#that has nothing to do with this i just felt like yapping bc i just finished rewatching the first ultra vs chaos

[brainrot-stitch]

(Plucks him out of a box by the scruff like a scraggly ass kitten) I love him

[serv0z]

the robaaa... yapping about her design below :3

RAHHH OKAY SO im trying to draw the main bunch in my style,, dalv is last as much as i adore him bc i wanna redraw the first uty drawing i did but with an updated style and different designs!

so Ceroba's first!! Well. Clover and the fallen humans were first but i digress. I know I wanted to add more details, especially to the clothes. There's nothing wrong with her inital design but I like details and there wasn't much detailing to work with there.

I looked up references of kimonos bc i believe her outfit is based on em? All the refs were pretty long, down to like their feet whereas ceroba wheres these big knee-high boots and a much shorter one. I stuck with that and just went along with the idea. Kimonos typically have patterns and I was gonna do some of the more like?? active ones?? the ones that show up most like cranes and such but I decided to look through kitsune symbolisms and the like.

A lot of kitsune things revolved around clouds and lots of swirly lines, especially on the masks themselves. I implimented that. her sleeves have a thin line of swirls around the ends and her kimono has lots of clouds.

I added more details to the boots because they felt so plain with that design I had so I went for a pointed shape with more pink and a gold line along the sides to it in. I also went with a pointed shape because?? I see a lot of like. crystal shapes with kitsune stuff? like diamond shapes so I figured it was a subtle nod. Her staff felt bland and boring now so I added the ends of the ribbon/loose parts and tied it around the staff into a bow. It was just to give it more flair.

The insides of her sleeves have this ombre of orange like a sunset almost is what i was aiming for. Kept the sleeves long bc it was typical with kimonos. I gave her this dark undershirt that goes to her wrists and up to a bell collar. In her sprite she has this yellow on her neck that matches the bells she wears but i never see art of her with a bell collar??? I dont think a lot of people notice.

I dont think in the years her and Starlo have known eachother that he wouldnt give her something to wear as an accessory. I think it could have started as a little pin or a clip for her hair before she put it on the bow on her kimono. Not much else changed aside from I darkened the tips of her ears and added dots to blend it in, her hair is naturally pink-tipped but ofc it becomes a fiercer brighter shade in her fight in true paci, and her bow in her hair has a clasped end with another smaller bell.

im so happy with design i hope you like it too :3

[mcytegg]

Ash: I genuinely don't understand why you left Lala, and then left the Foundation like immediately. It can't just be because Minute killed you, that makes no sense.

Ro: I wasn't wanted.

posting the clip bc it genuinely makes me feel unwell but i also want to yap abt how insane ash and ro's entire convo makes me feel. like in this clip alone, the silence from them BOTH after ro says he wasn't wanted was so loud.

cause like earlier in the vod ro tells zam that although ash was one of his day 1 teammates, it was more against his will then not. like he felt like it was forced and more like ash's underling then his teammate. so him not actually feeling like he was part of the lala legion was obviously an issue that had roots from the very start, and these feelings only worsened and grew until eventually he ended up leaving the team AND the foundation (who only made his feelings of being unwanted and unvalued as Himself worse) to join the players, who actually seemed to genuinely want him on their side.

even AFTER he fucks up massively and ends up accidentally killing bacon w the arrow cannon instead of literally any of their enemies, they still want him there. despite their frustration and anger at him, he is still someone they want by their side. they don't kick him from the team or kill him like the foundation did the moment he fucked up, they accepted that he made a dumbass mistake as Their teammate and they dealt w the consequences of it and figured things out together.

bc he was more than just another person fighting by their side!! hes an idiot but he is THEIR idiot teammate roshambogames who they wanted to fight alongside them and thats what mattered most to him. feeling accepted and cared for by the people intent on ending the server in spite of his flaws and mistakes meant so much more to him then being w the people trying to protect it who only rly saw him as what he could Provide for them as a spare loyal member of the team.

and ro's convo w ash rly only confirmed to him that he was never valued as anything more than another teammate in the lala legion or the foundation bc ash Immediately disregards ro's words and calls it bs. and whats crazy is that ro was incredibly confident and sure of himself during their convo until ash started digging into him— calling him selfish and nothing but a violent person looking for an excuse to kill people and cause chaos. ash never seems to actually Listen to what ro has to say, he hears what he wants to hear, he berates ro yet begs for him to come back in the same breath. it was only after ash began doing this that ro began ro falter and lose some of his confidence, and its after ro begins to sound more uncertain that zam immediately gets clown to message ro to get out of there.

i assume it was zam bc clown was too busy hunting jumper to pay attention to ro's yaps w ash, and bacon nd zam were both watching it go down. and after rejoining the call, ro almost immediately gets his confidence back and all of the uncertainty he began to show bc of ash's words went away. they found jumper very shortly after ro rejoins which is also when zam and bacon start encouraging ro and boosting his confidence as well, making sure that he feels just as valued as clown is in this fight.

which is very 🥹🥹🥹 bc i'm growing attached to the players in general but it also feeds into my love for drastics too bc it rly does confirm to me that zam is probably the person (behind mapicc ofc) who makes ro feel most confident and comfortable w himself bc he understands ro better than most, and makes the effort to support him in the ways he needs to be supported so he feels seen and cared for.

[haza1ll]

animation for THE NEON VOIDD BABYYYY

this post is for @sugarpasteltmnt

‼️‼️MEGA YAPPING AHEAD PLEASE BEWARE‼️‼️

this might end up being really long and rambly and sappy but maybe not who knows.( it was) (and also featuring numerous spelling errors i am way too tired to fix and i am not re reading what i just wrote) SO. yknow how when chap idek..25(?) came out and i was all like “yeah so i made this animation for TNV and ill drop it when the fic ends” in your ask box? so. I FINISHED IT RAHHH. technically it has been finished since i sent that ask but ohhh my goodness did it need polishing. i haven’t animated in 4 years before that and omg it felt so good getting back into it but IDFK SOMETHING IS STILL NOT UP TO MY STANDARDS. i feel like i could have done so much more with it and i deffo wanted to but as soon as i told myself “oh yeah this is basically done” art block literally sucker punched me in the gut out of NOWHERE. I COULD NOT PICK UP MY I PAD. I COULD NOT DRAW. I WOULD STARE AT THE WIP ANIMATION AND BE UPSET BC I DDINT WANNA WORK ON IT AHH. that goes with saying. i kept having this thought in the back of my head “you need to finish it. you have a wip sitting. finish it. go do it. what are you doing are you STARTING ANOTHER PROJECT??? anddd yeah i got super distracted with other stuff and other projects and then i started spending my free time rewatching 2012 turtles and omg this summer has been a mess. i have all the free time in the world and i choose to be the least productive as possible with it even though i have a job that lets me literally sit on my phone and do whatever i want if no one is there. (i’ve brought my switch to work numerous times ☠️) what i was trying to get at is the fact that TNV has inspired a lot of the old me to come back and i lowk missed her. i really missed the point in all those words up there but im here now so whatever. BUT. TNV made me make a tumblr account, i got back in to animation AND digital art in general, got back into longfics that are ongoing, AND it also helped kickstart ideas for writing. i’ve got so many stories now!! you are such an inspirational person pastels i just- every time i read a new chapter of yours it made me wanna go get up and do something. i wanted to create something. because at the end of each chapter, i would think- “woah. a person out there just wrote this. they just sat down one day and committed. i wanna do that” so i did that. just huge thank you and shoutout to you pastel. like damn. idk no words from me here. just a bunch of platonic hugs and kisses and thankyouthankyouthsnkuou for this lovely heart wrenching but also sweet story. i love this fandom (tmnt) so SO much and i think it’s so awesome how interactive you are with your own personal NV fans. crazy how we’re all here because of a bunch of turtles. 

STUFF ABOUT THE ANIMATION:

okay i really like to talk and if you let me, i will run my mouth. this is the internet so im gonna do just that. so more words for you to read 😁. AHEM. so like i stated before in the genuinely scary mess of words up there, i haven’t touched animation in a while, like, 4 years a while. yes i’ve done digital art here and there along the years, i haven’t been doing it nearly as much as i need to to use some programs to their full potential. layers are still confusing, and don’t even get me started on multiply and all that jazz. shading never comes out right on digital for me, i gotta work that one out. so, for this animation, i decided to go with a very rough style. nothing needed to be perfect, i just wanted to live my little life of trying to experiment with a bunch of different things all at once in one short animatic. I wanted to do that little ball bounce thing all animation artists start with (i kinda included that with the key). i also wanted to have a go at lip sync (no hate it was my first time) and also timing the animation with the music. i wanted to see how smoothly i could move a figure in and out of and out of the screen as well, which honestly, i think that part might be my favorite. i think i did a good job, and thats what matters. the animation itself lost a bunch of quality on importing it- no clue how it happened but now the ending is grainy af. ignore that pls lol- but it was sitting in my flipaclip for god, i dont even know, 3 months now? i kept going back and forth on if i wanted to share it or not, so im throwing it to the wolves and i guess whatrver happrns happens and im good with that. yay. im actually rrwlly tired now sooo *leaves this absolute pile of words with a video attached at your feet and stumbles away quickly*

also i’ve genuinely never posted anything so i’m learning how to use tumblr too ☠️

[hyuneskkami]

✮⋆˙ 𝐂𝐑𝐀𝐙𝐘 = 𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐔𝐒

⤷ leo valdez x daughter of athena!reader

masterlist

♡ fandom | percy jackson and the heroes of olympus

♡ includes | best friends with hints of romantic feelings (if I ever find the energy to make a part two, it’d actually be cool 😔), barely any angst to comfort, collective adhd levels being off the charts, yapping.

♡ in which | y/n and leo sharing a common love for designing and building things <3, reader and leo, both have nightmares (not described too vividly), reader uses swear words <3.

♡ a/n | jdkfcjqdkb I wrote this and forgot to post it ;-; anyway, this is one of my new fav leo fics i've ever written bc I get to geek out 🫶 + the technical part of this is inspired by my love for fast and furious + my new interest in f1, so enjoy!!

♡ wc | 1.0k

✮⋆˙ y/n’s pov

“are you ready, child of athena?” a god’s voice boomed around us. I took a few steps to the front to be side-by-side with my brother, malcolm pace.

“you’re not leaving me, now of all times—”

“i’m sorry, mou ilios, I have to. you know I do.”

“mal, please, I— who’s going to lead the cabin if you’re gone? how can you be so selfish—”

“you, n/n. I know you can do it,” malcolm said, and stepped in front of me. he raised his hands and gently pushed me further behind him, enveloping me in his shadow.

“it’s one child of athena you want,” malcolm paused. “take me.”

“PLEASE NO—”

fuck.

I sat up on my bed. I picked up a watch from the bedside table—a watch that once was malcolm’s, but mine, now—which read 2:47.

I threw my blanket to the side, which did little to cover me up anyway, and got up to check on the little kids. they were all sound asleep.

for the next 10 minutes—or what felt like an hour—I walked around the cabin, cleaning it up and trying to fall asleep.

but when has sleep ever come to you when you needed it the most?

I feared reliving malcolm’s last moments before he left me, everytime I closed my eyes. stranded me here, disappearing without any advice on how to lead, or how to live.

I leant against the cabin door and felt the cool air from the bottom of the door blowing onto my feet. finally realising that I couldn’t go back to sleep, I decided to go out for a walk.

“and where are you off to?” annie’s voice whispered from her bed. she was still half asleep and groggy.

“heading out for a walk. can’t sleep,” I said.

“take the cap, and don’t get caught. i’m not helping you out with the dishes if you get caught by those harpies,” she grumbled. I smiled and took her cap from the coat rack beside the door, and stepped out into the cold night in nothing but sweats and a tank top.

great choice, y/n. good job on not realising what you were even wearing. now, you can die of the cold, if the harpies don’t get you first. yay!

I put on annie’s cap, watching my shadow disappear with me. I walked around aimlessly, thinking of malcolm helping me pick my first dagger, which was currently concealed with the help of the waistband of my sweatpants.

my feet subconsciously drag me to bunker nine, where I heard noises from. I go closer only to find light glowing from the open door.

I was facing my best friend’s back, hunched over a project, probably. if he turned around, I bet he’d look sleep-deprived and in need of coffee.

before I could take off the cap, he said, “hey, n/n!” and turned around with a grin.

“shut the fuck up, man, how did you just do that—” I complained, taking the cap off.

“I felt the sleep deprivation and negativity enter the room and guess who it was?” he wiggled his eyebrows and left his project unattended behind him.

“whatever,” I rolled my eyes at him and flopped down onto his couch. we looked at each other for an entirety of a few seconds before I opened my arms and he tumbled onto me.

“nightmares?” I asked.

“mhm.”

“same.”

“cuddle?”

“fuck yes, please.”

timeskip

it was around 4 in the morning when we wrapped up our movie night—movie morning?—with leo’s face buried in my neck, cuddling.

“wanna stay like this forever,” he said, his voice muffled. I smiled.

“or we could finish building what you were working on before I came,” I suggested. he looked up suddenly, with all his energy regained.

“hell yes!” he whisper-yelled, pumping his fist in the air and getting up. pulling me up from the couch, he continued. “I was working on building my own 1.6 litre four-stroke turbocharged 90 degree V6 double-overhead camshaft reciprocating engine. there’s these things called street races in tokyo, and this engine is basically my ticket to winning the next series there! wanna come with me and check out the coolest cars ever, next year?”

“oh, dude, you’re on! i’ve heard it’s basically motorsports heaven—”

“it is!”

“and we’re building our own fucking engine!?”

“we are—”

“oh, this is SO cool!”

“i’ve gotta start reworking on the specs, because I keep getting them wrong. can you take a look at them once?” he asked.

I nodded and moved towards his work table where used plotter papers lied. after taking in his planning and figuring out where he went wrong, I pulled out a new paper, and sharpened the blunt pencil.

I wanted to put my hair up but realised I forgot my hair tie at cabin six. I turned around to ask leo if i’d left any here when he removed a black hair tie from his wrist and dangled it in front of my face.

my cheeks flushed at the thought of him wearing it everyday. it felt so intimate, but it wasn’t that deep, really.

right?

I thanked him quietly and he pulled two chairs in front of the table, on which we sat down and started working on drafting the new specs together.

after about an hour, neither of us could keep our eyes open and moved to the couch, falling asleep together with whispered promises of finishing the blueprints the next day.

“cute fit, by the way,” he whispered. I looked down and realised it was his birthday gift to me from last year, and smiled.

[lemonagrios]

I've been thinking of an Au like this for a couple of months, so I made some shitty drawings to get some of it out of my system, lol

Me yapping about this Au ⬇️

So when I say "Logan" or "Runaways" Au I don't mean like literally swapping the characters and putting NextGen characters in the existing story, it's more like the general idea of the movie/comics with some plotpoints but not the exact same(?) I hope what I said makes sense lmao 😭

In this Au mutants are still relatively unknown and hidden from the population, but the Malfoys, who are very known and loved for their contributions to medicine and all of the other businesses they own, have known about mutants for a very long time now, and they actually are part of a big anti-mutant organization where they test possible "cures" and weapons for when mutants decide to "rebel" against humanity, even more now that some mutant called Harry Potter has been making some noise they have already tried and failed to silence.

17 year old Scorpius Malfoy, oblivious to all this tries to be the perfect son for his father while also grieving the (suspicious) death of his mother, he's been feeling weird lately, and he also has a big interest in genetics, not only because he knows he'd have to work in Transigen when he grows up like the rest of his family, but because of some weird sightings of interesting people in the past year.

Some stuff happens, and he discovers the truth about his family's business, the inhuman experiments tried on mutant kids, and a deadly weapon called X-19 that they created and actually have been using for a couple of years to kill important people like politicians and mafia lords while earning enormous amounts of money with it.

This "weapon" is actually a teen around the same age as Scorpius, and somehow he ends up running away with him, albeit kinda not on purpose, on top of all that he also very recently discovered that he himself is a mutant, so things are not looking good.

Some more things I've thought about 🥸

Albus and Scorpius are both 17, and their bond is definitely going to turn romantic at some point in the future bc I love them, they're boyfriends in every universe, I don't make the rules.

Albus name is X-19 as a reference to the epilogue begging with "19 years later" lmao.

Also, since his name was X-19, someone in Transigen who was part of the crew in charge of him and felt bad for him started calling him "Severus" in an attempt to give him a real name, I won't give too much details about this but that's the reason Scorpius says "Severus" in my fanart, "Albus" is a name he'd get later.

Albus was created in a lab, BUT I want him to have both Harry and Ginnys genes, I want Ginny to be the one who has the same mutation as him, so since this is kinda a gender reversal, she has claws like Laura's while Albus has Logan's, and we all know Albus looks a lot like Harry, so I like the idea that he was made specifically to resemble him, just to fuck with their heads when a teen that looks just like Harry and has Ginnys mutation is used against them.

As for Scorpius powers, I mostly made them up lol, it's a pretty basic teleportation with the fact that his skin becomes white the more he uses his powers bc I really wanted him to develop a physical mutation that would eventually (propably) out him as a mutant, also he can only teleport to places he has already been to before, if he hasn't been to a place he cannot go there, but since he's so new to his powers he can't control where he's going yet lol.

I think that's it 🤓 I still have nothing set since this is just for silly fun and I could change my mind at anytime, tbh I doubt anyone would read all that, but I had to let it out, I do want to write a fic someday, but if I draw slow, I write even slower 😭 I hope my English didn't fail me cause lately I haven't been Englishing very well lmao, byeee.

[nyxypoo]

replacing it

[anomaliex]

fabian and fig not ever having died is SO interesting to me, like i was relistening to the early episodes (crazy sentence since i’ve been a fan since 2020) and his desire to protect is such an interesting trait bc yes both he and fig have it, bc i think they both have that protective instinct + genuine desire to do so, but also the way fabian was raised to be ‘the man’ and part of that is being strong enough to defend not only your self but your family. like the thing where he chooses to save his mama in the end of s1 despite definitely would of rather having bill survive, and bill says i would have slit you in half if you saved me over her. this is all to say id love to hear if u have any more thoughts on fabian’s feelings

YEAH YEAH YEAH YOURE SO RIGHT!! I think there is a point in time where Fabian feels genuinely helpless and useless because he lets people get hurt and can't undo it. Or I guess that's not what I think, thats just canon. (I just finished answering this ask and I yapped a lot even though what I was actually trying to say is so straightforward. My bad lmao.)

It starts in freshman year. Younger Fabian thinks he is the most skilled and important kid in the world and then he gets that rug pulled from under him. I know he was adventuring with his father a little before but his first real own fight ends with two of his new friends dead. That sucked. He was arguably the most dejected afterwards? Like yeah Gorgug was having a rough time but Gorgug was having a rough time the whole day, Fabian went from such a high to such a low. He absolutely did not think he'd care that much going in, but then, be was under the impression that he's so strong and capable; if he's so strong then why did his allies die? Doesn't that prove his weakness? Some scrawny kid arguably showed more bravery than him by jumping right into a monster, and the bravest Fabian felt was probably when he managed to help Riz after that went south.

He absolutely was raised to "be a man" and more importantly a leader, but before that day Fabian wasn't ever actually responsible for anyone's safety — not even his own, because he grew up both coddled and socially isolated. The first time Fabian feels responsibility for the well being of others (which he has to take, because he is Fabian Aramais Seacaster and he's obviously in charge, right?) he realises how fucking heavy it weighs on his shoulders.

Later they have some fuck ups with Adaine and Kristen and get whooped into shape by his father and Fabian gets it into his head that yeah, he (and Gorgug) are the front liners. They're the protectors. He's strong and capable (and still so much better than most other people) and he's going to protect his friends (that he cares about so so so much even if he's at a point where he can't openly admit it) and nothing bad is going to happen and after defeating Kalvaxus it maybe seems like that's true and then BAM sophomore year. Two of his friends go missing. Fig ends up kind of fine "just" possessed but Riz is decidedly NOT fine and he had to fight a creepy mirror Riz not-clone and there is a moment where he thinks his best friend (who he, at this point refuses to openly call his best friend because he's a shitty insecure teenage boy) is fucking dead. I think Fabian had not yet considered how he'd feel if any of his friends died (again) before that, of course he didn't that's a crazy thing to think about. He'd managed to brush off the corn monster dilemma because that was their first fight and they were just inexperienced but it's never gonna happen again, but it does. His father also also died when he wasn't there — does this mean something? Do people die when he's not making sure to watch them? How can he keep everyone he cares about safe when he is just one man and all his hands know how to do is to slay one monster after the other in hopes they never reach his loved ones.

It's probably fine, he thinks, until it's not. Chungle Down Bim Arc. Right when he thinks he's in his element and feels good and smart and important and powerful he leads a crew of people straight to their death and comes out of it humiliated and needing to be saved and maybe he was never that strong at all.

He regains his confidence by stepping up as a protector and supporting his friends. Like yes a big part of it is just discovering that he's passionate about dancing but the bigger part is arguably putting out the fires on his party members. Fabian is so capable and worthy and helpful and he is keeping his friends from harm and he feels like himself again but also like a new man.

They enter the Nightmare King's Forest and it's his heroism spell that keeps Kristen safe. His magic born from the desire to protect. For just a moment he feels like he found himself and his battle sheet feels nice and warm under his finger tips and he feels right in his skin.

Then Kristen fucking dies.

And she doesn't just die, no, she dies in front of him when he elected to go with her and was supposed to keep her safe. He is supposed to protect his friends now and yet, and yet, he can't actually do anything. Kristen is dead and he doesn't know what happened and he doesn't know how to help and he is useless because there is nothing he can do to reach beyond death like Kristen has done to help them (mostly Gilear) oh so many times.

Then Riz and Adaine die. Everyone dies. Why do his friends keep dying and Fabian is always fine — why was he fine after the shit in Leviathan when everyone else died and he definitely should have met his demise as well? Is he strong? Is he just lucky? Is this a cruel trick of fate? Why does he, despite being stupid and reckless and putting people in danger again and again and again continue to survive when no one else does after he fails to protect them?

Fig hasn't died either, but she learns revivify and even starts creating diamonds to cast it on the spot. She's saving their friends. She's being helpful. She's using the gift of being permitted to stay alive again and again to help, and what is he doing? Nothing. He's not doing shit.

Except that's not right, because there is something he can do. There's something he did do. Because Riz was falling and slipping past his reach and he really thought he'd loose his friend but then the extension of himself that is so deeply connected to his own self discovery and acceptance reaches out and saves him. It saves Riz and embraces him so gently and brings him to Fabian so he can cradle him and swaddle him and keep him safe and the flames that are supposed to be so hot and destructive are simply just warm. It reaffirms his discovery that yes, this is good. This new him is a little softer and maybe a little less imposing but it's helpful and good, and he just has to focus on the fact that this new him knows how to protect his friends.

No longer is his version of protection just killing whatever is threatening them before it gets the chance to hurt, now it's more preventing harm. Which is so simple and obvious but it never occurred to him, and maybe it's stupid that it took him this long to learn, but all he ever knew was to be ruthless and to fight and to demand respect because that's how his father did it — but Fabian isn't his father and he's learning to be okay with that, and maybe he isn't even a leader but that doesn't mean that he does not hold the power to do what he wants.

Fabian can't do magic to revive anyone but he can and he must and he will keep them from dying in the first place in the future, and the strained muscles and calloused hands that previously sought only to fight for glory and recognition now act as a shield to keep others safe. They have to. If not that then he can't do anything else.

He regains his cocky attitude but with just a little more grace, he regains his fighting spirit but instead of being a champion (hurt fight kill) he's a battlemaster with manoeuvres that prevent foes from getting to his friends. He regains his grandiose presence, demanding attention in every space he enters, but now it serves to essentially draw aggro. Almost all of his spells are support or utility spells! Yeah that's because he is a college of swords bard and fighting wise acts like a martial but in character that means something. Fabian knows feather fall. He needs his precious spell slots to do damage and a younger Fabian with the same build would only focus on that and maybe buff himself, but this Fabian will always cast feather fall. He will never watch one of his friends almost slip through his fingers again.

That's not to say that he isn't still stupid, or occasionally reckless, or stops throwing himself into battle without thinking it through. But his priorities have shifted and his way of thinking has too and he can never ever allow anyone to fall while he's still standing. And maybe he didn't even change that much, maybe he just got more Fabian, less Bill. Because it was already a Freshman Year Fabian that took the sentinel feat (which in universe would translate to him purposely learning how to slow down opponents), no one else.

[elainsgirl]

"He hasn't gotten that far with his planning, certainly not beyond the fantasies he pleasured him to."

That has got to be one of the most misunderstood thing that has ever been written.

It's not that Azriel doesn't want a future, it's that he feels like he can't have it, thats why he doesn't see it! People are so stupid to see the real reason behind it and uses it as an argument just so they think their ship is better. Its ridiculous.

Its just another example of antis twisting canon/context to fit their narratives,

Rhys doesn’t ask Azriel about his future plans w Elain. He asks about Lucien specifically, “what about Lucien?” And to THAT he replied how he hadn’t gone that far with his planning. Which we know its true, Azriel has done nothing to Lucien or even affect elucien hence no plan to remove Lucien out of the equation has been made -> he hasn’t gone that far into actually doing anything. He’s just minding his business, staying away from Elain despite how down bad he is for her.

and here’s the thing, another example of antis x inconsistency-> They call Azriel entitled for questioning the cauldron yet criticise him for not planning an entite future with Elain…when that would literally be the definition of entitlement especially as he did not know for sure how she felt about him.

If elriel wanted to get together, the next step could be a bloodduel which Az was ready for. What else did they want him to say or do bcs im afraid anything else would’ve come across as arrogance & again, entitlement. Could you imagine the riot that he would have caused if he had said, “yes I’ve planned an entire future with Elain. She will obviously break the bond for me, we will have x many children and live in this place and she’ll do that and I’ll do this” THAT is what you call toxic and controlling especially as there is no imput from Elain.

The thing is - I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, antis hold elriel to a higher standard then every other ship bcs they hate the idea of two consenting, interested individuals getting together. Idk what they expected. A love confession!? A proposal!? Az to march up & wake Lucien and demand a blood duel? Their expectations are lowkey ridiculous whichever way you look at it.

And yh. This man did not know the full extent of elains feelings for him. He did not know if his feelings were returned or one sided, the man whose crush chose his brother over him with 0 explanation, the man who still hides his scars - is not going to think he is worthy of someone he is interested in. Azriel would feel the same about any Love interest. Mor, Elain, Eris or Gwyn - his insecurities and low self worth would remain. Difference is? Elain chose him over her mate. Showed him how much she wanted him. Took his scarred hands without hesitation. Never showed fear at him or his shadows.

Gwynriels in their HCs have this same dynamic. Az has a moment where he feels unworthy and Gwyn makes him feel better. Guess what? That WILL happen with elriel, it already has as I pointed out above. Its also a common trope/issue within romance books so idk why antis are acting as though its something so bad. They’re always yapping about how much they’ve read romance books yet can’t recognise this simple, common trope?

Thing is - when your ship is so undeveloped that it has no issues, yh it’ll be perfect. But thats now how romance is written, especially not how Mass writes her romances. Every single couple has issues, insecurities and fears they overcome. That’s what makes them special. Unique. Complex.

[peachhcs]

I feel like Emma would feel like an outcast in the group sometimes because she’s on the bit of the quieter side, and everyone else has known or known of each other for years. She came in not knowing anyone, and maybe she brings it up to Gabe.

AW guys this is such angst 😣😣😣 my shaylaaaa, my beloved but also yes i definitely believe she struggles with this sometimes and she tries not to let it bother her but it does sometimes

especially when she’s like hanging out w the guys or something and they’re talking about inside jokes she doesn’t get :( or when maybe she goes to the lake house for the first time the first summer after their freshman year (bc emma and gabe start dating in their freshman year) she finds it hard to find her place yknow?

so imagine this taking place summer after their freshman year at the lake house

au masterlist

emma was feeling a bit..lost? out of place? she didn’t really know how to describe it exactly. she loved everyone, don’t get her wrong. they were such an energetic and entertaining group of friends, but she’d been at the hughes lake house for a few days now and she just felt a little bit out of place.

as soon as her and gabe got there, his hockey friends were on his back and then samy and julianne were in the mix, and then there was hannah who emma didn’t really know, but yet also she didn’t really know them besides the bc boys. it was confusing and watching all of them quickly fall back into place with one another kind of did leave a small sting in her chest.

she wasn’t ever one to make a huge deal about it though. emma always tried rationalizing her thoughts because obviously she didn’t really know these people that well because she didn’t grow up with them. it made sense that they were so close and got excited whenever all of them were together in the same place at the same time.

and as much as samy really tried making emma feel included because she was new, the blonde still felt a little behind whenever someone started cracking a joke or bringing up things from before she joined their inner circle.

so as much as it was sort of bothering emma, she didn’t say anything because how could she? it wasn’t even that huge of a deal anyway.

however, what she didn’t know was that gabe knew her well. even though they hadn’t even been dating a whole year yet, he had gotten to know her pretty well and quickly learned all of her little quirks because of how much time they spent together during the school year. so when emma became a little more quiet than usual, he noticed right away.

the hockey player found her in the kitchen one day when everyone else was off doing their own thing. he approached carefully to not scare her.

“hey,” the boy smiled as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and kissed the side of her head. emma grinned at the affection, turning her head to kiss him back.

“hey.”

“whatcha doing?” the blonde had a book laid out on the counter she was reading.

“reading this book,” the girl giggled.

“sounds fun. what’s it about?” the thing emma loved about gabe was that he always asked her what she was reading and really listened whenever she yapped on about it.

every other guy used to just not care, but gabe genuinely did want to know what she was reading every time, so emma began telling him about her book.

the dark-haired boy smiled widely, nodding along to what she was saying and adding in his own remarks when he deemed necessary.

“wow, sounds intense,” gabe mumbled with a small smile.

“it is pretty intense. what’re you doing? where’s everyone else?” the girl wondered as she closed her book for now to give gabe her full attention.

“nothing. i came looking for you. i think everyone’s just doing whatever right now,” he hummed and his words made her smile.

“came looking for me? that’s sweet,” she pinched his chin.

“yeah i did come looking for you. i was missing you,” he admitted and emma blushed even further. she hid her face away from his so he didn’t see, but gabe directed her chin right back to him. a loving smile danced on his lips.

“i’m happy you’re here,” now gabe was never the one to bring things up that he knew was bothering emma unless it was really pressing. he always tried giving her the space to bring it up herself if she wanted to and right now he was trying to do that because he knew what was on her mind.

“you are?” emma wondered.

“i am. feels like you’ve been around forever,” the hockey player smiled and that’s when emma’s smile faded a bit.

she pulled back and gabe knew he hit the spot that’s been clouding his girlfriend’s mind for days.

“sometimes it doesn’t feel like that,” emma finally admitted with a tiny frown.

“what do you mean?” gabe asked gently.

“ugh, it’s gonna sound so selfish and i don’t wanna be that person,” the blonde quickly backtracked and shook her head because it was selfish to her that she felt out of place in a place she never belonged to in the beginning.

“hey, no, no don’t say that. talk to me, em,” her boyfriend encouraged and emma cringed. she looked around to make sure no one else was close by.

“i dunno. like i love how close you guys all are and i love seeing you so happy getting to hang out with your friends, but i guess..fuck. don’t make me say it gabe you already know,” emma grew embarrassed.

“not really. i promise i won’t judge you, em,” he cupped her face and made sure she knew he was being serious.

the girl sighed and struggled to find her words, “i guess i just feel weird sometimes because you guys have known each other for like..so long and i like don’t know any of you at all really. you know? like yeah i know the bc guys but like..not really. i don’t really hang out with them a lot. i dunno. everyone’s so..energetic here and i’m so..not?”

the dark-haired boy quickly frowned hearing emma say all of this, “hey wait, do you think they don’t like you or something?”

“i mean, maybe? i don’t know. like i feel..out of place. like i shouldn’t be here. like this is a place only for you guys because you’ve been here and grown up around it for so long?” she was probably making zero sense and her gaze stuck to gabe’s shirt instead of his face that was trying to meet hers again.

“baby, i’m sorry you feel that way. i knew something was on your mind, but i didn’t know it was that. i’m sorry,” the pang in gabe’s chest grew bigger that his girlfriend had been feeling this way. “did this just start or have you been feeling this way?”

“i mean i guess..it’s kind of always been there? like sometimes when you invite me over and we’re with the guys and they start talking about things that i have no idea what they’re talking about..i guess it got more prominent being here.”

“come here,” gabe quickly stuffed emma into his arms.

she took comfort in his embrace and familiar scent that she always used to calm her anxieties. they stood like that for a few more moments until emma was ready to pull away. gabe smiled down at her, holding her face in his hands again.

“if it is any consolation, samy really did want you here. she texted me like nonstop about making sure you knew you had an invite and that you’d come. i know it’s weird because you were kind of thrown into us, but i promise everyone wants you here and they all like you. samy adores you, hannah adored you, julianne adores you. and even if they didn’t, that wouldn’t matter because i adore you and want you here,” gabe assured which did make emma feel a little bit better hearing him say that.

“i guess i’ve just never had such a tight knit group of friends before that it’s also kind of weird to me,” emma laughed.

“well consider all of them a group you can count on because as crazy and loud and rambunctious as they are, they never fail to show up when you need them. and i know this probably isn’t the same, but to maybe bring you more comfort, when i first started hanging around samy and will i felt something similar. they knew each other so well and had known one another for years that it felt weird inserting ourselves into their already little group, but trust me when i say that samy loves meeting new people and inviting them in. i mean you see all the people here,” the two shared a heartfelt laugh.

“i am sorry you’ve been feeling this way though. i’m glad you could tell me,” the boy continued when emma didn’t say anything. she smiled.

“thanks for listening. i think it will just take me some more time to get acclimated and used to all of this, you know? you do have some really cool friends,” emma hummed. she melted into the boy’s touch as he brought her up to quickly kiss her lips.

“you have some cool friends too. i love you,” he hummed when they pulled away.

“i love you too.”

[celestialtarot11]

hey girly pop :) I noticed how mostly Gemini placements reach out to you; which is funny bc I’m a Gemini rising noticing this, I just think it’s so cute 😭 I love it here

But I also have a question 🤭 what makes a Capricorn venus seem so alluring like a black cat to others? I want to know how people perceive us & you seem like you’d be much more honest than “loves money & to be cold in love & not show emotions” which I h a t e how people see us that way bc we’re just cautious 😭 but I digress, I’d love your input you smart lady🫡 thank you if you do :))

My god do I love me a good tea time where I yap. Gemini to gemini *telepathy moment*

I think it mostly comes from a place of darkness. Rather than it being a materialistic attachment which pop astrology as normalized about Capricorns, I think there’s been something missing too. And that is the understanding of a Capricorn precarious environment. No one other than the Capricorn and whoever hurt them has seen them at their worst, and their vulnerable side. The needy, the scared, and the desperate part of themselves. It’s only been broadcasted to those who manipulated them, at a young age. I believe their power not necessarily comes from that hurt, but the transformation of that hurt and pain.

And I think because Capricorns seek to relinquish their power through those vulnerable moments. It’s what gives them a heavier energy. It’s their ability to have understood how painful and irrevocably morally wrong it was to have had others hurt them in such ways. They understood essentially the gravity of everything. The gravity of morals, values, and beliefs. And how a messy moral compass can misdirect a persons behavior, trauma, etc. What it all means, and the consequences. And they also understand the gravity of personal power and separating oneself so strongly from those people. Hence, their transformation.

Which is why their power is heavier, because they seek to separate themselves from the morally abandoned and righteous. It’s all about the weight of words, wounds, and cycles. How it passed down generations. I also believe a lot of Capricorns hit the startling realization that they are not just healing themselves, they are healing a mass of people who have been living in hurt. This is why their energy is so intense, because they are healing a lineage. It’s as if their ancestors are walking behind them, so their presence is felt strongly.

But feline? Where exactly does that come from? As much as Capricorns appear detached and independent, they also have a strong emotional inner world. It’s rich, even if they may not dabble in it 100% of the time. Because they understand the need for balance. Capricorns when healed have a strong feminine energy, the ability to receive. They know they do not need to put themselves in harms away so they don’t force. They don’t push, prod, or insert. They wait. And they observe. And they allow what is necessary to be. This is where their feline nature comes in from all that healing. Their ability to observe is powerful and immense.

This has nothing to do with their physical looks, just how they carry themselves which affects their energy.

[sp3akfromtheart]

that poll i posted about coe vs miracle day is really interesting i knew coe would be more popular but damn the votes for miracle day are so low! ...which to be fair. as a miracle day enjoyer. understandable.

miracle day spoilers under the cut!

these are just my thoughts about some stuff md does that i personally didn't like!! take it all with a pinch of salt + i dont usually write stuff like this so i will love a discussion but pls be nice...lol

i think its weakest point is its conclusion, because, if they reiterated like 30,000 times that jack is NOT immortal bc of his blood, has nothing to do with it, why on earth is that the entire basis of the miracle? like yes, it eats the blood, so it thinks its the blueprint for humanity, but surely jack's blood is just normal? i think they kinda get away with it bc of how weird everything is, but MAN i wanted that miracle to be aliens so damn bad! i suppose in the case of This One Time, earth is the alien planet.

and please do not even get me started about rex becoming immortal. if there had been a 5th season, i would have let it slide, but the fact that is the conclusion for the television show is just absolutely insane to me??? LIKE WHAT! insanity. but this is an insane show. i also kind of think they shouldn't have killed esther, but i also think they should have not killed any torchwood member anyway because i get attached to them all, so the fact that she was inexperienced it made loads of sense that she died, but like, damn...right before they saved the day? misery.

i guess this is because it's implied the story of miracle day was to continue, but i felt like there was so many things going on in comparison to coe. there were a few episodes that really could have spent more time on one thing than the other. is this also because i think we could have gotten more about angelo? maybe...

to be honest, i genuinely think the best part of miracle day is jilly kitzinger. like yeah, that is the EXACT response a big company would have to this situation, and to really make you remember this is a BAD THING this charming character is doing, you have to watch her big up a horrible person! (and the second best thing is gwen and jack, but thats like, duh)

i really wanted to add all this stuff in the tags of that post but i was actually going to write an ESSAY in tag form so decided to spare you all. i'd love to hear you guys' thoughts cos reading the tags on that post has been really cool! as most of you said, i agree with how heart wrenching coe is. its so good at showing how each character would act and genuinely ianto's death, as traumatising as it was, just shows you how he would follow jack to the ends of the earth by the end of his time in torchwood...which is such a stark contrast to the beginning of his time there and how he literally states how much he hates him in broken.

anway!!! if you read all that yap well done i love you. im feeling insane about torchwood currently. send me asks or whatever if you wanna gimme ur opinions!

[fanfictionismyaddiction]

You asked for reqs so Im here to yap! How about Mycroft from Sherlock having a gf that is constantly overthinking if he actually likes her(if he is with her for some reason where he can take advantage of her later, even tho as far as she knows, she has no connection to anything political that he can use. She still can't stop thinking about it tho.)

Him comforting her awkwardly bc he literally can't say any affirming words coherently, just actions that you'd have to look for under a microscope to notice, but they are there! He does let her brew and feel bad for quite some time unintentionally because he is very avoidant of emotional confrontations tho🥹

Do feel free to ignore this if it isn't your cup of tea! Mwah💋

An Affair of Logic and Love

Word count: 1k

Pairing: Mycroft x reader

________________________________________________________

Mycroft Holmes wasn’t a man of romance. That much was obvious to anyone who knew him. Reserved, calculating, and perpetually aloof, he approached the world as a chessboard, his every move measured, every relationship dissected for utility. Yet here he was, seated across from you at his immaculate dining table, sipping his tea as if nothing in the world could rattle him.

And here you were, trying to decipher his every blink, every sigh, every sip.

You glanced at him cautiously. Did he even like you? Or was there some hidden reason—a grand strategy that somehow involved you, though you couldn’t imagine how? You were an ordinary person, far removed from the tangled webs of politics and espionage he navigated daily. What could he possibly gain from being with you?

These thoughts gnawed at you, louder with each interaction, until every small silence felt like proof that you were merely a pawn in his game.

“You’re staring,” Mycroft said without looking up from his tea.

Your cheeks flushed. “I’m not.”

“You are,” he replied smoothly, setting his cup down. His piercing gaze locked onto yours, and for a moment, you forgot how to breathe.

You fumbled for a distraction, taking a sip of your tea and nearly scalding your tongue. “I was just… thinking.”

“Thinking, I see.” He folded his hands and leaned back slightly. “Should I be concerned?”

You hesitated. Part of you wanted to confront him, to demand why he was with you if he could barely muster a word of affection. But the other part—the overthinking, self-doubting part—was too afraid of his answer. What if he confirmed your fears?

“No,” you muttered, looking down at your cup.

He raised an eyebrow, clearly unconvinced. But true to form, he didn’t press the matter. Instead, he let the silence stretch, leaving you alone with your spiraling thoughts.

For the next several days, the doubts consumed you. Every interaction became a puzzle to solve:

• When he handed you a cup of tea without a word, was it a sign of affection, or was he just being polite?

• When he mentioned your favorite book in passing, was it because he genuinely remembered, or because he needed to lull you into a false sense of security?

• When he kissed you on the cheek before leaving for work, was it out of habit or obligation?

The questions were endless, and Mycroft, in his typical manner, did nothing to alleviate them. He wasn’t cruel—far from it—but his reserved nature and avoidance of emotional discussions left you in the dark.

It all came to a head one evening when you couldn’t hold it in any longer.

“Mycroft,” you began hesitantly as the two of you sat in his living room, him reading a newspaper and you pretending to focus on a book.

“Yes?” he replied without looking up.

“Why are you with me?”

The question hung in the air like a thunderclap. Mycroft froze, his fingers tightening slightly around the edges of the paper.

“Pardon?” he said after a moment, his tone carefully neutral.

You set your book down and turned to face him fully. “Why are you with me? I just… I can’t help but wonder if there’s some reason—some ulterior motive—because I don’t understand why you’d choose me.”

He finally lowered the newspaper, his expression inscrutable. “Is that what’s been troubling you?”

“Yes,” you admitted, your voice trembling. “I know it’s irrational, but I can’t stop thinking about it. You’re so… you. And I’m just… me. It doesn’t make sense.”

For a long moment, Mycroft said nothing. He looked at you, his sharp gaze scanning your face as if you were a particularly challenging code to crack.

Then, finally, he spoke: “I see.”

That was it. I see.

You stared at him, waiting for more, but he just shifted slightly in his seat, as if the conversation had already concluded.

“That’s all you have to say?” you asked, your frustration bubbling over.

Mycroft cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable. “I… hadn’t realized you felt this way.”

“Well, I do.”

He looked down at his hands, his usually unshakeable composure faltering ever so slightly. “Emotions are… not my area of expertise,” he admitted, his voice quieter than usual. “But I assure you, my intentions are entirely genuine.”

It wasn’t the grand declaration you’d hoped for, but coming from Mycroft, it was monumental. Still, it wasn’t enough to banish your doubts entirely.

“Then why don’t you ever show it?” you pressed. “Why can’t you just say how you feel?”

Mycroft shifted again, clearly wrestling with his discomfort. “I’m not… accustomed to such expressions,” he said stiffly. “But that does not mean I don’t care for you. On the contrary, I—” He stopped, his mouth opening and closing like he was physically incapable of forming the words.

Instead, he stood abruptly and walked to his desk. You watched in confusion as he opened a drawer, pulled out a small velvet box, and returned to the couch.

He handed it to you without a word.

Inside was a delicate necklace, the pendant a simple yet elegant design that you immediately recognized—it was based on your favorite flower, something you’d mentioned in passing months ago.

“I had this made for you,” Mycroft said awkwardly, his gaze fixed firmly on the coffee table. “I was waiting for the right moment to give it to you. I suppose now will have to do.”

You stared at the necklace, your heart swelling with a mix of surprise and warmth.

“Mycroft…”

“I may not be able to express myself in the traditional sense,” he continued, his voice stiff but earnest. “But I do care for you. Deeply. If that were not the case, I wouldn’t—” He stopped himself again, sighing in frustration. “I wouldn’t have allowed this relationship to happen.”

It wasn’t a perfect confession. It wasn’t romantic or poetic. But it was Mycroft.

You smiled softly and reached out to take his hand. “Thank you,” you said, your voice thick with emotion.

He finally looked at you, his expression softening ever so slightly. “There’s nothing to thank me for,” he said gruffly.

[str8upjorkinit]

Ohh juicy so who's your least fave👀 and why??

im gonna assume you mean specifically out of the students bc... eugh... dont even get me started on the staff...

in order from dislike to hate we have: Jin, Ritsu, and edward

and now i shall yap

Jin. Hes so stereotypically... himself. like. oh. rich asshole that bosses you around and has a lot of power and the "i can fix him" bullshit. that is so grossly unappealing to me like why tf are bossing me around?? thats not my damn job and i will NOT clean your room?? call tohma?? call you fucking mommy?? im not doing that shit for you, who do you think i am?? oh and of couseee he has the family drama/trauma whatever, not to invalidate him or whatever, its just sooo boring. its giving

*uses commanding power while holding mc's hand😈🥀⛓️🖤"

"KNEEEL"

like eugh, the second hand embarrassment from this guy. hes bossy bitchy and has family trauma, that is soooo unappealing to me. also, this is just disgust by association, i think he would hate poor people, like "its their fault" or whatever bs. im also under the assumption that hes racist /j he gives racist vibes.

ritsu... this fucking bitch. he RECORDS conversations, charges you to TALK TO HIM?? and hes sooo fucking stupid. hes so arrogant but the only thing hes got going for him is the the law book or something and thats the only thing hes good at. all he does is whine and not even in the cute way, and his hair... ew... his hair... hes so stuck up like i bet you could say literally anything and he'd find an issue with it, like when you say "i like pancakes" on twitter, ritsus the type of bitch to be like "oh so you hate waffles then???"

he grew on me a little bit only bc taiga makes fun of him and its funny bc ritsus such a loser he cant handle being called a dumbass. ritsus kinda like sebek to me, like annoying ass mf but hes funny sometimes ig. also yk how gay marriage is still illegal in japan? yeah. ritsus probably homophobic for the sole reason that "its illegal!!!" ritsu just doesnt seem like someone who can think for himself and bases everything on the law, yikes.

edward... oh my fucking god i hate him so much. he sexually harasses us, touches us without consent, makes disgusting remarks, tried to take advantage of us while we were vulnerable, old as balls, and lazyyy.

dude when he looked at mc like "i prefer my maids with shorter skirts" EAUGHHHHH FUCK GROSS i literally felt my skin crawl ughhhhhh. all the touching is so creepy, and hes SO FUCKING OLD, why are you acting up with someone in college like theres a power imbalance here. not only that but the proposal to turn mc into a vampire. poor girl shes been through so much like taking advantage of the fact that shes scared of dying and miserable to put your crusty dusty wrinkly old man hands on her? fuck off.

and this fucking bitch didn't help us clean like he just sat on his fucking ass like "owww owwwies ouch my old man bones owww" SHUT THE FUCK UP GODDAMN hes soooooo annoying like we have to lock this guy up, we need a restraining order

i cant see the appeal with him. theres nothing. being somewhat pretty is so meaningless with his shitty personality. perversion has 0 depth, there is no defending this guy

[knockknockitsnickels]

For Equality (#Women), here's a Princess tierlist (already did a voices one). I was hesitant to make one bc all of the princesses are different facets of my beautiful wife whom I adore, but I also love to yap so let's do it. Full disclosure I like all of them a lot for different reasons so these rankings are based almost entirely on vibes. For the sake of brevity I'm gonna be counting unique chapter 3s alongside their respective chapter 2s and counting the shared chapter 3s separately. I know that makes no sense but c'mon there's like 22 of these ladies

EDIT: I completely missed Razor!!! 😭 I'm sorry babygirl. Updated to add her.

Spectre/Princess and the Dragon: Spectre my beloved. My most anticipated route after playing the demo, and she met all of my expectations. The themes of forgiveness in her route are wonderful, I love how reluctant she is to hurt you, even when you deliberately antagonize her. Princess and the Dragon was also great - getting to see from her perspective feels so fitting I'm surprised it wasn't in the original game, and the moment of quiet you get just chatting with her was a delight.

Nightmare/Moment of Clarity: One of the most tragic characters in the game. I adore the way Shifty's description of her completely recontextualizes the route, taking Nightmare from a quirked up lil villain to just a sad person trying to find a connection after being rejected. Another wrinkle is that no matter what route you take - whether you get Wraith, M.O.C, or set Nightmare free - there's not really a way to give her the connection she wants. I got M.O.C for the first time via choosing to stay with Nightmare, not wanting to release her after she admitted to wanting to destroy the world, but recognizing she just wanted a friend. After the vision she shows us, I felt bad for what I chose - I wanted to apologize to her, but there were no options left.

Prisoner/Cage: First princess I ever got, hence subject to first-princess bias. I've already talked a lot about how much I love her in another post so I won't repeat myself, but she truly is the 3rd best Princess in the game.

Fury: My babygirl It's really hard to write about why I love this girl so much. I've talked about it a bit before, but there's a special kind of horror in how you destroy Fury's original sense of identity (whether you got there via Adversary or Tower), and how upset she is by what she becomes. I think she also ties in really well with the overarching themes of the game. Her insistence that you are not your body and her desperation for you to understand her (in one route destroying herself in the process) remind me a lot of what Shifty has to say in the final fight.

Adversary/Eye of the Needle: My lovely wife whom I adore, my bestest friend. Adversary is such a fun and underrated character, her respect and genuine care for the player is so good AND she's hot. Eye of the Needle is also extremely underrated, her dialogue during the Shifting Mound fight - especially the variation when you free her - honestly gets me a lil emotional.

Wraith: A star, she's done nothing wrong, she is a girlboss and she is slaying. I've already written a bit about how tragic her route is & how I think she's one of the best shared chapter 3s in how she changes depending on the context, so instead i will say: banger design.

Witch/Thorn: Yeah im basic. Thorn was something I was hoping for basically as soon as I realized I couldn't get through the game without hurting the Princess, and it really met my expectations. Witch is a fascinating character - she's so desperate for revenge she'll end up destroying herself in the process, yet despite reveling in how awful she believes the two of you are, her chapter 3s show there's a part of her which wants to reconcile with you.

Damsel/Happily Ever After: Damsel on her own I found to be a pretty funny route - Smitten's dialogue, her happily agreeing to end the world, & Narrator suffering throughout the whole route makes it a lot of fun. Honestly even the more unsettling moments like the deconstructed Damsel are kind of funny - like OK I think it's fascinating thematically (we're trying to help her by asking what she wants but in questioning the only desire she knows we strip her personhood away), but also her turning into an anime doodle is hilarious I'm sorry. Despite that, there is this underlying, deeply uncomfortable horror to the whole route which comes to the surface in HEA and Burned Grey (we'll get to her). HEA is genuinely the most tense I've ever felt playing this game lmao. I think she adds a lot to Damsel - she gives her another dimension of personhood, and whether you choose to pursue it or not, I think the route feels incomplete without it.

Razor: Hilarious, showstopping, spectacular. Her route is a lot more lighthearted than the others, which helps her stand out and can be a nice break on some of the rougher playthroughs. It's hilarious that she was originally going to be a bit more sinister - I'm glad BTG made the best decision anyone has ever made and changed her to her current version. There's also some interesting stuff going on with her thematically, esp in how she parallels Stranger she stole Stranger's ch 3 that's why she's the only route with 4 chapters and how she kind of flips the script on the player and so the slain becomes the slayer. Also, I just love the concept behind her design - her exploding into the perfect woman a knife monster is something I will never forget. She probably has some of the same problems with linearity as some of the routes I talk about later (you're always going to see almost the exact same 4 chapters, after all) but there's enough variation in dialogue and outcome to make me always happy visiting my dear friend Razor.

Stranger: I love her but she's probably one of the routes I replay the least, just because it always plays out the same. Either way, I love the lil peak behind the curtain her chapter gives us, and I love getting to reunite with her & having a real conversation for the first time if you get her as the heart princess.

Tower/Apotheosis: God forbid women do anything. Pristine cut really did wonders for her - honestly in hindsight I think part of the response to her might have had to do with how brief both of her Ch 3s could be. Getting a chance to see (both via Apotheosis & Fury) how much she clings to to her divinity adds a lot to her character.

Wild: Wild really hits different after all of the tension in Beast & Witch. I'm not sure how intentional this was, but I like how both of the no-knife princesses (Beast & Witch) have ch 3s where there's an option to reconcile. I'm guessing the devs knew players would probably eventually be forced to backstab the princess & wanted to give them a chance to make things right? Either way, I love she. The dissonance between the peaceful atmosphere of this route & her desperation to stay together makes this one of the most anxiety-inducing routes in the game.

Drowned Grey: Extremely cool design, extremely cool environment, I love the whole "widow/bride" thing the two greys have going on, unfortunately her route is extremely short & linear. I think part of my trouble with the greys is I don't entirely understand how anyone would get them naturally lol. You stabbed the prisoner? Jail for you. Jail for 100 years.

Burned Grey: My thoughts on her are basically identical to my thoughts on the Drowned Grey but she's lower because I think Drowned Grey looks cooler. Sorry bestie.

Beast/Den: She's one of the most horrifying princesses to me, which is probably part of why I try to avoid getting her route, lol. The themes of dehumanization & the way she's reduced to a base instinct of wanting to consume you just so she can be "whole" again freaks me out. Also the part where she rips you in half & is like "lol oops" is so funny. Legend.

[neixins]

since i'll be posting my massive gijaeha fic, cut to the feeling, later than i'd hoped, i've decided to share the full first scene as a lil sneak peek <3 in case u haven't heard me yap about it already, it's a canon-compliant missing scenes compilation, and the first scene is set after the events of ch 41

(it's also currently in all lowercase bc i subscribe to the shirley jackson school of writing drafts in all lowercase but the final version will be properly capitalized i prommy)

the night is calm, if uncharacteristically cold for the season, and gija is struggling to stay awake.

the fire has burned down to the embers, and the ceaseless trill of nightjars from a nearby thicket, occasionally accentuated by the hoot of an owl, is lulling him to sleep. he slaps himself awake; just because they set up camp in a secluded area far enough from any roads to avoid run-ins with either soldiers or bandits doesn’t mean he can let his guard down. after his disgraceful behavior the previous night, he must prove that he’s still dependable, still worthy of the white dragon’s title and of his place by her highness’ side. even if her highness had been magnanimous enough not to hold it against him, the recollection makes his stomach lurch.

that he hadn’t meant to drink the abominable love potion in the first place, that he’d fought its effects and passed out before anything could happen hardly matters. he could feel his admiration for her highness getting twisted into something gnarled and wrong, a warped reflection of itself, and it frightened him.

what had granny been thinking, concocting and selling something so awful? the elder chief developed that for you, the merchant they’d met had said, all smiles. she’s concerned because you aren’t married yet. it had been intended for him. he’d been meant to drink it. had nobody considered how dangerous the whole scheme could be for her highness? had nobody considered that he didn’t want to marry?

he takes a few breaths to settle down, and focuses on a nightjar resting between the roots of a nearby tree, determined to think about nothing except the intricate pattern of the bird’s feathers, the various shades of gray providing ideal camouflage.

his mind, lightheaded with fatigue, has other ideas, though, and it inevitably wanders to the memory of jaeha’s lips on his neck, his warm breath igniting something within gija that he’s never felt before, his confident hands pinning him beneath his weight, his voice low and sultry; your existence is stirring up my heart.

he rests a hand on the side of his neck, hoping to keep the memory there, safe from the cold breeze.

he doesn’t realize he’s drifting off again until jaeha places a hand on his shoulder, startling him awake. “go get some sleep, gija,” he says. “i’ll take over here.”

gija shakes his head. “i’m fine.”

jaeha settles down beside him regardless. “you look like you haven’t slept in days.”

“i’m not tired.” the words come out sharper than he’d intended, so he adds, “what are you doing up?”

“couldn’t sleep. these little critters are quite loud,” jaeha says, waving a hand languidly to encompass the unseen chorus of nightjars. there’s a restlessness to him that makes gija suspect he isn’t telling the whole truth. he’s been like that all day, glancing in gija’s direction whenever he thought he wasn’t paying attention, worrying at his bottom lip, drumming his fingers. it isn’t as apparent now, but gija can still sense it in the air between them.

“really? i like them. there’s one over there.” he indicates the nightjar at the foot of the tree.

it takes jaeha a moment to spot it. when he does, he remarks about it being cute before falling silent. then, he looks back at gija. “sorry,” he says. “i might’ve gotten carried away with the love potion. i didn’t think you’d take it so seriously.”

“how could i not take it seriously? my behavior towards her highness was unacceptable!”

jaeha stares at him before pinching the bridge of his nose with a sigh. “that’s not what i’m trying to apologize for, gija. that part was hardly my fault anyway.”

“then what are you apologizing for?”

“for kissing you. or whatever.” he looks towards the embers, scowling. “i shouldn’t have done that without asking.”

“oh…” none of the women in his village had ever asked if they could kiss him either, and they hadn’t been under the influence of a dreadful drug, but he suspects that saying that right now wouldn’t make jaeha feel better about the whole matter. “i’m not upset about that,” he says instead.

jaeha turns to look at him again. “you seemed ready to tear me to shreds yesterday.”

“i was…overwhelmed. i-i liked it,” gija admits. beneath the initial surprise and embarrassment he’d felt, there had been an exhilarating feeling like plunging into pleasantly cool lake water before sunrise, while everyone is still asleep. “i just wish you hadn’t taken the love potion.”

the silence stretches out, and jaeha leans back. “right,” he finally drawls, almost like a question.

“if you hadn’t been under the influence, i wouldn’t have pushed you away,” gija adds in an attempt to explain.

jaeha stares at him. “…what?”

“what?”

in the quiet that follows, gija finally realizes what he just said, and more importantly, that it’s true. his face feels hot all of a sudden, and he buries it in his hands. “forget i said anything!”

a beat, and jaeha laughs. gija steals a glance at him; he’s covering his mouth with his hand in an attempt to stifle the laughter so as not to wake anyone, and when he meets gija’s gaze, violet-blue eyes glimmering with mirth and the light of the embers, gija forgets both the embarrassment that seemed ready to swallow him whole moments before, and how to breathe.

“there’s no shame in being wiled by my irresistible charms, gija darling,” he says with a wink and a flip of his long hair, let loose from its ribbon this late at night. gija wonders if his hair feels as silky as it looks. perhaps jaeha would let him reach out and run his fingers through it.

remembering how to speak, gija says, “don’t tease me.”

“oh, but it’s so fun.”

“and i’m not ashamed,” gija adds. if anything, he’s fairly certain what he’s feeling is the opposite of shame, though he’s not quite clear on what to call it.

“good.” jaeha’s voice sounds so soft, and gija wants him to keep talking, wants to be closer to him. however, the fatigue is casting its impenetrable fog over his thoughts, making it difficult to continue speaking.

“gija,” jaeha calls his name in that same tone. “you should go to sleep. i can handle things here.”

he shakes his head.

“what, am i untrustworthy after all?” he clearly intended it as a joke, but there’s a hint of a quiver in his voice. for all his guardedness, he still wants to belong; gija had realized as much the moment he saw the awestruck expression on his face during their conversation back in awa.

“i trust you!” he blurts out, desperate to salvage this new fragile bond building between them. “i just— i want to be useful.”

“and passing out from exhaustion plays into that how exactly?”

the words sting despite the lightness of his tone, but jaeha wouldn’t have said them if he wasn’t worried, so gija announces, “i’ll sleep here, then,” before shifting closer and resting his head on jaeha’s shoulder. he can hear jaeha murmur something in response but he’s too tired to catch it.