#not a good example to pick if you're trying to prove this is the guy doing that to her character

[bigboobshaunt]

It's like, not Not A Problem that they keep giving Zelda the role of Damsel In Distress but I think trying to single out Fujibayashi as a director as responsible for this is a bit... farcical considering the games he didn't direct... also do that, tracing back to the very first one.

[lildavesblog]

Pumpkin Carving | Kimi Antonelli

requested? : yes!! ‘Heyyy. I had an ideas for spooktober. soooo maybe kimi or ollie with the reader and they need to carve a pumpkin (for a prema video for example) and both of them are just really bad at it and keep goofing around. Just like a little drabble. Thank youu <3’

summary : when you and kimi are paired together to carve a pumpkin for a prema video, things get a little out of hand

disclaimers : second pov (you/your), implied driver!reader, google translated italian

word count : 0.8k

a/n : thank you for the request! I am so sorry for the long wait, but I really loved this idea!! had a lot of fun writing this one!

“Oh you guys picked a bad pairing,” you said as you looked out at the Prema marketing team, who were adjusting the lighting and messing with the settings on the camera. On the table in front of you were two small pumpkins and a few different knives and spoons to use to carve them.

“No, we’re going to do great,” the curly-haired boy spoke from beside you, gently nudging your shoulder. You turned your head, giving him a doubtful look, which only generated laughs from behind the camera.

“Okay, you can start whenever,” a female voice from behind the camera told you, and so you two quickly went through introducing yourselves and what you guys were doing.

You started with grabbing one of the tiny carving knives, and pulling the small pumpkin closer, trying to carve around the stem so you could empty the inside, but it was proving to be a bit difficult. You glanced over to see Kimi on the same step as you, struggling to get the knife through the pumpkin. At one point, as you had nearly gotten the top off, Kimi began trying a new tactic of repeatedly stabbing the top of the pumpkin.

“Oh my god,” you exclaimed, scooting your chair further away from him. “You are about to lose knife privileges,” you added, watching with wide eyes as he absolutely murdered the top of the pumpkin. He somehow was able to take the top off though, and then turned to you with a smirk.

“See? My idea worked,” Kimi said, before his eyebrows furrowed together seeing you had moved to the very end of the table. “What are you doing over there? You're going to be out of frame,” he said, laughing as he reached over and pulled your chair back to where it was before.

“I do not want to be this close to you,” you said with a laugh as well. Eventually you had been able to remove the top from your pumpkin, and then grabbed one of the wide plastic spoons to try to scoop the insides out.

“This is so gross,” you said, turning your head away from the pumpkin, both the sight and smell making your stomach churn. You tried to scoop out some of the seeds, but the second the slimy insides touched your hand you gave up, pulling your hand out with a very disgusted look on your face.

“It’s not that bad y/n,” Kimi said, having already emptied a good portion of his pumpkin.

“No, this is so bad,” you said, looking around the table for something to wipe your hand off with, but couldn’t find anything. You turned to Kimi, not really thinking twice before using the sleeve of his Mercedes shirt to wipe your hand on.

Kimi’s eyes widened as he turned to you, although a wide smile was on his face. “You did not just do that,” he said, a devious look in his eyes, which made you realize that was definitely a bad idea.

“Kimi- don’t you dare,” you began, but it was too late. He had already grabbed a small handful of the pumpkin seeds from his pumpkin and smeared it on the sleeve of your shirt.

Your mouth dropped, eyes wide as he nearly doubled over in laughter at your reaction. Despite how disgusting you thought the inside of the pumpkin was, it didn’t stop you from reaching your hand into your pumpkin, grabbing a handful of the squishy seeds, and returning the favor as you smeared it along the front of his shirt, hiding the Mercedes logo.

“Oh, it’s on,” Kimi said, a laugh falling from his lips as you jumped from your seat, laughing with him as you pushed your chair between the two of you. That didn’t stop him from gently throwing a handful of the pumpkin at you, which hit you in the stomach.

From behind the camera, the entire marketing team was absolutely dying with laughter.

“Okay, that’s it,” you whispered under your breath, once again grabbing a small handful of the slimy seeds. A large smile was on your lips, however, energetic laughter matching Kimi’s as you chased him around the table. You stopped, with him on one end, you on the other, and leaned over the table, reaching your hand up and ran it through his dark curls.

Simultaneously, Kimi had reached his hand up, which had gone unnoticed by you, and rubbed pumpkin across your cheek.

Both of your eyes widened, your contagious laughter falling silent, although the marketing team was still laughing. Your eyes met, and the split second of disbelief quickly broke away into large smiles.

“I cannot believe you just did that,” you said, holding your hands up. “Truce?” you quickly asked, as Kimi bent his head down, shaking some of the pumpkin from his hair.

“Truce, piccolo diavolo,” Kimi said, sending a playful glare your way as he made his way back around the table. translation : little devil

“You are unbelievable,” you said with a smile as you both sat down to try and finish the video, although the likelihood of that was pretty low.

requests are open! please send some in!

dividers by @/bernardsbendystraws

[mikalame]

hi, I was wondering if you could write some Bill x reader angst please, where Bill gets jealous bc of the reader's "fan service" towards fanboys ( for example she flirts with them (as a joke ofc), winks at them on stage...) and one day they just have a big fight bc of that, also the reader is a girl and a member of the band. Bye ;)

This is My first angst, i dont think ill make a Pt2 to this as i kinda like were i finished it tell me what you think about it mabey ill do more angst who knows 🤫

Bills a little toxic in this, but they arent really good for eachother, just pretend the band wont break up or anything ahaha.

taglist@oppopotamus@adissonsss@violentnewmarley@saumspam

"Did you really have to wink at them again" Bill scoffs as he chucks his bag down on the floor walking into the hotel room.

You guys were bombarded when you got off the plane, which is to be expected as a rock star with a world wide fan base, having fans in every country in itself is good but not when your fans are a bit touchy and you have a bit of a playful personality.....expectantly when your boyfriend is a tad bit of a jealous person.

"Really Bill we just got here and you're already picking a fight, can't we just relax after a 13 hour flight, huh?" you question, getting sick of bills arguments you try and assure him that hes all you need but he cant seem to get it in his head, making you feel like your practically cheating on him when you arent your just being friendly, at least in your mind you are.

"Well you seem pretty energetic when that guy came up and hugged you, real tight" Bill looked away, his eyebrows pinched thinking over the airport insident.

"Bill really, i was JUST hugging him like i dont everybody, he wasnt special hes just a fan, a NICE fan who asked for a hug" You retort rolling your eyes, shoving your suit case under the bed not bothering to pack it away yet.

"Whats wrong Bill, huh, you seem so uptight about this whole thing, do you still think im gonna leave you, Bill, im YOUR girlfriend not anybody else and you may think that i would but i wont and i never will" You argue, completely over Bill and his jealousy.

"No because i know you would all the flirting you do when fans come up to you in party's you grab their arms and laugh at all their jokes, their not even funny half the time but you still laugh like its the funniest thing in the world, you BARELY EVER laugh at my jokes huh, am i not funny or something"

Bill continues to rant letting all of it off his chest, you felt your anger rise getting annoyed that bills painting you as some sort of villain that would cheat on him any chance she got.

"Yeah Bill i laught at their jokes because its NICE-"

"So is it a chore or something to laugh at my jokes" He cuts you off rolling his eyes walking over to the couch sitting down with a huff.

"No Bill and you know thats not true, its different, we're their IDOLS they look up to us, we're CELERITYS, im gonna laugh at whatever stupid joke they make to make THEM happy, to make THEM feel great that they made THEIR IDOL smile and laugh, its not that i dont find you funny bill because u dont your a funny person its just i dont see you or anyone in the band as a celebrity i just see you guys as normal people-".

"Oh so im not even named your boyfriend anymore im just a 'normal person' that babe feel REAL nice right now" He scoffs again flicking through the channels on the t.v.

"OMG BILL YOUR BEING SO DIFFICULT RIGHT NOW" you yell, frustrated about how hes acting right now, he does this all the time bringing this argument up again then leaving the argument when you starts to become frustrated.

"I cant do this bill" You sigh slumping down onto the hotel bed, Bill looks over raising his eyebrow he had never heard you give up in an argument your always fighting to prove that your right.

but as both of your emotions are high right now one of you are bound to say something your gonna regret, just like bill did.

"Oh yeah what to much for you?, you just gonna give up on this realtionship, not even gonna try and fix it, just gonna up and leave" he scoffs standing up, looking at you down his nose not thinking your actully going to do what he thought you would.....

but you did

"Bill were not good for each other, your to jealous and cant handle that im maybe am a bit to sweet to our fans but i cant help it a-and i know you cant handle it either, s-so i think this is where this relationship should end- this is for the best for both of us i think... and for the band you know" you say shakily standing up walking slowly to your bed that has the suitcase under it.

"W-wait baby y-your joking right, i didn't mean it, i'll get over it I SWEAR" he begs tears flowing down his cheeks his eyeliner and mascara running with the tears.

"No Bill you wont, this relationship wont work, it's toxic for me and you, this- this is for the best i think" You say sighing as you pull your bag up opening the handle up and holding onto it.

You listen to bill sobs as he tries to bargen with you, to make you stay, his promises of how he wont be jealous and he'll do better, words that fell on deaf ears as you have already made up your mind, knowing even in your mind blurry with emotions that this would be the best for both Bill and You.

[thedawningofthehour]

Okay I lied I do actually want to do something for the anniversary. (it won't be the anniversary by the time I post this but shhhhh)

It's not going to be turtle themed though. You guys remember last year when I made fun of rich people's houses? I'd like to do that again.

This...domicile comes to us from Camden, Maine, with seven bedrooms and six baths, tops out at 6,000 square feet and can be yours for a paltry two million.

They really wanted to show off that they had money for the fountain.

Also, is it just me or do rich people houses seem woefully cheap compared to regular people houses? Like, 2 mil is a lot, but if you do the math with the space and amenities they have-like, I highly doubt you could put three 2,000 sqft houses on this parcel of land and get one for 650k. Definitely not in Camden. I remember the first time we moved we looked at one house that was nearly 2 mil-for fun, even when we had money we didn't have that much money-and it was probably about half the size of this. And it was in suburban TC, not a ritzy summer colony. And had been built twenty years before, not the previous as this one was.

Plus this was 2008. The...particular economics of that year in regards to housing prices aside, two mil in 2008 is, uh...quite a bit more now.

So if you expand this picture, you'll see that there's Asian-esque map-looking things set into the wall, and Asian writing over the door. I think they're Chinese characters, but I'm not 100% certain. This entire house has a supposedly Asian theme. I have...things to say, but I'll hold off for now until I have more examples to show what I'm talking about.

Also I just can't with the stone choices. Kudos to them for actually trying to landscape though.

...

I mean, I will give them points for doing the complete inverse of a Lawyer Foyer. Those columns though. Like. When have those ever looked good outside a hotel lobby? When have they ever looked good inside a hotel lobby? How much dust does those bottoms collect? Why do they seemingly have hotel curtains as well?

Usually, columns like this are made of foam with a stone veneer, I think these are at least partially real. A lot of stuff in this house misses the 'cheap shit designed to look expensive' marker that defines McMansions, it looks genuinely decadent-it's just ugly as shit.

THEY HAVE TWO CHANDELIERS. ONE WASN'T ENOUGH FOR THEM, THEY HAD TO HAVE TWO MASSIVE CHANDELIERS TO PROVE THEIR DINGDONGS. AND THAT'S IN ADDITION TO THE FOYER CHANDELIER.

I like how they put the bar in directly next to the front door. Like they know you're going to walk in and will immediately need a drink.

Why is there this ugly gold runner everywhere? I feel like I'm in Trump Tower. Or a gourmet candy bar.

Yes I see the cabinet, no we're not going to talk about it right now. While I love seeing houses that actually have color in them, I'm just...the teal and pink is fine, but it's hard to pull off different variants of a color together. Teal and true blue, it's just...it doesn't work. And these guys have TVs on like every wall for some reason?

Mostly just including this picture to point out the safe on the floor. In the dining room. And to call attention to the weird goldish-bronze border that doesn't seem to start and end where it's supposed to.

Also, yes, these walls are entirely done in tile. It's like they wanted to do something other than the beige but couldn't decide what to go with so they just worked the kitchen tile through the rest of the house.

Speaking of the kitchen...

What

I. I don't. I. I. Why the sink-

????????!!!!

There's...I just don't. Like. You can't even pick a place to start.

The fact that they picked pretty much the busiest tile pattern known to man wouldn't have been such a big deal...if they hadn't tiled the inside and outside of the cabinets. And removed the doors to said cabinets. And hadn't picked a second, equally busy tile pattern to play against the first.

Actually, let's go back to the two tile patterns. Not only are they both way too busy to work with each other, they're both browns...but completely the opposite variants of brown. The lower pattern has more blacks and greys and even a bit of blue in it, while the border browns are warmer shades. You really can't mix warm and cool shades of the same color. It just doesn't look good.

And we have to talk about that counter. It looks somehow like the cheapest 90s shit you'd see in a roller rink or an ocean-themed Chuck E. Cheese, but also you know it cost ungodly amounts of money.

Why is it so thin? Why is the sink so deep in the island? Why is the recessed lighting lopsided?

And we're not even touching upon the floor. These people clearly did not understand feature elements. The floor, counter, and both sets of tile are all dueling for dominance, and we're the neglected child caught up in the custody battle sitting on the lawn with our bags. This kitchen was designed by someone who didn't care if god forgave them.

Oh okay, so we're just using those tiles throughout the entire house now. Fantastic.

That...counter is not beating the 90s cheese allegations.

Is it just me, or does the second chandelier look like it would clip your head on the way down?

No yeah, it is straight-up Right Fucking There. Completely unnecessary too, considering the plethora of recessed lighting. And they've somehow managed to make this hallway look busy despite having absolutely nothing on the walls.

I'm putting in three photos to show that these are in fact different rooms. I'm not including the other bedroom photos because I literally don't know if they're other bedrooms or just different angles of these bedrooms, because every bedroom is decorated exactly the same.

But this is what I meant when I called this house 'Asian-esque' earlier. Now, granted, I don't know a ton about modern architecture and design trends in Asia or among Asian-Americans, so I very much might be putting my foot in my mouth here and I fully deserve the ridicule if that is the case. But to me this doesn't feel like...legitimate. This feels like someone who wants to look cultured, who considers the Far East to be exotic and elegant and would unironically use the term Oriental to describe their style. It feels like they designed this without actually understanding anything about Asian art and architecture and had no desire to learn. It doesn't feel like one thing in particular, it feels like they took elements from Japanese, Chinese, and even Indian styles and gestured vaguely to all of them because they were too scared to commit.

You know, I'll give them credit, the blue does look nicer with the brown. It doesn't look good, but nicer.

Still the same lack of cabinet doors. And the same glow-in-the-dark bathroom counter. It took me a solid few seconds to find the sink there-and then I burst out laughing when I saw it.

I don't know why, but the stone plus that golden window insert makes me think Rocky Rococo.

WHY DOES THEIR GARAGE HAVE THE GRANITE FLOORING?!!

God, this is like my grandmother and her carpeted garage. But she has an excuse in that she doesn't give a fuck what you think.

I don't know why but this is fucking hysterical to me.

Also it doesn't look like there's a...door? To the garage? In Maine? Like, even if it's a heated garage, it's still going to be cold. And it's also dirty, like, you don't want bugs and car fumes wafting into your living spaces?

I haven't even mentioned the ceiling decoration or the crown molding. Or the fact that the crowd molding, doorways, and candy bar wrapper walls are all different shades of gold. And I'd like to keep it that way.

On a side note, what is up with all the recessed lighting? Not that they have it, but doesn't it seem like...a lot? Like, I feel like they could thin them out a bit, you're practically under hospital lights. People with recessed lighting, is this normal? I've only had it in one room of one house, but I don't remember it being this...dense. (I do remember my sister and I once knocked the glass out of the baffle while playing. that's how I learned that those things get really hot)

This is like a church basement if it was also The Backrooms.

[orions-athenaeumficlibrary]

When You're Smiling- Prologue

Pairing: College!Bucky Barnes x F!reader

Synopsis: Throughout your life you have been labeled "boring" because of your quiet, thoughtful nature. For example, you weren't a fan of parties, frats or really anything that required you to be around big groups of people. But after being dragged to a party, you meet someone who seems determined to prove that you have an adventurous side as well.

Chapter Warnings: panic attack, anxiety, drinking, sexual harassment

Word Count: 1.5k

Prologue

“Please Y/n. You don’t even have to stay for that long.” Sitting on the floor of your apartment, you continued to track your eyes over the pages of your textbook. You weren’t really retaining any information, you hadn’t been since your roommate Wanda barged in five minutes ago and began pestering you to go to a frat party with her. 

“Seriously, a night out would be good for you. You don’t even have to talk to anyone, but at least leave this apartment. Honestly, it’s getting kinda sad that you just sit here with your books every night-” 

“OK.” You cut off her somewhat offensive rambling by roughly slamming your psychology textbook shut. “If you are so concerned about my social life I will, for forty five minutes, go to this party.” Wanda squealed and threw her arms around you. 

“Thank you, I promise once you get there you’ll have so much fun!” Your face remained neutral but inside your stomach was beginning to twist itself into a tight knot. There was a reason you didn’t really like parties, of course you wouldn’t judge your friends for going to as many as they could, they just weren't your scene. “-oh, I’m gonna call Nat, she can bring over some tops for you to try, let me grab my phone, I’ll be right back.” You didn’t realize you had zoned out long enough for Wanda to bring your other friend Natasha into the equation. When Wanda left the room you tried to distract yourself from spiraling by watching the rain dance against the window. This is “cozy romance novel reading” weather, not “get wasted with a bunch of randos” weather, you thought to yourself, but then instantly shook your head and brushed your glasses up to rub your eyes. Maybe you were in desperate need of a party. Or not. Because frat parties were the worst. The last one you were at was three years ago during your freshman year: you went in excited to try something new, and ended the night drenched in someone else’s beer, with tears running down your cheeks and mascara staining your face. You didn’t know who spilled beer on you, but the tears and mascara combination was courtesy of having to watch the guy you liked make out with not one, but three girls that night. To top it all off, one of your heels had snapped, forcing you to walk home in 30 degree weather with no shoes. So you weren’t a fan of frat parties, and maybe you shouldn’t base your judgements on one awful experience, but you had never been party type before and that night seemed like a sign from the universe confirming, “you and parties do NOT mix.” 

Wanda’s hurried footsteps interrupted the mental storm that had been picking up speed over the time she was absent. 

“Ok, Nat is on her way, and she’s bringing options for shirts, and I have this new pair of heels that would look so-” 

“No. No heels, sorry Wan.” You said somewhat sheepishly. You hadn’t known Wanda yet when you went through the frat debacle a couple years ago and for some reason you had elected to withhold that story from your two closest friends. You weren’t sure why you hadn’t brought it up, maybe you figured they would stop trying to force you to party every weekend, or maybe they would insist you give it another try. The latter is what you were afraid of, and knowing Nat and Wanda, the former was not likely to happen. 

Wanda gave you a curious look, but if she thought something was off she didn’t say anything. Instead, she ran to the door as a buzz sounded on the intercom. 

_________________________________________

An hour later, you were dressed in a long sleeved open back top, baggy jeans, and a pair of well loved (extremely dirty) shoes. Wanda and Nat practically dragged you out of your apartment and down the street, laughing and talking animatedly all while you stayed quiet and counted the yellow taxis that rushed past you.

When the three of you finally made it to the party, an inky darkness had settled over the city. The grass beneath your feet was still damp from that afternoon’s rain and you couldn’t help but frown at how humid it had become, dreading how suffocating it was going to be inside the house. 

“Do you wanna grab something to drink?” Nat yelled over the bass as you tried to squeeze through the crowded entryway. You were immediately overwhelmed, strobe lights were flashing against the walls, music was shaking the floor and hot, sweaty bodies kept bumping up against you. You closed your eyes in an attempt to somehow center yourself. After a few seconds of futilely waiting for a moment of peace, you let your eyelids flutter open and to your annoyance, Nat and Wanda were no longer standing beside you. You knew it wasn’t their fault, and that they would never intentionally leave you alone, but you couldn’t stop the panic that began rising in your chest from the absence of your two friends. Not knowing what else to do, you shouldered your way through the mass of drunk college students, searching for a quiet place to stand and look for Nat and Wanda. You had scouted out a small, unoccupied alcove under the stairs and made your way to it. Two steps and you would have gotten some reprieve from the chaos, but instead a tall body blocked your path and sharp brown eyes eyed you up and down. 

“Haven’t seen you at one of these yet.” His voice was slightly slurred and the mix of alcohol and cheap cologne pouring off of him was almost nauseating. “You lookin’ for someone to spend a little time with?” He asked inching closer and forcing you to press your back against the railing of the staircase. Now your breath was coming much too quick and the familiar numbness sprouting in your fingertips told you that you were on the verge of having a panic attack. You’d been through enough over the past years to recognize when one was coming. You also knew that if you could’t find a calm place to ground yourself in the next few minutes you were going to break down. With your mind in panic mode, you glanced over your shoulder and saw that the staircase you were pinned against led to a seemingly quiet hall. Deciding that was your only option, you shoved the guy’s chest and used his sluggish, drunken state as an opportunity to escape his grasp and head towards the stairs. You jumped over the “Stay Downstairs or Thor Will Kick Your Ass” sign that was haphazardly strung across the bottom entryway and took the stairs two at a time to get to the hall. There were no lights on in the corridor, but the strobes from the party downstairs provided you with enough light to find a doorknob. You desperately pushed on the door, but it was locked, so you ran to the next one, only to find yourself in the same situation. You didn’t notice the faint glow under the third door you tried and you almost cried in relief when the knob turned without any resistance.

You hurried into the room and closed the door, pressing your back against the cool wood and shutting your eyes. Starting at 100, you took a deep breath and exhaled counting backwards by three in your head. In your anxious state, you barely noticed the tears that were rushing down your cheeks. And you really had not noticed that you weren’t alone in this room. 

“Uh, is everything- are you ok?” A baritone voice caused your eyes to shoot open as you desperately tried to figure out its source through your blurred vision. Bringing your hands to your eyes you began to furiously wipe away the tears, ignoring the slight burning caused by the friction from your shirt against your skin. 

“Hey, whoah, hold on, you're gonna hurt yourself.” The voice said again, this time with more urgency. Suddenly, a pair of warm hands wrapped carefully around your wrists, gently pulling your hands away from your face. You were able to blink back enough tears to make out a head of blonde hair, broad shoulders, and kind blue eyes. The man in front of you continued to coax you down from your panic, and slowly the tears stopped falling while your breaths evened out. As embarrassed as you were that this kind man had to witness your anxiety attack you were grateful for his help. But just as you began to offer your thanks the door was thrown open, and a deep voice shouted over the blaring music downstairs. 

“Steve, what the hell are you doing locked away in your-” his words trailed off as his cerulean blue eyes landed on your tear stained face…

Chapter One coming this week!

tags~

@vicmc624 / @sjsmith56

[orions-athenaeum]

When You're Smiling- Prologue

Pairing: College!Bucky Barnes x F!reader

Synopsis: Throughout your life you have been labeled "boring" because of your quiet, thoughtful attitude. For example, you weren't a fan of parties, frats or really anything that required you to be around big groups of people. But after being dragged to a party, you meet someone who seems determined to prove that you have an adventurous side as well.

Chapter Warnings: panic attack, anxiety, drinking, sexual harassment

Word Count: 1.5k

Prologue

“Please Y/n. You don’t even have to stay for that long.” Sitting on the floor of your apartment, you continued to track your eyes over the pages of your textbook. You weren’t really retaining any information, you hadn’t been since your roommate Wanda barged in five minutes ago and began pestering you to go to a frat party with her. 

“Seriously, a night out would be good for you. You don’t even have to talk to anyone, but at least leave this apartment. Honestly, it’s getting kinda sad that you just sit here with your books every night-” 

“OK.” You cut off her somewhat offensive rambling by roughly slamming your psychology textbook shut. “If you are so concerned about my social life I will, for forty five minutes, go to this party.” Wanda squealed and threw her arms around you. 

“Thank you, I promise once you get there you’ll have so much fun!” Your face remained neutral but inside your stomach was beginning to twist itself into a tight knot. There was a reason you didn’t really like parties, of course you wouldn’t judge your friends for going to as many as they could, they just weren't your scene. “-oh, I’m gonna call Nat, she can bring over some tops for you to try, let me grab my phone, I’ll be right back.” You didn’t realize you had zoned out long enough for Wanda to bring your other friend Natasha into the equation. When Wanda left the room you tried to distract yourself from spiraling by watching the rain dance against the window. This is “cozy romance novel reading” weather, not “get wasted with a bunch of randos” weather, you thought to yourself, but then instantly shook your head and brushed your glasses up to rub your eyes. Maybe you were in desperate need of a party. Or not. Because frat parties were the worst. The last one you were at was three years ago during your freshman year: you went in excited to try something new, and ended the night drenched in someone else’s beer, with tears running down your cheeks and mascara staining your face. You didn’t know who spilled beer on you, but the tears and mascara combination was courtesy of having to watch the guy you liked make out with not one, but three girls that night. To top it all off, one of your heels had snapped, forcing you to walk home in 30 degree weather with no shoes. So you weren’t a fan of frat parties, and maybe you shouldn’t base your judgements on one awful experience, but you had never been party type before and that night seemed like a sign from the universe confirming, “you and parties do NOT mix.” 

Wanda’s hurried footsteps interrupted the mental storm that had been picking up speed over the time she was absent. 

“Ok, Nat is on her way, and she’s bringing options for shirts, and I have this new pair of heels that would look so-” 

“No. No heels, sorry Wan.” You said somewhat sheepishly. You hadn’t known Wanda yet when you went through the frat debacle a couple years ago and for some reason you had elected to withhold that story from your two closest friends. You weren’t sure why you hadn’t brought it up, maybe you figured they would stop trying to force you to party every weekend, or maybe they would insist you give it another try. The latter is what you were afraid of, and knowing Nat and Wanda, the former was not likely to happen. 

Wanda gave you a curious look, but if she thought something was off she didn’t say anything. Instead, she ran to the door as a buzz sounded on the intercom. 

__________________________________________

An hour later, you were dressed in a long sleeved open back top, baggy jeans, and a pair of well loved (extremely dirty) shoes. Wanda and Nat practically dragged you out of your apartment and down the street, laughing and talking animatedly all while you stayed quiet and counted the yellow taxis that rushed past you.

When the three of you finally made it to the party, an inky darkness had settled over the city. The grass beneath your feet was still damp from that afternoon’s rain and you couldn’t help but frown at how humid it had become, dreading how suffocating it was going to be inside the house. 

“Do you wanna grab something to drink?” Nat yelled over the bass as you tried to squeeze through the crowded entryway. You were immediately overwhelmed, strobe lights were flashing against the walls, music was shaking the floor and hot, sweaty bodies kept bumping up against you. You closed your eyes in an attempt to somehow center yourself. After a few seconds of futilely waiting for a moment of peace, you let your eyelids flutter open and to your annoyance, Nat and Wanda were no longer standing beside you. You knew it wasn’t their fault, and that they would never intentionally leave you alone, but you couldn’t stop the panic that began rising in your chest from the absence of your two friends. Not knowing what else to do, you shouldered your way through the mass of drunk college students, searching for a quiet place to stand and look for Nat and Wanda. You had scouted out a small, unoccupied alcove under the stairs and made your way to it. Two steps and you would have gotten some reprieve from the chaos, but instead a tall body blocked your path and sharp brown eyes eyed you up and down. 

“Haven’t seen you at one of these yet.” His voice was slightly slurred and the mix of alcohol and cheap cologne pouring off of him was almost nauseating. “You lookin’ for someone to spend a little time with?” He asked inching closer and forcing you to press your back against the railing of the staircase. Now your breath was coming much too quick and the familiar numbness sprouting in your fingertips told you that you were on the verge of having a panic attack. You’d been through enough over the past years to recognize when one was coming. You also knew that if you could’t find a calm place to ground yourself in the next few minutes you were going to break down. With your mind in panic mode, you glanced over your shoulder and saw that the staircase you were pinned against led to a seemingly quiet hall. Deciding that was your only option, you shoved the guy’s chest and used his sluggish, drunken state as an opportunity to escape his grasp and head towards the stairs. You jumped over the “Stay Downstairs or Thor Will Kick Your Ass” sign that was haphazardly strung across the bottom entryway and took the stairs two at a time to get to the hall. There were no lights on in the corridor, but the strobes from the party downstairs provided you with enough light to find a doorknob. You desperately pushed on the door, but it was locked, so you ran to the next one, only to find yourself in the same situation. You didn’t notice the faint glow under the third door you tried and you almost cried in relief when the knob turned without any resistance.

You hurried into the room and closed the door, pressing your back against the cool wood and shutting your eyes. Starting at 100, you took a deep breath and exhaled counting backwards by three in your head. In your anxious state, you barely noticed the tears that were rushing down your cheeks. And you really had not noticed that you weren’t alone in this room. 

“Uh, is everything- are you ok?” A baritone voice caused your eyes to shoot open as you desperately tried to figure out its source through your blurred vision. Bringing your hands to your eyes you began to furiously wipe away the tears, ignoring the slight burning caused by the friction from your shirt against your skin. 

“Hey, whoah, hold on, you're gonna hurt yourself.” The voice said again, this time with more urgency. Suddenly, a pair of warm hands wrapped carefully around your wrists, gently pulling your hands away from your face. You were able to blink back enough tears to make out a head of blonde hair, broad shoulders, and kind eyes. The man in front of you continued to coax you down from your panic, and slowly the tears stopped falling as your breaths evened out. As embarrassed as you were that this saint of a man had to witness your anxiety attack you were grateful for his help. But just as you began to offer your thanks the door was thrown open, and a new, deep voice shouted over the blaring music downstairs. 

“Steve, what the hell are you doing locked away in your-” his words trailed off as his steel blue eyes landed on your tear stained face…

Chapter One coming this week!

[p4rallel-universe]

ummm could you maybe write some enid x himbo reader hcs?

love your work btw 🫶🏻🫶🏻

Enid Sinclair x Himbo! male reader

i feel like a himbo is just Enid's type tbh

someone sweet, honest and, of course, gorgeous

Enid is a little smaller than average, and she loves having a boyfriend who's taller than her

finds the height difference between you both hot and also just pretty convenient - how helpful to have someone to reach the top shelves!

speaking of - you're always doing chivalrous things

carrying her books for her, holding her hand wherever you go, holding her bag, jacket, phone

she finds it so adorable and swoons

really enjoys the whole picture perfect romance you have going on

having a tall, goldenhearted boyfriend was literally her dream since she turned 12

Enid, herself, is possibly the sweetest girl there is

for some people (ie. Wednesday), your combined levels of sweetness could honestly be considered lethal

you're not the brightest when it comes to school, so she reguarly hosts study dates

most of the time, you don't get much studying done. at all

but when you really put your mind to it - like, if you have a big test coming up - the little sessions prove really helpful

Enid practically throws a party in celebration when you get an A on a test you studied day and night for

she loves your good heart. you're sweet and thoughtful, but you stand up for what you believe in.

your perfect balance between gentle and determined makes her swoon

loves to pick matching outfits for the two of you, and you wear them with no questions asked just because it makes her so happy

she takes a million selfies no matter where you go and you always stop what you're doing to pose, just to make her smile

if you aren't already a social media addict, she ends up converting you, and you have SO many posts dedicated to her

she almost cries whenever she sees a new one, she lies in bed looking through all the TikTok videos, the Instagram posts

and the highlight you have titled "< enid 3 💞💖💛💕🧡💙"

(Wednesday is fed up of seeing her so sickeningly overjoyed, rolling around in bed)

if you play a sport, she's at all the games

and is SO stealing all your hoodies and jerseys

always steals your clothes - which are all big on her - just because she loves the way you smell

especially with her heightened sense of smell

gets so giggly whenever you're just really cute without realising it

like when you compliment something small or specific on her or just flash a lovely smile

she loves your smile. how it reflects your cheerful self

she loves that you're sweeter than most guys

for example, you never pressure her into anything

you're not so good with words, so you usually express your love through actions or acts of service

sometimes though, you say the sweetest things without even trying

like once, while making out on Enid's bed, you just looked in her eyes and told her, "i could kiss you forever"

she. died

(well, not really. because if she had died, she wouldn't have been able to practically jump on top of you to kiss you even harder than before)

in short - sweet, energetic Enid + sweet, dim but caring bf = perfect couple

[miliwritesnow]

I'd like to imagine that Bakugou doesn't ask people out on dates, and it's more just like there's a circumstance/annoyance that leads him to hang out with someone more often.

I wrote an example of this, where the person in question happens to be a hero whose really good at martial arts and has a quirk that can reshape metal into weapons.

This is somewhat of a continuation of my previous scenario if you guys are curious! You can find it in my blog thingy!

Bakugou Inadevertently Agreeing to Weekly Dates

"Old hair. Fight me.” She raises a brow at the suggestion, metal arms to her hips.

“Bakugou. You don’t need to fight me. You know how this is going to end. I’m not better than you—I’m not even close.” she sighs.

Bakugou doesn't take that as an excuse. Without a warning, He lunges with a steady right hook, armed with the force of a minor explosion. He sees her eyes widen as she instinctively, with a familiar gracefulness, steps aside—but it doesn't end there. In one fluid movement, he grabs his arm and grounds him with the force of his momentum.

It was a small, effective movement. Bakugou curses when he feels himself falling. On the ground, He feels the pressure of her grip on my wrist and feels her pull to strain the muscles in his shoulders.

She lets go and lets him try again. Bakugou lifts his leg in the air to kick her side with a trail of explosions. She lifts an arm, grabbing the leg and pulling it forward and upward in one swift movement. Again, his back slams to the ground when he loses balance.

What the fuck.

His opponent raises a brow, not quite conceiving why he felt the urge to fight so suddenly.

“What are you doing?” a tone that only aggravated Bakugou's annoyance.

He pops up from the ground and tries a third time, picking up the pace of punches with even larger explosions. A left jab. A right hook. An uppercut.  Bakugou sees the growing panic in her eyes as she tries to keep up. He tests her, slowly cranking up the power in his quirk. 

During the exchange, he realizes a sharp pain in his arm every time she blocks a hit, and after a while, Bakugou notices that she’s not blocking. In fact, her blocks were just attacks that happened to defend, and the harder he goes, the more painful the counters seem to be. She was hitting back, and it was hurting him way more than it hurt her because of those damn metal arms. For a moment, he catches a glimpse of the beauty he saw before. It was the way that she moved and her steady resolve to face him. It made his heart skip a beat.

She catches his wrist in her metal hands, squeezing firmly. Bakugou takes another arm, retaliating with a large explosion, but she expertly blocks the attack with her quirk, creating a thin shield between her and the explosion. She pulled the arm she grabbed, wrapping it around his back with the momentum of his punch. A swift kick to the knee, and Bakugou is on the ground again. Her knee presses against his back as she pulls his arm to apply pressure. Bakugou can’t move.

“What are you trying to prove?” she says calmly. “I can't beat you if you go any faster than this."

"I wasn't done yet hag! How are you so damn strong?! You barely even used your fucking quirk!" Bakugou scowled.

We was annoyed. He wasn't done testing her limits. Bakugou knew that she could have gone faster than that. There's no way that a small skirmish was more than she can handle. That's bullshit. Bakugou didn't even hit her yet.

"Bakugou. You know better than anyone that you're stronger than me. Let's put this to rest. I'm not better than you." she argues, exasperated. Truthfully, she had just gotten back from work and was exhausted. She didn't really know where he was pulling all this energy from, considering he was also there, fighting villains with her, not even an hour ago.

Throughout the conversation, Bakugou was starting to get pissed off, not just because he wasnt satisfied with his fight, but because his face was still in the fucking ground.

"GET OFF ME DAMMIT!" Bakugou roared.

"Only if you promise to stop whatever fighting thing you were trying to pull," she states simply. 

"And what if I don't?" He growls.

"Then at least fight me on my terms. You and me, no quirk. I don't want anything to get destroyed. We're in my neighborhood."

Not use his quirk? Is she crazy?

"Hell no!" she gives it a thought.

"You're right… That's hardly fair. You don't beat me like that…" she mutters, but with her practically on top of him, Bakugou hears her anyway. He narrow his eyes.

"You think I can't beat you without my quirk?" 

"No. You don't have a chance," she says, a little too quickly. "That's your whole strength. You've mastered your quirk to the point where it's like breathing, and I've mastered my body the same way you mastered your quirk. It's like disarming you when I'm fully armed. It's hardly a fair fight." Anger bubbled inside of Bakugou's stomach.

"No," he growls.

"No?" she repeats back, confused.

"I'll fucking beat you without my quirk, you old hag!"

She pauses. Bakugou could practically feel the little gears turning in that pretty little head of hers. He hears a sigh, and she loosens her grip, stepping away from him. She brings an arm up, motioning at Bakugou to try again. He takes the invitation with a devilish grin, dashing forward. True to his word, Bakugou doesn't use his quirk, hitting her with the full force of his own body. 

But it wasn’t as easy as it all seemed. In the hour they fought, Bakugou ended up on the ground within seconds of getting up. He was flipped and held in every conceivable position, and every time he seemed to gain a grasp of how she fought, she’d flip the switch from her repetoire of moves, and suddenly, Bakugou is back to where he started.

She did all of that barely moving at all. Bakugou was working his ass off to land a fucking hit, and she was barely breaking a sweat. It fucking pissed him off.

“You don’t beat me without your quirk Bakugou. I’ve been doing this since I was six,” His opponent sighs again. 

Bakugou scoffs in irritation, but he had no choice but to agree with her.

She moved like she’s been fighting ever since you left the womb, that combat freak. He remembered now why as a hero, she was deemed the best hand-to-hand combat fighter in Japan. They said she could beat fifty percent of the villains without her quirk, but having experienced it first hand, he'd fucking bet that number is closer to seventy with how many low-quality D-listers have been popping up lately. Bakugou never paid attention to shit like that but fucking hell, how could he have just realized how ridiculously strong she was?

“I’ll beat you without my quirk, hag!” she chuckles. Bakugou couldn't resist letting out one last line in defiance.

“Even if I were to teach you now, no matter how fast you learn, will you really be able to catch up to more than a decade’s worth of training?”

Was that a challenge?

“Watch me,” Bakugou feels the corners of his lips lift up to a smirk. He meets her in the eyes smugly.

She blinks in confusion at his confidence, but that only widens the smirk on Bakugou's face to a lopsided grin.

She smiles, almost failing to hold in a laugh at the ridiculous face he was making. In that brief second, Bakugou's eyes linger on her lips and the way it creases slightly upwards. An unknown feeling stirs in his stomach. She rests her cool metal hand on his shoulder, smiling wider.

"If you're up to commute to Saitama every week, I always train outside my place when I'm off at around seven in the evening on Thursdays. You can bother me then."

She walks past, and the hand leaves his shoulder, leaving a void in its wake. Bakugou stared at her retreating form and scoffed, trying to shake off the unfamiliar feeling.

"I'll be there, hag."

Read More >

What'd yall think? I'd love to hear about your thoughts below!

[inthelittlewood]

Hi! Apologies if this has already been covered but I have to know if we're going a bit insane or not lol

I was discussing it with a friend and I want to know if the red flags with Doc's character were intentional? I don't think I'm the only person that picked up on them, but we can't tell if he's simply supposed to be a fun anime trope or if there's something more.

For example, the fact vtuber martyn got stuck and instead of protecting him, Doc recruits him to be a defender (despite this putting a real life person in danger.) But also the fact Doc is c!Martyn's only human contact. The only person he can talk to, but also the only source of information he has. c!Martyn was told that C.H.E.S.T are evil, that he's a good guy, and I don't know how much proof he has of that versus how much he's simply believed.

So, yeah, basically we can't tell if we're reading too into Doc's character lol We don't care either way, just genuinely curious!

You're absolutely right. As it stands currently c!Martyn is just taking Doc's word for it and that's an awful lot of faith to put into somebody who's got you wrapped up in a wild scenario in the first place..

But what other choice does he have?

So far, Doc has been the only friendly human interaction he's had in the Datastream, as C.H.E.S.T agents try to delete his ass any chance they get!

According to Doc, this whole battle is of grave importance. "We're talking GLOBAL ramifications!" the validity and scale of that statement though is yet to be proved. We don't know what the worst case scenario is yet.

Something feels off through right? How can seemingly one guy in his garage go up against a mega corporation in digital warfare? Who is, or was Doc? 🤔

Anyways, back to the point. c!Martyn's safety is his own to decide. He could easily stand on his little platform, falling infinitely through the green void and simply wait for Doc to find a solution but for as long as C.H.E.S.T are active, Doc's busy.

So for his own sanity and a sense of justice, he throws himself in to these game worlds to keep his mind sharp and fight the good fight! Doc reckons c!Martyn is capable of fighting faster and more efficiently than any AI / super computer on the planet! Because he's IN there and there's a physicality to all of this, it's instincts over 1s and 0s.

c!Martyn is unfortunately the guinea pig for a defensive force that was barely out its theoretical phase..

Transferring in, done. Transferring out, inconclusive.

(keep the questions coming everybody, I'm loving this back and forth, I wish I'd drip fed you all more of the story sooner. 2023 should be an exciting year for c!Martyn)

[donnerpartyofone]

7, 17, 27, 37, 47, 57

Woah, thanks for all the numbers! I did 7 in the previous post, but let's see:

17. "opinion on insecurities" hahaha, I didn't even read all of these before I reblogged that thing! My most immediate reaction is that sometimes when you're trying to have an honest reckoning with your flaws and handicaps, people tell you you're just being insecure, and this is one of the central frustrations of my entire existence. If you're forced to constantly pretend that you're awesome and capable of anything, it makes it a lot harder to come to terms with what isn't working. But everyone has insecurities I think, they're probably unavoidable. I guess some people base their entire personality around an insecurity and that's not great, but I think the only thing to do is to try to be honest and lucid about your weaknesses. That's the only point you can proceed from.

27. If I gave you a real accounting of all the things I hate, you would regret it! It's a lot of things, TOO MANY things. I'll just pick one for now: I hate movies about characters who are sort of reclusive, where other characters mob up on them and force them to participate in society as if this is a great gift, as if all human beings want the same thing and that thing is extreme amounts of attention and activity, as if no human being could possibly just enjoy their own company and some peace and quiet. There are a lot of variations on this theme but a good example is THE STATION AGENT. I was like, what the fuck, leave that guy alone!

37. Hmm I also have a lot of favorite actors since I spend most of my time watching movies. Last night I rewatched the incredible THE WORLD'S GREATEST SINNER and I was thinking about how Timothy Carey is like Nicolas Cage before Nicolas Cage, like they're descended from the same stock somehow. They even look alike to me. And then I was thinking about how Michael Moriarty has that same kind of manic, improvisational energy, and all three men are tall. Actually Nic Cage isn't as tall as I always think he is, but Moriarty is 6'3" and Carey was a little over. So Timothy Carey and Nicolas Cage have more similar faces, but Michael Moriarty and Timothy Carey are more the same height. I do not know what this is meant to prove.

47. "Turn ons," eh? I'm prejudicially inclined toward people who are really smart and articulate, but I also like it when people are strangely naive and sweet. I like hairy, vascular forearms and hands, and glasses, and widow's peaks. I like people who have obsessions. I'm totally straight but I'm fascinated by tough, androgynous women and tomboys. I like men who look like weird movie villains. I am attracted to basically all weird movie villains.

But now I want to volunteer one "turn off" from #48, which is that I have zero tolerance for people who are really into deliriously dysfunctional sadomasochistic relationships. Which is what most media will tell you is "true love" or something, and it does look pretty good from the outside, I mean who doesn't want to dissolve into a morbid, swooning obsession? But having experienced a couple of those things, it became very clear to me that they are essentially infantile, ugly, and stupid, and people who insist on that dynamic are like a baby who cries over their shitty diaper and pisses in your face when you try to change it for them. I almost miss being able to enjoy that type of libidinous delirium, but the whole thought of it just makes me sick now. People who pretend to be vampires are never as cool as they want you to think they are.

57. My favorite animal is all reptiles. I like a lot of animals, but reptiles and amphibians more than anything. Right now I'm doing this study of Italian cannibal movies which I knew were full of animal cruelty, but somehow I managed to forget that reptiles seem to get the worst of it. :(

[iodotsys]

Maybe I'm an idiot, but why is Dib like an incel? Isn't incels are like "I'm too good for everyone, I don't need anyone, why they always pick the people who are not as great as me?", but it's clear that they still crave company, they just disguise their insecurities with unrealistically high standards? This sounds more like Zim to me.

I'll start with Dib's opening speech about Galileo in Lice.

"Dib:…But nobody believed Galileo! They even put him in jail! Now if all these people who just called him crazy were brought back and shown just how wrong they really were, they'd be sorry! Oh, they'd be sor— "

Sounds like he's projecting, doesn't it? Furthermore, he calls himself a visionary in Mysterious Mysteries. Dib thinks very highly of himself. He's also a complete jerk by demeaning others he sees as lower than him, like poor DarkBooty when he tried to help him. He immediately responds to a janitor with "What are you gonna do? Clean me?"

Not to mention his entire rant to Torque in Dark Harvest. Completely unprompted, he begins rambling at Torque.

"Dib: And he wants to destroy us all. Now I know you think I'm crazy, but you'll thank me… You'll all thank me! Aliens are kind of a hobby of mine. Well, more like a way of life, really…

Torque: Man, you're creepin' me out…

Dib: I have vague memories of being taken on board an alien ship as a baby. And I'm not sure, but I think they were doing tests on me… Trying to create some kind of genius super-baby perhaps…"

And he's ridiculed horribly for it. To the point he was about to have a murder/suicide in Room with a Moose.

"Dib: Okay, Dib. Before you really try to think of a way out of this, think about what that would mean. On one hand, you'd be saving yourself. On the other hand, you'd also be saving… them!

Jessica: Look! He's talking to himself again!

Dib: You guys are just begging to face the moose!"

He knows he's better than everyone.

These are only a few examples of exerts directly from the IZ scripts. Dib knows he's better than everyone. He's the son of Professor Membrane, here to save the Earth.

Even in the art book, page 58, there's a few comments on his character.

Rikki says, "Dib cares so much about what people think of him. I think with Dib, it's more so not actually about saving the planet, but about proving to everybody that he's somebody that people should respect."

Jhonen says, "Dib genuinely wants to protect the world and his people despite the fact nobody believes him. But a good deal of that drive is so that he can then say, 'Look everyone, I saved you, praise me!' There's definitely a huge amount of ego that goes into why he does what he does."

Dib is bullied by a society he knows is lower than him. I will close with the line he made Willy say in Voting of the Doomed in front of the entire student body.

"Willy: Also, Dib will finally be appreciated for the genius that he is!"

I hope this clears things up. If anyone has any further questions, feel free to ask.

[otakween]

0-Man - Volume 2

These volumes are taking me ages to get through. They're good and fun reads but sooo dense and full of kanji I can't read. Most of the charm comes from the visuals anyway, so I think it's still worthwhile to pick up if you're at the intermediate level like me.

Chapters 14 & 15

Chapter one was really short so I'm combining things. We kick off after the end of volume 1. The gang accidentally set off a chain reaction of volcanoes. The bad guys try to freeze the ensuing eruption, but that just starts a huge blizzard which will lead to the ice age of their freezing machine isn't stopped. Dun dun dunnn.

I was relieved to get a little levity with the Professor acting nice again and everyone sitting down for dinner. The gag of Ricky's mom being bad at human cooking was pretty lame though (I'm sick of the "a woman who can't cook???" joke in anime).

We got another dead parent!? Sheesh so many deaths in this series. At least Pete didn't really like his dad anyways.

Ricky's tail gets all messed up in this chapter after a plank of wood falls on it and he has to yank it out. For a second I thought he ripped part of it off, but I don't think they'd do that. (Edit: they absolutely do do that).

New 0 men lore: they have a very high tolerance for cold and heat. I kinda feel like they threw that in there to excuse the fact that Ricky's always in short shorts lol

Ch. 16

The professor meets with other academics to explain the current situation and to prove the existence of 0 men. He essentially makes Ricky reveal his tail without his consent which was kind of uncomfy. But the world is literally ending, so I'll allow it lol

So they ultimately decide they need to nuke Japan to destroy the ice machine. Seems like it would be pretty hard to evacuate an entire country fast enough to do that, but okay...

I wonder how often nukes are the answer in apocalyptic stories? I read a book awhile back about giant spiders taking over the planet and nukes were the answer in that situation too. That book was wild...

Ch. 17

The Japanese public evacuate but the 0-men stay behind because...??? I don't really know. Maybe they just have a good nuke shelter or something? Or maybe they need to help the professor.

The joke about children being better behaved than adults during the evacuation was great. I feel like that can be true sometimes because kids are used to the structure of school and learning their manners whereas adults are further removed from those lessons. (Also kids tend towards being less mean spirited in general).

Two new human men are introduced purely for slapstick it seems like. Their jokes are very Three Stooges old timey. I was rolling my eyes, but it's wholesome at least. It was cute when they tied scarves to their pants to be polite (when they saw Ricky's mom's tail).

Abruptly, Ricky's mom gets carted away by sketchy men who want to experiment on her. Dun dun dunnnn

Ch. 18

Tezuka sure packed a lot into this chapter. The gang saved Ricky's mom, had a shoot out, escaped to the professor's base and then the villain kinda forgave Ricky because he protected the base from a bomb? Whirlwind.

By the way, I don't know anyone's names because I can't read kanji names lol (katakana names are all good though)

This chapter was pretty violent! I was momentarily traumatized by Ricky's mom's leg and tail snapping off until they revealed it was a mannequin. It was still kind effed up to see! Also Ricky just spears a dude almost to death. Hardcore for a little guy.

On top of the violence, seeing someone being experimented on with dry ice as they yell "please, I'm a living being!!" is pretty distressing as well. I don't even know for sure if everything's gonna be fine because they already killed off a few people...

Ch. 19

Dangit, I wish this was translated by...anybody! There isn't even a fan translation. I'm just barely scraping by with my kanji reading skills but I'm missing out on a lot. For example, Ricky and the other 0 men refuse to evacuate to the underground. Why? IDK...Also, the nuke seemingly does nothing after they launch it. Did they explain why? Maybe, but I missed it if they did. Oh well...I still get the jist.

Seeing everyone prep for the launch of the missile and pre-mourn the loss of their country was really sad. I'm glad such plot points aren't too taboo in Japan. They explore this stuff a lot.

Ch. 20

And this is the chapter where I remember that Tezuka was definitely a furry lol. I don't say that mockingly, I love his animal/anthro illustrations. They just feature so prominently in his work.

Pretty crazy to find out that Ricky's dad is still alive like a zillion chapters after he "died." I mean...saw it coming, but the timing is unusual.

The shenanigans were fun this time because they realize it's "Muu Muu day" in the 0-man kingdom. This is apparently a day where everyone dresses up like animals, including humans, so a human showing up isn't suspicious. Ricky looked really cute in his squirrel costume.

I've gradually started to notice more creative panel arrangements and lettering showing up. It's interesting to see Japanese characters written in wacky ways that I'm not used to. Seems like it would be tricky to write kanji in bubble letters...

Ch. 21

Sheeesh, this manga is wild. It almost feels like every chapter there's some new apocalyptic event. Also, a surprising amount of death.

The cliffhanger ending for this chapter was Ricky and his dad plummeting from space in a spaceship, crash landing and then dad finding Ricky's disembodied tail!?

Okay, there's no way that Ricky really lost his iconic tail. What's the explanation gonna be this time...? (Edit: Nope, he actually lost his tail).

Ch. 22

This chapter had everything: random Popeye cameo, casual racism towards Fiji and Native Americans, and a Titanic parody where the Titanic was called the Tihenic (get it, because taihen? I laughed...)

So instead of global warming we have global freezing. An interesting concept nowadays. I guess the polar bears would flourish? Or would they still suffer because they need some water to hunt...hmmm

This was a Ricky-free chapter. Instead we caught up with Pete in America who is apparently staying with a new professor whose name I forgot immediately. His hair is pretty terrible. Pete and professor bad hair are being forced to build a rocket so that this evil dude can escape Earth. Sounds like something Elon would do lol

Ch. 23

Okay, so Ricky really did lose his tail, that's crazy. He's practically just a normal boy now.

It was really depressing when Ricky's dad thought he was finally experiencing some human kindness only for them to betray him :'(

I feel like we've kinda lost the plot at this point. Or maybe this manga was always intended to be episodic? The apocalyptic ice age stuff still lingers in the background, but the 0-man characters are kind of just ignoring that and trying to survive. (Edit: that plot line does come back as the main focus).

Ch. 24

Damn, someone needs to get Ricky a new pair of pants. Poor kid is just going around with a huge rip on the bottom.

The revelation that Ricky's lost some of his balance due to not having a tail anymore was interesting. I wonder if prosthetic tails exist in this universe?

Not really sure how Ricky ended up finding Pete and Professor Royal (learned his name). Good to see the gang back together even though they weren't apart for very long to begin with lol.

The gag with the driver crying over Ricky and being given wind shield wipers for his eyes was cute

Ch. 25

Lol is it just me or were they all concerned with saving Ricky and then they just immediately gave up and started building rockets instead? I guess they've assumed he's dead by now.

So the bad guy having a rocket built for himself (and maybe his lackeys) and the good guys are trying to build enough rockets to allow all of humanity to escape Earth. It's a little too relatable how they've decided that Earth is beyond saving climate-wise.

[becomingpart2]

okay @thekimspoblog I wasn't gonna respond to this because we're not really going to get anywhere, we have different views about the characters and shows, but I figure I want to say a few more things before being done with this convo for good. I'm gonna do it here because I don't want to keep clogging OP's notifications with a discussion they didn't ask for.

I mean the fact that Vacuum Repair Guy wasn't involved in Kim's disappearance was a bit disappointing; that's at least partially what I'm getting at. That the two of them got embroiled in something so dangerous and yet when she up and left her witness-protection act was so shoddy. We seem to at least be in agreement that the ending was kind of rushed and weird, and that's leading to a lot of confusion about what the show was even trying to say.

Yes, I agree that the ending was not all that good. I'm not sure if rushed is the word I'd pick, maybe for kim's development? But that's not necessarily about the ending, more like the last two seasons. But I don't have a lot of doubt about what the show wanted to say.

I get the frustration about the vacuum cleaner guy not being involved in her disappearance but again I think that could be chalked up to doylist reasons -- I think the writers simply didn't want to use that plotline again. It'd be too repetitive and feel lazy. I mentioned him because, imo, if Jimmy wanted to save from Gus at any point after she left, he had that option but he never even tries.

I understand that her just going away and living peacefully in Florida might seem like a loose end but also, again, I don't believe that she posed such a threat to Gus. He had a lot more power over her than she had over him and he knew she couldn't count on the police or the law without airing out her own involvement. It would be her alone against his men and his empire. Plus she didn't work for him, they weren't close.

Also, it's not exactly like she could just show up at his door at any moment and try to kill him again, he saw how terrified and traumatized she was the first time around and she didn't even have to kill anybody. Kim's not Walt, she's more like a Jesse or even s1 walt -- they could kill out of desperation but not as a calculated move. She was not there yet. Maybe she could become more vicious with killing eventually, maybe that would be another miscalculation on Gus' part, but at that point when he knew her, she wasn't that person. The only person she'd do it for is Jimmy and she left him to supposedly fend for himself so.

Anyway, I acknowledge that seems like a loose end, I even agree to some extent that should've been better explained in the text, especially when you compare it to how Gus treated everyone else that knew about him.

I guess I'd need an example of one other time Jimmy's hurt feelings took precedent over letting Kim do whatever she wanted. Because I'd need both hands to count the times she did something which wounded his pride, and even if he complained he quickly chose to stuff it down and smile. That's not healthy either, but it shows how much of an exception for her he makes with his pettiness.

I didn't mean that he took his feelings out on her, or wanted "revenge" over her hurting his feelings. I meant that he could be so caught up on his own feelings and personal dramas that he overlooked her interests and how his shenanigans and personal vendettas against Howard, Chuck, HHM or whoever else, could negatively impact her or her career. Or just interfere with her plans in general, like in S5 when he goes against what she wants and sabotages her deal with her clients.

I get what you're saying, that Jimmy also avoids facing his problems. And you need to understand that even if I'm trying to paint Jimmy as a white knight, that's not a good thing. I just think that if we're talking about things Saul tells himself to be able to sleep at night, "Everyone already thinks the worst of me so why not prove them right" is only half the equation and "Everyone else hates me but they're all hypocrites and they're wrong about me because actually I'm a hopeless romantic and I'm doing the mature thing by handling the dirty work" is the other half. That's what was comfortable

Okay I get it, that's fair. But I think it's worth mentioning that what he tells himself is different from the truth. Just because he thinks (or lies to himself) he's doing the noble self-sacrificing thing, it doesn't mean that's the whole reason for why he does what he does. Additionally, I don't think "everyone thinks I'm the worst so I'm gonna prove them right" is true either, not entirely; it isn't just a self-destructive act for him, he actually enjoys what he does, "winning" over people and making a fool out of them, not only proving they were right about thinking the worst of him but also proving them wrong for underestimating his potential and how good he can be at what he does. That's also a very significant part of his character.

He likes it; him and Kim like making a fool out of people and winning, not just for a "good cause", not just against those who "deserve it". They like it for petty reasons too, they like it for shit and giggles and feeling good about themselves. That's their tragedy and a big part of their arc.

But I reiterate: "dealing with his problems" in this context would have meant unburdening himself of this terrible secret of what happened to his colleague and rejoining the "right" side of the legal field by cooperating with Eriksen. And even in a parallel universe where he wanted to do that, he couldn't have. So this secret had to just sort of weigh on his mind and continue to warp his perception of morality.

I disagree. I think what happened with Howard is just the tip of the iceberg. Jimmy's problems go way deeper than that. To reinterate, he could deal with his problems without having to confess to what happened with Howard, because his problems were never really about that. Howard was just a consequence.

A lot of this comes down to the fact that ironically we still never SAW an average day in the law offices of Saul Goodman. In BCS we get to see this devastating chain of events that lead up to him launching his practice, and in BrBa, we saw him interact with ONE client who was such a pain in the ass to work for that it eventually torpedoed his career. But we still aren't given key details like... what percentage of his clients were cartel and who were just regular poor people, whether Jimmy breaking the law to serve the interests of his clients was a regular thing, how often Mike offered him "jobs" and what kind, whether Jimmy ever rejected those job offers, or what his relationship to Gus was leading up to him recommending him to Walter.

I get what you're saying but I also want to ask, why? Why do we need to see all that? Why do we need to see saul's day to day? Why do we need to know his other clients and what were his true connections to Gus or the cartel? I don't see how knowing the answers to those questions would change the story in a significant way. The only thing it would change is the extent to which one might be willing to "absolve" saul or not. And that's what I take issue with.

Jimmysaul doesn't need absolving, we don't need to see how many old ladies he helped crossing the street to get a better understanding of his character. Everything's already there in both shows, "the good, the bad and the ugly". That would not change anything. Jimmy was Saul and Saul was Jimmy. Saul was always there in him and vice versa (and differently from walt and his heisenberg, we actually see Jimmy being Saul prior to Kim leaving: chuck dying is the catalyst but he was Saul even before that as well. So it's not really about "transformation" like Walt's story supposedly was). You seem to want an "acceptable" reason to reconcile the Jimmy you like with the Jimmy you don't like in your mind, but there isn't a clean-cut one.

To further use brba as an example, we also don't know many things about those characters and their lives prior to the pilot. We don't know who Walt was prior to his diagnosis, we don't even know exactly what happened between him and Elliot, Gretchen and grey matter, and that's a pretty important part of the story that's mostly left for the viewers to fill-in the blanks however they like it. The Walt we see in the few flashbacks we get is very different from the Walt from the pilot. How did he get to that point? How good of a husband and father he was prior to his diagnosis? Judging by how skyler and walt jr react in the first season, I'd say he was an okay-to-good one.

We also don't know much about Jesse and his parents' relationship prior to the point we see, when they've already given up on him. We don't know much about Skyler and Marie's background and home life, why their relationship was strained and sometimes difficult, why Skyler has an unhealthy need to keep up the appearance of a happy family to her kids even to the detriment of herself or their own safety.

And we don't need to see all that, all those details, because we can piece it together with what we were given. That's the style of these writers and I actually appreciate it more often than not, because it's not didactic and it doesn't give fans an easy excuse to woobify the characters (which is why I was mad over the flashbacks in BCS that do that) Because at the end of the day, it would not change a thing. It would not change what happened and what they did.

Anyways I went off on a tangent but yeah I think the narrative they were able to tell with BCS and BrBa were enough to give us a glimpse of who jimmysaulgene is and just like you said I assumed you were trying to paint him as morally good, you seem to assume that I'm trying to paint him as morally bad but that's not the case either. I'm just at peace with the parts that make him "unlikeable" to some viewers. (Because let's face it, even if we acknowledge that doing 'immoral' things out of love is selfish and Wrong, we're still conditioned and socialized to think of it as a "less of" evil, one that's not only understandable but even forgivable. It's the other less "pretty and romantic" selfish reasons were more reluctant to accept).

Because ultimately that's what the shows were about. The circumstances that drove those characters to do what they did and become what they became are important (and I think you're not entirely wrong in questioning how well the writers were able fit them in the story) butt at the end of the day, both shows were always character studies, so no matter how trapped the characters might've felt in their situations, the point is that they ended where they did mostly by their own hands, because they did what they wanted, because they followed their "worst impulses".

It was about them and their own flaws. I could come up with a bunch of reasons for why walt did a lot of the things he did; I understand why he didn't take elliott's money and I think it makes sense, I don't hate him for it, I can even sympathize with where he's coming from. But just because I can understand and sympathize doesn't mean that I think he couldn't or shouldn't have done differently. Circumstances are important but ultimately the characters are trapped in a prison of their own making. Mike chose to continue as a corrupt cop even when he wasn't a cop anymore, he just had a different boss. Nacho and Jesse are probably the closest we had of characters that were trapped by other people but even then, they had their chances to get out. Jesse even more so than Nacho.

I'm not trying to say jimmy had "complete free will". I acknowledge that the line separating what is free will and what isn't might seem blurry in this show and I think that's done intentionally. I understand jimmy might have felt like there was no going back for him, like Mike did (although I think the fact Kim was able to leave makes a pretty strong case against that, highlighting how him continuing down that road was his choice more so than anything else). I even acknowledge that getting out wasn't an easy feat but the point is that: 1) he had that option; and 2) he didn't even try.

I see BCS as a show about people rather than fate, so I think not accounting for their choices or trying to soften the role they played in their own tragedy works against the goal of analyzing them as people. Jimmy ultimately did what he wanted; maybe he wasn't happy, maybe he wanted to be with Kim more, but attributing his Saul trajectory solely to Kim and him not being with her is not accurate reading of the character and the show, imo. He was more than that and he had more reasons to be the way he was than her. His ideal world was to have his cake and eat it too, having her by his side. She was the one that didn't want it. Being with Kim wouldn't solve Jimmy's problems and it didn't, we saw that.

So Jimmy might have believed what he wanted about himself, it was comfortable for him to believe he had no choice (because then he wouldn't have to take responsibility over his choices, something he always avoided), it was comfortable for him to believe that he was doing it all for Kim (even if we don't have any evidence that's what he thought). It was more comfortable for him to be Saul Goodman than being Jimmy McGill because Jimmy McGill came with a lot of baggage.

That's how I view it anyway. That's my interpretation of the show and I think it was supported by the text in the end. But you're free to have a different view of it.

[justsomeoneintoomanyfandoms]

Hi :)))

Can I request a Genshin Impact and Demon Slayer mashup if you're still doing them?

My pronouns are she/her and I am pansexual. I'm a cancer and my MBTI is INFP.

My appearance is short, chin length hair that's brown, 5', skinny, very pale complexion with freckles, Latina

My personality is similar to a cat, I've been told a lot because I like to curl up in places and observe, I'm very quiet and reserved but once you get to know me I come out of my shell. I'm very sarcastic and dry but try to be a good listener and supportive and serious when it is needed.

My likes are cooking, drawing, writing, singing, occasionally cleaning, I enjoy skincare and makeup and keeping things organized. Cats and deer are my favorite animals

My dislikes are loud/crowded places, people who don't pay attention/ask too many questions when I've already explained, rom-coms, too many rules

I always end up falling for the morally grey/bad guy characters(not my fault why do they make them so hot)

If you end up taking this, thank you so much!! I hope you have a good day!!!

Hi! Thank you for your request! Sorry it took a while. I hope you like your matchups!

In Genshin Impact, I match you with...

Tartaglia definitely falls into the category of being morally grey. Sometimes, his morals are great (for example, his dedication to his family). Other times…not so much.

But he considers you family, and will always do his best to keep you away from the more dubious parts of his life.

Please do skincare nights with him! Tartaglia loves the domesticity of it and he appreciates how soft both his and your skin is after you’re done.

Rom-com watching dates are a must as well. He loves them so much, especially the really cheesy ones. They always make him laugh and he’ll keep certain lines and phrases in mind to use on you when you least expect it.

Your quiet, yet sarcastic nature is what I think first drew Tartaglia to you. He loves the duality it brings and is never quite sure what you’re going to say or do. It’s exhilarating!

Does his best to help you steer clear of loud and crowded places. If it’s unavoidable, he’ll hold your hand the whole time so you know he’s there for you.

In Demon Slayer, I match you with...

Genya’s another one who falls into the morally grey/bad guy category. But that’s only at first glance. Deep down, he really cares a lot about the people he loves. And that includes you.

While Genya may initially seem like someone who doesn’t pay much attention, he quickly proves you wrong. Remember that cook book you mentioned wanting a few months ago? Surprise! He picked it up when he was in town.

Speaking of cooking, Genya loves everything you make. He’ll ask for certain dishes occasionally, but for the most part, he’s happy just to get to taste something you made.

He’s not super keen on joining you in the kitchen but can be persuaded. He likes being in your presence but finds cooking stressful. He’d much rather just watch.

One of the few times Genya is still and quiet is when he’s watching you draw. He finds the movement of your hand captivating and loves watching the drawing unfold before his eyes.

If you ever draw him or give a drawing to him, he will be beyond pleased. He’s turning away so you can’t see his blush and murmuring out a “thank you” before running to his room to put it somewhere he can see it every day.

[shadowthief78]

Genshin spoilers!! Complaining about the first part of 4.0 Archon quests under the cut.

I hate the Traveler in this part ngl. They're so incredibly inconsistent about the Fatui and I'm really mad at the weird logical somersaults the writers seem to expect us to do to justify their actions. Prime example:

We see our old friend (LITERALLY IN THIS VERY QUEST IN THE GAME DESCRIBED AS A FRIEND) Childe again and he drops some lore bombs, okay cool whatever. We can be pals with the guy who tried to murder us, steal Zhongli's Gnosis, destroy all of Liyue Harbor, and keeps popping up with his evil organization on our journey to find our sibling because his little brother is cute and he's needed for lore stuff. Okay, that's fine.

But what the fuck did Lyney do? He welcomed us to Fontaine, saved us from the Hydro Archon trying to throw hands, and has been nothing but welcoming and generous and kindhearted (only asking us to deliver some bags and pick a few flowers in return, literally nothing since he pretty much bailed us out of jail) and we drop him and Lynette like hot potatoes once we find out that (*checks notes*) when he was an orphaned kid and his sister got kidnapped, he turned to the only source of protection there was which happened to be a Harbinger who wants to save his homeland and protect people in similar situations to him.

And furthermore, he had good reasoning for concealing his involvement with the House of Hearth, which he explains: He didn't want it to come between the friendship with the Traveler and it wasn't relevant to the trial. Okay, I understand being upset that ge didn't mention it because Focalors did use it against us in the trial, but the complete about-face in demeanor was so shocking I spent the rest of the quest struggling to reconcile what just happened. And we still have to give him the cold shoulder after that? We can't even apologize or talk it out like mature and emotionally well adults, even?

What??????

The whiplash I got from this genuinely made me absolutely loathe the Traveler for being so unbelievably selfish and full of double-srandards. I need to know what the fuck whever wrote this was thinking because, good GOD, consistent characterization is one of the mostimportant and basic elements of good storytelling and the only way that this is any way consistent is for the Traveler to be a horrible human being and have such a skewed sense of morals that we might as well give up and join the Abyss already. Actually, screw that, we're probably going to make even the Abyss Order worse.

Furthermore, if we hate the Fatui so much, why not just abandon Lyney? Finishing the trial just felt like some hopeless grasping at straws so the writers could say, "Look!!! The Traveler is a Good Person(TM) because they didn't abandon a frend in need!!" but... we did? We absolutely did just ghost them after? Your argument holds not a single drop of water in the Hydro nation because your actions have proved the exact contrary point? I really hope Fontaine has better engineers than you are as writers because if this is all they got, then you're better off loading everyone in the nation into leaky fishing boats and hand-paddling to Inazuma than trying to build any dams to stop that prophecy, just saying.

Overall, I'm devoid of any emotion but disdain and also disappointed in Mihoyo for what they buchered, because the Sumeru story shows they have the capability to write competent and thematically consistent quests and they really went in so strong with the some of the other stuff and totally just dropped the ball here. I haven't gone to celebration tea with Demiselle (?) yet because I'm extremely disappointed and my immersion and emotional investment are not simply broken but in shards on the floor, so.

Maybe I'm biased because I like Lyney, but I also really just wanted to get that off my chest. I'd like to hear any thoughts other people have, if you agree or disagree and why :)

[fountainpenguin]

I've been saying this for years... It feels incredibly unrealistic that every time you pick up a story with arranged marriage, the main character is complaining, and it's often paired with the parents having been arranged (Brave being one example where the mom points out her arrangement).

If it's been normalized as part of your culture for generations and you were raised knowing it would happen someday, there needs to be a VERY good reason why this character is breaking the mold. Some examples might be:

- Fell in love with someone else first before the arrangement occurred (instead of fleeing the arrangement).

If you're already in love with someone who fits well, the reader might be on board with you that you've found your person!

- Not feeling attracted to them and you resist them.

I prefer this one after those betrothed have already met, as I think it's fun to prove a lack of chemistry in awkward conversations or different political opinions in a world where having political conversations with your partner would be very important.

This is where the meat of the story can be! You can have a fantasy war going on in the background and the prince and princess are scrambling around trying to find time for each other while stuffing down food and talking about politics. Where do you draw lines between politics talk and making time for each other??? It's so funny, guys... please.......

I do think the movie Brave was going for the lack of attraction a bit, although I seem to remember it being played mostly as "Look at how non-feminine this girl is; she rips her dresses and is messy and fights all the time" and the movie didn't take a solid stand on "Merida isn't attracted to them" (I haven't seen it in years and might be misremembering, but I think she was mostly just upset her mom was forcing this and her choice was being taken away, but the story could've been the same if instead of arranged marriage, it was about a girl not wanting to move to a different house or something).

However, bonus points for Merida perking up and getting interested when that buff guy was on display before the chief yanked his scrawny son out from behind him, because I think it's funny that for a brief moment, she was thinking about giving that guy a chance.

- Meeting the man you're arranged to marry and being disappointed so you flee.

Dealing With Dragons and The Frog Princess do this well, as the character is specifically fleeing that person and it spirals into bigger things.

- In Dealing With Dragons, Cimorene was already in a spiral of having everything ripped away from her (like fencing lessons, magic lessons, and horseback riding). She found Prince Therandil incredibly boring and he kept brushing her off and wanting to put her in a box. - Hilariously, her main argument to her family to defend her reasoning that Therandil isn't good enough for her is that he hasn't committed any heroic acts like saving her from a giant. Her parents get uncomfortable and tell her that it's short notice, but they'll try to arrange something. I love them. - Cimorene runs off to make crepes for dragons and yells at the knights who come to rescue her. When Prince Therandil shows up, Cimorene makes him help her clean a storage room and he almost gets them both killed. She sets him up with another princess who actually wants to be rescued and they finally part like that; it's fantastic.

- The Frog Princess starts out more vague (if I recall), although I believe it was emphasized that the main reason for the betrothal was because Prince Jorge's kingdom has been wanting a particular stretch of land for years and don't care how they get it. - Emma flees because she couldn't stand Prince Jorge, but I love how she keeps Prince Eadric at arm's length the entire time they're frogs- He keeps asking for kisses and she keeps saying "Dude, not the time, we're literally about to die" and it's great. - I specifically like Jorge because in the sequel book, he's STILL being a problem. After Emma rejects his proposal, his kingdom assumes she and Eadric got hitched (Even though Emma keeps turning Eadric down too) and Jorge and his father declare war on Emma's kingdom. - The sequel book is Dragon's Breath, and Emma spends it running in and out of the castle to collect ingredients for a magic spell to use on an otter. Every now and then her mom will tell her what's going on with Prince Jorge, and the mom changes her opinion from wanting Emma to be with him to "omg, this guy's awful, I would never let you marry him," which I think is funny. Emma straight-up joins her father the king when the battle starts, with her heading out to the front lines. Jorje immediately disrespects her and the reader can see "Yeah, this was not the right match for Emma." I particularly like this example because Jorge wasn't thrown out after Book 1, but continued to be a huge problem to prove how annoying he is. Iirc, he later marries a four-headed troll queen and they have a kid and I think that's extremely funny.

- One thing I feel like I haven't seen represented often enough is a partner who doesn't feel anything, but chooses to get married away.

I've often thought that I'd have been a fantastic royal in an arranged marriage because I've never experienced attraction (and it's uncomfortable to pursue people I'm not attracted to because every attempt feels awkward to me), but I think I'd be comfortable living with someone I got to know and be an awesome housewife in the common medieval fantasy times.

In fact, the IDEAL would be to have a partner approach me from the context of "Neither of us knows anything about each other and it might take some time for us to warm up, but let's work together and have honest communications."

I regularly see posts and articles talk about how you should approach someone if you want to be in a relationship with them because you can't just wait around expecting people to find you and want to date you. There's nothing wrong with approaching, but as someone who lacks attraction, it makes me feel uncomfortable to present myself as though I feel something physical when I know I'm setting myself up to come out to them later.

I've been ghosted so many times even though I thought I did my best and had awesome dates, and it's awkward to look at myself and wonder if I just wasn't showing the right signals. "Oh, yeah... I don't think I ever played with my hair. I probably didn't look at their lips and glance away, and maybe I wasn't great at breaking the touch barrier." Things that don't come naturally to me because my body doesn't signal my brain to do those things, and I'm constantly plagued by the fear that I'll get in a relationship and then be yelled at for "leading the other person on," even if I love them in my own way.

I often say the dating isn't fun to me and I wish I could skip straight into marriage. Give me the partner, hold the guessing games, please.

I feel like I can easily fall for someone who approaches me and is kind to me. I don't think it would be hard for me to devote myself to a genuinely nice, patient person who wants to make a relationship work. But when you feel like anyone could be your person, how do you make the jump and pick one? And what if you've crossed an unspoken social rule, or you ask out someone who has a partner... Regular awkward things, but man. They haunt me.

Taking that awkwardness away would be a fantasy. Can you imagine?? Having someone stay with me, willing to make things work with me, while my inexperienced self learns where my boundaries are and doesn't get my heart broken by getting into relationships that didn't work, and my partner is genuinely willing to care about me and work with me and not immediately dump me for someone "easier to connect with?"

That's a fantasy I never really get to see play out in media. More stories like this, please.

tl;dr - For a decade plus, I've been longing for stories about arranged marriages where the marriage is a background detail and not a big deal, or where the relationship starts out rocky but they actually give each other a chance and try to communicate and make it work. I'm always so shocked and disappointed not to find stories like this (and I'm open for reading recommendations). I just... can't believe how few stories about arranged marriages show them trying to give each other a chance.

Honestly, after my many years of fantasy reading and movies, I can't stand the arranged marriage trope if I can tell the author expects the audience to automatically assume it's a horrible thing that rips away your sense of choice and is going to land you in a terrible life.

You can do more! You can make it fun! Also, please explain why your character is so resistant to the idea when they grew up in a culture where this was the norm, because that implies someone influenced them from the outside and you'd better be able to back that up.

Using myself as example again, even with all the knowledge I have about what the words aromantic and asexual mean to me, I still feel like I'd be down for an arranged marriage if you plopped me in a fantasy world, and I don't even have a cultural background for it.

Obviously every individual will be different, but I've never really seen my specific "Sure, let's give this a shot" feelings represented in media. It seems like all the media to cross my path is very cookie-cutter "They absolutely adore each other" or "One of them secretly resents the other" or "They both dislike each other." I want more nuance and more stories about marrying cautiously, or one character being madly in love with the other even though they're more hesitant and reserved, not sure if they're quite as obsessed.

Great post OP, just wanted to throw some of my thoughts into the ring as well <3

I'm really tired of the "woman sad about her arranged marriage" trope, especially if that woman is royalty.

I am sure that many women across time were sad about their arranged marriages, but I'm sure a lot of others were excited, ambivalent, or resigned. Again, especially if you were royalty! I am sure if you were born a princess, you were trained from birth that your whole purpose in life was to marry someone important to solidify the power of the person on the throne. And honestly, it's an important job, if it wasn't, they wouldn't have tried so hard to do it.

That woman isn't just marrying another king or prince, she's going to be an ambassador of her country. She's supposed to be there promoting good relations. She isn't just a woman being sold off, she has a job! Also, if she is marrying the reigning monarch (or the heir), she may well end up running the country if the king is off at war or he dies when the heir is really young. That happened a lot throughout history! (or maybe she marries the third son and helps him find his way to the throne. Good for her)

It just feels like a modern sentiment being projected back. In Romeo and Juliet, when Juliet's mother first brings up marrying her to Paris, Juliet's basically cool with it and says she'll try to like him. She would have known this was going to happen because that is what rich women do, they marry into another family so their two families can be buddies. What else would she even be expecting?

It wouldn't bother me so much except that it's all we see! Give me a story about a woman who is like, "Cool, I shall give it my all!" Or she's like rolling up her sleeves and planning how she's going to get the court on her side and rule France, power behind the throne style (these women are mostly portrayed as villains, but who is to say the king would do a better job?). And also, have a little faith in women's fathers? You think men in the past didn't occasionally consider the happiness of their daughters? Not even a little bit?