#some people might argue that she really didn't mean it or that her heart wasn't really in it

[oveliagirlhaditright]

*takes a deep breath* Casey Gilly's writing in the Boomverse bothers me so much.

And there's a lot I could get into with that. But mainly it's her obvious obsession with S*pike via the comics she's written so far. And how I feel she Draco in Leather Pants him a lot?

[berryz-writes]

Perfectly serious

Summary: Matheo's jealousy and want for you increases after seeing you with Theo to the point where he finally/kind of confesses

Matheo Riddle x reader

His arm wrapped around my waist, bringing me even closer to him. "Come on, let's get you to bed" Theo murmured. I looked up at him confused "I'm not drunk". My head might feel light and I might feel extremely happy and sad at the same time but I was most definitely not drunk.

"Yes you are" He took my hand and led me away from the groups of people dancing together, taking his time to weave us in and around the drinks being passed around. Everyone gave me a smile as I left, Pansy giving me a wink as we passed "I bet he fucks good. Have fun babe!" She said, her words slurring slightly, her voice loud enough for Theo to hear. Maybe if he heard it he would act on it. I wouldn't mind getting in bed with him.

We soon reached my room, the music faded to a low sound coming from below us and the lights softer than the harsh party lights of before.

"Well...night y/n" Theo said.

"You know" I started, my voice low and sultry. "I wouldn't mind if you joined me, made things more interesting. Hm?" I tilted my head waiting for his answer, his eyes searching my face. For what I didn't know.

He gave me a soft smile "Your drunk. And when drunk, your ideas aren't really your own. So as much as I'd like to follow through with your idea, it's best you get some sleep"

I rolled my eyes at him being who he always was. I wished for once he would push the boundaries. "Fine. Night Theo"

"Sweet dreams" He dropped my hand and waited for me to close the door. I could hear his receding footsteps, probably to go up to his own dorm. I was relieved in a way. Maybe I wasn't actually ready to fuck him and it was just the alcohol making me want something more. We were good friends. I didn't want to ruin that for something that I didn't really want. Chocolate brown eyes crossed my mind. Curly hair that would feel so nice running my hands through-. Something that would never happen.

*Potions the next day*

"I didn't see you yesterday" I said to Matheo referring to the party yesterday. Stirring in the crushed up leaves into the steaming potion, I turned to look at him, his eyes were icy and cold as if I had done some personal wrong against him.

"Of course you didn't. You were too busy trying to estimate your chances with Theo. Heads up, princess. He has higher standards"

I ignored the nickname that would usually make me swoon and instead my mouth opened in shock. How fucking rude of him. Was he ok?

"Are you being serious right now?" I stopped stirring the potion and crossed my arms. I could take a joke but come on. He had taken it too far.

"Perfectly serious. Why? Did you think I was nice?" He stood up to tower over me, his minty scent washing over me. His chocolate brown eyes were like daggers into my soul. It hurt knowing someone I was good friends with could switch up so fast.

"No actually, I didn't. Your just like everyone says you are. You get with a girl for your own pleasure, lead her on and then leave her with a broken heart. Your a rude fucking asshole and nothing more"

His jaw clenched at what I said, waiting for me to say anything else. I didn't actually mean it but I would never let anyone disrespect me and not expect anything back.

I realised soon how close we were. If only he were to move slightly closer, I could have tipped my head upwards and kissed him. The fact that I was thinking about that even though he had insulted me was annoying for me. I shouldn't still like him. Not anymore.

"You really mean that?" His voice came out soft, his jaw no longer clenched. As if he understood what I had said. I hesitated. Of course I didn't. How could I? I liked him for fucks sake.

I sighed "I don't know"

He sat back down as if he were tired of our argument. As if he didn't want to argue with me.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said-"

"Let's just forget about it. Ok?" I didn't want to argue either. Maybe he was angry and took it out on me. Fine. I would give him a pass just this once seen as though we were such good friends. (If only we were more than that)

He nodded his head and we worked in silence for the next few minutes. Until he cleared his throat and looked toward me again "Listen y/n. I don't want us to ruin our...friendship for something I've said so let me treat you. Will you be free to come to the diner at eight?"

I paused and raised an eyebrow, smiling slightly "Are you asking me on a date or just as friends?" Confident of me to ask but I wanted to know where we stood.

After a pause he replied with "I'd be happy with either, as long as it's with you"

I thought about my next question "And if I want it to be a date?" I asked quietly.

He smiled "I was hoping you'd say that, princess"

[phryneluvbot]

so, I basically live tweeted my (third) watch of crypt on twitter (it's the same name as in here, if anyone interested), so let me just drop everything I passed by this entire evening:

goofy opening, but where is my dancing silhouette and the 1920's godly music?

detective inspector jack robinson would like to know your location

tip: ALWAYS keep your sight on that woman, ALWAYS

I just love how phryne changed from a golden dress to a red outfit (I love it btw) that quickly, also one of her 8 languages is arabic!? MY GIRL!!

PRISON BREAK OUT FOR AN INNOCENT GIRL WHO WANTS TO SHARE THE TRUTH OF HER VILLAGE?! PHRYNE, YOU ARE AN AMAZING WOMAN

PLEASE GET INSIDE THE TRAIN PHRYNE, PLEASE GET-

oh...

oh...

oh no... she did actually... oh my god no

OMG DOTTIE IS PREGNANT AND VULNERABLE, MUST PROTECT AT ALL COSTS (and hugh too)

(also, the only scene where we saw a part of the wardlow crew - where's mr butler, mac - HER BEST FRIEND, AND JANE, HER DAUGHTER!? COULDN'T WE SEE THEIR REACTIONS!?)

so, he never went after her... makes it even more heartbreaking

he even still saved the photos, his face showing the tears being retracted... I want to hug you so badly jack

"You meant so much more to Phryne"

OK, THAT MAKES IT EVEN MORE PAINFUL, I-

on the floor, crying and sobing

oh, aunt prudence is here (but not phryne's parents, on their daughter's funeral - I might get that most likely they have trauma from Janey and couldn't mark their presence in another funeral for their last daughter, but it would have been nice to be present and meet her boyfriend - aka jack - who is noticeably suffering a lot)

SO, YOU WERE ACTUALLY ALIVE THE LAST 6 WEEKS!? COULD HAVE JUST SENT A LETTER TO SOMEONE, GIRL-

I get it that she didn't knew she was presumed dead, that would have worried everyone she knew and loved, so it was a perfect time to apologize and show the empathic phryne we love

instead it was a "oh" and some awkard smilling

Phryne, I love you, a lot... But you can do better, and especially that you saw the man that loves you the most broken

"I came here for one thing, to farewell you. Farewell" I could hear the pain on his voice, poor Jack...

Well, this scene was iconic

"Jack, are you awake?"

well, he said he wasn't

proceeds to appear on the church moments later

and the man was murdered

and they can't leave england (my condolences)

oh, this is ending badly

"And I am sorry if I am not dead"

phryne, don't say the word "death" to that man again, he thought you died twice in the space of a few months (idk, this movie doesn't even say how after it is from the show). I understand that you might be hurt that he never came after you, I really do, but please, the poor man is still processing that he almost lost you.

also, both (still) don't know what personal space means

(kinky)

oh, so that thing is cursed and... oh, this movie is like if indiana jones was an australian detective, good to know

from the creators of "singing in the rain", we present you "almost kissing in the rain"

oh, you're going to break in his house, so you while use your old stealth black outfit like in melbourne, righ-

why. did you. chose to use. a jumper. with. your. initials. (I still love it, and the entire ouftit, I'd like one of those too please designers)

ooooh, he brought her a gift (and tuxedo jack, meow)

please, both of, learn what personal space is

oooh, they're dancing again... cute

arguing

more arguing

Palestinian man finds out that the people of the country that occupied his country are all douchebags

HE DIED, HE GOT SHOT AT THE HEART, WHY!?

Sharim, I am so sorry...

oh, those guys again... great

well, now they're going to Palestine and find the crypt of tears (OMG IT'S THE NAME OF THE MOVIE)

"I just hope she doesn't fly like she drives"

"I HEARD THAT!"

they are so married

oh, it's a mercenary... well, we're getting of quickly then

bombastic side eye

woman, why are you so hot?

Jack, she just wanted to take the gun, don't worry...

and now they have no guidance, great-

Phryne, we both know how it ends

steps on quicksand

"JaCK, I NEED YOUR HELP!"

Jack continues to not give a fuck after their arguing

"IT'S QUICKSAND"

Jack proceeds to run into her

"I'm not losing you like this, not after all the stupid ways I've nearly lost you."

"WHAT STUPID WAYS?"

Phryne, we both know which stupid ways

not saying a thing, just admiring

ok, they found one of the points of the map, they just need to connect all and boom: entrance found

damn, nice crypt

lesson of the day: don't ever trust "british" man

and it wasn't an accident, YOU MURDERED A VILLAGE AND DOOMED THAT GIRL'S LIFE, THAT IS NOT CALLED AN ACCIDENT

and of course the butler was part of this, and jonathon's father!? Ok...

he thinks he's cursed, blames everything on himself, and wants to die there so he can be free and find forgiveness from the people of the village... I hope you have found forgiveness jonathon, and that your father is going to suffer forever

goodbye sharim, we're all hoping you can motivate many other young girls and women with your spirit

Yeah, trying to shoot a giant spider is a very Phryne thing

Yay, Jack "killed it"

"It's my only fear, Jack. Apart from spending a long flight with Aunt Prudence"

omg, it's going to happen...

"You're afraid if you fall in love with me, I'll turn you into a policeman's wife and... try to stop you from saving the world." Jack, you are so wrong (except on the marriage part, she would only accept one in her own terms)

"And I don't need to marry. I just need your heart, as god knows you've already got mine"

"Jack, I've already gave you my heart a long time ago."

OMG, IT'S ACTUALLY GOING TO HAPPEN

"For a detective you don't notice much"

IT HAPPENED, IT HAPPENED, IT ACTUALLY-

dies in excessive fangirling

THEY FUCKED, THEY FUCKED, THEY ACTUALLY FUCKED!! THE PHRACK SEX IS REAL!!

and it ends with a teaser for a sequel... that atp I think we won't get (hope I am wrong)

well, that was fun, now it's the spin off left (that got cancelled after season 2 of finished-)

[blushydrangea]

im here to ask u ur thoughts in the... pj controversy ehhekekfke i wanna say smthn abt but like i feel as if i dont grasp the whole thing yet so i chose to shut up rn

hi love! under the cut so the people who are tired of discussing this topic can avoid it.

it's a long one!

i know everyone here has likely come across the tweets pj made, but as an archiver at heart i feel the need to break everything down. screenshots aren't mine.

on the 18th, pj made a tweet about fellow drag queen and artist chappell roan, questioning the authenticity of her love for drag. most people (me included!) thought she was trolling, which unfortunately didn't happen to be the case. plane appeared to be under the impression that chappell was mean or cold towards drag queens she invited to her shows, something she allegedly heard about in boston and, according to some people on reddit so take this with a grain of salt, was debunked. she followed her tweet with another, ironically saying "i love chappell roan". the first tweet was then deleted.

after several people accused plane jane of trying to gatekeep drag from women & having an unfair opinion deeply rooted in misogyny, pj released a notes app screenshot on the 19th. however, going against the purpose of most notes screenshots, hers wasn't an apology. instead, she chose to call out the hypocrisy of people attacking her because they were calling her a man (it's important to note that pj hasn't directly told us what her ood pronouns are afaik).

she made some more shady tweets after that and argued with stans on social media but i don't feel like including these, so the last update we have was this apology pj made for her fandom.

before i speak my mind on this, i just wanna say that i am willing to discuss this as long as people are polite, any aggressive messages i might receive will be promptly deleted.

to be honest, i didn't like what she said. being a person with a platform and, let's be real, several crazy stan accounts who follow her word like gospel, it was wrong in my opinion to call a growing lesbian artist (one of the very few we have, at that) performative for her love of drag. someone who also engages in the *checks notes* performative art of drag. there isn't much of a "bag" to be secured by pretending you love drag, as it's not that mainstream, and i can't help but wonder if pj would have the same criticism were chappell a gay man instead of a lesbian woman.

misogyny is real and it's present in all of us, we were all raised to see women as less than. pj is white and male-presenting with her makeup off, she isn't incapable of misogyny because she is gay or a drag queen. therefore, it rubbed me in the wrong way to see her voice out the same beliefs i've heard from other gay men before – that women deserve to be questioned whenever they exist in drag spaces. i don't agree with the sentiment that pj meant women shouldn't do drag, as she never said that. though she honestly reminded me of those men who ask me very specific and tricky questions about the tree of gondor or whatever when i tell them i love the lord of the rings. are you a true fan?

her notes app statement was what pissed me off. she was really immature imo, ofc she's only 26 so there's room for growth, but twisting a situation you inserted yourself in to seem like the victim based on... people calling you a cis man? come on. it was a self-centered statement made by someone who seemed to refuse to take any criticism on this subject matter. i was very disappointed she chose the "but you are wrong too!" route instead of apologizing to the people she hurt.

her apology to her fandom was... fine, i guess. it served to show me that she seems to be comfortable living in her bubble.

do i think she's a bad person? no, i don't. but i do think she had a misogynistic take and doubled down on it because she refuses to admit she was wrong. i'm staying away from her for the time being, i'll probably get over it eventually but rn i don't wanna see her face all that much. no judgement whatsoever to people who forgave her and are still posting about her, it's your blog, do what you want <3

[copperbadge]

I know that it’s been a Very Long Time but do you ever get terribly nostalgic for old/less active fandoms? I confess I recently came back to tumblr and saw that I followed you. I was like, of course Sam storyteller, the Bucky guy. But then I got a hankering for my older and dearer by far love Ianto Jones and went back to reread some of the greatest hits and I remembered. You are not the Loki guy. You are the Ianto guy, to me, and I can’t believe I forgot that. I miss that fandom so much it was so fucking. Toxic. The Gwen bashing, I simply cannot romanticize it in good conscience. But the fic quality and diversity was, dare I say it, nearly unparalleled (in my heart). Like when it hit it really hit you know? A golden age of trashy sci fi indeed. I miss my dead welsh son. Sorry to ramble in your ask box about the dubious old days

Anon, I am so sorry, a bunch of my asks got pushed way down in the inbox and then I forgot they were there, so apologies this is MONTHS late in getting posted.

I, eh, I don't really get nostalgic for old fandoms. Usually I leave them for a reason, but even if I just drift away, my experience of a fandom is pretty fundamentally different from most because of my higher profile. There are things I can't do or say in a fandom that other people could, and there are things that happen to me outside of my control. They're not even necessarily bad things, just stuff like...I'll write a fic in a new fandom, and people from my previous fandom will start engaging with the canon because I did. So often, rather than just falling away from a fandom, I'll leave a fandom and drag a bunch of people with me. They might not even leave the older fandom, but they come along to the new one too.

And often the wanks that pull people in without their consent simply don't touch me because there's a portion of fandom that is either scared of me (or my readers) or just doesn't want anything to do with me. I can't determine which.

Torchwood's a pretty good case in point -- the Gwen bashing was extreme. I wasn't a fan of Gwen but what I saw from the antigwenallies was really, really gross. Still, even though I wrote fic about Gwen and engaged in meta around her presence in the show, I avoided them and thus had exactly one interaction with them ever, which was when they posted up a fic of mine as "anti-Gwen" and I asked them to remove it and never recc anything of mine again. They did, and that was the end of that. Nobody ever came to my posts to attack her or me. Likewise, there was one really, really aggressive anti-Ianto wanker, but she never engaged with me or even as far as I know talked about me, despite the fact I was a huge Ianto fan and wrote a lot of fic about him. I really hated the shit she said, but I also didn't see any value in arguing, so I left her alone and she left me alone. (I won't name her because I checked up on her a few years ago and it turns out she was struggling with serious mental health issues that she'd gotten a lot of help for, and felt really terrible about the things she'd done, so I'm actually quite proud of her. But if you know you know.)

I also just...have a bad memory, so I often don't remember what happened in a fandom, or even sometimes that I was in a fandom. Most of the memories I do have are either vaguely warm and friendly, or "avoid this fandom/person at all costs" based in a negative interaction (which I sometimes don't remember the details of).

So yeah...I mean, Torchwood ended pretty terribly so I don't miss it in part because I try not to think about it. Generally if I have a good time in a fandom and then leave it, it's because I simply said all I had to say there. But I'm usually looking forward, not back, just because the past is a bit of a fog bank for me, most of the time.

[a34trgv2]

The Problem With Toxic Relationships

TRIGGER WARNING: This post will talk about and use images that involve abuse, depression and anxiety. Viewer discretion is advised. You've been warned.

Recently I've noticed shows and movies casually display toxic relationships either for comedic purposes or as innocent child's play. It has disgusted and angered me to the point that I have to ask "Are you people sick or something?!" This post will highlight some egregious examples of toxic relationships and why they're harmful to not just storytelling, but to the oblivious audience members.

What is a toxic relationship? Well, if it was literal, it would mean being in a relationship with a vat of radioactive chemicals. In reality, it's when you're in a relationship (be it romantic or platonic) with someone who's just an awful person. One infamous example of a toxic relationship is with Brian and Stewie from Family Guy. You'd think a talking dog and a talking baby would be the best of friends. Oh, how wrong you are! Brian is an inconvenience to Stewie at best as the former has bullied, humilated, lied and even hurt him. Stewie's not much better as he beats the living snot out of Brian for $50, tortured his siblings to get tickets to Hannah Montana and thrashed his car with a baseball bat. It may be played for laughs, but it still paints a clear picture that these 2 might as well be mortal enemies. Whatever good moments they have between them is outweighed by the moments where they're at each others throats.

This is a good time to talk about one of the worst tropes in media. The "loving bully" trope is a story telling device that just casually normalizes bullying as a means of expressing romantic feelings as opposed to being a stupid and harmful act cause by stupid and harful kids because they're stupid and harmful. The most recent and worst example of thus trope is in The Loud House, where Ronnie Anne picks on and humiliates Lincoln because she has a crush on him. And rather than do something about it when his sisters find out, they squel with joy and see it as love as first sight. Pardon my French but WHAT THE FLOP??!!! Not only is this a very forced way to develop sympathy for the bully, but it also lies to the audience, who in this case are children. A bully picking on you is NOT your childhood sweet heart. They're your worst enemy and they need to be dealt with post haste.

I'd be remissing myself if I didn't talk about the infamous Seddie arc from iCarly. In my personal opinion, THIS was the worst case scenario for a show that started out really good. Sam was nothing short of a bully to Freddie, with multiple instances of her insulting him, hurting him, humilating him and even stealing from him. It was always because she thought it was funny, not because she had feeling for him. By having them be in a relationship, they did EXACTLY what you think they would play out if a bully and their victim got together. They constantly argued, they made everyone feel uncomfortable, they showed next to no chemistry with each other and made Carly the mediator between the two. If they were adults and this wasn't a kids show, Freddie would be getting abused hard.

Speaking of abuse, that's exactly what Joker did to Harley Quinn across several different incarnations. Time and again, Joker abused, humilated, belittled and verbally assaulted her because to him, she's just a means to an end. While this is normal taken very seriously, this toxic relationship between her and Joker was downplayed in Suicide Squad as well as in her appearance in DC Superhero Girls. I understand wanting to do something new with Harley Quinn, downplaying or flat out ignoring her backstory as an abuse victim is the equivalent to saying Bruce Waynes parents were seriously hurt but not shot by Joe Cool. Abuse should not be downplayed or ignored, because that makes victims of actual abuse feel more depressed than they actually are.

Victims of toxic relationships are often depressed, anxious, suicidal, and even bitter towards people who want to help. In Lilo & Stitch, after being bullied by Mertle and her friends, Lilo is depressed and choose to lie on the floor listening to Elvis "to die" she says. See, a lesser movie or show (looking at you, Family Guy) would portray the fallout of toxic relationships as comedic or no big deal. As someone who was lied to by former friends way too many times to count, I can assure you that it's NOT funny or anything less than a big deal living with the fact that I was in a toxic relationship. Some people straight up refuse to trust anyone after the last person they trust was a toxic disgrace to humanity. Other victims of toxic relationships, such as Helga from Hey Arnold or Valiente from Ferdinand, become toxic themselves after experiencing a toxic relationship with their loved ones. The toxicity of someone's personality can even drive the victim to suicide, such as Neil from the Dead Poet's Society. The fallout of a toxic relationship is often more difficult to deal with than the actual relationship.

Ultimately, what I want aspiring writers to take away from this post is to NOT make light or glorify toxic relationships. Whether it's with terrible friends, abusive love ones or your run of the mill bully, audiences shouldn't see toxic relationships as anything more or less than dangerous and stupid. To conclude, I'll be sharing abuse and suicidal hotlines to victims of toxic relationships. If you are a victim, you're not alone. You're not worthless, you're not stupid and you're not unworthy of love.

National Domestic Violence Hotline: 800-799-7233 or Text START to 88788

Suicide And Crisis Hotline: 988

National Institute of Mental Health: 1-800-273-8255 or send a text to 838255 to speak to a VA responder.

Stop Bullying:

[scoonsalicious]

you've got me invested with Unwanted! and I've got stuff I wanted to say. First off, buckle up because this is a long one. Second, I'm not defending him in anyway shape, or form, Bucky is still an absolute piece of shit for what he's done. BUT I will say, I do see why it came to that point. I mean, the obvious manipulation from she who i will not name correctly. look, Jusepie is smart, I'll give her that, bc she's so calculated about every single interaction she and Bucky have. The way she played into his insecurity, self-doubt, and fears, it didn't come off as a surprise to me why Bucky went down that rabbit hole. I saw it this way, Jordan made his fears worse unbeknownst to him, she's the reason why Pocket and him are arguing more and causing a rift in their relationship, AND THEN she throws in that life vest of "oh i understand you more, you can be open to me because we're basically the same person" so she seems like the good guy in the eyes of Bucky. it's kinda like, you push someone who can't swim in a pool without them knowing, and then you save them from drowning so at the end, you still end up being a hero even tho you caused the problem in the first place?

THEN you add the layer of what Hydra has done to him which, we already know how much that messed him up both physically and mentally AND THEN you add the layer that he's not even from this century! And during that time? fragile masculinity? lack of consent? so many things wrong in that era? It's This might sound so condescending but Bucky is a very very VERY fragile man with a fragile mind that can easily be manipulated AND ON TOP OF THAT, actually has a really fragile ego too. And Jeremiah FED all that, she kept telling him things he wanted to hear to make it SEEM like she's on his side and that's she's the only one who gets him even tho that's not true at all.

Bucket isn't innocent obviously, especially with the things he said and didn't say (a.k.a. defending pocket, calling out Jerico and putting boundaries). basically everything he's admitted about the mental gymnastics he was doing to make it seem like he wasn't doing anything wrong blah blah blah. i could only shake my head bc, really? But then it circles back to how fragile his emotional and mental being is. but still, you can't use that as an excuse. AND i will argue, he was having a power trip. what, someone who thinks no one will ever love or even admire him after everything that he's done (even tho it's not his fault) to suddenly having two women vying for his attention? better yet, FIGHTING for him? he's a man, at the end of the day, and they ain't shit.

now, while i don't see him as unredeemable bc I do see his side then again, people keep saying i have too big of a heart so lol, i also don't think this is going to be an easy fix bc hell, i don't trust him either. like everything that comes out of his mouth, i'd be side-eyeing a lot. While I do believe that once you start spying on who your partner talks to, texting, interacting, etc, that relationship is already over. But i also can't blame Pocket bc this is more or less a last resort to save a friendship for than anything else. bc I really do think they need to start from scratch to be able to come out of this. like, build that trust first, then that friendship before they can even start thinking about dating each other again.

I am worried though, because the thing with Bucky and Josiah, as much as we don't like to admit it, they have built some sort of friendship (toxic one but i'll digress). And it has also become a habit (i could argue addiction) for Bucky, especially when he's been open and vulnerable to her (i get there are things you just aren't brave enough to tell your part but like dude, pocket isn't the fragile girl that you think she is, she can handle it) so it's going to be a tough thing for him to navigate and there's still a possibility that he'd crack under pressure (i don't want to say relapse but u get my point), especially knowing the lengths Jose will go through to get to him. It's really up to him to resist her as much as he can, but Bucky is also a good man. He tends to see the good in people even if they absolutely do not deserve it. I mean I'm the same, because if i see someone cry, even if that someone has been absolute shit to me, it cave so easily. and I have no doubt Julian will play into that HEAVILY. i don't think she's shown what she's fully capable of and that's scary.

I know you said that something is still about to happen come chapter 18 before things become all fixing and groveling, and i'm really worried that this would be a nail on the coffin that would make Bucket irredeemable but, you also said it wasn't as bad as chapter 13 so i'm having my theories that the angst might not come directly from bucky, or that he has no control over it a.k.a it's all Jack's masterplan that Bucky wasn't conscious about it (i really hope not please i'm thinking about the worst). And while i don't agree with Pocket doing a nasty revenge just to get back at Bucky. I think it's more powerful for him to hurt solely because it's his own doing, not because Pocket did something intentionally to hurt him. But I also can't say I don't blame her. but I mean, if it wasn't intentional though? I could look the other way haha. Anyway I can't wait to see how you've decided to play this out! sorry for this whole essay haha much love 🤍

Okay, first off, I fucking LOVE THIS. All of it. These J names? SENDING ME. GIVING ME LIFE! I am cracking up over here to the point my dogs are concerned. They’re giving me Looks.

Second, it fills me with unspeakable JOY that you completely, 110% get where I’m trying to come from with Bucky! It’s been difficult for me to express all the things going on in his head when he’s not a POV character, especially without making it sound like he’s just bullshitting Pocket with his words, or being insincere or flat out lying, so to read that you picked up what I was putting down so succinctly is just ::chef’s kiss::

Third, Pocket gets her revenge, but not in a malicious way. Like, she doesn’t set out to make him suffer. She just… makes some decisions that lead to him facing the consequences of his actions in painful ways. Some are satisfying and funny and some are sad and difficult, but they all build toward Bucky seeing how absolute shit he was to her. As for Judas’s master plan, if you’re thinking what I think you’re thinking re: Bucky not being conscious of it, don’t worry— I didn’t go there. If you’re not thinking what I think you’re thinking, then I have no idea what you’re thinking lol

Trying to be purposefully vague about Chapter 18: it’s not so much what Bucky does that causes the angst— it’s how he responds to what he did that really gets to Pocket. She notes to Wanda and Nat that she could have forgiven him for his actions, in time, but not for the way he followed up on them.

[rainbowsky]

Final thoughts on the Wuji candy

Thanks to everyone who wrote in with asks, and also those who shared their thoughts in the comments of my post about the Wuji recording comic.

Rather than answer a bunch of asks about this and make this topic the dominant thing on my blog for the next few days, I'm just going to respond to everything in one post. Sorry to anyone who is disappointed they didn't get a direct reply.

Fake, fan fiction, CPN.

I understand people on both sides of the fence - those who are really excited about the candy and believe it was shared in good faith, and those who have concerns about it. I personally think this candy is probably totally fine, and maybe even a positive thing given how it's changed the conversation in the fandom and cheered a lot of people up, but I do have some mixed feelings and I think it's legitimate to have reservations about the whole thing.

Everyone gets to form their own opinions. Hopefully we can all respect each other and not get too argumentative over it.

There are valid perspectives on both sides:

Negative

The thing that bothered me the most about this candy is that it violates the central turtle precept that 'everything is fake'. She did handle things somewhat carefully, but I found it jarring and a bit scandalous to have someone connected to them do something so brazen without couching it in 'fake'.

She didn't just confirm they were holding hands, she heavily implied a romantic connection between the two of them. She talked about love and romance and cast herself as a turtle. While it's not directly outing them or a direct threat, I can totally understand why some people are concerned about a real-life connection of theirs talking like that so openly (for reasons I explained in the first point above).

The NDA comment had me raising my eyebrows, and I can see I wasn't alone in that. A lot of people expressed that as the main issue they had with it. And it raises so many questions. The NDA for The Untamed expired long ago - is this a personal NDA that has expired, enabling her to share? Was the NDA the only thing holding her back from sharing this type of thing? She promised more candy in the future. Should we be worried about what else she might share? Should we be worried about other associates whose NDAs expire (and might perhaps be less well-intended toward them)? Are other associates of theirs going to start speaking openly about their relationship? All of these questions are totally understandable. I personally lean toward thinking she was probably just trying to deflect any potential criticism about privacy, but I definitely felt weird about the way she phrased it.

Posting it openly on her social media made her a central part of the story, when the focus of candy like this should be on GG and DD. This was also a major concern for some people. I think this one can be argued both ways. I mean, it can be said that by making it focused around her she prevented it from being too broadly connected to GG and DD.

We didn't need any conformation. The emoji was enough. Several people expressed this feeling, and I tend to agree.

A lot of people have stated they feel she's attention-seeking, and that the posts were exploitative. I think she opens herself up to those accusations/concerns by making these public posts/comments, but so does anyone who is connected with them who discusses them in any way. Even someone wishing them a birthday greeting or something gets those accusations. Unfortunately being massively famous makes people assume bad motives. The covid heart candy post had similar accusations against it. This is just the way these things go.

Positive

It is a sweet candy.

At least at face value, she appears to really care about GG and DD and to be someone who is excited about them as a couple. She has something of a track record of this from way back in 2018/19, so this isn't a put-on thing just for this moment. She has consistently expressed interest in and excitement about them.

Whether coincidentally or not, it was well-timed to reassure and energize turtles at a time when people were feeling low about the whole anti video from last week. We were expecting a candy after that, and it looks like we got one - even if it was from an unexpected source. It has successfully changed the conversation and turned things around quite a bit, and that might be intentional.

The characteristics of this video/situation appear to be strikingly effective at downplaying the credibility of the anti video from last week. The anti video was filmed surreptitiously, while this one was openly and legally taken with GG and DD's full knowledge. No legitimate witness has corroborated the malicious impression that there was anything special going on between GG and the other subject in the anti video, meanwhile a known public figure has gone on the record with this video to say that GG and DD were on good terms and held hands.

Cheng Yi and the whole handholding thing went to the top of the entertainment hot search, in the top two positions. Those hot searches were left up, yet the one about the anti video was pushed down (aka GG and his team likely paid to have the anti video hot search suppressed, yet allowed these Wuji ones to remain). While neither of the hot searches would necessarily be associated with GG and DD in most people's minds (they don't mention their names or fandom names), it's hard to imagine that similar searches connected to that anti video would have been left up.

As I said in the previous discussion, there is a lot of plausible deniability baked into this situation. GG and DD were singing a song for the soundtrack of a series they shot together. It was years ago. Even if video footage of them holding hands during recording was released, I'm not sure that it would have much impact outside the circles who already care about this type of thing. Most people would likely dismiss it as fan service or two guys joking around. The whole thing strikes me as pretty harmless.

It's not like GG and DD have really been hiding their relationship anyway.

GG and DD are under more scrutiny than ever (as are all prominent people in China), and with projects set to come out they are at less liberty to take risks. I think that it's possible we will see more candy from people in their entertainment circle, rather than directly from GG and DD themselves.

I am not saying this candy was something GG and DD personally sanctioned (it's possible, of course, but we'll never know), I'm saying that given the climate, there are likely people closer to them who understand the limitations GG and DD are under right now and who will want to reassure turtles when they are upset.

I believe that GG and DD care about - and need - turtles. I've talked about that a lot in the past, here's just one example. I don't think GG and DD, nor the people who care about them, will stand by and let turtles be attacked or heartbroken in ways that could threaten the fandom. Look at OOL airing, which ended up being a huge candy dump from GG.

They're looking out for us just as we're looking out for them. That is how I see it. Others might disagree, but that's my perspective on it.

Anyway, thanks again for being so engaged with this topic. The discussions and perspectives have been interesting. For now I'm going to not take any more asks about this unless there is new information or a perspective that substantially adds to or shifts the conversation in some way.

Edit: More on fan perceptions here.

[luckystarchild]

Most of the time kuwabara's love for yukina seemed very superficial to me, I don't really know the concept of love at first sight but it clearly looked like kuwabara simply liked her because she looked pretty?! Ofc falling for a girl because she looks pretty is not a bad thing but if yukina looked more yokai like and resembled even a bit like hiei there's no way kuwabara would've gone out of his way to rescue her in the first place he might even say she reminds him of a certain someone and stayed at home.

People really think kuwabara's love for yukina is pure and selfless but there's nothing selfless about his love for her. He's nice to her because he likes her and wants to become her lover. Being nice to person you like is also not a bad thing but it does not give you the right to treat other girls like crap because they're not the one you like. kuwabara does this in the manga, anime and even in the live action.

The way he puts yukina on a pedestal and act like the other girls matter very little to him is not really a knight in shining armour kind of a thing.

Kuwabara is a not a great guy, he's just a goof ball who's a sucker for yukina's good looks. He might be attracted to her personality as well but who knows how he will react if yukina were to be rude to him like hiei?! Will he still be attracted to her?

I'm not saying that kuwabara is bad guy but he's not really the perfect down to earth good guy of the group either.

I see where you're coming from with a lot of this. Allow me to offer a few additional thoughts to chew on.

One can definitely argue Kuwabara's "love at first sight" was triggered by Yukina's looks, but something else likely furthered his instantaneous feelings for her: his psychic powers. Before they even meet in person, he gets in her head and sees her past while trying to rescue her. He witnesses her memories of her escape attempts and the way she was tortured. He gets a first-row seat into her trauma, and that triggered a depth of empathy for Yukina that turned a crush into what appears to be "love at first sight."

But here's the thing: Information and intimacy are not the same thing.

Kuwabara received a bunch of information about Yukina when he saw her memories, but that doesn't mean he shares emotional intimacy with her. Alas, Kuwabara (being an inexperienced teenage boy) doesn't understand the difference. To him, his feelings of love/like/lust + his knowledge of Yukina likely make him feel like they share a deep bond of true love.

But to Yukina, Kuwabara likely seems like a stranger. A nice, kind stranger, but a stranger nonetheless. She didn't share his memories in return, after all. She has neither information nor intimacy.

(And this take on her lack of feelings for Kuwabara is supported in canon. Throughout the series, we see her react to his overtures with confusion, not reciprocation or affection. She outright runs away from him in the final chapter when he tries to connect with her.)

But Kuwabara isn't being malicious with his feelings of unearned intimacy. To him, I'd argue that intimacy likely feels very real. His experience within her memories was real. It happened; he saw them; he felt how she felt in her darkest hour. But he's so young, and so inexperienced, I don't think he has the perspective to realize that what he received was information, not intimacy. He lacks the perspective to see the difference.

With that in mind, I don't think I can call Kuwabara a bad person, or even "not a great guy," for chasing after Yukina like he does. I think he's the beating human heart of Team Urameshi, and the most down to earth dude in the bunch. But he's still a teenage boy in the end, and his youth and inexperience led him (as youth and inexperience have led us all) to making some less-than-stellar choices. I can't really blame him for that, even if I don't approve of it.

I agree that if he'd known Yukina was Hiei's sister, or if she'd had a different personality type, or if she wasn't as pretty, his feelings about her might have been completely different. An entire "what if" fic about how his thoughts on her would change based on minor differences in his knowledge would be very, very interesting, that's for sure.

[icanbeyourgenie]

“ You're a very good fighter. Usually I win quite easily but you really put a fight. I needed it. ” – a breathless Malachai to Yasmeen while he has his sword under her throat but didn't notice that she has one of her knives right on his ribs too

Yasmeen raised an eyebrow. “Why are you talking like you just won?”

“Because I-”

She pressed her knife a little bit tighter on Malachai's ribs, making him noticing it. He seemed surprised at first, and for a second she wondered if he would be mad. But then he truly laughed, and she relaxed a bit.

They were both breathless. It was their first training session together, since Malachai was due to leave for his battle in three days. It was still early, too early for faes to be up - they always started their day late. But they both woke up at dawn to train.

“As I said, you put a really good fight. But I had my sword under your throat first.”

“How would you know? You didn't even notice my knife. In a real fight you'd be dead already.”

He looked outraged, but not the scary type. “I would not!”

“I'm in the perfect position for my knife to go straight to your heart.” She stated.

“I would've sliced your throat before you could do that. A sliced artery is a quicker death.”

“Not if I puncture your lung first and you can't breathe.”

“You wouldn't have time to do that.”

“Oh I would. I'm very quick.”

“You know what? Let's agree on the fact that we'd both die in this situation.”

“Okay. But you first.”

“Absolutely not!”

They were about to keep arguing when they suddenly realized that they hadn't move. Malachai's sword was still on Yasmeen's throat, and her knife still on his rib. Like none of them wanted to admit defeat. Yasmeen didn't consider herself a particularly competitive person, except when it came to fighting. At this very moment, they looked at each other's eyes, and they were very close, but she wasn't scared.

She couldn't point out what exactly made them burst into laughing eventually. Maybe their own pride. But it was only then that they both retracted their weapons and caught their breathes. Malachai took a step back and went to drink a bit of water. Yasmeen declined the offer when he handed some to her.

“When did you learn to fight like that?” He finally asked. “I mean. I know I had tutors, I was trained to fight since I was old enough to carry a fake sword. But I guess it's not the case for you.”

“Not, it's not.” She couldn't say the full truth yet, so she settled on half of it. “I taught myself. I'm very skilled at observing people fighting and then learning the same moves.”

“I can see that. Thank you for your offer. It was exactly what I needed to clear my mind.”

“Of the fact that you're leaving in three days for a very dangerous battle you might not come back from?” She hated these words as she said them.

“I fought worse battles.” He answered, but he did look tense. It was his homeland he was fighting for, after all.

“Let's do another round. We still have hours before anyone gets up.”

Yasmeen tried to clear his mind again and it seemed to work, based on his smile. But it wasn't a pure smile. More of a smirk.

“Let's spice it up a bit.” He said.

“How?”

“With bets. If I win, you have to..... find a way to distract the lady Euphemia the next time she tries to talk to me. She's really becoming creepy lately.”

Yasmeen laughed freely. “She wants to be queen, she won't be so easily distracted. But fine, I will try. Once. The rest, you'll be on your own.”

“Deal. At least one reception when she isn't trying to talk to me will be peaceful enough. What's your price if you win.”

Yasmeen thought this through for a second. There was many things she could ask from Malachai. After all, he was a prince, and an heir. He could get away with a lot of things. Maybe she could ask him to punch Aeron, or Rhysand, or better - Aldris. That psychopath wouldn't be able to fight back, it would get his ego in check. But it's not what she asked.

“If I win,” She said after a time. “I want you to come back. In one piece.”

He looked at her with an intensity that she couldn't decipher, but she didn't look away. They stayed silent for a while. They often did that, the silent didn't scare them. Yasmeen knew he couldn't truly promise that. It wasn't entirely up to him. But when he nodded and whispered “Deal.”, she believed him. And so she picked up her knives, ready to win the other round.

[arcplaysgames]

Haru literally has the best persona, don't even play.

OKAY lets get caught up to where I am right now so I can close this bitch out and figure out how justified my ire at the ending is or not.

Not to repeat a complaint but I am extremely disappointed with the Mementos Depths as an area. It's all just.... what am I even looking at? What is this shit.

Anyway, the crew finally makes it to the bottom, to where the Treasure is.

The Treasure at the heart of the world is the Holy Grail, and it is surrounded by imprisoned worshippers who scream and cry when the Thieves attack it, and through their desire for the Grail, they give it more and more power.

So it's the Midnight Channel.

I'm not actually trying to be flip, trust me, but the degree to which this is just a retread of P4G is kind of weird.

Anyway, after a short pointless fight where the prisoners keep restoring the Grail's health when we try to destroy it, the Grail itself claims it's time for "fusion."

The skeletal structure of Mementos fuses into reality, bringing the cognitive world in to overlap with the real world. Notably, no one seems to notice the change except the Thieves and their allies.

Because the Grail is able to manifest the desires of everyone into cognitive reality, it decides that no one believes in the Phantom Thieves, and so everyone dissolves while thE FUCKING PHANSITE METER DROPS TO ZERO

MISHIMA YOU PRICKLY PRICK YOU'VE BURIED US ALL

How much of this could have been avoided if Reverie really did find Mishima's laptop and thrown it out the fucking window way back when I said? Everything, I bet.

The "rehabilitation" has "failed" so Reverie is sentenced to death by Notigor. But given the prison we just went through, I am pretty sure rehabilitation would have been Super Bad, so.

FINALLY the twins have had enough of this shit and are like "um, no we think killing our charge might be bad actually, what is up with you" and as they argue with each other, they figure out the truth.

LMAO I FUCKING KNEW WE'D END UP FUSING THE TWINS BACK INTO ONE.

Her name is Lavenza, the true Velvet Room attendant. She was torn by a malicious actor to prevent her from seeing that Igor was an imposter.

YEAH NO SHIT

bitch fuck all the way off, i wouldn't even split a brunch check with you, get your ass outta here and gimme back igor

it ain't even an interesting deal like the one with Adachi, you are such a poser

i'm so fucking happy your back igor i missed you so fucking much you don't even know, man, they had me chained up and were always threatening me with electric rods and no one was polite or hospitable and we were CHOPPING OFF PERSONAE HEADS to do fusions it was so fucked up igor i missed you you weird old man can you do a tarot reading for me and do a When Will I Stop Crying draw for me

i love you igor sob

out of universe note: how fucking fiendishly clever was it to use the "oop, our original VA sadly passed away" out to put in place a decoy igor who clearly wasn't the same dude at all but given the doylist reason for why he was so difference, maybe some people didn't get the twist, idk. how many people fell for the trick, i have no idea.

i mean i didn't because the velvet room was Uber Fucked from the second Reverie arrived but was it obvious to other folks?????

[darklinaforever]

DAEMON TARGARYEN, ABLE TO LOVE HIS CHILDREN ?

"I think Daemon loves his children to a certain extent but just not as some other parents might, I mean he literally tells Mysaria he's glad that she can't get pregnant and in the books he doesn't really show any grief when she miscarried , though thst can be argued bc he did get a hardness when it came to Viserys after that "

Good. To start, let's talk about this moment in the series. Daemon at this time is not a father. He does not know fatherhood, and he is still young. For information, many people do not want children at some point in their life, that does not mean that they will love their children less than those who have always wanted them, once they have them. This perspective is ridiculous, and based on literally sure nothing. (Hello Rhaenyra?) Also, it's forgotten that Daemon was actually considering having children with Mysaria before she revealed to him that it was impossible, and also that in episode 4, when Rhaenyra told him that Rhea Royce was lucky, as he didn't impregnate him, Daemon simply retorts that it would be impossible to raise children/develop them properly in such a hostile environment. These elements therefore indicate that in reality Daemon is not at all against the very idea of having children. And if Daemon was definitely against this idea, I doubt he would have had 4 under his belt, and almost 6 in fact, if you count the lost babies of Laena and Rhaenyra.

Seriously, assuming you can't love your kids right because you didn't want them before is so stupid... There are tons of parents who wanted kids who ultimately don't love their kids right, or even not at all for some. And conversely there are tons of parents loving their children when before they didn't want them. Where does this bullshit argument come from?!

When Mysaria has a miscarriage in the book, it is said that (from my French version that I translate) "When the news reached Prince Daemon, he did not utter a single syllable of sorrow, but his heart was hardened against the king his brother. From then on, he no longer spoke of King Viserys except with disdain". So, I don't know what more you need to understand that yes, Daemon was definitely impacted by the death of his child and resented Viserys for this loss. To think that he didn't experience grief because he didn't express it conventionally / or it wasn't described as such, (especially in a book told as a biased historical narrative and not a normal novel) is nonsense.

Then, when Daemon had his daughters, his first instinct was to extend his hand of reconciliation to Viserys to meet them and bless them so that Daemon could properly introduce them to the court. He also always defended his stepsons against accusations of bastardy. He plotted Blood and Cheese to avenge Luke's death, "son for son." ", and killed Aemond by literally planting Dark Sister in his eye "An eye for an eye". Beyond that, Daemon was always by Rhaenyra's side during the births of his children with her. Because yes, if he did it for baby Visenya, there's no reason to think he didn't do it for the others. When the war broke out, Daemon also sent Rhaena to the Vale, a place he deeply hates, indicating that he is swallowing his pride in order to keep his daughter safe. Without talking about the fact that he did not punish Baela for having sex outside marriage, staggering for the time. So, frankly, to say that he loves his children, but not in the way other parents would, is of course not based. Or worse, that he wouldn't like them at all (as some go so far as to say sometimes). Daemon loves his children, even those who are not biologically his own. It's that simple, and I don't understand why so many people try to downplay this clearly evident aspect of the book.

[deadendtracks]

I meant marriage but I would be interested to know your thoughts on prior to marriage too...

Ah ok thanks for clarifying.

First, I think that if Tommy's main motivation for marrying Lizzie was a fear of being alone, he would have asked her to marry him when she told him she was pregnant. You know? That would have been a great opportunity to guarantee companionship. But he didn't.

It's not that I don't think there's some truth to the idea that Tommy has a fear of being alone (I'll expand on this in a moment); but I don't think it really plays out by motivating him to marry Lizzie. And I'm not all that convinced it has a lot to do directly with why he was sexually involved with Lizzie before they married. I think Tommy can use sex as an outlet and a distraction, and yes for some human contact (which isn't the same thing as alleviating a fear of being alone). The sex we see him having with Lizzie in s2 is pretty perfunctory, though that might have been specific to the context of that episode and they seem friendly enough afterwards. He also breaks that relationship off with her once he hires her, which he most likely would not have chosen not to do if his primary motivation was fear of being alone.

I think it's more likely after Grace's death, when they were together in s3. We don't actually see any of those sex scenes (though we have Lizzie's line that it was 'bent over a desk' so not exactly super intimate). We also have Tommy's claim that it was Lizzie who kept his heart from breaking. My guess is the truth about how they interacted was probably somewhere in the middle -- 'bent over a desk' doesn't really give you the idea that she's providing him with the kind of emotional comfort Tommy claims to have gained.

But I think the more interesting question is whether or not Tommy has a 'fear of being alone' in the first place. I was talking to Lisa about this, and she framed it as more a fear of being abandoned and I think that's more accurate. I also think that Tommy already feels alone, all of the time, no matter who he's with -- there was a fundamental severing that creates a chasm between him and everyone else, and this seems to have either happened during the war or was worsened by the war.

It's not so much a fear of being alone-- Tommy's very self-aware of the fact that he's already profoundly lonely. He struggles to connect with people. This is part of his PTSD.

So back to your original question: does Tommy marry Lizzie out of a fear of being alone? I'd probably argue no; at the same time I do think that once they are married, Tommy does have a fear that Lizzie will abandon him. And that's actually driving what people have called his jealousy or possessiveness in s5, and it's painfully present in s6 when Lizzie does leave him.

Paradoxically, Tommy doesn't generally try to defend himself or try to make people stay. You see this with Ada in s1 (this is credit to Lisa again) -- he gives up on trying to convince her that he wasn't behind Freddie's arrest and just accepts her 'forgiveness' because he's so afraid if he doesn't, she'll push him away for good. This dynamic is a big part of how he behaves with his family imo.

You also see this when he doesn't try to explain what happened with Diana Mitford in s6, even when Lizzie basically asks him to (her line about how he doesn't even fight her on leaving). I think in this case it's less that he's afraid that if he does she'll push him away, rather it's wrapped up in shame and the idea that he 'belongs at that table' with the fascists. All of that is probably a whole other essay, though.

This has gotten long and I'm feeling dissatisfied with my ability to articulate what I really mean, but hopefully it has complicated, rather than simplified or flattened, Tommy's character.

I do think "Tommy marries Lizzie/is with Lizzie because he's afraid of being alone" isn't accurate and does that thing where reducing his motivations to an easy formula lead you away from really understanding anything that's going on.

[beantothemax]

"She's late."

For ten minutes, the scholar had been pacing around the entire house. She could be lost, beaten to a pulp or in detention!

Anyone who was heartless enough to hurt such a precious girl would not live to see another day, Osvald would make sure of that.

"She's fine," Rita laughed.

"You don't know that! If she acts anything like I did on my first day of school then she's gonna come home with a bloody nose and rose thorns in her arms! And she does act just like me!" Osvald argued.

Rita stood. She took his hands in her own with a smile.

"Listen darling, if anything happens then we can homeschool her," she said, "but she'll be fine, I'm friends with most of her classmates' parents and they're all lovely people with well behaved kids."

"Gods, I hope you're right," Osvald muttered.

"And if anyone hurts her, I'll make them regret ever even approaching her. They didn't call me the queen of Montwise arena for nothing!" she laughed.

Osvald chuckled at the thought.

The tension left his shoulders as Rita lit the stove. She certainly wasn't a master, but she knew enough fire magic that she never had to ask Osvald for help while cooking. Setting a kettle to boil, she sat across from him.

"Really, what's the worst that could happen to Elena? It's the first day, no one has any long lasting resentment towards her, at least not yet," Rita smiled.

Osvald thought of how he'd come home with a bruised face and broken arm on his first day of school. His parents were furious with the teachers, and decided that from then on, he'd be homeschooled. The tutor they hired was an excellent teacher, but it resulted in his social skills leaving something to be desired.

He dismissed the thought. Kids were worse back then. Nowadays, parents taught their kids to be kind practically straight out of the womb!

"I suppose that's true," he said.

They talked a while longer, until Rita noticed the high pitched scream of the kettle. She added two tea bags before setting it on the table, along with tea cups and saucers.

She poured a cup of tea for each of them. Osvald blowed on his cup, before carefully taking a sip.

Gods, Rita's homemade tea was divine.

He drank more, quickly downing the cup.

As they made their way through the pot, the door opened.

"Bye Sara!" Elena yelled.

"Bye Elena!" a girl yelled back.

Elena entered the housing, carefully shutting the door behind her. She put her backpack away, before joining her parents at the table.

In an instant, all of Osvald's anxieties returned.

"So? How was it?" he desperately asked.

"It was amazing! We had to paint our hands then stamp them on a big piece of paper. Mine was blue and red, I didn't get all the paint off my hand though," Elena spoke quickly.

She always spoke quickly and stumbled over her words when she was excited.

She showed her hand, and sure enough, there were some spots of dried paint.

"And? Who was that girl you were talking to?" Osvald asked.

"Oh yeah! That's Sara, she's my friend. We were making flower crowns!" Elena ran back to her room, and returned with several poorly braided dandelions, "mine isn't done yet. I don't know how to finish it. She was helping me, but she had to go home."

"I know that pattern, I can help," Rita answered.

"Really?"

"Of course, but we need a few more flowers."

In not time, they had their shoes on, and headed out the door.

"We'll be back soon, but dinner might be a bit late today," Rita said.

"No, you two have fun, I'll cook," Osvald replied.

She gave him a quick kiss, "thank you darling."

She left, Elena following close behind.

Osvald smiled as he heard them laugh and yell, muffled by the walls. He considered himself lucky to have people in his life as perfect as them.

AAAAAAAAA PIE THIS IS SO SWEET,,,, MY HEART,,,,,,

love rita very casually insinuating that she’ll kill anyone who so much as hurst Elena. love the mercenary!rita au because it means she gets to kill

also elena talking too fast and stumbling over her words because she’s excited… she’s just like me fr

pie this is lovely and I like it a lot!!!!! now go to bed!!!!!

[somuchbetterthanthat]

MAG 161 - Dwelling

Oh this one is good. This one is good. So many little things to latch upon. This one is such a SLAP IN THE FACE in the best possible way. Going to try and list everything I love about it -

The birthday scene: chillingly heartbreaking. The perfect way to give us the same grief Jon has for the world, for the past, all his regrets. Offers such a different vision of S1 that S4 Jon had muttered about - colleagues that appreciate each other and jokes with each other (with a hint of Martin stuttering and being put on the spot in a bad way even if it seems joking. I feel like this gives credits to Tim and Sasha being good people capable of being a little thoughlessly mean without realizing at all, which I think makes them relatable and human and I like that). Obviously I love the Jonelias of it all, especially Jon going from stammering at Elias choosing to stay to them possibly smirking at each other over the cake ("he wished for some peace and quiet" / "was that really that obvious?")

Martin's way of dealing VS Jon's way of dealing with things. Martin feeling trapped in inaction, Jon hiding in his own grief cause it's safer than the joy he feels out in the Horrors. Jon pressing on the button for Gertrude's tape like pressing on a bruise, again and again, while Martin wants to move on from it already. Also the hint that... Jon might try to explain how it is, but Martin genuinely doesn't get it, cannot get it. Whether because it's cause a God is weeping in front of him, or because he himself has trouble with empathy in general or a mix of both is interesting either way.

Martin trying to tell Jon it wasn't his fault, and that they've argued about it already cause Jon is not willing to hear it yet: GOOD. Set a good point for Jon understanding he really was a victim here. He was used. He's not guilty of anything.

"Do you really think so?" Jon literally not being able to imagine the world differently anymore, it's too loud; he's at the bottom pit of despair, but Martin saying there might be a solution is enough to give him such a heartbreaking tremor in his voice of hope. He wants Martin to give him hope because he cannot produce his own anymore.

"Some of us didn't get their feelings cut off before the end of the world" / "That's not fair". Guys. You know how much I love this exchange. I feel this was DEFINITELY not explored enough afterwards, but i'm keeping it SO CLOSE TO MY HEART; this, this i would do so much with in my own version.

I like how practical Gertrude sounds about all she says. She goes straight to the point, befitting her character. I like the fact she thought Sasha would be next, that she'd gathered the Archivist might be necessary for a ritual but she didn't understand/realize the specifics of it, only that Elias would push for it. ALSO AGNES MENTION AGNES MENTION AGNES MENTION. etc.

Now-- I still don't get why the web or Elias, but I thought Annabelle was the one to have sent the tapes really, would care to send specific tapes for the fire thing. Like yes, it's foreshadowing for us, but are we to assume it's just for us and was neither intended to be picked up by Jon or Martin? Unless, of course, Annabelle might have a specific idea in mind with the fire plan. Specifically Annabelle, not the Web. Putting a pin on that idea.

All in all though, this episode was SUCH a good introduction to the season. I still love it very very very much. It's a perfect amount of angst with a hint that something else might be possible beyond that cabin and the past.

[bluemoonfantasiesiii]

Lily chuckled at what Ruby said about Mona "she's always short on mora~, because she always buysa really heavy and big books and high priced stuff~. She once allowed me in her house~, because Papa was helping her with some works~. I only wanted to draw, so she gave me three papers and a pencil so I can draw like papa always do~. The room I was left in, was so big and filled with a lot of things that I don't understand~" Lily explained thinking that everyone knows about this "and no! You are no monster~, Angel~! So stop say that~!" Lily pouted at what he said about himself.

"Well~, technically~ there is no monsters around~, if we count any elemental creature as living being but in their simple and pure form of each element in Teyvat~ and the hilichurls are some cursed people~, then there's no monster really~" Susu said while she was thinking about the idea "you know~, Ruby~, if you have no constellation up there, that means you are a part of the elements in this world~" she said with a genuine smile at the boy, softly caressing his cheek as if he was her own child.

"Yes~! Because Ruby is a Cryo whooperflower~! And he is the guardian Angel of the mountain~! And he's my friend~!" Lily agreed with big smile, seems so proud to have Susu to support her way of thinking.

Susu chuckled at the girl's way of arguing and patted her head lovingly. She didn't wish to make her feel sad or anything so she helped take her mind off the matter by teaching her how to use the telescope. Once she learned, Lily looked where Ruby was pointing and she was so happy to see it.

"This is my first time seeing a constellation~!"she exclaimed and handed the lady the device so she can see it too "who's that one for~, Ruby~?" She asked her friend with wondering eyes.

Susu was glad to see it too "I found it~ too~" she said with soft giggle.

---

Unaware of the person following him, Vincent sighed like the third time while he was still stuck in his letter "come on.. I need to get this over with" he mumbled to himself. The pencil could only write one line of words but no more.

(Dear Rosa, Friend Rosa, Rosa,

.)

"Ugh, I don't even know what I should write in this letter.. should I send Lily to her alone as I work there..? ... but what if she wasn't honest..? Can I really trust her again..?" He asked to no one.

"I should learn how to transfer my shield to Lily's bracelet, so she can be safe even when my eyes are not on her. That's one idea to go with" he said looking for his personal note to write down the first test of his shield.

(Charge the bracelet to be protective in dangerous times)

"I should be able to find a way for it. I'm already capable of using my Hydro as a healing cover and a memories projector. I should be able to enhance this by getting some pieces from the crab like ruin machine" he thought out loud and a smile came to his lips as he found a good way to keep his daughter safe now.

He started to write down the things he might need and should get when he is in Liyue "with this, I can leave Lily any place and she should be fine, but of course, I won't~" he said as if he was replying to a question no one asked.

The adventurer let a sigh and shook his head with a soft smile resting on his face "she truly had it her way with me, my dear daughter" he said with lighthearted giggle as he kept working on that one page before he moves to a new one to start a new diet schedule for the Captain as a way to say thank you to him.

“Aww, you guys are too sweet~” Rubedo said. “You’re right, even if I don’t have a constellation, I’m still a person!” He looked back up at the doll-like constellation and tried to remember why he was so curious about it before.

“Some legends from Inazuma say that hundreds of years ago, the Electro Archon made a living puppet with her own hands to hold her Gnosis for safekeeping. But he was too soft-hearted for the task, so she let him go free. No one knows what happened to him after that. According to expert astrologists, Peregrinus is his constellation, and his birthday wasn’t too long ago.”

———

“You really do care for that girl, huh?” Nigredo thought. He’d silently taken a seat on one of the beds as he observed the young researcher. “The ‘her’ he’s talking about… Is he referring to Lily’s real mother? Is she out in the desert somewhere?”

“It is entirely possible,” Durin replied in the gardener’s head. “Especially if she is a student of the Akademiya. Many of them leave everything behind to pursue their research.”

“Tch,” Nigredo scoffed in his mind. “Sounds familiar.”