#plot is in the source

[divertinirip]

staying    out    all    night    when    homme    had    meetings    upon    meetings    to    attend    with    his    pretentious    parents    the    next    day    was    most    likely    harry's    worst    idea    yet    ,    however    he    couldn't    take    his    mother's    pestering    any    longer    and    needed    to    blow    off    steam    .    unfortunately    that    meant    stumbling    back    to    his    suite    at    4:30am    ,    a    still    slightly    drunk    harry    ignored    the    television    that    was    still    switched    on    and    the    candy    wrappers    on    the    couch    ,    assuming    it    was    him    earlier    on    ––––   until    he    opens   door    to    the    bedroom    .    eyes    widen    at    the    figure    sleeping    in    the    bed    .    at    first    male    believed    he    had    the    wrong    room    before    noticing    his    tuxedo    hanging    up    against    closet    door    .    '    uh    ,    hello    ?    '    homme    begins    ,    timbre    soft    but    bewildered    ––––    was    in    no    fit    state    to    be    angry    .    '    think    you    got    the    wrong    room    ?    '

[cnlyfans-a]

      "  it's  not  a  threat  ,  just  the  truth  ...  i  could  make  one  phone  call  and  you'd  lose  everything  .  "

[mndstom]

incoming one - liner for @seolinah !

"Are you sure you want this?"

[vntageheart]

closed starter for @starbrsts ft. callan

He had to admit that the last few summers hadn't been the same without her. The absence had settled into his routine like a missing puzzle piece—noticeable yet difficult to define. Perhaps it was the ease with which he'd once been able to see her, the way their time together had always felt like an unspoken certainty. Or perhaps it was something deeper, something tethered to the quiet feelings he'd harbored for her all these years, feelings that had never fully faded.

To say he was excited to see her again was an understatement. His mind raced with questions—Had she changed? Had she stayed the same? The glimpses he’d caught on social media offered scattered pieces of her life, snapshots that felt distant and unreal compared to the thought of standing before her again. Seeing her in pixels was nothing like seeing her in person, hearing the lilt of her voice, feeling the familiar energy she carried so effortlessly.

He’d known her since they were kids, yet the anticipation curling in his stomach felt absurdly new. His palms were damp as he rubbed them against his jeans, exhaling in an attempt to steady himself. It was strange, really—how someone so familiar could still leave him breathless. "Well, shit. It's good to see you!" He said, forcing a confident tone, though his pulse hammered against his ribs. He took her in—really took her in—and the realization hit him like a wave. She had changed. The years had sculpted her features, refined the way she carried herself, yet somehow, she was still so unmistakably her.

[thedevilspread]

if velvet bothered to turn her ponytail-twirling head, she’d see the pom-pom piranha’s skirt crumpled on the floor, a mess just like the girl herself. not that velvet was about to start remembering her name—not even now, not even with how deep they were into this. they’d been tangled up for minutes, stealing breath, grateful that the gym’s changing room locked so easily. no one could see. no one could hear. her nails dug into the back of the other girl’s head, pulling, owning. a smirk curled against her lips between kisses. “admit i’m better than you,” she murmured, knowing she was. her teeth dragged over the girl’s lower lip, a warning and a promise. her hands slipped beneath the flimsy crop top, creeping lower as she sank to her knees, lips grazing bare skin, leaving a slow, solitary kiss on her stomach. / @blvckswcn

[emacrow]

"Um, danny, why is there a floating girl following you?"

"This is Raven." Danny pointed out, slurping his smoothie.

"Hi."

"Her dad is Trigon."

"Oh, that the guy who-" tucker spoke up.

"Yea, same guy who kept trying to invite himself into my annual ball each year in the infinite realm? Yea, that guy." Danny said as went straight for his burger.

"And that his daughter or si-

"Yea, his daughter, supposedly some secret weapon to try and invite into my home dimension to go to the party. I just put one of my spare anti trigon rings on her, disconnecting the line between him to her when she reverse summoned me for a bargain for something, and she kept following me ever since" Danny said, munching on his burger then sipping the remaining of his smoothie.

"Danny, I think you accidentally married trigon's daughter." Tucker flat out said as danny choked on his smoothie.

[scribz-ag24]

Everyone go play PMD Seven Symphonies, it's a sequel for both Explorers of Sky and Special Episode 0 and it's making me fall in love with a bunch of teams i had never thought twice about!! i cant believe im saying this but i actually wanna draw team raider.

[scuderiaspringsteen]

circular narratives, passing the gauntlet, and boy kings // inspired by @mnyd 's tags on @drivestraight 's post

[limboni]

"Children in the woods" 1/5

<- Previous \ Next ->

[wheneverfeasible]

Because I’m terrible and the plots won’t leave me alone, I’ve now got an idea based on this post about a demon who feasts on pain and suffering being a medical practitioner for the chronically and terminally ill and the patients fully loving it. And then my brain rot had to say “make it Steddie” because I’ve lost all control of my life.

—

cw: terminal illness, minor and major character death (with a happy ending tho)

But imagine it. Eddie is a demon, a low ranking one at that originally. He gets a job at a medical facility for the chronically/terminally ill. Over time at the happy and consensual feasting he really does become one of the strongest demons because he’s constantly fed to the brim and he even has human worshippers, not that they’re traditional worshippers.

No, his followers are little old senior citizens who slip him butterscotch candies and other sweets they’re not supposed to have, which technically count as offerings. They thank him for his work, because he does actually take care of their bodies as well and even listens to their life stories, which count as praise and worship. They love and are devoted to him and they bring in their friends and family who are suffering too and Eddie’s accidental cult grows.

One day, things change. A young man, an anomaly in his youth, is brought in by parents who no longer wish to be burdened by their disabled son. Steve just shrugs it off and moves in with a smile, seemingly fine with being abandoned by his parents because he dared to be anything other than perfectly healthy.

He puts around the facility in his terry cloth robe and slippers on some days, others he dresses up in polos and slacks or even jeans when he’s feeling more casual, and always with a smile on his face. He makes those around him smile and laugh too, and his cheeks get pinched and he’s slipped candies too and he listens to others’ stories and he seems happy and content.

But Eddie feeds on his pain and suffering all the same, knows that behind that smile is a young boy who was told he probably wouldn’t live to see 30, who listens to the older folks knowing he would never get to live a life like that. Eddie knows that sometimes Steve cries himself to sleep at night.

Over time, Eddie and Steve grow closer. Steve hadn’t believed that Eddie was a demon at first, had thought it all just a joke, until one night Mr. Wozniak was laying in his bed, and Steve hadn’t meant to overhear, but he was passing by and the door was cracked open.

“Will I go to Hell now?” Mr. Wozniak was asking, but he seems peaceful all the same, like the thought wasn’t the terrifying ordeal so many people thought it was.

“No, sweetheart,” Eddie was saying, but his voice sounds a little off, huskier, like…like brimstone sat in his throat. “I’ve never claimed your soul. It’s still your own. Go find Irena. She’s been waiting for you for too long.”

Irena, Steve knew from speaking with Mr. Wozniak, was his young wife who had died decades earlier.

“Will I get to see you again?”

Eddie’s long fingers reach out, his nails long and sharp, dark in a way that was not nail polish. He lightly and gently strokes the papery skin of Mr. Wozniak’s cheek. “You will be at peace. You will find the afterlife is so much more than this Good-vs-Evil rhetoric so popular in this plane of existence. Go in peace, my child, and should you wish it, perhaps one day we might meet again.”

Mr. Wozniak smiles at that, and he closes his eyes with a softly whispered, “Irena, I’m coming…”

A moment later, he was gone.

Steve watches as Eddie seems to grow smaller, appear more normal, and though he knows he should be terrified, he isn’t. Instead he continues on his way, letting the knowledge of more percolate in his brain, though by the next morning when news of Mr. Wozniak’s passing spreads and Eddie assures everyone that he passed away peacefully and in no pain, Steve knows Eddie speaks the truth and he realizes that nothing has changed. Eddie is still Eddie.

They continue to grow closer. He spends more time with Eddie, lets Eddie in fully on how much he hurts, and tells the demon that he wished things had been different and that they could have met under better circumstances.

Eddie tells him that he never enjoyed the taste of regret. It was far too bitter.

They fall in love, encouraged by their friends in the facility new and old, who don’t seem to care that he is a mortal with a short life expectancy and Eddie is an immortal demon lord. What is all that in the face of true love?

And then it happens, and Steve is the one lying in bed, knowing his time has come. He smiles up at Eddie and decides not to regret any of it, not wanting their final moments to be flavored with bitterness.

“Stevie,” Eddie whispers mournfully, and he’s beautiful. It’s not his full true form, but his eyes are a dark blood red, his teeth elongated into sharp fangs, and his pale skin veined with reds and blacks. Horns curl out from his curly hair.

“You said once that I get to be with my loved ones after this,” Steve says, still smiling, and he reaches up to cup Eddie’s jaw with a weakened hand. Eddie nods against him, and Steve wonders if all demons can cry, or if it’s just his. “Then take my soul, darling. It already belongs to you.”

Eddie flinches back, like Steve knew he would, because souls are not little things. Eddie had explained before, after everything, that he didn’t even actually deal in souls, that that wasn’t the sort of demon he was. Steve had asked if he could, on a technicality, and Eddie had paused because saying yes, any demon could, but souls were priceless. When you gave one up to a demon, you gave up everything. You would be theirs until the end of days. Eddie had said he wasn’t that sort of demon.

“Baby, no,” Eddie breathes now, shaking his head gently enough not to dislodge Steve’s hand. “You would be—”

“Yours,” Steve interrupts. “But I already am. You already own my heart. I now willingly give you my soul. All you have to do is accept it.”

And Eddie protests, at first, because Steve is giving him complete control over him for eternity. Steve gives it freely with open arms, and in the end, Eddie can do nothing but accept it. He tells Steve that he doesn’t know if demons have souls or not, but his belongs to Steve just as assuredly as his own heart does.

Steve’s final mortal breath is gifted into Eddie’s crimson mouth, full of peace and love and the understanding that this thing between them will always beat eternal.

It turns out that, whether it was still unknown if all demons had souls, Eddie was the sort that does.

And it also turns out that, when you’re gifted a demon lord’s soul, you become a demon too.

Eddie’s cult ends soon after, disbanded into non-existence. In its place, however, rises a new one that worships not just one demon caretaker, but two as Eddie is soon joined by another with floppy brown hair and sparkling brown eyes that for once smiles without hidden pain. They take care of their charges, gently coax them into eternal rest when it’s their time, and together prove that true love is forever.

[kurikorso]

nostalgia slapped me upside the head a little while ago so i had to draw my favorite dudes ft. the gecko effect

[marinette-buginette]

Kiyi is not a Princess - A Look At the Fire Nation's Line of Succession

It's not even that much about Kiyi. But the creators seemingly got so lost in the sauce that their ideas about how absolutist monarchies work are as good as taken out of Disney movies now. So, let's set the record straight.

The Fire Nation line of succession

When it comes to royal lines, there were multiple elements that went into setting the line of succession: descent, sex, legitimacy, religion etc. For the Fire Nation, the ones we have 100% confirmed are descent and legitimacy (this last one seen with the Camellia-Peony War, where Chaejin was excluded from the succession because he was born out of wedlock). I would have gone on a whim to say sex counts as well, however, it is a bit foggy. In the Reckoning of Roku, it is mentioned that Firelord Taiso believed Zeisan (Sozin's younger sister) would have been a more competent ruler but could never become Fire Lord due to being a nonbender (I didn't actually read the book, so if someone who did wants to pitch in with the exact wording, please feel free to). This implies that being a Firebender is a requirement, but being a woman isn't. However, it also implies that Taiso would have been fine with ignoring the descent part (Sozin was older) if he deemed fit. Skipping the firstborn in favour of the second one isn't unheard of when it comes to succession so sure. And he is the absolute monarch, if he wants to pass papers to change the line of succession, he can. It is unclear to me if there is any power in place to veto or block a Fire Lord's ruling on any matter so for all we know, if he wanted, he could have. Plus, the fact that Ozai got crowned over Iroh because it was 'Azulon's dying wish'. For the religion part, it seems like the Fire Sages have to perform the coronation and acknowledge the monarch.

So to make it more digestible, the line of succession (while Azulon was still alive) is: Iroh → Lu Ten (firstborn of the heir) → Ozai → Zuko → Azula. With Lu Ten dead, Iroh MIA (at the time) then we have Ozai → Zuko → Azula. When Iroh came back, he gets added at the end of this line of succession. I am a bit unclear on Iroh in current times because it looks to me like he rescinded his role in the line of succession altogether with deciding to live in Ba Sing Se and letting politically inexperienced Zuko rule instead of taking over for a few years to create some stability.

Right now, we have Fire Lord Zuko and his heir presumptive (aka an heir that can be displaced if the monarch has children) Azula. Unless he wrote a decree to take her out of the line of succession — which would require a lot more brain cells than the writers are willing to give Zuko, not that he had a lot of them when it came to politics to begin with —then she's next in line. It doesn't matter how much anyone wants it or not, if Zuko drops dead tomorrow, Azula gets the throne.

Now, onto the other matter.

How does one become a Princess?

Option 1: You marry into the royal family. For example, Ursa was styled as a Princess, as she married Prince Ozai.

Option 2: You're born in a royal line. For example, Azula is a Princess because her father is a Prince, her grandfather, at the time of her birth, was the ruling monarch of the Fire Nation etc.

Bonus Option it's complicated: Royals had a habit of having children out of wedlock sometimes. Said children, if acknowledged, could be granted titles (Count of X, Dutchess of Y etc.) . Getting acknowledged and a title does not automatically put you in the line of succession, though. For example, Firelord Chaeryu was forced to acknowledge Chaejin and avoid dishonoring his noble mother and her house, but he excluded Chaejin from the royal family.

So Kiyi is not a Princess. Simple as that. Neither of her parents are of the royal line.

Could she become a Princess?

Well, this gets interesting.

Let's start with the fact that Kiyi got a pretty bad deal in a class-based monarchical society.

First thing, while her mother is a noble, her father is a commoner. Even if Ursa's family became destitute after Roku's death because of political reasons, it does not change the fact that she is still nobility unless Sozin revoked Rina's title, which I am not 100% sure he did. We don't know anything about Jinzuk besides the fact that he was the magistrate of Hira'a. While magistrates do not have to be part of the nobility, they can be. He could have been a second/third/fourth son of a small noble family with limited power/resources, given the position he was given was in a place like Hira'a, which is what I am inclining towards. He could have also been just some guy, but someone appointed him, and as a rule of thumb, you don't just go into the street and pick a random person to appoint to an administrative and leadership role, even if it's a small town. Given that Azulon was set on Ozai marrying Ursa because she was Roku's granddaughter, whether or not Jinzuk was a noble, it doesn't matter all that much in the grand scheme of things. However, in Kiyi's case, it does if Zuko wants to give her a title. It's more stigma than anything because people can be given nobility titles for specific services to the crown etc. But this is not her only issue. Which leads me to...

Second thing, Kiyi is a bastard. Which, in my opinion, would hold even more stigma than her father not being a noble. Ursa never divorced Ozai. As far as we know, polygamist marriages aren't a thing in the Fire Nation, so her marriage to Ikem/Noren is invalid. Could she be granted a divorce retroactively by the Fire Sages? Actually, yeah. Because Zuko named Shyu as High Sage, which was like the one sound political move he ever did tbh. We don't see what the Fire Nation's stance on divorce is, but given that Shyu is a Zuko loyalist, he'd probably grant Ursa retroactive divorce from Ozai. I am not a legal expert, however, as far as I know, retroactive decisions tend to be reserved for correcting a mistake or omission in the written record. She was still married to Ozai when she went and married Ikem. Though technically, she married him under a fake identity (and so did he), which might make the marriage void regardless in the eyes of the law. Idk how Spirit involvement affects legal matters in the world of Avatar, but as things stand right now, unless we pretzel-twist ourselves to make excuses, Kiyi is born outside of legitimate wedlock.

Now, Zuko might not care. In fact, he probably doesn't. He could still give Kiyi a title, including that of Princess. It was not uncommon for illegitimate relatives of rulers to be offered roles/titles once acknowledged. The real question is if he would put her in the line of succession. Kiyi has no business being there because she does not have royal blood.

Could Zuko do whatever he wants, give her the title of Princess and shove her in the line of succession while taking Azula out of it for good measure? Sure, he can. He'd probably love that, in fact. But that leaves two things open.

One, nobility would not take kindly to a bastard child of a commoner with no royal blood being in the line of succession. If we also add the angle of taking Azula out of it, it would just increase their ire. There is already a long list of why the nobility is probably angry at Zuko (and should attempt to assassinate him a lot more than they do), but I think this one in particular has other implications. There might be nobles who are neutral about Zuko. Shamelessly discarding societal norms on a whim might make their perspective swing towards negative. It could make him lose goodwill he might have or potential allies.

Two, it will make the commoners wonder. If this random girl, raised as a peasant, with a commoner father, born out of wedlock, can be put in the line of succession just like that — while discarding a princess of the blood if we are at it — then… is the royal line not that special? The whole premise of a monarchy is that the monarch and their descendants have the divine right to rule. Being part of that bloodline gives you the right to rule. So if that can be discarded, if that bloodline is not all that important… should Zuko be Firelord? And most importantly, does the Fire Nation really need a monarch at all?

Kiyi is not a princess, and for the well-being of Zuko's reign — which is already barely holding together — he better not make her one.

[transmechanicus]

Every harem anime should end in the supporting cast forcefemming the protagonist to balance the karmic debt of being a harem anime

[art-soboro]

a flood of miracles wouldn't be enough because you called my name

[julietcpulet]

Why do we even write counter arguments? Like people just gonna keep saying MaoMao doesn’t like Jinshi and is aromantic no matter how much the light novels point in the other direction (it’s not just the anime forcing it). I’m just gonna stop looking in the tags cause as usual a fandom is fun until people find something that triggers them and bam it comes up all the time 🤦‍♀️

[haxorus612]

like yeah obviously arknights is a little more anime and a little more silly than, like, the most serious stories out there. but, like, 90% of the time, you have a scene where a character, even the strongest and best and brightest characters gets surrounded, betrayed, overwhelmed, or takes on a traditional vow and pays a heavy price for it. It happens all the time in arknights, too!

outcast's death, ace's final stand, logos vs the nachzerer king, the last steam knight also versus the nachzerer king, the steam knights guarding the sighs of kings, ascalon's disappearance, theresa vs the doctor, it happens constantly! it's a great, dramatic trope.

so then you get juana versus her entire old crew. 1v100. stronger fighters have faced better odds and it tore them to shreds. literally facing off against someone she raised, in a traditional blood challenge circle. this is every death flag all at once.

but no. she just wins. she just kills so many of them that they stop coming, without breaking a sweat. she gets injured ONCE. ONE TIME. and walks it off! the story's like "yeah she got hit to the bone" and she just walks it off. she's like 80+ years old and just beat an entire pirate ship's worth of people a quarter her age.

Ah, but you consider: they don't always die! logos had to call his mom after losing that fight, surely she'll just be out of the next few scenes and pop back later. Nope! after beating an entire ship's worth of people, she just jumps back to the other ship and rejoins the fray.

truly incredible. nobody does it like her. 100/10 character