#especially in a situation separating him from his usual role and dynamics with others

[transingthoseformers]

i once dreamed of a trailer for a tarn solo movie. he was stranded on earth with nothing but dumb little organics for company and he was waiting for megatron (his gay was showing)

YAY TRANSFORMER DREAM

Situations where we're focusing on just one bot on Earth are always interesting, especially in a decepticon context (especially one as specific and specialized as Tarn)

can you imagine him getting attached and then finding out it's his Lord's plan to kill off humanity, giving him a choice to make

[thesweetnessofspring]

Hi!

I just read your anon response to the Mellarks in 13 with Hijacked Peeta (Not me) and I was wondering if only Otho or one of Peeta’s brothers survived how that might change things? Because he’s lost everything and now Peeta has come back(!) even if they hadn’t been on the best of terms in a while.

Delly is there to fulfill the ‘family’ role but do you think there’d be room in the story for his father or brother to tag team with her?

Or would the brother/Otho be a set back because of the household dynamics?

Previous ask

While Peeta was hijacked specifically with Katniss in mind, I can't imagine that whatever personal injuries happened due to the abuse in the Mellark household wouldn't have affected hijacked!Peeta, too. Again, Otho seems unable to respond immediately in dangerous situations. In addition, he would be dealing with the death of his wife and other two sons which in my mind would increase his likelihood of freezing as a response. He may be more involved in the back end in this case, but I just don't see him effectively dealing with a hijacked!Peeta in any type of circumstance. To me, it's not an issue of love or care on Otho's side, but a lack of skill/personality as well as the fact that hijacked!Peeta is definitely more likely to criticize and attack. People often shut down when confronted with their faults and mistakes and get defensive. Without having had space to work through that with someone skilled enough to do so, Otho would shut down even more.

Again, it's hard to tell with the brothers because we don't know anything about their personalities. It could even be that they would handle it well. Or they could be mean like their mom or shut down like their dad. Or have their own unique inability to relate.

In my headcanon of Peeta's brother's personalities, I think that his older brother might have a decent chance. I don't think the two were particularly close. His oldest brother is more reserved and the strong, silent type—more capable than Otho, but not very warm or kind. He's very serious but also very responsible and takes what others think should be done seriously. He tries to keep up an image of the Mellark family to be more positive than it would be otherwise, but that has created distance between him and the rest of his family in their own private lives. He would see trying to help as a duty to his brother and he'd try, but he and Peeta just never got to be close as their ages separated them a bit more and they were trying to survive their mother's abuse in their own ways. With Delly by his side he'd be more likely to be successful.

I headcanon the middle Mellark brother as being a bully and Mrs. Mellark's favorite, and so at that age and after that kind of trauma, wouldn't be suited to help hijacked!Peeta. He'd be more likely to punch Peeta in the face than talk him down and get really defensive about whatever Peeta said, especially about their mother. He is more aligned with Mrs. Mellark because of their close relationship she fostered from the time he was young as a response to the oldest son preferring Otho. Delly being paired up with him would only put Delly in more danger of two big Mellark boys going at it in the same room as her. (I know my headcanon is rather unpopular—the middle brother is usually a mild asshole but in a charming way, whereas I headcanon him without that charm and more just a straight-up asshole).

[the-incapable-hero]

ooh im curious about undead's roles in the fitw au, especially adonis with the separation of his body and spirit! id like to know more about midori's doll-adjacent sitch as well, if it isnt too much of a spoiler for the story ♪(´▽｀)

Yes! I enjoy their dynamics very much in this AU!

I'll actually start with Adonis! I based his character off of his Moon and Memory card. So originally, he was a farmer, working with his family near the walled city. But he got caught up in a huge corruption spike, so along with the fields he lived in, he also got corrupted. But he's got a really strong mind and will, so after his mind was finally lost completely to corruption, rather than going away completely, he woke up as a field Spirit. His gift usually involves food or plant growth, but unless he stays in one place to maintain it, his field of crops die out quickly because of the wasteland. He used to give small signs to wandering citizens so they knew how to get home, but since there aren't really any travelers anymore, he instead leads Beasts away from the city. This includes, on occasion, his corrupted self.

Next is Koga! His character is based off of his Conformity Breaker card! He lives in the anarchy, and he's a Doll. He's actually one of the Dolls who were given a body that gradually came to life, so he's not possessed by any particular Spirit. He's in the favor of several animal-related and voice-related Spirits, though and can provide similar gifts. He's actually been kidnapped many, many, many times, but he manages to escape every time. He's on the verge of breaking any day, but that doesn't stop him from doing what he wants. He's one of the few people who traverse the undergound tunnels, and it's through that he learned the history of the city by meeting a certain someone.

Now for Kaoru! His character is based off of his Corundum.K card. It's probably obvious from looking at the card, but he is indeed a thief! Remember the other person I mentioned Tetora worked with? That's Kaoru! He's the local Robin Hood, but he's a lot more "aggressive" with it than Tetora. He was never in a position of power, but he works hard to make sure that those who have fallen are taken care of. He believes that the wasteland can't be stopped, so he aims to just enjoy his life leaping around buildings. That being said, he does have a small dream in the back of his mind, since he once was a Dollmaker's apprentice. He still gets dreams from Spirits sometimes and receives their gifts frequently, even if he can't give them a body in return.

And finally, Rei! Rei... is a doozy. Mostly because he's filled with spoilers lol. But! His character has gone through several revisions, so I can't not talk about him after all that

His character is based off of his Entrancing Myth card. This scout was actually a secondary inspiration for the main story of this AU. He's....

Man how do I say this without spoiling the whole thing?

Okay. He lives in the wasteland, surrounded by dust, Beasts, and swords. This is the figure that the wasteland Artists confronted. His experience lies with stories: specifically, the ends of them. He's curious about the wasteland Artists and how their stories would end, and this curiosity is why he spared Midori in the beginning.

And uh... straight up, if I say any more, I think it'll spoil Big Things so we'll just leave it there teehee

But speaking of Midori, his Doll-adjacent situation is not spoilery!Basically, while he's out searching for somewhere to not be constantly fearing for his life, he gets an offer. Technically, if a vessel is decorated well enough, it can become a Doll, even if it's already "occupied" so to speak. The reason this isn't done more often is because not only can the possessing Spirit leave whenever they want to, unlike a regular Doll, but they have no control over the body at all. So, in most cases, a Spirit would have zero benefit from possessing a human as their Doll.

But, let's say, hypothetically, that an extremely weak Spirit were already sealed somewhere they couldn't leave. And they've been begging a Dollmaker for years to give them a vessel to escape their seal, only they're too weak to ever control a Doll on their own. If a human who was willing to be decorated shows up, then not only does the human get to see Spirits by becoming a pseudo-Doll, but the weak Spirit in question could see the outside world for the first time in years.

Thus, a partnership is formed with Midori and this Spirit.

[lordelmelloi2]

people who haven't experienced incest don't really grasp how soul-destroying incest abuse is, and what the real problems with incest is; in normal relationships, you can separate from someone and have nothing to do with them your entire life. you can't do that when someone has entered that role for you as a family member, and the way that families are generally structured, incest as abuse will always involve someone exacting power over a victim, yes even if they are twins or some crazy shit like that. Sibling-sibling Incest occurs when emotional grooming/emotional incest or covert incest occurs from a parental figure/guardian figure, and that unresolved sexual tension often expresses itself as incest from usually an older sibling onto a younger sibling. Like genuinely in order for incest to occur, there has to be some sort of extremely unhealthy but unspoken family dynamic to be occuring, including a guardian figure being outright abusive.

So when we talk about things like Shinji incestually raping Sakura, there's a couple of things we have to understand also, which is that Shinji, although he is likely also a victim of abuse/neglect, is still putting himself into a position of exacting power over Sakura, who is also a known victim of abuse because of her position. Shinji very clearly choosing instead of sympathizing with Sakura or trying to help her after discovering the worm pit situation decides to take out his emotional pain on her and abuse her. And as he gets older he continues to behave misogynistically and abusively towards women and towards Sakura to the point where she reflexively kills him when she finally has enough power/confidence to do so.

This is because Zouken has shown Shinji that abusing women is ok, that treating women like objects is okay, and that especially, treating his sister like an object that's OK to abuse and do anything you want to is okay. So Shinji chooses to abuse Sakura and continue the cycle of abuse that's being done to her.

And then when we talk about the grooming clusterfuck that is Camelot, and we dive into PHH Morgan's reasons for incestuously abusing Artoria, the fact is that PHH!Morgan had been groomed her entire life into being the next ruler of Britain and yet was denied that; on top of that she was groomed by Merlin as she was being taught magecraft and being raised. With the collapse of her role and the entire reason why she was brought up at All, the frustration and madness caused her to choose actively to assault Artoria and steal her semen during that time Merlin gave her the ability to sire for the sake of impregnating Guinevere; the fact that Artoria has also been groomed is present here, as both Morgan and Artoria suffered under the weight of what was expected of them being brought up to be the "rightful ruler of Britain". Morgan's vicious lashing out and desire to completely destroy Camelot through her own convoluted abuse scheme is her furthering these cycles of abuse but explicitly with intent to destroy. It was a choice she made, even amongst the DID, although her other alters would at times sabotage her own plans.

The thing is for Sakura, her entire life is destroyed from the inside out by all the abuse that she's experienced; she has no guardian figures to trust or rely on and she knows they are just going to use her. Because of that and the sheer denial of her own personality and identity, esp. as Shinji also uses her as a punching bag, from the inside out she begins to be entirely hollow. Artoria suffers similarly in that her being raised and expected to be the King of Britain changes her entire sense of self and causes her identity to begin eroding as she changes to try to fit herself into this role; on top of her failures to do so finding out that Mordred is her son & that she was incestuously abused by her own sister, a member of her court, shocks her and gives more reason for her to be so internally numbed out. She tries to cling onto her pride as a King but she has no pride as a King as well; the only thing she has pride in is as a Knight. Artoria didn't experience a ritual incestuous abuse like Sakura did so her experience with that sort of Violation of Selfhood is much more brief, but also much more elongated and subtle and more about her "responsibilities" as someone who is supposed to be in power, whereas Sakura definitely experiences a Violation of Total Selfhood where her entire reason for existing is continually rewritten, re-established as being a tool, as being an object to be used, etc... Sakura is Anthy Himemiya.

IDK I need to finish these thoughts 2morrow its 3AM rn

[manybcdthings]

Full Name: Felix Ranstrom

Age & Birthday: 32 years old, November 3rd

Species: Hunter

Time at Base: 5 weeks

Role on Base: Runner/Seeker

Core Personality Traits: Stubborn, Analytical, Cynical, Brooding, Intense, Focused, Level-Headed, Observant, Instinctive, Protective, Ruthless

IDENTITY & CHARACTER

Physical Description & Distinguishing Features: Felix stands at 6'4"with a muscular build.. He has pale skin, sharp features, and a small scar on his right cheek. His expression is usually hard to read. Quiet, brooding, and intense. He's heavily tattooed in blackwork/patchwork style, with designs like barbed wire, cherubs with rifles, and spiderwebs. He has tattoos on his hands, knuckles, arms, torso, back, and some smaller ones on his face. As a Hunter, there's a constant tension in the way he carries himself. He typically wears tactical clothing which is dark, functional, and built for movement.

Impact of War on Personality: The war hasn't affected Felix as it possibly should. Born and raised as a Hunter, he's used even fought some of the creatures before that now roam the world. He isn't colder or sharper, just relying on survival tactics he's used before time and time again.

What Drives Them Now?: At the base, Felix's main focus is helping Jakob find his son and ensuring Astra and Nova are safe. He isn't that interested in helping others, but he's not cruel about it, just emotionally checked out from taking on anything else.

Moral Compass & Boundaries: Felix has a strong moral compass that might surprise others. He's unmoving in a lot of his views. He despises people who throw their weight around just because they can and he instinctively protects those weaker than him. But right now isn't a good time to judge his ethics as it's possible they might bend or even change completely depending on the situation.

How have they adapted to the new world order?: Before the war, Felix was a Hunter and paired with his brother Jakob. They were born and raised by a Hunter father and Witch mother. Erik and Viveca died at the start of the war when the initial creatures tore through. In technical ways, Felix has not had to adapt much. He's trained to fight and survive and he's tapping into everything he already knows.

Skills/Abilities: Felix has a wide range of skills from weaponry, close combat and dealing with things that might almost be unkillable. Aside from his tactical skills, Felix is a good planner with a methodical and practical mindset but he's not always forthcoming to offer his insight.

Survival Instincts/Experiences: Felix is a fighter and a strategist, relying on experience rather than brute force or luck. His survival strategy is calculated: he observes, adapts, and acts only when necessary. He's not reckless but isn’t hesitant to be ruthless when survival demands it. He prefers to avoid unnecessary conflict but won't hesitate to eliminate threats efficiently.

Since the war, Felix tries not to see other Supernaturals as enemies, but on the road, an "us or them" mentality sometimes takes over especially for Astra and Nova's safety. He's turned people away before, refusing to let them stay with him, Jakob, and Astra, prioritizing their survival over others.

DYNAMICS

Who were they with with before ending up at the base?: Felix, Astra, Nova, Jakob and Jakob's son and Theo spent months in Newport but were separated from Jakob's son in the chaos. They were with the group when they found the base.

Who are they looking for now?: Felix is focused on finding his nephew and is often out on runs with Jakob and others. He doesn't bother taking note of anyone else who's missing, he's locked tf in for family only.

Significant Relationships:

Jakob: His brother

Astra His wife

Nova: His daughter

Jackson: Had a lot of shifts together in Newport, would arguably be considered friends.

Theo: His father's Hunter pairing. They're close and psuedo father vibes.

Ryan: Actively dislike one another since Newport

Involvement in Base Politics/Power Struggles: Felix has no interest in taking charge at the base, despite being more than qualified to help. He has little respect for the emerging leaders, often considering them unfit, whether rightly or wrongly. He stays out of the politics, focusing instead on getting what he wants without drawing attention to himself.

How Do They Contribute to the Community?: Day to day, Felix keeps conversations with other survivors brief and surface level. He avoids conflict but isn't looking to make friends either.

Thoughts on Other Survivors: Felix has sympathy for people, sure but he doesn't show it very often. He distrusts most people, and always has done. He's not abrasive or aggressive but he speaks to everyone with a certain emotional detachment that only Felix can bring to the table.

[addedsugars]

i usually dont reblog stuff like this with comments but the replies wasnt giving me enough space and leaving multiple replies makes me feel like a freak. im gonna try and keep this vague since i assume youre an anime only! there might be some spoilerly info but im not gonna just say full arc endings or anything. correct me if wrong about the anime only thing though!

1. farcille isn't technically canon but can be read as heavily implied, and seeing as dunmeshi is an overwhelmly queer Fandom we just accept it. im pretty sure the author leaves it purposefully vague but thats just how i see it. a large amount of the story is spent talking about their relationship so why not. ships have become fanon for less.

2. labru is one of the ships based on character foil dynamics. they're characters inherently tied together by the end of the story and end up relying heavily on each other and are different yet the same in so many ways... like even if they aren't romantically together most labru shippers I know love to talk about the PARALLELS . bitches love a good parallel and in many ways that's just what labru as a pairing is made for. even their appearances could be read as opposites, they technically could fit a sun and moon anesthetics there's just a lot to love there.

3. I'm a passive kabru enjoyer so you'll need to ask an active one for more details but I think part of trans masc kabru is just, a lot of Trans masc people seeing themself in him. another big part of it is what from what I've seen is, kabru is not his real name, or at least the one he was given at birth. could be seen as a Trans thing. kabru is seen to dress and appear somewhat androgynously as a child so it can be easy to say he was Trans. from the way kabru was raised with elven culture being so light with the differences between feminine and masculine it would be easy for him to transition.

I think the biggest factor Is Queer people like Queer headcanons.

4. I didn't know chilshi was seen as freaky? yeah Senshi sees chilchuck as a kid for the first part but that's mostly player for laughs and is a thing of ignorance on senshis part. it's like mistaking someone who's short and has a baby face as a teen irl. after being corrected that senshi is shown to be able to like, acknowledge chilchuck as an adult and his equal, at least to my memory.

even though chilchuck is still married it's left sorta vague even post canon if he ever got in contact with his wife again? like yeah he clearly still cares about her, but he hasn't spoken to her directly in years and the conception of their marriage can also be read as Rocky since chilchuck married so young. like he married at the half foot equivalent of 17 after his first kid was born and now he's pretty much middle aged. with all of that + their lack of contact most assume they'll just get officially separated especially since they've been so unofficially for years. it's fine if you wanna see them getting back together! a lot of people do but there's no canon evidence for that so it's hard to read it as homerecker-y to me especially since all of chilchucks kids are grown.

I think a big part of the ship is actually senshi and chilchuck having a similar status in the friend group, both being older men and both taking an almost parental role in certain situations. in chilchuck's case it mostly comes out in comedic situations but its easy to see how chilchuck could be described as generally acting fatherly. senshi can also easily be described as motherly with the way he takes care of the party members. this especially comes out from both of them when taking care of izutsumi. it's like w thing among chilshi shippers that they are basically just izu's adoptive mom and dad and I personally find that hard not to see. it's basically like shipping your mommy and daddy together.

ALSO ONCE AGAIN PARALLELS OMG THE PARALLELS. CHILCHUCKS DISTRUST TOWARDS DUNGEONS VS SENSHIS ACCEPTANCE OF THEM. THE IMPORTANCE SENSHI HOLDS IN SELFCARE ESPECIALLY FOR THE SAKE OF OTHERS VS CHILCHUCKS MASSIVE SELF NEGLECT ALSO STARTED ORIGINALLY FOR THE SAKE OF OTHERS.

uuuh sorry for talking about chilshi for 4 paragraphs I'm biased.

Questions for the dungeon meshi fans about ✨️fandom ships✨️ (and other stuff):

1) falin×marcille are cannon, like, it's obvious falin have feelings, same for marcille but she's oblivious. HOwEVeRe, how is Laios and kabru a thing ? I agree they are cute, and its tempting, but except the friendship confession, nothing really scream "lovers vibe". A need proofs guys. Why?

2) Alsoooo why is Kabru trans in the fandom ?

It's a real question.

What is the brain process ? 🔵 🫦🔵

3) finally.... guys..... senshi and chilchuck 😦😧... some of you are freaky

Chilchuck is a dad still in love with his wife (you bunch of homewrecker!!) And Senshi thought for half the season that Chilchuck was a KID 🥲

Nope. I dissociated with this. I don't like this.

I need answers.....

[yiling-daddy]

Yes, that was me! I can definitely expand on my thoughts re: how Madam Yu’s behaviour reads differently to me due to my traditional, Chinese upbringing.

There is a lot of subjectivity as to whether Madam Yu can be read as abusive, and this reading is often influenced by culture—hence you often see completely off-base takes floating around. However, to me, the way that cultural context influences the reading will actually change depending on the relationship, so I will discuss each one separately. Most of the culturally insensitive takes are about her being an abusive or uncaring mother (she’s not), or that she’s a spurned woman (it’s more complicated than that), so you can skip down to the JC, JYL, and CSSR sections for that.

Madam Yu and Wei Wuxian

As a trend, I think western fandom tends to simplify Wei Wuxian’s dynamic with the Jiang family into an entire adopted family. Consequently, Yu Ziyuan gets perceived as this two-dimensional, evil stepmom figure—but I think this doesn’t capture the truth.

There’s a bit more variability among Chinese audiences when they read the Jiang family dynamic, partly due to our deeper familiarity with wuxia tropes, but mostly because there's a mediocre Netflix translation colouring the western interpretation. Though many Chinese fans do view them all as a sort of family unit and read Madam Yu as a stepmother, I do not. To me, Jiang Fengmian and Jiang Yanli view Wei Wuxian as family—but Madam Yu does not. Madam Yu views him as a servant, a disciple of the sect, and an outsider at the dinner table—and it’s not wrong for her to do so. It’s not gracious, but it’s not unfounded. I don’t think Wei Ying ever gives any indication that he views her as a mother, either.

If you agree that they don’t have anything like a mother-son relationship, all these insults/complaints that Yu Ziyuan levels at him—that he’s the “son of a servant”, that Jiang Fengmian is weird for openly favouring Wei Wuxian over his own son, etc.—these start to make sense? Like, it’s shitty to listen to, but none of it is wrong. Suddenly it reads less like pointless insults and more like actual points.

Additionally, if we consider that Wei Wuxian is a disciple of the sect who goes around and raises the ire of the Wen clan, corporal punishment suddenly looks very normal (again, within the culture). Hence, when I watched the donghua and CQL, I hated seeing Wei Wuxian getting whipped, but I didn’t perceive this as abuse—especially because of the political nature of the decision.

But it is definitely still possible to mistreat a disciple.

In CQL, you see Madam Yu throwing an unnecessary amount of vitriol at Wei Ying. In the novel extras, it's revealed that she regularly whipped him but never whipped the other disciples, indicating that it wasn't normal corporal punishment. She also whipped him for absurdly stupid reasons. To me, this signals that she tended to abuse her authority over him. Even if you don’t view her as an abusive mother to Wei Ying, it's fair to read her as an abusive authority figure.

Importantly however, "abuse" is a loaded word suggesting a violation of social norms, and again, the situation is complicated because the social norms of the setting don't match those of the modern world. Madam Yu is not overstepping her bounds as master of Lotus Pier—hence, people do not think very much of this treatment in-universe, including Wei Ying himself.

Madam Yu, Jiang Cheng, and Jiang Yanli

Okay, when I first watched CQL, I cringed when Madam Yu started dragging her family because she sounded like My Actual Chinese Mother. I felt for a second like I had transmigrated into Jiang Cheng’s body and I was experiencing his agony firsthand!

Madam Yu reads very realistically, and I think this is why it gets personal for a lot of Chinese people when this fandom discusses her character. Yes, she belittles and hurts her children for their perceived failures, but many Chinese people can tell you that this is just a common parenting style. And while it might look like bullying to an outsider, this behaviour is usually motivated by love. It is often also motivated by fear that the child’s future will be substandard. This is textually obvious when you consider what exactly Madam Yu yells about:

She snaps at Yanli to stop peeling lotus pods, because she shouldn’t act like a servant. If Yanli keeps behaving so passively, what kind of role is she going to fall into in the future—especially given that she is not a cultivator?

She berates Jiang Cheng for always being inferior to Wei Wuxian no matter what he does. If Jiang Cheng is constantly overshadowed by Wei Wuxian, what will that mean for his future as sect leader? Or his future status and reputation among the sects?

I can do these Chinese Mom Translations because parents in real life will actually say things like this out of concern for their children (insults included), in an attempt to motivate them... and it really does light a fire under our asses. I attribute many of my personal successes to this parenting style. Thus, when I see posts like “Madam Yu didn’t show any sign of caring for others” or "Madam Yu was a purely selfish and arrogant person" or “Madam Yu is an abusive mother and nothing else"—well, I can tell most of these people are not Chinese, or if they are, then they likely did not have a traditional upbringing.

While I don't think these uninformed readings of Madam Yu are necessarily racist, I do think they they are unpleasant for Chinese fans to constantly see. For those of us in the west that had this type of upbringing, we often struggle with trying to frame and process our relationships with our parents. For me, this was partly due to the emotional baggage of my upbringing (Jiang Cheng winning!!!)... but it was also because white society kept telling me that my parents didn't give a shit about me when obviously they did. That’s fucked up to experience. It reeks of cultural imperialism. Thus, when I see Chinese people getting annoyed at these Madam Yu takes, I’m not surprised. This is unfortunately a fictional discussion that very much resembles a real one for us.

Yu Ziyuan, Jiang Fengmian, and Cangse Sanren

A lot of people view Madam Yu as a spurned woman and assume that is her motivation for constantly antagonizing Wei Wuxian and her husband. But because I assume that a lot of her chaotic yelling stems from her concerns as an Actual Chinese Mother, my take is different.

Remember the scene where Madam Yu catches Jiang Fengmian scolding Jiang Cheng just after praising Wei Wuxian? She drags Jiang Cheng up to his father and, in both CQL and the donghua, says something to this effect (paraphrased from memory):

This is your son, the future master of Lotus Pier! Even if you don’t like him because he was born to me, his surname is still Jiang!

And in CQL, she also says this right after berating Jiang Cheng for not measuring up to Wei Wuxian:

But it’s not your fault. Your mother is no match for his mother.

Yu Ziyuan isn’t angry about Cangse Sanren because she’s jealous; she is angry about Cangse Sanren because she thinks Jiang Fengmian’s feelings for her are jeopardizing his competence as a father to Jiang Cheng. Viewed in this light, it also makes sense why Yu Ziyuan is hostile to Wei Wuxian in a way that alienates him from the family—constantly calling him the son of a servant, pointing out the rumours about his parentage, etc. She’s not doing this because she hates Cangse Sanren or Wei Wuxian; she’s doing it because Wei Wuxian’s presence in the family is threatening Jiang Cheng’s future in her eyes.

Bonus: Did Yu Ziyuan love Jiang Fengmian?

Yes! In both the donghua and CQL (I ashamedly admit I don’t clearly remember the novel), I thought their final moments made it quite evident that they cared for each other. They fought together, died together to protect their home, and reached out to one another in their final moments.

But when I rewatched Madam Yu’s scenes in CQL and the donghua, I realized we got other hints that westerners probably missed. I'll focus on CQL:

Right before Jiang Fengmian sets off with Yanli for Lanling, Madam Yu sees them off. She gives Yanli some snacks and then—without making eye contact with Jiang Fengmian—says that she’s also giving them medicine in case someone gets a headache. Jiang Fengmian pauses, because it’s obviously for him.

This is recognizable behaviour for a lot of Chinese people. I can’t tell you how many times my mother got apoplectic at me, and then the only follow-up was her going out of her way to make me my favourite meal. The chaotic yelling you see between Jiang Fengmian and Yu Ziyuan is also pretty typical to many Chinese parents, and again, the follow-up in my household was often one of them going out of their way to do something for the other.

This is just how the culture is in a lot of families. “Sorry” isn’t expressed in words; it's expressed in actions. “I love you” isn’t expressed in words; it’s expressed in actions. In Chinese culture, the dominant love language is acts of service. It's fleeting, but we get glimpses of that kind of love between Yu Ziyuan and Jiang Fengmian. 

[elysianslove]

Here to ask- could you rank the jjk boys on terms of kinky to vanilla ;) Also love your 🍆hcs I definitely would not be complaining if you said more 🤭... ♡♡

*dice rolls* sure thing shawty 😩 also thank you so much omg. i got another request for a dick analysis so 😼

for this, i basically explained each of the boys, then ranked them at the end! 

JJK BOYS: A SCALE OF VANILLA TO KINKY 

itadori yuuji 

he’s somewhere in between! yuuji is curious enough to be considered kinky, but also he’s so loving that vanilla generally is his go to. not that vanilla can be a bad thing, because sex with yuuji, even if he’s not tying you up or spanking you and is just simply fucking you in missionary, is mind-blowing good. he never really is the one to initiate kinky things, or to ask to incorporate new things in the bedroom, but he’s always a hundred percent on board with anything you ask, no matter how extreme, even if he’s on the receiving end. maybe he’ll be the one to ask for things like “can i choke you?” or “can i blindfold you and use this toy on you?” but the hardcore shit has to come from you. it’s not entirely shyness, but there’s some of that too. he’s just generally new to sex, so even though he obviously has kinks he wants to try out, he sees sex as a way to pleasure both you and him, and that’ll be his main drive. if you want to add to that somehow, there’s absolutely no problem! 

fushiguro megumi 

oof he was a little tricky. i think he’s also somewhere in between, but definitely leaning way more towards kinky. like if it was a number scale, 1 being really vanilla and 10 being really kinky, megumi would be a good 7 or 8. it’s always the quiet ones. i think, at the start of your relationship, and when things start to get a little more intimate, he’s more vanilla, just cause he doesn’t wanna accidentally cross a line he hadn’t known was there. but as he gets more comfortable with you, he’ll definitely start asking you to change things up a bit. he’d do it cautiously though, cause what he’ll ask of you are either extremes, or kinks that have a high chance of you saying no, like pet play, or pain play. he’s definitely into dom/sub dynamics, and he’s a switch so, if you can also help him play out both roles, he’s in heaven. this was not an ask about his kink can i stay on track smh. but yeah, megumi’s definitely kinkier than he is vanilla, especially as your relationship grows and the level of comfort and trust between you does as well. 

gojō satoru

do i even have to. he’s so kinky it’s off the scale. he’s always trying out new things. start, middle, end of the relationship doesn’t matter. maybe he’s romantic on your first time. genuinely though, he’s very kinky, and is open about it too. here’s a twist though, i actually think he’s capable of being vanilla, but on very specific occasions. if you ask him, he’ll be a little shit about it, teasing you the whole time. but sometimes, he prompts it, and it’s usually when a mission goes wrong, or if something goes wrong and you nearly get hurt, or you do get hurt, and valentine’s day cause like. obviously, in his words. also gojō’s kinky in the sense that sex with him is always exciting and new, so while he’s not always incorporating extremes, he might just grab his blindfold and put it on you once, or mid-sex he’ll ask you, “wonder if i can make you cum on command,” or something of the sort. also. i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again. gojō probably has a piss kink im so sorry. 

nanami kentō

mostly vanilla. accidentally kinky. sex is something very important to nanami, something so intimate and special, something he wouldn’t share with just anybody, so most of the time it’s just that, a chase after your pleasure and his. but he is like, accidentally kinky sometimes, especially when he’s angry. he’ll be extra rough, practically using your body to chase after his own high, degrading and humiliating you, you know how it is. so essentially, he’s vanilla, with a hint of kinky that’s unlock-able during certain situations. but! just cause he’s vanilla doesn’t in no way mean you will be able to walk the next day, because you won’t. trust. 

ryomen sukuna 

this one’s weird cause, sex is traditional with him, but also it’s really, really not? like he has sex for the pleasure and he fucks to fuck, and he thinks things like toys or bindings or roleplay and he doesn’t like wasting time edging you or going all out with scenes, but he is kinky in the sense that there is huge power dynamic going on between you, or that he loves to see you cry, or that he loves to see you writhe in pain, or that he loves to call you the nastiest names. so like, he’s kinky, but that’s because that’s just who he is. it’s his personality projecting sexually, you get me? sukuna acting differently or weirdly would be him being vanilla, him being soft. (he is, very, very, very rarely). but does that make any sense? so yeah he’s kinky, but not for any other reason than him displaying his personality traits sexually. 

getō suguru

oof he’s so kinky. will put you on a leash and take you out if you let him, honestly. the thing is, he’s so subtle about it. it’s not that he’s private, he’s just really fucking subtle that sometimes he’ll be the one with the kink but it will seem like it’s you? somehow? manipulative bastard. he’s also so suave and cool about how kinky he is too. like he wants you in a collar kneeling before him, but he’s acting like it’s the most natural thing ever? like that’s just how everybody gets off? idk he’s hella kinky but seems so vanilla and for that reason we should all be scared. or aroused. both. 

inumaki toge

not so much kinky as he is open and adventurous, but also like, not exactly vanilla either. he definitely has a freaky and nasty side to him, but he’s not itching to live out those fantasies. i don’t think they’re so extreme either though, like it’s different and nontraditional, and they’re certainly kinks, but he’s not gonna suspend you mid air with a vibrator attached to you. but will he force orgasms out of you with his technique till it’s borderline painful? absolutely. honestly, toge’s leaning more towards vanilla than kinky, just cause yeah he’s for sure open to try out things, but he himself doesn’t really have anything too extreme to try out or in mind, you know? idk he’s always so difficult for me to figure out im sorry. 

todo aoi

idk man he just. fucks cause. yk. sex! i think if you ask him to choke you he might be genuinely so shocked, and that’s one of the most common kinks out there. he does seem like he’d be into pet play though, maybe, possibly. but genuinely i don’t think there’s an ounce of kinkiness in him. sex with him leaves you braindead for sure, and yeah of course there’s the whole size kink and stomach bulge thing going on, but he just. you know. he’s a basic bitch. a basic bitch with a monster fucking cock though. 

fushiguro toji

it’s kinda like the sukuna thing. it’s just his personality. so i guess he is kinky, but like. what else would you expect from someone like him? *a sexy ass dilf like him? so something like a power kink or a size kink is obvious, of course he’ll get off on that. but also, separate from sukuna, i think he does have so many kinks that are separate from his personality projecting, things like orgasm denial or breeding or! his weird obsession with sex toys. plugs you up after cumming inside of you and makes you go out like that, cause you know, he’s an asshole. 

mahito 

kinkiest fucking person. or curse. he can alter his body. he can alter his body. can you imagine the shit he’d do to you with that? obsessed with sex toys, any form of orgasm play, denial or overstimulation, will suspend you mid-air with some toy attached to you, is an exhibitionist, would love to have a gang bang, praise, degradation, cum play, literally anything and everything you can fucking imagine. he’s like gojō but nastier and unhinged. a menace to society in every way, but at least he’s pretty and giggles cutely. 

ranking time! from vanilla to kinky, we have 

1. todo aoi 

2. nanami kentō

3. inumaki toge

4. itadori yuuji

5. ryomen sukuna 

6. fushiguro toji

7. getō suguru 

8. fushiguro megumi 

9. gojō satoru  

10. mahito

[the-lone-witch-and-secret-room]

I'm currently working on a fic that's set a few years after Amity breaks away from her parents' grip and is forced to ask her father for help with repairing something. Would it be accurate to portray him as more apathetic to everything around him, like a more cynical Rick Sanchez?

Anon, I feel a bit bad interfering in your creative process, but… please don’t write that. I’m sure you have good intentions, but this whole concept is extremely harmful, as you’re putting Amity into a very dangerous situation.

Amity is canonically a victim of emotional abuse from both of her parents. (Maybe I’ll cover their separate roles in the abuse their children suffer more in-depth at some point, but for now, in short: emotional abuse often works via words, sometimes actions, but it can also be the lack of action that’s abusive—the former of which is Odalia, the latter Alador falls under, for the most part.)

Having Amity break away from her parents grip is a healthy, important step for her. DON’T have her reach out to her father again, especially not because she needs something from him. That’s super, super dangerous. Their power dynamic has always been heavily imbalanced towards her father. Having her crawl back to him because she needs something from him gives him power to hold over her. That she needs something so desperately she’s forced to interact with him, as you said, means he has a lot of power to hold over her in this situation. Alador’s whole thing is that he pays little to no attention to Amity outside of how she can be useful to him, p.e. using her to network when she’s six, and recognizing her potential to become coven leader and therefore an access to more power for his family. As far as we know, he’s never been there for her when she needed him, and I don’t see how this would be different—unless he finds a way to benefit from it somehow, which would be even more dangerous.

Considering how much her parents have hurt her, and the implication that Amity has recognized that hurt rather than continued to accept her parents’ excuses of calling the abuse “tough love” since she’s emancipated herself and essentially cut contact with them, there’s nothing that could break that could be important enough for Amity to force herself to interact with her father again. She’d exhaust every other possibility to fix whatever it is, but she wouldn’t over her dead body go back to her abuser to ask for help, especially not because as a neglecting parent, Alador is specifically someone she could never rely on for help.

That’s a behavior she might be at risk of falling into right after cutting contact, but if it’s been years, she’s had a lot of time to put everything she suffered through as a child into a different perspective. She has a healthier environment in Luz and her friends and potentially other mentor figures that aren’t parental, depending on whether for example Lilith is in her life at that point—Eda and Camila probably would be through Luz. She knows which people she can rely on, and which she can’t and doesn’t want to rely on.

From how the ask is worded I’m guessing you didn’t plan for the whole incident to go over very well (even though that’s a little hard to tell without more context), but even so, I’m asking you to please rethink the general concept.

If something is somehow important enough for her to ask her abusers of all people for help, there’s no telling how much she’d let them get away with in regards to how they treat her if she really needs their help that much. She might even have to force herself to walk on eggshells around her abusers, since she can’t risk pissing them off while she needs them. You can probably see how that’s an issue.

If you really want to write a fic about emancipated Amity interacting with her parents, put her in a situation where she is in control, rather than her parents. If it’s Alador and Odalia that need/want something from Amity instead of the other way around, Amity can refuse their request, and even if she doesn’t initially, she can cut them back out of her life at any given point during the story. She doesn’t have to put up with any bad behavior from her parents. The second they overstep a line she drew, she can cut them off again, and the whole thing is over. There’s still dangers to this situation, of course (it’s important to keep in mind that it’s not uncommon for abusers to pretend to be better people for a time, only to fall back into their usual behavior as soon as they have the victim back in their control), but giving Amity control over the situation and hence the means to end it whenever she wants to is an entirely different setup than her going to her parents for help, and essentially giving them back the means to control her.

I highly recommend checking out the story Make My Home Inside Your Heart by @whatisurowlpolicy regarding how to handle adult Amity around her parents, but the main takeaway from me here would be, plain and simple: Do not put an emancipated abuse victim into a situation where she’s forced to rely on her abusers for help.

Edit: I am not saying abuse victims can’t write about their experiences, I’m sorry if that came across that way. Longer explanation in my reblog but essentially just if you write something like this without personal experience, especially as a beginner writer, there’s a high chance you’ll accidentally end up causing more harm than good. This is one of the topics that I firmly believe you shouldn’t be covered at all if it can’t be covered respectfully.

[mc-critical]

And there is an interesting follow-up in Süleiman and Gülfem's little E60 scene while they are watching Valide in that condition. The scene seems very similar to E15, but the more we go on, the more subtler differences pop up, especially given how the focus of the two scenes differs.

It's once again Süleiman who approaches Gülfem and asks about her feelings on the whole matter and it's once again Gülfem's role as a conscience that shines through in her dynamic with Süleiman, but instead of singling itself out, it builds upon Hafsa's own role as a conscience for Süleiman, as Süleiman and Gülfem don't reflect on their relationship with one another, but on their own separate perspectives on Hafsa. Just like E14-E15 are about Süleiman ruminating on his relationships with his women in general after he had to make a rash (and wrong as he fears) decision about the most recent and beloved woman in his life, so he ought to go deeper within the hinted yet distantly forgotten past to see how/when exactly he apparently started messing up, E59-E61 are Hafsa's last episodes, so we ought to go deeper within the hinted yet distantly remembered past to see how Hafsa has influenced each character — namely here comes Gülfem's turn after Süleiman in E58, Mahi in E59 - ever so slightly - before her (but E61 and E62 will also follow suit) and Hatice (along with Hürrem) in E61 after her. Hafsa is revealed to be an ideal of Gülfem's as well, but not one that's unreachable or beyond reproach, but one she seeks and even sort of manages to emulate ("We have been through a lot. She never fell. She was always standing tall like an old oak. She stood still." - isn't this what Gülfem strives towards as well? Keeping on even after all she went through in order to be a force of support for others?). But since Hafsa can't do that anymore, Gülfem can't either, reversing SS and Gülfem's roles from E15 - while in E15 he was opening up to her in a way he never had with any of his women up to that point, in E60 it's her showing how she feels in a way she never, ever did in front of him (of course it's still due to someone else's pain that's actually her own, however!). Everything is once again brought back to Süleiman's fault and Gülfem once again eases his conscience (just like Hafsa is thought to by SS in these episodes!; it's sad and telling how Gülfem is yet again remembered as a sliver of a person or rather, used as a conscience only when people have to ease their own consciences), but this is the first time she does express the fact of someone being (rightly even, given the "We went though a lot" line) dismayed with him ("Of course, there was the time she was upset and angry with you."), even for a tiny second before she adds: "But she never resented you". This fuses Gülfem's views of both Hafsa (as someone who's not beyond reprimand) and Süleiman (as someone who is) together through her closeness with (and knowledge of the inner worlds of) both of them she eases herself with, but it's also the beginning of Gülfem's view of Süleiman evolving through what those around him, those she loves, have gone through.

["What can a mother want for her child? Love, respect, loyalty. You have offered her all perfectly" is also fascinating, as the line reveals another layer of SS and Hafsa beyond or not beyond reproach for Gülfem respectively: as the son (who grieves the mother) and the mother (who aches for the son). Of course it's the son, the child who hasn't done wrong and of course it's the mother who's responsible but since her pain is too raw, too lived in to be ignored, the blame only barely comes out. Gülfem sees her own anguish in Hafsa as well, there is even less differentiation than usual as the situation really looks and feels that helpless, so she feeds her view of herself and her own circumstances into her view of Hafsa as well as Süleiman. I also think there's that idealization of Süleiman and Hafsa's bond as mother and son, of Süleiman as Hafsa's son too, so how can Hafsa, a mother, really be mad when her child is not only there, next to her, but also doing what he must, even more perhaps - respecting her, cherishing her, loving her? Should she be resentful when she has this?? Why should SS feel bad when he's provided Hafsa this?? And that idealization can reveal itself or shake up a bit only in a situation like Hafsa falling ill and mother and son being on the verge of losing each other. The mother is also empathized with, especially given that she held on until then (unlike Gülfem who's holding on now, but didn't quite then, apparently!) - whatever anger and upset she might've had is understood while still being washed away. And this is the first time Gülfem relates to SS himself too, by seeing him grieve, so it makes sense that her coping mask slips a bit.

Oh, and loyalty is mentioned once again, but for once, it's SS's loyalty as a virtue, not anyone else being loyal to him, and with that comes the more honest admission once more that, just like they are loyal to SS, he should be loyal to them too. The fact that he emerges more and more "disloyal" to them (and though executing them! of course death is the most devastating thing to Gülfem! the more Gülfem relates to SS, sees him as struggling and then flawed, the closer SS gets to Gülfem's hardship, to the force that's enacted it, and the more disillusioned with him she becomes!!) is key to Gülfem's S04 turnaround.]

I know I'm retreading old ground here, but I'll always love Süleiman and Gülfem's little scene in E15, because it reveals everything about both Gülfem herself and her relationship with Süleiman now and going forward. Gülfem's role as a conscience in general and for Süleiman in particular emerges, since when his relationships with his women are put to the test, she is the person he turns to as the first woman he's possibly hurt, as the one embodying that distant past everyone seeks to forget but can't as it always resurfaces all over again (and it's sad and telling that she's remembered only in occasions like these). Gülfem as Süleiman's conscience builds off of Hafsa's, Ibrahim's, Mustafa's and Hatice's isolated moments where they've been consciences for Süleiman yet in this scene it completely distinguishes itself as more of a deeper conscience, privy to Süleiman's inner world in ways we don't know but they themselves do, wholly embracing this moment that's just between them both. But the more her view of what she experienced unveils to us, the more this privyness and understanding Gülfem has for her closest springs forth as the coping mechanism she's developed in order to deal with her circumstances - she loves these people so much, so they're by no means at fault, she is, something has to be missing with her in order for it that devasting end to have come forth (her loss has sadly done a number on her self-worth too: how could someone as ""average"" as her advice Hatice on what to write to Ibrahim??; how could someone as ""average"" as her not be at fault??). She clearly isn't over it (shown by her resentment that occasionally crops up especially in her dynamic with Mahidevran, but also a bit by some of her looks during Mehmet's naming ceremony), but she has to accept it, to go with the flow, to cling to fate and the might of Allah as well (her urging Hatice for them to pray to Allah for Ibrahim in E14, also "When we lost our children* at a very young age, I accepted it as the will of Allah."; it's fascinating how close this brings her to both Hatice and Mahidevran: all three of them lean on fate like that, but Gülfem has experienced something so irreperably final and severe that every sign of something good happening, she'll openly and gladly take it, so is able to see the silver linings in Hatice's experiences that Hati herself can not; both Mahidevran and Gülfem lean on Allah, but unlike Mahi who expects and strives for justice for her suffering that's supposedly outside of Allah, Gülfi lets it go and associates the suffering itself too with Allah, if not with herself), focusing on what she already has, taking it with full hands.

And since that entails the people she supports, the last idea of family remaining to her as SS is so unreachable, and she can't bear to lose them too, the only thing left for her is to love them and idealize them but in different ways and amounts due to her different relationships with them, thus creating a sort of a hierarchy of fondness and idealization: going from Mahidevran (who I guess Gülfem is in good terms with not just due to her good relations with Hatice, but also because she's gotten too used to her as part of the family as well; as an ally, a main part of Gülfem processing everything, so when another person like Hürrem appears who's likely to challenge that status quo, that calm Gülfi has absorbed, she stands behind Mahi, shown in E08; btw, Hürrem too may have also become quite a part of that fondness and idealization line later on, but more about that when I get to S04), to Hafsa (the mother figure for whose will Gülfem's respect is usually absolute), to Hatice (the companion she's closest to, so she's able to give her a lot more empathy and understanding), to finally Süleiman, the last pillar of that hierarchy precisely because he's so unreachable and so dear she couldn't express it until this E15 scene and even then not fully. Even if, along with her understanding of them, she can and has called out others when she feels they're unjust namely due to her fondness of them, Süleiman is completely idealized in her mind, put on that pedestal of everything Gülfem yearns for in her life, of the peace he currently emanates but hasn't gotten from any of his women in return according to Gülfem (and it's interesting that Hürrem comes up promising a calmness to SS after she returns from her exile the same episode). But he won't emanate it much longer and the more her loved ones become disillusioned with him and are then stripped away from Gülfem by him, she starts to notice it in ways she can't deny.

So it's perfect that this scene, the first one that directly verbalizes how much loyalty means to SS especially in terms of his women and presents Gülfem as the first such loyal figure, sets her up as the last and perhaps most striking opposer of that idea. Her final act of defiance only appears sudden; it was always meant to happen like this.

[im-still-watching-anime]

warning: this post is just me ranting about the writing of the naruto women for far too long

i honestly feel that one of the most frustrating/vaguely hilarious aspects of naruto is how naruto ended up being - and bear with me here - the best example of the extremely specific female archtype that kishimoto seemed to be obsessed with. 

like when you focus on sakura and hinata - arguably the most important female characters in the show as the two male leads’ respective end game love interests - you can break them both down into the same general mold:

- both devoted to the same boy their entire lives

- both are shown chasing after their crush in order to stand on “equal” footing (i.e. sakura’s “i finally caught up to them” and hinata’s “no longer chasing but standing by your side” mentalities)

- both suffer and try to overcome feelings of inferiority in their respective character arcs

and i want to be clear that while female characters who fit this mold aren’t usually my favorite thing it can definitely still work when written carefully and written well -  to be blunt i personally think both hinata and sakura are awesome character concepts and both had SO MUCH potential and i love their fanon interpretations but i feel that canonically they were poorly written, underdeveloped, and flat characters

most of their canonical character motivations revolve around their love interests - which really sucks because i would have KILLED for a deeper look at everything involving hinata and the hyuuga or even more about sakura’s development of her medical ninjustsu so much got skipped when it came to them which definitely didn’t help anything - that aside this is especially true in og naruto though to be fair - sasuke was still in konoha in og naruto and team seven was together for most episodes which made it especially prevalent in sakura’s case

the point is by the time shippuden came around it was extremely obvious that efforts were being made to improve the female characters - sakura now had much higher combat ability from the start of shippuden and, though she gets much less focus hinata is repeatedly shown doing brave acts and pushing herself to become stronger. and while i really loved the effort and it was definitely an improvement from especially sakura’s original character - it still fell flat to me.

sakura’s fight with sasori was perfect and a great way to revive her character but then she was pretty stagnant in a lot of the following arcs - i.e. injured in the reunion arc, not very important during the two saviors arc, her weird fake love confession during the assembly of the five kage arc, etc. - she constantly bounces between “now i’m strong” and “i still don’t measure up” making her character development - especially pre-war - virtually nonexistent because every step forward gets followed by a step back.

hinata is a bit more difficult simply because she’s such a minor character for so much of shippuden which is insane since she’s literally the protagonist’s future wife. regardless, looking at hinata’s big moments: her fight with neji in og naruto, blocking naruto from pain in shippuden, and the Smack during the war (there’s a few i’m missing i’m sure but those are really what constitutes her biggest moments to me during the meat of shippuden’s actual development phase - not the post war resolution phase) two of three of these moments precede her getting very heavily and soundly beaten which personally irks me - even if i don’t particularly like it i can see why and it makes sense to me she didn’t win the fight with neji or her pain confrontation and it definitely shows that she is brave and emphasizes the all-important devotion to her love interest aspect of her character BUT it’s also a little obnoxious that we never get to see her be REALLY victorious in her major moments.

so to sum up so far: sakura and hinata are both meant to be perceived as innovative and strong female characters but this perception doesn’t work in sakura’s case because she immediately repeatedly reverts back to the damsel in distress archtype and it doesn’t work in hinata’s case because the few strong moments she has are highlighted by failure.

and also the all important point that the majority of their “strong moments” are driven by their love interests - not a bad motivation except for the fact that that is one of their ONLY motivations

to the main point i’m trying to make: lets compare naruto (obviously take this with the understanding that naruto has a MAJOR advantage of having way more screen time and development as the titular character)

in regards to sasuke, naruto:

- is extremely devoted

- repeatedly chases after sasuke to match-up with him and improve

- and, especially in og, struggles with feeling inferior to sasuke

the context is a little different and the motivation behind some of the points changes between the two but it’s the exact same mold as sakura and hinata

the major difference between the two and the main reason that so many more people get frustrated with sakura’s devotion to sasuke and not naruto’s really boils down to development

sakura barely had her own character outside of loving sasuke and when she did, it immediately got downplayed in some way - just look at the war arc and her triumphant “i finally caught up to them” right before both sasuke and naruto essentially gain godlike powers, she then spends the war constantly distracted by sasuke even when fighting “sasuke isn’t worried about me at all” which really downplays her role.

on the flip side, even with his main goal of bringing sasuke back to the village, naruto has tons of motivation and character building outside of sasuke - ex. becoming hokage, gaining everyone’s acceptance, fixing konoha, living up to his parents/jiraiya’s expectations, bringing peace, protecting everyone he can, freeing the tailed beasts, etc. etc. you could go on forever the show is named after him after all.

we are told that sakura always chooses sasuke and nothing else about it but then we are told that naruto chooses sasuke despite everything else.

to sum up: the traditional female love interest that kishimoto wants to invent is the woman who is devoted. she puts the person she loves above everything else because she loves him. she’d do anything for that person even if it puts her at risk, etc. but at the end of the day there’s still the tired trait of still relying on the man in her life for certain things. and he doesn’t bother to expand characters like sakura and hinata beyond that. (great examples of characters who are almost completely separate from this mold are tsunade and temari - though one might argue about the way they were written designed to fit specific tropes for comedic moments - personally i think they manage to dodge that for the most part though)

with naruto and sasuke - naruto manages to fulfill every roll sakura is meant to in a much more elaborated and better way all without the curse of the female love interest that sakura and hinata bear. it’s hard to accept sakura and hinata’s “i’ll love you no matter what” when naruto is already actively outright doing that with sasuke. the roots of sakura’s feelings for sasuke, hinata’s feelings for naruto, and naruto’s feelings for sasuke are all exceptionally similar to one another which is what shoots kishimoto’s main romances in the foot - because it’s hard for them to measure up to the main “platonic brotherly” relationship he built between sasuke and naruto.

this post is obviously disregarding a lot of the Other really deep parts of sasuke and naruto’s relationship and some important points about the other women of naruto. also it’s important to think on the time period naruto and naruto shippuden were written in. we’re in a major incline period for improvement in how women are presented in fiction - just look at the difference of women between og and shippuden. obviously it doesn’t completely excuse anything but it’s a point to consider.

sorry for the rant and sorry if this is all really obvious to you or if it’s worded poorly, kinda just needed to word vomit my thoughts. i really like analyzing how women are represented in fiction and how the representations have developed over the years. i wrote a few essays about it for some of my courses and now i think about it all the time. obviously i’m not claiming this is how everyone should view these characters or anything i just had lots of my own thoughts about the entire situation and dynamics that i had to put SOMEWHERE. if you have any thoughts about it or points you wanna bring up feel free to do so i love fiction analysis a lot so i love hearing other people’s opinions

[lizacstuff]

Your thoughts on the epi? And the trailers? I'm loving the in love Edser! We've waited so long for this!!!

This episode was so fun and fluffy! I don't know about you, but I am enjoying the tone during this second season. A lot. I don't care how stupid the audition process was for the spot in the school, it gave us some very good comedy and a lot of USTy, sexy, flirty goodness.

And like you, I also love in love Edser!

Thankfully this episode was dominated by Edser, and with Kiraz at Granny's house we even got some alone time. The supporting characters were used to good effect this episode, Engin and Piril were the funniest they've ever been, Kerem and Pina served to poke Serkan about his mentoring style, and it was actually nice to have an excuse for Ayfer and Aydan to share a storyline again.

(more under the cut)

However, we'll start with Burak and Melo. UGH. I mean I love Melo and Elcin has done a really good job of showing Melo's heartbreak and trying to hide her melancholy behind her usual bubbly personality, but I really can't stand that it's over such a dud of a character. I know I'm a broken record here but Melo deserves better than this fool. Honestly, he's such a bland sad sack I don't really get why Melo loves him, Eda wants to be friends with him and Ayfer thinks he's so great she wants him for a nephew-in-law. Well, for Ayfer the only qualification is that he's not Serkan, so never mind that question.

However, maybe there's some hope? Before this episode it seemed certain they were heading in a romance direction, but the way he told her she was like a sister to him? Is there really any coming back from him saying that after he remembered kissing her? On the other hand we're barreling towards the end here and there's not really enough time to introduce anyone new for Melo (and no indication from spoilers that they have) and I'm pretty sure Ayse and the writers want to give her a romantic happy ending (although I'd be fine if they didn't and instead had her go off and do something entirely for herself like go back to school or travel or open a shop). So we'll see, because even with the sister line they left some room open because Kerem was the one who suggested he say that (it wasn't necessarily his own idea) and with Melo he seemed to be coming from a place where he assumed he had forced himself on her and she was angry because she didn't want it. Which we know is not true, so might be a misunderstanding that leads to something more. Anyway, I guess we'll just have to endure whichever way they go.

Personally, I like the Serkan-Kemal father storyline. I think it's a good way to add a bit of drama in the waning episodes, gives Serkan a bit of an identity crisis, interestingly mirrors his own situation with Kiraz, and it just makes sense with everything we know of the characters. Because were we seriously supposed to believe that someone as sniveling as Alptelkin sired Serkan? I mean Serkan is the epitome of BDE, he has an inherent charismatic and commanding presence. Sorry to the actor who played Alptekin, but he didn't really have any kind of presence, however Sinan who plays Kemal, does. They've done a great job of casting, because it just feels true. I believe Kemal and Serkan share genetics.

However, even before that storyline starts in earnest, it's interesting that Serkan was being a big baby, not wanting his mom with a man she clearly loves. I wish Eda would have pushed back at him a little more when he was going off that Aydan shouldn't pursue love at her age! Does he think he'll be out of love with Eda by the time he's in his 50s and 60s? Of course not! I'm guessing Eda, though, is just letting him blow off some steam and come to accept the relationship on his own terms. Don't get me wrong, though, after all the meddling Aydan's done with Edser, she more than deserves to have Serkan's opinion of Kemal negatively impact her!

Loved that Kiraz and Can found out first that Kemal is Serkan's father! Cat is out of the bag, Aydan, you can't make a deal with a 5 year old, lmao. It put a nice ticking clock on the whole thing and gave us some good comedic moments where Kiraz is speaking the truth and everyone thinks she's just really fond of the dude. Hee.

Also I enjoyed the Aydan and Ayfer moments. To be honest, I also used to enjoy their true friendship moments when we got them, like when Kemal first appeared and Aydan was freaking out and needed Ayfer and Seyfi around her, and when they were trying to hunt down Deniz after the fake wedding turned real. After so much animosity, it was nice that Ayfer recognized that Aydan was truly in distress and needed a friend and they were able to actually talk. Also we got some (mildly) funny comedy with the two of them and the school lady. Speaking of Ayfer, thankfully she finally realized some consequences to her actions in pushing Burak at Eda. She hurt Melo! Glad she finally opened her eyes to see what should have been obvious to her (Eda never saw him that way, and Melo obviously did) and apologized to Melo. I'd like it if she would apologize to Eda as well, (and Burak deserves an apology as well because she most definitely gave him false hope) but since Eda wasn't influenced by her we probably won't see that.

Switching to Eda and Serkan this episode gave us lots of good stuff. This was a great episode for showing us where each of them stood. Eda is terrified of getting hurt and trying to hold him at arm's length even while he clearly is inching back into her heart, and Serkan is dreaming of their future together, and taking every opportunity to tie them together. How much did I love Serkan admitting he was poking at Eda, and doig things to make her angry, just so she would talk to him? Interesting that he's doing it and love that he's being honest and admitting it to her. One of my favorite relationship dynamics between them is around "talking." In the very beginning Serkan did a lot of complaining about how much Eda talked and how she never shut up, but starting around episode 18 all he wanted was for Eda to talk to him. And this is just more of that. The thing he wants most is to talk to her.

Plus watching domestic Edser is just so much fun, I could watch their full grocery shopping trip in real time and be perfectly happy, lol. At the age of 35 it's time that Serkan learn how to do a few things for himself, I don't care how rich he is, so it's nice that we see him evolving a bit as he embraces the dad role.

The jealousy gambits, even as mild as they are, are getting pretty eye roll worthy since Eda and Serkan are living together, care so much, and obviously are still so hot for one another. It's a bit more understandable from Serkan since Eda is the one creating the barrier between them, but are we really supposed to believe that Eda is jealous of Deniz when Serkan is so obviously in love with Eda and planning their future together? Especially when he clearly can't stand Deniz and tries so hard to avoid her? I suppose it's to show us that Eda is in a jumbled state, her head is trying to keep space with Serkan, while her heart wants him badly and is scared he's going to take her rejections seriously. Even so it was quite irrational for her to get angry at Serkan for having lunch with Deniz when she ordered him to leave with her. Poor Eda is in emotional turmoil.

It was hard to tell with shaky translations, but I guess Serkan claimed to have been injured while rescuing Eda and that's how he talked his way into her bed? Impressively done, Serkan. Love it because it meant we all got to wake up to snuggly family, snuggling together. This gave us another glimpse into Eda's psyche, she wakes up first, and is clearly enjoying it and feeling at home in his arms, until the sleep clears enough and her head realizes she's not supposed to be enjoying it. But once again Kiraz knows how to handle her parents and their complicated relationship beautifully and fixes everything with a pillow fight. That is one smart cookie.

One of my favorite moments of the episode is when Eda is trying to convince Serkan to go to Aydan about the school. Eda knows that her big eyes still work on him, and they did. He still can't say no to her, another one of my favorite relationship dynamics of theirs. I'm super glad some things never change. Speaking of their visit to Aydan's, how great that they went to meet the horse without a name as a family, and then Serkan finally came up with the perfect name. Definitely a star.

Love, love, love that Serkan and Eda beat Engin and Piril when it came to the 'how well do you know your spouse' game. They may have been separated for 5 years, but they both have a genuine interest in the other, so they remember things, and they always made a much more compatible couple than Engin/Piril who have absolutely nothing in common. Of course I adored all the fake married hijinx this gave us, not to mention all the opportunities for Serkan to touch, kiss, and hold her. SO MUCH UST!

The heart-to-heart on the bench was well done and it finally gave us Eda opening up and telling him what's been holding her back. She's scared. Of course she is, the poor thing. Serkan might have thought he was doing it for her own good both times, but he ripped her heart out twice (not even counting all the heart ripping he did during amnesia) how could she not have fears? Of course she's afraid! Whenever she lets herself love him and be loved by him, it's ripped away horribly, and often in ways that feels like it's him doing the ripping. She can take into consideration the circumstances, which she has or else he wouldn't be anywhere near her, and still need time to be sure she's not just setting herself up to get emotionally demolished again.

For Serkan's part all he can do is keep being there, being honest with her, and showing he's in it for the long haul, which I think he's doing and which is why they are where they are at the end of this episode.

Engin and Piril's dance practice is probably the first Engin/Piril alone scene that I thought was genuinely funny and fully enjoyable. I can't think of another... message me if you think there is one, lol. Elsewhere, I saw some folks saying that Engin and Piril should have won the dance competition, because they actually danced, and Eda and Serkan didn't. LOL, you think? I'm pretty sure that was the point. That Eda and Serkan didn't really dance, all they did was get up there and turn their sexual tension and intense smoldering towards one another up to eleventy and won because it's that powerful.

It's sort of a metaphor for this whole series. Sen Cal Kapimi is 100% powered by their chemistry. Of course they can win any competition by just pressing their bodies against one another! They can turn a ditzy Turkish summer romcom that probably should have gone 13 eps into an international hit that's going on 50 episodes, just by looking at one another.

I'm glad that the school officials overheard their conversations and dismissed them, any organization that requires this of the parents, is going to be a lifelong pain-in-the ass, lmao. Also it was good to see Edser and EnPir make up by the end.

Now, on to that ending. I'm glad the subject of the tatoos was brought up, interesting that Eda kept hers until a few months ago. Also interesting that she moved it... can't blame Serkan for wanting to see it. Was that one great seduction line, or what?

I join with everyone who thinks it was a slightly awkward place to leave the episode. We only have 13 (probably) episodes this season, and we've only had one kiss so far. That was definitely a moment for a kiss. Part of me thinks they were going for the cliffhanger, what will Eda do? Will she kiss him or slam the door in his face? Tune in next week to find out! Except that audiences have to wait no time at all for the fragman and that makes any such cliffhanger moot. So what's the point? Have her pull him in, kiss him, and the show can end with them passionately making out and the door slamming with the camera outside the house.

Oh well, it is what it is, and we can only hope they pick up next week right where they left off. As for the fragman, obviously they are fully back together for this episode which means she lets him in to hunt for her tattoo. (please oh please give us that internet ozel because I don't think I can stand being online in this fandom if they don't. Thankfully I'm traveling next week and will be too busy to spend much time on twitter.)

As I said in another ask, I'm not surprised Serkan is barreling them straight towards marriage. When you know, you know, so why wait? Once they emotionally commit to one another, they need to just get married. No waiting for psychos to interfere, family to meddle, or tragedy to strike!

Seriously can't wait for a full episode of them together and Serkan figuring out how to propose. I'm also looking forward to the Kemal/Serkan stuff, it will be interesting to see how he reacts once the news sets in... should be a great episode!

[ask-risorgimento-italy]

Main Story Masterpost

I decided to make a masterpost for everything one might need to know in order to understand this blog and its story - historical background, characters and crucial plot points. I also added information that was not yet included on this blog but has been discussed on Discord.

Important terminology:

“Risorgimento”

(1) the 19th century movement for Italian political unity

(2) a time of renewal or renaissance, revival

“National representative”/”Representative” - the officially approved personification of a region

“Personification” - a semi-immortal being who embodies a region/culture akin to the idea of a “Leviathan” (Hobbes). Their origins are unknown. They might lead a very public life or prefer to stay anonymous. Usually they're somewhat obscure - most people wouldn't recognize them on the street. Some might believe them to be guardian spirits, pagan Gods, angels sent from Heaven or the spawn of Satan ...depending on who you ask.

“Fusion” - A personification gives up their immortality and allows another representative to “take over” their region. 

“Brother”/”Sibling”/”Partner” - personifications usually have multiple overlapping relationship dynamics. None of them are truly related by blood, but some will consider each other to be siblings. Some might consider each other related in the first half of a century and denounce it in the latter or vice versa.

What happened so far...

1798 - The Fall of the Republic

The story of this blog begins after the fall of the Serenissima. The maritime republic has been independent for centuries and is now in the hands of Napoleon. Even though Venice has been struggling to maintain power before, this is considered its death blow. Art is looted or burned and symbols of power destroyed. It is in the very moment Feliciano’s house is vandalized by French troops where he realizes that his life would never be as it was before.

1815 - The Kingdom of Venetia-Lombardo is founded at the Congress of Vienna 

Napoleon’s reign is over and Europe is drawing new borders at the famous Congress in the capital of the Habsburg empire. The Veneto is paired with its neighbor Lombardy to form a kingdom that now belongs to the Austrians. Feliciano and Benigno (the representative of Lombardy) have to agree to something akin to an arranged marriage.

1845-47 - The Prelude and the Financial Crisis

Famine, fiscal troubles and the demand for reforms all over Europe turn the continent into a powder keg. Feliciano and Benigno are no longer in a forced partnership. Instead, they are both angry soon-to-be revolutionaries, supporting each other in their struggles.

1848 - The Revolution

Revolutions erupt all over Europe. New governments are formed. Venice becomes the Republic of St. Mark. Lombardy goes through the Five Days of Milan. Feliciano and Benigno often fight in separate places, but are united in spirit. 

This is the first time in centuries where Feliciano personally gets his hands dirty in a conflict - he is angry and full of spite. Death to The Austrians is written on the walls with red paint.

1849 - The Fall of the Republic, Act II

After a long siege, starvation and sickness ultimately beat the city of Venice into submission. Feliciano’s fighting spirit is broken and his mental and physical health is at an all-time low. He is forcibly separated from Benigno and does not see him again until 1866.

1848-61 - The Predecessor State

After the failed revolution, the unification takes a much different form. 

Tactical warfare and treaties soon replace guerilla warfare. The driving force of this process is the Kingdom of Piedmont. It is sometimes called the predecessor state of Italy. Its personification is a woman called Cassandra. Her goal - to be the sole representative of the peninsula - is considered madness by some and visionary by others.

1861 - The Kingdom of Italy is proclaimed

After almost half a century of political struggles the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy marks the beginning of a new era. Cassandra, now referred to as Italia by most, offers great benefits to the remaining region's representatives if they “fuse” with her - fusion being an euphemism for a personification giving up their immortality and status as a representative and transferring it to Italia instead.

While many have agreed to the deal, others stay hesitant - namely Benigno (Lombardy), Romano (Naples) and Chiara (Sicily). And then there’s Feliciano, who is still under Austrian occupation...

1866 - The Veneto becomes part of Italy

Venice had somewhat of a special role in the Risorgimento. In 1861, it was not yet part of the Kingdom of Italy. The Habsburg empire has the city and the surrounding region in an iron grip for five more years.

Due to shared goals in their unification process, Italy and Prussia form an alliance against Austria, and the Prusso-German war finally decides over the fate of the Veneto. With Austria losing, Venice becomes Italian territory.

Feliciano as this point is all too happy to hear Cassandra’s offer about “fusion”. He feels tired and weak. Being able to shift the responsibility of nationhood on someone else’s shoulder sounds promising. It would not take long for him to finalize his decision.

1868 - And then things go wrong

Feliciano has decided: he would no longer be the personification of Venice. He says Goodbye to his family and friends, as he would forget his old life and start a new one as an ordinary citizen. Some don’t take these news well. Benigno especially reacts with anger, as he has believed that Feliciano would not agree to Cassandra’s offer. At some point they have a fight that causes Benigno to storm off teary-eyed. 

From this point onwards we witness the story from Benigno’s and Romano’s  POV.

Benigno is the one to discover Feliciano’s and Cassandra’s corpses. They lie on the floor of Feliciano’s villa in Venice. There is dried blood and flies. No one knows what has happened. The government is shocked to find out about this and tries everything to cover it up. Cassandra’s death could be a fatal blow to the new nation’s political landscape. Her body is preserved with formaldehyde and other heavy chemicals and hidden away in a house somewhere in Turin. Feli is buried in Venice. Benigno is the only one to visit his grave regularly. 

He is the sole north Italian representative to survive, and soon takes over Cassandra’s duties. This is where he also clashes with Romano, who is pissed off for not being considered a fitting substitute for the role (the anger is very much justified).

For a whole year, it seems like everything has gone to shit.

1869 - A mali estremi, estremi rimedi

Benigno and Romano are guided to Venice by a mysterious call for help. Neither the caller nor the call is ordinary in nature - it is their (presumably) dead sibling Feliciano somehow infiltrating their thoughts with garbled nonsense. When they finally open the mausoleum, Feliciano is in a bad state. Skin thin as paper, eyes sunken in and comatose - and yet, somehow, with a beating heart. They bring him to his old house where they try to nurse him back to health while they struggle to figure out what this means for Cassandra, themselves, and wherever...or whoever Italy is.

1870 - The Trespasser 

Some weeks after the gruesome discovery of Feliciano’s body, Romano and Benigno have yet to figure out how to make Feliciano wake up from his “slumber”. At the same time, a stranger is rummaging through the streets of Venice. The representative of Prussia, Gilbert, is onto something. After some digging (and bribing two police officers) he finally finds what he was searching for - the address to the old abandoned villa where Feliciano has once lived. 

When Gilbert decides to break into the place, assuming no one is home, he kicks the door open with a loud bang. Feliciano unexpectedly wakes up in a panicked rush. The situation quickly escalates. There is a bloody fight on a stairwell between Feliciano (who is extremly confused and attacks everyone in sight) and basically everyone else. 

Gilbert manages to subdue him, but not before Feliciano has managed to knock out Benigno. As only Romano and Gilbert are left to clean up this mess, they agree to work together and for now ignore the fact that Gilbert tried to break into the house. They would deal with this later. For now, caring for Feliciano and Benigno was their top priority.

And this is where we catch up with the current chapter of the story, where Benigno wakes up and wants to know what the hell Gilbert is doing here in the first place. We will soon find out!

[growingstronglikeahighgardenrose]

Sanditon Season 2: all the news & my thoughts

So, we're getting not one but two new seasons of Sanditon! After a year of tremendous effort on behalf of the Sanditon sisterhood who kept the fandom alive, we'll be looking at a new season. Although I think the biggest thank you probably goes out to Bridgerton, which showed that romance, regency, a diverse cast and butts are a perfect mix to lure audiences.

I want to take this moment to reflect on what I think we'll win, what we'll lose and what we can expect in the future.

1. No Sidlotte HEA

This is probably the most heartbreaking salty news we could get. But I know Theo James, he likes new projects. And after divergent's disaster, I can't blame the boy for not wanting to hang onto another franchise. As a fanfic writer, although mainly an Esther/Babington one, I broke my head for over a year on how to get Sidlotte together. I had to imagine the grandest schemes to get them together. Tom needed 10 000 pounds in less than a month. Even Babington was probably not worth that much. That's over 6 million in today's money if adjusted to inflation. Regency era's England's top 1-2% made that in a full a year, and most of that is probably in assets and investments. And they don't just get to keep that money, most used a good chunk of it to keep their estates running and to pay their staff. Anyone know someone who has a casual 6 million lying around?

There's only two realistic solutions: either have Eliza die: which would be cruel and take years (unless you kill her in childbirth 9 months in), or create a grand scheme that would take months and see Sidney, Crowe and Babington actively work hard on their 'business' while in the meantime Charlotte, Lady Denham and Lady Susan get everyone including the prince regent to come to Sanditon. I kind of accepted they would have a hard time getting out of that plot twist. It was likely that Sidlotte could not be endgame.

Personally, I never felt a strong connection to Sidlotte, and had hoped that Charlotte, like Jane Bennet, would go to London with Lady Susan to recover from her heartbreak, and I kind of hoped James Stringer would eventually go down there for his apprenticeship, where a sort of Captain Wentworth-like situation would come to exist where he is a young man trying to make something of himself. I know Charlotte didn't love him. But I also knew that Charlotte wanted adventure and perhaps needed to grow as a person. But in the new season she'll probably be a bit jaded, closed off, and depressed. And will probably need a softer more available man. Growing up goes with swinging to extremes. She was an open optimist at the beginning, and eventually turned to the opposite, not letting her emotions shine through and being very guarded (@miss-holly-goes-lightly did a wonderful post on this). Adulthood is finding a good balance again.

So while I am saddened, because this brings along a long set of questions like: "Does Sanditon still take place in Sanditon then?" "Where will Sidney live, will he then live in London with his wife?" "Why doesn't he come help his brother the next season or visit his family, as we know Tom will make a mess of things" The show will have to answer these questions in a believable manner.

2. No Beaufort twins

Mollie Holder said on her instagram that the Beauforts wouldn't be returning. This leads to quite a few questions like: where will Georgiana stay then? What will be happening to Mrs. Griffiths? Will Georgiana be her sole ward while the Beaufort's absence is explained as them having married or having become governesses?

3. Who remains aboard

Rose Williams is definitely on board. It's also pretty certain Tom will be there again. Lady Denham is also likely to return. The child actors and their parents were willing, but worried about their increasing age a few months back. Old Stringer said he'd have loved to be part of Sanditon again and to see it continue, but he's well... dead on the show so he won't return. So who will join Charlotte?

Leo Sutter might not return. He plays an important role in the next spin-off of vikings. Vikings has a new season each year. On top of that he's currently busy recording Gateway 6. We don't know how long that might take. And perhaps by the time filming ends he's required for the next season of the Walhalla series. Leo Sutter is a rising star, he might not even have the time to return. Especially for two seasons. At his age and point in his career, he needs to cement his name, or he'll remain b-list while he has a-list potential. So he might have to give up Sanditon for his career. It's sad, I'd love a Stringer/Charlotte future where they both grow to being suitable for each other while becoming people confident in their own abilities. But in the end, I would be alright with it, as Charlotte didn't express immediate interest in him. Writing him out would also be fairly easy, they could just write that despite thinking he had to stay home after his father's death, he went to London in the end under Charlotte's encouragement. Perhaps he could then come back for a guest appearance.

Crystal Clarke will reprise her role as Georgiana. Clarke has, since Sanditon, spoken out about the sometimes tone-deaf director and scriptwriters. She had to step in a few times to make sure Georgiana was done justice. She also said she hoped Georgiana, if the show was continued, would get the space to breathe and be independent, instead of playing a minor role as token black friend of Charlotte while under the control of Sidney. It will be complex to have her return without involving Sidney, as his character will have to be written out. I imagine this can be done with a timejump, but the timejump would have to be 4 years to make Georgiana 'of age' as she is 17 in the show. They'll probably place her under someone's care while saying Sidney is "still her guardian, but away". Georgiana is, in my opinion, an essential part of Sanditon. Bridgerton showed the world wanted to see diverse faces. Austen wrote a black character as a wealthy and desirable woman. They simply have to do more with her in the future. Clarke will reprise her role, this time with black writers to do justice to her character. I'm excited to see what will be done.

The actor who plays Arthur, Turlough Convery, is a good actor and mostly in period pieces. However he's never overly in demand, and usually stays with shows for multiple seasons. I think he's quite willing to come back and it means Georgiana would have a friend. I also hope they delve into his character, especially after his "I don't think i'll ever get married".

Matthew Needham and Mark Stanley, Crowe and Babington, are Sidney's best friends. It will be hard to have them come back without them explaining why Sidney is never with them. But I believe they would work well as a duo: the drunk and the one braincell are a fun dynamic. Both are not much in demand, despite that I quite like them as actors. So we might see them returning. Their return would also be vital for the return of a few other characters:

Their return would also be vital for the return of a few other characters:

Charlotte Spencer's Esther Denham is married to Babington. Without Babington returning, how can Esther? And vice versa. Their storyline was also the main romance for me and a big part of the last few episodes. They kinda need to return. Babington is also Sanditon's access point to high society. To cash in on Bridgerton's success they should search that royal connection. Babington is friends with the Prince Regent. On top of that he has the most money. If he hosts a party and Charlotte is invited, this is where they get those grand-bridgertonesque scenes.

Lily Sacofsky's Clara had a romantic subplot with Crowe. In their final unaired scene they went to London together. She could return. However, the chances are quite slim. Clara is in London, and Sanditon takes place in Sanditon. Unless Lady Susan takes Charlotte to London for a while and she meets Clara and Edward there, cooking up a plan to get back at Esther and Lady Denham.

4. Predictions

There's no words to describe the popularity of Bridgerton, so this WILL influence Sanditon. I predict: more sex, more scandal, and even more ahistorically modern ideas and characters, multiple female characters and multiple male characters that each get screentime and their separate storylines and developments like in bridgerton, instead of just Charlotte's pov we follow. Glamorous scenes. And more POC.

The season will start with a timejump in all likeliness (as it is easier so they don't have to focus too much on her grieving). Charlotte will catch us up with what has happened while perhaps narrating over some letters she's written to georgiana and lady susan. She'll return to Sanditon during a summer. Sanditon will have been partially rebuilt with Eliza's money, and many activities will be planned. Sanditon will be in some kind of trouble. Charlotte will still be a planner. Her being very actively involved in things and having a vision was one of the most alluring parts of her character. In the books there was a rival town Tom hated. That might be a bit tricky to adapt so they could introduce some local competition for attention around Sanditon. A local duke hosting parties could overshadow tom's events. Or the social season in London could lure everyone there instead of to Sanditon. Charlotte will try to help Tom with this while getting reacquainted with everyone still in Sanditon, and hearing about the reasons why Sidney/Esther/Stringer/The Beauforts (to be seen) aren't in the show anymore. She'll also rebuild her relationship with Georgiana.

Then one day for an event Charlotte will invite Lady Susan, who will invite her to the London season to get over her heartache à la Jane Bennet. Charlotte will join Lady Susan to lure a crowd to Sanditon. There, she'll be confronted with some of her demons of the past season. Perhaps a pregnant Eliza Campion makes an appearance to rub it in Charlotte's face. In Sense & Sensibility Margaret discovered Willoughby's relationship in a most shocking manner in an almost public setting. Sanditon likes to nod at all Austen books so this could be a nod at that book when Charlotte discovers unpleasant news in a public manner. Charlotte will congratulate her and wish them happiness, and afterwards either a girlpower moment could happen with Lady Susan or Georgiana supporting her, or a love moment. Mrs Campion has tried to talk Charlotte down in front of people in the past, if she did it again, a new love interest could step in at that time to compliment her and then take her off for a dance. That could be an emotional moment for her, as she realized her feelings for Sidney in London during a dance the last time around as well. And she could have her cinderella moment by excusing herself and running off after the dance, uncertain of her feelings. She'll have some grand balls, might be harrassed by a man and risk a scandal, or try and prevent Georgiana from ruin during a scandal.

At the last moment she'll succeed in her goal and lure a crowd to Sanditon's events that will put Sanditon on the map. Either the local competitive duke, or someone from London will be impressed with her, but she won't be ready to marry yet. I trust that by the end of the second season, she'll finally have a realisation that she's quite happy with how she's living her life and how good her work is, and that she has finally stopped feeling sad. So the second season will stop with her atop a cliff, letting go of the traumatic loss she suffered on that same cliff a season before. By the end of the season, one or two love interests will be set up for the last season.

So the nudity and big romance will have to come from elsewhere. Georgiana will get more agency and action in the next seasons. She could be trying to tempt Charlotte in joining her adventures as a single wealthy independent woman. She might even leave to find her place in the world via boat, returning to where she was last truly happy: Antigua. The second season could maybe end with Charlotte overlooking Georgiana's boat leaving from the previously mentioned clifftop. Another option is Georgiana falling in love with a local man and taken an interest in the town. Financially speaking, Georgiana could be the only one able to save Sanditon. But I don't think she owes the town anything. Another option is the writers focus on Georgiana navigating her relationship with Otis, who might be back home for a holiday after navy duty. We could also see some political debates à la Poldark S5 about freedom, servitude, independence and so on. The first plan for Georgiana doesn't even have to exclude the second, she could decide to sail away with Otis to find their place in the world. In any case: race shall not be brushed under the carpet and Georgiana will kick some shins on her way to her happy ending. In Jane Austen, we have rarely seen a woman who tried to elope, or escape her guardian, get a happy ending. Georgiana Darcy, Eliza Williams, Eliza's mother, ... they're all tragic tales of women falling for bad guys who try to steal their virtue or take their money. And in the end they always become dependent on men again. I hope in Sanditon Georgiana will learn and grow herself, instead of being coddled by men. A lot could be done.

Esther and Babington could be a very cool insert if the actors join. They can really connect the high society to Sanditon. They could host balls, invest in Sanditon or drive the London plot. But they can also be an emotional backbone to the show. Esther married Babington, but she wasn't in love yet. I'm not a fan of the edward/Esther angle. After all he did, I rather she hated him with burning passion and never spoke to him again. But he could try to blackmail her and ruin her reputation in London. Perhaps become some kind of Lord Whistledown. With Charlotte coming to Esther's aid. Esther's plotline could be about learning to trust people and open her heart again. Perhaps she could have a conflict with Babington about him wanting a family and she still being uneasy with marriage, let alone children. Maybe they could have a fight, with one of them going to London. In their separation they might realize they love each other. And then the other comes back home from London with Charlotte and they fix everything. Another route is them having a fight, Esther going to confront Edward or Clara about their blackmailing or maneouvring. Babington thinks it's because she doesn't love him, but actually it's because she loves Babington and wants to be rid of her past. But she gets into an accident and Babington only realizes the truth later on, leading to a happy ending.

Other things I'd love to see: Mary finally growing a backbone and telling Tom to either be open about his affairs and finances or be gone. Arthur and Diana growing a backbone and telling their brother he's a fuck up. Charlotte realizing Tom is stupid. Lady Denham appointing Charlotte or Arthur to head of Sanditon after showing their worth an entire season. Tom being repentant. Diana getting over her fears. Arthur getting a love interest. Crowe being in Sanditon, I just love him. Kisses. Healthy love interests that aren't broody and traumatized and in need of fixing by women. Jane Austen's men need to do their growing ON THEIR OWN. And then they earn their brides.

5. What we'll lose

- A Sidlotte ending: once the new season comes out, Sidlotte is no longer headcanon.

- A happy Esther/Babington ending: they married and looked happy, despite Esther's rushed turn around. If they're in the new season, their marriage won't be perfect. They'll have conflicts, just for plot. Whatever headcanons we had for them will probably be falsified. We might come to dislike them or their relationship. I've seen almost all my ships crumble to dust on the rocks of multiple seasons dragging out relationships and piling on conflict just to keep it interesting.

- A part of what made Sanditon Sanditon: we'll lose many faces we've come to love. And the dynamics and relationships will therefore change a lot.

- Fanfics become dated: I know it is the problem of every fandom, but it's one I regret all the same. Part of why I love Austen fandoms is the fact that the books are written. The characters and relationships won't change. With 2 new seasons coming, all fanfics out there will become dated. The millions of hours authors put into Sidlotte fics will perhaps become barely read when Charlotte gets new love interests. All the headcanons I and many others wrote down for Sidlotte, Esther/Babington, Charlotte/Stringer, will officially become silly fantheories. I've been there a couple of times before that shows changed the entire course and personality of certain characters and then you can't help but feel exhausted and sometimes annoyed because these are your babies and you had dreams for them, and the writers took them in directions that sometimes don't do them justice. But it's canon so you gotta accept it. Sometimes fantasy is nicer than a writer toying around with storylines and characters just to create drama. And I'll have to write my characters in a new way that fits the characters based on the info from the new seasons. I might fall out of love with them. Ah, the burden of being a shipper weighs heavy.

- Perhaps we still lose a HEA: Season one ended with a happy babington/Esther and an unhappy Charlotte who learned a lot, and a Sanditon that was saved. Although Sanditon has been extended for two seasons it's possible that if the ratings for S2 aren't good they may still cancel the third season. If they don't learn from their mistakes and end season 2 on another cliffhanger even Esther's relationship and sanditon may be at stake. If they're getting 2 seasons they will also not marry or engage charlotte in the second, meaning Charlotte will still be single by the end of the series if they cancel season 3. The whole reason we wanted more seasons was for charlotte to have a HEA. So I'm really fearful that she'll be put in another hard spot. They at least need to get her happy by the end of S2.

6. What we'll gain

- More sanditon content

- More regency era content and images and music which is always lovely

- Seeing our favourites again

- Hopefully we get to see new challenges and romance and humor and tense moments and scandal and drama that will be fun to watch

- A Georgiana story arc: a black woman in a realistic historical setting living her life, being wealthy, and England just having to Deal With It. And as cherry on top she'll be written by black writers.

- Happy endings (hopefully)

- New hot men! This is a guarantee

- Perhaps LGBTQ+ representation with Arthur

- Frustration at Tom's antics (guaranteed)

- Maybe some interactions with Charlotte's siblings

- Esther Babington content

- New material to write fanfics and metas about

- Over 8 hours of viewing pleasure

[cali-holland]

Cherry- Harrison Osterfield One Shot

Pairing: Harrison Osterfield X Reader

Prompt: When you and Tom are cast as co-stars in Cherry, you can’t understand why Harrison begins to act so weird about the sex scene… it’s not like you’re dating either one of them.

Word Count: 4100

Warnings: lots of talk about sex, making out, some swearing

A/N: sooo obvs the release details of the movie are gonna be off; I’m ignoring covid for this fic :)

Masterlist   Harrison Osterfield Masterlist

*Gif is not mine*

~~~

“A sex scene?” Harrison repeated, and Tom nodded.

“Yeah, it’s gonna be so weird.” Tom said. As they walked into their regular gym, they discussed the news that Tom had just heard over the phone- he’d just landed the role in Cherry a couple days ago, and he was told only this morning that there would be a sex scene involved in the film.

“Have they cast your co-star yet?” He asked, curiously.

“No. I haven’t even done screen tests with anyone else yet.” He shrugged. “I just hope they cast someone hot, you know?”

“Yeah,” Harrison laughed, still in disbelief that his friend was going to have to film a sex scene with a complete stranger in the coming months.

“Who would you want?” Tom asked and his friend looked at him quizzically, “If you had to do a sex scene, who would you want to do it with? A stranger or a friend?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t really given it much thought.” He tried to shrug it off, but his red ears told otherwise. He began to work on one of the weight machines, getting it to the proper setting for him, as Tom wandered over to a treadmill.

“Why did I even ask?” Tom chuckled, shaking his head teasingly, “Of course it’d be Y/N.”

“What would be me?” You asked, coming into the room to join them with a little more spring in your step than usual. Harrison went red in surprise at your presence, making you look at him confused. You three had a regular routine of meeting up at the gym to workout so your presence wasn’t surprising.

Back in Brit school, you had become close friends with Tom and Harrison. You had always harbored a crush for Harrison, unable to deny the attractiveness in his blue eyes. You were just too caught up in your own head to realize he felt the same. Neither of you made a move, neither of you could bear hurting the dynamic of your group. Tom was oblivious to the fact that you liked his best friend, which made it harder for you to even think about changing the friendship.

“Harrison needs a spotter.” Tom said quickly, distracting you from the previous topic.

“Uh, yeah.” Harrison cleared his throat, trying to control his scarlet face.

“I’ll spot you, if you spot me.” You teased, tightening your ponytail as you went to stand by him. You watched as Harrison began to life the weights, your eyes getting trapped on his muscles.

“Oh, Y/N.” Tom spoke up, pulling your attention from Harrison, “Did you ever get a call-back for that audition last week?”

“Yeah, I totally meant to tell you.” You laughed, turning to continue watching Harrison to make sure he was fine, “I got the job, not even a call-back. I just got it, but I don’t even know who’s on the project.”

“What’s the movie?” He asked.

“Cherry.” You replied. Harrison’s arms faltered and you moved quickly to catch and stabilize the weight. Laughing lightly, you asked, “Are you okay?”

“Cherry?” Harrison clarified. He looked almost horrified as he put the bar back.

“Cherry?” Tom added, stopping the treadmill.

“Yes, that’s what I said.” You nodded, looking between the two of them in confusion. “What’s up?”

“Y/N, I’m playing Nico.” Tom said, and your jaw dropped.

“We’re going to be in a movie together?” You replied, a wide smile growing on your face. In all the years you three have known each other and worked on projects, none of you had been cast in the same movie as leads.

“We’re romantic leads.” Tom stated as Harrison shifted uncomfortably on the bench below you.

“I didn’t think about that at all.” You admitted. Your excitement left your body as you thought of the film.

“Did they- did they mention anything about certain scenes with us?” Tom asked, almost hesitant as he glanced over at Harrison, who looked like he was quite ready to vomit.

“Fuck.” You groaned, piecing together how, yes, you were told your character had a sex scene and how Tom, as your partner in the film, would be the other person in that scene. “Well, filming will certainly be an experience.”

“I think I’ll just use the treadmill today.” Harrison stated, getting up from the bench and heading over to a treadmill. Tom started up his treadmill again, leaving you questioning Harrison’s reaction.

~~~

In some ways, you appreciated that Tom was your co-star for Cherry, but sometimes you just wished it was someone else- you’d rather have it be Harrison. For the next few months, none of you really talked about it, especially not the sex scene, because it put all three of you in an awkward situation; although, you still couldn’t quite tell why it was so uncomfortable for Harrison.

You had a week before filming started, and so you and Tom decided to practice your lines together. All three of you would help each other learn lines for various projects, but it felt better to have your actual co-star going through the scene with you.

“Want to run that scene one more time?” Tom asked you as the two of you sat at the dining room table, both of you holding your scripts.

As soon as the question left his mouth, Harrison came into the kitchen in nothing but loose basketball shorts that hung low on his hips. His hair was pushed back by a sweatband, fully displaying his sweaty forehead. He had been out playing basketball with Harry, and you were grateful for the clear view of his body from your seat.

“Yeah.” You nodded, distracted by Harrison. You not so subtly watched as he got himself a drink of water. 

“Y/N? Y/N, you there?” Tom waved a hand in front of your face, calling your attention back to him.

“Sorry, distracted.” You said, shaking your head. As you read your line, Tom looked over to see his friend in the kitchen. Tom’s eyes trailed back to your flustered form- he had caught you full-on checking Harrison out. He started to wonder if maybe Harrison’s feelings for you weren’t so one-sided.

A few more days went by of you, Tom, and Harrison enjoying your last days at home before leaving for Ohio. You stayed with the boys at their house, wanting to be able to spend more time with them. Tom started to notice your lingering gazes on Harrison more, and he wondered how he didn’t see it before. He already felt guilty about playing the role of your love interest in Cherry- because that meant he’d have to not only kiss his friend but kiss his best friend’s girl, and now he felt even worse thinking that you definitely liked Harrison back.

You were anxious about filming. You had kept most of your nervous butterflies down, but now it felt so real. Your flight to Ohio was in a few hours, and you couldn’t sleep. You found yourself sitting on the roof, looking out at the stars and trying to find some sort of serenity.

Kingston was quiet and peaceful that night, but the cool night breeze made you contemplate returning to your bed. You were about to give up hope and go inside when someone sat beside you.

“Can’t sleep?” Harrison asked. He was wrapped up in a blanket and wrapped his own around you, shielding you from the breeze with the warm blanket and pulling you into his embrace.

“Just stressed and nervous.” You let out a soft sigh, sinking into his warm chest comfortably. “I’ve never done a big movie like this.”

“You’re going to do great. I just know it.” He reassured you.

“Am I making a mistake though? Tom’s like a brother to me, and we’re going to have to kiss in the movie, amongst other things.” You felt him tense a little underneath you. “Should I have backed out?”

“It’s not a mistake. You and Tom have been friends for years. You can do this, it’s just acting.” Harrison said, but it felt more like he was telling the last part to himself.

“Why are you so weirded out by this? You’re not even in the movie. You don’t have to do any of this.” You asked quietly.

“You and Tom are my best friends. It’s weird to think you have a sex scene together.” He stated. There was a pause that filled the air; it was the first time someone had explicitly said “sex scene” since you had found out about the role.

“I feel a bit bad for you.” Harrison teased lightheartedly, “Tom’s probably a shit kisser.”

“Know from experience, Haz?” You joked, looking up at him.

“God, no.” He chuckled, smiling down at you, “There’s just got to be something wrong with him.”

“Oh, alright. So what’s wrong with me then?” You bit your lip nervously, sitting up to face him and letting the blanket fall from your shoulders. You watched as Harrison’s eyes trailed down to your lips momentarily before they met your gaze again.

“Nothing. You’re perfect.” He said. You could feel his heart start to race a little as you started to lean in. You were so close; his warm breath hit your face, your nose brushed his-

But he pulled away.

“Sunrise.” Harrison said, diverting his eyes away from you to the sunrise over your shoulder. You turned around to face the sunrise, wanting to hide the hurt look on your face.

You two sat quietly on the roof, watching the sun come up over the skyline. Your phone alarm went off, signaling that you needed to get ready to leave. You and Harrison went back inside and separated to your rooms, finishing up last minute packing.

“Tom, can I talk to you for a moment?” Harrison asked, stepping into his friends room.

“Yeah, what’s up?” Tom replied, transferring socks from his drawer into his suitcase.

“Y/N, uh-“ He sighed, crossing his arms in an attempt to find the right words.

“You okay, Harrison?” Tom asked. He gave his friend a concerned look at his flustered state.

“Y/N and I almost kissed.” Harrison admitted, making Tom smile.

“That’s a good step.” He replied, happy for his friend and turned to continue his packing.

“I pulled away from her.” At Harrison’s words, Tom looked back at him in confusion.

“Why would you do that? You’ve been wanting to kiss her for years.” He said. Harrison shifted uncomfortably, like he couldn’t form the words to express his feelings, “Is it because of the movie?” At his lack of response, Tom had an answer. “Haz, look, you’re my best friend. I’d never make a move on Y/N. This is just a movie, it’s not real.”

“I know.” Harrison sighed. “It’s just going to feel real.”

Before Tom could respond, you called out to the boys from the kitchen, informing them all that you’d made breakfast.

“We’ll talk later.” Tom said as he and Harrison exited his room.

But later was with you. Leaving for Ohio, you were with Tom and Harrison for every minute, and Harrison feared the conversation would never be finished. Meanwhile, you feared that you read too much into Harrison’s comment- maybe he was just being cheeky when he called you perfect, maybe he didn’t think that, maybe you were crazy for trying to kiss him. No matter what, filming started with you feeling hurt from rejection, Harrison feeling confused by his own feelings, and Tom getting caught in the crossfire.

The next couple weeks held an odd air between the three of you, building up to the day that you filmed the sex scene. You and Tom hadn’t even filmed a proper kiss yet; the scenes you’d had together only called for holding hands or intimate forehead kisses. Today, not only would you have to kiss Tom, but you’d also have to make out with him, touch him, pretend to have sex with him- and make it believable.

Your nerves were building all morning as you reviewed the script again and again. You hadn’t seen Tom or Harrison at all until you were called to set.

“Hey,” Tom greeted you, handing you a cup of coffee.

“Hey,” You replied, taking the cup but avoiding all eye contact with both boys. It didn’t help that Tom’s character started the scene off fully clothed, whereas your character conveniently happened to only be in her lingerie, and so you awkwardly stood with your fully clothed best friends as you wore a robe over your undergarments. It’s not like Tom and Harrison hadn’t seen you before in a bikini, but it was a completely different situation this time around.

“Tom, Y/N, it’s time!” The director called out. You and Tom set your coffees on the side table. You tried to ignore Harrison’s lingering gaze as you stripped out of your robe, revealing the black lacy undergarments. You and Tom walked onto the set, standing in your positions.

“It’ll be alright.” Tom told you, trying his best to comfort you.

“We’ll see.” You tried to reply in a lighthearted attitude, but you couldn’t bring yourself to even fully smile at the situation. You glanced over to where Harrison stood off-set. He was watching the two of you, and he even looked incredibly uncomfortable.

“And action!” The director announced.

You and Tom began the scene with ease, going back forth with dialogue. You pushed down your nerves when he kissed you, as scripted. Your hands tugged up his t-shirt while he led you back to the bed. You fell back onto the bed and he stood between your legs. He broke the kiss to pull his shirt off, but Tom got flustered as it got stuck.

“Cut!”

“God, how do they make it look so easy?” Tom groaned, fixing his shirt. When he realized he was still standing in the compromising position between your bare legs, he stepped back and cleared his throat.

“How was that as a start?” You asked the director.

“It was good. You two make it look natural” He said, making the nervous pit grow back to life in your stomach. He further suggested, “When Tom takes off his shirt though, start unbuckling his jeans to make the scene pick up pace. It’s not meant to be a sensual scene.”

“Gotta get right to the point.” Tom chuckled, elbowing you playfully.

“Let’s start it again.” The director ordered.

And you and Tom got back into your positions and ran through the scene again. This time, as Tom took off his shirt with ease, your hands went to work on his jeans. Soon, Tom was fully on top of you in just his underwear, kissing along your neck and collarbone.

The director called cut again. After a few more takes, he was still having some problems with the look of it all.

“The first take, you two moved so fluidly, and now it’s stiff and unnatural.” The director informed you and Tom, showing you the playback on the screen. You tugged your robe closer over your body, weirded out by the footage. He was right- it did look unnatural, but after so many takes, it only felt more awkward. It was taking a lot longer than either of you had expected, but, luckily with camera angles and editing, you and Tom were able to keep your underwear on the entire time.

“Let’s take a ten minute break.” He announced. You and Tom walked over to where Harrison stood.

“You guys looked great.” Harrison said, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

“We look awful.” Tom stated, making you nod in agreement.

“It’s taking so long, it’s just getting worse.” You sighed.

“Just try not to think of each other.” Harrison offered weakly. None of you were sure what to say about the bizarre situation, but you never expected him to offer advice.

“You mean like picture someone else?” You asked.

“Yeah,” he nodded.

“Y/N, we need to reapply your lip makeup.” Your stylist said, coming over to the three of you. You assumed she didn’t notice the awkwardness in the air as she applied more chapstick and lipstick to your lips. When she left, the director called Tom to the side to discuss tomorrow’s shooting schedule, leaving you with just Harrison.

“Must be boring, just watching the same scene over and over.” You said, trying to strike up a conversation with him.

“I haven’t been watching really. It’s too strange to watch you two act like you’re having sex.” He admitted.

“I hadn’t thought of that before- picturing someone else instead of Tom.” Now with the idea in your head, you’d try to picture Harrison during the next scene.

“It’s just a suggestion.” Little did you know, he wanted you to think of him, not Tom; he wanted it to be him on the bed with you, not Tom.

“Places!” The director announced, and you went to untie your robe.

“Hold this for me?” You asked Harrison, handing him the robe. He stood there speechless as you walked off back to the bedroom set.

The director called action, sending you and Tom back to making out on the bed. You thought of Harrison as Tom kissed you, trying to lose yourself in the scene. After a moment, the director called cut, claiming that was the best take. Wanting another angle for the last take, he started rolling again.

So again, Tom kissed you while you pictured Harrison. You thought of how Harrison’s lips would feel tracing over your skin; how Harrison’s hands would feel caressing your sides. As scripted, Tom began to move his hips against yours and started to kiss your neck. It was written that you would moan out his character’s name, but you were so caught up in your own thoughts of Harrison that you couldn’t even try to think about the proper line.

“Oh, Harrison,” You moaned and Tom halted his movements. Realization hit you immediately and your eyes opened wide.

“Shit.” You muttered. You dared to look over, past the crew, to where Harrison stood. You didn’t have to wonder if he heard your mistake as he was standing frozen in shock, eyes wide and face red.

“I knew it.” Tom chuckled from on top of you. His laughter died when Harrison regained movement and dropped your robe, exiting the set without another word.

“Are we done?” You asked, looking over to the director.

“We’ll edit it.” He nodded. You shoved Tom off from on top of you and hurried to grab your robe. Avoiding the crew’s eyes, you rushed back to your trailer with your head down. You let out a heavy sigh once you shut your trailer door.

“So,” You jumped, looking over to see a still red Harrison sitting on your trailer’s couch as if he was waiting for you.

“Well, I took your advice.” You said after a moment, sitting down awkwardly next to him on the couch.

“I could tell.” He nodded, fidgeting with his hands. “I didn’t know you thought of me like that.”

“Harrison,” you sighed. Before you could get anything else out, he leaned in and kissed you. When he pulled away, you both smiled.

“I’m in love with you, Y/N. I’ve just been too scared to tell you, and when I figured out you were supposed to do a sex scene with Tom, I couldn’t handle it.” He explained. You placed a hand on his cheek, smiling softly.

“I’m in love with you too. I didn’t want to do all that with Tom. I want you.” You said, leaning in to kiss him again. He wrapped his arms around your waist, pulling you in closer to him.

And just like that, your concerns of the sex scene were free from your mind as Harrison held you in his arms.

~~~

Months later (a.k.a. whenever Cherry is supposed to come out now)

“Are you ready?” Harrison asked you as the car pulled up to the red carpet. You could already see the flashing cameras and bright lights outside.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” You smiled, straightening his tie one last time. Leaning in to kiss him, you said, “Damn, I’ve got the hottest date.”

“I think my date’s much hotter than yours.” He teased, going in to kiss you again. The driver knocked on the door, signaling it was time for you two to emerge from the vehicle. Harrison squeezed your hand reassuringly before you both got out of the car and started your walk on the red carpet.

You and Harrison had been red carpets before, but never as each other’s date. In fact, it was your first “major public outing” as a couple. Though it was for your movie with Tom, you were more than happy to show off Harrison. You two walked down the carpet together, stopping to talk to the fans and pausing for pictures. Tom made his way over to the two of you so that all three of you could get pictured together.

The press wanted pictures of you and Tom as the movie’s leads, and so Harrison stepped off to the side. They also called for individual shots of you before you got dragged into the carpet interviews, when all you really wanted to do was be with Harrison.

“So, Y/N, who’s your date tonight?” The interviewer asked, eyeing Harrison in the distance. You blushed, smiling over at him. He was too distracted talking to Tom to notice your gaze at first, but he smiled when he saw you already looking at him.

“That’d be my boyfriend, Harrison.” You answered.

“Do you want to invite him over here?” The interviewer suggested and you let out a small laugh.

“Sure.” You waved Harrison over to you and he wrapped an arm around your waist as he joined you at the interview.

“I’m getting the date questions tonight.” You teased, making him laugh.

“Oh I see.” He joked.

“How long have you two been together?” The interviewer asked, calling your attention back to them.

“Almost a year.” You replied and Harrison hummed in response.

“Now, how did the filming of the movie go, Y/N? You’ve been friends with Tom for years, right?”

“Yes, actually I went to school with Tom and Harrison, so we’ve all been close for a long time. It was definitely strange to act like a couple with Tom in the movie.” You laughed a little. You felt Harrison’s thumb begin to trace light circles on your hip; you knew it was his way of distracting himself from the nervous conversation.

“You’ve been friends for so long I would bet it’d be weird. Was it difficult to film that scene? How did you get through it?”

“Uh,” You chuckled nervously, placing one of your hands over Harrison’s on your waist, “We got through it by not talking about it. It was the most bizarre thing I’ve ever done, so it will definitely be interesting to sit through that tonight.”

Before the interviewer could press anymore, your manager came by, pushing you further down the carpet and inside the theater.

“That was the first time I’ve ever been asked about that.” You said quietly as you and Harrison took your seats. The seat beside you was open for Tom, who was still outside.

“You’re not wrong though. I don’t know how the three of us are going to watch that right now.” Harrison replied with a laugh.

“Well, I did get something good out of it.” You smiled, leaning in closer to him.

“Mm, and what was that?” He asked teasingly.

“One hell of a boyfriend.” You stated before kissing him passionately, not really caring about the rest of the theater filling up with the rest of the cast and crew.

“Hey, now, do I have to separate you two?” Tom asked loud enough to make you and Harrison jump apart from each other.

“I’m about to sit through two hours of you kissing my girl. I think I’m allowed to kiss her before the movie.” Harrison defended the two of you as Tom sat down beside you. You smiled at him calling you his girl.

“Yeah, yeah,” Tom playfully rolled his eyes. “We’re in an agreement though to not watch that scene, right?”

“Yes.” You and Harrison answered simultaneously.

As the movie began, Harrison gave your hand another reassuring squeeze, making you smile in the dark room.

And yes, when that scene came on, all three of you suddenly found the ground more interesting. And all three of you cringed from the sounds and the thoughts of it.

[sinnhelmingr]

What is Hel’s relationship like with her siblings? What does she miss most about them? What does she dislike? // @eynsavalow

For the most part I would say Hel’s relationship among her brothers is... good? Good. There’s no interpersonal problems, even if she does struggle with the circumstances surrounding her relationships with them. Hel is her own worst enemy, and the impediment between herself and bonding with others, after all.

Also for the sake of this ask I’m just covering the myth-canonical, usually panfandom brothers rather than any oc or setting-specific siblings. I adore all the fankids, ocs, and fandom-specific children of Loki, but I am also terrified of forgetting anyone and making people feel bad so I’m just covering the main squad of Sleipnir, Fenrir, Jormungandr, Vali, and Nar(v/f)i. Just assume Hel loves any siblings outside of these five even if she’s an awkward sort of reserved sibling at times.

(This is so long. This is so very long. Abandon hope all ye who click read more.)

In my lore, Hel is the youngest of Loki’s children with Angrboda, the baby of the bunch and only daughter. First was Fenrir, and then Jormungandr, and Hel grew up as their little tagalong and pestilence depending on the situation. 

Her relationship with Fenrir was always especially layered, fraught with sibling rivalry spiraling out of proud eldest son vs spoiled only daughter discord. They butted heads often once their personalities really took shape. They easily forgot how baby Hel had been rather attached to her oldest brother, and Fenrir in turn patient with ‘the baby,’ despite how she pulled his fur a little when toddling alongside him. Hel would spite Fenrir, or he would tease her, and within minutes their parents often had to pull the two apart before it turned into a brawl. The pair warmed to one another slightly upon moving to Asgard in their youth, united as outsiders against the majority, but still had a certain antagonism towards one another. Over time, the pair showed signs of getting over it and instead using their barbs more softly, evolving into a form of affection than actual meanness.

This development was blighted, however, upon their casting out and separation. Hel never knew what became of Fenrir until adulthood, and found him bound and mad. She’s not sought him out since, unable to face what he became. She’s long since learned to miss that however much her brother teased her, he was always looking out for her, always protecting her from others. She doesn’t, however, miss the antagonism they unleashed upon one another just for something to do, even if she laments never knowing how they might have gotten over it.

Jormungandr is the full sibling that Hel was closest to in her childhood, as both were more mild-mannered compared to the boisterous wolf cub.  Their relationship is encapsulated by the image of a young Hel sitting with a borrowed book, ‘Jori’ twining around her and following along as she sounded out the words for him. He was a constant companion, confidant, and best friend in her youth. The two especially came to rely upon one another in Asgard, where the two would find quiet places for cuddling and comfort. The thoughtful Jori often proved a voice of reason for his more rambunctious kid sister, and Hel in turn proved capable of calming the serpent during bouts of anxiety. The two were as close as siblings could be, and many of Hel’s happiest memories involve her older brother.

It’s facts like that which make Jormungandr’s loss cut Hel so deeply. Jormungandr was the first cast out, and Hel had to watch his final descent, unable to move or even react in the moment. Despite repeat attempts to call out to him, standing along coastlines and seeking some clue as to where she might find him in the depths, he appears either incapable or unwilling to have a reunion throughout most of history. She misses the easy affinity she had with him, how they simply clicked, and knows if they had maintained contact then their burdens might have been easier to bear. She’s reluctant to admit it, but she’s somewhat grateful she doesn’t have to be a personal heater half the year these days.

Now we get into the matter of her half-siblings: Sleipnir, an older brother, and Vali and Narvi, her younger brothers. Hel has regular contact with all of them, some more closely than others, but she still clings to them and would protect them from anything -- a task she already ‘failed at’ in her own mind in two cases.

Sleipnir was a later development of Hel’s youth. She always knew Loki had another child somewhere, but never had a chance to meet him until the move. As a horse girl and a baby sister, she was positively thrilled to meet her brother the horse. She would fritter away hours in the stables, chatting to the steed and tending to his hair, sneaking him snacks that he enjoyed while he offered affectionate nuzzles and a sympathetic ear. He was the first sibling she reunited with after her exile, and on her first return visit to Asgard found herself sobbing and clinging to his neck, ashamed at her own weakness but desperately needing to hold on to the one family she had left. While both are chained to Odin, they are both alive and able to traverse realms, which puts them in a better situation than their brothers. Hel often sneaks away from events in her uncle’s hall to spend time with Sleipnir, who does not mind the company and makes a perfect excuse to dip out of such events. He loves enabling these moments where his sister is more a person than a queen, to be honest.

Their relationship is great, and unburdened by Hel’s crushing sense of guilt about the rest of her family. They simply hang out from time to time and have maintained a healthy, mutual love and respect for one another. Hel admires Sleipnir’s resilience and mischievous streak, which has been apparent since the day she met him. She just wishes he wouldn’t still treat her like a delicate child now that she’s a grown woman, but he’s still just as tender and gentle as he was at the start.

Vali and Narvi probably have the most complicated dynamic with Hel, and that’s coming from her end rather than theirs. It’s very hard to talk about the two as anything but a single entity given Hel’s role in their lives and eventual afterlives. Hel had precious little opportunity (in my personal, non-partner driven lore) to meet the two growing up, and only knew of their existence through Odin’s manipulations. Her uncle presented it as Loki having moved on and had non-monstrous children with his second wife, a fact that Hel rejoiced in. If Sigyn’s sons were not monsters, she thought they could not be hurt as Angrboda’s children had been. 

She was wrong, of course, as the Aesir’s revenge against Loki proved. One brother died that day, and the agent of such tragedy followed soon after. Both boys passsed into Hel’s hall, dying vaingloriously or as a kinslayer respectively, and she mourned them. More than that, she has always considered it her fault the boys died, reasoning if she had put aside her own need for revenge and spared Baldr that Odin might have spared Loki’s sons in turn. Still, she took the pair in, made them princes of her realm, raised and loved them as she thought Sigyn might. Her relationship with them is somewhat detached given her own guilt, but they want for nothing and the boys know if they need her, Hel will always there for them. Even if she can’t understand it herself, they love her deeply, and she’s named them her heirs in the event anything should prevent her from ruling her realm. They are her brothers, true, but she’s brought them up as her own, seen them grow into fine men who are far better adjusted to their tragedy than Hel is with her own. In turn, they bring some brightness to her life, trying to win smiles from their dour, reserved sister.