#often differing reasons bc my relationships and connections to the both of them are very unique

[cringefail-clown]

Jakehal is very fun. But why dirkkri? I dont understand what's appealing about it :? confused

theres a lot of things i like about dirkri and honestly i dont even know where to start lmfao

first of all, and its mostly a funny reason - davekat on crack. like some traces of davekat are still there - the arguing about shit, stoic facade vs emotional mess, all the good stuff, but its also so much more exaggerated it makes it this much more ridiculous. gets even better when you consider them under the lense of swap aus like alphaswitch or tbau, where they land on the meteor together. theyre most likely hunting each other for sports by the year two

second of all, the funney. theyd be so fucking funny together. their smallest arguments would take like twenty pages of non-stop flow of red-orange text to resolve, and not because they came to a consensus but because some third party physically dragged them away from their electronics. it doesnt do any good, since it only gives them both time to think over new arguments to use, and theyre back at it as soon as they get their phones back. like if we had a tournament about which ship would do the most collateral damage to the overall group, i think these two would be Up There. karkat would gauge his eyes out from frustration, because now not only does he have to deal with his piece of shit, know-it-all other self, but now theres also Fucking Dirk thrown into the mix. their home life is absolute insanity, a small jab about the other forgetting to buy sugar once again devolves into a screaming match about the merits and flaws of communism or some other inane shit. and theyre doing it for fun, they enjoy debating with each other, because often times they have vastly different opinions, and comparing their beliefs challenges them intelectually and morally. from the outside perspective theyre one of the most dysfunctional pair in the paradox space, when in fact thats simply how they want their relationship to be, and it makes them better people overall.

third reason is that theyre thematically delicious. dirk is a control freak, micromanaging his and his friends constantly. hes terrified of losing control, but hes also desperate for someone to just tell him what the fuck he should do. dirk doesnt think he should be in control of others, because he believes hes a naturally evil person capable of horrible acts, at the same time he doesnt trust anyone else to get things done but himself. hes a whole collection of contradictions.

kankri desperately needs to be in control as well. hes constantly injecting himself into conversations he has no business being in, trying to find someone thatd listen to what he has to say. hes wants to guide others, but his efforts are flawed, because he doesnt listen to other perspectives - hes got tunnel vision, as he thinks hes the one in the right while everyone else is wrong or ignorant (cringefail seer literally). he doesnt trust anyone else to make decisions for him, and becomes defensive when he thinks others are attempting to coddle him. his ass was definitely culled on beforus.

theyre also both so fucking lonely. dirk conciously tries to put difference between himself and his friends, worrying hell "corrupt" them. kankri tries to connect to his friends, but his behavior alienates him from them to the point of no one except maybe porrim want to have anything to do with him.

my point is, kankri wants to guide people but has to learn to listen to others and reflect on his own flawed opinions. dirk has to learn to trust that people closest to him can get shit done on their own and loosen up, as well as realise hes not evil at the core. them helping each other out - dirk teaching kankri about different perspectives, kankri teaching dirk about letting others do their thing - is something i think about a lot.

also i like to think theyd spar for fun a lot as well. its not really a reason and wholly my own personal headcanon but i wanna mention it as well bc its so funny to me. i like the idea of kankris behaviour being a complete reverse of karkat - where karkat is all bark no bite and doesnt like fighting or violence, kankri puts up a front of the beacon of love and peace and tolerance, but in his free time he gets his rifle and goes shooting at the fucking squirrels or some shit. i think he wouldnt have the same qualms about strifing as karkat. like dirk would try to jokingly jab his finger at kankris side and he would just fucking flip him over his shoulder and onto the table breaking it in half, because he doesnt like being touched unexpectedly and by gods dirk when will you fucking learn. he goes from 0 to 100 real fast. its such a hysterical concept for me.

[alexxncl]

‼️NIGHTBRINGER LESSON 40 SPOILERS‼️

masterlist | all lessons | season 2 | season 3 | lesson 39 | lesson 41.1 | lesson 41.2

the end of an era (season 2)

normal and hard spoilers

oh baby :(

see every time i remember how sheltered diavolo is it makes me hate his father that much more. he grew up with everything in the world, but practically nobody to share it with.

diavolo had to have been smart enough to have caught onto the reason behind mephisto's attachment to him at an early age. he might be dense, but he's not stupid. even if he and mephisto did end up becoming really good friends, diavolo knew early on that their proximity was for business and royalty purposes only, and that friendship and a genuine relationship was second to their professional relationship

i feel like this is why he initially thought of the brothers as treasures in regard to status rather than as people, and the mindset shifted to seeing them as treasures in regards to the relationship he formed with them. he wanted genuine connection, but forming a professional connection before a genuine relationship was so deeply ingrained in him that he defaulted to it without even realizing it

...he can't be fucking serious

GET HIM OUT I BEG

he would've done this regardless of the option we picked during the angel's trial i hate it here...can't he take a class or smth instead of experimenting on us

i'm gonna kill him /j

i'm a whore in the game so i technically date everyone at once. but why does he NEVER say i love you back ????? not even in the first game ????????

like ok you're a time demon who shouldn't get attached to anyone and you choose to stay unattached bc you'll lose everyone anyways blah blah blah but at least indulge me a little bit 💔

SOBS UNCONTROLLABLY I LOVE THEM

i feel like they know this is their last goodbye yk? obviously barbatos does, but this feels very, very final on their part. maybe it's a different version the feeling they have when they go into mc's room, like they can feel mc being pulled away from them physically

what if the end of the lesson or the story in the hard part of the lesson is them portalling back to their timeline and the brothers getting a glimpse of their alternate selves? and then everything clicking into place after mc leaves?

the fact that simeon has as many doubts about his father's intentions as lucifer and his brothers did really solidifies my belief that he wanted to, in the worst case, fall with the brothers. and if he didn't fall, he'd at least have begged for answers as much as lucifer did before the war. he was demoted after the war for helping the brothers in canon, and i feel like he still beats himself up about it because of the side he chose. him and raphael both, but raphael is better at hiding it

(i have a whole post about simeon and michael before the war here)

i've said this about a million times but...

the brothers ever 🫶🏽

they're such shitheads but also extremely concerned i love their dynamic sm

SEE I TOLD YOU ‼️ HE MASKS HIS FEAR WITH ANGER (even though i'm pretty sure this was confirmed in canon in the og game and in nb s1)

him admitting that he was scared though? putting his pride aside and actually talking about his feelings for once? this is proof of how much he trusts mc, how much he loves and cares for them, even if he can't explain why the feelings he holds for them are so strong

it also shows that he's thankful to have someone who will care about and protect his brothers as much as he does, and some of the weight of the "oldest brother" mantle has been lifted. it allows him to be vulnerable and at least a little more carefree, which is why he's seen joking and laughing with his brothers so much more often in the later lessons in comparison to season 1 and early season 2

i feel like i'm SUPOOSED to reach bc why would he phrase it like that ??? i don't think he knows...but he's really intuitive

or maybe this was a way of the devs using him to unofficially-officially send us off and into our original timeline. idk. i'm reaching but they made me

THEY DID NOT

oh i'm really gonna cry...they took what we wrote in season 1 and showed it to the boys

i COMPLETELY forgot we even did this 😭 god i'm gonna cry i love this game sm

I KNEW NO TIME PASSED THANK GODDDDDD

i don't think i'd be able to handle it if the same amount of time passed across realms

i also think this is why they emphasized "time soup" so heavily, you can be put anywhere at any time as if nothing had changed

...i can't believe it's over

...for now at least

well time to read the HDD story and catch up on devilgram

[theghostbunnie]

How do you see Max and Neil relationship? I mean I know you ship it but why specifically? I’d love to hear your thoughts on it!

I see them my personal fannon wise as having a really deep connection and dynamic where the lines of platonic and romantic love get blurred (when they're older) and even though they're both really terrible at communicating that verbally, and their emotions in general as people, they both just know they can be way more comfortable, honest, and vulnerable around each other than other people bc they really are each other's person. Even when I'm shipping them with other people their friendship is still greatly important in their lives.

Just a silly little HC I have but: Max is shown to be impressed with Neil's capabilities and Neil is shown to be attention and ego-driven. Even though Neil knows not to take Max's opinion too overly highly bc, c'mon it's Max, I HC Neil secretly really likes the way it feels to be "Max's exception." The asshole with few friends and is hard to impress or understand.™

I think I've said it before but I'll say it again too much of maxneil is just ""max and his boyfriend"" rather than Max AND Neil. Max being a huge fan favorite and some fans wanting to give him a romantic partner and Neil being the closest dude in arms reach. Often just focusing on what Max can receive, how Neil feels about Max, what he can do for him, ect.

I love Neil as a character, he's my silly skrimbly and deserves his own life with intricate issues, and affection, and his own needs and flaws.

Neither one of them has endless patience!! They're both very morally grey just in different ways! I love using those aspects about them to come up with angst.

More Cannon-wise though I mentioned how Max is BIG on first impressions not only that, he's goal oriented and specifically wasn't looking for friends in the first episode. When meeting Neil for the first time this kid was: A: very openly unhappy with the situation, and B: smart. Max saw Neil as useful and felt a sensation of kinship. It wasn't until he cussed and yelled out Campbell did he also find him interesting and someone to give more respect towards, due to that sensation of kinship multiplying at the display of taking no shit and yelling at authority about it.

Max still wasn't looking for friends but Neil had showed him a side of his personality that paved a good way towards that anyways. Max trusted him pretty quickly to escape with him.

We know Neil and Nikki had both been victims of bullying, (Neil mentioning being the outcasted kid himself in the Jermy Fartz episode) so they developed a heavy clingyness to their first friend. (In the episode foreign exchange campers they're incredibly distraught he didn't want to be on their team. They're watching him and getting angry/sad about it. I honestly think this same problem they have socially comes back in the recent finale. Neil and Nikki need people to like them more than Max does, he's actively seen trying to calm them down about it.)

So where Max has a "push everybody away" method Neil and Nikki have a "hold on and never let go" to an unhealthy amount. Nikki moves past this partially, Neil doesn't.

Neil had a robot he made JUST to be his friend turn on him FOR being clingy and needy. He blinked away a TEAR when Max called him temporary. Max may have saw him as a friend first but Neil more openly held it closer to his heart.

They both have way more in common than people notice, Neil isn't really the voice of reason to Max's chaos. It depends on the day. Max can loose control of a situation he created for his own gain, Neil looses control when trying to gain attention or gain lack of it actually.

When Max thought he lost Dolph to bears Neil said hope you find him! And outed, But in camp cool kidz when Max starts an uprising after Neil gives him the idea, he's the only person to willingly stay on his side.

When Neil's AI got out of hand Max was impressed, but Neil had to drag him to help. Where as when Neil was lying about the story of Hanukkah, Max tried to give him advice and help him out.

Max both simultaneously uses Neil like a henchman sometimes, but Is impressed by his actions and capabilities. Neil is VERY attention and ego-driven. Max saying he's too dumb to find something just so Neil will happily fetch it for him is him playing on that, although it's a mean move it really shows how well he knows Neil. And even openly admits Neil knows him well too.

Max was the only person who knew/Neil trusted with his bathroom issues. (I hc Neil asks Max to whistle outside the outhouse for him and Max is like "do you know how many superstitions tell you not to whistle outside at night/j" and Neil is like neither one of us is superstitions just start that remix already istg!!!)

Both of their personalities hold so many similarities as well as alot of negative traits so they do bump heads alot, unlike Nikki's behind your back type shit talk, Neil insinuates once to his face he was smarter than Max and got a foul reaction from it.

This post is a lot more messy than the Nikki one as I can probably easily break down a timeline where Max warmed up to Nikki, but with Neil he seemed to connect with him pretty quickly, in reigny day where I mentioned he was quick to shut nikki down, in the same episode he's very driven to figure out where Neil is. Their dynamic is more complicated I think bc when Max and Neil aren't getting along it's more clear and direct and often due to their similar things. Pettiness, selfishness, egotisticalness. On the other side of the same coin they act silently attached to the hip and almost above other people together.

So I guess I ship it BC I like interpreting them with that very big understanding they have of one another, that deep rooted camaraderie, balanced out with that banter of being sassy little shits but in different ways. The potential angst of when they've already become THAT close but their problems of different moral greyness get too big.

The idea of them spending nearly every day together, and deeply loving each other but never actually saying it or expressing their affection in traditional ways, yet still feeling and knowing that love is there.

[lavellane]

ok introducing my rook deiadre mercar :) hiiiiiiiiiiii <3 deia for short! like deidre but with an A. day-a-druh. day-a. anyway :) heres her pinterest lol it looks so fucking good actually i rly popped off as they say

the quick tldr stuff

she/her

27yo

taashmancer :)

Elf. very much a city elf who's barely scraping by, tho thankfully not a slave and not belonging to a liberati family either.

obv mercar = shadow dragon ! also has (former) ties to the inquisition and briefly worked as an inquisition agent reporting from minrathous

she's a rogue archer ! a veil ranger i guess

im going for a purple rook personality which tends to skew blue more often than not. an indigo rook if you will

reasonably amicable w solas and "Trades Verbal Jabs" on the regular with him. to cope. shes pro redemption within reason and shes mostly going with a lighthearted-to-diffuse-his-insanity approach.

expanded lore below for the 2 people who are interested :) its crazy down there lol

deiadre "deia" mercar is the 3rd oldest child and 1st daughter of a SIX adopted children household lol. parents are a human and elf partnership and the kids are all orphans saved from minrathous' streets or displaced by the war.

her father is human and an overly ambitious logan-roy-if-he-was-broke type figure. mother is elven and kinder but also growing increasingly ill, and deiadre has had to step up as her caretaker.

her mother refers to their family and home as "the rookery" :) she loves birds (deia does too!) and since rooks are "resourceful, opportunistic, highly social and rarely seen on their own"..... the nickname stuck :)

deia had a strong relationship between her two older brothers, also adopted. evander (elven, 31 in datv) is the oldest - kind, funny, lighthearted - she's very similar to him, and it was him who first taught her to fight against tevinter authority and inspired her to want more for elves in thedas. he's also immature, shirks responsibility in favour of his grand directionless goals, and is somewhat selfish lol. matthas (human, 29 in datv) is the second son - self-serious, quick to irritation and melancholy, and a workaholic, but also honorable, selfless, brave, and a provider for the family in all the ways evander sort of isnt. deia is a combination of both of them, and loves them both equally and inspite of their flaws.

during dai, evander (19), matthas (17) and - after much begging - deia (14) journeyed to skyhold at the behest of their father to meet the inquisition and potentially seize an opportunity to elevate their military family's position. on the road somewhere in emprise du lion they were attacked by venatori and ironically saved BY the The Inquisitor herself (as well as ashara's companions, including A Certain Someone lol...........). deia got idk knocked out during the fight bc she was a literal tween lol so she kind of missed everything djkdjsk but when she awoke, evander and matthas had spent several hours w the inquisition and things had changed. matthas was ENAMORED by ashara, idolized her, wanted to join the inquisition immediately and bought right into the ~ herald of andraste ~ mythos even tho ashara has always adamantly rejected it. on the other hand :) evander had spent much of the day talking to a quieter more unassuming bald man. lol. and came away from that conversation a little :) different. lol. deia herself didnt have much to do with either of them, having been unconscious for most of it.

after this, evander/matthas/deia solidify connections with the inquisition and join up as agents. matthas is allowed to remain at skyhold and starts serving the inquisition heart body and soul, and quickly rises through the ranks over the next several years. evander and deia return to minrathous and start sabotaging venatori operations on the home front, which is where deia learns the rogue trade lol, and they both eventually join the shadow dragons.

post trespasser THE INCIDENT occurs <3 what is THE INCIDENT you ask? well i'll tell you :) evander at this point had become increasingly distant and strange and disconnected from the inquisition/shadow dragon/mercar family goals and interests. much more interested in actual minrathous politics and larger wilder stuff. deia didnt think much of this until it accumulated in him being caught sabotaging inquisition missions and leaking intel to :) you guessed it!! :) solas. as an agent of fen'harel.

ashara (or someone acting on her orders) has him immediately arrested and he probably wouldve been executed if deia hadn't instantly broken him out and helped him flee. this wasnt a subtle heist situation btw. everybody knew it was her who helped him lol. and so naturally their entire family was stripped of their agent status including matthas, the person who loved and believed in and idolized the inquisition/ashara the most.

he did not take this well. he condemned evander but he also condemned deia for saving his life. and then promptly said fuck you to the whole family and dipped. evander had no choice but to go on the run, and so he left too. deia understood ev's motives and honestly kind of agreed with them to an extent (obviously neither one of them was aware of solas's true goals lol) as a fellow ~revolutionary~. but she loves matthas too and the lives they had been building so... its a whole situation. lol. anyway.

this was 5 years before datv. so for the last 5 years, deia has had to pick up the pieces of her shattered family, play the diplomat AND the freedom fighter, and walk the tightrope of fighting for change while also protecting her family. she assumes the alias rook while continuing her work in the shadow dragons in attempts to lay low, avoiding her connections with both the inquisition and - unwittingly - fen'harel.

as for her opinions on both - it's complicated. she empathizes with evander's admiration for solas, because solas represents on the surface a person she has always wanted to be. but she resents him for ruining her family's life. lol. and while she enjoyed her time with the inquisition and respects them for saving her life and giving her + her brothers a noble purpose, she resents ashara for having the gall to saved her life as a girl and then destroyed it as a woman, all while not even being able to recognize deia on the street, most likely. she sees both of them as authority figures with two much power and too much baggage be trusted, but she also sees both of her brothers in them. especially solas. and she desperately wants to FIX both of them, because if she can fix the rift between solas and ashara, she might be able to fix the rift between matthas and evander.

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[drift-compatible-poll]

Preliminary Round: Poll Runner's Choice

Ok, so this poll is gonna be a bit different. I picked six of my favorite submissions that didn't get in to put in this poll. Vote for who you would like to be in the main bracket the most, and the top three duos will be added to the bracket. So, without further ado...

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III and Toothless(top left) vs Tsukioka Tsumugi and Takatou Tasuku(top right) vs Xingqiu and Chongyun(middle left) vs Rose Lalonde and Dave Strider(middle right) vs Mabel and Dipper Pines(bottom left) vs Lio Fotia and Galo Thymos(bottom right)

Propaganda for Hiccup and Toothless: "They literally read each others minds, they're so in sync, they trust each other so much"

Propaganda for Tsumugi and Tasuku: "they're childhood friends who started acting together in school! acting requires lots of trust in your fellow co-stars like for example if they mess up or forget a line you need to be able to cover for them and keep the show going. after years of acting they're very much in sync able to match each other's energy onstage during a performance. even the player character (default name: izumi) notes in her narration that these two have a special connection onstage that no one else in their theatre company has bc of their years of acting together <3"

Propaganda for Xingqiu and Chongyun: "They have several matching design elements that balance each other out, with Xingqiu being associated with dark blue and black while Chongyun is associated with light blue and white. Chongyun uses the ice element, while Xingqiu uses the water element, which makes them formidable (or at least troublesome, since they freeze the enemies constantly) in a team together in game. They're commonly seen or mentioned together, and while Chongyun occasionally complains about Xingqiu's pranks, they get along well enough that an entire section of Chongyun's character story (in his profile) is dedicated to his friendship with Xingqiu, and vice versa with Xingqiu's story. Chongyun is a very earnest and genuine person, while Xingqiu is a bit wily and a prankster - despite this, Chongyun trusts him over and over again, despite the trouble that Xingqiu's pranks often cause for him. sorry for submitting genshin and writing a whole wall of text lol"

Propaganda for Rose and Dave: "I'm bad explanations, but the short of it is that even though they're both very cagey people and try not to be themselves, they see through each other's façade."

Propaganda for Mabel and Dipper: "They're the bestest siblings ever. They're twins and have such a wonderful beautiful relationship. Their relationship so important for the show as a whole and Gravity Falls wouldn't be what it is if not for them. They're the reason why I strive to be a good sibling to my own brother. I've been obsessed with this show and them for so many years. They're my favourite and I love them so so much."

Propaganda for Lio and Galo: "First, the obvious- they literally co-pilot a mech during the movie, and them being in sync is required for it to function: the more they understand each other, the better they fight. Also, they're very effective foils: The ice-cold arsonist and the burning-hot firefighter, who are also (as close to canonically as Studio Trigger can get) in gay love."

[pumpkinstrawbrew]

What initially made you fancy Scarebat as a pairing?

oh my, that’s such an enchanting question, as it is brain wrecking. i honestly struggle to put my thoughts into proper words. it feel like it’s too little an’ too much at the same time.

but ah, you can say, that my very first brush with them as a ship happened years an’ years back, when a kid me was sitting in front of a TV, waiting for BTAS eps to air. essentially, they are the ship that i carried with me for the majority of my life, without ever realizing it. when i was a kid, terms like shipping an’ any meaningful ways of interacting with my fav fiction, wasn't smth that i could comprehend or really be into in any grand sense. back then, i was noticeably obsessed with their shared eps, a tad more than with some others. an’ i also was obsessed with this scene. looking back at it, this reaction made a lot of sense. it’s almost like falling in love with the thing at first sight, while having zero understanding as to why. 

there are many things, that make scarebat a very 1:1 ship for me. but i think what got my attention at first was the general feeling of their overall dynamic. i adore horror / mindfuckery-coded stuff, always had, an’ i adore how horror in general can be intertwined with allegories to deeper things, esp when it comes to love / obsession / connection, that you can only form / obtain while enduring smth *mutually* terrifying. i love intensity in fiction, some sort of conflict that cannot be just talked over.

bruce's an' jon's personalities play into this bit so well. almost too well, like this was crafted for oddballs like me, who crave confined, one-to-one dynamics the most. an' what i mean by this, is that they’re both fairly isolated, emotionally closed off people. one of them cannot keep most of his connections for long *bruce*, the other one is borderline incapable of doing it *jon*. but regardless of the differences behind the reasoning of them being left stranded, they are stuck in the same situation.

bruce’s public persona can only fool someone for so long, bc as soon as they want to know him a bit closer, things get complicated. one of problems, that most bruces face is that his approach to relationships an’ intimacy, makes it seem like no person could ever be good enough for him to open up. or it feels like this would take too much time, that no one seems to be willing to waste. an’ i’m not saying that there should be clear-cut acceptance of everything or instant clicking understanding, no. what i’m saying is that knowing bruce, truly knowing him means putting an ungodly an’ enormous effort into it, an’ it’s fair that most people won’t feel like doing it. bruce's mental an' emotional barriers are high. so unless someone is ready to climb them for years, an' forgive his inability to react to thing in the way they want / he needs to, there is just no way to ever get on the other side. an' in meantime, the reward for their hard work might not be enough to sustain them. eventually, it might look like that barrier is just going on forever.

in comparison, jon's situation is different, even if it results in the same thing. but where bruce is liked just enough for people to attempt an’ get close to him, no one ever bothered to know jonathan. no one was really understanding him, or trying to. he’s neither easy nor appealing to approach. he’s not charming. he’s not kind. he might have been a fairly harmless, humble lad in his youth, but he’s not humble about his current situation as adult at all. if anything, he’s unpleasant an’ often confrontative about it. ill-fittingly arrogant even. most of the time, viewed by others either as a sore loser or irredeemable monster. jon is used to people simply assuming things about him, without even talking to him first. so depending on his mood / state of mind, he reacts to it accordingly. he's also paranoid an' his main knee-jerk reactions are often violent or a bit too extra. this would seem like a waste of time to even try to know such a person, wouldn't it? esp if he bares his teeth more often, than he tries to be polite in return.

him an' bruce are actually very similar when it comes to their distrust of others. crane might get into monologues about how the others wronged him, bc he kinda knows that most people who he tells this to would either not care at all or die at his hands. there isn't any actualy exposure happening. just him venting. bruce has alfred, so he does tell him certain things, usually when he has no idea what to do or wants a second opinion on smth. but neither of those situations is the same as actually showing off your belly so to speak.

both batman an' scarecrow don't have a very healthy outlook on trust, vulnerability and' intimacy. i mean, jon has no idea what the last one is even, an' he had only bad expirience with the first two. so his view on it is ever worse. more warped. which makes a perfect reasoning why he often literally crowbars his way into batman's brain, kicking at his mental walls, an' getting past them that way, regardless if bruce wants it or not. an’ while jonathan does it with all of his victims, it doesn’t mean that it’s personal for him. oftentimes, he’s more focused on pleasure he gets from it vs what the person actually sees in terms of learning about them. their fear might be interesting to him, they themselves are not so much. that’s until batman. until time pass, an' they exposed to each other in certain ways for like 20 times. the sheer fact that they can only be fully vulnerable, when they hallucinating an' exposed to ft, with no one around to haunt them, but each other is pretty telling.

i love how their differences coexist very neatly with their similarities an' how their respective issues *a disorder in jon's case* only add to it. esp since it's not like just anybody would work for jon. he doesn't want just anybody. an' bruce had a lot of experiences with various people, be it sexual or romantic, but he needs an anti-social wacko to be his keeper, bc no one else would wish for his everything, due to who he is, rather than what they think he are. an' jon needs someone with that insane amount of belief in him, that won't write him off as a mere creep like everyone else did.

certain things can heavily depend on specific aus, or versions of them, but overall, the way they are confined in that psychological, emotional bubble is very bewitching for me. it’s like holding one of those glass balls an’ see what happens within it once you give it a shake. 

in general, scarebat is a rare kind of ship where everything works so nicely. their personalities, motivations, parallels that they have, along with differences that they use to fuel one another. man, even their designs an’ appearances *inside the costume or outside of it* collaborate amazingly into overarching story that can be told.

[timeausterrors]

hello! this is for the thoughts on homestuck! i think it's interesting how you can read the beta kids as the different troubles a kid could face growing up and, frankly in my opinion, john is no exception. i feel like his upbringing is emblematic of like... you can grow up in a good community in a happy household with a loving father and still not come out of it okay because it's not that simple. he reads SO clearly to me as that experience kids have with mental illness- you don't know what's going on other than there's something wrong with you, because nobody saw any reason to tell you anything else was a possibility. not to mention when you consider it in the transgender context. it's all the little unfortunate side effects of the classic suburban lifestyle that pile up on top of each other- by all means you should be happy, but here you are, just as discontent as all the rest of your friends. ...looks at the big textblock and starts sweating. john makes me feel a lot of emotions if you couldn't tell. i just think he's neat.

yes!! i hardly ever see true analysis of june, especially in early acts, which is wild because she is literally the Main Character. and there is really so much to explore with her, especially when it comes to her emotional struggles and connections with people.

SORRY I WENT OFF A BIT...

june has got to be one of the most heavily autistic coded characters in homestuck, which is saying something bc almost all of them can be read as some form of neurodivergent/mentally ill (or both). but june, specifically, is interesting because, as you said, she had the most "normal" upbringing of all of the kids, both alpha and beta, and by far has the hardest time making connections with people. she has a tendency to derail conversations towards her interests ('shitty' movies) and it often feels like making connections of events to her movies helps her process and relate to those events. she often takes people at their face value, and struggles to pick up on sarcasm or tone through text, and is very gullible because of it (terezi tricking alt june to fight her denizen early, then not taking dave or davesprite seriously until the last minute – she either believes everything someine tells her or nothing, depending on her pre-established notions of the person).

all of these make genuine relationships and connections difficult to build with june. the theme of loneliness with her is Extremely prevalent throughout the comic, even in the snapchat epilogues. she is like the manifestation of undiagnosed autism in children (especially young boys who are trans and dont know it yet). she has a caring dad and a 'good life' but her struggle to make irl connections and that feeling of knowing Something is different about you (or something is "wrong" with you) but not understanding what it is... i feel a lot of that is why june resonates with people.

this is not even going into detail about june's trans coding (be it intentional or not on hussie's end, a good portion of the kids have very real trans coding that i wish more people would appreciate cough cough jake, jane, eridan, the zahhaks.... cough cough cough) or her role in the narrative as both a breath player and a main character... it all paints and extremely compelling picture of this character and i really wish more people would appreciate her!!

sorry for da word wall... june also makes me feel a lot of emotions 🥹

[m1d-45]

man red and shade make me Insane because first of all. the age stuff. red is the version of diluc right after the whole shit w his 18th birthday while shade is current-day kaeya, so it'd be reasonable to assume that shade is most likely "older" than red bc of timeline stuff, BUT ALSO. like you cannot tell me that they don't completely ignore that and still go by the older-younger dynamic that both of them remember. you simply cannot. add on how apparently diluc was a Bastard Of A Kid, and boom. full dynamic right there.

so anyways what i'm saying is that if you leave them alone together red will absolutely rope shade into whatever scheme he has. like i imagine that they still have to be led into reconciliation with each other at first, but your god personally asking you to talk out your problems and try to reform your relationship with your (technically kind of) estranged brother is a really good motivator it turns out! it makes it easier to leave them alone together, but give it a week and shade is also glaring at diluc whenever he's nearby and oh no red what did you tell him.

i keep on picturing you coming home after a long day of meetings and walking in on red and shade coming up with an elaborate murder scheme (shade is the one making it elaborate. red would rather just go in and Fuck Shit Up) - teddy anon

you understand my vision

putting shade and red together in a room is. one of the ideas you’ve had.

they’re very different from their base selves, but red still holds a strange animosity. he’s diluc with all the anger and none of the time for it to cool, and shade has a permanent guilt lingering in his chest he never can place. he just feels… off around red, and doesn’t really know why.

it takes quite a bit of work to get red to adjust to shade, but the process only burns shade more. it’s complicated, to put it simply, and takes time.

but that time passes. with enough quiet interactions without you there, with enough trust that the other truly has your best interest in mind.. they can connect. red shares the fire that drives him, shade chipping at the ice digging into his heart. they talk around the ashes of your campfire, slowly coming to a conclusion.

once shade and red fully reconcile, it’s… dangerous. shade’s constant need for your attention mixed with red’s need for your safety and immense distrust of anyone but nikki or the other reflections makes for a startlingly effective team. you’re happy they’ve made up, really, but shade seems to be pulling you away from your obligations more often, and red sticks closer to your side than ever. on one hand it’s nice to see them get along, and you do appreciate the affection, but on the other, it’s more than a little concerning. you just hope that nothing bad comes of it..

(you’re a bit too late for that)

[skysquid22]

SHISHIDO

Excellent choice!!

First Impression: I texted my brother as I watched cutscenes for Gaiden so I have an exact moment and my first mention of him is me talking about how much I love his jacket. He simply oozes style.

Impression Now: Still think his style kicks ass, but now I love the other aspects of his character. He carries such a unique charisma and steel determination that it’s hard not to feel for him even after everything. He deserves a good life that won’t abandon him.

Favorite Moment: All of Party Hardy but I’ll narrow it down to the exchange outside the restaurant when Tsuruno feels bad for not taking out the boys often enough and Shishido covers for him with an excuse that he’s just been busy with the boss. Distills his motivation and charisma into one moment with a great payoff down the line. Honorable mention goes to when he asks Kiryu and Watase to pose for a photo.

Idea For A Story: Plenty. I think the most pressing one would be what would’ve been the opening to an old Daidoji agent AU. Probably what I’d write returning to write Shishido. I don’t wanna give too much away, but it’d be a moody character study about the weight of his name(s).

Unpopular Opinion: hmmmmm… I can’t think of something for this one….

Favorite Relationship: I mean yeah obviously with Tsuruno. There’s an intriguing tug and pull here of both being really good characters but by virtue of who they are they can clash a lot but at the same time find a way to make up. The tension of the story and what they each want are both very different yet have overlap. It’s one of those relationships that’s interesting even when they’re not together bc they are bound to leave a big impact and impression on the other. There are a lot of different avenues to look at for them, but whatever path it goes down it won’t be like anything or any other relationship and I like that a lot.

Favorite Headcanon: Shishido put his funds into his own small apartment soon after becoming a yakuza. He’s a bit of a collector but more in terms of shit he finds cool. A guitar, he’s slowly learning to play purely through experimenting with strumming. Some fancy wall art he felt connected to and can’t for the life of him explain why. A paper doll tiger that sits near his pillow. Wine that he think tastes like shit but the bottle had a cool design. And the headcanon part of this set that tugs on me the most for whatever reason—he’s a plant dad. Has a bunch of massive ferns and monsteras and the like all over his apartment.

[ispyspookymansion]

kora if u feel comfortable could u talk about ur gender journey and relationship w lesbianism bc sometimes im like that tweet that's like. im probably trans but i have a job so idrc about that but. ough it's scary and confusing. what if im just butch.

oh wow! well let me think. going to put this under a cut because its longish

it was a much harder path for me to get to lesbianism than to get to Gender. i had a really hard time accepting that for some reason, it took a lot of agonizing, a lot of intentional repression, a lot of misery and wallowing around words and labels and avoidance and definitions. so by the time i got through that it then opened up some gender doors for me because lesbianism is inherently disruptive of the cisheterosexual matrix, but i really, really didnt want to go through that misery again, so i just decided it didnt matter what i was as far as gender and what mattered was how i felt and what made me happy. i only became confident in calling myself trans in the last ohh i dont know, 6 months? and yet ive been on T for a year! for me the actions came easier than the wording. i tried not to stress about what i was doing and whether it was or wasnt aligned with lesbianism. i trusted in our history of transness and masculinity and found a lot of comfort in talking to other butch and transmasc lesbians about their experiences and feelings, and found such a range of experiences that felt very relevant to me

ultimately, i feel like a lesbian. i knew that and i continue to know that. the way that i feel about the people im attracted to and the kinds of relationships i want to have is what connects me to lesbianism. i dont feel like lesbianism is my last thread to womanhood. it isnt a thread to that at all. theres too rich a history of gender defiance and creation to simplify it like that, so i dont let it be that for me. i dont feel dysphoric about being a lesbian even if cis(het) people might not understand me as being transmasc as well. + butch and transmasc arent exclusive and are often beautiful beautiful copilots in dykery !

i also find pursuing what makes me feel good matters a lot more than finding exact words for it. im not really sure what my gender is honestly? it took me a long time to get comfortable/feel like i was allowed to call myself lesbian, trans, and butch too honestly. but i went through a lot less misery when i took actions First to figure out what felt right and then accepted the words that naturally followed After. am i trans or am i not trans stressed me out much more than do i want to bind or not? do i want my voice to be lower or not? do i want to try a different name and pronouns or not? and then my answers to these led me to actions and opportunities that got me to feeling comfortably trans, without putting so much questioning strain on the lesbianism i felt at my core.

+ the opposite is helpful. crossing off what am i Not and what i dont want can be a lot easier than what Am i. woman has always been absolutely not right. trans took longer to feel right which is silly versus logically if i wasnt cis, i was trans, but i had to go in steos

i guess just remember that theres not a really hard line between butchness and the transmasc umbrella (other than personal definition obviously) and you can be one or both or one now and then later realize the other feels better. try to read about butches and he/him lesbians and transmasc dykes and talk to them where you can and enjoy the range of answers and identities and give yourself grace to explore that without so much pressure on whether its one or the other. youre still you regardless of what words to use to describe it so take your time figuring out what you want before you worry too much about what that means you “are”

ALSO you dont have to be butch to be trans and still a lesbian or vice versa you can be nonbinary or genderqueer or agender or genderfluid or etc etc etc and consider those under the label Trans and also be butch! or you can be those things but Not butch and still a lesbian! you can do whatever forever!

[astralscrivener]

For the End of the Year Book Ask! #3, #10, #16 <333 Let your correct onions be KNOWN Beautiful <3333

I LOVE TALKING ABOUT MY BOOK ONIONS

3. what were your top 5 books of the year?

FUCK this one took a lot of thinking

i had to go to my shelf of favorite reads of the year and it was. very tough to choose.

firstly is yellowface by r.f. kuang, which i talk about more in the next question (i answered these out of order oopsies)

second i think is the fifth season/the obelisk gate by n.k. jemisin. i read the fifth season both last year and this year for two different classes, and then finally got around to the sequel + am currently reading the third book and i am bonkers about them. i am thinking about essun and nassun and alabaster and hoa constantly. deeply unwell. a lot more geology than i had initially expected but i'm having a GREAT time

the long way to a small angry planet by becky chambers. my fucking beloved. i've literally owned the book since like 2021 but took forever to read it but i love it sooo much i love the entire wayfarer crew but i think about kizzy and ashby constantly. the socks match my hat scene was so small but lives in my head rent-free

circe by madeline miller!!!! this one is popular for a reason. i know a lot of people tend to prefer TSOA/their first introduction to miller's writing is TSOA but circe was mine bc i love the odyssey (and also the emily wilson odyssey came out before wiliad. so. i have not had the brain power to get thru the fagles translation of either one yet). anyway i loved this a lot. i connected a lot with circe as a person and a character and her entire web of relationships...i am so emo about it. also i am a circe/penelope truther and when i write a sci fi or fantasy novel very loosely inspired by their dynamic. then what. ....wait i might have just had a breakthru on one of my wips wait a minute—

and finally the haunting of hill house by shirley jackson. i think about eleanor too often. way too often. someone in the goodreads reviews commented on her loneliness and it clicked for me why i like her so much and i have not recovered <3

10. what was your favorite new release of the year?

out of the ones i read this year? yellowface by r.f. kuang. i don't read thrillers much but this one was so much. i loved it. chaotic satirical thriller criticizing the publishing industry and raising questions about ownvoices and representation, which authors and stories the industry rewards and prioritizes, the pitfalls of being a young prodigy, and also it was just bonkers. i know this one was divisive for some people but i loved it. i had a great time. i have not stopped thinking about "they called it a globule" for months.

16. what is the most overhyped book you read this year?

you know DAMN WELL what you were doing when you chose this question. kissing you on the mouth

anyway is this a safe space. is this a safe space for me to be bitch. f**rth wing. it was f**rth wing. spoilering so tumblr doesn't put it in the search for the stans to find me

it is bad. it is bad. i initially gave it i think 1.5 stars (rounded up to 2 on GR) but i hate it more every single time i think about it. there is just so much wrong with it as a book but is also emblematic of a lot of larger issues in publishing, and particularly with red tower as an imprint, but i do not have all day to rant or we will be here forever

end of year book ask!

[aardvaark]

Similar in the way cousins are

(im assuming this is re: this rb’ed post about annie edison from community & sophie devereaux from leverage. sorry if im totally incorrect lol)

yeah exactly!! like they have some huge differences in their character traits, including the archetypes they fit, but just some things……

both are - as the original post says - good at manipulating, terrible at acting (but think they’re great actors).

both tend to have friendship/relationship problems that are the result of that manipulation. annie often lies or manipulates people and then does the "disney face" as jeff calls it iirc, to get pity lol. sophie cons the team in season 1 and can’t really apologise.

both of them often attempt to be The Voice Of Reason TM (annie in an intellectual/logical way, sophie in an emotional intelligence way) but both are very much just as unhinged as the rest of their study group/team members.

both are obsessed w the most wet cat of a man to ever exist, but the arcs of jeff/annie and nate/sophie are very different in important ways. nate/sophie end up together. the series is very focused on changing these characters for the better, so they’re both in a better position to be in a healthy relationship.

annie starts off trying to be the respectable, sweet, smart, valedictorian-to-be. as the series progresses, she drops that act more and more and reveals her weirdness more openly, for better or worse lol. sophie starts off with a million masks, not really even knowing herself what’s underneath. and attempting to be the femme fatale to nate’s hardboiled quasi-detective, but eventually reveals her quirks and allows herself to be silly.

annie & abed vs sophie & parker. discuss.

nah but i always thought annie’s whole "trying to force abed to be more empathetic" thing in "Virtual Systems Analysis" was ironic bc she is not very empathetic. or, i guess… whether or not she feels empathy for people, she can do some very selfish or hurtful things if it’s in her own best interests. and it reminds me of a post i saw (which i need to find…) about the early sophie & parker relationship, how sophie is basically like "why can’t you just mask, i invented 300000 masks which i change every hour, it’s not that hard". as if her extreme way of dealing with social situations was the Normal And Healthy Way, and also obviously not considering that parker is autistic. sometimes i think annie’s frustrations with abed in that ep are kinda the same, like… annie, my love, you are so weird and bad at socialising, and you do really strange things to try to seem more normal or get your way (like manipulation), how in the world are you critiquing abed?? for simply being autistic?? it’s tinged with some self-hatred too i think, like she’s so intent on abed acting "normal" (ie, neurotypical) because she puts so much effort into acting "normal", in a different way. and from abed’s end, it’s just like… maybe being yourself is more worthwhile than obsessively covering up every insecurity or quirk or vulnerability to the point it consumes you. similar thing with sophie & parker. idk if im explaining that very well but yeah.

so definitely, they’re not super similar, but… cousins. yes. exactly. they share some features, enough that you can make the connection.

[dashielldeveron]

anon from mid december here! god i love winning. ANYWAY much to observe. i love the through lines of government assigned chapstick flavours and the defining moment that makes the soulmate connection work in every chapter. i love that immediately after posting you cited your sources on tenkos characterisation. very funny very charming and you are very right. i adore the mcs vibes she knows so much about so many things with a 50/50 chance of it being useful and she’s MESSY and she’s FIGURING IT OUT and her relationship with tenko teaches her to give herself grace. they’re just so sweet on each other it brings me endless delight as does touyas lil cameos. he’s a dirtbag and he’s a comedian and hes warmed up to the ducks and i want to put him and his fucking HOOVES in my pocket. i’m sure i will return with more thoughts at some point but for now. very delicious to me. WAIT NEW THOUGHT THE FUCKING INVENTORY KEY THING WAS AN EXAMPLE OF THE SOULMATE CONNECTION GOD YOURE GOOD. AND THE GOGGLES sorry i’m re reading the chapter as i type this

ASLDKJFA;SDFJKL;A YOU GET IT!!!!!

oh my god the DUCKS. i needed someone to notice the ducks oh my GOD. he BUILT them a HOUSE in his little art project garden he has a duck for SOME reason in dnd what a LOSER. like he's bonded so hard with them he wanted a fictional one, too!!! like. imagine touya just carrying a duck around in a purse like a small dog. both of them v v v judgy. enemies to lovers duck edition

lololololol "government assigned chapstick flavours" you canNOT tell me that these very kissable boys are only using, if any at all, generic unflavoured chapstick lol. it is STUPID how long i've had "post-canon tomura wears burt's bees tropical pineapple chapstick bc he specifically wants something that Tastes Good" stuck in my head; i'm so glad it's finally in fic and that you've been keeping track asdjfkl;

and yeah i wanted to reblog the shigaraki meta that i'd been considering!!!! bc while i was rereading the manga for this route, i realised that everyone, from police to heroes to villains to students, just make Large Assumptions about shigaraki, and they just Say Things about him. and everyone around them just takes it as fact??? it's like. we the audience are being told things about shigaraki, but they don't match up at all with how we see him act. i am hoping that this is intentional on hori's part, esp. with how heavy-handed shig commentary has been by other characters in the last few chapters, to make the point of "midoriya is the only one who's ever Looked and shigaraki and Perceived." bc, like, AFO and the pro heroes objectify/dehumanise tomura but in different ways. i worry. but so much of what we're shown of shig just doesn't match up with what characters say about him!!! it's odd. i really like him, despite being Told That He Is an Object, specifically one of destruction.

goddddd reader in this route is messy and i have a lot of compassion for her. i think she should allow herself to get angry more often. but i think that gifted kid burnout and basically moving back into your parents' house and people judging your "bad" life decisions even though they can't Know what you're going through--it's a touchy subject, tinged with shame and confusion and insecurity of identity, and tomura, i think, is experiencing his own flavour of that, since he doesn't get to be the Greatest Evil VIllain version of himself that he had in his head for so long and now is Just Some Guy. i didn't want reader to have a saviour complex but i wanted her to Care So Hard, and i hope that came across, esp. since her caring so hard also works with her own insecurities.

also yessssssssss YESSSSSS the KEY the GOGGLES it was there in front of them the whole time!!!!! but they weren't looking for it!!!! bc when soulmate bonds are words and marks, who the fuck is gonna be looking for a soulmate bond in just some weird triviality????? lolololol i talk about wanting to handle tomura with care but gave him the silliest soulmate bond thing. i like how useless it is, because it's, like, tomura doesn't need to be useful rn, either.

godddddd i'm so glad you sent me an ask so i could talk about thissssssss. i'm SO fucking glad that you're noticing details like this and having fun with them!!!!! i am, too!!!!! i love tomura and you and i hope you are having a good 2024 so far!!!! xx.

[dragonsbone]

Hello I just saw your LOTR oc and I immediately fell in love!

Feel free to infodump about her!

-@heresthefanfiction

ahhhhh thank u so much !!! im so glad you like her bc i had her for like a week and i would die for her fghnjmnbhg !! and i appreciate this ask sm i will gladly info dump my bb (づ ᴗ _ᴗ)づ♡

rínien, my darling, is the youngest of the three. she is ten years younger than boromir and five years younger than faramir. she is a formidable warrior with a courageous heart and an extremely stubborn mind. she cares very little of lore, unlike faramir and their father, and craves the feeling of a sword in her hand or a bow on her back. she loves a good fight, no matter the odds. though, it is still rare and highly looked down upon for a women to be in battle. it’s one of the many reasons their father detests her. but boromir encouraged that side of her and taught her how to properly fight, just as he’d done with faramir when he was of age. he believed in her and never shamed or belittled her of wanting to fight for their family.

but more of rínien as a character, she is quite complicated. with her brothers and fellow gondorians, she can remain her true self. a bit boastful at times, especially after a few cups of ale, but she is known to be brave, unyielding, and dedicated to the people of gondor. however, when rínien is around strangers or potential threats, a wall is built within her. she can be cold, cynical, and often unpleasant to be around. it’s very difficult for her to place her trust in others. rínien remains guarded, both emotionally and physically, until there comes a definite moment where she can confidently call someone a companion or a friend. it definitely takes a long time for her to trust aragorn, but that’s a whole other discussion.

she is paired with another main oc of mine named arion. they are the embodiment of “he was sunshine, i was midnight rain”. he is first, and foremost, a true himbo. listen, i got a thing for himbos and it’s my fic so i do what i want lol. he was one of the free folk of eriador and became a ranger of the north when he was old enough. arion is as open and honest as they come. he is true to himself and shows everyone the kind of man he is. he is compassionate, selfless, heroic, humble, and so much more. definitely drinks the respect women juice as he should and bc i said so. while i still plotting to have all my ideas connect cohesively with each other, i do plan on having him and aragorn as a duo prior to the fellowship and having their friendship become a big part of their characters.

what i do have figured out is rínien and arion’s relationship. as aforementioned, rínien doesn’t trust people easily, meanwhile arion does. most of the time, it works in his favor. they balance each other out and compliment their different personalities. rínien can be distant, arion can be welcoming. and so on. they help each other through so much, especially after the loss of boromir and rínien, eventually, revenge arc. but they are so wholesome to me and i very much enjoy them!!

well, that’s all i’ll info dump rn before this post becomes too long !! but i hope u like what’s to come of this idea <3

send me an ask

[causticsunshine]

okay i'm gonna say something and i just know someone's gonna get mad at me or send me shit and say i'm not actually a fan, whatever, but i've been feeling some sort of way about this for awhile and it lowkey really pisses me off that not enough people i see are talking about it, so i'm going to bite the bullet and say it—

louis not wearing his mask when talking to and meeting fans, even when he's just walking around outside venues or when has popping out of his recording space to wave hello, is not okay and has not been okay and he's not been getting the call-outs he deserves.

i know he's got to be vaccinated and likely boostered already but seeing as how this whole tour was already put on hold for like, two years because of the pandemic that's still going around and still has people—including his fans, his band, tour crew, venue workers, everyone??—required to wear masks out in public and around other people, vaccinated or otherwise, and he just isn't wearing his mask around them when we see him (especially when security and his tour mates and crew are next to him wearing their masks??)....it's both super unsafe to him and other people, as well as super fucking disappointing to see.

like, it's been two years of this shit. we've been doing it. it's not new and it's not regional. i don't care when or if or even how vaccinated a person is—if you're out and about, keep your fucking mask on and keep your distance.

a huge reason as to why we have to keep on wearing our masks and dragging this shit out is because there are far too many people out there being selfish and not being safe, not getting vaccinated, or got vaccinated and decided 'well i can't get sick so no mask for me hehe' when you can still get covid after you've been vaccinated, and even if you're asymptomatic or don't get sick, you can still get other people sick!

not only that, but doing shots with fans—even if they literally just went to buy the shots at the in-venue bar and handed one to him seconds after getting them—isn't a good idea right now? yeah it's very fun to watch and under normal circumstances i'd love to do a shot with louis! but it's still a risk and he shouldn't be doing that right now?

(and please correct me if i'm wrong because i very well could be, but don't some of the venues for this tour still have slightly looser restrictions? i could totally have the wrong information but i was talking with some friends about it recently when one of them pointed it out, so as far as i know this is still a thing.)

we all talk about how vocal and comfortable he is in expressing his gratitude and love for both fans and the people he works with, as well as making sure everyone feels safe and is safe in his company, such as properly halting things tonight in atlanta when so many people were overheating in the pit, so: why is there so much radio silence when he's willingly being less than safe?

yes, you could argue he does wear his mask and we just don't see it in the photos we've taken of or with him, but that's still leaving room for risk. that's still not enough.

and to people who think i'm being unnecessarily hypercritical of him and this issue, the reason why i'm saying something, why i'm so vocally disappointed and frustrated about this, is because i really fucking care.

after having to wait so long for his first proper solo tour, i really don't want him to cancel dates or cut things short in any way because he's gotten sick, someone key to his performing has gotten sick, etc. like, i can't even imagine how heartbreaking it must've been to keep having to push off this huge career leap because of a pandemic...

so why is he risking a repeat of that at all?

my relationship to louis up to this point—since like, 2011—has been entirely parasocial, but i've always had a strong connection to him. i've cared about him for so long and when i care about someone—and i'm really not someone who really cares about or takes real interest in celebrities of any kind or caliber—even in that distanced parasocial way, i care.

so when one of the few people i actually like does or says something that i don't agree with or poses some sort of issue with my morals, interests, etc., i'm not going to pretend it wasn't said or didn't happen. i'm willingly giving that person my support and my time—why would i be quiet?? i want them to be better!

criticizing the actions or words of someone you care about when there's inherently an issue with their behavior does not mean you like them any less and i don't think enough people take that into account, and why so much behavior from a lot of people goes unchecked when it shouldn't.

and it's not just louis; just in regards to 1d, i've openly criticized every member of the group at some point in time! call-outs to be better are a love language of mine and i take them very seriously!

(like i've already come and keep coming for liam's neck about the NFT shit, and louis isn't catching a break from me either in that regard.)

really what i'm trying to say here is:

considering this whole tour was pushed back because of covid, it genuinely frustrates and disappoints me to have seen louis already being so carelessly maskless when meeting people and going out before tour, but so especially on tour when he's not just consistently traveling to different cities but different countries and is going to be doing so for a majority of the year.

to see someone i've genuinely liked and cared about for oven ten years, who has a deserved rep for being profoundly vocal in his love and gratitude, do something so careless yet so fucking easily fixable as wearing a mask, breaks my heart, because wearing a mask isn't something out of his power or his control. if his crew, band, openers, etc., can wear their masks when around him and when out around fans and other people, so can he. there is no excuses to be made here.

no amount of money and status can make you immune to a worldwide super-spreader virus that's not just made millions of people sick and even given many lasting health issues, but actually taken millions of lives.

he needs to be better in this regard, and we need to actively hold him, and anyone else acting similarly, accountable. it doesn't mean we're being hypercritical or that we secretly don't care, are being mean, etcetera—rather, we all need to be held to the same standard, to be safe.

[amporella]

bendy? 👀

This made me remember how much I love them!! Augh!! That being said, this also took a little bit of thinking: I love them in concept but I haven't actually thought THAT much about the little things in their lives. So I am very up to being convinced on any of these. Explanations under the cut:

Lends Clothes/Borrows Clothes:

They definitely do that thing as kids/young teens where whenever one of them buys an outfit it basically belongs to both of them, but they can't do that as much when Bebe starts getting taller + they start developing their own unique styles </3 but they still share outfits whenever it fits/its up both of their alleys. Bebe ends up lending hers more often just bc it's more likely to fit.

Pet Names:

I just think Bebe is that type to use a lot of pet names for everyone!! I don't really have a reason for this. Same with Wendy; she just doesn't really strike me as the type.

Introverted/Extroverted:

Bebe LOVES being social, and tbh is very rarely alone; she's always got a friend over. Wendy's also fairly social (she is one of the queens of the Pleases and Sparkles Club) but she's more likely to want her alone time/time with only one or two people after big social gatherings.

Affection:

Both of them do a lot of both affection through words and affection through actions, but I think they both have leans. Conversations are definitely one of Wendy's love languages, while I think Bebe is more of a quality time kind of person? Which kind of connects back to affection via words vs affection via actions.

Confessions:

Kind of similarly to style, I don't really see there being an 'official' confession between them!! They're so close that they kind of end up falling into a relationship naturally versus having an official confession. But if someone were to confess, I think it would be Wendy; she probably notices her feelings first and doesn't waste time about it.

Squashes Bugs:

Neither of them are really afraid of bugs. Wendy's just more likely to squish them because Bebe doesn't want to get bug guts on her good shoes.

Dislikes PDA/Loves PDA:

This is probably one of the areas where they differ most significantly to me!! I think Wendy probably prefers keeping her relationships a little more private (?) as she gets older, as opposed to Bebe who's very affectionate with everyone, all the time. But especially with her girlfriend. They figure it out tho.

Overprotective:

I love Wendy being very jealous and very protective of her relationships, augh. The way she behaved in Bebe's Boobs Destroy Society was a fluke!!!! I know in my heart she would defend her!!! I think Bebe is generally chill going, but probably more protective of Wendy than she is of the average person. She's only not super protective because she knows Wendy can hold her own.

Relationship Experience:

Wendy has a few long-term relationships, and Bebe has a lot of short term relationships, but it ends up coming out to them having pretty close to the same amount.

Thank you for the ask alister!! <3