#this ep ruined me FULLY

[behindthesefangirleyes]

“I want to get better.”

— Charlie Spring, ‘Heartstopper’ (s03e03)

[alfazoings]

redraw of that one exchange in ep 29 cuz that entire intro scene lives in my brain rent free

[one-little-nerd-stayed-home]

I'm starting the Ice Knife saga either tonight or tomorrow and I am just gonna apologize now for the person I will become when I finally actually meet Calder's brothers.

[fadeintolight]

did they like forget to write a plot for the last season of young royals im so confused

[minakoaiinos]

Ik in the past decade or so anime adaptations have tried to adapt mangas exactly and even gone back and done other versions of anime just to make sure to adapt the source material and that's a good thing and definitely has its place, but also I genuinely think we should let people make up 100+ filler episodes again

[beansprean]

I POSTED THIS ON PATREON MONDAY MORNING. THIS IS AT LEAST HALF A DODGEBALL.

i would have posted it here immediately after the ep but i hadnt written the id yet dkfhdkj

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(ID in alt and under cut)

iD: 1a. Aerial black and white view of the vampire house, or what's left of it. Bits of the walls and the front porch are still standing, but the rest has been blown away by an apparent explosion. The remains smoke heavily as a stream of water from an off-screen fire truck pours into what used to be the library. In the yard, Colin and the Guide are kneeling over the headless body of the monster, Colin holding up his severed head. Laszlo is holding his witch's skin hat to his head while Nadja screams at him. Nandor and Guillermo are sitting side by side on the porch steps. Everyone save Laszlo is covered in ash and soot, hair burnt and clothes torn in various places. Guillermo says, "I can't believe Cannon Capital was just a Simon the Devious scheme all along." 1b. Zoom in, full body of Nandor and Guillermo on the ruined porch, the house behind them full of holes and cracks and missing bricks, glass blown out of the window frames still intact. Nandor is looking over at Guillermo with concern. Guillermo slumped over his knees, continues depressingly, "I tried so hard... I really thought I had found what I was meant to do. But it was all supernatural bullshit again. I just can't escape the vampire world." 1c. Close up on Guillermo from Nandor's POV as Nandor asks, "Do you want to?" Guillermo sighs resignedly, eyes closed, and replies, "Nandor, we talked about this. I'm a human, I can't just-" 1d. Reverse shot of Nandor scowling at Guillermo and flicking his hand out dismissively. He interrupts, "Why not? Who says it is a vampire-only club here?" 1e. Full body of them both. Guillermo glares over at Nandor and responds flatly, "You did. Repeatedly." Nandor clasps his hands together in his lap and looks away archly, saying, "I don't recall that." He then mumbles under his breath, "I can always turn you again if it's that big a deal..." 1f. Bust of Guillermo as he turns to face Nandor fully, hands out in desperation, and cries, "I couldn't hack it as a vampire!!" 1g. Repeat. Guillermo turns back to face the yard and chops his hands decisively in the air, expression set and stubborn. He says, "I chose to be a human, so I have to live a human life."

2a. Reverse shot, shoulders up of Nandor. Guillermo continues from offscreeen, "That means no vampires, no slaying, no bababooks-" Nandor tosses his hand up again and interrupts with a frustrated groan, "Agh, these are fake rules, Guillermo! Made up!! No one is holding you to this except you!" 2b. Reverse shot of Guillermo looking pained, leaning away from Nandor and looking toward the ground, brow furrowed. Nandor continues from offscreen, "You can do whatever you want! Be whoever and whatever you want." 2c. Repeat. Guillermo's expression softens as Nandor's hand comes into frame to grip his shoulder, looking back up at Nandor with hesitation. Nandor says, "And if what you want is to be here with us, human or otherwise..." 2. Wide shot of Nandor, waist up, smiling gently with hooded eyes at Guillermo in the foreground, who is turned from the viewer to face him. Nandor finishes his sentence, "You will always have a home here." Behind him, we can see the other characters in the yard. Nadja has Laszlo by the throat and has lifted him up off the ground to shake him like a ragdoll while he struggles to hold his hat to his head. She is in the middle of screaming, "and your stupid fucking hat!" Further back, The Guide and Colin have stood up, the former with half her hair burnt off and looking up in concern at the monster's detached head, which Colin is holding aloft with a relieved smile. The monster is alive and looks back at Colin, assuring him "Little glue...fix right up."

3a. Waist up of them both on the porch. Left hand still on Guillermo's shoulder, Nandor breaks their eye contact to shrug with his other arm and roll his eyes upward, clarifying, "Well, metaphorically. This one exploded." Guillermo smiles at him fondly. 3b. Shoulders up of Guillermo from Nandor's POV, smiling bashfully as he looks down at Nandor's hand on his shoulder. He says, "I'll... I'll think about it." Nandor squeezes his shoulder and replies, "Great!" 3c. Zoom out to full body. Nandor stands up on the stairs and leans down to help Guillermo up, clasping both of his hands in his. "In the meantime, perhaps we can all stay in the shed with you so we don't shrivel into little crispy nuggets in a few hours?" he asks with a sheepish grin. Guillermo laughs back at him as he braces himself to be hoisted to his feet, replying, "Okay, temporarily, though."

4. Wide shot in full color of Guillermo and all his former housemates sitting crammed together on his mattress in the shed, looking over his shoulder as he browses on his laptop. They are all cleaned up and wearing Guillermo's clothes. The Guide, hair now cropped in a curly bob and wearing no makeup and a dark blue sweater that hangs dangerously low, leans in from the back with a grin, pointing over Laszlo and Nadja's shoulders to point at the laptop screen. She says, "Ooh, what about this 1899 colonial mansion? Very modern." Colin is next to her directly behind Guillermo, holding the monster's head up between them so he can see. The monster grumbles, "Ugh, need more personality on exterior." Colin, wearing some kind of glittery gold button up that Guillermo didn't even know he owned, grins and says, "Heated pool, eh? I can start up my water aerobics again." Nandor, slav squatting on Guillermo's left and wearing a too-short green sweater, sweatpants, and heart patterned socks, leans into Guillermo and points at the screen, demanding, "Guillermo, I wish to see the 3D rendering of the 'sun room' torture chamber!" Guillermo, sitting with his legs stretched out in his blue striped pajama set and black socks, smiles contentedly as he taps at the keyboard, responding, "This one is in an HOA anyway, we don't want that kind of scrutiny." Nadja is sitting on Guillermo's left with her arms propped up on one raised knee, wearing no makeup and the PUNY hoodie over her black slip and a pair of Guillermo's pink socks. She scowls and ducks her head as the monster's dislodged neck drifts into her space, snapping, "Colin Robinson, get that thing's face out of my face!" Laszlo, wearing a red v neck sweater and rolled up brown chinos, sits on Nadja's other side, leaning his weight on the arm he has propped behind her on the bed. His other hand is holding the brim of The Hat behind his leg. Laszlo gazes forlornly at the laptop and sighs, "If only Toby were here... Do you think we could get on '100-Day Dream Home?' /end ID

[sttoru]

♯ 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐃𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐒 𝐆𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐒.

⊹ sypnosis. you’ve been teasing kento for too long and he finally shows you the side of him that you’ve yet had to discover. . .

⊹ tags. dom!kento nanami x female reader. smut. p in v -> unprotected, standing doggy, pussy slapping, uhm hand riding if that is a word, teasing, edging, hair pulling, size difference (srry im a slut), voice kink, bondage ?, degradation kinda too, mentions of creampies, change of positions at the near end. reader gets called ‘sweetheart, darling’.

⊹ note. recent jjk ep made me weak . inspired by the many nanami scenes ihihi got lazy at the end tho uhm only proof read half of it

“come here, sweetheart.” it didn’t sound like a request coming out of your lover’s mouth — it sounded like a rough demand.

kento was fed up with your little games. he’s a man of patience; knows how to keep himself calm and collected whenever you try to be a little brat and get him fired up about something.

but, when kento came home - already furious about an incident that took place during one of his missions - his patience was tested once more. you greeted him at the door with a short dress, one that allowed him to catch a glimpse of your ass.

your feigned innocence ignited a fire in his body. a desire that begged to take over; a desire to show you that he’s not playing along with your games today. especially when you knew what you did by avoiding his touches — whenever he’d reach out a hand to touch you, you’d run — wanting him to chase you around the house.

you succeeded, but not in the way you thought.

you glance back over your shoulder as you run to the hallway where the bedrooms were situated. you neared a dead end and let out a nervous giggle at your predicament. the slow, steady footsteps of your lover got closer and closer to you: kento was right around the corner.

“i said,” kento’s deep voice echoes throughout the empty apartment, your breath hitching in your throat as his intimidating presence makes it way up to the other side of the hallway, “come here.”

you needed to mentally stop yourself from letting out a quiet moan at just his voice. it never failed to make your panties wet on the spot. hell, you can’t even remember how many times your partner had made you cum from simply talking you through it.

your eyes were staring right back at kento’s. he was quietly walking towards you, taking all the time in the world. your back hits the wall softly as you stumble back, “kento, baby, ehhh—i was just joking around, i swear. . .”

kento doesn’t react at all. his facial expression stays the same, his scowl not disappearing in the slightest. he slowly rolls up the sleeves of his blue blouse and takes off his glasses. that was enough of an indication that he was indeed mad mad.

“you should’ve just did as i told you to,” kento sighs.

in the flash of an eye, the blonde man stood right in front of you. his body easily towered over yours, his eyebrows furrowed in a deep frown whilst his left hand reached out for your waist. kento held you there for a second before suddenly turning you around with force.

your chest presses against the wall in front of you. the only thing you were able to hear was both of your heavy breathing along with the sound of kento undoing his tie. you really didn’t know what you had just gotten yourself into.

“stay still like that for me.” kento mutters under his breath as he fumbles with his tie a little. he wasn’t in a rush to punish you, but he’d be lying if he said that he didn’t want to ruin your cunt as soon as possible.

he skilfully keeps your wrists together behind your back with his black dotted tie wrapped around them, “good. you need to be reminded of your place here.”

kento’s sultry voice rings in your ear as you tried to catch a glimpse of him from your peripherals, though your movements were a bit too restricted to fully turn back around. you didn’t even realise that you had been rubbing your thighs together to create some friction — wanting to satisfy your own lustful needs by just having your lover treat you like this.

it was a very rare sight to see kento this pissed off. you wanted to push his buttons some more to see where it’d take you tonight.

the blonde sorcerer mutters something incomprehensible under his breath once he sees what you were trying to get at. he ogled your lower body, one hand even coming down to turn the hem of your dress upwards, revealing the plump flesh of your ass to his eyes.

“didn’t know my girl was this smart,” kento comments in a quiet whisper, his warm breath fanning over the skin of your ear to your neck, “you seem to have prepared for this outcome beforehand. my compliments to you, darling.”

you were wearing his favourite panty of yours—the black lace and crotchless one. what a tease you were.

his fingers travel from your tied wrists to the inner area of your thighs. kento spreads them apart for you, using just his index and thumb to create a gap where his big hand would perfectly fit between. his rough fingers were already busy taking off your underwear,

you were silent. except for the few noises of both embarrassment and anticipation that left your throat. especially when you felt the cold air hit your exposed pussy, a small line of sticky wetness gathering between your lips due to the situation.

“what a naughty thing you are. . . hah.” kento shakes his head as if in disapproval. the more he talked, the more wet you got and the more you stuck your butt out towards his pelvis — clearly wanting to get fucked already.

your eyes widen as you get a reaction out of him; his callused palm makes direct contact with your entire cunt, however in the form of a firm slap. you couldn’t contain the squeal you let out.

“ngh, fuck!” you huff as your body tingled from the contact. kento cupped your pussy gently with one hand, the other patting your hip twice to encourage you to move and grind against his palm.

he wasn’t vocal with his orders anymore since his mind was too preoccupied with the sight of your body in front of him.

you didn’t even need to be told what to do. you instantly moved your hips in a grinding motion — the palm of kento’s hand warm to the touch. a few moans fill the air around you as you took great pleasure in riding his big hand.

“just like that — perfect.” kento praises you in a hushed voice. again, his gruff voice was almost enough to send you over the edge. it sounded more. . frustrated than it normally would. like he needed to release that tension in his body.

the tip of his index and middle finger tease your clit for a few seconds. you could’ve sworn that you saw white from just how good it felt. you couldn’t fathom how you’d survive his dick—if he were as nice as to give you it,

“please fuck me. please? need your cock in me so bad.” you shamelessly whimper all of your wants and needs to kento. he simply takes them all in with an unchanging expression as he keeps his gaze at your ass and not your eyes.

he knew that he’d give up any remaining restraints if he stared into your eyes. that pleading look you give him each time you beg him to take you never fails to do its job.

“patience, sweetheart, patience.” kento hums shortly whilst gently slapping your bare cunt thrice as a punishment for speaking up and making him ‘lose focus’,

he was entranced by the faint wet sounds your pussy was making against his palm. though, nothing compares to the skin-to-skin contact he was going to make with your ass once he gets to stuff you full of him.

“can’t — can’t, kento, pleas—” your desperate plea was cut off instantly as kento’s free hand moves to grab a handful of your hair. he tugs your head back harshly and makes you look at him to prove that he wasn’t joking or playing around anymore.

his eyes held an intense and almost condescending look in them. kento had never looked at you like that before or during your acts of intimacy; he’s always gazed upon you like you were the light of his life. right now it’s more like he’s staring at a. . . plaything. like he couldn’t wait to take out his frustrations on you and your delicious body that he craved so intensely.

his jaw clenches as he sees your lips part to protest again. that’s when you decide to shut up completely. you look away and gulp—this side of kento was surprising, yet also extremely arousing. especially with the way his buff body was almost enveloping all of yours.

the veins that ran down his arm as he grabbed your hair bulged out even more, as did the little veins in his neck. it sure is a sight that could get anyone wet, you think to yourself.

“mhm, good girl.” kento nods in satisfaction and slowly lets his grip on your hair slip, though not fully. you had nowhere to escape to - not that you wanted to - but the fact that your hands were tied and your body was pinned to the wall by your lover made you squirm in excitement.

kento uses the hand that was on your cunt to unbuckle his belt. that familiar sound made you tighten up around air as you tried to steal a glance at his hard-on.

as expected, kento’s cock stood up straight, pre-cum trickling down his pink circumcised tip, a vein apparent on the length. his fingers wrapped around his girth and he pumps his erection a few times before standing in position right behind you.

kento wouldn’t just push inside of you without edging you first. he smears his pre over your folds, running the tip from top to bottom, one hand spreading your buttocks nicely so he could get a good view of what he’s doing.

“use your words for me or i will not do anything.” the blonde man utters whilst teasing you with the head of his aching cock — he wanted to be buried deep inside of your walls already as well, however not without you begging him to.

his grip on your ass tightens and your hips push back towards his in response, “please—please put it in already— kento. .”

your whines were certainly working on the grade one sorcerer. a few of his blonde locks fell in front of his eyes, the hair he tried his best to keep neat now turning messy the moment he dipped his tip between your pussy lips.

you instantly tried to grip onto his cock—clenching around him like your life depended on it. kento grunts and pulls at your hair again as a warning not to repeat that action.

“you asked for this, sweetheart.” kento grunts. that deep grunt made you tighten up around his cock again, your sloppy cunt wanting to swallow it entirely already.

that sealed the deal—your lover couldn’t hold it in anymore, “don’t want to hear any complaints from that mouth of yours, understood? now—”

you didn’t even have time to react as kento thrusted his entire length into you at once. one fast thrust was all it took for you to arch your back and loll your tongue out slightly, lips parted to let out a moan, though nothing seemed to come out of your throat.

“take it. just take it for me, yeah?”

it wasn’t a question - once again - more of a demand. you mindlessly nod along and kento took that as a sign to keep ramming into your cunt repeatedly. his hands traveled down to your hips to keep you steady against the wall, urging you to push them towards his a little by putting a palm on the small of your back.

kento’s low groans of pleasure sound from behind you with every single in and out movement — his tip hitting near your cervix each time, making his rough motions both painful yet pleasurable. your mind was foggy, with only thoughts about his dick. it was visible to your lover that you had turned completely cock drunk in such a short span of time;

“look at you,” kento chuckles as one hand goes to harshly grab onto your jaw, turning your head to the side so he could see the dazed look in your eyes, “i haven’t even started yet, darling — come on. keep those pretty eyes open for me.”

his thrusts became almost unbearable as his frustrations were now apparent in his actions. the loud skin clapping noises fill the hallway, your ass coming in harsh contact with kento’s pelvis, the flesh jiggling—which kento doesn’t let go unnoticed.

he stops for a few seconds - just before you were about to reach your climax - which makes you groan out in disappointment. kento doesn’t mind this and just continues kneading your butt in his large hands, keeping his cock right in your tight cunt.

“since you were so desperate for it,” your lover whispers whilst letting his arms fall to his side, leaving you completely untouched with the only stimulation being his girth stretching you out, “you’ll have to work for it. come on.”

you let out a huff, but knew better than to complain when kento had given you a warning beforehand. ‘no complaints’, you repeat in your mind.

you move your lower body, fucking yourself back on his cock as kento stood there behind you — watching you desperately move your hips back and forth, his thick dick disappearing between your puffy folds, only to reappear again and again.

it was a sight that could make any man cum on spot. the way you were glancing back at him to watch his reactions added to the pleasure.

“mhm, i knew you could do it.” kento nods in approval, his jaw clenching as he felt his balls tighten up, already wanting to dump a load into your greedy pussy.

you felt his cock twitch slightly and saw how his hands formed fists at his side — the veins on his forearms once again visible to your eyes. it was such a hot scene and you didn’t know if you were able to hold on much longer.

kento notices this and stops your hips from moving. he wordlessly picks you up by the back of your knees, still making sure to keep his cock inside of you.

your back was pressed against his chiseled chest, your legs bent at your knees as your feet dangled in the air. you knew what was coming.

“no, no,” kento groans under his breath as he effortlessly keeps your body up against his—his dick twitching and begging for its release to be buried in your womb—

“hold it in for me. you only get to cum when i say you can, sweetheart.”

[the20thangel]

The Dragon and Raven

Chapter 7 (The Battle of Rook's Rest)

Chapter Summary: The Greens have made their move; it's time for the Blacks to defend. Aemma and Benjicot will lead their men in supporting Princess Rhaenys.

Note: There will be spoilers if you have yet to read the books or see ep 4.

Tags: Fluff with angst

Word Count: 2766 words

Keep track of the story: Masterlist

A war council was immediately called, and Aemma was frustrated. She barely had enough time to enjoy her night with her husband before the greens had to ruin it. As she waited for the council to start, Benji’s hand caressed her inner thigh, trying to relax her and ground himself. Rhaenyra walks into the room, prompting everyone to rise and bow to her before sitting back down in their seats. Rhaenyra sits at the top of the table as she signals for Jacaerys to start the meeting. 

Jace clears his throat, “We apologize for the early morning, but we received a letter from Lord Staunton, stating that the greens, specifically Criston Cole, have murdered Lord Darlyn and taken hold of his castle in Aegon’s name. He has pleaded for help to free him from their clutches, promising to join us in the fight for the Iron Throne should we succeed.” 

Everyone looked at each other tensely as the letter’s contents were read to the room. Aemma felt that something was not quite right. Why would the greens ransack Duskendale? She assumed they would have tried to avenge little Jaehaerys instead. Poor Jaehaerys, the little boy, was more Heleana than Aegon, another innocent lost to this war because of Queen Alicent’s delusions, thought Aemma as she closed her eyes. Benji, seeing his wife’s distress, squeezed her thighs, trying to ground her, receiving a slight grin. 

Aemma took a small breath and asked what the council was thinking, “Are we going to answer the call? This sounds like a trap…”  

Rhaenyra nodded. “Indeed, but trap or no trap, we need to show the people that we will support them in their struggles and not sweep away or ignore them. I will not start my reign ignoring my people like my father…. I loved my father, but he tended to ignore his oath as a protector of the realm.” 

The only one who outwardly agreed with the Queen’s statement was Daemon, who was always the one with first experience in those situations. 

“Who will be sent out to liberate Lord Staunton and his people?” asked Cregan, turning to the council, asking them more than the queen. 

Rhaenys raised her head proudly, “I will go in the queen’s name to liberate them; Meleys is one of the fastest and largest dragons we have.” 

As Rhaenyra fully agreed, four others did not agree Jacaerys, Aemma, Balea, and Corlys. They could not deny the Red Queen’s power, but they thought it was too risky to send just one dragon. 

“ Mother, I think we need to send more than one dragon… I do not doubt Meley’s power… but if Vhagar is there…having two or three dragons against one… it can ensure we finally get Aemond and avenge Luke.” Explained Aemma, knowing how to play her mother; if she saw it as the plan to get Aemond, she would be more easily influenced to allow other dragons to go and support her grandmother. 

“Yes, but sending three dragons would prove too risky, princess. Should the green knights harm a dragon, it will cause the possibility of losing more allies and dragons.” countered the knight representing the Vale. 

Aemma huffed; these knights have never seen dragons up close or the power of them. She understood their worries, but if they lost Meleys and Rhaenys, they would lose a significant advantage on the greens. 

“Then we don’t send the dragons alone. Allow me and my men to be the ground support for the dragons,” replied Benjioct, staring at the knight, tempting him to counter back. 

The Knight wisely bowed his head and returned his attention to the queen, who was trying not to smile at her good-son. 

Daemon agreed, “Then, with the Blackwood knights, we need to send another giant dragon and one of our juveniles; I wil-” 

“ Doar, Kepa , I will accompany my grandmother and husband. Sliverwing, is larger than Caraxes and can take on Vhagar if need be.” Countered Aemma, holding Benji's hand and quickly squeezing it. 

As much as both Rhaenyra and Daemon wanted to argue, they could not; Aemma made valid arguments on why Sliverwing should go and not Caraxes. Rhaenyra nodded as she turned to Baela and Jace, the only ones with Juveniles. 

Baela, noticing, quickly answered, “I will go with my cousin to protect our grandmother-” 

“No!” exclaimed Daemon, “I will not send out two of my three daughters!” 

Rhaenyra tried to comfort her husband, knowing that Daemon loved all three of his daughters fiercely. 

Aemma rose, “We are your daughters; you taught us the Creed of Prince Baelon. You taught us how to sword fight. We are the blood of the dragon and are ready to defend our family from those trying to cause harm; you cannot stop Baela or me.” 

Baela looked at her step-sister with gratitude. Aemma always had a calm fire compared to her raging fire. Aemma had enough of Daemon, Leanor, and Rhaenyra. While Baela had more of her father. 

Daemon and Aemma stared at each other, neither wanting to back down. Benjicot could only move his gaze to his wife, then to the prince, and back to Aemma. He was often pleasantly surprised with how much fire his wife burned. Benji then glanced at the queen, who made eye contact with him. Rhaenyra, noticing Benjicot, could only grin, sighing as she shook her head fondly. She knew who would break first. Then, after another beat, the council saw Daemon grumble before sitting down and taking a gulp from his wine. Aemma gave a victorious smile that many people stated looked like her mother’s as she backed down and turned to her husband, who could only smile loving back at her. 

Rhaenyra cleared her throat, attracting the attention back to her. “Then it's been decided: Princess Rhaenys, Princess Aemma, and Lady Baela will all go to Rooks Rest, with Lord Blackwood’s men following on the ground. My ladies and lord, I wish you a safe journey and swift victory for us. May you come back safe.” 

The four stood, bowed to their queen, and then walked out to prepare for the journey and potential battle. Aemma noticed her husband walking with her to her dragon; she raised an eyebrow in confusion. She wasn’t complaining about spending time with him but assumed he would have gone to his men. Benjicot noticed his princess’s confusion and grinned but didn’t answer. As Aemma came to her dragon, she noticed that her dragon looked different. Aemma greeted Sliverwing with a rub under her chin, causing the dragon to purr in delight. 

Walking towards the back, she noticed the difference. Her saddle had been replaced with a new one. It was still black and red but had little ravens etched in the sides. Her saddle was also wider than before. Aemma gasped at the beauty and turned to her husband, who let Sliverwing sniff his hand. 

“Was this your doing, Ben?” questioned Aemma. 

Benji smiled at her, a dazzling smile that made Aemma’s heart flutter. He walked towards her, placing his arms around her waist and pulling her closer. 

“Yes, it is my wedding gift to you. I hope you like it...” Benji said as he stared into his wife's violet eyes, seeking approval. 

“I love it, and it's wider… possible to allow the said lord to accompany me more on flights,” answered Aemma, staring lovingly at her raven. 

Benjicot smirked before leaning closer towards her, the lips barely touching as he replied, “That was the plan, my wife…” 

Aemma hmmed as she closed the gap between them, passionately kissing her husband. Benjicot answered by playfully biting her lip, asking permission to enter her mouth. Aemma allowed her husband as their tongues danced with each other, placing her arms around his neck. Both felt the fire in their bellies grow again, Benjicot growling as he continued to devour his wife in kisses. Aemma was about to unbutton his shirt when they heard a sharp cough. Aemma and Benjicot jumped and turned; to their horror, Princess Rhaenys was staring at them with a brow raised. Quickly, the couple separated from each other. 

Rhaenys chuckled, “Lord Blackwood, I would assume you would be with your men preparing to depart for Rooks Rest, no?” 

Benjicot gulped as he nodded. Glancing at his wife, he gave a wistful smile before turning and rushing back to camp. Aemma sighed, watching Benji leave in a hurry before smiling bashfully at her grandmother, who turned and came to her and caressed her face. 

“I’m glad you and your lord husband are growing to love each other, but I need to remind you duty must sometimes come first, sweet girl. Do not get distracted, especially when going to battle.” 

Aemma nodded, understanding her grandmother, as she turned to her dragon, ensuring Sliverwing was prepared. Baela later came with Moondancer, and her lips also looked slightly swollen. Aemma gave her a knowing smirk as Baela's eyes widened before turning away. Rhaenys stared at her granddaughter before chuckling again. 

“Go say your goodbyes. We will be departing soon.” 

Aemma turned and returned to camp, looking for her husband, bumping into Aly. As she hugged Alysanne, she asked if she had seen Benjicot, who pointed out that he had turned to his tent after preparing the men. Nodding in thanks, she walked to the tent. Entering, Aemma noticed many gifts laid out in front of the bed. Benjicot was clamping on his red cape with the Blackwood clamp, seeing his wife. 

“They brought in the gifts from last night; I haven’t looked at them. I wanted to wait until you came.” 

Aemma nodded before going towards him, ignoring the gifts. She straightened out his cape before taking his hand and kissing it tenderly. 

“You will be careful. Don’t do anything rash, and come back to me.” She whispered, staring at her husband's eyes, who softened and stared back. 

“As long as you keep your promise as well.  If Vhagar is there and it seems too dangerous, let Sliverwing roar as a signal to fall back and turn to camp,”  Benjicot replied as he placed his forehead to hers. 

For a moment, a dragon princess and her raven lord stood there. Taking solace in their company before, Benjioct gave her one more kiss and walked out to his men. As Aemma followed, she saw him get on his horse, his aunt next to him, before he waved at her and commanded his men to start riding. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aemma and Baela were flying around Rook’s Rest, High enough to be safely covered by the clouds as they waited for their Grandmother and the Blackwood army to arrive. They did not need to wait long once, hearing Meleys roar and seeing the Red Queen dragon burn a lot of machines from the green’s side. Aemma squinted and noticed in anger they were scorpions. Those nasty worms wanted to use scorpions on their dragons. Aemma had to breathe; she knew the plan and would only fly down if Vhagar appeared. She saw red and black men meet green, and Aemma wondered how Benjicot was doing. Before she could wonder more, in the distance were two dragon roars, one smaller than the other. In shock, Aemma and Baela turned to see Sunfyre and Vhagar flying towards Meleys. 

Aemma turned to Baela, “Let me go first. I will catch them from behind. After a moment, join us, but stay away from Vaghar. Keep your attention on Sunfyre.” 

Baela nodded as she watched Aemma fly away, passing Sunfyre and Vhagar before turning around and down. As Aemma came behind the two dragons, Aemma and Rhaenys shouted Dracarys. Fire came from both sides, causing the Green brothers to swerve, trying to avoid the flames. Aemond turned to Aemma angrily as the dragon princess smirked tauntly, the same one that reminded him of Lucerys. Aemond turned Vhagar to Aemma and commanded the giant dragon to attack. Sliverwing, swifter and younger, turned away. Aegon stared at Aemma. She was here, fighting against him, but she was here nevertheless. She was so beautiful and fearless in fighting his brother. He knew his duty was to fight her, but he couldn’t as Meleys and Sliverwing continued to fight Vhagar. Aegon heard another flap close, turning he saw Baela speeding toward him. Aegon turned and shouted Dracarys, grunting as Moondancer easily dodged the flames. 

As the Dragons danced and screeched a head, Benjicot and Alysanne led the assault on the ground, killing as many green knights as possible. With their arrows and swords, both Blackwoods led a bloody mess. Benjicot grinned wildly, eyes rabid, noticing Ser Gwayne Hightower and Ser Cole becoming more upset with their armies. Benjicot commanded his aunt to send another wave of arrows as he rode forward, trying to reach the two knights. Then, Screams were heard from the sky, making everyone pause and stare in horror. 

Baela, at one point, flew too close to Vhagar and retreated to get away, causing Vhagar and Sunfyre to get to Meleys and rib the wings from the she-dragon. Rhaenys slipped from her saddle, and Aemma and Baela screamed in horror and anguish. Baela commanded Moondancer to fly fast, trying to reach her grandmother. Aemma made Sliverwing send fire to Vhagar, causing Aemond to turn. Moondancer scratched Sunfyre’s side when the dragon passed, causing Aegon to lose his balance and nearly slip off. Aemma, in anger, commanded Sliverwing to attack Sunfyre. When Sliverwing clamped her jaw on the yellow dragon, Aegon’s leg was close to Sunfyre’s side. Aegon let out a heart wretched yell as he and Sunfyre crashed to the ground. Aegon's last sight before blackening out was seeing Aemma's eyes filled with Hatred, and he thought, was that hatred for him? Baela yelled faster, and at the last second, she could catch Rhaenys, her grandmother’s body, crashing into Moondancer’s saddle unconsciously. Aemma breathed in relief before noticing Vhagar coming back. 

“Baela, take grandmother back; let a maester or healer look at her. We need to fall back. Go!” Aemma ordered. 

Baela nodded as she flew away, tears streaming down seeing Meleys’s body in flames. 

Benjicot raised his head as everyone in shock stared at where the two dragons had fallen. Cole rode off to get to Aegon. As Sliverwing screeched, Benji knew that was the signal. 

“Fall Back, we need to fall Back! Return to camp!” Shouted Benjicot, upset at the retreat but remembering his promise to his wife. He turned him and his aunt and led their troops back to Harenhall. It was a defeat for the Blacks but a small victory as well. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Aemma reported the events to her mother. Everyone was upset at Meleys death but happy that at least Rhaenys had survived. Aemma tiredly walked back to the tent, seeing Benjicot in the tent taking off his cloak. Aemma sighed as she hugged her husband from behind. 

“How is your grandmother,” asked Benji, turning to Aemma, who smiled weakly. 

“She is unconscious but is expected to have a speedy recovery,” Aemma commented, leaning her head to his chest and breathing in his scent, a woody scent mixed with blood from his clothes. 

“Come join me in a bath; I think we both need it,” asked Ben as he walked to the washing room, Aemma eagerly following him. 

Once bathed, Aemma, only wearing a silk and robe, began looking at the gifts they had; she noticed a small green box with a card attached to it, as she began to open the letter. When one of her mother’s ladies came in. Aemma walked towards her, with Benjicot coming to stand where she was, looking at the letter; as he listened to the news of Rhaenys waking up, he could not feel joy for his wife; he felt cold, staring at the letter before him. 

Aemma was overjoyed that her grandmother had awoken and told the lady that she would visit her in the morning, wanting to let her rest. She turned to Benji, smiling, but quickly lost it when she saw her husband's hardened eyes staring at the gift she had been looking at earlier. 

“Ben…. what’s wrong?” asked Aemma worriedly, flinching as his angered eyes turned to her. 

Benjicot closed his eyes and breathed. He did not mean to make her flinch. 

“Benji…” whispered Aemma. 

He opened his eyes, “What does he mean by ‘You know my heart is yours as yours is mine?” Benjicot asked, his eyes turning to hurt. 

Aemma stared at her husband and then to wretched gift, for she knew who sent it…. Aegon.

[charmtale]

Shameful secrets cause a person to become haunted. She cannot sleep, for a shaming secret is like a cruel barbed wire that catches her across the gut as she tries to run free.

(Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Women Who Run With the Wolves)

the fact that no one* knew about akio's abuse of anthy is far from the only thing wrong with it, but the inherent shameful secrecy of it was an integral part of her abuse, something that significantly served to isolate anthy from her peers.

it was definitely akio's plan for utena to see anthy and akio at the end of ep. 36. (anthy's hands disappear into her hair = she had no hand in this. + the way the scene lights up like how lights come on at the beginning of a new scene in a play (anthy's previously black silhouette gaining color and features) = it was staged. not to mention her bleak expression) akio thought that utena would just be disgusted by her, and/or feel betrayed, and that would be that. however, he sealed his fate (anthy being able to ditch him) with this action, because utena offered anthy compassion and understanding instead of condemning her.

utena acknowledging anthy's pain as a result of being abused by akio touched anthy more than any of utena's other actions up to that point. while utena says a lot of stuff in that scene about utena's ego and being a prince, anthy only has visible reactions to two of utena's lines until utena is completely done speaking.

"And the night I learned about you and Akio...!"

the camera focuses completely on anthy, nothing else shown, as anthy slightly tilts her head up. there is no dialogue while anthy makes this small movement; anthy is listening intently for what utena will say next, and the show wants us to notice that.

"I thought that you had betrayed me. Even though you were suffering so much...!"

when utena talks about suffering- acknowledging that akio's treatment of anthy caused anthy pain- anthy uncurls her body significantly. a visual indicator of feeling less shame, immediately in that moment.

anthy does not move in reaction to anything else utena says until utena is fully done speaking, when anthy and utena are now shown kinda-holding eachother. utena may or may not know the full impact of her words, but it is clear to the viewers what moved anthy to say:

"It doesn't matter now. Just leave this school. Forget about everything that happened here!"

in anthy's opinion, this has to be the kindest, most honest thing she can say in this moment. utena leaving would ruin akio's plan and anthy would be the obvious reason why (likely leading to punishment), not to mention how anthy would obviously miss utena. the fact anthy said it anyway shows how impactful utena's statement was

it's good to talk about utena's obsessive girlprincing and how it was damaging. it's good that utena acknowledges it herself. but i think the fandom commonly overestimates how much that mattered to anthy, especially in relation to this scene. i feel that people sometimes abbreviate it as 'utena apologized to anthy for her egotistical behavior, and that brought them closer together!' like yes, she did and that was positive and indicative of utena maturing. but i do not think that was the most important aspect here

[notyourdaisybuchanan]

Rewatching The Bear 2x03 is actually crazy and feels so clarifying because like...

The ep starts with Carmy speaking at Al-Anon about fun, and how maybe he needs to have more of it. He acknowledges that fun is complicated for him because as a kid his family tended to ruin things for him, even though this was often unintentionally done. He says that he thinks if he had more amusement or enjoyment in his own life then it would be easier to provide that for other people. (Big note here that part of the purpose OF a restaurant is to provide amusement and enjoyment for people. Then add in Luca's conversation with Marcus in 2x04 about how the best food comes from being open and inspired, and spending time in the world. So Carmy having fun could theoretically make him better at his job.)

Anyway, Carmy gives that spiel at Al-Anon. Then we get a brief interlude of Syd looking at articles about recent restaurant closings and being stressed.

And then we're immediately back with Syd and Carmy cooking together in his kitchen. She fucks up a dish again, and he suggests they stop cooking and do a palate reset.

Like... this all happens within the first five minutes of the ep. This man has been musing about how he needs to have more fun.... and then he suggests spending the day eating in the city with Syd..... ergo that's his definition of fun. This is literally him making an attempt at doing something for amusement or enjoyment!! He planned this!! I fully believe he had this idea even before Sydney fucked up the dish. This man said I need to have more fun and you know what would be fun? Spending the day with my business partner eating delicious food. So he sends her home with plans to meet in an hour.

And then. AND THEN. Claire calls. First of all when she asks if he's busy, he looks at the white board and the very first thing on the To Do list is "call fridge guy" so like. lmao. I love foreshadowing. And he literally is busy!!! Not with unpleasant tasks to do but with something FUN. Something fun that he planned FOR himself.

And what is it that Claire asks him to do? Is it something fun? No. She asks him to HELP HER MOVE her mom. Like, the least fun task in the history of anything, the thing that people historically HATE being asked to help with. And he doesn't look excited about it! He looks torn. He looks...weird idk. Like ohhhh it's actually so crazy that Carmy bails on a truly fun day with Sydney in order to do a manual labor favor for Claire.

This is so ripe for analysis you simply cannot tell me it doesn't mean anything.

Carmy thinks about how he needs more fun, plans a fun day for himself, and then, when someone he tried to avoid asks him to do a not fun favor, he says yeah, I'll do that instead.

[menofprogress]

Here are some of my hot (or maybe tepid) takes about arcane:

(Under the cut bc i got wordy lol)

-the show could have used another season or like at least 5 more eps per season. Thats not a dig at the creators bc we know they were already forced to cut stuff out, but imho it shows a little, esp in s2. I fully believe Sevika was one of the biggest victims here, i genuinely believe she had an arc in s2 act 3 that was fully cut. And her being one of the biggest defenders of zaunite independence also means that by cutting her they basically gutted that storyline.

-the sheer lack of time with some characters also means that i simply did not connect with some of them, which made their deaths kind of underwhelming. Like i gasped when loris, isha, elora and sky died, but i cant say i was actually sad. That might be a me problem, but i need a little more time and info on a character to feel literally anything about them.

-on the other hand: we need to accept that sometimes background or minor characters are just that. No they werent robbed, no they werent underwritten, theyre simply not that important and thats OK bc theyre characters, not real people. You dont need to give equal attention to all characters for it to be "fair". And i sometimes feel like ppl think they HAVE to bemoan this. esp when its a female character a lot of fans talk about "sidelining" or "theyre using them as a plot device!!" Buddy, sometimes characters are literally just there to move the plot along, thats not inherently a social justice issue. (Ive seen this the most with sky and lest and like.... sorry, they were never gonna be more important than this. They can still be your fave, but just bc you wanted to see more of them doesnt mean they were sidelined for nefarious reasons)

-however sometimes the problem isnt that a character got too little screentime. S2 is a perfect example to show you can do a lot of character work in less time (viktor, ekko) and little character work with a lot of screentime (vi, sorry). Viktor and ekko were missing for entire episodes and managed to have full character arcs and vi was kind of there the whole time, but stuff just happened to her? Like she does do a lot, she looks incredibly cool, i liked watching her scenes, but her motivations, her goals and her values are ALL over the place. I love caitvi, but it did kinda ruin vis integrity when she threw away core beliefs (she becomes an enforcer, she temporarily agrees to kill jinx, she participates in chem warfare against the undercity) for cait. Hmmmmm.....

-i wasnt that deep in the fandom in s1 so i might have simply missed it or i might just not be following assholes, but the "jayvik shippers hate mel" thing never made sense to me. NOT because i dont believe it, bc i sure as hell have seen enough mlm shippers be fully misogynistic or racist, but the way ppl (mainly meljay shippers lbr) talked about jayvik shippers being horrible to mel like it was this HUGE thing confused me bc i personally have seen like 2 fanfics where they horribly mischaracterise mel to be a viktor-hating bitch, but thats it? Like, was that an actual problem or was it ppl deliberately misunderstanding stuff? (One specific example: ive seen someone accuse jayvik shippers of being misogynists bc they accused mel of manipulating jayce and sidelining Viktor. Which is a canonical thing happening in the show. Like ofc you can word it in a way to make mel a horrid evil bitch, im sure there are ppl who DO hate mel and think she is an evil succubus, but this person in particular just seemed upset about the fact that ppl were talking about things that mel canonically did.) This is a genuine question, bc from my pov after s1 mel was one of the fan faves and jayvik wasnt THAT big of a deal until s2. I literally saw a hundred times more jayce hate than i did mel hate, but maybe thats not the universal arcane fandom experience? Like, again, i HAVE seen (for lack of a better term) fujoshis get wildly hateful towards female characters in the vicinity of their ship, i was just pleasantly surprised that the arcane fandom seemingly DIDNT. So the unrestrained resentment and bitterness of some fans after jayvik "went canon" caught me off guard.

-the reason i ask this: i saw a video where someone talked about some rando homophobic timebomb fans who apparently resented caitvi for getting a happy ending instead of jinx and ekko. So i commented "i s2g het-shippers act like theyre an oppressed group sometimes" to which another person responded "well jayvik fans were really shitty about mel, soo...." and i was so fucking confused bc what? The video wasnt even about mel or jayvik?? They just heard me make a snarky comment about het ships and immediately felt called out. But yeah thats what prompted my question.

-i dont get the thirst for the fish man. I get the salo thirst even less. I cheered when jayce bonked him.

-i actually dont want jayce or viktor to appear in future projects. While i love the idea of them being ~not dead~, i think any further canonical storylines about them would devalue the extremely emotional ending they had. Like, imagine if they only bring one of them back?? What then?? No, i actually prefer post-canon fix it fanfics in this case. (Cough cough esp bc this way i can still plausibly delude myself into them being actually canon and yall KNOW it probably would not stay this way if their story continues)

[weebsinstash]

Suprised you havent mentioned what Val wears in episode 6(he's maybe wearing the same in ep 8?)

Like those fucking boots and the fact he's wearing a skirt makes me think he does it for easy access.....👀

I think it probably is the same outfit! I'm thinking the whole "moth shaped boob window" little black dress is like, the default one he keeps under his coat? He also has a different hat in that scene (no stripes, heart button)

Ughhh I just noticed that even though he isn't talking to or looking at her he's still engaging Gasmask Girl in the conversation or she's part of his recruitment because he has his hand on her hip like that 😩❤️ also isn't it SO diva of him that he already has forearms that become black further down but he'll still put on black gloves with this dress. I guess because his black dress shirt has sleeves and this dress doesn't and he just prefers that fashion wise? Idk

I wonder how often he prefers the pants and how often he prefers the dress? True Valentino simps know he's BEEN hoein' in these streets for a while but I'm still a little surprised they made him dressing gnc a canon thing. I wonder if in season 2 we'll ever see Angel in drag or anything since that's something he enjoys?

Just like. UGHHHH I can SEE him being such a catty bully to force Reader to dress/present themself how he wants them to look. OR he'll manipulate your insecurities and try and be your ""friend"" to get closer to you that way, helping teach you how to 'look nicer' (and some of it IS helpful stuff like say makeup or certain styling tips but 8 times outta 10 he's using you like a doll). He's complimenting you and calling you pretty and he DOES mean it but it's partially because in his mind you're already his property and thus he wants his arm candy to be nice n pretty looking their best. You two are showing up to show out at any event Val drags you along to.

Shit happens like Angel gets a text from Valentino to bring him some food "because I'm busy so chop chop babe" and Angel walks in with the grub and Val is just... sitting there, very obviously definitely not busy, and in fact, he's doing your makeup, applying your eyeliner all sing song and playful, "i swear to Lucifer, mami, if you keep tearing up and ruin all the hardwork I just did on your eyes again, Daddy's gonna have to punish yooou~" and he just glances up to Angel with the most disinterested, "oh, hey. You can set that down and go"

Anthony is over here, having a SOUL CRUSHING MORAL CRISIS, because he's wished and hoped for Valentino getting a new favorite toy FOR SO LONG, but now? Angel's deathly afraid that Val's new favorite to play with might be YOU because Valentino's over here suddenly having you spend your whole shift where you're usually serving drinks to the Overlord now instead just, sitting cuddling up to him, or sitting so close to him your sides are touching and he puts his hands on your sides and waist...

Also um. On the subject of Val's dress and episode 8 and all that can we talk about Vox having the strength to be able to dip this man and how Valentino has hands large enough they can fully wrap around Vox's thigh

Look at these evil WHORES, and the way Val stroked Vox's face, like... UGH I can just see Val making Reader cry and he forces you to look at him, stroking your cheek and cooing about how it's good he got you waterproof makeup this time so that you "can stay nice and pretty and still look so cute while you're whining like a little bitch" like seriously I definitely see Valentino and Velvette as sadistic possessive yandere who would even get off on you crying and all the Vees are seriously the best of the worst 😩❤️

[savedbythedrafts]

I have many thoughts about Bridgerton.

Was it the perfect season? Absolutely no.

But it quite honestly is my favorite season so far because it made me realise how the enemies-to-lovers trope has rotten my brain when this is what I want to see. Gentle love, best friends becoming partners.

Things that I absolutely loved this season:

-Pen's arc: In the book she gives up whistledown to become a romance author which is nice, but now we have a legitimate journalist in the house who has proved her accuracy at such a young age. People who are worried about how she's gonna get her info now that people are guarded? Um her main sources were always the maids and footmen and she is observant enough to run a column. Plus now that everyone knows who she is, people might anonymously send her reports (as happens in journalism) which gives her SO MUCH POWER. I am a journalist and I can't stress enough how incredible that is. I know book fans expected the last speech by Colin but imo her taking full control of her decisions and willingness to face the consequences makes it so much better.

-Eloise and Pen patch up: Both of them going to each other for comfort and support when the shit hit the fan made my heart warm. When Eloise comes back, I hope she knows herself a bit better and actually brings her grand ideas to reality.

-Benedict going about his viscount duties in absence of Anthony without the rage of responsibility whilst discovering his sexuality 10/10. Man was also fully involved in all of his siblings feuds, mainly whatever the fuck Gregory and Hyacinth were upto. CUTE. Actually shoutout to all the Bridgertons, they were so perfectly chaotic.

-THe FEATHERINGTONS OMG: I am the youngest daughter of my family as well as the black sheep- so unpredictable, unconventional that no one in my family gets me. That's why I relate to Pen so much and I'll defend her to death. To see the sisters and Portia realise Pen's worth made me sob. Phillipa saying I hope my daughter becomes a writer? Cherry on cake. But Portia opening up to Pen and being vulnerable and proud at the same time was so bloody well done.

-Polin: Fans being livid about the lack of spice in part 2 (minus the incredible sex scene in ep 5) is understandable but I blame the marketing for it, not the showrunners. Over the course of part 1, we saw Colin's relationship with intimacy change drastically. His want for connection becomes a necessity and if they just jumped into angry sex without actually resolving anything, it would have ruined his character development. I think it's the incredible chemistry between Nic and Luke in general and the heavy emphasis on the horniness during the press tour left the fans understandably wanting for more. But in general, their romance felt quite authentic. The Pride and Prejudice 'dancing in the room alone' callback, goofing around in the church, Colin coming to terms with what Whistledown meant to the ton and himself, Penelope's newfound confidence thanks to Colin's frequent words of affirmation, it was all good.

Things I would change to make this season better (this is turning into a full article now but read ahead if you have been here so far):

-The bloody editing: Pardon my french but why the fuck Benedict's prolonged threesome scenes not edited out? He has a whole season coming up so I don't understand so much focus on that weirdly edited scene amidst the drama. Just one shot of establishing his pansexuality (or bi but I am hoping it's pan) would have been enough? I love Ben, he is my favorite brother but this gave me the ick. To think these 3-4 minutes could have been used to extend the last Polin intimate scene. We could have had a good 5 minutes of Pen topping Colin after the BIG REVEAL but noooo. Even the subplots should have been kept short and sweet. Unlike some fans, I am not completely against the inclusion of the Mondrich family, Cressida's back story, the build up to Benedict's and Fran's actual stories, and more. But I believe too much footage was given to these even though the show clearly focuses on one couple per season. Get your shit together Shonda, this is not 20 episode Grey's anatomy, we can't focus on EVERYONE.

-Colin's anger after the wedding: Now I understand why he didn't want to have the wedding night given the stressful circumstances but him being angry till Francesca's wedding made no sense. How I would have written the resolution would have been something like this- In the hours before Rae leaves the house at night, Colin would have been reading the letters, figuring out how Pen is so whistledown at core (like he actually does the very next day but in absence of Pen). And instead of coming into the room to get a blanket, he could have brought in his own manuscript, asking her to read it as promised and taking up her offer to let her edit. This scene was literally in the book and was so easy to adapt. I would give my left kidney to see Colin sitting near Penelope, watching her powerful writing in action. Again, no spice required, just this. This would have made Pen's 'just love me' speech to Colin so good, but alas!

-Cressida: This is the arc I am most pissed off about. Eloise's reconciliation with Pen was great but completely abandoning Cressida to misery was so outta pocket. I realise Eloise is still not a fully realised character and is barely 20 (she's just a girl) but she was always kind. If I was writing Cressida's arc, I would have had Eloise come to her rescue at the end by borrowing some money from Pen and helping Cressida escape to Vienna or better Scotland. I highly doubt Pen would have minded if she knew how similar both of their circumstances were. I detested Cressida in the books because I'll be honest the books were pretty two dimensional with no real character development and just grand gestures (I'll understand if you come for me but this is how I feel, sorry). But the show made me care for her and I wished she could have found some happiness in life.

Overall, I'll rewatch it because the tiny details were so good this season I believe I can relish those till the next season. And I'll miss Polin immensely. But Shonda please, you can do better.

[maxphilippa]

okay actual last post about act 2 and yeah it is going to be about mic. i don't care if you disagree or not, this is purely a personal post, and also me grieving over how her character got completely assasinated. keep in mind that i've been constantly making content of her for almost 3 years so this is just me having feelings and being disappointed with how she was handled. you can have her opinions of her or anything it doesn't really matter to the point of this post. i'm putting my thoughts in place.

mic forgiving taco doesn't make sense. it still won't make sense ever, no matter how much you actually try to look at it. mic is a forgiving person, yes, but only when people try to genuinely change and when they give an actual apology to her, showing that they're sorry. taco hasn't even tried to change as she was only planning to apologize to pickle, not mic, to begin with. the sorry also just felt hollow regarding that. mic would not act like that ever. like i'm sorry but. before s2 came back, her last appearance was her quite literally leaving the game because she couldn't even bring herself to look or be around at taco anymore, because taco hurted her a lot. a by a lot i mean to the point where mic didn't even know who she was anymore once she eliminated herself.

mic's whole... arc was thrown away. her whole story about growing and changing, and leaving behind an abusive/toxic friendship to then find people who actually love you did not matter. act 2 did a complete disservice to her relationships with knife and pickle, too. are you really telling me that knife protecting mic from taco was for nothing? that mic would've just forgiven taco either way? what about pickle? are you GENUINELY telling me that mic would forgive someone who didn't only hurt her, but also her friends? are you genuinely telling me that it didn't matter if she went away and gained actual healthy relationships, she would've still forgiven taco? that doesn't make ANY sense.

because everything they did before just. said otherwise. why even bother to show the fact that mic and taco were never close to then say that "they were closer than anyone else". no that messes up with both of their arcs completely. taco never let mic get close to her and they never had an actual genuine connection. taco apologizing on ep 13 was even forced, and wasn't sincere. she only did it because knife called her out and mic going "aw taco" is just. her showing that her standars are SO SO LOW thanks to taco that she considers a terrible apology a good thing.

why even bother writing about mic calling out taco and how she treated her the same way she treated pickle? why even bother making mic say that she gained nothing out of taco? why even bother making knife and her friends? no, genuinely, do you have any idea of how much that ruins their friendship? knife literally broke all of his own rules in order to make sure mic was okay. and mic just. does that. and it's not even played with respect or seriousness.

it was for laughs. for laughs. what's funny out of that. how her character got completely ruined. how everything about her closure was genuinely unsatisfying and frustrating. how this is very clearly not what ae had in mind for her, but ae listening to the fans only on what they want, and how that completely just managed to ruin the BEST character written in ii.

and this hurts me a lot genuinely. mic was a character that i've felt connected to the most when i fully got what was her deal. i felt connected and seen in the way she acted, in the way she healed, everything. essentially she helped me to finally recognize that i was worthy of love, and that i shouldn't be ashamed to speak up against my abusers. that i shouldn't be ashamed for being myself. that i found people who actually loved me and motivatedme to let go of toxic relationships that didn't do anything but hurt me. she did genuinely so much for me on a personal level and i'll always adore her for that.

i'm. especially heartbroken at how her character was treated on ACT 2. especially the way on how brian just completely ruined the character arc he worked on the most. it felt bad, unnatural and just like a very poor attempt at a closure. they didn't even NEED a closure to begin with. for a guy that said "i don't think everyone needs closure", you sure did ruin a character with it. this genuinely feels like fanservice because that's what most fans wanted but well. her character is now ruined. i lost everything yesterday. i lost her and. i still don't know how to feel about it.

It's funny, really. You get invested in a show because it was about love, finding yourself, change and growth. And the character that matters the most to you has all of those four traits in their story. You look deeply into the backstory, their behaviour and relationships and you think that hey. It wouldn't make sense if the writers decided to throw all of that away, especially since. She's the best character written in all of the show. There's not a singular flaw on her story, nothing, she's the most humane character in a sense. She means the world to you and all you wish for her is to have a good closure. And it is hinted that she will.

But. She didn't.

And now. You don't know what to do. Everything I did, I did it for her. She helped me improve in many aspects of my life. And I'm still grieving. I just got her back and then I lost her in a terrible way.

so much for being invested in a show for almost 3 years

[rocketturtle4]

City of Stars is starting to drive me a little crazy…anyone else??

Okay so I have no idea how many people are watching this show but this weeks ep (#6) cemented for me that this show is intentionally playing with us, the BL audience, and our expectations of BL.

We have been presented and consistently shown mature, down to earth characters who express their emotions, communicate, help each other, mess with each other, and basically act like rational adults.

And yet this week for a full 2 minutes, I fully believed Krom had taken one look at the strange man in Fueangs bedroom and run straight back home with his mother’s caution echoing inside his head.

But he didn’t and Feaung explained and later we even got Krom being UP FRONT about his insecurities!!

I felt a bit like a new faen being put through trust exercises by my too good to be a true lover.

This was the most extreme example but it’s done it in a ton of other ways too, just in this ep we had things including

Ooops sent the wrong clip, will the friends explode and ruin the relationship

Will Feaung be mad that the friends know

Oh the parents know, now what??

Unequal understanding of the date! Now what?

You know how many of these caused explosions? NONE

Last week we had “Feungs big secret” as a driving force for concern but the show turned that on it’s head too!

And it did it by making fun of everyone being able to sing

This show is picking up the BL tropes, the BL mold and showing it to us like: THIS? This is what you’ve been dealing with in the past? And don’t get me wrong, I have a spreadsheet that just hit 165 BLs to very much prove I like the model.

But this show

This show is taking a trope and making it real,

or making fun of it,

or both.

Have I lost you?

That guitar scene at the end was a great example, Thai BL boys seem to take guitars wherever they go and pull them out at the drop of a hat. This show:

Made fun of that trope by making Fueang bad at singing

Added depth to that trope by making it a result of childhood trauma

Threw in some communication

And voila a guitar scene that was an emotional HIGH, regardless of your opinion on singing.

This show is saying TRUST ME, we aren’t going to steer you off a cliff,

(even as it laughingly might grab you by the shoulders and push-pull you at the edge just to see you panic for a moment lol)

I am having a very good time with it, I have no idea how we’re going to pan out, and given the reoccurring fakeouts I am now highly suspicious of it’s intro scene in ep 1. But I am seriously starting to trust this show. I feel like I can take my hands of the rails throw them in the air and enjoy the ride

Anyone coming?

(Don't get me wrong, the tropes are stil everywhere)

[sandyferal]

Admitting that Tootie and Timmy are the only version of the “girl is obsessed with boy and he doesn’t like her back but they end up together eventually” that I’ve seen done right was painful. I mean I think it’s the truth for the most part but it’s hard to give credit to FOP for writing anything well because they ruin basically all of that in the later seasons. Like they demolish it.

They literally just brought in a random weirdly designed pretty perfect new girl for Timmy to actually successfully woo… when it feels like the whole fucking point was that him disliking Tootie and being attracted to pretty perfect girls without considering their character was a symptom of his immaturity and superficial view of relationships. Also in general what was it with the fucking later seasons only letting girls be perfect or evil. (Except Wanda and Timmy’s mom. Who are literally just “nagging wife” and “mother.” Not much better.)

It’s incredibly funny to me too because I feel like they got so close to making Chloe from the later seasons an actually decent character (outside of her first ep.) Like she was kinda unhinged and flawed and it would’ve been so so easy to reveal that her outward “perfection” was the result of her holding herself to ridiculous standards that actually made her miserable. Crazy that even her saying “no one wants to be friends with me” when that was obviously false could’ve been good writing. Showing her perception was so warped that she thought her not being fully perfect meant she was an awful person and everyone secretly knew and hated her for it. They could’ve still portrayed her parents as good loving people who accidentally implied that they only loved Chloe because they didn’t see her flaws. But like no. The reason she’s “miserable” is just stupid, and she’s not a good enough character that the audience can overlook that.

That’s not even mentioning Trixie. Don’t get me started on Trixie. This show did a lot of character flip flopping even during the good seasons, but Trixie was just. Something else. Like the show really felt like it was actually trying to set up that she was a genuinely nice girl with good values that got buried when she was under the scrutiny of her popular friends, but then it did a turn and decided she was just shallow and/or crazy. And they continued to flip flop on whether Timmy pursuing her was even a good idea. Like man none of the characters actually GOT lasting character arcs but she specifically felt like she was in a position where it would’ve made the most sense to have one.

Insanely grateful character arcs are allowed to exist in A New Wish. I’ll admit, the girls still haven’t particularly benefited from them as much, but at the very least we have Dev. And at least Hazel is a likable character and not just slotted into one of the old “girl” stereotypes. Hell I’m glad ANY character is good. Like just. I cannot believe how bad the last seasons of FOP got. It was that serious man and the girls got it so bad. They really refused, like straight up didn’t try to bring back Trixie or Tootie for a love interest episode when that was Trixie’s entire purpose in the fucking show. But I guess they wanted to give him a win for once. Man.

And importantly, Wanda and Cosmo not only have a better relationship in New Wish, but Wanda is NOT a punching bag. Like it may be a slight exaggeration to call her that, but fuck man, some of the later season eps thought it was so fun to beat her up for literally no reason.