#these are all three characters I care about quite a lot and who have genuinely good writing exploring the world around them

[ipseitydelrey]

idk if you do headcanons but I wanna know what you think each member of the BAU team would get you for your birthday?

<33

hi !! yes i def do general headcanons too, and this is such a good idea 🫶

birthday bash ☆ the B.A.U.

characters aaron hotchner, spencer reid, emily prentiss, derek morgan, jennifer jareau, david rossi, penelope garcia, tara lewis, luke alvez, elle greenaway; can be seen as platonic or romantic with any character

content just some general headcanons

aaron hotchner is incredibly observant and he cares for his team, so he will make sure you get at least a basket-full worth of stuff. he’ll likely say it’s from everyone on the team, even if he did pay for everything in the basket himself. he also goes out of his way to get presents for people he cares about (à la the halloween special where he got that darth vader mask for jack). included in the basket are some office supplies, flowers (of course), candies, and maybe a replacement of something you broke (like your favourite mug).

spencer reid will make sure to get you something that is functional from both an aesthetic standpoint and a practical one. of course, he’ll likely get you rare books with the pages yellow and worn from use, but are still delightfully charming, even if you’re not that interested in the contents of those pages. he’ll also treat you to a sort of last-minute-birthday-breakfast if you’re all called in to work, where he’ll get you your favourite pastry and coffee/tea, just the way you like it. antiquities are also a go to, whether it’s jewellery or otherwise.

emily prentiss is an enigma when it comes to gift giving; nobody knows what she’s getting for you, and nobody knows if it’s going to be a joke present or a genuinely thoughtful one (or some combination of the two). one present she might get for you are aphrodisiac chocolates because “you’ll never know if you get lucky” (her words).

derek morgan likely wouldn’t get you a genuinely thoughtful gift at first if you were relatively new to the team. but after some time on cases and at the office and such, he will put effort into his gifts. so for your first birthday with the team, he might play it safe by getting you gift cards; but after getting to know you more, he’ll get you something that is geared to your tastes, but it will be a gift that will remind you of him. although, he is just as likely as emily to get you a joke present, if not more.

jennifer jareau’s presents are quite rushed on account of her having to balance being an agent and a mom, but she does put a lot of heart into them. she knows more than anyone how taxing the job can get at times, so expect some well-deserved spa day coupons that she managed to find strewn around her place. it’s possible she’ll get you a couple instead of one. she will also likely give you a couple drawings henry and michael made, and you can bet that you’ll hang that up on your fridge at home.

david rossi in the early seasons (especially season three) would very likely not even plan on getting you a present unless he was reminded by hotch. however, in the later seasons, rossi definitely acts like the wine aunt who gives you straight up cash as a present. expect anywhere from $100 – $1k+, he has to use up the money he got from being a best-selling author somehow. also alcohol; he will get you expensive bottles of whiskey, scotch or wine, no room for argument (unless you have a legitimate reason).

penelope garcia goes all out for your birthday; obviously she puts the most effort in her gifts and more. for her presents, she will buy quite a lot, to the point where she might spend maybe half her pay check on the presents. her gifts mostly consist of decorations mostly for aesthetic purposes, but has little to do with everyday use. possible presents coming from her include paintings, pillows, fidget toys and mugs, all of which are very colourful. but she doesn’t just stop there with presents; she will likely organize a group dinner (or maybe a group breakfast, just in case of a possible case).

tara lewis is simultaneously the least expected and most expected member of the team to be a chaotic gift giver. she will also likely get you a joke present but while emily would get you something along the lines of a prank present, tara’s presents would be subtle and remind you of inside jokes either within the team or just between the two of you. also, expect alcohol, quite a number of the team will get you a bottle, including tara.

luke alvez definitely tries the hardest with his gifts (after penelope, of course), especially if he’s newer on the team. he’ll ask around for any ideas, either on what to get you or what kind of person you are with the team so he can figure it out for himself. if you have a dog (or two…or five), he will spoil the dog rotten with new toys, biscuits or dog accessories — which he probably collaborated with penelope on.

elle greenaway’s presents are ones that you shouldn’t really open with most of the team present because of their explicit nature. she’ll probably get you incredibly revealing swimwear (yet another collaboration with penelope), and also alcohol — specifically hard liquor. those are likely to be the only presents that you can actually open in front of everybody on the team without getting a lot of stares.

taglist @queermaxwooo @pleasantwitchgarden @hbwrelic @kissesforapence @theoraekenslover join the taglist!

[writingbluerose]

kingdom dance | silver vanrouge x reader

summary : invited by Malleus and Lilia, you and the guys from Diasomnia went to a festival where humans and faes came together. Needless to say, you have lots of fun

warnings : the reader is Yuu and she's a girl!

a / n : GUUUYSSS!! I swear my favorite twst character changes every single week. I can't be the only one who started liking Silver EVEN MORE after book 7. Like I am SMITTEN. Also this, in case you didn't get it until now, is inspired by Rapunzel. God I'm gonna have so much fun writing this.

Look at that! The lanterns are look like stars from this distance! Don't you think so?

...yeah, they're really beautiful

It was the start of summer, the Night Raven Collage was busier as ever, the final exams getting closer and closer by the day. Only a group of students were walking calmly on a forest path sheltered from the sun. That group was made of 4 students from the Diasomnia dorm and one student walking a bit behind, the student and prefect of Ramshackle dorm.

You were invited personally by Malleus and Lilia to a festival that was annually held in a little village that wasn't too far away from Lilia's cottage and Malleus' castle. At first, you were quite surprised, after all, wasn't this a festival where only faes were invited? Being the only human there was a bit awkward. Lilia was fast to reassure you, this festival was for both humans and faes, more humans even! So it was all going to be fine.

Grim was the one to get left behind in the care of the Heartslyabul dorm, Riddle was more than happy to take care of him, it was a great opportunity to help Grim with his grades and tutor him while you were gone. And that's how you found yourself on this path, calmly walking not too far behind the group admiring the scenery. Malleus, Lilia and Sebek were happily chatting while Silver was in front of you looking at them, missing how he was turning his head in your direction, checking if you were alright and weren't getting lost, a flustered and soft look in his every time he was doing so. After some time, Silver again turned his head in your direction, slowing his pace so he could be next to you. “You're awfully quiet, are you ok? Do you feel unwell?” You turned your head in his direction seeming shocked by his question “No,no! Of course not. I was simply admiring the road, I didn't get to go on such beautiful and green roads very often. It's really beautiful” Silver smiled at you, his eyes trailing to the bag you had on your shoulder “Isn't your bag too heavy? I can help carry it if you'd like” “Oh no no! It's alright! I can manage don't worry, I may not do this often but I went to more expeditions than you think!” You giggled happily. The silver haired boy realized that this is maybe one of the first times you seemed truly relaxed, your smile was genuine and despite the dark circles under your eyes ( that he knew where they came from ) there was no sign of fatigue, enjoying the company of the others.

For the rest of the road to the cottage, the chatting that came from the other three slowly stopped, all of them listening to the happy chatting of you and Silver behind them. Of course all three of them knew the feelings you held for each other. Lilia had found out Silver's feelings when the boy went and tried to discover for the first time why he was getting so nervous and warm at the sight of you, while Malleus and Sebek have supported you on your feelings for Silver, offering a shoulder when you needed to speak about them. Sebek didn't do it so willingly at first, but he warmed up slowly with Lilia's help. The truth was that the three planned this trip to help the confession come faster, and it seemed that it was working as you and Silver were getting more and more comfortable, speaking without any concerns or nervousness.

In a moment, Lilia came to a halt forcing the other to stop as well, he turned his head to an opening in the forest next to the road then turned his head to you, a wide grin on his face. “Say, dear prefect, could you come with me?” You blinked, surprised by the question. “Well, yeah! I mean sure” “Great!” In a second, Lila took your hand and guided you in the direction of the opening “You guys wait here. We'll be back in a jiffy!” Waving to the other boys, Lilia wasted no time pulling you after him. While going deeper, the forest seemed to get darker, the sun disappearing and the only thing that was assuring you that Lilia was still there was his grip on your hand. After a while, you spotted lots of little red lights, peaking at you through the bushes. Lilia brought you closer to them, releasing your hand and crouching next to the red flowers. “Pretty aren't they? They're called Tomb Blooms. They grow only in places where fairies are buried. I used to pick them up a lot...give them to Meleanor...” You looked at the flowers, they were indeed so pretty, they looked like they were aflame in the middle. Next to you, Lilia reached out and plucked out a flower giving it to you “Silver was always excited to give me these flowers when he was little, he loves them. Give it to him, I'm sure he'll love it” Giving you a wink, Lilia took ahold of your hand again and guided you out of the forest. Will Silver really love this...?

When the three spotted you getting out of the opening, you all resumed your walk to the cottage. You held out the flower hidden in your clothes, thinking about how to give it to Silver who was still walking next to you, looking ahead at the trees. You took a deep breath and tugged Silver's sleeve. The boy looked at you, tilting his head in a questioning manner. “...hey Silver. You're probably wondering what me and Lilia did when we left. I... uhm...here! — you said, revealing the flower you hand hidden in your jacket — it's for you!” He looked at you with wide eyes then looked at the flower. Was this...? “A tomb bloom? It's been so long since I've seen these flowers... Y/N, thank you!” Silver slimed at you and goodness you hope he didn't see the blush on your face. Putting the flower carefully in one of his backpack pockets, Silver took your hand in his. “Do you mind? It's alright if you don't want to though—” “No I want to!” You tighten the hold on his hand, pink blush creeping on both of your cheeks. You held hands for the rest of the road, not knowing the smiles and silent laughs shared between the three in front of you

It was past afternoon when you finally made it to the cottage, it was a nice looking one, set just right in the middle of a forest opening, where the sun gracefully shined on it “My, it's been a while since I've been here. It's your first time, no child of man? I'm sure you'll love staying here” Malleus gave you a soft smile clearly excited about your stay “Come in everyone!” Lilia opened the door to the cottage but right before you entered, he came outside with a rather complicated look on his face, you could tell he was trying to be sad but also held his laugh “Ah, Y/N there might be a problem here you see” A problem so bad you're trying not to laugh...? “I may have overlooked the fact that you were coming here with us and you don't have a room to sleep in” You blinked and then smiled “Oh! That's alright then! You have a couch don't you? I'll sleep there!” “Never in my life have I heard a statement that sad” Sebek approached you gripping your shoulders and shaking you “You're our guest, human! We can't possibly let you sleep on a simple couch! If that's the case you'll share a room with someone!” You looked at Sebek with a knowing look, when he looked back his expression looked like he had just been punched “Don't look at me! I'd rather be stabbed!” “Geez you're such a good friend Sebek, thank you” You looked down putting a hand on your chin, who would share a room with- “I can help!” Looking up, it was Silver who spoke “My bed is big enough for two people. You can sleep with me if you'd like and feel comfortable enough” Looking to his side, Silver refused to look you in the eyes, he doesn't believe he actually had the courage to say such a thing. You looked at him and smiled : “That'd be nice, thanks Silver” He looked back at you with a flustered face “... you're welcome” “Kehee, now that that's decided, let's go settle in everyone!”

When Silver opened the door to his room you couldn't believe your eyes. This room was so pretty! It was simple, sure, but it had such a calm air to it, like you could fall asleep the moment you drop in the bed “I hope you like it, I mean, I know it's simple but it'll fit both of us” “Silver are you kidding? — you stepped in front of him with a wide smile — this room looks just like the one I dreamed of having when I was a kid! I really love it!” He smiled as he closed the door settling his bags next to his wardrobe. “I'm glad. Come on, let me help you open those” For a while, you and Silver settled your clothes and decided which part of the wardrobe and drawers you'd take for each other. After finishing you were both looking at the bed. It was certainly perfect for two people to sleep in but there was one tiny problem “I'll take the floor!” You looked at Silver with determination, you didn't fail to notice the surprise on his face “What? No Y/N I can't let you do that, you're our guest, if that's the case then I'll take the floor” His expression was as serious as ever. Sighing, you looked back at the bed and then at Silver, your cheeks getting a red tint to them. “Won't you feel... uncomfortable?” Looking down at the floor you couldn't possibly meet his face, you knew he knew what you were suggesting. Looking at you with a red face Silver spoke again “Of course not, I'd be honored if you'd accept sleeping with me. It means you'll trust me enough to do so” You looked at him again, gosh he's so pretty, you thought “Alright then, I trust you Silver, so if that's alright with you, we'll sleep together” Silver smiled at you once again, relieved that you put your trust in him

It was long past the time the sun disappeared making way for the moon. Lilia wanted to make dinner for all of you, but remember in the warnings, you and Sebek both jumped at his words, parring the idea and proposing that you should take the reign instead. Sebek knew how to make food and you loved cooking so you'd insisted on making dinner instead. Happy about the idea of you and Sebek spending time together to strengthen your friendship, Lilia gave you the pass of making the food in his place. Was it chaotic? A bit. Sure it was hard to get Sebek to listen to your advice and about the ingredients he had to use but after the first attempt of the food exploding in Sebek's face he decided it was twice as easy to just listen “Trust me, I do some occasional shifts at the Monstro Lounge, I know what I'm doing” and after some quite long two hours you finally finished. Luckily, the others loved the food, and Malleus did propose you should come to Diasomnia to make food more often, it was that good, he says. After eating dinner, Lilia decided for all to go to rest, tomorrow was festival day, so you needed to rest so that in the morning you'll have enough energy to wake up and prepare

A solid ten minutes passed since everyone went to their rooms and you and Silver still didn't find the courage to sit in the same bed. “Ok, let's get this over with” You grabbed Silver's hand pulling him to settle in bed with you “Ah, uhm, are you sure about this Y/N?” “I am!” Still looking at him you started looking at his eyes, they had such a beautiful color to them, it sometimes reminded you of the aurora borealis back home “Your eyes...they remind me of the sky back home” Silver looked at you then at your lips, he slowly leaned in, just enough but still not quite there as you did the same. You could feel each other's breath as you leaned in closer, your lips almost touching, but as quickly as it started Silver pulled away “We should get some sleep” He turned his face away from you and pulled the covers on you both “Yeah, we should” You didn't turn away instead you slowly got closer to him, enough to feel his warmth. Silver turned his face to look at you, fast asleep. His hand held your waist and pulled you closer, your head hitting his chest. That's how you both fell asleep that night

The next morning, you woke up before Silver, and well, the position you both were in had you beyond flustered. Silver was on his right side with you facing him, your head was on his chest, your hand was hugging him close to you, one of his own hands mirroring your actions and your legs intertwined with his. You just wanted to get closer to him! But not this close! You looked up at his face your eyes trailing to the door, you could hear the others wake up so you gently poked Silver's cheek to wake him up. You would've gotten out of this position but god his grip was like iron. Soon enough Silver shifted in his position and opened his eyes, smiling at him you greeted him happily. “Morning sleepyhead” “Y/N- oh I'm sorry” Releasing his grip on you he sat up straight looking out the window in his room. “Is it morning already? We best get up before father decides to make breakfast on his own” You laughed and got up quickly after him getting ready for the first festival day

After once again taking control of the breakfast, everyone changed in more relaxing clothes and made their way on to the festival to be there at least by the afternoon. When you arrived at the festival you couldn't believe your eyes, you always remembered the story that Malleus told you that he heard from Lilia first, the humans and faes always hating on each other being at war and even now one being afraid of the other, but now? So many faes and humans, talking and laughing with each other having fun and dancing around “I've been to this festival only once myself and goodness I forgot how beautiful it was” In awe, Silver who was next to you couldn't stop admiring the view, judging by his reaction he probably came to this festival when he was just a little child so of course he wouldn't remember much but one person passing would say you and Silver look like twins with the matching surprised expression on your face “Come on kids! Let's have fun!” Lilia was the first one to enter the small town followed suit by Malleus and then Sebek, who was eager to be at his liege side “Come on Y/N, let's relax and have fun” Taking your hand, Silver took you into the busy streets of the festival, coming next to you and allowing you to take him wherever you want

The next few hours were amazing! You took Silver almost everywhere, looking and taking photos of things you found most amazing. Lilia was off buying whatever traditional food he could find then sharing with everyone, Malleus loved to talk and play with the children that weren't at all afraid of his appearance and Sebek followed close by, he himself was looking for ancient souvenirs and books he could take home. You and Silver on the other hand were busy painting on the pavement, yes, on the pavement. What you both enjoyed the most was that many others came and helped, after an hour or so, a beautiful white rose with black thorns around it and a dark green background was beautifully arranged on the center of the roads

Taking a break, full of paint and sweating and laughing at your adventures at the festival, both of you joined Lilia to see if he had any snacks on him for you to regain your energy. At the messy sight of you Lilia let out a laugh “Well it seems like you two had fun” “We had! We painted the whole center of the village!” You started laughing again, Silver following after, you were so exhausted that you'd feel like every little thing would make you laugh “Kehee, I'm glad you had fun. Now go sit somewhere and rest, I'll bring some food to you” Following his orders, you and Silver took a seat on a close bench, taking in the sights once again

You and Silver were still on the bench talking and laughing still. After a while, the others joined in excited and itching to tell something “Guys you seem excited! Something cool happening right now?” The three looked at each other and then at you and Silver, Lilia being the first one to talk : “There's a festival dance starting soon! I hope you guys are ready because it's gonna be a blast” “A dance?! You're not for real!” Jumping off the bench you made your way to the center of the village already hearing a lively song “Well she's excited! — Lilia turned his head and looked at Silver — This is an amazing opportunity you know? Dance with her Silver! We'll back you up!” “... dance with her...” Silver looked down, his face already red from the start. He got up and made his way to the center, people already gathering up to dance, you seeming to be the heart of it, dancing in the middle of the crowd, giggling and dancing to your heart's content. Silver soon saw Lilia, Malleus and even Sebek joining the dance

Stopping for a second to watch the other people dancing around you, you saw Silver on the side unsure on what to do or when to join in. Quickly making your way to him you held out your hand and gave him a wide grin : “Silver! Would you like to dance with me?” He looked at your hand and then took it with a small smile on his face, “I'd love to”

And dance you did. You took Silver by the hand and dragged him to the center of the group, you could hear cheers from all around you once you were back and guiding the dance again. Everyone around you retired from the dance and formed a circle big enough for the pair to move around freely. From the crowd, Lilia was filming with his phone, happy to see his son having fun with the one who loved while Malleus and Sebek were behind him smiling like two little kids watching them. The two continued dancing and it lasted almost until the sunset and when they finished the look in their eyes revealed only love and adoration for one another

When the night came it was time for one last tradition of this festival and that was the release of the floating lanterns on the river. Some people took a boat to take on the river and release them there and some people, including you and Silver, stayed on the ground to release them. In fact, Silver was the one who took you to a more secluded area, with not many people in sight. At the time, it was true that no one was around and the place was perfect since it had a wide opening to the river. You and Silver were laying on the grass, your lanterns next to you ready for release “Thank you for the dance Silver. I really had fun” “It was my pleasure Y/N, I enjoyed dancing with you. I hope we'll be able to do it again sometime” Do it again? That sounded amazing. You'd do anything to dance with him again, to see him laughing and smiling at you just like today. You looked up at the sky admiring the stars. Should you tell him? How would he react? Would he hate you- “Y/N” Silver's voice snapped you out for your thoughts “Yeah? Sorry I got distracted” He let out a tiny laugh as your face turned an almost invisible red “That's ok. We have to release the lanterns, come on” He offered you his hand and you took it, getting up and walking closer to the river, Silver helped you light up the lamp and stepped closer to you. Raising your hands the lantern slowly started flying up to the sky becoming smaller and smaller. You looked up at the sky at the lanterns that were just little yellow lights “Silver look at that! The lanterns look like stars from this distance! Don't you think so?” Turing his gaze on you, Silver looked at your face that was previously illuminated by the lantern's light now only having the soft light of the moon. Your eyes were sparkling while watching the sky, Silver smiled softly at your expression “...yeah, they're really beautiful” and without thinking he took your face in his hands and kissed you. Your lips were so soft on his, not at all like in his dreams, you were real now and kissing you hasn't felt better than it does now

Breaking the kiss, Silver didn't have time to say anything as you went in again, your hands going to his shoulders and his on your waist. This one was longer, none of you wanted to let go, it was hard to, your lips moving just right, like they were made so that you two only kiss each other and no one else. Unfortunately, the lack of oxygen made you part, breathing heavily, a mix between shock and relief in both your eyes. “Y/N! I love you. I- I've been waiting for so long to tell you, it's just that-I, I couldn't- I didn't know how to tell you and if you refused me I couldn't-” “Silver! I love you too! I thought that if I told you you would hate me! Because you've always seen me as a friend, you'd tell me that!” “I was only telling you that because I thought you saw me the same, I never wanted to ruin our friendship over such a thing” It was a minute of silence then you both started laughing “Silver I love you” You couldn't help it but say it again, hugging him tight in reassurance. “I- I love you too. More than you'll ever know” And he hugged you back, so tight that you almost couldn't breathe, but you didn't mind, it was perfect, this was perfect and you couldn't have it any other way

After coming back home Lilia made sure to show his nice friends from the Pop Music club how nice you and Silver danced. Let's say your relationship with Silver didn't stay hidden for too long

© writingbluerose 2025

[le-fruit-de-la-passion]

I keep seeing people worship Christian Linke for some shit he’s said and ignore the fact this man is antisemetic and heavily insensitive towards non white and straight characters HE IS NOT YOUR ALLY

I genuinely think people just don't know how much of a shitty person he is. Seriously, that dude was quite possibly the worst person to put in charge of a project like Arcane. Here are just some of things he's said that you should know of:

• Linke said the death of every character in Arcane was a direct result of their own actions : "Every single big beat in the end with our characters, whether it’s a death or not, is a consequence of their choices."

So, I'd like you to explain to me how Vander's death was his fault, because I don't quite remember him agreeing to becoming Warwick. Also, maybe having the three characters portrayed as suicidal in the show (Jinx, Viktor, and Jayce) all die, and go on to say it was just the consequences of their own actions... isn't a good message?

• Linke has declared Viktor as asexual on his own, with the sole purpose of discouraging JayVik shippers : "There is a love. I don't think it's romantic [...]. To me, Viktor was always asexual".

Now, the issue here isn't having an asexual character, its having chosen VIKTOR, one of the most important characters for disabled rep in animation and popular media, to be asexual. I've went on and on about how infantalizing that is to disabled/chronically ill fans, because we NEVER get to be perceived as sexual beings. Having a body that's visibly different from the norm, or limits on certain abilities, turns off people, makes them uncomfortable. That's why you just never see a sexually active or a sex positive disabled character on screen. That's why, in all his "sexy" skins in LoL, Viktor is given a six pack, has no visible marks of illness on his body (scars, fatigue lines), and has no medical brace or crutch.

Viktor was always intended to have a sexual swagger in season 1 ("this isnt my bedroom") and that was EXTREMELY important to a lot of us in the community. I've seen a very similar response from the asexual community as well, who feel like Linke is using their identity and experience as a shield from fan interractions he dislikes, and without actual care for what it means to the characters. Don't fall for rep that isn't actually meant to represent you.

• Linke has directly and openly compared the Zaun and Piltover conflict to the left and right in the United States, and put both sides on equal moral footing : "If you’re asking me whether we were inspired by two sides of one nation who are incapable of even talking to each other anymore at a certain point, yes."

So, I don't think I need to explain how bad this is. Remember that Piltover is the city of wealth and enforcers, and that they've gazed the district of Zaun, dumped chemicals around their water suplies, directed brutal and deadly repressions of civil uprising and protest, offered no financial support to the struggling communities of addicts, disabled people, and orphans, refused Zaun any implication or decisional seat in the city political life, AND THAT'S JUST ON TOP OF MY HEAD. Now, think about what that means with the USA politics comparison, and the idea that they should "just listen to each other". Yeah.

Now, if you know me a bit, you know I live in Canada, so maybe you think this doesn't affect me personally, or that it doesn't affect you because you live outside the US. To that, I want to tell you about a neighbour of mine, who lives on the street parallel to my house, and this truck he owns. The truck has a whole lot of fun stickers and flags on it: the quotes "TRUMP ARREST TRUDEAU" and "CANADIANS FOR TRUMP", the israeli flag, the confederate flag, christian crosses, the blue lives matter flag, and an anti BLM sticker. Now, I'm sure theres more cool things, I've just never gotten close enough to look at the smaller stickers and ornaments because, as a very openly bi arabic woman, I'm scared to death of that man. But maybe I should just hear him out, right?

Tldr, do not think that the state of american politics doesn’t affect the rest of the world.

• Linke has called the people of Zaun and specifically Silco "Svengali", which is an antisemitic name that implies Jewish people are crooks / dirty / thiefs / sexual degenerates. There's a great post on Tumblr that goes more into detail about this (https://www.tumblr.com/endearing-dalliance/769693230696677376/another-blow-against-arcane-anti-semitism?source=share). I'd just like to insist on how bad calling someone "svengali" is. His character was used in many pieces of propaganda in Nazi Germany to picture the "Evil Jew", and to dehumanize Jewish communities by portraying them as ressembling Satan (forked beard, can do unholy hypnosis, targets women...). Linke could have chosen ANY other term to talk about Zaunites, the oppressed community getting gazed by a police state, but he chose that one. That was not an unconscious decision.

I'm a firm believer that it is possible to separate art from artist/studio/company, and to appreciate something while still being aware the person behind it is not a great individual. However, if you're defending all the decisions made in season 2, these are things you HAVE to be aware of.

[pyramus-the-poet]

A favorite trope of mine is when characters just trauma dump in the middle of mundane conversations. And I’ve seen quite a few people characterize Jason this way, where he’d hide the fact that he was in the League or All-Caste from the other Bats because either: 

1. He’s a really private person and doesn’t want to open up to anyone, especially the Bats

2. He compartmentalizes a lot of it, so he genuinely forgets it even happened

3. He keeps it in his back pocket until the perfect time to bring it up to do the most damage to whoever he’s talking to

And although I enjoy all three of these, I’ve always had sort of a different view on things so hear me out for a moment.

Jason Todd a boy that would tell his Mom everything. He’d tell her about the characters in a new book he’d read that day at the library, or he’d complain about how much of the gross cologne Mr. Davis wore, hell, he’d tell her about a brick he saw on his way to school laying on the sidewalk that was kinda shaped funny.

Little Jason Todd could ramble on for hours and hours about everything or absolutely nothing. He was a natural conversationalist (which he used very much to his advantage when he was hungry, on the streets, haggling the store clerk for a bag of chips). He could strike up a conversation with the introverted 90-year-old widow down the block or the excited 8-year-old he met at the library who only spoke in broken English. 

He would tell everyone he spoke to out in Crime Alley little anecdotes about himself that would later be the only crumbs of his life that would be remembered when he moved into Bristol to live with Bruce Wayne. (And would be the only proof of his existence when his death in Ethiopia was covered up)

But Jason hardened from losing his Dad cause of a stupid job gone wrong, slowly over the course of a year, having to watch and accept that he was losing his Ma too, and then being left alone to fend for himself.

He wasn’t used to talking anymore. 

He missed talking to someone who would listen so badly.

But then he was living with Bruce Wayne, the aloof, billionaire, playboy by day and the savage, fearless caped crusader by night.

When Jason finally got comfortable, he did ramble. 

He told Bruce all about school and homework and the new book he found in the Manor.

He told Batman about the new move he learned watching Selina and the guy who was so drunk he thought he was The Batman and tried to help Robin out during patrol.

But that was all he’d let himself talk about.

He would never let himself waver from safe subjects. Whenever he felt like Bruce was trying to (awkwardly) start an emotional, heartfelt conversation, or Batman was trying to pry more information about Robin to update his file, he’d subtly steer the conversation to safer topics.

It wasn’t because he didn’t want to talk about the heavy stuff but because he couldn’t.

Bruce didn’t hide how unsure he was with taking Jason in as well as he thought he did. Sure, he had raised Dick just fine but Dick was also a much easier kid to deal with and Bruce related to the pain Dick had lived through in a way he couldn’t with Jason. The Todds weren’t some picturesque family that lived in the spotlight and were torn apart in a flash. Willis Todd was a petty criminal who was desperate to put food on the table and was in over his head. Catherine Todd died slowly; her arms and legs were failing her, and the under-the-counter pills she took from a friend of a friend to help ease the pain were dragging her to an early grave. 

Batman didn’t hide how unsure he was as well as he thought he did, either. The second Robin wasn’t raised doing flips through the air and freeing himself from ropes under a timer in the circus. He needed more training and more time and more money put into him. Batman made his distrust clear every time he’d bark at Robin to be more careful while dealing with crooks on patrol when the sidekick had hardly managed to get a punch in.

Bruce Wayne needed a son who he could show off at galas and captivate a crowd with his good looks and award-winning smile. (Not Jason, whose hair was so poorly cared for for years that it still sat half-dead and frizzy. The boy that knocked his tooth out cleaning out Ms. Coleman's gutters and it grew back in crooked.)

Batman needed a Robin he could rely on to watch his back, a Robin that was unafraid, a Robin that he didn’t need to baby and rush into battle to save all the time.

If Jason told Bruce what he’d gone through living on the streets, he’d realize how broken Jason was and send him off to one of those foster homes for troubled kids.

If Robin told Batman that he was still afraid of the dark or about the time he pushed Auntie Sofia’s abusive drunk boyfriend down the stairs, he wouldn’t want him anymore.

And now years later, after waking up in his grave and coming back wrong—coming back broken—it’s instinctual not to open up to Bruce.

Especially when Bruce still sits in that damn cave in front of that fucking memorial case and mourns the son and sidekick he’d lost. The son who is standing right infront of him and is only a phone call away. The sidekick who still patrols the streets of Gotham only five minutes away from Batman’s usual patrol route.

But Jason knows why he mourns that fifteen year old version of himself because some days—on those really bad days—Jason mourns him too. 

Jason mourns the kid he could’ve been, the kid he was supposed to be, and he mourns the father he’ll never have again.

Jason Todd and Bruce Wayne will never talk about it.

And neither do Red Hood and Batman.

[colourstreakgryffin]

HELLO! If you are taking requests can you do a Dazai Osamu! Reader with Alastor, Lucifer and Husk? Both romantic and platonic please. If you are uncomfy with it its perfectly fine!

Hehe! Okay. I actually haven’t gotten Lucifer or Husk yet and I like both of ‘em! I’ve written about this character before, Dazai Osamu but since it’s different, I’ll try it but i am sorry, I can’t manage over six over six-to-seven headcanons for the three boys in both platonic and romantic so just romantic it is! I hope that’s okay!

Alastor

Romantic

Alastor feels like he has to have you on a leash 24/7 and whilst it’s annoying, he wouldn’t mind being near you all the time. You’re a cunning and sophisticated person but you’re also quite suicidal and lazy at times so he has to have a eye on you all the time to ensure he won’t walk into you trying to make a joke, out of stabbing yourself

Alastor is quite protective. You’re a suicidal maniac and you even openly say to him you want to properly die with him, die with a handsome man and he is repulsed by this idea so he has to always cling you onto him to control your very bad habits and bad mannerisms. He will get you over them eventually, as your boyfriend, he cares about your health and he is thankful that you reciprocate

Alastor is glad when you’re more into your funny, caring state. When you’re more of an approachable and good person. Because then, it’s a golden opportunity to bond with you and not act as your damn suicide prevention police. He much prefers when you’re not fantasising and being picky about how you get erased then fail to complete these processes

Alastor’s quite impressed by your skills. You’re the strongest and youngest mafia leader back in your human life and your current sinner life so you have the passion you act you don’t and you’re more mature then you behave as. He is proud when he can watch you take charge and lead around the Hotel with your own knowledgeable being the main guide

Lucifer Morningstar

Romantic

Lucifer is a goofy sweetheart so you bet your ass that he is very good at keeping you passive and giggling, away from your dark mind. You’re always smiling and joking around with the King of Hell since he can handle you very well. He is as caring but he treats you like you’re made of glass. Something he won’t stop doing until your obsession over suicide dies out

Lucifer likes how mysterious you can be. You’re not entirely open, which he understands whilst being immensely open himself. He will just have to win your trust and your ability to express yourself over time as your new partner. You’re dark and enigmatic, if not the opposite of Lucifer and it’s a wonder why he likes you so much and he could write a book about why he likes you

Lucifer loves how committed and willing you are. You’ll do even the most shady things for him and he always feels both extreme pride and the extreme desire to scoop you up in his mighty six wings to kiss your face off. You’re so loyal and you do so much for him, it’s not a surprise that he sticks to you like he’s glued onto your hip

Lucifer is actually quite protective to you. He doesn’t want you touching even the smallest weapon, even if you’re an adult as well but because of your mental issues and how suicide trigger-happy you are. At least, you do have a good sense of humour and have a fun-loving side through how much you tease people, it’s adorable! Lucifer does like them, it, for some reason, soothes him hearing you play around more genuinely

Husk

Romantic

Husk is a grumpy, quiet but yet patient and considerate man. He may be older but he is still caring and makes a wonderful partner. Especially for this carefree and relaxed soul, one who expresses their suicidal tendencies quite a lot. Husk knows about your suicidal desires and for that, he has such a sharp’s tiger eye on you

Husk(in reality, of these three boys) is the most healthy to date. He is gruff and emotionless on the outside but compassionate and gentle on the inside, he is a Tsundere at best and he doesn’t mind being stern with you when you’re falling down a rabbit hole or trying to harm yourself like it’s some comedy show. You’re life is beautiful and you need to see that

Husk relates to you a lot, on deep levels. You’re both lonely, you’re both lazy, you’re both basically done with everything but you have each other, you both hide your real selves and your genuine personality under a armour of behaviours, so Husk acts as the proper one for you two. He tries to encourage you to join him whenever-wherever and to try put your wits and intellect to good use. He’d feel so proud of you if you did

Husk always sticks around you. He never leaves you alone, he doesn’t want you hurt so he takes you to bed with him, he cuddles you to his side whenever you’re both walking, he even comes into the bathroom with you. He does it for many reasons, mainly because he feels so comfortable with you

[utilitycaster]

But wouldn't you say that at least the fandom experience during c3 was a lot nicer than during c2? I mean, the characters all got along immediately so no room for unnecessary drama and no ship wars, I heard it was really toxic during c2 so I'm glad that c3 had none of it.

Anon, the polite answer to this that assumes you are very new to this fandom and blog and also, if I'm being honest, reality, is "No." Drama in a fandom is largely decoupled from whether the characters actually get along on screen (much like "I wish these characters would talk" is often decoupled from them actually talking and much more about whether they're talking about the thing OP wants them to talk about). More importantly, Campaign 3 had something far stupider and more unkind and insidious than ship wars, which is people harassing you for saying a ship simply wasn't very interesting. I would also say that one of the loudest voices in the area of fans who defend Campaign 3 claiming it's more toxic is specifically speaking about their very individual Twitter experience which I do not think is indicative of the larger fandom. I do think that C2 had more fans harassing the cast on Twitter, which on the one hand is far worse behavior; but it also kind of meant that the fandom on Tumblr, while not without ship warring, was somewhat quieter. I will also acknowledge that my own personal experience is heavily colored by the fact that I was new to the fandom in C2 and so did not have a significant following until late in the game, but Campaign 3 was rife with people who, as best as I can tell, serially show up to fandoms and attack whoever they perceive as popular, sometimes genuinely popular people and sometimes it's just someone who can eloquently string together meta they disagree with, and then when you hit back go "I'm just a little guy just a little birthday boy you're so MEAN." On Tumblr, at least, toxic C2 fans were easy to stop and frankly only turned post-hiatus and many of them prided themselves on not posting hate in the main tag (and quit the fandom altogether); toxic C3 fans have the tenacity and intellect of the average cockroach.

The real answer is: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA what PRIMORDIAL ROCK have you been under. Even if you believe everything the serial liar I suspect you are listening to said about C2 drama how did you miss ALL of C3 drama, especially on like, my blog specifically, as an initially unwilling participant who eventually, as discussed below, decided that if these wretched stochastic parrot morons wouldn't leave me alone I may as well pull out the metaphorical shotgun and make starting shit with me as unpleasant an experience as possible.

Look, I'm not going to pull up my posts in which I've called people by name since I don't think you will care and/or will consider those unnecessary drama, despite the genuine erosion I believe they have committed towards the quality of discourse through their bigotry, and lack of intellectual rigor, empathy, or ability to criticize things through any lens other than false accusations of the Leftist Epithet Du Jour (eg: calling Delilah Briarwood a colonizer, which is simply untrue). But also, starting from barely 6 months into Campaign 3 and continuing through the end, ie, this is three years now.

I personally got hate for saying "It is valid for Imogen to be mad at Laudna for breaking the gnarlrock, and moreover, I feel like Laudna is given more leeway for her behavior than almost any other past character" to the point that someone joined Tumblr only to block me and then stalk me and post about me in the discourse tag.

That eventually came to a head when they called me out by name for replying to a response on a post I had originally made in which I said "Imogen's powers aren't a good metaphor for queerness in that her lack of control actually causes real problems for other people," a statement that a lot of Imogen and Laudna shippers and fans are still to this day throwing fits about despite it being over two years ago.

Multiple people, including people who had lost friends or relatives young and at least one cancer survivor, were sent outright death threats for saying nothing harsher "I think the story is interesting if Laudna remains dead." Now, I was only a lurker when Molly died, and I know people quit or were mad and harassed the cast on Twitter, but the worst I saw on Tumblr were people either quitting, or being weird and annoying about prioritizing Molly over the captured party members and later being kind of dismissive of Caduceus as "temporary".

I was repeatedly harassed to the point of at least two individuals making multiple alternate accounts to reblog my posts or send hate to me and just random people who had interacted with said posts for saying "I don't think Imogen and Laudna is a very good ship"; while we're at it, ship wars are something I dislike but expect in fandom, but I cannot stress how fucking wretched a subset of Im/odna shippers were to the point that to this day they look at people who created genuine content and meta for a competing ship that was always tiny in comparison and have decided it was done purely out of bitterness.

In general, there was just an utter incapacity among many C3 fans to accept "I don't care for your blorbo/ship/campaign" as a post on one's own blog. I was talking with some like-minded friends yesterday and to this day, over a month and a half after the campaign ended, actually a decent amount of people who liked Campaign 3 have almost identical criticisms (pacing, not following on a number of character centric-threads, lack of inter-character interactions, a resolution that is intriguing but was poorly set up, cutaways to other parties at inopportune times, and generally the campaign feeling like they put out all the ingredients on the table and said "here's a finished cake.") but it's fine if they say it, because they preface it with "I loved Campaign 3 and Bells Hells, but." In the end a lot of C3 fans will just attack if you don't think Bells Hells are great and the best. Again I am not naming names but there are even multiple people who openly prefer Campaign 2 by a margin but avoid this criticism simply by being like "Campaign 3 is also really really good, although [same list of criticisms I have]"; see lack of intellectual rigor and analysis. I think it's actually a very simple split: C2 is my favorite because the campaign allowed the characters so much leeway to interact and change and grow that they became my blorbos, whereas I would have liked to have liked BH more but the campaign was ill-suited for them and they didn't really talk.

At least Campaign 2 people wanted their stuff to be canon, and threw fits because it wasn't. Campaign 3 people are like BUT THE 20 HOUR SUPERCUT?????? and cannot accept that they have a canon ship that some people find dull or a blorbo some people think isn't a great person. If someone is mad about not getting something in the story, that's fandom as usual, it's irritating but it's life. Many campaign 3 fans cannot tolerate a whisper of dissent with their opinions without shitting themselves and making it everyone's problem. I know multiple people whom I followed during Campaign 2 for their meta who straight up stopped writing it because if you said anything even mildly critical of Campaign 3 you'd get hate. Campaign 2 harassment on Tumblr was something that largely ended shortly after story beats that proved one person right; Campaign 3 harassment was unending unless you either bow to the people sending it and say "I'm sorry for saying anything other than that your blorbo and ship is perfect," stop posting, or, and I'm really the only person who took this route, make it clear that you can and will hit back ten times harder.

So no: I found the Campaign 3 fandom on Tumblr specifically uniquely toxic because it fell outside of normal fandom toxicity. I think Campaign 2 toxic fans were deeply shitty, but they largely left and I think their unpleasantness is mostly confined to a fandom space and did not degrade the conversation; I think at least some Campaign 3 toxic fans are both genuinely stupid and genuinely bad people who are a negative influence on the fandom at large and I hope we recover during a hypothetical C4; I am cautiously optimistic if only because I think on the basis of mutual blocking they have largely self-selected out and will exist in their own weird echo chamber.

I will also note at this point my criticism of Campaign 3 is almost entirely untagged both as discourse and main and almost entirely either reblogs, or in response to asks such as this one. To be transparent, while I'm sure some critiques will arise as I work through my C2 rewatch I plan on keeping them again, untagged such that only followers, people who follow people who reblog such critiques (not many, I usually get mostly likes on those), and people looking at my blog specifically. I think it will taper off, particularly since a lot of C3 fans had little interest in anything else CR has done.

And finally: again speaking only for myself I'd rather have a brilliant campaign with a toxic fandom, where I can minimally participate in the fandom by reblogging posts I like and enjoy myself with a great show and a handful of likeminded fans in a discord (indeed this is kind of what I do for Veilguard), than a mediocre campaign with a delightful fandom. As demonstrated "it's eh but the people are nice" is not, for me, a defense of Campaign 3 but further condemnation of its quality, and then the people weren't even nice and were in fact in my estimation far worse than those from Campaign 2.

Anyway: I just want to put this out there but I am vanishingly unlikely to be swayed on anything by an anonymous ask. If you want to actually have a chance you better be saying what you say with your whole chest. But also, this is just. Extremely wrong, and you have a very incorrect read on what I personally value in addition to having a poor understanding of the CR fandom history on Tumblr but another problem about the C3 fandom? I got a lot of asks like this one where I cannot tell if the person is just naive to the point of not even realizing how little they know, or if they're trying to be manipulative but are exceedingly bad at it.

[meistwentyinchheels]

having many thoughts about percy (he drives me insane) idk what the kf devs put into this man, but i swear i'm addicted. like the more i learn about him the more obsessed i become,,,i think i'm mentally ill

anyways since i think a lot about him (and my kf mc, may. might actually drop a lore post on her at some point) i will now be sharing some of those thoughts. also have a strong feeling this post is gonna end up pretty long just as a heads up lmfao

also a lot of this is just speculation on my part and me trying my best to analyze the little amount of information we have as of the moment. just as a disclaimer, anyways!

out of the three love interests i genuinely think percy might be the angstiest route for the following reasons (under the cut):

like first off, the devs have mentioned in the past that one of the routes will have a forced breakup to serve the greater narrative (this was mentioned a really long time ago tho so it might've been subject to change, but since we have nothing that proves otherwise i am running with it.) and i do not believe in any way that it could be elio,,,unless the devs decide to throw us a curveball lmao jamie is still an option and he was my first thought when i found out about the breakup route, butttt i doubt it'd be him. so from process of elimination that only leaves percy. he's also the only one out of the lis that has been in relationships before and judging from past asks i'm assumingggg that those past experiences most likely still affect him.

second, every single mention of his family has been vague at best and there's been ZERO mention of his mother. in the asks only his dad has ever been mentioned and also in the studying event if u go off with percy and elio, go to check out the polo club and choose to stay back with percy he'll mention that he moved to the states with his dad. normally people would mention both parents, but percy didn't so it's likely his parents divorced at some point? also i had a whole ass supposedly sound argument here, but it got disproven bc apparently his step-dad also came with them to the states??? like yes it does still prove that his parents r divorced, but it can also imply he has 2 dads. that's so funny i love it. okay moving onto my actual point!!! since percy is a child of divorce it's likely also affected his view of love and romantic relationships. possibly in a skewed way, but who knows so that does add to the angst factor QUITE a bit

finally, percy's avoidant and deferring nature. during the festival event if you split up and then go to check out the festival games you end up running into percy, which is when the game tells you that he tends to defer to what others want and seems to be perkier exploring the games by himself. there's also a few occasions in-game where if the mc tries to ask percy about himself he tends to either A. brush the topic off or B. push the attention onto someone else (usually elio?). so i'd assume that he dislikes talking about himself? which would mean it would take him a good while to open up. which isn't inherently a bad thing, but it can also cause communication issues so. sigh.

is this flimsy evidence? yes! but do i care? no! also i would do a deeper dive into this if i was actually good at analyzing character behaviors,,,and if not for the fact that at the time i'm writing this it's 1am on a school night. there's also so many other things i could have talked about!!! like his name!!! maybe some other day. so like. do with all this information what you will. bc i certainly will!!! i have so many ideas!! many angsty notes!!! be prepared.

[ohnoitstbskyen]

let's spend an hour and a half enjoying the Heartsteel himbos | PARANOIA animation analysis

I have decidedly mixed feelings on the Heartsteel band splash art, which are intensified by the degree to which their 3 minute music video was able to near-instantly endear me to every one of these idiot himboyband doofuses.

Heartsteel is a project that suffers a lot in being compared to True Damage and K/DA, which are the most obvious points of comparison to draw, especially since Riot seems (at least to me) to have committed rather fewer resources to their virtual band project this go around. Wisely, thus, the Hearsteel project decided to attempt a very different narrative and emotional vibe with its characters from previous efforts. Where K/DA and True Damage both presented their characters as untouchable pop-gods at the top of their game, bragging about their accomplishments, Heartsteel comes from almost exactly the opposite place.

PARANOIA is a fearful, defensive, defiant song composed and performed like a triumphal power-anthem, coming from the perspective of a group of industry outsiders who have all been devalued or burned by the mainstream.

Ezreal is a one-hit-wonder whose image got run into the ground by controlling management, Yone a legendary producer burned out on industry conformity. Kayn is a pop music bad boy whose spiteful arrogance broke up his last band, K'Sante an ambitious vocal powerhouse who could never find creative partners, and Sett a disgraced rapper who lost his contract for punching a paparazzo.

These, then, are not pop-gods gracing the mortal realm with images of their brilliance, but a bunch of down-and-out losers and untapped talents trying to claw back their careers with nothing but found-family dynamics, the power of friendship, and Jackass-style promotional stunts in their arsenal. The music video depicts them running a night-time raid on a film studio, stealing props and causing god knows how much property damage trying to film their own comeback music video.

It doesn't.... quite nail the grunge independent vibe that it seems to want to go for, it has a rather inconsistent diegesis, and trying to cram character moments for six characters into a three minute song compresses the pace of the video to an almost manic emotional experience. I found that most of its setpieces and ideas did not land with me at all until a third or fourth re-watch, and going through the video frame-by-frame so I could actually take in what the video was trying to say.

Once I did, I enjoyed it a LOT. The character animation is expressive, dynamic and immensely charming. There's a ton of great texture work going on, interesting lighting, extremely creative effects, and the emotional heart of the video - the genuine affection between the band members as expressed through boyish shenanigans - hits brilliantly... once you slow the video down enough to really see it. There is also a truly astonishing amount of work put into flash frames and scribbly visual effects, and an absolute embarrassment of screenshots that could be wallpapers.

Anyway, I spent an hour and a half talking about a three-minute music video because I am the world's easiest sucker for charming character animation. Care to join me?

[dat-town]

lowkey the one you need

Characters: Myung Jaehyun & female reader

Setting & genre: college au, friends to lovers

Summary: Your friendship of three years with Jaehyun has been shifting lately but you can’t quite explain why. Until you do.

Warnings: mentions of pushy guys, alcohol consumption and cliche games at college parties, jealousy

Words: 1.9k

Author’s note: happy bday to our beloved puppy leader! (no matter what he says there’s nothing wolfish about him... 99% of the time); title from nice guy English version,  header pic of Jaehyun from mint

@restlessmaknae thanks again for bringing these boys into my life! without them my writing stats for this year would have been quite poor but now look at me, bday stories for all of them? who would have thought?

The weight of Myungjae’s arm around your shoulders was familiar. Welcomed even. Warm and comforting, a feeling you could sink into on movie nights, it was nothing new.

And yet, there was something different this time. Something like butterfly wings scratching the surface, a tickling feeling, heart racing.

“Is there a problem, babe?” The boy spoke up, casual as he drew out the endearment as if he called you that every other day but his usually bubbly and bright voice was serious and stern, something threatening hanging between the syllables. He shot a dubious glance at the guy in front of you before finding your eyes, his gaze softening as soon as it settled on you. You smiled, relieved, grateful, but  somehow nervous because you felt exposed and vulnerable as if looking at you too long would have exposed too many secrets. Secrets you weren’t ready to uncover.

“It’s okay. I was just telling Hyuntae that I’m not interested,” you said as nonchalantly as you could, not wanting to make a scene.

With his side pressed against yours you could feel the way Jaehyun’s body tensed at your answer, his hand sliding from your shoulder to your arm, pulling you closer gently. The movement was simple yet it was halfway between protective and possessive. You weren’t sure how much of it was acting, just him being a good friend trying to scare off a pushy guy who seemingly didn’t understand no. It wouldn’t have been the first time. But this time around it made your heart flutter.

Something was definitely different this time. Something like the taste of cherry coke on your tongue and the smoke in your lungs that made you cough. Getting fresh air was never about clear night breeze at college parties after all. Still, you had rather inhaled the nicotine of strangers�� cigarettes on the crammed balcony than to watch Jaehyun kiss Younha in that stupid game of Truth or Dare. It tasted more bitter, the tang of jealousy, so you excused yourself and that was how you got yourself here, between your best friend and a guy who thought it was lame that you weren’t drinking.

“Uh huh and which part of that is hard to understand?” Jaehyun tilted his head at Hyuntae who scoffed in response.

“Chill, dude, I just offered to get her a drink,” he rolled his eyes, mumbling something nasty under his nose before disappearing back in the crowd of the living room, leaving the two of you and the smokers out on the balcony.

Your shoulders visibly relaxed but Jaehyun didn’t let go even then. The hand he had over your bare arm traced feather light patterns over the skin, soothing and caring. You could barely suppress a shiver and not from the cold.

“Are you okay? Do you wanna leave?” He looked at you in concern, his big brown puppy eyes warming your soul.

“What about Younha?” You muttered, thinking back on the last of what you saw of him, sitting in a circle among Intak and the others, the empty glass of beer landing on him.

“What would be with her?” Jaehyun frowned, looking genuinely confused and you weren’t about to spell it out for him, that it looked like the girl wanted a lot more from him than a chaste kiss in front of others as a dare. So you opted for phrasing it nicer.

“She seems to like you,” you shrugged like you didn’t care, like the sight of her heart eyes didn’t stab your heart with thousand thorns.

“She doesn’t even know me,” The boy dismissed your inquiry like it didn’t matter and it was terrible how triumphant you felt over something insignificant like that. But Jaehyun didn’t let you dwell on it too much, instead he grabbed your hand with his always warmer ones and pulled you towards the door. “Let’s go before you catch a cold.”

You didn’t argue, just said bye to your friends and let Jaehyun steer you out of the apartment, covering your shoulders with his denim jacket. It smelled like spring and sandalwood, like a safe place, but you resisted the urge to pull it tighter around yourself. You started walking three blocks down towards your place side by side and it somehow sent you off on the memory lane, wondering where it all began and where it changed.

You had been friends with Jaehyun pretty much since the first day of college. At least since your first Economics class where he happened to sit next to you in the lecture hall and asked whether you thought the professor looked like a dinosaur from Jurassic Park too. It had been history since. He was the fastest friend you ever made but it was impossible not to get swept up by the force that was Myung Jaehyun. His energy was unmatchable and he never failed to make your smile or at least feel comforted when you were down. Without him your dreaded college years would have been far less colorful and fun while he acted like you were the miracle in his life with homemade meals you brought him because you knew he tended to skip breakfast and for ‘putting up with his loud and clingy ass’ (his words) as if that was such a sacrifice. Really, you wouldn’t have had it any other way.

You got close quickly, never running out of topics, going to concerts and to the movies together, becoming each other’s support system. It was all good and platonic. You didn’t remember thinking of him as anything but a good friend, until lately it started to change. You couldn’t tell when though. Was it when he went on that date with that redhead from his Finance seminar? Or when he fell asleep on your shoulder during your Disney marathon and you noticed just how cute his squishy cheeks were? Or when you saw him help a kindergartener find his mom in the mall?

For the longest time it didn’t make sense and you felt bad because what kind of friend were you to be envious of his more exciting love life? Not that his dates led anywhere and he blamed it on not feeling the spark with any of the girls he went out with. So it was even more unreasonable and you started to wonder whether it was all in your head, just because college was ending soon and you already missed him and all the times you had together before becoming responsible and busy adults.

“And then Sohee was like… Hey, are you listening?” A soft nudge against your arm and you ducked your head, feeling embarrassed getting caught.

“Sorry, I’m a bit in my head tonight,” you mumbled and you wished you could blame it on the alcohol even though you didn’t have any. Jaehyun wasn’t angry at all though, not with the way his mouth pulled up into a smile and you could tell he wanted to cheer you up, probably because he felt guilty over dragging you to another party you weren’t exactly fancy of.

“Aww what’s on your pretty mind?” He cooed and patted your head gently, waking up those sleeping, traitorous butterflies in your stomach. But that was the thing, Jaehyun was like that with everybody: overly kind, touchy and affectionate.

“Nothing,” you shrugged, avoiding his eyes and biting into your lip. “Just… Ah, nothing.”

You gave up with a sigh, like a coward. After all, how could you tell him anything of what was going through your head without ruining your friendship?

“You’re so cute,” Myungjae commented with a boyish grin and poked your cheek to stop you from pouting before resuming his story about getting lost in one of the Han river parks with Sohee the other day.

Listening to him telling stories was always fun, so now that you focused on him, the rest of the walk went by quickly and you didn’t even feel the cold of night breeze until the warmth of his jacket washed through you as you stepped inside the building. You tapped your door card against the sensor and in your haste, you managed to stumble over the mess of shoes left in the tiny doorway courtesy of your roommate. You would have probably fallen very unlady-like if Jaehyun wasn’t there to steady you with a gentle hand on your waist.

“You good?” He asked, concerned and politely quiet, not sure if your roommate was back already or still out on this Friday night.

“Yeah, thanks,” you mumbled, turning towards him, fighting a shiver as his hand slid off you. Like this you noticed just how close he stood, his worried eyes boring into yours and his breath fanning over your cheek. Only then did you get a sniff of the soju in his breath which made you furrow your brows.

“Did you drink?” You blurted out, giving way to your confusion because usually he opted for beer instead of harder liquor since he was a lightweight.

“Ah, you know, the game,” he muttered with a shrug as if it should have explained it all.

It took you a moment however to put two and two together, to understand what it meant, that he had rather drown a shot than to kiss Younha like he was dared to. It shouldn’t have made you feel as relieved as it did, just how his closeness shouldn’t have accelerated your heartbeat so terribly but still enveloped in his denim piece, you suddenly felt hot.

“So you didn’t…” you trailed off, your gaze unconsciously falling to his lips before tearing them away.

“I didn’t,” he confirmed in a whisper without you having to finish the sentence, like he could read your mind. For the sake of your sanity, you wished he couldn’t.

The two of you stood there unmoving by the door for too long, so the motion sensor-based light flickered above and suddenly darkness washed over you. In the dimly lit hallway you could only make out Jaehyun’s lines and the moonlight reflecting in his doe eyes, then he moved so suddenly you could barely process what was happening before his plush lips landed on the corner of yours, chaste and sweet, so quick that it was over before you had a chance to close your eyes.

“Shit, sorry,” Jaehyun blurted out, voice panicky, immediately pulling away, his movement frantic enough to switch on the light again. “You are just so pretty and…”

“Do it again,” you cut his apology off in a breathless voice which left Jaehyun bewildered.

“Huh?”

This time, it was you who leaned in but the boy met you halfway. The kiss tasted like cherry coke and plum-flavored soju, like summer days full of laughter and the warmest hugs on autumn nights. Then his fingers were on your jaw, gently probing and you found yourself gripping at his plaid shirt, sighing against his sweet mouth when the back of your head hit the wall.

“Gosh, I like you so much,” he murmured against your lips with a smile which you couldn’t help but reciprocate. It wasn’t enough for Jaehyun though, not with the way he nuzzled into your neck, pressing his cold nose to your jawline when you didn’t reply. “Yah, say it back. Don’t leave me hanging.”

His dramatic whining made you chuckle and you realized that you liked it all: his closeness, his puppy eyes on you, his pout, his comfort, even him being so quick to pretend to be boyfriend to scare away random dudes at parties.

“I like you too,” you told him, heart fluttering in your chest at the way Jaehyun looked at you. Maybe things changing between you wasn’t that bad after all.

[goingmerryfics]

Hello!! I recently found your blog and I love it!! ❤️

I was wondering if I could request something!

Kid, Mihawk and Law with a partner who’s into gothic clothing. uwu

Gothic style S/O w/ Kid, Mihawk & Law

Content: Gender Neutral reader, SFW!

Notes* Glad to have you! Thanks for the request :) Out of anyone, I think these three would be the most accepting/understanding of someone with this style and even indulge in it a bit themselves so I tried to make this a little more personal to each character. That being said, I feel like they turned out a little shorter than normal, but I hope you still enjoy it!

Kid

He wouldn’t even bat an eye if this was a regular thing to be dressed in gothic style. It’s pretty common around the crew, and even if it wasn’t, Kid appreciates the aesthetic of the style

He also just doesn’t give a shit what you wear as long as you can do your job

Looking good while doing it is also a plus

For that reason, he would help you out with your makeup for sure. Not that he has much experience with it in the first place, but he just likes any excuse to look at your lips

On the other hand, if your weren’t introduced to him in black and chains, he wouldn’t recognize you if you just up and changed your wardrobe

You walk out of your room in your new style, the one you’ve been wanting to try for years and never had the bravery to out of fear of judgement

But after joining the Kid Pirates, it didn’t feel so scary to go outside of the world’s expectations

“Who the fuck are you!? How’d you get on my ship!?”

After managing to convince him not to just throw you overboard, he does the unthinkable

“Oh. You look good. Better than that boring shit you used to wear.”

He compliments you

Kid will pick at your outfits and give unsolicited advice on how to coordinate or style your clothing

He isn’t one for making jewelry, but he might try if you can’t find anything that would match your clothes

Mihawk

No comment from him. You’d have to outright ask him what he thought, and even then it would be a short answer

“Yes, it’s a good look on you.”

He isn’t actually looking at you when he answers, but it’s genuine

You’d find him staring at you quite often, though

He enjoys the style on you, especially since his style is very close/similar to gothic

He respects your backbone for sticking to what makes you happy, and he’ll encourage you to stick up for yourself if anyone has anything to say about your look

Honestly, he’s seen people look and dress a lot worse, so he doesn’t see why anyone should be making unnecessary comments

Despite being a man of few words, he would still compliment your outfits every time

He, having a eye for the fashion, would also help you coordinate and mix up your clothing items and accessories to freshen up the looks

“That won’t do. We need to get you some earrings that will match this.”

It’s such a sweet way to spend the time that you two have together

Law

Law gets whiplash at first

His emo phase is coming back to him all at once and he’s cringing internally

But despite his own emotional setbacks, he is happy if you feel comfortable dressing this way

He’s very level-headed, so there’s not going to be a very big reaction out of him right away

His perception of you hasn’t changed, and it won’t anytime soon

“Express yourself however you like, just make sure you don’t alter the uniform too much.”

He’ll warn you that the crew might ask some dumbass questions or make rude comments

He also will ask you some questions, very carefully, not wanting to sound ignorant

He would come to your aid if you needed support, especially within his own crew

If you’re the type to wear a lot of make-up, he’ll be on your ass about cleaning your face every night 

He’d even help you do a skin care routine to make sure you were taking care of yourself!

If you bother him enough, he’ll start to do it with you, too

Gets you stuff that remind him of you, things he believes may align with your style

All in all, he’s pretty indifferent to the style, and may even be open to dipping back into it a little bit

He looks great in eyeliner, but damn it he keeps smudging it

[sublimati0ns]

Hi !! Have you read the KOSS fic "Crawling Back To You"?

Yes!! It’s in my KOSS bookmarks / recs, even!! It was the very first KOSS—and Transformers as a whole—fic I’ve ever read, right after I started watching Prime back in January, and it definitely changed the trajectory of my life x’D As well as set the bar perhaps a touch too high in terms of what I now crave when I want to read these two///

Transformatron is an incredibly skilled writer and their handling of Starscream is spot-on, IMO—their vision of him aligns so well with mine. I really appreciate how they maintained his abrasive, misanthropic, and Machiavellian traits at the same time as giving him gradual, earnest character growth! It’s something I so rarely see in any fandom, which I suppose is due in part to how society / SNS often enforces the idea that there is a “correct” way to be a good person, a “correct” way to be healthy 🤔 This just isn’t true—and redemption, growth, and healthiness can look very different in survivors of complex trauma (like Starscream), especially.

And on that note, the way Transformatron incorporated Megatron’s abuse and how it affected Starscream into the story without being sanctimonious towards the reader, or black-and-white about abuse dynamics… Ahhh!! So good!! I found it to be such a genuine depiction of rape and battery (as well as non-judgmental of their use in fiction), and I loved the grace they gave Starscream in particular, making him sympathetic without it being apologia.

Like yes!! It was wrong for him to have to endure such wretched hardship, and he deserves to be able to heal in a safe place and connect with people who actually care about him… But he very much is also a bad person who did a lot of bad things, and many of them cannot be blamed on Megatron LMAO These things can and should coexist! And I adore Crawling Back To You for acknowledging that, and working to build up developments in Starscream’s relationships with the other characters to the payoff hits hard and feels justified.

(And I’m foregoing a smooth transition here but I need to yell about like *shaking the author’s hand* Starscream as this hyper-resilient guy who will keep bouncing back and moving forward and NOT DWELL no matter what—powered by a near-delusional kind of stubborn optimism that he needs only himself and he will win eventually—and the only way to get him to reassess and change this path is to leave him no other option but to rely on someone else… and that someone else has to make it so worth his while that despite his post-traumatic neurotic paranoia, he’s locked out of the default option of betraying them in return.)

Transformatron has such a way with words too—amazing descriptions, vocabulary, cadence, dialogue, shaking up the sentence structure, pacing, etc…! It very much appeals to me, as someone who’s enjoyed literary fiction since my age was in the single digits 😭 It’s such a treat to find fic with an elevated level of polish, and the well-structured plot (balancing Starscream’s growth, KOSS slowburn, rebuilding Cybertron, and the threat of Unicron) brings it even higher///

It probably comes as no surprise that I am a HUGE longfic enthusiast—seriously, the higher up in the hundred-thousands the word count is the better—and so, all factors combined, finding Crawling Back To You felt like winning the lottery LMFAO I read and re-read it three times in the span of that first week, and I hadn’t even finished Prime yet.

Now that I have, though, I would say my personal interpretation of Knock Out as a character diverges quite a bit from Transformatron’s, even if our Starscreams are very similar 🤔 But their vision of KO is plausible to me, and it’s one I enjoy reading, so this isn’t a negative so much as it’s just something I realised and find worth noting ahaha. I eagerly await the next chapter, and 100% plan to draw fanart once the rainy season stops beating my ass ♥️

Ending my rant with two quotes that live in my head rent free:

“Eesh,” said Ramjet, as Knock Out and Starscream scowled at each other like pit fighters before a match. “Y’know what? I’m not interested anymore. You guys suck, and you deserve each other. Best not inflict yourself on any other mechs. See you tomorrow, Scream.” And with that, he shut the door of his hab-suite and hit the lock button, the diodes outside washing red. Knock Out gaped after him – then turned his infuriated faceplate to Starscream.

—Ramjet to KOSS, Chapter 25

“We should follow his advice,” he said instead, “and only subject ourselves to each other.”

—Starscream to Knock Out, shortly after

[coraniaid]

Reverse Unpopular Opinion: Season Four of BtVS

[Reverse unpopular opinion meme.]

I’ve been (very, very slowly) rewatching Season 4 on and off all year (and occasionally writing Tumblr posts complaining about this very process about the episodes I’ve been watching), and I think it’s fair to say that this is definitely not the best way to enjoy any season of television.  

That being said, I feel I’d be lying at this point if I pretended this was my absolute favorite season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  In hindsight, the show was in a strange transitory place this year: having lost some of the grounding framework that the high school setting gave the first three seasons of the show – as well as having suddenly lost some of its actors and writers to the new Angel spin-off – and not yet having quite figured out what it was going to do instead.  One can imagine some alternate reality where the show ended up taking a very different direction after this season.

That being said, here are five things I like a lot about Season 4, with as few caveats as I can manage:

I think the opening four episodes of this season – The Freshman, Living Conditions, The Harsh Light Of Day, Fear Itself – are as strong as, if not stronger than, the first four episodes of any other season of the show.  Every other season has at least one dodgy episode in this opening block – in fact Season 3, my favorite season of them all, manages to have two of them! – but where is the bad episode here?  The Freshman is a criminally underrated season opener.  Living Conditions is a fun character episode and a great showcase for SMG to act in ways she doesn’t normally get to on this show.  Fear Itself is the best Halloween episode the show ever did and it’s not even especially close.  The Harsh Light Of Day is my least favorite of the four, for reasons I guess it would be against the spirit of the game to go into, but I certainly wouldn’t say it was a bad episode by any means.  Perhaps none of these episodes would trouble my personal top ten, but they are four very solid episodes nonetheless.

While Anya had of course appeared in a handful of Season 3 episodes, I think Season 4 is the point where Emma Caulfield really makes the role her own.  This season’s version of the character – a blunt-speaking outsider whose romantic struggles are often deliberately contrasted with Buffy’s own [in the aforementioned The Harsh Light Of Day, for example] and who is inexplicably attracted to Xander Harris – could easily have come across as a fairly lazy attempt to replace Cordelia Chase, and I think it’s largely to Caulfield’s credit that she doesn’t.  Anya feels very much like her own person this season, and an increasingly integral member of the group.  It’s a performance that retroactively redefines the character: of course this is who Anya is.  Of course she always acted this way. It's only when you back and rewatch The Wish or Doppelgangland that you realize she didn't. And I think it’s pretty obvious, for example, that when people [e.g. people like me] go back to write Season 3 fanfiction where Anya features more heavily than in canon they [again, meaning me] invariably end up writing the Season 4 version of the character instead.  Anyanka might have appeared for the first time in Season 3, but Anya belongs to Season 4.

I really like how important to the show Willow has become at this point and how much of this season is all about her.  Just go back and look at the first season, in which Willow is arguably the member of the Core Four the writers cared least about – when she existed mainly to nurse a sad unrequited crush on Xander and to be good with computers when the plot required someone to be – and then compare that to this season, where she is Buffy’s best friend and roommate, unambiguously the second most important Scooby, and the center of a – genuinely pretty groundbreaking for the time – .season long subplot about coming out as a lesbian.  And of course Amber Benson is great as Tara too.  I’ve criticized the character of Oz for being very transparently written just to be Willow’s Nice Supportive Boyfriend and never becoming much more than that, and on paper you could level the same sort of charge at Tara.  And sure, obviously she was written to be Willow’s girlfriend and it’s impossible to seriously pretend otherwise.  But I think Tara manages to become a more rounded character than Oz very quickly. Even in this season, when she doesn’t yet have much connection to the others (she will, later, go on to become a key member of the group and a friend of Buffy's in ways I don’t think Oz was) she feels a little more complex than he did.

Faith is in this season!  I don’t just mean in the two parter This Year’s Girl / Who Are You? either. Of course, both of these episodes are great: the scene in the church in Who Are You? In which Faith (in Buffy’s body) breaks down while fighting Buffy (in Faith’s body), -- screaming repeatedly at her own reflection that she’s “nothing”, “disgusting”, and a "murderous bitch" -- is one of my favorites in the whole show.  But Faith feels like a real presence in the show even in the episodes she’s not actually in herself.  Unlike Kendra or Jenny in previous seasons, or even Cordelia the season, the other characters still talk about her and remember she existed when it’s appropriate that they do so (and in a way that they won’t really do again until … well, until Faith comes back in Season 7’s Dirty Girls).

Finally, Restless is possibly the best episode the show ever did, and certainly one of its most creative.  Willow’s dream sequence in particular is fantastically well done. I think this might be my favorite single act in all of Buffy.  Why this all works for me – apart from the fact that the show now has years of history to fall back on and reference – is that it’s an example of the show being utterly unafraid to play to its strengths.  Characterisation, dream sequences, dialogue, foreshadowing, oddly striking visuals, random moments of comedy … these – rather than tightly written plots or rigorously consistent world-building or anything that requires a working knowledge of world history or how the US military functions or what capitalism actually is – are the show’s strengths.  So Restless embraces all of these elements, and just doesn’t bother with anything else.  And the result is a season finale that – by virtue of not really being a season finale at all, at least according to the usual rules – is not quite like any other season finale the show ever did.  Which is, on reflection, a pretty fitting end to Season 4, a season of the show not quite like any of the others. 

[mothiepixie]

I’m really curious because a lot of the Sanses have a jealous/possessive streak to them, and Motti seems so free-spirited and kind to everyone… does that ever cause conflict in their everyday life? Whether it’s from her hanging out with or getting hit on by other attractive people or monsters or, I guess in terms of “the bad Sanses”, would they ever try to get back at one another at all for hogging extra time with her behind the scenes? And does Motti ever feel stifled or is she appreciative and see it as them looking out for her?

I guess in general what I’m trying to ask is: To what extent are each of the Sanses with that quality jealous/possessive over Motti and how might she react to their behavior based on whatever level they happen to be at?

A lot of it really depends on who openly displays jealousy versus who is seething on the inside. Many of the Sanses lean towards redirecting her attention back to them or even asserting themselves so the person who is flirting or getting too close to her will sense the tension and back off. 

Others will openly show aggression and rudely call out the person which will embarrass Motti. Motti doesn’t perceive people flirting with her quite a lot because she gives the benefit of the doubt that they’re just being friendly since that is the energy she gives. So it will come off unexpected and unwarranted if one of the Sanses reacts boorishly.  While Motti is generally really easy going she doesn’t stand for rudeness and will reprimand if need be. 

Boysen, Big Red, the Bad Time Trio, and Nightmare are perhaps THE worst of the bunch. They don’t hold back or care to be couth and it will cause a lot of arguments.

Boysen is 50/50 with either showing or keeping his jealousy to himself. He has a three strike system he follows and while he does feel secure in himself, he does not like sharing and doesn't like someone lesser than him to even dream of thinking they have a chance. His methods are more insulting the person's intelligence, or attributes before his mask slips and threatens them. Motti will wait until they're home to have a heated discussion. A lot of it will be Boysen pointing out things about their character and that they annoyed him which will make Motti so frustrated she can't explain other then huffing.

Big Red and Motti will butt heads and while she would like to have a proper discussion when they get back home, he does test her patience and sometimes her hot headedness wins. They will have it out right then and there.

The Bad Time Trio see Motti like a cute kitten when she is upset and reprimanding them. It really doesn’t phase them in the slightest (mostly Dust and Horror), Killer likes to act like a kick puppy and try to use cuteness for her to forgive him (he’ll just learn to be more discreet and take care of the person out of view). If jealousy is amongst the three, then it’s one upping the other, smacking the other when Motti isn't looking, or even full on brawls. 

Nightmare doesn’t care in the slightest how upset or long Motti goes on a tangent about how he should act. He has made his claim on Motti and he’ll be DAMNED if he lets some nobody even think they can breathe her air. 

Other Sanses that keep to themselves when they are jealous try not to let it affect the quality of her life. Many of them genuinely know that their jealousy is indicative of their own personal gripes about the fear of losing her. 

Sans, Farmer, and Passive will simmer on the inside then be the kind to redirect Motti back to them, or display affection more so they feel more secure with her. 

Blue cares for Motti so much that if she chose another he would not stand in that person’s way because he cares for Motti’s happiness over his own. He will be the shoulder for her to lean on, but he will always pine for her. 

Dream is a conflicted and complicated fellow. He spends so much of his time giving every piece of himself to others, but also keeping everyone at arm’s length. So when he finally allows himself to love Motti, there are times he doesn’t want her to get too close because he struggles to accept her love for him isn’t due to his powers. However, when someone else gives Motti attention he may feel malcontent and unwilling to share her attention. He won’t ever admit he feels a sense of possessiveness, and will try to ignore his own feelings to make her happy. Lots of forced smiles. He could only share or allow someone to flirt with her if he has complete trust in them not taking her fully away from him. -cough- maybe someone like Blue-cough-

[dekusleftsock]

HMMNGGGSHSHHSHD IM SO LATE TO THIS BUT THERES SO MANY THINGS IVE WANTED TO SAY FOR SO LONG AND IVE JUST BEEN TOO DEPRESSED OR BUSY TO DO IT

I did just re-read the chapter, hazbin/helluva hyperfixation is gone y’all I’m back and ready for more.

Okay so, a couple of things I noticed. Let’s start there.

Throughout this chapter, it really is heartbreaking to see how Izuku regards one for all as Allmight’s power, and therefore a disrespect to him to give that away. Which is quite frankly insane given the nature of what the power is, but regardless it still shows me just how deeply he still cares for and admires allmight.

It also makes the transfer Izuku makes to Katsuki in the heroes rising movie all the more intimate; izuku wouldn’t just give the power to anyone, if not for himself (which is also clearly due to that fact since he still sees ofa as the thing that makes him a hero, not his characteristics), then simply out of respect for allmight and his legacy.

It’s just the anger you can see, feel in those words as he demands to know why. I’ve personally been in the boat of “Izuku dislikes Kudou immensely bc he hasn’t proven to be heroic and amazing like Katsuki has, and also he insults him a lot why would he like him”, since Izuku does genuinely have self respect (a common mischaracterization imo), he’s just also more forgiving and faithful to those he admires or loves (or both).

SPEAKING OF SELF RESPECT AND MISCHARACTERIZATION!

I want to highlight the words “But even so, this boy refuses to throw in the towel”, bc it’s such an important part of Izuku and his character.

He isn’t overly self sacrificial, he isn’t a masochist, he isn’t even a martyr—especially not a martyr.

Izuku is stubborn. That is not the same thing as wanting to constantly die for others; izuku is like Katsuki, he wants to fight for others. Giving up just simply isn’t in his morality.

And if “giving up” also includes letting someone die or failing to save someone out of his own negligence, that’s not because he wants to die.

I can’t explain how much the interpretation that Izuku wanting to die, even for others, is so fucking out of character. Izuku is stubborn, he’s stubborn in the way that he won’t just fall over and let the ground take him. Given the circumstances, Izuku would fight for his life just as he would fight for another.

THIS HAS BEEN THE CASE SINCE, I DONT KNOW, CHAPTER FUCKING ONE?

“Idiot! If I’d really jumped, you’d be charged with bullying me into suicide!! Think before you speak!!”

“Idiot…”

Like he’s so unaffected by the awful comment outside of being angry at the DISRESPECT of said comment. This is why all those damn suicidal Izuku fics have always felt so ooc. Izuku isnt a moody, brooding ball of depression, he’s a stubborn, courageous, and angry ball of depression. There is a difference.

Even before this, he literally attempts to say something or fight back to Katsuki, honestly it looks like he’s about to punch him here.

The only reason he DOESNT is bc HE DOESNT WANT TO GET HIS ASS BEAT

Btw for anyone who has or ever will be in Izuku’s position, punch him. I love Katsuki But hit him in the fucking gut. If you get your ass beat at least you can say you can took it like a champ.

Speaking from someone who regrets not punching three girls who were trying to gang up on me in middle school🫶🫶🫶

Anyway, I’d argue that Izuku not taking Katsuki in a fight was made out of self preservation, something he very much has.

And last but not least, we get to this lovely fucking page.

First of all…

Hm, ain’t that strange?

I’m not saying it’s fully a parallel, I’m just saying it’s something to consider.

Especially with the context that I don’t think Izuku feels shameful here.

He’s been a hero who didn’t look like one once before, I’m sure a snide comment through Shigaraki is nothing in comparison to the literal hundreds of civilians afraid of him.

Or, even more interestingly, what if he’s shameful of it, and okay with that? Now THATS some control over your emotions. This is demonstrating the very thing Banjo told him in the first place; using his emotions to fuel him. Let himself live with them, breath with them. They exist, and they hurt, and that’s fucking okay.

But it begs the question…. Why bring attention to it?

Clearly horikoshi WANTS you to see that Izuku is the one who looks like the monster now. He even looks devil like, blackwhip coming out of his back the way it is just feels like wings.

But maybe… maybe this is how he stops sweeping problems under the rug. Maybe this is him, Izuku, at his most animalistic form. Him. At his core. This is the Izuku he doesn’t want people to know.

The faceless, long clawed, oozing black monster.

He’s a kid who can take a fucking beating. He’s not Deku the useless doll, nor is he Deku the hero. He’s simply Izuku.

And you know what’s even more likely?

The black pit of anger that Shigaraki has formed, fueling his uncontrolled emotions and anger and despair, with the light tear showing something underneath…

What if, this was Izuku’s black ball of anger and shame, except this one is escaping his body, pouring out and showing all of that for what it truly is. Pent up rage, uncontrolled emotion, anxiety and shame, all mixed into one hell hole of a person—but a ball that can be molded, controlled, torn apart from the inside out.

See, the same way Kudou tears at Shigaraki’s mental breaking to see what’s underneath, so have the ofa users for Izuku. Slowly, but surely, the people in Izuku’s life have, while created that ball in the first place, also worked to destroy it. The final piece of the puzzle is for Izuku to choose to let it happen, and he is.

Learning to sit in one’s fear, doubt, hatred, anger, sadness, grief, happiness—without that emotion having to be something, simply something that flows through you, that you can choose to act on or not; this is where Izuku’s arc is coming to its tipping point. We are nearing the climax, I can feel it.

[yichens]

Pit Babe Characters x Cartomancy ➣ Part 3: North & Sonic

Six of Clubs: Sharing thoughts and ideas. Offering advice and giving honest opinions. Three of Hearts: Community as a network of support; Valuing and strengthening bonds within a group.

for @pitbabeanniversary week 3 prompts: north & sonic

(more thoughts under the cut!)

disclaimer: i am not an expert in either cartomancy or tarot reading. i did a lot of research on these two sites to come up with these cards for the characters. some of the meanings associated with the cards are still only my own interpretation, so they might not be completely accurate.

i have never before really analyzed north and sonic as characters. they've always felt like the most uncomplicated ones of the bunch, tho i guess that air of simplicity is quite deceiving as i discovered through this. there's a lot hidden behind the playful banter and humor these two add to the series.

north: if in the previous edit i pointed out that jeff is the eyes of the group, then north must be the mouth. he's a chatterbox, someone with words prepared at all times, never afraid to tease someone and speaking with such honesty it's almost too blunt. this made me feel that a card linked to communication and negotiating suits him. he might not always be the most intelligent or tactful of the group, but he isn't afraid to say things how they are or point out problems or possible discrepancies amongst the pack. his words might be light, but he genuinely cares for his pack.

that care is often shown through well-timed (or not) questions and advice. it happens especially with alan and babe who north gives "relationship advice" (leaving that into the quotation marks bc the advice is dubious at best lol) – north meddles bc he is genuinely excited about the possibility of adding new members to the pack and into the lives of those he cares about. he is also one of the first ones to address the question of kim and if they should help him out after he's been taken, plus he's very eager to discuss the question of way despite the rest of the group deciding to remain silent about him and his betrayal.

sonic: i had to think again to pinpoint the core element of sonic's character but eventually drifted towards how he's portrayed as the nurturer of the pack. babe is very obviously the center of the pack with his loud and commanding presence, but i think the warmer, more caring center piece is sonic. he's the one who keeps noticing how the bond within and around the pack grow and change, and he is greatly affected once those bonds start stretching out or break completely.

the importance sonic places on these bonds is then the most obvious during the times those bonds suffer a sudden change. i chose his images accordingly: sonic is deeply hurt by dean's betrayal as it both hurts him and those around him; by babe's heartbreak over charlie's death as he's forced to watch one of them so completely shattered and lost; and by way's sudden passing bc that means a complete loss of a bond that once was so fundamental to the whole pack. i think his care towards the community around him also partly explains why he isn't pursuing a deeper bond with north (he doesn't like things changing too much) or why he is so open to accept ppl like charlie, jeff, kim, and pete into their pack (new ppl offer him new bonds to wrap around himself). sonic is the keeper of these bonds, but at the same time, he is strongly a creation of them and cannot imagine being without them (and i cannot really imagine sonic without at least north beside him either).

as a pair, i think most ppl agree that north and sonic are very healing. bc they're so attuned to everyone in the group and bc they're not afraid to voice both their happiness and concerns, the pack knows when they're doing well and when they should be working on being better. i think the others in the group who are less vocal and show their emotions less freely benefit a lot from these two who are so... loud, both literally and figuratively. it's nice to have this kind of anchor and lighthouse to guide the pack on their hard journey.

(if anyone wants to discuss these two and other thoughts north and sonic might cause, i'm open to hear anything you have to say! i did very brief and surface level analysis on them for this, and probably missed a ton of nuances, so it would be nice to hear different takes on them.)

[cosmosrebellion]

An underrated aspect of HibiMikuChris is Chris and Miku's dynamic.

From Chris' perspective we have an idea of what would make her fall for Miku. She was the first person Chris accepted genuine kindness from. She was the person who helped Chris when she was on death's door. Miku takes care of Chris and always makes sure she's comfortable and doing well. She makes Chris feel safe, and that means the world to her.

But from Miku's perspective I think it would be really interesting to explore the idea of her not quite understanding what these new feelings for Chris are, and that kind of bothering her. She spent so long pinning for Hibiki that I can even see her feeling guilty at first for having romantic feelings for someone else.

But also it would be something she wouldn't be able to ignore. I can see so many little ways Miku would be jealous and possessive of Chris because she's bottling so much at first, and it would even confuse her why she feels like that.

I do think Hibiki would have similar feelings, but because of her character arc by the end of XV, I think she would understand that the two of them feeling like that about Chris wouldn't mean less love between them, but more love for Chris and a whole lot of more love between the three of them. And then she helps Miku realize that it's okay to want to share their love with Chris and they all become girlfriends.