#this is intended as a lighthearted and funny post

[curiousobsession101]

I'm starting to regret reblogging that post where op lied about Yuri on Ice even just to comment on how evil op was. I'd like to apologize to the at least two people who saw my reblog of it.

[ddarker-dreams]

lock's otome game recs

i received some asks indicating an interest in a compilation of my favorite otome games, so i decided to go for it!! i've played about fourteen otome games, but of those fourteen, only these six left a lasting impression on me. there are still some that i intend to check out, so the rankings may update in the future. i'll give a very general overview of each game and how i'd score the categories that i find the most important in an otome game — the heroine, story, art, enjoyability, along with the characters i liked the most.

number 6 - piofiore fated memories.

heroine: 6/10 story: 6.5/10 characters: 7/10 art: 10/10 enjoyability: 8/10 favorite characters: dante (ishikawa kaito), nicola (kimura ryouhei) and yang (okamoto nobuhiko)

this game centers around the heroine, with the default name liliana adornato, who finds herself entangled in the politics of the region's three most prominent crime organizations. the game has an italian backdrop and iirc, takes place in the 1930s.

the overarching narrative, while it has its fair share of intrigue, isn't the game's strongest point. it's the interactions with the characters themselves that made the game feel worthwhile. each love interest has more to them than what meets the eye, so it's satisfying to watch the relationship between them and the heroine develop.

the heroine takes a passive role throughout much of the game, events sorta just happen to her. still, she has a kind disposition that makes her likable and doesn't make stupid decisions that has you wanting to fling your console across the room. her characterization changes slightly depending on the route. for instance, without getting into spoilers, she's more assertive throughout yang's route. the resulting dynamic made yang's route the most memorable, even if he's my third favorite character from the bunch.

what feels unique to this game is the effort put into the bad endings. in most visual novels, bad endings can feel like gimmicks. you make one or two wrong decisions and you're rewarded with a few paragraphs. the downward spiral of the characters in the bad endings are decently fleshed out and you can see how they arrived at this 'worst' version of themselves. they're suitably dark and it shouldn't come as a surprise that i enjoyed them because of that 😭

then there's the art. it's stunning, the details in each CG are mindboggling. the heroine gets to wear a variety of pretty outfits which is something i like to see. even in the story's weaker moments, a stunning CG would pop up that had me forgiving everything. i still glance through the gallery to this day.

number five - cupid parasite.

heroine: 9.5/10 story: 7/10 characters: 7/10 art: 9/10 enjoyability: 9/10 favorite characters: ryuki keisaiin (junya enoki) & gill lovecraft (kimura ryouhei)

iconic. showstopping. a little bit camp.

cupid parasite stars one of my favorite heroines, lynette. she works as a bridal advisor whose ambition is to ensure everyone finds their soulmate. in actuality, she's the goddess cupid, who left her post in celestia to better understand humanity and create lasting pairs. she's a delight to play as.

this game's presentation and overall aesthetic is the most distinct from any otome game i've played. aside from the presentation, the story itself is unlike any of the others on this list. when it comes to romance, i typically prefer them to be dark and mature. this game opts for a more lighthearted approach. it vacillates between being a romcom and dipping into the absurdist genre. there were times i was literally left speechless (glances at gill's route)... but it makes for an entertaining experience. the game's plenty funny as well.

personally, i enjoyed the more grounded moments when the mythological elements remained in the background. because of this, the true ending doesn't do it for me as much as they do in other games. as with anything, this is a personal preference though. i liked all of the routes and found the game handles the development of each love interest well. we're introduced to these men at their most pathetic and get to help them become a little more well-adjusted. lowering the cringe meter, if you will. it makes their growth all the most satisfying as the narrative progresses.

number four - even if tempest.

heroine: 9/10 story: 8.5/10 characters: 8/10 art: 6/10 enjoyability: 9/10 favorite characters: the heroine herself, tyril i lister (noriaki sugiyama), crius castlerock (makoto furukawa) and lucien neuschburn (kaito ishikawa)

right from the get-go, this game's premise had me hooked. it features the heroine, anastasia (<3!), who leads an incredibly tragic life. she's bestowed the ability to reverse time following each of her deaths and uses this to unravel a mess of mysteries the world's setting is tangled in.

this game is absolutely anastasia's story. without spoiling anything, i loved the approach they took with the time rewinding ability. how it's incorporated is unique to an otome game, which they take full advantage of to amplify the tragic romances. on that note, the romance itself occasionally takes a backseat to the narrative as a whole. personally, i didn't mind this in the moment, since i found the story so interesting. in retrospect, i do wish that we got more moments between the heroine and each love interest, especially in the true ending.

there are more gameplay elements here as well. you have to conduct investigations, gather evidence, and apply what you've learned during these trial segments. when i first read about this, i thought it'd be a gimmick, but i liked playing through them. it incentivizes you to pay extra close attention to the world.

while i liked the narrative as a whole, i do wish we got more worldbuilding. there are hints of political subterfuge and religious oligarchy that, while touched upon, could've been leaned into more to give the setting a distinct feeling.

number three - olympia soiree

heroine: 8/10 story: 8/10 characters: 8/10 art: 10/10 enjoyability: 10/10 favorite characters: akaza (yoshitsugu matsuoka), himuka (shun horie), and yosuga (yuma uchida)

in olympia soirée, the eponymous heroine, olympia, lives in a society divided into castes based on colors. she is the last surviving member of a clan that can perform rituals to keep the sun aglow. this game is a lengthier title, i believe i clocked in around 25 ish hours (i don't use auto-play so that sheds some time). the story benefits from this, as olympia has rich worldbuilding and lore that's revealed throughout the route's progression.

we get to see the consequences of this caste system and olympia's growth as she becomes determined to realize a better future for the islands. this makes the heroine someone that you want to root for. personally, i'm a sucker for stories that center around a sheltered individual being forced to face the harsh realities of the world and maturing in their own way. this, paired with the struggles specific to this setting, make for a gripping backdrop for the character's routes. all the love interests have problems of their own that they need to address.

this is certainly a mature title, there's plenty of steamy scenes featuring gorgeous artwork. seriously... all the pretty CGs are absolute eye candy. i enjoyed the balance between the main narrative and the development of the romantic relationships, i don't remember ever feeling bored.

ironically enough, i think this is the darkest game from the bunch listed here, surpassing the game with actual horror elements. there's a whole litany of trigger warnings to be mindful of when going through the game's bad ends. they are, as the term suggests, Bad. not light or humorous in the slightest. the poor heroine goes through it. please be mindful of these more touchy subjects.

number two - 9 r.i.p

heroine: 8/10 story: 8/10 characters: 9/10 art: 10/10 enjoyability: 10/10 favorite characters: minami (nobuhiko okamoto), hibiki (shunichi toki), kureha (toshiki masuda), and koyo (ryota suzuki)

i was looking forward to the english localization of this game before it was even announced ... i'd been wanting an otome game with this vibe for ages. and it didn't disappoint! there are four different overarching story sections, with two characters each having their routes fall under them. this makes it difficult to give a summary since each route has a vastly different feel. some routes lean heavy into supernatural horror (such as hibiki and kureha), whereas others are just... supernatural (like with yukimaro and koharu).

the basic premise is that the main character, misa, is a high school girl burdened with her career survey. she's uncertain what she wants for the future and is being pressured by his mother to pursue a career in medicine. in one way or another, depending on the story section, she comes into contact with the afterlife and those who inhabit it.

i loved this game, i couldn't put it down. the routes that leaned heavy into horror were my favorites, which shouldn't be a surprise lol. i do feel some love interests were given preferential treatment of others, i wanted more from sena's storyline in particular, since he's voiced by one of my favorite VAs (tetsuya kakihara, the voice of scaramouche) 😭... apparently this game is receiving a fandisc, so hopefully they'll remedy that in the future.

minami stole the show for me. from what i've gauged online, he's a divisive character, you either find him grating or love him (like i do). i'm biased but i do think he has the most interesting and well-written story out of the love interests, i've played through it three times already. i just adored the dynamic between him and the heroine. he's petulant, selfish, and a bit immature, yet he goes to extremes for her as he realizes his unhinged feelings.

hibiki is a close second. the most yandere-coded of the bunch, he's soft-spoken and polite, but that exterior hides a creepy personality. like all of the characters in this game, there's a tragic element to him. i was worried about the role the heroine would play in helping him 'overcome' this, but i think they handled it well. it doesn't feel like the heroine's fixing him so much as she's helping him have a different perspective on certain events.

yeah i'm not normal about this game, i cannot recommend it enough. it would've taken the top slot if some of the routes were a bit more polished. i didn't care for yukimaro's at all, for example. routes like minami's, hibiki's, and koyo's more than make up for it though.

number one - collar x malice

heroine: 10/10 story: 10/10 characters: 10/10 art: 10/10 enjoyability: 10/10 favorite characters: takeru sasazuka (daisuke namikawa), kei okazaki (yuki kaji), and aiji yanagi (masakazu morita)

the holy grail. the otome games that died for our sins. this isn't just a good otome game, it's an excellent story, with a very human cast, commentary on issues like the nature of crime, and you're left wanting to solve the various mysterious as much as the heroine does. speaking of the heroine, miss hoshino ichika is my all-time favorite heroine. she's clever, resolute, compassionate, and you can't help but fall in love with her a little yourself 😭😭

i'm not sure if this makes sense, but the world feels very... full? you get this sense that ichika exists outside just interacting with the love interests. she has her career, friends, and her younger brother that act as more than passing NPCs. the writers ensured all the characters with portraits are given some level of depth. i left caring about more characters than the heroine and love interests.

each route is dedicated to working through a certain case, which keeps the story intriguing as you progress. finally, all of the little hints that have been littered throughout coalesce into the 'true' route, where questions you've had since the first chapter are given satisfactory conclusions. at the same time, you're left wondering about a few things, such as the complete philosophy of the main antagonist.

ichika's relationship with each of the love interests develops alongside the case they're investigating, which almost always have connections or parallels to the LI's past. this helped ground them in reality and flesh them out into dynamic characters. you come to care deeply about them alongside ichika. the romance feels earned and doesn't come on too fast, which some otome games suffer from.

if you like otome games and haven't played collar x malice yet, i fully recommend it!!!!!!!! it's the strongest title from what i've played so far.

[mars-ipan]

HEY FOLKS!

sooooo. remember when i was posting about being up way too late for a powerpoint thing i was doing with friends? yeah i'm posting that final powerpoint now.

allow me to introduce you all to...

THE KOMAHINA BIBLE

(aka a demonstration in unmedicated ADHD)

120 slides. 163 MB. somewhere between 14 and 22 hours of work. sleep deprivation. influence from @anonzentimes , respected komahina scholar. this bad baby has it all this is a powerpoint presentation summarizing and analyzing just about everything you need to know about komahina in sdr2 (and a bit from adjacent media as well). we go in-depth and we prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that komahina real and love wins (loses?)

WARNING: THIS CONTAINS MAJOR END-GAME SPOILERS FOR SDR2 (AS WELL AS DR1). IF YOU WISH TO REMAIN SPOILER-FREE (OR YOU ARE SOMEONE WHO I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO KEEP SPOILER FREE (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE)) THEN DO NOT VIEW THIS POWERPOINT PRESENTATION UNTIL YOU KNOW. I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR YOU HAVING BEEN SPOILED

ok cool! some other things to keep in mind under the cut:

THIS IS LIGHTHEARTED THIS IS LIGHTHEARTED THIS IS LIGHTHEARTED. IF YOU DO NOT SHIP KOMAHINA THAT'S LITERALLY SO FINE I KNOW THERE IS KOMAEDA SEXUALITY DISCOURSE GOING ON RN FOR SOME GODFORSAKEN REASON KNOW THAT I DO NOT THINK EVERYONE HAS TO SHIP KOMAHINA PLEASE I'M LITERALLY A MULTISHIPPER PLEASE. PLEASE DO NOT CRUCIFY ME FOR FUNNY YAOI POWERPOINT

i made this powerpoint in two sittings across 2 days, each sitting about 8-12 hours long

i got about 7 total hours of sleep in that time. not for each day- total. i was mad scientist delirious by the end of this

originally, i wanted to include far more- i wanted to analyze other media in depth (like the stageplays, the drama CD, komaeda's official songs, and even official art and materials) but i did not have the time for it. maybe i will make a new testament powerpoint detailing these as well as fandom analysis but that is not currently in the works

this is a presentation! as such the intended way to consume it is As A Presentation! unfortunately i am not someone who records videos so i cannot present it to you. if you would like to present it to you feel free. if you would like to present it to your friends feel free. if you would like to present it to the internet i'm honored but would like for you to talk to me about it first. cool

the original target audience for this was my friends and not all of them are anime people so. i am using the more english-friendly terms (as well as first names). i don't think this will bug any of you but i'm making it clear anyways

all art included in the presentation is credited with a caption linking back directly to the original artist's account. if you see your art in here and you do not want your art in here: let me know! i will take it down immediately and without question.

i may have missed some details/glossed over some things! if you think i've made a mistake somewhere or have missed something important, talk to me about it! i'd love to discuss it and if i make the new testament sequel powerpoint then i will include your corrections at the beginning :)

a lot of the jokes i make happen in the transitions of this powerpoint. some of them use audio- click on the little speaker icon to play the audio and time the animations yourself i suppose. i'd recommend playing it as a slideshow ^-^

have any questions about a particular point i make? ask me! i will elaborate for you

ok that's all i can think of!! have fun folks :]

[lavendertales]

dinner party || Steven Grant x f!reader

summary: after attending the same book club for weeks, you and Steven run into each other at a dinner party and all of your curiosity and tension finally clash together.

word count: 3.8k

A/N: first fic of the year yaay😌 felt like writing something lighthearted so no warnings besides tension, a hot makeout session & Steven being a sweet literature nerd. I'm actually having a very hard time getting into writing & posting lately but I'm working through it. anyway, feedback is always very much appreciated ❤️

You weren't planning on showing up to this dinner, but according to your friends, "it’ll do you good" to socialize and get out more. While they may have been right about joining the book club to begin with, you don’t want to reveal the real reason why you're attending this event because they’re gonna be all over you, asking incessant questions and badgering you all enthusiastically and frankly, you need some time to process what you're feeling.

What are you feeling exactly?

You're excited about the possibility of seeing Steven again tonight. He’s the big reason why you're going to your book club’s owner’s house for this dinner party in the first place. You can’t help but be attracted to him; that much is clear, blatantly obvious. You are definitely attracted to him. He’s so damn intelligent and curious about things and open-minded and sweet… oh lord, he is so intoxicatingly sweet. And so shy! Steven seemed like the kind of man to wear his heart on his sleeve and that is like a breath of fresh air to you.

And when he mentioned the dinner party happening tonight… you figured it was the perfect excuse to go. It’s not a sin to want to see someone you're attracted to, right?

And it’s been such a long time since you’ve felt this attracted to someone.

Okay, so bottom line is, you're here tonight to show support for the book club, to have some wine and maybe talk to Steven.

You definitely want to talk to Steven. Or at least see him.

He’s got such a sense of humor too. The kind where he doesn't necessarily intend to joke but it comes out funny anyway and it makes you giggle involuntarily. He can make you laugh by saying dry and bad jokes, and when he talks about poetry and interprets it, about history, the way his eyes flicker when he talks about literature in general...

Yeah, one might say you are dangerously attracted to him.

Maybe tonight is a mistake. Maybe you shouldn’t be around him and wine. The combination oozes trouble, and you are not a troublemaker. You are certainly not a reckless person when you drink. You're fun and lighthearted and honest, a little too giggly sometimes, but never reckless. You don't plan on binge drinking, so you should be alright.

Unless your nerves get the best of you and you remain tongue-tied around the sweetness that is Steven Grant.

By the time you soothe you nerves, you are on your second glass of wine, politely engaging with the guests, with Miranda—bless her for starting this book club in the first place—and then you decide to indulge into some appetizers and look around her library. Man, she’s got a huge collection! She has a library in the living room and, from what Miranda herself says, three smaller ones in the three bedrooms.

She says it’s okay to take a look throughout the house—or should you call it a mansion because damn!—and so you look in the first bedroom. You are more interested in the library. The book collection is so damn impressive. She even has first editions of books that would be considered extinct nowadays and you are in absolute awe.

“Oh, hi.”

You turn around so violently you nearly pull a muscle in your neck and spill your drink. There’s Steven, holding his own glass of wine in one of the hands, a boyish grin on his face. You instantly feel your cheeks burn at the sight of him: he’s wearing black suit pants, a turtleneck sweater with the sleeves rolled up and his hair is so curly and luscious it almost makes you sigh.

“Hi,” you finally reply with a flustered smile. “Sorry, I didn’t realize anybody was gonna sneak off to look at books.”

“That’s my idea of a party to be honest.”

You both chuckle, and you can’t take your eyes off him. There’s simply something magnetizing about his presence, about the way he makes you feel just by being around you and that’s dangerous. This has the potential to be a fatal attraction and it’s scaring for all the reasons that it's exciting.

Steven approaches you, although visibly hesitant himself. You clear your throat in an attempt to diffuse your own tension. “But it is a great dinner party though,” you say, avoiding his gaze. “Everyone’s so nice.”

“They are, yeah.”

“The music’s nice too. The food is—“

“Nice too?”

You break into nervous laughter. “I’m babbling. I’m sorry. I tend to do that when I’m nervous.”

“That’s alright. It’s—quite endearing, really.”

Your eyes shoot up at him. Your cheeks burn by this point, and you're fairly certain he can see how red they are, too.

“But why are you nervous?” Steven asks and his voice is so sweet and filled with care that it's impossible to not melt.

“Um… this is not a conversation for a second glass of wine.”

“For a third glass maybe?”

Your eyes widen some more and you find yourself absolutely flabbergasted at the notion that this sweet, intelligent and introverted guy is being flirty right now.

He’s flirting with me.

He’s actually flirting with me.

“Maybe,” you decide to tease against your better judgment. “But I wouldn’t want to ruin my image by binge drinking tonight.”

“I was thinking about getting a third glass myself, so I doubt you’d ruin anything.”

It’s tempting. Too tempting.

You shouldn’t.

But he’s so close to you and he looks and smells so good it impairs your judgment. There is no judgment to be done though. You are feeling needier and more impatient than you have in a long time, and you can barely keep it together.

“If you’re having one, then fine,” you reluctantly agree. “But three is where I have to draw the line.”

Steven giggles. The sound is so youthful and pleasant it’s almost like it tickles your skin.

There’s a moment of hesitation and silence between the two of you as you both acknowledge the fact that you should probably head back downstairs, but you remain locked in some sort of trance looking at the books on the shelves, still nursing on your second glasses of wine and stealing glances at each other. The tension is so thick that you're starting to wonder whether a knife would be able to cut through it.

“Can I confess something to you?” you foolishly ask.

Steven offers a polite smile and a nod right next to you and you feel your heart racing.

“I wasn’t totally sure if I wanted to come tonight,” you muster up the courage to say.

“After what I can assume are a lot of dinner parties over the years, this one probably seems a bit dull.”

“No, it’s—“

“Nice?”

You both giggle and exchange a glare that’s filled with yearning. Oh god, the yearning is consuming, devouring from inside out, clawing with unbearable hunger.

“Yeah,” you laugh. “But I’d agree with you in the slightest. It’s just an ordinary dinner party, nothing fancy. And I am all for that. But... I’m glad you’re here tonight.”

Silence. You gulp, afraid to find his eyes this time around.

“I really like—“

No. Stop before you say something you’ll regret and scare him off.

“I really like talking to you,” you smile at him, and you are so relieved to see Steven smile as well. Watching him be so flustered is an absolute delight. “So you’re pretty much the big reason as to why I decided to come tonight. Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy the other members of the book club, but it’s just—“

“I was looking forward to seeing you tonight too.”

That shuts you up real quick. Your pulse has skyrocketed, and all you can do now is gaze practically shamelessly at this beautiful man, now in front of you. Your knees weaken, your yearning suppresses all other sentiments, and he is all that you can see. All that you want, the sole reason why you can scarcely think straight at the moment.

 It’s a primal instinct, to want and to have, and to be had.

The more you look at him, breathless, the more you wonder if he feels like that too. He probably thinks in far more decent terms than you do because you can get a bit too dark on the inside to think straight and decent.

“I really enjoyed getting to know you over these past few weeks, to connect on a human level,” Steven continues. “I mean, who you are. And who you are is… really fucking spectacular.”

You haven’t heard him cuss before and you wouldn't have pegged him as the kind of guy who cusses, but it’s definitely doing something to you. Might be him, might be the wine, or it might be a combination of the both. At this point, it's futile to try to understand.

Tonight is shaping up to be quite the evening after all.

“I’m—not,” you smile flustered. “I try, but sometimes I—I go a little dark.”

“That's alright. Everyone does, don't they?"

You scoff. “How are you so open-minded and okay with the idea that someone is telling you upfront, ‘hey, I’m kind of a mess sometimes’? How are you so—so dreamy?”

Steven laughs, scratching his head, and you realize you might’ve made him a bit uncomfortable with your previous remark. But it’s a genuine question because how is he this dreamy?! Can he actually be the ideal man?

All you know is that Steven makes you feel things you haven’t felt since high school, if maybe ever. You haven’t felt anything this intense in years. It might actually rekindle your hope for the male species.

“I wouldn’t call myself that,” he giggles. “A couple of my former dates might disagree with you. I'm not actually a pro at dating."

“Yeah well, an ex might be bitter enough to think that way. But I do think you’re an amazing guy, and… I’m glad you’re here tonight.”

“I’m glad you’re here tonight.”

Oh fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuuuuck. The way he says your name right after that sentence, your full first name, with that British accent sprinkled in, oh my God.

You discover, much to your dismay, that you are feeling things you haven’t felt in years. Carnivorous, urgent, tingling and prickling your skin and you're in imminent danger.

“So did you find what you came in here for?” Steven asks all of a sudden and just like that, when your eyes meet, you're a puddle.

Your heart’s thrumming in your ears, pounding away in your chest; so, so loudly you're afraid it might burst out for him to see it too. You haven’t felt this way in a long time, that much has been established; but this just seems incessant and over the top. You barely know him as a regular person and you just wonder… can you be this insanely attracted to someone you barely know?

“I think I did,” you respond eventually, your voice scratchy against your dry throat, like sand on paper. “Except now I’m debating… um… whether I should or should not have it.”

Steven takes a step closer to you, thus indirectly forcing you to look up at him and you swear you feel your knees buckle under the weight of this solitary glare. Then he clears his throat and stares at you, cheeks flushed and all.

“If you really want it, perhaps it means you should have it,” he says. “There should be no hesitation with the things you want.”

“What if—what if I’m not fit to have it? What if I do something to ruin it? Because this thing, it's—it's beautiful and sweet and kind and a lot of the time I'm not. What if when I inevitably hold it in my hands, I'll stain it?”

This would be a great time to claim this is a metaphor about a book on the shelf, but it isn’t. You know it, Steven knows it. There’s no need to pretend, even if no specific words are given.

“I suppose you have to take a chance and see what happens,” Steven says nearly breathless and to my shock, you see his eyes drop straight to your mouth. “It’s a gamble, as with most things.”

You unconsciously lick your lips and bite on your bottom one, and something changes in his eyes. You swear it fucking does. It can’t be just your imagination, however hormone-soaked it may be right now.

“Take Orpheus and Eurydice for instance,” he continues. “Their love was no gamble, no what if’s. They just knew it from the moment their eyes laid on each other. They knew they had to have each other.”

Okay, so citing one of the most infamous love stories of all time is not helping right now because you're really about to throw caution to the wind and live in the moment, for once in this damned life.

What repercussions would there be, anyway? You simply want to kiss him, that’s all; to kiss him on his cheeks, his nose, his lips, down his neck and down his whole body till he’s writhing beneath you and he’s a pleading, mumbling and sweaty mess. Pleading for the kind of release only you could give to him.

Okay, maybe some repercussions. And this isn’t the time or the place for any of that.

Shit, the image of a sweaty, pleading Steven haunts you now as you're met with his blown-out eyes, somehow still kind.

“That’s… I can’t argue against that,” you smile, way too flustered about the images running through your head. “Thank you for the wise words.”

“I have often been told I am somewhat of a wise man,” Steven jokes.

You chuckle. “You really are though. Um, Steven?”

You're not really sure what happens after you call out his name; all you know is that you pull him in by the wrist, our eyes locked in what seems like a pleading glare, both of us begging the other to move, to do something, anything, and then your body is pressed against the bookshelf, one large hand on the small of your back and the other in your hair, while a sweet mouth is a hot furnace on yours, pressing and touching relentlessly.

And you feel like you're straight up in heaven. You taste, see and feel heaven.

Christ, his lips are so soft, and yet the way he kisses is passionate, tender and ferocious all at once. It’s like he’s trying his hardest to let you know he’s gentle and caring but that he wants this so fucking much and the mixture, the entire idea in and of itself, has you absolutely feral. So much so that you kind of groan into his mouth, and that seems to spur him on. He pushes a bit of himself into you, and you're melting. You're melting and burning up and you never want to be apart from him, from any part of him.

You're left confused when you don’t feel his mouth on yours and oddly disappointed, but then you notice why he stopped. Miranda’s in the doorway, her hand on the knob, chuckling at you.

“My apologies,” she smiles at you. “Didn’t realize I was interrupting.”

“No, we were not—it’s not—“you start, losing the string of your own sentence as you manically lick your lips in what appears to be a feeble attempt at memorizing the taste of Steven's lips.

“If it’s urgent, the bedrooms are all free, and the bathroom’s stocked.”

You feel a rush of embarrassment flood you, and your cheeks are even redder than before.

“We weren’t planning on—on any of that,” Steven mumbles.

Miranda cocks an eyebrow at you, and you both feel like two teenagers being scolded—oddly enough. “Didn’t look like that from here. I was wondering how long it will take you two to finally get your act together. Enjoy the evening!”

With that, she leaves, and you feel even more determined to explain yourself, even if… really, there’s no reason to feel this way. You only shared one kiss, albeit a very heated one. Nothing else happened.

Could it have happened? If Miranda hadn’t walked in… would you have gone all the way?

You know you could have, with the way you felt so devoured and consumed by that kiss and by Steven himself.

Steven clears his throat, scratching the back of his head as he looks at you, his whole face red, just like his lips. Now that you’ve had a taste of his lips, of the way he can be when he wants something—someone—you feel feral, in an absolutely unhinged desire for more.

And it scares you as much as it thrills you.

"I'm really, really sorry," Steven apologizes.

“No, I’m the one who’s sorry. I feel like I sort of lured you into this… bookish trap.”

And then something hits me. “Actually… no. I’m not sorry,” you correct yourself.

Steven seems surprised, only pleasantly. “I’m not sorry about this. We didn’t do anything bad, right? Unless the kiss was bad, in which case…”

He giggles, and he’s so damn sweet you could eat him up, spread him on a cracker.

Naked.

Okay babe, focus. Stay on topic.

“It was the stellar opposite of that,” Steven smiles reassuringly, though his eyes maintain that look in them that’s rather… feral as well.

“I’m not sorry about the kiss because… truth be told, I’ve been sort of… thinking about this for quite some time.”

“Yeah? Anything else you thought about?”

Oh shit, when he’s intentionally flirty is just so attractive you can barely hold yourself together in one piece.

“A lot of anything else,” you admit and gosh, how is it possible that your cheeks are burning even more?! “But this is a third glass of wine conversation. Or—maybe for another setting.”

Steven smiles, still flustered himself. His cheeks are rosy, slightly reddened, and it paints such a beautiful image. It is now that you realize he truly is beautiful: his chocolate brown eyes, long eyelashes, gorgeous hair, and simply the kind aura about him that makes you want to be around him at all times. He exudes safety and warmth and you have genuinely become frightened by how much you am into him already.

“Maybe that glass of wine isn’t such a good idea in the end,” Steven mutters affected.

“Oh? How come you changed your mind?”

“Full honesty?”

“I usually appreciate it very much.”

He leans back in, his eyes roaming your figure and your spine tickles with electricity. A hot and cold shiver passes through you; you tremble. You actually tremble. Holy shit.

“It’ll have quite an effect on me and I might want to take Miranda’s advice from before. Get on with what we started.”

Nothing but a faint oh leaves your mouth; and that’s barely the word itself, just a gust of wind that resembles the word oh, because your brain cannot compute anything at the moment besides what he just said.

And what he said is… well.

“And that would not be the gentleman-y thing to do,” he carries on, and his face is so flustered and yet riddled with something akin to neediness that your head starts spinning again.

Of course he wants to do gentleman-y things. Of course. How on brand for someone such as Steven Grant.

But oh how much you'd love to tell him—and show him—that he can easily do the opposite of that.

You can’t get the sensation of his lips pressed against yours out of your mind. You can’t get his taste out from your lips or your mind. It’s like he’s infiltrated far below the skin, straight into your bloodstream, swimming in your veins, becoming one with your entire system, and you find yourself absolutely speechless. You have genuinely no idea what to tell him or what to reply to him, so you kind of just stare at him in disbelief whilst also wishing for more, almost begging through that single stare, begging him to do anything remotely close to that kiss. Any touch right now would send you into a pleasurable orbit, even a breath in your direction would set your whole body on fire, and as you're thinking this, you come to realize maybe it isn’t such a good idea.

After all, you're still at the dinner party where loads of other people are and something like this, with someone as special as Steven, requires to be in a very intimate setting.

“Is there ever a time when you don’t think of the gentleman-y thing to do?” you chuckle and immediately face palm yourself mentally. Why would you so shamelessly pose such a flirty question when both your minds are in very fragile states right now?

Good god, get a grip over yourself, woman.

“Right now would be a very solid example,” he replies and you could so easily faint right now knowing that those words actually came out of his mouth. “But we can’t always give into our very first urges, can we? Otherwise it’d be so much chaos in this already chaotic world.”

Your jaw slightly drops as you look at him in awe. “You are... impossibly poetic.”

Steven chuckles, a soulful and hearty sound, and to know you are capable of rising such crystalline sounds from him, from such a beautiful man, it means so much to you.

“I just say what I think, nothing to it,” he keeps laughing.

“You’re really making things difficult right now, you know?”

“How so?”

“Well… let’s just say I have half a mind to surrender to that very first urge regardless of what might happen.”

“Kind of an unreliable narrator that urge, isn’t it? Saying it wants things, and it wants things badly, but rationality knows that if we do give into it, into that lust, we also become unreliable in a way.”

Your jaw drops further, and you shake my head. “Steven, you have got to stop with this, seriously. You’re making things very hard for me right now.”

“Sorry! I'm sorry.”

But he keeps laughing and laughing, even as he allows you to leave the room first and leads you back into the kitchen where we end up having a glass of water and talking about literature for another hour.

And around midnight, you arrive at the startling realization that you might be falling in love already.

[aimedis]

redacted characters as things in my journal 🎀

relatively big tw - there's like vague to explicit mentions of su!cid3 and heavily implied mental self-esteem struggles in this one (i'm alright at the moment, promise) so if that's triggering to you, don't read. this is kinda heavy and maybe disturbing to read to some people i think.

i decided to do this because i though it was kinda fun and cool to like analyse my stuff and the characters a little bit. sorry if this offends anyone ig? idk 😭 i'll be back with the more lighthearted stuff in a couple days okay let's go ->

darlin: "my feelings aren't in my control most of the time. i don't know why i feel this way."

angel before they broke up with micheal: "i think is funny (but i also feel bad) that he's always talking about "getting married" and "forever" when i have a break up letter sitting in my notes."

freelancer: lyrics to "making the bed - olivia rodirgo"

darlin: "i don't wanna talk about him anymore."

damien: "i just want my mom. and i wish i could go up to her just bawling my fucking eyes out like i'm five-years-old without feeling like a fucking failure but i can't... i've survived long enough and i can do it some more."

darlin before sam: "and a part of me will always miss what once was or could have been. but i know they will never be long term, permanent, or reality. i wasn't created to have a happy ending... but i'm okay with this. it makes it easier to slip away and disappear."

cutie: i don't know what so say really. i just feel empty and alone often. i feel out of place. i feel like everything i do is humiliating or straight up wrong. i don't know what's wrong with me."

gavin: "try as i might, i still feel like i am not in my body. living vicariously... through myself?"

baabe: "i should know. my dad didn't want me enough to stay."

lasko: "man what a fucking baby. stop crying over shit that hasn't even happened."

damien before huxley: "i wish i was dead. do you think if [mom] knew she'd wish that too?" (knew that he was gay)

lovely: lyrics to "strangers - ethel cain"

darlin: "i hope it's not my fault when it's all over. i want one thing to not be my fault. but it probably will be."

angel: "why am i crying. again. over and over and over again. it's all i ever do. cry about this or cry about that."

milo post-inversion: "this hurts a lot more than i thought. the thought of feeling like this forever? it sucks."

freelancer: "fucking kill me. i can't breathe."

sam: "is it wrong to think i don't deserve this or that it's not my fault?"

lasko: "it feels like i'm always apologizing."

david: "it really hurts when i need to talk to [him] so bad but i can't."

huxley post-inversion/xavier's death: "is it just always going to feel like this? holy shit this hurts."

damien: "i'm sorry, mom, i'm sorry."

vincent: "the real me? i don't know who that is anymore."

angel: "one more or one less, nobody's worried. my tummy hurts."

darlin before sam: "i don't plan on feeling like this again. i don't plan on "being in love" ever again. as if i know what that feels like... it makes me feel like shit all the time."

cutie: "after this, i'll go back to being alone. like god intended."

asset: "it's kind of sad how i don't even feel like a person sometimes."

lovely: "every so often it hurts so much i think it's gonna rip me apart from the inside."

asher post-inversion: "and it's like, sometimes it straight up feels like i'm gonna die in that moment."

sweetheart: "my greatest sin to men was being a child."

damien: lyrics to "forwards beckon rebound - adrianne lenker"

[catras-breakup-song]

i’m not gonna lie… i’m lost here. is this supposed to be an 4nt1/cr1t1c4l post? if so, i genuinely don’t understand the point being made.

is it that playful banter is a bad thing? is it that being too hands-on violates unspoken boundaries? the message is so unclear to my autistic ass…

oh, wait, OP provided tags:

so aside from the fact that they are absolutely not sisters by default, least of all canonically (even if you do interpret them that way somehow), nor was it ever intended by nate stevenson, i’m still having trouble figuring out how this is problematic.

in which ways is lighthearted touch totally contradictory to passionate kissing/caressing? why can’t partners who are dating do both, especially in different cultural environments such as the horde where intimacy is discouraged and friendly sparring with familiar peers is a safe expression? if it’s so different, what are we as the audience supposed to interpret from their style of physical affection by the final season? side note, but aren’t we supposed to consider the latest version of anything in general as the most accurate?

now i have a question lol, did you take this moment literally at her word, and all the other times she repeated it?

also, my friend just pointed out that this is the classic homophobic talking point of "they seem to just be very good friends! they were roommates!" lmao. i've never agreed with accusing anyone who cr1t1c1z3s catradora of lesbophobia, which i'm not doing necessarily, because that's simply not how it works, however i found this funny and partially true so i'm keeping it in.

the lip bite was included unintentionally 👀

anyway, as i’ve discussed on this blog before, i’m very arospec and it’s inseparably intwined with my identity itself; i also project that onto catra. something we often bring up in that community, is romance-favorability (as its own spectrum of range all the way to blatant repulsion btw) — which is a personal preference that’s defined as exactly as it sounds like and occasionally revolves around fictional depiction as separate from one's own reality — and arguably more importantly, amatonormativity — which is an arbitrary set of rules for romantic expectations set up by an alloromantic society. this is typically thought of as common denial of the idea that someone could actually want to separate themself from needing a life partner in marriage, but can very much be applied to an annoying list of what draws the line between romantic & platonic relationships. that line is very individualistic and is to be decided on such a level only, and it doesn’t even get into what queerplatonic means, a concept saved for another day!

my point is, the OP seems to be trying to claim that catradora objectively cannot be read as romantic because their dynamic growing up & early-on in the story doesn’t perfectly meet socially-constructed standards of what that should look like. i say we need to eradicate those standards altogether! it’s up to catradora to decide what they are, if anything specific at all, not us as the audience — assuming they could’ve had the words at their disposal to knowingly describe it. going back to my earlier paragraph above about how limited they were in the fright zone, i’ll borrow a quote from a comment i made on one of my recent reblogged posts (which is a great meta on how their mutual desire was uh... definitely not platonic):

"Catra and Adora’s desire for one another is shown in a variety of ways, mostly indirect. There are a lot of glances - until season 5, not the kind of open leering at one another that we’d seen between other characters. Mostly it’s fairly playful - wiggled or cocked eyebrows, glances at each other while smirking, that kind of thing, or really intense and somewhat angry glares when they’re fighting."

it's really bothering me that i can't recall where i read this from before, but someone analyzed before how, growing up, catra & adora didn't have a good sense of how to label their relationship with accurate terminology despite being subconsciously aware that they, whether they knew the other reciprocated or not, loved each other "like that." unfortunately, they couldn't further explore it because such love & affection was seen as a punishable weakness in the horde, so they resorted to the only safe option they seemed to have, which was subtle body language and play-fighting as [testudoaubrei-blog] described above.

also, since this screenshot is included in that post... i would be amused to read an explanation of how THIS LOOK from catra is "platonic with a capital P", because i'm not even sure if it's up for debate to be quite honest with you:

ESPECIALLY with the "i always have!" line (which 4nt1s like to doubt, but i don't care, it's official!):

[transgender-anakin-skywalker]

HELLO?

i’m having a time here

[inadaydream99]

Kiss Me, Kiss Me

Mix of established relationship and friends to lovers, very fluffy

A/N - it’s basically just mini snippets of scenarios about kissing each of the members, because why not! It’s been a while since I last posted!

Disclaimer: this is for entertainment purposes only and does not represent any of the members in real life!

S.coups

“Hey!” Seungcheol shouts after you, following the trail of your elated laughter. He can’t believe you’ve just rejected his attempt to kiss you. The betrayal.

It’s not until you’re cornered, sandwiched between the wall and your boyfriend that you begin to quieten down.

“Not so funny now, is it?” You watch as Seungcheol smirks down at you, mesmerised by the way his tongue slowly swipes across his bottom lip. You gulp, shaking your head no.

“Then I think you should explain why you wouldn’t kiss me just then.”

You suck your bottom lip between your teeth, only releasing it when your boyfriends hand gently cups under your chin and uses his thumb to untuck your lip.

“I’m sorry?” You try to appease him with a pleading smile, gasping when he dips his head into the sensitive skin where your jaw meets your neck and chuckles. You really shouldn’t have rejected one of his kisses.

Jeonghan

“You kissed Joshua!” Jeonghan’s voice reverberates off the walls, making you wince. “When?”

“It was years ago and it meant nothing.” You try to keep your voice soft, encouraging your friend to match your volume.

You understand his reaction, the confession seeming to have come out of nowhere. If you count nowhere as playing a lighthearted game of sharing secrets with your best friend.

You watch Jeonghan for a few silent seconds as he seems to take in your answer and swirl it around his mind.

“So,” a coy look overtakes his expression, “would you kiss me?”

“Absolutely not!” You answer a little too quickly for your friends liking, earning an overly dramatic gasp in offence.

“Why!” He whines.

“Because…” you trail off, wondering how the best way to go about this should be, not just for Jeonghan, but for your own sanity too.

It’s not like you’re repulsed by him, not even close. It’s more that you’ve always felt a certain way about Jeonghan. He’s pretty much your dream man and you’ve thought about what it would be like to kiss him more times than you’d like to admit. But there’s no way you can tell him that.

“(Y/N), seriously?” You blink back into focus, realising that you’d definitely kept him waiting too long for an answer. “You’d happily kiss Joshua but not me?”

You roll your eyes upon hearing him go into his dramatically sassy defence. You know there’s not really anything you can say that will make him quit nagging you about it for an eternity. So you decide to show him instead, cutting him off mid-rant by pressing your lips to his.

Joshua

Was he getting a kick out of this? One hundred percent.

Sometimes it feels like your relationship with Joshua is just him trying to annoy you beyond belief and then giving you cuddles until you forgive him. But right now, you’re so beyond done with his smothering that he can shove his offer of make up cuddles in the trash.

“Baby, just one teeny tiny little kiss… please…”

“But I’m trying to focus.” You refuse to look at your boyfriend. It’s the best you can do to get your point across when he’s already holding you hostage in a back hug.

“Just one verrrrrryyyy small one?” He tries to lean around to catch a glimpse of your face.

“Dude no!” Your voice sounds way louder than you intend and guilt immediately overwhelms you when you feel your boyfriend finally quiet down and detach from you.

The silence that follows is painful and the loss of your boyfriend sized hot water bottle makes you shiver from the cold. You regret letting your bad mood get the better of you…

“Joshi, I’m sorry…” you sigh, perching on the edge of the sofa where you boyfriend has retreated too.

He looks at you, maintaining eye contact for a moment before opening his arms and wordlessly inviting you in for a hug. You let out the breath you’d been holding in relief, snuggling into his embrace and burying your face into his chest.

“And a kiss?” You shyly lift your head to peek at his reaction, unable to stop the giggle that erupts as he simply puckers his lips.

Jun

“You better stop that right now, I’m serious.” Jun deadpans you, his hand wrapped firmly around your wrist to stop you from putting any more space between you.

A bets a bet and you undeniably lost. So while your boyfriend has been trying to make you pay up for the last few minutes, you’ve been trying to stall.

The forfeit for the looser isn’t even bad. All you have to do is admit that Jun is better than you and then kiss him. But you’ve decided that you want him to beg you for it first.

“Hi serious.” You smirk, coyly looking up at him through your lashes. “You know, you look like a grumpy version of my boyfriend.”

You have to physically bite down on your bottom lip to stop your laughter when Jun rolls his eyes at your childish joke.

“Well maybe that’s because you’re acting like a sore looser?” The sarcasm drips off his words so condescendingly and you couldn’t be more pleased with yourself at successfully riling him up so easily.

“Or you’re a sore winner!” You squeak as you manage to wrangle your wrist free from his grasp and sprint away, giggling like a child when you look over your shoulder to find him chasing after you.

“(Y/N)! You better get back here and kiss me!”

Hoshi

“You do realise I’m still mad at you, right?” You raise a brow at your friend and his failing attempt to get you to forgive him.

“But I said I was sorry like a hundred times!” Soonyoung exasperatedly throws his hands in the air.

“But sorry doesn’t make the bite mark on my arm just magically disappear.” You counteract. “Do you realise how much teasing I’ve had to endure from everyone because of it?” Soonyoung shakes his head “no” in response. You’re just thankful that no one has clocked onto the fact that is was Soonyoung who gave you the mark.

You admit, you love everything about your best friend. His loudness, his sometimes child-like ways of annoying you, even his never ending amounts of energy. Everything except his persistent tiger agenda when he takes it too far; just like when he accidentally bit your arm last week trying to prove he was a real tiger.

“Trust me, Mingyu has been bugging me non-stop trying to find out who did it.” You cringe.

“What if I kiss it better?” Your eyebrows raise in shock. But Soonyoung seems serious about his offer.

“That’s not really going to do much though…” you shyly hesitate.

“Well, how about this?”

Soongyoung smashes his lips into yours just as you open your mouth to ask him what he means and you’re instantly hooked. Maybe a kiss really does make it better…

Wonwoo

Heavy panting and heated breaths fill the otherwise quiet room. You’d only pulled apart from Wonwoo just a second ago and yet you already miss the velvety soft feeling of his lips against yours and as your gaze trails up from his lips you find his eyes waiting for you. His expression is unreadable, but calm, and it somehow makes you feel comforted and nervous at the same time.

“You’re so desperate.” His sudden smile and his low chuckle as he shakes his head catch you off guard. All these months secretly getting closer and you’re still unable to read him.

“Says the one who pounced on me when he arrived.” You mutter, but you know Wonwoo heard you loud and clear. He wouldn’t be smirking at you like that if he hadn’t.

“Says the one who’s drooling over me right now.” He cocks a brow at you. Check and mate. He knows you too well.

“Oh,” you scoff, “and you’re not just as whipped?” You fold your arms defensively across your chest. They’re only there for a few seconds before Wonwoo has taken a step closer to you and you watch as his hands reach out to unfold your arms, guiding your palms to press flush against the soft cotton t-shirt that covers his toned chest.

“Maybe I am,” Wonwoo begins, leaning down as you feel one hand fall to your waist. “Maybe I’m not…” he finishes coyly, his other hand cupping your cheek before he smashes his lips back onto yours.

Woozi

Why you’re in a bad mood is beyond Jihoon. But there you are, sat up in bed, with the grumpiest face as you scroll through your phone.

“So, are we gonna talk about what’s annoyed you?” Your boyfriend tries to start a casual conversation as he climbs into bed beside you. You can feel him watching you, waiting for an answer. You scoff.

“Seriously?” You sassily side-eye him. How could he not know?! You roll your eyes when you notice the perplexed expression on his face, realising you’re going to have to spell it out for him. “We had reservations at that new place down town and you forgot.”

You watch as Jihoon’s eyes grow wide, a small “oh” falling past his lips as the realisation dawns on him. And now your grumpiness and how you dodged his kiss when he arrived home earlier make a lot of sense…

“Babe, I’m so sorry.” He begins. “I have no excuse for forgetting, but work has been so busy lately and we just got some lyrics sent back with like a billion changes needed and I-”

Before he has time to continue rambling, you press your lips against his, shutting him up. Relief washes over both of you as you fall into sync. It’s clear your boyfriend didn’t stand you up on purpose, and you feel guilty for shutting him out for it.

“It’s ok.” You whisper, pulling apart breathlessly to let him know all is forgiven. “Just don’t stop kissing me.” You manage before your lips smash back into his.

Dk

“Have you ever thought what it would be like if we kissed?”

Seokmin pouts upon witnessing the bubbles of laughter that immediately tumble past your lips. But despite his serious expression, you can see the difficulty your friend has trying to keep his smile from braking out across his face. He wanted this to be a serious conversation, not melting at the way your eyes gleam in happiness while you make light of his words.

“You promised you wouldn’t laugh.” Seokmin manages to keep his voice calm and controlled, unlike the way his heart races in his chest.

“I promised I wouldn’t laugh at you. Which I’m not.” He sighs at your rebuttal. “You just made me nervous…”

“I made you nervous?” His eyes go wide. Although it’s more surprising to you how he had clearly not considered that voicing his thoughts about you kissing each other wouldn’t possibly catch you off guard.

“Obviously.” you tease, “It’s not everyday your best friend randomly tells you they want to kiss you.”

“I asked if you’ve ever thought about it.” Seokmin rolls his eyes, trying his best to suppress the way his stomach summersaults at your blatantly flirty teasing.

“So you’re saying you don’t want to kiss me then?” You pester back within half a second.

“Of course I do!” Seokmin confesses frustratedly, not realising what he’s said out loud until he hears your next challenge to him.

“Well, do it then.”

Mingyu

He’d been alone all day. Waiting. And so that’s why you find him sulking. Your plan from the morning had really backfired on you. And by the evening, no longer were you the one avoiding his kisses and affection. Oh how the tables have turned. Now you can’t seem to get your boyfriend to so much as look at you (unless you count his salty glares to your turned back). So you’d avoided his good morning kiss and his second attempt after brushing his teeth… and his third attempt as you put on your shoes to head to work… so what? It’s not like you’d ripped his heart out of his chest like a violent animal.

Except, that’s exactly what it felt like to your giant boyfriend.

“How’s your day been baby?” Your attempt to start a nice conversation falls on deaf ears. “Gyu?” You wave your small hand in his face, trying to get his expression to change from his child-like sulk.

“Oh, so it’s different when you want my attention.” He mutters so quietly you almost miss his words. Almost. You sigh as you plop down next to him on your shared bed.

“I was only teasing you this morning Gyu.” You explain, watching the way he side-eyes you and catching the hurt that pours out of them. “I didn’t mean to upset you…”

Mingyu feels guilty when your voice grows quieter, his resolve growing thin as he finally caves in and looks at you properly. And he can’t stand the picture of you before him. He can feel his heart fracturing from the way you stare down at your lap. You look so fragile like that.

“Baby.” Your breath hitches as your chin is tilted up by your boyfriend’s hand, your faces way closer than you’d expected them to be. He looks at you like you’re the only person in the entire world. And there’s no need for anymore words to be spoken before your lips collide and you melt into him completely.

The 8

“Did you just hear something?” Your body is frozen, trying not to move a muscle or make any noise as you listen. There’s always something eerie about being in the practice rooms after hours.

“(Y/N), relax.” Minghao cups your cheek. “Everyone went home hours ago.” You nod your head, telling yourself that Minghao’s right, you’re just being paranoid about getting caught.

It’s not like it would be a bad thing for people to find out that you and Minghao had been secretly seeing each other for the past month. It’s just, you’re not sure either of you are ready for all the inevitable questions his friends would ask about your relationship. You’ve not even had that discussion with him about that yet.

“You’re right.” You exhale. “Where were we?” You can’t help how your heart skips a beat as you watch the slow smirk stretch across his lips. “Oh yeah…” you minutely giggle as Minghao dips his head down to brush his lips against yours. Everything else instantly fizzes away and all the tension in your body melts.

But then you definitely hear something from a distance the resembles a door slamming and you jolt away from Minghao with wide, fearful eyes.

“Ok,” he sighs, “I’ll go check who that was.”

Minghao is barely able to take a step after turning around to face the door before you’ve grabbed onto his wrist with one of your hands.

“I’m not letting you go alone.” You state, threading your fingers through his. He smiles down at you affectionally before pulling you towards the door, ready to investigate - and possibly get caught - together.

Seungkwan

“Was that really necessary?” You try - and fail - to hide the amusement from your boyfriends silly antics. Yes, Seungkwan really did just smack your backside with his damp towel as he walked past you.

“Absolutely!” He grins, chucking said damp towel into the laundry basket by the door before making his way back towards you and enveloping you in a back hug.

You’re stood in front of the mirror, applying the final touches of makeup to your face, while you try to ignore the way Seungkwan watches from over your shoulder. It’s difficult to not get distracted by him when he looks like that and he knows your weakness for him when he’s fresh out of the shower, wet hair and little droplets of water glimmering on his skin.

“Maybe we should bail on the guys tonight and stay here?” You shake your head at the way Seungkwan wiggles his eyebrows at you.

“Kwan, you’re not gonna seduce me into ditching Mingyu’s birthday dinner.” You keep your tone firm, adamant on remaining focused; you’re not going to be teased by everyone the whole night for being late. That is until Seungkwan pinches your sides and you let out a yelp. Thank goodness you hadn’t begun applying any mascara yet; half a second later however…

“Ok, that’s it.” You turn to face your mischievous boyfriend, waving the mascara wand around in your hand. “No kisses for the whole night!”

Despite you’re attempts at scolding Seungkwan, he’s not even slightly threatened. Instead he simply raises a judging brow before picking you up by your waist and holding you in his arms, planting kisses all over your face while you feebly attempt to fight his hold. He continues until you’re both a laughing mess, tears of laughter spilling down your cheeks and getting ready long forgotten. Yeah, you’re definitely going to be late now.

Vernon

“Kiss me, baby.”

His lips are ghosting yours. But despite his endeavours to make you cave, you’re not quite ready to give in just yet.

Why won’t you kiss Vernon? Well that’s an easy question to answer.

You been hanging out since the morning and everything had been so normal, just like every other time you’ve hung out together. Just two best friends enjoying each others company. Until Vernon had told you about how the guys had been teasing him about your “friendship”.

You’d initially laughed it off and the topic would have been dropped if you hadn’t felt the need to make the jokey comment about how you could never see Vernon in that way, let alone take him seriously if he tried to kiss you…

You were surprised to say the least, when he’d taken a little offence to your words. Usually so laidback, it was like the thought of you not being able to see him in that way had flicked a switch within him and suddenly he was determined to change your mind. So for the whole day, Vernon has been trying his absolute best to get himself out of the friend zone.

“Just tell me to stop and I will.” You feel Vernon whisper into your lips and you have to resist every impulse you have to let your eyes flutter shut, even though there’s no use in really trying at this point.

Vernon gives you a few second to respond, to show him any sign that you don’t want him to continue. And when he finds none, you feel his lips stretch into a smile before, finally, connecting with yours softly.

Dino

You swear, the next time you see Seungkwan you’re gonna murder him. Why did he have to get all in your head about how clingy you are? And why did you let it affect you to the point where, when you bought it up to your boyfriend Chan, you felt so insecure when he didn’t immediately disagree? Of course, Chan didn’t agree with Seungkwan’s teasing statement either… but he still hesitated!

Meanwhile, your boyfriend thinks he might also murder Seungkwan when he next sees him too. Because it’s his fault that you refuse to show him affection in case you’re being too clingy. Poor Seungkwan. And poor, affection deprived Chan.

“Babe, one cuddle doesn’t make you a clingy person.” Chan tries to reason with you as you both prepare for bed together. He just misses your affection, considering you barely show him any when he’s with the guys. Which is practically all the time!

“Well that’s what you get for agreeing that I’m clingy.” You state matter of factly as you slip under the covers of your duvet.

“But I didn’t agree.” Chan tries to reason, following suit and snuggling under the covers. “How about a kiss? You have to kiss your boyfriend, it’s law.” You snicker at his silly reasoning.

“Oh really?” You raise a brow at him. “Would I go to jail if I don’t?”

“Yes.” Chan laughs along with you.

“I guess I have no choice then…” you half shrug, both of you smiling like idiots in love as you close the space between your faces until there’s nothing left.

[masterdetectivexx]

Hello MDX, any thoughts on the recent files? (1123-1125)

File 1123-1125 Review

The case was overall quite entertaining. It was mostly lighthearted and ended on a very safe and non-action-heavy manner despite how it started off. It had funny moments with Chihaya as well, due to her very forward personality. I found it especially funny how she casually expected Sato & Takagi to take responsibility for DB after insisting that they remain involved (File 1123).

It was nice to get a very detailed tutorial from Gosho of making a wing-flapping bat airplane (that he so proudly wanted the fans to try out according to his Sherry soliloquy), and it was fittingly incorporated into the case with Shiori's kidnapping (File 1125).

There were otherwise no major developments in both Juugo's and Takagi's romance plots, and we ended on a similar note as in the previous Juugo-Chihaya case with Takagi & Sato (File 1087), where Juugo is bothered by her meddling with Takagi and Sato gets very jealous, and as per usual classic anime trope, violently takes out her jealousy on poor Takagi (File 1125).

The most important part of this case was of course the ending with Conan discovering that Mitsuhiko was tricked into wearing a hidden surveillance camera that was spying on DB, only to be revealed to us readers that it was Amuro all along, following his orders of investigating Edogawa Conan for the mysterious Falcon Elder (File 1125).

It looks like Gosho intends to focus on this ongoing subplot immediately, rather than leaving it in the background, seeing as he decided to end us on this cliffhanger. There is therefore a higher chance that he intends to resolve this plot much earlier than one might have expected. Considering that we have been teased by last week's magazine preview that we will be getting a Café Poirot case with Amuro + Masumi, it's highly possible that the next case will further build on his investigation and ultimately resolve with Amuro giving the Falcon elder some sort of report (at this rate, at latest in the next Amuro case after upcoming one).

Of course, I don't expect there to be any major consequences of this regardless of what Amuro decides to do, since as previously mentioned in my Boss suspect theory post, I believe that the Falcon elder is just a Boss mislead that is in reality FPM Ōoka (Momiji's grandpa) who is investigating Conan because of his close relationship with Suzuki Jirokichi (his conglomerate rival).

I'm however very much looking forward to the upcoming case and what developments we will get with yet another Masumi (Akai family) & Bourbon interaction case, as well as if Mary will somehow be fitted into it, and also especially when you take into account that both Boss suspects (Vader & Falcon Elder) are hounding both of them. Could be the perfect opportunity to have both mysterious geezers appear again in this case in some shape or form (and even better if they sense each other’s presence).

[jessequinnfirstofhername]

I wanted to send a message to the people reblogging your polls, if that’s alright with you:

You can lift up your favorite character without insulting the people who like the other characters.

Remember there are actual people reading the comments and tags, and we all deserve kindness.

I agree with your message. However (and this has nothing to do with you, Anon) I do want to make a quick delineation.

It's fine to joke around, throw some (lighthearted) shade, or engage in playful rivalry and banter. It's all part of the fun, and I've seen some really funny posts with absolutely no malice intended.

But I've also seen some really mean-spirited comments, too. Remember, this is just a silly little poll about fictional characters. It's not important.

What is important is being kind to one another.

-Jesse xx

[hannibalsjuicyass]

Season 5 is like a mine field with little chocolate bars scattered across. Sometimes even a double decker sundae. You might blow up trying to get it though

[lucky-ladybugs-lovelies]

Years ago I did a little fic in which part of it is Aerith and Zack relating a funny incident where Sephiroth and Cloud ended up under a mistletoe, both were unimpressed and refused to cooperate, and Cloud said, “Screw tradition.” It’s still funny. LOL. But the newer stories have a different dynamic and I think things would go differently for both FF and KH versions if the scenario were to happen in newer fics.

KH Seph in the current fics is an absolute GREMLIN. He shamelessly flirts with Cloud and says other things knowing full well how they could be interpreted by others overhearing. And I think the biggest part of the charm in his behavior is that he has no romantic feelings for Cloud and does this anyway because he’s that comfortable with his sexuality as well as how he feels about Cloud. He would no doubt encourage Cloud in upholding tradition and say it’s nothing to be embarrassed about. Whether or not Cloud would give in is uncertain, but the scenario done with them would probably be very lighthearted and humorous.

FF Seph’s questionable behavior with Cloud while insane is notoriously creepy and toxic instead of just funny like I characterize KH Seph (who did not go insane). When sane, FF Seph is usually too sobered and saddened and horrified by his insane behavior to think of engaging even in any sort of innocently flirtatious teases. As he gradually begins to heal, however, he relaxes more and will on occasion encourage behavior from Cloud that might raise eyebrows from others (such as encouraging Cloud to just fall asleep on Sephiroth’s bed when Cloud is already laying on it and they’ve just come through a horrible experience and want comfort from each other). I think if they ended up under a mistletoe at the current point in the fic timeline, both would be awkward and “What?” but at the same time, hesitantly interested and curious about what would happen. Cloud would remain awkward, yet I debate if he would actually be the one to make the first move. Part of me says he would, especially since Seph would do nothing unless Cloud said it was okay. As to what would happen after that? I am not yet sure. But I feel like the scenario done with them would be more serious and sweet.

(And yes, I am considering writing out the blurbs to see what would happen with both versions, although whether I'd actually post them would depend on whether I liked the results. The KH version would be gold, but the FF one could be a lot more complicated even if I decided it wouldn't be the main timeline.)

It's fun how the dynamics are similar in some ways but so different in others. I am putting together a fanmix for Seph and Cloud, following them from the canon toxicity to Seph regaining his mind and them growing close in my fics, then having a crisis. I believe the crisis I chose for the mix is the recent Cloud amnesia problem and the fallout from that. I think I have it about as I want it, but I’m still debating whether to keep one lighthearted song in the middle of it. The mix is very dark and serious, then gradually lightens a bit with the song Trying Not to Love You, and then suddenly there’s a burst of cheeriness with The Monkees’ song Me Without You, about the characters having some silly argument but knowing everything will be okay. I feel like it would be better suited to KH Cloud and Seph than the FF ones, but I’m not sure I want to remove it. Lol. Several of the songs could fit the KH ones too, although the mix is really intended to be for the FF ones since it’s telling a specific story through the songs chosen. (I can never just throw a bunch of songs together in any old order for a fanmix; I have to use it to tell a story. It's challenging but fun.) I could make a separate KH mix, but since some of the songs would be the same, I'm not sure if I will. On the other hand, it would probably be fun if I could find several silly, cute songs like Me Without You.

[zeroducks-2]

tell us about the nasty Slade man from TT03

since you guys (and @exhausted-pigeon) asked, here's me talking about iconic Teen Titans 2003 Slade :D

Disclaimer right here. Unlike a lot of fortunate folks, I did not have Teen Titans available to watch back then (I really missed out, especially cause I was in my pre-teen years and that would have been The Perfect Show for me at that point). This means that I only got to watch tt03 recently, therefore these thoughts don't come from someone who holds the show dear as a childhood memory, and who fell in love with it a long time ago, who had their christening to DC stuff through that and yada yada.

I'll therefore discuss tt03 Slade without personal/emotional involvement, and keeping in mind that tt03 is indeed a show intended for a young audience. I'll be adding screenshots for poignancy, so it's going to be a pretty long post :)

End of disclaimer, now onto the good shit.

So, what to say about Slade. Fans have been calling him downright devious, the Teenagers Tormentor, A True Menace To Society, a master manipulator, and a child predator even if there's nothing *too* explicit being that this is a show for kids.

(not that kids being the target audience stopped them showing Slade sleeping with Tara in NTT back in the '80s, but that's a conversation for another time)

Do I think that any of this is true? The answer is essentially yes, I agree with all of the above.

Slade is a very fun character, and his presence dominates the scene every time he's on screen. He's a solid villain, one that feels truly threatening for the protagonists (and not like a forgettable bad guy who can be overpowered with The Power Of Friendship™), and he fits perfectly with the dynamic of the show. He will do the most ridiculous corny things, like materializing at random in a corner of a panoramic wheel cart, while the wheel is in motion, right when Terra and Beast Boy are about to kiss (just to ruin their night basically).

I tried to find a gif cause this scene is too funny but sadly I didn't manage.

But he will also (and mostly) do fucked up shit which people nowadays argue as not belonging in a kid show, like grooming teenagers and/or forcing them to work for him.

His design is also easily iconic, and he's huge in bulk compared to the tiny, slender kid protagonists, adding to the threatening vibe.

I mean look at that Raven's a mushroom compared to him

But he's not a monster - you know he's a human being while you're watching the show, whether you imagine an eyepatch and silver hair like comicbooks!Slade or you picture a completely different kind of face on him, you still know he's just a man... or is he.

The show subtly toys with the idea that Slade might not be human after all. His face is never shown - every single time one of the characters manages to overpower him and unmask him, they find out that they've been fighting against a robot.

This happens after a fight so violent Robin almost dies by falling off a building, and SLADE HIMSELF saves him - reason being more or less "I'm not done kicking your ass". Eventually Robin manages to overpower him, takes off his mask, and lo and behold:

Slade wasn't even there the whole time.

Also, he seems to live in some sort of lab filled with complicated tech and huge gears that spin into nothing. Does this man even need to sleep, eat or drink?

What is this place and how high is the rent

I love what he did with the huge gears it's so ambient

All of this contributes to the threatening, mysterious aura surrounding the character. Which at times can turn into outright terrifying despite the show being relatively lighthearted. Pretty soon the narrative manages to establish the fact that Slade is nearly impossible to beat, that he will do anything to bring down the protagonists (or bring them under his control), and that you can always expect the worst from him.

But the most interesting aspect to discuss is for most people the child predator vibes this character has from his first appearance throughout the entirety of the show. And to whoever says "you can't tell me that they didn't do this intentionally", well, consider two things

1 - Slade in the comicbooks did sleep with a 15yo, in order to use her to bring down the Titans. So like, the fact that he *might* sleep with kids isn't much of a far-fetched hypothesis and 2 - The way he acts goes beyond the average "well this is a kids show of course the villain will act in weird ways towards kids".

Let me expand a little on this second point. When the protagonist of a story is a kid, the villain that will try to hurt/kill them is not automatically a child predator or a child abuser, only because he hurts a kid. In the context of that story it makes sense that the villain will act as if the protag was an adult - the story was created with a young audience in mind, and if other characters treated the protag like a child it would break their immersion.

So is this the case with Slade? Well yes, but actually no. There obviously is a case of "he treats the characters like adults cause it's a kids show" but does he, really? Slade works with the fact that the characters are kids, therefore inexperienced and easy to manipulate. He also wants an apprentice, which necessarily has to be young. In Terra's case, he plays on her insecurities and her need for someone to teach her and guide her. And then there's the way the scenes are directed and the creepiness factor of just how this man interacts with these kids that rightfully puts him in the creep zone, regardless of what exactly the story will show in terms of explicit details.

For this to make more sense I need to make examples, so let's dive in a little deeper starting with Fans Favorite's ... *drumroll* ...

The Apprentice Arc

It starts out with Slade contacting the Titans to tell them that he planted a bomb in the city. Robin, who's already obsessing at the point of waking up drenched in sweat after nightmares where he and Slade beat the shit out of each other, snaps into action to retrieve the trigger of the bomb.

Tis Robin waking up in his "Pepe Silvia" room dedicated to Slade after a nightmare, for your viewing pleasure.

So off the kids go, and while Robin chases Slade, the rest of the team goes try and dismantle the bomb. Slade tosses Robin around for a while, and when Robin manages to grab the remote control, Slade reveals that this is not a remote control because there is no bomb at all - rather, the rest of the Titans have just gotten hit with a laser beam that infected them with nanomachines. Now Robin has to do Slade's bidding and become his apprentice; if he refuses, or disobeys, Slade will use a button to inflict pain and potentially kill the other Titans, thanks to those nanomachines.

These are said nanomachines attached to the Titans' blood cells, conveniently displayed in huge ass screens. I love this scene so much it's so SERIOUS and SO CORNY at the same time lmao.

What ensues is Robin being forced to become Slade's apprentice, dressed in a cute replica of Slade's own suit,

And meanwhile Slade tosses him around either for the funsies or because Robin dares do something he doesn't like. Explicitly saying that he wants Robin to call him "Master". Please go watch the scene, it's 7 seconds long but it conveys EVERYTHING. This mf calls Robin "good boy" in the most condescending way you can ever imagine. Here, click this, I promise you won't be disappointed.

Here's Slade beating up a child for your viewing pleasure.

So at some point Robin is ordered to infiltrate Wayne Enterprise. The Titans try to stop him, Slade pushes for him to fight them, but baby doesn't want to especially when Starfire refuses to engage him. Slade not only starts to torture them with the nanomachines, forcing Robin to shoot them, but when kiddo gets back to him he receives the ass-whooping of his life, followed by this scene:

Here Slade is basically saying "I'm going to put you in your place in a way that will stick", but the scene is conveniently cut by the arrival of the rest of the Titans.

Robin has the idea of infecting himself with the nanomachines, so now if Slade wants to kill them, he has to kill him too. And Slade... tosses away the button, discarding the nanomachines plan on the spot, because the point REALLY was having Robin as an apprentice. If he can't have him, then there's no point.

Then there's Terra's Arc in Season 2, which goes more or less like this:

The Titans meet Terra, a kid their age who's very strong (she can manipulate the earth) but can't perfectly control her own powers. She's very self-conscious about this and when Beast Boy finds out, she begs him not to tell anyone, which he promises.

Soon after she gets singled out by Slade, who corners her and starts poking and prodding about how weak she is, unable to control her powers, and how her "new friends" will soon find out and once they do, they will discard her.

Honestly the fact that he's so big and Terra's itty bitty teeny tiny really adds to the overall creepiness of this scene. They're blocked in a cave underground btw, and to hammer the point home Slade starts tossing her around until she completely freaks out and almost buries herself under the rubble.

Soon after that, Robin deduces by himself that Terra isn't in complete control of her powers, but Terra thinks that Beast Boy snitched on her after promising he wouldn't say anything. Hurt and betrayed she runs away, and guess who she runs to?

As far as I remember, the amount of time Terra spends with Slade is nondescript. But what she says is that he trained her, taught her to not be afraid of her own powers (which is true, she can control her powers now), and gave her a purpose and direction. She comes back and infiltrates the Titans, now being a well groomed little spy, but despite her efforts Slade keeps being abusive and beats the living hell out of her when she comes back to him after a failed mission. He can puppeteer her through the suit she's wearing, but at some point she manages to break free of his control and the arc ends tragically with Terra killing Slade, and herself.

Is this the end of it then? Nuh-huh. Here comes the

Whatever the fuck is happening to Robin Arc

So Slade is dead. But at some point during a fight, Robin starts seeing him and chasing him, getting a mild ass-whoop like he normally would. His teammates are obviously confused but they comply when Robin tells them to go defuse these bombs that Slade planted - only there are no bombs. And it looks like Robin is the only one who can even see Slade.

The situation escalates at the point of Robin having to be strapped to a bed because he was literally killing himself while "fighting Slade", despite being the only one who could see him. Slade himself is the one that frees him from the restraints, and keeps beating him within an inch of his life, at the point that Robin starts begging.

And here we have what's probably the most memorable line of the whole show: "I am the thing that keeps you up at night. I am the evil that haunts every dark corner of your mind. I will never rest and neither will you."

What is happening here in theory is that Robin got dosed with toxic dust coming from Slade's mask, therefore he's seeing things and his brain is in so much stress that he might die from strain (he ends up saving himself by turning on the light). But taking into consideration what happened during the Apprentice arc, it's easy to see parallels with PTSD.

There is actually more. There's Slade being resurrected by Trigon and going rapey on Raven (you've seen the screenshot before) by tearing off her cape, and there's also an epic moment in which Slade goes to hell, WITH ROBIN'S HELP, to retrieve his own body and aid in the fight against Trigon. But I think my point already came across well enough:

Teen Titans 2003 Slade is a fucking creep, and compared to him, NTT Deathstroke is a sweet little lamb who wouldn't hurt a fly. Which is why it is so funny to me when people claim tt03 Slade is "better cause he never slept with a teenager" - Boy oh boy, you might have not seen it on screen but the subtext is clear as day.

This man has no moral code, no bounds (other than what the PG rating of the show will place on him) and not an ounce of humanity. I don't need to see no scene with half naked kids smoking cigarettes with only a bathrobe as clothing (like this one) to know what this man did.

[cablestwisted]

The 2023 Fireworks - Ministry of Joy Retrospective

So this is a fun one... Aaand a good two months overdue, my apologies! I've been super caught up with life and it's taken over my ability to create, but I hope to be making more things in the new year.

The 2023 Fireworks were fascinating in many regards and I do hope to make a post hoping to cover some of the theories surrounding its lore, as while it wasn't as lore heavy as other years the implications and reinforcement of existing theories and lore points has me really intrigued. More and more I've been focusing on the lore of the entire park and I really should write more about it but for now this is just about the X-Sector segment of the 2023 fireworks!

Some Backstory

The Ministry of Joy truly had their claws in the 2023 season, because the 2023 fireworks had some truly fascinating lore tidbits about them that were a continuation from the Smiler Takeover event earlier in the season. The shadowy organisation, formerly lurking in the wings, has let themselves be a little more at the forefront in The Smiler's tenth year of operation.

I do adore the new lore additions despite being quiet on them. Far from being too gaudy as I initially feared, it really showed the sinister side of the Ministry while still keeping it quite lighthearted. But my opinion isn't what we're here for!

Wait, was that not The Smiler?

"Welcome advocates to the laughter laboratory! It's time to receive your daily dose of Ministry of Joy approved happiness. A whizzing, spinning, topsy turvy, rib-tickling test drive of your funny bone to make your senses soar!"

The 2023 Fireworks' X-Sector segment was run by the Ministry of Joy, rather than The Smiler! It's something we've seen before to an extent - with the 2022 Festival of Thrills Fireworks' Smiler segment being presented by the Ministry despite using The Smiler's music taste, but this year the music was hugely associated with the different facets of the MoJ.

It seems we're in a bit of a Thrills arc at the moment. Festival of Thrills has been going on for the past 2 years as a continuation of the Powers of the Towers arc that's currently ongoing, and over the course of the events we've seen a lot of new lore implementations and confirmations of fanon. It's certainly an interesting direction and I love the new emphasis on the groups of the park. If we're doing group things, Towers.. Can we bring Galactica as a whole and specifically the Galactanauts back? Rita's racing team maybe?

It's all Festival of Thrills, All the Way Down

The three segments of the X-Sector section of the Fireworks for 2023 was likely based on the three shows of Festival of Thrills.

Celebration of Happiness

The Fear Lab

and Meet The Ministry!

Overall the songs of the sections fit this theory very well. From celebratory and maybe a bit cheesy, straight into thrilling and dark, and finally to mysterious and a bit wacky. It encompasses the themes and motifs of the Ministry of Joy coherently, but also touches on the three shows specifically very nicely!

But it's not just that, there is.. Even more to this rabbit hole of a segment and I won't be able to commentate on all of it today so I'll leave it at just a few more points. This is a far cry from where we were even just four years ago, sitting on lore that hadn't been explored for far too long, and now we're even deeper into the veritable warren of untouched lore potential.

So.. About That Narrator.

This is a bit of a weird one and I'll admit that immediately. He speaks.. Strangely. It's as though he's upturning the ends of every word, creating an almost "uncanny valley" way of speaking, that speaks [no pun intended] to the nature of the Ministry of Joy. It's compelling, a jarring contrast to the narrator of the Katanga Canyon segment that came before it.

It sounds like this person is the voice of a Ministry of Joy announcement, maybe a start of day announcement, or something done intermittently within the facility to remind Advocates to Smile. Always. Certainly it's not the first evidence we'd have of this, looking back at Festival of Thrills.

It's nice to have some more information about life within the Ministry of Joy's main facility. I talked more about it in a post about Festival of Thrills in general, but I do need to talk even more about it because the entire event is again just.. Such a rabbit hole and I'm honoured to have been able to go so many times. Sidenote, I apologise for linking so many of my videos, but I did a lot of lore documentation work during the event that I'm super proud of and it's all on my youtube channel and some of it is very compelling, like the whole spider thing. I will write about that soon I promise.

All Good Things Must Come To An End..

This likely won't be the last post about the 2023 Fireworks nor indeed about the Ministry of Joy lore from the past year or so. There's a lot to cover, and while I've been covering a lot of it in my videos I definitely need to put more stock into writing down what I'm thinking and amending previous theories with current knowledge. Maintaining the Masterpost is a lot of work and it takes me many many hours every time I alter anything within it or even just add a new post. That said.. Happy holidays. I hope you have a good one, and I wish you all the best possible time.

Also.. There might be a meme video before the end of the year. Or several. You've been warned.

[maurice-memes]

hi. im back witih another ask (sunglasses emoji) why do you like maurice so much? (+ i rlly like ur design for him hes silly)

Thanks for asking about Maurice!! I do love him so much, even enough to make a blog based around him lol

It actually took me a little bit to get to this, and I fully intend to answer your ask about Piggy as well eventually!

I don’t really know how to introduce this topic, so I won’t, I’ll just say that I liked him mostly because he’s seen as the jokester of the boys. Because of the way people saw him was the “memer” because he made those kids laugh in that one scene. I thought he was funny! One of my favorite lines in the book is so simple and so silly, and it was the one about Maurice having both his legs in one side of his shorts (I actually drew this a couple years ago and never posted).

Initially, I just wanted to make a meme page, and Maurice fit the bill for a suitable mascot for the blog, but having him as the face of my blog made me a lot more conscious of him, and he became my favorite over time.

What I’ve come to realize is that I tend to like more pure-hearted characters, which is also the reason I tend to like children’s media. Because the protagonists are all pure of heart and not as cynical as characters from more mature media. I think I had a positive first impression of Maurice when he was introduced in the book as “grinning all the time.” He’s happy and simply being what he is, just a kid.

I realize that Maurice is eventually lost to savagery like most everyone else in the book, but his appearances in the first fraction of the book depict him as being carefree, and at times, more conscious of others than the other kids and even himself later on. Given, this is only because society had imprinted on him so heavily.

In this scene depicted below, Roger and Maurice walk toward the beach from the woods, and they both kick down sandcastles on their way. But as soon as Percival begins to cry, Maurice stops because someone at home had raised a hand to him for hurting a child sometime before his arrival on the island. It might just be how heavily society influenced him, but it shows that he was raised well and that he was disciplined and conscious enough of others’ feelings the least amount to refrain from making Percival cry more despite there being no one to punish him anymore, unlike Roger. It says something about his personal character, even if it’s not very strong (since he gave in later). I honestly doubt that Roger had zero discipline in his life, so that was an act of him disregarding the respect for others he should have been taught at a minimal level (hence why he isn’t my favorite character, though I still love him).

As for design, even if you didn’t ask about it, the reason I gave him a middle part is simply because everyone else seemed to be doing it at the time too. And the reason I gave him a big purple bow has nothing to do with canon at all. I just wanted a way to set my Maurice aside from everyone else’s. I had just watched Beauty and the Beast’s live action, and Belle’s father, Maurice, had a tiny little bow to tie up his hair, and I happened to incorporate it into Maurice’s design. Actually, his bow was small and off to the side the first time I drew him, but it got bigger over time, until it framed his entire lower half of his head. My association of Maurice and purple was also completely random. Purple was just the first color I saw when I was coloring his bow that first time. I really like seeing people associate purple with Maurice! It makes me happy, even if it is by pure coincidence!

TLDR: I just think he’s sweet and silly! He’s the more lighthearted, inconsequential character in the book, and I like that!

Thanks again for asking about my favorite boy!

[vintage-bentley]

that spockgirl post is weird. "the exact moment terry pratchett found out about homosexuality"

a) his generation had a better grasp of what a homosexual was than people do today

b) "they got a cottage together on the south downs" is the most terry pratchett happy ending for a ship you've ever heard of. this part of the conversation was not coming out of neil gaiman's mouth, i assure you. all you have to do is read both their work and it's blindingly obvious. NEIL would have been the one surprised to hear about the south downs, and terry the one who suggested it.

i don't know what's more annoying to me: the assumption that because terry was older he must have been the clueless one who needed to be educated about the existence of The Gays . . . or the idea that neil was the one to bring ineffable homosexuality to the table, when we have literally watched this man's multi-decade journey towards acceptance unfold in real time, right to the glorious era of revisionist neilstory we live in now.

an era i'm grateful for, don't get me wrong. but please. terry was the one slipping a discreet gay love story past the audience (and his co-author, apparently), content to let it speak for itself, and neil was the one shocked to learn people were reading into what he considered a perfectly normal bit of 90's no homo humour. the intended sequel was probably no more overtly gay than good omens itself, with the romance more implied, through little things the homophobes could pretend had another meaning instead. the idea that neil planned to have the exact same love story (kissing and all!) that we're watching onscreen in the 2020s play out in a novel of the mid nineties, is just . . . so unlikely. it kills me that so much of the modern tumblr fandom doesn't understand this, and takes neil at his word on this revisionist history.

i think neil has genuinely come around on the idea of the ineffable husbands as a romantic pairing, and i appreciate that. but i wish he didn't feel the need to lie about this evolution, and i wish the new generation of fans would stop their uncritical kissing of his arse. it's awkward for everyone

The post

—

I completely get what you’re saying, but I also feel like it’s not really That Deep? I just saw it as a mildly funny post making fun of straight men discussing making their self insert characters gay and in love.

But I agree that it’s more likely that it was Terry who suggested the South Downs Cottage, not Neil “slash makes me uncomfortable” Straightman. It is interesting that everyone defaults to assuming Neil’s the one who brought the romance to the table, because of how much they idolise him and ignore his past of ineffable husbands denialism.

I think that post in particular is a lighthearted joke and isn’t actually trying to imply that Neil introduced Terry to the wondrous world of homosexuality…but you’re still absolutely right regarding the fandom in general. I’m really tired of the Neil worship.