#Disney is still suffering from weak writing

[miss-stereo]

I know it's been days since Wish was released, but I finally watched it and...

I still think Enchanted (2007) is the Disney movie that celebrates the classics while bringing an original story to all audiences.

It has romance, music by Alan Menken, 2D animation, a cool villain, and a amazing cast!

[oceansprompts]

text message prompts

[text] You okay?

[text] GO TO BED!

[text] hey you better be alive in there

[text] SOS save me please holy shit

[text] call me this date is going so bad

[text] I have way too much shit to do.

[text] Honestly I'm really worried about you.

[text] Why are you trending on Twitter?

[text] Please let me come over and pet your (pet).

[text] We are in the same building, you could come talk to me.

[text] It's not going to work out.

[text] This is a terrible idea.

[text] people have fetishes

[text] They really do crucify anyone these days huh

[text] I don't know why but that really means me want to stab you

[text] That movie was awful.

[text] For the love of god please help me

[text] I fucked up. I fucked up really bad.

[text] I'm blocking you.

[text] YOU ONE BRAINCELLED BITCH

[text] I regret swiping right.

[text] Everyone lies on their dating profiles.

[text] That absolutely can't be an actual picture of you.

[text] This forced open my third eye and I saw the devil

[text] I'm like a child in line for the newest fucked up disney ride

-

[text] That's just all fucking sorts of fucked up

[text] Why are we here? To suffer? Every other day I get messages that cause pain

[text] In the department of old man fucking, we've got you beat.

[text] have you gotten any work done?

[text] I am beyond shame, try again

[text] You left your left your underwear at my place.

[text] Don't you dare put this on Facebook.

[text] My brother in Christ you're being haunted

[text] I want to wring you like a wet towel and slap you against a wall

[text] The mind is weak but the body is funky

[text] I'm a zombie the law can't stop me.

[text] Jealous of my massive honkers

[text] We left you to die to play minecraft

[text] She would never ever take away one of these stupid fucking hats

[text] I puked all over the Uber driver's backseat.

[text] I just took a screenshot of that and posted it to Reddit

[text] You said you'd be right back and it's been months.

[text] Can't we talk about this face to face?

[text] Yeah, you'll come learn I just have a thing for milk

[text] Why did you like one of my pics from 2014?

[text] Now's as good a time as any to exchange nudes.

[text] Why would you send me an eggplant emoji?

[text] I write five paragraphs, pouring my heart out, and all you reply with is k?!

[text] Who would dare to lie on the internet?

[text] When I die, please delete all my shit off the internet

[text] He's so hot, I briefly started texting like a straight person

[text] And because I'm god and I've decided that; no, in fact, I'm not done.

-

[text] I know you love bloopy reggae jams, now is not the time.

[text] You better not be standing catatonic in your room again.

[text] God has abandoned his children but unfortunately for you I pay child support and I will smite thee.

[text]: My neighbor just told me he can fix my water heater for 50 bucks. I’m skeptical.

[text]: Do you have any idea how much it costs to buy apples? I paid 10 dollars for 6.

[text]: I mean, I wouldn’t say I have a problem with buying Squishmallows..

[text]: Hey, so you know how you told me no dog? *sends pic* I don’t do well with no’s.

[text] Stuart Little is a bitch and Remy could take him any day.

[text]: My roommate just said that Lola Bunny is hot. I’m moving out.

[text]: Hey I posted that vid of you drunk, singing Ariana Grande, wearing all black and people said not to do it again. Sorry.

[text]: Do you think the price is ever right? Like, I feel like it’s not.

[text]: I booped your nose. Boop the last five people you texted or–nothing happens really.

[text]: I’m actually in the ER and it’s a long story that involves Best Day Ever from spongebob.

[text]: I fucking hate you–wait you’re not my ex. Who are you?

[text]: You ever ask yourself if birds see a bee and just go ‘wow a bee’? im high.

[text]: sometimes all i think about is–sour patch kids. bet you thought it was you.

[text]: I love you—not as much as I love my dog. But still a lot!

[text]: I found a cat on the way home and now it’s mine. But it hates my guts so this should be fun.

[text]: I have questions about the marvel cinematic universe…how long do you have?

[text]: why do donald duck and winnie the pooh not have to wear pants but other people do?

[text]: Hey you know that show floor is lava? I may have turned the apartment into that..this isn’t a joke, btw. the floor is sticky.

[text]: I bought too much soap off etsy and now I don’t know what to do with it…I smell like Captain America.

[text]: On a scale of one to ten, how many drinks would you need to sleep with me? This isn’t a tiktok trend…or it is.

[princesssarisa]

I've decided not to write any more long posts about why some people don't like Disney's Belle. I've probably been dwelling too much in other people's negative thoughts that I disagree with. But here are the rest of the critiques of Belle's character that I've read, and my short, succinct thoughts on each one.

I still think it's very interesting that some critics think Belle is too sweet and gentle, too feminine, and not "strong" or "modern" enough, while others think she's too defiant, too "modern," and not sweet or gentle enough.

Her desires at the beginning are ill-defined: she wants "adventure" and "more," but has no specific goal. This is true, but personally, I don't mind it. Plenty of us don't know exactly what we want from life, but do know that we want more excitement and wonderment.

She does nothing but read and complain in the village; she makes no effort to achieve her dreams of adventure, and she never does any realistic peasant chores, which makes her come across even more as a spoiled rich girl. I think it's implicit that Belle and Maurice are too poor to leave the village – that's why Maurice sets out to gain fame and fortune with his invention. And I think Belle's never doing housework onscreen was part of Linda Woolverton's feminist agenda. Maybe it's not realistic, and maybe it's overly "second wave feminist," but I do think it was fair of Woolverton to want to break away from the Walt-era Princess model and not show Belle cooking or cleaning.

Her dreams of adventure are side-swept in favor of a mere love story. I think there are two ways of addressing this issue. One is to argue that her dreams of adventure do come true, just in a way she never expected. The other, supported more by the song "A Change in Me" from the musical, is that she does lose her dreams, but for the better, as she realizes her life doesn't need to be like a romantic storybook to be happy.

Her romance with the Beast isn't nearly as fleshed-out or as realistic as fans claim it is. This is subjective. Some people think it's one of the best-written romance arcs in cinema.

She affects meek politeness and plays games with Gaston instead of plainly refusing his advances. First of all, if Belle didn't care about politeness, she would be a hypocrite to criticize Gaston and the Beast for their rudeness. Secondly, Gaston is intimidating. Third, this is only the beginning of her journey – with the Beast, she arguably learns to stand up to someone who mistreats her, which lets her decisively reject Gaston and call him a monster later on.

She seems to blindly love all books without questioning their content, which could be dangerous, especially when the French Revolution arrives. Belle has no trouble thinking for herself. If she can open her heart and mind to the Beast, and loathe Gaston while the rest of the town adores him, then I'm sure she can tell good books apart from bad and dangerous books. And the fashions in the movie are such a mish-mosh that I'm not sure if it takes place before the French Revolution or after... or if the French Revolution will even happen in this fairy tale world.

She sacrifices her own needs for men. Yes she does, but it's not framed in a gendered way, and both the Beast and Maurice do the same for her.

She emasculates the Beast. Well, I'll admit that the Beast's arc isn't very empowering for him – that's the whole point, that he learns to give up some of his personal power and love unselfishly. But is that necessarily a bad thing? I'll also admit that sometimes, I feel troubled that the Beast lets the mob attack the castle and does nothing to protect his servants. Still, we probably shouldn't judge a character whose mental health is clearly suffering at this point: immobilizing, suicidal despair doesn't only exist in fiction, so we should think twice before we call it "weakness" or "emasculation."

She needs male characters to rescue her – the Beast from the wolves, Chip from the cellar. I respect the complaint that the Disney Renaissance movies still rely too much on the "boy rescues girl" trope, but there's no shame in needing to be rescued. Especially because in the forest scene, Belle is just one human facing a whole pack of wolves, and in the cellar scene, her father is rescued too.

She never uses her skills, knowledge, or passions to solve problems – the only purpose they serve is to unite her with the Beast. I think this is just a genre problem. The whole story is geared toward uniting Belle and the Beast in love, and every story beat serves that end.

She almost leaves the Beast to die in the snow and stays angry about the West Wing incident even after he saves her life. The former is only a split second, while the latter is only in self-defense when the Beast unfairly blames her for his injury. Besides, consider the context of how the Beast has behaved until this point!

She's a hypocrite for giving the Beast a second chance yet dismissing Gaston as a monster. She doesn't give the Beast a chance until he risks his life to save hers. If Gaston had done anything like that, she would have given him a second chance too, but he doesn't. Gaston is also far more cold-blooded and narcissistic than the Beast ever is.

She's to blame for the Beat's near-death at the climax because she reveals his existence to Gaston and the other villagers. Of course she is. It's explicitly framed as a terrible mistake and she openly blames herself. But it's an impulsive act of desperation to save her father, and she tries to explain that the Beast is kind and gentle. Until it's too late, it clearly doesn't cross her mind that the villagers could form a mob to kill him!

She plays a nurturing, motherly role to both the Beast and her father. I agree that heroines shouldn't need to be nurturing. But it's not inherently anti-feminist to be that way!

She's sidelined in the final battle. Yes, this is true, but her presence is still essential to the scene, and not every heroine needs to be an action girl.

Her portrayal falls short of the original Beauty's greatest virtues: her kindness, selflessness, and compassion. Belle still has those qualities, they're just combined with more "modern" ones (adventurousness, defiance toward unjust authority figures, etc.). Besides, Disney had already made several excellent movies about heroines defined by kindness and gentleness. What's wrong with giving Belle a slightly different set of virtues?

She's too traditionally feminine and ladylike. I think most of us can agree that "femininity" ≠ "anti-feminist," and anyone who thinks that way is a little misguided.

Her creators glorify her at the expense of the other Disney Princesses. I agree that it was unfair and mean-spirited of Linda Woolverton to imply that the three Walt-era Princesses are "insipid," but I do respect her insistence on making Belle a different, more "modern" heroine. And I agree that Paige O'Hara was mistaken when she described Belle as "the first Princess not looking for a man" (neither Cinderella nor Ariel dream of romance until they actually meet their princes), but I don't hold that against Belle.

She's too blatantly written as a role model – she doesn't feel like a real person, but like a living instruction manual for how a "smart," "empowered" woman should behave. This is valid. But I personally do think she seems like a real person as well as a role model, and I think she's engaging enough that I don't mind the obvious "role model" qualities.

[cyberrose2001]

What’s worse than one Yandere parent, you may ask? Two Yandere parents!

Imagine, if you will, the Bots gaining a new human ally - a girl Jacks age - and things start getting…weird…

The girl suffers from amnesia, stemming from the night her mother was killed some years ago, and now lives with a close relative in Jasper.

The girl knew what she was getting herself into when she decided to stay with Team Prime, she assumed the paranoia of constantly being watched and being targeted whenever she found herself in a active battle was just apart of it. But the look in Megatron’s eyes whenever he saw her, how he always tried to go after her himself. And according to the others, Soundwave is more active in the field now then ever, and followed Megatron in his pursuits.

Optimus and her guardian was adamant that she stay away from any future battles if it can be helped, and to be observant.

She should have listened. Miko had gotten through a ground bridge, Jack and herself went after to her. There was an explosion, she fell down a mind shaft and hit her head. Then, she’s waking up somewhere she doesn’t recognize but it reminds of Ratchet’s medbay. It was the Decepticon warship.

With weak legs and a throbbing head, she stands up, removes blanket and takes off the wires connecting her to a monitor and climbs down and hatches a plan to escape.

But she runs into Megatron and Soundwave. She tries to run but Megatron picks her up, with a disturbing amount of gentleness one should not show to one’s enemies, and a struggle that reminds of that one scene from Disney’s ‘Hercules’ of Statue Zeus trying to hold and calm his long lost son comes to mind.

Megatron eventually cups her over his chasis, and she’s still freaking out and trying to get away. She freezes when Megatron begins to purr, soon followed by Soundwave gently rubbing her back with one of his freaky narrow fingers.

Than came the revelation of them being her fathers. Fathers. Plural. Later she would find out that it was possible for a sparkling to have more than one sire, even with a human, with her mother.

Tears were pouring her face, claims of denial racing through her mind. Soundwave was using his tendrils to wrap himself closer to his reunited ‘family’ and Megatron had placed a kiss on her head, when she fainted.

the complications of this is insane oh my god, low key wanna write something abt this

just IMAGINE finding out that your mother banged some bad bots (and also got killed by one of them im assuming) and you were the outcome of it, god the dynamics of your entire life would change….

[cocoabubbelle]

My overall impression of this guy + the fandom’s reaction to him:

Oh cool, Twisted Wonderland made another character.

Hmmm, Judge Claude Frollo you say? This could either go really well or really bad.

Ok here’s his design; hehe they really nailed that weird bowl cut and dark eyeshadows. Nice hat m’dude.

Oh he’s from an entirely different college is this going to be an official thing and we’ll see more characters?

Student Council President. Checks out.

Does he have a name ye-! Oh wait here it is.

My brain: Rollo Flan??

*reads again* Ah, Rollo Flambé….?

*reads again to make sure bc third time’s the charm*

Rollo FLAMM.

Is it pronounced like FLAME or HAM??? Or DAME (the way the French pronounce it)?

Voice actor. Do I know this guy?

*sees the voice actor has worked on Haikyuu!! so immediately play his voice for my sister (who’s a fan of the show) to see if she can tell who it is.)

Also showed this character to my sister for her opinion:

“He looks like he’s 12.” 🤣🤣🤣🤣

He’s interested in Malleus Draconia I see. As a rival? As a recruit of part of the student council?

Ngl him sniffing the hanky looking like Esmeralda’s scarf is sus (of course maybe he’s chronically sick and has a thing against germs, but still. Sus.)

Hmm, Jack Howl, Rook Hunt, Trey Clover, and Malleus Draconia are still my favorites visually and personality-wise, but I’m interested in how Twisted Wonderland is going to portray this character and add depth to him to make him likeable 😌

*checks to see what the other members of the fandom think of this guy.*

*lots of hate-projection from the haters already bc of the character he’s twisted from.*

*despite how the other beloved characters are derived from villainous characters.*

*also apparently he’s not allowed to be tall.*

*to be fair, calling back to my sis’s comment, “he looks twelve” 🤣*

*portion of fandom who like him and still bully him affectionately.*

* remaining fandom peeps already writing Rollo x Reader content.*

haters: THE OTHER DISNEY VILLAINS WERE ENTERTAINING FROLLO IS BASED OF REAL LIFE RELIGIOUS AND PREJUDICED JERKS IN POWER

Other disney villains:

Evil Queen Grimhilde: a fully grown woman and narcissist who 1) was an abusive, neglectful stepmother, and 2) felt threatened by a girl who BARELY entered her teens and reacted by trying to murder her in gruesome ways. A jerk in power.

Maleficent: a sadistic being who enjoys looking down on those she deems inferior to her, (but heaven help you if you don’t treat her with the respect she’s entitled to), who *1) felt insulted for not being invited to a birthday party for a baby, so takes it out on the baby to get back at the parents, **2) takes advantage of the other heroes’ gifts and attempts to prolong everyone’s suffering out of a sick amusement from everyone’s misery but hers, and 3) is less concerned about her henchmen and pet crow’s vulnerable states and more offended by the audacity of the heroes finding loopholes and weaknesses in her magic so doesn’t cut her losses to back off and try helping her people and instead keeps trying to assert her dominance because she HAS to win. A jerk in literal power.

Lady Tremaine: An emotionally abusive woman who sees her children as a means of success and will not tolerate her stepdaughter having an ounce of happiness. A jerk in power.

Queen of Hearts: temperamental woman-child in power who 1) resorts to threats and violence when things don’t go her way, and 2) makes sure the system is ALWAYS in her favor and not for anyone who’s “wronged” her. A jerk in power.

Cruella de Vil: would have happily murdered newborn puppies had they had their spots. Uses her riches and influence to endorse Animal Cruelty. A jerk in power.

Gaston: Violent, Entitled, Narcissistic Misogynist/Sexist Womanizer who will turn on the charms long enough to try to get the woman he wants. Can’t take no for an answer. Is able to sway mob opinion because of his charisma and skill set and be one of the top dogs so to speak. A jerk in power.

Dr. Facilier: Conman extraordinaire who hates successful people and uses others to weasel out of debts he put himself in. Will aim for a willing stooge to aim for the top and seize control/influence from a person of perceivable authority. A jerk in literal power.

Ursula: Conwoman who makes sure that any deal she makes will always work out in her favor and will do anything to bring you down if it looks like you’re going to succeed. A jerk in literal power.

Scar: Jealous brother and uncle. Fratricide. Attempted Nepoticide. Wants to be in a position of power purely for the perceived personal benefits with no regards to his citizens’ well-being. Shifts blame from himself to others if things aren’t working out his way. Will only engage in a fight he’s started if there’s anything to put the other opponent at a disadvantage. A jerk in power.

Jafar: arrogant and jealous second-in-command who uses means to manipulate things to his favor. Classist jerk who will not follow up on his end of the bargain even if you fulfilled yours, or will use ambiguous words so that he does fulfill his bargain only at your expense. Will abuse his authority to objectify others. A jerk in power.

Hades: Bitter and Temperamental Boss man who rather make the most of an unsavory position thrown upon him, takes out his temper on others and makes elaborate schemes to overthrow his bosses, while making others do his dirty work for him as opposed to doing it himself. Makes deals for his own benefit. Sore Loser. A jerk in power.

Twisted Wonderland has been able to create characters TWISTED from their villainous inspirations and make them have reasons for their initial attitudes before overblotting, receive consequences for their actions that make them reflect on themselves, then actually go through character development that help them to become more heroic/tolerable. Not even all of them are shown to be remotely close to their original villain in motivation or personality. Again, I don’t think Rollo Flambé Flamm will be one of my top favorites anytime soon, and his predecessor is one of the most vile villains to exist in animated films, but I am willing to wait and see what Twisted Wonderland does with him and how he will contribute to the story.

Edit: Help why is this post so popular?

Also Spoilers below.

Rollo is indeed cray cray. But it is thanks to his cray cray that Malleus calls out to us by name.

See? He has a positive contribution to the plot 😆

Also, it looks like this version’s backstory will be mostly pulled from his original literary counterpart as well as his broadway counterpart.

So.

Looking forward to see how, if at all, Rollo overblots and/or gets redeemed following the other characters who overblotted and tried to kill everyone.

More Spoilers!

Rollo got his just deserts after the shenanigans he pulled, and with an appropriate callback to the words the Archbishop/deacon(?) threw in Frollo’s face in The Bells of Notre Dame song.

Mwahaha!

Something that piques my curiosity though. The other housewardens + Jamil were given opportunities to redeem themselves after the mess they caused.

Rollo looked like he was going to confess his sins (so to speak) when the other NBC students asked what happened.

Malleus doesn’t let him because he wants him to rot with his guilt a little longer.

Justice? Or is Tsunotarou still mad over not being invited and decides to be petty? 😆😆😆😆

* “felt insulted for not [actually] being invited to [the Festival for the City of Flowers], so [initially] takes it out on the [City of Flowers via angry lightning storm temper tantrum before he calms down so he can redirect his anger at the actual culprit, Rollo]”** “attempts to prolong [Rollo’s] suffering out of a sick amusement from [Rollo’s] misery”

Ah whatever Rollo kinda definitely in this case let’s be real had it coming.

Now we will see if he will forever stew in his guilt and self-loathing, or if the rumors over him transferring from/getting kicked out of Noble Bell College and attending Night Raven College are true and if he gets a redemption arc/becomes much worse.

Only time will tell since Twisted Wonderland so far has failed to disappoint regarding character arcs and story development!

[themattress]

And now, I just feel compelled to sing the praises of one of Kingdom Hearts' greatest heroes:

SHIRO. MOTHERFUCKING. AMANO!

The more time passes, the more amazed I am by this man. He's had a hero's journey IRL when it comes to his place in the franchise: jumping at the call but being inexperienced and screwing up, reaching his lowest point before rising, dealing with great adversity only to come out of it stronger than ever, and becoming a beloved hero to many who continues to do good.

KH1 was his first manga adaptation, and for the most part it's your by-the-numbers comic book adaptation of a story from a non-comic book medium, not especially good or especially bad. But Amano showed three weaknesses: he mischaracterized the KH-original characters (Sora, Kairi, Riku and Ansem all start out on point, but once Destiny Islands is destroyed this changes drastically: Sora turns into a spastic moron, Kairi into a bland bystander, Riku into an emotionless tool, and Ansem into an over-the-top eeeevil lunatic who actually gets himself killed without any contribution from Sora, Donald and Goofy!), he sucked at action scenes leading to many iconic battles from the game being straight-up left out altogether, and his gag manga inclinations caused him to turn scenes that should be serious / emotional into jokes.

CoM was his aforementioned lowest point. All those flaws were not only still there, but worse, turning what was once a dark, mysterious and psychological story into an unfunny farce.

Disgraceful. For a good while, I actually disliked Shiro Amano due to this.

But then came the redemption: KH2. The Prologue section of this manga is masterfully done, possibly even better than the game's version. The pace is less sluggish, the events less irritatingly obtuse, and the humor actually works to the benefit of the story's seriousness - because so much of the goofy humor is between Roxas, Hayner, Pence and Olette, you build even more of an emotional connection to them and the tragedy of Roxas learning the truth about his life hits that much harder when it transpires. When Sora returns, Amano is briefly tempted by his old inclinations and kind of backslides, with the resulting trips to Hollow Bastion, Beast's Castle, Land of Dragons and Olympus Coliseum suffering as a result. They aren't quite as insulting as the CoM manga, but still bad. However, true to hero's journey form this period of temptation and backsliding passes and only reinforces Amano's commitment to improving and actually balancing his humor and adaptational changes with drama, emotional sincerity and faithfulness to the game. From Disney Castle on, he returns to quality output. There are still mistakes here and there, but on the whole the manga is an enjoyable one. From the characterization to the action scenes to the tonal balance, Amano had improved.

And then came the hiatus between its first half and second half, during which he worked on the 358/2 Days manga. Take what I said about KH2's Prologue, then apply it x10, and you get this manga, where the writing and pacing is improved from its game counterpart and the humor is rich, well-timed and actively feeds into the drama and tragedy of the story rather than detract from it. To make the contrast to how far he's come most apparent, remember how in the CoM manga where there's an omake short that makes a complete joke out of the Riku Replica, originally one of the story's most tragic characters? Well in this manga, we get an omake short about a Dusk, which starts out hilarious but then ends up being absolutely heart-breaking. It makes me legit sad over a goddman DUSK. Now that takes real talent!

What's also apparent with the Days and KH2 mangas is that Amano had come to shine in a way that Tetsuya Nomura absolutely does not: respect for his female leads. Kairi, Namine and Xion in these mangas aren't primarily sources of support for male characters or there to make male characters feel things above all else; they are their own distinct individuals with vivid personalities and clear character arcs. Even Olette shines brighter than in the games!

Once Amano made it back to the KH2 manga for its second half, he was firing on all cylinders. Again, not everything was perfect, but much like the game itself the narrative flaws were not enough to overshadow the many more narrative strengths. And when the manga finally concluded after so many years, Amano confirmed that it truly was the end. He would not be adapting other KH games. And given that the rest of the KH series never got better than where KH2 ended, this was absolutely for the best. I could very easily imagine the Olympian gods making a constellation in Amano's image, as he had become a true hero.

However, oh no! He got persuaded into adapting KH3 when it came out in 2019! This is going to ruin everything, right? WRONG! The KH3 manga has not only been a shining example of how far Shiro Amano has come, but also a masterclass in demonstrating how acutely aware of the game's problems he is and the lengths he is willing to go to fix them. For example...

- He opens the manga with a direct adaptation of the game's opening scene with the Boy in Black and Boy in White in front of the chess board followed by the FMV intro. By doing things in this strange way, Amano invites the possibility of this being an alternate, diverging timeline from the prior manga continuity so that its ending remains untouched should you desire it to be. Almost as if the Boy in Black and Boy in White reside in some higher plane of existence and the KH3 manga is the "game" that they're playing, so it's not to be taken too seriously.

- The whole opening that semi-recaps stuff leading into KH3 is played off as a joke, and given that the stuff in question was stupid (such as the Mark of Mastery exam through sleeping worlds and Sora failing his Mark of Mastery exam on bullshit grounds), this is appreciated.

- He actually makes Maleficent and Pete more competent; rather than have Maleficent dismiss Pete's idea to take Sora out while he's still weak, he has both of them agree that they needn't bother with Sora because his weakness will lead him to being destroyed by the Xehanorganization anyway. They can find the black box while their foes fight each other.

- 0.2 BBS is adapted after the Olympus visit in a way that also recaps the most important points of BBS and includes stronger characterization for Aqua, Terra and Ventus. Stupid things like Mickey losing his shirt are avoided, and there is actually clarification on how Mickey could not have gone into the Realm of Darkness to save Aqua earlier and all the time between KH1 and KH2 he was building up his strength to obtain the Power of Waking so that he could as he promised to, making him come off so much better than he did in the games.

-Coded is not referenced, ever.

- The "Roxas and Namine ceased to exist when they merged with Sora and Kairi" retcon is completely avoided, with the manga instead saying they do exist within them as was originally the case in KH2. Giving Roxas his own body is less correcting some injustice or "hurt" and more part because he's needed for the battle against Xehanort and part because Sora's just a nice guy like that, wanting to provide his friends with all the basic comforts.

- Xehanort's master plan retcon is also discarded! Here it's said that Ansem and Xemnas' plans remained their own, as they should be, and that since Master Xehanort's return he's embarked on "a new plan" once joined by his time-traveling younger self, who never mentions needing Ansem for his time-traveling which keeps things consistent with how KH2 depicted time travel as simply a magical phenomenon that didn't need complicated rules.

- Not only are Riku and Kairi way more in-character than they were in the game, but most shockingly Axel is too! He actually feels like Axel, character flaws and all, not dumbass Lea!

- Toy Box, Corona and Arendelle, while still filler, are all adapted faithfully, which is nice.

- Various alterations are made for the better: the Riku Replica stuff is kept to an incredibly bare minimum, Ansem the Wise first appears in the scene where he returns to Radiant Garden meaning him still being alive is more of a legit twist plus he never meets Aqua only for there to be no pay-off and the dumbass plotline with him and Xehanort's Heartless is left out, the "secret Keyblade legacy" stuff with Demyx, Luxord, Marluxia and Larxene is cut, the second Kairi and Axel scene is no more, and the big reconvening at Yen Sid's Tower scene and the fallout montage is massively reworked into something far better written and paced.

All this plus maintaining his balance of humor and sincerity, including using the former to support the latter, and even correcting previous flaws (holy shit, Marluxia, Larxene, Vexen...they're all completely in-character now!) If Amano keeps this momentum going and actually manages to make something good out of the notoriously disappointing finale in the Keyblade Graveyard, then he will officially have given us the best version of KH3's story in existence.

Tl;dr: nothing but respect for Shiro Amano, who is a better writer than Nomura will ever be.

[wearenot7withu]

pairing: ex!jungkook x f!reader

wc: 2.4k

warning: curse word like once, pure angst, exs2??

a/n: ngl i wrote this quickly. iwas home one day after my exam and I was listening to this song when I got inspired.. it didn't really turn out how i wanted and i'm not really happy with it but i need to write and share it here because i was always insecure about my writing.. so this is me oiling my skills with angst..

feedbacks are welcome, good and bad too - as long as you’re nice about it. english isn’t my first language but i hope the story is enjoyable even like this. have fun reading the story and i hope you like it.

masterlist

✩✩✩

But does he know you call me when he sleeps?

You were laying in bed wide awake, reflecting back on your day. Your phone is next to you, illuminating the room in a blueish light.

A conversation is open on your phone, the last message being from your boyfriend, in which he wishes you good night.

You started going out with Haewon officially a couple days ago, unofficially maybe a month or two. As time passed by he asked you to be his girlfriend.

He was everything a girl could ask for - sweet, caring, a gentleman. You're aware that that's what you deserve. All of your friends say that Haewon is the one, that his love for you is true… and despite it all, he's not the one you want.

You thought maybe you'd come to love him, feel a little more towards him than friendship. That moment still yet has to come.

Because every night when you're alone, all you can think about is him. The one who you love, the one you crave and want. The one you miss.

So in a moment of weakness, you open your drawer on your bedside and take out a small piece of paper with numbers on it. A phone number that you swore you'd never dial again.

Against your better judgement, you knew you'd call again because even if you deleted the number from your phone, you still kept it on a small piece of paper.

A few rings in and the person on the other side picks it up.

"Y/n?" He sounds surprised.

Bet he is. You two didn't talk for two months, since you broke things off.

How stupid it was to call him. He probably moved on and is in a happy place, why did you want to make a fool out of yourself?

"Y/n are you there?"

"Yeah…" Your voice came out unevenly. Your eyes became teary.

"Is everything okay?" His voice changed from surprised to confused. Of course, he's confused. "Are you okay?"

And that question was the last drop for you. Two months of suffering, missing came to the surface. "I miss you" You cried to the phone.

"I miss you so much it hurts" He sighed. You could imagine him running his hand through his dark hair. Maybe it's even longer than when you've last seen him. Maybe he'd cut it back. Both ways he was breathtaking.

"Let's not do this to each other again" His voice came out strained too, but you didn't realize that because of your breakdown. Then, he hung up the call, but you were determined.

✩✩✩

But does he know the pictures that you keep?

You've sat in your car in front of the old brick building for ten minutes, looking through the pictures you couldn't delete.

The first picture was from your first date when Jungkook all those years ago took you to the city fair and won you a small plushie - the one you still sleep with until this day. It makes you feel closer to him like you still have some part of him.

The second picture was from Jungkook's brother's wedding. You two were actually broken up during that time, however, at the end of that night you let your first I love you known.

The last picture with him was a couple hours before your break up. You were having a marvel marathon, watching the movies in chronological order from Disney+. You were happy, smiling in the picture while he was laying down on the couch with his head in your lap.

So how did you two end up breaking up? A guy from work called you because he needed help with a project. Then came the fight, the tears, the yelling and the defeat. He said maybe it would be better to end things, for good now.

You two ended things a couple times in your four years together, but this one really felt different. You never had an official break-up before.

Every time a fight like that came, one of you said I'm done, the other said yeah, okay and a week or two later, when you gave enough space to the other, one of you would reach out.

This time, however, none of you did.

Drying the tears on your face you got out of your car and headed inside the building. You've entered the code and went up to the third floor.

You have walked those stairs many times, but you have never felt as nervous as now. Not even when you broke Jungkook's favourite mug and had to face him - the mug was an Iron Man one, by the way.

You knocked on the door with the A13 on it. Your thoughts were running wild, trying to figure out what to say to him when he opens the door. However, you didn't need to say anything because instead of Jungkook a young girl stood in front of you.

Turns out he moved away, and you didn't even know where.

So you walked the stairs one floor higher and knocked on another door. Jungkook's best friend, Jimin was living there with his girlfriend.

"Y/n? What are you doing here?" You could clearly see the confusion on his face.

But you didn't care, you had a question to ask.. and you weren't leaving without an answer.

✩✩✩

But does he know the reasons that you cry?

Again, you were in front of a door trying to think about what to say. This time, however, you were in a much nicer building in a much nicer part of the city.

You have many questions, although you know the answer is obvious - they're not concerning you.

You put your hand up to ring the doorbell and put it back down three times already. Should you or should you not?

Maybe you should not. There's a reason he moved without telling you. For some reason, he didn't reach out to you.

"Y/n?" A very familiar voice came from behind you.

You turned around and that's when you saw him. Jungkook was dressed in a hoodie and jogger, holding a blue plastic bag. You could see ice cream in it, the one type he eats when he feels sad or down.

You opened your mouth to say something but nothing came out. You felt like crying again, and when you tried to keep your sobs in, Jungkook came up to you and hugged you.

He opened the door and let you in. He went to put down his bags, poured you some water and led you to the couch, while not even once letting go of your hand.

He sat next to you, moving his hand up and down on your back. When he thought you've somewhat calmed down, he quietly asked you. "What are you doing here?"

Jungkook's heart was breaking. When he saw you calling him, his immediate thought was that something bad happened. Why would you call him at 11PM on a Friday night?

When you told him you miss him, he felt like someone punched him in the guts. He misses you too, if not more than you miss him. But what you had wasn't healthy.

Neither of you could change your ways, and your differences were crashing so much.

He was laid back, and you were a planner. He let everything go as it is, you loved to control - or at least try to - how things go. He didn't give a fuck about what others thought, you always cared about others' opinions. He was not giving more than necessary to others, well except his close friends, you were giving everything to everyone.

Deep down, you both were just insecure because you both knew that the other deserve the change you were not willing to make.

"I tried. I tried so hard to just start anew." You started to answer his question with a shaky voice "Everyone is telling me to forget you, everyone was pressuring me to go out with Haewon. And I did"

Haewon is the dude who got you into this mess in the first place. If it wasn't for him, Jungkook wouldn't have flipped out that faithful day. Hearing that you went out with him, Jungkook couldn't help but feel some kind of betrayal.

Jungook's eyes were always so expressive. Even if he tried to hide what he feels, one could always see it in his eyes. This time was no different.

"I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry" You've cried "They were telling me all these things. That I deserve better, that maybe I really need to leave us behind." You inhaled a deep breath "And I thought you want an out. So I tried. I tried to give you that space."

Jungkook looked straight ahead, he felt like crying too. "I think" He started, "I think you deserve Haewon. Even when we were together, he always knew how to help you with work and you two were so compatible, so alike"

You stood up fast. "So just because I'm alike with someone I should be with them? Why does everyone want me to be without you, including you?" You were now pulling on your hair in frustration "He would be a good husband, he would be a good father. I don't doubt that, but why do I have to be in the picture for that?"

Jungkook let out a humourless chuckle "Your mom always wanted grandkids early, you know that"

"She wanted it with you too, she just realized we're not going to give her that"

"And she decided it was because of me" He rolled his eyes, but you could hear the accusation in his voice

"I've never let her think that it's because of you. I always told her that we're just not ready for marriage or children" You were hurt that he thought you'd let him be the bad guy in your mom's plans.

"So why did you cry on the phone for Jaeri that you want to be a bride? That you don't know why you're with me if we're not going anywhere with our relationship?" He asked with slight anger in his voice

You looked at him with a confused expression. What is he talking about? "What?"

"I went to visit you at work a couple days before we.." He didn't say it out loud, before we broke up "And Haewon asked me when am I planning to propose because he heard you crying to Jaeri"

You sat down next to Jungkook and looked straight into his eyes. "I've never, ever said anything like that. Obviously, if you'd asked me I'd have said yes in a heartbeat. But I was content where we were. I was happy with you, didn't matter if husband or boyfriend… what mattered was that it was you."

You sat next to each other in silence for minutes. "Do you still love me?"

He didn't look at you. He turned his head away, biting his lips. "I don't"

✩✩✩

Or tell me, does he know where your heart lies?

The next day you called Haewon before work to meet up for breakfast with him.

You had a rough night. You came back from Jungkook's after 2AM and you continued to cry until the morning.

Your eyes were puffy and red, and you're sure your face is swollen too.

"Hi beautiful" Haewon tried to kiss you on the lips, but you turned your head.

"Why did you tell Jungkook that I want him to marry me?" You wanted answers, and you wanted them now.

"I didn't say anything like that to him," He said, reading through the menu, not taking you seriously.

"Well, he said you did"

"And you rather believe him than me?" He put the menu back on the table

"Yes" You answered immediately "Look Haewon, you're a nice guy. But I don't like you like that and I… I still love Jungkook. It wouldn't be fair to you"

"I see" He let out a small laugh "You know, it's such a shame that you are hooked up on that guy. He doesn't have a good job, and he never treated you right… I don't know what you see in him."

"Don't talk about him that way. Don't ruin my opinion about you please, I love working with you and we make a good team - don't ruin that." You said with an edge in your voice. You're not letting anyone talk bad about Jungkook. Then you softened your voice. "Are you still up for breakfast?"

So you two ate and went to work together. After you were done, you didn't go home. Instead, you drove back to Jungkook's place.

You were thinking all day about the previous night, and you came to the conclusion that you didn't say everything you wanted.

You knocked on the door, hoping that he was home. When he opened the door you didn't give him time to react, you slipped into the room next to him.

"I know you said you don't love me anymore. But I do. I love you. Since we met in the library during college. I loved you every day for the past years. No matter if we were together or not, if we fought or not. You're it for me. And I don't believe you don't love me. So look me in the eyes and tell me that you don't"

One moment you were telling him how much you love him, the next he was kissing you.

You've kissed him countless times before, but each kiss gives you the same feeling. It's magical and you can feel the love through it.

"How could I not love you? I've tried to give you an out, but you're it for me too. I don't want anyone else if I can't have you. I rather am alone than with someone else."

You kissed him or at least tried because you couldn't stop smiling. "I know we have a lot of things to work on. There are a lot of things to fix and grow from. But I'll rather work on us than leave us fade away"

Maybe you're running in circles and nothing will change. One thing is for sure, you love each other, and right now you're not near ready to live without the other.

✩✩✩

Right here with me, babe Where it truly lies

That night you stayed over. You were laying in bed, cuddling with Jungkook.

"So why did you move?" You asked out of curiosity. It's been two months but he never said anything about moving before that either.

"Yeah, about that…" He started and you looked up at him, waiting on him to finish what he was saying "I actually wanted to move in with you"

[amyhayanora]

@khoc-week​ Day 6 - What are some special connections your character has?

A very special connection the twins have is Merlin. and they don’t even know it. I’ve expanded The Sword in The Stone’s world, which is their original world, with some Arthurian cycle’s lore inspirations and so they were basically raised by Ambrosius (one of the old names of Merlin) and Nimue (Viviana/Lady of the Lake and in some versions mixed with Morgan). Ambrosius and Nimue taugh them writing, reading and magic on the island of Avalon, and according to both legends and disney movie, he has prophetic powers and is a time traveler: that’s how, even if his powers were not so accurate yet, he predicted the betrayal of Nimue and settled a plan B to save their kids, sending them to Daybreak Town and applying on them a spell to help reversing their transformation in Dream Eaters after khux. The twins have no idea Merlin is ambrosius, they can’t imagine he’s still alive after all that time, and even if Merlin recognized them immediately, he doesn’t want to tell them the truth about Nimue and the end of Avalon, and ruin the memories of the woman who basically was their only mother figure. I’d say Merlin has his share of fun playing dumb with the twins, noticing they still keep their hair pink after a funny accident happened during a potions lesson as children, an still using the names he and Nimue gave them...

Chirithy: once in Daybreak Town, they were alone, the two of them. living alone in a small apartment, sharing the same room and paying the rent with money gained killing monsters. Chirithys are always the ones who give them wise advice, and kinda acting like life coach. Tia’s chirithy kicks her out of the bed when she’s late, and scold her when Touma isn’t there. they are friends, but they are mostly a family.

speaking of friendship, out of the circle of their friends/party in union X, someone who they both can address as friend is Kairi. They train and live together with her and Lea for most of their KH3 storyline. Tia is just happy to have a girl so close to share love torments, treats and jokes. she shows her all the pictures Sora sends them from different worlds. with Touma wasn’t so easy, but they are the firsts to wake up and Touma usually cooks for everyone in the morning, so they started to share time in the kitchen. Sometimes they sleep together if Tia isn’t around, because the twins suffer insomnia and nightmares when alone.

Touma has also a strong particular friendship with Ienzo, so particular that if riku didn't make up his mind in time, it could have defeloped in a romantic relationship. Ienzo anctually has a crush on Touma, and when I have Tou interacting in Friends’ AUs where their ocs are already paired with Riku, Touma is usually dating Ienzo. Riku is with Hinata in the picture below, lovely @hinataoc​ ‘s OC.

Otherwise, they are usually paired with Riku and Axel. tia and Axel are partners in crime for pranks, betting and challenging each other for every stupid thing. She calls him ‘her sidekick’ . They aren’t a couple yet, Tia just thinks isn’t fair confess her feelings now that Axel isn’t still used to human emotions.

Touma developed his crush for Riku during DDD, confessed at he start of KH3 and rejected. Riku simply never had so much time to focus on his own sexual preferences, or if he can date a boy or not. in that moment sounded weird and anyway he saw Touma only as friend, so no, except for slowly changing his mind later. They are both the ‘big brothers’, the responsible ones, so it’s easy showing weakness to someone who understands the same burden.

[ordinaryschmuck]

Starkid Musicals Ranked from Worst to Best

Salutations to you, random people on the internet who most certainly won’t read this. I am an Ordinary Schmuck. I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons.

Welp. I finally did it. I've watched the entire Starkid musical library, and I must say, most of these plays fit my writing style perfectly:

Humor that is cynical yet random

Leaning in with comedy while sprinkling in some well-executed drama

An understanding that any type of story works as long as the cast of varying personalities of characters is dynamic enough to result in some phenomenal chemistry.

This is in almost all of their plays, excelled through fantastic writing and stellar performances driving the overall quality. And it inspired me not only to review each musical, but also ranking them all from worst to best. Or, more accurately, least good to most good. Because even at their "worst," Starkid still provides a funny, enjoyable experience that will keep you laughing with its comedy and your toes tapping with its catchy music. So strap in as I go in-depth into how Starkid proves how they are the masters of humor and melody.

(I'll also provide links to each musical, which is all for free on YouTube, so you can check them out yourselves. Just know that their early work is impossible to enjoy without subtitles, so you might want to have Closed Captions on when watching.)

#12-Holy Musical B@man-Everything about this play makes it seem like it's the weakest to me. The jokes, songs, and characters in Holy Musical B@tman just don't hit as hard as Starkid's other plays. It's still good, but compared to their best, the cracks show a lot more. That is, except for the ending. Not only is there a great speech that shows what makes superheroes so beloved, but "Super Friends" might just be my favorite finale song Starkid has ever put out. Holy Musical B@tman may not be the best, but it's at least worth the time.

#11-Firebringer-This was stupid. Really stupid. Funny as f**k, but still pretty stupid. Although I will give credit to one of the central pairings being LGBTQA+...Even though it makes little to no sense based on the characters' previous interactions. But in fairness, Starkid really sucks at writing good romantic relationships, so at least Firebringer has the benefit of being gay. And as we all know: The gayer, the better. The play is still stupid, though.

#10-Me and My Dick-The world in this musical makes little to no sense. Penises and vaginas are sentient and can communicate with their humans. And yet the penises and vaginas can also talk with each other, form relationships, leave their humans, and reinsert themselves into others--Yeah, it makes no sense...But, DAMN, is it funny! Every joke and innuendo Me and My Dick has about human anatomy works, and I could not stop laughing at each of them. Especially the names that were given to the vaginas, which are just...I mean, I'm laughing just by thinking about them. That should tell you how funny they are. This play might be illogical in every way, but if you turn your brain off and watch it for the humor, you'll definitely be in for something fun.

#9-ANI: A Parody-What's weird about ANI is that its best qualities are also weaknesses. A good chunk of the jokes are hilarious and expertly delivered. The issue is that most of them are about taking potshots at the Star Wars prequels, which might be the laziest jokes to make in a Star Wars parody. Then there's the soundtrack, having several songs that are a bop to listen to. The problem is that ANI suffers from the same issues as Tarzan and Brother Bear: Yes, technically, it is a musical, but it's one where none of the characters sing, and some people in the background do all the singing instead. It's all an odd balancing act of quality content made through questionable choices. ANI is still an entertaining play, but the force isn't as strong with this one.

#8-Black Friday-This might be the least funny play that Starkid has ever put out. Not just because it leans extra hard into drama, which was pretty effective during certain scenes. It's just when there are jokes in Black Friday, they tend to fall flatter more here than they did in other plays. Also, the plot of Black Friday might not be the best one to play straight. The serious moments work best when focusing on the characters and their personal struggles, but through the big bad that's supposed to be threatening? Not so much. Even if it was meant to be funny, well, I wasn't laughing. And believe it or not, I consider that to be the best judge of whether or not something is funny. That being said, while Black Friday isn't the most humorous Starkid musical, it's still pretty good. The characters are excellent, the songs are awesome, and the story is somewhat easy to follow. I would have appreciated a few more laughs, but I can respect these talented people wanting to challenge their strengths.

#7-Starship-This play feels very...Disney. It follows a familiar formula we've seen several times: The main character wants more than what he has in his crappy life, miraculously gets the exact thing he wants, falls in love with a girl in a short amount of time, faces off against a campy/over the top villain, realizes the hand he's been dealt isn't so bad, and in the end, gets what he wants anyway. Starship is still pretty entertaining through its jokes, characters, and songs, but it also feels weird that Starkid leans into these tropes when they would eventually make a much better play by making fun of them. The end result is not bad in the slightest, but it's also nowhere near their best.

#6-A Very Potter Musical-Starkid's first production, and boy, what a start to something wonderful. Every one of their gimmicks and motifs is present in A Very Potter Musical. The use of parody to playfully mock characters and stories they love, making songs that are as funny as they are emotional, and creating characters that work because of their lines and the actors' performances. Oh, and also, it's funny. And it’s not just through a parody angle, like making Cedric be a perfect boy who's always smiling. It's also funny through its jokes that work, even if you ignore the fact that it’s a parody altogether. Case in point, there are these two bits, one involving Voldemort and Beatrix with the other involving Ron and Hermoine, that are written and delivered so well that I was in tears much more than with any other Starkid play. When watching A Very Potter Musical, you'll not only understand how parody works, but you'll also gain an understanding of why Starkid turned out as successful as they did.

#5-The Trail to Oregon-What can I say? I'm a sucker for comedic dysfunctional families. And seeing a family of idiots make their way to Oregon via The Oregon Trail parody? Yeah, that's a win for me. The play may be another family road trip narrative, which some people might get sick of at this point. But because the dynamics and comedic chemistry everyone has with each other are on point, the end result proves that you don't need an original story to tell an entertaining one. Although I will say that out of all of Starkid's productions, The Trail to Oregon has by far the worst ending. Without giving anything away, the play spends way too much time on this one stupid joke that any of the characters could make. Comedy is defined by personalities, as are most things, so making the joke work for anyone is a bad move when this one, in particular, doesn't fit as well for some characters as it would for others. Plus, the finale song "Naked in a Lake" is a really poor choice to cap off this musical. It's catchy, but to me, a finale song should encapsulate everything about the story, characters, and themes. Not paying off a joke that I honestly wouldn't want the payoff for. So while the ending could have used a lot more polish, that doesn't change how The Trail to Oregon is a pretty funny play that I won't mind revisiting when I have the chance.

#4-A Very Potter Sequel-Hey, sometimes a sequel is better than the original. Sure some jokes don't land, and some story beats aren't as impactful as they thought they were (Serious Black's introduction, for example), but there are far more improvements to this play than the last one. The performances are stronger, the jokes are funnier, the music is catchier, and the characters are much more entertaining in this play than in A Very Potter Musical. Especially new additions like Lupin and Lucious Malfoy, who provide great comedy and sublime drama at times. And Umbridge. Sweet Mother of all that is holy, Umbridge. While A Very Potter Sequel never made me laugh to tears as the first play did, twice, Professor Umbridge carries the comedy so well that she surpasses all of that. Plus, on top of it all, this play nails its ending through a bittersweet note that really captures what makes Hogwarts so special to these characters. I always feel like Starkid's plays tend to lose steam during the last few minutes, but A Very Potter Sequel is one of the few instances that it just builds and builds to a perfect ending. A Very Potter Sequel might not always hit the right marks, but the results are just magical when it does get it right.

#3-The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals-This one is pretty clever. The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals is one of those stories that manages to be explicitly hilarious yet implicitly disturbing. For instance, people suddenly bursting into perfectly choreographed musical numbers in a world where songs are exclusively diegetic is pretty funny (especially through the characters' reactions to it). However, knowing what happens to these people and why they sing and dance so expertly helps make the whole situation pretty dire. It's an excellent balancing act that not many stories can accomplish. And while The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals leans one way or the other at times, it's still all handled really well. Oh, and also, you know how most people say the villain song is the best one in any musical? Well, technically speaking, nearly every song in The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals is the villain song. Including the finale, which is just too brilliant for me not to give a round of applause. If you're a person who unfortunately doesn't like musicals either, I'd say be more than willing to give this one a chance. It's funny, catchy, and if you think of the implications, pretty damn disturbing.

#2-A Very Potter Senior Year-...You know how Avengers: Endgame is a bit of a mess, yet people still love it for how much of a perfect (sort of) finale it is? It's the same regard with A Very Potter Senior Year in my eyes. It's far from a masterpiece, but the many, many solid scenes that cap off this series help make me willing to overlook the mistakes. The characters, callbacks, and overall message about how things end was done so expertly well that I physically can’t hate this one. I can understand how it's more of an ok play when compared to the rest of Starkid's productions, but sometimes, ok is wonderful.

#1-Twisted: An Untold Story of a Royal Vizier-...It's Twisted. Everyone loves Twisted! And how could they not? Everything about this play just screams Starkid at their best. The comedy is uproarious, added with the fantastic delivery of the actors and the characters' personalities. Everyone feels as though they have one step in reality and the other in insanity. This, to me, seems like the best type of character work when going for the parody angle. Parody is about giving slight yet snide remarks toward the work you're mocking, which I feel works best when characters drop the suspension of disbelief audiences have when enjoying such a story. And Twisted definitely nails its satire in not only poking fun at Aladdin but also making jokes towards Disney as a brand. From their movies to their inside jokes to their formulas to even their corporate dealings with Pixar, nothing about Disney is sacred in Twisted. But on top of being funny, Twisted might just be the most successful Starkid has been with telling some really compelling drama. The jokes allow themselves to take a back seat to let serious moments play out, and even comedy is added, it provides more for the experience rather than taking anything away. You see this not only through the actors giving it their all but even through some really gorgeous and heart wrenching musical numbers. Oh, and also, Twisted has the best Starkid soundtrack, featuring songs that are epic, funny, and, as I said, heartbreaking. You cannot get better than this and, if you want to get a friend interested in Starkid as a whole, this might be the play for them. Scheherazade may have a thousand tales, but his one is a tale I wouldn't mind hearing for a thousand nights.

And that's about how I feel about Starkid and each and every one of their plays. Odds are your ranking would be much different from mine, and I'm all for that differing opinions. Feel free to make your own ranking if you want because I'm honestly curious where fans would place these plays above or below others. I'm relatively new to enjoying their work, so I have no idea what the consensus is. I do know one thing, though: If Starkid can still be incredibly entertaining through over ten years of content, then I am excited to see what they can accomplish next in another ten years.

[tearlessrain]

Giant Masterlist of Cathar Facts (that I completely made up but nonetheless rigidly adhere to)

I am an unstoppable force and disney should have killed me when they had the chance (that chance was splash mountain when I was seven and as you can see I survived).

Under a break because it is way too long and covers really quite a lot, much of which I will probably never even need. But researching and writing this kind of thing is what I consider a fun afternoon so here we are.

General basic stuff

Cathar are basically felids evolved to fill a similar evolutionary niche to humans in the absence of any viable apelike species on their native planet, in the same way hyenas evolved to fill a niche normally occupied by canids. 

They are pursuit predators but not terribly efficient ones outside their home planet. In terms of both speed and strength they can outperform humans on average in the short term, but have noticeably less stamina especially when it comes to running or walking long distances. They greatly outmatch any quadrupedal felids for stamina, however. (Mandalorians are an invasive species)

They run hotter than humans, around 100-102F.

Though height varies quite a bit, cathar are taller on average than humans and build muscle easily, making them extremely formiddable opponents in hand-to-hand combat.

The average face/skull shape of cathar is largely based on assumptions that they evolved under weirdly similar conditions to humans evolving from early hominids, aka shortening of the face, larger cranium, smaller mouth, etc.

While they are obligate carnivores and do have elongated canines, their teeth are more even in size than wild felids, and while they do still have barbed tongues, the barbs are relatively small/soft and more similar to a housecat than anything of comparable size (aka they won’t literally take your skin off if they lick you).  They also have somewhat thinner skin than wild cats, though they are still more damage resistant than humans.

They do not have retractable claws because that’s not how fingers work, but they do have narrow, naturally pointed claws rather than humanlike fingernails. Many cathar choose to either dull them or file them down for convenience, but losing/damaging them, as per that one ambient dialogue on Dromund Kaas that I can never find when I need it, is extremely traumatic for them. 

They have tails because I want them to, used for both balance and communication. Cathar tails are approximately lion-like, thin with a coarse tuft at the end regardless of markings (ie. a cathar with stripes won’t have a tiger tail), with the tip the same shade or a few shades darker than the darkest part of their coats. occasionally those from colder regions will have longer fur over the whole tail, or look like they don’t have a tuft due to longer fur overall. 

Variation and a lot of bullshitting about genetics

Wookiepedia describes Cathar as “a planet of savannas and rough uplands” but I refuse to believe that all these habitable worlds are all one consistent climate/temperature across the whole globe. The weirdly ubiquitous infrastructure/cultural info I can kind of forgive since 90% of them were wiped out by Mandalorians and the rest left, and I’m charitably assuming there were a lot less than 7 billion cathar to begin with, so a lot of smaller or more isolated cultures across the planet were lost entirely. 

They have less sexual dimorphism than SWTOR implies, though females are a little smaller on average and tend to have shorter/finer manes that are closer to their base color. In terms of relative strength/mass the difference is minor and female cathar are still very capable of fucking you up (the conventional assumption in the Empire that females are weak/docile and males are too uncontrollable to enslave is not remotely true in either direction). 

Variation in fur/metabolism/ear and nose shape depends on which region/s of Cathar they come from (or their ancestors come from), but they don’t recognize different “races” the way humans do, particularly in the wake of the Battle of Cathar. 

On average, cathar originating closer to the equator have shorter, finer fur, larger and more tapered ears, a tendency toward slender, lanky builds, and coloration that leans more toward golds/reds and higher pigment density. whereas those closer to the poles are much stockier and can be extremely fluffy, sometimes with an undercoat, with paler colors and less vivid/extensive markings. None of the above is universally true and cathar didn’t necessarily always stay in the region where their ancestors come from (and thus sometimes you get people like Riska, who is all limbs but has fairly northern features and entirely too much fur)

Cathar mostly left their planet in groups, so in some parts of the galaxy you’ll run into whole colonies that originate mostly from one part of the planet and have distinct appearances/cultural idiosyncrasies from other colonies.

They mainly follow the same general rules that apply to most felids in terms of coloration/pattern.

Markings can be stripes, spots, or less commonly rosettes (definitely some version of Taqpep variants) and mostly lie along Blaschko’s Lines, though it’s more obvious on some individuals than others and it isn’t always perfectly precise. Even spotted individuals usually display some striping on the tail and around the eyes, though not always. 

“Default” coloration is black-based, with dark markings on a greyish or brownish base. 

Countershading falls pretty much along patterns you’d expect and usually lightens the chest/stomach, lower face, palms/soles, and inner thighs. Specific distribution and patterns vary quite a bit, and sometimes express in odd ways (hence whatever is going on with Khatte). Darkest points tend to be the tail tip, nose bridge, and mane.

Genetically solid cathar are incredibly uncommon; much more common are genes that affect the appearance/distribution of markings, sometimes rendering them almost invisible. Even ones who appear mostly solid (aka Khatte) usually still have some faint striping around the face and/or tail.

Khatte is basically some loose equivalent of ticked tabby, which mostly just looks like weird countershading but leaves some faint striping on his face and tail.

Jial-ro’s coloration is the result of a gene that suppresses all eumelanin production, and a sepia-like form of partial albinism. 

Riska has something similar, along with something that reduces the size/spread of spots.

Food 

They’re mainly carnivorous and have different nutritional requirements from humans (similar but not identical to those of a cat), which can be a problem in places like the military where standardized rations are the norm. In the Republic a cathar can usually put in a request for rations designed to accommodate carnivores (or supplements, failing that), though they might have some trouble on more isolated or undersupplied planets. The rare cathar in the Imperial military have to procure supplements out of pocket, though it’s technically possible to get reimbursed for it if they’re willing to wade through the bureaucracy.

Cathar are perfectly capable of eating raw meat with few to no ill effects, and have a subgenre of cuisine centered around it (and while they didn’t invent sushi, they have enthusiastically embraced the concept). They also have plenty of ways of cooking meat and readily adopt any new ones they come across. 

Their “natural” diet apart from meat mainly consists of fruit, root vegetables, and eggs, though the closer to the poles you get the less likely you are to encounter fruit in a dish. Cathar never cultivated grain and it holds no meaningful nutritional value for them, so bread, rice, and similar products simply do not appear in traditional cuisine. This does not stop some of them from eating grain products in small amounts, as they can still enjoy the taste, but it isn’t any healthier than processed sugar is to humans and they have a high rate of gluten intolerance as a species.

All cathar have a heightened and refined ability to detect savory/umami type flavors, but around 30-40% of cathar, and the vast majority of those from colder regions, have no taste receptors for sweetness at all. This has resulted in the cathar equivalent of the Cilantro Debate centering around desserts, even though they’re all perfectly aware that it’s genetic, and some who can’t taste sweetness still enjoy some desserts for the other flavors present. Those who do have sweet taste receptors are about as sensitive to it as humans, but it tends not to have the same addictive quality for them and a lot of them don’t like processed sugars in anything but small doses. They would appreciate a lightly sweet creme brulee but most of them would find soda absolutely disgusting.

Citrus is right out.

They suffer no more ill effects than humans from drinking alcohol, and due to generally having a fair amount of mass they can usually drink a lot of it.

Social minutiae

They use a fair amount of feline body language, particularly with others of their own species. While facial expressions play a part and they do smile, scowl, and generally express broad emotions, they have a reduced range of facial mobility compared to more humanoid species and no eyebrows to speak of, which leads to a lot of them having what humans perceive as resting bitchface. It also results in humans underestimating the range and depth of their emotions, and can be a problem in the medical field with human medics/doctors who haven’t been trained to work with less humanoid aliens and won’t necessarily recognize severe pain or distress.

Their ears are less articulated than a cat’s but still have some degree of mobility that serves more of a social function than a practical one. They also express a lot of emotion through their tails, to the point that it can be a detriment in some situations if they haven’t practiced consciously keeping control of it.

Bumping foreheads is a common way to express platonic/familial affection, or can be the equivalent of a chaste kiss between partners. They also squint and slow blink, though it doesn’t always translate clearly to other species.

They have a wider range of vocalization than humans; while their voices are often humanlike and they’re just as capable of articulate speech, they can also growl, purr, and make sounds outside human hearing range. Those raised among humans or near-humans tend to do this less, if at all, while cathar raised in more insular communities of their own kind can come off as very taciturn due to heavier reliance on nonverbal communication.

Sense of smell is much stronger and more refined than a human’s and plays a more significant role in how they perceive and navigate the galaxy. They can occasionally be mistaken for Force-sensitive by humans due to their knack for picking up on emotional distress or the presence of particular species/people by scent. This is more true with people they’re familiar with; they won’t pick out distinct members of the other species by default but will eventually be fairly reliable in identifying the scent of a friend or anyone else they spend a lot of time around.

The exception to the above is other cathar, who they can easily tell apart on an individual basis. They have scent glands around the jaw/neck that come into play for identification, conveying broad emotional states, in some situations can aid medical diagnoses, among other things. They also play a part in building connection and familiarity between friends, family, or romantic partners.

The ~horny section~

Cathar don’t really kiss the way humans do by default, but they can, and usually do so unless they’ve somehow had no contact with any near-human species at all. Their equivalent is gentle biting around the neck and jaw, which is another situations where the scent glands are relevant, and when aroused that whole area becomes an erogenous zone for the vast majority of cathar. 

Plenty of humans (particularly if they don’t encounter a lot of aliens day to day) will avoid kissing cathar anyway because they have sandpaper tongues and dry mouths and fangs, and it feels fucking weird if you aren’t prepared for that. 

They tend to be very bitey in general unless specifically asked not to. It only becomes a problem if the cathar in question is inexperienced with humanoids and hasn’t figured out how much bite force is acceptable for a species with thinner, more sensitive skin.

Their dicks are fairly humanoid in size and shape, though somewhat more conical at the head, but they do have a sheath rather than a foreskin. after maturity they don’t actually retract into the sheath more than about two inches when flaccid, and tend to be slightly less sensitive than the average human (same keritinization factor that affects circumcised humans). It also makes them more vulnerable to damage, but since it’s customary to wear pants on most civilized planets, that never really becomes a problem in the course of a normal day. The base of the shaft that’s usually covered has noticeably higher sensitivity. There are probably individual exceptions to most of the above.

Conventional understanding is that cathar don’t have barbs, which is true the vast majority of the time, though about 60% of them have some amount of vestigial non-keratinous bumps over their head that have no noticeable affect on anything aside from occasional increased sensitivity in that area. Rarely an individual might develop a few actual barbs at the onset of puberty, but they have no practical function and pose a risk of discomfort and injury, and can easily be removed via a fast and mostly painless medical procedure, so the number of adults who have them is close to zero.

Females do have (mild, easy to suppress if desired, and mainly not at all disruptive) heat cycles. Other cathar can generally tell by scent, but not to a distracting degree, and it’s considered rude and inappropriate to point it out with anyone but a close friend or partner. It should go without saying that males don’t have heat cycles, but I’ve gotten enough weird DMs about this to know that I need to say it. Unless said male is trans, and not on any sort of HRT, that’s not how that works. 

They kind of have breasts but unless actively nursing they’re barely noticeable if at all, especially under clothing. Cathar have much fewer hangups about going topless regardless of gender than certain human cultures do.

[sl-walker]

If I may ask; what is your opinion of Rebel's Era (canon) Maul?

Whilst I didn't feel like he was written out of character per se and I understand that Rebels aired prior to TCW Season 7, I felt like it was somewhat disappointing after what happened during Order 66.

I understand that he has lost hope and is, very reasonably, afraid of Sheev, but there's a few things that confuse me like the fact that whilst running the biggest criminal empire he never looked for Kenobi prior to Rebels (he knew Ashoka survived, so why shouldn't Kenobi?) or how exactly he ended up on Malachor and nobody came to look for him their criminal boss. Now the Dathomir-part was actually interesting, but I do feel, yet again, like it could have used more exposition and explaination considering he was there like 3x times in his entire life and everyone's dead, so who even sustained the Ichor after Talzin's death? Maul wasn't on Dathomir for at least some time.

It just felt like they knew Maul would draw in viewers, not like they had a plan for his character and that was kind of a pity?!

Obviously Maul couldn't interfere with pre-existing canon but at some point I really wondered why he was still in the story considering that Ezra's literal use of the darkside, due to Mauls prior influence & the holocron, for what we can assume to be months never mattered again after a single episode for some reason.

I love seeing Maul but I wished they did more with his character? I mean, it hurts to read e.g. Son of Dathomir, but it's still good and builds his character.

The only major thing I found consistent was him missing Savage, which obviously just broke my heart.

Dying by Kenobi's hand was poetic, but of course really sad and I wished there had been more to this scene - either conveyed through animation/dialouge or by having them part ways differently.

Also I can't believe Maul - a criminal mastermind - didn't manage to figure out that Kenobi was on Tatooine after seeing Twin Suns for almost the majority of a season. You know. The guy who used to track and hunt down whomever Sidious required him too for years. The same zabrak that basically ran a prison into the ground in lockdown whilst not/barely even touching upon his force powers and finding the dealer who managed to stay undercover for probably decades. Also the planet they literally first met.

I know the creators and Sam Witwer have repeatedly liked Maul to Sisyphus, but I don't think this applies to Rebel's Maul. Rebel's Maul, besides his motivation/need to find a new brother apprentice, just seems so hopeless and borderline suicidal? He doesn't know if it's worth trying anymore, which makes the idea of running a criminal empire so odd, seeing as he knows his insignificance to Sidious, whose downfall is all he is really yearning/hoping for. I know that his desperation always rivals his intense need to survive, but I really didn't got the latter from Rebels.

Idk, maybe it's just me, but I'm very keen on your thoughts.

(2/2) I'm asking you in particular about Rebels Maul because I feel like maybe I might be missing something or am lacking a certain insight into his character which you might have.

I think Solo made about as much sense as tits on a boar. I even said that when it came out. Maul's whole purpose to building a criminal empire was to have enough power to get to Kenobi. He had no interest in being rich or anything else, and frankly, even in TCW, he left Almec to run things on Mandalore while he nursed his grudge. So this whole Crimson Dawn crap is just-- weak. It makes no sense. It was fanservice.

I'm sure I've written my opinions on Rebels before, but in brief:

1.) Maul's characterization wasn't terrible, but the writing was super fucking lazy. No kidding. Especially his ending. That was Filoni basically splooging all over himself about how dEeeEEeP he was being without realizing... man, nothing here even makes sense. He took a character he didn't create and didn't want to bring back in the first place and giggled to himself behind his stupid hat because he got to kill him off. Since Disney's shit, they're like, "Oh, sure."

2.) Maul already hurt Kenobi and took his revenge when he skewered Satine. Like you, I think the only reason he would have sought Kenobi out would have been because he wanted closure. Be it death or simply some ending. I explored what would have happened had Kenobi been a proper adult and apologized for his part in Maul's suffering when I wrote In defiance, because I absolutely believe they could have done some considerably more interesting with all of that.

3.) Honestly, like-- every time they've killed Maul off in canon, it's been a dumbass mistake. Because he's popular and once you close-end a character, it becomes a lot harder to do anything meaningful with them in canon. Because they offed him, he will never have a genuinely meaty storyline again and will forever be relegated to cheap cameos that capitalize on his popularity.

Dunno if that's what you're looking for Anon-buddy. Mostly, I just think the ending of Maul in Rebels came down to super lazy writing.

[sagemcmae]

20 Questions - Writer’s Edition

Thank you for tagging me @chierafied​ 💕💕💕

How many works do you have on AO3? 79

What’s your total AO3 word count? 1,820,522

How many fandoms have you written for and what are they? Technically, 2 (Star Wars and Inuyasha), though it looks like (5) because of the cross-overs

What are your top 5 fics by kudos? Hit Me With Your Best Shot (Reylo) He angled his head away just enough for her attempt to miss before he brought both her arms down in front of her, so he could wrap his hand around both of her wrists. With his free hand, he cupped her face, forcing her to look at him.  “It’s done.” He had a warning tone in his voice. “Yield.” MMA fighter, Kylo Ren is suspended from the league and sentenced to community service at his uncle’s martial arts academy. There he meets Rey Niima, a recent graduate with a natural ability and incredible potential. Two Truths & a Lie (Reylo) “My favorite color is black.” “I prefer pizza over cake.” “I think I'm falling in love with you.” Or in others words, Kylo Ren, Editor-in-Chief, should not drink alone with his beguiling staff writer, Rey Andor after hours. Silver & Gold (SessKag) Kagome finds a wounded stray in the park and takes him in. Seemingly indifferent to her, the dog serves as a quiet companion who eases her loneliness. He becomes a constant in her routine until one night changes everything. Kagome wakes up to an arm draped around her waist — a pale arm with purple markings. Lessons in Parenting (SessKag) Sesshomaru finds Rin not as a child but as an infant. Unsure how to care for a baby, he seeks help from the only trustworthy human he knows: his brother's miko. *2nd Place Winner - 'Best Characterization' for Feudal Connection's 2021 3rd Quarterly Inuyasha Fandom Awards!* If Found, Please Return (Reylo) Rey knows what it's like to be abandoned, so when she returns a lost dog to his posh Manhattan address, she gives his owner an earful. The only problem is, the dog's owner isn't the arrogant redhead she screamed at. It's Ben Solo, the world-renowned actor. And he's just offered her a job.

Do you respond to comments, why or why not? Yes (or at least I try to). If someone takes the time to read my story and leave me a note, I want to thank them. Each time I see a new note in my Inbox, I’m like 😍😍😍 And I understand how busy RL can be so I appreciate anyone who takes the time to let me know their thoughts.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending? If you’ve read my work, you know I’m not big on sad endings. I prefer happy ones, mostly because life is draining enough as it is. But in terms of fic endings, if I had to pick one, I’d say: Before the Dawn.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending? This is a tough one. I guess it depends on how you define ‘happiest’. If you categorize it by the fluffiest (it’s all about the feel-good vibes 🥰 ), then I’d have to go with Melt or First Words for the SessKag fandom and Sight Unseen for the Reylo fandom.

Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve written? Yes. I’m not sure if it’s the craziest one, but the one I’m most proud of is Happenstance which is my Inuyasha/Harry Potter crossover, featuring SessKag. I put a lot of research into it to meld the worlds together without compromising what makes each fandom so special to me. It’s definitely the fic that I’m most proud of writing.

Have you ever received hate on a fic? Yep, a lot of people think Reylo is a toxic relationship. And there are those who have strong feelings about SessKag too. Some have commented to me about the fact that Yashahime is canon and SessKag is dead....which makes me laugh but whatever helps you sleep at night.

Do you write smut? If so what kind? I have but lately it’s been a struggle. I focus more on intimacy (in whatever form that takes depending on the pace of the story).

Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I’m aware of...

Have you ever had a fic translated? Yes, a few have been translated into Spanish and Russian.

Have you ever co-written a fic before? Waaaaaaay back in the FFnet days, a friend and I co-wrote a fic together but between our RL schedules we never finished. I actually don’t even know if it’s still posted since it was under her account.

What’s your all time favorite ship? That’s another tough one. TRoS really burned me and my love of Star Wars has suffered for it.

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will? Of Scales & Sky. I was so excited about this fic but my motivation has died from all the discourse in the fandom and the on-going saga of bad decisions Disney makes in regards to the SW franchise.

What are your writing strengths? Characterization is very important to me. Even if I’m putting the characters is a very non-canon premise, I want them to remain as in-character as possible.

What are your writing weaknesses? Finding the time to write. 🥲 This year has been particularly chaotic for me for several reasons.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic? I did write some Japanese when I re-entered the SessKag fandom with Silver & Gold. I had one very adamant reviewer who kept DM-ing me that I sounded stupid and should stop. It was very discouraging. After asking around in the fandom, other writers suggested doing what I wanted but if I’m writing in English, the primary language should remain English.

What was the first fandom you wrote for? Labyrinth. When I was 13, my friend and I used to go to her house after school, sit on separate couches across from each other on our separate laptops, and write fanfiction. (*smiles* those were great times!) I often wrote in my notebooks (instead of taking notes in class) and was constantly posting on FFnet. But I also never finished anything because I was constantly distracted by other things.

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written? That’s like asking which child is my most favorite. 😂🤣😂 Happenstance is the fic that I’m most proud of. I feel like as a writer, it was the most challenging for me because of the continuity of the story line with the element of mystery. Shadow Song was written on a whim and quickly became one of my favorites and then there is Sanguis Sanguinem Meum which flowed so naturally that I wrote the entire thing in a couple of months.

Tagging: @sereia1313 @harlecorn @tmwillson3 @reysexualkylo

[ramblingguy54]

Re Mabel, Lilith and Marcy getting flak— I wonder if it has to do with what seems to be a general aversion to female characters acting selfishly, especially if it has consequences. Like, I feel that's a huge part of why the live action Disney remakes fall so flat; women/girls *all* have to be "strong female character who never does anything selfish or wrong". So instead of being seen as what they are (great characters with strong arcs) Mabel, Marcy and Lilith get, as you said, demonized.

Disney remakes I'd say do contribute to the issue of how those interpret other female character depicted in a more flawed manner as simply selfish people and nothing more. However, that's simply a drop in the bucket being apart of a much larger issue of how female characters are depicted throughout stories. This isn't just a problem to be found in other Disney related material, such as their remakes portraying their iconic female leads, rather it's one rooted in shallow writing as early when the whole mantra, "Girl power!", became a an unfortunate trope some stories still utilize to this very day. Female characters aren't allowed to show weakness whatsoever. They've gotta be strong, unwavering, and perfect role models to follow, right?

See, therein lies a serious contradiction. It's not about gender whether you're male, female, or choosing to be both, depending on your lifestyle. They're all people and what do we undeniably share as a trait? Something binding us together symbolically?

Weaknesses. We’re all vulnerable, carry baggage, and even are capable of doing selfish stuff hurting people when we didn’t intend to. People follow what they believe in their convictions to be “correct” from developed ideologies. Buckets of grey, more or less.

Let me throw an example out here. Belle from Disney’s 2D animated iteration of Beauty & The Beast showed what a strong female lead can be capable of. She took none of Gaston’s shallow nonsense, was conflicted about her place in their judgmental village, and most importantly didn’t see Beast’s humanity, until being saved from the wolf pack attack. Belle was a role model who was strong, capable, and intelligent, yet didn’t rely on shallow ideas I mentioned above.

A consistent issue I’ve tend to notice is people zeroing in on a characters actions, rather than observing why they went about committing them, or simply ignoring outside forces, like other characters, playing a role in, too?

Mabel’s selfish desires caused Weirdmageddon!

Marcy’s fear of being alone got them all stranded in Amphibia!

Lilith is responsible for Eda’s pain and suffering with this curse!

Mabel being solely responsible for Weirdmageddon is a take I’ve seen people throw around leaving me absolutely puzzled by this mind set. How is it the girl’s fault when Dipper & Ford decided to keep that orb containing a dimensional rift Bill needed their little secret? Those two made a choice to keep something under wraps for their own reasons, which came back to bite them pretty damn hard. Mabel was terrified of the future, growing up, drifting away from her brother, and most importantly was scared of becoming bitter about it all. There’s a reason why Mabel stated to Dipper in A Tale Of Two Stans, “Can you promise me you won’t get stupid...?”, given it was foreshadowing her inevitable breakdown of trying to run away from these issues.

Bill Cipher took advantage of an emotionally desperate kid’s need for an uncompromising happy ending is what it all boils down to. Mabel’s only morally questionable action was not wanting to accept their reality, which Dipper had to snap her out of this self destructive behavior. Hiding away in some imaginative place doesn’t fix the problems you’ve got in front of yourself. They’ll only grow bigger. An important rule of life is allowing change to happen, but it’s equally so to remember how crucial a stable family connection is, too. Dipper leaving Mabel to struggle alone in life wouldn’t have been an ideal scenario for either of them. Something I’ve seen people seem to forget is after Dipper helps Mabel become content they think she’s getting her way, while he is giving up his dream. Yet, for some reason, people forget this small important exchange between the two.

“Hey, Dipper. I appreciate what you said back there, but, if you want to take Ford’s apprenticeship, I won’t get in your way.”

“And miss out on your awkward teen years? You wish!”

Mabel gave Dipper a third option to pursue his goals, if he genuinely wanted this dream of working underneath that author of those journals the kid was crazy about. However, Dipper saw Mabel, as well as the message of family ties, more important than anything else, even working underneath Ford. To Dipper, Mabel’s sibling bond was his greatest dream to fulfill. While Mabel may not be a character I gravitate towards, as Dipper is someone I relate to a lot more, she did experience a journey of emotional growth in learning to understand Dipper’s needs are just as important as her’s. The sock puppet episode encapsulated this idea of her developing maturity.

Marcy Wu’s entire arc in Season 2 was very interesting to see play out. There’s a defining difference in how Marcy’s a lot more independent, than she used to be when Anne watched over her at their school. While she still can be clumsy, Marcy has become very physically competent in taking on riskier situations demanding precise accuracy. Although, there’s a definite lingering fear of solitude when Anne was going to let the Plantars leave her behind in Newtopia. True Colors’ revelations completely add a new layer to it.

Knowing now Marcy didn’t want to be alone without Anne & Sasha re-contextualizes this moment of remorse from her. Sure, she’s sad to see the Plantars go too because the girl is also fond of them, much like Anne. However, another thing I’d say it’s because she didn’t want to see Anne leave, naturally. In spite of these conflicting feelings, Marcy reluctantly lets her return to Wartwood not only considering she knew they’d meet up again, but maybe it could be out of possible guilt for playing a part in manipulating Anne & Sasha into taking the Calamity Box. I wouldn’t put it past Marcy if this was part of her reasoning. After all, she was quick in trying to make amends, by saving Sprig from dropping to his death and sending Anne back home to protect her from Andrias’ wrath. Whatever thing Marcy could do to show her compassion she would gladly do.

If the theory of Marcy having a rocky relationship with her parents is confirmed in Season 3, I’m theorizing it’s more against her father than mother, it puts another weight of tragedy onto why she trusted Andrias so much with spilling her heart out to him. Marcy thought she’d finally found an adult, who wouldn’t undermine her beliefs, personality, and actions. Marcy didn’t view Andrias just as a friend, rather a father figure she felt comfortable venting her emotional issues toward. Andrias saw this kid with low self esteem issues thinking, “Yeah, she’ll be a perfect pawn to use and throw away when I get what I need.”, making Marcy Wu arguably the most tragic character in this trio of people used as a tool by a greater evil.

Marcy never intended to hurt Anne or Sasha. She only wanted to live a life free of pain, which her dream was mangled severely by Andria’s ambition for multiverse conquest. This girl was someone who wanted everything in their world. Marcy didn’t know the box would accurately work, even if she did use her friends in a highly morally wrong fashion. Although, the kid read about this box in a book, so Marcy did have an idea being somewhat aware what she was getting herself into. At least, more so than Anne & Sasha were, who thought it was a silly looking item to steal from a thrift shop.

Seeing everything fall apart for Marcy, as her friends back away from this haunting realization, is easily on my list of top crushing moments from the series. It rivals that of Sasha willing to fall to her death to save Anne’s in exchange. There’s such a poetic gut punch in bringing it full circle for Marcy. She wanted everlasting friendship, but now Marcy’s decision caused them to step away from her. In terms of lighting, I love the dramatic nuance of having a shadow cast over her. Marcy stands alone by herself to stir in emotional grief. No one there is gonna comfort Marcy, preferring to let their silence speak loudly. 

Marcy Wu desired to have her cake and eat it, too. The poor kid lost her friends, trust in Andrias, and her own life, in spite of it being temporary, trying to make amends for all this guilt. She wished so badly to have freedom to choose, only to have none at all in the end. The moral of this story is be careful what you wish for.

Lilith’s whole issue she struggles to overcome is realizing how flawed and corrupt the Emperor’s Coven is, as well as the idea of Covens’ in general. Lilith’s mentality was all about order, control, and obligation to a greater magical cause. What added depth to Lilith’s character is her connection to Eda wasn’t an obligation of some kind. She loved being there for her sister determined to do anything to undo the curse Lilith placed upon Eda in their childhood. Belos saw a prime opportunity through Lilith to use her sister as leverage, so she wouldn’t compromise that oath to the Coven for Eda’s safety. Any episode focusing screen time on their dynamic you can sense the love and respect Lilith has toward Eda, regardless of their differing views on how magic operates. She still cares for her.

The tragic twist of Lilith being responsible for Eda’s curse shows the circumstances of their sisterhood being challenged by this very world they live in. Lilith only went through with cursing Eda because of Belos’ mentality about winning by any means necessary to justify the end result. It’s exactly why Lilith wanted Eda to join her Coven to heal this curse and make her abide by the laws she believes in, killing two birds with one stone. Lilith being bitter about Eda’s skills surpassing her own for that magical competition certainly played a part.

It’s made more than evident in their climatic confrontation in Agony of a Witch. Eda calls out Lilith’s incompetence, as their exchanging blows in finding it hilariously ironic she can’t be beaten at her worst. Lilith, having enough of being criticized, spills the beans about how it was so easy to curse her. Again, Lilith was only speaking out of bitter rage when she blurted the truth. She never took an ounce of enjoyment in hurting her sister, as you can clearly see the immediate regret and hurt written across this woman’s face. This isn’t the face of someone who relishes in their sibling’s suffering. It’s the face of somebody that has made a terrible mistake. A mistake Lilith never wanted Eda to find out about wanting to sweep it under the rug. To know your sibling has placed a curse on you in the most awful fashion would anger any person in that unfortunate position.

Lilith wanted to make amends, but the damage was already done. There wasn’t a chance Eda would hear out her sister’s pleas after dropping a bombshell of this magnitude. Eda had enough of Lilith preaching about order for the greater good when she pulled a toxic double standard putting something chaotic upon her. To have a curse placed, which can transform anyone into a mindless creature, endangering everyone you care about stings all the more to know it was her sister. It wasn’t someone with an evil master plan, like Belos. This culprit was someone Eda placed her trust into, since childhood. Who’d be there to the share that pain of scraping her knee had the gull to put her through this kind of Hell. The sad truth is, Lilith didn’t want any of this to occur. That curse was only meant to last a day and Eda wouldn’t have any more problems. A worst case scenario of something minor transforming into a larger issue.

It’s a disturbing reality check for Lilith when Belos, being the clever manipulator, uses the very knowledge she valued against her in justifying petrifying Eda. This flips everything Lilith held dear in her own values upside down. What she thought was “correct” for years only badly affected their world and citizens. Belos undermining her hopes for Eda’s cure defining it all under their Titan’s will to dispose of anyone, who doesn’t follow their rules, paints a genocidal picture to what Lilith viewed through rose tinted glasses. She wasn’t supporting an individual of equality, but one of a power hungry dictatorship. Belos was going to slaughter all people or any living sentient creature that stood in his way.

While I wouldn’t call Lilith’s arc great, as Season 1 did suffer from Disney executive meddling with Dana’s vision of the series, it was certainly a good one, overall. There’s a real weight and somber symbolism to Lilith being a product of a flawed magical system. Season 2 could easily explore more of her redemption because denouncing your beliefs after holding them stubbornly to your heart isn’t an easy thing to process mentally. Lilith devoted herself to that idealism for so very long, where you don’t just move on from all that with a flick of a switch, so I’m very interested in seeing what Dana and her crew will accomplish next for Lilith’s development. They could easily very well remedy problems in pacing I had with Season 1.

To sum up this very lengthy answer of mine, please keep writing more complex female characters. Break the boundaries of stereotypes that women shouldn’t show vulnerability. It makes for a more introspective story, instead of conforming to stories following a silly status quo for women in fiction. 

[chierafied]

20 Questions: Writer’s Edition!

Thanks so much for the tag, @blitheringmcgonagall​ and @the-dream-team​! 💙💙💙 I was really hoping to get to do this one lol

***

How many works do you have on AO3

300 (though I’ve yet to post 8 fics from my backlog there)

What’s your total AO3 word count?

1 281 330

How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

Three. SessKag (Inuyasha), Jily (Harry Potter) and IchiRuki (Bleach)

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

If I did the REAL top 5 fics by Kudos it would be all SessKag and my answers overall are very SessKag heavy as is so I went with top 2 SessKag, top 2 Jily and top 1 IchiRuki instead.

1. Life After Loss

This was not the happily ever after Kagome had always dreamt about. This could not be happening to her, not after everything they had gone through... She never knew that her whole world could screech to a complete halt in a blink of an eye.

SessKag, M, Chapter Fic, 98k words

2. Stranger Than Fiction

The books have been all the craze recently, boasting an epic adventure set in the chaos of Sengoku Jidai. Kagome has steered clear from them; she has spent quite enough time dwelling in the past as is. However, when her roommate and a die-hard fan  of the book series laments the latest plot twist, Kagome realises that the accursed books might be hitting even closer to home than she ever suspected. 

SessKag, T, One Shot, 913 words

3. #Jily

Twitter seemed awash with the hashtag Jily. Lily blinked at in confusion, until she realised it was one of those silly couple monikers people had  bestowed on her and Potter. …Though there was a small dissenting crowd following a tweet from Potter’s bandmate Sirius Black: Jily? Hah! More like LAMES. 

Jily, G, One Shot, 2,991 words

4. Much Tweeting About Crushing

James has a hopeless crush on his neighbour and tweets about it, which is fine. Until Evans follows him. 

Jily, T, One Shot, 3,050 words

5. Miscalculation

Rukia planted her elbows on the table and steepled her fingers. “I want my brother to think we’re dating so I can get him off my back.” Ichigo scoffed at her. “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.” 

IchiRuki, T, Two Shot, 1,820 words

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

Yes and no? 😅 For a long time I had a policy that I’d reply to comments if I had something more to say than just “thanks”.

Nowadays I reply to nearly every comment I get on AO3. I feel if the people bother to take the time to comment, the least I can do is thank them and I’ve made some friends in the comment section along the years too. But all that said... since I went on my hiatus I haven’t really been replying to my comments on Dokuga much, the clunky reply system there makes it feel like a big hassle which makes it feel draining. 😅

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Hmm, Probably either Foil (SK) or Vagary (SK)?

... And I just realised Vagary is another one I never posted on AO3 argh when will the backlog end???

What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

Probably Life After Loss, all things considered. 💙

Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

I’ve never written proper crossover, i.e. characters from different series interacting but I’ve written crossover fusions i.e. charas from series 1 in the setting of series 2, such as Disney AUs etc.

The craziest one would be probably the SessKag Star Wars AU because I’m not a Star Wars fan and know very little of it but it was requested so... 🙈

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

I got Anon hate at one point from an anti-shipper on my IchiRuki fic on FFnet, it was wild. 🤣

And maybe not as far as hate but the notorious plot twist on Chain of Love (SK) was very much criticised to the point where even years later when I got a comment notification for Chain I would inwardly flinch. 😅

Do you write smut? If so what kind?

I don’t.

I have written and will write a sex scene if the story requires it (most recently in Do I Remind You Of Somewhere You Wanna Be, SK). But they are never explicit in nature, I’m not naming genitals or anything lol. The thing is, if I have to write sex I want to keep it... tasteful, for the lack of a better word. So a term like smut, with connotation to dirtiness would never apply to my writing.

(Back in the day, because I don’t write explicit scenes I did not consider my sex scenes “lemons” either. Which is why I’m still cackling about the fact that Chain once won the 1st place award for a best lemon scene.)

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yes, I have. Chain was posted on Wattpad without my knowledge or permission. It is wild having to file a DMCA over a fanfic. 😂

Have you ever had a fic translated?

I have! Some of my SessKag one shots have been translated to Spanish, I believe!

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I’ve tried, with a close IRL friend of mine, but as our attempts never got very far I wouldn’t say I really have. 😅

What’s your all time favorite ship?

Oof, that’s a tough one. Maybe IchiRuki?

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Probably the Bodyguard AU (JL) and the Shotgun AU (JL)? I love both of these stories a lot but I’m very much in the beginning with them and both are ideas I’ve had for years yet have never really been able to actively work on?

What are your writing strengths?

Hmm. I feel my writing style leans towards short and simple so it’s easily approachable? I think I’m pretty good with dialogue. Sometimes, I can do a lot with very few words. And I think I’m fairly good at slipping in little details or giving a sense of backstory, even if it’s a short one shot?

What are your writing weaknesses?

I suffer from a perpetual lack of motivation that I try to combat with having a writing routine. I’m slow to update because unless I’m inspired which never happens or am on a deadline crunch I am perfectly comfortable just adding 300-500 words to my WIP and calling it a day. I loathe editing so I rarely do much else than a cursory proofread before posting.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

My initial thought is why? 😂 I mean I guess I don’t mind but I feel using another language in the fic should be justified and done in moderation. Personally, I probably wouldn’t write dialogue in another language.

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Okay so the first fic I ever actually wrote/published was a 2nd gen arranged marriage fic for The Belgariad and The Malloreon, my favourite book series growing up. The fic, which fizzled out after 2 or so chapters, was deleted years ago lol

SessKag came second. 😉

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

*vaguely gestures at the 300+ fics* It’s pretty much impossible to choose among my children but if you put a gun to my head I’ll say Life After Loss.

Tagging: @drosselmeyerwrites @mythicamagic @sagemcmae @stormielikeweather @wbficaholic

[the-blue-fairie]

An Extremely Personal Look at my Disconnect with Frozen 2

I’m trans and I’ve been closeted for so long that being in the closet has begun to feel like a futile routine, an inescapability born of my own weakness.

That’s... not how a post about a Disney film usually starts, is it?

But, like the title of my post says, this reflection is personal. I’m allowing myself to be vulnerable.

Because of my life experience, I’ve connected deeply with the character of Elsa over the years. I suppose that’s not a surprise. Elsa’s powers can serve as a broad metaphor for aspects of someone’s identity that others can stigmatize - whether that be read as gender, sexuality, anxiety, or depression. Part of the reason Elsa became so incredibly popular in the first film is because her struggle with her powers could reflect so many various people’s struggles with their own identities.

Frozen 2 actually leans into that broad metaphor of Elsa’s powers reflecting personal identity - a part of oneself that is unique but beautiful in its uniqueness. The lyrics of Show Yourself reinforce this, telling Elsa that “you are the one you’ve been waiting for all of your life.” So I should love Frozen 2. I want to love Frozen 2. There are things I absolutely do love about Frozen 2.

But I have a complicated disconnect with the way the film approaches the origin of Elsa’s powers.

 The film makes Elsa’s powers a gift from the spirits - and also suggests that they are a gift for Iduna because she saved Agnarr’s life. By introducing the idea that Elsa’s powers originate not because of anything to do with Elsa herself but because of an event that happened before Elsa was even born, the film kind of undermines the metaphor of Elsa’s powers reflecting a key aspect of her identity.

Identity doesn’t work like that. I’m not trans because of other people’s actions. My trans-ness is a part of me. It comes from me. It wasn’t decided that I was trans so that my mother could have a “reward” for her own righteousness. If some divinity did bestow my trans-ness upon me, I would be disturbed to find out if they didn't do it for my sake - if they did it because my mother did something and I was only an aspect of the equation insomuch as I related to her...

To me, that thought isn’t empowering. And it still wouldn’t be empowering even if my mother were as loving as Iduna - because it would tell me that I’m only a vessel...

There’s a difference between saying, “Elsa is a gift because Iduna’s good deed was rewarded with her,” and saying, “Elsa is a gift simply because she is who she is, Elsa is a gift by simply existing.” One is conditional and one is unconditional. One uses Elsa to prop up Iduna’s actions and the other loves Elsa for herself.

(Also, I’d argue that a better gift for Iduna’s goodness would be to let her see her family again. Why cut the Northuldra off from the world when the fault was solely Arendelle’s? I’ve seen some people speculate that Arendelle could have wiped the Northuldra out after Runeard’s death and the mist protects them, but what does that reading make us think of Agnarr if we assume he could be complicit in genocide? Why “protect” the Northuldra in a way that will negatively psychologically impact a generation of them? Why let them suffer? No, that rationale doesn’t make sense to me. The whole mist scenario smacks of the “both-sides-ism” of white writers - but that’s a discussion for another time, a discussion I’m not really qualified to comment on in depth. I need to return to Elsa.)  

The interesting thing is, after introducing the concept that the spirits gifted Elsa’s powers to celebrate Iduna’s nobility, the film doesn’t really bring up that angle again. Instead, it tries to frame “we made you a gift for someone else’s sake in a scenario where your individual identity is irrelevant because you did not even yet have a consciousness” and “you are a gift by being you” as being the same thing. But those two things are not the same.

Before F2, Elsa continually frames herself based on what she can do for the sake of others - even at the expense of herself. Clearly, with Frozen 2, the filmmakers wanted to have Elsa come into fuller self-acceptance and love herself for being herself - but that isn’t quite what they wrote. By making Elsa a reward for her mother and defining her powers based only on how Elsa relates to her, the film itself frames Elsa based on what she can be for the sake of others - while disregarding Elsa’s own selfhood and identity. Elsa’s self-identity is so immaterial to the decision to give her powers that it happens before she is even born.

I know the film may not have intended this, but it ends up validating Elsa’s negative thought processes in the act of nominally ‘refuting’ them. All because of those few lines trying to explain why Elsa has powers.

Show Yourself tries to fix this by basically brushing aside the “you were a gift from the spirits for Iduna’s actions” revelation and focusing on Iduna and Elsa’s familial connection and love. This is why Show Yourself is so much more amazing than the earlier revelation and an admittedly breathtaking scene. The focus becomes “you are the one you’ve been waiting for all of your life” - you are a gift to the world simply by being you - and that is so much better than the earlier revelation, but the damage of the earlier revelation has already been done.

Now, the film has two slightly different interpretations of the word “gift” that it tries to use interchangeably - in spite of the fact those two interpretations subtly contradict. The film never comes back to the “gift for Iduna’s good deed” element. It doesn’t establish that what happens in Ahtohallan is an expansion of that or an emendation to that. It doesn’t address the dubious implications of it. It just brushes it aside, never to explore it again.

Indeed, as I’ve said in other posts, if you take out those few lines from earlier, you lose the internal narrative contradiction and the film actually becomes stronger.

So why are they there at all?

I think they’re there because they give a seemingly simple, external explanation for why Elsa has powers. Show Yourself is more focused on what being at peace with yourself means to Elsa emotionally (that’s why it’s better, in my opinion), but the “the spirits gave her powers because of her mother” lines are there because the writers felt they needed to give a direct explanation of Elsa’s magic.

Here’s a hot take, though: Elsa’s powers work better without an explanation. The fact she was just “born with them” in the first film was part of what led to her broad appeal. It allowed countless people to latch onto her because - people who society deems “other?” We’re just people. We’re ordinary. We’re human. We just are. The first film understood this - and for all of Elsa’s magical abilities, she was allowed to just be. And the lack of any lore surrounding Elsa’s powers meant that scores of different people could identify with Elsa. Her powers were vague enough that they could stand in for any unique aspect of an individual’s identity. The point wasn’t where they came from; the point was what they meant.

But after the first film came out, I kept seeing the refrain: “Why do they never explain Elsa’s powers? That’s a plot hole.” it isn’t a plot hole. It isn’t a plot hole any more than not explaining how the Wicked Queen in Snow White got a magic mirror is a plot hole. Something being unexplained isn’t a plot hole. That’s not what “plot hole” means. But I can understand why the writers, after hearing things like that for years, felt like they had to address that explanation.

And in doing so, they tried admirably to connect that plot point to an internal journey for Elsa - and created some absolutely beautiful elements within the film - like Show Yourself. Although, in this post, I’m documenting flaws I see in Frozen 2 and my own disconnect with it, I want to stress that I respect the artists and creatives who brought the film into being and I value their work.

In the process of their efforts, however, they inadvertently opened up internal contradictions within their own narrative; opened up unfortunate implications when it came to their commentary on colonization; and opened up unfortunate implications when it came to their discussions of individuality and identity.

As I have said, there is much I admire about Frozen 2. And I know that my words here come from a very personal place. If Elsa’s arc in Frozen 2 works for you, you’re valid. This isn’t a takedown of Frozen 2. None of my more critical posts about Frozen 2 are. I don’t want to take anything away from you. You’re valid.

It’s just that my perspective is valid too. I know, there are scores of critiques of Frozen 2 and some of them are absolutely terrible or just plain racist, but I hope that as you read this, you’ll understand that my perspective comes from the heart and that I’ve done my best to support it with examples from the text of the film. I hope that you’ll read this. I’m writing it to be heard - because I feel like my perspective gets drowned out a lot, regardless of the posts I make. Flashier positive posts draw one part of the fandom’s attention and flashier and more toxic negative posts draw another part’s attention.

I’m just trying to express my thoughts in a cohesive way, trying to be heard and trying not to feel guilty. (Because I do feel guilty writing posts like these. I get scared that people resent them or that I’m spoiling other people’s fun - even though more toxic people make much more incoherent arguments and they don’t feel guilt, while I try to support all my claims.) I feel like I’m relentlessly apologetic to others, always begging, I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry, always... feeling guilty for even having a perspective like this. As though I feel there’s something wrong with me for simply having a perspective. As though I’m scared it somehow invalidates all the good things I’ve said about the film elsewhere or will make people hate me.

(Not to connect everything back to my being closeted, but I feel like that entrenches a guilt in me that manifests even as I talk about innocuous things like fandom opinions). 

But I just... want to speak. I hope that’s not bad, is it? And I hope this post finds a receptive audience. I know it’s personal. I know it’s heavily informed by my own personal experience and perspective, but I hope it’s nuanced. And I hope people will read it and, even if they approach the film differently than me, understand. 

Thank you.

[redstarwriting]

Period Pain (2nd Edition)

Avengers x Reader(s)

Request: “This is a specific request but could I have a story where the reader has their period (A bad one, heavy and painful) and the Avengers (Anyones you want) take care of them. Please make it extra fluffy.”

Word Count: 2,759

Genre: Fluff

Warnings: swearing, period, mention of Ibuprofen

A/N: The first one of these did Really Well so I decided to write for the rest of the people I didn’t write about. I still have to do the Guardians, Loki, Valkyrie, and Carol, so keep your eyes out for those ones, too! I hope you enjoy this one!

───────────────────────────────────

Mother Nature must really hate you. You can’t move, your cramps are restricting you from functioning like a normal human being. The only time you got up today was to go to the bathroom to make sure you didn’t ruin your clothes and the sheets. You’ve been curled up in a ball for the past many hours, and even snapped at your significant other earlier. You feel bad deep down inside, but the pain you’re feeling overrides your remorse right now. You’re in the middle of your self loathing and hating being a female when in walks…

…Rhodey.

He walks slowly and quietly, making his way over to your bathroom. “Why the fuck are you walking like I’m a feral animal that will literally leap up and maul you to death if you make a sudden movement you fucking weird ass?” you say, louder than intended. He freezes, looking at you. “Did you not hear what you just said? How you just said it?”

“I did. Your point?”

“I just proved my-”

“What are you doing, James?” you look at him, your expression completely unamused. He’s actually quite scared and begins rethinking the idea he had. But he clears his throat and straightens his back. “I was just going to run you a bath so you can relax a little. I heard heat helps with the… girl pains?” You stare at him, raising your eyebrows. “They’re called cramps,” you say, and he smiles apologetically. “I heard heat helps with the cramps,” he repeats, and to his surprise, you smile. “You’re the sweetest, you know that?” He gapes at you, amazed at how your mood went from bloodthirsty to loving that quickly. “I try my hardest?” he replies, obviously very confused. “Let me know when everything’s ready, okay?” You sound very excited and happy and he smiles at you, “Of course.”

…Pietro.

Well, it’s more like you see a flash of blue, then have a weighted blanket covering you, then nothing. About two minutes pass before you see the flash again, and a heating pad is next to you on your bed. Then after another two minutes, some chocolate and your favorite food gets plopped down on your nightstand. You appreciate everything your dear loving boyfriend is doing, but goddamnit. Can he stay still? You just want him to hug you and stop. Moving. For. Once.

Before you know it, he’s sprinting in the room again, and you announce his name loudly, and it is quite possibly the fastest you ever said anything in your life. Much to your surprise and happiness he stops dead in his tracks. You can’t help but laugh at the expression on his face and the four bottles of water with a container of Ibuprofen in his hands. “Why are you running around like that?”

“Well, uh… you see…” he begins, slowly setting the things in his hands down next to the food he brought. “I know you are on your period right now and having a sister I know what that can entail,” he starts, and you stare at him with an amused expression. “Uh-huh…”

“And, well, I know what helps Wanda, but I do not know what helps you. So… I asked Wanda what I should do and now I am… doing all of what she suggested along with a google search. But I did not own all of the things I wanted to get for you, so I have been running back and forth from the store this whole time. Also, you are scary when you are mad. Especially when you are mad at me,” he finishes, and you burst into laughter. “Pietro, that’s adorable. Also, I was only mad at you because you gave me a reason to be mad at you. So, don’t give me another reason,” you say, and he smiles. His smile, however, turns quickly to a scared expression as he hears you say, “Now if you don’t get into this bed and cuddle with me and don’t leave, then I’ll be pissed!”

He has your favorite cookies baking in the oven. What is he supposed to do now?

…Stephen.

“I brought you some more Ibuprofen,” he says, walking over and setting it down next to you. “I hope it helps.” You glare at the back of his head as he leaves the room again. Dealing with this with medicine and heating pads works, yes, but you’d much rather have the warmth radiating off of Stephen’s body to make you feel better. Sadly, it doesn’t look like that’s about to happen.

He may be book smart as all hell, but boy is he dumb when it comes to dealing with literally anything else. He of course tries, but he is so clueless sometimes. This is one of those times. He knows that certain over the counter medicines will lessen your cramps, and that typically applying heat also helps with the pain that accompanies one of your organs genuinely attempting suicide inside of your body, but he really doesn’t know what to do to actually comfort you. He of course thought of laying down with you, holding you until you felt better. However, that wouldn’t be very efficient for him. He needs to make sure the universe doesn’t implode, after all. He can tell, though, that all you want is for him to be around because of the way you’ve been snapping at him all day. Luckily, he thought of another plan that he hoped would work.

You sigh into your pillow, the pain nowhere near stopping when suddenly you feel quite the cozy sensation. You turn your head, curious as to what just wrapped around your body, when you get a big whiff of your boyfriend. You giggle, realizing that the Cloak of Levitation has just wrapped you up in a little burrito. “Cloak, what are you doing?” you say, amused. That’s when a note appears next to you, and you pick it up. “Dear (Y/N), I really do wish I could keep you company right now and make you feel better, but I have quite the workload right now. Instead, I sent Cloak. I hope that’s okay for now, if I get any free time I’ll be there. I love you, Stephen.”

You smile to yourself. As much as you wanted to be mad at him, you couldn’t be. He was really busy after all, and the fact that he did think about how you felt was enough for you to know that he wasn’t as stupid as he seemed. Oh, and he did get some free time, but he didn’t want to interrupt yours and Cloak’s little nap. He just took a lot of pictures.

…Scott.

“I was thinking, maybe I can shrink up and go inside of you and see just how bad this uterus is acting and then give it a stern talking to,” he says, trying to lighten your mood by joking around. You think. He’s not serious right? “You’re not serious, right?” you ask, just to be positive that he wasn’t being a dumbass this time. “Oh no, your brain must be suffering from blood loss. Your humor is fading! Whatever shall I do?! Oh, what a cruel, cruel world,” he drops down to his knees, beginning to fake cry which causes you to giggle at him. “Calm down, Scott, my humor isn’t going anywhere. I just honestly never know when you’re being serious,” you tell him, and he gives you a grin. “Well, I can’t blame you there. I do have something that will cheer you up though.”

You give him a questioning look when all of a sudden Cassie runs into the room, hopping up next to you in bed. You smile as she snuggles into your side, giggling the whole time. “Hey there sweetie,” you say as Scot takes a seat on the bed next to Cassie, sandwiching her in between you two. “She’s been asking for hours to watch a movie, I kinda figured it would be better if all three of us watched it instead of just me and her.”

“You’re absolutely right,” you say and hear Cassie shout a “yeah” in agreement. You and Scott chuckle at her reaction before he picks up the remote to the TV in your room, scrolling through Disney+ to find the right movie.

…Peter.

Well it’s more like he came through your window. “Karen said that I should get you these things,” he starts saying as soon as he touches down in your room. You glance over to his right arm full of medicine, a heating pad, lots of chocolate, and various feminine hygiene products. “I didn’t know which… things… you used so I bought all of the ones that I could carry, I hope that’s okay. Oh, and uh… I brought a lot of chocolate! I don’t really know why Karen said it might help, do you know why it helps? I mean, I obviously wasn’t like, ’No Karen, I don’t see how chocolate could help anyone in this situation,’ because I mean I don’t really know anything when it comes to this stuff but Karen’s a computer, so obviously she would know. Oh yeah, I brought a heating pad! Heat helps right? Or is this one of those things hear heat helps sometimes but the cold helps other times, oh crap, should I have gotten Icy Hot instead? I was right there next to it when I got all this other medicine… God I’m so stup-”

“Peter!” you make him stop rambling and one of the medicine bottles he’s holding falls out of his grip, and when he tries to save it, the rest fall. You laugh at his floundering to pick everything he just dropped back up. He rips off his mask and sighs. “I was just trying to help, you know. A now it’s all on the ground and-“

“Pete, just because you dropped it doesn’t mean it’s all useless.”

“I know, I know, I was just supposed to come in here all heroic and be like, ‘I’ve brought you what you need to feel better!’ and now it’s just…. it’s on the floor,” he says, and the disappointment in his voice is only the more endearing. “C’mere, Pete,” you say, opening. your arms so he can come hug you. “I’m all sweaty, (Y/N/N),” he mumbles, and you roll your eyes. “I need to take a shower anyways Peter, right now I just want cuddles,” you say, and lay on the puppy dog eyes. Those make him ridiculously weak to you. He just grins and jumps into bed next to you. You used the things he got you, but only after Peter himself made you feel exponentially better.

…Miles.

“Knock knock,” he says, walking into your room holding a stack of comic books. “Miles, why do you have so many comics?” you ask, turning to look at him. “Well, I know you have all the things you need to feel better with this whole… bleeding… thing?”

“This is true, I am prepared.”

“I know, but I figured the one thing you don’t have that you’d want is some good ‘ol Mile Morales loving. I also know that you kinda like the sound of my voice, even when you yell at me, so I decided I’d bring these comics and read them out loud. Oh, we can also play a little game where I describe the picture to you and you can tell me if it’s any good or not, I thought that might, y’know, take your mind off the pain,” he says, walking over to you and plopping down on the bed. “Miles I don’t think this bed is big enough for the two of us,” you say, but before you can even attempt to tell him to use your computer chair, he picks you up and moves you so you’re lying on top of him in a very comfortable position. The warmth radiating off of his body also makes you feel a little bit better. “Oh, okay, well this works perfectly,” you mumble nuzzling your face in his chest. You can feel the vibrations through his body as he laughs at you.

“Sorry for snapping at you earlier,” you say, and he just smiles. “It’s okay, I know how unbearable I can be at times,” he jokes, and you grin. “Now, how about I start with… well uh… I have a lot so…” he trails off, holding up all the comics he brought so you can see them. “which one of these is your favorite…?”

…Gwen.

“Do you wanna bang on my drums? Banging on my drums helps me,” she says, leaning against your door frame. You roll your eyes and throw a pillow at her to which she catches in one hand and tosses back. “I think you should bang on my drums,” she says again, and you sigh. “Gwen, baby, even if I wanted to do that, I can’t move. My uterus is really trying to end itself right now, and I swear if it doesn’t succeed, I will end its life for it by ending my own.”

“I thought I was supposed to be the edgy one in this relationship. Are you coming for my brand right now?” she asks, walking over to you. You narrow your eyes at her, causing her to grin and sit at the foot of your bed. “Okay, well, how about this. The newest season of that true crime show came out today…”

“No fucking way, I thought it was supposed to come out Friday?”

“It was, but then they said, ‘fuck it, let’s release it early.’ And I got all of my homework done. So, I’m totally free to sit back, rub your stomach, and get my fill of murderers and how corrupt bad police officers are. What do you say?” she gives you a sincere smile, which causes one to break out across your face as well. “Come here, woman.”

…T’Challa.

“Can I just say I have fought many a warrior, but you are the most ferocious person I have ever met,” he says, and you raise an eyebrow at him. “Is this because you were being annoying earlier and I let you know that you were being annoying earlier?” you snap again, and he points at you. “There it was. Terrifying.” You roll your eyes and turn away from him. The truth is he wasn’t doing anything annoying at all. You just really wanted him to stay with you for an hour or two and make you feel better with his presence, but he had some “Kingly duties” he had to attend to, so you’ve been alone. Dying.

“I have finished what I had to do today, you know,” he says, and you roll back over to face him again. “Oh really?” He chuckles at your immediate response and nods, walking into your shared room. “Yes, it seems I am completely free for the rest of the day. I have no idea what to do, honestly. I guess I’ll just-”

“Just stay here in bed with me? Yeah, damn right you will. Get over here yOuR hIgHnEsS,” you say, quite obviously laying the sarcasm on your highness to which he smiles at. The rest of the day was spent with the two of you just talking and you eventually falling asleep in his arms as he told you stories about when he was younger.

…Shuri.

“Even though you can be a bitch on your period I invented a new kind of heating pad for you because you are a spoiled brat, you know that right?” she says, walking over to you and dropping down the heating pad next to you. You give her a cheesy smile before thanking her and picking up this new heating pad. “The way it works is that it adjusts to your cramp pain. I’ve put a censor in it that can detect how severe the cramps are and then it administers heat accordingly. Also, you don’t have to worry about it catching on fire or anything, if it begins overheating it automatically turns off.”

“How did I end up with the best and brightest girlfriend of all time?” you ask, placing the pad on your stomach and letting your girlfriend’s technology take it from there. “Because she took pity on you,” she responds, and you laugh. She rolls her eyes, but a smile appears on her face none-the-less and she begins walking out of the room again. “Excuse me, but where do you think you are going?” you ask her and she turns to you, raising her eyebrows. “I am going to get us some ice cream so we can relax for a little bit. Is this a problem, princess?”

“Hey now, you’re the princess, I’m just your girlfriend. And no, carry on. Me and your dope ass heating pad will be waiting for you when you get back.”

“Mhm,” she says, and walks out of the room mumbling something about how you’re too spoiled, when in reality, you’re just the luckiest person in the world.