#I honestly don't feel like the relationship works with so much trauma and lack of trust.

[the-genius-az]

Azula: *behaves normally*

Her omega: *leaves*

Azula: WHAT THE FUCK? *hallucinates people, cuts off her hair, growls at everyone like a rabid dragon*

Her omega: *comes back*

Azula: oh, hi, I love you, please don't leave me.

It can be cute, it can be sad as in "Azula has abandonment issues". She reacts quite strongly to her omega leaving (just like she didn't quite react well to Zuko leaving, since he was still a platonic mate back then, but she had to hide the effect of part of her pack leaving like that.

I really love the Fire Hazard Siblings and would have a whole fic about them being platonic mates but not quite a required situation.)

She doesn't kill him, but she's very smug about it and about how Mai needs the total of one time with her to get pregnant and Zuko had months/years and there was no pups in sight. Let's say Mai's parents kinda push her towards marrying Zuko – since he's the crown prince (no, in this AU it doesn't matter if Zuko isn't an alpha, it matters that he's the firstborn). Maizula is an open secret but at the same time everyone assumes Tyzula is the endgame exactly because Mai's parents say she'll marry Zuko.

She'll never trust anyone fully. And by anyone, it does include Mai (she'll love her and will mate her and have kids, but full trust? Not with all of Azula's trauma).

Details about The Boiling Rock is coming in a separate ask.

Azula is like a cat owner when said cat is comfortable. You'll be in pain for the whole week, but you do NOT move.

- Ash 🔥🍌

Thanks for this, Ash!

It can be cute, it can be sad as in "Azula has abandonment issues". She reacts quite strongly to her omega leaving.

It makes me sad, come and pay me for the psychologist.

She doesn't kill him, but she's very smug about it and about how Mai needs the total of one time with her to get pregnant and Zuko had months/years and there was no pups in sight.

Did Mai do anything about it? I mean, she took pills to avoid having Zuko's babies?

Let's say Mai's parents kinda push her towards marrying Zuko - since he's the crown prince.

And? Did Mai just do what they wanted? Didn't he fight for the love he has for Azula?

Maizula is an open secret but at the same time everyone assumes Tyzula is the endgame exactly because Mai's parents say she'll marry Zuko.

What does Mai think about her Alpha being paired with Ty Lee? And Ty Lee's opinion?

She'll never trust anyone fully. And by anyone, it does include Mai (she'll love her and will mate her and have kids, but full trust? Not with all of Azula's trauma).

Are there no problems in the relationship? Doesn't Mai feel like Azula is so sad or doesn't she fully trust her? I wonder what he thinks when he sees or hears Azula cry.

You'll have to come and pay my therapist, He'll know about you, Ash!

[janisbuggybones]

Rent-a-yandere!....please, we're begging you take them off our hands.

Janis Foster (my oc) × gn!reader

Cw: yandere, rent a partner situation, trans girl yandere, poly relationship kinda, pretty short idk what else I could say, pretty boring tbh (only realizing this as I got to the elevator part :( )

Og idea is from @moyazaika on this post that I kinda spit balled off of and then got the motivation to write again.

You can't believe you found yourself coming to this. One too many late night browsing sessions led you to get overwhelmed with adverts about this new fad in the dating scene. Rent-a-yandere, the hottest site online where you could find a devoted lover for cheap.99 per hour. In all honesty, it did seem appealing when compared to the heartbreak and trauma you've expierienced prior, but you dare stoop so low?

"Hello darling, are you (y/n) (l/n)?" A tall girl said from behind you. She had beautiful pearly paper white skin and matching hair put in one long braid. She had piercing red eyes and dare you mention her height? She was at least nearly twice your height, but her body wasn't well built. She couldn't have been living very healthily If she was that skinny. She had a large chest, despite her skinny body, well in her description it had said she had some cosmetic surgery done before. It didn't look fake or anything and it's not like she showed it off. She wore a modest black turtle neck with small embroidered hearts on the cuffs and chest of the sweater. The sweater was paired with some baggy black jeans and simple black work boots.

Fuck yes

"Oh, yeah that's me...you're Janis Foster, right?" You found yourself asking after getting over the height difference. Shit, were you being rude? She's really pretty, come on, don't fuck it up.

"Yep, the one and only. Honestly I'd be surprised if anyone got me confused for someone else." She smiled softly, her soft pink lips looked tantalizing. "Well, let's be on our way then. I've arranged a breakfast date for us before a big day of fun" She said as she grabbed your hand with her own cold and large hand. Her nails lacked any polish and were neatly manicured.

You remembered you picked the option for her to come up with the itinerary. You hoped it wouldn't be too exhausting, the public can be a bit overwhelming. "A-ah okay!" You find yourself smiling slightly as you went along with her.

She took you to an animal themed Cafe nearby, themed after your favorite pet animal. "I thought you'd like this, darling" She giggled as she checked you both in, having made a reservation. You recall mentioning your favorite animal in the description of yourself they required you to give them.

"Nice and quiet, and they limit it to 10 customers in here at any given time, so I won't have to worry" She giggled innocently but you read between the lines. It made you blush at the thought of such an attractive woman getting jealous of you.

You two were taken to your seat, a seat in the back where one of the animals sat on the table. You promptly gave your order and she gave hers before you were left alone with her.

"Honestly I'm not much of an animal person..I feel like it's a good bit of upkeep that i couldn't keep up with. But I do have a little lavender bunny at home. His name is Geo" She said, starting a conversation as she looked around.

"Oh? Is he purple? I didn't know bunnies could be purple" you said, interested as you looked at the calm animal on the table before it left, instead taking the window sill beside your table as its resting place.

"Oh they do, it's a bit rarer than your average bunny so he cost a good bit, but he's Oh so adorable" She smiled, her bluish eyes landing on you. "I'd say nearly as much as you, cutie" She teased, which left you blushing slightly as you avoided her eye contact for a second.

"O-oh yeah?" You smiled slightly, you never were able to take compliments well.

"Mhm, oh look, food's here" She smiled as the waitress brought your orders. Janis had ordered a simple cup of juice, a bagel, and small bowl of a variety of fruits.

"Thank you for coming here today" the waitress said with a smile as she walked to serve another table.

Janis stared at her for a second with an unreadable expression before turning to you. "In my opinion, breakfast isn't that good. Lunch and dinner foods are far superior" She said with a sip of her juice.

That statement had ignited a conversation that then strayed to your favorite foods and then on to other topics as you ate and enjoyed her company. She wasn't too overwhelming and was sweet up until you two had been finished for a good bit and were asked to leave because her reservation had ended.

She pouted but complied, leaving with you to her next planned activity.

"You had mentioned you liked anime and movies, so I thought we could see that new studio ghibli movie together?" She said with a contagious smile. "You know the guy who writes them and all, Hayao Miyazaki? He keeps announcing his retirement but then goes back to the studio with a new script each time, it's pretty funny when in the interviews with employees they complain about that." She giggled.

"Oh? I can imagine the frustration they must feel" you smiled slightly as you two entered the theater. You then realized, shit, this place is gonna be crowded. Fuck, you hoped it wouldn't be too overwhelming. She then promptly paid for your tickets and some snacks to accompany your movie viewing.

You two passed the many movie posters on the halls as you walked to the movie screening. Dread hit you as you opened the door and you two went in, only to crumble away when the theater had been empty. Did she really book this entire theater room for you?

"Yeah I'm not too good in a crowd either, I'm a walking distraction" She smiled slightly as she led you two to a good pair of seats in the middle of the theater.

"U-uhm I don't know what to say-t-thank you, this is crazy. How did you get your company to pay for something like this?" You found yourself asking. "W-wait sorry I didn't mean to say that, I'm sorry..." you apologize a second later after seeing how that could be offensive.

"Oh? They'd never pay for something this expensive. While their other services are much more profitable, my section doesn't get nearly as many sponsored activities like this. I paid out of pocket so you wouldn't feel wierd in the crowd, darling" She smiled. God that smile, how she acted, you swore you'd fall for her before she fell for you.

Her explanation left you blushing and wordless as adverts started rolling on the big projector screen. You unintentionally just ended up staying quiet and watching the movie with her. At around the halfway point of the movie, when you both finished your snacks, she had began holding your hand. It shocked you at first, before you relaxed, discretely returning the gesture.

The rest of the movie went along swimmingly. The plot was heart wrenching and hadn't made you cry, but did arise sadness in you.

As you two walked out the theater and you winced at the bright light, she prosed a question.

"So darling, my place or yours?" She asked "for our next little activity I have planned, a baking sesh" She added with a smile. "I had cute mochi and cookies in mind" She smiled "though mochi isn't baking, it's versatility as something you can shape into a cute thing is almost unmatched" She said

"O-oh-um" you said, taken aback by the idea. You had liked cooking to an extent and mentioned that, but wow. She really planned this out and it left you blushing again....wait...wasn't it in the terms and conditions that neither of you could go to the others house?.....maybe it was for their other service, rent-a-darling? You couldn’t recall and your place was a mess. "My place doesn't look the best...is yours okay?" You asked shyly

Janis giggled "of course! Anything you want is okay with me darling" She smiled as she held your hand and went with you in the direction of her apartment.

Surprisingly based on her ability to buy out a whole theater for you, her apartment was relatively average, though it ran a bit on the pricier side because of the economy lately. The inside looked clean and nice, and the elevator ride was relaxed as she started a conversation about her apartment complex.

"I dont mean to show off where i live, but i hope you like it. When I started living here, it was actually way cheaper than it is now, I'm glad they never raised the price for my rent though. I'm kind of friends with the owner. Not in a wierd way, but we hang out like once a month. They're in my friend group I've had since middle school" She said as she watched the numbers on the small screen above the door go up.

"Oh, that's interesting. I wish I had something like that with my landlord. I've recently been trying to save up for something I want, and it's not going too good in all honesty..... Damn gacha games, am I right?" You smiled, feeling comfortable, but then suddenly worrying you overshared.

"Oh don't get me started! I started playing this gacha game that recently came out and ahhh! The skins look so good, but two are locked behind a pay wall each update" She huffed slightly. "And all the characters have such diverse designs and tons of different ethnicities, how could I not pull for them all and be absoloutely broke in unilogs?" She laughed softly before the elevator stopped, the 6th floor. "Alright now to 603" She said as she held your hand and walked to her apartment.

Nothing was out of the ordinary about her apartment, it was pretty plain actually. Apart from the squishimallows instead of pillows on the couch of her living room. The kitchen was lightly messy, a bowl and cup in her sink with a few pieces of silverware and a stray rag just on the counter.

"It's not much, but it's comfortable for me" She said "well, settle in, I have to go check on geo real quick, I'm sorry darling" She said, excusing herself before leaving to the other room.

"It's fine" you find yourself saying quietly, overwhelmed by the events of today. This was all crazy....how were you now in a crazy hot girl's apartment?! The one chronically bitchless person of the high-school friend group, in this stunning woman's house? It was unbelievable...until you considered this was a paid date. Then reality sunk in. Shit...should you ask her out for real? Would that be okay? Would she be okay with that? She wasn't much of a yandere...it'd be okay, right?

"He was such a hungry little boy, he ate down all his celery in a minute" She giggled happily as she came back and saw you still had your bag with your outing necessities on.

"Oh want me to take that for you?" She offered and you obliged.

"Oh thank you...I feel like I haven't properly thanked you enough today" you said as you looked around.

"Oh don't worry, the pleasure is mine, darling" She smiled "now, shall we get cooking?" She smiled as she put on a pink frilly apron. Shit...you didn't know how to feel.

"Alright" you offered in response with a fake smile as you took the apron She handed you. It was your favorite color and had a lap pocket and chest pocket shaped in hearts of a slightly brighter color.

You two then spent the next couple hours baking cookies and making mochi, before settling down on her couch and watching the news, because nothing else was on, as you enjoyed the fruits of your labor.

"It's not too sweet is it darling? I heard cookies need some salty aspect to balance out all the flavors" She smiled softly as a missing persons report came on over the tv.

Geo Archviste, a 5'4" man with black and white naturally colored hair and blue freckles. Missing since this day 3 years ago, he would have been 21 by now.

That was terrible, his family must be haunted by their missing son...wait-

"Darling?" She asked, as you kinda ignored her prompt for conversation. "Everything okay?" She asked.

"Uhm yeah- that missing persons case...just seems sad." You found yourself saying as you swallowed the crumbly cookie.

"Oh...yeah...that boy was actually my ex...we broke up a year before he went missing but we were still on good terms" She said sadly. "I miss him...I named my little bunny after him" Janis said as she looked down.

"Oh I'm so sorry, I didn't know......I hope he gets found" was all you could find yourself saying, but something didn't seem right. Not that what she said had any contradictions, but you just had this uneasy feeling. "Um restroom?" You asked

"By the door with heart decals on the left down the hall, darling" She smiled sadly and you excused yourself.

You walked down the hall and found the room, but the heart decorated room piqued your interest. She wouldn't mind...right? You opened the door and were met with darkness until you cut on the light and saw a figure sitting on Janis' bed, restrained on his feet and hands heavily.

All you could really see was their perfectly trimmed black and white locks that hid their sleeping face...matching the picture of the man on the missing persons report.

Chills ran down your spine as you went to grab your phone but it wasn't in your pocket. Shit you must have left it behind....how could you sneak out with the missing boy?

You struggled with yourself over this until you heard Janis coming and ducked into a open closet after turning off the light, shutting it behind you.

"Geo darling, I'm back" She smiled as she cut the light on and walked up to him. He looked at her tiredly and sniffled quietly.

"Remember my side gig to try and find you a buddy we can both love?" She asked "I think I found the one, they're so cute! And we baked some things, you could probably smell it" She giggled "I'll give you some when they leave...if they get to. I haven't decided if I wanna reel them in or just go in all at once and kidnap them like I did you" She said happily

"I'd say just kidnap them, two minds are better than one" he sighed, implying you could help him escape her.

"Come on now, I love you...you love me, i know it" She huffed

"Yeah true..which is why I want you to get help instead of doing this to me...." he sighed

"Stop it, i don't need help" She mumbled

"Yes you do. I love you and want to be with you, but you did this and refuse to get therapy. I only broke up with you because you killed my friend, remember. Get your head out of the past and live with me now. I'll stay and all like I've said repeatedly- just come-" he said before she interrupted him.

"Shut up! I don't need help! I'm perfectly fine and you need to shut up. You're only still tied up because you tried to escape the other month!" She shouted, less sad and more angrily.

"That was last year! I've been good for you so I can do normal couple things with you and we could have found our third lover together!" He shouted back, making her tear up.

"Shut up! I'm going back to (y/n)....I promise you'll love them as much as I do" She said shakily before you backed up a bit too far and bumped against the wall.

She looked dead at the closet in shock before walking up to it and opening it.

"Darling?"

[lipstickchainsaw]

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF NIGHTMARE AND SPECTRE AND

sorry for the spam hrhdhsh but I really enjoy these for reasons I just mentioned🫶🫶

No worries! I did ask for questions!

I think the Spectre's a ton of fun as a route, in part because of the contrast between the Spectre as the Princess and the Cold as the Voice that joins you. For all that you get to the Spectre because you ran her through with the Blade, she doesn't seem to hold a lot of resentment over you for that fact. She ends up being a cute ghost girl, with just enough of a scary side to remind you this isn't the Damsel, and she won't be a total pushover.

And then there's the Cold, who is so very certain you've killed the Princess, and when she shows up again, this time as a ghost, just goes 'oh? Well, we may as well kill her again, then'. He is, after all, the Cold, emotionally, whereas the Spectre is only physically cold. She's emotionally quite warm.

As for why she's like that, despite you having killed her...

(I'll get to the Nightmare in a reblog)

The Princess is very much shaped by your perception of her (hell, it's why she's a princess in the first place), and how you approach her changes her, gives her depth, nuances, neuroses and traumas. If you just go in there, ignore whatever she's saying, and simply stab her, she gets very little to work with, to build off of, except the Cold's absolute assurance that she is, in fact, dead.

So she ends up as a more... generic ghost, conceptually. Compare her to the Greys, both of whom have a lot more going on, conceptually.

Instead, she develops that depth over her own chapter, in how you respond to her now being a ghost. If you start a little nervous but not actively hostile, she will remain friendly to you, but if you ignore her words and try to slash at her again, she will, at best, reach a utilitarian agreement with you.

And her lack of hostility does play into the Cold some, I think. Because you barely interacted in Chapter 1, she's more... detached from you. You killed her, yes, but there was nothing personal about it, no relationship established, so she gets to essentially start from zero here, and she's a ghost, so she's not that worried about what you'll do to her.

Even when she calls you 'killer' at the start, it's more... chiding than actively angry? She doesn't want revenge, she just thinks you're a bit of a jerk but is willing to put it behind her. Hell, if you're friendly towards her here, and just help her out, her tone outright shifts to playful when she calls you that, which is really cute.

This also makes her one of the few Princesses that directly talks to the Narrator (the others being the Wild, and arguably the Tower, who just takes him over), and reveals quite a bit of his true nature in so doing.

She's also notable as being the only Princess to not be uncomfortable with the cold before the Shifting Mound claims her, because being cold is just... kind of her thing. It feels like home. She's the only Princess to have already made peace with her death (since it was the one thing established about her) and ready to move on, even if she didn't realise she was part of a greater whole.

So the route where you help her out, and resolve matters in Chapter 2 is really cute, a bit of a redemption for yourself, and maybe shows the Cold that being emotionally detached doesn't mean you have to be a jerk about it.

But, as mentioned, she's not harmless. If you make it clear you can't be reasoned with (or try to run away), she will fuck you up. She doesn't hide this dangerous side to her, but if you continue to ignore her warnings, and keep crossing lines, she'll just rip your goddamn heart out. If you don't actually help her escape by giving her a way out, she'll just take it next time.

And I think this tension gives her a layer of agency that honestly makes her less unnerving than, say, the Damsel. She's neat.

[providing-leverage]

I've had a fic idea kicking around in the back of my mind for a while where Ted and Beard give the team a safe sex talk.

Because these two came not just from coaching a whole different sport, but a whole different demographic college-age young men who grew up in the US, probably in red/conservative states. And in the US, especially red states, we don't get sex ed in high school. Abstinence-only is the norm.

The first time I got any kind of sex ed that wasn't preaching abstinence was in a college course where my professor had realized that this gap in our education, while sucking for us, also impeded our ability to understand some of the later material. She developed a sex ed course taught over two weeks or so.

In this vein, Ted and Beard realized while working with college students that their teams were lacking some vital info about things like STDs and consent. So they threw together a power point which they normally present at the beginning of a season, which is part of their getting settled ritual.

The original premise of this fic was something fun, comedic and fluff filled. Pure crack. I have done zero research on sex education in the K and other countries where the AFC Richmond players are from but I'm sure it's better than the United States because the bar is on the floor. Plus these guys are older and more experienced so the talk would be a refresher kinda thing. I was going to throw in a few paragraphs about how Ted and Beard made an effort to include talk about non straight sex too, for that to resonate with Colin. Maybe make this happen when Trent was shadowing Ted, or have Trent hear rumors and grill Ted about it like he did about Sam's birthday party.

But then, just now, it occurred to me that depending on the timeline, Jamie might still be there. So it's early season 1. Maybe just after the gala. And when Ted starts talking about how consent matters so so much, not just for the girl but the guy too, that brings up some...stuff.

Because they're talking about informed, enthusiastic consent. What counts as consent. Relationship dynamics. How you do it because you want to, not because you've been told by a partner or society that you should. Honestly might segway into asexual spectrum Jamie because my own asexuality colors my writing and interpretation of characters (Jamie being ace in sex-positive, likes to make his partners feel good vein, similar to how @zehwulf talked about evidence towards Ted being asexual) and also because I enjoy ace-ifying characters.

Anyway, the TLDR of it: I had a fun idea and now I'm thinking about Jamie Tartt's trauma. A normal occasion, in this fandom, I think.

[ixiot-ghostrebel]

Yk Back At The Random Ghost Rebel Stuff

A straight up ramble but does anyone feels this retching feeling in their hearts whenever they think about the High Cloud Quintet and its lore and go like "Dang, if only we COULD change what had happened bc this crap is dark and sad as hell" because that's what I feel like right now

And lemme tell you: It's not a good feeling bc I don't even want to think about how they're all just old and tired grannies and grandpas. The only person that has proper solace in the High Cloud Quintet is flipping Baiheng bro—poor Yingxing got turned into Blade bc yk—he's the beloved of that one relic set story.

Dan Flipping Feng becomes Dan Heng and even as Dan Heng he doesn't get a single drop of solace bc now the former-artisan-now-maniac dude is chasing him all across the universe bc of the sins of the past and it's just so heartbreaking bc Dan Heng isn't Dan Feng and Blade is only the shadow of Yingxing (this concept with Yingxing and Blade heavily reminds me of Makoto and Ei—Ei was the shadow of Makato and the shadow of the light is all that remains ykyk)

And then there's Jingliu who just straight up asks her student to kill her if she ever becomes mara-struck and in the end she still lives somehow and then she decides to go full-traumatizer with Blade back when he was the Unnamed that wandered the place—as if he needed MORE trauma and honestly her weak grasp over the mara which in turn makes her insane is so upsetting bc in the end she ends up having beef with a 14 year-old lieutenant who's trying to do his job and protect the Luofu (though, I have to admit it: as much as I want to protect my child Yanqing, his methods were kind of flawed—) even if he doesn't know who Jingliu is.

And ofc we got the last man standing Jing Yuan who just sees ghosts in everyone around him. Istg I feel like bc he sees ghosts, he can't move on from the past, and when he can't move on from the past, it's honestly a red flag bc it might mean that his present relationships with everyone are (sometimes) only just one-sided or something. Like, take the relationship between Yanqing and he: Yanqing trusts the General with his life bc he raised him as a baby. But the fact that he calls Jing Yuan "General" and not some sort of parental title says that Jing Yuan is being unnecessarily secretive due to his fear of vulnerability. I mean—literally in 1.2 Story Quest, Jing Yuan quite literally just left Yanqing on the island alone after he got beat up by two men that have beef with one another, practically leaving him in the dark with no explanation. And even before that, Yanqing was still left in the dark. Jing Yuan doesn't open up easily bc of the crap he's been through, which is understandable, but his lack of explanation backing up his highly meticulous moves—that's not really healthy. In the end, it just leaves a gap of mistrust, be it intentional or not, between Jing Yuan and Yanqing. In some cases, and this one (imo atleast) is one of them, if you don't explain your actions, it pretty much just leaves the person that's been left in the dark with their waves of emotions, which might cost said-relationship between the two people in the long run.

It also seems like (based off what we know of, at least) at least half of Jing Yuan's choices are also connected to sentimental reasons and seeing ghosts in people. I think he sees a ghost in Yanqing (idk who tho—ppl say it's Yingxing bc of his obsession over the sword), he sees one in Yukong (definitely Baiheng), he sees one in Dan Heng (obvious reasons, very evident throughout the game) and possible Bailu (because she's technically being hailed as the next Imbibitor Lunae after Dan Feng's sin), and it could possibly go on. This old grandpa really is comparing the present with his past and that's honestly a little heartbreaking, bc there is a chance that that might mean that Jing Yuan found more happiness (serotonin work hardcore fr) in his past than he does in his present. He should at least be happy enough of the present to not be this sentimental of the past, but he's really suffering of the incidents like bro—

The High Cloud Quintet is like The Five Yakshas from Genshin Impact but with more lore (that we know of) and more angst twists (that we know of) to it fr. It's so heartbreaking and angsty, I both love it, hate it, and cry about it.

Like bro, look at these two groups. It's always a group of five sobbing.

They're all fine as hell too like CMON

[the-darkestminds]

An E/riel made me raise my eyebrows when they said “If Gwyn and Az are mates, why aren't they together in HOFAS? Why would Az say he doesn't have a mate or a partner in HOFAS if Gwyn is his mate? Az certainly would have felt the mating bond by now given the amount of time they've spent together and the traumatic events Gwyn has gone through that Az has been present for. There is nothing keeping Gwyn and Az apart. There's no reason they can't get together immediately. They have no barriers to their relationship, internal or external. Maybe that's why Az says he doesn't have a mate or a partner yet in HOFAS-because he wants to be with Elain but he can't be. Because e/riel is next and we'll see them overcome these barriers to get together in their book.”

Sarah is not going to write an off-page romance. She is not going to write about a mating bond (something extremely important) snapping off-page, especially in a book that’s not ACOTAR. And that’s why Gwynriel’s were fine with Azriel saying he doesn’t have a mate or a partner. Because we get to read about it happening. That’s what we want. We want to see Gwyn and Azriel becomes friends, fall in love, and have a mating bond snap. If it happened off-page, the I would honestly be really upset and disappointed. I know E/riel’s love to believe that their ship, their “forbidden romance”, is happening off-page (which is highly unlikely), but us Gwynriel’s prefer to get to actually read about the romance blossoming.

And as for Azriel not feeling the mating bond, how do we actually know? We don’t have his pov, so we don’t know. It’s been three months since SF ended, and we haven’t had his pov since his bonus chapter, so we don’t know what has been going on through his head, or what he’s been up to. And as for nothing keeping Gwyn & Az apart, both of them have their own things to work through. Azriel struggles with self worth, and he needs to talk to Mor. That conversation needs to happen. And Gwyn has her own trauma, so it’s understandable. Sarah is not going to not write about this and have Gwynriel develop off-page. That would be wasted plot. I don’t think Sarah has ever written an off-page romance (please genuinely correct me if I’m wrong).

I have heard this argument a lot too. I think part of Azriel's issue is that he feels so much icy rage all the time, is so used to fighting to suppress it that he supresses a lot of the good stuff too. He comes across as cold and focused but from his short POV we see he is quick to anger, hates himself and feels unworthy, and has a lot of issues to work through. I don't think he would even realize the mating bond if it clunked him on the head. And if he did, I have to wonder if he would feel worthy of that bond either. Personally I think that will be a big part of his story--accepting himself and the fact that he does deserve love. I'm not saying he's currently incapable of it, he clearly loves the IC and in HOFAS he mentions finding people he loves. But his obsession with Mor, and his thoughts in the ACOSF bonus chapter suggest he has a long way to go. Also side note, but a forbidden romance for Azriel would be disastrous and do absolutely nothing to help with his lack of self worth.

Imagine if when asked if he has a mate he said yes. We'd all be like wtf? Since when? (Although personally I believe it's Gwyn) I don't really understand why Elriels seem perfectly fine with their ship developing off page. I want to be present for all of it. Also we have no way of knowing for sure what happened in that time after ACOSF and HOFAS, like you said. But why should we have to guess and make stuff up? We will find out in the next book. I agree with you, I can't think of any romance that developed off page. Or of a female main character who did not need to go through a painful healing arc to realize what she truly wants and needs. I only bring this up because I often see the claim that "Elain is happy and fulfilled in the night court, she has friends, she loves Az". I do not see her happy and healed at all. And if that were all true then why exactly does she need her own book?

[starry-blue-echoes]

Thoughts on Jonathan and George's relationship:

Honestly, George always meant the best for Jonathan. Even when he was harsh he was trying to push Jonathan to be better as best he could, and he took a knife for Jonathan in the end- but still, it wasn't great for Jonathan.

But on the other hand, the dude was not equipped to handle this alone I think. With Mary's sudden and unexpected death, especially with my headcannon that the Joestar Family Neurodivergence came from her side, with the total lack of knowledge on that kind of thing in that era, he would have been hard-pressed to do better.

Then add in Dio, and hoo boy. He's not equipped to handle being a good parent with regards to Dio's trauma either, especially when he doesn't even know it exists, but he can't not take in Dio either, given the alternatives are Not Great and his own kind heart.

And Jonathan's feelings are... complicated. There's frustration at never quite seeming good enough, at the favoritism towards Dio, but also, he still loves George, still misses him after he dies. And for a long time, he probably internalizes a lot of it, thinking it was somehow him and not George.

It takes a long time for him to come to terms with the fact that even if George couldn't really have done much better, that doesn't affect the fact that Jonathan still deserved better. And I don't think he really internalizes that until he's raising George II and thinks about what George did with him from that perspective. (Though at the same time, he can see how, if he didn't have the knowledge he does about how his brain works differently from lived experience... he can see why George did what he did, even if it was dead wrong.)

Honestly I think the whole Jonaeriwagon trio might end up sort of reparenting themselves as they raise kids together- Jonathan realizing that he deserved better than what George did, even if George was doing as best he knew how, now Jonathan knows better, and can treat both his kid and his own inner child with that new knowledge and kindness. Speedwagon makes sure the kids have everything they want or need, spoiling them with gifts and love while also confronting how the scarcity he grew up under affected him, and starting to learn to treat himself now that he has the resources. And Erina, more headcannony, but empowering the kids to have more control and agency over their lives than she had, being dragged around continents with her dad, and that inner core of steel starting to become something she's more comfortable showing and working with as she teaches the kids to do the same.

I couldn't have worded it better myself and also I'm losing my mind (/pos) over these beautiful Jonaeriwagon headcanons because Y E S

the way I've always been thinking of George is sort of a "You Tried Your Best But It Was What You Thought Was Best." I don't doubt he loved Jonathan and Dio, but what he saw as helping them ultimately did cause a lot of harm

but also now I'm rotating so many soft things as they raise George II together-

Jonathan indulging George's interests, reading up on them so they have things to talk about, listening to him as much as he can to his son never feels unheard or shoved to the sidelines or like nobody believes him

Speedwagon always making sure George has what he needs but also teaching him how to value and safe guard what he has, giving him tips on the ins and outs of the seedier parts of the world in case he ever gets in a rough spot so he won't be caught off guard

Erina making sure it's absolutely clear that no matter what happens, no matter what embarassing or terrifying thing could be done to him, they will always love and respect him and that he could come to them for help, how he always can say no and fight back if he feels it's approprate

[marsbar17]

Anymore catalyst x horizon? I love this ship so much 😭❤️ I keep re-reading your other headcanons for them 😭

I'm glad you like my other work! Honestly astrowitch is one of my favorite ships in the game hdjdhaj I love them. I don't know if I have anymore headcannons that I haven't already said so I wrote a small fic instead, I hope you like it :)

Contains: hurt/comfort, established relationship, mention of child loss, grieving

I haven't written hurt/comfort since like middle school please don't bully me hdbsjsj

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The room Horizon sat in smelled heavily of incense and herbs. There were many plants lining the window sills and pretty much every other surface in the room. The space was comfortable, it felt welcoming and friendly.

Across the table in front of her sat Catalyst, looking ethereal like always. She was wearing comfortable clothes, a knit sweater and some sweatpants. She held a deck of tarot cards in her hands, shuffling them expertly. Ah, yes. They were having their weekly tea date. Catalyst had offered to give Horizon a tarot reading, since she seemed more spaced out than usual.

"Just think about what's been troubling you. It could be in the form of a question, or not." Catalyst's voice cut through the silent room, it was smooth. Horizon closed her eyes and thought about it. The room fell into comfortable silence again other than the sound of cards being shuffled and placed on the table. "Okay, open your eyes. Let me see what the cards have to say."

Horizon sipped her tea, tasting like lemon and lavender, and watched her girlfriend flip over the cards. Her fingers were entrancing, the way they moved without stutter or hesitation. She always seemed so confident in her actions. Horizon couldn't help but be amazed.

"The empress, reversed... Five of cups... The sun, reversed... oh Mary, you poor thing." Catalyst's expression changed, and she looked at Horizon in worry. It was obvious the cards weren't saying anything good.

"You're gonna have to tell me what they mean, Tressa. I'm not a mind reader." Horizon joked, trying to cover up her nervousness at the situation. She hated being vulnerable. She was supposed to be the one to comfort others, so when the situation flipped around on her it made her feel weak and scared.

To distract her from her discomfort, Horizon focused on the drawings that adorned the cards. They were hand drawn, all signed with a small star and moon in the bottom corner. Catalyst had made them recently and insisted on giving every legend a tarot reading to break them in. Every reading so far had been pretty positive, singing praise of strength and intelligence. This was the first time Horizon had seen Catalyst so troubled by the cards.

"Are you sure you want to hear it? I'm afraid it will be quite harsh."

"I'm stronger than you think, dear. I can take whatever this deck of cards will tell me." Horizon faked a smile and gestured for the other to go ahead with the reading. Still, Catalyst hesitated for a second.

"Okay," Catalyst sighed. "I just want you to know that I'm here for you."

The Empress is often a sing of fertility and femininity. When reversed, it signifies an emptiness within a person or that insecurities are showing. It can also signify a lack of progress.

"I feel like, maybe you are struggling to heal from a trauma that happened in your life. You miss something, it's making you feel empty, and you haven't been able to accept that it will never come back."

Horizon stared straight at the card, not wanting to see the pity that she could tell was in Catalyst's gaze. She didn't agree nor disagree with the statement, she couldn't bear to lie, but she couldn't admit her struggle either. So she chose to sit in silence and let her girlfriend move on to the next card.

The five of cups is a symbol of negative feelings, and often even just the sight of it makes a person feel discontent. They may be feeling disappointment or like they've been let down by someone close to them. It is also often associated with loss, grief, and mourning.

"You're grieving for someone... or something." Horizon could tell that Catalyst knew exactly who she was grieving for. "You're mourning something that you've lost. This can be the same thing that caused that sense of emptiness."

This time, Catalyst reached over to take Horizon's hand once she was done talking. She rubbed her thumb soothingly over her girlfriend's knuckles, and suddenly Horizon was aware of how her hands looked in comparison to the younger woman's. Horizon wasn't old, but she definitely wasn't young either.

She didn't understand how Catalyst was so okay with dating someone so much older than her. Sure, the age gap wasn't even ten years, but most people felt weird about the whole "lost in a blackhole for 87 years" thing. Catalyst didn't seem to mind though, in fact, she thought it was super interesting how space worked.

"Let's get through the last card. Is that okay, Mary?"

Horizon just nodded, finding that she was too choked up to speak.

The Sun represents joy, happiness, confidence, and success. Somewhat obviously The Sun reversed is a symbol of depression, pessimism, and overall negativity. This may be something bad that has happened to a person, causing them to feel negative, or it can also be a sign that you are being too unrealistic and need to ground yourself.

"The last card is telling me that the cause of your emptiness, your trauma, is preventing you from continuing on in your life. You can't do certain things that you'd like to because of this negativity bearing down on you." Catalyst looked up when she finished talking while Horizon continued to stare at the cards. "Mary... I know you miss Newton."

"I don't want to talk about him, Tressa." For the first time since she entered the room, Horizon didn't try to fake being happy. Catalyst knew that she was grieving, and that fact made her want to hide away forever.

"That's alright, love. What can I do to help you?"

"Some tea would be nice, and maybe we can just sit together?" Horizon looked up into Catalyst's eyes for the first time since the tarot reading began. In her gaze, she found the pity she was afraid of, but it was mostly overwhelmed by adoration and care.

"That sounds lovely. Let me put a kettle on." Catalyst stood up from the table, gently letting go of Horizon's hand as she walked towards the kitchen. "I assume you'd like something calming? Lavender?"

"You know me so well, dear." Horizon smiled. As Catalyst busied herself getting the tea together, Horizon took to running her fingers over the drawings on the cards. Such delicate, pretty things, and yet they tell you all your fears and worries.

Oh Newt, how I miss you...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sorry if it's a bit short, I've been sick and stressed over classes dhdbjsksk

Remember that liking and reblogging my work helps me a lot as a creator and takes like 5 seconds.

Also requests are always welcome! I really enjoy doing them :)

[freckles-dean]

Here are some of my thoughts on Young Royals S3 ep 1-5

I’m just rambling here. This is probably going to be long, all over the place and not well articulated, so bear with me. 

And before I talk about the show, I just need to say that it never ceases to amaze me how incredibly talented all the actors are.

First of all, I don’t blame either Simon or Wilhelm. They are in an incredibly stressful situation. They are bound to make mistakes and I think their actions while being stubborn and lacking common sense are understandable.

I really loved Simon this season and i was so exited there was more of a focus on him. We finally got to some of how everything affected him. It broke my heart to notice he wasn’t the loudest in the choir anymore and then him saying he’s not enjoying music. Side note: Dude had some banger lines this season 

I find it ironic that everything that Wille found attractive in Simon’s in s1 became things that Simon has to shut down in order to be with him

If you told yesterday me that today me was actually okay with an August redemption arc, I would not have believed you. This in no way excuses his behavior, and he still has a lot to work on, but I think it was one of my favorite parts of this season. 

I am not at all surprised by the Erik thing. since s1 I kept wondering when Willie's perfect image of him would come crumbling down, but can’t imagine how devastating it would be to learn that the person who was there for you the most was not this perfect person you thought they were and might not even accept you.

I was rooting hard for Micke and Sara. I knew it was unrealistic that he wasn’t going to hurt her again, but it was still so heartbreaking that he couldn’t pull it together for her. I think there are bigger issues going on than his ADHD that needs to be handled. 

Why does the queen get space and help with her anxieties and grief, but when Wilhelm is struggling he gets no support and is seen as embarrassing and problematic???? 

Why the fuck was it Wilhelm's responsibility to teach Simon what not to do? Obviously, this kid who has never been in the public eye has no idea what he should or shouldn’t do, it almost seems like it was deliberate to get Wilmons relationship to fail idk. It would have been so easy to get something to teach him some basic media training. It's just disturbing how the court had absolutely zero regard for Simon’s safety. 

I’ve seen people talk about Wilhelm being controlling over Simon. Is it acceptable or excusable behavior? Absolutely not, but let me put things into perspective. Wilhelm was raised in an abusive and very controlling environment. His opinions and feelings didn’t matter, and he was told it was love, so it made sense that he would try to do the same for Simon and expected him to go along with it. I think expecting Wilhelm to have healthy relationship skills is unrealistic, and the show never pretended he did. It’s been pretty obvious throughout that Wilhelm consistently projects his feelings and emotions onto other people. 

I still don't know if Simon was breaking up with Wille or not, or they were just trying to frame it that way to scare us (honestly hoping it leads into a more mature conversation), but if he was… Wilhelm had it coming. He hasn’t been handling things very well and is taking it out on Simon, which is just not okay, and he doesn’t deserve that.  

Before this season, I wasn’t sure how I felt about Wille abdicating, cause i still had this fantasy in my head of him as this queer king, but after everything I’ve seen this season, it’s so obvious how much this institution is killing him. He needs to get out and heal from his traumas and find out who he really is without all those rules and pressures.

I don’t even know if I want Wilmon to be an endgame. Obviously, I do, but at this point, I don’t think that’s what’s best for either of them. It’s been very clear this season how much they don’t (at the moment) fit into each other's lives.. Either some major things have to change (Wille abdicating) or they need to split up. I just hope that both boys get a good ending, even if it’s not with each other. 

I don’t know... I’m emotionally exhausted, there are so many plot lines and I really don’t know how they are going to fix everything in one episode.

[headcanons-no-jutsu]

His hobby

Modern AU

Cooking - I feel like he's a pretty good cook and actually enjoys cooking. He isn't into anything fancy, however he likes to keep a balanced diet, that's why he tries to learn how to cook healthy meals. Also, since his love language is acts of service it's no surprise he likes to cook for you to show how much he cares

Running - He's a physical person, however I don't think Levi would be into gym and lifting weights. He's more of a running guy (he's a runner, he's a track star 🏃💨🌟). He goes running every morning, sometimes on evenings too. He does it mostly so it clears his mind, but he's also glad it makes his body strong. However, he has this tendency to go running whenever he feels negative emotions, so he's in danger of overexercising himself from time to time. Also, he may or may not have a "You feel sad? Idk, go run or sth" attitude (I'm sorry, this man's kinda lacking emotional intelligence 😭)

Tea making - Okay, that's the hobby that he is so passionate about. He started with adding some fruit pieces or mint leaves into his favourite tea, but now? He's a pro. He has fresh herbs growing on his kitchen window, he uses fruits leftovers and orders oriental spices. He dries it all, mixes it and experiments with tastes. He takes it very seriously and when you walk on him in the kitchen he looks like he's working in a lab. He might not admit it to you but many times, especially in the beginning of his journey, the tea ended up being atrocious. He's a pretty stubborn and independent guy, so he refused to use any tutorial or read much online about making tea. But he enjoyed the process and wanted to experiment further, and learn everything by himself. Now he's pretty confident with it and could be called an expert. The last thing he does after coming up with a good tasting tea, he puts it into little tea bags and sews them by himself. Honestly, he's so cute when he does it - sewing the tea bags, furrowing his brows and sticking his tongue in focus 😭

Learning psychology - Levi isn't very emotionally intelligent, but at least he's trying. It's just a beginning of his journey with mental health so he's a little confused and might still be pretty sceptical, but he slowly picks up some of the most popular psychology books out of pure curiosity. He has a lot to unpack and he needs time, but he starts to read a bit about childhood trauma or mental illnesses. His relationship with psychology is complicated (he often pushes his problems away and doesn't believe in other solutions), yet he catches himself being more and more interested in finding new ways.

[drainbangle]

wait omg i’m curious about your unpopular thoughts about temenos writing wise.. i love when people discuss octopath writing it’s really enriching to see what we all have to say about certain story elements. plus you’re like a temenos representative to me. your thoughts about temenos make me go “so true!”

Aw, thank you! It took a while for me to decide on what to write here, since honestly I could go on for… frankly any aspect of this guy, especially in regards to treatment in fanon. But for now, I'll focus on my thoughts regarding how people treat tragedy in Temenos' story— namely, Crick's death— and why I personally dislike it as a writing decision and why I disagree with the idea that it is necessary.

Note: Goes without saying, but this is my personal opinion. If you believe otherwise, then that's all good. I'm not writing this to say that any one person is wrong, just to talk about an issue I have with the game's writing itself.

To start, I'll say that my main reason for disliking Crick's death in SH route is a matter of practicality. Killing him off causes Temenos to lose the main person that he had a fantastic relationship and banter with, and in my opinion, Temenos works best when he's bouncing off another person; not unlike most under the Sherlock-archetype.

Also, genuinely? It works wonders to keep Crick alive, if just because it provides a fantastic avenue to explore Temenos' institutional trauma. Having a character that's lived a different experience but within the same harmful institution opens up ways to explore the scope of its harm. And yes, this is for Crick specifically; not Ort, not the travelers, but Crick.

I think it really adds something that Temenos was raised by the church while Crick converted as a teenager during a really difficult time in his life. These two are good for each other. Crick sure as hell makes it a lot easier to write Temenos in fic.

(If you have a different experience, again, that's cool. I'm glad for you. I, however, will never fail to take the easy way out.)

(This is a lie, I'm over here making up fantasy church law for fic stuff but that's not related to this answer.)

I won't pretend that disliking Crick's death is an unpopular opinion. I mean, "Stormhail Fix-it" is an entire genre of fic on the OT2 Ao3 tag. What I do feel tends to go unaddressed though, is the fact that the idea that Crick's death is canon, therefore it is necessary, therefore it is the best decision; an idea that I wholeheartedly disagree with.

Within the text itself, Crick is killed off in order to give Temenos a personal reason to pursue Kaldena, thus putting him at odds with Kaldena's motivations being driven by her ideology and worldview that, "because humans committed the massacre, it was the gods' mistake to put us here". I also won't pretend that Kaldena's writing here isn't fucking awful, because Crick's death is also a device to make the player want Kaldena defeated even though she is just as much as a victim of the church; and that's to say nothing of her portrayal as an indigenous and dark-skinned woman.

These decisions are ones I disagree with. Killing Crick off was unnecessary to give Temenos reason to pursue the culprit, because Temenos already had someone close to him killed; and that's Pontiff Jörg. He raised Temenos from infancy, but due to the lack of focus on him outside of banter conversations, it's never relevant to his motivations outside of the desire for truth because a crime was committed. 

We also didn't need to kill Crick off to show that the church was a terrible institution, because Roi already went missing in action. The Sacred Guard is the main body of law within Eastern Solistia, it's not unreasonable to think that the reason why Temenos dislikes them is because they clearly didn't do shit to investigate his disappearance.

However, one thing I really don't agree with is the idea that Crick's death is necessary because Temenos' story is a tragedy. And if you asked me why, I'd ask this in turn: why is death the only form of tragedy? Furthermore, why must a tragedy contain only tragic events? That in mind, what gives anything value in a tragedy, then?

Pretend we cannot completely rewrite Temenos' story. Even then, changing Crick's death to a permanent injury, a coma, or whatever is still a tragic event; and that's nothing to say of living with the consequences. Isn't losing your faith a tragedy? Isn't losing something you worked for years to do a tragedy?

Similarly, I'd still argue that it's more valuable to make Stormhail a near-death experience because not only does it show Temenos succeeding in making someone question the church but also the terror that is feeling like you're doomed to repeat tragedy. Even if you really aren't, it's hard to dismiss that feeling; especially when it has to do with being victimized by institutions.

And before someone says, "but bad things happen to good people in real life", I'm not treating these characters as living, breathing people who are subject to things like gravity, hunger, and exhaustion. I'm treating them as choices, and choices made that I disagree with. 

It's why I make different choices. I choose to make Crick have to deal with chronic pain onwards. I choose to make Temenos realize change is still possible. I choose to let them both leave Stormhail alive. Are these better choices? I don't know. But I'll never stop questioning the ones made by the writers regardless; much less stop disagreeing with them.

So, in summary: I dislike Crick's death. I dislike Temenos having to spend the rest of the story without someone he can talk to so easily because Crick's absence weakens a lot of his scenes in Temenos 4. But more than that, I dislike the idea that tragedy is necessary on top of the idea that it is superior. Tragedy's good, I adore the genre; but written in mindful doses and all that.

[sunny12th]

☕️ + dany ships (dany x daario, jonerys, danyxaegon) ?

dany x daario is overhated. their relationship is enthusiastically consensual, daario makes her laugh, he's hot, and he's 100% willing to kill slavers. she gets to feel like a regular lady with a crush around him, something she's never experienced before. I like that we get to see her have a consensual and enthusiastic relationship before she goes to westeros and most likely gets with jon. if this were any other series, dany wouldve been single until jon taught her how to love and shit. instead, we see dany fall in love and have great sex with a man she desires and he doesn't fix her trauma or heal her. daario isn't a main character, he probably won't survive long enough to fight in the long night. but he's the man dany chose just like her fight against slavery is the war she chose. jon feels like fate. her fighting the Others feels like fate. daario is Choice, passionate and young and lustful Choice.

that moment when they start passionately making out and barristan pulls them apart is hilarious. a lot of the fandom acts like he's some toxic villain (for saying she should kill her enemies who are literally trying to kill her?) but I disagree. he's no more violent than any other male character. genuinely think a lot of the hate for him comes from ppl that just want him to die so dany can get with jon already and people that believe everything in dany's plot is negative. I'm not ignoring his red flags like how we know nothing about his life before he met dany but that's not unusual in dany's chapters. grrm tends to not give the characters around dany much backstory, interiority, and quite a few of them don't have much personality. daario has a lot of personality, if nothing else. all in all, I like daario x dany a lot and im rooting for daario to prove the fandom wrong

like I said before, jonerys feels like fate. they've been tied since day one. I'm interested to see how they're dynamic plays out, how they'll work together, what they're impressions will be of each other, etc. theyre both strong leaders, theyre both committed and passionate. people describe jon as the "ice" of the series a lot but he's pretty fiery too. he's got a temper (dragons temper) and a sharp wit. I think him and dany would get along really well. honestly I find their dynamic a bit more interesting in a platonic sense but im not gonna be surprised or disappointed if it's romantic. I'm desperate to see dany have a healthy and loving familial connection.

dany x aegon ... I'd be really surprised if this happened. based on what we've seen so far, I dont think dany will be romantically attracted to aegon. if he gets demanding (daario never commands her) then he's gonna be disappointed. furthermore, aegon doesn't seem to care about dany's campaign against slavery at all despite growing up in essos. I understand his priority is the Iron Throne but I would've liked to see him offer support to dany in meereen or show sympathy to her efforts or Something. that lack of sympathy or understanding will be a deal breaker. not to mention, dany wouldn't want to marry him if she believes he can continue House Targaryen. she'd encourage him to marry literally anyone else.

[thowawayuntilfurthernotice]

Hello, and thank you for giving me the opportunity to ask you this—as someone a crumb bit invested in what HH will be like, especially with the addition of the funds given to production (and maybe professional additional writers?) what are your thoughts right now on the show, are you holding out hope it'll be at least better than HB?

I also just want to squeeze in another ask about your thoughts on Vivziepop and by extension Spindlehorse, specifically the way production treats themselves as part of the fandom. Personally, I think this is a significant issue for a few reasons, the biggest one being: it defeats the integrity of the representation.

Imagine having a character like Valentino who is an incredibly abusive r*pist, using him to attempt to illustrate the horror of these specific abuses and trauma (which as I am sure you know either ruins people or kills them generally) but then turn around and sell merch of him being attractive, and deliberately try to add sex appeal to him and his relationship with his victim, Angel. As a creator, or someone part of the official production—you've just bastardized the entire meaning of the story in favor of wank fodder and sugarcoating abuse to twist into your 'fav ship' or something that's trying to be hot.

You see, this is the problem with the lack of boundaries within production; you want to have a portrayal of abuse but errr... the idea of the ship is just too hot and dramatic to ignore! The production wants to have its cake and eat it too, and acting as fans without disconnect makes all the other fans look at this content from OFFICIAL sources and start to, of course, normalize it.

What a tragic waste of representation for communities who need and deserve meaningful rep, because shipping, sex appeal, selling merch mean more to Vivziepop and Spindlehorse than ever conveying a compassionate exploration of true horror.

Tragic aside, what are your thoughts on these things? Thank you for reading through!

Honestly? I don't see Hazbin Hotel being all that different from Helluva Boss. In fact, I'm kinda dreading the jokes because Viv isn't going to be working with any YouTube restrictions, so I fully expect a bunch of raunchy dick and sex jokes.

A24 can hire additional writers, but it won't make a difference if Viv is still running things, as she refuses to listen to any criticism or feedback.

Maybe the writing will be a bit better if additional writers are brought in to touch up the scripts, as I personally think that a lot of the scripts for Helluva Boss feel like first or second drafts that desperately needed polishing.

As for my thoughts on Spindlehorse as a whole, it reminds me a lot of Channel Awesome. Except Viv and her inner circle are way more competent than Mike Michaud and the Walkers.

I don't have much to say regarding Valentino, as that's a topic that's been covered to death already and I have absolutely nothing new to add to it.

Though, I do find it funny how Viv doesn't seem to have an issue with the fandom shipping Valentino and Angel, but she'll totally draw the line at people who ship Andre and Stella.

She's like "I will excuse sexual assault, but I will draw the line at incest."

[fellow-nerd]

Time to go crazy about the characterisation changes in the new atla cuz oh boy do I have thoughts

The main thing I noticed for all of them is that this show is focused about telling a story about a war torn world and how that affected everyone first and a coming of age hero story second, which is a choice considering the source material which balanced them both extremely well.it never had to be so heavy handed for the audience to get it but that also could be because it's a kids show at the end of the day 😅

Aang: where is my adventure loving kid. He just wants to ride the Elephant koi and show his new friends cool things. Yes, his past weighs heavy on him and expectations press down, but he's still just 12. It takes him time to work through his grief and his reluctance to save the world and that is literally his big arc. Learning to grow up and save the world (becoming THE avatar ya know). This Aang gets with the program quick and is only concerned with helping people and stepping up, like little dude ur telling me u don't want to go penguin sledding. I dunno it just feels so off. Love the stuff with gyatso too.

Katara: she's actually the most true to her og character I think. I just wish there was more focus on her like there was in the og. She was my first favorite charcter, put some respect on her name. It was criminal to give the opening to kyoshi, like girl u have ur own novels to be in! ALSO WHY DIDNT SHE BREAK THE ICEBERG!!! UGH SO MAD AT THAT.

Sokka: look I get it It's the year of lord 2024 misogyny has no place. So why don't we tell the story of how a guy learns that those views are wrong and how to change ur views rather than pretending that it never existing, like erasing it. As much as it can be critiqued Sokkas misogyny was the catalyst for Katara to hit the iceberg and free Aang. Narratively this gets them both invested in Aang and just shows Sokkas growth on every rewatch. They could've toned it down but it's a big part of his character growth and what are the gonna fill that with, if anything at all.

Suki: now her in live action I can get behind. She ate and left no crumbs. She put Sokka in his place and stole the episode for me. Also I loved the addition of her mom, honestly goals. Can't wait to see how they utilize her throughout she's the best. No comment.

Jet/freedom fighters: pretty much the same, I didn't love the condensing plot lines all into omashu tho

Teo/Sai: same as above but I loved the Way the two interacted it had so much depth.

Iroh: not sure how to feel. It feels wierd hearing iroh not voiced by Mako ya know. Like his dailougue was fine but it lacked that inflection Mako had which really Gave iroh all his character. It's big shoes to fill and it comes so close. I did die for the line where he says he's the one who owes Zuko. Like. Ugh. The implications of that. How Zuko made him wake up and gave him a reason to keep going. Its enough to make a girl cry.

Zuko: oh zuko, zuko, zuko, zuko. Again tough shoes to fill. I think that the characterisation is all there the challenge comes later on when we get his redemption arc. I do love the seeds they are planting especially in his relationship to Iroh.

Azula: now I called it as soon as I saw that girl, knew it was her who else could I have been. Just as evil, just as lustful for power, definitely in character for her to be doing what's she's doing this early on. Will definitely keep tabs on this one.

Bumi: now he about WRECKED ME ok. It was rough. I loved this recharacterisation. If ur gonna give us a war torn world, give me the war torn ruler, whose been carrying all that trauma and burden on his back for 100 years. Of course he's gonna be mad at Aang of course HES gonna BE MAD himself. So yeah it was rough to watch but because it was so hard hitting to see how war destroyed Bumis mindset, and then so wonderful to see Aang give his oldest friend a piece of himself back

In conclusion I care about Avatar way too much and will be ranting about this even more as I continue watching

[backgroundcharacterno7]

002 w urie !

KUKI MONSTER

How I feel about his character: I absolutely hated him on my first reread until my friend pointed out that I had the exact same work attitude as him. I feel that his growth was definitely one of the most natural kinds in the series. He felt like a really good representation of a gifted kid turned burnt out office worker. Tokyo Ghoul has an overall theme of people desperately searching for the love that they lack and I think he represents that really well - especially in chapter 29. I'm gonna cut myself off before I get ahead bc I know I have limited time.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: The very first thing I did when I first got a Tumblr was squeal over Shiraurie. Whilst I do still love them Mutsurie will forever rule my world <3

My non-romantic OTP for this character: UriSai! I honestly see Saiko as aroace and their relationship really reminds me of me and my friend who everyone think I'm dating.

My unpopular opinion: Don't really have one, sorry!

One thing I wish happened with this character: Give. Me. My. Payoff. For. Mutsurie. I feel like a fussy child being put down for a nap whenever I remember that they're not canon </3

My OTP: ummm...... nooooo clue 💜💚

My crossover ship: Probably a bit odd but Miles Edgeworth. I feel that they share similar trauma and coping mechanisms. Definitely not because I want Urie in the Ace Attorney universe and think he would be hilarious there! No way!

A headcanon fact: When he was first getting ready to move into the chateau, Urie was sorting through some of his sketchbooks and came across a couple from middle school. He cringed really hard and threw them out immediately. Now that he's older, he regrets that decision because now he can't fully see how he's improved over the years. Keep your old art kids!

Thanks so much for the ask! School has been surgically removing my soul from my body so sorry that this is so late! Because of this surgery, the reply to asks will be quite slow. If you want to send me an ask, I talk about Tokyo Ghoul, Ace Attorney and Your Turn To Die!

[castletown-cafe]

Life Updates, AuDHD, and A Mental Trainwreck

Content Warnings: Mental illness, current events, betrayal trauma, abuse, & family death.

It's time I talked about how things have been for me lately. I'm tired of hyping up all these things/projects I can't commit to, it feels like I'm making promises I can't fulfill. I get too ambitious, I get too many ideas, and even the ones I manage to see through, I just do not enjoy the writing portion.

About a year ago, my focus drifted away from Castletown Cafe. Many of you here may know what that's like to lose interest/hyperfixation on one thing and get fixated on something else, that's natural for us with autism and ADHD. We get an intense hyperfocus on a topic or project for a while only to shift to the next topic, losing interest or forgetting about the previous. I got really fixated on Pokemon Scarlet & Violet, Splatoon 3, and ACNH this past year, as well as making my own unrelated cooking projects revolving around seasonal ingredients. This fall, I got crazy ambitious for an entire fall-themed cookbook and even a Halloween one, things that obviously will take years of practice and experimentation (and need year-round work).

On top of that, however, I have not been feeling as well mentally this year. I've had less motivation to draw, and felt a stronger dislike of writing. If you have ADHD you know how hard it is to get yourself to do something you don't want to do. It's like pulling teeth. I've always had issues with executive dysfunction, and I wonder how much of it I've succumbed to this year. And while I've never been diagnosed with clinical depression, I'm wondering/concerned if I am showing signs of it like I might have been this year with my lack of motivation, my focus and drive getting worse, loss of enjoyment of things I ordinarily enjoy doing, such as drawing, feeling sad more often, and either sleeping too much or too little.

Granted the events of this fall haven't helped. We all know what's going on in the world right now. It's horrifying, it's depressing, and it's easy to feel helpless, but we all have the power to protest, to boycott, and to use social media to amplify voices of the marginalized. I have been very active on Twitter with this, but it has also been hard to enjoy my favorite times of year, the fall and Halloween, when tens of thousands are being massacred. It's no wonder I have been so depressed this fall, knowing the country we live in is siding with the colonizers and is actively funding genocide. Our tax dollars are being used to fund this and many, if not most, American brands and companies are also in favor of it.

Then, in November, I discover that an 80s band I liked is guilty of VERY inappropriate behavior toward women. One I had been listening to for the past few years. Fronted by a guy whose music I had enjoyed since childhood. I shouldn't have been so surprised, but it still broke me anyway. Another betrayal was a YouTuber who turned out to be an imposter with no thoughts or opinions of his own, only stolen from others. Yet another was a confirmation of suspicions I had toward a certain animator having NPD and being abusive, (who, to be honest, I never actually liked, just her art style and cartoons).

Oh, but that's not all! Here's where it gets really personal, but I think I really need to disclose this. On top of everything going on, I had two deaths in the family recently. One was a parent whom I didn't get along with very well, the other was my old pup Oscar. My old doggo has been easier to grieve, because he was a sweet, good boy....and honestly....he deserved a better end to his life than what he got. He was living with my father, keeping him company. My father was the parent I had a bad relationship with, and is the reason I advocate strongly for responsible and careful drinking. Because he failed to do that. He always used alcohol for self-medication, something you should NEVER do. His substance abuse got worse and worse over the years, driving him meaner and more abusive. He was never really kind to me, even if he tried to be. I never had a good relationship with my father, and honestly I know a lot of people can relate to that with one or both of their parents. A lot of us have betrayal trauma from growing up, maybe you have parents who don't love you unconditionally, or parents who never wanted to be parents, emotionally or physically abusive parents, you get the idea. Mine just so happened to be a man born and raised in a time where there was no diagnosis for his neurodivergence. He had tons of internalized ableism that he pushed onto me, and modelled horrible, angry behavior. He also had depression, but never sought help, and I believe that's due to toxic masculinity.

He can't hurt me anymore, though. I moved out of his house almost 5 years ago, and I wish it had been sooner. I'm not sure how to feel about his passing, because of how he treated me when he was alive. One thing I have been feeling though, is stress. He has left behind a house that is a disaster because he neglected to take care of it, tons of debt because he had failed to pay his bills, and no will whatsoever so inheritance is also going to be a mess to untangle. My family and I have been going back to that house to clean it, get it repaired, and figure out what to do with everything left behind. Right in the middle of a holiday season. What fun /sarcasm.

On the topic of Oscar, it's safe to say how he passed/what happened. My father went first, and so Oscar just curled up next to him.....and stayed there until he also died. And honestly....that's just heartbreaking.....I wish Oscar could've howled for help, that someone could have heard him and come to his rescue and taken care of him....but he didn't....I just wish i could have been by Oscar's side in his final moments. I know he was an old dog, he lived to be 15 and a half...but he's with my grandma now and I hope she's taking good care of him, wherever they are.

Meanwhile, Penny has been a new family member since July. She has been by my side to give hugs and cuddles, and I've needed them a lot these past few weeks. Since Oscar stayed behind to keep my father company when I moved out a few years ago, I missed my puppy, and having a little doggo around. And so, enter Penny. She's even registered as an emotional support animal, or ESA, and she goes all kinds of places with me. I love the attention she gets from other people when we go shopping together. Her cuteness lightens up a room and makes the day of many people.

My little fluffy girl has been a big help getting me through everything this season.

Back to Castletown Cafe, it may take a while, but I hope one day to return to it. I have all kinds of ideas and things I want to make and practice, and I also hope to create more content in 2024, even doing more live gaming on Twitch. I got a new computer for streaming, but I still need a monitor for it. I wanna have a streaming schedule and everything.

I really appreciate all of you who are still here even though I haven't been able to make many new things or deliver upon hyped ideas. I feel bad about my lack of content this year, though with recent life events I think it's really understandable as to why I haven't been able to churn out much in that regard.

One more thing: I do want to disclose that my ADHD is unmedicated. I can't get medication for it (not with this hell-thcare system) and I don't know what I should take for executive dysfunction. For those of you who made it this far with ADHD, what do you recommend?

Anyway, thank you for taking the time to read this, especially if you made it all the way to the end here. I know it was a lot, and some of this is REALLY heavy stuff. These are things that we all do go through, however.

Thank you.

~ Mari 🧡