#that's literally what the first two trilogies were about???

[kanansdume]

It's also, in so many ways, a love letter to the Prequels. I've seen people talk a lot about some of their other projects are intentionally trying to honor Lucas's vision, but it's pretty much always in relation to the ORIGINAL trilogy.

The Obi-Wan Kenobi show was potentially the first and only ever piece of media that was a massive love letter to the PREQUELS. Of course there's some references to the original trilogy because that's the hope that everything is leading to, but there's also just SO SO MANY prequels references and homages and flashbacks.

They brought back not just Ewan McGregor, but also Hayden and Joel Edgerton and Bonnie Piesse and Jimmy Smits and Temuera Morrison, all actors only or primarily associated with the Prequel trilogy. It would've been SO EASY to replace at least the Larses with new actors, or to leave Anakin out entirely, which I believe was the original plan. But they didn't. It was important to have those actors ALL there to play those roles together again.

And they didn't just have the actors there, they had both Ewan and Hayden do an entire "flashback" sequence where they're dressed and made up to LOOK THE WAY THEY DID IN THE PREQUEL FILMS. That's such a deliberate callback. They even intentionally made them look like they did from Attack of the Clones as opposed to going for the somewhat more well-liked looks from Revenge of the Sith. They could've had that flashback involve a younger Anakin played by a new actor, too, and chose not to. It was vitally important that it was Hayden and Ewan, looking like Anakin and Obi-Wan, during a time of relative peace for those two characters.

And even beyond that, they included ACTUAL CLIPS FROM THE PREQUEL FILMS. It's part of Obi-Wan's nightmare, sure, but it's literally clips from the Prequel Trilogy. I believe there was also an entire "previously on" section of sorts that basically summed up the Prequel Trilogy. They weren't going to let you get away with forgetting those movies or pretending that this entire show had nothing to do with those movies. The Prequel films were the beating heart of this show and the story doesn't exist without them. It could exist without the original trilogy, but it couldn't exist without the Prequels. Despite its setting, the Obi-Wan Kenobi show is a Prequels Era story in a way nothing else has ever been since those films came out.

The people making this show LOVED the Prequels in a way I don't think anyone involved in any other Star Wars media really has. And it fucking shows in every fiber of the show, from its narrative to its casting to its editing to its costuming.

Everyone else is cherry picking what they want out of Star Wars in order to do their own thing, for better or for worse. They're taking the sand out of the same sandbox, but then they're moving it over somewhere else and adding in a bunch of other stuff that was never in the original sandbox. Sometimes that's really fun and genuinely still a really great story that still retains enough of the original Star Wars sand to feel like a Star Wars story. Sometimes it's just... a lump of sand filled with grass and leaves and branches and dirt now and someone is standing over it claiming it's just like the original but better now because they put some dirt in it.

The Obi-Wan Kenobi show is one of the very few, if not the only, show that felt like it was truly still in that original sandbox. It's not really straying that far. And while some people might look at those restrictions and feel like it was stifling, this show seems to have chosen to really run with it and turn the story into a love letter or a massive homage to these specific films and these versions of these characters.

So of course it's Lucas's favorite. I think he has a healthy respect for people doing their own thing with Star Wars, but it's not shocking that the one he likes best is the one that expended so much effort to write a love letter to the films that got the worst critical reception. This show was made for the people who loved the Prequels. And George Lucas is one of those people.

If rumors are true and George Lucas really did call Obi-Wan Kenobi his favorite Star Wars project, why would that be the case? Maybe because it's hitting on emotional beats that he explored in 1-6, and has the same internal logic?

Of course Obi-Wan would be weighed down by guilt and feeling responsible for Anakin. And of course he couldn't stay in that funk forever, he has to move on. Part of that change comes from getting to know Leia and the courage she gives him. Another comes from Anakin basically telling him that Obi Wan doesn't get to claim his failures. I love how it's some perverse way to admit responsibility: of course Anakin would be motivated by selfishness, even here: "no you don't get to claim that, my failures are MINE."

And the fact that Obi-Wan doesn't kill him is interesting too (even though we know from a Doylist perspective, he can't). Maybe he still had compassion for him, pitiful as he was. Or maybe he just couldn't do it, like he told Yoda. Or maybe he was following the Jedi code, to not kill a disarmed opponent.

He commits to the long game, continuing to watch over Luke and set him on his journey. I love the upbeat feel at the end of this series. That is Star Wars, to me.

[bookdork1]

i have now accidentally stumbled into two fandoms wherein the german characters who speak german are living out their stories in what is actually england and the characters themselves are presented as english but literally everything going on besides the setting is german coded.

it took me so long to work out for certain that yes, that is in fact london in the background, this is not taking place in berlin asfkljdf

[totalswag]

hey queen love your work!! was wondering if you could do an angsty rafe fic based off the birds pt 2 by the weeknd

break me twice ⎯ RAFE CAMERON!

authors note ugh queen of course i will 😫. as a huge the weeknd fan myself, i will most certainly do this. thank you thank you. the whole trilogy is a masterpiece. i reccomend those who've never listened to the birds pt 1 to get the gist of what pt2 is about. season two rafe vibes LITERALLY!! super sorry this is coming out later than expected, uni school has been my main priority these past few weeks.

taglist ✎ ̼ if you would like to be notified every time i post you will type in your username then be all set to go

masterlist

summary rafe warned you to not make him make you fall in love with a guy like him. now you are pleading and suffering the heartbreak of no return.

warning(s) mentions of sex, emotional,manipulation, cursing, heartbreak, toxic relationship

"Don't make me, make you fall in love."

The memory hits you like a train. His voice echoing through your head. You laughed then, thought he was being arrogant. But he wasn't joking, right? He was warning you. He was telling you exactly who he was, but you were too blind⎯too hopeful⎯to trust him.

Rafe Cameron⎯dangerous, manipulative, chaotic, unpredictable, and intense. He could walk into a room and eyes would be on him. Everything about him screamed run away or stay to get hurt.

You weren't his but you? You were always his?

What you've learned is Rafe Cameron isn't capable of love. Never will he settle down. Rafe is emotional unavailable and won't reciprocate what you gave so freely.

Three days ago, you sat on the edge of his bed with your hands on your lap staring at your feet dangling back and forth. Rafe stood tall in front of you with his arms folded looking at you with a look he always gives you⎯should've listened to me.

Literally after you two fucked in his bed. He called you to come over, you should've said no but you said yes. You couldn't help yourself.

You search his face for something⎯anything⎯but all you find is indifference, a vacant amusement in his piercing blue eyes.

This isn’t love.

Maybe it never was.

“You knew what this was,” he muttered, voice low, detached. Unfolding his arms from his chest, slowly shaking his head in a taunting manner.

"I didn't⎯" Your voice cracked, wounded from the cries you'd suppressed and the sobbing that threatened to escape. "I thought⎯you weren't being serious during that time..."

"Don't." He turned around, and the expression in his steely blue eyes made your stomach sink. "Do not do that. Do not act like I lied to you."

Not letting you speak. Again.

"Don't act like I told you not to fall for me" he restates nonchalantly.

"I didn't mean to." Your murmur was barely audible, but you were certain he heard it. You knew it because something flickered in his expression, almost regretful, before disappearing just as swiftly, buried beneath layers of neglect and self-destruction.

He groaned and ran his hand through his hair, as if this was tedious for him, and your sadness was just another bother. "You'll get over it."

Your fight with Rafe lasted for thirty minutes⎯at the point of begging on your knees for him crying. You both made the decision to just part ways from each other⎯mostly Rafe made that decision. Definitely one of the hardest decisions you could've made. Now you have to pay the consequences.

The following day you were an absolute wreck. The last conversation you two had sent you into a dark hole. All you could think about is his words to you that had you shattered and what you should've done in the very beginning⎯walk away.

You spent days crying in your room. Everything came flooding back as you spent time to yourself.

The irony is suffocating. He warned you not to fall, but you did. And now, you’re left picking up the shattered remains of something that never existed in the first place.

You were never going to be sufficient for him. He told you that. He demonstrated that with every space he put between you both, every time he went without a word or returned just enough to leave you wanting more.

You kept yourself composed and head held high the minute you entered those doors. The sense of Rafe lingering around the party haunts you. Can feel his eyes on you but you couldn't see him.

There you stood in the kitchen with a drink in your hand filled with a bunch of drunk people as music blasted through the large home at Topper Thornton's party he decided to throw once his parents left the island⎯typical Topper.

“Look who finally came out!” Alicia cheered, wrapping her arms around you laughing.

“I had to get out and not be miserable” you announced.

That’s a complete lie.

The party continued. You could feel his eyes on you. Almost as if he wanted you to look in his direction. You tried to shake it off but a part of you stole quick glances throughout the party.

You saw him across the room, his arm slung lazily around some girl’s shoulders, a sly smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. It was the same smirk he used to give you.

Your stomach twisted, nausea rising in your throat, and you grabbed the drink so firmly that the cup threatened to break. You should not have come. You should have heeded every caution and believed him when he stated he was incapable of love.

But you had not. And now you're paying the price.

His gaze flickered upward, meeting yours across the busy room. Something passed between you for a brief moment⎯recognition, hesitation, and perhaps even remorse. But he quickly smirked.

He kissed her. The way he kissed you.

A slow, deliberate, terrible kiss intended just for you to see.

He had been with this girl after he left you, and you had no idea. You needed to talk to him, no matter what it took. You finally found him alone in the kitchen, grabbed his hand, and led him down the hall to an empty room. 

“What the hell⎯?” Rafe’s voice was a low growl, but you didn’t stop. You tugged him down the dimly lit hallway, shoving open the first door you found—an empty bedroom, untouched by the chaos outside.

“Mercy me,” you breathed, voice shaking as you let go of him like his skin had burned you. “Mercy me.”

Rafe's jaw clenched, his fists settling on his hips as he peered at you, his eyes dark and mysterious "What is this?" he said, although the query was not limited to the room or the party.

It was about both of you.

Tears beginning to form in the corner of your "I don't know what this is, Rafe."

Your voice crackled. "Let me fall outta love, before you fuck her."

It was a desperate, shattered plea. You were not asking him to love you back. You begged him to give you the opportunity to stop loving him before he moved on to someone else.

Rafe's throat bobbed as he gulped hard, his gaze shifting to the floor, the wall, anyplace but you.

"I told you not to make you fall in love," he shakes his head, completely disregarding your emotions. He sees you break even more.

Rafe stands up, his back to you, and runs a hand down his face. "Don't make this a thing," he adds, his voice remote and nearly halfway out the door, despite the fact that he is still in the room.

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[rosenclaws]

ooooh hi!! i was wondering what about different logans on a scenarios

- when someone interrupts him while they're in an intimate time with their partner

- what would he be like to a toddler (like his own child).. is he the type of father who releases his oxytocin or full energy to his child while playing?

Oo so I did do one kinda like the second one which you can find here but if you wanted more elaboration i'd be happy to so send me another ask!

As for the first prompt...

warnings: MINORS DNI

Origins Logan -

The two of you know you shouldn't really be doing this. Hooking up in the bathroom of the bar you work at but fuck your hot boyfriend came into the bar with his coworkers looking so damn yummy. A light sweat on his face as his muscles just bulged in those flannels. You couldn't keep your eyes off of him. Normally Logan doesn't bother with after work activities but they mentioned they were going to your work and he decided to tag along. He can't keep his eyes off of you. You just look so hot. One thing leads to another and you're being pulled into the bathroom getting dicked down against the wall. You're so far gone, consumed by Logan that you barely hear the knock on the door. Logan whispers to just ignore them but the knocking gets louder and faster. He growls for them to fuck off and he hears some angry mumbling outside. But that's not enough to distract him from you. When you're...done with your little hook up you open the door to find a guy waiting, a pissed off look on his face. He looks like he's gonna open his mouth but Logan appears behind you and he shuts up real quick. Logan pats you on the ass and tells you to go back to work and stares down the guy outside. Making a comment about how he better not have been listening and the guy scurries away.

Trilogy Logan -

It's always Scott. That damn boy scout always seems to be cockblocking the hell out of you two. Doesn't matter where or when. Logan was getting real sick of it. He just wants some time to fuck his sweetheart. He could literally be in his own damn room and a knock at the door could come from Scott telling him he's needed in the danger room. Logan was getting antsy and finally he's able to pull you into his room. He wastes no time in getting you undressed and his dick inside of you lmao. He's just a needy boy sometimes alright? He's got you pinned to the bed when someone knocks. He knows it's Scott he just fucking knows it. He yells at him to fuck off but Scott wasn't having it. Telling Logan that this was important. Logan...well he's sick of it so he says if its so important just come inside. Logan makes sure to cover you but it's very clear what the two of you are up to. Scott goes bright red and immediately shuts the door. You're too fucked out to be pissed at Logan for that one. Safe to say that Scott doesn't interrupt the two of you anymore.

DOFP Logan -

He just wants a moment alone with you. Just one. But there's so many damn kids running around the mansion that he swears he can't even get an hour of peace anymore. Let alone find time to be with you. It's all quick and fleeting moments for the two of you. Kisses in between passing periods, make outs in the broom closet. It's like you're teenagers sneaking around again. Finally Logan gets you alone. The kids are supposed to be out for the night and Logan needs you. He's on you in an instant. Kissing up your neck and shredding your clothes. You get his shirt off when he hears the door slam and the chatter of a bunch of kids. You can tell he's frustrated so you try to calm him down but he's already too feral for that now. He doesn't care. He's pounding into you chasing that sweet release for both of you. With how pent up you both are it doesn't take long and thank god for that because by the time you both get dressed there's already a knock at his door. The kids love him and Logan hates himself for it. Not really. But he's really not happy as he reluctantly opens the door to deal with his damn students.

Old Man Logan -

He gets sooo pissy. It's kinda cute seeing such an angry old man be sexual frustrated. Okay that's a little mean but still. The two of you don't get a lot of time together. Both of you working hard to make ends meet and Logan's body isn't the same as it used to be. So when you have the time to be intimate you take it. It's soft and sweet. His beard scratches along your skin as he kisses your body. Of course just as you're about to get some clothes off the door swings open. Logan groans as he rolls off of you too quick, hurting his back with the sharp movement. In the door way stands Laura. She's got a stuffed bunny you got her tucked to her chest. Like Logan she won't admit if she needs help or if she's scared but you can see the tears in her eyes. A nightmare. Logan wants to be annoyed but he's always got a soft spot for Laura. He won't ever take it out on her but he does get all pissy and huffy after wards. You think its cute, scratching his beard and telling him you'll find another time.

Worst Logan -

Look let's just say you don't want to interrupt him. Ever. He's got you pinned to the bed. Like an animal he's fucking you into the mattress over and over again. He doesn't care about keeping you quite, letting your moans and his growls out as loud as he wants to. He's so deep into it he doesn't hear Wade coming home and obviously wade clocks the sex noises coming from Logan's bedroom. Wade just strolls in like nothing and Logan is furious. He pulls out a little roughly making you whine. He covers your body with the blanket before telling wade to get the fuck out. Wade being wade runs his mouth a little more and Logan doesn't hesitate to dig his claws into the man. Logan is still butt as naked by the way and Wade notices too. Logan really just falls for wade's rage bait every time lol. But he comes back to bed covered in blood. Both his and Wade's after their little scuffle. You're annoyed he left you but he promises to make it up as he slips back under the covers.

[phoenixkaptain]

Everytime I think about Obi-Wan and Anakin it’s like- I don’t ship them so much as I think they should be together at all times. I think tcw had a point, actually, and the two of them should just. Always be together. I think Anakin is Obi-Wan’s hope in an increasingly difficult life and I think Obi-Wan is Anakin’s tie to humanity when he most feels like a monster. They are intrinsically combined, from the very first movie where Obi-Wan dies at Vader’s hands with a peaceful expression.

It’s Obi-Wan begging Luke not to see Anakin in Vader while Vader searches Luke to see some sign of Obi-Wan. It’s Obi-Wan calling Anakin another pathetic lifeform to Obi-Wan being unable to process the idea of Anakin being anything but good. It’s Anakin awkwardly (adorably) shaking Obi-Wan’s hand to Anakin awkwardly (adorably) bringing up Obi-Wan during conversations with the woman he wants to seduce.

It’s Obi-Wan knowing how to fix Artoo and Obi-Wan teasing Anakin about Artoo. It’s Anakin’s first thought on losing his lightsaber being “Obi-Wan’s going to be mad at me again” and Anakin laughing when Obi-Wan tells him to drive better.

The prequel trilogy is so fascinating because my favourite parts are always Anakin and Obi-Wan. The parts I think about the most often are those parts with Anakin and Obi-Wan. The relationship between these two drives the entirety of the plot of the prequels, to the point that the literal birth mother of the main characters of the original trilogy is all but forgotten in the third movie.

It’s. Obi-Wan spending years watching over Luke because Luke reminds him of Anakin, never approaching because what if Luke really does turn out to be like Anakin…?

It’s Vader assuming that Obi-Wan taught Luke to fight, because who else could teach a Skywalker?

It’s Obi-Wan accepting all the blame for the people he knew best, the people who were basically his family, all dying.

It’s Vader keeping Obi-Wan’s lightsaber in a parallel to Obi-Wan keeping Anakin’s.

They are just. Mutually Obsessed. Obi-Wan held up Anakin and said “this is my whole personality now” and Anakin responded with “neato, same.” They bicker like an old married couple. Anakin can’t imagine even thinking about leaving Obi-Wan behind. Obi-Wan tells Anakin point-blank that he’s a good Jedi who deserves to be a Master.

I ship them because like. The universe? Does?? They are destined to be by each other, in life and in death. They support and sustain each other. There was probably eepy Force magic stuff that made Anakin into a Force ghost because Obi-Wan wanted him to be one.

How else can I explain it? They were made for each other. Like. Literally. They should never be separated. Look what happened when they did separate in universe. They are a nuclear bomb. They have to stay together or the galaxy gets the worst of it, and that’s just canon, somehow.

[facts-i-just-made-up]

Why do they call getting drunk getting hammered? And what then is the nail?

So the answer to the second half is "a human arm," and the first half is all about two friends named Mr. Li and Mr. Bell.

Li and Bell were Phi Sigma frat boys at USC, Li studied medicine and Bell studied engineering. Several at the frat made fun of their close friendship as they literally wanted to be a brain surgeon and rocket scientist, so the name “Brain Bros” caught on.

One day, Li learned about a theoretical (at the time) device called a “hypospray” (now called a jet injector) that gave inoculations not with a needle, but with the jet force of a spray that pushed the substance through the skin. It had been featured on the then-recent original Star Trek series (as TV censors back then didn’t want hypodermic needles on screen) in a sci-fi perfected way, and had been used in some rare and often accidental procedures but for the most part, the device was still just an idea. One that perhaps a medical student and engineering student could develop for their final theses.

Their scientific method was a bit underdeveloped at the time, partly due to their activities at frat parties. Instead of proper research, they began by seeing how much force was needed to push a substance through human skin in such a way that it would be absorbed by the body as efficiently as a common vaccine. They began not in a lab with a rat, but at Phi Sigma with Rudy “The Rude Man” Jansenson. They had some compressed air from a balloon-filled party and some peach schnapps. They put the latter in a tube against Rudy’s arm and let the system push it onto his skin. On, but not in. The PSI needed to give him the dose through his skin (over 2000) was simply not possible from that makeshift rig.

Mr. Li calculated the actual permeability for human skin the next day instead of going to class, and Mr. Bell found the simplest mechanism to apply that force instead of meeting with his academic probation supervisor. The answer, as you may have guessed from the original question, was the common hammer.

At the next frat kegger, Li and Bell debuted their first prototype for a functional hypospray, which was to pour Everclear on the subject and hit them with a hammer that Mr. Bell had stolen from the gardener’s shed. As this was a keg party at a frat, the idea was unanimously welcomed and the first hammering of college boys began.

Details from Li and Bell’s college expulsion hearing contained their records and results- Of the 50 students participating, all 50 had extensive bruising, 43 had broken bones, 33 held blood alcohol levels beyond safe limits, and 0 could be stated with certainty to have absorbed any alcohol through the experiment—because all 50 were already drunk, hence why they let the students hit them with a hammer to get drunker. So it came to be that ���getting hammered” means getting more drunk than reasonable.

Li and Bell’s fates are not known with any certainty beyond their departure from college, but rumors abound. Most claim that they began to hang out with Timothy Leary, Jack Parsons, and Hunter S. Thompson. A friend of the first stated that he, Li, and Bell had experimented with “percussive application” of LSD and mescaline, along with trepanation to more directly hammer the psychedelics into the human brain. The only other possible record of the two comes from a concert in Boulder, CO in 2002 at which the band “Tool” performed.

It states that Bell and Li were seen hitting each other on the head with hammers during a performance of the trilogy of songs “Disposition / Reflection / Triad.” Their fate beyond this moment is unknown, though two men of their ages were checked in the same night for severe head injuries and extreme intoxication at the Boulder county morgue. RIP we presume to the Brain Bros, pioneers of getting fucked up in college and beyond.

FIJMU does not in any way endorse irresponsible drug use, hitting yourself with a hammer, or the band “Tool.”

[maritteknewtheenemy]

Genuinely the most compelling part of Sunrise on the Reaping to me was the two pages we got describing Wiress' games. It's indescribably fascinating to me how Haymitch seems to find her initial serenity and intelligence off putting and vaguely creepy. Like, to the point where I think I would have preferred if SC had written her games instead of Haymitch's for this prequel. Haymitch thinks she's 'bizarre' and notes it was hard even for the districts to root for her because of the eerie manner in which she outsmarted the capitol. It would have been fascinating to see what day to say life is like in a district other than 12 for once, and to see a tribute who won without killing anyone (a complete antithesis to the way the games are supposed to be played). It would be interesting to see the retribution she would face from the capitol in the immediate aftermath. I think it's safe to say prior to the arena that it's unlikely that Wiress was a fan favourite, but I want to see her interview persona, what angle was decided as her best shot of getting sponsors, and the outfits her stylist chose. I want to see her noting the shiny stuff in training and later kicking herself for not realizing it was connected to the games. We'd get to see Beetee as an actual mentor, showcasing his true brilliance with a pupil who could meet him on his own level something missing from the original trilogy and SOTR both. Hell, she could even include a mention of Ampert, or even a cameo of him at the District 3 reaping. We could hear Beetee potentially lament his fear of Ampert being reaped to Wiress, or it could even just be an offhand thought in Wiress' mind, that the eldest child of District three's most recent (and disliked/problematic) victor would be twelve next year. Maybe one of the careers in her games could be the child/neice/grandkid of a former victor and she could think back to meeting Beetee's family before leaving on the train and wonder if that would happen to Ampert? It would be interesting to explore Beetee's fear and Wiress' perhaps preumptive pity from that angle. It might have hit harder even, for us to see a brief cameo of eleven year old Ampert and hear about Beetee's transgressions against the capitol, but have Ampert's fate left ambiguous/a sword hanging over Beetee's head.

Also- the Nest of Mirrors? Come on. Katniss makes a point in the original trilogy of saying the arena can look like anything, but a Wiress book would be the first games we'd read about where the arena doesn't look- at least on the surface- like some random lanscape, not to mention the horror of the entire concept. Blood reflected off any and all surfaces, being unable to get your bearings, nothing being where it appears to the point you could end up impaling yourself on a sword you thought you were dodging? It's an arena with the highest and most blatant element of psychological horror we've ever seen and it would have been really interesting to see how those games played out, especially through Wiress' narration. Not only is Wiress very intelligent and grounded, but she hid in plain sight. She was IN the games but she wasn't an active participant. The narration would be almost from the point of view of a spectator, like those in the districts or the capitol, except with a level of scrutiny no one but a competitor could have. The fact she didn't directly kill anyone would further highlight this- but so would the fact kids might be dying literal feet away from her that she couldn't save or defend herself from if it came down to it. We even know we'd get to see her judgement call, the decision she had to make about when to stand up so the final Two boy would see her, charge at her, and brain himself. We know she understood how to play with the mirrors and how the light beams work, so she must have intentionally placed herself in a way she knew he'd run right into one of them. But how did she know he wouldn't try a long range weapon to kill her from a safe distance? And why did she wait so long after she won before letting the hovercraft pick her up? What was she thinking? What was her post game interview like? What did Beetee say?

I can see how this her victory and reticence could appear so eerie from an outsiders perspective- district and capitol alike- especially when it seems so antithetical from the way most contenders in a typical games play and participate. Wiress didn't participate and that's why she won. It's wild. It's facinating. It should be explored. She didn't participate and she won anyway which should be impossible. But she did it.

Then there's the fact that one of the themes of SOTR was propaganda (and was, imho, the most poorly executed element of the novel, please don't @ me). I think Wiress' book could have the potential to address this in a more subtle but better executed way. Just thinking about mirrors and the arena and the symbolism that could come from it. Something about the same image (or narrative or word or-) seen from a thousand different angles by thousands of different people, how they warp and change and become distorted. Something about retroactively convincing the public that the girl who didn't participate was a strong contender the whole time. Something about spinning the Capitol's inability to find her into something humorous instead of an unintentional display of weakness and gross incompetence. Something about playing up Wiress' 'oddness' so as to make her undesirable and unpalatable to even district citizens so no one would ever rally behind her much less take her or her refusal to participate as a viable option let alone a strategy.

Yeah, to me, not writing Wiress' story instead of Haymitch's will always be a missed opportunity.

[lostinlovingrevery]

Deceiving Looks

Trilogy! Logan X Mutant! F!Reader

Logan's sweetheart gets pissed

A/N: This is just a lil thing I thought of. Logan does a lot of the protecting and all. What if someone protects him? It's a lil different from what I usually write!

Warnings: Friends w/ Feelings, a few fluff moments, canon typical violence, descriptions of body harm, reader gets fucking pissed, Logan falling in love every second, Magneto gets his shit rocked, other x-men mentioned, reader is a mutant with phytokinesis!

“Don’t these things eat bugs and stuff?”

Logan asks as he observes the strange-looking carnivorous plant known as the Venus fly-trap. He was squatting, arms crossed on the table as his eye level met with the plant, resting in a protective glass terrarium. 

You bent over next to him, palms pressed to your knees; side by side with Logan, both looking at the plant, as you held a pleased smile on your face. “Yup! Although they don’t have to eat bugs to survive. They create their own sugars from the sun like any other plant, but they certainly wouldn’t mind a snack here and there.” 

“Hm.” Logan gave you a side glance, a quirk of his brow. “Do these guys talk too?”

“Not really. They have a personality similar to a lazy cat honestly.” You reached over, removing the small glass cover of the terrarium, and petting the ‘mouth’ of the plant, which seemed to react happily to your touch. Logan let out a small scoff, not out of irritation, but disbelief. 

You were showing Logan your greenhouse- your own little slice of heaven. He finally came in, a week after first showing up at the school, curious about why you seemed to be in this place all the time. You gave him the grand tour, and an explanation of your mutation, known as phytokinesis- to put it generally. 

You had a kinship with nature and had an amazing ability to communicate, grow, control, and even a little secret skill only you and Charles know about. You don’t use it often though, because it drains a tremendous amount of energy from you.

Logan, ever skeptical that your mutation was a thing, was now asking you about literally every plant in the greenhouse. It was cute, while others probably saw him being a cocky asshole- you could tell it was his excuse for drawing out a conversation with you. The man isn’t as slick as he thinks he is. Especially since the ferns have told you that he’s been stealing looks at your ass every time you turn around. 

“They’re a little freaky looking,” Logan mutters, watching as you replace the glass of the terrarium. 

You gasp, as if you were offended, you stood up. “Rude.” You smile teasingly. “Y’know, Logan, looks can be deceiving.” 

He gave you a flirty look and smirked, standing up with you. “That's so, sweetheart?” 

“Do we all agree on the plan?” 

Scott's voice came over on the intercom. Mutual agreements across the jet. You glanced at Logan next to you, his head tipped back, staring off into space. You gently nudged him with your elbow, and he glanced at you. 

Shooting him a knowing look, he rolled his eyes. 

“Logan?... Logan? Wolverine!”

“Yeah yeah,” Logan mutters, moving to adjust the sleeve of his suit. “Understood.” 

“All you had to say.” Scott scoffs. A small laugh escaped you as you tilted your head at Logan. 

“Does it physically hurt you to speak to him or something?” You teased him.

“Just don’t like the know-it-all attitude.” 

“Hm, I think I could agree with that.”

“I can hear you two,” Scott mutters. 

“Oh, sorry Scotty.” You say apologetically, but you and Logan share a look of amusement. 

“We’re coming up on landing, ready everyone,” Ororo calls out, as she reaches up to flip a few buttons on the ceiling of the cockpit. You leaned back in your seat, noticing Logan's hand tensing. Making a fist, before splaying his hand out, and making a fist in repeated motion again. 

You reached over, your fingers gently brushing over the underside of his wrist, up to his palm, before intertwining your hand with his and giving him a reassuring squeeze. You heard him let out a deep breath, as his muscles seemed to relax from your comfort.

 You’re the only one who has noticed his little anxiety over flying- Logan does a great job masking it, but you, the ever-perceptive person you are, noticed it immediately the first time you got on the jet with him. Since then, you made a point to sit next to him and provide him with that quiet reassurance that he was okay. 

Neither of you ever talked about it, but you knew he appreciated it. 

In fact, neither of you talk much about anything. 

Although you didn’t need words to tell you how Logan felt about you. He tells you every day, in his own little ways. 

The jet landed with a small thud to the ground. Once safely secured, Ororo switched the jet off, while Scott ran a check of the surroundings. Logan bounced his leg, and you once again squeezed his hand. 

“Remember everyone, use caution when approaching these mutants,” Charles informs everybody in the jet. “We do not quite know yet the powers of some of them, we need to exercise discretion, and not make them feel as if they’re being attacked.” 

Charles had recently gotten some information regarding a large group of runaway mutants that were camping in the woods. Most of them are young mutants ranging from 13 to 21. He wanted the X-men - all the X-men- to come and meet these mutants, invite them to the mansion, and provide them guidance and help. It’s believed that they escaped from yet another illegal mutant research facility, which has been the fourth one to pop up in the last year.

The last time the team had tracked down some mutants who had been victims of terrible experiments, they- quite understandably- lashed out immediately. It took a lot of convincing- Logan being the final voice that the mutants listened to, to get them to join the school, even if only temporarily.

You yourself don’t actually go on missions. Usually the designated “babysitter”, and you were a hell of a good one. Other than the students adoring you as their professor, your plant abilities allowed you to know if students were sneaking out or if anyone was sneaking in. You even caught Mystique once trying to infiltrate the mansion, acting as if she was Bobby. That was an extremely awkward night. 

You don’t even have a suit- considering yourself a pacifist and Charles respected that. Although you don’t fight, you’re still technically considered an omega-level mutant. It’s not common knowledge. 

Not that you were keeping it a secret. No one asked, and you never gave them a reason to think otherwise. 

One by one the team set off the jet, while the plan was for you to stick behind for the moment and keep an eye on things. Logan lingered, while you watched everyone leave; standing near the exit ramp of the jet, wishing them luck and to be careful. He stepped up to you, and you tilted your head up to him. 

“Gonna wish me good luck?”

“No. I’m gonna tell you to be careful.” You say, a faint smile on your lips. You both were standing close to each other- your faces mere inches away, and you swore if he looked at you like that one more time you were going to kiss that smug look off of him. 

“Me? Being careful?” He chuckled. “Carefuls my middle name.”

You let out a fake, sarcastic laugh, and his shit-eating grin grew wider. “I’m serious Lo. As fun as your little battle stories are, I don’t like hearing about you getting hurt.” You say, almost sternly as if you were talking to one of your students, poking his chest with your index finger. 

“I heal.” His tone was innocent, as he quirked a brow. 

“Doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.” You say softly, looking him in the eyes, a small tilt of your head. His expression softened. 

His sweetheart. That was you. Nothing official yet, no. He hasn’t quite made that move yet, despite the chatising from the others over his apparently obvious crush. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to, he certainly did. 

He just wasn’t the man he thought you deserved. 

“You don’t need to worry yourself with that.”

He wanted to be. He wanted to feel like he earned those sweet smiles, the way you care for him, your patience and understanding. That’s why he stayed. The X-men was a chance at becoming a better man, for you. 

“Promise, you’ll be more careful, especially if things go south?”

A toothy grin spread across his face. “Alright sweetheart. Promise.” 

Maybe somewhere inside he wanted to feel that for himself too, but out of all things he took in consideration, his own self, was the least of his concerns.

He let out a pained scream, as he could feel his skeleton slowly being torn out from his skin. 

More- and more, as his senses electrified him, shocking through his nerves, his body trying to heal itself, to hold onto his metal skeleton- but was losing the battle. He closed his eyes, thinking of you.

Sorry sweetheart

He didn’t keep his promise. 

As he prepared for what will likely be his most painful death- completely unsure that his astonishing ability to come back will be enough this time. He thought of you. Another second passed and he thought it was over-

Until he fell to the ground. A harsh thud! Underneath him, creating a divot in the Earth from his weight hitting the ground hard. He groaned as he felt himself heal over. His body attempts to fix the displacement caused by Magneto's meddling of the adamantium bound to his skeleton. It wasn’t the most pleasant feeling.

What the hell happened?

He didn’t see it. The others did. 

Hank had watched in utter fascination as a tree was launched across the clearing, knocking Magneto out of the air and pinning him to the ground, releasing his hold on Logan. Then he saw you- a small chill down his spine. He’d never seen you angry. The only time was when Scott accidentally erased your recording of Law and Order SVU newest episode. 

That doesn’t really compare to what he’s seeing right now, but it goes to show that you are a naturally demure person. The calmest, level-headed person on Earth, was you; Compared to himself - even compared to Charles of all people. 

He meant to go to you, but of course he was distracted as he got jumped by yet another mutant. He roared, committing back to the fight.

The whole thing went wrong. It wasn’t a group of displaced mutants. It was Eric, pulling yet another stunt- and what for no one has figured out yet. He had practically an army of mutants. Scott predicted the only reason that they were lured here - was so Eric could kill them all, removing the only obstacle that stops him from his main goal. 

The team was getting destroyed. They were outnumbered. Scott and Charles had been both knocked out, with Jean furiously attempting to protect them- her own powers weakening as her energy diminished greatly. Ororo and Hank took on the major fighting - but even found themselves becoming overwhelmed. The younger trainee X-men were quickly detained, overpowered by mutants with far more experience and far more control of their powers.

You, on the other hand, were left in the dark initially. A mutant had some kind of electrical interference power, knocking out comms, and any sort of technology that would allow communication. 

You only found out through the whispers of the trees. 

By time you came running through, attempting to find everyone in the chaos- you had spotted Logan and Eric in the air. Logan, arms out, claws out, screaming out in pain. It didn’t take a genius to know what was happening. 

You wasted no time in taking control of the situation. 

A simple wave of your hand, vines and roots snapped out of the ground. Clumps of foliage began to grow rapidly throughout the trees and empty clearing, turning the old growth forests into something resembling a jungle , and the trees in the forests shook with anticipation. Your energy made them alive. They were certainly eager to assist. 

You lifted one of the trees out of the ground, vines clutching around the trunk, closing one eye, as you aimed- and tossed your arm, as if pitching a baseball. the tree flying across the air and hitting Magneto point-blank.

You heard shouts of surprise - and horror, as the vines, roots, and even branches of the tall leafy giants around you began to make short work of the offenders attacking your friends. You weren’t killing anybody, no, of course not!

If you were suddenly grabbed and restrained by a damn tree, you’d scream in horror too. 

You paid no mind to them, trusting in your plant-kin abilities to control a situation. Storming across the clearing with clenched fists, as Eric pulled himself out from under the branches, leaves stuck to his helmet and armor as he attempted to regain himself. He saw you approaching him,

Momentary surprise on his expression, before smirking. He lifted his hand up, but you waved your own- and a branch came flying across and smacked him in the face. 

It gave you enough time to direct some vines to wrap around him, one of them yanking off his helmet and throwing it across the yard, as you approached him.

Eric couldn’t believe himself what he was seeing. 

Not much surprises him anymore. Mutants with extraordinary abilities, powerful and talented. Absolutely beautiful. 

He remembered you when you first came to the mansion, a quiet one, who looked protectively over the others around you. Your mutation is seemingly involved with plants. You were always set on just growing flowers, making the mansion garden beautiful for every season. Charles mentored you privately. 

You were such a determined child in not hurting anybody. You carried around a pacifist agenda, something Eric frequently scoffed at yet you never blinked an eye. 

Yet now here you are. Barely recognizable, a sickly green color stretching along your skin, something moss-like in appearance slowly growing along your arms and face. An angry scowl on your face as you stared him down. 

“Well, hello again my dear.” Eric smiles. You raised a brow. “Learn some new things?”

“Shut up.” You snap. 

“Your gardening sk-”

He was cut off by a smack across the face. Blinking in surprise, he looked back at you. You- utterly unamused, a strange thing to see. The vines that held onto him began to grow uncomfortably tight as you looked down at him. 

“Now that was rude.” He says, his cheek still stinging. “I think that calls for a little payback, dont you?”

You didn’t notice the small wave of his hand that was still free from the constriction of the vines, as Logans body is picked up once more, still out of it as he is brought to you, his claws forcibly being take out - and aimed at your back. 

He smirked

Only for his face to fall. 

Your own hand flipped, and vines grabbing Logan and pulling him gently to the ground- cradling him in his barely conscious state, but holding him tightly from Magnetos grip. 

“You’re not as sneaky as you think you are Eric.” You inform him, your voice cold. He felt the vines restricting him tighter- taking his breath away. He said your name- a mixture of begging and surprise in his tone. 

Then Charles said your name. 

You blinked, turning your head to see your team okay. Jean and Ororo checking over Logan- who was grumbling about needing a cigarette as he slowly regained his consciousness. The vines that held onto him loosened as he sat up, and you let out a sigh of relief. 

Charles looked at you with a pleading expression. You turned to look back at Eric, the green of your skin, and the moss slowly disappearing. 

“Pull a stunt like that with him again, and Charles won’t be enough to stop me.” You say in a low voice, before turning and walking away to join Logan at his side. Your hand went to his shoulder and Logan looked at you in confusion, wondering where in the hell you came from. 

Thanks to your plants. Eric was once again arrested, and stored in his plastic prison. The game him and Charles play continue on for yet another day. His intentions that day never truly revealed to any of you, but you had suspcion Charles knew as you’ve noticed him keeping an extra close eye on Jean.

The other mutants, some managing to escape, the others arrested but bailed out by Charles, who then offered them a chance at redemption. Some took it, moving to the school.

They made a point to stay away from you though.

You were back to your normal self. No one had said anything to you about your…Incident. Likely not knowing what to say. 

Logan wasn’t fully aware of everything that had happened. Only noticing that awkward silence that filled the jet as you sat next to him, your hand holding his. You seemed exhausted too. 

It wasn’t till Jean told him what had happened, a few days after. 

A bit surprised at first, before a fond smile grew on his face as he left her office to go find you- you in your usual spot. 

Exhaustion still ate at you as you worked in your greenhouse. Your last class of the day was over, and you were finishing cleaning up the mess of soil and leaves that have been spilled during the class activity of transplanting the sprouted veggies the class was growing for the school into bigger pots. 

Logan was leaning against the doorway watching you, a faint smile on his face. 

You, sweet little thing you are, got so pissed over him nearly deboned like a fish, had made half the school terrified. He didn’t see it, but apparently a few of your tree friends came to life and took care of things very easily while you were smacking Magneto around. Hank compared them to the Ents of the Lord of The Ring series. Logan called Hank a nerd for knowing what they were called.

Even though even he read those books when they first came out  

“Feeling any better?” You finally spoke up, knowing he’d been standing there watching you. The ferns were such snitches regarding Logan. You turned your head to look at him, a faint smile on your face. 

“Sure do.” He walked over to you. “Heard you were pretty upset when things went down.” 

You shrugged. “Eric went a little too far this time.” 

“It’s nothing new.” Logan nods. “You doing something about it though is new.” 

You looked away, becoming a bit embarrassed and Logan’s grin grew. You looked back at him. “I told you Lo. I don’t like seeing you getting hurt.”

His heart softened just a bit more at your words. He’s always been the one protecting, taking the hits, handling the pain. The others don’t blink an eye when he throws himself into the line of fire to keep from someone else getting hurt. He just spits out the bullets, the knives. His skin stitches over and the only evidence of anything ever happening is the blood, and the memory.

He always plays it off. There’s no point in harping over it. He does what he can do and after living as long as he has, watching people he cared for get killed, he grew to be fond of his ability because it gave him control in protecting others. No matter what it does to his body. 

Every single time though, he comes back from another mission filled with violence. You’re waiting for him. You clean him up, you make him eat, and you become that safe place for him to disappear into as the trauma etches yet another spot into his mind. 

You always seemed to see right through him. The way he hides his shaky hands, his gruff exterior a front for the anxiety that eats at him inside. Always there, always ready to take him into your arms.

He reached out, and pulled you into an embrace, that you gladly accepted. Wrapping your arms around his waist, your cheek pressed where his heart rested. His lips pressed to the top of your head as his arms cradled you. He’s not sure if he’ll ever truly become the man he thinks you deserve, but apparently you seem to like him as he is right now. Maybe, you won’t have to wait much longer.

“Thank you sweetheart.” He mutters into your hair, and you squeezed him a bit tighter.

[skydaemon]

Okay I’m awake again and something that really stood out to me with TSC was how different jean and neil are as protagonists. I expected they would be, but the thing I really noticed was how distinct their reactions were.

So, these books are HEAVY. There are many many traumatic events and the characters spend a lot of time in high-stress situations. Even when they’re not being attacked or threatened or XYZ, they’re often in a state of heightened physiological arousal (their sympathetic nervous system is going haywire). As a psychologist, the thing I find really interesting is that we see very different reactions that are all aligned with different adrenal responses, and I wanted to talk about it.

As a baseline, when your sympathetic nervous system is activated, you typically experience what some psychologists call the four Fs. Fight, flight, freeze, and/or fawn (some people use another word here but I don’t like it and think it’s less accurate to the situation). These can occur simultaneously or alone. And of the four characters who are most showing this response are the ones who are consistently in the highest stress situations, but who are also traumatised in such a way that even when they’re not actively in danger their sympathetic nervous system is overreactive and heightened.

So first off, we have Neil. He’s pretty clearly shown to have two responses: flight and fight. For his entire childhood, he’s been fleeing from danger and in the earlier parts of AFTG, we see this response - he tries to run as far as he can possibly get from anything that might be a risk. As a side point, this is pretty clearly a learned response from his mother. As Neil begins to feel more secure and his flight response is impeded (he can’t run away) we see the emergence of his other primary adrenal response - fight. I don’t feel like I need to explain this one, tbh, we’ve all seen how he runs his mouth. Fight is also typically shown when you believe you can defeat whatever’s threatening you, so I love what this says about how his confidence develops across the trilogy.

Then you have Andrew. He’s not a POV protagonist but I feel like his response might be the most obvious. His primary responses are fight and freeze (Andrew Minyard runs from/fawns for no man). Fight is pretty obvious - he’s a very violent person - but I feel like the most clear example of this is stopping Riko from attacking Neil. Andrew is obviously wired and his instinctive response is to protect. I love that for him. His other primary response, unfortunately, is freeze. Based on the most obvious time we see it (during Drake's attack), this is probably a response he developed as a child, before he felt strong/safe enough to fight back. God, these books make me sad sometimes.

Next is Kevin. He has a slightly more varied response - i can see the argument for him freezing, although i wouldnt say it's a primary response - but his main two responses are fight and fawn. Fight isn't necessarily literal, btw - the most obvious example is covering his tattoo. His fawn response is slightly more expanded on in TSC (mild spoilers if you haven't read that yet) when we see him responding to Riko's attack by begging first Riko and then Jean to intercede and stop the violence. he's trying to appeal to their affection for him, which is absolutely heartbreaking. Kevin i love you.

And finally, we have Jean, whose primary responses are only really made clear in TSC, although they are backed up by his appearances in the trilogy - freeze and fawn. We see freezing in Jean's response to sympathetic nervous system arousal, often from hearing about or recalling upsetting events/information. He closes in on himself and becomes unresponsive. Fawn is slightly more complicated, as we see it somewhat throughout AFTG. when he's loyal to riko and doing things he thinks riko will like in hopes of reducing any potential pain/threat he will experience, i'd call that fawning. an example at usc is him getting on his knees and handing coach rhemann his racket - he's not just submitting to punishment, he's trying to be helpful and well-behaved in hopes of lessening it. it's honestly a really strong response from him and it absolutely breaks my heart. jean in tsc is really struggling and i hope the last book brings him some peace. i also find it really painful that he's the only one of these boys without a fight response - he's never felt capable of winning against his abusers. i really hope the trojans and bee are able to help change that.

[turnaboutfix]

Hey! Your blog makes me very happy, I love the relationship Phoenix has with Maya. However, I have a question about them in canon that I'm not sure who else to ask, it looks like you know a lot abt them and it felt like you were the person to go to. I hope you don't mind.

This sweet relationship they have, is it really like that in canon?

I've played the first trilogy and I really don't get the impression they're as close in canon as fanon says they are...?

Phoenix thinks rather poorly of Maya a lot. In 2-4 despite being so worried about her, he thinks he'd need to explain what a watch is to her, unlike Pearl, which kinda implies he thinks Maya's dumb. That's the case in which he's most worried about her too.

He ignores her during most of aa1, he's constantly body shaming her internally and out loud too. He calls her a glutton after she was starved for two days.

In 1-3 Maya's sprite has tears when Sal Manella harasses her and Phoenix ignores her too. In 3-2 he doesn't do anything again when Larry gets pervy with her, and in 3-3 he essentially offers her up so Kudo can perv on her too.

It isn't until 3-3 too that Phoenix realises Maya has a lot to think abt. Despite all she's gone through and him thinking to himself that Maya always gives him crucial evidence in 2-4 he thinks she's stupid or immature all the time.

I know he cares abt her cause he does a lot to save her a lot of times. But is the bond that deep if all the times Maya isn't in deadly danger (most of the time) Phoenix thinks so little of her out loud sometimes?

At the end of 3-5 Miles has a better understanding of why Maya is acting strong than Phoenix. Miles doesn't even know Maya that well by comparison, and he knows her so much better.

Don't get me wrong, I love Nick and Maya. But I don't see their relationship in canon as close as it is in fanon. I left the games with the impression that Phoenix is fond of Maya as Mia's little sister and a nuisance.

Ig I'm missing something. Ig I'm taking everything too literally or something, because I've never seen anyone share this view. I'm asking for your interpretation of their canon (game canon) relationship, since you have a better grasp on them than me. Thx

Hello there! I'm glad my blog makes you happy and I'm very flattered you came to me to ask this question.

Fanon certainly tends to mold these relationships into idealized, nuclear-family archetypes. This doesn't really match the games, but it brings a lot of people catharsis and I think that's great.

As for me, I don't know if I'd describe their relationship as "sweet". On top of what you've pointed out, Maya dunks on Phoenix's looks ("You're not very photogenic, are you?"), hits him with objects, insults his intelligence, what have you.

But on the other hand, they believe in each other. They stick together during their cases and give each other a push when they need it. Maya throws herself before MVK's taser. Phoenix rushes across a burning bridge. Maya gets herself arrested for contempt of court to help Phoenix save Edgeworth. Phoenix rushes to the train station so he can tell her that she's worth more than her spiritual power to her face. Phoenix nearly throws away his morals to save her life when she is kidnapped. Maya tells him to prove Engarde guilty knowing that it would mean her demise.

If I can talk about the Japanese version of the game for a moment, just the way they call each other illustrates their closeness. Phoenix calls her "Mayoi-chan", the "-chan" honorific being one of familiarity. But what's even more revealing is what Maya calls Phoenix, which is "Naruhodo-kun", what Mia addressed Phoenix as his boss. The "-kun" honorific being familiar as well as describing someone of lower rank. Phoenix never corrects this, and they call each other those names all the way through into Spirit of Justice.

And "close" doesn't mean "perfect". It doesn't even mean they don't go for months or even years without seeing each other. But they're always on each other's minds. Phoenix can't even get himself to work because Maya is away for training. While Maya is training, she thinks about Phoenix, that she'll return to him as what she believes is an improved version of herself, despite Phoenix telling her that she's already valuable.

This multifaceted nature of their relationship is what is interesting and endearing to me. They have flaws, a therapist would probably raise their eyebrows, but at the end of the day, they have a unique and firm bond.

And I love them, your honor.

[homesick4la]

the drive-in — hamzahthefantastic

summary: after being just friends for a while, one night at a drive-in theater changes everything.

contains: smoking, making out

a/n: i haven’t written anything in literally two years but the hamzah edits have brought me back to writing fan fiction…. also i did not proofread sorry…im lazy!

after bringing down all the seats in hamzah’s car and spreading several throw blankets around, the two of you laid comfortably in the back. you had convinced him to take you to the drive-in to see the newest addition to the “x” trilogy- “maxxxine”, promising that you’d help him edit his next youtube video.

as the movie begins, you two settle underneath a large blanket, laying just a foot apart. hamzah pulls out the small weed pen that always seemed to be in his pocket. without saying a word, he instinctually hands you the pen and turns to look at you. he’d always enjoyed watching as you’d bring the small device to your lips and gently blow out the smoke. in the past, he’d told you that he liked to watch you smoke because the way you coughed after each hit was funny.

the reality was that he just found you so fucking pretty. he couldn’t help but stare at the way your soft lips pursed together and your cheeks hollowed out when you sucked from the pen. and he absolutely loved the big smile you’d give him while trying to contain your cough.

“god this thing is so burnt”, you chuckle, handing it back to him.

“i know, i’m gonna get a new one tomorrow so we can finish this one tonight.” hamzah explained before taking a hit. you admired him as he closed his eyes and tilted his head back before releasing the smoke from his mouth. god he was so hot. you’d always found him attractive and smoking made those thoughts in your head grow louder.

after passing the pen back and forth for a while, you two could no longer focus on the thriller movie playing in front of you- the weed making you both so giggly and talkative.

“bro remember when you fell at the fair,” hamzah says, out of breath from laughing at the memory.

“stop, that was so bad! i literally still have a scar from that, look!” you lift your forearm to his eye level, revealing a small, red scar near your elbow.

his fingers trace the small scar. “you only had half a white claw and it had you falling over”, he laughs.

“shut up- i tripped on your big ass foot and you know it.”

“yeah, yeah, whatever- hey what’s even going on right now?” he gestures to the movie.

“i have no clue.” your reply, sending you both into a laughing fit. as your laughter begins to fade, you turn to look back at hamzah. the moment you two make eye contact, his smile fades. he stares and stares and stares. leaving you in a confusing, unnerving silence.

“uh- well even though we’re not even watching the movie, thank you for doing this with me.” you break the silence, giving him a small smile. “i’ve had a pretty shitty week, so i needed this.”

“yeah me too.” his voice is soft, quieter than before. “i always feel better when i’m around you.”

you smile. you weren’t used to hamzah saying sweet things like that- you two were always so unserious when talking.

“i- uh i’ve always liked being around you and talking with you,” he looked around nervously. “and i always thought we’d be just friends but y/n, i like you. i like you- not just in a friend way.” he admitted- the weed making him feel a little bolder than usual.

you giggle, “thank god because i’ve had the most embarrassing crush on you for so long.”

hamzah’s eyes light up, “and you never said anything?” he laughs.

“no, i was scared you didn’t like me like that!”

he smiles widely, “i like you like that.” he reassures.

you start retelling the story about when you guys first met, revealing that you had liked him ever since then. his eyes are locked on yours- occasionally glancing down at your lips. as you’re talking, his hand finds its way to yours- gently laying on top of it. it lingers there for a few seconds before tracing up your arm. his cold fingertips drag along your forearm, all the way up to your shoulder, and to the side of your neck. eventually, he places his hand on your cheek. he rubs his thumb back and forth as you continue talking, but you soon go quiet. his touch causing you to lose your train of thought.

you stare into his big brown eyes- smiling at what a sweet moment this was.

“y/n, can i kiss you?” hamzah said softly. a light nervous chuckle echoed at the end. you nodded quickly, looking up at him through glossy eyes.

he wasted no time connecting his lips with yours. his hands cradled your face as he kissed you softly.

the kiss was innocent. slow and sweet. but as you grew comfortable, it became apparent that there was a certain hunger within both of you.

his hands move from your face down to your waist. he pulls you in closer, pressing your bodies together.

you part your lips slightly, allowing his tongue to slip into your mouth effortlessly. his hands grab ahold of your hips before shifting your bodies so he could hover on top of you.

the kisses get messier and messier. he pulls away, planting a kiss on your jaw.

“been..waiting..for this..for s’ long.” he says between the kisses he’s leaving along the side of your neck.

you hum as he continues kissing down to your collarbone. you grip onto his biceps as his fingers slide under the thin straps of your tank top.

just before he can continue, a loud scream erupts from the screen. being brought back to reality, the two of you stop. the thought of you two hooking up at a drive-in move like teenagers makes the both of you laugh.

he lays down aside you once again, draping his arm over your shoulder. “we’ll continue this later- without the sounds of people getting murdered in the background y’know.”

“yeah i’d like that”, you smile. “but take me out to dinner first.” you tease.

“oouu,” he chuckles at your comment. “we’ll go wherever you want.” he states before planting a kiss to your temple and turning his attention to the movie.

a/n- i feel like this is so bad and cringe and kinda short.…i just may never write again….jk…but seriously don’t judge i haven’t written in forever jus wanted to write something for funsies

let me know if u guys want more k bye muah

[joudama]

I saw a post today that got me thinking. They basically started by pointing out how the Veilguard companions are super entitled brats because even though the world is ending, they prioritize solving their apparently much more important personal issues.

What really hit me is, the writers were trying to use the Mass Effect 2 template with a Mass Effect 3 level threat, without seeming to realize how completely incompatible those two things are.

I’m gonna talk a lot about Mass Effect to critique a Dragon Age game, but that’s what they get for trying to Mass Effect Dragon Age. Oh well.

First off, let me get the Unpopular Opinion out of the way now: Mass Effect 2 was the worst game of the trilogy. That’s not to say it was a bad game. It was an excellent game. Unfortunately, it was not a good second installment of a trilogy. It did none of the middle act work of setting up the pieces for the final act (this is why we get the deus ex machina of the super secret Reaper killing weapon plans plopped in what HAD just been “a small data cache” on Mars - ME2 should have been about chasing down leads for said weapon) and instead was basically a reboot that set us back to exactly where we should not have been, only now with this super cool secret society that has been secretly engineering galactic politics from behind the scenes and using their Big Evil Tendrils of Power on people and shaping events (gee, why does THAT sound so familiar, Veilguard?) and they were putting us on a mission that realistically had nothing to do with the bigger Reaper threat or set us up to fight them. The main story was about the Collectors and Cerberus, but you’ll notice how no one ever talks about that - other than to express irritation when TIM shows up to force you to go on main story missions instead of letting you do the missions you actually care about - the companion recruitment and loyalty missions - because it’s more of a framing device. Having the actual story people care about be those missions works because the main story is inconsequential IRT the world. You are a small crew chasing after what most of the galaxy believes to be a myth by sailing into an area no one has ever come back from, and said crew is: a leader everyone thinks is dead, two members of a terrorist organization, a tank-bred teenager, a vigilante everyone thinks is dead, a mercenary, a dying assassin, twenty year old kid, a thief, an old mad scientist who retired off to the slums, and a monk from an order where they die a lot. In other words: no one the galaxy will seemingly miss going on a suicide mission of seemingly no importance. That means instead of focusing on the relatively unimportant story (again, remember, it does NONE of the work of the middle story of a trilogy, which is part of why ME3 had the problems it did!), they could focus on the characters. And it completely made sense to stop everything - because there truly was not a huge rush until the Collector attack triggers to get to the suicide mission - in order to do these single mission asks of people that a terrorist organization is sending on a suicide mission. They are asking Shepard to give them some closure on their lives because they know they very well might die and not be able to do it after the mission. And it makes sense to do it, because you are literally asking them to die. It’s a last request. You do it because there’s no time crunch, because there’s no big looming threat directly hanging over you, and even after the Collector Attack is triggered, the only thing under threat is your ship’s crew. It’s a personal threat, not a galactic one.

Which brings us to 3, which is finally getting back to the story started in 1, the Reapers, which are now HERE and a way to beat them has to be plucked out of nowhere because 2 didn’t bother (and yes yes, I know about set up from 1 with the giant rift on iirc Klendagon? I don’t remember how to spell the name - but we should have been looking for that in 2 instead of doing a side quest for Cerberus, but I digress). Anyway, there is now a galaxy ending threat and it is literally destroying worlds. They are taking over more and more of space, and despite our best efforts we are absolutely losing, and we’ve got a very short time to unite the galaxy and get that Hail Mary weapon built, plus stop Cerberus fucking up our efforts, or else all space faring life will be killed off. Every mission (aside from DLC) is focused on one of those three goals, because the threat is so large there’s no room for anything else. Even when it seems like the game is setting up you helping a former companion on a side mission - Miranda and her missing sister - Miranda tells you point blank that you’ve got bigger issues than her personal problem, and you only end up doing it because you’re going after Cerberus and discovered she was there.

Now, at long last, it’s time to talk about Veilguard. Veilguard tried to tell small, personal stories, like ME2 did, while the main story was a literal world and life as we know it ending threat, like ME3 had. And those two things are incompatible. You can’t stop to go fight an old personal enemy and plan camping trips while there is a literal world ending threat that is encroaching on everything and you are LOSING - by virtue of the stakes, it needs to be everything you are, in some way, focusing on, as is what happened with ME3. By trying to do a personal story quest in this scenario, it creates a giant disconnect where your companions come off as entitled at best and extraordinarily privileged and tone deaf at worst, and like they are completely amateurish (and it also undermines how big the threat is - how big of a threat can it be really if you have time to go watch some griffin training?) You can’t stop everything to handle personal concerns when you are losing a fight for the survival of literally everyone. Act 2 of Veilguard grinds to a halt because instead of looking for ways to stop the gods, you’re off hither and yon running multi-step errands for your companions. They’re taking you on picnics and telling you to relax and have some tea. Meanwhile, the south is on fire and hundred of thousands of people are dying and the baddies are working on their own deus ex machina as you go chasing after a random mage.

[fromevertonow]

I hate how people are still asking for more books in the Hunger Games world… if you’re asking it for entertainment, get out, I don’t even wanna talk to you. You completely missed the point of literally everything. If you’re asking it to find out more about how brainwashed the Careers were, how the rebellion was planned out in between the Quarter Quells, etc., YOU ALREADY KNOW WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW!!!!!

Suzanne doesn’t write books without them being written from a theoretical or philosophical viewpoint. THG was inspired by Juvenal’s Satires, TBOSAS by the nature/nurture debate and lots of Enlightenment thinkers, and SOTR by the influence of propaganda on the masses (specifically David Hume’s works).

I’m not saying there aren’t more critically engaging angles to approach this world from (it’s a dystopian story, I mean, the list is basically endless), but what would be the point? THG is above all about defying totalitarian regimes and fighting for freedom. We have seen how the districts succeeded from a district 12 perspective. Why does it matter SO much what the thought process of a Career tribute was (because you can find the answer you’re looking for in propaganda and a pure will to survive, something Suzanne already explored in both TBOSAS and SOTR). Why does it matter what the details were of Plutarch’s plans while organizing a rebellion (he explained it all in his conversation with Haymitch at the end of SOTR, use your imagination to fill in the blanks, God put you on this earth with a brain, use it).

Consider WHY we only got a District 12 perspective (*something something* the lower classes rise up first against oppression ) before you ask for another book about Finnick’s Games (he was literally forced into prostitution at 14 years old, why THE FUCK do you want to read about that??).

The fact that we were given TWO more books WELL after the trilogy ended so we would maybe start thinking about how we as a human species are attracted to violence and so desensitized to it, AND WE STILL CRAVE MORE!! Isn’t that deeply and embarrassingly ironic?? Suzanne Collins saw y’all salivating like the Capitol citizens and wanted to teach you something with these two books, but you chose to overlook the message and only care for the entertainment. Something about Bread and Circuses, right?

[rosenclaws]

Headcanons for what the first kiss with each version of Logan would be like 😳👉👈 ty for considering! ☺️

YESS so cute!!

First Kiss with each Logan!

Origins Logan -

So, you work at one of the shops in the small town closest to where Logan lives. He really only makes a trip there once a week but he always shows up on a day where you're working because well...he wants to see you. Its a lot of back and forth flirting until he asks you out to dinner. He makes you dinner in his cabin and you two eat outside and watch the sunset and he absolutely drives you home because he's a gentleman and before he can drive off you lean into the drivers side window and give him a soft peck on the lips before a hurried goodnight falls from your lips and you run to your house and hurry inside. It's like a movie where you close the door and lean back against it, your heart racing while Logan sits in his truck completely in shock but with a smile on his face as he drives off.

Trilogy Logan -

Your first kiss happens after a long mission. Things didn't go the way any of you expected and the confidence you all had going into it was completely drained. Just complete silence on the way home on the jet and even Scott can tell to push the debrief to the next day. Everyone just needed a nap. But sometimes after a mission like that you just can't sleep which is how you find yourself sitting on the kitchen counter eating cereal at 3am. That's where Logan finds you. He can't really sleep either. He would join you on the counter but he doesn't want to break it so he settles for leaning next to you. It starts with playful banter but it turns to something deeper when the mission comes up. You were scared of losing Logan and you know he can heal like crazy but you can't shake it and Logan feels the same way. It's like, he's standing between your legs and his hands are on your arms as he lets you see this vulnerability he rarely shows and you two kiss and it's fucking amazing.

DOFP Logan -

This is my vision alright. You're both professors and it's a totallll flirty will they won't they kind of thing. Classrooms are literally across from each other and everyone can see the two of you are crushing hard but you both enjoy playing this game to see who cracks first. You think Logan will and he thinks you will so it's just. Unbelievable tension that makes everyone so sick of it and wishing the two of you would just give it up and admit your feelings. Which is how a poor student who was just looking for the broom finds the two of you mid make out in the closet after those feelings have finally been spilled. You both argue who cracked first but the truth is it was both of you. Seriously just get a room.

Old Man Logan -

This is a much more intimate moment between the two of you. Probably after a fight about your place in his life. You want to help him, to carry some of the weight that's been forced on his shoulders and he doesn't want you to. He tells you he's fine and he doesn't need your damn help and his words hurt but you stay strong. You care deeply for him. You've fallen in love with him. He doesn't understand why the hell you're still here. You should be running far far away from him but you're still here. I see him collapsing into an old rundown plush chair. He's tired and he's afraid of letting you in but you're not scared of him. You crawl into his lap and its a gentle but needy kiss from both of you. His hands resting on your waist getting more and more desperate as he slowly starts to let you in.

Worst Logan -

It's messy and hot and very desperate but fuck is it a first kiss to remember. Logan has been fighting his feelings for you since the moment he saw you. He wants you but he can't have you and it's driving him crazy. You just won't quit it either. Constantly seeking him out, being nice to him. It's weird, its nice, and it's so not helping his feelings. The kiss comes after he kind of explodes, basically telling you to stay away from him because he can't control himself and he wants you so bad. He wants everything from you, the soft moments too. You basically just tell him to shut up and to kiss you. Which results him him pretty much pushing you against the wall and kissing you. It's really hot tbh

[karmacharmeleon18]

I just went through your AFTG posts and may I ask: what are your feelings about Kevin?

Oooh. Oh. Oh, anon... idk if you're a Kevin Day fan or not, for the sake of things I'll assume you're a completely neutral party so I can tell it how it is without the need to mince words. If this alarms you then perhaps you are a Kevin Day fan and you should stop reading now 😂❤

If you’ve read my posts then you’ve noticed English isn’t my first language, so be prepared for things to make little sense at times😅 I’m trying my best, though, I promise ❤ I’m also autistic and not great at conveying the right tone, especially online, so I’m sorry if I sound mean or rude, it is not directed at you, and I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings in any way ❤ This is SUPER LONG and I’m sorry if it’s not what you were looking for, but once I get going I can’t stop 😅 I’m not joking, this is literally over 20k words of Kevin Day analysis 🙃

In the shortest possible terms, my feelings about Kevin are... complicated.

I liked him as a character in AFTG, I do not like him now.

This might make no sense to you, but I kind of divide the character into two: AFTG Kevin and the New Trilogy Kevin. My feelings differ greatly between the two. Of course I know it’s always the same character, the brainrot hasn’t gotten that bad lol Nora writes him very consistently, and I noticed nothing OOC for him in these new books.

But the amount of info and insights we get about him is what changed between one trilogy and the next, and that is what made all the difference for me.

AFTG Kevin:

In AFTG I found Kevin fascinating.

An Exy prodigy who in the eyes of the public can do no wrong and yet falls from grace, finds himself in a team of misfits, bottom of the barrel, from riches to rags.

A guy so traumatized he can only function if another person devotes his entire life to his safety.

And yet he's endlessly arrogant, bitchy, self-centered and confident. Confident not as a person, but as an athlete, and for him that's the same thing, you know? He exists to play Exy and he's the best at it, and that's all that matters.

Which is why Kevin is so, so good at ignoring his own hypocrisy.

Because he's acing this Exy thing, so who cares if he's not acing this "being a human being outside of the Nest" thing. You get what I'm saying?

He gives everyone around him a hard time for being less than perfect. But he genuinely cannot see his own failings. Because as long as he's the best at Exy, Kevin Day is perfect and there's nothing you can say about him. You better keep your mouth shut and obey.

Kevin takes, and takes and takes from everyone around him and the only thing he's capable of giving back is his Exy expertise, which he doles out to the others with all the subtlety and gentleness of a rock to the teeth. I’d rather be in the passenger seat of the Maserati with a sugar-high Andrew behind the wheel going 100mph for funsies than train for an hour under Kevin Day.

(It doesn’t help that Waymack indulges him, because he doesn’t really care about his Foxes winning, he just wants them to play and find stability in the routine, the discipline it takes to be Exy players; winning is a bonus; to the anon from the other day, if you’re reading this: I agree with you so much that Coach Rhemann and the Trojans would’ve humbled Kevin real quick ❤ but Waymack just isn’t that type of coach, of person; for him the mere fact that the Foxes survive without killing each other is a miracle, hoping for more is just senseless wishful thinking… until Neil)

In the face of danger Kevin hides behind a guy who's 5ft tall and expects him to put his life on the line to protect him. Neil makes Andrew lift his promise to protect him when he knows he’s about to die, because he doesn’t want Andrew to suffer the consequences of a broken promise, and because he doesn’t want him to get involved and be in actual danger. But Kevin clings to Andrew and will always expect and want Andrew to put himself in danger for him. And when things go wrong, he's a defeatist, he sees no point in fighting, he just drinks. But gods forbid if someone around him indulges in junk food, that’s an unforgivable sin and you’re a terrible human being and a waste of oxygen and how can you sleep at night, go run some drills right now to make up for your useless existence, you worthless piece of--

At any other point in time Andrew would never tolerate someone like Kevin. Someone with a victim mentality (rightfully so, don’t get me wrong) and yet at the same time high and mighty and loud about it.

But Andrew is a giver and a taker. He gives promises and takes reasons to live. He’s always been far more desperate than Kevin. Desperate to have a relationship with his brother and cousin, willing to join the Foxes and go to college only on the condition that they be granted the same scholarship. Willing to endure years of horrible abuse to get a mother out of it. Willing to throw that same mother and all those years of enduring in the trash and go to juvie, all to spare a brother he doesn’t even know his same fate. He is depressed. He is apathetic except he isn’t, but no one sees that until Neil. I’ve never seen a character as suicidal and at the same time as desperate to live as Andrew Minyard. As hopeful – without even realizing it - for something better to come. Considering all he’s been through, Andrew should’ve given up on life a long time ago. And yet he keeps enduring, and he keeps searching for reasons to live and offering people deals that bind him to this existence, because deep down he is hopeful. And in this desolate landscape, Kevin Day is the perfect object to dump all of his protective instincts on. And so he gets a reason to live, and something to focus on, still enduring and subconsciously waiting for something, anything to get better.

What saves their relationship (not even a friendship, according to Nora) is that Andrew is completely immune to Kevin’s tantrums and orders. Andrew is in control, always, and Kevin does not have the capacity to challenge him.

(“If you tell him to submit, he will,” Kevin says of Jean, and the irony is in the fact that he’s exactly the same when it comes to Andrew; but luckily for him most of the time Andrew doesn’t care about submission, he only cares about peace and quiet)

The Foxes are the worst thing that could've happened to Kevin. The golden Son of Exy surrounded by misfits, criminals but worst of all: commoners. Peasants. A bunch of kids as far removed from the Ravens - the elite - as can be. And most of them barely have any interest in Exy.

Only Kevin, Andrew, Neil and Matt will go pro (and even then, according to the Extra Content, Matt will always put his family with Dan first, only choosing teams near her and giving a shot at Court but leaving when juggling two teams takes too much time away from her and their kids). Compared to the Ravens, brutal, driven, ambitious, all aiming to go pro and be Court, Kevin is very much living a nightmare during his first year at Palmetto, where on top of the Foxes being his new teammates, his hand is freshly shattered and he thinks he’ll never get to play again.

Kevin ends up with the Foxes out of necessity, they're his last resort, his last hope. And here's where the parallels with Neil really start. Because for him, too, the Foxes are the only chance he has to play.

But where Kevin is hellbent on making everyone around him miserable, because his whole life he’s been convinced that greatness is born from misery, Neil wants to make everyone around him better for the sake of being better.

Better Exy players, but better people, too. Neil understands you can’t have one without the other. But Kevin is so single-mindedly focused on Exy that he doesn’t care about the people, he only cares about the athletes.

Neil is resigned to the fact that he’s going to die, and he wants to see the Foxes get better for themselves, so that after his death, they can keep playing, keep winning, keep having fun, keep doing the game justice.

But Kevin wants the Foxes to get better for him. Because he is Kevin Day and he deserves a good team.

And that’s why, no matter how hard he tries, he ends up failing over and over again. It’s only when Neil joins the team that things get better, it’s through his meddling, the way he humanizes the Monsters in the eyes of the others and bridges the gap between the two groups, the way he gets Andrew and Aaron to begrudgingly “reconcile” under Bee’s guidance, the way he gets Andrew to care, care about Neil, and himself, and Exy, that the Foxes finally become what Kevin always wanted. Sort of.

Leave it to him and he will always resort to insults and Raven drills and hierarchy and he’s the Queen of Exy and you’re just a worthless peasant compared to him and--… you get it. The Foxes are definitely not at the level he wants them to be. Which is why Kevin is happy when the Trojans win the championship over them (in the Extra Content, which is ever-changing at the moment, so this isn’t canon). The Trojans deserve it. The Foxes do not. If there’s one thing I can say about Kevin Day, is that he is objective when it comes to the game (not when it comes to himself as a person lol).

Kevin’s relationship with Jeremy is fascinating to me (again, not a friendship according to Nora). In my opinion Jeremy represents all that Kevin wants to be. A golden child of Exy who joined an average team and made it the best there is (outside of the Ravens) without the brutality, the abuse, the misery of the Nest. Jeremy made the Trojans great, not a damn red or even yellow card in 4 years of playing a sport as violent as hockey, at a collegiate level. He’s never won a championship until now, but Kevin understands why and forgives Jeremy for it. Because Jeremy will always chose sportsmanship over victory, so of course they can’t win the whole thing. Because in a contact sport brute force and cheap shots will always prevail (if slick and perfected enough). But that’s a line Jeremy will never cross, and despite himself, Kevin admires him for it.

Another interesting relationship is the one between him and Thea. In AFTG and the Extra Content, Thea is a Raven™, a Riko apologist through and through, the type of person to tell Kevin to just get over his trauma and think of the game. On one hand, she’s the worst possible person for Kevin to be with. On the other hand, she’s the only person Kevin can be with.

I know most of the fandom hates Thea, but tbh I never cared about her, she’s pretty much a non-character to me and I don’t care who Kevin ends up with. But I acknowledge that being with someone like Thea means that Kevin will most likely never heal.

Here’s where my opinion differs the most from the general opinion the fandom shares: I think Thea is a victim too.

She too was in a cult. She too spent years in a brutal team were sex was a commodity. She is a woman, a woman of color at that. Her life wasn’t easy. She suffered as much as any Raven, as much as Kevin, or possibly even more, bar the hand.

But the thing about Thea is that she doesn’t see herself as a victim. The way all ex Ravens who graduated before Riko’s death don’t see themselves as victims.

They see themselves as the best, not despite the Nest, but because of it.

And until Riko shattered his hand, Kevin was the exact same.

He grew up in a cult, but he was never injured, never sexually abused, and in general, both him and Riko saw themselves as being above having sex with fellow Ravens. Thea was the only exception for Kevin because she was the best backliner and above all, she didn’t beg, she didn’t try to seduce Kevin to get a number on the perfect Court. As a matter of fact, she couldn’t care less about Kevin, he had to pursue her, and she only accepted to have sex with him because he was attractive and sex is a good way to let out steam, that’s the way things are in the Nest.

People are disgusted by the age difference (4 years iirc) and the fact that Kevin met Thea when she was a college Freshman and he was in high school. But although he was immediately attracted to her, she felt nothing for him. She probably saw him as a besotted puppy following her around, the same way she saw Jean (though I doubt they interacted all that much, she was living under the brutal regime of the Nest, she didn’t have the time or inclination to notice a boy drooling over her). Their “relationship” only started once Kevin was in the Nest, he was 18, and he was the one to pursue her. And she accepted his advances because, again, that’s the way of the Nest.

Their affection for one another comes much later, and will only concretize once they’re both out of the Nest, most likely only when they’re both on the same pro team and actually living their life together (from what I gathered from the Extra Content).

I know that a 4 year age gap feels like a big power imbalance in college, but lets be objective: in the Nest Kevin is the one who has power over Thea.

Jean and Neil were property, the Ravens (Thea) were assets, but Kevin was Riko’s brother.

We know how little brotherhood means in the world of the Moriyamas, but the point is: Kevin never saw himself as a victim. And he never saw the Ravens as victims either. When someone was being abused, he turned his head and ignored it, he didn’t intervene, he didn’t really care because it’s all for the game.

To this day, I don’t know if Kevin considers himself a victim of the Nest. A victim of Riko, sure, because of the shattered hand that almost ended his career. But had that not happened, Kevin would’ve kept training and playing with the Ravens, happily ignoring the abuse around him.

Because here are no victims in the Nest, only great players, and he’s better than all of them.

The only exception is Jean. Jean is property, he is treated as an object, as an animal. For the first time in his life Kevin has to acknowledge just how fucked up the Master and Riko are. He turns his head and ignores the abuse, he doesn’t intervene. But for the first time it takes something out of him. It weighs on him. Cracks start forming.

But he still asks Jean to teach him French, despite knowing full well what the consequences would be for Jean. And he still leaves Jean to die under Riko’s wrath. The cracks finally shatter along with his hand and he abandons Jean to be tortured to death.

So, in AFTG, I found Kevin insufferable but compelling. He is such a good character, and the whole story revolves around him (don’t tell him tho his ego is inflated enough as it is lol). He's Riko's brother, the traumatized prodigal son knocking on Waymack's door with a broken hand, he's the one that chooses Neil and sets the plot for the whole saga into motion. I never liked him as an individual, but I did like him as a character (as all the Foxes, and tbh I think that's exactly the point of the story: they are not good people, but they are compelling characters). Kevin had all the traits of a good character, all the complexities, the contradictions.

But in this new trilogy, I simply can't stand him lol the less I see of him, the better.

New Trilogy Kevin

I honestly don’t want to talk too much about this version of Kevin. That’s how little I like him. New Trilogy Kevin and Thea go hand in hand in my eyes.

They’re still victims of a fucked up system, they’re still doomed to suffer the consequences of their upbringing for the rest of their lives, not only in terms of being victims of abuse (Thea less so, because she’ll never see herself as a victim, meanwhile Kevin sees himself as Riko’s victim, but I still don’t know if he sees himself as a victim of the Nest in general), but in terms of social impairment.

Nora said Kevin doesn’t have friends. Not even Neil and Andrew (or Jeremy, they only text like three times a year, before Jean) count as friends right now, it will take years, when they are all pro and in the national team together. And maybe after he retires he’ll be able to make some acquaintances or even friends at the park or something and be a proper functioning adult. But for now Thea is the closest thing to a friend/companion Kevin has, simply because they share the same type of obsession with Exy.

Neil and Jean are obsessed as well, but it’s not the same type of obsession, and Nora said that Kevin’s betrayal has forever destroyed any chances of becoming friends with Jean. They are acquaintances, and at the moment Jean would like to see Kevin dead, especially when Kevin calls him “brother” after he left him to be tortured to death, especially when Kevin is such a hypocrite, telling Jean to get his life together while at the same time being a barely functioning alcoholic himself.

The Nest fucked Thea and Kevin up. They are both victims, and I still see them as such in this new trilogy.

But for the first time I’ve realized just how little Thea (&allRavens) cares about the abuse that happened in the Nest.

She saw a sixteen year old boy be passed around like a sex doll and she holds it against him, she blames him for the beating that almost killed him because he might have been “up to his old tricks” that he knows the Master doesn’t tolerate so seriously Jean, what were you expecting, what the fuck were you thinking, mh?, she considers him a slut, like all the Ravens do, when he was just a child and he was raped over and over again and was beaten black and blue and forced to play with broken bones and she knew, she knew, and all of them knew and still they blame Jean and think he deserved it and they tell him so.

And for the first time I truly, 100% realized that if Riko had not shattered his hand, Kevin would’ve become a Raven apologist with his whole being, just like Thea, just like all the other Ravens.

Kevin constantly pulls rank with Jean, he constantly acts like he knows better, like he’s owed everything he wants from the people around him. And the worst part is that the people around him bow to him. The narrative indulges him. Constantly. Kevin Day is perfect and if you don’t agree you are the problem.

Kevin likes having power over people. He likes that Jean “doesn’t know” how to fight back with him (or with anyone, in his opinion).

He thinks that’s the natural order of things: he is Kevin Day, the Son of Exy, the Queen of the Court, and you must obey his every order.

For the first time, I truly see the similarities between Kevin and Riko. What Kevin could have become, had he stayed in the Nest. And I don’t like what I see.

Someone please humble that bitch, I’m begging. I need Kevin Day to be humbled or at the very least to shut the hell up. I need the narrative to put him in his place. Instead he keeps getting what he wants, and public praise, he plasters on his camera-ready smile and persona and suddenly all he has done to Jean doesn’t matter (not only in the narrative, this applies to the fandom too, maybe even more so).

So if after AFTG I was like: Kevin and Thea deserve each other because they understand each other like no one else can, eventually they’ll realize they were both victims and find comfort in each other ☹️

now I’m like: Kevin and Thea deserve each other because they’re the exact same type of terrible person 🤢 and even if they realize they were abused, they will still think they are better, worth more than the other victims, because they are Thea and Kevin and if you don’t like it, you are wrong.

And if you are Jean Moreau, sold and shipped off at 14, raped from the age of 16, betrayed by the only man you ever trusted and left by him to die, shamed and blamed by the woman you looked up to, and you don’t forgive and forget, you are wrong.

At the end of the day, Kevin Day is the only one who matters. The Queen is the most important piece. Everyone else is a pawn, and is expendable.

And let me say, the way the fandom portrays Kevin doesn’t help. They water down his character so much. He’s a poor little meow meow that never did anything wrong in his life and everyone would give their life for him and Jean will 100% cheat on Jeremy to be with him and he is the best person to ever exist and the whole universe must bow down to him and Thea better stay away that Raven bitch 🔪

When Nora said that any relationship Kevin is in will have to account for his narcissism. When she’s made very clear that Kevin is a coward and a hypocrite and a traitorous bastard and a bitch that thinks his left pinky is worth more than all the Foxes combined and that will sacrifice anyone to stay safe.

Fandom took all the traits that make Kevin Day Kevin Day and watered them down, made them disappear, created a new, third version of him that doesn’t exist in any book of either trilogy.

Meanwhile Nora took those same traits and exasperated them in the New Trilogy, to the point that I don’t enjoy reading of and about Kevin anymore. I honestly want him gone from Jean’s life.

Jean can never heal if Kevin is around.

And it’s concerning that 90% of the fandom doesn’t care.

In my opinion KevJean shippers only care about Kevin.

😔

I want to reiterate that I don't think Kevin changed in this new trilogy. He's always the same Kevin. Nora is a consistent writer.

But the amount and type of information surrounding him has changed, and shown me a new side of Kevin that I do not like. This is Kevin Day with the sliders set to the max, and honestly? I've had enough of him. I don't want to see him again unless it's to properly apologize to Jean. And we all know that will never happen 🤷🏾‍♀️

Kevin and accountability are strangers.

I’m done, I promise. I hope this was a satisfactory answer, anon. Send me a little message or something if you’ve made it this far ❤

[directdogman]

(Sorry if I have bad English, I'm from Spain.)

I'm super hyperfixated on the original managers, so I have 2 questions.

1. In Dialtown, Tango/Terrence says no one called him Tango before. Assuming that in the DSaF universe he also liked that nickname, did any of the other original managers call him Tango or not?

2. A headcanon I've seen in the DSaF fandom is that Abel hated everyone BUT the real Scott Cawthon, and that Scott was the only one that tolerated Abel (some ppl even ship them). Is that close to canon? Or the og Scott Cawthon also hated Abel? I really want to know what they thought about each other.

Btw, I really love your games, I've played the DSaF trilogy many times, and the Dialtown demo (I haven't played the full version of Dialtown yet, but I've seen gameplays and I'll buy it for my birthday), thank you for making 4 incredible games <3

I don't answer many DSaF questions these days, but this one's interesting so here goes:

1)Tango's nickname is a DT invention as far as I remember. If he preferred the name in DSaF's universe, Harry would've used it for sure, given how much he liked Terrence and since he's literally using a name he doesn't believe is really 'his' because it makes him feel better. He of all people would understand.

2)Yeah, that's a pretty good way of stating it, but there's a little more nuance to it that explains a little bit more about Abel/Joe's rift.

Basically, the original Scott Cawthon was a unifying figure. He got on with every single one of the original managers and they all thought the world of him. The Phone Guy process was started in an attempt to recreate him by Abel (and the other managers at first) and you gotta consider why they'd all want to do that. He was the glue that held the group together, the only manager liked by everyone else there without exception, someone who could defuse tension and resolve conflicts amicably.

It's true that he had the most patience for Abel and never badmouthed Abel to the other managers and even defended him earnestly, knowing Abel the best of the other managers and knowing some of Abel's early life and where he came from, while the others were more willing to honestly discuss Abel's short fuse and occasionally mean nature (even Terrence to some extent!) This led Abel to develop more of a bond with him than the other managers and somewhat distrust the others.

While Abel was essentially Scott's number 2, as time went on, Joe became more and more integral to the running of their budding company, since he was a skilled accountant and managed to balance the books despite Scott's somewhat reckless spending at times (he was overgenerous to the point where it sometimes led to financial trouble for the company, a stark contrast to what Freddy's became later.) Since Joe was so blunt (and Abel's biggest critic), Abel was incredibly jealous and insecure that if the trend continued, Joe would supplant him.

This also explains why Abel was so willing to toss his other managers into the 'machine' when each of them suffered accidents. Ultimately, it wasn't just sheer cowardice, it was him trying to recreate the past - to recreate the one person who seemingly saw him as anything other than a vampire. Someone who actually wanted him around. Of course, no two snowflakes are ever exactly the same. Abel was a poor replacement as the owner of the company, Joe was barely able to keep things afloat amidst a messy and chaotic expansion and Harry wound up presiding over the company's demise.

There's a pretty widespread narrative theme in DSaF of damaged people trying to recreate something they've lost - Dave trying to turn Jack into the new Henry, Jake and his family, Harry and his former identity, the Kennedy family reuniting.

“Can’t repeat the past? Why, of course you can!”

But, the fact is, you can't recreate the past. The only way forward is to pick up the pieces and build something new.