front door and his shoes on, takes helmet and jacket and storms out, slamming the door shut behind him. he drives somewhere like yokohama wharf and just. breaks down and cries. all by himself. imagine ;( </3

he lights himself a smoke for the first time in years, tears rolling down his cheek and hanging for a moment at his jaw before they fall and stain his jeans with tears, and he's just wondering if he's a good father at all in the end.

he cries and cries and cries— and when he finally comes home to you late at night after everyone else has gone to bed, his eyes are puffy and red, and his hair is dishevelled. he looks so sad.

and when you hold out your arms for a hug, this big, 6'6 (because he was 6'4 at age 16. he's grown at least a couple of inches since then!) tall man, smelling of cigarettes and tears in his leather jacket and ripped jeans just slumps into you, his wife that he loves so much and just wants to be good to.

he's silent as you lead him to bed and help him undress, and while you're in bed, wrapped up in eachother's arms under the blankets, he asks you in a raspy, hoarse whisper, “am i... am i a good father to the kids, baby?”

and god, you kiss him, kiss his forehead and his face and his hair and you tell him yes, yes shuji you're such a good father to our children, and you're so good to me! so good to me and so good to the kids, shuji. you're okay.

he can't help but cry again after he hears that. he cries quietly but he sobs out loud, body racking and shaking your shoulders along with his own each time he takes a ragged breath in.

shuji knows he's not a family man. but god, god he wants to be one so bad. he wants to be good, for you and for his children that he loves so fucking much. and it makes him cry, whenever his fear overtakes him and convinces him that he may not be enough.

[devine-fem]

dude. jon is not a bundle of sunshine. he’s short tempered and sometimes irrationally because he’s emotional. very emotional and he gets scared, he gets very sad but he has a kind and gentle heart because he does just want to help people to help people, that’s it. jon doesn’t pull punches, he will fight if needed and he’s not willing to judge someone immediately. him being his age made it so his interactions were fun and made for learning curves underneath a very established superhero. he was coming into his own skin and needed to be trained carefully in order to come into his mantle.

this almost emotionless and unfeeling jon kent that tom taylor is pushing as almost a pacifist is an insult to actual pacifist heroes in comics. its like he has this idea that superman can’t be “weak.” he didn’t finish school, he barely interacted with any characters in the dc universe and him being his age AXES so many other characters he knew at the time so THEY will also cease to exist, and jon just flat out lacks maturity. he was no where near ready to be in his mantle a couple years after coming into existence and he’s still not now. these people pushing this “what is wrong with the age up? jon kent age up is fine” is an insult to people who were around when jon kent first came to be in the flashpoint universe. did you read anything besides ssoke???

if you can’t see the issue with the age up when that shit is so in your face then i really do have to question if you like jon kent or if you just like your queer superman doused in insufferable queer sterotypes…

[goodluckclove]

Migration Patterns Excerpt (Weird Exposition Drop)

Hey so like this is pretty huge spoilers to Migration Patterns so if that'll ruin things for you skip this. But I'm very happy with how fucking chill Katy is about learning some crazy shit so I had to share. Enjoy?

Honestly it's not even a full spoiler. It's like the beginning of the spoiler. At this point I can't tell.

Songbird tag hop on hop off

@kuebiko-writing @cartoonghosts 

@atlasthecactus @aroaceghosties 

@booksntea6982 @xarrixii 

@mushroommanchanterelle @whoevenknowswhatimwriting

@fukurouonthesea

Pretty quickly Katy realized she had no real plan for what she was about to do. By the way Tenzin reacted it looked like things could potentially be catastrophic. If there was actual danger, it made a lot more sense to send in the trained martial artist as opposed to the dual college drop-out on day two of a hangover.

Her mind just fractured for a moment, glitched from worry over Tenzin’s expression and forced into Fix It Fix It Gotta Fix It mode.

It’s still Edgar, Katy reminded herself while creeping around to the side of the Lounge. It’s still Scott. I took Scott down once and I bet I can do it again.

One more step and Katy accidentally snapped a particularly loud twig. The rustling stopped suddenly. Everything was still and dark.

Katy grimaced hard, but still forced herself to call out. “You good?” She said.

A pause. Then Scott answered. “Bigfoot?”

She relaxed slightly and turned the corner fully. “No, it’s…”

Through the dim illumination of the aged floodlight nearby, Katy could make out Scott and Edgar standing on the outskirts of the woods a short distance away. They were holding hands. They were outside.

Edgar looked appropriately guilty. Scott appeared indifferent, maybe even slightly relieved.

“Oh Katy!” He said. “You scared me. I thought you were Bigfoot.”

“What the fuck,” Katy whispered, an observation more than a question.

After a quick look over her shoulder she darted closer to them. It was hard to keep her voice low when she was still rattled and only spiraling with greater intensity.

“How did you –?” She pressed her hands to her face and groaned through her fingers. “Did you fucking teleport? Did you no-clip? How the fuck did you get out here?”

At this point Edgar was holding onto Scott’s arm, notably huddled slightly behind him. Katy saw this and forced herself to calm down, remembering then that they were both still in the thick of a drug trip.

“There’s a window, Katy,” Scott said. “We climbed out the window.”

“Great! Now why don’t I help you climb back in through the window so all of this doesn’t go completely to shit.”

Edgar finally spoke up. Their voice was – different, somehow. The tone a little lighter. “He closed it,” they said.

“Why – why..?” Katy paused, took a breath, and leveled her tone. “Why did you close the window, Scott?”

Hearing that, Scott had the nerve to react as if she were the one acting irrationally. “Can’t just have a window wide-open when we leave. It’s a security risk. And objectively?” He pointed out into the woods. “There’s little creatures in there, I bet.”

Katy just stared at him. There were no words in her. She was the entirely wrong person to handle this sort of situation.

Then again, she reminded herself, Ten would be way worse.

“Sneaky guys,” Scott affirmed, nodding.

While Katy struggled to figure out what to do next, Edgar took the silence as an opportunity to step forward and pull Scott to be slightly behind them. They looked at her with a strange and eager hesitance.

“You’re, um…” their voice, Katy noted again, felt foreign to their vocal cords somehow. The same, but not the same. “You’re Katy?”

Edgar said that like they weren’t sure. Scott recognized her immediately, and yet he definitely wasn’t acting like any version of him that she recognized.

She decided to go along with it. Who was she to harsh another person’s high? “I am,” she said. “Who are you?”

The question lit up Edgar’s eyes with gratitude. They brightened visibly and stood straighter with increased confidence. “Oh, you already – that’s perfect!”

“What do you mean?” Katy asked.

“Maybe you already knew something like this would happen,” Edgar spoke quickly with new ease. “I’m Eddie, but I’m a different Eddie from the past. Doc says that there was this sort of tangential split in my consciousness a long time ago, so most of me ended up here, in this reality, while I ended up continuing in a partial, metaphysical state of semi-existence,” Edgar made a small, bashful laugh. “I think that’s really hard to wrap my ahead around, but – have you seen Donnie Darko? It’s kind of like Donnie Darko, I think.”

They smiled. It didn’t last. Their enthusiasm tapered off before falling down a sudden pit.

“O-Oh,” they managed. “Did I misunderstand the question?”

Katy stared at them. She looked past him at Scott, who wandered to the a nearby shrub while Edgar was rambling and was now cautiously examining a spiderweb. He did not seem to pick up on anything they just said.

“I’m…” Edgar crossed their arms tight around themselves. “I’m lying? No, that’s not...I don’t really know what to do now.”

Well isn’t that the theme of my entire goddamned life, Katy mused in dark bemusement.

She had to gather her senses. Katy had to be the one to figure this out before things went any further. Her head throbbed and she definitely didn’t drink enough water today.

“I’m sorry,” she heard Edgar say.

Katy motioned dismissively. “No, hang on, let me just…” she fumbled through her pockets for her vape and took a hit, dragging until her throat burned. “Okay, so – you’re like an alternate universe Edgar? That’s what you mean when you’re talking about a Donnie Darko situation – some sort of tangential timeline shit?”

“Um,” Edgar smiled apologetically. “I'm pretty sure? Essentially.”

“Assuming this isn’t – I don;’t know – a manifestation of everything you think you could’ve been. Assuming this is literal – is it literal?” Edgar nodded, an action Katy mimicked in response. “Cool. So you’ve spent the last however long where exactly?”

“It’s got a lot of different names. Cassus. The Witch Eater,” Edgar paused, then added. “Doc calls it Buddy sometimes but when I asked why he got really sad and quiet.”

Katy took what felt like a solid minute to parse all of that information. Then she turned her attention to Scott. “Hey,” she called out. “Scotty.”

He looked up at her. “Yeah?”

“Is it the same story for you? Are you having a Donnie Darko situation?”

Scott blinked. “Who’s that?” He said.

Edgar piped up again, a little softer. “He thinks he’s nine years old,” they said. “Or – or he’s deciding to be. I can’t really tell.”

“Katy, do you want to come over to my house and have bagel pizzas?”

Scott was speaking pretty loudly and intensely. It provided a pretty good mental image of what he was probably like as a kid – someone Katy could easy describe as a fucking handful. She rubbed her eyes and sighed heavily.

Then, suddenly, something occurred to her. “Where’s Edgar?” She whispered to Edgar.

They frowned lightly. “I’m right –”

“No, I mean OG Edgar,” she raised her brow, thinking further. “Or, I guess you’re OG Edgar, and they’re AU – fucking hell. You’re Eddie, they’re Edgar, so if you’re here then where’s Edgar?”

Edgar lowered their head for a moment. “Oh,” they said. “We – um. We switched.”

“You switched.”

“Uh-huh.”

“So you’re here and Edgar’s stuck in the Ghost Zone?”

“Is – is that what people call it now?” Edgar quickly moved past their confusion. “It’s not forever! I wouldn’t do that. I couldn’t do that, I don’t think. The Fog Bank was my first chance so I’m pretty sure once this wears off…”

They didn’t finish the thought. They stared longingly at Scott, who was now bent down in the dirt and digging carefully though the soil. Katy observed this pining and thought about how long all of this had been going on for.

“Does he know?” She said.

Edgar shrugged. Then they shook their head. Katy sighed one more time and approached Scott, working herself in a kneeling position to get on his level.

“Lookin’ for worms,” he explained without breaking concentration.

“Nah, you don’t want to do that. It’s late. They’re sleeping.”

Scott stopped digging. He scrunched his face up in thought before proceeding to put back all the dirt he moved. “You’re right,” he said. “Good point.”

That forced a smile out of her. “Hey, do you know my cat Wilford?”

“I like that he’s fluffy – but he’s also silly,” Scott smiled at her. “It’s a rare combination.”

“Absolutely,” Katy pulled her phone out and began to swipe for her photos. “The other day I took a video of him wearing his cowboy hat. It’s really funny. He was so comfy in it that he fell asleep. You wanna see?”

Scott drew in a breath. “More than anything,” he whispered.

Katy smirked triumphantly and handed him the phone, the video already playing. Scott wiped the dirt off his hands and onto his dress, huddled up against the wall of the church, and cradled the phone in both hands. He watched – immediately and absolutely transfixed.

She stood up to face Edgar- Eddie, she reminded herself, and motioned with her head towards the parking lot.

“Come on,” she said. “We have ten minutes to explain this again in a way that sounds slightly less insane.”

[spider-xan]

Just getting this thought down before I forget, but following the conversation with @hawkogurl in this post, I do feel like a big reason why the Insomniac version of Harry, while very likeable and cute, doesn't quite work as a narratively compelling character is the fact that for whatever reason, Insomniac didn't quite commit to how they are doing their own thing with him in the same way they did for other characters, so Harry ends up feeling like two different versions the games switch between when convenient for the plot or emotional beats, and not in a complex character with multitudes or facades sort of way.

Like, on the one hand, Insomniac Harry, unlike other versions, is a well-adjusted mature adult in his mid-twenties who is a super genius and super successful right out of college, and while he loves his father, who has been nothing but extremely loving and affectionate, and any rare flaws as a father are borne out of genuine love and desperation, plus he had a loving mother for most of his life, he's fully aware that Norman is a bad person and isn't looking for his approval, and is even somewhat embarrassed with how excitedly involved Norman is with the EMF - but then halfway into MSM2, he suddenly starts acting like the traditional scared and insecure teenager who is jealous of his best friend Peter for having the love and approval of his father while he's never good enough for Norman and objectively a failure by comparison, even though this Norman has never not been completely loving of Harry and has never chosen Peter over Harry, and Harry himself is wildly accomplished at such a young age and has been praised for it; and while it's not always bad writing for characters to behave irrationally, it still has to be set up and come from somewhere in a narratively organic way, whereas here, that jealousy moment feels more like the game felt obligated to do a traditional Osborn family dysfunction plot beat, despite the lack of set up in this universe - but also not really bc it's just a misunderstanding and Norman didn't even do anything wrong himself either, and then it doesn't really add much to the plot, tension, or character development anyway.

And the thing is, there were absolutely ways a jealousy plot could have been set up while still working within the parameters of this version of Harry! Maybe instead of having him be almost perfect as a superhero right away as Agent Venom, have it be something he sucks at (which would also make Harry feel more like a rounded character than a perfect paragon), so this is something Peter is better at for once and stokes jealousy in him, even if he's aware Peter has years of experience on him, and adds early tension to their relationship while also feeding negative emotions to the symbiote that then amplifies that jealousy, sparking more conflict so that their falling out makes sense later! That would be a new way to do a jealousy and rivalry plot between them that fits into Insomniac's approach of respecting the source material, but still doing their own twist on things that is unique to their universe and interpretations of the characters.

[yanderes-galore]

Could I request rise raph with the prompts, 4, 14, and 29?

This is my prompt list for those who want to know. Sorry for the long wait, TMNT has been hard to write for me recently. Aged up as usual :)

This fic is a mutual relationship, it just takes place in an AU of after the movie where you attempt to help Raph through his unhealthy coping of trauma caused by the Krang. So expect dark themes even if it is short.

Yandere! ROTTMNT Raphael Prompts 4, 14, 29

Pairing: Romantic

"My heart belongs to you, I'll adore anything you do to it."

"It's too dangerous in the world. You need me, you should know that!"

"I want to be this close... forever...."

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Trauma, Unhealthy coping, Imprisonment implied, Clingy Raphael, Delusional behavior, Fear of abandonment, Accidental manipulation, You have no idea your relationship is becoming toxic, AU of after the Rise Movie.

Raphael loves his family. He's a family turtle and wants to love and protect his loved ones! He's hopeless when it comes to love and gets all giggly around the one he adores.

You can see it clear as day when he's around you. Raphael is so giddy when around you. The tall and hulking turtle towers over you but with innocent excitement. He just loves you so much.

Love makes some people act a bit irrationally.

Raphael wants to be super affectionate with you. Physical touch makes the large turtle feel loved. It makes him feel that you're safe....

Raphael has had trouble feeling safe ever since Leonardo's near passing due to the Krang.

He's quickly become overbearing. His hugs are a bit too desperate, crushing you in his strength. It's like Raphael forgot boundaries around you.

You try to rebuild said boundaries, only for him to tear them down.

He never means to, of course. Raphael's just dealing with a bit of... trauma. Trauma he needs you to help him get through.

His coping mechanisims are a bit extreme though.

"It's too dangerous in the world..." He starts, tears in his eyes. "You need me, you should know that!"

Raphael holds you close, arms tightly wrapped around you as you lay on top of him. He had gone into a mental breakdown when you tried to leave the lair. It's been three days... his mental health declining without you around.

"I trust you to protect me... but we need space." You try to convince him, turning to hold his face. "I'm here to talk although I want to go home-"

"This is your home! Home is wherever we are.... I don't want you to be hurt. Please... trust me! I'll protect you as long as I'm here!"

"Raph..." You sigh softly. "I can't always be here."

"Then I'll always be around you!"

"You can't do that either...."

Raphael holds you closer, not liking what you said. He's matured from when he was younger. It's just that the Krang attack really made him think of just how easy it is to lose someone.

He's scared if something goes wrong... he may lose you next.

"You don't know that! I'd do anything for you..."

He nuzzles himself closer. You feel like a teddy bear in his arms. Something to cling to when scared....

"My heart belongs to you, I'll adore anything you do to it."

He gives you a nervous smile. He may be as old as you... but he still acts like a scared child. It saddens you... yet it's expected.

Seeing nearly all your home destroyed and your loved ones threatened would affect anyone this way.

"I just want you safe. The lair is the safest place I know! Why don't you want to stay here with me?"

"I want space and the ability to be my own person, Raph."

You comfort him softly despite his denial being evident. You sigh and pull him closer. You loved him, yes...

Love should not mean imprisoning your partner, however.

"I'll be here to comfort you... just please, let me go."

Raphael is silent, you swear you hear him sniffling. You stay still and allow him to hold you. You have a feeling if he keeps this up... your relationship may be strained.

"I want to be this close... forever...."

Your heart sinks at what he says. You allow him to roll you over and cage you into the couch. Nothing malicious... he just wants to feel your warmth.

Raphael is adorable to you... even if what he's doing is wrong. Despite what he does, you find him adorable. You have a feeling you can help fix him and bring him back to how he was before.

You have no idea that your love only encourages his obsession...

Or that he may only get worse if you give into his clingy behavior and not fix your boundaries.

[autumnrose11]

I'm so miserable and angry with my parents right now.

Ever since I can remember, I've been sheltered. Excessively so. And I never realised just how much until I came back home from the last four months at uni.

And yesterday I met up with two of my school friends, and they're shocked to hear I've never travelled alone. Never. My dad doesn't even let me get in a taxi alone. My mum makes me CALL her when I come home walking at night because she's scared of pervs (she stays on the call). And rebellion doesn't suit me; it never has. I think I'm very submissive by nature; I'm scared of these things and I let them do this to me. And it goes on, and on, and on. I'm eighteen years old, for heaven's sake. I get that they're trying to protect me, I really do. But surely there's a fine line between protecting someone and controlling them?

When we're going out for the day, my mum jumps in immediately with her ideas on my outfit. "Wear this today. Wear these earrings. Wear this. Wear it. Wear it." There's no advice, there's no input. There's no, "Do you think you'd like to wear this?" There's no space for MY adult opinions. Just hers. And I give in because I don't want to fight. I give in to them every time. They control me and I let them.

The worst part is they'll throw this in my face later, when I really screw up. They tie my hands in every possible way. They'll tell me I don't realise how privileged and pampered I am. Yeah.

My mum told me once that my dad's parents were incredibly controlling and overprotective of him. Until they got married, he basically couldn't function apart from his job. Well then, I'm going to turn out exactly the same way. How is it any different from what they're doing to me???

I told them today I wanted to get some blonde highlights. I've been wanting them for ages, more than a year now! And they said they use all sorts of chemicals on the hair and it'll make my hair fall out. And I just got so irrationally angry. And I've just come to my room and started crying so hard and I can't stop. Perhaps it's because of what my friend told me yesterday, which was, "If your mum and dad have sent you to a uni so far away, they need to trust you more. Trust that you've got a good head on your shoulders and you know what you're doing." And she was right!!!

Iwould have been more understanding about the hair if all of this hadn't been accumulating. I've never even flown alone before, or taken a train or a taxi by myself. They're turning me into an incapable adult who won't know shit. I don't know. I just had to get this off my chest.

[unforth]

I've been trying for ages to figure out how to put something into words about The Youth In Fandom and I still don't think I've quite got it but I did reach an insight about it that I think is valuable enough that I'm gonna take a stab at writing it.

For starters, I want to make it clear, there is no "The Youth In Fandom Problem." Based on my efforts running the art sideblogs for danmei fandoms, I can say with a fair degree of confidence that a vast minority of people of all ages are antis, purity wankers, pro-censorship, ageist, etc. Even among people who mark their bios with their age, it's a shockingly low percentage of people under 18 who are being super weird about this stuff, and I think that's something a lot of older folks bemoaning The Younger Generation could stand to know and be reminded of. This isn't a majority, it's just a vocal minority, and tbh...that vocal minority has always been there, at least in my own fandom experiences.

That said, I've personally been the target of "y r u in fandom, old woman? Go take care of your kids!" bullshit, and yes it's definitely real and yes it definitely happens. (I am not old, I am not a woman, I was here before the people who said that to me were born, and I spend all the rest of my time taking care of my kids, so...).

All that introduction is to posit a theory:

The kinds of people who say "you should grow out of it, you're too old for fandom, etc." don't actually really...like what they like.

I know that sounds batshit. They're here blogging about it 24/7, of course they're obsessed! But I really genuinely find myself wondering...like...are they actually obsessed? Or are they just performing obsessed because that's what their peer group is doing? Are they just following along with their friends, mimicking their friends' enthusiasm, going with the flow because they're scared of what will happen if they say "actually I didn't think that show was very good"?

I ended up with this as a theory to posit because is to arrive at "you should grow out of it," you have to start with "I will grow out of it." And to get to "I will grow out of it," you have to start with "I may be into this now but I will definitely Change." And to get to "I will definitely Change," you have to start with the base assumption that loving certain types of media isn't just part of who you are, but rather a temporary persona you've assumed overlaying some deeper Self that will be revealed with time - or that's already been revealed and that you're deliberately masking for whatever reason.

Lemme put it less abstractly (but more longwindedly, lmao).

When I was 16, I was fucking terrified. There were all these things I loved - Star Trek, Hercules and Xena, Babylon 5, Slayers, Evangelion, Fushigi Yuugi, the Wheel of Time, many others - some I'd been into for years, some I'd only just discovered. And I looked at the adults in the world around me, who didn't sleep with stuffed toys, who got into long-term romantic and sexual relationships, who settled into careers that they stuck with for 20, 30, 40 years, who had heaps of responsibilities, and it was so frightening I literally had trouble sleeping at night. My senior year of high school, I trained myself to sleep with a pillow instead of a stuffie because "what would people in college think if they saw me snuggling a stuffed wolf?" That was something I was prepared to sacrifice to be An Adult (tm), something I was (irrationally) ashamed of, something that wasn't so much a part of my personhood that I couldn't give it up. When I left home to go to school at 17, I left my wolf at home. (I brought him with me a year later, and he's now on my bookshelf. Less disposable than 16-year-old me thought, as it turns out, but that's another story.) But there were things about myself I wasn't prepared to sacrifice to fit in during college. I still wore my Star Wars shirt. I still hung my anime posters. I still listened to J Pop. My roommate might judge me. My classmates might judge me. My professors might judge me. I didn't care. Loving those were part of who I was, and I wasn't prepared to give that up.

I found solace by looking at the adults in my life who hadn't had to give up their "childish fancies." I looked at my mother, who introduced me to Star Trek, and thought if she didn't have to stop loving Star Trek to be An Adult, then why should I? I looked at my grandfather, on whose bookshelves I first found the Lord of the Rings, and thought if he didn't have to give up LotR to be An Adult, then why should I? They might not wear fandom shirts, they might not go to conventions, they might not engage in the same way that I did, but they still loved these things, and it gave me hope.

When I was saw adults who still did fan things, who dressed how they wanted, who had cool hair styles or colors, who had tattoos, I thought "wow, what a cool person. I hope I get to grow up to be like them. I hope I'll be that comfortable in my own skin when I'm that age, because I'm sure not that comfortable in my own skin NOW."

I'll have to change in some ways - find A Career, figure out this "attraction" thing everyone keeps fucking talking about, buy a house, all the rest - but I'll be able to love the things I love.

I will still be "me" when I'm an adult, just Me-Plus-More.

I wanted to grow up to be that adult. I was prepared to take figurative arrows, to fight, to slog through, to retain the part of me that felt most valuable - my ability to love the things I loved without apologizing for it. And I knew I could do that, because I already had. Man, the shit people gave me in middle school for being an out-and-proud Trekkie? smh. It was baaaaad.

Time passes. Now I'm 40, and yes, I have changed. I've had more than one career. I got married. I figured out I never did have to figure out that "attraction" shit because I learned asexuality existed and. uh. Oh. I had children. I bought a house.

And I still have a bookcase of manga and I still have a Tumblr blog and I've found new fandoms - many, many new fandoms - nearly all for franchises that didn't even exist when I was 16 and so so scared that I used to literally break down and cry over the prospect of "having" to "give up childish things."

I got myself through on the belief that I'd still be me, and I was right. More than 20 years later, I AM still me.

And that's what leads me back to "why do The Youth think they'll age out of fandom?" And it leads me back to "I can only assume their fandom participation is mostly performative." Because look. This is who I was when I was 10 and read Lord of the Rings, and it was who I was when I was 12 and I started watching Star Trek when Voyager debuted, and it's who I was when I was 17 and I pulled an all-nighter to watch the second season of Fushigi Yuugi, and it's who I was when I was 21 and spent my birthday totally sober and gaming with my friends, and it's who I was at 26 when I got buried up to my eyeballs in Supernatural, and it's who I was at 37 when I watched The Untamed and knew as easy as breathing oh my god I've found the next obsession.

If it's an embraced, realized, adored part of your persona, there's absolutely no reason to think it's going to go away. And there's no reason nor need for it to. There are always gonna be people who judge others for having passions, and there are always gonna be people who embrace others for having passions, and you just gotta identify and avoid the former and find and adore the latter. If you're young, and you love fandom, and you're afraid you, too, will "have to" give up childish things...congratulations! You've got nothing to be afraid of! You never have to change that aspect of yourself!

But...I know these teens on Tumblr who are bullying others already know that because they can see us everywhere. And instead of going, as I did, "oh wow, those older people who still love the things they love are cool! how reassuring! I can be like them!" they think "EW OLD PERSON NOT ALLOWED THIS IS MY ROOM DO NOT ENTER."

And that's weird. When I try to think, "What kind of mentality would lead someone to feel that way, act that way, etc.?" I arrive at: being in fandom is something that they're embarrassed about. Something they're ashamed of, that they think is shameful. Something childish and therefore only for kids, even when the media they're a fan of is entirely made for and by adults. Something they think is made for them in that moment but that they'll be able to easily discard when they move on to more important parts of their lives. Something they know in their heart is transient. Something they're just doing because their friends are doing it.

That's when they'd think "why would an adult still do this?"

When it's something you "know" will be "just a phase," you don it like you don the identity of "high school student," something that'll get shucked a minute after graduation.

And while I found the idea of giving up fandom terrifying, I again can only assume that for these type of person, NOT giving up fandom becomes something terrifying. "Of course this is transient. Of course I'm going to change. I can't wait to change, I hate who I am now! Why did these so-called adults not change? Changing to not like this kind of thing is a sign of Maturity and Adulthood that I am eagerly waiting for, because I believe there's something wrong with being this way, and therefore I assume the adults I see doing this are immature, have something wrong with them, are childish, cannot be Doing Adulthood Right, because they didn't give up the thing."

"I know, in my heart, that I can't WAIT to change, so if they don't want to change, if they haven't changed, something must be wrong with them."

And don't get me wrong, I'm not saying this is the only reason. People are way too complex for there ever to be One Explanation Of All. I'm sure some of the teens who engage in ageist bullying just think they're ~cool~ and ~different~ and their name is Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way. Others are just uncomfortable with adults, with or without cause, and think "you don't belong in the same space as me." Some surely have drank the conservative kool-aid even as they've tried to change and are pantomiming the bullshit they were fed by those around them in new and unpleasant ways. Some think "this media was made for people like me and anyone who isn't like me can't possibly be engaging it in the Correct And Proper Way."

Some will grow out of it - out of fandom, or out of thinking that being an adult in fandom is wrong/bad/inappropriate/immature/whatever.

A few especially unpleasant ones...won't.

Unlike young!me, who looked at fannish grown ups and thought "wow, I could grow up to be like them, they're so cool!", you think "ew, I hope I don't grow up to be like them, they're so weird!"

And if that's you...why are you here?

If you don't actually like who are you when you're in fandom, that's okay. You don't have to stay. If you lose your friends because your interests change, then those friends stink and you didn't need them anyway; people who actually care about you will always keep by your side even if your interests and theirs diverge. But just cause YOU are performing your interest in fandom...doesn't mean the rest of us are. Some of us genuinely like it here. And you might think that's fucked up of us, but it's honestly none of your fucking business. You do what you gotta do to grow up, and leave the rest of us already-grown-ups alone.

And if you do genuinely love it and you're just scared because you think you'll have to change - that you'll reach some mystical age of majority and suddenly wake up a different person...you won't. For better and for worse, you'll still be you, so if there's things about yourself you don't like, it'd be better to start working on unpacking that psychological baggage now, because there's never gonna be a miracle point where you Feel Better And Like An Adult unless you put in the effort to change.

Teenagers...you will not grow up to be a new person. You will never give up who you are. You will grow up to be You-Plus-More.

And if that's something you hear and go "omg that's great news!" then I'm glad to be the one who told you. Take heart. There's hope. You can be you and that WILL be okay. You can face up to and grow from the things about yourself you don't like. You can learn more about yourself. You have time, and you will be able to improve yourself, to become more like the parts of yourself you like and less like the parts you hate.

And if that's something you hear and go "oh god no that's the worst" then you need to stare that reaction in the face and understand that the only way change is coming is if you make it happen for yourself. No one is strong-arming you into being a fan. If it's not for you...then stop. It's literally that easy. But don't take out your uncertainty and fear on other random people who are more comfortable with themselves than you are. Most of us are not here because of fear. We're here in the face of our fear, as a fuck you to our fear, because we also grew up being told we'd have to give up so-called childish things to be An Adult, and it turns out that was a pile of bullshit and we can have careers AND anime posters. And we can afford more anime posters, cause our parents are no longer telling us how to spend our money.

If your participation in fandom is primarily performative...just stop performing. Be yourself, and find your OWN passion, and stop shitting on the people who have managed to be more true to themselves and their own interests. You're not cool and edgy and different; you're just an asshole and a bully, and I pity you.

Anyway as you can tell from this rambly mess of a post, I haven't really gotten my finger on my point yet, but idk. I've been thinking about this and I think there's something there???