#prior to her dancing. she fight lol

[stxrrbright]

Lavender for Lena [ DODGE ]

Tackles Sender tackles the receiver out of the way of an attack.

Crash!

Lena felt her body slam against the cold stone parapets before sliding down to see the battle mages advance towards her with blades drawn. Panic filled her chest when the metal steps got closer, and yet she still couldn't will herself to move! One step, then another... Lena brought her hand up to conjure something-- anything to blast them away, but her magic fizzled out just past her fingertips... Rendering her completely useless.

This was it... After a long, painful battle... This was how it ends? But she tried so hard... She did what she was told... The Gods promised this would be different... Why did it feel like history was repeating itself?!

One of the battle mages grabbed her neck to lift her tired body up so she would meet their eyes from behind the helmet. They said something, but Lena couldn't make it out or she just didn't want to. When she didn't respond, the mage threw her across the stones and conjured a cackling electric orb in their palm.

With whatever energy she had left, Lena managed to stand to brandish her glaive for one final stand; however, in the corner of her eye, just as the shot was fired... Lena saw Lavender rush towards the line of fire, and a new rush of panic washed over her. Lavender hit the floor, and something in Lena snapped.

As if breaking the chain on her animalistic rage, Lena roared to life- magic and fury oozing out of her being to make quick examples of the mages. But as quickly as the surge form, it was just as quick to die down when she saw Lavender laying there. She quickly ran to her side to begin sorting through her potions to save her friend.

"You bastard! What in the seven hells were you thinking? Lav, I swear to the Goddess, if you leave me now I'll--!!" Lena stopped herself, she didn't want to say anything like that out loud if the Gods were still watching.

[sl-ut]

all is fair

pairing: pope heyward x fem!reader, unrequited!jj maybank x fem!reader, slightly homoerotic bff!sarah cameron x reader LOLLLL

description: jj is not jealous of pope. definitely not. okay, maybe just a little.

warnings: swearing, underage drinking/drug usage, jealousy, slight angst, jj being a little butthurt, pope and jj are beefing, weird au where the plot of the show never happens lol but sarah and jb are still dating, reader has a shitty past and a bit of lore but we’ll get into it but don’t worry it doesnt rlly affect what the reader looks like or ethnic/cultural background (but i wrote it with arabic-canadian!reader in mind but thats just self indulgent lol), once again was high when starting this and writing this rn so sorry if it makes like no sense whatsoever but i think the story will be good), the grandparents are the sweetest human beings ever sorry

words: 2.7K

date posted: 08/11/25

JJ swore he wasn’t jealous. No way.

JJ, despite his unfortunate past, he had grown to be pretty damn confident in himself over the years; He was one of the best surfers in Kildare, he had a great group of friends, and he was fairly popular among the ladies in the Outer Banks. Sure, there were parts of him that he wasn’t so proud of or tried to keep hidden as much as possible, but at a time like this, he shouldn’t be feeling anything but on top of the world, but he couldn’t quite fight off the gnawing feeling in the pit of his stomach as his eyes followed the movements of the two girls on the opposite side of the bonfire.

Sarah threw her head back, laughing joyfully as she and Y/n took turns twirling each other around to some song that was far too fast for their dancing, but neither seemed to care. They’d been at it for a few songs now, Sarah always waiting in the wings to snatch the newest member of the Pogues away to have all to herself, knowing fully well that there were at least two other members of the group who were eager to do the same. John B didn’t seem alarmed at his girlfriend’s obsession with their new friend, though it was probably too demanding to ask a teenage boy to be upset about his girlfriend rubbing up on another girl. 

To be totally fair, Sarah did technically have first dibs, having been the first to meet the girl after she’d moved in with her grandparents in Figure Eight while volunteering at the local animal shelter. Her grandparents were pretty well known in Kildare, two former snowbirds who finally decided to settle in North Carolina, both having recently retired, though her grandfather did own and partially run the shelter. They were a sweet old couple, the type that you might see on a Christmas card or a cookie box, and lived quite modestly despite the fact that they were living amongst the wealthier community on the island. With their granddaughter in town and staying with them indefinitely, they were eager to introduce her to Sarah in hopes of easily transitioning her into the social scene. It was Sarah who had invited her to the kegger the following weekend, so it made sense that they had quickly become two peas in a pod, so long as JJ was next in the pecking order.

Except, he couldn’t technically claim that spot on his own. He had actually met Y/n prior to the bonfire while delivering groceries with Pope, both of them spotting her at the exact same time as she answered the door, charming each of them with a sweet smile and a generous tip, completely unaware of the lingering gaze of each boy as she bid them each a polite goodbye before closing the door. Neither of them said anything the entire walk back to the truck, both sitting quietly in the front seat for a moment before JJ finally let his thoughts take over.

“She was like, crazy hot, right?”

Pope was silent for another beat before he sighed out his response, “Yeah she was.”

Neither of them brought her up again, figuring it wasn’t really worth their time to pursue anything with a girl who would only be there for a week. However, when she showed up with Sarah to the kegger that Friday, all bets were off.

JJ was the first to actually get to talk to her, stepping in with a greeting while Sarah became occupied with her boyfriend, nearly wasting away after being apart for two hours. He offered her a drink, chuckling to himself at the cringing expression on her face at the taste of the warm beer. She shook her head, handing the red cup back to him with a slightly embarrassed look on her face. This caught Sarah’s attention, winking at JJ as she encouraged him to show Y/n the cooler of quote-on-quote “girly drinks” in the back of the twinkie. 

He could read that she was nervous, especially now that she was alone with him. Normally, he would do his best to calm her nerves just enough that he could persuade her to climb into the back of the van with him, but something about this girl made him feel different, almost obliged to treat her with more respect than he did most girls. She wasn’t just another girl, he could tell simply by the way she carried herself, almost like she understood him on a deeper level before she even knew anything about him. He was drawn to her, and an unfamiliar feeling of nerves ate away at his tummy as he showed her the selection of Sarah’s cans and gave her a lopsided grin as she took the can from him. 

He lost sight of her for a while, returning to manning the keg while John B and Sarah rushed down the beach hand in hand, but his eyes were in a constant motion of scanning the crowd, eagerly searching for even a glimpse of the girl who’d had his head spinning for the last hour. 

Unbeknownst to him, she had found herself sitting next to Kie at the bonfire, falling easily into the conversation with her and the few others. She took note of the boy sitting across from her, making an effort to ask him questions or include him in the conversations. He seemed to be a bit socially awkward, but there was something about him that had caught her eye straight away, even from the first moment they locked eyes while he was delivering her grandparents’ groceries.  

He was dorky and awkward in the most endearing way possible, unlike guys she had historically been attracted to, but she was certain that that was exactly why she liked him so much; she was in the market for a fresh start, and that couldn’t happen if she put herself in the position to treated like shit all over again. 

Six weeks later and Y/n found herself becoming a regular at the Chateau, constantly being dragged there on her days off from the shelter by Sarah or being picked up by one of the others on their way home from whatever odd job they’d picked up on Figure Eight for the day. Every day out on the boat, every kegger, every bonfire on the beach, she was there. 

They had all even begun hanging out at her place, all quickly becoming acquainted with her grandparents, both of whom were more than happy to host the teens, keeping them comfortable and fed all day as they used their in-ground pool or lounged in the A/C. Her grandmother thought they were all the sweetest kids who’d ever lived, having a special place in her heart for the boys, while her grandfather was just glad to have a group to cook for, gladly donning his fancy apron and manning his grill for them all and enjoyed having extra help around the house. Her grandma especially loves when Sarah comes for sleepovers because she loves joining in on your gossip sessions and joining you both to go get mani-pedis in the morning. 

Their closeness to her family also meant that they were quickly discovering very personal things about Y/n’s life prior to moving to the Outer Banks. Y/n was very hyper aware of this for the first few weeks, almost vulnerable now that her past was now out in the open, but she quickly came to realise that her secrets were safe with the pogues, and that they only made them love her even more.

Initially, it hadn’t been the intent of either Y/n or Pope to begin hanging out on their own in secret. Well, they had both wanted to hang out on their own, but the secrecy stemmed from the fact that JJ had made his intentions and feelings for Y/n very clear, and that he was very hard-pressed about the “no pogue-on-pogue macking,” rule for everyone except for himself for some reason. They also liked the quietness of secrecy, neither of them worried about their friends trying to butt in on their movie nights or walks on the beach, even though they were most definitely not trying to get each other alone on purpose… Until after she kissed him for the first time, that is.

Pope had been shocked when it happened, his brain barely even registering the second-long peck after he’d walked her home from the Chateau one evening, but he was sure to put his all into the second and third ones that quickly followed. He had expected some time to figure things out before anything was made official, but he of course had chosen a girl who was prepared to take what she wanted without fear of repercussions, and so, shortly after she had been picked up at the end of her grandparent’s dock, she curled into his side and announced that they were now together. Pope was taken aback, but was somewhat relieved that he no longer had to go through with his long-winded but very sweet gesture that he had planned in order to make things official. That relief, however, disappeared very quickly as he met JJ’s heated gaze.

“What ever happened to bro code?” He’d whined once they had gotten back to the chateau after dropping her back off that evening. “I mean, seriously man, I called dibs and you just swoop in before I even get to make a move.”

“Woah, woah, woah,” Kie raised a hand to cut him off before he could spout any more nonsense, “You called dibs? Are you aware that we are talking about a real human girl here?”

“Not the point,” JJ ignored her, “You knew I liked her!”

“And you knew I did too!” Pope countered, “Look, I’m sorry I didn’t talk to you about this beforehand but I never expected her to drop that on you guys like that.”

JJ shook his head, finishing the last of his beer and tossing the can to the side as he stormed towards the front door of the Chateau, “You just couldn’t let me have one thing now, could you Pope?”

Pope jumped to his own feet, brows furrowing as a look of disbelief crossed his face, “One thing? Do you even hear yourself? JJ, you can and have screwed around with every girl on this island; you always get first pick, and even the ones you leave for me are usually waiting for their chance to talk to you! God forbid the one girl I really like actually likes me back and isn’t just using me to get to you, but I guess that would be too hard for you to believe, huh?”

JJ frowned, opening his mouth to counter that argument when Sarah finally stepped in.

“Why are you even fighting over this?” She scoffed, “JJ, you have been here the entire time. If you were going to make a move you could have, but I really don’t think it would have made much of a difference. Like I said, you were here, you were an option, and she still chose Pope. Don’t throw your friendship with both of them away over her feelings, which none of you could have controlled even if you tried.”

JJ felt his breathing grow heavier, his emotions mixing with Sarah’s words of reason and sending him into a frenzy. He needed to be alone before he had the chance to blow up again, he needed time to think, so he stormed out of the Chateau without another word.

Two more weeks had passed, and all of them had gone back to normal. JJ was still a bit butthurt over it all, but made an effort to be his usual self. There was still a bit of tension between him and Pope, and the Heyward boy had even made an effort to plan more time away from the group with his new girlfriend, both out of respect for JJ’s feelings and out of a slight tinge of greed knowing that other eyes were looking at her in the same way he did. He had made an effort to not divulge any of what had happened to her, but he was sure that Sarah would have let at least some of it slip at some point.

The bonfire had been planned in honour of Kie’s birthday, though she had fled the party rather early, hand-in-hand with some dark-haired touron while her friends whooped and cheered. Most of the others had left by that point, leaving JJ, John B, Sarah, Pope, and Y/n alone to enjoy the slowly dying fire, the quickly dwindling alcohol supply, and the free-flowing music that played through John B’s beat up bluetooth speaker.

JJ sat on his folding chair, nursing his fourth beer of the night as he watched the girl twirl around and around with Sarah until they both stopped, alcohol-inspired giggles leaving their lips as they leaned against each other to regain their balance. They grinned at each other for a moment before Sarah leaned forward, pressing a gleeful kiss to her friend’s lips before pulling herself away.

“Heyward,” She called in a demanding voice, catching the attention of Pope, who’d already been watching his girlfriend with a lovesick stare, “Come get your lady, I need a break.”

Y/n grinned at him, eyes filling with love hearts at the sight of her boyfriend as she held out her grabby hands to him, beckoning him to join her, “Dance with me, Popey.”

Pope visibly cringed at the nickname, something she had never even once called him while sober, but still pushed himself off of his log and moved to meet her on the other side of the fire. 

JJ reached a hand out, stopping him from moving any further as Pope stared down at him with a challenging look. They stared for a quick beat before JJ moved his hand up into an all-too-familiar position. A small smile appeared on Pope’s lips as he clapped his own hand into his best friend’s, dapping him up for the first time in weeks.

“I love you, man,” JJ slurred.

“Love you too, JJ.”

“Pope!” Y/n placed her hands on her hips, impatiently waiting for him as Sarah collapsed into John B’s lap.

“Go get her, tiger,” JJ let go of his hand, making sure to pat his ass sharply as he walked past with a laugh, watching as he took the girl into his arms and began to slowly sway her back and forth to the beat of the song. 

Y/n leaned her head against his shoulder, nuzzling into his neck as the drinks she’d had began to transcend from energetic to sleepy in just moments. JJ watched on, a small frown appearing on his lips before it quickly switched to a soft smile.

Alright, maybe he was jealous, but he’d never seen Pope look so happy, so maybe it was all worth it. 

okay why did i actually eat this up

fr tho i love this pairing and little plot i have going so im def down to make this a mini series or do like hcs for this if ppl are interested if not just go ahead and tell me to stfu already

[ssivinee]

I have a request if you're accepting or like idea or thought 🫠 what if like the reader is a member of a kpop group like le sserafim or ive something, and she got casted at swf2 and she's either in team jam republic or team bebe, and the reader is in a relationship with bada lee like that's not a secret, and then bada got jealous of the reader being close with other people or like haechi or redlic something tysm btw i'm fan of your fanfics like gurl you're so good as in !!! 😭🫶🏻

✧Blue Envy✧

BEBE! Bada Lee x Le sserafim! F Reader: You were a Japanese member of the world-renowned kpop group Le sserafim and were allowed to join the latest season of Street Woman Fighter. After finding out your girlfriend would be on the show, you gladly accept the offer, thinking you'd both enjoy it, yet Bada is caught off-guard at your new unwanted friend.

Word Count: 1.4k

Note: First anon req🤭. Something light before I knock out for the night lol. As of 9/24 my requests and taglist ARE open. (Check out Sivine’s files for anymore information, pinned post)

Character Vision Board

Being one of the top idols right now made you understandably busy, so people were surprised at the announcement of you joining Street Woman Fighter 2 while preparing for the Asia Tour. You are THE Nakajima Y/n of Lesserafim. Everyone in the kpop scene knew you or knew of you. You were among the few with prior dance training in the industry before becoming an idol.

Specifically being advanced in Contemporary dance.

That's what you were known for. I mean, your group had the most background variety compared to all the 4th gen groups. The fimmies had a ballerina, an opera singer, a J-pop idol, a dance academy student, two ex-izone members, and a modern dancer.

You were also the second oldest of the team, holding a motherly reputation in the public eye. Regardless of this persona, everyone knew you had; Bada had met you in your youthful, energetic, and lively state.

The two of you had met through Aespa, being friends with them since you were a trainee at SM Entertainment many years ago. It was a Tuesday in March, and you had decided to visit the girls preparing for their next comeback with 'Girls.'

When you come in, Ningning automatically introduces you to their teacher, Bada. The two of you quickly hit it off, bonding over dancing and your experiences, which led to you two dating 5 months later.

This was revealed to the public a month after being official, but you were okay with it. It made you and Bada happy, not needing to hide that the two were very much together and so in love.

So why the hell was this happening right in front of her face?

It all started when you came in with your girls from Jam Republic. You were called for a meeting 2 months before the show and were told that Jam Rebuplic Agency was allowing you to become the 6th woman of their group. There was no way you'd deny that offer, so you met the girls and bonded as a crew.

During filming, it was time for every group to enter the fight zone, Jam Republic being the last to enter. When entering, Ling's arms stuck onto your waist as the two of you had become insanely closer the past few weeks.

Bada stares at you with stars in her eyes. She told you how gorgeous you were every day, no matter how you looked in the moment, but seeing you in this baby pink outfit had her soul crying out to you.

Your participation in the show caused chaos for other groups. You were a celebrity, an idol, a model, a dancer, a singer, and everything in between. Nakajima Y/n was the talk of the town, and you didn't mind it one bit. Not even sparing a glance at other teams.

Bada didn't mind either. I mean, she loved the attention her girlfriend got. It was an ego booster for her since she got you first and knew no one could take you away. She was just lucky to have you, emotionally and physically.

As people discussed your presence and life story, this brought up your relationship with Bada. Would the course of the show be affected by this? How would people feel about a couple being on two different teams? Was Y/n or Bada happy about the situation?

Those were questions that cycled through everyone's head yet were left unanswered.

After introducing everyone and changing clothes, you had already participated in two no-respect battles, enjoying every moment you could when grooving your body. Bada watched every move and reaction, wanting to hold you when your eyes went wide or kiss you when you pouted.

You would cling to Audrey, who hugs you back, leaning into your body. Ling would squish your face every time your reactions were over the top. Your own leader would pat your waist or butt for motivation, while Latrice and Emma always found ways to make you laugh. Your significant other smiles at your friendship with the girls, adorning the happiness that spreads across your face.

Seems like she wasn't the only one admiring, though.

After a few more battles, it was Wolf'Lo Haechi Wang's turn. She looks around teasingly but walks before Jam Republic and asks you to step out. You bow at the woman, trying to come down from your seat, but before you can come down yourself, Haechi gives you a hand, guiding you to the dance floor. You allowed her, yet hold confusion on your face.

Have you ever seen a contestant on any other season helping a competitor this way? Nope. That's precisely what Bada thought.

Bada's brows furrow at Haechi's motion. This was a competition, so why was she being way too nice to you? She understood that you were pretty and people would flirt with you, mostly when they thought you were single, but this angered her. Haechi must've been aware of your relationship, especially after everyone talked about it, AND this was going on live television. Did Haechi just wanna fight Bada at this point? Because that's how your girlfriend begins to interpret it.

As you were the challenger, Heachi goes first. Showing off the years of experience Wolf'Lo had in freestyle, she represented them well. The swaggy, hip-hop, energetic vibe set the tone for the battle.

Haechi got exceptionally touchy with you as she moved around, tugging on your shirt, signaling your thighs when the song talked about desirable legs, body rolling very close to your body. You laughed at many of the girl's tricks, believing it was just to give everyone a good show.

Once it was your turn, you removed your shoes and began dancing with extreme feeling and emotion. Due to your style of dance, the performance turned suggestive really fast. Contemporary had a lot of eye contact, floor work, body rolls, and storytelling, so Haechi thoroughly enjoyed the show.

Bada didn't even pay attention to the taller dancers' reaction. Her lover was dancing, and that's all she could focus on. Everything was going fine until the judges showed you winning for your team by 2:1.

Heachi congratulated you, but due to your height differences, her arms wrapped around your waist, pulling you in as you leaned more on the tips of your toes. She then whispers something in your ear, and your ear grows red. This doesn't go unnoticed by your girlfriend, who currently had her knuckles growing red due to the tight fist she was making at the sight of you two.

That's what Bada's predicament was right now.

Jam Republic and Wolf'Lo sat beside each other, so many interactions arose. Heachi figured out how nice it was to talk to you. Your voice was soft and mellow, and you made jokes, portraying your personality more. Haechi grew fond of you quickly, having many side conversations during every no-respect battle.

Bada could only watch from the sidelines, almost wanting to rip Haechi's head off.

She wasn't one to ever be jealous, especially since the two of you had fans calling you one of the greatest couples. Yet she gets annoyed and frustrated thinking of how Heachi is similar to her.

Both were tall, had a sense of humor, and attracted women more than intended... it was off-putting for Bada.

So, during the break, Bada uses the bathroom but returns to the most unpleasant sight. You and Haechi were speaking to each other, Haechi leaning on the wall, towering over your body. Your innocent giggles can be heard from afar, and Bada is strangling her water bottle.

While talking, the taller girl begins playing with your hair, tucking it behind your ear and this set off Bada into a frenzy. She grabs your wrists and drags you into the bathroom.

"Bada, what the hell?" You say, a little louder than intended, due to the pain in your wrist from the pull. "Can you not?"

You stood there confused, "Not what?"

"Talk to that fucker, Haechi?"

The confusion turns into a playful grin with a raised brow. This was a new look on your girlfriend, which definitely amused you. "Is my baby jealous?" You tease the woman as your arms pull her in by the waist.

Bada sulks at your question, and you giggle, eyes never leaving hers.

"There's nothing to be jealous of? You're mine, and I'm yours, remember?" You peck her cheek and give her a secure hug. You hear her sigh, and you pull away to caress her face.

Bada closes her eyes at your touch, feeling relieved and calmer than a few minutes ago.

"How about you and I watch a movie after all this?" You ask, lightly sweeping her bangs to see her eyes clearly. "With cuddles and kisses?" Bada's eyes glimmer as she questions you, causing you to chuckle and nod at how cute she can be.

"Of course, you'll have your kisses and cuddles."

[sethsclearwater]

synopsis: paul breaks up with human!reader after shifting only to imprint on her the next time he sees her. 

warnings: smut at the end, paul being a soft-ish dom bc he feels bad, implies that reader is drinking and/or smoking weed in the beginning (reader and paul are both 21+ in this!!)

notes: cassie from “hot head” makes an appearance in this lol

word count: 3.68k

…

you had been dating your now ex-boyfriend paul lahote for nearly 3 years when he spontaneously broke up with you one gloomy tuesday morning over text. it came out of nowhere and he didn’t offer much of an explanation aside from the fact that he needed space from you to clear his head and focus on himself. 

as one would expect, you didn’t take it very well and spent the next 48 hours inside your apartment attempting to numb all your emotions with any kind of substance you could get your hands on. by some grace of god, you’d managed to resist the urge to make a fool of yourself and show up at paul’s place and bitch him out. 

after about 2 days of wallowing in your sorrows, your friends had managed to convince you to go out with them, saying going out for drinks and some dancing would be good for you to get your mind off him for a while.

so you (very begrudgingly) went with. your friends had dressed you up in a pair of daisy dukes and a borderline lingerie lace top before agreeing you were going to be the best-looking person at the club.

once you guys got to the club, you and your friend cassie had taken a seat at the bar while the rest of your friends immediately got out on the dance floor after all of you took your first shot of the night together, “you feeling okay?” she asked softly, offering you a sad smile, knowing how much pain you were in.

you shrugged, taking a sip of the fruity drink cassie had ordered you just a few minutes prior, “i guess.” you responded, not particularly interested in delving into your feelings over the whole thing, knowing you’d just end up being a mess if you talked about it for too long.

she nodded, giving your thigh a gentle squeeze, “well i can stay with you tomorrow if you want some company. i’m not working or anything.” she offered and you nodded, happy to have someone with you so you could at least try and numb your mind for a little while.

“that would be great.” you responded softly. you quickly changed the topic to the new guy she had been seeing, talking about him for a good 30 minutes or so while you let the alcohol kick in. the conversation didn’t last much longer though because you spotted jared cameron entering the club out of the corner of your eye.

you had only spoken with him a few times but knew he was one of the people in paul’s new group of people. cassie seemed to notice too and she let out a groan, “you’ve gotta be kidding me.” she whined, both of you looking over to see none other than paul lahote walk in a few moments later, looking arguably more miserable than you at the moment. 

the two of you made eye contact for a brief second before you pulled your gaze away, looking back over to cassie who was grumbling something about going over there and starting a fight, “jesus christ does he ever stop staring?” she groaned and you couldn’t help the giggle you let out when you realized she was talking about paul who was apparently burning holes in the side of your head with the way he was staring at you. 

“oh fuck they’re coming over let’s move-” she started, quickly hopping off the barstool and grabbing your hand, tugging you into the crowd of people on the dancefloor. 

you giggled, the alcohol helping you feel way better about the situation, and happy to know paul looked more hung up over it than you were, “where are they?” cassie asked, both of you spinning around to try and find out where all the boys had moved to.

you couldn’t really see anyone so you just shrugged, “we should totally go back to the bar and make them miserable.” she said suddenly and you couldn’t help the giggles that spilled over your lips at the idea, loving the idea of taking some of the power back and making paul grovel.

cassie grabbed your hand, tugging you back to the bar so the two of you could take seats at the barstools, “more shots?” she asked you and you giggled, nodding as she ordered 2 more shots for the two of you. 

as the two of you took another shot, you saw embry call coming over with a smile on his face. you’d always been fond of him and you knew cassie had a massive crush on him so he was somewhat welcome company. you made sure to remind yourself that he was one of the people that had presumably encouraged paul to break-up with you as he got over to the two of you. 

“y/n! cassie!” embry exclaimed, pulling you into an awkward hug from your seated spot on the barstool, “how are you? i heard about everything.” he asked softly, squeezing you extra tight for a moment before releasing you so you could respond to him. 

“‘m okay.” you explained, offering him a small smile, “i miss him but i’m okay.” you clarified, doing your best to not let your emotions get the best of you, figuring that paul was within earshot even though you couldn’t see him. 

“did he tell you anything?” cassie asked embry, impatiently waiting for his response as she ordered yet another round of shots for all 3 of you. 

embry shrugged, “i think he regrets it if that helps anything. probably gonna come over here and talk with you soon just as a heads-up though.” he explained and you and cassie both burst into a fit of giggles over how stupid it was.

“are you serious? he broke up with me over text and immediately regrets it 2 days later? that is the most paul lahote decision i’ve ever heard of.” you giggled, rolling your eyes at the stupidity of the whole thing. embry just chuckled, nodding in agreement. 

“tell me about it.” he rolled his eyes, “make him beg for it though, would you?” he asked teasingly and you nodded, pulling him into a hug before letting him go so he could hug cassie. 

cassie was beaming at you over his shoulder, “you mind if i steal cassie for a dance?” embry asked you teasingly and you shook your head, smiling at the two of them.

“‘course not. have fun cassie.” you giggled when she smiled at you, quickly taking embry’s hand and dragging him onto the dancefloor. 

you relaxed against the bar, sipping at your drink as you patiently waited for paul to get the nerve to come over and talk to you. considering how cocky he normally was, you expect the wait to be much shorter than it actually ended up being.

about 10 minutes later you saw him get up and head over to you, only taking a few moments before he was standing in front of you, “paul,” you said casually, looking up at him as you sipped at your drink.

“i’m sorry.” he said softly, eyes softening as he scanned your features. 

you sighed, not particularly interested in caving so quickly, “you’re sorry?” you asked nonchalantly, stirring your drink as you waited for him to respond. 

he nodded, “really sorry.” he said softly and you giggled, shaking your head at him as you set your drink down on the bar behind you, grabbing your phone to pull up the text he had sent you 2 days prior.

“you said, and i quote, ‘i know this isn’t what you want to hear but i can’t have you talking to me ever again. i’m not good for you and need to focus on myself.’” you read the text before locking your phone and setting it back on the bar as you waited for his response.

he looked like a deer caught in headlights, clearly not sure what to do, ��so you break up with me, over text might i add, after dating me for 3 years, and then change your mind less than 3 days later and expect me to just take you back? do you think i have zero self-respect or something?” you asked, raising your eyebrows at him, allowing him a moment to think about his response.

he sighed, “can you come back to my place? i promise i can explain-” he started and you shook your head, not having any interest in going back to his place.

“i’m not going anywhere with you lahote.” you rolled your eyes, “and fucking me isn’t gonna make me magically change my mind about how i feel about you spontaneously breaking up with me after a 3-year relationship.” you added casually, grabbing your drink to take another sip of it.

he sighed again, “i’m not trying to fuck you. i promise - i just - please? i can explain if you just come with me.” he said, sounding more desperate and frustrated than you’d ever really seen him before.

you couldn’t deny the way your heart was tugging at you, begging you to go with him, “fine.” you conceded, “but i swear to god if you put your hands on me when we get there i’m leaving.” you added, grabbing your phone and hopping off the barstool to go to his car.

“i won’t.” he reassured, he followed you out to his car, only placing his hand on your lower back for a moment to help guide you through the crowd of people before removing it.

once you got into the car and he started driving back to his place, you broke the silence, “so what the fuck is wrong with you?” you asked, looking over at him, the alcohol giving you a little more courage to be bolder with him than you normally would’ve been, “like seriously? a text paul? we dated for 3 years and you break up with me over text?” you added and he just sighed.

“‘m sorry it was a mistake.” he explained softly, clearly doing his best to not add fuel to your fire.

“‘s a fuckin’ dumb idea is what it was.” you grumbled, leaning away from him so you could rest your head against the window as he pulled up to his apartment complex. 

lucky for you, he shared an apartment with embry who was still at the club so it sounded like you two would have the space to yourselves to duke it out.

the walk into his apartment was silent, you only breaking the silence once paul had closed the door behind him, “this better be a good explanation.” you said, leaning up against the island in his kitchen as you looked him up and down dramatically.

he sighed, running his hand through his hair as he tried to figure out how to explain himself to you, “you know about the quileute legends right?” he asked and you nodded slowly, not totally sure where he was going with this.

“like how we used to be able to shapeshift into wolves?” he asked and you scrunched your eyebrows together, nodding.

“okay i swear to god if you’re about to gaslight me into thinking you’re a werewolf-” you started, leaning off the counter, about to head out when paul grabbed your biceps, stopping you from moving.

instead of shoving him off of you, the two of you paused for a moment, just taking each other in, “i’m not lying to you. can you just-” he started, letting out a sigh, “can you just sit down and i can show you?” he asked, a hint of desperation in his voice and you slowly nodded, taking a seat at one of the chairs at the kitchen table once he released you.

you watched him wearily as he pulled his shirt off, dramatically covering your eyes when you realized he was most definitely stripping in front of you. you swore you could hear him sigh at your drama, but as soon as you lowered your hand there was a wolf about two times the size of you standing in front of you.

you froze, not at all sure what the hell was going on, just staring at him. from his eyes you could easily tell it was paul, watching as he laid down at your feet, resting his head on his paws. 

“what the fuck…” you groaned, wondering how the hell you missed that your (ex) boyfriend was a massive werewolf, “okay, fuck,” you groaned. “i believe you.” you sighed, getting up to get yourself a glass of water to calm yourself down while paul shifted back to his human self. 

when you turned back around, paul was leaned up against the kitchen island having just pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, “so you broke up with me because you’re a werewolf?” you asked, sitting down at the kitchen table again, looking up at him.

he nodded, “sam said i couldn’t tell you.” he explained, pulling out the chair next to you so he could sit beside you. 

“and now you can because…?” you trailed off, not sure why sam uley suddenly changed his mind less than 3 days after he supposedly told paul to cut you off.

“you’re my imprint.” he explained and you groaned, vaguely knowing what he meant from the few council meetings you had attended where they went over the legends. 

“so you broke up with me, your supposed soulmate, over text might i add, and only realized it once you actually imprinted on me? how shitty is that?” you started, rolling your eyes as you took a sip of your water, “i knew i’d love you for the rest of my life before you imprinted on me. i didn’t need you to imprint on me to know that.” you added, frowning at him as your eyes welled with tears.

you forced yourself to drink more water so you could get rid of the tears as quickly as possible while you waited for paul’s response. his eyes just softened as he watched you, “i’m sorry.” he murmured, “believe me i didn’t want to break up with you.” he explained.

you just sighed, slumping back into the chair, “of course you didn’t.” you grumbled, taking another sip of the water, “so you’re now stuck pining after me for the rest of your life?” you asked him, smiling a bit to yourself when he nodded.

“you know how fucked up it is that i can’t even stay mad at you because of this stupid bond you got us both in now?” you asked, no real malice in your voice, instead just a bit of sadness.

paul frowned, “‘m sorry.” he murmured again, “i would say i wish it wasn’t you but that’d be a lie.” he added softly and you sighed, bottom lip warbling as you took in his words.

before he could see you burst into tears, you set the glass of water down and quickly climbed into his lap, wrapping yourself around him and hugging him tightly to you as you sobbed into his shoulder. it took paul a moment to register what you’d done but when he did, he quickly slid his arms around you, holding you close to him, and gently ran his hands up and down your back soothingly, wordlessly comforting you.

“‘m so sorry princess.” he murmured against your hair as your sobs died down after a few minutes. you sniffled, holding him close to you and you focused on attempting to even your breathing out and calm yourself down enough to talk to him. 

“you’re okay, you’re okay.” paul cooed, pressing his lips to your hair as you took some deep breaths.

“i love you.” you whispered, whimpering as you looked up at him and cupped his face in your hands, “please don’t make my hurt heart like that again.” you added softly and he nodded.

“promise i won’t.” he murmured and you pressed your lips to his, holding him close to you as the two of you melted into the kiss.

paul slid his hands down to your hips as you knotted your fingers in his hair, only parting a few moments later when you needed to catch your breath, “i want you to stay here tonight.” he whispered and you nodded, pressing your lips to his again as he picked you up and carried you to his bedroom, kicking the door closed behind him before laying you down on his bed. 

you whimpered, tugging him down on top of you, quickly running your hands under his shirt and across his abdomen. he ran his hands down your sides, tugging your shorts off and sighing when he saw how good you looked in just the lingerie top you were wearing. 

“fuck me,” he groaned, carefully taking it and your panties off of you, knowing how upset you’d be with him if he ripped it off like he wanted to. you whined, tugging at the waistband of his sweatpants, impatient with his slow pace which had him letting out a breathy laugh. 

“‘m coming princess.” he reassured, tugging his shirt off and kicking his sweatpants and boxers to the side a few seconds later. you spread your legs, allowing him to climb between them and press his lips to yours again, letting out a loud whine when he dipped two of his fingers into your tight cunt, scissoring them to stretch out out for him, “good girl,” paul murmured, pressing a soft kiss to your jaw as he praised you for taking his fingers so well.

“please hurry-” you whimpered, running your hand down his abdomen to grab his hardened cock and rub the weeping tip, eliciting a low groan from the male on top of you. he nodded, curling his fingers inside of you as your spread his precum around the tip, tugging him forward a bit until he was lined up with your dripping hole. 

paul chuckled softly, taking his fingers out of you and replacing your hand with his, spreading some of the fluids he had gathered from you onto his cock. you wrapped your legs around his waist, letting out a loud moan when he pushed himself inside of you, fully sheathing his thick length in you in one thrust. 

“paul-” you whined, running your fingers through his hair and holding onto him for dear life as he gave you a few moments to adjust to him, “please move.” you whimpered, desperate for his touch.

he didn’t need to be told twice, slowly drawing his hips back until just the tip of his cock remained, plunging back into your warm channel a moment later, quickly setting a steady pace. you were an emotional mess, holding him as tightly against you as you could while he fucked you, letting out a loud whimper when he reached his hand down to draw soft, slow circles against your clit, “such a good girl for me.” paul murmured, “fuck your pussy feels like heaven.” he groaned as he continued fucking your tight channel. 

you gasped as he pressed down on your clit, eliciting another loud whine from you as you felt your orgasm quickly approaching, “you gonna cum on my cock, kitten? my cock feel that good?” he asked, a bit of his normal cocky self coming back as he felt his own orgasm approaching right behind yours.

you nodded, “please-” you whimpered, tightening your legs around his waist and your fingers in his hair as you desperately brought him closer to you. 

paul chuckled softly, “go on. make a mess on my cock, yea? wanna feel that pretty pussy cum on me.” he teased as he felt your walls throb around him at his words. 

you didn’t need much more than his permission, letting yourself fall over the edge as he pressed down on your clit again, quickly meeting your orgasm. as you throbbed around him, he met his own release, pushing himself as deep in you as he could as he coated your walls with his seed. 

it took you a few moments for the both of you to come back to your senses, paul being the first to do so as he gently brushed your hair out of your face and slowly pulled himself out of you to lay next to you, “c’mere.” he murmured, pulling you close to his chest and allowing you to throw your leg over his waist and wrap your arms around his neck.

“don’t leave again.” you whispered blearily as you came back to your senses, eyes softening as you looked up at him.

he nodded, “promise i won’t.” he reassured, pressing a soft kiss to your forehead. you nodded, pressing a soft kiss to his collarbone before he got up, quickly pulling on his boxers and sweatpants before getting back into the bed with a hand towel. 

you sighed softly, allowing him to get between your legs, not needing to be told he wanted to clean you up. he already knew how irritated you’d get if you felt his release dripping out of you all night and was always quick to clean you up after sex because of it, “there you go.” he murmured as he quickly ran the rag between your sensitive folds, tossing it to the side and helping you into a new pair of panties and one of his t-shirts before getting back into bed with you.

you quickly curled into his arms, holding him close to you, “i love you.” he murmured against your hair and you nodded, smiling softly up at him, “i love you too.” 

[violivs]

NMTDaily: Project III - Life of the Party

- Ursula’s video description has some interesting info. She’s practicing filming a long scene in one shot, so building off what she’s learned in prior videos, and I’m proud of her! Go Urs! Future filmmaker/cinematographer of the universe!

- She also says, “I got a bit of background to the big argument Bea and Ben had” which proves that the scene we get here is not the whole fight. A bunch of the fight went un-filmed and we have to rely on Ben’s videos to know what went down. We also know that Ursula knows it was Ben under the cowl, so would she have told Bea? Maybe. I’m still not sure when Bea finds out that was Ben, but I do lean to it being after the fight was over or possibly Ben taking off his mask mid-fight to confront her. Interesting.

- Ursula enjoys making friends with the cat. This is Pedro’s house. That means Pedro (and John), Ben, and Bea all come from Cat Families. Just an interesting detail to note. Many adorable headcanons to draw from this: Bea liking to come to Ben’s after the Hero’s Birthday thing to be with Ben but also to visit with his cat because her own is in Australia with her parents; John potentially getting along with the Donaldson family cat and considering her his favorite family member; etc.

- Finally, Ursula tells us that Meg requested for her fight with Robbie to be put in the video to “show everyone what a dick that guy is”- setting up MegRobbie as a toxic on again/off again thing and Robbie as a cheating ass. Important for later when he shows us more bad behavior.

- This show and the international friends/acquaintances I made through it really helped show me how universal US American culture is in the world, against the world’s will. I’m reminded of that by the girl at the party dressed as the Statue of Liberty. In NZ/Aotearoa.

- Note that Claudio dressed as a cowboy because he saw Hero say in a video that she wanted someone to dress as a cowboy. Note also that his face is covered by a handkerchief- he’s hiding something. His jealousy and insecurity.

- Verges and Dogberry as a mouse and an elephant is funny since elephants are allegedly scared of mice.

- Pedro the Robot comes over to Hero and Bea and gestures in a way that tells us he’s saying “can we talk?” He’s about to tell Hero that Claudio likes her. But as he opens the chest compartment to show a red heart in his costume, Beatrice walks away. Visual foreshadowing of Pedro opening his heart to Beatrice and getting rejected. (Also a symbol of Pedro showing Claudio’s heart to Hero, and possibly of Claudio thinking the heart Pedro is giving Hero is Pedro’s.)

- I don’t think it’s a stretch to imagine that Bea and Hero end up hanging out together again at this party, and Pedro sticks to them like glue because of his crush on Bea. Therefore, John is able to point Claudio at the tableau of Pedro in Flirt Mode talking to both Dukes, and convince him that the one Pedro’s trying to flirt with is Hero. It’s actually Beatrice the whole time.

- We get a couple glimpses of Ben moving through the party, and he is always alone. Telling. He’s uncomfortable at parties even when not getting yelled at by Beatrice.

- We see Meg and Robbie kissing. This means he made out with her BEFORE openly trying to pick up another girl at the SAME PARTY. What an ass.

- Bea is socializing with non-named characters. Proud of her for putting herself out there as the new kid!

- We see John lurking in the hallway holding a skull. Is the skull supposed to mean he’s dressed as Hamlet? It seems like he wants to join in the party but feels uncomfortable. He’s also looking for Claudio, though.

- Ben and Bea effectively dancing together! Okay, they’re dancing next to each other, just let me have this, lol.

- Is there a significance to Balth dressing as a gorilla? Is he one of the apes Beatrice will lead down to hell before the Devil tells her “Get thee to Heaven”? (A line from the masquerade scene in Much Ado)

- Aww Balthazar talking to Claudio and trying to cheer him up is sweet

- Beatrice and Hero dancing together is also lovely (and Pedro hovering ineffectually next to them)

- Benedick dancing like a dork while the “he is just an arrogant guy” song plays in the background xD

- AND THEN on the line “he’s just lonely inside” it cuts to Pedro! Who is lonely inside because he has an unrequited crush AND because he’s in the closet. Look at him trying to fit snack foods through his robot mouth aww

- It cuts back to Claudio on “he really needs to swallow his pride”. Interesting. Then immediately pans over to Ben again, who’s mugging for the camera under his Batman mask.

- HERSULA!!!! Hero and Ursula dancing together and holding hands, my heart! They look so happy!

- Aw shit, we actually SEE Robbie cozying up with the girl in the nun costume, how did they not notice the camera?

- “I want respect, I want to feel like I’m the only one” “well there’s plenty of others out there” brutal. Robbie deserves that drink to the face.

- It’s Beatrice’s voice in the background saying “oh, sexy, nice, nice” and cheering Meg on for splashing Robbie with her drink. (I think she meant to say “sick, nice, nice” but it sounded like “sexy”, so.) We also see her looking on with the crowd at the beginning of this moment before the camera pans to Meg and Robbie. She’s very pro-revenge on shitty guys.

- Meg looks and sounds very satisfied to have publicly told Robbie off. I’m sad that she goes back to him so soon after this.

- Now that I think of it: does anybody know what Meg’s costume is supposed to be? The white shirt and tie and suspenders make me think it’s supposed to be “sexy private-school uniform girl”, which, Ew. Please respect yourself and other girls, Meg. I know you’ll get there.

- We now cut to the start of the Beadick argument scene. Beatrice starts by asking the girl next to her if she knows where Ben is, not realizing that Ben is sitting right next to them.

- Incidentally, that extra is a Candle Waster. Hi, Minnie Grace! Thanks for doing this cool NMTDaily thing for us! (The other Candle Wasters can also be seen as extras at the party.)

- Ben cuts in and asks, “Who’s Benedick?” He sees his chance to find out what Beatrice really thinks of him, and he takes it.

- In the play, you can technically play it as either Beatrice knowing she’s talking to Benedick the whole time, or Beatrice having no idea the person she’s talking to is Benedick. The comment section seems unsure of which tack the Candle Wasters and actors are taking here.

- It’s worth noting that Beatrice doesn’t even really look at Ben before launching into her tirade. She doesn’t seem to notice or care who she’s talking to at all. She just wants anyone who will listen to her talk about how she wishes Ben was here in an embarrassing costume she can make fun of.

- It’s interesting that she considers her own princess costume embarrassing (“there’s evidence online”). She assumes he’s going to see it online and make fun of her for it, and she’s mad that she can’t make fun of his costume right back, because he isn’t here.

- As the comment section says, Bea misses Ben. It’s fun for her to spar with him. She was looking forward to it.

- “What do you mean you don’t know Benedick, he’s the biggest dick in the world” Yes, she’s being mean. But she also can’t conceive of anyone NOT being hyperaware of the existence of Benedick Hobbes at literally all times. Because she is. Which is very cute.

- “He’d go as Peter Pan, the boy who never grows up.” Savage, Bea.

- “That was quite hurtful” in a tiny version of the Batman voice. Awww Ben my poor baby :(

- Lol, why is Meg just dancing alone in the corner in the background? The dance floor is in the other room!

- “I heard he’s made some pretty good vlogs… I heard his bird one was quite insightful and poignant!” Oh Ben.

- Beatrice goes on her tirade about how she doesn’t watch his videos specifically because of that video, and the scene cuts off.

- I posit that after Bea rants awhile about “who talks about bird killing?” and how bad the video is, Ben gets mad and takes off his cowl and says something like “no, really, what is your problem with me? Everyone else seems to like me just fine, so what did I ever do to you?” And that’s when Bea drops all that stuff we hear about in Ben’s videos about no one really liking him and the whole school laughing at him. And he fires back before storming off to sulk.

- I just find the scene more palatable if she doesn’t know it’s him she’s talking to for most of it, and then the meanest stuff she says is because she feels put on the spot, on the defensive. That’s my take.

- We see more shots of Hero and Pedro hanging out and dancing together, and we see Ben slipping into the bathroom and closing the door.

- Then, we actually SEE John and Claudio in the doorway, looking in the direction of Pedro and Hero, as John whispers in Claudio’s ear. Claudio pushes John out of his way and stalks off to join Ben at the sulking-in-the-bathroom party.

- Pedro unmasks himself as the robot for the camera. Then someone else takes the camera and we end on a shot of a sleepy Ursula and the Donaldson family cat. Awww!

- The last words on the costume party episode are the lyrics to the song playing in the background: “I know you.”

Comment section boogaloo:

- People pointing out that Bea misses Ben, and feeling sorry for Ben.

- Mention that a piece of Kiwiana, a soft drink called L&P, can be seen on the beverage and snack table. I wouldn’t have caught that, being American, so thank you commenter for teaching me a thing! (And for calling John being dressed as Hamlet!)

- Praise for the music, which I agree with. It’s fun, dancey, AND thematically relevant!

- Apparently the nun costume is from American Horror Story, and also a potential reference to Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure.

- Is the cat Tibbles?!?!

- “why do I get extreme Taika Waititi vibes from this” …it is possible that Taika Waititi is just the only other kiwi this person knows. But I haven’t seen all of Waititi’s projects, so I can’t say for sure he’s never done a party scene like this or a teen drama in general. Sorry if he has, commenter! (It is of course too bad there aren’t any Māori actors in an Aotearoa-based webseries like this, although I think there are some in Lolilo and later TCW projects.)

- Comment awards: The person who wrote “poetic cinema” with a time stamp link to the shot of Ben dancing near some of the girl extras while the song in the background goes “he is just an arrogant guy, thinks he can catch any girl’s eye”

- And there we have it! One masquerade, in the books!

💖🥭🦩

[gay-disabled-characters-showdown]

LGBTQ+ Disabled Characters Showdown Round 1, Wave 6, Poll 14

A character being totally canon LGBTQ+ and disabled was not required to be in this competition. Please check qualifications and propaganda before asking why a character is included.

Check out the other polls in this wave and prior here.

Zhou Zishu-Word of Honor / Shan He Ling

Qualifications:

He might not count but I wanted to submit just in case. So in order to leave an assassination organization, he has to basically give himself a terminal condition that slowly destroys him over time, killing him after 3 years. So his ability/power is severely limited which is a big hindrance because he only has the strength to fight for a short while before his condition flares up. And over the course of the show he also looses some of his senses. He looses his sense of taste and smell and his ability to feel pain is significantly lost. The reason why it might not count is that they figure out how to cure him at the very end, but he spends the vast majority of the show suffering from this condition.

Propaganda:

He and his soulmate/husband are iconic. War criminal duo. They're both mass murderers who want to settle down with a nice domestic life with their adopted son. He's also got amazing gender. The show also has some interesting things to say about chronic/terminal illness

Val Palafox-Venom and Vow

Qualifications:

He is canonically bigender (uses he/she pronouns) and uses a cane due to congenital disability.

Propaganda:

Val is a bigender assassin/princess's handmaiden who's trying to defeat the guy she thinks laid a long sleeping enchantment over both their parents (among other people), so that she can reunite with her father and theoretically come out to him. So Val embarks on this harebrained scheme to outmaneuver this guy via two different identities (Val has a male persona and a female persona that he keeps separate). It's complicated but also very funny to me, given that the other guy thinks Val cast the curse, but doesn't want to hurt him out of trans solidarity. Bonus that she's perfectly good at fighting while using her cane, but has no idea how to dance with it.

Anything Else?:

This is an act of blatant defiance against your wishes for less obscure media, and I do apologize, but I have no regrets here.

Mod note: lol don’t even worry we submitted a few obscure characters ourselves.

[erisenyo]

Hi yes a question from the audience: Zutara blood bending bdsm??? Can you elaborate on that? (Sorry if this is weird. I just know I won’t see it if I reply on AO3 and I am desperate to hear the details of this idea)

Lol you got over here FAST. Absolutely I can elaborate on my like, one true vision for Zutara, which is more of a vibe than any kind of coherent story idea.

This would be something set in/around/after Zuko joins the Gaang of course, Zuko taking this risk joining them, being on edge, and being very aware of Katara's power in particular (and maybe more aware of her own strength than she is, even, since he has broader context).

And I have no idea how it would come about, but Zuko would be kind of scared, kind of awed, kind of into Katara's power, and the bloodbending in particular, like starting morbidly fascinated and going from there. And there would be this thread of Katara simultaneously exploring and understanding and embracing her power/bending/sexuality all at the same time (my fave combo lol).

I think it would be more of a submission/dominance thing than the sadism/masochism side. Zuko willingly giving his body to her to bloodbend on, and all the trust that it requires, and him wanting that trust even if he isn't entirely sure of her yet and pushing himself to it anyway because that's what he does is push himself regardless of his current reality, and being all scared-exhilarated by it the whole time because someone controll your body with bloodbending is probably horrifying, but if you're giving yourself over to it instead of fighting (if you're making yourself relax and give in and submit)...

And he's an adrenaline junky so he wouldn't be able to stop coming back, because it would be this total rush mixed with like a shared secret and this tenuous-growing-stronger connection when he's just walked away from his prior life, and telling himself it's helping someone too (because Katara would be working through her bloodbending is evil baggage, and isn't helping her by offering up his body the perfect excuse).

Basically I think Zuko would be hard from go if only from the adrenaline, but Katara's bending would be inside him and in his blood and where is all that blood going, and, well. They'd dance around this like, kinky D/S stuff for a while, maybe never touching but edging more and more openly into something sexual, Zuko being the one getting stripped bare and vulnerable but it and also the one getting this sexual and larger gratification from it, but only as much as Katara will give him.

And meanwhile there's Katara recognizing and owning and mastering her power, and realizing how much of her power in the situation is her bending vs just herself, this simultaneous exploration and risk in pushing Zuko and realizing she likes it, or at least likes having that kind of power over him specifically. And add in all the baggage of Zuko being on his knees for someone and vulnerable to bending in particular, and Katara might start off angry and suspicious but it wouldn't stay that way.

And...that's what I've got haha. More vibe than fic, I regularly mourn the untapped kinky potential of bloodbending, and totally unrelatedly, can I direct you to a deep delight of the blood by eruthos over on ao3?)

[backjustforberena]

Different anon here, it annoys me to no end when i see people saying 'book!rhaenys would never' 'book!rhaenys supported/fought/loved rhaenyra' 'show!rhaenys is so different from the book', etc because rhaenys is barely mentioned during viserys' reign and there's NOTHING that even hints at what she thought or felt about rhaenyra. Fighting for her doesn't mean she loved her or even that she thought she'd be a good queen. Rhaenys' family was bound to rhaenyra and her family for better or for worse, if she won the war and sat the throne baela would become queen one day but if they lost then rhaenys' and her family would pay the price. Baela and rhaena are daemon's daughters, that alone makes them targets, and then there's the betrothals to rhaenyra's sons...

I think rhaenyra's fans have their own version of rhaenys in their minds, one that exists to prop her up, and they call that 'canon'. The book doesn't give us anything to go by, rhaenys might as well have loved or hated rhaenyra, or something in between; maybe she joined the war for her own family and it had nothing to do with rhaenyra or maybe it was both. We don't even have differing accounts from historians on any of this, we have nothing lol

I agree with you. It's also interesting to see that the fault of it is usually blamed on Rhaenys's character or actions, rather than Rhaenyra's, when both are changed. Its also done without sympathy to Rhaenys (who has plenty of reasons to not be close to Rhaenyra, politically and personally in book and show).

The Velaryons have enough skin in the game to back Rhaenyra politically, whether to gain advantage or achieve ambition, or they truly believe her claim and out of respect for Viserys... and they can do so despite any personal feelings about Rhaenyra. It is enough. No house was backing Aegon because they loved him. The burden to love Rhaenyra shouldn't be there.

But you're right. We have nothing of Rhaenys, in the book, in the course of events for Season 1, prior to Viserys dying. We have nothing that strictly speaks to Rhaenyra and Rhaenys's relationship WHATSOEVER in the book, both before and during the Dance. They never exchange words or actions. Rhaenyra isn't even mentioned to mourn Rhaenys, which feels significant, as every other loss changes her bit by bit.

So it is, ultimately, a fabrication.

[mirror-to-the-past]

Here's some spoilers and discussion about my initial thoughts on Kingdom Hearts 2 below.

Nearing the end of my KH2 journey... I'd say this has probably been my favorite game so far, out of KH1, CoM, and now this. Overall, I'd say I like the composition of the story of CoM a tad more, but goddamn if the intro and outro haven't gone especially hard on KH2 (also has just generally been littered with several moments that have made the characters very endearing). And the gameplay... woo, actually is super fun. I love the love put into the reaction commands, and every fight is like a movie.

I got past the Roxas fight after like... 40+ tries, and was regretting immensely I decided to play in Proud mode. Never got frustrated at my boy, though- was just filled with respect, and it's seriously the best fight in the franchise thus far for me for giving well designed attacks that I felt were effectively telegraphed. I'm not quite sure how/why Roxas led Sora into what I assume was an internal battle, since he already seemed reabsorbed within Sora's being, but I can only assume Axel's sacrifice (since that happened right before this fight) must've reawoken him, in a way ("Tell me why 'he' chose you!") Poor Roxas has been having his life stolen. The Nobody dehumanization is such shit, dude. Roxas banging on Sora's braced keyblade over and over with that level of ferocity is fueled by such obvious rage that it's undeniable. God, he's living in my head unapologetically.

Meanwhile Xigbar was also... a fight. Less filled with respect, more frustrated about that one, lol. (I thought the sniper mechanics were pretty sick, though. Felt like I was doing Orbonne Monastary in FFXIV again). Can't help but assume several of these Organization members may maintain relevance in future installments in some way, since several seemed to have implied information/backstory that remained unrevealed prior to their disappearance (looking at you, Xigbar [casually referencing that there's been other Keyblade wielders before dying with zero explanation] and Saïx). The next game, 358/2 Days, looks like it's dealing with the Organization in what I assume is a prequel, so maybe backstory will be there?

Kairi and Riku have made my heart warm, and the whole trio's love for each other is honestly so sweet. I keep thinking about their reunion scenes and it's just... aaa, I feel crazy about it. When Kairi lowered Riku's hood and saw the face of Xehanort's Heartless and Riku looked so ashamed (then it cut away?? how dare), when Riku shielded Kairi with his body from Saïx's attack, when Kairi hugged Sora and said "this is real" because 😭 girl your abandonment issues and unachievable desire for constancy are making me feel things, and she's been struggling with the phantom sensation of forgetting someone she cared about for an entire y e a r, so having that confirmation... man. *Staring out to the ocean*

Felt so bad for her that Sora was so awkward about the hug she deeply needed, and didn't even realize the absence of the music until Sora reunited with Riku. 😂 And... oh my god, haha, that part got me. Not surprised that the Sixth Sense kid can pack a gut punch, ofc, he's got a long history of films making me weep, but like... "I looked for you! I looked everywhere for you!" While Sora was crying on his k n e e s and grasping Riku's hand like a lifeline was such amazing emotional payoff. Like, I've been joking with friends about Sora's unwavering "Riku, Riku, Riku" throughout the entire game, but damn if that didn't do a good job of making me invested via Sora, goddamn. I'm so happy my kid gets to see his silver haired punk again. And wowie, they're such a power duo? Their limit break "Eternal Session" is legitimately one of my favorite limit breaks alongside Vincent Valentine's "Satan Slam," from FF7 now. The synchrony of the dance where they pass off the weapons to each other, smooth as butter? Them going "back to back" between the different phases of their LB? (Which is adding to my evaluation of the poems from CoM I've had in the back of my head the entire damn game, by the way...) The clash of their keyblades, and the duality red-blue color scheme? Be still, my artistic heart, they're too much. For this, and the honestly impressive expression and facial rigging for what is a PS2 game, I want to give the animators a smooch.

All I want now is to know where tf Riku pulled Kairi's Keyblade from, and how she's apparently a chosen wielder too. Like, okay??? But where? How?

Oh, also would like Riku to see someone about his hand, that doesn't look too comfortable. My guy can be a badass all he wants, but if he doesn't drink his milk, put an actual cast around his wrist, and bit of work leave off from world-saving shenanigans, he's gonna be a certified hero with post-traumatic arthritis 10~ years down his little road to dawn. Apparently working for Ansem the Wise doesn't provide great health coverage.

[cat-n-rabbit]

The RS Stage Play sure was an experience...

My copy of RS2R is being delayed though I still have hopes it arrives today... or I will give up and grab the PC digital download instead :D;;;

But that gave me time to finally sit down and watch the RS Stage Play and it sure was... an experience xD; And I'm pretty sure I didn't get a lot of context due to, well, not speaking Japanese and having no subtitles. Much rambles beyond the cut (positive ones, I greatly enjoyed the play!) but also maybe spoilers(?)

The first half felt extremely rushed and packed with fights, which were amazing to watch but if you haven't played RS it is like a lot happens for very little time and you have zero time to get attached to the characters or appreciate the emotional moments. RS has one really strong moment where Polka fights Barthelemy and the stage play was like - we're gonna milk this so much! xD; On one hand... Barthelemy's actor was amazing and so was Polka. I think Polka was the best! The actor was just giving his all there! But also seeing the same scenario 3 times was a bit of an overkill. Barthelemy having a proper dad moment with Polka and Liz (especially) near the end gave me all the warm fuzzy feelings and that was probably my fave part of the whole play. ;u; It always bothered me that Barthelemy technically dies when Liz was still a baby and she never had proper moment with her father unlike Polka who remembered Barthelemy prior to the uh... Clownification.

Seeing Gerard scooting away with Cat early in the play just made me and my friend both nod in agreement at our headcanon ship being a thing now :'D;;; I'm just super pleasantly surprised that was sneaked in! Seeing Leon, Victor, Gerard meet with the Final Empress and fight with Noel and Co was really visually cool! All the fights were just such a delight to watch. I didn't get nearly enough screenshots cause most of the time I was mesmerized by the mess of songs, dancing, screams and fighting xD;;

Igomahl was amazing and I had a blast watching the actor (who apparently plays Subier too!) handle the character cause Igo is so very expressive! It was really interesting recognizing many in game music tracks (some had lyrics!!) and remembering all the fights and the Conquest event in RS... ...most of the time I really felt like that Leo DiCaprio meme pointing at the screen "I recognize that!" Also Igomahl tossing a baby (and spitting on!) wasn't something I expected to see but... well I did. lol

And finally we reached mid point the point where the mobile game story cuts off and we had a "Watch the stage to find out what happens next!" and why Jo's fate is tied to going to the Ancient times and the 7 Heroes. The story slowed down and became very dialogue heavy in comparison to the 1st half which I thought was great but... I couldn't understand anything XD;;

There was a lot of dialogue between the High Priest (who framed Wagnas) and some priest boy who was a servant? It felt important but I couldn't figure it out. He did seem mad at Wagnas and this is purely assumption but I think it was cause Orieve drank the slow poison and thus he lost his daughter (I think the potion he was waving around was same thing Orieve drank) I could be super way off tho.

The Dread Queen had killer design tho! I loved her, loved all the termite queens really!! I didn't expect the Dread Queen to have an eurovision dance score but...that sure was a thing XD;

Kzinssie easily stole the show whenever the 7 Heroes were having a moment. I try not to be biased but combined with the actor clearly having a blast in his role and his exaggerated mannerism... he was just hilarious every time he was on the stage xD;

I didn't expect to see Kzinssie do a magic show or drive a scooter all to be noticed while the rest of the heroes were discussing something obviously serious, but that also feels like the sort of gremlin behavior he'd display.

I remember the actor being guest on a lot of the RS Live Streams and having stronger presence on twitter during the Stage announcement. I'm happy he had good time and I feel like that contributed to the character gaining more popularity within the player base :D;

And speaking of... he continued to the trend of absorbing strange things (I assume?) You've seen antennae Kzinssie, now get ready for Cabbage Kzinssie!

Roc ripped the cabbage shortly after and KO'd him after he tried to comfort her. Rip. They did all have a little fun and shenanigans going with the glimmer hat once more! That was nice!

I didn't get why Wagnas had a meltdown moment though, I think he didn't glimmer anything? Wagnas is always so very serious and intense so seeing him a bit comical and break character was nice!

Having the 7 Heroes return home and seeing the priest still around (as a king?) made me think some kinda justice will be delivered? Or have a confrontation ? I wondered how would that tie to the mega boss in the RS game (pink umbrella man) but... it didn't. The 7 heroes did get confronted by some super powerful Hero Killer(?) but his design had nothing to do with the boss in the game, but I assume he was the same character (?).

It was nice that it was Wagnas who ended the Hero Killer (with Noel's sword!!) but also it was a little disappointing we didn't get 7 Heroes group hug reunion or something. After the Hero Killer used Abyss Gate on Roc (did he kill her!??) and dispatched everyone but Noel and Wagnas with Wagnas being the last hero to stand I thought ...we'll get some reunion at least? xD;

I don't know what they talked at the very end. Maybe had some kinda revelation about "maybe revenge bad" or "we really did lose our way didnt we?" I have no idea... but it felt important :D;;

Polka and co saved Jo and returned home. The Seven Heroes stayed in their original home (I assume?) but I couldn't figure out what timeline was that. Was this the other dimension the ancients fled off to?

All around it was fun experience and I'm so very thankful that a friend helped me see this fabled Stage Play! I feel like RS has a very convoluted writing already and condensing it in an hour and half was kinda bad idea. I assume people who are playing/or played the mobile game were the target audience cause anyone new to it would be so very lost. I enjoyed the second hour and half a lot more but probably because the cast was reduced and it was the story that was cut from the mobile version.... and we got a lot more talking and I kinda wish that was more expanded instead of having the first half be a rush to get to that point.

It was nice seeing the closure for the Polka family. Jo was saved and she was so very adorable, I wish we saw more of her. Bertrand was hilarious with his emo/intense antics. It was nice seeing the 7 heroes again .. I hope one day someone will get subtitles so I get what was going on on some scenes :D;;

And now to resume waiting for my RS2R copy.... '_';;;

[neighawolf]

I was reading your tumblr, specifically the Silver Souls bit, and it made me wonder what, in your opinion, was the hardest primal they fought? Is this at odds with what the members would consider to be the hardest?

As the writer and creator, I have to say their first primal, Ifrit, was the hardest. Because it was their first and they, as a group, hadn't had to deal with something like that before. Despite having been a group for 2 or 3 years prior, they hadn't ever faced a primal. The realisation that some of the others couldn't fight, as not all of the group are echo/WoL blessed. So some sitting out, like Mizu who was the groups second best fighter (Alex being the first, but WoL blessed) or Sera who wasn't a wol, having to let his sister, R'aurora (who was the same age as the twins and autistic savant) go alone. There was also the whole conversation after the fight in regards to those who had been tempered, and had to be put down. Ifrit was a world changer for them and showed the gravity of the crisis at world.

The hardest, according to them, is between Shiva, Susano, and Lakshmi. While every primal is a major player for different cultures and beast tribes, for some reason these three were far more delicate. Shiva was a friend and a delicate religious/political situation with Ishgard and Dragonfolk. Figuring out how to 'defeat' someone without killing someone and balancing two sides of a war was incredibly difficult, especially since some members weren't available at the time. Susano was a big deal for Rornir, being born in Othard, and not completely deflating a growing pride and purpose amongst the people of Othard by destroying a god/primal was a delicate dance. and Susana was very playful and held nothing back, especially because of his own people, Rornir, was fighting. A proof of his people's strength, without totally destroying him in front of the eyes of the growing resistence. Lakshmi was similar is that relations with the Ananta tribe were already strained, given the tribe itself was split and being manipulated. There were a lot of emotions and betrayal with Ala Mhigo and foreigners already and then the group had to come in and find a way to deflate the situation without completely destroying these peoples' faith and religion.

If we mean the most difficult in sheer mechanics probably Leviathan. Alex, their heavy hitter and tank, is deathly afraid of water. (I also have extreme thalassophobia so anytime I got knocked off and sank really put me off) So Alex was pretty useless that fight. R'aurora is their healer but is a little neurodivergent and doesn't think about mechanics quickly so sliding around everywhere really frustrated her. Rornir also found it difficult to keep his footing. Magic grumpy old man, Sorn'daer found it difficult to get spells off and well...he's a little older and rocking waves and salty seaspray on metal ship bits really broke his poor knees. Bastian is the only one who didn't really struggle too much. Mizu would have been the best fighter as a dragoon and basically just an alligator lol, but as a not WoL, she couldn't fight without being tempered. Sera was put out too. There was also the noise from towing ships and the dang sea snake and people shouting. It was a sloppy mess and no one enjoyed that fight.

[maya-matlin]

I was reading your tag on the meeting with zaya in s11. Zaya definitely had a great first meeting arguably the best. I would agree I mean all of that scene is truly adorable and funny and it stands out to me.

I do feel a little bit that way for semmas meeting, where she'd been pining all day or trying to like figure out how she was gonna speak to him bc she maybe found him intimidating, and then finally she sees he's about to get in trouble bc he might fight jimmy, and kind of takes control of the situation even tho it's not really her business kind of like how maya went along with the rouse of pretending to be a jilted gf and improvising (lol scoundrel) without a script and did the first thing to come to mind. Both meetings seemed to me very like important.

Although with semma/Emma, she simply wanted someone to hang out with at the dance, but she had an opportunity to at least dance at the dance, and her intentions were good. I like that both zaya and semma had significant developments prior to dating zaya more than semma with the length of time. Idk people compare then sometimes the only real similarity is leading lady with a meet cute power couple relationship.

Both girls were intentions were good, for maya a new friend at her school, for emma befriending the cute new kid who she knew not much about. So it's cute to me as well. 😍💕 there is definitely overlap with zaya and semma but not that significant. Two awesome first meetings.

Yeah. I know Zig and Maya have way better scenes, but they got off to such a good start. Season 11 was overall a pretty weak season for them other than Underneath It All, but I really love that the writers made it a point to set up that pairing long before their romantic arc truly started.

Ooh, I never thought to compare those two scenes, but that's a good point about both Maya and Emma kind of needing to improvise to get their crush out of trouble.

Right. Ultimately, Zaya kind of borrowed from multiple ships while also having their own unique story. I don't think any other Degrassi pairing did the friends to lovers thing better than them. I think they followed the Semma pattern in the sense that it was the bad boy with the good girl, but I also feel like a lot of their story more closely resembles Joey and Caitlin's. Zig/Joey initially overlooked Maya/Caitlin for Tori/Liz. Maya and Caitlin had boyfriends who committed suicide (Cam and Claude). Joey cheated with Tessa, while Zig cheated with Zoe. Though thankfully, that was just one awful slip up in contrast to Joey kind of smugly repeatedly sleeping with Tessa until it blew up in his face. Personally, I'm just relieved Zaya didn't follow the Eclare pattern.

For sure! I think Zaya and Semma have some aesthetic similarities. Obviously later on, the writers kind of ripped off the Semma/Pemma triangle with Zaya/Matlingsworth. The first one was played more straight with Sean being the obvious troubled but ultimately good guy while Peter was the villain who used his privilege to eliminate his rival. With Zig and Miles, we weren't so sure how it would end up playing out because Zig had such a chip on his shoulder and was taking on this persona (kind of like season 3 Sean, but more aggressive) after being absent for most of the season. Miles had been introduced more sympathetically than Peter and had just come off episodes where we'd seen his home life and watched him stick up for Zoe. Based on what we'd seen of both (Zig in season 12, Miles in parts of season 13), it wasn't too shocking when things kind of reversed themselves and Maya decided Zig was the one she could trust and rely on while Miles was consistently letting her down. And of course, Zaya had the history and chemistry much like Semma did. Anyways, I digress.

[curejiraiya]

very very very very long post alert 😭

uhsuifhsoifshoeh Hiro's past is so tragic. I wish it wasn't told to us in so many separate places because it makes it kind of a mess? Like there's what's covered in Rainbow Live, then we get a little more in Pride the Hero; but past that there's Hiro's Young of Prism article, and and what they gave us in Road to SSS in Prism Rush, gah. It's a lot to get through! But his backstory is a big piece of why his actions in Rainbow Live, despite being awful, make sense (oh and he's gay for Kouji but wkjefhwefhowe).

Shortly after birth Hiro is given up to a church, but he does retain memories of his mother? He's taken care of by the father and sister of the church, but then they both DIE IN A TRAGIC ACCIDENT. Leaving Hiro to become an outcast in a foster home. You have to imagine during this part of his life he's pretty miserable? Like he has no friends, he's constantly getting into fights.

After that it's kind of left unclear, but at some point his mom picks him up to move into that shitty apartment. We don't really know why he was dropped at the church, or what his mom was doing, or where his dad is.

With his mom she's definitely some kind of nurse, so I've just assumed or headcanoned that maybe she works as a travel nurse? They tend to get decent money, enough for her to keep paying rent on that apartment despite not living there often. It would make sense that she couldn't keep him because she can't take a newborn around the world with her.

As for his father, we don't really know what's up with him but I think I remember it being stated that he's like a felon iwuefhouefht328m I don't remember where that scene was and I'm too lazy to do an entire series rewatch to find it right now lol. But doesn't his mom go like "Your dad's not a bad person," there definitely is something there on top of the, everything else, but it's mostly space for headcanons.

But then we get Hiro’s Rainbow Live back story, Where he was outside dancing, like being a kid and playing around and Hijiri and Jin’s dad, whose name totally escapes me, sees him and thinks he has a lot of talent so he offers to his mom to take him in; in exchange for definitely some kind of financial compensation. She goes back to what I assumed was working as a travel nurse, but they kept the apartment so there was some type of money in exchange for taking care of Hiro. I don't really know what. And from that point he has probably the most stable part of his life; growing up with two older brothers. That’s part of the tragedy here is he sees Jin as family and his older brother. 

So when he first meets Kouji he’s like 12 or 13. I’m pretty sure that’s how old you are in your first year of middle school in Japan. Prior to this he never really had a friend, and never one that he picked out himself. He saw the church elders as his parents, he didn’t bond with anyone at the orphanage, but he did have his mother after that, and he had the Norizuki family, but we never hear about him having anyone his age. In general he kind of has this outcast vibe to him because of all this stuff happening. It would be pretty hard for a normal 12-year-old to relate, right? 

So when the only person he could really make friends with was another 12-year-old who had a bunch of stuff happen to him, like having his father die in a car crash. And that’s part of why they made such good friends, and were such a good team. Because on one hand they have this perspective that, to be honest, children shouldn’t have. It’s unfortunate and painful that these tragedies happen to anyone, and they were just children. But they’re also incredibly skilled, like Kouji is an incredibly talented musician for someone his age. It’s really really really hard to imagine pride was written by someone who was at maximum 14 years old. Like go read the lyrics, 14? 

I'm different, the stars are different.

Only you are eternal, but I'm starting to notice...

I throw away me, I throw away the stars.

Also the song is a love song right, like we're all on the same page here. This is a song that he wrote for him to sing with Hiro, when they were like in middle school. I just, what other interpretation of the lyrics can I make. I don’t think this is super far-fetched either, Kouji is just a nerdy theater kid who likes big words. His mom  has this very haughty atmosphere to her like she sends Kouji to a prestigious private school. I can imagine him being forced to read some shakespeare and some other shit about his reading level. 

Like I can remember being 14 and listening to you belong with me by Taylor Swift, honestly I was probably younger than that. This is Kouji’s you belong with me, with all his nerdy theater kid language.

That was a tangent of the point I’m making, But as middle schoolers these two are picked to debut as idols because that’s something the school does I guess. When I first watched this series I thought it was weird they were so young, but I later learned that unfortunately starting at 14 is not weird at all for idols. Auru from PriMagi had like a 14-year-old voice actress, like the first live she did she is 14. 

You also have to think back, between first meeting Hiro and now you have the entirety of Jin’s backstory. The thing with losing to Hijiri and breaking his leg; and with Rei and all of that has happened and I have to assume Hiro doesn’t know about most of it because he’s a literal child while it’s happening. So to him Jine is still his older brother, well pseudo-older brother. But Jin has turned into this crazy manipulator. He can use Hiro to do whatever he wants, so of course he picks Hiro to debut. Yeah he can drag along his little friend, that’s free labor! He knows that his family has been helping Hiro out with his mom’s debts for years. He knows that Hiro sees him as an older brother, therefore he could tell them to do whatever he wants.

 Like we know that Kouji and Hiro both have insane talent, but I don’t think it’s full main character syndrome, they’re not better than literally everyone else at this including kids five years older than them, there is some nepotism going on so Jin can scheme any way he likes. That’s just how he was at this point in the story.

And I mean, story of Rainbow Live, scheme he does. 

But you need all this information to set up how they both react making sense. Because for Kouji, Hero is his first friend after the tragedy of losing his father. And his mom remarks more than once and we see that he’s very emotionally closed off. He wasn’t doing very well mentally because, his dad died when he was so young. His dad who was his entire life, Kouji’s an only child. He seemed like a stay-at-home father while his mom did all of the work, and Kouji lost that. 

So Hiro betraying him like that would probably feel like the end of the world to a middle schooler. Hiro was all he had outside of his mother, and he basically proves to Kouji that he should trust no one. 

I mean he has Kazuki but we don’t know the extent of their friendship at this point. With them being childhood friends; in my head I assumed that they were distant since their split, with Kouji going toEdel Rose and Kazuki against it. I don’t think they were enemies or anything, they probably still considered themselves friends, especially when you’re that young you don’t like snap to acquaintances. But the rope had to have been frayed. If their friendship was close they would’ve stayed together. Or at least Kazuki would’ve told Kouji his reason for not going.

So Kouji becomes a shut-in, he drops out, Kouji and Kazuki don’t really talk. And Kouji becomes this husk of his former self. 

Does this seem like an extreme reaction? absolutely. But he’s just a child. Kids don’t have the perspective of an entire life before them. If something like this happens to a 14-year-old who’s already seen tragedy, it’s going to feel like everything is crumbling. Plus I mean there’s the whole he’s totally in love with him thing, all of this on top of probably getting his heart broken, lol. Poor guy.

But the bigger picture here, and the actual thing that you told me to write about that everything before this has just been the backstory of that most people already know LMFAO. It’s how Hiro reacts, Hiro’s faced a lot of tragedy. He has to have an attachment issue, like there is no person on this planet who could go through what he went through and not develop attachment issues. Him remembering his parents giving him up (which realistically isn’t possible he was too young, but it says he does in young of prism!). Him losing his first set of pseudo-parents because they tragically died. His mother passing him off to yet another family after their reunion. The guys got some trauma. But in all of his past trauma he’s just had to buckle down and keep going. He couldn’t go to his mother and explain why she should keep him when he was one years old. He had to move on from his life in the church. But this time he had the option of talking to Kouji, and we as the audience see the situation as solvable if they just had a conversation, but his brain isn’t wired that way. 

He’s a child, the oldest he could possibly be at this point is 15 years old, but I’ve always thought of him as 14 when this happened. And with a similar perspective to Kouji, this is very much an end of the world situation to someone that age. He literally only had one friend and now he’s gone.

But he isn’t alone, and Hiro turns back to who he thinks he has, his mother; who is not home. He stays at their apartment just waiting for her. There’s a lot that can be assumed about this relationship, none of it is written but I mean, yikes. If she truly is a travel nurse you could see this as like she’s not a bad person, she just puts her job above her son, which isn’t terrible because she left him in someone’s care and she’s saving people’s lives as a nurse and etc. but you could see this a lot of other ways too lol. There aren’t a lot of King of Prism fanfiction, but if this was a bigger fandom I feel like there’d be fanfiction about this. About Hiro’s life and his relationship with his mother, because there is a lot there that could be headcanoned. 

But because his mother is not home he only has one relationship left, his two pseudo-brothers.

Unfortunately for Hiro, one of his brothers is a maniac. And that’s how he gets caught in this web where he can’t do anything. 

He suddenly has to meet all of Jin’s high standards for perfection, and I didn’t realize this at first but I definitely put it together later when I made that connection between Jin’s signature and Hiro signature, but Jin is literally trying to manipulate Hiro into being like him. Because somewhere around this time, a little earlier because the Prism King cup is every four years, Jin loses to Yamada, and he starts crafting Hiro to have him replace him, the way a mom makes her child do child beauty pageants to live through her. It’s incredibly sad.

And I mean there’s another tangent but I think that’s another reason why I assume the breakup with Kouji happened at most in their second year of middle school, because some time needs to pass for Jin to like change him. lol PR:RL happens during their first year of high school and he needs time to change and to become friends with Bell, Waka and Ota etc.

I’ll come back to them, but there’s a lot of reasons why Hiro could’ve turned to his pseudo-obsession with Kouji. But I think there are a few bigger ones that are probably true. The first touches on everything that I just went over, that is how Jin treats Hijiri after their fight. Do you remember the breakdown he has where he says his name over and over lol. Hiro watches this change in Jin happen in real time, and it has to leave some impression on his brain; that this is a normal way to react when someone quote unquote betrays you.

And to be clear this is really not normal lmfao

But another thing, which I can’t believe I wrote all this but haven’t touched on too much, is he is actively being manipulated and blackmailed. He has to claim the song is written by him, because Jin told him to, end of the line. If he doesn’t do it he’s going to wreck his relationship with Jin, which would be beyond unacceptable. He loses his debut, which means he can’t become an idol and give that money back to his mother. There’s the entire legacy of all the money that the Norizuki family had given his mother to pay for their debts, he has to somehow morally pay back that legacy. Even simpler, this family took him in and took care of him, it would be wrong to betray them. From a child in that position’s perspective, he’s in forever debt to them. He is forced to choose between them and Kouji, and it’s a situation where it would be morally wrong to choose Kouji from his perspective. Even though he has a heart and he realizes that claiming Kouji’s song is his is wrong, he literally cannot do anything about it. The adult in his life, his authority figure, is telling him to do this, telling him that this is right, and all he can do is listen. Children are not allowed to speak back to adults, and he is not allowed to have an opinion on what’s right here. This is how he grew up. 

And he needs to grow a lot as a person and have the events of Rainbow Live happen. He needs to see the change in Bell to realize that he can stand up for himself, and he doesn’t have to listen to everything authority figures say. And without seeing that change in Bell I don’t think he would’ve realized that until he was an adult. He may have never realized it, he may have fallen into Jin’s trap and never gotten out. Seeing Bell stop her “lonely climb to the top” and embrace imperfection for friendship showed him that he could make that change too.

Also there’s the third reason, that his heart was also broken, and I mean that sure makes you bitter lol. Truthfully I don’t think he nor Kouji were emotionally mature enough to be aware of any romantic feelings that could have been making their reactions worse, but I do think it was an underlying thing that they’d surely think about later! Even if you’re not a KouHiro shipper (😒) you have to see that there was SOMETHING going on there, at least from Hiro, even if it leads nowhere after their fight. (😒)

And god, Hiro and Bell. I think I will watch Rainbow Live again, probably next year. I used to do a once a year read through of a manga, and I stopped maybe two years ago, but since then I’ve stopped having a once a year anime thing I did lol. And I might make that watching Rainbow Live. But as much as I love Hiro and Kouji, and all the other characters, I think the biggest reason I want to watch the show again is to see Bell’s whole story. The way she changes from a haughty manipulative overachiever, to just one of the gang. It’s beautiful. And they clearly illustrate that she wasn’t always that way, like Hiro she was being used by Jin, but she was also being used by her parents. Her parents were putting her on a pedestal and she was not allowed any imperfection. God I already wrote so much I can’t do an analysis on Bell’s life right now, but I think the friendship between Bell and Hiro is really really really important for Hiro. 

I think they’re really important to each other because they both, despite not really having similar paths, are in a current situation where the only option is perfection. For both of them there’s not anyone else, at all, that they can relate to. 

But something I really really really like about the story, is that Hiro very actively needs to lean on Bell to get better. Hiro is a person that can’t handle being alone very well, we see it illustrated a lot over the series. In Rainbow Live he breaks down more than once. One of my favorite scenes is him laying face down in bed unmoving until his phone shows that video of Kouji. On one hand it shows that he’s a maniac, but it also shows that this guy is dealing with some insane depression. Like needs a therapist and really needs to be medicated depression. Something that isn’t temporary, and with the past like his that’s just what happens; I’m sorry. 

And to be honest, I mean this is headcanon but you cannot tell me this didn’t happen, he’s absolutely medicated in the two year gap between Rainbow Live and King of Prism. Like he is, if he wasn’t there’d be no Over the Rainbow. That’s just how it works. And I know like, it’s Japan, he’s from a poor family, and blah blah. No, I just don’t think he’d be able to go on without medication. I just don’t. But sorry that was a tangent. 

But they show it again in Pride the Hero, when he absolutely breaks when Kouji leaves. There are a few fanfiction on this though I think they’re explicit so I’m not gonna recommend them unless that’s something you’re ok with reading, but Hiro cannot handle being alone. 

And at only 15 he needs Bell to help them through this. And the bigger picture is he needs to see the change in Bell when she embraces herself and becomes part of the Rainbow Live cast friendship. She doesn’t necessarily leave Hiro, but when she does Hiro stops having that person to lean on, and that’s when he fully breaks. And that break is really important for him finding who he really is.

But on the other hand Bell, despite being put on that same pedestal and facing tragedy. She’s someone who works incredibly well on her own. She watches all of her friends slowly fix themselves around her, but the first one to take that step for her is herself. She's happy to have the support of others, but she doesn’t need it. She's an incredibly strong person. From her perspective the friendship between her and Hiro is looking for someone to prove that it’s possible to get through life the way she does. Bell’s a year younger than Hiro, and to her their friendship stands as like a pole of stability to keep her grounded and prove to her that she can keep going.

But because she is so strong, when she realizes her mistakes she can cast that pole aside and still stand on her own. She gets new stability from all the friends she accepts into her life.

I think this is a potential breaking point for the two of them, if Hiro never chose to take his own steps toward redemption I don’t think they would’ve continued being friends past this point. Because they have no reason to. Even if you’re here to argue a HiroxBell ship at this point their entire relationship is built on their shared suffering, so if one of them breaks the suffering and the other doesn’t there’s nothing left for them. In the same way they were supporting each other they were toxic for each other, and honestly in that case I think Bell would’ve became the same as Kouji is for Hiro. 

But because he kept inserting himself in her life, he kept showing up to give her roses which is kind of weird, and you can read that in a lot of ways. I don’t really choose to read it as a romantic way. I definitely choose to read as he just felt like it was proper because he has to keep this like haughty air to him. Also it’s something Jin would do because he’s kind of weird. But you can also definitely read that as he has a crush on her sure, he’s showing in a borderline creepy way (but it’s probably really romantic to the target audience) because he has no idea how to show these feelings because he’s an emotional wreck at this point. Sorry again, tangent. 

But because he’s reaching out, because he holds some hope, he watches her change and because he was never really a dark person, despite his past, despite his flaws, despite his own self proclaimed darkness in road SSS when he talks about his back story in the foster home, he always had heart. He always had this underlying goal to be a hero for people who struggled the same way he did. And seeing her climb out of the prison life gave her gives him the same courage.

And I mean tangent number 100 but this is amazing to see in a kids show. When you look at the guy characters in shows like this, even looking at Aurora Dream they usually don’t have arcs at all, and when they do they are the one in Bell's position. They set examples for the girl to follow. But in Hiro’s case he’s not capable of setting this example for Bell, and if he did the show would be less powerful. Bell has to show her own strength for the sake of her character, and a lot of shows for little girls don’t do that. They don’t show girls pulling themselves up, they don’t show their own inherent power. I’m sure it’s gotten better over the years, but even looking back 

Aurora Dream I’m like actually asking you, what are the guys doing that show other than be solutions for Aira’s problems. Their job in the show is to give Aira the courage to do something, and be romantic interests. That’s it. 

But when you look at the three guys in Rainbow Live, though they do of the romantic interest thing, I get that little straight girls like that sort of thing I’m not going to say it’s inherently bad, but I do think it is inherently bad in shows like Aurora Dream where the characters don’t have any other reason to exist. And especially when they take from the development of the actual main cast. But the three of them in PR:RL separately have their own lives and arcs (ok maybe Kazuki doesn’t have much of an arc), and all of the development of the main girls except for arguably Ito & Wakana, is independent of them. Naru has to accept that Rinne is going to leave her. Otoha has to rebuild her relationship with Bell and Wakana. Ann has to develop a relationship again with her father. Wakana has to rebuild her family structure. Bell has to stand up for herself in front of her parents. All of this happens without the three boys intervening. 

There’s a bit between Kazuki and Wakana, but the show does a good job of framing it outside of romance and as actual friendship bonding (even if you think the two of them did end up together it still does this,) proving that ultimately Wakana is stronger, because of the way Wakana and Ann are willing to put their friendship ahead of their feelings for Kazuki. I could probably type this much just about those three lol, because that relationship and the way they handled it is amazing, and I literally cheered during their duo episode. I was so happy that they chose to be friends over a gross love triangle with him. I hate love triangles. 

This is getting really long so I won't explain why Ito is more powerful than Kouji in their relationship, but it doesn’t matter to me because in the end Ito is better with Otoha and you know how I feel about Kouji if you read this much :p

That was a really long ramble, but I think the point I was making was that the relationship between Hiro and Bell prior to both of their redemptions was actually unstable. It was a relationship of them being forced together by toxic situations, but they fix this friendship through the strength of their own characters. Both of them grow in their own way, which gives them the power to be friends (or a romance if that’s your thing) on their own terms. 

God like I know why they don’t, but I really wish the girl showed up at some point during Pride the Hero. Because in my eyes the friendship between the nine of them stays just as strong as the friendship between the three Over the Rainbow guys does. And it does happen we just never ever see it on screen. We see a photo of them together, we see the girls at their performance, but the girls don’t actually get to be a part of their arcs in Pride the Hero and that’s sad. The fanfics I keep in my head of the phone calls they make to each other during the events of Pride the Hero, yeesh.

But man, Hiro. Hiro, Hiro, Hiro. I love his redemption arc so much. I love how they’re not afraid to make him cry. How did I write all this lmao. Hiro is just a great guy, he had to grow up with tragedy and he was forced into a situation that fundamentally hurt and changed him. And he bounces back through the strength he finds in friendship (Kazuki does a lot for him at the end of Rainbow Live too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa). But because he’s written as someone who was just a teenager, he’s written as a soft kindhearted person who is easily manipulated, he’s written as someone in love, he doesn’t handle the situation perfectly. If he did there wouldn’t be an Over the Rainbow, there wouldn’t be a King of Prism, and I’d be talking about the guys in Rainbow Live the same way I talk about the guys in Aurora Dream.

ask me about my Hiro Hayami hyper fixation

[jvngkook97]

The Red Peony

pairing; idol!jungkook, dad!jungkook x non-idol!reader, mom!reader

genre; angst, fluff, slice of life au, established relationship, jungkook and reader are still married, Hiro is 16 and Aera is 11

warnings; this deals with the menstrual cycle, mentions of blood, overprotective daddy koo, this is a time skip from the ‘chubby bunny’ family au

rating; 18+

w/c; 2,542

a/n; they’re baaack! inspired by the movie turning red, watching the father’s reactions immediately made me think that jungkook would be that kind of dad, and reader would be that kind of mom, lol. so here it is, enjoy!

Jungkook wasn’t home when the event occurred. Probably for the best.

But you were.

Thankfully, you were prepared for this moment, for years.

The moment when the red peony bloomed.

You wished you could say the same for your husband.

Jungkook was currently backstage at the American Music Awards just messing around with the other members to pass the time. He was showing Hoseok and Jimin a home video he recorded on his phone of his now sixteen year old son, Hiro. Said son, became a global sensation of his own at the age of five years old, during one of their concerts in Las Vegas for knowing the chorus choreography for Permission to Dance and running on stage to join his father and uncles in it.

Ever since then, he continued to hone his dancing skills with the dancers of the group, Hoseok and Jimin fighting over whose the best uncle on a daily basis. But Jungkook knows that he’s his son’s favorite dancer, his son saying so whenever they leave the room. Otherwise they would just call him biased. But Jungkook doesn’t have the heart to let them know the ugly truth.

He’s even showing up during group rehearsals, or when he knows his father is going to leave for practice by himself. Only if he’s not working on his homework, has good grades, has free time, and gets his mother’s permission can he attend.

You always did let him go, knowing no matter what you said he would find a way to charm you into letting him, cause he was just like his father in that aspect. It didn’t help that he had the same bunny toothed smile that he knew was your weakness. The Jeon’s always got what they wanted, of course. Including your now 11 year old daughter, Aera.

In fact, you would be so bold as to say, she had her father wrapped around her finger. All she had to do was bat her eyelashes at him, give him those same big doe eyes that he shares with her, and jut her bottom lip out cutely. Then she would use her princess voice, as you like to call it, and say ‘please, daddy?’

Hook, line, and sinker.

He could never say no to his little girl.

Though I guess in most cultures she would be considered a woman now.

But, you’re getting ahead of yourself. Let’s backtrack to this morning, when the event occurred.

Jungkook had left with his fellow members the day prior in order to start the dress rehearsal at the venue the awards were being held at, so he wasn’t laying in bed next to you when you first woke up. You think you would remember that he wouldn’t be there, him having woken you up with a kiss goodbye before he left for the airport, yet you still reached for the empty space in hopes of snuggling into a warm body to keep sleeping. The cold and merciless sheets are what woke you up. But what got you out of bed?

A shrill scream that would rival those from a horror movie, coming from the mouth of your daughter.

When you say that you’ve never moved so damn fast in your life, you’re not lying. Your children were just lucky that you decided not to sleep nude for once. Otherwise you would’ve had no qualms with traumatizing them with your naked body just so you could see what has your daughter screaming bloody murder so early in the morning.

Barging into her room, door slamming against the wall in the process, did you quickly survey her room looking for the culprit. She was nowhere in sight, so she had to be in the bathroom. Just as you were about to walk past her bed to knock on her bathroom door that connected to her room, did you notice something odd. Her bedding was completely stripped from her bed, leaving the once white mattress, bare. You say once white, due to the blazing red spot that now adorned the mattress directly where her body would lay. Or, more specifically, where her bottom half would lay.

Your eyes widened, as a low gasp escaped your mouth, hands immediately covering your mouth to silence it. Eyes darting over to the still closed bathroom door, you inched your way over to it, and gently leaned your head sideways against the door, ear pressed closely, trying to hear any sign of your daughter’s current state of mind from the new milestone her body hit.

All you could hear was low sniffles that broke your mama bear heart, and just as you were about to knock on the door to have a mother daughter heart to heart, your head whipped towards your daughter’s door hearing the loud stomping coming towards the threshold.

“What’s going on in here?!” Your oldest son, Hiro, exclaimed with wide eyes. He was holding a baseball bat tightly with two hands, ready to swing it at anything that moved that wasn’t you or Aera. Cause he knew with his father gone, he was the appointed protector of the family. Your heart swelled equally with warmth, and slight terror at seeing your son wield the baseball bat so menacingly.

You exhaled a breath you didn’t know you were holding upon the sudden intrusion. Placing your hand over your heart, trying to settle down your adrenaline rush, you waved your other hand at your son dismissively.

“Everything’s okay, honey. There’s nothing to worry about. Your sister just isn’t feeling well at the moment.” You reassured calmly in your motherly voice.

Hiro’s shoulders immediately sagged in relief, bat now loosely hanging by his side. Though he still carried a look of worry on his face as he took a few steps into the room, ready to help you with whatever you or his little sister needed.

“Sick? What’s wrong with her?” He asked his mother, voice laced with worry. His eyes darted to the closed bathroom door in wonder. “Is there anything I can do to help?” He first directed the question towards you specifically, before leaning his head towards the bathroom door and directly asking his sister instead.

“Hey, sis. You good in there? Do you need anything?” He knocked on the door lightly for good measure to make sure she knew he was there for her. He was ever the empath within your family, that’s for sure, you thought staring at him lovingly. How did you get so lucky?

The only response he received was a loud, watery whimper. Which broke both of your hearts and made Hiro’s emotions skyrocket.

“Should I call dad?” He asked you, feeling helpless.

You gave your son a small smile and shook your head, your hand coming to lay on his upper arm, rubbing it in soothing circles.

“No, baby. There’s no need to call your father just yet. He’s probably in rehearsals right now anyways and can’t even get to his phone. Can you do me a favor though?” You know he needed something to occupy himself, so you thought you would give him a task to do.

“Can you walk to that corner store down the block and get your sister’s favorite chocolate candy? Get yourself something as well. You can get some money out of my purse on the kitchen counter.”

He nodded and gave you a hug before turning to leave the room.

“Oh, and be careful please! I love you!” You threw at his back as he crossed the threshold into the hallway. He pivoted on his feet and gave you a thumbs up, walking backwards down the hallway and out of sight from the door. A few seconds later you could hear a faint, ‘I love you too!’ be yelled from the direction of the front door, then hearing said door open and close, signaling that you were now alone with your daughter.

Now it was time for the talk.

“Sweetie, can I come in, please?” You lightly knocked on the door and asked gently.

“Is brother gone?” She asked quietly in reply.

“Yes, baby. He’s headed to the store to get your favorite chocolate candy. Cause I have a feeling you’re gonna be craving that soon, right?” You asked through the door knowingly.

“You can come in, momma.”

You twisted the doorknob and slowly pushed it open. What you saw made your eyes water. There was your sweet little girl, curled up in the bathtub in the fetal position. Her bloody clothes lay forgotten behind the door, but she stayed in her underwear. You softly shut the door behind you and locked it, not wanting to chance your son randomly poking his head in, even if he means well.

“Oh, honey.” You said softly. She whimpered in response and gave you grabby hands, a gesture you haven’t seen her do since she was a baby. You immediately fit yourself in the space next to her in the tub, and drew her body towards you, enveloping her in a hug only a mother can give in these kinds of situations. Gently, you started to rock you both side to side as you hummed her favorite song of her fathers, Magic Shop. Her body naturally relaxing to your warmth and humming, made your heart swell inside with pure love.

And for the next 15 minutes you stayed in that position as you educated your daughter on what changes her body would be going through and why they were happening right now. Then you explained how she needs to take care of her ‘delicate petals’ and clean them regularly. Even going so far as to list the many different variations of pads and tampons alike that she can choose to fit with her lifestyle as she grows older. Questions were asked by Aera, and answers were given by you.

“Was there anything else you wanted to know, baby? Any other questions you might have?” You asked her, wanting to make sure that she now fully understood what came with having a menstrual cycle.

“I’m good, momma. Thank you, for everything.” She gave you a smile you have yet to see all day, and you knew, she would be fine. You gave her a kiss on the forehead.

“Would you like me to leave so you can take a shower? You’ll feel a lot better, honey, I’m sure.”

“Yeah, I will. Can you–“ having already maneuvered your way out of the tub to standing back up, you held a hand up giving a thumbs up, much like what your son gave you not too long ago.

“I got you, baby. I’ll take your dirty clothes and bedding to wash them. And bring you some pads and tampons from my bathroom for you to try. Is that okay?” You wanted to make sure you weren’t forcing her to take any steps she wasn’t ready to take yet.

She gave you her own thumbs up in response.

Smiling, you walked out of the bathroom and shut the door behind you. Then you made true on your word and lugged both her dirty clothes from the bathroom and her bedding to the laundry room to start a cycle. Once done, you grabbed a variety of pads and tampons you personally liked using, and brought them into her room. Seeing that the bathroom door was now locked and hearing the shower on, you placed the stack neatly in front of the bathroom door. Just as you shut her bedroom door behind you, you heard the front door open and close, alerting you to your son coming back from his errand you gave him earlier.

Heading to the kitchen, where your son now was with a bag full of goodies on the table. You thanked him with a kiss on the cheek. One he immediately wiped off with the back of his hand with a playful grimace. You rolled your eyes at his teenage antics. Boys.

“How is she?” He asked right away.

“She’s feeling much better, just taking a shower and then she’ll be right out.” You explained nonchalantly, sifting through the bag of goodies and plucking out your favorite candy to hide from your husband’s sweet tooth and to eat at a later time.

“She started her period, didn’t she?” He stated casually, but yet, you weren’t surprised he knew. He was always intuitive like that.

You nodded your head solemnly in response.

“Oh.” Was all he said as he walked away into the living room with a handful of candy and junk food alike, surely about to start a lengthy gaming session with his online friends.

You sighed in content as you sat in the lazy boy chair in the living room in the company of your son. Aera following the loud gameplay into the living room as well after she was done with her shower, her hands just as full of goodies as her brother’s as she plopped onto the couch next to him, immediately opening her favorite candy and taking a bite.

The day passed by without much else happening, other than your individual daily routines. It wasn’t until the kids left to their respective rooms to go to sleep, did you think of looking at the clock hanging on the wall, noticing how late it was. Though the darkening sky should’ve been a tall tale sign. Jungkook should be done with his performance by now, so you thought that you would try calling him. Dialing his number, you waited by turning the channel on the tv to the live interviews that occurred after the show was over. And would you look at that?

‘Stay tuned for an exclusive interview with Kpop boy band BTS!’ The female announcer exclaimed enthusiastically.

Perfect, you thought mischievously.

The call connected as your husband’s voice both appeared through the phone, and through your television screen. You could tell he was trying to discreetly answer your call by placing himself towards the back of the group. Jimin was blocking him along with Hoseok while Namjoon took control of the interview questions for the group, with side comments from Taehyung and Jin. Yoongi opting to stay quiet, as per usual.

“Hey Baby Girl, we’re in the middle of an interview right now–“

“The red peony bloomed.” Was all you said, very effectively cutting the unprepared father off from what he was about to say.

“….What?” He couldn’t have heard you correctly, he thought in denial.

“I said, the red peony bloomed, Jungkook.”

And this time he did hear you, picking up on the code name you both came up with for that time of the month, giving out a loud response that would be caught on television and within your memories for years to come. One that would have ARMY doing their gifs and memes for months about it, and have the members howling with laughter, never letting the golden maknae forget about it, always finding someway to bring it up in conversation. Never in front of your daughter, of course. That was the only rule.

And to your daughter’s embarrassment for the rest of her life. Jungkook forever having to make up for it. A fact she fully took advantage of.

“SHE STARTED HER PERIOD?!”

[a-d-nox]

zeus, god of the sky (asteroids 5731 & h42)

WE MADE IT - 50 GODS, GODDESSES, AND LEGENDS HAVE BEEN POSTED!! the celebration doesn’t end here! the next post will be up in a few hours regarding aphrodite - her sign, degree, house, and aspects in your natal chart! so definitely stay tuned for my biggest post yet to come ;)!

“when talking about such a popular god or goddess i am going to for warn paraphrasing - of course all these stories have more details and all these popular gods have stories within stories. i would love to share them all/in detail but i would need a book and a lot more time to write it. my attempt in writing these posts are to inform you on the high level story of the god’s or goddess’s life. that being said if any one of the events regaled in the post pique you interest - please let me know i don’t mind giving a more in-depth tale of any of the events mentioned.”

now for the god who has been mentioned in 10/49 of my prior posts: zeus.

Zeus is the son of the titans Cronus and Rhea. As we know, Cronus had just usurped his father, Uranus, and had received the prophecy that he would be dethroned by his child. So in turn, when each of his children was born, he devoured them. Rhea was determined to save her sixth child (Zeus) after witnessing the first five get eaten (get mothering - took five cases of cannibalism smh). Rhea brought young Zeus to her mother, Gaea, who hid him while Rhea returned to Cronus with a swaddled stone in which he promptly swallowed. Zeus had a goat named Amalthea (yes, the goat (some stories have her as a nymph) from Abundantia’s story - I am sure that there is some sort of psychological insight to gain from that lol) who he received milk from (yea... definitely some thing for Freud to examine here) while warriors were made to dance and fight one another in the cave he was hidden in to conceal Zeus's infant cries (dang talk about attachment disorders and the inspiration for the little albert experiment). When he was finally old enough, he confronted Cronus and manipulated him into drinking poison that caused his siblings to be vomited up. With his sibling, he then planned a war to take down the titans - Titanomachy. With the help of his siblings and two titans (Prometheus and Epimetheus) a strategy was born - which resulted in the Cyclopes and Hecatonchires (the hundred handed primordial) being released from the forges in Tartarus. The Greek poet Hesiod believed that the Cyclopes are the ones who forged Zeus's lightening bolt as a thanks for their freedom. With the newly freed on their side, Zeus and his campaign were able to banish the titans to Tartarus and began the new era of gods and goddesses. Hecatonchires is said to be keeping watch over the titans as his form of thanks to Zeus for freedom. Gaea was irate by the capture of her children so she had another child with Tartarus - Typhoeus - who was also easily defeated. Gaea attempted to take Zeus down with giants as well but to no avail. As we know, his marriage to Hera isn't an easy one - early on she, Poseidon, Apollo, and Athena (namely) chained Zeus in his sleep and stole his bolt. It was Thetis and Briars who helped free him and get his bolt back - when freed, he used intimidation to make every god submit to his rulership and have them swear to never challenge him again. Poseidon and Apollo were sentenced to build walls in Troy (mentioned in Apollo's post), Athena got off easy because she was Zeus's favorite, but Hera suffered the most as she was sent to the void to be suspended in the sky with anvils hanging from her ankles, forced to stare into the gaze of Chaos until she swore allegiance to Zeus again. It is thought that perhaps this occurrence was the reason why he never truly trusted Hera again (and why he had so many affairs). Some of his most famed lovers include: Io (the cow myth - that was talked about in my Juno post), Europa (gave birth to Minos, you know the king from the Minotaur myth?), Leda (Zeus turns into a swan in this one), Danae (mother of Perseus - Medusa slayer), and Semele (Dionysus's mother). IN MY OPINION Zeus in a chart represents a) where you start from snatch, b) your relationship with siblings, c) where you save your family, d) where you experience trust issues, e) where you topple those in charge, f) romantic affairs, and/or g) where you are the ultimate ruler.

i encourage you to look into the aspects of zeus along with the sign, degree, and house placement. for the more advanced astrologers, take a look at the persona chart of zeus AND/OR add the other characters involved to see how they support or impede zeus!

OTHER RELATED ASTEROIDS/PLANETS: amalthea (113), athene (881), pallas (2), URANUS, poseidon (4341), hera (103), gaea (1184), rhea (577), semele (86), io (85), apollo (1862), chaos (19521), kronos (43), hepimetheus (1810), prometheus (1809), thetis (17), europa (52), leda (38), and danae (61)!

like what you read? leave a tip and state what post it is for! please use my “suggest a post topic” button if you want to see a specific post or mythical asteroid next!

click here for the masterlist

click here for more greek myths & legends

want a personal reading? click here to check out my reading options and prices!

[earmo-imni]

Oh my gosh, this was so nice!!!! Thank you for all the praise, and your drabble is delightful! I could absolutely see that happening, lol. Also I have. So much written right now and I’m only on the time skip between “Meliodas turning into a Beast” and “Elizabeth actually finding him as a teenager and starting the actual plot”. I mean it’s just in bullet points right now but frankly that’s pretty good for me.

Okay, questions first. Yes, Meliodas can speak. I can’t decide if I prefer him speaking with like a depressed version of his normal voice or like if Bryce Papenbrook got really deep and growly but with the same level of emotion as his normal Meliodas voice.

I imagine his beast form is something like a cross between the thing he turned into in Purgatory and the shadow he had at the end of chapter 28:

Like, dragon-y, like the purgatory form, but more humanoid and spiky and scary like the shadow. The dragon’s too round, in this form he’s a BEAST, a terrifying monster with too-human (well “human”) eyes, made out of magical darkness gone haywire. And he’s covered completely in his darkness, too, and it’s spiked like fur so he almost looks soft but it makes it so that it hurts to touch him (a reaction to his own feelings of “must keep others away” and defensiveness. He’s a lot less open and friendly in this.) (The “hurts to touch” thing probably goes away after enough time with Elizabeth. I want them to have a dance. Or at least cuddles.) (Ohhhhhhhh idea: his eye color changes depending on how relaxed he is! Like they’re human, but a lot of the time he’s defensive and grumpy and hurting and his eyes are demon dark, same when he’s angry or fighting. But when he’s relaxed or happy or especially vulnerable they go back to green!)

They don’t figure this out for a long time but his beast form is essentially a reflection of his own feelings. His demon powers gone completely haywire but he turns them on himself in such a way that they mutate him to reflect how he feels about himself: a monster that hurts people and is terrified of getting hurt yet again.

I don’t think it’s a perfect cube that protects them…I was just thinking of like. A generic magic barrier that let through only the people Merlin allowed. Which isn’t really something that I think has ever occurred in the series, so I might need to rethink that bit 😅

Oh, wait, there’s that seal thing they used on Baste Prison! Maybe it could be an adapted version of that.

Honestly I’ve been primarily focused on one) Meliodas angst and two) plot (in that order) so I hadn’t really thought about how the Sins would react to being thrown in with Meliodas. I had initially thought Merlin would tell them the truth prior to them getting thrown in, but it would be much funnier for her to not tell them anything until they’ve freaked each other out and Ban and Meliodas had a little fight (because the two people fighting that you imagined would absolutely be Meliodas and Ban lol) and then once everyone’s been like “Okay why do you all seem cool and not terrible like that’s clearly the monster we were sent to kill but also he’s really chill?????? And like. Depressed as hell??????” she comes down and is like “Okay so here’s the deal” quietly smirking to herself about the shenanigans.

(Meliodas would know about the plan to give him company already, so he knows not to actually kill any of them when they attack him. He does get annoyed with Merlin for the hassle, though.)

Also an addition to the drabble:

Meliodas: “Those chicken looking things are [such-and-such] birds, idiot, how do you not know that, where are you even from. Now let’s go get some, they do make good food.”

And then he’s genuinely surprised that Ban would offer him a home-cooked meal. Like, he’s clearly a Beast, why wouldn’t Ban expect him to just eat like an animal? But no, Ban treats him like a friend. (It goes a long way towards getting Meliodas to open up to the others, especially since he was alone for a long while. It took time for Bartra to get all the Sins to Danafor so Meliodas was alone with ruined buildings and the corpses of people he’d known and lived with for years scattered throughout the streets for…probably weeks, if not months. It fucked him up a little). (He did his best to bury them all, but he was only one person, and he wasn’t used to this form. It was hard to move in properly for a while. The Sins ended up helping him bury everyone after they join him. Liz gets her own special place in his private “lair”, which is essentially the au’s version of the West Wing from the Beauty and the Beast movie.)

Idea: canon-divergent and -compliant Beauty and the Beast/Seven Deadly Sins fusion where:

Meliodas curses himself instead of destroying Danafor and turns into a Beast that roams the ruins of Danafor, protected from ambitious adventurers by a magical barrier created by Merlin that will only allow certain people through

Elizabeth still grows up as a princess but with Bartra telling her stories of cursed Beasts protecting and be saved by innocent Beauties instead of tales of the Seven Deadly Sins

The Sins minus Merlin are tossed into the ruins of Danafor with Meliodas, supposedly because their punishment was altered to “kill or be killed by the monster lurking there” but really so they can keep Meliodas sane and prepare for the Ten Commandments

Hendrickson and Dreyfus are still controlled/possessed by Fraudrin, who is still trying to unseal the Commandments and the demon clan, and

Merlin is driving herself insane trying to protect her friend and break his curse(s), protect her other friend and break HER curse, and accomplish her goals with Arthur and Chaos

The main story begins when the Great Holy Knights take over and Bartra sends Elizabeth to Meliodas in the hopes of protecting her and enlisting Meliodas and the Sins’ help in saving the kingdom

(I fully intend on expanding on all this and maybe even writing a full fic, but if anyone else feels inspired to create art or writing based on this then go for it! Mentioning me as the original inspiration is appreciated but if you don’t that’s fine too. Please tag me, though, I want to see!)