#it’s because they’re such close friends. they have this foundation and this trust and this loyalty

[olis-inkwell-symposium]

Developing Backstory: Bringing Characters to Life

1. Where It All Started: The Character’s Origin

Place of Birth: Where did your character first see the world? Think about the impact of this place—was it a busy city where they had to fight for attention or a quiet village where everyone knew everyone’s business? This location doesn’t just say where they’re from; it shapes how they see the world.

Family and Upbringing: What was their family like? Were their parents loving or distant? Maybe they were raised by someone other than their parents—a mentor, an older sibling, or even alone. Family (or the lack of it) is usually one of the most significant factors in shaping who someone becomes.

Society’s Expectations: What was expected of them when they were young? Possibly, they were born into wealth, with all the pressure to continue the family legacy, or maybe they were raised to be invisible in a world where survival mattered. How does this influence who they are now? Do they accept or reject those expectations?

2. Childhood Events That Left a Mark

First Taste of Conflict: Think about the first time the character realized the world wasn’t a perfect place. Maybe they witnessed violence or faced betrayal. What was that moment, and how did it stick with them? This moment usually lays the foundation for the character’s emotional landscape—fear, hope, ambition, or distrust all come from these early life lessons.

Childhood Dreams: When they were young, what did they want to be? Every child has dreams—did they want to be a knight, a scholar, or even just someone who could travel the world? Did they have to give up these dreams? How does that lost dream shape them now?

Formative Relationships: Who was their first best friend, mentor, or enemy? Childhood friendships and relationships often create deep bonds or wounds that last into adulthood. Did they have a mentor who taught them everything, only to betray them? Did they lose a childhood friend that still haunts them?

3. The Teen Years: Where They Start to Become Who They Are

Trials and Tribulations: What’s the biggest challenge they faced as they grew up? Was it losing a loved one, failing at something important, or maybe being forced into a role they didn’t want? These teenage years are where the emotional armor starts forming—how did the difficulties they faced shape them into the person they are now?

Education or Training: How did they learn what they know? Were they formally trained by an institution, learning everything by the book, or did they learn through experience, like a street-smart survivalist? What impact does their education or lack of it have on how they interact with others?

Teenage Bonds: Did they have a first love or a first major falling out with someone close to them? These experiences often create emotional scars or connections that they carry with them into adulthood. How does that past friendship or romance influence their behavior now?

4. Key Life Events: The Big Moments That Define Them

Trauma or Loss: Was there a moment that changed everything? Think about a significant loss—maybe a loved one, their home, or a sense of identity. How does this event affect their worldview? Do they build walls around themselves or dive into relationships with reckless abandon because they fear losing more?

Victory or Failure: Did they experience a moment of triumph or devastating defeat? Success and failure leave their marks. Were they celebrated as a hero once, leading them to overconfidence, or did they fail when everyone was counting on them, leading to crippling self-doubt?

Betrayal: Was there a betrayal that shaped their adult relationships? Whether it is a friend, family member, or lover, betrayal often changes how we trust others. Do they close themselves off, constantly expecting betrayal, or try to rebuild trust, afraid of being left alone again.

5. Where They Stand Now: The Present Moment

What Drives Them Today: What’s the one thing pushing them forward now? Is it revenge, the need to restore their family’s honor, or maybe even just survival? Whatever it is, this motivation should tie directly back to their experiences.

Emotional Baggage: What unresolved emotional wounds are they carrying? Everyone has scars from their past—some are visible, others not so much. How do these emotional wounds affect how they treat others, how they react to conflict, and how they move through the world.

Current Relationships: Who’s still in their life from their past, and how do they feel about it? Did they reconnect with someone they thought they’d lost, or are they haunted by unresolved issues with people from their past? Do they have any ongoing tensions or regrets tied to these people?

6. Tying Themes to Their Backstory

Cultural or Mythological Influence: How does their personal story tie into the larger world’s mythology or culture? Do they carry a family legacy, a curse, or a prophecy that hangs over them? How does this influence their interactions with others and their perception of themselves?

Recurring Symbols: Are there objects, dreams, or people that keep showing up in their life, symbolizing their journey? Perhaps a recurring nightmare haunts them, or they carry an object from their past that’s both a source of comfort and pain

7. Character Arc: The Journey from Past to Present

How Does Their Past Shape Their Growth?: Every character has emotional baggage that needs resolving. How does their backstory drive their arc? Do they need to forgive themselves, let go of the past, or accept who they’ve become to move forward?

Unanswered Questions from the Past: Are there any mysteries in their backstory they need to solve? Maybe they’re unaware of their true parentage, or maybe there’s a forgotten event from their childhood that will resurface and change everything.

[5starwitch]

Astrology Observations: Venus Edition

Venus in Aries loves the chase. They love when the person they like plays hard to get. They tend to get bored once the honeymoon phase ends. They go so hard for their loved ones though and they're incredibly passionate.

Venus in Taurus loves to be spoiled in relationships. They want to be taken out on extravagant dates and just in general want the princess treatment. They love physical affection and feeling close to their partner.

Venus in Gemini loves spontaneity in their relationships. They get bored pretty easily if they aren't being intellectually stimulated. They usually are not the type to commit in relationships and prefer having multiple partners.

Venus in Cancer loves when their partner feels like home and is a source of comfort to them. They love cuddling and staying in bed watching movies or TV. They don't usually like short term relationships so they may be the type to always be in a committed relationship.

Venus in Leo loves to feel like the prize. They want public displays of affection. They can be loyal but they also like making their partners jealous and starting drama.

Venus in Virgo's love language is acts of service. They love taking care of their partner and it makes them feel good to be taken care of as well. They may be critical of their partner but it usually comes from a good place.

Venus in Libra wants an equal partner. They want their relationship to be a source of peace for them. It may be hard for them to speak their mind when they’re upset so they tend to bottle things up and it usually comes out in passive-aggressive ways. They can be flirts but are loyal when they want to be.

Venus in Scorpio wants an all-encompassing type of love. They can't stand shallow relationships and truly crave intimacy at their core. They might enjoy starting drama with their partner because they can get bored if there's not enough excitement or chaos in their relationships.

Venus in Sagittarius loves romance. They love making the person they're with feel special or like they are "the one". They are not too fond of committed relationships though and because of their charisma they're probably dating multiple people. They're usually honest about it though.

Venus in Capricorn loves mature partners that are responsible. They don't fall in love easily. For them relationships are built on a foundation of trust and reliability and not just emotion or passion.

Venus in Aquarius wants a relationship that's based on friendship. They want to feel like they are with their best friend and can joke about anything with them. They are also very individualistic so relationships where they don't have freedom are very suffocating to them.

Venus in Pisces craves a soulmate connection with their partner. They want a love that transcends everything. Their love is unconditional and deep and they might attract partners that take advantage of their open heart.

[mysterycitrus]

This is so stupid but I was wondering if you might have any Dick and Roy meta? I've always loved your meta posts about the relationships between the Fab Five and different characters and lately, I've been seeing a lot of those posts where people splice certain comic pannels with poems/sayings/inspirational quotes and things that match and I've been wanting to have more in-depth ideas of the relationship between Dick and Roy because they're just so interesting but I don't have the brains to come up with anything myself

when i think about dick grayson and roy harper i think about the trope king + lionheart — a burdened hero, and their loyal protector — and how they switch roles with each other. like two standout dickroy books are probably old friends, new enemies and outsiders (2003), and while they’re both initiated with roy reaching out to dick for help, his motivations are very different. i think that dynamic, and how they don’t fit solely into one role, is part of why i enjoy reading about them so much.

in old friends, roy is the king — he’s trying to track down chesire and find lian, and isn’t initially honest about his intentions. he’s struggling with his decisions, and his faith in himself. dick acts as the moral support, his backup, and also calls him out on his actions.

but their relationship is still loving. there’s a solid foundation of trust that makes dick want to support roy and protect his daughter, to the point that he and jade nguyen show a (very) begrudging respect to each other.

in outsiders, dick is the king — donna has just died, bludhaven is going to shit, and roy knows that he’s spiralling. roy is the solid support who convinces dick to lead a new team because he knows dick hurts himself through isolation. they’re both grieving donna and the loss of their team, but roy forces dick to reconnect again. he forces dick to care.

despite being the leader of the outsiders, dick is uncompromising in his loyalty in roy. he tells people to leave if they don’t accept roy’s authority in the team. after roy is shot, dick takes the same action as roy in the first issue — he brute forces his way into getting roy out of the spiral. he holds a gun to roy’s head and tells him to take it.

im a huge sucker for friends to lovers, but what i really love is two competent people with absolute faith in each other. i dislike the idea that bat-characters are like….. absurdly op and everyone is just in awe of them all the time, but dick’s reputation means that trusting someone the way he trusts roy is important. he watched his teammates die, he watched his sister die to save his life, and he still trusts roy to be there. roy historically has a bit of an inferiority complex about working with dick, but dick does not reciprocate. dick knows roy will be there when it counts.

there’s a particular kind of love that comes from mourning the same person during one of the worst times of your life.

the fact that the early tragedies in their lives are so similar, that they lost family and an idea of place at similar ages, were mentored by mortal men who wanted to do good, but still ended up so close but so different is really really interesting to me. u get to outsiders, and they really know each other in a really intense way.

truly like…. i would fall on ur sword because i trust u not to land the killing blow. to finish — something something gay people

[jupitersdescendant]

hii lovely people! hope everyone is doing as well as possible. can’t believe it’s been over a year since my last reading… a lot of sh*t has happened in my life but i’m so glad to be back, finally! thanks to those of you who are still here :)

todays topic: blessings coming to you this spring

here’s how it works: close your eyes and meditate on the question for a little. if you feel ready, open your eyes and choose the pile you feel the most drawn to. it’s possible, that you’ll be attracted to more than one pile. please remember that this is a general reading so only take what resonates. this is for entertainment purposes only. lastly, tarot is only a guide, nothing is set in stone and at the end of the day you have the power over your own life.

Pile 1

cards: six of cups (rx), page of cups, strength. back of the deck: the magician.

hii pile 1!!

i’m seeing that there’s recently been a big change or rather an upheaval regarding your home life/living situation. some of you may have moved out and it didn’t go as well as planned. no matter the situation, it all happened rather suddenly. it seems like many of you feel like the ground was swept from under your feet and you were left feeling vulnerable. you could’ve been struggling with reoccurring headaches. there’s a big focus on independence and standing on your on feet this spring. i’m seeing that you’ll be blessed with affection. for some of you this means that someone from your past may reenter your life and this time around you will get the chance to appreciate them the right way, probably more in a platonic/friend way but it could differ for everyone. you two could come together after parting because of a fight. for others this affection is coming in through someone new entering your life and awakening your romantic side. it actually looks like some of you may even fall in love and for a couple of you this could mean for the very first time in your life since there’s a feeling of innocence here. this is random but fish could carry a special meaning for you during this time, wether you see a symbol or real ones or even here about them, they’re definitely a sign for you. this spring you will find that your inner strength will carry you through whatever is going on in your life. you may have to juggle a couple of things but that strength will help you build a comfortable foundation within yourself. there’s a lot of water energy in this pile and i’m seeing that you’ll be blessed with good intuition and that you’ll also trust your own judgment more. you will awaken more to your spiritual side since spirituality will play a big role to you this season. it’s also one of the reasons why you may feel stronger and more sure of yourself. even though you probably won’t enter this spring under the best of circumstances, you’ll find that you’re blessed with what it takes to persist any incoming obstacles. with an active and confident energy you can move towards the life that you want and find that it’s already waiting for you.

extra advice:

- embrace the changes even if you don’t feel ready or prepared yet

- see the good that is already in your life, there are blessings all around

- put your strength into something positive

- trust the divine timing of the universe

let me know if it resonates! have a great day/night 🖤

Pile 2

cards: page of swords, judgement, nine of swords (rx). back of the deck: the devil (rx)

hii pile 2!

so it looks like there’s a person of romantic interest in your life but it doesn’t seem you’re official and probably more like somehow waiting on them? it doesn’t feel like there’s really something going on between you two and even if there is, it seems that the situation is standing still and you’re waiting for them or for something to happen. i’m sorry to break it to you, dear, but i don’t think that this is really going anywhere and that you shouldn’t wait anymore and accept that it’s rather unlikely for the situation to improve if you relate to the scenario i’m describing. since it looks like this person isn’t even an active part of your life anymore (at least for most of you), i think you should release what’s in the past and not be still hung up on them. sorry if this sounds harsh, i only want whats best for you! i think this spring will help you realise that the situationship you may be in is only holding you back and that you should detach yourself from this. i now this really doesn’t sound like a blessing yet but through letting go you’ll be blessed with an awakening and will find your inner calling. you’ll also overcome a lot of anxiety and will learn to cope in a healthier way when dealing with your mental struggles. i think that you’ll really flourish this spring. i’m seeing you stepping into your “king”- energy and yes, everybody can embody the energy i’m talking about. in this case it means that you’ll be full of strength and warmth and that you’ll embrace more of the leader energy in yourself. you don’t necessarily need to lead people since that’s definitely not for everyone but it’s more like the vibe and mentality a leader carries. you may also inspire others with that change you made within yourself. the number three could be a sign from the universe to you showing you that you’re on the right path. you’re probably not the best when it comes to confrontation or standing up for yourself but this spring will help you leave this behaviour behind for your own good. i’m not gonna lie, this whole process will be kind of exhausting though it will bring you much more happiness once you’re through with it. in doing so you’ll be reclaiming your power and be blessed with a lot of internal freedom and independence. this season will also bless you with optimism.

extra advice:

- work to regain your confidence

- learn ways to strengthen your opinion of yourself

- show your inner light to the world and let your personality shine through

- if you have been dwelling on your past, try finding the light or blessings of each memory and release them with love

let me know if it resonates! have a great day/night 🖤

Pile 3

cards: eight of cups, three of wands, nine of pentacles. back of the deck: five of cups

hi pile 3!!

i’m seeing that you’ve recently had to leave something behind. what exactly that is will differ for everyone but all of you had to walk away from something. this was a very difficult decision for you but you had to do for your own wellbeing. your focus now will be on solitude and what you’ll find through it. this is a time of soul searching and looking for your own path. i think it was very hard for you to leave this “something” behind and that you resisted making this decision for a long time because you were really afraid what this change would bring you. i’m here to tell you that this will have a purely positive outcome for you since you can finally move forward. you can be proud of yourself. this change will bless you with happy outcomes. you may find joy in exploring new things and travelling this spring. a couple of you could even be blessed with luck regarding money. in order to reap your rewards you should try to let go of selfishness and jealousy, of course everyone experiences these emotions but i think that you could get hung up on these feelings and really harm yourself and maybe even others in doing so. if you manage to do this, there’s only prosperity waiting on the other side of you. blessings in form of more freedom, security and independence will flow toward you (reoccurring theme for every pile it seems lol). i’m hearing that you’ll rise like a phoenix from the ashes. the past few weeks or even months could’ve been a real emotional struggle for you and you felt very lonely. some of you experienced a great loss in your life that left you in sadness and despair. i think you will be happy to hear that love will find your life again, wether this is romantically or platonically will differ for everyone but just know that you’re not alone. this spring will bless you with feeling more in harmony within yourself and also with others.

extra advice:

- create the shift within yourself required to attract what you want

- be tender and patient with yourself and those around you

- trust you will attain all you are yearning for

- be ready for the many opportunities coming to you

- this is the time to go within for answers, to find inner strength and to tap into deep emotions

let me know if it resonates! have a great day/night 🖤

🔮 thanks a lot for reading 🔮

[honeybubbledivination]

Loyalty of your Future Spouse or Significant Other 💛

(Could be your current situation with someone you plan to marry or a POSSIBLE future person.)

Please use your own discretion and discernment. This is for entertainment purposes only. I do not offer medical or legal advice.

[Obvi, major tw for infidelity. Mentions of narcissistic tendencies/personality, gaslighting. Unhealthy relationship themes.]

Pick an image to determine your reading! Options go from 1-3, left to right!

Pile one:

‘loml’ - Taylor Swift

‘Still’ - Noah Kahan

‘Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus’ - Taylor Swift

Obligatory note for each pile that ‘the hidden truth oracle’ cards are basically quotes. These are things that they are saying, have said, or will say. It can also be the progression of their thoughts leading up to their frame of mind from the beginning of the connection to the end or current standing. Take it as you will!

‘Love Oracle Cards’ by Beach Time Soul: Not Today, Soulmates, Girl Talk, Heartbroken, Boat, Healthy Choices, Keys on a Ring, Love Call, Ascending, The Chaser, Mask, Girl With a Snake, The Dragonfly

‘The Hidden Truth v2’ by All Things Intuitive: I can be myself with you. // I am recovering. // I am in a committed relationship. // Will you ever make things right? // I can’t be with you. // You broke my heart. // We don’t share the same values. // I don’t know why this happened. // I don’t know what comes next.

‘The Love Oracle’ by Simplistic Mystic: Ghosted, Unfinished Business, Wedding, Proposal, Fated Meeting, Travel, Date, Magnetic Attraction, Family, Finances, Divine Intervention, Unexpected, Storm Warning, Between The Lines, Crossroads, Break Up

‘The Hidden Truth Oracle’ by All Things Intuitive: I want you. // I love you. // I want to feel that way again. // I hide behind material things. // So many things remind me of you. // We both know I am not the one for you. // I left you before you could leave me. // You and I were too young. // You were the best thing in my life. // We need to let each other go. // I can’t stop thinking about you.

Welcome Pile One! I have a heavier reading for you. If your intuition lead you here and you’re read to see the truth, strap in. It feels like the person you’re asking about is someone you’re already with. You’ve been with them long enough to talk about marriage and kids and seeing the world together. But, they’re a liar. I’ll just be upfront about it, no point in having more than one person in your life beat around the bush with you. They’re emotionally immature and have in fact cheated on you. They will never admit it because of their ego, but that’s why they ghosted you recently. They’ve had a one night stand with someone and it’s reminded them of a time or situation where they weren’t very honest with you in the past about someone you considered family. They’ll lie about it if you confront them, but the guilt is eating them alive. You may be close with their family or they’re close with yours. This could be a union that everyone seems to support because you may have helped this person heal, or at least act like they are. But, while you’re at home holding up the foundation, they’re out doing God knows what with God knows who. You should’ve trusted your intuition from the start, but that’s okay because divine intervention is more than just having something randomly come into your life or leave it. Divine intervention is when anyone or anything is in your life for a reason, season, or lifetime. No matter if you decide to stick by this person and let them continue to treat you poorly or if you break it off, they’re in your life for a reason. A lesson of heartbreak and realizing your worth. Would you let anyone treat your family or friends like this? If the answer is no, you need to look in the mirror and realize you not only disrespect yourself when you accept less than you are worth. You’re disrespecting your family and loved ones. Past, present, and future. Now, this person will expect you to pick up the pieces time and time again while they keep breaking everything. And they’ll blame all of it on you. If not to your face, then behind your back with whoever they’re messing around with. Love is not about push and pull, it just exists. It’s not meant to be fought for within the dynamic. It just exists. It’s simple. I hope you realize this and dump that loser. God bless you, honey bee. Drop that idiot before they ghost you. If they’re gonna talk crap, give them a reason to.

- Bunny 🍯💛

Pile Two:

Bad Guy Billie Eilish

So Long, London - Taylor Swift

Casual - Chappell Roan

Obligatory note for each pile that ‘the hidden truth oracle’ cards are basically quotes. These are things that they are saying, have said, or will say. It can also be the progression of their thoughts leading up to their frame of mind from the beginning of the connection to the end or current standing. Take it as you will!

‘Love Oracle Cards’ by Beach Time Soul: Love Call, Separation, Palm Tree, The Grim Reaper, Karmic Relationship

‘The Hidden Truth v2’ by All Things Intuitive: I don’t want to let you go. // I hide my feelings. // I still have feelings for you. // I know you don’t feel the same. // I don’t know what comes next. // We don’t share the same values. // You inspire me. // I feel so happy with you. // I saved your texts and messages. // Your intellect arouses me. // I feel the sexual tension. // I’m not financially stable.

‘The Love Oracle’ by Simplistic Mystic: Player, Grass Is Greener, Single, Between The Lines, Healing, Mystery, Regret, Heartbreak

‘The Hidden Truth Oracle’ by All Things Intuitive: You were the best thing in my life. // I can’t stop thinking about you. // I left before you could leave me. // Sometimes I stay awake thinking about you. // I will wait for a sign from you. // I bury myself in work to forget you. // Just being near you is intoxicating. // I remember every detail of that day. // I look for you everywhere. // My life is not as together as it seems. // I want you.

Hey, Pile Two! Now, this pile felt like you’re not actually with this person currently. Maybe you had a fling with them or dated once upon a time and you’ve been thinking about them. Maybe people thought you’d end up together, but you never really did on official terms. You’ve been thinking about them a little bit lately, I wouldn’t say too much. Just here and there. And they’ve been thinking about you, too! But, this person is not your FS or SO. They’re a karmic relationship meant to test you to see if you’ll grow from what feels comfortable to what is really meant for you. What’s meant for you is being left as a surprise for now. This person doesn’t love you like you love them. They have an infatuation with you because you’re so kind and sweet to them. They like everything about you, but I wouldn’t say that they have feelings for you. They feel like you should be theirs, but they don’t want to actually lay claim by dating or marrying you. Not when they could have sex with whoever they want while they’re single. I don’t think they’d cheat on you if you abandoned your healing journey and where to reach out to them, but I think they’d do everything in their power to make you despise them, so they could validate cheating on you. This person is not loyal to you. They’re loyal to their ego and their sex drive. Find yourself and know that being single is a blessing itself. Stay strong, honey bee! Love and light!

- Bunny 💛🍯

Pile Three:

I Miss the Misery - Halestorm

Kiss U Right Now - DUCKWRTH

Missing Limbs - Sleep Token

Obligatory note for each pile that ‘the hidden truth oracle’ cards are basically quotes. These are things that they are saying, have said, or will say. It can also be the progression of their thoughts leading up to their frame of mind from the beginning of the connection to the end or current standing. Take it as you will!

‘Love Oracle Cards’ by Beach Time Soul: Soulmates, Love, Lightning, Seduction, Abundance, Engagement, Passion, The Dragonfly, Boat

‘The Hidden Truth v2’ by All Things Intuitive: I don’t know what comes next. // I would do it all again. // Your intellect arouses me. //I compare others to you. // I can’t get enough of you.

‘The Love Oracle’ by Simplistic Mystic: Liquid Courage, Truth, New Love, Proposal, Magnetic Attraction, Date, Soulmate, Legal Matters, Intuition, Crossroads, Unfinished Business, Healing, Regret, Heartbreak

‘The Hidden Truth Oracle’ by All Things Intuitive: I love you unconditionally. // I feel you even though we are apart. // I want to tell you how I feel.

Hey, Pile Three! Finally! A light hearted one! The other two piles are in a heavier energy and having to decide to heal or to go back to what’s comfortable. You could be a healed and clean slate version of pile one or two! Good job healing, baby bee! This person I’m seeing for you loves you. But, you need to make sure you’re all healed from those past situations because the person or people from the past will try to come back and sabotage your happiness. So, stick to your guns and stay with the person that makes you feel safe and doesn’t make you nervous or scared. Choose stability, honey bee! This one was definitely shorter, but you’re on the right track! Keeping healing and stay on the right track! Good love and luck!

- Bunny 💛🍯

Bunny’s Note: Thank you for buzzing by, busy bees! This reading was a doozy, but I think it’ll help a lot of you move on and be more realistic about stuff. Just make sure you’re doing what’s best for YOU. No one else matters. You are the center of your own universe. Heal your world before worrying about anyone else. If you’d like to book a private reading about more concerning this reading or anything else, pm me! I don’t do readings about medical or legal stuff!

[archiveofliterature]

i see a lot of criticism about the friendships between the babel characters and how we were told a lot of things about their positive dynamic, yet shown barely any of it (but are instead mostly presented with the negative aspects). i don’t know if other people clocked this but i feel like it was intentional

rf kuang was commenting on friendships made through trauma-bonding: they were doomed from the start

tldr; the characterisation is (one of) the subtly(ies) people were looking for in the colonial theme. they criticise the latter but i love the fact colonialism is more of an upfront theme because lord knows i am tired of it being subtle so people can ignore it

robin says from the very beginning after they formed their little friend group:

“why had they been so quick, so carelessly eager to trust one another? why had they refused to see the myriad of ways they could hurt each other? why had they not paused to interrogate their differences in birth, in raising, that meant they were not and could never be on the same side?”

the next small paragraph goes into a raft metaphor about how they saw themselves in each other and that’s why they stuck together. they shared one thing they could not ignore – their otherness. their friendship was purely built on the fact they were discriminated against and that they had to spent the next 4 years with each other. their first pleasant conversation is them discussing how they were treated at oxford. of course, the characters didn’t see this because they had never really befriended people their age before. this feeling of belonging felt like love to them (considering their upbringings, ramy’s i will discuss in a bit)

it makes perfect sense why robin would repeatedly imply that they loved and cared about each other. in his eyes, they did. what was it they had if not love? robin, who has ignored so many problems in the past before babel as he knew it would cause him issues, wouldn’t address their friendship dynamic or how strong the arguments and animosity were. he, an abused child, would rather have this than nothing at all

in actuality (demonstrated, i think, through the photograph they took at the end of chapter 9), they were together because of academia’s and discrimination’s forced proximity. robin feels specific emotions about them that feel strong to him because he’s never experienced it before, but that doesn’t mean they are strong enough to keep them together, which is why when they see the photo, they feel weird about it because why isn’t it portraying their dynamic ‘correctly’?

it’s true that perhaps to get robin’s perspective across, it would’ve been good to see the positive aspects more but i think that would’ve made it harder for us to see how weak their friendship was. people wanted more positive to show that they loved each other, which isn’t the point rf kuang is trying to make

rf kuang chooses to show the negative aspects more because they show where their friendship will end up. when letty did what she did, i didn’t see it as a plot twist, i saw it as an inevitability. this was going to happen. honestly, i feel this with most of the ‘plot twists’ of babel except the end of book iii (i really didn’t see that coming). it was easy for letty to do what she does in book iv because their friendship had such unstable foundations. when they no longer benefitted her, she turned her back on them

the only dynamic i feel was actually strong was robin and ramy. i’m not just saying this because i think they’re queer lol. they were close not just because they were both men of colour and had similar upbringings – they actually liked each other. they admired each other and adored each other’s personalities, they bounced off each other and knew what the other meant when they spoke. when they argued, it was over something that actually considered each other’s beliefs and goals and desires, not over their differences.

(unlike letty and ramy, letty and victoire and maybe even robin and victoire, though i think they lean more to ramy/robin than they do to letty/anyone lol. ramy and victoire have a dynamic that i personally feel like robin didn’t really see because ramy understood victoire in a way robin couldn’t. you kind of see it when robin is the one who letty complains about ramy/victoire to, but that’s it i think?)

speaking of ramy, linking it back to their perspectives of love, it makes a lot of sense why he caused the most disruption in the friend group. he’s the only one with an actual family that he stays in touch with. he knows what love feels like. so of course he’s the one that is strongly anti-empire, compared to robin and victoire who have been emotionally manipulated in their childhood by said empire, the one who argues with letty the most. he still feels what robin and victoire feel, of course, but to a lesser extent

honestly i don’t know how to end this analysis, i just think rf kuang is a genius lmao but i may add more onto this as i continue to reread the book we shall see

[skimmingmilk]

howdy skim! how do you get Sonic and Tails characterization so spot on? Typically watching cutscenes i can read between the lines or think deeper on some bits of the games but you just flesh them out beautifully and I was just wondering what your interpretation of Sonic and Tails is!

Hi there! :D

Ahh, thank you! I’m so happy you like their characterization! Watching cutscenes does really help get the voices down, but you’re right in that it doesn’t give us a ton of emotional range to work with. I think—in the case for how I approach Sonic and Tails specifically in the Picket Fence series—it helps that their foundation is a mix of game personality and AoStH personality. 

AoStH, while a very silly series, offers a lot in terms of range for Sonic and Tails’s emotions and reactions to stress. We get to see Sonic angry and upset and scared in ways beyond what the games tend to show and Tails is very much a little kid just doing his best, with a bit of a stubborn and defiant side to him. Taking these traits and emotions and more or less infusing them into the game portrayals (specifically Adventure and Adventure 2) are kind of how I establish their baseline.

The rest has just been practice! I’ve written so much of these guys now, their behaviors and the way they think have become almost hardwired into my brain xD I didn’t start out super confident about my portrayal of them—Sonic in particular used to give me a lot of stress because of how much stock people can put in how he’s characterized. I thought for sure people weren’t going to like how I wrote him at all—and I’m positive there are people who don’t and that’s fine! But I wasn’t writing for them. I’m not writing for Sega or any official media, I’m writing for me and the people who want to read the same stories I do. 

**Edit: This isn't to disparage anyone who is more particular about how Sonic's portrayed. It's solely because there's already so much stress involved in the writing process, I don't need the added stress of writing for an audience that wouldn't like my style anyway hanging over my head! Especially when it's free fanfiction I'm doing in my spare time for fun. There are plenty of other really talented writers out there who have their own spin or take on the characters that people can find enjoyment in <3 I don't have to please everyone and that takes off a lot of pressure!**

So that pushed me to find my footing as I put Sonic in situations I wanted to see. The more I wrote him and practiced his voice, the more natural it became. I got comfortable with him and the confidence just built up over time to the point where I can trust him to guide the narrative and get himself where he needs to be, rather than me just shoving him into place.

In a way it’s a lot like learning to draw them, right? First, you stick pretty closely to on model references to make sure they look like who they’re supposed to. You learn their shapes and defining features, then once you're comfortable, you start to branch out, push the limits, and infuse more of your own style to them. It’s the same with writing. You follow the guidelines canon materials have given you at first, but once you understand how the shapes of their personality traits fit together, you can bring your own style and flair to the writing to expand their potential and match the creativity of your ideas that go beyond what the games, comics, movies, etc. have covered. 

More about how I personally approach them beneath the cut, because this got long, I'm sorry xD

I think my interpretation of Sonic and Tails relies on a couple of things. First, their relationship to each other. They are best friends. Sonic has a lot of friends and cares about a lot of people, but Tails is specifically his best friend. I know I’ve mentioned it before, but it’s so important to me to establish that it’s a symbiotic relationship that goes both ways. It’s easy to see why Tails likes and admires Sonic, why he’d want to be his friend and that he looks up to him, it’s all part of his character arc in early games. So making sure Sonic views him in the same light is key—not just as a little brother figure he has to look out for, because that kind of responsibility doesn’t really align with Sonic’s free spirit*, but for Tails to be someone he genuinely admires and wants to be around. Sonic keeps pace with Tails because he wants to, because he’s choosing to of his own volition.

*Just want to add, that’s also what makes their dynamic so compelling to me. Sonic’s cool, rebellious, free spirit doesn’t typically lend itself to the idea that “my best friend is a sweet, eight-year-old genius mechanic who has a bit of a complex about me.” On a surface level, that doesn’t seem like it would align with a stereotypical “cool” character, at least not to me as an American kid in the 90s and early 00s. So playing with that and making sense of it is so fun and critical to my portrayal of him.

The second thing is mainly making sure my writing feels genuine. Like, I need to believe in the way I’m writing the characters because if I don’t, then I can’t possibly expect readers to. Sometimes it requires planting a few seeds along the way in order to earn the payoff of an emotional reaction, so that I can get to a place where I can write something like Sonic the Werehog hiding his face with one hand as he howls from the sheer relief of being free from the burden of taking a life that he was fully prepared to take on and believe him when he does. Or when Tails is trying to troubleshoot his own jealousy and insecurities on his own rather than talk it out, I need to believe that he believes what he’s doing makes perfect sense to him.

Honestly, my characterization of them is probably pretty skewed and biased to my personal tastes at this point. I don’t think this is a definitive way to write Sonic or Tails, but based on my experiences with how I’ve engaged with their characters throughout my life, I just write them exactly the way I want to and try not to worry about whether or not it aligns with others’ views of the characters. Taking away that pressure and outside influence gives me room to play and explore different possibilities. There are also certain characterization choices in canon media that I don’t necessarily agree with, but I try to work in aspects of that in a way that doesn’t totally contradict that piece of media while also aligning with my view of them, if that makes sense?

Basically I don’t disregard everything, but rather try and work it into my foundation that was built primarily on AoStH and the Genesis/Dreamcast-era Sonic games, so that people can still see a bit of Jason or Roger or Colleen's performances or nods to the OVA if that's their preferred piece of Sonic media. **Edit: I have the most familiarity with the English side of Sonic, but of course would want to be open to people who's favorite Sonic is Jun'ichi, too, I just haven't had as much exposure to him as Sonic, so can't say for certain if anything I've written feels in line with that**

I hope this answered your question? It was very compelling to think about and I hope it provided some insight into how I approach their characterization!

[luckyroll3]

Crimson Lights: Chapter 26

Masterlist

The fading sun casts a warm glow over the dashboard as I turn onto the familiar street leading to my building. Exhaustion is clawing at my bones after a long day at the clinic, and all I crave is the comfort of home and Chris' arms. A yawn escapes me, my eyes briefly closing before snapping back open, just in time to catch sight of him.

Chris stands there, his muscular frame relaxed, but his attention is completely absorbed by the woman in front of him. Even from a distance, her beauty is arresting—a cascade of black waves tumbles down past her shoulders, a stark contrast to her olive skin which seemed to drink in the last rays of sunlight, and curves for days. Her green eyes sparkled, seemingly full of mischief, as she leaned into his space, her hand placed lightly on his chest as her fingers trace one of his buttons, a gesture that feels too intimate for casual friends.

A knot tightens in my stomach, an instinctual tug of concern, but I push it away. It's nothing, I tell myself, as I head up to the garage and park the car with more force than necessary. Maybe she's a neighbor or a friend. I couldn't let a seed of doubt take root; trust was the foundation we’d built our relationship on.

After dropping my stuff off at my place, then showering and changing, I head to Chris’.

"Hey, love," Chris greets me when I finally step out of the elevator into his penthouse. He pulls me into a warm hug.

"Hi," I murmur against his chest, inhaling the familiar scent. He feels like home—steady and sure. It has been about two weeks since we’d found our way back to each other and things were good. Chris has been more open with me about the other side of the business and now shares when has to lean into his dark side so that I’m not caught off guard or so that I can help pull him back, bring him balance. And I share with him when I’m uncomfortable or scared. We make it a priority to work out our feelings together. We have been very in sync with each other, feeling very much like the early days of our relationship.

We settle onto the couch, the soft fabric embracing us as we curl up together. The TV plays some show I didn't care about, background noise to our quiet conversation.

"How was work?" I ask, tracing idle patterns on his arm.

"Good, good. Had a meeting run way too long, but otherwise, not too bad," he replies, pressing a kiss to my forehead.

“And any movement on that other situation?” I ask, inquiring about how they’re handling the potential threat from Marco.

“Not really. We’re ready to move on our end, but JYP has asked us to hold off until we have ‘real’ evidence.” He rolls his eyes and shakes his head. "And you? How was your day?"

"Same old, same old," I sigh, recounting a story about a particularly feisty cat that had given me a run for my money. Chris chuckles, his chest rumbling against my cheek.

As the night wore on, and his voice fills the spaces around us, I wait for him to mention the woman from earlier. But the topic never surfaces. Should I ask? I question myself. No, I can’t be that person. If it were important, he'd tell me.

"Everything okay?" Chris' voice pulls me back, his gaze searching mine.

"Perfect," I lie with a smile, burrowing deeper into his embrace. Trust him, I chide myself silently. Don't ruin this because of some lingering insecurity from you-know-who. Your last boyfriend had scarred you with his infidelities, but you didn’t want that situation to color your interactions with Chris.

"Good," he murmurs, tightening his hold on me. "I'm glad you're here."

The warmth of his body, the steady beat of his heart, and the tender look in his eyes—it all lulls the creeping worry back into the shadows.

—

The clatter of cutlery and the murmur of lunchtime conversations envelop me as I take a seat at our usual corner booth, with Felix, Hyunjin, and Changbin already deep into their meal. Felix has been inviting me to have lunch with them at least once a week for several weeks now. It’s usually just me, him, and Hyunjin. Felix, the sweetheart that he is, has already ordered my usual for me. 

The aroma of spicy ramen and tangy kimchi fills my senses, but it is their hushed tones that snag my attention. I try to focus on unfolding my napkin, but their words buzz like bees around my head.

"Can't believe Aja's back in town," Felix mutters, his brows knitted tightly under his blond bangs. "She's trouble."

"Always has been," Hyunjin adds, spooning broth into his mouth. "She’s been on the east coast for years, and suddenly she pops up out of the blue? It’s suspicious. Of course she beelined directly for Channie her first day in town, no surprise there."

My hand freezes mid-fold, my heart hammering against my ribcage. The woman from the other day—is Aja? Chris’ ex?

"What does she look like?" I ask, trying to keep my voice even.

"Curvy Latina, jet black hair, green eyes that probably have seen more dollar signs than stars," Changbin replies sarcastically without looking up, his chopsticks expertly navigating through his noodles.

A lump forms in my throat. That was her—the one who'd lingered too close to Chris.

"Her dad was a big-shot lieutenant in the Syndicate," Felix says, shaking his head. "That’s how she and Chan got connected. Once she had her hooks in him, it was over. Chan always bent over backward for her."

"Despite her treating him like dirt," Hyunjin scoffs. "He catered to her every whim, and she still stomped all over his heart. Bitch."

"Wait, she treated Chris badly?" My voice wavers despite my best efforts.

"Like he was nothing and he just took it because he was in love," Changbin confirms, his dark eyes meeting mine for a moment. This is the closest Changbin and I have been since Chris and I reconnected. We still talk and text almost everyday, like usual, but we haven’t been alone together. He wouldn’t admit it, but Binnie has been avoiding me. "We never liked her, Kay. You're a breath of fresh air compared to Aja."

"Definitely," Felix agrees with a nod. "You're good for him. She...she was like a devil whispering in his ear, pushing him deeper towards the dark side."

"Which is why we can't let her worm her way back in," Hyunjin states firmly.

The weight of their concern presses down on me, mixing with the sour twist of unease in my stomach. Chris had said nothing about Aja, nothing about seeing her again. And yet here I sit, surrounded by his most trusted confidants, learning of a past that suddenly felt all too present.

“Does anyone know why she’s back?” I ask, curious to learn more.

“Don’t know, don’t care,” Hyunjin says as he leans back in his chair. “As long as she leaves Chan the fuck out of it. I’ll kill her myself if she gets out of line.”

“Yo, dial that back a notch Jinnie,” Changbin said with a laugh. “We get it; you hate her!”

“I wouldn’t worry about her, Kay,” Felix says. “She’s probably just here to visit family.”

“Or to get more money out of them,” Changbin adds with a smirk. “Either way, she probably won’t be here long.”

"Thanks, guys," I manage, my smile strained.

Changbin reaches out, giving my hand a reassuring squeeze before quickly withdrawing. Also the first time he’s touched me since that night in the clinic.

"Anything for you, Kay," he said, his voice low and earnest. "We've got your back."

—

The silence in Chris' penthouse later that evening is deafening, the usual hum of our shared laughter and conversation conspicuously absent. I watch him from across the room, his eyes glued to his phone screen, thumbs tapping out a response with an urgency I haven't seen in a while.

"Work stuff?" I venture, trying to keep my tone light, though the knot in my stomach pulls tighter with each passing second.

"Uh, yeah," he replies without looking up, the corners of his mouth twitching into a strained smile.

I nod, feigning interest in the TV show playing in the background, while the acidic taste of doubt lingered on my tongue.

A few moments later he joins me on the couch. He gives me a gentle kiss on the lips before laying his head in my lap. I run my hand through his hair, as he grabs my other hand and brings it to his chest.

“Everything okay with you?” he asks as he looks up at me.

“Yeah. All good here.” I lean over to kiss him. I want to ask him about Aja, but am worried about sounding like a jealous girlfriend. Despite the few issues Chris and I have had in our relationship, worrying about other people was never one. I’m not sure why I’m so concerned about Aja, given that Chris has never done anything to show that he had interest in other women. Yet, knowing she’s around and in contact with him is putting me on edge, especially given what I learned at lunch.

“You sure?” he asks with concern. “Your energy seems…off. You know you can talk to me about anything, right?” He reaches a hand up to my face and caresses my cheek.

“I know.” I lean into his hand. “I’m good. I promise,” I whisper.

“Ok.” He settles back into my lap, wrapping my arm around him and turning to face the TV. We watch the show in silence. As a new episode starts up, his phone beeps. He sits up to grab it off the coffee table and sits back on the couch to read and respond.

"Goodnight," I murmur, retreating to his bedroom, feeling very uneasy.

“I’ll be in soon,” he calls out behind me.

I crawl under the covers and curl up into a ball, closing my eyes. After a few minutes, I feel Chris snuggle up behind me. As he places soft kisses along my shoulder, I feel his hands wrap around my body.

Chris' lips linger on my skin, but my thoughts are a whirlwind of questions and suspicions. Why hasn't he mentioned her return? I can’t escape the feeling that something is amiss.

A soft sigh escapes me as Chris pulls me closer, his touch soothing. “Still awake?” he whispers in my ear as he slips his hand down my stomach and beneath the waistband of my pajama bottoms. I nod. “Mmmm, good. Come here.”

I turn my body to face him and he captures my lips, easing his tongue into my mouth. I don’t resist him. I can’t. He shifts my shorts and underwear down my legs and tosses them aside. He’s already naked.

He pulls me in closer to him, pressing my body against his. He lifts my top leg and places it over his hip. Then he positions his dick at my entrance, before sliding himself in gently. A slow rhythm starts between us - hard and fast at first then slowing down to match each other's pace. It feels good to be one with him like this; lying side by side, our noses and foreheads touching, our bodies moving slowly together in unison.

My body responds instinctively, arching into his touch. I try to push my doubts and worries away, focusing on the pleasure he's giving me. But the image of Aja keeps creeping back into my mind, taunting me.

He whispers against my lips, “Let me make you forget about whatever it is you keep thinking about.” He picks up the pace of his thrusts, hitting all the right spots with precision. The tension in my body slowly ebbs away as Chris’ thrusts match his words, bringing me back to the present. Soon enough, all thoughts about Aja fade away and I am consumed by overwhelming pleasure.

Our bodies move together in perfect harmony, skin sliding against skin, breath coming out in quick gasps. I moan softly as Chris' strong hands grip my ass, guiding my hips to meet his thrusts with just the right amount of force. His other hand trails up my spine, landing at the base of my neck. His fingers play with my hair as he buries himself deeper inside me.

“Tell me you love me,” I demand, my hand on his cheek. He pulls back slightly to look into my eyes. He’s usually the one demanding reassurances, not me, so it catches him off guard.

“I love you. Only you, Kay.” I bring my lips to his, kissing him hungrily as I claim him as mine. I already know that he loves me, but hearing him say it in this moment helps to push aside the doubts I’m having.

Chris rolls me onto my back so that he is now on top. He increases the speed of his thrusts, but his lips never leave mine. My legs wrap around his waist, pulling him in even closer to me.

The intensity between us grows with each passing moment, until we are both lost in each other’s touch. With one last deep thrust, Chris cums inside of me, his rhythmic movements faltering as he rides out his orgasm. I follow closely behind, my body trembling beneath him.

We lay there for a few moments, catching our breaths. Eventually, Chris rolls off of me and pulls me into his chest; our usual after sex position. We lay there silently for a while, just enjoying each other’s company.

Chris finally breaks the silence. “I’m here when you’re ready to tell me what’s wrong.” He kisses my forehead before pulling me into him even tighter. I don’t respond. We stay wrapped up in each other until we both fall asleep in each other’s arms.

[foundfamilywhump]

Since we’re sharing niche whump tropes we like - I love when someone the whumpee isn’t particularly close to ends up in a caretaker role. Especially when they end of being protective of the whumpee, despite being fully out of their depth in this situation. Think: the neighbor you’re friendly with but don’t really know, a family member’s best friend, or a friend’s parent, etc. Someone the whumpee doesn’t have a bad relationship with, but only really knows peripherally.

The caretaker is only temporarily in this role, until whumpee can be reunited with their Person, but I love the blurring of those relationships, the response to seeing someone who needs help and not hesitating to offer it. It’s also the sheer panic of being thrust into something they’re not prepared for, but knowing that someone else needs them to be calm and cool and provide that foundation until things are alright again. It’s about the vulnerability! It’s about love! It’s about the care we owe each other!

YES OH YES THIS IS GREAT!!!! i love this sort of thing for the potential of it. like. not a bad relationship but a tangential relationship. it's something i'm writing about in a fic right now actually, and gosh it's so fun.

it reminds me of a bit in grey's anatomy right where the main protagonist's romantic interest decides to take it upon himself to take care of her best friend while the best friend is in a like. really fragile state of ptsd following a serious trauma. and he tells her at one point like. i would not have picked you to be part of my life. but [protagonist] did. you're her family and that makes you my family too. it's a concept i'm obsessed with. love by association. the way you love a cousin you've never met, or the friend of your child who's treated them well but has been very far from you. it's so good.

and then in a whump context it's a doubly compelling dynamic because of the risk taking and vulnerability inherent in allowing someone to care for you when wounded and traumatized. the sheer panic from BOTH of them - can i do this, can i take care of this person and also can i do this, can i trust this person. is their goodwill towards the person we share in common enough to earn me this kind of grace. etc. the vulnerability! the love! the care we owe each other!!! it obsesses me thank you.

[yumesei]

I had a lot of thought about the fact one of the main reasons ppl ship gh.....ap is their bantering in mw.2. And I wondered how the bantering dynamic between s.oap n sei differed from the bantering dynamic between g.host and s.oap and why one for me was romantic and the other was platonic (even outside of my very biased selfshipping lense).

Anyway thoughts below the cut.

I think the whole difference doesn't come from the bantering itself but the whole foundation of the friendship. G.host and S.oap have a bond formed through their work as soldiers, their intense missions, and their mutual respect for each other's abilities (even tho G.host looooves to bully S.oap on an ability level, bro had guessed pookie wouldn't survive long). Their friendship is solid, but it’s also characterized by a bit more distance, largely due to G.host's more reserved/private nature.

With G.host, their friendship feels a little more battle-tested (???? Is that English???) they've been through a lot together, and their camaraderie is based on surviving tough situations and understanding each other in that context. And their teasing can be seen as a way to break tension rather than a way to build emotional closeness (bc to me, S.oap's humor during that famous mw.2 mission where he banters with Gh.ost was mostly a coping mechanism. Cuz he was bleeding (got shot) and actively hunted by mercenaries who had just betrayed them).

With Sei, S.oap has that added layer of emotional vulnerability and warmth. With her, he can let his guard down more since whenever they see each other he's at base, safe. And their teasing is a way to nurture that closeness. The dynamic with Sei is a bit more emotionally charged, where the teasing serves to pull them closer together even while they were still only friends. While their dynamic is still lighthearted, it carries a sense of closeness and intimacy that is born from people who were pulled toward each other because their personality clicked together and therefore enjoyed each other companies (be it in a platonic or romantic way) instead of born from shared experiences and life or death situation (cuz she's military but not in the field).

They’re both important to Soap in different ways : G.host is his brother in arms and that's a still a very thick bond, he trusts him with his life. While Sei, even through the lighthearted-ness end up becoming someone he can open up to in a way he can’t with many others. The teasing, though, still runs through both relationships, it’s just that the meaning behind it shifts a bit depending on the person.

[bomber-grl]

I hope you dont mind me sending in a request but would you mind doing a oneshot/headcanons of Nico di angelo x child of apollo!m!reader whos kinda(really) jealous of Nico and Wills relationship/friendship, it can go angsty or fluffy, feel free to choose.

Word count: 4055

Pairing(s): Will Solace x M!Sibling!Reader (familial, Nico Di Angelo x M!Apollo kid! Reader (one sided)

A/N: Not sure if you meant jealous just because they’re close and reader wishes that for themselves or if he’s interested in Nico romantically, either way I included both.

-

It was just another usual morning at Camp Half-Blood. It was well into late morning as you sat at the Apollo table with your usual bunch of hyperactive siblings. Well, most of them. One spot was conspicuously empty. Will's seat was left cold, and you couldn’t help but notice.

Will was, without exaggeration, your favorite person. If there was such a thing as the best brother ever, he’d win, hands down. (Don’t tell Austin, or Kayla either (too risky)) He was always the first to offer a smile or an ear, never too busy for anyone who needed him. Plus, he’d let you steal KitKats every now and then, even when you weren’t injured. That alone gave him brownie points.

You didn’t have to turn around to know who was causing the sudden distinct conversation behind you. It was the sound of Nico’s sarcastic tone and Will’s laughter mixing, a sound that felt like it shouldn’t belong but somehow did. Ever since the whole one-sided ‘I want to kill you’ attack on Camp half-blood from Camp Jupiter, Will had been practically glued to Nico’s side. Honestly, more than glued. Will followed him around despite the harsh remarks that came from Nico at first. Now that just seemed like a thing of the past (maybe because it was). And you hated the way your stomach twisted every time you saw them together.

You wanted to feel happy for Will, of course you did. He was your brother, after all. Your favorite one at that. But there was a knot you couldn’t untangle, a feeling you couldn’t shake. It was easier said than done and you couldn't help but wonder: Why did the sight of them laughing together bother you so much?

It was ridiculous, really. You’d tried to ignore it. Tried to bury it under layers of helping Will with advice (mostly Nico-related) and focusing on training and macaroni-based arts and crafts projects. You even dabbled in posing for some of your more artistically inclined siblings’ paintings (You even went to Blanche for a distraction, that's how bad it got)

But the more you did that, the more it felt like you were just pretending to be okay. Will came to you for advice about Nico all the time, about Nico’s mood swings, his isolation, and the complex story that was his past. He trusted you, and you trusted him, too. You didn’t want to destroy the trust that was so carefully built on a pretty solid foundation between you two over the past few years, so you continued aiding him in Nico-centric issues. (rather, overthinking)

Sure, you weren’t exactly best friends with Nico anymore, but you had been once. Back when he first got to camp, when things were as okay as it could get when you’re suddenly left at camp at the ripe age of 12 after unknowingly spending 70 years -give or take- at a hotel and then popping back up in a totally different time. Not the best circumstance, but you could tell he was pretty resilient since he was the epitome of naive and innocent.

At least he wasn’t terminally emo anymore.

Of course, it didn’t stay that way for long and the tragedy that was Nico’s sister’s death occurred. Back when you had tried to be the one who understood him through the grief of his sister’s death. The whole thing had been like battling a storm, impossible to get through, but you tried. You felt like you had to. Even when he made particularly hurtful and harsh comments, you kept trying.

You approached the target and wrapped your hand around the arrow burrowed into the wood, but then the thought hit you like one of the balls (that you could’ve sworn was a bowling ball) the Stoll brothers used to throw around- and you couldn’t push it away. Will and Nico…could they like each other? Was there something there between them? A part of you hated the thought, and an even bigger part hated that you hated that your brother had a chance of happiness.

That’s when you realized Kayla had been yelling at you for a while. Something about not paying attention. You blinked and snapped back to the present, but the thoughts were still there, swirling in the back of your mind. You quickly made your way back to her, arrow in hand, lest she scold you even more.

The rest of the training passed in a blur. You couldn’t focus. Your brain was too busy working out this stupid mess of feelings that didn’t make any sense. So, you did what you always did in these situations: wrote it down.

You grabbed a scrap of paper from one of your siblings' beds- they wouldn't need it. Would they?

You quickly jumped onto the lower bunk and tried to scribble out your thoughts, hoping to untangle the knot in your chest. It was hard to stay inconspicuous when your cabin was full of nosey, dumb-headed teenagers, but you managed—barely. It was hard to make sense of one thing since it only seemed to contradict something else.

Time passed faster than you could comprehend. The night stretched on, and your thoughts continued to spin. You didn’t even notice how late it was until you heard a familiar voice across the room. Will.

“You’re up early,” he said, rubbing his eyes as he squinted at you. Despite the sleepiness, his smile made it all feel a little lighter.

“Yeah,” you muttered, quickly shoving the paper under your pillow and turning off the flashlight you hadn’t realized you were holding. “Early,” you echoed, though you were pretty sure it was more like late.

Luckily he didn’t seem to deem your actions suspicious, he rolled over and yawned, or at least if he did, you couldn’t have known. You glanced at the clock on the wall. 5:12 A.M. It was a struggle to read in the dim light, but it didn’t matter. The time wasn’t what kept you awake—it was the mess of emotions you couldn’t figure out.

Maybe you could ask Annabeth in the morning, she always knew what to do.

But for now, you stayed quiet. Stayed in the quiet, dark of the cabin, listening to the sounds of Will’s soft breathing and wondering when this feeling inside you would finally make sense.

-

The next time you woke up, you were drenched in sweat, your pillow a sticky mess of drool and hair, with the noise of the camp outside (and inside) so loud you’d have much rather been fighting Kronos himself. Campers came in and out of your cabin—some with gear, some without—while your mind scrambled to piece together the hazy fragments of last night's disaster. Rather, this morning's disaster. Whatever it was. You rolled over, squinting at the morning light streaming in through the window, and instinctively reached under your pillow.

The note was gone.

For a solid few seconds, your brain couldn't process it. It took a few seconds for your previously sleepy mind to catch up but once it did you jumped out of bed and started searching for it. You searched in between the cracks, behind the bed, hell, you even lifted up your mattress while simultaneously getting suspicious looks.

You heard someone coming towards you. Footsteps. A voice calling out. It was one of your siblings. They glanced at you, eyebrows raised, and you had to think quickly. "Uh, checking for bed bugs," you said, the first thing that came to mind.

They didn’t buy it. But before you could say anything else, they just shrugged and left. It seemed like a legitimate enough excuse and luckily you weren't dealing with any Athena kids.

You almost began to think how lucky you were that it wasn’t Will who asked, he seemed nowhere to be seen until you heard his currently less-than-welcoming voice. “What’re you doing? Need help?"” His voice was warm with concern when you turned to face him. Unlike your (somewhat) believable lie to your previous sibling, it seemed like rational thought just flew out the second you needed it most.

You stared at him, blinking. "Uh, I'm looking for my pizza." Yes. Pizza. That was possibly, the most stupid, most- Will interrupted, staring at you blankly “Pizza?”

You sighed, might as well go with it lest Will lose his trust in you. You’d prefer he thinks you were clinically insane than keep something from him in all honesty.

You stuck your hand in between the mattresses, “yep, just… making sure the bed didn’t eat it” You mustered all your energy into a smile, practically screaming for Will to believe you. All he did was smile concerningly at you as you continued your display, and then his uncertainty showed through.

“Your bed.. ate it?” Will's expression was absolutely exasperated and you would have laughed out loud had you not felt terrified.

You nodded so fast you could’ve sworn you’d have a concussion, “yep, you never know” you chuckled awkwardly. “How-“ he stopped mid-through as if wondering *what the hell am I doing right now*

And just when you thought the whole charade might never end, some other camper called for Will. Relieved to be saved from your own ridiculousness, he gave you a concerned look one last time and turned away. "Alright, if you're sure..." he muttered and left.

You let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding, half relieved, half wishing you could bury yourself in the nearest hole. At least he didn’t seem *too* worried.

But of course, things weren’t done yet. No, the universe had a cruel way of making sure everything spiraled.

The cabin was empty now. The usual chaos of Apollo campers was replaced by silence, and you quickly got dressed, trying to clear your head. Maybe you’d actually get some work done today—focus on something, anything other than the mess in your mind.

You stepped out into the crisp morning air and squinted your eyes at the brightness, ironic isn’t it? The peace didn’t last as you heard a grating, aggravating, screeching noise coming from you.

"Hey, looking for this by any chance?"

You whipped around, eyes narrowing instantly at the sight of the last person you wanted to see—a snarky, obnoxious Eris kid, who, unsurprisingly, was not in a cabin of his own. Great. (probably because you didn’t even have one- is what you would’ve said but you knew it would just bite you in the ass, so you bit your tongue)

The kid- rather teen, was dangling something in his left hand. And there it was. The note. The one you’d written to clear your mind. It was in his hands, and that mischievous look on his face told you everything you needed to know.

You blinked, feeling your stomach drop. “Yes, actually. Wait, how the hell did you even get this?” you asked, genuinely stunned. There was no way he should’ve had it.

He smiled like the infuriating bitch he was. "I have my ways."

You ground your teeth together, trying to keep your cool. "Give it back, now."

"Oh, I think we can make a deal," the Eris kid said, waving the paper in front of your face. He quickly yanked the paper back once you reached a hand out to snatch it. “What kind of deal?” your voice was laced with aggravation- you tried to calm down knowing he was just getting off on it. Literally.

He smirked, eyes narrowing in just the way you hated, “Oh, y'know just run a few errands here and there. Nothing difficult really.” You had the urge to spit out ‘Why don't you just do it yourself if it's so easy’ but then remembered the guy was holding you metaphorically hostage after all.

You stood there for a moment, your options weighing on you. You could do the things he asked—simple errands, really—but you hated the thought of someone holding your deepest, most private thoughts over your head like this.

His face fell slightly, like a cat that wasn’t getting as much amusement from toying with his food anymore, “C’mon, are you seriously not inclined to say yes?” Yes, exactly.

Then your eyes quickly found their way back to him and you gave him the nastiest glare you could muster “You’re threatening me.” He yawned, clearly bored, “Not the brightest are you?” He smirked at his pun, “Would’ve gone for an Athena kid but their reputation does precede them” Aka, he spent hours digging but no dirt.

You sighed, there really was no choice there, you hated this and you began regretting even writing down your feelings.

Still, you had to get that paper back.

So you did what you had to do.

Over the next few days, you did the tasks he set for you—delivering messages, running minor errands, and dealing with all the subtle, manipulative demands that were really just about making you feel small. He could’ve made things easier, but that was never going to happen. You hated it. You hated how helpless you felt. But at the end of the day, it was all leading up to one thing: getting that note back.

Finally, after what felt like a thousand little errands, the Eris kid gave you the note with a smirk. "You’ve earned this, I guess," he said, tossing it into your hands.

As you snatched it, you hesitated. You opened it, your eyes scanning the words you’d written only a few days ago. You reread your over-the-top, deepest confessions that you made during a blurry haze (that was called night) It included your confusion and contradictory feelings about hating how Will spends –what can be called somewhat– intimate time with Nico. How you hate that you hate feeling like that because Will's your brother, one so dear to you and the last thing you’d want to do is rip him from something he so clearly deserves. He works long ass hours as a healer and even double with the schedule that he often clears just to spend time with you. Guilt was a bitch, and it was eating you alive.

No. This note had something far worse. It laid out your deepest, darkest fear: that maybe, just maybe, you liked Nico in a way you shouldn’t. The thought made your heart sink. It was one thing to be confused about your feelings, but the realization that you might be harboring romantic feelings for Nico? It felt like a betrayal.

Then you felt your cheeks heating up and the feeling that you were foolish just intensified. You sighed, fresh evening wind whipping past you– you could’ve just talked to Will.

He would’ve listened. No, He will. He always did.

Your pace was brisk and fast as you closed into the dining pavilion near your table. The air only increased, blowing away any doubts you had in Will. This sudden burst of energy was fueled by motivation but most of all, the love and hope you had in Will.

You walked past several other cabins’ tables, whispers and chattering were afloat. You got some pitiful glances while others just straight-up laughed when you faced in their direction. A feeling worse than before stirred in the pit of your stomach and this time you couldn’t shake it off. Why did the universe hate you?

You took a seat alongside your siblings, some of them refused to meet your gaze out of awkwardness and others just tried to convey reassurance as much as they could. It wasn’t until you heard one whisper “I’m surprised he isn’t phased” to another that it sank in.

A weight was added to your right shoulder and you peeked over to get a look of who it was, next. You bitterly joked that maybe it was the minotaur itself, ready to end you once in for all since you couldn’t get any more embarrassed– despite being unaware of what was going on.

Will. It was Will and he looked at you with such a warm gaze you almost choked out a sob. You held it together for a duration of all but 10 minutes as you were finally aware of why everyone was acting weird and why you were suddenly the laughingstock.

You were one of the last people to give a bit of food to the fire as an offering to none other than your father. Your week had been shit, and just to be petty, you scraped off your least favorite bit.

This time walking back was ten times worse. Think of it as if you were at a concert– the singer was none other than yours truly except you were seriously stoned and everyone was laughing at you, not with you. That’s exactly how it was.

You tried your best to walk back to your table, that seemed twice as long as a distance away as usual. You told yourself to relax, even implementing those breathing techniques Will had taught you but of course, you were short out of luck. People had no decency and you heard it, it was from a distant table but you managed to make it out from the low chattering and giggles. Something along the lines of slander and how ridiculous it was that you felt that way.

Your stomach fell to your ass and a familiar figure, not too far away, caught your attention amongst the sea of manipulative conniving dictators.

The Eris kid you had grown to recognize as your captor for the majority of the week was smirking at you, eyes glinting in just the way you knew he was having fun. Forget your stomach falling to your ass, it fell out when you realized your worst nightmare came true and you just endured hard labor for nothing.

All of a sudden you could see it in everyone's eyes, the whispered conversations came to life and instantly you were no longer in the dark. The way they glanced at you all made sense in your head. It was all unbearable and you quickly pushed your place into a passing nymph as you bolted.

You bumped into Nico who came from who knows where, accidentally bumping his shoulder harder than you ever intended. You didn’t bother apologizing and set your gaze anywhere but here.

You ran towards the lake as you heard some of your siblings calling after you, the cool evening air whipped you across your face– an effective way of getting rid of the tears that threatened to fall.

Finally, you collapsed onto the rocks, holding your head in your hands, trying to make sense of everything. How had your emotions gotten so tangled? How had you let it all spiral out of control? Your breath still ran ragged and your turmoil of emotions didn’t make it any better.

You were about to curse everything and everyone. The gentle wind that danced in your hair the first summer you spent at camp when you and Will had (or at least tried) to have a sleepover but got scolded by Micheal. You were both upset deeply by it and Micheal wouldn’t deal with it any longer– you would have believed that had he actually gone through with it but instead, you and Will were giggling throughout the night without another peep out of him or any other of your siblings.

Suddenly, you found yourself smiling at your memories. Things weren’t all bad, you had to remind yourself. It was peacefully quiet near the lake, all that could be heard was the leaves brisling in the wind and when you occasionally moved your leg.

The silence was cut short.

The sound of footsteps behind you made your heart jump, and before you could react, a voice called out.

"Hey," Will said softly. You turned around, your eyes wide with surprise. He’d followed you. He always knew when you felt more than terrible. Or maybe he heard it all about it from that little snake.

"I... I didn’t mean for any of this to happen," you said quickly, voice trembling. "I don’t want things to be weird between us, but... it is. I don’t know what I feel anymore but I do know that I don’t want us to ever stop having the relationship that we have."

Will sat down next to you, his expression unreadable. He placed a hand on your shoulder, and you turned to face him. “Listen,” he said, his voice quieter now. “You don’t have to apologize to me. It’s okay to feel confused. But whatever it is, I’m still your brother, alright?”

You swallowed hard, trying not to let the tears threaten to spill over. "But I… I don’t know how to feel, or what I feel exactly. I thought maybe I was just jealous of you and Nico’s closeness– maybe because I’ve been lacking something like that for my entire life basically.” You swallowed thickly, “I love you Will" The words felt like they weighed a ton. “I don’t want to ruin everything just because I can’t get over myself.”

Will looked at you, his face softening. Or at least from what you could tell by the bright moonlight cascading off the lake and across your faces “You’re not ruining anything. I… I value you above a lot of things, you know that I do.” You did.

“I don’t blame you for how you feel, and I won’t. Especially since you seem to be doing that enough already” he smirked at you and chuckled, you laughed a bit too. Your shoulders sagged and the tension relieved itself from your body.

You were wrong. It wasn’t too late to talk to him about the ball of twine that was your emotions.

Will continued, he stumbled, and then a blush spread across his cheeks, “I haven’t been entirely honest either.”

You blinked, confused. "What do you mean?" Will chuckled, though it was a little bittersweet, as if knowing this could either make you feel better or 10x worse, “I mighttt like Nico” That might not be as convincing as he may have thought it to be, especially since the glint in his eyes told a completely different story. He did, and he wasn’t ashamed of how he felt.

You nodded and a soft smile spread across your features, it stung a bit and sure it would take some time processing– but you knew you’d be there when Will inevitably confessed to Nico. He turned to you suddenly, this time a serious glint in his eyes, “You definitely need some counseling, therapy even.”

You couldn’t hold the snort that escaped you, “You could tell that to more than half the demigods here and gods combined. It’d be one big family therapy session.” At that, Will let out a laugh, seemingly having surprised even himself. He leaned against a log and hauled himself up and onto his two feet, “C'mon, let’s go back, maybe even sneak some food too” He smiled as he held his hand out to you. You took it and you were pulled up from your seated position by your brother who shone just like the sun. Geez, wonder who he got that from.

There was a bit of awkward tension left, and you figured a serious answer to his suggestion wouldn't hurt and would actually reassure him this time.

"You’re right," you said quietly. "Maybe I just need to figure this all out. But we’re still good, right?”

Will gave you a reassuring smile. "Always."

-

A/N: This made me realize that I should definitely write on docs more, definitely way longer than my average fanfic.

[aurasoulhikari]

Zexal Month Week 2 Day 8: F is for Friendship

@zexalmonth

My favorite friendship in the series. Oh that is really tricky. But it would have to tie with Yuma's friendships with Astral and Shark. First we have Astral, the friendship that started pretty much everything where two halves meet and despite the rocky beginning the two formed a close friendship. But that isn't to say it was all bright and sunshine no thanks to Vector. But I feel like it was just as important for them to go through. Astral admitted himself that he wouldn't be able to trust Yuma the same way again due to that incident. But I think that's ok. Nothing stays the same and that’s ok because you can make something stronger with that same foundation faults and all. ZEXAL form II proved that. And when they were separated, reunited, and then dueled each other it showed the progress Yuma went through all due to Astral and how it was time for him to stand on his own two feet without relying on him anymore. Yuma may have originated from Astral and them being two halves of one whole. But they’re also their own person. Astral is Astral. Yuma is Yuma. As it were and as it should be.

And then we have Yuma's friendship with Shark and that in itself is a huge can of worms. We all know THEIR rocky start and continuation with Shark putting up so many walls and Yuma tearing them down. I remember what Yuma's teacher Mr. Kay/Ukyo Kitano said, how Yuma was like the sun that changes people. And he wasn’t wrong Yuma was the big bright sunshine that Shark needed in his life after the hell he was put through. No matter how much he tried to push Yuma away, Yuma pushed right back, not willing to abandon Shark in the darkness. And that tugs at the heartstrings even more so watching the two interact together alongside the others you think nothing could stop them. Until Shark regained his old identity as Nasch. And everything comes crashing down Shark's breaking his own heart destroying the ties he had with his friends for the sake of his people while Yuma tries so desperately to still reach out to him and not let him be alone. Even though he was a Barian. Even though he was technically some old king. Yuma didn't care and wanted to help his friend. And then when Yuma thought the most important thing he would lose would be Shark that broke me. Fate gave them both terrible hands! Their friendship deserved better!

[shadowqnights]

May I ask what are your favorite MCD or Mystreet Ships or just Platonic Relationships? I love seeing people’s opinions on different characters relationships. I’ll occasionally see one that I never saw before and I think it’s so neat.

hello welcome to bee's fav ship masterlist

I’m sorry this ask took so long, this is the one that had all my progress deleted before I could save it anywhere during a blackout. So I didn’t try again to write it for a little while. I know you mentioned MyStreet but I want to make a Separate post for that so I might reblog this later with additions but for now I’m just gonna focus on the MCD side because I know my thoughts better on that and already have plenty to say about it.

Here’s like a little masterlist of my favourite ships + platonic relationships in MCD plus some itty bitty summaries with my thoughts on them. As always I’m down to elaborate on any of these if anyone has questions! I can always make more posts specifically about any of these pairings to fully like. Flesh out and brainstorm rewrite stuff. Some characters might overlap cause multiship win. Also these might sound non-canon because this is how I write them, a lot of this is in beeland not canonical jessland. And I've probably forgotten a shitton but fuck it we ball.

Romantic/Sexual Pairings

Garroth x Laurance. No surprises here, I’m predictable, not much to say other than what I say every other time. Enemies to friends to lovers dynamic, they’re toxic and bloody and they are obsessed with each other. They are codependent. They need each other. There is something so insane about enemies to lovers when they literally have seen the worst of each other and fall in love anyway, providing a foundation for such an intimate trust because they spent so long memorising each other for the sake of hatred. Now they would die for each other, now they are black holes for each other - I never really ship Garroth with anyone else in MCD specifically because they are completely absorbed in each other, and Laur only in like alternate timelines where Garrance aren’t quite as insane for each other and are capable of being normal exes. A delicious religious corruption sun x moon guard4guard freak4freak meal for me. Rich with hungry dog metaphors and plenty of blood. I will defend them to the death. In beeland general rewrite (not Loverman, sorry), they get to live on a farm in the middle of nowhere having an honest but peaceful life. They have a couple of kids, including Malachi<3 and once they’re old they are NOT fucking bothered by plot shit again. They go through many hells and then they finally get to rest. They are so fucking in love with each other that it makes me sickened how Jess accidentally gave me source material for the most insane yaoi that would take over my life for a multitude of years. I don’t know what to even summarise here because like. I’ve written a 500k fanfiction about them that is still ongoing like I don’t know what else to say about them that I haven’t already yapped on about. There’s probably more to talk about because I never stfu about them. No one is surprised.

Katelyn x Aphiah. More enemies to lovers but also in a more guard4princess dynamic, and if you squint also worshipper4god if you consider Katelyn devout. Katelyn enters as her assassin and does literally come close to killing her multiple times only to become her target’s most dutiful loyal guard. Their magicks call to each other. Katelyn teaches her how to fight and forces Aph to confront parts of herself that were unacknowledged before their meeting. Confident that with the amount of devotion, desire and pure angry emotion that I give Katelyn, if Laurance hadn’t been at the werewolf wedding in Season 2, she easily could have had a similar outburst and take his place there to save Aph. Katelyn is obsessed with her from the start, no matter whether considering Aph a symbol, then an enemy, then finally a friend, lord and lover. And Aph is utterly captivated by Katelyn, not just her beauty, but her power. Plus, majority of the things you like about Garmau and Laurmau can be translated to Katemau but better if you try.

Dante x Nicole. No enemies here, just lovers, oh god I love these two. They are both runaways haunted by their ‘past lives’, trying to create new names for themselves and heal. I associate them both with animals - Nicole quite literally as a fox, and Dante more metaphorically as a dog or coyote. They are best friends for YEARS before anything even happens between them, and I understand why Jess saw their vibe as an innocent young love/fling but also nooo………………….. I see the visions………………. They heal together… they understand each other’s vulnerabilities and insecurities so well….. they rescue each other…. they are adoring and energetic pure t4t love formed off years of friendship and mutual respect and like. They loved each other as friends and then they loved each other More and just very naturally became partners. They’re both very playful and adventurous when they open up, and even at their most different they’re this lovely dynamic of Nicole unable to stop yapping while Dante stares quiet and adoringly at her. And they fight together side by side!!!! (Hypnosis eyes for you to think more about mcd dancole)

Those are my big three holy trinity right nowwww but. Here are some more smaller-scale MCD ship dynamics that I also looove.

(Jeffory and Katelyn are also on this list but I talked about them yesterday in that other essay so I don't feel like repeating myself. Just know that they're included.)

Vylad x Laurance, errrr it’s complicated you already know what’s going on here. soul bonded or whatever, went through hell together. don’t know each other yet understand each other better than anyone, which isn’t saying much in vylad’s case, since no one comes close to ever really understanding him but if anyone’s going to pretend to, it’ll be laur. they are each other’s hopeful fantasy, like sitting in a dark cell and saying ‘do you think that, in another life-’. in this life, you will always have some kind of self-inflicted divide (you don’t know what the divide is blocking, because it’s not exactly friendship or romance but some third secret scary thing), but the thought will never die. you’re not even friends. in another life, maybe you could have gotten along somehow, but in this life you make stupid, foolish promises about freedom. you leave each other behind eventually, as is natural. vylad had far more clarity and knowledge of shadow knights that garroth never fully grasped, that made laurance feel seen. they make him feel seen in different ways. those damn ro’meaves.

Katelyn x Travis, nooo ha ha wow it’d be so funny if we were both burdened by years of pain and sacrifice thinking that we will never receive love only to find it in an unexpected place. it’d be so funny if you managed to save each other after years of being hurt. to the point that one of you feels that she wasted her only chance at love and the other is afraid that after years of isolation he will never know what it feels like. what if you realise that what you thought was frustrating and annoying is actually exactly what you need right now. maybe he was waiting for you his whole life. maybe he feels like letting go of a breath you didn’t know you were holding for so long. oomf if you keep on cracking the stupidest flirty jokes i might have to let down my tough exterior to actually smile a tiny bit if only in wry amusement but still, he gets her smiling. let’s go swimming and heal together oomfie!!!

Cadenza x Sasha, tragic sun x moon lovers forcefully separated. like your entire friend group was definitely all in love with both of these zvahl siblings at some point but like. instead of both of you being the fascination of this nerd freak one after the other, you two were meant to be together but could never voice it. you were such close friends that everyone already thought you were a package deal. not to be separated. only for everything to go wrong just as you are about to bring those feelings to light and now you will never get the chance because the girl you love just came back Wrong. and worse, she is so convinced that its Your fault that maybe it is, because if she believes it so forcefully it has to be true. without even knowing about gene altering her memories, you just let go because its the easiest thing to do. doesn’t make it hurt any less.

Laurance x Travis, but only in like a certain AU where Garroth is his ex but they’re not fucked up enough to be entirely obsessed with each other still. I don’t really indulge in Laurance or Garroth ships often because I am so ride or die for Garrance but I think in some world Laurance and Travis fit so nicely together, the same way that Laurance has that complicated relationship with Vylad but only in the circumstance that he’s not with Garroth. You have to hear me out here as I tell you that I understand Laurance on a deep insane level and you need to trust me when I say that he’s interested in science. He spends years ruling by emotion and temper. He’s searching for something logical, something with a straightforward answer that doesn’t depend on keeping his heart in check. He’s tired of being told to meditate or do yoga or whatever, thanks Vylad, he wants something tangible. Everyone is so busy worrying about him being this dangerous, volatile ticking time bomb that needs to calm down or leave when he’s already been through an emotional washing machine’s worth of hell that season alone. He’s tired and he wants a solution to a problem that is very much emotional, something that can’t just be fixed. Shadow Knights are made out of emotion, and ugly emotions at that, and now more than ever Laurance is so exhausted by the constant of it.

(Interesting to talk about later that Garroth and Laurance essentially swap, despite their respective emotional reputations, that Garroth’s leaving is emotionally driven and while Laurance’s is triggered by emotion, as per the Shadow Knight overreaction, his actual leaving is far more logical and straightforward, making it less emotionally destructive. Despite the notion that he is more emotional and Garroth is far more repressed, their breakdowns kind of reverse. It’s a little funny. Truly made for each other. Ok sorry no more garrance.)

And oh look who it is its Travis fist deep in the dirt hunting for worms with books and maps strapped to his back conducting the most fucked up science experiment known to man, someone who is very used to putting up a kind of faux performance to survive while having an incredible amount of burdens and sacrifices hidden beneath that carefully curated persona. They’re both incredibly clever, and despite those personas being playful and flirty, they know when to lock in to get the job done. And Travis is that perfect intruiging mix of heart and logic, because he’s blunt and straightforward especially when it comes to reciting things he knows from books, but when he gets passionate he can yap for hours. He is incredibly brave and sweet but also very studious and not very emotionally intelligent. He sees that Laurance has a problem and works himself to the bone to try and fix it for him, even when Laurance is trying to explain that its something unfixable. They’re kind of rivals at first that turn into besties who study each other sometimes. They are considering dissecting each other to figure out wtf is going on in the other’s brain. In a time period where literally everyone’s waiting for Laurance to snap, and he really does snap on Travis, it’s kind of comforting for someone to be fascinated by the Shadow Knight rather than afraid of it, and wants to approach it with science and reason rather than with emotion, fear or merely just projecting their own shames onto him. Their demon sides like each other or something.

Kiki x Cadenza, they’re pretty simple and cute. Sweet little background couple both passionate about nature - obviously Kiki loves animals, and Caddie is more interested in plants and gardening. They both have these almost-dormant magicks that emerge in very beautiful, caring ways. They are soft and tender with each other and also the idea of them meeting via Cadenza being a literal hen is kind of funny. They should throw rocks at Zane together.

Lucinda x KC, except I haven’t fuuuully thought about their endgame, just that they are so cute. Rivals to friends to rivals again, then friends AGAIN, then business partners/besties for many many years. And then when they’re older, lovers. They are stronger together, their magicks respond well to each other, and their individual business ventures actually work best when combined rather than competing. They don’t get together until they’re older ladies and, while Lucinda would still be working through some teacher-related conflicts, she’d be more willing to settle after years of wandering and long after being the White Witch, she might feel more comfortable sticking to one place. But even so they’re the kind of yuri that never has an explicit conversation about it and never tell anyone, it just happens so naturally, they’re old women who live together and have a dual witchcraft store + bakery and finally get to live in a place where they don’t have to feel ashamed of themselves or be in constant competition, even playfully, they can just Live. And also owl x cat dynamic is so cute.

Platonic/Familial Pairings

I feel like a couple of these I have talked about in more detail before so these will be kiiind of brief. Here are some of my favourite platonic dynamics and I am CERTAIN I've forgotten a lot of nice little underrated friendships but fuck it here's a top three.

These AREN’T ROMANTIC !!!

Dante, Aphiah & Aaron, their dumb dog-core little found family - Aaron becoming this old, gruff older brother figure for the both of them. After being alone for so long and bearing so much suffering, he finds solace and the beginning of a healing journey in both of them. None of them are replacing what has been lost per say, but fill the gaps of pieces missing in certain ways. Aphiah the amnesiac who, if she ever had a family at all, has literally no one now, getting to have a sibling dynamic with Dante, who waits so dutifully for his sister to come home. She looks to Aaron as a mentor figure, someone who can understand her feeling of otherworldliness and how she often feels alienated from the rest of the cast while also empathising with her as a Lord and a parent. She and Dante follow him and learn from him very attentively - and for Dante, to have an older brother figure that isn’t Gene. They take care of each other. An old wolf and the cubs that started following him around one day and while gruff and stubborn as to ignoring them at first, slowly learning to open up to them, thus earning their trust.

Vylad & Katelyn, give it up for EMOTIONALLY REPRESSED BESTIESSSSS. Every time I’ve brainstormed and thought about them with oomf I’ve been so genuinely pleased at the idea of locking them in a room together where they literally would just sit in silence and not be able to start a conversation. Such a painfully stubborn, awkward silence. Every scene they have together is so fucking funny do NOT put these guys on a boat together. They’re both gods of obsessing over their stony unfeeling tough exteriors to spare themselves of feeling. Kings of having tragic ass pasts and significant people in said pasts that haunt their respective narratives in a way that they feel no one will ever understand. So they can sit Close to each other sort of and continue to not understand each other but yet be the exact fucking same. GO TO THERAPY LOSERS.

Lucinda & Dante, go get therapy pt. 2, Dante you have to stop latching onto all of these caring figures that are a little older than you and provide some sort of semblance to a sibling, Dante stop it. She picks up on his subtle fear of witchcraft really quickly and decides to teach him more about what she does. He’s able to divulge parts of his past to her that he could never tell anyone about and she’s able to offer some comfort. I do appreciate that it’s not entirely one-sided - like yeah Dante is seeking comfort and understanding which he hasn’t really been able to take before, but he’s also there as a supportive shoulder for her, too, the way that his friendship with Aaron also starts out as mutual transaction. He notices that Lucinda has been feeling a little bit outcast by the town, even though she thinks thats what she has to be yet longs to be involved in the community, so he makes an effort to include her and spend time with her. He’s not really her apprentice, but he’s definitely willing to help out when he’s around, picking herbs and such. It’s a little funny that Dante is so insecure that he thinks of himself as undesirable and unloveable but a vast majority of town is literally a Dante fanclub willing to die for him and take him under their wing. Like oh baby. Your awkward charm is undeniable.

Stayed up late writing another ask answer yet again yippee. As always inbox is open for more asks if you feel brave enough to receive an answer of this average length and insanity :3 Stick your hand in my cage. I don't bite :).

[leavesdriftinginthewind]

Alright, after wallowing in Weyler despair for 8 hours yesterday, one of my friends shook me out of my stupor and helped me realize that all hope is NOT lost.

There was good reason to believe season two was never going to be heavy on Weyler romance anyways. Tyler’s kind of insane, his Hyde side has taken the wheel, we don’t know what it’s like for a Hyde to have to grapple with not having a master, and the writers said that Tyler doesn’t even know what his true feelings for Wednesday ARE right now. He doesn’t know if what he felt for her was real or was manufactured because of Laurel’s command to get close to her. On top of that, Wednesday allowed herself to fall for Tyler only to have her feelings promptly and horrendously crushed. She’s going to be so closed off to romance, and likely so closed off to HIM. She’s not going to want to put herself through any of that again for the foreseeable future.

All that said, it would be kind of crazy to have them not cross paths again in season two, so I assume we WILL be getting Wednesday and Tyler interactions, and they WILL be wrought with tension, because that is just the nature of the relationship at present. Will Jenna WANT it to be interpreted as romantic? Probably not. But does she REALLY have a choice in the matter of how it’s interpreted? No. And it’s a fact that they were romantic, she can’t act like it didn’t happen.

And perhaps they use this season as a way to build a solid, honest, legitimate foundation for Tyler and Wednesday. They DO need to learn to trust each other, for Tyler to genuinely trust Wednesday with his whole heart and for Wednesday to trust him again. Where we are now, Wednesday could HATE him for what he did to her, but she knows that there’s more there and that everything’s not his fault. She’ll need to tap into that funny thing called forgiveness.

And Tyler, poor Tyler is confused and ANGRY and hurt and he has a hatred but he doesn’t know who or what it should be directed at. Wednesday?Nevermore? Laurel? They BOTH need to heal their respective wounds and probably learn to trust each other if they are meant to come together to defeat the s2 big bad. They’ll need to LISTEN to each other’s sides and be open and honest to get to that point. And when the season ends, they have a connection they KNOW is real and genuine and we can grow from there.

And while this is going on, Tyler CAN realize he has romantic feelings for Wednesday and that what he felt for her in s1 was genuine, not manufactured through Laurel’s commands (as the showrunners alluded to wanting to explore in s2). But perhaps as they rebuild their relationship, as Wednesday learns to trust him again, he doesn’t want to jeopardize just HAVING her in his life, so he keeps it quiet. And that’s something that can be explored further in s3.

If this happens, if we watch them rebuild their relationship, basically start from scratch so they’re something solid at the end of s2, then maybe in s3 we can watch it turn romantic again. And then we HAVE the foundation, we WATCHED it get built so folks can’t say “they came out of nowhere,” because they didn’t. We watched them rise and fall and burn and rise again.

Are we being delusional? Maybe. But I’ll hold onto my delusion until they stab me in the gut with whatever garbage is packaged as season 2 (and who really knows when we’ll actually be seeing it anyways with the writers’ strike going on?).

[bakudekublogblog]

promises kept - Chapter 3 - gabstar - 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia (Anime & Manga) [Archive of Our Own]

chapter 3 of promises kept is up!! hope you enjoy!!

The next few months pass surprisingly quickly. The restoration efforts go by much more smoothly now that Izuku and Katsuki are out on the field (together, because Aizawa was shockingly amendable as soon as Izuku cried about it a little. Katsuki suspects that his own freak-out didn’t hurt either) and soon enough Musutafu starts to look like home again. Trees are replanted, playgrounds restored, and office buildings and restaurants become operational once again. Children go back to school, adults return to work, and life goes on. 

Regular classes resume at UA. It’s more than a little weird putting on their school uniforms and sitting through fucking algebra lessons after experiencing the horrors of war, but it’s also a kind of nice. The mundane feels like a privilege after everything they’ve been through. Homework, boring lectures, training regimens, and eating with friends at lunch were hard-won victories. It’s hard not to be grateful for it. It’s a slow process, but eventually, things settle into a new kind of normal. 

Except it’s better. Way better. Because now Katsuki has Izuku and the whole world is brighter because of it. 

True to his word, Izuku is as clingy as he likes. They train together, study together, partner up on group projects, hang out in Katsuki’s room after class, and go to the gym together. They don’t leave campus without one another, even if it’s just to pop by the convenience store or to visit their parents’ homes. A few times a week, Izuku’s friends will drag him away to have a Dungeons and Dragons session in one of their dorms or a study date in the common room, but for the most part their friend groups have merged. They all sit together at lunch, even though they have to cram multiple tables together to fit everyone, and even then it’s such a tight squeeze that their thighs squish up against one another. It’s a little overwhelming to hang out with all of them at once, but somehow having Izuku at his side makes it easier to bear. Izuku still hasn’t spent a single night in his own dorm room. 

And true to Katsuki’s word, he is there for Izuku. Whatever he needs. Whenever he needs it. 

At first Izuku is shy about the things he requests. It starts with small favors: helping Izuku do his physical therapy exercises, lending Izuku is hoodies when the nights got cold in Katsuki’s dorm room, reminding Izuku to take his anxiety meds, jogging together in the mornings in case he gets ambushed by the press again (which they did. Because those fuckers were relentless.) Katsuki does it all gladly. Every small task feels like it’s a step forward, a building block added to the foundation of their repairing friendship. It’s both an honor and a relief that Izuku trusts him enough to ask for what he needs; it makes Katsuki’s heart feel like a brilliant star blazing in his chest. 

But the more time passes, the more bold and casual Izuku’s requests become. Katsuki only starts noticing it about six months after they’ve been released from the hospital. 

They’re studying in the common room together, with their homework splayed out across the coffee table as they sit on the floor, close enough that their shoulders brush as they write. Izuku must be having trouble with English again because he keeps muttering to himself in the garbled language, but Katsuki knows better than to offer help before he asks. Izuku can be weirdly stubborn and competitive sometimes, especially when it comes to Katsuki. 

Izuku sets his pencil down and sighs heavily, letting his head fall onto the coffee table with a thwunk. Katsuki smirks. 

“You good?” he asks, nudging Izuku with his knee. 

“Can’t do it,” Izuku declares. “Too tired. I think I need a break.” 

Katsuki hums in acknowledgement. It’s almost dinner time anyway. They can pick this shit up after they get some food in them. Maybe he’ll pop on an episode of Wonderful Quirks and Where to Find Them while they eat. It’s the least annoying of Izuku’s favorite trashy reality TV shows anyway. Katsuki starts gathering up his pencils and scrap paper. 

Izuku leans on the coffee table, propping himself up with an elbow as he looks at Katsuki with a strange glitter in his eye. 

“Hey,” he says. “You know how to make katsudon?” 

Katsuki frowns as he shoves his homework back into his school bag. “Course I do. Shit’s easy.” 

“Hm,” Izuku says. He taps his chin with the butt of his pencil. “Well. I don’t.” 

“What the hell? Didn’t your mom ever teach you how to cook?” Katsuki demands, turning to frown at him. 

Izuku shrugs. His grin is somewhat sheepish. Katsuki rolls his eyes. 

“You’ve gotta learn that shit if you want to be a hero,” Katsuki scolds. “Can’t maintain muscle mass off of TV dinners and protein bars.” 

Izuku hums in acknowledgement.

“Kacchan is right. I should learn how to cook,” he says, nodding seriously.

And then peeks up at Katsuki with a cheeky little grin. 

“Teach me?”

God, he’s so cute. All soft curls, shimmery sea-green eyes, and dimples. He’s beyond cute, he’s fucking angellic. Katsuki should be used to it by now, but somehow Izuku’s specific brand of adorable only gets more potent over time. Katsuki takes an extra three seconds to process what he’s just asked. He blinks rapidly, forcing himself to refocus. 

“You want me to teach you how to cook?” Katsuki repeats as flatly as he can. 

Izuku bats his huge fucking bambi-eyes up at him innocently. 

“I can’t do it on my own, Kacchan,” he says, soft and sweet. 

Katsuki’s belly riots with butterflies. Fucking butterflies. Who is he? How has he allowed himself to become this pathetic? He feels a flash of annoyance, but it’s quickly drowned out by this strange, fluttery fond feeling. Even though he really should stay annoyed. Is Izuku seriously trying to use Katsuki’s solemn vow to strong arm him into making katsudon for him? Katsuki isn’t an idiot; he sees right through Izuku’s little game. Katsuki fights down his grin as best he can. 

“Go wash your fucking hands,” Katsuki says. Izuku leaps to his feet, beaming so brightly it puts the sun to shame. He bolts into the kitchen and shimmies his shoulders excitedly. 

[READ MORE]

[fxoye2]

for your tos reboot, a good sweet spot to hit with jim and spock between aos, tos, and something new might be making them friends (or exes! who knows, but i think friends works better for slow burn purposes) or roommates at the academy who had a falling out, and then they have to reunite as part of the enterprise crew and have to rework their relationship. you could still have jim being a relatively young captain, but instead of having him jump from cadet to captain like in the 2009 movie, maybe he's a lieutenant or something (idk, more realistic) that got the promotion because of his actions during x clusterfuck. something like the narada or something, or the uss farragut disaster in tos. i think an interesting thing might also be mixing up the ages a little -- like maybe spock and jim are the same age instead of being 3 years apart, but in contrast bones, scotty, uhura, and sulu are around the same age/year as well, but they're a little older than k/s and maybe have served together prior to the enterprise.

ANON, you’re on the same wavelength as me, because WOW, this idea? PERFECTION. I’m absolutely LOVING the thought of reworking Jim and Spock’s dynamic with that friends-to-estranged-to-reunion arc! It hits that sweet spot between the existing AOS/TOS dynamics, while adding that extra layer of complexity. Slow burn gold, right there. Chef’s kiss.

Okay, let’s break this down.

Academy Roommates/Friends: YES. First off, giving them a history at the Academy together is brilliant for that foundation of trust (and tension!). You can imagine them meeting early on, maybe during some advanced class or Starfleet extracurricular (maybe some kind of strategic simulation?), and immediately recognizing each other’s brilliance. I can see them becoming friends, studying together, maybe even unofficially competing for top honors. Jim is still that cocky, charismatic guy who doesn’t seem to care much, but we all know he cares too much. Spock? Absolutely the top of his class, but intrigued by this infuriating human who somehow always finds a way to match him.

BUT THEN. THE FALLING OUT. GAHHH. The angst possibilities here are endless! Maybe they had this intense friendship that was just a little too close to ignore, and then something went wrong. Maybe Jim did something reckless during a mission simulation that caused real harm (or at least, the perception of harm), and Spock, with his Vulcan logic, couldn’t condone it. Or maybe Jim pushed Spock to be a little more human, to embrace emotions, and Spock resented that. Whatever the reason, there’s some kind of betrayal, a clash of values, and BAM—they stop speaking.

Now they’ve both gone off to do their own things. Jim, as you suggested (and I love this!), gets a promotion for his heroism during some major disaster—maybe the USS Farragut disaster or something akin to the Narada incident. He’s not cadet-to-captain overnight (because we’re trying to keep it realistic), but he’s young and already has this legend building around him. So when the Enterprise needs a captain? They call Jim up because he’s earned it, even if people are skeptical about his age and experience.

Spock, meanwhile, has been climbing the ranks the “proper” way—he’s earned every promotion through merit and discipline, no shortcuts. He’s the consummate Vulcan officer, and he’s been serving on the Enterprise for a bit, maybe as first officer under Captain Pike, just like in the original series. But here’s the kicker—he’s carrying the weight of that falling out with Jim. It’s never really left him, but being Vulcan, he’s buried it deep (but we all know it’s still simmering beneath the surface).

AND THEN. REUNION ON THE ENTERPRISE.

Jim takes command, and who’s his first officer? SP-TO-THE-OCK. Talk about fireworks. Both of them are like, “Are you KIDDING me? This guy?” but they’re professionals (sort of), so they swallow it and try to work together. Except, of course, all their history comes back—old resentments, unresolved feelings, all the messy stuff. Jim’s trying to prove he’s grown up since the Academy, and Spock’s trying to prove he’s above it all, but neither of them can deny the tension is still very much there.

What makes this even juicier is the idea that Jim’s leadership style is still a little unconventional (because, duh, he’s Jim Kirk), and Spock? Not impressed. You’ve got this push-and-pull of authority vs. intuition, logic vs. gut instinct, and all the while, underneath all that bickering and tension? There’s still that friendship they once had, just waiting to resurface.

SLOW BURN REBUILDING: So now we get to slow burn territory. They have to learn to trust each other again, and it takes time. Maybe there’s an episode where Jim saves Spock’s life in some wild, reckless way, and Spock is like, “I cannot condone your methods, Captain,” but there’s this tiny, unspoken acknowledgment that Jim always comes through for him. Or maybe Spock steps in to make a call Jim can’t make, and it’s a reminder of why they made such a good team in the first place. They start slowly mending the cracks in their relationship, and through all these missions, they find their rhythm again.

And ohhh, the subtle, emotional tension as they rediscover each other? Jim making little jokes to test the waters, Spock raising an eyebrow but not quite able to hide that tiny smirk. The way they start to stand a little closer, or the moments where they almost touch but don’t. KILL ME. And because they know each other so well, they can read each other in ways no one else can. Like, Jim’s in a mood? Spock just knows. Spock’s struggling with something? Jim doesn’t even need to ask. It’s so loaded with meaning.

Reworking the Ages: I love the idea of making Jim and Spock the same age! It really levels the playing field between them, making their rivalry and friendship even more equal. And by making the rest of the crew a little older, you get this nice contrast. Like, Bones, Scotty, Uhura, and Sulu have more experience, they’ve been through their own battles, and maybe they’ve already established camaraderie. They’d be this tight-knit group who’ve seen some shit, and Jim is the newcomer they’ve heard all the rumors about but haven’t quite figured out yet.

There’s potential for so much fun with the older, wiser crew keeping an eye on Jim and Spock, like “Are these two ever going to get their act together, or are we just going to have to watch this tension play out forever?” Uhura could be the one who’s so done with the brooding stares and sighs, while Bones is straight-up like, “I’m a doctor, not a relationship counselor, but get your shit together.”

Dynamic Growth: By the time they’ve fully reworked their relationship, they’re this unstoppable force. Jim’s grown into his leadership role, having learned to balance his instinct with a bit more discipline (but still very much him), and Spock’s come to terms with his own emotions, recognizing that his bond with Jim doesn’t make him weak—it makes him stronger. Together, they’re the perfect mix of logic and instinct, heart and mind. GAHHHH.

Honestly, this whole setup gives you all the delicious drama of their history, the slow burn of rebuilding trust, and the incredible payoff when they finally realize they’re better together. And all the while, you still get that classic Starfleet action, the crew’s tight bond, and Jim and Spock slowly becoming the ultimate T’hy’la again.

SO YES. GIVE ME THIS REBOOT. GIVE ME ALL THE ANGST AND SLOW BURN AND FIREWORKS.