#the potential dynamic is very enticing

[akirathedramaqueen]

No, I am not done with Western Energy yet, and I am not sorry

I. Just. Can't. With those parallels.

Just look at that! I am sure bunch of people already pointed that, but Hell knows it makes me think a lot about this shift.

Murder Family

[Blitzø]: Stolas, this is really a bad time!

[Stolas]: Mm, when isn't it a bad time, Blitzy?

Stolas *knows* Blitzø is in danger. There could've been a room for speculation, if it wasn't for the next exchange:

[Blitzø]: What is it?!

[Stolas]: I've been meaning to follow-up on our last little conversation regarding my grimoire.

[Blitzø]: What did you just call me?!

[Stolas]: My book, Blitzy. The book I was given to do my job. That I've allowed you to use to do yours.

*gunshot*

[Blitzø]: Shit!

[Stolas]: Anyhoo, I have been thinking... You know I've been permitting you to access the mortal realm less than legally for some time now? But I do need it back to fulfill my duties. I was thinking; what if we worked out some kind of an exchange? Favors for favors... Doesn't that sound...

*gunshot*

[Stolas]: ...enticing?

[Blitzø]: You gotta stop using your fancy-ass rich people talk, okay? I am trying to concentrate to not getting FUCKED IN MY A *gunshot*

I will omit the rest, as it won't add much to the point (if you've seen the show, you know the conversation doesn't stop here), but you can draw some conclusions from the dynamic:

Stolas sees Blitzø in projection. Gunshots do not give any chance for the wrong interpretation. He knows imp is getting chased.

Stolas takes his time to get to the point, speaks slowly, as if playing with Blitzø, with his life even, and he enjoys that. He knows Blitzø can't turn him down as imp is on a hook.

Blitzø is clear that he would like to pass on the call for the better time, but Stolas keeps him on the line. Blitzø is clear that Stolas needs to get to the point because he is about to get killed, and Stolas, although does that, is still slow in speech, playful, and demeaning towards him.

Overall, Stolas does not care about Blitzø being safe at the beginning of the series. You can also get from that convo that he crosses boundaries without guilt, and if he was able to jeopardise life of his potential lover, it's not surprise at all that he is demeaning, creepy with overly sexual talks at inappropriate times, and does not take Blitzø's offence as something to care about (I don't think Blitzø was called by his name properly at least once in the 1st season, but I have to check), as shown in later episodes. Stolas is abusing power and knows he will get away with it, because Blitzø has nowhere to go and has to put with it.

Western Energy

[Blitzø]: It's really not a good time, buddy...

[Stolas]: I'm sorry it's a bad time yet again, Blitzy, but, um...

[Stolas]: I seem to have found myself in a bit of a sitch.

You see the parallel, right? Right?!

I'm sorry it's a bad time yet again, Blitzy.

The first time we heard that, he wasn't sorry. He was dismissive.

Mm, when isn't it a bad time, Blitzy?

And the situation... Stolas is literally getting kidnapped, and finds time to ask an apology for calling at wrong time. *Again*.

Let's look at another piece of conversation:

[Moxxie]: That's Striker, sir!

[Blitzø]: Oh, for fuck's sake! Can't you just get away? Aren't you powerful?

[Stolas]: I believe he has me bound with blessed rope, which limits my ability to free myself I'm afraid. So I think you should come save me.

[Blitzø]: Oh, shit, Stolas, I can't today, alright? I'm sorry. I-I'm literally on my way to take Loona in for her very important Hellbies S.H.O.T. It takes years to book an appointment at that place, it took me five to get this one... and she's doing a lot of field work, so you know, she needs it...

[Stolas]: Oh, ha-ha, well, I do agree that is very important... but I-

We know the rest. The phone is taken away by Striker, and the conversation is interruped. We also know that Stolas gets a sudden realisation that he is in danger, which gives a hint that before he didn't recognise the situation quite as serious.

You see the shift that happened?

Stolas apologises for taking Blitzø's time, despite being in imminent danger. He went from total dismissive to total apologetic and even evasive.

Stolas takes into account Blitzø's reasons, and admits their importance.

This time Blitzø is the one who talks more, but he is on point the whole time and generally sounds uneasy, understanding that this time this is, despite being the bad time, very important. As we know, after the conversation he rushes in, before agreeing with Moxxie and Millie for them to go instead.

And why is so?

I find it very interesting that the similar phrase was used in so different contexts. In the comparison, the power dynamic simply has flipped.

Stolas was the one who needed attention, and Blitzø was the one who was asked for help.

The first time around, Stolas needed attention as well, but his matter was so diminutive and Blitzø's problems at the moment were so serious, it was simply disrecpectful, to say the least.

The second time, his request is to literally save his life, and he apologises, puts Blitzø's interest higher than his. He now feels like he is a burden, a nuisance in Blitzø's life, not wanting to disturb him at all. The connection that holds them became so fragile, because Stolas realises he has nothing to offer besides power, and from that sole conversation it becomes clear that he now avoids using it against imp even on the verge of being hurt.

Stolas's attitude shifted from dominant to apologetic, he went from assertive to frightened, and, as Blitzø's importance in his life grew, so grew Stolas, giving us hope for his redemption, but also showing how insecure he really was all the time.

So much for the regal title and eldritch powers, if you can't hold onto a meaningful relationship with the one you care for.

[cheralith]

alice, your mulan au is so enticing! the world-building and aiku’s role as general is absolutely delectable — curious to know if there were other characters whose roles you could see fitting into your world?

my loveliest cheshire, thank u for the ask (✿◡‿◡)!!!! im always such a happy little clam whenever i see you in my inbox <3

i think .. i am interpreting your question a little oddly so i apologize if this isn't what u are asking (feel free to send me another ask in regards to the correct question alldskvjld) but if not, i finally have an excuse to talk about some of the drafted fairy tale/disney aus i had for the bllk boys ive had cooking since feb WOO!

fair warning: this is a little long . i got carried away (ᵕ—ᴗ—)

beauty and the beast — kaiser i had this particular au in mind with almost a reverse werewolf trope, where instead of kaiser turning into a beast during the full moon, he turns back into a human. same trope per usual, except he refuses to face reader even when he's a human since he's had it ingrained into his head that he's ugly both ways until they stumble upon him naked in the west wing.

princess and the frog — reo specifically the disney version, which is prob my most rewatched movie i shan't lie lolol. i thought this one was pretty suitable for him too since reo hails from a rich background and the fact that his transformation could be a chameleon hehe 🤭

sleeping beauty — nagi reverse trope with nagi as sleeping beauty and reader as the prince who saves him, but instead of a prince, they're a maid that has grown well-acquainted with him compared to the other castle staff since they basically grew up together and is the one responsible for breaking the spell he put himself under since it's only broken by a true love's kiss.

rapunzel — chigiri another one insp by the disney version; i had a short drabble or two actually from this awhile back, with reo as pascal and ego as mother gothel lmfaoaaoao, but this was another reverse trope in which chigiri was rapunzel and reader was flynn rider (who i made an orphan who was trying to steal the crown to sell on the black market for their brothers/sisters.)

cinderella — isagi yet another one with a reversed trope asdfkahs with isagi as cinderella in this one, with kaiser and ness being his evil step-brothers ahehe, in which reader is the prince/princess who has to marry someone of their choosing. the ball comes, they meet and set their hearts on isagi, but he runs away before midnight strikes, only leaving his shoe.

the entire time this is happening, there is also a cold war going on, and kaiser & ness (mainly kaiser lol) are so infuriated with this mysterious bachelor that they tip gov officials off, creating this false image of the unknown aristocrat secretly being a terrorist that was going to assissinate reader (as he had no name or title known to the public). now, instead of looking for isagi as a potential lover, they're now hunting him down as a wanted man, using his shoe as a way of identifying him.

little red riding hood — shidou this was actually a scrapped idea that i'm still interested in writing in since i love a good predator/prey dynamic! the entire premise of it was that reader is the child of a supposed witch, which makes them a town outcast that the town forces to travel into the woods and drop off sacrificial goods to an entity called "the grandmother" to avoid it attacking their town.

shidou is also an outcast that gains an interest in reader when he sees them frequent the woods and wants to help them get away from their life, but does it in a very ..... interesting sense (by that i mean kidnapping/basement wife-ing them HAAHA)

snow white — karasu karasu as the huntsman and reader as snow white who he is doomed to kill when they grow of age!!!! i incorporated a childhood friends trope into this as well to make it a little more angsty (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧! when he fails to kill them and tells them to run, he goes on a search to bring them back to him as a way of proving his love wahoo !

the little mermaid — yukimiya u cannot tell me that yukki isn't prince eric material ... wuaugh hehe.. this one had more of a twist into it where yukki is the son of mermaid hunters despite him being hesitant to follow in his father's foosteps and reader has to do their best to hide their true identity

swan lake — sae based on both tchaikovsky's swan lake and the 1994 children's movie, the swan princess, where sae and reader are fated to marry in the future when they both come of age but for the life of them, cannot stand each other. the night before their marriage, they have a huge fight, which ends with reader running away and encountering a sorcerer (ego again lol), who curses them to become a swan that can only be transformed back into a human when the moonlight hits the lake of a secluded garden.

sae sets out for them—but only because he views attempting to marry another person a hassle. when he runs into them in their human form and they tell him that only a true love's kiss can break the spell. sae kisses them, only for the spell to still hold because sae doesn't truly love them. it's only when sae starts to seek them out during the night that he starts to, but even then, he's slow at loving. his doubts about his love for them keeps the spell from breaking. it doesn’t help that he only has a few days time before the spell sets in permanently and he loses them for good.

mulan — rin surprisingly, rin was my first choice when it came to the role of shang before oliver and sae since i thought his edge could bring in a lot more tension. very much a disciplinarian; he wouldn't be as lenient as oliver either and would definitely try to execute reader if it weren't for other circumstances (i based it off the og life-for-life sequence from the movie or the fact that reader was too good of a fighter to lose).

alice in wonderland — barou i couldn't finish off this list without my fav, now can i 🤭 while a lot of characters suit the other a lot, i think that barou's character is best fitted for the queen of hearts in this au! very much enemies-to-lovers that's really questionable on the lovers part lol

reader unknowingly destroyed the ultimate monarchy that barou's parents had built for him in their youth, and now, barou is set out for revenge because his current kingdom is too small for him and wants to punish the person responsible for the downfall of what was to be his empire now that reader is back (completely by accident, they didn't even know they were returning to wonderland until everyone recognized them)

other characters i had in mind for this au were bachira as the cheshire cat, isagi as the white rabbit, karasu as the caterpillar (FDSFDJK i have a good reason 😭bc he can be condescending but wise), reo as the mad hatter, chigiri as the march hare, nagi as the dormouse, niko & kiyora as the twins.

some other characters i had in mind!

anastasia — otoya (more of the plotline anastasia had, where he tries to convince her to act as a lost monarch for some cash, not knowing it's actually them.)

hercules — kunigami (he is built like a greek god and should be treated as such)

aladdin — aiku (he honestly fits SO MANY of the aforementioned, but i thought that he'd do well in aladdin's role in terms of personality)

[supahstarrr]

rambling about the love triangle, what michael & kit represents for jentry

a good handful of the criticisms about the love triangle and the romance in general in the show are completely valid and i agree with a lot of them... like i truly do get it when people say they rather not have romance in this show. but honestly i found the love triangle in beginning to be quite interesting since it showed potential in the dynamics. i feel the writers did not *fully* utilize the meaning within the dynamics that was already there and instead mostly used the triangle for entertainment. it would've been way more better for the writers to take advantage of the meaning to explore it for the audience to study it, which they partially did but its clear at some points they prioritized showing romance for the sake of entertainment reasons

in the beginning, Michael being representative of the "normal" and Kit being representative of the "unusual" that the main character is struggling with is such a compelling introduction of a love triangle, considering that we're introduced to our main character struggles with normalcy, the past, her powers, and the underworld being set up to be the main thing for this season. Micheal is teenage boy who is quite normal to the point of almost being the ideal of it—he's a football player with good influence whose able to socialize with people. but also he is a childhood friend who is still disturbed by the past fire, so he is not even just being representative of the "normal" but also the past that Jentry constantly struggles with.

Kit fits the norm so much to the point he leans towards being a deviant. he is very conventionally attractive, he says and does the right things, he's so polite and composed, yet also remains detached. he's so close to perfection to the point he's "unusual" or "out of bounds" (like the underworld). but also he is the "new kid" of the school, being the potential of something new or a different kind of future that Jentry can't get with Michael.

Noticeably, Jentry also struggles with being unusual in social and physical terms (underground world & possession of powers), and she pushes herself to the future for the sake of normalcy so much to the point of not addressing the past. this is reflected by the way the romance in the dynamic between Jentry and Kit is quite fast despite her feelings still remaining with Michael (the past), the attraction from Jentry's end being so strong because she's enticed by the image of him (the future or moving away from her past), plus how unusual they are & feel fueling the connection. the speed of their romance is also reminiscent of how fast Jentry became connected to the underworld.

Then what these guys represent for Jentry gets explored more. Michael as a representative of the "normal" is somewhat broken down. he is quite unsure his future & himself despite being perceived as being secure in his identity and how much he's seen as a good teenager mostly relies on how much he pleases others (especially authorities but also his peers) even if he doesn't want to do those things. though in a sense these traits are normal in teenagers (thus being a representation of the "normal"), those traits also deconstruct norms which are typically social expectations that are thinly-veiled unattainable ideals for most teenagers to achieve. thus Michael shifts to being representative of the deconstruction of "normal"—which absolutely goes well with Jentry breaking down the lies, truth and secrets behind what is normal for her (ex: her grandmother as a guardian, the lack of her parents)

but on top of that, it turns out he has quirky powers of his own. his powers are interesting considering he is the "normal" (then "deconstruction of normal") and "past", considering they are outside of normalcy and are related to the future. despite having these visions, he remains unsure about them and the future in general. its hinted that his parents know about the powers, yet never told him about it. which is interesting noting that these parents pushed him to be normal. through the relationship with his visions, his parents knowing about his powers while pushing him away from the knowledge of them—but also pushing him towards what made him normal (football), and also his desire for doing something new, it shows that being "normal" held him back on his potential unrelated to norms & expectations, thus contributing to him as a symbol for deconstruction of norms.

Kit as the representative of the "unusual" is not just reinforced but strengthened when he's revealed to be a demon. this reveal really does reinforces him being the underworld that Jentry is connecting to, though the connection mostly revolves around her being taken advantaged of by the many demons in that world—just like what Kit has largely been doing throughout the show. yet there is more added to him as a symbol. he becomes the physical form of Jentry's insecurities, being the demon that she think she is. Jentry has avoided and taken advantaged of the "demon" (power) within her at various points of the series, which is similar to the way she does the same to Kit. despite being a demon, the show humanizes him as it shows he is a multifaceted being cable of emotion that he may not be able to describe. through the acknowledgment of the demon that is Kit having traits likened to humanity, Jentry is able to address the "demon" she sees in herself by humanizing herself. and so Kit's death can be seen as a the death of Jentry's perception of herself.

with the context of Jentry's story being to accept the powers and the connection to the underground world as something definite in her life, along with the themes around taking control and Michael slowly getting used to his own powers, him as a symbol is framed differently. Michael is the deconstruction of *society's* definition of normalcy to make your own version of what's normal for you! with the (possible but likely) establishment of the romance in the dynamic between them at the end of the show, it represents Jentry reconciling with and finally addressing the past that she has constantly mourned about. with Michael largely being associated water (that being a big theme in his visions) and Jentry being associated with fire, it shows a "balance" between the two of them as she's worked on herself and that work is ongoing. in a way he goes back to being a symbol of what is normal, but specifically according to Jentry's definition.

i just want to emphasis that there's so much potential even right from the start. i also believe that the outcomes of the triangle—the dynamic Jentry/Michael being endgame, and Jentry/Kit having hints of chemistry for a while but is doomed to perish makes sense for the narrative. the endgame relationship being off and on does make sense, although it is a concept not executed greatly since the show is so vague with them establishing their relationship and them breaking up to the point that was not the message given to many viewers. Kit's death (in the love triangle and literal terms) makes sense, and it is to me the most satisfying outcome of the triangle despite the execution of it being questionable among some of the audience. i'd say that these characters' existence & the emphasis on Jentry's dynamic with the both of them (romance or not) are needed for the story. it is also very interesting to see what the guys represent for Jentry having some shifts and recontextualization, which is reminiscent of the constant life & rebirth topic going on through out the show with the rules regarding to spirituality and the underworld

there's no question that the execution of the whole triangle wasn't that great. there can be so much meaning drawn from the love triangle and what it means for Jentry's story. yet many viewers are dissatisfied with it to the point of some wishing there wasn't any romance in general. it is understandable, though i fear that the love triangle was so lacking to the point the meaning & potential that's already there is missed by the audience and diminished by the writers.

i especially have more complaints towards Jentry/Michael, which fell short to me (and many others apparently) despite it supposing to be the endgame relationship that's meant to be rooted for. there is some hint of the "opposites attract" thing going on with the two that strengthen by the fire & water associations with Jentry & Michael. the both of them are set up to be the opposing elements that are needed together to balance the two of them out. though there is definitely stability that can be seen from especially Jentry but also Michael as he has constantly jumped to girl to girl despite his strong feelings for her, that "opposites attract" trope is hardly reinforced by Michael's personality traits.

Michael's character... needed some more work in this season. he's such a "safe" character that the traits that would translate to flaws and/or concerns in real life (emotionally cheating on all of your partners, cheating by kissing someone else despite having a current partner, and jumping to girlfriend to the next) are portrayed as traits not meant to show depth, and in fact are things to gloss over or be happy about for the sake of rooting for the endgame ship. the traits that could've acted as an extension of to already existing traits (his trouble with commitment could be an extension of his constant self doubt of himself) are not touched on, because those traits are meant to be glossed over. there could've been more opportunities to explore him more and yet there are hardly any, which makes some of the meaning between Jentry/Michael not shine as much as it had the potential to.

and it was very clear that people behind the show did not know what to do with Michael's character, which makes him and his relationship with Jentry lacking even more. which is quite unfortunately, because i'd argue the dynamic is one of the most important ones in the story... and yet the writers prioritized the drama that come with it instead of the potential depth of the ship. Sigh. Still like this show though! It's just... maybe there could have been more... to the romance...

[general-brain-rot]

The Soul and that time you first googled “what is depression?”

I think what I’m really enjoying about the course of Deltarune so far has been my interpretation of the relationship between Kris, the protagonist, and the Soul, the embodiment of the player. The two entities are independent of each other yet inextricably linked through some Gaster mumbo-jumbo or just some greater plot we aren’t aware of at this time, but what’s important is that basically two sets of personalities are residing inside one body and that is causing, uhhhh, problems for everyone involved. Kris often tears us out of their own chest in obvious pain to seek out surprisingly mundane things without our watchful gaze and consuming control, like downing an entire warm pie left in the kitchen or absolutely demolishing multiple glasses of chocolate milk (or it’s pilk because I think that little weirdo would absolutely do that, or the far more evil option is that was alcohol and our local enby teen is in worse shape than we thought-) or playing the piano. This is a seemingly desperate bid for autonomy from the player that both breaks my heart when I think about it too hard and also intrigues me deeply considering I don’t think I’ve ever played a game with this much confusing animosity between player action and a playable character’s life. And while I’ve had a ball seeing other artists, authors, creators of all kinds expand upon the in-game Soul and Kris dynamic in ways like making ‘soul-sonas’ which are all so adorable/funny I love them, I still haven’t seen anyone discuss the potential of a metaphorical interpretation of that bond (bear in mind I may be grasping at straws in an unfinished story to reach) about the concept of having a piece of your identity directly in conflict with the rest of itself. I absolutely acknowledge that while the Soul that the player guides is *not* Kris but its own entity entirely, there’s something to be said about the commentary that this relationship gives, so without further ado…

Being a teen and trying to figure out what your deal is:

It’s unclear whether or not Kris needs the Soul to survive, but they keep us nonetheless for reasons relatively unknown to us (we’ll get to the cage stuff later), and seeing the pain they put themselves through to separate us for even a short time is hauntingly relatable. I feel as though it’s hardly a stretch to say that the majority of the people who resonate with Toby Fox’s work also have experience with challenges to their mental health, I know that I absolutely fall into that category, and Toby is just one of those creators that can articulate a lot of the nuance that comes with enjoying being alive but having to fight to stay that way. Kris’s story, while only halfway realized at the point of writing this essay, has resonated deeply with me and I think I can finally start to articulate why: the Soul feels like a physical manifestation of the parts of Kris that they feel in direct opposition with, like if all the intrusive thoughts you have and bad habits you’ve relied on and social masks you’ve manufactured and can no longer let go of had a physical presence within you instead of just being woven into your psyche.

Whether it’s chronic pain or insomnia or uncontrollable dissociation or any other plethora of things, a lot of us have some aspect of ourselves that are fundamental to our existence yet are also hostile towards ourselves, pieces of us that we are in constant battle with just because we are simply alive. And when you’ve dealt with your own mind/body/soul fighting against you for long enough, the fantasy of being “rid” of the very things that ail you become increasingly enticing. I imagine that I could probably become the most powerful person on Earth if only I could remove my dissociative habits under stress, for instance. The birdcage at the foot of their bed leaking old blood out onto the carpet serves as a stark reminder of every painful strategy both Kris and any potential player has ever used to try to free themselves from their own overbearing pieces. The Soul, the part of each of us that is sharp and intertwined in our most heavy memories and guides every customer service voiced de-escalation or white lie for the sake of comfort or tight lipped smile when all we want to do is crawl into a dark place for a while, stakes its claim over Kris in a similar yet literal way to how we on the outside of the game are familiar with the feelings. Kris removing the Soul feels like a literal representation of someone like, fighting with their brain to do something they think is fun even if they’re bad at it while their brain yells at them for being bad at the thing. It’s that type of energy to me, going to drastic and self-damaging lengths to allow other parts of your own personality to get the chance to exist past the ever-present fog of your own psyche.

It reminds me of the strategies other games like Omori use to get a wider player base to understand a particular feeling. Case-in-point, Omori forces even the most neurotypical of people to face what it feels like to make any mistake and feel like it’s impossible to forgive yourself for it, which is something many people with depression and other adjacent mental issues deal with in their lives. The game does this by forcing the player to face a seemingly unforgivable act so intense that most anybody would struggle to forgive themselves for letting it happen and convince them to forgive themselves anyway. While the game provides an extreme example to showcase it’s point, the more common instances that the game comments on are times where you may say something accidentally insensitive in conversation and tear yourself down for having said it, or if you’ve broken something precious to someone on accident and can’t bring yourself to look them in the eyes after, or literally any other accidental blunder that you feel like you need to be killed with hammers about. Even if it’s something small, the weight of their mistakes weighs as heavy on them as something catastrophic as depicted in game. It’s exaggerated symbolism, and it’s extremely effective. I think that, while maybe not the point, Deltarune is doing a fantastic job of allowing the Soul to act as that exaggerated symbolism for the struggles of navigating a contradictory and at times hostile sense of self.

Told you I’d talk about the cage stuff later, well, later is *now*:

If the in-game prophecy explored a bit in chapter 4 of the game is to be believed at face value, then Kris being described as “The Cage, with human soul and parts” paints a bleak picture of their situation but may also play into this idea of the metaphor of The Soul. If Kris is a “cage” for something, said something assumed to be the Soul, then their fate as stated directly is to not let the Soul out of their control by trapping it in a sense. By extension, to go to any length to manufacture a personality and body that will jail the Soul (a manifestation of the hostile parts of all of our own minds), which feels so similar to the experience many young adults can call back to when they were first learning about mental illnesses during their teenage years. It’s as a teen that we are first exposed to the raw world of psychology at large and can actually start to see patterns in our own behavior and begin to navigate them, and that early exploration of the self often feels a bit like losing control over our own life. One day you wake up and learn that there’s a part of yourself that you don’t fully understand but now are equipped with the knowledge that it can be detrimental to not only your own wellbeing but the wellbeing of the loved ones you surround yourself with, and all you can think to do is immediately try and trap and control that possible beast in your mind. For Kris it looks like changing their tone of voice when the words coming out aren’t exactly right, or yawning in the middle of a hurtful phrase to cut themselves off, or covering their mouth with their hand to muffle the sound of things they don’t want to speak out loud (or in Weird Route cases, biting their hand hard enough to bruise). I’ve mentioned the birdcage above but all the imagery of cages throughout the game thus far adds depth to the idea that something (like the Soul) untamed, potentially dangerous, and relatively unknown, must be contained despite how integral it is to the game, how integral it is to Kris. While perhaps not integral to survival considering how they absolutely beat the hell out of us with that hockey stick or in the continued Weird Route when they pummel us in the trashcan, they’re obviously keeping the Soul around for some necessary reason or else why stick through all the pain we’re causing them? That is likely a deeply story-entwined answer that we won’t be getting anytime soon but thinking about it through the lens of our working metaphor, it could be because Kris can’t just throw out part of their personality so simply like that. If we could just cut out the habits spawned by mental illnesses, then therapy bills would be way cheaper and look more like visits to wreck rooms rather than patient and long-term work. But that’s unfortunately not how it works and Kris, like us, has to figure out how to tame the hostile parts of themselves, because keeping it caged forever is both not sustainable and not healthy for anybody long-term.

Grats on making it to the end of my musings! Here have some mac n cheese for your efforts, we also have vegan mac n cheese if that’s your style. I like reading way too far into metaphors that may or may not exist in media I enjoy based on vibes, so if anybody else has fun thoughts on Deltarune’s many metaphors (I skipped over the big ones like freedom, hope, resilience, and teen spirit because those are already being fleshed out and are fantastic to read about) please please please share! the delicious! thoughts!!!

[pressplay-if]

I've written some asks before about MC romancing Angel and Zima. The thing is, I for sure just wanted to romance Zima. The angst, the drama, and Zima's allure are enough to entice me even before Zima is introduce into the narrative.

But Angel stole my heart. I wasn't considering him from the initial post description. And while I thought the idea of him not being incredibly attractive was interesting, and had the potential to a quite cute romance, I didn't think I would pursue him since Zima was right there.

Then the demo drops, and boom! Angel is a dream. He is affectionate, he is a bro. He is supportive. And clearly cares. I think my MC could easily grow attached to Angel both as a friend (if you ever implement a best friend feature, unless is incompatible with romance, I would choose Angel immediately as my MC's best friend) and as a lover.

Then the NSFW alphabets convinced me further. While I still want Zima (my MC is a bottom, so it's only natural), the idea of being experimental with Angel seems so fun that I even imagine scenarios for them. It's crazy.

I also love the dynamic between my MC (a very tall man, with a down to earth kind of beauty), being so attractive and all, being so deeply in love with a guy that people would so easily put to a side because he is average looking. I just love the idea of my MC being devoted to Angel, as a pilgrim with a Saint, only for the world to simply not understand it. I also love the idea of my MC, looking for cuddles from Angel, while being so much taller than him. And Angel being so receptive, and so caring, as if MC was a small bean instead of a big man.

I don't know how you did it to make me so enthralled by an RO. At this point I'm just waiting to see how Zima is, at which point my heart my decide to drop Zima in favor of Angel. Or not. If there is poly I just need those too to top my MC. How will that work? No idea, but the vision is too great to give it up.

Anyway. I guess I owe you a question. This being an ask, after all. So, I wonder. How is Angel name's pronounced? Is like in Spanish (Ángel)? Or just the standard English pronunciation (if such a thing exists, since English is not standardized at all)?

Have a nice day!

Thank you so much for the Angel-appreciation and the very long ask. I reread these when I feel down you know. This is quality material. Angel would like to wear your very tall MC like a scarf <3

Ok so. His name. Originally, I wanted to go for the Spanish spelling and pronunciation, but then I grew enamored with the idea of him being literally named Angel. Like an actual angel. So I decided to use A instead of Á, even though in my head, I pronounce it Ángel. I also imagine Angel will introduce himself pronouncing it differently everytime to confuse people, so there's no general consensus even among the band members on his it's pronounced 😂

[pompomchihuahua]

Hi!! I want to say I really love your analysis, and I was curious about your interpretation of one: it’s very obvious that Tanjirou affected Genya’s character deeply, but I’ve never seen someone go into how deeply he affected his character, from breaking Genya’s arm to being one of Genya’s closest friend. So on an analytical level, how do you Tanjirou played his role in Genya’s life? And do you think Tanjirou and Genya are supposed to mirror Masachika and Sanemi?

You're so so kind! Thank you so much! I do these analyses for fun so it's always so inspiring to see that people like them! And I suppose this is the part where I admit I am a bit biased here: Genya and Tanjirou's dynamic is one of my favorites in the show!

So, to start, let's go back to the very first meeting.

Tanjirou's very first impression of Genya, even before he punches Kanata, is that he is one of five (four that he can see) survivors out of potentially dozens who went in. He is dirty, demanding, and angry and willing to hit a child to get what he wants.

Tanjirou does what he thinks is best at the moment to intervene; he grabs Genya's arm and warns him in very plain words that if he does not let go he will break Genya's arm. Genya does not take his threat at face value and challenges him to do it, leading to, surprise! A broken arm.

What's interesting is, though clearly pissed, Genya does back down. Tanjirou's violence achieves its short-term goal. As for the effect it has on Genya. Well, the next time he sees Genya is at the end of the season.

My boy is feeling petty, going out of his way to bump Tanjirou in the hallway. This scene is mostly a nice bit of setting up the foreshadowing for Genya's ability with his new build and scent. Though I would like to pay special attention to Tanjirou noticing Genya's scent as I do have a theory there.

Now we get a better look into how Genya feels about Tanjirou in SSV proper, starting with the bath scene.

I'd just like to say, I don't blame Genya one bit for dunking Tanjirou in the bath. First, this boy breaks your arm and then he comes acting all buddy-buddy, yelling your personal business, and stripping naked in front of you? Calling you by your first name like your friends? Genya already wants nothing to do with Tanjirou and he definitely doesn't want to answer any of his questions, much less have him naked and in his personal space.

Genya is actually fairly tolerant of Tanjirou all things considered. It's implied Tanjirou broke into his room with a bowl of rice crackers, sat there, and told him the entire Kotetsu story from start to finish before Genya yelled at him to go away. At which point Genya points out that they can't be friends because Tanjirou broke his arm, showing Genya has no desire to interact with someone he views as just a source of pain.

When Tanjirou tells Genya it was his own fault, he, interestingly, doesn't deny it, implying that Genya does agree that he deserved it. So, Genya knows he brought that upon himself but he still doesn't want to be around Tanjirou, likely because he has a history with people that react with violence.

Instead of denying that he deserved it, he protests Tanjirou using his first name. Tanjirou tries once again to entice Genya into being his friend with rice crackers at which point Genya has had enough and tells him to get lost. This is when Tanjirou notices his teeth and the conversation shifts.

I do find Genya's avoidance here to be fascinating because, in my opinion, it's more evidence that he's ashamed of his ability. He tries to tell Tanjirou he's imagining things, but of course, Tanjirou being the little weirdo he is, has the tooth. He hits Genya's threshold of tolerance and gets kicked out.

The very next scene we have Tanjirou saying this: "You like him, too, Nezuko? ... I'd like to get closer to Genya."

Which brings me to my question. Why does Tanjirou like Genya?

He says it himself when he asks "I wonder why Genya's so mad all the time?" Genya is very angry, especially around Tanjirou and their first impression wasn't exactly a good one.

This brings me back to that theory I mentioned with Genya's scent. Now, this is pure speculation and headcanon, but, we know that kindness and gentleness can be heard and smelled in the demon slayer universe.

What if, the reason Tanjirou gets attached to Genya so quickly is because he can smell his underlying gentle nature?

At the end of the day, this is just a theory I had, it's never explicitly stated why Tanjirou takes such a deep interest in Genya.

We see Genya next in the heat of battle when he saves Tanjirou from being electrocuted and shoots the heads off of Sekido and Karaku. We have Genya having his moment with Aizetsu and then the next time we see him...

Tanjirou notes that he does look like a demon but never once does he outright call Genya a demon, even feeling secure enough to turn his back on him to go help Nezuko. This is most likely due to his scent once again. Genya probably doesn't smell exactly like a demon so Tanjirou can at least tell he's still human even if he looks "like that."

We have the infamous choking scene that shows the first shift in how Genya views Tanjirou. When Tanjirou supports Genya's goal of becoming a Hashira unconditionally. Genya thinks it's a ruse at first, but can't resist the genuine innocence in Tanjirou's eyes.

And then he follows through. Genya points out he has to be the one to behead the upper rank to get the Hashira position, so despite it being much easier for Tanjirou to just find the demon directly, he decides to give Genya the chance to do it instead and relays where to find the demon. He redirects everyone to help to support Genya in cutting off the fifth demon's head.

He saves Genya again the moment before his head is about to be caved in, telling him not to give in and promising that he'll protect him. When Genya sees Aizetsu coming for Tanjirou, it's in that moment where he accepts his role in the fight.

He's the one that's better suited to doing the protecting while Tanjirou goes on the offensive. This is the moment when Genya really accepts that Tanjirou wants only the best and that it's up to him to put his feelings aside for the greater good as well. From that point on, Genya becomes a much more cooperative player on the battlefield, actively warning and protecting Tanjirou whenever he gets the chance.

From helping save Mitsuri to directly prying the demon's arms off of Tanjirou's head. He actively looks to Tanjirou for direction. He tries to get down the cliff and help Nezuko during the sun-conquering scene.

And then of course, we have this moment of acceptance, where, despite Tanjirou having everything Genya could ever want, (family, power, etc) he's still happy for him.

And then we have another pivotal moment for Genya; the confrontation with Sanemi. By this point, Tanjirou is fully rooting for Genya, even putting aside his dislike of Sanemi in wanting to see the brothers reconcile. When things get violent, Tanjirou dives between them, saving Genya.

He not only asserts that Sanemi has no right to interfere in Genya's life if he won't even claim him as his brother but has this to say about Genya: "Without Genya, we couldn't have defeated that upper rank!"

It's then that Genya's eyes widen with a realization: That to Tanjirou, he's worth something. Not just inherently as a person, but as a comrade.

The next time we see Genya is at the stone estate when Tanjirou is trying to push the boulder. Right away, you can tell this interaction is almost a 180 from the interactions Genya had with Tanjirou during the beginning of SSV.

Right away we hear that Tanjirou has been trying to get in contact with Genya after the incident (possibly adding Genya to his long list of pen pals?) and Genya explains he's been on lockdown (it's called being grounded, baby).

One of the first things Genya does is apologize and thank Tanjirou (which Tanjirou bashfully brushes off. He really doesn't get thanked for his actions enough). From there they have... a normal conversation. Genya lightly teases Himejima by making fun of him saying "namu namu" and his teaching being bad, he offers to lend Tanjirou one of his mirrors and teaches Tanjirou how to use repetitive motion. It goes from sunset to twilight, implying they sat there and talked for at least an hour.

For their goodbyes, Genya warns Tanjirou not to overdo it and then says that Tanjirou isn't the kind of guy to listen anyway, meaning he's already sussed Tanjirou out. I find his concern here to be sweet, as it shows that he really does regard Tanjirou as his friend at this point.

Genya even offers to help Tanjirou cook! While they're cooking, Genya asks what gets Tanjirou worked up and his almost immediate concern when Tanjirou looks even a little sad is so sweet to see. After which he expresses that if anyone can do it, he thinks Tanjirou can, showing he has an honest belief in his abilities.

After Tanjirou moves his boulder, he shares another meal with Genya (and Inosuke) where Tanjirou reassures Genya that Shinobu is likely concerned about his health, Tanjirou also takes his side in the little scuffle between Genya and Inosuke. This scene is important because it's where in canon he reveals that Sanemi had never hated Genya.

In the light novels we see that helping the brothers reconcile has fully become one of Tanjirou's main goals by this line: "Now Tanjirou was further away than ever from mediating a reconciliation between Genya and his brother."

Finally, we reach the Infinity Castle arc. Where Genya takes direct inspiration from Tanjirou to keep on fighting.

He thinks of Tanjirou, and looks to him for inspiration when he can't force himself to move, and it is in that moment, when he remembers how Tanjirou considered him a genuinely valuable ally, that he finds it.

When the crow delivers the news of Muichirou and Genya's deaths, Tanjirou weeps. He is one of the people seen pushing Tanjirou up when he becomes a demon and is one of the people he sees going to the afterlife.

Tanjirou played an incredibly crucial part to Genya's character arc, but Genya was also important to Tanjirou as well.

Tanjirou is Genya's first genuine friend and the first person to believe in Genya's capabilities as an equal. He humanizes Genya and helps bring back his gentle nature.

As for whether Genya and Tanjirou are meant to be a parallel to Sanemi and Masachika, in many ways, yes.

Masachika also served as Sanemi's first friend and was the one to humanize him. He saw Sanemi as a valuable ally back when he was just "some stupid kid" hunting demons without a Nichirin sword.

All in all, I absolutely adore the dynamic between Genya and Tanjirou, to the point where I will admit I do ship the two to an extent. However, I value their platonic bond just as much<3

Thank you so much for the ask again!

[bossthebicon]

a ranking & summary of my thoughts on gmmtv 2025

overall this was by far the best lineup from gmmtv! I would honestly watch pretty much all the shows presented, although there are some clear favorites :)

burnout syndrome: y'all ALREADY KNOW!!! of course we all wanted a darker series for offgun's new show, but... I NEVER EXPECTED IT TO BE DIRECTED BY P'NUCHIE!!! this is so so so iconic considering I just finished my master thesis on the political art of not me, and here is p'nuchie creating a new offgun show with gun as an artist & off as his nude muse???? HELL YES. I'm obsessed with this & so intrigued bc the trailer divulged very little so I AM SAT!!! can't wait for my new roman empire <3

ticket to heaven: I almost cried watching this trailer, it really brought all of my religious trauma to the surface lmao. no but more seriously, if written & directed correctly, this has the opportunity to enter my top 10 favorite thai dramas (no pressure or anything.) the trailer gave me a very indie feel à la ITSAY (who everyone knows I adore) crossed with the difficult queer longing of your name engraved herein. in summary, it has the potential to be everything I love & extremely heartwrenching. I'M SAT.

girl rules: the sapphic friend zone/only friends???? all I can say is YES!!! having both my crushes namtan & milk in this really does something to me, this looks messy & absolutely PERFECT!!! us sapphics deserve this kind of messy representation too lol, I love it!

whale store xoxo: a cute sapphic adult romcom is EXACTLY what I love! I also like the more lower class background of the show, and the side ship looks very cute (although my viewjune heart hurts lol) also piploy liking milk's character only convinces me further I need a kapookpiploy main gl for 2026!!!

only friends 2: y'all know I'm an only friends HATER... but of course I'll watch this just for jossgawin, they are my everything apart from offgun & namtanfilm and I'm excited to see them in this kind of role, especially gawin!

my romance scammer: this looks so fun!!! very lakorn-y plot, I'm so excited for fluke jeeratch in this as I've loved him since his first role in my ride :)

a dog & a plane: this looks SO fun & cute! I also love marcpoon so this is an automatic yes! also tay with tattoos let's gooooo!!!

that summer: that looks very cute, and mond in a bl ship playing an uncle??? of course I'm fully signed up lol

head 2 head: enemies to lovers??? sign me up, always!!! also I do really enjoy seakeen, they're very cute :)

cat for cash: this looks very cute, the first firstkhao show to entice me since the eclipse! of course you can't go wrong with cats lol, but this looks like a nice healing family drama which I always enjoy! will give it a try!

me and thee: this looks quite fun, although it seems to be the same old pondphuwin dynamic of pond always concealing his real intentions lol. but I love the over-the-top nature of it all & I'll definitely give this a try!

boys in love: I have a soft spot for high school romances, and this looked quite cute! I also really enjoyed chokun's acting in my love mix-up TH, and OF COURSE I WILL BE WATCHING FOR PODDPAPANG MY NEW FAVE SHIP!!!

dare you to death: this is the first joongdunk show that actually seems enticing to me. I like the cluedo vibes & will watch for the ensemble cast bc I love them sm!

my magic prophecy: this is the first jimmysea show that actually entices me, which, if you haven't noticed, is a pattern with this lineup! might watch it!

mu-te-luv: this was quite a chaotic trailer, but lego, neo, yacht & fluke playing a queen gang was everything I didn't know I needed LMAO. will probably give it a try!

melody of secrets: this left me incredibly confused, but at the same time this seems interesting & quite different from other gmmtv shows. I'll give it a try!

love you teacher: I think it's an interesting plot, but I'm quite scared they're gonna make it weird with santa's character being mentally 7 years old while perth sees him as his adult lover. I feel like there's a high chance there's gonna be something weird in this, especially since the trailer even aknowledges that this feels more like a bl fantasy kinda plot, so yeah... I will reserve judgement until further notice.

wu: y'all know I'm the first to defend non-bl thai dramas and say to give them a chance, but... if this was gay I would watch this. however it seems like a bromance cash grab kinda queerbaiting skynani fans & it makes me feel a bit icky. but frankly the plot seems interesting, I just feel like gmmtv is exploiting people shipping these two without actually committing to it so I don't love it...

I love a lot of you: nanon looks incredible in this & this looks fun but a little basic. I might watch, though!

memoir of rati: I always feel like I can't say this without getting unfair criticism, but seeing inn speak literal nonsensical french that even google translate would do better PHYSICALLY HURT ME. idk gmmtv's obsession with french, I get that this is historically accurate, but... PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE can they start actually hiring actors that speak french for these roles??? this is really bad, also no shade but certain plastic surgery faces just don't look like they could belong in 1915... that feels mean to say but it's true. frankly I would've eaten this up if it was any other ship & actually someone who can speak french, but... I might give it a shot for my babies aouboom who seem really good in this... I'm so divided & frustrated by this, UGH.

[unabashegirl]

Enticing 34 || Harry Styles

Summary: Harry is a young billionaire and CEO of his own company. He mostly keeps to himself, he is stern and very meticulous when it comes to business. He also likes to keep his personal life very private for the sake of his newly born son Oliver Styles. It isn't until he meets Y/N Y/L/N that everything changes. She becomes his new nanny after his previous one quits due to personal reasons. She is young, caring, and sweet. Will they ignore their feelings? Will Harry's girlfriend accept their love and leave them? Will she be able to cope with his busy agenda? What about Oliver's mother? Where is she? Who is she?

masterlist

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Y/N found herself seated in the cozy confines of the Indian restaurant, the warm ambiance and enticing aromas tantalizing her senses. She glanced down at her watch, the minutes ticking away as her anticipation grew. She had arrived a bit early, eager to honor the plans she and Harry had made for their dinner date.

As her gaze flitted over the menu, a mixture of hunger and curiosity stirring within her, the entrance of the restaurant caught her attention. Her heart skipped a beat as she saw Harry walking in, his presence commanding attention even before he reached her table.

Harry's eyes scanned the room briefly before landing on her, and a genuine smile lit up his face. The sight of her sitting there, waiting for him, was a reminder of the connection they were trying to rebuild—a connection that had been tested by time, distance, and unexpected revelations.

Y/N couldn't help but admire Harry's impeccable appearance as he approached her table. His perfectly tailored suit accentuated his form, the elegance of his attire matched by the warm sincerity in his gaze.

"Y/N," Harry greeted her, his voice a mixture of warmth and fondness.

"Harry," Y/N replied, her smile mirroring his.

As he took his seat across from her, their eyes met in a silent exchange that held a hint of vulnerability. The weight of their shared history and the newfound dynamics they were navigating was palpable, but so was the desire to bridge the gap between them.

"I'm sorry I kept you waiting," Harry apologized, his expression sincere.

Y/N waved off his concern, her gaze softening. "No worries. I just got here myself."

Harry's smile deepened, a touch of relief evident in his features. "I hope you're hungry. I've heard great things about this place."

Y/N chuckled softly, her laughter a testament to their shared humor. "Starving, actually. And Indian food sounds perfect."

As they perused the menu together, an air of camaraderie settled between them—a comfortable familiarity that held the promise of eased tensions and genuine conversation. The tension that had marked their previous interactions seemed to fade in the warmth of the restaurant's ambiance.

As they engaged in light banter, the layers of complexity that had once overshadowed their connection began to peel away. Their conversations flowed with ease, and Y/N found herself laughing more freely than she had in a long time. In the space of the restaurant, they were just two individuals, connecting over shared experiences and the prospect of a future that held hope.

As the evening progressed, their connection deepened, the weight of their history giving way to a sense of rediscovery. The wounds of the past were gradually being replaced by the potential for healing and growth—a future that was as uncertain as it was promising. And as they dined together, their laughter mingled with the flavors of the food, creating a tapestry of shared memories and newfound possibilities.

Harry and Y/N's conversation continued to flow, carrying them through topics that ranged from their shared history to hopes for the future. As the evening progressed, a pivotal decision emerged—a decision that held the potential to shape the path ahead.

Harry looked down at his phone, his fingers tapping against the screen as he navigated the sensitive topic that lay between them. He took a deep breath and met Y/N's gaze, his expression earnest.

"Y/N," he began, his voice gentle yet resolute, "about the paternity test..."

Y/N's attention shifted to him, her curiosity evident. "Yes?"

Harry's gaze held hers, a mixture of seriousness and determination in his eyes. "I think we should schedule the appointment for the day after tomorrow. I want to get this over with."

Y/N nodded in understanding, the weight of his words settling between them. "I agree. It's something that needs to be addressed."

There was a pause in their conversation as Y/N a bite out of her coconut chicken green curry, her thoughts mingling with the flavors on her palate. Harry's decision to confront the issue head-on resonated with her, a testament to the complexities of their situation.

Harry's fingers danced across his phone's screen as he responded to a message from Andrew, his assistant. A sense of purpose seemed to guide his actions as he navigated the logistics of their decision.

Andrew had taken the initiative to set up the appointment with Harry's family doctor, knowing that this step was significant for both Harry and Y/N. As Harry typed out his response, his focus remained on the conversation at hand, the weight of the decision they were making still heavy in his mind.

Y/N's gaze shifted from her plate to Harry's face, her expression a mixture of understanding and curiosity. "Did you manage to set up the appointment?"

Harry nodded, a sense of accomplishment in his gaze. "Yes, Andrew's already on it. The appointment is scheduled for the day after tomorrow."

Y/N's appreciation was evident in her smile. "Thank you"

Their conversation continued, intertwining with the decision they had made.

As the evening unfolded, the air around Harry and Y/N seemed to hold a delicate balance—a balance between reconnecting, addressing their shared past, and navigating the uncharted territory that lay before them. With the paternity test scheduled, the topic of their future was bound to arise.

The aroma of their meals still hung in the air as Y/N's gaze met Harry's, curiosity evident in her eyes. "Harry, what's going to happen after the paternity test? I mean, if it confirms everything..."

Harry's expression was contemplative, his gaze steady as he met her eyes. "I've been thinking about that, Y/N. And honestly, I'd like you to move in with me—for the duration of the pregnancy."

Y/N's eyebrows shot up in surprise, a mixture of emotions flickering in her eyes. "Move in with you?"

Harry nodded, his tone sincere. "Yeah. I want to be there for every step of this journey. I want to support you through the pregnancy, and I want us to share this experience together."

There was a moment of silence, the weight of Harry's words hanging in the air between them. Y/N's mind raced as she processed his request, a complex mixture of feelings swirling within her.

"I appreciate your offer, Harry," Y/N began, her voice soft yet resolute, "but I can't accept that."

Harry's expression shifted to one of confusion, his brows furrowing slightly. "Why not? I just want to be there for you."

Y/N's gaze held a mixture of determination and vulnerability as she spoke. "I'm in the process of renting out my first apartment. And more than that, I want to continue to be independent. I know you mean well, but I can't simply move in with you. We're not together anymore."

Harry's features softened with understanding, his gaze reflecting a sense of empathy. "Y/N, I get it. I respect your need for independence. But this is about supporting each other through a crucial time."

Y/N's eyes glistened with unshed tears, her emotions on display. "Harry, how can you expect us to live together now, when we're not together as a couple anymore? It's not the same as it was". 

Harry sighed, his gaze dropping to the table momentarily before meeting hers again. "You're right, Y/N. It's complicated. But my intention is just to be there for you, to share in this experience as parents."

Y/N's gaze softened, the vulnerability in her expression matching his. "I know, Harry. And I appreciate that. But we have to find a way to navigate this in a way that works for both of us. I want to continue to be independent, even amidst the pregnancy."

Harry nodded slowly, understanding her point of view.

Their conversation lingered in the air, the weight of their decisions and the complexity of their feelings forming a bridge between them—a bridge that held the potential to guide them forward, even as their paths diverged. The future was uncertain, but in their shared dialogue, they found a glimmer of understanding—a reminder that despite the challenges, they were united by the life they were bringing into the world and the journey they were embarking upon, together in a new way.

The evening had been a delicate dance of shared moments and honest conversations, woven together by the flavors of their dinner and the warmth of their connection. As they finished their meal, Harry's insistence on indulging in dessert had elicited a smile from Y/N—a momentary reprieve from the complexities that surrounded them.

With the Indian restaurant behind them, they found themselves strolling through the streets, the cool evening air a balm against the tensions that had simmered beneath the surface of their discussions. Their steps were unhurried, their conversation light as they explored the cityscape that surrounded them.

As they walked, their path led them to a baby store, its display windows showcasing an array of items meant for the tiniest members of society. Their gazes lingered on the storefront, both hesitating just outside the entrance.

Nervousness mingled with curiosity as they exchanged a glance, the unspoken fears and uncertainties hanging in the air between them like a fragile thread.

Harry's voice broke the silence, his tone soft yet tinged with vulnerability. "I never thought I'd be standing outside a baby store like this. Not even after Oliver. I sent out someone to buy everyone for him”.

Y/N's gaze remained fixed on the store's window, her emotions visible in the furrow of her brows. "Me neither." Y/N remembered that Harry wasn't there for Oliver's pregnancy. Ashley had taken that away from him. She had almost taken that away from him. 

For a moment, they stood there, their shared history and the circumstances that brought them to this point weighing heavily on their shoulders. The future was uncertain, and the prospect of parenthood together had brought them to a crossroads—one that was filled with both hope and apprehension.

Harry's fingers brushed against Y/N's hand, his touch a gentle reminder of their connection. "It's okay to be scared, Y/N."

Y/N's gaze met his, vulnerability and uncertainty mirrored in her eyes. "I know. It's just...it's a lot to process."

Harry nodded, understanding the weight of her words. "It is. But no matter what happens, I'll  be here for you". 

As they continued to stand outside the baby store, the moments of shared silence and understanding seemed to knit their connection closer. The complexities of their situation had not faded, but the willingness to confront their fears and navigate their shared journey was a testament to their growth.

With a deep breath, Y/N turned to Harry, a mixture of emotions playing across her features. "You're right. We'll figure it out. And maybe...maybe we can step inside and take a look."

A small smile tugged at the corner of Harry's lips, his gaze holding a mixture of warmth and reassurance. "Only if you're ready, Y/N."

Together, they stepped inside the baby store—a physical manifestation of the path they were treading together. As they explored the aisles and examined the tiny garments and necessities, a sense of unity seemed to settle within them, quieting their fears and strengthening their resolve.

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[ludinusdaleth]

Honestly in love with all of your Luda takes. I enjoy seeing people recognize the complexities of his character; both the nitty gritty sides and the slightly more sympathetic sides.

I was wondering if you had any thoughts on Ludinus’ dynamic and relationship with Essek. I don’t see it getting discussed very often and when it is, it’s usually done in a way that coddles Essek a bit. So I was curious!

thank you very very much. im very glad whenever i get asks that also enjoy lud's complexity, so thank you. often my inbox is..... not as kind. i love meeting fellow lud-heads.

i think my main take on essek & lud's dynamic is, i cant wait for the m9 animated series to expand on it as matt said it would. what we can definitively glean is that ludinus enticed essek toward their mutual goal; and by c2, it turned sour, and neither want to see the other's face again. in the c2 finale, essek tells caleb "you, more than anyone, showed me that trauma doesnt define you"; so that puts an interesting wrinkle in what the ca did to essek, but we really dont know. i have seen many essays by folks who know it more personally than me that point out how essek potentially being taught to despise his culture ever more by ludinus is very reminiscent of how boys of color are turned right wing, and i can definitely see that; he becomes more accepting of his home after breaking from ludinus. but i also think essek was 117, well into adulthood, if still young, but already in a political position, when ludinus and he made the war-causing deal. i think it is complex. i think essek was always selfish & frustrated with his home before, and ludinus turned that to his needs. maybe without the m9 or the war, essek would become like a protege to him - just under liliana, of course.

i think they see a lot of themselves in each other; i think there was a world they both got even worse. now, maybe there's a world where both get better.

[theblissfulstars]

Full Moon in Scorpio,April 23rd 2024

On Tuesday April 23rd, 7:49 p.m. Eastern standard Time, we are going to be experiencing a full moon in Scorpio.

This full moon is thematically aligned with motifs surrounding healing, rebirth and second chances.

With both the Moon in Scorpio and on the Ascendant, themes of rebirth, death and horror are highlighted prominently this full moon. We are going to be faced with crises surrounding our sense of security, home place and well-being. With a Mars ruled sign at the helm we can expect explosivity, volatility and violence to take center stage during and around this full moon. Mars for this full moon is currently in the fifth house conjunct Neptune and Saturn. Mars and Saturn are enemies, this energy creates a hyper focused, stressed, anxious and drained quality. There's a lot of pressure for success, and karmic influences on how we're spending our energy. This indicates major power plays and disruptions surrounding places of hegemonic power, governmental control and business. Throwing in Neptune, there is exacerbated delusions, violent fantasies, naval warfare and even abuse of substances leading to injury during this full moon.

Risk-taking behavior is not advisable during this full moon, nor is gambling as it can lead to an unnecessary expenditure of precious resources.

There is an incredibly heady, sensual, provocative and enticing energy to this full moon that made tempt you to physical action of a libidinous variety. This can make one impulsive or unwise and how they go about romantic and physical connections. This tension in this area can facilitate breakups, conflicts and issues in already established relationships. It could even prompt breakups with people who no longer resonate with your path.

Spiritually, this configuration is incredibly potent. With both Scorpio and Pisces heavily at play we're going to be having supernatural occurrences, visitations from the dead and otherworldly beings. If it is within your path, you are gently advised to seek counsel and/or blessings from the dead during this lunation and to listen to your intuition.

All of this intense and heavy energy is undergirded by the t-square configuration between the Moon, Pluto and the Sun. This t-square configuration is all about transformation and illumination of the darkest parts of the self. Symptoms of anxiety, depression and other mental ailments may be amplified during this full moon in order to force us to confront the parts of ourselves we may be ashamed of. There is an escalation here, as Pluto is mutiny, power shifts and dynamics the sun is authority figures and the moon is the people in electoral astrology. There may be an overthrowing of a government on or around this full moon that is quite significant.

This all sounds very frightening However this full moon as stated prior is all about healing, rebirth and second chances. With the Sun in Taurus in the 6th and mercury Rx in Aries in the 6th conjunct the NN, collectively, we're being given the opportunity at a second chance to cultivate health, healing and productivity in our environment and around us. This is a time of massive healing of the past, trauma and pain that we've gone through.

With Jupiter conjunct Uranus trining Ceres, we can expect a lot of monumental and positive changes in environmental procedure in conservation efforts, renewable energy and agriculture. Similarly, in the world of medicine the potential for revolutionary or experimental techniques arises, especially surrounding dietary science, the bones and herbal medicine.

All in all, this is a moon of healing and passion.

The cards for this full moon include: eight of swords, ten of wands, ace of pentacles, seven of wands.

Spirit acknowledges the collective malaise that has befallen the collective. However, this is a rather encouraging message that this moon will illuminate the bindings of our mind and liberate us from powerlessness. There's an opportunity for physical growth in some way for the collective and an acknowledgment that we are overwhelmed, overburdened and overworked. But with the seven of wands, do not give up! We are close to achieving something big. Keep going and keep having faith.

Workings-

•Healing

•Transformation

•renewal

•sex

•new love

•career

[beifong-brainrot]

I watched Korra again for the Weilin but I still Don’t Get It even though I want to!!! Can you give me the rundown/pitch/Weilin 101??

Oh boy I am so sorry I made such a fuss to over weilin you felt like you needed to rewatch the show for it.

So basically, Wei and Bolin don't have many interactions in canon. In fact I would say that there are only two scenes that properly count as one on one interactions. Its also important to note that the only Beifong twin Bolin ever interacts with as a singular person rarher than a pair is Wei. He never interacts with Wing unless he is addressing both twins.

The first interaction between Bolin and Wei is during B3 when Bolin is trying and failing miserably to learn metalbending. Wei seems annoyed to be stuck with someone who doesn't know metalbending and decides to sandwich Bo between two metal plates. As you do.

He then claims that 'trial by fire' is the best way to learn metalbending. Since Wei is such a minor character, we don't know enough about him to be able to fully pinpoint where this action came from. Does Wei genuinely think that bodily harm is the best way to learn a martial art? Was he trying to distract Bolin from his constant failure to bend metal? Was this the equivalent of a puppy biting someone as an attempt to initiate playtime? Is he just a douche?

We will probably never know. Thanks nickelodeon.

Bolin does eventually return the gesture in kind, getting his own petty revenge. And hitting Wei in the head with a pebble.

I like this scene, because it showcases Bolin's pettier side. One that rarely, if ever comes out with his canon romantic interests. Bolin is a character that has a habit of reigning in his less palatable traits, in order to appeal more to the people around him. His petty and more sarcastic nature is reserved mainly for Mako, probably the person he feels most comfortable with.

I think it's a very fun thing to see this side of him flare up with this random guy and it gave me thought about how their relationship could incorporate this. Wei enjoying pressing Bolin's buttons, causing Bolin to showcase more of his more authentic self.

They so seem to both have a passion for sports and earthbending which is cute. They're both competitive which adds some nice flavour and potential spicy sparring scenes.

The next scene is the famed catch n' pat.

Youre gonna tell me this wasn't at least a bit fruity?

The prolonged eye contact? The damsel in distress imagery? Bolin's lil smirk that is soon replaced with bisexual confusiom?

Imo they have a lot of chemisrty in both these scenes and make me want more of their relationship.

I also think it would be very interesting to see Bolin develop feelings for a guy. We see that he puts his female love interests on a certain pedestal. Id assume this is due to a rather naive and innocent view of love, most likely due to the fact that he didn't get to emotionally mature enough to acknowledge that romance isn't like what the fairytales say it is.

It would be interesting to see Bolin not get to 'court' said male romantic interest like he usually does. Bolin wouldn't be as 'showmany' with a guy friend than with a girl he'd like to seduce. This causes an interesting dynamic to the relationship if Bolin were to want to seduce said guy, who has seen him with his guard down.

Also seeing comphet boy Bolin going through a crisis of sexuality because his (ex?) girlfriend's brother patted his face is very appealing to me

I think what entices me in weilin is being able to have a dynamic no other ship could fully offer Bolin. And the potential of character growth it could afford Bolin, a character whose complexity is often overlooked, much to my upset. Personally, I dislike all of Bolin's canon relationships, so when Weilin came chemistry guns a blazing I was very intrigued. And then I fell down the rabbit hole and now im here.

If you have any more questions on Weilin please feel free to ask! I'm over the moon to ramble about them to whoever will listen. Hope this was enough to start you off with.

Also, if you're interested, I have a concerningly long essay on the subject because I am very sane and normal about them:

Rest assured my feelings have since evolved and i now have more reasons to ship them.

I guess there's so much fun to have with this ship and the dynamics and stories they could have.

[canisvesperus]

Modern fandom must learn that people liking a ship or a character doesn’t actually imply approval or appreciation for every single creative decision involved in the writing of said character or ship. There seems to be this fundamental misunderstanding that feeds into discourse directed towards people who truly should not fall under your scope of criticism. In so many instances, the thematic core and underlying dynamics of a character/ship are what we find enticing, while the execution is not at all what we would have written ourselves. Yet, discoursers will weaponize specific textual details in their own rigid, absolutist readings of the source material against fans who may not even like the text nor factor these details into their fannish experiences of the characters/ship. Sure, yes, it’s “canon”, but the purpose of fannish creative works and precisely what drives our engagement is the venturing beyond canon, reframing of canon, reinterpretation of canon, and even outright rejection of canon. “How can you enjoy this character/ship when x and y and z?” What if I told you x and y and z are made irrelevant or discarded in my transformative relationship to the text? What if I told you that it’s normal and common in creative contexts to perceive stories as a collection of ideas that could be translated and extrapolated a million different ways? Stories are fluid and living amalgamations of ideas, essences, concepts, and it’s completely ridiculous to expect us all to ignore the variety of wider narrative potential and treat fiction as some sort of immutable gospel. Likewise, it’s even more absurd to send your vitriol to artists who do have the capacity to comprehend this simple thing. Your canon fundamentalism and authorial determinism are boring and repressive. We are not in Sunday school. We are artists. This essentialist dogma betrays the very purpose of transformative creative engagement— the foundation of fandom itself.

[cosmicalart]

Trope grading game

Thank you @artsyunderstudy and @hushed-chorus for tagging me in this.

Actually took me a little bit after work to fill this out as I don't usually think too heavily about why I like a trope, and sometimes I'm in the mood for a specific trope and will look for those tags exclusively, but most of the time I'll read anything that isn't a big nope for me.

Rules: How much do these tropes affect your decision to click on a fic?

-10 -> very dissuaded 0 - don’t care either way +10 -> very enticed nope -> if it’s a hard no and you’d never click on a fic with that tag or or you even have the tag blocked or you’d insta click out of the fic if it wasn’t tagged Bonus points for explaining the rating and whether it’s conditional.

Age gap: -9

I wanted to say nope to this one, I’ve never really been in a ship/fandom that had any major age gaps, but ones with larger gaps or when one person is barely legal (18-20) it just puts me right off and gives me creep vibes. However, I didn’t give it a nope because there are some smaller age gaps that are fine, like Penny and Shep, if I remember correctly she’s 19 and he’s 22 when they met, an age gap like that is fine

Codependency: +5

Kinda hard to explain this one, it changes with the context but I do lean more towards being enticed

Obsession/Possessiveness, jealousy: +5

In cases like Simon and Baz, yes, 100% into that, but when it gets toxic or violent then I want nothing to do with it, there is nothing romantic about that

Opposites (grumpy/sunshine etc): +3

As long as that's not their defining trait, then I do enjoy seeing different dynamics where the characters balance each other out, plus I find even relationships irl tend to have some opposite differences to balance them out

Enemies to lovers, Enemies with benefits: +10

Absolutely, I eat this shit for breakfast, but it does have to be done right (like Snowbaz) they have to bond and actually fall for each other, not just be physical attraction and that's it, you can’t just have the characters hating each other and literally trying to murder the other only to turn around and bang it out

Friends with benefits: 0

I’m indifferent, I mean if it ends with them being lovers and there's some angst then hella yeah, but if it’s just friends banging it out for no reason and then happen to date because of it then no thank you

Sex to feelings: 0

As someone who is demisexual, this is a bit hard for me to grasp, but that doesn’t mean I won’t read it, sometimes I’m just really in the mood for smut and this can have the potential for some good hurt/comfort

Fake dating/relationship: +9

Now I really love this if done well, and I have read some really good Snowbaz fics with this premise and wish there were more (I may attempt to write one myself but idk if I’d be able to do the trope justice), but it can sometimes feel a little surface level and frustrating in the “why don’t you just communicate and everything would be better” kind of way

Friends to lovers: +6

This can be really fluffy, or extremely angsty and I’m down for both

Found Family: 0

I like the concept in theory, especially for Simon, his friends are his family (and once he learns about his actual family them as well) but I see this as more of a platonic thing and not so much as a romantic trope, and it can a lot of times be used to gloss over the trauma from biological family when found family isn’t some magic bandaid

Hurt/Comfort: +10 For everyone who’s read carry on, do I really need to explain this one

Love Triangle: 0

Depends on the ship, technically there was a love triangle between Agatha, Simon and Baz. I like it in a more light-hearted way where no one gets hurt

Poly, open relationships: -5

I’m perfectly fine with open relationships, and certain situations get a pass (Someone wicked for example) but I’m pretty monogamous and when reading a ship I usually look just for those two characters. I will say in previous fandoms I have read really good poly relationships so I might read it

Mistaken/hidden identity: +5

I think this would be a funny trope that could be done more, if done right. I have read a few wrong number texting fics that I will count as mistaken identity and they can be great

Monsterfucking: +5

Depends, I have to be in the mood for smut and it has to be written well because it can very easily turn me away

Pregnancy: -9

Again, another one I wanted to nope on, I click out of anything with mpreg; that just isn’t my thing, if it’s a hot couple or the pregnancy is through surrogacy or something then I have no problem with it.

Second Chance: +10

I need this, this works with hurt comfort. Break-up fics destroy me so I need a second chance trope to mend my heart

Slowburn: +10

No explanation needed

Soulmates: +5

Can be really cheesy which is fine, but if it’s cheesy and just not written well then I have a hard time getting into it, but when it is done well then I love it.

Tags under the cut

I already tagged a bunch of people this morning for wip Wednesday, so I'm just gonna tag a few and leave this open-ended to anybody who wants to try

@cultofsappho @bean-mints @ionlydrinkhotwater @larkral @vkelleyart

[mzannthropy]

The other day I was listening to Celebrity Memoir Book Club podcast episode about Olivia Munn and one of the hosts said she saw Olivia in the film Love Wedding Repeat and it was one of the worst films she had ever seen. I was seized with a sudden urge to defend the film.

I mean, it's not good. I would never have watched it had Sam Claflin not been in it, I don't like romcoms and nothing about the title or the synopsis would entice me to watch it. If you ask me for a list of essential Sam Claflin, I will happily leave it out. But I still think there's worse stuff out there. At least it's beautifully shot and takes place in Italy. Everything looks so gorgeous! I'm not sure actually whether it's a romcom or a comedy, as Sam shares more scenes with Eleanor Tomlinson, who plays his sister, than Olivia, who is his love interest. But I don't mind bc I like good siblings. In fact I like good siblings more than a romance, sometimes. Interestingly, Olivia's character, Dina, is actually a great character, she's a very successful war journalist. Sam's character, Jack, is an engineer, so they make an amazing power couple.

The film has potential, but in many points doesn't make sense, like who are the guests at the wedding, why is Jack's ex-gf there, who is Sidney, etc. It should have had more of a fun family dynamic (Sidney should have been a cousin). And the different timelines are not explained, those kids that mess up the name cards at the table, who are they, we see no kids at the wedding. They should have just gone whole Groundhog Day, let Jack re-live the day until everything gets fixed. There's a Christmas romcom, Twelve Dates of Christmas that does this (basically Groundhog Day but with a female character re-living Christmas Eve) and it works quite well, so idk why this film didn't just embrace that.

Still, is generates a few laughs and Sam is good, as always, so at least there's that.

[celandeline]

Hi hi hi,

How you dodaling? (How are you?)

Your story; The throne was meant for us my dear.

Is so damn good.

Please tell me there might be a part 2?

Please I am begging. I need more of this relationship. Their dynamic. How Aemond is so obsessed and in love with her. Devoted. How she is confused and torn.

To see them as king and queen and having children.

I bet Aemond would some how go even more feral than he already is when she says she is pregnant. He would be like a story true dragon guarding his treasure.

So good. I am going to read more of your works now but just needed to praise this great fic.

- :)!

hi hello!

thank you so much i’m so glad that you liked it!! and yes, im thinking of doing a part 2. i want to wait for more of the season to come out before i start writing it though so it might be a little bit.

i can’t decide if i want to stick to being semi-canon compliant or completely go off the rails and rewrite the ending of the dance of dragons so that aemond wins. on one hand, the angst potential of keeping everything canon compliant is so enticing. but on the other hand, aemond and reader/jaenara as king and queen with some babies. a very hard decision to make.

[quartings-main-blog]

Pseudo Harem Reviews: Episode 1

I don't want to clutter my art blog with 12+ nerding out posts, so I'll be posting episode reviews here every week instead!

Animation

It’s a bit on the cheaper side, but that’s okay since the art style is very faithful and nice, even down to the slightly crooked mouths in some scenes- which I personally find a bit charming! Another change I like is adding a blue-grey tint to Rin’s hair to stop it from blending too much into other dark objects like her blouse!

I do wish that the animation got to be a bit higher quality at points. To list a similar show for comparison like Tomo, it at least had some dynamic animation for action shots and better lighting in the night scenes. At least showing some visual or audio cue for Rin’s switch in personas would help. Also I'm not sure I like how the personas are listed as stuff like "spoiled girl" instead of "Spoiled-Chan", "Spoiled Rin", "Sweet-girl" or anything to solidify their identities more. I can only hope a potential dub is able to figure out how to make it work!

Voice Acting

I’m not a longtime fan of Saori Hayami like some of the people who follow her in Spy X Family, Oregairu, and more, but I like the work she does here as Rin! I agree with the few people who say her voice is a biiiit too adult for a high schooler, but I at least like her voices for Cool-chan and Spoiled-chan. Her takes on Cheeky and Tsundere could be a bit more on the high-pitched side though. Still excited to hear more though!

Nobuhiko Omamoto as Eiji is nice too in one of the more subdued roles I’ve seen him in- he does a great job of capturing Eiji’s straightforward and goofy sides and you can feel why Rin likes him early on!

And I’m still crossing my fingers for a phenomenal dub too, which should hopefully get more new viewers onboard with this show! (PLEASE don’t be a bad dub…)

Music - OP and ED

So far nothing major to note in the soundtrack- just your standard highschool romcom style score. I will say I love both the OP and ED as songs- they’re great and I’ve already added what I can to my playlists! And I do hope we get the Rin and Eiji version of the opening down the line too (and maybe some extra surprises hopefully?)

It’s just a shame when the opening suffers from some of the cheapest animation in the whole show- it’s supposed to be the thing that hooks viewers into watching, but over half of it is just a bunch of still PNGs, barely showing the actual Pseudo Harem gimmick until the chorus.

At least the ED has cooler and more creative visuals with the anime-to-manga hybrid beginning, the rap verse from Rin, and better showing off all her personas (I find it a bit funny they’re trying to showcase every single one rather than the main 4-5 to entice new viewers more and maybe provide more contrast haha)

Pacing

And here we have the elephant in the room. I was so hyped for this series I didn’t even consider that the short disconnected nature of the series’ early chapters would lead to a very disjointed first few episodes.

If the show wanted to spend more effort on animation, they could have either rearranged the chapters so that the similar ones in the same settings got paired up into bigger scenes like how Squid Girl did it. If I could have everything my way, I would just extend the episodes with lots of original content, but I know that’s unrealistic.

If not, then short connecting scenes or establishing shots could help, or even interlude cards if you really want to save on budget. From what I’ve heard new viewers say, they all really liked the series concept, the characters, and their dynamic, but they were really put off by the pacing, assuming it would be this way for the whole show. And sadly, I can’t blame them for being disappointed since they don’t know the series will go into longer arcs and better-paced episodes as it goes on.

The choice to move their first meeting to the first scene was also very odd, as it shows why Eiji likes Rin, but creates a weird and unclear timeskip where she likes him by the Ch1 gym scene immediately after, and also kind of diffuses a bit of the tension on whether Eiji actually likes Rin or just the Pseudo Harem for the first 40 chapters or so.

I can only hope the show better arranges the scenes to keep the viewers’ attention from Episode 2 onwards!

Extras/Overall

I still had tons of fun with this pilot though! I do hope it shapes up a bit more in the animation and pacing departments, and I hope new viewers will give this show the usual 3-episodes chance at the very least! This is still my most anticipated anime of 2024 and I can’t wait for more!