#sorry i went off tangent at the end i really don't have much to go off on cécile aside my own Speculations

[assmaster-8000]

short cécile song analysis here because im chronically unwell about cécile, so. fair warning for some heavy topics such as putting yourself to sleep with the fishies

last resort is very explicitly about suicide. like, very explicitly. they put it in your face in big bold black letters.

i imagine his loyalty to gael is the only thing keeping him in this world. but even that has its run that can't last forever. if cécile puts gael on a pedestal, then it could be a case of 'please let me sacrifice myself for your cause because i can't go on living and id rather die protecting you'. it could also be a case of 'nobody else can protect you like i can so ill stay alive for you', but considering the song at hand i think he's already at the point of being utterly hopeless. considering he smokes a lot despite the possibility it impacts his ability to perform as a bodyguard and overall health, he's more so the type to passively kill himself and not struggle in the face of death. yes, it might kill him. but what can he do when there's so little in this world that provides him respite?

his last resort could quite literally come as his romance with mc. i think mc is only truly equal with lázaro and cécile at first, so as much as cécile is walking weapon for his lovers, mc is the only one he can view as one in the same (controlled by a god, fish outta water, their determination to live far out does his physical strength so it kinda balances the scales). i believe their bond with him is more so the latter of 'im the only one who can protect you so ill keep on living'.

so i guess the whole gimmick of "romancing cécile is dangerous because failing to develop it properly could lead to your death" has more context more than the fact he's a literal killer because the possibility of his love with them failing would be his last straw. cécile'll finally take the reigns of his demise now that all has truly failed. and like a weapon can turn on its executioner with a slip of the hand, he'll take mc down with him. that's the last act of romance he can provide for them in a bad ending of his route - a mutual death. that's what you asked, by romancing him anyways. know that the monster will still love you with its claws and teeth, and know that the monster will kill you with the same with one wrong move.

but really, i guess it's because of my projection clouding my ability to consider other routes, but i can't see a way mc would personally ruin their relationship with cecile past their whole weird relationship with the tower and the unknown god. to love cécile is to be the one to chase him, to chase after cécile is to know he'll claw your skin off in a desperate attempt to stave you off and yet love him anyways. to love cécile, you absolutely must have courage and drive.

and for cécile to love you is to hope you'll continue to reach for his hand, no matter how tight his grip is, and tell him he's not as doomed as he thinks he is. it's not a matter of lying to him - he's knows he's doomed. he's acutely aware of the blood on his hands. he wants you to love him, doomed and all - on his last leg, and all.

What sad songs represent each love interest the best? (please make me cry with them, pleeeeease)

Don't know if they'll make you cry, but I think of the LIs when listening to them and they make emotional :^)

✦ Sad songs that represent the LIs

✦ Amon: La canción — Bad Bunny, J Balvin

✦ Raeya: Without you — Ursine Vulpine

✦ Gael: Shots — Imagine Dragons

✦ Envy: What could've been — Sting

✦ Ara: Corps — Yseult

✦ Xal: Broken parts — Smash into Pieces

✦ Father Pride: Everybody's changing — Keane

✦ Lázaro: Ricochet — Starset

✦ Cécile: Last resort — Falling in Reverse

[dfwbwfbbwfbwf]

The Noldor needed to return to Middle Earth.

This is a long one, so I put it under a Read More thing.

I was looking into the Doom of the Noldor, and why the Valar weren't interested in going after Morgoth after he murdered a guy, and I came across the rather reasonable argument that the Valar could only defeat Morgoth after he put a great deal of his influence into Arda, kind of like a giant One Ring, which would weaken him. Which is all fine and good, I guess.

(Not sure why they couldn't just do what they did in the War of the Powers and evacuate everyone out of Beleriand before sending Tulkas in, as that would be far more responsible than what they actually ended up doing, but I digress.)

So that's it then. The Valar plan to just sit around Valinor, chilling, while Morgoth essentially runs around Beleriand with a can of gasoline and a match. And, based off what I've read, it sounds like they were really just kind of doing nothing until Eärendil and Elwing showed up to buy protection. Or it does take three years to sail from southwest Beleriand to the Bay of Eldamar. (It took Eärendil eight total, and four of them were after Elwing showed up, and it is a long journey; there's a reason the Noldor went as far north as they could in Aman before attempting to sail.)

Here's a map for reference. Credit to Karen Wynn Fonstadt. The Helcaraxë is so tiny!

Anyway, I'm going to give those who stayed in Valinor the benefit of the doubt and assume they spent 5 and a half centuries preparing for war.

(Even though the Noldor were plenty ready for it when they left, considering they annihilated Morgoth's army. Yeah, Fëanor died, but who could expect fire demons of nightmares to show up randomly?)

Sorry. I keep getting into tangents. The Valinorians prepare, get a signal from ... something, and sail across Belaegar to destroy Morgoth and save the Men, Elves, and Dwarves. Happy ever after, and the Flight of the Noldor was completely useless and pointless.

Except it wasn't.

Sure, most of that plan would've still worked as intended, except for the "save Men, Elves, and Dwarves" part. Beleriand would have been an utter wasteland by the time they got there without the Noldor's intervention. Morgoth might have conquered even more. Imagine if he got to Cuiviénen, the far south of Harad, even Hildórien.

"That's impossible, dfwbwfbbwfbwf. Even Morgoth couldn't have mustered up the strength to do that."

But is it impossible? Who would have been there to stop him?

Círdan's Falathrim were nearly exterminated, saved only due to Fëanor's intervention. Denethor died because Fëanor was too late. (By how much, it's unclear, but it happened the same Valerian Year, so maybe a few Sun Years. If Olwë had helped, and Uinen not slowed the Noldor, and Ulmo provided a way across, perhaps Denethor would have lived. But I suppose we'll never know.) Melian guarded Doriath with her Girdle, but Þingollo never sent anyone out to engage with Morgoth; he couldn't, because Doriath didn't stand a snowball's chance in Mordor. What Sindar and Nandor were trapped outside the Girdle were certainly no match for Morgoth's forces. I wouldn't be surprised if Morgoth conquered the entire continent (again, save Doriath, but Doriath is about as concerning to him as a mosquito bite) before Iþil rose for the first time. After all, it took him about 19-20 years to take over half the land, and he had about 27 to take the other half.

I don't imagine Morgoth would go after the Khazad, and I don't see the Khazad going after Morgoth. They'd close their doors to all, and Morgoth wouldn't have to worry about them.

Morgoth would still venture east and corrupt the newly awoken Men, and I think some would repent and travel west to become the Edain, but they would either remain in Middle Earth, or be destroyed and/or corrupted upon reaching Beleriand. There would be no Finrod to greet them, no Dorthonion or Brethil or Dor-Lómin for them to settle and thrive in. There would be no Beren, Dior, Elwing. There would be no Hador, Galdor, Huor, Tuor, Eärendil. No Elrond or Elros.

Morgoth would continue south and east. The Nandor and Avari would likely fall - I think the Silvans would be destroyed or subjugated first, as they probably have a smaller population. And with each civilization Morgoth conquers, he has more potential orcs.

I do think Morgoth would still develop his dragons. He's a reptile dad imo.

By the time the Valinorians arrive in this timeline, there's nothing TO save. Even if they manage to defeat Morgoth, it would take longer. More lives lost. More land sunk.

Do I think the Noldor were the only reason this didn't happen? No, but they were a very big one. Their first attack in the Dagor-nuin-Giliath decimated Morgoth's army, something that took him four and a half centuries to build up enough to fight with again. They guarded Beleriand against the northern menace. They made the continent a safe place for Elf, Man, and Dwarf to thrive, something the "King of Beleriand" couldn't accomplish, and the "King of Elves" Ingwë and "King of Arda" Manwë refused to try.

Do I think the original argument of the Valar waging a war of attrition against Morgoth makes sense? Yes. Do I think their plan would have worked? Depends how you define "worked" - they would have defeated Morgoth, but the cost would be too great. This is why Fëanáro was born: to save Beleriand. And even though he was only on the continent for a short time, he did just that. The Valar should have helped him, but they were, at best, foolish, at worst cowards.

Remember to thank a Fëanárion for your existence today.

... No one is going to read this, and if you did, you're insane. But I guess I'm insane for writing it. Have a cookie and milk. 🍪🥛

[gor3-hound]

TALK TOO MUCH - WELT YANG

ft. welt yang x fem!reader

a/n: was really struggling with this and hate it - want to preface it by saying this is unfinished. it's just a first draft, but people (person) still wanted me to post it, even if i'm not gonna end up fully finishing it :/ the ending is rushed, but it technically does have an end. hope you like it regardless. title from coin song of the same name

cw: 18+ content, welt rambling, hand holding, kissing, just really fluffy smut tbh, welt is a lil subby and shy, age gap, p in v, creampie

word count: 1.4k words

You certainly were a curious thing. Welt had gotten used to those on the Astral Express treating him as their personal encyclopedia, although he hadn't quite expected you to be so adamant to get him to info dump on every little thing once you'd discovered it - not that he didn't like it. He did pride himself on his intelligence, and there were much worse ways to spend his time than having a nice conversation with someone like you, even if you're the only one that can make his heart race when you called him Mr. Yang.

He's not surprised at all when he hears a knock on his door at night. He pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose as he looks up and gazes towards the entrance of his room, spotting you slowly opening it, looking all sheepish as you slide your way into the room, shutting the door behind you.

"Ah, good evening. Isn't it a bit late for you to expect me to go on one of my tangents?" He asks, the corner of his mouth twitching up in amusement.

“Sorry, I just couldn't sleep. I thought maybe you could talk to me about something for a while? If you don't mind, of course.” You say softly, offering him a small smile as you take a step further into his room, hoping he agrees.

"Oh, you want me to start blathering, hm?" He replies, meeting your gaze and smiling in return. He pats the spot on the bed next to him, inviting you over to sit. You offer your thanks as you take a seat, leaning back against the headboard. “Well. If you're seeking a calming influence, then I suppose you've come to the right place." 

You smile at his words, tilting your head to look at him as you settle comfortably on the bed. "Your blathering just so happens to be my favorite thing to listen to.”

Welt raises an eyebrow, eyes narrowing slightly as you admit that you really do like listening to him ramble on. You always bring a feeling of warmth in his chest that he has not felt in a long while. Your company is certainly becoming one of his favorite things on the express.

"And here I thought you were just humoring me to keep me from being lonely." He says, but a smile curls the corner of his mouth regardless. "You're in luck, though. I'll chat your ear off for as long as you need me to.”

And so he does. He starts talking about any topics that come to mind, getting lost in his thoughts as he does so. He's not sure how long he's talking for, but you haven't stopped him yet, so he can only hope he isn't bothering you.

“The starskiffs of the Cloud Knights would head to planets that went out of contact to seek information, while the Xianzhou Ten-Lords Commission remains-”  Welt trails off as he feels your head loll against his shoulder, snapping him out of his thoughts. The smile hasn't left his face the entire time, but it only grows at the sight of you lying against his shoulders, eyes half-shut. His hand moves to the back of your head to keep you secure, his thumb gently moving back and forth. “I thought you couldn't sleep, dear. Are my words really so boring to you?”

You shake your head softly, peering up at him through your lashes as he speaks. Your expression is soft, lingering on his eyes for a moment before they drop down to his lips, just for a second. “You're not boring. Not at all. You just make me feel comfortable. Relaxed.” 

He nods softly, but he's barely focusing on your words. He can hardly stand being this close to you, and it was impossible to ignore the way your gaze settled on his mouth, even if only for a moment. He wanted you so, so badly.

He's about to open his mouth to say something, anything to distract him enough to stop him from doing anything stupid, until you beat him to it. “I want to kiss you. Please, can I?”

The mere thought of it sends his heart pounding so fast it hurts. He's so old, at least, far older than you. You're still so young, so full of life - how could he expect he'd ever have a chance with you?

Welt nods, his eyes closing momentarily. "Please, be gentle. It... it has been a long time." With his words spoken, he brings his lips to meet yours.

Your lips eagerly meet his once your eyes have fluttered shut, greedily taking in everything he's giving you. His lips are just as soft as you'd imagined, pressing firmly against yours. A small noise escapes him when you cup his cheek, drawing him further towards you.

He leans into the kiss, his hands squeezing you tighter. His lips are warm and gentle, his tongue peeking out gently to prod at your lips until you part them, before it carefully slides into your mouth. His free hand trails down your back to your ass, squeezing it lightly as he deepens the kiss once more, tugging you onto his lap. 

“Welt…” You murmur between kisses, brushing his bangs back with your free hand as you straddle him, pressing your body against his. Welt. Not Mr. Yang. The sound of that has him smiling into the kiss, tugging you a little closer. 

He's still smiling when you pull away from the kiss, the corner of his eyes crinkling as warmth floods his features. Your warm body pressed against his is enough to have him craving more, his heart pounding against his chest. 

“I… I want you. Please.” You breathe out, resting your forehead against his, your thumbs grazing his cheekbones. You slowly roll your hips, rubbing yourself against his clothed cock. You can't help but feel a surge of pride as it instantly fills out, causing Welt to let out an almost pained groan.

"Please, my dear..." He starts, his voice soft and tender, but hoarse with arousal. "Do be patient with me, alright? I... I do not want to disappoint you.”

“You couldn't disappoint me. God, I've wanted you for so long. Wasn't it obvious?” You breathe out, lips pressing against his jaw over and over again.  His body is now trembling in your hands, your lips sending his senses into overload. His groan deepens, and he lets out the subtlest of moans when your hips roll to grind down on his lap.

"I-I didn't know that at all..." His breathing is short and shallow now, every moment feeling like the first time you've kissed him. "Who would've known that I'd be so popular with you?”

“I'll be careful, okay?” You murmur against the skin of his neck, nipping and licking at the skin as you paw desperately at his clothes, tugging them off until you're both laid bare on his bed. His pale skin is marred with scars, his muscles slightly toned but covered by a soft layer of flesh.

You sink down slowly onto his length, taking him inch by inch. Welt lets out an involuntary gasp, his hips twitching towards you instinctively to try and drive himself further into your wet cunt. His hand reaches out to grab yours, squeezing it tightly as you begin to build a steady rhythm, bouncing up and down on his cock. Your free hand shifts to thread through his hair, yanking gently on the strands.

“I care for you, ah, very deeply, you know?” He said through gritted teeth, his breath coming out in short pants. It had been far too long, and he knew he wasn't going to be able to stave off his orgasm anymore. “I want… I want to make you feel good, too.”

He does his best to ignore the tightening of his stomach, whimpering softly as he feels the coil snap, flooding you with rope after rope of his cum. His free hand presses against your mound, his thumb hastily swiping back and forth over your clit until you're cumming, clenching around his over-sensitive cock until he's gasping your name.

It takes a moment for him to calm down, to catch his breath - but when he does, he's beaming at you, a shimmer in his eyes that he'd long lost returning. “That was perfect, my dear. You're perfect.”

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for arguing with my mom over toys?

I (15) have ADHD and autism and my mom (65) knows but doesn't really believe it. So right now, my hyper fixation is spiderman and barbie. I'm like obsessed and I love looking out for cool toys or merch of them. I rarely ever ask if I can buy them- I don't have a job yet so I have to ask my parents, but when I do it's usually a no. Wich I'm not usually too upset about, I get it. I'm a bit bitter about it, given that when my brothers (18 and 19) ever ask for something my parents will get them it with no questions asked. Besides the point.

A while back, we where in target and I was looking in the toy isle and there are these spiderman figurines and they have ones of spot, Gwen, Peter and Miles. I was obsessed the moment I saw them and asked my mom if I could get Gwen cause she's my absolute favorite. And she said no because she already has all of them at home. She hadn't told me this before but i was excited cause she showed me photos and she had all four of the dolls along with the new Margo Robbie and Ryan gosling barbie and ken dolls. The entire time she was making it out like she had gotten them for me, and I was super excited.

When we got home I waited for a bit, kinda thinking she'd bring them out and show me, but she never did so I eventually just asked "hey! Can I see the Spider-Man dolls?" And she said "no I've already put them away." Turns out she has all of them but she had no intention of ever giving me them and they're all in a bag in her closet. And so I was upset and went down to my room and ended up having a good cry cus this isn't the first time she's done something like this.

Skip forward to today, we where at Walmart and I see the Spider-Man dolls and ask if I could get one and she said "no you already have them." So I said "no, you have them. You keep them in the closet, those aren't mine." She argued back saying that they would be worthless if we took them out. (She has no intention to sell them.) But it went like that and she ended up saying fine and letting me get Gwen. She also let me get one of those 5 dollar Barbies and a Tin of popcorn that was spiderverse themed cus again, hyper fixation.

When we where leaving the restraunt, she made a snide comment telling me she spends so much on me and how I'm so ungrateful. I always say thank you and I always ask before putting things in the cart and I take good care of the dolls I have.

Later today I heard her complaining to my dad (69 haha) about it and calling me a spoiled brat and now I'm worried that I'm just being a bad person and wondering if I'm actually an asshole.

Sorry if this was all over the place, I go off on tangents alot.

What are these acronyms?

[9w1ft]

I'm a gaylor myself so this isn't coming from a place of hate but I really don't think karlie and taylor are still together, I think taylor still references her in her art and probably will for quite some time because that relationship -- whatever the nature of it was -- left such a deep impact on her. but I really can't see them still being together, I think she's forced herself to move on from karlie and has since dated a lot of other women. that doesn't mean her feelings for karlie have faded, just that they will probably always be there but they broke up for sure before 2019, I think. folklore and evermore, midnights even, are all breakup albums, I just can't see how they could still be together. especially all her anger and sadness in those songs that are thought of to be for karlie (like my tears ricochet or exile or mad woman) also the cover art being shoot in bedfords, new york, the exact same place where karlie got married feels more like taylor revisiting this place to really say goodbye and mourn her for one last final time so she can move on

sorry, this got a bit long, I just don't understand the appeal or the reasoning for lsk's because taylor has indicated so many times that they are over, she's been mourning her relationship with karlie quite publicly since 2019 (wearing all black during the lover era) so yeah

hi! i don’t usually respond to these but i’m not sensing any ill will so i’ve decided to give a reply a go.

first off, for me, i kinda just interpret her wearing black in the back end of lover era because her masters had gotten bought by scooter. and maybe the fact that she decided to not come out. there can be other reasons, but i really do not think that her breaking up with karlie has to be one of them.

another thing i can’t shake is the fact that it was a very notorious troll/manipulative person on tumblr who spread the first rumor that they broke up in 2019, a fact that is well understood by a lot of OG’s, and this troll got in the head of a few popular kaylor and gaylor swift accounts at the time and in doing so she got a lot of people to fold. she then went on to write all this progressively unhinged fanfiction about taylor and karlie trying to make one another jealous and sleeping with all these women, presented with the same level of seriousness with which she pushed the breakup agenda. even to this day, i see present day gaylors talk about stuff that stems from narratives this account and a few other power hungry accounts spread around many years ago and it honestly just goes to show how a lot of well known gaylors may be platformmed up but that don’t really know what they’re talking about.. i only write this because the troll deactivated about a year ago (maybe they’re lurking on platforms with more malleable minds—once a troll always a troll—but at least they’ve left here), they were a really dangerous person.. and several have wild receipts to prove it.

anyways sorry i recognize that’s a tangent, i guess what i mean to say by it is, a lot of the sentiment surrounding the idea of a 2019 breakup and the reinforcement of the narrative by a gaylor community none the wiser stems from the work of someone with disingenuous intentions. a lot of “masterposts” or “realistic timelines” draw from what this person made up and it’s gone through enough filters for it to seem like credible sentiment but like, if you were there and you read all of what she wrote you know how silly it all sounded and how incoherently it was all written.

okay so to circle back to more of a content-centric angle, in my interpretation of the events that gave us folklore, evermore, and midnights, taylor had so much to be sad about. her mom had been very sick, the pandemic arrived and she had to cancel lover fest, she had to come to terms with scott b having sold her work to her sworn enemy… songs on midnights and folklore, and on her lover era apple music playlist allude to certain other things that may have had her in a mournful mood. things were bad! and i don’t doubt that her and karlie have been through a lot. but for me, when you’ve got a ride or die love, you don’t just break up. this has been something frustrating for me and others, i think, to see so many people treat a relationship as either being all systems go or broken up, as if long term partners can’t experience sadness together, difficulty together, even heartbreak together.

i don’t like getting in to touchy subjects so much but there’s just been too much pointing towards what i consider to be a rather simple narrative that is a natural progression for people committed and in love. how did the lover music video begin and end? whats a randomly specific word in a song she performed at the grammys minutes after someone was announced to the world? what about taylor’s envisioned future stands out about the anti hero music video? i think i’ll stop here but idk man 😆 poke around my archive if you feel like wasting a few days of your life… there’s just been a consistent flow of the same kind of hijinks that we’ve seen from them for years, and i’d say that there are many songs that back up everything i’d want in order to stay invested in seeing if what i believe is true.

now, i know i just wrote what reads like a bunch of mumbo jumbo to people not following kaylor. but im okay with that. i’ve accepted that. and i know that the whole patterns and koincidences and twinning and symbolism beat isn’t for everyone and so i respect people’s decisions to believe they aren’t together, but in closing i’ll just say im sometimes at a loss to see time and time again people suggest that kaylors believe in kaylor because they find it appealing or because they want to ship it. when it’s literally not that— it just makes the most sense to a lot of us!

also, does this look like the face of someone mourning?

[sinvilles]

Gathering my thoughts: Danielle Stopframe analysis

also like. I'm not concerned with whether any character in the series was "redeemed" or not. the show was cut in half, and so was every character arc. hence we end up with a show that got cancelled when all the main characters were at their lowest point of development in the narrative, and all the surrounding characters getting half developed to a point of mild satisfaction.

Danielle seems to get the least amount of interest when it comes to what makes him tick. He's a favorite of mine because of all the characters in Moralton, he's one of the few who is very unashamed of who he is and wears it on his sleeve. And I like that his weird presence is built up from the very start of the series. He's over the assumptions of others, and chooses to be himself, which in a show where the major theme is repression juxtaposes him as a foil to the rest of the town.

I wanted to make a mental inventory of this character, starting with some of his personality traits:

The Coach

Danielle is a body builder, and athletic coach to both adults and children. He's coached tennis, track, plays golf, figure skates- he understands discipline, long-term goal setting and is patient enough to work with others to achieve what they're trying to get. Being good with kids has nothing to do with it- its all about being consistent and doing it every day. He seems to approach everything like this- more of that obsession quality. Though he's not beyond trying to perform witchcraft to speed thing up a bit when he gets impatient.

He doubles as your typical gym bunny gay man. Self eroticized, willing to do anything to achieve that romanticized ideal. This brings us to the next bit.

Narcissistic qualities (classic + clinical)

Stopframe is obsessed with appearances. Good appearances means discipline to him, which might be what attracted him to Clay in the first place. But its all very surface level of course. When he sees people without discipline- like the hedonistic satanists, many of whom were overweight- their indulgence, both sexual and gluttonous, turned him off so hard he called it a night and went home. Which is funny coming from the guy with a piss kink.

"Sorry Clay, its just not worth it."

It echoes back later, when he throws out Clay's picture the moment he calls him up for a nightcap at midday. It seems he was either unaware of the extent of Clay's alcoholism or that it had never been that bad up until that point. I think the latter is more likely, since Clay's drinking isn't as pathological throughout the series until we get to Nature. Also suggests to me that Clay, while already having drinking problems prior, started drinking more after he met Danielle. We do see Stopframe say he's "better when he drinks" at least once, and Clay can only really go out and see him at Forghetty's. But this is a tangent for a Clay alcoholism analysis.

He cares very little for his family- Shapey is little more than a long distance trophy to him. I guess. I think. Shapey hugged him that time so I wonder if he ever gives him presents or comes to his birthdays (he was at Orel's). He only spends time with Joe when he's foisted upon him, otherwise ignoring him. He assumes he isn't any good with children, I think because he dislikes Joe's attitude.

A big reason I think his development is unfinished- and this is under the lens of character arcs as want vs need, where getting something they needed makes the character whole- is that we don't see him own up to the fact that he's as flawed as anybody else. He admits he has a problem, but he didn't find the root of it- namely that real love involves accepting the flaws of others and choosing to be there for them anyway. He didn't even own up to disrupting the Puppington home, which he had done intentionally and calculatingly for years. All interesting paths for his character.

Person Addiction

Danielle, much like Clay, has an addiction. It's a lesser known thing called Limerence, or "Person Addiction". Not everyone is aware it's even a thing- some people go through it once in their life, some people cycle through it over and over. There are people who mistake it for love. Scott Adsit once mentioned in a promo that Stopframe is "obsessed with Clay because he hasn't slept with him"- it's one way to describe it, specifically the way a lot of men tend to experience it. Having been through it once I can say with full clarity that it makes you feel temporarily insane and can mirror both anxious attachment and OCD. Realistically, it only feels much creepier than it actually is, because very few who go through it in real life ever want to indulge it the way Stopframe does- pictures everywhere, seducing the guy's wife, fathering a child with her just to insert his DNA into their family, so that Clay raises HIS son alongside his own... absolutely cuckoo bird. Even the part where he says Bloberta is only sexy by her association to Clay- that is the logic that person addiction runs on. Because Clay is literally a hit to him, he gets an oxytocin high from being near him or thinking about him. When he's away from Clay he goes through a withdrawal, sitting alone in the shower and holding himself. Clay is his worst habit.

So, walk with me… his plan to sleep with Clay involves sleeping with his wife first. Because if she commits infidelity, what's to stop Clay from doing it? and then he just has to wait years for the ball to drop and for Clay to eventually walk out. He has no problem fixating on this for almost a decade, but actively puts off ever interacting with Clay until the first episode of the series- even then its just to watch him piss on the wall, and then walk away. He avoids knowing Clay, because I think for a long time he's afraid of ruining the idea he has of him in his head- the idealized Clay that doesn't exist, the built up image. This is not to say that Limerence doesn't happen if you know the person well (its worse somehow), but he's able to easily quit him the moment that Orel tells him what Clay is really like.

Loneliness

It's not easy being queer in a place like Moralton. For one, the gay dating pool must be tiny since so many would be in the closet, or move out altogether. The culture is so 50s adjacent he might have to limit himself to cruising public bathrooms or exchanging letters long distance- its no wonder he fixated on Clay. Something about it might feel "safe" to him, compared to actively getting to know somebody. I don't think he has a problem getting laid so much as a problem connecting to others, which was why it was so sweet to see him make an effort to have a fun day with Orel in the finale.

Family

I might be in the minority on this but I don't think Stopframe is related to Bendy. If the Secondopinionsons wanted to keep Joe's mother a secret they needed to fully cut ties with anyone in her family- and she was a child at the time, so some hush money was definitely involved, maybe enough to send her to nursing school. For Stopframe to be babysitting Joe, he'd have to be in the immediate family of his father- the fact that he has a different name is of interest to me, and the fact that he's so much younger than Dr. Secondopinionson. He could very well have been a bastard child who either changed his name later or was raised primarily by and named after an unwed mother- perpetuating the cycle with Shapey so to speak.

The Romantic Agnostic

He's a big fan of Gothic Erotica, and vampires. Big on fantasizing. Open to trying anything. He is wishy washy on the topic of religion, switching from worshipping God to Satan on a whim. Makes sense, if God loves all his children, but hates homosexuality, and Satan hates all humanity, and loves homosexuality- you've got a 50% chance of pleasing either. I think he probably loves Halloween.

andddd thats all I got

[squarebracketsmileyface]

how did you decide Birdie would call Tim papa, not daddy (assuming it's the single dad au Tim)?

Honestly it's mostly a left over from the version of PGPau where Jay lives and he and Tim raise Birdie together (there's now also a very rough version of that Au where Jay lives but vanished Brian style and shows back up in Tim's life years later with a bunch of stuff figured out. This fic has too many au's. So much for me trying to give 'the' au a name so I could keep it straight in my head, now PGPau has like three aus behind it, it's just anything post canon now, whoops. Oh well 💀)

Anyway, Jay just seemed like the dad/daddy parent, and that made sense to me with the whole trans Jay thing, Jay going from dad/daddy to mum/mummy was just too perfect y'know? So Tim became papa because of that, and then I decided Birdie would be 'canon' to Sorry It's Locked and went "well Jay's still gonna die because I love angst too much to give that up" and just ended up keeping papa for Tim even in the more 'canon' single dad Tim au because I just feel like it suits him. Y'know?

He just seems like a papa to me. He's a big loving mamabear to his very tiny very weird daughter, y'know? Ridiculously protective of her, if you hurt his baby he will rip your arms off, but also incredibly soft with her because she's his kid and she survived so fucking much with him even before she was born and he wants desperately to give her the childhood and family he never had. Even if that family is just him and her.

He's a mamabear protecting and loving his cub, except he's a guy, so he's a papabear but you know what i mean 💀

I just love it. Papa suits him, y'know?

Jay's dad/daddy and then mum/mummy, Tim's papa the whole way through, and Brian is Mr. Thomas then Brian, then quickly becomes bubba.

I love it. They're just all so cute.

Okay, I went off on a tangent about Alex here for some reason so I'm putting it under a thingybobber 💀

And with the whole "everyone lives" thing even Alex would probably end up with like, not a family title like the others, but he'd be part of their family in a friend way, y'know? Like, in everyone lives, everyone lives, y'know? And that includes Alex. And obviously he's not just walking around free, but I see him being in like hospital prison y'know? I can't remember what that's called, but anyway. He's in hospital prison and he can't leave because of what he did, but he's not in normal prison because he really wasn't in control of his actions when he killed people, not really.

At first only Tim goes to visit him, and even then he doesn't go super often because it's hard on both him and Alex (though mostly Alex). And he mostly goes because he understands what Alex was going through the best. He understands that if he hadn't had his medication he could easily have been the one in Alex's place. He wasn't "better" than Alex or more resistant to the Operators influence, he simply had people around him who could help (that being his doctors).

Then after a little while it's both Tim and Jay who go to visit Alex, still only very occasionally because, yeah it's a lot, none of them can really cope with seeing each other more than a couple times a year at first, but over time it gets easier and eventually Tim and Jay end up visiting him once every one to two months or something, once Alex's doctors or whatever are like "yeah I think that'll be okay, he's starting to cope better and relapse less when you come to visit him now. We genuinely think it's helping him."

They tell Alex about their life together and eventually Birdie comes up. So Alex knows about Birdie.

And Birdie knows about Alex because obviously she asks about how her parents met, and she asks where they went when they've had a day out, and they don't wanna lie to her, so they tell her about MH in the most kid friendly way they can, and tell her they're visiting this friend who's in hospital and can't leave because he tried to hurt people when he was younger. And like, obviously they are like, "we don't blame him for it, he was really, really sick and didn't realise that what he was doing wasn't 'saving' people like he thought it was" or whatever. They talk to her about the good sides of Alex, as well as very carefully addressing the bad sides, and eventually Birdie starts asking to go with them to see him. And like, at first it's a flat out no, because Jay and Tim have no damn clue how either Birdie or Alex will react to meeting each other, and even just seeing Tim and Jay used to fuck Alex up pretty bad and it took ages to get to the point they're at now. Like, they don't wanna undo that progress.

Anyway, eventually Brian comes back into their lives too, still the same way, with him starting out as a new teacher at Birdies school and then meeting Tim and Jay (well, Lark at that point but y'know) and eventually ending up dating the two of them and Birdie just kinda naturally migrated to calling him bubba, because it's not quite a parent name, but it's that same sort of sound, y'know?

Then like, Tim and Lark have been talking to the people in charge of looking after Alex and trying to figure out if there's a way he can meet Birdie. And like, with Brian back in the picture that's another thing for Alex to deal with so the whole "meet Birdie" thing gets pushed back again because finding out Brian is also alive is just, a lot for Alex, hugely conflicting and all that. Like, he's both glad Tim didn't kill Brian (or Brian didn't die running away from Tim whatever) and also very upset because he failed to "save" him. But eventually, ages and ages later, Birdie and Brian both end up going to see Alex too (after like, much therapy for them both to help them get ready for that, especially Brian) but like, yeah. Idk Birdie's probably like 15 by the time she meets Alex and it's all mostly fine honestly.

Idk I just like the idea of Birdie getting to meet Alex and it just kinda being fine? He's just a guy who got very sick when he was younger, and that changed the way his brain worked so that he couldn't fully comprehend the fact that killing people wasn't necessarily the best way to save them, that they could live with the Operator's presence like Tim had and still be okay. Like, it wasn't his fault. The Operator was literally changing the way his brain worked and without any medical intervention like Tim had, Alex was pretty much doomed from the start. He couldn't fight that. The operator was like a malicious, sentient, intangible tumor pressing on his brain and changing his personality, except it was taken to the extreme, because supernatural monster, y'know?

[peachyfnaf]

If you could say something to all TSAMS characters, what would you say?

WHOOH boy, that's a fuckin' question and a half, ain't it? i'm prolly gonna piss some people off with this, let's see... i kidnapped most of these characters from polaris' list lol

So I don't go off on tangents for each of em, i'm gonna try to limit myself to 1-3 sentences

Sun: You've been through a lot, haven't you? Find something to do in life, something that you love because you want to, not something that you love out of obligation or programming. You're smarter and stronger than you think, stop being held back by the past.

Old Moon: You have not changed as much as you think you have- you still have some very toxic and abusive behaviors. You are not irredeemable, but you are deeply flawed. Take time, work on yourself, and understand that while making up for your past might be impossible; it's not impossible for you to carve out a future where you and those you love are happy.

New Moon/Nexus: Oh, you poor thing, what happened to you? You fucked up, but you didn't deserve the hand you were given in life, no one in your position would. Please, let yourself feel again- the pain of losing it all- only then will you be able to come back out the other side ready to love again.

Earth: As you've grown and experienced life, you've become very immature. This isn't directly a bad thing, but it contrasts with what you try to be, and makes you an unreliable person to go to with mental health struggles. Don't take life so personally, and push a little bit harder, there's no need to be so soft on people who reject help who clearly need it.

Lunar: I am BEGGING you to show some vulnerability. I know it's genuinely so fucking hard after all you've been through, but if you keep acting like you're okay after every loss then eventually you'll become a shell of a man. ...And also, respectfully, humble yourself- you are incredible, but you are not the main character.

Solar: Take a break. Please, for the sake of yourself and everyone you care about, take a break. You can't save anyone if you yourself are dying- and the people you are trying to reach won't extend their hand to a dying man. Take a break.

Eclipse (V4 Specifically): ...What can I even say to you other than that I am so incredibly proud of you. And that I'm sorry, I'm so sorry for everything you went through, being compared to someone you're not. I wish people would leave you alone, as you so desperately want to be, you more than deserve that peace.

Bloodmoon: You're a lot more put together than people give you credit for. I'm sorry you were made the way you were, with the inability to live life without being consumed by your urges. You were born a monster, and no one gave you the proper chance to become anything but one.

Ruin: I'm sorry to say this, I really am, but even though the life you lived was horrid and tragic, that gives you no right to end billions of innocent lives in your quest for justice and revenge. You have my sympathies for the trauma you experienced, but my sympathies end there. Everything you experience after the massacre you pulled is your victims coming to bite you in the ass.

Jack: I love you, so much- I love you for trying as hard as you do. Remember, it's okay to say no. You are still growing and have a lot of it to do, be kind to yourself when you make mistakes.

Dazzle: Sweet girl, the most precious thing. Never change who you are, you are literally the shining star in the darkness that is this world. Never forget how much you are loved, for it is more than you could ever know.

The Creator: No matter how many machines you build, what scientific discoveries you make, how much progress you offer to humanity, you will always be alone. No one will ever love you, and it's all your fault. Remember that when you die alone, old man.

Monty: Your violence is not funny, at least not at the severity of which you do it. You lying to your girlfriend is not funny. Do better or fuck off.

Foxy: You try so hard, and I appreciate it, but learn that there are some things that you can not fix, and some places where you shouldn't stick your nose in. It's okay to be "a rubber duck", it's okay to be normal. Stop trying to be something you're not and embrace what you can.

F.C: I love you so much kid. You're a bit wild and off your rocker, but you've also shown so much unexpected maturity. Stop growing up so fast, yeah?

Puppet: I can appreciate all that you try to do, but please, understand that you acknowledging that you make mistakes does not nullify them. You have been hypocritical time and time again, and you need to learn and grow from those experiences, not just brush them off. You are capable of great things- just learn to do them.

AND THATS EVERYONE. YIPPEE. im gonna go eat shrimp now lol

[burning-sol]

I think if I had been a fan of Steven Universe over the course of the series and up to the end of Future, I can see a possibility where I would have had MAD beef with the fandom. By now it seems like opinion has swung around to be more nuanced, so that's relieving, but I can only imagine how much Pink Diamond/Rose Quartz slander would have sent me.

The thing that would have pissed me off the most is that obviously Pink Diamond and Steven likely had similar outbursts of their powers due to trauma, so it would be weird to extend understanding towards Steven but be highly critical of Pink - especially since Steven had far more support in his life than Pink ever did. Pink was abused emotionally, she was punished with solitary confinement, I wouldn't be surprised if she had been abused physically and had the gems around her threatened if she misbehaved.. She was bestowed power by circumstance, she didn't CHOOSE her life anymore than Steven did: it's only by chance that they're victims of trauma who just so happen to have such potentially destructive powers.

There's also something to be put into perspective that like... Pink was the first one to break the cycle of abuse, you know? Pink didn't have a maternal figure there to tell her to be herself or to show unconditional love or to be there to comfort her as she went through hardships, she was alone. First there was Pink, the Crystal Gems came after and they had her, and then STEVEN came after and he had the Crystal Gems.. Who was there for Pink? Expecting her to have been without flaw is an unrealistic expectation considering she didn't have ANY healthy frame of reference.. Pink was one of a kind.

And like, I could continue to rant about a bunch of other things but it really DOES just boil down to the fact that Pink was a victim and it's unfair to withhold understanding from her expecting that JUST because she's a Diamond then she SHOULD know better. Like, that's just not how things WORK.. And you know, if you had asked me as a child (or even still now tbh) to turn against my abusive parents and to go against everything I knew about the world to start a revolution and then fight a war and by the end become someone who was loving and kind to the point nobody could have imagined a version of you that was so flawed?? There are very few people that could have done that. Pink was really brave and she was strong and she tried her BEST goddammit.

Not to say that she should completely lack accountability because.. Obviously not. BUT, again, expecting her to have been pristine and lacking ugliness as a victim of trauma is such an unrealistic expectation.

Also, side note, strange for people to think she intended Steven to go through absolutely everything he did when the entire point is she had Steven because she wanted a baby? Sometimes people have children even when it's against their better judgement and they know giving birth could potentially kill them: people will want children just because.. Like of course it wasn't logical, people don't have babies for logical reasons literally the majority of the time, that's the POINT and that's what Steven has to comes to grips with. "Why did Rose want a baby?" The same reason most parents want a baby even though it may have horrible consequences for the child... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ They just wanted to.

Anyways, sorry, that's my tangent.

[bravelittleocelot]

Honestly I wanna ramble some more cuz I'm so excited for vengeance and I heard love in paradise and gods games again, and I just,,,,,, I don't think I've actually rambled about my interpretation of love in paradise much outside of calling out the racism im noticing,,, so I'm going to do that now and then I'll stop posting for a bit cuz I need to lmao

this got long so I'm putting it under a cut, last chance to not read this. if you just want to argue with me about it just scroll by or block me. I'm not here to change anyones mind or argue I just want to talk about how I interpret the songs. Please don't bring up how you think she raped him on this post.

I think that both Calypso and Ody went through those seven years literally like, that bus meme LMAO. But I still think they developed in really interesting ways too (for better and worse). like,,, when we first meet Her we meet this goddess who has no idea how to exist with another person, she dismisses everything Ody says, she seems to view him closer to a pet than anything else (one way to interpret why she does this is because up until now she's had animals and inanimate objects to keep her company? If what I'm gathering from not sorry for loving you is right she was just fuckin left there) but by the end of the song she's pleading for him to listen to her. She's calling him Ody - he doesn't tell her his name in the start of the song (and as much as I like the theory that he repeats the things his friends have said to him in his sleep, I prefer the idea he did introduce himself at some point) and I think it really does feel like she's listening to what he's saying but she has no idea how to handle it. Like, even if we do use the "she still sees him as a pet" interpretation, your pet becomes suicidal, wtf are you gonna do? If my cat went to a cliff and started screaming about me not knowing what he's done and gone through I wouldn't know what the fuck to say either. I don't think she's trying to seduce him off the cliff (and I think it's super weird people make it out that's what happens!) I think she's literally on her knees begging the only person she's ever known to come back to her so that she can help him,,,, she doesn't help him, obviously, she triggers the fuck out of him but by god she's trying!!! lmfaooo.

....actually I guess Ody is more a golden retriever but you hear me.

Anyway

She's an antagonist for a reason, she literally cannot understand why keeping him captive there is wrong. I still don't think she rapes him, but I do think it took her a long time to understand he has boundaries. and I think "and if I pushed you/ came on too strong" etc in not sorry for loving you shows us, she, still, can't understand why what she did was bad after all this time, she was just trying to love him in the way she wanted to be loved. and that is, honestly, terrifying and heartbreaking all at the same time.

as a side tangent, Because we know Jorge loves to use wordplay (look how he used double meanings during Suffering) when she sings "Under my spell, we're stuck in paradise. No one can come or go, my island stays unknown" you can for sure take that to mean "under my Curse, we're stuck here Together", and tbh I feel like that's backed up in what I've heard of Not Sorry For Loving you? She's, for sure trapped him, im not arguing that, but she's stuck there too. I don't have a point here cuz imo it doesn't actually make her anything other than more tragic and more of an antagonist cuz girl you KNOW what it's like to be stuck there, it might be paradise but you said it yourself you're!! stuck!! Jorge uses his words so carefully (at least 98% of the time), she's not just casually saying stuck imo!! Actually maybe I do have a point cuz imo that makes it even more interesting!! Like, no wonder she doesn't want to let him go!! He's the only person she's ever met and probably the only person she ever will meet!! "My island stays unknown"!! Selfishly, there's no fucking way she'd let him go without divine intervention!! Scary!!! UGH I love this, it's so tasty and complicated and!! That makes a good antagonist!!! She's great I love her 10/10 mr jorge this is a GREAT version and I will marry her.

And Ody,,,,,,,

God where do I even begin with Ody. I said before that I think the worst part of this for him was to be reminded of Polites every fucking day for seven years. Because lets be real, she might be Coping but she calls her own prison a paradise, she greeted him with open arms and greets her world with open arms (lmao and he becomes her world.... im not crying much its fine) . And like, there are a few ways to view that last bit of the song cuz she IS repeating things from the people he loved most, he could've been talking in his sleep and she's trying to use familiar phrasing or she could just be, yknow, Like This. and personally I love the idea that Ody was faced with someone who reflected all the pieces of the people he loved back to him, everyone except!! his wife!! She reflects the words of his mom, the strength of Eury, the open arms of Polites.... and my GOD would that be torture on top of being trapped. I said it before, there's three people on that island, Ody, Caly, and the intense!! guilt!! Ody feels!! And she makes it worse!! He's trapped, and he can't even escape the people he failed because she constantly reminds him of them (accidentally but still, constant).

but like he says in not sorry for loving you ( and I do not want to hear a fucking word about Stockholm syndrome this is my post and I'm putting my foot down) he loves her. cuz again, of course he loves her, how could he not love someone who reminds him of all the best parts of the people he loves. It's not romantic, it's not in the way she wants to be loved, It's probably incredibly painful, he for sure also hates her, but they spent seven years together. Seven years of existing together isn't something to sneeze at!! No matter what happened, there had to be Moments. Moments that gave him some sort of peace because otherwise he would've been on that cliff before the year was up.

And speaking of that??? What did he say to her all these years. That's what I want to know. Cuz despite me calling bullshit on sir yaps a lot NOT telling her about what happened to him, can we talk about

You don't know what I've gone through You don't know what I've sacrificed Every comrade I long knew Every friend, I saw them die And all I hear are screams

cuz what if!! she doesn't know!!! what if this whole time he tried to just talk about them like they were still alive or focus in on getting home to his wife and as he lost hope he stopped speaking so much, kept seeing her act like the people he loved, kept watching her try and love him in all the wrong ways, and kept the demons and guilt at bay until he just broke???

Also? again, the pet thing, if we want to go there.... if your golden retriever burst out with "ALL MY FRIENDS DIED" what the fuck would YOU do.... sorry im coping with humour, ANYWAY.

idk like, I just feel like there's so much to unpack here and I hope we DO get a little backstory on their lives together, I want to see people explore this in more ways than what I've seen. Cuz I think he connected to her, I think he understands that she's trapped there too, I don't think this makes it better but I think it enriches the story and it gives them such a cool dynamic.

Anyway this is long enough, it's late and I'm having many thoughts. Again if you don't agree with me that's ok just scroll on, I'm just yelling at the void

[ariaste]

Hello hello! If it’s all right with you, I would like to vent for a moment: Back in the day, I used to be really into BBC Sherlock. I know it was bad, but it was “Be Gay (solve) Crimes” and I couldn’t resit. One of my favorite parts of the fandom was reading fan metas. I enjoyed reading your ridiculously long meta! I am not very clever and I enjoy reading people noticing things that I can’t. It’s fun watching people passionately pick up clues and put them together.

I don’t think I’m the only one getting superwholock flashbacks lately. Sherlock also tried an unreliable narrator in S4 and it was an absolute shit show. People thought thought the finale was fake, it was so bad. TBH, the entire show was a dumpster fire that thought it was more clever than it was. Moffat was a good writer for single episodes for DW, but a garbage show runner. And they called us crazy for picking up what they were putting down.

But Good Omens gives me a spark of hope. It is unashamedly queer, fun, drinks its respecting women juice, and, unlike moffatiss, I think Neil and the crew may actually be clever enough to pull something big off. I adore the Discworld series and Sir Terry, and I have faith Neil will to do right by him.

Good Omens is restoring my faith in nerdy queer fiction and reminding me why I love fandom so much. Please keep up the crackhead theories. I love them 💕

Thank you, that's very kind!

(Ended up writing a very long reply about the response to my essay and also about queerness in media. Idk why i am writing such long posts these days SORRY LOL. Anyway I'm putting it all beneath the cut so I can tag it without clogging people's dash or the tag pages)

It does make me sigh a little when I see people scornfully comparing my long essay to The Johnlock Conspiracy or saying that they're having Sherlock flashbacks, because the both the contexts of the shows and the methodology of the theorizing are VERY different. To my mind, a more direct comparison of methodology would be the Gravity Falls fandom's "Stan Has A Secret Twin" theory. Writers and showrunners DO like being sneaky and clever from time to time, and many of them are much better at it than Moffat is.

But whether or not my theory is right or not is... kind of irrelevant to me? I wasn't out to force anyone to agree with me, AND writing it was a really fun way to spend a weekend, AND I'm proud of the work I did and the story I told, AND it felt good to have a satisfying workout at the Brain Gym. So even if I'm proven utterly and completely wrong, I won't feel like I wasted my time. :)

Good Omens is a great show, and I am SO HAPPY to see it (and other shows!) embracing queerness, sharing the fans' enthusiasm for the story, and honoring and respecting the fans' love rather than punishing them for it. As more and more time goes on, I think we're going to see more and more shows like that, because some of the people who grew up reading tumblr discourse are going to be showrunners themselves one day, and they'll have learned serious lessons about what it feels like when the audience is met with love rather than disgust and disdain. In fact, we're ALREADY seeing more shows like that than we had 10 years ago! There is so much canonical queerness on-screen these days that the me of 10-15 years ago is ASTONISHED and feels wealthy beyond counting. Of course, there is so much further to go, but man... when i was a kid, we had to walk uphill in the snow both ways just to see two dudes making sustained emotional eye contact, and we were grateful for it. (Jokes but also.... kind of real tho)

We've seen the exact same thing happen in scifi/fantasy publishing in the last seven or eight years, too! (Went off on a long tangent about Queerness In Media from an insider perspective, continuing below a cut so I don't clutter everyone's dash)

Even as recently as 2013--ten years ago--you might not have even been able to get your book published if it was openly gay. Hell, you might not have been able to get an agent to represent it, even. It would have been labeled "unmarketable" and passed over; if it DID get published, the queerness would have been camouflaged and downplayed and hidden in the marketing as much as possible--you wouldn't have known by looking at the cover that it was queer, you wouldn't have been able to tell by reading the back cover that it was queer. In literally 2016, seven years ago, a few months before I got my first book deal, I remember having a conversation with a friend and being very very worried that if I wrote books as queer as I wanted them to be, I would be "pigeonholed" as "ONLY writing Gay Books", that I would be passed over for any of the publisher's marketing budget and publicity efforts, that I would be sidelined and ignored... In 2016, I thought I was facing a choice of writing stories with more "mainstream appeal" OR writing the books I wanted to write and potentially undermining the rest of my career.

That didn't happen, thankfully, because in the next couple years there was this incredible explosion of queer scifi/fantasy. You see, ten to fifteen years ago, a truly stunning percentage of my colleagues -- writers, editors, publicists -- were writing and reading fanfic, and they carried their tastes and story-hungers with them as they grew up and got Real Adult Jobs at publishing companies. And suddenly, as if out of nowhere, a lot of us came of age all at once and there was this absolutely enormous wave of queer SFF that in my opinion has brought us into a new golden age of the genre: The Locked Tomb series by Tamsyn Muir, The Chorus of Dragons series by Jenn Lyons, She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker Chan, Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie, The Tensorate series by Neon Yang, Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon, Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki, The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders, the Birdverse books by RB Lemberg, The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickenson, The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri, Reforged by Seth Haddon, The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps by Kai Ashante Wilson, Ocean's Echo by Everina Maxwell, The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin -- and these only the ones I could remember off the top of my head in 30 seconds, and I have a flavor of ADHD that makes my brain go blank when people ask me to think of specific examples of things! It is harder for me to think of a SFF book published in the last 7 years that ISN'T queer.

And then almost exactly a year ago, my book A Taste of Gold and Iron came out with THIS COVER:

Which. Is not so much a step forward in openly queer SFF as it is a fucking gauntlet thrown down in challenge. I cannot impress upon you strongly enough how much I would not have gotten this cover 10 years ago, and that's if the book was even accepted for publication in the first place. This cover SCREAMS gay fantasy romance. There is no attempt to hide it or camouflage it. It is advertising exactly what it is, right up front.

I got the absolute privilege and honor of having this cover--and I do consider it an incredible honor--because of the work that all my colleagues put in with their own work. Each queer book that got published wedged the door a little wider for the next one, and then a little wider still for the next one, until finally someone could get their foot in the door and squeeze across the threshold, which opened it a little wider again. So when I look at this image, I don't just see a beautiful cover that I am delighted to have on my books--I see an entire history of slow, steady progress by so many incredible writers who risked damaging their careers just to drag us to a point where a book as gay as this one could get a cover as gay as that one and STILL get the full and enthusiastic support of both the publisher and the audience. And the most incredible honor and the most humbling privilege out of all of this is the fact that the success of this book meant that the door was wedged open another little bit, that I got to contribute in this small way to the efforts of everyone who came before me, so that ones who come after us will find the door flung wide -- or that there's no door left at all to block the way, because we've collectively torn it down.

So yes, @eyona, I think that having your faith restored little by little is a very good thing, and I am delighted that Good Omens is doing that for all of us. And what's even better is that even if Good Omens doesn't play out exactly how we want it to, that's... kind of okay? Because there is always the next one, and at the very very least, Good Omens is wedging the door open further so that the next one can have an easier time of it. We don't have to walk uphill in the snow both ways just to get a moment of emotionally charged eye contact anymore. We don't have to starve anymore, not like we used to back in the bad old days. And that alone is a wonderful thing. :D

[amethystina]

I wonder how Gaon and Yohan are going to explain the change in their interactions to Elijah, since it's going to be obvious to her that something has happened between them. Since Elijah knows that there's nothing between Gaon and Soo hyun, I wonder if she will play a role in clearing Yohan's misconception? Thanks for the update! I can't stop thinking how many ways this story can play out😅 Btw i really appreciate the time and effort you put into responding to our questions with such detail.

That definitely depends on who's doing the explaining xD Yo Han would just brush it off and pretend that nothing is happening — which would just piss her off — while Ga On would make a stilted effort to explain without making it too obvious what it's actually about. Which would also annoy her.

That poor girl, seriously. She doesn't deserve to get caught between these two idiots.

I'm not sure I agree that Elijah "knows" that there was nothing between Ga On and Soo Hyun, though. I think she very much thinks there was something between them. I mean, sure, they denied it when she asked if they were dating, but THE WAY they did so was pretty telling (especially in Soo Hyun's case). Even more so since Elijah is a bit... well, innocent? I think most of her experience with love comes from media, books etc. and how Ga On and Soo Hyun behaved is, well, straight from a drama xD

And Elijah also had that talk with Soo Hyun when they were eating ice cream on Ga On's terrace, where it became pretty obvious that Soo Hyun is in love with Ga On and has already confessed to him several times.

So I think Elijah very much believes they were in love. Which means she won't really play a role in convincing Yo Han otherwise — if asked, she'd probably only make it worse, even. Because her understanding of love is a bit superficial and probably pretty geared towards straightness. That's not to say that she's not aware of gay people (I think she might actually know more about that than Ga On does xD) but from the evidence she's seen both Ga On and Yo Han seem straight to her (because I can't imagine that Yo Han has flaunted his dalliances with other men in front of her).

I know I'm very, very firm about this but Elijah doesn't know that Yo Han and Ga On have the hots for each other. And not because she's stupid, but because she's grown up in a country where straightness is the norm and Yo Han has done everything he can to hide the depth of his and Ga On's relationship from her. Also, she's a self-centred teenager x'D

Like, take me for an example. I was around 23-24 and very comfortable in my own pansexuality but was still IN NO WAY PREPARED when my mum basically went: "I may only have had sex with two women in my life but, let me tell you — 10/10, would recommend." Because I had only ever seen her date and talk about men before and therefore assumed she had no interest in anything else. That's how easy it is to miss that someone close to you isn't entirely straight — especially if it's a parent/guardian.

So I really don't think that Elijah would notice until it gets a lot more obvious than this xD

Which wasn't technically what your ask was about (sorry for the tangent xD), but still important to know because Elijah really won't be all that helpful when it comes to Yo Han and Ga On figuring out their feelings for each other. In fact, she might just end up making things harder for them without meaning to. But more about that in later chapters ;)

ANYWAY. Thank you so much for the lovely ask! I'm so happy to hear that people are this excited and involved in my story! And, tbh, I can't help replying because I'm very excited, too, and love talking about my writing, my thoughts, and my takes on these characters. How could I resist? More often than not, I have to cut my answers short because I keep writing longer and longer ones.

Like, you guys have no idea how long the first drafts of my author's notes usually are. One time I had to cut half of it because it was reaching truly spectacular lengths. And sure, I know that some of you probably wouldn't complain if I had posted that first draft, but I'm trying to contain myself, okay? And also not reveal too much since it might end up spoiling future plot points. It's a constant struggle.

So yeah. I'm actually consciously holding back a lot of the time because I'm trying to not come off as completely unhinged x'D

[roydeezed]

One Piece-Chapter Round-Up(Chapter 1089)

Heyo friends! I am back with another One Piece Chapter Round-Up below the cut, but before we get into spoiler territory, I just want to point out this absolutely hilarious cover page. At first I didn't even notice Sanji behind her in the window but I love these layers Oda adds on to the simple request of Nami being served milk. Since she's being served a drink it makes sense the cook is in charge of it and since it's Sanji there's no way he doesn't use that opportunity to be... himself. And funnier still is that since the fact the paper is facing away from him he'll be waiting eagerly only to be rejected. One thing I might be reading into a little too much is Nami's quill, which looks like a skypeian wing hanging off her shoulder. Foreshadowing perhaps?(Look I have a contractual obligation to be absolutely unhinged at least once per round-up) Anyways, moving on, let's talk about the chapter below.

Obviously I want to freak out about that last panel, but there's something really interesting going on with this chapter before that. I don't know if it's because I have been recently reminiscing over Coby and the time he tried to stop the Marineford War, but I have honed in on the idea Oda presents of The Marines' absolute disregard for life and their acceptance of collateral damage. It was a shock to see it doubled down on in a new chapter just mere days after watching a clip of that moment from Marineford.

With this being tumblr and the overwhelming majority of us being left leaning, I feel quite comfortable in discussing politics as mine are also left wing. Very heavily so. But I preface it with that fact so that you understand that some of my personal biases may play a role in my interpretations. Obviously, Oda and Japan's cultures are vastly different from those that I was raised up in so I am only speaking from a very surface level understanding and not the lived one Oda writes from. I have a very ACAB and abolish the police mentality and from my obviously biased point of view, it seems so does Oda.

But it's not just policing that Oda emphasizes. It's any system of power. But he looks at it through the lens of policing because they make the most natural enemy of lawbreaking pirates. Also just like the popular idea of the Death Note representing Japan's harsh police system, the Marines also appear to be an allusion to it. I am really curious about which way Oda went about creating the Marines and their relationship to pirates. There was an idea of a distinction between pirates called Peace Mains and Morganeers in the two one shots of Romance Dawn where Morganeers were the pillaging type of pirates whilst Peace Mains preyed on the Morganeers like vigilantes and adventured as well. Obviously that put Peace Mains in a sort of policing position so it's really curious how we ended up with the Marines being the big bad(other than Blackbeard of course).

In a tangent before we get back to the Marines, it's really interesting what carried over from the one shots, what didn't and what could. It had been a while since I revisited them but one thing I realized because of Crescent Moon Gyari is that Whitebeard's Beard looks like a crescent moon, basically symbolizing the moon before the dawn that is Luffy. Sorry if that was obvious, I'd just never made that connection before. The more interesting things to me are what might still carry over. Particularly from the second one shot where the Nami stand in, Ann, a blue haired girl with a pet bird is featured. Ann obviously also shares similarities with Vivi and Karoo but the idea of the Roc being a bird who's blood can cure diseases got my attention. That coupled with the Big Egg on the Oro Jackson and Choppers dream makes me think this could make a appearance once again. Also interesting was the fact that one of Luffy's moves was called Moon Shot and the idea of flying was presented over and over again. And Nami was also the child of Pirates. Wonder if that'll ever come into play. Another thing that was quite apparent was the imagery that really made an impact and crossed over to the final version. Honestly, I'd love to examine the two one shots in relation to the real story one day if someone hasn't already.

Okay tangent over, back to the main topic. Which is, first of all, Oda's take on the Marines. There's two things at work here. One is Oda's take on the Marines as an organization through Imu's actions. One that does not care about the collateral damage as long as their power in ensured. And the other is institutions of power perpetuating their power through terrorizing life and the environment it lives on. They're kind of the same idea but one directly criticizes policing while the other criticizes any position of power. We'll focus on the first idea and then talk about how it connects to the second.

The idea has been hammered into us over and over again. The Marines exist to further themselves. It's the absolute and peak function of institutions of power. And also very antithetical to the idea of dreams, which terminate once you reach them. Each of our Strawhats have a dream that has an end goal. But as a result of this goal of self perpetuation, the Marines often overlook their secondary goal of keeping the peace. This idea started as early as Axe-Hand Morgans but gets properly implemented in Arlong Park where the Marines look away as they get paid. Arlong doesn't disturb them and they benefit by having him essentially be an agent for them. That's how you know peacekeeping is a secondary goal. It's secondary to the idea of the Marine's keeping power. Oda criticizes privateering and the warlord system through this hypocrisy.

And if this was just one instance then it could be seen as just one bad egg. Like policing so often wants to put out. But a system of power relies on the methods they use to stay in power always staying relevant. And that's when we come to Marineford, skipping over a lot of incredibly relevant examples to this argument like Enies Lobby. I feel like ya'll can follow that tangent yourselves. Ohara, knowledge that would invalidate their power, etc, etc. I would go more into it but I don't want to write so much away from the current chapter and the fact is that Marineford appears to deal with my criticisms.

So how does Marineford appear to address the criticism of self preservation and perpetuation? (And this next statement is me playing Devil's Advocate if it's not apparent) If the Marines cared about preserving themselves, why would they seek to end the age of piracy if the function that keeps them in power is dealing with Pirates?

Because, my devil's advocate self (wow, thank you for the softball Roy(no problem, Roy)), Marineford was an attempt by the Marines to depose Pirates and crown themselves the key power in the One Piece world. Oda did the math for us, the three great powers used to be the Four Yonkou's, The Marines, and the Seven Warlords. Do the math there and the Pirates come out on top. Also Oda cleverly states the strength of freedom by showing how strong these scattered, unaffiliated, and free people are by having the Marines, a wholly organized military force, be only a third of the equation instead of dominating. Oda follows George Lucas's lead on the idea of Rebels and Vietnam. So, Marineford wasn't just an attempt to put an end to the age of pirates, it was also an attempt to declare the Age of the Marines. And they did the math too, regardless of what happened, they would come out on top. Whether they declared their age or the pirate age kept going, they would still be needed. As Billy Butcher once said, "Fucking Diabolical". Why Koby was so important to the narrative of the War was because he let you see the true colours of the Marines. One that did not care about collateral damage as long as they stayed in power. They sacrificed so many lives needlessly for that reason. And they might have possibly ended the pirate age if not for Whitebeard.

So all of that just to get to this chapter. Sorry for the long ride, but thank you for sticking with me. This chapter horrifically signifies the Marine's policy, by way of Imu, of collateral damage through very familiar sights of rising sea levels. I will speak to the real world connections soon. But these scenes of climate devastation show how uncaring the Marines are to the suffering of their subjects. And Subjects they are. Some people say One Piece is pro monarchy but Oda positions the Marines, even clearer now with Imu, as Monarchs, and criticizes them. Oda isn't pro monarchy, he's showing us how these instituions of power supplanted the previous institutions. And while people suffer, the Marines launch yet another offensive to keep ahold of their power. It's blatant at this point. Where they could be helping people, they gather one of the biggest forces they have since Marineford and try to stop the release of information that could weaken their hold.

And the scenes of Climate Devastation precede an even more horrific sight. Not one of collateral damage. Not of the uncaring nature. But of the direct cost of keeping their power. The sunken island kingdom of Lulusia. It's terrifying and it ties the collateral damage to the cost directly. It's Oda's way of pointing out that the consequences of their actions and the actions they take to stay in power don't affect them, but their subjects, the people they purport to protect.

All of this is why I am so interested in the conclusion Oda reaches in terms of the Marines. It's the reason I support the Ancient Kingdom being a nation of Pirates, it supports the idea of dissolution of the Marines. Oda is clearly setting up Koby and the rest of his peers as the next generation of the Marines but up until Koby became the clear front runner of the Marines, I always thought the Marines were meant to dissolve. But Oda seems to be setting them up to reform in a new direction. There's not a lot I disagree with Oda on but this might be one. Either way though, I will appreciate the nuanced take that Oda so often hides under layers of shounen action.

But now to get to the real world implications. The whole situation with Imu is such a startling reflection of our own world. Again my politics come into play here. The Marines and the Twenty Kingdoms purport to be equal and not ruled under anyone but it's revealed that all along Imu has ruled them. Which would be a stark contrast to our largely democratic nations, right? But then Oda uses the visual metaphor of climate change and his point is clear. While policing exists to self perpetuate, it also answers to the beck and call of billionaires and corporations. I'm sure the statistic of 100 companies being responsible for 71% of global emissions is a statistic you've heard before dear reader. The governments bend over backwards to lobbying from these corporations while the police enforce it on the base level. On a visceral and violent level. We never left the monarchy, we just got new rulers.

Oh no! I've revealed my personal politics. Ahh! But in all honesty, this is my blog and I want to be able to talk freely here so I'll say what's on my mind. I'll always try to be upfront when my biases show though. The reason I am so explicit about my political opinions is because a lot of people who talk about One Piece don't engage with the deeply political and radical ideas it has. And as a result, you get a neutered audience and a neutered discussion. Anyways, that was my very long and convoluted idea on Oda's representation of policing and related politics, especially in relation to this chapter. Now onto a breakdown of the actual chapter.

So right away we see an interesting sight. Morgans has already positioned Luffy as the main character of this conflict. And as we later find out, the Marines approve. Knowing that this will be a much talked about event sheds a really interesting light on this. One, Morgans has made Luffy undeniable in the media in regards to whatever happens next. Two, something big is going to happen. Three, the Marines will probably want to disavow it. Four, Luffy's presence is going to have the opposite effect and solidify this event as if he wasn't presented in such a central light, the Marines would've been able to sweep it under the rug easier. Also while a lot of that is speculation, one more reaching bit of speculation I want to put forward is that whatever happens next is going to invalidate Lulusia's disappearance. Some major truth is going to be revealed and it's going to show how unnecessary these sacrifices that the Marines make are. This also only furthers my interest in Morgans. Who is he? What's his play? What are his goals and is he playing a game with the Marines? It seems he regularly withholds information but eventually plays it in an acceptable manner to the Marines. My take is that he's possibly a revolutionary who's doing his best to sway the tide in their favour. If you look at a lot of his moves, it suggests they're highly calculated for maximum effect under the Marines rule while also shifting the discussion more in favour to the Revolutionary's and their causes and setting up for future dissemination of information he's currently withholding. Or it could be entirely posible I am giving him too much credit. Next, Makino calling Luffy her baby's big brother. Another clue to deadbeat dad Shanks theory? Don't mind me here, just watering my pet theories.

But next, as I mentioned before, we see the consequences of the Marine's actions. From the apparently mundane but heartbreaking in Kamabakka, to the loss of life through tsunami's and the loss of homes on other islands. It's horrific and centers on the very real horror of Climate Change. But the sea levels rising a meter is also horrific in another way. Just to show how much water has been displaced, it's almost five times as much as the sea level has risen over the past 100 years in the real world. I think I dove a lot into the real world side of things so I do want to indulge in the One Piece world for a bit.

So first off, the connection to Enies Lobby is completely apparent. Enies Lobby has some connection to the Mother Flame and perhaps the Ancient Kingdom being there holds some weight? I think another thing that is interesting is that the water was displaced. Somehow the Mother Flame doesn't just create a hole, but an entire Void where the water can't take the space of. Something something Void century, the theory's not fully there yet. But what it also suggests is that maybe Lulusia isn't completely gone? Perhaps it's been sent to Davy Jone's Locker? There's so many pieces of evidence floating around that I'm sure I'm missing something or overlooking a key piece that ties everything together, because right now this feels like a major hint to the true nature of the world. Also this could be a key factor in One Piece's unique world, like the Calm Belt and the Red Line. Also one interesting line is, "had no parallel in recorded history." But perhaps the Void Century? Speculation abounds! But maybe I'll have a concrete theory in the coming days, who knows. The Truth is Out There. No, but really, I feel like one or a few of those massively popular and some not so popular theories are somewhere close to the mark. Like the One Piece being a log book or the destruction of the Red Line. There's so much that's valid that I can see it all happening.

Another heartbreaking scene plays out a little bit after we see the Marine's massive fleet, with a small flashback to Vegapunk, Sentomaru and Kizaru all looking much younger and happier. Kizaru is such an interesting character. He apparently has Unclear Justice but in everything he does it's hard to understand what that actually means. Nature of the word I guess? But Aokiji was Lazy Justice, and that can be seen in that he seems to be taking the easy way out by falling in with Blackbeard but what does that mean for Kizaru? He seems happy in the past and now he is very much uncaring. He mentions he's a cog in the machine but there seems to be some wiggle room. Perhaps unlike his previous two comrades, Akainu and Aokiji, Kizaru is the only one who can change? Honestly I don't really have a bead on him. But I am fascinated. Like with many things.

After that we get a recap and two key moments. The moment where Jay Garcia tells them to sink the escaping scientists is quite obvious and a parallel to Ohara and I think we've talked enough about direct actions, consequences, and collateral damage to get a rough gist of where that would go in reinforcing the themes Oda has set up in regards to the Marines. But the smaller moment of Jay Garcia remarking he likes what Morgans wrote is also key. The Marines hold some sway over the media, from withholding key information to actively enforcing violence but this is also an insight into how Morgans plays the game. He pacifies them but he also pushes his own agenda. A free media is key to citizens freedoms so it's really interesting how these two entities push and pull. I hope we get more insight into Morgans to see what Oda is actually trying to say because I'm curious.

And now we finally get to the last few pages. York is at times terrifying and at others painfully stupid. Just my type of character. She reminds me a lot of Buggy, who first started off as terrifying before becoming our lovable clown boy. But this makes me want York in the crew so bad. I would love if Vegapunk and all of his satellites joined because it would be such an interesting dynamic. The Come Save me panel is also quite a hilarious inversion of "I want to Live" from Enies Lobby as York is asking the Marines for help this time. I love her confident blustering. It's peak One Piece. It's peak Oda. I love it so much.

AND THEN FINALLY!!! OMFG THEY LOOK SO FUCKING COOL!!! I lost it so hard here. They're back and they look so badass! They look like a proper yonkou crew. This cutaway also hammers home how close we are getting to the end as Oda is skipping over some big fights. What this flash forward does let Oda do is that he can use it to do a small flashback chapter and recap key skipped over elements instead of going through them at a much slower pace in chronological order.

One final thing. All the strawhats look so cool, but a really surprising thing I noticed was that Ussop was holding the phone where I would assume Sanji would be. It feels like Sanji has shed a lot of the baggage that came with being Mr.Prince after Whole Cake Island and Wano. Now he's enjoying himself in the background. This could also be setting up the central role Ussop is going to be taking in Elbaf. Ussop of course has employed trickery before but just in this particular case with it's callbacks to Enies Lobby, I would've assumed Sanji be the one pulling off this ruse. Anyways, that's all for today folks. If you've read this far, thank you so much for sticking through. I really appreciate it! See ya for the next one! (Gonna slink off now to watch 1071).

[satorugojoswiife]

in light of the previous anon's ask, are there any confirmed/canon ships in jjk? i just got into the series this year and i've seen a lot of people claiming satosugu is canon, as well as yutamaki.

Kenjaku x yujis dad.

There aren't really many, if any canon ships in jjk now that I think about it??? There seems to be something between hakari and kirara but nothing has ever been officially confirmed.

They are both very popular ships, but neither satosugu or yutamaki are canon. I understand why lots of people ship them though.

I'm not 100% sure but I think a big reason for lots of people saying stsg canon is due to the 'my one and only' line in jjk0, but that is actually exclusive to the viz translation.

The direct jp to eng translation is 僕の親友だ。たった一人のね -> "It was my best friend. The only one I have"

Viz's version, 'my one and only', still technically works but tbh I kind of feel like they worded it like that on purpose, almost borderline queerbaiting, but yeah.

Aside from that the ship does have lots of other things going for it tho! Definitely an important relationship in the series and whether people would like to interpret it romantically or plantonically is up to them. As far as 'canon' goes I'd say it'd be platonic (as of right now with the information we have).

While love is a very prominent theme in the series (the most twisted curse of them all, 'teaching' sukuna about love, ect.) I feel its mostly explored in otherways than romantic. Whether it be familial, platonic, or whatever. jjk is definitely not a romance focused series, so I'm not sure if we ever will see any canon ships explored. I guess mechamaru was heavily implied to have a thing for miwa, but.. . well, we know how that ended 💀

omg so sorry I went off on a tangent there !! I feel like people focus too much on what is and isn't canon. But idk who cares about canon, just ship what you like 💖 I hope everyone enjoys shipping their fave ships and has a good day 👍💖

Also ily satosugu and yutamaki shippers I don't mean for this post to come off as dismissive of your ships I was just trying to be as factual as possible. Ignore me tho and continue loving your ships!!

[something-tofightfor]

Hey bestie! I love how you write for Pedro’s characters! Love how they really stick to their personalities!

What do you think are his characters (Joel, Javi P, Javi G and Frankie) reaction to a partner with physical touch as love language? Like when reader just touch their arms / hold their hands / give them hugs / run fingers through their hair / cuddles etc?

Hey, anon! Sorry this took so long to get to - I was figuring out the best way to answer it.

Under the cut because it got long, but this is a really good question - so thank you for asking.

I have opinions on all of the characters, but I'll stick to just the ones you mentioned for the sake of simplicity and so that I'm not just going on a tangent.

Joel Miller: I think that Joel would want the physical touch, but it would take some time for him to be comfortable with it. With the exception of Tess (and Tommy) the amount of times that he was touched with gentle intentions in the time post outbreak was probably extremely limited.

And even for someone that was extremely PT focused, they'd need to be patient with him and not push him before he was ready, because part of getting close to Joel is earning his trust, and he wouldn't trust anyone that doesn't respect his boundaries. He'd probably forgive someone that touched him, or went to touch - or hug - him early on because they aren't aware of the boundaries - but if they repeatedly did it, I don't think he'd be happy.

But once he's comfortable with someone, I think one of Joel's love languages is also physical touch. (I wrote this for JTGTBG Joel and Reader, but I think the Joel portion applies overall)

Javier P: Javi's another one that would take some time to warm up to someone that wanted to freely give affection. He's so used to keeping this - the "human" part - of himself concealed at work (at least on a physical level), that I think it carries over to his home life, too. Constantly touching and exploring makes me think of a close, personal relationship - which seems to be something he tries to avoid with the women that we've seen him with.

By season 2/3, he's a little more hands on when they aren't actively in bed - and that shows growth and his desire to be close - but I think it would take some time for him to be completely comfortable with it. Javi would need to initiate it until the relationship's a little more established, IMO, because I think otherwise it could scare him off, even unintentionally - because he doesn't want to admit that he craves that sort of connection even though he knows that while in Colombia, it's not a good idea to get that comfortable.

In bed, though, it's a different story, even from the beginning, and I think that a lot of touching would be encouraged, but there'd be a clear 'end' to when this was permissible by him, just to keep himself (and his emotions) safe.

Javi G: Javi G is a very hands-on person, and I think he'd be excited by someone that was the same. I think he speaks with his hands a lot, and he would be the one to touch you just to point you in the right direction, or to show you something, or to keep you close. He'd love curling up on a couch together in his library/theater to watch movies, or while traveling on a plane or train, and I really think he'd be the one to encourage it as much as possible, which would in turn encourage someone that wanted to be that way to do it more.

I don't think he'd have any issue with someone wanting to hold hands or touch him or kiss him often; I think he'd prefer it. Javi G doesn't seem like he'd respond well to someone being cold or distant with him, so I think he'd seek out a partner that could meet his capacity and tendencies for prolonged physical touch from almost the very beginning of the relationship.

Frankie: I am a firm believer in the fact that while I don't see Frankie as VERY insecure over himself and the way he is in a relationship, I think that there are some things that would (at least at the beginning) give him pause in having someone touch him.

For example, he's got a ton of gray in his hair and beard that wasn't there before, and he's worried that it makes him look old - or that someone running their fingers through his hair would see it and not like it.

He's in different physical shape than he was while enlisted, and while not unfit, he's gained some weight and softened around the belly - and is worried someone might not want that as much as they'd want someone built like Pope or Ironhead - or even Benny.

I think he's probably also a little worried about someone looking too closely at him - seeing the lines and wrinkles on his skin, seeing the wear on his hands, listening to the creaks and pops while he's moving or in bed or whatever .... and letting someone get close enough to touch him all the time would expose those things in a way that might concern him.

I'm not saying that he wouldn't want it or look for it, but I think that it would be surprising to him if this was someone's first inclination with him - just because he's very aware of how he's aging and changing.

But when he's comfortable with you - and figures out that you're acting that way with him because you want to and because you like all of these things about him, it's like a switch flips.

Cuddling on the couch or in bed. Hand holding in the car while one of you drives. Frankie leaning into your touch while you massage his scalp or scratch his back or stand next to each other. Him glowing when you lean over and kiss his cheek or his bicep or reach out and take his hand for absolutely no reason when you're with your friends or in public...

He's never going to tell you to stop - and that's good, because you'd never want to, especially with Frankie.

[shuriflurry]

Season 1 of Owl House: complete. And it was fine. It was ok. It was 19 episodes of mostly wasted potential. But that's ok (I guess).

I really liked the 2nd to last episode, which is unfortunate in a way because it made me question even harder why the previous 17 episodes had been so bleh. It really feels like the creators were focusing on all the wrong aspects during this first season. This is gonna get long soooo....

The best example I can think of for how the team wasted time was by them needing to show us repeatedly that Willow gets bullied. Like, I understood that from the 3rd episode. I didn't need to be shown and have entire episodes about how Willow gets bullied. The subplot between Amity and Willow's past also felt unnecessary (Amity saying "I can't be friends with them. They're mean!" did make me go into an actual fit of hysterics though. God forbid Amity just be a nasty, feral demon child). I think one of the benefits of this being a Disney channel Y7 show is that viewers can pick up on little stereotypes and tropes to make inferences about character archetypes and such and get a feel for the characters without needing to be shown or told (and don't tell me kids can't do that. Children are not stupid). Which isn't to say that means they should have removed ALL backstory. It just means IMO that the back stories they focused on really didn't add to the greater story and instead seemed to exist as a way to purge Amity of any wrongdoing.

I didn't mind Lilith's role in the season, but I found her motivations to be muddy and the timeline didn't seem to make much sense. I also found it hard to believe she was forgiven that easily for what she had done. I don't hate Lilith, and I 100% see what they were going for, but I think it needed a bit more time on the writing table/it needed to be mentioned earlier.

Like, instead of Eda learning Lilith is the reason she's cursed, get mad at her, then forgive her in the course of like one week (being generous), have Eda have learned about it years ago. Have Eda be festering in her anger for what her sister did while also missing her terribly. Have Lilith be trying to fix it the only way she knows how to (I'm blatantly ignoring the pain sharing spell because it's dumb). And have them finally make up at the end when the one thing Eda was convinced Lilith would never do - betray the Emperor - is exactly what she does and it's only then they can fix their relationship.

Speaking of the Emperor: I'm into that funky dude. I liked his little chair (both of them!). I liked that he had a cool room. LOVED the beating heart over him. Liked the thought of him dealing with elementary school children in his house. He seems threatening? He has a cool blue eye. Willing to do public executions. All good things IMO. My only complaint is that he was such a non-entity for every other episode this season.

I think it would have been really cool to drop little hints about him throughout the earlier episodes, but because we see the world through the eyes of Luz it gets brushed off/not addressed. For example, statues of him in the background, or the book King was reading in the finale on a table during the library episode. Just anything so when he does finally appear it means something lmao.

These thoughts are very disjointed and I'm sorry if they don't make sense. But I also feel like that's the best way to summarize my feelings towards The Owl House season 1. It was disjointed. It was sloppy. It went off on unnecessary tangents. It had plots that seemed interesting and then made no sense or got dropped.

I still love Amity even though she is already starting to be a shell of her former self. I like Belos even though I know he turns out to be one big nothing burger. But even still, I'm tentatively positive Season 2 will be more solid.