#which. i feel kind of weird about tbh despite the fact that she's perfectly cool and has never been anything but nice to me

[ante--meridiem]

If there is one thing I'm learning right now it's that math academia is a small world.

[theveryworstthing]

So over on patreon Trevor asked for my take on the Addams Family and I grew up LOVING the Addams family movies so here we are. Instead of doing a straight up style interpretation, I decided to do a full on design challenge, using the characters as bases to make a black southern gothic Addams au. I actually drew the kids first, using the character bases of Wednesday and Pugsley to create some delightful kiddos I'm calling Sunday and Blanche. I of course then redesigned Gomez and Morticia into Carlisle and Mortesha.

The Addams have a very specific high aristocratic goth aesthetic (they've got a butler and nobody really works among other things) so in this re-imagining I wanted to go with vibes that run a little more middle class/upper middle class.  I thought it would be interesting to think about what would be considered weird and off-putting in an entirely different culture, and how being a big ol' goth is way less controversial than it used to be.

I tried to keep this short (HAHAHAHAHAHA) so I didn't spin off into an essay about villain coded families, black people in the horror genre, and normalcy as it pertains to social survival, but just...bits of that are in these designs and lore. Keep that in mind.

Also I made the kids twins because they've flip flopped in age so much in different media and also twins run in my family (i'm the daughter of one). And let's face it, I'm pulling a lot of their southern gothic traits from living as a southern goth so *shrug*.

10 thousand pounds of lore incoming loooooooooool.

The Parents

From the moment he saw her he knew that there was a 50/50 chance of him either never making it out of that swamp alive or marrying the figure that was creeping out from under the distant willow tree in a black cocktail dress. The third time she found him trussed up in one of her traps, he complimented her rope work and asked if she'd like to go out sometime after his head wound stopped bleeding.

Or while it was still bleeding.

If she was into that.

Some kids and a mysteriously burnt down Piggly Wiggly later, their love is still as strong and inescapable as a bear trap in a sink hole.

Carlisle Guillermo (now Addams through marriage but I wanted to give him two first names for a name since Gomez has two last names) makes a vaguely described living practicing ‘law’ around town. A loophole king, people come to him from miles around with contracts signed in blood, fights over chunks of hair buried in their rivals’ yard, dehydrated primate hands, memories that seemed like dreams until the evidence of their happenings became too real, and other regular Legal Items asking for counsel which he is all too happy to give. For a price. Sometimes that price is a homemade pie and sometimes it’s a million dollars, depends on who you are. Whatever you’re asked to pay it’s worth that price, and if you try to scam him out of work or he just plain doesn’t like you? Well. He knows how to twist a contract better than anything at the crossroads.

And he always gets his due.

He doesn’t just serve the local (living)humans though, there are many things that need proper legal representation in this day and age. You wouldn’t believe how many city councils try to build on sacred burial grounds even after he lets them know that his ghostly clients are totally gonna haunt the FUCK out of the ensuing shitty condos and curse their families for all eternity. At least 50% of his energy goes towards dealing with real estate bullshit.

Carl is an excitable and good natured(?) man who loves his family, cigars, dancing, and his many knife-based hobbies. People find him very charming once they get past the feeling that they’re talking to a sultry gator badly disguising itself as a human. I didn’t put a ton of deep thought into designing him, mostly I wanted to make a middle aged dude who looked like he would have been voted ‘most likely to smooch the literal devil’ in high school. Tbh he probably has, but no demonic ex’s can compare to his lovely wife~

Mortesha Addams(her name was already perfect so I just tweaked it)is a woman of many talents. A self proclaimed homemaker, she prides herself on a greenhouse full of Concerning Foliage, a beautiful wasp apiary, and a coop full of what are probably chickens that she keeps for what are probably eggs. She’s also an avid creator of the outsider art that can be seen around the estate. She has taken on the family business of selling her homemade goods in a little stall by the road just outside the swamp with her mom, and makes pretty good money doing so. A surprising amount of poison gets bought in quaint southern towns.

Speaking of poison, people who come out to the edge of the swamp to buy it are usually carrying a lot of secrets around, and Mortesha knows most of them. It’s not like she pries the truth out of people, it just so happens that many nervous hellos eventually turn into the tragic backstory power hour if she’s alone with a client for long enough. She supposes that’s just how people are. Despite the fact that the Addams are very active in the community (whether the community likes it or not) she especially, as a direct descendant of the first Addams matriarch, is seen as…Well not an outsider because the community feels A Certain Way about outsiders and despite it all the Addams are their people, but maybe something like an exception. They feel like whatever weirdness they’re hiding can’t be weirder than any given Addams, so they get a little loose with their words.

This is amusing to her, since Addams’ don’t naturally keep the kind dramatic secrets that their surface level prim and proper neighbors do. It’s much more fun to openly talk about those things.

Do they have a sadly decrepit yet terrifying grandma up in the attic? Yeah, like three. They got a tv, all the creepy porcelain dolls they could want, and they’re close to family. Where do you keep your gram-grams?

Any bodies buried on the property? Yeah some, but most are thrown to the gators.

Any creeping through the balmy summer night with ill intentions? Yeah dude, everyone loves a nice family stroll.

What about dangerous forbidden love? If an adult Addams isn’t incorporeal then they’re either queer or in a torrid romance with some person/thing mysteriously drawn to that awful swamp. Sometimes both at the same time. Most times actually.

Mortesha would know.

The current head of the Addams family is just as outgoing as her husband but a lot quieter and harder to read. She never really seems to get mad about much and always has a genteel smile for everyone whether they deserve it or not. A seven foot tall human shaped “Oh, bless your heart”. A perfectly composed Lady even when she’s, oh I dunno, burning down a Piggly Wiggly. You know. A regular southern mom. Chat her up at the hair salon for 50% off a jar of wasp honey with your next purchase of a mysterious but foreboding packet of herbs.

Designing her was pretty easy because I just drew a lankier Grace Jones and called it a day. I had some problems with her outfit simply because if we were going HARD southern gothic then she’d probably be wearing a white/cream dress with a fuller skirt but I thought keeping the silhouette and the black was more important. She’s supposed to be an anti southern gothic southern gothic character anyway. A woman who looks like she has a million secrets who is actually the most open person you could meet. For better or worse. The red hair came from a coloring error that I really ended up liking (my mom had red hair her whole childhood that only darkened up in high school so I can buy that an Addams can be naturally fire engine red) and the veil was to get more of that classic Morticia silhouette in there.

The Children

Sunday and Blanche are the twin children of Carlisle and Mortesha Addams. Some say the Addams clan got their cursed homestead when a wealthy local businessman made a deal with the devil and lost, leaving his grand mansion to his least favorite maid and cutting his losses once he realized that the swamp would do everything it could to drag the house into the water and take what was owed with its horrible curse. Others say that the family has just always squatted there and no one really cares because man, fuck that particular swamp. Have you been in there? Absolute horror show.

Anyway.

Blanche is the more outgoing sibling and quite the engineer/mad scientist in the making. He started going grey at 2 weeks old but considering he was also rocking some extra fingers, toes, and a tiny tail (he takes after his dad), his parents just put it on the 'not life threatening' pile and decided not to worry about it. He's the kind of smart that teachers find utterly infuriating, less a dog eagerly learning and obeying commands and more a hyena who keeps teaching itself how to pick locks. He has a few friends in his school's robotics club (which they honestly allowed him to make so the school could contain his... creations) but mostly hangs out with his sister exploring the swamp. They find all sorts of neat things in there! wedding rings, suspiciously lumpy garbage bags, cloaked cultists who can't read private property signs, it's an adventure every day!

Blanche is all about experimentation with his creations, his look, and his tether to this mortal coil. Is lipstick a cool thing to try? Let's find out. Can he get out of a strait jacket fast enough after being pushed into the depths of the swamp by his sister? let's find out. He's not dead yet and confused local doctors can attest to the fact that he's rarely attained more than a bad bruise so he's pretty set on continuing to kiss rattlesnakes on their cute little heads and have his sister practice her knife throwing at him until that fact changes.

Blanche is very much a country goth. Cowboy boots (customized by his mom), knife, and lighter are daily accessories. He likes to wear the crusty swamp jewelry they find (the rust adds a splash of color!) and despite appearances he does try to keep himself neat. He's just got  natural Grunge Colors and a tendency to wear clothes he likes until they fall apart. Pugsley always seemed the most modernly styled to me (which might just be because little boys clothes have been the same for a long time) so I wanted Blanche to be the most purposely fashionable Addams. Everyone else is goth by nature, but he's the only one truly familiar with goth as an alternative fashion.

I got really into designing Blanche because honestly, I find Pugsley to be the most boring member of the family. And he was hard to design! I had to mess with his vibe a lot to get him looking how I wanted. I know he's supposed to evoke an " 'evil' little boy next door who's parents never reign him in", but that's just goth Dennis The Menace.  I's 2020. We can at least go queer goth Calvin.

Sunday was much easier to design. Wednesday was my favorite as a child (of course) and I really wanted to keep the spirit of her look while adding things like billowy sleeves (it gets HOT down here), big poofy twists instead of braids, and a nice tie. She's a professional after all, been running the local pet cemetery since she was 6 and the previous groundskeeper met with an unfortunate accident after telling her that tarantulas don't have souls. Her specialty is creating beautiful naturalistic animal funerals similar to those that Maquenda (https://linktr.ee/artofmaquenda) makes, and she takes pride in creating miniature dioramas of her subjects after each burial which she uses as a kind of 3D catalog for future clients.

She really wants to try out her skills on humans one day. Well. Publicly try out her skills. Lotta random bodies float into the swamp. None of them have turned down her requests for diorama models so far. Most seem downright flattered. Plus, she usually figures out which graveyard/crime scene they floated over from and gets her parents to give them a lift back. She'll even help enact terrifying revenge from beyond the grave on whoever put them there if she's not, y'know, busy.

Besides arts, crafts, and pet based funerary arrangements, Sunday is an avid lover of archery (any ranged weapon really), books where little fantasy adventure animals die dramatic deaths, and history. She is That Kid who eagerly raises her hand when asked who Christopher Columbus was and ends up being sent out of class after 15 minutes for making 'a scene'. Her favorite party trick is just picking an item in the room and talking about how it relates to either some obscure historical figure with a buck wild life or a horrible disaster. At least one charity pancake breakfast ended with children in tears after her vivid description of the Great Molasses Flood of 1919.

Social-wise, while Wednesday is the girl that people ask to smile because they think she'd, "look so pretty", Sunday is rarely asked anything at all. People just kind of assume from her quiet nature (in between horrible history facts) that she's angry all the time and that she hates everyone. This is untrue. She hates some people but she's ambivalent to most everyone else and even downright friendly if you bother to talk to her like a person instead of a terrifying cryptid. Like, she IS a terrifying cryptid but she's also a little girl.  

That’s about it for now. One day I might do the other family members but for now I’m happy with the four I’ve redesigned. Making an au! Lurch in a family that doesn’t do butlers could be interesting. Over on patreon I put forth that he could just be Motesha’s mute little brother (similar bone structure) but Amy Crook had the nice idea of quote: “ a mysterious "cousin" that "helps around the house" whose origins are both long in the past and faintly unsettling. He's good for lifting heavy things, like that tank of propane you're about to throw into the burning Piggly Wiggly... “ which i now consider canon. Who's kid is he? How old is he? Not important. Anyone willing to commit arson with you is family.

Annnnyway.  This challenge was a lot of fun! I love indulging in AU’s.

[asthmark]

❝ chemistry ❞ o.st

synopsis → osaki shotaro moving to town means trips to the dance studio, boba dates, and the perpetual teasing of lee donghyuck. 

pairing → shotaro, reader

requested? → yes! based off @onlyjihoons​​’s shipping game answer ♡

word count → 5.5k (this was supposed to be 1k.... goodbye.)

a/n → i enjoy writing texting scenes WAY too much ;; tbh this is like 50% texts im cryign but i had to convey how much i love 00 line .... and also how firmly i believe in lee donghyuck devil supremacy. as always, feedback is greatly appreciated and enjoy! 

+

if someone were to ask you how you felt about your friends, you would without any hesitation, answer that you loved them to death. of course, if you were being completely honest, you would also have to add that you experienced the urge to strangle them from time to time. that might earn you a couple odd stares but you’re sure people would be more understanding if they knew who was in your inner circle to begin with.

for starters, there was lee jeno — tall, handsome, and the textbook definition of a gentleman. then, na jaemin, who you would consider to be the yin to jeno’s yang. an extremely energetic guy and, in your book, a total freak of nature ever since you found out that he inhales four shots of espresso on the daily. liu yangyang was a more recent addition to your group but, being as quick-witted as he was, he quickly fit right in. he also had a habit of going on somewhat aggressive rants in german which renjun found to be extremely amusing. speaking of, huang renjun was another one of your close friends — the shortest of the group, actually. (and, much to renjun’s dismay, that’s exactly how donghyuck liked to introduce him to people.) he was the type of guy you could trust to keep everyone in check which consequently made you mildly terrified of him.

however, it could never compare to the perpetual fear you have of lee donghyuck. 

of course, you love him to pieces but sometimes you really wish he didn’t find so much joy in, well, making everyone miserable. you couldn’t deny it was funny to watch him tease and taunt your other friends. you still remember him purposefully messing up renjun’s game at the local arcade just when he was about to reach his high score — and also the way renjun had tackled him to the floor right then and there, resulting in the six of you being banned from the place. or, that time he offered to pay for everyone’s starbucks orders only to tell the barista that jaemin’s name was ben dover. (to no one’s surprise, yangyang had found that joke particularly hilarious.) you can also clearly recall how hard you had laughed in both of those situations.

but, donghyuck never let anyone laugh for too long.

according to him it was ’only fair’ to make sure each of his friends was at the receiving end of his gags. so, despite laughing at his latest victim’s expense, each of you knew that donghyuck would make sure you were in the same position sooner or later.

you definitely weren’t expecting it to be your turn one dull friday evening.

things are going slow for you as you sit at your desk, typing away on your laptop. school has been out for hours and your professors have decided to be saints and leave you little homework for the weekend. beside you, your phone dings, alerting you of the new text message in your group chat.

[4:23 pm] hyuck: i’m bored 🥺

[4:23 pm] you: plz never use that emoji again

[4:24 pm] nana: it’s misleading dude

[4:25 pm] yangx2: yeah like when have u ever made a face that isn’t this 😈

[4:25 pm] renjun: donghyuck is the devil = confirmed

[4:25 pm] nana: CALLED IT

[4:26 pm] hyuck: u guys are literally so evil

jeno laughed at “u guys are literally so evil”

[4:27 pm] jeno: look who’s talking lol

[4:27 pm] you: dangg u know it’s bad when lee jeno disses u

[4:28 pm] jeno: ...ngl it kinda feels like ur shading me rn

[4:28 pm] you: u would be correct :)

[4:29 pm] hyuck: um HELLO can u guys go back to paying attention to me???

[4:29 pm] renjun: what do u want, diva?

[4:29 pm] hyuck: i just wanna spend some quality time with my best friends ;(

renjun disliked “i just wanna spend some quality time with my best friends ;(”

yangx2 disliked “i just wanna spend some quality time with my best friends ;(”

you disliked “i just wanna spend some quality time with my best friends ;(”

nana disliked “i just wanna spend some quality time with my best friends ;(”

jeno disliked “i just wanna spend some quality time with my best friends ;(”

[4:30 pm] hyuck: OH COME ON

[4:30 pm] yangx2: i think what u meant to say is that u wanna make one of us very miserable today, right?

[4:30 pm] hyuck: .....no comment

nana renamed the group chat “hyuck hate club”

[4:31 pm] hyuck: ok i’m honestly feeling so attacked right now

[4:31 pm] jeno: well now u know what it’s like to be friends with u

[4:31 pm] you: so true king omg ur on a roll

[4:32 pm] hyuck: hmm okay so either jeno or y/n is gonna be today’s target, got it

[4:32 pm] hyuck: anyway can u guys come down to the dance studio now??

[4:32 pm] you: what makes u think i would go anywhere near u when i know ur plotting ur revenge on me as we speak

[4:32 pm] hyuck: because maybe i’ll have mercy on u and just terrorize jeno instead

[4:33 pm] you: good enough for me! thnx bestie, see u soon!!

[4:33 pm] jeno: HEY

nana laughed at “good enough for me! thnx bestie, see u soon!!”

[4:34 pm] yangx2: u literally cannot trust anyone in this friend group

[4:34 pm] renjun: ikr isn’t it great???

you might have been slightly out of your mind to willingly go see donghyuck knowing you had teased him in your group chat earlier. although, if there was a slight chance he would show you mercy if you did hang out with him, you were going to take it.

the studio was where you had first met donghyuck, along with the rest of your friends due to the dance classes you attended. after bumping into each in between classes and during practice, you began to get well acquainted. turns out, the six of you actually got along incredibly well and after a while, you began to share routines and tips, even choreographing together from time to time. obviously, this led to the infamous group chat being formed and lots of time spent outside the studio as well.

but, none of you had lost that love for dancing. in fact, forming your little clique had only made it grow. as you opened the front doors of the building you had made so many memories in, you wondered if donghyuck wanted your insight on a certain routine or needed some help choreographing. of course, there was also the possibility that he really was just bored and wanted you to suffer with him.

what you did not expect, however, was to see him caught up in conversation with another person. you couldn’t clearly see them with donghyuck in the way; all you knew for certain was that your best friend’s mouth was moving a mile a minute. you tentatively tiptoe into the room, hoping to not intrude on their discussion. but, at hearing the doors creak open, donghyuck puts his rant on pause to enthusiastically wave you over.

you sigh, putting your belongings down and approaching the pair. as you near, you notice that hyuck has a huge smile — no, smirk — on his face. you internally curse yourself for believing that he would ever pass up an opportunity to torment you, especially in front of a stranger.

“this is a very dear friend of mine,” you hear him introduce to his acquaintance. “her name is y/n. she dances, too.”

“oh, that’s really cool!”

the stranger’s unusually cheery tone prompts you to finally peek behind donghyuck and put a face to the voice.

and what a face he has.

“this is shotaro,” donghyuck informs you. “he’s new to town and quite the dancer. caught him in the middle of a routine.”

your knees almost wobble as you take in the stranger — shotaro’s — kind eyes that almost sparkle. (you aren’t sure if it’s because of the fluorescent lights of the studio or just part of his charm.) his lips are curved up into a friendly smile that makes you feel slightly giddy. his hair falls into his face almost perfectly, not a strand out of place and you’re uncertain as to how that’s even possible since, as donghyuck had said, he was dancing. not to mention, there’s not a bead of sweat on his face. did this guy come straight out of a disney movie or something?

“excuse her,” donghyuck chuckles. “good looking people tend to make her freeze up. don’t worry, this happened when she met me, too.”

you offer your friend a glare and an elbow to the side and you swear you hear shotaro chuckle. you turn to him instead, putting on a welcoming smile.

“my bad, i just—”

“got lost in his eyes?”

you pinch the bridge of your nose. “donghyuck, please don’t make me have to attack you in front of our guest.”

more giggles escape shotaro. (you swear it’s the prettiest thing you’ve ever heard.) you curiously tilt your head at him.

“sorry, it’s just that, you guys are too funny,” he admits with a sheepish smile.

you mirror his grin, slightly relieved he was amused instead of weirded out. “yeah, well, just wait ’til you meet the rest of us. it’s like a circus show, you’ll love it.”

“hello, clowns!”

“speak of the devil,” donghyuck murmurs, watching as yangyang and renjun enter, followed by jeno and jaemin.

“woah, who’s the cutie?” yangyang asks renjun, in what you presume he thinks is a whisper. however, yangyang has never spoken quietly a day in his life. renjun simply shrugs at his question.

having clearly heard the compliment, a faint blush creeps onto shotaro’s cheeks.

“guys, this is shotaro,” donghyuck answers, tugging the sandy blonde forward.

he gives a somewhat shy wave. “hi, y/n’s friends.”

jaemin erupts into laughter. “uh oh, looks like he likes y/n more than hyuck.”

“don’t blame him,” jeno mutters.

shotaro’s forehead creases, face suddenly twisted in worry. “oh, i’m sorry, was i not supposed to say that?”

“oh no, don’t worry,” donghyuck denies, quickly. “i’m sure y/n doesn’t mind at all, right?”

if you could crawl into a hole to avoid the embarrassment, you would. of course, donghyuck was 100% right; you really didn’t mind shotaro calling the group that if it meant you could hear him say your name over and over again. in fact, his sweet voice could probably make the dictionary sound like the most addictive song. but, donghyuck had no right putting you on the spot like that.

jeno suddenly speaks, catching on to your flustered state and donghyuck’s evil grin. “so, it’s y/n’s turn today? sweet, i’m off the hook!”

shotaro furrows his brows slightly. “huh?”

“oh, it’s just an inside joke,” jeno says, smile reaching all the way up to his eyes.

you wish you could strangle him right then and there for finding amusement at your expense but the last thing you want is for shotaro to think you’re some sort of psychopath. (although, with a friend group like this, you’re definitely beginning to think that’s where you’re headed.)

“got it,” shotaro responds, breaking out into a grin himself. “you guys seem like a really close bunch!”

“the closest,” donghyuck corrects, overly sweet, as he wraps an arm around you. (you resist the urge to shove him off.) “you’ll fit right in!”

+

you believed that the torture was over the day donghyuck introduced shotaro to your group. you would probably just see him from time to time and the studio (hopefully without hyuck around) and it would all be downhill from there, right? the latest notification on your phone alerts you that you are absolutely wrong.

hyuck has added one (1) user to the group chat

[1:05 pm] hyuck: welcome shotaro!!

[1:06 pm] unknown: oh hey guys! :]

the emoticon almost makes your heart beat right out of your chest. you roll your eyes in frustration at how easily affected you were by this guy. seriously, why did everything he do have to be so cute? regardless, you quickly add his number to your contacts.

[1:06 pm] hyuck: why don’t we do a little roll call so shotaro can save ur numbers to his phone

[1:07 pm] yangx2: YANGYANG

[1:07 pm] yangx2: HA I WAS FIRST

[1:07 pm] jeno: ...

[1:08 pm] jeno: anyway this is jeno :)

[1:08 pm] nana: jaemin present!

[1:08 pm] renjun: hi shotaro, this is renjun

[1:10 pm] shotaro: haha cool thanks a lot, i just saved all ur numbers!

[1:10 pm] shotaro: but quick question, is y/n in this group chat? :0

you almost drop your phone at reading shotaro’s message although you’re unsure why. he just typed your name, get it together, you urge yourself.

[1:11 pm] you: heyy shotaro! i’m right here :)

[1:11 pm] shotaro: oh yayy! i’m so glad ^^

hyuck disliked “oh yayy! i’m so glad ^^”

[1:12 pm] hyuck: shotaro plz return my love what does she have that i don’t T-T

[1:12 pm] nana: a heart

[1:12 pm] yangx2: a brain

[1:12 pm] jeno: a conscience

[1:12 pm] renjun: a functioning moral compass

[1:13 pm] hyuck: wtf

[1:13 pm] shotaro: ahahaha it’s like i’m watching a comedy

[1:14 pm] you: told u it’s a circus

[1:14 pm] you: i say get out while u still can

[1:14 pm] shotaro: whaatt and leave u behind? no way!

nana renamed the group chat “shotaro x y/n supremacists”

[1:15 pm] jeno: my thoughts exactly

[1:15 pm] renjun: took the words right out of my mouth

you cringe at your friends’ blunt behavior, praying shotaro didn’t find their antics to be too strange.

[1:16 pm] shotaro: 😳

[1:16 pm] nana: aww someone’s shy

[1:17 pm] renjun: he wouldn’t last a day in itzy

[1:17 pm] yangx2: HELPP

you shake your head, laughing silently to yourself as you mute the group chat and place your phone back down. although, moments later, you receive a direct message. you presume it’s one of the boys trying to rope you back into the chat but the moment you see the contact name, you’re forced to do a double take.

[1:21 pm] shotaro: i hope i’m not bothering u but i just wanted to make sure ur okay .. you kinda went quiet in the gc :>

[1:21 pm] shotaro: it’s shotaro from the dance studio btw!

you can’t help but find the fact that he seriously thought you wouldn’t remember him adorable. how could you ever forget a face like his?

[1:22 pm] you: that’s so kind! i’m okay, i promise. i’ve just had to put up with those dorks for way too long, sometimes i just ignore them haha

[1:22 pm] shotaro: lol yeah they do seem like a handful! but i look forward to getting to know them better!!

[1:23 pm] shotaro: and u too ofc~~

it takes all your willpower not to spam dozens of heart emojis in an attempt to show shotaro just how he has reduced you to a lovesick fool. instead, your response is short and sweet.

[1:23 pm] you: right back at u, taro! ♡

+

“okay, take five,” donghyuck pants, pausing the music blaring from the speakers.

you gladly obey, wiping away the light sweat you had worked up from the latest routine you and hyuck were constructing.

you both belonged to the same dance class and frequently paired together for partnered projects. the rest of your friends attended different classes, which you constantly joked was for the best since there was no way one dance instructor could possibly handle the six of you together.

“how do you feel?” donghyuck asks you, running a hand through his tousled hair.

“the choreo’s great, i’m proud of what we got so far,” you reply. “of course, i would be happier if i didn’t have to get so up close and personal with you.”

donghyuck scoffs at your joke. “i can’t do anything about that. the teacher said the whole concept of the routine is supposed to be is intimate.”

you fake a gag, failing to contain a laugh when hyuck playfully shoves you in offense.

“i’m sorry i can’t be shotaro,” he adds, a smirk forming on his lips.

you roll your eyes. “oh, very funny.”

“c’mon, you’re acting like you wouldn’t kill to have him as your partner, especially with choreo as spicy as this.”

“well, it would beat being paired with you,” you remark, picking up your water bottle and taking a swig.

“hm, then looks like today might be your lucky day,” donghyuck replies, eyes trained somewhere behind you.

you follow his gaze, nearly choking on your water as soon as you catch sight of shotaro entering the studio. he meets your eyes, plucking out his earbuds and offering you a small wave.

“oh, hey guys!” he exclaims, cheerfully.

“hey ’taro,” you greet, rather quickly, earning you a knowing glance from your partner.

“’taro?” hyuck repeats, amused, as he folds his arms over his chest. “you guys are already on cute nickname basis?”

shotaro giggles, eyes squinting adorably as he does so. “it is a pretty adorable nickname, right? she’s the only one who calls me that!”

your heart beats faster when you see how oddly excited that seems to make him. did he somehow find it endearing?

“seems like the two of you are becoming quite close, hm?” continues hyuck.

shotaro nods enthusiastically before glancing at you tentatively, as if to check for confirmation.

“yeah, you could say that.”

your agreement causes yet another smile to grace shotaro’s lips — this time he seems relieved. you briefly wonder if the kid ever stops flashing those pearly whites of his. you certainly hope so, or else your heart may never catch a break.  

“well, since you’re comfortable enough with each other,” donghyuck begins, flashing you a grin.

you’re not even sure what he’s gonna say but you already feel the need to put an end to it. after all, nothing good has ever come of donghyuck’s mischievous grins. you subtly purse your lips and narrow your eyes in an attempt to get him to stop whatever chaos he’s planning to ensue.

nevertheless, he proceeds. “maybe you could help me out with this choreography?”

you want to facepalm at donghyuck’s lame excuse of a lie. however, on the other hand, shotaro’s face lights up in delight.

“you’re working on choreo? what for?” he inquires, curiously.

“for our dance class,” hyuck explains, motioning towards you. “i have a couple ideas so i was thinking you two could maybe try out some steps i’m planning to include. you know, to help me... visualize.”

“that sounds awesome,” shotaro responds, oblivious to your friend’s untruths. “i would love to help you guys out.”

“great!” donghyuck claps his hands together. “just a heads up, the theme of the routine is intimacy, so i wanna see all that charm of yours, shotaro. it’ll, uh, help me choreograph.”

you cringe at the obvious fib. meanwhile, it’s as if a switch has gone off in shotaro’s mind. his smile fades and his eyebrows knit together. “hold on, i-intimacy? does that mean—”

“that you’ll have to get a bit touchy-feely with her? yeah,” donghyuck interjects, innocently.

“y’know... i’ve really been wanting to dance with her.” he faces you, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. “just never thought it would be like this.”

you offer him an apologetic smile. “i know, it might be a bit... uncomfortable. you can back out if you’d like. i promise hyuck and i won’t mind.”

shotaro’s head shakes, vigorously. “no, of course not!” he must realize how quick he was to deny your offer, making him suspiciously eager to be close to you as he immediately adds, “i mean, it’s good practice.”

you suppress a giggle. “sure thing. hyuck, should we get started now?”

the boy in question dramatically picks at his nails, acting as if he had been waiting on you both for hours. “if you guys are done flirting, then, yeah.”

you roll your eyes, shooting shotaro a mildly annoyed stare. he grins, finding it to be equally amusing as it is endearing. (what can he say, the faint pout that appeared on your face was cute.)

“shotaro, how about you get in position right behind her.”

shotaro obeys, making sure to leave a significant amount of space between the two of you. however, donghyuck doesn’t seem to approve.

“closer!” he commands. “the concept is intimacy, not social distancing!”

shotaro shuffles forward, pressing his front into your back. you can’t help but notice how firmly toned his chest is. curse his dancers body, you think.

“okay, now, lemme see your hands on her waist!”

you feel the breath of shotaro’s shaky exhale on the back of your neck as he obeys, sliding apprehensive hands around your midsection. there’s silence on donghyuck’s end and through the mirror you watch him observe the two of you, no doubt acting way more pensive than he truly is. you know he’s just prolonging your flustered state by keeping you in this intimate position with the younger boy.

although, shotaro himself might know it too, considering the fact that he begins to rub comforting circles into your sides that he’s currently gripping, as per donghyuck’s request, in an attempt to calm you down. you nearly melt right then and there. at the same time, you hope he doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon.

donghyuck calls out your name, successfully startling you and putting an end to the peaceful atmosphere. “why don’t you go ahead and lean on his shoulder. just lay your head back nice and easy— good, very good! look at that chemistry!”

if you’re being sincere, reclining on shotaro feels way more natural and enjoyable than it should. he steadily holds you in place, almost as if he secretly wishes to never let go. you wouldn’t be completely opposed to the idea either.

“alright, last thing, guys! y/n, how about you hook your arm around shotaro’s neck?”

you do so, fingers brushing softly against his jaw. he shivers beneath your touch, erupting into giggles when you shoot him an odd stare.

“i’m ticklish,” he confesses, in a whisper.

you can’t help but smile widely. “is that so? hm, i might have to exploit that information sooner or later.”

“as long as donghyuck doesn’t find out,” he replies.

his comment certainly gets a chuckle out of you. “did you finally realize how evil he is?”

“if the torture he’s putting you through right now is anything to go by, then absolutely.”

“only a matter of time before it’s your turn,” you reply. you lean into his ear to add, “by the way, this is anything but torture for me.”

“hey! no whispering!” donghyuck reprimands.

for the first time, shotaro goes against the older boy’s orders to whisper back, “it’s mutual. if anything, i think this is the best thing i’ve done since i moved here.”

your heart melts at the sincere admission. you stare at shotaro in what you’re sure is a very obvious case of heart eyes. you’re taken aback to find that he, too, returns the lovesick look. perhaps he was immersing himself a bit too much in the intimacy concept...

“stop! pause! cut!”

you and shotaro (reluctantly) untangle yourselves from each other to face a seemingly unhappy donghyuck.

“can you guys please just focus on my instructions without falling in love with each other?” he pleads. “i mean, you haven’t even gotten out of the starting position yet.” he groans, exasperated. “actually, you know what, just take five.”

+

[2:03 pm] hyuck: good morning

[2:03 pm] nana: it’s 2 o clock in the afternoon but ok

[2:03 pm] hyuck: i just woke up, therefore it’s morning

[2:03 pm] shotaro: good morning :3 did u sleep well?

[2:04 pm] hyuck: i slept a wonderful 27 hours, thnx for asking!

[2:04 pm] yangx2: ?????? THERES NOT EVEN 27 HOURS IN A DAY IM SCREAMING

[2:04 pm] you: LOLLL WHY WAS HE HIBERNATING

[2:05 pm] renjun: i was just gonna ignore him but i am genuinely concerned now

[2:05 pm] shotaro: woww,, well at least you’re well rested now! :]

[2:04 pm] nana: shotaro, i am begging u not to encourage him

[2:04 pm] you: all it takes is one (1) supportive person and he becomes an unstoppable force of evil

[2:04 pm] shotaro: o_0

[2:05 pm] jeno: besides ur like the only other person here with common sense besides myself and maybe renjun. i can’t lose u to donghyuck :(

[2:05 pm] renjun: ykw i’m not even gonna argue with that

[2:05 pm] yangx2: yeah shotaro is a good guy™

[2:06 pm] hyuck: i hate u guys and ur goldfish attention spans

[2:06 pm] you: sigh what do you need hyuck?

[2:06 pm] hyuck: i want boba :(

[2:07 pm] you: that actually sounds really good but idk if it’s worth being around u

[2:07 pm] hyuck: i’ll pretend like u didn’t just say that <3 what if i paid?

[2:07 pm] you: ....

[2:08 pm] yangx2: LMAO HYUCK BEING NICE IS SUSPICIOUS BEHAVIOR

[2:08 pm] renjun: ikr it’s making me super uncomfortable rn

[2:08 pm] hyuck: can’t i do something nice for my friends? :/

[2:08 pm] jeno: no

[2:09 pm] nana: nope

[2:09 pm] yangx2: nah

[2:09 pm] renjun: absolutely not

[2:09 pm] you: never seen it happen before so no

[2:10 pm] hyuck: u guys are so fake :( shotaro do u wanna hang out with me? if u say no i’ll scream :)

[2:11 pm] shotaro: yeah i guess i could :]

[2:11 pm] renjun: oh this just got interesting.. i guess i could tag along

[2:11 pm] yangx2: me too, i gotta be there to record whatever happens

[2:12 pm] nana: i’m in

[2:12 pm] jeno: same

[2:12 pm] you: hhhhh okay fine.. only to ensure taro’s safety

[2:13 pm] shotaro: (^з^)-︎♡

+

due to the fact that you believed donghyuck was going to try and officially initiate shotaro into your friend group with one of his infamous pranks, you decided to head to the boba shop. you hoped that if you showed up, you would be able to prevent whatever mayhem he had planned or at the very least, provide some damage control.

you pushed open the door to the quaint building, the bell dinging to announce your arrival. your eyes immediately lock onto the table in the far back since it was where you and your friends always sat — you had practically claimed it. you expect to see all the chairs filled but, to your surprise, only one person occupies the space.

osaki shotaro.

he beams, probably relieved to finally have some company in the otherwise empty shop. (after all, you weren’t sure how long he had been sitting there all alone.) nevertheless, you allow yourself to wonder — just for a second —  if maybe he was just that ecstatic to see you. the way he enthusiastically waves you over seems to be in favor of that theory. it’s almost confirmed when you reach he table and he pats the chair beside him.

you let out a soft laugh. “the whole table’s empty, ‘taro.”

“i know,” he admits. “i just really want you to sit next to me.”

you swear you could break down in tears simply from the way he’s looking at you; like you’re all he needs. it’s pure adoration.  you wonder if that’s how you look at him too. you can’t help but ask yourself if he, too, notices your longing stares.

you decide that you would be a monster if you denied shotaro his wish, so, you internally prepare yourself to sit next to possibly the sweetest boy you’ve ever known. yet, that proves to be difficult as said boy stands up to pull out your chair like the gentleman he is. you shoot him a grateful smile, mentally dethroning jeno as the most well-mannered person you know and passing the crown on to shotaro.

“so, how long have you been waiting for?” you ask, resting your elbow on the table and leaning into your palm to stare attentively at the boy to your right.

“actually, i only got here a couple minutes before you. we did agree to meet up here a quarter before three, right?” he asks, slightly confused.

you nod in confirmation. “honestly, i think we got set up.”

shotaro tilts his head. “really? why would they do that?”

“might have something to do with our ‘chemistry’,” you explain, quoting donghyuck.

the japanese boy’s mouth falls agape, as he comes to the realization. “oh, so they literally set us up.”

“mhm,” you agree, smiling ever so slightly.

shotaro must be paying closer attention than you thought because he picks up on your grin. “what’s with the smile?”

you shrug, feigning uncertainty. “i guess i just don’t feel so bad about being set up if it’s with a certain cutie i know.”

“oh?” he raises a brow, cheeks growing as he too mirrors your lovestruck look. “should i be worried about this guy?”

“certainly not,” you reassure him. “i’ve only got eyes for one.”

you see a faded tint of pink rush to his cheeks and you find it adorable how your confession flusters him. you can’t help but caress the supple skin as gently as possible. shotaro leans into your touch, his own hand coming up to cup your own, almost as if he were holding you in place. after a couple moments of basking in the intimate moment, you retract your hand.

“maybe we should try and get hyuck to include that in the choreo, huh?” you suggest, a teasing smile on your lips.

shotaro chuckles, “sounds good to me. i might even ask if i can fill his position, too. if not, i just might get jealous.”

you playfully shove him and he raises his hands in surrender. you chuckle, grabbing one of the menus that litter the table, planning to offer shotaro some help choosing an item from the list that is surely unfamiliar to him but it seems something outside the window behind you has caught his focus instead.

“looks like we have an audience.”

you take a deep breath at his words, preparing yourself for whatever it is you’re going to see upon turning around. when you finally do, all you manage to catch is five heads ducking beneath the windowsill, in a weak attempt to not get caught.

“of course,” you nearly laugh. “they’re so predictable.”

shotaro seems to find the situation humorous as well, if his amused tone is anything to go by. “to be honest, we should be thanking them. they got us together.”

“oh, so we’re together now?” you inquire, raising a brow.

“w-well, i mean, if you want to. i-i definitely want to.”

“no need for stuttering,” you reassure him, reaching over to stroke that one ticklish spot on his neck. “to quote a very wise — and handsome — young man, ‘it’s mutual.’”

he smiles at his own words being recited to him. “i don’t know about you, but i think we should seal the deal.”

“interesting. how do you suppose we do that?” you ask with faux curiosity. you certainly had some ideas of your own.

“maybe... a kiss?” shotaro leans forward, eyes closed expectantly as he taps his cheek. you resist the urge to pinch his lovely, round baby cheeks. he peeks one eye open to add, “for the audience, of course.”

you giggle, completely and utterly love-struck by the boy before you. in fact, you are so enamored by him that you decide to go the extra mile and press a sweet, chaste peck to his lips.

it seems as if he himself didn’t expect it as his eyes snap open, hand coming up to cup his lips in shock. when he finally uncovers his mouth, you see there’s a dazed, giddy grin on his face that let’s you know the smooch was very welcome pleasant surprise.

your phones simultaneously go off, alerting you of incoming messages. it’s a given that it’s none other than the group chat.

[3:15 pm] nana: that smooch was romcom worthy i’m so impressed right now

[3:15 pm] jeno: shotaro is living proof that being a gentleman has its perks! everyone in this gc should take notes!

[3:15 pm] yangx2: HERE IHAVE THE VDIEO OF THE WHOELE THIGN IF ANYOEN WANTS IT

[3:16 pm] yangx2: attachment: 1 video

[3:16 pm] yangx2: SORURY FOR THE TYPSO MY TEARS ARE BLURRIGN THE KYEBIOARD

[3:16 pm] renjun: can we get boba now?

[3:16 pm] renjun: oh wait my bad, congrats to the new couple :-)

[3:16 pm] renjun: to celebrate they should pay for everyone’s drinks.. just a thought

[3:17 pm] hyuck: ur welcome, y/n and shotaro ;)

[luckychild]

Headcanons for the the guys introducing their S/O to the rest of the gang

I was soooo happy to get this so close to Valentine’s Day! Hope you like how these scenarios play out, and thanks so much for the Ask. ♥

Warnings: None. Gender neutral reader. 

KUWABARA

Kuwabara told his friends about you quite literally within 24 hours of meeting you, so they already know a ton about you.

He’s also been telling his friends how amazing you are for months, so you have a lot to live up to. (*gulp*)

When he introduces you at last, he absolutely gushes.

He’s so proud to call you his S/O, he basically babbles a glowing introduction until he’s blue in the face, pushing you out toward his friends so they can see you.

He can’t wait to show you off and for them to see how amazing you are!

You’re nervous at first, but those feelings quickly fade.

Kuwabara has gushed about his friends to you (this boy is so proud of all of his friends even Hiei), so you already know a ton about them, too!

Actually, you feel like you already know Yusuke and the others, and they feel like they already know you, too.

It makes getting along with them really easy, all thanks to Kuwabara’s inability to play it cool about how much he loves you/his friends.

(Even Hiei seems OK, despite what Kuwabara’s said about his bad attitude; you just think he’s shy and resolve to be kind to him no matter what.)

You mesh into the group perfectly, Kuwabara looking on with pride as you make friends with ease. 

KURAMA

Unsurprisingly, Kurama is not nearly as gushy or effusive as Kuwabara.

No, Kurama is way more subtle about how he introduces you.

For one thing, he doesn’t gush about you when you’re not around.

He’s mentioned you to his friends, but he’s generally quite private about his relationships.

They know who you are and some basic facts about your life, but you’re pretty mysterious overall.

The fact that he’s introducing you to his friend group is proof that he’s serious about you, tbh. You never would’ve met them if you weren’t important.

Kurama gently introduces you to everyone at a social event (one he chose quite carefully for an atmosphere he thinks will put you at ease).

He doesn't babysit you, introducing you to everyone and then letting you make friends as you see fit.

Kurama watches from afar, shooting you smiles from across the room whenever you catch his eye.

He’ll intervene if you seem uncomfortable, but otherwise he trusts you to handle yourself, confident you’ll make a good impression. He’s with you for a reason, after all. 

HIEI

This little shit.

No one knew he was seeing anyone, let alone that he had a formal S/O!

He’s literally never talked about you once.

He just shows up with you in tow one day and they’re like “??? Who?? Who is that???”

And he just casually drops your name and lets you fill in the labels and stuff.

You stumble a bit over what to call Hiei, TBH, but they all seem to get it even if you avoid the word “boyfriend” (that label seems juvenile and your relationship with Hiei is anything but that).

Yusuke teases Hiei a lot once they realize who you are, and Kurama keeps shooting Hiei knowing looks, and Kuwabara sputters about being left out of the loop again, but all in all everyone is super welcoming.

They’re also super curious about you, because Hiei dating someone is a foreign concept for everyone involved.

Kuwabara starts off a little reluctant/suspicious (he’s not sure what to make of someone Hiei would date) but soon he sees you’re awesome and warms up to you.

They all eagerly welcome you into the fold and ask you lots of questions.

Eventually Hiei gets tired of it and basically drags you away while you wave over your shoulder, saying you’ll see them soon (you hope).

You like all of Hiei’s friends and they like you a lot in return.

Hiei isn’t sure if he likes how well you get along with everyone, though.

Is he going to have to share you with them now, or…?

YUSUKE

Elephant in the room: Yukimura Keiko

Yusuke and Keiko were super serious when they dated, but they didn’t work out as romantic partners and instead remain good friends, which suits them much better.

So when Yusuke meets you and realizes he’s interested, he’s… well, he’s not sure what he’s doing, TBH.

The pair of you start off as friends (because that’s how he started off with Keiko and he doesn’t know how else to go about dating anyone).

This means that when Yusuke introduces you to his friend group for the first time, he introduces you as a friend, and as a friend only.

But Keiko is a smart lady, and she takes one look at the way you and Yusuke bicker and banter, and she knows.

She can see the way you look at Yusuke, and she sees how he looks at you, and Keiko spent enough time pining after Yusuke to recognize someone else pining after him when she sees it.

She takes great pains to make you feel welcome, making sure you don’t feel weird about hanging out with Yusuke’s ex in the room.

And then in private, she absolutely lays into Yusuke for not being more forthright with you about his feelings.

“We danced around each other for years, and look where it got us!” Keiko tells him as he stares at his feet, pouting. “You need to be honest! Confess how you feel, and soon!”

Keiko is the smartest person Yusuke knows (aside from maybe Kurama), so while it takes him a while to work up the courage, he eventually comes around and takes her advice to confess.

Basically, the act of Yusuke introducing you to his friends is what brought the two of you together as a couple, and Keiko remains your biggest advocate in your relationship with Yusuke.

Thank you so much for reading! It was nice to address the Keiko element in the Yusuke section; it’s tough to write X-reader pieces for characters who are in canon relationships, so working her into it felt natural.

Hope you enjoyed, and thanks!

[aresrl]

hihi! saw your new blog and I’m excited to see ur writing! if it’s alright can I request for a genshin matchup (lmao can I ask for all of them: vision, partner, friend and enemy if it’s possible? idm the gender!) ignore this if the requests are actually closed lmfao

im an ambivert, I’m rather softhearted and emotional (I do cry a lot after all,,) I’m quite talkative tbh as long as someone started a conversation,, yet when I get close with someone I act clingy and prefer being a listener. i think I can say that I’m pretty supportive over my friends and family too! I tend to live in the moment and im quite stubborn about my own morals. I’m quite independent I’ll say but I prefer working in groups over working alone. I’m also pretty forgiving ig and I don’t hold grudges. However I’m on the lazy side and I’m quite stubborn (?) Im not good at standing up for myself and I’m also not the type to stand out too much. im quite clumsy and careless. I enjoy playing games (any sort of games tbh as long as it’s not too bloody) and I like chatting with my friends.

thankyou so much and hope you have a great day <3 good luck on ur new blog and i hope u don’t feel pressured by it!! get enough rest and stay happy!

I wasn't expecting a message in my inbox so quickly after my first post, wow ! Thanks a lot Anon for your words of encouragement, this is so kind and it motivates me a lot ! And of course everything is alright, you shouldn't be the one feeling pressured haha, here are your awaited answers !

You received... A Pyro vision ! Optimistic, enthusiastic, impulsive, reckless and a lot of energy are the general characteristics held by the Pyro vision. • Compared to the Hydro vision you almost received, I feel that you could spend your energy doing or entertaining things you love limitlessly despite the fact that you're on the lazy side. • You seem to have a reckless side (being stubborn especially makes me think that) which is for me the biggest characteristic of the Pyro vision • You said that you lived at the moment which means that you're ready to face anything. • I also feel that you're independent enough to do what you want (whether it be emotionally or materialistically), nothing could stop you from doing something except yourself. But for the sake of your loved ones you could put your insecurities away and protect them without thinking. Your partner would be... Fischl ! You complete each other perfectly ! With her, you will never get bored and she will never get tired of you ! • The first thing Fischl noticed and instantly liked about you is that you seemed to have understood and accepted her quickly. • The fact that you easily talk a lot to her makes her feel appreciated and enthusiastic. • Also the fact that you can switch from being the one to talk to the listener is a great thing for her as she won't feel an imbalance. • Fischl likes the fact that you become clingy with her because again, it makes her feel loved and she even finds it cute. • Your stubbornness is not a problem for her ! She thinks it represents how strong is your moral sense. • There are also traits of yourself that she will love and also be proud of like your forgiveness. • Your dynamic is like "We're in for an adventure ! But let's keep cool about it." • Fischl would usually be the one to propose things to do together but if you're too lazy to do something then she will order you not to move just to join and cuddle you. Your friend would be... Qiqi ! “I love you the most” • It seems that you easily make people feel loved because Qiqi too feels it thanks to you ! • She finds you kind, pleasant and loving : enough for her to want to be friends with you. • You also enjoy Qiqi's company and like to help her with her duties and thoughts Your enemy would be... Diona ! “All poor Diona can do is puff up her cheeks, tears forming in her eyes” • There are a lot of disagreements between you two, mostly because Diona doesn't understand how you can think this or that about certain subjects. • It will just make her really angry and as stubborn as she is, seeing that you don't even seem to take the situation seriously, she will get even more frustrated. Worth to mention : • If you had a relationship with Kaeya it would be weird and interesting at the same time. Whether it be romantic or friendly, it would base itself by a day where you're crossing your paths, look into each other's eyes, think you perceived something and then just go back into your own paths, but not as if nothing happened. Both of you would keep questioning these moments inside of your head. A relationship that goes beyond reason. • Diluc could also have been your partner but your relationship would have been more likely to have conflicts even though they are not really important because it would simply be different points of view. Your relationship would also be more calm and serene, mostly filled with a pleasant silence. • As your friend he would find you pleasant and interesting. He would admire your forgiveness but yet couldn't agree with it. • Zhongli could aslo be your friend as he finds you pleasant too and you always find his words interesting. You also like each other's company. • Finally Mona would not appreciate some of your traits, but that doesn't make her your enemy because she would still be willing to help you if you need, she doesn't hate you deep down. Wow I wrote all of that, I'm so proud of myself. Thanks again for your request and kindness Anon, it took me a pretty long time but I truly enjoyed every second, that was really

interesting and fun !

[creampuffqueen]

Elide x Lorcan baby headcanons

Elide and Lorcan also have many kids. Read about them

-Ok. Wow. Here we go

-So, accident is the wrong word for their first child. Elide and her husband had a long talk about their future in Perranth. They knew as Lord and Lady they'd be expected to produce and heir or two, and they both expressed that they were open to the idea of children. So they wanted a kid.

-But like,,, not really this soon.

-They've both been sporadic with their contraceptives, because they're busy rebuilding and all, and it's not the first thing on their mind usually in the morning.

-It's not like it's just one person. Neither of them are very good at taking it. They joke about it a bit and try to do better, but it's difficult. And they also think that since Lorcan is demi-fae, it will take a while for it to happen anyway. Plus, unlike Aelin, Elide is very mortal and therefore on a biological timer for having kids.

-But seriously. She's quite young. An adult, yes, but young nonetheless.

-It all starts maybe two months after Aelin announces her pregnancy, meaning the queen is around four-five months along.

-Elide wakes up one morning feeling... off. Weird. Not herself.

-She tries to dismiss it, but can't. Especially when she sits up and feels a roiling in her gut.

-Recently she's been more and more exhausted, which she credits to rebuilding and getting in the swing of all her new duties as Lady. So it's odd she's up so early, even more odd when she realizes that Lorcan is still asleep beside her. He likes to let her sleep in the morning (much to her displeasure, she has work too) so he's usually already getting ready/already gone.

-She's busy being puzzled when suddenly, her gut clenches, and she runs for the bathroom.

-And that's how her husband finds her. Puking her guts up in the toilet. He rushes to her side and holds her hair back and rubs her back and is just a doting husband in general.

-When there's nothing left in her stomach she just miserably curls into his side and lets him hold her. She hates vomiting, it's one of her least favorite things ever. And she doesn't know why she feels so terrible.

-Lorcan helps her back to bed and tucks her in, leaving the waste basket by her side just in case, and promises to be back with some tea and possibly a healer. Neither are sure what's going on, it could just be a simple stomach bug, but its better safe than sorry. And Lorcan isn't taking any chances with his wife.

-He comes back with peppermint tea, as promised. And a healer.

-Elide sips her tea to calm her stomach and tells the healer everything she ate in the past twenty-four hours, where she went, etc. Nothing out of the ordinary, those foods had never made her sick before, she wasn't in anyplace where she could have picked something up.

-The healer decides to finally go in with her magic. She gently touches Elide's stomach and lets her magic do it's thing.

-The woman looks up to the Lady of Perranth with a large smile.

-"What's going on? Is something wrong?" Lorcan asks nervously.

-"No, everything is going perfectly smoothly." The healer replies. "You're about two months pregnant, dear."

-What

-Both of the Lochans just stare in shock for a minute before Elide says, "I'm pregnant?"

-The healer nods. "Yes. You might want to stock up on peppermint tea; morning sickness isn't fun."

-Then she leaves. And so Elide is just looking at her husband, at the love of her life, and trying to read what he's feeling. But for the life of her she can't figure it out.

-"Lorcan?"

-He takes a deep, shuddering breath in that seems to steal the very heat from the room.

-He looks at the ceiling for a moment. He won't meet her gaze. Elide can feel tears pricking at the back of her eyes.

-"Oh gods." He whispers, so softly that she isn't completely sure she heard him.

-But when he looks at her again, instead of the anger or frustration she was worried about, he looks at her with as much tenderness as the day he proposed.

-"I can't believe it." He says softly. Those are tears in his eyes. He strides over to her and takes her gently in his arms, careful of her upset stomach.

-Elide isn't sure what she's feeling, mostly shock. But at the same time she's happy, and excited, and nervous, and already she's stressed. Is she going to be a good mother? She only had a mother in her life until she was seven, her nursemaid doesn't really count

-"Are you happy?" She breathes. And he murmurs onto her hair, "Beyond happy, my love. I'm ecstatic." Then he pulls her closer and kisses her softly, even though she tastes just a bit like vomit

-The next month is hard, but compared to how Aelin was in her first trimester, Elide's is a walk in the park. Morning sickness isn't great, but it lets up quickly. And she doesn't have weird taste buds, either, which is a blessing to her husband.

-She announces it at the next meeting of all the lords and ladies, and is met with nothing but congrats. Rowan gives his congrats and nods to Lorcan with the :/ face because he feels for his brother-in-arms; he also has a pregnant wife after all.

-After the first trimester it's smooth sailing. Elide is a pregnancy goddess tbh. Even though neither she nor Lorcan expected to be parents this soon, they're over the moon. Now they have to work on building a nursery as well as rebuilding their city.

-The people of Perranth are super happy for them, they get tons of gifts from citizens, even though they have no need for them. It's great. Everything is great.

-Yrene hears, of course, and offers to deliver the baby. Elide says yes, obviously.

-Lorcan is a very doting father-to-be. Elide doesn't have to lift a finger. It's very sweet, but she eventually tells him that she is still capable of doing things herself, she doesn't need him to help with everything .

-They set up the nursery together when she's six months along, in the room that Elide herself slept in as a baby. They're not sure if they're having a boy or a girl, but they'd be happy with either. Though Elide admits she would really like a girl.

-Normally Lorcan is just this stone cold male, showing no emotions ever except around Elide. That doesn't change, not really, but he's more affectionate to her in public and also he's just so sweet. He doesn't talk to the belly, but he does like to feel the baby kick and sometimes he'll just lay his head on his wife's chest so he can hear her heartbeat and also feel the baby kicks.

-It's adorable

-Aelin insists that Lorcan isn't allowed to be that cute

-Elide is like,,, exactly on her due date when she goes into labor. Yrene arrived a bit before, and she's a little surprised that Elide is having her baby on her exact due date. A little weird, but cool.

-Having only recently delivered the Crown Princess Lyria, Yrene expects this labor to be quite long and hard, since it is technically a Fae birth. Haha nope.

-Elide is in labor for about ten hours, which is pretty short for a first baby. It's a very typical labor, no complications whatsoever. Lorcan is there the whole time and holds her hand. It's painfully romantic.

-Many of the servants are nervously walking around the castle, because they love their Lady and don't want anything bad to happen to her or her child. Many congregate in the kitchen downstairs to wait.

-After ten hours of labor, Elide gives birth to a baby boy who screams so loud the servants in the kitchen downstairs can hear him. All the men and women cheer and drink to the cries of the new Heir to Perranth.

-Yrene cleans the baby up for a moment and hands him to his parents with a huge grin. Elide is smiling so wide her whole face hurts but she can't stop. Lorcan has tears in his eyes as he looks at his newborn son.

-He has dark hair, like both of his parents. A lot of dark hair. So much it gets a little on his face. Elide brushes her son's hair aside-

-Holy shit

-His ears are pointed

-Both parents' eyes widen. What??? He's like only a quarter Fae, how?

-It doesn't matter to them, of course, but like, wow.

-Content that Elide is doing well and the baby is healthy, Yrene leaves to give them some alone time with their newborn.

-Both Elide and Lorcan are crying now, out of joy. Lorcan never thought he would cry from happiness in his whole life, and look at him now. Holding his wife and looking at his newborn son.

-They'd been bouncing names back and forth for weeks, and none felt good. But looking at him, they decide on his name.

-Folas Cal Lochan, after Elide's father.

-Lorcan claims he looks more like Elide, but she insists he looks like both of them. After all, both of them have hair as dark as night. But his skin is the same pale shade as his mother's, and he has freckles dusting his little face. He looks up at them with huge black eyes, and holds his father's finger in his tiny fist.

-Elide insists that her husband go and announce it to the servants while she takes a bath. Yrene comes back in to help her.

-Lorcan goes to the kitchen and finds all the servants waiting patiently for some kind of news.

-He just cracks a half-smile and says, "it's a boy."

-And despite the fact he's a literal terrifying death warrior, he lets the servants embrace him and clasps arms with the men, and even accepts a drink.

-But he can't stand to be away for too long, so he quickly makes his way back up to his family.

-Elide is bathing, and she gently cleans her son as well, it's so tender and loving it takes Lorcan's breath away when he sees. So he lets them be for a minute. Yrene just nods knowingly from where she sits quietly in the corner of the bathing room.

-Eventually they finish and Lorcan helps Elide into bed again. He lays beside her and watches their son, and there's so much emotion in his eyes Elide nearly starts crying from it. She's also still like,,, on an emotion high tho, which is part of the reason she's crying at the drop of a hat.

-Elide hands her son to his father, and he looks so tiny in Lorcan's giant hands. Even though he's a normal sized baby he fits in both of his father's hands and it's so cute she cries again.

-They planned to have the baby sleep in a bassinet for a while before they moved him to the nursery, but neither can stand to have him not in their arms so they decide to co-sleep instead. Baby Folas falls asleep on Lorcan's chest, and Lorcan falls asleep holding his son, and look at that Elide's crying again

-About a week after the birth their friends come to see them. Lyria is about four months old at this point and she's super cute just lying next to the new baby and playing with her feet while he sleeps. Aelin is enchanted, and jokingly says it's impossible that something that cute came from Lorcan. Evangeline is enchanted, Lysandra thinks he's adorable, it's just a good day.

-So, it's hard to have alone time with a new baby, but they make it work as soon as Yrene gives the all-clear.

-And ok, maybe they were a little too enthusiastic. But it had been several good months since they were intimate and

-Yeah

-Elide doesn't think it's that strange when her cycle decides to just,,, disappear. It does that a lot. But she does think it's strange when she wakes up one morning when her son is about four months old and is very, very sick. This is giving her a weird sense of deja vu.

-She tells her concerns to Lorcan and he's like 'shit' because what if she's upset if she's pregnant again so soon?

-The healer confirms it. They're having another baby.

-Oof

-Well, in her defense, Aelin is in the exact same situation so there.

-It's true. Aelin is pregnant with her second (Sam)

-And here's the kicker: Yrene is pregnant too.

-Nice

-Not so nice, however, when they realize the closeness of their pregnancies mean Yrene can't deliver their babies. Not a problem, they can get other midwives, but they would rather their friend do it.

-Elide's second pregnancy is smoother, which is good, because her baby boy is getting bigger and she has a lot of stuff to do.

-Folas doesn't show any signs of powers other than being very fast for a baby. It doesn't matter, they love him no matter what.

-Folas walks when he's about ten months old. He stood when he was nine months, but one day he just,,, toddles over to his mom. She's only a few feet away, but still, he walked!!

-He says his first words when he's eleven months. His first word is 'mama', soon followed by 'uh oh' and finally 'dada'. Aelin will never get over Lorcan's son learning to say 'uh oh' before he said 'dada'.

-Elide goes into labor three days before she's due, and has a baby in her arms eight hours later. It's the dead of night, she's bone tired, but she's happy. It's another boy.

-Lorcan is over the moon. He like, already was, but he's so happy to have another baby it's really precious. Folas sit's on his father's lap and holds his baby brother. Elide wishes she could paint because she wants to keep this moment forever, all her favorite boys in one place.

-They name the baby Sabron. He doesn't have a middle name because neither of them have any other guys to name him after.

-And guess what. He's human. Weird af lol. So now they have a Fae-ish child and a human one. Oof

-Everything is smooth sailing, Elide is rocking it being a mom, Lorcan is literally an incredible dad? Like nobody expected him to be a good dad, not even himself (except Elide of course) but this whole parenting thing comes naturally to him. Maybe it's because he's doing the exact opposite of his own parents and he's also super old

-Elide cannot fathom how much she loves this male, like she loves him so damn much especially seeing him with their kids?? Melts her heart every time. So like seventy times a day

-Baby Sabron is six months old when it happens again.

-Elide's cycle is late. After having kids it got way more normal, so she knows what's going on.

-She supposes she could have been better at taking her contraceptive tonics, but hey, she's not upset. Neither is Lorcan when she tells him. He's happy, but worried that she'll be too stressed. She says not to worry, but he does, because he's a territorial Fae bastard and can't help himself.

-This time Yrene promises to deliver the baby.

-When both of her kids are walking, it does get a bit stressful. Especially when Folas proves to be a troublemaker.

-But everything goes smoothly, even better than last time. And boom, Perranth receives another heir.

-It's another boy. Elide loves her boys, but man would she like a daughter at some point.

-She decides not to worry, and just focus on loving her boys.

-This one is named Amias. As expected, he has dark hair and eyes, and the signature Lochan freckles.

-But Amias is also Fae, like Folas

-Folas is happy to have another little brother, especially a Fae one.

-Now picture this: a terrifying Fae warrior who's power is actual death, walking around the castle grounds with two toddlers clinging to him and holding a baby.

-That's what the gardens look like every morning, Elide thinks it's hilarious.

-Elide thinks she's done having kids, she has three wonderful boys, and she loves them with all her heart.

-But when the kids are 3, 2, and 1, she wonders what it would be like with a girl.

-She talks to her husband, and they decide to try for another baby in hopes of a girl. Of course, they wouldn't be upset with another boy, but they're aiming for a girl.

-The next Lochan child arrives when his brothers are 4, 3, and 2.

-That's right; his

-It's another boy. And... he's Fae as well.

-His name is Caeda, and he's arguably the cutest of his siblings. Nobody knows why, but he's the cutest.

-Now, around this time Folas is begging to be trained.

-He may only be four, but he's very strong, very fast, and has the same heightened senses his father has. No signs of magic.

-After discussing it with Elide, they agree to train him, but only a bit.

-With centuries old Fae warriors Lorcan is the worst trainer. But with his son he's gentle and patient and hardly ever gets frustrated.

-Rowan and Fenrys constantly joke about it, asking why he couldn't do that with them. Lorcan only growls in response.

-Caeda is six months old when his parents receive another surprise.

-Elide says that after five, no more kids. She's going on contraceptives and never coming off. Lorcan agrees. He loves his large family but seriously, they have a lot of kids

-The fifth Lochan boy arrives in the dead of night.

-They have five boys

-What the hell.

-They name this one Dalias, and he looks like all the others. There's like no variation in their kids whatsoever, it's kind of funny.

-True to her word, Elide goes on contraceptives. Lorcan does as well to make extra sure.

-Since they're sure she's not having any more kids any time soon, when Dalias is one Elide finally gets her ankle healed.

-It's a huge ordeal, and she sends all her kids away to Orynth so they both stay out of the way and so they don't have to hear her screaming. Because even with Yrene keeping the pain at bay the best she can, it's still incredibly painful. Elide can't stand the thought of her kids having to hear that or see her so weak. Lorcan stays, of course, to help her. The kids come back a month later when it's all done and Elide is learning to walk again. She has to have a cane for several months, in addition to Lorcan's usual brace.

-But eventually it's done, and she can walk and run and jump and do everything again. It's so freeing she happily chases her children around for a day.

-The years go by, and everything goes smoothly. All of the children get trained by their father and tutored by Elide so they are both honed warriors and scholars. I forgot to mention that sometime between all the kids Elide learns to read and it's soon one of her favorite things.

-But yeah, everything's great.

-But,,, they kind of feel like something's missing.

-Not a pet, because they have a dog, but something else.

-When Folas is twelve, they decide to try for another baby. Even if it's another boy.

-Years go by, and nothing. Elide begins to lose hope, they were too late, her mortal body is already too old for more kids even though she's only in her mid-thirties.

-But then,,

-It happens.

-The whole family is overjoyed.

-Yrene delivers a healthy baby girl as the sun rises on a winter morning.

-It's a girl.

-Elide bursts into tears when she hears it. She adores her boys, she loves having so many boys, but she really wanted a daughter. Lorcan too.

-They name her Marion Finnula Lochan, after Elide's mother and her nursemaid who helped her in those terrible years she was locked away.

-She's fully human, like Sabron and Dalias, but that doesn't stop her from doing anything.

-She crawls when she's seven months old and walks at nine, because she wants to run with her older brothers.

-Marion is more territorial than all her brothers and her father combined. It's hilarious, her snarl is better than that of an actual Fae.

-Marion looks exactly like Elide. All of her brothers have some resemblance to their father, but not her. She looks like her mother.

-Marion is a feisty little thing and loves training with her brothers. Elide often complains that her house has turned into a barracks.

-But she loves seeing all her children growing to be so strong and smart.

-The Lochan brothers love their baby sister, but she's honestly more protective over them than they are of her. And they are very protective of her.

-Marion is willing to beat her brothers up 24/7

-It's great

-Perranth is honestly chaos with six kids running everywhere, but it's wonderful chaos. Elide and Lorcan couldn't have it any other way.

-The story Worlds of Fire and Darkness takes place when Folas is 20, Sabron is 19, Amias is 18, Caeda is 16, Dalias is 15, and Marion is 5.

[darkpoisonouslove]

Winx Club Season 3 Thoughts (4kids) Part 1

(This began about half a year ago and I have only picked it back up recently. I haven’t changed anything from the thoughts I had back then. Also this covers the episodes up to 3x13.)

Okay... I have finally reached this point. I’ve been dying to watch season 3 for the last, like, 4 months and I had to put so much willpower into restraining myself so that I could rewatch the whole series properly. And now that I am finally here, I am nearly shaking with excitement because yessssss! It’s finally time for Enchantix and Valtor. I am filled with glorious anticipation (though, also a bit wary since I do not like the resolution of this season’s arc from what I remember) and so ready to dive in. Here we go:

3x01:

- Oh, damn! Summer vacation hasn’t even started yet? Wow, um, okay, I guess. I need to update my timeline a little bit.

- Seriously, there is Bloom and Sky drama and they won’t even tell us what it’s about? You’re just gonna shoehorn more stupidity in this just for the sake of it? Why am I even surprised?

- Damn, Layla absolutely killed those moves! Well, before Kiko fell on her and they all fell to the ground but that’s another thing. That was some next level coordination and acrobatic skills. I can only watch in awe and wish I had even a tenth of that.

- Why did Stella think she wouldn’t have a Princess Ball? I hope she doesn’t think that her parents think she’s a failure as a princess. And aww, poor baby. She’ll be so sad when she learns that her father is getting married to Cassandra instead of getting back with her mother.

- Seriously, what idiot looked at the Trix and went “Ah, yes! Let’s send Icy, the witch of ice, in a dimension of ice. She’ll be all contained there. Absolutely guaranteed. 100%.” Will you people wake the fuck up, wake your brains and start thinking for real ‘cause you’re definitely not doing that now. Also, let me just say that that was a big leap from Lightrock monastery (or whatever the hell it was) to the Omega dimension. I guess going after the ultimate power is much worse than the Army of Decay. That or the writers have no concept of how to make the punishment fit the crime.

- Poor Darcy and Stormy. They don’t seem to be handling the cold very well. Also, something about Stormy’s line that they’re probably talked about at Cloud Tower is really clawing at my mind but I can’t quite put my finger on it yet. It just sounds like... like she’s not really doing that for the power rather than for the attention and recognition which just starts all sorts of thoughts in my head and none of them lead to anything good, They all make me feel bad for the Trix, though.

- I’ve been dreading the whole thing with Chimera but that scene in the pizza place wasn’t so bad. And Winx tried to be friendly. But Tecna’s “Snap” was hilarious. The girl isn’t taking shit from anyone. I like. XD

- I am not really a fan of the dresses they were trying on but I like the idea of a magical thingy that changes the clothes for you instead of you having to do it manually. Can we get those, please? (Chimera’s “Later, losers” really reminded me of Mandy from Totally Spies btw.)

- Stormy and Darcy aren’t quite handling the ice skating. Also, damn, that snake froze Stormy’s magical beam. That is... freaky... and scary. It looks like they’re in a bit of a pickle.

- And here is where the timeline doesn’t make sense. If Marion and Oritel trapped Valtor in Omega before they proceeded to battle the Ancestral Witches, then how does he have a plaque with his name and sentence on it? That doesn’t make sense. Who had time to sentence him? Unless I got something wrong, then this is not legit.

(- Let’s make one thing perfectly clear. I will never refer to Valtor as “Baltor” or to Marion as “Miriam”. It is just not going to happen.)

- “Frozen dude” I can’t. XD That was kinda a good plan the Trix had there, though if Valtor weren’t so powerful, it wouldn’t have worked because the snakes would’ve killed him and then them as well. But hey, they’re in luck because...

- Holy shit, look at those powers! He totally destroyed the snakes before even working out the kinks from his shoulders. I love the blue color of his magic. I think it makes sense. I am so done with the show not addressing how shitty it must be to be trapped and completely still AND frozen for seventeen years. Instead they just threw in a line about it that only made him look more evil and I will be forever mad about this, thanks. (Can I at least hope that the Trix learned a bit from the whole Darkar experience? Probably not but Icy’s line about Valtor not giving them orders is still giving me hope that will only disappoint me later. (Also, Valtor seems very contained here considering all the rage he has later on. At least he starts out looking more normal.))

- Awww, those puppies were really cute! And Stella and Bloom were so quick to the rescue! That was really sweet! (What the hell was up with Chimera’s powers, though?)

- Oh, I loved Icy’s idea with the snake. It was so clever. And Valtor is already at it with the possession of mermaids. A true demon indeed. I love him.

- I actually like Stella’s pink dress more than the red one. Also, I like Musa’s long hair but it is very weird to me after I just saw her with the short hair, like, five minutes ago.

- Yeah, Sky’s there. Great! Moving on. Brandon was really trying to mess up Stella’s hair, huh? XD Oh, and Musa and Riven are still dancing around each other. (I’m so sorry for this.)

- That rescue was cool. And Layla with the little girl. But why didn’t she just fly to the shore and felt the need to surf instead? That has always puzzled me greatly. She is such a responsible princess, though. She immediately went when she was called upon. Precious!

- Okay, but that looks like Valtor is literally sucking out their souls, wtf! This is so cool/freaky and I am so here for it.

- Um, I don’t like the way the Trix are looking at Valtor. I know he’s powerful and everything but can they just not crush on the weird guy they’re teaming up with every time? Their flirting is just so awkward. Also, can we see them teaming up with a woman for once?

- That moment when you take over a fucking planet (well, not quite but he’s going for it) and you’re like “Damn, I hate being so weak. I need to take my power back”. How much more power? What the hell? I mean, of course I love him but they’re making him so overpowered and they will have to tear him apart later in order for Winx to be able to defeat him and just... can you not? Tone it down a little now so that you don’t have to ruin this actual perfection later gdi! Also, why the fuck would we get a normal motive when we can just have “Power!!!! MORE POWER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Give me a good fucking motive dammit! Or at least explain why the fuck he wants that power!

3x02:

- Awww! Can we talk about the fact that Radius is so open and welcoming to Bloom? And he knows how much she means to Stella! That is so adorable, I’m gonna cry now.

- Stella is such a supportive friend! She let Bloom into the hall of the universe (that is the coolest thing ever btw) and she was quick to reassure her that Oritel and Marion are alive. And she should know how this thing works so... I love how “it showed them standing” means “they’re still standing” as in “they’re still alive”. That was cool.

- Ahh, he straight up walks through walls. Creep. XD (seriously, that is the least troubling bit about him tbh)

- Did Chimera know who Stella was back at Magix? That would be weird because why would she do anything that would leave her in a position where she needs to kiss up to Stella?

- Stella woke up at dawn? She’s serious about this thing. And she totally dumped Bloom out of bed. Brandon should watch out in the future. Stella can get you out of bed whether you like it or not.

- Chimera was “finger-painting with food”? Umm... Am I the only one who thinks this sounds weird? And perhaps like Cassandra should’ve paid more attention to her as a child?

- Okay, Valtor is smooth. Of course, he simply wants to make their desires come true. I mean, an obvious lie but at the same time it isn’t because he really did give them power. So... nice move there! Also, I love that Cassandra was smart enough to ask what their end of the deal would be (it’s obvious enough but you never know when some idiot will forget to ask about that) and that she didn’t take Valtor’s hand. It could be read as her being a snob (which is probably at least partially the reason behind it) but it can also be read as her being mindful of him despite their “alliance” and refusing to trust him completely which is a smart move.

- Did Cassandra have magic before Valtor? Her ring seemed to be magical but did she have powers herself? So according to Wiki, “Valtor gave her more potent powers” so I’m assuming that means she had some before that. I was leaning towards that but now I am accepting it as canon.

- Is Valtor’s messing with the second sun what caused the shift in atmosphere and the rain? Damn, very symbolic you guys. It never rains on Solaria but Valtor shows up and boom! It’s raining. Both literally and metaphorically.

- I can’t help but notice how Valtor is only surrounding himself with women. Calm down there with the harem, will you? But on a serious note, I think it does make sense. He most certainly grew up surrounded by women and I would imagine his ego and his quest to be the most powerful wizard kind of get in the way of any male partnership. (Proof a - Griffin, proof b - the Trix. I think you get the idea.)

- Poor Stella. So I get why she’s upset but she’s also being a little selfish here and not taking into account her father’s feelings. I really want to see what happened there, though. If Cassandra didn’t have any good qualities, then why did he decide to marry her? That would make him a complete fool and, let’s be real, he’s not. But it could be that she deceived him. Her facade was holding up well when she was giving Stella the necklace the previous day.

- I can’t with Brandon, though. I see it is time for Sky to be the wingman now, closing Brandon’s jaw and urging him to give Stella the gift. Nice! (Also, poor Flora. Stuck there without Helia XD (But didn’t Tecna say that Helia confirmed he was going in the previous episode? Why isn’t he there?)) Why are Brandon and Sky in their Specialist uniforms, though?

- I really liked the fact that Radius said “My princess and yours.” I think it was cute. And the dance! And his worry for Stella! He is a great father.

- How old is Chimera? Bc she called Stella ���big sister”. Damn, long nails, though! And that was some magic!

- Okay, Radius was spelled but what about the guards? “Our princess could never look that hideous”? Oh, so it is just Stella’s looks that matter to you. That’s great to know... Assholes.

- Aaaaand... she fell out the window. (What was that magic Flora sent at Bloom, though? Was it to help her speed so that she can catch Stella?)

3x03:

- The rain is anti magic? Valtor really pulled some shit there.

- “All boys are like that”, really? If you really believe that, then why are you all over Riven, Musa? I get why Stella is worried that Brandon won’t like her like that but Musa’s point is just... no.

- Yeah, let the boys handle it because we’re useless without our powers. Feminism at its finest. And a great message to send to all the little girls watching this show who DON’T have magic. Just fucking splendid!

- Aww, at least the dogs recognized Stella. Dogs are great!

- Stella sneaked out to go to parties? Nice. XD Also, anyone else notice the sparkles? Her outfits were always sparkly. At least the royal ones. Idk why I’m saying this. It just struck me.

- Rocks, then spiders. Amazing! They’re in all the trouble. But Tecna is handling this with some wits and gadgets, and just the tiniest bit of magic that you could literally replace with a knife or something. See? Not useless without magic.

- Aww, Stella saved them from the leeches. (But what was up with that? I don’t think leeches make you unconscious. Unless they were some magical leeches that were draining their magic.)

- Okay, I am not quite sure what is happening with the Trix. They were making digs at Valtor but then they start looking at him like that. It’s obviously just because of the power but still. I’m not a fan. Also, didn’t the Trix learn that they can’t beat Bloom?

- Put an illusion spell on Brandon? Shouldn’t that be a no-no? Like, no spelling the boo?

- Weather spirit? That’s proving to be a real problem.

- Okay, I cannot stress this enough but that last part was sooooo stupid. You have fucking instruments in the ship but why the fuck would you check that and get it back up when you reach the lowest possible point when you can instead go blindly into it and rely on Bloom’s gut? Use the fucking tech gdi! Yeah, now you remember the instruments, after the deed. Instead of doing it while you were performing the maneuver.

3x04:

- Those griffins? Damn! Those things are huge. And those were the little ones. Griffin is named after one hell of a creature. Also, I couldn’t help but notice the parallel there between the mother griffin trying to protect its chicks and Griffin trying to protect her students and getting extremely mad when the Trix attacked them. She totally is a mama bear.

- Poor Stella, feeling useless. Okay, but if Brandon thinks she still looks like she did before, then what does he think the spell did to her? Why does he think she can’t turn into a fairy? Also, didn’t he see what she turned into back at the ball? None of this makes sense.

- And Brandon is ready to jump off the ship for Stella. She definitely doesn’t need the spell because this guy is so in love.

- I’m not a fan of the “girls only” thing. Come on, guys! Brandon is clearly here to stay.

- Look at Brandon being all supportive boyfriend (and understanding, too, since he isn’t mad about getting spelled). And the others’ words... I’m tearing up. Oh, and poor Stella who thought everyone only liked her because she was pretty. (And judging by the Solarian guards’ words, for a good reason too (I’m just about ready to go on a killing spree on her behalf).)

- I love that Brandon only gave her the gift (hey, that’s a mirror, right?) when they thought it hadn’t worked. He was there no matter what happened and I just love that!

- First day of school? Bruh, how short was that vacation? Wtf?

- Omg, Stella and Musa’s teasing. Also, plants that write books? Damn, okay.

- Oh, hey! Musa and Stella have new friends. Poor Nova, though. She was scared to tell Stella what was up on Solaria. And it looks like the situation is very bad. Though, they were just letting Stella be serious and responsible and then they had to bring in the “being jealous of Chimera” thing. Nice one, you guys.

- Griselda is rooting for less school work? That is kinda out of character. And so is Faragonda’s idea about the Enchantix too. (Also, don’t come at me with this bullshit that earning Charmix was the goal of the second year. They didn’t even know what the fuck a Charmix was halfway through the year.) And this is further supported by what she said next that the Enchantix will find them when they’re ready. And what if they aren’t ready yet? What if they’ll be ready two years from now? Also, wtf do you mean that they’ll stay exactly as they are if they fail? Who put an expiration date over when you can earn your Enchantix?

- Stella’s reaction about Chimera, though. I mean, I understand, I wouldn’t want to save her either, but still.

- I’m not trying to be a bitch and it is probably the translation that is stupid but the way Bloom’s thoughts went she was pretty much saying “Why did everyone from Sparx disappear before I could save someone and earn my Enchantix?” Again, this is probably just the translation since the imagery of the destruction of Sparx suggested that she was mourning the tragedy but it did sound wrong.

- So does the Council do anything at all? Because the way Layla is telling it it sounds like they’re there like “Well, too bad for Tides. Also, sucks to be whoever he’ll attack next.” Also, if Valtor was defeated seventeen years ago, why wasn’t there a fucking reaction by someone? Layla’s parents must have already been rulers of Tides at the time so they must have known what was going on politically speaking (especially considering that there’s a portal from Omega to Tides). None of this makes sense... Again. (”Creature named Valtor”? Interesting. This isn’t a mistake since he isn’t quite human so... the writers are dropping some hints.)

3x05:

- Why does Omega have an exit? What, you go and collect the convicts after they’ve served their sentence? No, I really can’t comprehend what’s the point of an exit portal. Isn’t the idea of a prison dimension for the prisoners to be... trapped?

- Hey, don’t dis Stella just because she’s worried about her own planet. (We really didn’t need that flashback but it wasn’t so long so whatever.) At least Layla is being understanding and supportive despite everything she’s going through herself.

Cassandra is really using the magic from Valtor, though, isn’t she? Poor Radius. And all the people who are loyal to him. And Stella for having everything taken away from her, including her father. - This part is in the wrong place but it’s true regardless.

- Just teleporting in the middle of a palace. Damn, those things are so easy to invade. They all have to invest in security. Seriously, some teenagers are breaking in with tech they invented themselves (and yeah, Tecna is the fairy of technology but still). You need a better security system, trust me. If they had it, Valtor wouldn’t have been able to sneak around the Solaria palace. Or the Isis palace, for that matter (but I’m getting ahead of myself.) Also, given the problems they faced on Solaria and those they’ll face on Eraklyon, I’d say it is a lot harder to break out of the palaces than it is to break in, which is still important but if getting in was harder, there would’ve been no reason to work so hard on keeping people from getting out, is all I’m saying.

- I am pretty sure those frames where Icy is twirling her hair were in a previous episode too. Recycling animation, I see. I would cut them some slack on account that that was 2006(?) but no, people were actually drawing good animation in 2006. The first episodes of Tom & Jerry had better quality animation back in the early 1940s for heaven’s sake. They’re just not trying.

- It’s Magic Winx time! I am really trying to make the most of those last moments we’re seeing their initial transformations. I’m thrilled about Enchantix but I’ll also miss their Magic Winx forms.

- “Fairies. They’re always trying to help others. And what’s funnier is that they actually believe it is the right thing to do.” This, right here? Giving me some major feels. I am probably reading too much into it (can’t help wishful thinking now, can I?) but this could very well be about Faragonda helping Griffin escape the Coven and saving her from the Ancestral Witches and Valtor’s wrath. He probably just meant it in general, but I now have a new headcanon (sort of).

- Aww, look at Griselda. So caring, so worried about them. They almost blew their cover there. But why use Kiko when there are five pixies even without Piff? Also, how the hell did Griselda buy that? But aww, at Kiko and Stella, too!

- Can I ask why in hell did they just turn around when they saw the wave and tried to outfly it when they should’ve just risen higher in the air and they would’ve been out of reach, the wave passing underneath them? But no, they can just do that other thing instead and take their chances with the possibility of drowning. Epic levels of stupidity again.

- “That wave was kinda refreshing.” I wonder if you would’ve thought that if someone had died.

- Was releasing the other prisoners Valtor’s plan? I don’t think he was planning on doing that. I mean, as a consequence of his actions, yeah, but I don’t think he was deliberately trying to do that.

- Bloom is getting visions now. Why couldn’t she sense that Valtor was there when he could sense her? I mean, didn’t she feel something through the Dragon Fire even when Layla wasn’t talking about him?

- That shot of Icy and Darcy facing each other while a current is waving their hair is absolutely fucking aesthetic. Can I get it printed?

- Oh, he only gave Icy powers? And I am not sure how to react to that scene. She was talking as if she was looking at a relationship with him. Also, why are they there when they know that this isn’t going to end well? This scene is on some other plane of logic that isn’t even anywhere near the one I’m on.

- Why are they so surprised that the Trix are there? Layla already told them that the possibility of them being with Valtor is big. They should’ve known. But damn, that bolt of magic just went straight through Flora’s chest. How is she not seriously injured?

- Why do the Trix suddenly turn very stupid when it is convenient for Winx? Darcy and Stormy are smarter than that. Maybe it could be considered their pride clouding their judgment but still. It didn’t feel right.

- “Does it look like I’m out of the way?” XDDD

- Why didn’t he just let Bloom drown? Problem solved. But no, he’s gotta have his “moment”, his “villain speech”, his “villain honor”. Bullshit. And in the end when she became too strong for him to defeat, he was doing anything but being honorable. The hypocrisy.

- Okay, but to be fair it wasn’t Icy’s fault that they decided they’d won and Bloom turned her back on the battle.

- Holy shit, he just exploded like that! I still can’t understand how he’s so powerful and keeps getting more power. Really, how did they even defeat him? Oh, that’s right, the writers completely tore him down. Jeez, almost makes sense.

- Oh, no, poor Layla! I think that is one of the cruelest things anyone has ever done in the series. And it is, of course, directed at Layla. (Yes, I am looking at the fact that Ogron stole her chance to save Nabu and saved a flower with that magic instead.) (Damn, they’re all so short compared to Valtor.)

3x06:

- Stella somehow got away with using the pixies again. I don’t know how she keeps doing it but damn. That should qualify as skills.

- It is very sweet of them to hold Layla and help her but I think they should’ve offered a more... extensive hold on her. What I mean here is... Story time. We did some exercises in Cognitive Psychology since our teacher said that there’s a high chance we’ll be working with people with sensory disability. So she separated us into pairs and made one of us close our eyes and trust the other to lead them through a course of obstacles. And I have to tell you that I did not feel secure at all when I was only being held by the hand. Our teacher did something similar with us but it was her who was leading us and she had an arm around my shoulders PLUS holding my hand and it felt much better and safer. So what I’m saying with this is that Layla is most certainly freaking out here and she is very brave for not showing it (probably because she doesn’t want to be a burden) and also making steps on her own in her attempt to reach Tressa. That is absolutely impressive and we should all be proud of her. And she’s also ready to fight. She deserves all the hugs and love, and support in the world.

- I’m pretty sure that spell for breathing underwater undermines the whole Sirenix thing in some way but I don’t really remember what was up with that so I won’t be putting that in the plot holes column just yet.

- Flora is swimming like a little froggie. XD And Musa is swimming like a mermaid. Btw why do all the mermaids have this unnatural angle in their tales as if they have legs and have only put on a mermaid costume over them?

- And Stella finally fucked up. I am really curious what the hell she thought she could do. Go to Solaria and what? Get arrested? Not to mention that she was alone. Stella, honey, use those brain cells. They’re there for a reason. I know you want to help but this isn’t the way.

- Since when do corals grow so fast? Calcium carbonate can’t just multiply like that. Get your facts straight, writers. I guess you could explain this with magic but the way it is animated makes the coral look like it’s seaweeds. It looks soft and fabricy instead of solid as it actually should be.

- Aaand Layla is kidnapped. She’s probably terrified at this point. Poor baby needs a hug and months of therapy.

- I don’t understand why you need bravery to cut through the bars of a cell but okay. Attacking a kraken does, in fact, require bravery, though.

- Let’s cause a cave in, kids! It will be fun. And the chance of dying is just about, oh, I don’t know, BIG!

- Why didn’t Bloom make the stupid shortcut sooner? It would’ve been useful when they were running from the kraken.

- Omg, Imma cry. It’s Enchantix time! Despite everything she’s been through, Layla chose to use the healing magic on the queen. Question though, couldn’t they just... wait until the next sunset to heal her too? Or was it a one-time thing. I think the Bulgarian dub (so RAI) said it was a special sunset that only happened once a year or something like that. Which made more sense tbh.

- That line in the end kills me, though. Layla sounds like she’s lost all hope. Poor baby! You can’t really blame her. But did her parents learn about this? Why didn’t they try to get someone on Tides to heal her? Surely her mom or someone else should’ve known about the fairy powder.

3x07:

- Another realm that will have to get acquainted with clouds. But damn, what a team they make. (Also, all the realms that are designed after Asian cultures are always so... harmonic... At least they were before Valtor.)

- The moment when Layla heals herself with her fairy dust is so powerful! And Griselda was so happy!

- Eraklyon is 1000 years old? I feel like that is little, but at the same time a lot. Idk.

- Icy was so mad. Is that some jealousy I’m detecting here? (Also, Stormy’s face at Darcy’s suggestion that Valtor may be crushing on Bloom, I can’t. She even had sort of a shudder run through her, lol.) But still, brave to yell at him like that considering how much more powerful than her he is. The Trix are the epitome of “I do what I want” and I love it.

- It’s the defense system! Idk why I like it so much but I do.

- Why do I feel like Stella and Griselda have sass matches in every class Griselda teaches? Lol, I want to witness those. They’re bound to be epic. But also, why store so many important and powerful spells in a school full of inexperienced students and risk all their well-being? This just doesn’t make any fucking sense. Again.

- Why do I have a feeling that it isn’t a good idea to let students arrange the tomes in the restricted vault?

- You see, this is why you don’t let them organize those books. Because they accidentally release a monster in the library. And of course they’re gonna send Layla, who is currently their strongest member, on lookout duty instead of having her deal with the monster with her Enchantix. At least they were smart enough to protect the books. Well, at least they learned that books can hurt you. In more than one way.

- Here comes the bullshit with Diaspro. Just let her move on from Sky gdi! Also, I love how she wasn’t really bothered by the fact that Valtor just walked into her room like that. Yeah, she was raging at him to get out but did she even blink at the fact that he managed to get in there at all? No? Why would that surprise her, right? She’s all busy being bitchy so that doesn’t even register.

- Stella and Layla have a tough case on their hands. Poor Tune. She looks like she can’t handle this anymore. But I think Bloom is the one at the biggest disadvantage (though, walking with a single book on your head isn’t actually that hard, come on). But she actually managed to master enough stuff in such a short time. And they’re going to the party. (Not that that will end well but regardless.)

- I love how Bloom didn’t even react to the fact that Faragonda knew her parents and hadn’t told her all this time. I would’ve at least asked why. But again, details just don’t register for these guys.

3x08:

- Why is it that in Bloom’s dreams it is always her friends who are taunting her. Your friends taunting you or abandoning you every time you dream about them is not really normal. (They do draw a lot of dream sequences, though, and I gotta say that they are pretty straightforward, very direct and less symbolic which... fair enough, but dreams aren’t always like that. Also, all the dreams they’ve drawn are logical meaning that everyone is doing things they could realistically do in real life and transitions from places are also smooth and physically possible. Most dreams aren’t like that because the part of the brain that is responsible for logic isn’t active during sleep. Which is why I’ve been in a different town and then walked straight into my room at home without any transition whatsoever. And yes, I get how more simplistic dreams would make sense considering it is a kids show but dreams are of special interest to me so you get this psychological/writer rant-y tangent. This may also be due to the fact that I recently watched a killer dream sequence (not quite dream, it was a hallucination but a “guided” one and it was essentially following dream logic so...) and I am still hung up on that.)

(- A sidenote here: I think that the reason Layla wasn’t in the dream is that her planet is also facing the possibility of destruction currently and that makes Bloom feel like Layla understands her even if she already got her Enchantix. And that was why she was both sleeping on Layla’s lap and not seeing her in the dream.)

- Bloom already met Sky’s parents. I mean, I get how she’d be worried around those two but they already liked her in season 2. So why is that here?

- Stella is so done. You know, I would’ve preferred it if they’d let her focus on the fact that her father is under a spell rather than on her title being given to Chimera. They’re making her more worried about that rather than about her father. (At least Layla is showing off her dress. She didn’t get to do it last time.)

- Oh, god, it’s drama o’clock. Seriously, he was just dancing with you and telling you he loves you. Who changes their mind like that? He’s been with her for over a year now. Why would he just do this out of nowhere without any warning signs? All of this is just so stupid.

- Yes, thank you, Stella. Please do go ask for an explanation. And Layla being angry for her friend too. Good.

- Finally someone realized he’s spelled. Of course he is. Why would he call them witches otherwise?

- Valtor has an interesting way of spying on people. I don’t agree that Diaspro will fit in with the Trix and they shouldn’t have reversed her season 2 character development like that. When will they learn, really?

- Layla’s morphix barrier is so powerful.

- “Even if you are spelled”? What is that if doing there? Of course he is spelled! He’s acting like a rabid dog and I think for two years now you would’ve noticed if that was his personality.

- Poor Flora. They had to get the dragons. But aww, Brandon is so ready to do what only a responsible best friend can and smack some sense into Sky.

- Why did the pilot listen to Cassandra? I know she’s acting like she’s queen but she’s not. You can’t just abandon your king like that no matter who else is giving you orders, what?

- When exactly did the spell on Radius break? When Cassandra abandoned him or when he saw Stella lying unconscious?

- That was so brave of her, just standing against the dragon and not caring about the danger, only about her father. And now she’s got her Enchantix. I always loved Stella’s Enchantix. It’s so pretty. Look at her! (Where’s my Enchantix song, though? Now I am absolutely certain that they’re showing RAI dub in Bulgaria. I want my song back. :/ I love it so much and I want it back!)

- (Okay, picking back up where I left off about half a year ago.)

3x09:

- I liked that they showed Bloom laughing at Kiko’s antics despite her being upset. It makes it more realistic than her just being sad all the time and not showing any other emotion.

- Why is it that what happened on Sparx seems to not be general knowledge? I mean, the whole planet died! There must have been a public statement out of the Council explaining what the hell happened and that the threat has been contained. Why does no one seem to know anything about that?

- I like the fact that there are bigger consequences of what happened on Eraklyon than just relationship drama. Makes this a lot more interesting.

- Look, I am not a fan of Bloom at all but I wouldn’t have wanted her removed from the school. I mean, Alfea is Valtor’s target with or without her anyway to give a logical argument at the very least. And she also deserves to be protected if Valtor is after her and not kicked out to deal with it as best as she can. It’s not fair to want her out of there just because there is someone out there to get her. They should be concerned with protecting her along with all the other students instead of trying to feed her to the wolves. Not to mention that if they want Bloom out, they should also want Faragonda out of there since she is a target of Valtor’s as well. But no one dares say that, right? I am just so over this!

- Why are we doing the voice over again?

- Vanessa and Mike are the most precious parents ever and I love them so much! (Pls, don’t ruin this with the live action series.) And also, when will Bloom stop acting like Sky has any control of his behavior? I am glad that Vanessa brought up that time Darkar brainwashed Bloom. A good way to slap her in the face with the truth delicately.

- Aww, Brandon is being such a great friend! And Stella is doing her best to be a supportive BFF as well.

- I agree with Riven on changing the operation’s name. And he was being a bit of a jerk there. Especially considering that he has been in Sky’s shoes as a brainwashed puppy for Darcy. Though, that might actually be what is driving his words. Maybe he doesn’t want to admit that he was outsmarted and spelled by Darcy and that is why he is maintaining that Sky might be choosing all of that of his own volition. (Though, that might be a bit too deep for the writers.) And he did agree to drive them, after all, so he must be saying the truth about not wanting Bloom to get disappointed.

- Why did they have to reverse every last bit of Diaspro’s character development?!

- “Is this a ‘no parking’ zone?” XDDDD

- Brandon truly is the best bf and BFF and I cannot stress this enough. I love him!

- Well, took you awfully long to put two and two together. But at least this drama is about to close. Thankfully, since I don’t think I could have taken much more of this.

- Of course, they get caught. Did that punishment ever happen? I mean, considering what is coming in the next episode, I don’t think we ever saw any consequences for that.

- I get why the news of an arranged marriage can be distressing but I think that Layla was a bit too quick with that “my life will be ruined” evaluation. She could’ve tried meeting Nabu at least before deciding it wasn’t going to work out. Especially considering that it was working out (until they fucking killed him off).

3x10

- (I will probably be talking a lot more about Griffin and Valtor than is necessary. What can I say? When your OTP only gets about five scenes together, you have to make the most of it.)

- Aww, poor Stella, feeling so worried for Brandon! But seriously, why didn’t they think of checking the intergalactic news or whatever? Shouldn’t that be... idk, their first move? Even I thought of that and I don’t even live in that universe. Come on, guys! Use those brain cells!

- Valtor is such a primadonna, I can’t even. Yeah, how dare this place he has completely taken over and pushed to the verge of destruction be so lame and not entertaining? Lol at the line about the spell protecting Cloud Tower from dark magic, though. It will never not be funny.

- Sidenote: Is Griffin the only person in the universe who’s named Griffin? I know that the fact that it’s Cloud Tower would make him think it was her but it could still be another witch named Griffin. You’d think that in the whole universe there would be another witch sharing that name.

- Okay, but that scene made the witches look kinda incompetent. I know they are just students still but they must know that shapeshifting is possible and in that case you shouldn’t invite animals inside either because they could turn out to be the menacing wizard that’s threatening the entire magical dimension. Just saying.

- God, I really hate it when they do things like that. Can we have magic users actually sensing magic and not being caught completely by surprise when someone teleports in their room? Especially if they are the headmistress of the most prestigious school for witches? I mean, she is supposed to be powerful. She should have sensed him or something. I am not saying that that should have given her more of a fighting chance but she should have at least felt his magic. Considering that they used to be partners.

- How do Ediltrude and Zarathustra know Valtor? I’m just curious for more backstory.

- This show has a dreadful way of including flashbacks. I mean, Griffin should know damn well what the hell Valtor’s talking about but they couldn’t find a better way to segue the flashback into the episode so we get that super cringy line instead. I would’ve also really appreciated it if those flashbacks were less stylized. Although - and now I am going on a Griffin x Valtor rant despite having said this before - the way it is animated it looks like they did convergence. And Valtor saying that they were unstoppable when they combined their powers supports that. And all of that, in turn, supports the idea that they were together. Especially since Griffin changed her mind about the whole thing which would mean that their interests in a magical plan weren’t all that aligned and you need sync for a convergence. (And who would prefer the idea of them being just work partners when you can have the moral dilemma of love vs conscience instead?) Anyway, yeah, really not a fan of that part with the snakes because it doesn’t tell you shit about what actually happened and I highly doubt that the Ancestral Witches conjured serpents to chase her. It could have been a good way to show once again how horrible they were but they just wanted to cop out of actually putting any effort into any of this.

- Now that I am done with that rant, I just want to say again how in love I am with young Griffin’s design and especially her hair. It is so long and purple and I just can’t! Also, headcanon that that flower hairpin was a gift from Faragonda. Also also, Darcy could be a spitting image of young Griffin. Just an observation.

- Of course, the magical barrier also protects from rain.

- Oh, boy, here comes another rant. “Why are they attacking us?” Seriously?!?!?! And that coming from Winx who were on Tides and have had two of their closest people brainwashed by Valtor? I mean, are you really that fucking stupid?!?!?!?!?! How hard can it be to put two and two together?!?!?! Honestly, I am so done with all of this!

- Well, that barrier didn’t hold up even for a minute. I know Valtor had all the witches brainwashed but how powerful can they be? Isn’t that barrier supposed to protect them from big threats? It gave way as if it were a house of cards.

- I love the way Faragonda just blasted Valtor through all of those trees although I wish they would have done more with that battle. They could have shown some more advanced spells instead of Valtor and Faragonda just blasting each other. Yeah, he turned her into a tree but we never actually saw how any of that happened. That could have been an epic battle if they had decided to show more of it.

- Yeah, this makes perfect sense. The barrier that all the teachers made together with an ancient spell didn’t hold up but the one Palladium put up with SOME of the fairies is stronger. How does that have any logic? The teachers are supposed to be a lot more powerful and therefore create a stronger barrier. I am so done with all of this nonsense.

- Poor Galatea. Though, I must agree with Icy that she is obviously new since she thought she could defeat the Trix by herself. But her idea to send a message to Musa was good! The one to run instead of fly out of there - less so.

- Yeah, Tecna just stopped a convergence between Icy and Stormy on her own. How does that make any sense?! Winx are way too powerful for the Trix to defeat them even without their Enchantix and none of this helps the tension of the season. I mean, can we have some proportional powers in order to actually have any stakes? They were so much better at that in season 1.

- Darcy, I love you, baby, but how could you set a library on fire? I am in pain. And also amazed by the stupidity once again. Why would a fire on fire attack put out the fucking fire, Bloom?! How does that make any sense?! Oh, and Galatea’s decision to rush back for the books was absolutely fucking idiotic. I get that she wasn’t rational at the moment and probably felt guilty for the whole thing but come on! This is a whole room of books! How did she think she could save them all?!

- Musa’s Enchantix is beautiful but I am not sure it was worth all the bullshit they did just to let her have it. Not to mention that there was absolutely no damage from the fire at all. And, of course, fairy dust can just generate new wings. Yes, that makes perfect sense, why are you asking? (Okay, I am actually going to give that a pass because fairy dust and fairy wings are both magic (and the dust comes from the Enchantix wings).)

3x11:

- I am actually kinda amused by the choice to start off the episode with that shot of the grounds of Alfea smoking after the battle.

- “Lucy, why did you attack us?” REALLY?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! How much more stupid manufactured drama are they gonna shove in this?!?!?!... Oh, wait. That is so that we can have Mirta go to Cloud Tower bc that’s a plot device. Nvm it doesn’t make any fucking sense for any of the fairies not to know why the attack happened, especially since Faragonda is missing so they must all know about her battle with Valtor and that he’s behind everything. And then she even asks if Valtor made the witches do it? Well, of course he did, you absolute moron! I cannot with this anymore.

- Lol, Valtor just feeding the Trix’s fight and giving them stupid assignments to keep them off his back is kinda hilarious but it would have been better if they weren’t so ready to fall for it. Come on, they can do better and everyone knows it!

- Yeah, “an unbelievable battle” (Valtor vs Faragonda)... that we saw nothing of. Thanks, writers!

- I swear, the only reason Locket is less annoying than Bloom is that she’s actually smaller in size (and the writers don’t hyperfocus on her).

- Flora’s powers are really cool but why was there so much wind during that spell? It looked a bit too violent for Flora with the way all the trees were bending so intensely. And the trees were scared? Aww, that’s... a lot of things, actually. But anyway.

- If Mirta was going in Cloud Tower, why was she walking away from it? The positioning in this scene makes no sense.

- They literally just wasted almost an entire minute on the pixies that were doing nothing of importance. They could have used that time for something actually meaningful and interesting.

- Okay, I always thought that the green (bluish) and purple monsters were Ediltrude and Zarathustra but I don’t think I have seen anyone else catch on to that. I mean, it would make sense because Valtor’s mark turned the mermaids on Tides into monsters as well. But on the other hand, the witches of Cloud Tower were also marked and didn’t turn into monsters. Though, I bet that was just so we could have the drama of “why are they attacking us?” when the fairies recognized them because they might not have if the witches had been turned into monsters.

- Well, the Trix stood up to Valtor about that guard duty at least. That’s more like them.

- “she claims to be a fairy born into a witch’s body”? I never understood that. Mirta has a fairy form. So if she has a fairy form but is born in a witch’s body... What’s the difference between a fairy’s body and a witch’s one if not the fairy form? Which she obviously has?!?!?!

- Yeah, a door just opens by itself and Lucy is right behind it and Mirta falls for that. I mean, doesn’t the level of convenience tip you off that it’s a trap? Basic logic, people! Is that too much to ask for?

- Here they had to start doing the convergence before Valtor’s spell ruined it and Bloom touched Stella with no problem but later it turns out that Valtor just blocked their ability to touch. Yeah, right. I am not buying that. It wasn’t animated in support of it, sorry.

- Oh, wow. They even managed to hit Valtor with an attack! I’m amazed. However, they’re not anywhere even close to being on his level of power so, again, how did they ever beat him?

- Oh, I noticed the pentagram now! I never saw it before.

- Well, of course, Griffin is trying to escape. What did you think? That she’ll sit idly by? He knows her and he already knew she would try to escape as evidenced earlier. Why is he surprised?

- Okay, so “blocked our ability to touch each other” is actually “blocked our ability to hold hands” which is different. Just saying. And also, since when do they need to touch to do convergence? They were doing convergence without touching just fine in season 2. I maintain that this whole thing with the convergence is a load of crap because they had no idea how to put them in danger otherwise.

- What are these mummy hands and where are they coming from. And of course, Mirta shows up in a last second save. You know, I can see now how she fell for that trap earlier. Everything in this series is too convenient.

- If Valtor could do the reflective spell on Griffin’s cell door, why didn’t he just go for it the first time to eliminate the headaches she caused him with her escape attempts? Oh, my god, does anyone in this show have any brains?!

- They could have tried the fairy dust to save Griffin in this ep instead of waiting for 3x14. But again, no fucking brain cells, man.

- When will they learn that if a thing attacks them right now, there’s a big chance it was spelled by Valtor? I am really so over this. And “the old one”? Really? She’s not that old.

- Yeah, Mirta isn’t an Alfea student. Why would she care to go look for Faragonda along with Winx? We can just send her home, right? No problem.

- Hey, that’s Nabu.

(- Okay, enough about this episode. I gave it enough time and nerves.)

3x12:

- Lucy was spying on the pixies? I have never noticed that. And she turned herself into a snake? Okay, that was really cool. How have I never noticed it?

- I am so over Valtor and the Trix’s bullshit. They are all so transparent, it’s ridiculous.

- Well, that’s one of the few times we’ve seen Stella’s ring lately. She used it a lot more back in season 1 and I have started missing it.

- Yeah, Flora’s sister is not Rose. She’s Miele. Sorry, 4kids.

- Why did Flora ask her obviously-too-little-for-any-of-this sister to talk to the elders instead of her parents?!

- How did Stormy create harpies out of lightning? Was this some sort of Frankenstein thing, except she didn’t even have a body to run electricity through and just materialized the entire damn harpies out of her magic? WTF?!

- Lol, Stormy’s harpies first went for Musa? Yeah, it’s obvious they’re Stormy’s. XD (Why does that harpy look like Lucy?)

- No one can fly through the winds. 3 secs later - Stella, Layla and Musa are flying through the winds. *facepalm* They aren’t the only fairies in the whole magical dimension to have Enchantix, you know? Surely, there are also fairies with Enchantix on Lynphea, which means that there are people who can fly through the winds. Why does this show insist on contradicting itself so often?! (The talk about the Enchantix wings was cool, though.)

- Stormy really needs some anger management.

- My first thought when I saw the sage of Lynphea was “Lady Gaga” XDDD (Also, Alfea, Lynphea... chill, guys.)

- The story of the Black Willow has always been my favorite part of the lore for the Winx world! I loved it ever since I first started watching the show and it’s still holding up!

- Why is Darcy so behind on what Icy and Stormy are doing?

- Aww, Flora is so careful with her sister! And she knows her so well! She totally knew that Miele would want the ladybug to go faster. She’s a great big sis!

- Omg, a cat fight between Icy and Darcy? It’s hilariously bad but I gotta say, they probably weren’t trying to hurt each other truly since they mostly refrained from using magic. And I love the fact that they realized they are fighting over a guy and it’s stupid. Plus, Stormy really isn’t so bad at all and only needs some anger management. Out of the three of them, she always seems to value the presence of the others the most. Just... not in a “friends friends” way. XD

- Bloom was really going to just touch the water and totally forget what they were told and also turn herself back into a kid. Nice one!

- Ouch, poor Stella. She ran face first into that column. But I gotta say that I love how both Bloom’s face and intonation switch to “fuck you” even though she’s frozen to the wall.

- Hey, that thing about Griffin’s Nature Studies class kinda aligns with my headcanon that she loves plants. If you know how to make an environment thrive, you’ll also know how to ruin it. And of course, Darcy aced that. She just loves to ruin stuff and I love her. Also, loving the Trix much more now that they’re back to being a totally evil team!

- Holy shit! Flora just attacked Darcy physically! I am speechless! I did not see this coming. This episode is truly delivering on the action! It is much better than the previous one and the threat is more real. I like it!

- Oh, damn! Flora is really mad to dish out plants that are trying to swallow them! Oof, this is getting really intense and I am loving every second!

- Why are they talking underwater?

- Omg, poor Miele. She thought her big sis would die. Honestly, the Trix deserved to have their butts kicked here just for doing that to her. A sidenote, though - Why do the Enchantix transformations start up with makeup change? That is hardly a priority, seriously!

- Miele should have gotten her Enchantix, too, for taking that blow for Flora. Which btw is stupid because if the blast was supposed to “finish off” Flora, Miele should have been hurt badly but she was just fine.

- Well, of course saving Faragonda is up to Winx, THE STUDENTS! Why would any of the teachers actually try to save their boss?! That would be ludicrous.

3x13:

- Oh, so Saladin is three years older than Faragonda (and Griffin)? Also, “a social call”? Plus, the way Faragonda was talking about his past visits? Yeah, that was not a friendship when they were young. (But I just burst out laughing at Faragonda’s expression when she said she had to wake up Layla. She looked so terrified and it was just a tad over the top for her specifically.)

- Stella was dreaming Brandon had wings and they were flying together? Aww, that is so romantic!

- Aww, Layla and her dad are going to fight together! That is so precious! I love that some of the adults are finally taking action here. It was about damn time!

- The Trix look positively upset by Valtor’s idea to just let the mermaids die. It may be because in a way they are also his minions and if he has no problem leaving his minions to die, then they aren’t too safe either. Though, it seems like they want the people to live but they don’t care that the planet will die. It’s a little weird.

- Stella went to rodeo camp? Man, they really do have cowboys on Solaria, huh?

- Rescue vine? But aww, the way Flora caught Stella was really cute!

- Lol, I guess the Trix aren’t satisfied with the home cinema special “Watching your mortal enemies get obliterated” and wanted in on the action! Well, in a manner of speaking, Valtor saved them by keeping them from going to Tides (although it didn’t get destroyed but they thought it would so it kinda counts). Guess, they’re still useful to him.

- Omg, Layla and her dad teaming up is absolutely great! We needed to see more moments like that and it was totally possible considering that a half of their fathers (counting Oritel) are warriors. And I love that Teredor thought of freeing the mermaids from Valtor’s spell. I thought Winx would have thought of that by now but apparently they still can’t get used to the fact that they have fairy dust now and it can remove Valtor’s mark.

- I still don’t get the need for a portal to Omega. There is obviously another way in because the Trix weren’t dropped in through the portal on Tides. So why leave a portal? This is stupid. Also, I knew the scrolls would get sucked in. It was just too stupid for them to pass up on.

- Okay, it was sweet that Bloom and Layla were ready to sacrifice themselves but why was Tecna able to go near the portal when they weren’t? Also, why did she get her Enchantix? Faragonda said they had to sacrifice themselves for someone from their own planets. Tecna isn’t from Tides!

- Musa seemed the most upset, though. Not that the others weren’t. But Musa was the one that flew in in an attempt to help Tecna and then just banged on the ground like that. Poor babies. All of them. (At least the Trix are happy... for now.)

Part 2 is here.

[normal-thoughts-official]

Ok so some of your content implies immortal Alec and I was wondering how you thought it would happen? I've read a few things where Clary creates a rune/uses the alliance rune to make him immortal (but I don't think you're a real big fan of her) so I wanna hear your thoughts and also maybe Magnus's reaction

hoooooo boy i am GLAD YOU ASKED because i have a whole ass au that i have like. basically all the plot down but my stupid brain can’t turn into a fic so i guess im gonna shove it here and GOODBYE FOREVER 

(also, about the clary thing: it’s complicated diaushduaih because i kind of really hate her in canon but i also accepted fanon clary into my life? mostly because i unfortunately can’t help but ship clizzy, but anyway, i kinda disassociate clary from canon. so i’m not really against the idea that she makes a rune or something, but i do think this idea is more interesting. or maybe it isn’t but then i guess that’s your personal problem because well, you did ask lol im jk btw)

okay so i have one word for you: seelies. hot diggity damn do i fucking love seelies or what

so you know how seelies are the offspring of demons and angels? and there’s this whole thing about demon blood and angel blood not mixing well at all? well, i was thinking, how the fuck does that work. and i came to the conclusion that whatever stronger parent they had’s blood would like, tame the other or whatever, you know? but then what if they had equally strong - or equally weak - parents? like a child of an archangel and a prince of hell, what the fuck happens then? or alternatively the child of some angel janitor and a minor demon, would they even have enough magic?

so i figured if that happens it’s like as if a seelie has an autoimmune disease - their body is fighting itself constantly. for those who have very strong parents, this means that they are decaying quickly, and usually won’t be able to like, survive for long if they don’t do something. for those who have weaker parents, it usually means they’re weak

so these seelies are actually born mortal, and for the ones with stronger parents, pretty much with a lifespan of like, a few days before they end up dying due to the autoimmunity. so what happens for those is, they have this Cool Ritual that makes them immortal and solves all their problems

basically what happens is: seelies are one with nature, correct? but they’re also, like, individuals. so they have their own magic, their own energy, their own life source. right? so what happens to these seelies is, they tie this life/magic source of theirs to that of the universe. they basically become one with the universe fully, instead of just guarding it and being connected to it, they are literally tied to it, so much so that their magic and the world’s magic is one and the same. basically their life is fed by the same source that feeds all life, even mortal ones, and that source is endless, so they become immortal. it’s not a cure per se, since it doesn’t really stop their blood from fighting itself, but it does solve the problem because it has endless energy to keep doing it. and after going through this magical ritual, they become basically the strongest seelies around, because they have access to very strong demonic and angelic magic and the like, natural source of the world. so that’s pretty cool

and this whole thing is like. absolutely top secret, no one but the seelies knows how it works or even that it exists. especially because the seelies used to be basically closed off to outside influences, besides the very few representants they had going to the realms (like meliorn)

meliorn is one of those super powerful seelies, a child of an archangel and a prince of hell, who has gone through this ritual. which is one of the many reasons they’re, you know, a super powerful and respected Seelie Knight, sent to deal directly with shadowhunters and the highest threats they have to deal with, all by themself. no one would be crazy to go against them, because they are extremely powerful. it’s also why they had, to seelie standarts, been given a slap to the wrist for taking clary to twi - i mean, they didn’t even lose their position in a super trusted and highly important job, really? like yes they were tortured and don’t get me wrong, that was fucking awful dude, but i feel like the seelie queen could have been a lot more cruel, could have taken away their job (it would make sense to since they basically committed treason by seelie law) or exiled them, or maybe even killed them. but they got “just” a physical punishment. that’s. weird to say the least

so that’s why, because meliorn actually has a lot of leverage and importance. they have a rare condition, a lot of power that most seelies can’t dream of, and they are extremely smart and have knowledge of the culture of our realm, which most seelies don’t since their realm is closed to outsiders. the seelies can’t afford to lose them. and they know that, too, which is why they went so hard to help clary and take her to twi in the first place - they knew that they would be punished, but that it wouldn’t actually risk their position, or their influence

anyway! with the previous seelie queen gone, i like to think that meliorn becomes the new seelie queen (random hc that no one asked for: since i refuse to believe that seelies have any concept of gender, i think the position is called “seelie queen” because outsiders took a look at the first seelie queen, who’s very cis female-presenting, and were like “ah, is that your queen?” and to seelies that basically translates to just “monarch” in whatever their language is, so they were just like yeah sure. and so the position is called that and they don’t even know that it’s supposed to be gendered and that to outsiders meliorn would probably be called seelie king, they are just like “i am the new seelie queen” and no one of course is going to fucking question why they didn’t gender the position, especially considering how fragile relations with the seelie realm are) or at least is given like, an important position or something. like tbh i don’t stan monarchy so :/ but anyway the point is, meliorn is super powerful, they are super smart, they have knowledge of the mundane, shadowhunter and etc cultures - and after the whole previous fiasco with the jonathan thing and the seelies having been basically kept from the other realms, despite the fact that as parts of nature, seelies should be able to wander between them as they please, i think they would want to start a radically new external policy, and who better than meliorn to help them do it? so yeah i think they would choose meliorn to be their queen. besides, they love the seelies more than anything. they might have disobeyed seelie law, but that was to like, save a whole ass realm lmao, but they’ve always had the seelies best interests at heart, hell, they were willing to be tortured twice for them. so i think they would be well liked, and want this new position, and treasure it not as a display of power, but as an opportunity to lead the people they love into better times

DISCLAIMER: i’m not saying that seelies bad or whatever, okay. tbh i do understand perfectly why they would want to close off their realm with the very real threat that shadowhunters presented, and i wouldn’t be dying to integrate with shadowhunter society either, especially considering that their idea of integration was just genocide and assimilation and the destruction of their culture. okay? but in the process, the seelie law and realm became cruel, first and foremost, towards seelies themselves, and the banishment of them from other realms is. very bad. and after the whole jonathan and valentine thing, the shadow society as a whole is being reconstructed, so what better time to try and create new alliances that won’t implicate into attempts of assimilation, etnocide and so on. it’s a new bet, basically, one that is only possible because shadowhunter society is also in shambles after the near destruction of the world, and this means that seelies have more leverage to try and build something new without yielding to them. and it’s a SLOW process, one that takes years and always has the seelies best interest’s, not the shadowhunter’s or anyone else’s, at heart, okay? and it implicates in shadowhunters giving them many concessions, and the strongest alliances between them are and will always be with the other downworlders - this is also something they are working on, making the different downworlder cultures closer and stronger politically, aiding each other mutually and helping each other reach their political goals. together, the downworlder societies are unbeatable, and the shadowhunters basically have no choice but to accept their demands, especially after so much destruction. plus, at least some of them are slightly more willing to. but it’s mostly a vicious political battle that takes all of them years, not to say decades, to settle

but the fact that the seelies are willing to do it and getting stronger relationships with warlocks and vampires and werewolves (and hoo here i come with my “maia and raphael start a vampires/werewolves alliance” hc because look that rivalry thing is STUPID and i want to see downworlder societies coming closer together and healing after being very obviously pitted against each other due to shadowhunter supremacy) is also what, well, allows the whole thing to happen. they are powerful, and the shadowhunters have no way of taking them on a war, much less now that their forces are well, fragile to say the least

in short! they have leverage now. and that makes it possible for them to try a new external policy that wasn’t in the table before, and their main interest in doing that is helping themselves, because seelies are tired of living in constant fear in a basically military state where they’re confined to the same realm despite them being supposed to be guardians of all of them. like that’s gotta affect their mental health, if they’re one with nature, wouldn’t being kept away from it be like being isolated from your loved ones? isn’t that deprivation? so like. this is about them, not the shadowhunters and how great their society is and how much they want to be a part of them, okay

anyway! so the seelies have designed a plan (because under meliorn’s rule everyone participates in political decisions because hmmm *checks notes* i said so) to make stronger alliances with the other downworlders. the first thing they offer them all is a little token of alliance. to vampires, they offer the possibility of becoming a dayligher - something they can easily do with their angel magic, not to mention, you know, blood -; to werewolves, magical amulets that help them keep their wolf under control, not turning without meaning to and being able to live a relatively normal life if they so choose; and to warlocks, knowledge of seelie magic

and of course magnus in particular eats that shit right UP because he’s a naturally curious person and a genius and a physichist and holy shit i love him so fucking much. seelies have so much more knowledge of physics and magic and their natural workings, so much so that it makes him dizzy because hell, the possibilities, and all the shit he can learn, okay. all this knowledge that was currently being kept away, and the warlocks get to learn about it (or well, part of it. obviously the seelies aren’t going to go around spilling EVERYTHING to them all at once before they even know if their token is accepted and whatnot. but they do teach those who are interested a lot of stuff, maybe create some sort of seelie-warlock magical school/course/programme/look you GET IT to strengthen their relationships as a whole?? boy i eat that shit UP). he’s just losing his mind here

super cute to think about alec coming home to find a very disheveled magnus surrounded by books and notes, hair and clothes rumpled and just a whole mess as he excitedly reads and writes and runs around to get a different book and draw parallels, okay. and alec smiles and has to be like “have you eaten?” and magnus looks up from his books all suddenly like “hm? oh hello alexander, i didn’t see you there”, “have you eaten?” “i don’t remember” “okay, i’ll make you something, you can keep reading” and magnus smiling all like “thank you” and diving right back into the notes in Super Hyperfocus + Hyperfixation Mode as he figures out, like, a thousand new spells (obviously warlocks can’t use seelie magic because they come from different sources they don’t have access to, but like, the knowledge is enough for them to create so much new stuff okay), btw. but anyway, ANYWAY

and to shadowhunters the seelies offer, i dont know, a soggy cheeto or something faiojdsajdasj look it’s not like the seelies owe them so they basically offer a truce and maybe authorization to explore certain parts of the seelie realm in small guarded groups? i dont know, in exchange for them and all other downworlders having a power and a vote in the new shadowhunter laws, and the whole proccess of reconstruction of their society. and the shadowhunters agree, after vicious infighting of course 

so anyway years pass and things are blossoming, downworlder societies are stronger than ever and phucking florishing dude, shadowhunters suck less, seelies finally get to wander around like they’ve been wanting to for centuries, there’s been some neato cultural exchange, magnus is still figuring out spells and shit at an alarming rate to anyone who doesn’t know what a goddamn genius he is. and shadowhunter society is- well, changing, but there’s a kind of cultural war going on, you know, with such a strong shift in paradigm so sudden. the changes in schooling and shit that were brought on by the new accords kind of ensure that the newest generations are getting a very different view and education, but there’s still a lot of infighting from shadowhunters who want to undo all that hard work, which is of course still fragile because it’s only starting

and alec of course takes a primary role in that fight, being the greatest representative of the progressive shadowhunters’ (?) and their downworlder allies’ interests, inside shadowhunter society. like don’t get me wrong it’s not like he’s leading the downworlders, the downworlders are doing all that hard work so they can get their own destiny back into their own hands and not be led by shadowhunters anymore, but within shadowhunter society, alec is a leader and their greatest ally slash eye in the inside, defending the policies that downworlders create and letting them know what is going on inside of the clave. basically preparing a cultural war. you get it

so naturally alec is a threat to conservative shadowhunters and they’re trying to strip him off his runes all the time, and there’s even been a few (quickly failed) assassination attempts, you know, the whole. drama. and he plays an important role for this whole game, and magnus has been studying the whole immortality ritual thing, and yeah, the seelies offer to put him through the ritual

it’s a matter of political leverage (and okay maybe a personal favor to meliorn’s dear friend magnus, but like, mostly political leverage). first of all, making alec immortal gives him a lot of power within shadowhunter society, not unlike meliorn and being the child of super powerful parents. second of all, no need to worry about assassination attempts, they can’t fucking kill him! third of all, clear message - alec has powerful allies, way more powerful than the shadowhunters can dream of, and if shadowhunter society is willing to create real, lasting equality with downworlders, they have a lot to gain. if not, they have a lot to lose, because the seelies have literal power over life and death. also, alec better watch his step, too, because, you know. he owes them that one. they are not stupid, they know alec has been looking for a way of becoming immortal for years now, know how much he desires this. it’s also about keeping his loyalty, and making sure he doesn’t forget, he’s supposed to be their ally too

and there are a lot of like, security things in place. alec will not be able to see or hear anything, he will not be taught how the ritual works (not even warlocks know that yet), he will not be taught about its forces, it will happen in the seelie realm and he will go alone, and no other shadowhunter will be granted that unless the seelies themselves offer at a later time, you know, etc etc. they list off things and precautions he has to agree to for like, half an hour, and honestly they could have added “alec will have to eat a piece of the moon” and alec would be like “okay fine great let’s do this”

magnus is fucking terrified

first, because well, they have never attempted to do that on someone who isn’t a seelie, and while they have figured out a pretty damn good understanding of how it works and are pretty sure it should go smoothly, there’s no way to actually tell. it might not work. alec might regret it. does he really want this? to become immortal? he doesn’t have to say yes, and magnus will not be upset, because he would never, ever demand such a huge sacrifice from him-

and alec’s like “nope i want this let’s go” which only terrifies magnus more because it feels like he’s being impulsive, you know? and he doesn’t know if there’s any turning back from this. but alec is like “magnus, when have i ever been impulsive? i’m not impulsive, i’m just sure of what i want, and there’s no reason to dwell on it because that’s already done.” alec is an expert at dwelling on things, and when he makes a decision, it’s because that part has already been thoroughly done, with every single possible argument being exhausted and taken apart minuciously and careful. there’s no room for doubt anymore, because if there had even a spectre of it, alec would still be ruminating. he doesn’t make a decision until he’s sure, but by god, once he makes it, he is sure, and nothing will stop him

so he reassures magnus of that (“hey, look at me. i’m not doing this on a whim. i have been looking for something like this for years. i’ve given it a lot of thought. besides, the seelies reasoning is good, too; i do want to have the time to dedicate myself to these changes, to building a new society, and with that, i can do it. there’s so much i want to live and see and do, magnus. and i want to do it by your side, yes, always, forever, but it’s not just about that. this is my decision. i’m not doing it for you. you won’t owe me anything because of it. you won’t have to make it up for it. because i’m doing it for myself. okay?”) and magnus kind of chokes up and hugs him and cries because he’s so overwhelmed by everything, the fear and the adoration and the relief of knowing that alec isn’t doing this just because of him, because if he had, magnus would forever feel like he was ruining his life, like he was indebted, like he would have to make up for it. but alec wants this. truly. and he doesn’t have to- worry anymore, this constant weight in his head, that tells him this has an expiration date, you’re gonna lose him. look at how much time you’re wasting with all of this, he’ll be gone before you even notice. there’ll be no turning back, and you’ll regret it forever. and fuck it’s just- so much, okay

so alec hugs him and they repeat to each other, i love you, i love you, i love you, and the next day, alec accepts the seelies’ offer. 

and magnus is- fuck, terrified, because he can’t even go with him, can’t even watch. there’s nothing he can do but wait

but everything goes relatively smoothly and alec emerges from the seelie realm exactly as before, no change to be noted, not even when magnus scanned him with his magic - it’s all still there. still a shadowhunter, still the same runes, the same face, the same hazel eyes, the same smile and voice, and when he hugs and kisses magnus, it feels like just the same

and then i suppose alec can now, like, talk to trees or something, since he’s connected to the whole force of nature and whatnot. i don’t think he would be able to use magic, because like i said, he’s still the same and a shadowhunter so it’s more that his angelic magic is stronger? but he’s fucking immortal dude, and he can like talk to trees, which is at the very least funny as hell (cracky images of alec discussing with some shadowhunter asshole and he’s like, even your SUCCULENT is tired of you!! but i digress)

anyway the point is, it works both in the sense of immortal alec, baby! and the whole political leverage thing, and they basically revolutionize all of shadowhunter society and alec lives to see the results of that besides magnus, and meliorn is the greatest seelie queen ever, and the downworlder societies are all happy and blossoming and getting their best life, and everyone is happy, and the bigoted shadowhunters die and are hated by their own plants. the end

[curlzformetal]

Episode 12, Midnight Espionage

Okay, so first off, I will address dropping out from this for like five months. Uh, it happens…? Idk what ep I left off on typing up, but we’re gonna start back here for funsies. But I’m back!! With más reactiones! (Listen, u take Spanish for two years in high school and then. and then this happens.) So!! Episode 12!!

the whole plan,, is so goddamn smart. like how they talk throughout the ep is consistently considering all the angles, to steal the handwriting, to copy it, to do all this shit and,,, in any dnd campaign I’ve played all the people just want combat and it’s so nice to see dnd used in a ,,, varied environment i suppose? Idk I just love the (heh) espionage that goes down this ep, and it’s so goddamn cool.

another thing before the character breakdowns: the subtle,,, foreshadowing? That Marisha did w/o even thinking or knowing??? “We all think Matt’s managing three storylines but little known to us, he’s managing a fourth seCRET STORYLINE” and then shIT hits the FAN AT THE END OF THE EP and there’s,,, explosions and towers crumbling andAND AND PEOPLE. GETTING STRUCK BY L I GHTNING AND TURNED TO A SH. that,, was nice. everything went to shit but tbh I agree with Travis. “That went perfectly.” something is afoot my dudes…something is aFOOT.

okay so, we’ll start off w jester: fave moment was more a joint Nott and Jester moment. Nott asking Jester when they break into the attic if Jester wants to draw a mustache or a dick on the giant art piece…was priceless. I’ve mentioned that i really love their dynamic and that certainly holds true this time, and the jester is like… I think I studied this artist. And I?? Jester studied art?? I mean I used it makes sense but I,, can’t see Jester studying? Like I just don’t see it.

Speaking of Nott, the,, mage hand…mistake?? (Missed opportunity?) With the grappling hook and how upset she was like,, idk what that says about her and Caleb bc I almost get this vibe like she desperately needs to impress Caleb and always be as smart or only a little less smart than him bc she needs to prove to herself that she deserves his love and affection. And like that…really hit home. Very much so. The way she says, “I want to see you succeed,” really tells me that Nott feels like she needs to work to help Caleb not only because she loves him, but also because she might need to feel like she’s earning her place with him. And then after everything goes sideways, she still takes that moment to grab the scroll that Caleb wanted before leaving the High (Richter? Riktor?)’s home sort of cements that for me. ((okay, something else that fucking GOT ME. the whole hospital scene was a jam. a bop. Nott,, continually asking about doing this one plan and Caleb just,, keeps,, “No that sounds a little extreme” like…yeah. but the whole situation had gone extreme Caleb, or haven’t yOU NOTICED?? I just really love Nott and Caleb as a friendship. Like,, really badly. But also Nott hissing was fucking PRIME. the bEST. 111/10 you’re doing amazing sweetie.)) Also, Nott,,, is so funny. Like…the messages?? Every message she sends is,, the best. I think everyone absolutely knows they can respond to this message, but it reminds me of like those automatic email sign offs, and it’s just…great, it’s great okay, I have a terrible and easily pleased sense of humor and thIS PLEASES ME.

Speaking of the hospital scene, @Molly you know what you did. I am both disgusted…and very impressed. Good plan, terrible execution, it’s okay if you blame the dice. But Molly really goes that extra mile every time without it…striking me as a need to be extra? Like he does it, but it’s not for praise or good attention bc I feel like Molly almost…doesn’t care about that. It would be nice to see him get it, but I think Molly is so used to not receiving positive attention at all (take how the guard shooed him away when he has the little bus set up, take how suspicious the guards to the Trispire were and that’s just this ep) that it’s not an attention thing for it. And like…I don’t think it’s a fun thing either? He didn’t sound like he was having a good time cutting himself open or smashing through a window or acting possessed and like…in context (and out of it) it’s funny, but at the same time, Molly takes to it without he levity that would make him the comic relief. (That probably atm goes to Nott. Read: Sam.) Molly’s just…flashy? Without wanting the attention or having fun with it, he just is. Like…like he’s going through the motions of putting on a show without actually enjoying any aspect of it.

Whereas Jester absolutely enjoys putting on a show. She enjoys attention, she adores it, she has fun with it. Her and Molly are so similar in…genre (?)….but not in motive. Jester does things a certain way or does them at all purely bc they are fun. She enjoys playing dressup, she enjoys acting…she enjoys imagining things. (I almost wonder…if she didn’t imagine her mom?) It’s a really fun compare and contrast between her and Molly and I think they foil each other really well even without interacting that much.

You know who does interact with Jester a lot though? Beau. And while Beau doesn’t put on a show to be flashy or to have fun, I still feel like she is putting on some kind of show. Maybe not directly, but almost in a kind of…lie of omission way. Is an act of omission a thing? But anyways, it’s really interesting, Beau having secrets, Beau doing and saying true things, and pitting both of those things against each other. Beau is…almost her own foil, which is just weird but it really works for her. (10/10 moment: Beau trying not to bleed on a magical rug that is literally in fucking tatters.)

Which brings me to Fjord. Full disclosure, some of the spoilers I’ve seen for like eps 60-74 make me love him, even though atm Caleb is really stealing that cake, but what would have tipped me off is that when Caleb goes for the scroll in the High (Richter?)’s house, Fjord doesn’t hesitate the tiniest bit to threaten him. He threatens to dump (and HARM) Caleb, and by extension Nott, and he does it without any outer evidence of inner conflict which really…mhmMM is there inner conflict at all? Cue gif of there’s a lot to unpack here. It’s really interesting because he does this, but five minutes later Fjord shoves a health potion down Caleb’s throat and the words that stick with me are “We’re either a team or you’re working for yourselves. Decide.” because it’s so obvious that Fjord himself has decided that he’s a team. This is his team. He’s decided, he is invested in the Mighty Nein, not as individuals who are his friends, but as a group that’s HIS group. (Look at how the moment he escaped the hospital, he instantly turns around to help Molly.) Fjord believes in all them, together, in a way I don’t think anyone else quite does yet. It’s…a really really really good and fun thing to see, for sure.

Also the plot is so goddamn thick. Almost as thick as Molly’s cosplayed dick. (I really hope in EP 13 that comes back I wanna know.) And like,, the way Matt describes things, the fact that Marisha accidentally foreshadows the whole thing?? I am DYING to know what’s going on. Im so curious. Matt drags not opy the players (with characters who are invested) but he immediately drags the Audi in with him. I wanna know what’s up!! What the fuck!! What the hell!! What the HECKIN!! so.

im gonna go find out what the HECKIN, n I’m gonna start ep 13 despite the late hour. hopefully the next Critical Reaction won’t take, u know,,, five months. :) :) :)

[fae-fucker]

Zenith: Chapter 24-26

Chapter 24

Andi wakes up in a cell, and can you guess what the inside of the cell looks like?

If you guessed it’s VERY DARK, and filled with DARKNESS that settles into Andi’s BONES (Shinsay is very fond of this metaphor, huh?), you need to leave this blog and never come back because you’ve obviously been here long enough to be permanently damaged by all this bullshit.

But you’re also right. It’s very very dark here, you guys.

So basically this whole chapter is Andi and Dex waking up in a dark cell and ... getting up and out of the cell. That’s it. 

I’ll include some juicy dumb bits for you though, because what’s a snark blog without snark?

This could have been her life—should have been her life. Locked away behind bars, awaiting the death penalty, the ghost of her best friend the only thing to keep her company.

This might be a nitpick, but “this could’ve been her life” implies that she’d be locked up for the rest of her life. Which I guess would technically be true since waiting for her death penalty would be the rest of her very short life, but it still sounds really weird. It’s like she’s expecting to wait for ... well, years and years and years, when the previous chapters mentioned her sentencing happening quickly.

That familiar wave of fear spiked through her, and Andi wanted to reach for her swords, to slash and slice and tear apart that piece of herself as she tore apart the bodies of others. Death after death, to cover up Kalee’s. To give herself the kind of fate she deserved.

So Andi harms herself? Does she want to seppuku this bitch up? Why else would she want to physically reach for her real, actual swords? Does she want to actually slice at a metaphorical part of herself? 

Also, can I just say that this still doesn’t make a lick of sense? “I technically didn’t murder my friend and technically hate the fact that I do think that I murdered my friend, and I will put a soothing balm on the wound of my soul by murdering even more innocent people, but this time intentionally, thinking I need to kill people for some reason even though I constantly mope about how badly I don’t want to kill people!” 

Makes ... no sense. This is why her characterization is so bad, Shinsay can’t commit to the “soft, compassionate, uwu bean” side of Andi because that would make her NOT COOL AND BADASS AND WEAK, but they also barely touch the “RUTHLESS MERCENARY” side of her because that would make her morally ambiguous and we can’t trust the reader to make up their own mind about her, can we now? Nor can we write anything that complex but that’s another debate.

Anywhoo, Dex wakes up and fingers Andi in the dark. 

She didn’t even flinch away as his fingertips scraped hers and he froze.

Gotcha.

Then we get a ... joke? I think it’s supposed to be a joke, at least. Someone teach Shinsay how to be funny and how to translate comedy into text, please!

“Please tell me this is Andi, and not some love-hungry Xen Pterran carriage slug named Stubby.”

Despite herself, Andi laughed. The massive slugs were gruesome, oily beasts that tried to bed anything with a heartbeat.

If there was anything this story was missing, it’s oily fuck-slugs. 

Thank you for that, Shinsay. 

Also ... “bed?” Are you telling me these slugs, that seem to be used to pull carriages, take their (dubiously willing) partners ... to bed? 

Shinsay, I get that you physically cannot get off SJM’s massive throbbing cock, but you’re not actually writing a faux-medieval fantasy book, ok? You’re writing a SUPER EDGY AND MATURE space opera, with all sorts of edgy violence and references to sex in it.

I don’t understand how bad your cognitive dissonance must be if you can invent rapey fuck-slugs, but don’t have the guts to say “fuck” or even “sex.”

Are you afraid your moms will read this? Is that why this is all so coy and immature as hell?

That’s what gets to me tbh. This book is too inappropriate to really be for younger YA audiences, but it’s also far too childish to be anything but laughable for older teens and young adults.

Dex and Andi have completely pointless banter as they try to get out of their cell. I find it very convenient that they ended up in the same cell, but ok.

Andi sticks out her tongue at Dex after he mildly insults her like a super cool ruthless murderess and not at all like a five-year-old.

We also get several mentions of the fact that Andi’s wrist cuffs can give off light, because I guess Shinsay are very proud of that particular high tech sci-fi invention. 

It’s very very very very dark, like SUPER dark, and Dex asks Andi if she’s scared.

She feared a lot of things.

Loneliness. Losing the lives of her crew or damaging her ship beyond repair.

But not darkness. That was a part of her; the very thing that had allowed her to survive for this long.

I had to read that, and now so do you. 

The thrill of the moment had arrived.

Without a word, Andi took a step forward, shedding the weakest parts of herself as she allowed the Bloody Baroness to take over.

Let’s wait until Andi becomes all sad and mopey over this again. 

Does this woman have ONE consistent personality trait?

Dex followed, and together, they left their empty cell behind.

Are you sure it was empty? And not full of DANK DARKNESS?!

Anyway yeah, it took Andi and Dex one entire chapter to wake up and leave a room. 

So this is how you pad your word count ... 

Chapter 25

We’re in Dex’s POV. They take care of a couple of guards, and by that I mean Andi does a couple SICK FLIPS and Dex is very impressed. 

“Godstars, Andi,” Dex said now as he leaned over to inspect the corpse.

The key looked strangely at home in his eye socket, perfectly positioned in the center, as if Andi had placed it there with an artist’s flair.

Ok, I’ll give Shinsay credit and say that this is reasonably evocative and Dex does admit that the key strangely looks at home in the guy’s EYE, but the “artist’s flair” thing ruins it completely. When you think “artist’s flair,” you don’t think of someone forcefully shoving a blunt object into someone’s eye, you think of a fancy shmancy person doing a little elegant flourish with their hand, like painting the delicate eyelashes of some noblewoman. 

Even when Shinsay manages to write something that’s actually rather imaginative, they ruin it by adding more guff that simply doesn’t fit and is only there to slap on more “pretty prose” and make Andi sound awesome and pad the damn word count.

Furthermore, specifying that it’s “perfectly in the center” doesn’t mean anything. If you manage to pierce a person’s eye with a key in the first place, there’s little margin of error, assuming this was a human and not an alien with abnormally large eyes with lots of options for key placement.

If you want to take the absurd imagery of the key “belonging” in the eye further, here’s what I’d suggest: 

“Godstars, Andi,” Dex said now as he leaned over to inspect the corpse.

The key looked strangely at home in his eye socket, and Dex felt as if he could just lean down and twist it and open the man’s face like a door.

Dex seems deeply horrified by Andi’s actions for reasons I cannot fathom, seeing as he’s the one constantly bragging about how he taught her everything she knows. 

When Andi explains to him that she had to kill the guard to make sure he didn’t sound the alarm and summon more guards, Dex has a really dumbass realization:

As Dex stared at her, he suddenly understood the bare truth.

There was no remorse in her eyes for the kills. Not even a flicker. There was nothing but the promise of the mission pulling her forward.

... Well, doy? How exactly did you expect this to go down, Dexy-Boy? Did you want to talk the guards into silence with your witty banter? 

This chapter serves literally no other purpose than to wank on about how cool and remorseless Andi is. We get Dex angsting about how Andi used to feel things very very hard, you guys, but now, the rumors were TRUE, and she was indeed a cold, non-feeling murderer. 

Dex asks Andi all deep about how the Bloody Baroness isn’t “just a reputation” and thinks about how badass Andi looks when she’s all stoic and shit. 

Andi then tells Dex about her apparently-not-so-secret ritual of carving tallies into her swords, which then makes Dex realize that MAYBE the Bloody Baroness IS a facade and Andi actually DOES have feelings, just like he thought 500 words before this! Rendering this entire internal monologue -- and by extension, this fiking chapter -- COMPLETELY USELESS!

Shinsay, literally what is the whole-ass fiking point of this? Was there progress made? New character traits revealed? No. We ended literally where we started. Nothing new was discovered. 

1. Dex thinks Andi still has some humanity left and the Bloody Baroness is just a reputation fabricated by her to protect her and her friends

2. Andi murders a dude, making Dex think that BB is indeed REAL and that Andi has no remorse for killing dudes

3. Andi tells Dex about her tallies, saying she remembers each and every kill, making Dex think that perhaps there is some humanity left and the Bloody Baroness is just a reputation fabricated by her to protect her and her friends

Shinsay, I’m coming to your houses to leave rotten eggs between your couch cushions.

We get this from Andi:

“Two deaths. Two tallies on my swords.” She looked down at the dead guards, then back up at him. A flicker of pain flashed through her eyes. “I have a code, you know. Lines that I don’t cross.”

Won’t surprise me the least if we never find out what that code is. 

Dex thinks about how cool and great it is to be working with Andi and the “chapter,” as I’ll generously call it, ends. 

Chapter 26

Hey, remember Klaren? 

Me neither.

Anyway, it’s year nineteen now and she’s holding baby Nor. Klaren thinks about how her baby -- oh sorry, “babe,” because this book still wants to be fantasy I guess -- is a mistake and how little effort she had to put in to make the king love her.

She’d hardly had to try to entice him. Perhaps, in some way, that meant he was her gift. A man who loved her despite what she was. Despite the past she’d kept hidden from him all these years.

Did this reasoning actually make sense to Shinsay? How can he love you “despite” the past you’ve hidden from him if you’ve HIDDEN IT FROM HIM AND HE DIDN’T EVEN KNOW ABOUT IT?! 

Who let Shinsay write? I need to find them and have a few words.

Anywhoo, the king is off to war and Xen Ptera is dying and it’s the apocalypse and whatever.

The baby wailed, drawing the queen’s attention. “Sleep now, my perfect little mistake,” she whispered. “Sleep, and remember to dream of the light.”

I guess this is supposed to be deep? Who even knows tbh.

Alone in her palace quarters, the queen of Xen Ptera rocked her daughter gently, a tear slipping down her cheek as she remembered her mission and thought of how little time they had left.

We’ve had a bunch of chapters with Klaren already and I still have no idea what purpose they serve or what their plot is. 

[casuistor]

Did you listen to the NY demo songs of the musical that were put online recently? Some of the songs that weren't officially released are now available. Was wondering if you have any thoughts about them... Adrienne Warren's Misa in I'm Ready sounds v different compared to Fūka Yuzuki!

I am so happy the NY Demo got leaked tbh, I’ve been listening to it nonstop for the last couple of days and lemme just say – even though I don’t fully agree with all the characterization choices, the demo is gorgeous ;~; THANK YOU for the excuse to ramble about this, haha. 

I’ll outline my thoughts on the songs that weren’t released previously under the read more, but just keep in mind that these are just some quick opinions on the songs rather than my thoughts on the demo vs the final versions of the songs b/c then this would be writing for weeks and nobody wants that textwall, haha. 

…I say this is going to be abbreviated and then it turned out long-ish anyway.

Where is the Justice?

Yes I know this was released previously, but the version that was officially released cut a minute out from the song, so I’m commenting, fight me.

While I think the song is overall too focused around the issues with the criminal justice in America for a story that is supposedly set in Japan, I think the verse that was removed was more reflective of the sorts of things Light in canon might think. 

That said I don’t fully agree that Light would argue that “draining the color from within until we’re back to seeing black and white and wrong and right again” is actually a good thing, especially considering canon Light does evaluate mitigating circumstances in his evaluation of who is guilty.

Overall, I think the song does a good job of establishing Light’s character as a kid who, despite having some deeply flawed views about justice, does genuinely care about fairness and has his heart in the right place.

To this day though, I’m not convinced that manga! Light is the kind of kid who would spark this debate in his classroom. He very much seems to be the kind of person who keeps his cynicism about the world to himself.  If you ask me, his “ic” response would be more along the lines of “sure, the justice system isn’t perfect, but it’s our job as the next generation to keep improving it, isn’t it?”  But that doesn’t make a cool song, lmao. 

Hurricane

Yes, this one was also leaked before, but you’re not stopping me from talking about Weather Metaphors The Song™ now that it’s out in HQ. 

Why. WHY.

I think the problem I have with this song is that there’s really not much character development during this song. Light is just immediately sucked into a power fantasy and this is really… not reflective of Light’s character in the series. 

I’m Ready

LOVE. FUCKING LOVE ADRIENNE WARREN’S VOICE. 

But i really don’t agree that Adrienne is a good casting choice with Misa. I LOVE her voice and her singing, but she’s… too much of a power house and Misa is just not that at all. Misa needed to be bubbly and radiate cuteness rather than maturity. 

Hearing this rendition of Misa really made me understand why the Korean production went the direction they did with Jung Sun Ah’s Misa though, and it comes as much less of a headscratcher now. 

I think these lyrics are also not PG enough for Misa’s idol image which sounds ridiculous b/c it’s overall a pretty tame song, lmao

Specifically it’s lines like “let me kiss you and then let me kiss you again” that are maybe not… squeaky clean enough for the image that idols in Japan have to project. 

We All Need A Hero

Perfection. Absolute perfection.  I love that they threw in that dumb light pun lmao. 

Honestly this almost made me cry and I wish I knew who sings this song as they were the perfect Sayu singing voice. Young, sweet, optimistic, sincere sounding? Nailed it. (Edit: I am told that the singer is Laura Osnes)

I am VERY much intrigued by the fact that this song was written as a solo in the NY Demo as opposed to the odd duet that it became in the final version. This makes much more sense to me and avoids weird/creepy parallels between Sayu and Misa that the final version forced by making it a duet. 

The Game Begins

I am so distracted by the line “for even the perfect crime has the perfect flaws” because this is just not logically coherent.

ON LESS GRIPEY TERRITORY – having the whole demo did put into perspective for me why the Weather Metaphors had to be, and I think it’s because they may have been going for a nature vs machine type of theme… and while I can appreciate it poetically (?) I just don’t agree that it fit thematically with the character of L and Light. 

Like why… does L keep making tech metaphors? Is this supposed to be a quirk of his the same way that the posture/diet is? I think in a way this was poorly executed and characterization was ultimately sacrificed in favor of poetic analogies. 

The literal first line “empty your mind of any feelings” is very unlike L to do. L is a detective who works heavily based on his intuition and his gut instincts. He did not tackle the Kira case like a super computer interested in objectivity and eliminating bias. That’s just not what happened in canon. 

I stand very much corrected on these lyrics as they are “empty your mind of any theories.” My bad, I don’t have the best ear for lyrics. But that said, doesn’t this contradict the fact that he already took an action based on a theory with the LLT plan? 

Overall I think this song took too many poetic liberties with L, and tried too hard to make him sound intelligent by throwing in “smart sounding words” like ~calculus~ and ~evolution~ even though those words didn’t actually make that much sense in the context he was applying them in? 

“A stronger mind and evolution determines who wins the game” – for example. Evolution and adaptation aren’t synonyms, but he uses them as such anyway and this kind of clumsiness, though very lyrically pretty, is a bit… idk, not quite what I associate with L myself.

In terms of the overall performance – lovely. My issues are 100% the lyrics on this one. Jarrod Specter performs fantastically. 

There Are Lines

Fight me this song is best song and I honestly did not like this song much in the final version of it.  

J’ADORE how salty Soichiro is about L’s method of offering up Lind L Tailor as a decoy. His anger seems so genuine and believable in this, and I love how it’s so obvious that he has no idea that this is applicable to Light too, since they don’t force that dumb “KAMI NI NARU!!!!” line to ram the subtext down your throat.  (… I say as I claim that I wasn’t going to talk about comparisons to the final Japanese songs, ahem). 

That said, was Soichiro actually that salty about L’s tactics there with LLT in the manga? No. At least not to the extreme that he lost a lot of respect for L for it. In fact, manga!Soichiro seemed impressed by the results L achieved and didn’t really seem to dwell on the moral implications of L’s actions. 

tl;dr not the most ic or canonically based interpretation of Soichiro, but I am standing by this man. 

Personally, I think this is an improvement on the character AND LET ME JUST SAY THIS SONG MADE ME REALLY WISH THEY’D ADAPTED THE YOTSUBA ARC IN THIS MUSICAL??? Can you imagine this song as a reprise as Soichiro shoots Light while they’re in the car? 

You’re welcome

Secrets and Lies

I cannot emphasize how much I love when Soichiro calls out L for his awful morals in addition to calling out Kira’s. This is so nice -w-

I am also deeply enamored with the fact that L also outright says “I don’t care who gets hurt now, as long as I get one more shot” because fucking yes – L is so brazen about this in the manga, and most adaptations try to sweeten his attitude. 

I enjoy that it is constantly reinforced that neither Light nor L are in the right because there are constant parallels between the two and the two are criticized by the narrative. 

Mortals and Fools

“What I see in your eyes is a counterfeit emotion” – the truest thing ever said about the manga!Misa’s feelings about love. 

Admittedly, Demo!Rem annoys me as a character though. It’s not a problem with casting – Carrie’s singing is lovely and I think they made a good choice there. This is a bit of an aside I guess, but I just don’t understand how it is believable that Rem actually romantically fell in love with Misa as the song “When Love Comes” implies after all this love is for mortals and fools lark and Misa… doesn’t really seem to do anything to win Rem’s love in a romantic sense of it. Platonic love I can squint and buy certainly, but not romantic based on the contents of “Mortals and Fools”, “Borrowed Time,” and “When Love Comes.” Maybe something in the actual script/dialogue justifies it? But with the material available so far, I’m not seeing it.

I think also Demo!Rem’s fixation on the notion of love is something that’s… overexaggerated from her more subtle curiosity over the issue in the manga. I just don’t think I’d agree that the melancholy tone demo!Rem has when she says she tries and fails to really understand love as an emotion is true to the manga. Manga!Rem seems to have a more “god Misa, I get this is important to you but could you maybe slow down” kind of vibe to her. Melancholy doesn’t really seem to be it, exactly.

For the sake of clarity – the issue I have is not that Rem’s character was changed from the manga to make her develop romantic interests in Misa. That is perfectly a-okay and it’s actually pretty cool that they went this route with demo!Rem. 

My issue is that from a narrative perspective, Rem’s character development in the demo seems underdeveloped and not optimally executed given that she is a) literally not human and b) as she herself points out is a shinigami who fundamentally does not understand why humans idealize romantic love. 

Shinigami themselves in the context of this musical are not shown to idealize love within their own culture. Ryuk and Rem both seem to find it funny or baffling/futile indicating that this is not a culture that parallels human culture in its zealous overvaluation of romantic love as a be all end all goal of life. Shinigami, according to the musical’s own internal logic, are not amatonormative.. 

My pet peeve exists specifically because it is somewhat frustrating to me, an aroace person, when even non-humans who were very firm on not relating to romantic love (and yes, “Mortals and Fools” makes Rem come down more strongly on that side compared to “Zankoku na Yume”) and have no reason to inherently want to experience or idealize romantic love the same way human society normalizes it for humans, starts extolling the virtues of romantic love as the pinnacle of interpersonal relationships.

I can fully respect that this is not a pet peeve that most other people will have, or even be inclined to view from this perspective and that to many, none of these things matter and that’s fine! Just keep in mind that I would find this just as pet peeve-y if Rem were a male shinigami and would have no problems whatsoever with any of this had Rem been a human girl or if shinigami culture as a whole been portrayed differently in the musical itself. Also please note, I am only speaking for myself. I’m sure other aroace folk will have different opinions as well.   Ironically enough, Rem in the final live version, I can more readily see as developing romantic feelings for Misa precisely because “Inochi no Kachi” was written the way it was and it is a damn shame that that is not the direction that was eventually taken with the character in the live productions as they seem to view Rem as having more maternal instincts. (…which, I’d again disagree is an inference of the manga, as I do think Rem’s feelings about Misa were very platonic in a ‘friends’-ish way rather than a parental way.)

tl;dr All I’m saying is that I think demo!Rem should have gotten more charater development, and it is a shame that she did not. 

On a performative note – it is really odd that Rem’s voice is higher than Misa’s. I don’t think I’d make this call. 

Borrowed Time

Adrienne delivers yet another killer performance!!

I know I said I wasn’t gonna make comparisons but I have to say that between “Borrowed Time” and “Inochi no Kachi” Borrowed Time is just so much more IC for manga!Misa. 

I’m glad they based this song around something Misa actually said in the manga since that line “Just kill me. I was supposed to die that day anyway” is actually something that stuck with me for a very long time since it says so much about where Misa was in her life.

In the end, I guess I find it more convincing that Misa would be singing a song more centered around herself than singing a less me me me focused song about the virtues of sacrificial love as she ultimately is a person (in the manga) who is pretty selfish and focuses mostly on her own perspective. 

Which is not to say that demo!Misa is really reflective of manga!MIsa because I don’t think that’s the case at all. 

The Way It Ends

Blurgh more machine/tech metaphors and analogies from L…..I still don’t like this, sorry. He does not view himself as a robot in the manga, so it just comes out of left field for me.

I think the part of this song that lets me down is Jeremy’s delivery. He’s not !!!!!!! enough for what is supposed to be a victorious moment for Light. He has so much less energy and power than he did when he was singing Weather Metaphors, and it really shouldn’t be that way in my opinion. 

On that last “a minute more.” Jeremy sounds weirdly remorseful, though I guess it’s hard to interpret the exact emotion behind that without an accompanying facial expression. 

But speaking of delivery holy shit, Jarrod’s delivery as L is spot on. I’m kinda stunned by the range of emotion in his voice for this one: confusion, defiance, anger and that hint of regret that his life is coming to an end as he goes into “like a closing door.” It’s so… good?????? 

Overall I think the NY Demo is lovely and it has made me really happy to be able to listen to it after years of wondering what on earth it was like, lmao. 

I know it sounds like I have a ton of gripes, but just keep in mind that a) even I consider these gripes pretty minor and they didn’t really hurt my enjoyment of the demo as a whole, and b) I think that adaptations have every right to make changes and take creative liberties with their source material. It’s important to do that in order to keep material fresh and bring in new thoughts and perspectives to the original. 

[swmblog-blog]

SW: Aho-Girl

SHOTGUN REVIEW: Aho-Girl (2017)

Mia: Hey Rice. Rice: what Mia: What is Aho-Girl? Rice: Aho-Girl is an anime about dumb people who eat fruit and cry a lot. Rice: Actually, bananas are a berry, so it’s about dumb people who eat berries and cry a lot. Mia: ahem Mia: That being considered Mia: p gud innit Rice: Stop stealing my socioeconomic dialect Mia: What is Aho Girl ACTUALLY, you absolute knob. Rice: Ladies and gents Aho-Girl is a show following Yoshiko, a girl who is somehow less intelligent than I am, and her involuntary friend Akutsu who just wants to get some goddamn study in. Join them in their everyday adventures as- Mia: Nevermind, I’ll sum it up. Mia: Aho-Girl is an adaption of a manga essentially centering around the antics around the protagonist, the titular Aho Girl, and her big ol’ tsundere childhood friend. It’s mostly comprised of shorts, five minutes at most. Very heavily comedy centered. Mia: If you’re still interested after that premise, the show’s worth checking out for yourself.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

STORY

Mia: I don’t think this anime really had a story. Most people’s knowledge of this series is just it being the source of most BEGONE THOT memes. Rice: I actually had no idea what it was, first I had heard of it as an actual thing was when you brought it up Rice: Though admittedly I had seen the “can I squeeze your boobies for science” cap somewhere before Rice: I agree with you, the anime has no story. It’s kind of just that thing where you tune in for a few minutes, turn off your brain, and laugh at the jokes (just like Yoshiko) Mia: It’s what Slice of Life should be, basically. That being said, it wasn’t poorly paced and it certainly holds your attention for 11 min at a time. Rice: The story is the weakest part of the entire thing, you’re honestly probably not there because a show called “idiot girl” promises an exciting and riveting plot Mia: Yeah basically. The bulk of the focus is really just whoever on the cast wants to bonk A-kun, but it doesn’t get tiresome with every premise. Mia: I guess I should also mention it’s very shamelessly focused on fanservice so. Mia: That’s not quite everyone’s bag. Rice: If you showed up and went “I absolutely cannot follow this, it has no story, 0/10” then you’ve found the wrong experience

CHARACTERS

Mia: Probably the best part Rice: i absolutely agree

Yoshiko Hanabatake

Mia: What can you even say about Yoshiko. Mia: She spends the entire show on the same sugar high and it’s never not entertaining. Rice: The only thing I can say about this is AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA Mia: Fitting for Yoshiko I guess. Mia: You can’t really put it into words. She’s the personification of the Genki Girl type and that comes out best in her antics. You have to watch it, really. Rice: Speaking of, I looked up a few opinions on the show myself, and it’s perfectly categorised into two groups Rice: You’ve got the people who didn’t like the comedy, and went “This show is the epitome of brain-numbingly dumb” Rice: And the people who did like the comedy, and went “I rate this show 4 bananas out of a bunch” Rice: Yoshiko’s characterisation was probably important in that, if you didn’t like her character then buckle up boyo you’re in for 12 more episodes of AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA Mia: Pretty much.

Akuru Akutsu

Rice: I absolutely cannot relate to Akutsu. Rice: er, A-kun Rice: Study? No thank you. definitely not me irl. Mia: The thing with A-kun is that he’d be an absolutely tiresome harem protagonist anywhere else. But he actually has a definitive, likable character. Even when he’s beating the shit out of the protagonist for the entirety of his time with her. Rice: Advocating for violence against women isn’t cool, Mia. And neither is study, which I would argue is somehow even less cool, because at least the other one has violence in it Rice: Also I guess I just don’t watch enough degenerate anime trashpiles because I don’t understand what constitutes a “harem protagonist” despite the obvious Rice: Though I feel like despite being what is more or less the deuteragonist, he doesn’t steal the spotlight, which is... probably a good thing Mia: You absolute plebian. You need to watch more Chinese shadow sock puppet shows. Mia: But yes, on his own, the series would be much weaker, so the fact he isn’t the focus is good. Rice: He was still kind of a bland character in the full scope of the show though Rice: Like I’m not gonna fault the character for that, it’s just hard to get invested into the straight-man study dude when you’ve got a gorilla woman who can’t keep her skirt down and someone literally called BOOB PRESIDENT in the same show Mia: You’re not there to get invested, I think is the point. You need the Straight Man to play off of the antics of all the other weird characters.

Sayaka Sumino

Rice: I would hug the SHIT out of Sayaka Mia: A little too much of the Ingenue for my tastes but she doesn’t fall into the cliches usually associated with that archetype. Rice: I have absolutely no idea what that means, because some people don’t live on the TVTropes website, but I get the gist of what you’re saying Rice: Like even with saying that I get the feeling Sayaka is a very archetypical “shy girl” character you expect out of this kind of show Rice: But I would still give her a hug Rice: Are you telling me you would reject a hug from Sayaka? Mia: I’m saying this show got you hook, line, and sinker. Rice: I’m just saying I would hug the shit outta Sayaka

BOOB PRESIDENT

Rice: BOOB PRESIDENT Mia: I’d chastise you for beating that joke into the ground Mia: But Yoshiko does the exact same thing. Rice: BOOB PRESIDENT Mia: Stop that. Rice: BOOB PRESIDENT Rice: Usually “haha boobs and butts xd” jokes cringe me into the 46th dimension but the boob jokes with BOOB PRESIDENT were somehow so tasteless it looped around, overflowed, and became funny again Mia: She’s just got enough of a comedic character to balance out being the butt of every lewd joke. If she did literally nothing, it’d be creepy. But half the time, she’s trying to molest one of the leads while being hypocritical about it.

PRODUCTION QUALITY

Mia: Nothing outstanding for a summer Slice of Life anime, but there’s effort here. I’ve never heard of the studio this came out of so I can’t judge if it was likely sweatshopped or not. Mia: The little touches like the shift in artstyle in the different little skits definitely help give it variety too. Rice: It’s no Nichijou when it comes to that but it is a touch Rice: The base production quality of the show is fine, it has no glaring errors or something (at least visually) Rice: I’ve got the opening theme stuck in my head so that explains itself Rice: My personal favourite part of the anime as it is was the constantly changing intro, it’s not like one of those big shot animes where EVERYTHING IS EXPLODING so they probably had the resources to make every intro unique Rice: Even the one where it was literally just a sign that said “summer vacation” Mia: Right.

ACTORS

Mia: best VAs tbh Mia: Especially Yoshiko’s. (Aoi Yuki) Rice: I’m not really one to look at VAs (unless they’re ear-screechingly bad or something) but I can at least say at least nobody sounded awful Rice: I can appreciate the fact they made 5-year old Yoshiko sound the same as 15 year old Yoshiko though. Mia: I mean I guess it’s not prudent to review acting in a language you don’t speak BUT I honestly think Yuki really showed off her range in this. Rice: We’re all kuso weeaboo here it doesn’t really matter Rice: Also your fixation on Aoi Yuki is now concerning me Mia: I said she was good, how is that fixating? Mia: Fine, I’ll go ahead and say the other VA’s did well too. They weren’t cringey and got into the part well enough. Rice: Voice actors are definitely a strong point for this anime, you heard it first. Go ahead and load up Aho-Girl so you can be thoroughly swayed by the sweet sounds of Aoi Yuki telling you to look at her panties Mia: I’m done with this >:( Rice: You brought up Aoi Yuki first

SUMMARY

MIA’S VERDICT - 7.5/10 (Well Above Average) A lot of good here. Not a lot of substance, but that’s not what you’re here for. Overall, a fun little series that doesn’t waste your time.

RICE’S VERDICT - 10/10 (IT’S LIKE SHOOTING UP POTASSIUM) My friends, there is nothing more enjoyable than kicking up your feet and injecting AHO-GIRL directly into your veins. I thoroughly enjoyed over an hour of banana and I think you should too. In intermediate school someone fucking told me bananas were herbs and I believed them until I looked up “banana” on wikipedia 40 minutes ago, they’re actually berries, fuck you Tom from Room 1.

[tearlessrain]

Okay, Bright, here we go. The last time I watched a Netflix original it was so bad that it became the first liveblog I failed to see through to the end, so hopefully this will go better.

the fact that it’s by Trigger Warning Entertainment is REALLY not encouraging. like no matter how you interpret that it doesn’t lead anywhere good.

graffiti: “in the beginning god made all races equal (added: but elves are more equal)” THEY’VE ALREADY PERFECTLY CAPTURED ELVES IN A SINGLE TWO SECOND SHOT I’M IMPRESSED

I’m so into this graffiti I want to see this as like. actual street art where I live

okay so the Dark Lord is a running theme

will smith is waking up without a shirt again I’m having flashbacks to I, Robot please no

real talk though that fairy design is gorgeous. I mean it’s dead now (because everyone knows you can’t have a fairy/pixie in a modern fantasy unless someone kills it with a broom and says a one-liner within five minutes) but still

apparently orcs are into metal

will smith why are you being so mean to this orc he’s a good dude, you’re being even worse to him then you were to sonny and he didn’t deserve it either

oh god the elf district

it is EXACTLY WHAT YOU THINK IT’S LIKE THIS IS AMAZING I can see thranduil thriving here

I don’t even really care about will smith or the plot I am living for this world building

again with the dark lord what is this

CENTAUR MOUNTED POLICE YES THIS IS ALL I’VE EVER WANTED

beardy shirtless dude flailing a large sword and yelling about the dark one… also known as a typical day in downtown seattle

seriously once I was driving on the freeway in seattle and traffic was held up because there was a guy walking around on the freeway with a hatchet

apparently the orc, jacoby, is part of some kind of prophecy, possibly also will smith

well he may be kind of a dick but will smith is at least defending jacoby

his characterization is a little weird and up in the air tbh

okay so apparently a bright is some kind of chosen one who can weild a magic wand, which in this world is an extremely powerful thing

okay this is a new development, the kid from Sia’s music videos has a magic wand and speaks elvish

ooh the arrogant guy is gonna touch the wand I’m sure this will go fine for him

he’s gonna die

oh he didn’t die okay

wtf now they want to KILL the orc? I thought they just wanted to fire him geez.

why is these peoples’ only solution to kill more people “what’s the plan” “kill them both” “what about the elf” “oh kill her too”

all right will smith is going rogue

good those people with the worst

this is kind of a tonally weird movie, just in general. like the way they’re choosing to frame certain scenes and pace things just seems slightly odd

like who are these people who just showed up they haven’t really been established but they’re acting like I should know them

uh oh here come some elves this seems bad

yeah definitely bad elves are bad news in this universe

whoa are we just not gonna talk about that dragon in the background of that establishing shot like that was a big dragon

seriously we’re just gonna

okay

these are some well designed evil elves

GUYS I FOUND SOLAS

oh come on are they seriously gonna have the villains kill a baby why does netflix have to be so Extra about everything

just stop ugh

this just in solas kills babies because netflix has NO CHILL (at least it wasn’t onscreen, just heavily implied)

the other barely established antagonists are coming

and now they’ve exploded don’t touch magic wands kids

ORC RAVE

I can’t tell whether FBI elf is evil or not but based on every other elf so far I don’t trust him

he SEEMS neutral at worst but I am suspicious. also of his human partner but only by association

elf girl has randomly changed demeanor completely and is now happy and smiling and curious about things okay

ooh look at us we’re netflix we can put nipples in our movies and say fuck and the n word and no one can stop us we’re so edgy and adult oooooh

aaand in come the vaguely established antagonists with machine guns again rinse repeat

okay here comes evil elf trio to end this

this emotional scene has been going on for a long freaking time, this feels like it could have been condensed into way less lines

at least the orc is reasonable

OH okay so ranger dude is down

here come the evil elves, again

[SOLAS DISAPPROVES]

[SOLAS GREATLY DISAPPROVES]

River Tam elf continues to basically be River Tam, but an elf

I know, intellectually, that this movie has a plot, but it just feels like a sequence of things happening

now will smith and jacoby have run afoul of an orc clan/gang

there is an orc mob boss and I kinda want his antler tree throne thing

there are so many good concepts in this movie but they’re not… doing anything with them. I mean they are but it feels kind of halfassed, like they were just “here’s this cool setting I guess we need some kind of plot so we can use it” and then just went with the first thing they could think of.

okay Mikey is not what I expected the orc boss’s son to be named

oooh mikey is the kid jacoby saved earlier

why does the boss still want to kill them that seems uncool

wait wtf they actually killed jacoby what, what even is the actual tone of this movie does anyone know

oh of course elf river has the deus ex machina stick nevermind we’re good

jacoby’s back yaaay, thanks deus ex machina stick!

“you’re a bright? would have been nice to know that!” how did you NOT know that will smith, how did you not know that the manic pixie dream elf running around with a deus ex machina stick was a bright because I’m pretty sure the ENTIRE audience has known that for at least an hour.

oh she can speak suddenly

and now elf river is dying because we need to manufacture a new source of tension or something

will smith is such a dumbass I’m sorry he just… is an idiot

it’s almost like he’s being…….. WILLfully stupid

I’m sorry it’s the cold medicine

oh okay coming back around to that orc prophecy finally

okay jacoby has argued some sense into will smith, again, now to go back to the FIRST place they had a shootout at tonight (really they could have cut out at least one of the four shootouts that sequentially occurred) to help elf river

Solas be creepin

someone is summoning the dark lord oh no

I think that’s what’s happening. I mean I THOUGHT they needed three magic wands to do that but why not.

wow just shot solas’s head clean off. millions of dragon age players just screamed out in envy

maybe if he’d gone to elf practice that wouldn’t have happened

all the evil elves are getting killed off so I assume that means this is the final climactic battle despite being pretty indistinguishable from every other fight so far

honestly it’s too dark to tell clearly what’s happening, especially since evil elf and river tam elf are almost identical when in motion

cool they killed all the evil elves so now they can heal river elf

BUT WAIT the one who looks almost identical is healing magically

woooo magic tree psychic healing I’m having avatar flashbacks

goddammit did she just kill the orc again

oh nooooo she has the deus ex machina stick

…. is she gonna make out with river elf wtf

oh no they just had a moment and now evil elf has risen dramatically to cause problems once again

“I am a warrior, a priestess, a lover…” are you fucking zevran arainai

oh hey orc dude is still hanging in there. no pun intended.

what is even happening

river elf is having a breakdown and her evil twin or something keeps shouting “it’s time to wake up”

okay who shot who this time

“you touch my wand, and it will splatter you all over the walls” haha that’s what he said

“we’re in a prophecy, right?” I don’t know, will smith, that’s been a bit of a vague plotpoint

of course will smith is the chosen one. not the hero we need, but perhaps the one we deserved for writing this plot

elf river nooooo we hardly knew ye. seriously you had like four lines who were you.

and now orc dude is going crazy and running into the burning building after the wand? okay?

oh no he was yelling “Ward” which is will smith’s name in this movie. that makes more sense (at least it’s a better name than Spooner).

okay so… the orc gangsters randomly showed up once they got out of the burning building and… accepted jacoby into their clan. or something. cool. it’s unclear why since they don’t really understand what happened in there and seemingly just got here.

the magic fbi has appeared. dun dun duuun

medals all around.

oh apparently elf river is alive. mysteriously in the distance. wooooo. what a surprise.

okay well I mean it wasn’t a bad movie necessarily, it was just kinda… the plot was an afterthought to the setting and because of that we didn’t really get to explore the setting. like, there are points where they drive past an orc gang, or drive through the elf district, or there’s a centaur policeman in the background, and you’re like “wow cool I want to know more about that” but instead you have to follow will smith and this one orc who actively avoids acting like an orc around while they mostly drive around, argue, go into a place, get shot at by bad guys, leave place, and go to the next place to get shot at again. and again, the places are mostly interesting, there’s the orc rave that looked like a lot of fun, there’s the casino/strip club place that was probably interesting, the protagonists didn’t work with the setting so much as get in the way of it. I think this would have been better as a tv show than a movie, and with a different dynamic between the main characters. maybe get someone other than will smith.

oh and by the way there was no real payoff for the constant dark lord references in act 1 (I think evil elf mentioned something about a dark lord once while she was chanting? but that was it), or the orc prophecy (I mean they passed off will smith being a bright as “the prophecy” but why him? make it the orc, you’ve just established that only elves and a few humans have ever been brights, that would have been something new and intriguing! no one’s here for will smith!) it just didn’t feel like they thought this out very well. 

had potential, but ultimately kind of disappointing. better than death note though.

[eloarei]

So I was tagged by @nomadsky the other day; thanks, Sekiei! There's little I love more than talking about my favorite characters. (By the way, Sekiei, some of your answers were like A+ so perfect, and a few of them were characters I would pick, so I might just note those characters and then pick someone else, for variety's sake.) (Also, the rules don't say how many to pick?? But I'm assuming they meant 10. I'll aim for that.) EDIT: THE RULES: post your favorite characters and what you like about them/ why.  In no particular order: Hanna Falk Cross (Hanna Is Not A Boy's Name (aka HINABN))

--- Not a sixteen year old girl. Hanna is a 24 year old guy, tiny, red-headed and adorkable, who apparently learned magic from a hobo and is allergic to ghosts. He's uniquely talented at fucking things up, has abandonment issues, and secrets I'll never know but will always haunt me. Despite the perma-hiatus status of the series, I still love him, even seven years later, so much so that I was willing to devote 2 years to writing a longfic about him. Honestly, I feel like I know him better than my own characters now. And, sure, it's probably my own semi-IC version of him, but that's probably not a surprise considering HINABN topped out at 100 pages, some of which didn't feature Hanna at all. Of course, you probably have already heard me say this five million times, but I wrote a story I'm pretty fond of, featuring this loser: Rogue.  Garrus Vakarian AND Runner-up: Mordin Solus (Mass Effect)

--- Sekiei already said Garrus, so I'll be brief and move on. Garrus is the most charming bug-dragon alien around. He's perfect, honestly. Would that men like him actually existed in real life, even in human form. --- I mean, I love Mordin. I actually would have romanced him if it was possible (not instead of Garrus; I'd have done a separate playthrough). I still think of him anytime someone says “seashells”. Mordin is a funny, interesting character that I think is often overlooked, partly because he only features in half of the series, I imagine. I've never read a Mordin fic, although I'd like to. I've read a few Shakarian fics that were pretty good, but I don't remember any of them off the top of my head. Killua Zoldyck (Hunter x Hunter)

--- It was hard to choose between him and Gon, because I think of them largely as a team, but Killua is my favorite because of all the growth he goes through over the course of the series. He's a silly, irreverent, dangerous, smart-ass kid, but he has so much damage that's brought to the table by his friendship with Gon, and he becomes such a good heartfelt person by the end. Also he's totally a conduit for the absolute FEELS I get from the series. Whenever he screams or cries, I feel it in my soul. I've still not read any Killua fics that I think are truly top-notch, which is kind of surprising. Varric Tethras AND Runner-up Merrill (Dragon Age) 

--- Again, Sekiei already chose Varric, and mirrored my thoughts about him: he's fantastic and why the HELL couldn't we romance him?! He was absolutely my first choice, and I was honestly upset when I found he wasn't romanceable! --- This was kind of a hard choice, because I like a lot of the DA characters almost equally, but I find Merril to be especially precious. Weirdly, I never got around to romancing her, but she's one of those characters that I think is really adorable and I just want to pet her hair and give her tasty snacks and warm blankets. (Also I low-key ship her with Varric; don't ask me how that works. Or do.) Nick Valentine (Fallout 4)

--- Hoo boy let me tell you about Valentine. Gawd, he's such a damn beautiful android. And I don't really mean that in a physical way (because yeah he's cool looking; got a good aesthetic for sure, but I wouldn't say he's at all pretty). Valentine is 100% the kind of guy I want on my side, to have my back. He's somewhat similar to Garrus in that rogue lawman kind of way. (Speaking of “Rogue”, he reminds me of my portrayal of “the detective” (purely a coincidence, because I was 90% done writing Rogue before I played FO4), which clearly proves that I have a type.) His tragic backstory and circumstances mirror The Lone Survivor's almost perfectly, and they are really so wonderful together, which is why it KILLS ME that he was not romanceable. I think I'm still in denial, tbh. He's funny, sarcastic, yet still very sincere, and though he acts very confident and is well-liked even by people who don't like synths, he has this deep loneliness in him that really rips up my heart in all the best ways. (By the way, writing this spurred me to replay Fallout4, which spurred me to start a Valentine-centric fic I was fiddling with the plot of last year, so if I actually do finish that fic-- Sekiei, I'll have you to thank!) I read a great Nick/Nora fic last year, although I can only recommend the first like... 30-or-so chapters? because the last few sort of deviate from the quality of the beginning (imo), and the fic never got finished. Still worth a read. Jesse McCree AND Hanzo Shimada (Overwatch) 

--- Honestly, as someone who has scarcely played Overwatch, it feels a bit disingenuous to put one of their characters on my fave character list, but that's part of the charm of the series: you don't really have to play the game to get most of the details it takes to get involved in the fandom. And given how explosively popular it was this past year-end, I got pretty involved. If you follow my fandom blog, you might have noticed that it was 90% McHanzo for a few months. That's because there's something really charming about those two characters! (Or, at very least, the way fandom portrays them.) McCree is such a goddamn stereotype hahaha but I love him. A grown-ass man who dresses like a cowboy because WHY NOT, he seems to have a pretty easy-going temperament that makes me feel at home. Not to mention, you think of McCree and you can't help but think of the endless desert and vast blue sky. He's a big goof-ball but also dangerous with a bit of a dark past. You know I love the type. I'm writing a McCree-centric AU, but who knows if I'll finish it. There are already quite a lot of other great McCree fics out there. --- I tried not to pick two characters from the same series, but I love McCree and Hanzo equally and in different ways, so I couldn't not. Again, there's not a whole heck of a lot of canon for these characters (I mean, there's a bit, but not as much as if they were, say, the main characters of their own piece of media, and not left largely up to the interpretation of fans), but they seem to have pretty defined personalities. Hanzo is a fairly serious guy, with a fairly serious past, and I like that in a character, that sort of stoic sincerity. But he's also got a mischievous/silly streak, I think, if only evidenced in canon by the fact that he (much like Jesse) tends to dress in an outfit several centuries out of date. But he looks damn good in it! Honest to god, he's frickin' gorgeous. XD Like, what a beautiful damn character. And I love a character that can probably kill with a glance. Whew. Erhem. Aside from that, though, he also gives off a nice peaceful vibe-- meditating up high somewhere quiet with tree leaves blowing in the breeze. Great character aesthetic. Anyone who's in the Overwatch fandom has probably already heard of “Hang the Fool”, but it's far and away the best McHanzo fic available, and I highly recommend it! Fawkes (Fallout 3)

--- Often I know about characters before I encounter them in whatever media they're from. That's partly why I choose to get into games/shows/etc. I was caught off guard by Fawkes, a big scary green “super mutant” from Fallout 3, who you encounter near the end of the story. Up to that point, all the super mutants you meet are just big dumb brutes who are trying to kill you, and have a good chance of succeeding, because they are, as I mentioned, rather large and scary. But Fawkes was locked up by his kind precisely because he was different. He's intelligent, compassionate, and loyal-- truly one of the nicest and most 'good' people you ever stumble upon in the Capital Wasteland. Also he kicks ass, because he is fucking huge and carries a gattling gun like it's no big deal. If I play FO3 again, I'm rushing right to that part so I can pick him up as soon as possible. Also, I'm one of like maybe a handful of people who ship him with the Lone Wanderer, which prooobably makes it my rarest rare-pair. Luckily, my friend Choco wrote a kick-ass long-fic about them, which made my whole month when I read it last year.   Noctis Lucis Caelum (Final Fantasy XV)

--- It was really hard to choose one out of the four main guys from this series, but I eventually decided on the main character Noctis, because I really think he's a great main character. Final Fantasy main characters are known for being kind of whiny and emo, and Noctis doesn't exactly deviate from this plan, but he adheres to it in such a way that makes sense to me. I find him to be very realistic! He's 20. He's tired and just wants to sleep. He likes to play video games. He rolls his eyes at his dad's affection but obviously loves him. He goofs off with his friends but can get stuff done when the time comes. He's a cat person, but he likes dogs too. Oh and he loves food, but he's a picky eater. And unlike other FF main characters, his style is very casual. I have actually seen people who dress like him. ...I actually AM a people who dresses like him. He's a good character who didn't deserve any of the shit that was thrown his way-- but at least he had good friends. I've read a few good Noctis-related fics so far, but nothing very long that left much impression yet. Hoping I'll find one at some point. If not, maybe one of my own will end up fitting the bill.

Jinbe (One Piece)

--- Wrapping this up with another somewhat-obscure character, Jinbe from One Piece. (Or, if you like, because romanization is weird: Jinbei, Jimbe, Jimbei, etc) First, I love One Piece. It's a great, super-long anime with so many good characters! But Jinbe, oh. He's a big, blue, intimidating fish-man who often looks angry and has mannerisms/speech patterns that are reminiscent of I think both samurai and old mob-bosses. But he's an intensely sincere guy, who's fiercely protective of those who are important to him, and the promises he makes. Everything he does for Luffy makes me cry. XD When nobody else will risk giving Luffy a blood transfusion because of stupid old racist laws, he publicly declares his willingness. When Luffy's knocked out at Marineford and Akainu is coming after him, the way Jinbe holds Luffy and gives Akainu the most visceral snarl I've ever heard. I love it. I really like scary looking guys who are sweet. ALSO, I haven't seen any good Jinbe fics, so if anybody has one I'd love to see it. =3

Tagging: uh, I dunno. @braincoins, @tempuslunam, @chocochipbiscuit, @tequilatrashbin, @buddhistmamaduck, @milarca, and @ whoever else wants to do it. 

[loveforhp]

hey, which weasleys do you like the best and the least? why?

This is kind of hard as it depends a lot on the perspectives from which I look at them lol. The Weasleys in general are sometimes problematic and very fucked up tbh, but I still love them all. Molly really really really annoys me though XD she’s a good person and she has been through a lot, but oh my fucking god..

So here’s my list (for the moment, at least)

Bill (He’s not exactly my favourite, but since I don’t have anything bad to say about him, let’s say he goes at the top of this list lol. I always loved him. Little me thought he was so cool! xd He has a lot of style and a nice smile, he’s funny, he does not take anybody’s bullshit, he’s always himself (even after Greyback bit him). He’s always ready to help and to take risks. He’s responsible, intelligent and logical, knows how to have fun… he always respects everyone, isn’t bigoted or sexist. He is very reliable, doesn’t try to control anyone but rather gives advices, etc. etc. )

Ginny (she used to annoy me a bit in the books, and she’s not always very sensitive, but in fact she just gets bad representation all the time. it’s crazy how badly they all treat her. even her own family. they always seem to forget what she has been through (even harry duh), and she’s often slut-shamed by people around her (even Pansy Parkinson seems to have more respect for her sometimes, which tells a lot). But despite all that, Ginny is still a strong woman and she’s a beautiful person, full of love and now I just love her so much hahaha. She’s also very energetic, I like that! oh and she has a lot of nerve, but everybody knows that xd! and she’s very humble and loyal. you don’t see her whining. and, for example, she just knows and understands what harry has to do, and she just lets him do whatever he has to do, even if it hurts her. Her love is pure. Awh and she defends Luna too :D. She doesn’t take anybody’s bullshit either lol :P and she loves cute animals, so that’s cute too.)

Arthur (I love how he protects his family, how cute he seems to be with molly, how he is always ready to help everyone, and how he tries to be neutral. He doesn’t treat the others like they’re babies and he says the true stuff. He works hard, he’s patient, and he really tries to do his best. His hate is generally justified and even there, he doesn’t really hate. He’s great! His fascination for muggles is kind of weird and very awkward, but he doesn’t mean it in a bad way. He’s just clumsy and kind of ignorant, which isn’t that bad).

Charlie (I didn’t know where to place him in the list as we don’t have much information on him tbh. He loves dragons and that’s pretty much it lol. I love him, though. He’s courageous, etc. And he loves being outdoors, nature, animals, etc. He has a lot of respect towards everyone, and he’s always ready to fight and to go back to England or Hogwarts when it’s necessary. He lives far away from everyone, but somehow he’s always there, he keeps in touch with everyone. He just lives from his passion and that’s kind of cool I guess. It’d be nice if he can find a dragonologist girlfriend though haha. He deserves someone.)

Ron (I love Ron and the way he protects and defends his friends and family. How he is usually ready to make people (he likes) feel better, how generous and courageous he is, etc. I love how intelligent and logical he is. I love his humour, etc. However, I don’t like his extremely short-temper, the way he treats women in general (fleur, hermione, lavender, cho, his own sister, etc.). He’s not a bad person, he probably doesn’t even realize how problematic some of his views are. Also, he doesn’t really think before acting or saying stuff. He has a lot of prejudices too and they’re very long-lasting, the latter detail being something I really despise and can’t stand in real life. He really just can’t let go, about most things anyway, and he’s somewhat jealous and careless. I don’t know if I would love him as much if he wasn’t one of the main characters. But he’s still adorable. He isn’t always authentic, but that’s probably because he’s not very.. self-confident, which is understandable. Overall, he’s a great friend though.)

Percy (Percy is very ambitious and he definitely loves his family so so so much. He even named his daughter after his mother. But he felt somewhat detached from them (which is normal, considering the way they used to make fun of him) and he had difficulty believing them when Harry said Voldemort was back. Percy loves order, and he used to trust the ministry. He probably didn’t want to believe in the return of Voldemort either, which is normal. It isn’t much different from, idk.. seamus finnigan, for example. However I really don’t like how much time it took him to come back to his family, to admit he had been wrong, but!!! at least he did.. And he definitely admitted he had been a prat xd, and so many other stuff. He was awesome at the battle of hogwarts. And let’s be honest, he had always been there for everyone too, ready to help and to answer all their questions. He’s the first person Ginny went to when she was in trouble in CoS, etc. Percy is just a very serious and studious guy, who’s not really about having fun, at least when compared to his very loud brothers. But eh, that’s perfectly alright. And he probably wasn’t that bad if Clearwater went out with him :). And he really seemed to love her. Percy doesn’t get enough credit, imo.)

Fred (Fred is cool. There are a lot of problematic stuff about him, though. Same with George. The way they treated people sometimes is just downright awful. They didn’t mean any harm most of the times, but they are just really careless. Fred is always there to defend his family and friends (and even other people) however, and that even if he is often very very nasty to them (especially to ron and percy). I don’t like what he and George did to Dudley either. And that whole love potion thing is fucking weird (which is true for Fred, George and Molly too – and Ron too in tcc, but that’s another story; ron in tcc is extremely problematic tbh, in the way he treats hermione especially.) I wouldn’t say Fred is a bully (it’d be hard to apply this to him and george, as they always stand up against injustice), but he definitely has bullied people too. Dudley, Montague, etc. He’s not exactly innocent or fair. But he’s definitely courageous, and he’s not an idiot either. He is perfectly capable of forgiveness (for example, when he forgave percy), etc. But it’s hard to hate him… he and George are very important in the books; Fred is very loud, and he gives a lighter and ‘funny’ touch to the story (even if when you really think of it, there’s nothing exactly funny about what he does/says, etc.)

George (I suppose pretty much everything I said about Fred applies here too. George is just somewhat more prejudiced and more short-tempered than Fred, but ehm, that’s weird because at the same time he is more sensitive and also understands people better. He also cares less about money than his twin. He’s always there for Fred too. Moreover, even in the worst moments, he’s able to crack a joke, which I think is cool. It’s so sad he had to lose his twin brother during the final battle.)

Molly (at-the-very-bottom-of-the-list™) (She just really annoys me. I don’t like how she seems to treat everyone like they’re all babies. I don’t like how controlling she is as a mother, even though it is obvious she really really cares about her kids. She has no tact. The way she treated Hermione in GoF is just downright awful. She’s prejudiced, stubborn, stern, but.. happily Arthur is there to help her with that xd. She’s been through a lot, and I definitely understand her hate for everyone linked to the death eaters or voldemort, as her two bros were killed, etc. etc. Like.. she certainly will defend her family to not end, which is good, but damn she could even go as far as killing (even draco, who could go to no end and could sacrifice himself for his family too, is incapable of such a thing). I do understand why she killed Bellatrix, and I do understand that they were in the middle of a battle, and that Bella had started (with ginny) and that Bella is a fucking bitch, but that’s still awfully wrong. I really do understand why Molly did it, and that was probably deserved and I forgive her, but.. it’s more the fact that Molly probably never felt any remorse for what she did, despite Bellatrix being an awful woman (that’s not even the question here), that makes me cringe. The way she treats Sirius like he’s nothing and unimportant for Harry, like she’s actually more important duhh, is disgusting too, and I don’t like how naive she is (for example, she used to read that crap from Rita Skeeter, and she was acting so weird and childish around Lockhart, etc.) Like ok, Molly is awesome, she’s so nice sometimes and wants to be a good mother to everyone, even to Harry, and she’s fucking generous and she’s an amazing cook, but plleeeeease, just let people breathe woman and don’t force your bullshit on them. And OMG I almost forgot. the way she treated Fleur. Oh shit. What the fuck. That was just horrible, immature, and disrespectful.)

Well, that’s pretty much it haha. I’m not exactly sure about the order, but anyway :P