#let me know it it's unrealistic!! )

[brainrot-jikan]

im not the biggest alhaitham/kaveh shipper (because im a rare pair ho) but it seems to me that in alhaitham/kaveh getting-together fics tend to be... unequal.

the beautiful thing about alhaitham and kaveh is that they're both equally right and equally wrong and equally dicks about it. but the writers for alhaitham/kaveh much more frequently seem to give alhaitham the burden change (the burden of the character flaw) instead of kaveh.

in any good character arc, the main character has a fatal flaw or misconception, and by the end of that arc they have addressed that flaw in some definitive way. scrooge was a scrooge and learned that being that way was detrimental; merlin from finding nemo was overprotective to a fault and had to learn that he couldn't (and shouldn't) control everything and to let go; the wolf from little red riding hood learns that you should stop while you're ahead.

stories centering around romance tend to lean heavily on character arcs, which makes sense. and since romance generally requires two individuals to be vulnerable and open and emotional with each other, it makes double sense that alhaitham/kaveh authors zoom straight into alhaitham's lack of emotional vulnerability.

this bothers me.

in society, individuals are expected to experience and present emotions in a specific way. if someone dies, you cry. if someone smiles at you, you smile back. if you're at a party, you're supposed to be having fun. if you don't do these things, you're seen as impolite at best and a inhuman freak at worst. when these behaviors are frequent it's often viewed as emotional immaturity, or a lack of ability to feel at all. the inability or lack of willingness to conform to societies emotional expectations of you is seen as a flaw and a reason for exclusion.

alhaitham is canonically disliked and avoided for being the way he is. he prefers it this way, but that doesn't mean the people perpetuating this avoidance are in the right. they are the societal pressure to conform that alhaitham blows off. alhaitham could be the way he is for a lot of reasons: avoidant attachment style, trauma, following someone else's example (eg. his grandmother), or just his base personality. it doesn't MATTER. he is the way he is. kaveh having to accept that should be part of the story.

putting the burden of the fatal flaw on alhaitham, making the way alhaitham treats kaveh and the people around him the problem, feels invalidating. it implies heavily that alhaitham's way of interfacing with the world, alhaitham's very SELF, is incorrect. my suggestion is to flip a larger portion of that burden onto kaveh. kaveh 👏 character 👏 arcs 👏

some examples/recommendations:

- make kaveh project his insecurities onto other people but especially onto alhaitham; he's overly reliant on other people for his own self worth, and he perceives alhaitham's lack of positive feedback as a direct reflection of how alhaitham feels about him. but learns along the way that alhaitham doesn't hate him, kaveh's actual struggle is with hating himself and being unable to his own self as worthy of love. maybe throw in how you are responsible for your own recovery, other people can help but you can't rely on them to carry you through self actualization.

- or, kaveh tries to make alhaitham behave more like a "normal" person, to be more pleasant and emotive and forthcoming, and then realizes he's in the wrong for trying to make alhaitham into something he's not, possibly for all the wrong reasons (not because he likes alhaitham better like that, but bc society says that's healthier and a better/more conforming way to be)

- or you could go ahead make alhaitham's issues the main problem but they're too complicated to overcome in a short period of time, so kaveh has to accept alhaitham is doing his best in his own way and not push for unrealistic and unhealthy changes. he could alter his own behavior to give alhaitham space and time and a safe place to land.

that got sappy so it's past time for me to dip out. go forth and ship things; but maybe consider letting alhaitham be a rude stone-faced bastard if he wants to be.

[tetri-mina]

What if st5 gets released March 22nd…

[gojooooo]

man i love open endings. the fact that thanks to yuuji there might indeed be the next time sukuna talks about in case some idiot decides to eat a finger again. and we need fics where yuuji is that idiot

[crownedwille]

Are there still Crown Prince!Wilhelm stans out there despite S3 turning it into the number one problem? Please report, we need to unite and no, that doesn't mean that I don't support Wille's mental health and happiness and that I love the monarchy, some people out there must get it

[celestialecho]

🌦️&💤

on childhood best friends.

via ill give you the sun by jandy nelson // via the art of ponyo by hayao miyazaki // jack johnson, we're going to be friends // a message from my childhood best friend // mitski, i guess // via a little life by hanya yanagihara // adventure time, island song (come along with me) // via unknown // abba, chiquitita

[andypantsx3]

a shouto x driving instructor reader fic, where he is the most appallingly horrible driver in the entire universe

[tending-the-hearth]

okay but what if echo did testify in the senate.

what if it was broadcasted live, all over the galaxy, because they believed riyo would be proved wrong.

what if echo's words are sent out and heard by everyone, everyone listening, for once, to a clone, a clone who tells a story of horrors, of experiencing things no natborn could ever dream of surviving, of running and taking his family with him, of the desperation to provide his sister, the youngest of them all, with a life far, far away from war and harm, of watching, feeling, hearing his home destroyed, and being able to do nothing about it.

(fully imagining a scene similar to hevy’s testimony in @meridiansdominoes’s fic, just echo staring down every single senator around him, making sure every single one of them hears the words that he's saying)

omega would be standing with riyo, hidden away from the cameras, of course, but watching her brother with the brightest, most awe-filled eyes

rex, sitting in the warehouse with hunter, wrecker, and tech, watching echo and trying not to cry, because that's one of his boys up there, defending every single one of their brothers, protecting them.

tucked away, their children fast asleep, cut and suu listen, cut unable to stop the bittersweet smile as the brother he barely knows pours his heart out and tells the story of the clones.

somewhere, hunkering down, a deserter hiding, cody hears his echo, hears his ad, and all he feels is fierce, burning pride for him, and wonders about what the ramrod, reg-following shiny would think of himself now.

maybe crosshair hears the broadcast, watches it tucked away in his bunk, alone and exhausted, staring at the face of his ori'vod, and something starts to stir, something that makes his heart yearn just a little for his siblings.

and maybe, just maybe, hidden away on some isolated planet, there’s a trio of clones sitting in darkness.

one of the clones isn’t even listening to echo’s words, only his voice.

a voice he hasn’t heard in years.

far away from coruscant, fives shares a look with tup and dogma, and makes a decision.

they’re helping their brothers, continuing the fight they started.

[mee-op]

look, the replaced mc au is always sad, being replaced for the new person will always sting- especially if said person is mean and cruel and lies a bunch, and the fic includes the other students not believing yuu when they tell them about it.

but i think what would be even worse if it was slow and gradual, and if the new student was a genuinely nice person. can you imagine? the knowledge that you're slowly losing your closest friends, the ones who've been there for you since you came into this brand new world and not knowing what to do about it. and what's even worse is that you can't be mad at the new student, they're nice and sweet and they really didn't do anything wrong. so all that hate goes to no one but yourself.

[catgirlreisuwa]

Me when I am literally twenty and five years of age and I have literally just found out there are consequences to my actions

[bredforloyalty]

MAY be that i'm cute as hell and employable as hell..

[gncrezan]

okay deliriously mad about this specific bit in an f/oa review. YOU HAVE JUST PLAYED. A GAME. ABOUT FOUND FAMILY. where hermes in multiple instances expresses the fact he feels more at home in the underworld, doesn't have a good relationship with his father anymore and feels as though he is always playing a role on olympus. if you fucking choose to stay on olympus despite building a relationship with the wider cast and hermes, OF COURSE he is going to reject any advances and break off a budding relationship. BECAUSE THE PC HAS JUST PROVED TO HIM THAT THEY HAVE NOT LISTENED OR TAKEN TO HEART ANY OF THE THINGS HE'S BEEN WORRIED ABOUT. the pc chooses to rejoin a community that ostracizes the people he cares most about and essentially does what hera does, use the underworld as a getaway from olympus when it suits them, without caring deeply about the underworld itself. like cmon. some criticism i can get but this one.. KEEP MY WIFE'S NAME OUT OF YOUR MOUTH!

[cherry-treelane]

everytime i feel bad and stressed about my life i remember that i might be in a troubling situation and having a bad time but im not season 4 fiona gallagher in the clink after leaving crack on the counter which my 3 year old baby brother happened to ingest resulting in a fatal near-death experience thats wracked me with never-ending guilt and forever altered my life

[oopsallsyscourse]

Ngl I hate how "the future is plural" has become a big thing for everybody because it is a little bit of a trigger for me (for pretty obvious reasons if you know me and my blog).

Can we pick a new catchphrase pretty please just for me

[andrigyn]

Just filled out a consultation form to go to another salon after doing more in depth research. These r the pictures I included < 3

[skepticalcatfrog]

The tiktok Chloe made about TVD today makes me think they're definitely doing some sort of special edition for the 5 year anniversary of the original release and can I just say. What I wouldn't give to do art for that edition of the book.

[puppytoast]

Me glancing at steam d@wntrail reviews

robert downy jr meme: They are missing the point that this is a slow journey before destination story about trying to sincerely learn about, communicate with and work with others because we all have differing perspectives and lives that could benefit one another. That we should not jump to judgements of people we only see the basic surface of because there is always a reason for people's actions. That everyone is worth saving, yeah even that one that did unforgivable shit.