#and even then it’s a while until I plan to get back to those esp since I have to get ready to do stuff with my life soon

[detective-piplup]

the need to write a murder mystery claws at me everyday . I just don’t have the characters for it

[coffeegnomee]

Forever thinking about how Spoke's betrayal of Parrot had such a smaller negative emotional impact to me than Jumper's betrayal even though both were months long undercover operations culminating in an abuse of the friendship for an ulterior personal motive that caused server-wide implications, mostly for the fact that Spoke's moment was entirely not streamed and revealed only in video while Jumper's had streams, and Spoke's was one piece of the rising action while Jumper's was the final crowning moment of the story.

I remember watching Spoke's reveal in his (original) video and being flabbergasted that the wormhole literally was barely a glitch and entirely hinged upon the social manipulation of an admin to the point where if Spoke didn't manipulate Parrot the wormhole just literally was not a problem or issue and did absolutely nothing (esp since Spoke never talked about the fly hacking lol). And I was shocked at the level of betrayal and the brutality of that moment, leveraging years of friendship for his own gain. It was devastating, it was monumental, it made me pause the video and just Think for a bit at how messed up it was.

But the video carried on and I already knew (and loved) the ending of the wormhole; the massive event, Planet loosing by 10 seconds, the server coming to an end through several awkward speeches.

The betrayal was just one blip in the larger story, you know?

Whereas Jumper's betrayal came completely out of the blue. Moments before she was celebrating with the team, moments before lamenting over loosing, and suddenly she reveals she leaked all the plans and made sure they lost and never cared about the team. She worked her butt off that final week to not be suspicious at all.

Honestly, it probably felt as bad as Parrot on the day Spoke betrayed him. And it felt really bad.

And then the arc was over, the server moved on, everyone else forgot about the betrayal and wanted to talk about new beef and new ideas, not rehash why Jumper didn't care about the team and why she betrayed.

There wasn't a catharsis of getting revenge (like parrot fighting back against wormhole), and to add insult to injury there was *Lifesteal Sunday*. Kick them while they're already down.

And yet. In the end, the story as a whole included a catharsis. 48 hours of hunting Jumper down and killing all her teammates. One by one until she was the only one left. And then getting her too (well, close enough ig). If you were to write a parallel video to s5 like the wormhole video, Jumper's betray suddenly is in the middle and the entire second half is filled with three plots to get her killed, trying again and again, getting Minute's team to betray him, etc etc. culminating in their victory.

You could easily minimize the pain of the betrayal by focusing on the revenge and waiting to talk about it in the video; if they waited to explain everything just for the youtube audience; if lifesteal wasn't streamed (i gasp).

What I'm trying to say is the difference is in how much was streamed. Which fascinates me because I have always wondered the affect of watching a season after it's over (and being able to watch everything without breaks and not having to live with the days of no streams wondering what will happen next, and too an extent knowing what happens) vs watching a season live. How it feels to watch the story unfold in both scenarios.

And I'm starting to think that that isn't what matters (ok it is still part of it), it's the access to the information in general. Everyone Jumper affected streamed all the time (zam and mapicc and then ro), both leading up to the betrayal, after, and up until the end. We got a constant look into the thoughts and emotions and affect of her actions.

Whereas Spoke didn't stream. Parrot didn't stream. The entire betrayal happened outside the eyes of those who did stream (eclipse and planet and bacon), all the emotional affect of the betrayal was only shown in the video, and there have been enough articles about that video already on how it conveniently leaves out so much.

S4 was marked by there being a simultaneous public plot being shown on the streams, and a completely hidden private plot between havoc duo that nevertheless had vast server implications with the wormhole as an event and parrot taking 3ht under his wing.

Which, because everything goes back to eclipse, also makes me wonder the affect this concept of streaming had on how everything happened with Vitalasy - him being in the center of the public plot much like Jumper was in the center of her public plot, whereas Spoke got off scott clean by not being in the center. So many layers that I'm not smart enough to get into.

In one way you could parallel Jumper's betrayal to Zam's betrayal. Both were on a team for months, both vocally loved the team, and both one day decided to leave the team in a devastating moment of betrayal and murder. From not-their-own-pov it was the same.

But because we do have Zam's streamed pov, you can watch how his betrayal was a slow process of realizing he couldn't stand what the team stood for but was desperately trying to stick with it anyway because he really really wanted to make it work and he only decided to actually pull the trigger the night before he actually pulled the trigger.

And because we do have Vi's and Subz' pov we have their thoughts and the affects Zam's sudden betrayal had on them and how devastating it was. How they also didn't see it coming bc omg he was on board two days ago. How it easily felt like if he knew he couldn't be part of the team he should have just said so a month ago instead of lying to them. Causing all that pain.

Eclipse, for me, feels so much more like an epic tragedy, both sides in the wrong, both sides in the right, both sides loving each other, and both sides being unable to be together. etc etc. it's a long and complex plot streamed from both sides with so much going on that to this day we still talk about it.

And so, Jumper is caught in a strange situation. Unable to stream her thoughts at all because she must hide her betrayal or it gets leaked. And needing to have streamed her thoughts to give her side of the tale in that particular way that live-streamed content gives, because the other side was giving their side of the story.

It's so... It makes it even more sad. And even more unique. It's own plot that bears strong emotions. It earns its title of worst lifesteal betrayal because of its situation, because it was both seen on stream and not seen on stream. It merits the devastation, that acclaim of best betrayal. at least, imo. Which is just fascinating.

[alicecatfan2007-owlfallsau]

How do the Mystery Twins meet the Owl House gang? I wanna know their opinions on the entire cast there, hell, I want to know their opinions on the Boiling Isles! I also want to hear any and all headcanons on how the Twins will interact with the Hexsquad (Luz, Amity, Willow, Gus (esp Gus!!!) and Hunter)!!! Feel free to use this post to rant about it. *GASP* How does the end of season 2 happen? Does the Hexsquad still get stuck on Earth with no portal???

IN ENGLISH

I can't say this enough! I love your questions!

How does the Season 2 finale happen? And how do the Mystery Twins meet the Owl House gang?

During the events of season two, Stan, Luz, King, and Eda prepare for Unity Day, and as Eda's last request, Stan stays with the Hex Squad to protect them.

After the events of the fight against Amity's mother, Alador joining the good guys' side, and Luz's capture, Stan takes the reins and leads everyone to a safe place to plan something quick

The rest of the events of the season finale occur the same, with the exception that Stan protects Luz's back and supports her, defends her and says that none of this is her fault, that helps her to deceive Belos and thus put a coven mark on him to weaken him

To make matters worse, the Collector is freed by King and although he stops Belos, he causes more chaos, Stan, seeing the door that could lead home, decides to do something to save his remaining family, ordering Hunter . Let him take everyone to the door while he is in charge of taking part of the investigation of Belos and the portals

Oh, right, and he also tries to get Luz to the door to save her from all the chaos, because he's a very protective foster father.

In the end, King pushes them both out the door and the portal, which leads directly to Ford's cabin, is destroyed, leaving the Hex Squad, Stan and Luz trapped in the human world.

There, the Mystery Twins and Ford meet the Hex Squad, and in the process, try to comfort a group of scared children, along with a very nervous Uncle Stan, eager to recreate the portal, thanks to the titan who was able to bring Belos' research with him...

The Gravity Falls Squad's opinions on the entire Hex Squad

Ford: he is not at all happy that Stanley has continued with his attempts to return to his dimension of origin, on the other hand, as soon as he saw the children injured and showing signs of exhaustion, he did not hesitate to give them a place to sleep, especially Stan, although we all know that there is too much to talk about between them

Stan: When he saw him for the first time after his appearance in the comic "A tale of two stans", he believed that it was Bill's trap, until he saw that it was indeed the real one, the next thing he knew, Stan was determined to reopening a portal, now to take those children home, he had to admit that that was something noble, but dangerous, he still thinks he is irresponsible and even an idiot, at least until he discovered that he has a magic staff and very interesting knowledge... .

Luz: reminds him a lot of Dipper and Mabel, she is a combination of both, since she is very intelligent with wild magic and is also strange, but she has a good heart, she cares a lot about her actions

Hunter: He is worried about his health, he notices how tense he is, he likes him, but he knows that he is very distrustful, apparently, he is more attached to Stan

Gus: He sees him as the weakest, yet he sees his maturity and his desire to learn about the human world, sometimes he reminds him of Stan, but he doesn't want to think about that.

Willow: Is it normal for her to be the strongest in the group? At first he thought she would be the smart girl, until he saw how she controls the magic of plants and thought a little more about it, he has his doubts about whether she is okay after these months.

Amity: he respects her, not only because of her determination, but also because she is very intelligent, although somewhat shy and clumsy at times, she reminds him of Dipper since she is very studious, it is also like seeing a small version of himself

Dipper was excited to meet his Uncle Stan in person, he didn't expect it to be so soon or with several extra guests, but when he heard that they were young witches, his desire to learn helped him interact with them naturally.

Stan: Dipper will never lie when he tells you that what he was most excited about was meeting Stan in person. When the door opened and he was finally able to talk to him, the first thing Stan said was that they needed to remake the portal to take the children. Home, since then, Dipper helps Stan with his work as best he can, while listening to his stories and adventures on the boiling islands.

Luz: he likes her, she looks a lot like Mabel, she is very kind, and being almost the same age, she is great in Dipper's words, he likes talking to her about Eda and King, he really likes hearing about that other one. world he comes from

Hunter: they are both similar, curious, they were interested in wild magic and palismans Hunter is one of the few people I would consider a "brother" or something like that, he likes to tell her what he has discovered in Gravity falls and what dreams of finding once they manage to open the portal

Gus: To be honest, Gus is like a little brother he always wanted, someone who is amazed by everything he tells him, someone who listens to him and asks him questions about his discoveries in the human world, someone who also wants to take him to carry out these types of investigations, practically, Hunter, Gus and Dipper are the trio of young investigators looking for mysteries to uncover

Willow: okay, you have to admire that this girl is the toughest of her group, in fact, Dipper openly admits that he had a slight crush on her, but like in all his few crushes, it hasn't come to anything, yes, admire Willow's strength and determination

Amity: Curiously, he likes her very much, since they are both considered the star students of their respective schools, although nowadays this is no longer the case, they understand the pressure of having to be perfect, get good grades and try to be better than the others. Furthermore, in fact, thanks to her, Dipper understood that he should not be like Ford, because that was damaging his friendship with Mabel, she is a good girl, she gives excellent advice

Mabel is the happiest to have her new friends living in the cabin, it's like having a sleepover all summer. What could be better than that?

Stan: she was the one who most wanted to have Stan at home, when he appeared with the Hex Squad, Mabel was the first to come up to hug Stanley, he is protective, responsible, to a certain extent, he keeps a good eye on all the children, he is playful and charismatic, he spends a lot of time with her and asks her for help with the portal

Luz: "She's my older sister! Say no more!" She wants to be like her when she grows up.

Hunter: "my dream boy..." She once said while smiling dumbly, she was one of the ones who helped Hunter the most, now she sees him as her best friend, although Willow fights for that position, since she also loves him a lot to Hunter "Oh my god, looks like I found a new couple to make!" He said while already making dating plans between Hunter and Willow

Gus: she loves him a lot, she plays with him at things like sleepovers and I teach him the interesting concepts of human dating and his way of courting, something tells her that Gus is very comfortable with her, and although he is just starting, he doesn't It bothers him, it's actually nice...

Willow: "And she's my other big sister!" He once said enthusiastically, "She's very strong! And very tough!" He loves playing sports with her, although he also likes to do her makeup and comb her hair.

Amity: He likes her, but since she is closer to Dipper, he doesn't talk to her much, although when he does, he loves to see her with Luz, he is very happy for the Lumity couple.

Gravity Falls Squad's opinions of The Boiling Islands!

Stan: A living hell... At least until you meet the right people...

Ford: A fascinating place But dangerous, it should not be possible to access that place, it would be best not to open more portals...

Dipper: I could have answers to many of the questions that have never been solved before... I could learn magic, real magic... I wish I lived there...

Mabel: I wanna be a witch! And do magic like Grunkle Stan!

Coming soon: headcanons about the Twins' interactions with the Hexsquad

EN ESPAÑOL

¡No me canso de decir esto! ¡Amo sus preguntas!

¿Cómo ocurre el final de la temporada 2? Y ¿Cómo conocen los Mystery Twins a la pandilla Owl House?

Durante los eventos de la segunda temporada, Stan, Luz, King y Eda se preparan para el día de la unidad, y como última petición de Eda, Stan se queda con el Hex Squad para protegerlos

Después suceden los eventos de la pelea contra la madre de Amity, Alador uniéndose al bando de los buenos y la captura de Luz, lo que hace que Stan tome las riendas y dirige a todos a un lugar seguro para planear algo rápido

Los demás hechos del final de temporada ocurren igual, con la excepción de que Stan protege la espalda de Luz y la respalda, la defiende y dice que nada de esto es su culpa, eso la ayuda para engañar a Belos y así ponerle una marca de aquelarre para debilitarlo

Para empeorar las cosas, el coleccionista es liberado por King y, aunque detiene a Belos, causa más caos, Stan, al ver la puerta que podría llevarlo a casa, decide hacer algo para salvar a la familia que le queda, le ordena a Hunter que lleve a todos a la puerta mientras el se encarga de llevarse parte de la investigación de Belos y los portales

Ah, claro, y también trata de llevar a Luz a la puerta para salvarla de todo el caos, porque es un padre postizo muy protector

Al final, King los empuja a ambos por la puerta y el portal, que da directamente a la cabaña de Ford, se destruye, dejando al Hex Squad, a Stan y a Luz atrapados en el mundo humano

Ahí, los gemelos misterio y Ford conocen al Hex Squad, y de paso, tratan de consolar a un grupo de niños asustados, junto a un tío Stan muy nervioso y ansioso por recrear el portal, gracias al titán que pudo traer las investigaciones de Belos consigo...

Las opiniones del Gravity Falls Squad sobre todo el Hex Squad

Ford no está nada feliz con que Stanley haya seguido con sus intentos de volver a su dimensión de origen, por otro lado, apenas vio a los niños heridos y con señales de agotamiento, no dudo en darles un lugar donde dormir, en especial a Stan, aunque todos sabemos que entre ellos hay demasiado de que hablar

Stan: cuando lo vio por primera vez después de su aparición en el cómic "A tale of two stans", creyó que era una trampa de Bill, hasta que vio que efectivamente era el verdadero, lo siguiente que supo es que Stan estaba decidido a reabrir un portal, ahora para llevar a esos niños a casa, debia admitir que eso era algo noble, Pero peligroso, sigue pensando que es irresponsable y hasta un idiota, al menos hasta que descubrió que tiene un bastón mágico y conocimientos muy interesantes...

Luz: le recuerda mucho a Dipper y a Mabel, es una combinación de ambos, Pero tiene un buen corazón, le preocupa que ella esté más interesada en el bien de todos, sin importar las consecuencias a largo plazo

Hunter: está preocupado por su salud, nota lo tenso que está, le agrada, pero sabe que es muy desconfiado, aparentemente, está más apegado a Stan

Gus: lo ve como el más débil, aún así, ve su madurez y su deseo de aprender sobre el mundo humano, a veces le recuerda a Stan, pero no quiere pensar en eso ....

Willow: ¿Es normal que ella sea la más fuerte del grupo? Primero pensó que sería la chica inteligente, hasta que vio como controla la magia de las plantas y reflexionó un poco más al respecto, tiene sus dudas sobre si ella está bien después de estos meses

Amity: la respeta, no solo por su determinación, sino también porque es muy inteligente, aunque algo tímida y torpe en ocasiones, le recuerda a Dipper ya que es muy estudiosa, también es como ver una versión pequeña de si mismo

Dipper estaba emocionado de conocer a su tío Stan en persona, no esperaba que fuera tan pronto ni con varios invitados extra, pero cuando escucho que eran jóvenes brujas, su deseo de aprender lo ayudo a interactuar con ellos con naturalidad

Stan: Dipper nunca mentira cuando te diga que lo que más le emocionaba era conocer a Stan en persona, cuando la puerta se abrió y por fin pudo hablar con el, lo primero que Stan dijo fue que necesitaban rehacer el portal para llevar a los niños a casa, desde entonces, Dipper ayuda como puede a Stan con su trabajo, mientras escucha sus historias y aventuras en las islas hirvientes

Luz: le agrada, se parece mucho a Mabel, ella es muy amable, y al ser casi de la misma edad, ella es genial a palabras de Dipper, le gusta hablar con ella de Eda y King, le gusta mucho escuchar de ese otro mundo del que viene

Hunter: ambos son similares, curiosos, se interesaron en la magia salvaje y en los palisman/taliamigos, Hunter es de las pocas personas que consideraría como "hermano" o algo así, le gusta contarle lo que ha descubierto en Gravity falls y lo que sueña encontrar una vez que logren abrir el portal

Gus: para ser sincero, Gus es como un hermano pequeño que siempre quiso, alguien que se asombre con todo lo que él le cuenta, alguien que lo escuche y le haga preguntas sobre sus descubrimientos en el mundo humano, alguien que también quiere llevar a cabo ese tipo de investigaciones, prácticamente, Hunter, Gus y Dipper son el trío de investigadores jóvenes que buscan misterios que descubrir

Willow: okey, hay que admirar que está chica sea la más ruda de su grupo, de hecho, Dipper admite abiertamente que sintio un leve enamoramiento por ella, Pero como en todos sus pocos enamoramientos, no ha llegado a nada, eso sí, admira la fuerza de Willow y su determinación

Amity: curiosamente, le cae muy bien, ya que ambos son considerados los alumnos estrella de sus escuelas respectivas, aunque en la actualidad ya no se así, entienden la presión de tener que ser perfectos, sacar buenas notas y tratar de ser mejores que los demás, de hecho, gracias a ella, Dipper entendió que no debía ser como Ford, porque eso estaba dañando su amistad con Mabel, es una buena chica, da excelentes consejos

Mabel es la que más se alegra de tener a sus nuevos amigos viviendo en la cabaña, es como tener una pijamada en todo el verano ¿Que mejor que eso?

Stan: ella fue quien más quiso tener a Stan en casa, cuando esté apareció con el Hex Squad, Mabel fue la primera en acercarse a abrazar a Stanley, el es protector, responsable, hasta cierto punto, vigila bien a todos los niños, es juguetón y carismático, pasa mucho tiempo con ella y le pide ayuda con el portal

Luz: "¡Es mi hermana mayor! ¡No sé diga más!" Quiere ser como ella cuando crezca

Hunter: "mi chico de ensueño..." Dijo una vez mientras sonreía embobada, ella fue de las que más ayudaron a Hunter, ahora lo ve como su mejor amigo, aunque ese puesto se lo pelea Willow, ya que ella también quiere mucho a Hunter "¡Oh por dios, parece que encontré a una nueva pareja que formar!" Dijo mientras ya hacía planes de citas entre Hunter y Willow

Gus: lo quiere mucho, juega con el a cosas como las pijamadas y le enseño los interesantes conceptos de las citas humanas y su manera de cortejar, algo le dice que Gus está muy a gusto junto a ella, y aunque apenas está comenzando, no le molesta, es agradable de hecho...

Willow: "¡Y ella es mi otra hermana mayor!" Dijo una vez con entusiasmo "¡Es muy fuerte! ¡Y muy ruda!" Le encanta hacer deporte con ella, aunque también le gusta maquillarla y peinar su cabello

Amity: le cae bien, pero como es más cercana a Dipper, no habla mucho con ella, aunque cuando lo hace, le encanta verla junto a Luz, está muy feliz por la pareja Lumity

¡Opinión del Gravity falls Squad sobre Las islas hirvientes!

Stan: un infierno en vida... Al menos hasta que conoces a las personas adecuadas...

Ford: un lugar fascinante Pero peligroso, no debería de ser posible acceder a ese lugar, lo más recomendable sería no abrir más portales...

Dipper: podría tener respuestas a muchas de las preguntas que jamás se han resuelto antes... Podría aprender magia, magia real... Desearía vivir allí ...

Mabel: ¡Quiero ser una bruja! ¡Y hacer magia como el tío Stan!

próximamente: headcanons sobre las interacciones entre los Gemelos con el Hexsquad

[freakinator]

I've been wondering for a long time. How would you characterise Wemmbu? How he seems in your eyes, your opinion of the guy. I hope I don't sound weird or crazy.

aw dw anon its okay to be curious ^^

regarding my characterization of wemmbu, while there is a lot of consistency in how he acts since hes an improv rper and therefore generally just acts as a polished/exaggerated version of his own self, there are still a few differences in how he acts depending on what smp hes in

general: smarmy, quite pathetic but tries his best to hide it until he literally cant anymore, opportunistic, petty, truthful in that kind of way that makes you doubt him, not quite black and white thinking but can switch up fast when someone does something that presses his buttons (doesnt necessarily trigger when someones just being mean, its specific kinds of things -- mostly has something to do with pride and trust), has a desire to be on top of things but whether or not he indulges in that desire depends on his overall plans and the kind of server hes in, silly but in a lowkey way as in like he presents himself as a normal person which works but only if you dont look closer, lowkey cringey in that uwu kinda way (affectionate), good at one-on-one yapping esp if hes confident & knows more about the situation than the other person but starts to crumble if its either him vs a group or if hes genuinely not confident about something, willing to sacrifice so much just to achieve his goals whatever they may be

kings smp: more opportunistic and a lot more willing to lie & manipulate & betray, crab mentality very high but he holds it back since indulgin in all of it at once isnt very good for his plans

challenge smps: like kings smp but even More willing to lie & manipulate & betray, has a stronger crab mentality since the whole point of the smp is to win and he really wants to win and he knows he wont be seeing these ppl in this context again anyway so hes willing to do whatever it takes even if it means betraying his allies, << does Not apply to team challenges btw he will be very loyal until hes given a reason to betray such as believing the others are betraying them first

lifesteal smp: had a good grasp of what it means to be a lifestealer right from the get go but has struggled a bit in figuring out what that means for him exactly so he still has a bit of that new guy stench if you get what i mean (this characterization becomes less and less prominent the later in the timeline it is), has been very loyal thus far and is more than happy to point that out, average level of lifestealer aggressiveness, i like to parallel him with zam mirror-style due to them having opposite thought processes but coming to similar conclusions (pic below of unfinished draft ive had for ages cause idk how to word my thoughts regarding this properly other than 'the vibes')

unstableverse: very obvious mirror parallel to zam that i honestly wouldnt be surprised if it was on purpose, kinda hard talking about his motivations and character devoid of context regarding zam considering he spent 4 out of 5 eps as a major character (even when he isnt actually there lmao) and wemmbu spent 3 of those 4 eps obsessing over him but i will try my best, can be a bit of a stalker but only if he really cares about whatever it is the guy hes stalking is doing/potentially doing, no empathy (affectionate), generally doesnt care that much about individual players but when he gets attached he gets Attached for better or worse, zeroes in on his goals even to his own and others' detriment, a lot more pathetic than in other smps or at least has a harder time hiding his patheticness, also may just be me but i think hes more pessimistic?? not entirely sure tho

overall i think hes pretty neat! pretty cute and silly but also devious and mischievous, if i could shake him in a can i would

[just-some-random-blogger]

I’m a connoisseur of angst. I collect and trade angst like a fine arts dealer.

And with that; more angst:

Y/n being so incredibly angry at Alicent when she marries little Helaena to Aegon so young. Screams at Alicent about ‘how could you do the her what was done to you! How could you subject her to the life I know eats away at your happiness!’

Y/n insisting to be there when poor little Hel gives birth. Gently stroking the little girls hair and telling her how well she’s doing even though she’s absolutely terrified she might loose her sweet young niece to the childbed.

Her loving Hel’s twins but not taking her attention away from Hel until the little girl is 100% ok and safe.

Giving Alicent the silent treatment because she’s furious that Alicent’s actions caused this little child to go through the pain and fear of birth.

Bonus points if it follows show canon where Nyra offers Hel to marry Jace. Y/n knowing that if Alicent had put her distaste for those boys and Nyra aside little Hel might have been spared the fear of childbirth until she was a little older. And she loves Aegon, but she’s not so stupid as to not see that Jace is the more gentle of the two boys. She dearly loves Aegon, but she’s not unaware that as he’s grown into a young man he’s become less gentle with women than Hel deserves.

Bonus bonus points if she finds out (after Hel and Aegon are married) that Aegon has a tendency to assault the female staff. Her battling with her love for Aegon vs her fear that Hel might be being treated like those maids. Her battling with the vision of her sweet gentle nephew vs the rough, mean young man he’s become. Blaming herself; because she helped so much to raise him, what if it’s her fault he treats maids like that. She seems to curse everything else she’s involved with, what if her sickness also made him sick.

What if the way Aegon acts as a teen; bullying Aemond, assaulting maids, makes her terrified to ever have a son. Terrified that if she had a son she’d also raise that boy to be mean and violent like her once sweet nephew has become.

- 🐞

Oh my gosh my love!!! I SCRAMBLED TO ANSWER THIS ONE WHEN I SAW YOUR OTHER ASK. ITS NOT TOO ANGSTY TO POST MY LOVE IM SO SORRY I GOT YOU WORRYING PLEASE MY LITTLE LADY BIRD IT WASNT LIKE THAT AT ALL

Baby I'm gonna be so honest with you, this is not as angsty as what I have planned to do for tormented spirit's ending. I didn't respond to this because I was not in the responding mood and I want to get through every detail you mention. My brain is perpetually fried 😭😭😭 and I fear I'm not in the writing mood right now either 😔💔 thus why I haven't gotten back to you. Don't mean to make you worry like that )):

ANYWAY let's begin shall we

Alicent marrying off helaena to aegon. While I can understand YN being angry at Alicent for her decision to do this, i feel like tapping into anger and frustration is a very obvious way to access angst. It's usually visible and audible and apparent. We have to remember YN and Alicent are sisters and YN feels responsible for her.

The only recorded time in, our fic at least, where YN went berserk on Alicent was when she did something for YN that specifically went against what she wanted. I think the way for YN to react like this is if she finds out Otto wanted it to happen, and in such gaze her anger would fall on Otto and less on her sister.

That said, because *I* as the author can understand Alicent's decision to marry aegon and helaena (since they're both her children, she'll both have a hold on them and stuff, I can see YN understanding this as well). She wouldnt like it, esp since they're so young and in knowing that the overarching reason for this union was really to just have more power, but yeah, unfortunately that's how the way things were at the time and I don't think YN would be livid, esp if we are going to base it on her current relationship with them, as she does love those two so much.

She would 100%, nay, 1000000000% want to be there for helaena when she gives birth. I don't know if I ever mentioned it but she was there for alicent when she gave birth. I'll try to put it in the next update. She would 1000000% be so protective of Helaena and I think her having twins would get her a type of way to be honest. She would steel herself away for her darling girl... Who was now a mother 🥺😔💔 oh my gosh

See ☝️😭 the next part about her giving alicent silent treatment or begrudging her for what she did to helaena, I don't think she would fault her sister for it, especially if shes doing it to ultimately protect her kids, which I headcanon for Alicent.

Again, I can see why you would feel that and where you're coming from, but that's her baby sister, who she's mothered since her mother died. I feel like House of the Dragon really missed the opportunity to add nuance to these characters because like they're so dead on making them either/or ya know like good or bad but people aren't so simple.

The truth is, imo if this if ever go to this part and YN was there during the targtowers upbringing in the Keep and whatnot and DAEMON WAS ON HER SIDE, Rhaenyra would have simply been crowned cos ain't no fucking way Daemon not striking Otto down for undoing his Brothers fucking decree??? Hello???? Anyway not to be boring but I just don't see it happening

I like the thing with helaena and Jace. That's an angst plot I can get behind where alicent cannot reconcile her loathing for the boys because they represent everything Rhaenyra can get away with that she cannot, that YN AND SHE cannot. If even with the presence of an attentive mother figure aunt (and father-uncle Daemon low key) aegon still turns out to be a drunkard with a sex addiction, I can see whole YN giving Alicent the silent treatment. Oh that would be angst I could get behinnnndddddd. YN offering that Jace and Helaena be married for peace between them and Alicent just exploding. Holy shit, alicent telling the targtowers not to talk with you because how could you be friendly with Rhaenyra when she can do whatever the fuck she wants and we have to walk in eggshells. MMMM SHIT YUMMY.

OHHH AND THE HEADCANON OF HER BLAMING HERSELF FOR HOW AEGON TURNED OUT. 🫵🫵🫵🫵 NOW THAT'S GOLD. STOPPPPP ITTT NOWWWW WAHHHH. Ok to be fair, I think a lot of the acting out Aegon did was because he was desperate for viserys to notice him and give him attention and approval, so again, if we add daemon into the mix, who loves YN so much, who loves aegon so much, I can see him begrudgingly just looking out for Aegon for YNs sake. And let's not forget the twinnsssss, the twins who was there watching him grow up too, who YN would have had pick him up whenever he did something shitty. AND EVEN IF AFTER AEGON WAS ASSAULTING WOMEN 😭 nah yns dying of a heart attack. My poor girl. Daemon would kill aegon. **THIS** would be why there's a civil war.

AND BULLYING SWEET AEMOND 🥺 AEMOND THAT MADE DAEMON THINK ABOUT BECOMING A FATHER?? on SIGHT for Aegon. FUCKING hell this cringe fail family 🚬

MY LADY BIRD I HOPE THAT MY RESPONSE WAS SUFFICE. I LOVED THIS SO MUCH ITS NOT TOO ANGSTY AT ALL, IM TERRIBLE SORRY FOR MAKING YOU THINK OTHERWISE.

[journalsouppe]

I initially played ACNH for 300 hours in between release day - july of 2020, and never played the 2.0 update or the HHP dlc until recently! So I decided to make a second ACNH spread with the goals to: experience as much of the 2.0 update as possible, beat HHP, complete all the bugs and fish in the museum (I have the fossils done and I will finish art another time).

I had a ton of fun but this was the longest grind I've ever done. I still have nightmares waiting like 5 hours for that damn giraffe stag to spawn my fucking god. Super worth it though bc this was the first time catching all bugs and fish even though I've played CF and NL :}

The Lily of the Valley sticker is a freebie I got from MariKrekeler!

Writing typed below!

rating: 8.5 played: sp 2023 port: nintendo switch favorite? Y replayable? Y recommend? Y series: animal crossing

comments:

Dagnel (YT) inspired me to pick the game back up

I look so cute in my work uniform >.<

the hopeful goal is to finish bugs, fish, and flowers

forcing the villagers on vacation to work and go to school is wild T^T

I love the evolution of adding new items like partitions and nature sounds

I didn't expect to do check-ups

OMG IT'S BAMS BDAY WHEN I PLAY AGAIN AND JULIAN IS HERE (my two faves)

decorating all the buildings does get tiring

i really love the venue decor

Bam gave me the pumpkin soup recipe while wearing my fruits basket sweater T^T!!!!!!!!!!

i can only play in short bursts as it's not as fun when playing alone and it's so grindy and long

an apparel shop is a really fun idea

kk concert goes pretty hard

IT TOOK FIVE FUCKING HOURS TO CATCH THE GIRAFFE STAG T^T

i haven't played aa4 yet but klavier reminds me of Julian esp bc julian was also in a band and had a falling out with a band member (ive played aa4 since then and can confirm theyre the exact same person lmfao)

8 FUCKING HOURS FOR THE MAHI MAHI

okay the rest of the writing is my checklist of bugs and fish i needed to catch and ... yall im not typing that who cares about that anyways T_T

Summary

This was brutal. I curse the name of giraffe stags, mahi-mahis, and Dagnel. I had a lot of fun with HHP and I'm happy to be done with 3/4 of the museum, but my god at what cost? I wish my 2020 self did like a small grind to get these pier fish because why the hell did it take me 8 hours for the mahi-mahi T^T. Enough complaining, I highly enjoyed happy home paradise. I never played HHD for ACNL so this was a fun surprise and I loved the range of homes you could design. I also loved how there were overarching goals to complete: school, cafe, restaurant, hospital, clothing store, and when those were all done you were treated to a KK rave. I also enjoyed seeing my favorite villagers again and getting to play in seasons I hadn't previously played in ACNH. I have mixed feelings about Harv's island. I like that a ton of characters are brought back but I think some of them could've been integrated on the onto the main island better, like reese and cyrus having an add on to nook's shop and also give us another nook shop upgrade T^T. I miss playing with friends but it seems I might be making plans to play with Grimspark! Perhaps in the future I'll pick up this game again to finish art and flowers but that'll be in 2024 me problem. Tired of grinding T^T.

[teitpp]

2, 7, and 31 for the fanfic writer ask game, please.

Oh thank you!!!!

2. talk about a notable time a narrative or character has looked you dead in the eyes and said “fuck your plan, here’s what we’re actually doing.”

Well you know this actually happens a fair amount esp if i think i'm writing a oneshot or one story and it ah... gets out of control.

So probably the biggest one where this happened was Euridice. Which I thought was going to be a oneshot tragic alternate ending to Year of Hell where the timeline doesnt reset, and the surviving crew become obsessed with doing their own temporal incursions to bring janeway and the ship back, ultimately repeating Annorax mistakes. A nice angsty oneshot for cohenfest. Yup. Totally a oneshot. One and done. No way they can possibly get out of that tragic timeli-

Well.

Then Tom decided to fall in love with Chakotay and stage a mutiny rather than see him become like Annorax. And then suddenly they were having reallly (hot) intense grief-and-trauma-driven sex and now im stuck having to catch the rest of the plot up to the scene were they decide to fuck each others brains out. I had a whole idea that they discover the ship and escape pods kinda stuck between timelines too and the characters were planning a thruple before that plot idea to support it was even fully hopping around. And yup. Theyre getting out of their tragic timeline. With really hot sex. I mean i guess i could have predicted this would happen.

7. tell us about the plot of the first fanfic you ever wrote

It was for the show W.I.T.C.H and it was the main character's mother discovering her daughter was a magical girl by finding her diary. And she knew it was wrong but also she could not stop herself from reading it to figure out where Will was always disappearing too and why she was coming home injured so often. Anyways i was 15 and still in the closet and vehemently trying to keep all the teen characters in hetero relationships while also having at least two of them in really romantic coded friendships. And i wrote the adults rather like youd expect a 15 year old girl to writr adults. So this fic was not destined to survive my coming out or my high school graduation. But it was thr first time i felt confident enough to share my writing so i love it for that. The base concept - parents discover their magical girl kids - is one dug into again in Sailor Moon fics like Third First Breaths and Age of Aquarius and i think those were a much better take on the concept 🥰

31. tell us about one of your characters who’s an absolute joy to write.

I cant pick one!!! Im having trouble even picking one type of reason theyre a joy to write. 🤣🙈

As a general rule something i really thoroughly enjoy in fanfic is picking the characters who are doomed by the narrative - supernatural constraints, tragic heroic flaws and achilles heels, characters who are self sacrificing bordering on self destructive or who are just overflowing with emotions who refuse to communicate. the characters who put on a stiff upper lip while their narrative goes down in flames (or who light the flames themselves bc theyd rather self destruct because hey at least they can control that - i love taking those type of folks, and undooming them from that narrative or forcing them into situations where they have to talk about their emotions or discover theyre not doomed to be misunderstood or alone. And in some way or another the ones that consistently hit those notes for me are characters like Kathryn Janeway. Chakotay. Agatha Harkness. Rio Vidal. Sailor Pluto. Sailor Saturn. Chibi Moon. Neptune. Venus and Mars. Super fun. Never gets old. Will be putting them into situations until the end of time.

[phoebehalliwell]

not me spamming but uhhhhhhhh writer asks 12, 25, 35, 57, 76

(i can hope this will somehow further inspire continuation of the warren witches after august but i also get it lmao)

12. Do you outline your fics? If yes, how detailed are your outlines? How far do you stray from them?

it depends! usually my ficlets (like the ones for AUgust) are not outlined just bc they're so short i kind of just fuck around until the narrative comes together, but for the longer pieces (like the warren witches or w&s) there are definitely some stronger outlines. for things like the warren witches which is done in an episodic fashion, i actually have a separate doc full of just monster of the week type plots that i'll pick and choose from as needed (one's i've already used include the sihuanaba one and the selkie one, ones to be included are:

the sigbin one actually had been crossed out if anyone remembers the old version of the warren witches that actually made it to print (posting, i guess lol) in vace and virtue (the working title was "the sigbin is sigbout) but the updated version of it has not come out yet. so those would be my little outlines for small plots, for bigger plots those outlines usually live in my brain (for example, we're doing a reintroduction of the demon academy in warren witches bc i think it's slay, but that's gonna be just longer in general) and then of course most longer plotlines come in the form of relationships (viola + kat is an example, as is kat + laurel which kind of snuck up on me lol, pj + her boyfriend obvi will have some obstacles given that he is not in on the secret, and then the mystery max from the sihuanaba episode will def be making an appearance in ale's/melinda's/also effie's too ig uess bc she's there lives again. but these are technically less outlining per se and more dotting. a lot of this centers around singular dots, little points/moments i want to include, and plots are built around them. the only thing that i kind of give more concrete outlining, usually in the form of a small, unproofread text doc, is people backstories, esp those not involved in the family. so viola, for example, has her entire life written in a doc so i can keep going back to it and keeping kind of her actions/character/motivations consistant.

25. What’s your favorite part of the writing process (worldbuilding, brainstorming/outlining, writing, editing, etc)?

i would say probably brainstorming sits at number one for me these guys live in my brain and run around just constantly i already have a decent amount of "endgame" relationships picked. (chris and bianca, obvi, that shouldn't be a spoiler bc it's obvious i love them so so much), melinda's endgame is also pencilled in in my mind, as is tamora's and probably kat's, henry's "endgame" has also been picked even if they don't End Up together his main relationship is def sketched out in my mind. beyond ships i just love putting those motherfuckers in Situations. i want a bianca training chris type situation. i want a melinda attempting to date in college while being an empath situation. jumping over to warren and sheridan, i have their christmas planned out, as well as a narrative that spans from valentine's day to st. patricks day that is mainly poking at the bruises that define major relationship issues. i love situations!!

i would say my next fav after brainstorming would be not just writing but creating -- esp in regards to aesthetics. it helps me kind of hone in on a vibe for each character and allows me not only to understand them more but also to communicate said vibes to others. third favorite is getting comments/asks about them haha i loveeeee talking about them (which kind of circles back to the brainstorming part) but like the fact that these are guys who live in my brain but then they also get to exist in your brain!?!?!?? that's crazy!!! it makes me so happy <3

35. What’s your favorite fic you’ve posted?

probably a toss up between The Warren Witches and Warren & Sheridan, just because those are kind of two really big labors of love that I'm really proud of, but I am also really super fond of 2/14/2001 lol

57. How conscious are you about including symbolism or foreshadowing in your fics?

i try to stay conscious of it lol bc there's nothing more fun that seeing all the pieces come together and i really want to work to create that. usually this ties into the "outlining" concept, where, if i have a big moment i want to create, i'm going to try to sprinkle in little pieces here and there leading up to it. (so, like, spoilers for warren witches, but with viola as the twice blessed, when kat is able to locate the twice blessed with chris and wyatt via scrying, it actually is pointing at the cafe were viola works). i don't do too much symbolism lol (skill issue) but i feel like that is something i'd like to try to hone.

76. How do you deal with writing pressure, whether internal or external?

i mean like i definitely try to work within my "tides of creativity" (concept that writing/creating/all that is akin to breathing, you can't just keep exhaling. there are going to be periods where you can't create, and that's cause you need to "inhale": go out and experience new stuff, engage in new media, chat w new people). that and then i am like an adult in my 20s with like a job and responsibilities (i am moving again 😃🔫) so trying to work with the allotted amount of spoons i have a day can be a doozy as well. when i'm stuck i usually try to work with aesthetics/visuals because that can be a different muscle if the writing one is burnt out, and then i also try to write little blurbs that don't exist within anything really. a lot of these tend to just be conversations as i tend to be a very dialogue heavy writer, sometimes if i'm up to it i'll even go back through and add in descriptions to make it more of a proper story. past midnight (an ode to smoking outside the club) was actually written as one of these, i wrote it in early may during a creative block.

[buzzlightyearmpreg]

NOW i may be drunk butjjk is actually so well written like everyone (that i can think off rn) who has a ct or fighting style complements them so good. pls feel free to add, critique or do anything to this id love jt

⚠️⚠️JJK MANGA SPOILERS BELOW⚠️⚠️

starting with this, the new sorcerers of today having ct’s complementing and supporting their personalities might be proof of this, including junpei who was a “man made” sorcerer

gojo is obvious with his infinity symbolising his strength, separating him from both those closest to him and everyone around him (some by his own doing after his bf dumped him infront of kfc loser shoko has been there 24/7). this was the biggest learning moment for him, noticing the signs after everything went wrong and using it to protect the youth and innocence of sorcerers of today

geto had to consume “evil” on a daily. his mental health rapidly declining with his hope and the increase of cursed spirits he had to exorcise and consume, over and over until he broke. after freeing himself of the burden of protecting the weak non-sorcerers unknowing, unthankful and also undeserving, defending into darkness (which started with toji folding him like a lawnchair) he lost everything and gained everything with nanako and mimiko, two children suffering at the hands of those who he spent EVERYTHING protecting, solidifying his plan of speeding up natural selection to build a world without darkness where children like them can thrive and live happily

itadori was thrown into the world of sorcerers r doomed to consume sukuna (ironic bc of my sukuna bit later) and die, his divergent fist is mostly reliant on his own pure strength alone and how his body adapts and gets stronger after every gruelling battle

nobara has an inherited technique from her grandmother that she’s sorta revamped for the modern era? coming from the country side (older) to the big city (newer) looking to explore have fun and grow - esp with her resonance targeting the soul, her black flash and getting stronger as a sorcerer

megumi’s holds his shikigami incredibly close to him, even getting sad when one has died and left just like his parents. they’re also made using shadows (darkness) as a medium, foreshadowing sukuna using darkness to smother him to use and “consume” him for his own gain

nanami is a straightforward guy who voices his ideals, who split his path into 2 pieces and went for the lesser evil to him (business where he uses his skill to fuck people’s stocks over for money for already super rich people, or being a sorcerer and using his skill to help and protect others, especially children like when he left due to haibara’s death and came back after helping a kind person like him working at that bakery). this makes gojo hold him in high regard as he sees the potential of youth and wishes to protect their innocence until their ready, to guide them and help them grow slowly so they can handle the mental toll of being a sorcerer

mei mei and her manipulation of youth is the opposite of nanami, the protector of youth. she doesn’t just see through her crows, she controls them at the cost of their own lives with bird strike (where she makes them give up their lives in a binding vow for a hideously strong attack). she does the same with everyone and everything around her, choosing who she sides with being the best “gain” for her. she also uses uiui in the same way who can only use jujutsu when she allows due to a binding vow (someone get him therapy i beg)

mechamaru is similar, he observed and bided his time to get what he so desperately needed while also protecting those closest to him using his puppets as spies. he both invaded the privacy of those closest (miwa and copying her simple domain) and furthest (mahito and pseudo geto’s strengths and weaknesses) all to protect those he loved

choso/kamo both have blood manipulation, hating their fathers/family who use blood relatives for their own gain, and holding their mothers (and siblings for choso) to the highest standard possible becoming stronger for them and them alone

toji and maki are both beings who escaped their fate, their downfall with the zenin clan (and makis bad omen as a twin) and free to affect fate with their own actions at no cost (toji breaking fate, of the 6 eyes user and star plasma vessel during tengens merger)

sukuna and his ego consumes everything around him to get stronger, shown by his chef like ct cutting and dismembering anything to bite sized pieces to grow stronger and have fun. this also supports the theory of him being a conjoint twin, either being or “consuming” the twin with a heavenly restriction improving their physical capabilities to the point he has. ironically yuuji’s fate was to consume him and die taking him to the grave completely.

kenjaku is similar, he uses everything and does anything for his plans which are ultimately to fulfill his own curiosity. highjacking the bodies of people useful to him and using it to hurt those closest while also carefully and patiently waiting out every move and persons he’s manipulated using his time by switching bodies and avoiding death to do so with no consequence

ok this might be the end but KNOW i will be adding onto this everytime i think of something new

[darkmoonkestrel]

daily kestrel 54:

we got to sleep in today, which was super nice. Paige made pancakes and bacon for breakfast, and we chilled for a while before I started on my schoolwork. I uploaded my PD workshop info, added some things to my PLN, and finally made my blog post from Thursday. I guess I should have done my other assignment that's actually due tomorrow, but by the time I got the practicum stuff done I wasn't in the mood

we got the pre-approval letter and forwarded it over to the realtor, so he got our official offer together and sent it over to us to sign. he said he would call around 7 to talk us through it, so I got locked in one of those "waiting for something" holding patterns. I eventually grabbed Night Watch and went into Paige's room to read some until the sun set enough to make that difficult. shortly after I came back into the living room, Harley stopped by - idk if I'm just tired or extra old feeling (even though he's older than me) but I simply could not imagine going to a band event in which one of the bands doesn't go on until midnight, but hey, I hope he enjoyed his old school goth rave

the realtor called around 8:15 to talk about the offer and get it officially submitted. since it's to an investor owned property we probably won't hear anything until Monday, but they only have until Monday to respond, so at least we'll definitely know something by then. Peyton and I made Steak-umms grilled cheeses, and Paige made some mini quiches for herself before we settled into more Bob's burgers. I ended up falling asleep on the couch while Peyton played more cyberpunk and Paige played Growing Up. idk if it's the SAD finally getting to me or what but I felt super out of it today, maybe the less daylight is thing or finally getting to me

tomorrow Paige and I are going to work's trunk or treat, and I know they'll ask me about how looking at the house went, esp since it's the one furthest away that we've seen, so I'll have to tell them that. as much as it sucks from the work perspective, I really hope this offer and this place work out - we were planning tonight what our highest priority things are to work on, and I do think it could be a great place for us

[microcosmia]

Again what a fantastic analysis! I always love reading your insights.

The "conflict" I've thought of with Suo and his master is the matter of "completion", or, rather, "mastery".

I don't think that Suo has entirely learned his master's teachings. I dont think he's "graduated" in that sense (or to keep with his character, "grown up" that way). As I understand it, the "principles" or "disciplines" of martial arts are more than just the forms - which I think we can agree Suo has probably mastered - they're also philosophies and "ways to live". That's what Suo hasn't mastered.

What made me first start thinking that is the chapter above where Suo recites his master's philosophy. He's been thinking about it a LOT. Maybe just because he's teaching Nirei now, but I think also because he's trying to remind himself of it during his fight with Oobiki. It's something he HAS to think about, because he doesn't understand it yet.

So, Suo has a hard time internalizing and displaying a principle or discipline of his master's teachings, which to me seem to boil down to control - control yourself, control your space, control your opponent. Suo has the physical aspects of all those kinds of "control" down pat. The emotional aspects...to some extent, by the "law" of them, but definitely not the "spirit" of them. (Maybe Suo's master repudiates him for mastering form but not philosophy and tells Suo he will accept him back when he's ready to master both, which is why he seems "distant" in Suo's recollection, esp. with his back turned. (This probably happens sometime in middle school, I'm thinking, and whatever "happened" it was enough to get him listed as "one of the strongest" by Nirei.))

Enter Suo's entire personality: the dichotomy of being very emotional and yet very controlled at the same time, as well as his disdain for childish people (which is actually disdain for himself). He's still following his master's teachings even as he's separated from them - almost like "faking it until he makes it". He knows WHAT his master's philosophies are and what his master's "way of living is", so even if he hasn't internalized it, he can still imitate it. He thinks that as long as he can keep up the act, that in itself is indistinguishable from understanding it, at least from an outside perspective. (It's like the "selfish kindness" argument - if I'm being kind because it makes me feel good - an inherently selfish reason - does that make my kindness worth less, or is the worth the same regardless of the motivation?). This allows him an outward peaceable appearance while internally maintaining a conflict of self which is seen when he "loses control" during certain fights - it's not a loss of control, it's the setting aside of an act; it's the form of violence without the philosophy of serenity.

In almost all of the fights Suo has against strong/named opponents, the thing that Suo fails to do is "restrain oneself", "respect one's opponent", and/or "separate one's actions from their emotions". As I understand, all are rather intrinsic aspects of multiple types of martial arts (I'm not a practitioner, though, so feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) which would show an immaturity on Suo's part to not be able to hold to those lessons despite his "maturity" as a person. It's like when someone first starts learning martial arts and suddenly wants to fight everyone, because they can, and when you've been practicing for years and go out of your way to avoid fights - Suo is acting like he's the latter when he's really the former.

He normally faces like he's upholding those disciplines very well, but as soon as something he wasn't able to plan for happens, his curated control over his emotions literally sublimates. See: Sakura "igniting" something in him during the Shishitoren fights, Nirei leaving cover during the KEEL fight, and when Oobiki intimates their similarity and then belittles the fight as "some fun", which is definitely not what anyone on Furin's side is feeling.

So Suo's personality then, that he shows to everyone, is also curated. It's an "acceptable, adult-like appearance", which is what Suo WANTS to be, which is why we all feel like he seems like a chunni. That isn't to say that how Suo is with people isn't genuine, but it's more like he's the embodiment of the concept of "tatamae" - there's a "yourself when you're in public" and "yourself when you're alone/with close friends". He is markedly different around his friends than he is around his enemies - his friends are "people" but his enemies are "pests" at best and "animals" at worst. Suo draws strict lines, unlike someone like Sakura, who comes to understand his opponents through fights and always sees them as people (because if he doesn't, then he can't be a person either--- but that's a different post lmao.)

The Oobiki fight isn't as, hm, "spelled out" as the others, not as obvious, but Suo has a habit of only maliciously mocking people - like, seriously mocking people - who piss him off. He definitely lost his cool in that fight. Which means he was NOT controlling himself any way beyond physically.

Also, the fact that he chose "teaching" as the thing to lean into with his mockery is...telling. He could have picked his an Oobiki's "similarities" to bash him with, could have picked on Oobiki thinking this was "fun" and beat him down ("is this still fun for you?" Or even, "I suppose that was fun in its own way.") But nope! He styled Oobiki the "teacher" and himself the "student" and then proceeded to thrash Oobiki at every turn. There was nothing for the "teacher" to impart to the "student". Not a single thing. Not a single hit got through, which is symbolic, I think, of Suo's absolute rejection of Oobiki's philosophy, stated similarity, and also, Suo's refusal to engage with his opponent's feelings.

Which...

...yeah. Suo doesn't engage with his opponent's emotions. He's not looking to teach them. ("Someone like you, senpai?" Hah, yeah right, Suo, speak for yourself - oh wait.) He's looking to tear down their thinking and then lets them try and pick up the pieces - that is NOT teaching. Or rather, it is teaching, but it isn't constructive, and I can almost guarantee that is NOT what his master taught him.

So there's some issues there with Suo's student/teacher or disciple/master relationship. You can't convince me there isn't.

Anyhow, I digress. Suo's antipathy towards his opponents is derived from his own internal conflict. He is taking out his frustration on not being able to "grow up" according to his master on those who are "visibly" more immature/childish. He's telling others that the only way to teach is to engage with other's emotions, because that's what his master told him and is something Suo knows, but is only really beginning to understand. (My guess is when we meet Suo's teacher, Suo will be told off for being childish and/or immature. (I also think Suo isn't on a diet, he's just a super picky eater [childish] and doesn't want anyone to know. Not liking natto kinda seems like kids in the USA not liking broccoli, it's something you're supposed to grow out of, inherently a "child like behavior".)

So Suo has mastery over his master's forms, but not his philosophy. And I think that drives him crazy. It's also why he "can't beat Sakura" because Sakura is learning the same lessons Suo has been struggling with at a lightning pace and is maybe more predisposed to them than Suo ever was or will be.

Which I think is going to culminate eventually in Suo needing to go back to his master because there's something he needs to teach Nirei that he can't and he thinks/knows the only person who can is his master. Or maybe there'll be an opponent who Suo can't control with only forms - instead, maybe Suo finds himself being controlled - and he realizes that there is meaning in the philosophies of his master. Which would then begin an arc, perhaps, on how "philosophies are created by the practitioner", meaning Suo can make his own way of "being an adult" rather than having to mold himself after his master's teachings.

Suo's got a lot of growing and self-acceptance to do. He'll get there. After all, he has Nirei, Sakura, and all the rest of Class 1-1 right there with him.

...sorry I hijacked your post.

your suo analysis is really good, im reading it again to really let it soak! do you have more thoughts on how suo and kiryu parallel, or maybe they're more perpendicular? I think it's interesting how they have similar vibes but opposite reactions: both blunt but one leans more "kind" (suo), and the other leans more "rude" (kiryu). suo fakes the funk a little, and kiryu doesn't (and sakura just doesn't know how either way, really ends up being both)

Hiii!!! Thank you so much for reading, and sorry for the long wait; I got a little bit too into this and has formulated a plan for a more thorough analysis, but I can show you what I have for now-- very interesting parallels between these two "polite" and "courteous" young men, indeed!

What particularly sparks my thoughts is your suggestion that they are "perpendicular", and of course the observation that they are similar vibes but opposite reactions. The nuance in how they "fake" their funk is interesting too, and I think in general I can make these observations:

They both have traditional and rebellious components, but are opposite in each category.

How Kiryu's backstory was developed is likely very informative of how Suo's backstory will be developed

To start off, I think it's interesting how Kiryu and Suo are both... similar and very distinct (lol, what a helpful sentence). At the first glance they are both gentlemen. one more layer down, both rude (to the people they do not respects) and very scathing. What's more, they both "play up" their acts/performance to hide something underneath (Kiryu in his arc, Suo... as we suspect from his social evasion).

Yep, this is just straight up disrespectful, lol.

Nice, but how nice? Not at all.

Another thing is that they are both incredibly caring and emotionally intelligent people (we have a whole stock of 'em in Wind Breaker! yay!). Kiryu is also incredibly straightforward and bold, much like Suo is, though I think he smooths his words over less:

He respects Tsugeura, but will gladly tell him off.

Kiryu doesn't hate Tsuge! He is just very straightforward!

And, if protecting the girl isn't telling enough, he cares for her safety, even if he doesn't express it-- like how Suo naturally prioritize keeping non-combatants safe.

And it was Suo, who is equally emotionally intelligent and has equivalent battle-sense, who knows what Kiryu is doing and addresses it.

Thematically, what is interesting is where Kiryu or Suo rebels and the other don't. Let's start with Kiryu: He is very much gender-rebellious: pink, long hair, patterned shirt (nothing strictly gendered, mind you, but they are not considered so in the general cultural climate). This is supported by his character profile, where he hates "close-minded" people. In the KEEL arc, ch 48 - 49, he was directly insulted for his "gender performance" (borrowing the term from Judith Butler and gender studies in general)

And Kiryu unrepentantly re-enforces his own gender rebellion

Oops, split end~

Later on, we see that while Kiryu enjoys this act, he especially put it on with the explicit intention of rebelling against his father. He plays it up where appropriate, but I think Kiryu genuinely enjoys the act-- like how he joined Furin for the rebel and ended up liking it for what it is at the end of the day.

On this aspect of appearance and gender performance, Suo is the direct opposite: he dresses conservatively, have short hair, and in general has the very air of a traditional, polite young man

Even his earrings, the only thing that may be argued as "not masculine", are antique -- thus likely gender-accordance. This is the friend you'd bring home to grandma!

Unexpectedly, then, Suo's fighting can be taken as more rebellious/less traditional, while Kiryu's is traditionally learned. Though he has a teacher, Suo's fighting style is a hodge-podge of different styles; having a self-taught teacher also likely means they have the space to innovate the forms as appropriate, outside of the usual wagon wheel track:

(As a side note on this, for a hodge-podge style of martial arts, Suo has really good forms; which makes sense. You can't really do much if you don't have a good basics lol. Then, you can do whatever the hell you want.)

Meanwhile, Kiryu "submitted" himself to the family traditional training, which he hated, for the purpose of defending Akari

I just realized that the purpose of learning martial arts is for "rebellion" in Kiryu's case, and self-defense/offense, in Suo's case -- quite a traditional reason to fight. Again, the two of them opposite in forms and intentions.

I'm sure there are more things, but maybe I will see them as I mull over the text a little more... it also would help if Suo's backstory is soon, lol.

As for the next thing, i.e. how can Kiryu's arc inform Suo's arc progression? My primary basis for this is how Kiryu's arc was introduced in KEEL, where mid-fight, we begin to learn tidbits about Kiryu's personal philosophy. Here, the theme of "Rebellion" (also the title of chapter 48) was introduced; specifically, as the only information we knew then, it refers to (Kiryu's own) "gender rebellion". The chapter also supplied a concrete visual of who the rebellion is for

While Kiryu, in his earlier arc, talks a lot about being popular with girls, we may assume that it is pertaining to his interest in dating/being popular with girls his age. Only later on does it have the explicit intention of making girls comfortable, regardless of whether he wants to court them or not (notedly, he never was shown actually courting a girl-- it was a ruse setup to contrast Kiryu's actual character).

This is very similar progression to Suo's fight against Oobiki in KEEL, where, also mid-fight, he begins to reveal his/his master's philosophy regarding teaching, in the titular chapter "Discipline":

Also the first visual of (presumably) his Master, in a similar narrative role as Akari-- but further away. Will this distance becomes relevant, perhaps?

(Also, funnily enough, I was about to make the argument that Suo is not verbally as scathing as Kiryu, but then this chapter reminded me that he absolutely can be, lol. And at the same narrative stage (during KEEL), Kiryu also delivered his most scathing line!)

So I suspect that just like the theme of rebellion being subtly subverted from Kiryu's gender performance -> respecting women and making girls comfortable, which was previously hinted by the subversion of Kiryu's dating a girl -> he was keeping her safe, we can expect that the theme of discipline as training and passing down your teachings, respect ("How are you supposed to act when you go barging in to another person's home?"), will be satisfactorily and subtly subverted in some way. I don't have an orientation for how it will be subverted just yet, but I bet it will be as good and satisfying as Kiryu's arc (regardless of how angsty it will be lol). We probably can take a stab at guessing, since Kiryu's subversion was also foreshadowed. Given that Suo is now Nirei's master... there is already a subversion from learning how to defend yourself -> "but if I were to teach you," ... learning how to defend yourself and deal damage... Perhaps a conflict or innovation from his master's teaching? Many, many possibilities are ahead!

Thank you so much for the insightful ask, and I hope you found my answer interesting!!

[imaginethebeautifulworld]

Hi! I love your writing, esp with Gilbert! Can I request a scenario? I have this head cannon that Gilbert wears colored contacts due to years of torment from the church and peeps. Can I get a scenario where he gets something in his eye and the reader walks in and catches him changing them?

Hello, Lovely~ This didn't quite go the way I originally intended, but so few of my posts actually do. I thank you for your patience and such a good request, and I hope you enjoy.

​​Wow, he was a mess.

Bemused, he ran a hand through his hair, a fine snowfall of flour cascading in its wake, drifting to the floor.

He really hadn't meant to let things get so out of hand, but there was something about you that made him feel young again, something about your expression- never really annoyed, though you always tried so hard to make it seem that way- that always made him a little giddy. And what had started as an innocent baking session quickly turned into a flour fight, white powder coating the countertops and cabinets.

He offered to flip a coin for the bathroom, but you had more or less shoved him in there first, worried about the clumps sticking to his lashes.

A good call, he silently agreed with a wince, the familiar sensation of something in his eyes prompting the need to change out his contacts.

He made quick work of it, relieved he thought to keep a spare pair in his pocket for emergencies. He hadn't told you about-

Yeah. He was planning on keeping those a secret until your dying day. Or his. Whichever came first.

The cold water did fast work, the soap clearing away the clumps that were were being the more stubborn of the lot. He tried not to rush too much; it'd suck if he missed some and had to change out his contacts again. Yet he couldn't fight away the sense of urgency, the sounds of your tidying up fading away, your footsteps getting closer to the door.

Shit, shit, shit.

He only had one-

"Do you think we-"

He hadn't heard you knock on the door, your hand hanging uselessly in midair, eyes wide in surprise, jaw slack.

Terrific.

He quickly turned away from you, nearly dropping the other contact in his haste. He was scarcely aware of your coming closer, only acknowledged your nearness when your reflection- still wide-eyed- appeared in the space behind his shoulder in the mirror.

A spared glance was all it took to confirm that you were, indeed, staring at his eyes. He felt that familiar flush of shame, the need to shy away, hide away.

"Please don't say anything. I know they're-"

"They're beautiful."

"-ugly." He finished while leaning over the sink to get closer to the vanity. It took a beat too long for your words to truly reach him, and he was drawing back again, turning around to face you with surprise. "Wait, what?"

You had a look on your face, one he would swear was almost awe. Which was ridiculous, really. Why would-

His thoughts short-circuited when your hand gently settled against his cheek, that soft look somehow even more gentle than before.

There was a smile to it now, and he could feel his treacherous ears warming in response.

"It's like falling in a field of poppies, or a warm sunset."

"You aren't-" He started, failed, retreated, regrouped, resumed. "You don't think they're ugly?"

Your expression shifted into disbelief, annoyance, concern. "God, no. It's such a pretty color!"

He forced some of his tension away. This was you after all; if there was one person he knew he could trust, one person he could let past his defenses- It was always going to be you.

"You'd be the first to think that."

This close, he could see the way your eyes narrowed, the subtle movement of the muscles in your jaw. In a breath, you had processed your understanding, schooled your features, though there was no removing the slim brush of anger in your words, gentle and calm as they were. "That's why you've been hiding them?"

Centuries, a millennium- He lost count of how many years he'd been hunted, tormented, mocked, tortured for his appearances, never mind the whole immortality thing.

Even as the world changed, as ideals and perspectives and society changed, he had still received the looks, heard the whispers that were intentionally spoken just loud enough for him to catch. He was something other, something else.

"The Others- They can blend in more easily. Even Vlad can convince people his are just a weird shade of hazel, but when you're deathly pale walking around with blood red eyes-"

"I'm so sorry."

He felt his heart melt just a fraction at that, his thoughts pulled momentarily from their downward spiral. "Hey, it's okay. It's not your fault."

You frowned, far from reassured, but he continued. "It wasn't till the '50s when I first was able to get a pair. Only thing I could smuggle in were some brown ones, but they worked." His words trailed off, thoughts fading to wisps.

It was quiet for a few moments when a question was slipping past his lips, unbidden, unexpectedly. "You really like them?"

You had been studying him intently, surprise swiftly following when you realized he had asked you a question. He could see you weighing it carefully, needing only a moment before you were speaking.

"I do. They're like- Like a warm campfire at the end of a long day. They make me think of ripe strawberries, and the roses you bought me last week- which I'm still upset about!"

He couldn't fight his grin at your exasperation. "I'm allowed to spoil you once in a while."

"But you should save your money..."

"If I can't treat my better half to flowers and their favorite dinner when they had a shitty day at work, then I don't deserve to be with them."

"Gil..."

He would never get tired of your hugs.

You hugged with your everything, your entire heart and soul pouring into it. It was always warm, always with a promise to whoever you were embracing that nothing, no one, mattered than them, that the moment you were sharing was the most important moment, that every moment before or after was inconsequential.

He let himself melt into it, tried to convey how important you were, tried to show how much he loved you without words. Judging by your sigh, the way you melted into him, you followed his meaning perfectly.

He lost track of time there, neither of you really adamant to pull away. But after a while, you were humming pensively, a stray sentence slipping past your lips. "Father Christmas."

He tried not to laugh- really, he did- but a confused huff of laughter had him pulling away, just enough to raise an eyebrow at you, studying you with amusement. "Was ist das?"

You were smiling, something that made the years fall from your shoulders, that light he loved so much shining bright. "Your eyes... They make me think of Father Christmas, that bright, warm red. Or maybe a cardinal in the snow. Holly berries?"

"My eyes make you think of Yule?"

"Yeah. But not just that..."

He really shouldn't press, should let this conversation pass, let tradition reclaim its role. But oddly enough, surprisingly enough, the comparisons-

"Have any more?"

"Just a few," you hummed, while also trying to force away a small, bashful smile.

"Enlighten me?"

You were exaggerating when you said you had only a few.

Over the next few weeks, at random times, you would give him more suggestions; sometimes a quick Snap to show exactly the shade (the 6 am fog with its trail of tail lights making their morning commute), and sometimes a random Telegram ding would interrupt his workflow, bringing him a single word that would made him smile (ladybugs!, rubies., Louboutin?, BOOKS!).

It took a few weeks, but he soon grew comfortable enough to stick to his glasses when alone with you.

The whole world could go on with all of its inflexibilities and narrow-minded ways; when he was alone with you, he was no longer the demon child, the son of a witch, the Devil's herald.

You told him that his eyes made you think of warmth, of light, of all the bright and beautiful parts of the world.

After a few weeks, he was actually starting to believe you.​

Thanks for reading!

[bluiex]

Slams hand on desk We need more Team Rancher, also I've seen people make Gri, Jimmy's brother and I like that idea as well I find it really interesting But to add more, esp at the start Tango is just weirded out how this complete stranger knows so much about him. He can't deny he's a Very attractive stranger, and that sad kicked puppy look stays with Tango until he finally can't stand it any longer and just has to know more At first Jimmy is super hesitant to start sharing, cause Tango might think he's weird and not want to deal with him. And its extremely awkward, as neither is good with small talk. But they find their groove after awhile as Tango helps Jim start building a decent starter base. Even though they both try and say they aren't good at building. While Tango is off building impressive builds I feel like Tango is a bit self-conscious of his builds, he's surrounded by those who are astounding at building. And while he's just as good, he himself doesn't see it. And it becomes a topic I think one day between them as Tango sets up a small item sorter for Jimmy. As he explains, he's much better at redstone And for Jimmy he gets to sit back and watch Tango work, not that he wasn't sneaking glimpses while Tango was helping him build before. But its familiar and comfortable again, and not having to worry about someone stealing your stuff or burning your place down has been a nice change of pace That doesn't mean Scar and Grian won't tease Jimmy over the fact he's like a lost puppy following Tango around. Anytime Tango needs help or resource gather, he comes to Jimmy who will literally jump at the chance to go One night they are star gazing and Tango finally musters up the courage to ask. What were they before? And Jimmy is silent a bit to long when Tango props himself up on his elbows and says his name. With a sigh, Jimmy tells him about soulmates and soulbounds, about the ranch and what went on. How Scar burned it down and Tango rolls his eyes and says he would Then after a moment or two of silence, he finally tells Tango what they were. How they spent their days and nights, their warden. Which Tango laughs at and isn't surprised one bit he had a warden there not with how he's planned Decked Out. But once its explained, Tango is thoughtful. He's never met someone like Jimmy, but he's glad he's getting the chance to again Cause somewhere deep inside of him something stirs, a warm familiar feeling. Even if he can't place it, and may never be able to. He's really enjoyed Jimmy's company. And in a bold move after plopping back down to look at the sky he takes Jimmy's hand in his delighting in the small gasp He might not remember but his heart sure does, and he's going to make the most of what he's got now 🌿

lksajsdgjkhgrz *rolls around and kicks my feet* theyre just too cute man. Jimmy being still so in love with Tango, watching him do his stuff just kinda lost in his own had smiling like an idiot until Tango questions him- Jimmy then getting flustered and lookin away lol ofc Grian an Scar tease him for it- up until they finally start something with their relationship again Deffo slow at first, just being seen holding hands or just sitting close to one another, cuddling sometimes utter cuties

[theloveinc]

Bakugou who tears up seeing you in pain during labor🥺. Imagine if u had one of those long hours of labor, maybe around/over 48 hours some women (or maybe quite a lot idk) go through.. he'll be absolutely restless the whole time worrying about u. and he hates feeling so helpless where he can't do anything to take ur pain away. He can't even begin to imagine what you must be going through. And then cries again after holding your baby for the first time😭, kinda like yr sympathy pains hc for bkg🥺

OHHH Bakugo being also affected by your labor is one of my favorite concepts… I even wrote something for it on IHB a while back.

So YES!!! Your labor is absolutely awful for him, which he knows is somewhat unfair given that you’re the one actually giving birth, but… HE CAN’T HELP IT!!! Like you said, he's used to fixing problems, not waiting them out, and esp. not when you're the one hurting :(((

But now that baby is arriving, it’s like all his anxieties from the past nine months (that he did his best to hide for your sake) are finally catching up to him… and turning him into this frazzled mess in trying to do more for you than just sit there and hold your hand.

(He's always worried about something. If you're content, he's up and fussing with the AC. If the AC is fine, he's worrying about if you need a snack. If you don't want a snack, he's getting mad at the curtains for blowing around. It never stops ajsdfjkadsj)

It’s funny though, because even through his immense panic and up-and-down jitters… he’s still an absolute guard dog. He’s nervous yeah, but not for himself… FOR YOU, which means he’s doing anything and everything in his power (literally, even fighting with the doctor) to make sure your birth plan is followed and your wishes are granted.

(Tracking down nurses who are taking too long, finding foods you’ll eat, snarling when the doctor suggests something you already covered in an earlier conversation...)

And it’s only in between these moments, when you’re fed, in bed, and getting ready to push that he’s really letting the tears fall. Wincing whenever you cry out, sweating through his clothes as he waits and watches (he doesn't even notice how hard you're squeezing his arm); his literally heart doesn’t stop pounding for even a second until baby’s out and you’re smiling at him with them in your arms.

And yeah... he's absolutely crying when he holds your baby. And tearing up just a little bit those few few days after, too... which is funny because he's such a clingy daddy. The second you fall asleep, need to eat, use the restroom... he's holding your baby and not putting them down lol (crying at the thought of them nuzzling into his worn flannel BYE).

It's a cute sight though, when your friends and family come to visit and you're all on the bed as one unit cuddling and crying <333

[lazarusthirsting]

I also have very strong, rant-worthy feelings about Mary (largely for personal reasons, shesquite triggering for me) and how she did/didn't fit in. (Also been a while since I watched those seasons, so I'm fuzzy.) I *do* think Mary finally begins to come around towards the end of her (second) life and probably could have had a much better relationship with them had they had more time (but this is the sad boy show, so of course the second hope rises, it gets squashed, a la Cas/Miracle take one/etc).

But however much Mary's characterization upsets me, i think it's important to remember that we never got to see a Mary pre-John (and thus, pre-divine influence). A cupid told Sam and Dean that they initially "couldn't stand each other" until a cupid intervened since they had a destiny to birth Sam and Dean. Not to make this a crossover episode, but young Mary (and even the Mary in the Winchesters spin-off) give me Katniss vibes- she's not dumb, and she knew the risks of having a "normal" life. Even if she wanted it, would she have wanted children knowing she'd racked up a list of monsters that might come out of the woodwork to target them down the line? Dean is often paralleled with Mary, and he is *constantly* hesitating about whether or not having a family is possible even if he did attempt to leave the life - we can't forget Mary was also traumtically orphaned by supernatural violence and if she's constantly paralleled with Dean, she may have had similar hesitations, so why did she go through with having children, knowing that Azazel's 10-year warning wasn't up yet, at the very least, she knew he was coming for her (and more specifically, wasn't planning on killing/targeting her, so she knew he would be coming for something else). Idk, it makes me question whether Mary truly had the agency over her own will to even have children, or was it heaven's influence that pushed her towards that purpose? We won't ever have an answer bc we never saw Mary (in this universe) before she "fell in love" with John.

I like to consider her second coming an awakening of sorts - she wasn't supposed to be alive anymore and had served her purpose, so maybe whatever hold heaven had over her died when she burned on the ceiling. Both her and her sons had to deal with the fallout of her finding her own agency under the circumstances (bc they put a lot of expectation on her as well - which i think is fair even as an adult child to ask of a parent within reason, and childhood wounds are weird and full of magical thinking, i don't blame them for struggling to let go of the childlike ideals they may have held towards her). She clearly needed time, and she made some fucked up choices behind their backs that she knew would damage their trust though, even if her heart was in the right place, so I have a hard time forgiving her, but then, all of TFW have done that to each other at some point so it's not like it's that much worse and I think Dean eventually recognizes hes treating her too harshly as compared to the rest of the family. I do think she's initially held to a higher expectation bc she's the mother, but i think that's what made Sam and especially Dean really struggle with her not being the person they expected her to be - flawed, sometimes hurtful, couldn't even cook! A completely different person from who Dean, at least, thought she was - even though it's nothing new, he'd had no idea she was even a hunter until s4.

I really do like where their arc was going though, bc she was just starting to find where she could fit in the family and dean was finally learning how to make room for the real Mary (esp since he was also learning to make room for his own real self, which, surprise surprise, was independent of Mary's actual influence - he thought she was a good cook and ran with that, becoming a great cook himself and turns out he didnt inherit that, that was all him, again, why i really like having the actual imperfect Mary around for him to identify his own value distinct from his parents who he always felt he got everything from, that nothing he did would be possible without their influence).

I agree, the pearl episode was weird, i chalk it up to weird djinn-like rules and maybe dean (edit: bc it's *crucial* to keep in mind that the pearl is responding to what *dean* wants/needs, whether he is *aware* of what exactly it is he wants/needs) particularly wanting the opportunity to have one night with his family of origin just to get the closure he needed to fully move on and be even more invested in his found family going forward. Maybe he didnt necessarily want John back, but maybe what he really wanted was the ability to *finally* absolve himself of whatever familial duty he felt towards honoring their memory so he could stop feeling so haunted by it (edit: bc let'sbe real, he doesnt need closure with bobby or ellen or jody in that way, none of them haunt him the way his family of origin does, the greater "need" exists in addressing the relationship/role he has with his family of origin - he doesn'teven use the time to focus to greatly on the harm done, they clearly focus on having a good time and dean is satisfied that they were capable of being a family at least once, that they werent a lost cause, and even if they only had one day, they could come together to make it count, and they really did come together to fulfill deans wish with the only opportunity they had - they pulled a lot of shit, but dean will always have this memory that they loved him enough to take his lead and not squander this opportunity). I dont remember much about the episode itself, i could be off-base, but that was more or less my takeaway.

The Winchester Family: A Rant

Can I just say that Sheriff Jody Mills was more of a mother to Sam and Dean Winchester more than Mary ever was, even after Amara brought her back. Like I guess no hate to Mary...? But like isn't the whole thing about the Winchesters is that family isn't just blood. They developed wayy closer bonds than the ones with Mary, and I know it isn't necessarily her fault, but she wasn't there. Like I dunno, I just wasn't in love with Mary coming back, especially since when she did come back, it seemed like she saw they were grown up and like, didn't care..? Like it felt like she went "oh my job is done these are just two grown dudes that I gave birth to once." Like I know its a weird situation, but as a person who grew up watching Once Upon a Time, where like almost the same thing happened, with Snow, David, and Emma, I can't help but compare their reactions and Mary just didn't stack up.

Snow and David were so ecstatic to see Emma and tried so hard to make up for lost time and parent her as much as they could. They kept trying even as Emma pushed them away saying she was grown and that her and her parents were technically the same age. Throughout the show they found a way to still be her parents while still acknowledging she was grown. It was really beautiful to see, but in comparison Mary did not stack up.

Yes, she is a badass, and, yes, her identity should not solely surround her being the boys' mother, but that doesn't mean she shouldn't be a mother at all. It would've been nice to see her figure out a way to strike the balance the Snow and David did, and I never got that vibe. In Supernatural, it seemed the opposite. It was Dean and Sam trying to be her sons and she pushed them away for the same reasons. I'm not saying she was a bad person, or even a bad mother, as it was a really weird situation and I can't necessarily blame her for how she dealt with it. What I AM saying, though, is that her name had no right to be carved onto that table. Point. Blank. Period.

Also, by the way, since I'm complaining, that weird episode with the pearl thing that let John Winchester come back so they could have a family dinner?????? As if that could truly be what Dean desired. Are you fucking kidding me. John sucked, made them both feel like shit, abused them, and yet that was the "family dinner" we got. It's been a while since I watched the show, so Idk a timeline, but screw the timeline for a sec. Across the entire show, a true family dinner would be Dean and Cas with their son Jack, Sam as the Uncle with Eileen, Bobby and Jody as the Dean and Sam's parents (because, unlike Mary, I very much feel like Jody struck that balance even though they weren't her actual sons) and Jody's brigade of wayward sisters trailing behind her, Donna as like the step-mother or aunt (Idk how Donna fits, I just LOVE Donna), and Charlie as Sam and Dean's little sister. Jo, Ellen, and Ash pop in with Rufus as those family members that are close, but you can't quite pinpoint how exactly you're related to them. Bonus: Kevin and Linda Tran come over like friendly neighbors because, even though they have a family of their own, the Trans are definitely close to the Winchesters, though, whether they like it or not. As much as I'd like to add Adam (to make up for him being left in the pit), I have a feeling he wouldn't want to. He seemed like a guy who refused to subscribe to the idea that because they were blood, they were family. (Maybe Sam and Dean should've learned a thing or two).

TL;DR:

Sam and Dean had a much bigger, and better, family then just John and Mary, but it was never really acknowledged fully and in the best way.

[upsidedowngrass]

actually on that topic:

i think if liam were to follow in anyones footsteps, i dont think theyd be airys. i think theyd be juliens

i could do an entire essay on the narrative purpose of julien Existing in ONE so i will keep that part of this condensed! but a large part of julien’s presence in ONE very much mirrors liam. already, the fact that they both see the waiting room as it is (or at the very least, it seems like thats what is being implied in juliens case, esp since the only characters who ever use the radio on their own are ones who see it as it is) ties them together pretty heavily, as that seems to be VERY uncommon. tying them together even further, julien ends up going back to earth by going to san francisco, to the very spot that liam disappeared at. yeah, bryce goes to this spot too, but the episode puts some pretty strong narrative weight onto julien going home during that scene, whereas with bryce it serves more to bring two different people together

but even outside of those things, they both seem to have responded to their situations similarly, with extremely similar actions, julien was just operating with a different amount of information about what was even going on

both were brought to the plane out of nowhere ofc, and both died. both ended up somewhere where they have smth that MIGHT get them home, but doing so isnt an inevitability but a possibility. liam just had extra steps in getting here. for julien, the place is the waiting room and the tool is the radio. for liam, the place is airys world and the tool is the computer

as it stands, liams actions after ONE 18 are certainly up in the air, esp wrt whose actions they might be a parallel of, but liams current method of dealing with things is pretty consistent with juliens, moreso than airys

airy tends to go with the hands he is dealt pretty easily. even if they suck, he just... goes along with it. the way he talks about using the radio even sounds like he just sort of. used it until he got to a world that WOULDNT immediately kill him. but he was content to leave it at that

assuming he was aware of how to use the radio (which im inclined to believe, because its hard to imagine 10 whole years passing without this guy ever thinking to move the antenna of the radio), julien was not content to do this. he wanted to go home, so thats what he was going to do. he didnt WANT to just give up

this is incredibly similar to how liam tends to deal with things. throughout the series, no matter what his goal is, his plan of attack tends to be trying and trying and trying until it works, no matter how much it seems hopeless. one of the only times he deviates from this after 5 months of being stuck on the plane, and even then, its made clear that in this situation, there WERE no options for things TO try, hence his blatantly pointless hitting and kicking of the plug. every other time, though, he tries as much as he can, no matter how long it takes. during the first 4.5 days, liam does all he can, which is deliberately losing competitions. when he gets back home, he follows the notes as much as he can, when bryce refuses to drive him to the smokestack, he finds his own way there, when hes trying to get to stone, he uses the radio until he gets there successfully, all the while, he is trying and trying and TRYING all he can to get back home. and from the looks of the scene w him at the computer, he continues to do this

there is also just about one other scene i can think of where he is about to give in, which is the one where, upon first trying to get to airys world, he says “i dont know if i can do this.” this is IMMEDIATELY interrupted by him helping julien get back to earth (which in itself, seems to mirror the idea of liam getting to go home after all of this)

julien, really, is a representation of liam if everything was sped up. if he was brought to the plane, died, and promptly did all he could to achieve some uncertain goal, but like if he speedran it

(im also saying goal since i think liam and julien technically have different goals- liam being to help the others get home and julien to go home himself, but i dont think what the goal entails actually really matters in this context, so much as the way the character goes about achieving it, and WHY they developed that goal in the first place)

but the thing is, with julien being a representation of liams own experiences and actions, i really feel like the fact that they both respond to having their goal being the only thing they have going for them by trying to reach it, even to extreme lengths, points towards juliens “sifting through the radio to get home” mirroring liams “figuring out the computer to get the contestants home,” and i think that would be the footsteps that liam follows. no matter how long it takes, i think hed try to get them home, even if it took years. though, ideally it wouldnt be that long🥺

(though, i think he WOULD eventually get them home. and himself. this ties into the essay thing i mentioned earlier, but the fact that liam is able to get julien home feels like it not only indicates the uncertain goal being met, which in liams case would be getting himself home, but if julien represents liam at his lowest, liam helping him feels like it indicates liam managing to get himself home, too. especially since, after all, liam helped julien get to earth through san francisco, which was where he lived himself)