#just repeating that for those who don't know

[renskaji]

helllooo congrats on 100 followers!! ^-^ Could I request sho with 35. endless giggles (fluff prompt list)? tysm!!

renskaji’s 100 celebration

35: endless giggles

There are many who would say that your boyfriend is, for a lack of better words, a smug asshole who likes to push buttons.

And to those people, you only have one thing to say.

You're right.

Hayato Suo isn't like that all the time, but you knew long before agreeing to a date with him that he had a smart mouth and a keen eye. He knows how to pick someone apart and needle at their biggest insecurity, all the while grinning the whole time.

So yes, you understand why others can think he's smug, or too quick-witted for his own good.

But on the other hand, you think he's absolutely hilarious.

Hayato only ever goes truly in on people that aren't worth his time, but with your friends he simply teases and pokes fun. He would never be intentionally mean or a bully, but he does have a sense of humor that some may find... acquired.

"I don't get what y'think is so funny about him." Sakura grumbles, face flushed a bright red as he watches you struggle to catch your breath. It's hard, because Suo is still sitting proudly beside, grin on his lips from both his joke and your reaction, and every time you look at him you remember the utterly offended look on Sakura's face when your boyfriend commented so innocently on his wardrobe.

"It's just..." You borderline wheeze, and you know you're starting to attract looks from the other customers in Café Pothos. You take a deep breathe, calm the worst of your giggles, and string together the rest of your explanation. "You do—"

You glance Hayato and find him already watching you, knowing smirk on his lips.

You're laughing once more. You're borderline delirious, but Suo's comment was so unnecessary and so correct that you can't help but giggle. And then Sakura started to burn red, threatened to fight Suo for his comments, and got yelled at by Kotoha for shouting in her café. Everything combined into the perfect storm of absolute hilarity.

All because of your boyfriend and his smart mouth.

"You do," You repeat, getting control of yourself. Under the table, your hands are in a vice grip around Hayato's arm while you fight against your giggles. Sakura glares, and you have to bite the inside of your cheek to remain somewhat composed. "You do dress like a default video game character."

"And like I said, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that." Hayato chirps, bright voice a contrast to Sakura's splitting, Nirei's pleas to not get you all kicked out of Pothos, Kotoha listening in from the counter and fighting her own grin.

And you're laughing again, face pressed against your boyfriend's shoulder as if that could muffle the sound.

[narcjsistx]

— 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐓𝐇 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐔𝐒 ᡣ𐭩

all the information here ; PART SEVEN

Less than a month later, a wedding dress worth the price of a piece of the moon hugs your body. After exhausting preparations, and fortunately paid for by Sae, today is the day you will become Mrs. Itoshi and Tanzeku's tranquility based plan will begin. Now that it's finally happening, now that Sae is waiting for you at the altar less than twenty meters from your dressing room, you're finally starting to understand what you've decided to be for the rest of your life, or almost

The days following the publication of the post were so full that giving birth is probably less exhausting: the media completely exploded at the news of the infamous girlfriend of the ReAl midfielder, a girlfriend that he apparently kept hidden for years. A relationship in which there was also a child in the middle, another thing that had shocked the entire football world and beyond. Soon your name was discovered by some journalist and Sae found himself in some interviews with you at his side, you who had never posed in front of a camera except for family videos, those that are made during Christmas or important dinners. The interviews obviously all asked about your relationship, and so you made up a story: you had met four years earlier when they had got your last name wrong at the beach, making you book the same umbrella for the same day. You were both sixteen and from that moment you started dating for about three months, before becoming an official couple, at least for both. Almost a year ago Tanzeku was born and Sae had obviously kept everything a secret so that the journalists wouldn't follow you, but now that you were about to get married he had no reason to hide you anymore. The story was obviously fake, based on Tiffany's advice, but the audience liked it and you did too, at least until they found out it was totally fake. You also knew that Sae had a younger brother, another famous soccer player now signed by PxG: Rin Itoshi. Honestly the thing that worried you the most was how he handled this with him, but he said that they just didn't talk much and that Rin certainly wouldn't interfere. Also, he was Sae's best man at the wedding

You sigh, leaving the dressing room and heading to the altar, where you notice Sae. He's doing a good job of playing the part of a loving soon husband, because you can see a bit of nervousness even under his usual neutral facade. You smile nervously as the music starts playing, and you start walking towards the altar. The closer you get, the more you realize how serious the situation is, how much you are throwing your life away. But you are happy, even if it means sacrificing yourself. The audience of people invited are all people from the world of soccer, from players to coaches, people you have always seen only on television. Your own almost husband you have actually always seen only on television, and yet now you are about to become his wife. The world is really strange

When you get to the altar, Sae takes off your veil. He kisses your forehead, and you realize how excited you must look. You force an excited smile, and the audience seems to be happy when they see you smile. You look Sae in the eyes, and he leans in a little "You’re pretty" he says, and you don’t know if he’s saying it because he means it or just because he’s acting. You nod, not really knowing how to respond, and Sae seems to understand your discomfort. The ceremony begins and for the rest of the time you can't help but repeat in your head how happy and excited you have to look, because even just one real emotion from you today could ruin the plan that should continue for the rest of your life. You almost don't understand when the officer asks you if you want to take Sae as your husband "Oh, yes" you say, trying to sound excited but not distracted. A few seconds later, the words that scare you the most "Sae, you can kiss the bride"

At that moment you come back fully conscious, hearing the screams of the audience and their applause. You look at Sae who is a little awkward like you, but you see him take a quick breath before taking you by the hips and kissing you without second thoughts. You remain still for less than a second, but then you wrap your arms around his neck, letting him kiss you and seeming genuinely in love, as hard as it is for you to pretend with him who is surprisingly a great kisser. The kiss lasts a few seconds longer than necessary, with his lips increasingly pressed against yours and his fingers against your hips, while you try to stay lucid. When you part, the first thought that comes to your mind is how Tanzeku's real mother could not want a man who kisses you so passionately. You look at each other, and a small, unspoken smile appears on your lips, while the audience goes completely wild. Sae raises his hands to your shoulder blades, but presses you against him, leaning in close to your ear "Convincing?” he whispers, and you nod as you wave to the people here "Definitely. Maybe too much" you say moving your gaze, avoiding direct contact

"You know it's official now, right?" he asks, starting to wave to the crowd too. His words don't sound mean from someone who doesn't know the truth behind this marriage, they sound like a joking confirmation, a way to make the situation sweeter, but you who know the truth, understand what he means seriously "I know, and I'm still convinced of my yes"

"Good" he says, letting his hand rest on the small of your back, sending a few shivers down your spine "Because now it’s all officially begun. Welcome, Mrs. Itoshi" he says, and your gaze falls on Tanzeku, sitting in his seat in the front row next to the person who is now your mother in law, Sae's mother

You don't know if it's the beginning of heaven or hell, this marriage with the ReAl best midfielder, with Sae Itoshi

TAGLIST: @lincqx ; @irethepotato ; @nevvynev ; @vaelils ; @levihanmyotp ; @lil-lia12 ; @princesssae ; @chuurinnie ; @llearlert ; @medd2005 ; @captainshindo ; @inojinieeee ; @laaalaaaloooppppsiiieeeee ; @rroxii ; @mwezieclipze ; @cellephone ; @simp-for-wanderer ; @beepbopzlorp ; @sugurus-star ; @chiizuyu ; @tenjikusstuff4 ; @syleepy ; @saeris-world ; @s4-mmy ; @itsssyagurll ; @ar1sc0rn3r ; @tsukimoon-chan ; @90s-belladonna ; @kiokos ; @appl3-0rchard ; @linsay0 ; @certifiedyapperrrr ; @werfiedeii ; @mariaelizabeh21-blog1 ; @ann242629 ; @vashyuu ; @pjofics ; @dontmindtheevie ; @otakusimp1 ; @n0tbelle ; @kaikaidenkai ; @palegardenrebel ; @bubybubsters ; @xiavbi ; @3ve88 ; @imas1mpp ; @luvsymai ; @the-original-skipps ; @bruisedchickensoup ; @bogearts ; @zemiiinnee ; @cafem3wcuryy ; @byzantiumhollow ; @r3yk ; @sabrina-senpai

[teh-nos]

okay fuck it, i can just delete posts when the wank starts, right?

the way doctor who fandom talks about steven moffat is genuinely unhinged. i don't mean in not liking his work, that'd be fine, i mean in the Assigned Evil In 2006 shit-tier discourse of it all. the worst possible interepretations are assumed to be the right ones (because he's evil!) including the commentator's own prejudiced takes (they can't be bad, they hate the bad man!), and then these are quickly repeated as well-documented established facts, and the whole thing has long since escalated to the point where actual journalists will ask the man why he hates women so much. and this is all assumed to be normal and reasonable criticism, and Everyone Knows it so it cannot possibly be exaggerated or entirely made up to justify fandom grudges.

i have seen posts from people in entirely unrelated fandoms about this man's evils. because it must be true, right? no fandom would ever just invent a hate-figure and assume the worst about them to this extent, right? why would they - for instance! - be mad about him saying it's polite to use the pronouns people give you unless there was definite proof that he eats children?

and it's about 20 years now. 20 fucking years i've mostly just tried to stay out of it, of avoiding posting anything that might potentially get an unhinged rant on a reblog (and then a series of reblogs, and then suddely there's 200,000 notes and 199,990 of them are angry about someone you didn't even mention in the OP). it poisoned fandom discussion beyond bearing in the 2010-2017 period and even now it's still shite. because you can't just like or dislike one of these episodes or characters, you have to back it up with a 3000 word essay on the imagined moral contamination of being fairly fond of Amy Pond.

i'm sure the guy's done some amount of shitty things, because everyone has, but you talk like he's literally hitler. we assign our own fucked up takes to authorial intent (yes I did notice that you hate all those female characters while putting the blame for your own madonna/whore complex on someone else!) and like... just what the fuck really. what the actual fuck?

[gotta-bail-my-quails]

crack (kinda?) theory: E-Soul's a cop and that's why he shot Moon

Preface: This is all entirely speculation. I could be wrong. I am a delusional mf so I need to say whatever's on my mind lmao

This episode we were introduced to the "clean-up" specialists with Blankster being able to induce amnesia with his punches. It's interesting, then, that E-Soul's PV has him standing in front of what is seemingly a memorial. A testament to never forget--we are then taken through a flashback of what seems to be a previous E-Soul's experience (considering the designs are different + the "past" E-Soul appears to have like, actual limbs). One of the few lines he has in the PV is this:

"You're a hero! Have you forgotten!"

Sure, that could be a mistranslation or a mere coincidence, but I'd like to suggest that E-Soul works along the same lines as the "clean-up" specialists--an agent of the association. Only, while they erase the traces of others, he is the one who must always remember. As they say, those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. And the history he remembers is one of unchecked heroes, abusing their powers. Specifically, he says that heroes "are those who bear the trust of the people" but :

"we pay the price that comes along." While I think this is obviously connected to the detrimental side effects of powers like Firm Man being unable to squat and Nice's OCD, what if it suggests that there needs to be a balance so that heroes do not abuse their powers? (if the side effects are on purpose though that'd be fucked). Or, rather, that heroes need to recall what their powers are for--to help people. After all, this episode we've had Miss J explicitly say heroes are nothing without their followers--yes, in the sense of the faith system--but also because heroes are there for the sake of their people.

So, why did he choose to kill Moon? What crime did our girlie commit by literally just existing? I think we need to ask a few other questions to get to the heart of that.

How and why did he get to the island at the same time Lin Ling did? Lin Ling is visibly healed when he comes to Moon--E soul had plenty of time to come and kill her before this. Although as far as I can tell, people don't seem to know Moon is (was) alive after the battle with Godeye (yknow, the whole focus being on Lin Ling to the point everyone just seemed to move on from Nice immediately), I find it somewhat unlikely he found out just as L0 was going to visit her and then hurried over, unless he has teleportation abilities too. We did see him chasing a speedster in episode 3 I think, so it isn't impossible his powers are at least partly movement based. That being said, I'm going to assume he already knew Moon was there and had prepared means to come to her beforehand. Only, he chose this point to specifically.

Why? Because she still had trust-given powers. However, as she herself said at the end of the episode, she had left the teleporter behind. And when did E-Soul kill her? Right as Lin Ling was going to give it back to her.

If she is still dead in the minds of people, she obviously isn't using her powers to help them. In fact, as long as she doesn't come out publicly, she can use her powers however she likes. So by gaining the teleporter back, she instantly becomes unchecked. She becomes exactly someone E-Soul might want to stop. It's only when she looks like she's going to take the teleporter that she dies--when she reaches for power.

(And it would also kinda explain why E-Soul is rank 9, below a freaking dog. The 10th spot is precarious because it is the barrier between the top 10 and the rest of the heroes--people aim for it almost as much as the position of X, and it's constantly changing. E-Soul, as number 9, can essentially evaluate who gets to move past rank 10 and into the top heroes proper. After all, we saw how L0 and Firm Man fell and changed in rank so swiftly.)

[effietrinket1619]

On the subject of Jess having a TikTok account dedicated to content produced by dint of her having the weirdest family anyone on the internet has ever seen (this is the true reason they are beating the Waynes for popularity), and Kyle finding that makeup is way more fun than expected:

-Simon being into cars and Hal being into planes. Does this cause conflicts? Who knows but they definitely both have multiple 'infodump about special interest' segments

-Kyle with makeup strikes again, multiple times (they even get John to sit for it, with a face of exasperated indulgence) which then devolves into 'everyone walks in heels challenge' and listen it's been a while since Hal was young enough to steal Carol's shoes for the hell of it but the muscle memory is still there so he's rusty but he's not Guy (cannot go five steps without tripping but he plays it off nicely). This is how everyone learns that Kyle can already walk in heels. He refuses to tell them how or why he knows this.

-also on the Kyle with makeup: does Jess get him into stage makeup and does he then try to make someone look like Kilowog.

-I want Hal to wear a dress at some point (with a good twirly skirt), possibly as another challenge Jess talks everyone into, because I think he'd enjoy it a lot more than he expected to. Guy spends the whole thing exaggeratedly emulating one of the PTA moms he knew back in the day and it's all fun and games until Kyle says 'yknow with dramatics like that you wouldn't be a half bad drag queen' and then Guy gets that specific demonic glint in his eye that means 'I have discovered a new way to cause chaos' and Kyle realizes immediately that he's all but signed himself up as the makeup artist for this. Hal is completely ignoring them in favor of looking at himself in the mirror and twirling in the twirly skirt and periodically hyping Kyle's makeup skills and the shopping skills of whoever picked the dress because "I was honestly expecting a repeat of that time I dressed in drag and sang ABBA at midnight on the tarmac because I lost a bet but you actually made me look nice!"

(Hal will drop anecdotes like that and then never elaborate or bring them up again. He does it specifically to drive Jess insane. She is aware of this.)

-at least one FMK of the Justice League, which about half the actual League watches, chaos ensues as a good quarter of the senior Leaguers pointedly flirt with Hal in Batman's line of sight specifically to make Bruce's eye twitch.

-vlog saga of a trip to an air and space museum, Hal geeks out the whole time, it's adorable.

-one video that's just Jess silently recording the dumpster fire of a trip that is Hal and Guy trying to buy groceries. It is captioned 'this is why John won't let us shop without him'.

-the One Time Jess got John to pop off about architecture

-Simon's litany of extremely helpful car advice.

-Kyle complaining about having art block because he gets so creative when he bitches about it.

-Jess replaces the sugar with salt and half the video is just her fucking booking it away from the rest of the Lanterns.

-yknow those prank videos where one party goes 'I trapped a mouse under the dish I'm too scared to touch it' and it's a computer mouse but you don't find out until the other party has moved it outside? Those fail absolutely in the Lantern house but they fail in such absolutely batshit ways she posts them anyway. Everyone's reactions to 'help there's a mouse/huge bug/etc under it' are just... so fucking weird. Jess tells John there's a big tarantula under that paper cup and he leaves and comes back with a mallet and that's the most normal reaction out of all of them.

-moves all the furniture three inches to the left. Compilation of creative swearing as toes are stubbed.

-rearranges the dishes while everyone's asleep, ensuing '....why are the plates in the bowl cabinet?????' Except Jess obviously can't stop there so one morning everyone wakes up and every cabinet and drawer in their kitchen has been emptied and filled with Legos. John turns the house upside down and he cannot find ANY of their dishes or cooking utensils and the only appliance left is the microwave which has been unplugged and filled with Legos. Kyle, Guy, and Hal immediately sit on the kitchen floor to start playing with the Legos, which is periodically interrupted by John's increasingly furious search for a SINGLE ONE of their dishes or utensils. He'll take finding a single chopstick at this point.

-compilation of having the family try weird foods except all of these people are so used to alien cuisine or the godawful space rations that they just... don't... react... she has Hal eat a carolina reaper the day after he gets back from a several month long mission in space and he's so used to space rations that he's just like 'oh thank god. Flavor.' And that's his only reaction. Like how all food is the best food ever when breakfast was ten hours ago and you've been hiking for eight of them.

-shdhgbsbd Jess does one of those horror movie prank challenges but it's the Lanterns so their reactions are.... not the expected. (Hal wakes up to see some horrific Halloween decoration staring him in the face. He gives it a once over, rolls over, and goes back to sleep).

these are absolutely FRYING me so i'll add on wherever i can

i'd like to make it so clear that jess never, at any given point, actually states the nature of her relationship to these people. they're all from different states, they all have wildly different cultural, religious and employment backgrounds. every time someone's brave enough to ask if [insert lantern] is her partner or parent, jess flat out ignores it and goes on with her day.

there's also the fact that guy and john, who crucially do not have secret identities, appear regularly and seem to live in this house with her? this is equally perplexing as jess apparently just casually knows two whole green lanterns. one person asks if the entire family is made up of green lanterns and jess makes a minute long response video that's just her laughing her ass off. no words at all. that puts the theories to rest for a while.

kyle's dabbled mildly in face painting but make up is a whole different game entirely. there's so much more. like, a lot of creative expression and more products and powders and paints he gets to figure out how to use as well as a whole new array of brushes. he cannot believe it took him this long to try.

john being the next victim is entirely fitting. he's silent and visibly fighting a smile so he looks as stoic as possible while kyle goes to town on him and gives him the cleanest cut crease anyone's ever seen. does this end up boosting john stewarts popularity publicly? yes. jess would tell you she had very little to do with it.

hal and his anecdotes give jess genuine aneurysms. as she films and helps kyle stencil in butterflies over his cheeks and forehead, he drops that he kinda wishes he went all out like this on his wedding day. kyle drops his brush and jess chokes audibly as they talk over each other to ask hal if he's actually married?? hal's response? a grin, a wink and a, "You never asked." horrifying.

kyle does end up getting really good with the state makeup and this spirals into a video where jess walks around looking like she got half of her face torn off (it's surprisingly realistic for makeup) and it scares the shit out of simon and guy.

the way hal is able to sashay in a dress and high heels has everyone deeply suspicious. jess also feels like john in particular is hiding something from them as they watch hal check himself out in a full length mirror. keli's, hidden behind the camera, is the one who asks hal if he's done this before. hal shrugs and says his airforce days were kinda wild. this will be keeping jess and her audience up at night.

anyway, john rocks an evening gown, guy is absolutely thrilled in a vintage, tea length dress that's very reminiscent of the forties housewife style, kyle gets a nice sundress with sunflowers printed all over it and simon has found a wedding dress (no one knows where he got it) and is twirling around in it. truly the video ever. jess has them do a whole catwalk and everything and hal in his heels and makeup really does steal the show.

no one knowing hal is a green lantern makes the FMK so much funnier. when asked for a reason as to why he'd kill batman in literally every single one of these, he has to come up with an answer that doesn't give away his history with bruce. what does he come up with instead? the first and only time he went to gotham, batman knocked his hotdog out of his hands and hal never went back. this gets #justiceforhaljordan and #batmanvshaljordan trending for a week straight. bruce is livid.

hal and guy at the supermarket goes viral because they get into an argument over the flavour of yoghurt keli likes best. it's banana vs chocolate when jess knows keli likes neither of these flavours. she says nothing. the argument lasts for thirty minutes and they end up not buying any yoghurt at all. hal and guy go to the next aisle over and start bickering again over chip flavours. jess's sigh rattles through her very bones.

jess purposefully strides up to simon and tells him that hal's considering getting a cybertruck (he isn't) and the audience gets to see simon's face go from shock to horror to disgust to pure and unadulterated rage. he then storms into hal's room (jess is still filming) and goes on this massive and impassioned rant about why cybertrucks are the single worst investment he could make and if hal bought one, simon would be ripping it apart immediately. hal is. so confused.

john is tipsy when jess brings up architecture and then everyone present, audience included, get an extended house tour where he proudly and deliberately points out every single design feature he included and the reasons for it (ofc john designed the house they're in, what the hell did you expect from me?). it's sweet, it's impassioned and it's clear it was all a labour of love.

the salt prank gets jo first. the others are either too exhausted or jaded to even really notice when they starts stirring salt into their coffee. but jo? she dumps a whole two teaspoons in and jess manages to keep a straight face until jo literally chokes on it and nearly starts drowning right then and there as tea goes everywhere. jess barely makes it out of there with her life preserved.

the mouse prank? yeah hal produces a fuckoff huge flamethrower from nowhere and jess is forced to reveal the prank before he actually burns the house down. jess takes her eyes off kyle for about five minutes and he's already rigged a very elaborate trap that absolutely will not work. jo takes one look at upturned dish and grabs a machete. about a billion viewers fall in love with her almost immediately. guy goes and finds a mouse cage so he can keep it and is devastated to see that it's a computer mouse. jess almost feels bad for him.

keli gets to participate in moving all of the furniture. kyle, eternally stuck in his own head, stubs his toes a million times and looks like he's on the verge of tears by the time he manages to navigate his way into his own room. when the door slams shut, jess and keli do hear another muffled yelp and they consider this a job well done. john eventually asks them to please move the furniture back before guy trips and gives himself more brain damage.

where did jess put the utensils and plates? she's not saying shit. but she does keep coming out with a bowl full of food and it's driving john genuinely nuts as he tries to figure out where the hell she's keeping this stuff. hal, kyle, guy and simon are entirely useless. they've been useless since the legos came out. jo absolutely knows something john doesn't and keli is thrilled that they get to have takeout the entire day. john is rethinking every decision that got him here as he combs through the house for the umpteenth time.

a lot of people find it incredibly attractive that hal, one of two white men in this fuckass family, can handle the heat of a carolina reaper. hal, of course, has been aided by oliver queen's chili recipe which he's consumed over the course of years. most of them have a pretty decent spice tolerance actually, so the challenge is less them feeling pain and more them being relieved that they're back on earth and they can actually eat food with flavour.

as a side note, i wanna make it so clear that the reason hal gets popular originally is because he's hot but after that point? he's just so fucking weird but also kind??? like he's possibly the weirdest guy anyone's ever seen cos he'll read hate comments and huff and go, "I watched my dad burn to death in front of me so this is not my biggest problem right now" and then never elaborate?? an enigma. he is also super cute when he geeks out. that helps.

hal's best friend is kilowog so there's virtually nothing that actually shakes him. jess positions a skeleton on the ceiling over hal's bed (supernatural style) and he doesn't even blink at it when he wakes up. no one does. not even with those enormous spiders that jump off the wall. jess's little pranks here are less about the comedy of her family getting scared and more about just showcasing how fucking weird they all are. it's infuriating and incredibly endearing all at once.

anyway this is so fun thank you for the ask <3

[chaifootsteps]

kept thinking about vivs transphobia screenshots and how stupid her apology excuse of drawing "controversial ladies" was when she said, "well, bigoted white women who do black face make me feel empowered in this unsure political landscape of america!" even though she made fanart of them either prior or after trump won in 2016, and it made me wonder - why would she feel empowered by those beliefs?

but then i thought about how she's had at least so far, three shitty experiences with trans men for the past decade of her life; dollcreep, ken, and salem.

and i guess i just wish people would acknowledge that. like, at all.

because it's so easy to claim that the screenshots just came out of nowhere to make her look bad, when, no, it's a repeated pattern of behavior based on her, like many other people of privilege incapable of self reflection, being unable to separate oppressed identities from how she views people that are apart of said group. (unless of course, they rename themselves after one of her character, change their appearance to look like that character, start doing sex work like that character, and pretend to be raped and abused like said character.)

she already went through the trouble of making fully colored comics (not just one, but multiple which is embarrassing,) of jojo in her mid to early 20s, who ive heard is a wojak of dollcreep. (maybe in response of a wojak dollcreep made of her which i know exists, although i don't know who created what first or threw the first stone, but low-key that drawing of his version of viv being like "*starts slutshaming*" has truly not changed at all,)

salem also said that creepzo in mammon's magnificent special was also a wojak of him, so that might mean she's just upgraded to spending actual industry bucks on making fun of people she doesn't like. (i even remember her misgendering him in a 2020 or 2021 helluva boss stream by accident before calling salem they, and although it happens for allies, hearing him speak about repeated misgendering after he left is not a good sign,) and i haven't even mentioned she's just straight up claimed ken is an abuser, when ive yet to see even one victim of his speak up, not even an anonymous one, wheres viv has a list of people she's hurt somehow.

idk. i wish in general, the critical community cared more about the people she's burned and the continuous behavior that shows she's been doing it for awhile and hasn't truly grown or learned from it, instead of hating her just her writing something they find icky for merely existing.. in two shows about demons in hell. (rather then the execution of it, which is what pisses me off the most about the hellaverse.)

like, i get why kiwifarms wouldn't give a shit most of the time, but sometimes it feels like they do more then the critical community even does, just a little bit. seriously, i had no clue viv had made a wholeass tumblr dedicated to call-out dollcreep, which just consisted of her complaining he wouldn't text her back fast enough and acting like a victim when it seems like they were both just immature asshole kids to each other from what ive seen of their convos, and even refused to take it down for a bit when he confronted her on fb when his harassment started until i started lurking on the viv thread there.

God, you and me both, Anon. If the critical community put even a quarter of the energy they put into criticizing the writing and transferred that over to the way Viv treats other human beings (especially transmasc human beings), and the pattern of behavior that shows she's always been like this, I would sleep a little more soundly at night.

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

The truth is KP will be unable to communicate William’s way of doing things effectively. People will always have something to say. As far as I know, KP didn’t use to say big projects > ribbon-cutting engagements. I don’t have proof cause I can’t go through all the articles right now lol. But there’s already a push from certain group of fans to villainize William and this strategy. That’s only when KP intensified the “impact >” messaging.

What can they do then if William is focused on wanting to see “impact”? Wanting to see impact is not exactly saying others aren’t making impact. But how do you say that you’re a person who wants to see results without offending anybody?

To me, the problem starts with the reaction from “royal watchers”.

Princess Anne’s work has had impact, I’m sure. Charles’ too. So if the others work have had impact why would some people who are not Anne or Charles be offended on their behalf?

In the same way, Anne and Charles engagement numbers are always used against William and Kate, without even acknowledging that it also took Charles and Anne years before they could have the steady engagement numbers they have now.

Don’t people see the irony that this particular engagement of William’s can both seen as a ~worthless frivolous engagement~ but also it aligns with one of William’s causes which is mental health. In that sense, it is both. It’s people making dichotomies between bread and butter engagements and pet projects that are the problem. People are so close-minded and don’t often see the big picture, and honestly oftentimes royal watchers simply parrot narratives and arguments they see from other royal watchers.

It’s like with the BAFTA attendance. If they attended, they’re wannabe celebrities. They didn’t attend but William did something with BAFTA that didn’t involve already well-known celebrities and filmmakers, but that was worthless to the critics. Imo, they should probably just attend BAFTA every year to avoid criticisms, but it would also probably be nice if people stopped acting like William completely does nothing with BAFTA when the problem is they’re just not paying enough attention.

But I do think a lot of the problem does root from the fact that W&K won’t stop with the no public engagements when the kids are on break rule that they have. They have to emphasize the “impact” part because their engagement numbers are widely reduced by that rule that they have. But what can we do, they seem to be firm on that.

Let me be clear, I’m not against criticism for W&K. I’m just not convinced about the arguments used.

Well, it looks like I'm going to be repeating myself a lot here today.

The problem with William and Kate's work isn't an ineffective communications team. It's the corporate expectation of immediate tangible results.

Monarchy, government, and public service are not corporations and businesses. They do not prioritize results. They prioritize people's lives. That is what impact is - fundamental, systemic, lasting change that improves people's lives for the better. That is not something that can be measured in dollars/pounds, days, or engagement counts. It is measured in years and decades. It is small, incremental progress.

Scholars, professionals, experts, civil servants, and the people who work in public service understand that. Royal watchers, on the whole, do not. Neither does the media. And even you, anon, don't seem to understand that either from some of your comments.

Charles and Anne can talk about results from their work because they've been doing this work for 40+ years. William and Kate don't have that kind of tenure. They have to talk about prospective, potential impact because they don't have results yet. They don't have metrics. The only metrics they have are their engagement count, the number of homes they own, and the assumed cost of Kate's clothes; hence everyone hyper-focuses on those data points, to the detriment of their actual work objective: a better, healthier, mentally-stronger citizenry for Britain.

KP actually can communicate William's work effectively, and they have in some respects, but the biggest obstacle is that their audience doesn't understand this, no matter how many times it's explained "this is a multi-year project" or "this is a research foundation". It's not a high-brow concept. It just conflicts with today's fast-paced corporate-led results-driven society where we expect and demand everything right here, right now or it's not worth our time.

[justchillandshipit]

I don't know why I'm seeing so many posts that are upset about Lou's Interview.

Yes, he said he cried. Yes, he said that Buck was the love of his life, but those are his feelings and perhaps Tommy's feelings. They do not reflect Buck's feelings.

Unless Minear does a major retcon for Buck, his canon reaction to Josh asking if he was in love with Tommy was this...

Josh: Do you love him?

Buck: Do I love him?

____

Buck, out of anger, also tells Tommy, "I don't have to sleep with everyone I have feelings for, and I don't have to have feelings for everyone I sleep with." He says this after their hookup the previous evening. This is talked about so much in fandom, I'm surprised it has to be repeated.

____

Lou's statement could just be his opinion of his character, but even if it is Tommy's real feelings, it doesn't represent Buck's.

What it does mean is that Tommy was right. He is not going to be Buck's last. The longer he stays with Buck, the more Tommy will feel hurt when the competition shows up. Buck has always been spinning toward Eddie. Eventually, he will crash into him. When that happens, only an idiot would try to keep them apart.

The thing is, if Tommy already feels this way about Buck, he really is going to be hurt when Buck ends up with Eddie, no matter what. Breaking up with Buck didn't change that. It did shift the blame for the relationship off of Buck though. If he were smart, he would have stuck it out and enjoyed the time he had. So he has no one to blame but himself at this point.

----

As for his statement that they are soulmates, I'm not mad that he said this. However, this is entirely Lou's opinion. I'm a Buddie shipper. Fact. I don't deny it. I'm also not a Lou hater. I wouldn't call myself a fan either. I'm indifferent. In this case, quite frankly, I'd love to see Lou's receipts. I'd like to know what has happened, specifically, between these two characters that makes him think they are soulmates. Having sex and being boyfriends doesn't cut it. There must be a deeper connection that is filled with shared experiences, empathy, and trust. We've seen them meet, share an attraction, and kiss. (off screen, we know they've slept together.) The times that he should have been there for support, he wasn't. (He left the bachelor party- not his fault. There was Madney's wedding- also not his fault, but he still wasn't there.) The few times he could make the claim that Tommy was there are overshadowed by the fact that Buck was the one shutting him out. Some examples: when they were waiting for news about Denny's surgery, when Buck would only accept Eddie's word about the boils, when Tommy showed up late after Buck dislocated his shoulder, etc. I'm sure there is room for debate, and I'm not trying to hate on Tommy. I'm just saying, these are situations that could have built something solid or proved Lou's statement, but they don't.

There has been only one time that I can recall where Lou could honestly claim Tommy showed up for Buck, and that is when he flew in with the helicopter to save the 118. However, even then, he canonically told Buck he did it for Chim first, which detracts from how pivotal the moment could have been.

Who has receipts? Buddie. There are so many; I can't name them all. A few of my favorites.

"I trust no one with my son more than you."

Two friends, sitting in silence and offering comfort without saying a single word. (Again, the word "soulmate" is not tied to sex. Also, friendship is a solid foundation for love. So the word 'friends' fits for that moment between Buck and Eddie.)

This is a show where anything can happen, but there is no indication whatsoever that this is a direction the show is going in.

[cranberrymoons]

WAIT can you drop some wisdom on changing your life at 32 im 33 and i know SOMETHING needs to happen but i feel so trapped in my life TT TT (also oblogatory i think that buck calls eddie papi as a joke one time but it blows eddies mind and cue buck bouncing & squealing on it etc etc)

hi yes of course! I will acknowledge the privileged position I was in to have the freedom to do this (no spouse, no kids, mediumish financial stability) but to be really honest it was not easy and has not been a straight linear path. it was way more mental work than anything else, and I think the key to success at least for me really has been like a compilation of random things picked up from miscellaneous internet users "don't let yourself give up on yourself" "the time will pass anyway" "your fear of looking stupid is holding you back" "who cares what other people think about what you do with YOUR life" "the things you do during the day is how you are currently spending your life" "do it scared" like these are all random throwaway comments but I have actually repeated them to myself so so so many times. and said them in the mirror. and spoken them out loud in my car while I'm on my way to do something that is really really scary for one reason or another. and they have all genuinely helped me.

long rambling story below the cut lol also the papi thing is not my personal journey tbh but yay forever re buck bouncing on it 😌

about 18 months ago I had the Thing happen to me where your job that's been remote since covid suddenly decides they want everyone to be in the office. and so I had to decide if I wanted to move halfway across the country to do that, or if I wanted to lose my job. woohoo. :)

and so I started thinking about it and it kind of made me realize I actually fucking hated that job 😭 I'd been there for OVER FIVE YEARS and there were so many things I did notttt like that I had just kind of gotten used to? but as soon as I decided I didn't want to move for this job, it was like I could not stop noticing the things that had been like. low level annoying me for a really long time.

and so I started looking for a job and looking and looking and realized like. I don't actually want to do these jobs. the idea of taking another job like the one that I had was literally making me feel sick to my stomach (it was a vague email job where I had like a "project manager" type of title but even though I had that job for 5 years I honestly do not really know what I did all day or what my job really was. one of those like extremely fake office jobs that still somehow manages to give you anxiety because everyone else is always talking about how BUSY they are etc)

and anyway long internal personal journey blah blah blah, I started to say to myself like. you are 31-32 YEARS OLD!!!! it is time to finally be an active participant in your own life instead of just doing what everyone else wants you to do. but also like – okay, so you don't want to do this vague officey email job, but you have to do SOMETHING so what do you want to do??

and eventually I noticed this pattern in my life of like, I have always sort of done the thing that's *next to* the thing I actually want to do. if that makes sense? like – I've always done the thing that "makes more sense" for what people expect of me, or the easier option, or the thing that feels safer. idk. so I was like okay – moonshot, you can do whatever you want, life is just an open world video game (again, I am unmarried and don't have kids, so there's no one directly depending on me to take less risks, which makes this a little easier). if you could do anything, what would you want to do.

and so over the past year and a half, I quit my job, took a pay cut to take an easier/chill fun job in the meantime while I went back to school, started to get super in shape for literally the first time in my life lol, became an EMT, and now I'm planning to start with a fire academy at the end of the summer, which is like 70% something I have actually always wanted to do but was embarrassed about for some reason / 30% hyperfixation so strong it became a profession. which – turns out! – is a profession that I am actually super good at and love in a way that I have never loved a job before. like, looking back at my life 2 years ago it is unrecognizable to what I'm doing now. yay.

[oreolemur]

Ungodly Sorcerer

Trigger Warning: Blood, Murder, Noncon

⑅୨୧⑅୨୧⑅୨୧⑅୨୧⑅୨୧⑅୨୧⑅୨୧⑅୨୧⑅୨୧⑅୨୧⑅୨୧⑅୨୧⑅୨୧⑅୨୧⑅୨୧⑅୨୧⑅୨୧⑅୨୧⑅୨୧⑅୨୧⑅

After finding out that your boyfriend is a dangerous serial killer, the man kept you locked up in his basement, forcing you to witness his sadistic pleasures. "Keep those pretty eyes of yours open, baby. I don't want you to miss a thing". Seeing him walk over to a tied up man in the middle of the room, you shut your eyes. "Doll, I said keep those eyes open. Don't make me force them open", Satoru says calmly, picking up a knife off of the table. You shut them tight as you cried. "Please don't hurt him. He's innocent". The man sighed, walking up to you. He grabbed ahold of your face, forcing your chin up "Oh baby doll, no one is innocent. You know that, don't you?" he said in a sweet tone, gripping your cheeks in an almost painful manner. "Just let him go. Please", you begged.

He chuckled darkly, letting go of your face "And why should I do that, darling?". Satoru walked over to the man, forcing his head back as he put a knife to his throat. "Don't you want to see bloodshed and torture", he laughed manically. You shook your head, "No! Stop!". Your boyfriend simply laughed. He pressed the knife into the man's neck, blood slowly trickling down "Oh, but you don't really have a say" he grinned, watching the man struggle. He walked back over to you, grabbing your chin once again, forcing you to look at the situation "You're going to watch this, doll. I want you to see every second". You shut your eyes once more, refusing to bear witness. Satoru let out another dark chuckle, roughly grabbing your chin once again. "Open. Your. Eyes". You kept them shut, "N-No”.

He was beginning to lose his patience. He roughly gripped your hair, yanking it back so that you were forced to look up at him. "Don't make me repeat myself, doll. You know what I can do to you". You cried, "Satoru, please. Don't be like this. I love you". The killer stared down at you for a moment, the grip on your hair lessened just a bit as you spoke. Satoru's cold, dark eyes studied you. He knelt down to your level, bringing his face closer to yours. "You love me?" he repeated with a mocking smirk. "Yes, I do.", You looked over at the innocent man, who was staring at you with pleading eyes. "I-if you let him go...I'll make it up to you". Satoru raised an eyebrow at your proposal, tilting his head to the side as he seemed to entertain the offer "And just what do you think you can do to make it up to me, love?”. You glanced over at the man again. "You know...", you said. 

His smirk widened, his hand that was grabbing onto your hair now caressing your cheek "Oh, I think I know what you're getting at, doll...". Walking away from you, he headed over towards the man. "Why have one reward...", he trailed off, raising the knife. "When I can have two!". Satoru stabbed the man in the neck, blood gushing down from the opening. "No!!", you screamed. He laughed, completely disregarding your screaming. Satoru leaned down, wiping some of the blood off of his face onto his sleeve "Such a pretty sound....keep screaming for me, baby". Approaching you, Satoru crouched down, grinning. "Now...I think it's time for that second reward". The man undid your restraints, forcing you to stand. As soon as your limbs were freed, you slapped him. "You monster!".

He let out an amused giggle, rubbing his cheek as he continued to grin a sadistic smile. "Oh, doll. I'm a lot worse than a monster".  Your boyfriend grabbed ahold of your wrist, roughly pulling you towards him until you were pressed up against his chest. "I am God!". He laughed maniacally as you cried. You tried to fight him off. "Let go of me!". Satoru then dragged you behind him, leading you towards the bedroom. He was much stronger than you were, so it was an easy feat to simply drag you however he'd like. He pushed you into the bedroom, shutting the door behind him. Satoru grabbed a hold of your chin once again, forcing you to look up at him "You just don't know when to shut up, do you doll? It might be time for me to teach you a lesson on proper manners".

His expression grew cold, more sinister as he shoved you onto the bed. He leaned over you, pinning your wrists down above your head. "You're going to learn how to be a good little doll real quick". Taking his knife out of his back pocket, he used it to cut open your shirt. "I hate you!", you spat. He chuckled darkly, throwing the knife to the side. Running a finger along your exposed skin, Satoru hummed to himself "I don't care if you hate me. I'm getting what I want". He pinned your wrists above your head with one hand, the other grabbing onto your jaw as he looked into your eyes. "You're all mine". Moving his hand away from my jaw, he used it to undo his pants. “All this defiance is making me hard, baby”. He pulled out his cock, stroking it slowly. Satoru’s head then moved down to your breasts. “Now, be a good girl and please your God”. 

The killer sucked on your sensitive nipples, causing you to whimper. “Please stop”, you begged. He lightly nibbles on them, twisting them with his teeth. “You taste so sweet”, he moaned. You could hardly focus on the pleasure as your mind kept playing the memory of the innocent man dying over and over again. You thought you dated someone who was kind and gentle, but came to find out he was a sadistic maniac. “Why are you like this?”, you questioned. “Why go around killing people who never did anything wrong to you?”. Satoru lifted up his head, staring into your eyes. “It’s not about what they did to me…”, he paused. “It’s about what I should do to them”. His answer disgusted you. “Humans are so easy to kill and dispose of. You should be lucky I’ve kept you alive this far”. 

He leaned into your neck, sinking his teeth into your flesh. He bit and sucked on it, marking your pretty delicate skin. You whined out of pain, squirming underneath him. The man was biting so hard that blood began to trickle down. Once he latched off your neck, Satoru looked at you with lust in his eyes as he licked the blood off his lips. “I can’t wait to get inside you, dear”, he smiled. Your boyfriend got off you, focusing his attention on your pants. “Please don’t, baby”, you cried. He titled his head, “Oh come on. You know you want this”. He pulled off the clothing, seeing your soaked panties. “Well well”, he chuckled. “Looks like I’m not the only one who gets turned on by people’s demise”. Satoru ripped them off, placing his thumb on your clit. “You’re so wet”, he groaned. 

The man rubbed your sensitive bud, making you slightly moan. “Keep making those pretty noises for me, darling”. Although you didn’t want this, you enjoyed the pleasure he was giving you. “You’re making my cock twitch”. He got undressed, admiring the sight that was in front of him. “You would’ve made a pretty victim. Oh, darling, all the fucked up things I’d do to you”. He placed himself in between your legs, taking his cock and rubbing it against your cunt. “Tell me how much you love me”, he placed himself at your wet entrance. “I don’t love you. I could never love a monster”. Satoru’s expression darkened as he glared at you with dark eyes. “I’m not a monster. I am God!”. Without warning he shoved his cock into your cunt. “You should be grateful you’re still breathing. I am the man who has full control over your life”. 

Satoru’s thrusts were hard. His cock kept slamming against your cervix. “Tell me I’m your God”, he demanded. You remained silent as the pain of him fucking you was overwhelming. The more he thrusted, the more your cervix bruised. “Say it, y/n!”. He placed his hand on your neck, squeezing your throat. “Y-your…my…G-God”, you struggled. The killer moaned in ecstasy, “Say it again”. Repeating it, you wanted to cry. “Don’t look so sad, baby. Your God is right here”. Flipping you over, he forced your back to arch. “Such a pretty sight, having you completely at my mercy”. He thrusted into you once more, making you feel every inch. “I’m close”. Satoru dug his nails into your hips, gripping it hard. “I love you so much, y/n”. His body slammed into yours, making your ass clap. You grabbed hold of the sheets, burying your face into the pillow. 

  With a few more thrusts, Satoru’s hips began to buckle as his cock twitched inside you. “We’re gonna have so many children. And, they’ll be just like their father”. He then flooded your walls with his seed, pushing his cock deep into you to drop every last load. Once he was done, he laid beside you, forcing you to face him. The two of you stared into each other's eyes, both having different emotions for one another. “From now on you’ll be my assistant”, he chuckled. “Whatever I tell you to do…you’ll do it”. He leaned in close to your face, kissing your lips. “And if you disagree with this…I’ll kill you”. 

After that night, you became Satoru's sidekick. It was your job to lure people in so he could kill them. You had basically lost all hope at this point, becoming quite desensitized to all of the death and murder. Satoru still never missed an opportunity to make you watch, always demanding you keep your eyes open to witness the acts he committed. “Are those pretty eyes of yours open, darling?”, he looked back at you as he repeatedly stabbed an innocent woman in the gut. You watched with a blank expression, not feeling anything from it. “Yes, my love”, you replied, glancing over at an unused knife nearby. You walked over towards it, catching the killer off guard. With one hard thrust, you stabbed Satoru in the neck. “What the hell?”, he gurgled. You smiled at him sadistically, “Looks like I’m your God now”. 

[veilody]

Hii! First ask here hehe ✨️

Anywho, you can ignore this if you want but if it's okay, may I ask why you don't like Mira? I saw a post or two mentioning it, and I've always been curious bc I really like reading about others' opinions and that kind of stuff in fandoms I'm in but was very nervous to ask, haha-

Hope you're having a good day/night! :>

Ohh~ Hi there~!

I don't mind you asking and I didn't just want to ramble about her out of the blue haha~ so thanks for the ask xD This is gonna be LONG-

Gotta state that here though Triggerwarning for Attempted SA, Violence and Sexualisation.

I won't show pictures of those specific things though - just mention the arcs it happened in.

In short:

Mira Kim is a very badly written character, who never developed negatively nor positively throughout the entire series and she used to be a Major Involvement in the first ~300 Chapters. So I'd expected her to grow. Like, I don't like Joy either, but she was minor enough so that the lack of growth and personality never bothered me.

Long version:

As I said, she was a Major character for a long time. Many conflicts revolved around her and she has been the moral compass for Zack since the start - until his growth was tied to Johan. (for the better)

She has been depicted as so pretty that many men couldn't hold themselves back and has almost been raped TWICE (Autumn Bootcamp Arc 41-45, Cult Arc (Johan introduction) 132-138), she has been harassed by an old friend from church (Zacks Date Arc 73-74), been used for Jasmines Money Making Scam (Runaway Family Arc 219-231) and harassed by strangers on the train (Hostel Branch Arc 255-257)

You would think, that all of this should have a lasting effect on such a young girl. ESPECIALLY what happened during the Cult Arc because she was much younger.

But you never see her reacting to any of these repetitive situations in any way a girl would who's been confronted with that so often. Instead, she's still selfless, like no matter if she's been humiliated by Logan Lee (Troubled Transfer 123-126) she comes back and defends Zack, so that he doesn't fight. In the Runaway Family, when Her, Zoes, Joys and Marys pictures have been stolen and used for a perverted scam she's not phased about the situation unlike the other girls. Joy probably had this situation for the first time, Zoe has been through sexualisation before and Mary throws a tantrum and takes matters in her own hands like a Queen. In this case though: I give Mira my benefit of the doubt, that she handles the stress by caring for others and not trying to be in the spotlight.

Still I would've like to see her having more emotions about the whole thing - even just a stressed out sighing out after it all ended rather than this blank smile:

I would've loved for her to show real human emotions, instead of always being this "angelic character" that is basically "perfect" with her morals and all that. Especially since this angelic image feels hypocritical: During Exposition Arc (1-10) she judges little Daniel at first sight and swoons over Big Daniel at first sight too. This behaviour repeats itself during the Autumn Bootcamp Arc, when she stays away from the "ugly" Councelor Won Bin and prefers to follow the "pretty" one Heemin Kim - who tries to force herself on her and it is Won Bin who saves her.

Hm...

You would say that her demeanor afterwards changed, because she's the one who gave Jasmine Huh the benefit of the doubt. And maybe that's the teeny tiny growth she had? But honestly: it would CRUSH me if I tried to change my behaviour and then get used like this.

I don't know, maybe her faith as a Christian helps her through all these situations - that something I just personally cannot relate to but maybe someone else can? I grew up in a strict christian household before my mom fled with me and my sibling. Afterwards I chose to be an atheist, so- There's that

Yet that brings me to Zack - and I love Zack A LOT actually, his character development is PEAK. But something left me pause for a moment lately was his outburst "I am catholic" (Busan Arc 530 - 548) - even though it was always canon that he is not faithful (Cult Arc) and later he seemed like he found reason in Buddhism after he trained with Gongseob Ji (441-516) and suddenly after he had spent time with Mira he's back to being a Christian?

Very Personal: As someone who grew up surrounded by Christians, that gives me icky feelings srsly. Not once but twice the people around me wanted me and my sibling to follow an even stricter and weirder ruleset - like the Baptist Church and whatever "other belief" cult my paternal grandparents followed. With rulesets like women HAVE to wear skirts and dresses, but all modest, and preventatives are frowned upon. In both cases a horrible purity-society that will shame girls and women regardless. I'm glad my mom was shutting down these people and we were already able to say no. (there's still a lot more depth to that all but I leave it here.)

Back to Zack and Mira: At first I found their little cat and mouse thing charming, but the longer it stretched the more sad it became for Zack. Especially seeing that she gets jealous when he interacts with other girls like Yui (Paprika TV Arc 28-33) or if he swoons about an actress (Zacks Date Arc)

So these two apparently see each other as a romantic interest. Since. The. Start. And we're now 550+ in and they're still not official. Zack STILL just looks in her direction and it's starting to look troublesome in my opinion. At this point Zack is romantically so focused on her that it borders on obsession. If she doesn't want to enter a relationship with him, he needs to accept that. If she's keeping him on the border of his seat but never moves to start a relationship with him despite knowing better than anyone else how much he yearns to be romantically involved with her: I call asshole.

I can imagine that PTJ keeps Zack single for now, to give fanservice and what not. I mean it obviously sells. But the whole romantic situation among the three childhood friends seems so out of place after all this time. Can't they just be three friends after all and just NOT wreck their heads over who's with who? Also I'd wager that Zacks and Johans reestablished friendship could suffer if ANY of these two enter a romantic relationship with Mira.

IN CONCLUSION

Mira could've been a much deeper character than she turned out to be. I would've loved to see her having anxiety, struggles or even ONE breakdown after everything that happened to her. Or maybe becoming a coward and having a negative character arc would've made so much sense? I also can't believe that she's handling a heavily injured Zack and Johan this cool (Hunt for Gun Arc 517) after ALL THE TIME scolding Zack not to fight. Like girl, be WORRIED about your friend endangering themselves - it kinda flattened her already flat personality even more.

If we compare Zoe and Mira's growth over the time of the manwha it gets really apparent that Zoe had a positive growth and Mira? Well, Mira is Mira.

EVEN Mary (Queen) Kim had a growth and I am NOT counting the cheongliang arc for this rn. In the first arcs she was more of a reactive to Vin Jins bullshit, sometimes there and sometimes not. In all honesty? She was insignificant at first. But! Nowadays she's the one who calls Vin out on his Bullshit and gives him consequences at school. From a reactionbot to QUEEN MARY KIM.

At this point this specific character gets me to roll the eyes whenever she appears. The only thing I hope from now on (because you can't change the past) is that she's kept minor enough, so I can start to overlook the problems I have with her.

Idk if I just have a way to objective perspective on the whole matter? I.e. Those assholes like Logan Lee, Kitae Kim, Taejin - they're all horrible - but they have me intrigued on what makes them tick the way they do. Also I can curse on them and say they're a well written character because each of them is made to be antagonised. And... I can't hate well-written Characters. That they commit heinous acts is absolutely necessary for the story and how they affect our protagonists is: CHEFKISS.

Or I see many people hating on Gapryong Kim, while he really has me on the edge of my seat. I want to know how the world was in the Pre-Gen (we know by now that organised crime was peaking during that time and the Yamazaki were behind that), why he chose to prioritize his gang over his family and if there was some part of him regretting his choices? Maybe when he lay dying?

[idkfandoms38397]

wanna do this with (new) Doctor Who so I'll have a poll for each on the group who I feel fits (I'm only gonna expand on 9 and 10s era bc those are the only I've finished (I haven't started 11's yet) but I'll just put the other doctor and their companions that ik of (there's 3 for 13 and don't know much (or anything) abt them so I'll just have 13)

Btw I won't do duplicates so if the same person gets the highest result on multiple I'll figure something out

(Btw what i mean by first master I mean the first time 10 met them)

Normal sidelean

Selfishprick

Comfy sidelean

___ you prick move over

That's better

___ you fucking dick

___ NO. STOP THAT

___ sit on the fucking sofa

___ WHAT. THE. FUCK

___!

___ I believed in you

___ have you never been on a fucking sofa?

if there's any repeat links please tell me in a comment or smtn

[heere-there-and-everywhere]

do's and don't's if you have trans friends

DO:

use their correct pronouns and name

correct yourself if you slip up

respect the terminology they use to describe their gender (transgender, transsexual, genderqueer, etc.)

do your own research on the trans community

practice using gender-neutral language for people you don't know (however, if you know someone's pronouns/identity, refer to them with that)

remember that the trans community includes people inside (man + woman) and outside the gender binary (enby, agender, genderfluid, etc. it's all about how someone chooses to identify)

ask who you can use their pronouns/chosen name around (if they are new in their social transition, they might still have people whom they want to know them as their deadname/incorrect pronouns for privacy/safety)

refer to them with the correct pronouns/name even if they aren't in the room/within earshot

learn what gender-affirming methods are for both FtM and MtF people are (binding, tucking, packing, etc.)

correct other people (WHO THE TRANS PERSON IS OUT TO AND HAS TOLD THEIR PRONOUNS/NEW NAME TO) if they mess up the trans person's pronouns or name (not excessively, but if it's repeated)

treat them like any other/cisgender person

ask them genuine questions about trans people (as long as they are respectful and not intrusive) that you can't find the answers to online

refer to their birth gender as their "gender assigned at birth" rather than their "real gender"

if they are closeted/not fully socially transitioned: tell them if you hear rumors or are asked by people if they are trans

DON'T:

use their new name/pronouns around people that they have told you not to

use they/them for people who don't go by those pronouns (that is misgendering)

tell other people (especially whom they pass as cisgender to) that they are trans (without their distinct permission)

continue passing rumors that someone (whether you know they are trans or not) is trans

ask for their deadname/birth name

ask if they are cisgender/for their agab (especially if you are not well-acquainted/friends yet)

assume their sexuality (just ask.)

make a big deal of accidentally misgendering/using their deadname

start passively transphobic conversations (even commenting negatively on the inclusion of the pregnant man emoji on Apple, etc.)

ask about their genitalia/any other intrusive questions such as their sex life, etc.

say that they don't seem trans (transgender isn't a box that people have to fit perfectly into to be trans)

accuse them of being "too woke" or "trans because of the internet" etc.

[elminx]

This is a very quiet week, astrologically,

We have some planetary movement and not much else.

On Wednesday, Venus enters Aries for the second time this year. This is Venus's third pass over 00° Aries due to her retrograde cycle and is part of ongoing astrological pressure that is being put on the third decan of Pisces and first decan of Aries - effectively the start AND end of the astrological year.

You can read more about this here.

This is one of our two last chances to take advantage of this powerful "New Start" energy this year - Venus passes over 00° Aries on Wednesday, and Saturn does so on 5/24. (Note that both Saturn and Neptune will retrograde back over this degree later this year.) This is an excellent time for a one/two punch of magic focused on starting something you REALLY BELIEVE IN.

Triflers need not apply.

(Am I dating myself with my Murderino references? Does anyone get that? let me know in the comments)

To be clear, you could work with Venus on her own, as the Lesser Benefic, on Wednesday. It's just if you want some real slow burn energy - the kind it takes to bridge the entire galaxy - repeat the spell, or something similar, on 5/24.

As Venus enters Aries, she immediately conjuncts Neptune, which will make things soupy and untenable. Not good for getting things done in the material world, but a decent augury for magic since Neptune is a link to the unknowable, which, to me at least, is where true power lies. This aspect will be exact on Thursday but will be noticeable all week long.

Also on Thursday, Mars reaches 06° Leo and - FINALLY - exits his post-retrograde shadow. We are covering new ground for the first time since 12/6, when he stationed retrograde. This is a great day to set intentions or do magic for forward progress.

I'd like to point out that Venus and Mars should always be read somewhat as a pair because they are our two relational signs - together, they predict how easy it will be to get along with other people. Aries and Leo are both fire signs, so expect things to heat up (from a personal perspective); the big difference is that Leo is one of the most social signs, and Aries is one of the most antisocial.

In fact, Aries is so antisocial that Venus is exiled in that sign.

We may need to watch out for selfishness and a tendency to consider ourselves the main character. I want to be clear that I'm not trying to malign either Aries or Leo here, both signs do these things unconsciously - it's generally not their intention to try and steal the limelight. They just tend not to consider others.

I want to remind you that there's a difference between "I never thought this would hurt someone" and "I knew this would hurt someone and I did it anyway."

They both hurt the same, but we're sorcerers up in these parts - we know that intention MATTERS.

We'll be sitting in this double fire energy for more than a month: Venus enters Taurus on 6/6, and Mars enters Virgo on 6/17. Fire energy like this can really rile up the typically slow Taurus Sun; expect people to "See Red" more easily, and when the bull sees red, all bets are off.

I'm a Taurus Sun/Aries Moon, so I'm aware of this energy quite instinctively. And I'm reminded of a sign I've seen in many a photo:

Don't cross the pasture unless you can do it in 8 seconds, because the bull can do it in 9.

This five-week period is a bad time to kick the hornet's nest; unless, of course, you're overly masochistic and looking to get stung.

I feel like this is a good time to remind you all that Chiron is sitting at the end of Aries, so some of the pain that might arise from this time is probably inevitable.

And then, to round out the week, Pluto retrogrades at 03° Aquarius on Sunday. I think the only people who might notice this are those with planets between 00° and 03° of the fixed signs, and Leo and Aquarius most specifically.

If you feel like you're having a death moment this week, this is why.

Also, happy Beltane, May Day, or Walpurgis if you celebrate.

Energy Update: April 2025

April is a "4" Universal Month [4 (April) + 9 (2025) = 13 = 1+3=4] in a "9" Universal Year. 4 Months are concerned with shoring things up and creating structure, which is very needed after a complicated eclipse season and two personal planet retrogrades in March.

The Set Up

We begin April with the Sun and Neptune in Aries; Retrograde Mercury, Retrograde Venus, and Saturn in Pisces; Mars in Cancer, Jupiter in Gemini, Uranus in Taurus; and Pluto in Capricorn. There will be major planetary movements this month: the Sun enters Taurus (as usual), Mercury stations direct and then enters Aries, Venus stations direct and then enters Aries, and Mars enters Leo.

The Nitty Gritty

We know that everything is changing when every single one of our personal planets switches signs in a single month. We've been in a personal planet retrograde cycle since November when Mars entered his pre-retrograde shadow in late Cancer with only one week without a retrograde since. In April, Mercury and Venus station direct, and Mars finally exits Cancer for the last time in this cycle. This should provide some relief as, overall, the constant interpersonal shitstorm we've been experiencing since the end of last year finally begins to subside.

Neither of our three personal planets is out of their respective post-retrograde shadows yet, though, so we still have some ground to re-trace and re-imagine before we're entirely out of this storm.

Still, progress is being made.

Our Lights: the Sun and the Moon

As we pull away from eclipse season, the general energy will get much lighter and brighter. We may finally feel like we've entered the easy season of spring. Our Sun only makes two significant aspects all month long: a conjunction with Chiron in Aries, a reminder of the past, and a square with Mars that checks in on our future.

We're in the in-between all month long, and it shows.

The Sun in Aries sextiles Jupiter in Gemini on 4/6, which hints to us that good times are to come - Jupiter is in its exile in Gemini, and we've all been pretty down on our luck for a while now. Now, finally, Jupiter is making moves to exit Gemini, which will drastically improve the odds of anything good happening on this earth - stay tuned for this summer for this positive transition. For now, this sextile is a glimmer - a hint that something good is on the horizon.

Then, we get our first lunar event post-eclipse season, a full moon at 23° Libra on 4/12 that is tightly opposed to Chiron in Aries. This is highly significant if you remember a year ago when our total solar eclipse in April included a stellium of the Sun, the Moon, retrograde Mercury, and Chiron in Aries. This full moon will be a call back to that day, but from a different angle (full moon instead of new). What have we learned with a year to reflect on what was coming up in April 2024?

This last set of eclipses included an Aries solar eclipse, the last eclipse on the Aries-Libra axis that we will experience for the next thirteen years. We are rounding things out, and the endings may pour in hard and fast. This could be a triggering day for some - especially those with personal planets in the cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn), and most specifically those found in the last decan that was affected by the solar eclipse a year ago and now this full moon as well.

With Chiron, our Wounded Healer, in play, this will hurt. This is by design. We live in a society that views pain as anathema, but often (in a body that is functioning properly anyway), pain is a signal that we should be paying attention. What is painful needs addressing during this full moon, and it might hit very hard at the core of your ego and who you think you are. This is also the day Venus stations direct at 24° Pisces in a close stellium with Saturn and the North Node, which will bring back some of the eclipse energy even though it's not actively an eclipsed moon.

Things might feel slightly out of control or fated during this time. It looks like the kind of day where the big flex is to hold onto your butt and try to enjoy the ride.

Our Libra full moon is an 8/3 full moon.

7 (Libra moon) + 1 (Aries Sun) = 8. 8 (Libra Full Moon) + 4 (April 2025) = 12 = 1+2 =3. The number 8 is an ouroboros, or infinity sign turned upwards. It often represents a rollercoaster of energy and emotions—ultimate highs and lowest lows, one right after the other. This energy signature is similar to erratic eclipse energy, which Venus's stellium is bringing into play. 3 is our base manifestation number. If you can ride these waves, great (magical) results await you on the far shore.

The Sun enters Taurus on 4/19, which will cause life to slow down a bit as we enter the season of our fixed earth sign. This is a time to sit back and enjoy what spring offers. We are seeing our first spring harvests of fresh fruits and vegetables, and spring flowers are fully blooming. Taurus season is a time meant for enjoyment as the sign of the bull can be, at times, downright hedonistic. As Mercury and Venus are finally in forward motion again, this is when we can rest a bit more and perhaps try to recuperate and recover.

With the Sun now in fixed Taurus, it begins to interplay with Mars in fixed Leo and Pluto in fixed Aquarius to create a t-square in our skies. This is where the shoring up of our "4" month energy comes into play. Although these three fixed signs are all in stressful positions with one another (the Sun squares both Mars and Pluto, who are in opposition), fixed signs have one thing in common: they all require a heavy dose of security to operate at their best.

If you are feeling out of sorts or shaken up by the aftermath of the eclipses and retrogrades, now is the time to take stock of what happened and figure out how to ground yourself into the now. Because it is Taurus season (fixed earth), dirt will be a significant ally during this time.

The Sun squares Mars in Leo on 4/20, a day to question where we are going and what steps we can take to make our dreams a reality. Think big, but map out tangible, achievable steps. The Sun squares Pluto on 4/23, which has the opposite effect: here is a day to think big and focus on what we can eliminate to lighten the load on our journey forward. (Mars directly opposes Pluto on 4/26, which is yet another day to focus on this t-square)

And finally, on 4/27, we have our first new moon after the eclipse season. This is, arguably, the best day of the month as the retrogrades have ended, eclipse season is complete, and we are finally at a new beginning in the oh-so-fertile (dirt fertile, you gutter-minded fools) Taurus. This is a perfect day to pivot in any way you need to and set goals for Spring and the year ahead.

Our Taurus new moon is a 4/8 new moon.

2 (Taurus moon) + 2 (Taurus Sun) = 4. 4 (Taurus new moon) + 4 (April 2025) = 8.

We can see that there is likely still some stressor here, brought in through the repeated "8" energy from the Libra full moon earlier, but we are getting somewhere. And, this day carries "4" energy that echoes the "4" energy of the month. Settle in and take real, tangible steps toward the life you want. And maybe eat some pie. Taurus loves pie.

Mercury

We are most of the way through our first Mercury retrograde of the year, which ends on 4/7 at 26° Pisces. After stationing direct, Mercury enters Aries on 4/16, the third big hit to 00° Aries, our major power point of 2025, and arguably the biggest hit of this point, Mercury-wise. Either of these dates is a powerful day for road opening, pathfinding, or any other type of Mercury magic you might wish to cast.

As Mercury enters Aries, they will conjunct Neptune and sextile Pluto. I wouldn't expect either of these events to be noticed or particularly eventful in and of themselves.

Mercury isn't at its best in Aries, but it is much better suited there than in Pisces, where it was both in its exile and detriment. We should all watch out for speaking out of turn or being too ego-driven in our opinions during this time. We're in post-retrograde territory from 4/7-4/26, so we might fall into that same old hole with miscommunications, whatever that means for you. I'd remind you to think before you speak, but neither Pisces nor Aries is known for doing that, so take that with a whole bucket full of salt.

Communication may finally settle more around 4/26 as Mercury exits its post-retrograde shadow. Notably, 09° Aries was the point of our solar eclipse in March, so things may feel a bit angsty and larger than life as we pass through this transition.

Venus

Like Mercury, Venus will round out the last legs of her 40-day retrograde journey as we enter the month of April. Until she stations direct on 4/12 under the light of the Libra full moon (ruled by Venus), we will be working to reform and rediscover how we interact with others. Venus always gets called the planet and romance, but that is overly simplistic - she rules over how we interact with others diplomatically and not-so-diplomatically. When Venus is well placed in the skies, interpersonal relationships tend to run more smoothly; when she is poorly placed, they are more likely to go awry.

Mars, our other relationship planet, was retrograde from December through the end of February, so we've been in this relationship hole for a while now. Times like this test the strength of our interpersonal relationships (big R and otherwise). Undoubtedly, there have been breakups and big reveals. It's been notable that both Venus and Mars have been poorly placed through each of their retrogrades (Venus retrogrades in Aries, the sign of her exile, and Mars retrogrades in Cancer, the sign of his fall). Everybody has been out of patience, out of time, and too emotionally strung out to be able to do more than the bare minimum for five months.

We deserve a break.

We will get one, but there's still more to iron out before we get there.

On 4/2, Venus conjuncts the North Node at 26° Pisces - this is one of THE fated moments in this retrograde cycle. Watch what comes up during this time or what disappears. This is your cosmic reminder that if a partner says they want to leave you, believe them. Move on with your fucking life. You deserve someone who WANTS to be with you.

Venus is exalted in Pisces, but she still has a shadow side, and that is emotional manipulation. This is a significant stellium between retrograde Venus, the North Node, retrograde Mercury, and Saturn. If Venus conjunct the North Node speaks of fated relationships (I use that term loosely here - no two people are meant to be together) - when you add in Saturn, this is the hammer of fate. Retrogrades are more indicative of endings than beginnings.

This is definitely break-up weather. I know every time I say that, I freak some people out. I want to clarify that breakup weather won't even slow down a couple who's well suited for each other and committed to working through their differences. It does show irreconcilable differences and sometimes forces someone's hand.

Venus retrograde is a reminder that sometimes, love isn't enough.

This is further indicated because Venus is about to make double trines to Mars, our other relationship planet. First, retrograde Venus will trine Mars in Cancer on 4/6, and then she will do so again while she is in Aries and he is in Leo next month. We can see the first as a test and the second as a reward for those who passed if you wish. Trines are overall positive, but a trine between Venus in retrograde and Mars in his fall is so-so, at best.

Then, just to be a stick-in-the-mud, retrograde Venus conjuncts Saturn at 25° Cancer on 4/7. I suspect this will be a hard day, especially for Venusian types (artists/femmes/all Taurus and Libra types). We are being asked to be mature about how interactions with other people - this will piss some people off, for sure. It's worth remembering that Venus in Pisces is the universal lover, she believes ALL people deserve more love, not just who you deem worthy. This can be a hard sell in a divided world.

Things will get notably lighter as Venus stations direct on 4/12, but we still have a lot of ground to cover on our post-retrograde shadows (Mercury, Venus, AND Mars), so we aren't out of the proverbial woods yet.

Venus will do the same thing all over again; she first conjuncts the North Node at 25° Pisces on 4/20 and then Saturn at 26° Pisces on 4/24. It's worth keeping in mind that for this entire time (from 4/1 to 4/24), Venus has only moved 2 degrees, and she has kept this tight stellium to the North Node and Saturn through April. This is where the real meat is, to be a bit gross about it - this is where the sausage is made. This has the opportunity to be a real revolution of the Venusian spirit, and all Venus types (Taurus or Libra Sun/Moon/Ascendant/Venus or Venus conjunct to these points) will feel it hard.

And heavy. Saturn is always very heavy and is amplified by the amorphous depths of water Pisces and the 12th house of the unconscious. If you have hard Venus work to do (and you feel comfortable working with her in retrograde), April is the time to do it.

Finally, on 4/30, Venus enters Aries once more. Again, this is a big hit on that 00° point I mentioned in the Mercury section. But also, Venus is in exile in cardinal Aries, the opposite sign to her home, Libra. Having her further from Saturn and the North Node will feel better, but only just.

Mars

We're a month out from Mar's retrograde cycles, and it's starting to show. Life might, finally, feel like it's starting to pick up speed. We have to deal with half a month more of Mars in the sign of its fall in mutable Cancer, but by 4/18, we are in the clear as Mars enters Leo.

It is over. It is over. It is over.

Mars in Leo is the epitome of the brave lion: perhaps a bit recklessly fearless, even. Do what you need to do - this is good energy, and we could use a fiery Mars placement after that watery mess - but be careful where you roar, if you know what I mean. Mars in Leo tends to make people extra territorial, and some don't have any chill. Take that as you will.

Mars will square off with the Sun and oppose Pluto, but those feel like death rattles, nothing more.

It's smooth sailing ahead - the day Mars enters Leo is the perfect day to do some Mars magic if you've been holding off on working with him while he was retrograde and in his fall.

Jupiter and Saturn

Jupiter and Saturn are making moves to exit their current signs (Gemini and Pisces) and will continue to square off with one another as they do so. This is part of an ongoing cycle that will continue until Jupiter finally pulls ahead of its slower-moving rival.

The only major transit (other than Venus conjunct Saturn, covered above in the Venus section) is that Saturn will conjunct the North Node at 26° Pisces on 4/14. This aspect happens every 18-20 years, so it's a big deal. This is fate meets consequence, plain and simple. These two have similar impacts; combined, they pack a life-altering punch. This is more likely to be felt on a societal level - I would expect to see some significant upheaval occur on a global or at least regional level around the middle of the month.

If you have a personal planet at 26° of the mutable or water signs or mutable lunar nodes, you might want to stay aware through this transit. There is a chance this could hit a bit closer to home. This could, for some, feel a bit like an extra-special eclipse season made just for you. That could go really well or really badly.

Looking Ahead

May is going to be downright pedestrian after the last two months, but there is one big change on the horizon: mid-month, Saturn will enter Aries, completing our first hit on 00° Aries that I have been on about all year long. That will change everything. We'll talk about this more in the May update.

The Details

4/2 - Retrograde Venus conjunct the North Node 26° Pisces 4/4 - Mars in Cancer sextile Uranus in Taurus, Mars in Cancer trine Saturn in Pisces, Saturn in Pisces sextile Uranus in Taurus 4/6 - Sun in Aries sextile Jupiter in Gemini, Retrograde Venus in Pisces trine Mars in Cancer 4/7 - Mercury stations direct 26° Pisces, Retrograde Venus conjunct Saturn 25° Pisces 4/8 - Retrograde Venus in Pisces sextile Uranus in Taurus, Mars in Cancer trine North Node in Pisces 4/12 - Full moon 23° Libra, Sun conjunct Chiron 22° Aries, Venus stations direct 24° Pisces 4/14 - Saturn conjunct North Node 26° Pisces 4/16 - Mercury enters Aries 4/17 - Mercury conjunct Neptune 00° Aries 4/18 - Mars enters Leo 4/19 - Sun enters Taurus, Mars in Leo trine Neptune in Aries, Uranus in Taurus sextile North Node in Pisces 4/20 - Sun in Taurus square Mars in Leo, Mercury in Aries sextile Pluto in Aquarius, Venus in Pisces sextile Uranus in Taurus, Venus conjunct North Node 25° Pisces 4/23 - Sun in Taurus square Pluto in Aquarius 4/24 - Venus conjunct Saturn 26° Pisces 4/26 - Mercury exits its post-retrograde shadow 09° Aries, Mars in Leo opposed Pluto in Aquarius 4/27 - New moon 07° Taurus 4/30 - Venus enters Aries

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[backjustforberena]

Circling back the the tags in your recent Maryland re-watch post: I'd love to hear your thoughts and assumptions about Ros settling down on the island. Espc. considering going through the house, her mums stuff, pictures, writing, THE LETTER, and learning more about her general life there. Do you think she'll adabt to being 'Mary's daughter' as you put it? - that is the Mary the ppl on the island knew, not quite the person she always had believed her mother to be - or would she rather choose to detach herself from that in a way to build a whole new foundation for herself? What kind of identity would Ros possibly carve for herself there? What would her routine, favorite places, social circle be like?

Your thoughts on any of this are welcome any time 🤍

(And yes don't get me started on THE JACOB OF IT ALL either)

*limbers up for this answer*

OKAY, so first of all, I just want to say that those tags were sort of instant thoughts and kind of unfiltered. I think when I get started on a character and specifically start looking at fic and the possibility of writing, I have to ask myself lots of questions. And I don't necessarily have answers to these questions, but fic and meta and conversations are the way I sort it all out in my head and start exploring the space, almost. A part of that is also interrogating the text, get not only a sense of the character but the journey that character inhabits.

So, these tags are essentially an infodump of where my brain starts going when it thinks about where Rosaline goes next and, perhaps more importantly, what would be interesting and natural for her to have to go through after we last see her. She's made this big decision, she's gone through this metamorphosis - so what's on the other side? What are the consequences of that? And what do we have from the show that would inform us of likely outcomes?

The reason that those tags came up, specifically, was, funnily enough, not a result of that kind of analysis, but something born more of a potential fic structure. As the renovation of the house was underway, and met milestones, so to would Rosaline's new life: settling in. And each big thing that would physically happen to the house could easily be tied with something far more emotion. The very act of going through that house, as well as doing it up, is an extension of still discovering her mother's second life and reconciling with her death. And something like that would permeate outside of the house as well: with her relationships with Pete and Cathy, with the island itself, with the evolving nature of things with her father and Becca. All of that isn't over.

It's like... I don't know, to paint the hallway or deal with that portion of the house. There's the physical of doing that, but what does that consist of? You could cover Rosaline taking down all the photos that were there. So, if I were to write that, then you've got to think about how she might transfer those into a book or consider keeping them in frames: what should she do with them? She'd be looking into the face of her Mum but also looking at her maternal grandmother, who had this house before them. She'd see photos of Becca, younger, and think on that time. She'd see the photos of herself and know exactly when they were taken. Unlike with Suranne, I couldn't spot any photos of Eve that didn't look specifically taken for this production and they were repeated (i.e different photos but same time/date), so you could extrapolate on that. She could remember when they were taken and think about the lack of photos across the years - perhaps a result of her pulling away or being distant or having work or even being ill.

All of that comes with just the physical need to paint the hallway.

Going through the house also invites interaction with others. The other major event that would would be the funeral. But with the house, she'd be figuring out what to keep or donate - maybe some of it is Pete's stuff and he could want it back so that would require him to come around. Or something sentimental for Cathy. Maybe Rosaline would be going through books and find her mother's notes in the margins and send a picture of them to Becca. And yeah, I'm sure Jacob might be a handy man to have around. So, yeah, long story short - the house renovation, amongst other things, would seem like an easy and nice way of structuring a fic across time and focusing on that journey. After all, the house was central to the tv series.

Other things she'd have to deal with have already been listed: we know she got a letter but it's in London. There will come a time when she'll have to read that. There's the open-end of the police investigation (I think Pete told the police) and mending fences with Cathy, which I think is something she'd want to do. There's the funeral itself, having the family come back, the will-he-won't-he of their Dad coming. There's the job she's going for, the life she's leaving (not only her flat and her job but the "thing" with Nick). The friends of her Mum's that she's not met yet.

Would she be known as "Mary's daughter"? I don't know. We can't really tell how well people knew Mary. There's no implication that Jacob ever did. But we do have the writing group and we do have Cathy saying that the island is small and things get around. Rosaline moving into the house and doing it up and potentially hiring people etc etc - that'd make some sort of noise. But I like the idea of her feeling close to her Mum. We had her tell Jacob that they weren't close - they said they were because that's what you do, but they weren't.

I think Rosaline would have liked to know her Mum more, and maybe make peace with the similarities they have. I think the stuff in Becca's letter where her Mum was writing about having to rely on others and not have control over what would happen to her really struck something. As Rosaline says, again to Jacob, she knew what it was like to be poorly. And she exhibited a hunger to know what her Mum was like on the island - it was one of the reasons she was so honest with Cathy, which made the lying all the worse. Trying to search for a woman she felt she didn't know.

I don't imagine her to be magically transformed by her choice to stay. I don't think she'd create a complete opposite of what her life was before, as much as one could be led down that road (I just keep thinking about the contrast between that house and her flat). I still imagine she'd keep running rather than switch to wild swimming. I think she'd still keep her health as a priority, keep low on sugar, be standoffish to new people, be glued to her phone and I think she'd be getting decent internet ASAP so as not to need to camp out at a café. She is a person: she's a grown woman, and change is hard.

I don't like going with the idea that the Isle of Man or this decision was something she needed to "fix" her - it is just simply that she's going through a transition or a change and that that is softening elements of her and/or she's changing priorities. We never hear her bemoaning her life. She doesn't say to Becca that she's been living her life in the worst way, she hates who she has become etc etc. It's not that grandiose. And not that certain: it's all still... hesitant (if that's the right word). She says she's going to rent out the house rather than saying she wants to live there permanently, there's a job she "might" go for. Even the language she uses regarding Jacob is without pressure and non-committal. He can "hang around". All we really know is that she's staying "for me".

I imagine she's not slowed down for a very long time. I think she probably runs from vulnerability and the way she's done that is to try and bury her illness and run away from all that is associated with that. I imagine that when she got ill for the second time, as soon as she got well again, she was off like a rocket. And trying to both pretend it had never happened and live a life where she reduced her risk of it happening again, but also mitigate the fallout if it did - just work, no relationships, no reliance on anyone else. We have this sense that if she had been diagnosed the third time, she probably would have hidden it. Or refused the sort of aid she'd had to have had before, prior to the shift with the sisters' relationship.

So, what this move is, really, is to slow down. And to get some perspective and attempt to open herself up to newness. That's how I see it. It's not a rejection of her old life, per se, just embracing a new one with a reassurance that it's not finite. That she doesn't require the safety net of her predictable life in London. It's trying out new stuff, I guess. For however long that needs to happen.

[victorluvsalice]

Happy Birthday Squid!

@gaydragonwizards -- as per your previous request, here is a story about Romero teaching Melody how to shoot, back before some of the major nonsense in our RP stuff! I hope you enjoy!

---

“Okay, so – for our first lesson in shooting, I figured we’d start off with handguns.”

Romero snapped open the case in front of him, gesturing for Melody to take a look. “Got us a pair of basic Brokk 17cs here – they’re some of the easiest guns to get and carry around Los Angeles. I mean, pretty much every gang-banger and wanna-be crime lord on the street has got one of these in their back pocket or shoulder holster. Small, light, pretty easy to handle – downside is that they don’t have the greatest stopping power, but – well. You’re a Kindred – you’ve got other ways to stop people. And trust me, anything is better than that .38 your mother was using for fucking ages.” He rolled his eyes at the memory. “Seriously, I have no idea how she lasted until Hollywood with that damn thing. Like, she went down into the fucking Nosferatu sewers when that lizard asshole was filling them with shit with that and somehow managed to come out the other side.” He paused and considered this. “Then again, I guess she had Alice backing her up there. . .and let me tell you, that woman is terrifying with a knife.”

Melody made a grunt of agreement, then started reaching for one of the guns, clearly eager to begin. “Whoa – slow down there,” Romero said, putting his hand in front of theirs and earning himself a look. “Let’s get one thing straight right here, right now, okay? You don’t do anything until I tell you to. I’m the teacher here, and you’re gonna respect that.”

Melody’s eyes narrowed challengingly. “Don’t start – your mom’s asked me to teach you how to shoot a gun, and I’m happy to give you a few lessons,” Romero told them, frowning right back. “Knowing how to shoot, and shoot well, is a fucking lost art these days, and I wanna keep it around. But I know what you’re like, kid – that you’re into screwing around whenever you think you can get away with it. And normally I wouldn’t give a shit – but you cannot pull that while we’re having shooting lessons.” He wagged a finger at them. “I mean that – guns are dangerous. I mean, yeah, fine, not as dangerous to you guys as they are to humans and ghouls, but getting shot, especially in the right spot, still ain’t fun. You gotta respect your weapon – and more importantly, you gotta know how to handle it before you even think of pulling that trigger. I know you’re a smart kid, and you’ll pick up this shit fast, but you gotta listen to me. You start fuckin’ around, and I’ll end the lesson right here.” He leaned in for emphasis, meeting Melody’s gaze head-on. “And I’ll tell your mother exactly why.”

Melody’s expression went from “resting sullen” to “oh shit.” “Yeah, I figured that’d get your attention,” Romero said, allowing himself a tiny smirk. “I’m gonna try and keep it fun for you, I promise – we got loads of cans and bottles to shoot off the fence, for starters. But like I said, guns are dangerous, and I don’t want to be the one to explain to Ari why you’ve got a bullet wound or two in you – or in me. We do this, we’re doing it right. Good?”

Melody nodded, setting their face in “I’m ready and willing to learn” mode. “Great. So, before you even pick that thing up, a couple of safety tips to remember – always treat any gun as if it’s loaded. Even if you unloaded it yourself. Shit can happen, bullets can get chambered without you knowing, and it’s just not worth the risk. Second, always keep your finger off the trigger unless you intend to shoot. It’s too fucking easy to pull it without meaning to. And third, always be aware of not only your target, but what’s beyond it. Bullets go fast, and – depending on the caliber of the bullet and the gun – can punch through more stuff than you think. You don’t want to shoot a guy, only for the bullet to go right through him and hit your buddy on the other side.” He wagged his finger again. “What it comes down to is, well, don’t be an idiot. Think you can pull that off?”

Melody leveled another look at him. “Yeah, yeah, I know, lived under all our noses in that junkyard for who knows how long, you got brains and can take care of yourself. Just humor me and nod.”

That got a small smile, and the requested nod. “Fantastic. Okay – now you can pick up the gun, and I’ll show you how to check it and how to load it up. . .”

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