#or really write him in any complex relationships (even platonic ones). like he's out of sight & out of mind

[kebiday]

of course ppl have no obligation to care about characters they don't like... & fandom is about doing what you want and having fun... & it's inevitable for fanon to simplify the cast into little cardboard cutouts...

but i Do wish that ppl who pour a lot of love & effort into analyzing + developing the relationships of + having empathy for the circumstances of the main characters would extend more than a fraction of that to other characters. like my favorite girl kevin day 🐈‍⬛

[insomaniacat]

orv spoilers

tbh I'm so happy there is no explicit romance in orv (minus the brief stuff that happens with jhw and lhs) and because of that I feel like I've been able to appreciate kdj in such a profound way as a character

like sure i like joongdok and yoohankim but to me at least kdj has this level of asexuality to him that I don't usually associate him with anyone that romantically. And their relationships are still as complex and has such a great depth that they are like THE foundest of families and I can return to the kim dokja company at the end of the day as all of them being my comfort characters. you know that saying like 'i love you so much i'd make the world burn for you'? it's meant to be this dramatic line about how much you love someone (romantically), but kdj's company fully encapsulates this in a platonic way that just isn't cringey or anything like that

they are all so platonic but they love each other to such an unconditional way that they ALL decide to relive through all the scenarios again in the hope of finding kim dokja again. and later, they all help to write and spread a story - stories, the thing the reader loves - again, in hopes of bringing kdj back home. they aren't sure if it'll work, but it is through this love they all have that they don't give up and put their hope in this seemingly impossible method

and this is also what makes them fundamentally different from kdj. unlike kim dokja in the apocalypse, they do not have any sort of proof their methods will work. kdj has twsa - the novel he grew up reading, the novel he fantasized living in, the novel that he's spent 13 years following, learning every nook and cranny and probably even planning out his own way to survive the apocalypse from this lengthy novel. he has some sort of assurance his methods will work, with the amount of time hsy put into describing the settings (remember that twsa was not popular and one of the complaints was that tls123 put too much emphasis on the settings that deterred people from reading it, when really, that too was a way to ensure kdj survived the apocalypse later on). he has had time to reassure himself and plan for it, and probably had yjh case test them all

but kdj's company had no assurance - they did not grow up with a book that confirmed their methods of bringing kdj back would work. they did not have any 'third plans', no 'ressurections', no 'restarts', that kdj had in the apocalypse. all they had was their own hope - something kdj didn't have when he was fifteen sitting in that hospital bed after that failed suicide attempt, feeling like the whole world was against him. Until he searched up those three words on his phone. Those three words that were probably 'Ways of Survival'.

And then he found his hope in twsa. he found his hope in yjh, the protagonist made just for him. he found hope in the story that he believed in for the next thirteen years. the story that got him through high school, the CSATs, the military. his hope was in this tangible book that carried him through the apocalypse.

kdj's company had none of that. they only had their hope in kim dokja - the man they survived the scenarios with. they could only put their hope in their memories of surviving with the man that saved them, even though there was no evidence he lived in their world anymore. they had to put their hope in the fact that they remembered he existed, even though they had to acknowledge that they didn't know everything about him.

sing shong touches upon this idea a lot throughout orv - does something really exist if no one knows about it? or, in a more modern saying, did a fallen tree in a forest really fall if no one heard it? what proves the existence of something? what proves that something truly happened? sing shong seems to make it pretty clear that the existence of something can be represented metaphorically like a 'story', and stories need a 'reader', some sort of spectator that witnesses it, for the 'story' to exist.

for kim dokja, his final sacrifice, where he split into infinite little pieces scattered across the universe, was to ensure that everything existed. that open ending, as tragic as it was, was meant to be comforting. that his sacrifice was supposed to be so existences like you and me, are real. no matter how lonely we may feel throughout our lives, a metaphorical 'kim dokja' is looking at our own stories, spectating our own stories, even living our own lives himself.

and what i hate to say sometimes is that kim dokja is not really a character - he is an idea. he is an idea of some being affirming our lives, that it's real, that what we do from day to day, even something as simple as getting up in the mornings and brushing your teeth, or thumbing through a store catalog, matters. and this is why kim dokja sacrificed himself. for all the stories that may have not 'existed' if no one was watching it.

and it's out of love. this tragic, terrible love for the world, that eats away at yourself until you are nothing. but at least you exist.

[sleepyric]

Bnha Headcanons ⟢

໑Synopsis໑ How a platonic relationship would develop with them and what’s included (also somewhat of an analysis of character).

໑Characters included໑ Bakugo Katsuki, Kirishima Eijiro, Shoto Todoroki

໑A/N໑ This is my first write since my Wattpad days 8 years ago. Some characters could be a little ooc and there may be grammatical errors. Enjoy ! <3

Word count: 572

Bakugo Katsuki is a complicated and complex man. It’s not new to hear of the many layers this guy has, making it incredibly difficult to break down his barriers. If you’re a new student the probability that he would even regard you as anything but an insignificant extra is slim. It would take a lot for him to even acknowledge you let alone get close to you.

Bakugo Katsuki is the type of guy that would take ages to warm up to you, if ever. If you’re lucky enough to gain his respect, which would only happen because of your powerful quirk or strong willed mindset, it could take a few months. Becoming friends with him would be an even harder feat. Halfway into the year if you managed to gain his respect, maybe just maybe you’d be able to become an acquaintance of his but nothing more.

Being Bakugo Katsuki’s acquaintance would mean you probably are friends with Kirishima as well. Maybe you are in a group chat with Bakusquad, which is how you would’ve gotten Bakugo’s number. If you decided to text him privately, he would give dry one word responses or leave you on read. I could imagine y/n asking for homework help only to receive a simple thumbs down react and a “no”. Of course, if you really wanted help from him specifically it would take a week of constant pestering to get him to crack. He would probably say something like, “if I say yes will you shut the fuck up and stop bothering me?!” Or something along those lines.

As Bakugo Katsuki’s friend, you’re not going to get a lot more. He might be more willing to help you study for upcoming exams, and definitely would want to train with you (it’s more of a competitive thing to him than anything else). I could see him maybe just maybe cooking for his friends but only because you’re “eating unhealthy” and he thinks it’ll make you preform poorly while sparring with him… which would impact the ‘competition’. You might get lucky and drag him to the mall with the Bakusquad once in a blue moon, if it fit his schedule and he felt like it.

Overall, Bakugo Katsuki isn’t an easy person to know on a deeper level, but I don’t think it’s impossible. I’m sure with enough time and patience, along with his personal development/growth over the years would allow you to get closer. It would never be the same as what you expect from other people, so if you want a “normal” friendship he won’t give you that. I think in a way he would end up pushing you to be a better person yourself, fixing any bad routines or habits you might have. Regardless, if you did stick around and managed to gain his respect and companionship he would be there for you when it mattered (in his own way of course).

Kirishima Eijiro is a kind soul, with his own set of flaws. As much of a well loved person as he is, he is also insecure. I imagine his desire to be “manly” stems from feeling like he wasn’t good enough, or a result of being bullied. It’s not unfamiliar to hear him being a sweetheart to everyone, I mean this guy would love to get to know you as a new student. He would offer to show you around because how could he not help someone in an unfamiliar environment?

Kirishima Eijiro loves to help. I think in a way, being well liked by his peers is something he’s always craved yet never received, hence why he tries to be the manliest for everyone. He would hate for anyone to feel the way he did, and maybe still does? With you he’d invite you to sit and eat lunch with him and his friends, or go out to see a movie with them. Always seeking to invite you, and would offer some solid advice if you felt down about anything. It wouldn’t take much to become friends with him.

Once you’re Kirishima Eijiro’s acquaintance, you’re also his friend. I think he kinda skips that part when forming platonic relationships with others. Why not if you like who the other person is, right? Being his friend would be fun. You would be able to go to him for help with anything, really. Need help doing your hair? Awesome, you can even help dye his hair. Don’t want to go to the store alone? Perfect! He’s been dying to grab these new protein bars anyways. Movie nights are a must, you both would have weekly marathons with all your favourite movies. He would also love to train with you, totally not to show off how manly he is or whatever…

Overall, Kirishima Eijiro is the epitome of a green flag. Just don’t forget he has his insecurities. This guy has been through it, feeling like he’s not enough or unlikeable to the rest of society. He probably doubts himself and how others see him as much as he trusts that they are honest and true. It’s always an inner conflict with him, regardless of how he perceives to others on the outside. That’s why, he would do anything for the people he cares about the most. A ride or die type of guy.

Todoroki Shoto is an enigma, honestly. Not so much in a bad way, but with how complicated it is to get a read on the guy. His family troubles clearly contributed to his distance and lack of emotion comprehension. He seems even more challenging than Bakugo. This man is more detached than anyone, and his lack of ability to form proper human connection will make it hard to get acknowledgment from him. If you’re new and interested in him, you’ll have to approach him first.

Todoroki Shoto is icey cold, literally and figuratively. Not that he can’t warm up to you, or doesn’t have the ability to get to know other people it’s just so incredibly difficult for him. He doesn’t want to be a failure, having dealt with feelings like that all throughout his childhood. Never having proper support from anyone, including barely having any friends. He was a loner, so much so that it’s just how he behaves in social settings even now. It’s routine, and his normal. That’s why you would have to show him or give him a reason to want to learn about others.

As Todoroki Shoto’s acquaintance I don’t imagine he would initiate anything. He would probably be a dry texter, but unlike Bakugo it’s not because he doesn’t care, it’s because he’s just like that. Would also find it hard to understand any jokes you might make, taking them quite literally instead. He wouldn’t be unfriendly as an acquaintance per say, but you will often not know how he’s feeling or if he even likes you. That’s why it’s up to you to get to know him, and approach him because if you don’t good luck being friends with him

Once you’re friends with Todoroki Shoto, he’ll comply with any activities you want to do, nonchalantly going along with it. Most hangouts will be going out to grab soba or walks in the park. Simple things that don’t require a lot of socializing or other people. A private guy, prefers to keep to himself. You’ll end up dragging him anywhere social. Since Todoroki is sort of friends with Midoriya, by default y/n would be too. Almost like a trio. Almost.

Overall, Todoroki Shoto is an emotionally distant guy. He doesn’t socialize much, nor does he find platonic connections easy or simple. Despite all of that if you two did manage to become friends you’d be doing most of the work. He might not know how to deal with others emotions, but he would make for an excellent listener. Willingly listening to you rant about everything an anything, just being there and nodding along to what you have to say. He would appreciate that you try so hard to be his friend, knowing that he’s not an easy person to let others in.

[piouscoffeelover]

i personally think that steve rogers is not properly characterized in the fandom (sometimes sometimes!! not trying to generalize just using dramatized expressions) at all. like i see so many people write him as some big dumb softie or as some self-righteous, jerk-wad of a dude. or like,, the dark side of tumblr that writes him as like a really ?? evil guy ???

but like in reality, steve rogers is like such a complex and well-written character (except for endgame,, idek what was happening there—leaving bucky after everything is THE MOST out of character moment in mcu history but whatever).

we see through the movies that he's humorous, sarcastic, and witty. but he is also gentle, and empathetic. he has so much platonic love for the people around him, constantly reaching out a helping hand—even to those who bitterly swat it away. he's one of the few men in the mcu that are type f in myers briggs.

he is aware of his own emotions, and the emotions of others. he constantly considers diverse perspectives (though extensively stubborn when he thinks he's right, as seen in civil war or like any of the movies actually SKJDFIOF) and he seeks to understand other perspectives. he is warm, and caring.

but he is still steve "God's righteous man" rogers. steve is bullheaded, and self-righteous at times, compromising relationships to do things "his way".

we can also see in the comics and movies that steve is a man of belief, though they barely expanded on it.

"There's only one God, ma'am. And I'm pretty sure He doesn't dress like that."

as a christian, it can be so frustrating seeing canonically believing characters have that overlooked or do things that don't align with their beliefs. if the russo brothers or even stan lee were to expand more on his faith, it would increase his complexity in such a beautiful manner. even for non-believing viewers! at least in my perspective,, lol. BUT ANYWAYS

i guess i want to see more of proper steve rogers rep. not clueless softie steve rogers, or dark ??? evil rogers ?? but STEVE ROGERS. captain america. especially the captain america we saw in the winter soldier.

[crepesuzette2023]

So whats like the general consensus about Stu and John? Do we think they ever messed around or not?

Ooooh, I won't burn and scar my typing fingers on anything like "general consensus," and my cop-out answer is: depends on who you ask. I mean, if you're living in a world where 'a man being with a woman' = straight, or 'a man who never came out unequivocally as queer' = straight, then John and Stu very much never messed around, and, more importantly, didn't feel the desire to.

But I think if you look at it with an open mind, without being afraid of the possibility, you'll see it's more likely they did than that they didn't.

First, you have John, with his life-long romantic idea of being in love with your creative partner (see: his comments on Yoko and Paul)—an idea that fits Stu seamlessly, and perhaps even started with him. In the Hunter Davies bio, John (in '67) calls Stu Paul's predecessor in the 'my trusted partner in art' role.

There is also this conversation with Stu's girlfriend, Astrid Kircherr, as related by Backbeat director Iain Softley:

Paying tribute to Astrid this week, film director Iain Softley revealed her moving words from his interviews with her when he made 1994 movie Backbeat about her and Stuart’s romance.

They hint at a complex relationship between her, Stuart and John. She said it was only after Stuart died that she and John “took a load of pills” and talked for 12 hours about “all the things on our minds about Stuart”. “‘He was jealous when Klaus and I fancied Stuart more, and took him home and left John out,” she told Iain.

“He told me he really loved Stuart, but was afraid of the feeling.”

Iain adds: “I think she thought he meant as a friend, I don’t think there was any suggestion they were in a relationship. But Stuart had always been John’s best friend, they shared a flat in Liverpool. John would write to Stuart as ‘Jesus Christ to John the Baptist’, in the sense Stuart was showing him the way. He looked up to him.

“There was a sense John didn’t want Stuart taken away from him, he didn’t want Stuart to stay in Hamburg.

“At the same time he was very fond of Astrid, but I think there was a conflict there.”

If John was afraid of the feeling, then I'm thinking he felt something that, at the time, and probably still today, was a scary thing to feel. I'll leave it at that.

Also, they were, what? 18, 19, 20 years old? At that age, odds are you do fool around, even if you regret it afterwards. Nothing wrong with that.

Look at this picture of Stu (r.) with Astrid and Astrid's ex, Klaus Voormann. Klaus, who later said he and Astrid didn't work as a couple because she wanted him to be exactly like her image of him, and whose marriage (to a woman) was a platonic marriage of convenience, according to himself. We have now reached the beautiful stage of come onnn! "Straight" was at the party, but so were many others. These relationships were messy! That's awesome!

And how do we feel about John feeling up Gene Vincent, while Paul and George look on knowingly, and Pete Best blanks out? We feel joyous and unsurprised.

A word about Paul vs. Stu, since we're (sort of) at it.

It's possible (what an understatement) to think of their rivalry as sexual rivalry. This is, once more, hinted at in Backbeat, where Stu is more or less giving away John to Paul.

And yet. I think it was more than that. I think everyone, back then, was fighting for more than a bed-partner. They were fighting for their future, for a life unlike their parents'. Paul was fighting for the band, Stu was fighting for John to join him on his artist's way (even giving 'rock'n'roll' a try), and John..

John was, on the one hand, the person either of the others felt he needed in order to realize his dream. But on the other hand, he was the least decided of the three. He may have perceived that, within the trio, he had the fewest fall-back options: Stu had his obvious, much-mentored artistic talent. Paul had a possible academic future bwxt to his musical talent, plus a clear determination to make it in music. John had talent in spades, but perhaps less of a clear-cut idea of where and how to apply it. So he tried keeping both of them close...?

With fun scenes like these as a result:

John sure is feeling campy/cuddly, while Paul is incandescent with rage. A hot look for both of them.

In the end, we don't know if they ever did fool around. My usual reply in those cases is: I hope they did, if they both wanted it. I hope it was good.

I need to check out this book:

John and Paul look happy.

[fairy-writes]

Hi!!!!! Hru? I hope you’re doing fantastic! Forgive me if i am disturbing you, can you do a William James Moriarty with a Reader who is obsessed with History (Tudor to be specific).

If you cant it’s alright!

Just have a good day/night

SIT IN ON A LECTURE

Reblogs and Comments are greatly appreciated!!

__________________________________________________________________________

Fandom(s): Moriarty the Patriot

Pairing(s): William James Moriarty x Reader

Word Count: 0.5k

Genre(s)/Tag(s): Gender Neutral!Reader, Teacher!Reader, Can be interpreted as platonic or pre-romantic relationship

Notes: Hello lovely! I’m doing well, thank you! How are you?!

I tried to keep this as history-neutral (is that even a term?) as possible! I don’t know anything about Tudor other than I lived in a Tudor-style house for a few years.

__________________________________________________________________________

As you pace outside the classroom, you shuffle your notes for the umpteenth time. 

What if you messed up? 

Would they fire you? 

What if they—

“Are you alright?” You swallow a shriek and whirl to see Professor Moriarty looking at you with vague concern. You shift from side to side, scuffing your shoes and offering an awkward smile. 

“Not really? I’m just incredibly nervous, is all.” You say after a moment’s hesitation. Professor Moriarty smiled that smile of his, and you began to relax. 

“It’s understandable. This is the senior class, after all. Even I am a bit nervous about teaching them at times. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like teaching them in your first year.” He said, and you blinked several times. 

“But you’re such a brilliant professor!” You say, and it��s true. You sat in on several of his mathematics lectures before becoming a professor at Durham University yourself. He had a way with words that made it easy to understand the complex mathematical equations on the board, and his exams were simple but thorough. 

Professor Moriarty ducked his head slightly and exhaled a quiet laugh. 

“You flatter me. Honestly, I’ve heard your first-year lectures. You’ll be fine.” He reassured you, and you sighed in relief. If he thought your lectures were halfway decent, you should be fine. The door to the classroom opened, and the professor who typically taught the history class peeked his head out. 

We’re ready for you, Professor.” He said, and you took a deep breath. Professor Moriarty stops you just before you enter the class. 

“You’ll do brilliantly.” He said with that same smile, and you grin back,

“Thank you, Professor Moriarty.”

“—and that concludes my lecture for the day! I’ll be around for a few moments after class if you have any other questions. Just a reminder that the homework is whatever your professor assigned. I was just the guest lecturer for the day!” You clap your hands together and rest your elbows on the podium, watching as some students gather their things and file out of the classroom. You hadn’t really used the podium for anything besides a place to put your notes. 

Some students come up to you, asking clarifying questions or just questions that don’t fit into the lecture material. All of which you were happy to answer. You were just delighted to spark some interest in history.

“That was a wonderful lecture.” Professor Moriarty approached you as you erased the chalkboard of your diagrams and writing. You look at him over your shoulder with a relaxed smile. In contrast to how you were a few hours previous, you were calm, in your zone, and comfortable. 

“All thanks to you, Professor Moriarty. Your words really helped me calm down.” You say with a bright smile. He begins to shuffle your papers together, glancing over lecture material you weren’t able to fit in. 

“It wasn’t a problem at all. I’m glad to be of assistance. And please, just call me William.” He says politely. Your smile brightens just the slightest bit. 

You dust off your hands of chalk dust and extend one with your first name on your lips. 

“Alright, well, thank you for your help, William. It was a pleasure to meet you!” He takes your hand in his and gives it a firm shake. 

“The pleasure is all mine.”

[ladyevol]

And here it is! My first fic for my Hotguy Must Die au. I'm posting some of it here, but for those who want to read everything, you can find the fic in AO3. Going forward, I plan on writing one shot fics for this AU exploring the characters and the world building in general since this is my version of what Hotguy might look like. Let me know who you'd like to see explored in future installments. You can check out the rest here

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Wolfbane

Fandom: Hermitcraft

Ships: Scar X Grian (very minor in this one, you can definitely see them as platonic), Pearl X Original Character

Tags: Character death, minor character death, Angst, werewolves, Abusive relationships (not between any of the main characters)

The first thing that the man felt after what appeared to be infinite void was warmth. It touched his skin faintly at first, however, the more stationary he remained, the more determined it became to bring him back to the world of the living. Then, he felt the dirt beneath him, reminding him that he was no longer falling in nothingness for all of eternity. Next, there was the sound of birds in the distance, the wind in his ears and his chest and finally the feeling of something soft and familiar pressing against his cheek. The man finally opened his eyes.

There was a time when he would have been much more desperate to wake up, to escape nothing and return to the world of the living, often accompanied by gasps, quick movement and eyes looking to the sides. Now though, all he felt as he came back was tired. The darkness felt almost welcoming, as if his moments inside it were the only time he could truly rest. Of course, those thoughts were nothing but wishful thinking. Even if he did lay there forever, death would eventually find him again and it was never kind.

This time death came in the form of his neighbor, as it often did. What it wasn't normally, however, was Pearl. She, despite being one of the most capable people he knew, was also one of his neighbors who had given him the least of a bad time. Pearl Moon was once a hunter, one of the guards who were tasked with protecting the city from the monsters and dangers that spawned with the night by tracking them down and destroying, however, an unfortunate encounter with a werewolf left to her forever tarnished, even if she was the winner by the end. The woman, now contaminated with lycanthrope, was ���asked’ to retire by her supervisors, leading her to eventually moving into the complex and taking a job as a mailwoman, the same role he met her as and that she continued to enact in the many years they had been friends, so the idea that Pearl would just forget to take her medicine that kept her hunger under control was difficult to believe. Yet, it was her claws that had torn through his torso the previous night, her teeth that gnashed his bones and her mutated fingers that pulled his heart from his chest in his final moments of consciousness. He really didn't want to think what she had done with the rest of his body after his death.

Scar rubbed his eyes and blinked a few times to see a familiar gray and white cat looking down at him. Her sight always managed to make his situation feel at least a little bit better. “Hello there.” He said softly and reached to scratch the back of her ear and the cat purred in return, tail curling to let her glee be known. “Always on time, aren't you, Jellie?”

Six in the morning, that was when Scar awoke after every death and around the same place, the hole of Boatem, located in the ruins of an old village in the woods not too far from the city that had burned down twenty something years prior and left the area as a graveyard for its previous residences. The fire had consumed all plant life and since nothing had managed to grow there. Even people had reported to feel uneasy and even sick from being there for too long, so most tried to avoid it. Scar didn't have a choice. Death would always find him and he would always wake up the next day right there. He had grown as certain of it as he was that the sun would rise again the following morning.

“At least it isn't raining this time, right?” He spoke to Jellie who replied with a meow before he looked at the clothes and wheelchair next to the cat. “I'm hoping that you brought some better clothes for me this time, Jellie.” She meowed as he slipped it on, “yeah, yeah, I know, I know, making me wheel around in False's dress was funny and I did slay with it,” his voice became more high pitched and he laughed. “But she wasn't too happy that I had her dress. You'll make people think I'm a creep or something who goes around stealing the clothes of his friends. I would like to be able to at least keep my friendships, please.” He finished with the oversized gray hoodie he recognized as his roommate's, Cub, back from when he was in college and he was pretty sure the black sweatpants were his as well. He didn't know why Jellie wouldn't just bring him his own clothes, but he could at least explain why he was wearing his roommates clothes pretty easily. All of his other clothes were washing and Cub didn't actually care, so that was that.

The brunette man sat on his chair, buckled his belt and began rolling away on the dirt with the cat laying on his lap.

It took Scar thirty minutes to return to the city, and from there, another hour and a half to get inside his complex. The city was buzzing with life as always, none the wiser that their main hero and vigilante, Hotguy, had met yet another gruesome end the previous night. There was a time when it drove him mad that no one could remember his demise. All of his pain and suffering, all his blood spilled and tears and broken bones and he couldn't get an ounce of comfort or relief anything, any sort of response other than curiosity as to why Scar had disappeared all of a sudden or whatever their minds told them that had happened. Now though he was almost glad that was the case. It was best if he just suffered alone. He was used to it anyway. Even physical evidence of his deaths seemed to get mysteriously corrupted. Photos, videos, nothing worked. It was clear to him that whatever kept bringing him back didn't want to be seen. It was almost a shame that Hotguy wholeheartedly disagreed with the idea.

His smile was everywhere, from posters to billboards to shirts worn by the youth. They all knew hotguy, the hero who would die for the safety if he had to and he would. Over and over again, regardless if he wanted to or not, so, might as well make the best out of it. Death would always come after him, but maybe he could use that as an opportunity to prevent it from coming for someone else. Seeing the tears of joy of a mother being reunited with her son after all hope was lost or the joy of a child holding their kitty thought to be lost almost made it all worth it. It was at least enough to make him keep going.

Scar pushed the door of the building open and was immediately met with the smell of mold, dust and different types of food being prepared in the nearby apartments above him. His place wasn't anything fancy, in fact, quite the opposite. Some might think the building to be old and in extreme need of renovations, but to Scar it only gave it personality and made it one of the few affordable places in the city for a lesser known architect still hoping to make a name for himself with a working elevator. Scar pushed the button and waited for the doors to open before rolling inside. After selecting his floor, he waited for the door to shut, only for it to be interrupted by an arm being shoved between the doors just before they met. “WAIT!”

“Huh?” Scar blinked as the metal retreated to reveal a shorter man with pale skin and dirty blonde hair. The glasses around his black eyes made it seem considerably smaller than they actually were, like dots on a canvas and the scarf around his neck hid away his mouth and part of his nose. The rest of his body was covered by a similarly colored sweater and gray leggings. Grian strolled inside without another world and stood next to Scar after making sure that the man had indeed clicked the right button to their floor. “Oh, hey G. How are ya?”

As soon as the doors were shut, Grian replied by flicking Scar's forehead who immediately rubbed the area, less so due to the pain and more so from instinct. “What was that for?!”

“What the hell was the bright idea, huh?! Leaving me all alone with a WEREWOLF?! Scar, she could have killed me!”

He knew. She nearly did. They had underestimated Pearl's intelligence while fully transformed. A hunter was a hunter, even as a wolf like monster unable to speak or recognize those around her. She tricked them into thinking that they had the upper hand, only to use the opening to attack the one of the two of them she thought to be weaker, smaller. Scar refused to let any harm come to his partner, even if that meant jumping in front of her jaws. The rest he would rather forget. “Right, right, sorry, I just really needed to use the bathroom all of a sudden, haha.” Scar forced a laugh and rubbed the back of his head.

Grian took a deep breath. “You can't trick me, Scar. I know you just got scared and ran away. You always do this! Honestly, what would people think if they learned that their greatest hero, the only one in the city that isn't a dog for the government, is a fraud?! A coward that runs away when things get too rough! You are meant to be a symbol of hope, Scar!” Grian grabbed his face and squeezed his cheeks while staring into his green eyes. “Act like it!”

Scar gently moved his hands to grab Grian's wrists gently and pull them away. The younger man let him. “Sorry, G. Really, I just- can't help it.” He sighed, “but hey, at least Hotguy can always count on his aMAYzing sidekick to clean up the mess, huh?”

Grian exhaled deeply and pinched the bridge of his nose, “right. The thing is, Cuteguy isn't nearly as popular as Hotguy now, is he? People don't like Watchers, Scar. You know what they do like? Underdog's story, like a regular guy that somehow manages to defeat all the monsters the hunters were supposed to keep us safe from and the weirdos that keep appearing every day.”

“Well, I'm not a complete regular Joe, G. You know that.”

“Right, you have Vex blood in you from,” he began counting on his fingers, “four generations ago?”

“Three, actually.”

“Wow, amazing. You can use your magic to aim really well and walk for a limited amount of time.”

“Ouch.”

“C'mon, Scar. You know what I mean! You're the image of everything everyone in this city wants to be. You're their hero. You need to start acting like it.”

Scar looked down. Grian was right. He needed to do better. Be better. Everyone was counting on him. It was just so difficult to do it most days, when he knew that eventually the pain would come again, he would die in a horrific way and no one would even remember. He felt so isolated most of the time, distant like there was a wall separating him and the rest of the world. He couldn't even remember a time when it wasn't there. “Sorry Grian.” He said finally, “you're right. I just got scared.” Scar was always. So. Scared.

Grian looked at him for a moment before his shoulders sagged and his gaze softened. “It's fine. Whatever. It's not like I got hurt in the end. Apparently, just after you left, Pearl found this sack of meat that she ate for long enough for me to bring her down and lock her.”

Ah. So that was what he saw his body as this time. A literal sack of meat. “Y-yeah, pretty lucky. Did she get hurt? Did the police?”

“No, I left with her before the guards arrived. And the hunters. Like I said, after eating she was considerably more amiable. Werewolves are not brainless. They are just hungry.

The more Grian spoke, the sicker Scar felt. “Ok, and did you manage to talk to her after she transformed back? Is her boyfriend ok?”

“Yeah. Apparently the worst thing that happened was her standing him up since they were supposed to have a date. I don't think she told him what happened. I'm not even sure he knows what she is.” Grian gently scratched Jellie's ear. She purred.

“So there were no casualties.”

“No. Only a butcher shop that got invaded and a lot of meat that was stolen. Compared to our other jobs, it was pretty clean actually.” It certainly didn't feel clean. The door opened and Grian walked out, holding the door for Scar long enough for him to roll out. “Listen, you should at least talk to her sometime, ok? Comforting people is your expertise, not mine. It's part of the reason why people love you.”

“Silver tongue Scar, that's what they call me.” The brunette smiled slightly, “should I go as, you know.” He tilted his head to his door slightly.

“That's for you to decide. But whatever you do, do it quickly. Also, you really gotta steal people's pants, man. They just don't look good on you.” Scar looked down at his pants that were seemingly slipping away before pulling away. “Thank-” the door shut behind Grian, leaving Scar all alone in the hallway.

The exhaled deeply before turning around to go to his apartment, located in front of Grian's only to then stop to look at the apartment next to his. It was Pearl's apartment. Normally, she would be already heading to work around that time, would she have skipped that day after what happened? Or would she throw herself in even harder to try and think about anything else? After a moment considering it, he realized the second option sounded a lot more like Pearl. Maybe Hotguy would pay her a visit after solving a few more issues.

[kaylinalexanderbooks]

Writeblr Questionnaire

Thanks @illarian-rambling here, @paeliae-occasionally here, @willtheweaver here, @honeybewrites here, @urnumber1star here,

And @leahnardo-da-veggie here!

About You:

When did you start writing?

Genuinely I'm not sure, but I do have physical evidence that it's been a while. The first story I wrote was called "In the Dark." I was at the age where I drew several pictures with one color of marker with stick figures and my mom wrote the words for me. I'd say preschool-aged. I think I was three.

Are the genres/themes you enjoy reading different from the ones you write?

I am a person with a huge bias toward fantasy in the things I write and consume. However, I'm not picky with genres, it just happens to be a pattern. I really do love plenty of realistic fiction books. It just so happens that I have exactly one realistic fiction story in my WIP ideas. One. And even then, it needed a gimmick to be interesting for me to write. I have no interest in writing realistic fiction other than that. But I really do love plenty of realistic fiction books!

I want to write a mystery one day, but it'll have to be a fantasy mystery. I do love plenty of realistic fiction mystery books and shows and stuff. I could never write historical fiction, although that isn't a frequented genre to begin with.

Theme-wise, I couldn't say. I don't really care.

Is there an author (or just a fellow writer!) you want to emulate, or one to whom you’re often compared?

Nope. I think people will make their own comparisons, but there's no one in particular I am trying to emulate. I'm just me.

Can you tell me a little about your writing space(s)? (Room, coffee shop, desk, etc.)

Sometimes I just write on the couch or at a random place at school, but I've been going to my desk a lot more. It's just in my room, I'm on a swivel chair, and my laptop is on top of it. Nothing special.

What’s your most effective way to muster up some muse?

Read my old writing or my notes! I see stuff I forgot about or I get ideas from the details. Occasionally I'll check out a video or something if I'm truly stuck.

Did the place(s) you grew up in influence the people and places you write about?

Uh, yes. Why do you think I set the "real world" in a middle-class intermediate school in the greater Houston area on a six-lane FM road with a Sonic, Walgreens, and apartment complex nearby? It's a lot easier to describe things that way. Everywhere else I have to make up a floor plan for interiors and use Google Maps for the surrounding scenery.

Are there any recurring themes in your writing, and if so, do they surprise you at all?

A lot of queer and neurodivergent people. No, that does not surprise me. It me. It accident.

Friends-to-lovers is my most common romantic relationship, but there's also a lot of platonic and queerplatonic relationships.

Interpersonal relationships in general are huge themes of mine and appear in almost everything I write.

Since I write YA, there's a lot of coming of age.

None surprise me.

Your Characters:

Would you please tell me about your current favorite character? (Current WIP, past WIP, never used, etc.)

Oof that's hard. For TSP... I love talking about Carmen. She's such an asshole, but she's super interesting. I want to put her under a microscope and study her. She's a character I'm constantly thinking about. I like seeing why she does the things she does. She's developed into a character I originally didn't think much about, and now I can't stop! She's also funny. She doesn't mean to be, but she's so high-strung and angry that she is fun to write for.

For SOTL, it's Tierney. I have one chapter with him, but that doesn't matter. He's amazing and I love talking about him. He's a mess. He's a nerd. He's awkward. I love him.

Which of your characters do you think you’d be friends with in real life?

Well, the characters closest to my age are Liam and George, and I think I'd be friends with them! Liam may occasionally get on my nerves in the debate side of him, but I think I'd get used to it, especially because his part of the grilled cheese debate is based on someone I actually know and am friends with.

I'm not sure about being friends with the kids, but I do hang out with plenty due to being an educator, and I remember how I was at that age. Out of everyone, Robbie and Akash feel like they'd perfectly fit into my friend group, which may be why I love writing them so much. Individually I think Gwen is the one I'd be most likely to get along with.

I haven't written enough of SOTL, but I'd get along with Jill. Also Ritchie and their group of friends.

Which of your characters would you dislike the most if you met them?

Carmen, I'm so sorry, I would not like you. Gabriel also can get rude and boring. Noelle constantly mentioning her mom would get on my nerves, if I'm being honest. I feel like I could only take Parker in small doses, even if I really like Wade.

I'm not far enough in SOTL to make a decision except for the purposefully antagonistic characters.

Tell me about the process of coming up with of one, all, or any of your characters.

Well, TSP it really depends. Here are all the characters I think are worth mentioning for the entire series.

Originally based on someone I knew before developing a completely different personality: Lexi, Maddie, Ash, Gwen, Noelle, Rose, Kelsey, Carla, George, Hye-Jin, Atsila

They started out as someone completely different in previous drafts and then in the process of developing them I got attached: Jedi, Carmen

I created them for Draft Four as a love interests and then I got attached: Robbie, Akash

I created them in Draft Four to fill up the background: Liam, Ewan, Jazlyn, Wade, Parker, Tyler, Niri, Gabriel, Sam

I needed a name for a prominent figure and then I kept using it and they became important: Raissa

I needed characters for the AU didn't I?: Alex, Issa, CJ, Wendy

Background characters I had no intention of making important: Teo, Xitlali, Anathi

For SOTL, it's simple. Get a character from a fairy tale, nursery rhyme, fable, legend, other public domain work, etc and make them my own!

Do you notice any recurring themes/traits among your characters?

Most of them are queer and neurodivergent. Most are in the 11-25 range given the demographic I write in.

How do you picture them? (As real people you imagined, as models/actors who exist in real life, as imaginary artwork, as artwork you made or commissioned, anime style, etc.)

I want TSP and SOTL to both be in hand-drawn animation, so I imagine them like that. Western animation with anime inspiration like ATLA, Teen Titans, etc is what I typically imagine it in.

Your Writing:

What’s your reason for writing?

I love it!! And also I'd go insane. It's also why I write reviews and analyses of stuff. I've stayed up until 2 am before thinking thoughts on TV shows and I legit can't sleep until I've written an essay.

Is there a specific comment or type of comment you find particularly motivating coming from your readers?

I've gotten "oh I like this little detail" or "wow good dialogue" or "realistic friendship!!" And that always makes me happy.

How do you want to be thought of by those who read your work? (For example: as a literary genius, or as a writer who “gets” the human condition; as a talented worldbuilder, as a role model, etc.)

I just want people to like my characters, is that too much to ask?

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

I really like character building and details around their lives. I think I'm good at writing consistent characters because I've put so much work behind them.

What have you been frequently told your greatest writing strength is by others?

Dialogue! So many people comment on the realism of my dialogue, and I really like that!

How do you feel about your own writing? (Answer in whatever way you interpret this question.)

If it's at 1 am I think it's awful. When I read my old writing I cringe. Sometimes if I'm in a bad mood my self esteem plummets. But overall, when I look back, I see how far I've come. When I make a revision, even a small one, I smile because I know my writing is getting better. I just get excited about improvement!

If you were the last person on earth and knew your writing would never be read by another human, would you still write?

Yes because it helps me sleep. Were you not paying attention lol

When you write, are you influenced by what others might enjoy reading, or do you write purely what you enjoy? If it’s a mix of the two, which holds the most influence?

No. I write for ME.

Tagging @mk-writes-stuff @elsie-writes @eccaiia @mysticstarlightduck @chauceryfairytales

+ ANYONE ELSE

TSP intro

TSP tag list (ask to be +/-): @thepeculiarbird @illarian-rambling @televisionjester @finchwrites

@nebula--nix @literarynecromancy @honeybewrites @the-golden-comet

SOTL intro

SOTL tag list (ask to be +/-): @illarian-rambling @katwritesshit @wyked-ao3

Under the cut are the blank questions put together for easy copy/paste

About You: When did you start writing? Are the genres/themes you enjoy reading different from the ones you write? Is there an author (or just a fellow writer!) you want to emulate, or one to whom you’re often compared? Can you tell me a little about your writing space(s)? (Room, coffee shop, desk, etc.) What’s your most effective way to muster up some muse? Did the place(s) you grew up in influence the people and places you write about? Are there any recurring themes in your writing, and if so, do they surprise you at all? Your Characters: Would you please tell me about your current favorite character? (Current WIP, past WIP, never used, etc.) Which of your characters do you think you’d be friends with in real life? Which of your characters would you dislike the most if you met them? Tell me about the process of coming up with of one, all, or any of your characters. Do you notice any recurring themes/traits among your characters? How do you picture them? (As real people you imagined, as models/actors who exist in real life, as imaginary artwork, as artwork you made or commissioned, anime style, etc.) Your Writing: What’s your reason for writing? Is there a specific comment or type of comment you find particularly motivating coming from your readers? How do you want to be thought of by those who read your work? (For example: as a literary genius, or as a writer who “gets” the human condition; as a talented worldbuilder, as a role model, etc.) What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer? What have you been frequently told your greatest writing strength is by others? How do you feel about your own writing? (Answer in whatever way you interpret this question.) If you were the last person on earth and knew your writing would never be read by another human, would you still write? When you write, are you influenced by what others might enjoy reading, or do you write purely what you enjoy? If it’s a mix of the two, which holds the most influence?

[idontwanttospoiltheparty]

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply to my ask! The way you write your view on things is very beautiful and reading your reply actually brought me a lot of peace on the subject. Your comment on Paul being somewhat akin to a soundboard for everyone’s grief really stood out to me in particular. I know for one that I can find myself wishing to believe a certain narrative to ease my grief. Maybe to a certain extent Paul has done the same, the other alternative too awful to acknowledge. Hence the adamant love he shares about John with the world today. Alongside this, everyone looking to him to give something, an answer, a comfort to allow them to understand this tragedy somehow. He could feel a certain sense of responsibility. I also wonder if it could be mixed up with other things. Like the very angry public reaction Paul received immediately after Johns death and the months following. His comment “it’s a drag" being misinterpreted for example. Perhaps there’s a part of Paul who’s learnt not to share any sign of complexity at all, instead only one of devoted love. However I believe if that was some part, it would be a small one, perhaps even an unconscious one. I think mostly it would be growing with his grief over time and being able to see things in a clearer more simple light. Which was one of a deep love, platonic or not, for his best friend. What do you think?

In terms of what a more tragic scenario would be, I found your opinion on these very eye opening. Each one being awful in different ways of course but each one also having a certain acceptance you can find within them. Your thoughts on the one sided love and the sting being somewhat lifted through the ‘nothing to be done’ notion was strangely very comforting to me! I thank you for lifting my own thoughts on this as it was the one I originally found most depressing. On the other hand the mutual love scenario where (assuming here) they were both aware of each others feelings I still find myself drifting towards. I suppose I find this less tragic as it meant that at one point in their lives, they were on exactly the same page with each other. On every aspect. A fleeting time I’m sure, but a time of certainty on both sides. It could be argued that this certainty would be a like a rock for Paul to fall back on in his doubting moments after John’s death. (However I can also see your point of this actually having the opposite effect.)

In terms of the ‘truth.’ As you say there’s a lot of evidence to make an educated guess that John’s sexuality wasn’t straight. His wife being one of them. But what I find strange is Paul being so adamant that John most definitely was straight. Surely he would have known John best after Yoko, potentially even more, so I find him not knowing or not picking up on that at all very unlikely. Then why the denial? I had thought he was either outright lying (Maybe to hide something between them or to protect his memory?) Or there might be a certain internalised homophobia within himself? Or indeed the thought that Yoko was exaggerating things massively. I’m not sure at all, what are your thoughts?

I can see the story of the boy from your high school being a reason for John’s behaviour towards Paul in the 70’s. I can also see this as a reaction to a certain on off relationship between the two. One minute being emotionally vulnerable with eachother, perhaps sleeping together, the next minute getting scared and backing away, leaving the other confused and hurt. (John having a public reaction while Paul having a private one.) This cycle repeating itself until apparently reconciling in the late 70’s. It rings true to me whatever their relationship was, an intense platonic one, a sexual one or a pining one sided situation.) I wonder what you thought of the James McCartney quote where he remembers sitting on Johns lap, which meant Paul and John saw each other after 1976? I don’t have a source for the quote so I’m not sure if it’s real at all!

Lastly, what I loved about your reply was the reminder (which I sometimes forget) that even if it was one sided, it doesn’t mean Paul loved John any less. Indeed him craving John’s attention I could believe too. A powerful friendship can be just as tumultuous, passionate and deeply moving as any other kind of relationship. I find your holistic view on mclennon very refreshing, I love the discussion!

Hi anon! This is a very long, thoughtful message, so I'm going to break it up into points:

Perhaps there’s a part of Paul who’s learnt not to share any sign of complexity at all, instead only one of devoted love.

I think this hits the nail on the head quite well, though I also think Paul does often imply there's something more complex going on in his John feelings, he just doesn't very usually bring that part out in the open. Because few people want to hear it, for one, and because whatever truly negative feelings he has towards John, they're probably ultimately unproductively upsetting to him.

Your thoughts on the one sided love and the sting being somewhat lifted through the ‘nothing to be done’ notion was strangely very comforting to me!

I'm very happy I was able to give you a perspective which made thinking about the whole thing easier :)

On the other hand the mutual love scenario where (assuming here) they were both aware of each others feelings I still find myself drifting towards. I suppose I find this less tragic as it meant that at one point in their lives, they were on exactly the same page with each other.

This is interesting to me, because I tend to find it rather unlikely that John was in love with Paul all along. So I would wager there was a pre-attraction period during which they were on the same page. When that was exactly, is hard to say, but I do believe it existed. I'm also unconvinced that if they had reciprocated attraction towards each other, that they were both actually aware of this at the time.

In terms of the ‘truth.’ As you say there’s a lot of evidence to make an educated guess that John’s sexuality wasn’t straight. His wife being one of them. But what I find strange is Paul being so adamant that John most definitely was straight. Surely he would have known John best after Yoko, potentially even more, so I find him not knowing or not picking up on that at all very unlikely. Then why the denial?

I was talking to someone about this recently. There's ways in which the bird's eye view we have of the band's history is actually advantageous with regards to understanding these things, as opposed to spending every day with someone. Paul probably did see a lot of "clues" about John, and I do think he has some cognitive dissonance regarding some of them, but if these clues were "sparsely distributed" enough, it would be hard for him, living through the 60s from day to day, to assemble them into a coherent conclusion. (Tangential, but I wrote a fic that is kind of 100% about this as a concept lol) I also think Paul, while having had friendships with many gay people, probably hasn't actually dealt with a friend he already knew well coming out to him, and is thus underestimating the amount John may have been hiding (however bad John was at hiding). It also just seems like a thing he finds inappropriate to speak about in public. It's hard to know how "personally" the denial he expresses should be taken.

I wonder what you thought of the James McCartney quote where he remembers sitting on Johns lap, which meant Paul and John saw each other after 1976? I don’t have a source for the quote so I’m not sure if it’s real at all!

I honestly think it's complete conjecture that they last saw each other in '76/taking John far too much at his exact word (in the Playboy interview, I wanna say?) There's a fair amount of evidence pointing to them seeing each other as recently as '79, I think. Some people say they saw each other weeks before John was killed, but that's a lot more speculative. How often they saw each other is another question, one I don't know the answer to (and fear is quite depressing).

I find your holistic view on mclennon very refreshing, I love the discussion!

Thank you! :) Holistic is certainly what I strive for in my analyses

[riddle-me-ri]

Gonna humbly request Zenigata X Reader with my absolute favorite fanfic trope: Thinking they are in love with someone else.

Unfortunate circumstances have led to reader insert having to be saved over and over again by Lupin and of COURSE some people in the media took that to interpreting your relationship as „Oh, clearly they are in love with each other.“ „How tragic, on the opposite end of the law…“ „how romantic!“ even tough reader and Lupins relationship is strictly platonic. Unfortunately this includes Zenigata, who’s been crushing on reader for a while now…. Even tough he’s ACTUALLY the guy reader is in love with. Chaos ensues.

(Bonus point for Lupin actually being totally on board with ReaderxZenigata and trying to play matchmaker somehow, because APPERANTLY he’s gotta be the one with the braincell in this scenario)

a/n: man, you guys really, really love some Zenigata lmao not that I mind, he does deserve it lol. I had no idea how much I loved this trope until I started writing it. It felt like I was writing a possible episode plot lol. Hope you guys enjoy~

Content Warning: misunderstanding/miscommunication trope, can’t really think of anything else.

Word Count: 2.4 k

Inspector Zenigata x Reader - Front Page Fiasco

GENTLEMAN THIEF SAVES PRETTY BYSTANDER ONCE AGAIN

THIRD TIMES THE CHARM! IS IT LOVE OR COINCIDENCE?

LUPIN III SEEN CARRYING MYSTERY LOVER AGAIN! WHO COULD THEY BE?

Admittedly, you've had your grievances with the newspapers before but never due to the trends being directed at you.

You wanted nothing more than to crumble up every newspaper with the misleading headline and toss them into a fire--and then promptly crumble yourself into a ball and slowly disappear into nothing.

You didn't even know where to begin to fix this.

To show the world, you weren't having some star-crossed affair with the infamous Gentleman Thief…in fact, your heart yearned for his adversary.

Now any possibilities for that relationship to flourish may very well be ruined.

~

Little did you know Zenigata was just outside your apartment complex, with a content smile and a pretty bouquet of flowers clasped firmly in his hands. He finally gathered up the courage to properly ask you out…

However, when he glanced at the newspaper stand, his smile fell along with the bouquet.

A rage boiled up in Zenigata unlike any he's ever known.

He’s always been frustrated with Lupin's antics…causing his heat rate to go up, his blood pressure to rise to the extreme.

However, this was a new personal blow.

After causing considerable damage to a couple prints of the magazine and newspaper to the newstand owner's chagrin. Zenigata briskly left to his squad car to prepare himself for whatever Lupin is cooking up next.

He silently hopes deep down that you stay out of this one.

~

Lupin groaned as he hung his head over a couch armrest. Jigen just showed him the cover page of the latest tabloid magazine.

The photograph was a close-up photo of him, carrying you sheepishly in his arms as he caught you from falling out of a museum window during a heist to steal a priceless painting.

Lupin sighed. “I've always imagined myself on the front page…but not for this!”

“At least it's showing you in a more positive light.” Goemon observed.

“Who are they anyway? This is…by the journalist's account…” Jigen briefly skimmed through the story. “This is the third time you've saved them?”

The answer caused Lupin to wince. He knew exactly who you are…and that's what made this situation all the more complicated.

“I honestly only know a little about them. We've crossed paths before but not…like this” He gestured to the heroic display printed on paper. Lupin sat up to glance down at the coffee table. “And I know that…Zenigata has a thing for them and vice versa.”

Jigen and Goemon both straightened their postures in surprise.

“Pops?” Both asked in unison.

Lupin nodded. “I've seen them chatting a few times…I've never seen Pops smile so much…whenever they have to leave, Zenigata always has a giddy delirious look on his face…”

Lupin couldn't help but smile earnestly on the memory.

Sure, the Inspector gave him hell, but he made the jobs more exciting…and he couldn't deny he was happy to see the old man…be joyful (about something other than his capture).

Jigen and Goemon glanced at each other, not sure how else to respond other than shrug.

“Are you going to try and fix this, Lupin?” Jigen inquired.

Lupin thrummed his fingers. “I've got to…if not for the sake of cleaning up a clear misunderstanding that can lead to hell later…”

He stood up with a determined stance as he slammed his hand down on the table dramatically. “Then for the sake of true love…even for a workaholic like Pops!”

Jigen chuckled. “Since when the hell did you get into matchmaking, Lupin?”

“Oh, come on, Jigen…love is an amazing thing, any and every man succumbs to it in their lifetime!”

Jigen rolled his eyes and shook his head.

“It would be one of your more noble and considerate deeds…” Goemon commented with a sly smile.

“See? Goemon gets it!” Lupin rounded the other sofa Goemon was sitting on as he pulled the samurai into a side hug. “Even for a traditional guy like him, he’s a romantic!”

Goemon gasped softly, before turning his head bashfully, to hide his blush. “I gave no such indication.”

“How are you even going to get them to talk to each other? Knowing the old man, he's probably steering clear of them…” Jigen mentioned. “And Pops won't just want to see you behind bars, but your head on a spike..”

Lupin winked at his right hand man. “You leave that to me Jigen…for now, I will just need you two to ensure they don't leave the premises until words are shared…”

~

You knew this was a bad idea.

Even though you knew nothing was going on between you and Lupin, you couldn't help but feel like you were just feeding the rumor mill by accepting his invitation to chat.

Alas, you felt like you had no one else to talk to about this whole fiasco…the other victim of the press and who knows the truth.

It just felt shady going to a random abandoned warehouse down the street near a port dock.

While you didn't love Lupin as the media was claiming, you did trust the thief not to intentionally put you in any peril.

Perhaps this was just the most neutral and well hidden location from any sneaky paparazzi that could steal a snapshot at a restaurant or any normal meeting spot.

You creakily pushed open the barn style like door and made sure to close it behind you. You hesitantly walked around the warehouse. It was empty aside from some large crates.

“Lupin?” You softly called out.

“LUPIN!”

You nearly jumped out of your clothes at the intrusive shout that echoed you.

You immediately recognized the voice, though, as you turned around to face the person you were least suspecting.

“Zenigata?”

The Inspector responded with your name in an equally questioning manner.

“Ah, it appears you two have finally arrived!” Lupin slowly walked out from the shadows of the second level that surrounded the perimeter of the warehouse, overlooking the two of you on the ground floor.

Zenigata snarled up at the thief. “Lupin! What's the meaning of this?”

“Lupin, what the hell is going on?”

Lupin snickered to himself as he thought of how cute you two were copying each other slightly.

“I promise, it will all make sense soon…but first, you two have some things to discuss.” He giggled as he slid back into the shadows.

You reluctantly turned to take inventory on how Zenigata was handling this newfound predicament.

“Wait!” You groaned when he disappeared.

Then you two heard the sound of what could only be the sound of the doors being locked.

You ran to see if what you heard was correct. Yet no matter how hard you or Zenigata pushed and pulled, the doors weren't budging.

It was easy to determine that he was just as frustrated and confused as you were.

Zenigata was about to rush up the wooden stairs to the warehouse's second landing, where he last saw Lupin until you stopped him.

“I-uh…I'm not sure what's going on...or what he told you, but I don't think it's true..”

Zenigata huffed. “Well, you would know if it is or isn't, wouldn't you?”

You brows furrowed. “What do you--oh…the papers…”

“It seems you two have gotten pretty close…” Zenigata grumbled as he took a sudden interest in the floor.

“Zeni…it's nothing like that! Yes, I know Lupin, but those times he saved me were all just really, really huge coincidences…”

Zenigata sighed, his cheeks tinted red at the nickname.

Mentally, he rode the fence between believing you or not.

He desperately wanted to believe you so that he could court you, but he also didn't want to fall victim to whatever ploy you were playing to assist Lupin.

His eyes darted from side to side, debating between which side he should take.

“So you have no idea what his plans were tonight?” He questioned in a mutter.

You shrugged. “I have no idea what plot he forked over to you…in his note to me, he asked to talk one on one to figure out this media frenzy that's happening…apparently it's affecting his relationship with Fujiko.” You handed Zenigata the note as proof.

“Media frenzy?” Zenigata hummed in thought after scanning your note and huffed at Lupin's signature doodle.

It's not like the media hasn't taken photos or stories and twisted them before for ratings and sales.

Zenigata's brows unfurrowed, his face seemed to soften as he realized perhaps it was all truly a huge misunderstanding.

However, he wanted to be one hundred percent sure. “So…you and Lupin…truly aren't..?”

You shook your head, lifted your hands up as if to wave away the idea. “Nope, not at all! I just genuinely somehow found myself in the wrong place at the wrong time!”

You felt your shoulders fall when you noticed the corners of Zenigata's lips slightly lifting up.

You weren't prepared for the tiny leap of, what you can only imagine to be, joy along with a positive exclamation that Zenigata displayed.

Nevertheless, you were relieved to see Zenigata in a better mood as you beamed happily at him.

“I’m so glad I got that cleared up…” You mentioned in a relieved sigh. “Now to just…fix it with the rest of the general populace.”

Zenigata froze in his celebrating gestures. “I-uh…am sure they will blow over soon enough! This time next week, everyone will be talking about something different!”

“God, I hope so…”

What you wouldn't give for your life to go back to normal and worry about the man in front of you and not some ludicrous fake scenario with another.

You looked over at Zenigata who seemed to try and look everywhere and anywhere but at you.

There may be one way to fix the issue once and for all.

While the moment wasn't ideal, you felt like you wouldn't have any other moment to admit your feelings.

“Zeni…you seemed pretty excited that Lupin and I aren't a couple, can I ask why?” You had a decent notion as to why, but you wanted to get some confirmation.

“Uhh…I…well…” He turned his head as his cheeks flushed red again, he clasped his fingers to keep from fidgeting with them as he tried to find the courage he had on that previous day when this whole misunderstanding started.

Zenigata's bashful response made you smile, that was definitely more proof but you wanted to hear him say something.

You slowly walked over closer to him, you tilted your face so that he could still see you despite his shunned position.

Your soft sweet smile was mirrored by Zenigata's own lips once he saw it. The expression warmed him and managed to calm his nerves, something he always appreciated about you.

“Well…umm…I was glad because…then that would give me a chance to..” He gripped his hat and brought it down to his chest. Zenigata began to fidget the hat brim with the tips of his fingers as he worked through his words.

“Give me a chance to ask you if you would like to…umm..” He gulped down the last bit of anxious nerves that were determined to ruin this chance. “...go on a date with me?”

A brief silence filled the room, but just before all of Zenigata's hopes were dashed-- he heard you giggle.

You gently laid each of your hands on top of his tense ones that still held tightly to his hat. Your soothing touch put his digits at ease, so much so he almost dropped the signature accessory to his uniform.

Thankfully, one of your hands was able to catch his fedora.

“I'd love to…Zeni.” You beamed sweetly.

Zenigata chuckled sheepishly. “You can call me Koichi…”

“Koichi?” It was your turn for your cheeks to heat up as you tried the name on your tongue. “That's a handsome name.”

Zenigata's eyes lit up as his smile widened.

The sweet moment was cut short by a clicking sound and a bright flash.

“Beautiful, perfection, marvelous!” Lupin exclaimed with his arms wide open. “This should turn heads in no time!

Lupin appeared as he walked through the now unlocked doors. Jigen and Goemon were at his side, Jigen held a camera with a satisfied grin accented by a bent cigar.

Whatever tender expression Zenigata had for you was quickly shifted and scrunched up in disdain as he turned to acknowledge the thief.

“Lupin! Don't think I forgot about you! And why are you taking photos?”

Lupin threw his arms up in mock surrender. “Easy, easy, Pops! Can't you see I just solved our little misunderstanding, huh?”

Zenigata lifted an eyebrow incredulously. “Huh?”

“This was your plan all along…” You stated.

Lupin nodded. “I knew you'd catch on…the plan was to get you two alone, let you talk things out…and take a photo or two…” Lupin plucked the Polaroid out of Jigen's hand as it finished developing.

He continued. “Aanndd send an anonymous tip with photos exclaiming the so-called “mystery partner” of Lupin the Third actually has the hots for his long-time enemy... Inspector Zenigata of Interpol!"

Lupin winked at Zenigata. “Not bad, huh, Pops?”

“So…the note really was a ruse to get us together?” Zenigata grumbled.

“This is perfect!” You exclaimed as you glanced at the photo in Lupin's hand. “This will be a step in the right direction!”

“I thought so too!” Lupin beamed just as excited as you.

Zenigata was still stunned at the turn of events that took place.

“T-Thank you, Lupin…” Zenigata earnestly said.

Lupin cooked up a plan to get the two of you to talk out your feelings.

Granted, he figured Lupin did it as a means to make his own life easier, but Zenigata couldn't stop the side smile that crept up.

“Yes, thank you!” You echoed.

Lupin shook his head and playfully waved his hand in a dismissive motion. “Nah, it was nothing! Now maybe Fujiko will talk to me again…”

“Also don’t thank me too soon, Pops!” Lupin added.

“Hm?”

“There is one other note on your person…” Lupin mentioned, as he and his men began slowly walking backward towards the door.

Zenigata began searching through his attire and discovered a folded little note on the inside of his coat pocket.

You watched as Zenigata quickly scanned the note before shooting his head up from the paper.

“LUPIN!! You get back here!! I'll get you this time!” Zenigata immediately bursted into a sprint.

As quickly as he ran off, he ran back to you. The sheepish and tender expression fell back onto his face again.

“Umm…I'll call you later?”

You chuckled as you returned his fedora to its proper place on top of his head. “Sounds like a plan. Now go get ‘em, tiger!”

Zenigata's determined grin grew wider as he nodded at you and quickly turned around and got back to the chase.

As you waved goodbye to Zenigata, you couldn't help but sigh.

You knew your life would never truly be normal. That much was certain, but at least now people will have you pinned on the right side of the law.

[mikasaerens]

OK we need to talk about Darklina and Malina.

Malina first.

I liked that the show went out of its way to emphasize how Mal’s entire existence was about Alina which is totally unfair to him as a character, he never had any purpose of his own and the books seemed to think that was fine but the show acknowledged it. This is why Malina’s relationship doesn’t work, there’s such an imbalance there. It honestly makes sense why Mal feels so uncomfortable with Alina’s power in the books because when one person is that powerful, there’s bound to be bitterness- not that Alina deserved it because Mal was incredibly poor at expressing his conflict. But it still shows how incredibly unbalanced their relationship is, and how it just is so poorly constructed. The truth is, there’s no world in which this relationship could work which is why it’s so unpopular. I truly think Nikolai should have become her primary love interest and she should have had only a platonic bond with Mal. However, I do ship Zoyalai so.. it’s all very tangled up and messy. I guess I’m trying to say that before King of Scars and all existed, when LB was just writing TGT, she should have had known how inconceivable Malina’s relationship is. I liked that in the show they went their separate ways (at least for now).

Now Darklina. Darklina was COMPLETELY shafted in s2. Idk how other Darklina fans feel, but I was not satisfied. Alina’s feelings towards the Darkling are way more complex and there are so many great scenes between them in the books that didn’t even come close to being represented on the show. I’m really disappointed in this. In the books, Alina has lingering emotions towards him- ROMANTIC emotions- that was never even the case in s2. Highly disappointing. We got the emotion and pining and angst from his side but not from hers. They got rid of the complexity of her still having feelings for him, and that was the strongest part of the incredibly weak TGT series. If they were worried how to fit Nikolina, Malina and Darklina, they should have erased Nikolina and focused on Zoyalai, Malina and Darklina. It’s what I honestly expected them to do and am surprised they didn’t.

Also… Show!Alina is beyond annoying sorry I said what I said, book!Alina felt more complex and interesting to read about even though she too wasn’t a great character. I don’t buy Show!Alina’s whole badass act, it just seems forced. She absolutely should be a badass but idk it doesn’t work in the show. Nina, Inej, Zoya, Tamar, Genya are badass strong powerful women but Alina’s whole badass act seems unnatural unlike the other characters- and I thought Book!Alina definitely had some great badass moments.

[dearparrishh]

here are the different possible byler endings, and why i don’t think (or do think) they will happen.

1 - mike accepts will after he comes out and moves on with his life

honestly, the fact that anyone thinks this will happen is the funniest thing ever. how can anyone think will is going to spill his feelings extremely openly (whether telling mike about his crush on him or not) and mike will just be like “oh, cool, thanks for telling me dude”. its the 80’s, may i remind you. i’m not saying everyone was homophobic back then, but it wasn’t seen as ‘normal’ to be gay, so the idea that they will just make mike have a very bland or ‘nice/kind’ reaction just isn’t it, not when mike and will have been best friends for years and regardless of whether you react well or not, it’s a big thing to learn about a person, especially considering how ‘unconventional’ it was in the 80’s. will being gay is a storyline that ESPECIALLY in s4 has been pushed to the extremities it can without explicitly stating ‘will is gay’, and for mike, will’s best friend AND will’s longtime crush to have a bland, kind of nice response, would be literally the shittest writing ever.

2 - mike doesn’t accept him

i think we all know this won’t happen. to throw away 4 seasons of best friendship between mike and will is such horrid writing, mainly because it’s just something that doesn’t have to happen. will has already gone through indescribable traumas, and currently believes that the one person, his best friend, who he has been in love with for years, will never love him back and has in fact come to accept this. to end his already heartbreaking arc by making the first and only person we know he has had any canonical romantic feelings for not only reject him but also not accept him, proceeding to make his arc end depressingly, is just such awful writing. also the simple fact that he has already accepted mike will never love him back already, before s5, raises the fact that unless mike does like will back, there’s not many other deep or exciting ways to end their arc, ending a whole 4 season long deep and complex relationship in either a bland or very awful way.

3 - mike accepts will while experiencing an inner turmoil

ambiguos byler ending is not it, not at all. again, no clever director would ever do this, I PROMISE. this just leads to so many questions, the main one being ‘why is mike experiencing this inner turmoil?’, because to anyone who doesn’t care that much (the ga), mike could accept will, no questions asked, with the kind of bullshit excuses of ‘they are best friends and he loves him (platonically)’ or he doesn’t accept him, and ‘it wasn’t typical or normal to be openly gay in the 80’s’, but, in all seriousness, regardless of how little i want those things to happen, (ESPECIALLY the latter) they have more depth and meaning than a ‘will he won’t he’ kind of ending. that would be horrendous writing, especially when said relationship has been built up for 4 seasons, and they couldn’t even end it with purpose or strength. that is never going to happen.

4 - byler endgame (mike accepts will AND himself)

try and tell me it wouldn’t be the incredible writing to have one closeted gay character and another closeted gay character, one with internalised homophobia and the other with acceptance that his crush will never like him back, happening to be best friends, and ending up together. not to mention, making mike anything other than gay with internalised homophobia would be throwing away a perfectly good character that could have had brilliant writing, because it would mean his whole thing from s3-4 would literally just be because he’s a bitch. not to mention it would be really awful writing because, it’s not like mikes character gets tremendously worse, he just, gets progressively more annoying and bland for 3 whole seasons? yeah, you can’t convince me that that is even the slightest bit likely. because mike was kind of all you could want in a character for s1-2. how come he literally just becomes a shit friend and an even shitter boyfriend for absolutely no reason whatsoever, simply to remove any of the great qualities he had in s1-2? like, that would just be so odd and weirdly written. not to mention the completely unnecessary fact of will having a crush on mike in the first place. like, it didn’t need to happen, and the idea that they will just make will even sadder than he already is due to everything he has faced over the past years by making the first and only person he has only every canonically romantically loved reject him and/or not accept him, consequently having his arc end awfully, would just be awful awful writing. and may i remind you of this scene, one that single handedly secures my hopes in byler endgame :

[bytedykes]

Hewwo! Yue Qingyuan seems to be a special guy to you, so him for the ask game ✌️

Sexuality Headcanon: gay but i think he's too depressed to date. he has emotional erectile dysfunction

Gender Headcanon: cis man 😔 ive thought about transfem yqy before too but i dont really see him going anywhere with it. he doesnt have time for self exploration he has a sect to run and also all this unspeakable misery

A ship I have with said character: hehe... mqf/yqy... i like them... its really niche but @pathos-logical and i initially thought of it as a joke but it's so serious now. doctor sexy x worst patient EVERRR !! i dont have anything concrete to say about this ship they just eat my brain

A BROTP I have with said character: i actually really like his canon relationship with sqq, even though we only ever really see how sqq thinks of him. yqy reminds sqq of his own older brother which i think is really sweet and also sad :( i also think yqy would like sqq as his own person, if it ever came out that sqq isnt sj. i mean he already likes him but like independently of shen jiu i do think they could have a good relationship

A NOTP I have with said character: QI/JIU. i don't ship them. words cannot communicate how much i don't ship them. i knowww that they're in a danmei fitting all the bl tropes but like i don't want it and i don't see it and i just do not ship it. i find them much much more compelling as a platonic relationship. fandom has also highkey ruined any warm feelings i might have had toward romantic yqy/sj because of the way people popularly portray them - i think the way a lot of people write qi/jiu is very sj-centric and often not very in line with what i think is accurate yqy characterization (also i don't like sj for similar fandom mischaracterization reasons but w/e). but that's just my opinion !

A random headcanon: i think he would be sooo good with babies i think it would be awesome to put a baby in that man's arms and have him hold it for a while. also a mandated beach vacation wouldn't fix him but it would greatly benefit him. also i think he has chronic pain from xs + the qi deviation and his spirit veins are all fucked up and who does he talk about this with? no one <3 <3 <3 #1 sufferer in silence

General Opinion over said character: i fucking love this mankjghilsadhkads IM SUCH A SUCKER for fucked up tragic characters who are stuck in a pit of eternal misery ok i eat that shit uppp. i really like how yqy's narrative is that ultimately he did his best and tried so hard and failed anyway and then could never bring himself to defend himself despite it not being his fault and that's the tragedy. he blames himself so so bad and he will never say anything because he doesnt feel he deserves to!!! the decades long miscommunication with the person who matters most to him is also soooo. ugh. he makes me crazyyy!!! i really like how he's a very flawed, complex person, who is kind and caring but also the #1 enabler on this goddamn mountain. his indirect treatment of lbh is really interesting to me too. i love yqy he sucks so bad <333

ty for the ask!!! you're right he IS a special guy to me and i love him soo much <3

[the-writing-mobster]

were there any fic ideas you never ended up writing that you regret not doing?

also, do you have any other undertale ships? {:

Ah! Thank you for the ask dear heart! Let's see...

Of course I have fics that are still deep in my drafts, and I also have a few unfinished fics currently published ON Ao3.

I don't really regret not publishing certain fics because it's not really a matter of if more than it is a matter of when. A few of these old ideas just need way more fleshing out and just aren't ready for the limelight.

And that "not if but when" mindset is carried over to my unfinished fics as well, like Baby Face and YWIW.

They'll eventually be completed. (Although tbh, I'm not so sure about ywiw now, may have to go and really take a good long look at that one and the goals I want to achieve with it. For YWIW, I guess I regret some of the choices I made with Frisk's character arc. Like I accidentally walked back on things that I shouldn't have. Sequels are hard, y'all.)

—

Now for my other UT ships? Hmmmm...

I'm gonna come out the gate swinging and say that I, first and foremost do not ship Asgore and Toriel. I think their dynamic is more interesting as a divorced couple. Boom. That'll stir the pot some.

(I have a lot of weird UT ships tbh)

Now, moving on to what I actually ship:

Asriel x Papyrus / Papsriel / Boneblossom

This stems more from how I wrote their dynamic in wdyw part 4 + ywiw. See, when Frisk and Sans are off doing hard main character work, Papyrus and Asriel were alone together a lot, working through both of their collective daddy issues together (their fathers were big ole villains and they were consoling each other about their relationships with their fathers, it was actually very sweet) Ergo, I began to ship.

But also, if you look at the game, there are instances of Asriel and Papyrus befriending, and Asriel manipulating him, or growing fond of Papyrus in his own way as Flowey. Yeah there's the problem of "well technically Asriel is a child!" Which like... Okay, he's also dead and immortal at the same time. In wdyw he died at an older age so... 🤷🏻‍♀️ It depends on where you take the story. I could also just ship them platonically. So yeah!

Undyne x Alphys / Alphyne

This one is obvious. They're canon. They're beautiful. I love gay people. I love lesbians. I am a gay people. I am a lesbian. I love them.

Also, low-key, I also just like to explore more of their dynamic than just lovey dovey sapphic stuff. The highs and the lows. And they're perfect to do that with.

Nick x Sans / Nicecream Guy x Sans

This one is unorthodox, but it's because of Baby Face. They're so gay in that fic like it's unbelievable. If not Sans, then definitely Nick. Like they've definitely explored each other's bodies at least once.

Also in wdyw, they have a more complex, complicated friendship since they're more like long lost friends, and the whole "you betrayed our ideals by joining Asgore's military" and Nick "you joined a rebellion that will never win, you've doomed yourself to martyrdom." Sans saving Nick from prison & the purge, ugh, they're so complex, I love em!

Nick is definitely gay. I know we were pushing for Alick but honestly... That boy is gay. And I really believe that. I think the only better pairing for him would be Napstablook, or... And I guess I'll concede to years of shipping before me... Burgerpants/Bryan. Because Bryan has that like, newly joined rebellion, starry eyes, just found out his crush was brutally murdered by one of Muffet's assassins, etc, and then there's Nick, shining hero of the revolution. I think it could work really well.

Muffet x Toriel / Muffriel / Spiderscotch

Bro even the name screams lesbian, wtf? This is like Everlark's alternative ship name being peenis.

BRO THEY LIVE IN THE RUINS TOGETHER, MUFFET SET UP SHOP IN THE RUINS. TORIEL BAKES PIES AND MUFFET BAKES FUCKED UP SPIDER DONUTS. THEY'RE A MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN. (And I'm purely talking about classic, but who's to say that wdyw Muffet wasn't sneaking into the queen's chambers after killing her own husband and poisoning Toriel's daughter right under her nose? UGH THE DRAMA!!!!)

Ugh, I love my gay ships.

Anyway, Toriel is the sweet, albeit very flawed, old money, cottage core wife, and Muffet is the manipulative, borderline Machiavellian, macabre, new money, goth wife and they're PERFECT FOR EACH OTHER. I've never been more serious in my life.

Anyway, those are my UT ships that are not Frans. Don't come for me, I know they're unconventional (except for Alphyne) but I love them each dearly.

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Old pencil drawing I did:

[loki-who-remains]

My grumpy ass has seen too much attack on Sylvie after ep4 despite having proper filtering and blocked blogs and decided to write this instead of studying for my exams. I’m sorry to probably disappoint, though: I am not solely a sylki or a lokius shipper. Both exist for me and make sense to me without excluding each other.

I think one thing people kinda forget when they aggressively discard Loki’s factual, canonical relationship with either Mobius or Sylvie is that complex characters tend to have complex relationships. You can be friends with more than one person and/or you can be in love with more than one. Also, the intensity of a connection can be different depending on how long/deep people happen to know each other. It doesn’t automatically mean that one connection is more valuable than the other. Everything matters, everything affects and shapes a person’s growth.

Loki clearly fell in love with Sylvie, or more like with an expectation or an impression of her. It happened too fast, and he had no time to process if he can trust her, or what it is she wants, or is it even mutual. He just decided that he deeply cares for her and hence is devoted to her. She was a bit more perceptive and used it to her advantage. Mortal humans fall in love all the time just like him. It happens earlier or later in life, or never to some.

Sylvie and Loki are variants of the same person. Sylvie feels like a Loki from the first Thor, desperate and lonely and angry. He probably falls for her because he recognises this similarity but he doesn’t take into account that he himself already changed. But well, symbolically he learns to respect and accept himself, his past and present selves, his wrong doings, learns to analyse and grow from there into something new.

And where Sylvie rejects him, Mobius accepts him. With Mobius he learns to respect and care for others. His partnership with Mobius goes from the good old back-stabbing through betrayal and hurting each other to a deeper connection. They share thoughts and learn to understand each other’s motivations. Loki is humbled by the fact that infinity stones are paper weights but even more by the fact that he himself is essentially just a little dude who wants to have friends, to have fun and do something meaningful. His past doesn’t define him or lock him out of any other probable futures.

He learns to be a friend. It is first of all a friendship, and as it deepens they love and care for each other even more. Maybe it’s something that never worked out with Thor, to be equal and to be seen.

In season 2 Loki reevaluates his own priorities. Sylvie still matters to him but he lifts his expectations and just lets her be, tries to understand her and love her as she is. To love this way, without asking anything back, is actually a very powerful thing. It changes you. He probably sees her better now and understands too.

He puts more significance into his reciprocated connections, he learns to combine self-love with the love for others. It might be my specific perception, but I don’t think that platonic love is somehow worse or better than romantic love. They don’t cancel each other. We learn from a small age that love is this and that, and it always ends with kisses, kids and weddings, but in fact it’s not. I’m not saying that dreaming about this kind of love is wrong. I’m saying that it’s not the only possible option. If Mobius and Loki are never engaged in physical intimacy it doesn’t render their unique connection meaningless or less valuable. It is still clearly love, there’s still devotion.

What’s more, both Sylvie and Mobius understand how important it is for Loki to have that connection with the other. They don’t communicate directly that much though, and it’s really a shame.

That’s how Sylvie lashes out on Mobius and he is puzzled and upset by it. Probably she knows about his life, so she points out that protecting the timelines is not personal enough for him. She’s right though; maybe not so much about Mobius but about the TVA on the whole. Btw Loki is being part of it right now and he behaves the same way as Mobius. It’s just that Mobius is the one who is used to light things up. The moment isn’t right though, and he doesn’t read the room.

But the thing is, because it’s not personal, he’s able to stay afloat, be there in the moment and not be distracted by something out there. Mobius is aware that he might be weakened by what he sees and doesn’t want to risk the entire operation because of that. (Maybe he’s wrong and if Sylvie shows him his life he’ll be able to stay put like B-15, but again, he doesn’t want to risk)

I think that both connections being equally meaningful to Loki will make his further choices difficult and the consequences heavy. Mobius’s and Sylvie’s, and Loki’s lives could depend on that. Just imagine if he’s made to choose between them, to sacrifice one for the other. Or to experience all this love, remember all of it and look at them and see they don’t recognise him anymore on any timeline. Or have to choose to never be in their lives to save them both or hide them both from Kang.

[asoulofatlantis]

What do you think of the ship teasing for age gap relationships like Tita x Agate and Jusis x Millium?

Most of these happen in the final games of there arcs. With around 3 major tease moments

Sky 3rd

Agate saves Tita leading to a tender moment and Tita' family stares at him judgtngly

Tita hugs Agate when they reunite resulting in everyone thinking they are a couple

Dialogue implying Tita's crush on Agate

IV

Millium and Jusis at the same spot as Rean's confessio spot

Millium and Jusis still talking to each other shown from when Rean doesn't choose anyone for the final bonding

The ending where Millium catches the boquet and holds Jusis

Oh... *cracks knuckles* (I actually never do that, but it sounds cool to write it XD)

First of all I have to make something very, very clear: I do like Age Gap ships. I find the idea very romantic that Tita who had a crush on Agate since she was 12 didn't grow out of that crush but instead this crush developed into a mature true love and also the idea of Agate first just seeing that little girl as what she is - which is in fact a 12 year old girl - that he cares about a lot because she reminds him of the little sister he lost, but surely but slowly realizing while the girl is growing up, that she is not a little girl anymore, but a very beautiful young woman and that maybe, just maybe the love he feels for her has developed into the love a man has for a woman not a brother has for a sister. And even more romantic is the fact that he waited 6 or more years for her to become a woman, instead of deciding that the wait is too long for him and he rather marries someone he can f*ck right now. Because waiting that long means he truly loves her.

I do not care about the people who call that grooming. Grooming is when a man sees a girl (or a woman a boy or whatever gender of adult whatever gender of a kid...) and thinks: "I will make sure she wants to f*ck me when it is legal to do so and I will manipulate her into believing that is in fact what she herself truly wants and always wanted!"

That is not, what people like Agate, Jusis or Van do. People need to learn to use their hearts and not just see stupid numbers, but characters with feelings instead.

I mean... do people really look at characters like Agate and Jusis and think they are bad people just because they fall in love with a girl whos age is lower than theirs? Because if they do, they obviously played a different game than I did.

Now, Tita and Agates story had a really nice buildup over the first two Sky Games. Sky 3 is the game that confirms that it was intended to become a lovestory at some point. What it doesn't do is confirm Agates feelings at that point and that is what people are absolutely blind to. Agate loves Tita without any doubt. No man would go through Erika if not for a person they truly love. HOWEVER at this point in the games, the only person who feels "romantic" love in this relationship is Tita. She loves Agate like many 12 year old girls would fall in love with a cool guy that took a bullet for you and acts cold on the outside but has a golden heart on the inside. Agate however, at this point at least, does love Tita platonically, like a little sister. (Now do not give me the "Inzest" - thingy. They are NOT blood-related or anything like that. And feelings can and will change over time.) The only reason to believe Agate will eventually fall in love with Tita is in fact the way everyone else reacts to them. Erika naturally sees Agate as a problem because it IS obvious from very early on that Tita has a crush on him but just as most players do, she fails to see that Tita is the one with the romantic feelings. He at this point is the guy with the sister-complex. It was always a given Tita would become a beauty at some point and that IF her feelings for Agate would stay and grow over the years, she would be able to get him, because she is the one person that can melt his heart. Which is why Olivert spares no time to tease them, even tho Agate is not there yet. Because it is very clearly only a matter of time until Tita becomes an Adult and Agate stops seeing his little sister in her. That is something Agate obviously fails to see through the Sky-Saga and still tries to fight in Cold Steel 3 and 4. Which, by the way, if he was intentionally grooming her, would not be the case. Sky 3 confirmed this ship by showing that it will be there eventually through Tita and the other characters and poor Agate actually stands there and has no idea that his ship has been confirmed yet.

I would compare what happened in Sky 3 with what happened with Shirley and Cedric in Cold Steel 4. Shirley flat out denied Cedric being her type and said he is more like a little brother to her. But Cedric immediately thinks that the reason she wants to introduce him to her father is because she wants him as her boyfriend. And they use that line of inner thought from Cedric solely to let you as the player know that he IS in fact interested in being more than just a little brother. This is not for the characters, it's for the players to understand where this is likely going. And this was all Sky 3 was for as well. Showing you where things are going. Not just with Agate and Tita. We got that subtle for Mueller and Jullia and Olivert and Schera as well. And I believe they tend to do that in the Final parts of the games because you will not see most of the characters for a while and should know where they stand or will likely stand next time we see them. This makes absolut sense as Players naturally want to know where the future for these characters lies, before we say goodbye to them for a longer time.

Now to Millium and Jusis. I think their age-gape is considerably smaller compared to Tita and Agate and I think even smaller than Van and Agnes, because it should be around 5 years if I am correct? I think Millium was around 12 and he around 17 in Cold Steel one? Not completely sure but I am certain that the gap is smaller than Van and Agnes, who are 8 years apart.

Millium and Jusis has been hinted at from the very first Cold Steel game on. Very subtle and not very often but you would see it, if you looked close enough. And I think that ship was much more in your Face in Cold Steel 3 as it was in Cold Steel 4. The circumstances made it just feel more intense in Cold Steel 4. We even got Elliot pointing it out for us during the ball in Cold Steel 3 and if you haven't caught up to Falcoms favorite running gag yet, then you probably have missed it, but Rean saying they feel more like brother and sister was basically all the confirmation one has ever needed for that ship to sail.

When Millium and Jusis were in that spot where Rean would have his final bonding event, Millium even so mutch as pointed out how romantic the spot is. Jusis was still in denial then, but with ships like these in Trails, I've realized one of them is always slow on the uptake. I did not know by the way that Jusis and Millium still stand on that spot if Rean chooses nobody because my Rean would never not chose Alisa and Rean does not really strike my as being someone who will or should be a longterm single so even without Alisa I could not see him skip on the night of promises with one of his many girls, which is why I never watched the scene... (let me do that real quick... Okay, done) but it makes me wonder if whoever Rean chose actually ended up in that spot and Millium and Jusis chose to give them space and that is why they were not that surprised the next time when they met them in the Hotspring together? *Achem* Sorry, that distracted me for a moment. In any case, I think the thing with the Wedding bouquet was pretty much the final hint for everyone who still has not gotten it at this point. I am actually waiting for the invitation to their wedding, where we can see if Millium truly got her big boobies like she wished XD I mean Falcom sneakily made her give the roses to Reans Harem, but it doesn't change the fact that she caught the bouquet and there is not much reason to believe this was not supposed to tell us she is going to marry Jusis one day. And honestly... I do not see why anyone would have any qualms with this ship.

I get that 12 years is a lot to swallow for some people and I also get that Agnes still being a schoolgirl might make some people a bit uncomfortable... but I do not see any problem with Jusis and Millium at all. What are 5 years? And also... shame on anyone who does not wish Millium the greatest of happiness after all she has been through. She deserves the handsome Duke she loves so much. And she also deserved these moments in the final. To have that romantic spot with Jusis for what could have been her last night "semi alive" and certainly also the moment hugging Jusis and holding on to his arm at Oliverts wedding now that she was finally alive again.

And while we got Reverie after this so it was technically not exactly the final Arc of Erebonia, we used Reverie to focus on Lloyds Team and Crossbell and Rufus Team as well as Reans last step to FINALLY understanding what it means to make other people happy. We did not focus too much on class 7 as individuals or ships in this game, so Cold Steel 4 was the last chance for us to have these scenes for them. Which once again, was likely the reason for the many moments in the final. (Tho did you see the Link-Event of Jusis and Millium in Reverie? It is my favorite. So cute. And so well deserved...)

Now... what was that question for? To make us wonder if Van and Agnes who fall into the age gap category also have moments like this in Calvards final game? Given the circumstances, even if this ship is not endgame, I am pretty sure we will get at least SOMETHING for them. After all we've been though, once again, it will be well deserved.