#But BOY .... I have such thoughts about that. Saving it for a dialogue tho

[hajihiko]

look on the bright side!

[werewolfsmile]

re: "All I’m saying is the fact that someone isn’t talking to me about Eliot Spencer every second of every day is very unfair and borderline illegal." & tags - if you want to, can you elaborate on your werewolf!eliot ideas?? i’d like to hear about it!! if not all good tho :)

Oh boy oh boy oh boy! Yes I would love to elaborate! (buckle up because i have Thoughts)

(wow this really got away from me so uhhh .... warning for 2k of ranting about Eliot as a werewolf?? list of headcanons under the cut)

From the moment I first met Eliot Spencer, I knew he was werewolf-coded. Aside from his insanely fantastic fighting abilities and the absurd amount of punishment he can take, there are many other factors that contribute to his werewolf status.

Eliot needs a pack Our boy is out here working on his own for years and look at all the good it did him! None! He carries severe trauma from his family life because he blames himself for how it all went down and doesn't think he'll be welcomed back. Plus something probably happened during his military days or early PMC days to put him off working with others. Could have been the pain of losing people all the time, could have been something more. Either way, Eliot working on his own is a defence mechanism - but a self-destructive one.

Wolves thrive in packs - like duh, they're pack animals. As my username suggests, I'm into werewolves and, by extension, wolves. I've done research for my own werewolf novels in the past, so I know that in an average wolf pack, each pack member will have physical contact with the other pack members on the regular. Like, several times an hour! (gosh if I can find the research paper this info came from I'll link it but honestly it's been years) That's a serious level of physical contact required to keep the emotional bonds of the pack healthy!

Flick back to Eliot. He loves to fight, he loves the violence and the pain, yes. He hates the killing and the blood on his hands. He actually tries to leave the assassin world behind after he meets Toby (which is before he meets Moreau, as per early dialogue in The French Connection Job). He bonds quickly with Toby. Show Eliot a little love and care and he's yours for life! He moves onto retrieval work, then somehow ends up working for Moreau.

Now, when we see Eliot and Moreau in The Big Bang Job, Moreau says, "You work alone." Which means that Eliot had that reputation when he came to Moreau. He probably only took contracts to start off with. But he accepted job after job from Moreau and was so good that he was highly respect and it's inferred he ended up as Moreau's top bodyguard/assassin. Why the hell would Eliot end up that close to a man who brings out all the worst in him? Because Eliot's a werewolf and no matter how toxic, Moreau fulfills the need for a pack bond that he's been missing all this time.

Fast forward to Eliot meeting the rest of the Leverage team. One job only - my ass. He saves Hardison's life after Hardison brought a gun to their little meeting - and we all know how Eliot feels about guns.

Wolves are designed to live and operate in packs. Eliot says it's one job only but is bonding with them all from the get-go. Werewolf trait confirmed.

Eliot needs physical touch Now, I know what you're thinking. Eliot canonically avoids physical contact with the team. He refuses hugs, especially from Hardison, growls at Parker poking his bruises (don't get me started on the growls), and shoves people (ahem Parker) out of his personal space. So why would he do all this if he needs physical touch??

Because he's one gigantic ball of angst and self-loathing and guilt.

Eliot doesn't think he deserves forgiveness or love or family, etc. That is a whole other rant, but he denies himself the physical contact he needs with others as a way of punishing himself.

However, as the series progresses, we see him become more comfortable with physical contact! He hugs Hardison several times, he doesn't move away from Parker, etc. Why? Because he's bonded with this team (ahem pack) and there's only so much he can suppress his instincts. The more time he spends with them, the more naturally the contact flows.

Eliot needs to protect others Whenever we get a scene of the team walking as a group, where is Eliot positioned 90% of the time?? That's right, at the back of the group. He lets the others walk in pairs and falls back to bring up the rear. He's keeping them all in his line of sight and constantly scanning for threats ahead, along with protecting the team from any rear attacks. It makes sense for him to do this given his military background, but it also makes sense for a werewolf to do this.

He's the only werewolf in the team. His instincts revolve around keeping the pack safe and protected, so he does that in the best way he knows how.

Not to mention how feral gets over kids!!

Wolf life is all about the pack and the family structure. Pups are integral to the pack's survival and future. Eliot doesn't have kids of his own. But that doesn't stop his instincts from blaring every time he interacts with a kid, be it on the con or off. He takes time out every time to help that kid in an attempt to calm the raging storm of instincts inside his body.

Eliot needs to feed others It's another werewolf instinct that rears its head when they're in the safety of their headquarters (ahem den). Protecting the team/pack from physical threats is just one aspect of taking care of them. Feeding them is the other major one.

None of these idiots can cook to save their lives - except Nate, but he's also drowning his liver 90% of the time, so Eliot has to compensate for that, too. The team can't operate at full capacity if they're not consuming good nutrition. So Eliot makes sure to feed them.

His humanity recognises that these are independent people - coworkers - and he can't control every meal of every day. But he can cook for them, once a week or once a job, which is just enough to satisfy his instincts that he's doing his part to care for them. Plus they love his cooking, and the praise he gets from it is an unexpected but pleasant bonus.

Eliot and team sports/kitchens This ties in with my first point about Eliot needing a pack, but all the times we see Eliot go super hard and get absorbed in the role he's playing are when he's on a team sport or he's in the kitchen. Both of these fulfill super important instincts for him - being in a team/pack and providing food for others.

Think about The Tap-Out Job. Eliot's playing a fighter but he's not pretending to be on a team. He doesn't get over-invested in the role. But what about when he's a baseball player? A hockey player? He falls into those roles hard because he's working with another team again, and this little werewolf is built for that environment. Same in The French Connection: the kitchen becomes his den, the students are his pack mates, and he goes hard at investing in them and protecting them. Never mind the personal aspect of Toby.

Same for episodes like The Fairy Godparents Job when we get a scene of Eliot teaching a bunch of girls self-defence. Team setting + protecting kids = happy werewolf instincts.

So, werewolf headcanons? I have a lot of different origin theories but the main one I like for Eliot is:

he became a werewolf either for a covert military op, or was bitten by Moreau (choose your own angst flavour)

if it was for the military, they were trying to engineer supersoldiers and he was deemed a failure; he has werewolf instincts all the time but only has enhanced strength, healing, etc on full moons

if it was bitten by Moreau, there's a psychic-style bond linking them, which is why he was so loyal to Moreau for so long, and also why he is so reluctant to go after Moreau

(wow this is too different theories already and i said this was my 'main one' whoops)

Eliot can only shift easily on the full moon; shifting outside of a full moon can only be caused by extreme stress and is ridiculously painful

he suffers an insanely high prey drive all the time and is so strict about his control because he doesn't actually wanna rip out the throat of Random Guard #3

he used to chain himself up for full moons so he didn't hurt anyone, but since the team found out about him, Hardison and Parker have taken it upon themselves to 'puppy-sit' him every full moon

this involves no chains but an obscene amount of dog chew toys. Eliot is never impressed. He also never chases or chews the toys. The video evidence Hardison has was obviously doctored.

Hardison and Parker found out the truth when a con went sideways and Eliot was trapped in a room with them during the full moon

he was terrified he was going to kill them - or worse, bite them - but his instincts recognised them as pack so instead he just tried to wrestle with them all night

Hardison had a major freak out when he discovered Eliot was a werewolf - it's one thing to be obsessed with sci-fi/fantasy, it's another thing entirely to see your best friend transform before your eyes

Parker was not even remotely phased, being all like, "pfft of course werewolves are real, I thought you knew that Hardison, you talk about your elves and orcs all the time!"

"Woman that is completely different and you know it!"

"What else do you think is fake? The tooth fairy?? Ha!"

Eliot is Done With Their Shenanigans

Parker only ever refers to Eliot as Sparky when he's in his wolf form

Sophie didn't actually know about werewolves before the reveal but she pretends that she did

Nate knew about werewolves before Eliot, he just chooses to pretend that they're Not A Thing

werewolves generally don't make good hitters, because the constant exposure to violence ramps up their hunting instincts aka they find it hard not to kill

of course, this doesn't matter if you're someone like Moreau who specifically wants killing machines and thus turns his top hitters into werewolves, to ensure loyalty and enhance his strength

the only other werewolf hitter not under Moreau's control that Eliot knows is Quinn, who most certainly did not pull his werewolf strength punches when they tousled in The First David Job

Quinn doesn't have a pack (werewolf or otherwise) and genuinely doesn't seem phased by this, which pisses off Eliot to no end

however, after they work together in The Last Dam Job, Quinn deems himself Eliot's Best Werewolf Bud and keeps popping up randomly to hang out on full moons, etc

Parker and Hardison are a bit weirded out (and a little jealous) of Quinn's attention initially, but soon get over that when they discover that two werewolves on a full moon absolutely play for hours like 6 month old puppies - especially with the tug rope

Eliot is Extremely Susceptible to belly rubs even in his human form, which is half the reason he pushes people out of his personal space a lot - his reputation would never survive anyone finding out

of course the entire team figures it out and take to ambushing him with belly rubs whenever he's being stubborn or annoying

belly rubs are also the only way he will relax enough when he's injured so they can treat his wounds

despite the incessant dog jokes, the ever-growing pile of dog toys, and the bowls labelled with "Sparky" and cartoon bone symbols ... Eliot absolutely adores the pack he's found himself in and wouldn't change them for the world

One of these days I will sit down and write a thousand fics for werewolf!Eliot! Till then, I'll just keep churning out the headcanons ;)

[pumpkinpie59]

i think i’m enjoying the fontaine story now that i’m playing genshin again so here’s my thoughts on the new characters

-furina. i feel bad for her but i’m not a fan of her va. but i normally turn my sound off when i play so looking at just her writing,,,,,, i think she’s a fine character. the twist was interesting and i don’t fault furina for anything that happened. her being a drama queen but it being entirely a mask she puts on is fascinating. i don’t like focalors tho. she did furina so dirty

-neuvillette is kinda just vibin. he’s fine he’s likable. he doesn’t rlly stand out to me much except that i’m convinced he’s gay. i don’t ship him with anyone tho (most other characters are wayyyyy too young for him so i dislike seeing any ship art of him). i like to think of him as furina’s older brother.

-lyney. um. meh? he’s a good big brother but that’s all i rlly care about him. also he dresses like a slut? and his va is kinda annoying to me idk fjdksk

-lynette. kinda same as her twin. i appreciate that the twins are separate characters bc the trope where twins act exactly the same is a pet peeve of mine. i like that lynette is an introvert. idk that’s all i have to say.

-freminet. i don’t like his design. i’m so tired of the shorter guy characters wearing shorts and being treated like children. but as for his writing. it’s cool. i like that he’s the twins’ younger brother. i like how the plot actually addresses how much danger he was put in.

-charlotte. YOOOO NEWS REPORTER CHARACTER LETS GOOO!! she reminds me sm of april o’neil i love her.

-wriothesley. at first sight i thought he was a basic bad boy werewolf lookin weirdo (my demi butt can’t ever find thirst trap characters attractive lmao). but then i heard him talk,,,, and yeah his voice actor is genuinely a good actor???? i don’t like most of the anime-esque voice acting in this game, and the dramatic dialogue doesn’t help, but wriothesley’s voice actor actually tries to make it believable that his character is a person. and i respect that. and yeah um his backstory is darker than i expected,,,,

-arlecchino. she’s neat i like her aesthetic.

-clorinde. …….. finally a genshin character who doesn’t speak multiple paragraphs at a time LMAO. i like her so far. i kinda ship her with wriothesley tbh ,,, 👉👈 idk i like how often they work together.

-sigewinne. um. i don’t rlly like the child characters. also they were cowards for making her look human and not tHE LITERAL SPECIES SHE IS UGH-

-navia. SAVING THE BEST CHARACTER FOR LAST. bro i was blown away with how much respect and care they put into navia’s writing. her grief felt so real and i could not believe they put her through that much. she’s also so pretty and her design is so aesthetically pleasing. and tbh i hate seeing sm ship art under her name bc she’s too good for everyone lmaooo she’s great. i’m in love. she’s the best fontaine character (and maybe the best genshin character).

also i wanna say i did not expect for this chapter to have this much death and other dark themes. ik fontaine is the land of justice and court cases but man,,,,, tragic,,,,,

[spishidden]

Rambling about Mutant Mayhem

Overall: AWESOME MOVIE! The animation and art style is to die for. If they release an art book I am preordering that shit asap. I was laughing so much throughout the entire thing. The emotional moments hit too (if yk yk). And the FIGHT SCENES. DAMN. The animators understood the assignment fr.

(Btw, there is a mid-credit scene that is veryyy important for the future of this universe. Don’t miss it.)

Highly recommend giving it a watch. Turtles fan or not

Spoilers under the cut:

LEO MY BOY ILYSM AKSHKSJS

He is so cringefail and lowkey pathetic (rizzless Leo is canon)

But at the end when he pulled through and he got all excited AAAA it was adorable

They comment a lot on how Raph is always angry, but he wasn’t rlly? It was more enthusiasm and aggression, not outright anger. Not a complaint just an observation

This guy can throw hands fr. Don’t mess with this Raph aksjsn

Mikey and Mondo are bestie goals you can pry these two from my cold dead hands

KPOP DONNIE IS REAL KPOP DONNIE IS REAL AKSHSKSH

The boys(tm) aren’t traumatized yet enjoy it while it lasts

These voices are THE SHIT! Perfect cast for the turtles muah!

I have so many positive thoughts about the dialogue +dialogue delivery in this movie it needs its own separate post

I did not expect them to actually get milked. I thought it was a throw-away line but they COMMITTED TO THE BIT. RESPECT.

April is awesome. Just amazing. Took all the best aspects of previous April’s and combined them together. (That throwing up scene was not for me tho no ty)

I also was not expecting attack on titan to be crucial to the plot but here we are

Donnie’s weeb-ness saved the say

If there’s one rule that every reboot of turtles has to follow is that no matter what Splinter always solos. They understood the assignment

About Splinter, I rlly enjoyed his storyline. It’s made rlly clear how much he loves the turtles and how hard he’s trying. But the movie actively called out his behavior without making him a villain. Bravo.

Speaking of villains, Superfly slapped. Mans was intimidating, cool, smart. Rlly liked his and Splinter’s parallel arcs

The mutant crew rlly were just silly guys aksjsjhs

Kinda iffy on the whole ‘they learned ninjitsu through media’ thing.

I hope that in the show they can touch on that. Maybe show that they’re training is incomplete and have them improve their skills with a proper teacher

But yea that didn’t rlly land with me.

I think my only other nitpick is that the other mutants don’t have enough moments to shine. They def make do with the time they have and it works, but I would’ve liked more ( Bebop and Rocksteady specifically)

Splinter making out with a mutant cockroach was not on my 2023 bingo card

I had tons of mixed feelings about that ending. But the mid-credit scene saved it

I think the turtles being “normal” kids has potential to be explored. I’m not against it

They’re still ninjas thank god

I thought when the mask came off they were leaving it behind

BUT NOPE they still kicking ass

That was my only problem with ending pre mid-credit scene

SHREDDER IS REAL SHREDDER IS REAL

FOOT CLAN IS REAL FOOT CLAN IS REAL

Wonder what they’re origins are gonna be aksjsj i crave new content

Does Hamato Yoshi not exist in this universe? Are they hiding him and are gonna do a dramatic reveal?? Questions questions questions

Also, Utrom?? KRANG??

Love the idea of all these mutants living in the same space

In Donnie’s clip, did that look like the purple dragons to anyone or was that just me?

Are we just not gonna mention that the TCRI technically has some mutagen blood from Raph and Donnie? No? Okay

Now lets talk about April and Leo

It’s not explicitly stated to be canon. April going to prom with Leo felt like it was framed to be a casual, just friends thing. And I rlly hope that’s what they were going for.

Do I ship it? No.

I’m glad that Leo and April didn’t rlly end up together. Because it would’ve been super unnecessary and forced. Nothing I got from the narrative or message suggests that a romantic pairing helps the plot. I despise the ‘girl is clearly not interested but ends up with guy anyways’ trope and I’m glad that it kinda wasn’t there?? Again, it wasn’t super clear. But nothing romantic between them was shown at the prom or anywhere else so I’m going to choose to believe it’s not canon.

IF THAT WERE TO CHANGE depends on the upcoming show.

If the show has a well written, healthy, and developed relationship. I’d be all for it.

Just please do not pull a 2012 again. I saw that meet-cute ik what you’re trying to pull writers you better tread carefully.

And speaking of 2012; when you’re gonna introduce Casey Jones (i say when because yes), if you’re going to try the whole April love triangle thing again, at least make it funny. You managed to make rizzless Leo entertaining I’m sure you can do the same here. Just don’t make it as annoying as Capritello was in 2012 learn from your mistakes

Better yet, pull a Spiderverse and subvert expectations by making Casey an absolute bro to Leo. Idk, be creative with it.

That’s everything for now. I’m optimistic for the future of this universe. Looking forward to that show even tho it could be effected by the writer’s strike but I don’t wanna think about that possibility rn please get ur shit together and pay writers and actors what they deserve

I’m gonna go make a Kpop playlist for Donnie. Ask box is open if anyone wants to add on or ramble about the movie. Have a good day!

(Tagging my bestie) @enlighten3d

[bcbdrums]

For the fic writer asks - 2 & 21! 👀

Thank youuuuu Cherry! Answering from this list here.

2. How many fics did you work on this year? (They don’t have to be finished or published!)

Oh... Heavens to Betsy, you have no idea how long it took me to add that up! Thirty-five (and counting!) for Soul Eater, four for Star Trek, two for Steven Universe, and forty-two for Kim Possible, so a total of....83 that I actually, actively, worked on... Some way less than others, some way more... In fact one of the Soul Eater ones is sort of a one-shot anthology so I'm currently counting it as one story even tho each chapter is its own thing... I just have no clue how long it will be, ultimately. So yeah. Myyy gosh I worked on a lot and finished/published very little. I gotta do something about that, lol.

21. Share your favorite piece of dialogue

All right... I thought of a line, but...I don't want to post it out of context. So...I added some context. Full story excerpt under the cut. Major, major spoilers for I'll Break Your Fall (Soul Eater, young Spirit and Stein).

"Now you understand..." Stein murmured. The sadness that emanated from the boy was heartbreaking. "It's okay. You can leave me here. You'll be better off."

Spirit frowned, his jaw setting in stubborn defiance.

"No."

"I'm sorry, Spirit."

"No! You're coming with me!"

He reached down with his right hand and pulled Stein's up from where he was digging his fingers into his thigh, clutching it to his chest. Stein looked up in wary surprise.

"But...you'll be better off," the younger boy repeated slowly, still resigned. "If you leave me here then..." Stein lifted his free hand, but as it shook he dropped it and dug his fingers back into his flesh. He took a shuddering breath, his next words coming out in a frightened whisper. "I'll become a...a kishin... Death will send someone to destroy me. Then... I won't be able to hurt you."

Stein's gaze sank in defeat. The agony and fear radiated out of his soul in heavy black waves, weighing Spirit down as he still gripped his meister's hand to his chest, nothing being returned.

The fire, the pressure, the intermittent static, and the whirlwind of blood and horror... The fear that had finally been exposed, and the madness that was the reason for everything... Spirit ignored it all. It was for another time.

He wanted to question, to mourn, as the realization that he couldn't fix this caused his heart to ache. Not only was the madness borne of Stein's soul, he had probably suffered it his entire life. The grief tore at Spirit's heart as if it truly had been rend in two, not by a blade but with the pain of his partner's fears.

There was nothing he could do.

But his soul swelled in fierce determination.

"No. Stein, you're coming back with me."

Stein did glance up then, but his eyes were hollow, already having sunk back down to somewhere within himself. The boy shook his head slightly, sullen and resigned.

"Don't...don't try to save me," he whispered, an almost imperceptible quiver in his voice. "You can't."

Spirit's fingers clenched on his partner's hand as he blew air out through his nose in frustration.

"Well you know what, Stein?"

The boy's dour expression didn't change as he stared at him.

"I don't give a damn!"

[stellamancer]

niku!!!! for the ask game, i put in F, K and O! i'm super curious to hear your answers

birdie!! hello! thanks for asking!!

F: Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

This one is popular LMAO.

Okay, this isn't even a snippet because this is all I have for this: it was something I was going to pursue writing if... certain things had happened. I know I've shared it with people but idk if I ever posted it. I feel like I did but.

"what that man needs is not a spirit medium!" you yell at bakugou, throwing up your hands uselessly, helplessly, "what he needs is a goddamn therapist!" "you think i don't fucking know?" bakugou shoots back, his thunderous voice echoing in your ears and you are so, so glad that the two of you are in the middle of ass fuck no where and the only person within earshot is out like a light. "fuckin' nerd needs so much goddamn help that it ain't even funny." "and that's why you turned to the freak who can see dead people?" bakugou stares at you, frowning and you can tell from the look on his face that he wants to say something. but he doesn't and instead just looks away. "at this point, it's gonna take some cosmic, otherworldly bullshit to knock some sense into this idiot." you could almost call bakugou's tone affectionate. almost. 

I guess I would call this banter. And like the other lines I think it's so witty LMAO. I don't think it's necessary to say who they're talking about, but I do want to say is that the thing that Bakugou withholds is telling you that you're not a freak.

I could probably pursue writing this fic, but it would be too sad for my tastes lmao.

K: What’s the angstiest idea you’ve ever come up with?

WOWIE WELL YOU SEE that would probably be the above. a fic that takes place years after bnha is over in a world where bakugou actually died. deku after years of harrowing hero work, is on the verge of losing himself and bakugou whose spirit has followed him all this time, finds you, a spirit medium who can see him and the both of you work together to try and help save deku from himself.

it's sad because like, when i thought of this idea it would have been a deku x reader fic, but i think that, there would be enough emotional chemistry between bakugou and reader and, well, he's already dead so we know how that story would end. plus i would hate deku to be like.. runner up lmao.

but i would like to remain as true to canon as i can and hori said 'nah we're gonna fix this boy right up.' so probably not going to write it.

for angst that i have written there's this very experimental nier fic that. was pretty angsty for me LMAO.

O: How do you begin a story–with the plot, or the characters?

Erika also asked this . But hm. I guess I can elaborate. When I say i start with a concept... I don't really see it as a plot thing. I mean shine on the sea it was really 'merman in a bathtub' which isn't... a plot I guess? But there are questions that could be asked like 'how did he get there? does he like it there? will he want to go home?' sort of things. It's about building around the concept.

Generally, when it comes to plot lines I try to not stick to hard to a very specific sequence of events like for & here i am alive, the main 'plot' is Reader's journey to achieving their dream of becoming a pro-hero. tho, i do have a kind of... outline of how I want that to go, it's not really set in stone LMAO. because sometimes.... things get outta hand when i write LMAO.

[shoheiakagi]

ooooo I'll jump on the nana crossover idea! What are your thoughts about it?

Okay first, taste!!!!

And to be honest, I find Nana soooooooooo much better written than a lot of the popular animangas like naruto. I love how the female characters are fleshed out and have actual flaws, the relationship dynamics, the reality of how toxic some relationships can be, and the dialogue?? *chef’s kiss* Like seriously, the plot may not be adventurous or mysterious, but the characters are so interesting? And don’t get me started on the heartbreak!! Nana x Hachi is my overall favorite ship, but I do like Nana x Ren and I’m still not digesting that Nobu x Hachi breakup 😭😭😭😭

And again, I really love how flawed the female characters are! My problem with female characters in most animes, including the new anime out rn, is that a lot of female characters are very one dimensional. Like before it used to be the damsel in distress/love interest trope, and now its characters whose only trait is being a ‘badass’ yet they’re still getting their asses kicked in major fights and get saved by the male hero. So an anime like Nana, where the female characters are filled with depth AND are the main characters, is so refreshing, especially for someone who doesn’t really read shoujo that much either.

Like for example, a character like Nana is pretty popular in other medias cause theyre usually that tough, cold female character, with a secret heart of gold. The mysterious types who always have their guards up until the end and their character flaw tends to be “traumatized or grew up in a terrible environment so now she’s all introverted and snarky to most people” (like raven from teen titans and artemis from young justice. love them, but kinda tired of how most ppl think all well written female characters must be written like them). But what makes Nana unique for me is that she’s selfish, insecure, and controlling.

Same with hachi. Another character trope popular in manga. The sweet, naive girly girl who tends to be the one dimensional primary love interest/damsel in distress for the main hero (orihime from bleach and hinata from naruto). While Hachi is very naive and is prone to falling in love very quick (more like the idea of falling in love), I love how she isn’t written to be 100% all sweet and sugar and nice girl who’s saving herself for marriage with her one true love (that one guy she likes in high school). She’s shallow, self-centered, and emotionally dependent on her love interests, junko, and nana.

Bonus points to womanhood being a main theme here, especially with two female characters who are the opposites of each other in their personality, fashion, background, etc.

I love to think about one of the homra guys, maybe someone like chitose, gets everyone hooked on nana lol. Like he probably overheard a lot of his f*ck buddies and random girls on the streets keep talking about some nana show, so he looks it up and at first loses interest when he realizes its shoujo, but then gets a little curious and wants to know what the hype is (and he lowkey finds the girls hot). So he brings it up to the other guys when they’re all chilling in the bar one day and obviously a lot of them are like, “fuck no, we’re not watching that girly shit” but then totsuka gets interested and he manages to get everyone to sit around the tv and watch the show lol (except for anna since totsuka did some research and found out that there are implied sexual scenes and mature topics). At first, the guys are annoyed at being forced to watch the show (a good chunk of them glaring at Chitose for bringing the topic up), but then suddenly they’re all incredibly invested by like ep 3. A lot of the boys probably talk about which Nana is better or more of their type at first, but then they all probably start shipping the two Nanas and god damn just f*cking kiss her already!!! Not gonna lie tho, I do think some of them are gonna hate on Hachi for leaving Nobu :/ They’re definitely going to sympathize with Nobu, but I just know some of them (Chitose) are probably gonna be like ‘thats what happens when you’re a simp’ 🙄 Overall, I do think most of them will be extremely sad/depressed once they reach the end of the show, not realizing how much this show and its characters impacted them lol

[tiodolma]

Disir: You are known Arthur, you have always been known. And now you come here. The most sacred of the sacred. To the very heart of the old religion with weapons drawn, trampling hallowed relics, treating our sacred space like you do your kingdom. With arrogance, with conceit, with insolence.

I like to think that this was actually the Triple Goddesses' way of lending Merlin a hand in his mission. Before Arthur even met the Disir, Merlin, who is the personification of magic, had been warning him endlessly of dismissing sorcery as mere superstition. Merlin had been trying so hard to make Arthur see reason and guide him show the least amount of respect to the sorcerers and magic folk. But no! Arthur and his Knights have repeatedly ignored Merlin and scoffed at him, treating Merlin's words as superstition and nonsense, much like how he and his father treat sorcery as a whole.

It's like the triple goddess had been watching Arthur thru Merlin's eyes and life. The triple goddess knows Merlin's pain, and it supports him. She basically gave Merlin a shortcut, a nudge towards their shared goals.

And ofc Arthur fckd it up coz he was Arthur Pendragon.

It's so unfair to pin the blame on Merlin for Arthur's fate in Episode 5 to be honest. Arthur already sealed his fate when he was still hellbent on honoring Uther's policies instead of reviewing his life and changing for the better. He was still the frkn institution, the face, the poster boy of anti-magic faction. He is his own downfall. His choices led him to his fate.

Merlin had been gently guiding him to open his heart to magic on his own terms. It is Arthur who has kept himself blind. Merlin wanted Arthur to come to accepting magic naturally. But because it's Arthur, he has had little success.

But how about Mordred? Listen, Magic doesn't trust Mordred. The fates all talk about how he will kill their supposed savior. Mordred jumping in for Arthur did not help Magic's cause. His rescue from the throes of death is supposed to be the incentive, to prove Arthur's noble heart and force him to accept magic. However Magic has been beaten down and denied to a pulp already. Magic has learned the hard way that that the "easy" and quicker method to acceptance will never do any good and will often backfire. It would be a half-ass attempt at acceptance at best.

Merlin has had enough. Arthur's bane was really himself.

Tho I wish they had more time to talk it out. I think Merlin could have said smth a little more diplomatic than a “hard No.” I get that he was in a lot of pressure though. Arthur’s questioning sounded so urgent and taunting and he had to give an immediate answer. And I feel like Arthur was insincere the whole time coz to him, he was forced to reconsider his beliefs on blind faith with no actual basis.

His words goaded/challenged Merlin into saying Yes btw, like it was some bizzare test. It pisses me off. Merlin’s hands were tied from the start, he had to say that “No.” Arthur was leading him into it. Review the dialogue.

A: My heart says to do anything to save Mordred but I’ve seen what misery unfettered sorcery brings. Before my father outlawed magic, Camelot was almost destroyed by sorcery. In my own time Morgana’s used it for nothing but evil. What would you do? In my place?

A: If I do save Mordred, all my father’s work would be for nothing. Sorcery will reign once more in Camelot. Is that what you’d want? Perhaps my father was wrong perhaps the old ways aren’t as evil as we thought. So what should we do? Accept magic? Or let Mordred die?

Arthur had reasoned that the “magic will reign” instead of yknow, be accepted and embraced. Magic isn’t even asking to take over. It just wanted to be welcomed back and treated kindly. His perception of magic immediately reigning once he allows magic again is such fascist wording tbh. Arthur is still his Father’s mouthpiece. Morgana just reinforces his ideas but it all boils down to Uther.

“I have seen the misery brought by unfettered sorcery. Before my father outlawed magic, Camelot was almost destroyed by sorcery.” The “I am afraid that it will happen again” is unspoken. Way to be paranoid about something that’s yet to happen, Arthur. It’s like this dude forgot how people can be healed thru magic and that Camelot actually used to survive and flourish with it. His own lack of knowledge, unwillingness to learn and deliberate ignorance of magic despite having faced it countless times is his downfall.

To Arthur the only pros of accepting magic is “Mordred living” and “the possibility that his father being wrong.” What a sick joke. For all he declares and stylizes himself that “He is not his father” Arthur still holds his father’s teachings quite dear and have not gone much to explore anything else beyond his own sense or justice. Arthur is fckn complicit in the death of so many innocent people and he still acts like the main victim of it all because what? Opressed people wanted to assasinate him? His sister wanted revenge by taking him and the kingdom out?

I get that Merlin covered for his ass multiple times by telling arthur that humans killed and defeated the mythical beasts. I recognize the effect Merlin and Gaius’s lies have shaped Arthur’s perception, tricking him to believe that magic can be defeated by his own strength.

Still! He’s supposed to be smart and can think for himself. He’s not a damn child. If he can track animals and outlaws in the woods and coordinate war tactics then he can use his brain to piece together events that dont make sense! He can come to the conclusion that there is no way, absolutely no way, that earthquakes and falling branches/rocks just miraculously and luckily happen when he’s in a pinch!

I don’t really have that much sympathy for Arthur because he had access to court records and books and people beforehand! He has Gaius who is like the holder of all magical knowledge! He still had Geoffrey who keeps the history of Camelot! At the end of the Secret Sharer in S4, Gaius had encouraged him to Ask, to Learn. But nooooo he just went on doing what he does best and think ill of all magic practitioners. He could have talked to the druids after s4ep10! He’s had 3-4 years of kingship to seek out other peaceful groups and learn from them! But hey yeah pledging an oath to a goddamn ghost is seemingly enough for him. How benevolent.

Arthur has no excuse other than his fear and paranoia. And unforunately that has bled out to his personal Knights and nobility. Their comments on sorcerers were already so misguided, so hateful, so disgusting in s5.

Imagine being so proud of “having no problems with the druids” yet calling all magic folks as “desperate, deranged and fanatics” in the next instance. Also I just realized that he told a druid in their face that it is "their fault that they were oppressed." LMAOO. Arthur is such a hypocrite. He never once thought of the druids or magic folk with respect. To him letting them live is the best kind of mercy he could offer. As long as they don’t enter camelot or spread their beliefs then they’re fine.

Even so, Merlin still continued to survive in that bleeding pool of sharks. Yet Merlin persevered. He was still quietly and patiently nudging the King to more justified actions while being constantly ridiculed and dismissed. Merlin has been suffering his grief in silence and alone, clinging more and more to his destiny and duty, to his friend, Arthur, coz he has lost everything and everyone else anyway.

But hey put all the blame on Merlin for saying “No to Magic” for one private moment coz he’ll rather prioritize Arthur’s life before anything else amirite?

Stop treating Merlin like he has actual political and administrative sway for fuck’s sake. If one word from Merlin was really all it could take then how come Arthur and Merlin still had to have Gaius intervene just to tell Arthur that Merlin was right to be upset and concerned? Let’s be real, Merlin only matters when Arthur decides that his word matters. Other than that Merlin has to always be chipper, happy and subservient in front of him coz otherwise Arthur would be upset. And that’s only the time Arthur chooses to be kind to him. He wants Merlin’s approval only after Merlin proves to him that he has fckd up. It’s awful that even Guinevere finds it cute.

Arthur still has the last word! Because he is the goddamn King! Arthur has to be blamed. Arthur has to pay for his own choices! He’s always had the agency over his own decisions! Merlin knew that! The Disir knew that! Stop babying this bigoted oppressor!

[theeeveetamer]

Scarlet Blaze Liveblog, Chapter 5

It got rid of my extra spaces when I hit post :( Why do we live? Just to suffer?

SPEAKING OF SUFFERING! Holy shit the new Tumblr beta editor REALLY fucking hates formatting. Wouldn’t let me make any of these sections into bullet points. I have been fighting with this thing for weeks now (it also really hates letting me remove large sections of text as well). Had to turn it off to get any semblance of formatting so I hope it looks alright when I hit post

Explore dialogue

Now we have an NPC saying that there SHOULDN’T be fog this time of year. Make up your mind, game.

Linhardt: Aw my lazy days are over :(

Shez: You know some of us never had lazy days

Linhardt: Yeah but weren’t you just doing that because you wanted to?

Uh, no it’s called Shez is a commoner and had to literally become a mercenary to SURVIVE. They mention that numerous times. In another support they talk about how they were happy to eat rats if it meant their belly got filled. jfc, Lin, the privilege just oozing from you…

There’s a random mage lady who asks you if anyone on the opposing side uses dark magic. Agarthan lady, perhaps?

Ferdie stands like someone wearing one of those babydoll skirts from Style Savvy and I love him

Interesting that they explicitly state that Hrym was wiped out for resisting Ionus’s power centralization here. IIRC that was a lot less explicit in 3H

We also have explicit trade with Dagda, Albinea, Brigid and others. So I guess that’s another point against “Rhea doesn’t let Fodlan have contact with outside nations”

Why does Randolph look like he has a tiny blanket on his shoulder lmao

Wait why was Constance hostile to living in the Empire again?

Oof. Between Dimitri and Edelgard, Dimitri definitely got the superior Hapi nickname

Random Tidbits

Lmao. Hubert being like “I don’t even have to try not to kill you” during training and Ferdie being like “uh. Thanks. I think.”

I really wish the game would tell me when a character maxes out support points even if the letter is locked. It’s really annoying building support and then just realizing it’s not going up anymore after you’ve wasted so many training points and whatnot

I’ve decided that I’ve stopped caring if units like the food I’m cooking. Y’all will eat it and y’all will like it. I’m done coddling your asses.

I don’t care if you’re bad at the tasks either. Caspar, Linhardt, I’m sure you’ll do fine at running this street stall.

HUBERT WANTS TO GO ON AN EXPEDITION!!! OH BOY!!!

Hol up lemme drop everything

I hope he takes me somewhere nice to kill me

Good thing I unlocked all these new excursion spots. Gonna drive me crazy tho since I’m pretty sure there’s different dialogue in each one

“The shorter a leash, the better”. Kinky

Let’s go on a nice waterfront murder date

“Once, two souls took a boat out on the water… Only one returned. A fine story, yes?” oh my god he’s actually going to kill me

I have a feeling he wanted me to propose a competition… No wonder Ferdie is his type

“Ask thoughts on their employer” that’s a new one, I don’t remember that question ever popping up before

Unfortunately I don’t get to stare at his face. I was really looking forward to more murder dialogue.

Support Conversations

Shez/Caspar C - Caspar has daddy issues lmao of course he does they all do.

Sorry, having daddy issues won’t save your appeal from that hairstyle

I was about to comment on Caspar being like “I’ve got to build my way up from the bottom” but then he actually addressed what I was going to say by acknowledging that he at least has his name to lean on. So good for you Caspar, I see you retain some semblance of self awareness in this game so far.

Shez/Linhardt C - Shez: Just so we’re clear, whatever Hubert said you were gonna do to me, I’m not into it.

Shez is not kinky confirmed :(

How is Linhardt NOT interested in Shez’s power. She literally fucking shapeshifts and he’s just like “eh, whatever it’s just a sword.”

Like. What. C’mon dude.

Shez/Monica C - Ok Monica I hate you

MANUELA/JERITZA B LET’S GO - GIRL STOP BEING SO THIRSTY

Oh my god do not make Jeritza smile

Manuela: Don’t you want to talk to people?

Jeritza: No.

Stop making Jeritza relatable to me

Lmao Manuela realizing she’s still single because everyone views her as a teacher

Come to me Manuela! I have a teacher kink! We can do both!

Caspar/Dorothea C - Caspar: I’m reading

Dorothea: You can read???

This support is weird. Caspar is like “I wanna study” and Dorothea is like “You need to study!!!! Here let me lecture you on how you need to study!!!!!!!!!!” Caspar: “WOW I NEED TO STUDY!!!!”

Like he was already doing it Dorothea, geez.

Shez/Manuela C - Lmao we stan a messy queen

Y’know Manuela we can smash. I’ll never leave you

Shez/Hubert B - Uh wow weirdly abrupt start. Am I supposed to take this as happening directly after the last one??? They’re standing in the same place and Shez starts like Hubert just said something

Like. Really weird way to do this

“Sever ties” so that’s what the kids are calling it these days

Shez: You have emotions

Hubert: *confused Hubert noises*

Lmao he just had to insult my intelligence there at the end. Never change, Hubert

I know this is a lot of supports but since I’m playing on NG+ I have like 8 activity and 8 training points so it’s stupid easy to get supports. I didn’t even talk about all of them. I imagine future posts will have less as I start hitting time gated supports

Side Battle/Story Content

I’ve been putting this off by playing free mode battles with the renown unlockable characters lol.

Omg Maximum ambulation. Ferdie runs so fast. He’s got the zoomies!!!

Oh no Hubert wants to kill talk to me

Hubert: It’s cute how u thought I would let you live, tho

HI DADDY RODRIGUE

Man first Seteth now Rodrigue? This route really hates DILFs I guess

I mean I’m not surprised. Look at Count Bergliez

RIP Gustave is here too. Guess they’re making him fight in this route

Main Battle/Story Content

Everyone: *whispering*

Ferdie: WHY ARE WE WHISPERING!!!!!!!???? :D

Ferdie you lovable himbo

Ok do we really need three rounds of “why is everyone so quiet” so everyone can get their dialogue about being quiet in?

I wonder if this conversation changes with permadeath. It’s kind of written like it

Maybe I should do an “everyone dies” run in the future just to see how the story changes lol

INGRID!!!!!! MY DARLING!!!!!

Lmao I don’t even like Ingrid that much but I already miss my Lions :(

Oh I guess Jeralt is in the Kingdom now

I mean they’re trying to do the whole “oooooh mystery who could it beeeeeeeee” thing but I know Ling Tong when I hear him

Oh looks like Ashe is a traitor. Can’t say I’m surprised

Honestly fuck Lonato. If you have a problem with sexy dragon lady you have a problem with me

I haven’t talked about this but honestly the colors are fucking me. It’s a good thing Warriors games don’t have friendly fire because I keep running right past all the soldiers in blue to try and kill all the soldiers in red, because like. Fire Emblem do be like that normally

I keep finding big purple circles on the ground. What is that. What does it do. Who is doing that

I actually feel like a bad person for recruiting Ashe here. I mean Lonato is literally willing to kill the poor kid

Edelgard: Family should not fight family

Also Edelgard: Unless it’s Dimitri fuck that guy lmao

Also Also Edelgard: Also Rhea, since she probably banged my great great great great grandaddy a thousand years ago (and maybe is my great great great great grandmommy). Fuck her too

“I could not bear to lose another son” Ok then maybe don’t try killing him, Lonato???? What the fuck?

If saving you weren’t a requirement you would be so dead right now, Lonato

Byleth was kind of a pushover on NG+ lmao

… I’m sorry does Monica have jiggle physics

Ok her boobs don’t have jiggle physics, but her bow does. Which makes it look like she has boob jiggle physics. Why.

JFC Bergliez is so ugly

JUDITH MY BELOVED

She was surprisingly absent from AG I’m glad I get to see more of her

I’m sorry, Bergliez got all the way to Deirdriu????? When???????? When did we do that?????

Damn we killing daddy Gloucester, aren’t we? This is dead Fire Emblem dad dialogue

Oh even this guy gets a first name. Not the moms tho. Fuck the moms I guess :/

I’m surprised Fleche got a name and wasn’t just “Randolph’s sister” for the entirety of 3H

Kinda awkward to hear Petra complimenting the dude that murdered her dad

“The head of House Ordelia is one of the Five Great Lords” am I misremembering? I thought Lysithea’s family gave up their seat at the roundtable to Marriane’s uncle because they knew their house was in decline thanks to Lysithea’s condition

I went looking through her supports to see if I was right and apparently Lysithea/Hilda support confirms homeopathy of all things exists in 3H. No wonder these people still die of the plague.

Ok I couldn’t find anything and I don’t care enough to keep looking, but I got my eye on you, continuity guy

“Consider why we chose not to dismantle House Aegir” goddamn Hubert is just going straight for Ferdie’s throat

Ferdie: Haha I’m in danger

Also RIP Ferdie basically blatantly admitting that he’s only still around because he’s willing to “toe the line” regardless of how he feels about anything. Why am I supposed to be rooting for the Empire again?

I don’t get why people are like “We went to school with these people for 30 seconds maybe they’ll listen to reason” like? Why would they, exactly?

Like it was stupid in 3H but at least they had a whole year in 3H. In this game they were all literally at the academy for like a month

Recruiting Ashe also feels weirdly OOC for him after he spent the entirety of AG’s prologue and parts of part 1 talking about how Lonato would want him to do what he thinks is right and how he believes Lonato has gone off the rails, and while it hurts him, he believes it’s right to stop Lonato. Here he’s just like “Ok fine I don’t want to kill him I guess I’ll join you. Fuck my dreams of being a knight.”

I guess they had to make someone from the BL recruitable and everyone else makes even less sense than Ashe. I mean can you imagine if they let you recruit Ingrid here? Lmao

Anyways wrapping up

Spoilers for recruitables in this route here here.

Can I just say, the spread of recruitable characters, from a gameplay perspective, is kind of weird?

On SB, of the characters you get automatically, half of them are mages (5 of your starting 11 are mages).

Not including the wolves or other characters, you get Ashe, Ignatz, Lorenz, Raphael, Lysithea, Marianne, Mercedes, and Leonie (under special circumstances) in addition to the SB characters. But like. That means on SB you get two axes (Caspar, Edelgard), two swordies (Shez, Petra), three mounted lances (Ferdie, Jeritza, Lorenz), one brawler (Raphael), four archers (Bernie, Ashe, Ignatz, Leonie), and eight magic units (Hubert, Dorothea, Linhardt, Monica, Manuela, Lysithea, Marianne, Mercedes). If you include the wolves you get ten. Ten magic users. What do I need ten of these guys for? What is this game’s obsession with mages (the Lions also had way too many, though it wasn’t this egregious and at least Annette can be a serviceable axe unit once she gets Crusher)?

Made even worse because there’s only two magic master classes, and only one magic master class per gender which means you’re going to be ending up with two dark bishops and eight gremories. You can’t equip tomes as a dark knight or holy knight either, you have to use the lance, which is not optimal for many of these mage units. No idea why they decided to take out Valkyrie and Dark Flier if they were going to create so many damn mages. Basically every other weapon type (aside from archers and brawlers) gets at least two different options for master classes, and there aren’t nearly as many archers and brawlers as there are mages.

I guess I’ll use Constance and Hapi more on GD, since at least they only come with Marianne and Lysithea to start

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

Ok there hasn't been much aside from a magazine shot and some kinda confirmation, what are your thoughts on the protagonist of metaphor, 1 having their own backstory, and 2, apparently not being a fully silent protagonist? I ask bc I know some similar points come up with the p5 protagonist and eheheh I can guess how ya feel about that

Well I mean.......I'm fine with P2, P3, and Catherine, and those all fulfill either one or both criteria. TT0TT

P2 has a firm backstory for chars, and they speak/technically speak at some point.

P3 they have a firm backstory that plays into the main plot later (P3/4MCs have the more varied personality tho).

And Vincent.....alksfjdkjff Vincent is self explanatory, but one of the best examples of a voiced MC who's personality can greatly differ from the sliding law/chaos scale as make certain choices.

Hell, Serph from DDS1, I thought he could totally be voiced during those dialogue choice scenes. Was kinda let down they didn't even though I found the opportunity to be right there!

So like I don't mind a silent MC, I don't mind a silent MC with a backstory, I don't mind a silent MC with a vague/small backstory, I don't mind a voice MC, I don't mind a voiced MC with a backstory, I don't mind a voiced MC with a vauge/small backstory.

As long as they handle it well I'm good.

(now for the P5 rant uwu, oh you know it was coming)

My issue with P5 is......contradictions. I'm really suppose to believe that the boy who saved a woman he didn't know, would try to creep on (at best) a sex worker/maid? (at worst the undertones of possible sexual assault esp with two other guys hiding in the same room really......makes my skin crawl, I know that's not their intention, but god could you imagine being Sadayo for a minute???? it's already bad enough it's her STUDENT! And now she has to figure out if it's intentional or not, but if she knew about the two hiding???? I'd freak).

I'm supposed to believe he is cool with creeping on his female friends (it's not about being horny, it's the fact they don't keep it to themselves it really isn't that hard)? He'd stand bye and allow Ryu to creep on them and make pervy plans that involved the girls? That'd he'd say he's "so jealous" when he sees a fake Anne on Kamo's arm?

It just doesn't add up. It's either "we put it in there for shits and giggles but yeah it doesn't make sense for his char," OR worse yet.....they do coexist and Joker is actually a piece of shit with a fucked moral compass. (which the latter COULD BE interesting, but it's never explored so :'D can't really argue it being a good writing choice).

Like shit, let's ignore his established character moment and backstory and focus on Anne/Ryuji. What bothered me was......these two are his ride or die. They had his back and he had their back. Ryu tried to protect him with his life after just meeting him. Anne put her trust in him, and pushed him to become Joker. Like if Ryu is the reason formed the group PT. Anne's the reason Joker pursued being a PT in the first place (she gave him the push he needed).

....yet the game gives you a biiiit too many opportunities to shit on them???? Sometimes it's not even optional! Like the dialogue choices are all somehow negative towards them at times and it's like???? Why???? I can maybe get Yusuke, but then he joins! But nooooo no 100% negative option for Makoto, even tho she drives off one of your leads! (tbh I think that's the starting point the game even calms down on Anne/Ryuji choices too). But really??? Why am I fine leaving Ryu alone with two harassers??? Why do I treat them like this? If there are two chars that the MC should go to bat for regardless, it should be Anne/Ryuji.

Just....why? Why? Can't I have a choice where I 100% agree with them? I don't care if they are in the wrong, I don't care if they thing 2+2=7. Let me talk them up!

It's like the opposite of the Junpei/P3MCs issue. I can't buy a friendship between Junepei and P3MC because I don't see them develop as friends in the main story (and I don't get even a side story/SL with him). I have a hard time stomaching parts of Junpei/FeMC friendship (but reverse), because even I can easily see them as friends, he still acts all pissy! And you'd think that'd damage their relationship.

Now replace Junpei with P5MC, and P3MCs with Anne/Ryuji/*insert other char* and I have the same issue. It's not about "I don't want people kissing MCs asses all the time" it's not about kissing ass, it's about making sure they feel like they are actually friends when the game tells me they are. TT0TT

Between that and.....P5MC.....feeling like they WANTED to write a more concrete MC BUT felt compelled to make him silent.....I think hurts his writing more.

One benefit for the P3/4MCs is the diversity in personalities it created with the different choices (of course you can easily make contradictions, but those contradictions are PLAYER BASED rather than STORY/GAME BASED like P5). Esp between the good endings vs the bad endings.

I can buy P3MCs choosing ignorance and killing Ryoji, because of the meaning of SLs, ignoring them, or doing them and being absolutely HORRIBLE and reversing/breaking them (male side). FeMC it's more ignoring them and her just smiling hollowly.

P4MC I can see giving into the bad ending or even the accomplice ending for the most part. Esp if they choose to ignore SLs, be an ass/loner when possible, and be as unhelpful in the investigation as possible as well. Considering he still hangs out with his friends outside SLs, him still being horrified by what he's done and not 100% evil in the accomplice ending still makes sense. (needs some tweaking but still makes sense)

But P5MC? Giving into Yaldy? I dunno. I can kinda see it, he does insult his friends at times (reason why? who knows! is he jaded because of his arrest? Maybe? But his friends are also outcasts too??? At least with P3/4MCs it can be played off as loners right out the gate who get wrapped up in shenanigans. P5MC? he's deliberately giving motivation by his first friends and his strong sense of justice so????? doesn't that contradict????). The only thing that seems to foreshadow this ending decently is him saying some greedy and outta pocket/"sinful" things.....at times. Like I've said before, it's contradictory. Wishy washy!

At least with P3/4MCs, the fun times they experience could be explained by they are faking it (either emulating emotions for P3MCs and are still hollow inside/fear death, or hiding their true intentions for P4MC aka for the accomplice ending). Hell! P4 even puts the idea in the players head by Shadow Yosuke that Yosuke is only looking into this case cause it's "fun" and "to play hero" and maybe P4MC is doing just that (in P4G at least). Otherwise the "fail" ending for P4MC doesn't really have any personality contradictions, you just fail to see the truth and/or convince the others.

P5/P5MC relies on a moral choice of the MC (chosen by the player). But the MC himself has a lot of set personality traits and said choice contradicts the majority/prominent/establishing traits (compared to the minor ones that align with that choice but contradict the establishing traits). It just feels....weird.....

Like it's not allowed to breathe. Joker isn't open-ended enough like P3/4MCs to rationalize the bad ending. But he's also not concrete enough to stay consistent and just stick with set ending.

If P5MC was written more like the approach they took to Vincent, that might've helped it.

Cause Vincent (looking at just Catherine Classic for this btw, but I think it also applies to FB just a few more hoops) can be Loyal/Neutral/Cheater without too much contradictions.

He's already shaky on his stance, and is unsure of himself (maybe a bit flighty and changes his opinion on things)

He is thrusted into a situation he had no control over (he does start off as loyal leaning so it's most likely a situation he wouldn't have ever found himself in if he wasn't targeted)

That incident causes him to change via reevaluating his outlook on life. From his choices in dialogue, to the questions in the confession. Those small choices affect his psyche and causes him to constantly change

With each change to his psyche, we see a new rationalization pop into his head.

Every ending rationalizes each thing, even the ones that contradict (aka the bad endings).

Yes it's the players choice, but 99% of the options feel within reason. And not just within reason, they are rationalized.

Basically what I'm saying is P5 needs to rationalize it. Either by making P5MC MORE openended like P3/4MCs....or make him more into a fixed character like Vincent but give different rationalizations as you make choices.

Back to Refan, as long as it handles itself well and isn't wishy washy or contradictory, I'm fine with however they wanna handle the MC. Silent or not. TT0TT

[trixeraptops]

Demon slayer commentary

My first time watching, I will swear if i feel like it and use all caps at times so watch out

Also no context on anything you have to guess where I am or watch along

Lets hop in the charcoal basket babes im dragging you with me to watch demon slayer episode 1

Ok I know the premise so I'm not surprised to see the Tanjiro carrying a "dead" Nezuko, and the trailer literally showed her attacking him so I'm just waiting for that

Oh I didn't know he had long hair tho

From what I know he better get used to carrying her on his back lol

He looks so smol compared to his mom

HE HAD A BABY BROTHER TOO?

Is that baby girl Nezuko? NOPE

I thought it was just him, Nezuko, and his parents o_o

And on new years too :(

ANOTHER BABY BRO?

Wheres their dad? And Nezuko?

Oh she's here WITH ANOTHER BABY

Their dad is dead ._.

Ok Aristotle go off

Why does he have a scar on his head

Whys he sniffing a plate? It smells like a cat?

Tanjiro is such a nice guy omg

Ill be fine I have a good nose? Bruv

What a nice neighborhood, so kind to one another

"There's always been man eating demons outside" uhm sorry that was too causul

Lol Tanjiro pointing out the plot holes

Awww he's so nice omg

Granny said the same? Wtf why do yall live alone at the top of the demon mountain then?

Hes a dog bro

Oh no the babies :(

There were so many of them

"Demons aren't real :)" *demons kill his fam*

Awwww he's so cute, also another reason for them not to live on the demon mountain, I'm surprised they die earlier

Nezuko I know your a demon now but don't be a bitch, he was trying to save you

Bruh my tinnitus is back :/

Grrrrr grrrrowwwwwllll

She doesn't have Nezukos scent anymore!

Nezuko is in her She Hulk Era

Stop feeling guilty and focus on getting away from the demon bruv, she ain't your sis anymore

SHES CRYING this was the trailer I knew this was coming

Ohhh I missed that in the trailer sword guy gave him a haircut

Nezukoshrank? She's still a growly lil chihuahua tho

Why is he so fast jeez flash

I have to decapitate your sister. Omg these guys are too causul about death

He's not wrong tho, she's literally trying to get out of his grip to eat you

Yhis man is heartless omg

HES LITERALLY BEGGING ON HIS KNEES

Ngl it'd be so funny if he actually killed her after this emotional speech

OPE he's so mean

Why's her hair orange btw? I thought it was natural bit her hair was black before

Awww sword boy feels guilty

Theres so much internal dialogue in this show

HE WAS GONNA ATTACK but I think only to provoke Tanjiro, which is not as funny

Awww Nezuko stopped flailing when her brother - ok I got distracted by the attack and the explanation of the attack BUT NEZUKO JUST ATTACKED THE GUY AND NOW SHES GONNA KILL HIM FOR HURTING HER BROTHER

SLAYYYY BABY

Wait why didn't the other demon eat the family? They left the bodies just laying their

Haha he karate chopped her lol

Awww the fam is visiting from the afterlife

Ayyy it's the iconic mouth gag thing

Is she a vampire?

Awww they buried the family

She has claws lol

Hes a runner he's a track star

Its 12 57 as im writing and I just finished

I think I'll keep watching at a more reasonable time, but 5/5 banger introduction.

[ramonadecember]

🖊 🖊 🖊 can’t forget Ardem either

oc asks.

my devrim replacement after losing the save files. my newer and just as good beef boy.

for a rogue, Ardem is not nearly as like… sneaky as you might think he’d be. he very much likes to be in the thick of it, barreling in, brutal in his attacks, taking risks like he has no regard for his safety or the fact that like… much of the fate of the world rests on his shoulders (or ya know, in his hand. literally). it gives Dorian frequent heart attacks, watching things unfold from where he’s usually casting at more of a distance. Ardem has gotten many lectures on the matter lmao. 

Ardem never really considered himself an insecure person before the Inquisition. he’d always been confident in himself and what he did, but then… all of that really shook his foundations. Living amongst other Tal-Vashoth, he never felt out of place or lesser in any way, and he excelled with his band of mercenaries, working with all types, becoming a good leader. but then he gets sucked into the Inquisition and suddenly he has people deriding him and doubting him at every turn. nothing mattered about him except for the fact that he was a brutish ox. even Iron Bull, who Ardem thought he’d find some solace and camaraderie in, never failed to point out how they were ‘not the same,’ that Ardem isn’t a real Qunari. it sucks, and it really starts to wear on him.

I like never use mounts in the game because i love the companion dialogue too much, but Ardem is the first one I actually  bought the mystery bo in Val Royeaux and did the  ‘the big one?’ mission and oh my god. having all those giant nugs at my disposal as possible mounts… even if I don’t use them, I’m p sure that Ardem would thing they are hilarious and insist that’s how he arrive to any official function on one of those (tho dracolisks would be a close second. he likes to be ‘scary’ lmao).

[usermaha]

I don’t have time to answer all the points in your last ask BUT I wanna give my theory about the odd-eyed cat bc I find it SO FASCINATING (which is why the Star Seekers webtoon version of it is my pfp lol)

Since the cat is confirmed to be the same cat in the BU and the Star Seekers, we can get a little more insight about its nature via the Star Seekers. Even before a very important event that happened in the webtoon in a recent chapter, it was theorized through watching the MVs labeled +U or Star Seekers (specifically the Doom’s Night animated video and Eternally) that Yeonjun had made a deal with the cat that he thought would bring salvation, but resulted in tragedy—and since we keep seeing Yeonjun dying over and over in the +U and Star Seekers videos, it’s as if he’s selling his soul

In the webtoon, we just saw the deal between Yeonjun (or, Eugene as he is named in the webtoon) and the cat. The cat offers Yeonjun power in order to save his friends—just like it does to Seokjin. I’m double checking the dialogue right now; the cat stops time in the middle of a deadly conflict involving evil forces and asks Eugene: “Do you want power? Do you want power strong enough to defeat everyone?” When Eugene asks what the catch is, the cat replies, “You’re right. Nothing comes for free.” And then explains that it’s from another universe and is searching for something that will allow it to return home. It says that this offer is “payment” for Eugene taking the cat off the street and bringing it into his home, but the cat looks incredibly sinister after this and it feels like a lie. And from what we see in Doom’s Night……..Eugene has likely sold his soul to the cat.

Which….is what happened with Seokjin, except Seokjin didn’t even question the contract because he didn’t realize he was entering one.

My theory is that the cat is a trickster being who uses contracts or deals to sow chaos or get something in return—like a fae, or Rumpelstiltskin, or leprechauns, djinn and nogitsune and (to a lesser extent, I think) tanuki. A potential Korean supernatural being may be a kumiho. It confronts each boy at a moment of weakness and offers them power to save their friends without telling them the negatives of their decision.

When Seokjin asks the cat waaaayyyy into the time loop how to save his friends, it tells him he needs to find the map of the soul—and the cat also tells Eugene that it needs something to return home. I’m wondering if that “thing” is the map of the soul. Also, since the Star Seekers is set in a world where people have magic, it’s likely that this is a multiverse situation and the BU and Star Seekers are 2 universes within the same multiverse, with the cat able to cross between them

(I still like imagining the LOVESONG trio of MVs being in the same universe as HYYH tho……that was actually a major component of my crossover idea—Soobin in the LOVESONG universe being tormented with clairvoyant dreams about the Star Seekers universe and all the tragedies within it and feeling like he needs to prevent a similar fate from befalling his friends, like how Taehyung begins having dreams of the previous time loops. Choi Yeonjun is the Choi that Jimin saw, Choi Beomgyu’s older sibling was the Choi that Seokjin knew, and all the fallout and childhood tragedies that each boy has experienced that connects them either directly or emotionally to the HYYH boys. I had Yeonjun and Jungkook meet in the hospital after Yeonjun experiences psychosis from an untreated, undiagnosed dissociative disorder and drives his car off a cliff (re: LOVESONG) and after Jungkook is hit by the truck, and they become good friends. Yeonjun sees Jungkook drawing the odd-eyed cat and has an anxiety attack but can’t explain why. Stuff like that that is Super Dark but that I love writing about)

The Cat being a trickster makes a lot of sense. It’s either here to cause chaos for the sake of it, OR it might have some ulterior motive. Either it has to do with it going home, or that part was a lie.

This is reminding me of Bill Cipher from Gravity Falls. Odd eye(s), making deals, being a trickster, spreading chaos, losing their home; a lot of similarities.

Maybe the Cat is not actually evil, and its just the nature of fate that what has to be has to be; and if magic is used to intervene it always has unforeseen dire consequences

If this is a multiverse, maybe the map of the soul would open the portal to the world the Cat belongs to?

Seokjin and Eugene (YJ) are both the eldest in their groups and therefore would feel responsible of saving their respective groups

I agree with you; even tho the Cat connects BU to Star Seekers, LOVESONG universe (lets call it that 😛) instinctively makes more sense due to the tone and themes. And LOVESONG and Star Seekers can easily be each other’s mirror worlds, connected by Soobin’s visions.

I wanted to say Unnamed Chois in BU = TXT Chois but i didnt bc “there arent only 3 Chois in this world” (there are to me tho). i just realized it wouldnt make sense bc BU starts with I NEED U (2015) and idk if the TXT lineup was finalized by then

[thomaslightwood]

The Sanctuary || Thomastair (from Alastair's POV)

From chapter 19 & 21 from COI!

This was weird to do and even tho I had the dialogue it wasn't as easy to write as I expected. I tried to make this how I imagine Alastair's thought process and it hit a little too close to home so tried my best to do this scene justice. I hope you like it!

•

Alastair barely moved since the door had closed and locked behind the Consul for the last time. 

It has been hours. Alastair was rereading pages of The Prince over and over again, without actually understanding most of them. He randomly turned on pages from time to time, at least to look like he was reading.

Even without looking at Thomas, he was aware where he was in the Sanctuary. Alastair wondered what Thomas thought of him now. After founding out Alastair literally had been stalking him for weeks. Or maybe he was worrying about the fact he was accused for murder. 

At some point, Thomas walked to the door and shook it, like he was hoping even for the slightest chance that the lock and wards had failed.

“A little menacing that the Sanctuary bolts shut from the outside, isn’t it? I never thought about it much before,” Alastair said, his voice was the first loud thing in hours. 

Thomas turned around to look at him. There was something desperate in his face.

“I, er, suppose one might have to keep an unexpectedly dangerous Downworlder out, or something,” Thomas said awkwardly. Alastair looked away.

“Maybe,” he shrugged. “On the other hand, it does give the Institute a makeshift prison.”

It was a little creepy when he thought about it. A Sanctuary was supposed to be a sacred place. A place that provides safety and protection. Alastair had never thought he would be held as a prisoner here. And definitely not with Thomas Lightwood.

Thomas wandered a little closer to him. Alastair didn't look away from his book. With the corner of his eye he could see Thomas' messy hair, clothes stained with blood and dirt. His tattoo was bright on his arm.

“Why have you been following me around?” Thomas demanded. 

Alastair’s breath hitched. He didn't expect Thomas to speak to him. “Someone had to,” he said, still staring at his book.

“What on earth does that mean?” Thomas said.

“Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answer to, Lightwood,” Alastair said sharply. He didn't want to have a fight with him, not now. Not ever.

Thomas sat down with a thump on Alastair’s mattress. Alastair blinked at him in surprise. 

“I do want the answer,” Thomas said. “And I will not get up until you tell it to me.”

Alastair slowly set his book aside. He could see Thomas' neck, the edge of his white shirt and if he moved his gaze further below there was the promise of his chest, hidden underneath the cloth. Alastair thought about their time in Paris, in the cafe. Thomas' warm skin under his fingers. And many months later, in London, his skin was warm as he remembered it, but marked with the rose compass tattoo.

“I knew you were taking extra patrols,” Alastair said, still thinking about Thomas' tattoo. “And more than that - going out by yourself with a murderer on the loose. You were going to get yourself killed. You’re meant to take someone with you.”

It sounded logical, didn't it? Alastair hoped so because if not Thomas would reveal that Alastair followed him because he wasn't just worried Tom would get himself killed - he wanted to be close to him, to take care of him, to do something for him, even if Thomas wasn't aware of it. 

“No, thank you,” Thomas said. “All these people going out in pairs, announcing themselves every time they speak, unable to make a move without consulting each other - they might as well ring a bell to let the killer know they’re coming. And meanwhile, if you’re not on the schedule, you’re supposed to just sit around on your arse doing nothing. We’ll never catch the murderer if we avoid being out on the streets. That’s where the murderer is.”

Well, this sounded logical too, Alastair thought. Stubborn and reckless but logical.

Alastair was a little amused. “Never before have I heard such a concise statement of the ludicrous philosophy with which you and your school friends go through the world, running toward danger,” he said, stretching. “But that’s not why you were doing what you were doing,” Alastair added. “There’s a little truth to what you just said, but not the heart of it.”

“What do you mean?”

“You couldn’t save your sister. So you want to save other people. You want revenge, even if this isn’t the same evil that took Barbara - it’s still evil, isn’t it?” Alastair knew what he said may sound rude and was definitely not his business. But he was also determined to speak the truth. No matter how ugly, no matter how painful. The truth must be faced.  “You want to behave recklessly, and you don’t want your reckless behavior to compromise a patrol partner’s safety. So you went alone.”

Thomas' face told him he was right. 

“Well, I don’t believe you really think that we’re stupid,” Thomas said, “or that we willingly court danger for danger’s sake. If you believed that, you would do more to stop Cordelia spending time with us.”

Alastair scoffed. Like he could stop Cordelia from anything.

“My point,” Thomas went on, an edge to his voice, “is that I don’t think you believe the rude things you say. And I don’t understand why you say them. It doesn’t make any sense. It’s as if you want to drive everyone away.” He paused. “Why were you so awful to us in school? We never did anything to you.”

Alastair winced. For a long moment he was silent. What he could tell? What he could tell to make Thomas believe he's not terrible? Maybe he couldn't. Maybe this wasn't possible. He could only tell Thomas the truth and let him decide.

“I was awful to you …,” he said at last, “because I could be.”

“Anyone can be a bastard if they want to be,” said Thomas. “You had no reason to do it. Your family are friends with the Herondales. You could at least have been kinder to James.”

This wasn't untrue, mostly. But there was so much more than this.

“When I got to school,” said Alastair slowly, the effort costing him, “loose talk about my father had preceded me. Everyone knew he was a failure, and some of the older students decided I was an easy target. They … let’s just say that by the end of the first week, I had been made to understand my place in the hierarchy, and I had the bruises to remind me should I ever forget.”

Those were painful memories. The jokes, the vicious words and the other kids' fists. Back then he thought he would never allow someone to treat him like that again, even if this meant he would become a monster himself.

“After about a year of being knocked around,” Alastair went on, “I realized I could either become one of the bullies, or suffer for the rest of my school days. I felt no loyalty to my father, no need to defend him, so that was never a problem. I wasn’t very big - well, you know what that’s like.”

He eyed Thomas for a moment. Looking self-conscious, Thomas shrank back a bit. Physically he had grown so much, his muscles were visible through the shirt. 

“What I did have,” said Alastair, “was a savage tongue and a quick wit. Augustus Pounceby and the others would collapse laughing when I cut some poor younger student down to size. I never got my hands bloody, never hit anyone, but it didn’t matter, did it? Soon enough the bully boys forgot they’d ever hated me. I was one of them.”

“And how did that turn out for you?” Thomas said in a hard voice.

Alastair looked at him matter-of-factly. “Well, one of us has a close-knit group of friends, and the other one has no friends at all. So you tell me.”

“You have friends,” Thomas said. Alastair snorted at this. He didn't. Not really.

“Then you arrived, a bunch of boys from famous families, too well brought up to understand at first what went on far from home. Expecting the world would embrace you. That you would be treated well. As I never had been.” Alastair pushed back a lock of hair. His hands were shaking. He was so bitter then, so full of anger at the injustice of the world. He took a breath, hoping Thomas didn't notice. “I suppose I hated you because you were happy. Because you had each other - friends you could like and admire - and I had nothing like that. You had parents who loved each other. But none of that excuses the way I behaved. And I do not expect to be forgiven.”

It hurted Alastair to say it, to think about it. But he really didn't think the Merry Thieves would forgive him - he wasn't surprised. If he was at their place he probably wouldn't forgive himself too. 

“I’ve been trying to hate you,” Thomas said quietly, “for what you did to Matthew. You richly deserve to be hated for what you have done.”

Alastair looked Thomas in the face. “It wasn’t just his mother I slandered. It was your parents, too. You know it. So you don’t have to—to act all high-minded about this. Stop pretending you are only upset on behalf of Matthew. Hate me on your own behalf, Thomas.”

Part of him wanted this. One small, self-destructive part wanted Thomas to hate him. To tell him so. To lash out his anger at Alastair, so he could feel his pain in his bones, to remember it and to carry it with himself like he carried his own.

“No,” Thomas said firmly. He looked so sure, like this wasn't even an option. Like it was the law of nature, something that cannot.

Alastair didn't know how to react. Tension was freezing his body and mind and he could just blink at him.

“The reason I cannot hate you is because—because of those days we spent in Paris together,” he said. Alastair stomach flipped. “You were kind to me when I was very alone, and I am grateful. It was the first time I realized you could be kind.”

Alastair stared at him. The little light they had was doing strange things to Thomas' appearance. His hair looked lighter but his face was in shadow, making his eyes seem darker and deeper than usual. “It is my favorite memory of Paris as well.” Was Alastair saying this? Was this really his voice?

“You don’t have to say that. I know you were there with Charles.”

Alastair stiffened. He looked away. “Charles Fairchild? What about him?”

“Wouldn’t that be your best memory of Paris?” Thomas raised an eyebrow.

Alastair’s jaw was rigid. “Exactly what are you suggesting?”

He didn't want to do anything with Charles anymore. He wanted to move on. But it wasn't his business to reveal Charles' secrets. Alastair wouldn't do this to him.

“I’m not suggesting anything. I’ve seen the way you look at Charles, the way he looks at you. I’m not an idiot, Alastair, and I’m asking …” Thomas shook his head, sighing. His face was different than the past few months. The way he looked at Alastair… like he was searching for something. There was a deep ache in his eyes. “I suppose I’m asking if you’re like me.” 

•

“Thomas Lightwood,” said Alastair. “I am nothing like you.”

If there was something in the whole world he was sure about, it was this.

He saw how Thomas' eyes widened. A pained expression on his face. Terror and humiliation were creeping in his eyes.

“I am nothing like you, Thomas,” Alastair continued, “because you are one of the better people I have ever known. You have a kind nature and a heart like some knight out of legend. Brave and proud and true and strong. All of it.” He smiled bitterly. He meant every word. “And all the time you have known me, I have been a terrible person. So, you see. We are nothing at all alike.”

Thomas’s gaze snapped up.

“I’m not—” Thomas breathed. “That’s not what I meant.”

“I know what you meant.” The words hung between them, neither daring to move a muscle. After a moment Alastair added in a gentler voice, “How did you know about Charles?”

“You wouldn’t tell me what you were doing in Paris,” said Thomas. “But you mentioned Charles, over and over again, like you got pleasure out of just saying his name. And when you came to London this summer, I saw the way you looked at him. I know what it is to have to hide the—the signs of affection.”

“Then I imagine you may have noticed I don’t look at Charles that way anymore,” Alastair said and couldn't not think what a lovesick fool he was.

“I suppose I did,” Thomas said, “though for the past four months, I’ve been trying not to look at you. I told myself I hated you. But I could never really make myself. When Elias died, all I could think about was you. What you must be feeling.”

Alastair winced. “I insulted your father and blackened his name. You were under no obligation to care about mine.”

Elias was something Alastair carefully avoided to think about. The unsaid words, the anger and all the disgust, resentment and undescribable loss of his father in so many ways was too much to bear.

“I know, but sometimes I think that it is much harder to lose someone who we are on bad terms with than it is to lose someone with whom all is well,” Thomas said kindly.

Tears filled Alastair's eyes. 

“Bloody hell, Thomas. You should hate me, not be thinking about what I must be feeling—” Alastair swiped at his eyes. Raziel, his kindness. It was good he didn't deserve, a blessing so precious it made him want to cry. Why couldn't Thomas just hate him? Why couldn't he be like Matthew Fairchild and hate him? It would be deserved. It would be easier. “And the worst of it is, you’re right, of course. You always understood other people so well. I think I partly hated you for it, for being so kind. I thought, ‘He must have so much, to be able to be so generous.’ And I thought that I had nothing. It never occurred to me that you had secrets too.”

“You were always my secret,” said Thomas softly, and Alastair turned a surprised gaze at him. His face was so open, so vulnerable. It was so different, they both were, since the first time they met but… at the same time so soft, so kind like it was at the Academy, at Paris and now, at the Sanctuary again. 

“Does no one know?” said Alastair. “That you—like men? How long have you known?”

“Since after I came to school, I think,” Thomas said in a low voice. “I knew what caught my eye, quickened my pulse, and it was never a girl.”

“And you never told anyone?”

Thomas hesitated. “I could have told my friends that I liked men. They would have understood. But I couldn’t have told them how I felt about you.”

“So you did feel something for me. I thought-” Alastair looked away, shaking his head. “I didn’t see you—you were this boy, following me around at school, and then I met you in Paris and you’d grown up and turned into Michelangelo’s David. I thought you were beautiful. But I was still caught up with Charles—” He broke off. “Just another thing I’ve wasted. Your regard for me. I wasted my time and my affection on Charles. I wasted my chance with you.” 

It would definitely be easier if Thomas hated him, Alastair thought with bitterness. But now, knowing he wasted his time with a man who would choose his career over Alastair every time when he could be with Thomas—it was too much. Another tragedy in his life, another wasted opportunity….

“Maybe not,” Thomas said. He sounded dizzy. “About me, I mean.”

Alastair blinked. “Speak sense, Lightwood,” he said testily. His words couldn't reach Alastair's brain. “What do you mean?”

“I mean this,” said Thomas, and leaned towards Alastair.

It was a quick kiss. Unsure and shocking and so, so sweet.

Thomas drew back hesitantly. It was obvious he didn't know if this was alright, if he wasn't crossing a line. Alastair caught hold of Thomas’s shirtfront in a firm grip. He slid onto his knees so that they faced each other; with Thomas sitting back on his heels, their heads were at the same level.

“Thomas—” Alastair began. His voice was rough, unsteady. He had a hard time getting a grip on himself. Abruptly, Alastair let go of Thomas’s shirt, started to turn his face away.

“Just imagine,” Thomas said. “What if we’d never gone to the Academy together? What if none of those things had happened, and Paris was the first time we’d met? And this was the second?”

Alastair said nothing. It was an impossible scenario. Just a comfort fantasy for the cold, sad nights that ended up hurting you more than healing you.

He smiled weakly. “Damn you, Thomas,” he said, and there was resignation, yes. Because he was so done pretending, so done hiding what he was feeling towards this amazing man. He wanted to feel every dark, forbidden and sweet thing there was with Thomas.

A moment later he was pulling Thomas toward him. Their bodies collided, awkward and thrilling. Alastair knew he was probably the more experienced of the two but he was barely aware what he was doing. 

He had never imagined he would be able to do all this. To touch Thomas' chest, his shoulders and back, his tattoo and Adam's apple. He had never imagined Thomas would tenderly kiss the arch of his throat and smile against Alastair's skin. He had never imagined he would be so happy while waiting to be proved innocent for a crime. But while he was kissing Thomas Lightwood, he thought it was worth it.

[akria23]

I’m kinda obsessed with the aspect of the last half DSN. I think I’ve anticipated the second half of this series for a long time. Personally I feel that the 2’d half makes or breaks a good show. You you stay the coarse you can bore many of your viewers, if you dip into the wrong lane you will displease many of your viewers. It’s only kicking the story into overdrive that you stand a better chance. With DSN’s fast pace & story structure of solving conflicts within atleast an episode & a half I wondered how this would effect storylines in the last half. Like I said before there’s a few storylines still to come into play and fill up the end of the series -

Leo’s family - I don’t think they’re gonna be the cause of any real angst but I do feel like they’ll take up screen time & affect the mood - it’s kinda hard to mix angst with comedic elements (not impossible but difficult all the same). And I think the mom at least will have a number of scenes because of engagement with both Leo/Fiat & Leon/Pob. They’ve already set the playing field for viewers to love her.

Fiats Family - so far they’ve kinda scattered this conflict throughout the series and will probably continue to do so until it comes to its own big moment. I’m sure it’s gonna get its big due. I kinda wish it wasn’t tho. Somehow most series always pull the ‘just bear with your parents & they’ll come around’ tropes and I hate it. Some parents are just trash that you have to separate from. I don’t like way series tend to ignore the trauma and identity issues bad parents cause their child and then still end with an all’s well ends well approach. I wanted Fiats family to keep the energy because I feared they push the ‘misunderstood/strict’ parent trope and here we are! Hopefully we atleast get some accountability in the dialogue.

— I’m actually surprised that they saved the family stuff for the second half. It’ll have its own a notional moments but I’m still surprised at that choice.

Leon/Phob - the advancement of their relationship & any conflict which I’m sure they’ll be some.

Girl? I can’t remember clearly but I think there was another girl saying she liked Leo (from one of the old trailers…?) maybe I’m remembering wrong…I kinda hope I am because why would you place a random pursuer near the end? After everything LeoFiat has gone through she shouldn’t be able to cause any real harm by trying to come in the middle because they should’ve learned to communicate by the end. Def when someone has already tried to verbally stake her interest and the energy she received was a united front it would be weird to have it any other way near the ending half.

The one I’m most torn on is Curly. I find myself at a theory dilemma when it comes to him because the big theory that wraps itself around my brain doesn’t mesh well inside the framework of the story, but it remains regardless because my only other theory doesn’t feel…perfect either.

When I first saw the original trailer for the show I thought the ordeal with Curly would just turn out to be some kind of blowout built on miscommunication & misunderstandings. However the pacing, structure of the story, and Mame’s character writing style now has me questioning that. MAME isn’t the best at layering her characters, often she shows them for exactly who they are in their first introduction. This is why no matter how many ppl said that Leon’s antics would be a certain way in the last episode - I didn’t agree. Same for buying into the concept that Pob was pursuing Leo - it didn’t fit what his character was shown to be. On top of that she tends to over ‘perfect’ one of her main leads to the point where they don’t get to be flawed in persona. This happened in both LBC & TharnType so I can’t help but wonder if that’s the current case with Leo in DSN. So I question if we’d really see a storyline where Leo’s jealousy becomes so outrageous that it causes yet another dispute in the relationship - even if that jealousy was pressed by taunting. Plus I feel like this would just put them back to conversations they’ve already had. However even after saying all that - I remember that Mame does love the jealousy trope 😌

After the the last episode I wondered if the plot would actually be Fiat having been taken advantage of in the past but I argue against this one even because it’s way heavier than the story structure really calls for. But I also feel it would give that big angst moment without Leo & Fiat being at odds and without making Leo the bad guy for the intense emotions he’s exhibiting. Changing the presented emotions from petty jealousy to protective measures.

We have atleast 3 or 4 crying scenes left if they all make it and we’re about due for one so it would make sense for Curly to be one & be a big conflict section, considering he’s the mid-point conflict. But I’m unsure, before the last episode I would’ve said Mame wouldn’t have gone here simply because they’ve intentionally moved in a way to stay clear of any topic that would cause them possible backlash or fandom upset.

When it comes to curly I can’t pin down which theory I want to go with because I’m not 100% comfortable with either. I can’t figure a middle ground. It’s not often I’m stuck between my own theories not comfortable leaning into either, so maybe it’s a testament to the story structure or maybe I’m just not comfortable with the addition of either plot. I really don’t want another episode of - Fiat did something of poor taste in the past that affected Leo but he’s sorry now and will be a good boy from here on out. Been there done that, seen them have the conversation enough times to buy the shirt. The first theory would be shallow enough to fit into the structure of the story but it would just be its own sort of repeat of conflict we’ve already seen. While the other theory just feels too heavy. I don’t know how they’d solve a heavy issue in an episode. So far the show has intentionally been light and fast paced. I don’t think Curly situation will drag too long.

So I find myself at a fork in the road. Although I’m a bit anxious about this episode and episode 7 - because I find the mid episode make or break how good a story came across for me - I’m also interested to see how they choose to transition into the second half of the story.

[seattlesea]

✨My Opinions on Random Fanon Ships in Percy Jackson✨

Theyna- MY FAVORITE SHIP IN THE ENTIRE FRANCHISE 😭. They had so much chemistry, potential, and naturally amazing and hilarious dialogue. I fell in love right away. They have so much in common and feel so right for each other, doesn’t matter if they’re Hunters. Besides- Reyna got rejected by the brother, so what better thing to do than to steal his sister? My queens deserve each other-

Tratie- I have no idea where this came from or why it’s so well-loved, but I like it. It’s a really cute concept though I wish their friendship was expanded on more in the books

Clarilena- Honestly yes. If Clarisse didn’t have Chris, she definitely should’ve gotten together with Silena. The butch and the femme will always be one of the most iconic relationship tropes ever, plus their chemistry and how close they were was really cute and interesting

Reynabeth- Lowkey. If Annabeth wasn’t dating Percy (and Theyna didn’t exist) Reyna would probably be my first choice for Annabeth. They had more chemistry in that one New Rome tour chapter than Percy and Annabeth had in 12+ books and had so much potential as intelligent badass leaders

Pipabeth- ew. Riordan says they’re BFFs and then degrades Annabeth for Piper’s sake, never shows them doing anything friends do, and they never talk, hang out, etc. and their friendship was never explained or expanded on. Kinda just seemed like Riordan created it for the sole purpose of giving Annabeth a BFF and to make the readers like Piper more by having Annabeth like her too despite them being polar opposites and realistically would’ve argued ten times a day

Thaliabeth- pedophila??? and lowkey honorary incest???

Lukabeth- YUCK same thing as Thaliabeth but even worse and toxic af

Pipeyna- nah sis my queen deserves better than some kid who stole her boyfriend then thought she could talk to her about her love life even though was the one who ruined it and made her feel even more lonely, bitter, and shitty without an apology. Also a not-expanded-on-or-explained friendship that made no sense

Perachel- Amazing. So much chemistry and naturally flowing dialogue that just made sense plus it’s super healthy and realistic. Doesn’t deserve all the hate it gets

Dreyna- Lowkey kinda cute. Reyna showing Drew how to fight, Drew and Reyna doing each other’s hair and makeup, Reyna teaching Drew to be nicer, etc.

Jercy- Meh. Their bromance was kind of bland and the fandom over-exaggerates it. They hated each other more than they liked each other, but the potential was definitely there

Valgrace- GIRL YES. Literally gay Frazel and their friendship was so cute but left in the dark honestly my favorite ship besides Theyna

Valdangelo- Yeah kinda. They have a lot in common and could talk to each other about their similar pasts and trauma, plus they’re actually quite similar

Racheyna- I wouldn’t mind it. The artist and the war goddess’ daughter is a cute concept

Jasico- Not really. I don’t really see them being anything more than friends

Perleo- Sassy best friends and sassy boyfriends

Thalico- girl stop with the pedophilia-

Pipalypso- This exists? Why???

Rachabeth- The concept of Rachel having a crush on Percy and Annabeth during BoTL is a concept the world can’t handle but my queen deserves better than some blondie who went ‘you’re friends with my boyfriend and you have different genitals than him? I’m going to hate on you for two years straight for no reason ❤️’

Pipeynabeth- I like Reynabeth but Pipabeth and Pipeyna I don’t so nah 

Pipalia- Thalia would’ve realistically hated Piper (and so should’ve Annabeth) for her charmspeak ability (Luke controlled by Kronos who?) and they have absolutely nothing in common or any chemistry so no

Leyna- Honestly sort of. Their concept is cute. Reyna could teach Leo to be a stronger fighter and how to be a better leader and Leo could teach Reyna to let loose. Good friends at least

Perzoe- My queen deserves better than some arrogant douche who went ‘is that the guy who broke the heart of the girl who sacrificed herself to save me? no it isn’t ❤️′

Pipazel- Honestly makes no sense. They didn’t share any moments whatsoever in the books and barely make good friends much less good girlfriends

Thalypso- This also exists???

Perlia- My queen deserves better than some arrogant douche who went ‘we were best friends and have a lot in common? no we weren’t ❤️′

Perlypso- Even tho I don’t really like her this girl deserves better than some arrogant douche who went ‘you saved and healed me and I promised to take you off your imprisonment island? no I didn’t ❤️′

Thalianca- Also pedophilia???

Liper- My baby boy deserves better than some girl who went ‘we were best friends for months and knew each other before we knew we were demigods? no we weren’t ❤️’ like girl didn’t even bother thinking about checking on her so-called best friend cause she was too busy drooling all over her boyfriend-

Thaloe- Low-key cute if they weren’t arguing 24/7

Pernico- Not really. Percy doesn’t care that much about Nico and I’m pretty sure Nico is over his neglectful ass

Perluke- GIRL WHAT-

Pipachel- My artistic queen deserves better than to be shipped with Piper like this

Octachel- My artistic queen deserves better than to be shipped with Octavian like this

Lazel- Lowkey tho. They were good friends at least and their backstory was interesting

Jeyna- GIRL YES 😭 They had so much potential and had a lot in common and probably shared so many cute moments and memories in their 4+ years of knowing each other and their backstory was so tragic like why would anyone pick Jiper over Jeyna I don’t understand- Riordan give us a backstory NOW-