#their arguments would be just them making great points back and forth but never being able to convince the other

[0wldn0]

If Bee and Breakdown talk beforehand maybe Breakdown tries to tell Bumblebee to just stay out of Menasor's way when it comes to Megatron. Maybe arguing that he did bad stuff anyway and he's kinda got it coming.

Ohh actually maybe the way he says it could be how Bee hones in on the idea that the other stunticons, while still probably not liking Megatron, aren't the ones who are out for blood (energon?).

Maybe he even calls Breakdown out on it. Pointing out hes just letting Motormaster pull him around. Again.

Oh yes definitely definitely!! 💥

I honestly really adore the dynamic between Breakdown and Bumblebee because they both have such strong values and such a strong sense of loyalty. When they're alone, this loyalty is only directed towards each other. ((aka Breakdown saving Bumblebee from the GHOST agents etc etc)) But when the factions are involved... Their values prove to be more important and so their loyalty is directed towards their respective factions. It's honestly so interesting to think about because in the show you can see they've clearly had arguments about this in the past.

Even when we're talking outside of the Breakbee ship, Breakdown and Bumblebee care for each other a lot and it is very apparent. They want to be able to live their friendship freely. They want to spend time together without worrying about the many elephants in the room. But unfortunately it is not that easy. They both have different ideals, different values, different people they've made connections with from the opposite sides, different reasons they're fighting in this war. They can't just abandon all of those things just to be with the other, it would not only be a betrayal to their factions, but a betrayal to their own selves as well.

That one scene where Bee says "No, you've made a choice." and Breakdown replies "A choice? We both made a lot of choices in the war." really sticks out to me. Because in just that one exchange you can tell that this isn't a new argument they're having. They probably talked about these things many, many times before. Most of their meetings probably ended with a sour separation because they both tried to convince the other to go with them. But it is an insult to tell someone to abandon their whole life and values behind like that, so they both would react harshly, despite really wanting to live in peace together.

SO this argument they both have in this AU would definitely not a be a new thing to them. I can see Breakdown trying to convince Bee to just take the Terrans and stay put until it's over. While Bee, not only does not like the idea of his faction being under fire as he sits and watches, is also NOT willing to let Breakdown go back to the Stunticons.

First, it is an argument about their ideals, just like many arguments they've had before. Breakdown questioning how the Autobots are willing to forgive THAT guy, and Bumblebee arguing that all the Decepticons deserve a second chance and forgiveness. Which, of course, would make Breakdown angrier because what do you mean "deserve forgiveness"? For what? For fighting for a better Cybertron? For fighting for the cause that Megatron tainted? Which would make Bumblebee argue that there is no cause anymore and they all want the same thing while fighting a pointless war.

As they speak though, I can see that this time this argument goes to a more personal level. Like the time when they last saw each other on Cybertron and Breakdown separated from Bee again to go and find the Stunticons. Bee would make a low blow about Motormaster's past treatment of Breakdown and the Stunticons. I can see Breakdown reacting in a very angry way to that, not yelling or physically threatening Bee or anything, but it is clear with the way he makes an emphasis on each word he speaks and how still he stands. He would tell Bee that he has no right to talk about the Stunticons when all Bee knows are surface level information and nothing else. Which Bee would use as a point to make regarding Megatron: Why can't Breakdown believe that Megatron has truly changed when he is so clearly defending Motormaster and her actions right in front of Bee now?

Unfortunately I can see the argument not going further from there. They are both extremely angry by this point, and they can see that the other won't budge. It is no surprise though, because they never managed to convince each other about anything regarding these topics before either. Breakdown would just leave Bee after making one last comment about Bee not getting in their way, and keeping the Terrans at bay. Bee would stare behind him for a while, still definitely angry, but there's also a deep sadness, and he's sure Breakdown is also feeling the same way.

[jellyfiishatr]

Can you do spider punk x reader headcons?

☆☆☆

content : headcanons / romantic (and) platonic

☆☆☆

Platonic

☆ Hobie is someone who doesn't believe in consistency, so he's always all over the place but somehow so suave about it

☆ play fights, or rough-housing.

☆ ^^ just like how he and pravitr did in the movie for that split second, he enjoys play fighting with friends

☆ if you're friends with him I feel like he's always there for you, very protective and cares deeply about you

☆ is always annoyingly smart, its great don't get me wrong but he's always a smug bastard about it

☆ ^because of it, he always wins arguments. He'll know when he's wrong but he's definitely pouty about it and saying whatever

☆ he canonically hates being called spiderpunk so if your ever meeting him for the first time and make that mistake of calling him that he's shuts it down immediately

☆ ^he definitely gets a little ticked off when someone refers to him as that name, a second time after getting their first warning

☆ definitely always getting teased for being British

☆ ^usually just walks away unbothered, unless it's a close friend because then he's tackling them to the floor and waiting till they call out "mercy"

☆ friendly hang out with him usually consist of late night walks, or sitting in an abandoned building(again late at night) and having friendly banter

"So, would you rather be a tiger or a panther?" You ask him

"Panther, for sure." He replies, tuning his guitar as you lay there on the raggedy old couch behind him.

☆ ^it goes back n forth, switching from silly conversations to deep topics about life and the way you think

"You think we're friends in another universe?" You suddenly ask him, looking up at the ceiling.

Hobie sits there quietly, thinking for a moment. He knew you were friends in another universe, it's not like he could tell you that though.

"Definitely."

Romantic

☆ it definitely takes a lot out of him to get him really interested in someone enough to ask them out

☆ and when he does he doesn't do anything till he knows for sure that person is the one he truly wants

☆ if it's a friends to lovers case, he's very slow and steady about it. Taking his time with you and making sure he doesn't scare you off with small gestures and hints

☆ has made you a playlist or two, or made you small gifts here and there

☆ "actions speak louder than words" is something he truly believes in so he does make it a point to show you how much he likes you

☆ if you're ever in danger and he's out patrolling the city, he's definitely there before it happens

☆ ^when you hear the masked vigilante speak to you, you know that his voice sounds familiar but you never question it. Only giving him a small smile and thanking him for saving you

☆ ^after he leaves, he's definitely stuck thinking about it for the rest of the day/night

☆ if he's ever late to a date, he's apologizing with newspaper flowers and a small necklace he made.

☆ ^valentines day comes around and he's making you a new bouquet of newspaper flowers, you have to tell him to stop from how many are hanging are hanging in your room wall

☆ loves to have atleast one hand one you at all times; whether it's on the small part of your back guiding you around a crowded place, or caressing your thigh gently as you sit down

☆☆☆

[bouncy-dog-funeral]

Stiles Stilinski and how teen wolf fails his character and relationships

TW: mentions of charecters traumas, disibilitys not being taken seriously, toxic relationships, one sided attraction, and teen wolf hate cuz as much as I love some of the charecters… the show is kinda bad (it’s my special interest b4 I get hate)

ALSO!!!

I am just an autistic guy who’s been hyper fixated on stiles as a character for years. I am not telling you how to feel about the show or him, I’m just expressing how I feel through a long (and I mean it this is long so strap in… or don’t… I don’t control you) tumbler rant. I have not finished the show but I have done a lot of research (about episodes and seasons that I have not seen) but I’m just human. If I miss something or don’t get something right, you can just tell me!!

Stiles stilinski as a character, while not a revolution to tv, was a pretty iconic character. A show about werewolves and the supernatural was absolutely side stepped by the human of the series. From the moment he’s on screen, he brings a fun vibe and some pretty funny jokes but you’re not here to listen to me glaze a white guy from an early 2000s show. Too much of that on here any way so let’s get to the real meat and potato’s!

Stiles was failed by teen wolf. They failed to give him relationships (and I mean platonic and romantic relationships) that were reciprocated. His relationship with Scott is ok at best. In the first season stiles goes out of his way for Scott to help him find out what’s wrong with him and it’s seemingly the only reason he’s there other then to get Scott to go in the woods and to show that Scott isn’t friendless and what does Scott do? Kinda just ignore him to hang out with a girl HE JUST MET. This isn’t a one time thing either. Stiles goes out of his way for Scott 99% of the time. He’s loyal and honestly a really good friend. Scott does not meet him there unfortunately. This is not to say that Scott never helps stiles out or never shows care for him, he just kinda always puts his issues first. I think a famous example is season 5 episode 9. NOW BEFORE YOU SCOTT SYMPATHIZERS BOO ME I WOULD LIKE TO EXPLAIN MY POINT. Now Scott and Stiles have both gone through some traumatizing shit that no one, especially high schoolers but I can only give so much leniency. Scott is supposed to be a leader/alpha and although he’s bound to make mistakes, a good leader listens. He never really listens to stiles in this argument. He got told one story from Theo and just runs with it. He has this problem either way black and white thinking when everyone in this series is a person (werewolf’s and other supernatural creatures included) and being a person comes with not being perfectly good. Scott has this awful superiority complex when it comes to doing what he thinks is morally right. Scott through out the series proves that he is not as loyal to stiles is to him.

I’d also like to go over his relationship with Lydia cuz good god man. I don’t hate Lydia. I think she’s a great character that if not written in the early 2000s could really have potential but they make her mean to stiles (as most charecters are) and show no interest in stiles even as a nuisance and expect me to care about them as a couple. Now you could say the same thing about sterek (stiles x Derek) and you might even be typing up a comment now. Let me stop you. I think there is a key diffrance. We are supposed to root for stiles and Lydia. We are supposed to want them together when Lydia in all honesty is not intrested in him. It’s not a mutual arguing or back and forth. Stiles is deeply in love with some one who ignored his existence. As a afab person I feel bad for Lydia a little. Having the attention of a man that you don’t like all that much while you have a partner (Jackson in season 1 which he’s not a good partner but she’s still with someone) should get on my nerves and also kinda make me nervous. This is not me saying stiles is a creep or anything it’s just me highlighting the relationship that they share is kinda one sided. Now this is just personal preference and you might really like that dynamic but I don’t really want to root for a couple where it’s just pretty girl is there and she has some nerd who wants to be with her and she eventually gets with him cuz yay straight people. I know they grow and eventually Lydia is in love with him but I just can’t get behind it. It’s just nothing. The fact the he (stiles) yells at her at the school dance (season 1 episode 11) to get her to dance with him after she rejected the offer twice is weird!!! The whole speech is nice guy behavior on stiles part and it makes him seem down right disrespectful. I don’t care for the whole “no means I’m playing hard to get” idea. It makes stiles look like a dick, puts Lydia in the position where if she doesn’t say yes the audience will hate her, and it doesn’t progress the relationship in a healthy way. I think they would be really cute friends and you can even keep the “stiles has a crush on her” narrative and just make it to where he comes to an understanding that she has said no and they become friends. God knows we are lacking good platonic male/female relationships in media.

Now onto stiles and his disability. When I was in first obsessing over stiles in middle school or high school I was ecstatic to learn that stiles had adhd. I have been diagnosed with adhd since I was in elementary school. I was always an outcast cuz of it so to see a character, a fan fav at that, I was so happy. Getting any disability rep (especially from the mid 2000s) is crazy rare so I was happy to see it. Unfortunately in an interview Dylan o’brian (stiles actor) said that it was a joke. That even tho that in the series stiles says that he takes Adderall (a drug that treats adhd) he’s just like that. This was incredibly heart breaking to hear. Jeff Davis (creator of teen wolf) said that stiles had adhd later on Twitter but this isn’t a real relief to hear cuz either they wrote a “joke” that stiles might have adhd therefore dangling rep infront of disabled people’s faces while also having plausible deniability about having any rep in the show at all OR they wrote it in and just kinda ditched it at one point. They use derogatory terms for adhd to describe stiles like spaz just for him to be a nerotypical charecter??? Yeahhhhhh not a huge fan. If they actually wrote him to have adhd (which btw in my experience is like one of the most “accepted” disibiltys to portray in media so it wouldn’t even be taking a huge risk to give stiles adhd) then that would explain his behaviors, why he takes Adderall, why people other him when he seemingly does everything right. It was only ever a joke to the writers and I think unfortunately the actors. It made it to where other fans of the show can shut down the idea that stiles has adhd cuz “they don’t ever directly say it. It’s frustrating and overall makes me so sad.

Next his trauma. They put this man through a lot and just gloss over it. They do this with most of the charecters. Huge traumatic incadent then boom Scott saves the day we’re all fine!!! (Can you tell who my least fav charecter is through this rant?) it’s just annoying. Stiles was litterly possessed leaving him a broken man but it’s kinda just… there? No real ptsd. Hell he doesn’t even really have to deal with anything. They briefly go over that his mom died and kinda just became a shell of a person and that made his dad an alcoholic. It just happens. None of that affects stiles outside of that story line. Was it too much to write ptsd? Idk it just seems that anytime they have to write a charecter that isn’t a ambiguously white or white nerotypical untraumatized “normal” person, they fall flat *cough* BOYD *cough cough* DANNY *cough* what was that? Who said that? Any way it’s just weird and upsetting.

All of this to say…. I think teen wolf had so much potential and so many good ideas that just… didn’t make it. They failed stiles stilinski, not only that! They failed all of their character’s but I’m not crazy Coocoo about their character’s and it 1:38 in the morning so I’ll leave it with stiles. If you disagree with me that’s so fine, I’d love to have a conversation about your opinions! Just from my knowledge and experience, I feel like they could have done so much better for stiles

(Like make him a bisexual neurodivergent icon but whatever)

Have a lovely day! Thank you for listening. If you ever want to talk about teen wolf, my dms are always open and I’m crazy.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA - me and my bestfriend (bsf) of six years recently got into a 2 week long argument and at this point have stopped talking. First i need to provide some back ground of the situation. Last November i became friends with “J”. This itself caused some arguments because they have similar names and sometimes i’d slip and call bsf, J, on accident and would immediately apologize. After a couple times of this happening she got really upset but i explained i’d been doing the same to J and she seemed to be less upset about it.

In the beginning of January, J and her bestfriend “E” got into some pretty serious drama where information from both sides never matched up but i’d known and used to be friends with E for a while. He is not a great guy speaking from past experience. (he constantly talks about how he’s a narcissist very proudly) He was claiming they had slept together and was telling all of his friends about it. She was saying they hadn’t. These rumors had been going around for months about them but had died down until this. the problem is i believed J but bsf was close with E and sided with him. I’d like to make a note through this entire situation neither me or bsf played any roll in it to my knowledge. this was just between E and J. Later on i found out they had slept together from J and asked why she had said they hadnt she said it was an agreement between the two of them that they wouldn’t say anything to anyone else because of the rumors people were already spreading about them being together. But once she found out it was definitely him telling people this time she told me the truth. yeah they had slept together then he forced her to take a plan B even though he knew she was on birth control and they’d used a condom. then ghosted her and pretended not to know her when asked by Js twins sisters best-friend.

Now it’s about 3 weeks ago where i posted two separate story’s saying how much i loved J and her sister and the other about how much i love bsf. about 10 minutes later bsf texted me “just delete this.” i of course asked why but she never responded so i took it down like she asked. later that day she reply’s to a text i had sent her the day before saying “nothing much just wishing i was hanging out with you” she replied “right.” at this point i’m genuinely confused what’s happening i had a feeling it was about J somehow because every time i posted about J it would be the one thing she didn’t like or comment on and she would get annoyed when i’d mention some thing me and J had done recently. i immediately replied with “of course, i love hanging out with you. your my best friend” A couple hours later she send me a three paragraph message saying how she didn’t think that anymore because i was ignoring everything she was telling me about what E was saying. That i was only taking J’s side and always talking about what J was saying about her side. She said I was using her as a separate option that if J couldn’t hang out i would call her. etc at the end of the message she told me she would never make me choose but that she will never trust anything J says. (they’ve literally never met or talked the only thing she hears about J is through E or me) she ends it with do whatever you want to do but don’t do anything for me. keep being friends with her idk i’m keeping my distance from all that. I replied with a message basically saying that she wasn’t the second option, i wasn’t sure who to trust, and that i try to avoid talking about the situation with J. we go back and forth with her apologizing for how she’s acting then getting mad about me not just believing her over everything else i’m being told. Then she tried to claim she never said J was wrong but that she knows she’s lied to me (the thing i mentioned in the first paragraph is the only time she’s lied to me) that she never picked a side and that she can’t believe how hurt she feels when “i’m supposed to be her bestfriend” i brought up the fact that i had asked her more than once if me being friends with her bothered her and she always said no. That this wouldn’t have exploded like this if we could have talked it out before. she took that as me saying this was all her fault.

A couple days later she messages me asking to talk in person i say when and where but she just send me a message about her feelings anyways again apologizing for how she’s acting and that she felt i wasn’t listening to her but it hurt more to lose me etc but continuing to say she doesn’t think i should be friends with J but it’s my choice. I reply i was listening but i think we were both just trying to find the facts in a situation we will never really know who was lying 100%. but i made a point in the massage to say i wasn’t going to stop being friends with J and that i didn’t understand why me and bsf relationship was so affected by me and J’s. She gets mad again bringing up a hate account that was made claiming J had made it but J had shown me that she hadn’t and it was investigated by our school who also said she didn’t do it. that it was my choice to be friends with her but that i don’t understand how it’s affecting her and that it wasn’t fair. at this point i was really mad because it really felt like she was trying to force me to choose between them two in a way. i replied saying she hadn’t made the account and said i don’t think J is the reason we stopped talking and that i feel like she was making me choose even though she was saying she wasn’t. she then replied saying she didn’t make me choose but that i had chose J over her and “that i guess you though she needed more attention” (yeah maybe because J is not mentally handling this well at all and your fine because your not actually involved with this drama) i didn’t reply to her but about another week later i texted her “i just want to be friends with both of you. why can’t i do that” she replied i understand but i don’t think you should be friends with she’s not a good person but hope your having fun it’s all i wanted for you. that’s the end of the messages at this point.

TLDR : (do we do those here??) bestfriend of three years stopped talking to me because i became friends with another girl who later got into drama with best friends close friend E (A PROUDLY SELF PROCLAIMED NARCISSIST I MIGHT ADD)

What are these acronyms?

[tenderfxck]

I need more alhaitham fics in ur writing plz god…. bully him bully him bully him public teasing which makes him very flustered??.? I’m just ranting at this point anws love ur writing ✍️

al haitham//distraction from argument//gn!reader//18+

contents: flustered!al haitham, pent up!al haitham, gn!reader, exhibitionism, handjob, alcohol mention, drinking, al haitham being put in his place <3

word count: 2.3k

notes: i've been itching to write another fic where i get to tease haitham. enjoy <333 (and thanks to @bobaboob for listening to my crazed ramblings as well as beta reading this fic!)

it’s a warm summer night at lambad's tavern and you find yourself seated in a booth in between the two arguably brightest minds of recent akademia history.

well, they were supposed to be bright. but even with you in their presence, they weren’t courteous enough to keep their bickering to themselves.

to your right sat the great architect and your best friend, kaveh. both of you were kind souls who bonded over the more beautiful things in life (as well as kept each other up to date with all the drama in sumeru city. so what if the two of you were gossips?)

and on your left sat the grand scribe, al haitham. you and al haitham were-

well. . .

enemies? rivals? annoyances to each other?

ah, yes. let’s settle on that. any more analysis would call into question if each tense moment the two of you had shared in passing was just animosity or something more. . .

at this point, you think they were hashing it out over some household chores or some other domestic affair. who ever thought those two could ever be roommates?

while sitting between two grown men arguing like a married couple is usually great entertainment, today you were quite over it. and quite bored.

but this was a bar, wasn’t it? you chose to focus your attention on polishing off your own drink as they continued this little disagreement of theirs. and when your glass was empty, you pivoted to sneaking sips from their neglected drinks.

well, until al haitham shooed you from his glass. of course. he was oblivious enough to (rudely) ignore you for the last fifteen minutes but yet he was keenly aware of you emptying his drink. damn scribe. . .

you sighed. you had completely lost the plot of this little spat a few minutes ago and had no patience to dare decipher where in the hell it had led. resigned to your fate stuck between the two, you pick up the bottle of liquor sitting in the middle of the table, planning to drown your boredom in another stiff drink. 

"-and that's why you're being completely irrational." al haitham stated bluntly, pushing his freshly polished off drink towards you.

"i'm being irrational?" kaveh scoffed, pushing his empty glass towards you as well. "have you even been listening to yourself?"

they hold a tense stare for a few seconds, before whipping their heads to face you.

"who do you think is right?" they snap in union.

"i think you both need a drink." you sigh, tipping the bottle and filling both their glasses with a healthy dose of liquor.

. . .

this had continued for a while. bicker, bicker, fill their glasses, bicker, bicker, more shots, so on, so forth.

you still had no idea what they were arguing about, but it proved a LOT more fun to watch them keep at it all the while becoming more and more intoxicated.

al haitham’s never been much of a drinker. even in his akademy years when some students chose to let loose on the weekends, he preferred to stay in, instead engaging himself with a good book. only a few drinks in and he can feel the flush cross his features. kaveh wasn't faring much better, definitely slurring his words and swaying ever so slightly.

“what do you think?" kaveh slumps against you, resting his weight on your shoulder in hopes of keeping himself steady. "you can't possibly think haitham’s being reasonable.”

“nonsense, my point is perfectly just.” al haitham sits back against the booth and crosses his arms.

they both looked at you expectantly, equally sure that you'd come to each of their aid.

"i think kaveh is making more sense."

watching al haitham's face drop was priceless. granted, you had zero idea what you were even agreeing with kaveh on. but the look of disbelief that al haitham made no effort to suppress confirms your suspicion he's typically used to most (other than his hard-headed roommate) agreeing with him at the drop of a hat.

"you're not even affiliated with the akademia," he bit back after collecting himself once again. "and your thoughts on such matters are inconsequential." al haitham goes to take another swig but finds his glass empty yet again, dropping it back onto the table with little grace before he regards you and kaveh with a certain distaste in his voice. "you artsy types love to have an opinion on everything, don't you?"

you place a hand to your chest in fake offense, unable to suppress a teasing smile. "inconsequential? a well-rounded person should recognize that relying purely on a scholarly view of the world is a detrimental one."

. . .fuck. al haitham was normally weary of rousing you but he mistakenly dug himself this grave. he cursed the alcohol for making him so careless.

"i have opinions on the akademia's actions just as i have opinions on the importance of the arts. what about you, grand scribe?"

"what?" he stiffens in his seat. when did this become a discussion about him?

"what are your view on accessibility of the arts? recognition and comprehension among citizens?" kaveh covers his mouth, poorly hiding his giggles as you laid into the increasingly tense scribe. "what about you, haitham? do you think the akademia is properly instructed in artistic literacy?"

al haitham had a sharp intellect. but not as sharp as your wit.

"I, uh. . . w-well. . ."

“so you have no opinion." you let a devious smile tug at your lips, addressing al haitham with a look of faux pity. "how disappointing. to think the akademia holds you in such high regard and yet you have neglected such a large area of expertise.”

this always seemed to be an ace in the hole for you. using whatever rhetoric he attempts to argue and your gilded tongue to throw it right back at him.

“when your pride allows you to be open to a conversation outside of your area of expertise, let me know. maybe we can have a more stimulating conversation.” you spit, taking up your glass of liquor once again.

“stop that.” al haitham huffs.

“stop what?”

“that. that- thing you always do.”

“eloquent as ever.” you sigh. kaveh snickers behind your other shoulder, and al haitham responds by staring daggers right over the other at him. “haitham, you have to be more clear.”

he grunts in frustration, turning away from the two of you. you were truly skilled at this feigned innocence. the kind that taunted al haitham, just enough to entice him into playing straight into your hand, just to get teased even more. but he chose to keep that observation to himself.

"you purposefully distract me." is what he settles on.

"i distract you? how so?"

“your words. you twist mine and then goad me on purpose.” 

“that’s barely a distraction, mr. scribe.” you chuckle, shifting in your seat. al haitham dutifully ignores how you brush against him. “but if it’s truly my words that prove a disturbance to you, i’ll keep quiet. surely you���ll easily best kaveh then, hm?”

“surely.” he bites back.

a self-satified look returns to him as you, as promised, shut up, instead busying yourself with refreshing your drink.

al haitham’s attention was quickly stolen by a fresh jab from kaveh about how “distracted” he could be, falling so easily back into their regular song and dance of bickering. he was once again far too caught up in this spat to notice the look you were giving him over the rim of your glass, an evil plan forming behind your pretty eyes.

when he first felt your hand graze his thigh he barely registered it. you were in close proximity anyway, seated right between him and his debate partner for the night.

the second was harder to ignore, your palm sitting atop his leg and stroking down ever so slowly. he stumbled a bit on his next words, but put it out of his mind to recover just enough to keep laying into kaveh.

it was only when your hand trailed between his thighs, grasping between his legs, rubbing his crotch with feather light dexterity when he became painfully aware of your wandering hands.

he froze, mouth opening and closing as he felt his body temperature climb a degree or two.

"ha! so you really have nothing left to say." kaveh gloated, a smug expression crossing his features.

"like hell, you still- ggh!" you squeezed a little firmer this time, feeling his cock stir beneath your touch. you could see how his chest now began to noticeably rise and fall, no doubt his heart beating ever so quicker with how you stroked his hardening length.  you licked your lips, savoring each little reaction you pulled from him, made all the more sweet with how he tries so desperately to hide them.

"that doesn't sound like a rebuttal to me, haitham." kaveh laughs, grasping his glass to take a celebratory swig.

al haitham grits his teeth. his attention is divided between his unshakable urge to one-up kaveh, and the slow, purposeful drag of your fingers under the table. the fabric of his pants starts to tent under your hand, al haitham grunting at the now suffocating tightness of them.

he swallows, takes a deep breath, and dissects kaveh’s last few points with precision. albeit, a little more breathlessly than usual.

so this was your game. If you couldn’t distract him with words. . .

a soft palm reaching down his pants causes haitham to jerk so hard he almost knocks over his glass.

. . .you seemed to have other means. 

you were kind enough to rid him of his binding clothes after a few excruciating minutes of teasing caresses, dragging his cock out of his restrictive pants and exposing it to the cool air of the tavern.

he worried his lower lip as you paid special attention to his now throbbing cock, tilting his head back in a sigh as you grabbed him again, now stroking him earnestly.

he sits there, still attempting to argue with his roommate. truly trying to act like everything is fine. but his heart is thumping in his chest so intensely you swear you can feel it as well. he tries to take deep, steadying breaths, but it feels like every time he opens his mouth he has to close it immediately, or else a shuddering noise will escape his trembling lips.

archons, does it feel so good watch him crumble.

you pump him under the table at a steady pace, paying oh so close attention to every sharp inhale and every twitch of his body as he melts in your hands. you only slow when he seems like he’s about to burst at the seams, instead choosing to stroke his inner thighs with teasingly light touches or fondle his heavy balls. and at any moment it seems like he’s regained an iota of composure, wondering if he can still best you, you take a thumb to his sensitive tip, grinding intense little circles into the head of his cock sending such cute little tremors through his whole body.

kaveh takes a glance at his squirming roommate, noticing that al haitham is white knuckling the table as their bickering goes on. he takes satisfaction in the knowledge he's stirred haitham up so much, but only you truly know why.

it builds and builds, threatening to careen off that edge of restraint al haitham keeps himself bound to so diligently. 

he tries to ignore the obvious. but his mind cant help but flash back to last night when he was fucking his fist, imagining it was your hand teasing him so. and now it’s happening, for real, all right in front of him and all of the bar's patrons if they paid any closer attention to the writhing scribe.

al haitham never stood a chance.

“haitham~” you breathe out, so close that it tickles the shell of his ear. he attempts to bite his lip to content the whine that would otherwise escape. “why don't you admit that kaveh has a point? then this whole affair can be finished.” you whisper that last word, giving him an especially drawn out stroke to his twitching length, clearly conveying your intent.

“f-fine.” al haitham stutters, now slumped against the table in front of him, praying it will give him even just a little support. “you’re right. . .” he heaves, unconcerned about his stupid pride. he doesn't care about winning any more. “you’re right!” his voice pitches, feeling your fleeting touches turn steady and fast, pumping his aching cock so fucking good as he finally concedes.  “i’m wrong, just- just!”

he gasps, finally, finally cumming after what felt like hours of teasing. your hand remains firm, stroking him through it while the scribe crumbles in on himself, twitching and biting back moans. he’s sure his release was so intense it hit the underside of the table. but he doesn’t dare open his eyes to check, certain he’ll meet his roommate's confused expression, or the satisfied one you’re surely wearing. 

when he finally does regain enough mental faculties to sit upright again, he can see kaveh across the bar, paying of the tab while happily spouting something about “finally besting that damn bastard.”

his eyes drift up. you’re wearing a sweet, albeit just a bit smug, smile.

“i’m glad you finally came around, mr. scribe.”

kaveh circles back to you, face flushed and cheery as can be. “let’s take this back to our place. The two of us will treat you to a thorough lecture on the arts as a reward for being so humble, haitham”

“you go on ahead, i’ll catch up with you.” kaveh regards him quizzically, but al haitham can only look past him. “i need a moment to. . .” you throw him one last glance before removing yourself from the booth, but not before he can catch you bringing a thumb stained with release to your mouth, licking the last bit of evidence on your person away. he’s reminded of the uncomfortable mess currently staining his abdomen and running slick down his thighs.

“. . .organize my thoughts."

[takami-takami]

what do you think he would be like in a fight with his s/o?? i don’t see him shouting or raising his voice tbh but i think he would be mean, like throws stuff he knows you don’t like about yourself in your face kinda mean

Ohhh what do I think?

I think Keigo is very specific about arguments. I think his negotiation training serves him well, and he is very good at collecting and controlling himself. The only times he loses his cool tend to be in times of danger or around Dabi (which is again, danger and unpredictability).

Keigo can take an emotional beating when it comes to criticism, just nodding along with his head down and probably agreeing which is so fucking sad, given his job and childhood; but you should NOT do that because it's mean and he's a good boy and deserves kindness and to have his strengths uplifted even when you're mad at him.

Approach him in disagreements with tenderness and it'll warm his heart a little. He's not used to it. His parents never did that. The public doesn't do that. His job doesn't do that. He does that with others, despite that, because Keigo's character tugs at hearts and crushes them into little compact boxes like WALL-E.

When Keigo needs space, he tends to go for flights and perch on building tops. He's preferred high spaces since he was a kid to get away. I can see him going to cool off if he needs to— if him doing it without explaining first bothers you, he will be happy to correct this habit and clearly communicate that he is going and will be back.

I see a lot of "stonewalling" Keigo which is juicy to read and a great concept to explore, but I personally think because he loves honesty and speaking the unspoken, communication is important to him! Unless he has a specific reason to do so, of course, like your safety. He is very good at stonewalling, but absolutely despises doing it.

I think Keigo's penchant for communication means he's good at verbalizing exactly what bothers him— this tends to be in a snarky way at positions of authority, and surprisingly open around others at times; but in projects he cares about (you) I think he's meticulous.

Although, I'm back and forth wondering about his sarcasm being a point of issue in arguments. I also wonder how much he keeps inside. He tends to chew conflicts in his head alone.

Keigo does not want to do harm. He does enough of that at work.

I can see Keigo pressing his thumb into your emotional bruises like you said but only if it is specifically to drive you away for your own safety. And ohhhhh he digs deep enough to make sure it works.

He also will not text you first after an argument, he's busy and never checks his phone like ever, which can make arguments tend to drag. He will visit you though! He would like to get your fight fixed as quickly as possible, but sometimes duty calls. It's not a deliberate decision or anything, it's just how the cookie crumbles.

Keigo would benefit greatly from his S/O being a partner that communicates rather than him always having to "fix" things. Like, he'll do it, but he deserves better than to chase and doesn't really have the time, regardless.

If you want to communicate, god he's fucking ecstatic like yes please let's just say it. He hates lies. He doesn't like dancing around the point. He respects when you're honest with him and is bent on fixing things efficiently.

I think Keigo is complicated and this ask is making me want to read the manga and watch the show to study him like a hamster running in a wheel with my magnifying glass.

[starsfic]

In Their Eyes

A point of argument between Qi Xiaotian and Long Xiaojiao was favorite eye color.

It wasn't a serious argument. It was one of those silly things that you would banter back and forth about. Xiaotian was firmly on green being the best, while Xiaojiao was of the opinion that brown was great. (If that happened to be the eye color of their best friend, nobody pointed it out.)

One day, however, their opinions seemed to flip.

"Brown eyes are better," Xiaotian said. "When the light hits them just right, they sparkle and you just melt." He sighed and seemed to melt himself.

"No, no, nope," Xiaojiao shook her head with a sip of boba. "Green's the shit. You just wanna fall right into green eyes and roll around because they make you think of living things."

"Brown makes you think of curling up with hot chocolate."

"Green makes you think of running and never stopping."

Xiaotian didn't respond, too busy thinking of brown eyes glinting with flames, glowing just like he did, glowing in their fire before he caught him and held him tight in a comforting embrace. Xiaojiao leaned back, imagining green eyes glinting with the chase, standing out in purple and black, making her run and run until she collapsed into her arms and the grass caught them.

If you asked Red and Spindrax...

"Brown," Red said, staring at a brown-eyed boy who held the sun in those eyes.

"Green," Spindrax said, staring at a green-eyed girl who sparked with electric power in those eyes.

No argument between them.

[fangirlwriting-stories]

I Choose You

Summary: Virgil supports Roman after the wedding, and is not prepared for Roman to support him too.

…

It wasn’t that Virgil hated Janus and Remus, was the thing.

Well, okay, obviously he wasn’t the biggest fan of them.  Janus was a prick and a liar and Virgil hated that he could never trust a word he said.  Remus was an asshole who enjoyed freaking Virgil out on purpose and never considered how Virgil might not like being jump scared all the time.  They were both a nightmare to live with, because Remus never cleaned up and Janus was always too busy taking a self care day to clean up, so it always fell to Virgil, since a messy environment stressed him out.  Neither of them wanted to hear him out when he tried to argue that the core sides had decent points to make.  Neither of them listened to him when he tried to say that he didn’t want to keep going over there alone, and that dealing with constant hatred from people, even if they weren’t technically his friends, was hard.  Neither of them believed him when Virgil tired to tell them just because Thomas accepted him now didn’t mean he wanted to leave—

Anyway, he had a lot of reasons to be pissed at them.

But that wasn’t even the main problem.  The main problem was that Virgil wasn’t stupid.  Obviously this bullshit with Janus wasn’t going to last forever.  Patton and him were going to talk for a while and then they were going to remember why they hated each other and why the two sides of the mindscape had split up in the first place.  And if Virgil attempted to use this time to do something stupid like fix things with Janus and Remus, when the inevitable arguments and fallout happened, he was just going to be pulled back and forth like the rope in a game of tug-of-war, and Virgil didn’t want to fucking do that again.

No, he was here with the core sides now.  This was the choice he’d made, the choice they’d all forced him to make, he wasn’t going back now.  Besides, he was still pissed at Janus and Remus anyway.

So, instead of waiting around for Patton and Janus’ tentative bullshit to inevitably fall apart, Virgil decided to spent time with someone who A, already shared his completely correct worldview, and B… really needed some support right now.

Roman hadn’t been doing great since the wedding.  Virgil had sort of known that was inevitable.  It was part of the reason he was so proud of him for making the decision he had.  Obviously Janus was spouting a bunch of bullshit when he said going to the wedding was the wrong choice.  But even if he was right, Virgil would still have been proud of Roman.  That had to be so hard for him, and he deserved to be able to feel proud of his decision, instead of having it spat on by a slimy two-faced snake who didn’t know what the fuck he was talking about.

But either way, because things had been hard on Roman for a while, Virgil was making it his personal mission to give him some support and buildup.  He clearly needed it, and he deserved it, and Virgil was going to give this “good friend” thing a shot.  Thomas knows he owed it to Roman, with all the ways he’d treated him in the past.

The two of them had started hanging out more for a while now, really since Thomas had first met Nico.  They watched Disney together (though Virgil still could not get behind Roman’s reasons for loving it), and they listened to music that Roman belted out the lyrics too, and, on days Virgil was feeling particularly brave, they sang duets.

They didn’t tend to bring up the Patton-and-Janus situation, but it had come up before.  Sometimes Roman just wanted to talk about it, sometimes they both wanted to bitch about Janus, sometimes (very occasionally) Roman would ask if Virgil could give him some reassurance.  Virgil didn’t tend to bring it up, though.  He was supposed to be here to support Roman, and besides, his feelings on the matter were very much worked out.

At least, that’s what he’d thought.

Roman was still the one who brought it up first.  They were sitting together on Roman’s bed, watching Mulan on the giant TV Roman had at the end of the bed specifically for this purpose.  Virgil was pretty tired, as he hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before, and he was trying to come up with a way to casually ask Roman if he could lean against him and take a nap without Roman thinking that he didn’t want to be here or that he suddenly didn’t like Mulan anymore.  Before he could actually figure the words out, however, Roman turned to face him.

“Virgil,” he said.  “Do you ever think that maybe Janus actually does want to help Thomas in his own way?”

Virgil tensed and immediately sat up.  “What?  Fuck no.  What are you talking about?”

“I just… I’m thinking about it,” Roman said hesitantly.  “I mean, he’s still a slimy serpentine scammer and I’m still mad at him, obviously.  I want an apology too.  But… I don’t know if I want to write his entire opinion off, just because I don’t like him.  I… that hasn’t tended to go well for me in the past.”

He looked away from Virgil, who’s throat felt like it was closing up all of a sudden.

“No,” he said.  “That’s different.  That was different.  I’m not like Janus, it’s different.”

Roman turned back to him in surprise.  “I wasn’t saying you were like him, Virgil,” he said.  “I was comparing my own approaches to you both, if anything.  I just… if everyone’s going to treat me like I’m doing something wrong whether I treat the others poorly or not… it kind of feels better to not scream at them and shut them down automatically?  I don’t love it when that happens to me.  I can’t imagine you loved it happening to you.”

Virgil shook his head.  “But— but Janus is a prick,” he said weakly.  “He doesn’t deserve a second chance, Roman.”

Roman bit his lip and turned to look at Virgil.  “Maybe… maybe he does, though?  I’m not—” he held up his hands.  “I’m not trying to make your decision for you.  You still get to be pissed at him for whatever reasons you want.  Like I said, I’m still pissed at him too.  I just…” Roman sighed, and leaned his head on his hand.  “I don’t want this to last forever,” he muttered.

Virgil couldn’t breathe.  He shook his head.  “What are you talking about,” he said weakly.  “What are you talking about, it will last forever.  We can’t just fix things.  We’re not going to be able to make things better.”

Roman turned to look at Virgil in surprise.  “Well geez, that’s a bit of a depressing outlook, isn’t it, Count Woe-laf?”

“It’s not depressing, it’s just a fact,” Virgil snapped.  “Do you know how long all of us have been split up?  There’s no fixing things at this point.  There’s too much bad blood.”

Roman narrowed his eyes in what looked like concern.  “Virgil,” he said quietly.  “We fixed things with you.”

Virgil glared away, wrapping his arms around himself.  “That’s different,” he whispered.

Roman was quiet for a minute.  “Do you not want to fix things with Janus and Remus?” he asked finally.

“It doesn’t matter what I want,” Virgil said firmly.

Roman put a hand on his arm.  “Yes, Virgil,” he said.  “It does.”

Virgil grit his teeth and turned around to glare at Roman.  “No, Roman,” he snapped.  “It never has.  It didn’t matter when I got sent off with the others when we all first split up.  It didn’t matter when I started getting closer with you guys again and Janus and Remus didn’t like that.  It didn’t matter what I said I wanted or what they said they wanted, everyone made me choose anyway.  Someone’s always going to make me choose, and I would rather not get swept up in the stupid hope that it’s somehow going to work this time, okay?  I already picked you guys.  I’m not going to sit around and wait for Janus and Patton to start hating each other again.  And I’m certainly not going to try and make it work in the meantime.  I would recommend you not try either.  It’s just going to make it hurt more later.”

Roman stared at him for a minute, and eventually Virgil just glared away.

“Virgil,” Roman said eventually, and Virgil felt a gentle hand on his shoulder that he jerked away from.

“Virgil,” Roman said again anyway.  “Did— did we all make you feel like you had to choose between us?”

Virgil laughed and looked up at the ceiling.  “No one made me feel like anything,” he said weakly.  “Janus said ‘It’s them or us, and if you choose them you better not show your face around here again.’”

“Virgil,” Roman said, and suddenly Virgil was swept up into Roman’s arms.  Virgil didn’t have the strength to pull away when it was the last thing he wanted, so instead he just buried his head in Roman’s chest.

“Did you want to stay with them?” Roman murmured.

“I mean,” Virgil said weakly.  “Back then, maybe.  But they didn’t believe me.  And now, I— Thomas would never trust me again.  None of you would ever trust me again.”

“I would,” Roman said, tightening his arms.

Virgil scoffed.

“Hey,” Roman said, pushing him back to arms length even as he kept a very firm grip on Virgil’s arms.  “Listen to me, okay?”

His gaze was so intense and obviously serious that Virgil couldn’t do anything but nod.

“I know I messed up in how I treated you before,” Roman said.  He wiped away a tear that Virgil hadn’t even realized was there.  “I wouldn’t do it again.  If you chose to go back and stay with them, that wouldn’t change anything about how I feel about you.”

Virgil shook his head.  “Roman, that’s not—”

“Hey.  They didn’t believe you, and that sucked, right?”  He squeezed Virgil’s shoulders.  “You can believe me.”

Virgil took a shaky breath and wiped at his eyes.  “It doesn’t even matter,” he said.  “Nothing’s ever going to get better.”

“I’m not so sure that’s true,” Roman said quietly.  “You don’t think they miss you?”

“They hate me.”

Roman didn’t say anything to that, but Virgil could see the disbelief on his face.

“Okay,” he said anyway.  “But, say they didn’t.  Say they wanted to fix things.  Would you want to too?”

Virgil didn’t say anything, which was apparently enough of an answer.

“Then please,” Roman said, leaning forward to look Virgil in the eyes.  “Don’t stop yourself from trying for our sake.”

Virgil shook his head.  “I don’t—”

Roman cut Virgil off by pulling him into his chest again.  “I choose you, okay?” he murmured.  “Whether you’re with them or us.”

Virgil took a shaky breath, and rested his head against Roman’s chest.  “Okay,” he whispered.

Roman breathed a sigh of what sounded like relief and just sat there and held Virgil for a while, and Virgil let him.

He wasn’t sure if he fully believed Roman or not.  But Roman was right that it really did suck to have your own care for someone denied to your face.  So, for the sake of that, Virgil decided he’d try.  It still probably wouldn’t fix anything.

But it was a nice thought.

[orionsangel86]

So, if you don't mind, I was thinking about that asshole who was rude on your Thessaly post by insisting that Morpheus is meant to be a bad person. I'm curious if you could expand on why you think he's not. I keep going back and forth on my own rereads, especially since the Thessaly relationship and The Kindly Ones writing seem to try and push in a "he IS a bad person" direction. I can't tell if my arguments that "he's just flawed and mentally ill" are fangirl goggles or legit interpretation.

Hey! I don't mind. So when I first got that comment, initially I thought the response was genuine, because it's been a while since anyone has responded to one of my posts in a bad faith way. I frantically tried to wrap my brain around the idea that I had missed something somewhere and that I was supposed to view Morpheus as a "bad person" because even after The Kindly Ones that has never been my interpretation. I then realised the response was just a bad faith troll from an asshole and felt relief that I wasn't wrong.

But I suppose it's all up to interpretation.

The issue is really with what you consider makes a person inherently good or inherently bad. It reminds me of that line in Good Omens:

“It may help to understand human affairs to be clear that most of the great triumphs and tragedies of history are caused, not by people being fundamentally good or fundamentally bad, but by people being fundamentally people.”

Because I genuinely think this line has inspired a LOT of Neil Gaiman's characters, whether human or not.

I also get a bit wary nowadays when certain sections of fandoms start labelling characters, especially protagonists as "bad" because that causes a slipperly slope into accusations of "if you like this character YOU PERSONALLY are a BAD PERSON" (Example: OFMD fandom and the forever bizarre reaction to the character of Izzy Hands).

Dream is not bad. He is not good either. He is entirely neutral. He may occassionally do things that may be considered bad, depending on your perspective, but he also does a lot of good things as well. How do we weigh him on a scale of judgement? Are we to act as his judge and jury for every decision he makes in the comics? I suppose we could do, if we wished to, such is the fun of analysis, but I think the end result would again depend on the perspective and morals of the individual reader.

But I will at least give my own interpretation. I'm putting on my Anubis hat and weighing Dream's heart against my trusty feather. Let's see how he does. Under a cut as its long.

I personally think that for a character to be labelled as "bad" their actions and motivations must cause harm, whether to individuals or larger groups, without them showing any care or concern for those they hurt, in their pursuit to achieve their goals.

For example, Lucifer in The Sandman is still a "bad" character even though there is a LOT of "Sympathy for the Devil" type of perspective in The Sandman. Ultimately Lucifer is still selfishly motivated. He doesn't care about the souls or creatures that reside in Hell, and he certainly doesn't care about humanity. When he kicks everyone out of Hell in Season of Mists it causes havoc on Earth, and leads to the death of at least one child that we know of. It is implied that he does far more damage than is explicitly shown.

Thessaly, as previously mentioned, is definitely a bad character. She is entirely motivated by her own selfishness. She doesn't give a shit who she hurts, or the damage she causes in her persuit for revenge in Game of You. She is cruel and malicious and yes, also a TERF. She does not show any empathy or consideration for any character at any point, and honestly, even her little speech in The Wake comes across as crocodile tears.

Desire is a more complex character but still falls on the "bad" side of the scale because Desire also shows very little regard for others when playing their games or implementing their schemes. Desire is going to do whatever they want regardless of who might get hurt because like Thessaly, Desire doesn't give a fuck about your feelings. Desire is cruel. This is stated textually. Desire's motivations are also usually selfish. The only time I found Desire remotely redeemable was in Overture. Desire saved the universe. Though it is made clear that the only reason they saved the universe was because they wanted to keep living in it. It's worth noting that even though Desire is very much "bad" I absolutely adore them and consider them one of my favourite Sandman characters.

Now to Dream. Unlike the above mentioned characters, Dream's motivations are rarely selfish. Even in The Kindly Ones, I believe even if you interpret the whole thing as Dream's own elaborate suicide plan (which is only one limited interpretation) I don't believe he ever meant for as many people to get hurt as they did, it's just that he found himself in an impossible situation where things escalated to a point of no return. Also, since most casualties were Dream's creations, arguably he probably assumed that either he, or his successor, would simply recreate them once the situation was back under control.

Dream is a lawful neutral character. He has his rules and he must abide by them because "I contain the entire collective unconscious, without my rules it would consume me. Humanity would be consumed." (I know this is Netflix!Dream talking but I'm still gonna use it cos its such a good line).

The big difference between Dream and the above characters, is simple. Dream cares. He cares about everyone. He cares about literally everyone - the entire collective unconscious of the universe and he is so bursting to the brim with care and love for them that he is buckling under the weight of all that care. It is what is destroying him and it is WHY he is so depressed and so susceptable to making bad decisions on a small scale.

Every motivation of Dream's is for the greater good. When he sees what John Dee did with his ruby, he is almost crippled by the guilt of it. He blames himself for giving the ruby so much power that it could corrupt a mortal that much. He is easily swayed by Constantine to give Rachel a peaceful death, even though at first he doesn't think about it, it's not like he laughs it off and walks away - like any of the above mentioned characters would do. He listens to Constantine and agrees to show that compassion.

When he realises he once again has to kill a Vortex - something that is part of his duty as Dream of the Endless, something that is very much carved in stone as one of his rules, he still hesitates, even though he knew what happened last time and all the pain he suffered because of it. A fundamentally bad character who does not care would not have hesitated in killing Rose Walker.

In Brief Lives, whilst his initial motivations were selfish, he realised that his trip with Delirium to find Destruction was causing harm to others. When he realised that people were dying because of their quest, he put an end to it. He hurt Delirium in doing so, unintentionally, but his reasons for stopping weren't because he was bored, or because he had given up on finding Thessaly, it was because people were getting hurt and he didn't want to be responsible for that anymore.

When you look at Dream's actions on a wider scale, he is a good character. It is only on a more personal level that his flaws start to show through.

Where Dream's behaviour gets bad, it is usually because he has been hurt, and when he is hurt, he acts like a petty child throwing a tantrum. It is when his cruel side comes out, and its when he is most like Desire.

Nada is the most obvious casualty of this side of Dream. She rejected him, he threw a tantrum, and condemned her to Hell for hurting him.

Calliope tells Dream that she believed the "old you would have left me here to rot." We don't know how true this is, even in the comics, but the idea that there once was a version of Dream who might have discovered his ex wife was being frequently raped and abused whilst imprisoned and bound to evil mortal men and refused to help her simply because she left him is horrifying, but as I said, we don't know if it is or ever was true.

Ultimately, on the small scale, all it takes is for someone to tell Dream that he is in the wrong for him to relent and accept his misgivings. Constantine called him out on Rachel, so he did what he was asked to do. Calliope didn't even HAVE to ask for him to free her in the comics, he just showed up and saved her without question. When Death told him what he did to Nada was "shitty", he immediately put plans in place to make it right, even though doing so was risky and put him and the Dreaming in danger.

Even the situation with Orpheus, whilst seemingly harsh on Dream's side, his son told him to his face "you are no longer my father" and so Dream, hurt and with wounded pride, walked away from his son and refused to look back - but he still arranged for the priests to take care of him.

His choice of Thessaly as a lover is messed up, but he was messed up at the time. My view as mentioned in my previous post is that she was a rebound. They make it clear in the comic that he never approved of her murderous ways (and I have no doubt that he would also dissaprove of her transphobia, even if not mentioned explicitly).

In The Kindly Ones I don't view the situation as Dream being a bad person. I view it as everyone else being bad. Dream is caught in a huge cloud of depression and shitty circumstance and he is unable to free himself from that situation, and even when others can sense his desperation and pain, no one actually helps him. Dream's biggest flaw in The Kindly Ones, in my opinion, is not asking for help.

Because he is prideful, because even after all he has been through, he could not shake off that pride. It went full circle, he was back in his glass cage refusing to ask for help. Only this time, the glass cage was his realm, his subjects, his role as Dream of the Endless, and he could not change himself enough to free himself without making the drastic worst case decision.

My hatred of The Kindly Ones as a story, is not because I think it does a disservice to Dream, but because it does a disservice to every other character involved. By the end of that particular story, I hated every character who WASN'T Dream. Because I desperately wanted one of them, ANY of them, to actually help him. To see past his stubborn pride and hold him in their arms and shake him until he saw sense. Because the message in that story seemed to me to be that people are inherently selfish and so wrapped up in their own lives that they won't help you when you need it most. That there isn't even a point in asking for help. So what's the point?

But then I am fully aware that my feelings are complicated and partly projecting onto the characters and the story and well, that's all not really relevant to the point of this post except to ask you all to take my opinion with a grain of salt.

So back to your original question. I don't think Dream is a bad person. He is flawed, he is a character who when pushed to the limit will do drastic stupid things, but then wouldn't we all if pushed to our absolute limit? He is extremely depressed and buckling under the weight of the collective unconscious. All that unchecked emotion carried within him, and it is literally killing him.

So when weighing his heart against the feather of judgement, I think I can forgive him some bad behaviour towards some ex lovers in the grand scheme of all he has done. As flawed characters go, he's hardly the worst, and the feather is still heavier than his heart.

[belit0]

Main Branch Alpha

Dark Hashi at some point.

Pairing: Alpha Hashirama x Omega Izuna

"It's that time of year again, Izuna..."

"Oh? Just what time is that, my dear mate?" And Hashirama knows the Uchiha is being sarcastic by the way his long tail swishes back and forth, denoting a feeling he learned to read after months of being with him.

Anger.

The Senju leans against the doorframe and crosses his arms, watching as his partner does dishes with a sudden rage which wasn't there before this conversation.

Even just watching his back, Hashirama can envision his Omega's scowl perfectly.

" We have discussed this many times, Izuna... it's not about you... I truly have no desire to hurt you and you know it..."

He riddled the tone of his voice with pleading, to make the Uchiha understand it is necessary for him to back off because his rut has arrived.

Alphas' rutting cycle is nothing special, but in Hashirama's case, it's a nightmare. For any offspring of the major branch in a clan, hormones released during rutting are overwhelming and violent, turning them into beings filled with a single need and a single goal.

To breed and fill their mate with their knot.

Hashirama was always reluctant to find a mate for this very reason, fear of himself during this fateful time of the year, but when Izuna presented as Omega and his scent grew exquisitely sweet, the beauty of that man delighted the Senju. 

Being physically smaller, with delicate and feline features, the Uchiha was quite the perfect match. And so it went. 

But Izuna never agreed to walking away when his Alpha was rutting.

His instinct was to help, assist, and please his Senju. The man is gigantic, with fine wolf-like features making him look intimidating when angry and adorable when happy.

The only thing Izuna wishes for is to be devoured by the crushing hunger of his Alpha in rut, but Hashirama forces him to retreat every time it happens and locks himself in the house they both share by himself for a month.

Having spent a lifetime with his Aniki, another Alpha from a main clan branch, Izuna knows the violence an individual can possess when that cycle arrives.

Aniki's own phase was always terrible, and Tajima compelled him to withdraw into the middle of the mountain, alone, so as not to hurt anyone until it was over.

Izuna knows what he is up against.

" Hashirama. There's no way I'm leaving this house because of what's to come. End of discussion."

"Okay... then I guess I can stay with Tobi in the meanti-”

"Don't you dare."

"But-"

"Don't. You. Dare."

The argument ends as Izuna exits the kitchen, swiping at the Senju with his tail and ears pinned to his head in a threatening stance. 

Hashirama feels the exhaustion of the all-too-familiar time of year creeping into his body, and would continue to argue were it not for the fact the bed looks so comfortable and pleasurable.

Next morning, Alpha wakes up next to his partner. Quietly and ignoring the pain all over his frame, he heads for the door, trying to make a break for it and get to his younger brother before something terrible happens. 

But no.

He finds all the exits have been sealed, techniques mimicking almost perfect motions Tobirama would have used himself. 

Exhaustion is too great for him to use his Mokuton or summon clones, the last moments of mental clarity fading as Hashirama laments the mess his Uchiha got himself into.

His body collapses in front of the door and causes a loud sound as it hits the ground.

Izuna awakens from the crash, confused when his mate is not beside him in bed. 

He is quick to find him passed out in front of the door, and a sense of triumph overcomes him when realizing his seals stopped him.

Kneeling down beside him, he moves the hair from his face and smiles at the calm expression his mate wears.

"Hashi? Hashi? Are you all right? Let's get you to bed-"

There is no way to finish the sentence as the words catch in his throat, a huge hand gripping his hair and squeezing tightly. Suddenly a nose is on his neck and inhales deeply, taking in the scent of the Uchiha entirely.

"Omega..."

The Senju is stronger and faster than normal, rising almost in a leap and dragging Izuna into the room while holding him by the hair.

Uchiha screams from the pain and holds his partner's wrist, trying to break free. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to stick around to watch his Alpha rut.

He throws him onto the bed in a messy manner, landing unprecedentedly over his belly.

When the Omega feels he has a chance of escape, a series of endless branches clouds all of that, slipping down his legs, tearing his clothes in their wake. Izuna is restrained by his partner's own technique and is left completely vulnerable to his eyes.

Bed sinks where his feet have been bound, and Izuna knows Hashirama is kneeling between his thighs.

No part of his body can move as he presses his chest against the mattress, his legs separated by the branches imprisoning him.

Senju’s nose buries between his legs and sniffs, scenting like the wolf he is as his more primal instincts take possession of him.

“ No heat...”

And Izuna would have replied something to that, except suddenly his Alpha’s fangs sink into his thigh, so close to his core that panic completely overtakes him.

But an overwhelming feeling of warmth and need and pure arousal quickly replaced such terror. Suddenly all the Uchiha can think about is Alpha Alpha Alpha Alpha and his body boils to a hellish temperature.

Fear disappears completely as his ass rises into the air, kneeling on the bed as branches recoil from his legs. His hands despite being bound hold his tail, and it fully exposed his slit in the position Omegas used to display trust and desire to their Alphas.

Here there is no room for foreplay or time to prepare the other. The Uchiha’s channel is ready to receive what it suddenly desperately craves and instinct drives them both.

Hashirama’s grunts would have made him shudder if he were aware of the situation, but his body screams for the knot only his Alpha can give him.

The Senju is a clear image of a wolf as he hovers over his mate, leaning fully over the little Omega and digging his fangs into his neck. His claws find a place on the Uchiha’s hips and his Mokuton continues to restrain the latter’s ankles and wrists, helping to hold him in place despite his weight on him.

Hashirama’s member is even larger than normal during his rut, making his mate scream in desperation the moment he enters him.

His movements are frantic even though it is clear Izuna needs to adapt to this new size, but the Senju is not in his right mind to think about the welfare of the other, he has only one goal and that is breeding.

Uchiha’s arms have no strength to hold him, his body receiving the beast’s onslaught while moans of pleasure and pain escape from the depths of his being.

Knot is forming, larger and more invasive than ever before. Even in his false dizziness of heat, being devoured by his Alpha’s member, Izuna can feel that monstrosity growing and growing inside him, much more massive than it has never previously been.

The Uchiha could believe he is about to explode, his body moving in all directions under the titan’s solid grip holding him tight, when a fiery explosion happens within him and there are stars dancing in front of his eyes.

Moment is endless, Hashirama refusing to let go of his neck and the bleeding wound from his fangs hurting there, but nothing matters because the Omega is suddenly full and filled with the most precious and coveted liquid of its kind.

The Uchiha comes only from the sensation of his Alpha’s seed inside him, which overflows his interior and soils his thighs, staining the sheets and everything in its path.

The two remain hooked to each other for a few long minutes, Hashirama unwilling to let go of his mate’s neck. 

Alpha doesn’t regain consciousness at any point, but that’s okay, because Izuna knows he’ll at least enjoy the month he has left of this.

[gotenandtrunkz]

post

- Goten & Trunks guys being dudes etc. This doesnt make sense if you’re just dropping in but it makes sense if youve been living it. And I loathe to make a post like this I really do. But you’re just gonna have to go with it. Goten gets it in his head that a great way to annoy Trunks and to get attention and to do something new/interesting is to try to convince him to “do it in the butt” with him.

- Trunks is like “No” and Goten is like “Please” and Trunks is like “No” and Goten tries to make his argument (it’s something new, it’s not a big deal, they can say that theyve done everything together if they do this, it’s a way to pass the time, neither of them have a GF at the moment so it’s a practical means of getting by, it’s funny, etc), Trunks keeps saying “No” and the conversation dies off.

- Much later, they’re chilling, hanging out, it’s quiet, in Trunks’s room, Trunks is reading a book on his mattress. He’s lying on his stomach and reading a book. Goten is kind of bored and the silence is boring him and usually when Trunks pulls out the “for geniuses” books Goten leaves and he should probably leave. He’s thinking about leaving. But he sees Trunks lying on the mattress with his ass to the world and Goten remembers the conversation that they had earlier and he figures that there’s one (1) more thing he could try to do to get some god damn entertainment around here before leaving. 

- See it’s like this. You can’t be proud of cheap shots, yeah? We all like to try to get a rise out of our buddies, but if someone, say, fires a loaded gun into the sky, and then laughs becasue everybody flinched - well they’re kind of an asshole, yknow? Because of course everyone flinched. That was an unprecedented noise. It was a cheap shot and they’re kind of an asshole. You know what’s much more rewarding? When you EARN someone’s response, flinch, cringe, giving-up, etc. Playing the devil’s advocate and going back and forth until they finally run out of ideas and concede. Wrestling with someone and using silly moves and giving them many outs before finally winning, rather than just, like, hitting them in the head with a board to start. You gotta BUILD UP to it, yknow? Especially in the context of Goten & Trunks. They have been BFFs for forever and so the bar is very high when it comes to messing with each other. They’ve seen it all so the attempts have to keep getting more delicate and convoluted. What’s more, they’re martial artists, and KNOW the ignominy of a cheap shot. They would never let the other one forget or come back from a cheap shot.

- So I’ll tell you what Goten cannot do. He cannot go over there and grab Trunks’s ass and rip it off. It’s shock value and it’s a cheap shot. He cannot go over there and start beating on it like a bongo drum, even though he really wants to. It’s overdone, and as a prank relying on Trunks’s reflexive flinching, so, it’s a cheap shot. If Goten is gonna have a win, he’s gotta be careful about this. He’s gonna have to really work it.

- Goten goes over there and, to just, like, test the waters, just sits on him a bit. Not even a straddle, he just sits on him like one would on a cement ledge. At this point there’s a 50% chance that Trunks will tell him to get off, in which case no one wins, because a situation that could be won has not even been allowed to develop yet; and there’s a 50% chance that Trunks says nothing, because he is sensing the silent honor of the budding scenario and he wishes to maintain his dignity. 

- Trunks says nothing. And he isn’t going to say anything. He’s not gonna let Goten win, yknow? He’s not gonna let him have this. He’s gonna ignore him so expertly. He just keeps reading his book.

- Goten just starts shifting around trying to find ways to bug him. He rubs his back and shoulders & straddles him for a bit & then he starts rubbing his legs and nothing is working. Then he just, like, lowers himself onto him, all careful and soft-like, like how a pigeon hunkers down on a clutch of eggs. Carefully aligning himself so that they’re perfectly parallel. And he really thinks that this is gonna be the winner right here. But Trunks still doesnt respond at all and Goten is just lying on him and his head falls over Trunks’s shoulder and TBH it’s pretty comfortable and Goten might just fall asleep like a cat in a sunbeam but NO. He’s gotta stay awake. He’s on a mission. 

- Goten is feeling sleepy and bored again so he kisses Trunks on the ear and Trunks DOES give him a response to this - he lets his hands fall away from the book and he sighs like an exasperated parent. He looks forward at nothing as if looking into the camera, and while Goten scrambles to regain his balance to lift himself up slightly, Trunks has already returned to his calm reading. Like it had never happened. He had expressed some annoyance but it was buried in the sands of time now and Goten has had no win at all. What’s more, it wasnt genuine annoyance, it was the Sigh of an Exasperated Parent; Trunks is clearly playing him and is in the lead right now. And now he’s unbothered in his book again.

- Goten has half a mind to forgo his efforts right now and to start beating on Trunks like a monkey, but he shows restraint. He crawls off of him and thinks what to do.

- He decides that he’s bored & wants to go home anyway & he might as well just get this ball rolling. If Trunks thinks that it’s unfair + a cheap shot then so be it. Goten, very gently, tries to shimmy Trunks’s pants OFF of his ass. To reiterate it is dead silent in the room right now. Goten is being so careful and so self-aware that it’s brazen. This may be the funniest gambit to ever appear on the big screen. He tries to pull Trunks’s pants down.

- SURELY this will garner a reaction. Trunks is not just gonna let Goten do this, right? It’s not that they havent yanked each others pants down before as pranks, or havent bathed together, or havent drawn on each other’s butts with markers, but it’s just - given the context of their previous conversation, the one where Goten was trying to convince to “do it in the butt” with him .. what’s ironic and what’s not at this point? Is Trunks going to let this stand?

- Nah man, it doesnt matter. Trunks is cool reading his book right now. Negative perspiration baby. Goten starts to sweat nervously, just a bit, because he’s starting to doubt that he can win this after all. It’s hard to pull down someone’s pants when they’re actively lying down, pinning the fabric against some surface. Goten is in dire straits. And Trunks is winning so hard right now, you know what he does? This is like the tortoise and the hare, when the hare has so much lead on the tortoise that he doubles back and takes a nap. Trunks has so much confidence to spare right now that he sort of ... shuffles, a bit, in a way - What he does is he turns a page and CLEARS HIS THROAT like an OLD MAN and in the process shuffles a bit and in that manner, lifts at the waist just a smidge, for just a moment, thus giving Goten a bit more clearance to accomplish what he’s trying to do. 

- This is charity work! This is humiliating! Trunks is winning so hard right now that it’s like he’s passing Goten while on his final Mario Kart lap, while Goten is only on his 2nd, and he tosses him a mushroom. Goten considers going home and killing himself. But he’s come too far to quit. He’s made his bed and now he has to eat it.

- So where are we? Trunks’s pants are out of the way enough. Underwear isnt hard to just, like, scrunch down, so that’s not an issue. Where are we? Where have we come from? Where are we going? 

- Goten thinks what to do. Then a moment of peace and clarity falls upon him. He remembers that he’s bored & wants to go home & he really doesnt care what happens & this is really at no cost to him. He might as well. What’s it gonna take to get Trunks to buckle? This is absurd. It’s embarrassing that Trunks would have this much pride really. It’s at no cost to Goten.

- Goten puts his finger in Trunks’s butt. Trunks turns his head and coughs.

- OK so this is crunch time now this is rush hour this is the final lap this is final destination this is the final stage this is, you have 6 exams the next day and you didnt study, this is high stakes this is everything. This is personal. Goten can’t go home like this. He leaves Trunks’s ass exposed as he gets up and paces the room, planning his next move. 

- Ok, ok, ok, this is fine, see, Trunks is actually set up for failure this time, because, he cant ignore Goten forever, he just can’t. No one can. There’s no way he’s gonna win this battle and Goten is gonna make sure of it. Oh yeah. It’s all gonna be fine. Goten can handle this, he’s just gotta keep moving forward. No time for mercy. This isn’t mercy time. Goten considers mercy. He looks at Trunks. Trunks keeps idly turning pages. The sick bastard. No time for mercy. No room to back out. Doomed if you stay, doomed if you go. Ah hell. Goten was the one who brought it up first. He’s not afraid of Trunks’s shitty pale ass. Upturned like the moon reflecting on the ocean. It’s cool. Goten is fine. He’s more than fine. He’s invincible. And he doesnt even care. It’s at no cost to him.

- Goten sort of sways on his feet, acting natural. Trunks itches his nose and turns a page. Goten starts whistling a bit, looking around, and he drops his own pants as quietly as he can. 

- All of this competitive stress has got him flying at half-mast right now, but that’s not enough to carry through to victory. That’s like bringing a butter knife to a sword fight. That’s bullshit. That’s bullshit and we don’t have time for bullshit right now.

- Goten looks down at his exposed and pitiful self, and thinks of what would be the fastest way to full-vitality right now, and at this vulnerable and sensitive time, Trunks turns his head and looks at him. 

- “Dude,” Trunks looks him in the eye. “I’m not going to let you fuck my ass. Put that away.” Then he returns to his book.

- Goten goes limp immediately. Weak with embarrassment, he lifts his own pants back up, and then much like a dog with its tail between its legs, does Trunks the courtesy of wrestling his back on too. He leaves the room & finds a bathroom & gets in the shower & he stands there with his hand on the wall and head hanging for 45 minutes. 

- While Goten is in the shower, let’s revisit Trunks for a moment. OBVIOUSLY that was a serve like no other, obviously he won the royale. Obviously Goten has been destroyed and Trunks has the honor of signing his name with a cattle prod onto Goten’s ass. But TBH? Just to get a glimpse into the mind of a victor? He was getting a little scared at the end there. He wasn’t sure what was gonna happen. I’ll tell you, he won that battle for two reasons: One, he never lost confidence; and Two, he always maintained control. Now control is a tricky thing. Just the illusion of it will suffice, as it’s determined by who believes what. Goten wasn’t really confident, because he’s always been player 2 to Trunks, and Trunks has won so many times and in such effective ways that sometimes Goten gets nervous and starts slipping on his own sweat. But there’s no need for that. See, it’s not always clear, because Trunks is really good at keeping his mouth shut, but there have been times where Goten has really filleted him. And it’s always because Goten doesnt give a shit and is a wild wild man, while Trunks often times cares about things to some degree. If Goten had really committed to the fratboy hazing he was attempting, he would have been victorious. But he got cold feet & maybe wasn’t being completely honest with himself on the way that he thinks that sex is kind of a sensual thing & he wasnt really comfortable employing it ironically to bother his buddy & ESPECIALLY when Trunks was just ignoring him and making him feel unwelcome. So really, Goten was doomed to fail from the start. And really, Trunks could have very easily lost that one.

- Trunks is good at keeping his cool and usually things are funny so there’s no harm, no foul, but this one was a battle that he won’t soon forget. He was determined to stay above it, but, man, there’s a point where false confidence will be rectified, yknow? He honestly wasn’t even really reading the book by the end of it. Even to start he was only comprehending like 50-70% of it. He just remembered to turn the page every now and then to make it look real. By the end of it he was understanding maybe 5-10% of it because it was hard to focus when his bare ass was exposed to the dangers of the world. But I mean, he’s cool. He’s cool with it. You know? He’s good at calming down and feigning confidence. It’s one of his strengths. It’s necessary for him. 

- And, yknow, fear isn’t really a conducive emotion, YKNOW? By nature and by nurture, he’s long since trained fear into fight. As a saiyan, a competition excites him. Context is key, maybe, but what was the context, just Goten again trying to parade around like a rooster, or really more like the turkey second-most in the pecking order, and never really getting to be the leader, but routinely trying it anyway. But, really, it was more like the invincible and senseless pranks of a free-spirited monkey, and if Goten hadn’t gotten too self-aware, he would have won that for sure. But Trunks won with his impeccable disgruntled-old-father-impersonation with the sighs and the coughs and he successfully made Goten feel so ignored that it rendered him powerless. 

And, yknow, much in the manner of their broship, Trunks was definitely feeling a little daring too. Part of him wanted Goten to just do it. To just do it. To just do it. Just go on ahead and do it. Let’s see it. I’m dying to see it. Do it. DO IT. DO IT ALREADY, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? HUH? JUST DO IT MAN! COME ON, ARE YOU A COWARD? DO IT, YOU DICK! YOU BASTARD! I’LL EAT YOU! JUST DO IT, ASSHOLE, DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!

But, man. For a minute there, Trunks wasn’t sure how he was gonna get out of this one alive. An adroit eye would read Trunks’s final words not as a KO but as the insecure flailing that they were - he truly was out of ideas and he just had to defend himself somehow.

But, it’s over now, and Trunks is formally the winner, and his status is secure, and Goten never has to know about the cold sweat that broke out on the back of Trunks’s neck near the end there. He’ll be perceived as coolly disinterested as always.

Stay gorgeous everypony 

[thebluemallet]

My Top 10 Favorite Moments From Bridgerton Season 2, Episode 2: "Off to the Races"

It has officially been one year since Season 2, so please enjoy my upcoming series of posts about my favorite moments from each episode (and ignore the fact that I never finished doing this for Season 1). My favorite moments in no particular order (except maybe chronological):

10- Shave and a Haircut (Two Bits)

The back and forth between Anthony and Benedict is gold. Anthony is being his usual, brooding, calculating self. Benedict is just waiting for all of Anthony's plans to get derailed by the sissster! And probably the most quoted line from the trailer is in here and I love it. I am, of course, talking about Anthony's desire to go about choosing a bride with his head and not his dick heart.

I don't know if the cloth over the face was an intentional nod to Anthony's sideburns from last season, but if it was, kudos to the production team for thinking of that.

9- Door to the Face

I a-door Kate telling off Anthony and then shutting the doors to the drawing room in his face. She is the gatekeeper and she'll do whatever it takes to keep Anthony away from Edwina.

8- Hug-blocked

Oh, Penelope. You sure have some awkward moments, don't you. First, you slightly horrified your best friend when you said "...someone like--Colin!" Then you almost forgot yourself in the excitement of Colin being home and went to hug him before the other Bridgertons cut you off. At least it gave her a moment to remember herself and luckily for her, no one else seems to notice what she almost did.

While I would like the montage for season 3's first episode to be Colin getting increasingly confused/stressed out/sad because Penelope is ignoring him, I think it might actually end up being more of this awkward cutie trying and failing at the marriage mart.

7- "You think too much about it." "And you too little."

Kate and Anthony's argument over which horse will be the victor gives me life. And they're so absorbed in each other that Edwina's and Dorset's attempts to try and break up their debate get drowned out. And the two of them just absolutely losing it while watching the race is amazing. And I love the look on Anthony's face when Kate starts whistling. He's bewildered. He's in awe. He's horny as hell.

How did nobody else notice that these two were perfect for each other based off of this interaction???

6- The Fencing Scene

I would hereby like to petition the showrunners to please let us see the flowy white shirts the men are wearing more often. Anyway, on to the scene. Anthony is having a temper tantrum ranting to his brothers about Kate. If this is Anthony trying to hide how much he likes Kate, then he is going to be absolutely sickening in season 3 when he doesn't have to hide it anymore. I'm amazed that the brothers aren't picking up on it. Colin, you're forgiven since you've only just returned to the country, but Benedict, you haven't taken any drugs yet at this point in the show. You should have been able to read between the lines.

And did I mention: give us more of the flowy white Regency men's shirts.

5- Trojan Horse

Showing up at Lady Danbury's house with Nectar showed that a) Anthony really knew nothing about Edwina and b) he accidentally got the perfect gift for Kate. If only he wasn't so stupid. But his stupidity leads to some great lines this season so I'll take it.

Seriously, this is the 19th-century equivalent of getting someone a Ferrari, why would you do this, Anthony?

4- Pouty Anthony

Anthony pouting over being excluded from the invitation to Lady Danbury's. That's it. That's all I have to say.

3- Edwina Bonding With Penelope

Let's be real, Penelope's hair and outfits improve this season...but not until episode 3. Edwina is kinder than I am because she is very nice to Penelope about her dress and even makes her smile. I would not be able to say one nice thing about that outfit without lying through my teeth. Obviously, Penelope had other motivations when she spoke with Edwina, and she needed to be among the suspects for the Queen for plot reasons, but Edwina made Penelope feel good about herself for a minute there. I wish this friendship had been explored a little more this season, but alas.

2- "You are Pen...you do not count."

The only reason this is on my list is because I'm hoping this moment to come back and bite Colin in the ass in season 3. I like to imagine that when he starts to come to his senses, he'll remember this moment as he's about to drift off to sleep, cringe, and then lie awake for hours wondering what the hell is wrong with him.

1- Lady Danbury's Warning

Yes, Lady Danbury dropped the ball this season by not picking up on the attraction between Kate and Anthony sooner and also not denouncing Anthony courting Edwina. When Kate insists that she doesn't care what anybody thinks of her and she'll be more than happy to live the rest of her life alone in India, Lady Danbury calls her out on this. It's obvious to us and Danbury that Kate does care what people think of her (read: Anthony) and that she would be devastated at leaving her family behind and probably never seeing them again.

[navree]

Your first theory sounds more realistic - Aegon and Visenya, who’s relationships considered never warm, probably had an argument/fight and she said some horrible things (honestly, all her comments in the book are kinda vile and envious so no surprise here).

And I don’t think Aegon ever liked her. But could you blame him? Visenya’s personality is not very likeable, with her being stern and serious most of the time, she sound a lot like Stannis Baratheon and it’s not the kind of a person someone would like to be around. And Aegon seems like a no bullshit person and so I don’t think he would go along with her actions.

follow up to this

See now you're putting me in a tough position here because Stannis is one of my favorite guys in ASOIAF, I love him very much and I can, have, and will continue to talk about him ad nauseam until I am forcibly stopped.

I don't think Aegon and Visenya having a blowout argument where hurtful words are exchanged that worsens any rift that was growing between them is out of bounds. It's actually something I've floated for myself, as a subset of my own theory, that in grief they said harsh things that they've never taken back and it did worsen what was going on between them. They don't necessarily need to have a prior bad relationship for there to be a falling out that they couldn't recover from, especially in such a high stress environment like the First Dornish War.

Listen, I've always said, and I will continue to always say, that I will not knock on anyone's headcanons, especially when it comes to the Conquerors, who we know frighteningly little about as people. And if there are people who view their story the same way that it's been viewed throughout most of Westerosi history and run with that, then that's fine by me, great, go forth and go nuts, there's good content to be mined from that. But it's not going to be something I subscribe to myself. It's also just that simply, as a writer, I've always felt "woman scorned" to be an exceptionally boring trope. Of all the things that can be done with Visenya and Aegon and Rhaenys as people, and with their interlocking relationships, having it just be that Visenya was a jealous hag who hated everyone and who everyone hated right back just feels simplistic and lazy compared to any other possible option. It's not something I'd find narratively compelling on a character or story level, and if this were a narrative proper and that was what they went with, I'd be sorely disappointed.

I also don't think we can just categorically proclaim that Visenya and Aegon never liked each other. We know Visenya at least supported him publicly, that she crowned him as king herself and was an active participant in the Conquest (she was literally injured in battle for it), continued to support the realm even as their relationship worsened, she defended him fiercely whenever his life was in danger, especially during the Dragon's Wroth, to the point of forming the Kingsguard herself to protect him, and even after he was dead, she still offered advice and counsel to Aegon's son by Rhaenys even if she thought he was a bad fit for kingship and supplanted his heir with her own son. And on Aegon's side, he trusted Visenya to be a part of his unification of Westeros and gave her just as many commands as he did Rhaenys to make that possible, he had Visenya not just as a consort but as a co-administrator, as one of the two people most in charge of the day to day political runnings of the Seven Kingdoms, alongside Rhaenys, he trusted her to protect his life and he trusted her instincts when it came to others being charged to protect him also; he did go along with her actions in those various respects. And, most importantly, he still kept her as his wife even after Rhaenys entered the picture.

The idea that the two eldest Targaryen children must get married isn't some hard and fast law, it's just a custom that's followed within the family. And we know absolutely nothing about how Aegon's marriages shook out. We don't even know if he got married to both sisters at the same time, or if there was an original marriage of just him and Visenya with Rhaenys added in later (that's my personal view of it) once Aerion, who seems to have been the person most gunning for it in comparison to his children, was out of the picture, either through infirmity or outright death. But there was a period of time where Aegon was now the person in charge of making decisions on who he would wed, that's why he married Rhaenys at all, and on the flipside would be involved in any decisions about dissolving his original marriage. We don't know exactly how ending a marriage works in Westeros, given that we only get the Faith of the Seven's idea that a marriage can be put aside if it was never consummated. It's entirely possible that, if Aegon really just could never stand Visenya, he could have easily kicked her out of the marriage entirely, and likely been able to do so, rather than just changing the parameters of the marriage to include two wives once Rhaenys got involved. The fact that he did what he did can speak volumes to the respect and affection he had for Visenya, at least as a sister, if not as a romantic partner (I still think Visenya was a lesbian in love with Rhaenys and never saw Aegon as more than a little brother, and Aegon of course was in love with Rhaenys too and only viewed Visenya as a big sister).

None of this precludes there being a catastrophic rift later in life, or them turning on each other in hurtful ways. But in my view, not only through the evidence but also in what I like creatively, I don't think that's what it is. It seems that they liked each other fine early on in life, that they enjoyed each other and loved each other as family, and likely probably did have their own companionship due to some similar characteristics (Visenya was stern and serious, Aegon was, as you said, not someone who took bullshit and seemed to be more inclined to reservation than exhuberation), but the circumstances and stresses of life twisted and corroded that until it was something toxic and distant and hurtful that never fully recovered.

I also think the Stannis thing you mentioned is actually unintentionally revealing, anon. Because on the outside, yeah, Stannis doesn't seem like the kind of guy people would want to be around. He's stern and law abiding to a fault and stubborn and unforgiving, and that hasn't engendered much love for him in other people who don't know him personally. But we, the readers, have seen the inner workings of Stannis through someone who loves him borderline unconditionally, in Davos, and we learn a lot. We learn about Stannis as a kid who nurtured a hawk who would never be the kind of hunter he needed, just because he couldn't just abandon it to die. We learn about Stannis as someone who forced himself into atheism because he couldn't fathom a world where the gods would let him watch his parents die. We learn about Stannis as someone who struggled greatly in the choice between whether or not to abandon his principles in siding with Robert, a traitor, over Aerys, an anointed king, and chose his brother because he loved him. We learn about Stannis as someone who held out through an unimaginable siege and starvation out of loyalty to his brother's cause. We learn about Stannis as someone who values those who helps him, regardless of stations, and we learn about Stannis as someone who wants so desperately to do right by people even if it's not what he wants, like claiming kingship for Robert's sake and swearing his men to press Shireen's claim if he falls in battle even if he never wanted any of this. And we do see Stannis as more than just some asshole the way he's painted as by outsiders, we see him as someone who clearly cares for Davos personally, someone who loved his brothers in spite of feeling like it was never returned, someone who does love his daughter (one of the few good things the show ever did with Stannis were some of his moments with Shireen and his evident devotion to her, before That Scene in 5x09), someone with enough love for his fellow man that he'll go to the Wall to help the Night's Watch and take back Winterfell for the Starks even if it's not entirely in his best interests.

At his core, from what we see through Davos in his longstanding devotion and then Jon as the latter gets to know him more, Stannis is so much more than what he's painted as by the official histories and court gossip and word of mouth from people who've never met him personally or don't know him well beyond saying hi in the halls. He is a thousand times more than his reputation. Stannis is the King Who Cared. And none of that is outwardly evident to people who don't know him, to people who aren't entrusted to his confidences the way Davos is. That's actually a key part of ASOIAF, the way that what we see on the outside is so rarely able to also show us what's going on behind the scenes, the way that the opinions of a general populace often do not line up at all with the reality of the situation of what someone is like in their own thoughts and personalities, like Tyrion being derided as a monster when he was trying to save the city in ACOK.

So if Stannis is all of that, and if that's emblematic of one of the core messages of the book that's actually resonant in a lot of characters if you parse it out, is it so impossible to imagine the same can be said for Visenya? Visenya is someone we are learning about entirely through a history book, Fire & Blood is an in-universe textbook compiled long after Visenya was already dead; we learn nothing about her as a person beyond what's been officially recorded, certainly nothing from those closest to her, as neither she nor Aegon nor Rhaenys left any in person records about themselves or their feelings on each other. It's entirely possible, and honestly quite extraordinarily likely that Visenya, like Stannis, has a lot more to her as a person and as a character than meets the eye.

[lunatic-fandom-space]

okay, im in the third section of the book now, I forget what its called but I just read the fifth chapter of it. They always switch back and forth between Lestat and all the vampires who havent been killed by Akasha either because Lestat loves them or because theyre just that old and powerful, and so far Ive been enjoying Lestats chapters a lot because theyre really interesting and also because I was right, their dynamic is hot and ive been enjoying the vampire gangs' chapters less because theyre very lore-y but if youve been following these posts Im sure youve already guessed that

But what you probably didnt guess is that Im not gonna complain about those chapters, Im gonna complain about the Lestat chapter where he and Akasha discuss her plans of eradicating 90% of the male population in the name of ending war, rape and all of the bad stuff that men currently play a big part in perpetuating. Its just. so annoying

Like, Akasha's plan is so obviously so stupid and Lestat wants to convince her not to do it but her he keeps being like "ah I cant refute her because shes making such good points" NO you cant refute her because youre somehow even stupider!!

Literally the only good argument he makes is "what if women sort themselves into feminine and masculine like men sometimes do when there arent enough women around" and Akasha is just like "so what? theyre still women, theyre not capable of doing genuine harm" which is stupid because yes they are??? have you seen the way racist white women treat non-white women?? you spent so much time in your little hole astralprojecting and bodyhopping, specifically into the bodies of people who were suffering and you didnt once witness the life of a woman whos a racial minority?? And you spent all these thousands of years watching the world and pondering this great design and you never realized that the reason women as a collective are these gentler, more docile creatures that are less capable of war and violence and rape is that men force them to be that way, and that if they were allowed to be free from this patriarchy, they would very quickly prove that they are capable of those things the same way men are?? I mean, Akasha is free from the patriarchy and shes literally committing violent genocide. like shes not even doing it in a GeNtLe and FeMiNiNe way wheres shes killing them all painlessly or whatever

And no, this isnt me trying to make some anti-feminist argument about why the patriarchy is good or about modern feminism going to far because its no longer about equality its about supremacy or whatever the fuck those stupid conservative guys always say. To address the latter point first, that is just not true, there may be "radical feminists" (heavy quotes here because those bioessentialist jokers are not feminists lmao) who do want that but theyre ultimately powerless to actually enact their revenge fantasies on the global sale they want in this day and age because theres not enough of them and the patriarchy disadvantages them too much, and also it doesnt really matter for this post because Im talking about fiction and Im talking about stuff thats completely out of the realm of possibility irl; Akasha is not real and its impossible for there to be someone like her in the real world.

To now address the first point, in our current society where the main "thing" that power does is enable certain people to mistreat others who lack power, the powerless will always suffer in fundamentally the same ways under the powerful, and it doesnt matter if the ones with power are men and the ones without it are women or the other way around; if there was only one gender and only one race and culture and no class inequality, other systems would form to allow some people to wield power over those that dont have it. And I dont think thats because humanity is collectively doomed to always hunger for oppression, I think humanity on the whole is kind enough not to want that, but there are always people who do want it for some reason, and some of them have the ambition to not only conceptualize themselves benefiting from wielding power over the powerless, but to shape society until they or their ancestors are able to do just that. And once that happens, once powerlessness is something that can be experienced by people, most of them are going to be too busy scrambling to gain power so that they might stop themselves, as individuals, from having to experience again to realize how wrong it all is!

Anyway. all of this to say, this is ultimately a book series about morally dubious characters and theres a good chance that Akasha's blatant hypocrisy and lack of faith in humanity and even her stupidity are there on purpose to make some thematic point, but idk man, Ive just gotten so worked up over this. I think its because, even though I try not to make any judgements on writers based on their fiction because I am a writer of fucked up fiction that doesnt meaningfully reflect anything about me so I know its stupid, I still end up doing exactly that, and its pretty easy to do that with most books Ive read for most of my life (YA books) too, so there hasnt really been any reason for me not to just do that, but obviously I cant do that with these ones, and even if I could, its not like that would make my reading this text any richer. Also, even though I hate this current wave of people loudly shouting that all media must teach good moral lessons, again, I cant help but instinctively view media through that lens as well and I usually dont make enough of an effort to supress that instinct, which is why stuff like this makes me so mad and so passionate

Whatever. its getting late and I need to calm down before I go to bed. Add "bad at feminism" to my list of reasons for why I want Akasha to be dead by the end of the book, right after "fucks with the worldbuilding and stakes in a way that doesnt jive w/ me"

[afr0-thunder]

[Poor Chronicles Pt. 19]

*BEHIND STARBUCKS EDITION*

Chicken Salad and Water Diet: Day Two! I didn’t drink water yesterday, just went to sleep. I picked up a double, so it was tiring. I wonder every day, “Will I have the energy to walk to/from work on this diet?”. Legs a little tired, but I say, “Yes!”. “Will I get hungry and buy something to eat and start a new diet?” and to that I say, “Well I’m not hungry now, so I don’t think I will.”.

My housemate’s hostility may be stemming from her inability to track my income. Over eating too many packs of fucking noodles? Sounds mildly crackhead-ish, but whatever. I just figured if she never asked, I never asked her about hers and we both did our part every month, there should be no issues. Incorrect. She must assume my income means I’d buy her food randomly like she’s done for me (when I didn’t work for the first couple months). Also incorrect. You’d figure after almost a year of offering more than what’s required, she’d catch on…and I bought snacks. Need to put an end to that too. Possibly her grandson (year older than me) mentioned my Instagram story about how when I got rich I was helping no one. Didn’t say her, but things change. Also, he provoked this mindset to be furthered. Before I worked this job, I was at another job (he runs a business, meets lots of famous people, has them buy things from him, takes pictures of them with it), he asked if I was “still working at that lil pizza place?”. Long story short, I know where I’m headed and gave him business advice that would help him save and even make more money going further (mostly ideas). He went back and forth with me. Said I sounded like my grandfather. Ended up almost rolling his eyes because of how persistent I was with proving my point and said, “You right! You just know everything”…because I don’t own my own business, I guess. I’m just saying a consumer would understand sales better than someone “above” them because we tend to notice things that a producer wouldn’t, as we don’t have to tend to hundreds of others. He just ended with “Okay well let’s see where I’m at in 2 years and where you’re at.” like a competition. I said, “Well seeing as though I haven’t gotten started on my career directly and you are about 10 years in on efforts almost, but more than 5 literally, that would almost be unfair.”.

He says, “3!”.

I say, “I would do 2, but okay we’ll see.”

I quit that job almost a year from today after 2 straight days of hostile arguments with the owner’s husband (my last manager). Almost a year later, I am doing better. Look forward to seeing how year two goes. Probably worse because why would it get better. Someone wants to see me doing bad, so they have to get their wish. It’ll still be great, just not to the average idiot, so “bad”.

I clocked in a few seconds too late, aware this means one of my enemies (I’m their’s) wants me to be late to everything or off timing. Endlessly pissed about being a minute off my OWN schedule, but also give no fuck about what they want.

My head coach mentioned how I worked a lot of hours last week and would probably be thrilled when I checked my pay stub. I didn’t check, nor did I get thrilled.

Today, she and my assistant coach asked when I was going to get a phone, so they could text me if they needed to reach me. I laughed and said, “Never.” (Have been laughing about this since I left work, forgot my exact word/words). I said I have a phone, (2, actually) it just doesn’t have service. I said they could always call the number I have on file (housemate’s). She said, “What if you get a hot date?”. I say, I’ll just have to meet her in person. On my walk home I realized, I still needed a method of contact. I decided not to give Mary my tumblr or Instagram like I first thought and will give her my email, so she doesn’t have to give me her email, in case she thinks I’m crazy (I am). I’ll just tell her that though.

My African American manager got pissed when I was washing lettuce and got him wet. I said, “That’s kind of feminine.”…because girls…get wet. I don’t think he caught on. He said, “You were a male cheerleader! That’s the most feminine sport.”

I said, “MALE cheerleader. Also, it’s soccer. They’re literally called ‘grass fairies’.”.

He said, “Female dominated.”

I said, “Cheerleading was started by males. Also, I could knock everyone on the field, off their field. I gave up football to do cheerleading and it got me through college, plus most of the teams I cheered for sucked. They came to see ME!”.

He shortly after explained this to a female coworker when I said, “First you called me a ‘half nigga’, now I’m a fag.”. She didn’t get the “wet” joke either. She thought it was cool that I was a cheerleader though. I’ve been there for almost a year and just never bring it up.

Savings: $29 > $49

I love being a Chicagoan everyday. This city is so beautiful.

There’s probably more, but I don’t remember it all.

My mother just messaged me…for the 6th time. I wish she would stop. Estranged. Eternally.

In short, craving noodles…hard! My unnamed house type constantly gets new ideas. I miss television, film and social media. This will be my last Starbucks post. I won’t be grocery shopping again, so I’ll move my posts to McDonald’s. I used to love coming home everyday now I hate living in hostility and want to move every single night, but I imagine I’ll have a year or two left here and my current job location (love my job, don’t get shit confused). I will check Week 6 scores next week for the NFL. My African American manager has told like 3 of my coworkers and a manager that I was cheerleader. Starving is not so hard.

- MH (2023)

[10/13/2023 - 6:13PM]

[mishasminions]

Here’s why the Supernatural Series Finale Sucked

(AND IT REALLY ISN’T JUST BECAUSE CAS/MISHA WASN’T IN IT)

First of all, I’d like to state, that this perspective is coming from someone who has watched, invested in, and dissected this show for 15 years. I’ve tried to rationalize and justify every single decision each of the main characters made throughout the years, and I’ve always tried to make sense of each of their story arcs from a “bigger picture” standpoint as each season progressed.

Anyway, before I can properly explain why the finale sucked, let me quickly take you through 15 seasons by segregating them into 3 eras, because you can’t really comprehend what Supernatural is about and what it’s become without going through how it tried to expand its universe.

SEASONS 1-5: THE KRIPKE ERA

Now, we all know that Kripke was always set in wrapping up Sam and Dean’s story in 5 seasons, and he did just that.

So, in this era, Supernatural is about two brothers who set out on a journey to fulfill “the family business”. They hunt mythical monsters that terrorize the world, while battling the monsters within themselves. Their ultimate “big bad” is an apocalypse.

Towards the end of this era, we find out that Sam and Dean are actually a parallel to Biblical characters who are brothers turned rivals. And that Sam and Dean’s destiny is to go up against each other.

However, as a dynamic, they have always been about making their own choices, choosing free will, and having a brotherly bond that can power through against any obstacle at any given day.

So, this era is neatly wrapped up with its finale. The characters grow, and get justified endings.

Dean, a man who thinks of himself as two things: 1. Sam’s older brother and protector; and 2. Daddy’s blunt little instrument.

He’s spent his whole life believing that that was his only purpose, and he knew that the only ending he’ll get would either be a bloody death fulfilling his duty to the family business; or laying his life on the line to save his brother.

Dean gets the ending he thought was never possible for him, something he thought he could never deserve. After years of living and dying for his family, he gets a shot at having an apple pie life--to settle down with a nice girl, raise a kid in a house with a white picket fence. With Sam gone, Dean’s responsibility now is to himself.

Sam, on the other hand, never wanted any part of it, because he wasn’t groomed the way Dean was, and because thanks to Dean, Sam wasn’t traumatized or forced into growing up too quickly the way Dean was.

So Sam aspires for a normal life, and works the cases with Dean so he can maybe get some semblance of it, when everything they set out to kill are laid to rest.

Ultimately, Sam performs a selfless act for his brother, who has given up everything for him, and for their cause--to save the world.

The journey is this: Dean sacrifices everything to save Sam, and Sam sacrifices himself so Dean could live.

Apart from being Dean’s “savior” and guardian angel, Castiel’s role in this era is to serve as a mirror to Dean’s journey. Castiel goes from being heaven’s foot soldier, following “God’s orders”; to an angel who learns to choose and feel for the first time in his existence.

After they realize that they’re both daddy’s blunt instruments, Dean starts choosing his own path for himself, and convinces Castiel to join him. Castiel stops following heaven, and starts following Dean.

In the end, with his newfound understanding of the world thanks to Dean, Castiel goes back to heaven to reform it.

We’ve resolved the biblical arc, and the character journeys.

SEASONS 6-10: THE SPIN-OFF ERA

So this is where the show realizes how vast its universe can be, so it tries to expand it by tapping into uncharted lands and experimenting with it.

They take on heaven, reform hell, explore purgatory, have the angels fall, turn Dean into a demon, and kill Death.

Dean and Sam recognize their codependency, and try to rise above it.

They go back and forth between which brother will risk it all for the greater good every other season.

Dean and Cas strengthen their relationship by recognizing the impact they have on each other’s lives.

Cas structures his life and decisions around Dean (Seasons 6-7), and Dean learns to trust and fight for Cas (Seasons 8-9).

Sam and Cas bond (mostly over Dean) because of their shared rationales in decision-making.

Dean, Sam, and even Cas also forge relationships with the people they work with. The concept of “found family” is introduced here.

This era was heavy on the plot while establishing, reinforcing, and solidifying relationships and dynamics.

At this point, it wasn’t just about the brothers anymore.

If Supernatural had ended in Season 10, the logical finale would’ve been Team Free Will, along with the family that they’ve found, going up against the latest big bad (Death or whoever). Maybe they lose them along the way, maybe they all make it out alive, or maybe they go down swinging, but at least the show recognizes and supports the message they keep saying, “Family don’t end with blood”

SEASONS 11-15: THE REWRITE ERA

This is where the show runs out of ideas and decides to invalidate the seasons that came before it.

From bringing Mary back (basically rendering their whole journey pointless because they’ve literally started hunting because of her death), to changing the stipulations in being Michael and Lucifer’s vessels (another character struggle rendered useless), to God himself breaking the fourth wall by saying that the Winchesters get away with everything because “they’re the main characters in his story and everything they’ve been through was just part of a badly written narrative”.

But what we’re getting from this era is that Sam and Dean, along with Cas (who has also deviated from the story) ARE trying to escape a badly written narrative.

That’s the “big bad” in this era. The writer.

At this point, the characters have picked up so many strays (including those from alternate universes), and have settled into their roles in their “found family”. Dean, Sam, and Cas all become surrogate dads and uncles.

They’ve also graduated from the whole “we’re on different sides” and “going behind each other’s backs” drama. And they just want the whole family together.

They’ve all resigned themselves to the cause, but they’re also tired. Dean allows himself to contemplate about wanting more out of life or at least getting a vacation. Sam, on the other hand, realizes his capabilities as an effective leader. Castiel learns to love another being that isn’t Dean (spoiler: it’s Jack).

However, they also realize that they’ve just been puppets on a string all this time.

So what they want now, is to write their own story, and make their own choices knowing that God/the writer isn’t the one fueling their narrative.

So here’s why the finale sucks:

Andrew Dabb, the current showrunner, said that there would be two finales.

15x19 - The finale to wrap up Season 15, and 15x20 - The finale to wrap up the series by “resolving the characters’ journey”

In 15x19 the boys find a way to de-power God/the writer. For the first time in their whole lives, they are free from the story. Their lives are completely theirs now. They can make their own decisions. There are no more “big bads” to fight

And here’s what happens in 15x20:

Immediately after being freed from their story arc, Dean and Sam go back to hunting the monster of the week.

Dean eats pie, gets nailed (literally), makes a 10-minute speech to Sam because he knows he’s dying, then he goes to heaven.

Dean is greeted by Bobby, his surrogate Dad who he hasn’t seen (fully alive) since Season 7. Bobby’s expository dialogue comprises of him explaining that he got out of heaven’s jail, that John and Mary are next door, and that Jack and Cas fixed the dynamics of heaven off-screen.

The first thing Dean decides to do is go for a long drive in his Impala (as if he hasn’t done enough of that already).

Meanwhile, Sam decides to stop hunting after Dean dies, he gets the apple pie life he hadn’t wanted since Season 8 (while Dean was in Purgatory), and names his kid “Dean” for effect. He grows old and dies.

Dean drove around in heaven for so long that Sam catches up to him.

They hug. The end.

Great, right?

After 15 years of struggling to battle their own respective destinies, going up against big bads and even bigger bads, then finally being able to take charge of their own stories, Dean and Sam regress to hunting the monster of the week, and get killed off by a nail and old age. Okay.

Sam gets to retire and have a family, sure, but they still focus on him and the kid he named after his dead brother. Still just “Sam and Dean” through and through. Nothing to do with found family. Just lineage. Just blood. And it ends there.

See, the problem here is that this ending would’ve been passable in The Kripke Era. But we’re 10 years down the road since, and while Sam and Dean are the original main characters, the show isn’t just about them and their codependent relationship anymore.

So you see, even if you take out the whole “Castiel deserves to be in the finale because he’s also a main character with an unfinished story arc” argument, the finale still does no justice to the series it tried to “wrap up”.

But anyway, now I’ll make the case for the problem with Castiel not being in the finale:

In 15x18, we get a 5-minute rushed confession from Castiel to Dean. The context of which are as follows:

1. Earlier in the episode, Dean had wounded Death with her scythe. We later find out that this wound is fatal.

2. Their friends start to “blip out” in a Thanos-like snap, and Dean thinks that Death is causing it, so Dean seeks her out, and Cas goes with him.

3. Dean and Cas anger Death, apparently for no reason because she didn’t even do the thing they thought she did. She chases them to try to kill them

4. Dean and Cas lock themselves in a room. Dean starts a pity party.

5. As Dean goes through hating himself out loud, Cas decides to inform Dean of the deal he made with The Empty. He then proceeds to explain the stipulation of the deal (that he would get taken once he experiences a moment of true happiness), then discusses his newfound happiness philosophy. Dean is getting whiplash.

6. Cas goes on to imply that the one thing that he wanted that he knew he couldn’t have is Dean Winchester reciprocating his romantic feelings for him. (Don’t even try to fight me on this because Cas already has Dean’s platonic love, and he knows that Dean thinks of him as a brother, so if he really meant this in a “familial” way, then why would he think that he couldn’t have the thing that would make him happy?) So Cas’ realization is that telling Dean about his feelings is enough to make him happy.

7. Cas tells Dean all the reasons why he loves him (thereby combating Dean’s self-deprecation tirade), and all the reasons why he’s worthy of his love. Meanwhile, Dean is still winded from the fact that Cas is about to sacrifice himself for him again.

8. Dean never gets to process anything, because Cas is shoving him out of the way, as he and Death (who busts through the door) get taken by The Empty.

After this episode, Dean never speaks of it. Misha Collins supposes that Dean doesn’t reciprocate. Jensen Ackles says that Dean didn’t really get to process it because it was too much, too fast, and that Dean, still dense as ever, thinks that Cas, a celestial being, doesn’t interpret human feelings the same way.

So what was the point of this confession?

Politics and sensitivities of a 2005 network television aside, what does this do for the story?

Cas proclaims his romantic feelings to Dean, but Dean never acknowledges it, doesn’t even give it a passing thought afterwards. So Cas’ big declaration goes unheard.

Cas cashes in on his Empty deal to kill Death (who was dying anyway), in order to save Dean who dies two episodes after.

Dean makes no effort to save Cas (despite being really broken up about his previous deaths, or even spending a whole year in Purgatory looking for him), even after they’ve beaten God, not even asking Jack (who has all the power in the universe) to bring him back (when Jack has already done it before, with less mojo).

Dean moves on to fight the monster of the week. Somewhere off-screen, Jack rescues Cas from The Empty, but Cas uncharacteristically doesn’t even bother to go to Dean? (Every single time he comes back, Dean’s always the first person he goes to)

And Cas, who apparently helped craft and reform the new heaven, isn’t the one who welcomes Dean and explains the new dynamics of it?

Sure, Jan.

Supernatural, you’ve created a finale that only your casual viewers and people who dipped out after Season 5 can appreciate.

Just goes to show how much you actually valued the people who actually invested in your story and characters, and consistently helped keep your show on the air.

[RT this on Twitter]