#so I mean I had a valid reason to think I was finally able to fix things with my mind but I guess not

[minty-bunni]

The craziest thing about PTSD is thinking you're free from it and then getting triggered like 5 mins later by the most random thing.

[topicaltropic]

oops! all wips

[lynk-zee]

how do you think a fight would take place with lads boys? like how it progresses and then silent treatment and the yearning to make up and actually making up

Fights

Warnings: Angsty with a blip of spice in Rafayel’s part. Happy endings because I don’t want to be sad anymore 🥲

Fights with Zayne are almost always about your health. How you’re not sleeping enough or eating right, despite the advice he gives you. He may be your boyfriend but he’s also your doctor. He just wants the best for you.

The silent treatment starts on his end, giving you one worded answers and generally ignoring you. If you didn’t care about your health, why should he? Except, it would progress worse and worse because you’re both stubborn-headed, to the point he decided to go home instead of staying over at your place like usual. It was then you conceded defeat.

Yes, he was worried about your health and safety, as both a doctor and a boyfriend. But he didn’t have to be so right…

In the end, you guys come to a compromise. You’ll get a normal amount of sleep, and he’ll lay off scolding you. Fights with Zayne aren’t without valid reasons. But, you guys always end up talking it out in the end.

Oh boy. Fights with Rafayel? Explosive. They’re mostly because of his flirty nature and the fact he can’t seem to take anything seriously. As a Hunter protecting Linkon City, you have to be steadfast and vigilant. Rafayel takes things by the moment with little thought or control, like a dumpster on fire. It gets worse when he brushes you off.

I think the fight wouldn’t officially start until you get back at him for being overly flirty with a patron. You decided to flirt with an art critic in front of him, fueling the fire for a later fight. The night continues with petty passes and glares across the room. When you get home, all hell breaks loose.

Screaming match, barely coherent, words that couldn’t be taken back. It’s a wonder you guys are still together. When you tear up and finally had enough, you grab your coat to leave when he grabs you by your shirt and yanks you in for a smoldering kiss.

Makeup sex ensues. Clothes are practically burned off as you vent out your frustrations through each others bodies. In the morning your both groggy, but have a clearer head than last night, able to talk things through more effectively. He loves you and you love him— your love can be too fiery for your own good. But that doesn’t mean you don’t try to work through it.

Fighting with Xavier can be hard because he genuinely doesn’t understand why you’re so mad at him. Yes, he disappeared for a week without telling you, but he was hunting Wanderers. Isn’t that such a noble cause that it negates the fact you were mad at him in the first place? Turns out no, because you want to be communicated with and not scared half to death when you don’t hear from him for a week.

It’s hard to stay mad at him, but you have to stay strong. If this relationship was going to work, he needed to communicate with you. You laid down your boundaries now it was his turn to understand and accept. But until then, silent treatment.

Xavier would end up at your door looking like a kicked puppy. It had been four days into the silent treatment— how did he like that? Not being communicated with, pacing back and forth wondering if your partner was safe? It wasn’t fun, huh? He would apologize, admitting he was wrong for disappearing while desperately waiting for a long needed hug from his significant other. You give it to him, happy he understood your feelings.

Perhaps you could have handled things better, but you’re learning. Xavier’s learning too! You just have to explain it to him in a way he’ll understand.

[2smolbeans]

Thinking about the replacement student from that AU you wrote. Thinking about how it must have felt, to so suddenly go from mundane life to being deeply, obsessively loved. Thinking about how, to some people, that would be so /addicting/. Thinking about how they could have found out they’re nothing more than a prop, a test for MC. Thinking about how far they might be willing to go in order to feel that way again, to be loved like that again. I have… many thoughts about this lol

How the "Replacement" student felt after realising they were only a tool to test Mc

Yandere Obey Me Brothers x Mc (Replaced Au)

◇Read here for context◇

Tags: Implied nsfw, self-loathing, envy, replacement goes from hating you to being happy that they're not you, possessiveness, mentioned waterboarding, character backstory, story lore, just some light hearted stuff overall ^^

*this went unedited

__________________________

So for background, let's get to know our 'rival student'. In most of the Obey Me Replaced Aus, the rival student is always this perfect person who someone managed to bewitch the brothers and someone who wanted the worst for Mc. But this rival student, Alex, isn't what you expect. You see, Alex was your typical geek, always on her phone, scrolling, reading her books about fictional fantasy love interests, stealing away the main character into their magical world. When she was in her second year in college, she happened to come across an attractive man sitting behind a booth that showed an opportunity to study abroad. Seeing how no one was bothering to look at the table, she saw this as an opportunity! The more she talked and got to know the man, the more interested she was in this program. I mean living expenses, costs, and free money?! Why wouldn't she consider taking the exchange program? They're practically paying anyone who signs up!

So after grabbing the man's email and talking back and forth, she was able to read over the consent forms, the legal contracts, yada yada- and signed them all. After the transportation process and the whatnot, here she was at Devildom! At first, she had no idea where she was, infact she was mortified once she realised that she was in hell (or at least a certain part of it). But after the introduction and the promise of safety, especially after seeing some angels walking around- she was able to adjust! So what happened when she met the brothers? Well, she wasn't dumb. She knew these were the seven deadly sins just by seeing how they interacted with each other and hearing them bicker each others names. So, knowing the seven deadly sins, she kept her distance. She heard that there was supposed to be a human around in the house, but no matter how hard she looked - for some reason, she couldn't find you. It was like you were hidden..

As days went by, she noticed a few things. She noticed how the seven lords argued about some sort of 'schedule' that they seemed very competitive over. She noticed the way they were really..Well she couldn't explain it. But they were intense. Their aura alone was suffocating to be around. It was like they were ready to snap at any moment. They were friendly, but in a way that she knew if she pressed any further in a conversation, they would simply stare into her soul with an expression that would send her into a primal fear.

Eventually, after a while- she started to warm up to the brothers. She couldn't recall how or why, but it just happened! They connected so well that she almost forgot that they were the seven deadly sins! During this time, she had actually seen you from the corner of her eye. But if she was being honest, she was too distracted from all the exciting moments the brothers would entangle her in. She had never felt so..Loved before. The feeling of someone always validating your emotions, someone to call out to, someone to be in sync with. It was like her prayers had finally been answered! There was one time you had tried reaching out to her, but she was so entranced by the brothers and their tempting offers of intimacy- she might've brushed you off.

But of course, all things don't last forever - and I guess that's where the rose tinted glasses came off and realilty began to settle in. In reality, the brothers didn't love her. Of course, there had to be a motive behind all those gifts. Demons always have a motive, after all. And that motive so happened to be you. She was just a prop, a tool, an example to be made out of for you. Once she realised that, she grew bitter. It was terrifying how fast they were able to drop the act and reveal their true nature. She felt fooled, helpless, and pitiful. She played the role perfectly. The human fooled by sin.

So when she saw you being bombarded with the love she once had, she grew jealous of you. While you ungratefully received the love she wanted, she got the cold shoulder and mockings. While you would hide and try to blend in with the crowd, she would put herself out there and try over and over again to get their attention. Eventually, she felt the shame rush over her as she realised her desperation and pitiful attempts to win the 7 lords back. That still didn't stop her from hating you, though. She knows it was childish at first, but she despised you. What did you have that she didn't? Why were these unearthly lords so obsessed with you? Why couldn't anyone love her like they loved you..? Don't you see how lucky you are? It's not fair.

So, for a period of time, she was filled with envy. So much envy and bitterness that Leviathan himself would often feed off from her jealousy and snicker at her pathetic state.

Now, did Alex- this 'replacement student get over her grudge? Yes. But in an unfortunate way. After a period of self-loathing and wrath against you, she realised how much freedom was held back against you.

She noticed the markings of their packs littered across your body, she espically took note on how the eldest brother Lucifer would make sure to that your clothes would reveal those certain areas, even if it came off as..Exposing. She saw the way Mammon would cling onto you painfully tight. She recalled how uncomfortable you looked when his claws would push against your hip a little too hard. She remembered the time when she saw Leviathan drowning a poor angel that you talked to from one of your classes while you cried and begged for him to stop. She could remember the way he nonchalantly went on his phone while his tail wrapped around their body, pushing them up and down for long periods of time against the cold waves- only stopping when you agreed to his request with a smile on his face. There were nights where she'd hear you screaming in Asmodeus's room..Though she doesn't really want to talk about that..To save you dignity of course..She also doesn't look at Asmodeus's devilgrams as well for those reasons...Yeahh..She could go on a whole tangent about what she's seen, but she knows it's enough for her to realise that she really dodged a bullet. This was a blessing in disguise! A lesson to be learned!

So Alex stops trying to get attention on herself and continues on with her life. Learning witchcraft, magic, and the education that hell had to offer. She's still trying to get over that awful feeling of betrayal and jealousy. But the more she looks into their eyes, the more she realises how severe the situation is. Especially when one night, Belphegor had visited her dreams and gave her a nice little 'warning'. (She now tries to avoid sleeping as much as possible and has scars all over her body)

So every time you go missing and the brothers ask where you are. She'll just point to where she saw you run off and hide away somewhere to avoid seeing what happens next. Overall, when it comes to finding that love again and dealing with the losses, she copes in many ways. Either imagining scenarios in her head of what could've been or journaling in her book. But if you were to ask her if she would steal the brothers away from you, her answer would be an immediate no.

She couldn't imagine going through what you have to go through. At this point, it's a "love them, not me!" situation. So for now, please leave her alone, let her deal with her heartbreak, and just don't pull her into your circle of hungry demons.. Please.

.

.

A/N: Funfact, Mc had once snuck in a "help me" note to the replacement student. The replacement student in question ripped the note and pretended like nothing happened! It's not her fault that when you gave her the note that Beel was breathing down her neck!

Also.. Alex was given consent forms and an early notice about arriving at RAD. You? You didn't have that luxury..

Surprisingly, Satan and Lucifer are chill with her since they know that she understands the circumstance and plays by the rules. Because of this, she made a request to move to the house of purgatory in the guise of "not being in the way."

Mc tries to reach out to the replacement student because they know that Lucifer and Satan are on good terms with them..

But thanks for the ask!! If anyone has any questions or specific scenes they want out of my Yandere Obey Me Replaced Au-, let me know!

.

.

____________________________

[average-cosmopolitan]

Cyno Content bc there’s not enough Sub Cyno on this site

This is literally just my horny ramblings but I do plan to release a genuine Cyno fic soon I promise. ALSO CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW PRETTY HE IS ANF DJDBDBDBDHEBSLS—

Flirting with him in public will always end badly because this man could say the dirtiest shit with the straightest face and most dead tone imaginable. This is one battle you are not winning I’m sorry 🙏

On the flip side, dirty talking in private when you can actually feel him and and squeeze his waist and thighs while you do it and MMM I swear he would get so flustered. He would try to hide it but he can’t help the little gasps that escape his lips when you suddenly grip his thighs tight and pull them apart.

As for his.. choice in clothing, I don’t think he’s actually trying to rile you up on purpose… it’s just a nice side effect to having HIS WHOLE FUCKING CHEST EXPOSED SHDBDB. He deals with really hot weather so you can’t blame him, but that does mean you get the right to feel him up when no one’s looking.

Going on a desert expedition with him just to play with his cute lil nipples at night when you’re supposed to be asleep. Him complaining that you’ll both be tired tomorrow because of this. Squirming and complaining but not making any move to stop you.

It would take so long to break him down (kind of like Xiao) but when you finally do it’s so rewarding. Fucking him for hours nonstop until he doesn’t have the mental capacity to make his stupid jokes (because yes he will still make the stupid jokes even as you fuck him silly.)

Getting a “W-Wai—AAGH~~!” Or a “C-can’t- hnngh- I” from him would be just UGHDBRDB

Please. Please blindfold this man. For the love of all that is holy. He’s always working so hard, he needs the chance to relinquish control and let someone take care of him. He's a little nervous about it at first (combat brain, you always want to be able to see) but soon enough he’ll be such a good little pillow princess!

if you don’t though, he’d be so dutiful about whatever you ask him to do. Suck your cock? His mouth is open wide. Eat you out? Of course, he’s ready for you. Beg? On his knees, looking at you through thick lashes, pretty words spilling from his lips. Don’t cum yet? He’ll do his best… but you’re just too good at this, please don’t make him wait too long!

Once you make him a drooling and whining mess, though, have a little mercy on him. He can barely think, let alone listen to what you’re telling him.

In the morning, please pin him to the bed and don’t let him up. He WILL try to leave at the crack ass of dawn, and he WILL try to make you breakfast while his legs are still shaky and giving out.

He’ll learn to let you take care of him eventually, but it’ll take a little while. <3

honorable note: The difference between Aether and Cyno having their midsections exposed is that Cyno had a valid reason. Aether is just a whore who likes showing off his waist. Thank you for coming to my TedTalk.

[muchanmocha]

According to the information released about the segyein, Guardian Shine respects Mizi's choice in whether or not she wants to participate in Alien Stage. Looking at this tidbit again, new questions popped up for me. More specifically — one question.

Why didn't Sua convince Mizi not to participate?

Alright let's back up a bit.

What do we know about Alien Stage and its relationship with the Anakt Garden kids?

From the magazine interview and old stream commentary, we know they've been brainwashed from childhood to believe participation in Alien Stage is an honor. They're fully aware that losing means death, but that itself is taught to be yet another privilege.

Mizi vs Sua, Ivan, and Till

It's generally accepted that among our cast, Mizi is the most sheltered one — the one shielded the most from the horrific side of the post-alien apocalypse world, whereas due to the abuse from their respective guardians, Sua, Ivan, and Till do not have such a rosy outlook.

Sua and Ivan in particular appear to be jaded and much more in tune with their place in this system. So if they didn't buy into the propaganda, if they were fully aware of the implications of death and the worthlessness of receiving such an "honor" on stage, why didn't they convince Mizi to step out of it?

Ivan's reason is easy — simply, why would he?

But Sua? Why... wouldn't she? Surely she would want Mizi to avoid Alien Stage at all costs, when she is not as naive as to believe they'd be able to tie all the way to the finals?

Let's take another look at Sua's interview responses.

Sua and Mizi both share a dream, and in a world as small and enclosed as theirs, that dream is enough to be their everything.

Mizi may have had a chance to opt out of AS, but Sua doesn't. Her guardian, Nigeh, has always intended for her to participate, going as far as to build up her fanbase before Season 50 even started to tip the odds in favor of her victory. Sua has been prepared her whole life for Alien Stage, whether it ends in her victory, or her death.

She goes in knowing her life will likely end there.

Perhaps it was to indulge in the one selfishness of her short life — in the dream she and Mizi cherished above all.

Perhaps it was because she has absolute, unshakable confidence in Mizi taking the throne of Season 50 for herself.

Perhaps it was because a small part of her believed in Mizi's optimism — that they really can make it to the top together.

I think all of these possibilities are valid interpretations of what may have gone on inside Sua.

But here's a thought —

Sua, like Mizi, was unfamiliar with the true nature of death.

Sua's loss was Mizi's first, intimate encounter with death. Death was supposed to be a glorious thing, a blessed thing on Alien Stage.

It is not.

It's gruesome, and ugly, and she can still feel the hot blood splatter on her.

Anakt Garden is toted as a kindergarten that can provide your pet-humans with the perfect environment to thrive, looking after your pet-human's health not only physically, but psychologically!

Sua, like Mizi, has been raised in such a curated environment. Even under Nigeh's care, she was simply one of many dolled up pet-humans. Whether she was taking lessons in Anakt Garden, or left to sit in the corner in her ill-fitting doll outfit, we have not seen any opportunities for Sua to come in contact with "death." (Ivan, on the other hand, came from the slums. He may be the only one of the four who was intimately acquainted with death.)

Hence, I propose — Mizi was not the only one who went in without actually grasping the concept. Perhaps Sua too, while having an inkling of what's to come, did not truly understand what death entails either.

(But yeah possibility number 1263 why Sua didn't tell Mizi not to do the murder survival show)

[ranna-alga]

I cannot stop thinking about Arthur and Mary and how truly tragic their love story is.

We know that a big reason why they couldn't be together was due to unfair circumstances. Despite Mary seeming internally conflicted about it all, it seemed like, at first, neither of them were willing to integrate themselves into each other's lifestyles and the consequences of that (Mary leaving her family behind and Arthur deserting the outlaw lifestyle), or at least in the first mission with Mary. But on the second? Mary takes back her word, almost impulsively, and says she is willing to run away with Arthur if it means they can be together. Despite the love and loyalty she has for her family (which mirrors Arthur's for the gang), she knows her family life will only continue to make her depressed, and being with Arthur makes her realise what she actually wants out of life.

And based on the implications of Arthur's words ("I want to. More than anything, I want to."), he may also be willing to even abandon the outlaw lifestyle. But he knows he likely can't. The one thing he fears the most is for the woman he loves more than anything else in the world is to be subjected to the violence that he is all too familiar with; he can deal with it if it's inflicted on himself as someone who grew up in such an environment, but Mary? He wouldn't forgive himself if something happened to her, especially when he likely already has an extreme amount of personal guilt for the deaths of Eliza and (especially) little Isaac, how he wasn't able to protect them.

But even at that, he promises to try. He's just as willing. He's willing to protect and look after her. He says they both need money, and he's willing to get it himself if it means they can abandon everything they once knew and start a new life on some newly-bought land. And what's so particularly painful is that you can just see the disappointment behind Mary's eyes at the mention of money... How, no matter what, money is always at the forefront of his mind, even if it seems valid on Arthur's end.

When she said "I'll write to you.", it seemed as if there was some hope left to be had on Arthur's end because at least they both have a chance now, right? But in my opinion, I feel like Mary was already mentally writing the final letter in her mind at that moment, and the time gap between that scene to the moment Arthur receives said letter was Mary desperately trying to put those thoughts into words on paper.

How must she have been feeling upon hearing about Arthur's death?

Imagine the life they could have had if things worked out. If they managed to run away and be happy together. Would their home be similar to John and Abigail's in the Epilogue? Would Arthur and Mary get married? What if they had children and Arthur got a second chance at being a father again, this time not being absent and being there every day, looking after his beautiful family with the woman he loves the most..?

Arthur deserved that life. Both him and Mary. And I think that's what made John and Abigail's ending in the Epilogue so much more impactful. Arthur may have died and Mary may have been elsewhere, but they lived vicariously through John and Abigail by living the lives they themselves deserved but couldn't have.

Hear that noise? That's the sound of my heart breaking.

[blingblong55]

Until I found you-König

GN!Reader, angst, fluff

Oh, let me hold you I'll never let you go again like I did

Your relationship with König was more than amazing, he always looked forward to coming home to you. But as the missions started to pile up for him, the more he saw himself losing hope to come home safe or alive. He couldn't and wouldn't be the reason why you were sad if he were to die, so he thought that maybe if he broke up with you before one of the toughest missions he's been on, surely you'd be able to move on without him in the world.

The day that he broke up with you was nothing but painful, you were sad but also mad at him. His reasoning was not clear and all you could think about was that maybe there was someone else for him and he just didn't want you to know that. Were you not enough? Was there something wrong with the way you loved him? He definitely knew you loved him with every fibre of your being but you didn't think he was fully aware of how much love you have for him. There was a deeper reason for this, not just because he thought I'd be mean of him to leave you alone and in despair.

Two months ago he was closer to death than ever before. A bullet passed through his shoulder, it was by pure luck he never got hit. That was when reality set in for him. He can't just leave you like that. Stupid excuse for such a valid reason. And now, as he walks into the flat you two called home, your stuff is gone and the home feels colder. The colours and comfort the place brought him once, are now gone with you.

Reality set in. He let the one good thing he had in this miserable world go. If only he was as smart in love as he is on the field. What a shame. König now sits on the sofa that you two once cuddled in after he came home. What a fool was he to think he'd have you for years to come. He used to think he was at risk of getting hurt only to be the one who brought such pain to a wonderful and kind person. Couldn't he be more kind to your heart and feelings? Memories flush through, the night he got news his Oma died, you were there. Holding him close he silently cried for her. You were there the day his mum was in the hospital, calming him down, making tea and visiting his mum every week after the incident. You made sure to clean her face after every meal, made him feel comfort when he felt it was wrong to be weak and you were the one who was there the night he had the worst panic attack due to his PTSD.

Why is he such a fool?

He saw you at the park, reading a book under your favourite tree. He smiles, knowing that at least that part of you has never changed. If he is such a tough and ruthless soldier then why hasn't he gone to you and started to talk? Because he is a coward at love, not war. You laid back, jumper on your back to make the tree bark more comfortable to rest on. He used to be the one you rested on as you read. It was the one thing he loved to do in public. He was Shakespeare and you his Anne. The muse to his love and sonnets.

"Liebe?" he softly says as he finally has the courage to talk and approach you. "König." you sounded surprised. Oh, how he longed to hear your voice and the sweet sound you made when you said his name. Sweet angel, his sweet sweet angel.

Now, four years since he and you rekindled your love, you two now chase your dog around the park because the dog can't let go of the dog bone a little kid threw by accident. You are now his spouse, the one and only for a man like him. Never did he know he could feel so much for one person, yet he is there, loving, protecting and caring for you.

[max-nico]

Sonic has been called an "overprotective big brother" over the years many times. Not his fault that Tails is small, impressionable, and reckless. He's known the kid since he was a toddler, if anyone else had been around that long they would understand too.

Or at least he thought they would, but it seems he was wrong because his own two best friends–Amy and Knuckles–are the ones who call him overprotective the most. This is a huge betrayal on their part, especially when they bring up valid points like Tails' intelligence and skill, because how could he disagree. Sonic has the coolest, most awesome and amazing, little brother ever. 

With that being said, Sonic is pretty sure he has the right to interrogate the little fox this time. He's like 90% sure his panic is warranted when he sees his little brother load and cock a very real and deadly gun. Because that kid is 9. He is 9, and he is putting on his watch and his plane gear to leave, and for some reason he needs a weapon wherever he's going. Sonic thinks he has a right to exercise at least a little big brother privilege here, honestly it would be negligent to not at least question him. 

"Hey bud. Whatcha up to?"

Tails' ear flicks toward him as he packs a few things into the Tornado. "You remember that hard drive that GUN thought they stole from me, but I actually knew they wanted it so I lowered a few of my defense systems so that they could grab it and leave me alone?"

The answer is no, Sonic has no recollection of that happening at all. Though he supposes it's his own fault for only half listening when Tails was talking. He's really gotta break that habit.

"Sure do." Sonic lies.

"Well, I actually have a little bit of data on there that I forgot to back up to another hard drive since I didn't think I needed it, so I'm going to go get it."

"And you need a weapon for that? Why don't you just ask Shadow?"

Tails finally turns to face Sonic, floating down off the Tornado and in front of Sonic. He stands with his hands on his hips, leaning just a little into his personal space. He takes the chance to absentmindedly scratch behind his little brother's ears, making him push his head into his hand.

"I did, actually. He's the one who told me to bring some weapons, he said he wants to help me improve my stealth techniques."

"Huh, and he didn't even bother to text me about it." Sonic huffs. It comes out playfully, but he won't deny being a little peeved that Shadow didn't message him. Tails is a genius and can make his own decisions, sure, but he's also not even in double digits. Sonic is literally his guardian, he feels like he should've been consulted about this. "I find that quite rude."

Tails smacks Sonic with one of his tails. The fur gets trapped in the small quills on his face, which makes his brother giggle.

"Then how do you find that, hm?"

"I find that the person who did it has another thing coming."

Sonic is so gonna fill his pillows with quills and shaving cream again. The fox constantly complains about not being able to get his quills out of any furniture, but he also got his fur stuck on Sonic's face, he figures this is pretty good retribution.

"Sure I do."

This is what Sonic means. Where did his wholesome brother go? Ignoring the fact that he has been a little menace since they first met, this is obviously team Dark's fault. Their devious ways are corrupting his little brother, who has obviously only learned nice things from him, like dad jokes and spindashing.

Tails has been constantly hanging out with team Dark for a few months now. After spending time with Rouge on Amy's last birthday he seemed to acquire a sort of childish fascination with them. Honestly, Sonic didn't really see it as a bad thing at first. They got Tails to spend more time out of his lab, and they always seemed to take care of him so Sonic had no qualms as long as Tails was having fun.

Then the habits came. Habits that Sonic had managed to completely purge a couple years back. Sure, he's not building bombs willy nilly anymore (as far as he knows anyway), but a few weeks ago Tails showed him the Empire nuclear launch codes just because he could.

Just yesterday they were having a conversation about a grocery store in station square. Amy had apparently told him that the cashier was kind of rude, so he asked if she wanted him to "blow up the entire store". She laughed and said no thanks, but when Sonic just shook his head at him Tails had the audacity to say "he'll make sure there's no one in it", as if that was the problem with what he said.

Sonic will not claim to have clean hands. He will not say he's never killed anybody on purpose or on accident, but is it so much to want to spare his brother from the same fate? Sonic still has nightmares over things like that, and even if his little brother is joking, he just can't find it in himself to laugh.

It's obvious Sonic will have to talk to Shadow and Rouge soon, he would talk to Omega as well but the robot honestly just does whatever he wants. Sonic can respect it. He cannot, however, respect Shadow and Rouge teaching his kid brother bad stuff, like how to get away with murder and other things of the like.

"I'll be back before you know it, Sonic, I swear!"

It's obvious Sonic has just missed most of the one sided conversation Tails was just having with him, he zoned out again. Damn it.

"And I'll have my communicator on me so if anything goes wrong, you'll be the first to know! I'll stay safe, Shadow will be with me."

Tails says that as if it's any comfort to Sonic. He may trust Shadow with his life but he does not trust him with children. He's sure Tails will come out physically unscathed, but mentally? This is going to be a trainwreck.

Sonic sighs. He already knows he won't be able to convince him not to go, at least not in the small timeframe he has, so he just pulls the kid in for a hug instead. "Call me as soon as you're able, okay?"

"I will, promise!"

"And if you're not back and not answering in 24 hours, I'm coming to find you myself."

"Yes, Sonic." Tails says, pulling away.

"And I'll give Shadow a piece of my mind if I have to, you know I will."

"I'm leaving now."

"And so will Knuckles and Amy!"

"Goodbye!"

"Remember what I said about calling!"

"I can't hear you anymore!"

Sonic smiles as Tails starts his plane, the kid will be fine, he knows it. After all, he's sure Shadow and Rouge know the consequences if he's not.

woe, the brothers be upon ye I wrote this in like two sittings and its barely been edited, I'll probably put this on ao3 later after I've looked at it again lol. you're welcome to hit me up in my dms or askbox, but if it's a request I would prefer my ask box lol. Remember you have to be nice to me forever and ever and ever if you decide to talk to me btw

[blueskittlesart]

I've heard that while most people really really love BotW and TotK, some people hate those two for going open-world, and some people hate TotK specifically for something about the story. As the resident Zelda expert I know of, what do you think of those takes?

"something about the story" is a bit too vague for me to answer--if you look at my totk liveblog tag from back when the game was newly released or my general zelda analysis tag you may be able to find some of my in-depth thoughts about the story of totk, but in general i liked it.

the open world thing though is something i can and will talk about for hours. (I am obsessed with loz and game design and this is an essay now <3) breath of the wild is a game that was so well-received that a lot of the criticism from older fans who were expecting something closer to the classic zelda formula was just kind of immediately drowned out and ignored, and while i don't think it's a valid criticism to suggest that botw strayed too far from its origins in going open-world, i am more than willing to look into those criticisms, why they exist, and why i think going open-world was ultimately the best decision botw devs could have made. (totk is a slightly different story, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.)

Loz is a franchise with a ton of history and a ton of really, REALLY dedicated fans. it's probably second only to mario in terms of recognizability and impact in nintendo's catalog. To us younger fans, the older games can sometimes seem, like, prehistoric when compared to what we're used to nowadays, but it's important to remember just how YOUNG the gaming industry is and how rapidly it's changed and grown. the first zelda game was released in 1986, which was 31 years before botw came out in 2017. What this means for nintendo and its developers is that they have to walk a very fine line between catering to older fans in their 30s and 40s now who would have been in nintendo's prime demographic when the first few games in the franchise were coming out AND making a game that's engaging to their MODERN target demographic and that age group's expectations for what a gaming experience should look like.

LOZ is in kind of a tough spot when it comes to modernizing, because a lot of its core gameplay elements are very much staples of early RPGs, and a lot of those gameplay elements have been phased out of modern RPGs for one reason or another. gathering collectibles, fighting one's way through multilevel, mapless dungeons, and especially classic zelda's relative lack of guidance through the story are all things that date games and which modern audiences tend to get frustrated with. for the last few releases before botw, the devs had kind of been playing with this -- skyward sword in particular is what i consider their big experiment and what (i think) became the driving force behind a lot of what happened with botw. Skyward sword attempted to solve the issues I listed by, basically, making the map small and the story much, much more blatantly linear. Skyward sword feels much more like other modern rpgs to me than most zelda games in terms of its playstyle, because the game is constantly pushing you to do specific things. this is a common storytelling style in modern RPGs--obviously, the player usually needs to take specific actions in order to progress the story, and so when there's downtime between story sections the supporting characters push the player towards the next goal. but this actually isn't what loz games usually do. in the standard loz formula, you as the player are generally directly given at most 4 objectives. these objectives will (roughly) be as follows: 1. go through some dungeons and defeat their bosses, 2. claim the master sword, 3. go through another set of dungeons and defeat their bosses, 4. defeat the final boss of the game. (not necessarily in that order, although that order is the standard formula.) the ONLY time the player will be expressly pushed by supporting characters towards a certain action (excluding guide characters) is when the game is first presenting them with those objectives. in-between dungeons and other gameplay segments, there's no sense of urgency, no one pushing you onto the next task. this method of storytelling encourages players to take their time and explore the world they're in, which in turn helps them find the collectibles and puzzles traditionally hidden around the map that will make it easier for them to continue on. Skyward sword, as previously mentioned, experimented with breaking this formula a bit--its overworld was small and unlocked sequentially, so you couldn't explore it fully without progressing the narrative, and it gave players a "home base" to return to in skyloft which housed many of the puzzles and collectibles rather than scattering them throughout the overworld. This method worked... to an extent, but it also meant that skyward sword felt drastically different in its storytelling and how its narrative was presented to the player than its predecessors. this isn't necessarily a BAD thing, but i am of the opinion that one of zelda's strongest elements has always been the level of immersion and relatability its stories have, and the constant push to continue the narrative has the potential to pull players out of your story a bit, making skyward sword slightly less engaging to the viewer than other games in the franchise. (to address the elephant in the room, there were also obviously some other major issues with the design of sksw that messed with player immersion, but imo even if the control scheme had been perfect on the first try, the hyperlinear method would STILL have been less engaging to a player than the standard exploration-based zeldas.)

So when people say that botw was the first open-world zelda, I'm not actually sure how true I personally believe that is. I think a lot of the initial hype surrounding botw's open map were tainted by what came before it--compared to the truly linear, intensely restricted map of skyward sword, botw's map feels INSANE. but strictly speaking, botw actually sticks pretty closely to the standard zelda gameplay experience, at least as far as the overworld map is concerned. from the beginning, one of the draws of loz is that there's a large, populated map that you as the player can explore (relatively) freely. it was UNUSUAL for the player to not have access to almost the entire map either immediately or very quickly after beginning a new zelda game. (the size and population of these maps was restricted by software and storage capabilities in earlier games, but pretty muhc every zelda game has what would have been considered a large & well populated map at the time of its release.) what truly made botw different was two things; the first being the sheer SIZE of the map and the second being the lack of dungeons and collectibles in a traditional sense. Everything that needs to be said about the size of the map already has been said: it's huge and it's crazy and it's executed PERFECTLY and it's never been done before and every game since has been trying to replicate it. nothing much else to say there. but I do want to talk about the percieved difference in gameplay as it relates to the open-world collectibles and dungeons, because, again, i don't think it's actually as big of a difference as people seem to think it is.

Once again, let's look at the classic formula. I'm going to start with the collectibles and lead into the dungeons. The main classic collectible that's a staple of every zelda game pre-botw is the heart piece. This is a quarter of a heart that will usually be sitting out somewhere in the open world or in a dungeon, and will require the player to either solve a puzzle or perform a specific action to get. botw is the first game to not include heart pieces... TECHNICALLY. but in practice, they're still there, just renamed. they're spirit orbs now, and rather than being hidden in puzzles within the overworld (with no explanation as to how or why they ended up there, mind you) they're hidden within shrines, and they're given a clear purpose for existing throughout hyrule and for requiring puzzle-solving skills to access. Functionally, these two items are exactly the same--it's an object that gives you an extra heart container once you collect four of them. no major difference beyond a reskin and renaming to make the object make sense within the greater world instead of just having a little ❤️ floating randomly in the middle of their otherwise hyperrealistic scenery. the heart piece vs spirit orb i think is a good microcosm of the "it's too different" criticisms of botw as a whole--is it ACTUALLY that different, or is it just repackaged in a way that doesn't make it immediately obvious what you're looking at anymore? I think it's worth noting that botw gives a narrative reason for that visual/linguistic disconnect from other games, too--it's set at minimum TEN THOUSAND YEARS after any other given game. while we don't have any concrete information about how much time passes between new-incarnation games, it's safe to assume that botw is significantly further removed from other incarnations of hyrule/link/zelda/etc than any other game on the timeline. It's not at all inconceivable within the context of the game that heart pieces may have changed form or come to be known by a different name. most of the changes between botw and other games can be reasoned away this way, because most of them have SOME obvious origins in a previous game mechanic, it's just been updated for botw's specific setting and narrative.

The dungeons ARE an actual departure from the classic formula, i will grant you. the usual way a zelda dungeon works is that link enters the dungeon, solves a few puzzles, fights a mini boss at about the halfway point, and after defeating the mini boss he gets a dungeon item which makes the second half of the dungeon accessible. He then uses that item in the dungeon's final boss fight, which is specifically engineered with that item in mind as the catalyst to win it. Botw's dungeons are the divine beasts. we've removed the presence of mini-bosses entirely, because the 'dungeon items' aren't something link needs to get within the dungeon itself--he alredy has them. they're the sheikah slate runes: magnesis, cryonis, stasis, and remote bombs. Each of the divine beast blight battles is actually built around using one of these runes to win it--cryonis to break waterblight's ice projectiles, magnesis to strike down thunderblight with its own lightning rods, remote bombs to take out fireblight's shield. (i ASSUME there's some way to use stasis effectively against windblight, mostly because it's obvious to me that that's how all the other fights were designed, but in practice it's the best strategy for that fight is to just slow down time via aerial archery, so i've never tried to win that way lol.) So even though we've removed traditional dungeon items and mini-boss fights, the bones of the franchise remain unchanged underneath. this is what makes botw such an ingenious move for this franchise imo; the fact that it manages to update itself into such a beautiful, engaging, MODERN game while still retaining the underlying structure that defines its franchise and the games that came before it. botw is an effective modern installment to this 30-year-old franchise because it takes what made the old games great and updates it in a way that still stays true to the core of the franchise.

I did mention totk in my opening paragraph and you mention it in your ask so i have to come back to it somehow. Do i think that totk did the gigantic-open-world thing as well as botw did? no. But i also don't really think there was any other direction to go with that game specifically. botw literally changed the landscape of game development when it was released. I KNOW you all remember how for a good year or two after botw's release, EVERY SINGLE GAME that came out HAD to have a massive open-world map, regardless of whether or not that actually made sense for that game. (pokemon is still suffering from the effects of that botw-driven open world craze to this day. rip scarlet/violet your gameplay was SUCH dogshit) I'm not sure to what degree nintendo and the botw devs anticipated that success, (I remember the open world and the versatility in terms of problem-solving being the two main advertising angles pre-release, but it's been 7 years. oh jesus christ it's been SEVEN YEARS. anyways) but in any case, there's basically NO WAY that they anticipated their specific gameplay style taking off to that degree. That's not something you can predict. When creating totk, they were once again walking that line between old and new, but because they were only 3ish years out from botw when totk went into development, they were REALLY under pressure to stay true to what it was that had made botw such an insane success. I think that's probably what led to the expanded map in the sky and depths as well as the fuse/build mechanics--they basically took their two big draws from botw, big map and versatility, and said ok BIGGER MAP and MORE VERSATILITY. Was this effective? yeah. do i think they maybe could have made a more engaging and well-rounded game if they'd been willing to diverge a little more from botw? also yeah. I won't say that I wanted totk to be skyward sword-style linear, because literally no one wanted that, but I do think that because of the insane wave of success that botw's huge open world brought in the developers were under pressure to stay very true to botw in their designing the gameplay of totk, and I think that both the gameplay and story might have been a bit more engaging if they had been allowed to experiment a little more in their delivery of the material.

[scalingsvt8thusiast]

Skin-Deep Chapter 3

summary: The one where you fall for Seungcheol amongst all the protests and insecurities. The one where you don't know that he's fallen for you too.

A/N: I was debating doing a 3 and 3.5 again for the latter part of this chapter, but I cannot handle inconsistencies so that means it was either having many 0.5 or having that one off soonyoung insert. So i'm gonna try and stop the 0.5 chps but that depends on my future writings as well D: my mind is plagued by these sort of arguments

You and Mingyu were walking down the street after a very successful shopping trip. He wanted a new pair of leather shoes and you needed a new dress. The two of you were preparing for his parent’s imminent arrival. Every time his parents came into town, they insisted on having at least a meal with you.

“You know, I would have thought that Seungcheol would ask you out by now,” Mingyu said, you could feel him looking at you, trying to get a read on your emotions regarding the topic. 

“And I told you, I’m not special,” you kept your face unreadable, you didn’t want Mingyu to worry. 

It was hard to admit that you like Seungcheol. But you had to constantly remind yourself that despite what he says or the way he acts, he would do it for any girl who gave him any form of attention. His words that probably meant nothing to him, meant everything to you. You weren’t special. This placed you in an awkward situation, if you told Seungcheol how you really felt you’d be risking jeopardising the friendship as well as the dynamics of the group. That and you did not want to embarrass yourself. 

“I think the two of you should talk,” Mingyu said. His forehead creasing from how wide his eyes were. Maybe he would be able to read your mind if he looked at your harder.

“I think you should butt out, Gyu.” You said, you were starting to get annoyed, with yourself and Mingyu. More annoyed with yourself really. “Think about it, Seungcheol’s not dumb. If he wanted to do something, he would have done something by now.”

“Maybe he IS dumb, you never know.” Mingyu shrugged, you looked a him incredulously, “I mean the last time we played soccer together, he did fall down and hit his head quite hard.”

You sniggered and said, “Gyu, I love you, but please for the love of god, shut up.”

Then you spotted something on the other side of the street that made your heart to stop. Mingyu who continued walking noticed that you weren’t next to him. He followed your gaze and made a mental note to never speak ever again. 

Sitting at a table outside a cafe was Seungcheol and a girl. The girl was twirling her hair, looking extra love-sick and giggling while Seungcheol sat relaxed with his arms crossed. As she spoke, she leaned closer him. Mingyu froze with his mouth agape, he didn’t know what to say or do. He turned to you to look at you. Your were standing completely still, eyes devoid of life, your lips slightly downturned at the ends.

“Told you.” You whispered, loud enough for Mingyu, loud enough so he wouldn’t hear how your voice cracked. You met Mingyu’s eyes and gave him a weak smile. Mingyu had never felt shittier. 

He wrapped an arm around your shoulder as he lead you to his car, hoping that Seungcheol did not see the two of you. Actually, he hoped that Seungcheol did see the two of you, that would give Mingyu a valid reason to punch him when you weren’t around. 

The car ride to your place was silent. You sat with your hands on your lap, eyes cast towards the moving scenery. 

Mingyu had seen you through breakups before. He always felt that you had a habit of dating people not on the same level as you were. He could never pick out any decent guys from any of your past relationships. When Seungcheol started showing an interest in you, Mingyu was excited: finally there was a guy worthy of you and your time. Oh how wrong he was.

Mingyu cleared his throat, “Your brother called me the other day, he was talking about some car.” He forced a small laugh. He was hoping to take your mind off Seungcheol, he knew how much you liked home so anything related to that would be good. 

You hummed, then barely loud enough for Mingyu to hear, “I’m alright, Gyu. Don’t worry.” 

Mingyu huffed, when he saw Seungcheol, he was going to get it. 

“Cheollie~ you left me alone at the party the other day!” Seungcheol rolled his eyes, he couldn’t even remember her name. What was it? Jimin? Stella? Ying? Fuck it. 

“Yea, I just wasn’t feeling it.” Seungcheol reasoned he could probably get through this conversation without saying her name. 

She giggled and leaned closer, “Anyway Cheollie~ I’m so happy we’re finally out on a date! I knew we were always~~~ meant to be” 

Seungcheol cleared his throat and tried his best to lean further away into the chair. If he had a choice he would rather it be you at this cafe, sitting opposite him, rather than this pink, squeaky thing. 

“This is definitely not a date,” he rubbed the bridge of his nose with his eyes closed, he could feel a migraine coming on. “I called you out here because I heard about the way you treated my friend.”

“Which friend? Was it Jeonghan? Baby I only have eyes for you~” Seungcheol wanted to throw up. 

“Y/N.” 

“Who? Baby~ why are we talking about another girl?” 

“You disrespected her while she was working.” Seungcheol was becoming increasing annoyed every second. The thought of this thing disrespecting you pissing him off. 

Soonyoung had told him about the event at the coffee shop. It took all of Soonyoung and a very concerned Jeonghan to stop him from barraging out the door and killing those girls. Who did these people think they were? Paying you off? Disrespecting you that way? He seethed silently throughout the whole outing with his friends.

“OH!” As if she had just received a revelation, she smiled sweetly, “I did you a favour Cheollie~ that gold digger has no place being anywhere near you.”

Seungcheol’s fist clenched. He really did not want to start punching women but this person was making it very hard. He reminded himself, the faster he was done with this, the faster he could go and look for you.

“Your father works at my company doesn’t he?” Seungcheol forced himself to look at her. As soon as he got home that day he looked up this girl’s family, turns out her father worked at one of his father’s subsidiary companies.

The girl’s eyes flicked upwards as if thinking, if that was even possible. “I’m not sure baby, but I’m definitely on your level~”

“Jesus Christ are you dumb- you know what? Let’s cut to the chase I can’t deal with this anymore.”  Seungcheol stood up, not wanting to be in this thing’s vicinity any longer. “You talk to her again, you even so much as look at y/n? I’ll make sure your father is fired, I’ll make sure your family won’t be able to find another job anywhere in the world.”

The girl immediately recoiled from him, her mouth hung open at Seungcheol’s glare. If looks could kill, she would have been dead 10 times over.

“Think I won’t do it, baby?” He spat the last part out like it was poison. 

 “I’ll make sure you never leave your house ever again. Trust me.”

A/N2: Again, always accepting criticsm, comments, questions :D shoot me a message/dm/ask or whatever ✌️

[alpaca-clouds]

Astarion's Plotline and the Thing About Consent

Let me talk about one thing I find weirdly underdiscussed in the BG3 fandom. Technically this does not only concern Astarion, but also a lot of the other romanceable options. but I see it most discussed with Astarion especially in regard of one thing.

I am not the only person who feels icky about the graveyard sex. Not becasue of the graveyard, but because of the context in which it happens. Aka: Astarion has had the hell of one day. He has confronted his trauma in so many ways, he has almost died, he managed to overcome Cazador, and he actually managed to remain himself rather than becoming Cazador. I absolutely do understand that our dear fanged friend kinda wants to celebrate his freedom by finally having sex just because he wants to have it - but I also understand that for a good chunk... Him wanting to fuck in that scene is mostly him somehow trying to cope and not having learned good coping strategies, right?

However, whenever someone in fandom brings this up, quite often someone will reply: "People who are traumatized are still able to consent, you know?"

To which I - someone with tons of trauma - will just say: "Yeah, they can, but consent is something that happens from both sides."

Now, we will leave out the meta discussion that obviously Astarion, on the basis of being a fictional character in a game, obviously has no agency in either direction, while the player does. But ignoring that and just reading the in-game situation...

Tav, Durge, or whoever of the origin characters might be on that graveyard with Astarion in that scene still also have a right to not consent to it. And yes, say: "Hey, you had a hell of a day, and I am honestly not sure whether this is good for you, and if it turned out not to be I would feel really shitty about that" is actually a valid reason to not consent to have sex with someone.

Even if Astarion does want sex in that scene. Even if it turned out to be actually the thing he needed. The other person in the scene very much still has the right to say: "I am not feeling good about this, I don't want this, at least not now."

I am not saying that your own Tav/Durge needs to not be okay with it. They can be perfectly fine with it and have their kinky graveyard sex. What I am saying is, that not everyone is feeling like that - and that their feelings are valid, too.

And it is weird how some Astarion fans react to this, too. First there is the "but he can consent", to which I will just say: "Yeah, and his partner can also say that they don't consent". And then the people will go: "But he looks so sad if you say you don't wanna have sex with him." Which... I... Folks, for once: He is fiction. But also... Even if he wasn't fictional, he would have to live with it. It is not the job of his partner to fuck him whenever he wants sex. Again: Consent matters. And consent involves at least two people.

Like, folks. I am begging you. Just consider this fact. Consent has to come from everyone.

And I can tell you that at least my Tav in that situation did not feel very comfortable with the whole situation. I mean, this is how I wrote out the scene on the graveyard in my fic version of the evening.

“I think, I’ve been dead for along enough,” Astarion finally muttered. “It’s time to try living again.” He took a deep breath, trying to sort his thoughts, his feelings. Then he took the bard’s hands, smiling at him. “With everything life has to offer.” He did not even think about it much, as he gave his voice a sultry tone, and most certainly he had not expected Tav’s reaction. But the bard twitched just a bit. “Astarion…” He seemed awkward, uncertain. “I…” Astarion was not certain if the bard understood. “I want you. I think I might…” “Stop, please,” Tav whispered. There was a tremble going through his body, and an expression in his eyes, that felt like a dagger in Astarion’s heart. He didn’t understand. What was going on. “Don’t you…” It was hard to speak those words. “Don’t you want me?” He had not intended for his voice to sound as hurt as it did in the end. A sigh. Tav pulled his hands out of Astarion’s, before cupping Astarion’s face with them. “I want you. I do. And you know it. Just not… Not now.” “What is wrong with now?” There was hurt still. And anger. Just a bit of anger over the rejection. “What is wrong with now? I am finally free. I can finally…” “Astarion…” Tav was hesitating once more, before moving in closer, pressing his forehead against Astarion’s. “You have been through a lot today. A lot.” “Yes, I know. I was there, remember?” The sarcasm was back in Astarion’s voice. He tried to pull away, but though gently, the bard held onto him. “Please, look at me,” Tav said. “Let me…” He stopped, before letting go of Astarion. “Can I show you?” Now it was Astarion’s turn to pause. He understood, of course. He understood well. “Alright.” He opened himself up to Tav’s feelings – and they were strong. Warm, consuming almost. A want. A need. Fantasies. All there. And it made Astarion understand even less. “Then why?” “Because if I sleep with you again, I want to be sure that we both are going to feel good about it the next day,” Tav said gently. “And today, I cannot be sure of that.” Those words made nothing any clearer. “I don’t understand.” “Look. Today was so much for you. And I do not even need you to show me your feelings. I can tell like this. The sadness. The pain. You feel guilty, too. About those spawn that are more or less your responsibility. About killing Cazador, too.” “Why would I feel guilty about that?” “Because no matter how much you hated and feared him, you were also dependent on him for two hundred years,” Tav said. He took Astarion’s hands again, pressing them. “And there are probably a lot of other feelings, too.” His thumbs were caressing the backs of Astarion’s hands. He gave a tiny sigh. “Look at me.” Astarion had not even quite noticed that he no longer looked the man in the eyes. But he did now. The same, familiar green eyes. “I do not even trust myself right now,” Tav said. “I know I care about you, deeply. I want you. You have no idea how much I want you. But with all the chaos right now… I do not trust myself enough to say whether this is love or just…” Once more his thumbs so gently went over Astarion’s skin. “Right now, I am mostly worried about you. Because today was a lot. And I know those days. And I know what follows.”

And... It is just something that has to be considered. I mean, I know there are people who romance Karlach but still do not sleep with her, because their character is not ready for that. And that is just the thing. Consent has to come from both sides.

In that it does also not matter whether the player is uncomfortable or whether they have just an idea how their character would feel. For the scene playing out... The romancing partner can say "I don't consent." too.

[beautouslysandy]

headcannons of the boys dating a soc!reader

by- sandy

the outsiders x gn!reader

warnings- a bit of language, lowercase intended, not proofread, and some fluff

word count-

request- Headcannons on dating each of the greaser boys, as a soc??

a/n 💌 - ahh finally finished! i apologize for the long wait, this longer than expected.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

darrel curtis-

-oh my my, darry usual is strong but he was weak knees for you my friend. he has known you since the diapers, growing up together, learning and exploring together has created such a strong bond between the two of you. nobody can take that from you two, nobody.

-you may have different lifestyles, bank numbers, and lived on opposite sides of the town but that has never stopped you two. high school sweethearts, the golden couple, then couple that was going to go places. unfortunately due to the death of mrs and mr. curtis, there was a halt in darry's plans. you were more than willing to help out and change your plans completely but darry insisted that you go to college. you gave in, unwillingly. you live at the curits estate and feel more comfortable there than you ever had in your own home.

-you guys love going on dates together but recently it’s been a while since you two have had a night to yourselves.

-he sometimes will randomly being home flowers for you (most likely roses). even through his busy schedule he still makes time for you because he doesn’t want to lose you because you mean so much to him. -your parents would have preferred you had ended up with a soc but they love darry and know he is gonna go places.

-overall your “social status’s” don’t change anything between you two

sodapop curtis-

-you and sodapop are one of the cutest couples out there, this boy worships the ground you walk on. you are everything he has ever dreamed off, the perfect s/o.

-at first you thought he was too cheery but you hav grown to love that side of him. your parents we’re not keen on him and still aren’t especially since he is a dropout.

-when he told you he was dropping out…you needed a second. it was only fair, i men’s he just threw it on you but you knew he was the one and didn’t let this stop you from being with the love of your life.

-you help with some schoolwork if he wants but you don’t force it on him because he left school for reasons that are valid. you always say you can help out with money but he always declines, he doesn’t like taking peoples charity. (a canon i have for him.)

-i do think at times he thinks about your future together at you which consists of two ending up married and having kids but he fears he won’t be able to provide for you and get everything you ever dreamt of. and though that may be true…all you have ever wanted is him. you have to remind him constantly.

-he does fear you might leave him for someone more intelligent and more wealthy but deep downs he knows that you would never think of that. you belong to him as much as he belongs to you…this definitely isn’t one-sided love

-overall i do think he worries he won’t ever been enough but you always change his mind.

ponyboy curtis-

-he knows he is too young to start thinking about your guys future but that doesn’t stop him. his feelings about the future are a mix of his older brothers…at times he worries he isn’t worthy of you but other times it never bothers him.

-your parents, though ponyboy is from the north side, have taken quite a liking to him. he is smart and is going places.

-he wants to take you to the city and help you reach your goals and dreams. he wants to achieve your guys dreams together and get outta town together. he wants his kids to already be at a place where they don’t have to leave to gain their dreams.

-he wants to be enough for you, he doesn’t want to lose but if it’s for the best for you…he will let you go. he wants you to do well in life and get everything you deserve…even if that means he isn’t right there by your side.

-he thinks your worthy of the entire world, he secretly thinks your the most amazing person to ever walk to planet. unlike sodapop, he keeps it to himself. -part of the reason he studies so hard is so that he can prove to everyone (including himself) that he is worthy of calling you his. -though bank numbers don’t mean anything to you and sometimes him. he wants to be able give you everything you look at and like. he wants to give you your dreams.

johnny cade-

-this poor boy is worried about everything, that your going to leave him, that he won’t ever be enough, that he might accidentally make you run away, that he will mess this up. he wish life was simpler. but it isn’t (sorry johnny)

-you always try your best to prove to him that your happy with him but it never works. he is nervous that your gonna leave. -he spends a lot of time at your house because it’s one of the only places he truly feels safe. your mom adores johnny and always checks up on him. she knows about his living situation. your dad on the other hand isn’t so fond of him but you seem quite happy and all he wants is for you to be happy, and i mean what harm could being with johnny do? -he can be quite a worry wart and nervous wreck, you really are the only person who can calm him down. you have to be super calm around him when he is anxious or scared and you can handle that. he loves you inside and out would never ever hurt you the way his dad does to him but gets scared he might get angry and accidentally hit you. you always say he can come live with you and your folks but he always declines. he doesn’t want to be a burden.

-i think one of his biggest fears (beside you leaving and him hurting you accidentally) is that he will pull you down, that you won’t be able to achieve things with him around. he doesn’t want to leave your side and won’t realize that he is pulling you down and that you won’t say anything because you don’t want to lose him either. that you will end up miserable and it was all his fault. -i think that he feels like you could do so much better then him partly because you have the choice of many options and opportunities. people at school i think make fun of you two being together and he lets it get to him…they make fun of the top of you because johnny is a poor kid with an unstable family while your a rich kid with a happy white picket fence family

dallas winston-

-at first he was totally against the idea of you two being together, i mean dallas is infamous for hating socs but slowly he began to fall for you and everything about you. at first you decided to keep your relationship a secret and oh was it the time of your life. sneaking around and giggling at night, looking at each other form across the room at bucks and him slipping dirty little notes in your backpack when your heading to your car after school (he picks up johnny- a canon i have). it was like a mission not to get caught.

-but then at some point you got tired of the fooling around, you wanted something serious and you wanted it with dallas. i am not going to lie, this scared the shit out of him. he has only ever fooled around, it’s all he knows. he probably ghosted you for a bit (i am sorryyy) and this shattered your heart. he saw your vibe had completely flopped ever since he ghosted you and this made him feel terrible. “you did this to them, you , you asshole.” was all he could tell himself when his eyes woudl laid on you.

-at some point he couldn’t handle it anymore and said that he was ready for a serious relationship, you guys most likely had an argument about how he completely ghosted you and then out of nowhere cam up to you and said he was ready. you guys sooner or later began dating, serious dating. -when he met your parents they completely disapproved of the tall brunette due to many thing one of the main things was of his criminal record. he probably tried his best at the dinner (look at my meet the parents post for a kind of play by play of what it might be like) to be a gentleman but then one of your family members got to him and his true colors showed. i think you guys probably had an argument.

-overall i think it would be to much pressure for our dallas, he would feel the need to be perfect 24/7 and that would get to him. it wasn’t the fact that you two were in a serious relationship it was that he could handle getting judged for every action he made that he had made before he met you and they weren’t judged. i don’t think the relationship would survive more than a year before dallas broke it off. but later down the road after dallas had matured and cleaned up his act, you had changed and grew as person, soon enough you two would find your way back to each other and this time your relationship would survive.

keith “two-bit” matthews-

-at first it was just fooling around, i mean you could never picture your future with him, but the farther down the road the more you could picture it. and soon enough you found your daydreams and dreams being about you and his life together with kids and the perfect house, the whole package.

-you never said anything about being a serious couple but he felt the same way which was odd for a character like him. he pictured him and his kids eating chocolate cake for breakfast every morning and you lecturing them how it’s not good for you as he took a sip of beer. he always smiles at the daydream.

-when you guys eventually got serious, you wanted him to meet your parents. he tried his best to clean up himself and his act when he met your parents. he made your dad laugh more then once, your mother thought he was childish but your dad loved him. which was a shocker to you and two-bit. you walked out of that house beaming like a million suns.

-overall i think you and two-bit would make it with your looks and his sense of humor…you two fit together like a jigsaw puzzle, at times he may doubt his worthiness of you but he doesn’t like to focus on the negative…he wants to put all his focus on you

steve randle-

-to be honest you guys probably met because you car needed to be fix and since he works at dx, one thing lead to another. he was the one to fall first by far, he was in awe of your presence. a lot like soda he probably worships the ground you walk on but not as much as soda would. no one can.

-i think that steve probably thought that he was to immature for you and undeserving. you are an angel and he doesn’t deserve you, is what he told himself. you refuse to let him think like that. to you his other dream guy.

-i think he would get along with your dad if he is in to cars but other than that probably not. he is a bit childish if i do say so myself so people don’t always love their child going out with someone like that, if they want to be together in the future. your mom most likely isn’t fond of him because unlike your dad who likes cars equaling he likes steve, she has nothing in common with him.

-i would like to think that steve spoils you a bit, he doesn’t want you thinking you deserve less just because your dating some guy on the north side. you deserve the world and he knows it.

-overall i think you and steve would make it because he had won over your dad. your mom grew to love him and you were the happiest person in town, beside steve of course. he still at times thinks you deserve the world and then goes but everything he can and gives you it. sometimes it can be really random stuff like a pan or a fish bowl which you don’t need either but you love it. you still have a drainer he got you once in your room. and you guys got a fish together so the fish bowl was put to use. you never don’t use the stuff he gets you because it means a lot that he buys it for you.

tim shepard-

-this guy could care less about statuses with you. he doesn't care if your the most hated person on the planet or the most beloved person...the richest or the poorest. to him your just you, a perfect human being that he has the gift of calling his. he is super protective of you, nobody can touch you but him.

-your parents hate that you are with him but know that they have no control. they think he is a bad influence.

-you most likely are a maternal figure in curly's life. he looks up to you and goes to you when somethings wrong, something that he thinks tim wouldn't understand. honestly you love being able to give curly that kind of support and care.

-i think tim would definitely try and get you to see that he is a bad guy and that you deserve someone better, someone that can give you everything you could ever dream of, someone who can provide. it didn't work, he was what you wanted not some egotistical ass from the south side. you wanted tim shepard.

-he would secretly worship you. he knows he has caught a good one and isn't gonna let you go. he doesn't want to seem lovesick, it ruins his street credit guys come on. deep down though he would do anything for you, if would make you happy and means he gets to see that life-changing smile of yours...then he is going to do it.

-overall, you and tim would be endgame. he just wants you to be his. he doesn't care about the bank numbers or what people think, and neither do you.

curly shepard-

-curly shepard was definelty intimadated when he first saw you, for sure. your beauty and riches made him feel like he had no chance with you. little did he know that you were pinning for him.

-i think the reason your parents don't approve of him is because of his record other than that they think he is sweet boy.

-i think he would feel like that he is never enough for you. that you need someone steady and mature. to him he is neither and he feels that is what you deserve. he would never dare to break it off because he wouldn't be able to handle the pain of losing you and he wouldn't be able to handle knowing he was causing you pain.

-curly unlike his brother does care about the numbers and statuses because it makes him see that he doesn't deserve for which some reason empowers him. he wants to be better for you meaning that he is trying his best not to get in trouble, to do well in school so that he can have those big numbers and statuses for you. a lot people think its stupid, his curly shepard. how is he gonna make it out of tusla with his record, but you believed in him and thats all that mattered.

-overall, curly is head over heels for you and you bring out the best in him. what's in it for you? well you get good cuddles and a sweet boyfriend who loves you for you nothing else.

[firstkanaphans]

I heartily concur with your interpretation of the Ray/Mew no-sex scene - it absolutely wasn't about sex, it was about Ray pleading with Mew to just give him a sign that he's actually genuine about this 'relationship' - at this point I think Ray wants to be with Sand, but as long as there's a chance Mew is being sincere about this, Ray feels bound to stay with him, not because he's in love with him, but because a) he begged for this (even though I still maintain he wouldn't have had Mew not brought it up again) and b) I don't think he has it in him to actively reject Mew (which in itself is part of the reason they don't work), so imo in this scene he's thinking 'show me something, anything, that allows me to convince myself I did the right thing playing it safe/not going after Sand' and THAT'S why he's so angry - it's not about sex, it's not about Top, it's not even about Mew not being able to love him. And it's not about him just being mad at not getting what he wants. It's about Ray realising that he's thrown away the possibility of real love for the lie that is this 'romance'. And like you said, Mew as good as confirms as much in the final convo. I appreciated Mew's maturity and honesty so much in that scene - it made me do a complete u-turn on his character. Mew realises that Ray wants out of this non-relationship just as much as he does, but he also knows that Ray will never be able to be the one to say it because of the power imbalance between them, so he does it for the both of them, which is a true act of love and friendship. I think for some ppl Ray 'choosing' Sand had to be an A or B scenario, aka Ray could have Mew but chooses Sand instead. But because Ray is a messed up raw wound seeping trauma and addiction and self-loathing and confusion it was never going to be that simple. What we get is more complicated but just as valid - Sand isn't his second option, Sand is who he WANTS to be with, Sand is who he loves, and who he WOULD be with if a) he was better equipped to recognise and understand his own feelings ('when I'm with you I'm so damn happy') and b) he didn't have such a longstanding and complicated (and unhealthily co-dependent) history with Mew. He doesn't drive off hoping to hook up with Sand because Mew turned him down. He seeks Sand out because, if we agree the Ray/Mew fight is the moment they both accept on some level their relationship is fake, then that's the moment Ray allows himself the chance to go after what his heart really wants, which is Sand. Ray doesn't have the emotional toolkit necessary to be able to articulate all this to himself, let alone to anyone else, which is why Mew very gently does it for him. But Mew being the one to break this to Ray doesn't mean Ray's feelings are any less his own. I think of it more this way: Sand is Ray's first choice, but Ray's own happiness is Ray's last choice, because on some level he doesn't believe he deserves it, and so without intervention - from Mew, from Sand - Ray would always continue to self-sabotage (as talked about in the tweet Jojo reposted a few days ago). And slightly but not entirely off topic: I also think nuance is often lost in translation - I might be wrong but I wonder if his words ('why won't you let me have it') are less...yeesh in Thai. Just part of a general thought I've been thunking about deep analysis of foreign language shows when you're reading so much into everything and yet relying on what are often serviceable at best subtitles (for which I'm still eternally grateful!) - SO MUCH can be misinterpreted by just a single word choice, and I sometimes find myself having to choose between taking subs at face value vs retranslating them in my head to what I think better suits the acting/story/characterisation. Apologies for the indecent length of this - I got carried away! Long story short: I agree with you!

Honestly, I agree with all of this and couldn't have said it better myself. I don't have much to add, but I will pull out some of my favorite lines for a TL;DR:

"At this point I think Ray wants to be with Sand, but as long as there's a chance Mew is being sincere about [their relationship], Ray feels bound to stay with him, not because he's in love with him, but because a) he begged for this...and b) I don't think he has it in him to actively reject Mew."

"So imo in this scene he's thinking 'show me something, anything, that allows me to convince myself I did the right thing playing it safe/not going after Sand' and THAT'S why he's so angry - it's not about sex, it's not about Top, it's not even about Mew not being able to love him....It's about Ray realising that he's thrown away the possibility of real love for the lie that is this 'romance.'"

"I think of it more this way: Sand is Ray's first choice, but Ray's own happiness is Ray's last choice, because on some level he doesn't believe he deserves it, and so without intervention - from Mew, from Sand - Ray would always continue to self-sabotage."

As for the question of translation accuracy, I actually did a little digging into this. The line that was translated as "Why won't you let me have it?" was literally บอกกูมาได้ป่ะว่าทำไมมึงถึงไม่ยอมให้กูเอาสักทีอ่ะ (bòk goo maa dâai bpà wâa tam-mai meung tĕung mâi yom hâi goo ao sàk tee à), which can more accurately be translated as "Can you tell me why you won't let me have it?" I know that's not a huge difference, but it turns an accusatory statement into a legitimate question. Ray's not just stomping his foot because Mew won't give him sex. He's asking for an explanation. [Insert disclaimer about me not being a native Thai speaker here.]

[bitimdrake]

Thoughts on Jack Drake's death in Identity Crisis? I personally dislike it because it's a fridging (and somehow only the third worst death in that book behind "why did she have a FLAMETHROWER tho" and "that's not how Firestorm works you're confusing him with Human Bomb"), and it took away what made Tim stand out in making him an orphan like the other Robins. I'm not a Batfam expert so I haven't read a ton of the surrounding stories but it feels like there was more they could have done with Jack.

I would not personally call it fridging because I think we've gotten waaaay too liberal with that term, particularly when removed from the original context of misogyny (*unless perhaps we are applying it to other bigotry, which I do think is worthwhile), and because "side character dies to push forward a main character's story" is...not a bad thing. That's a perfectly valid story telling trope that can be used well or poorly.

THAT SAID. I do think there was more to do with Jack that could have been really interesting!

He'd just found out Tim was Robin, and imo there was sooo much that could have be mined from that. It could have been a really interesting and major shakeup in Tim's story, without entirely changing the fundamentals of his character. I'm so interested in the theoretical arc of Tim and his long time hot-and-cold distant dad trying to figure this relationship out now that Jack finally, for the first time, is both (a) interested in actively pursuing a relationship with his son (he's been on and off since shortly after Tim became Robin) and (b) actually able to get to know his son (which has been impossible from Tim's side since he became Robin and starting keeping so much of his life secret). Jack decided to be supportive, but their relationship is messy! Their history is complicated! And he still has understandably mixed feelings about his son fighting crime! How do they figure this out??

(Unrelated, I still think about this one fic where Jack comes back to life circa Brucequest and realizes his archeological skills can help. The future story it implied. The gentle question of can Tim and Jack repair their relationship. It compels me.)

I'm of two minds about Jack dying at all. On the hand, I do agree it took away a lot that made Tim unique as a Robin and lumped him more in with the others. On the other hand, there has been some nice stuff as a result of him being adopted into Bruce's family. And, e.g., I don't think stuff like his relationship with Damian would be remotely the same if Tim still had his own father.

Also like. the theoretical fandom shift from this would be fascinating. The best known batfam characters who are not Wayne family are largely women at this point, which means fandom is extra inclined to ignore them. But if one of the core bat boys was not part of the literal family, would that actually shift the whole fandom focus away from Force This Into A Nuclear Family Mold? Would we see an entire thematic shift? Or would people just be trying to contrive reasons why Tim's very much living father didn't count....

[lxmelle]

Love is the greatest curse of all… Damned if you love and Damned if you don’t.

What does it mean to be Human? It’s an extremely valid question posed by Yuta. Megumi didn’t think they were heroes and felt he had no option but to make personal choices. Yuji wanted his life and death to have some significance and save people. Todo says they have to keep going regardless of tragedy. Sukuna says it’s best to be unattached to all things as they’re all worthless. Gojo had a dream that was largely affected by Geto - about never leaving anyone alone for the new generation.

Is being human, to know love? Regardless of their strength? Kusakabe thinking of Yaga who helped the sister he loved, in her grief over her beloved son. Larue and Miguel with their love for Geto. The kids and their friendships with one another. Gojo, Yuta - knowing the taste of loneliness. Geto, knowing the taste of grief. The underside of love.

Back to stsg for a moment because that’s my unhealthy obsession brainrot

If Geto loved Gojo enough to tell him, he would’ve led him down a bloody path. If Geto loved him enough to leave him, it’d have led him down a lonely path.

If Gojo loved Geto enough to join him, it would’ve led them both down a morally-/societally-disapproving path. If Gojo loved Geto enough to let him go, it would’ve allowed him to go down a lonely path.

Yuta knew the pain of pure innocent love and how it bound Rika to his soul. But in doing so, he granted her the best happiness she ever experienced in her entire existence. Was it because she had meaning? Her overwhelming love for Yuta meant she could kill and hurt others for the sake of love? What a cursed existence even as a spirit. It hurt Yuta.

He loved her enough to desire not to let her go, but this cursed them both. In loving his newfound friends enough, he sacrificed himself and was lucky to survive it and freed the cursed Rika. But this then led him to bear the curse of loving others … in the endless cycle of “you’re Damned if you do, Damned if you don’t”.

Because Yuta loves and empathises, he sees Gojo. Humanity. Compassion. To be able to connect to those above and beneath his feet, in contrast to Hajime and Sukuna who both pursued strength alone. He understood the weight and enormity of love and the sacrifice that comes with it. He saw the impact of being a monster and the only one who was chained to his role despite being able to supposedly do everything, but actually felt like he could do nothing.

Not the things that Gojo really wanted anyway (ugh. The tragedy of his life T_T). He couldn’t spare Geto. Geto didn’t want to be spared and left him to handle it all at Jujutau High while he tried to single-handedly take on Gojo’s role and change the world.

Gojo was left behind. I think his view of their separation morphed over time too. He wanted to change the sorcerer world too, in a different way that wasn’t as drastic.

Maybe at first he wondered if Geto felt left behind in the face of his unparalleled strength, (the strongest, alone), telling Megumi that he should be strong, keep up and not get left behind. After all, he and Geto had that “talk” breakup and he decided to become a teacher to try and save those who wanted to be saved.

As Megumi grew, he had more students, and Yuta came along, it was about the protection of their youth. Just like he had his blue spring that was so precious to him. It was also what Geto gave him and the reason he had to stop and kill Geto, because he encroached on the principles he tried to uphold himself - not to kill young sorcerers. Geto couldn’t completely abandon all of his humanity and kill Yuta and Gojo spared him the continuous suffering and ended his life.

Then, not leaving anyone behind to be lonely. He would see to it that the next generation wouldn’t suffer like he and Geto and Nanami did.

And finally, he wished to catch up to Geto, after being left behind when Geto chose to become a monster himself.

In Buddhism, detachment is sometimes seen as the penultimate “enlightenment”. But it’s ironic because the more one aspires to become enlightened, the more selfish they inherently become. Because, we do not live in isolation. What is the worth of enlightenment?

Gojo’s enlightenment was costly. He was alone as a tool.

Sukuna’s is disastrous. He embodies a twisted form of enlightenment where he sees responding to love as compassionate through killing his opponents.

Yuta’s is now... tragic.

Megumi had tried to choose who to be compassionate towards. He admired those like Tsumiki who were kind, and like Yuji. Kind - as was Geto. And Yuta. Too kind that they would be willing to sell/soil themselves for the sake of who they loved.

Yuji’s compassion as a vessel was also wholly self-sacrificial.

How does one really retain any form of love or compassion in a world like jjk? When loving anything or anyone seems to cost them dearly? Is that the price of humanity? To love is to hurt?

It’s also interesting how Geto, from human origin, focuses on eliminating humans as the source of cursed spirits... and Gojo, from elite sorcerer origin, focuses on eliminating the higher-ups who were the source of twisted rules within the society.

Anyway. Just rambling a little... I’m still trying to process it all. Jjk is some kind of crazy masterpiece.