#(complimentary and derogatory at the same time)

[sammygender]

deangirls i am not your enemy... i was one of you once... before i realised you did not like the real dean.... we do not have to be on opposing sides of this war..... come read 'dean crit' posts and realise theyre just canon and are in fact a good positive thing that makes him extremely interesting.... rewatch supernatural and notice the narrative treatment of sam this time.... i am sending you psychic waves.... pspspsspps...... mainstream fandom i can fix you....... you can do this..... we can all hold hands and join forces to appreciate The Cycle and The Roles....

[cipheramnesia]

Normally, saying a movie is "like a videogame" is meant to be derogatory - implying the movie features conflict closer to boss fights, and character development closer to leveling up, in a film heavily dependent on CGI effects. It's a cliché, however Hundreds of Beavers is a lot like a videogame in what could only be called a complimentary way.

Because it is a slapstick comedy loosely intended as a live action recreation of old black and white cartoons, the particular mechanics of these conceits permit the film to utilize a kind of Rube Goldberg mechanism that is baked into the plot. The consequence of this is a movie that follows progress in a series of linear repetitions of the same sequence, each time increasingly complex and with new deviations and transformations that create delight and comedy at the same time.

It's absurd in just the right cartoonish way, where the punchline for each bit is incredibly stupid in a manner which can only be orchestrated by filmmakers who are incredibly clever. The sheer amount of work that had to go into working backwards from the end towards the middle in order for every bit to pay off repeatedly is a bit mind boggling. And it is quite like a videogame, albeit more of the puzzle type, and it's better for it.

[shamelesslymkp]

real talk tho this is like, I think maybe one of the coolest things about fandom - in canon, you get what you get and you have what you have, there is one series of events and characterizations* and that's that

in fandom, you are capable of balancing wildly contradicting series of events and characterizations in your own head and heart, letting them exist in a sort of quantum state where they are all both real and not real until you choose one for a shining specific moment

(schrödinger's... fanon? is that anything??)

Niko can be both aroace AND a lesbian. The Cat King can be both predator AND benign trickster. Charles can be both madly in love with Edwin AND full on aromantic. Payneland AND Catwin can be endgame, and so can Cryland AND Ghostcrow, and a million OTHER combinations. ALL AT THE SAME TIME.

how cool is that?

*comic book fans. i know. i KNOW. your canons are infinite and unending (both complimentary and derogatory)

[lilikitsune18]

Officer it’s this one right here he crashed my drawing program and refused to cooperate

@neodracunyan here’s the criminal the one who broke my drawing program so bad I’m going to have to archive everything and clear its data again and it hasn’t even been 3 months since I last did that for spring cleaning. I love how he came out in the end but he crashed my program 5 times while I was working on him and has caused it to lag and crash constantly ever since. I adore this boi but I will always have hard feelings for his reference sheet. He looks so smug about it too.

Below the cut is my usual ramble as well as the sketches and shape study for this one. (He has taught me many things completely on accident)

So let’s talk about this.

I started by sketching up a kickin that will never see the light of day fate just looking up my reference images and eyeballing it.

That kickin was really really ugly.

I know saying these things about one’s own art can seem degrading and derogatory but believe me when I say I got a second opinion and they agreed that chicken was ugly.

And they didn’t even know I was showing them my own art so I know it’s true.

So then I did the shape study and figured out why this wasn’t working the same as the others.

Then came a lot of trial and error of pushing different combinations of these shapes and builds together until I got a siluette that seemed to work (this was the one I used for the final version of kickin)

Then came the face which was also a matter with which I struggled but eventually figured out.

Despite all of these setbacks I do really like how kickin came out in the end (especially the side profile view) and once all of the struggles were through I really really ended up liking how he came out .

So let’s actually talk about this design now shall we?

Let’s start with the kickin hawk design. This design benefited from the fact that I knew who kickins partner is before choosing colors so I decided to make his grey clothing pieces blue toned in the same shade as bubba. It’s not super noticeable in the reference sheet because it’s surrounded by its complimentary and cross-complimentary colors (orange and yellow) making it look far more desaturated than it actually is. My intent is for the rest of the dark critters to have this same partnering motif from here on out in their color palettes (bubba will get kickins yellow, Bobby will get craftys cyan/teal color, and picky will get something green for hoppy) this will add a sort of visual synergy between each partner set making it more clear when they’re together as a group who the usual pairs are. (Instead of redoing catnap and dogday to fit this rule lets just say that their synergy thing is the red smoke bc when I designed them I didn’t know they were going to be put together as an individual pair instead of being with the rest of the critters as a group.) the idea for how kickin hawks weapons work is that they’re magnetic (either the holsters or a specific point on the weapon itself) and depending on which weapon it is will attach to a different point on his belt (think like polarity the nunchucks won’t attach to the spot where the guns go because the poles in its magnets don’t match the ones for the guns to attach to. This also means that if an enemy has a huge magnet they are guaranteed to never get all of kickins weapons because some of them will have opposing polarity and be repelled by the magnet instead of attracted to it a.k.a science is cool sometimes) The mask is for similar reasons to dogdays because of the fact that bubba uses lots of chemicals and gases similar to catnaps when fighting and kickin doesn’t want to deal with the loose gases effects (at that moment at least I feel like kickin would absolutely be bubba Guinea pig whenever he has a new variation to test) I also dyed some of his feathers with streaks of the reddish orange color because I feel like the moment he got the freedom to choose his appearance he’d go and change it. And uh yeah that’s about it for kickins ramble but if you have questions about the design choices feel free to ask ( while some of these guys may bite I won’t!)

[hardworkandguts]

Uzumaki

うずまき

(Anime + Manga)

Horror by Junji Ito

Era: 1990a, 2020s

Rating: A (manga), D (anime)

Plot: In the small town of Kurouzo-cho, as Kirie Goshima is heading to the train station to meet his boyfriend Shuishi Saito, she passes by his father who is obsessively looking at a snail. When they meet, he proposes the two leave the town, which he claims is contaminated with spirals.

Length: 4 episodes (~30 minutes), 19 chapters

Thoughts: Well, here's the first (note: this is the fourth published but there's bi-weekly posts scheduled until next February) I feel a need to really separate a rating between the original manga, who's a fantastic piece of both social, psychological and body horror, where the spiral curse starts by first manifesting in small ways, like dirt devils or the way water flows in the canals, but soon start affecting the people, who become obsessed with spirals, drawing them in, until they become spirals themselves, and this is just the beginning of the end stage of the curse as it engulfs the town. It's not an easy read particularly as things get worse and worse and you just know there isn't going to be a happy end, but is certainly engaging. The adaptation that mostly follows the same story, with some changes to accommodate a shorter run time, but it's not something I can recommend.

A big problem is the animation after the first episode. Sure, it often looks the part (other times, it looks clearly rushed and more a fan project from the 2000s), but seeing it move doesn't do *anything* for it. It's just that, it moves, and not exactly in a dynamic way, either. Or even well executed. You could, in fact, argue that the animation is something brown and spiralling, that you might find in the sidewalk.

All in all, no reason to watch the adaptation, for which I'm not blaming the animators, this has a clear feel of "executives screwed the studio over who screwed the people actually working on it after five years in development hell". Particularly ironic, since there's a text by Ito collaborator and former Japanese diplomat Sato Masaru doing a Marxist analysis of the story and likening it to Japanese society (after all, what is the genre of horror but the horrors of daily life in a more palatable and grutesque form), which you can read some notes from here.

Recommended to: horror fans

Plus:

Some incredible body horror in here

Adaptation looks like the manga (complimentary)

Minus:

Adaptation looks like the manga (derogatory)

Ending doesn't feel as strong as the start and middle.

[0fbabylon-a]

i'm madonna's #1 fan. if no one is defending her right to be cunty (complimentary and derogatory) then i'm dead. i've genuinely found her and her lore very fascinating and captivating from the first time i found your blog. i also think donna is allowed to do whatever she wants and nobody can say anything about it

jslkfjdfkldj :pleading: :pleading: grunk i am so happy to know you and madonna is BLESSED to have a fan like you lets be real its more than she deserves but at the same time there is no limit to what she deserves... so someone else do the math bc im bad at it ..... but truly - thank you for your kind words and support ;; it really motivates me to keep sharing things about her on here, which is great, because she is precious and dear to my heart umu <3 <3 love you sm grunk thank u

tell me what you think about madonna!! anon or not!!! thank u!!!

[gladosluver]

oohuuh i just lied to this dude who wants me and said that i have a boyfriend (i have been single for over 2 years ☠️) and he just said "well congrats" WITH THAT STUPID FUCKING 🤷‍♂️ SHRUGGING EMOJI LIKE I KNOW HES MAD AS HELLLLL 😭😭😭😭😭😭

we're in the same design program and the FIRST THING our teachers tell us EVERY TIME SCHOOL STARTS for the past 3 YEARS is NO DATING ANYONE IN THE PROGRAM.

worst part was when he confessed his undying love to me. i had the lesbian flag in my profile picture. and it was on valentines day. after i told him that confessing on valentines day is the cringiest more cliche thing you could ever do to yourself. bonus cuz it made me have a crisis and realize im pansexual LOLL.

anyways heres some assorted photos from adventures and real talk under the cut

my relationship requirements are SO. LOW. my bar is so low you could find it at the bottom of the mariana trench. if most of the people my age that i know irl or online confessed to me i would not mind at all and even if i didnt return the feelings it wouldnt change anything as long as the other person just accepts that.. i dont even care how you look. ik it sounds like bs but i only really go for personality 😭. if you have a good personality, common sense, arent a creep/criminal, and have a basic sense of personal hygiene, you can get with me. thats it. that is literally it

i found out this dude was lowkey a weirdo so i guess i can clown on him a bit... his looks were a solid 3/10 on a good day. but i didnt care cuz he was originally so nice and we shared the same interests. for some time i actually DID have a crush on him. and get this— the only real "turn off" i had with this guy was cuz he kept disrespecting women, trying to start drama n shit with our classmates, and not even calling me by my real name when i told him several times to do so. lowkey funny as hell tho, since he couldnt even spell it right. how does that even work

ive made it clear that im not interested in him at all but its so obvious that he's still into me... he keeps staring at me in class and trying to start convos with me every chance he gets. like i could post a picture of cereal and he'd pull some "how did you make that" type shit just to talk to me ☠️☠️☠️ idk if he just cant move on but cmon man. its been months... i dont want you.

i just want to love a freak (complimentary) but all the people i pull are freaks (derogatory)

[spicychickencows]

so I've watched only the first episode of Fallout now and I'm not really hooked yet, I'm gonna do my usual two episode limit and see if it manages it or not

basic thoughts though are as follows

we should not see the bombs drop at the start, and we certainly should not see The Ghoul's backstory before we have even seen the character

the aesthetic of this show is almost there but not quite, everything is too clean and too bright

the power armour doesn't look like it has any weight, neither do the vault door, and it doesn't look like metal, also the bit between bulky torso and bulky belt looks like it should bend but doesn't

Ella Purnell is distractingly attractive to me and it gets in the way of the fact that she is by far the most compelling actor in this first episode

I don't think we should be seeing the Brotherhood of Steel as perspective characters, possibly at all, but definitely not this early

the violence in this show is somehow both ridiculous over the top nonsense (complimentary) and ridiculous over the top nonsense (derogatory) at the same time, it is weirdly boring to watch

too many cut aways to random side characters making bad jokes

playing old songs is not the same thing as understanding the purpose of the retro-futurist aspect of Fallout's design

[meltedbrains]

It gets a bit muddled because Past and Present start a fistfight and end up in a bloodied heap. I can't speak for classic who but having just rewatched the first season of nu-who there's definitely solid groundwork for the Doctor's point of view.

TL;DR - the writers didn't really think everything through

The 9th Doctor clearly loves 'ordinary' people, handily I'm midway through father's day as I saw your post. The Doctor angrily rejects Rose's assertion that saving her dad is unimportant, that she's barely changed history. He compares saving one life to saving an entire civilisation. Part of this is that he doesn't like anyone else meddling with time he 'knows what he's doing'. (something that gets lost in later seasons is that this point was vulnerable because there were two versions of the doctor and rose at the same point). But his compassion for the normal people of the world shines through, think of his treatment of the pig 'alien' in 'Aliens of London'; he was excited to meet them, horrified and angry at their creation and senseless death, and comforted them in their final moments.

But back to Father's Day, he goes out of his way to comfort the couple (Stuart and Sarah) getting married. Their 'meet-cute' of him paying for a taxi and writing his number on her hand, delights the Doctor, he's "never had anything like that". Their ordinariness is what makes them special and deserving to live. It's possible to read jealousy into this but that is interpretive subtext, the Doctor is fresh out of a war that killed his people, destroyed his planet and left him alone, we've seen him lose Jabe in episode 2 and Gwyneth in episode 3 as a direct result of his actions. I'm sure a quiet, ordinary life where people don't die because of him is very appealing.

So we have four seasons of ordinary people helping the Doctor, and in doing so, they become extraordinary. Rose genocides the daleks so the doctor won't have to (Rose becoming bad wolf would happen to anyone that looked into the time vortex (apparently) and doing so nearly kills her and the Doctor), then helps save the world from the daleks again; Martha travels the world and gets everyone to believe in the doctor again, rejuvenating him and allowing him to save the world. In the other episodes they save the day (and the world) in more minor ways but mostly these could be the actions of anyone.

Yes, the Doctor chooses his companions but at this point there isn't an overarching companion storyline (Amy and Clara say hi). They are just ordinary people that he likes spending time with.

Now, back to that fistfight I mentioned. Previously Doctor Who has made the case that ordinariness is good actually, it has no bearing on ability or personality (it might even be better for it). This season it has made the case that there is no other Donna Noble, so far this is not contradictory, there was no other Rose, or Martha either. Any other companion could have been in that situation and also become a meta-crisis-hybrid-whatever and saved the universe(s).

In the first season the Doctor values people for their ordinariness; they are important to someone and their connection with each other is beautiful in its simplicity, anyone is capable of a great act of kindness because kindness itself is great.

By the time we get to 10 and Donna this has then slid into 'anyone can become extraordinary'. Donna believes herself to be ordinary (derogatory), and while 9 would have said she was ordinary (complimentary), 10 corrects her by saying she is extraordinary. (Based on 9's speaking patterns he probably would have said 'and what's wrong with that?')

The sticking point is 10's insistence that everyone is important and Turn Left's resolution being that Donna is super special actually. The shift has been gradual but by the time you've noticed it you're looking at the same thing from a completely different point of view.

Prophecy is always weird, often they are self fulfilling, but whether that is by following it or trying not to depends on the text. Oedipus and his parents tried their hardest to make sure it never came true, but he never would have committed either part of the prophecy had he simply known what they looked like (making his penance all the more fitting). It gets even weirder when you add time travel.

Watson and Doyle can start their own separate fistfight on how much weight you give prophecy, it is important because the writers believe it or because the characters do?

Was Donna always going to save the world or is that just the fate of anyone who travels with the Doctor? Did the Ood predict the future or do they just see The Doctor and Donna as a package deal because they themselves are a hybrid species (all psychically linked to each other). Is it really a prophecy or just one possible future?

The same episode has pointed out the hypocrisy of the Doctor's pacifism (albeit by the bad guy). The Doctor fashions weapons out of people and makes them extraordinary, or at least attempt extraordinary things. Given that Rory makes the same point in the Vampires of Venice it seems likely that this is what the writers want us to agree with.

The Doctor always thought of Donna as extraordinary, despite her protestations, and because of this she was constantly in dangerous situations. The series starts because Donna has been putting herself in danger just to find the doctor. She can no longer live with being ordinary and by the end of the series it may finally kill her.

The series has unintentionally entered into an argument with itself and here we are.

(if you do view the 9th doctor's love of 'ordinary people' as tinged with jealousy it does make an interesting lens for the 10's mind wipe of Donna)

i've always found the argument that doctor who insists donna is important as her own person very strange, because what doctor who actually tells you is that donna is super important because she has some mysterious intertwining destiny with the doctor and then she has to go back to being a lesser version of herself because being so important will kill her if she keeps doing it

[charcubed]

every time I read a notable line of dialogue from succession I wonder what unhinged drugs the writers are doing and I mean that in a complimentary fashion

[antimonyandthyme]

Hardship

1k; prosenna

It’s not the first time Ayrton asks. Ayrton’s asked every time he’s picked up the phone. But it’s the first time Ayrton asks after he’s had his dick in Alain just moments before.

In moments of weakness Alain will think back to this instant and remember. The chill that washed over him. The desire to hurt. Only Ayrton had the ability to pull such emotion from him, such viciousness and tenderness in equal measure. Did they ever have a chance of working out? Alain will think back to this and wonder.

“Come back to race,” Ayrton murmurs, very carelessly, very sleepily. Like an afterthought. His eyes are half-closed. The corners of his lips are pulled up; not smiling, but satisfied. He looks to be exactly where he wants to be, and Alain, who’s spent the last few months navigating a retirement in which he attempts to settle for some pittance of peace, grows angry.

“You ask me that now?” Alain says quietly, and next to him Aryton stiffens. They’ve come up against each other enough times to sense when danger is near. And every time the result is always the same. Debris all over. “So. Is that what this is about?”

“What are you talking about?” Ayrton sits up, expression partway between confusion and dismay. The easiness siphons out of his body in a rapid drip. “Of course it’s not.”

“But it is, isn’t it?” There’s no stopping the dam now. “Were you hoping I’d be a little softer? A little more—agreeable? So you say, come back to race, and expect it to be done, and I say no. So you, Ayrton, being stubborn, being insufferable, you just can’t let it lie. So you think, maybe if I fuck him, he will listen, he will agree?”

“Alain, no.” Ayrton sounds strangled, like Alain’s hands are physically around his neck. “That’s not what I was trying to do. You know—” He stops abruptly.

In the silence Alain considers: What do they know? What do they know about each other save for the dust they leave on the track?

Ayrton wets his lips, now bloodless. “That’s not what this is about at all,” he says, small as a whisper.

“Get out,” Alain says, because he can no longer think, not with the rage bubbling in the back of his throat and not with Ayrton staring at him like that. With betrayal, as if Alain had drawn first blood. “Get out of my room.”

“Alain—”

“Out,” he says in a voice he’s never used before, even against Ayrton. Very cold, very callous. Very hurt.

Ayrton stumbles out of bed, still naked and softly shiny. Looking lost. Every part of his body is still tuned toward Alain. There’s a reddened mark at his hip where Alain had applied his own teeth, just a few moments earlier. They’re magnets that will always repel. Alain looks away and pushes Ayrton out with forced indifference.

He jams the pillow over his head when the door closes with a wounded snick. He expects that to be the end of it.

Except Ayrton, Ayrton—

The door slams open. “We must talk.”

It appears Ayrton will never stop stealing the words out of Alain’s mouth. “I said to get out,” Alain says in a daze. He’s vacillating between astonishment and frenzy at this point. “What part of get out do you not understand?”

“We will talk, Alain.” Ayrton is back on the bed, atop the rumpled covers. He covers Alain’s hand with his larger one. It’s warm. “I will not spend the night with this misunderstanding between us.”

Alain’s mouth drops open. Oddly, he thinks of Suzuka. The defining moment when Ayrton had cut in front of him and left him gaping and bewildered in very much the same way. The bastard still thinks he’s spending the night.

“You’re unbelievable,” Alain spits. He hates himself for meaning that in both a derogatory and complimentary way. “You’re arrogant, and spoiled, and presumptuous, and you think that the world will bend to your will, and you think I must as well.”

Ayrton’s hand around his turns punishing, and it takes awhile before Alain realizes his knuckles are creaking from the grip. He winces before he can stop himself, and then he’s angrier all the more for showing his discomfort. His left hand is already curling into a fist. It should have come as no surprise that they would come to blows, even in bed.

“I’m sorry,” Ayrton says, all of a sudden. His grip retreats to almost nothing, just the barest hint of pressure between them. It still feels like a sledgehammer slammed on Alain’s fingers. “Alain, listen to me. I’m sorry. Just listen to me, please.”

Alain yanks his hand away, ignoring the hurt flashing in Ayrton’s eyes. “I’m done, Ayrton. I said to get out—”

Then Ayrton’s hands are around his face. “Listen, you stubborn—”

“Let go of me—”

“Will you just—”

“I will not—”

“You think it’s easy?” Ayrton finally shouts. There’s so much strength in Ayrton’s hands, cupped around Alain’s reddened cheeks, and so much gentleness he keeps trying to muster. Alain imagines Ayrton’s fingerprints will remain on the crevices of his skin for all eternity, even after he’d given up so much that was important so he could shed his old skin. Even without racing, he won’t be rid of this. “You think it’s easy hearing no from you all the time?”

Alain stares. “What?”

“Come back, I say, and you say no. So I try again. Come back, and then you say no again.” Ayrton sounds—fucking miserable. “But I remember how it was when I raced you, and I know how it is now without you. It is nothing. So I must try. I must ask. But if you think I wouldn’t be in bed with you even if I didn’t have to ask, well. Then you are very stupid, Alain.”

Alain opens his mouth to argue.

Ayrton, the bastard, kisses Alain’s knuckles. “I have to ask. You understand.”

“I’ll still say no,” Alain says tiredly, because it would be cruel, even if it were to Ayrton, to dangle hope like a stick in front of him.

“Okay.” Ayrton shrugs. “I will still try.”

“You’re an arsehole.”

“Okay,” Ayrton says again. “But you understand, yes?”

“Don’t ask me after we have sex,” Alain says.

Ayrton nods seriously. He looks to actually be listening to Alain this time. Something about a give and take, something they could never manage on track. So Alain reasons, it wouldn’t be too much of a hardship to slip the covers up, beckon Ayrton over, and receive him as he crashes back into Alain’s arms a little too eagerly.

Not too much of a hardship.

[riggedtrap]

he makes me sick (derogatory/complimentary at the same time)

Fan art i drew of scott tibbs dying in a glue trap

[shadowofthelamp]

I love the Zim/Dib dynamic that is recognition of the self through the other (complimentary) and recognition of the self through the other (derogatory) at the same time. For better or for worse, I see in you both the parts of me that I am most proud of and the parts of me that I secretly hate. I love you for the same reason that I hate(d) you- because I understand you, in a way I fear no one else ever can.

[argumate]

I agree with brazenautomaton that you've gotten the point of the Truman Show backwards, but to get a bit more specific as to why - Truman isn't surrounded by extras, he's surrounded by actors. His status as the protagonist is a side effect of the way that everybody around him has been constantly lying to him all the time. It isn't about being the lone real person (complimentary) in a world of NPCs; it's about being the lone real person (derogatory) in a world-sized confidence scheme. A version of Harry Potter reflecting a similar structure and themes would probably not have the same type of mass appeal and would not get the wish fulfillment label; it would be a much darker take where Harry has to fight tooth and nail through the whole story to finally escape from the Dursleys' control into the magical world at the very end of the story (not at the end-of-act-one-in-book-one mark), and it would be a story where the secrecy associated with magic is treated as something truly focally horrible, not as a narrative vehicle for beginning the protagonist's Hero's Journey and starting him off as a fish-out-of-water blank slate character whose presence justifies exposition. Truman's existential revelations comprise a betrayal from his universe that invalidates everything that seemed good in his life; Harry's comprise an escape hatch that makes his miserable dead end living situation irrelevant. You might have been shitposting and not posting a sincere take, but if you were serious, your take strikes me as roughly equivalent to saying that Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (Carrey's other big serious high-concept film) is an escapist fantasy about starting a relationship over fresh with the slate wiped clean.

Eternal Sunshine is definitely a better movie, but now I'm thinking perhaps the closest analog to Truman is actually Prince Andrew: someone living in a bubble of importance his entire life while being no one of consequence at all.

[staytiny-yaps]

hi girly!!! Your writing is so o good and your Azriel imagine really got me HOOKED. So i would love to request if that's okay. 💕 i would love like a protective azriel, maybe like during the meeting of all the High Lords when the tension is already thick (jsjs thanks tamlin). Maybe someone says something to her and Azriel becomes ❤motherhen❤. U can totes go in a diff direction, no problem. Thanks❤❤

A/n: Had to read a full recap of this chapter to answer this that's how fking long its been omg. Their relationship was heavily inspired by this song. Anyways here you are my love, hope you enjoy ❤❤❣

Warning: Heavier cursing than I usually write, derogatory terms used (Eris being a bitch)

Dawn Court Defining

Everyone assumes Azriel is so quiet and subdued, shy if you will, because of his profession.

As a spy, it's in his job description to lay low, stay quiet and fly under the radar as Azriel frequently does even in more social settings.

Despite this, Y/n L/n, one of the best spies Velaris has even seen, is loud and boisterous, extravagant and outgoing.

After training underneath Azriel for years on end, Y/n eventually became his partner and while Azriel is a fairly independent male, he has to admit it is rather helpful to have her around.

You'd expect their directly opposing personalities to clash, but the two in fact got along very well and worked perfectly as a team.

She was the Sun and he was the Moon, complimentary personalities where one wouldn't be the same without the other.

Sometimes Azriel watched Y/n having fun with Mor and Cassian on a night out, laughing and drinking, always to return to his side at the end of the night and he couldn't help but think; perhaps they were soulmates.

Two souls that together complete one another no matter when and no matter where. He liked to think that in all past and future lives their souls found each other again and again.

It was this reassurance that at the end of a night of alcohol and dancing, Y/n would return home with him, that alleviated his stress at the fact that she would go to sleep in her own room in their shared apartment.

It didn't matter to him that they weren't yet in a relationship because he knew that when the time was right, it would happen and for now he still got to wrap his arm around her as she read to him on their couch each night.

Something they learned to do a long time ago, was Azriel would focus his attention on listening and Y/n would focus hers on seeing. In this way they could gather more details from both.

Y/n was stood next to Azriel, her arms crossed, pointed ears showing as her hair was pulled back. Azriel's shadows seemed to brush up against her as if they too appreciated her closeness.

She was completely tuned out of the conversations happening within this High Lord Meeting, analysing every little shift in each individual's body language.

Aware of everyone around her, she brought her attention back to the dialogue as she felt Azriel tense up beside her.

Glancing between Azriel, Eris and Morrigan, Y/n quickly picked up where the conversation had gone. Azriel seemed poised to leap up and lunge for Eris if one more comment left his lips.

Noticing this, Y/n laid a hand on Azriel's bicep and tugged on it causing him to snap his attention towards her.

She leaned into his ear and whispered to him.

"Remember what Rhys said. This needs to go well for us, you can't do anything. Just relax, Az." His body did indeed relax under her touch and she pulled back from his ear, but curled her arm around his bicep and left it there.

"That's right, listen to your whore. Stand down like a good little dog." Y/n's hand tightened on Azriel's arm to keep him back as he fumed.

"Fuck did you just call me?" She asked, with a venom that even Rhysand's Inner Circle had never heard before.

"I called you a whore, you fae bitch. You'd think a spy as good as you supposedly are would know that. Though I guess all you're really good for is taming this-" He doesn't get to finish his sentence before Azriel has shredded through all defensive wards and has Eris pinned against the wall by his throat.

"Azriel!" Y/n yelled out as he pressed his hand harder into Eris' throat. Eris' face was turning red as he lost his breath and Azriel was whispering something into his ear. He waited until Eris nodded before letting him go.

Azriel turned back to Y/n where she stood next to the now empty chair by Feyre.

"You should tread carefully Shadowsinger, she's not worth all this." Azriel whipped back around and punched Eris in the jaw before anyone could even blink.

"Enough! Azriel!" Y/n leapt over to him and pulled him back to his seat.

He withdrew quickly and let Y/n pull him back to the seat, he knew he shouldn't have done that, but he didn't regret it.

He could've killed him. He should've. For what he did to Mor and what he said about Y/n. The nerve. He didn't even know Y/n, how dare he talk about her like that?

Azriel's face was flushed red with anger, his whole body felt hot.

His girl. His girl. His. Girl.

As if she knew he was contemplating standing back up and finishing the job, Y/n slid her body onto the arm of his chair and sat there, reaching her arm out to lay over his shoulders.

After simmering down and using Y/n's touch to ground himself, Azriel laid a protective arm over Y/n's leg that was propped up on the arm of the chair she had sat on.

He stayed this way the rest of the meeting and as they left, he kept his hand on the small of her back.

🔸️

Azriel's normally protective, but after the debacle that was the High Lords Meeting, he was extraordinarily so.

He finally seemed to be staking a claim on Y/n, warning anyone who came close not that she was taken, but that if anyone tried to hurt her, be would rip them apart.

He knew if he tried to show she was 'unavailable' she would get upset at him for being possessive. And so he settled for showing she was protected.

"You're glaring at everything, Az." She finally said as they walked through the Dawn Court Territory.

"I'm aware." Is all he says and she stops walking. The skies are pink, the clouds are fluffy and Azriel seems to be glowing pink in the light.

"Azriel." He turns to face her, her hand gripping his.

"Look at the sky. How can you be glaring right now?" She asks and he huffs.

"Eris just-"

"Eris isn't here right now." She used his hand to pull him close to her. She placed both hands on each of his shoulders and tilted his face to look up at the sky, pressing her chest to his.

"But I'm here. Me, Y/n, hello!" He stifled a chuckle and she gripped his chin and tilted it back down to look at her. Shaking his face side to side a bit, her growing smile more beautiful than the pink skies could ever be.

"And you, Azriel the Shadowsinger. You're here too." A finger came up to trace the round edge of his ear. She giggled and Azriel couldn't stifle the chuckle that left him this time.

"You, me and a gorgeous view, but no Eris. Yes?" He nodded at her and she pressed her forehead onto his.

"Azriel?" He sighed playfully, bringing his hands up to land on her waist.

"Yes." He let out within a small, deep laugh.

"Right, so can we stop huffing and puffing about someone who isn't even here and enjoy the very rare leisurely time outside of Velaris?" She asks finally and he grins.

"Yes."

"Great! Now, my Protective Overgrown Bat! Why don't we head back and have dinner with the others and then go find our bed for the night?" He nodded, his breath catching and let the excited Fae Woman pull him along towards food.

They had had fallen asleep together many times on the couch, or shared beds when on missions where there was only one available. They had never had a choice between sharing and sleeping separate and chosen to share.

It just seemed like that would be a step towards an established relationship, but they were both having fun dancing around each other.

It now seemed as if Y/n was over that. It seemed that she wanted something new. Something more. And Azriel was more than happy to deliver.

🔸️

As the Inner Circle ate dinner, Y/n, Mor and Cassian dominated the conversation as usual.

Though Y/n fell unexpectedly silent as Helion entered. He had a history of trying to woo both her and Az into his bed.

At the sight of the flirtatious Lord, Azriel shuffled closer to Y/n and placed a hand on her thigh.

"Please, Shadowsinger. Everyone knows she's only yours, we were all wondering when you two would bite." Helion passes the two by and takes a seat next to Mor a cheeky smile growing.

"Excuse me? I am nobody's possession! I am not his. I-"

"I'm sorry, Y/n, I simply meant that anyone meaning to pursue you may as well give up on that dream as your heart so obviously lies with the Shadowsinger." Y/n's face heated up quickly and turned a bright red.

"Excuse me." Is all she says before standing, gripping Azriel's hand and storming out of the room.

She stalks silently through the halls slamming open to doors of the room her belongings were in.

"Y/n?" Azriel asks, closing her door and sitting down on her bed next to her.

"Sorry, Azzy I'm just a bit frustrated." She sighs and rubs her face with her hand.

After a moment of silence, she sits up and faces Azriel, now sitting sideways of the bed. Reaching out, she grabbed either side if Azriel's face softly and moved him to look at her.

His deep eyes bore into her, his skin warm and soft to her touch, his pretty hair was soft and fell slightly into his face.

She moved one hand the gently rake his hair out of his eyes.

"Hey." He greeted and she giggled.

"Hi." And then she kissed him. And it was magic. They'd waited for a feeling like this their whole lives. Azriel's shadows seemed to understand the momentous occasion as they flared and spread, surrounding Y/n completely.

Then she laughed against his lips and he tried to huff at her, but instead chuckled. And while the moment was passed, that magic that came alive when they connected for the first time, that lingered for a long, long time.

[jessmalia]

Just curious, what is it about Percy/Annabeth that you don’t like (other than the stans)?

I'll happily explain! Just a quick disclaimer that it was a while ago I last read the books.

The entire thing was kinda surprising, cause on paper, percabeth should've been the perfect ship for me. They've got this enemies/rivals to lovers, bickering married couple vibes, unique nicknames etc. I love these tropes, hell, I’ve written them myself, but in percabeth's case I just don't think they're done very well.

To fully explain, I first wanna bring up an example of these things being done right, and why. The first one that comes to mind is Dan and Blair from Gossip Girl. They are also an enemies to friends to lovers ship, with this bickering married couple energy, and they're one of my favourite ships of all time. Their bickering is pretty similar to percabeth's (in the sense that it's mostly Blair saying mean things to Dan), but the key difference is that her insults (at least during their friends and lovers stages) are never coming from a malicious place and Dan's feelings are never hurt by her comments. He recognizes that this is just how Blair expresses her affection for him, and it's even something he enjoys about her. Every time she cleverly insults him he laughs/smiles and looks at her like she's the best thing in the world.

[Id: Two gifs of Dan and Blair. First gif has Blair saying, “There is no up-and-comers section. And even if there were, I mean, let’s face it Humphrey – you still wouldn’t make the cut.” And Dan smiling/laughing like she’s the best thing since sliced bread. Second gif has Blair saying “I care about you too, even if I have odd ways of showing it. Like bossing you around or making fun of your hair. Seriously, you should cut it.” And Dan, once again, smiling/laughing with the most lovey-dovey look on his face. / end id]

(x)

But in Annabeth’s case, insulting Percy isn’t how she shows her affection. She lashes out at him due to her repressed trauma, and Percy does not like that she does this. Annabeth resents people assuming that she’s dumb because she’s blonde, but she continually calls Percy stupid. She’s generally terrible at communicating how she feels and what she needs and then gets mad at him when he doesn’t respond exactly how she wants. I think the worst example of this is in the beginning of The Titan’s Curse when she punches him in the stomach for not asking her to dance with him. 

[Id: Excerpt from The Titan’s Curse:  “Dance, you guys!” Thalia ordered. “You look stupid just standing there.” I looked nervously at Annabeth, then at the groups of girls who were roaming the gym. “Well?” Annabeth said. “Um, who should I ask?” She punched me in the gut. “Me, Seaweed Brain.” “Oh. Oh, right.” / end id]

Unlike the judo-flip, I’ve never even seen this moment discussed before, and it’s so annoying, cause I just know that if the genders were switched people would be horrified by it. 

The same issue comes up with the nicknames. Wise Girl is clearly complimentary while Seaweed Brain is derogatory. Now, what I expected when I read PJO was that Seaweed Brain would eventually turn affectionate, sort of like an inside joke, which again, is a trope I LOVE. And that kinda happens, but only after they start dating. I initially thought it had done so at the end of Lightning Thief when they became real friends, but then this happened in TTC:

[Id: Excerpt from The Titan’s Curse:  But Thalia held out her spear. “You want some, Seaweed Brain?” Somehow, it was okay when Annabeth called me that—at least, I’d gotten used to it—but hearing it from Thalia was not cool. / end id]

This really shocked me when I read it. Cause this clearly shows that Percy still doesn’t like when Annabeth calls him that, he just doesn’t respond with anger anymore because he’s “gotten used to it”, which is... not good. 

Annabeth also never steps in with reassurance that she actually knows that Percy is smart. For all we know she actually believes that he's an idiot (which he definitely isn't!). That's definitely how she makes Percy feel.

There’s also the case of Annabeth’s extreme jealousy. Like, the way she treats Rachel... I’m pretty sure most percabeth shippers even agree that she’s being completely unfair. (Edit: No, they don't, it seems. God I hate this fandom). @fake-plastic-trees made a meme that explains how hypocritical her behaviour concerning Rachel is way better than I ever could, so here’s that: 

[Id: Picture of a meme. First a picture of an anthropomorphic flower screaming in anger, paired with the caption, “How Annabeth reacts when Percy is with Rachel”. Second picture is of the same flower with a sweet/happy look on it’s face, paired with the caption “How Annabeth expects Percy to react when she simps over Luke”. / end id]

(x)

This is the situation where I have the most sympathy with Annabeth, though. At least in the Calypso situation. Like having your best friend that you have feelings for go missing for so long that there’s pretty much no way he’s not dead, only for him to show up on his funeral and you find out that he was sent to an island where another girl took care of and fell in love with him and he most likely had feelings for her too, yeah that must suck. Especially with her abandonment issues. Still, doesn’t make her actions okay. 

And the way I see some percabeth stans talking about this is honestly disgusting. Slut shaming Percy like crazy, calling him a hoe (he was literally 14 while this happened) and being mad at him for "stepping out of line". Annabeth clearly believes she has some sort of claim on Percy and her stans have been convinced of that, too.

All of this is what, partially, makes perachel so appealing. They’re a breath of fresh air, because Rachel is the exact opposite. She’s straight forward with Percy. When he doesn’t make a move on her, instead of punching him or calling him a coward, she just makes a move. Which is, you know, the reasonable and healthy thing to do. Percy himself even expresses that he appreciates this about her. 

[Id: Excerpt from The Last Olympian:  She nodded. “And so ... hypothetically, if these two people liked each other, what would it take to get the stupid guy to kiss the girl, huh?” “Oh ...” I felt like one of Apollo’s sacred cows—slow, dumb, and bright red. “Um ...” I can’t pretend I hadn’t thought about Rachel. She was so much easier to be around than ... well, than some other girls I knew. I didn’t have to work hard, or watch what I said, or rack my brain trying to figure out what she was thinking. Rachel didn’t hide much. She let you know how she felt. / end id]

It's pretty clear that "some other girls I knew" is just Annabeth.

Finally, I just wanna say that I would be fine with all of this if Annabeth actually had a character arc where she realizes how she was acting was not okay, apologizes, and makes an effort to change and work through her trauma so she wouldn’t lash out on people anymore. Characters are allowed to have flaws, it’s encouraged actually! But those flaws, at least the ones that have a large negative affect on others, need to actually be acknowledged. And if you want the character to be framed like a hero, they need to take steps to change. But that is not what happens with Annabeth, so I’m not okay with it. 

really hope you had the energy to read through all of that