#there's probably a lot that could be criticized here but please don't be mean

[mx-myth]

Personally as an aroace being in a queerplatonic relationship and/or a poly relationship sound really freeing to me. I feel like in a QPR there would be less pressure to be more amatonormative or present that way. The kind of "omg I totally thought you guys were dating" sort of relationship that just comes from the pure intimacy of willing to be comfortable around each other and to be intimate without necessarily having to involve kissing/sex/"real" intimacy (and the possible aro or ace solidarity). Meanwhile in a poly relationship I feel like at least for me there would be less pressure be "involved" to an extent. A whole other person (or people) would negate a lot of anxiety on my part enough not being enough (especially if one or more of them are alloromantic). And potentially that's someone who can provide romance or sex that I just can't.

Obviously these are still relationships that you consciously need to put work into maintain and have open lines of communication and discussions of boundaries, etcetera, just like any "normal" relationship but that's really the point here. I'm not allo (and I'm perfectly fine with being "abnormal" by most societal standards, but that's obviously not true for all of us) in any way, shape, or form, so why should I have to fit myself into a little allo box?

[mapiforpresident]

can you please write prompt 20 alexia putellas?

Please Don't Leave Me

Alexia x reader

warnings: angst, car crash

Summary: you get into a car accident with your sister Ingrid.

I just want to say that I have zero medical knowledge so a lot of this is probably inaccurate.

~~~

Alexia had just got done with the last drill of the day and was walking towards the locker room laughing with Lucy about something Narla had did the other day. When she stepped into the locker room though, she immediately knew something was wrong.

Mapi was standing by her cubby shock on her face and her phone shattered at her feet.

"Mapi, maps, hey what happened," Alexia said as she went over and pulled her best friend into a tight hug. Mapi immediately started sobbing into her shoulder.

"Ing... Ingrid..." Mapi let out between choked sobs. Alexia's heart sank and she too started to spiral. If something had happened to Ingrid, then something must have also happened to you. The two of you had left practice just thirty minutes ago because you were invited to talk at a charity event across town and Ingrid had been given permission by Jona to go with you as support.

"Mapi, what happend to Ingrid," Lucy asked since she knew Alexia would not be able to get the words out. At this point the whole team was dead silent in the locker room, but most of them kept back to give the women space. Lucy, being the caring person she was though, decided to take charge of the situation and try to help her teammates in whatever capacity she could.

"Crash... she ... car crash." Those were the only words Alexia heard before she fully broke down, hand covering her mouth trying to muffle the sobs. If Mapi was full on hyperventilating right now that means the doctors news was not good at all and that the crash was very very serious.

"Ok, ok lets get to the hospital and we will find out all the information when we get there ok," Lucy said as she started to guide Mapi out of the locker room and towards her car. Ona walked with Alexia. Lucy guided Mapi and Alexia into the backseat as Ona got in the drivers seat of the Cupra.

~~~

The drive only took ten minutes, but it felt like a lifetime for Alexia. As soon as Ona had pulled into a parking spot, Alexia and Mapi were sprinting into the hospital

"Y/n and Ingrid Engen. They were in a car crash, are they ok, can we see them ..." Alexia rushed out to the receptionist at the ER desk.

"Ma'am slow down please, you said Engen?" Mapi and Alexia both frantically nodded.

"Ok let's see. It says here that Ingrid Engen and Y/n Engen were admitted thirty minutes ago after a car crash. Let me go get the doctor and she will update you whenever she can ok. Why don't you both go take a seat and she should be with you shortly."

"No I need to know if she is ok, can you please just tell me anything," Alexia begged the nurse as Lucy and Ona now entered. Mapi was just standing there not really knowing what to say or do.

"Let's go sit down right over here ok. The doctor will come and talk to us in a minute," Lucy said as she guided Alexia to sit down in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs. Ona did the same with Mapi.

Twenty slow minutes passed before the doctor finally walked out with a clipboard. "Family of y/n and Ingrid Engen."

Mapi and Alexia burst out of their seats and approached the doctor.

"How are they. Are they ok. What happened?" Alexia asked frantically.

"They were in a pretty bad crash. The were hit by a drunk driver head on going the wrong way down the road. Y/n got the brunt of the hit."

At this Alexia broke out into a new sob as Mapi wrapped her arms around her.

"They are both alive, but Y/n was in critical condition but currently stable. She suffered severe head trauma and a brain bleed as well as four broken ribs, a fractured collar bone, a fractured pelvic bone and a large gash on the left side of her face that needed stitches. We currently have her placed under a medically induced coma to try and help her body and swelling go down before we operate on her tomorrow. Ingrid on the other hand is awake and alert. She suffered a minor concussion, a broken wrist and elbow on her right arm and some bruising on her abdomen. She is in room 372 if you would like to go visit her. Y/n is in room 373 and you can see her if you want during today's visiting hours, but I would like to advise you that she has many tubes connected to her and she is going to look very different. If you have any questions I will be in to check on them both in thirty minutes ok."

After the doctor walked away, Mapi asked "Do you want to go see y/n, or do you want to stop and visit Ingrid first?"

"I... I want to see y/n. I need to see her." Alexia finally took a step out of Mapi's embrace and took a couple deep breaths. You were stable. You weren't gone.

"Ok, I'll be in Ingrid's room if you need anything ok." With that they both walked to their respective wives hospital rooms.

~~~

Alexia had never seen you look so small and so unlike you. You were normally loud and outgoing and the life the party. Now you were laying in the hospital bed not even able to breath on your own. There were so many wires and tubes and an IV. She didn't even know where to look.

She slowly walked over to the chair next to the bed and sat down. She very gently took your fragile hand in her own. She kissed it softly before breaking down again. Ale leaned her head against the edge of the bed and sobbed until she had no more tears. She sat there for over an hour crying and clingy to your hand before she decided to speak.

"Amor please, please come back to me, I can't lose you. I... I haven't told anybody this yet. I was going to tell you tonight. I had it all planned out. I...it worked amor... I'm pregnant... we are going to be moms. I took the test this morning while you were still sleeping. I can't wait to become parents together. You need to pull through for me y/n, I can't do this without you. I love you. I love you so much."

Little did Alexia know that you could hear her entire speech. This immediately sparked your heart rate because of the news she told you. Alexia heard loud beeping fill the room as the heart rate monitor started becoming more rapid. The doctor and nurses immediately rushed into the room as one of the led Alexia out of the room. Alexia felt like she couldn't breath. She couldn't move, she couldn't think.

"I'm really sorry ma'am" Was all she heard the doctor say a couple minutes later as she stepped out of the room before all she heard was ringing in her ears and her heart completely shatter.

[stop-talking]

Breakdown of the @joshsbimbo controversy.

@mike-schmidtten already made a detailed list of every reason why people are upset with you, "lamb", but I'm going to quickly go over it all anyways because you obviously didn't get the memo.

Extreme trigger warning for this entire post, I'm going to be talking about rape, SA, assault, violence, abuse, incest, stepcest, pedophilia, substance abuse, and probably a lot more.

First of all, you tagged this fic where Mike literally rapes the reader as "cnc". That is not correct.

I mean, if we look at the definition of CNC, it says "this type of scene does not encourage ACTUAL rape. All proper scenes are done after much negotiation between of-age, consenting adults."

But I don't need to explain that to you, do I? You know what CNC is. You said yourself MONTHS ago that you tagged your fic incorrectly and NEVER went back and fixed it.

Mike's next point was that you make it impossible for people to "steer away" from their triggers when you don't tag your posts properly.

And as an example he used this post of straight up incest porn between Mike and his little sister. All completely out in the open, tagged under "#mike schmidt" and "#mike schmidt x reader" for all to see.

He followed it up this this. A plea for you to, at the bare minimum, tag the major triggers in your posts and hide it under a "read more" section.

Let's take a look at how you responded to that very reasonable request.

Oh. You DM'd him the word poop and blocked him.

Instead of reblogging to respond, you actually deleted your origional post so your followers couldn't see the criticism of you as easily. I wonder why? You made your stance clear, though. "I should have put more warnings on my work, but it doesn't matter anyways because it's all fictional." But then, immediately after, you started relogging an account that makes photoshopped foot fetish content of male celebrities for some reason...?

(I censored the feet myself because its just weird) Oh, and weird AI pictures of him, too.

There were worse ones, but I didn't screenshot everything, and you deleted these posts just a few hours after reblogging.

You followed it all up with this now-deleted post about how you wish you could make your notes private. Again, I wonder why? If it really is OKAY to sexualize incest, rape, and abuse just because it's fictional, why would people be scared to support you? Why is no one willing to publicly like your posts, or speak out in your favor? Even some of your biggest supporters (@leah-hutcherson @teenagedreamsss @cuteskunkz @renaissancebewbies) who continue to like (some) of your posts, still haven't come to your defense. If writing about fictional rape, abuse, and incest really and truly wasn't harmful, why would you need to hide?

Once other people started catching wind of what was going on, you responded in some... interesting ways. Like here, in response to this ask (from a person who is a minor BTW). You switched up your story from "I should have tagged my work better" to "everyone hates me now because I forgot to put warnings on ONE story" (which was just blatantly false, as you had been posting other triggering things at the time with no warnings whatsoever.)

It was absolutely ridiculous of you to claim you put warnings on your work when I could scroll down two posts (back before you deleted this) and see a post about Mike beating his kid.

Like... please show me where exactly the warning is?

Then, when this person, (another MINOR, btw!!) posted after reading Mike's breakdown of your behavior, your responded by DMing them a slur.

I don't even know what to say to that. A minor. A slur.

But as much as you like to INSIST your work isn't for minors, you sure seem to interact with them a lot.

This person who reblogged your masterlist? They're a minor.

^^ You can't say you don't want minors to read your work without actually taking all precautions possible to prevent them from seeing it. (Tagging your content, blocking ageless accounts, NOT REBLOGGING MINORS!!!)

Yes. This person is also a minor. Which makes, what, the 4th minor you've interacted with in the past few days? At least from what I can tell.

They also hate you btw so I don't even know why you reblogged them.

FINALLY, this user commented under one of your posts in an attempt to get you to AT LEAST tag your posts correctly if you're going to write triggering shit. (Which was the same think Mike asked you to do, if you remember, but he got "poop" and reblogs of foot fetish posts as a response.)

But then it looked like you either blocked them or removed their comment, so they tried again.

You ignored this message, then apparently posted this?

So they tried again (being much nicer that I would have)

And you finally responded (and still got blocked anyways because your posts are DISTURBING and GROSS)

I doubted you'd actually fix your page, because again, you ignored the same request when Mike asked, and in the past admitted you tagged your fics wrong but just never bothered to change it.

But surprise surprise, you actually went through with it and added trigger warnings to your content.

Though, I'm still not sure "non-serious" is an appropriate tag for a post where mike beats you to death...??

Look. I appreciate that you're at least TRYING now, but it was a fucking FIGHT to get you to do the bare minimum. What I, and apparently 84% of people actually want you to do is delete your account.

(This is from @mike-schmidtten's breakdown post from a couple days ago)

I know you want to PRETEND that just because something is a work of fiction, it doesn't have negative real-world effects, but that's just not the truth.

A lot of people were hurt when you posted things without trigger warnings.

And even now, as you continue to post fetish content for rape, incest, and abuse, people are still being hurt. MINORS are still being hurt.

Yes, obviously, if you post something on the internet, you can't completely 100% control who sees it. But you don't even seem to TRY.

(Dming minors slurs, letting minors reblog your masterlist, letting ageless accounts interact with you, reblogging minors, answering asks from minors, etc)

People, minors, CHILDREN, are raped and abused by those closest to them every day. It's disgusting and horrifying to think about, but it's the world we live in.

You aren't "helping people cope" by writing these stories. You're normalizing abuse. And allowing the most vulnerable people to read it.

You're taking actual things that have happened to real people, and sexualizing it for others to get off to. It's immoral, disturbing, and disgusting.

To my followers, if any of you support this kind of content, you are NOT welcome on my page. Please unfollow or block me and go seek help.

And to you, lamb, I hope you come to your senses and either delete all of your rape & incest fetish content or delete your account entirely.

At the end of the day, you KNOW you're in the wrong. Or at least some small part of you does, or you wouldn't have been afraid to reblog Mike's post and respond defending yourself directly. And you wouldn't be afraid to reblog mine either, which you undoubtedly will.

I know you used to follow me, so maybe you'll take this all to heart. But probably not.

I won't block you. (for the next few days, at least). I'll be here if you want to try and have a civil discussion. But just know I will NEVER agree with the sexualization & glorification of violence and abuse.

[weirdsht]

Disillusioned 22 . Pen Pals

English isn’t my first language so there will be grammatical errors

Pls don't repost my work anywhere without my permission

Constructive criticisms and any kind of interaction are more than welcome

Requests are currently closed but my ask are still open (read pinned)

Buy Me Dessert

Navigation Masterlist prev . next

_____,

I don’t understand why you prefer such a bothersome way of communication when we have communication devices but if it’s what you want. 

We have successfully acquired the earth attribute power that White Star is looking for. It’s currently in my possession but I did not absorb it so you don’t have to worry about my plate. I’ll explain everything to you once we see each other. The trial to get this power was in the form of battling a giant snake that can lure people by playing with their feelings such as sorrow. The sight wasn’t pretty. It was gruesome, something you wouldn’t want to see.

However, the ending sight was a spectacle. The way the snake turned into flower petals was quite pretty. I think you would have liked to see it for yourself. Nonetheless, you should stay there where it is safe. Ron has told you that he left some of the members of the Molan household in your care. Don’t hesitate to use them at your disposal.

Sincerely,

Cale

Dear Cale,

Thank you for indulging my whims and using letters as our way to communicate. I prefer it this way as this puts no pressure on you to respond immediately. As for my end of things, I’m doing fine. I hope you are too. Territory work is a lot harder than I anticipated. Paperwork is easy, as I’ve learned a lot from our time in Mogoru. However, everything else is physically taxing. Despite that, it’s manageable as I have a lot of people helping me. 

Again, please take your time. Whether it’s about responding to my letters or explaining your secrets to me. You can take it slow. Remember that I’ll just be here waiting whenever you are waiting.

Please stay safe and always take care of your health. I will be waiting until the next time I hear from you again.

Sincerely,

_____

Dear Count Perduellio,

Remember when we talked about giving the Dark Elves their territory? I have some great news to share with you. Thanks to the help of my younger brother, we might have a chance to acquire the Land of Death. If everything goes according to plan, the Dark Elves will be able to live aboveground soon. Until then, I shall trust you to take care of them.

As for other news, I am sure you have heard about Cale Henituse’s status right now in the Caro Kingdom. Fear not for he is safe. In fact, that punk is energetic enough to treat the crown prince’s bedroom as if it were his own. He’s currently eating my cookies as I write this letter.

That’s all I can share for now. I will update you if other news comes my way.

Sincerely,

Alberu Crossman

Dear Crown Prince Alberu,

I’m delighted to hear such news. It would be great if the Roan Kingdom could give the Dark Elves the Land of Death as they are already familiar with it. As for the Dark Elves within my care, they are also doing well. They have started to settle in the homes we have provided for them and have initiated socializing with the other residents. So far all of them are living in harmony. Children playing, the market bustling, humans and Dark Elves becoming friends. All of this is happening without discrimination.

Of course, I shall observe some more to make sure that all is going positively. However, Your Highness, can you write such brash words? If anyone else were to read your letter it would surely tarnish the reputation of our rising sun a little bit. Good thing we send our letters through special means that will keep their secrecy.

I hope the crown’s endeavours will go splendidly. I shall await more news once it arrives.

Sincerely,

_____ Perduellio

_____,

Have you been doing well? You’ve probably heard from his highness that I am fine despite what the rumours say. There are some things I found out that left me with more questions than answers. To solve that I will be visiting the World Tree. I only wrote this letter to inform you of that, so you won’t worry if ever you can’t contact me.

Sincerely,

Cale

Dear Cale,

I am doing well for the most part. But my body feels heavy these days along with a headache that will come and go. Don’t worry, the healer said it’s probably because of the weather and from me staring at documents too much. It will pass soon. 

You’re going to visit the World Tree? Be careful on your travels. I hope you get the answers you are looking for.

Sincerely,

_____

Dear Count _____,

I have heard from my eldest child that you are not feeling well. Some instances cannot be helped, but you must take care of yourself as much as possible. Do not be afraid to let your retainers and servants shoulder some of the work. You did not clean them up for nothing after all. 

After hearing about your condition I have ordered someone to send you some herbal tea that will help with your headaches. It can also improve your sleep quality. I would like to be there myself, but alas I must stay in the duchy for now.

I will make sure to visit you the first chance I get. Until then, take care of yourself and your health.

Sincerely,

Violan Henituse

Dear Duchess Violan,

I have received the herbal tea you have sent and truly works wonders. Some of my headaches are elevated and my sleep has improved these days. I shall use this tea well as thanks for your generosity. 

As another way to give my thanks, I have sent out a sample of a gem we are currently refining. The design is still in its early stage that’s why it may look a bit rough. I will make sure to send you another one once it’s complete. 

Sincerely,

_____ Perduellio

Dear _____-nim,

Good day _____-nim, are you doing well? Everyone in the duchy is worried about you as you have not responded to any of our letters for a while now. While taking care of work I have also noticed that the Perduellio Territory’s security has gotten tighter. They seem to be keeping something hush.

We are all worried about your silence. I sincerely hope that you are doing well and was just too busy to respond.

Please respond as soon as possible,

Basen Henituse

Dear Duke Henituse,

Good day duke, you may not be familiar with me so I shall introduce myself. I am Viscount Legalem, one of Count Perduellio’s retainers. I am sending this letter to inform you of the count’s condition. Our dear count has fallen unconscious and will not wake up. 

That may make you wonder why I am sending you a letter instead of contacting you through a communication device. I have three reasons to do so; (1) I want to respect Count _____’s decision. They have told me to contact you by letter if it’s not an emergency. I would like to honour that child’s decisions; (2) As I mentioned it is not an emergency, our healers have checked on them and said that nothing is wrong internally and they would be fine even in an unconscious state, and; (3) I have been told by Count _____ to contact either you or Commander Cale if something happens to them. I have no way of contacting the commander which is why I have turned to you.

Our healers and other experts who have checked on Count _____’s condition have found nothing wrong. However, I am still worried as they are not waking up no matter what we do. Thankfully, they are not injured, cursed, or poisoned. Regretfully, we still have not found the reason as to why they are unconscious.

The territory itself is doing well even in the absence of our count. Count _____ has always made sure to get ahead of their work as they said they aren’t sure when the commander will call for them. Nonetheless, our territory would very much appreciate it if you could lend some of your healers and experts to assess our count’s condition. A second opinion would be beneficial to see if our healers have missed anything.

Sincerely,

Viscount Legalem

[bitterkarella]

Midnight Pals: Book Endorsement

Stephen King: you guys, have you read the new JK Rowling book? King: this cormorant strike is just incredible stuff! King: it's amazing that she still finds time to write! King: since she's probably busy with other stuff King: i really haven't checked

King: not really sure what she's doing when she's not writing cormorant strike King: probably normal writer things King: luckily, i don't need to worry about that!

King: when i read cormorant strike, it's like i'm reading harry potter again! Poe: ah yes steve, you did like harry potter King: i LOVE harry potter! King: harry potter made my mid-life magical!

King: i mean it's like harry potter, sorta of King: if you think about it Poe: steve King: i mean if harry potter was a detective with really bad gas Poe: steve King: i just really wanna recapture that mid-life adulthood magic i got with harry potter!!

King: i just love cormorant strike! Barker: steve are you ok Barker: where's joe Barker: does she have joe? Barker: is that what's going on here? Poe: no clive he just Poe: he really likes harry potter

JK Rowling: hello children Stephen King: joanne! i really love your new cormorant strike book King: but i have one criticism Rowling: a criticissssm?   Rowling: who do you think you are Rowling: [suspiciously] let me measure your larynx

Rowling: whatsss thiss criticissm King: well, i think cormorant strike would be better King: if the detectives were all going to a sort of boarding school for detectives Rowling: King: and also they should be divided into 4 houses with different scarves

King: maybe there could be a special hat that decides which house each detective goes to Rowling: you're just reinventing harry potter King: no no it would be totally different King: like it could be a deerstalker hat

King: maybe they could play some kind of detective-based sports game that doesn't make a whole lot of sense? Rowling: King: [breaking down] please! i just want more harry potter! Rowling: NO. Rowling: i write sscreedss now

Barker: i just think its great how how you find time to write books between all the transphobia Poe: clive Rowling: Barker: actually thats not right Barker: really kind of implies you pause the transphobia to write the books Rowling:

[joels-shitty-puns]

The Key To Your Heart - Track 10

Pairing: Pedro Pascal x Musician!Reader

Series Summary: After writing your feelings for Pedro into a song, it gains a lot more popularity than expected. Ultimately it brings both criticism and support, with new possibilities around the corner.

Series Warnings: 18+ only (MDNI). Alluding to sexual scenarios. Kissing. Panic/Anxiety Attack. Fat shaming, name calling. Mentions of food, weight loss, weight gain, dieting, weighing, potential eating disorder, food guilt. Potential for puns/dad jokes (name of my blog, and the fic) should give that away. This is my first fic which should be its own warning, lol. Also some cursing. Mentions of masturbation (f). Sadness, reader is pretty depressed. Poor body image. Rude people. Bullying-ish and just lack of support? Anxiety. Age gap! Reader is in her mid 20's, Pedro is current age (48).

Other stuff: Reader is plus sized. AFAB. Inexperienced. Also has a dog, but you can pretend it is another creature probably. Further, in case it isn't clear, italics almost always are the reader's inner thoughts!

Word Count: 6.6k

Series List: Here!

Miss Track 9? Here!

Hi!!!! Once again I want to apologize for taking so long with this. I can't seem to ever stay awake to do anything. That being said, here it is! This is the last main chapter of our little lovebirds. There will be at least one, likely two bonus tracks coming soon though :) Also there's a smidge of Spanish in here from Pedro, but the translation is included in the end of the sentence. I took some Spanish classes back in the day but I don't speak it and had to use Google translate. So if it ISN'T right and you do speak Spanish, please let me know lol. Anyway, I hope you enjoy these little cuties on their first date. There's a lot, a lot, a lot of kissing in here (sorry...) and overall they're just grossly in love lol. Please let me know what you think, and if you've seriously read this far, I LOVE YOU! This is my first series, and honestly my first fic other than the one I wrote in my diary lmao. Like the reader, I am incredibly inexperienced so writing a relationship has been a bit of a challenge and half the time I don't believe the actual words I'm writing. But I really only started writing it as a way to write down my daydreams :) So to have support means the world to me, and hearing people comment/DM me saying how much they relate has meant so much and makes me feel a lot less alone, because ultimately, it doesn't matter how fictional it is, most of reader's feelings are my own. To anyone else in the same boat, I get you! Hang in there. I think there's a Pedro out there for us all. Someday. Anywho, pardon my ramble. Thank you for reading, I hope you like it. ❤

The next morning, you woke up and stretched your limbs, rolling over in your comfortable bed as the sunshine poured in through the window. At the shuffling of your body, Skipper groaned, wiggling a little in bed, nearly shoving you off the edge. You reached for your phone, blinking through your sleep a couple times before seeing a text from Pedro. “Good morning beautiful! I can't wait for our date today. I was thinking maybe we could start around 2:30 and spend the day together, if you'd like. But if that's too much, we can just make it a dinner date. Up to you which you would prefer. I understand either way. Love you ❤️”

He wants to spend the whole day with me!? And he sent me a good morning text and called me beautiful? Then signed it with a heart and love you?!!!! How did I get this man?

Your grin eclipsed your face, making you squint. If Mr. Grumpybutt weren't sharing the bed with you, you'd probably squeal and kick your feet. Tapping your phone screen, you typed out a reply. “Morning handsome ❤️ I would love nothing more than to spend the day with you. I love you too!” You sent the message before crawling out of bed gently, receiving a dirty look from Skip. 

“Alright Grump. Go back to bed. Geez,” you laughed. If looks could kill, you thought. He turned back on his side, letting out a grumble and sigh, resulting in a laugh from you. Acts like he pays rent and works 40 hours a week…

You took a relaxing shower, making sure to be all nice and fresh for your date with the man of your dreams. While brushing your teeth, you noticed he had replied. “Great, I can't wait. I'll be at your place at 2:30. :)”

“Can't wait to see you. What do you have planned? I'm wondering how to dress.”

“Wear whatever you feel good in, baby. I'm sure you'll look amazing. Probably something casual you can walk around comfortably in for the day. Maybe something a little dressier for the evening, but you don't need to carry it around. We will make a stop at your place before and you can change”

Wow he really has this planned out.

“What have you got planned, P? This sounds elaborate. You know you don't need to put in all that effort, I'm already yours ❤️”

“You deserve the world, my love.”

Dressed in a pair of leggings and a light sweater, you felt reasonably cute while still being comfortable for whatever activity Pedro had in mind. Plus, with the crisp November air, you would be nice and warm. You were just finishing tying your sneakers when your doorbell rang. 

You opened the door to find your handsome boyfriend standing on your step, a bouquet of red roses in his hand. “Mi amor,” he handed you the roses, kissing your cheek and hand. “Thank you Pedro,” your cheeks heated. “Come in,” you pulled his hand across the doorway towards the living room. Skipper pushed past you to investigate, causing Pedro to drop your hand.

“Well there he is! That handsome boy!” Skipper’s tail wagged and his butt wiggled as Pedro crouched to give ear scratches. “Oh, I love you too,” Pedro answered when Skip kissed his face frantically. A fit of giggles erupted from Pedro, making your heart swell with joy. He has the cutest laugh, and the fact that your dog is causing it was surreal. 

“You're just a beautiful boy! Aren't you?! Hermoso, igual que tu mamá,” he held Skipper’s face, kissing his nose. (Beautiful, just like your mama)

Your chest was filled with butterflies. Holy shit, he's charming. “Thank you, Pedro,” you said in a whisper, not even sure if he would hear. Turning his head from your dog, Pedro looked up at you, giving you a gentle smile; but the eye contact was quickly torn away when Skipper pressed a needy paw to Pedro's chest. Both of you now giggling, Pedro continued to pet Skipper, stopping to give him a hug and some more nose kisses.

“Alright. I gotta ask…” you prompted, causing Pedro to turn his head towards you again. “Are you just dating me to hang out with my dog?” You smirked.

Pedro turned back to Skipper, speaking in a low voice. “She's catching on to us buddy. We've been made.” You burst out laughing, Skipper looking over at you as if his plan really had been foiled.

Pedro gave a final pat on Skipper’s head before standing and walking over to you. “Nonsense,” he pecked a kiss to your lips. “I do love that sweet boy of yours,” he replied before turning his face to whisper in your ear. “But I'm absolutely enamored with you, Mamacita.” The hair on your neck stood as a chill rushed down your spine. You bit your lower lip, and he stared back into your eyes, leaning in for a passionate kiss. 

“You look beautiful,” he tucked your hair behind your ear.

“You look rather handsome, yourself,” you replied. His hair was brushed back and to the side, his curls neatly swept and threatening to break free around his face. You wondered whether he asked for help to make his hair look extra nice for your date or if he styled it himself.

Running your fingertips over his patched salt and pepper beard, your hands found the small heart shaped patches near his chin. You brushed your thumb over his jaw before leaning in to press a kiss on the bare skin, causing his eyes to close as he let out a sigh. The whiskers tickled your cheeks as you continued kissing up his jawline, back across his cheek, and on his nose before pulling away to look into his eyes.

He opted to not wear glasses today, allowing you a closer look into his deep brown eyes which were softening under your gaze. “You ready to go, baby?” He asked you, his hand on your hip as he rubbed circles with his thumb.

“Absolutely,” you smiled. He wore a pair of dark jeans, tennis shoes, and a white button up shirt with the sleeves rolled to his forearm. He looked absolutely… incredible.

While you were grabbing your bag, he grabbed Skipper's leash. “Is Skipper coming too?” You asked, confused.

Skipper was twirling now, impatient to go somewhere.

“Sure is! Couldn't leave him out. But don't worry, you and I will have the night to ourselves,” he winked.

You looked downward, feeling shy and flushed. “Okay,” you giggled, clipping Skip to his leash and heading for the door.

“Do you want to take my car? You'll get dog hair and slobber in yours,” you offer.

“I don't mind! I love dogs,” Pedro replied, opening the door for Skipper to climb in the back seat. After closing the door, he opened the passenger door for you. Such a gentleman, you thought with a sigh, getting in and thanking him. 

As the car sped along, you looked over at your boyfriend driving the car. Boyfriend! That'll never get old… you thought to yourself. The air conditioning blew the few loose strands of hair on the top of his head, and his left hand gripped the wheel, making the veins on his hand prominent. With his right hand, he reached over, holding your left in his, resting on top of your thigh. 

He really did look beautiful. You couldn't help but stare at him as he expertly drove the car, hand flexing as he turned the wheel. His mouth pursed and he licked his lips, his tongue slowly jutting out to wet them. 

Damn, I want those lips on mine. That tongue in my mouth, you thought, feeling rather warm, despite the air conditioning swirling around the car.

“So where are we spending the day?” You asked, trying to quiet the flames of attraction licking at your pulse.

“It's a surprise! But we're almost there,” he answered, rubbing his thumb over the top of your hand.

Pedro looked in the side mirror and laughed. “Babe, look at Skipper.”

You looked to see him with his head out the window, ears and lips blown back with the wind, his tongue lolled out to the side and blowing with the speed of the vehicle.

You both chuckled before you warned him, “your car is going to be covered in slobbers, Pedro!” He gave another quick look to Skipper before replying. “That's okay. It'll help me remember this day until I wash it again,” he looked over at you and smiled. It felt so natural. So… domestic, the two of you sitting in the car, going on a date, him holding your hand while driving, and the two of you laughing at your dog in the back seat. It was just perfect. Everything you dreamed.

He wasn't joking when he said you were almost there. It was only about five more minutes until the car pulled into the parking lot of the dog-friendly beach. 

Stepping out of the vehicle, you took a deep breath, inhaling the familiar smell of salty sea air and hearing the chatter of gulls. The breeze blew your hair gently, but the day was relatively warm for November.

After the three of you exited the car, Pedro opened the trunk, pulling out a large picnic basket and tote bag. “You really came prepared, didn't you? Pedro, this is really special. Thank you.” Your eyes felt teary and the smile you held was genuine. Nobody has ever put this much effort into anything for you. Other than him.

“You don't need to thank me. I want you to be happy and I want the three of us to have a nice day,” he added, pecking your lips.

“Wait.. Pedro,” you frowned. “It looks kind of crowded. Should I be nervous about paparazzi or anything?” Your stomach bubbled with nervous energy.

“Don't worry, sweetheart. Celebs come here all the time. I've come here before. If they do, they might take pictures, but usually it's pretty low-key here. Try not to worry too much. I want you to have a nice time,” he squeezed your hand affectionately.

“Okay. I trust you,” you smiled at him as the three of you walked towards the sand, finding a nice place to picnic. Pedro unpacked, laying down a large blanket before setting up the spread of sandwiches, veggies, and fruit. He offered you a cold drink from the basket and the two of you sat, using a metal stake to secure Skipper’s leash near your blanket. He flopped onto his side, content to be sunbathing with some of his favorite people.

The lunch consisted of peaceful conversations and laughter, learning more about each other despite having talked for several months now. It seemed you could never run out of conversation topics. But even in the quiet moments, it wasn't uncomfortable. It felt relaxing. You were both content being able to sit together in silence and just enjoy each other's company.

After your meal, you packed up the basket and headed for the car again to put the things away, opting for a walk unburdened by carrying items across the sand. Neither of you brought a swimsuit today, but despite the California sun, it was still November, and the Pacific ocean was never really warm, even in the middle of summer. That didn't seem to bother Skipper very much though. As the two of you walked hand in hand near the water, barefoot in the wet sand, he ran laps around Pedro holding him on the leash, occasionally splashing through the shallow water before joining close by his family again.

He would definitely need a bath later, but you didn't mind. He was happy splashing around, having a great day. You were happy walking with the man of your dreams, fingers intertwined together. Everything felt right. You weren't even nervous, despite the way Pedro looked like the most handsome man you've ever seen, or the fact that he was famous, and that you occasionally received stares from other beach goers. Instead of the usual first-date nerves people get, you just felt love.

“So,” he started excitedly, “Obviously I have most of this date planned, but I also wanted to check in with you and see if you had anything particular in mind that you wanted to do together.”

You thought for a second, letting a memory burn into your thoughts. “Well,” you began, "I don't want to sound like a total creepy fan or anything...” you added, cautiously. You kinda were, with all the photos of him you had saved on your phone (prior to deleting them before your first meeting in person). But that's not important right now, and he probably doesn't need to know that. Maybe it can be a funny story later.

Pedro laughed, that cute little wheezy laugh he does with his giant smile that makes your stomach do somersaults. Those same somersaults you've been getting since you first saw that smile on the screen and knew you were absolutely screwed until you got over this crush. Or, unexpectedly, when you walked hand-in-hand with him, like you were now.

“But…?” he pondered, looking down at you sideways, with a playful smirk and those big brown eyes that could make you lose your mind. They absolutely glittered in the sunlight right now, reflecting all the joy and love he felt for you.

“Okay maybe I'm a little creepy…” you nudged him with your side, still gripping his hand in yours as the two of you walked peacefully. The beach was crowded, but you and him, and Skipper, were the only ones here as far as either of you were concerned. There could be a loud scream and it wouldn't compare to the squealing in your mind. A firework show would simply feel like a projection of your sparks. A tornado couldn't sweep you off your feet as well as he could. 

“Is this where you tell me you've been watching me sleep through my window for the past three years or something?” He raised an eyebrow, playful smile still on his face as he licked his lips.

“What?” You squeaked, laughing. “No. I mean… I did have some pictures saved of you, and have maybe read a fictional story or two about you and your characters…” or a few thousand, you thought.

You cringed. Why the fuck did I say that out loud?!

Your cheeks felt hot and you diverted your eyes away from the man beside you, a nervous grimace painted across your mouth. He barked out a laugh, pulling you into his side for a hug. “Baby, you're cute. I don't mind that you used to read those. I don't even mind if you still do. No different than a book, right? Maybe it'll give us some fun date ideas.” He rested his head on top of yours innocently.

Oh, if only he knew the things you read.

“Right. Fun date ideas,” you smirked to yourself. He pulled away to look at you, eyebrow raising playfully.

“Sweetheart,” he interrogated in the same tone you use when Skipper steals a sock from the laundry, “what kind of stories are you reading about me and my characters, huh?” He lifted your chin to meet his eyes. You'd feel nervous from his tone if he didn't flash a smug, knowing grin at you.

“Oh, you know…” you shrugged. “Just the typical romance stuff,” you turned, facing him and resting your hand on his chest, tracing a circle over his heart with your finger. You felt his pulse pick up under your touch, and saw his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed.

“What kind of thoughts are going through that pretty head of yours?” He asked, raising his brow while you continued tracing little hearts into his shirt with your index finger.

“Wouldn't you like to know?” You winked before removing your hand from his chest. Starting to walk away, you continued your earlier statement. “Anyway, as I was saying-”

“Oh, no you don’t,” he interrupted, laughing. “Don't think you're getting out of this conversation that easy,” he gently pulled your forearm, stopping your movement and sending you twirling into his arms once again.

“Maybe someday I'll tell you,” you giggled, booping his nose. 

“Someday? Why not tell me now?” He ran his thumb over your lip, eyes drifting down quickly before returning to your eyes.

“I'll show you the fanfics I read about you when I know you're stuck with me and you aren't going to run for the hills,” you laughed nervously, only partially joking.

His playful demeanor vanished before your eyes, turning into a look of… concern? Oh no. This is it. Where he realizes what a mistake he made. Where he says he doesn't want to be together. Where he breaks my heart.

He gently held your arm, rubbing soft strokes. “Honey. What are you talking about?” His soft brown eyes searched your face. You gulped, not wanting to make eye contact, but he again pulled your chin up, forcing you to look at him. “I…” you floundered for the words. “I don't want to scare you away.”

“Why would I be scared away?” he asked in almost a whisper, concern and sadness lacing his features.

“Because I just had this huge, huge crush on you. So, I read fanfics and I saved all your photos and I watched all your movies. I spent more time on social media looking for updates on you. Just so I could see you, or imagine what being with you would feel like. Like a total crazy person. An absolute psycho creeper.”

“Baby…” he brushed his thumb over your cheek. “You aren't any of those things. I actually think that’s kind of sweet. Although, it makes me a little sad thinking about the pain you must have felt, having these strong feelings and not having found each other yet.” He brushed your hair out of your face, settling his other hand on your waist before continuing.

“Feelings make us feel a little crazy sometimes, and although I never read fanfiction about you, or had any pictures to save, I would be lying if I said I didn't take a screenshot of us that first night you showed me your face.” He rubbed his neck bashfully.

Fanfic about me? What? If that even exists, I gotta see what people are saying…

“You did?” His admission surprised you, to say the least. He sighed before answering. “Yes. I had - have,” he corrected himself, “a pretty big crush on you too, baby. But I felt like I was betraying you in a way, taking a picture of you during our video chat. I just wanted to remember your face if I never saw it again,” he sighed.

“I fell in love with you the first time I heard your song... I heard you sing about your feelings and daydreams. So… you admitting about fanfiction and pictures isn't all that surprising.” You lowered your eyes in embarrassment.

“Hey, look at me.” He stroked your cheek. You looked up and he continued. “I took that picture because I had already fallen so head-over-heels for you that the first time I saw your face, I stopped breathing. Although I knew I wouldn't be able to get the image of you out of my mind, I couldn't risk forgetting the most beautiful woman I've ever seen in my life.”

You dropped your gaze again, cheeks feeling a permanent state of warmth and butterflies dancing from your stomach to your chest. “You don't honestly mean that, Pedro.” You sighed. “I appreciate it, but there's no way. I really don't know what you could ever see in someone like me,” you whispered, barely audible. If you weren't standing so close, he would've missed it.

Instead of responding, he dropped his arms from your body. At the loss of contact, your heart sank. But when you lifted your head to meet his eyes, he was fishing around his pocket for his phone. Calling an Uber to leave? Your self-doubt pestered.

A few taps to his screen later and he held up his phone. There you were, sitting at your table in your favorite dress, with your favorite food and flowers on the table. You had the biggest smile on your face and in the bottom corner, you could see Pedro looking handsome as always, and absolutely smitten with you, the largest grin painted across his features.

At the sight of the image, your heart warmed. “See what you mean to me?” He asked, putting his phone back into his pocket. You nodded, wrapping your arms around his neck. “I love you,” you choked out, leaning forward to mold your lips to his. They fit together perfectly. Like they were made for each other. He pressed back before opening his mouth ever so slightly to lick at your lips. Matching his movements, your tongues met, dancing a waltz in exploration as he pulled you forward by your lower back, seeming as if trying to get as close as possible somehow.

As the two of you paused for air, he ran his hand further down your back, just barely grazing the dip of your spine where your torso meets your butt. He gave you a look, almost to determine your reaction, asking permission to let his hand continue. When you didn't back away, going as far as pulling him closer around his neck and leaning in for another kiss, he pressed his lips against yours in return and let his hands wander a little further down. When his hand wrapped around the cheek of your ass, you squeaked. This is new… and I like it, you thought. His whole hand fit across your cheek. His huge hands. You whimpered as he gave a squeeze, like he was claiming you as his own.

“I love you too.” He finally responded, pulling out of the kiss to search your eyes. “So tell me… what was this activity you wanted to add to our date? The one you fear makes you sound like a creepy fan?” He let out a small laugh, brushing your nose with his.

“This,” you replied, pressing another kiss.

“Kissing?” He asked, rubbing his thumb over your waist and resting his forehead to yours. “I think we've already been doing that, if I'm not mistaken.” He pecked your lips with his.

“Yes,” you kissed. “Well,” kiss. “Actually,” you pulled away enough to explain. “I read this interview you gave a few years ago about your ideal first date?”

“Yeah?”

“You said something about ‘a date that doesn't feel like a date. And

hopefully by the end, or throughout, very

good kissing.” You said, slightly cautious at your memorization, a bit nervous at the implication of what you're saying.

“Oh, is that what you want?” He flashed his eyes up to look at you, giving a devilish smirk. 

“Well, as someone who hadn't been kissed yet when I read it, I sorta lost my mind over it,” you laughed. “Obviously we've kissed before, but if it were up to me your lips would never leave mine,” you pressed your lips to his again.

“I think we should be able to make that happen,” he leaned in, brushing his nose against yours before pulling you in for another kiss. “Mmmm” you sighed, pulling away from his lips. “Never gets old.” You held his hand in yours, the two of you walking again down the beach.

“So I was thinking,” he began, “since you said you deleted all your photos, and I only have the one, maybe we could make some new photos… together,” the corner of his mouth turned up into a crooked smile. You grinned and nodded excitedly. “Please!”

Pulling out his phone, the two of you took several photos together. Some just smiling, some with Skipper, and your personal favorites, the ones with him kissing you. This will make for a perfect lockscreen, you imagined.

As you approached the edge of a rocky cliffside at the end of the beach, a sea lion barked in the distance. Skipper perked up, tilting his head and letting his ears twitch before returning a “boof.” The two of you laughed, ushering your dog away from making any wild ocean friends, and headed towards the boardwalk.

After grabbing an ice cream at a candy shop, you were so deep in conversation and laughter that you didn't notice the girl off to the side looking nervous. Slowly she walked over. Skipper put up his guard, but as she approached, she gave a kind wave. “Hi… I'm sorry to bother you. I'm a big fan of you both.”

“Us… both?!” You responded, surprised. Pedro shook his head with a laugh before thanking the fan.

“Of course! Your music is amazing! I listen to it on my way home from work everyday. I relate to so many of your songs.”

“Wow, thank you so much. I never expected to be recognized. You're so kind,” you replied honestly.

She asked for a photo with you both, and after obliging, she mentioned before leaving, “by the way, I was following all the news that went down. I just want to say I think it's cute how you guys got together and you make a really cute couple. Okay bye! Thank you again!!” And with that, she scurried away, leaving you to look at Pedro in surprise. “Wow” you replied with a laugh. “I can't believe I'm getting recognized,” you spoke quietly.

“How do you feel about it?” Pedro asked cautiously.

“I feel… okay, so far. This was a nice interaction, and even though people keep looking at us… being able to be out in public with you, to show my face, kiss you, hug you, hold your hand,” you gave his hand a squeeze, “it makes it all worth it.”

“I couldn't agree more,” he looked into your eyes, giving a soft smile. You matched his expression before his face slowly faded into concern. “Do you think work will go okay for you? Now that it's out there?”

You took a deep breath, walking a few more steps with him down the boardwalk before replying. “I don't know. I guess so. Or… I hope so at least. I've had a few of my friends and coworkers message me kind words of encouragement. So at least I'll have some people on my side, even if anyone else has something to say. But really, they shouldn't. They already know me. They knew I liked you,” you leaned into him. “So they should be happy for me if anything. And if not, then… well, they didn't deserve to be my friend anyway,” you shrugged. “But I think I might take some time off to figure out everything, career wise,” you added. Still leaning into his side, Pedro unlatched his fingers from yours, opting to reach his arm around you, giving your shoulder a squeeze and rubbing soft circles into your upper arm.

“Baby,” Pedro began, his voice vibrating through your body as he leaned his head on yours, “I’m so proud of you. Have I told you how strong I think you are?” Your cheeks warmed and you grinned. “Thank you Pedro,” you wrapped your arms around his waist to hug him. “But I don't think I'm that strong. I struggle to open pickle jars just like the rest of us,” you joked.

Pedro gave a quiet snort. “You know what I mean, honey,” he laughed. “I don't mean physical strength. Though I'm sure you could hold your own in an arm wrestle, I mean your ability to handle all of this thrown at you so quickly. Your ability to adapt and stay cheerful about everything. You just keep continuing to amaze me,” he pulled his head away from yours to meet your gaze. He smiled softly and you thanked him.

“I don't feel very strong,” you mumbled, breaking away from his stare. “You are, though. You're strong, smart, beautiful. Talented. Passionate,” he kissed your lips.

“Pedro, I love you, but you always seem to use all these words I don't feel. You see me as someone completely different than the way I've always seen myself. I want to believe you, but-” you sighed. “No one else has ever shown any indication that those are true,” you pouted, trying not to tear up.

“Hey, hey, whoa. Stop,” he halted your movements, pulling your chin up to his face. “Maybe they didn't see you, but I do. I feel all those things about you, and I'll spend every single day trying to prove it. I told myself I wouldn't get involved in romance a long time ago. But you changed all that.”

His chocolate brown eyes felt like they looked directly into your soul as he attempted to unravel your self-doubt. With a deep breath, you calmed enough to reply. “I love you, and I feel all those things for you as well. I'm glad you opened yourself up to love again.” You pressed a kiss to his lips. “I'm glad I met you” you sucked his lip. “I'm glad you're mine.” You kissed him again, deepening it, letting your tongue press gently to his and tangling together in passion before pulling away. 

Skipper had completely rolled into his side in wait for you both, between the conversation and the kissing. When the two of you broke away with matching grins, you looked over to see the sun had sunk down to the border between sky and ocean. In its wake was a bright orange sky, with pink, purple, and yellow streaks mixed in, as if a painter had gotten a bit too carried away with the paints. It was blindingly beautiful. 

Drawn to it like moths, the three of you walked towards the shoreline once again. You started to sit, but Pedro pulled you into his chest and fished for his phone. 

You gave him a confused look before he kissed you deeply and held out his arm. Unlatching his lips from yours with a pop, he held up his phone to you with a smile. In front of the vibrant ocean sunset, the silhouette of a couple shared a loving kiss. For once, it was you in this couple photo. You and the man you love.

You walked a little farther down the sand before sitting down just above the line of wet sand to admire the sunset. Pedro sat behind you, his legs on either side of you while you lay back into his chest. As you leaned into him, he hugged around your body, molding himself to you and tracing light circles into the skin on your arms, making the hairs stand on end and a shiver to run down your spine. 

Skipper flopped down nearby, clearly sleepy after a long walk and plenty of new smells. You ran a gentle hand down his back until you heard soft snores, then let him sleep, leaning your head on Pedro’s arm around your shoulder. “This sunset is beautiful,” you sighed, watching as the sun descended further below the ocean. It looked as if it was sinking deep below the surface, offering its light to the deep sea anglerfish miles below.

“It is amazing,” Pedro agreed, staring at you. “But my view is even better,” he added, and you could feel his eyes on the side of your face as he kissed your shoulder. You looked over at him, meeting his eyes, now sparkling with the orange of the sky. “Mine too,” you whispered, tilting your head to press another kiss to his lips.

When the sun went down completely, you headed to the car and Pedro drove back to your place so you could get ready for dinner. 

Pedro sat on the couch patiently, stroking the fur on Skip’s back while he snoozed, his head in Pedro's lap. In your bedroom, you searched for the perfect outfit to wear, finally deciding on a nice dress and sweater.

Hopefully the restaurant isn't too cold, you thought.

Walking out of the bedroom, you joined your boys in the living room, only to be greeted by Pedro’s jaw hitting the floor. “Te ves tan hermosa mi amor,” he stuttered in Spanish, flipping languages so easily when he was overcome with emotion. (You look so gorgeous my love.)

He gently stood, sliding out from below your dog, before walking over to you. His eyes scanned your body from head to toe and back up again, making you feel nervous. “You… you look… wow.” He rubbed his hand over his chin, his thumb grazing his lip. His pupils grew, making his eyes ever-so-slightly darker. You shivered under his gaze.

At your shiver, his demeanor shifted. “Shit, are you cold? Baby, you look incredible, but if you're cold -” 

“I'm not cold, Pedro,” you interrupted.

“Are you sure? I saw you shiver.” He stepped towards you, touching your arm. A buzz crept under your skin like a live wire. “It wasn't from the cold…” you replied.

“It wasn't from-?” He paused, the realization hitting him as he understood your shiver wasn't from cold but frankly.. the opposite. “Oh,” he hummed, settling his hand on your hip and stepping closer.

Another chill.

“Feeling excited for our date, huh?” His voice caressed into your ear as he kissed his way down your neck, pausing to take gentle nibbles on the skin of your collarbone, neck, and chin, before pulling you in by your waist to press a deep kiss to your mouth, his tongue finding yours. 

This was starting to feel natural, kissing. And you two were getting good at it together. Knowing just the way his tongue moved, finding just the spot to make you whine. You even managed to find a spot of him that made a groan slip from his lips nearly every time. Kissing him was addicting, and you had no intention of kicking the habit.

He pulled away, pulling your lip with his teeth as you let out a slight hiss. “I'd love to do this all night, but I promised you dinner, my love,” he kissed your cheek, his beard scratching your face just right. You sighed, agreeing to dinner and taking a minute step back. It felt much warmer in the room than before, and you could tell he felt the same. As your eyes drifted across his body, he nervously rubbed the back of his neck, clearing his throat. Slowly sweeping his eyes down his body, it was evident you both wanted something beyond dinner.

But the gentleman he is, Pedro stepped forward again, taking your hand and leading you toward the door. 

Pulling up to the curb, Pedro opened your door for you before handing his keys to the valet. Linking his arm with yours, the two of you walked into an elegant Italian restaurant. He gave the waitress his name, and she led you back to a secluded room where a single booth sat.

The room was dimly lit, illuminated by candles and twinkling fairy lights. They lined the ceiling, mimicking the starry sky, were it not for the smog of the city. You two walked toward the only booth, settled against the nook of a window, draped with a soft, thin white curtain covering the view from outside. Only the reflection of street lights peered through the thin drapery.

Sliding into the booth, Pedro sat next to you, close enough to touch, yet due to the curve of the corner booth, you were able to converse without craning your neck awkwardly. At the center of the table was a single red rose in a vase, sat next to the glow of a candle. The table itself was rounded and draped with an elegant dark red tablecloth.

Grabbing the triangular folded napkin off your plate, you folded it across your lap, Pedro doing the same. He reached over to you, taking your hand in his. He rolled his hand over the top of yours, linking his fingers between your own and giving a gentle squeeze while offering a soft smile. 

You looked into his eyes, searching for the words he might be thinking. In his eyes you only found love and appreciation, pure happiness oozing from his features. When the waitress came back, she set a basket of bread with butter on the table and took your orders. 

The night went smoothly, chatter filling the empty spaces while you enjoyed your meals. “Pedro, I know this is technically our first date, but I gotta say, I think I consider our video chat for my album as the first date. It was the first time I felt like I might actually have a shot with you. You put so much effort into that night and it was the nicest thing anyone had ever done for me. I didn't know I could fall for you any harder than I was, but you proved me wrong. And even though we didn't say it was a date, and I didn't have much experience before you, it felt more like a date than anything I had ever felt before. You're a real romantic, P.” 

He smiled and pressed a gentle kiss to your lips. “That felt like the first date to me too. I knew for sure that I loved you that night.” Your cheeks heated, and you leaned your head on his shoulder. 

It was only when the bill arrived that you broke apart. Though you offered to pay, at least for your meal, Pedro wouldn't stand for that. After all, he told you, this date was his idea. So instead, you thanked him and left the restaurant the same way you entered, arms linked.

As Pedro pulled up outside of your home, you let out a sigh. It was already after 9 PM. You had spent nearly eight hours together and yet you dreaded the moment you'd be saying goodbye. It was almost that time already, yet it felt like only five minutes had passed.

Though the walk from Pedro’s car to your front door was rather short, you both managed to prolong it, walking as slow as possible. Clearly he wasn't ready for it to end either. Two love sick fools, just wanting to spend every moment together.

Teetering on the edge of goodbyes, you awkwardly stood by your door. There were no nerves at a first kiss, fortunately. There had been plenty of kisses shared today, and yesterday, and the day prior. In fact, if it weren't for breathing, eating, and other bodily functions, you'd be fine having your lips glued to his indefinitely.

So with that in mind, and the burning desire to spend more time together, as he said goodbye, placing a kiss to your lips and beginning to walk away, you grabbed his arm. “Wait,” you plead.

Pedro turned, looking at you as if you had something to say, or you had forgotten a sweater in the car. But instead, with your heart pounding in your ears, you quietly asked, “would you like to come in? I’m not quite ready to say goodbye.”

The question could be taken with so many potential implications, or none at all. All you knew for sure was that you wanted to spend more time with him. What happened next could be decided in the moment.

His eyes flashed surprise for a moment. He looked at you, trying to read your face for any details in your question, then stared at your front door before turning back to you and finally answering.

“I would love to,” he smiled.

And so the two of you walked through the threshold of your front door, buzzing with new possibilities just inside. But no matter how the rest of the evening takes place, you were in love, and for once, you were loved back.

The end! Thank you for reading! Stay tuned for the bonus tracks, and once again I'd love to hear what you think! Reblogs are appreciated as well :)

Taglist: (Want in? Let me know!)

@pedrotonin @starcrossed02 @lightupsketchersperson @cartoon-garbage04 @tyferbebe @maryfanson @gwendibleywrites @faithfullyyours2000 @hc-geralt-23 @jenniferpendragon @winchestergypsy90 @red-red-rogue @theendwhereibegin @lottieellz101 @oliversaurus @kyga01 @milly-louise @titabel @taz-97 @stefanibear003 @marantha @fandomoniumflurry @ilovemybrown-eyedbabygirl @leiadjarin @hmneighbors @emmalostinwonderland

[tothisemptiness]

The base IOMT post

EDIT: Hello! If you found this post before my newer ones please know that I have started a series of analysis regarding Golden Hour: Part 2 that explain everything more neatly and in detail.

Golden Hour: Part 2 Analysis Series Part I: The Diaries

Golden Hour: Part 2 Analysis Series Part II: The "Ice On My Teeth" MV

Golden Hour: Part 2 Analysis Series Part III: The Chess Piece Theory

This is not the fully fleshed theory post on iomt but more of a starting point. I am just extracting my google doc on here so that 1) i can remember to edit it and 2) maybe people will see it and talk to me about it. so here we start with some bullet points about my scattered thoughts:

atp the falling chandeliers must mean something. not only are they in the mvs, they are also part of the actual stage now

the recurring theme of making money in the songs/mvs and the need to make money winning over their desire to follow their dreams in the diaries. it's just that while "work" caricaturizes it "iomt" goes with a darker criticism

the chandeliers, dust and ashes, broken piano and dinner tables decorated with candles draw parallels to answer and halazia

other halazia parallels: the tendency for arson, destruction of art, a seemingly more in control yunho and hongjoong more removed from the group

the broken mirror: a crooked version of themselves, the greed for money at the expense of passion and art is the opposite of the original ateez. the mirror appears on the d-day poster and also in hongjoong's first part

The white towel turning black: we first await the good, usual ateez we know and love. The towel turning black might mean that this is not the case and now we are face to face with the crooked version in this MV.

return of the ruby, which is probably badly handled by wooyoung (may be the cause of this crooked mirroring): we don't know the exact functioning of the ruby, now named Sopro, and all foreshadowing shows that things won't go well when wooyoung hastily and drunkenly uses it

tic-tac-toe: in the MV we see a tic-tac-toe game in tie in the room Jongho is in, previously mentioned in seonghwa's mini-rap (speaking of which, someone help me with the meaning of the "engrave the 3 letters of my name in this game" lyric). in the mini-verse created since gh1 it may symbolize the battle between passion and money: without money they won’t be able to live and realize their dream but without chasing their passions there will be no meaning to their survival. the black/gray cat walking around may symbolize woo who is trying to find a way out

the mansion well matching the description of yeosangs mansion

there are also parallels drawn between ateez and z with the mention of mingi’s ads

overall, feels like a new, older version of ateez trying to destroy their old image

also reinforced by jongho not being able to listen to their first song and the chaos that comes after they finally listen to it as a group: bitterness towards the past and the failure of their lives

golden hour is not about appreciating the moment they are in anymore: they are nostalgically reminiscing about the golden hour that passed them by and carry more or less some bitterness about not having been able to utilize it. they could not treat the trauma within the 60 minutes they had (make it as artists after having returned to world a before money ran out) and now have to lead imperfectly put together lives

The MV probably takes place in the aftermath of the diary. In the diary, Yeosang is the only one to explicitly go against Woo when the matter of trying again comes up, all the others either play along with woo or don’t say anything. In the MV, yeosang is shut up by Yunho and San chimes in with the “little bird over there has a lot to say”. By creating an alternate reality using Sopro, Woo may be making everything fit “as he would like” (things don’t seem to go in that direction) and Yeo may be trying to speak up but is pressed down by Sopro/other members under the influence of Sopro.

at the end of crazy form we see the cromer broken and sopro taken away by the blue bird. we see both of these in yeosang’s mansion since he took them in when nobody cared. in halazia, it is yeosang who sings about the little blue bird. again, in iomt mv he has parallels to a little bird. throughout the lore, yeosang has already been likened to a bird but at this point i don’t think it is crazy to say that the blue bird directly symbolizes yeo.

(from the crazy form reaction video)

San: “Now we found freedom”

Hongjoong: “That’s going to be…it’ll be connected to the next one.”

BRO WANTED TO SPEAK SO BAD ON THAT REMARK THEY IN FACT DID NOT FIND FREEDOM

who tf even is the doctor

what was supposed to happen in strange mansion before we died like fucking idiots

WHERE ARE WE IN THE LORE

parallel to second half of fever first diaries, crisis happens, shit goes to shit, new artifact appears and we are left at the cliffhanger right before the adventure

after this: crisis unfolds, probably back to a world seen before (very likely halazia since it is left little discovered and with many mysteries), crisis ends along with the entire plot (probs another 5-6 years to go if we don't count military service)

on a personal note: i feel like we are being a little stalled. the "work" mv seemingly doesn't enhance the plot at all unless we take it as a dream sequence of the members' in world a and a lot of time is put into explaining the members' lives than actually creating action in both golden hour diaries. even when given the chance in the Sopro room Yunho still doesn't mention his archeological finding in gh1 and further the plot in that direction.

CHESS PIECE THEORY EXTENSION

For the people that don't know, there is a theory on twitter that suggests the members each symbolize chess pieces. I think it is a very smart theory and is reinforced in the MV with Mingi playing with bedazzled chess pieces. To sum it up, the Ateez in the MV are the black pieces and we get this idea from the concept photo where each member mirrors their counterpart except for HJ and SH, who are the king and the queen. I have taken the theory and kinda did a bit of research to make more sense of it.

(PS: I got most info from here: https://www.chessstrategyonline.com/ so a big thank you to the admin of this website)

YUNHO AND MINGI (ROOKS)

Rooks are strongest when they protect each other (even sitting next to each other on the plane may foreshadow something). The rooks protect each other by being positioned along the same line. In the rook doubling strategy, one of them charges ahead while the other stays one line behind for protection. For successful attacks, the rook must go far in enemy territory to either take pawns down or restrict movement

Usually not used in the early game, starting the mv off with Yunho is a bold move. It either means they have a unique strategy they are so sure of, or they are making a very bad choice very flashily

The rook pawn openings are considered to be one of the worst openings in chess

Rooks are defensive pieces, putting them at the forefront (letting them take leader roles) is not exactly smart

In the MV the leadership role belongs to our rooks (mafia leader Mingi and Yunho being seen in leader positions and shutting Yeosang up in front of the press)

Mingi and Yunho also take part in a lot of action (the middle of the board). Mingi goes around with a clique of “pawns” as their leader, sets the furniture on fire, and breaks the car window. Yunho also is seen with a lot of pawns and is the one who interacts with the doctor.

SAN AND JONGHO (KNIGHTS)

The knight is a master of surprise, and can hop in and out of the most unexpected locations. (i sure as hell was surprised with san in the mv)

Best positioned in the center

the knight is sometimes vulnerable to being trapped if it runs out of squares -> possibility of (very likely san) being trapped in enemy territory or in the middle of battle -> either miraculously and riskily gets saved or pulls a sacrifice

Very risky to move along the edge of the board (aka, isolate or distance from action)

WOOYOUNG AND YEOSANG (BISHOPS)

Many, many possibilities to use them, we are not yet privy to Woo and Yeo’s exact roles

Except… they are usually not held in the center for long. In the choreo Wooyoung takes the center position often

bros suck at this game

SEONGHWA (THE QUEEN)

Mostly offensive, weak in defense, must be protected by others

Especially vulnerable when brought out too soon

A lost queen is almost as bad as a check

In the MV, SH is mostly surrounded by pawns (the ballerinas), a fitting protection

HONGJOONG (THE KING)

Castles protect the king the best

In the MV we see him isolated. Except for group sequences and a quick shot (related to the group sequence), HJ is seen totally alone in obscure corners of the villa. This is good for the protection of the king, but also means there is no one protecting the king. We can take Wooyoung the bishop as his protector if we take the black and white photos flashing in the MV into consideration.

A side note: The Ateez in the MV are the black pieces, however a lot of the “pawns” we see are white with just black masks. This has to symbolize something. I don’t know what.

Another side note: I think the white pieces they are playing against are the "normal" ateez we've known from the start. The real black pawns are all dressed in suits, which is a very classic symbol for capitalism, while the white pawns that have black masks are all artists or sports players (the tennis army). the white towel turning into black (expectation of seeing the "normal" ateez refuted by being met by the "crooked" ateez) may also be a nod to this. A very big stretch, i know, but in some occasions in halazia world mvs we see an overpowering theme of white on the members' costumes

in halazia mv, woo and san are shown in all white for their dance sequence. parting from theirs and mingi's costumes i take this entire look, which is predominantly white, as a canonical part of halazia

in "it's you" and "matz", the trapped versions of the members also wear predominantly white/light colors

this is all for now, i will be thinking solely of this comeback and how it ties into the general lore for the next weeks to come. if you have read until here, thank you so much and if you have anything to say plz do! <3

[polling-sonic-fans]

I gotta be completely honest with you, I'm a little frustrated with the people who interact with this blog. I don't want to be rude, especially not to you the mod, but seeing how popular the added "unsure" and "haven't heard of this" options can be for some polls, I feel like it takes from the poll entirely. For example, the recent one about Sonic Omens. I think that anyone who doesn't have a leg in the race just shouldn't vote, and the poll isn't for them. I feel like including options for people who can't even answer the question sort of messes with the data. I only mean this as constructive criticism, not to cause harm or hate, and I hope to hear your side of it, as well as submitters who make the polls. What do you think?

This, too, is data I must learn. My thoughts are under the cut, thank you for your feedback.

Joking aside, I understand the point, but I moderately disagree.

For the past month or so this blog has been running completely on user submissions. I only edit options to add something I think is missing and will result in unnecessary distress (see: the lack of chill on the first Sonic Voice Actor Poll. Lest we forget.). I do not currently remove options; I presume people meant what they said unless they tell me otherwise.

I do understand that some polls may have a lot of people choosing the opt out option, and that could pose specific problems. I don't think I agree with your example for this: I for one had never heard of that project, so would have voted the opt out option. And while I could and possibly would just ignore that poll, there's a chance someone might just pick or guess any answer if their response is not encapsulated in the options. People are nosy. They want to know the results even if they don't know anything about the topic.

Also, you can always calculate the proportion of the votes that went to each without the cop-out option with some simple percentage calculations. So the data isn't invalidated, the sample is just smaller. That is also data: it tells you many people aren't aware of or engaged with that topic. I think that is interesting too.

Where I could see your point is on more general but difficult things. If I listed a poll like 'Who's better: Shadow or Sonic?' I expect many people would want to click the cop-out option because they really like both, and there I would lose data. Because if they were really pushed, they could probably manage an opinion, but it would be easier (and give the gratification of button pressing) if they can not think about it and choose a 'I refuse!' button.

However, even in such cases I still think it's important that I do not edit people's polls to remove catch-all options if they have listed them. For all I know, the submitter was actually interested in capturing data on how many people would refuse to answer, and would be dissappointed to have that option removed.

My final note is I have found myself feeling quite protective of my submitters, especially those I suspect are regulars. This is not a massive blog being overwhelmed with asks. I would have given up already without them, I used nearly all of my ideas to get to past the first 100 polls. So if the polls are mislisted, contain errors, or you have grievances with them: raise those with me, that's my job. Give the submitters the kudos for providing the entertainment. I am not the last person you should be rude to but the first.

I don't want to ask voters to do anything except vote honestly, even if the answer is they don't know, and share questions they like. If they could continue to refrain from starting barfights on my posts that would also be swell. But I guess enthusiasm is appreciated.

Those who've read my essay here, please do leave your thoughts on the subject in the replies - I will be reading with interest and will let it impact my own polls, if not alter the submissions. Genuinely, thank you for the ask and your interest in the data we're making here, I am pleased that you are invested and like me want good data!

[tobiasdrake]

Digimon Adventure 01x51 - Hell's Jester, Piemon / The Crest of Friendship

Previously on Digimon Adventure: Jou decided he needs to forge his own path by following in Yamato's footsteps. Meanwhile LadyDevimon made everybody extremely uncomfortable as part of Piemon's master plan to squick the Chosen Children into leaving his front door.

Now, with LadyDevimon's death, Piemon has come out to attend to what remains of the assault team in person.

We open on Jou searching for Yamato, while Yamato's harmonica music paradoxically plays in the background.

Narrator: Around this time, Jou, with harmonica in hand, was searching for Yamato. Gomamon: JOU, LOOK!!!

Gomamon draws Jou's attention to an abandoned swan boat.

Gomamon: IT'S YAMATO'S BOAT!!! He must be around here! Jou: But we don't know how long it's been here. We aren't even certain that Yamato was the one who used it. Gomamon: That's fine! We're sure to find him. By now, Yamato probably also thinks that it's about time he rejoined us anyway.

Jou examines Yamato's harmonica.

Jou: You're right. It was my idea to go look for Yamato. I can't be having second thoughts now! Gomamon: Yeah, exactly! You've become a lot more manly lately. Jou: What's that supposed to mean? (playful, pokes Gomamon) Are you saying I wasn't manly enough before?

Jou and Gomamon both break into laughter. Gomamon seems very pleased by Jou's decision to forge his own path, but he was also satisfied when they were still with Mimi's nakama. So it seems like Gomamon's just happy regardless of what Jou chooses.

As with Gabumon, it's most important to Gomamon that Jou be the one to make the choice for himself.

The dub opens by implying that Joe and Gomamon have been searching for a while now.

Joe: We've looked everywhere, Gomamon, but we still can't find Matt. Gomamon: Maybe your harmonica playing has been keeping him in hiding. Joe: (sarcastic) Mm. Everybody's a critic. Gomamon: Hey, Joe! LOOK OVER THERE!!! Joe: What is it? (Swan Boat) Gomamon: It's Matt's boat! He must be close by! Joe: But we have no idea of when he left it, or if he was using it at all! Come on, we'd better keep looking. Gomamon: Don't be such a downer; This is our first clue in a long time and I want to see a little Get Up and Go-mamon!" (Joe inspects the harmonica) Joe: I guess I'm still pessimistic 'cause when we found Matt's harmonica, it led us nowhere. But you're right. He could be nearby. Gomamon: Now, that's the spirit, Joe! You've become a real man lately! Joe: Oh, I get it now. (playful, pokes Gomamon) So you're saying that I wasn't a real man before, huh? Gomamon: (laughing uncontrollably) Joe: Are you man enough not to laugh when I tickle you?

This is really good. The bits about their search fudge the events a bit. They followed the harmonica music to Elecmon, who told them about the swan boat. Then they crossed the lake to pursue the swan boat, and now they've found the swan boat. This has been a pretty straightforward tracking mission so far.

The dub seems to imply that, after crossing the lake, they found nothing and had to wander aimlessly for a long time. But now they've stumbled back onto the trail by chance. This is a much messier version of events.

However, the playful banter between the two is a top-notch and entirely faithful adaptation of the original dialogue. Dub Gomamon also implies that Joe's been (badly) trying to play Matt's harmonica in the time since we last saw him, which is a funny mental image.

Meanwhile, outside Piemon's observatory, WarGreymon is on the offensive.

Calling Dramon Killer as an attack, WarGreymon volleys rapid-fire stabs at Piemon but struggles to land any of them. Piemon darts and weaves too easily through his attacks.

WarGreymon finally manages a solid hit when he surprises Piemon with a kick, knocking him back into the roots of a large tree. But Piemon picks himself up, seemingly no worse for wear.

Taichi: GOT HIM!!! Piemon: Muhahahahaha! Do Chosen Children truly rely on such childish tricks? Taichi: (surprised) What!? Piemon: My expectations have been dashed. I thought you'd be tougher than this. Koushiro: WarGreymon's attacks aren't having any effect at all! Hikari: (worried) Onii-chan, are we okay? Taichi: (determined) We're fine.

This fight is going badly. They landed a hit, but didn't seem to do any damage and had their successful hit written off as 子供騙し kodomodamashi, a composite of 子供 kodomo meaning "child" and 騙しdamasi which means "deception".

Kodomodamashi is a transparent, juvenile trick that only a child would think is clever.

Of course, what it says about Piemon that he fell for a kodomodamashi goes unremarked upon due to how intimidating he is right now.

In the dub, WarGreymon calls Dramon Killer as "Mega Claw". Probably to avoid the K word, even though they already solved that problem in the past by calling them "Dramon Destroyers".

Tai: I think we won! Piedmon: Hahahahahahahaha! Thank you for the sparring match, WarGreymon. Now I'm ready for the main event. Tai: Oh, no! Piedmon: Once upon a time, there were these DigiDestined. And then Piedmon destroyed them all. The end. Izzy: No offense to your storytelling skills, but I'd like it better if your ending were different. WarGreymon: IT WILL BE!!! Kari: We can't win unless we're all together! Tai: (worried) Where are they!?

This scene is very different. Piedmon isn't so dismissive of the children's abilities here; He simply blusters menacingly, including a callback to the Dark Masters' debut when he told the kids a twisted faerie tale of their own impending deaths.

Kari and Tai here use their lines to remind the audience that we're trying to buy time for reinforcements to arrive. It also makes a stronger transition into the next scene, as we find Sora and Takeru searching for the others.

Angemon seems to have reverted to Patamon between episodes, as the three of them are all riding Birdramon's talons. Sora uses her Digivice's radar function to try and scan for the others.

Sora: The Digivice still isn't reacting to anything. Patamon: The powers of darkness must be too strong. Sora: (thinking) How are we supposed to find them in this vast Digimon World? Takeru: ...Sora-san? Sora: What? Takeru: Will we find Onii-chan? And all of the others? Sora: ... Takeru: Sora-san? Sora: We'll find them, no matter what. (starting to freak out) If we can't then we're all.... Takeru: Sora-san! Sora: Ah! Takeru: ...are you okay? Sora: (polite laugh) Sorry about that. I'm fine! We'll find them.

Despite the fact that Sora is clearly only pretending to be okay while the stress eats her alive from within, Takeru accepts that answer with a smile. He's eight.

Sora: (thinking) I have to bring everyone back, or else we won't be able to defeat Piemon. This world... We won't be able to stop it from being destroyed.

Despite her attempt to keep Takeru from fretting over it, the stakes coupled with the seeming impossibility of her task are weighing heavily on Sora's mind.

In the dub:

Sora: The Digivice isn't responding at all. Patamon: I hope we find them soon; I'm getting airsick. Sora: (thinking) We'll never find them all. The Digital World is too big. They could be anywhere. T.K.: Hey, Sora? Sora: What? T.K.: We'll be able to find Matt and the others, right? Sora: (thinking) Should I tell him the truth? T.K.: Well, Sora? Sora: The only thing I can say, T.K., is.... (crying noises) T.K.: ...are you alright? You're not crying, are you? Sora: Just something in my eye! Don't worry! We'll find them, T.K! (T.K. smiles) Sora: (thinking) We'll find the others because we have to! Unless we fight as a team, we'll never defeat Piedmon! We can't let him destroy the Digital World!

Pretty straight adaptation.

They cut Sora's implication that Piemon is going to kill them all, replacing it with Sora breaking down into non-verbal sobbing.

Cutting back to the fight, WarGreymon attempts to land his Brave Tornado. It's gone two for two on Ultimate opponent kills so it's a good choice.

It does not go well. Continuing to fight circles around him, Piemon hurdles the attack with a jolly flip. Emerging from the ensuing dust cloud with scuff marks all over his armor, WarGreymon looks like he did more damage to himself with that attack than to Piemon.

Tailmon: He's strong! Hikari: Onii-chan-- Taichi: Everyone, stay back! Hikari: But why, Onii-chan!? Taichi: Wait until Yamato and the others get here! You just fought LadyDevimon; You need time to recover your stamina!

Taichi is still thinking ahead. Focusing on the next fight and not this one, even though the next fight is technically a part of this one. Banking not on winning this fight, but on WarGreymon holding the line until they can hit Piemon all at once.

The dub calls Brave Tornado as Terra Force.

Gatomon: He's tough. Kari: We should all fight. Tai: Everyone stay where you are! Kari: But Tai! Why not!? Tai: The Digimon are still too tired from our fight with LadyDevimon. We have to wait until we're at full strength, when Matt and the others rejoin us.

Another faithful adaptation. Kari does manage to spell out what she wants to do, where Taichi cuts off Hikari and leaves it implied. But what she wants is clearly the same in both versions.

From there, we finally go check in with Yamato and see what he's up to. He is in a hole.

Narrator: After Yamato separated from Taichi's group and became a solitary child, he tried to put his thoughts in order. Before he knew what was happening, he found himself lost, wandering through a dark cave. Gabumon: Yamato.... I have a bad feeling about this cave. Let's hurry up and find a way out. Yamato: Yeah. You're right.

Yamato agrees verbally with Gabumon, but he doesn't hurry up. Instead, he loses himself in memories, flashing back on Takeru announcing that he rescued himself from Pinocchimon's mansion.

(Flashback) Takeru: I was able to protect myself all on my own this time! (End Flashback) Yamato: (stops walking) I.... Gabumon: Huh? What is it, Yamato? Yamato: I kept saying that Takeru needed me. The truth is, I was the one that needed him. Convincing myself that Takeru needed me is how I found my place. But.... (Flashback) Hikari: That's incredible! Taichi: That's awesome, Takeru! Congrats! Mimi: We were so worried about you! Jou: You sure have grown up, without any of us realizing. (End Flashback) Yamato: Takeru has everyone supporting him. And Taichi acted more like a real big brother than I ever did.

Yamato doesn't answer. Silently, he starts walking deeper into the dark cave.

The dub takes its first commercial break following the previous scene, then we come back to Matt. They don't have the narrator to poetically set up Matt's metaphorical-made-literal surroundings, so Gabumon has to do the job. He plays the spooky cave for nervous laughs.

Gabumon: Matt? Matt: Yeah, Gabumon? Gabumon: Maybe we've been traveling in this direction a little too long. This cave is starting to give me the creeps. Let's hurry up and get out of here! I'm still not sure what you mean by 'trying to find yourself' but I'd appreciate it if you didn't look in here! Matt: Sure. Whatever.

The dub's flashback is only slightly altered; T.K. says "I told you I'd be back" instead of "I told you I could do it." But it's by far the most consistent a dub flashback has been yet.

(Flashback) T.K.: See, everybody? I told you I'd be back! I can take care of myself just fine! (End Flashback) Matt: I've been living a lie. Gabumon: You're not a real blond!? Matt: (heavy sigh) I kept saying T.K. needed me but, really, I was the one that needed him. Gabumon: What do you mean? Matt: I used to think that my one purpose in life was to protect my little brother. But then.... (Flashback) Kari: You're the man! Tai: Nice going, T.K.! Great job, buddy! Mimi: We were so worried about you! Joe: Boy, for a little kid, that was a pretty big escape! (End Flashback) Matt: He didn't need me to protect him anymore. And Tai was much better at acting like a big brother than I ever was....

Tonally inappropriate blond quip aside, this is still a pretty straight adaptation.

Gabumon's not about to let that last remark from Yamato go unquestioned.

Gabumon: What are you talking about? You are Takeru's older brother, Yamato! Yamato: I don't deserve to be Takeru's big brother. I just used Takeru so that I could feel secure in my place as his brother. I needed to believe that Takeru had no one else but me.

As Yamato speaks, a tendril of concentrated darkness moves through the cave behind him. Yamato, unnoticing, sits down in the cave and pulls his knees to his chest.

Yamato: That's why I got so mad at Taichi. I felt like he was trying to take Takeru away from me. Taichi is decisive and has strong leadership. Most of all, he treats Takeru like a man. Gabumon: Now what's brought this on, Yamato? There are so many great qualities that are unique to you too! Yamato: I always thought of Taichi as tactless and dim-witted, but I just couldn't see. Gabumon: Yamato....

This is the discussion they were trying to have back with Jureimon. This time, Jureimon isn't here to direct Yamato's anxieties. But Yamato's been thinking about this long enough for his anxieties to become self-sustaining.

He's still wandering the forest of lost souls.

In the dub:

Gabumon: But you don't have to act. You are T.K.'s brother! Tai isn't! Matt: That's just the point. I don't act like a brother at all. And even though it made me feel good to think that I was the only one there for him, in reality, all the kids were. Gabumon: Let's talk about this outside. There's something strange about this place.... Matt: That's why Tai made me so mad! I thought he was trying to take T.K. away from me! (Matt sighs and sits by the wall) Matt: Tai might be real bossy and hard-headed sometimes but he never treated T.K. like a child, which is how I've always treated him. But I'm the one who's childish. Gabumon: Matt, stop putting yourself down! Sure, you have some teenage angst, but you've been a great brother to T.K.! Matt: I used to think Tai never thought about anyone but himself, but that actually describes me a lot better. Ugh.... Gabumon: Oh, Matt....

"You have some teenage angst", Gabumon? I'll take "Lines that remind you that these children were written by thirty-year-olds".

(Matt isn't even a teenager!)

Gabumon gets an extra line so he can say, "Can we have this conversation in a less spooky and thematically resonant place?" Which is a valid interjection.

Suddenly, Gabumon notices the swirling darkness around them.

Gabumon: (gasp) Yamato! Something's wrong with this place!

The darkness of the cave surrounds and engulfs Yamato. He doesn't even seem to notice as it pours into him; His eyes glazing over with darkness.

Yamato: There's no hope for me. I can't go back and rejoin the others' nakama. Gabumon: STOP THAT!!! (scolding) Without you, Yamato... If the eight of you don't come together then this world is doomed! Yamato: They don't need me. It wouldn't matter if I was there or not. Gabumon: YAMATO, GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF!!! Yamato: Forget it. Just leave me alone. Gabumon: HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT!?!? Yamato: ... Gabumon: (tearing up) Yamato....

Gabumon's saying correct things but it doesn't matter when the other person is not in a mindset to be told. Yamato's depression is spiraling, and he's dissociating. He's not really here in this conversation, and eventually he stops responding entirely.

This is intercut with imagery of Yamato sinking into a vast, bottomless ocean of darkness.

In the dub:

Gabumon: (gasp) OH, MATT!!! I THINK YOU'D BETTER TAKE A LOOK AT THIS!!! Matt: Whatever. I'm no good. I can never go back to being their friend. Gabumon: You have to! Don't you understand that if the eight of you don't get back together, the Digital World will be destroyed forever! Matt: They don't need me. And besides, seven is a luckier number than eight. Gabumon: HEY, MATT, SNAP OUT OF IT!!! Matt: Just go away. I want to be alone. Gabumon: Come to your senses! Matt: ... Gabumon: (tearing up) Matt, listen....

Super inappropriate time for a quip, dub team. Again, this is pretty straightforward in its translation, apart from the futile attempts to inject levity.

At this point, Yamato shuts down entirely. He's as still as the grave, and trying to break through with reason has failed. Only one option left: Resort to violence.

Gabumon bites down on Yamato's leg hard enough to break him out of his dissociation. Yamato gets up suddenly, backhanding Gabumon off of him.

Yamato: OW!!! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?!?

As Yamato stands up, there's a single-frame animation error where he and his darkness aura briefly separate. As a mistake, Yamato physically goes back to his previous frame instead of into the next frame of his standing up animation, then teleports to a standing position in the frame after. Meanwhile his aura continues on into the next frame and then the one after like it was supposed to.

The aura goes 2-3-4-5 while Yamato goes 2-3-2-5.

This implies that Yamato and the aura are being animated separately, which I find fascinating. How did this mistake happen, I wonder?

Anyways.

Gabumon: There is only one Yamato in this world! Am I wrong!? So then why do you keep comparing yourself to Taichi!? Obviously you and Taichi are different! You're Takeru's big brother, aren't you? It makes no sense to say Taichi's a better brother than you are! Yamato: ...Gabumon...? Gabumon: Besides.... What would I do if you were gone!? I spent so long in this world waiting for you, and you alone! Yamato: Gabumon.... Gabumon: Do you truly want to be alone, Yamato? Because if so, then I'll leave this place by myself. But only if that's what you really want.

Gabumon's teethmarks in Yamato's leg do wonders for getting him to pay attention and engage with what Gabumon is saying. This time, he seems to actually be listening and processing Gabumon's words.

In the dub:

Matt: OW!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?!? ARE YOU CRAZY!?!? Gabumon: Don't you understand, Matt!? You've got to quit comparing yourself to Tai! You're not him! It's like ice cream; He's vanilla and you're rocky road. But only one of you is T.K.'s real brother and it's not him! No matter how much he impresses T.K., Tai will never be able to break the bond that you two brothers share! Matt: Gabumon.... Gabumon: And besides, don't you think it would break my heart if you weren't here? After all, I didn't wait my entire life for you to arrive just so you can wallow in self-pity! Matt: Huh? Gabumon.... Gabumon: But Matt, if you really want to be left alone, then I'll respect your wishes and disappear. But only if that's what you really want me to do.

Accusing people of wallowing in self-pity is rarely a convincing argument against continuing to wallow in self-pity, Gabumon. In fact, that's a great way to kill an intervention by getting them defensive.

This was a little thing that's slowly been compounding but I don't like Gabumon's tone of voice in the dub. In the original, he's pouring his heart out and sounds on the verge of breaking down in tears. Which makes sense since he's actively crying.

The dub voice sounds aggressive and accusatory. There's not as much empathy for Matt here as there is for Yamato.

Also, they're still desperately trying to insert quips to keep this light, and they are failing miserably. This is still a dark and serious conversation even with Gabumon and Matt making tonally-inappropriate jokes here and there.

Faced with Gabumon's emotional earnestness, Yamato clenches his fist and answers.

Yamato: No. When I said I wanted to be alone... that was a lie. I was putting on a front. Since I was young, I've been pushing people away like that. But the truth is....

Yamato flashes back on his parents' divorce. The camera closes in on his face, as he watches Natsuko take Takeru away.

Yamato: Really, I'm lonely. I told myself no one would ever see me cry. If I had to be alone, then I was going to be a great man who can do anything by myself. But... what I wanted to do was cry. Gabumon: Yamato.... Yamato: (crying) I hate being alone.

Gabumon pulls Yamato into a hug.

Gabumon: I'm here for you! You can depend on me the way I depend on you. If you do that, then we can persevere (ganbaru) through anything!

Finally, Yamato unpacks the effects that his divorce trauma has had on him. Like Gabumon said back at the Jureimon encounter, Yamato is still, deep down, an empathetic young boy who wants to be loved and accepted by others. We've seen it multiple times throughout the series. He's always been driven by his empathy, even if he couldn't acknowledge it.

But he closes up and becomes defensive when his nerves are exposed. His fear of abandonment motivates him to push people away and try to act like a lone wolf. Even though he's really, truly not one, and never has been.

If anything, by his behavior, he's always been Team Mom, constantly looking out for the welfare of the group as a whole. Because that is his truth, buried beneath the lie he's been trying to convince himself to believe.

In the dub:

Matt: No, I don't really want to be left alone. Sorry, I never meant to hurt you. I've never let anyone get close to me before. Not since my family split up. (Brief divorce flashback) Matt: Ever since then, I've been alone. I figured if my family didn't want me, then I would just keep to myself and never tell anyone what I was feeling. And I swore I would never let anyone see me cry. But really, all I wanted to do was cry. Gabumon: Then cry. Matt: (crying) I hate being alone. (Gabumon pulls Matt into a hug) Gabumon: I'm here for you, Matt! I used to be lonely too! I wandered around the Digital World without any friends at all! And then, after I met you, I'd never be lonely again!

Yamato says that his lone wolf behavior is a deliberate ruse. That his behavior is fake. He pretends (poorly) to be a self-made island of a man who doesn't need anything or anyone, as a defense mechanism. But really, his behavior only isolates him further and makes him irate and miserable.

He is a very unhappy social butterfly, because he denies himself connection and pours all of his need for human contact onto Takeru. Who, as previously noted, slips through his armor because he can lie further and tell himself that he doesn't need anything but Takeru needs him.

Matt touches on that, but only goes as far as to say that he keeps people at arm's length. He explains that he closed himself off because "my family didn't want me", which is an obviously untrue childish exaggeration. Especially since we've met his family and we know how they feel about him.

Yamato describes himself as 一人 hitori, alone, as a result of the divorce, but doesn't cast blame for it. His story is focused on what happened in his head due to the divorce. He never implies that his parents hurt him intentionally.

Which makes it seem like this whole thing came from Matt just... misunderstanding the cause of his parents' divorce and thinking they broke up because of him. Yamato needs therapy. Matt needs a hug from his mom.

Then Dub Gabumon starts bald-faced lying about his background. Gabumon has never been alone. From the day he hatched, he's had a social network around him. He's thinking of Gatomon. He stole her backstory in order to pretend he could relate. The bastard.

Credit for letting Matt cry in the dub, though. Past episodes have taken a strong anti-boys crying stance, so that was a pleasant surprise to see.

Inspired and touched by Gabumon's words, Yamato responds.

Yamato: (smiling) You're right. Gabumon, because you were with me, I was able to make it this far. Even in the depths of this dark cave, you're still here, chasing after me. I don't have to be alone. Gabumon: Yamato! Yamato: I have the nakama too. And Takeru, Dad, and Mom.

Yamato flashes back again. This time, rather than the divorce, he sees the reunion with his parents and Takeru shortly after VenomVamdemon's defeat.

Yamato: (thinking) I'm sure I'll look much happier next time. Dad! Mom!

In the dub:

Matt: I know what you mean. Me too. After all, you're the main reason I came to the Digital World in the first place. And here I am, lost in this dark, strange cave, and you're still right by my side. That's the sign of a true friend. Gabumon: Aw, shucks. Matt: I guess I have friends. And that includes T.K. and my Mom and Dad! (Brief flashback) Matt: (thinking) Now I realize I was never really alone. People like me. They really, really like me!

Matt says "you're the main reason I came here" like that was a choice he made.

As a finisher, "People really like me" feels like a much weaker closing argument than "I'll look much happier next time my family sees me" in my opinion, but that may just be personal taste. This isn't incorrect; I just don't like it as much.

As Yamato self-actualizes, the darkness is purged from him and rises into the cave, swirling overhead. At last, Yamato sees it for himself.

Gabumon: Yamato, look! Yamato: What is that? Gabumon: It was coiling around you this whole time! Didn't you notice? Yamato: Not at all. Gabumon: I think it was trying to get inside your heart, Yamato. Yamato: It's black. ...I understand. These are the black feelings that I was experiencing just now. But you're wrong. Gabumon: About what? Yamato: That thing wasn't trying to get inside of me. It pulled out the darkness I already had inside. I think I've been carrying that darkness deep in my heart all this time. Gabumon: I see. Yamato: My isolation is what drew this darkness into me. But everything is different now!

Adding onto the thematically resonant nature of this hyperbolic place, the dark swirly-swirl is itself the manifestation of Yamato's feelings.

(I believe he has found the part of the Digital World that came from Silent Hill's data.)

In the dub:

Gabumon: Matt, look! Matt: What is it!? Gabumon: It's been around you this whole time! You mean you haven't noticed it until now? Matt: Not at all. Gabumon: It was weird. The more you talked about being alone, the bigger that thing got. Matt: It's pitch-black. ...that's exactly the feeling I had in my heart just a minute ago. I know what it is! Gabumon: Please tell me. Matt: It's the darkness that I've been carrying around with me this whole time. The darkness that's been buried in my heart. Oh, Gabumon, now it's ready to swallow me up whole! Gabumon: Like Jonah and the whale? Yamato: I have a feeling that if I didn't recognize it just now, it would have taken over my whole life. But I'm not gonna let that happen!

(spit take)

Okay so we can't use the word "holy" but referencing specific Bible passages is fine.

Then again, there was that one time Sora's mom yelled "Christ", but I'm still convinced that was an ad-lib no one caught.

Man, threading the needle of acceptable Christian references under 90's cartoon censorship is hard.

In any case, this is pretty solid. My one note is that they again removed the discussion of Yamato's feelings of isolation. Matt says this is the darkness he carries but does not go into detail about where that darkness came from, what it means for him personally. Instead, he treats it like an external threat trying to destroy him.

Which is. Y'know. The opposite of what this scene is meant to convey about Yamato's internalized darkness. That's his little trauma ball up there. Let's whack it with a stick! A stick made of love.

(Not you, Sora, this is not your time yet. Yamato has to learn to love himself first.)

Yamato: After all, I'm not alone anymore! Gabumon: That's right! Yamato: Thank you, Gabumon. Gabumon: Yamato! I've always, always wanted to thank you, ever since we met!

Yamato hugs Gabumon, and as they embrace, the swirling mass of Yamato's darkness disintegrates into pixels.

(God, I hope that thing isn't going to reincarnate into a Digitama. ...oh, wait, the Village of Beginnings is... Aww, I made myself sad. Piemon's darkness domain sucks! I hate it here!)

Yamato: You've been by my side, and I never realized. I've always had you! Gabumon: (happiness noises) Yamato: (stands up and grips Gabumon's claws) You might have to put up with a lot from me from now on, but I'm counting on you. Gabumon: I can handle that. Yamato: And I'm not going to complain anymore. Gabumon: It's fine! You can complain to me all you want. Haha! Yamato: Alright, then. I'll whisper my complaints to you very softly.

Gabumon and Yamato share a laugh. As they do, the cave around them distorts and fizzles out of existence. It was never real to begin with.

In the dub:

Matt: It can't hurt me because I'm not alone anymore. Gabumon: That's the spirit! Matt: I want to thank you, Gabumon. Gabumon: Don't mention it. That's what friends are for. Besides, I should be thanking you! You're the best friend a Digimon ever had. (Matt hugs Gabumon) Matt: Let's make a promise that we'll always be there for each other, no matter what happens. Gabumon and Matt, friends for life. Gabumon: (happiness noises) Matt: (stands up and grips Gabumon's claws) What do you say? Do we have a deal? A handshake makes it official. Gabumon: Will a pawshake do? Matt: And I promise not to complain anymore either. Gabumon: Don't start that again. If you're upset about something, you should get it off your chest. Matt: Alright, if you insist. I'll still complain once in a while, but only to you!

I appreciate Dub Gabumon calling Matt out for the "no complaining" thing. No, Yamato, suppressing your feelings and refusing to communicate what's going on with you is not the correct takeaway from this. Try again! Use your words! XD

The dub's take on the cave scene has been touch and go but I like this part. And yes, you are permitted a quip here. Now is the proper time for tension-killing gags.

As the cave fizzles out of existence, Yamato and Gabumon unpack what that was just now.

Gabumon: The both of us were just inside this huge cave of darkness.... Yamato: We've been lost for a very long time.... Jou: HEEEEEEEEEEY!!! YAMATOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Due to a lack of pronoun, it's unclear if Yamato is saying "We've been lost" as in they were in the cave for a long time or "I've been lost" as a reference to the psychological cage he'd imprisoned his mind in for years. This ambiguity may be deliberate, as both are appropriate context for this scene.

The abrupt sound of Jou screaming for them brings Yamato back to the present.

Yamato: (surprised) Jou!

Jou sprints up to Yamato, then stops and gasps for breath. Once he's caught his breath, he starts laughing and whips around to face Gomamon.

Jou: Ahahahahaha! I told you we'd find him! Gomamon: I never said we wouldn't. Yamato: (amused) What's all this, now? Jou: While we were walking here, I told myself everything would be fine as long as I believe in my path! Yamato: I see. Jou: Oh! Here.

Jou offers Yamato's harmonica to him.

Jou: This is your harmonica, isn't it?

Yamato takes it, closing his hand around it and closing his eyes for a moment. Basking in sentimentality. Then he opens his eyes again.

Yamato: Thank you.

Mission complete! I hope this helps Jou feel better about himself.

As Gabumon and Matt unpack the cave experience, the dub doesn't quite capture the poetry of the original.

Gabumon: Uh, correct me if I'm wrong on this one, Matt, but weren't we just in a big, dark cave a minute ago? Matt: That's right, and we were completely lost! Joe: HEY!!! MATT!!! OVER HERE!!! Matt: It's Joe! (Joe runs up, then stops to catch his breath) Joe: Hahahahaha! Who's the man now? I told you I'd find him! Gomamon: I never doubted you for a single minute, Joe! Matt: What's going on? Joe: I said to myself, "Joe," I said, "Just follow your own path and sooner or later you'll run into Matt!" I'm just glad it happened before I retired! Matt: I see! Joe: Oh! That's right. I forgot. Here. It's your harmonica, isn't it? (Joe gives Matt his harmonica) Matt: Thanks, Joe.

Joe's a little dub Joe about it but the whole exchange between him and Matt is nonetheless pretty accurate.

From here, we cut back to the fight with Piemon.

Piemon fires off his Trump Sword, throwing four swords at WarGreymon two-by-two. WarGreymon deflects the first pair with his Dramon Killer gauntlets, but the second pair slice past his exposed legs.

Then, moving of their own volition, the four swords fly up into the air to rejoin each other and come back around for another go. This time, all four swords slice past WarGreymon unblocked, carving him up.

Koushiro: WarGreymon is.... Hikari: (covers her eyes) No! I can't watch! Taichi: Shit!

Further attacks from the persistent projectiles bring WarGreymon to his knees. With WarGreymon struggling to even stand back up, the swords return to Piemon. Two by two, he catches and re-sheaths them on his back.

(Piemon vs. King Bradley, go!)

Tentomon: (distraught) Koushiro-han, put me in! Taichi: DON'T!!! Koushiro: (uncertain) Taichi-san!? Taichi: (thinking) Yamato, hurry!

Taichi's still holding the others in reserve for when the real battle begins, but he's running out of time and the others are beginning to question his decision.

The dub keeps the name Trump Sword for Piedmon's attack.

Izzy: WarGreymon's exhausted! Kari: (covers her eyes) I can't watch anymore! Tai: Stay tough! (WarGreymon continues to get slaughtered out there) Tentomon: Please, Izzy, let me help WarGreymon! Tai: No! Izzy: WarGreymon needs help! Tai: (thinking) Come on, Matt, where are you!?

Subtle change in that Izzy directly argues back at Tai. It's minor and makes sense for the dub's more assertive take on the character. Otherwise, mostly identical.

Cut to Sora and Takeru searching for the others.

Takeru: Ah! What's that?

Takeru points out Yamato's discarded swan boat.

Sora: Let's go take a look.

The Birdramon Express comes in low for a landing, and we go to commercial.

Can I just say that this swan boat is the unsung MVP of Digimon Adventure? Between this and the PicoDevimon sub-arc, it's put in so much overtime work to keep these children together despite their repeated insistence on splitting up.

In the dub:

T.K.: Look down there! Sora: That's Matt's boat! T.K.: But... where's Matt?

XD Sora, you weren't even there for the "Matt must have used the swan boat" conversation.

Hell, when they split up to reunite the team, it was Tai and Joe that took the boat across the lake! Matt stayed on land! You know this! You were stalking them!

Matt used the boat one time and suddenly everybody knows it as Matt's Boat forever. I hope this haunts him for life. I hope when they're forty years old, they're having a team reunion in the park and someone sees a swan boat on the lake and goes, "Matt, someone's stealing your boat!"

I mean. It is Matt's boat this time around.

But other people have used it too! That could be Mimi's boat! You don't know! XD

(Mimi, of course, having escaped being reunited by the boat this time around. Last time it was Koushiro who slipped the boat's notice. The boat does its best but there are many children and it can only do so much to gather them.)

Coming back from commercial, Sora and Takeru set foot on land.

Takeru: Onii-chan is nowhere to be found. Sora: (thinking, distraught) WHY!?!? At this rate, Taichi and the others.... (focused, determined) I'll find them. I promised! I have to find everyone and bring them back!

As if in response to her thoughts, a black void appears beneath Sora's feet. Darkness swirls, climbing up her legs. Takeru notices quickly

(There are benefits to being short.)

Takeru: Sora-san! Some black thing is crawling up your legs! Sora: Eh!?

Before she can react, a black void opens up beneath Sora, which then materializes into a deep, dark hole. Sora plunges into it.

Sora: (scream) Piyomon: SORA!!!

They don't emerge. Takeru stands at the edge, calling down into it.

Takeru: Sora-san!? SORA-SAAAAAAN!!!

(Did the boat know this would happen? Perhaps it is more nefarious than we realized. It did bring Yamato to Digitamamon's diner, after all....)

The dub lets Sora begin the conversation.

Sora: I hope he's not hurt somewhere. T.K.: We'll never find him. What are we going to do? Sora: (thinking) T.K.'s right. Maybe we should go back and help the others fight? (focused, determined) No. Tai asked me to find the others and that's what I'm going to do. I won't let him down! (Darkness appears and starts snaking up Sora's legs) T.K.: SORA, WATCH OUT!!! THERE'S SOME BLACK THING COMING OUT OF THE GROUND!!! Sora: Whuh? (Void becomes a hole and Sora falls in) Sora: (screams) Biyomon: (also screams, diving in) T.K.: Sora! SORAAAAAAAAA!!!

You get the impression that Sora's worried in the dub, but she's not quite at the "knife's edge of sanity" point that her Japanese counterpart is hanging out at.

Original Sora is hanging on by a thread, something that's apparent in both this and her previous scene. The stakes are so high but her task is seemingly impossible, and she's cracking under the pressure of those two conflicting realities.

In fact, this is the second time in as many scenes that she's had to suppress intrusive thoughts about Piemon killing them all. It's no wonder the darkness entity or whatever it is has taken an interest in her now.

Whether or not Sora can hear Takeru crying out for her, somebody does hear. Yamato and Jou come running.

Yamato: TAKERUUUUUUUUU!!! Takeru: (gasp) Onii-chan! Yamato: Takeru!

Yamato's first order of business is to hug his brother.

Takeru: Where were you!? I was so worried! Yamato: I'm sorry. I won't leave you like that again. I promise. Takeru: Huh? Onii-chan, you look a little different. Yamato: Don't worry about that, Takeru. What are you doing here, anyway?

Suddenly, Takeru remembers the current crisis. He points at the hole.

Takeru: Sora-san fell down there! Jou: (runs to the edge) EHHHH!?!? Sora-kun did!?

The boys peer down into the ominous unknown.

Takeru can be forgiven for being so excited to see Yamato again that he completely forgot Sora plummeted to her possible death two seconds ago. It's his brother, y'all.

In the dub:

Matt: T.K.!!! T.K.: Hey, that sounds like Matt! Matt: It sure does! (The brothers hug) T.K.: Oh, Matt, where have you been!? I was so worried about you! Matt: Sorry, T.K. I needed time to get my head straight, but I won't leave you again. I promise you. T.K.: Gee, Matt, you look different. Did you cut your hair or something? Matt: Nah, I just haven't been using as much gel. Where is everybody? T.K.: Some black thing pulled Sora down into that hole! Matt: Huh!? Joe: (runs to the edge) What!? Is she alright!?

I'm not sure the dub really understood the meaning behind Yamato "looking different", so they made a quip out of it. This is connected to Yamato saying that he'll look happier the next time his family sees him. Takeru's commenting on the visible change in Yamato's disposition.

Without that context, the quip's a bit of a non-sequitur, but it can be explained easily enough by T.K. having not seen Matt in a while.

I love the "That sounds like Matt!" "It sure does!" exchange. That's cute. ^_^

Gathering at the edge of the pit, the boys peer down into it. It looks eerily familiar to two of them.

Gabumon: Yamato, this.... Yamato: Yeah. This is the same cave we were trapped in earlier. Takeru: What is it? Jou: Whatever it is, we have to save her!

The boys climb down slowly into the black hole of darkness.

Jou: I have a bad feeling about this. Takeru: It's scary.... Yamato: It's okay! Don't be scared, Takeru. Your fear will agitate the darkness. Takeru: Oh! Got it!

Descending into the cave, a rock under Jou's foot gives way and he falls onto his butt.

Jou: UWAAGH!!! Oww..... Yamato: Are you okay? Jou: Yeah, the bottom wasn't too far down. I wasn't sure where I was falling to.

Once that's settled, Yamato directs the group's attention to the spooky cave.

Yamato: This is it. Jou: Where's Sora-kun? Takeru: It's so dark, I can't see. Patamon: I hear voices that way!

Everyone turns to look at the tunnel behind them.

Jou: (firmly) We'll start there.

Okay, I don't know about you guys but if someone said to me, "Your fear will agitate the darkness," that would be some scary shit that would absolutely not help me control my fear better. I was terrified of the scary hole and I am now pissing myself in the scary hole, thank you.

In the dub:

Gabumon: Hey, Matt, does this remind you of anything? Matt: Yeah! It looks just like that cave we were trapped in before. The same black thing must have gotten Sora! T.K.: You've seen it!? Joe: Come on, guys! We've gotta help her! (The boys start climbing down) Joe: I don't have a good feeling about this. T.K.: It's scary! Matt: Whatever you do, don't be afraid, okay, guys? I've realized that it's your fear that feeds the darkness. T.K.: That's easy for you to say! (Joe slips and falls) Joe: Wha--OW! Ugh.... Matt: Are you alright, Joe!? Joe: Yeah. Fortunately, I landed on the one part of my body that has a built-in airbag. (They face the cave) Matt: Very funny. Joe: Where's Sora? T.K.: We need a clue. Patamon: Listen! I think I hear something coming from over there! (Everyone turns to look) Joe: I'd call that a clue.

This is really good. I appreciate that T.K. calls Matt out for how scary that line was rather than just nodding and going, "Ah, gotcha."

They also manage to slip a well-placed quip in after Joe's fall. It's already a brief moment of levity so the quip fits in perfectly, and it doesn't replace any vital dialogue.

Following the voices, it doesn't take the group long to find Sora and Piyomon.

Piyomon: Sora! Sora, what's wrong with you? SORA, LISTEN TO ME!!! Gomamon: That's Piyomon's voice! Jou: Sora-kun must be with her!

The boys sprint down the tunnel until they find Sora and Piyomon. Sora's in the same position Yamato was in earlier: Sitting by the cave wall with her legs pulled up to her chest, covered in a black aura.

Piyomon: Sora! SORAAAAA!!! Takeru: SORA-SAAAAAAAN!!! Piyomon: Guys!

The boys surround Sora. Yamato tries to appeal to her.

Yamato: Sora, what's wrong? Get up.

After this incredibly convincing and thorough argument fails to budge Sora, Yamato tries violence.

(To be fair, it worked when Gabumon did it.)

He grabs Sora's arm and physically tries to pull her out of her sitting position.

Yamato: She won't budge. Jou: I'll help.

Jou grabs Sora's other arm and together they pull as hard as they can, thoroughly humiliating themselves as the black aura refuses to let go.

Jou: What the hell!? Did gravity change all of a sudden!?

Well, that was embarrassing. Great job, team.

In the dub:

Biyomon: Sora! Sora, talk to me! Please tell me what's wrong! Gomamon: That's Biyomon's voice! Joe: Which means Sora can't be far behind! (The boys start running) Biyomon: Sora! Sora! T.K.: Hang on, Biyomon! We're coming! Biyomon: Over here! (The boys surround Sora) Matt: Sora, what's the matter with you? Get up! (Matt pulls) Matt: She's stuck. Joe: Let me help. Matt: On three. One, two, three! (No dice) Joe: Once, it took four of us to get my grandmother off a toilet like that.

Gross. Can we go back to complaining about gravity?

Fine place for a quip, though. I just. Don't like the quip. <.<

After picking Sora up and carting her away like luggage has failed, we're back to talking.

Takeru: Sora-san is saying something. Jou: Huh? Sora: Have to keep looking for Mimi-chan... and Jou-senpai and Yamato-kun.... (crying) I have to save Taichi.... If I can't stop it, our world will end.... Piyomon: She hasn't answered me at all. She just keeps muttering the same thing over and over!

Jou kneels down and tries shaking Sora.

Jou: Yamato and I are right here! Look at me!

This seems to work. Sora looks up and sees Jou's face, though her eyes are glazed over with darkness just like Yamato's were before.

Sora: (deadpan as if in a trance) Senpai... Thank goodness.... And Yamato-kun too... Yamato: Don't worry, everything is fine. Sora: No, it's not. I can't go on like this. I'm supposed to be strong. I have to save Taichi... or the world.... Jou: Sora-kun, you're putting too much responsibility on yourself! Yamato: Sora! Your negative thoughts are turning into negative energy. The darkness in your heart is generating this cave! Jou: Wait, what!? Is that why you told Takeru not to be scared!? Yamato: This dark cave is a reflection of your dark feelings! Sora! You have to throw those feelings away! THROW THEM OUT!!!

Once again, Piemon's realm of darkness is an asshole. This is the worst stripe on Spiral Mountain. It's just concentrated death and despair.

In the dub:

T.K.: Hey, listen! Sora's saying something! Sora: I have to find Mimi... and Joe and Matt... I have to help Tai or the world will be destroyed! There's no place like home... There's no place like home.... Biyomon: She won't talk to me anymore. All she does is keep mumbling the same thing over and over again. Joe: Sora! Matt and I are right here! Look at me! Focus! Sora: Joe! You're really here... I can't believe it... and Matt's with you too! Matt: Just relax. Everything's going to be okay now. Sora: I'm afraid not. I haven't been trying hard enough. I have to get to Tai right away and help him fight because, if I don't, the world will be completely destroyed. Joe: Sora, come on! You can't be responsible for saving the world! Matt: You have to realize how strong your negative feelings are! They produce a powerful destructive energy! Sora, it's the darkness in your heart that has created the cave in the first place; Don't you get it!? Joe: Really, Matt? Is that true? Is that why you told T.K. not to be scared? Matt: Sora, listen to me. There's only one way to make this cave disappear. You've got to reach deep into your heart and erase all the negative feelings!

They start out by turning a portion of this sequence into an out-of-nowhere Wizard of Oz spoof, so that's a bad start.

The heightened aggression of the dub rears its head again. "Don't you get it!?" is a very unhelpful thing to say to someone who's having a panic attack.

From here, we zoom in on Sora's darkness-infused eye and enter her mind space. Sora floats in a black void, curled up just like she is in reality.

Sora: These feelings... What does that mean? Yamato: We're not doing this out of obligation, but because we want to do this. If you don't want to, then you don't have to. But I think it's because we wanted to do this that we made it this far. Sora: If I don't want to do it, then I don't have to.... Yamato: That's right! If you don't want to do it, then don't! Sora: That's... You're wrong! We have to do it!

Well, that was a bust. Yamato's putting in his best effort but Sora simply isn't receptive to the logic, "I mean you don't really have to save the world if you don't want to. It's fine to let your friends die and the world be destroyed. You think about what you really want."

If the stakes weren't so goddamn high, this might be a solid argument from Yamato. But as it is, it falls on deaf ears for predictable reasons.

In the dub:

Sora: I don't know if I can.... What should I do? Matt: You'll have to find the answer to that question on your own. Sora, this isn't the kind of thing you do just because you have to. If you're going to do it, then it has to be because you want to. Sora: You mean that I don't have to do it if I don't want to? Matt: Right. It will only work if you want to do it. Sora: I'm confused. How will I know what the right thing to do is?

Uh, point of order, she does not have to find the answer on her own. The whole point of this conversation is to help her find the answer. Matt didn't solve it himself when it was his turn either; Gabumon bit him in the leg to make him pay the fuck attention and then scolded him for three minutes!

Sora finds Matt's argument in the dub confusing and so do I. As opposed to original Sora finding Yamato's argument unconvincing, as did I.

Alright, senpai, you want to take a crack at this? Maybe Yamato doesn't feel the crushing weight of billions of lives on his shoulders, but Sora needs advice from someone who does.

Jou: Sora-kun! We're lost in a labyrinth and no one can help us, that may be true. But it's because we're the only ones capable of doing something about it that we're even here! Sora: We can do something about it.... Jou: Doesn't that thought fill you with courage? Sora: (excited) We can do something about it! Here and now!

That breaks through Sora's despair spiral. Inside her mind space, Jou and Yamato descend, each taking one of Sora's hands to pull her out. Back in physical space, the dark glaze vanishes from her eyes.

Sora: We can do it! That's right! Isn't that right? Yamato: And we're here for you. Takeru: Sora-san! Sora: (nods) Mhm! Piyomon: SORA!!!! (hug) Sora: Piyomon! Piyomon: Thank goodness, you're back to normal!

Awww. Yamato was trying to make it this a big philosophical thing about obligations and individual motivation. But really, all Sora needed was a pep talk from senpai. Legit, sometimes all it takes to change someone's entire day is to just tell them they're valid.

In the dub:

Joe: When this whole thing started, do you think we had any idea what the right thing to do was? Of course not! But that didn't stop us, did it? Maybe we're here for a reason. Maybe we're the only ones who can do it! Sora: We're the only ones who can make a difference.... Joe: It's working, Matt! I think we're finally getting through to her! Sora: (excited) We're the only ones... That's why we're here! (Sora wakes up) Sora: I get it now! You were right, Matt. How did you know? Matt: I kinda went through the same thing myself. T.K.: Welcome back! Sora: (nods, giggles) Biyomon: Sora! (hug) Sora: Biyomon! Biyomon: I'm so happy that you're the old Sora and not the new Sora!

With Sora's injection of positivity, the spooky despair cave once again fizzles out of existence.

Jou: It disappeared! Yamato: Because the darkness in Sora's heart disappeared. Sora: That was inside my heart...? Takeru: Hey! Taichi-san is waiting for us! Jou: Right! Yamato: To Taichi.... Let's go! Sora: YEAH!!!

It's not the full team of reinforcements that Sora was tasked with collecting. Mimi and her growing nakama are still out there. But she's got Yamato and Jou, and that will have to be enough.

In the dub:

Joe: The cave's gone! Matt: When the darkness from Sora's heart disappeared, so did the cave. Sora: I feel so relieved. T.K.: Boy, wait 'til Tai hears about this! Joe: Let's find him. Matt: Tai's waiting for us right now! Let's go! Sora: Right!

Minor difference: In the original, it's Takeru who reminds everyone on purpose that we need to hurry back to Taichi. In the dub, he casually mentions Tai and that's what gives Joe and Matt the idea that we need to go back.

This is part of the general trend of the dub trying to preserve T.K.'s innocence and childishness, which was particularly noticeable in the Puppetmon arc. But at this point, Takeru is as much a child soldier as the rest of them.

Cutting back to the fight.

Piemon fires the confusingly named Toy Wonderness at Taichi. Not even at WarGreymon; He attacks Taichi directly with a shockwave of compressed air.

WarGreymon jumps in the way and tries to block the shockwave, but enough force still gets through to throw Taichi a good ten or twenty feet.

Hikari: ONII-CHAN!!! Koushiro: Taichi-san!

Koushiro tries to run to Taichi, but Taichi calls out to him.

Taichi: KOUSHIRO, STAY BACK!!! You take care of Hikari.

Piemon hits him with another shot from Toy Wonderness. Again, WarGreymon blocks as much of it as he can, including a chunky bit; A large rock was lifted up by this shockwave, but it slams into WarGreymon's gauntlets and doesn't make it to Taichi. The wave, however, picks Taichi up off the ground and tosses him again.

WarGreymon crumples to one knee, doing his best to protect Taichi but running out of steam.

Koushiro: Taichi-san! I know protecting Hikari-san is the most important thing, but if this keeps up then you'll.... Tentomon: He's so stubborn! Taichi: (pained) It's fine. I can be stubborn or whatever. Just let me do this myself! I'll figure something out! Koushiro: No! That doesn't make any sense! Taichi: This is okay.... Koushiro: Taichi-san, do you really plan on doing this whole thing by yourself!? Taichi: Yes! What's wrong with that? Koushiro: You can't... Why!? Why won't you LET ME FIGHT WITH YOU!?!?

We rarely see Koushiro lose his cool. His politeness and civility is one of his most notable characteristics. So it's a big deal when he breaks down and starts screaming at Taichi.

The dub reuses the name Trump Sword for Toy Wonderness.

Kari: GET UP, TAI!!! Izzy: Hey, Tai! Tai: IZZY, STOP!!! You stay there! Protect Kari! (Second blast) Izzy: Tai, look. I know it's important for me to stay here and protect Kari, but in the meantime, who's going to protect you!? Tentomon: He tends to be a bit stubborn, doesn't he? Tai: (clearly barely holding on) Don't worry about me! I'm fine! I've got him right where I want him... He's exhausted.... Izzy: But I can help you! Tai: I'm fine! Izzy: That's funny. General Custer said the exact same thing at Little Big Horn. Tai: Thanks for the history lesson. Izzy: Alright then, just one thing. How come every time I ask, you NEVER LET ME JOIN IN THE FIGHT!?!?

I assume Izzy means this fight because Tai's let him join in plenty of other fights. In any case, his generally rude and dismissive demeanor means this moment of him snapping doesn't hit as hard as it does for Koushiro.

As with the darkness cave, they are trying very hard to soften things up with some quips.

Tai doing the half-conscious "I got him right where I want him!" bit and Izzy comparing him to a dead general keeps things silly and fun. This serves not to draw attention away from the fact that Piedmon is actively beating him to death as we speak, as the gags are still in service to the scene, but to make it feel less dire.

Unfortunately, Piemon's done with this. He lets off one more attack: Ending Snipe.

Clasping his hands together to make a finger gun, Piemon shoots off a bolt of energy. His shot shatters WarGreymon's armor and finally puts him down.

(So much for indestructible Chrome Digizoid. Everything has its limits.)

Hikari: WarGreymon! Taichi: War...! G-Greymo...on....

The last of Taichi's strength finally gives out. He collapses into the dirt.

Koushiro: TAICHI-SAN!!! Piemon: So, who wants to go next?

The dub renames Ending Snipe to Clown Trick, but at least they don't call this one Trump Sword too.

Kari: WarGreymon's been hit! Tai: No! WarGreymon... ugh.... (Tai collapses) Izzy: GET UP!!! Piedmon: Right, now who shall be next?

Suddenly, a voice rings out.

Yamato: TAICHIIIIIIIIII!!! Taichi: (weakly) ...Yamato...?

Taichi opens his eyes to see Garurumon and Birdramon on their way in, ferrying the missing Chosen Children except Mimi.

Yamato: TAICHI!!! Sora: TAICHI!!! Piemon: Some late arrivals. No matter; The result will be the same either way.

Piemon hangs out and does nothing while Yama runs to Taichi's side. He picks up Taichi and holds him.

Taichi: (weakly) You made it... I waited all this time for you.... Yamato: Taichi.... Taichi: I truly believed you'd come... I was certain of it.... Yamato: (tearing up) Thank you for believing in me. But I'm sorry I was so late. Taichi, you're my true friend! I won't let your friendship be in vain!

An interesting note is that Yamato doesn't use nakama here but instead goes for tomodachi. Nakama means we're working together towards the same goal. We're a team. Colleagues. Coworkers. Squadmates. And we will get to know each other and build social bonds as we move towards the same goal. That's normal.

Since Digitamamon's restaurant and up until the Jureimon incident, Yamato had become comfortable with being nakama with these people. But tomodachi, true and genuine friendship outside of the nakama's purpose? That was a bit further than he was willing to go.

But he doesn't just use tomodachi; He modifies it with honto as an adjective, which means "real, true, genuine, sincere" to show that he means it.

In the dub, we go to our last commercial after Tai passes out. Then we return to Tai passing out again to remind us where we left off.

Tai: WarGreymon... I'm coming.... Ugh... (passes out) Matt: TAI!!! WHERE ARE YOU!?!? Tai: ...huh... Matt!? Matt: Hold on, buddy! We're coming! Sora: Tai, it's us! We're almost there! Piedmon: Once upon a time, there were DigiDestined. Now they're just sitting ducks, waiting for me to take target practice. (Matt picks up Tai and cradles him) Matt: Tai! Tai: Matt... you made it... I can't believe you're here.... Matt: Yeah, I made it, Tai. Hang in there, buddy. Tai: I never doubted you for a second, Matt... I know it didn't always seem that way.... Matt: Thank you, Tai. For believing in me. I'm just sorry I was so late. Tai, you have to know how much our friendship has always meant to me! And I swear, nothing will ever come between us again.

Piedmon's new line, once again playing on the Storybook Time thing from his first episode, is off. It's an odd thing to have a character say when he's just going to stand nearby and let the dramatic reunion unfold.

Unless he's being literal, and meant he was going to pop back into the observatory to brush up on his skills at the shooting range before coming back to this. Which, you know what, maybe he did.

Not sure why Tai leads with "I can't believe you're here" when the point of the scene is that he had an unshakable faith that Matt would show up, even to the point of letting himself nearly be killed over it.

Still, Matt's big speech is the focal point of this sequence, and it comes through pretty well in the dub.

They can't just have him say "You're my friend" because they've been using friend as a translation for nakama, so the distinction between it and tomodachi wouldn't carry over. So instead, he uses their friendship as a whole and pours out his feelings over how important it's always been, confessing what we now know he's been suppressing since the beginning of their journey.

This is an effective and powerful sidestepping of the linguistic hurdle present in this scene.

Yamato's declaration suddenly causes his Crest to activate.

Garurumon approaches WarGreymon's body and gives his head a nuzzle. Rainbow magic pours out of his Friendship nuzzle and suddenly WarGreymon is back on his feet and good as new.

Taichi: This is.... Piemon: What the...? Garurumon: Yamato's Crest of Friendship gave me the power to bring WarGreymon back to life. WarGreymon: Thank you, Garurumon! Now I can fight again!

Sure, that might as well happen.

Given that WarGreymon hadn't disintegrated, I imagine he means this more in a "WarGreymon was on the verge of death" sort of way than a "I literally have resurrection magic now" sort of way. Like how a defibrillator brings someone back to life, but not in the same sense that necromancy does.

I would make a joke about how the Crest of Friendship also gave Garurumon the power to heal WarGreymon's armor, but they're DIgimon. The armor is technically a part of WarGreymon's body, because he's a wire-model frame with a texture skin over it. So, actually, yeah, it does make sense that it works that way.

Similarly, as goofy as this moment is, it does kinda make sense within the established rules. The Partner Digimon are powered by the energy from their associated Chosen Child. So, basically, Yamato's outpouring of Friendship made his Crest glow super-bright, and then Garurumon used his body to channel that energy from the Crest into WarGreymon and refill all his meters - in the process, resuscitating him from his half-dead state. That does make sense to me.

But on its face, as something that just happens and then we move right the hell along, this is wild. Especially with Garurumon just staring into the camera and explaining it as flat exposition with no elaboration. XD

In the dub, it's explained like this:

Tai: WarGreymon! Piedmon: Now what? Garurumon: Matt! Your Crest of Friendship gave me strength and brought WarGreymon back to normal! WarGreymon: Thank you, Garurumon. Now I can fight again!

Pretty much exactly the same except they crossed out life and wrote normal. A minor hiccup is that Garurumon says the Crest gave him strength and resuscitated WarGreymon instead of giving him strength to resuscitate WarGreymon.

A subtle but important distinction, because resuscitating WarGreymon uses up the extra strength Garurumon was given.

While Garurumon degenerates back into Gabumon, Jou and Yamato try to cart Taichi away to safety.

Koushiro: Guys! Hurry, hurry! Jou: Taichi, are you okay!? Taichi: (weakly) I'm fine....

Cut to Piemon, who has inexplicably been doing nothing while this is going on.

Piemon: I had planned on defeating you all in an instant, but if you so enjoy suffering, then I'll relish every minute of tormenting you slowly. Yamato: This jerk never shuts up!

Yamato has been here for thirty seconds and he's already had enough of Piemon.

In the dub:

Izzy: Come on, guys! Get out of there! Joe: Tai, are you okay? Tai: I think so.... Piedmon: My first thought was to destroy you all together in one nice little package. But now I believe I'd rather do it individually, so as to prolong your suffering a little longer. Matt: You sure talk a lot for a clown!

You tell him, Matt!

Piemon throws his Trump Sword once more. Gabumon responds by Warp Evolving into MetalGarurumon.

Hikari: MetalGarurumon!

WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon fire together, their combined energies destroying Piemon's four swords, which disintegrate into pixel dust as normal for Digimon parts.

Jou: YES!!! They broke through Piemon's swords!

For his part, Piemon hops over what's left of the attack as it reaches him.

Piemon: It seems the battle I've been waiting for has finally arrived!

We close here, with WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon finally reunited, and Piemon's promise that things won't be that easy next episode.

In the dub, Hey Digimon begins playing as the pair attacks. What ever happened to that cool 90's rap they had that one time?

Kari: Ha! Now he'll see what we're made of! (WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon vaporize the Trump Sword) Joe: They were able to break Piedmon's attack! Alright! (Piedmon hops over the attack) Piedmon: Well, could it actually be the case that I've finally found an adversary worth fighting? Narrator: Will WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon have enough strength to defeat Piedmon, the last of the Dark Masters? Find out on the next Digimon: Digital Monsters.

We will indeed find out. And the answer may surprise you!

Assessment: Ahh, the infamous "Matt wanders around a cave for twenty minutes" episode.

Piemon's realm is in an odd place. There is a clear desire to spend some time fleshing out his stripe of Spiral Mountain and getting to know what it's about. But also, what it's about is death and despair, which makes it a tricky place to write a complete adventure fantasy episode about.

This episode uses it to confront Yamato and Sora's fears via the never-explained Cave of Go Fuck Yourself. There's just this one spot in the realm of darkness where, if you go there, you get pulled into a psychic quagmire of your own insecurities.

Weird. But the Digital World is full of weird shit so it doesn't really need explanation. Digimon tends to treat darkness as, to an extent, eldritch and unknowable. More of that in 02.

In any case, this is pretty much the quintessential episode for unpacking Yamato, detailing the effects that his childhood trauma have had on his development. But it also has its detractors on account of like half the episode just being preteens having anxiety in a cave.

There's not a lot of action or running around with goofy new characters in this one, if that's what you're here for. It's very drama heavy and character-focused.

[churipu]

rules !

( 𝐁𝐄𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐅𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐎𝐖 )

I.) basic dni criteria , do not go into my ask to excessively hate on me or my writings ★ my blog is a sfw blog, so please refrain from requesting anything related to nsfw or 18+ topics.

II.) (feel free to block me and do not interact with me if you support isr@el) // you like reading and writing shit like incest, stepcest, p links post (especially with minor characters) — in other words, i'm telling you to go seek help. ty.

[ ✓ ] i write my requests based on who requested first, so if yours is taking long, just know that i'm not ignoring nor deleting your request (sometimes i accidentally put your requests on the queue list — and i don't know how to edit it, so your request will still be posted in the form of a screenshot! sorry) -> update: i finally know how :D !

[ ✓ ] if your request hasn't been posted for a long time, I apologize but it probably means that i'm not going to write it. but for specific reasons, either i didn't know the prompt you're referring to or i just didn't know how to write the prompt. i'm sorry :(

III.) my works are completely sfw, suggestive at most. they are appropriate for people 16+.

( 𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐂𝐊𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 )

I.) i absolutely hate blocking people, but i'm setting boundaries to my blog and i as a person, so please respect that.

blocked ! i will not hesitate to block the accounts who are as the following criteria:

[ ✓ ] if you make and post porn links, HARD BLOCK. idk why they're even a thing, no offense lol. i don't mind if you write / reblog nsfw works (as long as they don't contain illegal things) bcs that's up to you really, but porn links are different and they're a big ick.

[ ✓ ] blank blogs. blank blogs. blank blogs. at least put your age, please. convince me that you are not a bot.

[ ✓ ] if you're here to hate on my writing — especially when you decide to hide behind the anon feature to do so. i mean, if you have anything to say to me, the least you could do is to have the balls to say it directly to me without hiding behind the anon feature, thankies <33

[ ✓ ] incest/step-cest, that shit is weird as hell. don't even try lol, i'm not even asking anymore atp, i'm implying for you to go get help if you write + read those.

[ ✓ ] i hope you know the difference between constructive criticism and straight on hating. i appreciate constructive criticism of my writing and how i can grow my blog — but i do wish you won't straight up blow hate on me and hide behind "constructive criticism", because honestly, that's just embarrassing :(

[ ✓ ] plagiarism. plagiarism. plagiarism. pretty self-explanatory. just no.

( 𝐊𝐄𝐄𝐏 𝐈𝐍 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐃 )

I.) my first language is not english, i apologize for any grammar mistakes or typos! do tell me if you see any mistakes so i can immediately correct it, thank you.

II.) my blog and i am pro palestine. i reblog support to palestine a lot, block me immediately if you support isr@el in any kind of form and way ! thank you very much.

III.) i do not want to write smut for this blog, so please do not send in requests that contain smut for any characters in any kind of way. i'm honestly fine with a little suggestiveness, but full on smut is just a big no to me as of now (bcs i can't write them lmao), sorry :((

IV.) i try to keep the reader in my fics gender neutral, but if they're not, the gender of the reader will be said at the top.

V.) i don't have an updating schedule, i try to update at least once after a day. i'm currently in my fourth semester of uni, and things are currently a little hectic — but i'm trying to fit in updating daily into my schedule, so please refrain from rushing me to update. thank you!

VI.) DO NOT spam like please. tumblr will probably think that my account is a bot and possibly put me in the shadow realm :/ likes + reblogs are very appreciated, thank you :(

VII.) hate anons / cowards who hide behind the anon feature will be deleted (or posted) none in between lmao

VIII.) mutuals that want to cut contact with me -> keep in mind to HARD BLOCK my account, don't soft block me or unfollow me and just leave it at that. HARD BLOCK ME.

[ ✓ ] keep in mind that if i hard block any of you to cut the mutual line, do not try to reach me out from another account because you'll be blocked in that account as well.

[ ✓ ] i don't block people without a reason — if i block you, there must have been a reason to WHY i did that. that's your part to find out why though, because i don't want anything else to do with you.

[ ✓ ] please do not associate me with people i used to follow / supported before or were mutuals before, i associate with people i follow NOW. thank you :)

[ ✓ ] if you think i've blocked you but you don't post any contents included in my blocklist or you don't fit in those criteria, please try to reach out through another account and i will apologize sincerely for my mistake + unblock your other account.

( 𝐃𝐌𝐬 )

I.) if you have a problem with me, i appreciate if you reach out to me through my dms :)

II.) i am open to talk about anything as long as you're respectful, but please don't interact with me if you are under the age of 16.

( 𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐋𝐘 )

I.) i hope you enjoy my writings, do tell me and educate me nicely if i do anything wrong! thank you.

[ ✓ ] i do appreciate it if you tell me about problematic blogs whose works i have reblogged or am currently associated with too, i don't really keep up with a lot of things and tend to follow up really late and i would usually find out WHEN things appear in my dashboard. if my ask box is closed, please reach out to me through my dms ! thanks !

© CHURIPU 2024 . hope you follow my rules before interacting !

finished reading? you can now proceed to my masterlist !

[longing-for-rain]

Just so you know, some of your anons are coming from a blog called @mal3vol3nt

I do not know if you’re aware, but she’s chronically obsessed with you and has also been sharing your ao3 on Twitter and inciting harassment there too, saying you’re “racist” and a “degenerate” and accusing you of writing underage. Her blog lately is mainly posts about you and it sounds very similar to some of your anons

I had to check this out for myself and...wow. All I can say is just...wow 🤣

No, I actually had no idea who this person was but from the looks of it she's been obsessed with me for months? I guess that explains the anons, I knew these people were mad, but apparently they've been over here steaming over my takes and are legitimately terrified of me. And I didn't even know them! Didn't realize I've been doing numbers on Twitter (or X whatever it is now) despite never having an account.

(The rest is below; please don't click if you do not wish to see insensitive discussions of rape or if you are not in the mood to read opinions so malformed they will melt your brain)

I guess I have another angry little troll who doesn't know what a captial letter is obsessed with me. Wish I could say it was the first time, but alas. A lot of particularly funny things here though.

> Advertising your terrible ragebait Twitter like anyone finds you important

Lmao.

> "write fanfiction of katara being raped so zuko can save her"

What a terrible misread of the point of that story, but then again, I don't expect much else from a terminally online crybaby who exclusively consumes media for children. If you can't handle adult discussions about adult topics, maybe don't read stories that are clearly marked 18+ and with far more extensive trigger warnings than any mainstream media will give you.

> "measuring the size of her breasts and hips"

Lmao. I said she is drawn differently in different scenes. That's it. You guys are another level of unhinged.

> "obviously fetishes and racism"

It's kind of creepy how they sexualize Zutara, while simultaneously accusing us of doing that. Why do you assume a fetish is the only reason behind someone liking a ship? Why would you say this about a group of people including many black, brown, and indigenous women? And minors? And if you want to get into the whole fetish thing, don't even get me started on the shit I've seen from the kataang fandom. Hint: when I say some of you have a "mommy fetish" I mean it in a very literal sense. Not to mention the whole kataang rape discord debacle.

> "sick fantasies about these minor characters"

I have never depicted a minor in a sexual situation. I make a point to explicitly avoid doing that, and all characters are depicted as adults. Your lack of media literacy isn't an argument. If you're going to criticize my writing, at least read it, which you clearly didn't. And if the content is too upsetting for you, you clearly lack the maturity to engage in these kinds of discussions.

Imagine treating ship discourse this seriously, actually unhinged. Who said that Ember Island Players is the real Katara? What? She talks a big number about coke-fueled rants, must have given it a try herself. How do you expect to be taken seriously when you never say anything of substance and screech "racism" or "colonizer" every other word but can't even articulate the significance of those terms? Honestly, at this point you sound like a right-winger who thinks saying "but I'm [identity] and I agree with [opinion]" is a golden ticket to winning every argument.

And look at this: apparently I deserved all the things she and her friends sent me? Actually I respect this take, at least she's honest about it unlike the people who cry and backpeddle when they get caught red-handed.

I'm actually cackling at this one. Genuinely laughing; my neighbors are probably concerned. It's like you took every single Bad Person Allegation and threw it into a blender. And to top it all off, apparently 24 is "pushing 30" now LMAO. And apparently I, a lesbian, could only possibly like Zutara because I think Zuko is hot. Not to mention the way they entirely miss the point of Zutara, but ATLA itself, by insisting that Zuko is a "violent imperialist" who is apparently unworthy of love by anyone who does not share his skin tone. Kind of ironic coming from the people crying that I'm a racist who doesn't understand the show. Next level clownery.

This is so funny. These people are absolutely terrified of me, no amount of unhinged anons will hide that. It's fine for men to tell me I deserve rape and death, that I'm a dirty pervert for daring to speak out about sexual trauma, and that women's sexual trauma is nothing but a fetish, but if I respond to that man telling him he should die for being so disrespectful and misogynistic to rape victims, I'm the monster? I stand by it. If you think what he said about rape and rape victims is acceptable, especially if you're a man, die! Hang from ropes, as I said.🥰

I guess I should be really scared though. This is clearly a very influential figure in the fandom who is renowned for her enlightened wisdom on the plight of fictional cartoon characters against evil imperialists like me (adult with job).

...oh wait. I was excited for a minute, I thought I was dealing with a celebrity. But even the "callouts" struggle to hit 20 notes :/

And to everyone sending me positivity during this time, thank you very much! But I wanted to show you this to assure you I'm doing just fine. People can act as weird as they want behind a gray face, but after seeing the kinds of whiny little brats they are in reality, it's pretty hard to take it seriously. "I got my plane ticket" my ass, that would require you to leave your decaying, trash-filled apartment.

[omghallucinations]

enhypen heeuseung: wow this is a lot of nurturing benevolent energy especially for someone with a relentless work ethic and need to succeed???

psa: i went into this cold! i have seen clips of this boy off tiktok and i listen to enhypen's music a lot but idk him well, so lmk if this resonates from what u see lmao

wow, i am genuinely impressed! i would trust him with a lot more responsibility than your average man. there is a lot of empathy and compassion and sense of responsibility to others here! capture my heart, why don't you????

ok let's get started.

birth time unknown, my nemesis! well, we've got a range for his moon (21° virgo to 5° libra). no clue about rising, angles, etc etc etc. but! we can dispositor tree.

we've got a mutual reception tree, where venus and mercury rule each other.

someone with a mutual reception tree:

diplomatic

sees other people's perspectives

negotiator

two dimensions of the personality, might lean one way or the other

libra mercury has more influence unless his moon is in libra in which case that branch moves over to venus.

either way we can see his primary actors are gonna be : anxious kind of (self) critical art/relationships vs. diplomatic communication. the work ethic (saturn) also is important (saturn is in charge of mars, his willpower, who is very strong in capricorn), so is the moon (emotions, security needs) and jupiter (beliefs, travel, learning). question--does he have... anxiety? either way probably good to have him on a team bc he can smooth over conflict well.

unsurprisingly his libra sun is way down on the list of influence!! a libra sun is in its fall. a planet in its fall is like stranded somewhere where it does not have any currency, does not speak the language, has no idea what is going on. like it's still around but boy is it confused. libra suns + identity issues 4-ever. libra sun is leaky. the moon and rising are gonna be more influential, and in this case virgo vibes regardless of moon--venus in virgo wields influence over his sun.

ok so just ran into a problem that made me almost rage quit this entire post lmao--at around 8:45 pm virgo venus becomes libra venus. ugHHH this would change a shit ton. he seems like a day chart person though right??? i don't really know much about him idk!! i'm gonna move forward under the assumption that he has virgo venus and if it turns out he was born after 8:45 pm i'm gonna be pissed

cardinal squares and oppositions: rest??? but how could i provide for the family/for the good/for society if i rest??

right away there's a t-square-- jupiter opposite mars, mars square sun/mercury, sun/mercury square jupiter. t-squares are like... hey girl you ever repressed an emotion??? but also they are insanely productive. no one is gonna rest with a square.

cardinal oppositions and squares: activity, drive, FIX the PROBLEM right NOW, only god can stop me, allergic to asking for help capricorn mars: i am in control thus everything that goes wrong is my fault because i could have probably prevented it with willpower clearly i didn't eat enough spirulina or do enough planks cancer jupiter: ♫ we are the world  ♫ we are the children ♫ we are the ones who make a brighter day so let's start giving  ♫ mars opposite jupiter: i will INSPIRE the BELIEF into everyone!! there is no such thing as overcommitting!! i can take on infinite tasks!! so can you, believe in yourself!! capricorn opposition cancer: spare the rod spoil the inner child no wait we need to focus on nurturing, let's go work no let's go home, safety is through success no wait safety is through the family,

but never fear, squares are here! an opposition may fight forever, but a square comes to some kind of understanding or at least working relationship

capricorn square libra: ah let me rephrase, in a way that is pleasing to you and me, that actually the greatest goal is diplomacy... i mean we're going to do it my way but i will absolutely compromise because i am civil and refined... so... cancer square libra: wait i have no idea what is going on right now or what i'm feeling lol? um could someone... help me.... i'm totally fine giving up completely actually... idk... i really need family/friends to identify myself... ha ha... mars square sun: i know what i want and i will go after it! i must achieve or who am i??? i can never rest i always have to be Doing. my daddy/mommyfamily issues are not the point and have nothing to do with my need to succeed!! mars square mercury: uh what were we talking about haha? jupiter square sun: i will give u the shirt off my back i will give you my last protein bar i believe in growth and freedom and i am definitely as confident as i act like i am ha ha why would you think i wasn't??? jupiter square mercury: i have a great wide angle view of the world and humanity and stuff, also i overheard someone say something one time and completely misinterpreted the situation!! but it's okay i am focused on the future... the possibilities...

lol this is someone who has a really really rEALLY hard time resting. has he ever been injured?? if so, that must have fucking sucked for him. very Achievement Orientated but not in a selfish way, honestly much more focused on the group rather than the self--with the cardinal squares, he has no aries involved. it's all about the society (capricorn) the family (cancer) and the group/relationships (libra).

ahh it reminds me of someone who works 5x harder than other people and someone's like, omg leave some for the rest of us why are you working so hard it makes us look bad, and he's like "..." because it's not about putting himself above someone else! he's not succeeding at you, ok! he is doing so for you, be grateful, god.

mutable opposition: peter pan syndrom

gemini saturn opposes sagittarius pluto, this is generational but also a fun and cute opposition imo. i mean not pluto-saturn, that fully blows, but gemini-sagittarius!

gemini-sagittiarius: talkative, restless, Eternal Youth, down with the kids, subjective v objective, scattered v whole, fox v hedgehog

yay!!!!

however...

saturn-pluto: :(

saturn = anxiety fear and pluto = deep core terror, so together... mm. can be a fear of power, fear of power being put on him, fear of having power himself--heeseung may kind of dodge any leadership roles because he doesn't really trust himself.

saturn-pluto is usually very suspicious of people in authority anyway. can go back and forth between constructing and deconstructing, rules and no rules, i am a good little capitalist v burn all banks. you know what i mean!!

with this and heeseung's capricorn-libra square, he has a lot of stuff around authority and fairness.

let's talk air trines!

you can see an exact trine between heeseung's libra sun and his aquarius uranus--he's not too fussed about fitting in but he is very fussed about equality and equity and humanity and stuff. he has a talent for fairness. also he's lowkey weird with that uranus-mercury trine. idk if he shows this, but he is absolutely very strange.

with the trine from mercury to saturn, his work ethic is natural to him, and he has an ability to be responsible you don't always see with the amount of air energy lol.

also he's super wise and can leave shit in the past when he needs to. i would trust this guy with a lot of responsibilities actually! he has the ability to put his own ego aside and make the decision that's best for the collective even if it's worse for himself, SUPER rare.

damn... i may have to stan??

also uranus mercury and saturn are all retrograde (and neptune) so he's gonna have to unpack a lot of stuff in his life, he's on an Individuation Journey, lots of karmic untangling, go with god my past life baggage buddy

venus-moon conjunction: 🥺

on the left, 12:00 am. on the right, 11:59 pm. either way, we've got a venus-moon conjunction, it's just how close the conjunction goes.

dude i may really have to stan. this is such an adorable conjunction. is he a mama's boy? he might be.

he is so sensy and also is afraid of hurting other people's feelings. he feels rejected easily (maybe less than some people with this placement, bc of his other aspects) and assumes everyone feels rejected easily too, so he is very careful. people pleaser to the max. very sensitive to criticism, probably wants to fix everything immediately if he feels like he made a mistake even if was barely a mistake. girl same, mood.

it's a really good thing he has that capricorn mars and the cardinal opposition/squares because they keep him from being too delicate or yielding, gives him the willpower to move through hurt and things like that. moon-venus conjunction can be too accommodating but capricorn mars hates accommodating so it's a good balance.

hm he might have some gender things, like traditional beliefs around gender. idk if they are actually true to his personality though--it seems more like expectations he was raised with and in some ways they counter his actual personality, but he holds onto them anyway.

and whoever he gets with... you may have to deal with an overly involved mother-in-law.

venus-moon... square chiron: in conflict with his Wound, like it fuels his sensitivity but also there is maybe a feeling of... all is not how it seems, like he may not totally believe someone when they tell him they love him. bright side he is really really caring. (also his chiron is conjunct his south node... hm something is up with his childhood. his mom might be overcompensating for something she feels guilty about that happened to him when he was a kid? idk.) square lunar nodes: essential for his soul's growth--he's gonna have to deal with his own emotional safety needs and relationships in order to Grow. his south node in capricorn is very "workaholic" and his north node in cancer is very "learn to focus on ur own life and family", so that's clear. also at 0°, his lunar nodes are very potent. opposite pisces lilith: virgo v pisces is very martyr vibes, very rescuer or being rescued, he might have a tendency to want to save people that is actually about him wanting himself to be saved? very service-orientated though but he'll need to look that in the face to see what's underneath that need

fixed stars & asteroids & stuff

heeseung's sun is conjunct the fixed star spica. damn he's got some guardian angels. this is the star of protection and benefit. pure dose of helpful energy. you don't always get what you want but you get what u need.

saturn is conjunct the asteroid vesta, who is all about commitment. leadership vibes. he may shun the leadership role but it's after him anyway. when he says he's gonna do something he does it. trustworthy, needs to Believe in something to commit to it.

damn this is good boy disease. what the hell dude. do we have to be so virtuous??? god!!!

---

well!! i am still pausing my enhypen deep dive until i look at all of their charts so we will see, but what do u guys think his he more this one or that one?

actually this is extra hard edition because libra moons and moon conjunction venus are like. super similar lol. PEOPLE PLEASERS.

anyway. is he more overthinker or compulsive smoother-over? what's the vibe?

thank u for joining me on this journey. i've learned a lot and now my heart hurts but i too am air dominant so i don't wanna talk about it :)

[lily-orchard-gossip-blog]

Hello hello again! It's good to have you back for a little while! Unfortunately there is a lot of infighting in the critical sphere right now and it's not very fun to follow. And worse still Lily is as smug as ever. People are too invested in who ripped off what, who's disrespecting this or that, they should just be having fun at Lily's expense. That's what Saiscribbles has done, and you can tell how effective it is because Lily has tried every strategy in the book to prove how not mad she is.

You know what?

I think I would like to poke fun at the whole thing. I mean, it's sounds like she's gotten a bit ridiculous since I've been gone. (Ridiculous sounds like an understatement, thought.)

I've done serious and it's exhausting. You can only take her serious for so long before you realize she doesn't really even know or believe what she's saying.

As for the fighting, well... It's a shame, but let's try to focus on what's at the core of this blog: Gossiping about Lily.

...But I do have one thing I want to get off my chest, so I will mention it here and then move on. It is under the read bar just so those who don't care can ignore it.

I do have one thing to say about the drama, and that's about Ethel.

They are a liar liar pants on fire.

Seriously, I watched Evangeline Skovs video, which was one of the better coverages on the subject and there was no plagiarism. Not even of me, and I was a source!

Never mind that fact that Ethel legit lied about my blog in their rebuttal, claiming that Levi couldn't find anything on my blog about their video, or glade, so Evangeline was lying.

Their proof? Levi used the search bar, used the word minor and glade, and nothing came up except one post...

Fun fact: I'm bad at tagging things, and my search bar is kind of useless because of that.

(Side note: why would I use glade's name? Why would I want to draw attention to someone who I assumed wanted to be left alone? I'm pretty sure that was made clear in the video.)

Anyway, if you used my archive you could easily find TONES of posts from me talking about the video in question with details.

Here's one that Ethel conveniently left out:

And you know what's hilarious about that? They reblogged this take to try and rebuke it on their tumblr. (That they have long since abandoned.)

I decided to ignore it, because obviously I'm not going to try and get in a fight with them, and Ethel was so mad by that they messaged me directly to try and threaten me with legal jargon.

So I blocked them.

But hey, since I'll probably never bother with this again, here are the messages. Enjoy old drama from like...2 years ago:

Image text here:

[Okay, I've put this off for as long as possible, but please, read this case study as right now you are parroting harmful legal advice. Victim testimony not only constitutes evidence, but can be sufficient evidence to convict, a fact that was tested in Commonwealth v Gustavo Gonzalez Santos in Massachusetts.

I’ll highlight two relevant sections in case you don’t have the time to read the entire thing: “The defendant's sole argument on appeal is that the evidence was not sufficient to support his convictions. The defendant asserts that "there were no witnesses to the alleged assaults," "no physical evidence," "no medical or forensic evidence," and "no expert testimony." He argues that "there was absolutely no conclusive evidence presented at trial that suggested the [d]efendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt."” And: “Here, the victim testified to facts that constituted each element of the charged offenses. Her testimony, which the jury found to be credible, was sufficient, standing alone, to support a finding beyond a reasonable doubt as to each of the convictions. See, e.g., Commonwealth v. Lawrence, 68 Mass. App. Ct. 103, 104 (2007)

("The victim's testimony was sufficient evidence of [indecent assault and battery on a child under age fourteen]"); Commonwealth v. Gonsalves, 23 Mass. App. Ct. 184, 185 (1986) ("The victim's account of what the defendant did to him in the apartment was sufficient to overcome the defendant's motion for a required finding of not guilty of rape"). The idea that long infected our legal system that the victim's testimony in sexual assault and rape cases is less credible than the testimony of victims in cases involving other types of crimes -- an idea that reflected nothing more than sexism and an unwillingness on the part of our courts to treat sexual crimes as the gravely serious matter that they are -- has been rejected both by statute and by common law.”

When you and others continue to parrot the myth that victim testimony does not constitute as valid evidence, you are harming victims of rape and abuse. This is straight up rape culture and, since I’m pushing back any video coverage on the matter until I’ve finished dealing with Lily because I don’t want to muddle things, I need you to stop promoting falsehoods. We have legal members on our team who have passed the bar, Patchie does not, Opal does not, and neither does You Can Eat Hearts. You are causing unnecessary harm to victims by breathing life into myths constructed by rape culture. To be clear, I am not asking for your denouncement of certain people, just for you to please, stop publishing bad legal takes.

This is also the case in Canada, if you're wondering - https://www.accused.ca/evidence.htm

Sorry, I just realized I didn't give you the US case study. Here it is - http://masscases.com/cases/app/100/100massappct1.html#:~:text=The%20jury%20found%20the%20defendant,We%20affirm. ]

Oct 30, 2022 9:16 AM

Whew, you have no idea how long I wanted to spill this tea.

Alright, I've said what I've wanted to say on this topic. I'm now going to focus on laughing at Lily and her horrible incest stories.

[literaticat]

With parents/guardians regulating  (I hate the word but I think it's accurate) what they want kids to have access to, it makes libraries and the poor librarians have to fall in line and carry what only certain parents 'approve of' (to the detriment of us all). And publishers and writers might not take chances on books they know might be banned or challenged. 

Sooo how much power/influence do publishers really have? I mean in society and pop culture, I guess. I feel like publishers are beholden to everyone no matter what side of the political spectrum you fall on. 

And that old adage 'if you try to please everyone you will please no one' is starting to really be the truth. The recent Scholastic fiasco comes to mind.

(so sorry in advance this turned into a lengthy rant that doesn't answer the question) (but then again, I am not even sure I get what the question part is, so OH WELL, strap in for some book ban talk!)

A very small minority of unhinged, ridiculous parents and horrific politicians are actually trying to ruin schools and libraries for everyone. I mean:

Louisiana has current legislation that would criminalize libraries joining the American Library Association. (ie, yes, a librarian could be ARRESTED AND SENTENCED TO TWO YEARS HARD LABOR what the actual fuck???)

Utah has a law that allows any district to pull any book that any other district has pulled

Florida "moms for liberty" (LOL - FU) are trying to have librarians arrested -- Again and again -- etc etc --

I could keep going but I actually have to work at my job THWARTING BOOK BANNERS today!

So just for what it's worth -- I don't think most librarians want to or are "falling in line" and bowing to these parents. Librarians, hopefully, want to make a library that has a collection of material that will best serve all their patrons. And it truly is a very small number of patrons that launch these bizarre campaigns against books.

They do have budgets though, which are also being slashed in many cases, and obviously if they know that their particular community leans toward a certain mindset, they might make choices that reflect that when curating their collection, sure. But yeah -- all the librarians I know are big fans of free speech and freedom to read, and are willing to go to bat for that -- that's why some places are going so far as to pass LITERAL LAWS against librarians, because short of that, librarians are tough to stop!

I would say, too -- Publishers are not trying to "avoid bans" (I mean they aren't ENCOURAGING them either obviously!) -- but in my experience, they simply don't think that way when deciding what to acquire. They can't, because the fact is, it doesn't MATTER what the book is about. A book doesn't have to have "scandalous content" for people to want to ban it -- PICTURE BOOKS are being taken off shelves -- books with themes like embracing your own beauty. Or making stew with neighbors. Lots of times books are challenged for pretty blatantly racist reasons -- no reason at all, actually, other than a BIPOC person wrote it so it must have "critical race theory" (???) in it. For reals.

(Also -- these "banners" / "moms for liberty" aren't READING the books. It is a few people using canned language that somebody else came up with to paper objections to books across districts where they don't even have children. I'd argue that whoever is pulling the strings here doesn't actually even care about ANY of this -- they are using some batshit people who have too much time on their hands to just heap school districts and public libraries with challenges about every last thing because they want it to become so difficult and annoying that the librarians and library boards just give up. They want all libraries and schools to be privatized. I dunno - follow the money.)

Ugh. Again -- this is probably not answering your question??? Sorry, and I really do have to stop typing now. I guess my point is :

Publishers are beholden, in some cases, to their shareholders -- but really, to readers at the end of the day -- most readers want freedom to read and the free exchange of ideas and freedom of speech, etc -- those are the people who pay for books -- so that's who publishers cater to.

Librarians are mostly pretty staunch advocates for free speech and freedom to read, and publishers are supporting them as well.

Writers hopefully, same!

(In the case of the "Scholastic Fiasco" -- Scholastic wasn't trying to bow to nasty parents, exactly -- they were trying to protect the educators who might get harassed, fired, or potentially arrested by those nasty parents. Unfortunately, as you say, it blew up, because you can't have it both ways, etc etc.)

I really do have to go now sorry I couldn't solve book banning this morning :-/

[jess-the-vampire]

Probably an uncomfortable request, but could you please explain why Hunter is not popular because of supposed “white favoritism” or other such nonsense?

Well, ok, i'm not going to assume there aren't fans who might indeed act this way about the characters of the show, because I'm sure there are.

The show isn't perfect in itself, i feel the criticism aimed at some of the poc cast is fairly justified.

I do, however, think it's a bit unfair to claim that hunter's race was the only reason he's popular though. I mean, that kinda assumes hunter has nothing about his character that would appeal to others and i disagree.

I mean, take it from my perspective, as someone who is fascinated and invested in hunter, philip, and caleb as characters, all white characters.

What got me invested in the show was their interpersonal drama, all the tragedy and heartbreak and emotional chords personally hit with me. I tend to love stories like hunter's in shows, he's not the first character I've enjoyed with similar arcs and growth, and philip's fascinating character evolved from tragedy and what happens when the worst kinda people are left to hate without anyone to help them grow.

all of this appeals to me, and it most likely would have still appealed to me had they not been white. (Though, they are the only characters in the show that had to be white given the historical aspect)

I'm sure it's similar for a lot of others, hunter has a lot of the most compelling lore, and his story resonates with people (Let's be fair here, people tend to latch onto abused angsty characters). Like, c'mon now, hunter, belos and caleb had SO much lore about them in the fandom that most of the rest of the cast don't have, it's understandable why they got so much attention when they were so tied into the backstory and lore of a show. Of course people are screaming about hunter being a clone, it's a massive reveal and extremely dark! people eat that stuff up!

I think we just gotta remember people will have different things that appeal to them in characters, a character that might appeal to you, might not be for someone else. Even if hunter's story wasn't to your taste, it was for others, and i think we should understand that before assuming he has no other appeal to an audience then his skin.

I mean, amity is a fan favorite as well, and given she's also been accused of the same favoritism, it would be fair to assume she's also a favorite character of mine right? i mean, if logically, the only reason i feel this way about the tragic trio is their skin, then i should like amity more then characters like luz for example.

Except no, i've never been really big on amity, i think the mean girl turned good trope has just never been a trope that appeals to me that much. It certainly is a popular one, i think because people love redemption stories and once again, latch onto abused angsty characters, but she wouldn't personally rank my top 5 favorites in the show.

Same could go for eda, or lillth, who are white coded, but also not personally my favorites even if i understand their popularity.

i resonate with luz the most of the cast, and have probably the most in common with her, and i think she would rank above those three even if she's not my favorite character overall in the show.

I think we gotta look at these things with some nuance sometimes, just like how people who love philip as a character are not evil monsters and can have many reasons to enjoy his character, same goes for hunter that has nothing to do with his race.

you're not a bad person if your favorite character in a show just happens to be a white one, sometimes that just means they're a well written character who works for you and that's just it.

i think that favoritism should indeed be called out, especially when it's warranted, and of course it could play into why the show is the way it is or why the fandom is the way it is so i can't dismiss it entirely.

But we also shouldn't state it as a fact either, not without more compelling evidence at least.

And if you ask me at least, i think it does a disservice to hunter to think he of all characters has nothing else going for him.

[gay-disabled-characters-showdown]

LGBTQ+ Disabled Characters Showdown Round 3, Wave 2, Poll 11

A character being totally canon LGBTQ+ and disabled was not required to be in this competition. Please check qualifications and propaganda before asking why a character is included. 

Check out the other polls in this wave and prior here.

Ashton Greymoor-Critical Role

Qualifications:

chronic pain due to literally shattering into pieces and being put back together with molten gold. canon nonbinary [he/they]. i don’t have the spoons for a ramble on their character arc but i am holding them gently in my little hands.

Has chronic pain and TBI and goes by he/they pronouns

They are canonically depicted with chronic pain. This a major part of their character development and how they interact with other characters in the campaign. The actor who portrays them is also bisexual and deals with chronic pain; Taliesin Jaffe.

Propaganda:

they’re a punk-rock punk rock!! he has cool quantum powers and a huge glass hammer!! they’re slowly learning to live with the mortifying ordeal of having people that care about them and that he cares about in turn!! what’s not to love

A literal jaded punk rock. They were soft once... and then they turnd into stone. His body was shattered and glued back together by his enby housemate with melted gold. They have a hole in their head covered with glass through which you can see the brain and the chaos magic that brought them back from the brink of death. They're Constantly in pain and sometimes they don't remember who they screwed over(they crime) and what their relationship is like with people. He's a barbarian and when he rages he warps time, space, gravity or probability around him. Strongest member of their group/family Bells Hells. There's strength, but there's pain. There's pain, but there's strength. I love him very much. I'm not enby, they still give me gender envy (just like every other of his creator's characters). His coping mechanisms are not healthy in any way and he means a lot to me.

See above. Also, Ashton uses he/they pronouns and is canonically aromantic.

The qualifications and propaganda paragraphs correspond, @hawkeyeloveshawkeye is the third submitter.

Frodo Baggins-The Lord Of The Rings

Qualifications:

Frodo & Sam are very homoerotic. As JRRT knew and loved several openly gay authors, one of his closest friends was suspected of being gay, and with other historical events of the time, you can’t convince me it wasn’t at least a little bit subconsciously on purpose. Frodo, of course, has ptsd and probably some form of chronic illness due to the lingering effects of his nazgul wound.

Propaganda:

Frodo carried the weight of the world on his shoulders and was forever changed by it. The literal devil’s soul was constantly around his neck, always tempting him, growing stronger by the minute, twisting him and torturing him mentally. He didn’t know how his journey would end when he offered to take on the burden of destroying the most evil object in the world, but he chose to do it anyway. And he was forever ruined by it - so much that he never truly came home, not really. And once he was home, life was so thoroughly ruined for him that he could not stay. There is one other known account of this happening - Arwen’s mother, who was captured and tortured for years by orcs, and while her body was healed, her mind could not be, and she, too, sailed away. Do you understand that? Frodo’s journey was on the same level as *being captured and tortured for years on end.* He is probably the gayest non-canon confirmed character I have ever come across, queer-coded through and through, and his ptsd was enough that he could not come home, and had to sail to paradise to find peace. He deserves everything.