#succeeding but still failing

[lovesickeros]

☆ de fontaine

{☆} characters furina {☆} notes cult au, imposter au, drabble, gender neutral reader {☆} warnings angst, suicidal thoughts, hurt / no comfort {☆} word count 1.4k

This wasn't fair. This wasn't fair. This wasn't fair!

She thought, for one moment, she could put the mask down and breathe – for one moment of daydreaming, she thought she could just be Furina. She thought she would finally get to live the live she should've had in the first place, the life she threw away to play God to an audience who saw her as nothing but a circus animal, dancing to their whims. Furina just wanted to be selfish for one brief and fleeting moment..and it was gone before she could even grasp it in her hand. A comet soaring past far out of her reach.

She can barely keep her hands from violently shaking as she looks down at them – broken and bloody and more a corpse then a person – and she feels so numb she can't even feel the rain pelting against her back. None of this is fair, she wants to scream, why is it always me? But her voice is silent beneath the torrent of rain. She wonders if the ocean would take her if she sank into it's depths – just for a moment, she wonders how it would feel to finally be able to sleep at ease.

Furina is tired.

But Furina is nothing if not useful, isn't she?

So she forces her feet to move, dragging against the stone beneath her heels, and drags their bloodied body into the nearest empty building, letting the rain do the work of washing away the smeared blood following her path. The smell makes her feel sick, the feeling of it sticking to her hands and gloves makes her lightheaded, but she persists. Because Furina is useful, because Furina won't let them die out in the rain, because Furina won't stand by and just let them rot on the streets like some..pest.

Furina wants to go home. She wants to sleep and she isn't she if she wants to wake up, this time. But she keeps going anyway.

Because it's all she's ever done, and the habit sticks.

An Archon she may not be, not anymore, but the expectations of five hundred years still linger like eyes on the inside of her skull. They watch her, pry and prod at her thoughts, mocking laughter and judging eyes following her as she forces herself to dance to the song they weave with glee. Furina never stepped off that stage – she's still there, she thinks, watching the crowd stare at her in disdain as the curtain call looms above her like a guillotine. She still hears Neuvillette deliver her damnation and salvation with a trembling voice, still feels her hair stand on end when electro crackled like the crack of the whip, Clorinde's blade aimed at her like a loaded gun.

She's trapped on that stage and she never left, not really.

She hates it. She thinks she hates them, but it's not their fault. They didn't ask for this, didn't ask for everyone to turn against them, didn't ask for her to save them. Neither did she..yet here they are, she thinks.

She tries to tell herself she's in control this time, though. She can stop performing her part in this horrible, bloody play any time she wants. It makes her feel better, just for a little while, if she convinces herself she's still Furina, painfully human.

And Furina has always been good at lying.

It's the believing that's the hard part.

There isn't time for her to wallow in her own self pity, though. They're still bleeding out onto the dusty, creaky floorboards of some random, broken down house and she's just standing there as the blood stains the wood. She can fix it – she's good at fixing things. She's done nothing but fix things – try to, anyway – for five hundred years. She can fix a little wound, how hard could it be? Her hands are clenched so tight they ache as she kneels down, wincing at the creak of the floorboards beneath her heels– she hesitates just long enough to wonder if she's making a mistake before she peels away just enough of the outer layer of their clothes to see the deep, bloody gash across their chest. She tries not to think about it – it's deep, too deep, and she feels dizzy just looking at it, but she's handled worse, right?

Furina can fix it. That's what she's good at.

She doesn't feel so confident when she tries to wrack her brain for..something. Five hundred years, and a little wound stumps her? No, she had to have learned something, right? She's decidedly not trying to buy time because she's panicking, parsing through hundreds of years of memories like flipping through a book. Furina isn't made for this, not really – she's running on nothing but adrenaline and she's really not sure what she's doing, but she's trying. And just like before, it won't be enough, will it?

She'll fall short again – she'll be too late to fix it before she's alone again.

Furina was an Archon..used to be. What use would she have for that sort of knowledge? Which makes her predicament all the more harrowing and bleak. What was she supposed to do?

Furina had heard it first hand, that vitriol in Neuvillette's voice. She isn't sure she's ever heard him that..angry before. She's not sure he would listen to her if she tried, either. And that scares her more then anything. All of Fontaine was up in arms about this..imposter, yet here she was, staring down at them bleeding out in front of her, and she was trying to save them.

Why? Why is she throwing away her only chance at normalcy for a fraud? Why didn't she just turn them in?

They were dying – that should've been a good thing, shouldn't it? So why didn't it feel like it?

"Why you?" Her voice breaks as she speaks in harsh tones, grabbing the front of their shirt in trembling, bloodied hands. "Why now?" She wants to scream, to demand answers they can't give, to claw back the reprieve she was promised after five hundred years of agony..and all she can do is sob into their chest, pleading for an answer that will not come. "Why me?"

Silence is their answer, and it hangs heavy on her trembling shoulders as she cries.

Of course they don't, she thinks bitterly, no one has ever answered her pleas spoken in hushed sobs. Not her other self and certainly not them.

Furina has always been alone. Furina will always be alone.

Because Furina never left that stage, never left that moment when she looked at herself in the mirror and took up a mantle too heavy for her to bear. She always finds her way back eventually. There's no one on the other side anymore – she stands alone on a stage, waiting for an inevitable end she isn't sure will come.

"Please," She pleads through tears and choked sobs, clinging to them like they are all that keeps her from sinking. "Please don't leave me, too." The words burn on her tongue – how pathetic is she that she craves companionship from the bloodied body of the imposter? Perhaps she's truly lost her mind after all these years..perhaps she's finally gone mad. She must have.

But their presence is like the first feeling of gentle warmth upon her skin as the sun crests the horizon, like the gentle lap of tides along her heels, the sway of branches and leaves as the wind blows through them like an instrument all it's own. They are the soothing sound of rain against the window as she watches the dreary skies in fond longing, the first bloom of spring as color blooms upon the landscape like paint had been spilled across the hills and valleys.

They are like the faint spark she carefully nurtures and stokes, so fragile even the smallest wind could blow it out like a candle. She cradles it within her palms, pleads with whoever will listen – prays that someone finally listens, because if not for her, then for them.

She's failed to protect too much already, let too many people with so much trust in her fall between the cracks of her fingers like grains of sand. She won't let them go – she can't.

If nothing else, if she couldn't be saved when she begged for salvation from that five hundred year long agony, even if she never got that chance..

Furina will make sure they do.

[insertsomthinawesome]

Some more Altair!! :D I’m so flattered by the reaction to my boy ;;v;; <3 <3 Ya’ll are incredible TvT <3 <3 Originally I mean to post these with the first image, but The illustration looked so good on its own... I couldn’t find a way to get them all to look nice xD I’ll ramble a little bit below the cut about Character details/ideas i”ve had so far :D

- Altair is 16! Right now I’m leaning towards making him shorter than both Deuce and Ace SDFLKJSDGLDSG - He didn’t have white hair before being Isekaid into Twisted Wonderland. That is a new feature, and one he has mixed feelings about. -If its not parsible enough, the armband emblem is supposed to be Grim’s Face!! :D The idea was inspired by Crowley calling Yuu a beastamer! - The blue And Orange-ish red-ish earring are supposed to represent Ace and Deuce. :3 They are his best friends, and Altair appreciates them a lot. - He’s Conflict avoidant for the most part, but once and a while he whips out the driest, most piercing comeback, and everybody is left either shocked or wheezing. - He does use some dry delivery or sarcasm pretty frequently besides that too (ei when I was first playing the game and Trey started calling Ramshackle a Dump before switching words, my first thought was “No, No you can say it, that’s exactly what it is” xD) - A lot of the personality I haven't figured out yet!! I’ll probably be playing that by ear when I construct shenanigans xD - The more people he befriends the larger his Tsundere Protection squad grows xD - He is not a shipping OC!! I will not be shipping him with anybody :D - For anybody who’s seen my whumptober with Leona being stabbed, that was Altair! The art/concept for him was already drawn at that point :D Its not much xD But its what I got for now!!! I don’t usually make OCs, but Twst offered me an organic way to do so, so this was fun. :D I’m excited at the possibility of doing more with him down the road.

[frankenjoly]

Bram doing more and better parenting in a day than Aya's father in 10 years already was a thing but also,,,, "you yourself must become the knight",,,,

[bonefall]

Are you going to keep Goosefeather's curse? If so are you going to change anything about it? From my memory the book was... depressing.

It will probably get rolled into Pinestar's Crusade, building it up into an SE rather than just a novella. There's actually a lot going on in that specific moment, and it makes sense to go over it all at once.

So to answer your question, yes, most of Goosefeather's Curse is staying. Most of the Crusade Generation have depressing stories to tell. If the Thistle Period is defined by the fact that Thistle Law metastasized and went terminal, and if the Campaign Era was when it was newly born, then the Crusade Era was when it was first conceived.

I've been thinking about Pinestar's Crusade idly and mentioned it a few times, but here's my fragments so far;

PINESTAR'S CRUSADE (Fuses Pinestar's Choice and Goosefeather's Curse)

We start in the Crusade Era; there is now more focus on 3 major characters, though it's still built around Pinestar as the POV

Pinestar, Goosefeather, and eventually Pinepaw's apprentice Speckletail.

Pinepaw is born into the start of the Crusades, a bloody period where the Clans are invading Chelford and brutalizing cats in the hopes of appeasing StarClan. He only begins to learn the full story of what happened in Darkstar's Commandment once he begins going to Gatherings as a warrior

The truth being that Oakstar came up with this idea because he couldn't take an L

But even as an apprentice, it becomes quickly apparent to him that what they're doing is evil. They were brutalizing kittypets who aren't trained to fight back.

During his first raid as an apprentice, he allows a ginger-and-white mother and her kittens to escape

This came back years later, when that queen, Crystal, forms BloodClan in response to the Crusades.

Pineheart watches Oakstar die barely a year later to the queen he saved, using early claw extenders to cut right through him. Even if he hadn't been on his last life, it would have ended him.

But, Crystal lets Pineheart go, recognizing the Clan cat who had saved her life.

Watching his dad die along with several friends, and countless more innocent Chelford, plus being released by Crystal, is a Formative Moment.

Doestar continues the Crusades in the name of revenge for Oakstar, but now that BloodClan exists and is ARMED, the easy raids become bloodbaths.

They slowly peter out, not with a bang but with a whimper. She never announces an official end, eventually she just stops organizing them. No one gets closure, especially not Pineheart.

But the 'peace' doesn't last. Just before Heatherstar takes power from Smallstar and begins the Campaign to take the Mothermouth Moorland, ThunderClan deals with the Great Hunger

Pineheart and Goosefeather become very good friends, part of a little buddy group that also included Tawnyspots and Pheasantfeather (who will become One-eye later)

Pineheart was given his first apprentice, a rowdy little one and the niece of Doestar, Specklepaw. He's tasked with helping her fill the pawsteps of greatness she's destined to walk in.

Just like canon, Goose predicts the Great Hunger... though, he is an adult this time around because of some timeline changes.

And, like canon, it fails. They couldn't stockpile enough food to last an entire year of famine, a scorching summer and a frozen winter, they end up losing a huge stock of their food as if it was destiny.

Goosefeather was forced into a role he hates, given horrible visions of the future, and argues ferociously with Pineheart; if they hadn't tried to stockpile, they wouldn't have lost all that food to begin with.

It is in this moment, he comes to realize that every time he's fought back and used his visions like a warning, it's backfired.

So, perhaps, they are instruction.

But, meanwhile, Pineheart can't loose his apprentice or his friends. While others were hunting desperately, he was keeping cats alive through scouting for grubs, foraying into other territories, and...

Every bite of kittypet food he took for himself was a morsel in someone else's mouth. But this... this he kept quiet.

It started a "bad habit" he could never break.

Having lost the previous deputy to starvation and on her deathbed, Doestar nominates Pineheart to the position. He was shocked and upset by this, but he was the obvious choice.

Son of Oakstar, Hero of the Hunger, the cat who had kept Specklepaw alive when all the other kits and apprentices starved.

But, Pinestar took the helm to extreme controversy.

Everything Pinestar's ever done that worked was nonviolent. He's never seen battle do anything but bring harm, and the thought of leading people into war... it makes him feel sick.

But the rest of the Clan can't see what he sees. They yearn for the glory days (even though they were not glorious at all), itch to die for a cause, and leave this old, disgusting subsistence survival behind them. ThunderClan wants blood and Pinestar just wants peace.

Taking back Sunningrocks is an example of this. To avoid losing Clanmates, he proposed to Hailstar that they would have a Joust, instead.

ThunderClan's strongest against RiverClan's strongest. Adderfang vs Mudfur.

It didn't go well.

The problem with those sorts of situations is you have to abide by the deal. RiverClan took Sunningrocks for 6 months. It was humiliating for ThunderClan.

Even the cats he'd saved from the famine were furious with him

The only things that DID seem to please the Clan was when he would throw them fully into battle. Such as Goosefeather's prophecy that WindClan's herbs needed to be destroyed...

Every time a situation like that happened, where Goosefeather would phrase things as a Holy Struggle, Pinestar was thrown right back to the Crusades

Terrified eyes, screeching, cats begging for mercy, his father dead at his paws and feeling horror and relief swirling

Sitting vigil for old friends killed in these horrible fights, like Moonflower, it made him feel like how he felt the day he buried Oakstar.

And the bile rose in his throat, remembering that Oakstar was not there at his Leadership Ceremony, damned to the Dark Forest.

A thought was born, here. What does StarClan truly want? What do they expect of him? If they will send the architect of the Crusades there...

What of a cat who stayed fed on human food and fed grubs to his Clanmates? Or a leader who never knows the right thing to do?

When Mumblefoot retired and Sunfall became deputy, the Clan seemed to love him more than Pinestar. He found himself just... sitting back, and allowing Sunfall to call the shots.

It was towards the end, when Leopardfoot proposed an Honor Siring. He was from a glorious legacy, she wanted kits... and on his end, he wanted the peace that raising kittens could bring.

The warmth of human dens was calling him, but perhaps the warmth of love for children could keep him home.

UNLIKE CANON; Nothing about Tigerkit was born evil.

There was no StarClan vision of Tigerstar; Goosefeather knew full well that Thistlestar was the Leader of Prophecy.

But Pinestar would never give Thistleclaw an apprentice in time. Nor would he ever give his own little son to a cat as vicious as him.

Goosefeather never hurt anyone... but Pinestar just needed a push.

Pinestar was already anxious, unhappy, clinging to the goodness that was his little kits. Even as two of them were lost to minor illnesses, shortly after receiving their names.

It wasn't a lie. It was just half of the truth.

"Pinestar... you have a choice to make. StarClan has given me a vision of blood and war, and Tigerkit will have a role to play in it."

He DID have a vision... of Thistlestar. Not Tigerkit. But that was enough for Pinestar, his fear and trauma took the helm from there.

He'd seen his friends, his apprentice, the kits who had been born and died in his rule, all of them turn into the monsters Clan Culture demanded

Nothing he did ever seemed to work, why would THIS moment be different?

How could he prevent Tigerkit from becoming like that too?! Was StarClan telling him to KILL his son??

Pinestar's never had a vision from StarClan. He doesn't have the aptitude like a Cleric... what he has is a nightmare, of Tigerkit growing so large he crushes the whole camp under his claws

After a week of agony, Pinestar unknowingly creates a prophecy of his own,

"Can only the death of a child break fate?"

Sensing he was close to victory, Goosefeather dipped his head, not denying his question.

And it's the last straw.

And that is the climax of Pinestar's Crusade. Broken from his experiences, every turn taken for peace causing him more pain, the idea that he might have to hurt his own son plaguing his mind, he makes the choice to leave.

It wasn't hard, he'd still had that old bad habit of taking bites of kittypet food, a couple friends on the other side. But what he doesn't know is that by leaving with his life... he prevents Sunstar from acquiring his own.

Sunstar had ONE single life, StarClan was not able to give him more with the previous leader still alive. For leaving his Clan, for unknowingly preventing the transfer of power, and for dismissing the Warrior Code, Pinestar is sent to the Dark Forest after his death.

He can choose to walk there, or spend time in the mortal plane as just a spirit, but StarClan offers him no place in the cosmos.

[laylawatermelon]

I didn't like the dinner scene... Or the progression of Buck's relationship.

Let's talk about it!

I've been lurking and waiting to form my full opinion (away from my buddie mind) and I will compare the two.

I came in the fandom rather late and before season 7 aired. Buddie had been the consensus ship let's say.

I want to talk about these things

Bi buck

Bi buck episode

The aftermath

The rise of tommy

The fall of tommy

Buddie and BuckTommy relationship

The wheel

As a fan and a writer I recently started doing in depth analysis for my favorite TV shows to challenge myself and learn the trade I'm eventually going to work with.

I'll start with my problem/observation with the hamsterwheel --> bucktommy relationship --> separation of Buddie --> differences between the relationship.

First the hamster wheel I truly believed that when he mentioned having to work hard and it being new and different I really expected something special.

Now as a Buddie before this happened I was like OMG its happening. All the way up until the last part of 7x04 (where i promptly blacked all the way out) and that Buck was going to work for Eddie.

In the case of the preview and marketing they did in fact put a beautiful buddie shaped blanket over the whole thing and pulled it away for a new ship.

Now it would make sense some fans would be mad. Most people have an otp. That doesn't change with anything.

Buddie was still very prominent with all the female love intrests so it became confusing to me with the response but I'll get back to that in a minute.

The kiss (which he didn't ask before and it was really sudden / can argue Buck was okay with it cause hot guy duh but still a lil mehh) was quick. It felt very hamster wheel like he's jumping into something new.

Then subsequently in the other episode called you don't know me aka the BUCK!! date where a closeted joke was made (funny in tv but not in real life).

Granted Buck could've handled it better but he literally brain melted. Your straight (?) friend catches you on your literal first date with a man in secluded past of town. Yeah I'm taking myself outside for a sec.

The Evan thing also applies. On screen we haven't gotten a denounc

ement of the name Buck and what it means. I don't know it feels like two separate lives if I think about it.

He's Evan with him but Buck with everyone else (this is very convoluted).

That name thing has been and will continue to be debated. 🤷🏾‍♀️

The hamster wheel sped up expeditiously when he invited him to his sister's wedding. Right after Eddie stated he is rushing too fast.

(Which Buck also does due to ✨abandonment issues✨)

Then the bachelor party where he didn't dress up.

I know people made real life excuses but the things is I'm a canon more than a fanon person.

(yes buddie isn't canon hypocrisy ik but WAIT)

What I mean by that is that I take what characters say and do at face value. That information forms my opinions of them.

Unfortunately there's been about 7 years and all couple parallels with Buddie so my brain was like yep, that's canon.

When Tommy was being discussed at first (and now) I'm still saying as that he's a blank sheet that the fans who've wanted Buck to be in a loving reciprocal relationship so that's being projected on him.

So that equates to him being a let's say "out of character" personality in the online space.

I said in an episode analysis that Tommy's interested and not invested and I stand by that until the show proves other wise or writes their relationship on a deeper level.

Fanon Tommy's character would've worn a costume, hell they might've been the ones matching.

Because he's that dedicated and invested.

In canon, he didn't even come up with a simple enough reason and just brished it aside.

Now once again the you don't know me and writing wise it's significant that Buck's not acknowledged as Buck, and his lover isn't allowed to call him that. They're cooking something.

Idk what it is or if it's burning or not. But it's cooking regardless.

Deep conversations. Honesty with Eddie.

Tommy. Redirection and minimization. (and a smidgen of jealousy)

I also had some qualms about the sexualization of Buck's character or the minimization or common theme of Buck being used/useful.

They make it a poetic irony that the man who failed to be useful in saving/being savior baby then be used throughout his adult life.

Whether that be a substitute/donor for his older brother, a fantasy or story for some, or a quick fling/easy relationship the writers haven't fully gotten him out of the hamster wheel.

(but they're cooking ik it. Im praying. Im hoping. Please be cooking!!)

The writing of the relationship is failing it. Unless it should be like that.

For the rest of the topics I was talking about the bi buck episode and how much it meant to TV.

As we still know, Hollywood/American TV is a global thermometer let's say and tends to be discussed/acknowledged/distributed worldwide. As a result when certain things are done in the shows it can be a milestone.

I can admit I overlooked some things (as I am an avid hunter of media especially HAPPY! queer stories being told of POC and otherwise) so I can sometimes forget how impactful/important certain things are for the American/world audience to see.

Like henren, a black lesbian couple with a kid! Married! Both incredibly successful in their respective jobs.

Like that alone could be a TV show honestly.

That's why when Bi Buck happened I was happy. (I legitimately blacked out because I didn't see or hear the preview right after 🤣🤣 I was distressed when I came to)

But honestly I am still happy and proud that it happened.

I didn't get the significant of the extent of visibility of having a male (later in life is important!) come out or be acknowledged as bisexual.

Granted in cannon the word hasn't been uttered or expanded on but they head a rough 10 episodes so I'll give em some slack.

But as a viewer and a writer I see how important it is to have it happen and the significance of it through real life stories and anecdotes and for that I am happy for that party of the relationship. 🥺

I won't take that moment away from them. Was it perfect (including all the other stuff afterwards?) No.

But was it necessary and messy and awkward like real life? Absolutely yes and I love it.

This is peak TV I tell you. (I've never blacked out like that to TV before so that was a first🤣)

But on a real note I was excited (and neutral towards Buck and Tommy being together).

I still ride the Buddie ship all start for to the context clues (slutty dangerous barbell scene anyone??) that it may be confusion on his part or at least leaving the door partly open for Buddie.

(it really could be just gauging the audience reaction)

I won't really talk about the second half of Buddie sexual identity because that either deserves it own post and has to be expanded on.

(Eddie i beg. The women of the world DON'T need you right now. Be a beautiful centerpiece. Do not traumatize the women of la no more. Take care of your son. Don't go through treacherous roads. Take the journey elsewhere. I beg!!!)

But on a serious note I noticed the quick turn I would say on the characterization/head canon of Buck's love interest.

I find it interesting that for female counterparts there hasn't been such a response. (I have heard about Buck Taylor riders though)

(this is my inner thoughts. Very hot. 10/10. My soul was pleased. Couple? Awful. Friends? Brilliant. Taylor motives? Nah you can't be round me with all that sneaky stuff)

But her character was the most expanded on.

But with Tommy, most of what's stated about the relationship at the beginning was headcanon.

I think where the shows heading is to show the incompatibility between them.

Tommy's scenes so far have been casual, smooth and easy.

He doesn't mind a quick date. He doesn't want to dress up for the theme. He'll be there but it's not too important to fuss about it.

The deleted scene is avoidant (which may become a character trait about emotions) to deeper conversations. We see this reflected as well when they're at the dinner after Bobby's finally pulled through (and Buck lost his son😭😭 I'm not even on no shipper shit that's his baby😭😭) and he starts to be vulnerable.

I expected it to lean more towards a heartwarming or honest conversation but one again he shuts it down.

What I think they're going to do with his character/have been doing is show that he's avoidant to confrontation.

(i could argue that for his friend he might do more because the Eddie flying things still throws me for a loop in comparison to how they're portraying their relationship)

But I stick by the interested not invested point.

With the little screen time they've had to develop his character they've shown that it's not really endgame they're just incompatible. 🤷🏾‍♀️

Comparing the Buddie and Tommy relationship the investment/support becomes a bit evident.

Not matching with Tommy. Incompatible.

Matching with Eddie. Compatible.

Deep conversations. Honesty with Eddie.

Tommy. Redirection and minimization. (and a smidgen of jealousy)

Now you can argue (as a writer in gritting my teeth as I type this) if they do go down the route of his love "changed" me, it it's a possibility to write him becoming a better partner through love or sum.

As Buck is very emotional and he can get him to open up be more serious as he sees him taking it seriously.

As a buddie that killed me!!!!! but as a writer i had to speak up.

Anyways... If it goes that route I'll hate it a little. Hare it and like it seesaw kind of (look ik potential when i see it)

The hate part is that once again it'll be uaed/hamster wheel/i have to prove or gain your love or show that you appreciate me.

Like it cause who doesn't like a good you changed me by being yourself?

I'm a hater through and through. 😤

Tommy as a character I was neutral on at first. I'm still lukewarm about the relationship itself but the character is falling into the same old box all love interests get.

Not enough character but more than enough sex.

Regarding Buck's relationship they're always a give and take, Buck ending up being more of a giver (I'm not defending no white man for his mistakes though he do be doing some things side eye worthy).

But because the love interests are just that and not fleshed out characters, they end up not being able to stand on their own and be interesting enough outside of the one off appearances.

With the exception of Karen my love, my sweetness.

But most of Buck and Eddie's love interests can sometimes be reduced to props to move plot along/give character development.

(which as a writer i didn't hate as it's a multi lead drama series but..... If they want a long term partner to be introduced they can write it like Karen)

I can think of many scenarios and ways to actually make the character less off-putting to some.

Examples: more enthusiasm/effort actually being put in (or maybe that's where the statement Buck had to work for it applies? That Buck had to work for his love ??? I'm speculating now), being more straightforward, the jealously not being brought up like twice now.

Sirens are blasting with that one 🚨🚨

(The characters actions being vetoed off screen doesn't help either. It also applies to a lot of problematic things that sweep under the rug. Only the queer characters cheating? Violence against each other? Goading into drinks? Kissing/cheating? Manipulation?.... Eh it's drama but the cheating storylines and the characters it happens to makes me a lil 👀...)

All in all me and my homegirls not pleased.

I ain't been swayed anywhere and the way the wind in this writing ain't blowing nowhere.

[tearlessrain]

seriously can catastrophes stop happening for five minutes my brain is already fried from the ones we're already experiencing

[draw-you-coward]

power level: how it started vs how it's going

[kotoneshiomiofficial]

im honestly sick of the whole gifted kid talk mostly because it overshadows literally everyone else. like all i ever hear about is how "oh i had adhd/autism so i did really good in elementary school but all the adults told me how special i was and that put pressure on me so when i started failing in high school they got mad at me"

guess what buddy? the rest of us also had to deal with high expectations and parents/authority figures getting mad at us when we didnt succeed. except i always struggled, was labeled with 'behavioral issues' when i was little instead of anyone recognizing my struggles as adhd (still no one believes that i have it), and really only kept my high school grades in the mid 80s because my teachers were actually halfway decent and wanted to help me (not to mention the anxiety driving me because of constant threats if i failed!). and i couldnt succeed in college either. but we dont get to talk about how we always failed, were always punished, were always left behind because You need to talk about how you did sooo good and everyone thought you were sooo important but fell from grace. sorry you were put down to level of us peasants, m'lord

[talentforlying]

john and his niece going for a walk, arm-in-arm, so gemma can confide in him about her ghost problem without worrying her mum......i'm severely unwell about them.

[ultimatetrashgoblin]

Due to my sudden inexplicable hyperfixation and a recommendation from the lovely @arinlangdon I have now read the entirety of Nikolai’s route. I have a few thoughts

- the writing, as I was promised, is absolutely phenomenal

- the plot with Nikolai’s family was very intriguing and I found myself more invested in the narrative than the romance between him and the mc (though my lack of attraction to men could have contributed to that)

- hands down one of the best proposals I’ve ever read, like wdym he created a whole fake heist just for her? girlies raise your standards if your man won’t do that for you drop him

- Vidocq was an incredible villain and the entire of season 8 had me at the edge of my seat (the rooftop scene with Remy was a standout)

- my reintroduction to the gilded poppy has made me realize that they are my friend group if we were eccentric art thieves (down to the game of paranoia)

Overall my takeaway from reading this route can be summed up with:

My undying loyalty to fantasy stories blinded me to the full brilliance of QoT during its prime and I fully intend on reading the rest of the routes (and finally finishing Vivienne’s). I understand why so many people in the fandom loved it so much

Also I am now the #1 shipper of Nikolai Stirling and Remy Chevalier

[90stvqueen]

"Giles, I'm 16 years old. I don't wanna die." I've watched this show like five times but this scene still makes me weep

[notaplaceofhonour]

.

[swordbending]

[ID: a screenshot of a tumblr post that reads "'azula can't be redeemed' iroh and zuko literally did way worse things than azula ever did yet they got redemption". End ID.]

y'all I-- ☠️☠️

[killjoy-prince]

I didn't know he can resist being thrown into the ritual outside of his origin run but here we are

[ghostblogging]

y'know it almost certainly has been said before and trans AUs are played out but I genuinely thinking making Zuko trans would add so much to his character and play off the family dynamics in ways that would both take his whole arc in fascinating directions and also slot in so perfectly

[talesofwhimsy]

WHY?, “Sin Imperial" // Car Sear Headrest, “I Can Play the Piano”