#we've always had to act bigger than we were

[krash-and-co]

the Lockwood and Co fandom has always been a little teeny bit crazy <3

love the difference in votes here. HTTYD & ATLA having a nice little tea party while Lockwood & Ninjago are waging a full on war against each other

[solarwynd]

I don't know why Hybe thinks this plan is gonna work when it might actually end up doing the opposite. The more Jimin gets mistreated the more his fans get angry and the angrier they get the harder they work. Notice how much Jimin's solo fandom increased in 2023 and how much we have improved since FACE era. We're seeing the results of that improvement now with MUSE doing better than FACE. If all that bullshit hadn't happened, if Jimin had a smooth ride then we wouldn't have had the need to learn and improve so we could support him. Which is why jjks are useless, because they didn't have to learn how to get shit done on their own, they just let armys and the company do everything.

And speaking of armys, what is happening with pjms is exactly what happened with them. BTS mostly didn't get much from BigHit/Hybe so armys had to learn how to do things themselves. BTS was also getting hate from everyone which made armys angry and we know armys always work harder when they're mad about something. And armys were also shunned by the rest of k-pop fans, named as 'the worst k-pop fandom' and blamed for every bad thing that happened. The same thing is happening with pjms being ostracized from the rest of the fandom, named 'the worst solo fandom' and blamed for everything. And just like all of that made armys hyper focus on BTS and work even harder, pjms are also focused entirely on Jimin and do everything we can for him. So again, I don't know why Hybe thinks doing this to pjms is a good idea considering the fact that the same thing happening to armys only made BTS bigger.

Despite what ot7 nonsense armys like spreading the truth is that most fans are very biased. Every fan has their favorite member and if that member is continuously being treated poorly by the company and the fandom then this member's fans are at a risk of becoming solos, especially if they're being scrutinize and villainized by the rest of the fandom the way that Jimin fans are. I mean, armys are practically forcing Jimin-biased out of the fandom with the way the act because if Jimin fans are gonna be accused of being solos no matter what they might as well actually become solos. So doing all of this is only gonna increased Jimin's solo fandom which, as we've seen since last year, is actually what members need since they can't depend on the group's fans when it comes to their solo work. And we know that after some time focusing on the group after their comeback the members are eventually gonna go back to focusing on their individual carrers and the group is gonna be pushed to the back more and more as the years pass. So having a well established solo fandom that already knows how to support their artist is gonna be essential for the members in the future, and Jimin is the only member that currently has that. Jungkook doesn't have to worry about that because despite jjks being useless he has armys who the company has increasingly been pushing into become only his fans, but the other members are gonna have a rude awakening when they go solo for real and realize they have no proper fandom to back them up.

And another thing is that despite Hybe's attempts Jimin remains the most popular member in the US (and in Korea, Latam and the UK too) so is very stupid of Hybe to push away the audience they've been pretty clear they want the most. We already saw the consequences of that with all other members (including their chosen one) being unable to chart a single song in the US (NP doesn't count cause that's Megan) all while Jimin has charted multiple songs, hasn't left the US charts since we recharted LC in the beginning of the year, occupies the entire top 5 of biggest streaming days and weeks in the US, is the most streamed k-soloist in the US with quite the gap and Who is soon gonna be the most streamed k-pop song in the US (which LC isn't already only because we started focusing on Who instead).

So Hybe can keep pushing Jimin fans away from the group because all that does is take away BTS biggest supporters in the west and it will only benefit Jimin by giving him a solid fandom of his own for when he goes solo.

.🎯

[quixtrix]

dolph was always meant to be doomed; something of an analysis

i'm on my third rewatch of captain laserhawk, and on this one i've been focusing more on the little details that you don't get on your first or even second time watching it. i've noticed little things, such as pey'j helping and then going on to shield a hybrid who's dressed similarly to jade in the third episode. but i've also noticed bigger things, such as alex and dolph.

keep in mind that this show is just filled to the brim with political messaging, it was purposefully designed that way. so when someone mentioned on here that alex was an accelerationist, it explained a lot. we don't know much about alex in terms of his backstory, we only know he helped dolph after dolph attempted to mug him and they ended up falling in love. it's also implied that alex and dolph have been repeatedly reported on the news as terrorists more than we've seen, with rayman referring to them as being the usual suspects when the kaiju attack happened, despite dolph literally not even being there when alex did that shit. they're known to do this shit, and we know alex is a charismatic guy. it's not too far fetched to say once or while dolph was falling in love with this gayass white saviour saint that alex talked him into this shit for alex's own purposes. because yes, he has a cause, but he's also a bit in over his head, maybe with power. he's aware of the power he has over dolph, how he actively uses the 'i love you' card multiple times when they're together and when they're not together. he just had a bit too much confidence in his hold over dolph, but to be fair, alex, you were topping some indulgent mob boss for your cause (because let's be honest of course your sources would be tight if they were being fucked for it) then continued fucking said mob boss and got caught with your dick out by your ex who you think you can get back with. alex uses people as tools, he just doesn't put his shit in the right places at the right times.

i'm getting off track, but the point i'm getting to is that alex most definitely saw dolph, a man who clearly has some jacked up eden tech smacked onto his twink ass, at his lowest, and picked him up like a shiny new toy. he was always going to use dolph. but how come dolph is so easy to use? he's starved for kindness. he's the stray dog that comes up to you at restaurants to act all nonchalant because 95% of the time he gets neglected, but the second he gets offered scraps, he shows how hungry he is. we don't know much about his childhood, and what we do know is under the lenses of literal eden propaganda. we do however know how people get like underneath the hand of eden.

everyone say thanks to rayman, who concidentally, is dolph's foil. both of them worked under eden as their lap dogs, one as a propagandist and the other as military, but dolph had gotten out of the hold the propaganda had on him while rayman's barely shaking it off. both of them are also portrayed as poor little tragic immigrants and the impoverished stand ins both in universe and story wise. they're the feel good picking yourself up american dream stories that people can feel inspired by or feel proud about the country with. dolph had a photo with a kid holding a doll of him. before he became ex military, he was definitely the guy they paraded around as a previous lost cause that eden helped. red, who's as political as his assigned colour, bitches about identity politics in that one off line for a reason. he also jus hates brown people fr he kicked me down a flight of stairs

now we can assume that dolph had picked himself up out of the propaganda machine somehow. he realised he was used and he didn't want that shit. he's attempting to get himself his own life, for fucks sake. he jus happened to get lead on by the wrong guy, which then lead him to get used by eden AGAIN. this time not only in a physical way via soldier work, but emotionally too, with sarah easily manipulating him with what? a sob story and helping him out, maybe being friendly with him along the way.

he wants a normal life. he wants a goddamn normal life. he jus continues to be selected as a tool.

you can see how fucking starved he is for kindness. you ever think about the fact that in his dream life, he sees jade and pey'j? he knew these people for less than a week, yet they get a place in his dream life. most notably, jade gets a speaking role in his dream life. the only other person who speaks, besides marcus, is alex, someone who had known him and shown kindness to him. jade has also shown kindness to dolph. she's the friendliest face there in the ghosts, being the first one to check on dolph when he wakes up, offers an explanation to him, and also makes an effort to include him in her little shenanigans with the video and all!! dolph was all emo alpha wolf and all, but despite his constant cold shoulder, she was kind!!

there was someone who was more than kind though; bullfrog. because bullfrog actively looked out for dolph, despite his constant pushback against bullfrogs advice whenever they weren't separated. and in the end, it's bullfrogs kindness and compassion that hits dolph the deepest. dolph gets out of his depressive state to go back for bullfrog. he cares about people, he goes out of his way to do shit for the people who show him the slightest bit of kindness. he backed up sarah after one good conversation with her to marcus for fucks sake. dolph is just a guy who keeps getting used though. he's so loyal to anyone who looks his way that it's a fatal flaw that ends up with his head blown up. he's a shakespearean tragedy at the moment. i hope in the potential season 2 that he gets to have more moments where he gets to be his own person. not defined by an organisation or a person or a cause, but what he chooses to define himself by. he's on his way there. he jus deserves to be allowed to live for himself. after all, he has already met his end of that story. he can make a new one.

anyways if u reached the end of this im down to discuss this :D i also did get a few points from other people on here, but let me know what u think nd all

[billthedrake]

RECONNECTING WITH BRODIE

Mmm... that feels nice, bro.

Bring it in Brodie... your Matt's got you. There... lean back against me.

(chuckles) You're sweaty.

We're both sweaty.

Hm, didn't know you could get like that going slow.

Slow and long, buddy. We were at it almost an hour. That's why.

(Pause) I sometimes wish Dad would go slow. Usually, it's... I wish I could tell him to go slow.

(sound of a hand patting tight abs) You can, Brode. You should.

(sigh) I know. I just want it to feel good for him. It's weird but now that we're boyfriends, I dunno....

Boyfriends talk about shit. You should tell him.

(more resolved) I will.

(soft kiss to the head) You're all jacked Brodie... when did you get so big?

Since last Spring. Been working on it. You guys should come to visit more often.

I know. It's complicated.

I know. I just miss you guys. Dad does too.

I'll be back for your graduation. I'm sure Connor will, too.

Hmmm.... I like the way you touch me, Matt.

I can't stop feeling you up.

Then don't.

You OK with me shacking up with you tonight, buddy?

Oh yeah. I figured that was going to be the arrangement. You know, with Dad and Connor having their date night.

Doesn't mean you have to like the arrangement, Brode. You OK with them together?

I'm not jealous. And Dad... well, he kind of encourages me to be with other guys.

Have you?

A couple, yeah.... Damn, Matt, whatever you're doing with your hands is boning me the fuck up again. Already.

Connor doesn't like this... after he cums, he's done.

Dude, he's missing the best part.

(chuckles) Maybe you should tell him that.

I fucking will. Seriously, Matt, you should became a masseur or something.

I have a day job already.

I know, I'm just saying.... mmm, a little lower, oh fuck, right there.... making my cock leak and you're not even touching it.

So Brodie, be real with me bro... how's the boyfriend thing working out?

I know I seem messed up, Matt, but it's been mindblowingly awesome.

Doesn't seem like this bed's been slept in much.

Bro, I haven't slept in my own room since I got grounded.

(laugh) Dad grounded you?

(laugh) Yeah, back in the summer. For breaking curfew. Three fucking weeks. He thought he had to act all paternal, you know.

How was that?

Dude, I was pissed. And we were fucking blue balled for three weeks. The make up sex was pretty intense, though. Kind of made it worth it.

Yeah?

Oh yeah. Only time I think I really loved it hard.

Jesus.

You're getting bricked again, Matt. I can feel that big cock against my back.

(soft kiss to the head) Just hearing my little brother talk like that is wild.

Huh. I think that's why I wanna get big. So you guys will stop thinking about me as little.

(Pats chest) It's not about size, Brodie.

I know, Matt. Still, I wanna get big. Bigger than Dad eventually.

Bro, I'm bigger than Dad. He's solid, but he doesn't lift.

I'm surprised you ended up with Connor, actually.

I love Connor's body. But it's more than that.

Yeah?

He's my brother, like you Brodie. But we've always been especially tight. Grew up together. And maybe I go for the smart ones. (chuckles)

That's cool. I guess go for the strong, silent type. Connor probably does too.

He does. (scoots) Here, let's shift a little.... much better, Brodie.

(soft kisses)

Fucking nice.

Yeah, Brode... fucking nice.

Man... your fucking arms are insane.

Connor likes 'em.

I bet he does. Fuck.

Brodie... I don't wanna be the older brother who's always lecturing you, but life is more than muscles you know.

(chuckles) Easy for you to say.

(smiles) Well, feel em all you want, buddy.

I will.

(More kissing. Deeper, longer)

You're so hard, Matt.

Guess I have a fresh pump from my workout this afternoon,

No, I mean your cock.

Oh yeah, it's been like that the last fifteen minutes. I got my stud little bro in bed with me.

I'm not little, Matt.

You're not. 6'5" (kiss) tight end body (kiss) D1 ready.

Hmmm.

You ready to break some hearts at Stanford, bro? (kiss)

I'm a little in denial actually.

Bro, that letter of intent is signed. Big fucking accomplishment.

I know. I mean about going off.

(sigh) You gotta, Brodie. Gotta leave the nest. Become your own man.

I know.

You know... Dad's gonna have empty nest syndrome like crazy. You can probably get your way for the next few months.

Yeah? (chuckles) No more being grounded?

No more being grounded.

Shame, I'll miss the make up sex.

Dude, homecoming sex is just as good.

Fuck.

(wet kissing)

You think that's what Connor's going to feel tonight?

I know that's what Connor's going to feel.

He's probably not going to tell Dad to go softer, is he?

Knowing Connor... no, no he won't. But don't compare yourself to him, Brode. Him or anyone else.

I guess.

You're Dad's favorite, buddy. He worships the ground you walk on.

Yeah. Matt... you wanna fuck me again?

You know I do Brode. But let's take our time. We got all night.

You must think I'm an impatient kid.

You're a horny fucker. I like that.

(kissing)

Jesus, Matt. I'm gonna try this out with Dad.

Try what, bro?

The whole slow thing. I'm so fucking horny with you.

(kissing)

I can only imagine what this would feel like with Dad.

Tell him, Brode. Make it happen.

I totally will.

(kissing)

Jesus, Matt, I fucking love your muscle. My big brother.

You're fucking jacked for 18, bro.

Mmm... does Connor get into it?

Yeah he does.

Does you guys, you know, ever do any worship stuff?

You mean body worship? (softer) We've done that.

Hot. (softer) I wanna ask Dad to try that too.

(chuckles)

You think I'm weird.

Hardly. I'm just picturing Dad doing a worship session with you.

He's not very verbal.

No he's not. I think I heard him say 10 words all through high school.

(laughs) Come on, Matt... he's not that bad.

I exaggerate. But not much.

(kissing)

(ooof)

Fuck yes.

You like that buddy?

I love you on top of me, Matt. How much you weigh?

250.

2-fucking-50. Fuck.

Does Dad know you curse like a sailor.

(laughs) He once grounded me for that, too.

I remember that. You were testing his authority.

Dad doesn't like that.

No, he doesn't.

Thought I was gonna get whipped, too.

Dad wouldn't do that.

I know. But fuck, I really thought he was gonna get the belt, he was so mad.

Brodie, you called him the c-word. In front of Mom.

I was there, remember? We laugh about it now.

Mmmm... feel my arms stud. You like those.

Yessir.

(kissing)

Damn, Matt.

Damn, yourself. Someone taught you how to kiss.

Yeah. Dad.

You're a better kisser than him, bro. For real.

(more kissing)

How do you think date night is going?

Sure you're not jealous, Brode?

Sure I'm sure.

Connor misses Dad. A lot.

You don't?

I do, too. But...

I know... it's complicated.

(kissing)

OK if I tease the hole a little Brode?

You gotta ask?

Sometimes it can get uncomfortable keeping your legs spread.

(smirks) Sounds like you speek from experience, Matt.

Some. Tried it but realized bottoming wasn't for me.

Dad?

Dad. And a couple of dudes in Chicago. Never felt good.

For what it's worth you're an amazing top, bro.

Thanks. I have some amazing inspiration beneath me.

Oh fuck, you're big.

You took me just now, Brodie.

I did. That was thirty minutes ago.

Who's counting?

Fuck.

Easy buddy, just gonna work it in and out.

That big brother cock.

Yep, that big brother cock. In my little bro's tight hole.

I'm not little, Matt.

(smiles) And you're not gonna be tight when I'm done.

Jesus.

(heavy breathing)

Connor's one lucky dude.

Mmmmh....

Hope that wasn't the wrong thing to say.

I can take a complement.... gonna go in with more.

Please.

Goddamn, that jock hole is amazing. So wet....

That's all you, Matt.

I can see why Dad has you sleep in his bed each night. Fuck.

He doesn't make me, bro. I wanna.

I know.

Jesus, how much did I cum?

You don't know?

(laughs) I thought I did. But fuck... (choked grunt)

Why'd you stop?

Shhhh...

(whispers) Is that them?

(whispering back) Yeah.

(kissing)

(quiet) They're gonna fuck.

Yeah Brode, they will.

So fucking hot.... you in me, while Dad bones C.

Shit...

That turns you on too.

Hell yes it does.

I can tell. You're rock hard inside me. Alive.

If I tell you something will you keep it a secret, Brode?

Course.

If Dad asked me on date night while I was here, I'd say yes in a heartbeat.

God you guys are so fucking stubborn.

I inherited his worst traits, Brodie.

And his best.... oh fuck me, man.

Like this?

Yeah, just like that. So fucking nice.... I don't know how you even go so slow.

It's because it turns you on.

You like me whoring out for you?

I don't like that word.

Sorry.

You don't have to apologize. I just don't like my little brother thinking of himself that way.

Unng.... deeper, man.

Ummmf.

Yeah. Fuck me.

Your voice even gets deeper when I fuck you Brode.

Just fucking shove it in me already, bro.

Slow, remember?

(laughs) You're killing me.

Like that.... yeah... you feel it.

God!

I wanna get us both there, bro.

You're gonna, Matt.

Feel me up, Brode. Feel my muscle while I fuck you.

You're bottoming out now.

I'm bottoming out.... I'm not as big as Dad.

You're big enough. Fuck.

You're a firecracker, bro.

Goddamn, Matt. I love this.

Me, too, buddy. Hang on.

Oh fuck... oh fuck.

Turns out I have more than one speed, little bro.

Fuck me, Matt!

Huhnng.... they're gonna hear us Brode.... they're gonna hear me fuck you.

FUCK ME!

You naughty fucker. Hot fucking ass.

So wet. I can feel your dick sliding in and out.

My cum. It's frothing up.

Dude, you're fucking railing me. Stirring it up.

Ung... ungh... ungh...

Matt, just fucking cum... Fucking cum up my hole.

Almost there, bro.... too fucking hot.

Fuck me like Dad fucks me.

Jesus. FUCKK!

YESS!!

(heavy breathing) God.... that was....

Stay in me bro... like that... saw that brother dick in and out while I stroke...

Go for it bro.... Your Matt's got ya.

Yes... oh, I'm gonna.... oh yeah... oh fuck... SHIT!

Stud!.... shit, that's a big load.

(laughs) Jesus, yeah. Guess the slow thing really works one up.

OK if I pull out?.... whoa I wasn't kidding... you're all frothed up, bro. Like a...

You were gonna say 'whore' right?

I wouldn't call you that, Brodie. But fuck...

We're even sweatier now.

Got my cardio in that's for sure.... damn these sheets are fucking soaked.

Maybe I should change them. Put these in the wash.

You're not doing a damn thing. Just relax. Bottom's prerogative.

Dude, is that even a thing?

(chuckles) For me it is. A man puts out like that, I'm taking clean up duty. OK?

OK.

(kissing)

Damn. Dad definitely didn't teach you how to kiss like that.

You haven't kissed him in a while, Matt.

I know. Still.... my brother's got game.

(smiles)

Where are the clean sheets? I'll go get them.

Wait a second, OK?

What's wrong?

Nothing's wrong. I just royally fucked twice. I wanna hold the man who did the honors for a second. OK?

Mmmh... yeah. Sorry. How's this?

Perfect.

(kissing)

You know, Connor chastises me for not being romantic enough sometimes.

You guys bicker a lot?

Our fair share. It's been more since Connor moved in with me.

I keep waiting for me and Dad to get like that.

Whaddya mean?

You know... argue... like a real couple.

Dude, he fucking grounded you.

(shrugs) Yeah, he was being Dad, though. That's different.

(kissing)

Mmm, nice...

I'll say.

You know... I think you should tell him, Matt.

Tell who? What?

Tell Dad you wanna go on a date. You guys are here, what? Three more days?

Bro, it's fucking Christmas.

So?

All right. (light slap on flesh) OK... time to change these sheets. They're fucking drenched.

You're totally going to listen in to see if you can hear Dad and Connor, aren't you?

(laughs) Maybe.

(chuckles) OK, perv. I'm gonna shower off. Maybe you can make me a midnight snack while you're out there. You know, bottom's prerogative.

You got it, Brode. And breakfast, lunch, and dinner tomorrow, too. Just now... that was frickin' incredible.

I agree, Matt.

[comicgeekery]

Sherlock and Shoscombe

So, after the deep dive I did with Sherlock & Co and the issues with the Case of Identity storyline, I thought it was only fair that I talk about their take on The Adventure at Shoscombe Old Place.

*Ahem*.....This was a lot of fun! I just looked up a summary of the original story because I didn't remember it well, and no wonder! It was the very last Sherlock Holmes story Doyle published, later collected into The Casebook, and thus...one of the boring ones. I'm sorry. I really don't like The Casebook stories. It's also the last batch of stories that the Doyle estate was clutching onto before Sherlock went fully into the public domain, which makes the story feel doubly tedious to me.

But! These episodes were a blast! Practically a survey of all the best parts of Sherlock & Co! There's fun banter! Heaps of character background! A really clever update to the original set-up! BRILLIANT acting and foley work! A cheeky cameo! And a truly exciting, satisfying end! I think this is the most direct information we've gotten about John's past since, well ever, but certainly since we learned about his memories of his dad. Now we know that he grew up in a very class-divided town that once felt so much bigger. And he was deeply in love once, with a woman he lost partially because of classism. (Which is such a great mirror for Beatrice and her husband's situation!) He also lost his friends because they had privileges he didn't. (Did John join the military partly as a way to get away from his roots? Out of a desperate need to be praised as a hero?)

No wonder John has so much resentment for the wealthy when it's so deeply personal. I think it's going to be comically awkward and VERY interesting when he finds out that Sherlock is mega super rich. Holmes is often theorized to be the son of a lord in canon. I figure he's at least from a wealthy family that was able to pay for him to go to tons of fancy schools. And then personal tutors. And a full-time staff that always took care of cleaning and stocking up the groceries. (For all his observation skills, I do think Sherlock grew up never considering who made his household run.) I think part of why Sherlock has been so touchy about John's anger at rich people is because Sherlock is SUPER nervous it would ruin their friendship. I am also so pumped to see what the podcast does with Mycroft! I wonder if his autism might be more limiting than Sherlock's. Like he's got the genius skills, he's got the deceptively powerful government job, but he can't handle going out into the world. Going to Baker Street would be an ordeal. Might have a full meltdown if he's not at home, work, or whatever the Diogenes Club is updated to. But.....It's hard to tell how much Sherlock & Co wants us to suspend our disbelief about some things. John and Sherlock have very clearly committed a LOT of crimes on their publicly available podcast. Maybe that will never be addressed or MAYBE Sherlock, Mycroft, or other Holmes allies have been bribing and intervening to keep them from getting arrested. Imagine the drama! "You hate the rich, but you owe all your success to MY money and power, 'Dr.' John Watson!" *Blinks rapidly*

Where was I? Oh yeah, Shoscombe. That. God. Damn. Chase. Scene! So bold for a podcast to have a climax with a car chase at the center. The foley work was top-notch for the driving and the terrain and then the crash and sinking in the lake. Whoever plays John Watson, you did an incredible job! The reckless car chase where, OF COURSE, he still narrates everything, the diving for Robert (and the clever layer of the recorder fritzing), and that CPR! It was all so engaging and believable! I love when John does doctor stuff generally, but this was my favorite example since the gunshot wound at the wedding with The Solitary Cyclist. Not sure I buy Robert's at-home crematorium as being 100% good, but I can believe John thinks so. Might help that John's a bit more desensitized to cutting into corpses than most folks. Finally, I'm sure folks are quite excited that a certain James made a cameo. (Maybe he's interested in why Sherlock and John keep getting away with all their crimes.) I knew he was going to show up at some point, and making Moriarty a listener shout-out is delightful. I just hope it's a while longer before he's ON the show. It always frustrates me when Moriarty winds up becoming basically Lex Luthor. Then again, we've already had similar cameos for Irene Adler and Baskerville Hall (and probably some I've missed) without them showing up yet. We'll see how it goes!

Good job, Sherlock & Co! I'm excited to see what you do next!

[leikeliscomet]

Heartstopper's Aspec Representation Isn't For Me - And That's Okay (Mini Essay)

Spoilers for Series 3!

So I just finished series 3 and I feel conflicted. I don't hate Heartstopper at all. I think it's a very cute show. I'm happy queer baby gen z and gen alpha have something to see themselves in, I love how Tara, a darkskin Black lesbian girl is happy in her relationship. I'm happy Isaac makes my fellow aspecs happy. I'm happy Charlie tore Ben's singlet in series 2 and for once the victim/survivor is allowed to not forgive their assaulter. I like Heartstopper's little moments but I've felt like something was missing overall and now we're on the third season, I think I know what it is now. There's comments on BL and yaoi by Alice Oseman I don't fully agree with, some of the acting in the show could be a bit better I guess, most of the characters are comfortably in the British middle class and I am a grown adult now so my interest in school/teen dramas has dipped a little bit (but not you Waterloo Road ily <3). So to an extent, there were always gonna be limits on how much I enjoy this show, but nevertheless, I still think they're worth pointing out, especially if we're claiming Heartstopper for the next gen of queer rep. Because honestly having watched shows like Heartbreak High and Koisenu Futari plus being a massive Selah and the Spades fan, I feel a bit robbed in terms of quality.

Isaac still feels underdeveloped and for a show that's been going on for 3 series now this feels disappointing. Like obviously Nick and Charlie get all the screentime as they're the main characters. Tao and Elle got a lot more juicer storylines from s2, Tara and Darcy got more to work with this series even if it was rushed (oh I miss you long series 2010s shows), but Isaac still feels leaps behind everyone else. He didn't really get anything in series 1. In series 2 we saw him coming to terms with his identity which felt like a good starting point but I was still waiting for the 'big asexual plans' Alice Oseman promised and... nothing. I liked his comment about googling aromanticism to Charlie because the representation by PowerPoint style of aspec writing can get tired. I also liked his moment of feeling left out by his friends plus still wanting to know Nick and Charlie's tea, giving him sexual agency whilst aroace instead of feeding into infantilisation. But apart from that... nothing. I wanted to feel more moved by the aquarium scene, but it felt tacked on because whilst Isaac's upset was justified, Imogen just wanted to chat about gay fish, so Isaac came across as a little passive-aggressive instead of what was supposed to be his moment. Plus it feels a little backhanded how much effort series 1 went to in how big coming to terms with your identity is, plus the gorgeous way Isaac's aroace revelation was filmed in series 2 was filmed just to have him blurt it out in an aquarium and have barely any of his friends actually support him like he supported them. But life imitates art I guess. This whole season we've seen characters talking about university plans, gap years and going through the post-16 struggle. But what about Isaac? We never find out what uni he wants to go to or even if he wants to go. What subjects does he like? What job does he want post-school? What's his relationship like with his family? The people need to know! I always found it weird how Isaac was left out to the point where straight characters, whilst still bearing in mind that Tao x Elle is an interracial pairing between two POC and one of which is a trans girl and this is very rare and deserved representation too, had gotten more screentime than him. Imogen, Sahar, Mr Ajayi and Mr Farouk had all been introduced for bigger storylines but Isaac, despite being in the main group, still had to wait for his share. This series was such a huge moment for everyone but Isaac... again. And whilst I'm happy if everyone else is, I genuinely feel like we all deserve better.

Tori was given bigger moments this series and that was great because I was waiting for my introverted slurping sister to come through. Her concern and care for Charlie and jealousy of Nick were great plus with the introduction of Michael, it was all leading to the big reveal of Tori being ace, right? Right? Wrong, because this scene was cut from the ferris wheel moment and I have no idea why. Oseman confirmed it was because Tori's storyline will continue in s4 and she didn't want to rush it but like, what? Series 3, at least in my eyes, did an alright job at building up her coming out. And again, if Nick could get his bi awakening in a one series arc, why can't this asexual character then too? They also covered Darcy's non-binary transition and coming out in this series too so I don't know why there wasn't room for Tori apparently. There was plenty of room for an 'I'm asexual' within those 5 minutes. Waiting to develop her in series 4, which is yet to be confirmed and likely to be the show's last series so it will already have a lot to do with wrapping up the Nick x Charlie saga seems like a poor decision. This is the second time we've had to wait till next season for the aspec character's arc by the way.

I'd like to see some aroallo POVs on this but this season put a lot of emphasis on linking love and sex together and it felt a bit strange icl. Yes, they're linked socially/societally and it's great to have sex with someone you love and love someone you have sex with etc etc etc but the first 2 series made a point of separating the two by showing love without sex and how it was just as meaningful. Almost every time a character was sexually attracted to another e.g. calling them hot or started making out because they wanted to have sex in that given moment there would be a dialogue from one of them going 'it's okay we're in love 'it's normal you're in love' 'well that's what people in love do!' and these are all correct statements but like... we get it! You don't have to be head over heels in love to find someone sexually attractive or just want to have sex with them. It's okay if you're not in love too y'know? I'm not sure what that constant reassurance was for because depicting sex without love isn't as pearl clutchy as it seems when all parties are safe, consenting and comfortable, or, if you've ever had any knowledge about aro(allo) spaces tbf. Nick and Charlie are not aspec and are very much sexually attracted to each other so the conclusion of them having sex isn't surprising at all, especially when I already knew from tweets back in series 1 that Heartstopper the comic already had a storyline later on of the two having sex for the first time. Plus the other characters aren't aspec either so their sexual debuts are also unsurprising and deserved. Plus, I'm actually glad they included Tara and Darcy having sex because many 'sex positive' shows seem to leave out the lesbians. But for a show with an aroace creator and aspec characters, the depictions of romance and sex don't feel like they were written from an aspec lense or for an aspec audience. It's normal for people to be romantically and sexually attracted to each other and then date and have sex. But if you're aspec, you know this. We all know this. This is the mainstream and default depiction of human (hetero)sexuality. We're watching the queer shows to see something different from that. When romance without sex can only hinge on the characters being below the age of consent plus a supposed 'innocence' due to their young age and sex without love is non existent, plus when you factor in how there are no aroallo or alloace characters in the show with 'groundbreaking' aspec representation, it makes for a bit of a headscratcher. Heartstopper may be made by an aspec, has aspec characters and aspec fans, I don't consider it an aspec show. Bit sad, but it is what it is.

It's honestly strange how despite this fact, asexuality and aromanticism is barely mentioned in the main discourse about this show. Antis claim Oseman is a cishet woman despite being non-binary and aroace. They blame the sexlessness of the show on puritanism despite Oseman being aroace. There's constant arguments about how 'unrealistic' it is for teenagers to not have sex despite Isaac being a whole teenage aroace and how some people just didn't have sex in their teens... like aspecs. People are annoyed the show keeps giving Isaac aromantic and asexual storylines because it's 'not as important' and they 'don't care' as if he's not a main cast member and again, the creator is aroace! If you look at the promo pictures of the show, it has the main three pairings, Nick and Charlie, Tao and Elle and Tara and Darcy and no Isaac. Despite the fact it's supposed to be 'for' us and made by one of us, it's not. And a lot of non aspec queer fans watching the show don't see it for us despite being made by one of us either. And that's a real shame.

I'm fully aware Oseman knows about writing aroace characters from the book Loveless, which has an aroace MC. But I think Netflix choosing to adapt Heartstopper over Loveless was intentional. I think Netflix creating Isaac instead of Aled, a demi gay non-binary character from the og comic, was intentional. I think all the decisions Netlix made with Isaac and Tori are intentional, the same way bringing Yasmin Benoit to the Sex Education writers room to cut half of O's storylines was intentional. Netflix has fumbled the bag with asexual and aromantic representation several times now (Cash Piggot and Todd notwithstanding) so at this point, I'm not surprised anymore. Again, I'm happy for anyone who really likes Heartstopper, but I've finally accepted that it's not for me. And that's okay. When someone makes the predominantly aspec, slightly more grown, queer show with fully fleshed out arcs for its's asexual and/or aromantic characters or hits up Lovie Simone for the scrapped Selah and the Spades TV show, I know where I'll be.

We deserved our moments too. We deserve our Heartstopper.

[the-hole-in-terzos-shoe]

The Papa You Belong To

Papa Emeritus III (Terzo) x Assistant Reader (mostly GN but with feminine Italian pet names)

Warnings: a little cussing, a little spiciness at the end, but I think that's it 🥰

Word Count: 2.0k

This was inspired by the monthly challenge prompt we have going in the discord, and since I have Terzo brainrot lately, here ya go, ghesties!!!! The prompt:

"It definitely wasn't love at first sight, but you were starting to see them in a new light..."

(Sorry I don't remember where I got the photo EEEEE!!!! Please feel free to credit the original poster if you know where it comes from!)

"That 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘥!!!" you shout, shoving your face in your hands in frustration.

"Hey! How could you talk about Papa like that?!" your friend scolds you.

"Because it's what he is, damnit! He's infuriating! Selfish, conceited, cocky! You try being around him all day and see how you feel at the end of it," you huff.

"You're being ridiculous. You should be grateful to have such a position! Being Papa's assistant? Do you know how many people at this Abbey would kill to be in your shoes?"

"Just because it's a good position doesn't mean I can't be frustrated over it," you remind your friend. And you really can't believe the way they're acting over this right now. Why can't they just take your side on this? It's not like they'll get brownie points for standing up for that idiot; he's not even here right now! Plus, don't they realize there's a reason the last assistant left?!

𝘚𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥.... 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘫𝘰𝘣? 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘐'𝘮 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭?

You sit at your desk, still stewing over what had turned into an argument between you and your best friend the night before.

• • •

"I'm out for lunch," Terzo calls out, walking past you but stopping before closing the door behind him. He pops his head back in and asks, "Shall I bring something back for you, cara?"

"No, I'm okay. Thank you," you respond, voice sounding about as small as you feel.

The moment the door clicks closed, your resolve breaks, sobbing out all your feelings from the night before. The frustration over this job, over 𝘩𝘪𝘮, and now feeling like no one is on your side.

𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘐𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳'𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘶-

Hearing the door handle jiggle, you sit up, sniffling and attempting to wipe the tears from your cheeks... but to no avail.

"Mi scusi, I forgot my-" Terzo pauses upon seeing your red and puffy face. Quietly whispering your name, he asks, "Why do you cry, tesoro? Are you hurt?" He comes right over, taking your hand and kneeling next to you.

"Just my feelings," you scoff, rolling your eyes. "Don't worry about me, Papa, it's nothing," you try to dismiss his concern.

"Nonsense, Sorella, you can tell me anything. I can't have my assistant in a bad mood, sì? Nothing will get done; it will be a total mess," he offers you a small smile.

You give in, chuckling a bit at his flattery. "It- it's just my friend, Papa. I went to them about something that was bothering me, and they didn't take my side. They played the devil's advocate, if you will, and they told me I was being ungrateful... It just bothered me. We've never butted heads like that before."

"Hmm, I see," he says softly, squeezing your hand. "I face this with i miei fratelli all the time..."

𝘖𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮.

"They always think their problems are bigger than mine, so they act the way your friend has. Perhaps your friend has something hidden beneath the surface they haven't revealed, hm, bella mia?"

You couldn't believe your ears. Terzo and your friend take each other's side really well for only having met in the confessional. Squeezing your eyes shut, you fight back more tears, feeling defeated.

"Oh, no, no, no, I've said the wrong thing... Please don't cry, dolce ragazza. What can Papa do to help?" He scrambles to get you a tissue, moving to sit on the edge of your desk in the process.

"It's okay, Papa," you take the tissue from him, wiping your cheeks, "Maybe I'm being unreasonable..."

"Not at all, my child. Let us try again, okie dokie?" He gently lifts your chin with his fingers, "Tell me what is bothering you, what you went to your friend about."

You avert your eyes, pursing your lips, "I'm not sure you want to hear about that..."

"I'm sure I've heard much worse," he chucks.

You toss the idea around in your mind... Perhaps you could just talk to him directly about his behavior. He's a grown man and maybe it would do him some good to hear your criticism. Or worst case scenario, you'll get fired, which is fine because you were already going to quit.

Drawing in a deep breath, you look up at him as calmly as possible, "It was, well... It was about you."

A rare occurrence, Terzo falls silent, his eyebrows quirking up awkwardly as if that was the last thing he expected you to say.

"I know it's my job to be your assistant, and I know that you're Papa, the most important person in our church... But you act so arrogant; you can be condescending sometimes. It's very hard for me to support someone who isn't being a great leader to others," you pause, searching his eyes, when you decide to continue, whether to save face or because you need to say it, you aren't sure, "I've seen how kind you can be, in the way you check on me or ask me if I want anything for lunch, but that should be extended to everyone in your flock, Papa, not just those close to you."

There's a long pause while Terzo mulls over your words. It's difficult not to fill the silence with more explanations, but you remain quiet, having taken his gloved hand at some point and gently rubbing his knuckles.

"You are right to be upset, cara mia... I have been an insufferable asshole since becoming Papa. You deserve better from me, as well as the congregation. You've seen right through my act, making myself out to be harsh like il mio fratello... or at least in an attempt to follow in his footsteps," the last part comes out quietly as he hangs his head, clearly feeling shame over the way he's acted. "Ovviamente, I have a very valuable asset in you, tesoro; not many people can find it within themselves to be so forthright with their Papa."

You stand up in front of him, tears threatening you again over seeing him so vulnerable. Mere inches from his face, you assert in a hushed tone, "You don't have to be like your brother to be a good Papa." Surprising even yourself, you lean forward, tucking your arms under his in a hug.

Gently, he wraps his arms around you, pressing your bodies firmly against one another. When his soft lips leave a quick peck on your cheek, your whole face flushes, and you feel an urgent need to change the subject. "I'm really sorry I made you late to your lunch, Papa," you offer, straightening up and smoothing down your blouse.

He laughs, having forgotten about it entirely, "Is okay, amore, we order takeout, sì?" Heading over to his desk in the next room, he picks up the desk phone, hooking it on his shoulder.

"You mean I'm not fired?" you ask, leaning against the doorframe to his office.

"Of course not, cara mia," he mutters with a smirk before firing off several entrees to the person on the other end of the line.

• • •

In the following weeks, Terzo became insufferable for an entirely new set of reasons, such as the way a stray lock of hair falls on his forehead when he's working, the tone of his arms when he rolls up the sleeves on his expensive button down shirt, the dusting of chest hair when he leaves the top few buttons undone...

He'd had a complete attitude shift, and it had really lifted everyone's morale around the Abbey. Work was getting done earlier in the day, which meant more free time for all the Siblings; everything was sparkling clean and people were kinder to one another. It was as if springtime had come to the ministry, even without a shifting of seasons.

"You know, cara, I never properly said grazie for setting me on the straight and narrow," Terzo says, not looking up from the work on his desk.

Today, you're on the leather loveseat by the window in his office, sorting through things that need to pass over his desk. Perking up at the sound of his voice, you smile at him as he tosses a glance at you over his shoulder, that natural scowl making his eyes really pop.

Reaching into a desk drawer and shuffling around some papers, he pulls out a small velvet bag, before shutting the drawer and pushing the chair from under his desk. Slowly, he stands, waltzing over to sit next to you.

He looks so handsome like this with his shirt untucked, hair lazily swept back, a softer demeanor than he carried before; this more at-ease look suits him well.

"Amore?" he gets your attention, the nickname bringing a bit of a blush to your cheeks. Smiling softly, he offers you the purple drawstring bag.

"Papa... I can't take this. I was just angry and being a bitch..." you mumble. Although Terzo had done a complete 180 these last few weeks, you still felt bad for what you'd said to him, the way you had complained about him.

"Little bird, it was not easy for you to say what you said to me. It was not easy for me to hear it. But you were right, and you've made me a better Papa for my congregation." He pauses, fiddling with the small pouch, "And I hope... I hope to be seen as a better man in your eyes. So take this, please."

Upon his second try, you take the velvet pouch, face softening at his words. Pulling the drawstring open, you're met with a medium sized leather jewelry box, and inside a necklace he had made just for you. The charm was made to match the embroidered Grucifix that adorns the suit coat he wears on stage, with a beautiful little faceted amethyst in the center. "Terzo..." you breath out.

The use of his name makes a smile tug at his lips, and he leans forward to cup your cheek with one hand as the other tucks some hair behind your ear, "So everyone will know which Papa you belong to."

You look up meeting his eyes, "Thank you, Papa," you whisper. In another beat, you've placed the necklace in his hands, turning your back to him and scooping your hair up so he can clasp the necklace on you.

"There," he mumbles, kicking his foot up onto the couch and sliding you back between his legs.

The feeling of his chest against your back and his hands on your waist has your heart speeding up; you'd never been close to him like this before. When you feel his warm breath next to your ear, whispering words of how beautiful you look in the necklace, your head is spinning.

Carefully, as if you'd scare him away, you place your hands on his thighs that encircle you, squeezing lightly.

Wrapping his arms fully around you, he places a delicate kiss to your neck, just below your ear. When you let out a sigh, that's his sign to continue.

Your eyes flutter closed as his lips explore your sensitive skin, until you can't take it anymore. Suddenly, you turn your head, catching his lips against yours.

His hands roam your body, heat quickly rising between the two of you. As his fingers lace with yours atop his thigh, he slides your hand back, creeping slowly up his thigh to land on the stiff bulge in his trousers. "Look what you do to me, amore," he nips at your ear, earning a wanton moan from you.

"Papa..." your voice quivers, "Show me who I belong to."

[bambirex]

Tell It With Your Heart

Pairing: Geraskier

Characters: Jaskier/Dandelion, Geralt of Rivia

Additional tags: fluff, tooth-rotting fluff, acts of kindness, soft Geralt of Rivia, soft Jaskier/Dandelion, getting together, domestic fluff, friends to lovers

Word count: 2,504

Chapters: 1/1

Summary: While Jaskier always says what's on his mind, Geralt works a little differently. That doesn't mean he cannot tell Jaskier how he feels - he just does that without words.

Author's notes: for @wren-of-the-woods!! Wren, dear, we've talked so much about the different love languages the Witcher characters would have, and we both agreed Geralt's would be acts of service, so I had to gift this to you! I hope you'll like it, thank you so much for brainstorming with me ❤️

It's really nice finally being back with some fluff! There's a scene that might be familiar to some as it's directly taken from the Spirit cartoon hehe

Read on Ao3

**

Geralt wasn't a man of many words, Jaskier was well aware of that. For the first few months that they've spent traveling together, Jaskier was mostly met with grunts and an awful lot of "hm"s, and if Geralt has graced him with a sentence consisting of more than three words, Jaskier was practically over the moon.

It wasn't because he was dumb as many people believed witchers to be: Geralt was very intelligent, he was just simply very closed-off. He had many walls pulled up around his heart, protecting him from the harshness of the world. Armor on his body and on his soul, Jaskier mused about it one day.

It took a while for Jaskier to understand Geralt. The bard was very talkative, has been that way all his life: he's talked his way out of the worst situations, has seduced his lovers with his kind words, and has made himself a name with his poetry. For him, it was hard to imagine there were ways to talk without using words, until he met Geralt.

That was why he needed some time to put the pieces together after the first time Geralt has returned with two rabbits dangling over his shoulders one day.

It was a couple of months after Jaskier's joined Geralt on the path. Money was scarce, and so the food was too, and Jaskier may have complained a little about being hungry. Geralt has growled at him that if he wanted to eat, he was more than welcome to go and find food for himself. Jaskier decided it was wiser if he didn't do that on his own.

When Geralt told him to stay in one place while he disappeared into the woods, Jaskier was sure Geralt has left him behind. He cursed himself for being so stupid to whine about being hungry while he knew right well that Geralt was working his ass off trying to gather enough for the both of them. Now he really did it, he annoyed Geralt to the point that he wouldn't come back for him.

But Geralt returned, with one tiny, scrawny rabbit and a large, fat one. He did not say a single word, he just sat down on a tree trunk and started skinning them. Jaskier stood there confused, anxiously rubbing his fingers together while Geralt got to cooking the meat.

Once he was done, he handed Jaskier the much bigger rabbit. It smelled deliciously, and Jaskier noticed that Geralt cooked his rabbit so much better than his own, Jaskier's meat being pink and juicy, while Geralt's looking bony and half raw.

"We can share mine, I won't be able to eat all of this anyway," Jaskier offered. Geralt shook his head, not even looking up as he started tearing at his own food.

"You need it more than me," was all he said. Jaskier tried a couple more times, but Geralt refused his offer.

"Thank you," Jaskier said softly when they were done eating. His stomach was full, and he felt warm and comfortable. Maybe it was the post-lunch daze that made him see things that weren't there, but it seemed like Geralt looked satisfied as he watched Jaskier rest a hand on his full belly.

*

The night was cold, possibly the coldest all winter. They were refused from every single inn. Things seemed more hopeless than ever, and the night was slowly creeping up on them. Jaskier pulled his furs tighter around his body, his teeth chattering loudly as they wandered around, trying to find a place to rest.

They eventually found a tiny stable. It was an old, ragged building, not very warm and the hay was dusty and dry, but it was better than nothing.

Geralt placed both their blankets over the hay, then gestured at Jaskier to lie down on them. Jaskier raised an eyebrow in question.

"What about you?"

"Lie down, Jaskier."

Jaskier did, but his confusion remained as Geralt took his own fur off and laid it over him.

"Geralt, you're going to be cold," Jaskier protested. He tried to hand the fur back, but Geralt threw it back at him.

"Burrow in," Geralt said. He leaned down and wrapped the furs around Jaskier as tight as he could, cocooning him until he was as warm as he could be. "It's only going to get colder. I'll be okay."

"Geralt," Jaskier sighed, "please. I don't want you to freeze to death. At least... come a little closer, then?"

Jaskier could swear he saw a hint of a blush on Geralt's cheeks. The witcher hesitated for a moment before he lay next to Jaskier, shifting close enough that their sides touched.

It was the best sleep Jaskier has gotten in weeks. He felt safe and warm against Geralt's side, who seemed to have shifted even closer to him during the night. Jaskier didn't mind, not even a little bit.

*

"Oh, this is really pretty," Jaskier sighed dreamily, "very lovely."

"It would look marvelous on you," the vendor mused as he held up the necklace for Jaskier. The thin golden chain glimmered in the candlelight. The medallion, forming a tiny bird, dangled off the vendor's hand.

"That's so kind of you to say, but it's a bit expensive," Jaskier sighed. He fell in love with that necklace the second he's laid his eyes on it, but they weren't here to buy jewelry with the small amount of coins they had. Geralt was browsing the shelves for the necessary supplies they needed for the path. He had his back to Jaskier, but Jaskier was sure he was rolling his eyes over Jaskier's ridiculous love for pretty jewelry.

Jaskier tried not to show his disappointment when they left the shop. He stared down at his boots and bit his lip, imagining how that necklace would have looked on him.

They barely even made a few meters when Geralt abruptly turned around.

"I forgot something," he said, all but storming back in the shop.

He was back soon, holding a tiny bag in his hand. Jaskier eyed it curiously.

"What is it? Something for Roach?"

Geralt cleared his throat a little awkwardly before he squeezed out a "no". Then, he gave the bag to Jaskier.

"It's mine?"

"It's yours."

"Well, that should be interesting," Jaskier chuckled softly as he peeled the bag open. He let out a loud gasp when he saw what was inside.

"Geralt..." Jaskier whispered, his throat constricting around the words. "You shouldn't have..."

"I know you liked it," Geralt replied. He didn't look at Jaskier, instead stared at a small rock on the ground. He kicked it, watching it roll away as if it was the most interesting thing he has ever seen. "So, there."

Jaskier suddenly didn't know what to do with himself. He wanted to run back to the shop and give it back, he wanted to berate Geralt for spending so much on something so useless, but he also wanted to sob and throw himself into Geralt's arms.

He did the latter, clutching Geralt so hard that the witcher let out a surprised huff. Jaskier buried his face in Geralt's neck, his eyes welling up with tears.

"I don't know why you're being so kind to me," Jaskier whispered, "you shouldn't have to do all this for me."

"I should," Geralt said. He brought up a hand and placed it onto Jaskier's back, a slightly awkward but very endearing attempt at a hug. "You're welcome."

*

Jaskier sat in the grass, scribbling in his notebook while Geralt sat next to him, working on his bestiary. It was a nice and comfortable way to spend time together: just being close to each other, both working on their own thing while not having to be alone. As years have passed, Jaskier has learned to appreciate these moments. He used to think of them as boring, awkward silence, but now he understood just how precious it was to be together like this.

He glanced over at Geralt. The witcher was deeply lost in his thoughts, a furrow between his brows, his face half-covered by his hair. Jaskier felt his heart flutter just looking at him.

Geralt must have sensed he was staring, because he looked up, shooting Jaskier a questioning look. Jaskier quickly looked away, redirecting his eyes upwards to the tree above them and pretending like he hasn't been staring at Geralt for the past few minutes- and the past decade, really.

He spotted a beautifully ripe apple on one of the branches above him. It was harsh red and perfectly round. Jaskier could imagine the taste of it on his tongue.

"When I was young," he started, speaking more to himself than Geralt, "I would always pick at fruits while I was working on a song. I would lie belly down on the grass, scribbling with one hand and stuffing my face with the other."

"Did it help you create better?"

"I don't know. It was a nice habit. And at least I didn't forget to eat while I was writing. I tend to do that."

"I know," there was an almost soft tone to Geralt's voice. It made Jaskier smile.

Jaskier peered up at the apple again. It sat on a high branch, and there was no way Jaskier would have reached it, even if he jumped for it. He decided he'd rather just wait until a fruit fell on the ground.

He picked up his notebook again. He didn't manage to write the next sentence down, because from the corner of his eye, he saw a quick movement that made him look up.

Jaskier's jaw dropped when he saw Geralt jumping up so high, it looked like he was practically flying. Taking good advantage of his advanced strength and reflexes, Geralt grabbed the apple from the branch before he landed again on the ground with a soft thud.

He opened his palm and showed the apple to Jaskier, making him snort.

"Way to humiliate me, Geralt," Jaskier rolled his eyes, "I'm sorry I can't fly. I didn't even know witchers could do that. Eh. Show-off."

"No," Geralt reached out again. "I got it for you."

"For me?" Jaskier whispered in awe. He stared at the apple in Geralt's hand, then up at Geralt. He blinked at him in surprise. Geralt hummed.

"Do you not want it?"

"I do," Jaskier replied. The muscles in his face ached as his lips curled into a wide smile. His heart swelled so big in his chest, he was worried it would burst. "But only if I can share it with you."

"Alright," Geralt concluded. His own lips twitched into a smile as he reached into his satchel, looking for a dagger.

Their knees touched as they sat, passing apple slices between each other. Once again, Jaskier found it hard to look at anywhere but Geralt's face, that lovely face that looked so content now, Jaskier wished he could kiss it.

*

The years have officially caught up to Jaskier. He wasn't old, not by any means, but he wasn't exactly young either. He started to tire out easier, his legs aching after having to walk so long. His joints often creaked and popped when he stood up, and to his absolute horror, he even noticed a gray hair at his temple.

"I don't mean to complain... well, I kind of do. I know it must be hard being a witcher but at least your lower back doesn't try to kill you if you sit a little weird for a few minutes!"

Jaskier groaned as he sunk into the water. The warmth felt heavenly for his tired bones, his cramping muscles easing up slowly as he leaned back in the tub. He rested his head against the edge, letting out a big sigh.

"And I'm only thirty-five!"

"You're thirty-eight, Jaskier."

"It's awfully rude to bring up a lady's age, Geralt!"

"You brought it up first. And you're not a lady."

"No, I'm an old man," Jaskier whined pathetically, closing his eyes. "I'm withering away."

His eyes snapped open again when he felt a touch against his shoulder. He twisted around to see Geralt standing behind the tub.

"Relax," Geralt told him. Before Jaskier could ask what he meant, Geralt pressed his thumb into a sore spot gently, making Jaskier keen in his throat.

"Heavens," he sighed, "this is incredible."

Geralt hummed, a pleased little sound. He ground the heel of his hand into the knots in the back of Jaskier's neck, drawing content little noises out of him.

Jaskier couldn't help but grin when he smelled the chamomile oil. He wanted to make a joke about the tables turning, but he could only manage a blissful moan when Geralt massaged the oil into his skin.

"You know, you do an awful lot of things for me," Jaskier pointed out. "You take care of me a lot."

"You take care of me as well."

"Yes, but it's different for you, isn't it?"

"What do you mean?"

"I've been thinking," Jaskier admitted. He let out another happy sigh as Geralt rubbed over his shoulder. "I had a lot of time to do that in the past fifteen years or so. You're not very talkative. Sometimes, when you're in the right mood, you talk a bit more. But even then, not as much as me."

Jaskier could hear the grin in Geralt's voice when he said "No one can talk as much as you."

Jaskier snorted. "Alright, maybe the comparison is a little unfair. But my point is, I've told you many times that I love you. You just never seemed to hear me. And I was wondering if it was because you didn't want to hear it, or because your way of telling me is much different."

Geralt's hands stilled. Jaskier turned back, glaring up into amber eyes.

"You're doing all of this for me, buying me things, feeding me, spoiling me, because you don't know how else to tell me."

He reached for Geralt's hand. He smiled when Geralt - even though a little tentatively - laced their fingers together.

"I'm sorry it took me so long to understand your language," Jaskier said softly, "but I get it now. I mean... I get it, right? Oh, gods, it would be very awkward if I misinterpreted this and..."

He didn't get to finish his rambling as Geralt pressed their lips together, his hand still holding Jaskier's. Jaskier felt like melting into the warm water as Geralt kissed him, a little too careful for Jaskier's taste, but so perfectly like no one else could.

"Are you happy?" Geralt asked as he pulled back. Jaskier definitely didn't just imagine the flush on his cheeks this time.

"Very," Jaskier grinned. He kissed the back of Geralt's hand, holding it against his cheek for a moment. "I love you."

Geralt leaned down to kiss him again, carding his fingers through Jaskier's damp hair. Very quietly, very gently, he said the same thing against Jaskier's lips.

[pttwice]

hi joon :) was wondering if I cld req middle!mina having a bad day and getting into big arguments with the cgs at the dorm but getting so upset that she ends up regressing further to babyspace for the first time ever, and how they would handle mina after they start to notice.

once again thank u for taking the time to write these! hope ur staying well <3

-🐯

hiya 🐯 anon!! :) oh absolutely! we all know middle!mina can be angsty & a lil bit rebellious

minari not a baby

|| middle!mina, cg!momo, cg!jihyo ||

"Mina, I need you to help me put the babies’ shoes on, please." Momo let out a long sigh as she got the diaper bag packed while Jihyo ran back to the littles' room to get their winter jackets.

Momo and Jihyo were running late to a work party and the last thing they needed right now was Mina's attitude. They had been arguing with the middle all morning. Mina claimed she needed more independence because she was in an older headspace.

Mina argued that having to sleep with the babies when she was a middle wasn't fair and that she should be able to sleep in her own room at the dorm instead.

The argument started out small over breakfast and Momo told her they'd talk about it later. Mina hesitantly agreed, but as she tried to bring it up throughout the day, she kept getting cut off or pushed to the side.

Each time Mina tried to ask her mamas about sleeping in her own room, they had to take care of the babies. It was always about the babies and never about Mina.

Mina tried bringing it up at lunch, but they just had to spill their food all over themselves. She tried bringing it up while the babies were napping, but they just had to cry and wake up in the middle of their nap. She even tried to bring it up before Momo put them in the bath, but Chaeyoung distracted Momo by trying to eat one of the rubber bath toys.

When later finally came, Mina had even more of an attitude and was even more upset about it. She was tired of not being heard and she was tired of getting interrupted by the babies.

"I'll help you but only if you say I can sleep in my own room." Mina crossed her arms, not willing to budge at the end of the couch.

Momo let out another long sigh and shook her head. She picked Chaeyoung and Tzuyu up, setting them down on the ground to put their shoes on. "We talked about it this morning, angel. You can't-"

"No!" Mina whined, getting up off the couch. "Don't call me that! I'm not a baby!"

Momo's eyes widened at the defensive stance the middle had taken. She rushed to finish putting Tzuyu's second shoe on before she sat the babies back down on the couch.

"Mina, please don't raise your voice at me." Momo tried to stay calm, but her patience was very quickly growing thin. She didn't want to keep arguing with the middle on this, but she could tell that Mina wasn't going to stop asking about it.

"I can yell if I want to because you're not being fair!"

As soon as Jihyo heard Mina yell again, she jogged back out of the littles' room. She set the winter jackets down on the other end of the couch and stood beside Momo, arms crossed over her chest.

"Do you want to tell me why you're yelling right now, Mina?" Jihyo's tone was stern, but she was more worried than anything right now. It was rare that Mina acted out, but it seemed like today tipped the middle overboard.

"Mommy's not being fair! She won't let me sleep in my own room, but I'm big enough to do it. I don't want to be with the babies!"

Jihyo raised an eyebrow and shook her head. "Mina, we've talked about this before. You can't sleep in your own room. The last time you slept in your own room you had nightmares for a week."

"Yeah, but that's not when I'm feeling bigger. That's only when I'm feeling like a baby!" Mina shouted again, her face starting to get red from how upset she was. All she wanted was one simple thing and her mamas wouldn't even let her do that, but they'd do whatever the babies wanted. It wasn't fair at all.

"I understand that angel, but mommy and I want to be safe. It's also easier to take care of you three if you're sleeping in the same room." Jihyo tried to keep her voice calm, but it was proving to be a challenge. She wanted to put an end to the argument and get to the party they were already extremely late for.

"NO! Don't call me that!"

Jihyo's jaw dropped as did Momo's. They had never heard Mina yell that loudly in their life and it had certainly never been directed at them before.

Mina had never been so loud before, and she wasn't sure she liked it. Instead of making her feel good by letting her frustration out, all it did was make her brain get all fuzzy. Which was not a good sign right now. She absolutely did not want to regress, because that would defeat the whole point of her being independent.

It took Jihyo a second to get her bearings, but once she did, she was a little pissed. She stormed back into the littles' room with their winter jackets and hung them back up in the closet. When she came back out, she stood right in front of the middle. "None of us are going to the work party now. While mommy, the babies, and I watch a movie, you are going to sit in your room and think about the way you just acted."

Mina's lip quivered a little out of fear and a little out of the growing frustration that had been building up all day. She huffed and stomped her foot, shaking her head. "No! I don't wanna go to my room!"

Jihyo gritted her teeth, clenching and unclenching her jaw as she rubbed her fingers into her temples. "Mina I'm going to give you one more chance to either say sorry to your mommy and I, or I'm going to put you in your room myself."

Mina huffed again and sat down on the couch, aggressively kicking the edge of it with the heel of her foot.

"Myoui Mina. Stop that right now." Momo took a few steps forward, only willing to give the middle one warning. She had never seen Mina act out like this and she didn't want to be dealing with it.

Mina stopped kicking the couch, but she angrily swung her legs back and forth. The fuzzy feeling was growing stronger by the second. She closed her eyes and took a deep shaky breath. As she exhaled, she could feel her chest start to tighten and that familiar lump form in her throat.

"Mina, are you going to apologize to me and mama, or is mama going to have to put you in timeout?" Momo's voice was a little gentler but still firm.

Usually, Momo's voice was soothing to Mina's ears, but right now all she could focus on was the fuzzy feeling. It had never been like this, and she could barely understand what Momo had just said to her. Tears were starting to well up in her eyes and she was starting to panic a little.

Mentally, Mina had never felt so small. She didn't know what to do. She was still so frustrated, but her brain wouldn't let her stay big. It kept making her smaller and smaller.

"Not gonna 'pologize." Mina pouted, barely able to get any words out as she forced her tears back.

Both caregivers missed the slight change in Mina's speech as they both sighed and shook their heads. At least she wasn't yelling anymore.

Jihyo knelt down beside Mina and ran a hand through her hair before she looked at the middle. "Mina, mommy and I aren't trying to be mean or take the babies’ side. We just want you to be safe and we don't want you to have any scary dreams."

The more her mamas talked and tried to get her to understand anything, the worse Mina felt and the less she could understand. She just wanted her head to stop feeling so fuzzy and she wanted her mamas to understand what she wanted.

After a few more seconds, Mina started to cry. She furiously wiped at the steady stream of tears running down her cheeks, unable to do anything else but mumble out broken sentences.

"M-mama. No wanna be with babies. J-jus' wanna be myself."

As Mina hiccupped and cried, managing to choke out a few more broken sentences, both caregivers started to see that Mina was slipping and fast.

Jihyo's heart ached and guilt went straight to her gut. She felt awful that her baby had gotten so frustrated and upset that she was regressing even further.

Jihyo reached a gentle hand out and placed it on Mina's thigh, hoping it would calm her down. Unfortunately, this did the exact opposite. Mina couldn't take it anymore and her mama's soft hand tipped her over the edge.

Mina started sobbing and wrapped her arms around her mama's neck. Quickly, Jihyo slid onto the couch and pulled Mina into her lap, rocking them back and forth.

Mina's sobs were barely muffled as she tucked her face into Jihyo's shoulder, soaking her shirt. She didn't know what was happening and her mama made her feel safe, but she felt so icky at the same time.

//

Momo put the babies in front of the TV so she and Jihyo could focus on Mina. Once the middle had finally calmed down enough to where she wasn't gasping for air, Jihyo gently pulled her away from her shoulder.

"I'm sorry mommy and I got you so upset, Mina. We didn't mean to make you feel so bad."

Mina could barely understand what her mama was saying to her. Her mama's voice was soothing though and helped her small whimpers slow down. She had never felt so small before and she wasn't sure what to do so she just reached her hands out, opening and closing them to try and signal that she wanted her mommy to sit with her as well.

Momo understood and sat beside Jihyo, placing a gentle kiss to Mina's forehead. "Do you want to tell mommy what you're feeling right now?"

Mina waited for a few seconds and nodded. Once she started talking, everything made sense in her head, but out loud she was just babbling the same way Chaeyoung and Tzuyu were at the TV.

Jihyo and Momo quickly spared each other a surprised glance, finally realizing that Mina had slipped into a baby headspace. They had never seen her so small and as cute as it was, it only made them feel more guilty. They had worked their poor baby up enough that she was feeling extra tiny.

To test out the waters and make sure she was hearing what she thought she was hearing, Momo ran a gentle thumb over Mina's cheek. "Sweet pea, can you show mommy and mama how old you're feeling right now?"

Mina stopped her babbling and tilted her head in confusion. How old did she feel? She looked down at her hands, unsure how many fingers she was supposed to put up. After a few seconds, Mina knitted her eyebrows together in concentration and held up both of her hands. She was that many years old, she guessed.

Jihyo let out a small chuckle and shook her head. She kissed the crown of Mina's head and put her baby's hands down. "It looks like someone's feeling extra tiny right now, huh?"

Maybe her mama was right. Her head was feeling extra fuzzy, and she wasn't really sure what they were saying to her, but their voices sounded even more inviting than usual.

Mina let out a small huff and whined, scrunching up her face. She wished they understood what she was feeling, but it was getting so exhausting trying to make sense of everything anymore. All she wanted was to curl up in her mama's lap and sleep.

"Is it okay if mama changes you into your jammies, angel?" Jihyo gently brushed her fingers through Mina's hair.

Mina wanted to say no, but something in her was telling her to let go. Something told her that jammies would be warm, and she wouldn't have to be upset anymore.

Jihyo took Mina's silence and her small yawn as a yes. She lifted her baby up and carried her to her room. She picked out her favorite penguin and polar bear jammies, laying her down on the bed so she could put a diaper on her. It was a first for Mina to need a diaper, but if she was half as tiny as Chaeyoung and Tzuyu were right now, she would need it.

Jihyo finished securing the tapes and quickly swapped her baby's clothes, handing her Iggy, her most favorite penguin stuffy. Mina held Iggy close to her chest as Jihyo walked them back into the living room.

Jihyo sat down beside Momo on the couch and sat Mina in between them. Once Mina looked over and saw that her mommy was right beside her as well, she turned and buried her face into her mommy's side.

Momo let out a small laugh and wrapped her arm around her baby, patting her bottom gently. She looked up to Jihyo and pointed to her bottom, whispering, "Diaper?"

Jihyo nodded and pointed to Chaeyoung and Tzuyu who had been glued to the TV the entire time. "If she's even remotely as small as they are, I'd rather have her in a diaper than risk an accident."

Momo nodded in agreement and turned her attention to her baby tucked into her side. Mina's breathing was starting to go back to normal as she rubbed one of Iggy's flippers against her face. She hadn't even noticed that her mama grabbed a pacifier from her drawer, but the second she felt it against her lips, she opened her mouth, sucking gently.

Mina had never felt so little before, but it didn't feel terrible. She was still a little upset with her mamas, but she was quickly letting her body relax and her thoughts slow down. She had her mommy's arm wrapped around her, Iggy in her arms, and her mama gently patting her bottom. She could worry about being a big girl a different time.

[justafriendofxanders]

Been mulling over this, and I think I would have enjoyed watching the s5 Fred plotline swap Wes and Gunn's places. Like (and idk if this is controversial or not) but I actually found that Wesley's unrequited crush on Fred made him sympathetic and interesting, but only when those feelings were unrequited. Like it could be sweet, but you could also see that ways in which he could never really see her because of this crush. And that was interesting to me! That the more he loved her, the farther she got from him, and also that Wes seemed to have made peace with the fact that she'd never reciprocate romantic feelings for him. Y'know, your classic chaste knight trope.

If Fred HAD to die in s5 to make way for Illyria, I would have preferred the season being about Fred and Gunn dancing around starting a relationship again. It could explore how both of them have been dealing with their fallout since s4, which always had bigger issues for them to deal with than their relationship. Imagine if they were the will-they-won't-they of s5! If they were the drunk flirty couple in Life of the Party, and they made each laugh and fell back into a comfortable groove together until someone wondered aloud why they broke up in the first place, and then they remembered and everyone got awkward about it. Anyways, they'd eventually talk through their issues and be making tortured eyes at each other during meetings until Fred finally made a move on Gunn like she does with Wes, and they'd realize they loved each other just before Fred gets infected.

It would still have some of the same tragic themes of canon Fred/Wes (relationship that never got enough time), but it would give more resolution to the Fred/Gunn storyline we've been following. Also it would give Fred something more to... talk about? And reflect on? As she awaited her impending death? Like she doesn't spend enough time in a relationship with Wes to feel that loss the same way he does, but with Gunn, there's more that SHE can comment on wrt the loss of their relationship and the roles they played in each other's lives. Also if her parents have to come back later in the season ignorant of her death, maybe they're out of town and there's a part where she tries to write them a letter or something. Something that explores more of her feelings on the situation. Maybe it follows up on the avoidant feelings she feels in Fredless or the helplessness she feels in Supersymmetry. Pick your poison!

And! Instead of Fred's death being indirectly Gunn's fault, I think it'd be interesting if it was indirectly Wesley's -- like if Fred was doing something clearly dangerous and Wes tried to protest, and she'd pull the "Oh, but little ol' me? 🥺" act and Wes would fall for it hook, line, and sinker. So, like the Gunn situation, not really his FAULT but definitely something he could beat himself up over. To make it fit with the themes of s5 better, you'd probably flavor it "corruption by working under W&H" somehow. Like if, idk, part of Fred convincing Wes was both of them agreeing they needed to do questionable science things in order to do good.

Anyways, this also gives Gunn an excuse to go after Wesley in a reversal of canon. There's this comment by JAR on how Gunn holds himself to such a high standard and how he sees s5 Gunn as just being exhausted by trying so hard all the time, so he ends up taking shortcuts. I feel like having Fred's death be an emotional turning point could keep those same themes while reframing them. Like if Gunn spent the first half of the season desperately trying to hang onto the group's original values, even when it hindered them, and the frustration he'd feel at the perception that OTHER people's failures had cost Fred her life. Of course he'd get pissed! Going after Wes would be Gunn's moral "failure" in the season, the point where he abandons his values because he feels like all that hard work and self-restraint has been for nothing.

I feel like this has a better flow for Gunn and Wesley's character arcs in general and specifically while working for W&H -- W&H corrupts Wes by furthering his renegade, "If you try not to get anybody killed, you end up getting everybody killed" thing, while it exacerbates Gunn's need to be in control of a situation/himself, lest he lose another person he loves.

On the Fred front (again, working on the assumption that Fred must be Illyria'd in this season), I wish her death was partially because of actions SHE'D taken. Like if she'd gotten Gunn's arc, where she struggles to feel useful and becomes fearful of "losing" what she brings to the table, so she does something risky like trying to bring back Illyria to try and gain its knowledge. I feel like it could bring together themes of her episodes in s3 and 4 -- the struggle to feel like she belongs in Fredless, and the fight to reclaim agency/control in Supersymmetry.

Idk! I guess what I'm saying is that I would've liked seeing everyone be a slightly more active participant in their own tragedy. I think there's a way in which Fred herself becomes symbolic of AI's innocence in s5 (and her death the subsequent loss of it), rather than that "innocence" being something everyone's capable of losing or failing.

[thewertsearch]

Trolls Made Our Universe: The Analysis

Let's talk about it.

Looking back, it's pretty clear that this was always our destination. The comic's scope has been on an upward trajectory for thousands of pages, and the Ultimate Alchemy hype has been building since midway through Act 4.

Hell, even I thought the planet I theorized about was just going to be a stepping stone to something bigger. Homestuck just keeps escalating - we might not even stop here, although I can't predict what the next step would be, since we're working with multiple varieties of multiverse already.

Anyway, this reveal confirms that Sburb's grandstanding about the Players' importance isn't just hot air - they really do serve a critical purpose. Assertions that this 'purpose' is more important than saving Earth are still dubious - but now, I can at least understand the coldly utilitarian place the game is coming from.

I still don't know why it has to work this way, but now I finally know what's happening. Earth's universe was born from the blood of Alternia, and the kids were created to perpetuate the cycle again, creating a new universe from the blood of Earth.

Close! It was less of a gasp, though, and more of an under-the-breath 'what the fuck'. I don't know why a universe surprised me as much as it did - like I said, I was already half-expecting a planet!

I think the real sticking point is the difference in scale - and, as a consequence, the difference in Grist cost.

It makes a certain intuitive sense that you could convert the Denizen Grist into a planet - comparable in size, presumably, to the planetoids that the Denizens call home. But a universe is an entirely different animal, one which would dwarf the Incipisphere by dozens of orders of magnitude.

Extrapolating from the typical volume of a Grist piece, four Land-sized vaults of the stuff wouldn't be nearly enough. Even if Denizen Grist is a million times more valuable than normal, and each Denizen released a million times the Incipisphere's volume in Grist, it still wouldn't be nearly enough.

I guess the game could just hardcode the Grist cost of a universe down to a manageable value, but that would break the game's own rules, and doesn't seem in spirit with how its progression system works.

No, I think something screwy must be going on with the Denizen hoards. Maybe they're full of special Grist, each piece of which is worth 1e70 normal pieces - or maybe picking them up actually multiplies the value of your grist cache, rather than adding to it.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the hoards are this comically large. After all, their value is beyond even Vriska's imagination.

The exact mechanics here are definitely worth speculating about. Let's talk about how, exactly, this universe may have come to be. The trolls obviously can't have crafted this thing atom-by-atom, or even planet-by-planet - not unless Aradia took them into the Hyperbolic Time Chamber for a billion years of blueprinting.

A lot of Alternian culture is integrated into Earth, though, and it had to get there somehow. In keeping with what anon said, I think these ideas were sort of 'merged' into the universe when it was created.

After all, Sburb is all about merging ideas, and we've been working with idea-merging machines since day one!

The trolls alchemized their universe, even if they didn't use a traditional Alchemiter to do so. If they wanted their universe to exhibit certain traits, all they needed to do was feed it certain ingredients, merging them with whatever 'universe' object they presumably gained access to at the end of the game. I'm just going to call it the seed.

Maybe the reason humans look so much like trolls is because the trolls inserted their codes into their universe's alchemy recipe, perhaps attempting to revive the troll species without the Matriorb.

Wait, scratch that.

Maybe the reason humans look so much like trolls, and have red blood, is because one specific troll's code ended up in their recipe.

Come to think of it - since we're already doing large-scale alchemy, there's a pretty easy way for the trolls to ensure that every trait they want ends up in their new universe.

All they'd need is a fetch modus and a drawing tablet.

If you're being evicted into a new universe, you might as well make it feel like home.

Adding Alternia's code to the seed would, in one fell swoop, explain all the facets of troll culture observed on Earth. It would also, in a way, 'resurrect' the troll homeworld without truly reviving it - a bittersweet prize for our victorious Players.

As mentioned above, it would be weird if Earth was the only planet to inherit DNA from Old Man Alternia. It would make sense if each civilization exhibited different Alternian traits - like, maybe there's an exoplanet out there somewhere where lusi evolved, and another where everyone has the same necromantic powers as Aradia.

It also means the universe was probably full of space empires. If the meteors didn't get Earth, Neo-Alternia might have eventually come knocking...

I also think I was conflating the signs on the trolls' clothes with the signs of the Alternian Zodiac, without considering that those might be two entirely different sets of 'signs'. The trolls themselves never refer to Cancer or Aquarius as Zodiac signs, after all. Maybe the Extended Zodiac is a different thing entirely.

Anyway - yeah, that is interesting. The kids' universe was created by twelve Players, and now its stars bear their signature - so whose signature is embedded in the trolls' stars?

An implied 48-Player session sounds amazing. Doubly so, if Hussie's using Squiddles to imply a Horrorterror session. That's an absolutely fascinating idea, on so many levels, and I do hope we see the trolls speculating about their own creators at some point.

Of course, this 48-sign Squiddles stuff could also be a red herring. I'm getting used to how this comic works, and just so it's on record...

...this is what I suspect is actually going on.

In any case, I'm as hyped as you all are!

Hussie's hand has finally been shown, and Homestuck has been revealed as the creation myth that had been built up all along. I can't wait to see what's next.

[meatball-headache]

The Arcadion raids... are amazing. Hands down the best single tier, in terms of sheer fun factor. We'll see where the story goes, but the spectacle of the fights—the visuals, the music, the VOs, and the mechanics, take the absolute cake. Nothing can hold a candle to this.

I mean, look back at how we were introduced to some of the other raid tiers. Deltascape? Alte Roite and Catastrophe are the most boring fights in the history of the world, even on Savage. Alexander had some boppin' music, but at the time the only other raid that existed was Bahamut, and that was a tough act to follow. Pandaemonium... Eric is famously easy, tanks have soloed story mode, and the music was rather... sedate. Eden was probably the most impressive on the first tier, but still, Arcadion is just on a whole nother level.

It almost makes me want to actually do Savage! :p

Spoily pictures below the cut.

I have no pictures of her fight. I was completely enthralled by the whole thing that I was miles away from even thinking about it. My album is hilarious, I snapped a ton of screenshots of her intro and defeat, so if you tab through it just looks like she transforms, gets introduced, and instantly dies.

Once we started M2, I flipped some of my shit because that's when it became clear—each fight gets its own unique music! So, some of the dungeon music, I wasn't blown away by, and the trials, especially, I wasn't impressed by. It's too bad, because usually trial music is one of my favorite parts. But, clearly Soken was cooking for the raids, because first of all, the very idea that each fight gets unique music is extremely unusual. That's something we only sometimes see in the final tier, and even then, the songs are often remixes of previous music. Alphascape might've done it, I can't remember Chaos's music, but, Midgardsormr's music is a song we've heard before, so it doesn't count. You have the single examples like A11 and P11, but A9 and A10 use the typical music from the old tiers, and P9 and P10 have the same song. So, the rules aren't set in stone—until now. If Cruiserweight comes out and two fights have the same music, that's unacceptable. We've tasted glory, now we demand perfection! And, it's only fair, as this is the content that's going to get farmed to death; having the same music for all of them, or even just two of them, can get old.

This guy's the weakest of the four fights. I mean, he's not a cute girl at all! We like cute girls, old men, and for some reason Bakool Ja Ja. But, he still gets his own music and unique mechanics. He punches the refbot, so we have to get revenge for the sake of the inanimate object. It's a good fight, objectively, but there's always going to be a "worst."

Now this is a spectacle! I didn't mention in the first one—as usual, I started out trying to be concise, but turns out, I'm still me—but I adore the first fight because of how it plays with the arena, and the voiceovers. "My riiiiiing! ......ahem. Please stand by while we repair the ring." I love that, every time. And, Eutrope breaks the arena, too, which is exciting. Also—I mean, just look at her. This is where I go "I'm not a furry, but..." She's an absolute badass with a cannon bigger than cities and it shoots both ways, because she's hardy. The color and lighting and feeling of size of the background is just magnificent. Compare this to last season, when we ended tier 1 with discount Castlevania? There's just no comparison.

This game has come so far, and it's only ever picked up speed.

[mrs-monaghan]

Sis.. now you know I’m going to need your very elaborate thoughts on Jungkook concept photos 👀🫨🫢😳😱🤯🫠💃🏻🕳️⚰️

Look, if you need me to do something you can't be sending me gifs of Jimin raising his eyebrows at me. It's distracting as hell.

Okay so first things first: the word coincidence needs to be BANNED from Jikookers' mouths. Like completely deleted. Obliterated 1300% It needs to not exist anymore. No seriously, how long are we gonna keep using the word 'coincidence' and Jikook in one sentence before we all collectively decide to agree they do this shit on purpose?

"You are me I am you" can only go so far. That's for them having the same moles in the same places, them being born in Busan. Things like that, that are out of their control. Not things like this!

We know, like even if you're an anti you know JK has studied FACE. @jigokuhana and I were just talking about this, JK has everything about FACE memorised. He is prolly a bigger fan than all of us combined. And don't forget he saw everything before we did. So he knows what he's doing. Knows that we will catch similarities btwn FACE and SEVEN. Armys have noticed many things that Jikook (n members) tried to hide from us and I know over the years they have to have seen us noticing some of these things. So how will we fail to notice something that's right infront of our faces? And he knows this. Of course he knew we would notice.

So first we've all seen these floating about

Those alone are already like, crazy 😏 But then let's talk about the thorns/spikes/shards.

I mean, what are the chances??? 😳

When u support Jikook, u discover that they are actually really sappy/corny motherfuckers so you inevitably start to get corny yourself sometimes too. This is what my friends (one of them being @lovelysmyleyes) had to say about this. I'll just copy paste them, coz I absolutely agree.

The spikes being directly on Jimin's body feel like it was a more direct hit. JK wearing the spikes on the jacket is more of a defensive maybe? Like a by-product. Almost like He was acting as a shield.

The 'shots' weren't directed at him so even if they hit him they would not have pierced the skin. Whereas it was directed at JM and meant to go deep.

It is understandable, The first thing you want to do is protect your partner the best you can.

Or it can represent keeping others away from them. Roses have thorns on them to keep people/living life forms away, after all.

They got kinda deep y'all. Which brings me to the part that blew my mind;

Mud from LC

Mud on JK's trouser;

The pants. I think he is hinting that he helped pull Jimin out of the mud...or at least he was down in the mud with him when he was at his lowest. He was there supporting. Someone catch me cuz I am once again falling into that delulu train headfirst 😭😭😭

He he hee... thats so fucking deep y'all. But seeing as there's no other explanation for why JK would have "dirty" trousers (yet) i'mma go with this assumption for now. #feels 🥺🥺🥺

Like, its not even that far fetched though. When Jimin was going through what he went through JK saw it all first hand. Isn't that why we assumed he kept skipping LC in the beginning? Coz it reminded him of that time and it prolly wasn't pretty. He didn't like to remember Jimin in that bad place.

I for one believe JK was there for Jimin every step of the way. Jimin said members were there for him, I'm sure his family was too and most importantly, so was JK.

Thats why he wrote letter. He said it was his turn to be grateful. His turn to give back.

I know it's obvious

So that it's not taken lightly

Let me tell you this properly

Baby, don't leave, just stay with me, yeah

To you who saw me greater than my little self

So that I can only deliver as much as I received

I can't y'all... help 😭😭😭

.

.

.

Okay but this tweet tickled me 🤭🤭

I know some Jikookers work very hard in trying not to be delulu (not me. I jump in head first, always. Ha haa) and I applaud that. I do. But these are way, way too many similarities. Even the most clear headed Jikooker has got to find this sus.

[harveyguilleniconodelamoda]

Harvey on Fashion for Plus Sizes: "Let's Make It Available to All of Us!"

Harvey spoke to Charles Bright of GoldDerby last week on a webchat about What We Do In The Shadows ending, his voice acting career, and his incredible red carpet collaborations with Christian Siriano.

I want to do a full retrospective on this topic eventually, but that's somehow an even bigger undertaking than chronicling all of Guillermo's sweaters, so it may take a while. In the meantime, I've provided a write-up of the fashion portion of the chat below, along with some photos and additional fashion commentary from yours truly!

You can watch the full webchat here.

"Well you've got to remember that being a guy of size, not a lot of people or designers were willing to dress me," Harvey begins, in response to a question about his favorite red carpet look from the past two years. "And it's upsetting. It reminds me of Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman going 'I've got money to spend in here!'"

Harvey has spoken before about how prior to 2022, he dressed himself for red carpet events, and sometimes even had to provide his own costumes on set when the costume department didn't have anything that fit him. This is a problem many plus sized entertainers have encountered over the years, even as conversations about body positivity and fat acceptance have become more prominent in public discourse.

Siriano deserves a lot of credit for his track record of breaking barriers in fashion, for getting on board with Harvey's vision, and for bringing some incredible, iconic, history-making looks to life. But Harvey had been slaying on red carpets for years before their collaboration began, often in looks he put together himself without the aid of a designer or stylist. His love of fashion is not new, and his sense of style has always been on point!

Hollywood has been extremely reluctant to be inclusive in this way, with the media often reacting to even one or two high profile plus sized celebrities with concern trolling about whether they're "glorifying obesity" just by existing as successful and talented people in larger bodies in the public eye. But just as with so many other aspects of his career, Harvey has simply carved out doors for himself when none were opening.

"People don't take a risk because they're afraid, right?" Harvey explains. "But you could be the first! I've been fortunate. Talking to Christian Siriano, I was getting ready for the Academy Awards and I had this vision of like...'I really want to do something different, and I know that you don't really dress guys. I want to find a happy medium where it's masculine, and a little feminine, but it's me,' and it just wasn't something that they usually do."

"But we collaborated and we had this idea of like, what if it was the 1920s, but I'm going in a style that's retro, so it's the Gilded Age. So my hair is 1922 but I'm giving a nod to the Gilded Age because that would be vintage back in 1922. And so that's how I got that idea, and then we got the whole tuxedo flare and whatnot."

The now-iconic tuxedo gown Harvey wore to the 2023 Oscars.

"Working with Christian has been great. After that I think Vogue ran it, and it got all this attention, and people were like 'woah! a plus size guy looking good in fashion' and I was like 'yeah, we are out here and there's a lot of us! And I feel like there's just not designers who are designing for us or making it available to us.'"

Harvey's red carpet look for the Oscars, as well as his look for the Vanity Fair after party, appeared on multiple best dressed lists. He was even declared the best dressed person on the Oscars red carpet by MsMojo.

"After that Christian and I became friends," Harvey says. "I hosted the GLAAD awards and he dressed me for that, and I was honored with an award in California and he dressed me for that...and so we've been collaborating on different outfits."

Harvey and Christian Siriano have now collaborated on ten different outfits for half a dozen events since the start of 2023, including most recently the 2024 Critic's Choice Awards in January (where he once again made it only best dressed lists, such as this one from TVInsider) and the Garfield movie premiere in May.

"The Met Gala last year was, I think, the cherry on top, because it was a kind of nod to Chanel with a tweed in pink. But [the gala] was also honoring Karl Lagerfeld, and to be in my body, and being a POC, and wearing pink--so still honoring but not forgetting, and also representing myself--was a nice collaboration, and I think that gown was really beautiful and I loved it."

Harvey's Met Gala ensemble was easily one of the most impressive of the night, managing to be both flawlessly on theme while also being a creative interpretation that critiqued the subject of the theme.

Harvey finishes up his thoughts on his red carpet style by saying he wants to continue working with Siriano, as well as other designers who are willing to take a chance with him.

"The payoff is, you know, like you said: people look to people in film and television to be inspired, and be like 'why can't I? I can wear that! Where can I get that?' You know? And it's like you should be able to get that. Let's make it available to all of us."

Sounds great to me, Harvey! And it's true.

On a personal note, Harvey's incredible style and confidence has definitely been an inspiration. He's spoken a few times about how he's had people tell him how watching him has given them more confidence in themselves, and I count myself among that number. I am so excited to see what the rest of 2024 holds for him, on and off the red carpet!

[calliesmemes]

SUFFS: THE MUSICAL

ASSORTED SENTENCE STARTERS pulled from the Tony award winning production SUFFS, a new Broadway musical about the decades-long Suffrage movement and the fight to secure women’s’ rights to vote amidst the turbulence of the First World War.

CHANGE gendered words and in-universe phrases as needed.

SPECIFY muse for multimuses.

CONTENT WARNINGS include misogyny and swearing.

ACT ONE

❛ Welcome, gentlemen! ❜

❛ God bless the land of freedom we hold dear. ❜

❛ We'll tidy up our politics until they are pristine. ❜

❛ Don't we deserve a little prize? ❜

❛ Don't worry, it's all right. ❜

❛ Just hold your fury in. ❜

❛ That’s the only way we can win. ❜

❛ Don't get so defensive; don't be so aggressive. ❜

❛ I don't wanna be a meek little one in games they play. ❜

❛ I wanna march in the streets. ❜

❛ Should I try to take the lead alone? ❜

❛ My ideas just dwindle and die. ❜

❛ Will I truly be able to change the world? ❜

❛ I’ll be there on the day when we finally finish the fight. ❜

❛ What's the emergency? ❜

❛ How will we do it when it's never been done? ❜

❛ How will we find the way where there isn't one? ❜

❛ That was a great speech. ❜

❛ When we take on a tyrant, we burn him down. ❜

❛ That’s not leadership; it’s cowardice. ❜

❛ I'm so sick of rhetoric with no action to back it. ❜

❛ When we show up, we show up for all of us. ❜

❛ I’ve never felt so alive before. ❜

❛ I feel a part of something bigger than me. ❜

❛ I feel my word about to change. ❜

❛ I'm a great American bitch. ❜

❛ I'd rather be right than rich. ❜

❛ I seduce whoever I please. ❜

❛ Come on, we'll do it together, get up.. ❜

❛ I must honor the promises of my campaign. ❜

❛ Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. ❜

❛ We'll be glad to educate you. ❜

❛ Will I feel like a failure no matter what choice I make? ❜

❛ If I don't give my all to my calling, I'll never be able to forgive myself. ❜

❛ If we were married, I promise to cherish you just as a gentleman should. ❜

❛ You've got to admire the ease with which men can squeeze us into such a rigid role. Daughters are taught to aspire to a system expressly designed to keep them under control. ❜

❛ Don't let her get to your head, focus on your speech instead. ❜

❛ What was I thinking enabling her? ❜

❛ What if she ruins what I’ve been mounting for years? ❜

❛ You just publicly implied I'm a disloyal disgrace. ❜

❛ If you have something to say, say it to my face. ❜

❛ Why are you fighting me? I am not the enemy. ❜

❛ I want us to meet someone. ❜

❛ You really put the rage in suffrage. ❜

❛ I’ve got a surprise; close your eyes. ❜

❛ It feels like we’re right back at the start. ❜

❛ Too bad for them, they're up against a queen with a spine of steel. ❜

❛ You are the bravest person I've ever met. ❜

❛ Don't you wanna face the villain down and demolish him? ❜

❛ They ought to be frightened of you and me. ❜

❛ Dammit! Why are you the only person I can never turn down? ❜

❛ We'll hold a rally first thing. ❜

❛ Don't you think we've waited long enough? ❜

❛ I need to plan a memorial fit for a queen. ❜

❛ I used to wish I could be in her shoes. ❜

ACT TWO

❛ We rose up in defiance, yes we chose to risk it all. ❜

❛ The old way always dies. ❜

❛ I may not be a great man, but I am a man who upholds his vows. ❜

❛ You will sit down, shut up, and eat your food. ❜

❛ Hold it together; see it through. ❜

❛ Don't let despair get the best of you. ❜

❛ What a coward you’ve become. ❜

❛ Fight your own war. ❜

❛ You promised me we would burn him down. ❜

❛ What have they done to you?! ❜

❛ Decades of defiance take their toll. ❜

❛ God, I wish I had her courage. ❜

❛ All rumors in the press are entirely false. ❜

❛ You're deep in pain, you feel insane, and no one can talk you off the ledge. But that's exactly how those crooked kings want you to feel. ❜

❛ I know I’m intense — It's just how I cope in a world that's gone crazy. ❜

❛ All I've ever wanted is to change things for the better. ❜

❛ Is it so insane to want my own choice? ❜

❛ it's time we burn him down. ❜

❛ Thank you for finally sharing a cup of tea with me. ❜

❛ Who cares who gets the credit or the blame? What matters is the work gets done. ❜

❛ I know you think I'm this arrogant kid, but I've just always known it's my calling to see this movement through. ❜

❛ I feel like a parent made to reprimand my child. ❜

❛ I'm so tired of fighting. ❜

❛ God, how I wish we could really be wed. ❜

❛ I'm proud of you. ❜

❛ Even when you drove me to my wits end, the best thing I've ever been is your friend. ❜

❛ I won’t live to see the future that I fight for. ❜

❛ Progress is possible, not guaranteed. ❜

❛ You’ll rarely agree with whoever’s in charge. ❜

❛ The future demands that we fight for it now. ❜

[sugar-coated-prat-dragon]

Title: Hunith went hungry countless times so her son could eat

Episode: The “Moment of Truth” questions

Questions by @tansyuduri

Tagging: @miyriu

Books used as references: “The Magic Begins”, “Dangerous Quests”, “The Death of Arthur”, “Lancelot and Guinevere” and the “Heroes” Guide

Question: It was normally a lord's responsability to make sure raiders did not come and take food? I know it’s a border region in Cenred's kingdom, but it doesn’t seem to have a lesser noble of the kingdom ruling over it?

It also must be far from Cenred's court. Since Cenred would have more of an interest protecting villages that actually provided him food. (Thus kept up their side of the feudalism deal?)

My answer: When Merlin first came to Camelot, he noted the table in the great hall had more food then he’d ever seen in his life and that just this one feast alone could feed his entire village for a year.

Also, according to the Camelot maps, Ealdor is very small (barely a blip on the map) and the only houses on the map in that village seem to be tiny ramshackle huts.

If you look above Ealdor in the map, you can see Jarl’s castle, which is much bigger then the whole of Ealdor and therefore their likely isn’t any nobles anywhere near them (since everything nearby seems to be unoccupied land, caves and forests).

Considering how little food Ealdor has been mentioned to produce, it’s likely Cenred doesn’t even take food from them, since less then a tables worth of food at a single banquet is hardly worth taking and likely only taxes them to farm/live there.

Book description: Merlin enjoyed just looking at the great hall with its rich wall coverings and vast hanging chandeliers, at the beautifully carved wooden tables laden with more food than he'd ever seen in his life before.

This one feast would feed Merlin's entire village for a year - but he was in too good a mood to begrudge the guests their meal.

Question: Why didn’t Uther send only a few men as Arthur suggests. ESPECIALLY since there is little likelihood of any of Cenred's soldiers being in the area to know?

My answer: Uther himself admits that Cenred had never been openly hostile towards them without good reason and was therefore shocked when the mercenaries attacked without provocation.

(THIS 👆 could also be a major reason why Uther was not willing to send aid to Ealdor, even in the form of a few knights. He was not willing to risk starting a war with a neighboring kingdom who had so far never attacked with provocation).

(Source: “Traitor Within” book)

In the “Lancelot and Guinevere” book, Morgana muses to herself about how Uther always considered the ‘bigger picture’ and acted accordingly.

In many ways, Uther sending even a few soldiers to Cenred’s kingdoms would be a bigger risk and he would consider it not worth it, especially given how the ‘bigger picture’ is that he’d be risking war in order to protect a tiny village that isn’t even on his land.

1st Book description:

'We've had reports that mercenaries are streaming into Cenred's kingdom,' he announced to the assembled councillors.

Uther frowned. Cenred had never been openly hostile towards them without good reason. It seemed strange that the situation had changed. 'Do we know why?'

2nd book description: Morgana had been angry with Uther before, but this time her rage against the king's indolence left her physically shaking.

She had long ago recognized that Uther would always make an appeal to 'the bigger picture, but the least she expected was that Arthur would plead for Gwen.

(Source: “Lancelot and Guinevere” book)

Question: So from what we see, Merlin's diet growing up would have been milk, grains, eggs, and likely some fruits and vegetables as we saw those taken earlier. Perhaps every once in a while some meat?

My answer: Merlin mentioned that men would go out to trap animals for food when times were desperate and they were facing starvation.

As Hunith grew sicker as the result of the deal with Nimueh, Merlin recalled the countless times his mother had gone hungry so that he’d never once had to miss a meal.

Book description: “Dangerous Question” book

In the little village where he'd grown up, men would go out and trap animals for food. In lean times, it was a choice between that and starvation.

But the Crown Prince of Camelot sat down to a banquet every night - he had no need to hunt. This was just sport to him, the challenge of his wits against the beast's.

Taking the life of a feeling, thinking creature for fun? Merlin couldn't see how it could ever be right. Yet he knew that Arthur was a good man. It was very confusing.

Book description in “Dangerous Questions”:

Merlin remembered how she'd always been there for him when he'd got upset, unable to come to terms with the great powers that had been bestowed upon him.

The countless times she had gone hungry so that he d never once had to miss a meal.

Question: It seems like most of the Ealdor did NOT know about Merlin's Secret?

Book description:

As Merlin's childhood friend, William of Ealdor was the only other person, apart from Hunith, who knew Merlin's secret.

Question: What is Merlin’s relationship like with the other villagers in Ealdor?

My answer: Merlin admits to knowing people back in Ealdor, who thought they could get away with anything just because they were good looking and skillful. (Funny enough he thinks about this while watching Arthur throwing knives at his servant).

Book description:

Merlin watched with a frown as the boy scurried back and forth across the yard, the young knight throwing dagger after dagger at him - hitting the target spot-on every time. He would, of course.

Merlin knew the type - even back in Ealdor there had been people like that, who thought that being good looking and skillful meant they could do whatever they liked.

All the girls fancied them too. It was funny how girls couldn't spot how much of a prat someone was if that someone had big enough muscles.